Bhagavad Gita 15.1 Meaning

Bhagavad Gita 15.1

श्रीभगवानुवाच ।

ऊर्ध्वमूलमधःशाखमश्वत्थं प्राहुरव्ययम् ।छन्दांसि यस्य पर्णानि यस्तं वेद स वेदवित् ॥

Urdhvamulamadhahshakhamashvattham prahuravyayamChhandansi yasya parnani yastam veda sa vedavit

ūrdhvamūlamadhaḥśākhamaśvatthaṃ prāhuravyayam |chandāṃsi yasya parṇāni yastaṃ veda sa vedavit ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

Our explanation Krishna speaks. He tells of an aśvattha, a sacred fig tree, with its roots above and its branches below. People call it imperishable, he says; its leaves are the Vedic hymns (chandas), and whoever knows this tree knows the Veda. Telang's note on 15.5 reads the tree as the course of worldly life, rooted in the Supreme.

हिंदी अर्थ कृष्ण बोलते हैं। वे एक अश्वत्थ (पीपल) वृक्ष की बात करते हैं, जिसकी जड़ें ऊपर हैं और शाखाएँ नीचे। वे कहते हैं कि इसे अविनाशी कहा जाता है; वेद के छंद इसके पत्ते हैं, और जो इस वृक्ष को जानता है, वह वेद को जानता है। तेलंग की टिप्पणी (15.5 पर) इस वृक्ष को संसार का चक्र बताती है, जिसकी जड़ परमात्मा में है।

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ऊर्ध्वमूलम् ūrdhvamūlam · with its roots above (compound, accusative singular) Dictionary: ūrdhva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 222, col. 1 “rising or tending upwards, raised, elevated, erected, erect, upright, high, above”; mūla, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 826, col. 2 “a root (of any plant or tree)”
अधःशाखम् adhaḥśākham · with its branches below (compound, accusative singular) Dictionary: adhas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 20, col. 1 “below, down; in the lower region; beneath, under”; śākhā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1062, col. 3 “a branch (lit. and fig.)”
अश्वत्थम् aśvattham · the ashvattha, the sacred fig tree (accusative singular) Dictionary: aśvattha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 115, col. 3 “the holy fig tree, Ficus Religiosa”
प्राहुः prāhuḥ · they call, they say (perfect form, present sense, 3rd person plural) Dictionary: 1. ah, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 124, col. 1 “to say, speak”
अव्ययम् avyayam · imperishable (accusative singular) Dictionary: 2. a-vyaya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 111, col. 3 “not liable to change, imperishable, undecaying”
छन्दांसि chandāṃsi · the Vedic hymns (nominative plural) Dictionary: 2. chandas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 405, col. 1 “the sacred text of the Vedic hymns”
यस्य yasya · whose (relative pronoun, genitive singular) Dictionary: yad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 844, col. 2 “who, which, what, whichever, whatever, that”
पर्णानि parṇāni · leaves (nominative plural) Dictionary: parṇa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 606, col. 2 “a leaf (regarded as the plumage of a tree)”
यः yaḥ · who (relative pronoun, nominative singular) Dictionary: yad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 844, col. 2 “who, which, what, whichever, whatever, that”
तम् tam · it, that (tree) (pronoun, accusative singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
वेद veda · knows (perfect form, present sense, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: 1. vid, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 963, col. 2 “to know, understand, perceive, learn”
सः saḥ · he (pronoun, nominative singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
वेदवित् vedavit · knower of the Veda (compound, nominative singular) Dictionary: veda-vid, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1016, col. 1 “knowing the V°, conversant with it”

Cf. Kathopanishad, p. 70, and Sutta Nipâta, p. 76. ↩

Bhagavad Gita 15.1: meaning and translation

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