Chapter
15: The Supreme Being
(Pursushottama)
Lord Krishna said,
“There is said to be one giant eternal Asvattha (banyan) tree, which is upside
turned, i.e. its roots are heavenwards while the branches are towards the earth.
The Vedas are the leaves of this tree
and one who knows this (the truth about the allegory of the tree) is called a
knower of the Veda (Rishi). The branches are spread both
upwards and downwards. They are nourished and enhanced by the Gunas or the
qualities of the nature and the objects of the senses are its new leaves and
twigs. The roots find their way downwards and are the causes of the
Karma or the activities in the human world.”
The Asvattha or
the sacred banyan tree finds its way in Gita again. In Chapter 10 the
Lord, while explaining His various manifestations had said that He is the Asvattha among the trees. He now
compares the entire creation with a giant, eternal Asvattha tree which is turned upside
down, with its roots facing heavenwards and branches towards the earth. However
the roots also slope downward and the branches are also spread upwards and the
leaves comprise of the Vedas or the
accumulated knowledge. The source of all actions lies in the roots.
There are many desires in human lives – that of earning
merits and going to the heaven, that of earning name, fame, fortune, possessing
sons and daughters, friends and relatives, beauty, grace, knowledge,
scholarship, success, satisfaction, power, welfare, happiness, sensual pleasures
etc. The list is endless. Such desires are the many roots which are the sources
of all activities. The desires are the mainstay of the creation and are
therefore the roots while the world and its affairs are the many branches.
Upwards is the heaven and downwards is the earth. Therefore the desires for
heaven which are driven by the many rites and rituals as prescribed in the
Vedas, the leaves, spread upwards while those for the worldly pleasures are
tilted downwards. The branches (world) also consist of the heaven because even
heavenly enjoyments are transient. After the expiration of the enjoyments based
on Karma even the gods fall down to
earth to reap the fruit. This tree with its branches and roots are fed by the
Nature and its qualities and the many sense objects. The desire increases with
the increase of the objects of senses and so also the worldly affairs. The Gunas or the quality of nature helps in
expanding the working of the tree through its binding effect and through
perpetuation of the Karma rooted in
the desires.
“Such a form is not realized here in this world. Nobody knows where
it begins or ends or where its foundation lies. Such a tree with very strong
roots has to be forcefully cut by the weapons of dispassion and
detachment.”
Nobody knows where the world begins or where it ends. The
entire universe with all its realms is contained in the creation. Nobody also
knows the source from which the world/creation originates. However to get
liberated from the world, one will have to use the weapons of discrimination and
detachment and strike at the roots, i.e. all the desires. Thus getting rid of
the world, one will be able to obtain everlasting peace. This is the path of
knowledge or jnana.
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