Bhoga-ayatanam and bhoga-sadhanam (instrument of experience)
The stula-sarira (gross body) is known as “Bhoga-ayatanam”, which means “Counter of experiences”, while suksma-sarira is called “bhoga-sadhanam”, which means “the instrument of experience”.
The subtle body, which is made up of senses, mind and intellect, is the instrument through which an individual comes to know joy and pain.
Living in the stula-sarira, one uses the suksma-sarira to experience the world of objects.
Manas and buddhi (Mind and intellect)
‘Manas’ is the mind, it has a continuous flow of various thoughts before a decision is made as to whether to do this or not. Do this or that? Emotions and memory or ‘chitta’ are also an aspect of manas / mind.
‘Buddhi’ is the power to decide. It is the faculty of inference, logical, analytical, critical reasoning before deciding, also called the intellect. Ahankara-Ego also belongs to buddhi.
Just as memory is the aspect of ‘manas’, ‘consciousness’, which has the inert sense of right and wrong, is also an aspect of buddhi / intellect.
Brain and antah-karana (subtle body)
The brain is part of the sthula-sarira (gross body). It is a physical organ and is not part of the suksma-sarira.
Antah-karana, which is made up of 17 limbs (which are subtle and not sense objects – 5 organs of perception, 5 organs of action, 5 pranas, mind and intellect) uses the brain as a tool to experience the outer world of objects.
Manonmaya-kosa and vijnanamaya-kosa
‘Kosa’ means ‘sheath’, something that is veiled or protected from its grasp.
Manonmaya-kosa and vijnanamaya-kosa behave like sheaths that protect the “Self-Atman”.
The sthula-sarira (gross body) is Annamaya-kosa, sheath of food.
The suskma-srira (subtle body) is divided into three kosas. Pranamaya-kosa, Manonmaya-kosa and vijnanamaya-kosa.
Pranamaya-kosa (consists of 5 pranas) is endowed with the power to act and is called ‘kriyasaktiman’
Manonmaya-kosa constitutes the organs of perception (also called jananendriyas, listed below) and manas, endowed with the power to desire and therefore called ‘ichhasaktiman’
Ear (srotram) – listen
Eye (cakush) – to see
Nose (ghrana) – to smell
Skin (tvak) – touch
Tongue (rasana) – to taste
and vijnanamaya-kosa constitutes the organs of perception and buddhi, endowed with the power of knowledge and called ‘jananasaktiman’
The organs of perception are common to both manonmaya kosa and vijanamaya kosa because the perceptual knowledge acquired through the organs of perception is vital to the functioning of both manonmaya and vijanamaya kosas.
Visva and taijasa
Visva is the waking experience of the external world of objects (Jagrud state). (Due to identification with the dense body).
Taijasa is the dreaming ego state in the dream state where the subtle body projects its own world (svapna state) and feels part of it. (Due to identification with the subtle body)
Sankaracharya defines the dream state as “the world that is perceived while sleeping, born from the impressions of what is experienced in the waking state.”
panca-prana
Panca prana is part of the 17 limbs of the subtle body, suksma-sarira. They are: (PASVU) (I remember it as PASU with a V before U)
Prana – controls the breath – respiration
Apana – controls excretion – waste disposal
Samana: supports digestion and assimilation
Vyana: controls the circulation and nutrition of cells
Udana – reverse actions (can also be called as going up)
The term prana is a collective term for all pranas and the first prana
Linga-sarira
Suksma-sarira, also called the subtle body, is also called linga-sarira. ‘Linga’ means ‘root’ or ‘indicator’ in Sanskrit.
The 17 components of the suksma-sarira are inert (still / immobile) and rudimentary tanmantras. But they seem to be endowed with the power to know and have the strength to act as if they were borrowed from elsewhere. The borrowed intelligence and the strength to act from these susma-sarira indicate the existence of the Self, which is the only one who has lent them Existence and consciousness.
Since the operation of the suksma-sarira indicates the presence of Atman, it is the pointer and is called ‘linga-sarira’
Svapna-avastha
Svapna-avastha is a state in which the dreamer can experience a world in a different realm totally different from the waking state. The individual feels part of that world when he is in that realm.
The experiences (not the sensual ones, just what we hear and see) acquired during the waking state are stored in the form of vasanas. The subtle body based on the experiences in the waking state creates this world in the dream state that the mind projects. These are projections of thought and do not have a valid external reality. When one wakes up from this dream state, he realizes that they are not true.
Similarly, we are all in the prolonged sleep state and can truly awaken only when we become aware of the Self in us. This existence in this realm makes us believe that everything is real. All of this is created by our mind like a dream and we believe that this life is real.
The 17 limbs of the suksma-sarira
Suksma-sarira are rudimentary elements without suffering the pancikarana, it is called suksma-sarira – subtle body.
They are:
5 jnanendriyas – 5 organs of perception – ear, nose, eyes, tongue and skin.
5 karmendriyas – 5 organs of actions – speech, hand, leg, anus and genitals
5 pranas – prana, apana, samana, vyana, udana
manas -mind (includes emotion and memory)
buddhi – intellect (includes reasoning, decision making and consciousness)
Atma Bodha explains:
During sleep, the mind is active and we experience sleep from unfulfilled desires, passions that are carried by the mind when we go to sleep. When we wake up, we realize that it was nothing more than a dream.
Whereas, we experience bliss during deep sleep because the mind and intellect are not connected with external objects at that moment and therefore the “Self” does not identify with anything. There are no likes or dislikes and the intellect makes no decisions during sleep. The “Self” / Atman is in close alignment with the “Brahman” in deep sleep. There is no identification with the gross body and the objects of the senses.
The ‘Avidya’ – ‘Spiritual ignorance’ does not allow us to understand that the whole life is also a dream and the world is nothing but ‘Maya’. One has to wake up to realize that I am the “I” separated from the body, mind and intellect (BMI EGO), a reflective medium of the self. The ‘I’ lights up depending on the means used. Due to the reflection of the ‘I’ by the EGO, sufferings are caused. The elimination of this EGO is Vidya / Spiritual knowledge. This result is the fusion of the plurality in a single pure consciousness both inside and outside of us.
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