Ishavasya Upanishad

Energy can neither be created nor destroyed

"Now, what is this completeness that the Upanishad is talking about? In a way, it reflects the understanding that energy is always the same, constant," explains Sri M.

Now, to understand this about the meditator and what is meditated upon, I will go to a beautiful and very important mantra from the Ishavasya Upanishad, one of the most important Upanishads:

Om isa vasyamidam sarvam yatkincha jagatyam jagat

Tena tyaktena bhunjitha ma grdhah kasyasviddhanam

I have quoted the first verse of the Ishavasya Upanishad in its original Sanskrit form to bring out the beauty of the language. Knowledge is important to everyone; everybody wants knowledge. If you just look around the world, at the number of universities and institutions that help you acquire knowledge, you will see how important knowledge is.

It’s because of knowledge that we have come so far. However, there is another aspect of knowledge. And one of the ancient texts—an ancient Upanishad that deals with this question of knowledge is the well-known Ishavasya Upanishad.  It is among the eleven principal Upanishads, commented on by the great Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, Madhva, and various other interpreters.

Einstein said, “Energy can neither be created, nor destroyed” with his famous E=mc2 equation.

The Ishavasya starts with the beautiful shanti path, the mantra that precedes the actual Upanishad, which is:

Purnamadah purnamidam purnat purnamudachyate

Purnasya purnamadaya purname evavasisyate

It means, “that is complete; this is complete, when you take away this completeness from that completeness, completeness alone remains.” Purna is the keyword, which means fullness. Now, what is this completeness that the Upanishad is talking about? In a way, it reflects the understanding that energy is always the same, constant. You cannot subtract from it, you cannot add to it, it remains a constant all-pervading energy about which, in the world of physics, Einstein said, “Energy can neither be created, nor destroyed” with his famous E=mc2 equation.

Here, it means consciousness; which of course, a Vedantin believes is the root of all energy, the source of all energy. And, that consciousness is an all-pervading consciousness from which nothing can be taken away and nothing can be added for it is forever and eternally the same. After having said that, the Upanishad begins with the wonderful verse I chanted earlier:

Om isa vasyamidam sarvam yatkincha jagatyam jagat

Tena tyaktena bhunjitha ma grdhah kasyasviddhanam

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