Lesson 28: Online Education in Yoga by Sri Prashant S Iyengar recorded 6-28-2020

Manomaya Kosha — Karma & Karmaphala (Fruition)

We… had a very brief introduction to the pancha-kosha (five sheath) concept… — information about the Annamaya Kosha, then Pranamaya Kosha.[1] We also touched on the Manomaya Kosha towards the end of the last session.[2]

The Manomaya Kosha, as I said, usually has a single entry.[3] Our karmas enter into the Manomaya Kosha. They are called kriyamana karmas (created in the present to fructify in the future). Some of the karmas (actions) which you do in this life are not going to fructify in this very life. Some of the karmas are not going to fructify during our lifetime. They are going to fructify in prospective lives of our incarnations.[4]

Such [kriyamana] karmas then need to go to a latent deposit account — to the Manomaya Kosha. If the karmas are going to fructify here itself, then they don’t have to go to Manomaya Kosha. As a matter of fact, all karmas are going to leave some impressions.

There are several… functional classifications of karmas. We have karmas which are going to generate, turn out, fruits, and the fruits turn out karmas. It is not that karma end with fruition. Karmas don’t end with fruition.

The fruition itself turns out certain vasanas, tendencies. They leave certain impressions. Therefore it is a structure: karma-karmaphala (fruit of action), karma-karmaphala, karma-karmaphala, karma-karmaphala.[5]

The prarabdha karma, the destiny [sited in the Pranamaya Kosha], which has been actualized in this life, still creates some impressions in our mind. There are reactions to receiving the fruits. When we receive the fruits of our karmas, when we experience something from our destiny, it doesn’t end with the experience. The experience creates certain impressions.

Therefore, it goes to the Manomaya Kosha because it, again, is a potential for karma, a potential for… subsequent activity. All the karmas actually go to the Manomaya Kosha…, even karmas of the nature of fructification. That’s why this term karma should be understood.

Many times you say, when you are doing something, “I am doing a karma.” When you experience the consequences of destiny…, again you say, “This is my karma.” That means fruition is also karma. We [inappropriately] refer to fruition as our karma.

Suppose you have a lot of ill-luck in your life. You are experiencing ill-luck, you are undergoing ill-luck. You say, “This is my karma.” Actually that is fruition. That’s a fruit. Or, in the case of good luck, if you are experiencing fortunes, we again refer to that as “This is my karma.” Actually we are experiencing fruition. Fruition is also a kind of karma.

It should not create confusion to say that action is karma and fruition is also karma. Fruition is going to leave impressions…, [and] create reactions in us. We are going to react to fruits. Whether a delightful fruit or a sorrowful fruit, we are going to react to it. The reaction is going to create impressions, which is, again, activity potential. It needs to be understood that action is karma and fruition is also karma, because fruition is potentially a karma.

[Upon] fruition we, again, commit certain karmas. If we have success, the fruit comes in the form of success or happiness. Because we are happy, we develop some tendency to do something. We react to happiness…, sorrows…, pains and pleasures…, and to fortunes and misfortunes. We don’t not react.

Therefore, there is activity potential even in fruition. That is also potential karma. We get fructification of some karmas in this very life. We don’t have to wait for the next life or prospective lives. We get fruition in the here and now, in this life itself. In another classification of karma, these are called sopakrama (immediate effect) karma — that means that the karma commences with fruition itself, and the karma will bear the fruits here [and now].[6]

But some of the karmas are not going to fructify during the lifetime. You will have to wait for another incarnation for the fructification of those karmas. That is another kind of karma called nirupakrama (delayed effect) karma.

[Both] these… and those [sopakrama] karmas need to go to the Manomaya Kosha. The inward gate of the Manomaya Kosha is always open. All our karmas are going to reach the Manomaya Kosha. Whether it is casual or intentionally done karma, weak or strong karma, karma done by one’s own will or because of slavery, every karma is going to reach the Manomaya Kosha.

The Manomaya Kosha is open to receive all karmas that we commit during the lifetime. But, the outward gate of the Manomaya Kosha is generally sealed for we commoners, as I said. In exceptional cases it will work but generally the Manomaya Kosha doesn’t have an outward clerk. An outward clerk…, and outward administration is not needed. But, an inward clerk and administration is needed. That is the peculiarity of the Manomaya Kosha.

Manomaya Kosha Transmigrates +08.10

Another distinctive factor is that, [although] the Annamaya Kosha is going to end with death, the impressions will have gone to the Manomaya Kosha. The Pranamaya Kosha is also going to end on the point of death. However, whatever activities the Pranamaya Kosha has generated are going to go to the Manomaya Kosha.

But we will leave behind the Pranamaya Kosha and the Annamaya Kosha.[7] It will be reconstituted. It will be renewed, as a matter of fact. We don’t have to carry any matter of the body and… mind when we transmigrate. What has to be carried forward goes, in some form, to the Manomaya Kosha, and then it transmigrates from there. So, the Annamaya and Pranamaya Koshas do not transmigrate. The Manomaya Kosha transmigrates.

The term manas [appears] in Mano-maya Kosha. [However,] the manas of the Indian philosophical system should not be equated with the mind of modern psychology. Modern psychology also has something called mind. That mind doesn’t have much depth. [Modern psychology] has [both] a conscious mind and a sub-conscious mind. The sub-conscious mind is also not very deep.

That’s why modern psychology has no clue about the fact, and reality, that each being has traversed 8.4 million life-classes. Modern psychology has no clue about this. [Modern psychology lacks] conviction about life after death, or life before life. But this manas concept in Indian philosophy is oceanic. The… mind concept in modern psychology is just a shallow point.

The Manomaya Kosha has the infrastructure for birth in any of the 8.4 [million] life-classes. We have been through all those 8.4 million life-classes, and we can perhaps, prospectively, go to all those 8.4 million life classes after having been human beings. We have been human beings an umpteen number of times. We have been tiny creatures, tiny insects, microscopic lives an umpteen number of times. We have been elephants. We have been gods. We have been celestial beings. We have been infernal beings. We have gone through all these 8.4 million life-classes which circumscribe all those yunis (bonds), all those life-classes — celestial, infernal, and terrestrial.

The Manomaya Kosha has the blueprint of every manifestation. It’s not that in the next life will we essentially, and necessarily, be human beings. Nor in our previous lives were we essentially, and necessarily, human beings. We could have been any other being as well. So the Manomaya Kosha has enormous blueprints, and even molds, for all the life-classes through which the Self traverses and transmigrates. This Manomaya Kosha is enormous….

You and I will claim that, “I am a human being.” Nobody will doubt that we are human beings. But the I in us… is mysterious. The I in us has all 8.4 yuni (bondage) impressions. The I has traveled through all those 8.4 yunis…. In the statement, “I am a human being,” the I in us has gone through all that. The I is composed of all the… identity psyches of 8.4 million life-species. So, in our I, there is ant to elephant…, worm and insect, to whale in the ocean. Because the whale is said to be the largest creature on the planet, not the elephant. The Manomaya Kosha houses all those. So, it is really fabulous.

This Manomaya Kosha should not be again mistaken for the… empirical mind, temporal mind, cerebral mind, cerebro-cortical mind, psychological mind, or psycho-mental mind. [The Manomaya Kosha] has ocean depth. That is the introductory information about the Manomaya Kosha.

Vijnanamaya Atma (Self) — Akarta (Non-doer) in Vijnanamaya Kosha +14.40

Then comes the Vijnanamaya Kosha. At this point let me make it clear that in adhyatma (pursuit of Self) we have this concept of koshas (sheaths). Each of these five koshas is also atma (Self) because each kosha is complete. [Each] is purna (complete, full). The Annamaya Kosha is purna. The Vijnanamaya Kosha is purna. The Anandamaya Kosha is purna. It is complete in us.

These koshas are not layer over layer, over layer…. [Koshas are] usually construed like [when] we wear… an undergarment, then put on a shirt, then a coat and an overcoat. Suppose it is a sub-zero temperature in winter. How many clothes will you wear on your body? Not just one. From the undergarment to the outermost there are… several layers.

It is imagined that these koshas are one inside the other: Annamaya is housing Pranamaya inside it. Pranamaya is housing Manomaya inside it. Manomaya is housing Vijnanamaya inside it. Vijnanamaya is housing Anandamaya inside it. But these are not five layers….

They are also called atma (Self). Particularly… in the Taittiriya Upanishad of the Taittiriya Aranyaka, it is primarily referred to as annamaya atma, pranamaya atma, manomaya atma, vijnanamaya atma, and anandamaya atma.

For we… materialistic mortals, even if we think we are very spiritual seekers, spiritual practitioners and spiritually-minded, we are all pseudo-spiritually minded. We are all Annamaya…. If you ask, “Who am I?” you will say, “I am this body, this class, caste, creed, gender, status, stature, etc….” You will give this as your bio-data, what you are. It is all Annamaya. When we point to ourselves, and we say, “This is me,” we are pointing at our Annamaya body and mind.

There is the annamaya atma, pranamaya atma, manomaya atma, vijnanamaya atma. In the Taittiriya Upanishad, after the three are mentioned, when it comes to the fourth, it begins with a pratijna (assertive) statement, an opening statement. Both the fourth and fifth, vijnyanamaya and anandamaya, it commences:

yato vacho nivartante aprapya manasa saha
He who knows the bliss of Brahman, for which (yato) there are no (nivartante) words (vacho), together (saha) with the mind (manasa) turn away (nivartante), unable to reach it (aprapya)…. (Taittiriya Upanishad 7.2.4)

You cannot reach [Brahman, the Transcendent Self] for the sake of comprehension. Even if you go with your senses and your mind, they will come back not attaining it. They will fail in their mission to understand the vijnanamaya atma and anandamaya atma.

That’s why [it is said:]

yato vacho nivartante aprapya manasa saha
He who knows the bliss of Brahman, for which (yato) there are no (nivartante) words (vacho), together (saha) with the mind (manasa) turn away (nivartante), unable to reach it (aprapya)…. (Taittiriya Upanishad 7.2.4)

Along with the mind, they will all return empty-handed. You cannot carry out that pursuit with your senses, intelligence, mind and whatever senses you have, grosser or subtler. You cannot really explore. They will come back empty-handed. Because these are metaphysical zones.

The Vijnanamaya Kosha is the kosha of the vijnanamaya atma. Who is this vijnanamaya atma? It is the metaphysical, finite individual Self. The anandamaya atma is the infinite paramatma, Universal Self. The vijnanamaya atma is a metaphysical entity. Again, [vijnana] must not be mistaken for jnana (knowledge).

The word vijnanamaya…. If you read the text in a pedantic way, there are two schools of Yajurveda (Veda of worship ritual ca. 1000 B.C.E.) — the White (shukla) Yajurveda and the Krishna (black) Yajurveda. Particularly in the White Yajurveda it has been clarified that the vijnanamaya atma is atma. Vijnanamaya is described in the Kanva shakha. The same passage is described as atma in the Madhayndina shakha. Therefore, the vijnanamaya atma is the real atma, the metaphysical atma.

No action reaches that atma. This atma creates no action. There is no karma coming out of the vijnanamaya atma. No action can reach the vijnanamaya atma. The vijnanamaya is a transcendent aspect where the karmas don’t reach, and from where the karmas don’t come. Metaphysically the [atma] entity is an akarta, non-doer, and abhokta, non-endurer.

All of our delights and sorrows will remain only in the first three koshas — Annamaya, Pranamaya, and Manomaya. Clemencies and inclemencies, delights and sorrows, ill-luck and good luck, fortune and misfortune won’t filter beyond the Manomaya Kosha into the Vijnanamaya Kosha.

The Vijnanamaya Kosha is totally untouched by karma, karma-samskaras (imprints), karma vasanas (tendencies), and karma-dynamics. That’s why it is the transcendent aspect, while the first three are totally under the grip and gravity of karma. They receive karmas, they generate karmas, they induce karmas, and they take stock of karmas.

But, the metaphysical entity within us — what is called the Self, the essential Self — that Self is in a transcendent zone. Karmas do not percolate there. Vasanas do not percolate there. Samskaras neither percolate [into] there, nor do they ooze from there. No samskaras will ooze from there. No vasanas, tendencies, will ooze from there. All this oozing and seepage will take place in the Annamaya, Pranamaya, and Manomaya Koshas. So the Vijnanamaya has a unique status that is a metaphysical zone.

Anandamaya Kosha — Transcendent Divinity Within +22.35

Beyond the Vijnanamaya is the Anandamaya. Anandamaya is the divinity zone within us. The divinity is eminently there in all beings.

Patanjali’s Ishvara (Lord) or Vedanta’s Brahman (Transcendent Reality; Self), are our antaryamin (inner controllers). They are our informers; they are our internal rulers. They are our innermost governors. So Anandamaya atma is the universal entity, the divinity, which is immanently in us. It is an eminent, as well as a transcendent, principle. It is called the antaryamin, the antarniyamaka (internally governing).

The Bhagavad Gita (XVIII.61-62) [has stated],

| ishvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-deshe ‘rjuna tishthati |
bhramayan sarva-bhutani yantra-arudhani mayaya ||
The Lord (ishvara) dwells (tishthati) in the hearts (hrd-deshe) of all beings (sarva-bhutanam), O Arjuna, causing all beings, by His illusive power, to revolve as if (mayaya) mounted on a machine (yantra-arudhani). BG XVIII.61

| tam eva sharanam gaccha sarva-bhavena bharata |
tat-prasadat param shantim sthanam prapsyasi shashvatam ||
Fly unto Him (tam) for refuge (sharanam gaccha) with all thy being (sarva-bhavena), O Arjuna; by His grace (tat-prasadat) thou shalt obtain (prapsyasi) supreme peace (param shantim) and the eternal (shashvatam) abode (sthanam). BG XVIII.62

That is a reference to the divinity eminently within us.

The Ishvara in Pancharatra (an ancient monotheistic Vaishnavite devotional doctrine), and the Ishvara, which Patanjali has borrowed from Pancharatra, speak about that antaryami (inner controller).

The Bhagavad Gita also uses the same term, Ishvara. That is the antaryami. By surrendering to that antaryami one will reach the eternal abode from where one will not return. All sorrows will absolutely end. Whatsoever sorrows will absolutely end. That is called moksha-pada, that’s called salvation, emancipation, liberation, nirvana (lit., without wind, i.e., blown out; extinguished), moksha (liberation).

So,

| ishvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-deshe ‘rjuna tishthati |
bhramayan sarva-bhutani yantra-arudhani mayaya || (BG XVIII.62)

[means that] one will get infinite bliss, which is only available in that abode where one goes after liberation. One will attain an eternal place, shashvatam sthanam. That is moksha. The moksha-pada (liberation-term) is the shashvata pada (eternal-term).

The Anandamaya is the divinity aspect within us. Vijnanamaya is the metaphysical Self aspect within us…, the real Self. The use of the expression Self-realization in philosophy and religion, [refers to] the Self-realization of the Vijnanamaya atma (self). Its atmosphere is called the Vijnanamaya Kosha….

Kosha Includes Atmosphere or Aura Surrounding Atma +26.05

If you speak of the Earth, you will say it is seven thousand-odd miles in diameter. Earth has an atmosphere as well. The Earth’s atmosphere [extends] two hundred miles above the surface of the Earth. That is something like the prthvi (earth) kosha. The earth [extends] above the ground… — up to two hundred miles in space. That is the… prthvi kosha. The layer of Earth extends two hundred miles above the surface of the crust. Our gravity works up to that extent.

Similarly…, the Annamaya Kosha: Annamaya is this body. Annamaya Kosha is the whole atmosphere, as well. Pranayama Kosha is the chakras and pancha pranas. But they have an atmosphere as well — that is Pranayama Kosha. Then, similarly, the Manomaya has the Manomaya Kosha. Vijnanamaya has the Vijnanamaya Kosha. So, there is an atmosphere of it.

The Sun has a diameter of 818,000 miles, but it has a huge corona which extends something like one million miles. That is the Sun’s atmosphere.

Similarly, there is an atmosphere for these atmas. The annamaya atma has its atmosphere. Together, [with its atmosphere], it is the Annamaya Kosha. Pranayama atma, together with its atmosphere, is the Pranayama Kosha. Manomaya atma, together with its atmosphere, is the Manomaya Kosha. Vijnanamaya atma, together with its atmosphere, is the Vijnanamaya Kosha. Anandamaya atma, together with its atmosphere, is the Anandamaya Kosha.

Kosha… is an atmosphere as well.

Just as Earth has its atmosphere, and the Sun has its atmosphere, every planet has its atmosphere. Every star has an atmosphere.

In the case of the Sun, it is called the corona of the Sun. It is not the body of the Sun…. After the body of the Sun ends, we have the corona of the Sun…, like the atmosphere of the Sun. The corona temperature is [greater] than the… temperature of the body of the Sun. The Sun temperature is 6500 degrees Kelvin, but the corona temperature is… more than a million degrees…. So, the corona is hotter than the surface of the Sun. Of course, the core of the Sun is even hotter… — [fifteen million] degrees Kelvin.

Similarly, this concept of kosha is like an atmosphere. We all have an aura. It is said that the aura extends at least by six inches around our embodiment, and there are cameras which can photograph our auras. There are photographers that can take photographs of our auras.

The kosha is like an aura. The aura of the annamaya atma is the Annamaya Kosha. Similarly, in the case of the pranamaya atma, its aura… is a kosha.

These are the five koshas.

Prana Kriya Works on Annamaya & Pranayama Koshas +30.55

Pranayama needs to work on the Annamaya and Pranamaya Koshas. If pranayama is just deemed breathing, it’s not going to go beyond Annamaya. It is not going to even encompass the whole of Annamaya. If you just consider respiratory breathing in your pranayama, it is not going to work. It is not going to be pranayama. It must reach the Pranamaya Kosha. It must work on…, and from, the Pranamaya Kosha. Therefore, the prana kriyas are so important. Without the prana kriyas there is no pranayama.

As a matter of fact, without prana kriya there is not even an essential asana. So, let me tell you here for you to understand: We are [mistakenly] doing asanas as postures. If we are doing asanas as postures, we are merely dealing with body matter.

Then, in pranayama we are [merely] dealing with our breath, respiratory breath, in-breath and out-breath.

Then, if our mind is also included, we are [only] including our psychological mind, [but excluding] our tendency mind. We are only using our psychological mind — we must become quiet, serene, sublime, psychologically, psycho-mentally, temporally, cerebrally.

This kind of yoga that is in vogue today, and which has swept the whole world, is something like G1 in modern technology. How many of you are still using G1 (first generation) cell phones? We left the G1 far behind, then we went to G2, G3, G4…. No we are looking for G5. Of what use is G1 now? Or, analogue technology juxtaposed with digital technology? Are we embracing analogue when digital is available? When G4 is available, are we going for G1?

That kind of yoga, which is [dismissively] ‘yogaa’ in the modern world, is something akin to G1 technology in telecommunications:[8] 1) physical, corporeal, postural yoga; asanas as postures; 2) pranayama that has something to do with respiratory breathing, the in-breath, out-breath and retention of the breath; and 3) psychological mind, meditation of the mind, quiet mind, serene mind, sublime mind; all this mind is surface mind, psychological mind, temporal mind, cerebral mind.

That is why, even after this ‘yogaa’ into which we have been initiated in the modern world, we are back to square one after every session…. When we do our yoga it is like keeping the dog’s tail straight for a while. When we [abandon] the grip of the tail, what will happen to the tail? That’s what happens to us in our yoga. It is so ephemeral because we are dealing with the corporeal body, psychological mind, respiratory breath.

This is something akin to G1 technology…. Who is still using G1 cell phones today? Even after a thirty, forty, or fifty year pursuit of yoga if we stick to G1, we are not going to go anywhere. Therefore, this education about yoga is so important.

Prana & Tattva Kriyas Paramount in Asana & Pranayama +35.20

The Pranamaya Kosha should be circumscribed (defined and understood). Therefore, we must understand the Pranamaya Kosha which contains the whole body of tendencies. I told you about its six aspects… — Muladhara, Svadishthana, Manipuraka, Anahata, Vishuddhi, and Ajna Chakras.[9]

The prana kriya becomes paramount in asana, and even in pranayama. So we know various asanas. Today we have various classifications — standing poses, sitting poses, prone poses, supine poses, upright poses, lateral bending poses, etc. We have classified asanas like that.

We need to enhance and upgrade our technologies, and go for the prana kriyas. There are prthvi postures. All postures can be done on… the prthvi tattva (earth element). All pranayamas can be done on the prthvi tattva. All asanas can be done on the ap tattva (water element). All pranayamas can be done on the ap tattva. There are these pancha tattvas (five element principles). The pancha tattvas have the bija (seed) mantras — lum, vum, rum, yum, hum — for the five elements.

The locus for element of earth is in Muladhara. The locus of ap (water) is in Svadishthana. locus of tej (fire) is in Manipuraka. The locus of vayu (air) is in Anahata. The locus of space/ether is in Vishuddhi.[10]

Lum [is in] the Muladhara region, not for the chakra, but for the [earth] element. Vum [is in] the Svadishthana chakra as the locus of element of water. Rum is for the Manipuraka Chakra, as the locus of element of fire. Yum is the bija (seed) mantra for element of air which has its locus in Anahata. Then hum for the akasha (space) [element] which has its locus in Vishuddhi. In Ajna the transcendent aum is the bija mantra. So, lum, vum, rum, yum, and hum for the [five] elements, and aum for the transcendent in the Ajna Chakra.

We need to know this aspect of the Pranamaya Kosha. The pranayama must be done with reference to these tattva kriyas.

Chakra	Tattva	Bija Mantra
muladhara (coccyx)	prthvi (earth)	lum
svadhishtana (sacral)	ap (water)	vum
manipuraka (solar plexus)	tejas (fire)	rum
anahata (heart)	vayu (air)	yum
vishuddhi (throat)	akasha (space)	AUM
ajna (pineal)

Yogasanas, too, need to be done with reference to chakra kriyas and, then, tattva kriyas as well. These chakras have 4, 6, 10, 12, 16 and 2 petals [respectively] numbering in total 50. Those are the 50 letters. So, there are chakra kriyas….

What we are doing is not the authentic generation of yoga…. What we are doing is [tantamount to] fashioning the alphabet on a slate [board]…. You can’t say you are learning a language. You are just fashioning the alphabet. There is a huge structure after fashioning the alphabet. We are all fashioning the alphabet. We even have been doing it for even 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 years. Where is the scope for us to evolve? [We] are not… [abandoning] that and embarking upon the… next generation of high tech… like G2, G3, G4.

Similarly, in yoga, we will have to [stop] doing asana as postures for body matter, pranayama for breath matter, and, then, dhyana for mind matter.

We need to circumscribe the kosha aspects — Pranamaya, and Manomaya. Therefore, there is technology in yoga. We don’t just deal with in-breath and out-breath. There is a prthvi (earth) in-breath. You can understand characteristic difference in prthvi in-breath, and ap (water) in-breath, tej (fire) in-breath, vayu in-breath, akasha in-breath, and, then, aum in-breath. Similarly, exhalation, out breath: prthvi out-breath, ap out-breath, out-breath of tej, out-breath of vayu (air), out-breath of akasha (space), and the out-breath of aum.

Yogasanas are yogasanas only when we embark upon prana kriyas, and then tattva kriyas, and, later on, chakra kriyas. Until that time, just doing an asana as a posture is not yogasana. We have to embark upon these kriyas to really access and solicit responses of the Pranamaya Kosha. The prana kriya is so vital in yoga. Therefore, enormous [work] needs to be done with reference to the Pranamaya Kosha, energy bodies.

Pranayama is not just qualitatively, or quantitatively, good breathing. [If] it is respiratory breathing, it is not just going to circumscribe anything beyond… what the lungs can do most efficiently. That’s all you will be able to strike. That’s why pranayama is not shvasayama (breath restraint). The name pranayama… is [related to] the Pranamaya Kosha. [Although] we mortals will work on the Pranamaya Kosha, there are exalted yogis who will be able to even contribute to the Manomaya Kosha.

Imagine practitioners like you and me [compared to] practitioners like Yajnavalkya, Jnaneshvara, and Patanjali.[11] What is the depth of their dynamics? That will contribute to the Manomaya Kosha in an exalted way. That will also take something from Manomaya Kosha.

Therefore, the whole karma aspect can be reformed, addressed, and managed by yogis. They can work on the Pranamaya Kosha. They can even work on the Manomaya Kosha. We mortals will not be able to have this access and this depth in our dynamics. That is why it is called pranayama — basically because of the Pranamaya Kosha.

Pranamaya Kosha — Recap +43.25

To understand the Pranamaya Kosha, I had to explain the set of five koshas. That is why we went into that subject matter that did not seem relevant, but in education it is relevant. If somebody speaks of the Annamaya Kosha rather than merely anna (food) — dietitians will speak about anna, but not the Annamaya Kosha…. When the Annamaya Kosha is referred to you will have to consider the other koshas as well. That is imperative in the educational process. That’s why I touched upon the five koshas, giving very, very preliminary, basic, information about the kosha concept.

How is the divinity is part of our embodiment? [In the Taittiriya Aranyaka, the koshas] the koshas] are Annamaya atma, Anandamaya Kosha, anandamaya atma.

In Brahmavidya (knowledge of divine Brahman), anandamaya atma is worshipped…, upasana. Therefore there is a Brahma Sutra called anandamaya upasana. That is a means for liberation. Anandmaye upasayet is a Brahma Sutra. That is the means for liberation. That doesn’t come in our itinerary, so I will not say much about it. Somehow, I have tried to put across very basic, very fundamental information about the pancha koshas.

Then… we will be ending this session to now proceed to understand a little more about pranayama. Pranayama is a major pursuit. This [foray] is an incidental topic. Because it is pranayama, not shvasayama, I had to point out the Pranamaya Kosha. To point out the Pranamaya Kosha, I had to point out all the five koshas. We had to incidentally embark upon pancha kosha information.

We will now proceed to understand little more about pranayama in the session to come, the next session.

[1]           very brief introduction to the pancha-kosha (five sheath) concept… — information about the Annamaya Kosha, then Pranamaya Kosha: See Lesson 25: “Pranamaya Kosha Infers What Pranayama Is +21.50,” “Pranamaya Kosha Underlies Annamaya Kosha (Nurtured By Food/Blood) +24.55,” “Annamaya Kosha Fosters Perception & Cognition +29.55,” “Pranamaya Kosha — Adhidaivika (Celestial) Aspects +32.45,” “Pranamaya Kosha — Prana Feeds Celestial Forces Within +39.20,” “Pranamaya Kosha Comprised of Five Pranas, Six Chakras +41.35:” Pranayama 6-20-2020. Lesson 26: Pranayama Manages Chakras 6-21-20. Lesson 27: “Pranamaya Kosha Generates Energy +31.10,” “Pancha (Five) Pranas — Sited in Pranamaya Kosha +34.45,” “Pranamaya Kosha — Site of the Prarabdha Karma (Destiny) +36.25:” Pranamaya Kosha—Five Pranas 6-27-20.

[2]           touched on the Manomaya Kosha towards the end of the last session: See “Manomaya Kosha — Storehouse of Sanchita (Accumulated) Karma +39.20,” “Manomaya Kosha — Universality of Karma Siddhanta (Karmic Law) & Atma +44.20,” and “Manomaya Kosha — Samskara (Latent Impression) Body Transmigrates +47.55,” Lesson 27: Pranamaya Kosha—Five Pranas 6-27-20 .

[3]           Manomaya Kosha, as I said, usually has a single entry: See “Manomaya Kosha — Storehouse of Sanchita (Accumulated) Karma +39.20,” Lesson 27: Pranamaya Kosha—Five Pranas 6-27-20 .

[4]           Some of the karmas… are going to fructify in prospective lives of our incarnations: See Manomaya Kosha — Storehouse of Sanchita (Accumulated) Karma +39.20,” Lesson 27: Pranamaya Kosha—Five Pranas 6-27-20 .

[5]           it is a structure: karma-karmaphala (fruit of action)…:Phala means fruit. The conjunct karma-phala means fruit of action. When each action fructifies (bears fruit), it results in a new consequence, which, in turn, generates another response. The goal of yoga is to stop this endless loop to prevent further suffering.

[6]           sopakrama (immediate effect) karma… the karma will bear the fruits here [and now]: See PYS III.23: | sopakramam nirupakramam cha karma tat-samyamat-aparanta-jnanam arishtebhyah va ||

The effects of karma are either immediate (sopakramam) or delayed (nirupakramam). By samyama on his actions, a yogi will gain foreknowledge (jnanam) of their final fruit. He will know the exact time of his death (aparanta) by omens (arishtebhyah).

[7]           leave behind the Pranamaya Kosha and the Annamaya Kosha: Prashant did not actually say Annamaya Kosha. He said Manomaya Kosha, but that would have contradicted both his opening statement on this topic and his next statement.

[8]           That kind of yoga, which is [dismissively] ‘yogaa’ in the modern world: Prashant is mispronouncing yoga on purpose — it does not end in a long a — to condemn the lack of authentic practice that has arisen with its recent popularity. He often differentiates yogaa from yog, which is the Hindi spelling of the Sanskrit yoga, wherein the final a is omitted altogether.

[9]           I told you about its six aspects… — Muladhara, Svadishthana, Manipuraka, Anahata, Vishuddhi, and Ajna Chakras: See Lessons 25-27: Pranayama 6-20-20; Pranayama Manages Chakras 6-21-20; and Pranamaya Kosha—Five Pranas 6-27-20.

[10]         locus of space/ether is in Vishuddhi: Prashant actually said Ajna, but this is subsequently clarified in the next paragraph

[11]         practitioners like Yajnavalkya, Jnaneshvara, Patanjali: Yajnavalkya authored the Yoga Yajnavalkya, the 4th c. C.E. source text for the Hatha Yoga Pradipika according to Krishnamacharya, the guru of B.K.S. Iyengar. With a brief chapter on asana, it emphasizes pranayama, pratyahara, and dharana, as well as nadis, vayus, and mahabhutas. An apparently different Sage Yajnavalkya (ca. 850 B.C.E.) also authored the oldest Upanishad, the Brihad-Aranyaka Upanishad (13th-6th c. B.C.E.), a discourse about Brahman. Jnaneshvara (1275 to 1296 C.E.) composed the Marathi song-form commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, Bhavartha Gita, also known as the Jnaneshvari, the fountain-head of Maharashtrian devotionalism. Prashant is fond of quoting him. The late Geetaji told a story about Changdeo, a 1400 year-old yogin who confronted him riding a tiger and using a serpent as a whip. He became his disciple when Jnaneshvara moved an inanimate wall forward to meet his challenge.