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Īśopaniṣad with Śaṅkara's bhāṣya · 15
hiraṇmayena pātreṇa satyasyāpihitaṃ mukham / tat tvaṃ pūṣann apāvṛṇu satyadharmāya dṛṣṭaye
Translation. By a golden, luminous vessel
is covered the face—the doorway—of Truth (satya), the Absolute (brahman) within the solar orb.
That do you, O Pūṣan, uncover
for me, whose dharma is truth (satyadharma), so that I may realize your truth-nature (satyātman).
Grammar check: 11 words pass / 0 flagged / 0 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 |
|---|
| hiraṇmayena | hiraṇmaya | pass |
| pātreṇa | pātra | pass |
| satyasya | satya | pass |
| apihitam | apihita | pass |
| mukham | mukha | pass |
| tat | tad | pass |
| tvam | tvad | pass |
| pūṣan | pūṣan | pass |
| apāvṛṇu | vṛ | pass |
| satyadharmāya | satyadharma | pass |
| dṛṣṭaye | dṛṣṭi | 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.
Hiraṇmayena is rendered ‘golden, luminous,’ not merely as denoting a vessel physically made of gold. The commentary explicitly equates hiraṇmaya contextually with jyotirmaya, ‘made of light.’→ a golden, luminous vessel
isup [1]hiraṇmayamiva hiraṇmayaṃ jyotirmayamityetat /
It is as though golden; ‘golden’ here means ‘made of light.’
Pātreṇa is the instrumental associated with the passive apihitam, and the ‘vessel’ is construed as a vessel-like covering rather than an ordinary container. Apihitam is nominative neuter agreeing predicatively with mukham, not an accusative object.→ a vessel-like luminous covering by which the face is covered
isup [2]tena pātreṇeva apidhānabhūtena satyasyaivādityamaṇḍalasthasya brāhmaṇo 'pihitam ācchāditaṃ mukhaṃ dvāram /
By that, as though by a vessel which has become a covering, the face of Truth is covered—concealed.
Satyasya denotes Truth identified with Brahman within the solar orb, while mukham is interpreted as its doorway rather than only a literal anatomical face. The unproofread commentary’s brāhmaṇo is evidently corrupt for brahmaṇo in the sandhied phrase brahmaṇo 'pihitam.→ Truth—Brahman within the solar orb—and its face or doorway
isup [2]tena pātreṇeva apidhānabhūtena satyasyaivādityamaṇḍalasthasya brāhmaṇo 'pihitam ācchāditaṃ mukhaṃ dvāram /
The face—the doorway—of Truth, namely Brahman situated within the solar orb, is covered.
Tat is the accusative object referring to the covered mukham, while tvam is the nominative subject of the second-person imperative apāvṛṇu. The commentary’s gloss apasāraya confirms the imperative sense ‘remove.’→ ‘That do you, O Pūṣan, uncover.’
isup [3]tattvaṃ he pūṣannapāvṛṇvapasāraya
That, O Pūṣan, do you uncover—remove.
Satyadharmāya is interpreted through the commentary’s explicit possessive vigraha as a bahuvrīhi: ‘for me, one whose dharma is truth.’ Śaṅkara also records an alternative, ‘for the performer of dharma as it really is’; the translation follows his primary explanation. The commentary’s nominative paraphrase satyadharmā presents a formal stem tension with the mantra’s transparent a-stem dative -āya, but its semantic vigraha is unambiguous.→ bahuvrīhi, referring to the speaker: ‘for me, whose dharma is truth’
isup [3]satyasya upāsanātsatyaṃ dharmo yasya mama so 'haṃ satyadharmā tasmai mahyamathavā yathābhūtasya dharmasyānuṣṭhātre
Because of the worship of Truth, I am one whose dharma is truth; [uncover it] for that one, for me—or, alternatively, for the performer of dharma as it really is.
Dṛṣṭaye is a dative of purpose: the uncovering is requested so that the speaker may attain direct realization of Pūṣan in his true nature, not merely so that ordinary eyesight may operate.→ so that I may realize your truth-nature
isup [3]dṛṣṭaye tava satyātmana upalabdhaye
For seeing—that is, for the realization of you whose nature is truth.
The stem dṛṣṭi is feminine, notwithstanding Vyākaraṇī’s masculine label; this is established by grammar and [MW s.v. dṛṣṭi, 492,1], while the commentary is silent on grammatical gender.→ Stri, Caturthi, Eka
isup []
The commentary does not discuss the noun’s grammatical gender.
Śaṅkara's commentary on this unit
1hiraṇmayamiva hiraṇmayaṃ jyotirmayamityetat /
2tena pātreṇeva apidhānabhūtena satyasyaivādityamaṇḍalasthasya brāhmaṇo 'pihitam ācchāditaṃ mukhaṃ dvāram /
3tattvaṃ he pūṣannapāvṛṇvapasāraya satyasya upāsanātsatyaṃ dharmo yasya mama so 'haṃ satyadharmā tasmai mahyamathavā yathābhūtasya dharmasyānuṣṭhātre dṛṣṭaye tava satyātmana upalabdhaye