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7.1 The 3
Bodies
This sub-module is based on the teachings
of Swami Paramarthananda and James
Swartz.

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Introduction
In this chapter we will take a look at the “3
Bodies” (Sharira Trayam) teaching of
Vedanta. An individual is called a “Jiva” in
Vedanta. According to Vedanta a Jiva is
composed of 3 bodies.

These 3 bodies are:

1. Gross Body (Sthula Sharira)

2. Subtle Body (Sukshma Sharira)
3. Causal Body (Karana Sharira)

While analysing each body we will study the

4 factors associated with each body. These
4 factors are:

1. The Material out of which each body is

made.
2. The Components in each body.
3. The Function of each body.
4. The Nature of each body.

I. The Gross Body

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II. The Subtle Body

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1. Material
Scriptures say that Subtle Body is born
out of subtle Matter, which in turn is
composed of 5 subtle elements. Just
as there are 5 gross elements, there
are corresponding 5 subtle elements:

Subtle Space
Subtle Air
Subtle Fire
Subtle Water
Subtle Earth

So even though the elements are

subtle, the subtle body is material in
nature.

2. Components
The Subtle Body has 19 instruments of
experience:

A. The 5 Sense Organs Of

Knowledge

There are 5 sense organs of

knowledge: eyes, ears, nose,
tongue & skin. By sense organs we
do not mean physical organs which
belong to the physical body. We are
referring to the subtle power of
perception.

The subtle body is the instrument of

perception. The points on the
physical body where sense
perception seems to occur are not
the actual sense organs.
Perception is only possible when
the mind is behind the sense organ.

The eyes may be open but the

visual data received from the eyes
will have no meaning if the mind is
day dreaming or occupied
elsewhere.

B. The 5 Organs Of Action

Where the first 5 organs of

knowledge are meant to perceive
the world, the next 5 instruments
are organs of action meant to
respond to the world.

These 5 organs of action are:

speech, hands, legs, anus &
genitals.

C. The 5 Pranas

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The next 5 instruments are called

the five-fold Prana (Life force).
Prana controls the activities of the
10 organs of knowledge & action.
Prana is also responsible for the
health & vitality of the body. The 5
Pranas are:

1. Prana – The respiratory

system.

2. Apana – Responsible for any

sort of waste removal from the
body.

3. Vyana – Responsible for

circulating oxygen & nutrition
throughout the body.

4. Samana – Responsible for

converting food into nutrition.

5. Udana – Operates the

reversing system at the time of
death when all processes of the
body are reversed because it is
time for the body to die. It also
ejects the Subtle Body from the
Gross Body at the time of
death. Udana also handles the
reversal function at the time of
emergencies. For e.g. if we
ingest a toxic substance it is
thrown out of the body.

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E. The 4 Internal Organs

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The last 4 instruments are the 4

internal organs of the Subtle Body.
These are the Mind, Intellect,
Memory & Ego. These 4 internal
organs can also be collectively
called the Mind, or Antahkaranam
in Sanskrit.

1. Mind (Manas) – Mind stands

for the emotional faculty in the
Subtle Body, the feeling
function, or what we call the
“heart”. The mind also
integrates the various sense
perceptions received from the
organs of knowledge and
passes them on to the intellect.
It also relays instruction from
the intellect to the organs of
action.

Another function of the mind is

to act as the doubting faculty.
For e.g. “Should I do this, or
should I do that?”

2. Intellect (Buddhi) – We can

call the intellect as the rational
faculty or the judging faculty or
the knowing faculty or the
reasoning faculty.

The intellect gathers

knowledge, remembers,
analyses, inquires into
problems and discriminates.
From the enlightenment
perspective intellect is the most
important aspect of the subtle
body since liberation is nothing
but removal of ignorance from
the intellect.

3. Memory (Chittam) – The

function of memory is to receive
and record our experiences.
The sense data received from
all 5 organs of knowledge are
stored in the memory.

Sometimes even memories

from past lives can be
remembered by the mind. For
e.g. a musical prodigy feels that
she knows the music even
though she is hearing it for the
first time or a spiritual prodigy
feels that he has learnt the
scriptures before.

4. Ego (Ahamkara) – When

awareness seemingly forgets
its limitless nature and identifies
with the Subtle and Gross Body,
and creates a secondary and
limited identity which it calls “I”.
This “I” is called the Ego.

The term Ego can be a very

misleading term. In the modern
spiritual world, the term Ego
can mean a lot of things. So to
clarify the meaning of Ego in
Vedanta, we have included a
section at the end of the
chapter.

When through inquiry, self-

knowledge arises in the intellect, it
destroys this “I”, freeing the ever-
free awareness from its apparent
limitations.

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3. Function
The function of the Subtle Body is to
transact with the world using these 19
instruments.

In the above diagram we can see a

detailed explanation of how the Subtle
Body functions internally in response to
stimuli from the external world.

These are the steps:

1. The 5 organs of knowledge

receive sense data from their
counterparts in the Gross Body.
This sense data is passed on to the
Mind.

2. The Mind integrates the sense

data and passes it to the intellect
for analysis and decision making.

3. The Mind also stores the sense

data in Memory.

4. The Intellect analyses the sense

data. It also retrieves past
experiences, past decisions and
things previously learned, from
Memory, to help in decision making.

5. The decision arrived at is passed

to the Mind and also stored in
Memory for future use.

6. The Mind parses the decision

and instructs appropriate organs of
action to respond to the external
world.

7. When all this is happening the

Ego plays a very peculiar function.
The Ego is responsible for the “I
sense” within us. When the stimuli
is received from the external world
by the organs of knowledge, it is
the Ego which causes us to believe
that “this is happening to me”. And
when the organs of action respond,
it is the Ego which causes us to
think “I am doing this”.

Liberation or Moksha is nothing but the

ability to observe the Ego
dispassionately and impersonally; not
identifying with the Ego, and seeing
that everything is happening on its
own. The Subtle Body is an inert
mechanism which performs various
functions when illumined by
Awareness.

As we mentioned in the Knowledge vs

Experience chapter, the Ego need not
be killed, nor can it be killed. We just
need to stop identifying with the Ego as
our real identity, and to make
Awareness our primary identity.

Swami Paramarthananda says that we

need to convert our “identification” with
Ego to an “association”. Because I can
observe the Ego, I am “associated”
with it, but since I am not the Ego, I
should not be “identified” with it.

Enlightenment And The

Intellect

So how and where does this

change from “identification” to
“association” takes place?

The 4 internal organs can

collectively be called the Mind. It is
important to understand that the 4
internal organs – Mind, Intellect,
Memory and Ego – are not actual
divisions within the Mind; these are
functional divisions. The Mind is
called 4 different names based on
the function it performs.

Ignorance resides in the Intellect.

The Intellect is where you have all
the ideas about yourself. The
Intellect thinks it is not Awareness.

So enlightenment is making the

thought “I am Awareness” hard and
fast in the Intellect. This thought is
called Akhandakara Vritti. Once this
knowledge operates through the
Intellect without any
misconceptions, suffering based on
limited ideas about yourself will
end.

The Value Of A Clear Mind

How fast this knowledge gets

assimilated depends upon how
clear the Mind is. If the Mind is
always agitated either by desires or
fears, it will not dwell on the thought
“I am Awareness”. Constant
repetition of the thought “I am
Awareness” is the key.

The Amritabindu Upanishad says:

The mind is, verily,

the cause of
bondage as well
as liberation;
engrossed in
objects of sense, it
leads to bondage;
free from
attachment to
objects, the same
mind leads to
liberation.

This is why Vedanta places such a

heavy emphasis on preparing the
Mind. Karma Yoga, Upasana Yoga
and Universal Values are all
important to acquire a calm,
tranquil mind; a mind conducive for
Self-Inquiry.

4. Nature
There are 3 features of the Subtle
Body:

a. The Subtle Body is also subject

to change. The instruments of the
Subtle Body can improve or
weaken. For e.g. the eyes become
poor, the memory fails or the
intellect gets sharper or dull etc.

b. The Subtle Body has a longer life

compared to the Gross Body. The
Gross Body exists for only one
birth, whereas the Subtle Body
continues into future lives as well.
Bodies after bodies are changed
but the Subtle Body continues. That
is why we are able to sometimes
remember past life events. The
Karma from past lives is also
carried forward because of the
continuity of the Subtle Body. The
Subtle Body continues until the
dissolution of the Universe
(Pralaya) where it gets dismantled.

c. The Subtle Body is only evident

to myself, not others. Only I can
know my thoughts and feelings, not
others. Because it is only available
to me and not others, it’s called the
Subtle Body.

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III. Causal Body

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1. Material
The Causal Body is made out of causal
matter, which is the subtlest form of
matter. Technically it’s called Avidya.
Normally Avidya stands for ignorance
but in this context it is different.
Sometimes the words Prakriti or Maya
is also used.

2. Components
 The components of Causal Body are
nothing but the Subtle and Gross Body
in potential form. Before creation the
Subtle and Gross Bodies exist as seed
form in the Causal Body, and during
creation they manifest.

It is similar to a tree sprouting from

within a seed, where it existed in
potential or un-manifest form.

Matter can never be produced or

destroyed. Matter always exists. So
before creation too the Subtle and
Gross Bodies must have existed in
potential form. That potential form is
called the Causal Body.

So the Causal Body evolves into the

Subtle and Gross Body, just as a seed
evolves into a tree.

3. Function
The Causal Body serves as the source
from which the Subtle and Gross Body
arises, and into which eventually the
two bodies dissolve back. During
creation (Shristi), the Subtle and Gross
Bodies arise from the Causal Body, and
during dissolution (Pralaya), they go
back into the Causal Body.

4. Nature
The Causal Body has got the longest
life compared to the other two bodies.
Even the Subtle Body gets dismantled
during dissolution (Pralaya), but the
Causal Body continues even after the
dissolution of the universe.

Also, the Gross Body is visible to

everyone, the Subtle Body is known
only to me, but the Causal Body is not
evident even to myself. Since the
Causal Body is more subtle than the
mind, it is not known even to me.

A Note On Vasanas
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So far we have looked at the 3 bodies.

We saw how the Causal Body acts as a
source for the Subtle and Gross
bodies. But there is still a very
important component of the Causal
Body which we haven’t discussed; the
Vasanas.

What Are Vasanas?

The topic of Vasanas is very

important for an inquirer. When we
forget our identity as Awareness,
we pursue objects which we feel
will complete us. Fear and desire
motivate our actions.

When we act from a feeling of lack

(fear) and the desire that springs
from it, the action leaves a subtle
trace. The unseen result is called a
Vasana. The literal meaning of
Vasana in Sanskrit is a fragrance.
Like the fragrance emitted by a
flower, the actions taken by us
carry on unbeknownst to us.

For e.g. a certain experience gives

you pleasure. When the experience
is over physically, it is still no over.
You may go about your business
and seemingly forget about the
experience, but a Vasana for that
experience has been created in
your mind. When you find yourself
in a situation to have that same
experience, you want it once more.
The desire for objects that lie
hidden in us and spring out from
time to time are our Vasanas.

This applies to fear as well. When

you have a bad experience, you will
try to avoid that kind of experience
like a plague.

Vasanas are your conditioning, your

tendencies, the objects and
activities that you are attracted to
and repelled by.

Everything that moves in the world

is driven by Vasanas. Vasanas are
not inherently good or bad. They
are the seeds (knowledge) that
drive creation.

A Vasana is a momentum from past

action, the tendency to repeat it. It
is just a technical term. There are
positive Vasanas, and there are
negative Vasanas.

The belief that all Vasanas are

negative has given rise to the
erroneous idea that enlightenment
happens when all the Vasanas are
removed. Enlightened people also
have Vasanas. If you’re alive, you
have Vasanas.

Binding Vasanas

A Vasana for food is natural. It is

nature maintaining the body. I eat to
live. But when I feel emotionally
upset for any reason and I use food
to calm myself, then the Vasana
becomes a problem because it
masks my real motivation.

I am no longer eating to sustain my

body, but to distract myself from my
emotional pain. I have perverted
my food Vasana.

When a Vasana is constantly

repeated, the behaviour associated
with it becomes binding. The
Vasana-driven habit becomes an
obsession or a compulsion which
finally morphs into an addiction.
These are called “binding”
Vasanas.

This vicious cycle can be illustrated

in this way: Vasana –> Kama
(Desire) –> Karma (Action) –>
Vasana. A Vasana gives rise to a
desire (Kama), the desire causes
us to act (Karma), the action in turn
reinforces the Vasana, and the
cycle keeps repeating.

So an enlightened person does not

need to get rid of all his Vasanas;
he just needs to make all his
binding Vasanas non-binding, so
that the Vasanas no longer dictate
his actions.

Location Of Vasanas In The

Jiva

Vasanas can be said to be directly

located in the Subtle Body, but are
indirectly located in the Causal
Body because the Subtle Body
itself exists in un-manifest or seed
form in the Causal Body.

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Further Clarification
On Ego
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The term Ego can be confusing and

misleading. You might have your own ideas
as to what ego means; ideas you formed
from reading other spiritual books. So it’s
important to understand the Vedantic
concept of Ego, so that there is no confusion
further down the road.

Vedanta has 3 basic concepts regarding the

Ego:

1. Jiva
The first is “Jiva”. Any being with the 3
Bodies (Gross, Subtle and Causal) is a
Jiva. All plants, animals and human
beings are Jivas. Rocks, cars and
computers are not Jivas.

2. Ahamkara
The second is Ahamkara; the Ego
component of the Subtle Body as we
saw earlier in this chapter.

Ahamkara is not an independent

volitional entity; it is simply the notion
that I am a separate individual entity,
and the consequent belief that I am a
doer and an enjoyer/experiencer.

It is the one who claims responsibility

for all the decisions the intellect makes,
and all the actions the mind and the
body take.

In more specific terms, Ahamkara is

the plethora of ideas the apparent
individual has about himself or herself
such as “I am a male or female; I am
black or white; I am fat, skinny, healthy,
sick, artistic, business-minded,
pragmatic, neat, messy.”

As James Swartz says, the world is a

super market of identities. And the ego
is that aspect of the apparent person
that identifies with these identities, and
defines itself in terms of them.

3. Abhimanam
The third is Abhimanam. We can say
that Abhimanam is an extension of
Ahamkara. It is the sense of ownership;
the idea “This is mine. This belongs to
me.”

It is the definition of the ego that is

closest in meaning to the common
Western definition of ego as “self-
importance” or “conceit”.

Though it does not necessarily connote

an attitude of arrogance, Abhimanam
does suggest a feeling of pride
associated with one’s possession of
particular objects, be they tangible
items, physical characteristics and
skills, mental acuity and creativity or
personal experiences and
accomplishments.

EGO

JIVA AHAMKARA ABHIMANA

Anybeingwith The"Isense" Thesenseofownership

the3Bodies inaJiva andpride

THE3CONCEPTSOFEGOINVEDANTA

In all three cases, there is a sense of a

personal identity, a sense of being an “I”
who is separate from and different than
other “I”s. In Vedantic terms, this sense of
separation is the essence of egoism.

Vedanta says that it is the sense of

separation that needs to be transcended,
not the sense of egoism per se. In other
words, while the association with the mind-
body-sense complex will continue, one
needs to cease identifying oneself in terms
of it.

One needs to understand that despite

appearances to the contrary, all forms are
essentially nothing other than Awareness,
the singular “substanceless substance” that
is the substratum (Adhishthanam)
supporting the entire manifestation.

Transcending the ego is entirely a matter of

understanding.

The Ahamkara is necessary in order to allow

the individual the ability to function as a
discrete entity within the dualistic apparent
reality.

If the individual wasn’t equipped with the

sense of duality, he wouldn’t even be able to
find the door through which to leave his
house in the morning, much less be able to
drive a car or take care of business at his
place of employment.

And if he isn’t able to tell himself apart from

other entities, he wouldn’t even know what
mouth he was supposed to feed when he
felt hungry, much less be able to play with
his dog or interact with his friends and
family.

Moreover, you need a highly refined intellect

and healthy sense of “I” in order to engage
in effective self-inquiry, and make the
discrimination between the Self and the
“not-Self” that facilitates the assimilation of
Self-knowledge and the “attainment” of
ultimate inner freedom.

Ironically, you need the ability to effectively

operate the instrument of the apparent
individual person in order to eradicate your
identification with it.

Is Transcending The Ego

Same As Ego Death?
One’s sense of being an apparent
individual person is not actually the
problem. Suffering happens only when
one believes the apparent person is
real and one’s true identity.

When you understand that you are

whole, complete, perfect, pure,
limitless, attribute-less awareness and
that as such no apparent object or
experience can enhance, diminish or
otherwise affect your essential nature
in any way, then you are free.

Through the instrument of the mind-

body-sense mechanism that
constitutes the apparent individual
person you seem to be, you will still
encounter the ups and downs that
characterize the drama of life.

However, while the experience of pain

and pleasure persists, suffering ceases
once and for all.

One’s association with the mind-body-

sense complex therefore need not and,
for that matter should not, be
eradicated. Self-realization does not
mean dissociative identity disorder or
death; but one’s identification with the
body-mind-sense complex should be
negated through the assimilation of
self-knowledge.

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Summary
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Sources:

1. Swami Paramarthananda – Talks on

Tattvabodha
2. James Swartz – How to Attain Enlightenment
3. James Swartz – Essence of Enlightenment
4. S.N.Sastri – The Mind According to Vedanta
5. Ted Schmidt – Transcending Ego

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6.3 The table of next
Teaching contents 7.2 The 3
Tradition of States
Vedanta