Chapter 15

Purushottama yoga

Super-Excellent Form of The Supreme Being – A Complete Picture

Easy Way to the Supreme Being – The Climax of Knowledge

In Chapter 15, in just 20 verses SriKrishna gives a:

Complete picture of the visible and invisible universe as the abode of the Divine being with a beautiful analogy of it as an inverted Ashwattha tree.
Description of how one can easily progress to the Super-Excellent form of the Divine being.
Description of the Super-Excellent form.
Summing up of the highest state everyone can reach while performing their duties.

Background

At the conclusion of Chapter 14, SriKrishna stated that HE, the Purushottama is the foundation and abode of eternal Brahman, of immortality, of ordered manifestation as Dharma and the bliss of unending happiness. SriKrishna illustrates this with an beautiful analogy of river of life as an inverted tree. The same analogy has been given in Yajurveda and Kathopanishad.

Aswattha Vruksha, Ashwattha tree a symbol of river of life: A visible sign of the invisible Brahman:

SriKrishna says: “The eternal, imperishable Ashwattha tree has its roots above (in the invisible sphere), its branches stretch below, its leaves are the hymns of the Vedas. One who knows this is the knower of the Veda”. BG:15:1.

Ashwattha tree being used for this analogy is significant because it is vast, long living, its canopy is extremely wide, it provides shelter to innumerable creatures, its branches are intertwined and knotted.

The symbolic meaning in this verse is as follows:

All life forms arise from the same source. Everything and every creature in the visible world are interconnected. Roots are indicated to be above to signify that the source is invisible to physical eyes.
Leaves are necessary for proper growth, for a profuse yield of fruits and for survival of the tree.
Vedas are called leaves because Brahman who is foundation of the tree is also the source of Dharma and the Shastra (science which instructs Dharma). Vedas are a repository of the the entire knowledge of Brahman. Vedas also instruct on proper offer of sacrifices to the forces of nature to ensure a harmonious relationship of all beings – that is proper and purposeful action. Dharmic living ensures that the tree of life thrives without being polluted or poisoned, giving shelter and providing for all creatures under its canopy.
The entangled web of intertwined branches represent the entangled web of Action-Result-Reaction cycles.
Projection of the visible world being the extension of the power of the Divine Being, it is eternal and no one can destroy it.
One must not loose sight of the Divine presence in everything in order to guide his actions purposefully.

Secret of finding the source – the root of the tree of life, life of purposeful action and happiness:

To live without being entangled, without feeling helpless, not feeling imprisoned, free from bewilderment, one has to give up the mistaken notions about one’s relation with the rest of the world.
The surest tool towards this goal is detachment from the results of actions (offering all actions to the Master from where all Action and urge for Action originates).
The great fault of attachment is conquered by understanding that the active principle, veiled in every atom of the manifest, visible world is the active power of the infinite, eternal, Divine Being. Not being engrossed in lower power of nature – Prakriti or Maya one can give up Ego and rise to innate higher power within and all round. Thus all desires are sublimated to a higher spiritual consciousness. These are steps towards living in one’s own innate reality. BG:15:2-5.

Progress to the highest state of life:

Eternal portion of the Divine Being becomes an individual life and cultivates the subjective powers of Prakriti, mind and senses. Divine is veiled in all creatures.
The Divine when assuming the body brings memory of past lives, the same is carried away at the time of dissolution of the body, just as the wind carries away the fragrance of a flower.
The deluded person does not see the eternal Divine dwelling in the body, one can perceive the Divine with the eye of knowledge. BG:15:7-10.

Description of the Supreme Divine: SriKrishna says:

“The light of the sun that illumines the world, that which is in the moon and in fire, know that light to be from ME.
I am the The Eternal Divine that is the material force of all matter, all plants and trees.
I, The Eternal Divine is the fire that sustains life and the digestive power of food consumed in four ways (food taken in chewing, sucking, licking and drinking).
I am lodged in the heart of all. The ability for memory, its absence, knowledge, maker of the Veda, knower of the Veda are all aspects MY eternal power.
There are two aspects of the eternal Divine expressed in the world. One is the immutable aspect (Akshara or Purusha -unchanging) and the other the mutable aspect (Kshara or Prakriti or Maya– changing) in all creatures.
Higher than both these is the most excellent, highest spirit, the imperishable Lord, called the Supreme Self, the Paramaatma, who enters the three worlds and upholds them.
Since I am both in and beyond the mutable and immutable, in the world and the Veda, I am proclaimed as the Purushottama, the Supreme Self or Absolute Self”. BG:15:12-18.

Crown Jewel of this Knowledge:

SriKrishna says in conclusion thus: “One how realizes ME as the Purushottama (the Absolute Self dwelling in every body and everything), without being engrossed in ignorance, he becomes omniscient and worships ME in all ways. I have explained this science which is the mystery of mysteries. By understanding this, one will become wise and becomes fulfilled by doing what needs to be done”. BG:15:19,20.

OM TAT SAT.

**This concludes the Chapter Fifteen entitled ‘Purushottama Yoga‘ in the dialogue between SriKrishna and Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita Upanishad (Upanishad told by the Lord), on the Science of Science of right Action (Yoga-Shastra), included in** the Knowledge of Brahman (Brahma-Vidya).