प्रश्नोपनिषत्

Of अथर्ववेद

This उपनिषद् is a conversation between a ऋषि named पिप्पलाद and six शिष्य who approached the ऋषि to get clarification on some doubts on ज्ञान. This conversation forms part of the Upanishads linked to अथर्ववेद.

ॐ भद्रं कर्णेभिः श‍ृणुयाम देवा भद्रं पश्येमाक्षभिर्यजत्राः । स्थिरैरङ्गैस्तुष्टुवागुं सस्तनूभिर्व्यशेम देवहितं यदायुः ॥

स्वस्ति न इन्द्रो वृद्धश्रवाः स्वस्ति नः पूषा विश्ववेदाः । स्वस्ति नस्तार्क्ष्यो अरिष्टनेमिः स्वस्ति नो बृहस्पतिर्दधातु ॥

मंत्र

अर्थ

ॐ, भद्रं – what is auspicious, कर्णेभिः – by ears, श‍ृणुयाम – may we hear, देवा: – O देवताs,  भद्रं – auspicious, पश्येम – may we see, अक्षभि: – by eyes, यजत्राः – Oh Ones for whom यज्ञ is performed!,  स्थिरै: – stable, hale & hearty, अङ्गै: – by the limbs, तुष्टुवागुं स: – may we live offering our praises (unto You), तनूभि: – by the body, र्व्यशेम – may we have, देवहितं – for the benefit of the देवताs, यत्-आ युः – entire span of life, स्वस्ति – blessings, न: – to us,  इन्द्र:, वृद्धश्रवाः – ancient & famous, स्वस्ति – blessings, नः – to us, पूषा – सूर्य, विश्ववेदाः – all knowing, स्वस्ति – blessings, न: – to us, तार्क्ष्य:  – वायु, अरिष्टनेमिः – who saves (us) from harm; स्वस्ति – blessings, न: – to us,  बृहस्पति: – बृहस्पति, protector of the अध्यात्म wealth in us, दधातु – may (It) give

O देवताs! May we hear with our ears what is auspicious, O Ones for whom यज्ञ is performed! May we with our eyes see what is auspicious, May we life the entire length of our allotted life stable (hale & hearty) life offering our praises (onto You), May इंद्र, the ancient and the famous and the famous पूषा, the all-knowing, the Lord of swift motion – वायु who saves us from all the harms and बृहस्पति who protects the अध्यात्म wealth in us – bless us (with the intellectual strength to understand the शस्त्र and the heroic heart to follow the teachings).

॥ ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

प्रथमः प्रश्नः ।

ॐ सुकेशा च भारद्वाजः शैब्यश्च सत्यकामः सौर्यायणी च गार्ग्यः

कौसल्यश्चाश्वलायनो भार्गवो वैदर्भिः कबन्धी कात्यायनस्ते हैते

ब्रह्मपरा ब्रह्मनिष्ठाः परं ब्रह्मान्वेषमाणा एष ह वै तत्सर्वं

वक्ष्यतीति ते ह समित्पाणयो भगवन्तं पिप्पलादमुपसन्नाः ॥ १.१॥

मंत्र

अर्थ

ॐ सुकेशा च भारद्वाजः – सुकेशा and भरद्वाज, शैब्य – son of शिबि, च – and, सत्यकामः – सत्यकाम, सौर्यायणी – grandson of सूर्य, च – and, गार्ग्यः – born in गर्ग गोत्र, कौसल्य – कौसल्य, च – and,  अश्वलायनो – अश्वलायन, भार्गवो – born in भृगु गोत्र, वैदर्भिः – native of विदर्भ city, कबन्धी, कात्यायन – son of कत्य, ते – such great, हि ते – all of them, ब्रह्मपरा – devoted to सगुण ब्रह्म,  ब्रह्मनिष्ठाः – centred to सगुण ब्रह्म, परं ब्रह्म – the highest ब्रह्म, अन्वेषमाणा – seeking, एष – this, ह – indeed, वै – definitely, तत्सर्वं – all about supreme ब्रह्म, वक्ष्यति  – would explain, इति – thus thinking, ते – they, ह – indeed, समित्पाणय: – with fuel in hand, भगवन्तं – the revered, पिप्पलादम् – पिप्पलाद, उपसन्नाः- approached

सुकेशा, son of भरद्वाज, सत्यकाम, son of शिबि, गार्ग्यः, grandson of सूर्य born in गर्ग गोत्र, कौसल्य, son of अश्वल, भार्गव, native of विदर्भ city belonging to भृगु गोत्र, कबन्धी, son of कत्य.. all of them devoted to and centered on सगुण ब्रह्म, and seeking the highest ब्रह्म approached the revered पिप्पलाद with fuel in hand, thinking that the ऋषि will explain everything to them

व्याख्या: In संस्कृत literature, authors have employed four methods to convey the various theories of धर्म

1. स्तुति – By glorifying the noble values of life; or
2. निंदा – vehemently warning against the false values of life; or
3.  परकृति – elaborately quoting the examples of some noble men of great name and fame who acted upon their ideals; or
4. पुराकल्पम् – employ the “once upon a time” type of stories who are not historical but meant to encourage readers to feel sufficient enthusiasm

This उपनिषद् employs the fourth technique given above. Additionally, note that the मंत्र clearly states that all the six शिष्य were qualified to ask the questions because they were already devoted to सगुण ब्रह्म – thereby hinting that the way to acquire ज्ञान of निर्गुण ब्रह्म is to first acquire the ज्ञान of सगुण भक्ति. Carrying समित् (fuel) in hand is a symbol of self-surrender to the गुरु, a true sign of true disciple-hood.

तान्ह स ऋषिरुवाच भूय एव तपसा ब्रह्मचर्येण श्रद्धया

संवत्सरं संवत्स्यथ यथाकामं प्रश्नान् पृच्छत यदि

विज्ञास्यामः सर्वं ह वो वक्ष्याम इति ॥ १.२॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
तान् – to them, ह – indeed, स ऋषि: – that (पिप्पलाद) ऋषि, उवाच – said, भूय – more, एव – only, तपसा – with तप, ब्रह्मचर्येण – with ब्रह्मचर्य, श्रद्धया – with श्रद्धा, संवत्सरं – year, संवत्स्यथ – stay here, यथाकामं – as you please, प्रश्नान् – question, पृच्छत – ask, यदि विज्ञास्यामः – if I know them, सर्वं – everything, ह – indeed, व: – to you, वक्ष्याम – will explain, इति – thus	To them, the ऋषि said – “Stay here for yet another year with तपस्या, ब्रह्मचर्य and श्रद्धा; then you may ask as you please your questions; and if I know them, I will surely explain everything

व्याख्या: The ऋषि did not answer the questions immediately. The ऋषि asked them to stay for one year doing तपस्या, practicing ब्रह्मचर्य and live a lifestyle of श्रद्धा with the वेद. Questions on ब्रह्म ज्ञान cannot be answered immediately as a coffee-table conversation. The student is expected to be genuinely keen to get an answer to the question and equally, the student must have the capability to understand the answer given. And both these cannot happen unless the student is qualified – which comes from तपस्या, life of ब्रह्मचर्य and full श्रद्धा in the words and lifestyle prescribed by the वेद. This is the reason why the गुरु asked them to stay within the आश्रम for a year – and if even after a year, the students indeed remain committed to get the answer, they may been as psychologically ready to receive the response from the गुरु.

अथ कबन्धी कात्यायन उपेत्य पप्रच्छ ।

भगवन् कुते ह वा इमाः प्रजाः प्रजायन्त  इति ॥ १.३॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
अथ – then, कबन्धी कात्यायन, उपेत्य – approached, पप्रच्छ – asked, भगवन् – revered and venerable Master, कुत: – from where, ह – indeed, वै – verily, इमाः – are these, प्रजाः – beings, creatures, प्रजायन्त – born, इति – thus	Then, after a year’s stay in the आश्रम, कबन्धी कात्यायन approached पिप्पलाद and asked “O भगवन्! From where are these creatures born?”

व्याख्या: Where does the life begin from – that is question. As per आदि शंकर, the question was connected to know the results obtained and the course that will be gained by one who undertakes यज्ञ क्रिया as stated in the वेद – it has been stated earlier that the students had been aligned to सगुण ब्रह्म meaning that they had been following the कर्मs prescribed in the वेद – and the वेद refers to various लोक that will be obtained for those performing वैदिक कर्म. So, the natural question to arise is – where do these लोकs come from? And what is the cause of the cause of लोकs? And what is the cause of the cause of the cause…..? Or simply put, where did all this diversity that we are witnessing in the Universe – from where it did all come from? Idea of this question therefore is that once we get an idea of the source of everything, we will know everything.

तस्मै स होवाच प्रजाकामो वै प्रजापतिः स तपोऽतप्यत

स तपस्तप्त्वा स मिथुनमुत्पादयते । रयिं च प्राणं

चेत्येतौ मे बहुधा प्रजाः करिष्यत इति ॥ १.४॥

मंत्र

अर्थ

तस्मै – to कबन्धी कात्यायन , स – he (पिप्पलाद), ह – indeed, उवाच – replied, प्रजाकाम: – desire to create creatures/ beings, वै – verily, प्रजापतिः – ब्रह्मा, स – He, तप:, अतप्यत – contemplated, स – he, तप: तप्त्वा – having performed the तप, स – he, मिथुनमुत्पादयते -having created a pair, रयिं – ,matter, च – and, प्राणं – energy, च – and, इति – thus, एतौ – (thinking) these two, मे – for me, बहुधा – many ways, प्रजाः – creatures, करिष्यत – will produce, इति – thus

He replied – “प्रजापति (word means ‘Lord of all creatures’), being desirous of creating progeny, decided to perform तप and having performed तप, he created a pair – रयि & प्राणं (matter & vitality) – thinking that they together would, between them, produce beings in many ways

व्याख्या: प्रजापति is elsewhere referred to as ब्रह्मा or हिरण्यगर्भ or the first Mind Principle and is to be understood as the first principle of the physical Universe. And गुरु says that the first principle created two principles – रयिं and प्राणं. रयिं is also referred to as अन्नम् in other उपनिषद्s and essentially, the prime movers of the Universe are matter & vitality – that is what is stated here. Let us first dwell into the idea of the first Mind Principle.

Taking our own individual experience, the waking state is when our mind wakes up and engages with the world and the sleep state is when the mind principle is rolled out to get into a state of sleep. Mind is always there -whether we are awake or asleep. Similarly, the TOTAL creation is also envisaged as the creation of the TOTAL MIND (or प्रजापति) which projects the entire universe may thus be seen as the creative potential of the Universe.

So a question may arise here – when did हिरण्यगर्भ come about? In वेदान्त, there is no time assigned to projection of the universe. “Universe is beginning-less” is the phrase that one sees being used. We will have a date for the current projection that we see around us but before this was another projection and another one before that. Just as our individual mind goes to sleep and wakes up again (to continue from where it left the previous night), the Total Mind also projects the universe based on accumulated कर्म in the previous कल्प – and this process of projection of the universe is eternal.

What is the motive force of thoughts in our mind? It is desires, काम as no thoughts are capable of coming into the mind without desires being the motive force behind such thoughts. In case of ब्रह्मा too, the उपनिषद् says that ब्रह्मा desired for progeny and performed तपस्या to project the world. When we wake up too as individuals, we may have hundreds of thoughts seeking to play themselves out in our waking life – we however organize our thoughts, plan for what may be a high-priority action, decide how to execute the actions and then step into activity. तपस्या is nothing else but such an organization of thoughts within the Total Mind too.

And out of this intense तपस्या come out two factors – रयि & प्राणं viz matter & vitality. रयि refers to “outer envelopments” would constitute the mass and girth in beings and things while प्राण is the vitality or dynamism that makes the world vibrate with activity. These are not to be seen as separate but two forces or factors operating within everything within the Universe. The relationship between them may be seen as the relationship between flute and music as both are two different aspects of one only. रयि may thus be understood as the equipment and प्राण may be seen as music that can be tickled out of matter. The total mind hoped that these two would, among themselves, multiple into the many. The universe may thus be seen as nothing else but a “field of experiencing” so as to enable the fructifying of the thoughts into concrete action since without a field or a platform, where can any action be performed? Be that as it may, the two aspects that operate such a field are matter and vitality and these two are referred to as रयि & प्राणं.

आदित्यो ह वै प्राणो रयिरेव चन्द्रमा रयिर्वा एतत्

सर्वं यन्मूर्तं चामूर्तं च तस्मान्मूर्तिरेव रयिः ॥ १.५॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
आदित्य, ह – indeed, वै – verily, प्राण,  रयि, एव – alone, चन्द्रमा, रयि:, वा – verily, एतत् – that, सर्वं – all, यत् – which, मूर्तं –  form, च – and, अमूर्तं –  formless, च – and, तस्मात् – therefore,  मूर्तं – form, च – and, एव – alone, रयिः – matter	आदित्य is indeed the प्राण and चंद्र is रयि; all that have form and all that is formless is रयि and therefore, form is indeed रयि.

व्याख्या: आदित्य is the प्राण and चंद्र is रयि – what does this mean? As we already know, आदित्य is the source of all vitality and movement within the Solar system – without आदित्य, nothing will happen. Thus, the name given to vitality or प्राण is आदित्य. Where is this vitality manifest – it is manifest in equipments or matter and this is given the name of चंद्र. As we are aware, the light of the चंद्र that we observe is not its own light but it is reflecting the light of आदित्य Itself – thus, the vitality that we find within any object of matter is that of आदित्य only.

Then the ऋषि adds that रयि is not restricted to all that is visible (or gross) but रयि encompasses all that is both visible (gross or having form) and the invisible (or subtle or formless). Within our mind too, the thoughts and ideas that get generated cannot be seen and are thus subtle (or form-less) but they too come under the definition of रयि only.

When then does the ऋषि mean when says that form is indeed रयि? Our actions that we do which are visible or gross are nothing else but concretization of thoughts, feelings and ideas within our mind (which are formless or subtle). As per वेदान्त, both are an expression of form only – what may not be visible to the eye alone is not subtle – it is form only except that it is not visible to the physical eye. Forms constitute matter. The formless world is controlled, regulated, sustained and governed by the outer world of forms; therefore, the formless in our inner world is nothing other than the form world outside. Form is indeed matter.

चंद्र is the presiding देवता for the matter – both outside and inside. As per योगशास्त्र too, चंद्र is the देवता of the mind. And all vitality or manifestation of energy that we see comes from आदित्य – रयि provides the field within which आदित्य manifests and animates it. All matter is चंद्र and all vitality is आदित्य – प्रजापति in itself expresses both रयि and प्राण. Or put another way, प्रजापति itself as सूर्य and चंद्र is playing in the word as रयि and प्राण and thus has become everything else in us except the आत्मा (this idea is important to dwell upon as we get deeper into this text).

अथादित्य उदयन्यत्प्राचीं दिशं प्रविशति तेन प्राच्यान् प्राणान्

रश्मिषु सन्निधत्ते । यद्दक्षिणां यत् प्रतीचीं यदुदीचीं यदधो

यदूर्ध्वं यदन्तरा दिशो यत् सर्वं प्रकाशयति तेन सर्वान् प्राणान्

रश्मिषु सन्निधत्ते ॥ १.६॥

मंत्र

अर्थ

अथ – now, आदित्य, उदयन् – rising, यत्प्राचीं दिशं – the eastern quarter, प्रविशति – goes towards, तेन – by him, प्राच्यान् – in the east, प्राणान् – all the प्राण, रश्मिषु – with his rays, सन्निधत्ते – embraces,  यत् – from, दक्षिणां = the southern, यत् – from, प्रतीचीं – the western, यत् – from, उदीचीं – the northern, यत् अध – the below, यत् ऊर्ध्वं – the above, यत् अन्तरा दिश: – the intermediary quarters,  यत् सर्वं – all the (directions), प्रकाशयति – lights up, तेन – by that, सर्वान् – all, प्राणान् – beings/ creatures, रश्मिषु – with its rays, सन्निधत्ते – embraces

Now, आदित्य rising, goes towards the East and it embraces with its rays all प्राण in the East. When it lights up the Southern, the Western, the Northern quarters, the above, the below and the intermediary quarters, and the all, by that it embraces all beings with its rays

व्याख्या: Here, in a poetic manner, the गुरु expresses how प्राण is illumined by आदित्य as it moves across the sky within every being inhabiting the earth. With reference to beings on Earth, one may say that when आदित्य goes over to the other side of the globe, beings are embraced (or illumined) by चंद्र (or matter which too is displaying the reflected light of आदित्य itself) and thereby they lie laden with sleep as unmoving matter but are then illumined again in the morning by आदित्य directly stirring them into activity. From this picture, the ऋषि wants us to understand that it is not a baseless convenient supposition to say that आदित्य is the देवता of the प्राण and चंद्र is the देवता of रयि (or matter). At the touch of each, the living creatures behave differently – every person would like to enjoy the moonlight by merely sitting on the sands of seashore or by cuddling oneself in a chair on the terrace – but at dawn, the enjoyment of the sunrise is not in merely sitting but in exploding into vigorous activity either by doing exercise on one’s terrace or going out for a brisk walk!!!

स एष वैश्वानरो विश्वरूपः प्राणोऽग्निरुदयते ।

तदेतदृचाऽभ्युक्तम् ॥ १.७॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
स -he, एष – this, वैश्वानरो – the sum total of all living beings, विश्वरूपः – all forms, प्राण:, अग्नि: उदयते – rises, तत् – that, एतत् – this, ऋचा – मंत्र of the ऋग्वेद, अभ्युक्तम् – has been said	He is this वैश्वानर, the sum total of all living beings, assuming all प्राणs is the अग्नि that rises every day. This has been said in the following मंत्र of the ऋग्वेद also

व्याख्या: आदित्य is expressed here as the sum total of all egos experiencing the waking-state – this sum-total of all living beings has a technical name assigned to it – the वैश्वानर. Put another way, the total gross body consciousness, which individually we have in each one of us in our waking state is called as वैश्वानर . In the waking state, the आत्मा identifying itself with the body feels an egocentric personality which is called as विश्व.  But for आदित्य, the activities of the waking state world would not have taken place, for the waking state implies experiences, thoughts and activities. विश्वरूपः means assuming all forms – here, it means that आदित्य with its light principle is the cause of perception of all forms seen by the eye. The eye is the instrument of recognizing colours and shapes – it can function and perceive its objects only in a beam of light. आदित्य is the source of entire light energy, as such, to say that आदित्य itself assumes all forms is but justifiable in a philosophy wedded to poetry.

विश्वरूपं हरिणं जातवेदसं

परायणं ज्योतिरेकं तपन्तम् ।

सहस्ररश्मिः शतधा वर्तमानः

प्राणः प्रजानामुदयत्येष सूर्यः ॥ १.८॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
विश्वरूपं – which is of all forms, हरिणं – the resplendent (full of illumination), जातवेदसं – all-knowing, परायणं – the highest goal, ज्योति: – light, एकं – the One, तपन्तम् – the heat-giver, सहस्ररश्मिः – the thousand-rayed, शतधा – hundred forms, वर्तमानः – exists, प्राणः,  प्रजानाम् – all creatures, उदयति – is rising, एष – this, सूर्यः	The knowers understand “that” which is of all forms, the resplendent, the highest goal, the One light, the heat-giver to be the thousand-rayed rising sun who exists in hundred forms as the life of all creatures

व्याख्या: A गुरु is required, time and again, to quote the वेद as proof of the wisdom being conveyed by him. गुरु is expected to convey the truth that is aligned to the वेद and not give personal opinions that are not backed by the वेद. Given here is a ऋग्वेद मंत्र offered as evidence (प्रमाण) by the गुरु to the student conveying that the wisdom conveyed thus far finds its mention in the ऋग्वेद.

आदित्य is the प्राण present within all beings. The उपनिषद् also refers to प्राण as the eater – and what is it eating? It is eating अन्नम् or रयि or matter. Essentially, for any experience, life needs matter and therefore, experience of life is referred to as eating of matter by प्राण. The मंत्र describes the subjective experience of those who have meditated for long with sufficient intensity upon the nature of आदित्य in its macrocosmic and microcosmic aspects of existence and function. आदित्य is thus seen here not as a body of fire but refers to the vitality which expresses itself through matter while parading in the form of well-known activities which are life’s own expressions. As a source of all activities, आदित्य is considered here as the life of all creatures.

संवत्सरो वै प्रजापतिस्तस्यायने दक्षिणं चोत्तरं च ।

तद्ये ह वै तदिष्टापूर्ते कृतमित्युपासते ते चान्द्रमसमेव

लोकमभिजयन्ते । त एव पुनरावर्तन्ते तस्मादेत ऋषयः

प्रजाकामा दक्षिणं प्रतिपद्यन्ते । एष ह वै रयिर्यः

पितृयाणः ॥ १.९॥

अथोत्तरेण तपसा ब्रह्मचर्येण श्रद्धया

विद्ययाऽऽत्मानमन्विष्यादित्यमभिजयन्ते । एतद्वै

प्राणानामायतनमेतदमृतमभयमेतत् परायणमेतस्मान्न पुनरावर्तन्त

इत्येष निरोधस्तदेष श्लोकः ॥ १.१०॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
संवत्सरो – year, वै – verily, प्रजापति:, तस्य – of that (प्रजापति), अयने – paths, दक्षिणं च उत्तरं च – the southern and the northern, तत् – that, ये – those who, ह – indeed, वै – verily, तत् – that, इष्टापूर्ते – the performance of यज्ञ and पुण्य क्रिया, कृतम् – by doing, इति – thus, उपासते – follow the path of कर्म, ते – those, चान्द्रमसम् – of चंद्र, एव – only, लोकम् – the world, अभिजयन्ते – obtain, ते – those, एव – only, पुन:  again, आवर्तन्ते – return, तस्मात् – therefore, एते – those,   ऋषयः – ऋषिs, प्रजाकामा – desire offspring, दक्षिणं – the southern, प्रतिपद्यन्ते – take,एष – this, ह – indeed, वै – verily, रयि: – the matter, य: – who, पितृयाणः – the path of the पितृ	The year is indeed प्रजापति. And there are two paths – the southern and the northern.  Those who follow the path of कर्म alone, by the performance of यज्ञ and पुण्य कर्म, obtain only the “लोक of the चंद्र” and they do return again. Therefore, whose ऋषिs who desire offspring take the southern route. The रयि: is indeed the path of the पितृ
अथ – then, उत्तरेण – through the northern route, तपसा – by तपस्या, ब्रह्मचर्येण – by practice of ब्रह्मचर्य, श्रद्धया – by practice of श्रद्धा, विद्यया – by practice of विद्या (or study/ knowledge), आत्मानम्  अन्विष्य – those who have sought the आत्मा, आदित्यम्,  अभिजयन्ते – gain, एतत् – this, वै – verily, प्राणानाम् – of all living beings, आयतनम् – the home, एतत् – this, अमृतम्, अभयम्  – fearless, एतत् – this, परायणम् – the highest goal, एतस्मात् – from there,  पुनरावर्तन्त – do not return, इति – thus, एष – this,  निरोध: – end, तत् – that, एष – this,  श्लोकः – मंत्र	Then those who have sought आत्मा by तपस्या, ब्रह्मचर्य, श्रद्धा and विद्या gain आदित्य travelling through the northern route. This is the home (goal) of all living beings, the eternal and fearless. This is the highest goal. From there, they do not return for, this is the end. For this, there is a मंत्र

व्याख्या: In the earlier मंत्र, it was stated that प्रजापति became a pair of आदित्य and चंद्र (or प्राण and रयि). The time calculated on earth by us is based on movements of आदित्य and चंद्र– and thus, प्रजापति is indeed taken as संवत्सर (year). Just as rings and ornaments made of gold do not have a real identity other than gold, so also, the idea of year that has sprung from movements of आदित्य and चंद्र is also प्रजापति only.

Next, the उपनिषद् states that the lifestyle chosen by beings taken them to two paths – the northern and the southern. Those who choose the lifestyle given within the कर्मकांड undertake types of कर्म that are referred to as इष्टापूर्ति – इष्टा referring to यज्ञ कर्म conveyed in the वेद (including study of वेद, life of तपस्या, tending continuously to sacred अग्नि, serving unexpected अतिथि, etc)  and पूर्ति referring to पुण्य कर्म (acts of दान, दया, सेवा, constructing village tanks, construction of temples, feeding the poor, etc).  Those performing इष्टा are seen as people having विवेक and वैराग्य and have no charm for the world of रयि (matter) – however, those performing पूर्ति are no doubt cultured and pure members of the society but they do carry desires aligned to the world (wealth, progeny, fame, etc). The former, given their वैराग्य from the world take the northern path (or path of आदित्य) while the latter take the southern path (or path of चंद्र or रयि or the path of पितृ). In short, “as we think, so we become”.

Those who take the northern route of the Sun do not return while those who take the southern route return again and again (since they harbour desires of progeny, wealth, etc). The former seek nothing else but the आत्मा and they therefore pursue the path pointed out by the उपनिषद् and thus, after death, they come to identify themselves with the Sun. Travelling the northern route and crossing the Sun, they reach ब्रह्मलोक. There is no return (back to the Earth plane) for those who reach ब्रह्मलोक. In due course of time, the जीव gains complete redemption through ध्यान there. Towards the end of the above मंत्र, the ऋषि again quotes a वैदिक मंत्र (indicating that all this wisdom conveyed here is backed by a प्रमाण in the form of a मंत्र given elsewhere in the वेद). The मंत्र is expounded below.

पञ्चपादं पितरं द्वादशाकृतिं

दिव आहुः परे अर्धे पुरीषिणम् ।

अथेमे अन्य उ परे विचक्षणं

सप्तचक्रे षडर आहुरर्पितमिति ॥ १.११॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
पञ्चपादं – having five feet, पितरं – the father, द्वादशाकृतिं – twelve forms, दिव – atmosphere, आहुः – say, परे अर्धे – above half, पुरीषिणम् – full of water, अथ – then, इमे – him, अन्य – others, उ परे – reach, विचक्षणं – all-wise,  सप्तचक्रे – seven चक्र, षडर – six spokes, आहु: – call, अर्पितम् – placing upon, इति – thus	Some talk of (this sun) as possessed of five feet, as the father, as constituted by twelve limbs, and as full of water in the high place above the sky. But there are these others who call him the omniscient and say that on him, as possessed of seven wheels and six spokes, is fixed (the whole universe).

व्याख्या: This is a ऋग्वेद मंत्र glorifying सूर्य considered as “Lord of time”. Commentary by आदि शंकर is fully reproduced below:

The calculators of time आहुः, call him; पञ्चपादं, possessed of five feet, the five seasons being the feet, as it were, of the sun as identified with the year; for he revolves with the help of those seasons, which are as though his feet. In this imagery, late autumn and winter (हेमंत & शिशिर) are taken as but one season.

(They call him) पितरं, father. He is the father because he is the generator of all. (They call him) द्वादशाकृतिं, as possessed of twelve forms – he who has the twelve months as his limbs, or he who is made an embodied being by the twelve months. They call him पुरीषिणम्, full of water since सूर्य is considered as a giver of rains;’ अर्धे परे दिव, in the place above heaven (i.e. sky)’, that is to say, in the third place which is above the sky.

But, on the other hand अन्य इमे इमे, these others, other calculators of time; आहुः, call that very one, विचक्षणं, adept, omniscient. (And they) आहुः, say; that like spokes fixed on the nave of a wheel the whole universe is अर्पितम्, fixed; on him who, as the embodiment of time, is ever on the move; on him सप्तचक्रे, who is possessed of seven wheels, in the form of seven horses; and षडरे, who is endowed with six spokes, the six seasons.

Whether he be possessed of five feet and twelve limbs or seven wheels and six spokes, from either point of view it is the year, the embodiment of time, the प्रजापति, constituted even by the sun सूर्य and the चंद्र, which is the cause of the world.

मासो वै प्रजापतिस्तस्य कृष्णपक्ष एव रयिः शुक्लः प्रणस्तस्मादेत

ऋषयः शुक्ल इष्टं कुर्वन्तीतर इतरस्मिन् ॥ १.१२॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
मासो – the month वै – verily, प्रजापति, तस्य – its, कृष्णपक्ष – dark half, एव – only, रयिः – the matter, शुक्लः – the bright half, प्राण, तस्मात् – therefore, एते – these great, ऋषयः – ऋषिs, शुक्ले  – in the bright half, इष्टं – यज्ञ क्रिया, कुर्वन्ती – perform, इतरे – the others, इतरस्मिन् – in the dark half	The month is प्रजापति; its dark half is verily the matter (रयिः) and its bright half, vitality (प्राण). Therefore, these great ऋषिs perform यज्ञ (and other वैदिक) क्रिया in the bright half of the month but others perform in the dark half

व्याख्या: So far, the ऋषि had described how the entire projection of the universe began with प्रजापति who himself became आदित्य and चंद्र, the representatives of प्राण and रयि. By a combination of them, we have the concept of a year and we also saw how in a year, there are intrinsic qualities of प्रजापति namely the northern course and the southern course. In this मंत्र, the ऋषि goes a step further and says that the month, which is a division of the year, is also nothing but प्रजापति.

In each month, we have the शुक्ल पक्ष (when the moon grows up in size and eventually comes the full moon) and कृष्ण पक्ष (when the grows becomes smaller and smaller ending in अमावास्य).  मंत्र says that कृष्ण पक्ष has the matter aspect (रयि) while शुक्ल पक्ष has the प्राण aspect – and those who perform यज्ञs do so during the शुक्ल पक्ष hoping to gain greater efficacy and efficiency in their activities since that part of the month is under the direct influence of प्राण or vitality.

There are others who do not find any distinction between the कृष्ण पक्ष and the शुक्ल पक्ष – ie those who have realized that both are two aspects of one प्रजापति only and they perform यज्ञs in both the पक्ष. All such क्रिया performed without काम purely as a training for self-integration, as a pure dedication to ईश्वर, can be undertaken even in the कृष्ण पक्ष.

अहोरात्रो वै प्रजापतिस्तस्याहरेव प्राणो रात्रिरेव रयिः प्राणं वा एते

प्रस्कन्दन्ति ये दिवा रत्या संयुज्यन्ते ब्रह्मचर्यमेव तद्यद्रात्रौ

रत्या संयुज्यन्ते ॥ १.१३॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
अह: रात्र: – day & night, वै – verily, प्रजापति:, तस्य – of which, अह:  – day, एव – only, प्राण:, रात्रि: – night, एव – only, रयिः, प्राणं, वा – verily, एते – these, प्रस्कन्दन्ति – waste, ये – those, दिवा – in the day, रत्या – in love, संयुज्यन्ते – unite, ब्रह्मचर्य, एव – only, तत् – those, यत् – who, रात्रौ – love in the night, रत्या – in love, संयुज्यन्ते – unite	All full (24 hour) day is again प्रजापति of which the day-time is the प्राण aspect and the night-time is the रयि aspect. Those who unite in love in the day, therefore waste their energy while those who unite in love in the night are to be considered verily practicing ब्रह्मचर्य

व्याख्या: This मंत्र continues the earlier discussion to now state that even a full day, viz divided into day-time and night-time is प्रजापति with day-time dedicated to प्राण and night-time to रयि. ऋषि says that conjugal relationship during the day-time exhausts the partners much more than such a relationship undertaken in the night time. ऋषि adds that relationship at night is akin to ब्रह्मचर्य only. One however is cautioned not to take this too literally and indulge in revelry at night time and say that this is akin to ब्रह्मचर्य only – instead, idea is to convey to a साधक to expand one’s दृष्टि and look at the working of प्राण and रयि even when conceiving of प्रजापति within a 24hour day. We will later see why this दृष्टि is being asked for by the ऋषि.

अन्नं वै प्रजापतिस्ततो ह वै तद्रेतस्तस्मादिमाः प्रजाः

प्रजायन्त इति ॥ १.१४॥

तद्ये ह वै तत् प्रजापतिव्रतं चरन्ति ते मिथुनमुत्पादयन्ते ।

तेषामेवैष ब्रह्मलोको येषां तपो ब्रह्मचर्यं येषु सत्यं

प्रतिष्ठितम् ॥ १.१५॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
अन्नं – food, वै – verily, प्रजापति:, तत: – from that,  ह – indeed, वै – verily, तत् – that, रेत: – seed-fluid, तस्मात् – from that, इमा: – these, प्रजाः – beings, प्रजायन्ते  – are born, इति – thus,	Food is verily प्रजापति; from that indeed proceeds the seed-fluid in man; from that all these creatures are born
तद् – therefore, ये – those, ह – indeed, वै – verily, तत् – that, प्रजापति-व्रतं – rule of प्रजापति , चरन्ति – observe, ते – they, मिथुनम् – a pair, उत्पादयन्ते – produce, तेषाम् – them, एव – alone, एष: – this, ब्रह्म-लोक:, येषां – in whom, तप:, ब्रह्मचर्यं:,  येषु – in whom, सत्यं, प्रतिष्ठितम् – abides	Therefore, those who observed this rule of प्रजापति, produce a pair. For them alone is the ब्रह्म-लोक in whom तप, ब्रह्मचर्यं and सत्य abides

व्याख्या: We have seen that प्रजापति has gone through various stages to eventually become this pluralistic world – first by splitting into आदित्य and चंद्र, then as time, changes into various conceptual denominations as year, month and day, and day by day, things grow in the world and matter ripens to become food. Living creatures eat the food and from the essence of food, the seeds of the species are generated – from the seeds, fresh generation rises up.

So the गुरु concludes “All these beings are thus born” – this is the answer to the first question which was “from where do all creatures born?” Note that the day, which is प्रजापति produces food and therefore, even food is प्रजापति.  Food produces the seminal fluid which also therefore is प्रजापति only. This takes us to make a statement that each new-born, is again, nothing but प्रजापति only. Thus, from प्रजापति, the whole universe has come about.

मंत्र then adds that those गृहस्थ who are daily meditating upon the first chapter of this उपनिषद् on the lines indicated will produce a pair of children – a boy and a girl. To such people of healthy moral habits, self-controlled living and self-expanding meditation, the ब्रह्मलोक is reserved for such people. Here, we need not take ब्रह्मलोक to mean the supraconscious plane considered as a world in itself but may be taken to mean a happy social and economic scheme of living in this world of ours. It is clearly stated here that by such a scheme of living, स्वर्ग can be brought down into this world – if a person were to live with तप (self-control), ब्रह्मचर्यं (free from attachments) and life of सत्य (avoid falsehoods, etc).

तेषामसौ विरजो ब्रह्मलोको न येषु जिह्ममनृतं न

माया चेति ॥ १.१६॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
तेषाम् – for them, असौ – this, विरज: – pure,  ब्रह्मलोक:, न – no, येषु – in whom, जिह्मम् – deceit,  अनृतं – falsehood, न माया – hypocrisy, च – and, इति – thus	Thus, the pure ब्रह्मलोक belongs to them only in whom there is no deceit, falsehood and hypocrisy

व्याख्या: As per आदि शंकर, the ब्रह्मलोक  referred to in the previous मंत्र refers to ब्रह्मलोक linked to the moon (रयि) while this मंत्र refers to ब्रह्मलोक linked to आदित्य. शंकर says that for the northern course marked by आदित्य which consists of self-identification with प्राण, it is pure and not tainted like the ब्रह्मलोक linked to the moon which is subject to waxing and waning (birth followed by re-birth).

Who are eligible for this higher ब्रह्मलोक? Such persons are those in whom there is no fraud, no crookedness, unlike the गृहस्थ in whom it becomes inevitable owing to the exigencies of many contradictory social situations. Also, those in whom falsehood, does not become unavoidable as it is with of गृहस्थ in the course of play or merriment. Similarly, those in whom, unlike the गृहस्थ, there does not exist any माया which means dissimulation which is a kind of false behaviour consisting in showing oneself publicly in some way and acting quite contrariwise. For those competent persons-the ब्रह्मचारीs and तपस्वीs in whom such blemishes as dissimulation do not exist because there is no occasion for them; is this untainted ब्रह्मलोक, just in consonance with the disciplines they undertake. This is the goal for those who undertake यज्ञ in conjunction with ध्यान. But the ब्रह्मलोक indicated by the चंद्र mentioned earlier, is for those who perform यज्ञ alone (meaning without ध्यान and without possessing the necessary attributes given here).

The bliss of perfection is destiny of the few – it is not a lucky accident of the hypocrite or the deceitful. In truth, therefore, there is no compromise.

इति प्रश्नोपनिषदि प्रथमः प्रश्नः ॥

द्वितीयः प्रश्नः ।

अथ हैनं भार्गवो वैदर्भिः पप्रच्छ । भगवन् कत्येव

देवाः प्रजां विधारयन्ते कतर एतत् प्रकाशयन्ते कः

पुनरेषां वरिष्ठ इति ॥ २.१॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
अथ – then, ह – indeed, एनं – to him (पिप्पलाद), भार्गवो वैदर्भिः – भार्गव of विदर्भ, पप्रच्छ – questioned, भगवन्,  कति – how many, एव – only, देवाः – Devas, प्रजां – living beings, विधारयन्ते – support, कतर – which, एतत् – this, प्रकाशयन्ते – enlightens, कः- who, पुन:  – again, एषां – among these, वरिष्ठ – the greatest, इति – thus	Then, भार्गव of विदर्भ, questioned the गुरु “O भगवन्! How many देवs support the living beings? Which of them enlighten this? Again, who among them is the greatest?

व्याख्या: The question raised by the first disciple was mainly about the entire world of objects including ourselves but this particular question enquires into the story of how individual reacts to the world outside and what are the instruments by which one comes to one’s reactions.

Here, देव means only the factor that enlightens and therefore, the question intends to enquire as to what are the instruments of knowledge or illumination in this physical body. And since it is the sense organs via which a body gains knowledge, the question thus is seeking to know the powers that enable sense organs to function – it must be obvious that nose does not function on its own or eyes cannot see on its own but a separate mechanism works behind eyes, ears, nose, etc to enable these senses to function. And these powers that sustain the senses are referred to as the देव which may be seen as the intelligence principle of each of the senses.

And what do we mean by the question – “Who among all the देवs is the greatest?” Each of the देव supports a particular sense organ. How do we then say that eye is greatest or ear is greatest, etc? Why should there be an idea of which of the देव is the greatest? The response given later by the गुरु will address the utility of this question.

तस्मै स होवाचाकाशो ह वा एष देवो वायुरग्निरापः

पृथिवी वाङ्मनश्चक्षुः श्रोत्रं च । ते प्रकाश्याभिवदन्ति

वयमेतद्बाणमवष्टभ्य विधारयामः ॥ २.२॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
तस्मै – to him, स – he, ह – indeed, उवाच – replied, आकाश: – space, ह – indeed, वा – verily, एष – these, देवो – देवs, वायु:, अग्नि:, आपः, पृथिवी, वाक्, मन:, चक्षुः, श्रोत्रं च – and,  ते – these, प्रकाश्य – manifesting their glory, अभिवदन्ति – quarrelled among themselves and spoke with pride, वयम्  – we, एतत् – this, बाणम् – body, अवष्टभ्य – hold together, विधारयामः – sustain totally	He replied – “These देवs are verily आकाश, वायु, अग्नि, आप, पृथ्वी, वाक्, मन, चक्षुः & श्रोत्रं. They, manifesting their glory, quarrelled among themselves and spoke with pride that they held together and sustained the body totally”.

व्याख्या: गुरु listed eight देवs as given here – आकाश, वायु, अग्नि, आप, पृथ्वी, वाक्, मन, चक्षुः & श्रोत्रं. What does the idea of देव mean here? For this, one must ask a more fundamental question – why are eyes able to see the world? Or, why are ears able to hear sound coming from outside the body? If the “world” on one side and “eyes/ ears” on the other are completely different substances, they would not have been able to engage with one another.  A transaction of any kind is possible only because of a common link between the subject and the object that makes communication possible. For example, ears as physical parts of the body on their own cannot hear anything – sound can be produced and relayed only when there is some space (or आकाश) and without sound, ears would have been meaningless pair of holes. Similarly, when as close our ears, we prevent sound from entering the ear lobes but when the lobes are opened up again, sound enters. Given this linkage between sound and its movement in space in all directions, दिक् (directions) has been named as the देवता for श्रोत्रं. Similarly, eyes require a medium of light to spot objects outside – equally, they can illumine their own objects – the forms and colours (they cannot illumine smell or sound or taste). Given therefore this connection between “light” and vision, सूर्य is named as the देवता of चक्षुः.

There is a word called as “गोलक” to describe the physical aperture of eyes, ears, etc – the physical parts of the body do not have the power to illumine anything. However, there is a power behind them that activates the गोलक to discharge their activity of seeing, hearing, etc. It is this power that is referred to as देवता. And when a person dies, while गोलक still remain with the body, their ability to perform their activities ceases since the देवताs have departed from the body – that is the दृष्टि with which ऋषिs explained the idea of देवता.

Who is the greatest of them all? What do we mean by “greatest”? We stated earlier that eyes can only see or ears can only hear – but is there a sense organ that coordinates the activities of all the senses meaning that in its absence, all the senses will be unable to perform their activity? The ऋषि employs a story approach to answer this question by stating that there was a time when all senses fought with each other to assert their superiority. The story continues below in the following मंत्र.

तान् वरिष्ठः प्राण उवाच । मा मोहमापद्यथ अहमेवैतत्

पञ्चधाऽऽत्मानं प्रविभज्यैतद्बाणमवष्टभ्य विधारयामीति

तेऽश्रद्दधाना बभूवुः ॥ २.३॥

सोऽभिमानादूर्ध्वमुत्क्रामत इव तस्मिन्नुत्क्रामत्यथेतरे सर्व

एवोत्क्रामन्ते तस्मिंश्च प्रतिष्ठमाने सर्व एव प्रतिष्ठन्ते । तद्यथा

मक्षिका मधुकरराजानमुत्क्रामन्तं सर्व एवोत्क्रमन्ते तस्मिंष्च

प्रतिष्ठमाने सर्व एव प्रातिष्टन्त एवं वाङ्मनष्चक्षुः श्रोत्रं

च ते प्रीताः प्राणं स्तुन्वन्ति ॥ २.४॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
तान् – to them, वरिष्ठः – the greatest, प्राण,  उवाच – said,  मा – do not, मोहम् – delusion, आपद्यथ – fall into, अहम् – I,  एव – alone,  एतत् – this, पञ्चधा – five-fold, आत्मानं – myself, प्रविभज्य – dividing, एतत् – this,  बाणम् – body, अवष्टभ्य – support, विधारयामि  – sustain, इति – that, ते – they, अश्रद्दधाना बभूवुः – did not believe	प्राण, the greatest of them said, “Be not lost in delusion; I alone, dividing myself five-fold, support and sustain this body and keep it going.” But the other (देवताs) were not disposed to believe its words.
स: he/ it (the principal प्राण), अभिमानात् – proudly, ऊर्ध्वम् – out, उत्क्रामत – to go, इव – as it were, तस्मिन् – his, उत्क्रामति – got up, अथ – then, इतरे – others, सर्व – all, एव – also, उत्क्रामन्ते – had to get up, तस्मिन् – he/ it (the प्राण),  च – and, प्रतिष्ठमाने – remaining, सर्व – all, एव – also, प्रतिष्ठन्ते – remained, तत् – that, यथा – just as, मक्षिका मधुकरराजानम् – queen of the large black honey bee, उत्क्रामन्तं – leaves, सर्व – all, एव – too, उत्क्रमन्ते – leaves, तस्मिन् – to it, च – and,  प्रतिष्ठमाने – return, सर्व – all, एव – also, प्रातिष्टन्त – rest, एवं – thus, वाक्, मन, चक्षुः, श्रोत्रं, च – and, ते – those, प्रीताः – being pleased, प्राणं, स्तुन्वन्ति – praised the प्राण	The principal प्राण got up proudly and seemed as it were to get out of the body. When the प्राण got up to depart, all others immediately had to get up too, and when it remained in its place, all the others remained, just as when the queen-bee leaves, all the bees leave the hive, and they return to it when she returns. Thus, seeing the प्राण, the वाक्, मन, चक्षुः, श्रोत्रं and the rest were pleased, and they praised the प्राण.

व्याख्या: When the कर्मेन्द्रिय & ज्ञानेन्द्रिय quarreled among themselves, प्राण came forward with a self-confidence born of its own sense of unquestionable superiority and advises all others. प्राण characterizes all other इंद्रिय as deluded and informs that it alone is the strength and power which they are manifesting and it alone is the vital factor in the body. प्राण, dividing itself into five distinct channels of activity (प्राण, अपान, व्यान, उदान & समान), feeds them all in the functioning and maintains every being actively living through its experience of life. However, the other देवताs did not believe the statement by प्राण.

प्राण, sensing that other देवताs are being vain, showed them his own greatness by leaving the body. In fact, प्राण cannot afford to leave the body, for, if प्राण leaves the body, the whole problem will get solved!!! So the उपनिषद् says that प्राण showed as if it was leaving the body. And when this happened, all other इंद्रियs fainted and when प्राण took back the reins of office, all इंद्रियs started functioning as before – thus, they surrendered themselves to glorify the प्राण as it was seen as greater than all of them individually and collectively. प्राण has thus been compared to a queen bee and all other इंद्रिय to the other bees who follow the queen bee at all times – beauty of observation of ancient Hindus towards fellow living beings becomes apparent here. And once other इंद्रियs understood the greatness of प्राण, they started praising it.

एषोऽग्निस्तपत्येष सूर्य

एष पर्जन्यो मघवानेष वायुः

एष पृथिवी रयिर्देवः

सदसच्चामृतं च यत् ॥ २.५॥

अरा इव रथनाभौ प्राणे सर्वं प्रतिष्ठितम् ।

ऋचो यजूꣳषि सामानि यज्ञः क्षत्रं ब्रह्म च ॥ २.६॥

प्रजापतिश्चरसि गर्भे त्वमेव प्रतिजायसे ।

तुभ्यं प्राण प्रजास्त्विमा बलिं हरन्ति

यः प्राणैः प्रतितिष्ठसि ॥ २.७॥

देवानामसि वह्नितमः पितॄणां प्रथमा स्वधा ।

ऋषीणां चरितं सत्यमथर्वाङ्गिरसामसि ॥ २.८॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
एष: – this (प्राण), अग्नि, तपति – burns,  एष: – this (प्राण), सूर्य, एष: – this (प्राण), पर्जन्य: – clouds, मघवान् – इंद्र, एष: – this (प्राण), वायुः, एष: – this (प्राण), पृथिवी, रयि – the matter, र्देवः – the illumined, सत् – gross (with form), असत् – subtle (without form), च – and, अमृतं – immortal, च – and, यत् – what	As the अग्नि, प्राण burns. As सूर्य, प्राण shines. As clouds, प्राण rains. As इंद्र, प्राण rules. It is वायु, it is the पृथ्वी, it is रयि (or चंद्र), it is देव. It is both that which has “form” and that which is “form-less” and also that which is eternal
अरा – spokes, इव – like, रथनाभौ – hub of the chariot wheel, प्राण:,  सर्वं – everywhere, प्रतिष्ठितम् – rests/ established, ऋचो – यजूꣳषि -सामानि – the ऋक्, यजुस् & साम मंत्र, यज्ञः, क्षत्रं – क्षत्रिय, ब्रह्म – ब्राह्मण, च – and	Like the spokes are fixed to the hub of a wheel, everything in the universe rests on the प्राण. The ऋक्, यजुस् & साम मंत्र, all यज्ञ, all क्षत्रिय (who protects all) and all ब्राह्मण (who are qualified for performance of यज्ञs) – everything rests in the प्राण
प्रजापति:, चरसि – moves, गर्भे – in the womb, त्वम् – You, एव – alone, प्रतिजायसे – are born,  तुभ्यं – to You, प्राण, प्रजा: – beings/ creatures, तु – only, इमा – these, बलिं – oblations, हरन्ति – offer, यः – who, प्राणैः – the other प्राण (sense organs), प्रतितिष्ठसि – (always) reside	As प्रजापति, O प्राण! You alone moves in the womb as the foetus and You alone are born again as the child. To You, O प्राण! Who are always residing in the other प्राण (other sense organs), the beings offer oblations
देवानाम् – to the देव, असि – are, वह्नितमः – greater than वह्नि (अग्नि), पितॄणां – to the पितृ, प्रथमा – the first, स्वधा – oblation, ऋषीणां – to the senses (उपप्राण), चरितं – dynamic, सत्यम् – true principle, अथर्व-अङ्गिरसाम् – sense organs that constitute the essence of the body called अथर्व,असि – are	You are the best carrier (अग्नि) to the oblations to the देवताs and You carry the first oblation to the पितृ. You are the true dynamic principle behind the senses (उपप्राण) which are the essence of the body

व्याख्या: Eight मंत्र have been given here praising the प्राण. प्राण, as we know, is the vitality within the Universe. Universe is often referred to as a “living organism” and it is the प्राण that brings about this “living-ness” within the Universe. It is the same प्राण that vitalizes an individual living being as well as the entire Universe. The total energy, प्राण, is the vital factor behind the अग्नि that makes it burn, behind the Sun which is the burning orb of light and energy, the same प्राण is the Lord of the clouds, the rains and the movement of winds. Since it is प्रजापति which had created both आदित्य and रयि, this मंत्र therefore says that प्राण as the प्रजापति is the power behind चंद्र too. Essentially therefore, प्राण is the truth behind all that have “forms” and all those which are “form-less” – above, all, it is described as being eternal.

Taking this further, the ऋषि says that the entire universe rests on or its foundation is located within प्राण. The spokes of a wheel are tightened at the hub and when the hub is loose, spokes become loose and the movement of the wheel is compromised – the entire universe of rhythm and order, all its laws and regulations, is maintained in its strict nature because of the central vital factor, viz the प्राण. All the three kinds of मंत्रs – ऋक्, यजुस् & साम मंत्र, which are comprised in all the four वेद are infused with प्राण. People who protect others in society are the क्षत्रिय and they are able to do so owing to प्राण operating within them. So also, the ब्राह्मण is able to perform यज्ञ owing to presence of प्राण within them.

Having being born as a being, प्राण dwells within each form efficiently supervising other subsidiary channels of energy called the उपप्राण. In order to thus adore the प्राण who is thus ruling over the body, through well-chosen and efficient ministers, the whole human structure wanders about, ever seeking new experiences.

The प्राण is the main factor behind the sense organs because without the प्राण, the sense organs cannot function independently; bereft of प्राण, the इंद्रियs retire from all activities and become incapable of serving the body. इंद्रिय act as faithful servants of प्राण. Therefore, all that one sees and enjoys are offerings to the यज्ञपीठ of प्राण. All sounds heard are but oblations to the प्राण. All smells and touch are but hymns sung at the feet of the Supreme within. Whatever one, who goes out to face life within this eternal चैतन्य of a Supreme within, does thereafter is nothing but a glorious प्राण पूजा. When performing a यज्ञ, it is प्राण operating within अग्नि that carries the offerings to the पितृ लोक when the स्वधा मंत्रs are uttered. The प्राण is that essence which, through its sub-divisions or assistants, supervises and executes the job of perception through the इंद्रिय.

इन्द्रस्त्वं प्राण तेजसा रुद्रोऽसि परिरक्षिता ।

त्वमन्तरिक्षे चरसि सूर्यस्त्वं ज्योतिषां पतिः ॥ २.९॥

यदा त्वमभिवर्षस्यथेमाः प्राण ते प्रजाः ।

आनन्दरूपास्तिष्ठन्ति कामायान्नं भविष्यतीति ॥ २.१०॥

व्रात्यस्त्वं प्राणैकर्षरत्ता विश्वस्य सत्पतिः ।

वयमाद्यस्य दातारः पिता त्वं मातरिश्व नः ॥ २.११॥

या ते तनूर्वाचि प्रतिष्ठिता या श्रोत्रे या च चक्षुषि ।

या च मनसि सन्तता शिवां तां कुरु मोत्क्रमीः ॥ २.१२॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
इन्द्र:, त्वम् – You,  प्राण, तेजसा – by brilliance, रुद्र: असि – are, परिरक्षिता – the protector on all sides, त्वम् – You, अन्तरिक्षे – in the sky, चरसि – move about, सूर्य:, त्वम् – You, ज्योतिषां पतिः – the Lord of all life	O प्राण! You are इंद्र of all energy, You are रुद्र in your destructive brilliance and the protector on all sides in your mild form, you move about in the sky, You are सूर्य, the Lord of all Life
यदा – when, त्वम् – You,  अभिवर्षसि – cause the rains to shower down, अथ – then, इमाः – these, प्राण, ते – your, प्रजाः – beings/ creatures, आनन्दरूपा: – delighted, तिष्ठन्ति – stay, कामाय – desire, अन्नं – food, भविष्यति – hoping that in the future, इति – thus	O प्राण! When you cause the rain to shower down, these creatures of your glory stay delighted, thus hoping that in the future, there will be as much food as they desire
व्रात्य – unpurified, त्वम् – You,  प्राण:, एकर्षि: – the sacred fire (famously known as एकर्षि in the अथर्ववेद),  अत्ता – the consumer of everything, विश्वस्य – of the world, सत्पतिः – the good Lord; वयम् – we, आद्यस्य – the oblation, दातारः – the givers of, पिता – father, त्वं – You, मातरिश्व – wind, नः – our	O प्राण! You are the unpurified. You are the sacred fire, एकर्षि. You are the consumer of everything and good Lord of all that exists. We are the givers of the oblations. O मातरिश्व! You are our father.
या – who, ते – your, तनू: – body, वाचि – in the speech, प्रतिष्ठिता – abides, या – who, श्रोत्रे – in the ear, या – who, च – and, चक्षुषि – in the eye, या – who, च – end, मनसि – in the mind, सन्तता – always, शिवां – auspicious, तां – your, कुरु – do make, मा – do not, उत्क्रमीः – go away	O प्राण! Make auspicious your body which always abides in the speech, in the ear, in the eye and also which pervades in the mind. Please do not go away.

व्याख्या: Continuing the स्तुति, this मंत्र says that प्राण is इंद्र (as a creator, रुद्र as the destroyer and विष्णु as the protector – it is the one non-dual energy behind the three manifestations of ईश्वर. You are the सूर्य, the Lord of all luminaries (since सूर्य has the highest impact on Earth as compared with other नक्षत्र in the sky). It is प्राण whose presence makes rains happen and gives joy in the form of food that comes about as a result of good rains. Thus, not only is प्राण that lord of the clouds, प्राण also manifests as rains and falls on the land. Taking this further therefore, even the food that we eat is प्राण itself and the beings who consume food are also प्राण. The entire plurality and various phenomena, such as rain, germination, growth, harvesting, eating and growing are nothing but the प्राण in its various manifestations.

According to धर्मशास्त्र, all are born impure and become pure after उपनयन, or through study with the help of a गुरु or साधना at the feet of a योगी. However, प्राण being the first born had nobody other than itself at the time of its birth and so could not go through any of the processes given here. This does not mean प्राण is impure or imperfect but the शास्त्र wants us to understand that प्राण does not require any उपनयन since it is so pure on its own. Impurity starts with the perception of plurality and the consequent delusory experience that the egocentric self-interests are set in opposition to the others. In the case of प्राण, there is no such feelings and as such, it was not polluted by ideas of attachment, hatred, greed, passion, cruelty or selfishness. The प्राण is indeed the father of मातरिश्व (wind) since wind cannot be where father is not.

How do we understand the working on the इंद्रिय? Just as a fan, bulbs, washing machine, etc inside a house work when the electricity flows through them, इंद्रियs are also able to function as प्राण flows through them. इंद्रियs are thus nothing but instruments and that their efficiency depends upon the quality and texture of the energy that works through them. इंद्रिय are thus doing स्तुति of the प्राण to manifest its glory in all its purity and strength through them, the instruments of its expression. In this connection, स्वामि चिन्मयानंद shares note by श्री  आनन्द गिरी  who wrote that प्राण divides itself into five with अपान working in our speech, व्यान controls our ears, प्राण presiding over the eyes and समान abiding in our mind.  

इंद्रियs are therefore calling out to प्राण not to leave them, not because of any cowardly fear but their newborn understanding has sharpened their appetite to enjoy the flow of the प्राण through them during all their activities of perception. To them, life has become a mission of service to the प्राण, as its faithful instruments to fulfil its divine will.

प्राणस्येदं वशे सर्वं त्रिदिवे यत् प्रतिष्ठितम् ।

मातेव पुत्रान् रक्षस्व  श्रीश्च प्रज्ञां च विधेहि न इति ॥ २.१३॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
प्राणस्य – of the प्राण, इदं – this, वशे – control, सर्वं – all, त्रिदिवे – in the three worlds, यत् – that, प्रतिष्ठितम् – stays, माता – mother, एव – like, पुत्रान् – to the children, रक्षस्व – give protection,  श्री – prosperity, च – and,  प्रज्ञां – wisdom, च – and, विधेहि – give, न – us, इति – this	Whatever exists in the three worlds is all under the control of the प्राण. Protect us like a mother protects her children. Give us prosperity and wisdom.

व्याख्या: Says आदि शंकर – “In short, whatever enjoyable thing there is in this world, all this; is verily under the control of प्राण. And प्राण is even the ruler and protector of whatever in the form of enjoyment for देवताs and others; is located in the third heaven, in the form of enjoyment for देवताs and others. Hence, protect us as a mother does her sons. Since all the glories natural to the ब्राह्मण and क्षत्रियs are at your disposal, therefore ordain for us, all splendour and intelligence, that accrue from your continuance. This is the meaning. Thus, inasmuch as the greatness of प्राण has been disclosed by the organs such as speech through Its praise as the all-pervasive entity, therefore, प्राण is ascertained as the Lord of creatures and the eater”.

इति प्रश्नोपनिषदि द्वितीयः प्रश्नः ॥

तृतीयः प्रश्नः

अथ हैनं कौशल्यश्चाश्वलायनः पप्रच्छ । भगवन् कुत

एष प्राणो जायते कथमायात्यस्मिञ्शरीर आत्मानं  वा

प्रविभज्य कथं प्रतिष्ठते केनोत्क्रमते कथं बाह्यमभिधत्ते

कथमध्यात्ममिति ॥ ३.१॥

मंत्र

अर्थ

अथ – then, ह – verily, एनं – him (पिप्पलाद) कौशल्य:, च – also,  आश्वलायनः, पप्रच्छ – questioned, भगवन्, कुत – from where, एष – this, प्राण:, जायते – has come, कथम् – tell how, आयाति – enters, अस्मिन् – this, शरीर – in the body, आत्मानं – of itself, वा – or, प्रविभज्य – dividing into parts, कथं – tell how, प्रतिष्ठते – abides, केन – which, उत्क्रमते – goes out, कथं – tell how, बाह्यम् – outer, अभिधत्ते – supports, कथम् – tell how, अध्यात्मम् – the internal, इति – thus

Then कौशल्य, son of अश्वलायन, questioned him – “O भगवन्! From where has this प्राण come? How does this enter the body? How does it abide after it divides itself? For which reason does it go out? How does it support outer fields, and what is within the body?

व्याख्या: Causation hunting is the main preoccupation of the fragile instrument called the human intellect. Whether science or धर्म, the primary question that the intellect seeks to get an answer for is to get to the cause of all causes that eventually culminated as this visible universe. However, we have seen that the more one gathers knowledge, the more one realizes that there is so little that one really knows and the scope of unknown only grows as knowledge rises. And thus, when one has climbed the pinnacle of one’s own intelligence, one realizes that the source of life is beyond the gaze of the intellect. And this is what makes us approach a गुरु.

Given all the discussion in the previous मंत्रs on प्राण, the question raised here is to know about the cause of प्राण. If प्राण is indeed everything in the universe, where did this प्राण come from? The other related questions are self-explanatory.

तस्मै स होवाचातिप्रश्नान् पृच्छसि ब्रह्मिष्ठोऽसीति

तस्मात्तेऽहं ब्रवीमि ॥ ३.२॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
तस्मै – to him, स – he, ह – clearly, उवाच – replied, अतिप्रश्नान् – questions touching the transcendental matter, पृच्छसि – you ask, ब्रह्मिष्ठ – supremely devoted to ब्रह्म, असी – you are, इति तस्मात् – hence, ते – them, अहम् – I,  ब्रवीमि – will explain (to you)	He replied – “You ask questions touching the transcendental matter. Because you are supremely devoted to ब्रह्म, I will explain it to you”.

व्याख्या: पिप्पलाद conveys to the student that the question raised by the student is a super-normal question. It requires a higher level of qualification to even be ready to understand the response being conveyed. The गुरु however adds that the student is a devotee of ब्रह्म, the person is eminently qualified to receive the response. This question is a question beyond intellect. Hence, the decision of the गुरु to make the students wait for one year, make them undertake साधना by following तप, सत्य, ब्रह्मचर्य and श्रद्धा was essential – and this is a message to all future गुरुs too to ensure that the student seeking a response to such transcendental questions is suitably qualified to receive response to this question.

आत्मन एष प्राणो जायते । यथैषा पुरुषे

छायैतस्मिन्नेतदाततं

मनोकृतेनायात्यस्मिञ्शरीरे ॥ ३.३॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
आत्मन: – of आत्मा, एष – this, प्राण:, जायते – is born, यथा – just as, एषा – this, पुरुषे – of the पुरुष, छाया – shadow, एतस्मिन् – in this, एतत् – this (प्राण), आततं – spread, मनोकृतेन – by the actions of मन, आयाति – enters, अस्मिन् – this, शरीरे – into शरीर	This प्राण is born of the आत्मा. Just as shadow is born of any person, the प्राण spreads over the आत्मा. By the action of मन, it enters this body.

व्याख्या: Where does प्राण come from? The answer given here is that प्राण comes from the आत्मा. To step back however, how do we normally see the operation of the words “cause” and “effect”? In normal parlance, when a cause becomes an effect, the cause dies away or ceases to exist. When milk becomes curd, milk ceases to exist. When gold becomes a chain, gold is no longer available in the form of a gold biscuit and chain alone remains. One may therefore be tempted to say that when आत्मा becomes प्राण, आत्मा no longer exists in its original identity. But that is not the case since आत्मा is Supreme Reality which is always there. This is why the ऋषि uses the example of a shadow stating that while the shadow has come about on account of a person, the person remains as-is and shadow too remains as-is. Without person there is no shadow but without shadow, the person continues to remain.

What is मन? मन is nothing else but a flow of thoughts. When thoughts flow on a continual basis, the idea of presence of मन comes about. Without these thoughts, there is no मन. And pure life in us, the आत्मा, when it works through this “flow of thoughts”, expresses itself in a reflection (shadow), then an eco-centric personality whom we call ourselves, a जीव, comes about. This ego-centre is always conditioned by the texture of our thoughts and quality of their flow. Just as a shadow, the ego-centre has no independent existence apart from the आत्मा. Giving another analogy – when we sit in front of a dressing table having three mirrors, the reflection on each of those mirrors may vary as per the quality of the mirror. But these distortions cannot change the person – similarly, the conditioning of the जीव are unique to the character of thoughts but the आत्मा remains an independent entity.

यथा सम्रादेवाधिकृतान् विनियुङ्क्ते । एतन् ग्रामानोतान्

ग्रामानधितिष्ठस्वेत्येवमेवैष प्राण इतरान् प्राणान् पृथक्

पृथगेव सन्निधत्ते ॥ ३.४॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
यथा- just as,  सम्राट् – king,  एव – alone, अधिकृतान् – officers, विनियुङ्क्ते – appoints, एतान् – these, ग्रामान् – villages, एतान् ग्रामान् – these villages (departments), अधितिष्ठस्व – reside here and govern, इति – thus, एवम् – in the same way, एव – only, एष: – this, प्राण, इतरान् प्राणान् – the other प्राण, पृथक् पृथक् एव – separate separate only, सन्निधत्ते – assign	Just as a king appoints officers saying to them – “Reside here and govern these and these villages, so does the प्राण assign to each of the other assistant प्राण a separate department of activity”.

व्याख्या: The nucleus of all activities and energy in the body is the प्राण – the अहंकार – which gets its work done by the उप-प्राण just as an emperor or chief minister gets the work done through the other ministers, and each minister in turn gets the work done through the various departments located at different provinces. The details of these उप-प्राणs will be conveyed in the following मंत्रs

पायूपस्थेऽपानं चक्षुःश्रोत्रे मुखनासिकाभ्यां प्राणः स्वयं

प्रातिष्ठते मध्ये तु समानः । एष ह्येतद्धुतमन्नं समं नयति

तस्मादेताः सप्तार्चिषो भवन्ति ॥ ३.५॥

मंत्र

अर्थ

पायु: – organs of excretion, अपस्थे – in the organ of procreation, अपानं – the अपान, चक्षुः – in the eyes, श्रोत्रे – in the ears, मुखनासिकाभ्यां – in the mouth and nose, प्राणः, स्वयं – oneself, प्रातिष्ठते – abides/ is established, मध्ये – in the middle, तु – but, समानः,  एष – this, हि – indeed, एतत् – this, – हुतम् – oblation, अन्नं – food, समं – equally, नयति – distributes, तस्मात् – from it, एताः – these, सप्त – seven, अर्चिष: – flames, भवन्ति – are fed

The प्राण appoints the अपान to dwell in the organs of excretion and itself abides in the eye, ears, mouth and nose. In the middle, the समान functions distributing the food equally, and the seven flames are fed from it.

व्याख्या: Says आदि शंकर – “To turn now to the divisions, in the two lower apertures; the प्राण places अपान, which is a division of itself and which exists engaged in the work of ejecting faeces, urine, etc. So also, प्राण itself, who occupies the place of the sovereign; resides in the eyes and the ears; issuing out through the mouth and nostrils. In the middle, however, in between the places of प्राण and अपान, in the navel; there is समान, which is so called because it assimilates all that is eaten or drunk. Since this one  distributes equally (in all parts of the body) all this that is eaten or drunk, the food that is poured (as a libation) on one’s bodily fire, therefore; from the burning of what is eaten and drunk, from the fire in the stomach, when it has reached the region of the heart, there issue these seven flames that are lodged in the head. The idea is that the revelation of objects like form (or colour) etc. that constitutes what is known as seeing, hearing, etc. is caused by प्राण.”

The seven flames that proceed from समान meant here are the seven main holes in the head – two eyes, two ears, two nostrils and one mouth. Through each of them, as it were, a peculiar kind of special light shoots out which can illumine one particular type of sense objects (विषय) in the world. Thus, with eyes, we can only illumine “forms” in things, ears can only illumine sound while tongue can only illumine taste.

हृदि ह्येष आत्मा । अत्रैतदेकशतं नाडीनां तासां शतं

शतमेकैकस्या द्वासप्ततिर्द्वासप्ततिः प्रतिशाखानाडीसहस्राणि

भवन्त्यासु व्यानश्चरति ॥ ३.६॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
हृदि – in the हृदय, हि – indeed, एष – this, आत्मा, अत्र – here, एतत् – these, एकशतं – one hundred and one, नाडीनां – chief नाडी (pathways), तासां – of these, शतं शतं – hundred, hundred, एकैकस्या – every one of these, द्वासप्तति: द्वासप्ततिः – seventy two, seventy two, प्रतिशाखानाडी – sub-branches of नाडी, सहस्राणि – thousand, भवन्ति– has, आसु – in these, व्यान, चरति – moves about	This आत्मा is indeed in the हृदय. There, there are a hundred and one नाडी. Each one of them has a hundred branches. Again, each one of these has seventy two thousand sub-branches. In these, the व्यान moves.

व्याख्या: The आत्मा referred to here is not the आत्मा aligned to ब्रह्म which is our supreme identity but instead refers to the core of our being linked to us as a जीव. This is so because आत्मा cannot be localized to any part of the body like हृदय. ब्रह्म conditioned by मन, बुद्धि and शरीर get an identity signified by अहंकार and this is referred to as a जीव. Therefore, when the ऋषि says that आत्मा resides in the हृदय, what he means here is that प्राण resides in the हृदय. Note additionally that हृदय here does not mean the physical heart but essentially denotes the मन.

ऋषि then informs us that from this हृदय, 101 नाडी branch out – note that नाडी here does not refer to any physical part of the body but may be seen more as pathways for movement of प्राण in an astral sense. Thus, from हृदय, 101 नाडी branch out and from each of the 101 नाडी, 100 sub- नाडीs forming among themselves 10100 secondary नाडीs. Now, each of these secondary नाडीs again multiplies into 72000 नाडीs thus together forming a system of 72,72,10,201 in all. The idea of any factor, which in itself is as subtle as thought, divided so minutely as to form over 72 crore is a conception which has not yet been equalled even by any modern devices. And in these crores of नाडीs, व्यान शक्ति moves like a permanent cyclone round the structure of a living being. Among the many functions of व्यान is to keep the circulation of the blood always going even in the minutest capillary where the RBC and WBCs will have to be on the move all the time.

अथैकयोर्ध्व उदानः पुण्येन पुण्यं लोकं नयति पापेन

पापमुभाभ्यामेव मनुष्यलोकम् ॥ ३.७॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
अथ – thereafter, एकया – through one, उर्ध्व – ascending, उदानः, पुण्येन – by good कर्म, पुण्यं लोकं – पुण्य लोक, नयति – leads us upward, पापेन – by पाप कर्म, पापम् – the पाप लोक, उभाभ्याम् – where पाप and पुण्य are mixed, एव – only, मनुष्यलोकम् – to the world of मनुष्य	Thereafter, through one special नाडी, the उदान, ascending, leads the जीव upward to the पुण्यलोक due to good कर्म (undertaken), and carries it to the पाप लोक due to पाप कर्म, and takes the जीव to the मनुष्य लोक only when both पाप and पुण्य are mixed

व्याख्या: As per योग शास्त्र, उदान is located in the सुषुम्ना नाडी. The role of उदान is to provide fuel or the motive force for the सूक्ष्म शरीर to move out of the physical structure at the moment of its death towards the next field of activity. At the time of death, as a perfect resultant of all different kinds of thoughts and motives that we have been entertaining during the past, our मन thinks of a fit लोक, and it being nothing but a flock of swift-winged thoughts, it reaches that arena. The motive force by which the thought reaches its object of thinking is provided by the उदान शक्ति within us.

The गुरु thus states that if all our lives, we have accumulated पाप thoughts and performed पाप कर्म, naturally, our minds will be pulled towards पाप योनि and we will take birth in the wombs of animal life. On the other hand, living a life continually performing पुण्य कर्म will naturally take our minds to ऊर्ध्व लोक (e.g., पितृ लोक, गंधर्व लोक, स्वर्ग, etc) but in our minds are turned to performed mixed कर्म, we continue to live in मनुष्य लोक to carry forward our journey towards मोक्ष. The principle of re-incarnation is just indicated here.

आदित्यो ह वै बाह्यः प्राण उदयत्येष ह्येनं चाक्षुषं

प्राणमनुगृह्णानः । पृथिव्यां या देवता सैषा पुरुषस्य

अपानमवष्टभ्यान्तरा यदाकाशः स समानो वायुर्व्यानः ॥ ३.८॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
आदित्य:, ह वै – verily बाह्यः प्राण – outer प्राण, उदयति – rising, एष – this, हि – indeed, एनं – that, चाक्षुषं – in the eyes, प्राणम्, अनुगृह्णानः – favours, पृथिव्यां – of पृथ्वी, या – or, देवता, सा – that, एषा – this, पुरुषस्य – of the being, अपानम्, अवष्टभ्य – by attracting, अन्तरा – between, यदाकाशः – space which, स – that, समान, वायु:, व्यान:	सूर्य is verily the outer cosmic प्राण. This सूर्य-favouring प्राण which is residing in the eyes, rises up. पृथ्वी देवी attracts and controls the अपान of the being. The interspace between पृथ्वी and सूर्य is the समान. The वायु is the व्यान.

व्याख्या: So far, we have been talking of प्राण in a living being – this is the lens of microcosm (or व्यष्टि) – this मंत्र provides what happens at the level of समष्टि (macrocosm). A fundamental feature of सनातन धर्म is to see the individual as a miniature of the world and world too as the expression of an individual. Thus, the sub-processes within both are one and the same – the individual is referred to as वैश्वानर while the cosmic individual referred to as the विराट.

And why is this linkage of व्यष्टि with समष्टि important? It is useful for उपासना wherein this भावना becomes a technique of self-integration. उपासना is a method by which we seek to see an idea with a greater message in the ideal which is comparatively gross and seemingly insignificant. Subjectively, the ऋषिs have indicated to us the various centres of activities within our structure in terms of five objects of the phenomenal world and yet, until we are instructed, we do not see the outer world a replica of our own inner existence. उपासना is thus an unavoidable staff in the hands of every साधक trekking the path of truth to the pinnacle of self-experience. The attempt to discover the individual in the total in वेदान्त, the “me” in “YOU” in भक्ति, is a process by which our own मन and बुद्धि, now chained and shacked within its own planes of the vaster and more extensive fields of the universe become expanded and in this process, the dirt and mud in them drop off just as cotton is cleaned by carding it. Only such a purified मन, capable of expanding beyond the ordinary capacities, can renounce its gross identity and thus soar higher into the greater heights of ब्रह्म दृष्टि and स्व-अनुभव.  

How does प्राण work at the cosmic level? सूर्य is expressed as the cosmic प्राण which divided itself into प्राण and रयि. Then the ऋषि adds that the प्राण functioning in the eye, ear and mouth with its headquarters located in the head is सूर्य in the outer world, the point of comparison between the two being that सूर्य reigns in the crown of the world and प्राण is located in the topmost point in the individual’s physical structure. Again the प्राण functions in the eye, and we have already seen how सूर्य, as the source of all light, is the presiding देवता of the instrument of vision, the eye.

The अपान which works in the pelvic region of the body has necessarily an activity tending downwards, pushing things down and ejecting them from the body (function behind excretion and insemination). This अपान वृत्ति in the cosmic form cannot be better represented than in the gravitational pull by which everything in the globe is attracted towards its centre – that is why the ऋषि, very interestingly, says here that the अपान works in the  cosmic level in the form of देवी पृथ्वी which attracts with देवी referring to the force that drives the behaviour of earth.

Just as समान is present in the central part of our body, the समान in the cosmic level is present between सूर्य and पृथ्वी. Just as in us, the समान maintains the nutrition and healthy life of all the cells in the body, we know that it is atmosphere air that upholds life in all created beings. If the atmosphere is समान, then the व्यान in us can be fully identified with वायु in the outer world.

Note that all the above is meant to assist in a particular kind of उपासना where one seeks to expand oneself and become subtler. When a साधक develops this vision of seeing the same aspects both within and without, such a दृष्टि enables expansion since one is going beyond one’s individuality and attempts to align with a large scale of vision. सूर्य,, पृथ्वी, atmosphere and वायु gives us the picture of the relative positions and functions of the प्राण, अपान, समान and व्यान in us.

तेजो ह वा उदानस्तस्मादुपशान्ततेजाः । पुनर्भवमिन्द्रियैर्मनसि

सम्पद्यमानैः ॥ ३.९॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
तेज: the external fire as energy, ह – indeed, वा – verily, उदान, तस्मात् – therefore, उपशान्ततेजाः – the flames are gone out, पुनर्भवम् – enters again, इन्द्रियै: – with the इंद्रिय, मनसि – in मन, सम्पद्यमानैः – absorbed	The external fire as energy is indeed उदान. Therefore, he in whom the flames are gone out enters another body again along with इंद्रिय absorbed in मन

व्याख्या: उदान is that energy which supplies the motive power for an ego centre with its subtle body to move out from one physical structure to another at the time of its death in the existing physical form. In the external world, ऋषि says that fire is the equivalent of उदान. Fire is invoked on different occasions by different names and no two flames look the same since the manifested fire depends for its form and intensity upon fuel that is used. Fire burns till fuel is supplied and it does its activities but once fuel is exhausted, fire moves from manifested condition to unmanifested condition.

Similarly, when a सूक्ष्म शरीर find that it has no more experiences to gather in a physical frame, that सूक्ष्म शरीर throws away its physical structure  and departs. But the ego centre, though not manifest (after death) and functioning through the body continues to exist in a सूक्ष्मरूप. And it is उदान that moves the सूक्ष्म शरीर from one field of activity to another field of activity.

What do we mean by the use of the words “इंद्रिय absorbed in मन” within the मंत्र? At the time of death, the dying person slowly and steadily loses all sense activities and capacities; the person no longer sees, hears, smells, tastes and feels. This is not because the इंद्रियs lose their powers or turn defective; instead the vitality of the प्राण withdraws itself from the इंद्रिय centres – these all withdraw into the मन before उदान lifts them collectively from the dying body and guides it along the next field of activity.

There is another perspective on उदान. So long as उदान exists in the human form, a person is alive and so long as a person is alive, there is body warmth in the person. When उदान leaver, the heat alone is gone and the dead body becomes cold to touch – thus, we may see that a dead man is one where the fire has gone off. This explains why उदान is likened to तेज (which is either seen as luminosity or external fire).

यच्चित्तस्तेनैष प्राणमायाति । प्राणस्तेजसा युक्तः सहात्मना

यथासङ्कल्पितं लोकं नयति ॥ ३.१०॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
यत् – whatever, चित्त: – thought, तेन – those, एष: – this, प्राण:, आयाति – attains, प्राण:, तेजसा – उदान, युक्तः – united with, सह – together, आत्मना – the जीव, यथा – as, सङ्कल्पितं – thought of, लोकं – to that world, नयति – carries	Whatever be one’s thoughts, one attains this प्राण along with those thoughts and the प्राण, united with उदान, together with जीव, is led on to the लोक that was thought of

व्याख्या: This question comes up again and again in various शास्त्र – post death, how is the next field of activity determined? The शास्त्र says that the departing thoughts on the death-bed determine the future field for the ego-centre to function. And the last thought on the death-bed not depends on our own independent willing and wishing, but is at that moment an irresistible declaration of the resultant of the entire thought life that we have been indulging in throughout our lives. The ego-centre, propelled by the उदान, is the जीव which is led to its next field of activity according to its own willing, determined and declared by itself with its last thoughts. And this next लोक can be a लोक of animals or plant kingdom or स्वर्ग or other fields of experiences.

य एवं विद्वान् प्राणं वेद न हास्य प्रजा हीयतेऽमृतो

भवति तदेषः श्लोकः ॥ ३.११॥

उत्पत्तिमायतिं स्थानं विभुत्वं चैव पञ्चधा ।

अध्यात्मं चैव प्राणस्य विज्ञायामृतमश्नुते

विज्ञायामृतमश्नुत इति ॥ ३.१२॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
य – who, एवं – thus, विद्वान् – the wise one, प्राणं,  वेद – knows, न – not, ह – indeed, अस्य – do, प्रजा – offsprings, हीयते – perish, अमृत: – eternal, भवति – becomes, तत् – that, एषः- this, श्लोकः	The wise one who knows the प्राण thus will not have to suffer, such a one’s offsprings do not perish. Such a one becomes eternal. That is stated in the following श्लोक
उत्पत्ति – the origin, आयतिं – the entry, स्थानं – the seat, विभुत्वं – distribution, च – and, एव – alone, पञ्चधा – five-fold, अध्यात्मं – the internal state in the body, च – and, एव – alone, प्राणस्य – of the प्राण, विज्ञाय – one who knows, अमृतम् – eternality, अश्नुते – obtains, विज्ञाय – one who knows, अमृतम् – eternality, अश्नुते – obtains,  इति – thus	One who knows the origin, the entry, the seat, the all-pervasiveness, the five-fold distribution of प्राण and the internal state in the body, obtains the state of eternality; yes, such a one attains the state of eternality

व्याख्या: All possible desires have been classified into three by the शास्त्र – desire for offspring, desire for wealth and reside for fame. Of them, the desire for offspring includes all relationships that exist in our social & domestic life. Here, the ऋषि says that one who does उपासना upon the Truth – that one’s own microcosmic form (पिंडाण्ड)   with its activity centres is but a miniature universe with its cosmic forces in the macrocosm (ब्रह्माण्ड) – will find relationships in the world to be always intimate and many. This is so because the method of concentration suggested makes the साधक expand in one’s mental and intellectual outlook. Such a one thereby develops an large heart and a very cosmopolitan बुद्धि and these are certainly qualities which attract the admiration, love and regard of fellow beings almost automatically and irresistibly towards the individual.

And the ऋषि quotes a मंत्र again from the ऋग्वेद as evidence to back-up his statement and this मंत्र essentially summarizes the discussion to this third question. Thus, one who “knows” meaning one who realizes the wisdom that the centres of प्राण in oneself have corresponding realities in the cosmic form becomes eternal. This eternal state is not relative; the individual comes to experience one’s complete identity with the total mind – हिरण्यगर्भ – and remains one in identification with ईश्वर until the end of this projection cycle. Compared with the short and finite nature of the mortal, the state of total mind-hood (हिरण्यगर्भ अवस्था) is certainly a state of eternality in a relative sense.

इति प्रश्नोपनिषदि तृतीयः प्रश्नः ॥

चतुर्थः प्रश्नः ।

अथ हैनं सौर्यायणि गार्ग्यः पप्रच्छ । भगवन्नेतस्मिन् पुरुषे

कानि स्वपन्ति कान्यस्मिञ्जाग्रति कतर एष देवः स्वप्नान् पश्यति

कस्यैतत्  सुखं भवति कस्मिन्नु सर्वे सम्प्रतिष्ठिता भवन्तीति ॥ ४.१॥

मंत्र

अर्थ

अथ – then, हि – indeed, एनं – him, सौर्यायणि गार्ग्यः – of the clan of गर्ग, the grandson of सूर्य, पप्रच्छ – questioned, भगवन्, एतस्मिन् – in, पुरुषे – this पुरुष, कानि – who, स्वपन्ति – sleep, कानि – who, अस्मिन् – in him, जाग्रति – awake, कतर – which is, एष – this, देवः, स्वप्नान् – dream, पश्यति – sees, कस्य – whose एतत् – this, सुखं – happiness, भवति – is, कस्मिन् – where, नु – indeed, सर्वे – all these, सम्प्रतिष्ठिता भवन्ति – are dependent/ established, इति – thus

Then, गार्ग्यः, the grandson of सूर्य, questioned him – “O भगवन्! Who are they that sleep in a person? Who, again are awake in him? Which is the देवता who sees the dream? Whose is the happiness? On which do all these indeed depend?

व्याख्या: This question is an exhaustive one. When the physical body is asleep, the student wants to know if there are yet any more energy centres that are still sleeplessly working for the maintenance of the body. This is a logical question given that even after we go to sleep, many functions like the digestive system, heart functions, etc continue to work keeping the body warm. As such, independent of the sleeper, there seem to be forces or powers that are, as it were, sleeplessly guarding the शरीर. So the question of the student is to know who are the guardians of the शरीर when the being goes to sleep.

The question about the dream is also important. This is so since we seem to assume a personality on many dream occasions which are different from what we experience in the waking state – who then is this dreamer? Me or someone else? Further, after having a deep sleep, we wake up with a sense of satisfaction – does this happiness that one experiences mine or that of someone else?

The final question is to know who is the substratum for these three different states of being – waking, sleep and deep-sleep (जाग्रत्, स्वप्न and सुशुप्ति)? If the three states are experienced by three different beings, then who is the one who is the common link that binds all these three states? Someone must be the binding factor since even though there appear to be no connection between the waker and dreamer, for example, I do wake up and express “I had a dream” even though my dream personality appears to be different from the waking personality. Surely, there must be a binding factor which makes we express that all these three states belong to “me” only – so the question that follows then is – “who is this me present in all three states”? And only because of the presence of this “me” present in all three states as a common link, despite my mind switching off in deep sleep or the waking mind become inactive in dream, I am able to still recollect these experiences when I wake up. And therefore the question – on whom do all these three states of being depend on?

तस्मै स होवाच यथा गार्ग्य मरीचयोऽर्कस्यास्तं गच्छतः सर्वा

एतस्मिंस्तेजोमण्डल एकीभवन्ति ताः पुनः पुनरुदयतः प्रचरन्त्येवं

ह वै तत् सर्वं परे देवे मनस्येकीभवति तेन तर्ह्येष पुरुषो न

श‍ृणोति न पश्यति न जिघ्रति न रसयते न स्पृशते नाभिवदते

नादत्ते नानन्दयते न विसृजते नेयायते स्वपितीत्याचक्षते ॥ ४.२॥

मंत्र

अर्थ

तस्मै – to him, स – he (पिप्पलाद), ह – indeed,उवाच – replied, यथा – just as, गार्ग्य, मरीचय – rays, अर्कस्य – of सूर्य, अस्तं – sets, गच्छतः – goes, सर्वा -everywhere, एतस्मिन् – in that, तेजोमण्डल – disk of light, एकीभवन्ति – become one, ताः – they, पुनः – again, पुन: – again, उदयतः – rises, प्रचरन्ति – come forth, एवं – in this way, ह – indeed, वै – verily, तत् – that, सर्वं – all, परे देवे – highest देव, मनसि – in the mind, एकी – one, भवति – becomes, तेन – by them, तर्हि – at that time, एष – this, पुरुष: – person, न श‍ृणोति – no more hears, न पश्यति – no more sees, न जिघ्रति – no more smells, न रसयते – no more tastes, न स्पृशते – no more touches, न अभिवदते – nor does speak, न आदत्ते – nor takes, न आनन्दयते – nor enjoys, न विसृजते – nor evacuates, न ईयायते – nor moves, स्वपिति – sleeps, इति आचक्षते – thus say

He replied – “O गार्ग्य! Just as the rays of सूर्य, when सूर्य sets, become one in that disk of light and they come forth again when सूर्य rises, in the same way, all these (इंद्रिय) become one in मन which is the highest देव. At that time, this person no more hears, sees, smells, tastes or feels the touch; nor does such a one speak, nor take nor enjoy nor evacuate nor move and thus they say that he sleeps”

व्याख्या: The first question raised in the previous मंत्र was – “O भगवन्! Who are they that sleep in a person?”. This मंत्र provides a reply to this question by providing a clear definition of sleep. The waking state, as we know, is that period of our experience when, through the instruments of cognition, we are aware of the sense objects of the world. So, पिप्पलाद replies that sleep represents a state where all इंद्रिय retire into the मन. मन is the active agent behind all इंद्रिय – this is something that should be obvious to all. For example, even though our eyes may be open in the waking state, we often do not see anything if our mind is not connected with the action of the eyes. This is the reason that in वेदान्त, मन is referred to as an इंद्रिय itself. Given the background, पिप्पलाद states that in the deep sleep state, the entire world of plurality cognized by us in the waking state through the five windows of इंद्रिय become one with the highest देव viz the मन. इंद्रियs are withdrawn from their respective centres and get deposited as it were in the very मन. To illustrate this more clearly, the ऋषि uses the metaphor of सूर्य and states that just like rays of सूर्य withdraw into the सूर्य when it sets, similarly, when a person goes to sleep, all इंद्रियs withdraw into the मन. And when मन awakes from sleep in the morning, just like all rays of सूर्य come out, so do all इंद्रिय come out of मन. Sleeping is thus linked to sunset and waking up linked to sunrise – as is our experience too even otherwise where the actions of our शरीर are directly and closely linked to the actions of सूर्य itself on a daily basis. 

One may then argue – scientifically sleeping, सूर्य neither rises or sets; is this analogy therefore not aligned to Science? And the obvious answer is – whether सूर्य rises or sets, सूर्य is always there, similarly, मन too does not get subjected to destruction or annihilation during sleep but it has only, for the time being, ducked itself behind the veil of ignorance or self-forgetfulness.

प्राणाग्नय एवैतस्मिन् पुरे जाग्रति । गार्हपत्यो ह वा एषोऽपानो

व्यानोऽन्वाहार्यपचनो यद्गार्हपत्यात् प्रणीयते प्रणयनादाहवनीयः

प्राणः ॥ ४.३॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
प्राणाग्नय – the flames of the प्राण, एव – alone, एतस्मिन् – in this, पुरे – city, जाग्रति – awake, गार्हपत्यो ह – is indeed the गार्हपत्य अग्नि, वा – verily, एष: अपान: – this अपान, व्यान:, अन्वाहार्यपचन: – type of अग्नि, यत् – because, गार्हपत्यात् – from गार्हपत्य अग्नि, प्रणीयते – brought, प्रणयनात् – executing, आहवनीयः- the आहवनीय, प्राणः	The flames of the प्राण alone are awake (bright) in the city of the body at the time of sleep. The अपान is the गार्हपत्य अग्नि, व्यान is the अन्वाहार्यपचन अग्नि, प्राण is the आहवनीय अग्नि because of its execution of its function and it is brought from the गार्हपत्य अग्नि

व्याख्या: The second question raised in this section of the उपनिषद् was – “Who, again are awake in him?” What are the faculties that are sleeplessly working in the physical structure of the individual who is asleep and consequently unaware of the body? ऋषि replies that the प्राण are awake when the individual is asleep.

The body is referred to as a city, a पुर, at many places in our शास्त्र. The ऋषि then uses the imagery of a हवन undertaken as a part of यज्ञ to explain the idea in a better manner – note that the students are familiar with the process of यज्ञ and will therefore be able to connect easily with the analogy used here. गार्हपत्य अग्नि refers to a sample of अग्नि maintained by गृहस्थ in the ancient days, very carefully tended and preserved, for it was from this that they used to light up and maintain the main fireplace into which they offered their oblations during यज्ञ. It was always maintained in the house and was never allowed to be put out. Since the creation of other अग्निs was done with this, and since अग्नि used to “go out” from the गार्हपत्य, it is a perfect simile for the अपान which functions in ejecting and rejecting things.  The prana is `considered as आहवनीय अग्नि which is lit from गार्हपत्य अग्नि and separately nurtured and fattened for throwing in of the oblations. प्राण, rising as it were from the अपान, functions in the face and receives oblations of the sense impulses through the sense organs. The अन्वाहार्यपचन अग्नि, otherwise called as दक्षिणा अग्नि, is a sacred fireplace maintained on the southern side (right side) of the main fire altar and this is compared to व्यान because this cyclonic energy whistling through all parts of the body ultimately leaves its abode through the right side of the heart.

यदुच्छ्वासनिःश्वासावेतावाहुती समं नयतीति स  समानः । मनो ह

वाव यजमानः । इष्टफलमेवोदानः । स एनं यजमानमहरहर्ब्रह्म

गमयति ॥ ४.४॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
यत् – because, उच्छ्वास – inhalation, निःश्वास – exhalation, एतौ – these two, आहुती – the oblations, समं – equally, नयति – distributes, इति – thus, स – that, समानः (is priest),  मन,  ह – indeed, वाव – verily, यजमानः – the person conducting the यज्ञ, इष्टफलम् – desired फल, एव – alone, उदानः, स – that, एनं – this, यजमानम् – the person conducting the यज्ञ, अहरह: – every day, ब्रह्म, गमयति – leads	Because the समान distributes equally the oblations in the form of inhalation and exhalation, he is priest (होतृ). मन is indeed the यजमान (one for whose behalf a यज्ञ is undertaken) and the उदान is the desired फल of the यज्ञ. This उदान leads the यजमान every day (in deep sleep) to ब्रह्म

व्याख्या: Since समान is that which distributes the oblations of oxygen received during respiration to every cell of the body, it is considered as a priest (होतृ) in the अग्निहोत्र ceremony. The यजमान (one for whose behalf a यज्ञ is undertaken) gathers the necessary materials from the होतृ and appointed the various priests, is the very मन. उदान, the ultimate cultural trait left over in मन is the फल of the great यज्ञ performed.

What do we mean by the line – “This उदान leads the यजमान every day (in deep sleep) to ब्रह्म”? Here, “take to ब्रह्म” does not mean take us to मोक्ष. Certainly, the यज्ञ फल leads the यजमान to ब्रह्म means it takes to greater peace and happiness. Therefore if यजमान is मन and cultural trait is उदान, commentators have conveyed that उदान leads one to sleep, the inner world wherein we experience tranquillity, which is homogenous, the ब्रह्म. The state of peace of state of relative peace and joy where the स्थूल and सूक्ष्म शरीर are, for the time being, together transcended – and therefore in deep sleep when we are veiled only by अविद्या, we are closest to आत्मा which is the centre, the ब्रह्म. That is the meaning implied here.

Note that when flow of the उदान is obstructed, sleep is not easy but when उदान is propitiated, sleep is automatic. Why so? When it is stated above that उदान is the cultural trait left over the मन, what this means is how our मन experiences life. If there is a mental dis-satisfaction or a cultural abrasion experienced during the day (say, good man commits a crime or a criminal is un-successful in perpetrating a crime), मन experiences unrest and sleep is disturbed. But when मन is satisfied, sleep is guaranteed. उदान is the guide that leads the “waker” and “dreamer” and heralds them into the halls of sleep.

अत्रैष देवः स्वप्ने महिमानमनुभवति । यद्दृष्टं

दृष्टमनुपश्यति श्रुतं श्रुतमेवार्थमनुश‍ृणोति

देशदिगन्तरैश्च प्रत्यनुभूतं पुनः पुनः प्रत्यनुभवति दृष्टं

चादृष्टं च श्रुतं चाश्रुतं चानुभूतं चाननुभूतं च

सच्चासच्च सर्वं पश्यति सर्वः पश्यति ॥ ४.५॥

मंत्र

अर्थ

अत्र – here, एष – this, देवः – mind, स्वप्ने – in the state of स्वप्न, महिमानम् – its greatness, अनुभवति – experiences, यत् – what has been, दृष्टं – seen, दृष्टम् – seen, अनुपश्यति – sees again, श्रुतं – hears, श्रुतम् – heard, एव – merely, अर्थम् – desires, अनुश‍ृणोति – hears again, देशदिगन्तरै – places and countries, च – and, प्रत्यनुभूतं – directly experienced, पुनः पुनः – again and again, प्रत्यनुभवति – experiences, दृष्टं- seen, च – and,  अदृष्टं – not seen, च – and, श्रुतं – heard, च – and,  अश्रुतं – not heard, च – and,  अनुभूतं – experienced, च – and,  अननुभूतं – not experienced, च – and, सत् – real, च – and,  अ सत् – unreal, च – and, सर्वं – all, पश्यति – sees, सर्वः – all, पश्यति – sees

In this state, the मन enjoys the स्वप्न and its greatness. What has been seen, it sees again, what has been heard, it hears again, what has been enjoyed at different places and countries, it enjoys again. What has been seen and not seen, heard and not heard, experienced and not experienced, real and unreal, he sees all, by being all.

व्याख्या: पिप्पलाद is answering the third question – “What is the देव who sees the dream”? The गुरु has captures the experience of the स्वप्न स्थिति. स्वप्न can be defined as the experience of मन when it is completely unconscious of the शरीर but gazes on recognize the sense impressions it has gathered while roaming about in its waking consciousness. In fact, मन viewing the मन is the dreamer seeing the dream. And interestingly, स्वप्न also incorporates sights, sounds and situations that one is unaware of in one’s waking state too – that is what श्रुति says here. And why does the श्रुति say “he sees all, by being all”.  This is because it is मन that creates all conditions and therefore, it is मन which assumes the form of a tiger, the jungle, the mountain, etc too apart from the one watching and wading through all these – मन indeed becomes all and then it sees the all too. Some of these situations seem real but many unreal too (meaning impossible to experience these in the waking state).

स यदा तेजसाऽभिभूतो भवति । अत्रैष देवः स्वप्नान्न

पश्यत्यथ यदैतस्मिञ्शरीर एतत्सुखं भवति ॥ ४.६॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
स – that, यदा – when, तेजसा – by light, अभिभूतो – over-powered, भवति – is, अत्र – here, एष – this, देवः – मन, स्वप्नान्  – dream, न – not, पश्यति – sees, अथ – therefore, तदा – then (at this time), एतस्मिन् – in this, शरीरे – body, एतत् – this, सुखं – joy/ bliss, भवति – arises	When this मन is overpowered by तेज, then in that state, मन sees no स्वप्न. At that time, joy/ bliss arises in this शरीर

व्याख्या: This मंत्र is important and describes the state of जीव in deep sleep. And the description given here is uniquely interesting. We have already described how the जीव experiences the जाग्रत् and स्वप्न स्थिति. In सुशुप्ति (or deep sleep), the मंत्र says that मन is over-powered by तेज (light). And what is this light? It is our inner चैतन्य that illumines things of the world and the mind, and we thus become aware of them. That in which we become aware of a thing is generally termed by us as light and in this sense, चैतन्य is the light considered here.

Therefore, when मन withdraws from स्वप्न स्थिति, it comes close to the source of all light (viz चैतन्य emanating from आत्मा) and thus, as it were, gets blinded by the transcendental intensity of the infinite light’ then, for the time being, it can only experience darkness (अविद्या) – and मन blinded by आत्मा’s effulgence is when जीव gets into सुशुप्ति अवस्था (deep sleep). In this state, मन being nearest to आत्मा gets an अनुभव of negative आनन्द (bliss) – “negative” because there is absence of any mental or intellectual commotions or physical suggestions of pains and limitations. Where मन has set, all thought waves (वृत्तिs) are set and as such the agitations caused here by them are no more present in सुशुप्ति अवस्था – the absence of such agitations is the cause of negative आनन्द.

When we are neither seeing the dream nor are awake and consequentially, are having no disturbances from outside, we experience the inflow of a limitless and homogenous negative आनन्द and that state is called as सुशुप्ति अवस्था (or the state of deep sleep).

स यथा सोभ्य वयांसि वसोवृक्षं सम्प्रतिष्ठन्ते । एवं

ह वै तत् सर्वं पर आत्मनि सम्प्रतिष्ठते ॥ ४.७॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
स – that, यथा – just as, सोभ्य – O beloved! वयांसि – birds, वसोवृक्षं – to a tree where they roost, सम्प्रतिष्ठन्ते – very well retire, एवं – in the same way, ह – indeed, वै – verily, तत् – that, सर्वं – all, पर – supreme, आत्मनि – in आत्मा, सम्प्रतिष्ठते – rest well	Just as, O Beloved! Birds very well retire to a tree to roost, in the same way indeed do all these rest well in the Supreme आत्मा

व्याख्या: There is idea of home in all species. Not just humans but even birds return home at the end of each day. What is a “home”? Home is where one is living as oneself – there is no make-up, no pretence, no show, etc and one just lives as one is – this may be seen as a simplistic definition of a home. Similarly, every night, the इंद्रियs retire into the मन and मन itself retires into the आत्मा – and आत्मा is the real identity of all. आत्मा is the “home” of all and when one goes into deep sleep, it is akin to one retiring like the birds into one’s home.

पृथिवी च पृथिवीमात्रा चापश्चापोमात्रा च तेजश्च तेजोमात्रा च

वायुश्च वायुमात्रा चाकाशश्चाकाशमात्रा च चक्षुश्च द्रष्टव्यं

च श्रोत्रं च श्रोतव्यं च घ्राणं च घ्रातव्यं च रसश्च

रसयितव्यं च त्वक्च स्पर्शयितव्यं च वाक्च वक्तव्यं च हस्तौ

चादातव्यं चोपस्थश्चानन्दयितव्यं च पायुश्च विसर्जयितव्यं च

यादौ च गन्तव्यं च मनश्च मन्तव्यं च बुद्धिश्च बोद्धव्यं

चाहङ्कारश्चाहङ्कर्तव्यं च चित्तं च चेतयितव्यं च तेजश्च

विद्योतयितव्यं च प्राणश्च विधारयितव्यं च ॥ ४.८॥

मंत्र

अर्थ

पृथिवी, च – and, पृथिवीमात्रा – subtle element of पृथ्वी, च – and, आप:, च – and, पोमात्रा – subtle element of आप, च – and, तेज: – अग्नि, च – and,  तेजोमात्रा – subtle element of अग्नि, च – and, वायु:, च – and, वायुमात्रा – subtle element of वायु, च – and, आकाश:, च – and, आकाशमात्रा – subtle element of आकाश, च – and, चक्षु: – eyes,, च – and,  द्रष्टव्यं – what can be seen, च – and श्रोत्रं – ear, च – and, श्रोतव्यं – what can be heard, च – and, घ्राणं – nose, च घ्रातव्यं – what can be smelt, च – and, रस – the tongue, च – and, रसयितव्यं – what can be tasted. च – and, त्वक् – skin, स्पर्शयितव्यं – what can be felt, च वाक् – the speech वक्तव्यं – what can be spoken, च – and, हस्तौ – hands, च – and, आदातव्यं – what can be grasped, च – and, उपस्थ – organ of generation, च – and, आनन्दयितव्यं – what can be enjoyed, च – and, पायु: – organ of excretion, च – and,  विसर्जयितव्यं – what must be excreted, च – and, पादौ – feet, च – and, गन्तव्यं – what can be walked on, च – and, मन: – mind, च – and,  मन्तव्यं – what must be thought of, च – and, बुद्धि: – intellect, च – and,  बोद्धव्यं – what must be determined, च – and, अहङ्कार – the ego, च – and, अहङ्कर्तव्यं – the object of the ego, च – and, चित्तं – memory, च – and, चेतयितव्यं – the object of memory, च – and, तेज: – the light, च – and, विद्योतयितव्यं – the object of light, च – and, प्राण:, च – and, विधारयितव्यं – everything supported by it, च – and

पृथ्वी and its subtle element, आप and its subtle element, अग्नि and its subtle element, वायु and its subtle element, space and its subtle element, eyes and what can be seen, ear and what can be heard, nose and what it can smell, tongue and what can be tasted, skin and what can be felt, speech and what can be spoken, hands and what can be grasped, the feet and what can be walked on, the organs of generation and what can be enjoyed, the organs of excretion and what must be excreted, the mind and what must be thought of, the intellect and what must be determined, the ego and its objects, the चित्त and its objects, the light and its objects, the प्राण and everything supported by it – all these rest in the state of sleep like birds in their next

व्याख्या: This मंत्र continues to elaborates the idea of सुशुप्ति अवस्था. What does to deep sleep – to this question, a detailed enumeration of every part of our physical structure has been elaborated here to convey that in the सुशुप्ति अवस्था, none of these are active and all of them too go to sleep. This should leave no doubt in the mind of a student as to whether any particular part of the body remains active while falling into deep sleep. All ज्ञानेन्द्रिय & कर्मेन्द्रिय become inactive while being in deep sleep. In addition, the four aspects of अंत: करण (मन, बुद्धि, चित्त and अहंकार) together with their independent and individual functions of thinking, determining, illuminating and self-ascertaining also go into retirement when the person goes into सुशुप्ति.

What does the गुरु mean when he says that even प्राण goes into retirement? While प्राण has multiple meanings, प्राण here means that branch of activity of the प्राण by virtue of which इंद्रिय were functioning in the waking state. The officer-in-charge of इंद्रिय was termed as the प्राण, and the प्राण is at rest in the sleeping man.

एष हि द्रष्टा स्प्रष्टा श्रोता घ्राता रसयिता मन्ता बोद्धा कर्ता

विज्ञानात्मा पुरुषः । स परेऽक्षर आत्मनि सम्प्रतिष्ठते ॥ ४.९॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
एष – this, हि – indeed, द्रष्टा – one who sees, स्प्रष्टा – one who feels, श्रोता – one who hears, घ्राता – one who smells, रसयिता – one who tastes, मन्ता – one who thinks, बोद्धा – one who knows, कर्ता – the doer, विज्ञानात्मा – the intelligent ego, पुरुषः – the आत्मा, स – he, परे – in the highest, अक्षर आत्मनि – in the indestructible आत्मा, सम्प्रतिष्ठते – dwells	That is the one who sees, feels, hears, smells, tastes, thinks, knows. He is the doer, the intelligent ego, the पुरुष. He dwells in the highest indestructible आत्मा

व्याख्या: Who is the one who experiences life? The one who hears, smells, feels anxiety, gets excited, who becomes joyful, goes into depression, etc – it is the ego centre, the अहंकार. This अहंकार, a product of our identification with our शरीर, मन and बुद्धि is the one who has the delusory arrogance to claim it to be the actor, perceiver, the enjoyer and the knower. In short, the intelligent “knowing आत्मा”, the विज्ञानात्मा, knows its own delusory extensions of something different from itself and due to this wrong perception comes to reap its own poisonous harvest of sorrows, limitations, finitude and mortality.

And the ऋषि in the previous मंत्र says that even अहंकार retires when a person goes into deep sleep. The अहंकार has no vitality of its own as it is but a superimposition of the आत्मा. The pure conscious centre, the आत्मा, is the one that lends energy to the अहंकार to dance to its own death tunes. अहंकार has no identity of its own other than आत्मा just as a shadow has no independent existence of its own.

परमेवाक्षरं प्रतिपद्यते स यो ह वै तदच्छायमशरीरमलोहितं

शुभ्रमक्षरं वेदयते यस्तु सोम्य । स सर्वज्ञः सर्वो भवति ।

तदेष श्लोकः ॥ ४.१०॥

विज्ञानात्मा सह देवैश्च सर्वैः प्राणा भूतानि सम्प्रतिष्ठन्ति यत्र

तदक्षरं वेदयते यस्तु सोम्य स सर्वज्ञः सर्वमेवाविवेशेति ॥ ४.११॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
परम् – the Supreme, एव – only, अक्षरं – indestructible, प्रतिपद्यते – attains, स – he, य: ह – whoever he is indeed, वै – verily, तत् – that, अच्छायम् – without shadow, अशरीरम् – without शरीर, अलोहितं – without colour, शुभ्रम् – pure, अक्षरं – indestructible वेदयते – knows, य: whoever he is, तु – indeed, सोम्य – O Beloved!,  स – he, सर्वज्ञः – all-knowing, सर्वो – all, भवति – becomes, तत् – that, एष – this, श्लोकः – मंत्र	One who, O Beloved! knows this Being which is without shadow, without शरीर, without colour, which is pure and indestructible, becomes all-knowing and becomes all, the supreme, indestructible Being, he only attains. For this, there is a मंत्र
विज्ञानात्मा – the knowing self (ego), सह – with, देवै: देवताs, च – and, सर्वैः – all, प्राणा – प्राण, भूतानि – the elements, सम्प्रतिष्ठन्ति – rests, यत्र – in whom, तत् – that, अक्षरं – indestructible, वेदयते – knows, य: whoever he is, तु – indeed, सोम्य – O Beloved!,  स – he, सर्वज्ञः – all-knowing, सर्वो – all, एव – indeed, आविवेश: – enters, इति – thus	O Beloved one, he who knows the imperishable आत्मा in whom rests the “विज्ञानात्मा” (the अहंकार) with all the देवताs (इंद्रिय, the प्राण, the पञ्चभूत becomes thus all-knowing and, indeed, enters (all) to become all

व्याख्या: अहंकार which has realized its error that it is itself not real comes to experience itself to be nothing other than Pure चैतन्य, the reality. This rediscovery of the Truth is the goal of our existence, the mission of human life. Having attained it, there is no reason why we should feel, even for a moment, the limitations which emanate out of ignorance within us triggered by अहंकार.

Then the question comes that if I am not the अहंकार that seemingly experiences everything, who am I? What is this आत्मा or my reality?

आत्मा is without shadow – Shadow here means all reflections. Sun is reflected in all pots filled with water, in rivers, in oceans, etc but this reflection is separate from the Sun. The waker, the dreamer and the deep sleeper are merely different assumptions of personalities by the same अहंकार functioning in different equipment as the gross body, subtle body and causal body. Reality viz आत्मा is separate from its reflection viz the अहंकार. And just as Sun is different from its reflections, Truth is also thus “without a shadow” – therefore, transcending the अहंकार, sublimating the अहंकार, we come to experience Reality as our own self.

आत्मा is without body – आत्मा has no body and this means that no form present in the world can be an expression of it. Form is the signboard of matter which is finite and perishable. Only when a thing is conditioned by something other than itself, it can have a form. A drop of water may be expressed as not having a form if it is surrounded by water all around. However, a pot or a bucket has a distinct form since there is something other than the pot surrounding it. Thus, if आत्मा is said to not possess a form, the idea being conveyed is that everything is आत्मा only – it is homogenous and all-pervading. It is not conditioned by anything else and only such a substance can be called as supreme आत्मा that remained unconditioned by anything at all.

Without colour – Colour can be imputed only to a body having a form but if आत्मा has no form, by implication, it means It has no colour too.

आत्मा is pure and indestructible – Impurity arises when a substance is mixed with another substance (and thus loses its essence or self-identity). आत्मा is however everything and cannot be conditioned by anything at all. आत्मा therefore is expressed as pure. Similarly, it is not destructible since there is no substance separate from it that can destroy the आत्मा – after all, आत्मा is everything.

When अहंकार realizes its own आत्मा, अहंकार can no longer exhibit any ordinary weakness of any immorality or imperfection. It becomes all-knowing. And how does one understand the meaning of the words “all-knowing”? In our day to day parlance, knowledge is understood as knowledge of something other than itself – it is the knowledge of objects and things. It is thus conditioned knowledge since it is knowledge conditioned by objects. But in transcending मन and बुद्धि, अहंकार comes to experience its essential स्वभाव as pure awareness as against “awareness of some other thing” – it becomes awareness itself. The awareness or चैतन्य in an individual which is the आत्मा in oneself is the all-pervading reality; as such the awareness in every being is one and the same. Since without awareness, knowledge of things is not possible, we can say that awareness is all-knowing in the sense that every knowledge known anywhere at any time, by any one, is always in the presence of pure awareness, and as such, awareness is all-knowing. It being the आत्मा of all, the knower of आत्मा, experiencing आत्मा-hood, becomes all.

ऋषि then quotes the वेद मंत्र as the authority to clarify that the wisdom conveyed by the ऋषि is not new but already conveyed in the वेद.

इति प्रश्नोपनिषदि चतुर्थः प्रश्नः ॥

पञ्चमः प्रश्नः ।

अथ हैनं शैब्यः सत्यकामः पप्रच्छ । स यो ह वै

तद्भगवन्मनुष्येषु प्रायणान्तमोङ्कारमभिध्यायीत । कतमं वाव

स तेन लोकं जयतीति । तस्मै स होवाच ॥ ५.१॥

एतद्वै सत्यकाम परं चापरं च ब्रह्म यदोङ्कारः ।

तस्माद्विद्वानेतेनैवायतनेनैकतरमन्वेति ॥ ५.२॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
अथ – then, हि – indeed, एनं – to him, शैब्यः सत्यकामः – son of शिबि, सत्यकाम,  पप्रच्छ – questioned, स – he, य: – who, ह – indeed, वै – verily, तत् – that, भगवन्, मनुष्येषु – among मनुष्य, प्रायणान्त – until death, ॐकार, अभिध्यायीत – does ध्यान on, कतमं – which, वाव – indeed, स – he, तेन – by him, लोकं, जयति – attain, इति – thus	Then सत्यकाम, son of शिबि, questioned him – “O भगवन्! to which world does he go, who, among मनुष्य, does ध्यान on ॐ until one’s death?”
तस्मै – to him, स – he, ह – indeed, उवाच – replied, एतद् – this, वै – verily, सत्यकाम, परं – higher, च – and, अपरं – lower, च – and, ब्रह्म, यत् – who, ॐकारः, तस्मात् – therefore, विद्वान – the learned, एतेन – by this, एव – surely, आयतनेन – means, एकतरम् – either of them, अन्वेति – attains	He replied – “O सत्यकाम, ॐ is indeed the symbol of both the higher and lower ब्रह्म, the conditioned and the unconditioned, the finite and the infinite. Therefore, he who knows it by this means surely attains either of them”

व्याख्या: After an elaborate discussion on the nature of आत्मा and how it is different from all aspects seen along with शरीर, topic being taken up is the method of उपासना to attain the आत्मा स्थिति. And the उपासना being referred to is उपासना on ॐ. And the question raised is that if a person does उपासना on ॐ till the last day of life, to which लोक does such a person go to after death.

Says आदि शंकर – “O सत्यकाम ! this very ब्रह्म that is both superior and inferior – the superior being that which is Truth and Immutable and is called पुरुष, and the inferior being the हिरण्यगर्भ, called प्राण; is but ॐ, is identical with ॐ, since ॐ is Its symbol. As the supreme ब्रह्म cannot be (directly) indicated by words etc. and is devoid of all distinctions created by attributes and as It is (on that account) beyond the organs, therefore the mind by itself cannot explore It. But to those who meditate on ॐ, which is comparable to the images of विष्णु and others and on which is fixed the idea of ब्रह्म with भक्ति, that ब्रह्म becomes favourable (and reveals Itself). This is understood on the authority of शास्त्र. Similar is the case with the inferior ब्रह्म. Hence it is said in a secondary sense that, that ब्रह्म which is both inferior and superior is but ॐ. Therefore, one who knows, thus, attains; either of the two – the superior or the inferior ब्रह्म; through this means alone, through this that is a means for the attainment of the आत्मा, consisting in meditation on ॐ; for ॐ is the nearest symbol of ब्रह्म”.

मंत्र thus states that result of ॐ उपासना would depend on the भावना the भक्त maintains while doing ध्यान on ॐ. The principle being “as you think, so you become” – if a person is doing उपासना on ॐ reflecting more on the significance of अक्षर अ, उ & म्, then such a उपासक will attain the finite लोक only. However, if the उपासक does ध्यान on ॐ with idea of ॐ being the supreme eternal factor, such a person would be thereby inviting a result by which one gains the very Supreme. Details of the methods will be elaborated in subsequent मंत्र

स यद्येकमात्रमभिध्यायीत स तेनैव संवेदितस्तूर्णमेव

जगत्यामभिसम्पद्यते । तमृचो मनुष्यलोकमुपनयन्ते स तत्र

तपसा ब्रह्मचर्येण श्रद्धया सम्पन्नो महिमानमनुभवति ॥ ५.३॥

मंत्र

अर्थ

स – he, यदि  – if, एकमात्रम् – one मात्रा अभिध्यायीत – does ध्यान, स – he, तेन – that, एव – alone, संवेदित – being enlightened, तूर्णम् – quickly, एव – only, जगत्याम् – to earth, अभिसम्पद्यते – comes again, तम् – him, ऋच:  the ऋक् देवता, मनुष्यलोकम् – the world of मनुष्य, उपनयन्ते – leads, स – he, तत्र – there, तपसा – with तप, ब्रह्मचर्येण – with ब्रह्मचर्य, श्रद्धया – with श्रद्धा, सम्पन्नो – being endowed, महिमानम् – greatness, अनुभवति – experiences

If he (the साधक) does ध्यान on one मात्रा of it (अ), then he, being enlightened by that, comes quickly only to पृथ्वी again. The ऋक् देवता leads such a one to the मनुष्य लोक quickly, and being endowed with तप, ब्रह्मचर्य and श्रद्धा, there he experiences greatness.

व्याख्या: From this मंत्र, we have discussion conveying the finite nature of the results accrued by doing ध्यान upon the grosser or lower aspects of ॐ. By concentration upon on the अ sound which comprehends the waking state experiences, the individual, after death, comes back quickly to the मनुष्य लोक with a greater inclination for धर्म and ज्ञान and a greater subtlety of मन and बुद्धि which can comprehend the truths of वेद much more easily, and through diligent practice, comes to experience the glory of attaining ब्रह्म.

Note that the गुरु adds that for any success one may seek in doing ध्यान, one needs to continue to align to a lifestyle of तप, ब्रह्मचर्य and श्रद्धा. तप needs to be understood as living a life of discipline and not be governed by the excessive indulgence that may be pushed for by the इंद्रिय. Focus of तप thus may be seen as a form of restraint over physical urges. ब्रह्मचर्य may be seen as restraint over the tendencies of मन towards gross and dissipating thought eruptions. श्रद्धा may be seen as psychological and intellectual conviction in the word and method conveyed in the वेद. And such a conviction will come only if the साधक maintains a continued sense of engagement in pursuit of truth and thereby attempts to align the lifestyle with the wisdom and values contained in the वेद to attain the परमार्थ स्थिति.

अथ यदि द्विमात्रेण मनसि सम्पद्यते सोऽन्तरिक्षं

यजुर्भिरुन्नीयते सोमलोकम् । स सोमलोके विभुतिमनुभूय

पुनरावर्तते ॥ ५.४॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
अथ – but, यदि – if, द्विमात्रेण – by second मात्रा (उ), मनसि – in मन, सम्पद्यते – attains, स: – he, अन्तरिक्षं – interspace, यजुर्भि: – by the मंत्र देवता of यजुर्वेद, उन्नीयते – lead up, सोमलोकम् – लोक of सोम (चंद्र), स – he, सोमलोके – in the लोक of सोम (चंद्र), विभुतिम् अनुभूय – having enjoyed greatness, पुनरावर्तते – is guided back again	But if one (साधक) does उपासना on the second मात्रा only, such a one becomes united (after death) with the मन (whose presiding deity is चंद्र). He is led up by the मंत्र देवता of the यजुर्वेद to the चंद्र लोक located in inter-space. Having enjoyed greatness in the चंद्र लोक, he is guided back again

व्याख्या: Says आदि शंकर “Now again if, anyone conversant with ॐ as constituted by its second letter उ should do ध्यान on ॐ as possessed of the second letter; then as a result of that ध्यान, one becomes unified in the mind, of which the चंद्र is the presiding देवता, which is conceived of as the state of dream, which is identified with the यजुर्वेद मंत्र, and which is the object of ध्यान. When that man, who has become thus identified, dies; he is lifted by the यजुर्वेद मंत्र, which are verily identical with the second letter to the intermediate space (between स्वर्ग and पृथ्वी); to the चंद्रलोक which is supported by the intermediate space and is represented by the second letter. That is to say, the यजुर्वेद मंत्र lead him to a birth in the चंद्रलोक.  He, having experienced greatness there; in the चंद्रलोक  turns round again, towards the मनुष्य लोक.”

यः पुनरेतं त्रिमात्रेणोमित्येतेनैवाक्षरेण परं पुरुषमभि-

ध्यायीत स तेजसि सूर्ये सम्पन्नः । यथा पादोदरस्त्वचा विनिर्मुच्यत

एवं ह वै स पाप्मना विनिर्मुक्तः स सामभिरुन्नीयते ब्रह्मलोकं

स एतस्माज्जीवघनात् परात्परं पुरिशयं पुरुषमीक्षते । तदेतौ

श्लोकौ भवतः ॥ ५.५॥

मंत्र

अर्थ

यः – who, पुन: – again, एतं – this, त्रिमात्रेण – having all its three मात्रा, ॐ, इति – thus, एतेन – this, अक्षरेण – syllable, परं पुरुषम् – highest पुरुष, अभिध्यायीत – does ध्यान, स – he, तेजसि सूर्ये – the bright सूर्य, सम्पन्नः – attains, यथा  – as, पादोदर: – a snake, त्वचा – skin, विनिर्मुच्यत – freed from, एवं – in this way, ह – indeed, वै – verily, स – he, पाप्मना – पाप, विनिर्मुक्तः – completely freed, स – he, सामभि: – by साम मंत्र, उन्नीयते – led, ब्रह्मलोकं – लोक of ब्रह्म, स – he, एतस्मात् – from, जीवघनात् परात्परं – superior to हिरण्यगर्भ, पुरिशयं – residing in the हृदय, पुरुषम्, ईक्षते – sees, तत् – that, एतौ – these, श्लोक:, भवतः – are given

When he again does उपासना on this highest पुरुष with this very syllable ॐ by all its three मंत्र, such a one becomes united with the bright सूर्य. As a snake is freed from its skin, so is this साधक freed from all पाप. He is led by the साम मंत्र to the ब्रह्म लोक, the हिरण्यगर्भ and from Him – the mass of life that हिरण्यगर्भ is he beholds the Supreme पुरुष residing in the हृदय. There are two following श्लोक about it

व्याख्या: Those who undertake उपासना on ॐ as a synthetic whole consisting of अक्षरम् – अ, उ & म् are led by देवता of the साममंत्र get identified with म् and becomes unified in the सूर्य consisting of light. Even after death, such a one does not return from सूर्य unlike when one goes to the चंद्रलोक (as seen in the previous मंत्र). Such a one is rid of all पाप in a manner of how a snake gets rid of its own skin. And such a one is then lifted up by the साममंत्र which is identified with म् and lifted to the लोक of ब्रह्मा (or हिरण्यगर्भ), which is called सत्य (Truth). That हिरण्यगर्भ is identified with all the creatures that are subject to birth and death; for as (the sum total of all) the सूक्ष्म शरीर, ब्रह्मा constitutes the inner आत्मा of all; and in ब्रह्मा, as comprising the (cosmic) सूक्ष्म शरीर, are strung together all the living beings. From this totality of all beings that हिरण्यगर्भ is, he, the enlightened man, who has known ॐ as possessed of the three letters sees through ध्यान, the पुरुष who has entered into all the bodies and who is called the परमात्मा – the next two मंत्रs quoted from the वेद also indicate this.

तिस्रो मात्रा मृत्युमत्यः प्रयुक्ता

अन्योन्यसक्ताः अनविप्रयुक्ताः ।

क्रियासु बाह्याभ्यन्तरमध्यमासु

सम्यक् प्रयुक्तासु न कम्पते ज्ञः ॥ ५.६॥

ऋग्भिरेतं यजुर्भिरन्तरिक्षं

सामभिर्यत् तत् कवयो वेदयन्ते ।

तमोङ्कारेणैवायतनेनान्वेति विद्वान्

यत्तच्छान्तमजरममृतमभयं परं चेति ॥ ५.७॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
तिस्रो – the three, मात्रा, मृत्युमत्यः – mortal finite, प्रयुक्ता – employed separately, अन्योन्यसक्ताः – strung together, अनविप्रयुक्ताः – not “wrongly employed”, क्रियासु – in all their functions, बाह्य – external, अभ्यन्तर – internal, मध्यमासु – in the midway, सम्यक् प्रयुक्तासु – when “properly employed”, न कम्पते – trembles, ज्ञः – the knower	The three मात्रा, when employed separately, are mortal finite but when they are strung together, they are not in any sense of the term “wrongly employed”. But when they are “properly employed”, in all their external (waking), internal (deep sleep), and midway (dream) functions, the knower thereafter trembles not; (i.e., remains undisturbed)
ऋग्भि: – through the ऋग् मंत्र देवता, एतं – this world, यजुर्भि: – by यजुर् मंत्र देवता, अन्तरिक्षं – world of पितृ, सामभि: – by the साम मंत्र देवता, यत् तत् – this that, कवयो – the wise ones, वेदयन्ते – know, तम् – all these results, ओङ्कारेण – ॐ, एव – alone, आतनेन – by taking support, अन्वेति – seeks, विद्वान् – the wise, यत् तत् – this that, शान्तम्  – quiet, अजरम् – un-decaying, अमृतम् – deathless, अभयं – fearless, परं च – and the Supreme, इति – thus	Through the ऋग् मंत्र देवता, one reaches this world, led by यजुर् मंत्र देवता, he reaches the world of पितृ and guided by the साम मंत्र देवता, he reaches the ब्रह्मलोक. This is known by the wise ones very well.  By taking support of ॐ, the wise one also reaches That which is quiet, un-decaying, deathless, fearless and supreme

व्याख्या: When a साधक is doing ध्यान on each of the three मात्रा individually and separately, the साधक will naturally be concentrating on waking, the dreaming and deep sleep egocentric personalities in oneself and naturally, the फल thereof can only be finite and mortal. But, on the other hand, when the three मात्रा are strung together and rhythmically chanted with the appropriate ध्यान upon their individual significances, this way is certainly better than chanting on each मात्रा individually.

So, what is the right way to do ध्यान on the three मात्रा? It is “right” when chanting incorporates “external”, “internal” and mid-way” functions. “External” means consciousness of the external world, “internal” means simple consciousness illuminating the कारण शरीर in our deep sleep while mid-way would be when we are under the arch of सूक्ष्म शरीर, enjoying our dream state of experience. To superimpose these ideas – waking on अ, dream on उ and deep-sleep on म्  – and to chant ॐ in one continuous easy flow is the method of properly employing the great support for ध्यान in the ज्ञानयोग. When one does उपासना in this way regularly and consistently and well established in तप, ब्रह्मचर्य and सत्य, comes to merge oneself in the silence between two successive ॐs, and experience the all-pervading परमात्मा, the life factor, in oneself.

One who recognizes oneself to be this vital factor, which in its essential nature of ज्ञान illuminates the waking, dream and deep-sleep but all the same is ever untouched by any of the happenings in any one of these planes of existence, has understood the unity that underlies the diversity. To be in the awareness of the infinite reality into which all plurality dissolves is to transcend all possibilities of agitation. The pluralistic world confuses and confounds us and, we ignoring the ultimate Reality, try to maintain equipoise and balance while playing the ever-changing waves of the objectified world. One who has realized this changeless eternal factor, the illuminator of all experiences, that ज्ञानी stops trembling (trembling refers to those that come out of not just fear but also sentimental emotion of love and hatred, of success and failure, of honour and dishonour, etc).

Says आदि शंकर – “Only कवय:, the wise, the enlightened, and not the ignorant know this, this world associated with मनुष्य; that is attainable, through the ऋक्  मंत्र; the intermediate space, presided over by the चंद्र; that is attainable by the यजुर् मंत्र; and that, the third, i.e. the world of ब्रह्मा, which; is attainable by the साम मंत्र. The enlightened ones reach that, that threefold world indicative of the inferior ब्रह्म through ॐ, with the aid of ॐ. And with the help of that very ॐ, he attains that which is the Supreme-ब्रह्म, the Immutable, Truth, called पुरुष, (the All-pervasive); which is quiet, free, devoid of all such distinctions as waking, dream, and sleep, and is transcendental to the whole universe; and is therefore free from old age, beyond death since untouched by such changes as old age; and consequently, fearless; just because It is fearless, therefore परम्, un-surpassing. The idea is that he reaches this One also with the aid of ॐ, which is a vehicle of advance.

इति प्रश्नोपनिषदि पञ्चमः प्रश्नः ॥

षष्ठः प्रश्नः ।

अथ हैनं सुकेशा भारद्वाजः पप्रच्छ । भगवन् हिरण्यनाभः

कौसल्यो राजपुत्रो मामुपेत्यैतं प्रश्नमपृच्छत । षोडशकलं

भारद्वाज पुरुषं वेत्थ । तमहं कुमारमब्रुवं नाहमिमं वेद ।

यद्यहमिममवेदिषं कथं ते नावक्ष्यमिति । समूलो वा एष

परिशुष्यति योऽनृतमभिवदति तस्मान्नार्हम्यनृतं वक्तुम् । स

तूष्णीं रथमारुह्य प्रवव्राज । तं त्वा पृच्छामि क्वासौ पुरुष

इति ॥ ६.१॥

मंत्र

अर्थ

अथ हि – then, एनं – him, सुकेशा भारद्वाजः – सुकेशा, son of भरद्वाज, पप्रच्छ – questioned, भगवन्, हिरण्यनाभः कौसल्यो राजपुत्रो – the prince of कोसल, हिरण्यनाभ, माम् उपेत्य – came to me, एतं प्रश्नम् अपृच्छत – asked this question, षोडशकलं – sixteen parts, कलाs, भारद्वाज, पुरुषं वेत्थ – do you know the पुरुष, तम् – to that, अहं – I, कुमारम् – youth, अब्रुवं – said, न अहम् इमं वेद – I do not know this, यदि  अहम् इमं अवेदिषं – if I had known this, कथं ते न अवक्ष्यम् इति – why should I not tell you, समूलो वा एष परिशुष्यति – this is dried up verily to the root, stem and the branch, य: अनृतम् अभिवदति – he who tells that which is not true, तस्मात् न अर्हामि  अनृतं वक्तुम् – therefore I dare not utter falsehood, स – he, तूष्णीं – in silence, रथम् आरुह्य – having ascended his chariot, प्रवव्राज – went away, तं – that, त्वा पृच्छामि – I ask you, क्व असौ पुरुष – where is that पुरुष located, इति – thus

Then, सुकेशा, son of भरद्वाज questioned him – “O भगवन्, the prince of कोसल, हिरण्यनाभ, once came to me and asked this question. O सुकेशा! Do you know the पुरुष of sixteen parts? I said to the youth, I do not know this. If I had known this, why should I not tell you? He who tells that which is not true gets dried up verily root, stem and branch. Therefore, I dare not utter falsehood. Having ascended his chariot, he went away in silence. That I ask you, where is that पुरुष located?

व्याख्या: The above is the last question, the sixth one, in this उपनिषद्. The question looks simple – “Where are the sixteen parts of पुरुष located?” But while we will find answer to this question later, it is also important to know that the questioner, सुकेशा, admitted not only that he did not have an answer to this question but also conveyed his ignorance to the prince of कोसल, हिरण्यनाभ when the prince approached him with this question. And despite the questioner being royalty, सुकेशा remained honest and transparent being of the firm view that uttering falsehood (to impress royalty) will bring his own ruin. And this high character of सुकेशा makes him a fit recipient to ask a question to a गुरु and receive the appropriate response. The subtle message here is that unless the student is suitably qualified, no response may need to be given -but equally, even if a response is given, the student will not have adequate capability to understand the response in a manner that enlightens such a person.

तस्मै स होवाचेहैवान्तःशरीरे सोम्य स पुरुषो

यस्मिन्नताः षोडशकलाः प्रभवन्तीति ॥ ६.२॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
तस्मै – to him, स – he, ह उवाच – indeed replied, इह एव – is right here, अन्तःशरीरे – in this body, सोम्य – O gentle youth, स – he, पुरुष:, यस्मिन् – in whom, एताः षोडशकलाः – these sixteen कला, प्रभवन्ति – born, इति – thus	He replied – “O Gentle Youth! That पुरुष in whom these sixteen कला are born, is right here within the शरीर

व्याख्या: Divinity or perfection is not housed somewhere in an unknown “heaven”, away from cognition and reach of ordinary folk. पुरुष or परमात्मा is the nearest entity in us forming the very core of our existence. Question may however arise as to how can something that is everywhere be located anywhere at all? One must understand that the method adopted by the ऋषि here to enable a साधक to provide a way to reach the पुरुष by saying that it is located in one’s own शरीर. In reality however, in its absolute nature, पुरुष is to be realized as at once nowhere and yet everywhere.

How do we understand the word कला? Usually, it is understood as parts (meaning part of the whole like our limbs or our nose, etc) but this may lead to a false conclusion that since the शरीर has form, even the कला (or parts) have a form. The imperishable and the eternal cannot have parts but must necessarily be a homogenous whole. कला is to be understood as facets of a cut diamond or as the phases of a moon wherein, inspite of the seeming diversity and plurality, the diamond is one whole lump and the moon is ever undivided. On realization of the पुरुष, it will be understood that the कलाs have no separate existence of their own.

स ईक्षाचक्रे । कस्मिन्नहमुत्क्रान्त उत्क्रान्तो भविष्यामि

कस्मिन्वा प्रतिष्ठिते प्रतिष्ठास्यामीति ॥ ६.३॥

स प्राणमसृजत प्राणाच्छ्रद्धां खं वायुर्ज्योतिरापः पृथिवीन्द्रियं

मनः । अन्नमन्नाद्वीर्यं तपो मन्त्राः कर्म लोका लोकेषु च नाम च

॥ ६.४॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
स – He, the पुरुष, ईक्षाचक्रे – reflected, कस्मिन् – what is that by whose, अहम् – I, उत्क्रान्त – departure, उत्क्रान्तो भविष्यामि – shall depart, कस्मिन् वा प्रतिष्ठिते – by whose continuance, प्रतिष्ठास्यामि – I shall stay, इति – thus	He (पुरुष) reflected – “What is that by whose departure I shall depart and by whose continuance, I shall stay”?
स – He, the पुरुष, प्राणम्, असृजत – created, प्राणात् – from the प्राण, श्रद्धां, खं – space, वायु, र्ज्योति:, आपः, पृथिवी, इन्द्रियं, मनः, अन्नम् – food, अन्नात् वीर्यं – from food strength, तप:, मन्त्राः – मनन शक्ति, कर्म, लोका: – the world, लोकेषु च – and in the world, नाम च – different names also	He created the प्राण. From प्राण श्रद्धा, आकाश, वायु, अग्नि, आप, पृथ्वी, इंद्रिय, the मन, अन्नम्, strength, thought, मंत्र, कर्म, the world and in the world, the different names also

व्याख्या: “स ईक्षाचक्रे” means “It (पुरुष) deliberated”. This is seen as the first expression of the creative urge. For this, it is essential to understand ourselves first. For any creative urge in us, desire is the starting point.  Unless there is a motive force of desire, the creative urge in us cannot act and express itself. Desire is the expression of a want in ourselves and it is an attempt to fulfil the want that is being expressed as our desire. In our real nature, in our स्वभाव, we being the परिपूर्ण , to feel this “want” is itself अविद्या – the source of all urges thus may be ascribed to अविद्या. The same अविद्या expressed through बुद्धि is desire (काम, expressed through मन is thought (चिंतन), and this thought frozen and solidified is action (कर्म) and finally, according to actions, we gain the fruits therefore (कर्मफल) which are called fields of experience or the लोक.

Why do we seek to know the reason for causation? Why should we know when “it all” began? Causation is the very stuff of बुद्धि and the only method by which बुद्धि can understand and act. बुद्धि will struggle to comprehend a concept about पुरुष being unborn, even pure, infinite, etc – वेद therefore gives suggestions/ ideas that बुद्धि can comprehend and slowly but surely, raise the level of बुद्धि to eventually reach a stage where it becomes ready to transcend itself.

Given the above backdrop, the ऋषि points out how the world arose from the supreme divine desire. The ईश्वर, the हिरण्यगर्भ desired or reflected or thought or meditated. The हिरण्यगर्भ or the total mind is the creator or the cosmic expression of the total creative urge. It contemplated on what should be the great vital factor that must dynamize the matter envelopments so that I, distinctly self-evident in my own nature, shall remain in this limited form and play the drama of finitude and its sorrows, and thus express myself in my own infinite variety. To share a crude analogy, a person connected with movies hits upon an idea and then creates a movie which has all settings for every scene as per his imagination and then also plays all the roles in that movie himself.

The physical structure endures only so long as the egocentric misconception exists to keep the elements constituting the gross body in a network of delusory charms! ब्रह्म or आत्मा is present anyway since the physical structure exists only because आत्मा is present behind it. Therefore, explanation of the evolution of a pluralistic world requires acceptance of a macrocosmic creator and that creator is to be given a line of thinking to contemplate upon or else creation of plurality cannot be maintained or explained.

And the creator, it is said here contemplated upon what should be the factor at whose departure the body will come down and at whose contact the body shall maintain itself singing its songs of pains and joys, thundering its roars of success and failure, breathing its sighs of gain and loss, weeping its tears of meeting or parting. It is the ego centre that maintains the body (since it is ego that experiences highs and lows, joys and sorrows, etc) – but the ego is simulated self-forgetfulness of the Reality of its own eternal nature through identification with अनात्मा – the consequent bundles of false values in life force it to believe that it has to maintain its transactions in its own world of delusory nothingness. Without the various false matter envelopments, the false identification will become impossible.

Thus, the पुरुष deliberated – with what form (or matter envelopments) do I delude myself? What dress of matter shall I build up and, having built, shall I enter to give it a substantial existence and a simulation of growth, feelings, knowledge and vitality. The 16 कला given in the next मंत्र are referred to or elaborated in the context of the backdrop given till now. They constitute the matter vehicle in which आत्मा comes to play its temporary game as the mortal and the immortal, the साधु and a राक्षस, the seer and the seen, as the pitiable individual in the world or by the divine ज्ञानी from the other world.

स प्राणमसृजत प्राणाच्छ्रद्धां खं वायुर्ज्योतिरापः पृथिवीन्द्रियं

मनः । अन्नमन्नाद्वीर्यं तपो मन्त्राः कर्म लोका लोकेषु च नाम च

॥ ६.४॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
स – He, the पुरुष, प्राणम्, असृजत – created, प्राणात् – from the प्राण, श्रद्धां, खं – space, वायु, र्ज्योति:, आपः, पृथिवी, इन्द्रियं, मनः, अन्नम् – food, अन्नात् वीर्यं – from food strength, तप:, मन्त्राः – मनन शक्ति, कर्म, लोका: – the world, लोकेषु च – and in the world, नाम च – different names also	He created the प्राण. From प्राण श्रद्धा, आकाश, वायु, अग्नि, आप, पृथ्वी, इंद्रिय, the मन, अन्नम्, strength, thought, मंत्र, कर्म, the world and in the world, the different names also

व्याख्या: The 16 कला are enumerated here:

First is the प्राण, the egocentric energy which is the stuff on which the entire universe is rolling on. And the sum total of this प्राण is referred to as हिरण्यगर्भ.

Then, श्रद्धा got created – श्रद्धा is the source of stimulus for all beings for good action. There is another way to understand श्रद्धा – this energy, dynamic in creation, potential in creation and destruction, can come to play and express itself only when it is self-conscious. And if self-consciousness, as expressed in terms of its own श्रद्धा in itself, is not truly wedded to itself, the प्राण by itself can neither create nor manifest any of the component parts which alone constitute the vehicle for the ego to play its endless drama of birth & death. Thus, after प्राण comes श्रद्धा in itself or a consciousness of its own potential strength.

Thus, when a self-conscious energy comes into play the rudiments of mind are born first in the concept of पञ्चभूत (आकाश, वायु, अग्नि, आप and पृथ्वी)  – and these elements expressing themselves in the पिंडाण्ड (microcosm) become the ten इंद्रिय. Thus, till now, the process of 8 कला have been elaborated.

When these eight items come into play, the focus point of all these becomes मन and food for the मन to feed the challenges created by मन comes to it from the इंद्रिय which receive their impulses and thereby fatten the मन.

When thus मन is formed which is regularly provided with experiences of an outer world of plurality made up of पञ्चभूत, nature has to provide मन with its nourishment and so the next in the serial of projection of the universe is अन्नम् – and this अन्नम्, when digested become वीर्यं or बल (strength).  

Following वीर्यं or बल comes self-control (तप) which is essential for purification – this is because thoughts generated within the मन may propel the person towards पाप कर्म and protection from straying into negatives zone of पाप कर्म requires one to live a life of तप. What do such purified minds do next? Such persons do कर्म that are aligned to धर्म – however, before such कर्म are performed, there is a need to create the means by which the purified ones may perform the कर्म and for this purpose, भगवान् put together मंत्र in the form of ऋग्वेद, यजुर्वेद, सामवेद and अथर्ववेद वेद as the guide, persons who have purified their internal and external organs with the help of तप then perform कर्म aligned to the वेद.

Continuous कर्म undertaken for a long time create thought patterns and these thought patterns in turn determine the texture, efficiency, sincerity and quality of actions. Thought tracks in the minds ramble themselves into कर्म – and as the कर्म is, so certainly is the लोक (the world) that is created as a result of these activities. If the thoughts are animalistic, actions would be criminal and immoral and such ones will inhabit a place filled with criminals and gangsters – thoughts and actions thus determine the लोक we inhabit. Last, the लोक we inhabit determine and names that we assign. Persons from warrior locations will have names of a certain kind while persons from locations focused on knowledge will take up certain other kind of names, and so on.

It thus becomes evident how the world of names comes about starting from प्राण and how the original idea navigates through various stages to eventually enable us to see what we see. Having explained the original cause viz अविद्या which has created the phenomenal diversity we see all around us, the next मंत्र gives us a way of how the regain the original state of पुरुष within which all this diversity rests in – how to transcend the 16 कला.

स यथेमा नद्यः स्यन्दमानाः समुद्रायणाः समुद्रं प्राप्यास्तं

गच्छन्ति भिद्येते तासां नामरूपे समुद्र इत्येवं प्रोच्यते । एवमेवास्य

परिद्रष्टुरिमाः षोडशकलाः पुरुषायणाः पुरुषं प्राप्यास्तं गच्छन्ति

भिद्येते चासां नामरूपे पुरुष इत्येवं प्रोच्यते स एषोऽकलोऽमृतो

भवति तदेष श्लोकः ॥ ६.५॥

मंत्र

अर्थ

स – the illustration is this, यथा – just as, इमा – these, नद्यः – rivers, स्यन्दमानाः – flowing, समुद्रायणाः – seaward bound, समुद्रं – sea, प्राप्य – reach अस्तं गच्छन्ति – disappear, भिद्येते – liquidated into, तासां – get, नामरूपे – their names & forms, समुद्र – the ocean, इति एवं – merely, प्रोच्यते – is called, एवं एव – so also, अस्य परिद्रष्टु: – is perceived, इमाः षोडश-कलाः – these sixteen कला, पुरुषायणाः – that go towards पुरुष, पुरुषं प्राप्य – having reached the पुरुष, अस्तं गच्छन्ति – disappear, भिद्येते – destroyed, च – and, आसां – are, नाम-रूपे – names & forms,, पुरुष, इति एवं – merely, प्रोच्यते – is called, स – he एष: – thus, अकल: – without parts, अमृत: – and eternal, भवति – becomes, तत् एष: श्लोकः – on this, there is a मंत्र

Just as these rivers, seaward bound, when they reach the sea, disappear and get their names & forms liquidated into the oneness with the sea and all is called merely an ocean, so also these perceived sixteen कला of the seeker that go towards the पुरुष and having reached the पुरुष, disappear when their names and forms get merged and all is thereafter called as पुरुष alone. Such a person becomes without कला (parts) and eternal. On this, there is a following मंत्र

व्याख्या: Quoting आदि शंकर fully here – “The illustration is this: In the world, as these flowing rivers that have the sea as their goal, the place where they get absorbed after reaching the sea court disappearance, lose their names and forms;-and the names of those (rivers), for instance, गंगा, यमुना, etc., that have become absorbed get eliminated; and, as a result of that merger, their substance that is water is called merely by the word sea. Similarly, as is this illustration, so of that पुरुष, who is possessed of the attributes mentioned before, and who is being considered here, of It who is the seer on all sides, who is the agent of a vision that is identical with His real nature, just as the sun is everywhere the agent of the light that is identical with itself; these sixteen parts-the parts, counting from प्राण, that have been mentioned which have the पुरुष as their goal, the place where they get identified, as the sea is with relation to the rivers on reaching the पुरुष, on getting identified with the पुरुष disappear, in that very manner  and of them, of the parts; the respective names such as प्राण, as well as forms get destroyed. When names and forms are eliminated, the entity that remains undestroyed is called, by the knowers of ब्रह्म as पुरुष. He, who has become thus enlightened after being shown by his गुरु the process of the absorption of the parts becomes free from the parts, when the parts, viz प्राण and the rest that are the creation of अविद्या, काम and कर्म, are absorbed through ज्ञान.  

(and one becomes अमृत, eternal). Death is a creation of the parts originating from अविद्या. When those parts are gone, one becomes eternal just because of one’s part-lessness. With regard to this matter,

there occurs a श्लोक as given below”:

अरा इव रथनाभौ कला यस्मिन्प्रतिष्ठिताः ।

तं वेद्यं पुरुषं वेद यथ मा वो मृत्युः परिव्यथा इति ॥ ६.६॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
अरा इव रथनाभौ – like the spokes in the hub of a chariot wheel, कला – the (sixteen) कला,  यस्मिन् – in whom, प्रतिष्ठिताः – are centered, तं वेद्यं पुरुषं वेद – know that पुरुष who ought to be known, यथा – in order that, मा वो- not, मृत्युः, परिव्यथा – may not harm, इति – thus	Know that पुरुष who ought to be known, in whom the (sixteen) कलाs are centered like the spokes in the hub of a chariot wheel, so that death may not harm you

व्याख्या: This analogy has been used earlier – all sixteen कला are connected to the पुरुष just as spokes to the hub of a chariot wheel. कला have no separate independent existence that is separate from पुरुष. In the core of an individual is the पुरुष and out of this centre of all efficiency in life diverge the 16 कला which extend out to the very peripheral rim of the entire cosmos. To play on the rim of life without understanding the place of the hub in it, is to ignore reality and run after the shadow. But one who is established at the centre of the wheel (of life) is the one who is really established in truth. To know oneself no other than पुरुष is the goal; thereby one is sure to get away from the threat in finitude and the fear of death. Not to know the पुरुष is indeed the greatest of tragedies, it is to lay waste our powers and miss a chance given to us to know the truth.

तान् होवाचैतावदेवाहमेतत् परं ब्रह्म वेद । नातः

परमस्तीति ॥ ६.७॥

ते तमर्चयन्तस्त्वं हि नः पिता योऽस्माकमविद्यायाः परं पारं

तारयसीति । नमः परमऋषिभ्यो नमः परमऋषिभ्यः ॥ ६.८॥

मंत्र	अर्थ
तान् ह – to them, उवाच – (पिप्पलाद) said, एतावत् एव अहम् – this much alone do I, एतत् परं ब्रह्म वेद –  know the highest ब्रह्म, न अतः परम् अस्ति – there is nothing higher than this, इति – thus	Then, पिप्पलाद said to them – “this much alone do I know, the highest ब्रह्म, there is nothing else higher than this
ते – they, तम् – to him, अर्चयन्त – worshipping to him, त्वम् हि – verily you are, नः – our, पिता, य: – who, अस्माकम् – us, अविद्यायाः – of thick अविद्या, परं – Supreme, पारं – the shores beyond, तारयसि – has ferried, इति – thus, नमः – salutations, परम – the highest, ऋषिभ्य: – to ऋषिs, नमः – salutations, परम – the highest, ऋषिभ्य: – to ऋषिs,	They, worshipping him (पिप्पलाद), said – You are our पिता who has ferried us to the shores beyond, across the ocean of our thick अविद्या. नमस्कार to the highest ऋषिs! नमस्कार to the highest ऋषिs!

व्याख्या: Says आदि शंकर – “It is being stated what they said while worshipping his feet by offering handfuls of flowers and saluting him with their heads: You indeed are पिता, since you have generated through knowledge a (fresh) birth in ब्रह्म that is eternal, ageless, deathless, and fearless. Since it is you who, with the help of the raft of knowledge, have ferried us across अविद्या or false knowledge-as though across an ocean itself, infested with birth, old age, death, disease, sorrow, etc., which are like sea animals-, to the other shore of the boundless ocean of अविद्या, called मोक्ष, consisting in absolute cessation of rebirth; therefore your fatherhood towards us is more justifiable than that of the others (i.e. our real fathers). The other father, who begets the body alone, is yet the most worshipful in the world, what to speak of one who guarantees absolute fearlessness. This is the purport. नमस्कार to the great seers, the originators of the line of traditional transmission of the knowledge of ब्रह्म. The repetition of “नमस्कार to the highest ऋषिs!” is for showing respect.

इति प्रश्नोपनिषदि षष्ठः प्रश्नः ॥

ॐ भद्रं कर्णेभिः श‍ृणुयाम देवा

भद्रं पश्येमाक्षभिर्यजत्राः ।

स्थिरैरङ्गैस्तुष्तुवाꣳसस्तनूभिर्व्यशेम देवहितं यदायुः ॥

स्वस्ति न इन्द्रो वृद्धश्रवाः

स्वस्ति नः पूषा विश्ववेदाः ।

स्वस्ति नस्तार्क्ष्यो अरिष्टनेमिः

स्वस्ति नो बृहस्पतिर्दधातु ॥

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥