Isa Upanishad: Isa means Lord and Upanishad means the philosophical parts of the Vedas. This Upanishad is narrated by the Lord. The first verse of the Upanishad states the supreme self exists in all the atoms of the universe. Everything in the creation belongs to HIM. But in order to run the divine cosmic play, the supreme has framed conventions; abiding by those conventions one has to renounce. Nothing in HIS creation belongs to one. If we study the present condition and situation in the world, everyone suffers from some agitation (of mind). There can be two reasons for suffering. First, is fear and second, failure. Fear can be due to lack of knowledge; being incompetent to achieve a status and recognition in the society. And failure in life is the outcome of fear. When the mind is occupied with fear, intellect will become absent, the senses will become weak, the being becomes timid and that results in failure in life. The ultimate consequence of failure is frustration leading to depression. How to overcome such timidity?
One has to have devotion, dedication to one’s duty and responsibility and determination to achieve success in mission. So, fear, failure and frustrations are the negative signs and the positive signs are devotion, dedication and determination. Both these signs are specified as conventions by the supreme. The conventions that are framed by the supreme are extensive and to understand this Upanishad these opposing signs are taken as illustration. One has to give up the negative signs and adopt the positive conventions. Sometimes even following the positive signs, one may come across failure in life and in such a situation, the mind may direct one to follow the negative signs but the person has to follow the positive sign with the right attitude to overcome the odd phases of fear, failure and frustration.
As referred to in the Upanishad quoted in the beginning that each atom is occupied by god and every manifestation of HIS is HIS resemblance, then why a person has to long to attain something in life other than to attain the supreme. Hence by renouncing the negative signs and following the path of real devotion, dedication and determination to attain the divine state is true renunciation. Renunciation also means detachment. The second verse of this Upanishad says renouncing does not mean denial of life. One is bound by actions, whereas one can perform action in a detached manner. This verse is detailed in the 6th verse of this Upanishad.
The third verse of this Upanishad explains, “Demonic verily are the worlds.” It doesn’t mean that the manifested world by god is of demonic nature or that human beings in the world are of demonic nature. Here demonic verily means that Prakruthi has three characteristics, namely, Sathva (essence of being), Rajas (mode of passion) & Tamas (darkness), and these characteristics lead to demonic nature. The world here does not represent the universe; it is the state or condition of a person who lives in the world with self perceived conception. So, one’s action may either be good or bad to one’s self because of the influence of Prakruthi’s three characteristics. A person who is involved in wrong acts is enemy to one’s self and that is why it is said ‘Demonic verily are the worlds’. Hence such wrong acts may prevent one from associating with god.
The fourth verse explains that god is omnipotent; He alone can manage and control perfectly those three characteristics which are inconsistent by nature; whereas a person {self} fails to do so.
The fifth verse which states “It rotates & doesn’t rotate” means, being different souls (in the form of Saguna) and objects it is manifest and being Supreme Soul (Nirguna) it is unmanifest. “It is far as well as near” means it is far as long as it is not realized and it is near when a person renounces the three characteristics of Prakruthi and lives unto SUPREME. “It exists inside all and outside too”- As it is said in the first verse it is filled by every movement in the world, so it exists inside as ‘consciousness and outside as Prakruthi and it’s by products (which are further created by Prakruthi).
The 6th verse of this Upanishad clarifies up to 15th verse. The 6th verse tells us to have a vision of Oneness in the state of Duality. Here it says “He who sees all beings in him and vice versa does not have any set back/ defeat by that experience”.
In one of the Sathsangs with the devotees, a devotee opined that “Advaita” is the highest stage. As said by Adi Shankara “Brahma Satyam, Jagan Mitya, Jivo Brahmaiva Na Aparaha”. The Supreme is the only truth, the world is illusion and the Soul and that Supreme are one and not different. And why is it that the world is illusory? Because it will be destroyed by the Supreme during Kalpa Pralaya and beings with their body, mind, intellect and sensory objects will become inactive due to their death and what remains at last are the souls which are identical to that of Supreme Soul.
The devotee has extracted the literal meaning of Adi Shankara’s quotes. Is it acceptable that the world is illusory? The human birth is not bestowed just to negate everything apparent in the world as illusion. If the creation is considered as an illusion then one has to examine two points:
1. Why is it necessary for the supreme to create Cosmos?
From the viewpoint of the Supreme the creations are HIS divine cosmic play; while HE prescribed norms to be followed by the creatures which have to realize the Supreme who dwells in the being the rest which is apparent in the world is mere illusion and is to be negated through one’s experience.
2. When it is declared by Adi Shankara, Jivo Brahmaiva Na Aparaha, then why should a person need to search for that truth which is within oneself?

This is to enjoy the ultimate bliss, by following the norms framed by the Master. Moreover, merely claiming “I am that” without having inner experience of what “That” actually means, is sheer waste. That is why when one experiences in this illusory world, one undergoes more of pain and less of happiness. A self enquiry is made to realize the eternal truth, that which can grant the eternal bliss; and in this process, a person starts disassociating with the illusory world and finds the eternal truth within.

From these answers to the devotee it can be learnt that, other than the self (Consciousness), rest of this world is illusion. But the 6th verse of this Upanishad says “He who sees all beings in him and vice versa does not have any defeat”. In the Words of Bhagawan Baba: “Life has been bestowed to us not for just eating and digesting, roaming and reclining. It is gifted to us for a greater purpose to realize the Divinity within us, around us and even beyond all things that strike our senses. To waste life in vain pursuits and in sense-pleasures is not the sign of an intelligent person. Deserve the Grace of the Lord by helping the weak and the poor, the diseased and the disabled, the distressed and the downtrodden. Do not laugh at anyone or take delight in insulting or in carrying tales demeaning others. There is no more heinous sin than hurting the feelings of others. You must develop two key qualities- fear of sin and deep devotion to God.- Divine Discourse, Jan 28, 1975.
Does it then mean that Bhagawan’s revelation and that of the Upanishad are wrong?
If one has to believe that other than self the rest is illusion, how then one can see oneself in other beings and vice versa?
It is not meant that way. What has been quoted in this Upanishad and said by Bhagawan Baba is in no way contradictory to that of Adi Shankaras’ aphorism.
Brahma Satyam: generally means “The eternal Truth- Supreme”;
Jagan Mitya: generally means “The illusory world”;
Jivo Brahmaiva Na Aparah: “The jivas and that Supreme are one and not different”.

This is extracted literal meaning of the aphorism of Sri Adi Shankara. If this maxim is studied in depth one can find the correct interpretation.
What is Brahma? Brahma means The Supreme controller.
What is Brahm? The Brahm is derived from the word Brahma, meaning illusion. In other words it can be named as thought. When the Supreme had a thought, such thought is called as the state of illusion and when manifested by the Supreme that leads into the state of real that is Jagat or the World. Similarly when the thought of the Supreme subsided, it turned into illusion or disappearance of the World. Let us analyze from the view point of the Supreme. By His thought the world is manifested and appears to be real, how long will such reality exist? In HIS view this reality will continue till the time of Kalpa Pralaya or final dissolution of the world, that is when HIS thoughts stop the manifestation and He remains in the state of existence that is in the form of energy without any actions. But for the Jiva the world seems to be unreal .When the Jiva realizes that whatever is experienced in this world will cease with its body, it finally learns to merge unto “THAT”. There the Jiva considers the world as an illusion and claims Jivo Brahmaiva Na Aparah. Actually this analysis of the aphorism doesn’t stop here. “Jagan Mitya”- the meaning the world is unreal is not because that which is experienced by the Jiva will cease with its body but the ‘Jagan Mitya’ referred to by Sri Adi Shankara, the Verse of Isa and by our Bhagawan Baba is about the three characteristics of Prakruthi and because of these characteristics a Jiva suffers feelings of high and low and is subjected by six vice qualities. Hence this world, which is referred to as illusion is that of these characteristics and qualities. A Jiva which is influenced by the six vice qualities follows the path of possessing, cheating and defeating, ultimately resulting in feelings of duality such as “Mine and thine”, “I and You”. This shows the duality of mind and not that which is apparent and manifested by the Supreme (that is world and the creatures). With the experiences due to the characteristics and qualities of Prakruthi, one should not comment that the world is illusory. The Upanishad in the words of the Lord and the commentary on the Upanishad by Sri Adi Shankara never intended to mean the world is Mitya. In one of his works called Manisha Panchakam, Sri Adi Shankara clearly stated “In the form of a body I am YOUR servant; in the form of life I am part of YOURSELF; and in the form of soul YOU are within me and in every other soul. I have arrived at this conclusion through my intellect and on the authority of various scriptures”. From this statement of Sri Adi Shankara it is evident that the body of the Jiva, life of the Jiva and finally that Jiva in the form of consciousness, all these exist in this world till such time when the Supreme subsumes HIS thought to energy state of existence. How then can the world be termed as an illusion?
The duality of the mind influenced by high and low feelings forces the Jiva to consider the Jagat as Mitya. When the Jiva overcomes such feelings of duality, it understands that the real nature of Soul consciousness and Supreme Consciousness are one and the same and that this world wherein it experienced and realized, is the instrument to acquire such Knowledge and concludes that the Supreme and HIS manifestation of thoughts are also one and the same because thought is the instrument for realization.

In this context another question was put up by the devotee. If the Supreme and HIS thought manifestations are the same and the characteristics and qualities of Prakruthi are also manifested by HIM, then why these characteristics and qualities are said to be unreal?

Bhagawan says, if the Jiva considers those qualities and characteristics manifested by the Supreme are real then it will never pay heed to such features and will remain untouched by the consequences of those features without any high and low feelings and with the notion to see the oneness in the so called duality. Why are these features treated as illusion? It is because these have to pass away like clouds as and when one overcomes from the dualistic state of high and low feelings. The rest which exist in the form of instrument between the Jivas and the Supreme (the world and its byproducts) will remain and will continue to be part of Supreme till HIS manifested thoughts subside in a subtle level of energy. As it is a well known fact, what can the Supreme enjoy in the form of energy? So this cosmic play would continue. That is why it is said that He and His manifested thought (in the form of Jagat) are real.