Sariraka Upanishad

The Upanishad opens with the declaration that a body is a composite of pṛiṭhvī or earth and four primordial elements (mahābhūṭas) – agni or fire, vayu or air, apas or water, and akasha or cosmic space.[10] It asserts that whatever is hard in any living body is the essence of earth; that which is fluid part is the essence of water; the hot in a body is the essence of fire; that which moves is essence of air; and the openings or pores in the body is of the essence of cosmic space.[10]

Shariraka Upanishad refers to the sensory organs as jñānenḍriyas (organs to know).[10] It links them to the elements as follows: the ear is attributed to space and both as essential to the sense of sound; the skin as essence of vayu, for touch; the eye is associated with fire with characteristics to know form; the tongue as essence of water, for taste; and nose as essence of earth, for smell.[10]

The text refers to the functional organs as karmenḍriyas (organs of action).[10] These are of two types, external and internal, suggests the text. The external organs of action include the mouth as the organ of speech; the hands to lift; the legs to walk, the organs of excretion to remove bodily waste, and the organs of procreation to enjoy.[3]

The internal organs of action are called Anṭaḥkaraṇa, comprising four types namely: Manas or mind for Sankalpa-vikalpa (free will and doubt); Buddhi or intellect for discernment and understanding; Ahamkara or ego for sense of self (egoism); and chitta or mental faculty for memory.[10] The body parts where these four antahkaranas reside, asserts the text, are as follows: mind is at the end of the throat; intellect behind the face; ego in the heart; and chitta emanates from the navel.[3]

The Sariraka Upanishad maps the various empirical physiology and sensory functions to its theory of constitutional elements as follows:[9][11]

The Upanishad adopts the Samkhya theory of three Guṇas or innate qualities, as being present in all beings. These three gunas are called: sattva (goodness, constructive, harmonious), rajas (passion, active, confused), and tamas (darkness, destructive, chaotic).[12]

अहिंसा सत्यमस्तेयब्रह्मचर्यापरिग्रहाः । अक्रोधो गुरुशुश्रुषा शौचं सन्तोष आर्जवम् ॥ १॥
अमानित्वमदम्भित्वमास्तिकत्वमहिंस्रता । एते सर्वे गुणा ज्ञेयाः सात्त्विकस्य विशेषतः ॥ २॥

Non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, Brahmacharya, Aparigraha, non-anger, serving the Guru, shaucha (purity in mind and body), santosha (contentment), Arjava, abstinence from arrogance, simplicity (non-pompousness), astika (faith in Self, belief in God), and avoiding being cause of injury to others – these Guṇa (qualities, character, psyche) are generally known in particular as Sattvic.

— Sariraka Upanishad, 1.1–1.2[9][11]

The focus on "I", without consideration of its effect on other living beings, such as "I am the actor, I am the enjoyer" are considered Rajasic guna by those who have realized Brahman knowledge, states the text.[9][11] The Tamasic guna are those related to the psyche that continues sloth, theft, craving, delusion and destruction.[11] Those with preponderance of Sattvic nature seek spirituality, divine and self-knowledge, asserts the Sariraka Upanishad in verse 1.5, while those with dominating Rajas psyche seek knowledge of dharma, while those who seek destructive knowledge are Tamasic.[9][11]

The text posits the same four states of consciousness or avasthas as found in Mandukya Upanishad and Buddhist texts.[13][14][15] It defines the four states as Jāgraṭa (waking state), Svapna (dreaming state), Sushupṭi (dreamless sleeping state), and Turiya (pure consciousness).[3] The text then attempts to link its physiology theory to explain these four states of consciousness as follows: in the Jāgraṭa state the 14 organs of the body which come into play are five organs of sense, five organs of action, and the four internal organs. Svapna or dreaming state shuts off all ten external organs, and only the four internal organs are operative states the Upanishad. In Sushupṭi, everything is silent, except chiṭṭa or mind only. Ṭuriya avastha is exclusively about jiva (life force, soul immersed in itself).[9][11]

The liberated person is one, states the Sariraka Upanishad, who is aware of Turiya-state jiva (soul),[16] while awake, or while dreaming, or while dreamless sleeping. This is the Jīvāṭmā and Paramāṭmā state of a person.[11] The Upanishad state that soul is the Ksheṭrajña, or "the lord of the body".[9][17] The subtle elements of a body are seventeen, eight are Prakritis, fifteen are functional modifications of the eight Prakritis. The Upanishad summarises the 24 tattvas which includes Avyakta (the "undifferentiated matter"), as five organs of sense, and eight pertaining to prakriti or nature which further includes 15 modified forms.[3] In verse 1.8, the text states that the Purusha is different and above than the twenty four tattvas.[5][9]