Sense attraction and karma deepen worldly roots.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
अधश्चोर्ध्वं प्रसृतास्तस्य शाखागुणप्रवृद्धा विषयप्रवालाः |अधश्च मूलान्यनुसन्ततानिकर्मानुबन्धीनि मनुष्यलोके ||१५-२||
adhaścordhvaṃ prasṛtāstasya śākhā guṇapravṛddhā viṣayapravālāḥ . adhaśca mūlānyanusantatāni karmānubandhīni manuṣyaloke ||15-2||
Use this verse to map your karmic roots.
Meaning
Its branches spread above and below, nourished by the gunas, with sense objects as tender shoots; its roots extend downward, binding humans through karma.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
The world-tree grows through gunas, sense objects, and karmic attachment.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
Krishna explains how worldly bondage expands. The gunas nourish the tree, sense pleasures attract the mind, and karmic roots keep beings tied to repeated patterns.
Read the traditional commentary
Krishna elaborates the metaphor of the world-tree. Its branches spread in every direction, both up toward subtler realms and down toward grosser ones, all fed by the three gunas — sattva, rajas, and tamas. Where the branches meet experience, they sprout viṣaya-pravālāḥ, the tender buds of sense-objects that tempt us at every turn.
The most important insight here is about secondary roots. Beyond the primal root in Brahman, the tree sends down further roots into the human world — and these are karmānubandhīni, binding us through action and its consequences. Every action driven by craving plants a new root, deepening our entanglement in the cycle of birth and rebirth.
Krishna is mapping precisely how the soul becomes bound: not by the divine source, but by attachment to sense-objects and the chains of karma we ourselves create through desire-driven deeds.
In daily life
Notice what keeps you karmically entangled.
A person may repeatedly chase validation, creating deeper karmic roots of comparison and anxiety.
Try this today
Identify one repeating karmic root in your life.
I see the roots of attachment clearly.Reflect
Which sense object or pattern is growing my bondage?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘विषयप्रवालाः’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on bondage, in other chapters
- Verse 13.22What you cling to shapes where you go — attachment to nature's qualities keeps the wheel of rebirth turning.
- Verse 8.19Driven by past karma, beings are swept helplessly through endless cycles; true freedom means stepping beyond the wheel entirely.
- Verse 14.5Your moods of clarity, drive, and dullness belong to Nature, not to the changeless Self you truly are.
- Verse 3.34Your liking and disliking arise automatically — the real discipline is refusing to be ruled by them, not pretending they do not exist.
Swipe left for 15.3 · Detachment cuts deep bondage.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 15.2
Who says Bhagavad Gita 15.2, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 15.2, in Chapter 15, Purushottama Yoga (Purushottama Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 15.2 mean?
Its branches spread above and below, nourished by the gunas, with sense objects as tender shoots; its roots extend downward, binding humans through karma. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 15.2 for daily life?
Notice what keeps you karmically entangled. A person may repeatedly chase validation, creating deeper karmic roots of comparison and anxiety.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 15.2 mean?
अधः च ऊर्ध्वम् — below and above; प्रसृताः शाखाः — the spreading branches; गुणप्रवृद्धाः — nourished by the gunas; विषयप्रवालाः — sense-objects are its buds; मूलानि — roots.
Where does verse 15.2 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 2 of 20 in Chapter 15, Purushottama Yoga. The next verse is 15.3.