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In the previous chapters, Shri Krishna had mentioned the three prime Gunas that drive the living beings: Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. He declared that worshipping him and stay absorbed in him is the only way to get rid of these material gunas and get free from the birth cycle.
He also explained the nature of God and that by detaching the soul from the materialistic world, one can attain God. In this chapter, Shri Krishna explains the graphical form of the world to make Arjun better understand the nature of the material world so he can develop detachment from the world.
Shri Krishna, in his graphical representation, describes the world like an upside-down sacred fig tree. He explains how its branches represent the souls who wander life afterlife. As God is the source of life, the roots of the tree are pointed upward in the sky. No one knows its limits; it continues to grow, and the Superior creates it. Leaves are the fruitive results of the tree, and the three material gunas irrigate it.
The buds on the tree branches represent the objects of the senses. These buds also expand the upward roots of the aśhvatth tree, and hence it continues.
Shri Krishna explains how the souls in ignorance remain attached to this tree and keep growing within this bondage life afterlife. Shri Krishna explains spirituality as the ax that cuts the material existence of the attachment tree. Therefore, we should look to the source of the tree because that is where God exists. Once we find its source, we start growing toward God, and we reach his heavenly abode forever.
Shri Krishna says these souls are divine; these are my eternal remains. However, these remain under the influence of the material world and hence struggle to attain God. Because of their ignorant nature, they can’t understand God as the senses bind them. He explains how a soul travels to another body after death and carries the mind and senses from the previous birth. The souls without knowledge can’t understand this concept; they just see themselves as the body only. However, Yogis are the ones who understand that there is a soul within the body, and in everything, the Supreme exists.
Lord Krishna says that if we recognize the glories of God, we would realize his existence. In the end, he explains kshar, Akshar, and Purushottam. Kshar are the beings who live in the material world; Akshar are the beings who live in the Abode of God, and Purusottam is the God himself.
The Supreme Divine Personality said: Their material world is an eternal aśhvatth tree with its roots upward and branches below. Its leaves are the Vedic hymns, and the knower of this tree is the knower of Vedas.
The entire tree is upside-down, and the three material gunas nourish the branches. The tender buds on the branches are the objects of senses nourished by three gunas. The roots of the tree come downward, signifying the flow of karma in humans. The roots upward send the karmic actions to the world as per one’s karma.
There is no beginning or end of this tree. To free from this tree, one must use the ax of detachment and get absorbed in the Supreme. The tree base is the Supreme Lord; when you pass through different aspects of the tree and reach the base, you find the Supreme God. One who takes refuge in him doesn’t return to this world anymore.
Those who have overcome the attachment and those who are not deluded dwell in God and know the self. Such beings are free from the senses, and they don’t feel any pain or pleasure as they remain equal toward everything.
Krishna says no Sun or Moon can light up my Supreme Abode. So once you attain me in my heavenly abode, you don’t return to the birth cycle ever.
All the souls in this material world are my divine parts; they are my remains. However, these souls are bound by the material nature, and hence they struggle with their six senses.
The embodied souls in this material world are My eternal fragmental parts. But bound by material nature, they are struggling with the six senses, including the mind.
Just like the air carries the fragrance, the soul carries the mind and senses from one body to another.
It carries the senses of eyes, ears, skin, tongue, and nose, and the mind when it enters a new body and leaves the old one.
The ignorant ones don’t recognize the soul; they enjoy the objects of the senses. They don’t see anything beyond these senses, and hence they keep taking birth in this world again and again.
However, Yogis are those who can recognize the soul; these saints understand that soul lives in the body and leaves it to enter a new one when it is time.
I am the creator of the Universe, and I am everything. No Sun or Moon give me illumination, but I created all of these things, and their radiance comes from me.
I nourish all living beings, and I am the source of everything. I provide the juice of life that every living thing blooms.
I am the form of fire which is the digestion in all living beings; I am the incoming and outgoing breaths and only with my power, all living being digests all four kinds off foods.
I reside in the heart of everyone, and from me comes knowledge and amnesia. I am the Vedas, and I am the author of Vedant; only I am the knower of the meaning of the Vedas.
There are two kinds of living beings: kshar and Akshar. Kshar are the perishable being, and Akshar are the imperishable ones; imperishable ones live in the heavenly abode of God.
Besides these, there is Supreme power that is indestructible. The Supreme is the divine who lives in all the beings; he is the controller and supporter of the world.
I am Supreme to all perishable and imperishable beings. I am the knower and creator of the matter. Those who believe in me without a doubt know me as the Supreme Divine and gain knowledge.
O Arjun, O sinless one, I have shared this most secret principle of the Vedic scriptures with you. Understanding this, a person becomes enlightened that he attains God and lives in the heavenly abode after this lifetime.