Sanskrit
ततः पदं तत्परिमार्गितव्यम् यस्मिन्गता न निवर्तन्ति भूयः । तमेव चाद्यं पुरुषं प्रपद्ये यतः प्रवृत्तिः प्रसृता पुराणी ॥
tataḥ padaṃ tatparimārgitavyam yasmin gatā na nivartanti bhūyaḥ tam eva cādyaṃ puruṣaṃ prapadye yataḥ pravṛttiḥ prasṛtā purāṇī
Translation
That path beyond may be sought, treading which there is no return. I go indeed to that Primal Man, whence the ancient energy forth-streamed.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The felling completes here: beyond the cut tree lies “that path,” reached by those who do not return, and the verse names the destination directly as the Primal Person (ādyaṃ puruṣam) from whom the ancient current of activity originally streamed. This is the chapter’s first use of Purusha language, and it functions as a preview of the threefold classification — kshara, akshara, and the Purushottama beyond both — that verses 16-18 will formalize later. “No return” (na nivartanti) echoes the same phrase used for Krishna’s supreme abode in verse 6 and recurs elsewhere in the Gita (8.21, 8.26) as the technical marker for genuine liberation as opposed to a temporary heavenly stay. The verse shifts abruptly to the first person — prapadye, “I take refuge” — a rare narratorial move that models the response the teaching wants. The goal is the ādya puruṣa, the primal Person, source of the very stream the tree grows from.
Study deeper
Word by word
- tataḥ padaṃ tatparimārgitavyamततः पदं तत्परिमार्गितव्यं
- then that place is to be sought (tataḥ + padam + tat-parimārgitavyam)
- yasmin gatā na nivartanti bhūyaḥयस्मिन् गता न निवर्तन्ति भूयः
- reaching which, they do not return again (yasmin + gatāḥ + na + nivartanti + bhūyaḥ)
- tam eva cādyaṃ puruṣaṃ prapadyeतं एव चाद्यं पुरुषं प्रपद्ये
- to that primal Person I take refuge (tam + eva + ca + ādyam + puruṣam + prapadye)
- yataḥ pravṛttiḥ prasṛtā purāṇīयतः प्रवृत्तिः प्रसृता पुराणी
- from whom the ancient stream [of the world] has flowed (yataḥ + pravṛttiḥ + prasṛtā + purāṇī)
Commentary
Site Commentary
The syntax here mirrors the content: verse 3 leaves its sentence hanging mid-thought, and this verse only supplies the main clause after the cutting is done — the search for “that path” comes second, not first. Felling the tree isn’t the destination the chapter has been building toward; it’s the precondition that finally makes the search possible. It’s worth noticing this ordering, because it’s tempting to treat detachment itself as the finish line when the text clearly treats it as the entry point.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- Letting go of an old attachment or identity doesn't complete the work — it opens the harder search for what's actually worth pursuing next. Don't mistake the relief of detachment for arrival; treat it as the doorway, not the destination.
Professional
- Retiring a broken process or legacy system isn't the achievement itself — it's what makes the real work possible: finding and building the better model that should replace it. Don't let the team celebrate removal as if it were the outcome.
Family & Social
- Ending a dependency or an unhealthy pattern with someone isn't the resolution — it's the opening that lets you actually search for what a healthier version of that relationship looks like. Expect the real work to start after, not stop there.
Ask yourself
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