Ishavasya Upanishad meets the Masnavi of Rumi
🎼 Upanishad · Rumi · Dhrupad · Theatre
Let go and rejoice! Whose wealth is it anyway?
Isha Rumi Beyond Form is a theatrical juxtaposition of the Ishavasya Upanishad and the Masnavi of Jalaluddin Rumi, sung in the Dhrupad style of music. Eighteen Sanskrit shlokas and ten Persian verses are sung by the members of Sunaad. Three actors make the texts accessible to an English-speaking audience.
How do we evolve — living in our everyday lives immersed in sensory experiences — to that other dimension of being which is beyond the material and holds the promise of everlasting joy?
So'ham asmi… He am I… Anal haq… I am Truth
— the end of an individual's journey to the egolessness of surrender.
The production highlights the remarkable resonance between these two ancient texts — one from the Vedic tradition, one from the Sufi — separated by centuries and continents, yet pointing to the same truth.
Isha Rumi has been performed at Jagriti Theatre and Alliance Francaise in Bangalore, at Apollo Hospital Amphitheatre in Hyderabad, at the School of Ancient Wisdom, and as part of the Walk of Hope.