Ch. 15 Yoga of meditation on the root of the aśvattha (part 4)

Let us now conclude this topic. The jīva has come in contact with the saṃsāra-tree. The root of that tree is in the supreme position (“parame vyoman”). In its lower part are branches and twigs in the form of the world. The higher the jīva goes - towards the root - the farther he gets from the bitterness, all the bothersome pests and filthy odours of the tree. That is mokṣa. The upward journey towards the origin is fueled by the effort of discernment. How, though, can that be done? It is dark; the tree is knotty in places and is many-branched. The jīva has lost his way in it. When he sees fruit, he greedily consumes more than what he can take, and suffers indigestion and other maladies of the gut. “This world is filthy,”  he reflects. “I should not entangle myself in it. I should go beyond this. I should go to the root of the tree where these twigs and props will stop bothering me. How do I attain that state?”

aśvattham enaṃ su-virūḍha-mūlam
asaṅga-śastreṇa dṛḍhena chhittvā |
tataḥ padaṃ tat parimārgitavyaṃ
yasmin gatā na nivartanti bhūyaḥ ||

BG 15.3

“How does one cut this deep-rooted aśvattha? By the axe of asaṅga (detachment) - the consideration that “this is not mine” that translates to giving up pride and attachment. He needs to hack through the thicket of branches with this weapon thereby marking a way out for Brahma-experience.”

Asaṅga is the consideration that the world is not mine. Who created this world? The Supreme Brahma. Therefore it is not mine. I have to look for a way out of this world. But what do I do about the leaves - Chandāṃsi (the Vedas)? One must use the Vedas and dharma to reach the source. Our attention, however, has to be on the top - the root of the tree. “This tree is not mine. It has come from elsewhere for whatever reason and belongs to someone else. It is not my property.” This is how the Vedas can be used. As the Īśāvāsyopaniṣad asks

kasyasvit dhanam?

Īśa Up. 1

“Whose indeed is wealth?”

I did not create it! It belongs to Īśvara. My duty is that of service only. My job is to build a bench for the root of the aśvattha tree, to water it, rid it of dirt. But for whose joy? For the joy of this tree’s creator. That is how the tree is nourished. When it grows thus, its shade and fresh air benefits many jīvas. My responsibility is to just do what has been said. There is dharma to which I should be subservient. A gardener in a mango grove cannot ask questions like, “Master, why did you not plant the grafted mango?” or “Will you eat this fruit yourself or sell it at the market?”
When dharma is followed, the branches and props do impede us but on the contrary, they actually help us. It is with their help that we are able to get to the root. It is through dharma that we get a vision of Paramātmā. The Supreme dharma is that of detachment.
Another Upaniṣad states -

ṃameti badhyate jantuḥ
ṇa mameti vimucyate ॥ 

Śiva Up. 7.114

(Saying “mine, mine”, the creature is trapped. Saying “not mine” releases it)

What becomes a binding rope when we say ‘mama’ (mine) becomes a garland of flowers when we say “na mama” (not mine). Mokṣa is a perspective of the manas. When the manas is of one kind, it is binding; when it is of another kind, it is emancipating. The blossoms of the saṃsāra-tree are sweet, lovely, desirable, and worthy of praise. They infatuate us at every step making us feel, "Ah! Such a beautiful world! How can I renounce it? On the other hand, I should make it my own! It should all be for me!"

Many of us feel proud thinking thoughts like - "My husband is so smart!", "How lovely is my wife!", "My son is amazing!" We have to be cautious at such moments. Whose is this wealth? Who created these relationships? Where did my son’s intelligence and daughter’s beauty come from? None of these is mine. I did not earn any of it. All of this is the blessing of Īśvara, due to his will. This must be the kind of asaṅga (detachment) that we practise.

The word parimārgitavyam has been used here. It means that one should search again and again. The supreme goal is not easy to attain. We have to return to where saṃsāra stems from by climbing up the path. The jīva has to think thus about the tree he inhabits - "This is not mine. This is not for my enjoyment. Let me be trained and cleansed instead by it." This is the path towards Brahma.

After this, Bhagavān describes his own nature.

gāmāviṣya ca bhūtāni dhārayāmyahamaujasā |

BG 15.13

“After entering the world, I sustain all beings with my power.”

ahaṃ vaiśvānaro bhūtvā prāṇinām dehamāśritaḥ ।
prāṇāpāna-samāyuktaḥ pacāmyannaṃ caturvidham ॥

BG 15.14

"I (Īśvara), in the form of the digestive fire, combine with prāṇa, apāna and other vital airs to digest whatever food beings ingest."

Vaiśvānara is the energy, heat to be specific, naturally present in all the beings of the Viśva (the world). The hands, feet and other bodily organs gain their energy from food. Food is converted to energy through the process of digestion, which in turn takes place because of the heat energy that is characteristic of the digestive system. This digestive fire is Īśvara’s creation.
In the fragment - annaṃ caturvidham - the four types of food are those that can be classified in multiple ways as follows.

1. Chewed
2. Licked
3. Drunk
4. Slurped.

Or

1. Cooked
2. Roasted
3. Fried
4. Raw 

Or

1. Grains
2. Greens
3. Milk products
4. Meat

Or

1. Sweet
2. Spicy hot
3. Salty
4. Sour

Or

1. The origin of food
2. The method of its cooking
3. The method of consumption
4. Taste

In conclusion, the intelligent mechanism that converts inanimate substances for use by living beings is that of Īśvara. This means that all activities of the world are an expression of Paramātmā’s power.

sarvasya cāhaṃ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṃ ca |

BG 15.15

“I reside in the hearts of all beings. Their faculties of memory, knowledge, analysis - implying the discerning intellectual faculty to accept or reject an opinion - originate from me.”

yasmāt kṣaramatīto’ham akṣarad api chottamaḥ |
ato’smi loke vede ca prathitaḥ puruṣottamaḥ ||

BG 15.18

“Brahma is beyond kṣara (the jīva) and akṣara (the embodied witness-consciousness). Therefore in both the Veda and the world, Brahma is known as Puruṣottama (the best of the Puruṣas or beyond all the Puruṣas).”

It appears that this chapter is a favourite of Bhagavān Vyāsa. Many verses here are real Gītās (songs) that follow the rhythm of music, flowing like waves.

nirmāna-mohā jita-saṅga-doṣā
adhyātma-nityā vinivṛtta-kāmāḥ |
dvandvair vimuktāḥ sukha-duḥkha-saṃjñair
gachchhanty-amūḍhāḥ padam-avyayaṃ tat ||

(Those without ego and delusion,
winners over defects from association,
engrossed in Paramātmā, renouncers of all desires,
free from duals known as pleasure and pain,
they - the wise go to the imperishable abode)

The essence

kṣaravanumakṣaravanumā-
yeraḍanumāvarisi dharisi neredirpa parā-|
tparavastupadava baṇṇipa
puruṣottamayogavivṛti paṃcadaśoktam ॥

Permeating and sustaining
both kṣara and the akṣara,
is the abode of the supreme being
described in the fifteenth chapter, Puruṣottamayoga.

mānuṣya-hṛn-marma-samagra-vettam
nānājanākūtavid-āptamitram ।
sānugrahaṃ rūpava tāḻdanīśam
śrīnaṃdagopapriyanaprameyam ॥

The knower of all the secrets of the human psyche,
The bosom friend who understands the intentions of myriad men,
Īśvara, with a desire to bless all, took on
the form of Śrīnanda’s darling son,
of Śrīkṛṣṇa, who is beyond comparison.

To be continued...

The present series is a modern English translation of DVG’s Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award-winning work, Bhagavad-gītā-tātparya or Jīvana-dharma-yoga. The translators wish to express their thanks to Śatāvadhāni R Ganesh for his valuable feedback and to Hari Ravikumar for his astute edits.