Bhagavad Gita
    Chapter 15

    Purushottama Yoga

    पुरुषोत्तमयोग

    The fifteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is "Purushottama Yoga". In Sanskrit, Purusha means the "All-pervading God", and Purushottam means the timeless & transcendental aspect of God. Krishna reveals that the purpose of this Transcendental knowledge of the God is to detach ourselves from the bondage of the material world and to understand Krishna as the Supreme Divine Personality, who is the eternal controller and sustainer of the world. One who understands this Ultimate Truth surrenders to Him and engages in His devotional service.

    About this chapter

    Chapter 15, Purushottama Yoga — "The Yoga of the Supreme Person" — opens with the striking image of the ashvattha tree, the eternal cosmic fig with roots above and branches below, whose leaves are the Vedic hymns. This inverted world-tree, nourished by the gunas and sending out sensory shoots into the human realm, cannot be fully known from within. It must be cut, Krishna says, with the strong axe of non-attachment.

    Once the tree is felled, the seeker looks for the imperishable ground from which the manifest world grew. Krishna describes himself as that ground — the goal from which none return. He is the light in the sun, the moon, and fire that illumines the whole world. He enters the earth and sustains beings with his energy; he becomes the moist moon and nourishes plants. He is the fire of digestion in every body, mixed with the incoming and outgoing breaths, cooking the food that sustains life.

    The chapter culminates in Krishna's clearest self-disclosure. There are two Persons in this world: the perishable (all beings) and the imperishable (the unchanging witness). But there is a third, higher than both — the Supreme Person, Purushottama, who pervades and sustains the three worlds. Whoever knows him without confusion knows all and worships him with their whole being. Chapter 15 is the shortest complete summary of the Gita's metaphysics that Krishna gives in his own voice.

    20 Verses

    15.1

    The Lord said, "They speak of an immutable Asvattha tree with its roots above and branches below; its leaves are the Vedas. He who knows it knows the Vedas."

    15.2

    (a) Its branches extend both above and below, nourished by the Gunas. Their shoots are sense objects. (b) And their secondary roots extend downwards, resulting in actions that bind in the world of humans.

    15.3

    Its form is not perceived here, nor its end, nor its beginning, nor its support. Having cut off this firmly-rooted Asvattha with the strong axe of detachment.

    15.4

    Then, one should seek that goal, attaining which one never returns. One should seek refuge with that Primal Person from whom this ancient activity streamed forth.

    15.5

    Without the delusion of perverse notions concerning the self, victorious over the evil of attachment, ever devoted to the Self, turned away from desires and liberated from dualities such as pleasure and pain, the undeluded go to that imperishable state.

    15.6

    That supreme light, upon reaching which they do not return any more, is Mine; neither the sun nor the moon nor the fire illuminates It.

    15.7

    An everlasting part of Myself, having become the bound self in the world of life, attracts the senses, of which the mind is the sixth, and which abide in Prakriti.

    15.8

    Whatever body its lord acquires and from whatever body it departs, it goes on its way, taking these senses as the wind carries scents from their places.

    15.9

    Presiding over the ear, the eye, the sense of touch, the tongue, the nose, and the mind, It experiences these objects of the senses.

    15.10

    The deluded do not perceive it conjoined with the Gunas when departing, staying, or experiencing. Those who have the eye of knowledge, however, see it.

    15.11

    The striving yogis perceive it established in themselves. But, though striving, those of unrefined minds, devoid of intelligence, do not perceive it.

    15.12

    Know that the brilliance which illumines the whole universe in the sun, the moon, and fire is Mine.

    15.13

    And, entering the earth, I uphold all beings with My strength. I nourish all herbs, becoming the juicy Soma.

    15.14

    Becoming the digestive fire, I function within the bodies of all living beings. In union with the inward and outward breath, I digest the four kinds of food.

    15.15

    And I am seated in the hearts of all. From Me come memory, knowledge, and their removal too. Indeed, I alone am to be known from all the Vedas. I bring about the fruition of the Vedic rituals; I alone am the knower of the Vedas.

    15.16

    There are two kinds of persons spoken of in the sastra: the perishable (ksara) and the imperishable (aksara). All beings are perishable, while the imperishable is called the unchanging (kutastha).

    15.17

    There is a Supreme Person other than these. He is referred to as the Supreme Self (Paramatma) in all the Vedas. He, as the Immutable One and the Lord, enters the threefold world and supports it.

    15.18

    Because I transcend the perishable person and am also higher than the imperishable one, therefore I am referred to in the Smrti and the Veda as the Supreme Person (Purusotama).

    15.19

    He who, without delusion, thus knows Me as the Supreme Self, knows all, O Arjuna, and worships Me in every way.

    15.20

    Thus, O sinless one, this most mysterious doctrine has been imparted by Me. By understanding this, one will become truly wise and fulfill their duty.

    Popular verses across the Gita