The Philosophy of the Upanishads c9.s3.t2.8

c9.s3.t2.8

The last-quoted legend suggests already that the prâṇa is not merely a psychical but also a cosmical principle, that it is not only the breath of life in men, but also the universal breath of life which prevails throughout the whole of nature. This transition is very natural. Among the most diverse peoples, from the purusha of the hymn Ṛigv. X. 90 to the giant Ymir of the Edda, we meet with the tendency to regard mankind as a microcosm, and vice versâ the universe as a makranthropos. This thought depends, in the first instance, upon the fact that that which is manifested in nature as a whole, with all its phenomena, finds its most definite and complete expression in man. But in detail also the human organism enters into manifold relations with the external world. By means of its various organs and functions it extends itself, as it were, over-against the surrounding phenomena of nature, and accommodates itself to them. The organs of nutrition correspond to the constitution of food, the breathing organs to the atmosphere; the structure of the feet corresponds to the earth, upon which they will have to move; and in the curvature of the head the vaulting of the heaven seems to be reproduced.¹