You think you’re just this body? Or the mind inside it? According to ancient Rishis, reality has 5 layers — And only one of them is physical.
The Upanishads don’t just ask “Who am I?” They give a detailed, structured answer: You are not one thing — You are five concentric layers of reality, like an onion of existence. This system is called the Kosha model.
The 5 layers of your being are:
- Annamaya Kosha — The Physical Body
- Prāṇamaya Kosha — The Energy Body
- Manomaya Kosha — The Mental Body
- Vijñānamaya Kosha — The Wisdom Body
- Ānandamaya Kosha — The Bliss Body
- Annamaya Kosha — The Food Body Your flesh, bones, organs — all made of anna (food). This is the outermost sheath. It’s born of food, sustained by food, and returns to food. “Annamayaṁ hi etat puruṣaḥ; tasmād vā etasmād annarasamayāt anyaḥ antarātmā prāṇamayaḥ” — Taittiriya Upanishad
2. Prāṇamaya Kosha — The Energy Body This is your life-force — Prāṇa. It powers your breath, circulation, digestion — everything that moves. Modern science can’t see it, but it drives all biochemical activity. “Prāṇena hi prāṇiti jīvaḥ” — Life exists because of prāṇa.
3. Manomaya Kosha — The Mental Body This is your Manas — thoughts, emotions, perceptions. It’s what responds when someone insults you, or when memories flood your mind. “Manasaiva idam āptavyam” — Realization begins in the mind. But it’s still not you.
4. Vijñānamaya Kosha — The Intelligence Body This is Buddhi — your discriminative knowledge, higher reasoning, intuition. It allows you to differentiate truth from illusion. “Vijñānam yajñam tanute” — Conscious intelligence drives all actions. Here, you begin touching wisdom.
5. Ānandamaya Kosha — The Bliss Body Not emotional happiness — but a deep, still joy that arises from within. This is the quiet ecstasy of meditation, love, devotion, and samādhi. It is not caused. It simply is. “Ānando brahmeti vyajānāt” — Bliss is Brahman.
Two deeper layers —
Chidākāsha — The Infinite Conscious Space
Ātman — The Pure Self
Chidākāsha — The Space of Pure Awareness This is not often listed in popular Kosha models, but advanced Advaita Vedānta Vedanta includes it. It is the Infinite Witness Space — silent, formless consciousness in which all layers appear. It is not a layer. It is the stage on which all layers play.
Ātman — The True Self Beyond body, mind, energy, emotion, even bliss — is You. Unchanging, unborn, untouched. The Seer, not the seen. “Ātmaivedam sarvam” — The Self is all this. When you reach here, Moksha is near.
Modern science studies the outermost layer. Psychology studies the third. Quantum physics is approaching the Chidākāsha. But Sanātana Dharma mapped all of them — thousands of years ago. This isn’t religion. It’s spiritual science of the highest order.
You are not just a body. You are not just your mind. You are not even your bliss. You are the Witness. You are the Light. And that realization — says Vedānta — is the purpose of life. RT if this opened a new layer of understanding for you.
