ISAVASYA UPANISHAD : - 16. Swami Tejomayananda.
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Wednesday, November 30, 2022. 08:00.
ISAVASYA UPANISHAD
Wave 5: “The ASPIRATION of Devotees”
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Mantram - 18: A Prayer World Peace
(With Translation )
1 Agne naya supathaa raaye asmaan = O Agni, lead us to “Wealth” by good means.
2 vishwaani deva vayunaani vidwaan; = O Lord of the world, you know all the good ways.
3 yuyodhi asmat juhuraanam enah Remove = from us our leaning towards crooked ways.
4 bhooyishthaam te nama-uktim vidhema. = We offer to Thee this our best prayer.
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Bhashyaam ( Vyakyanam ) :
The Range of the Worshipper :
This Mantra is well known among all Hindus, in India as well as the diaspora. Verses
such as this in the Upanishads, emphatically show that the Upanishads promote Bhakti, and
are not against it as some would believe! Devotion pulsates all around it. Devotion is for all.
1a Agne : “O Agni!”
Deity delivers our message to any of the other Devatas; he is the ‘Speed Post’ service of the
Cosmos. It is Agni again, at the cremation ceremony, who leads the individual soul after
death to its final resting place in the ethereal worlds. He is the presiding Deity of Tapas or
austerity by which one is put through the fire of purification.
1b Raaye: “to wealth”.
This is wealth that is uncontaminated by smuggling,
gambling, cheating, extortion, and other unethical practices. Wealth truly defined is the
welfare of all. It is the wealth of virtue and lofty values. No one can steal this wealth, and
with this wealth alone can material wealth be earned. A third definition of wealth is the
wealth of Givine Grace which is bestowed by God Himself. For a devotee, the Lord is his
highest wealth. The devotee is asking Agni to lead him to his Beloved Lord.
1c Supathaa: “by a good path”;
just as the idea of wealth varies from person to
person, so does the ‘Path’ leading to it. We have already said it should be a virtuous path.
Here the choice is among the many paths of virtue, namely, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja
Yoga or Jnana Yoga, and numerous other spiritual paths having many names. People have a
natural leaning towards a particular path. They may follow it as is their inclination without
criticising any other path, or choose aspects from many paths. This is Integral Yoga.
Thus, we see how broad is the range of devotee who is here addressing the Lord.
The Range of the Worshipped :
2a Vishwaani Deva: “Lord of the World”.
The Lord being addressed covers a wide
range. This is not a narrow, sectarian prayer, but one that suits every citizen, every country.
The worshipper recognises that fellow worshippers may be addressing the same
Lord by many different names. All are accepted. There is no differentiation of religion, caste,
creed and any other man-made distinctions.
2b Vayunaani: “different ways”.
There are various approved paths that lead one to
the Lord. The prayer is addressed to the Lord who is the author of them all. All the good
paths in the world are welcomed without any distinction. Goodness has no barrier, no
favoured race, class or country. The highway to the Lord has many lanes to suit the
worshipping traffic!
Again, we note that universality rings in this prayer from end to end.
The Commitment & Confession of Man :
3 Here we see that man, the devotee, is fully aware of his own responsibilities. The
first two Padas show that he is conscious that the acquisition of “Wealth” has to be done
only by righteous means, and there are many such ways to attain it. In this Pada, man shows
that he is equally conscious that the transgressor is him, and not the Lord. He humbly
submits to the Lord that any path other than the virtuous one originates from him. He
pleads guilty for all such “crooked ways”.
By thus taking full responsibility for all the crooked ways, man makes a commitment
to the Lord to do his utmost to avoid not only executing them, but also avoid creating them
in the first place. The whole chain of thought by which such crooked ways are conjured up in
his mind is being referred to. He commits himself to removing this entire chain of thought.
Man is aware of the sinister attraction latent in man for committing sin by violating the
divine laws for selfish gain. Implicit in his appeal to the Lord is his readiness to correct
himself morally.
4 Man is also fully aware that Peace can come only when everyone together decide
to tread the path of Virtue, to live for each other and not against each other.
There is great depth of sincerity in the above prayer. The devotee’s heart which has
such a feeling of contrition bursts open in words of prayer in this final verse. How true are
the wise words of Gandhiji, “In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than to
have words without a heart!”
A Conversation Worth Remembering :
Guruji assisted us in the proper interpretation of this important Prayer by bringing
the spirit of the prayer to life through the following conversation between the devotee and
the Lord:
Devotee: “Lord, You are All-knowing. You know all the Jivas and all their
Karmas. So You please decide which path will be the right one for us individually. Take us by
that path which You know to be the best for us.”
The Lord: (wanting to test His devotee) “I have already checked your records. I
have already given you what you deserve. You do not qualify for anything more. I cannot
give you what you are asking for.”
Devotee: (not letting the Lord slip away from his palms) “Then, Lord, tell me
where do I stand. Am I really a zero? Have I not got some plus points to my credit?”
The Lord: (consolingly) “You are not a zero-point devotee. There is some score
on your chart, but it is not enough to get you there.”
Devotee: (pleadingly) “Lord, you are not only All-knowing, but also All-powerful
they say. Will you not remove the crooked attraction of sin from my heart and the hearts of
all men? Please remove our negative ways and habits. You can do so, as You are allpowerful.
And if we have committed any sins along the way, please forgive us for them also.
You are, indeed, all-powerful; only You can do this! Do You not remember what You
promised us in the Geeta – ‘I shall save you from all sins’.”
The Lord: (matching the devotee’s stubbornness word for word) “Okay, but you
have to do something in return for Me, will you?.”
Devotee: (puzzled by the Lord’s counter request) “But we are such limited
beings, what can we offer to You that You do not already have?”
The Lord: “There is something which you have, and which I do not. You can give
Me that.”
Devotee: (excitedly) “Lord, is there really something like that, or are You just
kidding me? I would like to know what it is. It sounds like we can make a good deal.”
The Lord: “Dear devotee, you see, I do not have any Ego. You have a lot of it.
You can give Me your ego. Then I will do My side of the deal and save you quite easily.”
Devotee: (thrilled to know that he can give the Lord something he has) “O really
Lord? Look, I have realised for some time now that I must get rid of it somehow, but I did
not know how. I agree to surrender my Ego to You! I will be so happy to dispose of it. There
is only problem – it is deep inside me. You must do the Ego-dectomy operation and extract it
Yourself. Then You can have it for free! I am most grateful to You for this deal. You have
given me a ray of hope.”
And so the unique relationship between the Lord and devotee goes on and on! It is
always fresh from day to day. There is never a feeling like, “Oh, how many times I am saying
the same thing to the Lord!”
In this way, the devotee makes the feeling for each day’s prayer unique for that day.
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ISHAVASYA & GEETA COMPARED :
There is an amazing similarity between the message of this Upanishad and the Bhagavad Geeta. Guruji listed some of the similarities as follows:
1. Geeta has 18 Chapters; Ishavasya Upanishad has 18 verses.
2. The Geeta opens with a message on despondency. Here, too, there is a message
for the man under delusion.
3. The message on death is in Geeta Chapter 8. Here it is in Verse 17.
4. The Asuric Buddhi described in Discourse 16, may be compared with verse 3.
5. Here we have seen the Self is in all, and all are in the Self. This is also expressed in
Geeta in chapters 10 and 11.
6. The vision of Truth in verse 16 compares with Arjuna’s vision in Chapter 11.
7. The Path of Karma Yoga of Geeta is found in verse 2 in Isavasya Upanishad.
8. The Path of Bhakti Yoga of Geeta is also found here in verses 15 to 17.
There are other similarities, but this list covers the common ground between the two
scriptural texts sufficiently to convince us that universal Truth is proclaimed in both.
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CONCLUDING PEACE CHANT :
Shanti Mantra (as at Beginning) :
Om Poornamadah Poornamidam Poornaat Poornam-Udachyate;
Poornasya Poorna-maadaaya Poorna-mevaa-vasishyate.
Om Shaantih! Shaantih! Shaantih!!
*****
Om Tat Sat
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