First Chapter of Part Six
First Chapter of Part Six of Brhadaranyaka Upanishad relates to the Supremacy of the Prana or the vital breath among all other organs.
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Brhadaranyaka Upanishad is the ancient and elementary or 'Mukhya' part of Upanishad. It is a commentary on Purusha Sukta of the Vedas. It contains metaphors, symbolism and imagery for describing the nature of Reality. The First Chapter of Part Six of Brhadaranyaka Upanishad relates to the Supremacy of the Prana. According to it he who is aware of the oldest and greatest becomes the oldest and greatest among his kinsmen. The vital breath i.e. the prana is the oldest and greatest. The organ of speech is the vasishtha. Whoever, thus, knows this becomes the most excellent among his kinsmen. Whoever is aware of the attribute of steadiness (pratishtha) can live in even as well as in uneven places. The eye is endowed with steadiness. He who is aware is aware of prosperity (sampad) attains whatever object he desires. The ear is prosperity, as when the ear is intact all the Vedas are acquired. One who is aware of the abode (ayatana) becomes the abode of his kinsmen. The mind indeed is the abode. One who is aware of the attributes of procreation is enriched with children and animals.
All these organs began disputing among themselves about their superiority. They all went to Prajapati for their answer. He said that the best among them was the one by whose departure this body is considered to suffer most. To prove themselves all the organs began to depart from the body one after the other. Firstly, the organ of speech departed. It then returned after a year. This caused no problem as the body though remained dumb but was able to survive with the help of other organs. Similar was the case with the eye. The body lived as blind men but it survived easily with the help of the vital breath. Next the ear, then the mind and then the organ of generation went away each for a year. However, the body easily survived with the help of the vital breath and other organs. Finally when the vital breath was about to leave it uprooted the organs from their places. The other organs immediately stopped it as it was impossible to live without it. Thus, the vital breath or the Prana is the most important of all the organs.
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