Hari OM
'Text-days' are for delving into the
words and theory of Advaita Vedanta.
TATTVABODHAH.
[You are reminded that reviewing the
previous week's posts will become essential as the meanings of the Sanskrit
terms may not be repeated. There may come additional or alternative meanings,
but all should be noted. As study progresses, the technical terms must
necessarily become 'second nature' to the student. When the Sanskrit is used,
the translation will fall easily into place - or likewise, if the English is
used, the Sanskrit term must easily come forwards.]
Please revisit THIS post and chant the mangala-charana. Please use the
TattvabodaH label to access all posts relevant to this text.
The Subtle Body - suukshma shariira - is next taken up for a little
more exploration and understanding.
सूक्श्मशरीरं किम्
अपञ्ची-कृत-अपञ्च-महाभूतैः कृतं सत्-कर्म-जन्यं
सुख़दुःख़ादि-भोगसाधनं पञ्चज्ञाने-न्द्रियाणि पञ्चकर्मे-न्द्रियाणि
पञ्चप्राणादयः मनश्चैकं बुद्धिश्चैका एवं सप्तद्शकलाभिः
सह यत्तिष्ठति तत्सूक्ष्मशरीरम्।
suukshmashariiraM
kim
apa~ncii-kR^ita-apa~nca-mahaabhuutaiH
kR^itaM sat-karma-janyaM
suKaduHKaadi-bhogasaadhanaM
pa~ncaGYaane-ndriyaaNi pa~ncakarme-ndriyaaNi
pa~ncapraaNaadayaH
manashcaikaM buddhishchaikaa evaM saptadshakalaabhiH
saha
yattiShThati tatsuuxmashariiram.
"What is the subtle body ?"
"That which is composed of the
five great elements which have not undergone grossification, born of the good
actions of the past, the instrument for the experience of joy, sorrow and so
on, constituted of seventeen items, namely the five sense organs, the five
organs of action, the five praanas, the mind and the intellect; this is the
subtle body."
The subtle body is that part of our existence which governs the
physical (the 'gross') and pervades all parts of the sthuula shariira. Having
continued the enquiry with the student's simple 'what is…' format, the Guru
expounds, first, the substance, then the cause and then the manifestation of
the suukshma shariira.
The five great elements, (recall them by Sanskrit names, aakaasha,
vayu, agni, jal and prithivii), in their nascent (unmanifest and unadulterated)
form are referred to as the tanmaatras. Absolutely everything which manifests
in the world, from the grossest to the subtlest of the subtle, are made up of
these in there endless permutations and combinations. The suukshma shariira is
made up of the unformed elements, the Guru now states. They are called subtle
because they cannot be perceived by any of our senses. The suukshma shariira is
the presence which knows itself, yet is still separate, insofar as it cannot
know another - it can see the body of the other, hear the other, smell the
other, touch the other - but it cannot be the other nor know it beyond those
things. Its subtleness is limited to the gross body which binds it. By this
also, it is when the subtle body leaves the gross body (death) that it reveals
the presence and essence of 'life'.
In all of creation, there are threads of existence, each carrying
its own 'story' throughout the entirety of time until that moment of
'Realisation' and it returns to source. Each of these is referred to as the
jiva (when embodied) or the aatmaa (when 'on hold'). The history of each jiva
is its karma, that spiritual accounting of all actions, thoughts and
experiences. Thus the subtle body (jiva) is karmajanyam...born of the
consequences and subsequent 'balance' in the karma account.
If we have a positive balance, a predominance of 'brownie points',
we are likely to have a higher birth. If, for some time, there is a deficit
balance, a predominance of 'black marks', then we find ourselves paying out the
debt in one of the lesser births, be it animal, vegetable, or mineral. For this
reason alone, it becomes clear why we ought to be careful of all existences -
all of it is us only! Be not flippant about it. All substance mixes and matches
and re-emerges as something 'new' but containing only what has always been. The
births, be they high or low, are to provide an avenue for the aatmaa to exhaust
all the karma; however this comes with the difficulty that, by being born into
each birth, we have to deal with the oncoming experiences and reap yet more
karma from them - भोग जन्म /bhoga janma, the life of enjoyments - 'enjoyments' here
simply meaning experiences. It is, however, only within the human body that the
jiva has the opportunity to work on the karma balance, to add or subtract by
choice even within the limitations of what is given from the current balance - योग जन्म /yoga janma, life of The Path.
Thus it is said that there is 'sukha-dukha bhoga-saadhanam'; the
subtle body also has the mind and the intellect as part of its makeup and it is
here that we experience the joys and sorrows and all the other swings and
roundabouts of life - and it is here that we can take them or leave them. The body feels no pain or honour when pricked
or garlanded, respectively. It is the mind which recognises this.
"Oh" someone cries "but that is a matter of chemistry!"
This is why the Guru now says that there are saptadashakalaaH, seventeen parts
which make up the suukshma shariira. Complex! There are the
pancha-jnaan-endriyani, the five faculties of knowledge. That is to say, the
instrumentation we have for gathering information and processing it. True,
there is chemical reaction going on in within the nervous system and the
various cells of the body which carries messages to the brain. Vedanta does not
deny the science! The subtle point here though, is who or what 'knows' and
names the joy or the sorrow, the hurt or the pleasure? The chemical reactions
are there, no doubt, but even those are gross in nature. It is the reaction to the messages which falls within
the realm of the subtle body. Without that presence, chemistry holds no value;
in the deep sleep state, or a state of unconsciousness, the mind-intellect are
temporarily ceased in their functioning, with no experience of the world and
all manner of things can be done to the body in this state. Mind and intellect
alone identify and quantify experience at all levels.
Then there are the pancha-karm-endriyani; the faculties of action.
Yes the gross body has limbs, eyes, ears and such like… but in Vedanta we learn
that these physical 'tools' have their subtle equivalent - the informational
aspect of each tool. The ear is not just a lump on the side of the head, but
also a system by which the subtle body obtains information.
The list continues with the five vital airs (praanas), and finally
the mind and the intellect. Thus we have
the seventeen components.
Now… the attentive student is again wondering… what is the next
question? What is it that you are asking at this point? Write down your
questions and return for next Textday to discover if you have understood the
flow of thinking and what next to ask!
