In Bhagavad-gītā Lord Kṛṣṇa compares the material world to a tree of illusion from which one must cut oneself free:
- na rūpam asyeha tathopalabhyate
- nānto na cādir na ca sampratiṣṭhā
- aśvattham enaṁ suvirūḍha-mūlam
- asaṅga-śastreṇa dṛḍhena chittvā
- tataḥ padaṁ tat parimārgitavyaṁ
- yasmin gatā na nivartanti bhūyaḥ
- tam eva cādyaṁ puruṣaṁ prapadye
- yataḥ pravṛttiḥ prasṛtā purāṇī
"The real form of this tree cannot be perceived in this world. No one can understand where it ends, where it begins, or where its foundation is. But with determination, one must cut down this tree with the weapon of detachment. So doing, one must seek that place from which, having once gone, one never returns, and there surrender to that Supreme Personality of Godhead from whom everything has begun and in whom everything is abiding since time immemorial." (BG 15.3-4)