The “mind” referred to in the kaTha Upanishad—when it declares that “by the mind alone is the Self attainable”—is not the ordinary mind we are familiar with. What we usually call the mind is entangled with name, form, and action. It knows objects by taking their shape, and therefore keeps changing along with them. This kind of ‘knowing’ is called vRtti-jnAna—knowledge through mental modifications.
A vRtti is simply a thought-wave, always in motion. The life-principle (prANa), being inert by itself, cannot function without the mind; and the mind, in turn, cannot operate without the light of Knowledge. Yet Knowledge itself never moves. It is ever steady. The movement we attribute to Knowing is therefore only an appearance, caused by the restless activity of the mind.
This leads to an important insight. Although the mind is the only available instrument for liberation, it cannot serve that purpose as long as it remains in constant motion.
In Sanskrit, experience is called anubhava. The word combines anu (to follow) and bhava (to be). To “experience” the Self, then, is for the mind to align itself with the nature of the Self—to be, as it were, like It.
But the Self is all-pervasive. That which is all-pervasive admits no movement. It is, in a sense, space-like — formless and unmoving. Form creates limitation, and limitation makes movement possible. What is infinite must therefore be free from both form and motion.
If the Self is immobile, the mind can “experience” It only when it too becomes still. When it becomes steady, it gains the capacity to abide in that immobility.
This is sometimes expressed by saying that the Self, which seems to have “entered” the body through movement, must return to Its original state. This “return” is not a journey in space. It simply means the cessation of movement. When motion stops, what remains is the original state.
In other words, unless the mind comes to rest, it cannot partake of anubhava. The moment it begins to move again, that alignment with the Self is lost. That is why the Bhagavad Gītā advises:
आत्मसंस्थं मनः कृत्वा न किञ्चिदपि चिन्तयेत् ॥ — 6.25, BG.
[Meaning: Keeping the mind established in the Self, let him not think of anything.]
When the mind becomes steady and rests in the Self—along with the life-principle—it is no longer experienced as separate. That state itself is called the “experience of the Self.”
The path of Knowledge addresses the issue of controlling the mind directly. When the mind’s movement ceases through understanding, the activity of the life-principle naturally subsides.
It is true that both mind and prANa come to a halt at death. But Vedānta asks us to bring about this stillness consciously, while living. The seeker must recognize the Self here and now. This steady assimilation is what is called nididhyAsana. In it, one abides in one’s true nature, which is ever steady.
The Praśna Upanishad then takes up a related inquiry: what is the nature and origin of this life-principle?
An individual (jIva) is, by definition, one in whom the life-principle is active. Without it, there is no living being. In a sense, the jIvAtman may be understood as the conjunction of prANa and consciousness.
The Upanishad presents an evocative relationship between prANa and the mind. The life-principle is described as the “eater,” and the mind as the “food.” The mind, being subtle matter, arises from the subtlest essence of food, as stated in the chAndogya Upanishad. Thus, the mind becomes nourishment for prANa, which is likened to fire. The mind is associated with the moon, and prANa with fire.
At the time of death, the mind is absorbed into the life-principle (see 6.15.1, chAndogya Upanishad). This illustrates their interdependence: life depends on food, and the mind—being a product of food—feeds the life-principle.
How does prANa enter the body? The Upanishad answers:
मनोकृतेनायात्यस्मिञ्छरीरे ॥ — 3.3, prashna.
[Meaning: He comes to this body owing to the actions of the mind.]
Driven by past actions, the mind requires a field to experience their results. For that purpose, it enters a body, accompanied by prANa. Once embodied, both become limited, and in that limitation they lose awareness of their true source. This loss is what we call “ignorance.”
The Upanishad then addresses another question: which among the faculties is supreme? It answers through a story.
The senses and the life-principle once disputed their relative importance. To settle the matter, each departed from the body in turn. The body continued to live, though impaired, when the senses left. But when prANa prepared to depart, the entire system began to collapse. The senses immediately recognized their dependence and implored prANa to remain invoking it in the following words.
अरा इव रथनाभौ प्राणे सर्वं प्रतिष्ठितम् । — 2.6, prashna Upa.
[Meaning: Like spokes on the hub of a chariot wheel, are fixed on prANa all things.]
देवानामसि वह्नितमः पितॄणां प्रथमा स्वधा । — 2.8, prashna Upa.
[Meaning: You are the best transmitter to the celestials; you are the foremost offering to the ancestors.]
प्रजापतिश्चरसि गर्भे त्वमेव प्रतिजायसे । — 2.7, prashna Upa.
[Meaning: You move in the womb as Prajāpati; you are born again in the likeness of the parents.]
व्रात्यस्त्वं प्राणैकर्षिरत्ता विश्वस्य सत्पतिः । — 2.11, prashna Upa.
[Meaning: O’ prANa! You are the consumer, the seer, and the lord of all.]
या ते तनूर्वाचि प्रतिष्ठिता या श्रोत्रे या च चक्षुषि ।
या च मनसि सन्तता शिवां तां कुरु मोत्क्रमीः ॥ — 2.12, prashna Upa.
[Meaning: That aspect of yours abiding in speech, ear, eye, and mind—make it auspicious; do not depart.]
प्राणस्येदं वशे सर्वं त्रिदिवे यत्प्रतिष्ठितम् ।
मातेव पुत्रान्रक्षस्व श्रीश्च प्रज्ञां च विधेहि न इति ॥ — 2.13, prashna Upa.
[Meaning: All this is under your control. Protect us like a mother and grant us prosperity and wisdom.]
Thus, the Upanishad emphasizes the centrality of prANa in sustaining embodied existence.
Everything has been said about the life-principle after it comes and occupies the body. Its source has not been revealed as yet. The third question is about the source of prANa.
भगवन्कुत एष प्राणो जायते कथमायात्यस्मिञ्छरीर आत्मानं वा प्रविभज्य कथं प्रातिष्ठते … | — 3.1, prashna.
[Meaning: O’ Venerable Sir! From where is this prANa born? How does He come into this body? How again does He dwell by dividing Himself?]
The Sage Pippalada answers:
Life, after all, is a movement. A movement can be seen only after it happens. What is it prior to the movement? It has to be an absence of movement or steadiness. Hence, life-principle must have emanated from steadiness. From immobility comes mobility. The ever stable pacific form is that of the Self.
आत्मन एष प्राणो जायते । यथैषा पुरुषे च्छायैतस्मिन्नेतदाततं मनोकृतेनायात्यस्मिञ्छरीरे ॥ — 3.3, prashna.
[Meaning: From the Self is born this prANa. Just as there can be a shadow when a man is there, so this prANa is fixed on the Self. He comes to this body owing to the actions of the mind.]
Thus, prANa is not independent. It is grounded in the Self, like a shadow dependent on its source. The mind, through its activity, brings about this apparent movement from immobility to mobility. This dynamic aspect is what we call the individual, the jIva.
An analogy makes this clearer. When we stand in sunlight, a shadow appears without any change in the body itself. Similarly, prANa appears to arise from the Self without affecting it. The shadow has no independent reality; it is only an appearance.
In the same way, mAyAashakti is understood as a dependent appearance of the changeless reality—like a shadow cast by light. The world itself can be seen as such an appearance, a seeming disturbance in what is otherwise unmoving Knowledge. Creation, in this sense, is nothing but mobility superimposed upon the immobile.
(To Continue … Part – 16 (prashna 3))