The Five Sheaths of the Human Body: Wisdom from Guru Baba Shyama Khyapa

Guru: Greetings.

Guru: Yes. There are five koshas (sheaths) in the human body. Each has its own function. That day, I couldn't explain it properly. I was asked if it was science, and I said yes, it is a science. But many people don’t have a clear idea about these five sheaths.

Nowadays, doctors are performing many procedures by manipulating biological cells (kosh). They are changing cells so that a boy becomes a girl and a girl becomes a boy. This is entirely a matter of cell modification. However, the consequences can be quite severe; changing these cells is not ideal.

The first sheath is the Annamaya Kosha (the food sheath). Do you know what its job is? When you are hungry, this sheath calls out to you; it tells you that you are hungry and need food. That is the function of the Annamaya Kosha—to alert you to your physical needs.

Next is the Pranamaya Kosha (the vital energy sheath). You eat food to stay alive, right? This sheath is responsible for keeping the life force going. Once you eat, your life is sustained. The heartbeat you feel, that "thump-thump" in your chest, is the work of the Pranamaya Kosha. Its job is to protect and maintain your life.

After that is the Manomaya Kosha (the mental sheath). This relates to our heart and mind. Everything we do—listening intently, working with focus—is managed by this sheath. Its job is to help us remain steady and composed.

Then comes the Vijnanamaya Kosha (the wisdom or intellectual sheath). This sheath is scientific. We cannot just believe something because someone says it; science demands proof. Science demonstrates what exists and what doesn't. However, spirituality (adhyatmavad) doesn't always work that way. Spirituality is about consciousness (chetana). Through consciousness, we can understand things that science cannot explain. This is the realm of the Vijnanamaya Kosha. Science discovers things and shows them to those who want to see. This is why people tend to trust science more than spirituality. But those who have attained a higher state of consciousness may not rely solely on the scientific sheath; they understand that what is, is—and what isn't, isn't.

Lastly, there is the Anandamaya Kosha (the bliss sheath). This is what keeps me in a state of joy. It isn't always about sorrow; the Anandamaya Kosha provides constant joy. It collects everything good and keeps the mind cheerful and exuberant. If the mind isn't joyful, the body won't function well. A bad mood often leads to physical illness. This is because the joy is missing. We call this the Sat-Chit-Ananda (Truth-Consciousness-Bliss) sheath. These five sheaths are what keep the human body functioning.

As I mentioned before, the Vijnanamaya Kosha is indeed a science, but it is deeply intertwined with spirituality. Science proves things by showing them; spirituality does not always show things in the same way. If someone asks me to show them God, I cannot. It’s impossible. It’s not something to be "shown." It’s something that is realized through consciousness, through being in the presence of the divine, and through practices like chanting and meditation. You don't "see" God, but you understand that God exists.

Think of it like an electric wire. You don't know there is a current running through it just by looking at it. Only when you touch it do you realize there is electricity; otherwise, it’s just a wire. Similarly, spirituality has described the colors and powers of different planets long before science "discovered" them. Our sages and saints traveled in their subtle bodies to all the planets and recorded their descriptions—their colors, their powers, and how they affect the human body. Science is now reaching Mars and sending back pictures, providing the physical proof that spirituality had already described.

These sheaths are constantly working in our bodies. If they become corrupted or distorted, a person becomes ill. Doctors try to repair the body with medicine, but if a sheath truly fails, it causes great difficulty. For example, if the Annamaya Kosha stops working, you lose your appetite. Doctors might try to stimulate it with medicine, but if it shuts down completely, the desire to eat vanishes. If you stop eating, the Pranamaya Kosha will eventually fail because it has no fuel.

When a person is near death, these sheaths shut down one by one. First, the Annamaya Kosha goes—the person stops eating. Then, without food, the Pranamaya Kosha begins to fade. Next, the Manomaya Kosha—the thoughts and mental processes—ceases. Then the Vijnanamaya Kosha and finally the Anandamaya Kosha. When all five are gone, we say the person has merged back into the five elements (Panchabhuta).

The poet Ramprasad once wrote about how these "five ghosts" (the elements/sheaths) consume us. These five sheaths are what drive our existence. While science may focus on the physical and intellectual, spirituality encompasses all of them.

So, to the person who asked the question on Saturday, I have analyzed the five sheaths: Annamaya, Pranamaya, Manomaya, Vijnanamaya, and Anandamaya. This is how the human body is structured.

Guru: My blessings to you.