Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 15, Verse 1
श्रीभगवानुवाच । ऊर्ध्वमूलमधःशाखमश्वत्थं प्राहुरव्ययम् । छन्दांसि यस्य पर्णानि यस्तं वेद स वेदवित्
śrībhagavānuvāca | ūrdhvamūlamadhaḥśākhamaśvatthaṃ prāhuravyayam | chandāṃsi yasya parṇāni yastaṃ veda sa vedavit
Translation
They speak of the indestructible Aśvattha having its root above and branches below, whose leaves are the metres. He who knows it knows the Vedas.
— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri
Word meanings
- ūrdhvamūlam
- above, the root, whose, it
- adhaḥśākham
- below, branches, whose, it
- aśvattham
- the ashvattha
- prāhuḥ
- (they) call
- avyayam
- indestructible
- chandāṃsi
- hymns
- yasya
- of which
- parṇāni
- the leaves
- yaḥ
- who
- tam
- that
- veda
- knows
- saḥ
- he
- vedavit
- Veda-knower
Śaṅkarācārya's commentary
Brahman with Māyā or the unmanifested potentiality is subtle in point of time, is the Cause, is eternal, is great; He is spoken of as the One above. The One above is the root of this Tree of Saṃsāra, which is therefore said to have its root above. The Śruti says: "With root above and branches below, this Aśvattha is eternal" (Kaṭha Up. 3.2.1). They speak of the illusory saṃsāra as a tree rooted above. The Mahat, the Ahaṃkāra (Egoism), the Tanmātras (Elemental Essences), etc., are its branches as it were, and these extend downwards; whence the Tree is said to have its branches below. They call this tree 'Aśvattha' because it will not abide the same even till tomorrow, because it undergoes destruction every moment (a-śva-stha: "not staying till tomorrow"). The illusion (Māyā) of saṃsāra having existed in time without beginning, they say that this Tree of saṃsāra is eternal; for it rests on a continuous series of births which is without beginning or end. The metres (chhandases, the Vedas — Ṛk, Yajus, Sāman) are its leaves; just as the leaves of a tree serve to protect the tree, so do the Vedas serve to protect the Tree of Saṃsāra, as treating of dharma and adharma with their causes and fruits. He who knows the Tree of Saṃsāra and its Root as described above is a knower of the Teaching of the Vedas. Indeed nothing else remains to be known beyond this. He who knows It is therefore omniscient.