This is a not very well-known story from the Chandogya Upaniṣad. Uṣasti was a qualified Brahmana who lived in poverty together with his wife. Once, without any food to eat, he begged an elephant keeper for some cooked grains he was eating, just to be able to maintain his life. The elephant keeper also offered him some water he was drinking, but he refused it, arguing that he could get water from somewhere else, and thus there was no need to accept this contaminated water. However, he accepted the contaminated grains because he would not be able to maintain his life without them.
He shared these contaminated grains with his wife, but having already eaten, she just stored the grains. The next day, he got the news that the king was performing a great sacrifice and decided to go there in order to participate in it and receive some remuneration. He asked his wife if there was any food at home and she gave him the contaminated and now stale grains, which he accepted in order to be able to perform his duties. In general, a Brahmana should never accept contaminated food, but he may do so in case of emergency. In his purport to SB 1.17.16, Srila Prabhupada mentions: “In the scriptures there is mention of āpad-dharma, or occupational duty at times of extraordinary happenings. It is said that sometimes the great sage Viśvāmitra had to live on the flesh of dogs in some extraordinary dangerous position. In cases of emergency, one may be allowed to live on the flesh of animals of all description, but that does not mean that there should be regular slaughterhouses to feed the animal-eaters and that this system should he encouraged by the state. No one should try to live on flesh in ordinary times simply for the sake of the palate. If anyone does so, the king or the executive head should punish him for gross enjoyment.”
In any case, after eating the grains, Uṣasti went to the sacrifice and sat close to the three priests in charge of chanting the mantras. He said to the first priest, the prastotā: “O prastotā! If you chant the mantra without knowing the worshipable deity to whom the mantra is destined, your head will fall off.” He said the same to the two other priests, the udgātā and the pratihartā. As a result, all three priests became silent, afraid of conducting the sacrifice.
Observing this, the king inquired about his identity, and he answered he was Uṣasti, the son of Cakra. The king knew about him and immediately asked him to conduct the sacrifice, to which Uṣasti happily accepted, under the condition of receiving some remuneration. The three priests then approached him to inquire about the identity of the three deities they were supposed to worship.
Uṣasti then revealed the identity of the three deities to each one of the three priests:
prāṇa iti hovāca, sarvāṇi ha vā imāni bhūtāni prāṇam evābhisaṁviśanti prāṇam abhyujjihate saiṣā devatā prastāvam anvāyattā tāṁ ced avidvān prāstoṣyo mūrdhā te vyapatiṣyat tathoktasya mayeti
“He is prāṇa. From prāṇa all beings have emanated, and into prāṇa they enter at the end. If you would lead the chanting of the prastotā without knowing who is the deity, your head would fall off.” (1.11.5)
āditya iti hovāca, sarvāṇi ha vā imāni bhūtāny ādityam uccaiḥ santaṁ gāyanti saiṣā devatodgītham anvāyattā tāṁ ced avidvān udagāsyo mūrdhā te vyapatiṣyat tathoktasya mayeti
“He is the sun, Aditya. He is above all others. All beings depend on Him for their subsistence. He is glorified by all. If you would lead the chanting of the udgītha without knowing who is the deity, your head would fall off.” (1.11.7)
annam iti hovāca, sarvāṇi ha vā imāni bhūtāny annam eva pratiharamāṇāni jīvanti saiṣā devatā pratihāram anvāyattā tāṁ ced avidvān pratyahariṣyo mūrdhā te vyapatiṣyat tathoktasya mayeti tathoktasya mayeti
“He is anna (food). All living beings live by eating food, by food alone are they maintained. He is glorified by all. If you would lead the chanting of the pratihāra without knowing who is the deity, your head would fall off.” (1.11.9)
In previous articles, we already studied the identity of the sun and anna, or food in the context of the Upanisads. Both words are used to address the Supreme Lord. The Lord is the food that maintains all, and He is the sun. These verses discuss the identity of prāṇa.
The word prana can be used in the sense of “air”, but a more exact meaning is “life air” or “vital force”. When we take into this meaning, prana means the five types of vital airs that sustain the life of all living beings.
On his purport to SB 4.25.21, Srila Prabhupada mentions that: “The vital force of a living entity includes the five kinds of air working within the body, which are known as prāṇa, apāna, vyāna, samāna and udāna. The vital force is compared to a serpent because a serpent can live by simply drinking air. The vital force carried by the air is described as the pratīhāra, or the bodyguard. Without the vital force one cannot live for a moment. Indeed, all the senses are working under the protection of the vital force.”
Not only these five kinds of vital air are responsible for maintaining the body, but they also serve as a sitting place for the soul inside the heart. When the soul leaves the body, the vital airs also leave, and this is the end of life for the body. After prana leaves, the body becomes just a corpse and starts decomposing.
One could argue that “prāṇa iti hovāca, sarvāṇi ha vā imāni bhūtāni prāṇam evābhisaṁviśanti
prāṇam abhyujjihate” indicates that prana is the supreme origin, but that’s not the case. Just like in the previous sutra, the prana mentioned here means ultimately the supreme Brahman. Due to the workings of the material energy, prana maintains the life of all living beings. Just like ether, prana is just an instrument and not the cause.
Another argument is that the verse mentions that prana creates and destroys, but these are qualities of Brahmnan, not of the material prana. When we say that “the hammer hit the nail” one can understand that a human being took the hammer and used it to hit the nail. It would be incorrect to understand that the hammer hit the nail by its own will.
Being just an inanimate force, prana is just a tool for the will of the Supreme Lord, being part of His energy. Thus, when the verse speaks about prana, it is actually speaking about the Supreme Brahman working through it.