The last six chapters all deal with the relation between Purusha and Prakriti and the Three Gunas. This chapter uses the image of the world tree. According to H. P. Blavatsky: 'World.
As a prefix to mountains, trees, and so on, it denotes a universal belief. Thus
the “World-Mountain” of the Hindus was Meru. As said in
Isis Unveiled:
“All the world-mountains and mundane eggs, the mundane trees, and the mundane
snakes and pillars, may be shown to embody scientifically demonstrated truths of
natural philosophy. All of these mountains contain, with very trifling
variations, the allegorically-expressed description of primal cosmogony ; the
mundane trees, that of subsequent evolution of spirit and matter; (Theosophical Glossary)'
1- The Tree of Samsara. (1-5)
1. They speak of the indestructible Asvattha having
its root above and branches below, whose leaves are the metres. He who knows it
knows the Vedas.
2. Below and above are its branches spread, nourished by the gunas,
sense-objects its buds; and below in the world of man stretch forth the roots
ending in action.
Just as a person taking his meal runs away leaving the dish when he
knows that it contains poison, similarly once the idea of the impermanence
of this world gets stamped on the mind one runs away from attachment. The detachment
thus gained does not leave you even if you try to get rid of it. In this
fifteenth chapter Shri Krishna is explaining how the world is impermanent
using the simile of a tree.
The entity which is known as Maya does not exist. Actually it is like
the child born to a barren woman and is named Maya. It cannot be said that
Maya is real nor can it be said that it is unreal. It cannot survive in
the presence of knowledge and yet it is called beginningless. It is the
holder of many principles and just as clouds are formed in the sky the
universe is formed in her. All sorts of forms and shapes are folded into
the folds of her fabric. She is the root of the world-tree, source of the
worldly affairs illuminated by the dim light of improper unrighteous
knowledge. Such an entity as Maya is takes shelter in the Brahman and
appears through its power. The Maya which is created from Brahman makes it
forget its own nature. This is the first root of the world-tree.
Non-realisation of the Self as Brahman is the main root-bulb of the tree
at its top. It is called "Beejabhaava" or "the root
principle" in the form of Maya by Vedantis. The sleep state of deep
ignorance is called its "Bijankurabhaava" or "seedsprout principle"
while the dream and wakeful states are its "Phalabhaava" or
"fruit principle". This is how Vedantins thus express these aspects of
Maya but in all this understand that the basic root is the ignorance.
At the end of the Kali-Yuga the barks of the trees in all the four yugas
are shed and the tree dries but when the Krita- Yuga starts again the barks
grow many times faster. One cannot understand how many branches grow and how
many fall. (Dnyaneshwari; 15:125-129, transl. M.R. Yardi)
Cut the Tree and seek the
Goal. (3-4)
3. Its form is not perceived as such here, neither its end nor its
origin nor its existence. Having cut asunder this firm-rooted Asvattha with the
strong sword of dispassion.
4. Then That Goal should be sought for, whither having gone none return
again. " I seek refuge in that Primeval Purusha whence streamed forth the
Ancient Current."
Strong : strengthened by a resolute bent of mind towards the
Supreme Self and sharpened again and again on the whetstone of the
practice of true discrimination. Cut asunder : uprooted the Tree of samsara
with its seed. (Baghavad Gita, with the Commentary of Sri Sankaracharya,
transl. A. Mahadeva Sastri, 1901)
The Path to the Goal. (5)
5. Free from pride and delusion, with the evil of attachment
conquered, ever dwelling in the Self, their desires having completely
turned away, liberated from the pairs of opposites known as pleasure
and pain, the undeluded reach that Goal Eternal.
The Goal is the Lord's
Glorious Being. (6)
6. That, the sun illumines not, nor the moon, nor fire ; That is My
Supreme Abode, to which having gone none return.
The primeval place which is seen without seeing and known without
knowing is called the Primeval Man (Adya Purusha). But even he is
described by Shrutis by taking help of attributes and make meaningless
noise that it has a name and form. But people who are disgusted with
heaven and worldly life swear that they will not be reborn and turn to
yoga and knowledge. Then they become detached and turn their back to
worldly life and crossing the Brahmalok which is the highest stage
attainable by the path of action they march ahead. (15:275-284). (Dnyaneshwari; 14:371 -398, transl. M.R. Yardi)
Jiva is a ray of the Lord. (7)
7. A ray of Myself, the eternal Jiva in the world of Jivas,
attracts the senses, with manas the sixth, abiding in Prakriti.
'An integral portion of Myself—of the Supreme Self, of Narayana,—is
the eternal Jiva (individual soul) in samsara, manifesting himself in
every one as the doer and enjoyer. He is like the sun reflected in water ;
the reflected sun is but a portion of the real sun; and on the removal of
water the reflected sun returns to the original sun and remains as that
very sun.—Or, it is like the akasa (space) in the jar, which is limited by
the upadhi of the jar. This akasa of the jar is but a portion of the
infinite akasa and becomes one with the latter on the destruction of the
jar which is the cause of limitation ; then it returns no more. Thus the statement
" to which having gone none return " is quite explicable. (Baghavad
Gita, with the Commentary of Sri Sankaracharya, transl. A. Mahadeva Sastri, 1901)
How Jiva dwells in the body
and departs from it. (8-9)
The Self is visible only to
the eye of knowledge. (10)
10. Him who departs, stays and enjoys, who is conjoined with gunas,
the deluded perceive not; they see, who possess the eye of knowledge.
A person may attains this knowledge, his intellect may become so
subtle as to penetrate even an atom and he may become learned in all
branches of knowledge, but unless this learning is accompanied by
detachment, he will not encounter me though I am all-pervasive. He may
talk mouthfuls about discrimination but if he harbours sense-objects in
his mind then definitely he will not find me. Even if all branches of
knowledge are on the tip of his tongue as long as ego exists in the mind
he will not attain me even after millions of births. (Dnyaneshwari; 15:391-397, transl. M.R. Yardi)
No self-knowledge without
Yoga. (11)
11. Those who strive, endued with Yoga, perceive Him dwelling in the
self; though striving, those of unrefined self, devoid of wisdom, perceive Him
not.
Those who strive, well balanced in their mind, behold Him, the
Self, dwelling in their own mind (buddhi) : they recognise Him, "
This I am. " But though striving to know Him by means of proper
authorities such as the scriptures (sastra), men of unrefined self—whose
self (mind) has not been regenerated by austerity (tapas) and subjugation of
the senses, who have not abandoned their evil ways, whose pride has not been
subdued,—behold Him not." (Baghavad Gita, with the Commentary of
Sri Sankaracharya, transl. A. Mahadeva Sastri, 1901)
Immanence of the Lord, (i) as
the all-illumining Light of Consciousness. (12)
12. That light which residing in the sun illumines the whole world, that
which is in the moon and in the fire, that light do thou know to be Mine.
(2) As the all-sustaining
Life. (13)
(3) As the Digestive Fire in
all living: organisms. (14)
(4) As the Self in the hearts
of all. (15)
I dwell in the hearts (buddhi) of all sentient beings as their
Self.''' Wherefore from Me, the Self of all sentient beings, are memory,
knowledge, I as well as their loss. Just as knowledge and memory occur in
righteous persons as a result of their good deeds (punyakarmani), so, as a
result of their sins, loss of memory and knowledge occurs in the sinful. I,
the Supreme Self, am to be known in all the Vedas. It is I who cause the
Teaching of the Vedanta (Upanishads) to be handed down in regular
succession, and It is I who know the Vedic Teaching. (Baghavad Gita,
with the Commentary of Sri Sankaracharya, transl. A. Mahadeva Sastri, 1901)
4- The transcendence of the
Lord (16-20)
The Lord beyond the perishable
and the imperishable universe. (16-18)
18. Because I transcend the perishable and am even higher than the
imperishable, therefore am I known in the world and in the Veda as
'Purushottama,' the Highest Spirit.
The Glory of Self-knowledge. (19-20)
19. He who, undeluded, thus knows Me, the Highest Spirit, he, knowing
all, worships Me with his whole being, O Bharata.
The Self is in all things, and all things are in the Self. Whatever
there may be of “shining” through any form or under any condition, that
“shining” is from and of the Self. If this is recognized and admitted, we must
begin to regard all things and beings in that light and act towards them upon
that basis; in this way we act for and as the Self, and as we hold to and
follow that practice, all ideas, habits and desires that conflict become
overcome little by little, until at last we have the supreme power for good
that comes with selflessness. (Crosbie, Essays on the Gita, 206)
Thank you Mark - the chapter is very lucidity explained 🙏
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