Commentary on the Kathopanishad

by Swami Krishnananda

Discourse 11: The Tree of the Universe

This is the concluding section of the Kathopanishad. It is a short chapter of eighteen mantras.

Ūrdhva-mūlo'vāk-śākha eṣo'śvatthas sanātanaḥ, tad eva śukraṁ tad brahma, tad evāmṛtam ucyate. tasmin lokāḥ śritāḥ sarve tad u nātyeti kaś cana: etad vai tat (2.3.1). Ūrdhva-mūlaḥ is a word we have also heard in the Bhagavadgita: ūrdhvamūlam adhaḥśākham (B.G. 15.1). This is a description of the tree of the universe, which is said to have its roots above and its branches below, contrary to the way in which trees grow on the earth. This tree is called aśvattha. Sanātana: It is there always, permanently. Aśvattha may mean 'that which is not going to last for a long time'. That which will not last even for tomorrow is aśvattha. Sanātana means 'always being there'. Two words are used here to designate the character of this tree that is upside down. There are two aspects of this passage. Firstly, the tree is inverted, with the roots above and branches below. The second aspect is that it is called permanently existing, sanātana, and also not lasting for the morrow.

The tree is above in the sense of the reality being above and its manifestations being below. The aboveness and belowness connected with this description of the tree are not to be taken in the sense of a spatial invertedness, as if something is hanging in the sky with roots above and branches below. The tree is not physically visible; it is not visible to the eyes. The Bhagavadgita says that it is inscrutable in its nature. Where it starts and where it ends, nobody can know. It is not an object of the senses in the ordinary way. It is a power which releases itself by degrees into more and more types of externality, and the more it becomes external, the more also does it become spatialised.

There is an integrated concentration of the tree in the seed. All the ramifications and the diversifications of the tree can be found to be hiddenly present in the seed, though not visible to the eyes. When the tree germinates into a little plant, it shoots forth the energies embedded in the seed, and externalises itself to some extent. There is a total absorption of power within itself in the case of the seed. The externalisation into space and time commences when it becomes a little tendril, and it grows taller and stouter. When this happens, its longing to become other than what it was in the seed becomes more and more pronounced. It becomes more objective in its nature, more externalised in space and time, and more filled with a desire to expand itself into space. Thus is this tree of God and the universe. The root of this tree is God Himself. Because of the transcendence of God, the root of the tree is regarded as something that is above us.

Transcendence is something which is above in a very specialised sense. There are people who are above us in their stature, in their importance, in their genius, in their qualifications, in their wealth. “That man is far above me.” When we say this, we do not mean that the person is physically sitting on our head. It is a conceptual, consciousness-oriented, logical aboveness. That is how we have to understand the transcendence of God: far, far beyond the reach of the logical intellect, not physically distant but conceptually separable as the higher and the lower. When the higher, which is the transcendent, which is beyond the concept of the mind, descends into immanence, it enters into the world. Just as the sap of the tree which was hidden in the seed then permeates through the plant, and then pervades the whole tree through the trunk and the branches, up to the tips of the leaves and the flowers, in a similar manner God's power, which is the sap of the universe hiddenly present in Himself, manifests itself externally through space and time. Through every object and everything that is visible we find the presence permeating, not only as an immanent presence but also as an externalised force.

This tree is the abode of all the individuals, the jivas—yourself, myself, and everything. According to at least one analogy, we are like birds on this tree, and this tree is full of sweet fruits in the form of delicious objects of sense. Ignorant jivas, individuals who have no consciousness of the source from where they have come, indulging externally in terms of the sense organs, are busy with the eating of the fruit of this tree, and so they are bound by the maddening effect produced by the fruit, something like the fruit of the forbidden tree.

It is also said that this tree is permanent, yet it is not lasting. Sometimes when we walk on the road at dusk and cannot see things properly, we may see a rope coiled up on the path and mistake it for a snake. Now, when did this appearance of the rope as a snake begin? Did it begin yesterday? Did it begin today? It has no beginning. It shall always appear like that. Under given conditions of perception, the rope will always, permanently, appear like a snake. Similarly, therefore, this tree is permanent. There is no beginning and no end for it.

Likewise is this world perception. The world, looking like what it is—or rather, God Himself appearing as this universe—did not have a beginning. We cannot say God created the world some time back. It is like saying the rope started appearing to be a snake on some day. The rope never began to appear as a snake on some day or at some time. The rope never created this snakehood from itself, yet it is there. But it is not permanent because the moment light is splashed on the rope, we will immediately recognise that the snake is not there. The snake was there; always it has to be there on account of the dimness of light and our defective perception—but, at the same time, it is not there. So is this world. It is always there. God did not create this world, but the appearance of God as this manifested universe has to always be there. Eternally we will see the world, and there is no end for that. We cannot prevent God from appearing in this manner of space, time and object. God did not think “Let Me become the tree; let Me become the object and other things” in the same way as the rope does not feel that it should become a snake. There is no beginning and end for creation, and it has never taken place, actually, to tell the fact.

There is another illustration. There is a stone. This stone is made up of molecules, the molecules are made up of little atoms, and the atoms are made up of even more minute particles, called electrons. Through a very powerful microscope which can enable us to see the innermost content of this object as forces gyrating vigorously in the form of electronic energy, we will not see the stone there. Now, somehow or other, this energy that is inside has become the stone. Can we say that one day the energy started thinking “Let me become a stone”? It has never become the stone, and the stone does not exist at all because if the stone were to exist really, the microscope would show it. It does not show it. The inner content has not transformed itself into the outer form. That is to say, the inner energy, which is electromagnetic, has not become the stone. The power of the universe has not transformed itself into the objects of sense. They appear to be like that on account of a defective vision, and if we have a microscopic eye, we may not see the world at all. We will see only a continuum of energy billowing like waves in the sea. The world will vanish in one second, provided we have got X-ray eyes or microscopic eyes. Now we have a dull eye; therefore, we see things which are not here. So this tree which is inverted with roots above and branches below is permanent in one sense, and not permanent in another sense: eṣo'śvatthas sanātanaḥ.

Tad eva śukraṁ tad brahma, tad evāmṛtam ucyate: This world that we see is actually the appearance of the immortal purity, as God Himself is this universe. Tasmin lokāḥ śritāḥ sarve: All the fourteen realms of being are fixed on this consciousness, which is of God Almighty. Tad u nātyeti kaś cana: Nobody can transcend it; there is nothing above it; it is the final one. Etad vai tat: This is the answer finally to the question of Nachiketas: “What is the nature of the soul?”

Yad idaṁ kiñ ca jagat sarvam prāṇa ejati niḥsṛtam, mahad bhayaṁ vajram udyatam, ya etad vidur amṛtās te bhavanti (2.3.2): All this world, whatever be its form, is a manifestation of the cosmic Prana, Hiranyagarbha-tattva, or Sutratman. Prana is a traditional Sanskrit name for describing what we may call cosmic energy. The quantum of cosmic energy, which is equilibrated in its nature, with no high and low, and with no disbalance in the distribution of its parts, can be called Hiranyagarbha-tattva, cosmic power. Everything is controlled by this energy. It is like a terror to everybody. Mahad bhayaṁ vajram udyatam, ya etad vidur amṛtās te bhavanti: God is like a terror to all people. This Mahat-Brahma, this Sutratman, this Hiranyagarbha-tattva is like an uplifted thunderbolt causing fear to everyone. Due to fear of Him, the sun rises in the east. Due to fear of Him, the moon rises.

Bhayād asyāgnis tapati, bhayāt tapati sūryaḥ: bhayād indraś ca vāyuś ca, mṛtyur dhāvati pañcamaḥ (2.3.3). Due to the fear of this terrible law, the sun seems to be rising in the east and setting in the west precisely. Fire burns, Indra and Vayu perform their functions, and death itself does its duty because of fear of this Being. Even death is afraid of this great law. It is the central authority ruling the whole cosmos. The idea is that everything appears to be what it is, and everything seems to be functioning in the manner it does because of the law that is there at the back of the constitution of things, and the order that is behind the performance of actions through these constitutions.

We are human beings with a body and mind, with a personality, and we behave in a particular way. We do not behave like insects, and we do not behave like trees; trees do not behave like animals, and animals do not behave like human beings. Why is it that certain species behave only in that way, and do not behave in any other way? The reason is that the concentrated force is exerted by this cosmic power in a particular channel for the purpose of manifesting a particular intention, the intention being a desire or the necessity for a species to grow, to act, and then to perish in the course of time.

There is a diversified action of this universal Prana. One alone it is, as a central authority in a government, for instance, but it has diversified actions. The power of the government works in different ways in different departments, though it is the same power operating. Similarly, by the fear of this energy, as it were, by the legality, the force, the energy and the compulsion of this universal Prana, all the gods work systematically. Even the gods are afraid. Even death itself is afraid of that. Bhayād asyāgnis tapati: For fear of Him, fire burns; otherwise, fire will not burn. Bhayāt tapati sūryaḥ: For fear of Him, the sun shines. Bhayād indraś ca vāyuś ca: For fear of Him, the gods Indra, Vayu, and Mrityu, death itself, all perform their functions. We all live and behave in the manner we do because of the compulsion from the Universal Will. We cannot lift a single finger if that Will is not to be there at the back of this lifting. One leaf cannot fall on our head. As they say, a sparrow cannot sit on us unless the will of the Father is there behind it. Even a breeze cannot touch our body unless the Original Will dispenses the order that it should touch us. Such is the tremendous control that this cosmic Prana exercises on everything that is visible and invisible.

Iha ced aśakad boddhum prāk śarīrasya visrasaḥ, tataḥ sargeṣu lokeṣu śarīratvāya kalpate (2.3.4): It is good for people to realise this great Truth before the shedding of this body. If it is possible for us to realise this Truth before we leave this body, then we will have no rebirth. But if we have not attained it—iha ced aśakad boddhum—then what happens? Tataḥ sargeṣu lokeṣu śarīratvāya kalpate: If this Truth has not been realised in one's own experience before the departure from this body, there will be birth in some realm, some world, some location, for the purpose of working out the karmas that have not been properly discharged.

The birth of the soul can be in any one of the worlds, or brahmandas, universes, which are infinite in number. The mind will take us to exactly that spot where it is possible for us to fulfil our desires. There is an automatic action spontaneously taking place between the mind that is filled with unfulfilled desires and the location of the world where alone it is possible to fulfil these desires. Everything in the world is interconnected, one with the other. Everything in the world knows everything that is taking place everywhere. In modern physics, Bell's theory has declared that activities, events, take place in the world not one after the other, but simultaneously. If something happens here, it is also happening in the sun at the same time. If something happens in the sun, it also happens in the galaxies. And if something happens in the galaxies, at the same time it is happening in some star. And not only that, it is happening everywhere in space. So anything that is happening, even a pinprick in our foot, is a prick in the whole cosmos. This is Bell's theory of the simultaneity of action taking place everywhere. But even before Bell was born, it was declared in the Upanishads and the Bhagavadgita that our thoughts will gravitate to that particular spot where the desires will be capable of manifesting themselves. Any world will attract us. But this will not take place if our individual self blossoms forth into the universal God. It is good for us to realise it before we pass away.

The relationship between the soul, the self, and the universal Self is described in the next verse. Yathādarśe tathātmani, yathā svapne tathā pitṛ-loke, yathāpsu parīva dadṛśe, tathā gandharva-loka chāyā-tapayor iva brahma-loke (2.3.5): In this world we have an experience of the Atman inside in an indistinct manner, as if light is cast on a mirror. Just as the qualities of the light are not entirely reflected in the mirror, and only some aspect of the light is so reflected, the entirety of the Atman cannot be seen reflected in our mind and intellect. So here, in the case of the individual personality, the experience of the reflection of the Atman in experience is as if light falls on a mirror.

In Pitriloka, or the world of the forefathers, the Self is experienced as we see things in dream. We see things in dream, but not very clearly; they are translucent and disturbed. Gandharva-loka is still higher up. Gandharvas are the celestial musicians and dancers who are said to be entertaining Indra in heaven. In that kingdom of Gandharvas, the Self is seen as if the sun is reflected in water. Just as there is a disturbance on account of the movement of water, there is no clear perception of the Atman even in Gandharva-loka. Only in Brahmaloka can the distinction between the universal and the individual be seen, as the distinction between light and shade. When the sun is shining in the mid-sky, the light is so intense that we can clearly distinguish that brilliance from the shade cast by a tree. So is the distinction, the clarity, that we can perceive in Brahmaloka, the world of the Creator, where the supreme consciousness of the Atman will be clearly experienced as distinguished from all that is created and all that is anatman, or other than the Self. The Self and the not-Self are very rarely distinguishable, and even then, very unclearly in our case, and unclearly in Pitriloka also, very unclearly in Gandharva-loka, but clearly in Brahmaloka. The distinction between God and the world, in the form of the distinction between the universal and the particular, or the universal and the external, can be seen in Brahmaloka, which is the highest spiritual experience that is possible for any seeker. It is the penultimate region of Godhood.

Indriyāṇām pṛthag-bhāvam udayāstamayau ca yat, pṛthag utpadyamānānam matvā dhīro na śocati (2.3.6): The sense organs do not perform functions continuously. There is the projection of energy through the sense organs, and also the withdrawal thereof. There is the beginning of the action of the senses, and also the ending. The senses do not work continuously all the twenty-four hours. Who is it that knows that there is a beginning and an end for the functions of the sense organs? Who makes the distinction between the coming and the going of the sense powers? Know that. And who knows that hearing is different from seeing, and seeing is different from touching and smelling, etc.? Why do we not make a jumble of these perceptions? When we see a thing, we can also hear it, taste it, touch it, and smell it. All five things can be performed at the same time, but do we feel that five different people are doing this? We say, “I am doing this work. I am seeing and hearing and tasting and smelling and touching.” Who is this 'I' that is capable of knowing the different functions simultaneously?

The functions are totally different, and there is no connection between one and the other. How do you bring a connection of one with the other? Know that. Know that which can enable you to bring about a harmony among the sense powers as seeing, hearing, etc. Know that which enables you to know the coming and going of the sense organs. You know that you are not working through the sense organs in sleep. When you close your eyes, you are not seeing. When you wake up in the morning, you open your eyes and see things, but you know all these things are taking place in you only. That continuity of consciousness which is responsible for the knowledge of the beginning and the end of the powers of sense, and also for the distinctions between the sense functions—that power is what is to be known. Having known that, the great hero of the spirit grieves not anymore. He shall not have any sorrow afterwards.

Indriyebhyaḥ param mano manasas sattvam uttamam, sattvād adhi mahān ātmā, mahato'vyaktam uttamam (2.3.7): There is a repetition, almost, of a verse that occurred earlier. Beyond the sense organs is the mind, beyond the mind is the intellect, beyond the intellect is the great intellect, the cosmic intellect, Hiranyagarbha-tattva, beyond that is the cosmic Prakriti, the Avyakta, and beyond that is the Purusha. That Purusha has no characteristic. Once having known that Supreme Purusha above the cosmic intellect, above the Avyakta Prakriti, above the intellect, mind, sense organs and objects, one immediately attains immortality.

Avyaktāt tu paraḥ puruso vyāpako'liṅga eva ca, yaṁ jñātvā mucyate jantur amṛtatvaṁ ca gacchati (2.3.8): This is a brief statement of the way in which sadhana has to be practised, meditation has to be carried on. Withdraw the consciousness from the objects and centre it in the senses, withdraw it from the senses and centre it in the mind, withdraw it from the mind and centre it in the intellect, withdraw it from the intellect and centre it in the universal intellect, Hiranyagarbha-tattva, the creative power, Mahat-tattva. Withdraw it from that also and fix it in the cosmic Creative Will. Withdraw it from the Will and enter into the Supreme Purusha, whose essence you yourself are. Thus you attain immortality, not before that.

Na saṁdṛśe tiṣṭhati rūpam asya, na cakṣuṣā paśyati kaścanainam: hṛdā maṇīṣā manasābhikḷpto ya etad vidur amṛtās te bhavanti (2.3.9): Those persons become immortal and deathless who are able to visualise inwardly, by insight, that great light which cannot be beheld through the sense organs. This form of the supreme essence is not to be comprehended within the field of ordinary ocular vision. No one can see Him with the eyes. All-pervading is that Being. How would you see that, inasmuch as it is not an object of the senses? That Great Being is revealed in actual insight and intuition, which arises in your own heart, in the Atman. Having known this, you are immediately selected as heir apparent to the throne of the Immortal Being.