Chapter 15, Verse 3
न रूपमस्येह तथोपलभ्यते नान्तो न चादिर्न च सम्प्रतिष्ठा | अश्वत्थमेनं सुविरूढमूलं असङ्गशस्त्रेण दृढेन छित्त्वा ||१५-३||
na rūpamasyeha tathopalabhyate nānto na cādirna ca sampratiṣṭhā . aśvatthamenaṃ suvirūḍhamūlaṃ asaṅgaśastreṇa dṛḍhena chittvā ||15-3||
Meaning
15.3 Its form is not perceived here as such, neither its end nor its origin, nor its foundation nor resting place: having cut asunder this firmly rooted peepul tree with the strong axe of non-attachment.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
The world-tree cannot be grasped by ordinary perception. While we are inside it, immersed in our experiences, we cannot see its true form — its beginning, its end, or what truly upholds it remain hidden from a mind caught in sense-objects. This is precisely why the tree seems so solid and inescapable: we mistake the passing for the permanent.
Krishna's remedy is decisive. This tree, however suviruḍha-mūla — firmly and deeply rooted — can be felled with one instrument: asaṅga-śastra, the axe of non-attachment. Not by hating the world, nor by fleeing it, but by cutting the inner cords of clinging that keep us bound. Detachment here is not coldness; it is the clear strength that loosens our grip on what cannot last, so that we are free to seek what does. The verse leaves the action incomplete deliberately — the next verse reveals what awaits beyond the felled tree.
💡 Key Takeaway
Non-attachment is the single sharp tool that can sever even our deepest entanglements.
Related Verses
श्रीभगवानुवाच | ऊर्ध्वमूलमधःशाखमश्वत्थं प्राहुरव्ययम् | छन्दांसि यस्य पर्णानि यस्तं वेद स वेदवित् ||१५-१||
śrībhagavānuvāca . ūrdhvamūlamadhaḥśākhamaśvatthaṃ prāhuravyayam . chandāṃsi yasya parṇāni yastaṃ veda sa vedavit ||15-1||
15.1 The Blessed Lord said They (the wise) speak of the indestructible peepul tree having its root above and branches below, whose leaves are the metres or hymns: he who knows it is a knower of the Vedas.
ततः पदं तत्परिमार्गितव्यं यस्मिन्गता न निवर्तन्ति भूयः | तमेव चाद्यं पुरुषं प्रपद्ये | यतः प्रवृत्तिः प्रसृता पुराणी ||१५-४||
tataḥ padaṃ tatparimārgitavyaṃ yasmingatā na nivartanti bhūyaḥ . tameva cādyaṃ puruṣaṃ prapadye . yataḥ pravṛttiḥ prasṛtā purāṇī ||15-4||
15.4 Then That goal should be sought for, whither having gone none returns again. I seek refuge in that Primeval Purusha Whence streamed forth the ancient activity or energy.
निर्मानमोहा जितसङ्गदोषा अध्यात्मनित्या विनिवृत्तकामाः | द्वन्द्वैर्विमुक्ताः सुखदुःखसंज्ञैर्- गच्छन्त्यमूढाः पदमव्ययं तत् ||१५-५||
nirmānamohā jitasaṅgadoṣā adhyātmanityā vinivṛttakāmāḥ . dvandvairvimuktāḥ sukhaduḥkhasaṃjñaira- gacchantyamūḍhāḥ padamavyayaṃ tat ||15-5||
15.5 Free from pride and delusion, victorious over the evil of attachment, dwelling constantly in the Self, their desires having completely turned away, freed from the pairs of opposites known as pleasure and pain, the undeluded reach the eternal goal.