Chapter 8: Akṣara-brahma-yoga: – Comprehending the Imperishable RealityVerse 22

Krishna carefully describes the supreme Abode referred to in the previous verse as the supreme Purusha. An abode is a place or seat, whereas Purusha is a personal entity, who abides in our body, a nine-gated city (5.13). Obviously it is He, the Soul, who resides in our body. The Soul is the source and sustenance of everything. Associated with the body, which hosts the senses that cause an assortment of sensations, it is called Purusha who thinks, speaks and acts.

The Indweller is the supreme powerful presence. To attain that pedestal, the journey is inner, and destination the supreme Self denoted by ‘I’, the singular Consciousness.

Krishna refers to the Supreme not in the neuter gender but in the masculine sentient presence, to help large number of seekers grasp and cling to it easily. But truly it is neither masculine nor feminine, but is the source of both.