Sacred Scripture / Chapter 15
20 published verses from Srimad Bhagavad Gita (पुरुषोत्तमयोगः). The Yoga of Purushottama Yoga. Krishna presents samsara as an inverted ashvattha tree nourished by the gunas and rooted in karma. He calls for cutting attachment and seeking the supreme state through refuge in the primal Person. The eternal jiva engages mind and senses and carries subtle faculties between bodies; discernment and yogic preparation make its presence understood. Divine sustaining power is described through light, earth, plants, nourishment and inward knowledge. The chapter then distinguishes the perishable, the imperishable and Purushottama, the Supreme Person who sustains the worlds. Understanding culminates in wholehearted devotion and spiritual fulfillment.
Explore original Sanskrit, word-by-word padartha, trilingual translations, commentary, reflections, and modern life applications.
20 verses
Verse 15.1
ūrdhvamūlamadhaḥśākhamaśvatthaṃ prāhuravyayam | chandāṃsi yasya parṇāni yastaṃ veda sa vedavit ||1||
The Lord said: They speak of an enduring ashvattha tree with its roots above and branches below, whose leaves are the Vedic hymns. Whoever knows this tree knows the Vedas.
Verse 15.2
adhaścordhvaṃ prasṛtāstasya śākhā guṇapravṛddhā viṣayapravālāḥ | adhaśca mūlānyanusantatāni karmānubandhīni manuṣyaloke ||2||
Its branches extend below and above, nourished by the gunas, with sense objects as their tender shoots. Its roots spread downward in the human world, binding beings through action.
Verse 15.3
na rūpamasyeha tathopalabhyate nānto na cādirna ca sampratiṣṭhā | aśvatthamenaṃ suvirūḍhamūlamasaṅgaśastreṇa dṛḍhena chittvā ||3||
Its form is not perceived here as it truly is, nor its end, beginning or foundation. Having cut down this deeply rooted ashvattha tree with the firm weapon of nonattachment—
Verse 15.4
tataḥ padaṃ tatparimārgitavyaṃ yasmingatā na nivartanti bhūyaḥ | tameva cādyaṃ puruṣaṃ prapadye yataḥ pravṛttiḥ prasṛtā purāṇī ||4||
Then one should seek that state from which those who have reached it do not return: I take refuge in that primal Person from whom the ancient unfolding of existence has issued.
Verse 15.5
nirmānamohā jitasaṅgadoṣā adhyātmanityā vinivṛttakāmāḥ | dvandvairvimuktāḥ sukhaduḥkhasaṃjñairgacchantyamūḍhāḥ padamavyayaṃ tat ||5||
Free from pride and delusion, having conquered the fault of attachment, ever devoted to the spiritual self, their desires withdrawn and freed from the pairs called pleasure and pain, the undeluded reach that imperishable state.
Verse 15.6
na tadbhāsayate sūryo na śaśāṅko na pāvakaḥ | yadgatvā na nivartante taddhāma paramaṃ mama ||6||
Neither the sun, the moon nor fire illumines that state. Having reached it, one does not return; that is My supreme abode.
Verse 15.7
mamaivāṃśo jīvaloke jīvabhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ | manaḥṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛtisthāni karṣati ||7||
An eternal portion of Me becomes the living self in the world of beings, drawing to itself the senses, with the mind as the sixth, which abide in prakriti.
Verse 15.8
śarīraṃ yadavāpnoti yaccāpyutkrāmatīśvaraḥ | gṛhītvaitāni saṃyāti vāyurgandhānivāśayāt ||8||
When the embodied lord acquires a body and when it leaves one, it takes these along as it goes, as the wind carries fragrances from their dwelling places.
Verse 15.9
śrotraṃ cakṣuḥ sparśanaṃ ca rasanaṃ ghrāṇameva ca | adhiṣṭhāya manaścāyaṃ viṣayānupasevate ||9||
Presiding over hearing, sight, touch, taste and smell, as well as the mind, this living self experiences the objects of the senses.
Verse 15.10
utkrāmantaṃ sthitaṃ vāpi bhuñjānaṃ vā guṇānvitam | vimūḍhā nānupaśyanti paśyanti jñānacakṣuṣaḥ ||10||
The deluded do not perceive this self departing, remaining in the body, or experiencing while joined with the gunas; those with the eye of knowledge perceive it.
Verse 15.11
yatanto yoginaścainaṃ paśyantyātmanyavasthitam | yatanto'pyakṛtātmāno nainaṃ paśyantyacetasaḥ ||11||
Striving yogis perceive this self abiding within themselves. Even while striving, those whose inner selves are unprepared and who lack discernment do not perceive it.
Verse 15.12
yadādityagataṃ tejo jagadbhāsayate'khilam | yaccandramasi yaccāgnau tattejo viddhi māmakam ||12||
Know that the radiance in the sun which illumines the whole world, and that in the moon and in fire, is My radiance.
Verse 15.13
gāmāviśya ca bhūtāni dhārayāmyahamojasā | puṣṇāmi cauṣadhīḥ sarvāḥ somo bhūtvā rasātmakaḥ ||13||
Entering the earth, I sustain beings through My power; becoming Soma, whose nature is nourishing sap, I nourish all plants.
Verse 15.14
ahaṃ vaiśvānaro bhūtvā prāṇināṃ dehamāśritaḥ | prāṇāpānasamāyuktaḥ pacāmyannaṃ caturvidham ||14||
As Vaishvanara, the digestive fire, I dwell in the bodies of living beings; joined with prana and apana, I digest the four kinds of food.
Verse 15.15
sarvasya cāhaṃ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtirjñānamapohanaṃ ca | vedaiśca sarvairahameva vedyo vedāntakṛdvedavideva cāham ||15||
I dwell in the heart of everyone; from Me arise memory, knowledge and their loss. I alone am to be known through all the Vedas; I am the author of Vedanta and the knower of the Vedas.
Verse 15.16
dvāvimau puruṣau loke kṣaraścākṣara eva ca | kṣaraḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni kūṭastho'kṣara ucyate ||16||
There are these two purushas in the world: the perishable and the imperishable. All beings are the perishable; the unchanging is called the imperishable.
Verse 15.17
uttamaḥ puruṣastvanyaḥ paramātmetyudāhṛtaḥ | yo lokatrayamāviśya bibhartyavyaya īśvaraḥ ||17||
But the highest Person is distinct, spoken of as the Supreme Self: the imperishable Lord who enters the three worlds and sustains them.
Verse 15.18
yasmātkṣaramatīto'hamakṣarādapi cottamaḥ | ato'smi loke vede ca prathitaḥ puruṣottamaḥ ||18||
Because I transcend the perishable and am higher even than the imperishable, I am celebrated in the world and in the Vedas as Purushottama, the Supreme Person.
Verse 15.19
yo māmevamasammūḍho jānāti puruṣottamam | sa sarvavidbhajati māṃ sarvabhāvena bhārata ||19||
Whoever, free from delusion, knows Me in this way as Purushottama knows all and worships Me with their whole being, O Bharata.
Verse 15.20
iti guhyatamaṃ śāstramidamuktaṃ mayānagha | etadbuddhvā buddhimānsyātkṛtakṛtyaśca bhārata ||20||
Thus I have taught this most secret teaching, O sinless one. Understanding it, a person becomes wise and fulfilled in what is to be accomplished, O Bharata.
