Vedanta - Īśāvāsya upaniṣad - Prologue
ஈசனின் உறைவிடம் - முகவுரை
(Photo Courtesy: Deepak Subramanian)
After the Shanthi Sloka let us now get into the Īśāvāsya upaniṣad. All human beings in their journey in life wants to grow and reach the highest end. What is this highest end or the ultimate end for a human being? Across the universe, there are divergencies among individuals, writers on ethical philosophy, spiritualists, saints, sages, vicars etc. as to the immediate end which man should place before himself in his conduct towards himself or in his conduct towards others. However, all agree that the one aim which. man has in all his acts is to secure happiness for himself. The highest as well as the ultimate end of man must, therefore, be to attain to a conscious state of unalloyed happiness, which is to be eternal and unsurpassed. This is the fundamental axiom on which human evolution and growth is based on. In this pursuit of happiness, men and women have been asking in every age some burning questions such as
1) what is life about?
2) what are my goals?
3) why am I doing what I am doing?
4) how can I do better?
5) what does birth & death really mean?
6) what is the nature of God?
In the Vedic era, around 2000.B.C, scholars believe Upanishads evolved and provided potential answers to these probing questions in the form of a question & answer session where the students were “sitting down near” (Etymologically the word Upanishad suggests) at the feet of the teacher in an ashram. “These were not sessions in philosophy & not casual Ivy League seminars on the common green. They are darshana – something seen and the student to whom they were taught was expected not only to listen to the words but to realize them; that is, to make their truths, an integral part of character, conduct and consciousness. The purpose is not so much instruction as inspiration. Each is complete in itself and an ecstatic snap shot of transcendent Reality” to quote Mr. Eknath Easwaran.
Īśāvāsya Upanishad differs from this general pattern of Upanishads. There is no discussion or conversation here. We are presented with a set of conclusions almost in final form. So, when this short Upanishad is commented upon by the Masters it naturally gives rise to varied interpretations to the thought processes embedded in it. In that sense it is one of the difficult Upanishads – scholarly, profound and fundamental.
Swami Paramarthananda says that Īśāvāsya upaniṣad provides three main messages.
1.The first message is the spiritual knowledge, which is the goal of the spiritual seeker.
2. Thereafter, the upaniṣad talks about two types of lifestyles a person can take to.
One is called pravṛtti-mārga. A lifestyle in society, in family, along with worldly activities which is called pravṛtti-mārga,
The second is nivṛtti-mārga, in which a person withdraws from society, withdraws from family, withdraws from worldly/societal activity and lives a secluded life of spiritual pursuit.
In traditional terms, pravṛtti-mārga is called gṛhastha-āśrama. Family life is called pravṛtti-mārga. The second is called saṁnyāsa-āśrama in which one doesn’t have family possessions, duties etc.
3. The upaniṣad wants t o say that a person has got a choice with respect to the lifestyle. But a person doesn’t have a choice with respect to the goal being spiritual knowledge. Because without jñānam, spiritual knowledge, pravṛttimārga cannot give liberation. Nivṛtti-mārga also cannot give liberation. Either lifestyle cannot give the ultimate happiness (liberation) if jñānam is absent. What matters is jñānam, not lifestyle. Therefore, choose your lifestyle, pursue knowledge.
This is going to be the message in the 18 Slokas of this Isavasya Upanishad. Here is a pictorial representation of the focus of this Upanishad as taken from the class notes of Vedanta.com. The first sloka (Verse 1) of the Upanishad will be on 30th April.
