Īśā vāsyam: the first verse of the Īśa Upaniṣad
ईशा वास्यमिदँ सर्वं यत्किञ्च जगत्यां जगत् ।
तेन त्यक्तेन भुञ्जीथा मा गृधः कस्यस्विद्धनम् ॥
īśā vāsyamidam̐ sarvaṃ yatkiñca jagatyāṃ jagat |
tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā mā gṛdhaḥ kasyasviddhanam ||
Translation
All this, whatever moves in the moving world, is to be clothed by the Lord. Enjoy it through renunciation; do not covet anyone's wealth.
Meaning
The Īśa Upaniṣad is unusual: it is the fortieth and last chapter of the Vājasaneyi Saṃhitā of the White Yajurveda, so it stands inside a Vedic collection rather than in a later prose text. Its eighteen verses open with this one, and the Upaniṣad is named after its first word.
The first line sets the frame: everything that moves is to be "clothed" or pervaded by the Lord. The second line draws the ethical conclusion in one of the most discussed phrases in the Upaniṣads, tena tyaktena bhuñjīthāḥ: "enjoy by that which is given up". Śaṅkara reads it as "protect yourself by renunciation"; others as "enjoy what has been left to you (by the Lord)". Either way the warning that follows is plain: do not grasp at anyone's wealth.
Note the spelling idam̐ (इदँ): the Yajurveda writes the nasal before s with a candrabindu.
Word by word · 14 words
| Devanagari | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ईशा | īśā | by the Lord (instr. sg. of īś) |
| वास्यम् | vāsyam | to be clothed, pervaded (gerundive of √vas "clothe"; some read √vas "dwell": "to be inhabited") |
| इदम् | idam | this (nom. sg. n.) |
| सर्वम् | sarvam | all (nom. sg. n.) |
| यत्किञ्च | yatkiñca | whatever |
| जगत्याम् | jagatyām | in the world (loc. sg. f.) |
| जगत् | jagat | that moves, a moving thing (nom. sg. n.) |
| तेन | tena | by that, therefore (instr.) |
| त्यक्तेन | tyaktena | by what is given up, by renunciation (instr. sg. of tyakta) |
| भुञ्जीथाः | bhuñjīthāḥ | you should enjoy, you should eat (2nd sg. optative middle of √bhuj; -thā before m by sandhi) |
| मा | mā | do not |
| गृधः | gṛdhaḥ | covet (2nd sg. aorist of √gṛdh; with mā a prohibition) |
| कस्यस्वित् | kasyasvit | of anyone at all (kasya "whose" + svit, a questioning particle) |
| धनम् | dhanam | wealth (acc. sg. n.) |
Pronunciation
īśā vāsyamidam̐ sarvaṃ yatkiñca jagatyāṃ jagat |
tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā mā gṛdhaḥ kasyasviddhanam ||
- idam̐ sarvam: the nasal before s is a nasalised vowel, "idã sarvam", not a full m.
- kasyasviddhanam: the double dh is held, kas-yas-vid-dha-nam.
- ṛ is a vowel, a short syllabic r (like the "ri" in "rhythm" said quickly): mṛ-tyu, not mar-tyu.
- A final visarga ḥ is a soft "h" breath that echoes the vowel before it: namaḥ sounds like "nama-ha" (lightly).