Prasna Upanishad – 1

Introduction 

Prasna Upanishad belongs to Atharvana Veda like the Mundaka Upanishad which we saw earlier. This also is called a major Upanishad as it is one of the ten Upanishads for which Sri Adi Sankara has written commentary.  The Mundaka Upanishad is called a Mantra Upanishad  occurring in the earlier part of the Veda and the Prasna Upanishad  is called a Brahmana Upanishad  occurring in the later part of the Veda.  Prasna Upanishad discusses more elaborately some topics dealt with briefly in the Mundaka Upanishad and hence it is considered as a commentary on that Upanishad.  In this Upanishad, there are six students who ask a question each to the guru, and the guru answers them.  Since the Upanishad is in the form of prasnas or questions and their answers, it has been named as Prasna Upanishad or Prasnopanishad.  It has 67 Mantras spread over 6 chapters, each chapter dealing with one question.

This Upanishad opens with the peace invocation (shanthi paata), which is unique to all upanishads belonging to Atharva Veda. Through this peace invocation the student prays for 1) sound physical, intellectual and emotional health, 2) A full life of worshipful attitude to all devas and 3) freedom from all types of obstacles that may hinder successful completion of the study and understanding of the Upanishad.  Swami Vivekananda interprets the first two lines of this shanthi mantra as” Let positive strong helpful thoughts enter into our brain from childhood”

The shanthi Mantra, which is self-explanatory, runs as:

“Om bhadram karnebhih shrunuyaama devaah Bhadram pashyemaakshabhiryajatraah I Sthirairangaistushtuvaamsastanoobhih
Vyashema devahitam yadaayuh I Swasti na indro vridhashravaah
Swasti nah pooshaa vishwavedaah I Swasti nastaarkshyo arishtanemih
Swasti no brihaspatir dadhaatu.II  Om shantih, shantih, shantih!  II” 

Om, O Devas, may our ears hear what is good and auspicious! May we see what is auspicious! May we sing your praise, live our allotted span of life in perfect health and strength! May Indra (who is) extolled in the scriptures, Surya, the all-knowing, Garuda, who saves from all harm, and Brihaspati who protects our spiritual lustre, vouchsafe prosperity in our study of the scriptures and the practice of the truths contained therein! Om peace, peace, peace!

The shanti mantra like all shanthi mantras, ends as “Om shantih, shantih, shantih! ”.  Here Om is the sound representation of Brahman.  ‘shantih’ stands for the peace that comes from the removal of obstacles to the successful pursuit of study of upanishd.  The obstacles are classified into three types.  These are:

1.   Adhyathmikam – Obstacles arising from within oneself like one’s personal ill-health, negative mood etc. 

2.   Aadhi bauthikam – Obstacles arising from other known sources or external situations like ill-health of a family member, noisy neighbourhood etc.

    3, Aadhi daivikam – obstacles arising from unseen sources like floods, storm etc. 

The Mantras in this Upanishad are in the prose format unlike the Mundaka Upanishad.  The Upanishad starts with a Mantra that introduces the sishyas and guru. The sishyas are six young men who are devoted to Brahman and know Him only as Saguna Brahman i,e. Brahman with qualities and they want to know about Nirguna Brahman, the supreme Brahman without qualities. They are

1)   Sukesha, the son of Bharadvaja

2)   Satyakama, the son of Shibi

3)   Sauryayani, belonging to the family of Garga

4)   Kausalya, the son of Asvala

5)   Bhargava, the son of Bhrigu of Vidarbha  and

6)   Kabandhi, the son of Katya

With firewood in their hands they approached the teacher, venerable Pippalada rishi. An offering of firewood to a teacher is a symbol of respect, humility and keenness to learn on the part of a student.  Guru Pippalada wanted to test  the students’ keenness and have the students better qualified to receive the Self-knowledge which is the highest and supreme knowledge.  So he asked them to stay in the gurukula for an year duly observing the austerities, self-control and the routine of gurukula, and then come to him with their questions. Without a murmur or word of dissent they stayed in gurukula in obedience to guru’s words.  After one year Kabandhi returned to the guru and asked the first question.

Bhagavan, kutah ha vaa imaah prajaah prajaayanta iti?

O Revered Master, where do all these beings come from? (1-3)

Guru’s answer forms rest of Chapter 1, which we shall see in the next blog.

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