Khushal Jethava Gita Gyan · Chapter 15 of 18
पुरुषोत्तमयोग
The Yoga of the Supreme Person · 20 verses
A short, dense chapter, often chanted before meals. The world is an eternal tree with its roots above and its branches below; cut it with the axe of detachment and seek the place no sun lights. The soul is an eternal fragment of God, carrying the senses from body to body as the wind carries scent. And beyond both the perishable and the imperishable is the Supreme Person, Purushottama.
Verses 15.1–15.6
The world is an ashvattha tree with its roots above in the source and its branches spreading below, its leaves the Vedic hymns (15.1). No one sees where it begins or ends. Cut it down with the strong axe of detachment, and seek the place that neither sun nor moon nor fire lights (15.6).
Krishna said
ऊर्ध्वमूलमधःशाखमश्वत्थं प्राहुरव्ययम्।
छन्दांसि यस्य पर्णानि यस्तं वेद स वेदवित् ॥
ūrdhvamūlamadhaḥśākhamaśvatthaṃ prāhuravyayam
chandāṃsi yasya parṇāni yastaṃ veda sa vedavit
They speak of an imperishable ashvattha tree with its roots above and its branches below; its leaves are the Vedic hymns. Whoever knows it knows the Vedas.
अधश्चोर्ध्वं प्रसृतास्तस्य शाखा गुणप्रवृद्धा विषयप्रवालाः।
अधश्च मूलान्यनुसन्ततानि कर्मानुबन्धीनि मनुष्यलोके ॥
adhaścordhvaṃ prasṛtāstasya śākhā guṇapravṛddhā viṣayapravālāḥ
adhaśca mūlānyanusantatāni karmānubandhīni manuṣyaloke
Its branches spread below and above, nourished by the qualities, its buds the objects of the senses; and below, its roots stretch out, binding to action in the world of men.
न रूपमस्येह तथोपलभ्यते नान्तो न चादिर्न च संप्रतिष्ठा।
अश्वत्थमेनं सुविरूढमूल मसङ्गशस्त्रेण दृढेन छित्त्वा ॥
na rūpamasyeha tathopalabhyate nānto na cādirna ca saṃpratiṣṭhā
aśvatthamenaṃ suvirūḍhamūla masaṅgaśastreṇa dṛḍhena chittvā
Its real form is not seen here, nor its end, nor its beginning, nor its foundation. Cutting down this firmly rooted ashvattha with the strong axe of detachment,
ततः पदं तत्परिमार्गितव्य यस्मिन्गता न निवर्तन्ति भूयः।
तमेव चाद्यं पुरुषं प्रपद्ये यतः प्रवृत्तिः प्रसृता पुराणी ॥
tataḥ padaṃ tatparimārgitavya yasmingatā na nivartanti bhūyaḥ
tameva cādyaṃ puruṣaṃ prapadye yataḥ pravṛttiḥ prasṛtā purāṇī
one should then seek that place from which, once reached, no one returns, thinking: "I take refuge in that primal Person from whom this ancient stream of activity flowed forth."
निर्मानमोहा जितसङ्गदोषा अध्यात्मनित्या विनिवृत्तकामाः।
द्वन्द्वैर्विमुक्ताः सुखदुःखसंज्ञै र्गच्छन्त्यमूढाः पदमव्ययं तत् ॥
nirmānamohā jitasaṅgadoṣā adhyātmanityā vinivṛttakāmāḥ
dvandvairvimuktāḥ sukhaduḥkhasaṃjñai rgacchantyamūḍhāḥ padamavyayaṃ tat
Without pride or delusion, having conquered the fault of attachment, always dwelling in the Self, desires turned away, freed from the pairs of opposites known as pleasure and pain, the undeluded reach that eternal state.
न तद्भासयते सूर्यो न शशाङ्को न पावकः।
यद्गत्वा न निवर्तन्ते तद्धाम परमं मम ॥
na tadbhāsayate sūryo na śaśāṅko na pāvakaḥ
yadgatvā na nivartante taddhāma paramaṃ mama
Neither the sun, nor the moon, nor fire lights it up. Having gone there, they do not return. That is my supreme abode.
Verses 15.7–15.11
The living soul is an eternal fragment of Krishna (15.7). It gathers the senses and the mind, and when it leaves one body for another it carries them along, the way the wind carries scent from a flower (15.8). The deluded don't see it; those with the eye of knowledge do.
ममैवांशो जीवलोके जीवभूतः सनातनः।
मनःषष्ठानीन्द्रियाणि प्रकृतिस्थानि कर्षति ॥
mamaivāṃśo jīvaloke jīvabhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
manaḥṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛtisthāni karṣati
An eternal fragment of myself, becoming a living soul in the world of living beings, draws to itself the senses, with the mind as the sixth, which rest in nature.
शरीरं यदवाप्नोति यच्चाप्युत्क्रामतीश्वरः।
गृहीत्वैतानि संयाति वायुर्गन्धानिवाशयात् ॥
śarīraṃ yadavāpnoti yaccāpyutkrāmatīśvaraḥ
gṛhītvaitāni saṃyāti vāyurgandhānivāśayāt
When the lord takes on a body and when it leaves it, it takes these along and goes, as the wind carries scents away from their source.
श्रोत्रं चक्षुः स्पर्शनं च रसनं घ्राणमेव च।
अधिष्ठाय मनश्चायं विषयानुपसेवते ॥
śrotraṃ cakṣuḥ sparśanaṃ ca rasanaṃ ghrāṇameva ca
adhiṣṭhāya manaścāyaṃ viṣayānupasevate
Presiding over hearing, sight, touch, taste and smell, and over the mind, it enjoys the objects of the senses.
उत्क्रामन्तं स्थितं वापि भुञ्जानं वा गुणान्वितम्।
विमूढा नानुपश्यन्ति पश्यन्ति ज्ञानचक्षुषः ॥
utkrāmantaṃ sthitaṃ vāpi bhuñjānaṃ vā guṇānvitam
vimūḍhā nānupaśyanti paśyanti jñānacakṣuṣaḥ
The deluded do not see it departing, staying, or enjoying while joined with the qualities; those with the eye of knowledge see it.
यतन्तो योगिनश्चैनं पश्यन्त्यात्मन्यवस्थितम्।
यतन्तोऽप्यकृतात्मानो नैनं पश्यन्त्यचेतसः ॥
yatanto yoginaścainaṃ paśyantyātmanyavasthitam
yatanto'pyakṛtātmāno nainaṃ paśyantyacetasaḥ
Striving yogis see it dwelling in themselves; but the unthinking, whose selves are unformed, do not see it even though they strive.
Verses 15.12–15.15
The light of the sun, the moon and fire is his. Entering the earth he sustains all beings; as the nectar-filled moon he nourishes the plants (15.13); as the fire of life he digests food. He sits in every heart, the source of memory and knowledge, and of forgetting too.
यदादित्यगतं तेजो जगद्भासयतेऽखिलम्।
यच्चन्द्रमसि यच्चाग्नौ तत्तेजो विद्धि मामकम् ॥
yadādityagataṃ tejo jagadbhāsayate'khilam
yaccandramasi yaccāgnau tattejo viddhi māmakam
The light in the sun that lights up the whole world, the light in the moon and the light in fire: know that light to be mine.
गामाविश्य च भूतानि धारयाम्यहमोजसा।
पुष्णामि चौषधीः सर्वाः सोमो भूत्वा रसात्मकः ॥
gāmāviśya ca bhūtāni dhārayāmyahamojasā
puṣṇāmi cauṣadhīḥ sarvāḥ somo bhūtvā rasātmakaḥ
Entering the earth, I sustain all beings with my energy; becoming the nectar-filled moon, I nourish all the plants.
अहं वैश्वानरो भूत्वा प्राणिनां देहमाश्रितः।
प्राणापानसमायुक्तः पचाम्यन्नं चतुर्विधम् ॥
ahaṃ vaiśvānaro bhūtvā prāṇināṃ dehamāśritaḥ
prāṇāpānasamāyuktaḥ pacāmyannaṃ caturvidham
Becoming the fire of life in the bodies of living beings, joined with the in-breath and out-breath, I digest the four kinds of food.
सर्वस्य चाहं हृदि सन्निविष्टो मत्तः स्मृतिर्ज्ञानमपोहनं च।
वेदैश्च सर्वैरहमेव वेद्यो वेदान्तकृद्वेदविदेव चाहम् ॥
sarvasya cāhaṃ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtirjñānamapohanaṃ ca
vedaiśca sarvairahameva vedyo vedāntakṛdvedavideva cāham
I am seated in the hearts of all; from me come memory, knowledge and their loss. I am what is to be known in all the Vedas; I am the author of Vedanta and the knower of the Vedas.
Verses 15.16–15.20
There are two persons in the world: the perishable, which is all beings, and the imperishable, which never changes. Beyond both is the Supreme Person, who enters and sustains the three worlds (15.16–18). Whoever knows this knows all, and has done all there is to do.
द्वाविमौ पुरुषौ लोके क्षरश्चाक्षर एव च।
क्षरः सर्वाणि भूतानि कूटस्थोऽक्षर उच्यते ॥
dvāvimau puruṣau loke kṣaraścākṣara eva ca
kṣaraḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni kūṭastho'kṣara ucyate
There are two persons in this world, the perishable and the imperishable. All beings are the perishable; the unchanging is called the imperishable.
उत्तमः पुरुषस्त्वन्यः परमात्मेत्युदाहृतः।
यो लोकत्रयमाविश्य बिभर्त्यव्यय ईश्वरः ॥
uttamaḥ puruṣastvanyaḥ paramātmetyudāhṛtaḥ
yo lokatrayamāviśya bibhartyavyaya īśvaraḥ
But there is another, the highest Person, called the supreme Self, who, entering the three worlds as the undying Lord, sustains them.
यस्मात्क्षरमतीतोऽहमक्षरादपि चोत्तमः।
अतोऽस्मि लोके वेदे च प्रथितः पुरुषोत्तमः ॥
yasmātkṣaramatīto'hamakṣarādapi cottamaḥ
ato'smi loke vede ca prathitaḥ puruṣottamaḥ
Since I am beyond the perishable and higher even than the imperishable, I am celebrated in the world and in the Veda as Purushottama, the Supreme Person.
यो मामेवमसम्मूढो जानाति पुरुषोत्तमम्।
स सर्वविद्भजति मां सर्वभावेन भारत ॥
yo māmevamasammūḍho jānāti puruṣottamam
sa sarvavidbhajati māṃ sarvabhāvena bhārata
Whoever, undeluded, knows me in this way as the Supreme Person knows all, and worships me with their whole being, Bharata.
इति गुह्यतमं शास्त्रमिदमुक्तं मयाऽनघ।
एतद्बुद्ध्वा बुद्धिमान्स्यात्कृतकृत्यश्च भारत ॥
iti guhyatamaṃ śāstramidamuktaṃ mayā'nagha
etadbuddhvā buddhimānsyātkṛtakṛtyaśca bhārata
So this most secret teaching has been told by me, sinless one. Understanding it, one becomes wise and has done all there is to do, Bharata.