Prashna Upanishad – III – Origin and Nature of Prana – 8   «   »

Prashna Upanishad – III – Origin and Nature of Prana – 8   «   »

आदित्यो ह वै बाह्यः प्राण उदयत्येष ह्येनं चाक्षुषं
प्राणमनुगृह्णानः । पृथिव्यां या देवता सैषा पुरुषस्य
अपानमवष्टभ्यान्तरा यदाकाशः स समानो वायुर्व्यानः ॥ ३.८॥
ādityo ha vai bāhyaḥ prāṇa udayatyeṣa hyenaṃ cākṣuṣaṃ
prāṇamanugṛhṇānaḥ . pṛthivyāṃ yā devatā saiṣā puruṣasya
apānamavaṣṭabhyāntarā yadākāśaḥ sa samāno vāyurvyānaḥ .. 3.8..
Translation by Swami Sivananda
8 The sun, verily, is the external prana; for it rises, favouring the prana in the eye. The deity that exists in the earth controls the apana of man. The space, akasa, between heaven and earth is samana. The air is vyana. 

Translation by Max Mueller
8. The sun rises as the external Prâna, for it assists the Prâna in the eye. The deity that exists in the earth, is there in support of mans Apâna (down-breathing). The ether between (sun and earth) is the Samâna (on-breathing), the air is Vyâna (back-breathing).

deity_Prashna

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

The sun is the well-known outward Prâna among the Dêvâs. He rises and by his light favours this prâna, lodged in the eye of the body, i.e., helps it with luminosity in the perception of forms. Similarly the well-known goddess presiding over earth, attracts or controls the activity of the apâna in the purusha and favours its action by pulling downwards; for, otherwise, this body, owing to its weight, may fall down, or being unimpeded, may fly up. The air in the âkâsa, in the middle, i.e., between the earth and heaven (by the word âkâsa, the wind in it is denoted, as those in a cot are denoted by the word cot) is samâna, i.e., favours samâna, samâna resembling it, in the fact of being enclosed within the âkâsa in the middle. The external wind, vâyu, generally because it resembles vyâna in pervading, favours vyâna. This is the drift.

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

Prashna Upanishad – 8 – Prashna-3-8-ādityo ha – In Sanskrit with English Transliteration, Meaning and Commentary by Adi Shankaracharya (Sankara Bhashya) – Prashna-3-8