Mundaka 2.2.1 Trans & Comms

mahatpadamatraitat samarpitam. ejatprāṇannimiṣacca yadetajjānatha sadasadvareṇyaṁ paraṁ vijñānādyadvariṣṭhaṁ prajānām. (2.2.1) 

āviḥ – self-shining; sannihitam – very near; guhācaram – manifests always in the buddhi; nāma – well known; mahatpadam – the most exalted; ejat – moves; prāṇat – is alive; ca – and; nimiṣat – that closes (and opens) the eyes; yad etat – all these; atra – here; samarpitam – are placed; sad-asat – with form and without form; variṣṭham – free from all limitations; vareṇyam – the most worshipful; yat – which; vijñānāt – from perception and inference; param – beyond; prajānām – of all beings; jānatha – may you know; etat – this

Brahman is self-shining, very near and always manifests in the buddhi. It is the most exalted goal. (Anything) which moves, is alive, that closes and opens eyes—all these here are placed in this Brahman. It is with and without form, free from any limitation and most worshipful. It is beyond the perception and inference of all beings. May you know this Brahman.

Śaṅkara gives here the analogy of spokes on the hub of a chariot’s wheel to point out how everything has its being in Brahman. Without the hub the spokes have no being. Similarly, everything is placed in this Brahman alone. The hub and the spokes enjoy the same order of reality. The example, therefore, has a limited scope and is meant only to show that the hub supports all the spokes. These factors have their being in the hub of Brahman. It is not a hub of activity; it is a hub of placement.

The first step in recognising the vastu is to know that one is not the upādhi. The next step is to see that one is not enclosed in the upādhi. The final step is to know oneself as the one in whom all the upādhis are placed.

Any knowledge is gained by the senses and mind through perception and inference, and whatever knowledge is gained by a person through these means is aparā-vidyā. The knowledge of Brahman, on the other hand, is parā-vidyā which is not available for perception and inference. Brahman does not require the mind and senses to reveal itself because it is self-evident and reveals everything else.

~Dayananda

Bright, existing very close, known as moving in the cavity of the heart; great and the support of all; in Him is all the universe centred round; what moves, breathes and winks. Know it, which is both with form and without form, the most adorable, the highest of beings, the One beyond the understanding of creatures.

Bright – Consciousness is considered to be bright in the sense it is the light that illumines for us our thoughts and ideas.

Moving in the cavity of the heart – In the love-heart is the cave of intellect in which intelligence resides; and according to the language of Vedānta, Ᾱtman or the Spirit is the central light in the intelligence. The Consciousness is to be realised in the intelligence when it is integrated completely through a harmonious process of balanced development of both the head and the heart.

~Chinmayananda

THE LUMINOUS BRAHMAN dwells in the cave of the heart and is known to move there. It is the great support of all; for in It is centred everything that moves, breathes, and blinks. O disciples, know that to be your Self-that which is both gross and subtle, which is adorable, supreme, and beyond the understanding of creatures.

Brahman is without any form. How, then, can It be known? The Upanishad describes the method of Its realization: All things perceived in the universe are effects and therefore limited. They are dependent upon something else, which is their cause. Brahman is the cause and support of everything, gross and subtle, and also of maya. That Brahman, again, is the inmost Self of all and the illuminer of their mental states.

~Nikhilananda

Mundaka 2.2.2 Trans & Comms

yadarcimadyadaṇubhyo’ṇu ca yasmim̐llokā nihitā lokinaśca. tadetadakṣaraṁ brahma sa prāṇastadu vāṅmanaḥ tadetat satyaṁ tadamṛtaṁ tadveddhavyaṁ somya viddhi. (2.2.2)

tad – that; etad – this; akṣaraṁ-brahma – is Brahman; yad – which; arcimat – is shining; yad – which; aṇubhyaḥ aṇuḥ – subtler than the subtlest; ca – and; yasmin – in which; lokāḥ – the worlds; ca – and; lokinaḥ – the indwellers of the worlds; nihitāḥ – have their being; saḥ – that; prāṇaḥ – is prāṇa; tad – that; u – indeed; vāṅmanaḥ – is speech and mind; tad etat – that Brahman; satyam – is truth; tad – that; amṛtam – is immortal; tad – that; veddhavyam – has to be understood by you; somya – O pleasing one; viddhi – may you know it 

That Brahman is shining, is subtler than the subtlest, and all the worlds and their indwellers have their being in it. That is prāṇa. That is speech and mind. That Brahman alone is the truth. That is immortal. That has to be understood. O pleasing one! May you know that.

One need not put all the names and forms into a melting pot and make an advitīya, a non-dual, stew to understand Brahman. The subject is Brahman, the object also is Brahman, the relationship between them is Brahman and the order that brings the relationship into existence is also Brahman. This is what we call non-dual. It is cognitive. One knows the differences, one sees them, and yet makes them disappear.

Tad amṛtam, tad veddhavyam: that is free from death, and has to be targeted by one. That should be the lakṣya, the goal for everyone. When you send an arrow, it is meant to hit the target. Similarly, any meditation or ritual that you do is indirectly for gaining Brahman alone. For a karma-yogin as well as a sannyāsin the end is Brahman. If you do not understand the teaching, you can meditate in order to get the mind ready. Somya viddhi: O pleasing one, may you know it.

~Dayananda

Luminous, subtler than even the subtlest, that imperishable Brahman alone is the abode of the world and all its inhabitants. He is life, speech, mind, reality and immortality. That is the mark (goal) which should be penetrated by the mind. Penetrate It, O my friend!

In Vedānta, mind and intellect are considered to be one and the same stuff and it has different names, only to indicate its different functions. With the intellect to discriminate and separate the dead matter from the dynamic Spirit, is the Vedānta sādhanā for the intellect, which is fulfilled only when we seek and establish our identity with the Spirit which is all-pervading, all-perfect and all-full. This is the method of Vedānta meditation – know, feel, expand and realise.

~Chinmayanda

That which is radiant, subtler than the subtle, That by which all the worlds and their inhabitants are supported-That, verily, is the indestructible Brahman; That is the prana, speech, and the mind; That is the True and That is the Immortal. That alone is to be struck. Strike It, my good friend. 

TO BE STRUCK: That is to say, to be known by the mind. STRIKE: That is to say, concentrate your mind on Brahman. 

~Nikhilananda

Mundaka 2.2.3 Trans & Comms

धनुः – bow; गृहीत्वा – having taken; औपनिषदं – furnished by Upaniṣads; महास्त्रम् – the great weapon; शरं – arrow; हि – indeed; उपासानिशितं – sharpened by japa; सन्धयीत – must be fixed; आयम्य – having drawn; तद्भावगतेन – fixed on Brahman; चेतसा – with mind; लक्ष्यं – the mark, goal (Brahman); तत् – that; एव – alone; अक्षरं – immortal Brahman; सोम्य – O! friend; विद्धि – penetrate (learn)

Having taken the great weapon – the bow – furnished by the Upaniṣads and fixed in it the arrow rendered pointed by constant meditation; and having drawn it with the mind fixed on the Brahman, O good looking youth! Penetrate that mark – the immortal Brahman.

In these two inimitable mantras we have one of the many examples in Hindu philosophy where poetry and thought are wedded together. Literary art, nowhere in the world, has so far outshone as it is here; for here, we have an example of exquisite rhythm, choicest words, pregnant suggestions, endless significances and the most striking picture, all brought to work in the sevā (service) of the philosophy at its best. In these two mantras we have the entire sādhanā according to Vedānta explained to exhaustion. No wonder then, we observe this stanza at the lips of every Master, at the tip of the pen of every writer and, in the throat of every speaker!!

The method of penetrating the Truth centre in us with our mind, is the theme of these two mantras for which no better metaphor could have been employed than that of bow and arrow. The bow here is the chanting of ‘Om’ with a knowledge of the significance of ‘Om’. The arrow is the life centre in the individual. The awareness in us, propelled by the motive force generated in voiceless ecstasy, during the thoughtless meditation, ‘flies’ to touch total Awareness, the Brahman, the all-pervading Reality.

~Chinmayananda

dhanurgṛhītvaupaniṣadaṁ mahāstraṁ śaraṁ hyupāsāniśitaṁ sandhayīta. āyamya tadbhāvagatena cetasā lakṣyaṁ tadevākṣaraṁ somya viddhi. (2.2.3)

dhanuḥ – bow; gṛhītvā – taking; aupaniṣadam – that which obtains in the upaniṣads; mahāstram – the great weapon; śaram – arrow; hi – indeed; upāsā-niśitam – sharpened by meditation; sandhayīta – fix; āyamya – pulling the string of the bow; tadbhāvagatena – committed to the meaning of Om; cetasā – with the mind; lakṣyam – the target; tad – that; eva – only; akṣaram – Brahman; somya – O pleasing one; viddhi – strike O pleasing one! 

May you take the great bow of Om that is revealed in the upaniṣads and fix the arrow of mind that is sharpened by meditation. Then may you strike the target of Brahman with a mind that is committed to the meaning of Om by pulling the string of the bow.

~Dayananda

Take the Upanishad as the bow, the great weapon, and place upon it the arrow sharpened by meditation. Then, having drawn it back with a mind directed to the thought of Brahman, strike that mark, 0 my good friend-that which is the Imperishable. 

By contemplating the meaning of Orn and repeating the sound, the aspirant realizes his self to be the reflection of Brahman. The meditation on the atman as such is denoted by the placing of the arrow upon the bow. The realization that the reB.ected consciousness is identical with Pure Consciousness is described as striking the mark. Beginners are advised to meditate on Brahman through the symbol Om.

~Nikhilananda

Mundaka 2.2.4 Trans & Comms

प्रणवः – the praṇava; धनुः – bow; शरः – arrow; हि – indeed; आत्मा – Ᾱtman; ब्रह्म – Brahman; तत् – that; लक्ष्यम् – the goal, mark; उच्यते – is said to be; अप्रमत्तेन – steady and undeflected; वेद्धव्यं – should be hit; शरवत् – like the arrow; तन्मयः –one with the mark; भवेत् – should become

The praṇava is the bow, the Ᾱtman is the arrow and the Brahman is said to be its mark (goal). It should be hit by one, who is self-collected and that which hits becomes, like the arrow, one with the mark meaning Brahman.

Here, the picture is more than significant to one who contemplates over it. When the arrow is fixed to the bow and pulled towards us, though the arrow is facing outward, the bow string bends itself to represent an arrow head turned towards ourselves. Thus the ‘Om’ chanting is to be done in the heart and its significances are to be meditated upon and experienced in the inner most vaults of our personality. When the string is strung to the maximum, the bow-man is only to relax his firm grip on the arrow – the Self – and the flight of the instrument pointing through the space is automatic, immediate and instantaneous. Having reached its goal, the bulls-eye, the Brahman, the Śruti says that the individual Self merges with the total Self to become one with it.

~Chinmayananda

praṇavo dhanuḥ śaro hyātmā brahma tallakṣyamucyate. apramattena veddhavyaṁ śaravat tanmayo bhavet. (2.2.4) 

praṇavaḥ – oṁkāra; dhanuḥ – is the bow; ātmā – the self; hi – indeed; śaraḥ – the arrow; brahma – Brahman; tallakṣyam – its target (implied meaning); ucyate – is said; apramattena – without indifference; veddhavyam – has to be understood; śaravat – like the arrow; tanmayaḥ – one with that (Brahman); bhavet – one should become 

Oṁkāra is the bow, ātman indeed is the arrow and Brahman is said to be its target. It must be known without indifference. One should become one with that Brahman, like the arrow (with the target).

The meaning of Om is consciousness that is invariable in all thoughts. It is something you can straightaway see. Every thought that occurs in the mind has to be recognised as Brahman. Then the thought really loses its virulence, and your vision is only in Brahman, which is you.

Śaravat tanmayo bhavet: may one become one with the target like an arrow. Just as an arrow that strikes the target becomes one with the target and no longer remains separate, similarly may one become brahma-niṣṭha. May one recognise oneself as Brahman. May one not have any doubt whatsoever with respect to this fact. Śaṅkara says, “By giving up the notion of ‘I’ in the physical body, may one have clear knowledge of oneness with Brahman, which is the implied meaning of Om.”

~Dayananda

Om is the bow; the atman is the arrow; Brahman is said to be the mark. It is to be struck by an undistracted mind. Then the atman becomes one with Brahman, as the arrow with the target. 

OM IS THE BOW: As the bow is the cause of the arrow's entering into the target, so Om is the cause of the atman's entering into Brahman. The atman becomes purified through the constant repetition of Om, and then with the support of this mystic syllable is absorbed in Brahman.

THE ATMAN: Here the word means the reflection of the Supreme Self, which is like the reflection of the sun in water. This is called the individual self, the cognizer of the different states of the mind. Like an arrow, it is discharged at the Supreme Self, the immortal Brahman. Therefore Brahman is said to be its mark.

BY AN UNDISTRACTED ETC: The mind of the aspirant should be free from restlessness caused by longing for external objects. It should be detached from the world. Through a mind disciplined by self-control and concentration one can realize Brahman.

THEN THE ATMAN ETC: After reaching Brahman, the atrnan becomes one with It. Just as the goal of the arrow, after it has been discharged from the bow, is to be absorbed in the mark, so the goal of the atman is to become one with Brahman through the elimination of such erroneous ideas as are created by its identification with the body, the mind, and the senses.

~Nikhilananda

Notes:

Pranava - the primeval word; om; onkara. Vide om.

Om - the Word; the pranava; the Eternal. All words are said to be but various forms of the one sound, om, according to the Upanisads. It represents the divine and the power of God. It is the sound-symbol for the ultimate Reality.

Aparoksanubhuti TOC

 

Aparoksanubhuti 2025

• Apararok
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 16: knower, witness
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 17/21: Atman is
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 22-24: sea of satcitananda
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 25-28: real knowledge
• Talking Aparoksanubhuti 25-28: rock opera
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 31,2,3,9,&40: supreme I
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 43-45: Brahman only
• Talking Aparoksanubhuti 43-45: ignorance of the rope
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 49-51: born of Brahman
• Talking Aparoksanubhuti 49-51: from The Aparok Opera Experience
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 52-54: no second
• Talking Aparoksanubhuti 52-54: body, ego, god, and dna
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 56-58: the real seer
• Talks on Aparoksanubhuti 104-124 (work in progress)
• 
  

Turiyam, Turiyam

In Samsara, there is doing and not doing.

In Isvara is nondoing.

Turiyam.

Brahman is consciousness-existence.

Maya is the sword of Brahman.

Turiyam.







~rj35

Jijnasu Zen of Both and Neither

Consciousness-existence is the silver screen.

The mind is the movie. To be or not to be?

Am I the movie or the movie screen?

~rj34

Vidya

1. In the Beginningless Beginning

Our conditioning turns original vidya into avidya.

Living in avidya is this material world.

Believing 'vidya in avidya' is really vidya is a darker place than just believing in avidya itself.

2. Vidya in Avidya

Vidya in avidya is a divine vehicle of deconstruction.

Like any kind of mass transportation, there's a time to get off. 

If nihilism isn't your destination.

3. Aumdada Says to Kabir, Isa 9-11

Vidya in vidya is satcitananda.

Vidya in vidya is nameless and formless.

Aum

~sr17

Isa TOC

• • • Isavasya 1 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 2 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 3 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 4 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 5 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 6 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 7 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 8 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 9 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 10 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 11 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 12 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 13 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 14 Translation Fantasia
    • Isvayasa 15 Translation Fantasia
    • Isvayasa 16 Translation Fantasia
    • Isvayasa 17 Translation Fantasia
    • Isavasya 18 Translation Fantasia
    • A. Chinmayananda on Isa Structure
    • B. Isa Selected Translation
    • C. Best Isa Upanishad Translations
    • D. An Isa Transcreation (wip)
    • E. Transcreating Isa 1, 4-8

Suite Turiyam

1. Dark Side of the Sun (a)

Consciousness-existence transcends space-time. 

It is one without a second and a second in no time.

It doesn't have a reason. It transcends all rhyme.

2. Dark Side of the Sun (b)

I am of that order of the principle of existence. 

I know the ground of consciousness like the back of my mind.

I am here transcending space. I am right now beyond time.

3. Song of Isvara

Brahman lives at the crossroads of Saguna and Nirguna.

That Great Square where the power of Maya veils and unveils!

This is where the Gita and Mandukya coexist. Om.

4. Seasons

Memories are like dreams remembered.

The Fourth of July. The Fifth of November.

This blessed eve of meteorological spring.

5. To Turiyam

The Quantum Controller of Maya is Isvara. Isvara is the God of Universal Consciousness! Turiyam is the Godhead. Aum.

~sr16

Song of Isvara

Brahman lives at the crossroads of Saguna and Nirguna.

That Great Square where the power of Maya veils and unveils!

This is where the Gita and Mandukya coexist. Om.

~rj33

In the Dark Side of the Sun

1.

Consciousness-existence transcends space-time. 

It is one without a second and a second with no time.

It doesn't have a reason. It transcends all rhyme.

2.

I am of that order of the principle of existence. 

I know the ground of consciousness like the back of my mind.

I am here transcending space. I am right now beyond time.

~rj32

Mandukya 2025 TOC

Mandukya 2025 TOC

• Mandukya, Karika & Bhashya by Nikhilananda (via Wisdom Library)
• My Favorite Advaitic English Translations of the Mandukya Upanishad with Gaudapada's Karika for 2025
• My Mandukya Paraverse
• --- TOC Mandukya & Karika 1 (from Chinmaya Sandeepany
• Talks on Mandukya 2-6
• Mandukya 7 word by word
• 11 Translations of Mandukya 7
• My Mandukya 7
• Talks on Mandukya 7
• Talks on MK1.11-15
• Talking Realization: Transcreating Gaudapada's MK 1.15-18
• Mandukya 9-11 Aum Associations Chart
• Mandukya 12 Word-by-word, Translations & Commentaries
• Talks on Mandukya 12
• The Perfect Name: Aum is the Lower and Higher Brahman: Translation and Commentaries on K1.26
• Talks on K1.24-29
• --- TOC Karika 2 Vaitathya Prakarana (from Chinmaya Sandeepany)
• Talks on Mandukya K2.1-6: Dreaming Up a Waking State
• The Famous MK2.12: Some Translations & Commentaries
• Mandukya K2:12 Medley
• Talks on Mandukya K2.12: atmanatmanam-atma
• MK2.16 (&17,18): Translations & Commentaries
• Mandukya K2.16 Medley
• Short Talks on Mandukya K2.16: kalpayate purvam
• Mandukya K2.32: This is the highest Truth (Iti esa paramarthata)
• Talks on K2.32: na vai mukta
• Mandukya K2.33: Non-duality is auspicious (Advayata siva)
• MK2.35-38: Shankara's Commentary on Gaudapada's Method of Sadhana
• Talks on MK2.35-38: tattvam
• --- TOC Karika 3 Advaita Prakarana (from Chinmaya Sandeepany)
• Some Commentary and Translations on and of MK3.1-2
• Talks on Mandukya K3.3-9: akasa
• Talking about Talks on MK3.3-9
• Some Commentaries on and Translations of MK3.19-22 re: Immortality
• Talks on Mandukya K3.19-22: aja
• Translations and Commentaries on MK3.23-26 re: sama sruti
• Translations & Commentaries on K3.27-28 re: sato / asato
• Talks on MK3.27-28: sato
• Translations & Commentaries on K3.29-33: ajenajaṁ
• Talks on MK3.29-33: amani-bhava
• Translations & Commentaries on K3.34-39: asparsa
• Talks on MK3.34-38: asparsa
• Translation & Commentaries on MK3.48: uttamam satyam
• Talks on MK3.48: uttamam
• --- TOC Karika 4 Alaata-Shanti Prakarana “Quenching the Firebrand" (from Chinmaya Sandeepany)
• Chinmayananda on Mandukya Karika 4
• Translations & Commentaries on MK4.42-46
• Talks on MK4.42-46: na patanti viparyaye
• Translation & Commentaries on MK4.47-52: alata spanditam
• Talks on MK4.47-52: the firebrand
• Translations & Commentaries on MK4.82-86
• Talks on MK4.82-86: the sage abides
• Translations & Commentaries K4.91-95
• Talks on MK4.91-95: sarve dharmah
• Translations & Commentaries MK4.96-100
• Short Talks on MK4.99-100
• Project Mandukya 2025 Afterword: Two Gaudapadas and a Buddhist Elephant

Dayananda on Jijnasu & Jnani (BG7:16)

caturvidhā bhajante māṁ janāḥ sukṛtino’rjuna ārto jijñāsurarthārthī jñānī ca bharatarṣabha (16)

caturvidhāḥ – four-fold; janāḥ – people; sukṛtinaḥ – who do good actions; mām – me; bhajante – worship; arjuna – O Arjuna!; ārtaḥ – the one in distress; arthārthī – the one who seeks security and pleasure; jijñāsuḥ – the one who desires to know; ca – and; jñānī – the one who knows; bharatarṣabha – O the foremost in the clan of Bharata! 

Arjuna, the foremost in the clan of Bharata! People given to good actions, who worship me are four-fold–the distressed, the seeker of security and pleasure, the one who desires to know (me), and the one who knows (me).

The jijñāsu is not invoking Īśvara’s grace for simple accomplishments. He wants to know the truth of Īśvara, the ultimate cause of everything. And this jijñāsu is a great devotee. He does not use Bhagavān as an accomplice for his small pursuits. He wants to know who is Īśvara and as a bhakta he invokes Īśvara’s grace for this.

Knowledge of Īśvara is nothing but knowledge of ātmā. Īśvara, the cause of everything, happens to be in essence, oneself. If Īśvara were other than ātmā, he would be anātmā, and therefore, inert. The only conscious being is ātmā, and Īśvara is not separate from it.

This seeming difference between Īśvara and the individual is due to upādhi, as we have seen. There is only one reality which the jijñāsu wants to know. He is a devotee because he seeks the help of Īśvara and performs prayerful actions to earn this help.

When one is a jijñāsu one necessarily becomes a jñānī, the one who knows the truth of Lord Viṣṇu, Parameśvara, as oneself. Such a person is a real bhakta.

The jñānī’s devotion is what we call sādhya-bhakti. There are two types of bhakti. One is sādhana-bhakti, a devotion to Īśvara as a means. This is the devotion of a jijñāsu. But the bhakti of one who understands Īśvara, who recognises the truth of Īśvara as ātmā, is sādhya-bhakti. It is a bhakti that has fulfilled itself in the form of parama-prema-svarūpa-bhakti, absolute love.

This is the devotion of a jñānī. For him, the bhakti has fulfilled itself. So, how can we call him a bhakta? He is still a bhakta if we consider a bhakta as someone who is in union with Īśvara. For a jñānī, Īśvara is aparokṣa, immediate. It is the only difference, and it is a great difference. 

For a jijñāsu, however, there is a possibility of Īśvara becoming aparokṣa and for the jñānī, he is aparokṣa because Īśvara, the cause of everything, is non-separate from ātmā. Even though Īśvara is the ātmā of everyone, it is only the jñānī who appreciates it. Only he has an intellect subtle enough to recognise what is true for everyone. And the jñānī is distinguished here among the bhaktas as a fulfilled bhakta. The jijñāsu is going to be fulfilled.

Bhakti, devotion, is any type of union between jīva and Īśvara. By a proper action or even a thought you are uniting yourself to Īśvara. But jñānī does not try to make a bridge between jīva and Īśvara. Gaining the knowledge, he finds that he is always united. There is only one thing–Īśvara, that is ātmā. There is no second thing at all to unite with. So, he is nitya-yukta, always united.

There are four kinds of virtuous men who worship me, Arjuna: the man in distress, the man who seeks power, the man who seeks wisdom, and the sage. ~Bhagavad Gita 7:16 (tr-Stephen Mitchell)

Isavasya 1 Translation Fantasia

ishavasyam idam sarvam yat kincha jagatyaam jagat

tena tyaktena bhunjitha ma gridhah kasya svid dhanam.

ईशावास्यमिदगं् (ईशा-वास्यम्, ईशा-आवास्यमd) – indwelling or clothing of the Lord; [वास् – to dwell, वस – to clothe]; इदम्d – this; सर्वम् – all; यत्-किञ्च – whatever; जगत्याम् – in the universe; जगत् – moving world; तेन – by Him; त्यक्तेन – by abandonment, by that which is left; भुञ्जीथाः – (you) may enjoy; मा – do not; गृधः – covet; कस्य-स्वित् – whose, anybody’s; धनम् – wealth

That Supreme Being pervades everything here.

That which moves and That which does not move.

Therefore, let go and rejoice!

Whose wealth is this anyway?

The Upanishad says, ‘Ishavasyam idam sarvam’ – ‘that Supreme Being pervades everything here.’ Yat kincha jagatyam jagat – ‘That which moves and That which does not move.’ Actually, the word jagat, which we call the world, comes from the root, ‘to move.’ Tena tyaktena bhunjitha – ‘therefore, let go and rejoice! Let go!’ Don’t get caught up in this circus. Let go and enjoy yourself – rejoice! Ma gridhah kasya svid dhanam – Whose wealth is this anyway?

~Sri M

All this, whatsoever exists in the universe, should be covered by the Lord. Having renounced (the unreal), enjoy (the Real). Do not covet the wealth of any man.

The word "enjoy" is also interpreted by the great commentator Sankaracharya as "protect," because knowledge of our true Self is the greatest protector and sustainer.

~Paramananda

All this, whatever moves in this universe, including those that move not, is indwelt or pervaded or enveloped or clothed by the Lord. That renounced, thou shouldst enjoy. Covet not anybody’s wealth. 

The word vāsyam is a pregnant sound in Sanskrit with unlimited suggestiveness and innumerable meanings. It may be used to mean ‘to be clothed’, ‘to be worn as garment’, ‘to be inhabited’, ‘to be enveloped,’ or ‘to be pervaded.’ And here in this context, all these meanings are applicable. The great ṛṣi exclaims that ‘all this’ that we are perceiving through our sense organs or by the intervention of our mind and intellect – all this – is indwelt by the Spirit which is the Lord of the world of perception. 

‘That renounced’ (tena tyaktena) – This is the effective part, the technique to experience the Lord that ‘envelopes all this’ (īśāvāsyam idagṁ sarvam). Identified with the beauty of a sculpture, many a time, we fail to notice the material with which it is made. Very rarely are you recognising the paper on which these words are printed – you are seeing the ideas through the word meanings, and not the colour of the white paper. And yet, you know that these printed words are impossible to be read if the paper were black in colour! To see the colour of the paper is to ignore the words. To renounce the enchantments of and hunger for the names and forms is to recognise the Lord, the Infinite. ~

~Chinmayananda

ALL THIS-whatever exists in this changing universe-should be covered by the Lord. Protect the Self by renunciation. Lust not after any man's wealth. 

This universe, from the standpoint of Absolute Reality, is nothing but the Lord. That it is perceived as a material entity is due to ignorance. One should view the universe, through the knowledge of nonduality, as Atman alone.

~Nikhilananda

Everthing in this ever-changing universe is pervaded by that Supreme Being. Surrender up your world. Be supported by that understanding. Don't seek after material wealth.

All is Brahman. Let go of thinking otherwise. Take refuge in that truth alone. The material world has nothing more to offer.

~Isa Upanishad 1 (transcreated by [tx] aumdada)

Isavasya 2 Translation Fantasia

kurvanneveha karmāṇi jijīviṣecchatagṁsamāḥ, 

evaṁ tvayi nānyatheto’sti na karma lipyate nare.

कुर्वन् – performing; एव् – alone; इह – here (in this world); कर्माणि – work, deeds; जिजीविषेत् – should desire to live; शतग्ं – a hundred; समाः – years; एवम् – thus; त्वयि (सति) – while you are; न – not; अन्यथा – the other; इतः – for; अस्ति – is; न – not; कर्म – deed; लिप्यते – is attached; नरे – in the man

Performing verily, work in this world one should desire to live a full hundred years. This alone is right, for there is no other right path. Action never clings to a man of this temperament.

The Masters of the scriptures declare that if any given individual generation of a given period of history has not the required tendency of unaction to pursue the path of knowledge as described in the previous stanza, they should immediately take to a dynamic and conscious programme of activity, and should steadily walk the path of action. Here, the second stanza is dedicated to extol the path of karma.

In case you are not able to live the life of God-vision achieved through renunciation, then have certainly the desire to live a full hundred years of productive, selfless work.

~Chinmayananda

If a man wishes to live a hundred years on this earth, he should live performing action. For you, who cherish such a desire and regard yourself as a man, there is no other way by which you can keep work from clinging to you.

A person attached to his human body and desirous of enjoying on earth his full span of life should devote himself to religious duties and other unselfish actions; if not, he will engage in evil action. It is clear that this verse does not apply to the illumined person, who is not attached to material things and is indifferent about the length of his life. According to Sankara the discipline of Self-Knowledge and the way of worldly enjoyment are totally incompatible. A sannyasin, seeking Self-Knowledge, is indifferent to both life and death.

~Nikhilananda

If one should desire to live in this world a hundred years, one should live performing Karma (righteous deeds). Thus thou mayest live; there is no other way. By doing this, Karma (the fruits of thy actions) will not defile thee. 

If a man still clings to long life and earthly possessions, and is therefore unable to follow the path of Self-knowledge (Gnana-Nishta) as prescribed in the first Mantram (text), then he may follow the path of right action (Karma-Nishta). Karma here means actions performed without selfish motive, for the sake of the Lord alone.

~Paramananda

In this world, perform your rightful work as a means to no end but living out your allotted hundred years or so. No other way exists where actions do not tie a person down.

While in this world, practice karma yoga, even if it takes 100 years. To do so otherwise binds you to a figment of imagination.

~Isa Upanishad 2 (tx-aumdada)

Isavasya 3 Translation Fantasia

asuryā nāma te lokā andhena tamasāvṛtāḥ, tāgṁste pretyābhigacchanti ye ke cātmahano janāḥ. 

असुर्याः – demoniac, sunless; नाम – really; ते – those; लोकाः – people (lit. world); अन्धेन तमसा – by blinding darkness (gloom); आवृता – covered; ताग्म् – to those; ते – they; प्रेत्य – after death; अभिगच्छन्ति – go to; ये के च – whosoever; आत्म-हनः – killers of the Self; जनाः – people

Sunless are those worlds, and enveloped in blinding gloom to which all those people who are slayers of their own souls go, departing from here.

Now a doubt may arise as to what would be the destiny of those who are not following either the path of meditation or the path of action? What would happen to them and their pilgrimage, is explained in this particular stanza. The Upaniṣad Master declares that having been born as a man, an individual (or society or community or nation) who refuses to live either the ‘life of meditation’ or ‘the life of intense and continuous activity’, is to be considered as committing suicide. Such a nation must necessarily come to fall into an abyss of darkness and despair. The individual (or the community) should thereafter, certainly, come to experience a terrible fall in its cultural and spiritual eminence.

~Chinmayananda

After leaving their bodies, they who have killed the Self go to the worlds of the Asuras, covered with blinding ignorance.

What does it mean "to kill the Self?" How can the immortal Soul ever be destroyed? It cannot be destroyed, it can only be obscured. Those who hold themselves under the sway of ignorance, who serve the flesh and neglect the Atman or the real Self, are not able to perceive the effulgent and indestructible nature of their Soul; hence they fall into the realm where the Soul light does not shine. Here the Upanishad shows that the only hell is absence of knowledge.

~Paramananda

Those worlds blinded by the cover of deep ignorance are named sunless. These killers of the Self reach for such a place of death.

~Isa Upanishad 3 (tx-aumdada)

Isavasya 4 Translation Fantasia

anejad ekam manaso javiyo nainad deva apnuvan purvam arshat

tad dhavato nyan atyeti tishthat tasminn apo matarishva dadhati

अनेजत् – unmoving; एकम् – One; मनसः – than the mind; जवीयः – swifter; न – not; एनत् – this; देवाः – gods; आप्नुवन् – reached, overtake; पूर्वम् – before; अर्षत् – ran; तत् – it; धावतः – running; अन्यान् – others; अत्येति – overtakes; तिष्ठत् – staying; तस्मिन् – in it; अपः – activities (lit. water – here figuratively used for action); मातरिश्वा – wind; दधाति– supports or allots

The Self is the motionless one, swifter than the mind. The devas (senses) could not overtake it; It ran before them. Sitting, It goes faster than those who run after It. By It, Mātariṣvā (the element Air) supports the activity of all living beings.

From this stanza onwards we have, in four continuous mantras, the description of the Supreme indicated in terms of Its qualities, and these stanzas together is one vākya. Though the Eternal has no quality of Its own, and since language can explain only in terms of guṇas or experiences, the qualities of the Self indicated here are not to be taken literally. 

The Upaniṣad asserts that the Self is swifter than the mind. By denying motion, it is not denying the speed which is its rate of motion. The mind is the fastest thing in the universe. But the Self runs faster, because the Reality in the form of ‘existence’ is already there, before the mind could reach the spot of its contemplation.

~Chinmayananda

That One, though motionless, is swifter than the mind. The senses can never overtake It, for It ever goes before. Though immovable, It travels faster than those who run. By It the all-pervading air sustains all living beings.

This verse explains the character of the Atman or Self. A finite object can be taken from one place and put in another, but it can only occupy one space at a time. The Atman, however, is present everywhere; hence, though one may run with the greatest swiftness to overtake It, already It is there before him.

~Paramananda

Anejad means, ‘that which does not move.’ In other words, ‘that Supreme Self does not move’. It is that which is unmoving.

Ekam – ‘One’

Manaso javiyo – ‘Even faster and swifter than the mind.’ If that ‘One’ is faster and swifter than the mind, there is no way that the mind can find It.

Nainad deva apnuvan purvam arshat – ‘There is no way that the senses can ever reach It.’

Tad dhavato nyan atyeti tishthat tasminn apo matarishva dadhati ‘By itself It stands still. It out-strips those who run to reach for It. In It, the all-pervading air or energy – prana, supports the activities of all beings.’ 

~Sri M

That non-dual Atman, though never stirring, is swifter than the mind. The devas (the senses) cannot reach It, for It moves ever in front. Though standing still, It overtakes others who are running. Because of Atman, Vayu (the World Soul) apportions the activities of all.

VAYU: The first cosmic manifestation of the Absolute in the relative universe, also known by such epithets as the World Soul, Hiranyagarbha, and Prana. It sustains the whole universe by apportioning to everyone his function. But the World Soul can exercise its lordship because Atman is its inner Self. Without Atman even the highest cosmic entity becomes powerless and ceases to exist.

~Nikhilananda

Unmoving, nondual, faster than the mind, unreachable by divine senses, surpassing those who chase after despite Its staying still, by That the life force of fire and air supports the activities of all beings.

~Isa Upanishad 4 (tx-aumdada)

Isavasya 5 Translation Fantasia

tad ejati tan naijati tad dure tad vadantike tad 

antarasya sarvasya tad u sarvasyasya baahyatah.

तत् – It; एजति – moves; तत् – It; न – not; एजति – moves; तत् – It; दूरे – far; तत् – It; उ – verily; अन्तिके – near; तत् – It; अन्तः – inside; अस्य – of this; सर्वस्य – all; तत् – It; उ – verily; सर्वस्य – all; अस्य – this; बाह्यतः – outside

It moves and It moves not. It is far and also It is near. It is within and also It is without all this.

It is near to those who have the power to understand It, for It dwells in the heart of every one; but It seems far to those whose mind is covered by the clouds of sensuality and self-delusion. It is within, because It is the innermost Soul of all creatures; and It is without as the essence of the whole external universe, infilling it like the all-pervading ether.

~Paramananda

The Ᾱtman moves and It moves not; It is far and It is near; It is within all this, and It is also outside all this.

Pure Consciousness is homogeneous and all-pervading and, as such, the Self cognised here is the same as the Self experienced as revelling there. This idea is again more clearly brought out in the expression: It is within all this and It is without all this. Not only is the Ᾱtman the central core of the spirituo-physical personality in the seeker, but the same Consciousness is the very substratum for the entire perception of the universe. To consider this Self to be only within and thus to live a life of pure introversion is a negation of Truth.

~Chinmayananda

Tad ejati tan naijati tad dure tad vadantike – ‘It moves, yet it moves not. It is far and yet it is near.’ Tad antarasya sarvasya – ‘It is within all this.’ Tad u sarvasyasya baahyatah – ‘It is outside all this.’

The fifth shloka is a typical presentation that sounds very close to the Zen teachings. One of the important teachings of Zen is to make it clear that even the highest level of intellect, by itself, cannot find the Supreme Truth. This is not to discourage intelligence; we are differentiating here between intelligence and intellect. What the Upanishad is trying to say, what it is trying to do, is to put all our logical thinking into an arrangement that appears to be totally contradictory. That means, what we call cold logical thinking cannot be applied to the understanding of the Supreme Being.

~Sri M

That moves, That does not move; That is far off, That is very near; That is inside all this, and That is also outside all this.

That is inside; asya sarvasya, of all this- in accordance with the Vedic text: `The Self that is within all' (Br. III. iv. 1) -, of all this world consisting of name, form, and activity. Tat, That; u, also; sarvasya asya bahyatah, is outside all this, because It is all-pervasive like space; and It is inside, because It is extremely subtle. Besides, It is without interstices, (It is continuous), in accordance with the Vedic text: 'Pure intelligence alone' (Br. IV. v. 13).

~Shankara (tr-Gambhirananda)

That moves and That does not move. That is far and That is also near. That is within all this and That is also outside all this.

~Isa Upanishad 5 (tx-aumdada)