Chapter Fifteen
This is a difficult chapter, for it deals essentially with questions of theology and ultimate mystical experience.
Krishna reveals that he transcends not only the world of matter but also the immortal Atman that dwells as the conscious “knower” within all beings. Krishna has said that he is the Atman; but the paradox is that he also transcends the Atman. In this highest aspect Krishna is Ishvara, the cosmic Lord, who abides in his own mystery. The liberated Self enjoys union with Krishna and lives in Krishna’s highest home. But the Self does not become Krishna: the immortal soul, even when liberated from its mortal journeying, does not become God.
The chapter opens with the image of an upside-down tree, a world-tree rooted in Brahman which branches out into a manifold creation in this realm below. This is said to be an ashvattha or pipal tree, a kind of fig. Like the banyan, it sends out roots into the air, spreading above and below.
In this chapter about Krishna’s most exalted nature, it is appropriate that his “home,” the highest goal of all, is described. It is an abode of light and eternal life. By its very nature, it is beyond the description of human language. Verse 4 uses an elemental and ancient word for the ultimate reality that defies all description, all human thought: Tat, which means simply “that” or “it.” Here the Gita personalizes Tat to the extent of giving It a home: avyayam padam, the immortal home, the eternal goal. Pada also means foot or step, and it is of interest here to recall a myth from the Vedas. At the beginning of time Vishnu took three steps that measured out the entire cosmos. The third and highest step became a heavenly world, the realm of the blessed. In the Rig Veda (I.154.5), the poet longs to find himself in this home of the god:
May I go to his blessed world
Where those who love the gods rejoice;
For there, truly, is the company of the far-stepping god,
A fountain of honey in the highest step of Vishnu.
The Gita describes Krishna’s home as a realm of light beyond the light of the sun (15:6). Here we might compare the Gita with the Katha Upanishad (5:15):
There shines not the sun, neither moon nor star,
Nor flash of lightning, nor fire lit on earth.
The Self is the light reflected by all.
He shining, everything shines after him.
Even here, though, we are reminded that Krishna lives not just in this highest realm but also in the world below, where both darkness and light coexist. In his divine mystery he sends fragments of himself to become the inner Self in each creature. In this sense the Self enters the body at conception, dwells in the body, and then departs at death. Krishna is the prana – the breath or vitality – of the body. The Upanishads speak of five pranas; here the Gita mentions the two most prominent: the prana by which we breathe and the prana that digests food. –D.M.
15: The Supreme Self
KRISHNA
1 Sages speak of the immutable ashvattha tree, with its taproot above and its branches below. On this tree grow the scriptures; seeing their source, one knows their essence.
2 Nourished by the gunas, the limbs of this tree spread above and below. Sense objects grow on the limbs as buds; the roots hanging down bind us to action in this world.
3 The true form of this tree – its essence, beginning, and end – is not perceived on this earth. Cut down this strong-rooted tree with the sharp ax of detachment; 4 then find the path which does not come back again. Seek That, the First Cause, from which the universe came long ago.
5 Not deluded by pride, free from selfish attachment and selfish desire, beyond the duality of pleasure and pain, ever aware of the Self, the wise go forward to that eternal goal. 6 Neither the sun nor the moon nor fire can add to that light. This is my supreme abode, and those who enter there do not return to separate existence.
7 An eternal part of me enters into the world, assuming the powers of action and perception and a mind made of prakriti. 8 When the divine Self enters and leaves a body, it takes these along as the wind carries a scent from place to place. 9 Using the mind, ears, eyes, nose, and the senses of taste and touch, the Self enjoys sense objects.
10 The deluded do not see the Self when it leaves the body or when it dwells within it. They do not see the Self enjoying sense objects or acting through the gunas. But they who have the eye of wisdom see.
11 Those who strive resolutely on the path of yoga see the Self within. The thoughtless, who strive imperfectly, do not.
12 The brightness of the sun, which lights up the world, the brightness of the moon and of fire – these are my glory. 13 With a drop of my energy I enter the earth and support all creatures. Through the moon, the vessel of life-giving fluid, I nourish all plants. 14 I enter breathing creatures and dwell within as the life-giving breath. I am the fire in the stomach which digests all food.
15 Entering into every heart, I give the power to remember and understand; it is I again who take that power away. All the scriptures lead to me; I am their author and their wisdom.
16 In this world there are two orders of being: the perishable, separate creature and the changeless spirit. 17 But beyond these there is another, the supreme Self, the eternal Lord, who enters into the entire cosmos and supports it from within.
18 I am that supreme Self, praised by the scriptures as beyond the changing and the changeless. 19 Those who see in me that supreme Self see truly. They have found the source of all wisdom, Arjuna, and they worship me with all their heart.
20 I have shared this profound truth with you, Arjuna. Those who understand it will attain wisdom; they will have done that which has to be done.