Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 23
Sādhu-saṅga, the Gopīs’ Prema, and the Veda’s Culmination in Exclusive Surrender
द्वे अस्य बीजे शतमूलस्त्रिनाल: पञ्चस्कन्ध: पञ्चरसप्रसूति: । दशैकशाखो द्विसुपर्णनीड- स्त्रिवल्कलो द्विफलोऽर्कं प्रविष्ट: ॥ २२ ॥ अदन्ति चैकं फलमस्य गृध्रा ग्रामेचरा एकमरण्यवासा: । हंसा य एकं बहुरूपमिज्यै- र्मायामयं वेद स वेद वेदम् ॥ २३ ॥
dve asya bīje śata-mūlas tri-nālaḥ pañca-skandhaḥ pañca-rasa-prasūtiḥ daśaika-śākho dvi-suparṇa-nīḍas tri-valkalo dvi-phalo ’rkaṁ praviṣṭaḥ
This tree of material existence has two seeds, hundreds of roots, three lower trunks and five upper trunks. It produces five flavors and has eleven branches and a nest made by two birds. The tree is covered by three types of bark, gives two fruits and extends up to the sun. Those lusty after material enjoyment and dedicated to family life enjoy one of the tree’s fruits, and swanlike men in the renounced order of life enjoy the other fruit. One who with the help of the bona fide spiritual masters can understand this tree to be a manifestation of the potency of the one Supreme Truth appearing in many forms actually knows the meaning of the Vedic literature.
The two seeds of this tree are sinful and pious activities, and the hundreds of roots are the living entities’ innumerable material desires, which chain them to material existence. The three lower trunks represent the three modes of material nature, and the five upper trunks represent the five gross material elements. The tree produces five flavors — sound, form, touch, taste and aroma — and has eleven branches — the five working senses, the five knowledge-acquiring senses and the mind. Two birds, namely the individual soul and the Supersoul, have made their nest in this tree, and the three types of bark are air, bile and mucus, the constituent elements of the body. The two fruits of this tree are happiness and distress.
FAQs
In this verse, Śrī Kṛṣṇa describes saṁsāra as a tree with many parts—roots, branches, bark, and fruits—indicating how the living being becomes entangled in material nature through complex layers of desire and action.
Krishna instructs Uddhava in renunciation and clear vision: by recognizing the structure of bondage (the “tree”), one can cultivate detachment and seek the soul’s shelter in devotion and knowledge.
See recurring anxieties and cravings as “branches” of the same tree, reduce unnecessary sense-driven habits, and regularly practice bhakti (hearing, chanting, remembrance) to avoid feeding the roots of entanglement.