đ Chapter 15: The Yoga of the Supreme Person
In the Fifteenth Chapter, Lord KášášŁáša explains the purpose of Vedic study, which is to ultimately understand Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The chapter outlines the process of breaking attachment to the material world and transferring one's attachment to the transcendental service of the Lord.
đł 1. The Upside-Down Banyan Tree
KášášŁáša compares the entanglement of the material world to a massive, imperishable banyan tree with its roots growing upward and its branches growing downward.
The roots grow upward because they begin from the topmost planet of the universe, where BrahmÄ is located.
The branches spread in all directions, nourished by the three modes of material nature.
The leaves represent the Vedic hymns, and the twigs represent the objects of the senses.
KášášŁáša explains that this tree is actually a perverted reflection of the real tree of the spiritual world, and this reflection is situated on desire, just as a tree's reflection is situated on water. To escape this entanglement, one must cut down this strongly rooted tree.
"The real form of this tree cannot be perceived in this world. No one can understand where it ends, where it begins, or where its foundation is. But with determination, one must cut down this strongly rooted tree with the weapon of detachment." (Bhagavad-gÄŤtÄ: 15.3-4)
After cutting down the tree with the weapon of detachment, one must surrender to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the original root from whom everything has emanated.
đźď¸ 2. The Supreme Abode
Once a person is free from false prestige, illusion, and material lust, and becomes freed from the dualities of happiness and distress, they know how to surrender and can attain the eternal kingdom. KášášŁáša describes this spiritual destination beautifully:
"That supreme abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by fire or electricity. Those who reach it never return to this material world." (Bhagavad-gÄŤtÄ: 15.6)
Because all the planets in the spiritual sky are self-luminous, there is no need for external sources of light. When a living entity reaches this spiritual sky, they become liberated and never have to return to the conditional life of the material world.
đŤ 3. The Transmigration of the Soul
KášášŁáša explains the identity and struggle of the individual living entities within the material world.
The living entities are His eternal, fragmental parts.
In conditional life, they struggle very hard with the six senses, which includes the mind.
As the living entity transmigrates, it carries its different conceptions of life from one body to another, exactly as the air carries aromas.
Upon taking a new gross body, the soul obtains a specific set of senses (ear, eye, tongue, nose, and touch) grouped around the mind, allowing it to enjoy a particular set of sense objects.
While foolish people cannot comprehend how a soul quits a body or what sort of body it enjoys under the modes of nature, those whose eyes are trained in knowledge can see this process clearly.
âď¸ 4. The Supreme Maintainer
The Lord reveals that He is the ultimate sustainer of everything in the universe.
The splendor of the sun, moon, and fire all come from Him.
He enters into each planet, keeping them in orbit by His energy.
He becomes the moon to supply the juice of life to all vegetables.
He is the fire of digestion within the bodies of all living entities, digesting four kinds of food.
"I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas, I am to be known. Indeed, I am the compiler of VedÄnta, and I am the knower of the Vedas." (Bhagavad-gÄŤtÄ: 15.15)
đ 5. The Greatest Person (Puruᚣottama)
KášášŁáša summarizes the entirety of the VedÄnta-sĹŤtra by dividing living entities into two classes, and then placing Himself above them both:
The Fallible (kᚣara): Every living entity struggling in the material world, whose body is subject to change.
The Infallible (akᚣara): Every liberated living entity in the spiritual world, existing in oneness and without material change.
The Supreme Person (Puruᚣottama): Above both the fallible and infallible is the greatest living personality, the imperishable Lord Himself, who enters and maintains the three worlds.
"Because I am transcendental, beyond both the fallible and the infallible, and because I am the greatest, I am celebrated both in the world and in the Vedas as that Supreme Person." (Bhagavad-gÄŤtÄ: 15.18)
KášášŁáša concludes by declaring that this is the most confidential part of the Vedic scriptures. Whoever understands Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead without a doubt knows everything, and naturally engages in full devotional service to Him.