Prashna Upanishad – III – Origin and Nature of Prana – 6   «   »

Prashna Upanishad – III – Origin and Nature of Prana – 6   «   »

हृदि ह्येष आत्मा । अत्रैतदेकशतं नाडीनां तासां शतं
शतमेकैकस्या द्वासप्ततिर्द्वासप्ततिः प्रतिशाखानाडीसहस्राणि
भवन्त्यासु व्यानश्चरति ॥ ३.६॥
hṛdi hyeṣa ātmā . atraitadekaśataṃ nāḍīnāṃ tāsāṃ śataṃ
śatamekaikasyā dvāsaptatirdvāsaptatiḥ pratiśākhānāḍīsahasrāṇi
bhavantyāsu vyānaścarati .. 3.6..
Translation by Swami Sivananda
6 The atman dwells in the heart, where there are one hundred and one arteries (nadi); for each of these there are one hundred branches and for each of these branches, again, there are seventy two thousand subsidiary vessels. Vyana moves in these.

Translation by Max Mueller
6. The Self is in the heart. There are the 101 arteries, and in each of them there are a hundred (smaller veins), and for each of these branches there are 72,000. In these the Vyâna (the back-breathing) moves.

deity_Prashna

Sri Shankara’s Commentary (Bhashya) translated by S. Sitarama Sastri

In the heart, i.e., in the âkâsa of the heart, enclosed within a lump of flesh of the form of a lotus, is this âtman, i.e., the subtle body connected with the âtman. Here, i.e., in the heart, are the chief nerves, a hundred and one in number. Every one of these chief nerves has a hundred branches. Every one of these branches has seventy-two thousand sub-branches. In these nerves, moves vyâna (so called, because he is all-pervading). Vyâna stays pervading the whole body through the going out from the heart everywhere within the body, as rays from the sun, especially in the joints, shoulders and vital parts. Growing active in the interim between the activities of the prâna and the apâna, it is able to perform deeds requiring great strength.

Links
Various resources on the Prashnopanishad
Upanishad Series – Kena Upanishad Commentary by Swami Chinmayananda

Prashna Upanishad – 6 – Prashna-3-6-hṛdi hyeṣa – In Sanskrit with English Transliteration, Meaning and Commentary by Adi Shankaracharya (Sankara Bhashya) – Prashna-3-6