The Importance of Sri Isopanisad

Srila Prabhupada chose a traditional text accepted by all classes of Vedic scholars to be one of the first books he translated.

By Satyaraja Dasa

Among all of Srila Prabhupada's books, Sri Isopanisad occupies a unique position. It stands alongside his most important works: Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Caitanya-caritamrta, and The Nectar of Devotion. But within the larger context of Vedic scholarship, reflected in most branches of modern-day Hinduism, Sri Isopanisad enjoys a special status: It comes from a category of texts known as sruti.

Generally, sruti refers to the original four Vedas and their supplemental Upanisadic literature. The Vedic tradition itself honors these texts as revelation, given to the world directly by God. In addition, there is another category of literature, known as smrti, or "that which is remembered" Vaisnavas consider these texts equal to sruti in every way. In fact, smrti is traditionally understood as the inner portion of sruti, without which the latter remains virtually indecipherable. The sacred texts generally included in the smrti category are the epics (Mahabharata and Ramayana) and the Puranas, which are known in the sruti texts as "the fifth Veda." (See, for example, the Chandogya Upanisad 7.1.4 and Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad 2.4.10.) In fact, since the Bhagavad-gita consists of words directly emanating from Krsna, God, and Srimad-Bhagavatam is directly about Lord Krsna's intimate pastimes, true knowers of Vedic wisdom consider them sruti in the deepest sense of the word.

Still, some Vedic scholars deny that the epics and the Puranas are sruti. Nanda Misra, commenting on Sri Baladeva Vidyabhusana's Siddhanta-darpana (2.1), writes, "Some philosophers, being disturbed by statements about devotion to Visnu in the epics and the Puranas, try to say that those texts are not identical with the Vedas." This is because of a technical division of the scriptures, which has little consequence in the life of the practitioner. Prabhupada, of course, was aware of these technicalities, and his Sri Isopanisad indirectly addresses the problem by supporting Krsna consciousness with a text that all Vedic scholars would accept as sruti. The strategy of using "Vedic" evidences goes back to the greatest Krsna conscious masters in history, such as Jiva Gosvami and Baladeva Vidyabhusana, and Prabhupada was merely following their lead.

Thus, as far back as the early 1960s, before he had officially founded ISKCON, Prabhupada had serialized his Isopanisad manuscript in Back to Godhead magazine. After coming West, it was one of the first books he published. He even suggested that his 1969 lecture "What are the Vedas?" be used as the Introduction to the book, which underlines the importance of the Isopanisad's Vedic status. To this day, that Introduction accompanies his Isopanisad.

Sri Isopanisad is the fortieth (last) chapter of the Sukla Yajur Veda and consists of eighteen Sanskrit mantras. All lists of the most important Upanisads begin by mentioning this one. As Prabhupada writes, "Regarding the Upanisads, the following eleven are considered to be the topmost: Isa, Kena, Katha, Prasna, Mundaka, Mandukya, Taittiriya, Aitareya, Chandogya, Brhad-aranyaka, and Svetasvatara. However, in the Muktikopanisad, verses 30-39, there is a description of 108 Upanisads." (Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 7.108, Purport) Even among Upanisads, then, Sri Isopanisad is considered among the most important.

There are other reasons for the preeminent position of this work, and these were made clear in the earlier commentaries of Vedanta Desika, from the Ramanuja school of Vaisnavism, and also in the one by Madhva, the great teacher from early on in the Hare Krsna lineage. Quite simply, the Isopanisad (Isa-Upanisad) is about Isa, or Isvara, "the Supreme Controller," God.

The word upanisad means "to sit near." Whereas most other Upanisads are somewhat vague about the nature of the Absolute Truth, Sri Isopanisad delivers "the knowledge that brings one nearer to the Supreme Person, Krsna." The book takes its readers methodically from an impersonal understanding of God to an awareness of His allpervading and unsurpassable personal aspect.

Prabhupada tells us that according to Sri Isopanisad, "the Supreme Absolute Truth is both impersonal and personal eternally, but His personal aspect is more important than the impersonal one." (Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 24)

By way of evidence, Sri Isopanisad, in Mantra Twelve, offers an admonition against depersonalized conceptions of God: "Those who are engaged in the worship of demigods enter into the darkest region of ignorance, and still more so do the worshipers of the impersonal Absolute." Vaisnava commentators say that impersonalists tend to fall into hellish consciousness because they deny God's ability to have personal features, implying that they have something that God does not. All of our greatest pleasures come from sensual experience, and God is not to be denied such pleasures. He can see, hear, speak, and love. In short, He can experience things as we do, but without the imperfections associated with a temporary and limited nature.

The Isopanisad further informs us that God's impersonal feature is essentially an overwhelming white light, purely spiritual and fully engulfing all who come in its path. It is composed of God's bodily effulgence, which can be blinding, denying its viewers access to the personal form at its base. Mantra Fifteen states, "O my Lord, sustainer of all that lives, Your real face is covered by Your dazzling effulgence. Kindly remove that covering and exhibit Yourself to Your pure devotee." In Mantra Sixteen we further read, "O my Lord, O primeval philosopher, maintainer of the universe, O regulating principle, destination of the pure devotees, well-wisher of the progenitors of mankind, please remove the effulgence of Your transcendental rays so that I can see Your form of bliss. You are the eternal Supreme Personality of Godhead, like unto the sun, as am I." For Vaisnavas, then, the impersonal aspect of the Lord is, in a sense, His less desirable side. This is so not only because it is bereft of personal characteristics, which allow one to have an intimate relationship with God, but because it can interfere with the ability to relate to God's form, as stated above.

To sum up: Srila Prabhupada's translation, with commentary, of Sri Isopanisad accomplishes many ends. To bring out Krsna conscious conclusions, it uses a traditional text accepted by all classes of Vedic scholars. In addition, it methodically takes its readers from the impersonal conception of the Absolute to an awareness of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But more than all this, it delivers ultimate spiritual wisdom in an accessible form, which in fact is the virtue of all of Srila Prabhupada's books.

Satyaraja Dasa, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, is a BTG associate editor. He has written over 20 books. He lives with his wife and daughter near New York City.