Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15, Verse 2

Chapter 15 – Purushottama Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

अधश्चोर्ध्वं प्रसृतास्तस्य शाखा
गुणप्रवृद्धा विषयप्रवालाः ।
अधश्च मूलान्यनुसन्ततानि
कर्मानुबन्धीनि मनुष्यलोके ॥

Transliteration

adhaścordhvaṃ prasṛtāstasya śākhā guṇapravṛddhā viṣayapravālāḥ .
adhaśca mūlānyanusantatāni karmānubandhīni manuṣyaloke ॥

Meaning

Its branches, nourished by the gunas and budding with sense-objects, spread both downward and upward. And below, in the world of human beings, its roots stretch on and on, binding the soul through action.

Word meanings

अधः – below
च – and
ऊर्ध्वम् – above
प्रसृताः – spread out
तस्य – its
शाखाः – branches
गुणप्रवृद्धाः – nourished and grown by the gunas
विषयप्रवालाः – having sense-objects as their buds
मूलानि – roots (latent tendencies)
अनुसन्ततानि – extending continuously
कर्मानुबन्धीनि – binding through action, giving rise to action
मनुष्यलोके – in the world of humans

Anvaya (word order)

तस्य शाखाः गुणप्रवृद्धाः विषयप्रवालाः अधः च ऊर्ध्वम् प्रसृताः । मनुष्यलोके कर्मानुबन्धीनि मूलानि च अधः अनुसन्ततानि ।

Explanation

The first verse sketched the tree; this one examines its anatomy. Its branches spread ‘below and above’. The higher branches are the celestial births of gods and gandharvas; the lower ones are animals, birds, insects and plants. According to its deeds the soul climbs to a higher bough or slips to a lower one, which is exactly what Krishna said in 14.18: those established in sattva rise upward, those in tamas sink down.

The branches are guna-pravriddha, swollen by the gunas, just as a tree is fed by water. Sattva, rajas and tamas are the sap of samsara. Its tender shoots are the vishayas, the objects of the senses: sound, touch, form, taste and smell. A bud is fresh, soft and alluring, and from it new leaves and twigs will grow. In the same way the pull of sense-objects keeps producing fresh desires, and every desire extends the tree a little further.

The most subtle point concerns the roots. The primary root is above, in the Supreme. But like the aerial roots of a banyan that drop into the soil and anchor the tree ever more firmly, this tree also sends secondary roots downward into the human world. These are attachment, aversion and the impressions left by past deeds. They are karma-anubandhini: they drive us to act, and the results of action plant still more impressions. The cycle feeds itself.

The acharyas pause on the phrase ‘in the world of men’. Shankara explains that it is in human birth that one has the capacity and the responsibility to act; most other births are chiefly for experiencing results. So it is here that the roots of bondage grow strong, and here too that the chance to cut them exists. Ramanuja reads the roots as karmic impressions that repeatedly tie the soul to bodies, and Madhva likewise sees them as bonds of karma operating under the Lord’s governance. Their conclusion is shared: human life is the crossroads where one either becomes more entangled or takes up the axe and becomes free.

Context

Having introduced the cosmic tree in verse 1, Krishna now describes its branches, buds and downward roots in detail. In the next verse he explains that its true form cannot be grasped from within, and that it must be felled with the weapon of non-attachment.

Life lesson

Every desire is a new bud that can grow into a whole branch. Human life is the one place where we can recognise our roots, our likes, dislikes and habits, and loosen their grip. Watchfulness toward the senses is the first step out of the tangle.

Key terms

Guna-pravriddha: nourished and expanded by the three gunas
Vishaya-pravala: sense-objects pictured as the tree’s tender buds
Karmanubandhi: that which binds through action
Manushya-loka: the human world, the field of action and of liberation