Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15 (Purushottama Yoga): Verses, Meaning & Path to Moksha

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15, Purushottama Yoga — “the Yoga of the Supreme Person” — is a 20-verse chapter describing the world as an inverted Ashvattha tree, the soul as an eternal fragment of the divine, and Krishna as Purushottama, beyond both the perishable and the imperishable. This guide gives its key verses with meaning and how to apply them.

Chapter 15 of the Bhagavad Gita is one of its shortest — just 20 verses — yet among its most profound. Titled Purushottama Yoga, it teaches detachment from the world, the eternal nature of the soul, and devotion to the Supreme as the way to moksha, liberation from the cycle of birth and death. Many families recite it daily, and it is traditionally chanted before meals. Read more about Lord Krishna, the speaker of the Gita.

What Is the Inverted Ashvattha Tree?

The chapter opens with a striking image:

ऊर्ध्वमूलमधःशाखमश्वत्थं प्राहुरव्ययम्।
छन्दांसि यस्य पर्णानि यस्तं वेद स वेदवित्॥ (15.1)

They speak of an imperishable Ashvattha tree with its roots above and branches below, whose leaves are the Vedic hymns. One who knows this tree knows the Vedas.

The Ashvattha is the sacred fig or peepal. Here it represents samsara, the world of birth and rebirth: its roots are in the Supreme above, and its branches spread downward into the material world, nourished by the three gunas — sattva, rajas and tamas. The image also appears in the Katha Upanishad (6.1).

Krishna then gives the remedy:

अश्वत्थमेनं सुविरूढमूलम् असङ्गशस्त्रेण दृढेन छित्त्वा॥ (15.3)

Cutting down this firmly rooted Ashvattha tree with the strong axe of non-attachment… — the seeker should then seek the state from which there is no return.

What Does Chapter 15 Teach About the Soul?

ममैवांशो जीवलोके जीवभूतः सनातनः। (15.7)

An eternal fragment of Myself, becoming a living soul in the world of life…

The individual soul (jiva) is an eternal part of the divine. Entangled in the body and senses through ignorance and desire, it carries them from body to body, as the wind carries fragrance from flowers (15.8). Recognising one’s true nature as the eternal soul, distinct from body and mind, is the beginning of liberation.

Why Is Chapter 15 Recited Before Meals?

अहं वैश्वानरो भूत्वा प्राणिनां देहमाश्रितः।
प्राणापानसमायुक्तः पचाम्यन्नं चतुर्विधम्॥ (15.14)

Becoming Vaishvanara, the fire of digestion, I dwell in the bodies of living beings and, joined with the incoming and outgoing breath, digest the four kinds of food.

Because Krishna declares that He Himself digests food within every being, many families and monasteries recite Chapter 15 — or this verse — before eating, offering the meal to the divine.

Who Is Purushottama?

सर्वस्य चाहं हृदि सन्निविष्टो मत्तः स्मृतिर्ज्ञानमपोहनं च।
वेदैश्च सर्वैरहमेव वेद्यो वेदान्तकृद्वेदविदेव चाहम्॥ (15.15)

I am seated in the hearts of all; from Me come memory, knowledge and their loss. I alone am to be known through all the Vedas; I am the author of Vedanta and the knower of the Vedas.

In verses 16–18 Krishna describes two kinds of being: the kshara (perishable) — all created beings — and the akshara (imperishable). Beyond both is the Supreme Person:

अतोऽस्मि लोके वेदे च प्रथितः पुरुषोत्तमः॥ (15.18)

Therefore I am celebrated in the world and in the Vedas as Purushottama, the Supreme Person.

Purushottama is both immanent — dwelling in every heart — and transcendent, beyond the material world. Verse 19 adds that whoever knows Him as Purushottama worships Him with their whole being.

How Does Chapter 15 Lead to Moksha?

Verse 5 describes those who reach the eternal state: free from pride and delusion, having conquered attachment, constantly devoted to the Self, free from desires and from the pairs of opposites such as pleasure and pain. The chapter’s path therefore combines:

• Viveka (discrimination) — distinguishing the eternal soul from the passing body and world.
• Vairagya (detachment) — the “axe of non-attachment” that cuts the tree of samsara.
• Bhakti (devotion) — surrender to Purushottama, the Supreme.

Krishna closes by calling this “the most secret teaching” (15.20): whoever understands it becomes wise and fulfilled.

How Can You Apply Chapter 15 in Everyday Life?

• Practise detachment: enjoy things and relationships without depending on them for your peace.
• Cultivate discernment: in decisions, ask what serves lasting purpose rather than passing wants.
• Offer your meals: recite verse 15.14 or the chapter before eating, as a reminder that the divine sustains you.
• Live with humility and simplicity: verse 5 names freedom from pride as the first mark of the wise.
• See the divine in all: if Purushottama dwells in every heart (15.15), every person deserves respect.
• Live by dharma at home and work — honesty and fairness are the ground of spiritual growth.

To hear the chapter’s verses recited and explained, watch this video on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15:

Conclusion

In twenty verses, Purushottama Yoga maps the whole spiritual journey: seeing the world as a passing tree, cutting attachment with the axe of detachment, recognising the soul as an eternal fragment of the divine, and surrendering to Purushottama, who dwells in every heart. For more on the stages of that journey, see the spiritual journey from awakening to enlightenment.

FAQs – Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15