Isavasya Upanishad - Conclusion

The Beginning:

We started taking baby steps on 08th March 2021 aimed at understanding the most comprehensive Upanishad viz., Īśāvāsya Upanishad. As we began our journey, we took for study what appears to be a very simple hymn, the Shanthi Sloka .

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

Om Pūrṇam-Adah Pūrṇam-Idam Pūrṇaaat-Pūrṇam-Udacyate |

Pūrṇasya Pūrṇam-Aadaaya Pūrṇam-Eva-Avashissyate ||

Om Shaantih Shanthi Shaantih ||

Translated literally, this Sloka means

That is whole; this is whole;

From that whole this whole came;

From that whole, this whole removed,

What remains is whole.

An innocuous looking verse with a noun, couple of pronouns, few verbs and a particle for emphasis conveying nothing except talking about “whole”. We wondered as to what kind of a hymn is this. Are these the prattling of an infantile mind? While studying this Sloka, we did a simple substitution as under:

The word “that” by the word “Ocean”; the word “whole” by the word “water” and the word “this” by the word “wave”. The Sloka then became:

Ocean is Water; Wave is water;

From that Ocean this Wave came;

From that Ocean, this wave removed,

What remains is Ocean.

The Shanthi Sloka then turned into a magical wand driving us to explore further and further in our journey. Ten months later when our journey covered all the 18 Slokas, we are now fairly clear.

The Summary:

We will summarize our learning through the same example of Ocean and Water again; this time instead of “wave” we will use the word “river”.

Let me quote Mr. Kahlil Gibran, the Lebanese poet and writer:

"Before entering the sea a river trembles with fear.
She looks back at the path she has traveled,
from the peaks of the mountains,
the long winding road crossing forests and villages.
And in front of her,
she sees an ocean so vast,
that to enter there seems nothing more than to disappear forever.
But there is no other way.
The river cannot go back.
Nobody can go back.
To go back is impossible in existence.
The river needs to take the risk
of entering the ocean
because only then will fear disappear,
because that’s where the river will know
it’s not about disappearing into the ocean,
but of becoming the ocean"

It is also a known fact that Oceans across the world, stretches itself to receive the rivers.

Īśāvāsya Upanishad tells us that in your journey in life, you can choose a path that you want to traverse (be it karma, be it bhakti or be it jnana or a seamless integration of all the three). Your goal is defined; as a river you have to become ocean. You just don’t have choice.

The Upanishad reminds us that (having been conditioned by the time and space domain) our progress towards the goal will be pain free and comfortable if we choose the path of seamless integration of Karma and bhakti with a clear and firm jnana that we are the Ocean and we have to regain our”SELVES” and the Ocean is ready to receive itself.

My personal take on my study:

மெய்யறிவு பற்றி, என் குறுகிய அறிவின் அடிப்படையில், எனக்கு தெரிந்து, மிக அழகாக, சுருக்கமாக எனினும் பொருள் குறையாத, என் போன்ற எளியவனும் அறிந்து கொள்ளும்படி இப்படி ஒரு விளக்கம் அடியேன் கேட்டதில்லை. இவ்விளக்க உரையைக் கேட்க யான் என்ன தவம் செய்தேனோ ? அறிந்திலேன். யான் பெற்ற இன்பம் பெருக இவ்வையகம்.

In recent times, I haven’t heard any more precise, simple and to the point teachings than  this one by His Holiness the 36th Peethadhipati of Dakshinamnaya Sringeri Sri Sharada Peetham, Jagadguru Shankaracharya Sri Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswamiji in Tamil.

This sums up our entire learning so far in this Upanishad. I feel blessed to commence my understanding of the next Upanishad with His Holiness’ voice. Double Click the link below. God Bless

His Holiness Jagadguru Sringeri Swamigal

Note from the Blog Author:

It has been an amazing journey for me. Thank you for your encouragement and support from the 150 odd subscribers and the rest of 1500 plus viewers from across the globe. It has been a great learning experience.

See you soon with another Upanishad !.The Mandukya !