Mahabharata — Ashvamedhika Parva, Shloka 223
Brahma-vidyā: Satya–Tapas and the Enumeration of Tattvas
Arjuna–Vāsudeva framed dialogue
छित्त्वा चामरतां प्राप्प जहाति मृत्युजन्मनी । यह देह एक वृक्षके समान है। अज्ञान इसका मूल अंकुर (जड़) है
chittvā cāmaratāṁ prāpya jahāti mṛtyu-janmanī | yaḥ dehaḥ eka-vṛkṣaka-samānaḥ | ajñānaṁ tasya mūla-aṅkuraḥ (jaḍaḥ), buddhiḥ skandhaḥ (tanūḥ), ahaṅkāraḥ śākhā, indriyāṇi suṣirāṇi, pañca mahābhūtāni tasya viśeṣa-avayavāḥ, teṣāṁ bhūtānāṁ viśeṣa-bhedāḥ tasya ṭhaṇḍikāḥ | atra sadā saṅkalpa-rūpāṇi pattāni jāyante, karma-rūpāṇi puṣpāṇi vikasanti | śubhāśubha-karmabhiḥ prāptāni sukha-duḥkhādīni tasya sadā lagna-phālāni | evaṁ brahma-rūpa-bījāt prādurbhūtaḥ pravāha-rūpeṇa sadā vidyamānaḥ deha-rūpa-vṛkṣaḥ sarva-prāṇināṁ jīvana-ādhāraḥ | yaḥ etasya tattvaṁ samyag jñātvā jñāna-rūpayā uttama-khaḍgena enaṁ chittvā amaratvaṁ prāpya janma-mṛtyu-bandhanāt mucyate ||
风神伐由说道：“将它斩断，便得不死，舍离生死轮回。此身如同一株树：无明为其根芽， बुद्धि（理智）为其干， 我执（我慢，ahaṃkāra）为其枝；诸根为其中空之处；五大（地水火风空）为其分明的肢体，而五大更细的差别则为其细枝。其上，意向（saṅkalpa）之叶不断滋生，业行（karma）之花不断开放；善业与恶业所招感的乐与苦，便是常常系着的果实。如此，由梵（Brahman）为种子而显现，并以不断流转之势恒常存在的‘身树’，支撑着一切众生的生命。凡能如实了知其体性，并以智慧之上妙利剑将之斩断者，便得不死，解脱生死之缚。”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Embodied existence is sustained by ignorance, intention, and action, yielding pleasure and pain through karma. Liberation comes by discerning this structure and ‘cutting’ attachment to it with knowledge, thereby transcending birth and death.
Vāyudeva delivers a philosophical instruction using an extended metaphor: the body is a tree whose components are ignorance, intellect, ego, senses, and elements; its leaves, flowers, and fruits are intentions, actions, and their karmic results. He concludes that knowledge severs this tree and grants freedom from saṁsāra.