Main Points of the Discourse:
- The tree of Samsara and the way to attain God. (1-6)
- Enquiry into Jivatma. (7-11)
- The universal Existence of God, and the power of the Lord. (12-15)
- Explanation of the Ksharapurusha and Aksharapurusha and Purushottama. (16-20)
Verses 1 to 20
- The Lord said: They speak of an imperishable Aśvattha Tree with its root above and branches below. Its leaves are the Vedas, and he who knows it knows the Vedas. (15.1)
- Above and below spread its branches, nourished by the gunas. Sense-objects are its buds; and its clustering roots spread downward in the world of men, giving rise to action. (15.2)
- Its true form is not comprehended here, nor its end, nor its origin, nor even its existence. Having cut down this firm-rooted Aśvattha with the strong axe of detachment, one should pray, “I take refuge in that Primal Being from whom has streamed forth this eternal activity,” and seek that Goal from which they who have reached it never return. (15.3-15.4)
- Free from pride and delusion, having conquered the evil of attachment, ever devoted to the Supreme Self, with desires completely stilled, liberated from the pairs of opposites known as pleasure and pain, the undeluded reach that Immutable Goal. (15.5)
- Neither the sun, nor the moon, nor the fire can illumine that (state of Paramatma), which having reached, (men) do not return (take birth again); That is My Supreme Abode. (15.6)
- Only a portion of My eternal Self has become the soul (Jiva) in the world of livings; he (the Jiva) draws (to itself) with mind as the sixth sense, the five senses, abiding in Prakriti. (15.7)
- When the lord acquires a body, and when he leaves it, he takes these with him and goes on his way, as the wind carries away the scents from their places. (15.8)
- Presiding over the ear and the eye, the organs of touch, taste, and smell, and also over the mind, he experiences sense-objects. (15.9)
- The deluded do not perceive him when he departs from the body or dwells in it, when he experiences objects or is united with the gunas; but they who have the eye of wisdom perceive him. (15.10)
- Those who strive, armed with yoga, behold him dwelling within themselves; but the undisciplined and the thoughtless do not perceive him, though they strive. (15.11)
- The light that is in the sun and illumines the whole universe, the light that is in the moon and is likewise in fire— know that light to be Mine. (15.12)
- Entering the earth, I sustain all beings by My energy, and becoming the sapid moon, I nourish all herbs. (15.13)
- As the fire Vaishvānara I enter into the bodies of all living creatures, and mingling with the upward and downward breaths, I digest the four kinds of food. (15.14)
- And I am seated in the hearts of all; from Me are memory and knowledge, and their loss as well. It is I alone who am to be known through all the Vedas; I am indeed the Author of Vedānta and the Knower of the Vedas. (15.15)
- There are two beings in the world: the Perishable and the Imperishable. The Perishable comprises all creatures, and the Imperishable is said to be the Unchanging. (15.16)
- But there is another Being, the Highest, called the Supreme Self, who, as the Immutable, pervades and sustains the three worlds. (15.17)
- As I surpass the Perishable and as I am higher even than the Imperishable, I am extolled in the world and in the Vedas as the Supreme Self. (15.18)
- He who, undeluded, knows Me thus as the Supreme Self— he knows all, Ο Bhārata, and he worships Me with all his heart. (15.19)
- Thus, Ο sinless one, has this most profound teaching been imparted by Me. By knowing it a man becomes wise, Ο Bhārata, and fulfills all his duties. (15.20)
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