Basics of Vedanta. Part-1

Are you just a body..? Which is 5-6 feet in length, 50/60/70kgs in weight,  fair or dark complexion, with black or brown hair, etc…..?Are your eyebrows,  nails, belly and waist size only sufficient to describe you?Answer is——–‘No’.You are more than this.  Whatever part of you,  that can be seen or  measured is the only gross aspect of you. This gross aspect of you is perceived by your five sense organs.  This includes the organs inside your body too.This aspect is your gross body. In sanskrit, it is called स्थूलशरीर।
Usually we say, ” This is my hand, These are my eyes, my figure is good,  My stomach is full, etc.Just like we say, ” This is my pen….This is my watch..etc.Now be attentive–This is my pen means pen and me are different. Pen is not me, but I own or have a pen.Similarly this is my hand means hand and me are different.  Hand is not me. Now apply this principle with all your  gross parts/ body.You will be clear in understanding that you are not the body; but you have the body.
You are living in a house. You say, ‘ This is my house.’    House and you are different.  You have a car. You say ‘ This is my car’. Car and you are different.  You are not a car but you own a car. When someone dies, we usually say, ‘ Body of Mr so and so is kept there. Or his body was found in the lake. That  means gross body is just a belonging like a house or a car.Is it clear now that YOU ARE NOT THE BODY ?
Remember your childhood,  youth hood, major or minor illness states and now adulthood. Was your body in one and the same condition or status in all these States?Look at your childhood photos. Immediately you say , ‘This is me’. But your body doesnt match with it. Still you insist that ‘this is me.’Listen……You were there, you are here, you will be there. You are witnessing your bodily changes, that’s all.I.e You are not the body, but more than it…

Now, you are sitting opposite to some unknown person in a train or a bus or wherever……You are observing his/ her gross body. But can you know or guess what must  he/she be thinking about….? Can you know the type of the thoughts, ideas he/she must be having???Off course not………Just understand, this is an another aspect of you,  which cannot be perceived by our five senses. I cannot see another’s mind; nor my own mind with my gross eyes.
This aspect is your subtle body. In sanskrit,  it is called  सुक्ष्मशरीर।  The subtle body does not include only the mind but it has seventeen  components. Five pranas( which supply energy to gross and subtle body)+ five karmendriyas & five jnanendriyas ( faculty/power and not the gross structure) + mind+ intellect.( memory/chitta& ego/ Ahankar are also included which makes total 19 components)( Jnanendriyas- organs of knowledge/ sense organs/ ears,nose,eyes,tongue and skin.Karmendriyas- organs of actions- speech, hands,legs,the anus and the genitals. )
  Capacity to perceive and cognise does not lie in the external organs.  The external organ is a part of the gross body. E.g Even a deaf man has ears but no hearing capacity. Ear is the external organ and it’s faculty of hearing is in subtle body. ( The faculty of hearing, sight, taste, smell and touch that lies behind the gross ears,eyes,tongue, etc is the actual sense organs. That’s why included in subtle body)
Not the gross body but the subtle body actually  experiences the joy and sorrow. E.g. When you eat a laddoo,  it is chewed and deglutted by  mouth, tongue, teeth, etc ( part of gross body) but it is the faculty of tasting in subtle body which is responsible for sweet taste. Now,  who rejoices by getting this sweetness? The Mind……..The gross body can not experiences the joy and sorrow.
Now listen—-You are aware of your thoughts and ideas. Although you cannot perceive it with five senses. You say, ” These are my thoughts,  These are my ideas…”  That means you and your thoughts are different.  You are not thoughts or ideas but you own or have the thoughts and ideas.Also, you are aware of the condition of your sense organs and organs of action.  You are aware of your defective jnanendriyas or karmendriyas  and usually  express as , ‘ My eyesight is not good, I don’t have the ability to speak, etc.Now, got the point that  you are apart from the mind, intellect, etc( subtle body). ?? You are other than this…………..
Now you have understood that you are not the gross as well as  subtle body. But you  own or have  these two bodies. You will know for sure ‘Who are you really’, once you understand what you are not……What is the cause behind getting these bodies to you?This Cause is the third aspect of you…Causal body. In sanskrit it is called  कारणशरीर। Just like a seed is the cause of a sweet mango. (Gross appearance and subtle sweetness with fragrance.),  causal body is the cause of your gross and subtle body…….More about causal body in next part………