Chapter 15 — The Yoga of the Supreme Person

The Supreme Person and the Aśhvattha Tree of Material Existence

15.1

The Supreme Lord said: They speak of the eternal Aśhvattha tree,With roots above and branches below, spreading endlessly.

Its leaves are the Vedic hymns, bearing sacred knowledge together;One who truly knows this tree becomes a knower of the Vedas.

15.2

Its branches extend upward and downward, nourished by nature’s three modes,While objects of the senses form its tender twigs and growing nodes.

Its roots also spread downward into the world of humankind,Binding the embodied soul through karma of every kind.

15.3–15.4

The true form of this tree cannot be perceived in this worldly domain;Neither its beginning, its end, nor its foundation can one ascertain.

With the strong axe of detachment, this deeply rooted tree must be hewn;Then seek that Supreme Abode, beyond the world’s changing moon.

Having reached that state, one never returns to this world again;Take refuge in the Primeval Lord, from whom creation’s ancient course began.

15.5

Those free from pride and delusion, who attachment have overcome,Who dwell constantly in spiritual wisdom and toward the Supreme have come;

Free from sensual desires and the dualities of pleasure and pain,Such liberated souls reach that eternal Abode and do not return again.

15.6

Neither the sun nor the moon nor fire can illumine that Abode of Mine;It shines beyond material radiance with its own eternal light divine.

Having reached that Supreme Abode, one does not return anymore;The soul transcends this material world and reaches the eternal shore.

15.7

The embodied souls in this material world are eternal fragments of Me,Yet bound by material nature, they struggle continually.

With the six senses, including the restless mind,They strive within the limitations of the material bind.

15.8

As the wind carries fragrance from flowers from place to place,So the embodied soul moves onward when changing its bodily case.

Leaving one body and entering another along its destined course,It carries the mind and senses with it through nature’s force.

15.9

Presiding over hearing, sight, touch, taste, and smell,Along with the mind, within the body does the soul dwell.

Through these senses, the embodied soul experiences objects around,And thus within material nature its worldly experiences abound.

15.10

The ignorant cannot perceive the soul dwelling within or departing,Nor can they understand its experience of objects while the senses are acting.

But those endowed with the eyes of knowledge clearly perceive. The soul’s presence and journey, which wisdom enables them to conceive.

15.11

Striving yogis perceive the soul dwelling within their frame,Through purified awareness they realize its spiritual nature and aim.

But those whose minds and hearts remain impure and unaware. Cannot perceive the soul, despite all the effort they may spare.

15.12

Know that the brilliance of the sun illuminating the entire world. Comes from Me, by whose radiance the light of creation is unfurled.

The radiance of the moon and the brightness within the fireAlso arise from Me, their eternal and divine source entire.

15.13

Entering the earth, I sustain all beings by My power divine;Through My energy, all creatures are supported over time.

Becoming the nourishing moon, I nurture every herb and plant,Filling vegetation with life-giving essence through the power I grant.

15.14

Becoming the digestive fire within the bodies of living beings,I join with the incoming and outgoing breaths in all their workings.

Thus I digest the four kinds of food that living beings consume;Through My power, nourishment within every body finds room.

15.15

I am seated within the hearts of all living beings everywhere;From Me arise memory, knowledge, and forgetfulness there.

I alone am that which all the Vedas seek to reveal;I am the author of Vedānta and the knower of the Vedas’ meaning real.

15.16

Two kinds of beings are described in this world — the perishable and imperishable;All embodied beings are perishable, while the unchanging is called imperishable.

One belongs to the realm where forms continually transform and change;The other remains unchanging, beyond that mutable range.

15.17

Beyond these two exists another — the Supreme Person, the Supreme Soul,The imperishable Lord who enters the three worlds and sustains the whole.

As the eternal Controller, He supports creation everywhere;The unchanging Supreme Lord sustains all beings in His care.

15.18

I transcend the perishable and am higher than the imperishable too;Therefore, as Purushottama — the Supreme Person — I am known as true.

In the Vedas and throughout the world, this name of Mine is renowned:The Supreme Person beyond the perishable and imperishable am I found.

15.19

One who, free from delusion, knows Me as Purushottama, the Supreme Divine,Truly knows the highest truth and understands this nature of Mine.

O descendant of Bharata, such a person worships Me wholeheartedly,With complete devotion and loving surrender, fully and faithfully.

15.20

O sinless Arjuna, this most profound and secret teaching I have revealed;Understanding it, a person becomes wise as its highest truth is unveiled.

One who realizes this wisdom becomes fulfilled in all that is to be done,Enlightened in understanding, life’s highest purpose has been won.