The upside-down tree

śrībhagavānuvācaūrdhvamūlamadhaḥśākhamaśvatthaṃ prāhuravyayamchandāṃsi yasya parṇāni yastaṃ veda sa vedavit

They speak of an undying fig tree with roots above and branches below. Its leaves are the sacred hymns. Who knows it knows the Vedas.

What it means

Krishna opens with a famous image. The ashvattha, the sacred fig, but upside down. Its roots are above, in the divine. Its branches spread downward, into our world. Its leaves are the sacred hymns. Understand this tree, Krishna says, and you understand the whole of scripture.

The story

Arjuna has sat under great fig trees all his life. Krishna turns that familiar image upside down. Life's source isn't down in the soil. It's above, in the sacred.

In your life

Look at a tree today and imagine its roots reaching into the sky. Where are your roots? In things below, or in something higher? Spend a minute thinking about what truly feeds you.