Mundakopanishad : Chapter-2. Section-1. Mantram-5-continued , . Post - 9. Swami Krishnananda

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Sunday, September 06, 2020.10:11.AM.
Mundakopanishad
Chapter 2:
Section 1,
Mantram-5 : Sequence of creation from the imperishable, Continued ...
Post-9
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Mantram-5.

"Tasmad agnih samidho yasya suryah
somat parjanya osadhayah prthivyam,
puman retah sincati yositayam
vahvih prajah purushat samprasutah." (2.1.5).

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1.
For instance, in order that the physical body may shape itself into this particular form that we see, it has first of all to be vitalised by the prana which is within. The within-ness of the prana is the reason why there appears to be life and vitality in the physical body. In a similar way, activities in this world, all the processes of human history, have a cause behind the physical realm. There is a superphysical cause for all that happens in the physical world.

2.
The way in which the prana operates in the body determines the condition of its health. The prana decides whether we are healthy or sick. It is very important to know that life and prana are identical. If prana is harmoniously distributed in the body, there is a pacified state of mind also, at the same time, and there is lightness of body, buoyancy of spirit, and quickness in the ability to grasp things mentally. Therefore, internal to the body there is a prana that causes the so-called activities of the body. If the hands and the feet move, it is because the prana moves inside. The prana exerts pressure on a limb in a particular direction, and then it starts moving.

3.
But inside the prana there is the thought which causes the prana to operate in that particular manner. When we walk, the prana will not impel the legs to move unless there is thought behind it. The mind wants the prana to work in such a way that it moves the legs. Within the mind there is reason, which says that it is necessary to move the legs. The mind is only a connecting link between the reason on one side and the prana on the other side. But there is something behind reason—namely, the very fact of our being individuals in this world. Why should there be a necessity to move the limbs? It arises on account of a certain kind of finitude in which we are involved. The jivatatva is the cause; and the jiva is nothing but a concentrated point of the Atman consciousness. Thus, the tapas of Brahman created the world, says the Upanishad in one of its passages: tapasa ciyate brahma tato’nnam abhijayate (1.1.8).

To be continued ...

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