Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 15, Verse 3

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

Translation

Its form is not perceived as such here, neither its end nor its origin nor its existence. Having cut asunder this firm-rooted Aśvattha with the strong sword of dispassion, then That Goal should be sought for, whither having gone none return again. "I seek refuge in that Primeval Puruṣa whence streamed forth the Ancient Current."

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

na

not

rūpam

form

asya

of this

iha

here

tathā

so

upalabhyate

is obtained

na

not

antaḥ

end

na

not

ca

and

ādiḥ

beginning

na

not

ca

and

sampratiṣṭhā

foundation

aśvattham

ashvattha

enam

this

suvirūḍhamūlam

well-grown, roots, whose, this

asaṅgaśastreṇa

of non-attachment, by the weapon

dṛḍhena

(by) strong

chittvā

having cut

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

Its form as such is perceived by nobody here; for it is very much like a dream, a mirage, a gandharva-nagara (an imaginary city in the sky) produced by a juggler's art; indeed, it appears and disappears. It has therefore no finality, no end. Neither has it a beginning: nobody knows 'It has proceeded from this point.' Its existence — i.e., its nature between the origin and the end — is perceived by nobody. Dispassion means freedom from attachment to children, to wealth, and to the world. "Strong": strengthened by a resolute bent of mind towards the Supreme Self and sharpened again and again on the whetstone of the practice of true discrimination. "Cut asunder": uprooted the Tree of saṃsāra with its seed.