Supreme Person

Abhyasa-yoga-yuktena cetasa nanya-gamina, paramam purusham divyam yati parthanucintayan

O Partha, one who meditates on Me with unwavering mind, constantly engaged in the yoga of constant practice (abhyasa yoga) and not deviating elsewhere, goes to the Supreme Divine Person. The disciplined practice of keeping the mind fixed on God through repeated effort (abhyasa) leads directly to the Supreme.

Kavim puranam anushasitaram anor aniyamsam anusmared yah, sarvasya dhataram acintya-rupam aditya-varnam tamasah parastat

One should meditate upon the Supreme Person as the one who knows everything, who is the oldest, who is the controller, who is smaller than the smallest, who is the maintainer of everything, who is beyond all material conception, who is inconceivable, who is always a person, and who is luminous like the sun — beyond all darkness. This verse gives a rich description of the attributes of the Supreme being contemplated in meditation.

Purushah sa parah partha bhaktya labhyas tv ananyaya, yasyantah-sthani bhutani yena sarvam idam tatam

The Supreme Person, O Partha, is attainable only through exclusive devotion. Within that Supreme Person all beings dwell, and by Him all this world is pervaded. The Supreme is attainable not by intellectual effort alone but through single-pointed, exclusive devotion (ananya bhakti). The entire universe exists within and is pervaded by this Supreme.

Uttamah purushas tv anyah paramatmety udahrtah, yo loka-trayam avishya bibharty avyaya ishvarah

Yet there is another, the Supreme Person — the Paramatma — who is called the indestructible Lord and who pervades the three worlds and maintains them. Beyond both the perishable and the imperishable stands the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who sustains all three worlds as the transcendent source of all existence.

Yasmat ksaram atito 'ham aksharad api cottamah, ato 'smi loke vede ca prathitah purushottamah

Because I transcend the perishable realm and am even above the imperishable, I am celebrated both in the world and in the Vedas as that Supreme Person — Purushottama. This verse explains the very name Purushottama: Krishna stands above both categories of existence and is therefore the utterly highest person, celebrated in scripture and in the hearts of devotees.