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There is a fig-tree, known in ages old, With roots above and boughs beneath, whose leaves Are Vedic hymns; and he who knoweth this Is Veda-knower. Downward and upward spread Its boughs, fed by the Qualities; its buds Are sense-objects; and those roots that grow Downward in this world of men are bound By action's chains. None here can trace its form, Nor find its end, nor its beginning guess.

Let the wise man hew this Ashvattha down With that strong sword of unconcern, and seek That place from whence, once having reached, there is No coming back; and say: "I fly to Him, The Primal One, from whom the ancient streams Of Power and Life have flowed." Free from pride And self-delusion, conquerors of the ill Of clinging attachment, dwelling constantly In the Self Supreme, from passions freed, Loosed from the bonds of pleasure and of pain, Unblinded, mounting to that changeless realm — They reach that place which is My seat supreme.

Neither the sun, nor moon, nor fire gives light In that place where, having once arrived, They come not back to birth again. It is My highest dwelling. Into the world of life A ray of Mine own Self, made into life, Draweth to it the five fine senses — mind The sixth — which dwell in Nature's realm. When this High Lord doth take a body, or put off A body, it gathereth these and goeth forth As the wind gathers scents upon its way.

Ear, eye, and touch, and taste, and smell — employing, And mind — this Spirit tasts the objects there Of sense. The ignorant, deluded, see not This Spirit when it goes or stays, or when, Robed in the Qualities, it tastes of things; But those who have the eye of wisdom see. The saints who strive with strong endeavour see Him dwelling in themselves; but those of sense Untamed, of meagre intellect, though striving, Shall not perceive Him.

Know that the splendour shining from the sun Which lightens all the world, and the soft glow Of moonlight, and the fire's bright blaze — know these For Mine! I penetrate the moist dark earth And hold all living things alive with strength; And, made the moon of nectar's silver sheen, I feed the plants and grasses of the field. I, dwelling in the bodies of all that breathe, As Vaishvanara, life's digestive flame, Mingle with the upward and the downward breath To four-fold nourishment turn what is eaten.

I am lodged in every heart of all; From Me come memory, knowledge, reasoning. I am that which the Vedas seek to know; I am their Knower, and the Veda's Lord, The maker of Vedanta.

Two beings are there in the world: the one Is named the Perishable; the other stands The Imperishable. All creatures born Are the Perishable; the Unchanging Soul Is called the Imperishable. But highest, Above them both, a Being doth exist — The Supreme Soul, the Everlasting Lord, Who, entering the three worlds, sustaineth them.

Because I pass beyond the Perishable, And stand above the Imperishable too, In this world and in holy writ alike I am proclaimed Purushottama — the Highest. He who, unblinded, knoweth Me as this, The Highest Person, knoweth all, and loves And worships Me with all his soul, O Prince! Thus have I opened unto thee this deepest Of secret doctrines. Knowing it, the man Becometh wise, and all his work is done!