Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 15.18

yasmāt ksharam atīto 'ham

aksharād api cottamah

ato 'smi loke vede ca

prathitah purushottamah

SYNONYMS

yasmāt — because; ksharam — to the fallible; atītah — transcendental; aham — I am; aksharāt — beyond the infallible; api — also; ca — and; uttamah — the best; atah — therefore; asmi — I am; loke — in the world; vede — in the Vedic literature; ca — and; prathitah — celebrated; purusha-uttamah — as the Supreme Personality.

TRANSLATION

Because I am transcendental, beyond both the fallible and the infallible, and because I am the greatest, I am celebrated both in the world and in the Vedas as that Supreme Person.

PURPORT

No one can surpass the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna — neither the conditioned soul nor the liberated soul. He is therefore the greatest of personalities. Now it is clear here that the living entities and the Supreme Personality of Godhead are individuals. The difference is that the living entities, either in the conditioned state or in the liberated state, cannot surpass in quantity the inconceivable potencies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is incorrect to think of the Supreme Lord and the living entities as being on the same level or equal in all respects. There is always the question of superiority and inferiority between their personalities. The word uttama is very significant. No one can surpass the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

The word loke signifies "in the paurusha āgama (the smriti scriptures)." As confirmed in the Nirukti dictionary, lokyate vedārtho 'nena: "The purpose of the Vedas is explained by the smriti scriptures."

The Supreme Lord, in His localized aspect of Paramātmā, is also described in the Vedas themselves. The following verse appears in the Vedas (Chāndogya Upanishad 8.12.3): tāvad esha samprasādo 'smāc charīrāt samutthāya param jyoti-rūpam sampadya svena rūpenābhinishpadyate sa uttamah purushah. "The Supersoul coming out of the body enters the impersonal brahmajyoti; then in His form He remains in His spiritual identity. That Supreme is called the Supreme Personality." This means that the Supreme Personality is exhibiting and diffusing His spiritual effulgence, which is the ultimate illumination. That Supreme Personality also has a localized aspect as Paramātmā. By incarnating Himself as the son of Satyavatī and Parāśara, He explains the Vedic knowledge as Vyāsadeva.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness