Tattva Bodha - Post 14

Atma kaha?

Sthoola Sukshma Karana Shareerad vyathirikthaha Pancha kosha ateethah

Avastha  traya saakshi Sat Chit Ananda Swaroopaha San

Yah tishtati Sa Atma

What is SELF?

 That which is other than Gross, Subtle and Causal  Bodies, which is beyond the five Koshas / Sheaths and which is of the nature of Sat-Chit-Ananda, Existence-Consciousness-Bliss absolute, is Atman.

Dear Readers,

Is it not exactly what we covered in a talk on “Sat-Chit”? At that time, even the intuition/thought to take up Tattva Bodha as next theme was not there.

We will take up each part one by one now.

            

Sthoola shareeram kim?  

What is the Gross Body? 

Panchi-krita pancha-mahaa bhootaih kritam, satkarma janyam;

That which is made up of the 5 great elements that have undergone the process of Grossification;  born as a result of good actions of the past; 

Sukha duhkha-aadi, bhoga ayatanam shareeram;

For experiences such as joy, sorrow, etc. – The counter to experience these;               

Asti, jaayate, vardhate, viparee-namate, apaksheeyate, vinashyati

To exist, be born, to grow, to mature, to decay and to die 

Iti shad vikaaravat, etat sthoola shareeram.

Subject to these six modifications, this is the Gross Body. 

STHOOLA SHAREERAM – GROSS BODY 

Let us first take up the Sthoola Shareeram and we will go in the order of four factors – the material, the components, the function and the nature. 

Material 

What is the material out of which the Sthoola Shareeram is made? 

The Shāstras point out and we also know that the gross body is made out of gross matter which is in the form of the five gross elements. In the scriptures, matter is divided into five elements basically:  

    

     - Ākāshaha or Space 

     - Vāyu or Air
     - Agni or Fire

     - Jalam or Water 

     - Prithivi or the Earth 

So the gross body or Sthoola Shareeram is made up of gross matter in the form of gross five elements. In Sanskrit the gross five elements are called Sthoola Pancha Bhūtāni. 

And this is easily proved by our experience because the body has Earth, it has solid stuff. Body has got plenty of Water which alone gives shape, body has Agni in the form of temperature 98.7 ⁰C, body has got Vāyu in the form of life-breath and body has got Ākāshaha or space occupied by the body. 

So gross matter is the material out of which the body is made.

In brief, they are born from the Tanmatras or subtle elements, after they have undergone the grossification process called Panchi Karana, which is described in a later chapter. 

Function 

The body is regarded as the physical equipment we come with to work out our Karma. Therefore, it is called the counter for the exchange of experiences encountered in this world. These experiences enable us to reap the fruits of our Karma, good or bad, Paapa or Punya, joys or sorrows. 

Thus, the efficient cause of this body is one’s Prarabdha Karma, that is, that portion of our entire bundle of past Karma over many lives, which has been released for working out in this life-time. This Karma determines our body form, beauty, deformity, race, family circumstances, and so on. 

(Karma is a detailed theory and several posts under a separate theme has been dealt in this blog on Karma)

Shat Vikarāhā – Six Conditions 

1) Asti - The first condition is the potential existence in the womb of the mother. A baby is there inside. 

2) Jāyate - This is the next change – or birth. 

3) Vardhate - Once the body is born, it starts growing. 

4) Vipareenamate - After the body has become an adult body, remaining an adult, it undergoes various modifications. To visualize as a graph, the graph initially goes upwards and thereafter it is the same. 

5) Apaksheeyate - Decay or ageing, growing old. 

6) Nāshaha or Maranam - Death of the body after which we cannot keep the body for long time. 

No Human body, even the body of an Incarnation, can escape the above 6 stages.  Human being, once he reaches the third stage, thinks that he/she is going to be permanently in that stage, with all the beauty, all the charm, all the youth and all the vigor. 

When their body moves to the next stage and the body starts experiencing disease and decay, the foolish faith that the body will remain in the earlier stage is shaken up and then, fear and insecurity grips in!!

(O Mankind! All, for this body which is sure to go through these 6 changes and ultimately die? 

Why don't you take up Atma Vichara, Self enquiry, instead of paying attention to this body and senses?)

Love.