स तपस्तप्त्वा स मिथुनमुत्पादयते । रयिं च प्राणं
चेत्येतौ मे बहुधा प्रजाः करिष्यत इति ॥ १.४॥
sa tapastaptvā sa mithunamutpādayate . rayiṃ ca prāṇaṃ
cetyetau me bahudhā prajāḥ kariṣyata iti .. 1.4..
4 To him the teacher said: Prajapati, the Creator, was desirous of progeny. He performed austerities and having performed austerities, created the pair, the moon (rayi) and the sun (prana). He said to Himself: “These two should produce creatures for Me in manifold ways.”
Translation by Max Mueller
4. He replied: Prajapati (the lord of creatures) was desirous of creatures (pragâh). He performed penance, and having performed penance, he produces a pair, matter (rayi) and spirit (prâna), thinking that they together should produce creatures for him in many ways.
Prashnopanishad Invocation
Prashna I – Spiritual paths of the Moon and Sun
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Prashna II – Discussion of Devas
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Prashna III – Origin and Nature of Prana
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Prashna IV – Mental States and Bliss
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Prashna V – Meditation on OM
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Prashna VI – The Purusha of 16 Kalas
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Closing Prayer – Closing
Sri Shankara’s Commentary (Bhashya) translated by S. Sitarama Sastri
Com.—To him who thus interrogated, he replied for solving the doubt. Wishing to create creatures out of himself, the lord of creatures, the âtman of all thinking to create the universe, acting according to the word filled with the thought, being Hiranyagarbha born at the beginning of this Kalpa and being the lord of all created beings and things immoveable and moveable, revolved in his mind the knowledge acquired in the previous birth, the drift of which is revealed by the srutis. Having thus brooded over the knowledge, imparted by the srutis produced a pair, a couple—necessary for creation,—the moon, i.e., food and prâna, fire (sun), i.e., the eater. Thinking that agni (sun) and the moon, i e., (the eater and the food) respectively would create diverse creatures, he created the sun and the moon, in the order beginning with anda (globe).
Prashna Upanishad – 4 – Prashna-1-4-tasmai sa – In Sanskrit with English Transliteration, Meaning and Commentary by Adi Shankaracharya (Sankara Bhashya) – Prashna-1-4