Author: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Publisher: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 144
Sri Isopanishad, one of the first books Srila Prabhupada published while establishing the Hare Krishna movement in the West, contains eighteen mantras that help focus the mind on Krishna, the Supreme Person. These mantras highlight how Krishna is the complete source of all existence, with everything, including our bodies and the world, emanating from Him and being inherently whole. Sri Isopanishad asserts that everything belongs to the Lord and exists by His energy, which is inseparable from Him, though He declares that He is not fully contained within it. The Isa, or "supreme controller," is described poetically as both distant and near, walking and not walking, existing within and outside everything.
In the book's introduction, based on a 1968 lecture by Srila Prabhupada in London, he explains the perfection of the Vedic teachings, emphasizing that Vedic sound is divine and beyond human limitations. Sri Isopanishad is a principal Upanishad that presents the ultimate philosophical conclusions of Vedic scripture. Srila Prabhupada composed it with the same scholarly rigor as his other works, including the Bhagavad-gita As It Is and Srimad-Bhagavatam, offering the original Sanskrit verses, English transliterations, word-for-word translations, and purports. According to Srila Prabhupada, this approach ensures the book's authenticity and clarity.
