asya bhayāt = from fear of Him; agniḥ tapati = the fire burns; bhayāt = from fear; sūryaḥtapati = the Sun gives heat; bhayāt = from fear; indraḥ ca vāyuḥ = Indra and Vayu; mṛtyuḥca = and Death; pañcamaḥ = the fifth; dhāvati = run, speed, move fast.
For fear of Him the Fire bums; for fear of Him shines the Sun; for fear of Him do Indra, Vayu, and Death, the fifth, proceed (with their respective functions).
by Swami Chinmayananda:
If Brahman, the Supreme Reality, were not there, not only to declare, by Its Will, the law of existence but also to control and govern it, and thus ultimately ensure its smooth functioning, we would not have had, to be sure, such a systematic and scientific consistency in the laws of Nature, had it not been for this eternal fear for the supreme authority of the Transcendental Reality, we could not have had any science textbooks; as for that matter, life itself would have been impossible. For example, supposing fire chooses to take a holiday from its nature and thus prove itself to be cold, the milk in the oven would probably remain colder than when it was put on the fire even after hours of waiting! No life would have been possible, then, in the sense of systematic and continuous living, for, the planets could then, at their will, stray away from their appointed paths in the heavens! Almost as frequently as we are having motor accidents, train collisions, and plane crashes these days in our ill-organized world, we could have had collisions between stars and planets!
But on the other hand, we are seeing that the universe is running smoothly and harmoniously in a perfect, orderly manner. Sun, Fire, Indra, Vayu and Death are all working with a beautiful team spirit.
This idea that nature strictly keeps herself within the word and spirit of the Eternal Law due to her fear of the Supreme, is repeated with almost the same vigor if not in the same words in Taittareya Upanishad.
Panchamah (fifth) — Death is considered the fifth in the direct numerical order. Previously the Mantra has already enumerated four different names as Fire, Sun, Indra and Vayu. So, naturally, Death is the fifth.
yad i̍daṁ ki̱ñca ja̍gat sa̱rva̱ṁ prā̱na e̍jati̱ niḥsṛ̍tam | ma̱had bhayaṁ va̱jram udya̍taṁ ya e̍tad vi̱dur a̱mṛtā̱s te bha̍vanti ||
prāne (sati), = the supreme Brahman, (being there); yat idaṁ kiñca jagat sarvam = all this universe that there is; niḥśṛtam (sat), = having emerged; ejati = and moves or acts; [That Brahman which is thus the cause of the origination etc; is] mahat bhayam = greatly terrifying; vajram udyatam = like an upraised thunderbolt; ya etat viduḥ = they who know this; amṛtas te bhavanti = they attain immortality.
This whole universe evolved from the Brahman, move (vibrates) in the Prana (in the highest Brahman). That Brahman is a great terror, like an uplifted thunderbolt. Those who know this become immortal.
by Swami Chinmayananda:
The same idea described in the previous Mantra is brought into greater relief in this stanza in a more direct and scientific language. Perhaps, Sruti Herself realizes that in the crowded details of her analogy of the Asvattha tree, the student may be apt to overlook the deep significance contained in it, “that the entire tree is rooted in and is maintained by the world of Truth.”
Prana (or Prane) – It may be interpreted as nominative (Prathama) or as the vii case (saptami), it may be interpreted as, “the whole universe arose from Brahman and moves in Prana, or as “the Prana being present (Prane sati) the whole universe comes out of Him and vibrates in Him”.
Prana means here the Brahman and this Eternal Reality is the One Source from which the world of appearances has emerged out, in which it is existing and into which at the end of time it shall merge back.
ejathi (vibrates) – Creation and the worlds created are considered by many of the Indian Philosophers as so many “stresses in the Infinite. Modern science in the West has also come to a similar conclusion that the world of matter is entirely constituted of energy Units moving at a terrific speed in their eternal vibrations, When, an atom was split, physicists could mechanically discover that it was constituted of the electrons and protons, moving at a high velocity around and about a central motionless neutron. They also found out, that, if by some method they could change the frequency of vibration of the energy particles in the electronic vibrations in an element, they could change one element into another! If the atoms are nothing but energy particles vibrating, and matter is nothing but a mass of molecules, then matter is nothing but energy vibrating!!
Now then, it cannot be much of a difficulty for the modern Hindu to accept the statement of this Mantra that “creation is a motion, a vibration of energy” and that it is possible for the vibration to maintain itself only if there is 2 motionless and non-vibrating medium, the Absolute Reality. Constant change can certainly give us the delusion of a form; only there must be a constant medium, for the changes to play in or at least a constant axis upon which they can play. Thus, when a lit-up Joss stick (Agarbathi) is rotated fast around the same axis we can detect the Joss stick maintaining itself in the form of a golden circle. The golden circle has no existence except in the consistency of change at the glowing tip. Similarly, constant vibration of energy in a medium of Absolute Energy, and maintaining itself within the field of a constant axis gives us the ocean of sense objects made up of things and beings.
To be sure, this idea seemingly discovered only recently, must have been common knowledge among the Aryans of the Vedic period; else, Sruti would not have felt satisfied herself by merely mentioning the whole universe vibrates in Prana.
Mahadbhayam (a great terror) – Nothing in the universe happens haphazardly. Nature moves in rhythm. There is an immutable Taw that governs the movement of the stars, planets, etc. There is a constancy in the working of all the laws of nature. Everything is scheduled to happen according to some strict commands; as though there is a very severe lawmaker and a strict maintainer of these laws! In this sense, the scripture states here, that the finite world of names and forms seems to exist and function, so diligently and readily as though the Master of the Laws is standing right behind it with a raised whip!’!
The Mantra, on the whole, indicates that the source of all manifestations is not an inert non-existence (as some of the Buddhistic schools of philosophers believe and try to maintain) but that the ultimate source of all lives is an active and dynamic existence, which, in its nature, is Pure Intelligence Itself.
Those who know this highest Brahman, the Source of All Life, the substratum for the eternal play of change, to be the Vital Factor in themselves, shall attain Immortality!
