15.2 Branches both ways Krishna speaks
अधश्चोर्ध्वं प्रसृतास्तस्य शाखा गुणप्रवृद्धा विषयप्रवालाः
अधश्च मूलान्यनुसन्ततानि कर्मानुबन्धीनि मनुष्यलोके
adhaśh chordhvaṁ prasṛitās tasya śhākhā
guṇa-pravṛiddhā viṣhaya-pravālāḥ
adhaśh cha mūlāny anusantatāni
karmānubandhīni manuṣhya-loke
Its branches spread downward and upward, nourished by the strands; its shoots are the objects of sense; and its roots reach downward too, binding to action in the world of men.
Explanation
The tree grows in both directions at once, and both are entanglement.
- branches spreading down and up, fed by the guṇas, the three strands
- shoots that are the objects of sense
- roots running downward too, into action in the world of men
So the diagram is not tidy: there are roots at the bottom as well as the top. Those lower roots are what binds, and they are made of ordinary doing.
Word by word
- adhaḥ
- downward
- cha
- and
- ūrdhvam
- upward
- prasṛitāḥ
- extended
- tasya
- its
- śhākhāḥ
- branches
- guṇa
- modes of material nature
- pravṛiddhāḥ
- nourished
- viṣhaya
- objects of the senses
- pravālāḥ
- buds
- adhaḥ
- downward
- cha
- and
- mūlāni
- roots
- anusantatāni
- keep growing
- karma
- actions
- anubandhīni
- bound
- manuṣhya-loke
- in the world of humans
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