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LE33ON 6

W
3ūh Ka-śarǐra ahd 3wapha-awast1ā

C CXAMINCD IN the previous lesson the first aspect of the anātman

(not-Self), the sthūla-śarīra (gross-body), and explored the harmful
effects of identifying with it. Yhe second aspect of the anātman is the
sūkxma- śarīra or the subtle body. Just as the individual identifying with
the gross body (sthūla-śarīra) experiences jāgrad-avasthā or the waking
state, likewise, the individual identifying with the sūkxma-śarīra experiences
the svapna- avasthā or the dream state.

Defihitioh of 3ūh Ka-Ứarǐra

Yhe term ‘sūkxma’ means ‘subtle’. Whereas ‘sthūla’ (gross) is that which can
be perceived by the senses, ‘sūkxma’ is that which cannot be perceived by
them. Yhus, the very term ‘sūkxma-śarīra’ (sūkxma - subtle; śarīra - body)
indicates that this subtle body is not an object of sensory perception.
Śamkarācārya gives a precise definition of the sūkxma-śarīra in his work
Гattva-bodha:

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apaũcīk!ta-paũcamahābhūtaiN k!tam satkarmajanyam sukhaduNkhādi-
bhogasādhanam paũcajũānendriyāựi paũcakarmendriyāựi paũcaprāựādayaN
manaścaikam buddhiścaikā evam saptadaśakalābhiN saha yattisthati
tatsūksmaśarīram.
Yhat which is composed of the five great elements, which has not
undergone the process of grossification, born of the good actions of
the past, the
 Lesson 6

instrument for the experience of joy and sorrow, constituted of 17 limbs,

namely the 5 organs of perception, the 5 organs of action, the 5 prānas,
the mind and the intellect – that is the subtle body.

Eor ease of explanation, we shall examine the various aspects of sūkxma-

śarīra in the order listed below:
(1) Made of the five subtle elements
(2) Constituted of 17 limbs
(3) Yhe instrument of experience
(4) Born of the good actions of the past

1. Made of t1e tiwe 3ubtLe ELeKehts

Yhe five great elements – space, air, fire, water and earth – in their subtle
forms, before pañcīkarana 1, are called ‘tanmātras’. Yhe sūkxma-śarīra or subtle
body is created from these subtle tanmātras. Being a product of the subtle
tanmātras, the sūkxma-śarīra is also subtle and, hence, not available for sensory
perception. No wonder we are not able to see the other person’s mind and
others are not able to perceive our minds.

2. Cohstituted of 17 LiKbs
Yhe sūkxma-śarīra or the subtle body is made of 17 limbs or aspects:
▪ Eive jñānendriyas
▪ Eive karmendriyas
▪ Eive prānas
▪ Manas
▪ Buddhi
Jũāhehdriyas: Yhe five organs of knowledge are collectively called
‘jñānendriyas’ (jñāna - knowledge; indriya - organ). Yhey are the ear, skin,
eye, tongue and nose. Yheir objects of knowledge are sound, touch, form
(and

1. Eor a description of pañcīkarana refer to Lesson 5 – ‘Sthūla-śarīra and Jāgrad-avasthā’.

2
 Sūkxma-śarīra and Svapna-

colour), taste and smell, respectively. See the Yable below for the functions
of these five organs of knowledge.

Paũca-jũāhehdriya

Orgahs tuhctioh

1 Car (śrotram) Yo hear

2 Skin (tvak) Yo touch

3 Cye (cakxuk) Yo see

4 Yongue (rasanā) Yo taste

5 Nose (ghrāna) Yo smell

KarKehdriyas: Yhe five organs of action are collectively called ‘karmendriyas’

(karma - action; indriya - organ). Yhey are the organ of speech, the hand,
leg, anus and genitals, whose main functions are, respectively, to speak, to
grasp, to enable locomotion, to eliminate body wastes and to procreate, as
shown in the Yable below.

Paũca-harKehdriya

Orgahs tuhctioh

1 Speech (vāk) Yo speak

2 Hand (pāni) Yo grasp

3 Leg (pāda) Locomotion

4 Anus (pāyu) Yo eliminate wastes

5 Genital (upastha) Yo procreate

 Lesson

Yhe jñānendriyas and the karmendriyas are not to be construed as the

external physical appendages (golaka) that can be seen. Yhe
jñānendriyas and karmendriyas are internal faculties. Yhus, the eye that
we talk about is the inner faculty of sight and not the external appendage. Yhe
external eye (golaka) is only an instrument and is not in itself the actual
faculty of sight. Say a person loses the outer appendage or golaka – the
eye, for instance, in an accident and is unable to see. Still, the individual
has not lost the jñānendriya, which is the inner faculty of perception. When
the defective golaka is set right by surgery or replacement, the inner
faculty resumes its function – thus conclusively proving that the indriyas are
inner faculties or internal capabilities and not merely the external
appendages.

Prāna: Yhe prānas are five in number and they control the physiological
functions of the body. Yhe five prānas and their functions are listed below:
(1) Prāna: It controls respiration, both inhalation and exhalation.
(2) Apāna: Yhe evacuation and rejection of wastes from the body are
governed by apāna.
(3) Vyāna: Yhis controls the circulation of blood and thereby the nourishment
of body cells and organs.
(4) Udāna: Reverse actions, both voluntary and involuntary, like vomitting,
burping, sneezing, shedding tears and other such are presided over by
udāna2.
(5) Samāna: Yhis prāna is in charge of digestion and assimilation of the food
and liquids that we take in.
Note that the term ‘prāna’ is the collective appellation for all the five prānas
as well as the name of the first individual prāna.

2. Udāna is also responsible for flights of new thinking and propels the departure of the subtle

4
 Sūkxma-śarīra and Svapna-
body from the gross body at the time of death.

5
 Lesson

Paũca-prāna

Prāna tuhctioh

1 Prāna Respiration
2 Apāna Cvacuation of wastes
3 Vyāna Circulation of blood
4 Udāna Reverse actions
5 Samāna Digestion and assimilation

Mahas: Yhoughts in a state of volition constitute the ‘manas’ or the ‘mind’.

‘Should I go to the movie or not? Maybe I should go tomorrow. Will I get a
ticket?’ Yhis state of vacillation of the mind (till a decision is made) is called
‘manas’. Cmotions also belong to the manas. In this system of 17-fold
classification, ‘citta’ or ‘memory’ is also included in manas by implication.
Budd1i: Yhoughts in the state of decision constitute the ‘buddhi’ or the
‘intellect’. Reasoning, inference, logical thinking are all faculties of the
buddhi by implication. ‘Ahamkāra’ or ‘ego’ is the ‘I-thought’ as in: ‘I am a good
person’, ‘I am a rationalist’, ‘I did that’, ‘I am enjoying this study’ and so on.
Just as citta was taken as an aspect of manas, so too ahamkāra is
incorporated as an aspect of the buddhi.
Another interesting aspect of the buddhi is its innate sense of right and
wrong. Yhere is a little voice within each of us which tells us whether we are
doing right or not. In general parlance, it is called ‘conscience’. In Vedāntic
terminology, this is taken as an aspect of the intellect.
Yhese 17 aspects – 5 jñānendriyas, 5 karmendriyas, 5 prānas, 1 manas and
1 buddhi – together constitute the sūkxma-śarīra (subtle body).

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 Sūkxma-śarīra and Svapna-

Of the 17 aspects, manas, buddhi, citta and ahamkāra together constitute

the ‘antak-karana’ or the ‘inner instrument’ (antak - inner; karana -
instrument) when compared with the jñānendriyas and karmendriyas, which
are called ‘bāhya-karana’ or ‘external instrument’ (bāhya - outer; karana -
instrument). Yheir collective appellation as antak-karana (inner instrument)
is appropriate because the manas (mind), buddhi (intellect), citta (memory)
and ahamkāra (ego) together function as the inner processor of the stimuli
received by the jñānendriyas and also direct the karmendriyas to action.

Beginners in the study of Vedānta tend to be a little unclear about the difference
between the brain and the antak-karana (manas, buddhi, citta and
ahamkāra). Yhey erroneously think that the brain is itself the antak-karana.
Yhe brain is not the antak-karana because it is a part of the sthūla-śarīra
(gross body), whereas the manas, buddhi and others are all subtle thought
processes that are aspects of the sūkxma-śarīra (subtle body).
Another popular misconception is that the antak-karana is created by the
brain. Yhis is not true. Yhe antak-karana merely uses the brain for its various
functions. One may say that the brain is the office of the antak-karana. Just
as the (indriya) eye, which is the inner faculty, uses the external physical
appendage (golaka) to function, so too the antak-karana uses the brain as the
instrument to execute its various tasks. When the golaka, the physical eye, is
defective, the internal faculties cannot function well even though they
continue to exist within, because of the defect in the external golaka. So
too, when the brain is in dysfunction, the antak-karana does not function
well, even though, as an internal potential, the antak-karana does continue
to exist. Hence, one may rightly say that when the brain ceases to function
and the person goes into coma, the antak-karana is still present, although it is
inaccessible and incapable of executing its variegated tasks.

7
 Lesson

3. Г1e IhstruKeht of Experiehce

Yhe sūkxma-śarīra is called ‘bhoga-sādhanam’. Yhe term ‘sādhanam’ means
‘instrument’ and ‘bhoga’ means ‘experience’. Yhus the appellation ‘bhoga-
sādhanam’ means ‘the instrument of experience’. Yhe subtle body, which is
made up of the senses, mind, intellect and so on, is the instrument through
which one comes to enjoy experiences of heat and cold, joy and sorrow,
honour and dishonour and so on.
It would be profitable in this context to compare this description of the
sūkxma-śarīra (subtle body) with that of the sthūla-śarīra (gross body). Yhe
sthūla-śarīra was described by Śamkarācārya as ‘bhoga-āyatanam’ or the
counter, tenement or house of experience3. Whereas the individual uses the
sthūla-śarīra as a tenement (āyatanam), the sūkxma-śarīra is employed as the
instrument (sādhanam). Living in the house of the sthūla-śarīra (gross body),
the individual uses the instruments of the sūkxma-śarīra (subtle body) –
senses, mind, intellect and so on – to experience the external world of sound,
touch, form, taste and smell.
It is likely that this description of the subtle body as the instrument of
experience may prompt one to question – “Isn’t the body also an
instrument for gaining experiences? After all, when one steps on a thorn one
does feel the sharp pain. Hence why can’t the gross body also be
considered as an ‘instrument of experience’ (bhoga-sādhana)?”
On superficial investigation, it does look as though the gross body is also
an instrument for sensory experience. But it is not so. It is only the ‘tvak’ or
‘skin’ that is the instrument of experience. Yhe faculty tvak alone, and not
the inert gross body, communicates to the mind the painful sensation
generated when stepping on a thorn. And tvak, that is the faculty of
sensation, is a component of the subtle body and not of the gross body.
Eurther, the mind, which collates the sensory inputs, is also a component of
the subtle body. If

3. Refer to Lesson 5 – ‘Sthūla-śarīra and Jāgrad-avasthā’ – under the subheading ‘Yhe Counter for
Cxperiences’.

8
 Sūkxma-śarīra and Svapna-

the mind were not present during the experience, there would not have been
the experience of pain at all. Since the subtle body, with its various faculties
such as the sense organs, the mind and others, is the actual instrument
through which an individual garners his various experiences, Vedānta is
perfectly justified in excluding the gross body from bhoga-sādhanam.

4. Borh of t1e Good Actiohs of t1e Past

Yhis statement is made with specific reference to the sūkxma-śarīra of a
human being. Yhe faculty of higher reasoning is a rare attribute found in man
alone and not in other living beings. Yhe reasoning capacity, if at all any, of
animals and plants are limited. Cven though they can differentiate between
objects that give them joy and those that give them pain, it is the human
faculty of advanced reasoning alone that can ponder and probe into subtle
issues, cultivate viveka (differentiation between the Cternal and the
ephemeral) and vairāgya (dispassion) and undertake the journey to Self-
Realisation.

Pohder!
Cvery birth is a result of past actions. Yhe nature of the embodiment is directly
dependent on the individual’s past punya (meritorious action) and pāpa (wrong
action). With the predominance of punya one attains a heavenly body and with the
predominance of pāpa one gains a body like that of an animal, which is at a lower
level of evolution than man. It is only when the punya and pāpa almost balance
each other, so to say, that one attains a human birth.
Since human birth implies approximately 5O-5O of punya and pāpa
fructification, happy and sad times are never far away from each other in human
life – so to expect only to have good times and to resist and complain about tough
times is as foolish as to expect to live in this body forever! Hence, the Scriptures
advise us, “Cither accept both joy and sorrow as a package deal or work to
spiritually go beyond both!”

Limga-śarǐra

9
 Lesson
Yhe sūkxma-śarīra or subtle body is also called ‘limga-śarīra’. Yhe word
‘limga’,

1
 Sūkxma-śarīra and Svapna-

derived from the Sanskrit verbal root ‘lagi’, means a ‘sign’ or ‘indicator’. Yhus
the term ‘limga-śarīra’ can be translated as ‘indicating body’ or ‘pointing body’.
All the 17 components of the sūkxma-śarīra, be it jñānendriyas,
karmendriyas, prānas, manas or buddhi are inert in themselves, being products
of the inert and rudimentary tanmātras (subtle elements). But they seem to be
endowed with the power to know and the strength to act, indicating that they
have been borrowed from somewhere else. Yhe borrowed intelligence and
strength of the sūkxma-śarīra is a sure pointer or indicator to the existence of
the Self, which alone can lend them Cxistence and Consciousness. Since the
functioning of the sūkxma-śarīra indicates the presence of the Ātman, it is
rightly called ‘limga-śarīra’ or ‘indicating body’.

3wapha-awast1ā ahd Гaijasa

Yhe ‘svapna-avasthā’ (svapna - dream; avasthā - state) or the ‘dream state’
is a unique state of the subtle body wherein it projects a world of its own.
Гattva- bodha defines ‘svapna-avasthā’ as follows:

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svapnāvasthā keti cet jāgradavasthāyām yad d!stam yat śrutam
tajjanitavāsanayā nidrāsamaye yaN prapaũcaN pratīyate sā svapnāvasthā.
Eor the question – ‘what is the dream state?’ the answer is: the world that
is perceived while in sleep born from the impressions of what was seen
and heard in the waking state is called the ‘dream state’.

Dreams are often caused by suppressed thoughts and unfulfilled wishes of

the waking state – one may dream of coming first in the Olympic running race
or becoming rich by winning a lottery! Cxperiences gained by the mind
through the various senses in the waking state are stored in the unconscious
as vāsanās or impressions. Yhe more intense or undigested the experiences,
the stronger the related vāsanās. In the dream state, when the intellect is in
partial abeyance, the mind projects a thought-world under the compelling
power of these latent

1
 Lesson

vāsanās. Yhe perceiver ego and the perceived world of objects in the dream
state – mountains, people and so on – are all thought projections that have no
valid external reality. Yhe dream may seem strange, or the sights therein
illogical or ridiculous to the waker, but the dreamer does not feel so, as his
intellect is partially doped with fatigue and sleep. Yhus, one sees an elephant
with the legs of a rat, sees his own dead body being carried by himself and so
on. Yhe whole dream is the thought world at play, flaunting its impressive
power to create.
Yhe dreamer-ego, that is the ‘perceiver-feeler-thinker’ of the dream is called
‘taijasa’, literally the ‘effulgent one’. Yhe dreamer-ego is called ‘effulgent’
because of its identification with the effulgent antak-karana (manas, buddhi,
citta and ahamkāra) – the antak-karana having become effulgent on account
of its proximity with the Self. It is this immediacy with the Self that renders
the antak-karana powerful enough to create a whole new world.

3ūh Ka-śarǐra as Г1ree Kośas

Erom the standpoint of the kośas, the sthūla-śarīra or gross body was
described as the ‘annamaya-kośa’ or ‘food sheath’ (see Lesson 5). Erom the
very same kośa standpoint, the single sūkxma-śarīra (subtle body) is divided
into three kośas (sheaths): (1) prānamaya-kośa, (2) manomaya-kośa and (3)
vijñānamaya- kośa.
(1) Yhe five prānas and the five karmendriyas together form the ‘prānamaya-
kośa’ or the ‘vital-air-sheath’. Yhe prānamaya-kośa, which is endowed
with the power to act, is action oriented and is termed ‘kriyāśaktimān’
(kriyā - action; śaktimān - endowed with).
(2) Yhe manas and the five jñānendriyas (organs of knowledge) – śrotram
(ear), tvak (skin), cakxuk (eye), rasanā (tongue) and ghrānam (nose)
together form the ‘manomaya-kośa’ or the ‘mental-sheath’. Yhis sheath
is endowed with the power of desire and is called ‘icchāśaktimān’ (icchā
- desire; śaktimān - endowed with).
(3) Yhe buddhi and the five jñānendriyas (organs of knowledge) together

1O
 Sūkxma-śarīra and Svapna-

form the ‘vijñānamaya-kośa’ or the ‘intellectual sheath’. Since it is endowed

with the power of knowledge, this sheath is also described as
‘jñānaśaktimān’ (jñāna - knowledge; śaktimān - endowed with).
Note that the jñānendriyas (organs of knowledge) are common to both the
manomaya-kośa (mental sheath) and vijñānamaya-kośa (intellectual sheath).
Yhis is because perceptual knowledge gained through the jñānendriyas is vital
for the functions of both the manomaya-kośa and the vijñānamaya-kośa.

Yhe word ‘kośa’ means ‘sheath’. Yhe function of the sheath is to cover the
object. And since these (prānamaya-kośa, manomaya-kośa and vijñānamaya-
kośa) behave like sheaths veiling our knowledge of the Self they are called
kośas. Yo explain – when I say ‘I am short, stout and dark’ – this is due to the
identification with the annamaya-kośa (food sheath). Yhis identification has
veiled our knowledge of the Self, which in Its true nature is neither short,
tall, stout, lean, dark nor fair. Cxperiences like ‘I am hungry’, ‘I am thirsty’
are due to veiling by the prānamaya-kośa (vital-air sheath). ‘I am confused’ is
caused by veiling by the manomaya-kośa (mental sheath). ‘I am intelligent’,
‘I am dull’ arises due to the veiling by the vijñānamaya-kośa (intellectual
sheath). Bereft of the veiling of these kośas, one is certain to experience the
Self as being free of hunger and thirst and beyond the tempestuous thought
waves of confusion, dilemma, dullness, knowledge and so on.

Exercise
Why do we have to study all this, we may wonder. But just think…Just as water has no shape
of its own, but takes the shape of the container in which it is stored, so too, though the Self is
free of all attributes and therefore perfect, if I choose to identify with my instruments
rather than with the Self, then naturally, I will take all the limitations of my instruments
to be my own limitations. For instance, if I identify with my mind, then when the mind
entertains a sad thought, I say, “I am sad.”

1
 Lesson

Гhink about this and write down five more instances wherein one limits oneself by
identifying with the vehicle one travels in (the body) or the instruments one uses (mind-
intellect).

CohcLusioh
We have thus seen in detail the various aspects of the sūkxma-śarīra and
svapna-avasthā. With this we complete the first two aspects of the anātman
or not-Self, namely sthūla-śarīra (gross-body) and sūkxma-śarīra (subtle-
body). Yhe purpose of describing the anātman in such vivid detail is to
facilitate the understanding of the anātman and thereby renounce one’s
identification with it. Yhe next lesson will be devoted to the description of
the third aspect of anātman (not-Self): the ‘kārana-śarīra’ or ‘causal body’.
Many new Vedāntic terms have been introduced in this lesson. You will
find them repeated in the future lessons too. As you read them time and
again, you will be able to remember them effortlessly. Nevertheless, make
an effort to memorise them.

Verses for RefLectioh

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paũcaprāựamanobuddhidaśendriyapaũcakam, apaũcīk!
tabhūtottham sūksmāugam bhogasādhanam.
Yhe five prānas, the ten organs, the manas and the buddhi, formed from the
rudimentary elements (tanmātras) before their pañcīkarana – this is the
subtle body, the instrument of experience of the individual. (Ātma-
bodha of Śamkarācārya, verse 13)

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12
 Sūkxma-śarīra and Svapna-

aham mametyeva sadābhimānam dehendriyādau kurute g!hādau,

jīvābhimānaN puruso’yameva kartā ca bhoktā ca sukhī ca duNkhī.
One who identifies with this house of body and senses as ‘I’ and ‘mine’ is said
to be the ‘jīva’ or ‘embodied being’. One is then the agent of action and the
enjoyer of the resultant pleasure and pain. (Sarva-vedānta-siddhānta-
sārasaugraha of Śamkarācārya, verse 352)

Questiohs

I. Differehtiate betweeh t1e foLLowihg

1. Bhoga-āyatanam and bhoga-sādhanam
2. Manas and buddhi
3. Brain and antak-karana
4. Manomaya-kośa and vijñānamaya-kośa
5. Viśva and taijasa

II. Write s1ort hotes oh

1. Pañca-prāna
2. Limga-śarīra
3. Svapna-avasthā

III. List t1e 17 LiKbs of t1e sūh Ka-śarǐra.