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    • om tare tutare ture soha
    • purnam-adah-purnam-idam
    • Radhe Radhe Radhe Shyam
    • sarvesham svastir bhavatu
    • Shambho Shangkara namah Shivaya >
      • Shambhu Shankara Namah Shivaya Krishna Das meaning
      • Om Namah Shivaya Krishna Das. Lyrics, meaning, discussion.
    • shri sache maha prabhu
    • Shiva Shiva Shambho Shangkara
    • Sīta Ram Hanuman.
    • twam eva.
    • tri-ambakam yajamahe >
      • Maha Mrityeonjaya Hein Braat meaning
  • Translated mantras B
    • mangalam bhagavan Vishnu
    • namah Shivaya hare Hari om
    • om bhakta jai
    • Bhakti Heenam
    • Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha discussion
    • om jaya Shiva Shambo
    • om mani padme hum
    • om namo bhagavate Vasudevaya
    • om namō narāyanāya
    • om namah Shivaya
    • om param eshvaraya vidmahe
    • om tat purushaya vidmahi
  • Mantras Translated A
    • asato ma sad gamaya meaning discussion >
      • om asat oma sad gamaya
    • amma amma taye
    • chid-ananda-rupah shivo-ham
    • The Essence of All
    • gate gate para gate
    • Gayatri om bhur bhuvah svaha
    • Govinda, Gopala Radha. >
      • Radhe Govinda Krishna Das meaning
      • sands of pleasure lyrics translation
    • hare Krishna hare Rama (a) >
      • hare Krishna hare Rama (b)
      • The Hare Krishna Sect.
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    • je ma je Kali ma
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  • Translated mantras C
    • om tare tutare ture soha
    • purnam-adah-purnam-idam
    • Radhe Radhe Radhe Shyam
    • sarvesham svastir bhavatu
    • Shambho Shangkara namah Shivaya >
      • Shambhu Shankara Namah Shivaya Krishna Das meaning
      • Om Namah Shivaya Krishna Das. Lyrics, meaning, discussion.
    • shri sache maha prabhu
    • Shiva Shiva Shambho Shangkara
    • Sīta Ram Hanuman.
    • twam eva.
    • tri-ambakam yajamahe >
      • Maha Mrityeonjaya Hein Braat meaning
  • Translated mantras B
    • mangalam bhagavan Vishnu
    • namah Shivaya hare Hari om
    • om bhakta jai
    • Bhakti Heenam
    • Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha discussion
    • om jaya Shiva Shambo
    • om mani padme hum
    • om namo bhagavate Vasudevaya
    • om namō narāyanāya
    • om namah Shivaya
    • om param eshvaraya vidmahe
    • om tat purushaya vidmahi
  • Mantras Translated A
    • asato ma sad gamaya meaning discussion >
      • om asat oma sad gamaya
    • amma amma taye
    • chid-ananda-rupah shivo-ham
    • The Essence of All
    • gate gate para gate
    • Gayatri om bhur bhuvah svaha
    • Govinda, Gopala Radha. >
      • Radhe Govinda Krishna Das meaning
      • sands of pleasure lyrics translation
    • hare Krishna hare Rama (a) >
      • hare Krishna hare Rama (b)
      • The Hare Krishna Sect.
    • mantra room
    • jai Radha Madhava - Meaning.
    • je ma je Kali ma
    • Moola Mantra
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    • A : Introduction to Practice
    • B : Buddha's Enlightenment
    • C Meditation for Enlightenment.
    • D Self Realisation
    • E : The Ego
    • F : Discharge of DIstress
    • G : Relationships
    • I : Desire
    • J : Karma
    • K : Dissatisfaction and Anger
    • References. >
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      • kalama sutta word for word
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  • Translated mantras C
    • om tare tutare ture soha
    • purnam-adah-purnam-idam
    • Radhe Radhe Radhe Shyam
    • sarvesham svastir bhavatu
    • Shambho Shangkara namah Shivaya >
      • Shambhu Shankara Namah Shivaya Krishna Das meaning
      • Om Namah Shivaya Krishna Das. Lyrics, meaning, discussion.
    • shri sache maha prabhu
    • Shiva Shiva Shambho Shangkara
    • Sīta Ram Hanuman.
    • twam eva.
    • tri-ambakam yajamahe >
      • Maha Mrityeonjaya Hein Braat meaning
  • Translated mantras B
    • mangalam bhagavan Vishnu
    • namah Shivaya hare Hari om
    • om bhakta jai
    • Bhakti Heenam
    • Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha discussion
    • om jaya Shiva Shambo
    • om mani padme hum
    • om namo bhagavate Vasudevaya
    • om namō narāyanāya
    • om namah Shivaya
    • om param eshvaraya vidmahe
    • om tat purushaya vidmahi
  • Mantras Translated A
    • asato ma sad gamaya meaning discussion >
      • om asat oma sad gamaya
    • amma amma taye
    • chid-ananda-rupah shivo-ham
    • The Essence of All
    • gate gate para gate
    • Gayatri om bhur bhuvah svaha
    • Govinda, Gopala Radha. >
      • Radhe Govinda Krishna Das meaning
      • sands of pleasure lyrics translation
    • hare Krishna hare Rama (a) >
      • hare Krishna hare Rama (b)
      • The Hare Krishna Sect.
    • mantra room
    • jai Radha Madhava - Meaning.
    • je ma je Kali ma
    • Moola Mantra
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    • A : Introduction to Practice
    • B : Buddha's Enlightenment
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    • D Self Realisation
    • E : The Ego
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    • I : Desire
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    • K : Dissatisfaction and Anger
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    • 7 Beauty of Spiritual Qualities
    • 8. Suffering
    • Traditional Terminology
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What inner nurturing will help us cultivate good relationships?



​Isha Upanishad, in

​word for word translation.
​

(Pronunciation note.  A dot under a letter or a bar above it, called diacritics,  are important,  for they indicate proper pronunciation of sacred language.  Please read my webpage “Pronouncing the Sanskrit.”)


Table of Contents.
​

1.   Isha Upanishad Translation.
2.  Comment on the Composition of  īśa upaniṣad.
3.   om  pūrṇam  adah  pūrṇam  idam
4.  Acknowledgements.
5.  A Clear and Comprehensible Translation of Upanishad.




​​īśa upaniṣad (Isha Upanishad) discusses the Divinity (īśa) that resides in all of us,  as our own innate nurturing (mātari-svān v 4 – 8.)  mātari-svān  guides us away from darkness (tamas v 8, 9) to light (vidya v 9 - 11),  from destructiveness and pain (mohaḥ + śokaḥ v 6, 7)  to the healing and wholesome (dhīrāṇāṃ v 10.) .
 

However,  mātari-svān = mātar-īśvara  can only do this for us when we connect with it,  and restore it back into our daily life.  We need to first return to mātar-īśvara  before it can help us.  So  īśa upaniṣad (Isha Upanishad) describes this innate nurturing,  and how we can reconnect with it.

īśa  is short for  īśvara,  which is an important word for Presence of Deity or pure consciousness.  When there is Presence,  then we are truly at ease and content, and our mind is clear, inspired and full of good will for the people and pursuits of our lives.  
 
As a mere dictionary word,  īśvara  simply means guide and direct.  So  īśvara  can mean our ability to guide and direct our minds towards these Divine Qualities.  īśvara  can also mean our ability to guide and direct our daily activities, so that they may be an effective expression of these beautiful spiritual Qualities.  Therefore,    īśa upaniṣad  focusses on directing and guiding our mind and thus our lives,  away from pain and problems and towards delight and solutions.   

​
So  īśa upaniṣad (Isha Upanishad)  expresses some important foundations for our spiritual practice.  īśa upaniṣad  is one of the 10 principle or mukhya upaniṣad.  Of these,  īśa upaniṣad  is often numbered first in the list.  So īśa upaniṣad  is first in 108 upaniṣad,  which are foundational to Vedic philosophy. 
​

​
​Isha Upanishad Translation.
 
īśā                               āvāsyam                    sarvaṃ
pure                           inhabited by             all important                      
consciousness
1)  Being inhabited by pure consciousness is all important
 
jagatyāṃ                              jagat
in the activities                  of us humans.
 
tena               tyaktena          bhuñjīthā                          
for then         letting go         enjoy
                        of troubles              
           
mā      gṛdhaḥ           dhanam        kasyasvid                
not      wanting         alluring          belong               
                                     things             elsewhere                
for then we can enjoy letting go of troubles,  instead of wanting allures that belong elsewhere.

(note :  “wanting allures that belong elsewhere”   includes alluring thought trains and topics that do not belong to the refreshing and rejuvenating quiet of meditation and rest.  In fact,  such unnecessary and unhelpful thinking do not really belong anywhere in our lives.  kasya  literally means “whose?”  or  “where?”  or “why?”  and  -svid  is a suffix that makes the  “whose?”,  “where?”  or  “why?”  very indefinite.   To whom do these problems belong?  Where do these problems belong?  Why should we be entangled in them?)

 
kurvan                      karman
performing              karma
 
jijīviṣet           śataṃ            samāḥ
livelihood,    frequently    like this
                         
na   karma                lipyate           tvayi
few  karma               defiled           in us.
2)  If we can frequently perform our speech and action (karma) like this in our livelihood, then there will be little painful consequences (karma)  for us.
 
asuryā                    te lokā
degrading         those pursuits
 
andhena         tamasā          vṛtāḥ
blindness      darkness       hidden
3)  Degrading are those pursuits driven by blindness and darkness,
 
tān te             pretya                       abhi                -gacchanti
of these         consequences         towards         take us                      
for they take us towards the consequences of blindness and darkness.
 
ātma              hano              janāḥ
higher self    ruin                our
They ruin our higher self. 
 

(note :  loka literally means region or place, and what people do there.  It suggests free open space.  So the expression ‘te loka adhena tamasā’  suggests a place that has lost its freedom,  due to defilements (tamas) and a blindness (adhena) to them.  To the point of being even diabolical (asurya).)


anejat            manaso         javīya             ekaṃ             devā
stabilise           mind              skilful           at-one           Deity
 
āpnuvan             pūrvam.
approach,           original.     
arrive at              purity.   
 
arṣat              tat       dhāvataḥ                 atyeti
busy-ness     that    moves fast,             transcend,
of mind                     instable                   rise above
 
tiṣṭhat                        tasmin           apaḥ
be Present,               in our             speech, actions      
stable                                                 (karma)
           
mātari           -svān             dadhāti
nurturing      own                direct, sustain (cf dhāraṇa)
                        innate            support, receive help
4)  So let us carefully direct and protect (dadhāti) our mind in a skilful way, be stable and at-one with Deity,  and head towards our primordial purity.  Let us transcend the rapid busy-ness and instability of mind, and be Present and stable in our speech and actions.  Let this come from our innate nurturing (mātari-svān).
 
(note :  dadhāti  is related to dhāraṇa,  which I discuss under “Upanishads and samādhi”  on the page for “Mandukya Upanishad.)
 
tat       ejati       na ejati                   dūre               antike
that    active   not active,              far away        nearby,                    
 
antar   sarv-asya                bāhyataḥ      sarv-asyā
within    all of this                outside          all of this
5)  Our own innate nurturing (mātari-svān) can be in both activity and stillness,  can be either far away or nearby,  and is both within our heart and in the outside world. 
 
(note.  The Sanskrit word for “our own innate nurturing”  can also be spelled mātar-īśvara  which can also be interpreted as “Pure consciousness (īśvara)  that nurtures (mātar).  mātar  is equivalent to the Latin mater = mother.) 


yastu    sarvāṇi bhūtāni   ātmani      eva         ānu-paśyati
who       in all     of us         higher      surely     observe with
                                                self                             objectivity
 
vijānataḥ         na vijugupsate          mohaḥ                 śokaḥ           
with insight        not deny,              deadening           burning
                          conceal, ignore       defilements           pain

6 & 7)  Our own innate nurturing (mātar-īśvara)  is surely in all of us.  She is the higher self’s ability to observe and experience the painful thoughts and feelings in our mind (mohaḥ + śokaḥ) with objectivity and insight,  and not  deny, conceal and ignore our own pain (mohaḥ + śokaḥ).
 
sa       paryagat       śukram          a-kāyam           vyadadhāt
who  permeates      happiness     not physical    separate from
 
a-vraṇam                 a- asnāvaka śuddham     a-pāpa-viddham
un-blemished          no sinews     purifies          not evil afflicted
 
kaviḥ  manīṣī            paribhūḥ
wise    sagacious      Deity within
 
svayam-bhū             sāśvatībhyaḥ           samābhyaḥ
independent            eternal                       towards equanimity                                 

8)  Our nurturing pure consciousness (mātar-īśvara)  is the eternal Deity within us (paribhū).  She is spiritual and separate from the physical, with “no sinews”.  The indwelling Deity (paribhūḥ)  is unblemished and not afflicted with evil.  She purifies us from festering sores (vraṇāt)  and from penetrating hurts (viddhāt).  She is wisdom and sagacity, She pervades us with happiness,  and She takes us towards equanimity and inner peace.  She is independent (svayam-bhū), and originates from and dwells within our higher self (svayam-bhū).
 
(note 1.  The word used in verse 8  for indwelling Deity is  paribhū.  bhū  =  being  and  pari  = near, around,  so paribhū  can mean Deity that is lives around us and near us.  Yet  bhū  also means become and gain,  and pari  also means develop, beyond, richly  so   paribhū  can also mean ‘take care of,  guide,  govern.’   So the word  paribhū  describes two different yet not unrelated features of Deity.  
 
note 2.  svayam  =  self, higher self, self originated  so  svayam-bhū  can mean ‘developed from the self or independent.’  Yet  svayam-bhū  can also mean ‘originating from and dwelling within the higher self.’  These are two more features of Deity.)


andhaṃ        tamas            praviśanti     a-vidyā      upāsate
blindness      darkness       enter         un-wisdom   sit down
                                                                     ignorance          in
9)   Those who enter and “sit down in”  un-wisdom and ignorance will be in blindness and darkness.
 
tato    bhūya            te        ratāḥ          tamas               ye vidyāyāṃ
as if     become       they    pleased     deadening       their wisdom
                                                                   defilement          
It seems as if they become pleased with darkness,  think it wise to be in deadening defilement,
 
anya              vidya             
opposed        wisdom, clarity.    
and are opposed to wisdom and the light. 
 
śuśruma        dhīrāṇāṃ     yenastad      vicacakṣire
listen,             wisdom        those of us    manifest
heed               within
 
anya                a-vidya
oppose           un-wisdom, ignorance.
10)  But for those of us who listen to and heed the wisdom within, then wisdom will manifest in us, and we will oppose un-wisdom and ignorance. 
 
vidyāṃ     ca             a-vidyāṃ           veda           ubhayam
wisdom    and          un-wisdom,      know           both
clarity                       ignorance         understand
11)  When we truly know and understand both wisdom and un-wisdom,
 
a-vidyāt                    mṛtyor                       tīrtvā
stupidity,                  mortality,                 transcend
ignorance                 destructive
 
vidyayā         amṛtāya                   aśnute
wisdom,        immortal,                 return to,
clarity             eternal                       attain
then we will transcend from stupidity and ignorance and move towards wisdom and clarity.  We will transcend from mortality and destructiveness, and return to and restore the immortal and eternal. 


(Note.  In the expression – “know wisdom”, this can be the wisdom of turning towards nurturing,  valuing it, and re-establishing inner nurturing into this moment.  Perhaps by valuing and appreciating the good things we have,  being content, and take delight and enjoyment in life.  “know ignorance”  can be the ignorance that allows problems to breed, that fuels the instability of mind and mental noise.  When we truly ‘know’ both these opposites,  then we can transcend  ……  )




​2.  Comment on the Composition of  īśa upaniṣad.

Verses 1 – 3 emphasise the importance of avoiding painful speech and action (karma).  Then verses 4 – 8 discuss the innate nurturing that enables us to avoid such bad karma.  Such nurturing is an essential Quality of Deity,  and Hinduism has very many Names and words for Deity.  The Name (nāma)  used in Isha Upanishad is  “mātari-svān”,  which can also be spelled  “mātar-īśvāra”.  This Name for Deity appears late in verse 4.  Then verses 5 – 8  all begin with the words tat, yastu, sa  = that or who.  These words all relate to the Name (nāma) for Deity,  which is mātari-svān = mātar-īśvāra  for Isha Upanishad (īśa upaniṣad).
 
Thus Deity is not named directly in verses 5 – 8,  but only referred to indirectly, using indirect words “that, who.”  Deity is infinite,  and words are finite,  with finite meaning.  Using such indirect language helps us to let go of limiting,  ego centric notions and opinions about the Divine, when we recite sacred verses. 
 
Then verses 9 – 11 discuss un-wisdom (a-vidya)  and wisdom (vidya).  We need to properly understand these two extremes,  to avoid harmful speech and action. 
 
Isha Upanishad (īśa upaniṣad)  then continues with verses 12 – 18,  which give further discussion.  May I suggest we properly understand and study verses 1 – 11 first, before proceeding any further.  Verses 1 – 11 are complete within themselves, as a unit. 
 



​
3.  ​om
 pūrṇam  adah  pūrṇam  idam

Isha Upanishad actually begins with the mantra om  pūrṇam  adah  pūrṇam  idam.  This mantra is about sending out and receiving purity (pūrṇam), when conditions are favourable to do so.  It concludes with the expression (or mantra) –
pūrṇam         -eva                vasiṣyate
purity             surely             will be here.
 
This is what we can do to support our own innate nurturing, described as ‘mātari-svān’  in  īśa upaniṣad.
 
I provide a writeup for this mantra on this website,  and Nilong and Arjuna provide a beautiful recording of this mantra at -
​
https://arjuna108.bandcamp.com/album/wisdom-of-the-heart  track 3
 




4.  ​Acknowledgements.
I am indebted to Stephanie Simoes  who provided the Sanskrit of  Isha Upanishad,   in word-for-word translation,  when she was a graduate student of Brock University.
 
She is at –
https://brocku.academia.edu/StephanieSimoes
 
Her word-for-word translation of  Isha Upanishad is at –

https://www.academia.edu/17430464/Isha_Upanishad_Word_for_Word_Translation_with_Transliteration_and_Grammatical_Notes 
 
https://pdfcoffee.com/isha-upanishad-word-for-word-translation-with-transliteration-and-grammatical-notes-pdf-free.html

I looked up the translation of many words in the Isha Upanishad  in the following online dictionary –
https://sanskritdictionary.com    This remarkable resource for the Dharma gives translations from six different dictionaries.  You type your entry using the International Agreement for Sanskrit Transliteration,  which I use for all scripture quotes on this website.  As does Stephanie.    Please read my webpage “Pronouncing the Sanskrit.”
 
 
If you do not have the IAST spelling,  you can use another online dictionary that will offer several different spellings,  and you take your pick.  This is
https://www.learnsanskrit.cc  This will give the Devanagari,  which you can enter into https://sanskritdictionary.com    


I found that the dictionary meaning worked well for most words in Isha Upanishad,  often the exact dictionary words.  But the less commonly used dictionary meanings were usually the best choice.   A few words were superfluous,  and I left these on Stephanie’s website.  

​
5.  A Clear and Comprehensible Translation


of Upanishad.

Some traditional presentations of Isha Upanishad are caught up in strange unexplained religious beliefs about themes such as ‘Self’,  ‘themselves’,  the ‘world within’ and the ‘world without’.  They make quite extraordinary claims about these themes.  Yet they are using these terms in ways completely unrelated to the common sense understanding of these terms. 
 
Other presentations of Isha Upanishad talk about  ‘worshipping karma born of ignorance’  and ‘worshipping knowledge of Devatas’ instead of the ‘world within’ and the ‘world without’.  And provide no information about what they mean about these strange terms.
 
More importantly,   these strange religious beliefs effectively conceal vital information about our spiritual practice,  preserved in the original Sanskrit.
 
This is a common problem in traditional presentation of the Upanishads.   By tradition,  the Upanishads have been presented in obscure language that can confuse more than clarify.  They conceal more than reveal the full value of these verses,  for our daily lives.  This gives a misleading impression that the Upanishads are obscure, esoteric, and only the elite can properly understand them.  This has effectively put the full value of Upanishadic material out-of-reach of the common people.  For very many centuries the Upanishads have been studied only by the Brahman priestly caste.
 
In more recent millennia,  new material was incorporated into Hindu scriptures for the common people.   These are   Purana (puraņa), which uses the ancient tradition of story telling,  where Names for Deity become the names of people in stories that are often imaginative and magical. 
 
This is a great loss,  for the Upanishads (upaniṣad)  express important spiritual insights that arise from deep meditation.  upaniṣad  preserve and convey important information about spiritual practice,  that we need to give us direction on the Path.   
 
 upaniṣad  was not composed to be obscured with confusing obfuscations.  upaniṣad  can be easy to use and understand,  if priority is given to a translation that is sensible and comprehensible.  This I have done.
 
I often found that the lesser dictionary meanings worked better than the primary meanings,  when I translated these upaniṣad.  At times I had to extrapolate considerably from dictionary meanings,  to make the translation work.  Or I had to use other information sources.  I also adjusted word sequence and grammar.    upaniṣad  is ancient,  with archaic Sanskrit,  and primary dictionary meanings might be classical Sanskrit from a later epoch in Indian history. 

In addition, Sanskrit verse is concise and succinct,  with all unnecessary verbiage omitted.  We often have to add words to the Sanskrit to make sense of it.   We also need to be quite familiar with the Principles of spiritual practice to know what words to add.   

I place the sacred language of Sanskrit side by side with the worldly language,  with diacritics retained to indicate proper pronunciation.  In this,  the sacred language is supposed to be articulated, to help us to gain full benefit.   We need to get out of this “One Language” of English,  and explore others.
 
May the beauty of sacred language attract us to the beauty of spiritual practice.  
 


Composed by Mike Browning, 2021.  ©Copyright cannot be claimed for this webpage,  for the important sections of it all come from ancient tradition.  
 
You are permitted and encouraged to copy text from this webpage and use as you see fit,  provided it is not harmful to mantra-translate. 
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