Word meanings
- śrī-bhagavān uvāca
- the Supreme Divine Personality said
- ūrdhva-mūlam
- with roots above
- adhaḥ
- downward
- śākham
- branches
- aśvattham
- the sacred fig tree
- prāhuḥ
- they speak
- avyayam
- eternal
- chandānsi
- Vedic mantras
- yasya
- of which
- parṇāni
- leaves
- yaḥ
- who
- tam
- that
- veda
- knows
- saḥ
- he
- veda-vit
- the knower of the Vedas
Translations
The Blessed Lord said: They (the wise) speak of the indestructible peepul tree, with its roots above and branches below, whose leaves are the meters or hymns; he who knows it is a knower of the Vedas.
Lord Shri Krishna continued: This phenomenal creation, which is both ephemeral and eternal, is like a tree, with its seed above in the Highest and its ramifications below on this earth. The scriptures are its leaves, and he who understands this knows.
The Blessed Lord said, "They say that the peepul tree, which has its roots upward and its branches downward, and of which the Vedas are the leaves, is imperishable. He who realizes it is a knower of the Vedas."
श्रीभगवान् बोले -- ऊपरकी ओर मूलवाले तथा नीचेकी ओर शाखावाले जिस संसाररूप अश्वत्थवृक्षको अव्यय कहते हैं और वेद जिसके पत्ते हैं, उस संसारवृक्षको जो जानता है, वह सम्पूर्ण वेदोंको जाननेवाला है।Commentary
The description of the universe as a peepul tree is only metaphorical. This peepul is said to be eternal because it cannot be cut except by the axe of knowledge. All persons depend upon the Lord for the fruits of their actions, because He alone knows the right relation between the actions and their fruits. He alone is the dispenser of the fruits of actions of human beings. The wise persons also depend upon the Lord for the fruit of their knowledge. The Lord alone removes the veil of ignorance through His grace and mercy.
The inclination for Advaita Vedantic Sadhana arises through the Lords grace. The desire for the realisation of the Oneness is produced in the minds of wise men by the grace of the Lord, which is the antidote to all fears. (Avadhuta Gita? I.1)Those who serve the Lord with unswerving or singleminded devotion go beyond the three alities of Nature through His grace. They attain knowledge of the Self through the grace of the Lord and get release from the round of birth and death. Those who have a right understanding of the real nature of Brahman or the Supreme Being also get emancipation easily.
The Lord teaches Arjuna in this discourse about the real nature of Brahman or the Supreme Self and the path that leads the soul to union with Him. The Lord describes the nature of Samsara or worldly life as a peepul tree in order to create nonattachment or dispassion, because he who is endowed with true and lasting dispassion alone is fit for attaining the knowledge of the Self. Samsara is compared to a tree. because it can be cut off like a tree. All the other trees have their roots below, but this peculiar, strange and most wonderful tree of Samsara (Maya) has its root above, in Brahman.
This peepul tree is different from all other trees. Brahman is the resting place or support of everything. It is eternal. It is great. It is the most high. It is the Supreme Being. It is supreme over all things. It is the source of everything. Therefore it is said that It is the One above. This One above is the root of this tree of Samsara. Brahan Who is superior to all is Urdhva. That which has Brahman as its cause is Urdhvamulam. In the Puranas it is said The tree of the Unmanifest has sprung from Brahman.
Buddhi is its trunk, the senseopenings are its hollows, the great elements its boughs, the senseobjects its leaves and branches? Dharma and Adhrama (virtue and vice) its beautiful flowers, pleasure and pain its fruits. Having cut asunder this tree with the powerful sword of the knowledge of the Self, and then having attained to the eternal bliss of Brahman, no one comes back from there again. Brahman is the root of this tree. It is the upper part of this tree and so It is called Urdhva.
In reality there are no distinctions such as upward, downward or middle in the One Which is the indivisible unity. The name Asvattha is usually derived from Asvattha which means not standing or enduring or remaining till tomorrow. A means not Sva means tomorrow Ttha means remaining. This is ite an appropriate word for this worldtree which is ever changing and passing away. In the Katha Upanishad also there is a mention about this Asvattha tree (II.6.1). The Gita is an essence of the Upanishads only.
Samsara is generally understood by the common people as meaning remaining surrounded by ones wife and children and doing ones daily duties. This is a restricted or narrow meaning. Samsara means the whole worldprocess or the cosmic manifestation or the everchanging phenomenal world. Hiranyagarbha, the individual souls, the cosmic intelligence, egoism, the rootelements, etc., represent the brancehs of this tree of Samsara. They extend downwards. They evolve into grosser and grosser states.
Therefore it is said that the tree has its branches below. Egoism is the sprout which goes downwards in three directions, viz., the three alities of Nature. Mind is the offshoot. Then come the five elements, viz., earth, water, fire, air and ether, and the five organs of knowledge. Then comes sound which stimulates the ears to hear sweet music. Then comes touch which stimulates the skin to enjoy soft things. Then comes form which stimultaes the eye to behold beautiful objects.
Then comes taste which stimulates the tongue to enjoy palatable things. Then comes smell which stimulates the nose to enjoy fragrant and scented objects. From the roots of actions with expectation of fruits a new branch of rirth comes up. The mineral kingdom, the vegetable kingdom, the animal kingdom and the human kingdom are all branches of this tree of Samsara. Man does good and evil actions with the help of the body and takes births to experience the fruits thereof. The human body is the water for this tree of Samsara.
The body itself is the peepul tree. The root is the cerrospinal nervous system (brain). The various nerves are the branches that ramify downwards to the various organs distributed over the body. Avyaya Eternal, because this tree rests on an unbroken seires of births without beginning and end it is thus eternal. It can be cut down by the sword of knowledge of Brahman. Just as the leaves of a tree protect it, so also the Vedas protect this tree of Samsara, treating of virtue and vice, with their causes and fruits.
He who knows this tree of Samsara and its roots as described above is a knower of the Vedas. He is a knower of the teachings of the Vedas. Not even an iota remains to be known beyond this tree of Samsara and its root. He who knows it is omniscient. The Lord has eulogised the knowledge of the tree of Samsara and its root in order to encourage aspirants to acire this knowledge.