BG 15.1
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.
छन्दांसि यस्य पर्णानि यस्तं वेद स वेदवित्
This highly philosophical chapter of the Gita opens with a reference to the sacred Ashvattham tree which grows upside-down. This tree of saṃsāra (material existence) is nourished by a divine supreme personality, sprouts leaves of sacred wisdom, and is conjoined with the material world through the senses.
Why the Asvattha tree?
The Asvattha tree represents that which does not endure to the next day, i.e. the impermanence of nature and constancy of change.
Just as leaves protect and nourish a tree, the Vedic hymns protect and nourish the sacred Ashvattham tree.
In Verse 2.3.1 of the Katha Upanishad, the god of death Yama describes the eternal Asvattha tree with its root upwards, and branches downwards, as the pure immortal Brahman in which all these worlds are situated, and beyond which there is nothing else.
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श्रीभगवानुवाच
śhrī-bhagavān uvācha — Krishna said
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śhrī — holy, blessed
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bhagavān — God, Lord
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uvācha — said
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ūrdhva-mūlam — with roots above
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ūrdhva
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mūlam
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adhaḥ-śhākham — branches below
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adhaḥ
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śhākham
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aśhvatthaṁ — sacred fig tree
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prāhur — it is said
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avyayam — eternal
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chhandānsi — Vedic mantras
In the Vedas, they speak of a cosmic rhythm chhandānsi, by which the entire universe is born and moves. -
yasya — of which
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parṇāni — leaves
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yas — anyone
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taṁ — that
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veda — knows
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sa — they
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veda-vit — the knower of the Vedas
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veda
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vit
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Similar verses
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Of the trees, I am the sacred fig tree. Among the divine seers, I am Narada. Among the heavenly singers, I am Chitraratha. Among the sages, I am Kapila.
- Verse 10.26
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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 15.2