#Ep 7 Prashna Upanishad - Ancient Indian View on Creation, Time, Matter & Soul

[Music] namaskar from the times of great antiquity one of the great curiosities of the mankind has been to make sense of our universe to make sense of our existence this curiosity has always led to a barrage of many existential queries such as who am i how the universe came into existence what is that in me that subliminal entity which sees the dreams even when i sleep what are the senses and who controls them from where did the journey of life begin and where will it take me and so on this quest of knowledge and realizations has been endless passed on through words and actions and newer perspectives thus gained the evolution of this quest has been built upon interactions between individuals and generations we see this being reflected in the thinking process of civilizations across eras and across the globe we see this rumination in early indian thought ii and upanishads are one of the most prominent examples of that upanishads deal with all the above mentioned questions in their own way or i would say in a path breaking way and today we are going to discuss the upanishad that perhaps represents this innate curiosity and the never ending quest in the most immersive manner the krishna punisher belongs to the paipalata branch of the veda krashna means question or query and if we consider the meaning of word upanishad as secret or esoteric knowledge then we can interpret the title as exploring the answers to some pertinent questions so let's see the beginning of krishna punisher so in their quest of realizing the ultimate truth these six ages approached a great sage named pipalada and they asked him some questions before we begin we must recognize that this is not a general and a routine interaction we are discussing the great tradition of upanishads composed by sages who were devoted to the penance who were devoted to brothers or vows and devoted to the discovery of truth thus the beginning portion of the prashna panisha says all six ages devoted to brahman brahma-paraha intent on brahman brahmanisthaaha seeking the highest brahman brahman approached the revered pepalada but it was not easy to glean knowledge from a sage like bipolar so when the six sages went to pippalada rushi piparada asked him to live with him for one year and practice austerity with chastity and faith and only then would people other entertain their questions so this is about the concept of adhikari it means that the person seeking such knowledge ought to be eligible to gain it he needs to be earnest and persistent and only then will it be imparted the six ages therefore lived there for the year they performed austerities as instructed by pipalaga and then as the year ended sage gabandhi asked the first question his enquiry was about utpati about how praja which means all living beings was created he asks where and how are all these creatures born so people are the replies to this question with a beautiful explanation he says it was prajapati who created all beings that is the praja we can understand the word prajapati as the lord of creation he created praja because he was desirous of offspring so how prajapati created his creation first he performed penance and then prajapati produced two elements from tapas rei the female principal we can broadly translate the word ray as matter and pranam is life force or breath prajapati produced the pair of ray and prana or matter and life thinking that they would produce creatures for him um this sentence is not only beautiful but in it also holds gravitas that signify are the dimensions of the process of creation please take a note here the time and classification of time is equated with lord of creation is the lord of creation it has two parts uttarayanam and dakshinayanam in this section are the two four units of time division are also identified with prachapati masa the month is prajapati the two units of month is krishna paksha and second one is shukla paksha krishna paksha is identified with the feminine principle of rain and shukula paksha is identified with piranha in the same fashion day and night are identified with prajapati in this pair dey is prana tattwa and knight is raitatwa i think this pattern this thought process it is absolutely fascinating look at it as a tree of creation its root and its multiplying branches at the origin it is prajapati the lord of creation it further branches out in pairs which represent the essence of ray and prana so these are the fundamentals of the creation of the universe which reflect on the principle of time matter and life energy so after discussing the theory of creation bhargava vaidharavi asks the second question how many powers devaha among them is the greatest here a crucial point is raised when the beings are created which powers do support these creatures and the answer is the elements wind fire water earth speech mind eye and ear having illuminated the living being sustain and support the physical body so deva is a shining entity in which the senses are enumerated and prana is considered as superior to all varishta also prana is called omnipresent put forth his questions in the next section where does prana originate from how is the life energy born how does prana take form and functions and russia people are the answers prana originates from atman and he also explains the five pranas udana also explains how these pranas function in the human body here it is also said that atman resides in the heart rudi atma this section of the text also discusses heart and its hundred nadis channels and abouts thousand 72000 of each now we come to an absolutely unique section of the prison upanishad it deals with something that we all experience every day and often wonder about it delves upon the state of sleep state of dreaming and the state of dreamlaced sleep the discussion reveals the three states waking that is jagrat dream swapna and deep sleep that is sushupti so what exactly happens when a person sleeps the prashna panisha says all the senses merge into mind and become one with the mind in the state of sleep here manas the mind is equated with god sarvam para devanasi therefore in that state the person hears nothing sees nothing smells nothing tastes nothing touches nothing speaks nothing and goes nowhere then it is called that the person is sleeping in such a state of passivity only prana remains awake in the sleep now consider this if the person is so passive passive to the point of ceasing to exist then the question arises who sees the dreams in this state of sleep the mind comes alive and experiences its own promise mind experiences everything that have ever been experienced in every place in every direction and every cycle of time mind also experiences that which is not seen heard or experienced before it is sublime and subliminal it is surreal and ethereal this is the state of swapna the swapnavastha but as beautiful as the soap navista sounds there's something that lies beyond and is even more rewarding it is a state of nothing but in its nothingness is merged everything serene and elusive third state is called sushupti sushrukti is the state of dream lay sleep this state is considered as the most illuminating and enlightening one it is said when the mind is filled with the light stages then in this state of sushrupti the mind or manas sees no dreams the state of dreamlace and deep sleep is deemed a state of bliss in which all the senses attain the highest realm of reality the next section of this upanishad deals with questions regarding pranava the omkar in this discussion omkara is called brahma omkara is both para and upper abraham in this section omkar sadhana with its three matras ur u and mer is explained after this discussion in the last and sixth section of freshno panishad the concept of shrodasha kalapurusha is discussed shrodashakala purusha resides in the body with 16 colors here the concept of kalas denotes elements the concept of soda chakra purusha actually reflects on the journey of a soul at the culmination of which it unites with the supreme soul this is cyclical journey of a soul where it comes from is where it merges here prashnupanesha gives a beautiful metaphor when rivers flowing towards the ocean upon meeting the ocean disappear and lose their innate properties they cease to exist as themselves and simply become the ocean the 16 elements of purusa tending towards the ultimate reality upon reaching there similarly disappear they lose their shape their forms and their names the some parts become whole and become the purusa when prashnav panishad equates the prajapati or origin of the creation with time the color it hints at infinity and if we consider the main concepts of prashna panisha the creation the kaala pranam which is energy ray which is matter and the purusa the soul the text reveals various elements of eternity and infinity infinities infinite both in their scope and experience the infinity within us that is the soul and the infinity beyond that is space the infinity that is only partially experienced time and infinity that makes us the matter so this is the prashna punisher and this is the way in which it takes us through the origin of the creation its forms and functions the importance of prana significance of omkara sadhana discussion of the blissful state of mind at sushupti and the last pilgrimage of purusa that is uniting with the ultimate reality it is [Music] you

Channel: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute

Views: 7,622

Rating: 4.9634147 out of 5

Keywords: hinduism, philosophy, hindu philosophy, vedic philosophy, atharva veda, atharvaveda, veda, vedas, upanishads, upanishada, mind, matter, creation of universe, creation, space, infinity, infinities, time, beginning of infinity, soul, omkara, prana, dharma, mahabharata, dreams, dreamless sleep, bliss, zen, happiness, culture, hisotry, india, ancient india, ancient indian philosophy

Id: DfwdIHxBA1g

Length: 16min 0sec (960 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 20 2021