Samkhya thoughts in the Mahabharata
by Shini M.V. | 2017 | 51,373 words
This page relates ‘doctrine of Koshas (five sheaths)’ of the study of Samkhya thought and philosophy as reflected in the Shanti-Parva of the Mahabharata. Samkhya represents one of the six orthodox schools of Indian Philosophy and primarily deals with metaphysical knowledge and explains the Universe without the need to introduce God. The Mahabharata is an ancient Sanskrit epic which includes many Sankhya theories while expounding twenty-five principles.
The doctrine of Kośas (five sheaths)
The notion of kośa or sheath refers to the “covering”. There are five sheaths, the outer most material is called the food sheath or Annamaya kośa, the sheath of prāṇa or vital airs, Prāṇamaya kośa, the mental sheath Manomaya kośa and the sheath of intellect Vijñānamaya kośa and the sheath of bliss Ānandamaya kośa. The last one is the subtlest and is covered by all other sheaths. It is in the sheaths of bliss that one experiences the oneness and therefore one transcends in to this state of absolute bliss when he is devoid of all forms of Ignorance. This is the state of the Ātman, the self manifest principle and not the absolute itself, for the Absolute principle is stated concealed within this sheath and is the subtlest of all. It is also justified in that one has to remain in concentration even after one gets the knowledge of the Absolute.
In the Mahābhārata, the Ātman is hidden in all beings. The seers realise it through their subtle intellect. When their minds are purified they realise that it is within them. Dismissing their association with both the auspicious and inauspicious actions thereafter, they experience the eternal Bliss within their Ātman. According to Mahābhārata krishna explains the whole knowledge, beyond which there remains nothing to be known. He declares that his qualitative form, aṣṭadhā Prakṛti which includes five gross elements, Manas, Buddhi and Ahaṃkāra is his aparāprakṛti, which holds this world. But he has one more Prakṛti, which is parā Prakṛti which is the soul of all the beings. All beings have emanated from both the Prakṛtis.[1] Though kośa doctrine is not explicit here, it shows the journey of the self from gross level to the subtle one. The gross elements would represent the Annamaya kośa, Manas the Manomaya kośa, Buddhi and Ahaṃkāra, which indicate self consciousness, would represent Vijñānamaya kośa and parā Prakṛti is the ultimate entity.
The plural form of the word śarīra is discussed in the Mahābhārata—
“Leaving the worn out bodies! Shown that man has many bodies. The way men wear clothes such as coat, shirt, banyan etc. a body also wears different clothes. A man has Sthūla śarīra (gross body), Sūkṣma śarīra (subtle body) and Kāraṇa śarīra (casual body). Sthūla deha and Sūkṣma deha represent Annamaya deha, Prāṇa deha represents Prāṇamaya, Mano deha represents Manomaya, Buddhi represents Vijñānamaya deha.
The Mahābhārata maintains that the sense organs are beyond the body, mind is beyond the sense organs, the intellect is beyond the mind and the self is beyond the intellect.[2] The Śāntiparva also shows such a gradual process when it expresses the same thought with a slight difference i.e., the objects of sense are higher than the sense organs, the mind is higher than the objects of senses, intellect is higher than the mind. The individual soul is higher than intellect, Prakṛti is higher than the individual soul and the immortal entity, the Paramātman is the ultimate.[3]
Footnotes and references:
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