📿 Shloka Collection

Isha Upanishad — Opening Verse

Isha Upanishad 1 Upanishad
📖 Isha Upanishad (Shukla Yajurveda)
ईशावास्यमिदम् सर्वं यत्किञ्च जगत्यां जगत् ।
तेन त्यक्तेन भुञ्जीथा मा गृधः कस्यस्विद्धनम् ॥
Eeshavaasyam idam sarvam yat kincha jagatyaam jagat |
Tena tyaktena bhunjeetha maa gridhah kasya svid dhanam ||
ईशावास्यम्
pervaded by the Lord (Isha)
इदम् सर्वम्
all of this
यत्किञ्च
whatever
जगत्यां जगत्
moves in this moving world
तेन त्यक्तेन
by renunciation of that
भुञ्जीथाः
enjoy / sustain yourself
मा गृधः
do not covet
कस्यस्विद्धनम्
whose wealth is it anyway?

This opening shloka of the Isha Upanishad sets the whole tone: everything in this universe — every moving and unmoving thing — is clothed in the divine presence. Nothing exists outside the Lord.

The shloka does not ask us to reject the world. It asks us to use what we need, without grasping more. Enjoy your share, but let go of the rest — because ultimately, nothing truly belongs to us. This is the spirit of non-attachment (vairagya) in action.

The line 'whose wealth is it anyway?' is a quiet but piercing question. It gently dissolves the idea of ownership at its root.

The Isha Upanishad is one of the shortest Upanishads — only 18 verses — yet it is among the most profound. It belongs to the Shukla Yajurveda.

Mahatma Gandhi considered this opening verse the most important verse in all of Hindu scripture, and said that if all other scriptures were lost, this single shloka would be enough to live by.

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