1.1.29
Brahma Sūtra / Adhyāya 1 / 1.1.29
प्राणस् तथानुगमात्
prāṇas tathānugamāt
The line
Breath is Brahman (ब्रह्मन्), because the text follows it through in that way.
नेपालीमा
प्राण ब्रह्म हो, किनकि पाठले त्यसरी नै त्यसलाई लगिरहन्छ।
Where it sits
A new passage. tathā (तथा) points at the method of 1.1.23 and 1.1.25, not at the prāṇa (प्राण) of 1.1.24, which was a different sentence. The three readings agree this prāṇa (प्राण) is not the bodily breath. They differ on the brahman (ब्रह्मन्) it names, as at 1.1.1.
Split: prāṇaḥ (प्राणः) + tathā-anugamāt (तथा-अनुगमात्)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| prāṇaḥ (प्राणः) | nominative singular, masculine | breath |
| tathā-anugamāt (तथा-अनुगमात्) | ablative singular, masculine | because it is followed in that way |
The phrases
The passage is Indra's teaching to Pratardana in the Kauṣītaki (कौषीतकि). Offered a boon, Pratardana chooses Indra himself. Indra says: I am breath, the conscious self. Meditate on me as life, as the deathless. While breath stays in the body, life stays.
tathā (तथा) means in the way already used: follow the word until the marks of brahman (ब्रह्मन्) show. anugama is that following. The text does not stop at the air in the nostrils. It goes on to the conscious self of all.
Sanskrit in this line
prāṇaḥ (प्राणः) before t is recited prāṇas (प्राण). tathā (तथा) plus anugama: ā (आ) plus a becomes ā (आ), tathānugama (तथानुगम).
Say it back
Name the two people, Indra and Pratardana, and say that prāṇa (प्राण) is followed until it is the conscious self.