After the story of how the conflict between the five vital airs was resolved by the creator Brahma ji, the Brahmana continues with another conversation between Devarshi Narada and Devamata. His wife, Brahmani is avidly listening. He questions Narada about which force came first when a creature was born—prana, apana, vyana, samana or udana?
Narada’s reply is quizzical. He said that even before the particular vital air aids the creation of the species, the rest of them have already assembled. The pranas move in pairs in animals, man and the crawling creatures.
Narada Maharshi says that joy is born from a thought affirmation. Happiness is also born out of sound, taste and form. The process of creation is vividly described here. The Prana comes first and gives birth to Apana. Pleasure arises from union. The charter of the gods says that in fire, all the gods are represented. In the wise intellectual thinker, this knowledge arises. The smoke of the fire is inertia, its burning embers are its dynamic core and from the offerings made into fire, the existence of goodness arises.
Sattva Guna refers to existence and it gives birth to the digestive and circulatory forces of Samana and Vyana. Prana and Apana arise out of the ghee poured into the fire. There is fire in between the two.
In this uplifting fire is present Udana. This force is devoid of any pairing partner, unlike the other two groups.
There are many such pairs in the universe. One is day and night. In between them is fire in the form of Udana. The other pair is existence and non-existence. Udana is the fire that exists in between them.
Of all the airs, it is Vyana alone that exists to create peace. That peace is the eternal divine. That form of peace is the seat of the rising fire of Udana.
The Brahmana continues with another story of the Chaturhotra sacrifice. There are four sacrificial priests called the tools, the actions, the doer of the action and liberation from action. The instruments in detail are the five senses—smell, taste, vision, feeling and hearing. These five along with the mind and intellect are the causes for the various gunas. The seven causes for actions are smell, taste, form, sound, touch, thinking and understanding.
While the seven senses are the cause for liberation, the self ‘I’ is at the end of it all and is free of any qualities. While using the senses wisely, the self takes the path of the gods, unwise consumption of food is the cause for driving the body to ruin.
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