It is the transformation
of food and wraps up the spirit like a sheath--it shows the spirit
which is infinite as finite, which is without the six changes, beginning
with birth as subject to those changes, which is without the three kinds
of pain* as liable to them. It conceals the spirit as the sheath
conceals the sword, the husk the grain, or the womb the fetus.
Q. What is the next sheath?
A. The combination of the five organs of action, and the five vital
airs form the Pranamaya sheath.
By the manifestation of prana, the spirit which is speechless appears as
the speaker, which is never the giver as the giver, which never moves as
in motion, which is devoid of hunger and thirst as hungry and thirsty.
Q. What is the third sheath?
A. It is the five (subtile) organs of sense (jnanendriya) and manas.
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* The three kinds of pain are:--
Adhibhautika, i.e., from external objects, e.g., from thieves,
wild animals, &c.
Adhidaivika, i.e., from elements, e.g., thunder, &c.
Adhyatmika, i.e., from within one's self, e.
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