Bhagavad Gita 15.3 meaningThe upside-down tree
In simple wordsSo simple a child gets it
“Its shape is hard to see. Cut its hold on you with letting go…”
What it means
“Its true shape can't be seen from here — not its end, its beginning or its base. Cut down this deep-rooted tree with the strong axe of non-attachment —
The original Sanskrit
न रूपमस्येह तथोपलभ्यते नान्तो न चादिर्न च सम्प्रतिष्ठा । अश्वत्थमेनं सुविरूढमूलं असङ्गशस्त्रेण दृढेन छित्त्वा ॥
na rūpamasyeha tathopalabhyate nānto na cādirna ca sampratiṣṭhā aśvatthamenaṃ suvirūḍhamūlaṃ asaṅgaśastreṇa dṛḍhena chittvā
Translations
Literal translation
Its form is not perceived here in that way; nor its end, nor beginning, nor continuance, After felling this Peepul whose roots are well developed, with the strong sword of detachment-;
Swami Gambhirananda
हिंदी अनुवाद
इस (संसार वृक्ष) का स्वरूप जैसा कहा गया है वैसा यहाँ उपलब्ध नहीं होता है, क्योंकि इसका न आदि है और न अंत और न प्रतिष्ठा ही है। इस अति दृढ़ मूल वाले अश्वत्थ वृक्ष को दृढ़ असङ्ग शस्त्र से काटकर ...৷৷৷৷।
Swami Tejomayananda
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Commentaries
How great teachers across 1,200 years have explained this verse.
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Keep reading · 15.4— then seek that place from which no one returns, thinking: ‘I take refuge in the original being, from whom this ancient flow of life came.’”