Isa Upanisad: With the Commentary of Sankaracarya (Shankaracharya)

This new edition of the Isa Upanisad has been thoroughly revised by the author himself. In the matter of printing, to facilitate things for the reader, more space is given between the translation of the text and the translation of the bhasya. In the references, where only the figures without the name of any book occur, they refer to the sloka of this particular Upanisad.

We are happy to place this edition of the Isa Upanisad in the hands of the readers—the fifth in the series to be published separately—taking each of them entirely from the author’s earlier two-volume edition, Eight Upanisads. This is to be followed by the Kena, the Katha, and the Taittiriya Upanisads, in that order. These four together constitute volume one of Eight Upanisads.

In the translation of the commentary, the words quoted from the text by Sri Sankaracarya are given in italics. These are followed by commas and the English equivalents. Informative explanatory footnotes have been added wherever necessary.

The Isa or Isavasya Upanisad derives its name from the very opening words of the first’s verse of this Upanisad. It occupies a pre-eminent position in the age-old spiritual tradition of India, inasmuch as it gets the first place in all collections and enumerations of the Upanisads. It is also known as the Samhitopanisad, since it is the only Upanisad that is found as an integral part of a Samhita, namely, the Vajasaneyisamhita. It forms the last chapter of the Sukla-yajurveda-samhita.

The spiritual message of this small Upanisad, having only eighteen verses, is as profound as it is all-comprehensive. It proclaims the divinity of man and nature – in fact, of all existence. It asserts that God is enveloping everything, nay more; God is in e very thing. In a sense, it can be stated that this Upanisad provides the fundamental theme of Vedantic thought.

We earnestly hope that the present edition of this very important Upanisad will be warmly received and welcome by all lovers of the Upanisadic lore.