Conversation 15
Cognition of the Supreme Spirit
The Blessed Lord said:
15:1. They say that there is the immortal tree ashvattha the roots of which grow upward and the crown is beneath. Its leaves are words of thanksgiving and love. He who knows it is an expert on the Vedas.
15:2. Its branches extend up and down; they are nourished by the three gunas. They end at the objects of indriyas. Its roots are the fetters of karma in the human world.
15:3. Looking from within the world of matter one can comprehend neither its form, nor its purpose or destination, nor even its foundation. And only when this firmly rooted tree is cut down by the mighty sword of liberation from attachments,
15:4. then the road from which there is no return opens up. There one has to merge with the Primordial Spirit that gave the origin to everything.
15:5. Without pride and delusion, having conquered the evil, understanding the nature of the Eternal, having curbed the sexual passion, free from the pairs of opposite known as rejoicing and suffering — such people confidently walk the reliable Path.
15:6. Neither the Sun, nor the Moon, nor fire shine there. Having entered this place one never returns. This is My Supreme Abode.
15:7. A part of Me becomes a soul in the world of incarnated beings and stretches in the material nature around its indriyas, among which the indriyas of mind are the sixth.
15:8. The soul obtains a body. And when it leaves the body Ishvara takes it and carries away even as wind carries away fragrance of flowers.
15:9. By hearing, eyesight, touch, taste, smell, as well as by mind the soul perceives from within the body the objects of senses.
15:10. The ignorant do not see the soul when it comes, leaves, or stays enjoying being captivated by the gunas. But those who have the eyes of wisdom see it.
15:11 Rightly aspiring yogis cognize not only the soul but also the Atman in themselves. But the unwise do not find the Atman.
15:12. Know that the splendor of the Sun illuminating the space, of the Moon, of fire — this splendor originates from Me.
15:13. Having penetrated inside the soil I sustain the beings in it with My Life-giving Power. I nourish all plants by becoming the heavenly soma for them.
15:14. As the Fire of Life I reside in the bodies of animals. And mingling with the incoming and outgoing energies I transform in their bodies the four kinds of food.
15:15. I reside in the hearts of all. From Me originates knowledge, remembering and forgetting. I am that which has to be known in the Vedas. I am, verily, the Possessor of the all-encompassing knowledge. I am also the Creator of the vedanta.
15:16. There are two kinds of purusha in the world: impeccable and disposed to making errors. Disposed to errors are all creatures. But the Highest Purusha is said to be impeccable.
15:17. But superior to them both there is the Supreme Purusha called the Divine Atman. He, pervading everything with Himself, sustaining the three worlds, is the Great Ishvara.
15:18. This is so because I am transcendent to the perishable and even to the imperishable. I am identified in the world and in the Vedas as the Supreme Spirit.
15:19. He who without delusion knows Me as the Supreme Spirit, he who cognized everything worships Me with all his being.
15:20. So, I has expounded this innermost teaching, O sinless one. Man, who knows it, who has developed consciousness, becomes the most successful in his efforts, O Bharata.
Thus in the upanishads of the blessed Bhagavad Gita, the Science of Eternal, the Scripture of yoga, says the fifteenth conversation between Shri Krishna and Arjuna, entitled:
Cognition of the Supreme Spirit.
