Īśo 18

अग्ने नय सुपथा राये अस्मान् विश्वानि देव वयुनानि विद्वान्।
युयोध्यस्मज्जुहुराणमेनो भूयिष्ठां ते नमउक्तिं विधेम॥१८॥

agne naya supathā rāye asmān
viśvāni deva vayunāni vidvān
yuyodhy asmaj juhurāṇam eno
bhūyiṣṭhāṁ te nama-uktiṁ vidhema

agneplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigagne

O my Lord, as powerful as fire.—O my Lord, as powerful as fire; nayaplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bignaya

are not; certainly is not; is not; is not possible; just carry; kindly lead; logic; not; then I shall not; they are not.—kindly lead; supathāplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigsupathā

by the right path.—by the right path; rāyeplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigrāye

for reaching You; Rāmānanda Rāya; to Rāmānanda Rāya.—for reaching You; asmānplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigasmān

all of us; upon me; us (kṣatriyas); us.—us; viśvāniplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigviśvāni

all.—all; devaplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigdeva

addressing my Lord; against you; among the demigods; as demigods; as good as the demigods; by Kṛṣṇa; by the demigods; by the Lord; celestial; dear Lord; demigod; demigods; living energy; my dear King; my Lord; O demigod; O King; O Lord; O master of the demigods; O my Lord; O Supreme Lord; of all demigods; of all the demigods; of providence; of the demigods; of the Supreme Lord; persons coming from the heavenly planets; the demigod; the demigods; the demigods from other planets; the demigods, or controlling deities; the heavenly planets; the Lord; the Personality of Godhead; the Supreme God; the Supreme Lord; the Supreme Personality of Godhead (Śrī Kṛṣṇa); the Supreme Personality of Godhead; to the demigods; unto the demigods; with the demigods.—O my Lord; vayunāniplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigvayunāni

actions.—actions; vidvānplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigvidvan

O learned; O learned one; O learned speaker (Śukadeva Gosvāmī); O wise man.—the knower; yuyodhiplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigyuyodhi

kindly remove.—kindly remove; asmatplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigasmat

all of us; by us; from me; from us; my; of me; of us; our; unto us, beginning from Brahmā down to the insignificant ant.—from us; juhurāṇamplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigjuhurāṇam

all hindrances on the path.—all hindrances on the path; enaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigenaḥ

all vices; distress; sins; this (sin); this sinful activity (of blaspheming the Supreme Lord).—all vices; bhūyiṣṭhāmplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigbhūyiṣṭhām

most numerous.—most numerous; teplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigte

all; all of them (the demigods and demons); all of them (the demigods and the demons); all of them; all of those; all the gopas; all the asuric ministers; all the demigods; all the demigods and demons; all the demons; all the great sages; all the Pracetās; all the sons; all the sons of Jamadagni; all the watchmen; all those; all those persons who arrived; also from you; as desired by you; by him; by them; by You; for you; for your; from you; in your possession; Lord Paraśurāma's mother and brothers; of the two divisions; of them; of you (mother Ganges); of You (O dear Lord); of you; of Your good self; of Your Lordship; of yourself; speaking to you; such; such as you; such austerity and knowledge; such household life; such persons; such pure devotees are fully satisfied; that; that is; the gopīs and gopas; the hotā, brahmā and other priests; the cowherd men and ladies; the demigods; the demons (Yakṣas and Rākṣasas); the demons; the Gandharvas; the great sages (the Kumāras); the husbands; the men of Kārtavīryārjuna; the Pracetās; the Pāṇḍavas; the sages; the sons of Kārtavīryārjuna; the Yakṣas; their; therefore; these; these sons (the Savalāśvas); they; they are; to you; unto you; with you; You; your; Your Lordship; your request; Your service; yours; yourself.—unto You; namaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bignamah

again and again; again I offer my respectful obeisances; again offering our obeisances; all my obeisances unto You; all obeisances; all obeisances unto; all obeisances unto You; all respectful obeisances; all respectful obeisances unto you; bowing down; I do bow down; I do offer my obeisances; I offer all obeisances unto You; I offer my obeisances; I offer my respectful obeisances; I offer my respectful obeisances unto You; let me offer my obeisances; let me offer my respectful obeisances; my due obeisances; my obeisances; my obeisances unto You; my respectful obeisances; my respectful obeisances unto You; obeisances; obeisances again; offer my obeisances; offer my respects; offer obeisances; offering my obeisances; offering obeisances; offering obeisances unto the Lord; offering our obeisances; offering respects; our obeisances; our respectful obeisances; our respectful obeisances unto You; our respects; respectful obeisances; we offer our obeisances; we offer our respectful obeisances; we offer our respects; we therefore offer our respectful obeisances. uktimplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_biguktim

words of obeisance.—words of obeisance; vidhemaplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigvidhema

do we offer; I do; let us offer.—I do. ¶

O my Lord, as powerful as fire, O omnipotent one, now I offer You all obeisances, falling on the ground at Your feet. O my Lord, please lead me on the right path to reach You, and since You know all that I have done in the past, please free me from the reactions to my past sins so that there will be no hindrance to my progress. ¶

By surrendering to the Lord and praying for His causeless mercy, the devotee can progress on the path of complete self-realization. The Lord is addressed as fire because He can burn anything into ashes, including the sins of the surrendered soul. As described in the previous mantras, the real or ultimate aspect of the Absolute is His feature as the Personality of Godhead, and His impersonal brahmajyoti feature is a dazzling covering over His face. Fruitive activities, or the karma-kāṇḍa path of self-realization, is the lowest stage in this endeavor. As soon as such activities even slightly deviate from the regulative principles of the Vedas, they are transformed into vikarma, or acts against the interest of the actor. Such vikarma is enacted by the illusioned living entity simply for sense gratification, and thus such activities become hindrances on the path of self-realization. ¶

Self-realization is possible in the human form of life, but not in other forms. There are 8,400,000 species, or forms of life, of which the human form qualified by brahminical culture presents the only chance to obtain knowledge of transcendence. Brahminical culture includes truthfulness, sense control, forbearance, simplicity, full knowledge and full faith in God. It is not that one simply becomes proud of his high parentage. Just as being born the son of a big man affords one a chance to become a big man, so being born the son of a brāhmaṇa gives one a chance to become a brāhmaṇa. But such a birthright is not everything, for one still has to attain the brahminical qualifications for himself. As soon as one becomes proud of his birth as the son of a brāhmaṇa and neglects to acquire the qualifications of a real brāhmaṇa, he at once becomes degraded and falls from the path of self-realization. Thus his life’s mission as a human being is defeated. ¶

In the Bhagavad-gītā (6.41plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 6.41

The unsuccessful yogī, after many, many years of enjoyment on the planets of the pious living entities, is born into a family of righteous people, or into a family of rich aristocracy.-42)plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 6.42

Or he takes his birth in a family of transcendentalists who are surely great in wisdom. Verily, such a birth is rare in this world. we are assured by the Lord that the yoga-bhraṣṭas, or souls fallen from the path of self-realization, are given a chance to rectify themselves by taking birth either in the families of good brāhmaṇas or in the families of rich merchants. Such births afford higher chances for self-realization. If these chances are misused due to illusion, one loses the good opportunity of human life afforded by the almighty Lord. ¶

The regulative principles are such that one who follows them is promoted from the platform of fruitive activities to the platform of transcendental knowledge. After many, many lifetimes of cultivating transcendental knowledge, one becomes perfect when he surrenders unto the Lord. This is the general procedure. But one who surrenders at the very beginning, as recommended in this mantra, at once surpasses all preliminary stages simply by adopting the devotional attitude. As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (18.66)plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigBhagavad-gītā As It Is 18.66

Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear., the Lord at once takes charge of such a surrendered soul and frees him from all the reactions to his sinful acts. There are many sinful reactions involved in karma-kāṇḍa activities, whereas in jñāna-kāṇḍa, the path of philosophical development, the number of such sinful activities is smaller. But in devotional service to the Lord, the path of bhakti, there is practically no chance of incurring sinful reactions. One who is a devotee of the Lord attains all the good qualifications of the Lord Himself, what to speak of those of a brāhmaṇa. A devotee automatically attains the qualifications of an expert brāhmaṇa authorized to perform sacrifices, even though the devotee may not have taken his birth in a brāhmaṇa family. Such is the omnipotence of the Lord. He can make a man born in a brāhmaṇa family as degraded as a lowborn dog-eater, and He can also make a lowborn dog-eater superior to a qualified brāhmaṇa simply on the strength of devotional service. ¶

Since the omnipotent Lord is situated within the heart of everyone, He can give directions to His sincere devotees by which they can attain the right path. Such directions are especially offered to the devotee, even if he desires something else. As far as others are concerned, God gives sanction to the doer only at the risk of the doer. But in the case of a devotee, the Lord directs him in such a way that he never acts wrongly. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.42) says: ¶

sva-pāda-mūlaṁ bhajataḥ priyasya
tyaktānya-bhāvasya hariḥ pareśaḥ
vikarma yac cotpatitaṁ kathañcid
dhunoti sarvaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭaḥ

“The Lord is so kind to the devotee who is fully surrendered to His lotus feet that even though the devotee sometimes falls into the entanglement of vikarma—acts against the Vedic directions—the Lord at once rectifies such mistakes from within his heart. This is because the devotees are very dear to the Lord.” ¶

In this mantra of Śrī Īśopaniṣad, the devotee prays to the Lord to rectify him from within his heart. To err is human. A conditioned soul is very often apt to commit mistakes, and the only remedial measure to take against such unintentional sins is to give oneself up to the lotus feet of the Lord so that He may guide one to avoid such pitfalls. The Lord takes charge of fully surrendered souls; thus all problems are solved simply by surrendering oneself unto the Lord and acting in terms of His directions. Such directions are given to the sincere devotee in two ways: one is by way of the saints, scriptures and spiritual master, and the other is by way of the Lord Himself, who resides within the heart of everyone. Thus the devotee, fully enlightened with Vedic knowledge, is protected in all respects. ¶

Vedic knowledge is transcendental and cannot be understood by mundane educational procedures. One can understand the Vedic mantras only by the grace of the Lord and the spiritual master (yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau [ŚU 6.23]). If one takes shelter of a bona fide spiritual master, it is to be understood that he has obtained the grace of the Lord. The Lord appears as the spiritual master for the devotee. Thus the spiritual master, the Vedic injunctions and the Lord Himself from within—all guide the devotee in full strength. In this way there is no chance for a devotee to fall again into the mire of material illusion. The devotee, thus protected all around, is sure to reach the ultimate destination of perfection. The entire process is hinted at in this mantra, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.17-20)plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.2.17

Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone's heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted. explains it further: ¶

Hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord is itself an act of piety. The Lord wants everyone to hear and chant His glories because He is the well-wisher of all living entities. By hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord, one becomes cleansed of all undesirable things, and then one’s devotion becomes fixed upon the Lord. At this stage the devotee acquires the brahminical qualifications, and the effects of the lower modes of nature (passion and ignorance) completely vanish. The devotee becomes fully enlightened by virtue of his devotional service, and thus he comes to know the path of the Lord and the way to attain Him. As all doubts diminish, he becomes a pure devotee. ¶

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta Purports to Śrī Īśopaniṣad, the knowledge that brings one nearer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. ¶