Pancha Kosha: Anatomy of the subtle body
Dr Satish K Kapoor
The individual Self, a microcosmic manifestation of the divine self, is encased in five vital sheaths or centres of consciousness, called pancha kosha, traditionally classified as annamaya, sheath of food, pranamaya, sheath of vitality, manomaya, sheath of mind, vijnanamaya, sheath of intellect, and anandamaya, sheath of bliss.
Annamaya kosha lies in the physical body (sthula sharira) pranamaya, manomaya and vijnanamaya kosha-s in the astral body (sukshma sharira) and anandamaya kosha in the causal body (karana sharira). The soul remains unaffected by the characteristics of sheaths representing matter, energy, awareness, mental activity and bliss respectively.
Annamaya, the outermost sheath, is made up of and sustained by food (anna) and is subject to decay and disintegration. At gross level, it has eight apertures (dvaras) two eyes two ears, two slits in the nose, and two excretory organs, three humours (tri-dosha): vata, pitta and kapha, seven vital elements (saptadhatu), one-hundred and seven junctures (marma), nine-hundred sinews or ligaments (snayu), over five-hundred muscles (peshi), seven hundred veins (shira), twenty-four arteries (dhamani), a number of vital channels (srota) and much more. Billions of cells operating in various limbs are so programmed as to produce life-sustaining, chemical and biochemical reactions. The physical sheath is an impermanent abode of the soul and that of the astral body. Those who are deluded into believing that it is the sole reality, never attain realization.
Annamaya kosha needs energy to keep it working which it gets from the biophysical body or pranamaya kosha. The five organs of action (pancha-karmendriya) namely, hands, feet, speech, excretory and reproductive organs, live through prana, life-principle, which moves in the body through five vital and five sub-vital airs or currents known as vayu. Together, they develop and govern the functions of the body. Prana Vayu governs the mind, the senses the heart, veins, arteries and nerves, and the orifices; apana Vayu pervading the lower part of the digestive tract and having a downward motion, regulates excretory functions; udana vayu having its seat in the umbilical, the thorax and the larynx in the throat, moves upwards and enriches voice, memory, intellect and the mind. Vyana vayu pervading the entire body, with the heart as its key centre, helps in blood circulation stationed in the umbilical area; samana vayu, equalizing breath, helps in digestion and in nourishing the whole body.
Among upa-vayu, naga causes one to belch, kurma governs the movement of eyelids, krikara produces hiccups and involuntary coughing, devadutta helps in yawning and in sleep, and dhananjaya stays in the body even after death. Pranamaya kosha cannot be equated with the real self as it decays and breaks up like the physical body.
Manomaya kosha, the mental sheath, lies within the vital air-sheath, and is subtler due to its power of cognition. It comprises of panca-jnanendriya, five organs of perception, namely, ears skin, eyes, tongue and nose, and the mind. The Vivekacudamani, ‘Crest–jewel of Discrimination’ of Sri Shankaracharya Bhagavatapada, compares manomaya kosha to the sacrificial fire and the organs of perception to hotris who put oblations of sense-objects into it. The unending desires stoke the flames.
Vijnanamaya kosha, the noospherical sheath, is made up of intellect and the organs of perception. While manomaya kosha helps one to deliberate, vijnanamaya kosha leads one to understanding. The former is the sphere of ordinary thought, the latter of direct cognition, creativity and wisdom; the former is governed by sensory and motor organs (indriya) which seek worldly pleasures, the latter by the faculty of discrimination between right and wrong. Vijnanamaya kosha helps one to identify distractions of the mind and lead one forth from nescience to knowledge. Yet, vijnanamaya kosha is said to be ‘a modification of prakriti’, tainted by egocentric perceptions. It derives its luminosity from the soul but is not the soul itself (Viveka Chudamani, verses 186-90, 208)
Anandamaya kosha is the substratum of the five-sheath structure of the embodied self. It is a thin veil between ordinary consciousness and supreme consciousness. Its attributes are pleasure, love, joy, satisfaction, delight or bliss resulting from a philanthropic deed, devotion to god or spiritual consummation. It is manifested in the waking (jagrat) and dream (svapna) states, and reflects the light of the Supreme Self. In it, the world of cause and effect remains virtually suspended.
(Dr Satish K Kapoor, former Principal, Lyallpur Khalsa College and former Registrar, DAV University is a noted scholar of Hinduism based in Jalandhar city.)
