[Advaita-l] Tattvabodha of Adi Sankaracharya - 16

[S Jayanarayanan]

(Continued from previous post)
 
 
2.5. Panca koSas: The Author then proceeds
to discuss the five different sheaths.
 
pa~ncha koshAH ke ? What are the five sheaths (or
encasements).
 
 annamayaH prANamayaH manomayaH vij~nAnamayaH Anandamayashcheti .
 
These are, the Food Sheath, the Vital Air
Sheath, the Mental Sheath, the Intellectual
Sheath and the Bliss Sheath.
 
(This implies that the Atman is obtained in
these five Sheaths as a sword is obtained in
the Cover. Atman cannot be covered by any
cover since It is all-pervading. Hence the term
koSa implies the erroneous identification due
to ignorance. Earlier the Atman was
established as different from the three
Sareeras; here the same idea is expressed from
another angle, namely, the five Sheaths.)
 
2.5.1 The Food Sheath - annamaya koSa
 
annamayaH kaH ? What is the Food Sheath ?
 
 annarasenaiva bhUtvA annarasenaiva vR^iddhiM prApya
 annarUpapR^ithivyA.n yadvilIyate tadannamayaH koshaH
 sthUlasharIram .
 
That is sthula Sareeram, which is born out
of food, having grown by food and merges back
to earth in the form of food - This is the Food
Sheath.
 
The suffix mayaH in annamayaH means
modification or vikAraH. annamayaH means, that
which is obtained by the modification Of
annam - food.
 
annarasenaiva bhUtvA - Born from the essence of
food - srushti kAraNam.
 
annarasenaiva vR^iddhiM prApya - having grown from the
essence of food - stithi kAraNam.
 
annarUpapR^ithivyA.n yadvilIyate - that which goes back to
the earth in the form of food - laya kAraNam.
 
This can be understood through our popular
example of swarNamaya AbharaNam - the
ornament is born out of gold, sustained by gold
and resolves into gold (when melted).
 
tadannamayaH koshaH that is the Food Sheath
 
sthUlasharIram is the gross body and is called the
Food Sheath because of the reasons just
discussed.
 
I, the caitanyam, is different from this gross
body, which goes through the modifications.
 
 
(Continued in next post)