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Vijnanamayakosha- The Intellect Sheath/ Layer

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What is Vijnanamayakosha?

Translation:-Vijnana-maya-kosha (विज्ञान-मय-कोश); Vijnana (विज्ञान)– wisdom, experiential knowledge, intellect; maya (मय)– made of, consisting of; kosha (कोश)– layer, sheath;

Vijnanamaya kosha is the layer of the intellect and is made of Gyan/jnana or knowledge. It relates to your intellectual capacities (buddhi) and how you analyze and understand the world. It is your access to creativity on a higher level and is your willpower or command over the lower mind (manas).

**Vigyanamaya and Vijnanamaya are the same words just transliterated slightly differently, because the exact sound is hard to write using Roman letters.

By bringing awareness to this level of mind, you can start to notice your patterns and how they might be putting constraints on your life, in a way that is not serving you. Through a conscious effort, you can then start to break these old habits. When the intellect is balanced it becomes an invaluable tool to work on any problems in the other levels of mind. When it is out of balance, it becomes difficult to find mental ease, and the mind will tend towards various disorders, including stress, anxiety, depression, paranoia, etc.

A high intellectual capacity can be equally constructive or destructive depending on how it is applied. A sharp intellect that is creating destructive patterns can sometimes feel like more of a curse than a blessing. In this situation, the way to escape the overactive mind is to give less importance to the intellect, and instead approach the problem through bodywork instead. This can help you to create some distance between the self and the mind, and will also bring your energy to a state where it can support your healing.

What about if you don’t have a particularly sharp intellect? This can sometimes feel frustrating like it’s difficult for you to grasp concepts, or you need to learn the same things over and over. The way to improve this is to consciously challenge and exercise this part of the mind and over time it will become easier. Below we have mentioned some methods which might help.

This portion of the mind often gets caught up in duality, true-false, right-wrong, etc, and can be a harsh judge, not only to others but to the self. If you find your inner critic has become so loud it’s crippling then too much importance has been given to this layer. Again the solution may be to approach the mind through the body or through some other means.

In today’s culture, other types of intelligence (social and emotional intelligence) are not valued as much as the buddhi, throughout our school this sharp intellect is praised, but most people are not really taught how to use it. We are given an incredibly powerful tool, but not shown how it can be used for our own benefit. Once you understand this layer, and can clearly see that it is not you, it is not your value but it is instead a valuable tool that you have you will be able to use it much more freely.

Components of vijnanamaya kosha

The main component of this kosha is Buddhi which means intellect. To find out more details about Buddhi click here.

Functions of Vijnanamaya Kosha

The Vijnanamaya Kosha is the layer that likes to think about things both internal and external. It is our ability to analyze and act accordingly, which can be strengthened with practice. The better we are at this, the easier it is to make sense of our internal and external world, but it is also easy to tangle emotions and wrong ideas with the right ones which end up clouding our judgment. Each way that we apply this logical analysis has a name in Sanskrit.

  • Tarka (तर्क)– Attempting to make sense of something which is already known, to fulfill your curiosity about it. (How does this machine work?) This is usually relatively simple to find out because the understanding is already there you may just need to practice or experiment or read a bit.
  • Vitarka (वितर्क)– Attempting to make sense of, or find the answer to something which is not known. This includes questions like Who am I? Why does it happen to me? What is the purpose of my life? The purpose of this exploration is more the process of thinking about it rather than necessarily coming to a concrete answer. Some people find not having an answer frustrating and find this type of thought experiment pointless, while others find them endlessly entertaining.
  • Kutarka (कुतर्क)– Attempting to apply logic and reasoning to a situation, but some of your information is incorrect, or you have a flaw in your method. Here although your intention is to find out and understand because there is a flaw in the method the answer will never properly reflect reality.
  • Vichar- Vimash (विचार-विमर्श)– Deliberation . Discussion or thinking about something in detail.
  • Vijnana (विज्ञान)– Attaining specific knowledge about things.
  • Naitik (नैतिक)– Morality. Moral values are derived from a combination of traditions, culture, personal experiences, and scripture (if you follow any). There is no universal agreement on the moral way to live although there tends to be overlap across all cultures. Sometimes people add things into their moral framework which are unacceptable to many others. This is not so much about what is absolutely right or wrong but how you function through the framework of right and wrong that you have set up for yourself.

How to work on Vijnanamaya kosha?

  • Problem-solving– Making new things (particularly using your hands), logic and puzzle games, map reading anything which challenges your mind to think.
  • Learning new skills– languages, musical instruments, knitting, gardening, etc.
  • Debating– Formulating ideas and opinions into clear and concise speech to get your point across in the clearest most efficient way possible.
  • Analytical meditation– Contemplating your patterns and working out solutions. Contemplating philosophical questions (Who am I?, What purpose of life? What happens when I die? etc)
  • Acquiring new knowledge– Reading or listening to ideas that challenge and stimulate the mind to ask more questions. Things that make you curious, specifically searching for things that argue the opposite view to what you generally hold.

Explanation of Vijnanamayakosha in Taittriya Upanishad.

Sanskrit Verses

तस्माद्वा एतस्मान्मनोमयात् । अन्योऽन्तर आत्मा विज्ञानमयः ।
तेनैष पूर्णः । स वा एष पुरुषविध एव ।
तस्य पुरुषविधताम् । अन्वयं पुरुषविधः ।
तस्य श्रद्धैव शिरः । ऋतं दक्षिणः पक्षः ।
सत्यमुत्तरः पक्षः । योग आत्मा ।
महः पुच्छं प्रतिष्ठा । तदप्येष श्लोको भवति ॥

विज्ञानं यज्ञं तनुते । कर्माणि तनुतेऽपि च ।
विज्ञानं देवाः सर्वे । ब्रह्म ज्येष्ठमुपासते ।
विज्ञानं ब्रह्म चेद्वेद । तस्माच्चेन्न प्रमाद्यति ।
शरीरे पाप्मनो हित्वा । सर्वान्कामान् समश्नुत इति ।
तस्यैष एव शारीर आत्मा । यः पूर्वस्य ।

English Transliteration

tasmādvā etasmānmanomayāt . anyo’ntara ātmā vijñānamayaḥ .
tenaiṣa pūrṇaḥ . sa vā eṣa puruṣavidha eva .
tasya puruṣavidhatām . anvayaṃ puruṣavidhaḥ .
tasya śraddhaiva śiraḥ . ṛtaṃ dakṣiṇaḥ pakṣaḥ .
satyamuttaraḥ pakṣaḥ . yoga ātmā .
mahaḥ pucchaṃ pratiṣṭhā . tadapyeṣa śloko bhavati

ijñānaṃ yajñaṃ tanute . karmāṇi tanute’pi ca .
vijñānaṃ devāḥ sarve . brahma jyeṣṭhamupāsate .
vijñānaṃ brahma cedveda . tasmāccenna pramādyati .
śarīre pāpmano hitvā . sarvānkāmān samaśnuta iti .
tasyaiṣa eva śārīra ātmā . yaḥ pūrvasya

Word by Word meaning

Tasmādvā (तस्माद्वा)- therefore; etasmān (एतस्मान्)- from which; manomayāt ( मनोमयात्)- manas come from; anyo’ntara (अन्योऽन्तर)- (there is) other seperate; ātmā (आत्मा)- self; vijñānamayaḥ (विज्ञानमयः)- made of vijnana;

tenaiṣa (तेनैष) – therefore, this; pūrṇaḥ (पूर्णः)- filled; sa vā eṣa (स वा एष)- with this (vijnana); puruṣavidha (पुरुषविध)- form of man; eva (एव)- verily, certainly;

asya (तस्य)- this; puruṣavidhatām (पुरुषविधताम्) – human form (layer); anvayaṃ (अन्वयं)- is a result of, succession, cause and effect; puruṣavidhaḥ (पुरुषविधः)- (former) human form (layer);

tasya (तस्य)- its; śraddhaiva (श्रद्धैव)- absolute sincerity, longing for (is); śiraḥ (शिरः)- head
ṛtaṃ (ऋतं)- righteousness; dakṣiṇaḥ (दक्षिणः)- (is) right; pakṣaḥ (पक्षः)- wing, side;

satyamuttaraḥ (सत्यमुत्तरः) – truth is left; pakṣaḥ (पक्षः)- wing, side; yoga (योग)- yoga; ātmā (आत्मा) – (is) self;

mahaḥ (महः)- cosmic intellect; pucchaṃ (पुच्छं) – tail; pratiṣṭhā (प्रतिष्ठा)- base, stability; tadapyeṣa (तदप्येष)- about that also, these; śloko (श्लोको)- verses; bhavati (भवति)- are there;

vijñānaṃ (विज्ञानं)- vijnana; yajñaṃ (यज्ञं)- offering, sacrifice; tanute (तनुते)- beyond; karmāṇi (कर्माणि)- action; tanute’pi ca (तनुतेऽपि)- and beyond;

vijñānaṃ (विज्ञानं)- vijnana; devāḥ (देवाः)- gods; sarve (सर्वे)- all; brahma (ब्रह्म)- brahman; jyeṣṭhamupāsate (ज्येष्ठमुपासते)- worship as eldest;

vijñānaṃ (विज्ञानं)- vijnana (as); brahma (ब्रह्म)- brahm, absolute; cedveda (चेद्वेद)- if one knows;
tasmāccenna (तस्माच्चेन्न)- therefor he doesnot (get); pramādyati (प्रमाद्यति)- deluded;

śarīre (शरीरे)- body; pāpmano (पाप्मनो)- sins; hitvā (हित्वा)- leaving the; sarvānkāmān (सर्वान्कामान्)- all desires; samaśnuta (समश्नुत)- attains; iti (इति)- thus;

tasyaiṣa (तस्यैष)- this is; eva (एव)- the; śārīra ātmā (शारीर आत्मा)- embodied self; yaḥ pūrvasya (यः पूर्वस्य)- of the former (referring to manomayakosha);

Translation

There is another separate self (layer) made of Vijnana from which the manas comes. This form of human (sheath) is filled with this Vijnana. This human form (the layer, Vijnanamayakosha) succeeds the former human form (the layer, Manomayakosha).
Absolute sincerity is its head, righteousness is its right side, truth is its left side, yoga is its self and the cosmic intellect is its tail for stability. About that (Vijnanamaya) some more verses are there.

Vijnana is beyond any sacrifice or offerings (or ritual) and is beyond any action. All the gods worship Vijnana as Brahm (the absolute) the eldest. If one knows Vijnana as the absolute, he never gets deluded and all the sins are left behind with the body. He thus attains all desires. This is the embodies self of what has been described before (the Manomaya kosha).

Commentary

The author mentions the five components of this layer, which are-

  • Shraddha (श्रद्धा) as the head– Shraddha is performing an act with absolute sincerity and trust.
  • Rtam (ऋत) as the right side– Rtam means righteousness or morality. Vijnanamayakosha still functions on the level of duality and taking the right action is its goal.
  • Satya (सत्य) is the left side– Satya means the truth. Vijnanamaya is driven by the inquisitiveness to discover the truth.
  • Yoga (योग) is the self/soul– To pierce and transcend the Vijnanamaya we need to go beyond the right and wrong, good and bad, etc. We need to understand that everything has its place and purpose. Shit can act as manure for a beautiful tree. A bad experience happening to us can make us stronger and learn. Yoga (union) can become accessible only when we transcend Vijnanamaya.
  • Mahat (महत्) – The cosmic intellect is the tail– The knowledge and wisdom are never lost in this universe, people before us have discovered many things and people after us will keep on discovering new things. This knowledge stays and acts as the support for our Vijnanamaya to operate on.

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