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Mantra · Eighteen verses closing the Yajurveda: the Lord clothes all that moves

Isha Upanishad

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते । पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥ ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

Also known as Ishavasya Upanishad

In Devanagari, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English — with the meaning of every word, and the one syllable most people pronounce wrongly.

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What the Isha Upanishad is

The Isha Upanishad, also called the Ishavasya Upanishad after its opening words isha vasyam, is the fortieth and last chapter of the Vajasaneyi Samhita of the Shukla Yajurveda. It is the only principal Upanishad that stands inside a Samhita rather than in a Brahmana or Aranyaka. The Kanva recension gives it eighteen verses, printed here after the Purnamadah peace invocation. Verse 1 says that everything moving in the world is to be clothed by the Lord, and asks the reader to enjoy by letting go and to covet no one's wealth; verse 2 allows a hundred years of work that does not cling, and verse 3 names the sunless worlds of those who deny the Self. Verses 4 to 8 describe the One that stands still yet outruns the mind, near and far, inside and outside. Verses 9 to 14 weigh knowledge against ignorance and the manifest against the unmanifest, warning against holding either alone. Verses 15 to 18 are prayers to Pushan, the Sun, and to Agni.

The last chapter of a Veda

The Isha has no narrative frame: no teacher, no pupil, no king putting a question, which sets it apart from the Katha or the Chandogya. Its setting is the Yajurveda itself. The thirty-nine chapters before it hold the sacrificial liturgy, and this final chapter turns from the rite to the Self of the one who performs it. Adi Shankara, opening his commentary in the eighth century, observes that these verses are assigned to no ritual act, because they speak of a Self that is pure, bodiless and untouched by any deed. He followed the eighteen-verse Kanva text. The Madhyandina recension has seventeen verses, with verses 9 to 14 in a different order and nothing corresponding to verse 16. The four closing verses also appear at the end of book five of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, and Shankara reads them as the prayer of a person at the hour of death: asking the Sun to lift its golden lid from the face of truth, returning breath to the wind and the body to ash, and asking Agni to lead by the good path. That last verse is older still, found first as Rigveda 1.189.1. In the twentieth century Mahatma Gandhi said that if every other scripture were lost and only the first verse of this Upanishad remained, Hinduism would live on.

The mantra, in six scripts

DevanagariSanskrit & Hindiॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते । पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥ ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

Tamilௐ பூர்ணமதஃ பூர்ணமிதம் பூர்ணாத்பூர்ணமுதச்யதே । பூர்ணஸ்ய பூர்ணமாதாய பூர்ணமேவாவஶிஷ்யதே ॥ ௐ ஶாந்திஃ ஶாந்திஃ ஶாந்திஃ ॥

Teluguఓం పూర్ణమదః పూర్ణమిదం పూర్ణాత్పూర్ణముదచ్యతే । పూర్ణస్య పూర్ణమాదాయ పూర్ణమేవావశిష్యతే ॥ ఓం శాన్తిః శాన్తిః శాన్తిః ॥

Kannadaಓಂ ಪೂರ್ಣಮದಃ ಪೂರ್ಣಮಿದಂ ಪೂರ್ಣಾತ್ಪೂರ್ಣಮುದಚ್ಯತೇ । ಪೂರ್ಣಸ್ಯ ಪೂರ್ಣಮಾದಾಯ ಪೂರ್ಣಮೇವಾವಶಿಷ್ಯತೇ ॥ ಓಂ ಶಾನ್ತಿಃ ಶಾನ್ತಿಃ ಶಾನ್ತಿಃ ॥

Malayalamഓം പൂര്ണമദഃ പൂര്ണമിദം പൂര്ണാത്പൂര്ണമുദച്യതേ । പൂര്ണസ്യ പൂര്ണമാദായ പൂര്ണമേവാവശിഷ്യതേ ॥ ഓം ശാന്തിഃ ശാന്തിഃ ശാന്തിഃ ॥

EnglishRoman transliterationoṃ pūrṇamadaḥ pūrṇamidaṃ pūrṇātpūrṇamudacyate | pūrṇasya pūrṇamādāya pūrṇamevāvaśiṣyate || oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ ||

“That is whole, this is whole; from the whole the whole comes forth. When the whole is taken from the whole, the whole alone remains. Om, peace, peace, peace.”

ॐ: oṃ — Om, the sacred syllable
ईशा: īśā — by the Lord
वास्यमिदं: vāsyamidaṃ — is to be clothed, this
सर्वं: sarvaṃ — all
यत्किञ्च: yatkiñca — whatever
जगत्यां: jagatyāṃ — in the moving world
जगत्: jagat — moves
तेन: tena — by that
त्यक्तेन: tyaktena — renounced, let go
भुञ्जीथा: bhuñjīthā — you should enjoy
मा: mā — do not
गृधः: gṛdhaḥ — covet
कस्यस्विद्धनम्: kasyasviddhanam — whose indeed is wealth?

Isha Upanishad lyrics in full

The eighteen verses of the Kanva recension, opened by the Purnamadah peace invocation.

All 19 verses, in Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English, each with its meaning. Choose a script:

Download the Isha Upanishad PDFAll 19 verses with their meanings, in Sanskrit. Free to print and keep.

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Shanti 1

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।
पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥ ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

That is whole, this is whole; from the whole the whole comes forth. When the whole is taken from the whole, the whole alone remains. Om, peace, peace, peace.

Verse 1

ॐ ईशा वास्यमिदं सर्वं यत्किञ्च जगत्यां जगत् ।
तेन त्यक्तेन भुञ्जीथा मा गृधः कस्यस्विद्धनम् ॥

All of this, whatever moves in this moving world, is to be clothed by the Lord. Enjoy it by letting go, and do not covet anyone's wealth, for whose is it?

Verse 2

कुर्वन्नेवेह कर्माणि जिजीविषेच्छतं समाः ।
एवं त्वयि नान्यथेतोऽस्ति न कर्म लिप्यते नरे ॥

Doing one's works here, one may wish to live a hundred years. For you there is no other way than this: in this way work does not cling to a person.

Verse 3

असुर्या नाम ते लोका अन्धेन तमसाऽऽवृताः ।
तांस्ते प्रेत्याभिगच्छन्ति ये के चात्महनो जनाः ॥

Sunless are those worlds, covered in blind darkness. Those who slay the Self go to them after they depart from here.

Verse 4

अनेजदेकं मनसो जवीयो नैनद्देवा आप्नुवन्पूर्वमर्षत् ।
तद्धावतोऽन्यानत्येति तिष्ठत्तस्मिन्नपो मातरिश्वा दधाति ॥

The One does not move, yet it is swifter than the mind; the senses never reached it, for it ran ahead of them. Standing still, it passes beyond others who run, and in it the wind upholds the waters of life.

Verse 5

तदेजति तन्नैजति तद्दूरे तद्वन्तिके ।
तदन्तरस्य सर्वस्य तदु सर्वस्यास्य बाह्यतः ॥

It moves and it does not move; it is far away and it is near. It is inside all this, and it is also outside all this.

Verse 6

यस्तु सर्वाणि भूतान्यात्मन्येवानुपश्यति ।
सर्वभूतेषु चात्मानं ततो न विजुगुप्सते ॥

One who sees all beings in the Self, and the Self in all beings, feels no aversion because of it.

Verse 7

यस्मिन्सर्वाणि भूतान्यात्मैवाभूद्विजानतः ।
तत्र को मोहः कः शोक एकत्वमनुपश्यतः ॥

For the knower in whom all beings have become the Self alone, what delusion or what sorrow can there be, when he sees the oneness?

Verse 8

स पर्यगाच्छुक्रमकायमव्रणमस्नाविरं शुद्धमपापविद्धम् ।
कविर्मनीषी परिभूः स्वयम्भूर्याथातथ्यतोऽर्थान् व्यदधाच्छाश्वतीभ्यः समाभ्यः ॥

He has spread everywhere: bright, bodiless, without wound, without sinews, pure, untouched by evil. The seer, the wise one, all-encompassing and self-existent, he has set out all things rightly for the endless years.

Verse 9

अन्धं तमः प्रविशन्ति येऽविद्यामुपासते ।
ततो भूय इव ते तमो य उ विद्यायां रताः ॥

Into blind darkness enter those who worship ignorance; into still greater darkness, as it were, go those who delight in knowledge alone.

Verse 10

अन्यदेवाहुर्विद्ययाऽन्यदाहुरविद्यया ।
इति शुश्रुम धीराणां ये नस्तद्विचचक्षिरे ॥

One result, they say, comes from knowledge, and another, they say, from ignorance. So we have heard from the wise who explained it to us.

Verse 11

विद्यां चाविद्यां च यस्तद्वेदोभयं सह ।
अविद्यया मृत्युं तीर्त्वा विद्ययाऽमृतमश्नुते ॥

One who knows knowledge and ignorance both together crosses death by ignorance and attains immortality by knowledge.

Verse 12

अन्धं तमः प्रविशन्ति येऽसम्भूतिमुपासते ।
ततो भूय इव ते तमो य उ सम्भूत्यां रताः ॥

Into blind darkness enter those who worship the unmanifest; into still greater darkness, as it were, go those who delight in the manifest alone.

Verse 13

अन्यदेवाहुः सम्भवादन्यदाहुरसम्भवात् ।
इति शुश्रुम धीराणां ये नस्तद्विचचक्षिरे ॥

One result, they say, comes from the manifest, and another, they say, from the unmanifest. So we have heard from the wise who explained it to us.

Verse 14

सम्भूतिं च विनाशं च यस्तद्वेदोभयं सह ।
विनाशेन मृत्युं तीर्त्वा सम्भूत्याऽमृतमश्नुते ॥

One who knows the manifest and destruction both together crosses death by destruction and attains immortality by the manifest.

Verse 15

हिरण्मयेन पात्रेण सत्यस्यापिहितं मुखम् ।
तत्त्वं पूषन्नपावृणु सत्यधर्माय दृष्टये ॥

The face of truth is covered by a golden vessel. O Pushan, uncover it, so that I who hold to truth may see.

Verse 16

पूषन्नेकर्षे यम सूर्य प्राजापत्य व्यूह रश्मीन् समूह तेजः ।
यत्ते रूपं कल्याणतमं तत्ते पश्यामि योऽसावसौ पुरुषः सोऽहमस्मि ॥

O Pushan, lone seer, Yama, Surya, son of Prajapati, spread apart your rays and gather in your light. Your most blessed form, that I see; that Person yonder, I am he.

Verse 17

वायुरनिलममृतमथेदं भस्मान्तं शरीरम् ।
ॐ क्रतो स्मर कृतं स्मर क्रतो स्मर कृतं स्मर ॥

Let my breath now go to the immortal wind, and this body end in ashes. Om, O mind, remember, remember what was done; O mind, remember, remember what was done.

Verse 18

अग्ने नय सुपथा राये अस्मान् विश्वानि देव वयुनानि विद्वान् ।
युयोध्यस्मज्जुहुराणमेनो भूयिष्ठां ते नम उक्तिं विधेम ॥

O Agni, lead us by the good path to prosperity, O god who knows all our ways. Keep far from us the crooked sin; we offer you our fullest words of homage.

The syllable people get wrong

In verse 15, hiraṇmayena ('golden') is often said as 'hiranya-mayena', adding a syllable borrowed from hiraṇya; the text has no 'ya' there, so say it as four syllables, hi-raṇ-ma-yena, with a retroflex ṇ (tongue curled back) running straight into the m.

Questions

Word for word it reads 'by that, renounced, you should enjoy'. Because the verse has just said that everything is to be clothed by the Lord, the line asks the reader to use and enjoy the world without claiming it, and closes with 'ma gridhah kasyasvid dhanam', do not covet, for whose is this wealth? Shankara takes 'renounced' strictly, as giving up the desire for sons, wealth and worlds; later readers often take it as non-possessive use.

The verses are not against knowledge; they warn against one-sidedness. Verse 9 sets avidya (ignorance) beside vidya (knowledge), and verse 12 sets the unmanifest beside the manifest, saying that clinging to either alone leads into darkness. Shankara reads vidya here as knowledge of the gods and avidya as ritual work, and verses 11 and 14 say that one who knows both together crosses death by the first and reaches immortality by the second.

It depends on the recension of the Shukla Yajurveda. The Kanva text, which Shankara commented on and which is printed here, has eighteen. The Madhyandina text has seventeen: verses 1 to 8 match, the knowledge and manifest pairs (Kanva 9 to 14) come in a different order, Kanva verse 16 with its 'so'ham asmi' is absent, and its last verse is a variant of the golden-vessel verse.

It is the peace invocation of the Upanishads of the Shukla Yajurveda. The verse itself is found at Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 5.1.1, and an earlier form occurs in the Atharvaveda. Editions of the Isha print it before the first verse and repeat it at the close; it is printed once here. Its lines on the whole taken from the whole, with the whole remaining, prepare for verse 1's picture of one Lord clothing everything.

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