Chapter 5 Preparation
5-6 Prasna Upanishad
5-6-4 Prasna 3.10
Though all the questions have been answered, there is an extended answer for the 4th question. How does the prAna leave the body? As death nears, our thoughts are no longer determined by our will. The willpower becomes weak in old age and the latent tendencies become strong. UdAnA pulls subtle and causal bodies and they enter the next body, the blueprint of which is already available.
5-6-5 Prasna 3.11
PrAna and its counterpart Hirnyagarbha at the cosmic level are important principles in the creation and they are glorified as IsvarA. SakAma meditation on them gives material benefits of continued progeny. Nishakama meditation gives purity of mind and concentration needed for spiritual growth.
5-6-6 Prasna 5.1 to 5.7
Satyakama’s question is about the destination after the death of a person who meditates on Om throughout life. The superior Brahman is devoid of all distinctions created by attributes and the mind cannot explore it. Shankaracharya says that if one fixes the idea of Brahman on Om with devotion, Brahman becomes favourable ( and reveals itself). meditates on Om as Brahman. Om is the nearest symbol of Brahman. In a secondary sense, Om is said to represent both higher and lower Brahman.
If a person meditates on the syllable A as Om, he becomes great, He is reborn as a human being guided by Rig Veda because A represents Rig Veda. He becomes a prominent BrAhmana and does not deviate from virtues. If he meditates on U as Om, he is identified with the mind whose presiding deity is the moon. After death, such a person, guided by Yajur Veda, after experiencing greatness in the lunar world comprising the intermediate space between earth and heaven takes birth as a human being. If a person meditates on the higher Brahman on Om possessed of three syllables, he is unified with the sun and freed from sin like a snake leaving behind the aged skin. After death, guided by the SAma Veda, he goes to the Brahma Loka and gets krama-mukti.
A, U, and M are individually in the domain of death. The Upanishad advises a seeker to resort to a single continuous meditation on A, U, and M as Supreme Self associated with the states of waking, dreaming, and sleep. He is eventually enlightened and becomes the Self of all and one with Om.
An intelligent person knows the above meditations on Om and their results. He eventually reaches the world of the Supreme Self that is beyond death, old age, and fear.
5-6-7 Prasna 6.1 to 6.6
Sukesha Bhardwaj is the sixth disciple. Before asking the question, he gives an anecdote. A prince Hiranyanabha or Kausalya wants to know about Shodaskal Purusha. As Bhardwaj does not know the answer, he replies accordingly. The prince does not believe that Bhardwaj is ignorant. The prince says that Bhardwaj does not want to answer as he is not a Brahmin. When Bhardwaj vows for his ignorance, the prince quietly leaves.
Bhardwaj’s question is who is the blessed Shodaskal Purusha and where does it exist? Pippalada replies that Shodaskal Purusha is consciousness that resides in the body and has sixteen limbs. This Purusha need not be sought outside. The sixteen limbs are Prana, etc. They are adjuncts of Purusha. Due to ignorance, the part-less Purusha is seen as possessed of the sixteen parts. Purusha is free from action to act but is seen as doing action due to limiting adjuncts. He first creates Prana and later on 15 more. There is a total of 16 components. Swami Parmarthananda has clubbed them in three groups. The first is the external group of 9 members. The second group consists of 3 internal members. The third group is related to scriptures and has 4 members.
1st Group: Five elements, 14 Lokas counted as one, food, nutrition, and name
2nd Group: Prana, mind, and sense organs.
3rd Group: Veda mantra, karma, tapas, sraddha.
The 16 parts are fixed on Purusha like the spokes of the wheel on the hub, the central part of the wheel. The hub supports the spokes whereby the wheel rotates in a balanced way. Likewise, Purusha supports the wheel of creation. A person who knows Purusha is not afflicted by death. There is no fear of death. At the time of dissolution, the 16 constituents resolve in Purusha like different rivers merging in the ocean and losing their independent individualities. All distinctions due to names and forms are removed and there is ocean alone. Likewise, Purusha alone is there. A knowledgeable person who knows this becomes free from parts and is immortal. It is not a physical freedom from parts. It is cognitive. He dissolves the entire world of 16 constituents into himself.
5-6-8 Prasna 6.7 and 6.8
The teacher concludes that he has explained Brahman and knows this much only. There is nothing more. Thereupon, the students, pay salutation to him and all the sages of the past. The teacher has ferried them from the shore of ignorance to the shore of knowledge.
Contd Part 12