Bhashya
• कस्मात्तानि न क्षीयन्तेऽद्यमानानि सर्वदेति ।यदा पित्रा अन्नानि सृष्ट्वा सप्त पृथक्पृथग्भोक्तृभ्यः प्रत्तानि, तदा प्रभृत्येव तैर्भोक्तृभिरद्यमानानि - तन्निमित्तत्वात्तेषां स्थितेः - सर्वदा नैरन्तर्येण; कृतक्षयोपपत्तेश्च युक्तस्तेषां क्षयः; न च तानि क्षीयमाणानि, जगतोऽविभ्रष्टरूपेणैवावस्थानदर्शनात्; भवितव्यं च अक्षयकारणेन; तस्मात् कस्मात्पुनस्तानि न क्षीयन्त इति प्रश्नः ।तस्येदं प्रतिवचनम्— पुरुषो वा अक्षितिः ।यथा असौ पूर्वमन्नानां स्रष्टासीत्पिता मेधया जायादिसंबद्धेन च पाङ्क्तकर्मणा भोक्ता च तथा येभ्यो दत्तान्यन्नानि तेऽपि तेषामन्नानां भोक्तारोऽपि सन्तः पितर एव- मेधया तपसा च यतो जनयन्ति तान्यन्नानि ।तदेतदभिधीयते पुरुषो वै योऽन्नानां भोक्ता सः अक्षितिः अक्षयहेतुः ।कथमस्याक्षितित्वमित्युच्यते— सः हि यस्मात् इदं भुज्यमानं सप्रविधं कार्यकारणलक्षणं क्रियाफलात्मकंपुनः पुनः भूयो भूयः अनयते उत्पादयति, धिया धिया तत्तत्कालभाविन्या तया तया प्रज्ञया, कर्मभिश्च वाङ्मनः-कायचेष्टितैः ; यत् यदि ह यद्येतत्सप्तविधमन्नमुक्तं क्षणमात्रमपि न कुर्यात्प्रज्ञया कर्मभिश्च, ततो विच्छिद्येत भुज्यमानत्वात्सातत्येन क्षीयेत ह ।तस्मात् यथैवायं पुरुषो भोक्ता अन्नानां नैरन्तर्येण यथाप्रज्ञं यथाकर्म च करोत्यपि ; तस्मात् पुरुषोऽक्षितिः, सातत्येन कर्तृत्वात् ; तस्मात् भुज्यमानान्यप्यन्नानि न क्षीयन्त इत्यर्थः ।अतः प्रज्ञाक्रियालक्षणप्रबन्धारूढः सर्वो लोकः साध्यसाधनलक्षणः क्रियाफलात्मकः संहतानेकप्राणिकर्मवासनासंतानावष्टब्धत्वात् क्षणिकः अशुद्धः असारः नदीस्रोतःप्रदीपसंतानकल्पः कदलीस्तम्भवदसारः फेनमायामरीच्यम्भःस्वप्नादिसमः तदात्मगतदृष्टीनामविकीर्यमाणो नित्यः सारवानिव लक्ष्यते ; तदेतद्वैराग्यार्थमुच्यते-धिया धिया जनयते कर्मभिर्यद्वैतन्न कुर्यात्क्षीयेत हेति-विरक्तानां ह्यस्मात् ब्रह्मविद्या आरब्धव्या चतुर्थप्रमुखेनेति ।यो वैतामक्षितिं वेदेति ।वक्ष्यमाणान्यपि त्रीण्यन्नानि अस्मिन्नवसरे व्याख्यातान्येवेति कृत्वा तेषां याथात्म्यविज्ञानफलमुपसंह्रियते-यो वा एतामक्षितिम् अक्षयहेतुं यथोक्तं वेद-पुरुषो वाअक्षितिः स हीदमन्नं धिया धिया जनयते कर्मभिर्यद्वैतन्न कुर्यात्क्षीयेत हेति- सोऽन्नमत्ति प्रतीकेनेत्यस्यार्थ उच्यते- मुखं मुख्यत्वं प्राधान्यमित्येतत्, प्राधान्येनैव, अन्नानां पितुः पुरुषस्याक्षितित्वं यो वेद, सोऽन्नमत्ति, नान्नं प्रति गुणभूतः सन्, यथा अज्ञः न तथा विद्वान् अन्नानामात्मभूतः- भोक्तैव भवति न भोज्यतामापद्यते ।स देवानपिगच्छति स ऊर्जमुपजीवति- देवानपिगच्छति देवत्वभावं प्रतिपद्यते, ऊर्जममृतं च उपजीवतीति यदुक्तम्, सा प्रशंसा ; नापूर्वार्थोऽन्योऽस्ति ॥
In plain words
Why do these provisions of the world never run out, though they are devoured at every moment? Because their very persistence depends on that consumption, and ordinarily what is created ought to wear away; yet the world remains undiminished before our eyes. There must be an indestructible ground behind it. The text answers: The Person is indeed the imperishable. Just as the cosmic father originally brought forth and enjoyed the world through his mental focus and ritual acts, so too do living beings, acting as enjoyers and progenitors through wisdom and discipline, sustain these provisions. The Person who consumes the universe of experience is the imperishable source of all endurance. How does his imperishability work? Because he ceaselessly brings forth and generates this entire sevenfold universe—with all its causes and effects, actions and fruits—moment by moment, through ever-renewed cognition and the continuous activity of speech, mind, and body. If he were to pause for even a fraction of a second in this projection of awareness and action, the whole fabric of consumption would snap and instantly dissolve into nothingness. Because this supreme Person endlessly maintains his agency through every shift of cognition and action, he is the imperishable; and that is why the objects of experience do not vanish away. Yet to the deluded eye, caught in this river-flow of action and desire—fleeting and hollow as a banana trunk, fragile as sea foam, a dream, or a mirage—the world appears solid, pure, and eternal. This teaching of imperishability is declared solely to awaken deep dispassion, leading the detached seeker to the liberating knowledge of Brahman. Recognizing that this imperishable Person sustains all things, the wise person becomes the master of experience rather than its food. He transcends the fate of the ignorant, attains the divine, and feeds upon the immortal essence itself.
Close to the Sanskrit
From what cause do those foods not perish while being consumed at all times? Because of their persistence depending upon that consumption, and because the destruction of created things is logically sound, yet they do not perish, since the world is observed to persist in an undiminished form; and there must be an imperishable cause. Therefore, the question is: for what reason do they not perish? To this, the answer is given: The Puruṣa is indeed the imperishable. As that creator father was previously the creator and enjoyer of foods through intellect, family associations, and fivefold ritual action, so those to whom foods are given—they too, being enjoyers of those foods and remaining fathers, generate those foods through intellect and austerity. This is declared: the Puruṣa who is the enjoyer of foods is indeed the imperishable, the cause of non-decay. How is his imperishability explained? Because he repeatedly brings forth and produces this enjoyed sevenfold universe, characterized by cause and effect and action and fruit, over and over again through successive cognitions arising at each moment, and through actions of speech, mind, and body. If he were not to perform this sevenfold food even for a mere moment through cognition and actions, then it would be severed and would perish continuously through being consumed. Therefore, just as this Puruṣa, the enjoyer of foods, continually performs creation according to cognition and action, hence the Puruṣa is the imperishable due to constant agency; therefore, even though foods are consumed, they do not perish, is the meaning. Hence, all the world—which is mounted on the stream characterized by cognition and action, consisting of means and ends, constituted by action and its fruit, gripped by the continuous flow of residual desires of innumerable beings, momentary, impure, essence-less, comparable to a river current, a series of lamp flames, a plantain trunk, foam, a mirage, and a dream—appears eternal and substantial to those whose vision is set upon it; this is declared for the sake of dispassion: 'if he were not to perform this, it would perish.' For aspirants who have dispassion, knowledge of Brahman must be commenced through the fourth stage of life. 'He who knows this imperishable...' Since the three remaining foods in this context have already been explained, the fruit of knowing their true nature is concluded: he who knows this imperishable, the cause of non-decay as described—'The Puruṣa is indeed the imperishable; for he generates this food through intellect and actions; if he were not to perform this, it would perish'—the statement 'he eats food' is explained: 'mukha' means primacy; through primacy alone, the knower of the imperishability of the father Puruṣa eats food, not becoming subordinate to food. Unlike the ignorant person, the wise person is not made into food; he becomes the very self of foods and remains solely the enjoyer, never falling into the status of being enjoyed. He attains the gods, he subsists on vigor: 'he attains the gods' means he attains the state of divinity, and 'subsists on vigor and immortality' as stated—that is praise; there is no other unprecedented meaning.