Chapter 15 of the Bhagavad Gita is called Purushottama Yoga, the yoga of the highest person. It is one of the shortest chapters, with 20 verses, and it opens with one of the best known images in the poem: an ashvattha tree with its roots above and its branches below. The chapter then moves from that picture of the world to a description of the self within a body, and ends by naming Krishna as the Purushottama, the supreme person who stands beyond everything that passes away and even beyond what does not.
Where we are in the story
Chapter 14 described the three gunas and the person who has gone beyond them. Chapter 15 now answers the question that follows: beyond them to what? The scene is unchanged: Krishna speaks, Arjuna listens, and the armies wait. Some teachers treat this short chapter as a summary of the teaching so far, and its last verse itself calls the teaching “most secret”.
How the chapter moves
- Verses 1 to 4: The tree of the world. Its roots are above and its branches below, its leaves are the Vedic metres, and its shoots are the objects of the senses (15.1 and 15.2). Its form cannot be fully grasped, and it has to be cut down with the strong sword of non-attachment, after which one seeks the state from which there is no return (15.3 and 15.4).
- Verses 5 and 6: Who reaches that state: those free from pride and delusion, from attachment and from the pairs of pleasure and pain. It is not lit by sun, moon or fire, and Krishna calls it his highest abode (15.6).
- Verses 7 to 11: The self within the body. A part of Krishna becomes the living self and draws the five senses and the mind along with it from body to body, as wind carries scent (15.7 and 15.8). The deluded do not see this self, and those with the eye of knowledge do (15.10 and 15.11).
- Verses 12 to 15: Krishna’s presence in the world. He is the light of the sun, the moon and fire (15.12), the strength that holds the earth up and the sap of plants (15.13), the fire of digestion (15.14), and the memory and knowledge in every heart (15.15).
- Verses 16 to 18: The two persons and the third. The perishable is all beings and the imperishable is what stands unchanged above them (15.16). Beyond both is the highest person, the supreme self, and so Krishna is known in the world and in the Veda as Purushottama (15.17 and 15.18).
- Verses 19 and 20: Whoever knows this without delusion worships him with the whole of his being, and the chapter closes by calling this the most secret teaching, knowing which a person is wise and has done what had to be done.
Three ideas to hold on to
The upside-down tree. The image appears in the Katha Upanishad as well, and the Gita adapts it. The roots are above because the world is traced to a source beyond it, and the branches reach down into human life. The tree is not to be destroyed in anger. The verse asks for the sword of non-attachment, which cuts the hold of the tree without denying that it is there.
The self travels with its equipment. Verses 7 to 11 say that the self carries the senses and the mind from one body to the next, and that most people never see this. The wind and scent comparison in 15.8 is one of the Gita’s gentlest images of rebirth. Teachers disagree on how exactly the self is a part of the divine, and the commentaries of the main schools read verse 7 differently.
The divine in the ordinary. Verses 12 to 14 do not point away from the world. They find the highest in daylight, in the earth under one’s feet, in the moon and the plants, and in the fire that digests a meal. This is the Gita’s way of saying that the presence it describes is not far off.
A note on the word Purushottama
Purusha means person or the self. In verses 16 to 18 the Gita uses it three times: the perishable person, the imperishable person, and the highest person who is neither. Commentators read the first two in different ways, as the world and its dwellers, or as nature and the self. All of them agree that the third is the Lord, and that the chapter takes its name from him.
The text, transliteration and meaning
All 20 verses follow, each with its speaker. All of them are spoken by Krishna.
ऊर्ध्वमूलमधःशाखमश्वत्थं प्राहुरव्ययम्
छन्दांसि यस्य पर्णानि यस्तं वेद स वेदवित् ॥ १५.१ ॥
Urdhvamulam adhahshakham ashvattham prahur avyayam
Chhandamsi yasya parnani yas tam veda sa vedavit
MeaningThe Blessed Lord says: They speak of an everlasting ashvattha tree with its roots above and its branches below, whose leaves are the Vedic metres. One who knows this tree is a knower of the Veda.
NoteThe ashvattha is the pipal tree. A very close image, with the roots above, is found in the Katha Upanishad. The name is often explained as meaning that which does not remain until tomorrow, a picture of a changing world.
अधश्चोर्ध्वं प्रसृतास्तस्य शाखा गुणप्रवृद्धा विषयप्रवालाः
अधश्च मूलान्यनुसंततानि कर्मानुबन्धीनि मनुष्यलोके ॥ १५.२ ॥
Adhash chordhvam prasritas tasya shakha gunapravriddha vishayapravalah
Adhash cha mulany anusantatani karmanubandhini manushyaloke
MeaningIts branches spread below and above, fed by the gunas, and the objects of the senses are its tender shoots. Its roots too reach downward, tying people to action in the human world.
NoteThe branches are fed by the gunas of chapter 14, and the roots that reach down are the ties of action. The whole tree is the world as it is lived.
न रूपमस्येह तथोपलभ्यते नान्तो न चादिर्न च संप्रतिष्ठा
अश्वत्थमेनं सुविरूढमूलमसङ्गशस्त्रेण दृढेन छित्त्वा ॥ १५.३ ॥
Na rupam asyeha tathopalabhyate nanto na chadir na cha sampratishtha
Ashvattham enam suvirudhamulam asangashastrena dridhena chhittva
MeaningIts true form is not grasped here as it is described. It has no end, no beginning and no firm footing. Having cut this deeply rooted ashvattha with the strong sword of non-attachment,
NoteAsangashastra is the sword of non-attachment. The Gita does not ask for the tree to be hated or denied, only to be cut loose from.
ततः पदं तत्परिमार्गितव्यं यस्मिन्गता न निवर्तन्ति भूयः
तमेव चाद्यं पुरुषं प्रपद्ये यतः प्रवृत्तिः प्रसृता पुराणी ॥ १५.४ ॥
Tatah padam tatparimargitavyam yasmin gata na nivartanti bhuyah
Tam eva chadyam purusham prapadye yatah pravrittih prasrita purani
Meaningone should then seek that state from which those who have gone do not return, saying: I take refuge in that first person, from whom the ancient stream of activity flowed out.
NoteThe state sought is the one from which there is no return, and the verse names its source as the first person, from whom the stream of activity began.
निर्मानमोहा जितसङ्गदोषा अध्यात्मनित्या विनिवृत्तकामाः
द्वंद्वैर्विमुक्ताः सुखदुःखसंज्ञैर्गच्छन्त्यमूढाः पदमव्ययं तत् ॥ १५.५ ॥
Nirmanamoha jitasangadosha adhyatmanitya vinivrittakamah
Dvandvair vimuktah sukhaduhkhasanjnair gachchhanty amudhah padam avyayam tat
MeaningFree from pride and delusion, having overcome the fault of attachment, always rooted in the self, with desires turned away, and freed from the pairs known as pleasure and pain, the undeluded reach that unchanging state.
न तद्भासयते सूर्यो न शशाङ्को न पावकः
यद्गत्वा न निवर्तन्ते तद्धाम परमं मम ॥ १५.६ ॥
Na tad bhasayate suryo na shashanko na pavakah
Yad gatva na nivartante tad dhama paramam mama
MeaningNeither the sun nor the moon nor fire lights it. That is my highest abode, and those who reach it do not return.
NoteLight that sun, moon and fire cannot give is the Upanishadic way of speaking of what is beyond the world. Krishna calls it his highest abode.
ममैवांशो जीवलोके जीवभूतः सनातनः
मनःषष्ठानीन्द्रियाणि प्रकृतिस्थानि कर्षति ॥ १५.७ ॥
Mamaivamsho jivaloke jivabhutah sanatanah
Manahshashthanindriyani prakritisthani karshati
MeaningA part of me, the eternal, becomes the living self in the world of the living, and draws to itself the five senses and the mind as the sixth, which rest in nature.
NoteA part of Krishna becomes the living self. The main schools of Vedanta read this verse differently, as identity, as a part of a whole, or as a relation between a master and his servant, and the verse itself does not decide.
शरीरं यदवाप्नोति यच्चाप्युत्क्रामतीश्वरः
गृहीत्वैतानि संयाति वायुर्गन्धानिवाशयात् ॥ १५.८ ॥
Shariram yad avapnoti yach chapy utkramatishvarah
Grihitvaitani samyati vayur gandhan ivashayat
MeaningWhen the lord, the embodied self, takes a body and when he leaves it, he takes these along with him, as the wind carries scents away from where they rested.
NoteThe comparison is to wind, which carries scents from the place they rested. In the same way the self carries the senses and mind from one body to the next.
श्रोत्रं चक्षुः स्पर्शनं च रसनं घ्राणमेव च
अधिष्ठाय मनश्चायं विषयानुपसेवते ॥ १५.९ ॥
Shrotram chakshuh sparshanam cha rasanam ghranam eva cha
Adhishthaya manash chayam vishayan upasevate
MeaningStanding over the ear, the eye, touch, taste and smell, and over the mind as well, he enjoys the objects of the senses.
उत्क्रामन्तं स्थितं वापि भुञ्जानं वा गुणान्वितम्
विमूढा नानुपश्यन्ति पश्यन्ति ज्ञानचक्षुषः ॥ १५.१० ॥
Utkramantam sthitam vapi bhunjanam va gunanvitam
Vimudha nanupashyanti pashyanti jnanachakshushah
MeaningThe deluded do not see him as he leaves, as he stays, or as he enjoys, bound up with the gunas. Those who have the eye of knowledge see him.
NoteThe jnanachakshus, the eye of knowledge, is the capacity to see what lies behind the senses. Verse 11 says that it is the striving yogi who sees.
यतन्तो योगिनश्चैनं पश्यन्त्यात्मन्यवस्थितम्
यतन्तोऽप्यकृतात्मानो नैनं पश्यन्त्यचेतसः ॥ १५.११ ॥
Yatanto yoginash chainam pashyanty atmany avasthitam
Yatanto 'py akritatmano nainam pashyanty achetasah
MeaningStriving yogis see him established in the self. But those who strive without having prepared themselves, and whose understanding is unformed, do not see him.
यदादित्यगतं तेजो जगद्भासयतेऽखिलम्
यच्चन्द्रमसि यच्चाग्नौ तत्तेजो विद्धि मामकम् ॥ १५.१२ ॥
Yad adityagatam tejo jagad bhasayate 'khilam
Yach chandramasi yach chagnau tat tejo viddhi mamakam
MeaningThe light that belongs to the sun and brightens the whole world, the light in the moon and the light in fire: know that this light is mine.
NoteVerses 12 to 14 find the highest in the ordinary: the sun, the moon, fire, the earth, plants and the digestive fire of the body.
गामाविश्य च भूतानि धारयाम्यहमोजसा
पुष्णामि चौषधीः सर्वाः सोमो भूत्वा रसात्मकः ॥ १५.१३ ॥
Gam avishya cha bhutani dharayamy aham ojasa
Pushnami chaushadhih sarvah somo bhutva rasatmakah
MeaningEntering the earth, I hold all beings up by my power, and becoming the moon, whose nature is sap, I nourish all the plants.
अहं वैश्वानरो भूत्वा प्राणिनां देहमाश्रितः
प्राणापानसमायुक्तः पचाम्यन्नं चतुर्विधम् ॥ १५.१४ ॥
Aham vaishvanaro bhutva praninam deham ashritah
Pranapanasamayuktah pachamy annam chaturvidham
MeaningBecoming the fire of digestion in the bodies of living beings, joined with the in-breath and the out-breath, I digest the four kinds of food.
NoteVaishvanara is the name of the fire that digests food. Commentators list four kinds of food, such as what is chewed, drunk, licked and swallowed, according to the old explanations.
सर्वस्य चाहं हृदि संनिविष्टो मत्तः स्मृतिर्ज्ञानमपोहनं च
वेदैश्च सर्वैरहमेव वेद्यो वेदान्तकृद्वेदविदेव चाहम् ॥ १५.१५ ॥
Sarvasya chaham hridi sannivishto mattah smritir jnanam apohanam cha
Vedaish cha sarvair aham eva vedyo vedantakrid vedavid eva chaham
MeaningI am settled in the heart of everyone. From me come memory, knowledge and also their loss. It is I who am to be known through all the Vedas, I who made the Vedanta, and I who know the Veda.
NoteMemory, knowledge and their loss are all said to come from the Lord in the heart. Vedanta-krit, maker of the Vedanta, refers to the end or goal of the Veda, the teaching of the Upanishads.
द्वाविमौ पुरुषौ लोके क्षरश्चाक्षर एव च
क्षरः सर्वाणि भूतानि कूटस्थोऽक्षर उच्यते ॥ १५.१६ ॥
Dvav imau purushau loke ksharash chakshara eva cha
Ksharah sarvani bhutani kutastho 'kshara uchyate
MeaningThere are two persons in the world: the perishable and the imperishable. The perishable is all beings, and the one who stands unchanged above them is called the imperishable.
NoteTwo persons are named here, and the third comes in the next verse. Commentators read the first two in more than one way, as the world and the self, or as the changing and the unchanging.
उत्तमः पुरुषस्त्वन्यः परमात्मेत्युदाहृतः
यो लोकत्रयमाविश्य बिभर्त्यव्यय ईश्वरः ॥ १५.१७ ॥
Uttamah purushas tv anyah paramatmety udahritah
Yo lokatrayam avishya bibharty avyaya ishvarah
MeaningBut there is another, the highest person, called the supreme self, the imperishable lord who enters the three worlds and holds them up.
NoteThe third is the highest person, paramatman, the supreme self. This is the verse from which the chapter takes its name.
यस्मात्क्षरमतीतोऽहमक्षरादपि चोत्तमः
अतोऽस्मि लोके वेदे च प्रथितः पुरुषोत्तमः ॥ १५.१८ ॥
Yasmat ksharam atito 'ham aksharad api chottamah
Ato 'smi loke vede cha prathitah purushottamah
MeaningBecause I am beyond the perishable and even higher than the imperishable, I am known in the world and in the Veda as Purushottama, the highest person.
NoteThe word Purushottama is explained here. It means the one who is beyond both the perishable and the imperishable, and is higher than the imperishable too.
यो मामेवमसंमूढो जानाति पुरुषोत्तमम्
स सर्वविद्भजति मां सर्वभावेन भारत ॥ १५.१९ ॥
Yo mam evam asammudho janati purushottamam
Sa sarvavid bhajati mam sarvabhavena bharata
MeaningThe one who is not deluded and knows me in this way as the highest person knows everything, and worships me with his whole being, Arjuna.
इति गुह्यतमं शास्त्रमिदमुक्तं मयानघ
एतद्बुद्ध्वा बुद्धिमान्स्यात्कृतकृत्यश्च भारत ॥ १५.२० ॥
Iti guhyatamam shastram idam uktam mayanagha
Etad buddhva buddhiman syat kritakrityash cha bharata
MeaningSo I have told you this most secret teaching, sinless one. Knowing it, a person becomes wise and has done what had to be done, Arjuna.
NoteThe chapter closes with a claim for itself. Some teachers treat these 20 verses as a short form of the whole Gita.
Chapter summary
Chapter 15 gives the world a shape and then shows the way out of it. The world is an ancient tree with its roots above, grown through the gunas and fed by the objects of the senses. A person is tied to it by action and desire, and is released by cutting it with non-attachment and seeking refuge in the first person from whom it all flowed.
The middle of the chapter turns to the self. A part of Krishna becomes the living being, takes up the senses and mind, and moves with them from body to body. Some people see it and others do not, and the difference is the eye of knowledge. Krishna then names the places where he can be found in the world: the light of sun, moon and fire, the earth’s strength, the sap of plants, the digestive fire, and the memory and knowledge in every heart.
The chapter ends with the Purushottama. Beyond the perishable and the imperishable stands the highest person, and one who knows this without confusion worships with the whole being. The three persons in verses 16 to 18 are the best known teaching of the chapter.
Chapter 16 turns from knowledge to character. It sets out the divine and the demonic qualities in people.
Where the two source texts differ
We compared the critical edition text held at GRETIL with the Sanskrit Wikisource text, verse by verse. All 20 verses are present in both. Differences only in spacing, in the way a nasal sound is written, and in how words are joined are not listed. In this chapter no verse differs in the words, so the two texts agree throughout.
Source of the text on this page. The Sanskrit is the critical edition text of the Bhagavad Gita held at GRETIL, based on the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute edition of the Mahabharata, where this chapter is chapter 37 of the Bhishma Parva. It is in Roman script, and we converted it to Devanagari ourselves. We checked every verse against Sanskrit Wikisource. The transliteration is a simple guide to sound and the meanings are our own wording. See the Bhagavad Gita hub for the full note on sources.