{"entry":{"slug":"bg-chapter-15","title":"Bhagavad Gīta Chapter 15 — Puruṣottama Yoga","devanagari":"पुरुषोत्तमयोग","iast":"puruṣottama-yoga","type":"bg-chapter","url":"https://thecodex.expert/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-15/","codex":"sanatana-dharma","last_verified":"2026-05","confidence":"high"},"chapter":{"number":15,"name":"Puruṣottama-yoga","name_translation":"The Yoga of the Supreme Person","verses":20,"speaker_primary":"Kṛṣṇa (throughout)","key_verses":["15.1–15.4","15.6","15.15","15.16–15.18"]},"summary":"The inverted Aśvattha tree (BG 15.1–15.4) images Saṃsāra with roots above in the eternal and branches spreading downward into the phenomenal world. It is to be cut down with the axe of non-attachment (asaṅga-śastreṇa dṛḍhena) to reach the original ground. BG 15.6: the supreme abode — not illuminated by sun, moon, or fire — reaching it one does not return. BG 15.15: Kṛṣṇa is seated in the hearts of all beings as memory, knowledge, and their removal; he is what all the Vedas point to. Tripartite ontology (15.16–15.18): Kṣara (perishable world), Akṣara (imperishable — the unmoved/liberated), and Puruṣottama (Kṛṣṇa — beyond and pervading both).","key_verses_detail":{"BG_15_1_4":{"iast_1":"ūrdhva-mūlam adhaḥ-śākham aśvatthaṃ prāhur avyayam / chandāṃsi yasya parṇāni yas taṃ veda sa veda-vit","translation":"They speak of the imperishable Aśvattha tree with roots above and branches below, whose leaves are the Vedic metres. One who knows it knows the Vedas. (15.1)","note":"The Aśvattha (sacred fig) images Saṃsāra: inverted, roots in the eternal, branches downward into phenomenal world. Vedic metres as leaves. BG 15.2: branches extend up and down, nourished by Guṇas; sense objects are shoots; roots extend further down into the human world as bonds of action.","BG_15_3_4":"Cannot be perceived from within — neither end, beginning, nor foundation. BG 15.3–15.4: cut the tree with the axe of non-attachment (asaṅga-śastreṇa dṛḍhena), then seek that place having reached which one does not return — 'I take refuge in that primal Puruṣa from whom this ancient activity flowed forth.'","upanishad_source":"Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.3.1: ūrdhva-mūlo 'vāk-śākha eṣo 'śvatthaḥ sanātanaḥ — 'This eternal Aśvattha has its root above and branches below.' The BG inherits the image and converts it from contemplation into action-instruction."},"BG_15_6":{"iast":"na tad bhāsayate sūryo na śaśāṅko na pāvakaḥ / yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṃ mama","translation":"Neither the sun illuminates it, nor the moon, nor fire. Having reached it, one does not return. That is My supreme abode.","note":"The supreme abode is self-luminous — the source of all light, not requiring sun/moon/fire. Reaching it, one does not return (na nivartante) to the cycle."},"BG_15_15":{"devanagari":"सर्वस्य चाहं हृदि सन्निविष्टो मत्तः स्मृतिर्ज्ञानमपोहनं च / वेदैश्च सर्वैरहमेव वेद्यो वेदान्तकृद्वेदविदेव चाहम्","iast":"sarvasya cāhaṃ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṃ ca / vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo vedānta-kṛd veda-vid eva cāham","translation":"And I am seated in the heart of all beings — from Me come memory, knowledge, and their removal. By all the Vedas I alone am to be known — I am the author of the Vedānta and the knower of the Vedas.","note":"Three claims: (1) Kṛṣṇa is the indwelling presence (antaryāmin) in every heart; (2) every act of cognition (smṛti) and knowledge (jñāna) and their cessation (apohanam) flows from him; (3) the entire Vedic tradition points at him — he is the Vedānta's creator and its knower."},"BG_15_16_18":{"kshara":"All beings in the phenomenal world — all mutable, transient, conditioned existence. BG 15.16: 'kṣaraḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni'","akshara":"The imperishable, unmoved — 'kūṭa-stho 'kṣara ucyate' — that which stands as the summit. Śaṅkara: unmanifest Māyā-śakti. Rāmānuja: liberated individual selves (jīvātmans in liberation).","purushottama":"BG 15.18: yasmāt kṣaram atīto 'ham akṣarād api cottamaḥ / ato 'smi loke vede ca prathitaḥ puruṣottamaḥ — Because I transcend the perishable and am higher even than the imperishable, I am celebrated as Puruṣottama. Śaṅkara: Nirguṇa Brahman beyond both. Rāmānuja: Viṣṇu as Lord of both Kṣara and Akṣara."}},"sources":[{"tier":1,"citation":"BG 15.1–15.20 with Śaṅkara Gītābhāṣya · Gambhirananda (Advaita Ashrama, 2006), pp. 619–635"},{"tier":1,"citation":"Rāmānuja, Gītābhāṣya on BG 15.16–15.18 · Thibaut (SBE Vol.48, 1904)"},{"tier":1,"citation":"Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.3.1 · Olivelle (OUP, 1996)"},{"tier":2,"citation":"Zaehner (OUP, 1969), pp. 360–372"}],"navigation":{"previous":{"chapter":14,"url":"/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-14/","name":"Guṇa-traya-vibhāga Yoga"},"next":{"chapter":16,"url":"/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-16/","name":"Daivāsura-Sampada-vibhāga Yoga"}},"provenance":{"confidence":"high","last_verified":"2026-05","citation":"\"BG Chapter 15 — Sanātana Dharma Codex\", thecodex.expert/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-15/, last updated May 2026."}}