- •Isopanisad
- •His divine grace a.C.Bhaktivedanta swami prabhupada
- •Purpose
- •Section I
- •Introduction & summary of isopanisad
- •1. Meaning of Isopanishad:
- •2. Isopanisad is part of the Vedas:
- •3. Isopanisad and the other Upanishads:
- •4. Other Upanishads and Isopanisad indicate that God is full in six opulences:
- •5. In each and every Upanisad the Supreme Brahman is first viewed as impersonal, at the end the personal form of the Supreme Lord is accepted:
- •6. The purpose of the Upanisads, Vedanta-sutra and Srimad-Bhagavatam is one and the same:
- •7. Relationship of Isopanisad with Bhagavad-Gita:
- •8. Authorship of Isopanishad:
- •9. Isopanisad should be understood according to its original statements:
- •10. The method of translation and commentary of Isopanisad by Srila Prabhupada makes the book authentic and scholarly and makes the meaning self evident:
- •11. The basic philosophy of Isopanisad:
- •12. Main directions of Isopanisad summarized:
- •Lord is the proprietor of the entire Cosmic creation:
- •One should live by the direction of the Lord:
- •God is present everywhere:
- •Hence one should respect all things as parts and parcels of His Supreme Body
- •One can enjoy a fragment of this material creation under the control of the Lord, but not self-sufficiently.
- •Vidya and avida are very nicely explained in Isopanisad:
- •The Lord is apapa-viddham and suddham:
- •Liberating work is described in the pages of Sri Isopanisad:
- •Killer of the soul to suffer perpetually:
- •God is a person even if we cannot see Him with our eyes:
- •Arca-vigraha descends at the requests of the acaryas:
- •Lord rewards everyone’s desires:
- •Not to make one-sided attempts to win the struggle for existence:
- •Worship Krsna, not demogods:
- •Destination of pseudo religionists:
- •Sri Isopanisad advises us to pour water on the root
- •To know God in full one needs to penetrate His effulgence:
- •Bhakti Yogi is highest:
- •Section II – lectures on isopanisad verses
- •Iti çuçruma dhéräëäà
- •Iti çuçruma dhéräëäà
- •Section III – references to verses of isopanisad by srila prabhupada in his preaching
- •Introduction
- •Invocation Mantra
- •Mantra 1
- •Vairagyam phalgu kathyate
- •Mantra 2
- •In the words of Çré Éçopaniñad (3),
- •Mantra 5
- •Mantra 7
- •Mantra 11
- •Vidyäà cävidyäà ca yas
- •Vidyayämåtam açnute
- •Väsudevaù sarvam iti
- •Mantra 12
- •Mantra 14
- •Mantra 15
- •Section IV – srila prabhupada’s desires and instructions on isopanisad to his disciples
- •Instructions regarding Printing and distribution of Sri Isopanisad:
- •100 © 2009 International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc., New York
Vidya and avida are very nicely explained in Isopanisad:
In the language of the Bhagavad-gita (7.15), people who are engaged in gross sense gratification are mudhas--asses. The ass is a symbol of stupidity. Those who simply engage in the profitless pursuit of sense gratification are worshiping avidya, according to Sri Iso
(Iso 9)
Vidya and avidya are very nicely described in Isopanisad. It is said there that sometimes, due to avidya, or a poor fund of knowledge, one accepts the Absolute Truth as ultimately impersonal. But in fact the impersonal and personal realizations develop in proportion to the development of devotional service. The more we develop our devotional service, the more closely we approach the Absolute Truth, which, in the beginning, when we realize the Absolute Truth from a distant place, is manifest as impersonal.
(SB 4.9.16 P Dhruva Maharaja Returns Home)
"O scion of Bharata [Arjuna], O conqueror of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion, overcome by the dualities of desire and hate."
This condition of life is called avidya. Opposed to this avidya is real knowledge. Sri Isopanisad distinguishes between vidya and avidya, knowledge and ignorance. By avidya (ignorance) one becomes conditioned, and by vidya (knowledge) one becomes liberated. Puranjana admits herein that he is attracted by avidya. Now he wishes to see the complete feature of avidya and so requests the girl to raise her head so that he can see her face to face. He thus wishes to see the various features that make avidya attractive.
(SB 4.25.31 P The Descriptions of the Characteristics of King Puranjana)
The Lord is apapa-viddham and suddham:
Although He lives everywhere within the material world, He is not contaminated by the modes of nature. The Lord is therefore described in Isopanisad as apapa-viddham. He is never contaminated by the modes of material nature.
(SB 4.30.42 P The Activities of the Pracetas)
To confirm that the Lord is always pure and uncontaminated, Sri Isopanisad describes Him as suddham (antiseptic) and apapa-viddham (prophylactic). He is antiseptic in the sense that even an impure thing can become purified just by touching Him. The word "prophylactic" refers to the power of His association. As mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita (9.30-31), a devotee may appear to be su-duracara, not well behaved, in the beginning, but he should be accepted as pure because he is on the right path. This is due to the prophylactic nature of the Lord's association. The Lord is also apapa-viddham because sin cannot touch Him.
(Iso 8)
Krsna hasn't got that aptitude. He's a master. Just like "King can do no wrong." This is the British Constitution. You cannot accuse the king in any way, neither you can judge. That is British Constitution. Similarly, Krsna, as it is stated in the Isopanisad, apapa-viddham. He cannot be criminal like us. He's above. He cannot be charged with any criminal charges. Apapa-viddham. Papa does not touch Him. Although it appears that He is doing something which is papa, but that is not papa.
(741003SB.MAY Lectures)
Lord Parasurama killed all the ksatriyas, and their accumulated blood flowed like a stream. Lord Parasurama dug five big lakes at Samanta-pancaka and filled them with this blood. Lord Parasurama is visnu-tattva. As stated in the Isopanisad, visnu-tattva cannot be contaminated by any sinful activity. Yet although Lord Parasurama is fully powerful and uncontaminated, in order to exhibit ideal character, He performed great sacrifices at Samanta-pancaka to atone for His so-called sinful killing of the ksatriyas.
(KB 82 Lord Krsna and Balarama Meet the Inhabitants of Vrndavana)
In the Bhagavad-gita it is clearly said that the aim of the Vedic way of searching out the Absolute Truth is to find the personal God. One who is satisfied only with the other aspects of the Absolute Truth, namely the Paramatma feature or the Brahman feature, is to be considered possessed of a poor fund of knowledge. Recently we have published our Sri Isopanisad, a Vedic literature, and in this small booklet we have thoroughly discussed this point.
(SSR 3 Discovering the Roots)
Isopanisad says that such persons who accept Brahman or Paramatma as the final word of God-realization will be "still more" condemned. This is because they are offenders of God and are very stubborn to accept the Supreme Personality. If one refuses to progress to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then he is sure to fall down again into darkness. The worshippers of the demigods at least have fear of some higher personality, and that may eventually develop into fear of the Supreme Personality. But the impersonalists think that everything is Brahma, everyone is God, therefore they can do whatever they want; and that is a still more dangerous position. I think this will clear up the matter for you.
I hope this will meet you in good health.
Your ever well-wisher,
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
(69-10-15.Bra Letter: Brahmananda)