Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 15, Verse 16

द्वाविमौ पुरुषौ लोके क्षरश्चाक्षर एव च । क्षरः सर्वाणि भूतानि कूटस्थोऽक्षर उच्यते

dvāvimau puruṣau loke kṣaraścākṣara eva ca | kṣaraḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni kūṭastho'kṣara ucyate

Translation

There are these two beings in the world, the perishable and the imperishable: the perishable comprises all creatures; the immutable is called the imperishable.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

dvau

two

imau

(in) this

puruṣau

Purushas (two)

loke

in world

kṣaraḥ

destructible

ca

and

akṣaraḥ

indestructible

eva

even

ca

and

kṣaraḥ

the destructible

sarvāṇi

all

bhūtāni

beings

kūṭasthaḥ

the rock-seated

akṣaraḥ

the indestructible

ucyate

is called

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

In saṃsāra, there are two categories arranged in two separate groups of beings, spoken of as 'puruṣas'. The one group consists of the perishable (kṣara); and the other is the imperishable (akṣara) — the contrary of the first — viz., the Māyā-śakti, the Illusion-Power of the Lord, the germ from which the perishable being takes its birth, the seat of all the latent impressions (saṃskāras) of desires, actions, etc., pertaining to the numerous mortal creatures. The perishable comprises the whole universe of changing forms; the imperishable is what is known as immutable (kūṭastha) — that which remains immovable like a heap. Or, 'kūṭa' means illusion, and 'kūṭastha' means that which manifests itself in various forms of illusion and deception.