Word meanings
- puruṣaḥ
- the Supreme Divine Personality
- saḥ
- he
- paraḥ
- greatest
- pārtha
- Arjun, the son of Pritha
- bhaktyā
- through devotion
- labhyaḥ
- is attainable
- tu
- indeed
- ananyayā
- without another
- yasya
- of whom
- antaḥ-sthāni
- situated within
- bhūtāni
- beings
- yena
- by whom
- sarvam
- all
- idam
- this
- tatam
- is pervaded
Translations
That highest Purusha, O Arjuna, is attainable by unswerving devotion to Him alone, within Whom all beings dwell and by Whom all this is pervaded.
O Arjuna! That Highest God, in Whom all beings abide, and Who pervades the entire universe, is reached only by wholehearted devotion. *He is the one who determines the course of worldly events and the destiny of all living beings.*
O son of Prtha, that supreme Person—in whom all beings are included and by whom all this is pervaded—is, indeed, reached through one-pointed devotion.
हे पृथानन्दन अर्जुन ! सम्पूर्ण प्राणी जिसके अन्तर्गत हैं और जिससे यह सम्पूर्ण संसार व्याप्त है, वह परम पुरुष परमात्मा तो अनन्यभक्तिसे प्राप्त होनेयोग्य है।Commentary
All the beings (effects) dwell within the Purusha (the Supreme Person, the cause) because every effect rests within its cause. Just as the effect, pot, rests within its cause, the clay, so also all beings and the worlds rest within their cause, the Purusha. Therefore the whole world is pervaded by the Purusha. Sri Sankara explains exclusive devotion as Jnana or knowledge of the Self. Purusha is so called because everything is filled by It (derived from the Sanskrit root pur which means to fill) or because It rests in the body of all (derived from the Sanskrit root pur).
None is higher than It and so It is the Supreme Person. (Cf.IX.4XI.38XV.6and7)