THE SAMSARA ASVATTHA TREE

========== An Analogy From Bhagavad Gita ==========

The Lord describes the nature of Samsara or mundane existence by a figurative representation as a tree. Samsara is represented as a tree because it can be cut off like a tree in order to produce Vairagya or absence of all attachment. For, he alone who is free from all attachment, and no other person, is fit for attaining the knowledge of the real nature of the Lord. 

Bhagavad Gita 15.1 :

" They speak of the indestructible Asvattha having its root above and branches below, whose leaves are the metres. He who knows it knows the Vedas. " 

PURPORT :

PURPORT :

As Brahman with Maya or the unmanifested potentiality is subtle in point of time, as He is the Cause, as He is eternal, as He is great, He is spoken of as the one above. Brahman who is Kutastha (immutable) cannot by Himself be the cause. Brahman is 'subtle in point of time' and He is the Cause because He is the invariable antecedent of all effects. The One above is the root of this Tree of Samsara, which is therefore said to have its root above. 

The Sruti says :

"With roots above and branches below, this Asvattha is eternal.'' (Katha-Upanishad 3-2-1).

In the Purana also it is said :

" The root from which the Eternal Tree of Brahman has sprung is the Avyakta, the Unmanifested. The Tree occupied, presided over, led, governed, guided, by Brahman. It is said to be eternal because it can not be cut except by knowledge. It has developed by the strength of the same (Avyakta). Its trunk is Buddhi, the sense-apertures Its hollows, the great elements Its boughs, the sense-objects Its leaves and branches, dharma and adharma Its fair blossoms, pleasure and pain Its fruits affording livelihood to all creatures. And this is the resort of Brahman (the Highest Self), and that Highest Self is (the essence) of that Tree of Brahman. It is in this Tree of samsara that Brahman abides.---This portion is interpreted to mean 'Brahman is the resort of this Tree of samsara : for this infinite universe has its basis in Brahman and in nothing else. It Is indeed Brahman Himself that, owing to avidya, manifests Himself in the form of this universe. Having cut asunder and split the Tree with the mighty sword of knowledge "I am Brahman" and then attained to the Bliss of the Self, none comes back from there again.''

They speak of the illusory samsara as a tree rooted above. The Mahat, the Ahamkara (Egoism), the Tanmatras (the Elemental Essences), etc., are its branches as it were, and these extend downwards ; whence the tree is said to have its branches below. They call' this tree 'Asvattha' because it will not abide the same even till tomorrow, because it undergoes destruction every moment. The illusion (Maya) of samsara having existed in time without beginning, they say that this Tree of samsara is eternal ; for, it rests, as is well known, on a continuous series of births which is without beginning or end and is thus eternal. The Tree of Samsara is further qualified thus: The metres (chhandases) are its leaves as it were; they are so called because, like leaves, the metres (Vedas) such as Rik, Yajus and Sam an protect' (' chad,' to cover) the Tree of samsara. Just as the leaves of a tree serve to protect the tree, so do the Vedas serve'to protect the Tree of Samsara, as treating of dharma (merit) and adharma (demerit), with their causes and fruits. The ritualistic sections of the Veda treat of the path of ascent and descent of the soul; they protect Samsara by concealing its defects. He who knows the Tree of Samsara and its Root as described above is a knower of the teaching of the Vedas. Indeed nothing else, not even an iota, remains to be known beyond this Tree of Samsara and its Root. He who knows It is therefore omniscient . ---This is to extol the knowledge of the Tree of Samsara and its Root.

They speak of the illusory samsara as a tree rooted above. The Mahat, the Ahamkara (Egoism), the Tanmatras (the Elemental Essences), etc., are its branches as it were, and these extend downwards ; whence the tree is said to have its branches below. They call' this tree 'Asvattha' because it will not abide the same even till tomorrow, because it undergoes destruction every moment. The illusion (Maya) of samsara having existed in time without beginning, they say that this Tree of samsara is eternal ; for, it rests, as is well known, on a continuous series of births which is without beginning or end and is thus eternal. The Tree of Samsara is further qualified thus: The metres (chhandases) are its leaves as it were; they are so called because, like leaves, the metres (Vedas) such as Rik, Yajus and Sam an protect' (' chad,' to cover) the Tree of samsara. Just as the leaves of a tree serve to protect the tree, so do the Vedas serve'to protect the Tree of Samsara, as treating of dharma (merit) and adharma (demerit), with their causes and fruits. The ritualistic sections of the Veda treat of the path of ascent and descent of the soul; they protect Samsara by concealing its defects. He who knows the Tree of Samsara and its Root as described above is a knower of the teaching of the Vedas. Indeed nothing else, not even an iota, remains to be known beyond this Tree of Samsara and its Root. He who knows It is therefore omniscient . ---This is to extol the knowledge of the Tree of Samsara and its Root.

Now follows another figurative representation of the members of this Tree of Samsara: 

Bhagavad Gita 15.2 :

" Below and above are its branches spread, nourished by the gunas, sense-objects its buds; and below in the world of man stretch forth the roots ending in action. " 

PURPORT :

PURPORT :

From man down to unmoving objects below, and from him up to the abode of Brahmaa, the Creator of the Universe, whatever regions are attained as the suitable reward of knowledge and action, ---each varying according to the character of knowledge or of action,---they are the spreading branches as it were of that Tree ; they are nourished and fattened by the gunas of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, which form their material basis (upadana). The sense-objects such as sound are the buds, as it were, sprouting from the branches of the physical and other bodies which are the result of actions. ---The Highest Root of the Tree of Samsara has been mentioned already, and now will be mentioned the secondary roots as it were (of the universe), as leading to acts of dharma or adharma: viz., the latent impressions (vasanas) of the feelings of attachment and aversion, etc., which were caused by the fruits of actions. These roots are spread in this world of man below i.e, in the linga-sariras of men these feelings of attachment and aversion are constantly present---below the regions of Devas and the like ---and give rise to acts of dharma and adharma, these acts springing up on the up-springing of those vasanas. Those roots are spread especially in the world of man. It is while here, as is well-known to all, that men concern themselves with action. That is to say, it is while in the human body especially, that one is fit to engage in action. 

And as to the Tree of Samsara just described, 

Bhagavad Gita 15.3 :

" Its form is not perceived as such here, neither its end nor its origin nor its existence. Having cut asunder this firm-rooted Asvattha with the strong sword of dispassion. " 

Bhagavad Gita 15.4 :

" Then That Goal should be sought for, whither having gone none return again. ''I seek refuge in that Primeval Purusha whence streamed forth the Ancient current.'' 

PURPORT :

PURPORT :

As such: as described above. Its form as such is perceived by nobody here : for it is very much like a dream, a mirage a gandharva-nagara (an imaginary city in the sky) produced by a juggler's art ; indeed, it appears and disappears. One may suppose that the Tree of Samsara, constantly kept up as it is by attachment etc., has no beginning and is not liable to destruction in itself, and that it is not even possible for one to cut it asunder.To remove this idea, the Lord says that the Tree of Samsara described above, though not perceived through our sense-organs, should be inferred to be as described above from the teachings of the sastra (scripture). So it is possible for one to cut it asunder by means of knowledge. It has therefore no finality, no end. In the absence of knowledge, samsara has no end, inasmuch as illusion, vasanas (latent tendencies acquired in the past) and works give rise to one another, by action and reaction. Samsara is firm-rooted : and one should therefore put forth a very-strong effort to uproot it, by resorting to renunciation through practice of indifference. 

Neither has it a beginning: nobody knows 'It has proceeded 'from this point.' 

Its existence ---i.e., its nature between the origin and the end ---is perceived by nobody. Dispassion: freedom from attachment to children, to wealth, and to the world.

Strong: strengthened by a resolute bent of mind towards the Supreme Self and sharpened again and again on the whetstone of the practice of true discrimination. 

Cut asunder: uprooted the Tree of samsara with its seed.

Then the aspirant should seek for and know the abode of Vishnu beyond that Tree. Those who have reached this Goal never return to samsara.---How is that Goal to be sought after ? ---It is sought after thus: "I seek refuge in Him, the Primeval Purusha," who is spoken of as the Goal; i.e., He is to be sought for by way of seeking refuge in Him. Who is this Purusha ? ---It is that Purusha from whom the emanation of the Tree of the illusory Samsara streamed forth, just as illusory sights (maya) issue from out of a juggler. 

"Om Shanti Shanti Shanti"