A History of Indian Literature v1.c8.s9.37

v1.c8.s9.37

One of the most frequent appellations of the Ātman in the Upaniṣads is the word "prāṇa," *i.e.*, "breath of life, life, life-principle." And numerous portions of the Upaniṣads deal with this Prāṇa, which is one with the intelligent self; or with the relations of the same to the organs of the soul, the so-called Prāṇas (prāṇāḥ, plural of prāṇa). These organs—speech, breath, sight, hearing and the organ of thought—correspond to five forces of Nature in the universe: fire, wind, the sun, the quarters of heaven and the moon. And the Upaniṣads often talk of the reciprocal action between the organs and the forces of Nature. That is to a certain extent the psychology, which indeed cannot be separated from the metaphysics, of the Upaniṣads. The oft-related "psychological fable" of the dispute of the vital organs about rank, is very popular. It is there told how the Prāṇas, or vital organs, once fought for precedence. They went to the father Prajāpati, that he might settle their dispute.