According tothree bodies doctrine inHinduism, the human being is composed of threeshariras or "bodies" emanating from Brahman by avidya, "ignorance" or "nescience". They are often equated with the fivekoshas (sheaths), which cover theatman. This doctrine is an essential doctrine in Indian philosophy and religion, especiallyYoga,Advaita Vedanta,Tantra andShaivism.
Karana sarira or the causal body is merely the cause[1] or seed of the subtle body and the gross body. It has no other function than being the seed of the subtle and the gross body.[citation needed] It isnirvikalparupam, "undifferentiated form".[citation needed] It originates withavidya, "ignorance" or "nescience" of the real identity of the atman, instead giving birth to the notion ofjiva.
Swami Sivananda characterizes the causal body as "The beginningless ignorance that is indescribable".[web 1]Siddharameshwar Maharaj, the guru ofNisargadatta Maharaj, also describes the causal body as characterized by "emptiness", "ignorance", and "darkness".[2] In the search for the "I am", this is a state where there is nothing to hold on to anymore.[2]
Ramanuja concludes that it is at this stage that consummation of theatman with theParamatman is reached and the search for the highestPurusa, i.e., ofIshvara, ends.[3]
According to other philosophical schools, the causal body is not theatman, because it also has a beginning and an end and is subject to modification.[citation needed]Shankara, not seeking a personal god, goes beyondAnandamaya Kosha in search of the transcendentBrahman.[3]
The Indian tradition identifies it with theAnandamaya kosha,[web 1] and the deep sleep state, wherebuddhi becomes dormant and all concepts of time fail, although there are differences between these three descriptions.
The causal body is considered as the most complex of the three bodies. It contains the impressions of experience, which results from past experience.[4]
Sukshma sarira or the subtle body is the body of the mind and the vital energies, which keep the physical body alive. Together with the causal body it is the transmigrating soul orjiva, separating from the gross body upon death.
The subtle body is composed of the five subtle elements, the elements before they have undergonepanchikarana,[citation needed] and contains:
Other Indian traditions see the subtle body as an eighth-fold aggregate, placing together the mind-aspects and adding avidyā, kama, and karma:
Insamkhya, which does not acknowledge a causal body, it is also known as thelinga-sarira.[5] It puts one in the mind of theatman, it reminds one of theatman, the controller. It is the beginningless limitation of theatman, it has no beginning like thesthula sarira.
The "dream state" is a distinct state of the subtle body, where thebuddhi shines itself owing to memory of deeds done in the waking state. It is the indispensable operative cause of all the activities of the individual self.
Sthula sarira or the gross body is the material physical mortal body that eats, breathes and moves (acts). It is composed of many diverse components, produced by one'skarmas (actions) in past life out of the elements which have undergonepanchikarana i.e. combining of the five primordial subtle elements.
It is the instrument of thejiva's experience, which, attached to the body and dominated byahamkara,[note 1] uses the body's external and internal organs of sense and action. The Jiva, identifying itself with the body, in its waking state enjoys gross objects. On its body rests man's contact with the external world.
Thesthula sarira's main features aresambhava (birth),jara (old age or ageing) andmaranam (death), and the "waking state". Thesthula sarira is theanatman.
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TheTaittiriya Upanishad describes fivekoshas, whichare also often equated with the three bodies.[citation needed][by whom?] The three bodiesare often equated with the five koshas (sheaths),[citation needed][by whom?] which cover theAtman:
The three bodies are an essential part of the Yoga physiology. Yoga aims at controlling the vital energies of the bodies, thereby attainingsiddhis (magical powers) andmoksha.[citation needed]
According to the Advaita Vedanta tradition, knowledge of the "self" oratman can be gained byself-inquiry, investigating the three bodies, and dis-identifying from them. It is a method which known to have been taught byRamana Maharshi,Nisargadatta Maharaj, and his teacherSiddharameshwar Maharaj.[citation needed]
By subsequently identifying with the three lower bodies, investigating them, and discarding identification with them when it has become clear that they are not the "I", the sense of "I am" beyond knowledge and Ignorance becomes clearly established.[7]
In this investigation the three bodies are recognized as not beinganatman.[8]
The laterTheosophists speak of seven bodies or levels of existence that includeSthula sarira andLinga sarira.[9]
The guruParamahansa Yogananda spoke of three bodies in his 1946Autobiography of a Yogi.[10]
