Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 15: The Supreme Person

Bhagavad Gita 15.2

adhaścordhvaṃ prasṛtāstasya śākhā guṇapravṛddhā viṣayapravālāḥ | adhaśca mūlānyanusantatāni karmānubandhīni manuṣyaloke ||

Its branches spread both downward and upward, nourished by the qualities of nature, with the objects of the senses as their buds. Its roots stretch downward too, binding people to action in the human world.

Modern context

The branches grow in every direction, fed by the gunas, with sense objects as their buds. And there are secondary roots that grow downward into the human world, binding people to action. Think of a banyan, whose branches drop roots into the ground until they become trunks themselves. Our desires do the same: each one sends down a root that ties us more firmly to the world.