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Īśopaniṣad with Śaṅkara's bhāṣya · 1
oṃ īśā vāsyam idaṃ sarvaṃ yat kiñca jagatyāṃ jagat | tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā mā gṛdhaḥ kasya sviddhanam
Translation. Oṃ.
By the Lord (īśa)—one’s own inner Self—
all this must be covered:
whatever exists upon earth, moving or unmoving.
Through that renunciation you should protect yourself;
do not covet anyone’s wealth, whether another’s or your own.
Grammar check: 13 words pass / 1 flagged / 3 beyond the checkerPāṇini-verified
Every word's claimed grammar is re-derived with vidyut-prakriya, software implementing Pāṇini's rules. Flags are shown, never hidden; some are the text taking epic or Vedic liberties the classical rules do not generate.
Word by word
| surface | lemma | grammar |
|---|
| oṃ | oṃ | unsupported |
| īśā | īś | pass |
| vāsyam | vāsya | pass |
| idam | idam | pass |
| sarvam | sarva | pass |
| yat | yad | pass |
| kiñca | kiṃca | unsupported |
| jagatyām | jagatī | pass |
| jagat | jagat | pass |
| tena | tad | pass |
| tyaktena | tyakta | pass |
| bhuñjīthā | bhuj | fail |
| mā | mā | pass |
| gṛdhaḥ | gṛdh | unsupported |
| kasya | kim | pass |
| svid | svid | pass |
| dhanam | dhana | pass |
How the commentary settled it
Where the verse alone is ambiguous, the reading follows Śaṅkara's commentary; the deciding lines are quoted below each decision.
Interpret īśā as the masculine instrumental singular ‘by the Lord,’ specifically the supreme Lord who is the inner Self of all, rather than as the feminine noun ‘dominion.’→ Masculine instrumental īśā, ‘by the Lord,’ understood as one’s own inner Self.
isup [2]īśitā parameśvaraḥ paramātmā sarvasya /
The ruler is the supreme Lord, the supreme Self of all.
isup [3]sa hi sarvamīṣṭe sarvajantūnāmātmā sanpratyagātmatayā tena svena rūpeṇātmaneśā vāsyamācchādanīyam /
For he rules everything, being the Self of all creatures as their inward Self; by him, in that one’s own form, by the Self as Lord, it is to be covered.
Read vāsyam as one gerundive meaning ‘to be covered,’ not as vā plus āsyam and not merely as ‘to be inhabited.’ The covering consists in viewing the apparently false world through the reality of the supreme Self.→ The single word vāsyam, ‘to be covered,’ with the supreme Self as the covering reality.
isup [3]vāsyamācchādanīyam /
Vāsyam means ‘to be covered.’
isup [4]jagattatsarvaṃ svenātmanā īśena pratyagātmatayāhamevedaṃ sarvamiti paramārthasatyarūpeṇānṛtamidaṃ sarvaṃ carācaramācchādanīyaṃ svena paramātmanā /
That entire world is to be covered by one’s own Self, the Lord as inward Self—through the ultimately real understanding ‘I alone am all this’; this entire false world, moving and unmoving, is to be covered by one’s own supreme Self.
Take jagatyām as ‘on the earth,’ but as an indicative mention (upalakṣaṇa) whose scope includes every modification characterized by name, form, and action, not only moving terrestrial beings.→ ‘Upon earth, moving or unmoving,’ with earth indicating the whole field of phenomenal modification.
isup [4]jagatyāṃ pṛthivyāṃ
In jagatī, that is, on the earth.
isup [6]jagatyāmiti upalakṣaṇārthatvātsarvameva nāmarūpakarmākhyaṃ vikārajātaṃ
Because ‘in the earth’ has an indicative function, it means the entire class of modifications called name, form, and action.
Construe tena tyaktena abstractly as ‘through that renunciation’ and bhuñjīthā as ‘you should protect yourself,’ rejecting the familiar but commentary-incompatible rendering ‘enjoy what has been left.’→ ‘Through that renunciation you should protect yourself.’
isup [8]tena tyaktena tyāgenetyarthaḥ /
Tena tyaktena means ‘through renunciation.’
isup [9]na hi tyakto mṛtaḥ putro vā bhṛtyo vā ātmasambandhitāyā abhāvāt ātmānaṃ pālayati atastyāgena ityayameva vedārthaḥ-- bhuñjīthāḥ pālayethāḥ /
For an abandoned or dead son or servant does not protect oneself, since there is no relation to the self; therefore ‘through renunciation’ alone is the Vedic meaning. Bhuñjīthāḥ means ‘you should protect.’
Analyze gṛdhaḥ as an augmentless second-person singular aorist verb governed by prohibitive mā, and in the primary construction take dhanam as its accusative object.→ Verbal mā gṛdhaḥ, ‘do not covet,’ with dhanam as the accusative object.
isup [10]mā gṛdhaḥ gṛdhimākāṅkṣāṃ mā kārṣīrdhanaviṣayām kasyasviddhanaṃ kasyacitparasya svasya vā dhanaṃ mā kāṅkṣīrityarthaḥ /
‘Do not covet’: do not form greed, a desire directed toward wealth. ‘Anyone’s wealth’ means: do not desire the wealth of anyone, whether another’s or your own.
Follow Śaṅkara’s first construction of kasya svid dhanam as the object phrase ‘anyone’s wealth,’ while recording his alternative rhetorical construction, ‘whose wealth is there?’ Under the first construction svid is semantically empty.→ The translation follows the primary construction, while the alternative explains the nominative possibility for dhanam.
isup [10]kasyasviddhanaṃ kasyacitparasya svasya vā dhanaṃ mā kāṅkṣīrityarthaḥ /
‘Anyone’s wealth’ means: do not desire the wealth of anyone, whether another’s or your own.
isup [11]svidityanarthako nipātaḥ /
Svid is a particle without independent meaning.
isup [13]kasmāt? kasyasviddhanamityākṣepārtho na kasyaciddhanamasti yadgṛdhyeta /
Why? ‘Whose, indeed, is wealth?’ has the force of an objection: no one’s wealth exists such that it might be coveted.
isup [14]ātmaivedaṃ sarvamitīśvarabhāvanayā sarvaṃ tyaktamata ātmana evedaṃ sarvamātmaiva ca sarvamato mithyāviṣayāṃ gṛdhiṃ mā kārṣīrityarthaḥ
Through the contemplation of the Lord as ‘the Self alone is all this,’ everything has been renounced; therefore all this belongs only to the Self and is itself the Self. Thus one should not form greed toward a false object.
Render yat kiñca as the indefinite relative ‘whatever,’ rather than treating kiñca here as the ordinary connective ‘moreover.’→ The indefinite expression ‘whatever.’
isup [4]idaṃ sarva yatkiñca yatkiñcit
‘All this, yat kiñca’ means ‘whatever.’
Śaṅkara's commentary on this unit
1īśā īṣṭa itīṭ teneśā /
2īśitā parameśvaraḥ paramātmā sarvasya /
3sa hi sarvamīṣṭe sarvajantūnāmātmā sanpratyagātmatayā tena svena rūpeṇātmaneśā vāsyamācchādanīyam /
4kim? idaṃ sarva yatkiñca yatkiñcijjagatyāṃ pṛthivyāṃ jagattatsarvaṃ svenātmanā īśena pratyagātmatayāhamevedaṃ sarvamiti paramārthasatyarūpeṇānṛtamidaṃ sarvaṃ carācaramācchādanīyaṃ svena paramātmanā /
5yathā candanāgarvāderudakādisambandhajakledādijamaupādhikaṃ daurgandhyaṃ tatsvarūpanigharṣaṇena ācchāghate svena pāramārthikena gandhena /
6tadvadeva hi svātmani adhyastaṃ svābhāvikaṃ kartṛtvabhoktṛtvādilakṣaṇaṃ jagadadvaitarūpaṃ jagatyāṃ pṛthivyām, jagatyāmiti upalakṣaṇārthatvātsarvameva nāmarūpakarmākhyaṃ vikārajātaṃ paramārthasatyātmabhāvanayā tyaktaṃ syāt /
7evamīśvarātmabhāvanayā yuktasya putrādyeṣaṇātrayasaṃnyāsa evādhikāro na karmasu /
8tena tyaktena tyāgenetyarthaḥ /
9na hi tyakto mṛtaḥ putro vā bhṛtyo vā ātmasambandhitāyā abhāvāt ātmānaṃ pālayati atastyāgena ityayameva vedārthaḥ-- bhuñjīthāḥ pālayethāḥ /
10evaṃ tyaktaiṣaṇastvaṃ mā gṛdhaḥ gṛdhimākāṅkṣāṃ mā kārṣīrdhanaviṣayām kasyasviddhanaṃ kasyacitparasya svasya vā dhanaṃ mā kāṅkṣīrityarthaḥ /
11svidityanarthako nipātaḥ /
12athavā mā gṛdhaḥ /
13kasmāt? kasyasviddhanamityākṣepārtho na kasyaciddhanamasti yadgṛdhyeta /
14ātmaivedaṃ sarvamitīśvarabhāvanayā sarvaṃ tyaktamata ātmana evedaṃ sarvamātmaiva ca sarvamato mithyāviṣayāṃ gṛdhiṃ mā kārṣīrityarthaḥ