About the Inverted Tree The ancient Indian philosophy equated trees with brahman. In Katha upanishad we get the famous saying: ‘ there is the ancient tree, whose roots grow upward and whose branches grow downward- that indeed is called the bright, that is called brahman, that alone is called immortal. All the worlds are contained in it and no one goes beyond. That is that’” “This concept of the inverted tree has been interpreted variously by later commentators. Some interpret that the tree is the world and the roots Brahman. Obviously the inverted tree is a symbol to depict the exalted position of the Brahman, from which the manifest beings originated and to which they are attached. The inverted tree is also a symbol of unity in diversity, which characterizes the Upanishad concept of Reality. Brahman is non-dual (in the form of root), while the manifest world (and the life forms ) is enmeshed in diversity as exemplified by the branches, leaves, flowers, fruits that occur in diverse stages of development. A tree is the best example to express this concept, of unity in diversity ― a tree that originated from a single seed, the very essence of a tree’s life, and then develops into gigantic proportion with all the diversities attached to it. The tree also stands for constancy in change, branches, twigs, leaves, flowers and fruits come and go (like the manifest beings), but the root and the trunk remain constant beyond the memory and span of one’s life (hence compared to Brahman)”. ( The picture of the inverted tree is a mural style painting by Dr M. Shylaja)