The Isha Upanishad (Devanagari: ईशावास्य उपनिषद्,īśa upaniṣad, otherwise Ishopanishad īśopaniṣad or īśāvāsya upaniṣad) is one of the shortest of the Upanishads, consisting of 17 or 18 verses in total; like other core texts of the vedanta, it is considered revealed scripture (Śruti) by diverse traditions within Hinduism. The name of the text derives from the incipit, īśā, "by the Lord (Isha)". The Upanishad constitutes the final chapter (adhyāya) of the Shukla Yajurveda, but is historically one of the latest of the principal (mukhya) Upanishads, dating approximately to Mauryan times.^{[citation needed]}

The short text covers a wide spectrum of philosophy, religion, ritualism and metaphysics.

The Supreme[link]

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An opening invocation prefaced to the Isha Upanishad.

The Isha Upanishad is significant amongst the Upanishads for its description of the nature of the supreme being (Ish). It presents a monist or non-dual perspective of the universe, in that it describes this being as^[1] "unembodied, omniscient, beyond reproach, without veins, pure and uncontaminated" (verse 8), one who "moves and does not move', who is 'far away, but very near as well'" and who "although fixed in His abode is swifter than the mind" (verses 4 & 5).

The text then asserts the oneness of the supreme self;

"For the enlightened one all that exists is nothing but the Self"

and asks;

"So how could any delusion or suffering continue for those who know this oneness?"

The later verses take the form of a series of prayers requesting that the speaker be able to see past the supreme light or effulgence in order to understand the true nature of the Supreme Lord.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi thought so highly of this text that he remarked, "If all the Upanishads and all the other scriptures happened all of a sudden to be reduced to ashes, and if only the first verse in the Ishopanishad were left in the memory of the Hindus, Hinduism would live for ever."^[2] The shloka Mahatma Gandhi was referring to is as follows.
"From the whole the whole, from the complete arises the complete. Deducting the whole from the whole, the whole alone remains."

Text[link]

In the two shakhas of the Shukla Yajurveda (called VSM and VSK) the order of verses 1–8 is the same, however VSK verses 9–14 correspond to VSM verses 12, 13, 14, 9, 10, 11. VSM 17 is a variation of VSK 15, VSK 16 is lacking in VSM, and VSK 17–18 correspond to VSM 15–16. The verse numbers used elsewhere in this article refer to VSK^[3] :

Verse 18 is a Rigvedic verse (RV 1.189.1) invoking Agni.

See also[link]

• Upanishads
• Bhagavata Purana
• Mahabharata
• Bhagavad Gita

References[link]

1. ^ Weber 1878:103
2. ^ Easwaran, Eknath: The Upanishads, Translated for the Modern Reader, page 205. Nilgiri Press, 1987.
3. ^ "Article on Isha Upanishad". http://www.vedicmiracles.org/vedic/yajurveda/. Retrieved 3 October 2011. 

Literature[link]

• A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Śrī Īśopaniṣad, The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1969.
• Sri Aurobindo, The Upanishads [1]. Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry. 1972.
• S. Radhakrishnan. The Principal Upanishads. George Allen and Unwin Ltd. New York. 1969.
• Swami Gambhirananda, Eight Upanishads, Vol.1. with the commentary of Shankaracharya. Tr. Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta, 2nd edn. 1989.
• Albrecht Weber, The History of Indian Literature (1878).
• N.Srinivasagopalan, Isa Upanisad Revisited,Oupanisada Publications, 16, Vayupuri, Secunderabad 500 094. 2004 ISBN 978-81-7525-831-0 The Subtitle is 'The Recipe for an Enlightened and Joyful Life of High Effectiveness and All-round success'
• Sri Aurobindo, Isha Upanisad, Sri Aurobindo Asram, Pondicherry. 1986
• Swami Satyananda Saraswati,Ishavasya Upanishad,Bihar School of Yoga, Monghyr, Bihar, India.1973
• Sri Ganapati Sachchidanada Swamiji, Sri Sachchidananda Avadh00ta Datta Peetham, Mysore. 1992

External links[link]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Isha Upanishad

• Text in Sanskrit/Devanagari on wikisource.org
• Isha Upanishad Text in Sanskrit/Devanagari with commentary by Swami Dayanand Saraswati
• Isha Upanishad Sri Aurobindo on Isha upanishad.
• GRETIL etext
• Śrī Īśopaniṣad by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
• Śrī Īśopaniṣad translation and commentary by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
• Isha Upanishad translation and commentary by Swami Paramananda
• Isa Upanishad A translation by Swami Nikhilananda
• Isha Upanishad as Shukla Yajurveda Adhyaya 40 (White Yajurveda Chapter 40) A translation by Ralph T.H. Griffith, 1899
• Isa Upanishad Gujarati translation and commentary by Yogeshwarji
• Isa Upanishad translation by Max Müller
• Isha Upanishad translation by Sri Aurobindo Gosh, 1910.
  Also see this. Similar to the previous, but with slight grammatical variations.
• Isha Upanishad Commentary by Sri Aurobindo Gosh
• Isha Upanishad Commentary by Dr. CS Shah
• Isha Upanishad translation and commentary by P.K. Hari Hara Subramanian.
• Isha Upanishad translated by Swami Prabhavananda and Frederick Manchester.
• Isha Upanishad Invocation Translations Several translations of Purna, the Isha Upanishad Invocation.

Umashankar Joshi (Gujarati: ઉમાશંકર જોશી) (July 21, 1911 – December 19, 1988) was an eminent poet, scholar and writer. He received the Jnanpith Award in 1967 for his contribution to Indian, especially Gujarati literature.^[1]

Works[link]

• Nishith ( નિશિથ ) - The God of Midnight
• Gangotri ( ગંગોત્રી )
• Vishwashanti ( વિશ્વશાંતિ ) - World Peace
• Mahaprasthan ( મહાપ્રસ્થાન ) - Great Departure
• Abhijna ( અભિજ્ઞ ) - Recognition.
• Sanskruti' - Editor of the magazine

Awards[link]

• Jnanpith Award - 1967
• Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak - 1939
• Narmad Suvarna Chandrak - 1947
• Soviet Land Nehru Award - 1973

Positions held[link]

This article contains Indic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text.

• President - Gujarati Sahitya Parishad (1968)
• President - Sahitya Akademi (1978–1982)
• Vice Chancellor - Gujarat University (1970)
• Member - Rajyasabha, Upper House of the Indian Parliament

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website of Umashankar Joshi
• Umashankar Joshi Poems
• Biographical blogpost about Umashankar Joshi

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Swāmī Rāma (1925–1996) was born Brij Kiśore Dhasmana or Brij Kiśore Kumar,^[1] to a northern Indian Brahmin family in a small village called Toli in the Garhwal Himalayas. From an early age he was raised in the Himalayas by his master Bengali Baba and, under the guidance of his master, traveled from temple to temple and studied with a variety of Himalayan saints and sages, including his grandmaster, who was living in a remote region of Tibet. From 1949 to 1952 he held the prestigious position of Shankaracharya of Karvirpitham (also Karveer Peeth or Karweer Peeth) in South India. After returning to his master in 1952 and practising further for many years in the Himalayan caves, Swami Rama was encouraged by his teacher to go to the West, where he spent a considerable portion of his life teaching, specifically in the United States and Europe.^[2]

He is especially notable as one of the first yogis to allow himself to be studied by Western scientists. In the 1960s he allowed himself to be examined by scientists at the Menninger Clinic who studied his ability to voluntarily control bodily processes (such as heartbeat, blood pressure, body temperature, etc.) that are normally considered to be non-voluntary (autonomic).

First ashram[link]

After leaving the post of Shankaracharya and going back to the master, he afterwards travelled to Nepal in the Himalayas barefoot with nothing but a kamandalu and tiger mat. It was here he created his first ashram. It is at the outskirts of Kathmandu on the way to Dulikhel on the mountain of Janagal. He later granted it to Swami Vishuddha Dev. The ashram is known as Hansada Yoga Ashram. Now it is the headquarters of the Characterlogy movement. However, other programs are also conducted there.^[3]

Organization and achievements[link]

He was the founder of the Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy, which has its headquarters in Honesdale, PA, and branches in the USA, Europe, and India. Swami Rama also founded other teaching and service organizations, some of which are linked below. One of his significant achievements is the establishment of a large medical facility in the northeastern part of India (Dehradun) to serve millions of poor people in the nearby mountains. Until about 15 years ago the rural poor in this region did not have access to health care, water, sanitation, and education. Dedicated disciples of Swami Rama have contributed to make his dream of a region free of poverty come true. Stories of his leadership style and the way he achieved his goals are documented in several books about Swami Rama.^[4]

Swami Rama demonstrated the impact of holistic health approaches on the Dehradun campus. On that campus he also established a medical university with his most senior disciple Swami Veda Bharati (holding a Ph.D. from somewhere in The Netherlands)^[5] being the Chancellor, Vijay Dhasmana as the Vice-Chancellor, and one of his most development-oriented disciples—Ms. B. Maithili (Director of the Rural Development Institute)—as the Registrar.

Swami Rama authored several books in which he describes the path he took to becoming a yogi and lays out the philosophy and benefits behind practices such as meditation. One of the common themes expressed in such books as Enlightenment Without God and Living with the Himalayan Masters is the ability of any person to achieve peace without the need for a structured religion. He was critical of the tendency for yogis to use supernatural feats to demonstrate their enlightenment, arguing that these only demonstrated the ability to perform a feat.

Selected bibliography[link]

Books by Swami Rama

• Enlightenment Without God (Mandukya Upanishad) (ISBN 0893890847)
• Living with the Himalayan Masters (ISBN 0893891568)
• The Science of Breath: A Practical Guide (ISBN 089389057X)
• Meditation and its Practice (ISBN 0893891533)
• Freedom from the Bondage of Karma (ISBN 0893890316)
• Spiritual Journey
• "Yoga & Psychotherapy " (ISBN 13:9780893890360)
• " Perennial Psychology of the Bhagavad Gita" (ISBN 0893890901)
• "Sukhamani Sahib:Fountain of Eternal Joy " (ISBN 089389110X )
• " Book of Wisdom :ISHOPANISHAD " (ISBN 0893890030)
• "Wisdom of the ancient sages : Mundaka Upanishad (ISBN 0893891207)
• " The art of Joyful Living " (ISBN 089389236X)
• " The Royal path :Practical lessons on Yoga "(ISBN 0893891525)
• " Path of Fire and Light volume 2 " (ISBN 0893891126)
• " A Practical Guide to Holistic Health " (ISBN 0893891746)
• " Japji : Meditation in Sikhism " (ISBN 089389107X)
• "Spirituality Transformation within & without " (ISBN 0893891509)
• "Life Here and Hereafter (Kathopanishad) " (ISBN 0893890022)
• "Choosing a Path " (ISBN 0893890774 )
• "Love and family Life "(ISBN 0893891339)
• " Valmiki Ramayana Retold in verse vols I and II "
• "Love Whispers " (ISBN 0893891789)
• "Celestial Song / GoBind Geet " (ISBN 0893891037)
• "Path of Fire and Light volume 1 " (ISBN 0893890979)
• "Sacred Journey " (ISBN 8176210900)
• "Sadhana :The Essence of Spiritual Life " (ISBN 8176210943)
• "OM :The Eternal witness " (ISBN 9788188157433)
• "Exercises for Joints & Glands " (ISBN 10:0893890839)
• "Conscious Living " (ISBN 8188157031)

Biographies

• At the Eleventh Hour: The Biography of Swami Rama, by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait (ISBN 0893892122)
• Walking with a Himalayan Master: An American's Odyssey, by Justin O'Brien (ISBN 0936663197)
• "At the feet of a Himalayan Master :Remembering Swami Rama vol 1 by Dr Prakash Keshaviah "(ISBN 9788188157624)
• "At the feet of a Himalayan Master :Remembering Swami Rama vol 2 by Dr Prakash "(ISBN 9788188157662)
• "A Multi Splendoured Sage :His holiness Dr Swami Rama of the Himalayas by K S Duggal "
• " Swami Rama of the Himalayas :His Life & Mission by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait (ISBN 0893891495)
• "Swami : by Doug Boyd "(ISBN 0893891428)

Other works

• Science Year: The World Book Science Annual—1974, describing scientific research done on Swami Rama
• Nature Science Annual, pages 103–110, Article of Gerald Jones, describing scientific research done on Swami Rama

—

References[link]

1. ^ http://www.rickross.com/reference/swami_rama/swami_rama2.html
2. ^ Tigunait, Rajmani (2004). At the Eleventh Hour: The biography of Swami Rama. Himalayan Institute Press; Honesdale PA.
3. ^ Rama,Swami: Living with the Himalayan masters and hansada yoga ashram.
4. ^ www.hihtindia.org
5. ^ www.bindu.org and www.swamiveda.org

External links[link]

• Swami rama articles
• Biographical work by alleged son
• Himalayan International Institute
• Himalayan Institute Hospital founded in India by Swami Rama
• Swami Rama Center at the Himalayan Institute Hospital in India
• Interview with Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD
• Association of Himalayan Yoga Meditation Societies International
• Swami Veda Bharati, disciple of Swami Rama
• Hansada Yoga Ashram
• Himalayan Yoga Tradition in Australia