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...

संभूतिं च विनाशं च यस्तद्वेदोभयं सह ।
विनाशेन मृत्युं तीर्त्वा संभूत्यामृतमश्नुते ॥ १४ ॥

saṃbhūtiṃ ca vināśaṃ ca yastadvedobhayaṃ saha |
vināśena mṛtyuṃ tīrtvā saṃbhūtyāmṛtamaśnute || 14 ||

14. Those who worship the unmanifested Prakriti and Hiranyagarbha (Destruction) together, get over death through the worship of Hiranyagarbha and attain immortality through the worship of Prakriti.

 

Shankara’s Commentary:

Com.—As this is so, this mantra declares the desirability of combining the worship of Prakriti and Hiranyayarbha as they combine to secure the one aim of the individual. ‘Vinasa’ means that active object whose characteristic attribute is Destruction, the abstract being here used for the concrete. ‘By vinasa’ means ‘by the worship of Hiranyagarbha.’ ‘Gets over death’ means ‘gets over the defects of vice, desires and anaisvaryam (limited powers) and attains anima and other siddhis which are the result of the worship of Hiranyagarbha. Having thus overcome anaisvaryam, death, etc., he, by the worship of Prakriti, attains immortality, i.e., absorbtion into Prakriti. It should be noted that the word Sambhutih is an apheresis for Asambhutih agreeably to the results predicated, i.e., absorption into Prakriti.

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