Bhagavad Gita 15.1
श्रीभगवानुवाच । ऊर्ध्वमूलमधःशाखमश्वत्थं प्राहुरव्ययम् । छन्दांसि यस्य पर्णानि यस्तं वेद स वेदवित् ॥
śrī-bhagavān uvāca | ūrdhva-mūlam adhaḥ-śākham aśvatthaṁ prāhur avyayam | chandāṁsi yasya parṇāni yas taṁ veda sa veda-vit ||
Translation
The Lord said: The undying ashvattha is said to have its roots above and its branches downward, whose leaves are the chants. He who knows this knows the Veda.
Reflection
Where might my life look different read from root downward rather than canopy upward?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Fifteen
Tree gets flipped on its head right away. Roots feed from above where Krishna stands, branches reach down into worlds where we wake each morning. Leaves are not foliage. Leaves are chants, the vedas themselves, because what looks like rustling decoration is the metabolism keeping the whole growth alive. Knower of this tree is called knower of the Veda, which means scripture lands when you can locate which way the sap runs. Most of us read the tree upside down and call the branches reality. Today the chapter asks for one minute of seeing it the other way: source above, projection below, scripture as photosynthesis between them.