Post No. 12,071
Date uploaded in London – – 1 June , 2023
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Gandhiji explained the meaning of his favourite Upanishad mantra in two meetings in Quilon on 16-1-1937 and at Haripad in Travancore on 17-1-1937.
I have perhaps recited the Gayatri Mantra a thousand times , having understood the meaning of it. But it still seems to me that it di not answer the whole of my aspirations. Then as you are aware I have, for years past, been swearing by the Bhagavadgita , and have said that it answers all my difficulties and has been my Kamadhenu, my guide, my ‘open sesame’, on hundreds of moments of doubt and difficulty. I cannot recall a single occasion when it has failed me. But it is not a book that I can place before the whole of this audience. It requires a prayerful study before the Kamadhenu yields the rich milk it holds in her udders.
But I have fixed upon one mantra that I am going to recite to you, as containing the whole essence of Hinduism. Many of you, I think, know the Isopanishad. I read it years ago with translation and commentary. I learnt it by heart in Yeravada jail. But it did not then captivate me, as it has done during the past few months, and now I have come to the final conclusion that if all the Upanishads and all other scriptures happened all of a sudden to be reduced to ashes, and if only the first verse in the Isopanishad were left intact in the memory of Hindus, Hinduism would live for ever.
ॐ
ईशावास्यं इदम् सर्वं यत्किञ्च जगत्यां जगत् ।
तेन त्यक्तेन भुञ्जीथा मा गृधः कस्यस्विद्धनम् ॥ १ ॥
Now this mantra divides into four parts. The first part is
īśāvāsyam idam sarvaṁ
yat kiñca jagatyāṁ jagat
It means as I would translate, all that we see in this great universe is pervaded by God. Then come the second and third parts which read together , as I read them: tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā. I divide this into two and translate them thus : Renounce and enjoy it. There is another rendering which means the same thing, though: enjoy what He gives you. Even so you can divide it into two parts. Then follows the final and most important part
mā gṛdhaḥ kasya svid dhanam
which means: Do not covet anybody’s wealth or possession. All the other mantras of that ancient Upanishad are a commentary or an attempt to give us the full meaning of the first mantra. As I read the mantra in the light of Gita or the Gita in the light of the mantra, I find that the Gita is a commentary on this mantra. It seems to me to satisfy the cravings of the socialist and communist, of the philosopher and the economist. I venture to suggest to all who do not belong to the Hindu faith that it satisfies their cravings also. And if it is true—and I hold it to be true — you need not take anything in Hinduism which is inconsistent with or contrary to the meaning of this mantra.
What more can a man in the street want to learn this , that the One God and Creator and Master of all that lives pervades the universe? The three other parts of the mantra follow directly from the first. If you believe that God pervades everything that He has created, you must believe that you cannot enjoy anything that is not given by Him. And seeing that He is the Creator of His numberless children, it follows that you cannot covet anybody’s possession. If you believe that you are one of His numerous creatures, it behoves you to renounce everything and lay it at His feet. That means that the act of renunciation of everything is not a physical renunciation but represents a second or new birth. It is a deliberate act, not done in ignorance. It is therefore a regeneration. And then since he who holds the body must eat and drink and cloth himself, he must naturally seek all that he needs from Him. And he gets it as a natural reward of that renunciation.
As if this was not enough the mantra closes with this magnificent thought: Do not covet anybody’s possession. The moment you carry out these precepts you become wise citizen of the world living at peace with all that lives. It satisfies one’s highest aspirations on this earth and hereafter.
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Next day also Gandhiji explained this mantra and described it as Golden Key for the solution of all difficulties and doubts that may assail one’s heart.
He repeated, “Remember that one verse of the Isopanishad and forget all about other scriptures. You can of course drown yourselves and be suffocated in the ocean of scriptures. They are good for the learned if they will be humble and wise, but for the ordinary man in the street, nothing but this mantra is necessary to carry him across the ocean.
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In Travancore speech the next day, Gandhi said,
I would like the mantra I have recited to be enshrined in the hearts of all our men and women and children. And it should be inscribed on the portals of every temple.
–subham—
Tags – Gandhi, Isopanishad, Isavasyam Idam Sarvam
Tamil and Vedas 