Verses 15.3–15.4

No Questions, Only Doubts

15.3

न रूपमस्येह तथोपलभ्यते नान्तो न चादिर्न च सम्प्रतिष्ठा | अश्वत्थमेनं सुविरूढमूल मसङ्गशस्त्रेण दृढेन छित्वा

na rūpam asyeha tathopalabhyate nānto na cādirna ca saṁpratiṣṭhā / aśvatthamenaṁ su-virūḍha-mūlam asaṅga-śastreṇa dṛḍhena chittvā / / 15.3

The real form of this tree cannot be perceived. No one can understand where it ends, where it begins, or where its foundation is. But with determination one must cut down this strongly rooted tree with the weapon of detachment.

na — not

rūpam — form

asya — its

iha — here

tathā — as such

upalabhyate — can be perceived

na — not

antaḥ — end

na — not

ca — and

ādiḥr — beginning

na — not

ca — and

saṁpratiṣṭhā — foundation

aśvatthaṁ — banyan tree

enaṁ — this

suvirūḍha — strongly

mūlaṁ — rooted

asaṅgaśastreṇa — by the weapon of detachment

dṛḍhena — strong

chittvā — cut down

15.4

तत: पदं तत्परिमार्गितव्यं यस्मिन्गता न निवर्तन्ति भूय: | तमेव चाद्यं पुरुषं प्रपद्ये यत: प्रवृत्ति: प्रसृता पुराणी

tataḥ padaṁ tat parimārgitavyaṁ yasmingatā na nivartanti bhūyaḥ / tameva cādyaṁ puruṣaṁ prapadye yataḥ pravṛittiḥ prasṛtā purāṇī / / 15.4

One must then seek that place from which having gone, one never returns and surrender to the Supreme Being from whom all activities started from ancient times.

tataḥ — thereafter

padaṁ — goal

tat — that

parimārgitavyaṁ — has to be searched out

yasmin — where

gatāḥ — going

na — not

nivartanti — return

bhūyaḥ — again

taṁ — in that

eva — even

ca — and

ādyaṁ — original

puruṣaṁ — supreme

prapadye — sur- render

yataḥ — from whom

pravṛittiḥ — activity

prasṛtā — began

purāṇī — ancient

Kṛṣṇa speaks further about the causal body where saṁskāras are stored. He is an extraordinary scientist. A scientist can honestly search for the truth; he can give up his own faith and belief for the cause of this search and is courageous enough to express the secrets, which he discovers step-by-step. We see these qualities in Kṛṣṇa. He is authentic in His expression or search. He is ready to give up yesterday’s truth for today’s updated intelligence. Kṛṣṇa continuously updates Himself. Lastly, He is courageous to open up the secrets in public. He is not worried about copyright and intellectual property rights. The ancient vedic society in India believed that knowledge was free.

The idea of copyright did not exist. Kṛṣṇa is courageous enough to open up all the secrets. Bhagavān beautifully says, ‘narūpamasyeha tathopalabhyate (15.3).’ No one can perceive the real form of this tree. No one can understand where it begins, where it ends or where its foundation is. However, with determination one should cut down this tree with the weapon of strong will and detachment, asaṇga śastreṇa dṛdhena chittvā (15.3). No one can see what one has stored in one’s causal body. It is like Pandora’s Box. All the saṁskāras stored in the causal layer reveal themselves one by one. When we erase four of them, ten will surface. What is inside nobody knows.

Only one thing is possible. All the saṁskāras can be cut by a strong will of detachment. With a strong will, with intelligence, the entire causal layer can be completed. People ask the Master to show them how to get rid of root patterns, saṁskāras. Only strong will and intelligence can do that. Do we ask the Master’s help to take our hands out of the fire? No! We know fire burns. So, we withdraw our hands immediately. We ask the Master only because the understanding is not there. If the understanding is present, right action follows. If right action does not happen, be very clear that the understanding has not happened.

Similarly, root patterns are dangerous. All that is needed is intelligence and a strong will of detachment. Kṛṣṇa explains that after cutting the tree of root patterns, surrender to the space of eternal silence, from where there is no coming back, tam eva cādyaṁ puruṣaṁ prapadye (15.4). This is the space in which the whole of Existence is established. One’s identity is the collection of one’s root patterns, saṁskāras, past bio-memories and incomplete desires that are stored in the unconscious mind. This is in the causal layer of our energy. Through deep and focused meditation, we can access this unconscious causal layer and dissolve the saṁskāras stored here. Once done, we no longer return as the same person.

We are free of saṁskāras and liberated. The spirit that leaves the body goes through a comatose state when it passes through this causal body layer. As long as the spirit has not crossed this layer, it can return to the body. This is the power of saṁskāras. These bio-memories or desires can pull the spirit back. That is why sometimes after many years in a coma, people return to consciousness. They are pulled back by unfulfilled desires. However, once the spirit crosses the Puruṣottama Yogaḥ No Questions, Only Doubts 1091 causal layer, it cannot return to the body. It must move on to the next layer, the cosmic layer.

Once we access this point of dissolution of saṁskāras and move on to the cosmic layer, we no longer operate unconsciously at the behest of our stored bio-memories. We move into an intuitive state of completion, as opposed to our earlier instinctive state of incompletion. We are no longer in an ignorant wakeful state, but in the truly awakened state of consciousness. Bringing awareness into the unconscious through the super-conscious meditative route of completion is the only correct way to dissolve accumulated saṁskāras. Completion And Creation Techniques