Ishavasya Upanishad with Shankara Bhashya (Sitarama)

by S. Sitarama Sastri | 1905 | 6,256 words

The Ishavasya Upanishad (or simply Isha) is one of the shortest of its kind, and basically represents a brief philosophical poem discussing the soul/self (Atman). This edition contains the Kanva recension, consisting of 18 verses. The words “Isha vasyam” literally translates to “enveloped by the Lord” and refers to the theory of soul (Atman); a co...

तदेजति तन्नैजति तद्दूरे तद्वन्तिके ।
तदन्तरस्य सर्वस्य तदु सर्वस्यास्य बाह्यतः ॥ ५ ॥

tadejati tannaijati taddūre tadvantike |
tadantarasya sarvasya tadu sarvasyāsya bāhyataḥ || 5 ||

5. It moves, it is motionless. It is distant, it is near. It is within all, it is without all this.

 

Shankara’s Commentary:

Com.—Showing that there is no superfluity of mantras, the following mantra declares again what was expressed by the previous mantra. ‘It’ means ‘the entity of the Atman which is being treated of.’ ‘Ejati’ means ‘moves.’ ‘Xaijati’ means ‘does not move of itself.’ The meaning is that though motionless in itself, it seems to move. Besides, it is distant, i.e., it seems to be far removed, because it is not attainable by the ignorant, even in the course of hundreds of millions of ages. Tadvantike is split into tad, u and antike. It is very near to the knowing; for, it is their Atman. It is not merely distant and near; it is within everything according to the Sruti “The Atman which is within everything.” All means ‘all the world of names and forms and activity.’ It is without all this, being all-pervading like the Akas; and within everything, being extremely subtle. It is indivisible according to the Sruti “It is dense with knowledge.”

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