Verse 1:
īśāvāsyamidaṃ sarvaṃ yatkiñca jagatyāṃ jagat |
tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā mā gṛdhaḥ kasya sviddhanam || 1 ||
My Personal Understanding: The verse starts with the word “Isha”. Isha means ruler, ‘the one who governs’ in Sanskrit.
Letting go of what one may ask?
Letting go of all that gives you grief and fills you with a sense of possession. Now, merely saying that let go will not make us let go in a jiffy. This is an art that one has to slowly learn and master. This comes with meticulous practice. To those who want to learn the Art of Letting Go, I am sharing the practice of Letting Go by our beloved master, Om Swami.
The last word ‘bhunjitha’ has two meanings and both are applicable here. The first meaning is enjoyment. When we learn to let go and rise above our attachments and clinging, a sense of independence arises in us. We start to enjoy things more without feeling attached to them. We enjoy and appreciate everything life provides us with without getting worried about our possession.
We want to possess because we feel insecure and our possessions are a kind of protection that we hold. Our degrees, jobs, money, family, reputation, etc. All we so tightly hold is a kind of protection that we seek, it gives us a comfortable feeling of being protected. When anything that gives us protection is taken away, we feel insecure and grieve. Here, the second meaning of the word ‘ bhunjitha’ is applicable. The second meaning of the word ‘bhunjitha’ is ‘protection’. This gives us the entire meaning of the above line:
Let go of all that gives you grief. Renounce the feeling of possession towards anything. Enjoy whatever comes to you. Know that you are protected. Protected by whom? Protected by Isha, the one who rules and governs all.
A few lines from one of my poems also come to mind:
O’Lord! I am a miser, I want to possess and hold onto the things. Let me possess your name alone, Let me cling to you, O’Lord as you are the greatest wealth! You are Sri and You are Sriman. All Glories to you my Beloved!
🌼🌼🌼All Glories to Swamiji Alone🌼🌼🌼
Upanishads present some of the most esoteric knowledge in the world. However, in ancient times, the guru would choose the brightest students to give them this knowledge. We are fortunate to have these texts available to us. However, in order to receive them we need to purify our minds and Vedic Sadhana is the most powerful way to do it. You can use the Vedic Sadhana app, which makes the ancient rituals and practices followed by the sages of India available for you.
