They speak of the eternal ashwattha tree with roots above and branches below, its leaves the Vedic hymns; he who knows it is a knower of the Vedas. (15:1)
Below, above, its branches spread afar, nourished by the gunas. Its buds are the sense-objects; and in the world of men below its roots engender action. (15:2)
Its form is not perceptible here in the world, nor its end, nor its beginning, nor its foundation. Cutting this firm-rooted ashwattha tree with the strong axe of non-attachment, (15:3)
Then that place is to be sought to which, having gone, they do not return again: “In that Primeval Purusha from which streamed forth the ancient Power, I take refuge.” (15:4)
Without pride or delusion, with the evil of attachment conquered, constantly dwelling in the Self, with desires dispelled, freed from the pair of opposites known as pleasure and pain, the undeluded reach the eternal Goal. (15:5)
There the sun, moon or fire illuminate not; going whither they return not, for that is my Supreme Abode. (15:6)
Merely a fragment of myself, becoming an eternal jiva in this world of jivas, draws to itself the senses, and the mind as the sixth sense, abiding in Prakriti. (15:7)
When the Lord takes on a body, and when he leaves it, he takes the senses and the mind and goes, like the wind takes the scents from their seats, the flowers and herbs. (15:8)*
Presiding over hearing, sight, touch, taste and smell as well as the mind, this Ishwara experiences the objects of the senses. (15:9)
Whether departing, remaining or enjoying, accompanied by the gunas, the deluded do not see him. Those with the eye of knowledge see him. (15:10)
The yogis, striving, behold him dwelling within the Self; but the undeveloped and unintelligent, even though striving, see him not. (15:11)
That light which resides in the sun, which illumines the whole world, which is in the moon and in fire–know that light to be mine. (15:12)
Entering the earth, I support all beings with my energy. Having become the watery moon, I cause all plants to thrive. (15:13)
Becoming the digestive fire, I abide in the body of all living beings. Joined with prana and apana, I digest the fourfold food. (15:14)
Seated within the hearts of all, from me come memory and knowledge and their loss: I alone am to be known by all the Vedas; I am the Author of the Vedanta, and the Knower of the Vedas. (15:15)
There are two purushas in this world–the perishable and the imperishable. All beings are the perishable, and Kutastha is called the imperishable. (15:16)
But there is also the Highest Purusha, called the Supreme Self, the eternal Ishwara, Who pervades all the three worlds and sustains them. (15:17)
Since I transcend the perishable and am also above the imperishable, so in this world and in the Veda I am known as the Supreme Purusha. (15:18)
He who, undeluded, thus knows me as the Supreme Purusha, he, knowing all, worships me with his whole being. (15:19)
This most secret teaching has been imparted by me; awakened to this, a man becomes wise and all his duties are fulfilled. (15:20)
* According to the upanishads and the Gita, Ishwara lives in the heart, the core, of every human being, and experiences all which they experience. Therefore Krishna underlines that both the incarnating jivatman and the Paramatman enter and depart from the body together.
Om Tat Sat
Thus in the Upanishads of the glorious Bhagavad Gita, the science of the Eternal, the scripture of Yoga, the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, ends the fifteenth discourse entitled: The Yoga of the Supreme Spirit.
Read Chapter Sixteen: The Yoga of the Division between the Divine and the Demonic