171. Bhagavad Gita | Chapter 15, Verses 1-4 | Swami Sarvapriyananda

Swami Sarvapriyananda teaches verses 1-4 from the fifteenth chapter, entitled Purushottama Yoga, the Yoga of the Supreme Being, of the Bhagavad Gita. This series of talks by Swami Sarvapriyananda on the Bhagavad Gita, 'the Song of God,' unfolds the highest truths of Vedanta.

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Chapter 15, Verse 1

श्रीभगवानुवाच |

ऊर्ध्वमूलमध:शाखमश्वत्थं प्राहुरव्ययम् |

छन्दांसि यस्य पर्णानि यस्तं वेद स वेदवित् || 1||

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha

ūrdhva-mūlam adhaḥ-śhākham aśhvatthaṁ prāhur avyayam

chhandānsi yasya parṇāni yas taṁ veda sa veda-vit

⧫ The Blessed Lord said, "They speak of the immutable Ashwatham tree, with its roots above and its branches below, whose leaves are the Vedas." He who knows it is the knower of the Vedas.

Chapter 15, Verse 2

अधश्चोर्ध्वं प्रसृतास्तस्य शाखा

गुणप्रवृद्धा विषयप्रवाला: |

अधश्च मूलान्यनुसन्ततानि

कर्मानुबन्धीनि मनुष्यलोके || 2||

adhaśh chordhvaṁ prasṛitās tasya śhākhā

guṇa-pravṛiddhā viṣhaya-pravālāḥ

adhaśh cha mūlāny anusantatāni

karmānubandhīni manuṣhya-loke

⧫ Its branches, nurtured by the gunas spread below and above, its shoots are the sense objects, and its rootlings are stretched below, producing actions in the world of men.

Verse 3 & 4

न रूपमस्येह तथोपलभ्यते

नान्तो न चादिर्न च सम्प्रतिष्ठा |

अश्वत्थमेनं सुविरूढमूल

मसङ्गशस्त्रेण दृढेन छित्त्वा || 3||

तत: पदं तत्परिमार्गितव्यं

यस्मिन्गता न निवर्तन्ति भूय: |

तमेव चाद्यं पुरुषं प्रपद्ये

यत: प्रवृत्ति: प्रसृता पुराणी || 4||

na rūpam asyeha tathopalabhyate

nānto na chādir na cha sampratiṣhṭhā

aśhvattham enaṁ su-virūḍha-mūlam

asaṅga-śhastreṇa dṛiḍhena chhittvā

tataḥ padaṁ tat parimārgitavyaṁ

yasmin gatā na nivartanti bhūyaḥ

tam eva chādyaṁ puruṣhaṁ prapadye

yataḥ pravṛittiḥ prasṛitā purāṇī

⧫ Its form as such is not experienced here, nor its end, nor its beginning, nor its continuity. Having severed this deep-rooted Ashwatha tree with the strong weapon of non-attachment, one should next seek that goal, reaching which they do not return, saying 'I seek refuge in that primordial Purusha from whom this eternal process has sprung.'