Sharir – Tattvas Part III (contd.):
Pran – the story, with Sanskrit reference
The Sanskrit Text for the previous story of Chhandogya (Chandogya) Upanishad (Ch. Up: 5.1, Shlok: 1-15) goes as below:
“yo ha vai jyeṣṭhaṃ ca śreṣṭhaṃ ca veda jyeṣṭhaś ca ha vai śreṣṭhaś ca bhavati | prāṇo vāva jyeṣṭhaś ca śreṣṭhaś ca” || ChUp_5,1.1 ||
“yo ha vai vasiṣṭhaṃ veda vasiṣṭho ha svānāṃ bhavati | vāg vāva vasiṣṭhaḥ” || ChUp_5,1.2 ||
“yo ha vai pratiṣṭhāṃ veda prati ha tiṣṭhaty asmiṃś ca loke ‘muṣmiṃś ca |
cakṣur vāva pratiṣṭhā” || ChUp_5,1.3 ||
“yo ha vai saṃpadaṃ veda saṃ hāsmai kāmāḥ padyante daivāś ca mānuṣāś ca | śrotraṃ vāva saṃpat” || ChUp_5,1.4 ||
“yo ha vā āyatanaṃ vedāyatanaṃ ha svānāṃ bhavati |
mano ha vā āyatanam” || ChUp_5,1.5 ||
“atha ha prāṇā ahaṃśreyasi vyūdire |
ahaṃ śreyān asmy ahaṃ śreyān asmīti” || ChUp_5,1.6 ||
“te ha prāṇāḥ prajāpatiṃ pitaram etyocuḥ bhagavan ko naḥ śreṣṭha iti |
tān hovāca |
“yasmin va utkrānte śarīraṃ pāpiṣṭhataram iva dṛśyeta sa vaḥ śreṣṭha iti” || ChUp_5,1.7 ||
“sā ha vāg uccakrāma | sā saṃvatsaraṃ proṣya paryetyovāca |
katham aśakatarte maj jīvitum iti |
yathā kalā avadantaḥ prāṇantaḥ prāṇena paśyantaś cakṣuṣā śṛṇvantaḥ śrotreṇa dhyāyanto manasaivam iti |
praviveśa ha vāk” || ChUp_5,1.8 ||
“cakṣur hoccakrāma | tat saṃvatsaraṃ proṣya paryetyovāca |
katham aśakatarte maj jīvitum iti |
yathāndhā apaśyantaḥ prāṇantaḥ prāṇena vadanto vācā śṛṇvantaḥ śrotreṇa dhyāyanto manasaivam iti |
praviveśa ha cakṣuḥ” || ChUp_5,1.9 ||
“śrotraṃ hoccakrāma | tat saṃvatsaraṃ proṣya paryetyovāca katham aśakatarte maj jīvitum iti | yathā badhirā aśṛṇvantaḥ prāṇantaḥ prāṇena vadanto vācā paśyantaś cakṣuṣā dhyāyanto manasaivam iti |
praviveśa ha śrotram” || ChUp_5,1.10 ||
“mano hoccakrāma | tat saṃvatsaraṃ proṣya paryetyovāca |
katham aśakatarte maj jīvitum iti |
yathā bālā amanasaḥ prāṇantaḥ prāṇena vadanto vācā paśyantaś cakṣuṣā śṛṇvantaḥ śrotreṇaivam iti |
praviveśa ha manaḥ” || ChUp_5,1.11 ||
“atha ha prāṇa uccikramiṣan sa yathā suhayaḥ paḍvīśaśaṅkūn saṃkhided evam itarān prāṇān samakhidat |taṃ hābhisametyocuḥ |
bhagavann edhi |tvaṃ naḥ śreṣṭho ‘si |
motkramīr iti” || ChUp_5,1.12 ||
“atha hainaṃ vāg uvāca |
yad ahaṃ vasiṣṭho ‘smi tvaṃ tadvasiṣṭho ‘sīti |
atha hainaṃ cakṣur uvāca |
yad ahaṃ pratiṣṭhāsmi tvaṃ tatpratiṣṭhāsīti” || ChUp_5,1.13 ||
“atha hainaṃ śrotram uvāca |
yad ahaṃ saṃpad asmi tvaṃ tatsaṃpad asīti |
atha hainaṃ mana uvāca |
yad aham āyatanam asmi tvaṃ tadāyatanam asīti” || ChUp_5,1.14 ||
“na vai vāco na cakṣūṃṣi na śrotrāṇi na manāṃsīty ācakṣate |
prāṇā ity evācakṣate |
prāṇo hy evaitāni sarvāṇi bhavati” || ChUp_5,1.15 ||)
“The meaning, in short, is as follows:
Once, five main faculties of our body – the mind (antahkaran), breath (pran), speech (tongue), hearing (ear) and vision or sight (eye) – were arguing with each other as to which one of them was the best and most important. To resolve their dispute they decided that each one would leave the body and see whose absence was most missed. First speech left the body but the body, though mute, continued to live. Next the eyes left but the body, though blind, continued to live. Next the ears left but the body, though deaf, continued to live. Then, the mind left but the body, though unconscious, continued to live. Finally the Pran (vital functions), one by one, began to leave and the body began to die and all the other faculties began to lose their energy and functions. They all rushed to Pran and told it to stay, accepting its supremacy. Clearly Pran won the argument. Pran gives energy or vitality to all our faculties of the body, without which they cannot function. Control of the pran is very important to sustain our lives.
The importance of Pran is also described in Question (Prashna) II of Prashna Upanishad.
Shlok 3: “Tānvarishthaha prana uvacha mā mohamāpadhyathāhamevaitatpanchadhāmātmanam pravibhajyaaitadbanamavashtabhya vidharayāmiti teashradhhānā bavabhuvuhu ||”
(Pr. Up: Q 2, Shlok: 3)
To them pran, the chief, said: “Do not fall into delusion. I alone, dividing myself into five parts, support this body and uphold it.” Meaning, five prans are in fact five different types of just one pran.
In Hinduism, whatever is described for the body is also described for the universe (Brahmand), because, Brahmand is also considered the body – the body of Ishwar. In Hinduism, similarity is described between the individual body and the universe. It is believed that whatever exists in the body also exists in the universe; only at different scale and in the different form. Shlok 4 – 11 of Question II of Prashna Upanishad describes the importance of the universal Pran in detail.
Shlok 12: That form of your which abides in speech, which abides in the ear, which abides in the eye and which pervades the mind, is very important so do not go away!
Shlok 13: All that exists here (in the body) is under the control of pran (bodily pran) and also what exists in heaven is controlled by the pran (universal pran).
Pran is also described in Question III of the same Prashna Upanishad.
Shlok 1: Then Kaushalya, the son of Ashval, asked Pippalād Rishi: Sir, whence is this pran born? How does it come into this body? How does it abide in the body after it has divided itself? How does it depart? How does it support the external and how the internal?
Shlok 3: This pran is born of Atman or ātmā (meaning, pran and ātmā – soul are two different things). As a shadow is cast by a person, so this pran is, by Atman. Through the activity of the mind it comes into this body.
Shlok 4: As an emperor commands his officials, saying; “Rule these villages or those,” so this pran employs the other prans, each in its separate place.
Shlok 11: The wise man who thus knows pran does not lose his offspring and becomes immortal. As to this there is the following verse:
Shlok 12: He who knows the origin of pran, its entry, its place, its fivefold distribution, its internal aspect and also its external, obtains immortality; yes, he obtains immortality.
Darshan (Philosophy) XXXI
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010Shad Darshan – Concluding comments:
Conclusion I
All of the above philosophies of Hinduism have one thing in common. They are all derived from and consistent with the triad of authentic Hindu scriptures known as Prasthan Trayi, namely, Upanishads, Bhagwad Gita, and Brahm Sutra. They include the essence of all the ancient Hindu scriptures, namely, Vedas, Upanishads, various sutras, various smrutis, all the Purans, Mahabharat, and Ramayan. Number wise Hindu scriptures are not just a few texts but they are hundreds in numbers, consisting of hundreds of thousands of verses (shloks) and short sentences (sutras), and all of them are in Sanskrit or other vernacular languages derived from Sanskrit. It is difficult to study single-handedly and understand them all individually. This explains why there are many interpretations, explanations, and commentaries just about one single Truth and the five fundamental eternal realities in Hinduism.
The beauty of Hinduism is that it allows complete religious freedom at the same time teaches to develop the utmost tolerance for others’ belief. This is exactly opposite of bullying. Smruti shastras allow devotees to worship their own deity as God or demigod (devata) and to follow their own choice of scriptures according to their own level of understanding and intelligence irrespective of the Ultimate Truth. Yet, at the same time it also teaches to keep in mind that one is allowed to compare anything or anybody with God but one can never compare God with anything else that is lower than the level of God in His whole creation, not even with the transcendental and penultimate reality Brahm – the abode of God. This was the understanding of Madhavacharya when he placed Lakshmi at the little subordinate or subservient level to that of Narayan (God). Hinduism tells the truth to the followers of any deity or any God other than the Supreme Being, Parabrahm Purushottam Narayan, cautioning them, that whosoever follows other than Purushottam Narayan will be led to that particular person’s or deity’s own destination depending on that person’s or deity’s own power and capability but not the final resting place or the ultimate destination of the most powerful Supreme Being. The ultimate destination or the final redemption can only be reached by following the Truth, the true Supreme Being, or by achieving the truly ultimate knowledge. Hinduism tells never to follow blindfolded. It says to use one’s own intelligence and judgment objectively and see the behavior, level, and achievement of the Guru (guidance counselor), his Guru or master, and his students or followers. It also advises to disregard the social or worldly etiquettes, manner, or any other external variables of the true Guru in learning the brahm-gnan. Hinduism helps also by providing all the necessary guidance and guidelines to understand, know, and follow the Truth and at the end leaves the responsibility of taking final decision on the individual. Hinduism never forces anybody in following the religion, it just tells about the Truth. Shad Darshan shows the science of how to know the Truth. No matter whom one follows, no matter which path one follows, and no matter which decision one takes, it always advises never to lose one’s spiritual joy – the bliss of brahmanized state (brahmpanu) or the eternal happiness one gets by having union or close association with Brahm or Brahmanized sant or satpurush.
The Satyam (the truth), Shivam (the greatness), and Sundaram (the beauty) of Hinduism is that leaving aside its religious and philosophical aspects, and keeping one’s own faith or belief in one’s own religion, religious practices, religious philosophy, and the choicest deity of worshiping, one can still study, understand, and practice the universal, natural, and humanitarian aspect of it to bring the mental peace, world peace, and the heaven, paradise, or swarg on the earth.
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