{
  "chapter": 15,
  "lang": "en",
  "verses": [
    {
      "id": "15.1",
      "translation": "They speak of an imperishable ashvattha tree, with its roots above and its branches below. The Vedic hymns are its leaves. One who knows this tree is a knower of the Vedas.",
      "explanation": "Krishna begins a new teaching with the image of the ashvattha (peepal or fig) tree, standing for the world of repeated birth and death (saṃsāra). Its roots are above, in the highest source, and its branches spread below. The Vedic hymns (chandas) are its leaves, meaning they nourish and belong to this tree. 'Imperishable' (avyaya) can mean the tree is endless as a flow; some traditions stress that it lasts only as a process and is to be cut through by non-attachment, as the later verses say."
    },
    {
      "id": "15.2",
      "translation": "Its branches spread downward and upward, nourished by the gunas, with sense objects as their budding shoots. Below, in the world of human beings, its roots also stretch out, binding one to action.",
      "explanation": "Krishna continues the image of the cosmic ashvattha (peepal) tree, which stands for the cycle of worldly existence (saṃsāra). Its branches are nourished by the three qualities of nature (guṇa), and its new shoots are the sense objects that tempt the senses. Its secondary roots in the human world bind beings through the habits and results of action (karma). Commentators differ on details of the symbolism, but all read the tree as the entangling world."
    },
    {
      "id": "15.3",
      "translation": "Its form is not perceived here in that way, nor its end, nor its beginning, nor its foundation. Having cut down this ashvattha tree, whose roots have grown so firm, with the strong weapon of non-attachment…",
      "explanation": "Krishna is continuing the image of the upside-down ashvattha (fig) tree, which stands for saṃsāra, the cycle of worldly existence. Ordinary experience cannot find its shape, its end, its beginning or its support. The way out is to cut it down with the firm weapon of non-attachment (asaṅga), freedom from clinging; Advaita reads the tree as ultimately unreal, while theistic schools see it as real but binding. The sentence continues into the next verse…"
    },
    {
      "id": "15.4",
      "translation": "Then that state must be sought, going to which people do not return again. “I take refuge in that very primal Person, from whom this ancient stream of activity has flowed forth.”",
      "explanation": "Krishna has just described the world as a tree with deep roots, to be cut down with the strong weapon of non-attachment (asaṅga). Once that is done, he says, the seeker should look for the highest state (padam), from which there is no return to rebirth. The words “I take refuge” (prapadye) are read by some commentators as the seeker's own vow, and by others as an instruction to surrender to the primal Person (puruṣa), the source of the world's long-running activity (pravṛtti)."
    },
    {
      "id": "15.5",
      "translation": "Free from pride and delusion, having overcome the fault of attachment, always rooted in the Self, with desires turned away, freed from the pairs of opposites known as pleasure and pain, those who are not deluded reach that imperishable state.",
      "explanation": "Krishna has just said that the state from which there is no return must be sought, and now describes who reaches it. Such people are free of pride, delusion, attachment (saṅga) and craving, and they stay steady in the Self (adhyātma), released from the pull of pleasure and pain. Traditions differ on what that imperishable state is: Advaita reads it as the Self's own nature, while devotional schools read it as Krishna's own supreme abode."
    },
    {
      "id": "15.6",
      "translation": "Neither sun nor moon nor fire lights up that place. Those who go there do not return. That is my supreme abode.",
      "explanation": "Krishna has just described the undeluded who reach the imperishable state (pada). Here he says this state, his supreme abode (dhāma), is self-luminous and needs no light from sun, moon or fire. Reaching it ends the cycle of rebirth (saṃsāra). Traditions differ on whether this abode is Krishna's own personal realm or the formless Self or Brahman, and the verse can be read either way."
    },
    {
      "id": "15.7",
      "translation": "An eternal portion of myself, having become a living being in the world of the living, draws along the five senses and the mind as the sixth, which are rooted in nature.",
      "explanation": "Krishna has just described his supreme abode, from which no one returns. Now he explains who the individual self (jīva) is: an eternal part (aṃśa) of him that, in the world of embodied beings, pulls at the mind and five senses, which belong to nature (prakṛti). Traditions differ on \"part\": devotional schools take it as a real, eternal fragment of God, while non-dualist (Advaita) readers take it as a figurative way of speaking about the one Self appearing as many."
    },
    {
      "id": "15.8",
      "translation": "When the lord of the body takes on a body, and when he leaves it, he takes these along with him as he goes, as the wind carries scents away from their source.",
      "explanation": "Krishna continues describing the embodied self (jīva), who is his eternal part and draws the mind and five senses along with it. Here he says the self, called the lord (īśvara) of the body, takes these with it at death and into its next body, just as wind carries fragrance from flowers. Commentators differ on who the \"lord\" is: most take it as the individual self, while some read it as the self's mastery over the body."
    },
    {
      "id": "15.9",
      "translation": "Presiding over the ear, the eye, the sense of touch, the tongue and the nose, and over the mind as well, this one enjoys the objects of the senses.",
      "explanation": "Krishna continues describing the embodied self (jīva), which in the previous verse carries the senses with it from one body to another like wind carrying scents. Here he says that, through the five sense organs and the mind (manas), it experiences sense objects (viṣaya) such as sound, form and taste. Commentators differ on emphasis: some stress the self as a mere witness who is only seemingly involved, others the self as a real enjoyer through its instruments."
    },
    {
      "id": "15.10",
      "translation": "When it departs, when it stays, or when it enjoys, bound up with the gunas, the deluded do not see it. Those with the eye of knowledge see it.",
      "explanation": "Krishna is speaking about the embodied self (jīva), which takes up the senses and mind to experience the world. Whether it leaves the body, remains in it, or enjoys sense objects while joined with the gunas (the three strands of nature: sattva, rajas, tamas), the deluded cannot perceive it. Only those whose \"eye of knowledge\" (jñāna-cakṣus) has opened can see it. Commentators differ on whether \"the one who departs\" is the individual self alone or the self as one with the Supreme, but all agree that this seeing comes through wisdom, not the senses."
    },
    {
      "id": "15.11",
      "translation": "Yogis who strive see this Self established within themselves. But those who strive without having refined their inner selves, and who lack understanding, do not see it.",
      "explanation": "Krishna continues from the previous verse, where he said that only those with the eye of knowledge (jñāna-cakṣus) perceive the Self as it leaves, stays or experiences the world. Here he adds that effort alone is not enough: yogis (those disciplined in spiritual practice) who strive do see it, but those whose inner self is unrefined (akṛtātman) and who lack discernment (acetas) do not, however hard they try. Commentators differ on what this refinement chiefly involves, such as ethical discipline, devotion or knowledge, but agree that it is needed."
    },
    {
      "id": "15.12",
      "translation": "The brilliance in the sun that lights up the whole world, the brilliance in the moon, and the brilliance in fire: know that brilliance to be mine.",
      "explanation": "Krishna has just said that those with a trained mind can see the Self within, while the unprepared cannot. Now he points to something everyone can see: the light of the sun, moon and fire. He says this radiance (tejas) is his, meaning the divine is the source of all illumination in the world. Commentators differ on whether this describes God as the inner power of these things or as a being distinct from yet sustaining them."
    },
    {
      "id": "15.13",
      "translation": "Entering the earth, I sustain all beings by my strength; and becoming Soma, the essence of taste and sap, I nourish all the plants.",
      "explanation": "Krishna continues describing how his power pervades the world, after speaking of the light in the sun, moon and fire. Here he says he upholds living beings by entering the earth, and nourishes plants as Soma (the moon, seen as the source of life-giving sap, rasa). Traditions differ on how literally to take this: some read it as God's real indwelling in nature, others as a poetic way of pointing to the divine as the ground of all things."
    },
    {
      "id": "15.14",
      "translation": "Becoming Vaishvanara, the fire of digestion, I dwell in the bodies of living beings. United with the incoming and outgoing breaths, I digest the four kinds of food.",
      "explanation": "Krishna continues describing how his power sustains the world: just before this he spoke of entering the earth to sustain beings and becoming the moon to nourish plants, and here he presents himself as the digestive fire (Vaishvanara) within every living body. Working together with the in-breath and out-breath (prāṇa and apāna), it digests the four kinds of food, traditionally understood as foods that are chewed, sucked, licked and drunk. The verse says the divine is present in the body's ordinary life-processes."
    },
    {
      "id": "15.15",
      "translation": "I am seated in the heart of every being. From me come memory, knowledge, and their loss. I alone am the one to be known through all the Vedas; I am the maker of the Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.",
      "explanation": "Krishna continues describing how his presence pervades the world: after the sun, fire and digestion in the previous verses, he now turns to the inner life. He says memory (smṛti), knowledge (jñāna) and their fading (apohana) all arise from him in the heart, and that he is the goal of the Vedas, the author of Vedanta (the Upanishadic teaching) and the one who truly knows the Vedas. Commentators differ on \"vedānta-kṛt\": some read it as \"author of Vedanta\", others as \"the one who brings about the Vedas' final purpose\"."
    },
    {
      "id": "15.16",
      "translation": "There are two kinds of person (purusha) in this world: the perishable and the imperishable. The perishable is all living beings; the one who stands unchanging is called the imperishable.",
      "explanation": "Krishna begins to explain the highest reality (Purushottama) by first naming two aspects of \"person\" (puruṣa). The perishable (kṣara) is all beings that change and pass away; the imperishable (akṣara) is what stands unchanged, \"like an anvil\" (kūṭastha). Commentators differ on the imperishable: some take it as the liberated self or the conscious principle, others as the unchanging source of nature (prakṛti) or as maya's seed."
    },
    {
      "id": "15.17",
      "translation": "But there is another, the highest Purusha, called the Supreme Self, the imperishable Lord, who enters the three worlds and sustains them.",
      "explanation": "Krishna has just named two kinds of purusha (person or being): the perishable (kṣara), meaning all created beings, and the unchanging (akṣara), called the \"steady\" one. Here he points to a third, higher purusha, the Supreme Self (paramātman), who is beyond both. This Lord pervades the three worlds and upholds them without ever decaying. Traditions differ on how this Supreme Self relates to the individual self: non-dualist readings stress their ultimate identity, while theistic ones stress a real distinction."
    },
    {
      "id": "15.18",
      "translation": "Because I transcend the perishable, and am higher even than the imperishable, I am proclaimed in the world and in the Veda as the Supreme Person (Purushottama).",
      "explanation": "Krishna is concluding his teaching on the two kinds of 'person' (puruṣa): the perishable (kṣara), meaning all changing beings, and the imperishable (akṣara), often understood as the unchanging soul or the liberated state. He says he surpasses both, which is why he is called Purushottama, the Supreme Person. Traditions differ on the details: Advaita readers tend to see this as the one ultimate reality beyond even the pure self, while devotional schools like Vaishnavism see it as the personal God who is higher than both individual souls and matter."
    },
    {
      "id": "15.19",
      "translation": "One who is free from delusion and knows me in this way as the Supreme Person (Purushottama) knows everything, O Bharata, and worships me with his whole being.",
      "explanation": "Krishna has just said he is beyond both the perishable (kṣara) and the imperishable (akṣara), and so is called the Supreme Person (Puruṣottama). Here he says that anyone who truly knows this, without confusion (asammūḍha), is all-knowing and worships him with total devotion (sarvabhāva). Traditions differ on whether this 'knowing' is mainly devotional love, as in Vaishnava readings, or realization of the one Reality, as in Advaita readings."
    },
    {
      "id": "15.20",
      "translation": "Thus, O sinless one, this most secret teaching has been spoken by me. By understanding it, O descendant of Bharata, a person becomes wise and has done all that was to be done.",
      "explanation": "Krishna closes the fifteenth chapter, addressing Arjuna as \"sinless\" (anagha) and \"descendant of Bharata\" (Bhārata). He calls the teaching on the Supreme Person (Purushottama) the most secret instruction (śāstra), and says that understanding it makes a person truly wise (buddhimān) and fulfilled (kṛta-kṛtya), with nothing left to accomplish. Traditions differ on whether \"this śāstra\" means just this chapter or the whole Gita, and on whether the fulfilment is liberation through knowledge or through devotion."
    }
  ]
}