Ishaa Vasyamidam

LYRICS

īśā vāsyamidaṁ sarvaṁ yatkiñca jagatyāṁ jagat |
tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā mā gṛdhaḥ kasyasviddhanam ||

MEANING

All this that we see in the Universe is all pervaded by God. Therefore we must give up the idea of ‘I’ and ‘Mine’, accept gratefully whatever is given to us by God and use it, sharing it with our fellow beings. Eschew all feelings of greed and selfishness. Remember that everything really belongs to God alone.

These two upanishadic verses, teach us that we should cultivate a sense of constant awareness of the omnipresence of the Lord and his presence in all beings. We should have love for all beings around us. We must cultivate a spirit of surrender to all pervading God, who dwells in all beings.

Significance of the teaching

Mahatma Gandhi said that “Even if all the Upanishads and other scriptures happened all of a sudden to be reduced to ashes, and if only this sloka were left in the memory of Hindus, Hinduism would live forever”.