Understanding the Five Koshas: The Five Realms of Human Existence in Yoga
According to yoga, human beings are capable of experiencing five dimensions of existence, which are called pancha koshas or five sheaths. These are the five realms in which human resides at any point of time and they range from gross to subtle.
Annamaya kosha
The First kosha called ANNAMAYA KOSHA which means PHYSICAL BODY. The word Anna means FOOD and maya called COMPRISE.
This is the gross level of existence and being dependent on food, water and air it is called annamaya kosha. This fund is also dependent on life. While it is possible to live without food for six weeks, water for six days and air for six minutes, life ends the moment prana is withdrawn from it.
Pranamaya kosha
The second kosha or sheath is PRANAMAYA , the energy filed of an individual. Here the level of experience is more subtle than the physical body, which it pervades and supports. This covering is in turn supported by finer cells. The physical and pranic bodies together constitute the basic human structure, which is called Atmapuri, the city of the soul. They make vessels for the experience of the higher bodies.
Pranamaya Kosha is the basis for the practice of Pranayama and Prana Vidya. It is also described as the pranic, astral and etheric counterparts of the physical body. Its shape and dimensions are similar to those of its flesh-and-blood vehicle, though it is capable of expansion and contraction. Taittiriya Upanishad it’s written.
In fact, apart from this physical body, which is made of the essence of food, there is another inner self which is full of vital energy with which this physical soul is filled. Just as the gross body is in the form of a person, similarly this Prana is in the form of a person.
Clairvoyants see the pranic body as a colourful, luminous cloud or aura around the body, emanating from within the physical body, like the sun shining from behind an eclipsed moon. Similar effects have been achieved on film by researchers working with Kirlian high voltage equipment.
The pranic body is subtler than the physical body and takes longer to decompose. This is the reason why the energy field of the amputated limb can be felt for some time. As demonstrated in Kirlian photography experiments, this matrix of energy allows a damaged part to assume its original shape as it heals.
Manomaya kosha
The third sheath is the manomaya sheath, the mental dimension. The level of experience is the conscious mind, which holds the two gross sheaths, annamaya and pranamaya, together as a unified whole.
It is the bridge between the outer and inner worlds, conveys the experiences and sensations of the outer world to the innate body, and transmits the cause and effect of the innate bodies to the gross body.
Vijnanamaya kosha
The fourth kosha is the Vijnanamaya kosha, the mental level of experience, which is related to the subconscious and unconscious mind. This area pervades the Manomaya Kosha, but it is more subtle than that.
The Vijnanamaya Kosha is the link between the individual and the Universal Mind. inner wisdom comes From this level to the conscious mind. When this sheath is awakened, one begins to experience life on an intuitive level, seeing the underlying reality behind the outer form. It leads to knowledge.
Anandamaya kosha
The fifth kosha is the anandamaya kosha, the level of joy and bliss. This causal or transcendental body is the abode of the subtlest Prana.
Prana And The Koshas
The five sheaths are pervaded by Prana, which nourishes and maintains them and maintains their proper relationship. There is also motion from one shell to another Achieved with the help of Prana. how prana works.
The example between the shells can be understood by the example of a Gearshift in a car runs in the middle of a gear neutral. The car is also reversed by stopping first Putting it in neutral. Neutral is not a gear; have gears are First, second, third, fourth and vice versa.
However, without neutral space in the middle, can’t shift from one gear to another. The same principle applies to cells as well.
Pranamaya Kosha acts as a neutral space, allowing To go from a foodless to a manomay, to go from a manomay to a manomay Scientific, blissful than scientific, etc. One must use the faculty of vital energy to move from one state to another.
Therefore, the amplitude of the energy the gear is like the neutral position in the box with activation of Prana, one gains access to the physical, mental, mental and spiritual dimension.
