That is to say, the Universe is the Immanence of the Lord, His Form, His Body. It is wrong to take the Universe and Its Lord as different. It is a delusion, a product of the imagination of man. Just as your image under the water is not different from you, the Universe (which is His Image produced on your Ignorance) is the same as He.
So long as man has this delusion, he cannot visualise the Reality immanent in him. On the other hand, he will slide into wrong thoughts, words and deeds. A piece of sandalwood if kept in water will produce a bad smell; but, if it is taken out and rubbed into paste, the former perfume will return. When the authority of the Vedas and Shastras is respected and when discrimination is sharpened on the practice of Dharma Karmas, the evil smell of wrong and wickedness will vanish and the pure innate perfume of the Atma will emerge. Then, the duality of doer and enjoyer will disappear. Then, you reach the stage calledSarva-karma-sannyasas, the withdrawal from all activity. In this Upanishad, this type of Sannyasa is described as the pathway to Liberation or Moksha.
The Sannyasa which involves the destruction of the three urges (for a mate, for progeny and for wealth) is very difficult to attain without purity of the Citta or mind.
In this Upanishad, the means for getting this is declared in the second Mantra. That is to say, carry out the Agni-hothra, etc. prescribed in the Shastras, believe that for liberation one has to be actively engaged in such work and get convinced that no sin can cling so long as one is so engaged. Work without the desire for the fruit thereof slowly cleanses impurities like the crucible of the goldsmith. The pure mind is Jnana. It is the consummation of detachment.
If you are able to divest yourselves of desire when you are doing work, no impurity can touch you. You know the ‘Chilliginji’ seeds when dropped into muddy water have the power of separating the dirt and depositing it at the bottom. The seeds too sink to the bottom and slip out of sight! In the same way, those who are adepts in doing Karma without attachment will have their minds perfectly cleansed and the results of their acts will lose effectiveness and sink to the bottom.
Out of the eighteen mantras in this Upanishad only the first two deal directly with the problem of Liberation and its solution. The other sixteen elaborate this solution and serve as commentaries thereon.
The Atma never undergoes any modification, yet it is faster than the mind! That is the mystery and the miracle. It appears to experience all states, but it has no growth, decline or change. Though it is everywhere it is not perceivable by the senses. It is because of its underlying existence and ever-present immanence that all growth, all activities, all changes take place. Cause and effect act and react on account of the Basic stratum of the Atmic reality. Why, the very word, ‘Isha’ carries this meaning. The Atma is near and far, inside and outside, still and moving. He who knows this truth is worthy of the name,Jnani.
For, the ignorant can never grasp the fact of Atmic immanence. Those who are conscious can see things and can feel their presence near them. Those who have lost awareness will search for the lost jewels though they actually wear them at the moment. Though one may know all things, he conceives the Atma as existing in some unapproachable, unreachable place on account of loss of consciousness. But the Jnani, who is aware, sees the Atma in all beings and all beings as Atma. He sees all beings as the same and perceives no distinction or difference. So he saves himself from duality.
The Ishavasya makes this great Truth clear to all. The Jnani who has tasted that vision will not be agitated by the blows of fortune or the enticements of the senses. He sees all beings as himself, having his own innate identity. He is free from bondage, from Dharma and Adharma, and the needs and urges of the body. He is ‘Swayamprakasha’ (Self-luminous). So, the Jiva-rupa is not his genuine form, no, not even the gross and the subtle bodies called the Sthula (gross) and the Sukshma (subtle) sariras (bodies).
That is why in the first Mantra of the Isavasya, the Jnana Nishtha characterised by the absence of craving of any sort is expounded. This is the primary Vedartha; but those who have cravings will find it difficult to get stabilised in that Nishtha or state of mind. For such, the second Mantra prescribes a secondary means, the Karma Nishtha (steady pursuit of good deeds). The rest of the mantras elaborate and support these two nishtas (disciplines)—based on Jnana and Karma. Karma Nishtha has desire and delusion as the cardinal urges. Jnana Nishtha has Vairagya, the conviction that the world is not Atma, that is to say, not true, and therefore, it is profitless to have any dealings with it. Such an attitude to Vairagya is the gateway to Jnana Nishtha. From the third to the eighth Mantra, the real nature of the Atma is depicted, through the condemnation of the Avidya (ignorance) which prevents the understanding of the Atma. (UV, pp. 8-11)
‘Ishavasyam idam sarvam yat kim ca jagatyam jagat, tena tyaktena bhunjitha, ma gridhah kasyasvid dhanam (Isha 1).’ All things of this world, the transitory; the evanescent, are enveloped by the Lord who is the real Reality of each. Therefore they have to be used with reverent renunciation, without covetousness or greed for they belong to the Lord and not to any one else: That is the meaning of this shloka. (UV, p. 8)
The Upanishads are like the crown for theVedas. Among the Upanishads, the Ishavasya Upanishad is foremost. This Upanishad is in the form of mantras in the Sukla Yajur Veda. Up to the 39th canto, the Yajur Veda is concerned with the Karma Marga (the path of rituals) from the 40th canto, the exposition of the Jnana Marga (the path of Supreme Knowledge) begins. This canto starts with the Ishavasya Upanishad. Jnana presides over Karma. Karma is the basis for Jnana. The Upanishads seek to reconcile and co-ordinate the Karma and Jnana paths. (SSS Vol.24, p. 52)