| 1. They speak
of the indestructible Asvattha having its root above and branches below,
whose leaves are the metres. He who knows it knows the Vedas. As Brahman
with Maya or the unmanifested potentiality is subtle in point of time, as
He is the Cause , as He is eternal, as He is great, .He is spoken of as
the one above. The One above is the root of this Tree of Samsara, which
is therefore said to have its root above. The Sruti says: With roots above
and branches below, this Asvattha is eternal. In the Purana also it is said:The
root from which the Eternal Tree of Brahman has sprung is the Avyakta, the
Unmanifested. It has developed by the strength of the same (Avyakta). Its
trunk is Buddhi, the senseapertures Its hollows, the great elements Its
boughs, the senseobjects Its leaves and branches, dharma and adharma Its
fair blossoms, pleasure and pain Its fruits affording livelihood to all
creatures. And this is the resort of Brahman (the Highest Self), and that
Highest Self is (the essence) of that Tree of Brahman. Having cut asunder
and split the Tree with the mighty sword of knowledge and then attained
to the Bliss of the self, none comes back from there again. They speak of
the illusory samsara as a tree rooted above. The Mahat, the Ahamkara (Egoism),
the Tanmatras (the Elemental Essences), etc are its branches as it were,
and these extend downwards; whence the tree is said to have its branches
below. They call this tree Asvattha because it will not abide the same even
till tomorrow, because it undergoes destruction every moment. The illusion
(Maya of samsara having existed in time without beginning, they say that
this Tree of samsara is eternal ; for, it rests, as is well known, on a
continuous series of births which is without beginning or end and is thus
eternal. |
