Question 3
Original Sanskrit
1 अथ हैनं कौशल्यष्चाश्वलायनः पप्रच्छ ।भगवन् कुतएष प्राणो जायते कथमायात्यस्मिञ्शरीर आत्मानं वाप्रविभज्य कथं प्रतिष्ठते केनोत्क्रमते कथं बह्यमभिधतेकथमध्यात्ममिति
2 तस्मै स होउवाचातिप्रष्चान् पृच्छसि ब्रह्मिष्ठोऽसीतितस्मात्तेऽहं ब्रवीमि
3 आत्मन एष प्राणो जायते ।यथैषा पुरुषेछायैतस्मिन्नेतदाततंमनोकृतेनायात्यस्मिञ्शरीरे
यथा सम्रादेवाधिकृतान् विनियुङ्क्ते ।एतन् ग्रामानोतान्ग्रामानधितिष्टस्वेत्येवमेवैष प्राण इतरान् प्राणान् पृथक्पृथगेव सन्निधत्ते
5 पायूपस्थेऽपानं चक्षुःश्रोत्रे मुखनासिकाभ्यां प्राणःस्वयंप्रातिष्टते मध्ये तु समानः ।एष ह्येतद्धुतमन्नं समंनयतितस्मादेताः सप्तार्चिषो भवन्ति
6 हृदि ह्येष आत्मा ।अत्रैतदेकशतं नाडीनं तासां शतंशतमेकैकस्या द्वासप्ततिर्द्वासप्ततिःप्रतिशाखानाडीसहस्राणिभवन्त्यासु व्यानश्चरति
7 अथैकयोर्ध्व उदानः पुण्येन पुण्यं लोकं नयति पापेनपापमुभाभ्यामेव मनुष्यलोकम्
8 आदित्यो ह वै बाह्यः प्राण उदयत्येष ह्येनं चाक्षुषंप्राणमनुगृह्णानः ।पृथिव्यां या देवता सैषा पुरुषस्यअपानमवष्टभ्यान्तरा यदाकाशः स समानो वायुर्व्यानः
9 तेजो ह वा उदानस्तस्मादुपशान्ततेजाः ।पुनर्भवमिन्द्रियैर्मनसि सम्पध्यमानैः
10 यच्चित्तस्तेनैष प्राणमायाति ।प्राणस्तेजसा युक्तः सहात्मनातथासङ्कल्पितं लोकं नयति
11 य एवं विद्वान् प्राणं वेद न हास्य प्रजा हीयतेऽमृतोभवति तदेषः श्लोकः
12 उत्पत्तिमायतिं स्थानं विभुत्वं चैव पञ्चधा ।अध्यात्मं चैव प्राणस्य विज्ञायामृतमश्नुतेविज्ञायामृतमश्नुत इति
इति प्रश्नोपनिषदि तृतीयः प्रश्नः ॥
Musean translation
Machine-assisted translation directly from Sanskrit.
1 Then Kaushalya Ashvalayana asked him, “Venerable sir, from what is this life-breath born? How does it enter this body? How does it divide itself and become established? By what does it leave? How does it uphold what is outside, and how what is within the person?”
2 He told him, “Your questions reach beyond the ordinary. You are firmly grounded in Brahman; therefore I will tell you.
3 “This life-breath is born from the Self. As a shadow depends upon a person, so this is spread upon the Self. It enters this body through the mind's activity.
“As a sovereign appoints officials, saying, ‘Govern these villages and those villages,’ so this life-breath assigns the other life-breaths, each to its separate station.
5 “The downward breath is in the organs of excretion and generation. Life-breath itself is established in the eyes and ears, and through the mouth and nostrils. In the middle is the equalizing breath: it distributes equally the food that is offered. From this arise the seven flames.
6 “The Self is in the heart. Here there are a hundred and one channels. Each has a hundred branches, and each branch has seventy-two thousand subsidiary channels. Through these moves the pervasive breath.
7 “Through one channel the ascending breath leads upward: to a good world through good action, to an evil world through evil action, and through both to the human world.
8 “The sun rises as the outward life-breath, for it favors the life-breath in the eye. The deity in the earth supports a person's downward breath. The space between is the equalizing breath; wind is the pervasive breath.
9 “Heat is the ascending breath. Therefore one whose heat has subsided goes to another birth, the senses gathering into the mind.
10 “With whatever thought one has, one enters life-breath. Life-breath, joined with heat and accompanying the self, leads to the world shaped by that intention.
11 “One who knows life-breath with this understanding suffers no loss of offspring and becomes immortal. Of this there is a verse:
12 “Knowing life-breath's origin, its coming, its station, its fivefold sovereignty,and its presence within the person, one attains immortality;one attains immortality.”
Thus ends the third question in the Prashna Upanishad.
Plain English translation
Independent machine-assisted translation from Sanskrit.
1 Then Kaushalya Ashvalayana asked him, "Sir, where does this life-breath come from? How does it enter this body? How does it divide itself and settle here? By what means does it leave? How does it support what is outside, and how does it support what is within a person?"
2 He told him, "You are asking very deep questions. But you are firmly grounded in Brahman, so I will tell you.
3 "This life-breath comes from the Self. Just as a shadow depends on a person, life-breath depends on the Self. It enters this body through the mind's activity.
"An emperor appoints officials, telling them, 'Take charge of these villages and those villages.' In the same way, this life-breath assigns the other life-breaths to their separate places.
5 "It places apana, the downward breath, in the anus and the genitals. Life-breath itself settles in the eyes and ears and works through the mouth and nostrils. In the middle is samana, the balancing breath. It distributes evenly the food offered to it. From this come the seven flames.
6 "The Self is in the heart. Here there are one hundred and one channels. Each of them has a hundred branches. Each branch has seventy-two thousand smaller channels. Vyana, the spreading breath, moves through them.
7 "Through one channel that goes upward, udana, the rising breath, leads a person to a good world through good deeds, to a bad world through bad deeds, and to the human world through both.
8 "The sun is the outer life-breath. It rises and supports the life-breath in the eye. The divine power in the earth supports a person's downward breath. The space between is the balancing breath, and wind is the spreading breath.
9 "Heat is the rising breath. So when a person's heat dies down, the senses come together in the mind, and the person goes on to another birth.
10 "Whatever a person's state of mind, with that they enter life-breath. Life-breath joins with heat and, together with the individual Self, leads them to the world they have in mind.
11 "When someone understands life-breath in this way, their line of offspring does not die out, and they become immortal. There is this verse about it:
12 "'By understanding life-breath's origin, arrival, place, and fivefold spread,and its working within a person, one gains immortality.By understanding it, one gains immortality.'"
Here ends the third question of the Prashna Upanishad.
About this section
Question 3 is part of Prashna Upanishad by Unknown. This page sets the Sanskrit original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is section 4 of 8 in the work, which is kept in the Hindu tradition.
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