Mantra 15
तद्ये ह वै तत् प्रजापतिव्रतं चरन्ति ते मिथुनमुत्पादयन्ते ।
तेषामेवैष ब्रह्मलोको येषां तपो ब्रह्मचर्यं येषु सत्यं
प्रतिष्ठितम् ॥ १.१५॥
tadye ha vai tat prajāpativrataṃ caranti te mithunamutpādayante .
teṣāmevaiṣa brahmaloko yeṣāṃ tapo brahmacaryaṃ yeṣu satyaṃ
pratiṣṭhitam .. 1.15..
Thus, those who observe the vow of Prajapati produce a pair. For them alone is the Brahmaloka in whom penance, celibacy and truth abide.
This Upanishad is a Brahmanopanishad and conveys an explanatory message to a grihastha. The Guru gives the path for self-control. This mantra advises having a pair that is self-control and tapas. These messages were not understood for generations, and that licentious indulgence has created overpopulation of humanity. Vedic masters conceived it long ago. When you have self-control, you will then uphold Prajapati, invoke Brahman, and lead a life of celibacy. One who leads such a life of self-control practices tapah, brahmachary, and satyam even he may be a householder. Such people attain Brahmaloka, an elevated spiritual state. If you violate this principle, you will go to pitruloka.
Mantra 16
तेषामसौ विरजो ब्रह्मलोको न येषु जिह्ममनृतं न माया चेति ॥ १.१६॥
teṣāmasau virajo brahmaloko na yeṣu jihmamanṛtaṃ na māyā ceti .. 1.16..
Thus, the pure Brahmaloka is to them only in whom there is no deceit, falsehood and hypocrisy.
The 15th & 16th mantras give qualities that should be practised if you want to elevate spiritually. In the 15th mantra, the Guru spoke about tapas penance, brahmacharya celibacy and leading a life of satyam truthfulness. In the 16th mantra, the Guru tells not to lead a life of deceit, falsehood and hypocrisy. One should lead a life of truthfulness for themselves and not be concerned about others’ opinions.
Deceit is leading a life by cheating others and being dishonest.
Falsehood is an act of life to distort reality.
Hypocrisy is leading a life based on others’ opinions and not being true to one’s nature. To pretend to be someone else whom we are not.
If you avoid these three things deceit, falsehood, and hypocrisy you are on the path of Brahmaloka.
The spiritual bliss of elevation is for those who practise the qualities mentioned in mantra 15 and avoid the qualities indicated in mantra 16. There is no compromise but to lead a life of satyam. The best way to understand satyam is to uphold your conscience. To confront your conscience is to violate satyam, which is to lead a life of deceit, falsehood, and hypocrisy. Your conscience should support what you are doing. When there is discomfort in any action, then you are not on the path of satyam.
This Chapter Prashna 1 ends with this mantra. This chapter establishes that the entire pluralistic world has risen from Prajapati who is the creator. A sequential explanation of how the various manifestations have all emerged from Prajapati. The prana consumes matter in the outer world. Everything in outer world is Prajapati and that is prana, energy. This chapter does not explain how the prana is operating within an individual.
इति प्रश्नोपनिषदि प्रथमः प्रश्नः ॥
iti praśnopaniṣadi prathamaḥ praśnaḥ ..
The second chapter explains how Prajapati, Brahman, plays a role within the body of each individual in every experience you go through. The total of endless experiences is what we call life.
The next question is asked by the sishya Bhargava. The question is what are the factors involved in bringing about an experience. The Guru answers in 13 mantras.
An experience comes about when the subject comes in contact with the object. The subject is the individual, and the object is the world. When the individual comes in contact with the world, there is an experience. The previous section analysed the object. Now this section analyses who an individual is. The factors in an individual that is responsible for an experience are organs of perception, organs of action, mind, and intellect. Organs of perception, jnana indriyas, are eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin. Then there are the karma indriyas, instruments of action: hands, feet, speech, organs of elimination and reproduction.
The instrument of perception has to be backed by the mind, and the instrument of action has to be backed by the intellect. Objects send the stimuli. All these four have to come together to have an experience.
Mind should back the perception of eyes/ears, for an experience to see/hear. While you are engaging the organs of action, say, speaking it is supported by intellect. If you are not conscious of what you are saying, you will not make sense. The conscious ability is the intellect. One is to receive the world, and the other is to process it and respond to the world. That makes an experience complete.
The next question is: what is the presiding deity, who are the devas controlling all these that are happening within me? Above these 4 instruments, the Guru is talking of five elements – space, air, fire, water, earth. These five elements are the five presiding deities of the instrument of knowledge. They command and control your experiences, and how this body is governed by Prajapati.
Q: How does the mind back the sense of perception and the intellect back the organs of action?
A: The job of the senses is to receive the stimuli from the world; the mind, which receives the stimuli, is like the clerk in an organisation. The mind should send to the intellect, which is compared to the head of the organisation. The intellect assesses it and responds to the world through the organs of action. This cycle of stimuli coming from the world, received by the mind, processed by the intellect, response through organs of action makes a complete cycle of experience. Above these are the five elements, Pancha boothas, controlling it. How these Pancha boothas or the devas, are lording the senses is the second question by sishya Bhargava to the Guru Pippalada.
