Bhagwad Gita (English) | Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The Yoga of the Supreme Person

Lord Krishna describes the material world as an impermanent, inverted tree known as the Ashvattha tree, with roots above and branches below, symbolizing the entanglements of worldly existence. He explains that one must cut down this tree with the weapon of detachment to seek the ultimate reality. Krishna introduces the concept of the Purushottama, the Supreme Divine Personality, who transcends both the perishable physical world and the imperishable soul. He reveals himself as the eternal source of all creation and urges Arjuna to recognize him as the ultimate goal. By understanding the nature of the soul, the transient material world, and the Supreme Divine, one can break free from the cycle of rebirth and achieve liberation. This chapter emphasizes detachment, spiritual wisdom, and devotion to the Supreme as paths to freedom.

Verse 1

The Blessed Lord said: There is a banyan tree which has its roots upward and its branches down and whose leaves are the Vedic hymns. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas.

Verse 2

The branches of this tree extend downward and upward, nourished by the three modes of material nature. The twigs are the objects of the senses. This tree also has roots going down, and these are bound to the fruitive actions of human society.

Verse 3

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.

Verse 4

Then, 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.

Verse 5

One who is free from illusion, false prestige, and false association, who understands the eternal, who is done with material lust and is freed from the duality of happiness and distress, and who knows how to surrender unto the Supreme Person, attains to that eternal kingdom.

Verse 6

That abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by electricity. One who reaches it never returns to this material world.

Verse 7

The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.

Verse 8

The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas.

Verse 9

The living entity, thus taking another gross body, obtains a certain type of ear, tongue, and nose and sense of touch, which are grouped about the mind. He thus enjoys a particular set of sense objects.

Verse 10

The foolish cannot understand how a living entity can quit his body, nor can they understand what sort of body he enjoys under the spell of the modes of nature. But one whose eyes are trained in knowledge can see all this.

Verse 11

The endeavoring transcendentalist, who is situated in self-realization, can see all this clearly. But those who are not situated in self-realization cannot see what is taking place, though they may try to.

Verse 12

The splendor of the sun, which dissipates the darkness of this whole world, comes from Me. And the splendor of the moon and the splendor of fire are also from Me.

Verse 13

I enter into each planet, and by My energy they stay in orbit. I become the moon and thereby supply the juice of life to all vegetables.

Verse 14

I am the fire of digestion in every living body, and I am the air of life, outgoing and incoming, by which I digest the four kinds of foodstuff.

Verse 15

I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas am I to be known; indeed I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.

Verse 16

There are two classes of beings, the fallible and the infallible. In the material world every entity is fallible, and in the spiritual world every entity is called infallible.

Verse 17

Besides these two, there is the greatest living personality, the Lord Himself, who has entered into these worlds and is maintaining them.

Verse 18

Because I am transcendental, beyond both the fallible and the infallible, and because I am the greatest, I am celebrated both in the world and in the Vedas as that Supreme Person.

Verse 19

Whoever knows Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, without doubting, is to be understood as the knower of everything, and he therefore engages himself in full devotional service, O son of Bharata.

Verse 20

This is the most confidential part of the Vedic scriptures, O sinless one, and it is disclosed now by Me. Whoever understands this will become wise, and his endeavors will know perfection.

Chapter 15 The Yoga of the Supreme Person