KATHOUPANISHAD - 83. Swami Advayananda.

 

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Monday 14, April 2025, 11:15.
KATHA UPANISHAD  
Part 2 – Total 49 Mantras 
Chapters 2.1, 2.2 & 2.3 
Chapter 2.2: (15 Mantras) 
THE SEARCH FOR BRAHMAN 
Mantram - 2.2.5: When Prana is Negated, What Remains?  
Post - 83.

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Mantram - 2.2.5: When Prana is Negated, What Remains?  

1  

Na praanena na apaanena = Not by Prana, nor by Apana 

2 

martyah jeevati kashchana; =does any mortal live. 

3 

itarena tu jeevanti = but it is by some other factor that they live 

4 

yasmin etau upaashritau. = on which these two depend. 

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In this Mantram, the question “What remains?” is given a second look, but still, we are not given the answer. The two possible answers so far are the Self and Not-Self. The Rishi retains the question mark. One further clue to the answer is given. 

Link: The Bhashya has something to say on this point. Arising from interpretation B above, critics may say that it is due to the Pranas leaving the body that everything comes to a standstill. Hence, the Pranas must be God; implying that there is no such thing as the Self. 

This mantram points to “another factor” beyond Prana. We are led to ask ourselves, “Why have we take this human birth?” The answer to “What remains?” lies in answering this first. 

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1-2

 The body’s death coincides with the departure of Prana. This would seem to suggest that Prana is responsible for our life on earth. And if that is so, then once the Prana leaves, that is the end of our sojourn on earth. Our life comes to an abrupt end, as it were. 

Has life got no other meaning than this? 

We know that the Pranas or life-energies (collectively called simply ‘Prana’) are most essential to maintain life in the body. However, that does not mean that it is the Prana that is the cause of life. Mortals do not live because Prana has entered their bodies. Prana, too, is quite inert in this sense. It is a product of the subtle elements. 

3

 The real cause is something else, it is not the Prana. What really remains after death? Like a good novelist, the Rishi keeps us in suspence for a second time – that is exactly what all good teachers do! TV serials thrive on that principle. Our Katha Upanishad is turning out to be among the great, best-selling mystery novels!  

4 Clue One: The Rishi is generous enough to throw in a clue at this point. That factor upon which our human birth is what has sent the Prana to function in our body. The Prana depends on this factor, not the other way around. 

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To the question in the previous mantran “What remains?”, it is only because of what we see left behind after death that we answered, “A mass of flesh and bones. Nothing else is seen to remain.” So, it would seem. We now learn that the Pranas depend on something else for their presence in the body. That factor could well be the answer to “What remains?” 

Is it not strange that the answers we are looking for in life become more pressing when we are faced with death. The uncertainty behind death brings to the surface the question of the purpose of life. What is the reason why we take birth in the first place? That is the deeper question behind, “What remains when we die?”

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 Next 

Mantram - 2.2.6: When the Body Departs, What Remains? 

Continued

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