Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 15: Puruṣottama Yoga
Twenty verses. The ashvattha tree of worldly existence with its roots above and branches below, cutting it with the axe of non-attachment, the supreme abode that neither sun nor moon can light, and the Purushottama beyond the perishable and the imperishable are here.
Tap any verse card to open its page with the word-by-word meaning. Pages are ready for every verse of this chapter.
ūrdhvamūlamadhaḥśākhamaśvatthaṃ prāhuravyayam|
chandāṃsi yasya parṇāni yastaṃ veda sa vedavit || 1 ||Meaning of verse 15.1 →2adhaścordhvaṃ prasṛtāstasya śākhā guṇapravṛddhā viṣayapravālāḥ|
adhaśca mūlānyanusantatāni karmānubandhīni manuṣyaloke || 2 ||Meaning of verse 15.2 →3na rūpamasyeha tathopalabhyate nānto na cādirna ca sampratiṣṭhā|
aśvatthamenaṃ suvirūḍhamūlamasaṅgaśastreṇa dṛḍhena chittvā || 3 ||Meaning of verse 15.3 →4tataḥ padaṃ tatparimārgitavyaṃ yasmingatā na nivartanti bhūyaḥ|
tameva cādyaṃ puruṣaṃ prapadye yataḥ pravṛttiḥ prasṛtā purāṇī || 4 ||Meaning of verse 15.4 →5nirmānamohā jitasaṅgadoṣā adhyātmanityā vinivṛttakāmāḥ|
dvandvairvimuktāḥ sukhaduḥkhasaṃjñairgacchantyamūḍhāḥ padamavyayaṃ tat || 5 ||Meaning of verse 15.5 →6na tadbhāsayate sūryo na śaśāṅko na pāvakaḥ|
yadgatvā na nivartante taddhāma paramaṃ mama || 6 ||Meaning of verse 15.6 →7mamaivāṃśo jīvaloke jīvabhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ|
manaḥṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛtisthāni karṣati || 7 ||Meaning of verse 15.7 →8śarīraṃ yadavāpnoti yaccāpyutkrāmatīśvaraḥ|
gṛhītvaitāni saṃyāti vāyurgandhānivāśayāt || 8 ||Meaning of verse 15.8 →9śrotraṃ cakṣuḥ sparśanaṃ ca rasanaṃ ghrāṇameva ca|
adhiṣṭhāya manaścāyaṃ viṣayānupasevate || 9 ||Meaning of verse 15.9 →10utkrāmantaṃ sthitaṃ vāpi bhuñjānaṃ vā guṇānvitam|
vimūḍhā nānupaśyanti paśyanti jñānacakṣuṣaḥ || 10 ||Meaning of verse 15.10 →11yatanto yoginaścainaṃ paśyantyātmanyavasthitam|
yatanto’pyakṛtātmāno nainaṃ paśyantyacetasaḥ || 11 ||Meaning of verse 15.11 →12yadādityagataṃ tejo jagadbhāsayate’khilam|
yaccandramasi yaccāgnau tattejo viddhi māmakam || 12 ||Meaning of verse 15.12 →13gāmāviśya ca bhūtāni dhārayāmyahamojasā|
puṣṇāmi cauṣadhīḥ sarvāḥ somo bhūtvā rasātmakaḥ || 13 ||Meaning of verse 15.13 →14ahaṃ vaiśvānaro bhūtvā prāṇināṃ dehamāśritaḥ|
prāṇāpānasamāyuktaḥ pacāmyannaṃ caturvidham || 14 ||Meaning of verse 15.14 →15sarvasya cāhaṃ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtirjñānamapohanaṃ ca|
vedaiśca sarvairahameva vedyo vedāntakṛdvedavideva cāham || 15 ||Meaning of verse 15.15 →16dvāvimau puruṣau loke kṣaraścākṣara eva ca|
kṣaraḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni kūṭastho’kṣara ucyate || 16 ||Meaning of verse 15.16 →17uttamaḥ puruṣastvanyaḥ paramātmetyudāhṛtaḥ|
yo lokatrayamāviśya bibhartyavyaya īśvaraḥ || 17 ||Meaning of verse 15.17 →18yasmātkṣaramatīto’hamakṣarādapi cottamaḥ|
ato’smi loke vede ca prathitaḥ puruṣottamaḥ || 18 ||Meaning of verse 15.18 →19yo māmevamasammūḍho jānāti puruṣottamam|
sa sarvavidbhajati māṃ sarvabhāvena bhārata || 19 ||Meaning of verse 15.19 →20iti guhyatamaṃ śāstramidamuktaṃ mayānagha|
etadbuddhvā buddhimānsyātkṛtakṛtyaśca bhārata || 20 ||Meaning of verse 15.20 →
oṃ tatsaditi śrīmadbhagavadgītāsūpaniṣatsu brahmavidyāyāṃ yogaśāstre śrīkṛṣṇārjunasaṃvāde puruṣottamayogo nāma pañcadaśo’dhyāyaḥ ||
About Puruṣottama Yoga
This is one of the shortest chapters of the Gita, and one recited before meals in many homes. In its last verse Krishna himself calls it ‘the most secret teaching’. Shankara says the essence of the whole Gita is gathered in it.
The chapter opens with an image from the Katha Upanishad: a peepal tree with its roots above and branches below. It must be cut down, and the state from which there is no return must be sought. Then come the jiva that passes from body to body, the Lord’s glories from the light of the sun to the fire of digestion, and finally the three persons: the perishable, the imperishable and the Purushottama.
How the chapter moves
- Verses 1 to 3: The upside-down ashvattha tree of worldly existence, with the Vedas as its leaves, and cutting it with the axe of non-attachment.
- Verses 4 to 6: Refuge in the primal Person, the marks of those who reach him, and the supreme abode that sun, moon and fire cannot light.
- Verses 7 to 11: The jiva, a fragment of me, how it carries the senses, and those who see it and those who do not.
- Verses 12 to 15: The radiance of sun, moon and fire, the power that bears the earth, the fire of digestion, the one in every heart.
- Verses 16 to 20: The perishable, the imperishable, and the Purushottama beyond both, and one who knows him has done all that is to be done.
Fragment, perishable, imperishable: three views
Shankara reads ‘mamaivamshah’ (15.7) as a fragment that appears through an adjunct, like the sun seen in water, while Ramanuja reads it as a real and eternal part. The ‘perishable’ and ‘imperishable’ (15.16) are for Shankara the mass of effects and the power of maya that is their seed, for Ramanuja the bound and the released selves, and for Madhva the beings from Brahma downward and prakriti, the principle of Shri. Where the others read the ‘lord’ of 15.8 as the jiva, Madhva reads it as the Lord himself.
These pages do not decide between the readings. Wherever the acharyas part, each position is recorded in its own terms.
About these pages
The text is that of the Gita Press edition. The verses in trishtubh metre (15.2 to 15.5 and 15.15) are given in two lines, as in the earlier chapters.
In this chapter the ‘For life today’ box links the image of the tree to habits and addictions, and the Lord’s glories to food, digestion, light and memory, and recalls eye donation too. The health notes are for general understanding only, and for personal problems a doctor’s advice is what counts.
Sources: several.
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