Chapter 15

Puruṣottama (पुरुषोत्तम)

The tree with its roots upward. The self as a portion. The person beyond both.

Summary

Chapter 15 is the tree with its roots upward, the portion of the person in the living, and the supreme person beyond both the perishable and the imperishable. Cut the tree with non attachment. The one who knows this is said to have done what there is to do. The chapter is short and it gathers the earlier distinctions.

नेपालीमा

अध्याय १५ मा माथितिर जरा भएको रूख, जीवमा पुरुषको अंश, र क्षर तथा अक्षर दुवैभन्दा परको पुरुषोत्तमबारे भनिन्छ। आसक्तिरहित भएर रूख काट। यो जान्नेले गर्नुपर्ने सबै गरिसकेको भनिन्छ। अध्याय छोटो छ र अघिल्ला भिन्नताहरू जम्मा गर्छ।

1–6 श्रीभगवान् Śrī Bhagavān · The tree

Summary

The tree. Roots upward, branches downward, the leaves the Vedic hymns. The one who knows this tree knows the Veda. Cut it with the strong axe of non attachment. Then seek the goal from which, once gone, one does not return. Sun, moon, and fire do not light that place. The section is the image and the cut.

नेपालीमा

रूख। जरा माथि र हाँगा तल छन्, पात वैदिक मन्त्र हुन्। यो रूख जान्नेले वेद जान्छ। अनासक्तिको बलियो बन्चरोले काट। अनि जहाँबाट गएपछि फर्किँदैन, त्यो पद खोज। सूर्य, चन्द्र र आगोले त्यो ठाउँ उज्याल्दैनन्। खण्ड रूखको चित्र र त्यसको काटाइ हो।

15.1They speak of an imperishable aśvattha (अश्वत्थ), roots above, branches below.15.2Its branches spread downward and upward, grown by the guṇa (गुण), with sense-objects as their shoots, and roots stretch below, tied to action, in the world of human beings.15.3Its form is not found here as it was said, no end and no beginning and no firm standing; having cut this well-rooted aśvattha (अश्वत्थ) with the firm axe of non-attachment.15.4Then that place is to be sought, where those who have gone do not return again; and I approach that primal person, from whom the ancient proceeding has streamed forth.15.5Free of pride and delusion, having conquered the fault of attachment, constant toward the self, desires turned back, freed from the pairs called pleasure and pain, the undeluded go to that imperishable place.15.6The sun does not illumine that, nor the moon, nor fire; having gone where they do not return, that is my supreme abode.QuizFive questions on The tree.

7–11 श्रीभगवान् Śrī Bhagavān · A portion in the living

Summary

A portion in the living. An eternal portion becomes the life in the world of the living, drawing the mind and the senses. The lord takes a body and leaves it, carrying these as the wind carries scents. The deluded do not see him leaving or staying. The ones with the eye of knowledge see. The section is the person inside a life.

नेपालीमा

जीवमा अंश। एक सनातन अंश जीवलोकमा जीवन बन्छ, मन र इन्द्रियलाई तानेर। स्वामीले शरीर लिन्छ र छाड्छ, हावाले गन्ध बोकेझैँ यी बोकेर। मोहितले उनलाई जाँदा वा बस्दा देख्दैनन्। ज्ञानको आँखा भएकाले देख्छन्। खण्ड एउटा जीवनभित्रको पुरुष हो।

15.7An eternal portion of me becomes the life in the world of the living.15.8When the lord takes on a body, and when he departs, he goes taking these with him, as the wind takes scents from their seat.15.9Presiding over hearing, sight, touch, taste, and smell, and the mind, this one enjoys the objects of the senses.15.10The deluded do not see him departing, or staying, or enjoying, joined with the guṇa (गुण); those whose eye is knowledge see.15.11Striving yogins see him standing in the self; even the striving, if their self is unworked and they are without understanding, do not see him.QuizFive questions on A portion in the living.

12–20 श्रीभगवान् Śrī Bhagavān · The supreme person

Summary

The supreme person. The light in the sun, the moon, and fire is his. He holds beings. He is the digestion in the body of the living. There is the perishable person and the imperishable. The supreme person is another, called the highest self, who enters the three worlds and holds them. One who knows this, undeluded, has done what there is to do. The section is the name above the two.

नेपालीमा

परम पुरुष। सूर्य, चन्द्र र अग्निको प्रकाश उहाँको हो। उहाँ प्राणीहरूलाई धान्नुहुन्छ। जीवको शरीरमा पाचन उहाँ हुनुहुन्छ। क्षर पुरुष छ, अक्षर पनि छ। परम पुरुष अर्कै हुनुहुन्छ, परम आत्मा भनिने, जसले तीन लोकमा पसेर तिनलाई धान्नुहुन्छ। यो जान्ने र नमोहिएकाले गर्नुपर्ने सबै गरिसकेको हुन्छ। खण्ड ती दुईभन्दा माथिको नाम हो।

15.12The light that resides in the sun and illumines the whole world, and that which is in the moon and in fire, know that light as mine.15.13And entering the earth I support beings by my vigor, and having become the moon whose self is sap I nourish all the plants.15.14Having become the fire common to all, dwelling in the body of the living, joined with the forward breath and the downward breath, I digest food of four kinds.15.15I am seated in the heart of all. From me come memory, knowledge, and their loss.15.16There are these two persons in the world, the perishable and the imperishable; the perishable is all beings, and the unchanging is called the imperishable.15.17But the highest person is another, declared the supreme self, who, having entered the three worlds, supports them, the imperishable lord.15.18Because I have gone beyond the perishable, and am higher than the imperishable, I am celebrated as the supreme person.15.19Who, undeluded, knows me thus as the supreme person, he, knowing all, worships me with his whole being, descendant of Bharata (भरत).15.20Thus this most secret teaching has been spoken by me, faultless one; having known this, one becomes a person of understanding and one whose work is done, descendant of Bharata (भरत).QuizFive questions on The supreme person.