Sanskrit
न रूपमस्येह तथोपलभ्यते नान्तो न चादिर्न च संप्रतिष्ठा । अश्वत्थमेनं सुविरूढमूलमसङ्गशस्त्रेण दृढेन छित्त्वा ॥
na rūpam asyeha tathopalabhyate nānto na cādir na ca saṃpratiṣṭhā aśvattham enaṃ suvirūḍhamūlam asaṅgaśastreṇa dṛḍhena chittvā
Translation
Nor here may be acquired knowledge of its form, nor its end, nor its origin, nor its rooting-place; this strongly rooted Asvattha having been cut down by the unswerving weapon of non-attachment,
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Having built the tree up across two verses, the text now turns to demolition: no one can trace the tree’s form, beginning, end, or foundation, because as a symbol for beginningless samsara it isn’t the kind of object ordinary perception can bound. The prescribed tool is asaṅga-śastra, “the weapon of non-attachment” — not analysis, not ritual, but detachment wielded like a blade. Note that the sentence is deliberately left hanging here, running on into verse 4’s main clause; the syntax mirrors the content, since cutting the tree is the precondition for the search that follows, not the endpoint itself. The tree cannot be seen whole — no edge to grasp — yet it can be cut, with one tool: asaṅga-śastra, the axe of non-attachment. BG 15.4 says what to do once the tree is felled: seek the place from which none return.
Study deeper
Word by word
- na rūpam asyeha tathopalabhyateन रूपं अस्येह तथोपलभ्यते
- its form is not perceived here as [described] (na + rūpam + asya + iha + tathā + upalabhyate)
- nānto na cādir na ca saṃpratiṣṭhāनान्तो न चादिः न च संप्रतिष्ठा
- no end, no beginning, no foundation (na + antaḥ + na + ca + ādiḥ + na + ca + saṃpratiṣṭhā)
- aśvattham enaṃ suvirūḍhamūlamअश्वत्थं एनं सुविरूढमूलं
- this aśvattha, its roots grown firm (aśvattham + enam + su-virūḍha-mūlam)
- asaṅgaśastreṇa dṛḍhena chittvāअसङ्गशस्त्रेण दृढेन छित्त्वा
- having cut with the strong axe of non-attachment (asaṅga-śastreṇa + dṛḍhena + chittvā)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Notice what this verse refuses to give you: no shape, no beginning, no end, no foundation for the thing you’re meant to cut down. Most teachings would define the target before naming the tool; this one hands you the weapon — asaṅga-śastra, the blade of non-attachment — while admitting the target can’t be outlined. It’s a deliberate reversal of the usual order: you don’t need a complete diagnosis of samsara to act against it, only the willingness to wield detachment.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- You don't need to fully map or explain a dysfunctional pattern in yourself before acting against it. If you can name the tool — stepping back, letting go of an outcome — you can use it even while the problem itself stays hard to define precisely.
Professional
- You don't need a complete diagnosis of a tangled legacy system before you start decoupling from the parts holding it back. Identify the specific practice — deprecation, isolation — and start applying it, rather than waiting for a full map that may never arrive.
Family & Social
- You don't need to fully articulate what's wrong in a strained relationship before you can act — sometimes releasing a specific expectation or role you've been clinging to is the available move, even before either of you can describe the problem precisely.
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