Commentary on the Bhagavadgita : 21 - Swami Krishnananda.

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Saturday, February 19, 2022. 20:00

Discourse 42 :

Chapter-15 Begins: The world as an Inverted Tree.

POST-21.

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Chapter-15. Slokam-2.

Adhaś cordhvaṁ prasṛtās tasya śākhā guṇapravṛddhā  viṣayapravālāḥ, adhaś ca mūlānyanusaṁtatāni karmānubandhīni manuṣyaloke (15.2): 

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The branches of this tree are spread out in all directions, both above and below, and these branches have become very stout, being fed with the food of the three gunas of prakriti—sattva, rajas and tamas, which are the diet for this tree; and all the fine leaves which are shining at the end of these branches, which are attractive to the senses, are the objects of perception: viṣayapravālāḥ.

Adhaś ca mūlānyanusaṁtatāni karmānubandhīni manuṣyaloke: At the base of this manifested form, as the branches  spread out everywhere originating from the root, which is above, there are the individuals on this earth plane of human beings, manuṣyaloke, who are bound by the cord of karma. The farther one moves from the root, the more is one bound. The gunas of prakriti bind more and more tightly as consciousness moves further and further from the root.

Na rūpam asyeha tathopalabhyate (15.3): 

We cannot have a clear concept of the form of this tree. It is so widespread and so large in its dimension that our two eyes cannot actually see its extent. We see only a little bit of this vast universal tree, the whole of which nobody can see because of our limited perceptive faculties.It has no beginning, and no end. We cannot know from where this tree has started, and we cannot know where it ends, because it spreads itself in all directions throughout space. Its origin, its sustenance, is also something very indescribable. Nānto na cādir na ca saṁpratiṣṭhā: Nothing about it can be known. It exists like a chronic disease whose origin is not easy to detect but is known to exist on account of the trouble it creates. 

Aśvattham enaṁ suvirūḍhamūlaṁ asaṅgaśastreṇa dṛḍhena chittvā (15.3); 

tataḥ padaṁ tatparimārgitavyaṁ (15.4):

This kind of tree, terrible as it looks, though imperceptible to the eyes, beginningless and endless though it may seem, has to be felled with the axe of detachment. If we are not attached to the manifestations of this tree, then the qualities, or the gunas of prakriti, that are feeding this tree through its branches will not affect us.

To be continued ....

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