The Philosophy of the Panchadasi: 2.9 - Swami Krishnananda.

 

=======================================================================================

Tuesday 22, July 2025, 07:00.
Books
Upanishads
The Philosophy of the Panchadasi: 2.9.
Chapter 2: Discrimination of the Elements-9.
5.Liberation-in-Life:
Chapter 3: Discrimination of the Five Sheaths 1.
1.The Sheaths and Their Constitution
Swami Krishnananda.
======================================================================================

Liberation-in-Life:

When existence is differentiated from the physical cosmos that appears as the object of Jivas, it may still appear to them, but cannot affect the indivisible nature of existence, as the water of a mirage cannot wet the desert. Once knowledge arises to the effect that the background of all the elements and their formations, and even of Maya, is the indivisible Absolute, Brahman, it cannot again be shaken by any other experience. Nevertheless, the liberated souls may, through the medium of the body, continue to perform actions as before on account of the presence of certain Sattvika samskaras, but may not get bound, as the ignorance is destroyed. The divergent truths that are indicated in the different schools of philosophy such as the Nyaya, Vaiseshika, Sankhya, and so on, are to be regarded as having a partial validity from their own standpoints, though none of them is absolutely complete. When there is a rise of divine wisdom, there is also the realisation that everything has a relative value in its own place, and nothing is absolutely wrong, though not absolutely right. When a person gets rooted in the feeling of the oneness of things, he becomes a Jivanmukta, liberated while living. If one is able to establish oneself in this knowledge even at the end of time, one shall attain to the Bliss of Brahman, says the Bhagavadgita. Here, the phrase, 'at the end of time' means either the end of ignorance or the end of the body, because it is possible to have divine knowledge even if the body is to linger on due to some past Karmas. It does not matter what the physical condition is of the liberated person at the time of his shuffling of the body. He may be physically healthy or otherwise, may even be temporarily in a state of unconsciousness, but the knowledge which has been once attained will revive itself again when he is placed under different circumstances and regains consciousness, even as what is learnt the previous day is remembered the next day, though it is forgotten in the middle during sleep. The knowledge attained through meditation on the truths of the Vedanta is indestructible. Thus, by a careful analysis of the nature of true existence behind the five elements, and remaining in that state of knowledge at least at the last moment of one's life, one reaches the state of Divine Bliss. (Mantras: 99-109)

=====================================================================================

Chapter 3: Discrimination of the Five Sheaths 1.

1.The Sheaths and Their Constitution

The Upanishad speaks of the cave in which the Atman is hidden, as it were. This cave is nothing but the series of the five kosas or sheaths, namely, (1) Annamaya, (2) Pranamaya, (3) Manomaya, (4) Vijnanamaya, and (5) Anandamaya Kosas, the succeeding one being internal to the preceding. The physical body is the Annamaya-Kosa, which is born out of the essence of the food consumed by the parents, and it is again sustained by the essence of the food given to it. This body has a beginning and an end, and so does not have the character of eternity found in the Atman. It is unconscious, changeful and external, and hence different from the Atman which is Consciousness, unchanging and universal. If it is supposed that the body is Atman, it would follow that it should come into being without there being a reasonable cause, because as an effect, the body ought to have a cause and the cause should necessarily exist prior to the effect. If the determining cause of the body should rise simultaneously with the body, then, the body would be undergoing experiences which it really does not deserve, there being no logical connection between the cause and the effect. Anyone would be experiencing anything without any rationality behind it. That the body of a particular individual has particular experiences shows that it has a determining cause, and this cause being connected with it inseparably, it is clear that the experiencer in the present life ought to have existed in the previous life also; and as the body could not have existed prior to this birth, the doer of the actions causing present experiences must be someone other than this body and yet connected with this body. If this logical factor is denied, there would be the defect of what is called Akritabhyagama or the coming in of what is not deserved by oneself. Similarly on the death of the body there would be Kritanasa or the destruction of the merits of all actions without their being enjoyed. Thus there would be chaos in the universe and no law determining anything. For all these reasons we should conclude that the body is not the Atman.

The Prana is internal to the body, subtler and more pervasive, propels the senses, and gives power to the body. But it cannot be the Atman since it is an effect of Prakriti, changing in nature and also unconscious. It is also characterised by externality. The mind or the Manas has the sense of 'I-ness' in regard to the body and 'mine-ness' in regard to its possessions, such as house, etc. It is affected by the course of life, by desire, passion, anger and the like and on many occasions gets confused and cannot know the true nature of anything. It gets dissolved in swoon, sleep, etc., and it is also a mode of Prakriti. It is thus not the Atman. The intellect is internal to the mind, more subtle and pervasive, but gets dissolved in sleep and other unconscious states. It pervades the body in waking, from head to foot, in association with the Chidabhasa or the reflection of the Atman in the Sattvika-Prakriti. It has a beginning and an end. It is an effect and is unconscious without the reflection of the Atman in it. The intellect and the mind act as the agent of action and medium of action, respectively, the intellect going by the name of Karta, or doer, and the mind Karana, or instrument. As the doer and the process of doing, the two are distinguished, and hence, though included in the single principle of the Antahkarana, they become causes of two different sheaths called Manomaya and Vijnanamaya. The intellect is not the Atman for similar reasons as the mind.

The Atman reflected in the Sattvika Buddhi is called Chidabhasa. The Buddhi, by itself, is unconscious because of being an effect of Prakriti, but it assumes intelligence when the Atman is reflected in it. This itself is the Jiva. The Ahamkara or the principle of ego is associated with it, so that the ego and the intellect go together.

*****
Continuing 

==============================================================================================