Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 15, Verse 2
अधश्चोर्ध्वं प्रसृतास्तस्य शाखा गुणप्रवृद्धा विषयप्रवालाः।अधश्च मूलान्यनुसन्ततानि कर्मानुबन्धीनि मनुष्यलोके।।
adhaś cordhvaṁ prasṛtās tasya śākhā
guṇa-pravṛddhā viṣaya-pravālāḥ
adhaś ca mūlāny anusantatāni
karmānubandhīni manuṣya-loke
also searched as "adhash chordhvam prasritas tasya shakha"
Translation
(a) Its branches extend both above and below, nourished by the Gunas. Their shoots are sense objects.
(b) And their secondary roots extend downwards, resulting in actions that bind in the world of humans.
Vāṇi's rendering
Its branches spread up and down, fed by nature's strands, budding with pleasures; its lower roots bind men to action.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अधःadhaḥ | below, downward (appears as adhaś before ca) |
| चca | and |
| ऊर्ध्वम्ūrdhvam | upward, above (joined with ca as cordhvaṁ) |
| प्रसृताःprasṛtāḥ | spread out, extended in all directions |
| तस्यtasya | its, of that tree |
| शाखाःśākhāḥ | branches |
| गुणप्रवृद्धाःguṇa-pravṛddhāḥ | grown thick, nourished by the three strands of nature |
| विषयप्रवालाःviṣaya-pravālāḥ | having sense objects as their tender shoots or buds |
| अधःadhaḥ | below, downward |
| चca | and |
| मूलानिmūlāni | roots, the secondary roots that drop from the branches |
| अनुसन्ततानिanusantatāni | stretched down and spread continuously |
| कर्मानुबन्धीनिkarma-anubandhīni | binding one to action, tying deed to deed (karma + anubandhīni) |
| मनुष्यलोकेmanuṣya-loke | in the world of human beings |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15 Verse 2 mean?
Krishna extends the image of the upside-down tree. Its branches run both upward and downward, thickened by the guṇas, and where they meet the senses they sprout fresh buds — the pleasures we chase. Below, a second set of roots drops into the human world, and those roots are made of action. Deeds tie us to further deeds.
What is the meaning of adhash chordhvam prasritas tasya shakha?
It says the branches of this tree of existence spread both below and above. Nothing about it is contained. It reaches into higher states and lower ones alike, and it is fed the whole time by nature's three strands. The sprawl is the point — this is not a thing you can prune from the outside.
Why are the roots said to go downward in the human world?
Because this is where action happens. The primary root of the tree is above, in Brahman, but every deed done here drops a new root into the soil of the human world. Habits, likes, aversions — they root and hold. That is why release is spoken of in this world and not elsewhere.
What are the shoots or buds of this tree?
Viṣaya-pravālāḥ — sense objects, the tender new growth. They look like the most alive part of the tree because they are the newest. Krishna does not call them evil. He calls them buds: the visible tip of something whose roots you cannot see, growing while you are busy admiring the green.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
A tree with roots below as well as above — Krishna is describing something that grows in every direction at once. Up toward the higher worlds, down into this one, fed by the three strands, and everywhere it touches the senses it puts out tender green shoots. Those shoots are what you reach for. Pleasure is the newest growth on the oldest tree. And the roots that go downward are not ancient at all; they are yours, put down here, in the human world, by what you did yesterday and did again today. Every repetition thickens one. Notice which habit you are watering.