Verse 2.255

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

विद्यादन्नमयेनैव मूषायां द्रुतताम्रवत् ।
सर्वान्प्राणमयादींस्तान्रचितान्पुरुषाकृतीन् ॥ २५५ ॥

vidyādannamayenaiva mūṣāyāṃ drutatāmravat |
sarvānprāṇamayādīṃstānracitānpuruṣākṛtīn || 255 ||

English translation of verse 2.255:

All the sheaths like the prāṇamaya, etc., which lie within the annamaya assume the human shape only through the annamaya, just as the molten copper poured into a crucible (assumes the form of the crucible).

Notes:

The self constituted by the essence of food is well-known to have a human shape consisting of a head, arms, and other limbs. But the prāṇamaya and other sheaths which lie within the sheath of food are also spoken of as having a human shape with head, arms, and other limbs, though they do not have that shape naturally of their own accord. Just as the molten copper poured into a crucible assumes the form of the crucible, so also the prāṇamaya and other sheaths which lie within the annamaya-kośa may be imagined to be moulded after that. The annamaya-kośa is compared to a crucible, and the other sheaths which lie within it are compared to the molten copper poured into the crucible. The imaginary representation of the sheaths in the human shape is intended to facilitate meditation on, and the discrimination of, the four kośas (upāsanārtham padārthaviveka-saukaryārthaṃ ceyaṃ kalpanetyarthaḥ).