32. Pa~nca-pa~nca-janAH

Adhyaya 1 PAda 4 AdhikaraNa 3

The Phrase "Pa~nca-pa~nca-janAH" in BR^ihad-AraNyaka UpaniShad 4.4.17 Does Not Refer to the 25 Elements of Sa~Nkhya

ViShaya: The BR^ihad-AraNyaka UpaniShad 4.4.17 explains:

yasmin pa~nca-pa~nca-janA
AkAshAsh ca pratiShThitAH tam eva manya AtmAnaM vidvAn
brahmAmR^ito .amR^itam

"I, who am immortal spirit, meditate on the Supreme
Brahman, in whom the ether element and the pa~nca-
pa~nca-jana rest."

SaMshaya: Do the words pa~nca-
pa~nca-jana refer to the 25 elements described in
the Kapila-tantra, or to some five other things?

PUrvapakSha: Because pa~nca-pa
24ca is a bahuvrIhi-samAsa and
pa~nca-pa~nca-janAH is a
karmadhAraya-samAsa, the word pa~nca-
pa~nca-janAH refers to the 25 elements described by
Kapila. Somehow the two elements AtmA and
AkAsha are here added to the list of elements. The word
jana here means tattva (elements).

SiddhAnta: He says:


SUtra 11


na sa~Nkhyopasa~NgrahAd api nAnA-bhAvAd atirekAc ca

na - not; sa~Nkhya - of numbers;
upasa~NgrahAt - because of enumeration; api - even;nAnA - various; bhAvAt - states;
atirekAt - because of going beyond; ca - and.


Even though they give the same numbers as the sa~Nkhya
theory, these words do not refer to the sa~Nkhya theory because
the the numbers here actually exceed sa~Nkhya.as
numbers and because the elements of sa~Nkhya are
variegated (and not grouped into five groups of five).

Purport by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa


The word api (even) here is used in the sense
of "even if we consider for a moment this view." By
noting that the number here is the same number as the
sa~Nkhya elements does not prove that pa
24ca-pa~nca-jana refers to the sa~Nkhya
elements. Why? The answer is given in the words beginning
nAnA-bhAvAt. Because the variegated sa~Nkhya
elements are not divided into five groups of five, it is not
possible to accept the 5 X 5 here as referring to the 25
sa~Nkhya elements. Also, the addition of atmA
and AkAsha brings the number up to 27. Simply by
hearing the word pa~nca five) twice one
should not be bewildered into thinking these two fives refer to
the 25 elements of the sa~Nkhya theory.
What is your interpretation of pa~nca-pa
24ca-jana?" someone may ask. The word pa
24ca-jana is the name of a group just as the word
saptarShi (the seven sages) is the name of a group. This
is explained by PANini (AShTAdhyAyI 2.1.50) in the
words dik-sa~Nkhye saMj~nAyAm (Words
indicating direction or number may be compounded with another
word in the same case). As each of the saptarShis
may be called saptarShi, in the same way there may
be five pa~nca-janas, each of whom may be
called a pa~nca-jana, and all the
pa~nca-janas together may be called the five
pa~nca-janas. In this way the meaning of the word
pa~nca-jana is very clear.
Who are these pa~nca-janas? To answer
this question he says:


SUtra 12


prAnAdayo vAkya-sheShAt

prAna - breath; AdayaH - beginning with; vAkya - of thestatement; sheShAt - from the remainder.


The pa~nca-janas here are five things
beginning with prANa (breath), as is clear from the
words immediately following the mention of pa~nca-
jana.

Purport by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa


The five things beginning with prANa are
described in the following words (BR^ihad-AraNyaka
UpaniShad 4.4.18):

prAnasya prANam uta cakShuShash
cakShur uta shrotrasya shrotram annasyAnnaM manaso ye mano viduH


"They know the breath of breath, the eye of the eye,
the ear of the ear, the food of food, the mind of the mind."

The objection may be raised: The word annam (food) here isincluded in the
Madhyandina recension of the UpaniShad
but not in the KaNva recension. In the
KaNva recension, then, there are only four items and not
five.
To answer this doubt he says:


SUtra 13


jyotiShaikeShAm asaty anne

jyotiShA - by light; ekeShAm - of some;
asaty - in the absence; anne - of food.


In some versions (the KaNva recension) the
word "jyotiH" (light) replaces the word "anna" (food).

Purport by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa


In the version of some (the KaNvas), even though the word
anna is missing, the addition of the word
jyotiH brings the number up to five. This word
jyotiH is found in BR^ihad-AraNyaka UpaniShad
4.4.6 in the words tad devA jyotiShAM jyotiH (The
demigods worship Him, the light of lights). The word
jyotiH appears here in both recensions and it should be
counted among the five or not as is appropriate.