The Five Koshas in Yoga represent five layers of identification with the seperate sense of self, or jiva, who we mistakenly take ourselves to be. They cover or hide the essential Self, which is our true nature. They are described as five sheaths that obscure the truth from us. These sheaths, layers, or bodies can be likened to a set of Russian dolls, nestled snuggly, one inside the other. However, it is important to know that they only seemingly hide the Self. These aspects of the individuated self or jiva are only apparently real: they are in fact part and parcel of Maya or Prakriti, the illusory manifest world of duality, whose spell we are under.
When we overcome our ignorance, by gaining Self-knowledge, the veils slowly become more and more transparent until we can see through them to our original identity as the Self; the only real thing that exists. At this point the veils no longer deceive us, and they metaphorically fall away, exposing who we always were/are. The Self is the overarching context in which all of the seeming individuals arise and disappear. It has no qualities, it is changeless and eternal. This one unchanging Self is who I am. And yet, according to the Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, “it is hidden in plain sight” and we usually are painfully oblivious to it and thoroughly bewitched by Maya. In order to understand who we really are, we need to be taught, both through the study of Vedic scriptures and by a qualified teacher.
Usually when we use the word “I”, we commonly refer to the Body-Mind complex plus consciousness. The scriptures tell us that who we are is consciousness, free of the body-mind complex.
From a very early age, we mistake ourselves to be the body-mind complex. The koshas are different aspects of the apparently separate self (which in fact doesn’t really exist) that we take ourselves to be.
Let’s look at each one individually.
The Annomaya Kosha: The food body
The Pranamaya Kosha: the physiological body
The Manomaya Kosha: the mental body
The Vijnanamaya Kosha: The intellectual body
The Anandamaya Kosha: The Bliss body
Created with
