The Bhagavad Gita · 1 of 1 · tr. Kashinath Trimbak Telang
Chapter XV, Section 1
CHAPTER XV. The Deity said: They say the inexhaustible A s vattha has (its) roots above, (its) branches below; the Kh andas are its leaves. He who knows it knows the Vedas. Upwards and downwards extend its branches, which are enlarged by the qualities, and the sprouts of which are sensuous objects. And downwards to this human world are continued its roots which lead on to action. Its form is not thus known here, nor (its) end, nor beginning, nor support. But having with the firm weapon of unconcern, cut this A s vattha, whose roots are firmly fixed, then should one seek for that seat from which those that go there never return, (thinking) that one rests on that same primal being from whom the ancient course (of worldly life) emanated. Those who are free from pride and delusion, who have overcome the evils of attachment, who are constant in (contemplating) the relation of the supreme and individual self, from whom desire has departed, who are free from the pairs (of opposites) called pleasure and pain, go undeluded to that imperishable seat . The sun does not light it, nor the moon, nor fire . That is my highest abode, going to which none returns. An eternal portion of me it is, which, becoming an individual soul in the mortal world, draws (to itself) the senses with the mind as the sixth . Whenever the ruler (of the bodily frame) obtains or quits a body, he goes taking these (with him) as the wind (takes) perfumes from (their) seats . And presiding over the senses of hearing and seeing, and touch, and taste, and smell, and the mind, he enjoys sensuous objects. Those who are deluded do not see (him) remaining in or quitting (a body), enjoying or joined to the qualities ; they see, who have eyes of knowledge. Devotees making efforts perceive him abiding within their selfs . But those whose selfs have not been refined, and who have no discernment, do not perceive him even (after) making efforts. Know that glory (to be) mine which, dwelling in the sun, lights up the whole world, or in the moon or fire . [paragraph continues] Entering the earth , I by my power support all things; and becoming the juicy moon, I nourish all herbs. I becoming the fire, and dwelling in the bodies of (all) creatures, and united with the upward and downward life-breaths, cause digestion of the fourfold food . And I am placed in the heart of all ; from me (come) memory, knowledge, and their removal; I alone am to be learnt from all the Vedas; I am the author of the Vedântas ; and I alone know the Vedas. There are these two beings in the world, the destructible and the indestructible . The destructible (includes) all things. The unconcerned one is (what is) called the indestructible. But the being supreme is yet another, called the highest self, who as the inexhaustible lord, pervading the three worlds, supports (them). And since I transcend the destructible, and since I am higher also than the indestructible , therefore am I celebrated in the world and in the Vedas as the best of beings. He who, undeluded, thus knows me the best of beings, worships me every way , O descendant of Bharata! knowing everything. Thus, O sinless one! have I proclaimed this most mysterious science. He who knows this, has done all he need do, and he becomes possessed of discernment.
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
The supreme seat is described by what it is not: 'The sun does not light it, nor the moon, nor fire,' and its form, end, beginning, and support are unknown.
Eckhart's Abgeschiedenheit/Gelassenheit — radical letting-go of will, image, and grasping that opens the soul to God; distinct from inner_silence (quietness) and from material renunciation, and adjacent to Sufi tark and Buddhist non-grasping as a practice rather than a metaphysical claim.
The text instructs the seeker to cut the tree with the 'firm weapon of unconcern' and describes the liberated as those free from attachment and desire.
Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.
The Deity claims active agency in supporting all things, nourishing herbs, causing digestion, and providing memory and knowledge.
Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.
Salvation is repeatedly linked to 'knowing' the tree, the supreme self, and the divine nature, with those who have 'eyes of knowledge' seeing what others miss.
Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.
The passage is introduced as 'this most mysterious science' known only to the undeluded and those with discernment, implying an esoteric layer of truth.
The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.
The text urges the seeker to cut the tree of worldly existence and seek the 'imperishable seat' from which one never returns, signifying a final return to the primal being.
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
The Deity declares 'I am placed in the heart of all' and identifies as the source of memory, knowledge, and the Vedas, asserting a non-dual presence within all existence.
A vertical structure connecting cosmic levels — a tree, pillar, mountain, or ladder linking heaven, earth, and underworld around which the cosmos is organised. Yggdrasil binding the Nine Worlds in Norse cosmology, the Kalevala's Sampo as world-pillar, the Mayan ceiba, the Vedic Aśvattha, the shamanic central tree of Eliade's analyses. Cosmic-structural in character: distinct from sefirot_tree (a kabbalistic emanation diagram) and emanation_hierarchy (an ontological cascade); world_tree_axis is the cosmos's spine rather than the divine's outflow.
The passage opens with the central metaphor of the Aśvattha tree with roots above and branches below, explicitly described as the cosmic structure connecting the divine realm to the human world.