Text 42] Instructions for Civilized Human Beings 245

dhanur hi tasya pranavam pathanti
Saram tu jivarn param eva laksyam

aksam—the spokes (on the chariot wheel); dasa—ten; pranam—the
ten kinds of air flowing within the body; adharma—irreligion;
dharmau—religion (two sides of the wheel, up and down); cakre—in
the wheel; abhimadnam—false identification; rathinam—the charioteer
or master of the body; ca—also; jivam—the living entity; dhanuh—the
bow; hi—indeed; tasya—his; pranavam—the Vedic mantra omkara;
pathanti—it is said; Saram—an arrow; tu—but; jivam—the living en-
tity; param—the Supreme Lord; eva—indeed; laksyam—the target.

TRANSLATION

The ten kinds of air acting within the body are compared to the
spokes of the chariot’s wheels, and the top and bottom of the
wheel itself are called religion and irreligion. The living entity in
the bodily concept of life is the owner of the chariot. The Vedic
mantra pranava is the bow, the pure living entity himself is the ar-
row, and the target is the Supreme Being.

PURPORT

Ten kinds of life air always flow within the material body. They are
called prana, apdna, samdna, vyadna, uddna, naga, kirma, krkala,
devadatta and dhanajijaya. They are compared here to the spokes of the
chariot’s wheels. The life air is the energy for all of a living being’s ac-
tivities, which are sometimes religious and sometimes irreligious. Thus
religion and irreligion are said to be the upper and lower portions of the
chariot’s wheels. When the living entity decides to go back home, back to
Godhead, his target is Lord Visnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
In the conditioned state of life, one does not understand that the goal of
life is the Supreme Lord. Na te viduh svartha-gatim hi visnurm durdsaya
ye bahir-artha-maninah. The living entity tries to be happy within this
material world, not understanding the target of his life. When he is
purified, however, he gives up his bodily conception of life and his false
identity as belonging to a certain community, a certain nation, a certain
society, a certain family and so on (sarvopddhi-vinirmuktam tat-
