SLOKA 12:
पंचीकृतमहाभूतसंभवं कर्मसंचितम् ।
शरीरं
सुखदुःखानां भोगायतनमुच्यते ॥ १२॥
PANCHIKRITAM SAHAABHUUTA
SAMBHAVAAT KARMA
SANCHITAM
SHARIRAM SUKHA DUKHANAAM
BHOGAAYATANAM UCHYATE
(Determined for each
individual by his own past actions and made up of the Five elements – that have
gone through the process of “five-fold self-division and mutual combination”
(Pancheekarana) – are born the gross-body, the medium through which pleasure and
pain are experienced, the tent-of-experiences.)
In the previous two slokas, we learnt that it is
only due to illusory Upadhis that the ever free, untainted non-dual Self is
mistaken as limited. Just like the water that acquires color and taste due to its
association with impurities or like the space that seems to be limited due to
the impurities, the Self due to its association with the limiting adjuncts
seems limited and hence subjected to all misery.
Pancheekarana
Every creation is a manifestation of the gross
from the prior subtle state and we all know that the cause precedes
the effect.
In the theory of pancheekarana, it is very
elaborately pointed out how 5 elements - Space, Air, Fire, Water and Earth are
evolved, how they intermingle and how from the subtle “TANMATRAS”, the gross
elements are formed.
The five great elements, before their
grossification, exist in the pure nature, each by themselves - and hence they
are known as TANMATRAS, (literally means “THAT ALONE”)
Bhoga Aayatanam: –
“Tenement” of Experience:
The example here is that of a business premises
where, at the counter, various transactions take place; goods coming in and
goods going out; payments in and payments out; customers in and out. There is a
two-way interchange of transactions.
Some transactions bring a profit, some bring a
loss. It is all part of a day’s work. This simile is meant to represent the
gross body’s main function. It is the counter of experiences at which
transactions of actions take place daily.
There are senses bringing in information from
the outer world, and other senses take our responses out to the world. Good
deeds are performed, which earn merit or Punya. This merit is very helpful when
accumulated and spent in the right direction to serve the purpose of this human
birth.
On the other hand, impure actions are also
carried out across the same counter, and these bring a loss or a demerit. It is
a loss relative to the spiritual goal, even though it may actually involve a
huge profit in material terms. Demerit is Paapa, and it also contributes to
what kind of birth we will have when reborn.
This human body is the only birth in which Paapa
and Punya can be earned. In all other births the existing storehouse of Karma
has to be worked out with no opportunity for earning any merits. Hence, the
example of a “tenement” or a “counter” for transactions is most appropriate to
describe the function of the gross human body.
Thus the
gross body which is acquired as a result of actions and thoughts arising out of
ignorance of one’s true nature of Self is never permanent nor sentient and
hence is only an adjunct of Self.
Love.
