Prashna Upanishad

Question 1: From where are creatures born?

Sage Pippalada answers: Prajapati created two cosmic principles, Rayi (matter) and Prana (life-energy). All creation comes from their union. The sun is Prana (life-giver), the moon is Rayi (matter). Together they produce the entire cosmos.

प्रजाकामो वै प्रजापतिः स तपोऽतप्यत स मिथुनमुत्पादयते।
रयिं च प्राणं चेत्येतौ मे बहुधा प्रजाः करिष्यत इति।।

prajākāmo vai prajāpatiḥ sa tapo 'tapyata sa mithunam utpādayate rayiṁ ca prāṇaṁ cetyetau me bahudhā prajāḥ kariṣyata iti

"Prajapati, desiring offspring, performed austerity. He created a pair, Rayi and Prana, thinking: These two will produce creatures for me."

Question 2: How many powers support the body?

The sage describes how five pranas (life-energies), mind, speech, and other powers work together to sustain the body. But prana (the main life-breath) is supreme, when it departs, all others follow.

अथ हैनमाश्वलायनः पप्रच्छ भगवन्कत्येव देवाः प्रजां विधारयन्ते कतर एतत्प्रकाशयन्ते कः पुनरेषां वरिष्ठ इति।।

atha hainam āśvalāyanaḥ papraccha bhagavan katy eva devāḥ prajāṁ vidhārayante katara etat prakāśayante kaḥ punar eṣāṁ variṣṭha iti

"How many powers support the creature? Which illumine it? And which is the greatest among them?"

Question 3: From where does prana arise?

Prana arises from the Self (Atman). Just as a shadow follows a person, prana follows the Self's entry into the body. The five pranas are compared to a king assigning ministers to different provinces.

Question 4: What sleeps, what wakes, who sees dreams?

अत्रैष देवः स्वप्ने महिमानमनुभवति।
यद्दृष्टं दृष्टमनुपश्यति श्रुतं श्रुतमेवानुशृणोति।।

atraiṣa devaḥ svapne mahimānam anubhavati yad dṛṣṭaṁ dṛṣṭam anupaśyati śrutaṁ śrutam evānuśṛṇoti

"In dreams, this god (the mind) experiences its glory, seeing again what was seen, hearing again what was heard."

In waking, the senses go outward. In dreams, the mind creates its own world from memories. In deep sleep, the mind rests in prana. The Self remains as witness through all three states.

Question 5: What is gained by meditating on OM?

Meditation on OM leads to different results depending on its depth. Meditation on one syllable brings swift rebirth. Two syllables lead to the lunar world. Complete meditation on all three syllables leads to knowledge of Brahman.

Question 6: The Person with sixteen parts

स प्राणमसृजत प्राणाच्छ्रद्धां खं वायुर्ज्योतिरापः पृथिवीन्द्रियं मनः।
अन्नमन्नाद्वीर्यं तपो मन्त्राः कर्म लोका लोकेषु च नाम च।।

sa prāṇam asṛjata prāṇāc chraddhāṁ khaṁ vāyur jyotir āpaḥ pṛthivīndriyaṁ manaḥ annam annād vīryaṁ tapo mantrāḥ karma lokā lokeṣu ca nāma ca

"He created prana; from prana, faith, space, air, fire, water, earth, senses, mind, food; from food, vigor, austerity, mantras, action, worlds, and name."

The final question explores how the Supreme Person (Purusha) manifests through sixteen parts. When these parts dissolve back into the Supreme, liberation is attained.