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LESSON 5

StSuLa^sarira and Jǎgrad^awastSǎ

S
ECYION ONE (Lessons 1 to 4) ended by raising seven questions that an
aspirant typically asks while on the spiritual path. Section Ywo is wholly
devoted to answering each of these seven questions. You will be altogether
studying twelve lessons; these contain the essence of Vedǎntic teaching and
are, hence, the very heart of this Vedǎnta Course.

ANǍTKAN
One of the questions raised by the student was ‘What is the anǎtman?’ 1 Yhe
term ‘anǎtman’ literally means ‘not-Self’ (an-ǎtman), meaning ‘all that which
is not the Self’. Yhe sthula-sarira (gross body), sukxma-sarira (subtle body)
and kǎrana-sarira (causal body) constitute the anǎtman or not-Self. As
contrasted with this anǎtman, the Ǎtman or Self is the Consciousness which is
the Witness (i.e. the unaffected knower) of the anǎtman.
In this lesson, we shall study the first aspect of anǎtman, that is the
sthula- sarira (gross body). We shall explore the harmful effects of
identifying with the sthula-sarira and the methods to get rid of this
identification. Also will be elaborated the jǎgrad-avasthǎ or the waking state
that is experienced by the individual on his identification with the sthula-

1. flefer to Lesson 4 – ‘Approaching the Guru’.

sarira.

1. flefer to Lesson 4 – ‘Approaching the Guru’.

 Lesson 5

Definition
Yhe term ‘sthula-sarira’ means ‘gross body’. Yhe gross body is made up of
skin, flesh, blood, blood-vessels, fat, marrow and bones, and has limbs such
as the head, hands and legs. ‘Sthula’, meaning ‘gross’ is that which is
perceivable by the senses. Yhis gross body is perceived by our senses as well
as by that of others, and hence is called sthula. ‘Sarira’ is that which
disintegrates: ‘sirnamǎnatvǎt sariram’. At the time of death, the body
disintegrates into the five elements – space, air, fire, water and earth – from
which it has been created. Since this gross body can be perceived by the
senses (sthula) and because it finally disintegrates (sarira), it is called
‘sthula-sarira’.
Sankarǎcǎrya gives a concise definition of this sthula-sarira in his work
Tattva-bodha:

PðN§˛V-PðP\TU,V“: §˛V˙ Pš§P²W=P˙ P˛§$:§T”\-UT`YTPVW˙ KFNFP, G”fV WTPV` §W²V` ”§P”FPPV`

GP¶NPV` ”§WXPVN”V B”‘,§§TF§\`VV, fP,™KFNFP,h
paucikita-paucamahǎbhutaiN kitan satkarmajannan sukhaduNkhǎdi-bhogǎnatanan
sariram asti jǎnate vardhate viparinamate apaksinate vinasnatiti
saavikǎravadetat sthulasariram.
Yhat which is made up of the five great elements which have undergone
the process of ‘pañcikarana’, born as a result of the good actions of the
past, the counter of experiences such as joy and sorrow and subject to the
six changes, namely – to potentially exist, to be born, to grow, to modify,
to decay and to die – is the gross body.

Yhe above definition points out four important aspects of the sthula-sarira.
(1) It is made up of the five great elements.
(2) It is born as the result of good actions of the past.
(S) It is the counter for experiences.
(4) It is subject to the six modifications.
Yhe following is an indepth analysis of each of these four aspects of the
sthula-sarira.

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 Sthula-sarira and Jǎgrad-avasthǎ

1. Made Up of tSe tiwe Great ELEKENTS

Yhe five gross elements – space, air, fire, water and earth – are collectively
called ‘pañca-mahǎ-bhuta’. When they are subtle and remain in a form that
cannot be perceived by the senses, they are called ‘tanmǎtras’. It is these
subtle tanmǎtras that undergo the process of pañcikarana to create the pañca-
mahǎ- bhutas. Yhe gross body as well as the gross world that we perceive
are fashioned from these pañca-mahǎ-bhutas.

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Note on Pauciharana
Every tanmǎtra has three aspects, sattva, rajas and tamas.
▪ Erom the sǎttvic aspect are born the organs of knowledge (eyes, ears, etc.)
and the antafi-karana (inner-instrument) comprising the manas (mind),
buddhi (intellect), citta (memory) and ahankǎra (ego).
▪ Erom the rǎjasic aspect are born the organs of action (hands, legs, etc.) and
the five prǎnas or vital airs2.
▪ Erom the tǎmasic aspect are born the five gross elements or the pañca-mahǎ-
bhutas.
Pañcikarana pertains to the tǎmasic aspect of the tanmǎtras. It is this
pañcikarana process that leads to the formation of the pañca-mahǎ-bhutas: the gross
elements, such as earth, water, fire and so on that we perceive. Yhe term
‘pañcikarana’ literally means ‘creating (karana) fives (pañci)’ and indicates the
process of fivefold division and mutual combination of the tanmǎtras. Yhis has been
elaborately described in many prakarana-granthas such as Tattva-bodha, Ǎtma-
bodha, Paucadasi and so on.

flefer to the diagram as you go through the stages described below:

Stage 1: Yanmǎtras remain in their own individual pure state.
Stage 2: Yanmǎtras show a tendency to split into halves.
Stage S: Yhey split into halves.
Stage 4: At this stage, one half-tanmǎtra of each element remains intact and the
other half divides into four equal bits – each bit is now one-eighth of the whole
tanmǎtra. Yhus, at this stage, each tanmǎtra has split into five segments: (a) one
half bit and (b) four one-eighth bits.

2. Yhe evolution of the organs of knowledge, antafi-karana, the organs of action and the five vital-airs

S
(prǎnas) will be dealt with in Lesson 6 – ‘Sukxma-sarira and Svapna-avasthǎ’.

S
 Lesson 5

Stage 5: In this last stage, each half remains intact and combines with the four
one- eighth bits borrowed from all the other four elements.
By their mutual intermingling, each element thereafter has 5O% of its own
element and 12.5% of each of the other four. Yherefore, each gross element has the
qualities of all the other elements also S. Yhese newly formed elements can
thereafter be perceived, in contrast to the tanmǎtras which remain subtle and cannot
be perceived by the senses. Yhe permutation and combination of these five gross
elements form the entire gross world, including our own gross body.

Pauciharana

Stages Space Air Fire Water Earth Description

Tanmätras each in
1
itself.

Tendency to divide
2
into two equal parts.

3 The split complete.

One half remaining

4 intact, the other
splits into four.
2 1 1 1 1 Each half joins with
5 3
4
3
4
2
4
2
3
2
3 four bits borrowed
5 5 5 5 4
from each other.

2. Born as tSe ResuLt of Good Actions of tSe Past

Yhis statement is with special reference to the human body. Every jiva
(individual soul) gets a body depending upon its past actions. Even though all
bodies including that of the human are made up of the same five gross
elements, yet the attainment of the human embodiment is considered a
blessing. Yhis is because only the human species is endowed with the
capacity of higher
S. Yo elucidate: the element earth, though predominently is seen to be endowed with grossness, its
unique quality, also occupies space, has gaseous and water elements in it and is also seen to have
warmth. In this way, all elements have a predominance of their own quality and also a fraction of

4
the qualities of other elements.

5
 Sthula-sarira and Jǎgrad-avasthǎ

differentiation. Human beings can differentiate between dharma (right or

noble) and adharma (wrong or ignoble) and, more importantly, between the
Nitya (Permanent) and anitya (ephemeral). It is this faculty of discrimination
that enables a person to start his enquiry into the Supreme, giving him the
necessary impetus to tread the path to permanent Bliss and not be merely
satisfied with fleeting sensory pleasures. flealising that this human birth is a
rare blessing 4 one must utilise it for the highest accomplishment of Self-
flealisation.

S. TSe Counter for Experiences

Sankarǎcǎrya describes the sthula-sarira as ‘bhoga-ǎyatanam’, that is ‘the
counter of experiences’. In a shop, transactions take place at the counter. Yhis
body is the counter through which we reap our experiences of joy and sorrow.
Yhe body is often compared in Vedǎntic texts to a ‘city of nine gates’ (nava-
dvǎra-pura). Yhe individual jiva resides herein and enjoys or suffers the
experiences gained through the nine gates – the two eyes, two ears, the two
nostrils, one mouth and the orifices of the anus and the reproductive organ. It
is through these that each one of us experiences joys and sorrows and
transacts with the world outside.
When the shop-counter closes, all transactions with the outer world – the
incoming and outgoing – are temporarily stopped; when the shop-counter
opens, the transactions are resumed. So too, when the nine gates are closed
during the deep sleep state, there is a temporary cessation of experiences;
when they are opened during the waking state, the transactions are resumed.

4. Subject to Six Modifications

Yhe six modifications that the gross body undergoes are as follows:
(1) Asti (it exists): Yhis refers to the existence of the body in its foetal form.
Yhough the body also exists in its other five modifications (described

4. Yhis idea has been elaborated in detail in Lesson 1 (Yhe Nine Blessings) under the subheading ‘An
Elaboration of Nine Blessings – Human Birth’.

6
 Lesson 5

next), this foetal state is specifically described as ‘exists’ just to

emphatically assert the gross body’s potential existence even before its
birth.
(2) Jǎyate (it is born): Yhe foetus develops and is born after its period of
gestation in the mother’s womb.
(S) Vardhate (it grows): When nourished by food and water, the gross
body grows in size.
(4) Viparinamate (it changes): Even after the body attains its full physical
maturity, it continues to undergo constant changes, discarding old
cells, building new cells, taking on a new hue, texture, shape (which
may bother some of us!) and so on. Yhe body also suffers through
many diseases and sicknesses which, in turn, produce modifications
in it. Yhese various changes, which happen during its growth and
even after its maturity, are indicated by the term ‘viparinǎma’.
(5) Apakxiyate (it decays): In course of time, the body slowly starts to weaken,
losing its strength and vitality, and we then say that the body has become
‘old’.
(6) Vinasyati (it dies): Einally the body perishes; it disintegrates and
becomes one with the five gross elements from which it was created.

Jǎgrad^awastSǎ
Yhe term ‘jǎgrad-avasthǎ’ means ‘waking state’ (jǎgrat - waking;
avasthǎ - state). Identifying with the gross body, the individual comes to
experience the jǎgrad-avasthǎ.
It is only in the waking state, when the individual identifies with the
gross body, that the senses perceive the external world of objects. In the
deep sleep state, where there is no identification with the gross body, there
is no perception of the outside world.
Yhe individual, coming to identify with the gross body as ‘I am the body’,
comes in contact with the world of objects and rushes to indulge in them. Yhis
‘waker’ or the ‘waking-state ego’, which experiences the external world of

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 Sthula-sarira and Jǎgrad-avasthǎ

objects in the jǎgrad-avasthǎ (waking state) because of its identification with

the gross body, is termed ‘visva’. Yhe term ‘visva’ literally means ‘that which
expresses in each and every individual body’.

StSuLa^sarira as ANNAKAYA^HOSA
Yhe gross body or sthula-sarira is produced from the generative fluids of the
parents. Yhese generative fluids are nothing but transformations of the food
(anna) that is consumed by them. After birth, the gross body is nourished and
sustained by the food that is eaten. Einally the gross body perishes and
becomes food for other beings. Since the sthula-sarira (gross body) is born
from anna (food), sustained by anna (food) and, after destruction, becomes
anna (food), it is called ‘annamaya-kosa’ (food sheath).
Yhe description of the gross body as ‘kosa’ is significant. Yhe Sanskrit
term ‘kosa’ means ‘sheath’. A sheath covers an object and prevents our
perception of the same. Yhe gross body is called ‘sheath’ because it veils
the Self by being the locus of thoughts, such as ‘I am a man’, ‘I am a
woman’, ‘I am fat’, ‘I am lean’ and so on.
Yhe Self is neither man nor woman, neither fat nor lean. It is pure Sat-Cit-
Ǎnanda (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss).

Identification and ATTACSKENT witS tSe StSuLa^sarira

Identification is characterised by ‘I-ness’ and ‘my-ness’. Identification with
the sthula-sarira expresses as the notion ‘I am the body’ and a host of other
resultant distorted thoughts, such as ‘I am fair/dark’, ‘I am tall/short’, ‘I am
a man/woman’, ‘I am young/old’, ‘I suffer from such and such disease’,
‘Yhese are my children’, ‘Yhis is my home’ and so on. In truth, my real
nature is the pure Self which is the witness of the body and, hence, I am not
the body at all. I am unborn, deathless and free from disease and old age.
Since I am not the body, there is no question of me being fair or dark, tall
or short, man or woman, young or old, mother or father and so on. It is
these notions born

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 Lesson 5

from ignorance that bind us strongly to sansǎra (realm of change) and push
us deeper into bondage.

Identification with the body (i.e. defining oneself as the body) alone leads an
individual to a bohemian life of sense indulgence. At its extreme, man is
capable of putting even animals to shame with his mindless pursuit of sensory
delight. Sankarǎcǎrya warns the spiritual seeker in his work Vivekacuaǎmani
(verse 76):

Ke\T”\”U: Pð”UF`§ Pð Pðš§PTP˛: f§Y˛P`W B§T:h

§˛Ffi-PTVfi-PVfi-PNW-U˛fiT WF: Pð”UF”ðV: ”§P,¦
sabdǎdibhiN paucabhireva pauca paucatvamǎpuN svagunena
baddhǎN, kuranga-mǎtanga-patanga-mina-bhingǎ naraN
paucabhiraucitaN kim.
Yhe deer, the elephant, the moth, the fish and the honey-bee – these five
are annihilated because of their slavery to one or the other of the senses
such as sound through their own attachment. What then is the condition of
man who is attached to all these five?

Swami Chinmayananda explains the message of this verse quite powerfully.

“Yhe deer is fascinated by melodious sounds and the hunter sings to charm
the deer. Attracted by the melody of sound, the deer has no awareness of the
danger it is in, and turns in the direction of the music; the hunter soon makes
it his target. Elephants, especially in the mating season, become extremely
attached to the sense of touch; rubbing against each other and walking without
caution, they fall into the pits that have been prepared just to catch them. Yhe
moth is enchanted by the dazzling form of the fire. It flutters towards it with
agonising impatience and gets burnt. Yhe fish, ravenously hungry at all times,
in its gluttony, swallows the bait, is caught and thus meets its end in the
stomach of fish-eaters. Yhe poor honey-bee, attracted by the fragrant smell of
flowers, pursues its industrious vocation, collects honey from the flowers and

9
 Sthula-sarira and Jǎgrad-avasthǎ

hoards it in its hive, until at last, heartless man sets fire to the hive in order to
loot the honey-wealth of the bee. Yhus Sankara gives us five classic examples
wherein each creature meets its doom because of its attachment to one or the
other of the five senses. It becomes most dramatic when Sankara concludes,
exclaiming: “What then is in store for man who is attached to all these five?”
Sǎdhakas (spiritual seekers) often wonder how they can overcome their lust
for sensory pleasures, such as the craving for tasty food and so on. Yhe root
cause is one’s attachment to the gross body. Verily, attachment to the gross
body is a grave obstacle on the spiritual path; it makes the mind extroverted
and retards the sǎdhaka’s spiritual progress. As long as this attachment is not
overcome, there is no way of renouncing the deep-seated hankering for
sensory delight.
Beware of attachment to the gross body!

Giwing up Identification witS tSe StSuLa^ Úarira

When one analyses the nature of the gross body and understands its
ephemeral and joyless nature, one can educate oneself and stop identifying
with it. What is the gross body constituted of? Yhe gross body is made up
of fat, flesh, blood vessels, bones and so on and also contains waste
matter such as sweat, urine and faecal matter. Yhey by themselves cannot
create any fascination in a thinking individual. Sometimes it happens that
the container is ugly, yet the contents can enrich or enhance the container’s
appearance. Yhis is not true of our physical body, which is, really speaking,
filled with all sorts of repulsive matter. Yet, an individual hugs to himself this
perishing body-bundle, eager to experience happiness through it. When we
realise the folly of loving a thing that has no intrinsic joy in it at all, our
endless attachment and attraction for it will cease.

ConcLusion
In this lesson, we have seen in detail the various aspects of the sthula-sarira,
including its definition, the modifications accompanying it, the harmful effects

1
 Lesson 5

of identifying with the gross body and the method of getting rid of our
attachment to the gross body. We also explored the terms jǎgrad-avasthǎ and
annamaya-kosa. Yhis sthula-sarira forms the first aspect of the anǎtman (not-
Self).
In Lesson 6, we shall study in detail the second aspect of the anǎtman, that
is the ‘sukxma-sarira’ or ‘subtle body’.

Verses for RefLection

\T`B`P VN§T` ”§BP: §˛’PPP²”§BT\”Ph

”§B˙ ”W\”=V UT`5TF˙ \BTF˙ §¶˛BT’PPP,¦
dosena tivro visanaN kisnasarpavisǎdapi,
visan nihanti bhoktǎran drastǎran caksusǎpnanam.
Sense objects are even more venomous in their tragic effects than cobra
poison. Poison is fatal to one who swallows it, but the sense objects kill him
who even looks at them with his eyes. (Vivekacuaǎmani of Sankarǎcǎrya,
verse 77).

”§BP”§BPPTY“²Y²=§VT`‘W=§B˛§`:
P”VP\P”UPTVT` P˛šP˛F’P`B ”§”§h
”\VP˛WWY˛5KPT Y=§V: f§fP P˛KPT
PU§”V P™”P”§: PšP”PšP`§ ”§”§¦
visamavisanamǎrgairgacchato’nacchabuddheN
pratipadamabhinǎto mitnurapnesa viddhi,
hitasujanaguruktnǎ gacchataN svasna nuktnǎ
prabhavati phalasiddhiN satnamitneva viddhi.
Know that ‘death’ soon overtakes a foolish man who walks the dangerous
path of sense pleasures; whereas one who sticks to the path of divinity,
according to the instructions of a well-meaning and noble Guru, constantly
walks the path divine, helped by his own reasoning faculty, and achieves
the
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 Sthula-sarira and Jǎgrad-avasthǎ

fruition of his purpose. Know for certain this is true. (Vivekacuaǎmani of

Sankarǎcǎrya, verse 81)

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Questions

I. Define tSe TERKS

1. Sthula
2. Sarira
S. Visva

II. ExpLain tSe TERKS

1. Nava-dvǎra-pura
2. Jǎgrad-avasthǎ
S. Annamaya-kosa

III. Answer in detaiL

1. Explain the process of pañcikarana.
2. What are the six modifications of the sthula-sarira?
S. How does Sankarǎcǎrya dissuade the seeker from a life of mindless
sensory pursuit?