Bhagavad Gita—Chapter Fifteen

The Yoga of the Supreme Spirit




The Holy Lord said:
There is th’ eternal Ashwattha
With roots above, branches below,
The sacred hymns, the leaves; he who
Knows it, is a Veda-knower. (1)

Below, above, spread its branches,
Nourished by the gunas; its buds
Are sense-objects; and in the world
Below its roots give rise to acts. (2)

This its form is not here perceived–
Its end, origin, existence.
Having cut this firm-rooted tree
With the axe of non-attachment– (3)

Then that goal is to be sought for,
Which, attained, they never return:
“In that Primeval Purusha,
Fount of actions, I seek refuge.” (4)

Without pride, delusion–attachment conquered–
Dwelling in the Supreme Self, without desires,
Freed from the dualities–pleasure and pain–
The undeluded reach that eternal Goal. (5)

That the sun illuminates not,
There shines neither the moon nor fire;
For that is My Supreme Abode,
Going whither they return not. (6)

An eternal part of Myself,
Becoming a soul in this world,
Takes on the senses and the mind
And abides within Prakriti. (7)

When the Lord obtains a body
And when He leaves it, He takes these
And goes, as the wind takes the scents
From their seats: the flowers and herbs. (8)

Thus presiding over the ear,
The eye, the touch, the taste, the smell–
As also the “sense” of the mind–
He experiences objects. (9)

When He departs, remains, enjoys,
Accompanied by the gunas,
The deluded do not see Him–
Those with the eye of knowledge see. (10)

The yogis, striving, behold Him
Dwelling within themselves; but the
Unrefined, unintelligent,
Even though striving, see Him not. (11)

The light which resides in the sun,
That light illumines the whole world;
That which is in the moon and fire–
Know that light to be Mine as well. (12)

Entering the earth, I support
All beings with My energy.
Having become the wat’ry moon,
I Myself cause all plants to thrive. (13)

Dwelling within living beings
In the form of digestive fire,
Joined with prana and apana,
Do I digest the fourfold food. (14)

I am seated within all hearts;
Memory, knowledge, and their loss
Proceed from Me: for I am the
Veda’s Goal, Author, and Knower. (15)

Two Purushas are in this world–
The Changing and the Unchanging.
All beings comprise the Changing,
Kutastha is the Unchanging. (16)

But there is also the Supreme
Purusha, called the Highest Self,
Immutable Lord, Who pervades
All the three worlds and sustains them. (17)

I transcend the Changing and am
Above even the Unchanging,
So in this world and the Veda
I am called the Supreme Spirit.1 (18)

He who, free from delusion, thus
Knows Me as the Supreme Spirit,
He, knowing all, thus worships Me
With all his heart, O Bharata. (19)

Knowing this most secret teaching
Imparted by Me, one awakes
To the highest enlightenment–
All his duties thus accomplished. (20)

Om Tat Sat
Thus in the Upanishads of the glorious Bhagavad Gita, the science of the Eternal, the scripture of Yoga, the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, ends the fifteenth discourse entitled: The Yoga of the Supreme Spirit.