Bhagavad Gita · 15.3 · The Yoga of the Supreme Divine Personality·3 of 20
न रूपमस्येह तथोपलभ्यते नान्तो न चादिर्न च संप्रतिष्ठा।अश्वत्थमेनं सुविरूढमूल मसङ्गशस्त्रेण दृढेन छित्त्वा ॥
na rūpam asyeha tathopalabhyate nānto na chādir na cha sampratiṣhṭhā
aśhvattham enaṁ su-virūḍha-mūlam asaṅga-śhastreṇa dṛiḍhena chhittvā
Sanskrit recitation
The inverted tree of life · 15.1–15.6 · Teaching
Translation
Its form is not perceived here as such, nor its end, origin, foundation, or resting place; having cut asunder this firmly rooted peepul tree with the strong axe of non-attachment.
Meaning
The idea is continued in the next verse.So long as one is under the sway of ignorance, he cannot understand the form of this tree, its end, origin and foundation (middle). O Arjuna Thou mayest perhaps consider that such a huge tree cannot be uprooted by any means whatever. It is not so. However firmly rooted it may be, it can be cut by the powerful axe of nnattachment or dispassion within the twinkling of an eye.After cutting this tree you will have to look within, meditate on the Self and behold the Supreme.Tatha As such As described above. Is it necessary to pull down castles in the air or to break the horns of a hare or to pluck a flower growing in the sky or to get butter from the milk of a tortoise or oil from stone Similarly, O Arjuna, there is no reality in this tree. Therefore why should you entertain any fear as to whether it may be uprooted or not Its form as such is not perceived by anybody here it is like a dream or a mirage or an imaginary city in the sky formed by the clouds or caused by a juggler. It appears and disappears. This tree has DrishtaNashtaSvarupa like the mirage. That object which is destroyed when one beholds it is DrishtaNashta. Nobody has perceived the end, the origin or the foundation of this illusory tree. No one can say that it has arisen from such and such a place or point.Samsara or the peepul tree is inveterately deeprooted
After Swami Sivananda
The inverted tree of life· 15.1–15.6→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 15.1The Blessed Lord said: They (the wise) speak of the indestructible peepul tree, with its roots above and branches below, whose leaves are the meters or hymns; he who knows it is a knower of the Vedas.
- 15.2Its branches spread below and above, nourished by the Gunas; its buds are sense-objects, and its roots stretch forth below in the world of men, originating action.
15.3Its form is not perceived here as such, nor its end, origin, foundation, or resting place; having cut asunder this firmly rooted peepul tree with the strong axe of non-attachment.
- 15.4Then, that goal should be sought for, to which, having gone, none returns again. I seek refuge in that Primeval Purusha, from whence streamed forth the ancient activity or energy.
- 15.5Free from pride and delusion, victorious over the evil of attachment, dwelling constantly in the Self, their desires having completely turned away, freed from the pairs of opposites known as pleasure and pain, they, the undeluded, reach the eternal goal.
- 15.6Neither does the sun illuminate there, nor the moon, nor the fire; having gone there, they do not return; that is My supreme abode.
Word-by-word→
- na
- never
- cha
- also
- iha
- in this world
- asya
- of this
- enam
- this
- rūpam
- form
- tathā
- as such
- antaḥ
- end
- ādiḥ
- beginning
- chhittvā
- having cut down
- aśhvattham
- sacred fig tree
- upalabhyate
- is perceived
- dṛiḍhena
- strong
- sampratiṣhṭhā
- the basis
- su-virūḍha-mūlam
- deep-rooted
- asaṅga-śhastreṇa
- by the axe of detachment
Themes
Related verses
- 1.33Those for whose sake we desire kingdom, enjoyments, and pleasures stand here in battle,…
- 2.33But if you will not fight this righteous war, then having abandoned your own duty and…
- 2.48Perform action, O Arjuna, being steadfast in Yoga, abandoning attachment and balanced in…
- 2.51The wise, possessing knowledge, having abandoned the fruits of their actions, and being…