Kosha

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For KOSHA, see Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency.

A kosha (also kosa;

Panchakosha, are described in the Taittiriya Upanishad (2.1-5),[1][2] and they are often visualised as the layers of an onion.[3]
From gross to fine they are:

  1. Annamaya kosha, "food" sheath (Anna),[2] the physical body;
  2. Pranamaya kosha, "energy" sheath (Prana),[2] the vital principle;
  3. Manomaya kosha "mind" sheath (Manas),[2]
    the mind and the five senses;
  4. Vigynana)[2]
  5. Anandamaya kosha, "bliss" sheath (Ananda)[2]

Origins

The five sheaths summarised with the term

Panchakosha are described in the Taittiriya Upanishad (2.1-5).[2]

Panchakoshas are divided in three bodies:[4]

  • The gross body sthula sarira - made up of physical matter. This body consists of Annamaya kosha.
  • the subtle body suksma sarira - This body consists of Pranamaya Kosha, Manomaya Kosha and Vijanamaya Kosha.
  • the causal body karana sarira - This body consists of Ananadamaya Kosha.

The atman is behind the Panchakoshas. According to Vedanta the wise person, being aware of the subtle influences of the five elements within each kosha, ever discerns the

Self
amidst appearances.

The five sheaths

Annamaya kosha

This is the sheath of the physical (body) self, the grossest of the five koshas, named from the fact that it is nourished by food. Living through this layer humans identify themselves with a mass of skin, flesh, fat, bones, and feces, while the human of discrimination knows oneself, the only reality that there is, as distinct from the body. The physical body is formed of the essence of food. Birth and death are the attributes of the Annamaya kosha.

Anna means matter, annam literally means food; Taittiriya Upanishad calls food the medicament of all.[5] The gross body which is matter-born and matter sustained and transient and subject to perception is the Annamayakosha whose origin is food eaten by parents. It is visible, dependent and impure. It is not the atman because it did not exist before its origination and ceases to exist once it is destroyed. It is subject to origination and destruction every moment. It is the anatman because it is not in the beginning and at the end, is non-existent also in the present. It does not know itself. The deluded mind that does not inquire considers his atman to be this body or kosha. Such a person cannot enjoy bliss.[6]

Pranamaya kosha

Pranamaya means composed of

Vivekachudamani it is a modification of vayu
or air, it enters into and comes out of the body.

Pranamayakosha, separate from and subtler than Annamayakosha, pertains to the Sukshma sarira, it is the sheath of the vital airs completely enclosing and filling the Annamayakosha. The Prana in combination with the five organs of action constitutes the Pranamayakosha. The Annamayakosha is an effect of the Pranamayakosha.[7] The Annamayakosha gets life by the Prana entering into it and engages in all kinds of action. Prana is the life of beings and the Universal life. Whatever happens in the Annamayakosha is wrongly identified as belonging to the atman by reason of its being pervaded by the Pranamayakosha which is effect of Vayu, and totally unaware and dependent.[8]

Manomaya kosha

Manomaya means composed of manas or mind. The mind, along with the five sensory organs, is said to constitute the manomaya kosa. The manomaya kosa, or "mind-sheath" is said more truly to approximate to personhood than annamaya kosa and pranamaya kosha. It is the cause of diversity, of I and mine. Adi Shankara links it to clouds that are brought in by the wind and again driven away by the same agency. Similarly, man's bondage is caused by the mind, and liberation, too, is caused by that alone.

Manomayakosha belongs to the Suksma sarira. It is the "self" having Pranamayakosha as its body.

samsara but when free of rajas and tamas can bring about the state of being established in Brahman.[10]

Vijñānamaya kosha

Vijñānamaya means composed of

prakrti
. It is endowed with the function of knowledge and identifies itself with the body, organs etc.

Vijnanamaya kosha also belongs to the Suksma sarira and pervades the Manomayakosha that pervades the Pranamayakosha which pervades the Annamayakosha. Buddhi with its organs of knowledge and its actions having the characteristics of an agent is the Vigyanakosha, the cause of samsara. It has the power of reflection of the chaitanya which it accompanies as a modification of

Prakrti (avidya) and characterised by knowledge and action and always identified with the body, organs etc. This kosha is endowed with jnana and to it belong the waking and dream states and the experiences of joy and sorrow. Being very luminous in close proximity of the Paramatman deluded by which upadhi it is subject to samsara, this atman which is compacted of vigyanana and shining in the heart near the pranas being immutable becomes a doer and enjoyer in the midst of the upadhis. Its "jivabhava-existential-character" i.e. Jivahood, persists so long as there is delusion as it is born of mithyajnana. Though avidya is beginningless it is not eternal.[11]

Anandamaya kosha

Main article: Anandamaya kosha

Anandamaya means composed of ananda, or

deep sleep: while in the dreaming and wakeful states, it has only a partial manifestation. The blissful sheath (anandamaya kosha
) is a reflection of the Atman which is truth, beauty, bliss absolute.

Anandamaya kosha is the last layer and it is the closest layer to the Atman. It is a modification of avidya and appears as a reflection of the atman compacted of absolute bliss. It is fully manifested in the dreamless deep sleep. It is not the atman because it is connected with upadhis ("limitations") and a modification of Prakrti as an effect of good deeds.[12]

Significance

Ātman can be identified only by negation of the anatman. The Panchkoshas are anatman that hide the atman, these koshas or sheaths are required to be systematically removed. Their removal brings to fore a void which void is also required to be removed. After removal of the five sheaths and the resultant void through the process of negation, what remains is the Atman; and then the non-existence of all the modifications beginning with the ahamkara is self-witnessed, the self that witnesses is itself the supreme Self.[13] These five sheaths envelop the atman or "Self".

The

Badarayana, drawing attention to Pāṇini’s grammar (V.iv.21), explains that the suffix mayat as in Annamaya (made of food), Pranamaya (made of vital air) etc., besides conveying the meaning "made of" has also the sense of abundance and plenitude as well[15]
for which reason it is repeatedly said - Brahman is the Blissful (Anandamaya) Self.

See also

References

  1. ^ David Frawley, Yoga and the Sacred Fire: Self-Realization and Planetary Transformation, p.288
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Mallinson & Singleton 2017, p. 184.
  3. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.582.4733
    .
  4. ISBN 9788131713877
    .
  5. ^ Taittiriya Upanishad (PDF). shri Ramakrishna Math. p. 60. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 September 2012.
  6. OCLC 633667305
    .
  7. ^ Taittiriya Upanishad (PDF). shri Ramakrishna Math. p. 62. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 September 2012.
  8. OCLC 633667305
    .
  9. ^ Taittiriya Upanishad (PDF). shri Ramakrishna Math. p. 68. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 September 2012.
  10. OCLC 633667305
    .
  11. OCLC 633667305
    .
  12. OCLC 633667305
    .
  13. OCLC 633667305
    .
  14. ^ Taittiriya Upanishad (PDF). shri Ramakrishna Math. p. 74. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 September 2012.
  15. Brahma Sutra
    I.i.13

Sources

External links
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