What changes, what doesn't

dvāvimau puruṣau loke kṣaraścākṣara eva cakṣaraḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni kūṭastho’akṣara ucyate

There are two persons in the world, the perishable and the imperishable. All beings are perishable. The unchanging one is called imperishable.

What it means

Krishna names two levels of purusha, being. The kshara, perishable, is every living body, always changing, ageing, ending. The akshara, imperishable, is the unchanging Self underneath, steady as an anvil. One level grows old. The other doesn't. Both are real, and we live at both.

The story

Arjuna sees bodies that will fall today. Krishna asks him to see both layers at once, the changing form and the unchanging Self, in every warrior on the field.

In your life

Think of looking at an old photo of yourself as a child. Everything about your body has changed, yet something of you is the same. Find that photo this week and look for what stayed.