Kosha

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A '''''kosha''''' (also '''''kosa'''''; [[Sanskrit]] [[:wikt:कोश|कोश]], [[IAST]]: {{IAST|kośa}}), usually rendered "sheath", is a covering of the ''[[Atman (Hinduism)|Atman]]'', or Self according to [[Vedantic]] philosophy. There are five ''koshas'', and they are often visualised as the layers of an onion in the [[subtle body]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Roeser|first1=Robert W.|title=An introduction to Hindu India's contemplative psychological perspective on motivation, self, and development|date=2005|page=15|edition=pdf|url=http://ase.tufts.edu/iaryd/documents/researchPaperHindu.pdf|access-date=25 June 2015}}</ref>

==Origins==
The five sheaths summarised with the term [[Panchakosha]] are described in the ''[[Taittiriya Upanishad]]'' (2.1-5).<ref>David Frawley, ''Yoga and the Sacred Fire: Self-Realization and Planetary Transformation'', p.288</ref>{{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|p=184}} From gross to fine they are:
# ''Annamaya kosha'', "food" sheath (Anna){{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|p=184}}
# ''Pranamaya kosha'', "energy" sheath ([[Prana]]){{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|p=184}}
# ''[[Manomaya kosha]]'' "mind" sheath (Manas){{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|p=184}}
# ''[[Vijnanamaya kosha|Vijñānamaya kosha]]'', "discernment" or "Knowledge" sheath ([[Vijnana|Vigynana]]){{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|p=184}}
# ''[[Anandamaya kosha]]'', "bliss" sheath ([[wikt:bliss|Ananda]]){{sfn|Mallinson|Singleton|2017|p=184}}

According to Vedanta the wise person, being aware of the subtle influences of the five elements within each ''kosha'', ever discerns the [[Atman (Hinduism)|Self]] amidst appearances.

==The five sheaths==
[[File:Corpi sottili.jpg|thumb|upright|A visualisation of the five ''koshas'', but they are not to be thought of as concentric sheaths but as interpenetrating at different levels of subtlety, from the grossest to the subtlest.]]

=== Annamaya kosha ===
This is the sheath of the physical(body) self, the grossest of the five ''koshas'', named from the fact that it is nourished by food. Living through this layer humans identify themselves with a mass of [[skin]], [[flesh]], [[Adipose tissue|fat]], [[bone]]s, and [[feces]], while the human of discrimination knows oneself, the only reality that there is, as distinct from the body. The physical body is formed of the essence of food. Birth and death are the attributes of the ''Annamaya kosha''.

=== Pranamaya kosha ===
''Pranamaya'' means composed of ''[[prana]]'', the vital principle, the force that vitalizes and holds together the body and the mind. It pervades the whole organism, its one physical manifestation is the breath. As long as this vital principle exists in the organisms, life continues. Coupled with the five organs of action it forms the vital sheath. In the [[Vivekachudamani]] it is a modification of ''[[vayu]]'' or air, it enters into and comes out of the body.

=== Manomaya kosha ===
''Manomaya'' means composed of ''manas'' or [[mind]]. The mind, along with the five sensory organs, is said to constitute the ''manomaya kosa''. The ''manomaya kosa'', or "mind-sheath" is said more truly to approximate to personhood than ''annamaya kosa'' and ''pranamaya kosha''. It is the cause of diversity, of ''I'' and ''mine''. [[Adi Shankara]] likens it to clouds that are brought in by the wind and again driven away by the same agency. Similarly, man's bondage is caused by the mind, and liberation, too, is caused by that alone.

=== Vijñānamaya kosha ===
''Vijñānamaya'' means composed of ''[[vijñāna]]'', or intellect, the faculty which discriminates, determines or [[will (philosophy)|will]]s. [[Chattampi Swamikal]] defines ''vijñānamaya'' as the combination of intellect and the [[five sense organs]]. It is the sheath composed of more intellection, associated with the organs of perception. Sankara holds that the ''[[buddhi]]'', with its modifications and the organs of knowledge, form the cause of man's [[Reincarnation|transmigration]]. This knowledge sheath, which seems to be followed by a reflection of the power of the ''[[Cit (consciousness)|cit]]'', is a modification of ''[[prakrti]]''. It is endowed with the function of knowledge and identifies itself with the body, organs etc.

This knowledge sheath cannot be the supreme self for the following reasons;{{cn|date=January 2020}}
* It is subject to change.
* It is insentient.
* It is a limited thing.
* It is not constantly present.

=== Anandamaya kosha ===
{{main|Anandamaya kosha}}
''Anandamaya'' means composed of ''ananda'', or [[wikt:bliss|bliss]]; it is the subtlest of the five ''koshas''. In the [[Upanishads]] the sheath is known also as the ''[[causal body]]''. In deep sleep, when the mind and senses cease functioning, it still stands between the finite world and the self. ''Anandamaya'', or that which is composed of supreme bliss, is regarded as the innermost of all. The bliss sheath normally has its fullest play during [[deep sleep]]: while in the dreaming and wakeful states, it has only a partial manifestation. The blissful sheath (''[[anandamaya kosha]]'') is a reflection of the Atman which is truth, beauty, bliss absolute.

====Panchakosha====
{{main|Panchakosha}}
Just as each of the [[Pancha Bhoota|five elements]] (earth, water, fire, air, and ether) appear in corresponding subtlety among each of the five senses so too the intellect cognizes ever subtler causes and effects at play through each of the five sheaths.

For example, the ''annamayakosha'', the coarsest sheath, is based in the earth element, which is guarded by [[Ganesha]], while the very subtlest sheath ''Anandamaya'' is based in the quanta/ether element, and is guarded by a black disc of utter darkness over the sun, which can be removed only by Ganesha.

Awareness of that reflection of atman/self within the most subtle sheath, ''Anandamayakosha'', however, is but the foundation for discerning that which the elements, energies, senses, and ''kosha'' serve. To that end, one re-examines the components of the five ''koshas'' in daily devotional meditation after recitation of twenty-one OM, viz, one OM per each of the five elements, the [[Prana#Vāyus|five ''pranas'']], the [[Indriya|five ''indriyas'']], and the five ''kosha'', equaling twenty OM, then a twenty-first OM is offered for the ineffable, such that a spiritual discernment of ever-increasing subtlety arises in the purified intellect, ''alaya nirvijnana'', the womb of the ''[[tathāgata]]'', wherein silence ensues and clarity blossoms.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

==See also==
* [[Advaita Vedanta]]
* [[Chakra]]
* [[Guna]]
* [[Kundalini]]
* [[Mandukya Upanishad]]
* [[Sarira (Vedanta)|Three bodies]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
* {{cite book | last1=Mallinson | first1=James |last2=Singleton |first2=Mark | author1-link=James Mallinson (author) |author2-link=Mark Singleton (yoga researcher) | title=[[Roots of Yoga]] | publisher=Penguin Books | year=2017 | isbn=978-0-241-25304-5 | oclc=928480104 }}

==External links==
* [http://www.ramakrishna.org/activities/message/weekly_message40.htm Swami Adiswarananda explanation of kośas]
* [http://www.swamij.com/shankara-atma-bodha.htm ATMABODHA, by AdiSankara, translated by Swami Chinmayananda]
* [http://www.yogamag.net/archives/2008/dapr08/5kosh.shtml Detailed descriptions on yogamag.net]
* [http://www.sivanandaonline.org/public_html/?cmd=displaysection&section_id=775&format=html The Pancha Koshas by Swami Sivananda]

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Kosha