The Path of Revelation of the Supreme Person

In Chapter 12, Śrī Kṛṣṇa confirmed that it is more difficult for those whose thoughts are set on the unmanifest to attain their goal. Because of attachment to the body, all our experiences are related to objects which have form, and thus it is difficult to conceive of anything without form or unmanifest. It is therefore easier to fix the mind on the personal form of God. The topic of how to overcome this difficulty of bodily consciousness as well as the description of the Absolute have been explained in Chapters 13 and 14.
Living entities, being integrated parts of God’s energy, are transcendental, but because of their identification with the body, an evolute of the guṇas, and because of their attachment to the world, they become bound. They are not liberated from these guṇas as long as they remain unaware of the glory of Bhagavān. Therefore, in Chapter 15, Śrī Kṛṣṇa explains His glory and mystery, which enables one to cultivate unswerving devotion. There are twenty verses in this chapter which are all spoken by Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
Since living beings are integrated parts of God’s energy, their natural state is to serve and love only Him. However, by the influence of māyā, they assume an affinity for the body, the senses, the mind, and intellect, which are evolutes of nature, by regarding them as “I” or “mine” or “for me.” This is the main stumbling block to exclusive devotion.
After describing the cosmos as an Aśvattha tree, Bhagavān exhorts Arjuna to cut down this tree with the axe of dispassion in order to remove the influence of māyā and take shelter of Him, the primeval person, and His abode (1–4). He first describes this abode (5–6), and then the jīva (the individual living being) and his transmigration from one body to another (7–8). The yogīs are able to perceive this but others cannot (10–11). Kṛṣṇa explains His own glory, as the source, cause, and support of everything (12–15). He then explains the distinction between Paramātmā, the jīva, and material nature (16–18). One who knows Him in this way becomes devoted to Him: “One who, being undeluded, knows Me thus as the Supreme Person, is a knower of all things and worships Me with full devotion” (19). To inspire devotion to Himself, Śrī Kṛṣṇa reveals this most confidential knowledge (20).

All Verses

  1. Verse 1Śrī Bhagavān said: It is said [in the Vedas] that there is an imperishable Aśvattha tree whose roots are upward and whose branches are downward, and the leaves of which are the Vedic hymns. One who knows this tree is a knower of the Vedas.
  2. Verse 2Its branches, being nourished by the guṇas of nature and bearing tender leaves in the form of the sense objects, are spread above and below. Its [secondary*] roots that cause perpetual binding to karma extend downward also into the world of human beings.
  3. Verse 3-4The form of this tree as previously described is unascertainable in this material world; it is without end, without beginning, and without support. After cutting this deep-rooted Aśvattha tree with the powerful weapon of detachment, one should diligently search for that destination after reaching which people do not return again, declaring, “I take shelter of this Primeval Person alone from whom this ancient creation has come forth.”
  4. Verse 5The wise, who are freed from pride and delusion, who have conquered the evils of material attachment, who are ever devoted to spiritual pursuits, who are completely free from material desires, who are liberated from the dualities in the form of pleasure and pain, and who are beyond delusion attain to that eternal abode.
  5. Verse 6Neither the sun, nor the moon, nor fire illuminates that realm. It is My supreme abode, attaining which one never returns.
  6. Verse 7The eternal living being is an integrated part of Me alone. In this material world, it is entangled with the mind and the five cognitive senses, which are rooted in phenomenality.
  7. Verse 8When the master of the body [the living entity] acquires a new body after leaving an old one, he departs taking with him these six senses, just as the breeze carries odors from their fragrant source.
  8. Verse 9Presiding over the senses of hearing, sight, touch, taste, and smell, as well as the mind, the living being experientially appropriates the sense objects.
  9. Verse 10The dull-witted who are entangled with the sense faculties do not perceive the Self while departing from the body or while dwelling in it or while experiencing the sense objects [through the senses], but those endowed with the eye of wisdom realize It.
  10. Verse 11The endeavoring yogīs directly perceive the Self seated in their hearts, whereas the impure at heart, who are devoid of discrimination, do not see it even if they strive to do so.
  11. Verse 12The light of the sun and the light of the moon and that of fire illuminate the entire world. Know that light to be Mine.
  12. Verse 13Entering the earth through My own potency, I support all living beings, and becoming the moon, which is full of nectar, I nourish all plants and medicinal herbs.
  13. Verse 14Having entered the bodies of all living beings as the fire of digestion (vaiśvānara), and united with the ascending and descending vital currents*, I digest the four kinds of food**.
  14. Verse 15I am situated in the hearts of all beings. From Me come memory, knowledge, and their loss [i.e., forgetfulness]. I alone am to be known through all the Vedas. Indeed, I am the author of the Vedānta, and I alone am the knower of the Vedas.
  15. Verse 16There are two kinds of puruṣas in this world, the perishable [i.e., the body*] and the imperishable [the ātmā]. All these bodies are perishable, whereas the immutable [self] is called the imperishable [ātmā].
  16. Verse 17But different from these two is the Supreme Person, who is called Paramātmā, the imperishable regulator, who, having entered the three worlds, sustains them.
  17. Verse 18Because I am beyond the perishable and superior even to the imperishable, I am celebrated in this world and in the Vedas as the Supreme Person, Puruṣottama.
  18. Verse 19O descendant of Bharata, one who, being undeluded, knows Me thus as the Supreme Person, is a knower of all things and worships Me with full devotion.
  19. Verse 20O descendant of Bharata, O sinless one, I have thus expounded this most secret wisdom. Realizing this, a person becomes wise and one whose obligations are entirely fulfilled.

Questions

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