Prashna Upanishad 89

89.2

suptatsu śrotrādiṣu karaṇeṣu etasminpure navadvāre dehe prāṇāgnayaḥ prāṇā eva pañca vāyavo 'gnaya ivāgnayo jāgrati /
agnisāmānyaṃ hi āha - gārhapatyo ha vā eṣo 'pānaḥ /
kathamityāha - yasmādgārhapatyādagneragnihotrakāla itaro 'gniḥ āhavanīyaḥ praṇīyate praṇayanāt praṇīyate 'smāditi praṇayano gārhapatyo 'gniḥ /
tathā suptasyāpānavṛtteḥ praṇīyata iva prāṇo mukhanāsikābhyāṃ saṃcaratyata āhavanīyasthānīyaḥ prāṇaḥ /
vyānastu hṛdayād dakṣiṇasuṣiradvāreṇa nirgamāddakṣiṇadiksambandhādanvāhāryapacano dakṣiṇāgniḥ //3//

When the organs, such as the ear, sleep etasmin pure, in this city, of the body, which is possessed of nine gates; prāṇāgnayaḥ, the five divisions of vital function counting from Prāṇa, which are comparable to fires; jāgrati, keep awake. The resemblance with fire is being stated: Eṣaḥ apānaḥ vai gārhapatyaḥ, this Apāna is really (the sacrificial fire called) Gārhapatya. How that can be so is being stated: Since the other fire, called Āhavanīya, is praṇīyate, taken (extracted); gārhapatyāt praṇayanāt, from the Gārhapatya fire, standing as the source, from which (Āhavanīya fire) is extracted at the time of the Agnihotra sacrifice; therefore from the derivative sense of "that from which something is taken away", Gārhapatya fire is the praṇayana, the source of extraction. Similarly, for a man in sleep, Prāṇa seems to be moving through the mouth and nostrils, having been extracted from Apāna. Therefore Prāṇa is comparable to Āhavanīya. As for vyānaḥ, Vyāna, since it moves out from the heart through the dakṣiṇa, right, orifice, and is thus associated with the dakṣiṇa, southern direction, therefore it is (the fire called) Dakṣiṇāgni, known other-wise as Anvāhāryapacana.

89.3

atra ca hotāgnihotrasya -

The two oblations consisting of ucchvāsa-niḥśvāsau, inhaling and exhaling; are the āhutī, two oblations, of the Agnihotra sacrifice, as it were, just because of the similarity of being two in number. Yat, since; since these are oblations, and since that vital function (called Samāna) samam nayati, strikes a balance, for ever; between etau āhutī, these two oblations, so as to ensure the maintenance of the body; iti, therefore; it is here verily the priest called the Hotā, because of the similarity of carrying the oblations (like the priest), and this despite the fact that it is called a fire (in the earlier paragraph). Which is it? Saḥ samānaḥ, it is Samāna. Because of this further reason, the sleep of an illumined man is verily a performance of the Agnihotra sacrifice. Therefore the idea implied is that the illumined man is not to be considered a non-performer of rites. It is thus that in the Vājasaneyaka it is said that all the component parts of the body and senses of this illumined man perform sacrifices even while he sleeps.footnote{By the text "Vāk citaḥ, prāṇaḥ citaḥ, cakṣuḥ citaḥ" etc. in the Vājasaneyaka, it is enjoined that one should think of the activity of each function of the Prāṇa as a performance of sacrifice. And so it is pointed out that the organs of knowledge and action continue their sacrifices even during the sleep of a man who knows thus. The text there is meant as a praise of this knowledge. Similarly in the present context the purpose is not to enjoin a meditation, it being out of place under this topic of transcendental knowledge, but to eulogise illumination.} Such being the case, manaḥ ha vāva yajamānaḥ, it is the mind that is the sacrificer, who keeps awake after having poured (as oblation) the external organs and their objects into the wakeful fires of Prāṇa, and who is intent on going to Brahman, just as one would reach heaven as the result of the Agnihotra sacrifice. The mind is imagined to be the sacrificer, because, like the sacrificer, it acts as the chief among the aggregate of body and senses, and because it sets out for Brahman, just as the sacrificer does for heaven. Iṣṭaphalam eva, the result itself of the sacrifice; is udānaḥ, the vital function called Udāna, because the achievement of the result of a sacrifice depends on Udāna. How? Saḥ, he Udāna; ahaḥ ahaḥ, every day; gamayati, leads; yajamānam, the sacrificer, called the mind; to brahma, Brahman, the Immutable, as though to heaven, during the time of sleep, after causing the mind to cease even from the dream activities. Hence Udāna takes the place of the result of the sacrifice.

Thus is praised the illumination of the enlightened man by showing that, starting from the time of the cessation from activity of the ear etc., till the time that he rises up from sleep, he enjoys the fruit of all sacrifices, and his sleep is not a source of evil as it is in the case of an unenlightened man; (and all this is meant as a praise), for (on a contrary view) it cannot be held that in the enlightened man alone the ears etc. sleep, while the fires of the Prāṇas keep awake, or that his mind alone enjoys freedom in the dream and wakeful states and then goes to sleep every day; for the fact of passing through the three states of waking, dream, and sleep is similar for all creatures. Hence it is reasonable to say that this is only a eulogy of enlightenment. As for the question, "Which is the deity who experiences dream?"—that is being answered:

Atra svapne, in this state of dream, when the senses, such as that of hearing, cease to function, and the vital forces, counting from Prāṇa, keep awake for the maintenance of the body—in this intermediate state (between waking and sleep) before entering into deep sleep; eṣaḥ devaḥ, this deity (the mind), that has withdrawn into itself all the organs, such as the ear, like the rays of the setting sun; anubhavati, experiences, undergoes; mahimānam, greatness, consisting in assuming diverse forms of subject and object.

Objection: Mind is an instrument of the perceiver in the matter of experiencing greatness. Hence how is it said that the mind experiences independently? It is the soul, (conscious of the body), that can be free (in dream).

Answer: That is no defect, for that freedom of the soul is a result of its being conditioned by the mind, inasmuch as the soul by itself does not in reality either dream or wake. That its wakefulness and dream are caused by the limiting adjunct of the mind has been stated in the (following text of the) Vājasaneyaka Upaniṣad: "Being associated with the mind, and being identified with dream", "it (i.e. the soul) thinks, as it were, and it shakes, as it were" (Bṛ. IV. iii. 7). Therefore it is quite logical to speak of the independence of the mind in the matter of experiencing diverse manifestations. Some assert that if the soul is conditioned by the mind in dream, its self-luminosity will remain unestablished. But that is not so. That is a false notion of theirs, caused by their non-comprehension of the drift of the Upaniṣads, inasmuch as even all such talk about the Self—starting with (the texts dealing with) self-luminosity and ending with emancipation—is within the range of ignorance. It is caused by such conditioning factors as the mind. And this conclusion is arrived at according to such Vedic texts as: "When there is something else, as it were, then one can see something. . . ." (Bṛ. IV. iii. 31). "For him there is no contact with sense-objects", "But when to the knower of Brahman everything has become the Self, then what should one see and through what?" (Bṛ. II. iv. 14). Accordingly, this doubt arises only in those who have imperfect knowledge of Brahman, but not in those who have realised the non-dual Self.

Objection: If such be the explanation, the specific statement, "In this state (i.e. dream) he becomes self-effulgent" (Bṛ. IV. iii. 9), becomes meaningless.

The answer to this is being given: This objection of yours falls far short of your mark, since the self-effulgence will be much more meaningless Vedic Text, "lies in the spacefootnote{The "space" (ākāśa) here stands really for the supreme Self; but a literal interpretation leads us astray.} that is within the heart" (Bṛ. II. i. 17).

Objection: Though, as a matter of fact, that defect does arise from that point of view, yet half the weight (of this defect) is removed in dream by the fact that the Self becomes then self-effulgent in Its isolation (i.e. dissociation from the mind).footnote{The remaining defect will be removed in the state of sleep, where the Self alone exists—this is the implied idea.}

Answer: Not so; for even there (in sleep), persists the association (of the Self) with the nerves extending up to the pericardium (i.e. the whole body) in accordance with the Vedic text, "(When it becomes fast asleep, . . . it comes back along the seventy-two thousand nerves, called Hitā, which extend from the heart to the pericardium), and sleeps (i.e. remains) in the body" (Bṛ. II. i. 19); and therefore it is a vain effort to remove the (remaining) half weight even in sleep through your reliance on the argument of the self-effulgence of the man.

Objection: What then is meant by saying that "the person becomes self-effulgent in this state" (Bṛ. IV. iii. 9)?

Tentative reply: That Vedic text has no application here, since it belongs to a different branch (of the Vedas).

Objection: Not so, since it is desirable that the Vedic texts should all lead to the identical conclusion, for it is the one Self that is the subject-matter of the Upaniṣads and that is sought to be taught and understood. Hence it is necessary that the self-effulgence of the Self in dream should be upheld, for the Vedas serve to reveal the real truth.

Vedāntist's reply: In that case, hear the purport of the Vedic passage by giving up all conceit, for not through conceit can the meaning of the Vedas be mastered even in a hundred years by all the people who pose to be learned. As the Self, sleeping in the space within the heart and in the nerves, spreading from the heart to the pericardium, can be shown to be distinct from them, just because It has no (natural) association with them, and thus the Self's self-effulgence does not become negated, similarly, although the mind persists (in dream), together with the impressions activated by ignorance, desire, and past actions, yet the most arrogant sophist cannot deny then the self-effulgence of the Self which, while remaining totally dissociated from the entire group of causes and effects, witnesses through ignorance the mental impressions created by past actions like something different from Itself; for the witnessing Self then remains totally distinct from the impressions that form the objects visualised (by It). Hence it has been well said that when the senses merge into the mind which, however, remains unabsorbed, the Self, as identified with the mind, sees dreams.

How the mind experiences its diverse manifestations is being said: Being under the influence of the impressions of any object—be it a friend or a son etc.—yat, which; dṛṣṭam pūrvam, was seen earlier; it paśyati, sees; it thinks through ignorance that it sees the visions resembling the son or the friend, called up by those impressions of the son, friend, etc. So also śrutam artham, whatever was heard; anuśṛṇoti, it seems to hear thereafter, under the influence of its impressions. Similarly, whatever was pratyanubhūtam deśadigantaraiḥ, perceived as belonging to the different places and quarters; it pratyanubhavati, experiences, appears to experience, through ignorance; punaḥ punaḥ, time and again. So also whatever was dṛṣṭam, seen, in this birth; and adṛṣṭam, not seen, that is to say, seen in another birth, for no impression can be left by what is absolutely unseen. Similarly, with regard to śrutam ca aśrutam ca, whatever was heard and not heard; anubhūtam, what was perceived, in this life through the mind alone; ananubhūtam ca, and whatever was not perceived, that is to say, was perceived by the mind itself in another birth; ca sat, and what is true, for instance the real water etc.; ca asat, and what is false, for instance, water in a mirage. To be brief, it paśyati, sees; sarvam, all, enumerated or not; sarvaḥ (san), by becoming all, by becoming conditioned by all the mental impressions. Thus the deity, called mind, sees dreams in its unification with all the senses.

The two oblations consisting of ucchvāsa-niḥśvāsau, inhaling and exhaling; are the āhutī, two oblations, of the Agnihotra sacrifice, as it were, just because of the similarity of being two in number. Yat, since; since these are oblations, and since that vital function (called Samāna) samam nayati, strikes a balance, for ever; between etau āhutī, these two oblations, so as to ensure the maintenance of the body; iti, therefore; it is here verily the priest called the Hotā, because of the similarity of carrying the oblations (like the priest), and this despite the fact that it is called a fire (in the earlier paragraph). Which is it? Saḥ samānaḥ, it is Samāna. Because of this further reason, the sleep of an illumined man is verily a performance of the Agnihotra sacrifice. Therefore the idea implied is that the illumined man is not to be considered a non-performer of rites. It is thus that in the Vājasaneyaka it is said that all the component parts of the body and senses of this illumined man perform sacrifices even while he sleeps.footnote{By the text "Vāk citaḥ, prāṇaḥ citaḥ, cakṣuḥ citaḥ" etc. in the Vājasaneyaka, it is enjoined that one should think of the activity of each function of the Prāṇa as a performance of sacrifice. And so it is pointed out that the organs of knowledge and action continue their sacrifices even during the sleep of a man who knows thus. The text there is meant as a praise of this knowledge. Similarly in the present context the purpose is not to enjoin a meditation, it being out of place under this topic of transcendental knowledge, but to eulogise illumination.} Such being the case, manaḥ ha vāva yajamānaḥ, it is the mind that is the sacrificer, who keeps awake after having poured (as oblation) the external organs and their objects into the wakeful fires of Prāṇa, and who is intent on going to Brahman, just as one would reach heaven as the result of the Agnihotra sacrifice. The mind is imagined to be the sacrificer, because, like the sacrificer, it acts as the chief among the aggregate of body and senses, and because it sets out for Brahman, just as the sacrificer does for heaven. Iṣṭaphalam eva, the result itself of the sacrifice; is udānaḥ, the vital function called Udāna, because the achievement of the result of a sacrifice depends on Udāna. How? Saḥ, he Udāna; ahaḥ ahaḥ, every day; gamayati, leads; yajamānam, the sacrificer, called the mind; to brahma, Brahman, the Immutable, as though to heaven, during the time of sleep, after causing the mind to cease even from the dream activities. Hence Udāna takes the place of the result of the sacrifice.