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THE
SUPREME
BEING
CREATION
IS LIKE A
TREE
CREATED BY
THE POWERS
OF MAYA
Lord
Krishna
said: The
universe
(or human
body) may
be
compared
to an
eternal
tree that
has its
origin (or
root) in
the
Supreme
Being and
its
branches
below in
the
cosmos.
The Vedic
hymns are
the leaves
of this
tree. One
who
understands
this tree
is a
knower of
the Vedas.
(15.01)
The
branches
of this
eternal
tree are
spread all
over the
cosmos.
The tree
is
nourished
by the
energy of
material
Nature;
sense
pleasures
are its
sprouts;
and its
roots of
ego and
desires
stretch
below in
the human
world
causing
Karmic
bondage.
(15.02)
HOW
TO CUT THE
TREE OF
ATTACHMENT
AND ATTAIN
SALVATION
BY TAKING
REFUGE IN
GOD
The
beginning,
the end,
or the
real form
of this
tree is
not
perceptible
on the
earth.
Having cut
the firm
roots ¾
the
desires ¾
of this
tree by
the mighty
ax of
Self-knowledge
and
detachment,
one should
seek that
Supreme
Abode
reaching
where one
does not
come back
to the
mortal
world
again. One
should be
always
thinking:
"In
that very
primal
person I
take
refuge
from which
this
primal
manifestation
comes
forth."
(15.03-04)
Those
who are
free from
pride and
delusion,
who have
conquered
the evil
of
attachment,
who are
constantly
dwelling
in the
Supreme
Being with
all lust
completely
stilled,
who are
free from
dualities
of
pleasure
and pain;
such wise
ones reach
My Supreme
Abode.
(15.05)
The
sun does
not
illumine
My Supreme
Abode, nor
the moon,
nor the
fire.
Having
reached
there
people
attain
permanent
liberation
(Mukti),
and do not
come back
to this
temporal
world.
(15.06)
THE
EMBODIED
SOUL IS
THE
ENJOYER
The
individual
soul (Jiva,
Jivatma)
in the
body of
living
beings is
the
integral
part of
the
universal
Spirit, or
consciousness.
The
individual
soul
associates
with the
six
sensory
faculties
¾
including
the mind
¾ of
perception
and
activates
them.
(15.07)
Just
as the air
takes
aroma away
from the
flower;
similarly,
the
individual
soul takes
the six
sensory
faculties
from the
physical
body it
casts off
during
death to
the new
physical
body it
acquires
in
reincarnation.
(See also
2.13)
(15.08)
The
living
entity
enjoys
sense
pleasures
using six
sensory
faculties
of
hearing,
touch,
sight,
taste,
smell, and
mind. The
ignorant
cannot
perceive
living
entity
departing
from the
body, or
staying in
the body
and
enjoying
sense
pleasures
by
associating
with the
material
body. But
those who
have the
eye of
Self-knowledge
can see
it.
(15.09-10)
The
yogis,
striving
for
perfection,
behold the
living
entity
abiding in
their
inner
psyche as
consciousness;
but the
ignorant
whose
inner
psyche is
not pure,
cannot
perceive
Him even
though
striving.
(15.11)
SPIRIT
IS THE
ESSENCE OF
EVERYTHING
The
light
energy
that
coming
from the
sun
illumines
the whole
world; and
that in
the moon,
and in the
fire; know
that light
to be
Mine. (See
also 13.17
and 15.06)
(15.12).
Entering
the earth,
I support
all beings
with My
energy;
becoming
the
sap-giving
moon, I
nourish
all the
plants.
(15.13)
Becoming
the
digestive
fire, I
remain in
the body
of all
living
beings;
uniting
with vital
breaths or
bioimpulses,
I digest
all types
of food;
and
(15.14)
I
am seated
in the
inner
psyche of
all
beings.
The
memory,
Self-knowledge,
and the
removal of
doubts and
wrong
notions
about God
come from
Me. I am
verily
that which
is to be
known by
the study
of all the
Vedas. I
am,
indeed,
the author
as well as
the
student of
the Vedas.
(See also
6.39)
(15.15)
WHAT
ARE THE
SUPREME
SPIRIT,
SPIRIT AND
THE
INDIVIDUAL
SOUL?
There
are two
entities
in the
cosmos:
The
changeable
Temporal
Beings,
and the
unchangeable
Eternal
Being
(Spirit).
All
created
beings are
subject to
change,
but the
Spirit
does not
change.
(15.16)
The
Supreme
Being is
beyond
both ¾
the
Temporal
Beings and
the
Eternal
Being. He
is also
called the
Absolute
Reality
that
sustains
both the
Temporal
and the
Eternal by
pervading
everything.
(15.17)
Because
the
Supreme
Being is
beyond
both
Temporal
and
Eternal;
therefore,
He is
known in
this world
and in the
scriptures
as the
Supreme
Being
(Absolute
Reality,
Truth,
Supersoul)
(15.18)
The
wise one
who truly
understands
the
Supreme
Being,
knows
everything
and
worships
Him
wholeheartedly.
(See also
7.14,
14.26, and
18.66)
(15.19)
Thus
this most
secret
transcendental
science of
the
Absolute
has been
explained
by Me.
Having
understood
this, one
becomes
enlightened,
and
one’s
all duties
are
accomplished,
O Arjuna.
(15.20)
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