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15.3Krishna
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न रूपमस्येह तथोपलभ्यते नान्तो न चादिर्न च सम्प्रतिष्ठा ।अश्वत्थमेनं सुविरूढमूलमसङ्गशस्त्रेण दृढेन छित्त्वा ॥

na rūpam asyeha tathopalabhyate nānto na cādir na ca sampratiṣṭhā |aśvattham enaṃ suvirūḍhamūlam asaṅgaśastreṇa dṛḍhena chittvā ||

· na
not
रूपम् · rūpam
form
अस्य · asya
of it
इह · iha
here
उपलभ्यते · upalabhyate
is perceived
अन्तः · antaḥ
end
आदिः · ādiḥ
beginning
सम्प्रतिष्ठा · sampratiṣṭhā
foundation, resting-place
अश्वत्थम् · aśvattham
the banyan tree
एनम् · enam
this
सुविरूढमूलम् · suvirūḍhamūlam
deep-rooted
असङ्गशस्त्रेण · asaṅgaśastreṇa
with the weapon of non-attachment
दृढेन · dṛḍhena
firm, strong
छित्त्वा · chittvā
having cut down

Its form is not seen here as it truly is — neither its end, nor beginning, nor foundation. Having felled this deep-rooted banyan with the strong axe of detachment…

Original plain-language translation

Caught inside the tree, we cannot map it — its extent hides from those entangled in it. The remedy is not analysis but the axe: firm non-clinging that severs root by root. The sentence completes in the next verse, a single sweeping instruction.

Reader's notes (original)