PRASHNA UPANISHAD.12 - Rishi Pippalada.

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#6 Questions, 67 Mantras : “Questions from Disciples Answered”
##KABANDHI’S QUESTION : 
Query No 1: “Matter & Energy”

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Sunday, October 16,  2022. 07:00. 
UPASANAS ON PRAJAPATI (TIME)

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Mantram - 1.12.

 

B. The Month as Time Cycle :

1 "Maaso vai prajaapatih;  tasya krishnapaksha eva rayih;

2 shuklah praanah; tasmaat  ete rishayah shukla ishtam 

3 kurvanti  itara itarasmin.

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Translation :

1 Maaso vai prajaapatih;  tasya krishnapaksha eva rayih; =  The month is Prajapati; its dark half is indeed Rayi or Matter;

2 shuklah praanah; tasmaat  ete rishayah shukla ishtam   =  its bright half is Prana or Life-energy;  thus, the great Rishis use this half,

3 kurvanti  itara itarasmin. = whereas, to perform their sacrifices,  the others use the dark half in order. 

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Commentary :

1 Another representation considers one month as the time cycle. Prajapati or the 

Lord is the month, and is split into the dark and the bright fortnights of the moon. As you 

may guess, the bright fortnight stands for Prana and the dark fortnight for Rayi. These 

represent the two main categories or types among men.

2 Those devoted to austerity, and meditational practices to attain the higher regions 

are said to use the bright fortnight and go to Brahmaloka, as explained already (1.10).

3 As before, those devoted to enjoyment of sense pleasures through earning wealth

are said to use the dark half of the fortnight. 

Time is a Symbol Here :

There are people who take this representation literally, and try to ‘plan’ their death 

accordingly or perform their sacrifices accordingly. They corrupt the meaning of the verse by 

saying that the “dark fortnight” is auspicious for activity concerning sense pleasures! That is 

certainly not how the verse is to be understood. One cannot plan one’s departure for a 

particular fortnight or for a particular six-monthly period.

Time is used here as a symbol for distinguishing two distinct human types. The 

symbolic meaning has to be taken, not the literal meaning. 

The truth being conveyed is simply this: that if we seek Rayi we will go to the realms 

of Rayi; and if we seek Prana, we will go to the realms of Prana.

From the Year and the Month, we now move to the next short representation of the 

time cycle – and that is one Day. If there was a need, the Rishi would have continued with 

this breakdown and had verses for the Hour, the Minute and the Second! But by now the 

point is quite obvious, and it is hardly necessary to go any further.

*****

Next-

Mantram- 1.13 

C. The Day as Time Cycle

To be continued 

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