Sūkṣma-śarīra

pañcīkṛta-mahābhūta-sambhavaṁ karma-sañcitam

pañcīkṛta-mahābhūta-sambhavaṁ karma-sañcitam |
śarīraṁ sukha-duḥkhānāṁ bhogāyatanam ucyate ||
pañca-prāṇa-mano-buddhi-daśendriya-samanvitam |
apañcīkṛta-bhūtotthaṁ sūkṣmāṅgaṁ bhoga-sādhanam ||
(Śaṅkarācārya’s Ātma-bodha: 11–12)

“Constituted of fivefold gross matter (mahābhūta) [i.e., the five fundamental elements of space, air, fire, water, and earth] and amassed by karma, the [gross] body is the site of the experience (bhoga) of happiness and suffering. The subtle body, not born of fivefold [gross] matter and replete with the five prāṇas, mind (manas), intellect (buddhi), and ten senses, is the means of [that] experience (bhoga) [of happiness and suffering].”

Read on →

yathā nabhasi meghaugho reṇur vā pārthivo’nile

yathā nabhasi meghaugho reṇur vā pārthivo’nile |
evaṁ draṣṭari dṛśyatvam āropitam abuddhibhiḥ ||
ataḥ paraṁ yad avyaktam avyūḍha-guṇa-vyūhitam |
adṛṣṭāśruta-vastutvāt sa jīvo yat punar-bhavaḥ ||
yatreme sad-asad-rūpe pratiṣiddhe sva-saṁvidā |
avidyayātmani kṛte iti tad brahma-darśanam ||
yady eṣoparatā devī māyā vaiśāradī matiḥ |
sampanna eveti vidur mahimni sve mahīyate ||
evaṁ janmāni karmāṇi hy akartur ajanasya ca |
varṇayanti sma kavayo veda-guhyāni hṛt-pateḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.3.31–35)

“As a mass of clouds is attributed [i.e., taken to be] to the sky or a particle of earth [is taken to be] to the air, so the visible [i.e., the body] is [taken to be] to the seer [i.e., the ātmā] by the unintelligent. Beyond this [i.e., the gross body] is the jīva [i.e., the subtle body], which is unmanifest [i.e., externally imperceptible] because of its being an unseen and unheard of entity not arranged by the guṇas to be developed [i.e., to have physical, visible limbs] and [because of its] undergoing rebirth. When these gross and subtle forms are negated [i.e., understood to not be the self] through full knowledge of the self, whereby they are recognized as being imposed upon the ātmā by ignorance (avidyā), then darśana [i.e., sākṣātkāra, direct experience] of Brahman occurs. When this supernatural māyā belonging to the Expert [i.e., Īśvara] in the form of thought [i.e., misunderstanding] becomes withdrawn, then one certainly becomes fortunate [i.e., endowed with experience of the bliss of Brahman] and exalted in one’s own greatness—this is known [to the wise]. In this [same] way, the wise describe the births and activities, hidden to the Vedas, of he who is a non-actor and unborn [i.e., Bhagavān, who is transcendental to saṁsāra], the Lord [situated] in the heart.”

Read on →

prayujyamāne mayi tāṁ śuddhāṁ bhāgavatīṁ tanum

prayujyamāne mayi tāṁ śuddhāṁ bhāgavatīṁ tanum |
ārabdha-karma-nirvāṇo nyapatat pāñca-bhautikaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.6.29; cited in Prīti Sandarbha: 11)

“[Nārada:] When that pure figure related to Bhagavān [i.e., the form of an associate (pārṣada) of Bhagavān] was being bestowed upon me, the body [made] of the five elements, the commenced (prārabdha) karma of which was exhausted, fell away.”

Read on →

nānubhūtaṁ kva cānena

nānubhūtaṁ kva cānena dehenādṛṣṭam aśrutam |
kadācid upalabhyeta yad rūpaṁ yādṛg ātmani ||
tenāsya tādṛśaṁ rājan liṅgino deha-sambhavam |
śraddhatsvānanubhūto’rtho na manaḥ spraṣṭum arhati ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.29.64–65)

“Sometimes a form which is of such nature that it has never been perceived with this body [i.e., perceived with the external senses in the physical environment during one’s present lifetime], and is [otherwise] unseen and unheard of, is perceived in the mind [i.e., it is perceived in a dream, in one’s imagination, or elsewhere]. O King! Because of this, be confident that such [i.e., such an object of perception, which is apparently unprecedented,] is a product of a body of this bearer of the liṅga [i.e., that it is a product of an experience in a prior body borne by the jīva, that is, the ātmā enveloped in a subtle body (liṅga) that transmigrates through a series of gross bodies], since an unperceived object is unable to touch the mind [i.e., no object which has not been previously perceived by the mind can manifest within the mind].”

Read on →

Scroll to Top