Upanișads are a vast storehouse of insightful spiritual knowledge and rank high in Indian literature. Profound philosophical principles, are embedded in them and to understand their hidden meaning is indeed a daunting pursuit. The texts are pleasingly composed in orderly poetry, but as in the case of the pharaon pyramid in Egypt, the enchantment of the structure belies the difficulty of probing the contents therein. The great ûcâryas had the intellectual and spiritual power to delve into the true significance of the Upanisads and the Bhâşyas they wrote lead us by the hand, as it were, into the hidden mysteries. These Bhâşyas are a valuable part of our heritage and they cannot be disseminated wide enough or often enough.
The Upanişad Project of the Academy is an attempt to provide a rigorous presentation of the vast stream of spiritual thought in the Upaniṣads, as interpreted in the Bhâşyas, through publications in Kannada, English and also in the original Sanskrit. The present edition gives the Sanskrit text. Along with the main text, the authoritative text of the Bhâşyas in the original Sanskrit, supplemented by the Academy's own commentary wherever necessary are also given. The commentaries presented herein belong to, or are allied with, the school of philosophy propounded by âcârya Ramanuja. It is our hope that by bringing together the main commentaries of the school in one volume, comparative research between different schools of interpretation of Upaniṣad will be facilitated.
Among the Upanisads, İšāvāsya ranks high, as it brings about a reconciliation between action and inaction, i.e., the path of pravṛtti and nivetti. It advises the individual to feel the existence of the supreme self in everything in this universe. Once a person realises the immanense of God in everything there is hardly any scope for hatred. Such realisation on the part of the individuals in society would promote complete harmony among them. There would then be no scope for selfishness. The Upanisad advises further that even worldly pleasures have to be enjoyed with a sense of detachment. While fulfilling one's needs one should take no more than what is needed. In that way all greed will be put an end to. Society inhabited by such individuals will be more stable, than others. Such are the results of the study and realisation of the teachings of this Upanişad.
The book opens with an introduction by Dr. S. M. S. Chari the eminent educationist and scholar in philosophy, who has authored several works on Visistadvaita. Vidwan S. N. C. Raghunathacharya, an outstanding traditional Sanskrit scholar in Visistadvaita and Vyakarana has contributed a detailed introduction in Sanskrit which enhances the value of this volume. We are sure readers would welcome these two scholarly introductions.
Vidwan S. N. C. Raghunathacharya has also painstakingly edited this volume. We are grateful to him and to Dr. S. M. S. Chari, and all the scholars who have assisted in preparation of this volume.
Further we are grateful to Government of India for their financial assistance for this publication.
Išavasyopaniṣad derives its name by the opening word Išāvāşyam.
According to this Upanisad everything in this universe is pervaded by the Supreme Brahman. Since the whole of this universe is His property, things in this universe should be used to the minimum extent possible, just to preserve one's own mortal coil. Over-utilisation of the resources of the world would result in depriving others from their legitimate requirements. Hence a person who utilises the resources beyond his basic needs is a theif. This is one of the main messages of this upanisad.
Išavasyopaniṣad bridges the gulf between Karmakânda and Jñanakânda as it is situated in the middle of the two kândas in the vedic literature. Thus it brings about the reconciliation between action and inaction or pravrtti and nivetti as they are otherwise called. It advises the human beings to enjoy the pleasures of life with utmost detachment. Apart from this the message of this upanisad mentioned above, is very much required to the modern world as this world is in a rat race to destroy the eco system by over utilisation or over exploitation of the available resources, to quench the greeds of the individuals.
Išâvâsyopaniṣad is the first among Dasopaniṣads. Considering its importance, six commentaries have been written by Acâryas belonging to the school of Visīstâdvaita.
Among them, the commentaries written by Vedanta Desika and Kûranârâyana are considered to be very important. It may be noted that Vedanta Desika has commented only on this Upanisad realising its importance. Kûranârâyana in his commentary clearly brings the similarity that can be found between the Iśâvâsyopaniṣad and Bhagavadgita.
It appears that Bhagavadgīta is the expansion of the thoughts contained in this Upaniṣad.
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