SRI ISOPANISHAD

Bhakti Caitanya Swami 2020

 BCaiS EDUCATION
SRI ISOPANISHAD

Content
Course Outline
• Course timetable
• Course structure
• Future courses

Sri Isopanishad Overview of chapters

Sri Isopanishad Self-study question bank

Sri Isopanishad Analogies

Sri Isopanishad Open book assignments

Sri Isopanishad Memory verses (examinable)

Page | 1
 BCaiS EDUCATION
SRI ISOPANISHAD

Sri Isopanishad: Course Outline

1. Course timetable
The Sri Isopanishad module of the Bhakti Sastri 2020 course runs over Jan 2021

Sri Isopanishad
Week starting Topic Verse test
04/01/2021 Introduction, Invocation
11/01/2020 Mantra 1-3
18/01/2020 Mantra 4-11
Invocation and Mantra 1 verses
24/01/2021 Assignment Q1 due to be completed by Jan 23rd.
25/01/2021 Mantra 12-18
29/01/2021 Sri Isopanishad ends
01/02/2021 Study week
06/02/2021 Exam (Saturday)
The above is a guide to the structure of the course and the actual class timings may change.

*Due date for verses is the Saturday of that week. Students can opt to do them sooner by pre-arrangements with
their teachers.

Details for Nectar of Instruction shared in Section 3.

Page | 2
 BCaiS EDUCATION
SRI ISOPANISHAD

2. Course structure
Course details
The breakdown of the course structure and the contribution of each section to the overall examination results are tabulated
as follows:

Assessment Weight Minimum pass mark per subsection

Open book assignment 45% 50%
Exam (incl analogies) 40% 50%
Shlokas 10% 50%
Attendance 5% 80%
Total 100% 52%

Note that each section needs to be independently passed (as per the minimum pass marks above). For example, open book
assignments contribute 45 marks towards this module, and you need a minimum of 50% pass for this.

Exam
This section contributes to 40% of the overall mark and a minimum of 50% pass is required.

Shlokas/Verses
This shloka/verses section contributes to 10% of the overall mark and a minimum of 50% pass is required.

There are 2 shlokas/verses that need to be memorised for this module of the course.

Attendance
This section contributes to 5% of the overall mark and a minimum of 80% pass is required. Attendance is assessed via weekly
mandatory question submissions and attendance of the Saturday revision classes with your allocated teachers.

Page | 3
 BCaiS EDUCATION
SRI ISOPANISHAD

Open book assignment

This section contributes to 45% of the overall mark and a minimum of 50% pass is required. The essay should be a 1-2 pages
long, maximum of 3. Ensure that you have at least 500 words. Please ensure that essays do not exceed 3 pages!
The assignment needs to submitted in Time New Roman size 11 or Arial Font size 11.

The following rubric guidelines are provided to assist you with answering the open-book assignment questions.

Question 1 (Personal / Preaching Application)

Describe in your own words, practical ways, and the benefits therein, of applying the isavasya principle in:
• society in general
• ISKCON
• your own life
Give reference to Sri Isopanishad Mantras 1-3 and purports in your response.

Guidelines

Question 1 Mark
allocation
Personal/Preaching This is a personal/preaching application question.
application For this you need to demonstrate your understanding on the topic and how this
is relevant to your personal life and how you can use this in your personal life.
You need to be able to use content appropriate to the topic, express the content
in your own words and present the concept clearly.
Introduction Setting the scene of what you will cover in the essay. 5%
Body Explain, in your own words, what the isavasya principle is? 65%
How can understanding this principle be used to improve:
- society
- ISKCON
- your own life
What can be done to make improvements and how would we all benefit from
this?
Personal application How has this knowledge deepened your understanding of Krsna consciousness 10%
and aids in future preaching?
References/analogies Include references/analogies, (as applicable) , to the verses and purport, 5%
explaining in your words.
Conclusion Weave together the above points into a final conclusion 5%
Structure Marks allocated for a structured, coherent layout of your understanding 10%

Page | 4
 BCaiS EDUCATION
SRI ISOPANISHAD

3. Future Courses
The subsequent books we will study are:
Nectar of Instruction

More details on this to follow...

Please note this is subject to change and that at any changes will be communicated via the BCais Education team.

Page | 5
BCaiS Education Sri Isopanishad
IsopanishadAVAD-
GÉTÄ

Sri Isopanishad: Contents

BCaiS Education Sri Isopanishad
IsopanishadAVAD-
GÉTÄ
Sri Isopanishad: Overview of chapters
BCaiS Education Sri Isopanishad
IsopanishadAVAD-
GÉTÄ
BCaiS Education Sri Isopanishad
IsopanishadAVAD-
GÉTÄ
BCaiS Education Sri Isopanishad
IsopanishadAVAD-
GÉTÄ

Sri Isopanishad : Self-study

Preface
1. What is the meaning of the word Veda?
2. List four defects of a conditioned soul?
3. List three pramanas and expand on each one?
4. Give 3 reasons why sabda-pramana is a superior means of acquiring knowledge?
5. List the two systems of knowledge in the material world and briefly explain each one?
6. What are the two qualifications of a bona fide guru?

Invocation
None

Mantra 1
7. Give the english meaning of the term isavasya?
8. What is para and apara prakrti?
9. What is meant by Bhagavata communism?
10. What is the meaning of Apauruseya?
11. Why can't we claim proprietorship?

Mantra 2
12. Define karma, akarma and vikarma?

Mantra 3
13. Given the english meaning of the term atma-ha?
14. Define the words sura and asura?
15. Explain why humans are given better life than animals?

Mantra 4
16. The absolute Personality of Godhead, although fixed in His transcendental abode, can diffuse His energies
everywhere. What example is given in the Visnu Purana to illustrate this point?
17. How can the Supreme Personality of Godhead be known?

Mantra 5
18. What is the meaning of antaryami?
19. Given the English meaning of the phrase tad dure tad v antike?
20. What is the meaning of saguna and nirguna?
21. What is the point of mantra 5?

Mantra 6
None

Mantra 7
19. Give the English meaning of the terms: ekatvam anupasyatah
BCaiS Education Sri Isopanishad
IsopanishadAVAD-
GÉTÄ

Mantra 8
20. Give the English meaning of the terms suddham apapa-viddham. Expand on each one.
21. How is the Lord unembodied?
22. How can the Lord come as arca vigraha? Please explain using the word transform in purport of mantra 8.
23. What is the meaning of the word yathatayatah?

Mantra 9
None

Mantra 10
None

Mantra 11
24. Give the English meaning of the name Hiranyakasipu?

Mantra 12
None

Mantra 13
None

Mantra 14
None

Mantra 15
25. Given the English meaning of the term hiranmayena patrena?

Mantra 16
None

Mantra 17
26. What does the Lord not forget?

Mantra 18
27. What is the meaning of purifying of all sins?
28. What is the advantage of a devotee in comparison to followers of other paths of self-realisation.
BCaiS Education Sri Isopanishad
IsopanishadAVAD-
GÉTÄ

Sri Isopanishad : Analogies

INTRODUCTION
Sruti is considered to be like a mother. We take so much knowledge from our mother. For example, if you want to
know who your father is, who can answer you? Your mother. … Similarly, if you want to know something beyond
your experience, beyond your experimental knowledge, beyond the activities of the senses, then you have to
accept the Vedas.

INVOCATION
The hand of a body is a complete unit only as long as it is attached to the complete body. When the hand is
severed from the body, it may appear like a hand, but it actually has none of the potencies of a hand. Similarly,
living beings are part and parcel of the Complete Whole, and if they are severed from the Complete Whole, the
illusory representation of completeness cannot fully satisfy them.

MANTRA 1
The capitalists cannot curb the communists simply by political maneuvering, nor can the communists defeat the
capitalists simply by fighting for stolen bread. If they do not recognize the proprietorship of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, all the property they claim to be their own is stolen.

MANTRA 3
The material world is sometimes compared to an ocean, and the human body is compared to a solid boat
designed especially to cross this ocean. The Vedic scriptures and the äcäryas, or saintly teachers, are compared to
expert boatmen, and the facilities of the human body are compared to favourable breezes that help the boat ply
smoothly to its desired destination. If, with all these facilities, a human being does not fully utilize his life for self-
realization, he must be considered ätma-hä, a killer of the soul.

MANTRA 4
In the Visnu Purana, His potencies are compared to the heat and light that emanate from a fire. Although situated
in one place, a fire can distribute its light and heat for some distance; similarly, the Absolute Personality of
Godhead, although fixed in His transcendental abode, can diffuse His different energies everywhere.

MANTRA 7
The living entities are qualitatively one with the Supreme Lord, just as the sparks of a fire are qualitatively one
with the fire. Yet sparks are not fire as far as quantity is concerned, for the quantity of heat and light present in
the sparks is not equal to that in fire. These qualities are present in minute quantity, for the living entity is but a
minute part and parcel of the Supreme Whole. To use another example, the quantity of salt present in a drop is
never comparable to the quantity of salt present in the complete ocean, but the salt present in the drop is
qualitatively equal in chemical composition to all the salt present in the ocean.
BCaiS Education Sri Isopanishad
IsopanishadAVAD-
GÉTÄ

MANTRA 9
The advancement of learning by a godless people is as dangerous as a valuable jewel on the hood of a cobra. A
cobra decorated with a valuable jewel is more dangerous than one not decorated. In the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya
(3.11.12), the advancement of education by a godless people is compared to decorations on a dead body.

MANTRA 12
Sri Isopanishad points out that one who worships the demigods and attains to their material planets still remains
in the darkest region of the universe. The whole universe is covered by the gigantic material elements; it is just
like a coconut covered by a shell and half-filled with water. Since its covering is airtight, the darkness within is
dense, and therefore the sun and the moon are required for illumination.

MANTRA 13
A person who has purchased a ticket for Calcutta can reach Calcutta, but not Bombay. But the so-called spiritual
masters say that any and all paths will take one to the supreme goal.
 Sri Isopanishad : Open book assignments

Question 1 (Personal / Preaching Application)

Describe in your own words, practical ways, and the benefits therein, of applying the isavasya
principle in:
• society in general
• ISKCON
• your own life
Give reference to Sri Isopanishad Mantras 1-3 and purports in your response.

Question 2 (Preaching Application)

Explain in your own words, how the process of spiritual life as given to us by Srila Prabhupada,
enables us to achieve a balanced program of spiritual and material knowledge.
In your response:
• give reference to Sri Isopanishad Mantra 11 verse and purport
• give examples from your own experience and from the experience of devotees in
ISKCON in general.

Question 3 (Preaching Application)

Establish, in your own words, with appropriate evidence from Sri Isopanishad verses, purports,
analogies and Prabhupada’s Sri Isopanishad lectures, the personal form of the Lord.
 Sri Isopanishad : Shlokas/Verses

The following verses in Sanskrit and English are to be memorised for examination purposes. The
word for word meanings are not examinable but left it for completeness.

Invocation
om purnam adah purnam idam
purnat purnam udacyate
purnasya purnam adaya
purnam evavasisyate

TRANSLATION
The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all
emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes.
Whatever is produced of the complete whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the complete
whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance.

Mantra1
isavasyam idam sarvam
yat kinca jagatyam jagat
tena tyaktena bhunjitha
ma grdhah kasya svid dhanam

TRANSLATION
Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord.
One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his
quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.