Kathopanishadbhashya 237

237

"Having its root above": that which is its root above is the supreme abode of Viṣṇu; thus this tree of transmigratory existence, extending from the unmanifest down to immobile beings, has its root above. And it is called a "tree" (vṛkṣa) because it is felled (vraścana). Consisting of manifold evils such as continuous birth, old age, death, and grief, having a nature that changes every moment, like an illusion, mirage-water, or a celestial city, because its nature disappears as soon as it is seen, and being in the end of the nature of non-existence like a tree; devoid of essence like the trunk of a banana tree; the object of many hundreds of heterodox intellectual disputes; its true nature not determined by seekers after truth; having as its root-substance the supreme Brahman ascertained in the Vedānta; produced from the seed of the unmanifest consisting of ignorance, desire, and action; having as its sprout Hiraṇyagarbha consisting of the two powers of lower Brahman—knowledge and action; having as its trunk the diverse subtle bodies of all living beings; having its pride raised by sprinkling with the water of various cravings; having the objects of the senses of intellect as its sprouts and tender shoots; having the instructions of the Śruti, Smṛti, logic, and sciences as its foliage; having the many actions such as sacrifice, gift-giving, and asceticism as its fair flowers; having manifold experiences of pleasure and pain as its flavors; having endless fruits upon which living beings depend; having its roots firmly bound, entangled, and deep-grown through sprinkling with the water of cravings for those [fruits]; having as its nests the birds that are beings such as Brahmā residing in the seven worlds such as Satya; producing a tumultuous great roar made up of many sounds such as dancing, singing, instrumental music, shouting, clapping, laughing, crying, wailing, and cries of "Alas, alas! Let go, let go!" born of joy and sorrow arising from the pleasure and pain of living beings; and having its felling accomplished by the weapon of detachment arising from the vision of the self as Brahman prescribed by the Vedānta—this tree of transmigratory existence is "aśvattha" (the holy fig tree), because, like an aśvattha tree, its nature is ever-trembling, shaken by the wind of desire and action. It has "branches below" through its branches such as heaven, hell, animals, and ghosts. It is "eternal" (sanātana), because it has been proceeding for a long time, being without beginning. That which is the root of this tree of transmigratory existence is "pure" (śukra), bright, clean, radiant, having the nature of the light of the conscious Self; "that alone is Brahman", because it is the greatest of all; "that alone is called immortal", of an imperishable nature, it is proclaimed [as such] because it is real. 'Modification is a mere verbal handle, a name;' everything else is untrue, hence mortal. In that Brahman, the ultimate reality, all the worlds—resembling a celestial city, mirage-water, and illusion, which disappear upon the realization of the ultimate reality—are "supported", [and have always been] supported, in their creation, sustenance, and dissolution. "And nothing", not any modification whatsoever, "surpasses that", that Brahman, just as an effect such as a pot does not surpass clay and the like. "This indeed is that."