Isopanishad Text 18
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agne naya supatha raye asman
visvani deva vayunani vidvan
yuyodhy asmaj juhuranam eno
bhuyistham te nama uktim vidhema

agne--O my Lord, powerful like the fire; naya--kindly lead; supatha--by the right path; raye--for reaching You; asman--us; visvani--all; deva--O my Lord; vayunani--actions; vidvan--the knower; yuyodhi--kindly remove; asmat--from us; juhuranam--all hindrances on the path; enah--all vices; bhuyistham--most numerous; te--unto You; namah uktim--words of obeisance; vidhema--I do.

TRANSLATION

O my Lord, powerful as fire, omnipotent one, now I offer You all obeisances and fall 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.

PURPORT

By surrendering and praying for the causeless mercy of the Lord, 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. His impersonal brahmajyoti feature is a dazzling covering over His face. Fruitive activities, or the karma-kanda 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 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. To be a son of a brahmana is a chance to become a brahmana, just as being the son of a big man affords one a chance to become a big man. However, 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 brahmana and neglects to acquire the qualifications of a real brahmana, he at once becomes degraded and falls from the path of self-realization. Thus his life mission as a human being is defeated.

In Bhagavad-gita (Bg. 6.41-42) we are assured by the Lord that the yoga-bhrastas, 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 brahmanas 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 births, and after attaining the platform of 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 stages simply by adopting the devotional attitude. As stated in Bhagavad-gita (Bg. 18.66), the Lord at once takes charge of such a surrendered soul and frees him from the reactions to his sinful acts. There are many sinful reactions involved in karma-kanda activities, and in jnana-kanda, the path of philosophical development, the number of such sinful activities is less. However, 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 the qualifications of a brahmana. A devotee automatically attains the qualifications of an expert brahmana authorized to perform sacrifices, even though the devotee may not have taken his birth in a brahmana family. Such is the omnipotence of the Lord. He can make a man born in a brahmana family as degraded as a lowborn dog-eater, and he can also make a lowborn dog-eater superior to a qualified brahmana 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. In the case of a devotee, however, the Lord directs him in such a way that he never acts wrongly. In Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said:

sva-pada-mulam bhajatah priyasya
tyaktanya-bhavasya harih paresah
vikarma yac cotpatitam kathancid
dhunoti sarvam hrdi sannivistah

"The Lord is so kind to His devotee that even though the devotee sometimes falls into the entanglement of vikarma--acts against the Vedic directions--the Lord at once rectifies the mistakes within the heart of a devotee. This is because the devotees are very dear to the Lord." (SB. 11.5.42)

In this mantra 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 unknown sins is to give oneself up to the lotus feet of the Lord so that He may guide. 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 the Lord's 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 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. 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. Thus there is no chance for a devotee to fall again into the maya 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 Srimad-Bhagavatam (SB. 1.2.17-20) explains it further.

Hearing and chanting of the glories of the Lord are in themselves acts of piety. The Lord wants everyone to hear and chant because He is the well-wisher of all living entities. By hearing and chanting of the glories of the Lord, one becomes cleansed of all undesirable things, and his devotion becomes fixed upon the Lord. At this stage the devotee acquires the brahminical qualifications, and the resultant reactions 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, one becomes a pure devotee.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta Purports to Sri Isopanisad, the knowledge that brings one nearer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna.

(c) 1991 by Bhaktivedanta Book Trust

HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada 
---Jai Srila Prabhupada!---

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