(The Yoga of the Supreme Person)
The air is calm.
The armies still wait.
But within the chariot, Krishna paints a picture that explains the entire universe.
And Arjuna listens with unwavering attention.
The Upside-Down Tree
Krishna describes a mysterious tree — the Ashvattha tree.
Its roots are above.
Its branches spread downward.
Its leaves are the Vedic hymns.
Its branches extend into the world of action.
Its roots bind the soul through attachment.
This tree represents worldly existence.
Why are the roots above?
Because the source of creation lies in the Supreme.
The visible world is only an extension.
What we see below
is sustained by what exists above.
The Web of Attachment
The branches grow nourished by the three gunas —
Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas.
From them sprout desires.
From desires — action.
From action — karma.
From karma — rebirth.
Thus the soul wanders endlessly
through the branches of this cosmic tree.
Lost in its maze.
Cutting the Tree
Krishna gives a startling instruction.
This tree cannot be fully understood
by mere observation.
It must be cut down.
With what?
The axe of detachment.
Freedom from ego.
Freedom from desire.
Freedom from clinging.
Only then can one seek the original source.
The Supreme abode
from which there is no return.
The Two Purushas
Krishna now distinguishes between:
The perishable being — bound in matter.
The imperishable soul — the individual self.
But above both stands the Supreme Person — the Purushottama.
Krishna declares:
“I transcend both the perishable and the imperishable.
Therefore I am known as the Supreme Person.”
He is beyond nature.
Beyond even the individual soul.
The ultimate refuge.
The Inner Presence
Krishna reminds Arjuna:
“I dwell in the heart of all beings.”
He is:
The source of memory.
The source of knowledge.
The source of forgetfulness.
He digests food as the fire within.
He is the light in the sun and moon.
Nothing functions without Him.
The Final Clarity of This Chapter
The one who understands this truth —
Knows the essence of all scriptures.
Knows the purpose of life.
Knows the Supreme.
And becomes free.
Chapter 15 ends with powerful simplicity.
The world is a tree.
Attachment is the root of bondage.
Detachment leads upward.
And beyond all — stands the Supreme Person.
But Krishna is not finished.
Now He will describe the qualities that lead upward —
and those that drag the soul downward.
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