PRASHNA UPANISHAD -61 : Rishi Pippala.

 

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#6 Questions, 67 Mantras: “Questions from Disciples Answered.”

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SUKESHAA’S QUESTION: 
Query No 6: The Source of Power
Tuesday 27, Aug  2024, 06:14.
Mantram - 6.2: The Kalas Are Inside the Body Itself! 
Post-61.

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Mantram - 6.2: The Kalas Are Inside the Body Itself! 

1 

Tasmai sah ha uvaacha: = To him, he (Pippalaada) replied:    

2 

Iha eva antah shareere, Somya, = “O amiable one, here itself, inside the BODY   

sah purushah yasmin etaah =   is that Purusha in whom these  

3 

shodasha-kalaah prabhavanti, iti. = 16 Kalas, or limbs or digits, originate.”

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1

 Rishi Pippalada, with the directness of a man rooted confidently in knowledge and 

wisdom, answers straight to the point, without beating about the bush: 

2

 All the 16 Kalas are within the body itself! They all originate in the Body. 

When the Master gives such a terse, direct answer, can we imagine what the 

reaction in Sukesha’s mind would be? Guruji gave an example: A mother has her baby tied 

to her back, but is running about trying to find it. What would her reaction be when she is 

told where the baby is? 

Purusha literally means “Lord of the city” (Puri + Ishah). The city is our body, and the 

Lord of it is the Supreme Purusha. If we are going in search of the Kalas of the Purusha, it 

must be most relieving to know that we do not have to go very far. 

3

 The 16 Kalas: One of the meanings of ‘Kala’ is “an art”. We have Sangeet Kala 

(music) and Nritya Kala (dance). The art form hides the person who is displaying the art. The 

actor who is acting is not the real person. In this sense Kala would mean “that which 

indicates the Purusha who is veiled from our vision.”

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THE 16 KALAS: 

A Brief Explanation of their Significance:

 ANOTHER MEANING is Kala is “a ray”, like sun-ray or X-ray. We could also think of a 

ray as a “roadway”, and this would tie up nicely with the “city” simile introduced earlier for 

the word Purusha. If the city-centre, or CBD as we call it today, is the Purusha, then the 

Kalas would resemble the road network leading out of the city. We will have the large 

motorways or expressways first, then come the branches which get smaller and smaller, 

from highways, arterials, main roads, streets and lanes as we get further from the city. 

The above is a very appropriate meaning for ‘Kala’ in the context of this chapter’s 

message. The point is: The same roads that lead us out of the city-centre in one direction, 

would also lead us towards the city in the other direction! That is the point of similarity with 

the Kalas. More will be said on this topic as we proceed further. 

In the “Art” meaning, we have the same idea coming through: An art form brings us 

great joy as we watch it; but it also hides the inner joy that exists always within us. The 

outer joy distracts our attention from the inner joy of the soul! We cannot have our 

attention on both at the same time, even as we cannot travel in both directions at the same 

time. 

The 16 Kalas are exactly like that. In one direction, they reveal the external glitter of 

life; in the other direction they lead us back to our deeper Self, the Purusha within. 

The 16 Kalas appear on Purusha’s face and hide it. Purusha Itself has no Kala – He is 

defined as attributeless, unmoved by anything, and unchanging. 

Guruji here played on the word Kala very cleverly. He said Purusha is Akala (without 

Kala) but we see him as Sakala (with Kala). Now we have to use our Akkala (intelligence) to 

find Him out behind these Kalas! 

 

Purusha is the substratum and the 16 Kalas are appearing on It (Yasmin, the 7th case 

Samskrit, is used in line 2 to refer to this, so it translates as “on” or “in”). The Kalas are 

values superimposed upon the Purusha. The Shankara Bhashya describes this beautifully: 

i) Only the ‘appearance’ aspect of a thing can be subject to negation. The snake seen 

in a rope can be negated by knowledge of it, but the rope cannot be negated. Similarly, the 

Kalas of Brahman can be negated, but Brahman itself cannot. 

ii) The Kalas are the flickering of Consciousness. The flickering, however attractive 

and spell-binding it may be, is only an appearance, not real in itself.  

iii) Purusha cannot be described in words. Words are inadequate for Him. The 

moment we open our mouth to describe Him, we are already making a mistake. Words 

point to Him, but do not reach Him.

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Next

Mantram -  6.3:What Determines Our Life or Death?

Continued

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