peepul tree - Irina Gajjar

July 24, 2020, The Gita, A New Translation of Hindu Sacred Scripture, Irina N. Gajjar

Commentary and Chapter 15, The Excellent Spirit

Chapter 15 of the Gita discusses the relationship between the soul and the body. Bhagvan, God, uses the analogy of the Peepal Tree to illustrate this relationship. The Peepal Tree is known in many religions and philosophies as the Tree of Life or the Cosmic Tree and many consider it sacred. The Lord tells Arjun that its root is God unmanifest, its stem is God the Creator and its leaves are the holy books. He says that like the tree’s branches which can grow go up or down, man’s deeds can lift him up or down.

The spirit of the Peepal Tree is the seed from which it was born and it lies deep within. In order to reach it, we must cut down the tree. Similarly, our spirit lies deep within our hearts and to reach it we must cut ourselves off from life and care only for God who started the whole world. Only the wise can care about God alone. The wise are those who do not keep on wanting one thing after another and alternating between happiness and unhappiness.

The Lord says that His spirit is our soul. Our soul pulls the mind and the five senses of touch, hearing, sight, smell and taste to itself. Our soul can blow itself away from our mind and body and find another mind and body in which to live just like the wind can blow away the perfume of a flower. Those with the eye of wisdom see this while the foolish cannot understand that the soul can live in the body or leave it. The foolish cannot know God.

The idea that God exists within us is amazing if we believe it. Such belief hinges upon our views of God and of our soul or spirit. The very existence of these unconfirmable concepts, not to mention their characteristics, has been questioned, discussed, and considered for millennia by persons interested in grasping the essence of life and humanity. The Gita’s goal is to persuade us that indeed God is real, permanent and resides within us. It insists that the wise accept this as true while those who do not are fools. Yet, when we see how God describes Himself in Chapter 15, it is awesome to imagine that even a smidgen of these divine powers exists within ourselves.

The Lord explains that He is the light in the sun which ignites the world, the light in the moon and the light in the fire. He is everyone’s memory, wisdom and thinking. He is the reality and eternity in us. He is called the Excellent Spirit because He is beyond illusion and unreality.

God tells Arjun that the wise who appreciate Him as the Excellent Spirit worship Him with all their hearts and says He has explained His best knowledge to Arjun because he is without sin. People who understand this knowledge will also become wise (which means they too will shed all sin) and the light of truth will shine upon them.

Chapter 15: The Excellent Spirit

Bhagvan said: The Tree of Life, The Peepal Tree, is like the world. Its roots is God. Its stem is Brahma, the Creator. Its leaves are the holy books knows as the Vedas.

Like the branches of the tree which go both up and down, the deeds of man can lift him up or lower him down.

But to reach the inside spirit of the tree, the seed from which it was born, we have to cut the tree down.

And to reach your spirit inside your heart, you have to cut yourself off from life. Cutting yourself off from life means not caring about anything except God. The whole world was started by God.

Only wise people can care about God alone and get mixed with Him. Wise people are not proud and do not keep on wanting things. They do not keep changing from happiness to unhappiness.

You should know that My spirit is your soul. Your soul is the spirit of God in you. It pulls the mind and the five senses of touch, hearing, seeing, smelling and tasting to itself. Your soul can blow away from your mind and body and find a mind and body to live in.

Just as the smell of a flower is blown by the wind, the spirit is blown from the body.

Foolish people cannot understand that the soul sometimes lives in the body and sometimes leaves it. Only people who have the eye of wisdom know this.

The foolish cannot know God.

The light in the sun which lights the whole world, and the light in the moon, and the light in the fire is My light.

And I am in everyone’s heart. But only special people can find me there. I am everyone’s memory, their wisdom and their thinking.

In this world there are two kinds of things, unreal, make believe things that change, and real things that are real forever. The soul, the spirit of God in you, is real forever.

I, God, am past make believe. I am beyond the unreal. This is why I am called the Excellent Spirit.