|| 15.1 ||

श्री भगवानुवाच ऊर्ध्वमूलमधःशाखमश्वत्थं प्राहुरव्ययम्। छन्दांसि यस्य पर्णानि यस्तं वेद स वेदवित्।।

śrī-bhagavān uvāca ūrdhva-mūlam adhaḥ-śākham aśvatthaṁ prāhur avyayam chandāṁsi yasya parṇāni yas taṁ Veda sa Veda-vit

śrī-bhagavān uvāca (the Supreme Personality of Godhead said) ūrdhva-mūlam (with roots above) adhaḥ-śākham (with branches below) aśvattham (a banyan tree) prāhuḥ (is said) avyayam (eternal) chandāṁsi (the Vedic hymns) yasya (whose) parṇāni (the leaves) yaḥ (anyone who) tam (that) Veda (knows) saḥ (he) Veda-vit (the knower of the Vedas).

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: It is said that there is an imperishable banyan tree that has its roots upward and its branches down and whose leaves are the Vedic hymns. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas.

Kṛṣṇa begins the 15th chapter with a striking metaphor: the material world is like an inverted Banyan tree. Its roots are in the spiritual sky (above), and its branches spread down into the material world. Its leaves are the Vedic rituals that promise material rewards. One who understands this tree knows the essence of all scriptures. Why is the tree inverted? Because it is a reflection. Just as a tree on a riverbank appears upside down in the water, this material world is a distorted reflection of the real, spiritual world. We are trying to find the fruit on the reflection, but the real fruit is on the actual tree above. The reflection is ‘Ashvattha’—it won’t last until tomorrow. By knowing this ‘tree’, we understand the nature of our entanglement. We realize that we are currently living in a world of shadows and echoes. The goal of life is not to climb further down the branches into deeper attachment, but to trace the tree back to its original root—God.
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