Vedavani Karmakandi Samsara Asraye

The Blessed Lord said: There
is a banyan tree which has its roots upward and its branches down and whose
leaves are the Vedic hymns. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas.

The branches of this
tree extend downward and upward, nourished by the three modes of material
nature. The twigs are the objects of the senses. This tree also has roots going
down, and these are bound to the fruitive actions of
human society.

The
real form of this tree cannot be perceived in this world. No one can understand
where it ends, where it begins, or where its foundation is. But with
determination one must cut down this tree with the weapon of detachment. So
doing, one must seek that place from which, having once gone, one never returns,
and there surrender to that Supreme Personality of Godhead from whom everything
has began and in whom everything is abiding since time immemorial.

One who is free from
illusion, false prestige, and false association, who understands the eternal, who
is done with material lust and is freed from the duality of happiness and
distress, and who knows how to surrender unto the Supreme Person, attains to
that eternal kingdom.

That abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by electricity.
One who reaches it never returns to this material world.

The living entities in
this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental
parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six
senses, which include the mind.

The living entity in the
material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to
another as the air carries aromas.

The living entity, thus
taking another gross body, obtains a certain type of ear, tongue, and nose and
sense of touch, which are grouped about the mind. He thus enjoys a particular
set of sense objects.

The foolish cannot
understand how a living entity can quit his body, nor can they understand what
sort of body he enjoys under the spell of the modes of nature. But one whose
eyes are trained in knowledge can see all this.

The endeavoring
transcendentalist, who is situated in self-realization, can see all this
clearly. But those who are not situated in self-realization cannot see what is
taking place, though they may try to.

The splendor of the sun,
which dissipates the darkness of this whole world, comes from Me. And the splendor of the moon and the splendor of fire
are also from Me.

I enter into each planet,
and by My energy they stay in orbit. I become the moon
and thereby supply the juice of life to all vegetables.

I am the fire of
digestion in every living body, and I am the air of life, outgoing and incoming,
by which I digest the four kinds of foodstuff.

I am seated in everyone's
heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and
forgetfulness. By all the Vedas I am to be known; indeed I am the compiler of
Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.

There are two classes
of beings, the fallible and the infallible. In the material world every entity
is fallible, and in the spiritual world every entity is called infallible.

Besides these two, there
is the greatest living personality, the Lord Himself, who has entered into
these worlds and is maintaining them.

Because I am
transcendental, beyond both the fallible and the infallible, and because I am
the greatest, I am celebrated both in the world and in the Vedas as that
Supreme Person.

Whoever knows Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, without doubting, is
to be understood as the knower of everything, and He therefore engages himself
in full devotional service, O son of Bharata.

This is the most
confidential part of the Vedic scriptures, O sinless one, and it is disclosed
now by Me. Whoever understands this will become wise, and his endeavors will know
perfection.

Thus Bhaktivedanta sings the song of Sri Gita,
with the hope that hearing this, Krsna conscious pure devotees will be pleased.