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The Yoga of the Supreme Person
पुरुषोत्तमयोगः · Puruṣottama-yoga · 20 verses
Krishna opens with an image: a banyan-like tree turned upside down, roots above and branches below, its leaves the Vedas. This is the world of becoming, rooted in the divine and spreading into desire and action. He advises cutting it, not in anger but with the axe of detachment, and then looking beyond it. The chapter closes by naming the highest Person, Purushottama, who is beyond both the perishable and the imperishable.
Traditionally linked with Mercury, planet of intellect and discrimination, and with Jupiter, planet of wisdom. It is read when Mercury is weak, during a Mercury Maha Dasha, or when the mind is tangled in overthinking and cannot tell what matters. The chapter teaches discrimination: see the whole tree, then loosen your grip on the branches. It is a reflective practice, not a prediction.
श्रीभगवानुवाच
ऊर्ध्वमूलमधःशाखमश्वत्थं प्राहुरव्ययम् ।
छन्दांसि यस्य पर्णानि यस्तं वेद स वेदवित् ॥
śrībhagavānuvāca
ūrdhvamūlamadhaḥśākhamaśvatthaṃ prāhuravyayam |
chandāṃsi yasya parṇāni yastaṃ veda sa vedavit ||
अधश्चोर्ध्वं प्रसृतास्तस्य शाखा ।
गुणप्रवृद्धा विषयप्रवालाः ।
अधश्च मूलान्यनुसन्ततानि ।
कर्मानुबन्धीनि मनुष्यलोके ॥
adhaścordhvaṃ prasṛtāstasya śākhā |
guṇapravṛddhā viṣayapravālāḥ |
adhaśca mūlānyanusantatāni |
karmānubandhīni manuṣyaloke ||
Krishna says: they speak of an eternal sacred fig tree with its roots above and its branches below, whose leaves are the Vedic hymns; one who knows this tree knows the Vedas. Its branches spread below and above, nourished by the three qualities of nature, and the sense objects are its buds. Its roots, stretching downward, bind the soul to action in the human world.
न रूपमस्येह तथोपलभ्यते ।
नान्तो न चादिर्न च सम्प्रतिष्ठा ।
अश्वत्थमेनं सुविरूढमूलं ।
असङ्गशस्त्रेण दृढेन छित्त्वा ॥
na rūpamasyeha tathopalabhyate |
nānto na cādirna ca sampratiṣṭhā |
aśvatthamenaṃ suvirūḍhamūlaṃ |
asaṅgaśastreṇa dṛḍhena chittvā ||
ततः पदं तत्परिमार्गितव्यं ।
यस्मिन्गता न निवर्तन्ति भूयः ।
तमेव चाद्यं पुरुषं प्रपद्ये ।
यतः प्रवृत्तिः प्रसृता पुराणी ॥
tataḥ padaṃ tatparimārgitavyaṃ |
yasmingatā na nivartanti bhūyaḥ |
tameva cādyaṃ puruṣaṃ prapadye |
yataḥ pravṛttiḥ prasṛtā purāṇī ||
Its true form is not perceived here: not its end, nor its beginning, nor its foundation. Cut down this deeply rooted tree with the strong axe of detachment. Then seek that place from which, once reached, no one returns, thinking: I take refuge in that primal Person from whom this ancient activity streamed forth.
निर्मानमोहा जितसङ्गदोषा ।
अध्यात्मनित्या विनिवृत्तकामाः ।
द्वन्द्वैर्विमुक्ताः सुखदुःखसंज्ञैर्- ।
गच्छन्त्यमूढाः पदमव्ययं तत् ॥
nirmānamohā jitasaṅgadoṣā |
adhyātmanityā vinivṛttakāmāḥ |
dvandvairvimuktāḥ sukhaduḥkhasaṃjñair- |
gacchantyamūḍhāḥ padamavyayaṃ tat ||
न तद्भासयते सूर्यो न शशाङ्को न पावकः ।
यद्गत्वा न निवर्तन्ते तद्धाम परमं मम ॥
na tadbhāsayate sūryo na śaśāṅko na pāvakaḥ |
yadgatvā na nivartante taddhāma paramaṃ mama ||
Free from pride and delusion, having conquered the evil of attachment, ever fixed in the Self, their desires stilled, released from the pairs of pleasure and pain, the undeluded reach that imperishable state. Neither the sun nor the moon nor fire lights it; having gone there, none return. That is My supreme abode.
ममैवांशो जीवलोके जीवभूतः सनातनः ।
मनःषष्ठानीन्द्रियाणि प्रकृतिस्थानि कर्षति ॥
mamaivāṃśo jīvaloke jīvabhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ |
manaḥṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛtisthāni karṣati ||
शरीरं यदवाप्नोति यच्चाप्युत्क्रामतीश्वरः ।
गृहीत्वैतानि संयाति वायुर्गन्धानिवाशयात् ॥
śarīraṃ yadavāpnoti yaccāpyutkrāmatīśvaraḥ |
gṛhītvaitāni saṃyāti vāyurgandhānivāśayāt ||
श्रोत्रं चक्षुः स्पर्शनं च रसनं घ्राणमेव च ।
अधिष्ठाय मनश्चायं विषयानुपसेवते ॥
śrotraṃ cakṣuḥ sparśanaṃ ca rasanaṃ ghrāṇameva ca |
adhiṣṭhāya manaścāyaṃ viṣayānupasevate ||
A fragment of My own eternal self becomes the living soul in the world of life, drawing to itself the five senses and the mind, which are rooted in nature. When the master takes a body, and when he leaves it, he carries these along, as the wind carries fragrance from its source. Presiding over the ear, the eye, the touch, the taste, the smell and the mind, he enjoys the objects of the senses.
उत्क्रामन्तं स्थितं वापि भुञ्जानं वा गुणान्वितम् ।
विमूढा नानुपश्यन्ति पश्यन्ति ज्ञानचक्षुषः ॥
utkrāmantaṃ sthitaṃ vāpi bhuñjānaṃ vā guṇānvitam |
vimūḍhā nānupaśyanti paśyanti jñānacakṣuṣaḥ ||
यतन्तो योगिनश्चैनं पश्यन्त्यात्मन्यवस्थितम् ।
यतन्तोऽप्यकृतात्मानो नैनं पश्यन्त्यचेतसः ॥
yatanto yoginaścainaṃ paśyantyātmanyavasthitam |
yatanto’pyakṛtātmāno nainaṃ paśyantyacetasaḥ ||
The deluded do not see him as he leaves, stays or enjoys, joined to the qualities of nature; those whose eye is knowledge see him. Yogis who strive also see him established in the self; but those who are unrefined and lacking in understanding do not see him, however hard they try.
यदादित्यगतं तेजो जगद्भासयतेऽखिलम् ।
यच्चन्द्रमसि यच्चाग्नौ तत्तेजो विद्धि मामकम् ॥
yadādityagataṃ tejo jagadbhāsayate’khilam |
yaccandramasi yaccāgnau tattejo viddhi māmakam ||
गामाविश्य च भूतानि धारयाम्यहमोजसा ।
पुष्णामि चौषधीः सर्वाः सोमो भूत्वा रसात्मकः ॥
gāmāviśya ca bhūtāni dhārayāmyahamojasā |
puṣṇāmi cauṣadhīḥ sarvāḥ somo bhūtvā rasātmakaḥ ||
अहं वैश्वानरो भूत्वा प्राणिनां देहमाश्रितः ।
प्राणापानसमायुक्तः पचाम्यन्नं चतुर्विधम् ॥
ahaṃ vaiśvānaro bhūtvā prāṇināṃ dehamāśritaḥ |
prāṇāpānasamāyuktaḥ pacāmyannaṃ caturvidham ||
सर्वस्य चाहं हृदि सन्निविष्टो ।
मत्तः स्मृतिर्ज्ञानमपोहनञ्च ।
वेदैश्च सर्वैरहमेव वेद्यो ।
वेदान्तकृद्वेदविदेव चाहम् ॥
sarvasya cāhaṃ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo |
mattaḥ smṛtirjñānamapohanañca |
vedaiśca sarvairahameva vedyo |
vedāntakṛdvedavideva cāham ||
The splendour of the sun that lights the whole world, and the splendour in the moon and in fire, know that splendour to be Mine. Entering the earth, I support all beings with My energy; becoming the watery moon, I nourish all plants. Becoming the fire of life in the bodies of living beings and joined with the in-breath and out-breath, I digest the four kinds of food. I am seated in the hearts of all; from Me come memory, knowledge and their loss. I am the one to be known through all the Vedas; I am the author of the Vedanta and the knower of the Vedas.
द्वाविमौ पुरुषौ लोके क्षरश्चाक्षर एव च ।
क्षरः सर्वाणि भूतानि कूटस्थोऽक्षर उच्यते ॥
dvāvimau puruṣau loke kṣaraścākṣara eva ca |
kṣaraḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni kūṭastho’kṣara ucyate ||
उत्तमः पुरुषस्त्वन्यः परमात्मेत्युधाहृतः ।
यो लोकत्रयमाविश्य बिभर्त्यव्यय ईश्वरः ॥
uttamaḥ puruṣastvanyaḥ paramātmetyudhāhṛtaḥ |
yo lokatrayamāviśya bibhartyavyaya īśvaraḥ ||
यस्मात्क्षरमतीतोऽहमक्षरादपि चोत्तमः ।
अतोऽस्मि लोके वेदे च प्रथितः पुरुषोत्तमः ॥
yasmātkṣaramatīto’hamakṣarādapi cottamaḥ |
ato’smi loke vede ca prathitaḥ puruṣottamaḥ ||
There are two persons in this world: the perishable and the imperishable. All beings are the perishable; the one who stands unchanging, at the summit, is called the imperishable. But there is another, the Supreme Person, called the Supreme Self, the changeless Lord who enters the three worlds and sustains them. Because I surpass the perishable and am higher even than the imperishable, I am proclaimed in the world and in the Veda as Purushottama, the highest Person.
यो मामेवमसम्मूढो जानाति पुरुषोत्तमम् ।
स सर्वविद्भजति मां सर्वभावेन भारत ॥
yo māmevamasammūḍho jānāti puruṣottamam |
sa sarvavidbhajati māṃ sarvabhāvena bhārata ||
इति गुह्यतमं शास्त्रमिदमुक्तं मयानघ ।
एतद्बुद्ध्वा बुद्धिमान्स्यात्कृतकृत्यश्च भारत ॥
iti guhyatamaṃ śāstramidamuktaṃ mayānagha |
etadbuddhvā buddhimānsyātkṛtakṛtyaśca bhārata ||
One who, free from delusion, knows Me thus as the Supreme Person knows everything and worships Me with the whole being, Arjuna. This is the most secret teaching, sinless one, which I have now told you. Knowing it, a person becomes wise and has done what is to be done.
The verses are the traditional Sanskrit text. The explanations are original summaries, not a particular translator's words. The astrology guide is a devotional, reflective practice, not a prediction and not a substitute for professional advice.