Skip to content

Annamayakosha- The food sheath/ layer

Contents

What is annamaya kosha?

Translation: anna maya kosha (अन्न मय कोश); anna (अन्न) – food, grains, cereal; maya (मय)- consisting of, made of; kosha (कोश)- envelope, cell, container, covering, sheath, layer.

Annamayakosha, the food body (or food sheath) is one of the components of the five layers of the (the panchakosha) under which our true self resides. Understanding this layer both physically and spiritually can liberate us from the problems and attachments related to the physical body.

Ayurveda on Annamaya kosha

The layer which is made of food is called the annamaya kosha or the food body. Its consists of our physical body which is largely dependent on the type of food we eat. This food that we eat goes through a variety of processes to form different tissues in the body.

According to Ayurveda the physical body is made up of seven types of tissues (dhatus, धातु)

  • Lymph or Plasma (rasa, रस )– this is the fluid component of the blood that delivers nutrients to different parts of the body and transports the waste products of cellular metabolism to the appropriate organs for excretion. It also carries the cells and antibodies to fight infections.
  • Blood (Rakta, रक्त) – this transports oxygen and carbon dioxide, regulates body temperature, forms clots, carries glucose
  • Muscles (Mamsa, मांस) – These are responsible for all the functions in the body which require movement. Eg locomotion, digestion, blood circulation (heart pumping), speaking, etc.
  • Fat (Meda, मेद) – This stores energy, insulates the body, protects the organs, helps the body to signal and regulate hormones, provides lubrication
  • Bone (Asthi, अस्थि) – provides shape and support to the body, protects organs, stores, and releases minerals,
  • Bone marrow (Majja, मज्जा)– Consists of the stem cells which are the raw material from which all other cells in the body are derived.
  • Reproductive tissues (शुक्र)– The reproductive tissues consisting of sperm and ovum

Spiritual explanation of Annamaya kosha

This body is understood to be the vehicle of the soul, it is your own personal temple and is to be treated as such. The physical body enhances our experience of life. If your annamaya kosha is properly maintained then various activities of life (trekking, cycling, swimming walking, etc) could become very enjoyable but it could also be suffering for a person who doesn’t maintain their food body.

Food is the basic need, once this is taken care of we can advance into the spiritual dimensions. Otherwise, we would keep spending all our time trying to accumulate.

There are a lot of ways we can get attached to the annamayakosha. The main emotion involved is fear. The unconscious fear of a sense of security and survival might get us stuck into this kosha. Even though we might have enough we keep on stressing and accumulating more. Money and other important things are required for survival but circling your life only around one dimension of life can stop you from having other beautiful life experiences. In this process, you might even be ruining the very thing (the body) that you wanted to secure.

Another way in which we create an attachment to this layer is how we look. Sometimes this can cause extreme attachments and identification with the physical body leading to many forms of body obsessions (anorexia, body-building addictions, cosmetic surgery, etc.).

The definition of beauty keeps on changing from time to time. Maintaining the physical body is a good thing. But when it changes into an obsession and you get completely dependent on how the outside world views you then you get stuck into the vicious circle.

The modern world has changed the meaning of fitness, rather than it being a measure of being able to do life activities without the problems of the body getting in the way it is determined purely on looks.

Like all forms the body cannot last forever, if this concept can be understood and accepted fully, you will be able to approach living (and dying which are in effect the same word) with more clarity and confidence.

How to work on annamaya kosha?

One kosha doesn’t work on its own but keeps on interacting with other koshas as well. The annamaya kosha is the outermost layer and all the other kosha can have an effect on this.

Proper food and exercise according to your body type will help to optimize the food body. Ayurveda can help you to find your body type (vata, pitta, kapha).

Read more details about the vata body type, pitta body type, and kapha body type.

After you know your body type then you can start eating your food accordingly. But keep in mind that everyone is different, along with the knowledge of the body types also be aware of the foods that suit your body. Don’t just follow any generic ideas but make it a habit to experiment with your body in a controlled and aware way.

Choosing the type of exercise according to your own body is also important. We need to achieve a balance of strength and flexibility. If you are naturally flexible then your tendency would be to only do the flexibility exercises because that is what comes easy to you. But the exercise that you would need is strength training. This same concept works the other way round. This doesn’t mean that you are never allowed to practice the things you are good at but including these opposite elements will help to achieve more balance.

This is the main ayurvedic principle of using the opposite to balance.

The idea is to see what problems are there in your body and then approach accordingly. It could be

  • flexible but weak
  • strong but inflexible
  • weak and inflexible
  • balanced

Sometimes what you want and what you need might be different.

Another way to work on annamayakosha is the Shat-Kriya (the six yogic cleansing or detox techniques).

Description of Annamaya kosha in Taittriya Upanishad

The panchakosha is mentioned in one of the old Sanskrit manuscripts called the Taittriya Upanishads. Here are the verses and the translation.

Sanskrit verses

अन्नाद्वै प्रजाः प्रजायन्ते । याः काश्च पृथिर्वीश्रिताः ।
अथो अन्नेनैव जीवन्ति । अथैनदपि यन्त्यन्ततः ।
अन्नं हि भूतानां ज्येष्ठम् । तस्मात् सर्वौषधमुच्यते ।
सर्वं वै तेऽन्नमाप्नुवन्ति । येऽन्नं ब्रह्मोपासते ।
अन्नाद् भूतानि जायन्ते । जातान्यन्नेन वर्धन्ते ।
अद्यतेऽत्ति च भूतानि । तस्मादन्नं तदुच्यत इति ।

English Transliteration

annādvai prajāḥ prajāyante . yāḥ kāśca pṛthivīrśritāḥ .
atho annenaiva jīvanti . athainadapi yantyantataḥ .
annamhi bhūtānāṃ jyeṣṭham . tasmāt sarvauṣadhamucyate .
sarvaṃ vai te’nnamāpnuvanti . ye’nnaṃ brahmopāsate .
annād bhūtāni jāyante . jātānyannena vardhante .
adyate’tti ca bhūtāni . tasmādannaṃ taducyata iti

Word by word meaning

Annādvai (अन्नाद्वै) – from food; prajāḥ (प्रजाः)– creatures, people, beings; prajāyante (प्रजायन्ते)– are born; yāḥ kāśca (याः काश्च)– which and whatever (all); pṛthivīrśritāḥ (पृथिर्वीश्रिताः)– dependent on earth;

atho (अथो)– again, next; annenaiva (अन्नेनैव)– by food; jīvanti (जीवन्ति)– (they) live, sustained; athainadapi (अथैनदपि)– again into this; yantyantataḥ (यन्त्यन्ततः)– go back at the end;

annamhi (अन्नं हि)– food is; bhūtānāṃ (भूतानां)– of all beings; jyeṣṭham (ज्येष्ठम्)– oldest, eldest; tasmāt (तस्मात्) – therefore; sarvauṣadhamucyate (सर्वौषधमुच्यते)– (it) is called medicine for all;

sarvaṃ vai(सर्वं वै) – all; te’nnamāpnuvanti (तेऽन्नमाप्नुवन्ति) – they get (all the) food (they want); ye’nnaṃ (येऽन्नं)– this food; brahmopāsate (ब्रह्मोपासते)– worship as brahm;

Annād (अन्नाद्)- from food; bhūtāni (भूतानि)- creatures, people; jāyante (जायन्ते) – are born; jātānyannena vardhante (जातान्यन्नेन वर्धन्ते) – being born they grow with food;

adyate’tti (अद्यतेऽत्ति)– (who are) here today; ca bhūtāni (च भूतानि) – and beings; tasmādannaṃ (तस्मादन्नं)– therefore food; taducyata iti (तदुच्यत इति)– is thus called;

Translation of verses on annamayakosha

All beings are born from food and are dependent on earth (for food). By food, their life is sustained and once again in the end they go back to the earth. Food is the eldest of all beings therefore it is called medicine for all. Those who worship food as the Brahm (the absolute) get all the food they want. From food, the beings are born, with the food they grow. The ones (beings) here today are thus called the food for others.

Commentary

The verses are describing the cyclical nature of this physical body. From food, we are born, with the food we sustain ourselves and then we become the food again for others. This is the logical truth that everyone knows but is the most difficult to actually accept. We can only transcend the annamayakosha (the food layer) completely when we are able to accept this truth.

Food can act as a medicine and nourish the whole body. But excess of anything is bad. Become aware of the body and observe what it needs and how much it needs. Our body is intelligent and knows when full, but sometimes the taste of the food doesn’t let us stop. A balanced regulated diet is the key. The body is naturally programmed to heal, it only needs a proper environment to do so (proper diet, nutrition, and exercise)

Food is Brahm- the absolute, the unchanging awareness or consciousness. This body is a vehicle to realize that brahm. Without this food (body) we can never realize it. Having gratitude for the food that we receive can help us be humble.

More on Kosha