Chapter 3 - Prana and the Self

‘May my speech be established in my mind; may my mind be fixed in my speech, O Divine Word! Thou hast manifested Thyself in the form of wisdom. Do Thou spread Thy powers through my words. Do not deprive me of the Truth. May I always dwell in the Truth. My salutations to the fire of wisdom, to the seers of Truth and to the Devas (bright spirits).

‘O Divine Word! be propitious to us; stay in our spiritual space and be happy. Like the lord of light (the sun), constantly purify our hearts and reveal to our eyes that which is auspicious for us. Do not leave us.

‘Peace, Peace, Peace to all living creatures’—(Kaushitaki-Upanishad, 1.3, 2.3, 3.3, 4.3, 7.3, 8.3)

Since the Vedic period, at least two thousand years before Christ, Self-knowledge has been in India not only the theme of sages and philosophers, but also the highest ideal of kings. Most of the early Hindu monarchs were, indeed, the great spiritual teachers of the country, although they did not belong to the Brahmin caste. There is a prevailing idea that the Brahmins were the only teachers of spiritual Truth in the beginning, while the duties of ruling and fighting were confined to the Kshatriya or warrior caste. Yet, in the great epic Mahabharata, it is told that some of the Brahmins fought battles, commanded the army and showed remarkable powers, courage, and ability, though they did not become rulers of the country. In the Bhagavad Gita, we read of Drona and Kripacharya, who were Brahmins by birth, but became noted generals, served on the battlefield, and were the teachers of the Kshatriyas in military science as it was known at that time. On the other hand, we find in the Upanishads and in the epics, that the Kshatriyas were the first teachers of the Brahmins in higher spiritual truths; Krishna, Rama, Buddha were all Kshatriyas. The Kshatriyas, being of the warrior caste, were bound by duty to protect the country, govern the nation, fight the enemies, and establish the reign of peace, justice and righteousness among the people. They were entitled, however, not only to become soldiers, commanders of the army, or to sit on the throne, but likewise to impart Self-knowledge to all sincere and earnest souls.

The Hindu rulers of those early days were not like the monarchs of today. They regarded life as something that had a meaning, and for them, this earthly existence was not worthliving until that meaning had been realized. Even in that early age, these royal seekers after Truth felt that those who perform the duties of their daily lives without knowing who they are and what they are in reality, are dwelling in absolute darkness. Therefore, after fulfilling their duties as Kshatriyas and rulers of the country, they still found time enough to devote themselves to the pursuit of Self-knowledge.

There was a great Hindu monarch of ancient India, by name Divodasa, who lived in Benaras. Benaras was the Indian Athens of those days. It was the seat of education and the centre of religion, science, and philosophy. From prehistoric ages it had been the cradle of Oriental civilization and culture. Even at the time of Buddha, five hundred years before Christ, it was the stronghold of Hindu philosophy and religion; and Buddha could not have done anything if he had not been able to convince the learned scholars of Benaras. Divodasa, this famous and powerful ruler of Benaras, had a son who became renowned by defeating his fiercest enemies. It is said that he even conquered the devas the mythological gods or bright spirits. In the third chapter of the Kaushitaki-Upanishad, there is a story which describes how this young prince, Pratardana, by his wonderful courage and prowess conquered all the great ones on the human plane, and then came to the abode of the ruler of the devas.^[1]

According to Hindu mythology, Indra, the god of Thunder, became the ruler of the devas through his righteous works and wisdom. Pratardana, the son of the mighty king Divodasa, went to the abode of Indra, dwelling in his heaven, with a desire to conquer him. He told how he had destroyed his enemies and vanquished the devas. Indra was somewhat dismayed at the sight of so great a hero, and did not know how he ought to receive him and what he should do to please him. So, after hearing the description of his powers and victories, Indra said to Pratardana: ‘I am well pleased with thee and wish to give thee a boon. Choose a boon and I will be happy to grant it to thee’.^[1] The prince answered: ‘Do thou thyself choose that boon for me which thou deemest most beneficial for a man’.^[1] He did not know what to ask for, but he knew that there was something which would be most helpful to all. Having in his mind the thought that people who are dwelling in ignorance and self-delusion and who do not understand the true nature of Being, ought to have something that would make their life worth living, he said: ‘Grant me that boon which thou thinkest best for a man’.^[1] Indra replied: ‘That is not right; thou must choose thine own boon; no one who chooses, chooses for another’.^[1] The prince insisted, saying: ‘The boon chosen by me is no boon for me’.^[1] He would not choose because he did not know what would be most helpful to mankind, therefore he left it to Indra. Then Indra said to him: ‘I am bound by my promise and I must be true to my words, so I must grant thee the highest boon that would be helpful and useful to all mankind’.^[1]

Then again he said: ‘Know me only; that is the highest and most helpful for man. Know me, my true Self.^[1] He (Indra) meant by this, not his powers, not his glory, but his real Self—that which is signified by all such expressions as I, me, mine, and thou, thee, thine. He who has known this true Self, gains unbounded power. If he commits any wrong, that wrong does not affect him. The knower of Self is the greatest of all, he is greater than kings, greater than the mightiest emperor; he possesses all the virtues that are described in the scriptures of the world and nothing can make him fall from the glory of Self-knowledge. Then Indra praised Self-knowledge by saying: ‘I have conquered all the demons, I have destroyed those demons who had three heads, one hundred heads. I have done many cruel deeds, but all these horrible acts could not affect me, because I possess the knowledge of the supreme Self. Although I have performed many inhuman deeds, yet see my glory, strength, and power: not a single hair of my head has been injured by them. He who knows me thus, is never harmed in his life by any sinful act, neither by theft nor by the murder of his father, mother, or a wise Brahmin. If he is about to commit a terrible sin, the expression of his face does not change’.^[1]

Thus, Indra praised Self-knowledge. He did not mean that the knower of Self should ever perform all such sinful, cruel, and inhuman deeds. He wanted to show that power of Self-knowledge is greater than any other power that exists anywhere in the world; that it purifies the heart and soul of the worst sinner and washes off the most horrible sins that a human being can commit. The murder of either father, mother or both, or the revered spiritual master, all these unpardonable sins cannot corrupt the divine power of Self-knowledge, which purifies the souls of all who possess it.

After praising Self-knowledge, Indra said: ‘I am prana, know me as prana, life. Worship me as the conscious Self, the source of intelligence’.^[1] Prana is the Sanskrit word for life-force; life and intelligence are inseparable; wherever there is life, there is intelligence in some form or other. Meditate on me as life and intelligence. Life is prana, prana is life; life is immortality and immortality is life’.^[1] Here we must understand that life never dies. Life in itself is immortal and indestructible; it cannot change. We do not see life growing from the lifeless. Life in the abstract is always the same whether or not it expresses itself outwardly. The expressions may vary, but the life-force is one and unchangeable. When we do not see the manifestation of life we say it is dead; but life-force does not die. Very few people can understand this. Where life is, death cannot exist. We may say a child is born, a child grows, but the life of the child is not subject to growth; if it were subject to birth and growth, it would be changeable, it would be mortal. That which we call life-force is free from birth, decay and death; all these changes take place in the forms through which the immortal life-force manifests itself. We speak of a child or a plant as growing, but from the very beginning the life-force is the same; the manifestations of some other powers with which life is attended, appear in different ways at various stages of the evolution or growth of the animal or vegetable organism.

‘Prana is life, life is immortality; as long as the prana dwells in the body, there is life. By prana one obtains immortality in the other world'.^[1] If we know what true life is, and feel that we are one with life and inseparable from it, then, we can realize that we are immortal, because life does not die, it does not proceed from non-life. If we try to trace the origin of life, going back in imagination as far as we can, we shall neVer be able to discover, as its cause, non-life or something dead. Life always proceeds from life. It has existed from the beginningless past, and we cannot think of its ever being subject to death or destruction; therefore, it is eternal. But so long as life-force manifests itself through a body, the body appears as living; this is the secondary expression of true lifeforce. Here we do not think of the life-force or prana, but of the form which moves and does certain work. We say: ‘He lived so long’. ‘His lifetime consisted of so many years, three or four score’, all these expressions, however, signify the secondary manifestation of prana. Life in its primary sense is immortal. When that prana or life-force expresses itself, then the organs are alive, the senses perform their functions, the mind thinks, and the intellect acts.

Again this prana or life-force is inseparable from intelligence; we cannot separate intelligence from the force which makes everything of the universe move. The Self has two powers, which express themselves as intelligence and as the activity of prana or life-force. Intelligence is that which is the source of consciousness; there is no English term by which we can express it. It is called in Sanskrit prajna. It cannot be translated as knowledge, became knowledge means understanding, which is a function of the intellect; but prajna refers to the source of all knowledge and consciousness.

Indra continued: ‘He who knows me as one with life (prana) and intelligence (prajna), as immortal, indestructible, and unchangeable, has life to its fullest extent on this earth, and after death, resides in heaven and enjoys everlasting life’.^[1]

Here Indra used the word ‘prana’ for life-force, but the young prince thought that he must have meant sense-powers, because prana is also used to signify the power of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting or touching, the power of speech, the powers of seizing, moving, excreting, and generating, and that by which all the organs of the body perform their functions. Therefore, he said: ‘Some say that all the pranas or sense-powers become one; for otherwise no one could see, hear, speak, and think, at the same time. After having become one, each of the senses perceives separately’.^[1] Thinking that by prana were signified the activities of the sense-organs, he wanted to know which of these was particularly meant by Indra. He maintained that although life or prana was one, still the sense-organs performed their functions separately in succession.^[1] Two sense-perceptions do not occur at the same moment, there must be a minute interval of time between them. For instance, when we see a sight and hear a sound apparently at the same time, proper analysis will show that the one sensation is followed by the other; we cannot have various perceptions simultaneously. According to the psychologists of ancient India, mind perceives the objects of sensation one at a time. When one sense-organ performs its function, others remain quiet; the interval may be infinitesimally small, we may not grasp it with ordinary attention, still they rise in succession leaving between them a very minute interval of time. So the young prince did not understand what particularly sense-activity was referred to by Indra. After raising this question, he kept silence.

Indra replied: ‘It is true that all these senses perform their functions at certain intervals and that each one of them is great; but nevertheless there is another force which is higher than all the sense-powers. That force is pre-eminent among all other powers’.^[1] It is not the power of seeing or hearing that makes us alive. Blind and deaf persons do not see and hear, but still they live. The power of speech does not manifest itself in a dumb man, yet he is alive. A man may live having lost the power of smelling, tasting or touching. Infants and idiots live though deprived of the thinking-power of the mind.^[1] One may not have memory, still one will be called living. All this shows that, that which makes one alive is not the same as the power of seeing, hearing, speaking, smelling, tasting, touching, or thinking. Again, a man may lose his arms and may not be able to seize anything, still we do not call him dead. The loss of one’s legs or other organs of work does not, as we see around us, destroy the life-force or the mukhya-prana. Therefore, the life-force is distinct from the power of perception or sense-activity. Yet at the same time these sense-organs will not perform their functions if they are separated from the life-force.

The life-force or mukhya-prana is something independent of the sense-powers, but the sense-powers are dependent upon life-giving prana. Where life-force is unmanifest, the senseorgans may remain perfect, but there will not be any expression of the sense-powers in the form of perception of sensation. The eye of a dead man may be perfect, the optic nerve may be in good condition, the brain cells may be in a normal state, but as the life-force is not working in that body, the senseorgans must remain dead, without performing their functions, without producing any sensation. Thus, we can see that all the sense-organs remain active in the body, because prana, the source of all activity, is there, and because the life-force governs and regulates all the senses. Therefore, in the Vedas it is said: ‘One should worship prana, the life-force, which keeps the universe alive’. If you can understand what that life-force is, you have understood the secret of the universe as well as that which keeps you alive.

All the scientists, anatomists, and evolutionists are trying to know the nature of that life-force, but have they succeeded? No. Some say, it is a molecular attraction, others believe that it is the result of physico-chemical forces; but are they sure of what they say? What progress has science made in her attempt to find out the source of life-force? Science has rejected the idea that the life-force is independent of the mechanical forces of nature; but she cannot tell us definitely the cause of vital energy. There have been debates and discussion on this subject among the scientists of different countries at all times; still, the problem is unsolved. If we can understand the life-force of the universe, we have understood the living God; because says Vedanta, life-force is inseparable from the Being who is worshipped as God.

What is God? He who keeps everything alive, and upon whom depend all other activities, sense-powers, and the functions of the gross physical body. Indra said: “Prana alone having animated this body makes it rise up. It alone is the conscious Self. What is prana is prajna, self-consciousness; and what is self-consciousness is also prana. They both live in the body together, and together they pass out of it’. ‘That life is the same as our self-consciousness’.^[1] Have you seen self-consciousness where there was no life? It is impossible. Wherever there is self-consciousnesss, there must be life; selfconsciousness and life are inseparable. You may say, there is no self-consciousness in trees and plants; how do you know, it is not there? Is it because they have no brain? They may not have the same self-consciousness as that of those who have brains, but they have nerves of their kind. How do you know a sensitive plant does no feel? All such dogmas of the theologians as that life is granted by the Creator to human beings alone, who would glorify His name, no longer appeal to us; Even the scientists of today, like Ernst Haeckel, are beginning to realize that every plant has its soul, that every cell has its own life, that every atom has its soul; and wherever there is soul there is also intelligence, the source of self-consciousness.

It may be expressed imperfectly, it may be latent or waiting for proper manifestation; still wherever there is life, there is some kind of intelligence; and wherever there is intelligence; there must be life.

As we see in all living creatures, when life is gone, selfconsciousness is also gone; so, when life is in a state of abeyance, either in faintness or in swoon, when the life-force does not manifest itself in the form of organic functions or sense activities, self-consciousness at that time remains latent. Then, Indra said: ‘When a man goes into the deep sleep state, where he sees no dream whatever, his mind is absolutely at rest, is enveloped, as it were, with a veil of ignorance’.^[1] Sometimes, when you wake up after dreamless sleep, you feel as though you have come out of a realm of deep ignorance; in that state of sound sleep, do you know what becomes of your sense activities,—the powers of seeing, hearing, smelling? They remain latent in prana, they go back and take refuge in that life-force.^[1] When the life-force remains inactive, then other powers also become inactive. In deep sleep we do not speak, see, or smell anything. If there be the noise of a gun right near our ear, we do not hear, neither does our mind think or imagine; all mental and physical powers remain potential, and come out as we wake up. The first awakening is visible in vital actions. In dreamless sleep (sushupti), however, the life-force is not entirely separated from the central part of the body, because the subconscious activity of the prana is then manifested in the heart beat, in the circulation, digestion, and in the respiratory process. If that force which causes the motion of the heart and lungs stop, there is absolute separation of the prana from the organs, then we do not wake. This is death. But in deep sleep we become one with prana, which absorbs all our conscious activities, and in the waking state they all return to their respective organs; the senses then begin to perceive and perform their functions.

Indra illustrates this by saying: ‘And when he awakes, then, as from a blazing fire, sparks shoot forth in all directions, so the. sparks of the various sense-powers proceed each towards its place and come in contact with external objects’.^[1] When a spark takes possession of the eye, it illumines the object of sight, the form and colour; another spark comes out and falls in the organ of hearing, it then illumines what we call sound. Similarly, other sense-powers proceed from prana like sparks. The mind itself is another spark which performs various mental functions. But ‘when a person is going to die, being ill and falling into weakness and faintness, all the sense-powers go back to their source; then people say: ‘His mind has departed, he cannot hear or see, speak or imagine. Then he becomes one with prana alone’.^[1] As the prana leaves the body it takes with it all the sense-powers, which are dependent upon it. The dying man carries with him the powers of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, seizing, moving, speaking, excreting, generating, and the power of thinking as well as self-consciousness. All the vital forces and subconscious activities of the organs are also withdrawn when prana leaves the body. Along with these, the objects like colour, sound, odour, etc., that are illumined by the senses, are also taken away. When the power of seeing, for example, is drawn away all colours and all forms, which can be perceived by the eye, go with it.

We shall see presently that the objects of the senses are inseparable from these sense-powers; when the latter are withdrawn, the objects are taken with them. If all the sounds and words which we utter be stopped, then the power of speech will remain latent, and with it will go all the names which can be illumined by the power of speech. For the same reason, when the power of smell is withdrawn, all the perception and sensation of odour accompany it': and all thoughts, percepts, concepts, memory, volition and ideas disappear when mind and intellect cease to be active. This absolute and complete oneness with prana happens at the time of death. Since prana and self-consciousness are inseparable, and since together they live in the body and together they go out of it, a man in this state is said to be dead.

All these organic powers which have been withdrawn with prana remain with him after death and he manifests them in another form. As in the state of waking after deep sleep mental and physical forces rise like sparks from a burning fire, so after the sleep of death all the latent powers come out from prana, manufacture other organs and perform their functions respectively.^[1] What is that force which manufactures the senseorgans? It is the prana or life-force, which contains in a potential from all the desires, impressions, and tendencies of the previous existence.

When the activities of the senses, which reveal their objects, become latent, all sensations stop, and consequently ceases the relative existence of sense-objects. The Self is the centre of intelligence and consciousness. It is clothed with the prana or life-force, a portion of which manifests itself subjectively as sense-powers, while other portions express themselves as objects of sensation. As the objects of perception cannot exist without being related to the perceiving sense-power or subjects, similarly the subjects only exist as such so long as they are related to the objects.

Here we should remember the truths which we have already learned: that the sense-powers depend upon prana or life-force, that prana and self-consciousness are identical, and that objects are related to sensations, because they cannot exist as independent of the powers of perception. There will be no colour in relation to us, if our power of sight be dead. For the same reason, that which we call sound only exists in relation to the power of hearing. Similarly, it can be shown that the external objects which we perceive are inseparable from our sensations of them, and these in turn depend upon our sensepowers. An object of perception may be compared to a piece of cloth. As a cloth which is made out of threads is identical with the thread (for what is a piece of cloth but threads woven together?), so an object of perception, being woven together of sensations and sense-powers, is identical with them. The threads of sensations and sense-powers, again, are twisted out of the forces of prana. The whole universe, therefore, depends upon prana or self-consciousness. Self is the centre of the universe as well as the centre of each one of us. It is the foundation of life, inseparable from prana, and the producer of all sense-powers. Indeed, Self is the origin of the phenomenal universe.

Again, it is said that this prana or self-consciousness is not many, but it is one. The life-force in you is the same as the life-force in me and in others. As life-force is one, so selfconsciousness is one. The self-consciousness in you is also the same as it is in me and in all living creatures. It is one throughout the universe. We can only infer from external signs the nature of self-consciousness in other individuals and compare it with our own.

Self-consciousness lies at the root of all knowledge. For without self-consciousness speech does not make known any word; we do not perceive it. Without self-consciousness the ear cannot reveal any sound. When our self-consciousness is centred upon one particular object, we do not see things which may lie in close contact with our eye.^[1] For instance, when you are looking at something intently on the street, other objects may pass by in front of you. but you do not notice them though your eyes are there. So with sounds, when your mind is concentrated on one particular sound you do not hear other sounds; a person may be calling, but you do not hear it; so, when your mind is concentrated on any particular thought or idea, you do not see, hear, smell or taste, or have any other sensation. In short, without self-consciousness, no thoughts can rise in succession and nothing can be known. Therefore, it is said: ‘That which is the real seer we must know; we must not try to know the speech or the words, we must know the speaker, the Self. Where is the speaker? Find it out. Who is the seer? Find it out. Let no man find out what speech is, but let him find out the speaker. Let no man find out what sight is, but let him find out the seer. Let no man find out what sound is, but let him know the hearer’.^[1]

Scientists are trying to find out what sound is, but they do not care to know who is the hearer. Vedanta philosophers, on the contrary, go to the bottom of things; they do not care whether or not sound is the vibration of air. In order to become a sound, any kind of vibration must be related to our power of hearing; if our power of hearing be withdrawn, who will hear the sound? So what is the use of wasting our time in trying to know what sound is? First, let us know the true nature of the sense-powers, then their source, and ultimately the Knower of all sense-objects. ‘Let no man try to find out tastes of food, let him know the knower of tastes. Let no man try to know what pleasure and pain are, Jet him know the knower of pleasure and pain. Let no man try to discover what joy or happiness is, let him know the knower of joy and happiness.^[1] Let no man try to know the thought, let him know the thinker. These objects of perception have reference to prajna or self-consciousness, and the subjects or sense-powers have reference to objects. Objects have relation to subjects, subjects are related to objects; if there were no objects, there would be no subjects, and vice versa. For, on either side alone nothing can be achieved.^[1]

Self-consciousness is described by Indra as the centre of the wheel of a chariot. This body is the chariot and the outer circumference of the wheel is made up of sense-objects, the spokes are the sense-powers, which reveal these objects, and the nave, on which the spokes are fixed, is the prana, the lifeforce.^[1] Thus, the objects are placed on the subjects (spokes) and the subjects on prana. The prana or life-force, which is inseparable from intelligence and self-consciousness, is imperishable, immortal, and blessed; that is the true Self. True Self is not increased by good acts, or decreased by evil deeds. The sins of the world do not corrupt or change the nature of this true Self. The true Self is neither virtuous nor sinful, but it is always divine and perfect. Good and evil deeds affect the ego, the doer and actor, and bring in return the results which the ego reaps. We shall have to understand that all good and evil works are dependent upon self-consciousness and life-force or prana. The source of consciousness and intelligence is the guardian of the world, the producer of all phenomena of the universe, and that is my true Self’.^[1]

‘And this Self-knowledge will help all humanity in the path of immortality and perfection, which leads to the abode of peace and happiness’.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Kaushitaki-Upanishad, 1.3, 2.3, 3.3, 4.3, 7.3, 8.3.