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🌹​​The Prashnopanishad consists of 6 questions, asked by 6 disciples, over 67 mantras. 🌹The first prashna was based on 'srshti-prakarana', establishing that the entire world had come from Prajāpati, and the duality of Rayi and Prāna. Shukla-gati and Krishna-gati were also covered. ​​🌹The second Prashna was based on 'prāna-mahimā', glory of the holder of creation named as Prāna, representing Hiranya-garbha. 🌹The third Prashna was around Hiranya-garbha-upāsanā or prāna-stuti, where Hiranya-garbha is the one which holds everything. Īshvara, Prāna, and Hiranya-garbha, are all synonymous in this section. 🌹Where there is a law that is followed, there must be a creator, sustainer, and implementor of those laws. ​​🌹Since there are diverse intelligent and uncontradicted laws of God that govern beings, objects, magnetism, astronomy, karma, and more. 🌹Science can explain the nature of the laws but not how they have come about - they are held by Hiranya-garbha or Prāna, that is known by the Vedas and Puranās. ​​🌹The fourth Prashna consisted of five sub-questions, which considered where the world goes into, upon one's entering deep sleep. The first was, which organs go into sleep during dream. 🌹The second was, which organs are awake in dream state. Third asked what consciousness principle observed the dream. ​​🌹Fourthly, who was the experiencer of deep sleep. And lastly, on what principle did the universe rest? 🌹The fifth Prashna now addressed the subject of Om-kāra upāsanā and Om-kāra dhyāna. 🌹 Sukeshā Bhāradvāja, the sixth student now asks the final question to his Guru, Rshi Pippalāda. He mentions a Hiranyanābha, of the royal family of Kosala, who asked Sukeshā of, 'that Purusha who has the sixteen kalās or facets.' Sukeshā admits that he does not know what has been asked, but Hiranyanābha persists, so 🌹 Sukeshā clarifies again and says that he would have answered if he knew. He then emphasises that one who lies about something they do not know, dries away (perishes) along with their family. ​​🌹 Hiranyanābha then left with dejection. Sukeshā now asks Rshi Pippalāda to explain who is that Purusha. ​​🌹The shodashala-kala-purusha, refers to the entire creation which has sixteen facets. But the use of the word Purusha here is to indicate the holder of that entire creation, and to tell that the entire world is emerging from the Brahman alone, which is called as Purusha here. This is the genesis of the sixth Prashna. ​​🌹There can be no effect without a cause, as Shri Bhāshyakāra says, "na-hi-akārane-kāryasya-sampratishthānam-upapadyate". 🌹So Sukeshā desires elaboration on these two aspects - the sixteen facets of creation, and the cause of such a creation. ​​🌹The purpose of inducing the narration of Hiranyanābha's coming and going away in disappointment is with the purpose of implying that this knowledge is 'durlabha', rare and difficult to obtain, and hence the student is inspired though this incident to put extra effort to obtain it! ​​🌹Further, this narration is meant to highlight the importance of speaking truth while on this path. The word of the shāstra separating Dharma and Adharma, coming into the mind is Rtam, an understanding at the intellectual level. At the behavioural level through emotions and actions, Rtam expressed is Satyam. And at the verbal level it is Satyam as spoken truth. ​​🌹Lack of truth in one's words indicates that they are somewhere Adharmic. Such a person would create an environment of distrust, and they would not be livable. ​​🌹One's words will always speak volumes about all the thoughts that have gone through their mind, and all the actions they have performed. ​​🌹One who has any negativity in them will always lie. All sinners of the Ramayana and Mahabharata were liars who created cracks in their relations, committed wrong actions. 🌹Smaller sins will always give birth to much bigger sins. One small lie will take to much bigger lies. God is the ultimate exposer, He will surely expose our negativities and lies in due time. तस्मै स होवाच। इहैवान्तःशरीरे सोभ्य स पुरुषो यस्मिन्नताः षोडशकलाः प्रभवन्तीति ॥6/6/2॥ अन्वय - तस्मै सः ह उवाच सौम्य सः पुरुषः इह अन्तःशरीरे वर्त्तते यस्मिन् एताः षोडशकलाः प्रभवन्ति ॥ ​​🌹Increasing sensitivity towards empirical truth is mandatory for the seeker. Only then can they attend to the absolute truth. 🌹One who is able to sacrifice small negatives or temptations alone can renounce the entire world! 🌹Satyam as a value is hence highly propounded in the scriptures, as it holds families, relations, institutions together, and it ensures that we are an integrated personality within. ​​🌹 Sukeshā says that this question pricks him like a thorn - the question is not a mere curiosity which comes and goes. The seeker puts immense effort to answer this question and know the Truth. 🌹The difference between a casual and serious approach is that in the former, the seeker's questions come and go before other priorities. ​​🌹In a serious approach, the question remains the seeker's biggest priority. 🌹When one does not have sufficient and deep pain of not knowing the Self, they would be unable to maintain their attentive focus on the goal. 🌹When the seeker is intense in their efforts, they are able to cut their vasanas and ignorance in due time. 🌹So the four purposes of this narration were, 1) to indicate the cause of the universe, 2) to imply the rarity of this knowledge, 3) to establish the importance of Satyam (truth) and Dharma, 4) to highlight the importance of deep, intense, focused effort ​​🌹To Sukeshā, Rshi Pippalāda now answers in the next manta. Two sub-questions answered are, i) who is that Purusha, ii) where the Purusha is located. 🌹Though these are not the exact questions of Sukeshā, it is an important task of the teacher to organise the questions of the student of which they have a blurred idea. 🌹Purusha is that from whom the sixteen kalās or jagat-prapañcha emanate; that Purusha is referred to as Brahman. 🌹The Prashnopanishad is an explanation/elaboration of the Mundaka Upanishad; both are from the Atharvaveda, the former being from the Brāhmana-bhāga, and the latter from mantra-bhāga.