Verse 1
The Blessed
Lord said:
They (the
wise) speak of the indestructible peepul tree, having its root above and
branches below, whose leaves are the metres or hymns; he who knows it is a
knower of the Vedas.
This world
is like an inverted asvattha tree, or any kind of tree, as the
word ‘asvattha’ may be construed to mean ‘not lasting for long’. Na
svattham—asvattham: It will not endure even until tomorrow.
Svastha means
‘that which can continue and last until tomorrow’—that is, it will live in the
future. But this will not live in the future; its nature is perishable.
It is not
permanent and, therefore, it is asvattha. That is one etymological
meaning of the word asvattha: it does not last long. The world will
not be there for all times; therefore, it is asvattha. Or we may
say that the world is like an asvattha tree—that is, a peepul
tree.
This vast
creation, this whole world, is like a peepul tree which has its roots above and
branches below.
The
downward gravitational pull of space and time is the reason for the
externalization and the ramification of the original power, original vitality,
which is the root of creation.
Root
Brahman,
possessed of the un-manifest power in the form of Maya, is referred to by the
word 'upward' because of Its subtleness in point of time by virtue of
Its being the Cause, and also because of Its eternality and vastness; and That
is the root (mulam) of this world. The
Tree of the World which is such, is urdhva-mulam.
This accords with the Upanishadic text, 'This has its roots above and branches
below’ (Katha Upanishad)
The root
contains everything that the tree has, but the tree’s branches do not have
everything that the root contains. A little bit of the essence of the original
root is distributed in different proportions among the branches, which are
thick or thin, as the case may be.
Its root
is an imperishable, inconceivable essence; and it is above. The above-ness is
to be understood very carefully because we may be under the impression that for
a thing to be above, it has to be distant in space in terms of so many miles or
so many light years because we can conceive of above and below only
in terms of spatial expanse.
But that
is not actually the meaning of the above-ness of God. As the root of this tree
is God Himself, it cannot be regarded as being above in a spatial sense. He
is above in the quality of manifestation, above in a logical sense, above in
the comprehensiveness and inclusiveness of spirit. It is more a conceptual
transcendence, and not a physical above-ness like the stars in the sky.
(An interesting
point to be contemplated here is that in every religion, when God is referred,
we look up at high heavens and stretch our hands higher towards high
heavens.
Why??
Not
because God is seated in sky / heavens but because God, though being cause of
this universe which we see at our level, is far beyond this creation, that is
why, we look up at God as something far beyond this manifest creation
as for as the materiality is concerned, not because of physical height of Lord
from this creation).
So, while
the tree with its branches/flowers/ fruits/twig etc are facing the
earth, signifying that the creation is material, the root is facing upward,
signifying that Brahman is un-manifest and it is beyond the created
world!
Continued…..
Love.
