CHAPTER 15-PURUSHOTTHAMAYOGA
THE SUPREME PURUSHA
SREE BHAGAVAAN UVAACHA-THE LORD SAID
1.Oordhvamoolam aDhasSSaaakham aSvattham praahuravyayam
cchasndhaamsi yasya parNaani yastham vedha sa vedhavith
One who knows that which is mentioned as indestructible asvattha tree with roots upwards branches downwards whose leaves are the Vedas,he can be called a knower of Vedas.
In the adhyaya dealing with kshethra and khethrajna, (BG-13) Krishna has elucidated on the nature of prakrthi, the insentient matter and of purusha the sentient soul and the connection between the two. Here in this chapter the Lord is talking about the Supreme Self, Brahman, described as `anAdhimath param brahma ,' (BG.13-12),who is all pervading. ,'sarvam aavrthyathishTathi,' (BG.13-13)
The prakrthi, the cause of bondage of the purusha , the individual self, is compared to a aSvattha, banyan tree, with its roots above and branches below, oorDhvamoolamaDhasshAkham. Its leaves are the Vedas, cchandhAmsi yasya parNAni. He who knows this knows the Vedas.
The above meaning of the sloka has to be explained further to understand its import. This idea is the reflection of the Upanishadic declaration `oorDhvamoolo avaakshaakhahesha aSvatthah sanaathanah,(Kat.up.2-3-1) this peepul or banyan tree has roots above and branches below. This tree is the samsara, the effect of the bondage of purusha caused by identification with prakrthi. Since both prakrthi and pusrusha originate from Brahman their substratum and the original cause of the universe of the sentient and the insentient, Brahman is the root of the tree and it is said to be situated above meaning not the physical position but because it is high above everything being the subtlest and unmanifest.
The tree is said to have branches below as the whole creation is originated from Brahman and proceeds below, that is away from the reality, being the effect of karma causing bondage. The branches represent the whole creation from devas to the lowest forms of life and also the immovable. Its leaves are said to cchandhAmsi or Vedas. All karma that are done with an expectation of fruit are enjoined in the Vedas and they are necessary for the worldly life as the leaves are for the tree. Hence the Vedas are compared to parNas, leaves. One who understands this will desist from doing desire motivated karma which will cause the cycle of births and deaths. Hence it is said that one who knows this tree, knows the Vedas, meaning that he will understand the real nature of the Vedas.
2. aDhaschorDhvam prasrthaasthasya SaakhaaH
guNa pravrddhaa vishaypravaalaah
aDhascha moolaanyanusanthathaani
karmaanubanDheeni manushyaloke
The branches of the tree extend both above and below, nourished by the guNas. Their shoots are the sense objects. The secondary roots of the tree extend downwards resulting in acts which bind men to the world.
The branches which shoot upwards mean the actions of those who elevate themselves by meritorious deeds and take birth as celestial beings and those that go downward denote the karmas which take souls to the lower births into animals etc.
The tree is nourished by the gunas as all the activities are based on the gunas and the sense objects are termed as the shoots that make the tree grow.
The secondary roots are the actions done which cause further bondage and become the roots of further condition of samsara.
Na roopam asya iha thaThopalabhyathe
naantho na chaadhirna cha samprathishTaa
asvatthamenam suvirooDamoolam
asangaSasthreNa dhrDena cchithvaa (Bg.15- 3)
This tree, says Krishna is not seen at all and hence not understood. That is why it was said at the outset that one who knows this will understand the import of the Vedas. The human beings bound by their karma see themselves as identified with their body only and unaware that it is the gunas which are responsible for their actions as explained in the previous chapter. So it is something like seeing only the branches and not the roots of the tree.
This Asvattha tree is suvirooDamoolam, very deep rooted and it is not possible to cut it. A man bound by his karma is like one sitting on the branch of a tree and hence cutting it is not possible for him. So how to get free from bondage and samsara?
Krishna gives the answer in the second line of the sloka. `asangasasthreNa DhrDena cchitthvA', one can only cut off this tree by the weapon of asanga, detachment.
The shoots of the branches which make the tree grow are the sense objects which arouse desire and the activities motivated by desire are due to the gunas. So the root cause of samsara is the desire raised out of gunas. Hence the axe that cuts the tree is detachment.
Krishna stops the previous sloka with an unfinished sentence, `cutting the tree with the weapon of detachment,' giving rise to the question, what next? The answer is given in the next sloka which is in relevance with the topic of the adhyaya15, the supreme purusha.
4. thathaH padham thath parimargithavyam
yasmin gathaa na nivarthanthi bhooyaH
thamevachaadhyam purusham prapadhye
yathaH pravrtthiH prasrthaapuraaNee
Then one should seek the goal reaching which one does not return to samsara again. One should say “I resort to the primal Purusha only who is the source of all from whom the creation flowed from time immemorial."
Then, after cutting the tree with detachment, the Supreme reality, attaining which there is no more return to samsara, is to be sought after. That supreme reality is the Supreme purusha from whom this beginningless activity has sprung forth because both purusha, the individual soul and prakrthi, the primordial nature, have come from Him only.
After saying that the bondage due to karma which is the cause of samsara, figuratively described as the asvattha tree, should be cut asunder with detachment as with an axe, Krishna proceeds to describe the next step. We are aware of only the life experienced through the body, mind and intellect and of the world experienced through the sense contact. If all this is to be dismissed by detachment we would feel that we are rootless. Hence Krishna says that it is not the end but only the beginning.
In fact detachment from something should be followed by attachment to something higher. Hence Krishna advises the aspirant to seek the Supreme Purusha. When you climb up a ladder or scale the peaks, you can leave the lower step only by climbing to one higher.
Similarly giving up the worldly desires and attachments will be effected only by attaching to the Lord, referred to here as the Supreme Purusha, from whom everything originated and attaining whom there is no more reversion to samsara.
This can be achieved only by the will of the Lord as the upanishad says, yamevaisha vrNuthe thena labhyaH, (Kato. 1.2.23), for which the aspirant is advised to entreat the Lord Himself for attaining Him, by the words thamevachaadhyam purusham prapadhye, " "I resort to the primal Purusha."
When does one become eligible to reach the Supreme Purusha? The answer is given in the next sloka and then Krishna describes the nature of the param padham, the highest goal.
5.nirmaanamohaa jithasangadhoshaaH
aDhyaathmavidhyaa vinivrttha kaamaaH
dhvandhvaiH vimukthaaH sukhaduhkhasamjnaiH
gacchanthyamooDaaH padham avyayam thath
Devoid of egoism and delusion, overcoming the flaws of attachment, firmly established in the knowledge of the self, free from desires, released from the dualities like pleasure and pain, the wise reach the imperishable state.
Armed with aDhyAtmavidyA, knowledge of the Self, the wise do not identify themselves with their body, mind and intellect and hence devoid of ego. Knowing that everything is the interaction between the gunas and the sense objects they have no attachment because they are free from desires. As a result of their equanimity they are not moved either by sorrow or joy and therefore they have risen above the dualities. This is the state described as `EshA brAhmee sthithih,' in the second adhyaya, in which one attains brahmanirvaNa.
6. na thath bhaasayathe sooryaH na SaSaanko na paavakaH
Yath gathvaa na nivarthanathe thath Dhaama parmam mama
Where the Sun does neither shine, nor the moon nor fire. that is the supreme abode of Me reaching which there is no return.
This state is further described as the one reaching which there is no more lapsing back into samsara. Krishna says that neither the Sun nor the moon shines there! This may make one wonder whether the state of Brahmanirvana is one of total darkness! Definitely not!
The paramapadha is self illumined and its brilliance eclipses that of the Sun and the Moon and hence they do not shine there. Any other luminous body is like a glow worm in sunlight.
The Upanishad says
`thameva bhAntham anubhAthi sarvam thasya bhAsA sarvamidham vibhAthi,' meaning that all shine because of the light of the Supreme purusha as He is the giver of lustre to all.
Krishna then proceeds to describe the Supreme purusha in detail.
7. mayaivaamSe jeevaloke jeevabhoothaH sanaathanaH
manaH shashTaaneenndhriyaaNi prakrthisThaani karshathi
The individual soul in the world which is only an eternal part of Me draws the six indhriyas which includes the mind, which are abiding in prakrthi.
In the tenth adhyaya Krishna has said , vishtabhyAham idham krtsnam EkAmSEna sThitho jagath,'(BG-10-42) that is, whatever possesses power, splendor or energy is only a fragment of that of the Lord. And He sustains all with a fragment of His power.
Here He says that the jeeva , the individual self is only an eternal part of Him, eternal because it is non different from the Lord and stands in inseparable connection with Him.
To the objection that how can Brahman be possessed of parts is ruled out by the upanishadic declaration, `poorNamadhaH poorNamidham poornAth poorNamudhachyathE, poorNasya poorNam AdhAya poornameva avaSishyathE.' That is whole;.this is whole;what has come out of the whole is also whole. When the whole is taken out of the whole, the whole still remains whole.
This is explained as follows. Brahman is everywhere. In and out of all beings. Does it mean that Brahman is fragmenting itself and exists in all? No. Just like aakaasa which is in and out of everything but still stays one whole, Brahman also stays one whole. Just as the aakaasa seems to be divided by walls, pot etc., Brahman also seems to be divided by the individual souls due to their conditioning of the body, mind and intellect.
Hence when the soul leaves the body, which actually means that the body drops out making the soul free of the conditioning, the mind along with the indhriyas are still attached to the soul and migrates to another body. Here the number six indicates the five jnanendhriyas indhriyas and the mind which are essential for the experience in the new body, but it also implies the five pranas, through which the indhriyas are drawn and also the intellect which is non-different from the mind but for their respective functions. It is said `Samsayaathmakam manaH niSchayaathmako budDhih,' when overcome by emotions it is the mind and when discrimination prevails it is the intellect.
8. Sareeram yath avasapnothi yaccha utkraamthi eeSvaraH
grheethvaa ethaani samyaathi vaayuH ganDhaanivaaSayaath
The Jeeva, the master of the senses and mind,(eeSavaraH) taking these along goes to the body which it assumes after leaving the former body at the time of death like the wind that carries the smell.
The mind along with the indhriyas only transmigrates and not the soul. The jeeva is the conglomeration of these and seems to have a separate identity like the waves of the ocean and moves in the sea of the Supreme purusha. Like the air which takes the smell from the places it blows but is not contaminated by the sweetness or foulness of it the individual soul takes the mind along with indhriyas on its transmigration.
It is like taking a pot from one place to another. The space inside the pot in the former place is not taken with it to the new place and still it is the space that makes the movement possible. As the air carries the smell along with it the soul is carrying the mind and the senses. The air is everywhere and only acts as a communicating medium for the smell and is not affected by it and stays pure. Similarly the soul though accompanied by the senses and the mind when it takes a new body, is not affected by it.
9.Srothram chakshuH sparSanamcha rasanam ghraaNamevaCha
aDhishhTaaya manaSchaayam vishayaan upasevathe
The Self presiding over the ear, eye, touch, tongue and nose and the mind experiences the sense objects.
Any experience is not possible without the existence of the self. Hence it is the self who is experiencing through the mind which is connected with the indhriyas and contacts the sense objects. But the Self is not the experiencer in the real sense of the term but remains as a witness but without which the experience is not possible. It is like the electricity because of which the instruments function but the electricity is everywhere and not affected by the functioning of the instrument nor by the effect of it is .Whether you experience low voltage or get a shock it the fault of the instrument and not the electricity.
10.uthkraamantham sThitham vaapi bhunjaanam vaaguNaanvitham
vimooDaa naanupaSyanthi paSyanthi jnaana chakshushaH
The ignorant do not see the Self while it leaves the body or stays in it and experiences the effects of the gunas. Only those with eyes of wisdom are aware of the Self in all their doings.
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The awareness of the self is not present in an ignorant individual that his real nature is the self and not the body, mind and intellect which are the products of the gunas. The wise only see themselves apart from the gunas while the Self is the witness and supervisor of all actions. .
. But the unenlightened never distinguish between the soul and the conflagration of mind and indhriyas. Only the wise are able to do so.
11.Yathantho yoginaScha enam paSyanthi aathmaniavasThitham
yathantho api akrthaathmaanaH nainam paSyanthi anaamyam
The yogis are able to see the Supreme Purusha established in their self. But those who have not mastered their minds are not able to do so even if they try.
Here yogis mean those who have achieved integration through, jnana bhakthi or karmayoga. They are able to perceive the Supreme purusha as the principle behind all existence. But those who have not controlled their minds through the above discipline are not able to see that even if they try, meaning, by learning the sastras, and acquiring the knowledge of Brahman or through the physical means of self control like ashtangayoga.
Then Krshna statrts the description of the Supreme Purusha
12.yath aadhithyagatham thejaH jagathbhaasayathe akhilam
yaSchandhramasi yaScha agnou thaththejo vidDhi mamakam
Know that to be My luminance which shines in the Sun, lighting the whole world, in the moon and in the fire.
This reflects the text of the Upanishad, `thameva bhAntham anubhAthi sarvam thasya bhAsA sarvamihm vibhAthi,’ all luminous bodies follows Brahman which shines and they shine because of His light. This idea has been already explained in the sloka `na thadhbhAsayathe suryah---`
13.gaam aaviSya cha bhoothaani Dhaaryaami aham ojasaa
pushNaamicha oushaDheeH sarvaaH somobhoothvaa rasaathmakaH
Entering the earth I support all beings with my power. By being the nectarine moon, I nurture all the herbs.
The Moon is supposed to give life and power to the herbs, being full of nectar and that is why they are collected in the night when they are suppose to shine with a lustre. As the Lord is the power behind the Moon, He says that He is nurturing the herbs.
14.aham vaiSvaanaro bhoothvaa praaNinaam dhehamaaSrithaH
praaNapaanasamaayukthaH pachaami annamchathurviDham
I enter the bodies of living beings as Vaisvanara and balancing the prana and apana cause digestion of the four kinds of food.
Brahman is the source of all energy and power by which all are sustained and is the inner fire, vaisvAnara, of all living beings that help to digest the four kinds of food. He creates the balance of the prana, in-taking breath and apana, the outgoing breath which keeps the body healthy and able to digest the food properly.
The four kinds of food are known as bojya, masticated, like rice and bread, bakshya, swallowed, like milk, choshya, licked, like honey and lehya, sucked like payasam.
This implies that the Lord causes all the actions including those which are essential to maintain the body of all beings, because He is the inner self by whose power the body, mind and intellect function.
15. sarvasya cha aham hrdhisannivishto
matthaH jnaanam apohanam cha
vedhaiH cha sarvaiH ahameva vedhyaH
vedhaanthaakrth vedhavidheva chaaham
"I dwell in the heart of all and from me spring memory, knowledge as well as loss of memory. I am the subject to be known of all the Vedas and I am the maker of vedantha and also the knower of them all
Being the inner self the Lord dwells in all the hearts and hence the knowledge, memory and loss of it which pertains to the mind and intellect arise from Him alone. The loss of memory is also included here because, like the knowledge and the memory of it which is due to the grace of the Lord the loss of memory also is due to His mercy only. If the mind is not able to forget what is unpleasant and painful the life would be a hell and also if the memories of the last lives are not lost we cannot imagine any sanity in life.
He is the maker of Vedas and vedantha and as such He could be known only through the Vedas and He is the only purport of the Vedas. As the knowledge of the Vedas requires the divine grace He is also the knower of Vedas and vedanthas, being the inner self of all.
Krishna then summarises what He has been elaborating so far in the last few slokas of the adhyaya.
16.dhvaavimou purushou loke ksharaScha akshara eva cha
ksharaH sarvaaNi bhoothaani kootasTho aksjara uchyathe
There are two entities in this world, kshara and akshara, the perishable and the imperishable. All beings belong to kshara and the akshara is known as kootasTha.
The whole universe can be divided into the self and the non-self. The self is imperishable and eternal and immutable. It is referred to as kootasTha, as it is like the anvil in the shop of an ironsmith on which all instruments are fashioned after being treated with fire but the anvil does not undergo any change. Similarly all the changes due to body, mind and intellect are only to the non-self while the self remains unchanged. The non-self is kshara, perishable in the sense that the changes are temporary. The akshara purusha is the individual self who gets identified with the body, mind and intellect and undergoes changes and transmigrates through the cycle of llife and death. Kshara is what has been described as the kshethra in chapter13. Akshara is the kshethrajna, the immutable self.
17.utthamaH purushaH thu anyaH paramaathmaa ithi udhaahrthaH
yo lokathrayam aaviSya bibharthi avyaya eeSvaraH
There is a Supreme Purusha other than these known as the Parmaathmaa, the immutable, who is pervading the three worlds and supports them
The Supreme Self, Purushotthama is higher than these two and known as the Supreme Soul, Paramathma and the inner self of all, both sentient and insentient. He is transcendent as well as immanent and He pervades the three worlds, meaning not only the manifest worlds but also the whole universe and above. Like the aakaaSa in which everything exists and which exists in everything and hence which supports everything, the Purushotthama supports the whole universe by being inside and outside. He is the overlord by whose power everything operates and exists, while He is immutable.
18. yasmaath ksharapratheetho aham aksharaadhapi cha utthamaH
atho asmin loke vedhe cha praThithaH purushotthamaH
As I transcend the perishable and also higher than the imperishable I am known as the Purushotthama in this world as well as in the Vedas.
Since the Lord is all pervading He transcends the perishable non-self and also He is higher than the imperishable individual self because He is the inner self of the individual self.
The term Purushotthama is found in the Vedas as well as in the other works in the world. This implies that the word Purushottama refers only to the Lord.
19.yo maam evam asammooDaH jaanaathi purushotthamam
Sa sarvavidh bhajathi maam sarvabhaavena bhaaratha
The wise one who knows Me as the Purushotthama, is the knower of all and worships Me in all ways.
The knowledge of the Supreme Being is not the mere learning about Him but to experience the truth of the Supreme Being through jnana , karma and bhakthi. The one who could do that is the man of perfection, sThathaprjna, mentioned in the second chapter and such a man worships the Lord in all ways, in whatever he does and wherever he is , as Sankara says in his work Bajagovinda.
Yogaratho vaabhogaratho vaa
sangaratho vaa sangaviheenaH
Yasya brahmaNi ramathe chittham
nandhati nandhathi nahdhathyeva
Whether he is seen practicing yoga or seemingly indulgent in bhoga , whether he is in company or alone, his inner bliss remains unalloyed. He is always happy because his mind is revels ever in Brahman.
20. ithi guhyathamam Sasthram idham uktham mayaa anagha
ethath budDhvaa buddhimaan syaath krthkrthyaSchabhaaratha
This most secret knowledge is told by Me to you who is sinless. Oh the descendent of Bharatha, knowing this one becomes wise and all his work is accomplished.
The knowledge and experience of the real nature of the Self and the Lord who is the inner self , is the most secret in the sense that it is the highest knowledge which could be understood only by a few who have transcended the gunas and have become a sThithaprajna. The guhyathvam consists in the difficulty of comprehension. There is nothing more to be accomplished by him.