Beings Are Of Five Sheaths Poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar

Human beings are made of five layers.
Human is more than sensory organs,
More than mind and more than inteligence.
Knowing each layer is nearing Brahman.

Annamaya
All beings that exist on the earth
Are born of food; from food all are born,
Having been born, they grow by food.
Each is other's food, on death becomes food.

Pranamaya
All beings that exist on the earth breathe.
Pranamaya is the life force inside,
Identified by and dependent on breaths.
Those who worship prana live a full span.

Manamaya
Manamay is mind, characterised
By thought, will, wish and striving for better.
It forms as the inner sheath of pranamaya.
Knowing mind is the third knowledge.

Vijnanamaya
Vijnanamaya refers to intelligence,
Known by knowledge, ethicks and reasoning.
It is characterised by faith, truth, justice
And power to perceive and reason.

Anandamaya
It is the deepest hidden layer.
It is characterised by love, joy and bliss
In ananamaya one realizes
The empirical and the spiritual worlds.

‘Bliss is Brahman;
from bliss beings are born;
by bliss, when born, they live;
into bliss they enter at their death'

Birth and death are of the Annamaya-Kosa.
Hunger and thirst are of Pranamaya-Kosa.
Delusion and grief are of the Manomaya Kosa.
Atman is ever pure and unattached.

The Annamaya kosa is of the physical body.
The Pranamaya kosa, the Manmaya kosa
And the Vijnanamay kosa are of the subtle body
The Anandamaya is of the causal body.

Peeling each layer is knowing the self.
Absolute consciousness itself has become
The multiple consciousness in gross bodies,
Which are subsumed in pure consciousness.
(Based on the Taittiriya Upanishad)
26.06.2019