back to questions
Īśopaniṣad with Śaṅkara's bhāṣya · 17
vāyur anilam amṛtam athedaṃ bhasmāntaṃ śarīram | oṃ krato smara kṛtaṃ smara krato smara kṛtaṃ smara
Translation. Let my breath, as I die, cast off its individual limitation
and attain immortal Anila—the cosmic Self, the Self of all (sūtrātman);
[let the subtle body (liṅga), conditioned by knowledge and action, depart].
Then let this body, offered into fire, end in ash.
Oṃ—O Resolve (kratu), remember; remember what I have done.
O Resolve, remember; remember what I have done.
Grammar check: 15 words pass / 0 flagged / 1 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 |
|---|
| vāyuḥ | vāyu | pass |
| anilam | anila | pass |
| amṛtam | amṛta | pass |
| atha | atha | pass |
| idam | idam | pass |
| bhasmāntam | bhasmānta | pass |
| śarīram | śarīra | pass |
| oṃ | oṃ | unsupported |
| krato | kratu | pass |
| smara | smṛ | pass |
| kṛtam | kṛta | pass |
| smara | smṛ | pass |
| krato | kratu | pass |
| smara | smṛ | pass |
| kṛtam | kṛta | pass |
| smara | smṛ | 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.
Vāyuḥ means the dying speaker’s individual breath (prāṇa), and the verbless opening is completed with the optative pratipadyatām, ‘let it attain.’→ The speaker’s breath is the nominative subject of an expressly supplied pratipadyatām; ‘my’ and ‘as I die’ come from the commentary’s mama mariṣyataḥ.
isup [1]athedānīṃ mama mariṣyato vāyuḥ prāṇo 'dhyātmaparicchedaṃ hitvādhidaivatātmānaṃ sarvātmakamanilamamṛtaṃ sūtrātmānaṃ pratipadyatāmiti vākyaśeṣaḥ /
Now, as I am about to die, let vāyu—breath—abandon its limitation to the individual self and attain Anila, the immortal cosmic Self, the Self of all, the Sūtra-Self: this is the completion of the sentence.
Anilam amṛtam is one masculine accusative phrase, the goal of pratipadyatām; amṛtam is not a neuter nominative referring to the body.→ Masculine accusative singular amṛtam modifies anilam and stands in apposition with adhidaivatātmānam, sarvātmakam, and sūtrātmānam.
isup [1]athedānīṃ mama mariṣyato vāyuḥ prāṇo 'dhyātmaparicchedaṃ hitvādhidaivatātmānaṃ sarvātmakamanilamamṛtaṃ sūtrātmānaṃ pratipadyatāmiti vākyaśeṣaḥ /
Now, as I am about to die, let vāyu—breath—abandon its limitation to the individual self and attain Anila, the immortal cosmic Self, the Self of all, the Sūtra-Self: this is the completion of the sentence.
The translation marks an additional clause understood by Śaṅkara: the subtle body (liṅga), conditioned by knowledge and action, is to depart.→ Include the clause in brackets to distinguish commentary-supplied syntax from overt mantra wording.
isup [2]liṅgaṃ cedaṃ jñānakarmasaṃskṛtamutkrāmatviti draṣṭavyam, mārgayācanasāmarthyāt /
And this subtle body, conditioned by knowledge and action, should be understood as [governed by] ‘let it depart,’ because that is entailed by the request for a path.
Idaṃ śarīram is nominative and bhasmāntam is its compound predicate under the supplied bhūyāt: the body is to ‘end in ash.’→ A bahuvrīhi with vigraha bhasma anto yasya tat śarīram, nominative singular in agreement with śarīram; the body is understood as offered into fire.
isup [3]athedaṃ śarīramagnau hutaṃ bhasmāntaṃ bhūyāt /
Then let this body, offered into the fire, become one whose end is ash.
Oṃ is retained as a sacred utterance but interpreted here as the symbol of reality-natured Brahman called Agni, not merely as a generic exclamation.→ Retain ‘Oṃ’ in the translation and construe the following invocation within Śaṅkara’s Agni-Brahman interpretation.
isup [4]om iti yathopāsanam oṃpratīkātmakatvātsatyātmakamagnyākhyaṃ brahmābhedenocyate /
‘Oṃ’ is uttered in accordance with the worship: because Oṃ is its symbol, reality-natured Brahman called Agni is spoken of through non-difference.
The vocative krato addresses Agni under the aspect of resolve or intention (saṅkalpa), rather than denoting a sacrifice or an abstract cognitive faculty without personification.→ ‘O Resolve (kratu),’ with Agni as the intended addressee.
isup [5]he krato! saṅkalpātmaka! smara yanmama smartavyaṃ tasya kālo 'yaṃ pratyupasthito 'taḥ smara /
O Kratu! O you whose nature is resolve! Remember what is to be remembered for me; its time has now arrived, and therefore remember.
isup [6]etāvantaṃ kālaṃ bhāvitaṃ kṛtamagne smara yanmayā bālyaprabhṛtyanuṣṭhitaṃ karma tacca smara /
O Agni, remember what has been cultivated for so long; and remember also the deed performed by me from childhood onward.
Kṛtam is the substantivized object ‘what has been done,’ specifically the speaker’s performed karma; the four imperatives are kept in their repeated form because the repetition expresses reverential urgency.→ ‘Remember what I have done’ is repeated, with the first smara also allowing the broader contextual object ‘what must now be remembered.’
isup [5]he krato! saṅkalpātmaka! smara yanmama smartavyaṃ tasya kālo 'yaṃ pratyupasthito 'taḥ smara /
O Kratu! O you whose nature is resolve! Remember what is to be remembered for me; its time has now arrived, and therefore remember.
isup [6]etāvantaṃ kālaṃ bhāvitaṃ kṛtamagne smara yanmayā bālyaprabhṛtyanuṣṭhitaṃ karma tacca smara /
O Agni, remember what has been cultivated for so long; and remember also the deed performed by me from childhood onward.
isup [7]krato smara kṛtaṃ smareti punarvacanamādarārtham
The repetition of ‘O Kratu, remember; remember what has been done’ is for the sake of reverence.
Śaṅkara's commentary on this unit
1athedānīṃ mama mariṣyato vāyuḥ prāṇo 'dhyātmaparicchedaṃ hitvādhidaivatātmānaṃ sarvātmakamanilamamṛtaṃ sūtrātmānaṃ pratipadyatāmiti vākyaśeṣaḥ /
2liṅgaṃ cedaṃ jñānakarmasaṃskṛtamutkrāmatviti draṣṭavyam, mārgayācanasāmarthyāt /
3athedaṃ śarīramagnau hutaṃ bhasmāntaṃ bhūyāt /
4om iti yathopāsanam oṃpratīkātmakatvātsatyātmakamagnyākhyaṃ brahmābhedenocyate /
5he krato! saṅkalpātmaka! smara yanmama smartavyaṃ tasya kālo 'yaṃ pratyupasthito 'taḥ smara /
6etāvantaṃ kālaṃ bhāvitaṃ kṛtamagne smara yanmayā bālyaprabhṛtyanuṣṭhitaṃ karma tacca smara /
7krato smara kṛtaṃ smareti punarvacanamādarārtham