Sai message for the day

[Guest guest]

Swami! We hear about pancak o s as the five sheaths, panca pran as,

the five vital airs, and pancendriyas, the five organs. Do they cover

our spirit, atma? Are they obstacles to atmic bliss? What exactly is

their position and role in our body?

 

Sai Baba: The whole world is made of five elements: Earth, fire,

water, air and space are the five elements. Man is the product of

these five elements, besides his temperament. Raga attachment, dvesa,

hatred, and bhaya, fear, originate in akas'a, space. Our breathing

process, movements like walking or other body movements are due to

vayu, wind. Hunger, thirst, sleep are the effects of agni, fire.

Phlegm, blood, bile, urine, etc., are the outcome of jala, water.

Skin, muscles, bones, nails, hairs, nerves are of prthvi, matter.

Therefore, all the five elements are equally distributed in everyone.

Then you don't find any differences among people. No one can be

considered superior to any other.

 

The human body has five sheaths, `Pancakos'as'. The first one is

annamaya kos'a, the sheath of food, the second is pran amaya kos'a,

the sheath of life, and the third is manomaya kos'a, the sheath of

mind. The fourth is vijnanamaya kos'a, the sheath of knowledge and

finally anandamaya kos'a, the sheath of bliss. One sheath encloses

the other. You know rice grains. They are enclosed within husks.

Therefore, a rice grain is within the sheath of husk. For the

tamarind seed tamarind pulp is the sheath. An embryo is within the

sheath of its mother's womb. Annamaya kos'a is a sheath which covers

pran amaya kos'a . This encloses manomaya kos' a sheath of the mind.

This covers vijñanamaya kos'a , sheath of wisdom, which encloses

anandamaya kos'a ,the sheath of bliss.

 

Annamaya kos'a is the product of food. The body is annamaya kos'a.

You have all the behavioural tendencies that result from the food you

eat. Then, you have pran amaya kos' a composed of the five organs of

action, the karmendriyas and five life breaths panca pran as (pran a,

apana, vyana , udana, samana ).

 

Then comes mano maya kos'a , mental sheath consisting of five organs

of perception, jnanendriyas, and the mind full of thoughts and

counter-thoughts sankalpa-vikalpa. The fourth . is vijnanamaya kos'a,

the sheath of knowledge, of sound, touch, form, taste and smell

(s'abda, rupa, spars'a , rasa and gandha) which constitutes the

buddhi, intellect.

 

The innermost sheath is anandamaya kos'a. In order to enable yourself

to experience this state of bliss, you will have to practice all that

you theoretically know and do what you are supposed to. Likewise, you

should understand the principle of samatva, equality, and ekatva,

unity, and daivatva, experience divinity. This leads you to a state

when you will not hate anyone ` advesta sarva bh utanam'.

 

Everyone has an equal right to know and experience the atma, self. To

attain such an awareness, self-enquiry atmavicara is very necessary.

However, an intense and deep desire is essential to know and

experience atma. Just like a seed within a fruit, as a copper wire

within a plastic covering, butter in milk, sugar in the sugarcane and

oil within til, sesame seeds and fire in wood, atma is encased within

pancakos'as , pancendriyas and panca pranas.