Bhāṣya 4
कथ ते न सन्ति प्राणादय इति, उच्यते— यस्मात् एतस्मादेव पुरुषान्नामरूपबीजोपाधिलक्षितात् जायते उत्पद्यतेऽविद्याविषयो विकारभूतो नामधेयोऽनृतात्मक प्राण , ‘वाचारम्भण विकारो नामधेयम्’ ‘अनृतम्’ इतिश्रुत्यन्तरात् ।न हि तेनाविद्याविषयेणानृतेन प्राणेन स-प्राणत्व परस्य स्यादपुत्रस्य स्वप्नदृष्टेनेव पुत्रेण सपुत्रत्वम् ।एव मन सर्वाणि चेन्द्रियाणि विषयाश्चैतस्मादेव जायन्ते ।तस्मात्सिद्धमस्य निरुपचरितमप्राणादिमत्त्वमित्यर्थः ।यथाच प्रागुत्पत्ते परमार्थतोऽसन्तस्तथा प्रलीनाश्चेति द्रष्टव्या ।यथा करणानि मनश्चेन्द्रियाणि च, तथा शरीरविषयकारणानि भूतानि खम् आकाशम्, वायु बाह्य आवहादिभेद,ज्योति अग्नि, आप उदकम्, पृथिवी धरित्री विश्वस्यसर्वस्य धारिणी, एतानि च शब्दस्पर्शरूपरसगन्धोत्तरौत्त-रगुणानि पूर्वपूर्वगुणसहितान्येतस्मादेव जाय ते ॥
In plain words
How, then, can Prāṇa and the rest be absent from the Puruṣa? They arise only later. From this Puruṣa, seen through the Upādhi that is the seed of name and form, comes Prāṇa: an object of avidyā, a modification, a name, and therefore unreal. Another Śruti says, “A modification has speech as its basis; it is only a name,” and calls it unreal. An unreal Prāṇa belonging to avidyā cannot make the supreme Puruṣa possess Prāṇa, any more than a son seen in a dream makes a sonless man a father. Manas, the indriyas or sense faculties, and their objects likewise arise from him alone. This establishes that he is truly free from Prāṇa and the rest. They do not exist in ultimate reality before creation, and after dissolution they are gone again. The same is true of the elements from which bodies and objects are made: kha or space; vāyu or air, outwardly differentiated as Āvaha and the other winds; jyotis or fire; āpas or water; and pṛthivī, the earth that bears the universe. They too arise from him, taking on sound, touch, form, taste, and smell in sequence, each later element retaining the Guṇas—the qualities—of those before it.
Close to the Sanskrit
How can Prāṇa and the rest be nonexistent? This is answered. From this very Puruṣa, marked by the Upādhi that is the seed of name and form, Prāṇa is born. It belongs to avidyā, is a modification, a mere name, and unreal, as another Śruti says: “A modification has speech as its basis; it is a name,” and “unreal.” The supreme one cannot acquire Prāṇa from that unreal Prāṇa which belongs to avidyā, just as a sonless man does not become a father through a son seen in a dream. In the same way, Manas, all the indriyas, and their objects are born from this very one. Thus his state of actually being without Prāṇa and the rest, and not merely figuratively so, is established. Just as they do not truly exist before creation, they are also absent after dissolution; so they are to be understood. As with the organs, Manas, and the indriyas, so with the elements that cause bodies and objects: kha, space; external vāyu in its distinctions such as Āvaha; jyotis, fire; āpas, water; and pṛthivī, earth, bearer of the whole universe. These arise from this very one, bearing in succession the Guṇas of sound, touch, form, taste, and smell, each later element also possessing the preceding Guṇas.