PANCH KOSHAS

 
PANCH KOSHAS : Vedas stresses the fact that we are not mere human beings having spiritual experience here but we are spiritual beings having human experience here in this world. Health of physical body is not the only thing but Spiritual health has given much more importance in Vedic philosophy. Ayurveda says that the perfect health is achieved when the Body-Mind and the Consciousness/ Atman are in perfect sync and harmony. We have heard about this body-mind-consciousness relation again and again but in order to understand it properly we need to understand the further classification of this trio which in turn tells about the layers/ structure of a man. The structure of a man can be divided into five layers enveloping Atman (the sprit or the soul).These layers are called as sheaths or Koshas (Tattriya Upanishad). The five sheaths are:

Food Sheath (Annamaya Kosha) (Outermost)
Vital Air Sheath (Pranamaya Kosha)
Mental Sheath (Manomaya Kosha)
Intellectual Sheath (Vijnanamaya Kosha)
Bliss Sheath (Anandamaya Kosha) (Innermost)

These five sheaths envelop the Atman. Atman is like electricity in a bulb. As without electricity one cannot expect light in a bulb similarly we cannot expect any activity in the body without Atman. Also the electricity alone cannot give us light, in the same way Atman alone cannot show any activity, it needs the Body or these five layers to express itself.

Food Sheath is the outer most layers. It is the physical body. The five organs of perception (Jnana-Indriyas), five organs of action (Karma-Indriyas), the three doshas namely vata, pitta and kapha, the seven dhatus i.e. the seven bodily tissues, the 13 Agnis i.e. digestive juices and metabolic hormones and enzymes, the malas of the body i.e. waste products of the body namely urine, feaces and sweat are a part of it. It is called food sheath because it is caused by food, maintained by food and finally ends up as food.

There are five faculties functioning within you. They correspond to the five physiological functions. They are called the five Pranas. Together they constitute the vital air sheath. They have been given that name because they are related directly to air you breathe. The air we breathe is the vehicle of Prana. The five Pranas are:

Prana – Faculty of Perception
Apana – Faculty of Excretion
Samana – Faculty of Digestion
Vyana – Faculty of Circulation
Udana – Faculty of Thought – Absorption

Vital Air Sheath is subtler than food sheath. It controls the food sheath. When your pranas functions properly your physical body remains healthy and strong. When they slacken (as in old age) and work inefficiently the body is adversely affected.
This completes the gross or the physical aspect of the body which should be kept in balance.

Further on subtle level Ayurveda says that health is not merely the absence of disease but it is a healthy state of mind too. In order to keep your mind healthy you need to understand the other three Koshas.

The mental sheath is the mind. Mind consists of passions, emotions, feelings and impulses. It is full of likes and dislikes. It controls the previous two outer sheaths. When the mind is disturbed the physical body and physiological functions are affected. In order to keep this kosha in balanced state you need to feed good (satvik) food to the mind. Food to the mind is provided by the sense organs through faculty of perception. Sense organs send signals to the mind which in turn gets deposited there. If sense organs send unhealthy signals mind becomes unhealthy and it’s vice a versa. Understanding this fact we should provide only good sensations to the sense organs so that they forward only healthy information to the mind. We should always try to provide good sights to the eyes, good smell to the nose, good music to the ears, good taste to the tongue and good touch to the skin. Mind alone cannot decide what is good and what is bad. To do this it requires the fourth Kosha.

Intellectual sheath is the intellect. It functions as thinking, reasoning, judging etc. It is analysis and distinguishing between good and bad. It controls the above three sheaths.
The idea of keeping your soul happy sounds heavenly but it is quite possible with the Knowledge of fifth Kosha i.e. Bliss Sheath (Anandmaya Kosha). When you are detached from all the mental agitations and you are in a state of undisturbed peace, you are into Bliss Sheath. You experience it every day that is when you are in deep sleep i.e. dreamless sleep you are in bliss sheath.


If all these factors are healthy then only we can realize our real self (Atma-Satkarkshat), which is of utmost importance according to Ayurvedic definition of health.

Now the ultimate question is how to keep these factors in a balanced state in today’s fast moving life?

Answer to this again lies in Vedas. They say that the Bliss sheath is the causal body when it expresses itself, it takes the form of other two sheaths and finally works out as perceptions and actions in the gross body. It means if we instilled our causal body with the suggestion of health and positivity, the subtle body will entertain positive thoughts of health and the gross body is bound to be healthy. Because of this philosophy only Ayurveda perhaps is the only medical system which while describing a disease, tells about the dietary changes, lifestyle changes and changes at the level of thinking process along with the treatment proper of that particular disease. It says that a disease starts when we go away from these factors. The treatment of a disease cannot be achieved only by administering some medicines, we need to cut the source of the disease ,we need to correct all the factors responsible for that disease then only the treatment would be complete. On the other hand if we keep these entire psycho-somatic factors in a balanced state and generate a habit of positive thinking there is no question of a disease.

Food sheath is the first and the outermost layer which makes the physical body. So good satvik food is the first and foremost requirement to keep the physical body and other subsequent koshas into a healthy state. It says “We are what we eat”. When we are born we are a lump of small tiny mass. Our body grows as we grow older with the help of daily food we take. If we don’t take food we will not grow. Nutrients from food get deposited into tissues of body and mind. All the food stuffs are made up of same elements our gross body is made up of. They are made up of five basic elements namely earth, water, fire, air and space. The amount of these elements differs in various food stuffs. They impart their qualities in our body when eaten by us. Likewise they affect our thinking process too. So to have a healthy body and healthy and positive thoughts you need to eat healthy and satvik food.

Ayurveda and Yoga are the two strongest tools given to mankind by the Vedas to understand the complexities of health and disease. They say Ayurveda is created to keep our Kaya (Physical Body) healthy and Yoga to keep our Manas (Mind) healthy. Yoga simply means to join or the combination. It is a science which shows us the way to keep all the five koshas combined in a harmonious way. So eat a healthy diet and make Yoga Practices with meditation your daily routine. Yoga gives you the power to have full control over your sense organs to keep them away from perversions.

Vastu Kamath