Ishavasya Upanishad Sloka1 | Translation and Interpretations | Upanishad Series

ईशावास्योपनिषद्

    Ishavasya Upanishad

Some things to remember:- This Upanishad is embedded as the final chapter of Shukla Yajur-Veda. 

It is one of the shortest. There are 18 slokas of Ishavasya Upanishad, considered as important as the 18 chapters of the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita. The meaning of the word "Isa" or "Isha" is "the Lord" or "the Master" or "the Ruler", and the word "vasya" is "to be covered".

So, the word "Ishavasya" literally means "To be pervaded by the Supreme".

The mantras of Ishavasya Upanishad are not to be used in the rituals because they are purely based upon the Brahma Jnana. They are not for praising anyone but to make one realise oneself.

Sloka 1 

ईशावास्यामिदं सर्व यत्किश्च जगत्यां जगत् ।

तेन त्यक्तेन भुञ्जीथा मा गृधः कस्यस्विद् धनम् ।।

Everything that is in motion is being covered or inhabited by the Supreme/creator! 

With that sense of renunciation, relish everything. 

Do not covet whoever's wealth!

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1) Everything is in motion. The air, the blood, the clouds, the thoughts, the planets, and the planet around whom other planets are revolving, and even the mountains are in motion. 

The whole cosmos is in motion. Though we are still determining where it is going or from where it began its journey. All we know is that it's in constant motion.

The motion also indicates imperfection. Perfect or ideal things never tend to be in motion because they are enough unto themselves.

Now the question is, "Is it possible for non-ideal things to reside inside an ideal box?"

A) If the answer is, "No" then I don't know how we could have infinite experiences of the universe. Because imperfection is a doorway towards the untouched and unknown. The unknown is the unexperienced experiences, and so people before us wasn't able to experience what it is like to stay in outer space, get high on LSDs(though they have other intoxication stuff), or work on a computer.

B) If the answer is, "Yes" then I am also a part of this cosmos. I, too reside in the 'ideal box' just like any of you. So, any answer given by anything that resides inside this 'ideal box' have to have an equal chance of being wrong! 

Thus, the conclusion; there are no 'perfect answers' as there are no 'perfect questions' to begin with.   

Why is it imperfect? 

The cosmos as a whole is perfect but when you look at the smaller picture, that's where the imperfection lies. 

A cosmos is like a portrait but we, as humans, are like a dot of a pixel. 

The nature of motion is to become better with the factors that seem to be absolute.

For example:- A container holding some water under the Sun. The Sun will set, for sure, but the time Sun will take to set is more than the time water will take to evaporate. So, for water, it is better to convert into a gaseous state than wait for the Sun to set. 

(For the water, the Sun's position felt ideal, though it will definitely set.)

Time is indeed a relative concept.

All religions agree on one thing when there was Nothing, He was.

He alone existed before any existence. 

If that's true then all whole of existence had to have come out of Him, and only Him. Or the Existence as a whole is none other than HIM. 

Whichever way he decided to do it, one thing is for sure, the creation holds the essence of the Creator.

That He has all the rights to do as he wishes to do. Existence is under His influence, under His control.

He covered the whole existence. And thus the Mantra says:-

"Everything which is in motion is inhabited by the creator!" 

Because if creation doesn't hold any essence of the Creator, we wouldn't be able to get so restless for the godliness, from time to time.

We felt him when we see a kid helping his parents, we felt him when we saw a brother taking care of his sister, we felt him when a stranger becomes our friend, we felt him when someone asks us, "Are you alright?".

We feel Him and that is enough for us to justify that He is here, He was there, and He is everywhere.

He inhabited the whole existence. I guess, even the astronauts prayed or praised Him when they saw our home planet from space for the very first time.

2) Our problem is that we associate the Creator with the good things and not with the bad things. For me, everything is in Him. The mud and the lotus may look different to us but the creator resides in both of them.

It will become a little hectic if I say that Creator resides in both of them, well let me rephrase my words, the mud and the lotus both reside in the Creator.

The Creator and the creation are one(it has too). Separate the Creator from the creation and the creation will not exist.

For the existence itself is the Creator(Creation depends upon the Creator and not vice-versa). When there was nothing, He was. So, everything has to have come out of the Creator. Thus, everything holds the essence of the Creator. 

Energy is just energy. You can either use it in a good way or a bad way. Consciousness is what we call Shiva. 

This is the nature of the cosmos. Shiva and Shakti. The consciousness and the energy.

Energy makes motion possible.

Feelings are a form of energy. Politicians, Terrorist organizations, and Bigoted religious leaders use words to disturb your inner Shiva. Thus, make you their own puppets.

(Here Bhagwan Shiva and Maa Shakti represent the consciousness and the Energy that reside in every particle of this cosmos. )

What is intelligence?

Bhagwan Shiva has a nature of disinterest in material life. Bhagwan has renounced everything. Bhagwan belongs to nothing and yet everything belongs to Him.

Similarly, doing something without letting it affect the very nature of your being is intelligence.

Without Maa Shakti, Bhagwan couldn't do anything. 

Energy makes things possible and Intelligence(consciousness) makes things meaningful.

For Example:- People with no intelligence(unconscious about their actions) tend to use energy in the most disastrous way by killing innocents for as stupid reasons as having different beliefs.

In this Upanishad, Adi Shankaracharya Ji is telling us to renounce the desires of this world by keeping in mind that the Creator is present everywhere and not get distracted by the accumulation of other people.

Most people are very much concerned about choosing the right religion, following the right path, going to the right worship places, etc.

This mantra is telling you that your Creator is omnipresent. Wherever you go, you'll find Him. 

Whichever side you fall on, you'll fall on Him and only Him. 

It is Him only in these different forms. 

There is no right path but there is certainly a right state after which you will become the lamp of your own life.

And that state is a state of Surrenderness. 

Let the worldly things be settled down in the world only. Let the noise of the outer world, stay out only. Be Shiva. 

Be untouched.

Be uninfluenced.

Reside in your own self, and know that the Creator resides in everything. 

The stones that people throw at you, the garland they put around your neck and the sword they use to take your life out; know this the Creator resides in all of them, equally.

"With that sense of renunciation, relish everything."

 

3) In reality, nothing belongs to anyone. There is no owner of anything. 

For a while, a thing will stay with you but it cannot stay with you forever. 

Nothing belongs to anyone.

It is all a matter of companionship for a while. Whether be it people, pets, or anything.

Wealth also has this nature. 

Wealth in any terms doesn't belong to anybody but it will stay with that person for a while before departing to accompany another person.

In other words, there are no owners of wealth. The law of money is such that you either take it from someone or lose it. 

Wealth acts just like a tug-of-war.

Actually, life itself is a tug-of-war. 

A tug of war between your immune system and bacteria and viruses. A tug-of-war between your country and your bad neighbour country. Jobs, authoritative positions, food, land, everything follows a simple law of Take or Loss. 

But there is also a thing that sits perfectly in between them and we call it "give".

The act of giving or donating is considered by all religions as a noble act because only when we give something to someone from our own hard-earned things, we do tend to get conscious about the sufferings of living beings.

Getting conscious about the suffering is enough to detach your mind from worldly desires.

The moment we become conscious of our helplessness, we began to lose interest in worldly pleasures but this state of mind only stays for a moment. Because our habitual thinking pattern kicks in to release the pleasure hormones.

The body will not accept any kind of uneasiness until and unless there is a motive or purpose behind it. 

But by the grace of a Guru, everything is possible. So, by the grace of Adi Shankaracharya Ji, we can overcome all the imaginary pits and the feeling of FOMO during our renunciation.

Don't be jealous of anyone for you know now that nothing belongs to anyone. 

"Do not covet whoever's wealth!"  

Namo Namah.