In plain words
This is My lower Prakṛti. Know also My other, higher Prakṛti, mighty-armed one—that which has become the jīva, by which this world is sustained.
Word for word
This [is the] lower [one]; but know, O mighty-armed one, My other, higher prakṛti, which has become the jīva, by which this world is upheld.
अपरेयमितस्त्वन्यां प्रकृतिं विद्धि मे पराम्जीवभूतां महाबाहो ययेदं धार्यते जगत्
Other commentaries
The commentators
▸Bhagavadgītābhāṣyam· bhāṣya
अपरा न परा निकृष्टा अशुद्धा अनर्थकरी संसारबन्धनात्मिका इयम् । इतः अस्याः यथोक्तायाः तु अन्यां विशुद्धां प्रकृतिं मम आत्मभूतां विद्धि मे परां प्रकृष्टां जीवभूतां क्षेत्रज्ञलक्षणां प्राणधारणनिमित्तभूतां हे महाबाहो, यया प्रकृत्या इदं धार्यते जगत् अन्तः प्रविष्टया ॥ ५ ॥
In plain words
That eightfold nature is the lower one — not the higher, but something base, impure, actually harmful, the very fabric of the bondage that keeps you caught in the cycle of birth and death. But there's another nature entirely, Arjuna, utterly pure, my own true self. Know this one as my higher nature — it is what becomes the individual soul, the knower within the field of the body, the very thing keeping your breath and life going. It is by this nature, entering into it from within, that this whole world is held together and kept alive.
Close to the Sanskrit
Lower, not higher, base, impure, productive of harm, consisting in the bondage of transmigration — this [is that eightfold nature]. But other than this, as has been described, know another, utterly pure, nature — mine, being my very self — [know it as] my higher, superior, [nature], which has become the individual soul, characterized as the knower of the field, which is the cause of sustaining the vital breaths, O mighty-armed one — by which nature this world is sustained, [that nature] having entered within [it].
▸Gītā Vāhini
“పంచ భూతములు, మనో, బుద్ధి అహంకారములను ఎనిమిది విధములైన ప్రకృతి చేతనే యావత్తు సూక్ష్మ, జడ ప్రపంచమంతయూ నిర్మితమైనది. దీనినే ‘అపరాప్రకృతి’ అని అందురు. ఇంతియే కాక అపరాప్రకృతికి అన్యముగా నా ప్రకృతి వేరు ఒకటున్నది. దానినే ‘పరాప్రకృతి’ అని అందురు. ఇది జడప్రకృతి కాక చైతన్యమైన జీవరూపమున ఉండును. అసలు ఈ జగత్తంతయూ దానిని ధరించియున్నది. అపరాప్రకృతి జడమైనది. పరాప్రకృతి చైతన్యమైనది.”
In plain words
“The entire world, subtle and inert, the whole of it, has been built by Prakṛti alone, which is eightfold: the five elements, Manas, Buddhi and Ahaṅkāra. This is what they call ‘Aparā Prakṛti’. And not only this: distinct from Aparā Prakṛti there is another Prakṛti of Mine. That is what they call ‘Parā Prakṛti’. It is not inert Prakṛti; it is in the form of the jīva, which is Caitanya. In truth, this whole world bears it. Aparā Prakṛti is inert. Parā Prakṛti is Caitanya.”