The last query or the sixth query incorporates an elaborate discussion on the Purusa with its sixteen kalas or parts. In this section, the Purusa has not been indicated directly but has been explained with the help of its expressions and manifestations. Sukesa, the son of Bhardwaja in this part had wanted to know more about the location of the Purusa. Sukesa not only wanted to know about the location of the Purusa but he also had wanted to know more about the identity of the purusha.
The direct answer that was given by Rishi Pippalada was that the Purusha with its sixteen kalas are born within the body. The Guru had said that the Purusha or the Divinity or the Perfection is not housed in a place which is far away from human cognition, rather it is located somewhere very close to the Self. In fact the Purusha exists within the core of existence. The rishi had claimed that the Purusha which is the central spark or the inner light is right within the body. Regarding the existence of the Purusha, the rishi wanted to say that it exists nowhere yet it is present everywhere. In other words it can be said that the Purusa is omnipotent.
The kalas on the other hand have no separate existence of their own. They are in fact parts of the all pervading Purusa. According to the Guru, the Purusa alone is the Truth and the Infinite existence of the Purusa can be realised only with its expressions in the finite world.
Then the rishi had said that causation is the very stuff of intellect. He had said that all actions are result of some motivating force within individuals and all motivating force essentially sprouts from desires. According to him no action is possible in this world of plurality unless it is guided by the force of desires. At this juncture the Master had said that thoughts give the concept of mind and mind in turn determines the shape of the world. He had also said that it is the Creator who determines the factor at whose departure the body shall come down and with the contact of which the body shall maintain its normal rhythm.
The rishi believed that when the sixteen kalas are constituted together and forms a matter vehicle, it is then that the Atman comes to play both in mortal and the immortal form. But at the same time the Guru had said that the Atman which is forever eternal and infinite also comes to experience the finite world.
Rather it can be said that sixteen kalas of the Purusa create the world within and the world outside or creates both the individual and the Universe. The sixteen kalas in turn feeds the mind both from within and outside and the mind is energized to produce thoughts. The thoughts which are produced from the mind can be either wasteful or can also be directed in the right path. He had said that thoughts of human beings can be guided in the proper direction with the help of reflection or Manana. When the thoughts are directed in the right path, the actions generated from those thoughts will be in the right direction.
In this section of Prashnopanisad the Rishi had said that when an individual is able to come out from the world of his confusing dreams with the help of detachment and discrimination is able to drop of the sixteen kalas. Consequently he attains a position to realise he is the Purusa himself and never had the sixteen kalas in him.
The Rishi Pippalada had also advised his students the ways to reach the Purusa transcending all the sixteen kalas. He had said that from the Purusa rises the ego-centre and again through the sixteen kalas goes back to the Purusa, the source of all energy, dynamism and all life activities. As a result the individual identity gets merged into the homogeneous whole and finally the mortal activities come to an end as an individual moves towards the discovery of the self.
The Guru had said that mortality is the destiny of the finite and as long as individuals relate themselves to matter they will be trapped by death and being trapped by death is the best expression of being finite.
In this section of the Upanishad, Rishi Pippalada had said that the disciple must strive hard to know the Purusa because the lives of human beings are not just an empty dream. In fact it has a greater mission which is to discover the Self, the Lord of all lords, the central Purusa. Rather he had said that greatest tragedy of life is not to know the Purusa and miss a chance which is so divine and sacred in nature. The Rishi had further explained that knowing of the Self is the greatest knowledge and it gives strength of the moral life and a satisfaction that is above all kinds of happiness. In fact according to him if individuals get awakened to a state of super-consciousness and to realise the Purusa as the all pervading Reality in fact is the ultimate goal of Nature`s evolutionary scheme.
The Prashnopanisad ended with praise for gurus and disciples. Both the teacher and the taught towards the end of this Upanishad had saluted those Gurus and the learners of Brahma-vidya who had passed knowledge to generations through the various ages.
The Prashnopanisad ends with the invocation:
Our own salutations to the highest Rsi-s!
Salutations to the highest Rsi-s!!