Does the upside-down tree metaphor of Gita chapter 15 imply that there’s a separate tree for each individual soul?
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So, does the tree exist for each individual soul, or does it, or is it like one universal tree. See, first of all, the whole tree, it’s a metaphor. So, we cannot apply literal logic to that which is metaphoric.
That doesn’t mean there is no logic. It’s just that literal logic may not always apply to metaphorical things. So, what does that mean? That sometimes, while using the literal, sometimes some non-literal things become so commonly used, that we start using them in literal sense, without even remembering the non-literal aspect of it.
Now, I was in UK, I gave a class in London, and there is a very good question and answer session we had, and then the devotee, a lot of questions people asked and answered, and the devotee who organized the program was very happy. Just came after the class with a big smile, and he said, you killed it. I said, what did I kill? Now, you killed it is a non-literal usage, which comes from hunting.
Now, somebody is hunting, and you killed it. So, now, you killed it in a way appreciated, you did very nicely. But, he was taking the non-literal meaning, and I was taking the literal meaning.
So, we can’t apply literal logic, it can lead to a lot of misunderstandings. Having said that, the idea is that this tree, is a metaphor for explaining how we are entangled. And, one of the words that Krishna uses is, Ashwattham prahur avyayam.
It’s an imperishable tree. So, when Asanga shastrena dhruhena chitva by detachment we cut it, what we do is actually, the material world will continue to exist. But, we can cut our entanglement from the material world.
So, we could say, it’s not that there is one tree for everyone. There is not one tree for each person. But, the tree is the tree of material existence.
And, we are all entangled within it. So, it’s like this, I gave the example of a carnivorous tree, which is just grabbing people. So, that, somebody is grabbed by that, if they get a knife, they can cut off.
And, they can escape. So, like that, each one of us can escape from that. Thank you.
Yes? Yes?