The many – hops that a Jiva takes after death

Our dharma tries to train us to not differentiate between visible and invisible lokas, to see Devas as real and as accessible as men so that we are not overawed by them and for us to realize that Deva-hood is something that can be attained even by us. In this process it also trains us not to see death as “death” but as “life elsewhere”. This plays an important part in making us understand that the atma is more important than our material Sharira.

So what happens at death? The Jiva draws the sukshma-sharira away from the sthula-sharira by means of the pranamaya kosha. Without Prana, the sthula-sharira is just lifeless matter. Although there is still life left in the cells of the body, the ruling life is gone and hence they start to wither away. The Jiva is then in his Sukshma and Karana Shariras.

Kaushitaki Upanishad states thus – “yavad asmin sarire prano vasati tavad ayur atha khalu prana eva prajnatma idam sariram parigrihyotthapayati” – “As long as prana remains within it, the body is alive. Prana is the conscious spirit soul. Prana grasps this material body, and makes it rise up and move about.”

The prana-maya kosha has a tendency to hang around the anna-maya (due to its magnetic attraction to the body) as long as the sthula sharira is whole due to which the jiva is forced to be in Bhurloka although nature requires him to leave it after death. Hence to neutralize this tendency of the Prana-maya to hang around the anna-maya, certain vaidika samskaras have been framed. First is the destruction of the anna-maya by cremation as stated in Chandogya upanishad.

“sa jāto yāvadāyuṣaṃ jīvati taṃ pretaṃ diṣṭamito’gnaya eva haranti yata eveto yataḥ saṃbhūto bhavati” – “Then, when he dies as ordained, they [his sons or disciples] take him from his home to the fire from which he came. It is that same fire from which he was born [and to which he owes his birth”

This dispersal of the pranamaya-kosha is accelerated by the mantras chanted at the cremation. The disintegration of the annamaya is complete on the third day when the final remnants are thrown into running water. After the Pranamaya-kosha withers away, the Jiva moves to Preta-loka which is a special region in Bhuvar-loka.

He then dons the denser part of the manomaya-kosha as his outermost layer. He is now called a preta and inhabits the preta-loka. Depending on his karma, he either enjoys his time or suffers when he is in preta-loka. If he has to suffer, the coarser part of the Manomaya-kosha is rearranged to give him Dhruvam Shariram or Yatana Shariram.

Manu Smriti states thus – “pañcabhya eva mātrābhyaḥ pretya duṣkṛtināṃ nṛṇām |
śarīraṃ yātanārthīyamanyadutpadyate dhruvam” – “In the case of misbehaved persons, there is produced out of five constituents, another strong body, for the suffering of torments, after death”

His next objective is to move from preta loka/land of the departed to the pitri loka/land of the ancestors in the partially purified manomaya-kosha. The Shraddha rituals performed from after the burning of the body till the ritual of Sapindikarana facilitate this journey of his during which the coarser parts of the manomaya-kosha drop away. The objects used in the Sharddha and the vibrations of the mantras recited during the rituals help in the re-arrangement of the materials of the manomaya-kosha. All the offerings that the karta makes during these rituals feeds the deceased jiva during his journey to pitri-loka and the mantras facilitate this journey. At the end of the Sapindikarana ritual which is the concluding part of this set of Shraddha rituals, the jiva sheds the denser part of the manomaya-kosha and enters pitri-loka and becomes an ancestor.

During his stay in pitri loka, his remaining layer of manomaya-kosha is purified and all the desire particles drop away and then he finally moves to svarga. He spends time in Svarga and exhausts all the fruits of his karma at the end of which its time for him to return to earth. The finer layer of the manomaya-kosha dissolves away and the Jiva is in his vijnyanamaya-kosha. He creates a new manomaya-kosha for himself and the Devas build a pranamaya-kosha and annamaya-kosha according to his karma and he is born again into the bhurloka.

In the next post we will look at the different ayanas or paths that the Jiva takes in his journey after death.

The Many – Koshas

The human individual is a microcosmic specimen of the entire cosmos. The same layers of reality that form the universe are also present in the human in the form of Koshas or sheaths named annamaya kosha, pranamaya kosha, manomaya kosha, vijnanamaya kosha and anandamaya kosha.

Annamaya kosha also called as food-sheath is mainly built up of the food that we eat. It is composed of solids, liquids and gases and corresponds to the visible part of the earth or the Pritvi tattva. This kosha forms the sthula-sharira or the dense body. The Pranamaya kosha or the Prana-sheath corresponds to the invisible part of our earth and is composed of ethers. Both these koshas belong to the Bhur-Loka.

The Mano-maya kosha or the mind-sheath is made of matter of two kinds and connected to two worlds – denser part which seat passions is connected with Bhuvar-loka where desire works and the finer part where emotions and thoughts dominate is connected with Svar(ga)-loka where thoughts work. This kosha is the upadhi of the lower mind or Manas which is impacted by Kama and filled with desires. Vijnanamaya kosha or the knowledge-sheath connects the Jiva with Mahar-loka and contains matter belonging to this loka. It is connected with a pure form of Manas which is free from Kama. These three koshas form the sukshma-sharira or the subtle body as stated in Devi Bhagavatham as follows.

“My subtle body (Linga Deha) arises from the union of the five Jñânendriyas, the five Karmendriyas (organs of action), the five Pranas and the mind and Buddhi, these seventeen elements”

Anandamaya Kosha or the Bliss-sheath is the innermost sheath and composed of materials of Jana, Tapo and Satya lokas. Jana loka is the abode of Kumaras who are characterized by pure wisdom unsullied by any desire. Ascetics and devotees live in Tapo loka and are characterized by Ananda or bliss. A jiva from Satya loka is closely allied to the nature of Brahma. This kosha corresponds to the karana-sharira of the jiva.

The Taittiriya Upanishad deals with these 5 koshas in a straight forward way. But it is the Mandukya Upanishad which deals with these koshas in the context of consciousness involved in these sheaths. We will see about this in the next post.

The Many – Sharira

There are 3 main sharira that a jiva utilizes as Upadhi or vehicle. The Sthula-shariram – sense or gross body, the Sukshma-shariram, subtle body and the Karana-shariram or the causal body.

In the Mandukyopanishad, the Self is said to have four states, Jagrat – waking, in which a Jiva is called Vaishvanara; dreaming in which he is called Taijasa ; the third Sushuptih or excellent sleeping in which he is called Prajna and the fourth is the pure consciousness itself which is called Turiya. Sthula-Shariram is the Upadhi of Jiva for Vaishvanara consciousness, Sukshma-Shariram is for Taijasa consciousness and Karana-Shariram for Prajna consciousness as stated in Devi Bhagavatham as below.

“Both Īśvara and Jīva have, by the influence of Vidyā and Avidyā three bodies and three names. When the Jīva lives in his causal body, he is named Prājña; when he lives in subtle body he is known as Taijasa; while he has the gross body, he is called Viśva.” It continues to say – “So when Īśvara is in His causal body, he is denominated Īśa; when He is in His subtle body, he is known as Sūtra; and when He is in His gross body, He is known as Virāṭ.”

Just like the Jiva, Bhagavan also has three Dehas named Isa, Sutra and Virat corresponding to the three human forms of consciousness.

It is the three aspects of the Jiva-Icha, Kriya and Jnana or Will, Activity and Wisdom – that are manifested by the 3 Upadhis. Sthula-Shariram corresponds to Kriya, Sukshma-Shariram is the organ of Jnana and Karana-Shariram is that of Icha. While the Sthula-Shariram contains the Karmendriyas or the organs of action, the true centers of these organs which direct and control them are in the Sukhsma-Shariram. Similarly organs of the Jnanendriyas are in the Sthula-Shariram while their centers are in the Sukshma-Shariram.

The Tattva of Sharira is intrisically connected with other important tattvas like kosha, Pranas, and the Lokas. We need to have a clear understanding of these at the individual levels and also have proper knowledge of the complex network they form to understand about the Jiva’s journey forward. We will look at this network in our upcoming posts.