Mantra 16a

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of Īśa-upaniṣad mantra 16a:

{DEV}

pūṣannekarṣe yama sūryaprājāpatyavyūha raśmīnsamūha | tejaḥ yatte rūpaṃ kalyāṇatamaṃ tatte paśyāmi

pūṣan—O Pūṣan! O Nourisher! O Full! Ekarṣe, Eka-ṛṣe who is principally knowledge or wisdom; Eka=highest, supreme, ṛṣi=knowledge, Supreme knower, Omniscient; Yama. O Yama or Punisher or Judge of all. sūrya—O the Goal of the Sūris or wise, ie, thy Devotees, especially of Hiraṇyagarbha; prājāpatya—O Goal of Prajāpati Hiraṇyagarbha, because thou hast taught him the Vedas, and he merges in Thee; vyūha—spread, expand; raśmīn—the knowledge of self or soul; The knowledge of the true form of God. samūha—gather, in-draw, collect; tejaḥ—the knowledge of the non-self or of external objects; yat—what; te—thy; rūpam—form; kalyāṇatamam—most auspicious, fairest, loveliest; tat—that; te—(through) thy (grace; ) paśyāmi—I see, I may see, I wish to see.

16a. O All-fuil! O Sole-wise! O All-Judge! O Goal of the Wise! O the Lord of Prajapati [Prajāpati?]! expand my knowledge of the self, and increase my knowledge of the non-self, so that through Thy grace, I may see that form of Thine which is the most auspicious.

Commentary: The Bhāṣya of Madhva (Madhvācārya):

(English translation of Madhva’s 13th-century commentary called the Īśāvāsyopaniṣadbhāṣya or Īśopaniṣadbhāṣya)

The word Ekarṣe means “O thou who art principally (eka), all knowledge and wisdom (ṛṣi).” The word ekarṣi is thus the name of Viṣṇu. Hari is called Yama because he controls and punishes all—He is the Great Judge. He is called Sūrya because he is the Goal of the wise (sūris). He is called Prājāpatya, because he is specially the Goal of Hiraṇyagarbha Prajāpati.

Note.—The raśmin and tejas have no reference to the rays of the sun and his heat and light rays. For no amount of enfeebling of the light and heat rays of the sun will give one the divine vision. Therefore raśmin is translated as ‘knowledge of the self’—expansion of raśmin means the expansion of consciousness. While the expansion of tejas means controlling the non-self—getting more and more power over the forces of nature. In short it is a prayer for the expansion of one’s consciousness and the growth and purification of one’s vehicles. When the raśmin and the tejas, the consciousness and the