Essence of Vedanta - Part 6

Three bodies

The Acharya beckons his fired up disciple to know about 3 bodies and then about 3 states of consciousness and then about 5 sheaths or 5 koshas, before introducing the Grand TRUTH about BRAHMAN, which is the essence of Vedanta and essence of all Upanishads.

Three bodies

Human is identified in terms of 3 Bodies, 3 States and 5 Koshas or Sheaths.

They are given below:

·       Gross Body  or Sthula Sharira

·       Subtle Body or Astral Body or Linga Sharira

·       Causal body or Karana Sharira

Gross Body or Sthula Sharira

The "Gross body" is one of the three bodies which is dense in nature and is known as the physical body. It is made up of the "Basic Five Elements of the Nature" or the "Panchabhutas".

They are Earth, Sky, Water, Air and Fire.

This body is subjected to change in 6 stages i.e. Birth, Existence, Growth, Disease, Decay and Death.

Expressing through the physical body or the Gross body, the Jiva or the individual gathers his quota of pleasures by indulging in sense objects.

Adi Sankara explains beautifully in Vivekachudamani about Gross body in a verse:

He says, "Know the gross body to be the shelter for the individual to conduct all his dealings with the world outside just as a house is to a householder".

Man resides in his house and then goes out daily into the world to strive for his livelihood. After earning his means of existence, he returns to his house to enjoy what he has earned and then to rest for a while.

Similarly, the ego moves out of the physical body to conduct the sense of objects and with senses, the ego accumulates karma, only to return to its physical body to suffer / enjoy the earnings the ego gathered with its sense objects.

The physical body is born out of earth. How?? The body is born out of the strength gathered by parents with the food they have partaken.

At the end, the gross body returns to the earth, after death. Either it is cremated or it is buried and in both cases, it merges and ends into the earth.

And, How much we glorify such a physical body in our life???

The author often narrates story of a king who used to love his wife so much, who was mesmerized by the physical beauty of his wife so much that he preferred to be in her company 24/7.

One day, his wife dies. After the death, the king is unable to bear the foul smell of the same body of his wife which he used to adore and admire!!

Does it not call for a serious contemplation on how we have to rise above glorifying our physical existence????

However, this does not mean that we have to condemn our body. The body is a vehicle, an instrument which has to be used by us to progress in our sadhana, to reach the ultimate Goal. To that extent, the body needs to be cared and protected and thus far and no further!!!

Hari Aum Tatsat.

Sri Aurobindo

Essence of Vedanta - Part 5

Three State of Consciousness 

3. Deep Sleep State

If we extend King Janaka's story explained by Swami to yet another state where, after being explained by Sage Vasishta that neither the one who was attending the court / enjoying the company of his wife is real, nor the one who was chased by the tiger in the forest is real, the king retires to sleep and experiences a sound sleep where he does not have experience at all, then that state is known as deep sleep.

Therefore, deep sleep state is characterized by an absence of any particular experience! Unlike waking and dream states where particular objects (sounds, colours, etc.) are very much experienced. 

It’s like when you say: “The room is empty”. You are experiencing an absence of things in the room. And this is an experience you have; else you could never say “the room is empty”. 

So you can validly experience an absence of something. Hence deep sleep is that state in which: 

(a) I do not know anything (i.e. because there is an absence of any particular experience); 

(b) I sleep happily (everyone enjoys a deep, restful, worry free sleep! My identity with all my everyday problems is temporarily dormant in deep sleep).

In deep sleep, it is evident I do not identify with my gross or subtle bodies as nothing is experienced, hence I identify with my causal (karana) body during deep sleep.

All differences are resolved in the causal body, the mind is in an unmanifest state, and hence there can be no experience in deep sleep. 

In all the three states, on introspecting, we can observe one common thing.

·       In the waking state, there is one factor which is fetching us all the experience through our senses and intellect but that one factor is above our senses and intellect. This can be said so because, that factor is only using the senses and intellect to fetch your experience. A king who uses the service of his ministers has to be obviously above the state of his ministers. Thus, the single factor which is using the ministers of its senses and intellect has to be above the senses / intellect!!

·       In the dream state, again, that same single factor exists, which retrieves our impressions and bananas and then through our intellect, is fetching us the experience of what happened in the dream. Again, here also, the same explanation applies. The king, that single factor, using the vasanas / impressions and then the intellect, has to be above all of them!!!

·       In the deep sleep, when neither senses are working, nor our impressions or vasanas are working, still, That single factor is definitely present, otherwise, without body, mind and intellect working, who was present while the King had deep sleep, who fetches the experience that "I had a deep sleep without any experience" when the king wakes up on the next day??

We will keep this "single factor" flagged as of now and will address the same after we are though with three bodies and then  5 sheaths or pancha koshas in the upcoming posts.

Love.