Adhyātma Granthāvali

IŚĀVĀSYOPANIṢAD(WITH THE COMMENTARY OF SRI ŚAṄKARĀCHĀRYA)

TRANSLATION

(With Introduction, Notes, Appendix and an Index)

BY

SWĀMĪ SATCHIDĀNANDENDRA SARASWATĪ

Serial No. 158

ADHYĀTMA PRAKĀSHA KĀRYĀLAYAHolenarsipur-573 211

Karnataka, India

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ĪŚĀVĀSYOPANISHAD written by SRI SRI Satchidanandendra Saraswati Swamiji, Published by Adhyatma Prakasha Karyalaya, Public Charitable Trust, Holnarasipur-573 211. (INDIA) Phone: 08715- 273 820. site:www.adhyatmaprakasha.org

First Edition 1972 1000 copies

Second Edition 2011 1000 copies

Pages:12+

Size: Dmy 1/8th

Paper: Maplitho 70 GSM

Copies: 1000

Price:

All rights reserved by Adhyatmaprakasha Karyalaya, Holenarasipur-573 211.Composed at:Satchidananda Graphics,Bengaluru-560 022

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PUBLISHERS NOTE TO FIRST EDITION

This is the first of the English Translation Series launched by the Karyalaya. Sri Satchidānandendra Saraswati Maharaj has written this book as a tentative production to be judged by the general students of Śaṅkara’s Bhāshyas on the Upanishads, and has entrusted the Karyalaya with its publication.

We hope that the public will receive this with the same enthusiasm that they have evinced in Swamiji’s other works. We shall request Sri Swamiji to continue his efforts in the direction, if we find that there is a real demand for this series.

Y. NARASAPPA

Holenarasipur. Chairman25-3-1972 Adhyatma Prakasha Karyalaya

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Publishers Note (2nd Edition)

This is the only Upanishad which Sri Swāmiji translated along with footnotes and other facilities similar to his Kannaḍa or Saṁskṛta editions. All the copies of the first edition are exhausted and hence the need of this edition was felt by the Adhyātma Prakāsha Kāryālaya.

Now it is improved with more facilities particularly the addition of Saṁskṛta Bhāṣya too. As for as we know, this is the first of its kind, because translation of Bhāṣya is available in the market but nobody had published it so far along with Saṁskṛta Bhāṣya and footnotes. As this is more useful to readers, we hope this edition will be received with greater enthusiasm. We hope to publish all the prasthāna traya Bhāṣyas in English with the preface and footnotes of Pūjya Swāmiji.

Sri Rāma Prakāśha Kāranth of Satchidānanda Grāphics – who studied Prasthāna-trayī Bhāṣyam from the very Vedānta Gurukula founded by Pujya Swamiji in the campus of Adhyātma Prakāsha Kāryālaya, Holenarasipur– did the DTP of this book very well. We invoke Pujya Swāmiji’s blessing upon him.

Holenarasipur Adhyātma Prakāsha Karyālaya

28-11-2011.

INTRODUCTION

The Place of the Upanishad in the Vedas

Śukla-Yajurveda is divided into fifteen Śākhās, or seventeen Śākhās, according to different traditions. Only two versions, however, are now prevalent and studied by the followers of that Veda.

One Bhāshya ascribed to Śaṅkarācārya, on the Īśa or the Īśāvāsya Upanishad forming the fortieth chapter of the kāṇva version, is being studied by the followers of the Śaṅkarādvaita school. It is also known as the Saṁhitopanishad, because it forms part of Saṁhita, the collection of the Mantras of the Karma- kāṇḍa (Ritual Portion) of that Veda, while the other Upanishads commented upon by Śaṅkara are mostly to be found in the Āraṇyakas of the Brāhmaṇa portion of the various Vedas.

Subject-matter of the Upanishad

Authors of some Bhāshyas antecedent to Śaṅkara were of opinion that this Upanishad teaches the combined practice of karma (ritual) and upāsana (meditation), especially as the mantras in it, are found in the karma-kāṇḍa (portion devoted to rituals). The author of the present Bhāshya, rejects this interpretation and opines that these mantras purport to teach the true nature of Atman or the Universal Self. The latter portion of the Upanishad, however, according to Śaṅkara, does treat of the fruits of the combined practice of karma and meditation.

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The Present Edition

English translations of the Upanishad are mostly out of print, and those that are available, contain few aids to the English-knowing students whose lack of sufficient knowledge of Sanskrit renders them helpless in understanding the import of Śaṅkara’s commentary in the original.

The present edition of the Upanishad contains the text of

the mantras in Devanāgari and English translation together

with a free translation of the commentary also. A summary

of the teaching of the Upanishad, has been also given at

the end. The foot-notes added are expected to stimulate

original thought on the part of the critical reader not only in

catching the spirit of the teaching contained in the Upanishad

according to Śaṅkara, but also in co-ordinating the contexts of

the Bhāshya with the other Bhāshyas ascribed to that teacher.

To this end also, has been added the Appendix as well as

the Index of some Important Sanskrit words occuring in the

Bhāshya. I have not relied on the Tīka ascribed to Ānandagiri

by the editor of the Ānandāshrama Edition of this Upanishad

for the obvious reason that he is a recent writer referring

as he does to Bhāskarāchārya (page 15) and never answers

to Śuddhānanda, Ānandajñāna’s guru, as the colophon in the

Ānandāshrama Edition stresses.

Some of the mantras in the Upanishad, are explained in a different way in other Bhāshyas, (on the Aitareya, Taittiriya, Gaudapāda Kārika and the Brahma-Sūtras), and they make use of the Mādhyandina version and not the Kāṇva version.

We find no explanation for this difference of interpretation. Some critics therefore doubt whether Ādi-Śaṅkarācārya may be rightly regarded as the genuine author of this Bhāshya, The Appendix would be of some help to the critical student in coming to his own decision in the matter.

AUTHOR.

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Preface (2nd Edition)

1. The place of the Upanishad in the Veda.

Iśāvāsyopanishad belongs to Yajurveda. Yajurveda alone, unlike all other Vedas, has two recensions namely, Śukla-Yajurveda and Kṛṣṇa-Yajurveda. Again the Śukla-yajuḥ has many versions out of which only two are surviving— Kāṇva-Śākhā and Mādhyandina Śākhā. Mādhyandina is prevalent even now in North India, where as the Kāṇva-Śākhā is found in a few places of South India. In fact, it is the Kṛṣṇa-Yajurveda that is most commonly found in South India, yet there are a few families in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu who are called the followers of this version commonly called as Yājñvalkya Śākhā. Īśāvāsyopanishad occurs in the fortieth and the last chapter of Śukla-Yajussamhitā of both these versions. Śri Śaṅkarāchārya blessed us with his Bhāṣya (commentary)on Kāṇva-version. Īśāvāsya is one of the very few Upanishads whose recitation with intonation is extant to this day and the Kāṇva-Śākhā recitation is melodious compared to that of Mādhyandina and is closer to that of Ṛgveda.

2. The meaning of the Upanishad and the Bhāṣya.

This small Upanishad containing 18 mantras deals with three topics. First eight mantras deal with the essential nature of Atman. Īśvara is all pervasive and essence of the whole universe and he himself is changeless. He is One without the second and declared to be identical to everybody’s self.

Anybody just by knowing him becomes (free) from delusion and grief. Next six mantras from 9-14 teach the combination of duty and meditation. Nowhere else does one find this taught so clearly and effectively as here. And the last four mantras from 15th to 18 deal with a prayer by a lifelong devotee in his last moment . This is a heart-felt prayer filled with love and humility.

The Bhāṣya-author brings out its meaning in his well-known beautiful and profound commentary. There are short discussions at four places — in the introduction, on the 2nd and the 8th mantras and in the conclusion. In all these discussions, Sri Āchārya shows a very important and seminal point of Vedānta, namely the nature of knowledge and the nature of action (including meditation) and how they are opposed to each other and hence cannot be combined. Knowledge reveals an existing fact by destroying its ignorance and this does not depend upon the will of a person and hence it can not be enjoined; whereas an act and meditation depend on the will of a person, and therefore can be enjoined. Those who fail to understand this distinction also fail to understand the Upanishad. Nobody, not even the śāstra can advise or enjoin something against its very nature.

3. Certain critical points in the Bhāṣya.

From the language, style, the ideas of the Bhāṣya and the belief of the tradition in it we understand that it could be from the pen of the famous Śaṅkara alone. Yet there are a few points which call for specific attention of the critical student. (1) The word anu-paśyati in the mantra 6, is explained literally

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as ‘he sees’, but in all other Bhāṣyas wherever anu-paśyati or anu-bhavati occurs, he explains differently. Sri Swamiji’s footnote may be seen in this regard. (P-23. fn.4) (2) secondly, the word, śuddham in the eighth mantra is explained as “free from the dirt of ignorance— this negates kāraṇa-śarīra” and Sri Swamiji rightly said in the footnote thereon, (P-28. fn.1) nowhere else in the Bhāṣya does one find the word kāraṇa-śarīra. In his book, Vedantins Meet on P-74. Swamiji again says like this, “It could be an interpolation by some foolish and vainly proud person. However, assuming that it was there in the original, I interpret it now. The kāraṇa-śarīram (causal body) is not a body but the cause itself and this causality pertains to the unknown self and not to the self as such. Māṇḍūkya Bhāṣya says, such as, “The BIENG is called undifferentiated as well as the cause in all the Upanishads only by accepting the association of seed (of name and form)”. (Mā.Kā.. 1-2) Hence, it should be called pure only on negating the superimposed causality. Therefore, a person should not mistake that here the mūlāvidyā, the modifying cause is implied either in Māṇḍūkya Bhāṣya or else where.” Again, in the footnote of his Kannaḍa book he says like this— “the word śarīra (body) means that which is subject to destruction. Hence, we can explain that the avidyā (or the super-imposition) is called kāraṇa-śarīram (or causal body) because it is destroyed by the self knowledge, and secondly because it is the cause of the notion that one is possessed of body etc.” Interestingly, the meaning of this eighth mantra is given in Upadeśa Sāhasrī by Sri Ācharya. The verses read as follows.

आŹमकैः सवЈभूतषे ुताЗन तिˇमǿंच खे यथा।

पयЈगात ्Ǿयोमवत ्सवЈं शु̆ ं दीिŽतमЗदˆयत॥े

ΐण-ˇनाǺवोरभावने ˇथूलं देहं Зनवारयेत।्

शγुापापतया लेपं Зलङ्गं चाकायЗमŹयुत॥

(Upa.Sā 15-9,10.)

(9) The One Atman is existing in all the beings; they exist in Him like in ether. He pervades everything like the ether. He is śukram, which means he is shining.

(10) Since, he is said to be free from wounds and nerves, the gross body should be given up; Since he is said to be pure and unaffected by sin he should be understood as untouched by religious merit and demerit; Since he is said to be bodiless, the subtle body should be given up.

(Upa.Sā 15-9,10.)

One should note that there is no reference to kāraṇa-śarīra here.

Here is one more thing worth noting. On the page 56 (portion 50.), the word avidyā was used by Sri Bhāṣyakāra unambiguously in the sense of superimposition and juxtaposed with saṁśaya (doubt) and ajñānam (absence of knowledge) which is in keeping with all other Bhāṣyas. And Sri Swāmiji has rightly translated it as misconception.

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Editorial remarks.

This second edition has these additional features (1) The Saṁskṛta Bhāṣya of the Upanishad as well as some extracts from other Bhāṣyas in the appendix are added, where as in the first edition English translation alone was given. (2) The Bhāṣya-reading of Pūjya Swāmiji’s Saṁskṛta edition is mainly followed here since it is the correct one; but the help of the Kannaḍa edition was also taken wherever it was necessary. (3) Anvaya (i.e. the prose order) of the mantra-words is put in brackets immediately after the mantra. In this, Sri Swāmiji’s Saṁskṛta edition is followed with minor changes in one or two places. (4) The words of the mantra occurring in the Saṁskṛta Bhāṣya are put in Bold and the same are transliterated and put in bold and italics with diacritical marks in English translation. This facilitates the reader to distinguish the mantra-words from their explanation. (5) In the translation, rarely one or two sentences are reconstructed to make for better and easier understanding. (6) Though the division of Bhāṣya into portions ( Bhāṣya bhāga) and their numbering is different from that of Saṁskṛta and Kannaḍa editions, the same format of Sri Swāmiji’s edition is retained. (7) Special care is taken to make sure that the Bhāṣya, its translation and footnotes – all corresponding to each other appear in the same page. This makes the reading comfortable.

Certain noteworthy words of Bhāṣya were put in bold by Swāmiji himself, and this is retained. All other features are similar to that of first edition. In editing and proof-reading we tried our best to avoid any mistake, yet some must have remained due to our oversight, we seek forgiveness of the kind readers, for it.

Conclusion

Pūjya Swāmiji’s Ṛṣhi-like thinking on Bhāṣya is well-known to the readers of his works. The eminent Sri Akhandānanḍa Swāmiji of Vrindāvan, once after reading Pūjya Swāmiji’s ‘Prakriyā Pratyabhijñā’ in Sanskrit, commented, “What a deep thinking even in this age of Kali”. The secret of his deep thinking is not scholarship, not vast reading – both he had no doubt, of high degree, but keeping to anubhava (universal-intuition) and not speculating. Academic scholars as well as the traditional Vedāntic Punḍits both, undoubtedly, will be benefited from his books, but the most fortunate are the jijñāsus who have vairāgyam and aspiration for liberation, for whom they are a boon, an oasis in an all surrounding desert. We invoke Pūjya Swāmiji’s blessings upon such mumukshus and conclude with Nārāyaṇa smaraṇam.

Holenarasipur Editors.

25-11-2011

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ABBREVIATIONS IN THE BOOK

Bhg. The Bhagavadgīta.

Br. The Bṛhadaranyaka-Upanishad.

Br. Bh. Śaṅkara’s Bhāshya on Bṛhadāranyaka Upanishad.

G. Bh „ , the Bhagavadgitā.

Isa. Mādh. The Iśa Upanishad-Mādhyandina Version.

K. The Katha Upanishad.

Ka. Kāthaka, the same as Katha.

M. Mantra, the verse in this Upanishad.

M. N. The Mahanārāyaṇa Upanishad.

Manu. The Manusmṛti.

Ms. Mokshadharma of Śāntiparvam.

Mu. Bh. Śaṅkara’s Bhāshya on the Mundaka Upanishad

P. Page.

SBh. Śankara’s Bhāshya on the Brahma-Sutra.

ŚBh. Jai. Śabaraswāmi’s Bhāshya on Jaimini’s Sutras.

S.Bra. The Śatapatha Brāhmana.

Su. Sūtra.

Sve. Svetāśvatara Upanishad.

Tai. Taittiriya Upanishad.

Tai. Bh. Śaṅkara’s Bhāshya on Taittirīya Upanishad.

Contents

Sri Śaṅkara’s Introduction .................................................... 1Devotion To Jñāna ............................................................... 5Devotion To Karmas ............................................................ 9Mutual Opposition Of Jñāna And Karma ...........................11The Real Nature Of Ātman ................................................ 13Jñāna-Niṣṭha and Karma-Niṣṭha Distinguished ................. 30Relation Of The Sequel To The Previous Part ................... 31The Combined Practice Of Karma And Meditation .......... 34

The Combined Practice of the Meditation of the

Differentiated and the Undifferentiated ..................... 39Relation Of The Sequel To The Previous Portion .............. 44Prayer at the Time of Death by the Practician of Karma and Meditation .......................... 45Prayer at the Time of Death by the Practician ................... 45A Discussion about Combination of Vidyā and Avidyā ..... 52Summary of the Teaching of the Upanishad ...................... 58ĪŚĀVĀSYOPANISHAD (Mādhyandina Recension) ........ 60APPENDIX ........................................................................ 63• Sūtra-Bhāshya on the verse 2 ....................................... 63• Bṛhadāraṇyaka Bhāṣya on verse 9 ............................... 64• Explanation Of The Eleventh Verse

In Other Bhāṣyas .................................................. 64• Advaita-Prakaraṇa (25th Kārikā) ................................. 65• Aitareya Bhāṣya ........................................................... 66• Taittirīya Bhāṣya (on 1-11) .......................................... 68Alphabetical Order Of Mantras ........................................ 70GLOSSARIAL INDEX .................................................... 71The Sources of Texts Quoted and their Context in the Present Bhāṣya .................... 79

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ADHYĀTMA PRAKĀSHA KĀRYĀLAYA

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