The fifteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is Purushottama Yoga. In Sanskrit, Purusha means the All-pervading God, and Purushottam means the timeless & transcendental aspect of God. Krishna reveals that the purpose of this Transcendental knowledge of the God is to detach ourselves from the bondage of the material world and to understand Krishna as the Supreme Divine Personality, who is the eternal controller and sustainer of the world. One who understands this Ultimate Truth surrenders to Him and engages in His devotional service.
śrībhagavānuvāca .
ūrdhvamūlamadhaḥśākhamaśvatthaṃ prāhuravyayam .
chandāṃsi yasya parṇāni yastaṃ veda sa vedavit ||15-1||
Simple English
Primary Translation
Krishna said: The wise speak of an imperishable ashvattha tree with its roots above and branches below, whose leaves are the Vedic hymns. One who knows this tree knows the Vedas.
Its branches spread upward and downward, nourished by the three gunas, with sense objects as its shoots. And its roots stretch downward into the human world, binding people through action.
न रूपमस्येह तथोपलभ्यते नान्तो न चादिर्न च सम्प्रतिष्ठा |
अश्वत्थमेनं सुविरूढमूलं असङ्गशस्त्रेण दृढेन छित्त्वा ||१५-३||
na rūpamasyeha tathopalabhyate nānto na cādirna ca sampratiṣṭhā .
aśvatthamenaṃ suvirūḍhamūlaṃ asaṅgaśastreṇa dṛḍhena chittvā ||15-3||
Simple English
Primary Translation
Its true form is not perceived here, nor its end, nor its beginning, nor its foundation. Cut down this deeply rooted ashvattha tree with the strong sword of detachment.
After that, seek out the place from which those who go there do not return again. Take refuge in that original Person alone, from whom all ancient activity has flowed.
Those who are free from pride and delusion, who have overcome the fault of attachment, who are constantly devoted to the self, whose desires have fallen away, who are released from the pairs of opposites called pleasure and pain, the undeluded reach that imperishable state.
An eternal portion of me becomes the individual soul in the world of the living. It draws to itself the five senses and the mind, which rest in nature.
The deluded do not see him when he is leaving the body, dwelling in it, or experiencing objects while associated with the gunas. Those with the eye of knowledge see him.
Yogis who strive see him dwelling within themselves. But those who have not purified themselves, even though they strive, do not see him for lack of discernment.
Taking the form of Vaishvanara, the digestive fire, I reside in the bodies of living beings. Joined with the incoming and outgoing breath, I digest the four kinds of food.
I am seated in the heart of all. From me come memory, knowledge, and their removal. I alone am what all the Vedas seek to know. I am the author of Vedanta and I know the Vedas.
dvāvimau puruṣau loke kṣaraścākṣara eva ca .
kṣaraḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni kūṭastho.akṣara ucyate ||15-16||
Simple English
Primary Translation
There are two persons in the world: the perishable and the imperishable. All beings are the perishable. The one who stands unchanged is called the imperishable.