5. The Concept of Mind in the Praśnopaniṣad

The Praśna-upaniṣad belongs to Atharvaveda. As its name implies, it is an Upaniṣad of questions; each of its six chapters comprise of a question asked by each of a group of six inquiring students on various aspects of Vedanta, and the answers given by their teacher, the sage Pippalāda. This Brāhmaṇopaniṣad also deals with the distinction between para and apara vidyas as also with the cosmological problem regarding the creation of the world and with the conditions of sleep and dream.

This short Upaniṣad contains six questions. In this Upaniṣad six disciples (Brahmacāris) approach the great sage Pippalāda with the desire to attain the knowledge on Brahman. They ask him about the manner in which the creatures of the world are born. Sage Pippalāda replies that at first the Great Prajapati produced prāṇa. Then he explains in detail what prāṇa is. The disciples ask the second question how many deities support this human body, how many of them are self illuminating and which of them is the foremost of all. Āchārya replies that Space, Wind, Fire, Water and Earth are the five deities in the forms of elements; they are the producers of the body and its limbs.

All the sense organs manifest their power and dispute among each itself, each being the foundation of a body:

tasmai sa hovāca ākāśo ha vā eṣa devo vāyuragnirāpaḥ pṛthivī vāṅmanacakṣuḥ śrotraṃ ca | te prakāśyābhivadanti vayametadbāṇabhavaṣṭabhya vidhārayāma || ^[1]

The activity of mind is also described in this Upaniṣad. In the case of a person, life or prāṇa is born of the self. Thus the prāṇa is connected with the self.

It comes with the body by the help or activity of mind. It says:

ātmana eṣa prāṇo jāyate yathaiṣā puruṣe chāyaitasminnetadātataṃ mano kṛtenāyātyasmin śarīre || ^[2]

Śri Śankara says:

chāyeva dehe manokṛtena manaḥ kṛtena manasaṅkalpecchādiniṣpannakarmanimittenatyetat || ^[3]

He explains the nature of prāṇa and how it enters the body, what divinity it is, how it sustains and makes the senses function and how it pervades all the internal and external objects.

Finally the prāṇa departs from the body and assumes another and thus attains immortal nature:

tejo ha vai udānastasmādupaśāntatejāḥ |
punarbhavamindriyairmanasi sampadyamānai || ^[4]

The fourth question deals with the states of waking, dream and dreamless sleep. The dreamer sees again whatever has been seen before in different places. He also sees what has never been seen before and also what is not real. Attention is drawn here to the influence of impressions from waking life and also the fantasies created by the dreamer, because only the mind is operative and not the intellect, (the buddhi). Mind is treated as antaḥkaraṇa.

The questions are:

“Which sense organs make the person sleep, which sense organs keep him awake and which deity sees the dream? Who enjoys the happiness and in whom are all these become united?”:—

bhagavān etasmin puruṣe kāni svapanti kānyasmin jāgrati katara eṣa devaḥ svapnān paśyati, kasyaitat sukhaṃ bhavati, kasminnu sarve sapratiṣṭhata bhavanti iti || ^[5]

In reply it is stated that all the indriyas or sense organs become one with the mind and hence the organs do not function when the person is sleeping. Pippalāda compares this to the rays of the rising sun spreading out in all directions. When the sun sets they rest in him alone. The sense organs do their respective functions of seeing, hearing etc. The mind becomes active by entertaining the desires of its own and it directs the sense organs to function respectively.

During sleep, the mind and the sense organs withdraw from their desires and their objects, the time to cut off from their objects and so go to rest in the mind only. It is said:

tasmai sa hovāca yathā gārgyamarīcayo'rkkasyāstaṃ gacchataḥ sarvā etasmin tejomaṇḍala ekībhavanti tāḥ punaḥ punarudayataḥ pracarantyevaṃ ha vai tatsarvaṃ pare deve manasyekībhavati tena tarhyeṣa puruṣo na śruṇoti na paśyati na jighrati na rasayate na spṛśate nābhivadate nādatte nānandayate na visṛjate neyāyate svapitītyacakṣate || ^[6]

In that state, the people hear not, take not, rejoice not, emit not, and move not, we say they are sleeping. Because they become one and cease from their work. The mind does a sacrifice. Inspiration and expiration are two oblations to a sacrificial fire. Fifth question deals with praṇava or Aumkāra -the sound AUM is verily the higher and the lower Brahman, acquired by Aumkāra. If one meditates on one element A, his enlightenment comes quickly to the earth after death. He is endowed with austerity, chastity and faith. He experiences greatness. And if he meditates as of two elements A U, he attains the mind. He is led by the yajus to the intermediate space and he obtains the world of the moon after death. He is identified with mind.

The sixth question and concluding part of the Up.deals with the ‘ṣoḍaśakala puruṣa’ or the person who has sixteen limbs. The question is who is the puruṣa possessed of sixteen limbs. The puruṣa has sixteen parts within his very body itself. This puruṣa is described as prāṇa and from its faith [śraddhā] the five elements viz; space, air, fire, water and earth and five organs, mind and food and from food the vital vigor [vīrya], austerity, hymns and worlds are created as also the names in the world.

The individual self and all its parts are the projection of avidya and the removal of avidya for attaining the Atman is of great importance:

sa prāṇamasṛjata prāṇāt śraddhāṃ khaṃ vāyurjyotirāpaḥ pṛthivīndriyaṃ,
mano annamannādvīryaṃ tapo mantrāḥ karma lokālokeṣu ca nāma ca || ^[7]

Śrī Śankara explains:

tathā taireva bhūtairārabdhaṃ indriyaṃ dviprakāraṃ karmāthaṃ ca daśasakhyākaṃ, tasya ceśvaramantaḥ rathaṃ saṃśayavikalpādilakṣaṇaṃ manaḥ || ^[8]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Praśna-upaniṣad -2.2

[2]:

Ibid -3.3

[3]:

Praśnopaniṣad Śānkarabhāṣya -3.3

[4]:

Praśna-upaniṣad -3.9

[5]:

Ibid -4.1

[6]:

Ibid -4.2

[7]:

Ibid -6.4

[8]:

Praśnopaniṣad Śānkarabhāṣya -6.4