Chapter 15 is twenty verses long, is recited before meals in many households, and is called by Krishna himself the most secret teaching. It opens with the Gita's most striking image — an inverted tree whose roots are above and whose branches grow downward, an image borrowed directly from the Katha Upanishad — and prescribes cutting it with an axe made of non-attachment. It contains the statement that the living being is an eternal fragment of the divine, the image of impressions travelling from body to body as scent travels on the wind, and the verse that names Purushottama, on which the Vedantic schools divide more sharply than on any other.
📘 Chapter 15 at a Glance
Name: Purushottama Yoga
Meaning: The Supreme Person
Verses: 20
Section: Chapters 13-18 - the Jnana shatka, on the relation between them - asi
Source: Mahabharata, Bhishma Parva
📑 Table of Contents
📖 About This Chapter
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Chapter | 15 of 18 |
| Sanskrit name | Purushottama Yoga |
| Usually rendered | The Supreme Person |
| Verses | 20 |
| Section (shatka) | Chapters 13-18 - the Jnana group, on the relation between them - asi |
| Part of | Mahabharata, Bhishma Parva - the Gita's 700 verses across 18 chapters |
🗺️ Where It Sits
Chapter 15 is only twenty verses and the tradition treats it as a summary of the whole Gita. In many Vaishnava households it is recited before meals, and Krishna himself calls it, at the close, the most secret teaching (15.20).
It opens with the Gita's most striking single image: an inverted ashvattha tree, with its roots above and its branches below.
🌳 Where the image comes from
The inverted tree is not the Gita's invention — it appears at Katha Upanishad 2.3.1, in almost the same form. The Gita takes it up and develops it considerably. The word ashvattha also carries a pun the commentators note: shvah means tomorrow, and na shvah sthita — "not standing until tomorrow" — reads the name as meaning the impermanent.
🌳 The Inverted Tree (15.1–15.4)
Krishna describes the ashvattha with its root above and branches below, its leaves the Vedic hymns; one who knows it knows the Vedas (15.1). Its branches spread below and above, nourished by the gunas; its buds are the objects of sense; and below, in the world of men, its roots stretch down, binding through action (15.2).
Then, at 15.3–4, the instruction: its form is not perceived here as such, neither its end nor its beginning nor its foundation. Having cut this firmly rooted ashvattha with the strong axe of non-attachment, that goal is to be sought from which those who reach it do not return.
📌 What the image is doing
The roots are above because the source of the manifest world is not inside it. The tree cannot be seen whole from within — no end, no beginning, no foundation is visible from where one stands. And the instrument prescribed is not knowledge or ritual but asanga, non-attachment, described as an axe. The image locates the problem precisely: what holds a person is the downward roots, and those grow from action in the world of men.
💧 The Fragment (15.7–15.11)
Verse 15.7 is among the most quoted in Vaishnava theology: an eternal fragment of my own Self, having become a living being in the world of the living, draws to itself the senses, of which the mind is the sixth, abiding in prakriti.
Krishna then describes how the jiva moves: when the lord acquires a body and when he leaves it, he takes these along and goes, as the wind carries scents from their places (15.8). The image is precise — what is carried is not the sense organs but their impressions, the way a scent travels without the flower.
At 15.10–11 comes an observation the chapter makes almost in passing: the deluded do not see him departing, staying or experiencing — only those with the eye of knowledge see. And the striving yogis see him seated in themselves, while the unrefined, however much they strive, do not.
🌟 Kshara, Akshara and Purushottama (15.16–15.18)
The chapter's doctrinal core, and the source of its title. Krishna names two purushas in this world — the perishable and the imperishable. The perishable is all beings; the imperishable is called the unchanging (15.16).
But there is another, the highest purusha, called the supreme Self, who entering the three worlds sustains them — the imperishable lord (15.17).
And then 15.18, the verse that names him: because I transcend the perishable and am higher even than the imperishable, therefore I am celebrated in the world and in the Veda as Purushottama — the supreme person.
💡 Why this matters
The Gita here distinguishes itself from a purely impersonal Vedanta. The akshara, the imperishable, is not the last word — there is a Purushottama beyond even that. This verse is the single most important scriptural support for the Vaishnava schools, and the point on which the commentarial traditions divide most sharply.
⭐ Key Verses
Verses are given in Devanagari, in transliteration, and in plain English. Chapter-and-verse numbering follows the standard vulgate used in most printed editions.
ऊर्ध्वमूलमधःशाखमश्वत्थं प्राहुरव्ययम् ।
छन्दांसि यस्य पर्णानि यस्तं वेद स वेदवित् ॥
ūrdhva-mūlam adhaḥ-śhākham aśhvatthaṁ prāhur avyayam |
chhandāṁsi yasya parṇāni yas taṁ veda sa veda-vit ||
They speak of an imperishable ashvattha tree with its root above and its branches below, whose leaves are the Vedic hymns. One who knows it is a knower of the Vedas.
The image is taken from Katha Upanishad 2.3.1. The name ashvattha is read by commentators as na shvah sthita — “not standing until tomorrow,” the impermanent.
अश्वत्थमेनं सुविरूढमूलमसङ्गशस्त्रेण दृढेन छित्त्वा ।
ततः पदं तत्परिमार्गितव्यं यस्मिन्गता न निवर्तन्ति भूयः ॥
aśhvattham enaṁ su-virūḍha-mūlam asaṅga-śhastreṇa dṛiḍhena chhittvā |
tataḥ padaṁ tat parimārgitavyaṁ yasmin gatā na nivartanti bhūyaḥ ||
Having cut this firmly rooted ashvattha with the strong axe of non-attachment, that goal is then to be sought, from which those who reach it do not return again.
The instrument prescribed is asanga — non-attachment — described as an axe. Not knowledge, not ritual.
ममैवांशो जीवलोके जीवभूतः सनातनः ।
मनःषष्ठानीन्द्रियाणि प्रकृतिस्थानि कर्षति ॥
mamaivāṁśho jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ |
manaḥ-ṣhaṣhṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛiti-sthāni karṣhati ||
An eternal fragment of my own Self, having become a living being in the world of the living, draws to itself the senses, of which the mind is the sixth, abiding in prakriti.
Among the most quoted verses in Vaishnava theology.
सर्वस्य चाहं हृदि सन्निविष्टो मत्तः स्मृतिर्ज्ञानमपोहनं च ।
वेदैश्च सर्वैरहमेव वेद्यो वेदान्तकृद्वेदविदेव चाहम् ॥
sarvasya chāhaṁ hṛidi sanniviṣhṭo mattaḥ smṛitir jñānam apohanaṁ cha |
vedaiśh cha sarvair aham eva vedyo vedānta-kṛid veda-vid eva chāham ||
I am seated in the hearts of all; from me come memory, knowledge and their loss. By all the Vedas I alone am to be known; I am the author of Vedanta and the knower of the Veda.
यस्मात्क्षरमतीतोऽहमक्षरादपि चोत्तमः ।
अतोऽस्मि लोके वेदे च प्रथितः पुरुषोत्तमः ॥
yasmāt kṣharam atīto'ham akṣharād api chottamaḥ |
ato'smi loke vede cha prathitaḥ puruṣhottamaḥ ||
Because I transcend the perishable and am higher even than the imperishable, I am celebrated in the world and in the Veda as Purushottama, the supreme person.
The verse that names the chapter, and the single most important scriptural support for the Vaishnava schools.
💡 What the Chapter Teaches
- The world is a tree with its roots above. The source of the manifest is not inside the manifest, and the whole cannot be seen from within it.
- The instrument is non-attachment, described as an axe. Not knowledge, not ritual — asanga.
- The jiva is an eternal fragment. 15.7 is the Gita's most direct statement of the relation between the individual and the supreme.
- Impressions travel like scent on the wind. What is carried from body to body is not the organs but what they have gathered.
- There is a third beyond the perishable and the imperishable. 15.18 names Purushottama, and it is the verse on which the Vedantic schools divide most sharply.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What is the inverted tree in Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15?
An ashvattha with its root above and branches below, whose leaves are the Vedic hymns — an image taken from Katha Upanishad 2.3.1. The roots are above because the source of the manifest is not inside it, and the tree cannot be seen whole from within: neither its end, beginning nor foundation is perceived from here. Its downward roots bind through action.
How does the Gita say the tree should be cut?
Verses 15.3–4: having cut this firmly rooted ashvattha with the strong axe of non-attachment — asanga — that goal is then to be sought from which those who reach it do not return. The instrument is notable: not knowledge, not ritual, not austerity, but letting go, described as an axe.
What does Gita 15.7 say about the individual soul?
That an eternal fragment of Krishna's own Self, having become a living being in the world of the living, draws to itself the senses of which the mind is the sixth, abiding in prakriti. Among the most quoted verses in Vaishnava theology, and the Gita's most direct statement of the relation between individual and supreme.
Who is Purushottama in the Bhagavad Gita?
Verse 15.16 names two purushas — the perishable (all beings) and the imperishable (the unchanging). 15.17 says there is another, the highest, who enters and sustains the three worlds. And 15.18 names him: transcending the perishable and higher even than the imperishable, he is celebrated as Purushottama. It is the key scriptural support for the Vaishnava schools.
Why is Chapter 15 recited before meals?
Because the tradition treats it as a summary of the whole Gita — Krishna calls it the most secret teaching at 15.20 — and at twenty verses it is short enough to recite regularly. Verse 15.14, in which Krishna says he becomes the digestive fire in living beings and digests the four kinds of food, is the specific link to the practice.
🙏 Conclusion
Chapter 15 packs more into twenty verses than any other part of the Gita, which is why the tradition treats it as a summary and recites it daily. Its governing image is exact: a tree that cannot be seen whole from where you are standing, whose visible roots run downward into the world of human action and hold you there, and whose real root is somewhere you cannot see. The tool given is not learning but letting go, and the goal named is a supreme person who is beyond both the perishable world and the imperishable ground of it. For a chapter short enough to recite before dinner, that is a considerable amount of work.
📖 Continue the Gita Series
📚 More from the Gita Series
Chapter 14: Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga
The Three Gunas - 27 verses. The chapter before this one.
Chapter 16: Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga
The Divine and the Demonic - 24 verses. The chapter that follows.
The Most-Quoted Gita Verses
Twenty-five verses from across the eighteen chapters, with text and translation.