Isha - 4-anejadekaṃ manaso

Commentary by Sri Adi Sankaracharya – Translated in English

As the ignorant by killing their Atman whirl in Samsara, contrariwise, those who know the Atman attain emancipation; and they are not slayers of the Atman. What then is the nature of the Atman will now be explained.

Anejat is a compound of na and ejat. The root ejri means to shake. Shaking is motion, i.e., deviation, from a fixed position. Free from that, i. e., ever constant. It is, besides, one in all Bhatas. It is fleeter than the mind, whose characteristics are volition, etc. How is this inconsistent statement made i. e., that it is constant and motionless and at the same time fleeter than the mind? This is no fault. This is possible with reference to its being thought of, as unconditioned and conditioned. It is constant and motionless in its unconditioned state. That the mind travels fastest is well-known to all, seeing that the mind encased within the body and characterised by volition and doubt is able at one volition to travel to such distant places as the Brahmaloka etc.; and travelling so fast as it does, it perceives on landing (at its destination) that the intelligent Atman has, as it were, gone there before it; therefore, the Atman is said to be fleeter than the mind. Devas, from the root which means ‘enlighten,’ signifies the senses such as the eye, etc. Etat means the entity of the Atman which is now being treated of. These senses could not overtake it. The mind is faster than these, because these are distanced by the activity of the mind. Not even the semblance of the Atman is within the perception of the senses; for, it had gone even before the mind which is fleeter than they, being all-pervading, like the Akas. The entity of the Atman, all-pervading, devoid of any attributes of samsara, and in its unconditioned state subject to no modification, appears to undergo all the changes of samsara. superposed upon it. and though one, appears, in the eyes of ignorant men, diverse and enclosed in every body. It seems to travel beyond the reach of others’ mind, speech, the senses, &c., which are dissimilar to the Atman, though they run fast. The sense of ‘seems’ is suggested by the mantra using tishtkat (sitting). ‘Sitting, means ‘being itself inactive.’ ‘Tasmin’ means ‘while the entity of the Atman endures.’ ‘Matarisva’ means ‘air,’ so called, because it moves (svayati) in space (matariantarikshe). Air (matarisva) is that whose activity sustains all life, on which all causes and effects depend, and in which all these inhere, which is called sutra (thread, as it were) supporting all the worlds through which it runs. The word ‘Apah’ means all Karmathe manifested activity of all living things. (This air) allots to fire, sun, clouds, &c., their several functions of flaming, burning, sinning, raining, &c. Or, it may be said that it supports these, from the Srutis, such as “From fear of this, the wind blows, &c.” The meaning is that all these modifications of effects and causes take place only while the eternally intelligent entity of the Atman, the source-of all, endures.

Commentary by Swami Sivananda

Here is a description of the nature of the Atman. Na and Ejat make up Anejat. The root ejri means ‘to shake’. Anejat means ‘unagitated’ i.e., steady.

“It is motionless, but swifter than the mind.” This seems to be an apparent contradiction or aradox. But it is not so. Because the Atman is all-pervading and all-full (Paripurna), it is said that the
Atman is swifter than mind. Before the mind reaches a place, the Atman is already there, as it is all-pervading. So the mind can never be in advanced of It. Here, Devas means the senses such as ear, eye, etc. It comes from the root which means to ‘illuminate’. Tishtat i.e., sitting, means that the Atman is Nishkriya. It keeps quiet.

Matarisva is the ruler of the atmosphere. He is the divine life-power in all forms. Sankara explains: “Matari antarikshe svayati gachhatiti vayu- he who moves in the mother, the air, which is the upholder or sustainer of the whole world, the Sutratman, Hiranyagarbha, the universal Soul. Matarisva means air. This air supports the fire, sun, rain, etc.

Apas means all Karmas or actions. Water stands for acts, because all sacrificial acts are performed with water.

Links
Commentary on the Isavasya Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda – Divine Life Society
Upanishad Series – Isavasya Upanishad Commentary by Swami Chinmayananda
Commentary on the Isavasya Upanishad by Paramarthananda