The Vedic Scriptures

The following important Vedic scriptures will be presented here in brief:

Śrī Īśopaniṣad

The Śrī Īśopaniṣad (Īśā-Upaniṣad) is one of 108 scriptures called Upaniṣads that contain philosophical knowledge about the Absolute Truth. It is also called the Īśāvāsya-Upaniṣad. The Sanskrit word īśā means "to rule, dominate, possess, govern, power, mighty, the supreme possessor and ruler" and refers to the supreme personal Godhead, the supreme person, the supreme Personality of Godhead. Similar names for the Supreme Lord are īśāna and īśvara. (īśvara parama kṛṣṇa . . . . . . Brahma-Saṃhitā, 5.1)

The Śrī Īśopaniṣad is a condensed treatise of only 18 mantras and one invocation that reveals the essence of the Absolute Truth. Although it is a complete literary work in itself, it is also a chapter or part of one of the four original Vedas, namely the Yajur Veda.

Knowledge and realisation of the Personality of Godhead, real knowledge (spiritual knowledge) as opposed to false knowledge (material knowledge) and their results and objectives, spiritual practice and prayers of a pure soul to the Supreme Lord for protection, realisation and spiritual advancement are topics of the Śrī Īśopaniṣad.

The knowledge of the Īśopaniṣad is timeless. There are many other Vedic scriptures that contain the divine knowledge. The more people study this knowledge and apply it practically, the more the serious problems of humanity, the earth and the beings living on it caused by materialistic mentality will be reduced. Disregard for the Vedic scriptures, the Supreme Lord and His devotees causes the opposite: progressive technisation and mechanization, destruction of the basis of life of all living beings on this planet, increasingly difficult living conditions and incurable diseases due to progressive poisoning, hunger, wars, chaos, hardship . . . . . the more the inner demons/enemies of human beings, namely lust, anger, greed, envy, craziness and illusion increase in (human) society through the influence of tamo-guna.

Those who would like to study the Śrī Īśopaniṣad can purchase a book for example from Krishna.com Store. The famous Sanskrit scholar and spiritual teacher Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada translated this work into English in 1969 and commented extensively on each verse. It also contains the original Sanskrit verses and word-for-word translations of the verses. It is also possible to download the book as a PDF file from the internet.

You can view or download Isopanisad with Devanagari, Sanskrit transliteration and English translation as a PDF file.

Listen to a recitation of the Isha Upanishad, which is part of an application to learn recitation with accents according to the Yajur Veda (two speakers, Sanskrit only):

There is a video with Devanagari, Sanskrit transliteration and English translation of the verses.

There is also a very useful, well-designed application for learning this kind of reciting the Īśopaniṣad easily and quickly. It is entitled Learning to recite Sri Isopanisad with vedic accents and is available from Atmarama-Shop as a download (price: 16.80 EUR) and on USB stick (price: 19.80 EUR).