Adhikarana 2: The Mind Enters the Breath

Adhyāya 4: The Results of Transcendental Knowledge;
Pāda 2: How a Person with Transcendental Knowledge Leaves his Material Body;

Viṣaya [thesis or statement]: Now the passage of Chāndogya Upaniṣad [6.8.6] quoted in the beginning of Adhikaraṇa 1 will again be considered.

अस्य सौम्य-पुरुषस्य प्रयतो वाङ्-मनसि सम्पद्यते मनः प्राणे प्राणस् तेजसि तेजः परस्याम् देवतायाम्

asya saumya-puruṣasya prayato vāṅ-manasi sampadyate manaḥ prāṇe prāṇas tejasi tejaḥ parasyām devatāyām

“When a good person leaves his material body, the voice enters the mind, the mind enters the life-air, the life-air enters the element fire, and the element fire enters the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”

Saṃśaya [doubt]: Does this passage mean to say that the mind enters the life-breath, or that it enters the realm of the moon?

Pūrvapakṣa [the opponent speaks]: Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad [3.2.13] declares:

मनश् चन्द्रम्

manaś candram

“The mind enters the moon.”

Therefore the mind enters the moon.

Siddhānta [conclusion]: in the following words the author of the sūtras gives His conclusion.

Sūtra 4.2.3

तन् मनः प्राण उत्तरात्

tan manaḥ prāṇa uttarāt

tat – that; manaḥ – mind; prāṇe – in the life-breath; uttarāt – then.

Then the mind enters the life-breath, because of what follows.

The words tan manaḥ prāṇe mean, “The mind enters the life-breath, accompanied by all the senses.” Why is that? Because of the statement that follows [uttarāt].

Here someone may object: “This cannot be, for Bṛhad-Āraṇyaka Upaniṣad 3.2.13 affirms that the mind enters the moon.”

The author of the sūtras replies to this objection in Sūtra 4.2.4.

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