The Six Questions to Pippalada
Six seekers, one teacher, and the single Self behind matter, breath, sleep, Om, and the person
Before the dialogue
The Prashna Upanishad belongs to the Paippalada school of the Atharvaveda and is counted among the ten or so "principal" (mukhya) Upanishads on which Shankara wrote a commentary. Unusually among the major Upanishads, it is built as six clearly separated question-and-answer units rather than a continuous narrative, which is where its name (prashna, "question") comes from. Each unit is self-contained enough to be read on its own, but the six are bound together by the shared frame story of the opening section and by Pippalada's closing address to all six students together.
Like the other classical Upanishads, the Prashna Upanishad has no securely datable author or date of composition; it is generally placed among the later prose-and-verse Upanishads, after the very early Brihadaranyaka and Chandogya, and is usually grouped with the Mundaka and Mandukya Upanishads because all three belong to the Atharvaveda and share an interest in the syllable Om. Its six questioners carry family names (Bharadvaja, Katyayana, Vaidarbhi, Ashvalayana, Gargya) that place them among Vedic teaching lineages rather than identifying them as historical individuals otherwise attested outside this text.
The sage who receives the six seekers, makes them wait a year in austerity before answering, and answers each of their six questions in turn.
Asks where created beings come from.
Asks how many powers sustain a creature and which of them is supreme.
Asks where the life-breath (prana) is born, how it enters the body, and how it distributes itself.
Asks what sleeps and what stays awake in a person, and what sees dreams.
Asks what a person who meditates on the syllable Om until death attains.
Relays a prince's unanswered question and asks Pippalada to identify the person of sixteen parts.
Prashna 1 of 6 — Kabandhi asks: where do beings arise from?
Six students who considered themselves devoted to Brahman came to the sage Pippalada carrying firewood in their hands, in the manner of pupils, and asked to be taught the highest Brahman. Rather than answer at once, Pippalada told them to spend one more year in austerity, chastity and faith, promising that he would then answer whatever they asked. Only after that year does the first question come, from Kabandhi Katyayana.
Kabandhi Katyayanaअथ कबन्धी कात्यायन उपेत्य पप्रच्छ । भगवन् कुतो ह वा इमाः प्रजाः प्रजायन्त इति ॥ ३ ॥
atha kabandhī kātyāyana upetya papraccha | bhagavan kuto ha vā imāḥ prajāḥ prajāyanta iti || 3 ||
Then Kabandhi Katyayana approached him and asked: "Venerable one, from where indeed are these creatures born?"
Prashna Upanishad 1.3
Pippaladaतस्मै स होवाच प्रजाकामो वै प्रजापतिः स तपोऽतप्यत स तपस्तप्त्वा स मिथुनमुत्पादयते रयिं च प्राणं चेत्येतौ मे बहुधा प्रजाः करिष्यत इति ॥ ४ ॥
tasmai sa hovāca prajākāmo vai prajāpatiḥ sa tapo 'tapyata sa tapas taptvā sa mithunam utpādayate rayiṃ ca prāṇaṃ ca ity etau me bahudhā prajāḥ kariṣyata iti || 4 ||
To him he said: "Prajapati, the lord of creatures, desired offspring. He performed austerity, and having done so, he produced a pair — matter (rayi) and life-breath (prana) — thinking, 'these two together will make creatures for me in many ways.'"
Prashna Upanishad 1.4
Pippaladaविश्वरूपं हरिणं जातवेदसं परायणं ज्योतिरेकं तपन्तम् । सहस्ररश्मिः शतधा वर्तमानः प्राणः प्रजानामुदयत्येष सूर्यः ॥ ८ ॥
viśvarūpaṃ hariṇaṃ jātavedasaṃ parāyaṇaṃ jyotir ekaṃ tapantam | sahasraraśmiḥ śatadhā vartamānaḥ prāṇaḥ prajānām udayaty eṣa sūryaḥ || 8 ||
Of every form, golden, knower of all things, the final refuge, the one light that burns — thousand-rayed, present in a hundred places, this sun rises as the life-breath of all creatures.
Prashna Upanishad 1.8
Pippaladaअथोत्तरेण तपसा ब्रह्मचर्येण श्रद्धया विद्ययाऽऽत्मानमन्विष्यादित्यमभिजयन्ते । एतद्वै प्राणानामायतनमेतदमृतमभयमेतत्परायणमेतस्मान्न पुनरावर्तन्त इत्येष निरोधस्तदेष श्लोकः ॥ १० ॥
atha uttareṇa tapasā brahmacaryeṇa śraddhayā vidyayā ātmānam anviṣya ādityam abhijayante | etad vai prāṇānām āyatanam etad amṛtam abhayam etat parāyaṇam etasmān na punar āvartante ity eṣa nirodhas tad eṣa ślokaḥ || 10 ||
But those who, through austerity, chastity, faith and knowledge, seek out the Self, win the sun by the northern path. This is the true home of the life-breaths — the immortal, the fearless, the final goal. From here they do not return again; this is the end of the cycle.
Prashna Upanishad 1.10
Pippaladaतेषामसौ विरजो ब्रह्मलोको न येषु जिह्ममनृतं न माया चेति ॥ १६ ॥
teṣām asau virajo brahmalokaḥ na yeṣu jihmam anṛtaṃ na māyā ceti || 16 ||
Theirs is that stainless world of Brahman — theirs, in whom there is nothing crooked, nothing false, and no deceit.
Prashna Upanishad 1.16
Kabandhi's cosmological question receives a cosmological answer: all created beings trace back to Prajapati's twofold offspring, matter and breath, imaged respectively as moon and sun. The answer then branches into an ethical teaching — which of two paths, ritual or knowledge, one's life actually follows — before closing on the simple qualification that governs both: a life without falsehood.
Prashna 2 of 6 — Bhargava asks: which power sustains the person, and is supreme?
The second question moves from cosmology to the living body: which of its several powers actually keeps it going, and which of them outranks the rest.
Bhargava Vaidarbhiअथ हैनं भार्गवो वैदर्भिः पप्रच्छ । भगवन् कत्येव देवाः प्रजां विधारयन्ते कतर एतत्प्रकाशयन्ते कः पुनरेषां वरिष्ठ इति ॥ १ ॥
atha hainaṃ bhārgavo vaidarbhiḥ papraccha | bhagavan katy eva devāḥ prajāṃ vidhārayante katara etat prakāśayante kaḥ punar eṣāṃ variṣṭha iti || 1 ||
Then Bhargava Vaidarbhi asked him: "Venerable one, how many powers sustain this creature, how many of them make their presence known in it, and which of them is the foremost?"
Prashna Upanishad 2.1
Pippaladaतान्वरिष्ठः प्राण उवाच । मा मोहमापद्यथ अहमेवैतत्पञ्चधाऽऽत्मानं प्रविभज्यैतद्बाणमवष्टभ्य विधारयामीति तेऽश्रद्दधाना बभूवुः ॥ ३ ॥
tān variṣṭhaḥ prāṇa uvāca | mā moham āpadyata aham evaitat pañcadhā ātmānaṃ pravibhajya etad bāṇam avaṣṭabhya vidhārayāmi iti te 'śraddadhānā babhūvuḥ || 3 ||
To them the foremost, Prana, said: "Do not be deluded — it is I alone who, dividing myself fivefold, hold this frame up and sustain it." But they did not believe him.
Prashna Upanishad 2.3
Pippaladaएषोऽग्निस्तपत्येष सूर्य एष पर्जन्यो मघवानेष वायुः एष पृथिवी रयिर्देवः सदसच्चामृतं च यत् ॥ ५ ॥
eṣo 'gnis tapaty eṣa sūrya eṣa parjanyo maghavān eṣa vāyuḥ eṣa pṛthivī rayir devaḥ sad asac cāmṛtaṃ ca yat || 5 ||
He is Agni who burns, he is the Sun, he is Parjanya the rain-god, the mighty Indra, he is Vayu the wind; he is the earth, he is matter, he is the deity — he is what is and what is not, and what is immortal.
Prashna Upanishad 2.5
Pippaladaप्राणस्येदं वशे सर्वं त्रिदिवे यत्प्रतिष्ठितम् । मातेव पुत्रान् रक्षस्व श्रीश्च प्रज्ञां च विधेहि न इति ॥ १३ ॥
prāṇasyedaṃ vaśe sarvaṃ tridive yat pratiṣṭhitam | mātā iva putrān rakṣasva śrīś ca prajñāṃ ca vidhehi na iti || 13 ||
All this, whatever is established in the three heavens, is within the power of Prana. Protect us as a mother protects her children, and grant us prosperity and wisdom.
Prashna Upanishad 2.13
Bhargava's question is answered not by argument but by a demonstration: when Prana makes as if to leave the body, every other faculty leaves with it, and returns only when Prana returns — proving, without dispute, that it alone is what holds the others up. The other faculties respond by praising Prana as identical with every cosmic power they had each separately claimed to be.
Prashna 3 of 6 — Kausalya asks: where is prana born, and how does it move?
Having been told that prana is supreme, Kausalya Ashvalayana now asks the more technical question: where does this life-breath itself come from, and how exactly does it operate in the body.
Kausalya Ashvalayanaअथ हैनं कौसल्यश्चाश्वलायनः पप्रच्छ । भगवन् कुत एष प्राणो जायते कथमायात्यस्मिञ्छरीर आत्मानं वा प्रविभज्य कथं प्रतिष्ठते केनोत्क्रमते कथं बाह्यमभिधत्ते कथमध्यात्ममिति ॥ १ ॥
atha hainaṃ kausalyaś cāśvalāyanaḥ papraccha | bhagavan kuta eṣa prāṇo jāyate katham āyāty asmiñ charīra ātmānaṃ vā pravibhajya kathaṃ pratiṣṭhate kenotkramate kathaṃ bāhyam abhidhatte katham adhyātmam iti || 1 ||
Then Kausalya Ashvalayana asked him: "Venerable one, from where is this life-breath born? How does it enter this body? How, having divided itself, does it establish itself? By what does it depart? How does it sustain what is outside, and how what is within?"
Prashna Upanishad 3.1
Pippaladaआत्मन एष प्राणो जायते । यथैषा पुरुषे छायैतस्मिन्नेतदाततं मनोकृतेनायात्यस्मिञ्छरीरे ॥ ३ ॥
ātmana eṣa prāṇo jāyate | yathaiṣā puruṣe chāyā etasminn etad ātataṃ manokṛtena āyāty asmiñ charīre || 3 ||
This life-breath is born of the Self. As a shadow is cast over a person, so is this breath stretched over the Self. It enters this body through what the mind has done.
Prashna Upanishad 3.3
Pippaladaहृदि ह्येष आत्मा । अत्रैतदेकशतं नाडीनां तासां शतं शतमेकैकस्या द्वासप्ततिर्द्वासप्ततिः प्रतिशाखानाडीसहस्राणि भवन्ति आसु व्यानश्चरति ॥ ६ ॥
hṛdi hy eṣa ātmā | atra etad ekaśataṃ nāḍīnāṃ tāsāṃ śataṃ śatam ekaikasyā dvāsaptatir dvāsaptatiḥ pratiśākhā nāḍīsahasrāṇi bhavanti āsu vyānaś carati || 6 ||
This Self resides in the heart. Here there are a hundred and one channels (nadis); of each of these there are a hundred branches, and of each of those, again, seventy-two thousand smaller offshoots. Among these the vyana (the pervading breath) moves.
Prashna Upanishad 3.6
Pippaladaउत्पत्तिमायतिं स्थानं विभुत्वं चैव पञ्चधा । अध्यात्मं चैव प्राणस्य विज्ञायामृतमश्नुते विज्ञायामृतमश्नुत इति ॥ १२ ॥
utpattim āyatiṃ sthānaṃ vibhutvaṃ caiva pañcadhā | adhyātmaṃ caiva prāṇasya vijñāya amṛtam aśnute vijñāya amṛtam aśnuta iti || 12 ||
Having known the origin, the departure, the abode, the fivefold pervasion, and the inward nature of the life-breath, one attains immortality — yes, having known this, one attains immortality.
Prashna Upanishad 3.12
Where Prashna 2 established that prana is supreme, Prashna 3 supplies its physiology: born of the Self, entering the body through the mind's past deeds, and then dividing into five functional breaths distributed through the eyes, ears, excretory organs, the heart's hundred-and-one channels, and the point of departure at death. The technical middle portion (mantras 4-9, on apana, samana, vyana and udana and their fire-altar parallels) is summarized here rather than quoted verse by verse.
Prashna 4 of 6 — Sauryayani asks: who sleeps, who wakes, who dreams?
The fourth question turns from the mechanics of breath to the mechanics of consciousness itself: what happens to a person across waking, dream and dreamless sleep.
Sauryayani Gargyaअथ हैनं सौर्यायणी गार्ग्यः पप्रच्छ । भगवन्नेतस्मिन्पुरुषे कानि स्वपन्ति कान्यस्मिञ्जाग्रति कतर एष देवः स्वप्नान्पश्यति कस्यैतत्सुखं भवति कस्मिन्नु सर्वे सम्प्रतिष्ठिता भवन्तीति ॥ १ ॥
atha hainaṃ sauryāyaṇī gārgyaḥ papraccha | bhagavann etasmin puruṣe kāni svapanti kāny asmiñ jāgrati katara eṣa devaḥ svapnān paśyati kasyaitat sukhaṃ bhavati kasminn u sarve sampratiṣṭhitā bhavantīti || 1 ||
Then Sauryayani Gargya asked him: "Venerable one, what is it in this person that sleeps, and what stays awake in him? Which power is it that sees dreams? Whose is this happiness? And in what do all these finally rest?"
Prashna Upanishad 4.1
Pippaladaतस्मै स होवाच । यथा गार्ग्य मरीचयोऽर्कस्यास्तं गच्छतः सर्वा एतस्मिंस्तेजोमण्डल एकीभवन्ति ताः पुनः पुनरुदयतः प्रचरन्त्येवं ह वै तत्सर्वं परे देवे मनस्येकीभवति तेन तर्ह्येष पुरुषो न शृणोति न पश्यति न जिघ्रति न रसयते न स्पृशते नाभिवदते नादत्ते नानन्दयते न विसृजते नेयायते स्वपितीत्याचक्षते ॥ २ ॥
tasmai sa hovāca | yathā gārgya marīcayo 'rkasyāstaṃ gacchataḥ sarvā etasmiṃs tejomaṇḍala ekībhavanti tāḥ punaḥ punar udayataḥ pracaranty evaṃ ha vai tat sarvaṃ pare deve manasy ekībhavati tena tarhy eṣa puruṣo na śṛṇoti na paśyati na jighrati na rasayate na spṛśate nābhivadate nādatte nānandayate na visṛjate neyāyate svapitīty ācakṣate || 2 ||
To him he said: "Gargya, just as the sun's rays all gather into that single orb of light as it sets, and stream out again each time it rises, so too does all this gather into that highest faculty, the mind. That is why this person then neither hears, nor sees, nor smells, nor tastes, nor touches, nor speaks, nor grasps, nor enjoys, nor evacuates, nor moves about. 'He sleeps,' they say."
Prashna Upanishad 4.2
Pippaladaएष हि द्रष्टा स्प्रष्टा श्रोता घ्राता रसयिता मन्ता बोद्धा कर्ता विज्ञानात्मा पुरुषः । स परेऽक्षर आत्मनि सम्प्रतिष्ठते ॥ ९ ॥
eṣa hi draṣṭā spraṣṭā śrotā ghrātā rasayitā mantā boddhā kartā vijñānātmā puruṣaḥ | sa pare 'kṣara ātmani sampratiṣṭhate || 9 ||
For it is he who sees, touches, hears, smells, tastes, thinks, understands and acts — the person whose very nature is knowing. He rests in the highest, imperishable Self.
Prashna Upanishad 4.9
Pippaladaविज्ञानात्मा सह देवैश्च सर्वैः प्राणा भूतानि सम्प्रतिष्ठन्ति यत्र । तदक्षरं वेदयते यस्तु सोम्य स सर्वज्ञः सर्वमेवाविवेशेति ॥ ११ ॥
vijñānātmā saha devaiś ca sarvaiḥ prāṇā bhūtāni sampratiṣṭhanti yatra | tad akṣaraṃ vedayate yas tu somya sa sarvajñaḥ sarvam evāviveśa iti || 11 ||
He, gentle one, who knows that imperishable being in which the knowing self, together with every power, the life-breaths, and the elements come to rest — he, all-knowing, has entered into all.
Prashna Upanishad 4.11
Sauryayani's question about sleep receives an answer that is really about identity: what falls asleep is only the senses' activity, gathered back into mind as sunlight gathers into the sun; what enjoys the greatness of dream is the mind reliving what it has known; and what remains even in dreamless rest, untouched by either, is the imperishable Self in which the knowing self, the breaths and the elements alike are grounded.
Prashna 5 of 6 — Satyakama asks: what does meditation on Om attain?
The fifth question shifts from description to practice: what, precisely, does a person who meditates on the syllable Om until death actually gain by it.
Satyakama Sibiअथ हैनं शैब्यः सत्यकामः पप्रच्छ । स यो ह वै तद्भगवन्मनुष्येषु प्रायणान्तमोङ्कारमभिध्यायीत कतमं वाव स तेन लोकं जयतीति । तस्मै स होवाच ॥ १ ॥
atha hainaṃ śaibyaḥ satyakāmaḥ papraccha | sa yo ha vai tad bhagavan manuṣyeṣu prāyaṇāntam oṅkāram abhidhyāyīta katamaṃ vāva sa tena lokaṃ jayati iti | tasmai sa hovāca || 1 ||
Then Satyakama Sibi asked him: "Venerable one, if a person among men should meditate on the syllable Om right up until the moment of death, what world does he win by that?" To him he said:
Prashna Upanishad 5.1
Pippaladaएतद्वै सत्यकाम परं चापरं च ब्रह्म यदोङ्कारः । तस्माद्विद्वानेतेनैवायतनेनैकतरमन्वेति ॥ २ ॥
etad vai satyakāma paraṃ cāparaṃ ca brahma yad oṅkāraḥ | tasmād vidvān etenaivāyatanena ekataram anveti || 2 ||
This syllable Om, Satyakama, is indeed both the higher and the lower Brahman. Therefore the knower, by this same support, reaches one or the other.
Prashna Upanishad 5.2
Pippaladaयः पुनरेतं त्रिमात्रेणोमित्येतेनैवाक्षरेण परं पुरुषमभिध्यायीत स तेजसि सूर्ये सम्पन्नः । यथा पादोदरस्त्वचा विनिर्मुच्यत एवं ह वै स पाप्मना विनिर्मुक्तः स सामभिरुन्नीयते ब्रह्मलोकं स एतस्माज्जीवघनात्परात्परं पुरिशयं पुरुषमीक्षते । तदेतौ श्लोकौ भवतः ॥ ५ ॥
yaḥ punar etaṃ trimātreṇa om ity etenaivākṣareṇa paraṃ puruṣam abhidhyāyīta sa tejasi sūrye sampannaḥ | yathā pādodaras tvacā vinirmucyate evaṃ ha vai sa pāpmanā vinirmuktaḥ sa sāmabhir unnīyate brahmalokaṃ sa etasmāj jīvaghanāt parāt paraṃ puriśayaṃ puruṣam īkṣate | tad etau ślokau bhavataḥ || 5 ||
But whoever meditates on the highest Person with this very syllable Om of three measures attains the radiance of the sun. As a snake sheds its skin, so is he freed from evil. He is carried upward by the Sama-verses to the world of Brahman, and from that mass of living beings, higher than the highest, he beholds the Person dwelling in the citadel of the heart. On this there are these two verses:
Prashna Upanishad 5.5
Pippaladaऋग्भिरेतं यजुर्भिरन्तरिक्षं सामभिर्यत्तत्कवयो वेदयन्ते । तमोङ्कारेणैवायतनेनान्वेति विद्वान् यत्तच्छान्तमजरममृतमभयं परं चेति ॥ ७ ॥
ṛgbhir etaṃ yajurbhir antarikṣaṃ sāmabhir yat tat kavayo vedayante | tam oṅkāreṇaivāyatanenānveti vidvān yat tac chāntam ajaram amṛtam abhayaṃ paraṃ ceti || 7 ||
Through the Rik-verses one reaches this world, through the Yajus-verses the mid-region, through the Saman-verses that which the sages know. By this same syllable Om as support, the knower reaches what is at peace, unaging, immortal, fearless, and supreme.
Prashna Upanishad 5.7
Satyakama's question receives a graded answer rather than a single one: Om is capable of carrying a meditator anywhere from an ordinary human birth to identity with the Person beyond the world of living beings, and which of these results follows depends entirely on how the syllable is understood and meditated upon.
Prashna 6 of 6 — Sukesha asks: who is the person of sixteen parts?
The final question arrives by way of a story: Sukesha Bharadvaja was once asked this very question by a prince and had to admit he did not know the answer rather than speak falsely. He now puts the same question to Pippalada.
Sukesha Bharadvajaअथ हैनं सुकेशा भारद्वाजः पप्रच्छ । भगवन्हिरण्यनाभः कौसल्यो राजपुत्रो मामुपेत्यैतं प्रश्नमपृच्छत । षोडशकलं भारद्वाज पुरुषं वेत्थ । तमहं कुमारमब्रुवं नाहमिमं वेद यध्यहमिममवेदिषं कथं ते नावक्ष्यमिति । समूलो वा एष परिशुष्यति योऽनृतमभिवदति तस्मान्नार्हाम्यनृतं वक्तुम् । स तूष्णीं रथमारुह्य प्रवव्राज । तं त्वा पृच्छामि क्वासौ पुरुष इति ॥ १ ॥
atha hainaṃ sukeśā bhāradvājaḥ papraccha | bhagavan hiraṇyanābhaḥ kausalyo rājaputro mām upetya etaṃ praśnam apṛcchata | ṣoḍaśakalaṃ bhāradvāja puruṣaṃ vettha | tam ahaṃ kumāram abruvaṃ nāham imaṃ veda yady aham imam avediṣaṃ kathaṃ te nāvakṣyam iti | samūlo vā eṣa pariśuṣyati yo 'nṛtam abhivadati tasmān nārhāmy anṛtaṃ vaktum | sa tūṣṇīṃ ratham āruhya pravavrāja | taṃ tvā pṛcchāmi kvāsau puruṣa iti || 1 ||
Then Sukesha Bharadvaja asked him: "Venerable one, Hiranyanabha, the prince of Kosala, once came to me and put this very question: 'Bharadvaja, do you know the person of sixteen parts?' I told the young man, 'I do not know him — if I knew him, how could I fail to tell you? One who speaks an untruth withers away root and all; I dare not speak falsely.' He mounted his chariot in silence and rode away. So now I ask you: where is that person?"
Prashna Upanishad 6.1
Pippaladaस प्राणमसृजत प्राणाच्छ्रद्धां खं वायुर्ज्योतिरापः पृथिवीन्द्रियं मनः । अन्नमन्नाद्वीर्यं तपो मन्त्राः कर्म लोका लोकेषु च नाम च ॥ ४ ॥
sa prāṇam asṛjata prāṇāc chraddhāṃ khaṃ vāyur jyotir āpaḥ pṛthivī indriyaṃ manaḥ | annam annād vīryaṃ tapo mantrāḥ karma lokā lokeṣu ca nāma ca || 4 ||
He sent forth the life-breath; from the life-breath, faith; then space, air, light, water, earth, the senses, and mind; from mind, food; and from food, vigour, austerity, the sacred verses, ritual action, the worlds, and, within the worlds, name.
Prashna Upanishad 6.4
Pippaladaस यथेमा नद्यः स्यन्दमानाः समुद्रायणाः समुद्रं प्राप्यास्तं गच्छन्ति भिद्येते तासां नामरूपे समुद्र इत्येवं प्रोच्यते । एवमेवास्य परिद्रष्टुरिमाः षोडशकलाः पुरुषायणाः पुरुषं प्राप्यास्तं गच्छन्ति भिद्येते चासां नामरूपे पुरुष इत्येवं प्रोच्यते स एषोऽकलोऽमृतो भवति तदेष श्लोकः ॥ ५ ॥
sa yathemā nadyaḥ syandamānāḥ samudrāyaṇāḥ samudraṃ prāpyāstaṃ gacchanti bhidyete tāsāṃ nāmarūpe samudra ity evaṃ procyate | evam evāsya paridraṣṭur imāḥ ṣoḍaśakalāḥ puruṣāyaṇāḥ puruṣaṃ prāpyāstaṃ gacchanti bhidyete cāsāṃ nāmarūpe puruṣa ity evaṃ procyate sa eṣo 'kalo 'mṛto bhavati tad eṣa ślokaḥ || 5 ||
Just as these flowing rivers, moving toward the ocean, disappear into it once they reach it — their name and form broken apart, so that one speaks only of 'the ocean' — so too these sixteen parts of the witnessing Person, moving toward the Person, disappear into him once they reach him: their name and form broken apart, so that one speaks only of 'the Person.' He then becomes partless, immortal. On this there is this verse:
Prashna Upanishad 6.5
Pippaladaअरा इव रथनाभौ कला यस्मिन्प्रतिष्ठिताः । तं वेद्यं पुरुषं वेद यथा मा वो मृत्युः परिव्यथा इति ॥ ६ ॥
arā iva rathanābhau kalā yasmin pratiṣṭhitāḥ | taṃ vedyaṃ puruṣaṃ veda yathā mā vo mṛtyuḥ parivyathā iti || 6 ||
As spokes are set in the hub of a wheel, so are these parts set in him. Know that Person who is to be known — so that death may not trouble you.
Prashna Upanishad 6.6
Pippaladaतान्होवाचैतावदेवाहमेतत्परं ब्रह्म वेद । नातः परमस्तीति ॥ ७ ॥ ते तमर्चयन्तस्त्वं हि नः पिता योऽस्माकमविद्यायाः परं परं तारयसीति । नमः परमऋषिभ्यो नमः परमऋषिभ्यः ॥ ८ ॥
tān hovāca etāvad eva aham etat paraṃ brahma veda | nātaḥ param astīti || 7 || te tam arcayantas tvaṃ hi naḥ pitā yo 'smākam avidyāyāḥ paraṃ paraṃ tārayasi iti | namaḥ paramaṛṣibhyo namaḥ paramaṛṣibhyaḥ || 8 ||
He said to them: "Thus far, and no further, do I know this highest Brahman — there is nothing beyond it." Then, honouring him, they said: "You indeed are our father, you who carry us across, beyond our ignorance, to the farther shore." Salutation to the highest sages! Salutation to the highest sages!
Prashna Upanishad 6.7–8
The final question is answered by tracing a person's sixteen constituent parts back to their single source, using the same river-and-ocean image found elsewhere in the Upanishads for the loss of individual name and form on reaching the one Self. Pippalada then closes the whole text by naming the limit of his own knowledge rather than claiming anything beyond it, and the six students respond not with a further question but with gratitude.
Key insights
- Creation begins from Prajapati producing a single pair, matter (rayi) and life-breath (prana), and each later question turns out to be asking about some further unfolding of that same pair.
- The bodily organs' dispute over which of them is supreme is settled empirically, not by argument: when breath (prana) alone withdraws, speech, mind, eye and ear all fail with it, showing it to be their common support.
- Prana in the body is one power differentiated into five functions (prana, apana, vyana, samana, udana), each mapped onto one of the sacrificial fires, so that physiology and ritual symbolism are made to mirror each other.
- Waking, dream and dreamless sleep are read as three degrees to which the senses withdraw into the mind and then into the Self; even in the deepest sleep something remains that is never actually unconscious.
- Meditating on Om is taught as a graded practice: one measure (A) leads to a human birth, two measures (A+U) to the heaven of the moon with a return, three measures (A+U+M) to identity with the highest Person and no return at all.
- The sixteen kalas that make up a person - breath, faith, the five elements, sense, mind, food and what food yields - are said to sink into the Self exactly as rivers sink into the ocean, losing their separate name and form.
