• Chapter Fifteen •

“The Lord-God”

1.  “Lord Shri Krishna continued:  This phenomenal creation, which is both ephemeral and eternal, is like a tree, but having its seed above in the Highest and its ramifications on this earth below.  The scriptures are its leaves, and he who understands this, knows.

2.  Its branches shoot upwards and downwards, deriving their nourishment from the Qualities; its buds are the objects of sense; and its roots, which follow the Law causing man's regeneration and degeneration, pierce downwards into the soil.

3.  In this world its true form is not known, neither its origin nor its end, and its strength is not understood, until the tree with its roots striking deep into the earth is hewn down by the sharp axe of non-attachment.

4.  Beyond lies the Path, from which, when found, there is no return.  This is the Primal God from whence this ancient creation has sprung.

5.  The wise attain Eternity when, freed from pride and delusion, they have conquered their love for the things of the sense; when, renouncing desire and fixing their gaze on the Self, they have ceased to be tossed to and fro by the opposing sensations, like pleasure and pain.

6.  Neither sun, moon, nor fire shines there.  Those who go thither never come back.  For, O Arjuna, that is My Celestial Home!

7.  It is only a very small part of My Eternal Self, which is the life of this universe, drawing round itself the six senses, the mind the last, which have their source in Nature.

8.  When the Supreme Lord enters a body or leaves it, He gathers these senses together and travels on with them, as the wind gathers perfume while passing through the flowers.

9.  He is the perception of the ear, the eye, the touch, the taste and the smell, yea and of the mind also; and the enjoyment of the things which they perceive is also His.

10.  The ignorant do not see that it is He Who is present in life and Who departs at death or even that it is He Who enjoys pleasure through the Qualities.  Only the eye of wisdom sees.

11.  The saints with great effort find Him within themselves; but not the unintelligent, who in spite of every effort cannot control their minds.

12.  Remember that the Light which, proceeding from the sun, illumines the whole world, and the light which is in the moon, and That which is in the fire also, all are born of Me.

13.  I enter this world and animate all My creatures with My Vitality; and by My cool moonbeams I nourish the plants.

14.  Becoming the fire of life, I pass into their bodies and, uniting with the vital streams of Prana and Apana, I digest the various kinds of food.

15.  I am enthroned in the hearts of all; memory, wisdom and discrimination owe their origin to Me.  I am He Who is to be realised in the scriptures; I inspire their wisdom and I know their truth.

16.  There are two aspects in Nature: the perishable and the imperishable.  All life in this world belongs to the former, the unchanging element belongs to the latter.

17.  But higher than all am I, the Supreme God, the Absolute Self, the Eternal Lord, Who pervades the worlds and upholds them all.

18.  Beyond comparison of the Eternal with the non-eternal am I, Who am called by scriptures and sages the Supreme Personality, the Highest God.

19.  He who with unclouded vision sees Me as the Lord-God, knows all there is to be known, and always shall worship Me with his whole heart.

20.  Thus, O Sinless One, I have revealed to thee this most mystic knowledge. He who understands gains wisdom and attains the consummation of life."

Thus, in the Holy Book the Bhagavad Gita, one of the Upanishads, in the Science of the Supreme Spirit, in the Art of Self-Knowledge, in the colloquy between the Divine Lord Shri Krishna and the Prince Arjuna, stands the fifteenth chapter, entitled:

"The Lord-God"