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Re: The Koshas
dchakrav@netserv.unmc.edu (Dhruba Chakravarti) wrote:
Thanks for your reply and sorry for the late reply.
>The Anandamaya koshha is unsegmented, and here satyamaya and
>chaitanyamaya koshhas are realized. The fifth koshha is where the sixth
>and seventh is, in union, as SacchidAnanda.
If the aanandamaya koshha is unsegmented how are there two koshhas which are
part of it?
>Let us take a closer look at the individual koshhas. What are these?
>
>In the SBG, in Chapter 15, there are these verses that without mentioning
>the koshhas by name, discusses them.
Even if I accept the interpretation of the SBG as given by you, the reference
to the seven koshhas is still not from the vedas. I was reading a book
describing all puraaNas and important chapters from them. I believe that the
padma puraaNa has a chapter called shiva giita (shiva's instructions to raama).
The book also described the main features of the shiva giita. I quote from this
book ("The Puranas" - by Ludo Rocher):
"Even as in the BG Krsna consoled Arjuna by removing his objections against
engaging in battle with his relatives, in the Siva Gita Agastya consoles Rama
about his losing Sita to Ravana. Agastya tells Rama that Agastya tells Rama
that by performing viraja diksa, he will win both Siva's grace and defeat
Ravana. Rama performs the diksa on the bank of the Godavari; Siva appears and
provides Rama with divine weapons to battle Ravana; he also allows Rama to see
him as identical with the universe, and encourages him to question Siva as his
guru. The latter half of the text is, then, concerned with the teachings of
Siva, the development of the embryo and the human life; the gunas, elements,
and bodies; the individual soul and it's relation to the cosmic soul and the
body; death and re-birth; Siva worship; the five types of liberation (salokya,
sarupa, saratya, sayjya, kaivalya) and how to achieve them; the five kosas that
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
envelop the soul; rituals for Siva bhakti; the individuals entitled to
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
liberation. The Siva Gita is less dependent on the BG than most puranic Gitas,
but it contains several quotations from the Upanisads, the Atharvasiras,
Svetasvatara, Isavasya, and, above all, the Kaivalya which it follows in
combining Siva bhakti with advaita."
I have reproduced the whole description of the shiva giita since I thought it
was interesting. Has anyone actually read this? A friend is going to India and
I'd like to get it if it has been published. If anyone knows details please send
me mail. I find the description extremely interesting.
Oh, BTW, It should be clear now that the padma puraaNa is actually not fully
saatvic, but has atleast some tamasic parts for people like me. Isn't that
nice?
Ramakrishnan.
--
Two monks were arguing about a flag. One said, "The flag is moving." The other
said, "The wind is moving." The sixth patriarch happened to be passing by. He
told them, "Not the wind, not the flag; mind is moving." - The Gateless Gate
http://yake.ecn.purdue.edu/~rbalasub/
