Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15: Purushottama Yoga, Full Meaning in Simple Words

Chapter 15 is short, yet it is held to contain the essence of the whole Gita; at its end God himself calls it "the most secret teaching". Many families recite it before meals, because in it God says He is the fire in the body that digests food.

Verses 1 to 4: the upside-down ashvattha tree

Urdhva mulam adhah shakham ashvattham prahur avyayam
chhandamsi yasya parnani yas tam veda sa vedavit (15.1)

Meaning: They speak of an imperishable ashvattha (peepal) tree with its roots above (in the Supreme) and branches below; the Vedic hymns are its leaves. One who knows it knows the Veda.

Its branches spread below and above, nourished by the gunas, with sense objects as their buds, and its roots stretch downward too, binding to action in the human world. Its true form is not perceived here, nor its end, beginning or foundation. Cutting down this firmly rooted tree with the strong axe of detachment, one should seek that state from which there is no return, thinking, "I take refuge in that primal Person from whom this ancient stream of activity has flowed."

Verses 5 and 6: the supreme abode

Free from pride and delusion, having conquered the fault of attachment, ever dwelling in the Self, desires stilled, freed from the opposites called pleasure and pain, the undeluded reach that eternal state.

"Na tad bhasayate suryo na shashanko na pavakah, yad gatva na nivartante tad dhama paramam mama": the sun does not light it, nor the moon, nor fire; going there none return; that is my supreme abode (15.6).

Verses 7 to 11: the soul is part of God

Mamaivamsho jiva loke jiva bhutah sanatanah
manah shashthanindriyani prakriti sthani karshati (15.7)

Meaning: An eternal fragment of me becomes the living being in this world and draws to itself the mind and the five senses that rest in nature.

As the wind carries fragrance from flowers, the lord of the body takes these with it when it leaves one body and enters another. Through ear, eye, touch, taste, smell and mind it enjoys the objects of the senses. The deluded do not see it leaving, staying or enjoying with the gunas; those with the eye of wisdom see. Striving yogis see it within themselves; those whose minds are impure do not, even when they strive.

Verses 12 to 15: God's light in all

"The light in the sun that illumines the whole world, the light in the moon and in fire: know that light to be mine. Entering the earth I sustain all beings by my energy, and becoming the moon, the essence of sap, I nourish all plants."

"Aham vaishvanaro bhutva praninam deham ashritah, pranapana samayuktah pachamy annam chaturvidham": becoming the fire of digestion I dwell in the bodies of living beings and, joined with the in-breath and out-breath, digest the four kinds of food (15.14).

"I am seated in the hearts of all; from me come memory, knowledge and their loss. I am what is to be known through all the Vedas; I am the author of the Vedanta and the knower of the Vedas (15.15)."

Verses 16 to 20: the perishable, the imperishable and the Supreme Person

There are two persons in this world, the perishable and the imperishable. All beings are perishable; the unchanging self is called imperishable. But the highest Person is another, called the Supreme Self, the eternal Lord who enters the three worlds and sustains them.

"Because I am beyond the perishable and higher even than the imperishable, I am known in the world and in the Veda as Purushottama, the Supreme Person (15.18). One who, free from delusion, knows me as the Supreme Person knows everything and worships me with their whole being, Bharata (15.19). Thus I have told you this most secret teaching, sinless one; knowing it one becomes wise and fulfils all duties (15.20)."

What this chapter teaches

• The roots of worldly attachment run deep, but the axe of detachment can cut them.
• Every being is a part of God; to look down on anyone is to look down on God.
• Even digestion is God's work, so eat with gratitude and as an offering.
• Memory and forgetting both come from Him; what is there to be proud of?