Sri Ishopanishad

spoken by the Lord are called apauruseya, which indicates that they are not delivered by any mundane person. A living being who lives in the mundane world has four defects: (1) He is certain to commit mistakes; (2) he is subject to illusion; (3) he has a propensity to cheat others, and (4) his senses are imperfect. Being conditioned by these four imperfections, one cannot deliver perfect information of all-pervading knowledge. The Vedas are not produced by such imperfect creatures. Vedic knowledge was originally imparted into the heart of Brahma, the first created living being, and Brahma in his turn disseminated this knowledge to his sons and disciples, who have handed down the process through history.

Since the Lord is purnam, or all-perfect, there is no possibility of His being subjected to the laws of material nature; however, the living entities and inanimate objects are both controlled by the laws of nature and ultimately by the Lord's potency. This Isopanisad is part of the Yajur Veda, and consequently it contains information concerning the proprietorship of all things existing within the universe.

This is confirmed in the Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gita where para and apara prakrti are discussed (Bg. 7.4-5). The elements of nature--earth, fire, water, air, ether, mind, intelligence and ego--all belong to the inferior or material energy of the Lord, whereas the living being, the organic energy, is the para prakrti (superior energy) of the Lord. Both of the prakrtis, or energies, are emanations from the Lord, and ultimately He is the controller of everything that exists.

There is nothing in the universe that does not belong either to the para or the apara prakrti; therefore everything is the property of the Supreme Being.

The Supreme Being, the Absolute Personality of Godhead, is a complete person, and He has complete and perfect intelligence to adjust everything by means of His different potencies. The Supreme Being is often compared to fire, and everything organic and inorganic is compared to the heat and light of that fire. Just as fire distributes energy in the form of heat and light, the Lord displays His energy in different ways. He thus remains the ultimate controller, sustainer and dictator of everything. He is the knower of everything and the benefactor of everyone. He is full of all inconceivable potencies: power, wealth, fame, beauty, knowledge and renunciation.

One should therefore be intelligent enough to know that but for the Lord no one is a proprietor of anything. One should accept only those things which are set aside by the Lord as his quota. The cow, for instance, gives milk, but she does not drink that milk; she eats grass and grain, and her milk is designated as food for human beings. Such is the arrangement of the Lord, and we should be satisfied with those things which He has kindly set aside for us, and we should always consider to whom those things we possess actually belong.

A house, for instance, is made of earth, wood, stone, iron, cement and so many other material things, and if we think in terms of Sri Isopanisad, we must know that we cannot produce any of these materials ourselves. We can simply bring them together and transform them into different shapes by our labor. A laborer cannot claim to be a proprietor of a thing just because he has worked hard to manufacture it.

In modern society there is always a great quarrel between the laborers and the capitalists. This quarrel has taken an international shape, and the world is endangered. Men face one another in enmity and