The Panchakosas
Q. How then can this delusion disappear?
A. Why, viveka [understanding/discrimination] and vijnana [consciousness] will make it disappear.
Q. For the jivi reflected in the buddhi [intellect] and the kootastha [combined action of seeing object, getting it close, enjoying bliss] … have they any superimposition, one upon the other?
A. Though there may be no superimposition for all appearances, the superimposition exists.
Q. How is that?
A. The kootastha is unattached, unmoved, unaffected, and ever free. Still due to the superimposition, it appears differently. This is the result of their co-existence.
Q. Some elders say that “That and Twam” are the same, identical; how is that? What is its meaning? Please enlighten me.
A. Take the pot, the house, and a picture. They are distinct, is it not? They are not identical. But the aakasa[etheric field] that is in all of these is the same. When the upadhior condition/limitation is removed, the akasa in the pot (ghata), house (mata) and picture (pita) all merge with the aakasa that is unconditioned, unlimited. Light, too, is like this. The light inside and the light outside merge.
Q. Well, Swami. You have said that the human being in this body composed of the five elements has to realize the atma [inner divinity] encased in the panchakosa [five sheaths]. What is panchakosa, exactly?
A. Kosa means a sheath, a case, a cover. A sword is put into a scabbard. Money is kept in a treasury or kosa. You must realize that the thing kept in this five-fold case, is the real ‘I’. To see one’s own truth one has to remove the five cases, the panchakosa.
Q. Which are these five, Swami?
A. They are called the annamaya, the praanamaya, the manomaya, the vijnanamaya, and the aanandamaya kosas.
Q. What does annamaya mean?
A. This body grew in the womb of the mother with the help of the anna or food taken by the mother. Besides, even after birth, it has grown and is being sustained by food alone. After death, it becomes part of the earth that produces food. So, it is called annamaya.
Q. Of what importance is this annamaya kosa?
A. It is the sthula deha, the gross body, which suffers grief and exults in joy.
Q. Is that the only name it has? Or has it any other name?
A. It has. It is called “Bhogaayathanam”.
Q. The praanamaya kosa; what does that mean?
A. The sphere of the five senses, the five pranas [vital airs]; they form this cover.
Q. Swami! It seems there are not only pranas; there are upa-pranas also?
A. There are. They are called: Naga, Kurma, Gridhra, Devadatta, and Dhananjaya.
Q. What is the action of each of these?
A. Naga causes belching; Kurma causes blinking of the eyelids; Gridhra is responsible for sneezing; Devadatta causes the yawn; Dhananjaya fills the body and causes it to grow fat. Even after death, these affect the body and cause changes in the corpse.
Q. What does manomaya kosa mean?
A. The sphere of the five jnanendriyas [five senses of knowledge], plus the mind, of which they have become the instruments. It is inside the praanamayakosa.
Q. You say often mind, mind; please explain what that mind is.
A. That which makes you feel you are the body and feel all things related to the body as “mine”; that which runs out through the senses to the objects to experience the pleasure therefrom. It is thus rendered very unsteady; always flitting from one object to another.
Q. Swami! How is man to realize that he is separate from, beyond and above the annamayakosa?
A. The body is not evident before birth or after death. It is seen only during the intervening period of time. The body has a beginning and an end, growth and decay. Such things are ‘products’, ‘effects;’ and effects are conditioned. So, the body, too, is a limited, conditioned thing. The wise man tells himself, “I exist always, I am not material; I have no cause and effect, I am separate from this gross body. So, I cannot be this annamayakosa. I am the knower of the annamayakosa; I am the witness.” When this knowledge is well established, he knows the truth. He must realize that he is beyond the annamaya sheath.
Q. How is one to realize that he is beyond the praanamayakosa?
A. At night, when the individual is asleep, the pranas or vital airs are moving; but one does not know what is happening in him or around him. He does not fight if enemies come during his sleep. He is inert and inactive like a log. But “My nature is not this inertness. I am the ever-conscious witness. I am separate from all the sheaths,” thus he must discriminate, reflect, and know.
Source: Prashnottara Vahini
