Isha Upanishad
The Isha Upanishad is one of the shortest of the Upanishads . It belongs to the Mukhya Upanishads and was created between 500 and 100 BC. Chr.
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etymology
The term Isha-Upanishad , in Sanskrit ईशोपनिषद् - īśopaniṣad comes from the opening verse oṁ īśāvāsyam .
Isha (ईशा - īśā) means Lord or God ( Ishvara ); Isha is derived from the noun ईश - īś (owner, ruler, head) or from the verb of the same name (able to be able, to be able, to be able). The Indo-European root is * aik- and the Germanic root * aigana-, German proper and English. own.
Upanishad (उपनिषद् - upaniṣad) literally means to sit down in the vicinity ;
āvāsyam = directed, directed, controlled; surrounded, enveloped;
īśa = from the Lord, from God;
Īśāvāsyam thus means directed by God or surrounded by God .
Isha as a name for the supreme deity is also used in the Svetasvatara Upanishad, which dates from around 300 BC. Was created. The term Isha is used here for Rudra . In the Manusmrti , which around 200 BC The term Isha stands for a monistic, panentheistic Supreme Being.
description
Since the Isha-Upanishad is composed of only 17 or 18 verses, it is more like a poem than a philosophical treatise. In White Yajurveda (Shukla Yajurveda) it forms the 40th and final chapter (adhyāya). It has been preserved in two Shakhas , in the Kanva school as Vājasaneyi Samhita Kānva (VSK 40) and in the Madhyandina school as Vājasaneyi Samhita Madhyandina (VSM 40).
In the VSK version, the Isha Upanishad consists of a total of 18 verses, whereas in the VSM version only 17 are preserved. Verses 1 to 8 are identical in both versions. VSK verses 9 to 14 experience a reversal of the sequence in the VSM and correspond to VSM verses 12, 13, 14, 9, 10, 11. VSK verse 15 is only partially identical to VSM 17. VSK verse 16 missing in the VSM. VSK verses 17 and 18 are represented in the VSM by verses 15 and 16.
The verse numbering in the Isha Upanishad follows the verse arrangement in the VSK, ie IśUp 1–18 corresponds to VSK 40, 1–18.
The verse IśUp 18, which is missing in the VSM, is identical to verse 189, 1 of Mandala 1 of the Rigveda (RV 1, 189, 1) and represents an invocation of Agnis .
meaning
Paul Deussen (1908) groups the Isha-Upanishad together with the Kena-Upanishad , the Katha-Upanishad , the Svetasvatara-Upanishad and the Mundaka-Upanishad under the poetic Upanishads .
Like other core texts of Vedanta , the Isha-Upanishad is also regarded as a scripture of revelation ( Shruti ) by various traditions within Hinduism .
The meaning of the Isha Upanishad lies in its description of the nature of the Supreme Being , which implies a type of monism or monotheism called Isha or Lord . In verse 8 this being is called
" Non-embodied, omniscient, flawless, without veins, pure and immaculate "
described.
In verses 4 and 5 as
" Someone who moves and at the same time rests, who is very far away, but still very close, who moves faster than thinking, although he lingers in his resting place ."
content
Invocation
The invocation precedes the actual verse. It is:
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते।
पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते॥
oṁ pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaṁ
pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate
pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya
pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate
or in a translation that follows AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada :
" Oṁ. The personality of God is perfect and perfect. Since she is perfectly perfect, all of her emanations, like this phenomenal world, have also been perfectly created as a whole. Whatever is separated from the complete whole is in itself complete. Since the personality of God is a whole whole, it remains in perfect balance even after all these complete parts have been separated . "
Verse 1
The first verse is:
ॐ ईशा वास्यमिदँ सर्वं यत्किञ्च जगत्यां जगत्।
तेन त्यक्तेन भुञ्जीथाः मा गृधः कस्यस्विद्धनम् ॥१॥
oṁ īśā vāsyam idaṃ sarvaṃ ¦ yat kiñca jagatyāṃ jagat |
tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā ¦ mā gṛdhaḥ kasya sviddhanam ||
In the literal translation by Ralph TH Griffith from 1899:
" Oṁ. This universe must be enclosed by the Lord - as well as all things that move on this earth.
Having realized this, rejoice. But don't covet the wealth of others . "
For comparison, a newer translation based on AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada:
“ Everything in the universe is directed by the Lord, whether inanimate or animate. Therefore only accept things that are really yours and do not strive for the wealth of others (knowing full well who it belongs to) . "
Verse 1 is of particular importance to Vedanta and Hinduism as a whole. Gandhi valued him so much that he noticed:
" Even if all the Upanishads and all other scriptures were suddenly reduced to ashes and only the first verse of the Ishopanishad remained in the minds of the Hindus, Hinduism would be guaranteed to last forever ."
Swami Chinmayananda comments similarly :
“ The first verse of this incomparable Upanishad is in itself a miniature textbook on philosophy. In addition to its comprehensive presentation of the truth, it makes a living contribution to the knowledge of truth, in a language that is unparalleled in its philosophical beauty and literary perfection. His mantras are short lectures on philosophy and each one invites contemplation . "
Even Max Muller underlines the importance of the first verse. The use of the term Lord highlights the personal nature of God, which became the standard in the later bhakti movement . For the mystical Vedanta school, however, this is rather untypical, as it prefers abstract concepts such as Atman or Brahman . The word isha no longer appears in the rest of the text. Its appearance in the first verse is regarded as an indication of the relatively late date of origin of the Isha Upanishad within the Mukhya corpus.
In his commentary, Swami Chinmayananda notes that the 18 verses of the VSK review come in seven thought waves.
The first three verses represent three specific ways of life, verses 4 to 8 emphasize the knowledge of the truth, verses 9 to 14 reveal the path of devotion leading to purification, verses 15 to 17 contain the invitation of the Rishis to be aware of the divine nature of man and the final verse 18 contains a prayer to the Lord to empower all seekers to practice the teachings of the Upanishad in life.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ King, Richard and Ācārya, Gauḍapāda: Early Advaita Vedānta and Buddhism: the Mahāyāna context of the Gauḍapādīya-kārikā . SUNY Press, 1995, ISBN 978-0-7914-2513-8 , pp. 52 .
- ^ Arthur Anthony Macdonell: A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary, Motilal Banarsidass . 2004, ISBN 978-81-208-2000-5 , pp. 47 .
- ↑ Madhav Deshpande: Sense and Syntax in Vedic . Eds: Joel Brereton and Stephenie Jamison, Volumes 4-5. Brill, 1991, ISBN 978-90-04-09356-0 , pp. 23-27 .
- ^ Paul Deussen: The philosophy of the Upanishads . 1908.
- ^ Albrecht Weber: The History of Indian Literature . 1878, p. 103 .
- ↑ Easwaran, Eknath: The Upanishads, Translated for the Modern Reader . Nilgiri Press, 1987, pp. 205 .
- ↑ Chinmayananda, Swami: Isavasya Upanishad, Introduction .
- ↑ Chinmayananda, Swami: Isavasya Upanishad . S. 58-59 .