Introduction to Sri Rudram

The Sri Rudram is one of the holiest chants in the Veda. It expounds a sophisticated understanding of God, Isvara as immanent and transcendental. All that is here in the universe is non-separate from its cause —Isvara. Everything that is present and everything that comes to light borrows its presence and sentience from Isvara. The air that we breathe, the sun that lights up the sky, the cool light of the moon, are all manifestations of Isvara. The entire universe is nothing but Isvara, but Isvara, being limitless, is not any one thing in the universe. Understanding Isvara in this manner, it is easy to see that Isvara pervades everything including one’s own body-mind-sense complex. One is never away from Isvara -in fact, one is Isvara. Listening to the meaning of this hymn reduces and eliminates the sense of alienation and disconnection that one feels from the Universe, from one’s fellow-beings, and from Isvara. This oneness is the essence of the vision of Vedanta, gaining which one is free from samsara manifest as sorrow and fear.