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Īśopaniṣad with Śaṅkara's bhāṣya · 4
anejad ekaṃ manaso javīyo nainaddevā āpnuvanpūrvamarṣat | taddhāvato 'nyānatyeti tiṣṭhat tasminn apo mātariśvā dadhāti
Translation. Unmoving, the One—the Self-reality (ātmatattva)—is swifter than the mind;
the gods, the senses (indriyāṇi), did not reach it: it had gone ahead.
Though itself standing still, it outstrips, as it were, the others as they run;
in it Mātariśvan, the Wind, distributes—or sustains—the activities (karmāṇi).
Grammar check: 18 words pass / 1 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 |
|---|
| anejat | anejat | pass |
| ekam | eka | pass |
| manasaḥ | manas | pass |
| javīyaḥ | javīyas | pass |
| na | na | pass |
| enat | enad | pass |
| devāḥ | deva | pass |
| āpnuvan | āp | pass |
| pūrvam | pūrva | pass |
| arṣat | ṛṣ | fail |
| tat | tad | pass |
| dhāvataḥ | dhāvat | pass |
| anyān | anya | pass |
| atyeti | i | pass |
| tiṣṭhat | tiṣṭhat | pass |
| tasmin | tad | pass |
| apaḥ | ap | pass |
| mātariśvā | mātariśvan | pass |
| dadhāti | dhā | 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.
Anejat is one inflected nañ-tatpuruṣa, ‘not moving,’ rather than the analyzer’s sequence of separate indeclinables plus ejat. It describes the Self as devoid of movement and therefore changeless.→ Single neuter nominative compound anejat, with vigraha na ejat.
isup [1]anejat na ejat /
‘Anejat’ means ‘not moving.’
isup [2]kampanaṃ calanaṃ svāvasthāpracyutistadvarjitaṃ sarvadaikarūpamityarthaḥ /
Movement is motion, departure from one’s own condition; being devoid of that means always having one and the same form.
Anejat, ekam, and javīyaḥ are construed as neuter nominative singular predicates of the one Self-reality, not as accusatives, despite nominative–accusative syncretism.→ Nominative predicates with the understood subject ātmatattva/tat.
isup [3]taccaikaṃ sarvabhūteṣu manasaḥ saṅkalpādilakṣaṇād javīyo javavattaram /
And that is one in all beings, swifter—possessed of still greater speed—than the mind characterized by thought and the like.
Manasaḥ is construed as the ablative standard of comparison, ‘than the mind.’ The apparent contradiction between immobility and superior speed is resolved by Śaṅkara through the distinction between the Self without limiting adjuncts and its appearance in association with the mind.→ Ablative comparison, with speed attributed under the mental limiting adjunct rather than to the changeless Self intrinsically.
isup [4, 5]kathaṃ viruddhamucyate dhruvaṃ niścalamidaṃ manaso javīya iti ca /
naiṣa doṣaḥ /
How are the contradictory claims made that this is fixed and motionless and also swifter than the mind? This is no fault.
isup [6]nirupādhyupādhimattvenopapatteḥ
Because it is intelligible in terms of being without and with limiting adjuncts.
isup [7]tasmin manasi brahmalokādīn drutaṃ gacchati sati prathamaṃ prāpta ivātmacaitanyāvabhāso gṛhyate 'to manaso javīya ityāha /
When that mind rapidly travels to Brahmā’s world and elsewhere, the appearance of the Self’s consciousness is apprehended as though it had arrived first; hence it is said to be swifter than the mind.
Devāḥ denotes the senses beginning with sight, and na directly negates āpnuvan: those senses did not reach the Self-reality.→ The senses (indriyāṇi), so named from their illumination or manifestation of objects.
isup [8]nainaddevā dyotanāddevāścakṣurādīnīndriyāṇyetatprakṛtamātmatattvaṃ nāpnuvanna prāptavantaḥ /
The ‘gods,’ so called from illumination, are the senses beginning with sight; they did not reach—did not attain—this Self-reality under discussion.
isup [9]manovyāpāravyavahitatvād ābhāsamātramapi ātmano naiva devānāṃ viṣayībhavati /
Because they are mediated by the operation of the mind, not even the mere appearance of the Self becomes an object for the senses.
Pūrvam is adverbial, and arṣat is a finite past form of √ṛṣ, not a nominal participle. It says that the Self had already gone or arrived ahead of even the swift mind, figuratively because it is all-pervading.→ Finite third-person singular augmentless imperfect/injunctive, represented as Lan, with pūrvam meaning ‘already/ahead.’
isup [10]yasmājjavanānmanaso 'pi pūrvamarṣat pūrvameva gataṃ vyomavadvyāpitvāt
Because it went before even the swift mind—had already gone before—on account of being all-pervading like space.
Dhāvataḥ is accusative plural and modifies anyān, while tat and tiṣṭhat are nominative singular. The Self outstrips the running others only ‘as it were,’ since it remains intrinsically changeless.→ ‘That, while standing still, outstrips as it were the other running faculties.’
isup [11]taddhāvato drutaṃ gacchato 'nyānātmavilakṣaṇānmanovāgindriyaprabhṛtīnatyeti atītya gacchati iva /
That passes beyond, as though going past, the others who run—who move rapidly—the mind, speech, senses, and so forth, which are distinct from the Self.
isup [12]ivārthaṃ svayameva darśayati tiṣṭhaditi svayamavikriyameva sadityarthaḥ /
The word ‘standing’ itself indicates the sense ‘as though’: it itself remains entirely changeless.
Tasmin is a locative of ground or locus: all activity occurs in dependence upon the eternally conscious Self-reality, the universal support.→ A locative combining existence and support: ‘in it,’ that is, with the Self as the ground of all operations.
isup [13]tasminnātmatattve sati nityacaitanyasvabhāve
When/in that Self-reality, whose nature is eternal consciousness, there is existence.
isup [17]sarvā hi kāryakaraṇādivikriyā nityacaitanyātmasvarūpe sarvāspadabhūte satyeva bhavantītyarthaḥ
All transformations of effects, instruments, and the like occur only when the eternally conscious nature of the Self, the support of everything, exists.
Apaḥ is translated as ‘activities’ rather than the lexically possible ‘waters.’ It is accusative plural as the object of dadhāti and includes both living beings’ motions and cosmic operations.→ Activities (karmāṇi), including bodily motions and the operations of fire, sun, and rain.
isup [13]apaḥ karmāṇi prāṇināṃ ceṣṭālakṣaṇāni, agnyādityaparjanyādīnāṃ jvalanadahanaprakāśābhivarṣaṇādilakṣaṇāni dadhāti vibhajati ityarthaḥ /
‘Apaḥ’ means activities: those characterized by the motions of living beings and those characterized by the blazing, burning, illumination, raining, and so forth of fire, sun, rain-cloud, and the like; he dadhāti—that is, distributes them.
Mātariśvan denotes Vāyu, the Wind, understood as the active principle and bearer of the vital functions, rather than being left as an unidentified divine name.→ Mātariśvan as Vāyu, the Wind and bearer of all life-functions.
isup [13]mātariśvā vāyuḥ sarvaprāṇabhṛt kriyātmako
Mātariśvan is Vāyu, the Wind, the bearer of all life and active in nature.
Dadhāti primarily means ‘distributes’ here, with ‘sustains’ as Śaṅkara’s explicit alternative. Both are retained in the translation.→ ‘Distributes—or sustains—the activities.’ The punctuation and lineation of the alternative citation are retained from the unproofread source.
isup [13]dadhāti vibhajati ityarthaḥ /
‘Dadhāti’ means ‘distributes.’
isup [14, 15, 16]dhārayatīti vā"bhīṣāsmādvātaḥ pavate" (tai. u. 2 /
8 /
1) ityādi śrutibhyaḥ /
Or it means ‘sustains,’ on the evidence of scriptural passages such as ‘From fear of him the wind blows’ (Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.8.1).
Mātariśvan is analyzed lexically as a fossilized Vedic aluk/upapada-type tatpuruṣa, approximately ‘one who grows or moves in the mother,’ following the hyphenated lexical analysis of [MW s.v. mātariśvan, 807,2]. Śaṅkara does not discuss its internal derivation.→ Lexicalized tatpuruṣa, mātari śvayati; exact historical derivation remains uncertain.
isup []
The commentary supplies no compound analysis; this decision rests on grammar and lexical evidence.
Śaṅkara's commentary on this unit
1anejat na ejat /
2ejṛ kampane, kampanaṃ calanaṃ svāvasthāpracyutistadvarjitaṃ sarvadaikarūpamityarthaḥ /
3taccaikaṃ sarvabhūteṣu manasaḥ saṅkalpādilakṣaṇād javīyo javavattaram /
4kathaṃ viruddhamucyate dhruvaṃ niścalamidaṃ manaso javīya iti ca /
5naiṣa doṣaḥ /
6nirupādhyupādhimattvenopapatteḥ tatra nirupādhikena svena rūpeṇocyate anejadekamiti manaso 'ntaḥkaraṇasya saṅkalpavikalpalakṣaṇasyopādheranuvarttanād iha dehasthasya manaso brahmalokādidūragamanaṃ saṅkalpena kṣaṇamātrādbhavatītyato manaso javiṣṭhatvaṃ loke prasiddham /
7tasmin manasi brahmalokādīn drutaṃ gacchati sati prathamaṃ prāpta ivātmacaitanyāvabhāso gṛhyate 'to manaso javīya ityāha /
8nainaddevā dyotanāddevāścakṣurādīnīndriyāṇyetatprakṛtamātmatattvaṃ nāpnuvanna prāptavantaḥ /
9tebhyo mano javīyaḥ manovyāpāravyavahitatvād ābhāsamātramapi ātmano naiva devānāṃ viṣayībhavati /
10yasmājjavanānmanaso 'pi pūrvamarṣat pūrvameva gataṃ vyomavadvyāpitvāt sarvavyāpi tadātmatattva sarvasaṃsāradharmavarjitaṃ svena nirupādhikena svarūpeṇāvikriyameva sadupādhikṛtāḥ sarvāḥ saṃsāravikriyā anubhavatītyavivekināṃ mūḍhānāmanekamiva ca pratidehaṃ pratyavabhāsata ityetadāha /
11taddhāvato drutaṃ gacchato 'nyānātmavilakṣaṇānmanovāgindriyaprabhṛtīnatyeti atītya gacchati iva /
12ivārthaṃ svayameva darśayati tiṣṭhaditi svayamavikriyameva sadityarthaḥ /
13tasminnātmatattve sati nityacaitanyasvabhāve mātariśvā vāyuḥ sarvaprāṇabhṛt kriyātmako yadāśrayāṇi kāryakaraṇajātāni yasminnotāni protāni ca yatsūtrasaṃjñakaṃ sarvasya jagato vighārayitṛ sa mātariśvā; apaḥ karmāṇi prāṇināṃ ceṣṭālakṣaṇāni, agnyādityaparjanyādīnāṃ jvalanadahanaprakāśābhivarṣaṇādilakṣaṇāni dadhāti vibhajati ityarthaḥ /
14dhārayatīti vā"bhīṣāsmādvātaḥ pavate" (tai. u. 2 /
158 /
161) ityādi śrutibhyaḥ /
17sarvā hi kāryakaraṇādivikriyā nityacaitanyātmasvarūpe sarvāspadabhūte satyeva bhavantītyarthaḥ