31 Jul 2022
[Shri Balaji asked: Namaste Swami, Kindly help us understand the concept of Prāṇa mentioned in some verses in the Mundaka Upanishad, 3rd Muṇḍaka, 1st Khaṇḍa: Mantra 4
Prāṇo hyeṣaḥ yaḥ sarvabhūtairvibhāti vijānan.... Brahmavidāṃ variṣṭhaḥ
Here, can we say that wise people who see God as the controller, supporter of all beings (God is compared to Prana or respiration, since respiration is very fundamental to all beings) are the foremost among knowers of Brahman?
But many devotees who recognize God as the Human Incarnation are also held very high. Other spiritual aspirants also see God as being Unimaginable known only by His existence which is also considered as a very high understanding. How can we correlate the statement that knowing God as the Prana of all beings is the foremost knowledge when the above types of knowers of Brahman as Human incarnation and as Unimaginable are also said to be at high levels?
Mantra 9
Eso'ṇurātmā cetasā veditavyo yasmin Prāṇaḥ pañcadhā saṃviveśa
Prāṇaiścittaṃ sarvamotaṃ prajānāṃ yasmin viśuddhe vibhavatyeṣa Ātmā
Here, I am able to understand that the verse says that God should be known by the mind, and that God reveals Himself when the mind is purified. I am not able to understand the concept of Prana mentioned in the verse. Kindly help. Sincerely, Balaji]
Swami replied:- Prana means God, who controls the entire life of the whole creation. The Brahma Sutras mention this concept (Ata eva prāṇaḥ). The reference to breath is only as a simile. Just like the breath makes the body alive, God makes this world alive. Unfortunately, similes are not taken in proper sense and are taken as God directly. This is the climax of ignorance. The awareness or individual soul is taken as a simile for God. Awareness is the greatest item in the creation because of its specialty. Similarly, God is the greatest item, who is greater than the individual soul also. Forgetting the sense of the simile, the soul is misunderstood as God. In metaphors, the entire sense is based on the simile only. If you say that the king is brave like a lion, this is a simile. If you say that the king is a lion, this is a metaphor. Ignorant people take the lions of the lion’s club as the real lions and run away from them!
So far, the personality of God is known by intelligence. Knowledge is always linked with intelligence due to sharp logical analysis everywhere. When the knowledge is over, the second step of devotion to God starts. The devotion or love is linked to mind and not to intelligence. Hence, knowledge and devotion linked to intelligence and mind respectively constitutes the first phase called theoretical phase. Now, the phase of practice (karma) starts, in which service and sacrifice to God are the most important aspects. The practical phase alone yields the ultimate Divine fruit. Of course, one shall not aspire for the fruit in return from God and the devotion shall be issue devotion.
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