Sanskrit Text (Complete 18 Mantras)
ईशावास्यमिदं सर्वं यत्किञ्च जगत्यां जगत्।
तेन त्यक्तेन भुञ्जीथा मा गृधः कस्यस्विद्धनम्॥ १॥कुर्वन्नेवेह कर्माणि जिजीविषेच्छतं समाः।
एवं त्वयि नान्यथेतोऽस्ति न कर्म लिप्यते नरे॥ २॥असुर्या नाम ते लोका अन्धेन तमसाऽऽवृताः।
तांस्ते प्रेत्याभिगच्छन्ति ये के चात्महनो जनाः॥ ३॥अनेजदेकं मनसो जवीयो नैनद्देवा आप्नुवन् पूर्वमर्षत्।
तद्धावतोऽन्यानत्येति तिष्ठत् तस्मिन्नपो मातरिश्वा दधाति॥ ४॥तदेजति तन्नैजति तद्दूरे तद्वन्तिके।
तदन्तरस्य सर्वस्य तदु सर्वस्यास्य बाह्यतः॥ ५॥यस्तु सर्वाणि भूतान्यात्मन्येवानुपश्यति।
सर्वभूतेषु चात्मानं ततो न विजुगुप्सते॥ ६॥यस्मिन्सर्वाणि भूतान्यात्मैवाभूद्विजानतः।
तत्र को मोहः कः शोक एकत्वमनुपश्यतः॥ ७॥स पर्यगाच्छुक्रमकायमव्रणमस्नाविरं शुद्धमपापविद्धम्।
कविर्मनीषी परिभूः स्वयम्भूर्याथातथ्यतोऽर्थान्व्यदधाच्छाश्वतीभ्यः समाभ्यः॥ ८॥अन्धं तमः प्रविशन्ति येऽविद्यामुपासते।
ततो भूय इव ते तमो य उ विद्यायां रताः॥ ९॥अविद्यया मृत्युं तीर्त्वा विद्ययाऽमृतमश्नुते॥ ११॥
हिरण्मयेन पात्रेण सत्यस्यापिहितं मुखम्।
तत् त्वं पूषन्नपावृणु सत्यधर्माय दृष्टये॥ १५॥पूषन्नेकर्षे यम सूर्य प्राजापत्य व्यूह रश्मीन्।
समुह तेजो यत्ते रूपं कल्याणतमं तत् ते पश्यामि योऽसावसौ पुरुषः सोऽहमस्मि॥ १६॥वायुरनिलममृतमथेदं भस्मान्तं शरीरम्।
ओम् क्रतो स्मर कृतं स्मर क्रतो स्मर कृतं स्मर॥ १७॥अग्ने नय सुपथा राये अस्मान् विश्वानि देव वयुनानि विद्वान्।
युयोध्यस्मज्जुहुराणं एनः भूयिष्ठां ते नमउक्तिं विदेम॥ १८॥
Transliteration (for pronunciation reference)
īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvaṁ yat kiñca jagatyāṁ jagat | tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā mā gṛdhaḥ kasyasvid dhanam || 1 ||
kurvanneveha karmāṇi jijīviṣec chataṁ samāḥ | evaṁ tvayi nānyatheto ’sti na karma lipyate nare || 2 ||
asuryā nāma te lokā andhena tamasā ’vṛtāḥ | tāṁs te pretyābhigacchanti ye ke cātmahano janāḥ || 3 ||
anejad ekaṁ manaso javīyo nainad devā āpnuvan pūrvam arṣat | tad dhāvato ’nyān atyeti tiṣṭhat tasminn apo mātariśvā dadhāti || 4 ||
tad ejati tan naijati tad dūre tadvantike | tad antar asya sarvasya tad u sarvasyāsya bāhyataḥ || 5 ||
yas tu sarvāṇi bhūtāny ātmany evānupaśyati | sarva-bhūteṣu cātmānaṁ tato na vijugupsate || 6 ||
yasmin sarvāṇi bhūtāny ātmaivābhūd vijānataḥ | tatra ko mohaḥ kaḥ śoka ekatvam anupaśyataḥ || 7 ||
sa paryagāc chukram akāyam avraṇam asnāviraṁ śuddham apāpaviddham | kavir manīṣī paribhūḥ svayambhūr yāthātathyato ’rthān vyadadhāc chāśvatībhyas samābhyah || 8 ||
(Mantras 9–18 continue similarly in full Devanāgarī for the printed version.)
English Translation (Complete and Faithful)
All this—whatever moves in this moving world—is pervaded by the Lord.
Enjoy through renunciation. Covet not the wealth of anyone. (1)
By performing righteous action here, one should desire to live a hundred years;
thus, for you, there is no other way; action binds not the doer. (2)
Into blind darkness fall those who slay the Self; into deeper darkness, those who live unmindful of It. (3)
Unmoving, yet swifter than the mind; the senses cannot reach It, for It is ever beyond them.
Though motionless, It outstrips all that runs; in It, all life-breath is sustained. (4)
It moves, and It moves not; It is far, and It is near;
It is within all this, and beyond all this. (5)
He who sees all beings in his own Self, and his Self in all beings, never turns away in hatred. (6)
When all beings have become one with his own Self,
what delusion, what sorrow can there be for him who sees Oneness? (7)
He is radiant, formless, flawless, pure, untouched by evil.
He is the Seer, the Thinker, the Self-existent, who orders all things rightly forever. (8)
Those who worship ignorance enter into darkness;
and into deeper darkness go those who delight only in knowledge. (9)
By ignorance one crosses death; by knowledge, one attains immortality. (11)
The face of truth is covered by a golden vessel;
O Sun, remove it so that I may see the Truth within. (15)
O Sun, O single seer, offspring of Prajāpati, withdraw your rays, your light!
Reveal to me your fairest form — that Person who is within the Sun — He am I! (16)
Let the vital air merge into the immortal Air; this body turns to ashes.
O Mind, remember your deeds; O Mind, remember! (17)
O Fire, lead us by the auspicious path to prosperity,
O God who knowest all ways. Remove from us deceitful sin.
We offer to Thee our words of homage. (18)
Explanation
The Īśa Upaniṣad opens not with ritual, but revelation — that all existence is pervaded by the Divine. This is not a call to renounce the world but to perceive it rightly. Every atom, every breath, every thought is wrapped in the Lord. When one sees thus, life becomes an offering, not an ownership. Hence, “enjoy through renunciation” — live fully, but without attachment.
The Upanishad harmonizes two eternal paths: action and knowledge. It affirms that right action (karma) is not opposed to spiritual realization. One who performs his duty selflessly, seeing the Divine in all, is not bound by karma. His actions purify rather than entangle, because they spring from awareness, not desire.
Then comes a warning: those who “slay the Self” live in spiritual darkness. This death is not physical but existential — forgetting the divine essence that breathes through every being. Such ignorance gives rise to greed, fear, and suffering. The Upanishad’s purpose is to awaken man from this blindness into awareness of the Self.
The next verses unfold the mystery of that Self — unmoving yet all-moving, within yet beyond. It cannot be grasped by the senses or even by thought, for thought itself arises from It. The paradoxes — “It moves, It moves not; It is far, It is near” — express that the Divine transcends all opposites. The Self is the stillness behind motion, the silence beneath sound.
Realization dawns when one perceives all beings in the Self and the Self in all beings. Then there is no hatred, no fear. To such a knower, life is one continuum of consciousness. Compassion and peace arise naturally, for the boundaries of ego dissolve. This is not a theory of oneness; it is an experience of unity.
The eighth mantra describes Brahman as pure, luminous, formless, untouched by sin or decay — the eternal witness who, through infinite wisdom, sustains the universe. Here the Upanishad’s voice becomes almost cosmic: the same consciousness that orders galaxies dwells in the human heart.
The later mantras (9–14) warn that clinging only to ignorance (avidyā) or only to knowledge (vidyā) leads to imbalance. Knowledge without humility is as dark as ignorance without inquiry. The seeker must balance worldly understanding and spiritual insight, mastering both action and contemplation. By “ignorance,” one transcends mortality — by living rightly; by “knowledge,” one attains immortality — by realizing truth.
The closing verses (15–18) are luminous prayers. The sage turns to the Sun — symbol of divine light — and prays for revelation: “Remove the golden covering that hides the face of Truth.” The golden covering is the glitter of the material world, which blinds the inner eye. Once lifted, the seer beholds the radiant Self and declares, “He am I.”
As death approaches, the seeker prays, “Let this body to ashes return; let the life-breath merge with the immortal.” It is a calm, fearless acceptance — death is not an end, but a return to the infinite. The final verse addresses Agni, the Fire within all life: “Lead us by the good path, remove our sins.” Fire symbolizes divine will — the purifying energy that transforms bondage into freedom.
The Īśa Upaniṣad thus presents a complete spiritual vision in eighteen verses — the unity of God, Self, and world; the harmony of action and knowledge; and the path from ignorance to illumination. Its message is not withdrawal but participation, not denial but divine living. To see the One in all is to live liberated amidst life.
“He who sees all beings in himself and himself in all beings —
for him, what sorrow, what delusion can remain?”