The pure Atma is enveloped by five sheaths; and due to its association with these sheaths, it acquires their traits. The physical body is referred to as the Annamaya kosha (food sheath). The atma associated with gross body in its waking state is called Vishva as it is endowed with jnanendriyas and Karmendriyas (organs of perception and action). As this body is involved various external activities, it is also known Vyavaharika. Thus, the Vedas have given various names to this sheath which comprises the sthula sarira (gross body). The Pranamaya Kosha (life sheath), Manomaya Kosha (mind sheath) and Vijnanamaya Kosha (wisdom sheath) form the sukshma sarira (subtle body) as they are not visible to the naked eye. Mind in its subtle form is all-pervasive. That is why it is said, Manomulam Idam Jagat (mind is the basis for the entire world Anandamaya Kosha (bliss sheath) refers to the Karana sarira (causal body). One should go beyond all the five sheaths in order to experience bliss. This state is known as Turiya, which is beyond Sushupti (deep sleep state). This refers to the Mahakarana Swarupa (supreme casual aspect). This is Paramarthika (the ultimate spiritual principle). The bliss experienced in this state is true bliss. This bliss cannot be obtained through the senses mind or intellect.
There are five types of Kleshas (obstacles), which come in the way of experiencing this bliss. They are: Avidya Klesha, Abhinava Klesha, Asthita Klesha, Raga Klesha and Dvesha Klesha. Man is unable to have the vision of the Atma and experience atmic bliss due to.these five Kleshas. One who has excessive attachment to the body suffers from avidya Klesha, which leads to various desires and diseases and makes one’s life miserable. The abhinava Klesha arises when one does not exercise control over one’s mind. Man gives undue importance to the body and gets carried away by the vagaries of the mind and as a result is put to suffering. The Asthita Klesha arises out of interest in worldly pleasures. The raga Klesha results from attachment towards wealth and material objects. The dvesha Klesha arises when one’s expectations are frustrated and desires are not fulfilled.
Some devotees worship God expecting something in return. They are happy if their desires are fulfilled or else they will start hating even God. They not enjoy the fortune on hand. On the contrary, they desire for something more which they do not deserve. As a result, they are subjected to destress. Today even the relationship between mother and child, husband. wife’ and between one brother and another are mat by dvesha.
The sheaths other than Anandamaya Kosha man in bondage and subject him to Kleshas. In or, to understand the principle of Paramarthika, one sho get rid of the mind or at least have control over it gradually give up body attachment.
The body is made up of five elements
and is bound to perish some time or the other.
But the In-dweller has neither birth nor death.
He does not have attachment or bondage.
Truly speaking, the In-dweller is God Himself. (Telugu Poem)
One cannot realise the indwelling divinity until and unless one gives up body attachment. Body attachment is an obstacle on the path of spirituality. Just as a gigantic tree is contained in a tiny seed, likewise the five Kleshas are ingrained in body attachment in the subtlest manner. Attachment to the body is the main cause man’s unhappiness, anxiety, misery and lack of peace. One should consider the body as an instrument and lead a life of truth keeping in view the indwelling divinity.
First of all man should travel from the food sheath to the life sheath. Life sheath is referred to as vibration as it is responsible for the movement of the body. What is mind sheath? Mind is all-pervasive. Mind can travel any distance in a trice. Man has death but not the mind. Mind will follow man life after life. What is wisdom sheath? It is not connected with material world. The material world is associated with reaction, resound and reflection. For example, you hit the table with your hand. Then the table also hits you in turn. As is the action, so is the reaction. This is the principle of Pratibhasika. That which is related to Pratibhasika is only worldly and secular knowledge. It cannot be termed as wisdom. True wisdom lies in understanding the constant integrated awareness. It leads to the changeless eternal bliss. This can be experienced only after transcending the five sheaths, namely, Annamaya (gross form), Pranamaya, Manomaya, Vijnanamaya (subtle form) and Anandamaya (causal form). Then you reach the state of Turiya (supreme causal state). That which is beyond the causal state is supreme causal state. In order to attain this state one should understand very clearly the nature of five sheaths. (SSS Vol.33, pp. 70-73)
The sun takes the form which consists of five different apartments. In the story of the Ramayana, the sun has always been identified with Rama himself. These five apartments, or five layers, which we refer to in the case of the sun during that period, have been named the Annamaya Kosha, the Pranamaya Kosha, the Manomaya Kosha, the Vijnanamaya Kosha and the Anandamaya Kosha. The word Annamaya Kosha refers to the material human body. This material human body builds itself on food material, grows out of food and decays when there is no food. The next layer that gives strength and protects the external human body is the Pranamaya Kosha, or an inner layer. This part of the body is called the maya deha. The Pranamaya Kosha is dependent upon the heat created in the body and enables heat to flow in the body and thereafter blood starts flowing into the blood vessels.
The next layer is called the Manomaya Kosha related to the mind. If the Manomaya Kosha is not there, then the Pranamaya and Annamaya Kosas can-not exist. The Manomaya Kosha is responsible for all kinds of thoughts and desires. One’s mind is really a bundle of desires. To some extent, this mind or the Manomaya Kosha helps and becomes a support to the Pranamaya Kosha. The next layer is the Vijnanamnya Kosha. The Vijnanamaya Kosha has the function of enabling man to get the discriminatory power by which he distinguishes between good and bad. If there is no Vijnanamaya Kosha, the other layers Manomaya Kosha, Pranamaya Kosha and Annamaya Kosha will be lifeless and will not be able to function. This Vijnanamaya Kosha enables us to learn the nature of matter and how matter functions. We shall here give an example by which we will understand the inner meaning. This is a table and is made of wood. I am making an attempt to hit on this hard matter. When I describe this act of mine, I say that I have hit the table with my hand. This is not a full description. The table has also hit my hand equally strongly. The quality in you, which enables you to recognise the conduct of the table in this act, is the Vijnanamaya Kosha.
This Vijnanamaya Kosha enables us to recognise whatever reactions and resounds exist in all the material world. We can take another example for this. When we open our eyes and look at the external view, we see so many people and so many heads. We ask if it is the eye which enables us to see all this or whether it is the light in the eyes that enables us to see all the heads? No, the light that exists outside the eye is helping the eyes to see all this. It is the joining together of the light that is present in your eyes and the light that is present outside your eyes that enables you to see all the things. We may ask, just because there is some light, does that enable us to see all this matter? It is not so; even if there is light outside the eyes, if you close your eyes, then you will not be able to see the matter which lies outside your eyes. If we regard that the external light is important, by closing our eyes we cannot see the matter. If we regard that the light in our eyes is important, if we extinguish the external light, we cannot see the matter. It is only when both are present that we can see the form of man. In this manner, the inner vision and the outer vision are together responsible for our vision. This is the function of the Vijnanamaya Kosha. Truly, if we are perceiving all the creation with our eyes, this creation is being seen because of our eyes.
There is no creation separate from our eyes. What we see in the world are all reflections of the forms that are formed inside by our own inner vision. If an artist is painting a picture, he is not painting the picture straightway on the canvas. He first forms this picture in his mind and then he puts it on the canvas with paint. If a director of a cinema directs various actors to do this and to do that, he takes the preliminary steps by which he thinks of this picture in his own mind and then brings the actors into the picture. Similarly, every writer thinks of the theme in his own mind before he writes and then begins to write out the play. So, these thoughts and ideas, which emanate within oneself, have been calledVijnana.
All these things have, for their source, the life-giving treasure. This has been referred to as the Anandamaya Kosha. We can conclude that all the four superficial koshas, the Annamaya kosha, the Pranamaya Kosha, the Manomaya Kosha and the Vijnanamaya kosha are all arising from the base Anandamaya Kosha. The spirit of Atma, which is the base for all these things, is the ananda which is at the bottom of all these other koshas. (SSB 1977, pp. 125-127)
If you want to really enjoy the bliss of Divinity, then you must give work to your hands by which you do Bhajans and work to your mouth by which you sing the glory of the Lord or you must undertake such work which may be useful to others or do service which is free from selfish interests. You must utter words, which are happy and blissful. Even if you do not have the right to understand and experience Divinity, at least a good word must be uttered by you. You cannot always oblige, but you can always speak obligingly. It is only when you can utter sacred words with your mouth and do useful work with you hands, that you will be in a position to understand Divinity.
By simply uttering unnecessary words and talking too much, you are only causing harm to your own memory and to your own strength. In the olden days, the rishis used to observe complete silence because of this. By adopting complete silence, the rishis were promoting divine strength in them. We can certainly talk when it becomes necessary but it is not necessary to talk and use words when they are not required. Sound is a form of Brahman. Of all the eight qualities, which have been associated with Brahman, the first one is the quality of sound, ‘Shabda brahman’.To some extent, if you undertake to put this into practice and not go on talking unnecessarily, then there will be a definite improvement in you.
Great sages like Vashistha and Vishwamitra by observing silence could enjoy and have the vision of the Anandamaya Kosha and they could set good examples to the world. (SSB 1977, p. 132)
People, who truly want to understand Yoga, should detach themselves from ordinary worldly action. Yoga connotes having a confluence with Divinity and the sacred aspects of atma. Like the river, when once it enters the ocean, loses its name, its form and its taste, so also a human being once he joins the atmic spirit, he will have nothing to do with the world.
All the four koshas, the annamaya, the pranamaya, the manomaya, and the vijnanamaya, are born out of the anandamaya kosha. The primary object of the anandamaya kosha is iccha or sankalpa. This iccha or sankalpa is merged with the atma and is contained inside as atma. Therefore sankalpa loses all its manifestation once it merges with the inner self or the Atma. The entire world is only a projection or an image of this sankalpa. It is not possible for this sankalpa to get into an illusion by looking at its own image in the material world. If any one utters any word, we say, by way of explanation, that the word is coming from one’s throat. This is not the truth. With one’s throat, one can utter a sound, but one cannot utter a word. The word does not come from the throat but it starts from muladhara chakra goes up to the ajna chakra and then it touches the atma and gets its true and proper tone from the base of the atma and then comes out as a sound. Here, in the prana kosha and the manomaya, there are certain strings. These strings can be touched at certain places where there are bridges on these strings. Because those are being touched, sounds are produced and those sounds go to your heart. Then’, the sound will emanate as a word.The bridges on these strings come to the notice of the mind. People who know how to play on a veena can understand these steps easily.When one plays on the strings, the bridges below the strings, each word and each sound takes special forms and tones. Depending upon the strings on which one is playing and depending upon the bridge, which one is touching, the kind of sound that emanates will be determined. While playing on one string if one touches the bridge relating to another string, one will not hear any particular sound. The life string that starts as the muladhara chakra and goes up to the ajna chakra must be made to join our mind. Here, the purpose of the muladhara chakra is to make the body keep erect and in good condition. This is something, which protects the body. It is also referred to as Annamaya kosha.
(Muladhara Chakra) (Svadhishthana chakra) (Manipura Chakra)
The second one is the Svadhishthana chakra. It has got the duty to deal with pranamaya kosha and give it much needed heat. Because of the heat that is supplied to the pranamaya kosha the body survives and is protected. Not only this, the different organs that are contained in the body are maintained by the heat that is generated.
The third one is the manipura chakra. This is in the nature of a fluid. This enables the blood to flow and after enabling the blood to flow out of Annamaya kosha it takes out all the fluids and hands them to the body. Because of this flow of blood in the body, it enables the body to keep healthy and passes the blood to the pranamaya and the Annamaya koshas.
(Anahata Chakra) (Vishuddha Chakra) (Ajna Chakra)
The fourth one is the anahata chakra. This is in the nature of air. Not only does it enable people to breathe in and breathe out air but it also makes them think about various matters. Since this has got the property of breathing, it can show its nature by way of air, heat and dust. At this stage, the aspect that is contained in pranamaya kosha enters the inner string and presses the inner string.
The fifth one is the Vishuddha chakra. The Vishuddha chakra is described having the aspects of space and of time. The sounds that emanate from us are described as words.
The sixth one is ajna chakra. This ajna chakra makes you feel your existence. Not only this, it enables you to recognise your true form.This works in the field of prajnana. It enables you to fix the five vital airs in you and enables the aspect of five pranas to shine. The purpose of the ajna chakra is to enable you to control the five pranas.
(Sahasrara Chakra)
The seventh one Sahasrara chakra. The Sahasrara chakra has got an important function of being the very base of all the vital points in you. This enables your Iccha shakti to function. Yoga has been teaching us that the vital aspect of life exists from the 9th ring to the l2th ring in the spinal column or the backbone.
The Vedas have described that the force of life is like what we see when lightning comes in the clouds, and is between the 9th ring and the l2th in the spinal column. A man can live even after losing his leg, even after losing his hand but, if his spine is broken, he cannot live. In the spinal column, what exists between the 9th ring and l2th ring is the essence of life. This is called anahata chakra. The passage of air through this annahata chakra while breathing in and breathing out sustains life.
When the rishis did not know this basic truth that life really exists between the 9th and the l2th ring in the spinal column, they were trying to control each one of the chakras starting from the muladhara, going right up to the prajna. They were doing such sadhana by which they could understand and control each one of the rings in the spinal column. We should recognise that by wisdom, one gets two kinds of prajna. One relates to the world and the other relates to the spirit the one that relates to the world enables you to understand what you see around you and how the material world goes on. We should take this to mean that even before we understand the form and the meaning of the external things, they are already contained within us.This knowledge, which relates to the atma with which you have already seen and known in some form within you and which is not being seen as an external thing. I am now looking at this piece of cloth, but the form of this piece of cloth has already been imprinted in my mind even before I see the cloth. Thus, that which establishes the true of what already exists as inner knowledge is the first kind of prajna.
The second type of prajna is that which enables you to see the aspect of atma in all living beings as one and the same. This has been proclaimed by the rishis by saying Prajnanam Brahma. This aspect of prajnana, which is identical with Brahman is present in every individual.
By the paths of Sama,Dama,upeksha,titiksha,Shraddha and samadhana we will be able to understand the divine aspect.
The Iccha shakti refers to the capacity in a human being by which he transforms what exists in the chakras into the aspect of atma. (SSB 1977, pp. 230-234)
Five sheaths encase the atma and hide its splendour from revealing itself. Make all these pure and shining. The Annamaya kosha must be purified by good, clean pure food; pranamaya kosha by calm, steady breathing and an equanimous temper; the manomaya kosha by holy thoughts and emotions untouched by attachment to sense or unaffected by joy or grief; the Vijnanamaya kosha purified by contemplation of the reality and the anandamaya kosha by getting immersed in ecstasy of God-realisation. (SSS Vol.2, p. 23)