Isha Upanishad - The Supreme

The Supreme

The Isha Upanishad is significant amongst the Upanishads for its description of the nature of the supreme being (Ish). It presents a monist or non-dual perspective of the universe, in that it describes this being as "unembodied, omniscient, beyond reproach, without veins, pure and uncontaminated" (verse 8), one who "moves and does not move', who is 'far away, but very near as well'" and who "although fixed in His abode is swifter than the mind" (verses 4 & 5).

The text then asserts the oneness of the supreme self;

"For the enlightened one all that exists is nothing but the Self"

and asks;

"So how could any delusion or suffering continue for those who know this oneness?"

The later verses take the form of a series of prayers requesting that the speaker be able to see past the supreme light or effulgence in order to understand the true nature of the Supreme Lord.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi thought so highly of this text that he remarked, "If all the Upanishads and all the other scriptures happened all of a sudden to be reduced to ashes, and if only the first verse in the Ishopanishad were left in the memory of the Hindus, Hinduism would live for ever." The shloka Mahatma Gandhi was referring to is as follows.
"From the whole the whole, from the complete arises the complete. Deducting the whole from the whole, the whole alone remains."

In his highly acclaimed commentary suited to the modern-day reader, Swami Chinmayananda expounds that "The very first stanza of this matchless Upanishad is in itself a miniature philosophical textbook. Besides being comprehensive in its enunciation of Truth, it provides a vivid exposition of the technique of realising the Truth in a language unparalleled in philosophical beauty and literary perfection. Its mantras are the briefest exposition on philosophy and each one is an exercise in contemplation."