Upaniṣads · 1.1
॥
Devanāgarī
ईशा वास्यम् इदं सर्वं यत् किञ्च जगत्यां जगत् ।
तेन त्यक्तेन भुञ्जीथा मा गृधः कस्य स्विद्धनम्
Transliteración (IAST)
īśā vāsyam idaṃ sarvaṃ yat kiñca jagatyāṃ jagat |
tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā mā gṛdhaḥ kasya sviddhanam
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
ईशाīśāby the Lord; by the Ruler (instrumental of īś — 'lord, ruler'); by Him who rules over all
वास्यम्vāsyamis to be enveloped; is indwelt by Him (gerundive of √vas — 'to dwell; to clothe'); is to be seen as covered by the Lord
इदम्idamthis; this world; all this
सर्वम्sarvamall; the whole of it; without remainder
यत् किञ्चyat kiñcawhatever; all that; of whatever kind
जगत्याम्jagatyāmin the moving world; in the universe; on the earth
जगत्jagatthat which moves; the living world; the changing
तेनtenaby that; by Him; by this understanding
त्यक्तेनtyaktenaby what has been left (to you by Him); by what is set apart as one's share (from √tyaj — 'to leave, to yield'); by what is accepted in detachment
भुञ्जीथाbhuñjīthāmake use of it; sustain yourself; partake (optative of √bhuj — 'to enjoy')
माmādo not; let there be no; may you not
गृधःgṛdhaḥcovet (from √gṛdh — 'to crave'); lay claim; grasp at what belongs to another
कस्य स्विद्kasya svidwhose then; to whom indeed; to whom at all
धनम्dhanamwealth; possession; property
Traducción
By the Lord is enveloped all this — whatever moves in the moving world. Therefore live by what He has left you, and do not reach for another's: whose, after all, is wealth?
Versión
461774fa0920 · publicado 26 jul 2026, 19:17:19 UTC
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The first mantra is the seed of the whole Upaniṣad; the book itself is named after its opening words. īśā vāsyam: vāsya is a gerundive of the root √vas, which carries two senses, "to dwell" and "to clothe". Both meet here: the world is the Lord's dwelling and at the same time His garment; there is not a hand's breadth of existence where He is not, nor any that is not His. The word īśā stands in the instrumental — "by the Lord": not by an impersonal force, but by Him who owns and rules (√īś — "to own, to command"). The Upaniṣad opens not with an abstract "being" but with a Master.
The second line draws a way of life out of that vision: tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā — "make use of what has been left to you by Him". tyakta comes from √tyaj, "to leave, to yield": that which the Lord has set apart and assigned to each as his share. There is no call to destitution here, and no licence for acquisitiveness: a creature owns exactly what the Lord has allotted him, and, received as His gift, it sustains life without enslaving it. Hence the prohibition mā gṛdhaḥ — "do not be greedy" (√gṛdh — "to crave") — and the sobering question kasya svid dhanam — "whose, after all, is wealth?" The answer was given in the mantra's very first word.
The Bhagavad-gītā (5.29) sounds the same note: bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram — the world comes to peace when it recognises in the Lord of all worlds the one enjoyer of every sacrifice and austerity and the friend of every being. The mantra proposes not a renunciation of the world but a healing of sight: everything stays as it was — home, food, work — only it is no longer "mine" but "His, entrusted to me". Spiritual life begins with that change; the remaining seventeen mantras merely unfold its consequences.