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Isha Upanishad: Text, Translation and Meaning

The Isha Upanishad is one of the shortest of the principal Upanishads: 18 verses that close the Vajasaneyi Samhita, the "white" Yajurveda, as its fortieth chapter. It takes its name from its first word, īśā, "by the Lord", and is also called the Ishavasya Upanishad, from its first two words.

Sanskrit Shukla Yajurveda, Vajasaneyi Samhita, chapter 40; by Hindu tradition part of the revealed Veda (shruti), with no human author named

Also spelled: Ishavasya Upanishad, Isopanisad.

Text and meaning, verse by verse

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Verse 1

ईशावास्यमिदं सर्वं यत्किञ्च जगत्यां जगत् ।
तेन त्यक्तेन भुञ्जीथा मा गृधः कस्यस्विद्धनम् ॥

Ishavasyamidam sarvam yatkincha jagatyam jagat
Tena tyaktena bhunjitha ma gridhah kasyasviddhanam

IAST

īśāvāsyamidaṃ sarvaṃ yatkiñca jagatyāṃ jagat |
tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā mā gṛdhaḥ kasyasviddhanam ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

ENThe verse says that all this, everything that moves in this moving world, is to be covered by the Lord (īśa), or dwelt in by him. With that renounced, or with what he leaves for you, you may enjoy. Do not covet anyone's wealth, for whose is wealth? The verse gives the Upanishad its two names, Isha and Ishavasya.

हिमंत्र कहता है कि इस चलते-फिरते जगत में जो कुछ भी है, वह सब ईश्वर (ईश) से ढका है, यानी उसी से बसा हुआ है। उसे त्याग कर, या जो वह दे उसी से, जीवन का भोग करो। किसी के धन का लालच मत करो, क्योंकि धन किसका है? इसी मंत्र से उपनिषद को उसके दो नाम मिले हैं: ईश और ईशावास्य।

Word by word

  1. ईशा īśā · by the Lord (noun (masculine), instrumental singular) Dictionary: 2. īś, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 171, col. 1 “master, lord, the supreme spirit”
  2. वास्यम् vāsyam · to be covered, or dwelt in (gerundive, neuter nominative singular) Dictionary: 1. vāsya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 947, col. 2 “to be (or being) covered or enveloped”
  3. इदम् idam · this (pronoun, neuter nominative singular) Dictionary: 1. idam, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 165, col. 2 “this, this here, referring to something near the speaker”
  4. सर्वम् sarvam · all (adjective, neuter nominative singular) Dictionary: sarva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1184, col. 3 “whole, entire, all, every”
  5. यत् yat · whatever (relative pronoun, neuter nominative singular) Dictionary: yad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 844, col. 2 “who, which, what, whichever, whatever, that”
  6. किम् kim · (with ca) at all (pronoun, neuter nominative singular) Dictionary: kim, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 282, col. 2 “what? how? whence? wherefore? why?”
  7. च ca · and; here: at all (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. ca, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 380, col. 1 “and, both, also, moreover, as well as”
  8. जगत्याम् jagatyām · in the world (noun (feminine), locative singular) Dictionary: jagatī, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 408, col. 1 “the earth”
  9. जगत् jagat · moving thing (noun (neuter), nominative singular) Dictionary: jagat, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 408, col. 1 “moving, movable, locomotive, living”
  10. तेन tena · by that, with that (pronoun, instrumental singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
  11. त्यक्तेन tyaktena · renounced, given up (past participle, instrumental singular) Dictionary: tyakta, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 456, col. 3 “left, abandoned”
  12. भुञ्जीथाः bhuñjīthāḥ · you may enjoy (optative, 2nd person singular) Dictionary: 3. bhuj, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 759, col. 2 “to enjoy, use, possess”
  13. मा mā · do not (indeclinable) Dictionary: 1. mā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 804, col. 1 “a particle of prohibition or negation”
  14. गृधः gṛdhaḥ · covet (aorist (injunctive with mā), 2nd person singular) Dictionary: gṛdh, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 361, col. 2 “to covet, desire, strive after greedily”
  15. कस्य kasya · of anyone; or: whose? (pronoun, genitive singular) Dictionary: 2. ka, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 240, col. 2 “who? which? what?”
  16. स्वित् svit · (particle of question or doubt) (indeclinable) Dictionary: 1. svid, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1284, col. 3 “a particle of interrogation or inquiry or doubt”
  17. धनम् dhanam · wealth (noun (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: dhana, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 508, col. 2 “wealth, riches, (movable) property, money, treasure”

Explanation written for this site and checked against the cited edition. Free to quote with credit.

Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.

  • The printed edition reads: ईशावास्यमिदं सर्व्वं यत्किञ्च जगत्यां जगत् ।
    तेन त्यक्तेन भुञ्जीथा मा गृधः कस्यस्विद्धनम् ॥     The doubled consonant after r is written single: सर्व्वं → सर्वं. The printing writes the Vedic anusvara sign ꣳ in इदꣳ; it is shown as ं here and in editionReading. The printed verse number between the closing dandas is left out (॥ १ ॥ → ॥).
  • Verse division The 1850 Calcutta printing reads: कस्य स्विद्धनं Same words: Roer prints a space after कस्य and ends with anusvara. Base: कस्यस्विद्धनम्.
  • Verse division The 1925 Bombay printing reads: कस्य स्विद्धनम् Same words, with a space after कस्य (leaf n10). Base: कस्यस्विद्धनम्.

By the Lord (īśā) enveloped must this all be— Whatever moving thing there is in the moving world. With this renounced, thou mayest enjoy. Covet not the wealth of any one at all.

English translation: Robert Ernest Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads (London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921); public domain. archive.org (page 362, scan leaf n381). Shown verbatim.

All this, whatsoever moves on earth, is to be hidden in the Lord (the Self). When thou hast surrendered all this, then thou mayest enjoy. Do not covet the wealth of any man!

English translation: F. Max Müller, The Upanishads, Part I (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. I, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879); public domain. archive.org (page 311, scan leaf n424). Shown verbatim.

Shankara Advaita

Shankara reads "covered" as covering the world with the thought of the Lord, who is one's own inmost Self, as a sweet scent covers a bad smell. The world of names and forms is then given up as unreal. The verse is for the one who renounces, and "covet not" means to give up the wish for any wealth at all.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Shankara's rendering and commentary on verse 1, pp. 3–5 (leaves n13–n15). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Anantacharya Vaishnava (theistic)

Ananta (Anantacharya) reads the verse as saying that the Lord dwells in all this world, and that he makes, keeps and rules it; "vāsyam" may come from vas, "to dwell", or from vas, "to cover". The words then say: enjoy what the Lord has given you, as your deeds have earned it, and do not want more, because all wealth belongs to the Lord. The aim is freedom from desire, from knowing that God is the one giver.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Ananta's rendering and commentary on verse 1, pp. 3 and 5–6 (leaves n13, n15–n16). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Verse 2

कुर्वन्नेवेह कर्माणि जिजीविषेच्छतं समाः ।
एवं त्वयि नान्यथेतोऽस्ति न कर्म लिप्यते नरे ॥

Kurvanneveha karmani jijivishechchhatam samah
Evam tvayi nanyathetosti na karma lipyate nare

IAST

kurvanneveha karmāṇi jijīviṣecchataṃ samāḥ |
evaṃ tvayi nānyatheto’sti na karma lipyate nare ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

ENThe verse says that a person may wish to live a hundred years here while doing their work. For one who lives in this way there is no other path, and the deeds do not cling to the person. Readers differ on who "this way" means, the one who has given up all or the one still doing duties; see the views.

हिमंत्र कहता है कि मनुष्य यहाँ कर्म करते हुए ही सौ वर्ष जीने की इच्छा करे। ऐसे जीने वाले के लिए इसके सिवा कोई और रास्ता नहीं है, और कर्म उससे चिपकते नहीं। "ऐसे" से किसकी बात है, सब त्यागने वाले की या कर्तव्य करते रहने वाले की, इस पर व्याख्याकार अलग-अलग मत रखते हैं।

Word by word

  1. कुर्वन् kurvan · doing (present participle, masculine nominative singular) Dictionary: 1. kṛ, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 301, col. 1 “to do, make, perform, accomplish, cause, effect, prepare, undertake”
  2. एव eva · only, indeed (indeclinable) Dictionary: 1. eva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 232, col. 2 “just, exactly, very, same, only, even, alone, merely”
  3. इह iha · here, in this world (indeclinable) Dictionary: iha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 169, col. 3 “in this place, here”
  4. कर्माणि karmāṇi · deeds, works (noun (neuter), accusative plural) Dictionary: karman, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 258, col. 2 “act, action, performance, business”
  5. जिजीविषेत् jijīviṣet · one may wish to live (desiderative, optative, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: jīv, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 422, col. 2 “to wish to live”
  6. शतम् śatam · a hundred (numeral, accusative singular) Dictionary: śata, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1048, col. 3 “a hundred”
  7. समाः samāḥ · years (noun (feminine), accusative plural) Dictionary: samā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1153, col. 2 “a year”
  8. एवम् evam · thus, in this way (indeclinable) Dictionary: evam, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 232, col. 2 “thus, in this way, in such a manner”
  9. त्वयि tvayi · in you, for you (pronoun (2nd person), locative singular) Dictionary: 2. tva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 463, col. 2 “base of the 2nd personal pron.”
  10. न na · not (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. na, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 523, col. 1 “not, no, nor, neither”
  11. अन्यथा anyathā · otherwise (indeclinable) Dictionary: anya-thā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 45, col. 3 “otherwise, in a different manner”
  12. इतः itaḥ · than this (indeclinable) Dictionary: i-tas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 165, col. 1 “from hence, hence, here”
  13. अस्ति asti · is (present, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: 1. as, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 117, col. 2 “to be, live, exist, be present”
  14. न na · not (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. na, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 523, col. 1 “not, no, nor, neither”
  15. कर्म karma · deed, action (noun (neuter), nominative singular) Dictionary: karman, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 258, col. 2 “act, action, performance, business”
  16. लिप्यते lipyate · clings, sticks (passive present, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: lip, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 902, col. 2 “to be attached to (loc.), stick, adhere”
  17. नरे nare · to the person (noun (masculine), locative singular) Dictionary: nara, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 528, col. 3 “a man, a male, a person”

Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.

  • The printed edition reads: कुर्व्वन्नेवेह कर्म्माणि जिजीविषेच्छतं समाः ।
    एवं त्वयि नान्यथेतोऽस्ति न कर्म्म लिप्यते नरे ॥     The doubled consonant after r is written single: कुर्व्वन् → कुर्वन्, कर्म्माणि → कर्माणि, कर्म्म → कर्म. The Vedic anusvara sign ꣳ in शतꣳ is shown as ं. The printed verse number is left out.

Even while doing deeds here, One may desire to live a hundred years. Thus on thee—not otherwise than this is it— The deed (karman) adheres not on the man.

English translation: Robert Ernest Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads (London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921); public domain. archive.org (page 362, scan leaf n381). Shown verbatim.

Though a man may wish to live a hundred years, performing works, it will be thus with him; but not in any other way: work will thus not cling to a man.

English translation: F. Max Müller, The Upanishads, Part I (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. I, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879); public domain. archive.org (page 311, scan leaf n424). Shown verbatim.

Shankara Advaita

Shankara says verse 1 teaches the path of knowledge for the renunciant, and verse 2 teaches the path of works for one who cannot yet renounce. Such a person should do the prescribed rites, such as the daily fire offering, all through life. For that person there is no other way to keep free of the stain of bad deeds.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Shankara's rendering and commentary on verse 2, pp. 6–8 (leaves n16–n18). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Anantacharya Vaishnava (theistic)

Ananta reads the verse as being for everyone who seeks freedom, not only for the one who cannot renounce. Do the duties the scriptures lay down, without wanting their reward, for the whole of life, and never give them up. Such work, done for the Lord and offered to him, does not bind; it makes the heart pure, and in his reading there is no other way to freedom (mukti).

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Ananta's rendering and commentary on verse 2, pp. 6 and 8–9 (leaves n16, n18–n19). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Verse 3

असुर्या नाम ते लोका अन्धेन तमसाऽऽवृताः ।
तांस्ते प्रेत्याभिगच्छन्ति ये के चात्महनो जनाः ॥

Asurya nama te loka andhena tamasavritah
Tanste pretyabhigachchhanti ye ke chatmahano janah

IAST

asuryā nāma te lokā andhena tamasā’’vṛtāḥ |
tāṃste pretyābhigacchanti ye ke cātmahano janāḥ ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

ENThe verse speaks of worlds called asurya, "of the asuras" (another reading, asūrya, means "sunless"), covered in blind darkness. After death, it says, those who "kill the Self" go to them. Hume (p. 362 n. 4) calls "slayer of the Self" a metaphor, like "smother" or "stifle", and Müller explains it as those who act without knowing the true Self. The phrase is read as an image for losing sight of the Self, not as a teaching about suicide.

हिमंत्र असुर्य नाम के लोकों की बात करता है, यानी "असुरों के" लोक (एक और पाठ, असूर्य, का अर्थ है "सूर्य रहित"), जो घने अंधकार से ढके हैं। मंत्र कहता है कि जो लोग "आत्मा का हनन" करते हैं, वे मरने के बाद उन्हीं लोकों में जाते हैं। ह्यूम "आत्मा का हनन" को एक रूपक कहते हैं, जैसे किसी चीज़ को "दबा देना", और मूलर के अनुसार इसका अर्थ है वे लोग जो सच्चे आत्मा को जाने बिना कर्म करते हैं। इस शब्द को आत्मा को भूल जाने का रूपक माना जाता है, आत्महत्या की शिक्षा नहीं।

Word by word

  1. असुर्याः asuryāḥ · of the asuras, demonic (adjective, masculine nominative plural) Dictionary: 1. asurya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 121, col. 2 “demoniacal, belonging or relating to the Asuras”; a-sūrya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 121, col. 3 “sunless”
  2. नाम nāma · by name, called (indeclinable) Dictionary: 1. nāma, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 536, col. 1 “by name i.e. named, called”
  3. ते te · those (pronoun, masculine nominative plural) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
  4. लोकाः lokāḥ · worlds (noun (masculine), nominative plural) Dictionary: loka, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 906, col. 1 “the wide space or world”
  5. अन्धेन andhena · blind, blinding (adjective, instrumental singular) Dictionary: andha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 44, col. 3 “blind”
  6. तमसा tamasā · by darkness (noun (neuter), instrumental singular) Dictionary: tamas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 438, col. 1 “darkness, gloom”
  7. आवृताः āvṛtāḥ · covered (past participle, masculine nominative plural) Dictionary: ā-vṛta, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 156, col. 1 “covered, concealed, hid”
  8. तान् tān · to them (pronoun, masculine accusative plural) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
  9. ते te · they (pronoun, masculine nominative plural) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
  10. प्रेत्य pretya · after death, having departed (indeclinable) Dictionary: pretya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 712, col. 1 “having died, after death, in the next world”
  11. अभिगच्छन्ति abhigacchanti · go to (present, 3rd person plural) Dictionary: abhi-gam, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 61, col. 3 “to go near to, approach”
  12. ये ye · who (relative pronoun, masculine nominative plural) Dictionary: yad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 844, col. 2 “who, which, what, whichever, whatever, that”
  13. के ke · (with ca) whoever (pronoun, masculine nominative plural) Dictionary: 2. ka, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 240, col. 2 “who? which? what?”
  14. च ca · and; here: -ever (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. ca, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 380, col. 1 “and, both, also, moreover, as well as”
  15. आत्महनः ātmahanaḥ · slayers of the Self (compound, masculine nominative plural) Dictionary: ātma-han, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 135, col. 3 “one who kills his soul”
  16. जनाः janāḥ · people (noun (masculine), nominative plural) Dictionary: jana, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 410, col. 1 “creature, living being, man, person, race”

Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.

  • The printed edition reads: असूर्य्या नाम ते लोका अन्धेन तमसाऽऽवृताः ।
    तां स्ते प्रेत्याभिगच्छन्ति ये के चात्महनो जनाः ॥     The base prints असूर्य्या (long ū, y doubled after r). The display follows today's common wording असुर्या, which the 1925 printing also has (decision 14); the printed word is logged as a variant. The Vedic anusvara sign ꣳ in ताꣳस्ते is shown as ं, and the space the printing leaves after the sign is closed (तांस्ते). The printed verse number is left out.
  • Word The 1893 Bombay printing reads: असूर्य्या Leaf n8, read on the page image; Roer 1850 the same. Long ū: a-sūrya, 'sunless', the reading Müller prefers (p. 311 n. 1); Hume (p. 362 n. 2) calls it a variant.

Devilish (asurya1) are those worlds called,2 With blind darkness (tamas) covered o’er! Unto them, on deceasing, go Whatever folk are slayers3 of the Self.4

  1. Compare the persons called ‘devilish,’ āsura, at Chānd. 8. 8. 5. A variant reading here (accordant with a literalism interpreted in the following line) is a-sūrya, ‘sunless.’ ↩
  2. The word nāma here might mean ‘certainly’ instead of ‘called.’ ↩
  3. This idea is in sharp contrast with the doctrine of Kaṭha 2. 19 d (and BhG. 2. 19), where it is stated that ‘he [i.e. the Self] slays not, is not slain.’ The word ātma-han here, of course, is metaphorical, like ‘smother,’ ‘stifle,’ ‘completely suppress.’ ↩
  4. The whole stanza is a variation of Bṛih. 4. 4. 11. ↩
English translation: Robert Ernest Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads (London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921); public domain. archive.org (page 362, scan leaf n381). Shown verbatim.

There are the worlds of the Asuras1 covered with blind darkness. Those who have destroyed their self (who perform works, without having arrived at a knowledge of the true Self), go after death to those worlds.

  1. Asuryầ, Vâg. Samhitâ; asûryâ, Upan. Asuryà in the Upanishads in the sense of belonging to the Asuras, i. e. gods, is exceptional. I should prefer asûryá, sunless, as we find asûryé támasi in the Rig-veda, V, 32, 6. ↩
English translation: F. Max Müller, The Upanishads, Part I (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. I, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879); public domain. archive.org (page 311, scan leaf n424). Shown verbatim.

Shankara Advaita

Shankara says that even the gods are "asuras" in this sense when they have not known the one Self. The "killers of the Self" are the ignorant, who hide the ever-present Self from themselves. Their lot is to be born again and again in states of darkness.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Shankara's rendering and commentary on verse 3, pp. 9–11 (leaves n19–n21). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Anantacharya Vaishnava (theistic)

Ananta reads "the slayers of the Self" as those who do rites only to gain sons, wealth or heaven, and so keep the Self tied to birth and death. "Asurya" worlds belong to those who delight only in bodily life (asu). Such people, not knowing the Self, are born again and again. The way out, in his reading, is to worship God by doing one's duties, to be made pure by his grace, and so to grow free of desire and know the Self.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Ananta's rendering and commentary on verse 3, pp. 10–12 (leaves n20–n22). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Verse 4

अनेजदेकम्मनसो जवीयो नैनद्देवा आप्नुवन् पूर्वमर्षत् ।
तद्धावतोऽन्यानत्येति तिष्ठत्तस्मिन्नपो मातरिश्वा दधाति ॥

Anejadekammanaso javiyo nainaddeva apnuvan purvamarshat
Taddhavatonyanatyeti tishthattasminnapo matarishva dadhati

IAST

anejadekammanaso javīyo nainaddevā āpnuvan pūrvamarṣat |
taddhāvato’nyānatyeti tiṣṭhattasminnapo mātariśvā dadhāti ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

ENThe verse describes the One in pairs that seem to clash. It does not move, yet it is faster than the mind. The senses (devas) cannot catch it, for it is always ahead of them. Standing still, it passes those who run. In it Matarishvan, the wind or life-breath, sets the waters, which the commentators take as all action.

हिमंत्र उस एक तत्व का वर्णन ऐसे जोड़ों में करता है जो आपस में उलटे लगते हैं। वह हिलता नहीं, फिर भी मन से तेज़ है। इंद्रियाँ (देव) उसे पकड़ नहीं पातीं, क्योंकि वह सदा उनसे आगे है। खड़ा रहकर भी वह दौड़ने वालों से आगे निकल जाता है। उसी में मातरिश्वा, यानी वायु या प्राण, "अपः" (जल) को रखता है, जिसे टीकाकार सारे कर्म मानते हैं।

Word by word

  1. अनेजत् anejat · unmoving (present participle (negative), neuter nominative singular) Dictionary: an-ejat, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 42, col. 2 “not moving, immovable”
  2. एकम् ekam · one (adjective, neuter nominative singular) Dictionary: eka, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 227, col. 3 “alone, solitary, single”
  3. मनसः manasaḥ · than the mind (noun (neuter), ablative singular) Dictionary: manas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 783, col. 3 “mind (in its widest sense as applied to all the mental powers)”
  4. जवीयः javīyaḥ · swifter (comparative adjective, neuter nominative singular) Dictionary: javīyas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 416, col. 2 “quicker”
  5. न na · not (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. na, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 523, col. 1 “not, no, nor, neither”
  6. एनत् enat · it (pronoun, neuter accusative singular) Dictionary: 1. ena, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 232, col. 1 “this, that”
  7. देवाः devāḥ · the senses; literally: the gods (noun (masculine), nominative plural) Dictionary: deva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 492, col. 2 “a deity, god”
  8. आप्नुवन् āpnuvan · reached, overtook (imperfect, 3rd person plural) Dictionary: 1. āp, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 142, col. 1 “to reach, overtake, meet with, fall upon”
  9. पूर्वम् pūrvam · before, ahead (indeclinable) Dictionary: pūrva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 643, col. 1 “formerly, hitherto, previously”
  10. अर्षत् arṣat · moving fast (present participle, neuter nominative singular) Dictionary: 1. ṛṣ, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 226, col. 3 “to flow, flow quickly, glide, move with a quick motion”
  11. तत् tat · that (pronoun, neuter nominative singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
  12. धावतः dhāvataḥ · running (present participle, masculine accusative plural) Dictionary: 1. dhāv, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 516, col. 1 “to run, flow, stream, move, glide, swim”
  13. अन्यान् anyān · others (pronoun, masculine accusative plural) Dictionary: 2. anya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 45, col. 2 “other, different”
  14. अत्येति atyeti · passes beyond, outruns (present, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: atī, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 16, col. 2 “to overcome, overtake, outdo”
  15. तिष्ठत् tiṣṭhat · standing still (present participle, neuter nominative singular) Dictionary: 1. sthā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1262, col. 2 “to stand, stand firmly, station one's self”
  16. तस्मिन् tasmin · in it (pronoun, locative singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
  17. अपः apaḥ · actions; or: waters (noun (feminine), accusative plural) Dictionary: 2. ap, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 47, col. 3 “water”; 1. ap, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 47, col. 3 “work (according to NBD.)”
  18. मातरिश्वा mātariśvā · Matarishvan, the wind (noun (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: mātari-śvan, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 807, col. 2 “N. of Agni or of a divine being closely connected with him”
  19. दधाति dadhāti · places, supports (present, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: 1. dhā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 513, col. 3 “to put, place, set, lay in or on”

Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.

  • The printed edition reads: अनेजदेकम्मनसो जवीयो नैनद्देवा आप्नुवन् पूर्व्वमर्षत् ।
    तद्धावतोऽन्यानत्येति तिष्ठत्तस्मिन्नपो मातरिश्वा दधाति     The doubled consonant after r is written single: पूर्व्वम् → पूर्वम्. The printing ends the verse with the number ४ and no dandas; the closing double danda is supplied (॥), as on every other verse.

Unmoving, the One (ekam) is swifter than the mind. The sense-powers (deva) reached not It, speeding on before. Past others running, This goes standing. In It Mātariśvan places action.1

  1. So Com. But apas may refer, cosmogonically, to ‘the [primeval] waters.’ ↩
English translation: Robert Ernest Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads (London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921); public domain. archive.org (page 362, scan leaf n381). Shown verbatim.

That one (the Self), though never stirring, is swifter than thought. The Devas (senses) never reached it, it walked1 before them. Though standing still, it overtakes the others who are running. Mâtarisvan (the wind, the moving spirit) bestows powers2 on it.

  1. Pûrvam arsat, Vâg. Samh.; pûrvam arshat, Upan. Mahîdhara suggests also arsat as a contraction of a-risat, not perishing. ↩
  2. Apas is explained by karmâni, acts, in which case it would be meant for ápas, opus. But the Vâg. Samhitâ accentuates apás, i.e. aquas, and Ânandagiri explains that water stands for acts, because most sacrificial acts are performed with water. ↩
English translation: F. Max Müller, The Upanishads, Part I (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. I, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879); public domain. archive.org (page 311–312, scan leaf n424). Shown verbatim.

Shankara Advaita

Shankara says the Self never changes and is one in all beings. It seems to move only because the mind and senses move. Matarishvan is the wind that holds up the world, the cosmic life-breath, and "the waters" are all the actions of living beings, which happen only because the Self is there.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Shankara's rendering and commentary on verse 4, pp. 12–15 (leaves n22–n25). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Anantacharya Vaishnava (theistic)

Ananta reads the verse as a description of God. "Anejat" means "unshaking", that is, fearless, not "unmoving", which would clash with "swifter than the mind". God is one: none is equal to him or above him. He is swifter than the mind because the mind cannot reach him, and gods such as Brahmā do not know him fully. He is the first cause, he is knowledge, and the wind (Vāyu) does all its work resting in him.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Ananta's rendering and commentary on verse 4, pp. 12 and 14–16 (leaves n22, n24–n26). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Verse 5

तदेजति तन्नैजति तद्दूरे तद्वन्तिके ।
तदन्तरस्य सर्वस्य तदु सर्वस्यास्य बाह्यतः ॥

Tadejati tannaijati taddure tadvantike
Tadantarasya sarvasya tadu sarvasyasya bahyatah

IAST

tadejati tannaijati taddūre tadvantike |
tadantarasya sarvasya tadu sarvasyāsya bāhyataḥ ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

ENThe verse says that It moves and It does not move. It is far away and also near. It is inside all this, and It is outside all this. The Bhagavad Gita repeats the same ideas in 13.15.

हिमंत्र कहता है कि वह चलता है और नहीं भी चलता। वह दूर है और पास भी। वह इस सबके भीतर है, और इस सबके बाहर भी है। भगवद्गीता (13.15) में भी यही बात आती है।

Word by word

  1. तत् tat · that (pronoun, neuter nominative singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
  2. एजति ejati · moves (present, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: ej, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 231, col. 1 “to stir, move, tremble, shake”
  3. तत् tat · that (pronoun, neuter nominative singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
  4. न na · not (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. na, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 523, col. 1 “not, no, nor, neither”
  5. एजति ejati · moves (present, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: ej, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 231, col. 1 “to stir, move, tremble, shake”
  6. तत् tat · that (pronoun, neuter nominative singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
  7. दूरे dūre · far away (adjective, locative singular (as adverb)) Dictionary: dūra, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 489, col. 2 “distant, far, remote”
  8. तत् tat · that (pronoun, neuter nominative singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
  9. उ u · and, also (indeclinable) Dictionary: 3. u, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 171, col. 3 “and, also, further; on the other hand”
  10. अन्तिके antike · near (adjective, locative singular (as adverb)) Dictionary: 1. antika, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 44, col. 2 “near, proximate”
  11. तत् tat · that (pronoun, neuter nominative singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
  12. अन्तः antaḥ · within (indeclinable) Dictionary: antar, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 43, col. 2 “within, between, amongst, in the middle or interior”
  13. अस्य asya · of this (pronoun, genitive singular) Dictionary: 1. idam, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 165, col. 2 “this, this here, referring to something near the speaker”
  14. सर्वस्य sarvasya · of all (adjective, genitive singular) Dictionary: sarva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1184, col. 3 “whole, entire, all, every”
  15. तत् tat · that (pronoun, neuter nominative singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
  16. उ u · also (indeclinable) Dictionary: 3. u, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 171, col. 3 “and, also, further; on the other hand”
  17. सर्वस्य sarvasya · of all (adjective, genitive singular) Dictionary: sarva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1184, col. 3 “whole, entire, all, every”
  18. अस्य asya · of this (pronoun, genitive singular) Dictionary: 1. idam, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 165, col. 2 “this, this here, referring to something near the speaker”
  19. बाह्यतः bāhyataḥ · outside (indeclinable) Dictionary: bāhya-tas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 731, col. 1 “outside, externally, on the outside of”

Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.

  • The printed edition reads: तदेजति तन्नैजति तद्दूरे तद्वदन्तिके ।
    तदन्तरस्य सर्व्वस्य तदु सर्व्वस्यास्य बाह्यतः ॥     The doubled consonant after r is written single: सर्व्वस्य → सर्वस्य (twice). The printed verse number is left out.
  • Word The 1893 Bombay printing reads: तद्वदन्तिके Leaf n8, read on the page image; Roer 1850 the same. tadvad antike, 'and likewise near'; Müller (p. 312 n. 1) gives tad v antike for the Vajasaneyi Samhita and tadvad antike for the Upanishad.

It moves. It moves not. It is far, and It is near. It is within all this, And It is outside of all this.1

  1. The very same ideas as in this stanza, though not all the same words, recur at BhG. 13. 15 a, b, d. ↩
English translation: Robert Ernest Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads (London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921); public domain. archive.org (page 363, scan leaf n382). Shown verbatim.

It stirs and it stirs not; it is far, and likewise near1. It is inside of all this, and it is outside of all this.

  1. Tad v antike, Vâg. Samh.; tadvad antike, Upan. ↩
English translation: F. Max Müller, The Upanishads, Part I (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. I, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879); public domain. archive.org (page 312, scan leaf n425). Shown verbatim.

Shankara Advaita

Shankara says the Self does not move in itself but seems to move. It is far from the unwise, who do not reach it even in tens of millions of years, and near to the wise, as their own Self. It is inside everything, and like space it is also outside everything.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Shankara's commentary on verse 5, pp. 17–18 (leaves n27–n28). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Anantacharya Vaishnava (theistic)

Ananta takes "it moves" in a causative sense: God makes the wrongdoers tremble and does not make the good tremble. He is far from those who do not know him and near to the wise, in whose hearts he shines. He also gives a second reading: God is here described in his works. As living beings he moves; as mountains he does not move; he is far as the sun and stars, near as the earth, within all as the inner ruler (antaryāmin) and outside all as space.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Ananta's rendering and commentary on verse 5, pp. 16–18 (leaves n26–n28). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Verse 6

यस्तु सर्वाणि भूतान्यात्मन्येवानुपश्यति ।
सर्वभूतेषु चात्मानं ततो न विजुगुप्सते ॥

Yastu sarvani bhutanyatmanyevanupashyati
Sarvabhuteshu chatmanam tato na vijugupsate

IAST

yastu sarvāṇi bhūtānyātmanyevānupaśyati |
sarvabhūteṣu cātmānaṃ tato na vijugupsate ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

ENThe verse says that a person who sees all beings in the Self, and the Self in all beings, does not turn away from anyone or shrink from anything. Krishna says much the same in the Bhagavad Gita (6.29), and at 6.30 he says it of himself.

हिमंत्र कहता है कि जो व्यक्ति सब प्राणियों को आत्मा में और आत्मा को सब प्राणियों में देखता है, वह किसी से घृणा नहीं करता, किसी से मुँह नहीं मोड़ता। भगवद्गीता (6.29) में कृष्ण भी लगभग यही कहते हैं, और 6.30 में वे यही बात अपने बारे में कहते हैं।

Word by word

  1. यः yaḥ · who (relative pronoun, masculine nominative singular) Dictionary: yad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 844, col. 2 “who, which, what, whichever, whatever, that”
  2. तु tu · but (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. tu, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 449, col. 3 “but”
  3. सर्वाणि sarvāṇi · all (adjective, neuter accusative plural) Dictionary: sarva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1184, col. 3 “whole, entire, all, every”
  4. भूतानि bhūtāni · beings (noun (neuter), accusative plural) Dictionary: bhūta, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 761, col. 3 “that which is or exists, any living being”
  5. आत्मनि ātmani · in the Self (noun (masculine), locative singular) Dictionary: ātman, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 135, col. 1 “the individual soul, self, abstract individual”
  6. एव eva · indeed, just (indeclinable) Dictionary: 1. eva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 232, col. 2 “just, exactly, very, same, only, even, alone, merely”
  7. अनुपश्यति anupaśyati · sees, perceives (present, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: anu-paś, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 35, col. 1 “to look at, perceive, notice, discover”
  8. सर्वभूतेषु sarvabhūteṣu · in all beings (compound, neuter locative plural) Dictionary: sarva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1184, col. 3 “whole, entire, all, every”; bhūta, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 761, col. 3 “that which is or exists, any living being”
  9. च ca · and (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. ca, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 380, col. 1 “and, both, also, moreover, as well as”
  10. आत्मानम् ātmānam · the Self (noun (masculine), accusative singular) Dictionary: ātman, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 135, col. 1 “the individual soul, self, abstract individual”
  11. ततः tataḥ · then, because of that (indeclinable) Dictionary: tatas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 432, col. 2 “thereupon, then, after that, afterwards”
  12. न na · not (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. na, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 523, col. 1 “not, no, nor, neither”
  13. विजुगुप्सते vijugupsate · shrinks away, dislikes (desiderative, present, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: 2. gup, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 358, col. 3 “to beware of, shun, avoid, detest, spurn, despise”

Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.

  • The printed edition reads: यस्तु सर्व्वाणि भूतान्यात्मन्येवानुपश्यति ।
    सर्व्वभूतेषु चात्मानं ततो न विजुगुप्सते ॥     The doubled consonant after r is written single: सर्व्वाणि → सर्वाणि, सर्व्वभूतेषु → सर्वभूतेषु. The printed verse number is left out.

Now, he who on all beings Looks as just (eva) in the Self (Ātman), And on the Self as in all beings—1 He does not shrink away from Him.2

  1. This universal presence is claimed by Kṛishṇa for himself at BhG. 6. 30 a, b. ↩
  2. The indefinite word tatas may mean ‘from these beings,’ or ‘from this Self,’ or ‘from this time on,’ or pregnantly all these.—The whole line recurs at Bṛih. 4. 4. 15 d; Kaṭha 4. 5 d; 4. 12 d. ↩
English translation: Robert Ernest Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads (London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921); public domain. archive.org (page 363, scan leaf n382). Shown verbatim.

And he who beholds all beings in the Self, and the Self in all beings, he never turns away from it1.

  1. Vikikitsati, Vâg. Samh.; vigugupsate, Upan. ↩
English translation: F. Max Müller, The Upanishads, Part I (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. I, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879); public domain. archive.org (page 312, scan leaf n425). Shown verbatim.

Shankara Advaita

Shankara says such a person sees nothing apart from the Self, from the subtlest unmanifest down to the grossest lifeless matter. All dislike comes from seeing something as separate from oneself. When nothing is separate, there is nothing left to hate.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Shankara's rendering and commentary on verse 6, pp. 18–19 (leaves n28–n29). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Anantacharya Vaishnava (theistic)

Ananta says the verse teaches how to worship: the one who knows that all beings live in God alone, and who sees God in all beings, does not come to a state of shame (jugupsā) but is set free. He reads it as saying the same as Krishna in the Gita (6.30).

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Ananta's rendering and commentary on verse 6, pp. 19–20 (leaves n29–n30). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Verse 7

यस्मिन् सर्वाणि भूतान्यात्मैवाभूद्विजानतः ।
तत्र को मोहः कः शोक एकत्वमनुपश्यतः ॥

Yasmin sarvani bhutanyatmaivabhudvijanatah
Tatra ko mohah kah shoka ekatvamanupashyatah

IAST

yasmin sarvāṇi bhūtānyātmaivābhūdvijānataḥ |
tatra ko mohaḥ kaḥ śoka ekatvamanupaśyataḥ ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

ENThe verse asks a question. When, for one who truly knows, all beings have become the Self, what delusion or grief can there be for the one who sees that oneness? The question form says that none is left.

हिमंत्र एक प्रश्न पूछता है। जब सच्चे ज्ञानी के लिए सब प्राणी आत्मा ही हो गए हों, तो उस एकता को देखने वाले के लिए कैसा मोह और कैसा शोक? प्रश्न के रूप में यह कहा गया है कि तब कोई मोह या शोक बचता ही नहीं।

Word by word

  1. यस्मिन् yasmin · in whom, when (relative pronoun, locative singular) Dictionary: yad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 844, col. 2 “who, which, what, whichever, whatever, that”
  2. सर्वाणि sarvāṇi · all (adjective, neuter nominative plural) Dictionary: sarva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1184, col. 3 “whole, entire, all, every”
  3. भूतानि bhūtāni · beings (noun (neuter), nominative plural) Dictionary: bhūta, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 761, col. 3 “that which is or exists, any living being”
  4. आत्मा ātmā · the Self (noun (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: ātman, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 135, col. 1 “the individual soul, self, abstract individual”
  5. एव eva · indeed, just (indeclinable) Dictionary: 1. eva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 232, col. 2 “just, exactly, very, same, only, even, alone, merely”
  6. अभूत् abhūt · has become (aorist, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: 1. bhū, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 760, col. 2 “arise, come into being, exist, be found, live, stay, abide”
  7. विजानतः vijānataḥ · of one who knows (present participle, genitive singular) Dictionary: vi-jñā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 961, col. 1 “to distinguish, discern, observe, investigate, recognize, ascertain, know, understand”
  8. तत्र tatra · there, then (indeclinable) Dictionary: tatra, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 433, col. 2 “in that place, there”
  9. कः kaḥ · what (pronoun, masculine nominative singular) Dictionary: 2. ka, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 240, col. 2 “who? which? what?”
  10. मोहः mohaḥ · delusion (noun (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: moha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 836, col. 1 “loss of consciousness, bewilderment, perplexity, distraction, infatuation, delusion”
  11. कः kaḥ · what (pronoun, masculine nominative singular) Dictionary: 2. ka, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 240, col. 2 “who? which? what?”
  12. शोकः śokaḥ · sorrow (noun (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: śoka, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1091, col. 1 “sorrow, affliction, anguish, pain, trouble, grief”
  13. एकत्वम् ekatvam · oneness (noun (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: eka-tva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 228, col. 1 “oneness, unity, union, coincidence, identity”
  14. अनुपश्यतः anupaśyataḥ · of one who sees (present participle, genitive singular) Dictionary: anu-paś, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 35, col. 1 “to look at, perceive, notice, discover”

Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.

  • The printed edition reads: यस्मिन् सर्व्वाणि भूतान्यात्मैवाभूद्विजानतः ।
    तत्र को मोहः कः शोक एकत्वमनुपश्यतः ॥     The doubled consonant after r is written single: सर्व्वाणि → सर्वाणि. The printed verse number is left out.

In whom all beings Have become just (eva) the Self of the discerner— Then what delusion (moha), what sorrow (śoka) is there, Of him who perceives the unity!

English translation: Robert Ernest Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads (London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921); public domain. archive.org (page 363, scan leaf n382). Shown verbatim.

When to a man who understands, the Self has become all things, what sorrow, what trouble can there be to him who once beheld that unity?

English translation: F. Max Müller, The Upanishads, Part I (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. I, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879); public domain. archive.org (page 312, scan leaf n425). Shown verbatim.

Shankara Advaita

Shankara says grief and delusion grow from ignorance of the Self and from the desires and actions that follow. When the Self is seen as one and pure, like the open sky, their root is gone, and so they end.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Shankara's rendering and commentary on verse 7, pp. 20–21 (leaves n30–n31). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Anantacharya Vaishnava (theistic)

Ananta reads the verse as the state of one who knows that God is one and lives in all beings. For that person there is no sorrow or delusion, because the bonds of not-knowing (avidyā) are cut. This knowledge comes, he says, from thinking again and again on Vedic words such as "all this is Brahman"; he cites the Gita (6.31).

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Ananta's rendering and commentary on verse 7, pp. 20–22 (leaves n30–n32). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Verse 8

स पर्यगाच्छुक्रमकायमव्रणमस्नाविरं शुद्धमपापविद्धम् ।
कविर्मनीषी परिभूः स्वयम्भूर्याथातथ्यतोऽर्थान् व्यदधाच्छाश्वतीभ्यः समाभ्यः ॥

Sa paryagachchhukramakayamavranamasnaviram shuddhamapapaviddham
Kavirmanishi paribhuh svayambhuryathatathyatorthan vyadadhachchhashvatibhyah samabhyah

IAST

sa paryagācchukramakāyamavraṇamasnāviraṃ śuddhamapāpaviddham |
kavirmanīṣī paribhūḥ svayambhūryāthātathyato’rthān vyadadhācchāśvatībhyaḥ samābhyaḥ ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

ENThe verse describes the one who has gone everywhere. That one is bright, without a body, without wound or sinew, pure and untouched by evil. That one is the seer, wise, above all and self-existent, and has set all things in their right order for all the years without end. Some commentators read the verse as being about the person who reaches this state; see Müller's note.

हिमंत्र उसका वर्णन करता है जो सब ओर व्याप्त है। वह तेजोमय है, शरीर रहित है, घाव और नसों से रहित है, शुद्ध है और पाप से अछूता है। वही द्रष्टा (कवि) है, ज्ञानी है, सबसे ऊपर है और स्वयं से है (स्वयंभू); उसी ने अनंत वर्षों के लिए सब वस्तुओं को ठीक-ठीक उनके स्थान पर रखा है। कुछ टीकाकार यह मंत्र उस व्यक्ति के बारे में मानते हैं जो इस अवस्था तक पहुँचता है।

Word by word

  1. सः saḥ · he, that one (pronoun, masculine nominative singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
  2. पर्यगात् paryagāt · has gone around, pervades (aorist, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: 2. parī, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 605, col. 2 “to go or flow round (acc.), circumambulate, surround”
  3. शुक्रम् śukram · bright, pure (adjective, accusative singular) Dictionary: śukra, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1080, col. 1 “bright, resplendent”
  4. अकायम् akāyam · bodiless (adjective, accusative singular) Dictionary: a-kāya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 2, col. 1 “bodiless, incorporeal”
  5. अव्रणम् avraṇam · without wound (adjective, accusative singular) Dictionary: a-vraṇa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 112, col. 2 “unhurt, unscarred, sound”
  6. अस्नाविरम् asnāviram · without sinews (adjective, accusative singular) Dictionary: a-snāvira, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 123, col. 1; a-snāvaka, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 123, col. 1 “without sinews”
  7. शुद्धम् śuddham · pure (adjective, accusative singular) Dictionary: śuddha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1082, col. 1 “cleansed, cleared, clean, pure, clear”
  8. अपापविद्धम् apāpaviddham · untouched by evil (compound adjective, accusative singular) Dictionary: a-pāpa-viddha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 54, col. 2 “not afflicted with evil”
  9. कविः kaviḥ · the seer, the wise one (noun (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: kavi, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 264, col. 2 “gifted with insight, intelligent, knowing, enlightened, wise”
  10. मनीषी manīṣī · thoughtful, wise (adjective, masculine nominative singular) Dictionary: manīṣin, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 784, col. 2 “thoughtful, intelligent, wise, sage, prudent”
  11. परिभूः paribhūḥ · all-encompassing (adjective, masculine nominative singular) Dictionary: pari-bhū, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 598, col. 2 “surrounding, enclosing, containing, pervading, guiding, governing”
  12. स्वयम्भूः svayambhūḥ · self-existent (adjective, masculine nominative singular) Dictionary: svayam-bhū, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1278, col. 3 “self-existing, independent”
  13. याथातथ्यतः yāthātathyataḥ · rightly, as they truly are (indeclinable) Dictionary: yāthā-tathya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 851, col. 1 “a real state or condition, propriety, truth”
  14. अर्थान् arthān · things, objects (noun (masculine), accusative plural) Dictionary: artha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 90, col. 3 “thing, object”
  15. व्यदधात् vyadadhāt · distributed, arranged (imperfect, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: vi-dhā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 967, col. 2 “to distribute, apportion, grant, bestow”
  16. शाश्वतीभ्यः śāśvatībhyaḥ · eternal (adjective, feminine dative/ablative plural) Dictionary: śāśvata, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1068, col. 3 “eternal, constant, perpetual, all”
  17. समाभ्यः samābhyaḥ · years (noun (feminine), dative/ablative plural) Dictionary: samā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1153, col. 2 “a year”

Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.

  • The printed edition reads: स पर्य्यगाच्छुक्रमकायमव्रणमस्नाविरं शुद्धमपापविद्धम् ।
    कविर्मनीषी परिभूः स्वयम्भूर्याथातथ्यतोऽर्थान् व्यदधाच्छाश्वतीभ्यः समाभ्यः ॥     The doubled consonant after r is written single: पर्य्यगात् → पर्यगात्. The Vedic anusvara sign ꣳ in अस्नाविरꣳ is shown as ं. The printing runs the verse on over three lines; it is shown in two lines, divided at the printed danda. The printed verse number is left out.

He has environed. The bright, the bodiless, the scatheless, The sinewless, the pure (śuddha), unpierced by evil (a-pāpa-viddha)! Wise (kavi), intelligent (manīṣin), encompassing (paribhū), self-existent (svayambhū), Appropriately he distributed objects (artha) through the eternal years.

English translation: Robert Ernest Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads (London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921); public domain. archive.org (page 363, scan leaf n382). Shown verbatim.

He1 (the Self) encircled all, bright, incorporeal, scatheless, without muscles, pure, untouched by evil; a seer, wise, omnipresent, self-existent, he disposed all things rightly for eternal years.

  1. Saṅkara takes the subject to be the Self, and explains the neuter adjectives as masculines. Mahîdhara takes the subject to be the man who has acquired a knowledge of the Self, and who reaches the bright, incorporeal Brahman, &c. Mahîdhara, however, likewise allows the former explanation. ↩
English translation: F. Max Müller, The Upanishads, Part I (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. I, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879); public domain. archive.org (page 312, scan leaf n425). Shown verbatim.

Shankara Advaita

Shankara takes the subject to be the Self. "Bodiless" denies the subtle body, "without wound or sinew" the gross body, and "pure" the causal body of ignorance. "Untouched by evil" means beyond both merit and sin. The Self, as the ever-free Lord, gave each thing its place according to its nature.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Shankara's rendering and commentary on verse 8, pp. 22–23 (leaves n32–n33). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Anantacharya Vaishnava (theistic)

Ananta reads "paryagāt" as "he obtains": the verse tells the fruit that the knower gains, namely God. God is pure (his nature is knowledge and bliss), without a body, untouched by the three qualities (sattva, rajas, tamas) and by sin. He is all-knowing, rules all and depends on no one, and through the ages he gives all things as they truly should be. Ananta rejects the reading that makes "the seer" (kavi) a word about the worshipper.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Ananta's rendering and commentary on verse 8, pp. 22 and 24–25 (leaves n32, n34–n35). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Verse 9

अन्धन्तमः प्रविशन्ति येऽविद्यामुपासते ।
ततो भूय इव ते तमो य उ विद्यायां रताः ॥

Andhantamah pravishanti yevidyamupasate
Tato bhuya iva te tamo ya u vidyayam ratah

IAST

andhantamaḥ praviśanti ye’vidyāmupāsate |
tato bhūya iva te tamo ya u vidyāyāṃ ratāḥ ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

ENThe verse says that those who follow avidyā (not-knowledge) enter blind darkness, and those who delight only in vidyā (knowledge) enter, as it were, a greater darkness. Verses 9 to 11 are among the hardest in the Upanishads, and the commentators read the two words very differently; see the views and the translators' notes.

हिमंत्र कहता है कि जो अविद्या की उपासना करते हैं, वे घने अंधकार में जाते हैं, और जो केवल विद्या में रमे रहते हैं, वे मानो उससे भी गहरे अंधकार में जाते हैं। मंत्र 9 से 11 उपनिषदों के सबसे कठिन मंत्रों में से हैं, और टीकाकार इन दो शब्दों को बहुत अलग-अलग ढंग से समझते हैं।

Word by word

  1. अन्धम् andham · blind, blinding (adjective, neuter accusative singular) Dictionary: andha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 44, col. 3 “blind”
  2. तमः tamaḥ · darkness (noun (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: tamas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 438, col. 1 “darkness, gloom”
  3. प्रविशन्ति praviśanti · enter (present, 3rd person plural) Dictionary: pra-viś, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 692, col. 3 “to enter, go into, resort to”
  4. ये ye · who (relative pronoun, masculine nominative plural) Dictionary: yad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 844, col. 2 “who, which, what, whichever, whatever, that”
  5. अविद्याम् avidyām · not-knowledge (noun (feminine), accusative singular) Dictionary: a-vidyā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 108, col. 3 “ignorance, spiritual ignorance”
  6. उपासते upāsate · worship, devote themselves to (present, 3rd person plural) Dictionary: 3. upās, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 215, col. 1 “do homage, worship, be devoted or attached to”
  7. ततः tataḥ · than that (indeclinable) Dictionary: tatas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 432, col. 2 “thereupon, then, after that, afterwards”
  8. भूयः bhūyaḥ · greater, more (indeclinable) Dictionary: bhūyas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 763, col. 3 “more, most, very much, exceedingly”
  9. इव iva · as it were (indeclinable) Dictionary: iva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 168, col. 3 “as it were, as if”
  10. ते te · they (pronoun, masculine nominative plural) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
  11. तमः tamaḥ · darkness (noun (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: tamas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 438, col. 1 “darkness, gloom”
  12. ये ye · who (relative pronoun, masculine nominative plural) Dictionary: yad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 844, col. 2 “who, which, what, whichever, whatever, that”
  13. उ u · but, on the other hand (indeclinable) Dictionary: 3. u, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 171, col. 3 “and, also, further; on the other hand”
  14. विद्यायाम् vidyāyām · in knowledge (noun (feminine), locative singular) Dictionary: vidyā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 963, col. 3 “knowledge”
  15. रताः ratāḥ · delighting, devoted (past participle, masculine nominative plural) Dictionary: rata, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 867, col. 2 “delighting in, intent upon, fond or enamoured of, devoted or attached”

Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.

  • Spelling A digital text reads Same words, written with anusvara and a space. Base: अन्धन्तमः.

Into blind darkness enter they That worship ignorance; Into darkness greater than that, as it were, they That delight in knowledge.1

  1. This stanza is identical with Bṛih. 4. 4. 10. ↩
English translation: Robert Ernest Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads (London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921); public domain. archive.org (page 363, scan leaf n382). Shown verbatim.

All who worship what is not real knowledge (good works), enter into blind darkness: those who delight in real knowledge, enter, as it were, into greater darkness.

English translation: F. Max Müller, The Upanishads, Part I (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. I, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879); public domain. archive.org (page 312, scan leaf n425). Shown verbatim.

Shankara Advaita

Shankara takes avidyā here as ritual works, such as the fire offering, and vidyā as knowledge of the gods, not knowledge of Brahman. Each alone leads to darkness, and the verse asks that the two be joined. He adds that these verses speak to people with desires; the renunciant of verse 1 needs neither.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Shankara's rendering and commentary on verse 9, pp. 25–28 (leaves n35–n38). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Anantacharya Vaishnava (theistic)

Ananta reads verses 9 to 11 as teaching that knowledge and works must go together in one person. Avidyā here is works done only for heaven and the like; those who follow only these go round in birth and rebirth. Those who give up the duties of scripture for knowledge alone fare worse, because without works the heart is not made pure. He gives a second reading: avidyā is a wrong idea of God, and the greater fault is to have the true knowledge for oneself alone and not to help those who are going the wrong way.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Ananta's rendering and commentary on verse 9, pp. 25 and 28–30 (leaves n35, n38–n40). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Verse 10

अन्यदेवाहुर्विद्ययाऽन्यदाहुरविद्यया ।
इति शुश्रुम धीराणां ये नस्तद्विचचक्षिरे ॥

Anyadevahurvidyayanyadahuravidyaya
Iti shushruma dhiranam ye nastadvichachakshire

IAST

anyadevāhurvidyayā’nyadāhuravidyayā |
iti śuśruma dhīrāṇāṃ ye nastadvicacakṣire ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

ENThe verse says that one result comes from knowledge and another from not-knowledge. "So we have heard from the wise who explained it to us." The Sanskrit can also be read as "It is other than knowledge, and other than not-knowledge", as Hume translates it.

हिमंत्र कहता है कि विद्या से एक फल मिलता है और अविद्या से दूसरा। "ऐसा हमने उन धीर (ज्ञानी) पुरुषों से सुना है जिन्होंने हमें यह समझाया।" संस्कृत का एक और अर्थ भी हो सकता है: "वह विद्या से भी अलग है और अविद्या से भी", जैसा ह्यूम ने अनुवाद किया है।

Word by word

  1. अन्यत् anyat · other, different (pronoun, neuter accusative singular) Dictionary: 2. anya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 45, col. 2 “other, different”
  2. एव eva · indeed (indeclinable) Dictionary: 1. eva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 232, col. 2 “just, exactly, very, same, only, even, alone, merely”
  3. आहुः āhuḥ · they say (perfect, 3rd person plural) Dictionary: 1. ah, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 124, col. 1 “to say, speak”
  4. विद्यया vidyayā · by knowledge (noun (feminine), instrumental singular) Dictionary: vidyā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 963, col. 3 “knowledge”
  5. अन्यत् anyat · other, different (pronoun, neuter accusative singular) Dictionary: 2. anya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 45, col. 2 “other, different”
  6. आहुः āhuḥ · they say (perfect, 3rd person plural) Dictionary: 1. ah, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 124, col. 1 “to say, speak”
  7. अविद्यया avidyayā · by not-knowledge (noun (feminine), instrumental singular) Dictionary: a-vidyā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 108, col. 3 “ignorance, spiritual ignorance”
  8. इति iti · thus (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. iti, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 165, col. 1 “in this manner, thus”
  9. शुश्रुम śuśruma · we have heard (perfect, 1st person plural) Dictionary: 1. śru, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1100, col. 3 “to hear, listen or attend to anything”
  10. धीराणाम् dhīrāṇām · of the wise (adjective as noun, genitive plural) Dictionary: 1. dhīra, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 517, col. 1 “intelligent, wise, skilful, clever”
  11. ये ye · who (relative pronoun, masculine nominative plural) Dictionary: yad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 844, col. 2 “who, which, what, whichever, whatever, that”
  12. नः naḥ · to us (pronoun (1st person), dative plural (enclitic)) Dictionary: asmad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 123, col. 2 “base of the first person plur., as used in comp.”
  13. तत् tat · that (pronoun, neuter accusative singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
  14. विचचक्षिरे vicacakṣire · explained (perfect, 3rd person plural) Dictionary: vi-cakṣ, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 958, col. 2 “to proclaim, announce, tell”

Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.

  • Word The 1850 Calcutta printing reads: अन्यदेवाहुरविद्यया Roer repeats एव (देव) in the second half as well. Base: अन्यदाहुरविद्यया.

Other, indeed, they say, than knowledge! Other, they say, than non-knowledge!1 —Thus we have heard from the wise (dhīra) Who to us have explained It.2

  1. The point here made is that both knowledge and lack of knowledge are inadequate for apprehending the Ultimate. ↩
  2. A somewhat more concrete, and perhaps earlier, form of this stanza occurs as Kena 3 e–h. ↩
English translation: Robert Ernest Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads (London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921); public domain. archive.org (page 363, scan leaf n382). Shown verbatim.

One thing, they say, is obtained from real knowledge; another, they say, from what is not knowledge. Thus we have heard from the wise who taught us this1.

  1. Cf. Talavak. Up. I, 4; vidyâyâh, avidyâyâh, Vâg. Samh.; vidyayâ, avidyayâ, Upan. ↩
English translation: F. Max Müller, The Upanishads, Part I (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. I, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879); public domain. archive.org (page 312, scan leaf n425). Shown verbatim.

Shankara Advaita

Shankara says knowledge of the gods leads to the world of the gods, and ritual works lead to the world of the ancestors. The wise teachers passed on this difference in unbroken tradition.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Shankara's rendering and commentary on verse 10, pp. 30–31 (leaves n40–n41). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Anantacharya Vaishnava (theistic)

Ananta reads the verse as naming two different fruits: knowledge of the Self brings immortality, and works alone bring the world of the fathers (pitṛs). This, he says, is teaching passed from teacher to pupil without a break. In his second reading, true knowledge brings a partial freedom, and correcting others' wrong ideas brings a fruit like it. Either way, he concludes, the two must be joined.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Ananta's rendering and commentary on verse 10, pp. 30–31 (leaves n40–n41). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Verse 11

विद्याञ्चाविद्याञ्च यस्तद्वेदोभयं सह ।
अविद्यया मृत्युं तीर्त्वा विद्ययाऽमृतमश्नुते ॥

Vidyanchavidyancha yastadvedobhayam saha
Avidyaya mrityum tirtva vidyayamritamashnute

IAST

vidyāñcāvidyāñca yastadvedobhayaṃ saha |
avidyayā mṛtyuṃ tīrtvā vidyayā’mṛtamaśnute ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

ENThe verse says that the one who knows both together, knowledge and not-knowledge, crosses death by not-knowledge and reaches the immortal by knowledge. What "death" and "the immortal" mean here depends on how verses 9 and 10 are read; see the views.

हिमंत्र कहता है कि जो विद्या और अविद्या, दोनों को साथ-साथ जानता है, वह अविद्या से मृत्यु को पार करता है और विद्या से अमृत पाता है। यहाँ "मृत्यु" और "अमृत" का अर्थ इस पर निर्भर है कि मंत्र 9 और 10 को कैसे समझा जाए।

Word by word

  1. विद्याम् vidyām · knowledge (noun (feminine), accusative singular) Dictionary: vidyā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 963, col. 3 “knowledge”
  2. च ca · and (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. ca, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 380, col. 1 “and, both, also, moreover, as well as”
  3. अविद्याम् avidyām · not-knowledge (noun (feminine), accusative singular) Dictionary: a-vidyā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 108, col. 3 “ignorance, spiritual ignorance”
  4. च ca · and (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. ca, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 380, col. 1 “and, both, also, moreover, as well as”
  5. यः yaḥ · who (relative pronoun, masculine nominative singular) Dictionary: yad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 844, col. 2 “who, which, what, whichever, whatever, that”
  6. तत् tat · that (pronoun, neuter accusative singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
  7. वेद veda · knows (perfect with present sense, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: 1. vid, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 963, col. 2 “to know, understand, perceive, learn”
  8. उभयम् ubhayam · both (adjective, neuter accusative singular) Dictionary: ubhaya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 216, col. 2 “both, of both kinds, in both ways, in both manners”
  9. सह saha · together (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. saha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1193, col. 2 “together with, along with, with”
  10. अविद्यया avidyayā · by not-knowledge (noun (feminine), instrumental singular) Dictionary: a-vidyā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 108, col. 3 “ignorance, spiritual ignorance”
  11. मृत्युम् mṛtyum · death (noun (masculine), accusative singular) Dictionary: mṛtyu, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 827, col. 3 “death, dying”
  12. तीर्त्वा tīrtvā · having crossed (absolutive (gerund)) Dictionary: tṝ, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 454, col. 2 “to pass across or over, cross over (a river), sail across”
  13. विद्यया vidyayā · by knowledge (noun (feminine), instrumental singular) Dictionary: vidyā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 963, col. 3 “knowledge”
  14. अमृतम् amṛtam · the immortal, immortality (noun (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: a-mṛta, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 82, col. 2 “immortality”
  15. अश्नुते aśnute · reaches, obtains (present, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: 1. aś, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 112, col. 2 “to reach, come to, arrive at, get, gain, obtain”

Knowledge and non-knowledge— He who this pair conjointly (saha) knows, With non-knowledge passing over death, With knowledge wins the immortal.1

  1. This stanza occurs again in Maitri 7. 9. ↩
English translation: Robert Ernest Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads (London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921); public domain. archive.org (page 364, scan leaf n383). Shown verbatim.

He who knows at the same time both knowledge and not-knowledge, overcomes death through not-knowledge, and obtains immortality through knowledge.

English translation: F. Max Müller, The Upanishads, Part I (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. I, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879); public domain. archive.org (page 312, scan leaf n425). Shown verbatim.

Shankara Advaita

Shankara says that by the rites one crosses "death", meaning ordinary action and knowledge. By knowledge of a deity one gains "the immortal", meaning becoming one with that deity. His rendering calls this a "partial" immortality.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Shankara's rendering and commentary on verse 11, pp. 31–32 (leaves n41–n42). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Anantacharya Vaishnava (theistic)

Ananta reads the verse as joining the two in one person. By works (avidyā), such as the fire offering (agnihotra) done as an offering to God, a person crosses "death", which he takes to mean the impurity of the heart. By knowledge (vidyā) of the Self that person reaches immortality, which he takes to mean liberation. He cites the Gita (5.5): Sāṅkhya and Yoga, knowledge and work, are one.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Ananta's rendering and commentary on verse 11, pp. 32–33 (leaves n42–n43). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Verse 12

अन्धन्तमः प्रविशन्ति येऽसम्भूतिमुपासते ।
ततो भूय इव ते तमो य उ सम्भूत्यां रताः ॥

Andhantamah pravishanti yesambhutimupasate
Tato bhuya iva te tamo ya u sambhutyam ratah

IAST

andhantamaḥ praviśanti ye’sambhūtimupāsate |
tato bhūya iva te tamo ya u sambhūtyāṃ ratāḥ ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

ENThe verse repeats the pattern of verse 9 with a new pair. Those who worship asambhūti (the unborn, or what does not come into being) enter blind darkness, and those who delight in sambhūti (what comes into being) enter, as it were, a greater darkness.

हिमंत्र नौवें मंत्र की बात एक नए जोड़े के साथ दोहराता है। जो असम्भूति (अजन्मा, या जो उत्पन्न नहीं होता) की उपासना करते हैं, वे घने अंधकार में जाते हैं, और जो सम्भूति (जो उत्पन्न होता है) में रमे रहते हैं, वे मानो उससे भी गहरे अंधकार में जाते हैं।

Word by word

  1. अन्धम् andham · blind, blinding (adjective, neuter accusative singular) Dictionary: andha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 44, col. 3 “blind”
  2. तमः tamaḥ · darkness (noun (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: tamas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 438, col. 1 “darkness, gloom”
  3. प्रविशन्ति praviśanti · enter (present, 3rd person plural) Dictionary: pra-viś, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 692, col. 3 “to enter, go into, resort to”
  4. ये ye · who (relative pronoun, masculine nominative plural) Dictionary: yad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 844, col. 2 “who, which, what, whichever, whatever, that”
  5. असम्भूतिम् asambhūtim · non-becoming (noun (feminine), accusative singular) Dictionary: a-sambhūti, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 119, col. 3 “‘non-existence,’ destruction”
  6. उपासते upāsate · worship, devote themselves to (present, 3rd person plural) Dictionary: 3. upās, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 215, col. 1 “do homage, worship, be devoted or attached to”
  7. ततः tataḥ · than that (indeclinable) Dictionary: tatas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 432, col. 2 “thereupon, then, after that, afterwards”
  8. भूयः bhūyaḥ · greater, more (indeclinable) Dictionary: bhūyas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 763, col. 3 “more, most, very much, exceedingly”
  9. इव iva · as it were (indeclinable) Dictionary: iva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 168, col. 3 “as it were, as if”
  10. ते te · they (pronoun, masculine nominative plural) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
  11. तमः tamaḥ · darkness (noun (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: tamas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 438, col. 1 “darkness, gloom”
  12. ये ye · who (relative pronoun, masculine nominative plural) Dictionary: yad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 844, col. 2 “who, which, what, whichever, whatever, that”
  13. उ u · but, on the other hand (indeclinable) Dictionary: 3. u, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 171, col. 3 “and, also, further; on the other hand”
  14. सम्भूत्याम् sambhūtyām · in becoming (noun (feminine), locative singular) Dictionary: sam-bhūti, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1179, col. 2 “birth, origin, production”
  15. रताः ratāḥ · delighting, devoted (past participle, masculine nominative plural) Dictionary: rata, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 867, col. 2 “delighting in, intent upon, fond or enamoured of, devoted or attached”

Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.

  • Spelling A digital text reads Same words, written with anusvara and a space. Base: अन्धन्तमः.

Into blind darkness enter they Who worship non-becoming (a-sambhūti); Into darkness greater than that, as it were, they Who delight in becoming (sambhūti).

English translation: Robert Ernest Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads (London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921); public domain. archive.org (page 364, scan leaf n383). Shown verbatim.

All who worship what is not the true cause, enter into blind darkness: those who delight in the true cause, enter, as it were, into greater darkness.

English translation: F. Max Müller, The Upanishads, Part I (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. I, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879); public domain. archive.org (page 312–313, scan leaf n425). Shown verbatim.

Shankara Advaita

Shankara takes asambhūti as prakṛti, the unmanifest cause of the world, and sambhūti as Hiranyagarbha, the first born, Brahman in its effects. Worship of either one alone leads to darkness, so the verse asks that they be joined.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Shankara's rendering and commentary on verse 12, pp. 33–35 (leaves n43–n45). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Anantacharya Vaishnava (theistic)

Ananta reads "asambhūti" as "no maker": the view that God does not make, keep and end the world, which goes on by its own nature, or that there is no soul and no rebirth. Those who hold such views, he says, go into darkness. Into greater darkness go those who leave works aside and give themselves only to knowledge, without first making the heart pure. He also gives Shankara's kind of reading, of the unmanifest and the manifest, as another way.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Ananta's rendering and commentary on verse 12, pp. 33–35 (leaves n43–n45). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Verse 13

अन्यदेवाहुः सम्भवादन्यदाहुरसम्भवात् ।
इति शुश्रुम धीराणां ये नस्तद्विचचक्षिरे ॥

Anyadevahuh sambhavadanyadahurasambhavat
Iti shushruma dhiranam ye nastadvichachakshire

IAST

anyadevāhuḥ sambhavādanyadāhurasambhavāt |
iti śuśruma dhīrāṇāṃ ye nastadvicacakṣire ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

ENThe verse says that one result comes from sambhava (coming into being) and another from asambhava (not coming into being). "So we have heard from the wise who explained it to us." As with verse 10, it can also be read as "It is other than both".

हिमंत्र कहता है कि सम्भव (उत्पत्ति) से एक फल मिलता है और असम्भव (अनुत्पत्ति) से दूसरा। "ऐसा हमने उन धीर पुरुषों से सुना है जिन्होंने हमें यह समझाया।" दसवें मंत्र की तरह, इसका अर्थ यह भी हो सकता है कि "वह दोनों से अलग है"।

Word by word

  1. अन्यत् anyat · other, different (pronoun, neuter accusative singular) Dictionary: 2. anya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 45, col. 2 “other, different”
  2. एव eva · indeed (indeclinable) Dictionary: 1. eva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 232, col. 2 “just, exactly, very, same, only, even, alone, merely”
  3. आहुः āhuḥ · they say (perfect, 3rd person plural) Dictionary: 1. ah, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 124, col. 1 “to say, speak”
  4. सम्भवात् sambhavāt · from becoming (noun (masculine), ablative singular) Dictionary: sam-bhava, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1179, col. 1 “birth, production, origin, source”
  5. अन्यत् anyat · other, different (pronoun, neuter accusative singular) Dictionary: 2. anya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 45, col. 2 “other, different”
  6. आहुः āhuḥ · they say (perfect, 3rd person plural) Dictionary: 1. ah, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 124, col. 1 “to say, speak”
  7. असम्भवात् asambhavāt · from non-becoming (noun (masculine), ablative singular) Dictionary: a-sambhava, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 119, col. 3 “‘non-existence,’ destruction”
  8. इति iti · thus (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. iti, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 165, col. 1 “in this manner, thus”
  9. शुश्रुम śuśruma · we have heard (perfect, 1st person plural) Dictionary: 1. śru, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1100, col. 3 “to hear, listen or attend to anything”
  10. धीराणाम् dhīrāṇām · of the wise (adjective as noun, genitive plural) Dictionary: 1. dhīra, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 517, col. 1 “intelligent, wise, skilful, clever”
  11. ये ye · who (relative pronoun, masculine nominative plural) Dictionary: yad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 844, col. 2 “who, which, what, whichever, whatever, that”
  12. नः naḥ · to us (pronoun (1st person), dative plural (enclitic)) Dictionary: asmad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 123, col. 2 “base of the first person plur., as used in comp.”
  13. तत् tat · that (pronoun, neuter accusative singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
  14. विचचक्षिरे vicacakṣire · explained (perfect, 3rd person plural) Dictionary: vi-cakṣ, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 958, col. 2 “to proclaim, announce, tell”

Other, indeed—they say—than origin (sambhava)! Other—they say—than non-origin (a-sambhava)! —Thus have we heard from the wise Who to us have explained It.

English translation: Robert Ernest Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads (London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921); public domain. archive.org (page 364, scan leaf n383). Shown verbatim.

One thing, they say, is obtained from (knowledge of) the cause; another, they say, from (knowledge of) what is not the cause. Thus we have heard from the wise who taught us this.

English translation: F. Max Müller, The Upanishads, Part I (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. I, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879); public domain. archive.org (page 313, scan leaf n426). Shown verbatim.

Shankara Advaita

Shankara says worship of Hiranyagarbha brings powers such as becoming very small (aṇimā), and worship of the unmanifest brings "absorption in prakṛti". The verse names the two results to show why the two should be joined.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Shankara's rendering and commentary on verse 13, pp. 35–36 (leaves n45–n46). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Anantacharya Vaishnava (theistic)

Ananta reads the verse as naming the different fruits of the two kinds of worship, which is why they are to be joined. Worship of sambhūti, Brahman in nature, brings powers such as aṇimā and laghimā; worship of asambhūti, the unmanifest, leads to blind darkness. He cites Krishna in the Gita on those whose minds are set on the unmanifest.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Ananta's rendering and commentary on verse 13, p. 36 (leaf n46). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Verse 14

सम्भूतिञ्च विनाशञ्च यस्तद्वेदोभयं सह ।
विनाशेन मृत्युं तीर्त्वा सम्भूत्यामृतमश्नुते ॥

Sambhutincha vinashancha yastadvedobhayam saha
Vinashena mrityum tirtva sambhutyamritamashnute

IAST

sambhūtiñca vināśañca yastadvedobhayaṃ saha |
vināśena mṛtyuṃ tīrtvā sambhūtyāmṛtamaśnute ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

ENThe verse says that the one who knows both together, sambhūti (coming into being) and vināśa (perishing), crosses death by perishing and reaches the immortal by sambhūti. Like verse 11, it joins the pair instead of choosing one side.

हिमंत्र कहता है कि जो सम्भूति (उत्पत्ति) और विनाश, दोनों को साथ-साथ जानता है, वह विनाश से मृत्यु को पार करता है और सम्भूति से अमृत पाता है। ग्यारहवें मंत्र की तरह यह भी जोड़े में से एक को नहीं चुनता, दोनों को जोड़ता है।

Word by word

  1. सम्भूतिम् sambhūtim · becoming (noun (feminine), accusative singular) Dictionary: sam-bhūti, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1179, col. 2 “birth, origin, production”
  2. च ca · and (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. ca, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 380, col. 1 “and, both, also, moreover, as well as”
  3. विनाशम् vināśam · destruction (noun (masculine), accusative singular) Dictionary: vi-nāśa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 969, col. 3 “utter loss, annihilation, perdition, destruction, decay, death”
  4. च ca · and (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. ca, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 380, col. 1 “and, both, also, moreover, as well as”
  5. यः yaḥ · who (relative pronoun, masculine nominative singular) Dictionary: yad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 844, col. 2 “who, which, what, whichever, whatever, that”
  6. तत् tat · that (pronoun, neuter accusative singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
  7. वेद veda · knows (perfect with present sense, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: 1. vid, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 963, col. 2 “to know, understand, perceive, learn”
  8. उभयम् ubhayam · both (adjective, neuter accusative singular) Dictionary: ubhaya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 216, col. 2 “both, of both kinds, in both ways, in both manners”
  9. सह saha · together (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. saha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1193, col. 2 “together with, along with, with”
  10. विनाशेन vināśena · by destruction (noun (masculine), instrumental singular) Dictionary: vi-nāśa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 969, col. 3 “utter loss, annihilation, perdition, destruction, decay, death”
  11. मृत्युम् mṛtyum · death (noun (masculine), accusative singular) Dictionary: mṛtyu, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 827, col. 3 “death, dying”
  12. तीर्त्वा tīrtvā · having crossed (absolutive (gerund)) Dictionary: tṝ, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 454, col. 2 “to pass across or over, cross over (a river), sail across”
  13. सम्भूत्या sambhūtyā · by becoming (noun (feminine), instrumental singular) Dictionary: sam-bhūti, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1179, col. 2 “birth, origin, production”
  14. अमृतम् amṛtam · the immortal, immortality (noun (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: a-mṛta, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 82, col. 2 “immortality”
  15. अश्नुते aśnute · reaches, obtains (present, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: 1. aś, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 112, col. 2 “to reach, come to, arrive at, get, gain, obtain”

Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.

  • Spelling The 1925 Bombay printing reads: सम्भूत्याऽमृतमश्नुते Same words, with an avagraha for the merged a. Base: सम्भूत्यामृतमश्नुते.
  • Spelling A digital text reads As the 1925 printing.

Becoming (sambhūti) and destruction (vināśa)— He who this pair conjointly (saha) knows, With destruction passing over death, With becoming wins the immortal.

English translation: Robert Ernest Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads (London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921); public domain. archive.org (page 364, scan leaf n383). Shown verbatim.

He who knows at the same time both the cause and the destruction (the perishable body), overcomes death by destruction (the perishable body), and obtains immortality through (knowledge of) the true cause.

English translation: F. Max Müller, The Upanishads, Part I (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. I, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879); public domain. archive.org (page 313, scan leaf n426). Shown verbatim.

Shankara Advaita

Shankara reads sambhūti here as asambhūti, the unmanifest, and vināśa as Hiranyagarbha, whose products perish. By worshipping Hiranyagarbha one overcomes weakness and gains powers; by worshipping the unmanifest one gains the limited immortality of absorption in prakṛti.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Shankara's rendering and commentary on verse 14, pp. 37–39 (leaves n47–n49). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Anantacharya Vaishnava (theistic)

Ananta reads "sambhūti" as the Supreme, the one cause of the world, and "vināśa" as what perishes: the body, and the world. The yogī who knows both together, the soul and the body, the real and the unreal, does good deeds without desire through this perishable body and offers them to God. So the heart is made pure, and by knowledge of God the person reaches immortality, that is, liberation. He also gives two other readings of the verse.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Ananta's rendering and commentary on verse 14, pp. 37–39 (leaves n47–n49). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Verse 15

हिरण्मयेन पात्रेण सत्यस्यापिहितं मुखम् ।
तत्त्वम्पूषन्नपावृणु सत्यधर्माय दृष्टये ॥

Hiranmayena patrena satyasyapihitam mukham
Tattvampushannapavrinu satyadharmaya drishtaye

IAST

hiraṇmayena pātreṇa satyasyāpihitaṃ mukham |
tattvampūṣannapāvṛṇu satyadharmāya dṛṣṭaye ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

ENThe verse is a prayer to Pushan, the sun as nourisher. The face of the Truth is covered with a golden lid, the bright disk of the sun. The one praying asks Pushan to uncover it, so that one who keeps the law of truth may see. Verses 15 to 18 are prayers. Hume heads verses 15 to 17 "A dying person's prayer".

हियह मंत्र पूषन, यानी पोषण करने वाले सूर्य, से प्रार्थना है। सत्य का मुख सोने के ढक्कन से, यानी सूर्य के चमकते मंडल से, ढका है। प्रार्थना करने वाला पूषन से कहता है कि वह उसे हटा दे, ताकि सत्य के धर्म पर चलने वाला देख सके। मंत्र 15 से 18 प्रार्थनाएँ हैं। ह्यूम मंत्र 15 से 17 को "मरते हुए व्यक्ति की प्रार्थना" शीर्षक देते हैं।

Word by word

  1. हिरण्मयेन hiraṇmayena · golden (adjective, neuter instrumental singular) Dictionary: hiraṇ-maya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1299, col. 3 “golden, gold-coloured”
  2. पात्रेण pātreṇa · by a vessel, a disk (noun (neuter), instrumental singular) Dictionary: 1. pātra, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 612, col. 3 “any vessel or receptacle”
  3. सत्यस्य satyasya · of the real, of truth (noun (neuter), genitive singular) Dictionary: satya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1135, col. 3 “true, real, actual, genuine”
  4. अपिहितम् apihitam · covered (past participle, neuter nominative singular) Dictionary: api-hita, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 55, col. 2 “shut, covered, concealed”
  5. मुखम् mukham · face, opening (noun (neuter), nominative singular) Dictionary: mukha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 819, col. 3 “the mouth, face, countenance”
  6. तत् tat · that (pronoun, neuter accusative singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
  7. त्वम् tvam · you (pronoun (2nd person), nominative singular) Dictionary: 2. tva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 463, col. 2 “base of the 2nd personal pron.”
  8. पूषन् pūṣan · O Pushan (noun (masculine), vocative singular) Dictionary: pūṣan, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 645, col. 1 “N. of a Vedic deity”
  9. अपावृणु apāvṛṇu · uncover, open (imperative, 2nd person singular) Dictionary: apā-vṛ, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 54, col. 3 “to open, uncover, reveal”
  10. सत्यधर्माय satyadharmāya · for one whose law is truth (compound, masculine dative singular) Dictionary: satya-dharma, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1136, col. 1 “one whose ordinances are true”
  11. दृष्टये dṛṣṭaye · for seeing (noun (feminine), dative singular) Dictionary: dṛṣṭi, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 492, col. 1 “seeing, viewing, beholding (also with the mental eye)”

Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.

  • The printed edition reads: हिरण्मयेन पात्रेण सत्यस्यापिहितं मुखम् ।
    तत्त्वम्पूषन्नपावृणु सत्यधर्म्माय दृष्टये ॥     The doubled consonant after r is written single: सत्यधर्म्माय → सत्यधर्माय. The printed verse number is left out.
  • Spelling The 1850 Calcutta printing reads: तत्वम् Single त्. Base: तत्त्वम्.

With a golden vessel1 The Real’s face is covered o’er. That do thou, O Pūshan, uncover For one whose law is the Real2 to see.3

  1. The sun. ↩
  2. For the petitioner (who calls himself ‘satya-dharma’) to see through; or ‘For Him whose law is Truth (or, true) to be seen,’ [as, e. g., for Savitṛi in RV. 10. 34. 8; 10. 139. 3; or the Unknown Creator, RV. 10. 121. 9; VS. 10. 103; or Agni, RV. 1. 12. 7]; or, ‘For that [neuter] which has the Real as its nature [or, essence; or, law] to be seen.’ ↩
  3. These lines occur with slight variations at Maitri 6. 35 and Bṛih. 5. 15. 1. ↩
English translation: Robert Ernest Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads (London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921); public domain. archive.org (page 364, scan leaf n383). Shown verbatim.

The door of the True is covered with a golden disk1. Open that, O Pûshan, that we may see the nature of the True2.

  1. Mahîdhara on verse 17: ‘The face of the true (purusha in the sun) is covered by a golden disk.’ ↩
  2. Cf. Maitr. Up. VI, 35. ↩
English translation: F. Max Müller, The Upanishads, Part I (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. I, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879); public domain. archive.org (page 313, scan leaf n426). Shown verbatim.

Shankara Advaita

Shankara says the highest that rites and lower knowledge can give is still within the round of birth; beyond it lies the knowledge that all is the Self. Here the worshipper of truth asks the sun to open the door to Brahman, the true Person within the sun's disk.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Shankara's rendering and commentary on verse 15, pp. 39–41 (leaves n49–n51). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Anantacharya Vaishnava (theistic)

Ananta reads the last verses as prayers. Having been made fit by study and practice, the yogī prays to see God, whose face, in the orb of the sun, is hidden by a veil of light. Seeing God, he says, does not come only from reading or hearing, and seeing alone is not freedom: freedom (moksha) comes only by the grace of the Lord. He cites the Katha Upanishad: the Self is reached by the one whom he chooses.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Ananta's rendering and commentary on verse 15, pp. 39–42 (leaves n49–n52). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Verse 16

पूषन्नेकर्षे यम सूर्य प्राजापत्य व्यूह रश्मीन् समूह ।
तेजो यत्ते रूपङ्कल्याणतमन्तत्ते पश्यामि योऽसावसौ पुरुषः सोऽहमस्मि ॥

Pushannekarshe yama surya prajapatya vyuha rashmin samuha
Tejo yatte rupankalyanatamantatte pashyami yosavasau purushah sohamasmi

IAST

pūṣannekarṣe yama sūrya prājāpatya vyūha raśmīn samūha |
tejo yatte rūpaṅkalyāṇatamantatte paśyāmi yo’sāvasau puruṣaḥ so’hamasmi ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

ENThe prayer goes on. It calls the sun by many names: Pushan the nourisher, the lone seer, Yama the controller, Surya, son of Prajapati. It asks the sun to spread out its rays and gather in its blaze, so that its most blessed form can be seen. It ends: "That Person yonder, that Person am I." The 1893 printing divides the words so that "blaze" (tejas) opens the second line; others read it with the first.

हिप्रार्थना आगे चलती है। वह सूर्य को कई नामों से पुकारती है: पोषण करने वाले पूषन, अकेले ऋषि (एकर्षि), नियंत्रण करने वाले यम, सूर्य, प्रजापति के पुत्र। वह सूर्य से कहती है कि अपनी किरणें फैलाओ और अपना तेज समेट लो, ताकि तुम्हारा सबसे कल्याणकारी रूप दिख सके। अंत में कहा गया है: "वह जो वहाँ पुरुष है, वही पुरुष मैं हूँ।" 1893 के संस्करण में "तेजः" दूसरी पंक्ति से शुरू होता है; कुछ पाठ इसे पहली पंक्ति में रखते हैं।

Word by word

  1. पूषन् pūṣan · O Pushan (noun (masculine), vocative singular) Dictionary: pūṣan, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 645, col. 1 “N. of a Vedic deity”
  2. एकर्षे ekarṣe · O sole seer (compound, masculine vocative singular) Dictionary: eka-ṛṣi, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 227, col. 3 “the only or chief Ṛishi”
  3. यम yama · O Yama, O controller (noun (masculine), vocative singular) Dictionary: yama, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 846, col. 1 “N. of the god who presides over the Pitṛis”
  4. सूर्य sūrya · O Sun (noun (masculine), vocative singular) Dictionary: sūrya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1243, col. 1 “the sun or its deity”
  5. प्राजापत्य prājāpatya · O son of Prajapati (adjective, masculine vocative singular) Dictionary: prājāpatya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 703, col. 2 “coming or derived from Prajā-pati, relating or sacred to him”
  6. व्यूह vyūha · spread apart (imperative, 2nd person singular) Dictionary: vy-ūh, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1041, col. 1 “to push or move apart, place asunder, divide, distribute”
  7. रश्मीन् raśmīn · rays (noun (masculine), accusative plural) Dictionary: raśmi, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 869, col. 2 “a ray of light, beam, splendour”
  8. समूह samūha · gather together (imperative, 2nd person singular) Dictionary: sam-ūh, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1170, col. 3 “to sweep together, bring or gather together, collect, unite”
  9. तेजः tejaḥ · light, brilliance (noun (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: tejas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 454, col. 2
  10. यत् yat · which (relative pronoun, neuter nominative singular) Dictionary: yad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 844, col. 2 “who, which, what, whichever, whatever, that”
  11. ते te · your (pronoun (2nd person), genitive singular (enclitic)) Dictionary: 2. tva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 463, col. 2 “base of the 2nd personal pron.”
  12. रूपम् rūpam · form (noun (neuter), nominative singular) Dictionary: rūpa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 885, col. 3 “form, shape, figure”
  13. कल्याणतमम् kalyāṇatamam · most beautiful, most blessed (superlative adjective, neuter singular) Dictionary: kalyāṇa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 263, col. 2 “beautiful, agreeable”
  14. तत् tat · that (pronoun, neuter accusative singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
  15. ते te · your (pronoun (2nd person), genitive singular (enclitic)) Dictionary: 2. tva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 463, col. 2 “base of the 2nd personal pron.”
  16. पश्यामि paśyāmi · "I see" (present, 1st person singular) Dictionary: 1. paś, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 611, col. 2 “behold, look at, observe, perceive, notice”
  17. यः yaḥ · who (relative pronoun, masculine nominative singular) Dictionary: yad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 844, col. 2 “who, which, what, whichever, whatever, that”
  18. असौ asau · yonder (pronoun, masculine nominative singular) Dictionary: adas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 18, col. 1 “that; a certain”
  19. असौ asau · that (pronoun, masculine nominative singular) Dictionary: adas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 18, col. 1 “that; a certain”
  20. पुरुषः puruṣaḥ · person, Purusha (noun (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: puruṣa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 637, col. 1 “a man, male, human being”
  21. सः saḥ · he (pronoun, masculine nominative singular) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
  22. अहम् aham · "I" (pronoun (1st person), nominative singular) Dictionary: aham, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 124, col. 2
  23. अस्मि asmi · am (present, 1st person singular) Dictionary: 1. as, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 117, col. 2 “to be, live, exist, be present”

Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.

  • The printed edition reads: पूषन्नेकर्षे यम सूर्य्य प्राजापत्य व्यूह रश्मीन् समूह ।
    तेजो यत्ते रूपङ्कल्याणतमन्तत्ते पश्यामि योऽसावसौ पुरुषः सोऽहमस्मि ॥     The doubled consonant after r is written single: सूर्य्य → सूर्य. The printed verse number is left out.
  • Verse division A digital text reads Same words: तेजः is read at the end of the first half and the class nasals are written as anusvara. Base: …समूह । तेजो यत्ते रूपङ्कल्याणतमन्तत्ते पश्यामि.

O Nourisher (pūṣan), the sole Seer (ekarṣi), O Controller (yama), O Sun (sūrya), offspring of Prajāpati, spread forth thy rays! Gather thy brilliance (tejas)!1 What is thy fairest form—that of thee I see. He who is yonder, yonder Person (puruṣa)—I myself am he!

  1. According to this translation the idea is entirely honorific of the effulgence of the sun. Or, with a different grouping of words, the meaning might possibly be the petition: ‘Spread apart thy rays [that I may enter through the sun (as well as see through—according to the previous petition) into the Real; then] gather [thy rays together again, as normal]. The brilliance which is thy fairest form, . . .’ At best the passage is of obscure mystical significance. ↩
English translation: Robert Ernest Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads (London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921); public domain. archive.org (page 364–365, scan leaf n383). Shown verbatim.

O Pûshan, only seer, Yama (judge), Sûrya (sun), son of Pragâpati, spread thy rays and gather them! The light which is thy fairest form, I see it. I am what He is (viz. the person in the sun)1.

  1. Asau purushah should probably be omitted. ↩
English translation: F. Max Müller, The Upanishads, Part I (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. I, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879); public domain. archive.org (page 313, scan leaf n426). Shown verbatim.

Shankara Advaita

Shankara explains each name of the sun and reads the request as "draw in your rays and lessen your heat and light", so that the blessed form can be seen. The worshipper asks not as a servant but as an equal, because the Person in the sun and the worshipper are the same.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Shankara's rendering and commentary on verse 16, pp. 42–43 (leaves n52–n53). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Anantacharya Vaishnava (theistic)

Ananta reads the names in the verse as names of God: the nourisher, the one knower (ekarṣi), the ruler (yama), the one known to the wise (sūrya). The prayer asks God to widen the worshipper's knowledge, so that by his grace the worshipper may see his most blessed form. "That person am I" he reads as: the being in the sun and in other forms is one with the shining being in the heart, and knowing this oneness is the means to freedom.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Ananta's rendering and commentary on verse 16, pp. 42–44 (leaves n52–n54). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Verse 17

वायुरनिलममृतमथेदं भस्मान्तं शरीरम् ।
ॐ क्रतो स्मर कृतं स्मर क्रतो स्मर कृतं स्मर ॥

Vayuranilamamritamathedam bhasmantam shariram
Om krato smara kritam smara krato smara kritam smara

IAST

vāyuranilamamṛtamathedaṃ bhasmāntaṃ śarīram |
oṃ krato smara kṛtaṃ smara krato smara kṛtaṃ smara ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

ENMüller notes that these lines are said by a person at the hour of death. "Let the breath go to the immortal wind; this body ends in ashes. Om. O mind (kratu), remember; remember what has been done." The words are said twice. Hume compares the old idea that at death each part of a person returns to the matching part of the world, breath to wind.

हिमूलर लिखते हैं कि ये पंक्तियाँ मृत्यु के समय बोली जाती हैं। "प्राण अमर वायु में मिल जाए; यह शरीर राख में समाप्त हो। ॐ। हे मन (क्रतु), स्मरण करो; जो किया है उसे स्मरण करो।" ये शब्द दो बार कहे गए हैं। ह्यूम उस पुराने विचार से इसकी तुलना करते हैं कि मृत्यु पर मनुष्य का हर अंश जगत के उसी अंश में लौट जाता है, जैसे प्राण वायु में।

Word by word

  1. वायुः vāyuḥ · the breath, the wind (noun (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: 1. vāyu, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 942, col. 2 “wind, air”
  2. अनिलम् anilam · to the wind, the air (noun (masculine), accusative singular) Dictionary: anila, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 30, col. 1 “air or wind”
  3. अमृतम् amṛtam · immortal (adjective, accusative singular) Dictionary: a-mṛta, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 82, col. 2 “immortality”
  4. अथ atha · and now, then (indeclinable) Dictionary: atha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 17, col. 3
  5. इदम् idam · this (pronoun, neuter nominative singular) Dictionary: 1. idam, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 165, col. 2 “this, this here, referring to something near the speaker”
  6. भस्मान्तम् bhasmāntam · ending in ashes (adjective, neuter nominative singular) Dictionary: 2. bhasmānta, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 750, col. 2 “ending in ashes, finally burnt (as the body)”
  7. शरीरम् śarīram · body (noun (neuter), nominative singular) Dictionary: śarīra, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1057, col. 3 “the body, bodily frame, solid parts of the body”
  8. ॐ oṃ · Om, the sacred syllable (indeclinable) Dictionary: om, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 235, col. 3 “a word of solemn affirmation and respectful assent”
  9. क्रतो krato · O mind, O purpose (noun (masculine), vocative singular) Dictionary: kratu, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 319, col. 1 “intelligence, understanding”
  10. स्मर smara · remember (imperative, 2nd person singular) Dictionary: 2. smṛ, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1271, col. 3 “to remember, recollect, bear in mind, call to mind, think of, be mindful of”
  11. कृतम् kṛtam · what was done (past participle as noun, accusative singular) Dictionary: 1. kṛta, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 301, col. 3 “done, made, accomplished, performed”
  12. स्मर smara · remember (imperative, 2nd person singular) Dictionary: 2. smṛ, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1271, col. 3 “to remember, recollect, bear in mind, call to mind, think of, be mindful of”
  13. क्रतो krato · O mind, O purpose (noun (masculine), vocative singular) Dictionary: kratu, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 319, col. 1 “intelligence, understanding”
  14. स्मर smara · remember (imperative, 2nd person singular) Dictionary: 2. smṛ, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1271, col. 3 “to remember, recollect, bear in mind, call to mind, think of, be mindful of”
  15. कृतम् kṛtam · what was done (past participle as noun, accusative singular) Dictionary: 1. kṛta, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 301, col. 3 “done, made, accomplished, performed”
  16. स्मर smara · remember (imperative, 2nd person singular) Dictionary: 2. smṛ, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1271, col. 3 “to remember, recollect, bear in mind, call to mind, think of, be mindful of”

[My] breath (vāyu) to the immortal wind (anila)!1 This body then ends in ashes! Om! O Purpose (kratu2), remember! The deed (kṛta) remember! O Purpose, remember! The deed remember!

  1. This formula recurs at Bṛih. 5. 15. The idea that at death the several parts of microcosmic man revert to the corresponding elements of the macrocosm is expressed several times in Sanskrit literature. With the specific mention here, compare ‘his spirit (ātman) to the wind (vāta)’ in the Cremation Hymn, RV. 10. 16. 3a; ‘with his breath (prāṇa) to wind (vāyu),’ Śat. Br. 10. 3. 3. 8; ‘his breath (prāṇa) to wind (vāta),’ Bṛih. 3. 2. 13; and even of the sacrificial animal, ‘its breath (prāṇa) to wind (vāta),’ Ait. Br. 2. 6. ↩
  2. Compare the statement in Chānd. 3. 14. 1, ‘Now, verily, a person consists of purpose (kratu-maya).’ ↩
English translation: Robert Ernest Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads (London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921); public domain. archive.org (page 365, scan leaf n384). Shown verbatim.

Breath1 to air, and to the immortal! Then this my body ends in ashes. Om! Mind, remember! Remember thy deeds! Mind, remember! Remember thy deeds2!

  1. These lines are supposed to be uttered by a man in the hour of death. ↩
  2. The Vâgasaneyi-samhitâ reads: Om, krato smara, klibe smara, kritam smara. Uvata holds that Agni, fire, who has been worshipped in youth and manhood, is here invoked in the form of mind, or that kratu is meant for sacrifice. ‘Agni, remember me! Think of the world! Remember my deeds!’ ↩
English translation: F. Max Müller, The Upanishads, Part I (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. I, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879); public domain. archive.org (page 313, scan leaf n426). Shown verbatim.

Shankara Advaita

Shankara says the dying worshipper asks that the life-breath leave the single body and join the cosmic life (the Sutratman), and that the body be burnt to ashes. Om here names Agni, who is not different from Brahman. Kratu is the mind, asked to remember all the worship and duties done since childhood.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Shankara's rendering and commentary on verse 17, pp. 45–47 (leaves n55–n57). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Anantacharya Vaishnava (theistic)

Ananta reads the verse as the prayer of one who is dying: may the breath go into the great life, may the subtle body, made pure by knowledge and works, leave this body, and may the body end in ashes. Om, he says, is a name of Brahman. The mind is asked to remember the duties done since childhood, and he reads "remember" also as a prayer that the Supreme remember the worshipper, which is a sign of grace to devotees.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Ananta's rendering and commentary on verse 17, pp. 45–48 (leaves n55–n58). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Verse 18

अग्ने नय सुपथा राये अस्मान् विश्वानि देव वयुनानि विद्वान् ।
युयोध्यस्मज्जुहुराणमेनो भूयिष्ठान्ते नम उक्तिं विधेम ॥

Agne naya supatha raye asman vishvani deva vayunani vidvan
Yuyodhyasmajjuhuranameno bhuyishthante nama uktim vidhema

IAST

agne naya supathā rāye asmān viśvāni deva vayunāni vidvān |
yuyodhyasmajjuhurāṇameno bhūyiṣṭhānte nama uktiṃ vidhema ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

ENThe last verse is a prayer to Agni, the god of fire, and is also a verse of the Rigveda (1.189.1). "O Agni, lead us by a good path to well-being, O god who knows all our ways. Keep far from us the sin that leads astray. We offer you our many words of praise."

हिअंतिम मंत्र अग्नि देवता से प्रार्थना है, और यह ऋग्वेद (1.189.1) का भी मंत्र है। "हे अग्नि, हमें अच्छे मार्ग से कल्याण की ओर ले चलो, हे देव, तुम हमारे सब कर्मों को जानते हो। हमसे टेढ़ी राह पर ले जाने वाले पाप को दूर रखो। हम तुम्हें बार-बार नमस्कार के वचन अर्पित करते हैं।"

Word by word

  1. अग्ने agne · O Agni (noun (masculine), vocative singular) Dictionary: agni, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 5, col. 1
  2. नय naya · lead (imperative, 2nd person singular) Dictionary: 2. nī, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 565, col. 1 “to lead, guide, conduct, direct, govern”
  3. सुपथा supathā · by a good path (compound, instrumental singular) Dictionary: su-patha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1227, col. 2 “a good road”
  4. राये rāye · to wealth, to well-being (noun (masculine), dative singular) Dictionary: 3. rai, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 888, col. 1 “property, possessions, goods, wealth, riches”
  5. अस्मान् asmān · us (pronoun (1st person), accusative plural) Dictionary: asmad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 123, col. 2 “base of the first person plur., as used in comp.”
  6. विश्वानि viśvāni · all (adjective, neuter accusative plural) Dictionary: viśva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 992, col. 2 “all, every, every one; whole, entire, universal”
  7. देव deva · O god (noun (masculine), vocative singular) Dictionary: deva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 492, col. 2 “a deity, god”
  8. वयुनानि vayunāni · ways, things (noun (neuter), accusative plural) Dictionary: vayuna, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 920, col. 3 “a path, way”
  9. विद्वान् vidvān · knowing (perfect participle, masculine nominative singular) Dictionary: vidvas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 964, col. 3 “one who knows, knowing, understanding, learned, intelligent, wise”
  10. युयोधि yuyodhi · keep away (imperative, 2nd person singular) Dictionary: 1. yu, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 852, col. 3 “to separate, keep or drive away, ward off”
  11. अस्मत् asmat · from us (pronoun (1st person), ablative plural) Dictionary: asmad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 123, col. 2 “base of the first person plur., as used in comp.”
  12. जुहुराणम् juhurāṇam · crooked, leading astray (perfect participle, accusative singular) Dictionary: juhurāṇa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 424, col. 1; hvṛ, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1308, col. 1 “be crooked or curved, bend, go crookedly or wrongly or deviously”
  13. एनः enaḥ · sin, wrong (noun (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: enas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 232, col. 1 “mischief, crime, sin, offence, fault”
  14. भूयिष्ठाम् bhūyiṣṭhām · most abundant, fullest (superlative adjective, feminine accusative singular) Dictionary: bhūyiṣṭha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 763, col. 3 “most numerous or abundant or great or important, chief, principal”
  15. ते te · to you (pronoun (2nd person), dative singular (enclitic)) Dictionary: 2. tva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 463, col. 2 “base of the 2nd personal pron.”
  16. नमउक्तिम् namaüktim · words of homage (compound (feminine), accusative singular) Dictionary: nama-ukti, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 528, col. 1 “homage, veneration”
  17. विधेम vidhema · may we offer (optative, 1st person plural) Dictionary: 1. vidh, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 967, col. 2 “to worship, honour a god (dat., loc., or acc.) with (instr.)”

Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.

  • Spelling The 1925 Bombay printing reads: भूयिष्ठां ते नमउक्तिं Same words, written with anusvara and without the space in नमउक्तिं. Base: भूयिष्ठान्ते नम उक्तिं.
  • Spelling A digital text reads Same words; नम + उक्तिं written with the vowels merged (नमौक्तिं).

O Agni, by a goodly path to prosperity (rai) lead us, Thou god who knowest all the ways! Keep far from us crooked-going sin (enas)!1 Most ample expression of adoration to thee would we render!2

  1. Other prayers for freedom from sin (enas, compare also āgas) are at RV. 1. 24. 9 d; 3. 7. 10 d; 7. 86. 3 a, 4 d; 7. 88. 6 c; 7. 89. 5 c, d; 7. 93. 7 c, d; 8. 67 (56). 17; 10. 35. 3 a, c; 10. 37. 12; AV. 6. 97. 2 d; 6. 115. 1, 2, 3; 6. 116. 2, 3; 6. 117; 6. 118; 6. 119; 6. 120. ↩
  2. This stanza is identical with RV. 1. 189. 1, and the second line also with AV. 4. 39. 10 b. ↩
English translation: Robert Ernest Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads (London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1921); public domain. archive.org (page 365, scan leaf n384). Shown verbatim.

Agni, lead us on to wealth (beatitude) by a good path, thou, O God, who knowest all things! Keep far from us crooked evil, and we shall offer thee the fullest praise! (Rv. I, 189, 1.)

English translation: F. Max Müller, The Upanishads, Part I (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. I, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879); public domain. archive.org (page 313–314, scan leaf n426). Shown verbatim.

Shankara Advaita

Shankara says the dying worshipper asks Agni to lead by the northern path of the gods, from which there is no return, and not by the southern path of repeated birth and death. With no more power to serve in rites, the worshipper can offer only words of salutation.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Shankara's rendering and commentary on verse 18, pp. 48–49 (leaves n58–n59). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

Anantacharya Vaishnava (theistic)

Ananta reads the verse as a prayer to God in the form of fire (Agni): lead us by the good path, the way of the gods (devayāna), not the path of birth and death again, to the wealth that is liberation. God knows all thoughts and deeds; the prayer asks him to remove crooked sins, and the bow of salutation is the only return the worshipper can make.

Source: The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896), Ananta's rendering and commentary on verse 18, pp. 48–50 (leaves n58–n60). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.

About the Isha Upanishad

The first verse sets the theme: all that moves in the world is to be covered by the Lord, so live by letting go, and do not covet. The next verses describe the Self in pairs that seem to clash (it does not move, yet it is faster than the mind; it is far and near, inside all and outside all) and praise the person who sees all beings in the Self and the Self in all beings. Verses 9 to 14 set side by side knowledge and not-knowledge, and becoming and not-becoming, and ask that each pair be known together. The last four verses are prayers to the sun and to Agni, which the translators and Shankara connect with the hour of death (Hume from verse 15, Müller and Shankara from verse 17).

The classical commentators read the middle verses in very different ways. Where we show a reading, it is labelled with its school; at present these are Shankara (Advaita) and Anantacharya (Vaishnava, theistic), both from an 1896 English translation of their commentaries. Two old public-domain English translations, by R. E. Hume (1921) and F. Max Müller (1879), sit beside our own plain explanation of each verse. The Sanskrit is printed as in an 1893 Bombay edition, except two words (verses 3 and 5) that follow the wording of today's printings, which a 1925 printing also has; the 1893 reading is listed under those verses. In many printings the Upanishad opens and closes with the peace chant "pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idam", which the 1893 edition prints before and after it but does not number as a verse.

Explanation written for this site and checked against the cited edition. Free to quote with credit.

How to say it

Sanskrit is spoken as written: every vowel is sounded, including a final short "a", and long vowels (ā, ī, ū) are held about twice as long as short ones. The IAST line shows every sound. Where the 1893 printing has the Yajurveda's own nasal sign (in idaṃ, śataṃ, ubhayaṃ and others), we show the ordinary anusvara (ṃ).

Related

Source and licence

Dated witness
Īśādidaśopaniṣatsaṃgrahaḥ (ईशादिदशोपनिषत्संग्रहः): the ten principal Upanishads (Isha, Kena, Katha, Prashna, Mundaka, Mandukya, Taittiriya, Aitareya, Chandogya, Brihadaranyaka) and the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, Sanskrit text (Nirnaya Sagar Press, Bombay, 1893). Public domain. Used only to date the text. The Devanagari on this page is a reading text and is not copied from this printing.
Translation
The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, translated from the Sanskrit with an outline of the philosophy of the Upanishads and an annotated bibliography, by Robert Ernest Hume (Robert Ernest Hume, Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, London, 1921). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
Translation
The Upanishads, Part I, translated by F. Max Müller (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. I) (F. Max Müller, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1879). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
Commentary
The Îsavâsyopanishad, translated into English with the commentaries of Sri Sankaracharya and Sri Anantacharya and notes from the tikas of Anandagiri, Uvatacharya, Sankarananda, Ramchandra Pandit and Anandabhatta, by Srisa Chandra Vasu (Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, Tookaram Tatya, 1896) (Public-domain scan on archive.org (the item name mentions Adyar)). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.
Our explanation
Explanation written for this site from the sources listed here, and checked against the cited edition. It is not a translation and not the only way to read the text. Free to quote with credit.
Checked
Checked against the cited edition, October 15, 2026.

Sources and licences

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