The anna-maya and prāṇa-maya (Taittiriya Upanisad 2.2)

In a lower stage of existence, the consciousness of a living entity is centered on just getting enough food and growing his body. At this stage, the soul is completely covered by ignorance.

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Section 2: The anna-maya and prāṇa-maya

In a lower stage of existence, the consciousness of a living entity is centered on just getting enough food and growing his body. At this stage, the soul is completely covered by ignorance and there is no higher aspiration; one feels satisfied by just eating. This is the anna-maya stage of consciousness, based on just anna, food. There is, however, a higher self that exists inside the gross body composed of food: the prāṇa-maya person, composed of the vital air. It implies in becoming conscious of the idea of maintaining one's life, finding shelter, defending against others, and so on. At this stage, the consciousness is focused on collecting different resources one needs to remain alive and expand his dominions.

Text 2.2.1

annād vai prajāḥ prajāyante, yāḥ kāś ca pṛthivīm śritāḥ
atho annenaiva jīvanti, athainad apiyanty antataḥ
annam hi bhūtānām jyeṣṭham, tasmāt sarvauṣadham ucyate
sarvam vai te’nnam āpnuvanti, ye’nnam brahmopāsate
annam hi bhūtānām jyeṣṭham, tasmāt sarvauṣadham ucyate
annād bhūtāni jāyante, jātāny annena vardhante
adyate’tti ca bhūtāni, tasmād annam tad ucyata iti

tasmād vā etasmād anna-rasa-mayāt, anyo’ntara ātmā prāṇamayaḥ
tenaiṣa pūrṇaḥ, sa vā eṣa puruṣa-vidha eva
tasya puruṣa-vidhatām anv ayam puruṣa-vidhaḥ
tasya prāṇa eva śiraḥ, vyāno dakṣiṇaḥ pakṣaḥ
apāna uttaraḥ pakṣaḥ, ākāśa ātmā, pṛthivī puccham pratiṣṭhā
tad apy eṣa śloko bhavati

All creatures that dwell on earth are produced from food (anna). By food they live, and at death they merge into food. Food indeed is the most important for all beings. From food comes sustenance, and thus food is universal medicine (sarvauṣadham). Those who worship Brahman as food attain all food. From food all beings arise, and the populations increase by food. Food is eaten by living beings and also devours all beings.

Inside this anna-maya person, which consists of the essence of food, is the other inner Self, consisting of prāṇa. This is the prāṇa-maya person, which pervades the body. It also has a human shape, imitating the gross form of the anna-maya. Prāṇa (the vital air) is its head. Vyāna (the upward breath) is its right side. Apāna (the downward breath) is its left side. Ākāśa (Brahman) is its Self. Earth is the foundation.

Commentary: Everyone has to eat to sustain his body. Because food is the source of sustenance, it is called sarvauṣadham, the essence of all medicine. Different medicines can help to treat specific diseases, but without proper food, no medicine will be effective. On the other hand, if one can eat the proper food and in sufficient quantity, one can prevent disease.

The word anna means food and maya means a permutation of the energy of the Lord. Like everything else, food comes from the energy of the Lord, therefore one who properly understands the nature of Brahman will see food as Brahman, since food is nothing more than the energy of the Lord. Because food is the energy of the Lord, it should be offered to the Lord, and when one does that it becomes Prasadam, the direct mercy of God. By this process, food becomes not just the source of maintenance of the body, but also the source of purification and spiritual realization.

The verse recommends not only seeing food as the energy of the Lord but worshiping the Lord in the form of food. The way to do that is to see prasadam as non-different from the Lord and serve the Lord by humbly accepting His prasadam. As Prabhupada mentions in his purport to SB 6.4.26:

"Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ: (CC Madhya 17.136) as long as one is situated in duality, on the sensual platform, gross or subtle, realization of the original Personality of Godhead is impossible. Sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ: but when one engages his senses in the service of the Lord—specifically, when one engages the tongue in chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and tasting only Kṛṣṇa prasāda with a spirit of service—the Supreme Personality of Godhead is revealed. This is indicated in this verse by the word śuci-sadmane. Śuci means purified. By the spirit of rendering service with one's senses, one's entire existence becomes śuci-sadma, the platform of uncontaminated purity."

The verse promises that one who worships the Lord in the form of food will be maintained by the Lord with sufficient food. As Prabhupada explains, the Lord maintains all living beings, from the ant to the elephant, but He takes special care of His devotees. This is not partiality, it's just natural, just like even the most charitable man will take special care of his own children due to the loving relationship he has with them, and no one can blame him for that.

Another attribute of food is that it also can be the source of death. This happens when food becomes unavailable, or also when the body becomes incapable of using the nutrients of the food. Often death comes by some form of starvation, when the body becomes incapable of digesting or utilizing the nutrients of the food. One who has diabetes, for example, may eat, but not be able to use the glucose from the food, which will gradually poison his body. Food in this case becomes the cause of declining health. At last, when the body finally dies, it merges into food, becoming food for other beings.

In this way, we can see that food is the source of our existence in the material world, and all of this should be seen in connection with the Supreme Lord.

In a lower stage of existence, the consciousness of a living entity is centered on just getting enough food and growing his body. This is the consciousness of a very small child or lower beings, like lower animals, plants, etc. At this stage, the soul is completely covered by ignorance and there is no higher aspiration; one feels satisfied by just eating. This is the anna-maya stage of consciousness, based on just anna, food.

However, the anna-maya person, the gross body, is not our real self. The second part of the verse describes a higher self that exists inside the gross body composed of food. This is the prāṇa-maya person, composed of the vital air. It's described that this prāṇa-maya person also has a human form and permeates the gross body. However, this body is not composed of gross material elements, but of the different types of vital air. Prāṇa is its head, vyāna is its right side, and apāna is its left side.

While the anna-maya consciousness is centered on the body's most basic need, eating, the prāṇa-maya consciousness is higher, centered on other aspects of material life. It consists of becoming conscious of the idea of maintaining one's life, finding shelter, defending against others, and so on. At this stage, the consciousness is focused on collecting different resources one needs to remain alive and expand his dominions. One can observe this stage in higher animals like birds and mammals, who build nests, accumulate food for the winter, defend themselves, and so on. This animalistic stage of existence is of course also found in human beings who are absorbed in material consciousness.

The verse also offers a higher understanding of the Supreme Brahman. In the previous verse, 2.12, Brahman was defined as eternal and full of knowledge. Brahman is also called ātmā, the Supreme Self. It's obvious that this Supreme Self is not the gross material body, but what is it? Where can it be found? Verse 2.1.2 already mentioned that Brahman can be found inside the heart. Brahman is thus not the body, but something inside the body, and we, as the soul, share the same nature of this Supreme Brahman.

The word "ākāśa" is ordinarily translated as ether or sky, but it is frequently used in the Upaniṣads as a name for the Supreme Brahman, just like the words "ātma", "prāṇa", and so on. In this way, the verse says that Brahman is the Self of this prāṇa-maya person. How can it be so, considering that Brahman is supposed to be transcendental, while the vital air is material?

This follows a type of logic called arundhati-nyaya, in which we indicate something to give a general idea, and then proceed in guiding one to the real object near it. For example, to point out the small star called Arundhati, one usually points to a big star nearby, and from there indicates the location of the star Arundhati near it. From the anna-maya consciousness, it's practically impossible for one to understand the soul, and much less the Supreme Lord. To gradually help one to understand, the Taittiriya Upanisad first points to Brahman as being the subtle vital air inside the body, and from this point of reference proceeds into describing progressively higher levels of understanding.

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