Bhashya
अथ ह प्राण उत्क्रमिष्यन् उत्क्रमणं करिष्यन् ; तदानीमेवस्वस्थानात्प्रचलिता वागादयः ।किमित्याह—यथा लोके,महांश्चासौ सुहयश्च महासुहयः, शोभनो हयः लक्षणोपेतः,महान् परिमाणतः, सिन्धुदेशे भवः सैन्धवः अभिजनतः,पड्वीशशङ्कन् पादबन्धनशङ्कन्, पड्वीशाश्च ते शङ्कवश्च तान्,संवृहेत् उद्यच्छेत् युगपदुत्खनेत् अश्वारोहे आरूढे परीक्ष-णाय ; एवं ह एव इमान् वागादीन् प्राणान् संववर्ह उद्यत-वान् स्वस्थानात् भ्रंशितवान् ।ते वागादयः ह ऊचुः- हे भगवः भगवन् मा उत्क्रमीः, यस्मात् न वै शक्ष्यामः त्वदृते त्वां विना जीवितुमिति ।यद्येवं मम श्रेष्ठता विज्ञाता भवद्भिः, अहमत्र श्रेष्ठः, तस्य उ मे मम बलिं करं कुरुत करं प्रयच्छतेति ।अयं च प्राणसंवादः कल्पितः विदुषः श्रेष्ठपरीक्षणप्रकारोपदेशः ; अनेन हि प्रकारेण वि- द्वान् को नु खलु अत्र श्रेष्ठ इति परीक्षणं करोति ; स एष परीक्षणप्रकारः संवादभूतः कथ्यते ; न हि अन्यथा संह- त्यकारिणां सताम् एषाम् अञ्जसैव संवत्सरमात्रमेव एकैकस्य निर्गमनादि उपपद्यते ; तस्मात् विद्वानेव अनेन प्रकारेण वि- चारयति वागादीनां प्रधानबुभुत्सुः उपासनाय ; बलिं प्रार्थि- ताः सन्तः प्राणाः, तथेति प्रतिज्ञातवन्तः ॥
In plain words
So Prāṇa got ready to leave — and the moment he did, every other faculty, speech and the rest, was already shaken loose from its place. Why? He tells us with a picture: think of a great, fine horse — one with good markings, sizeable, bred in the land of Sindh, and so called a "Sindh horse" by its pedigree. When a rider mounts it to test it, it can rip every picket-peg and tether-pin out of the ground all at once. That's exactly what Prāṇa did to speech and the other faculties — he tore them loose, pulled them up, shook them out of their places. And they cried, 'Lord, lord, please don't go — we truly cannot live without you, without you.' 'Well then,' he said, 'you've all just admitted I'm the best one here. So pay me tribute — pay it to me.' Now, this whole dialogue among the faculties is a teaching device, built for a student trying to work out which faculty really is the greatest — a method of investigation dressed up as a conversation. It has to be read that way, because these faculties never actually act alone; they only ever work together. There's no way, literally, that each one packed up and left for a full year, one after another. So it's really the thoughtful student who works through this reasoning himself, trying to single out the chief among the faculties so he can meditate on it. In the story, the faculties simply promise the tribute they're asked for, and say, 'so be it.'
Close to the Sanskrit
Then indeed, Prāṇa, about to go forth, about to carry out his departure — at that very moment the faculties beginning with speech were already dislodged from their own place. Why? — he explains: as in the world, [the compound] "mahāsuhaya" [is formed from] "that one is great" and "that one is a fine horse" — an excellent horse, endowed with good marks, great in size; born in the land of Sindhu, hence "saindhava" by lineage; the picket-pegs, that is, the pegs that bind the feet, those very picket-pegs and pins — would tear them all loose, would pull them up, would dig them out all at once, when the rider is mounted, for the purpose of testing [the horse]; in just this way, indeed, he tore loose, pulled up, dislodged from their own place these very faculties beginning with speech. They, the faculties beginning with speech, said: 'O lord, O lord, do not depart, because we shall verily not be able to live without you, without you.' 'If this is so, my superiority has been recognized by all of you; I am the superior one here; then, indeed, render tribute to me, my tribute, give me tribute.' And this dialogue of the faculties is a devised instruction, meant for the wise student, in the method of testing who is superior; for by this method the wise person conducts the examination, 'who indeed here is superior?'; this very method of examination is narrated in the form of a dialogue; for otherwise, since these [faculties], always acting only in conjunction, [could not literally do so], the literal departure of each single one for a year exactly would not be possible; therefore it is the wise person alone who, by this method, carefully reasons it through, wishing to identify the chief among the faculties beginning with speech, for the sake of meditating upon it; the faculties, having been asked for tribute, gave their word, saying 'so be it.'