Upanishads are part of Vedas. They guide us to attain the highest goal of life: how to get true source of peace and happiness in life. They often say what we really look for is not far from us. We already have it.
We shall talk about a verse from Isha Upanishad. It has a message for the entire humanity: how to live this life in its truest sense – free from fear and in serenity without any attachment. It is the 1st verse from Isha Upanishad:
Ishavisyamidam saravam yatkinch jagatyam jagat
Tane tyakten bhunjeetha ma gridah kasyaswid dhaman.
Whatever is here in this world is embedded with the God: God is everywhere in this world. Though this world is called Maya, but in every atom of it lies that great power that moves the universe and us human beings as well – everything that is visible to us and even that which is not visible to us. What a strange that even though that power permeates everything, we cannot see it with our naked eyes! It is rightly said it is beyond our minds and intellect.
When Lord Krishna says to Arjun in Geeta that I reside in the heart of everyone, and I am not visible to you through these eyes, he means it. It is really a matter of great surprise that it doesn’t inspire us to look for Him within. Very few take this challenge that if something lies within me and which has the utmost importance, should we not look for that within?
When we know that power within and realize it then we can understand that He is within each one and everywhere either visible or not. It is from here ‘Ishavisyamidam saravam yatkinch jagatyam jagat’ starts from. Once it is known within then there comes the feeling of renunciation. A true knower knows it: he only gathers only what he needs. This is wisely elaborated by Sant Kabir:
Saai itna dejiye yame kutumb samay
Mai bhi bhukha na rahun sadhu na bhuka jaay.
(O God! Give me that much which suffices my family – neither I am hungry nor a visitor to my home goes hungry.)
When one feels and understands that he is not to live here perennially, he relinquishes the tendency of amassing things. He only enjoys what he has. He wishes to get that only that much which can fulfill his needs as well as those human beings who come to see him.
The vision here is that of renunciation which only comes when one sees that what lies within me lies in every being and in every atom in this existence. He now doesn’t have the element of greed in him. In this world where it is generally said that if you want to live in peace cultivate the habit of renunciation, it comes to him naturally because of his vision. It is also one of the most important values to advance in the domain of self-knowledge.
Now, there is no such element as stealing or grabbing what belongs to someone else. And it comes only through knowing what lies within me permeates in very being and in every atom.
We all know that attachment begets misery. When all is perceived as self, there is no question of attachment. Love or hate for something is there as long as we take things to be different than us. Knowing all in self and self in all prepares you for ‘Ishavisyamidam saravam’.
Do you know one thing that can solve all your problems and help you get the highest achievement, i.e., freedom? It is self-knowledge! This is the biggest secret revealed in the Vedas prominently.
