Ishvara (Īśvara)

(Language: Sanskrit)

Alternate Spellings: Isa, Isvara

Short Description: master, lord, Supreme Being, “possessing power”

Long Description: (A) literally, “possessing power,” hence master; God understood as a personal being, as Creator and Lord; manifest in the Trimūrti as Brahmā, Vishnu, and Shiva. (B) lit. “the Lord of the Universe”; the personal God who manifests in the triple form of Brahmā (the Creator), Vishnu (the Sustainer), and Shiva (the Transformer); identical with saguna Brahman.

Sources: (A) The Fullness of God: Frithjof Schuon on Christianity, by Frithjof Schuon, edited by Dr. James S. Cutsinger. (B) Lamp of Non-Dual Knowledge, Cream of Liberation Translated by Swami Sri Ramanananda Saraswathi