Chapter 15 - Verse 1

As Brahman with Māyā * or the unmanifested potentiality is subtle in point of time, as He is the Cause †, as He is eternal, as He is great, He is spoken of as the one above. The One above is the root of this Tree of Saṃsāra, which is therefore said to have its root above. The Śruti says :

Brahman who is Kutastha (immutable) cannot by Himself be the cause.—A.

This is to shew how Brahman is “subtle in point of time.” Brahman is the Cause because He is the invariable antecedent of all effects.—A.

“With roots above and branches below, this Aśvattha is eternal.” (Katha-Up. 3-2-1).

In the Purana also it is said :

“The root from which the Eternal Tree of Brahman ‡ has sprung is the Avyakta, the Unmanifested. It has developed by the strength of the same (Avyakta). Its trunk is Buddhi, the sense-apertures Its hollows, the great elements Its boughs, the sense-objects Its leaves and branches, dharma and a-dharma Its fair blossoms, pleasure and pain Its fruits affording livelihood to all creatures. And this is the resort § of Brahman (the Highest Self), and that Highest Self is (the essence) of that Tree of Brahman. Having cut asunder and split the Tree with the mighty sword of knowledge ‖ and then attained to the Bliss of the Self, none comes back from there again.”

i.e., the Tree occupied, presided over, led, governed, guided, by Brahman. It is said to be eternal because it cannot be cut except by knowledge.—A.

It is in this Tree of samsara that Brahman abides.—This portion is interpreted to mean Brahman is the resort of this Tree of samsara : for this infinite universe has its basis in Brahman and in nothing else. It is indeed Brahman Himself that, owing to avidya, manifests Himself in the form of this universe.—A.
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‖ The knowledge “I am Brahman:”—A.

They speak of the illusory samsara as a tree rooted above. The Mahat, the Ahaṃkāra (Egoism), the Tanmātras (the Elemental Essences), etc., are its branches as it were, and these extend downwards; whence the tree is said to have its branches below. They call this tree ‘Aśvattha’ because it will not abide the same even till tomorrow, because it undergoes destruction every moment. The illusion (Māyā) of samsara having existed in time without beginning, they say that this Tree of samsara is eternal; for, it rests, as is well known, on a continuous series of births which is without beginning or end and is thus eternal. The Tree of Saṃsāra is further qualified thus: The metres (chhandases) are its leaves as it were; they are so called because, like leaves, the metres (Vedas) such as Ṛk, Yajus and Sāman protect (‘chad’ to cover) the Tree of Saṃsāra. Just as the leaves of a tree serve to protect the tree, so do the Vedas* serve to protect the Tree of Saṃsāra, as treating of dharma (merit) and a-dharma (demerit), with their causes and fruits. He who knows the Tree of Saṃsāra and its Root as described above is a knower of the Teaching of the Vedas. Indeed nothing else, not even an iota, remains to be known beyond this Tree of Saṃsāra and its Root. He who knows It is therefore omniscient.—This is to extol the knowledge of the Tree of Saṃsāra and its Root.

The ritualistic sections of the Veda treat of the path of ascent and descent of the soul; they protect samsara by concealing its defects.—A.

Now follows another figurative representation of the members of this Tree of Saṃsāra :