Where is the fear either in this life or of Yama after death, for those who constantly chant the Naam Narayana, reliever from the ocean of hell, Damodara, the killer of demon Madhu, Chaturbhuja, Viswambhara, Viraja, Janardana, etc. Narayana, Narayana, Narayana?

In Varaha Purana it is said — Oh earth, the person who constantly sings the names of Narayana, Acyuta, Ananta, Vasudeva, etc., becomes one with Me.

Q. Does one, by chanting His name become one with Narayana only after death?

A. No, he becomes one with Narayana in this very life. By constantly chanting the name of Narayana, everything becomes Narayana; he smells of Narayana, he tastes Narayana, he talks of Narayana, he thinks of Narayana, he touches Narayana, he knows Narayana.

He is of pure satva and is the only witness and is One. Oh Emperor Janaka, this Brahma Loka is the Param gati (the best end) and the best wealth, this is the best heaven that a living creature may hope for, this is the Param Ananda (the best joy). Other creatures live holding on to a particle of this Ananda.

Q. Then by doing the japa of Narayana, Narayana the heart becomes full of Narayana? In this world that person has nothing but only Narayana. So, the world itself becomes Brahma Lok and he does not have to die and be born again. Is that so?

A. Birth and death come as a result of desires. The person who does japa of Narayana Naam becomes desireless.

He who is desireless, who has no craving for anything external, whose hankerings and desires have been completely uprooted, whose all desires have been fulfilled, whose only desire is for the atma (soul), his Prana and senses do not leave him but they exist as Brahma and thus are assimilated in Brahma.

Q. Do those who desire to gain Nirvana Mukti (liberation) lose themselves in Brahma in this way? Who is Prana? Who constitute all the Pranas?

A. Prana is Bhagawan Shankar, Prana is Vishnu, Prana, is grandfather Brahma; the world is held together by Prana. The whole world is Pranamaya, full of Prana. The five Pranas and Indriyas (senses) are called Prana. At one time the five elements like sky, earth, fire, water and air and the outward senses like speech, mind, ears, eyes, etc. boastfully declared “we are securely holding the body”. Then Prana said – “Do not allow yourselves to be deluded. I have divided myself into five i.e. Prana, Apana, Vyana, Udana and Samana and I hold the body together with their help”. But the others did not believe in this. So, Prana felt hurt and started preparing to leave the body and go away. As soon as Prana left the body, the Indriyas stopped functioning and they and the five Bhutas and others realised their mistake and started praying to Prana saying, “You are fire, you are the sun, you are air, you are the earth, you are the moon, you are the unembodied and you are the immortal, you are everything. Like the king-pin of the wheel of a vehicle, everything turns round you and is held by you; you are Rik, Yajur, and Sama. You are the Yagna, you are the Kshatriya and the Brahmin — everything is yourself. You move about in the form of the Prajapati; in the father you exist as the Shukra (semen); in mother’s womb as the embryo. You are born in the likeness of your parents. All people collect food for you.” Praying to Prana in this way, they entreated him not go away.

Because Prana exists, so the others also exist. Without Prana no one has any power to stay.

In Chandogya and Brihadaranyaka Upanishads, there is mention of a quarrel between the various Indriyas.

Q. What happened? What was the decision in the end?

A. He who knows the oldest and the greatest becomes himself the greatest and the oldest. Prana is the oldest and the greatest. (Chandogya 5/1).

He who knows the richest of all becomes the richest. Vaak is Vasista (the richest) as people gain wealth with the help of Vaak.

He, who knows Pratistha i.e. the cause of steadiness gets properly established in both the worlds. Eyes are Pratistha.

He who knows material wealth, gets all divine and human desires fulfilled. The ear is the material wealth, as it is through the ear that one can receive the Veda and by doing work according to the meaning of the Veda, one gets all his desired objects.

He, who knows space, gives shelter to his relatives. Mind is the space.

One day all the Pranas and the Indriyas started quarrelling, each claiming to be oldest and the best. At last, they went to Prajapati (Brahma) and narrated everything to him. Prajapati said, “If anyone of you leave the body and the body looks dead, then he is the best and the greatest”.

First Vak (speech), then eyes, ears, and lastly the mind left the body one by one and lived away from the body for a year. The body became dumb, blind and deaf, without discrimination, but it still lived. But when Prana started leaving the body, and thereby uprooting the Indriyas, the latter all collected round Prana and said “Oh Bhagawan, you are the greatest among us, you become our Lord. You do not leave the body. Speech said, “My quality of Basitha is yours”. Eye said, “My quality of Pratistha is yours”. Ear said, “My quality of material wealth is yours.” Mind said, “You are adorned with the quality of space which I claim to be mine”. So, the Indriyas are not called speech, eye, etc. but they are known as the Prana. Prana alone has become everything. Then Prana asked, “What would be my food?”. The Indriyas said “Whatever dogs, vultures have as their food will be your food also”. Prana then asked, “What will be my clothes’? The Indriyas replied, “Water will be your covering”. The water one uses for chaman before eating is the cloth for Prana and the water that one uses as gandusha after a meal is the upper cover for the Prana.

Q. Then there is nothing in this world beyond Prana?

A. No, there is none greater than Prana; Prana is power of hearing, touch, sight, taste and smell. Prana is mind, heart and ego, Prana is all directions. The sun, the moon, Pracheta, the two sons of Agni, fire, Indra, Upendra, Yama, the four-headed Brahma, Prajapati, etc., who are the presiding gods of the Indriyas and the five subjects like sight, smell, touch, taste and sound, etc.

In the Adhyatma form, Prana is Indriyas in the form of Adhidaiva, Prana is the presiding God of the Indriyas, and as Adhibuta , Prana is the five subjects like, sight, smell, etc.

Then there is nothing but Prana. The whole world is Prana-maya, replete with Prana? Well, where does God stay?

A. Sukesha once asked Murti Pippalad, “Where does that Purusha possessed of the sixteen Kalas (divine qualities) stay? Where is that Purusha?” Pippalad replied, “That Purusha, who is the abode of the sixteen Kalas, stays in the lotus of the heart.

He pondered over the question “By whose exit also I shall do my exit’ and “By whose stay in the body, I shall also exist in it?” Thinking thus, He created Prana. From Prana, He created ‘Shardha’ and then the sky, air, fire, water, earth, all the Indriyas, mind, food, semen which grows from food. Tapasya, all mantras, different religious works like Agni - Hotra, all sorrows and joys and He also created Naam in all the lokas.