To Cut or Not to Cut The Tree of Life

17 January 2003, 12:00am IST

Vidyapati Joshi

Cut this tree of life, advises Krishna in the fifteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. He likens life in this material world to a tree. It is the holy Ashwattha tree, says Krishna, indestructible, with its roots above and branches spread below, and so huge that neither its end nor its middle are discernible. Describing his many manifestations in chapter 14, Krishna has already told us that among trees he is the Ashwattha, and in the very next chapter, he advises the devotee to cut this tree. He says it has very strong roots and is indestructible, and yet asks us to destroy it. What could he mean by this? Among the many commentators on the Gita, D V Gundappa, the literary giant of Karnataka, stands out in his refusal to take Krishna's advice at its face value. In his Kannada commentary Shrimad-bhagavad-gita-tatparya, first published in 1966, he offers a lucid and convincing explanation of what Krishna really meant when he asked us to cut the tree. He begins with reasons as to why Krishna refers to the Ashwattha and not any other tree. This is not only because it is named by Krishna as one of his forms but also because its simile has been used in some Upanishads, it has a non-changing appearance despite being subject to constant change, and it is a fit analogy for the material world by virtue of its long life, vast size, and ability to support varied life forms. Why does this tree of life have its roots above and branches spread out below? The roots are in the invisible, unchanging and imperishable Brahman, and the way to know Him is through Vedic hymns, which are like leaves of the tree visible to us in this world. Dharma, social order, is maintained by the Vedas, which are also the ultimate means to realise the true nature of Brahman. This tree remains holy despite our worldly life polluting its manifest branches through karma. It is beyond human capacity to destroy this tree. Those who are attached to the pleasures and pains of living on the tree and in this material world will surely be allowed by God to continue as before, returning to this world again and again and remaining captive in the eternal cycle of birth and death. The real question then is, do we or don't we want to leave the material temptations of this cycle in which we shall remain captive so long as we conti-nue to seek pleasure in the branches of the tree? The tree ceases to bind those who are intent on reaching the tree's origin, which is in Brahman. They climb higher and higher, away from the branches and leaves spread out in this material world, in search of eternal peace. They fulfil their allotted duties in this worldly life, being aware all the time that nothing of this tree belongs to them, and that they are here only to serve and nourish it for the greater glory of its invisible creator. It is this detachment that gives them freedom from the branches and leaves, and the right to climb higher up the tree to rest in its source in eternal bliss. They leave the tree alone, since its continued existence is of no relevance to them. So, the tree vanishes for the knower of the spirit, while continuing to exist as before for those attached to the world. For the latter, frenzied activity for satisfaction of insatiable desires is the only purpose of living. The unattached share the eternal peace of Brahman, while the attached continue to be born and reborn in their vain search for happiness in this material world.