Verse 1
Krishna said: They speak of a sacred fig tree whose roots grow upward and branches downward, and whose leaves are the Vedic mantras. One who understands this tree is a knower of the Vedas.
BG 15.1 - 20
Verse 2
The branches of this tree spread high and low, nourished by the Gunas, with buds that are objects of the senses, and roots bound to the human world by karma.
Verse 3
The form of this tree cannot be perceived, nor can its beginning or end. One must cut this tree with a strong axe of detachment.
Verse 4
Then one should find that place where one goes to never return, taking refuge in the primal spirit from whom this ancient creation streamed forth.
Verse 5
Free from vanity, delusion, and attachment, with a mind that dwells constantly in the self, renounced of desire and liberated from the duality of pleasure and pain, one attains that eternal abode.
Verse 6
Neither the sun nor the moon can illuminate this supreme abode where one goes to never return.
Verse 7
The embodied souls in this world are my fragments, bound into material nature by the five senses and the mind.
Verse 8
As the embodied soul enters and leaves bodies, it carries these with them like the wind carries scents from place to place.
Verse 9
Presiding over the ears, eyes, skin, tongue, nose, and mind, it savors the objects of the senses.
Verse 10
The ignorant do not perceive the soul as it resides in the body, nor as it experiences the body and departs the body. But those who possess the eyes of knowledge can behold it.
Verse 11
With great effort, the diligent saint perceives the soul enshrined within the body. However, those whose minds are not purified cannot cognize it, even though they strive to do so.
Verse 12
Know that I am like the brilliance of the sun, illuminating the whole world. The light of the moon and the fire are also from me.
Verse 13
I permeate the Earth and sustain all living beings with my energy. I nourish all the plants and become the juice of life.
Verse 14
I am situated within all living beings as the digestive fire, and digest the various types of foods in balance with the incoming and outgoing breath.
Verse 15
I am seated in the heart of all. From me come memory, knowledge, and forgetfulness. I alone am what is to be known by the Vedas, and I alone am the knower of the Vedas.
Verse 16
There are two kinds of beings in this world - perishable and imperishable. All beings are perishable, but the liberated are said to be imperishable.
Verse 17
Besides these, there is a supreme divine personality - a supreme indestructible soul that enters the three worlds to support them.
Verse 18
I have transcended the perishable world, and am also above the imperishable one - hence, I am celebrated in the Vedas as the supreme divine personality.
Verse 19
One who knows me without a doubt to be the supreme self, worships me with the totality of their being.
Verse 20
These most secret Vedic scriptures have thus been imparted to you, Arjuna. By understanding this, one will gain true wisdom and fulfillment of their duties.
