The tree in the emblem of Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth represents the aśvatha, described in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad as having its roots above and its branches below.
The roots are in the transcendent Awareness, “the Eye” of God who is also immanent in the universe. Its branches overhang the meditating figure of the person seeking Brahma-vidyā, the knowledge of God, on which all creation depends for its life.
This symbolism thus tries to link the human person, the subject that contemplates, and the universe, the objective reality, with God who is realized, beyond the subjective-objective experience, as the sources of all that exists.
All the components of the emblem merge at the summit in the cross of Christ which, as the linchpin of time and eternity, interlocks the human and the divine.
