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 ||
- न · 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)