Chapter 15: Purushottama-yoga: / Verse 4

Explanation of verses 15.3 and 15.4 –

Krishna makes it very clear that the Universe, the stupendous display, is incomprehensible in every way. Anyone who enquires into it, will find it to be beginningless. How can one think of understanding and evaluating it then in any manner?

To understand anything, we must be able to have access to its origin, birth. If that is not possible, at least we must be able to see it in full, what its measure and magnitude are. Or at least we must be able to know how it ends, if at all. Only when all these are unravelled properly, the understanding of what we want to know will become meaningful.

But in the case of the Creation, none of these three – the source, sustenance or dissolution – are visible or accessible at all. Apart from the fact that we are living on earth, which is but one of the myriad planets in space, what do we know about the extent of Creation? At the same time, we are in it; it surrounds us, making it impossible to avoid it the least.

What is the way then, to deal with it effectively? It is a legitimate question, for which there must be a definite answer.

Let the inverted tree of Creation be there, with its own origin, sustenance and dissolution. We shall deal with those branches which grow around us, to enable our activities and interactions to be facile.

The weapon we use to cut and remove the branches growing in our direction is asa´ga, meaning we should have no delusional clinging in our mind to anything. Asanga is unlike the knife or sword made of metal. It is an inner weapon, a quality our mind relishes cultivating.

As one develops sanga, so he can also inculcate asanga. The former is a result of ignorance, the latter an impact of knowledge, purity, and inner harmony. It will enable the seeker to have spiritual ecstasy of freedom.

Holding well on to this asanga, says Krishna, the seeker must take up the grand spiritual enquiry as to where lies that abode, reaching which none ever returns to this world. And in doing so, he must have a full note of submission and attunement to the Supreme, from where all activities and their outcomes transpire.

This attitude is the key for spiritual seekers to lead their pursuit unfailingly and have the desired outcome and fulfilment.