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The Supreme Person · 20 verses
Ask Krishna about this chapterThe Blessed Lord said: They speak of the imperishable Ashvattha tree, with its roots above and branches below, whose leaves are the Vedic hymns; he who knows it is a…
Its branches spread downward and upward, nourished by the gunas, with sense-objects as their tender shoots; and below, in the world of humans, its secondary roots…
Its form is not perceived here as such, neither its end, nor its beginning, nor its foundation; having cut down this deep-rooted Ashvattha tree with the strong sword of…
Then that state must be sought out, reaching which one does not return again; one should take refuge in that Primeval Person alone, from whom this ancient activity has…
The wise attain Eternity when, freed from pride and delusion, they have conquered their love for the things of sense; when, renouncing desire and fixing their gaze on…
Neither the sun illumines that, nor the moon, nor fire. Having reached which, they do not return — that is My supreme abode.
An eternal fragment of Myself, having become the individual soul in the world of living beings, draws to itself the five senses with the mind as the sixth, all abiding…
When the lord of the body acquires a body and when he departs from it, he takes these along and goes, as the wind carries fragrances from their sources.
Presiding over the ear, the eye, the sense of touch, the tongue, and the nose, as well as the mind, this living soul savors the sense objects.
The deluded do not perceive it when it departs, when it stays, or when it experiences, accompanied by the qualities; but those who possess the eyes of knowledge behold…
Striving yogis perceive this Self established within themselves, but those whose minds are unpurified and who lack discernment do not perceive it, even though they…
Remember that the light which proceeds from the sun, illuminating the whole world, and the light which is in the moon, and that which is in the fire, all are born of me.
Entering the earth, I sustain all beings with My energy, and becoming the nourishing Soma, full of life-giving sap, I nourish all plants.
Becoming the fire of life, I pass into their bodies and, uniting with the vital streams of Prāṇa and Apāna, I digest the various kinds of food.
And I am seated in the hearts of all; from Me come memory, knowledge, and their loss. I alone am to be known through all the Vedas; I am the author of the Vedanta, and…
There are these two Purushas in the world — the perishable and the imperishable. All beings are the perishable, and the unchanging one is called the imperishable.
But the Supreme Person is other than these, spoken of as the Supreme Self — He who, entering the three worlds, sustains them, the imperishable Lord.
Since I transcend the perishable and am higher even than the imperishable, I am celebrated in the world and in the Vedas as the Supreme Person.
He who, free from delusion, thus knows Me as the Supreme Person — he, knowing all, worships Me with his whole being, O Bharata.
Thus, O sinless one, I have revealed this most mystic knowledge to thee. He who understands it gains wisdom and attains the consummation of life.