(Sk. pronounced “pancha-kosha”). A Sanskrit term used in the Vedānta philosophy meaning “five (pañca) sheaths (koas),” i.e., five vestures through which the Self (ātman) works. Listed from the most subtle to the most dense, they are:
1. Ānandamaya-kośa, lit. “bliss-made-sheath” or, in theosophical terminology, buddhic body.
2. vijñānamaya-kośa, or “intellect-made-sheath,” equivalent to theosophy’s causal body, i.e., higher mind.
3. manomaya-kośa or “manas-made-sheath,” equivalent to the theosophy’s lower mind and emotional body, sometimes referred to in early theosophical literature as k€ma-manas or desire-mind.
4. prānamaya-kośa or “prāna-made-sheath,” equivalent to theosophy’s etheric double.
5. annamaya-koa or “food-made-sheath,” i.e., physical or biological body.
It should be noted that the infix maya means “made of” and is not the same word as māyā (illusion).
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