Sutra Vahini Index

Praana Sthatthaanugamaath

(Praana is Brahman, because it is comprehended as such.)

Praana meaning the vital breath or air, refers not to the ordinary sense of the word, but to Brahman only. That word is also often taken to mean the deities presiding over the Breath and Vital Airs, like Indra, Rudra, Vaayu etc. Even that meaning is inapplicable.

On one occasion, a seeker named Pratardana approached Indra, the Lord of the abode of Gods, and prayed to be instructed about what can endow man with that which is most beneficial to him. Indra directed him to know Him as life and meditate on Him as "Praana".

Defining Praana and elaborating on its Glory, Indra told him: "This Praana is identified with consciousness" (Sa Esha Praana Prajnaatma). "It is Bliss, Ageless, Deathless" (Anando-Ajaro-Amrithah). That is to say Praana is the very embodiment of Bliss (Anandaswaroop), it has no decline or diminution (A-Jara), it is immortal (A-Mrita). That is the teaching. These characteristics belong to Brahman alone, not to Praana as commonly understood. "Praana" is only a symbol to bring Brahman to mind and not any other entity.

The question was about the most beneficial, the most essential entity, which man has to know and possess. Brahman alone is the source, substance and sustenance. So, "Praana", the word used by Indra, can mean only Brahman and nothing else. The gross meaning of the word has to be discarded and the subtle meaning accepted. Men, generally speaking, consider wealth, power and fame as most essential and pursue these goals through every possible means. In this struggle man is wasting invaluable human qualities with which he is endowed. Besides this waste of allotted years of life, he plunges deeper and deeper into the darkness of ignorance (Ajnaana). He ignores and loses the awareness of his real nature (Swa-Swaroopa).

On another occasion Indra instructs, "Know Me alone", (Maam Eva Vijaaneehi), that is to say, "Understand Me well; be aware of Me in full." The Indra referred to here cannot be a particular deity having a body with limbs. We cannot infer that the word "Praana" indicated the speaker Indra himself. One may argue that the entity who has to be meditated upon is either "Praana" or Indra, for Indra is Praana and Praana is Indra: it cannot be Brahman. This inference is not correct. Praana means Brahman and nothing else. Some interpret the statement "Know me alone" as a direction to the listener to "Know the Brahman that is My Reality, My Truth, My Core" - so Brahman alone is denoted by the word used by Indra while instructing Pratardana.

In common usage, in worldly parlance, Praana and Indra are associated with each other. In the vocabulary of spiritual enquiry, the Vast (Bhoomaa) is descriptive of Brahman which also means "The limitless, beyond even the Cosmos." Commentators have investigated the superficial and deeper meanings of these expressions and attempted to reconcile them as denoting one principle. Praana and Brahman, they laid down, are two faces of one coin; they are inextricably interpenetrative (Avinaabhaava Sambandha). What has therefore to be meditated upon is Brahman and nothing else.

"Saastra drshtyaa thu upadesha Vaamadevavathu": (The instruction is in consonance with the point of view of the scripture as in the case of Vaamadeva).

The sage Vaamadeva adhered to the teachings of the scriptures - I am Brahman (Aham Brahmaasmi), That thou art (Tathwam Asi); Brahman is the highest wisdom (Prajnaanam Brahma); This self is Brahman (Ayam Aatmaa Brahma) - which he listened to and thereby attained direct awareness of Brahman. (Aparoksha Brahma Jnaana). He meditated on the Truth "I am Brahman" (Aham Brahmaasmi). So too when Indra instructs, "Know Me alone" - the real Me - Brahman is meant not the vital force Praana. Before the awareness dawned on him, Vaamadeva too could well have understood by Praana, the deity Indra. His announcement after realization was, "I was Manu" (Aham Manurabhavam), "I am All" (Sarvaatmakam). In the same manner since the deity Indra possessed total wisdom, he could declare Brahman as equivalent to the Praana or the vital force in all. There is no inconsistency in this.

In fact Brahman can be indicated as any entity. All is Brahman. (Sarvam Brahmam). Truth, Wisdom, Eternity is Brahmam (Satyam-Jnaanam-Anantham-Brahma). In accordance with these expressions of intuitional experience, each and every thing can symbolise and denote Brahman. All things have emanated from Brahman, all things are projections of Brahman. Gold does not lose its nature, however many names and forms it may assume as jewellery. No one should be misled by the multiplicity of name and form in the objective world, the variety of sights and sounds. When the truth behind the diverse is identified, one is aware of Brahman as the Prime Cause, the Basis, the Goal. Indra the deity is none of these.