At eighteen verses, one of the shortest
of the early speculative texts known
as the Upanishads; the name of this
upanishad comes from the first word of
the text. It is believed to be one of the
late upanishads due to its brevity, its
composition in verse rather than prose,
and the use of verses that appear in
other upanishads. As with many of the
later upanishads, the Isha Upanishad
propounds a loosely defined monism, in
which the source of all things is ascribed
to a single power. This power can be
discovered through a flash of mystic
insight when the seeker is able to
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Isha (“Lord”) Upanishad
transcend the illusion that objects
are unconnected and recognize the one
real power in the universe. The insight
is believed to give a definitive understanding into the workings of the
universe and to bring the individual final
release of the soul (moksha) from the
cycle of reincarnation (samsara).