The Human Soul

With its twenty four Thathvaas

Dr. V. Seshagiri Rao

Any soul, to express itself requires a body, be it a virus, a bacterium, an amoeba, a fish, an amphibian or a mammal. The viruses cannot be seen by an ordinary light microscope but require an electron microscope to observe their structure and each has a structure of its own. But bacilli (of tubercle etc,) can be visualized under the ordinary microscope, after proper staining with dyes. It looks as if a primitive thought process exists in all the animate things, be they unicellular or multi-cellular. This thought form is confined to intake of food, procreation, when the environmental factors are congenial and death when these are not favourable. However, one can find even in some unicellular forms of life, a thought of going into an encysted state, when adverse atmospheric conditions prevail, so that they could multiply once again when favourable conditions return. This really forms the mystery of life. The question that arises in the inquiring mind is, whether, thought is responsible for the creation of an animate world. The next question that crops up is, whether desire is responsible for the evolution of various types of bodies for the soul to express itself. The answer is a probability. The next question,— “Is a Divine Thought responsible for the creation of this Universe?”

When one looks at the National Geographical Channel, or the Discovery Channel on the T. V. specially, when the depths of the Oceans are presented, it looks something wonderful, and mysterious to observe so many varieties of fish, small, big, coloured and having all the rainbow colours printed on their scales. Some of the very big varieties, the sharks and the whales look like live ships prodding the depths of the ocean. Next, we can see the mammals of the ocean, the dolphins, seals and walruses. Among the mammals the dolphins, can be tamed and trained because, their mind with an advanced thinking, seems to respond to the commands given. They seem to enjoy the company of human beings. Now, coming to the stage of seals and walruses, already the front limbs are formed, though, the rear limbs remain like flaps for swimming, resembling the fins of the fish. One would be inclined to think that life must have started in water and gradually evolved till it reached the human form, passing, through several intermediary stages, the chief of them being the stage of primates. Similarly from the stage of planktons, the vegetative life seems to have evolved into a variety of trees.

During the stage of evolution of the Human Being, several structural changes have taken place in the animal body. The tail disappeared and the Humans became, —-“Vaala- Khilyaas” or, Mammals without tails. The walk on the four’s got transformed into walk on the two’s. (legs) with an erect gait. Vision has taken the upper hand and the visual brain extends from the eyes infront, right to the back of the skull where the occipital cortex of the brain with a special area called the striate area, is present. This striate area of the brain, computerizes and integrates all the visual impulses that come to the region and takes the major part in the functioning of human thought. However, the motor and the sensory parts of the brain, remain close to one another, separated by a central fissure. The olfactory and the gustatory (taste) parts of the brain get submerged to the lower surface of the brain, to a small area, called the amygdaloid nucleus. This olfactory brain is the one, most developed in the insects which gives them the direction, either for movement or for flight.

The hearing part of the brain, goes to the temporal cortex fairly big with a predominant role to perform in the daily functioning of the body though in a way inferior to the canine brain in its range of hearing. A separate whistle to blow and call a pet dog is given the name, “Dog Whistle.” The note of this whistle cannot be heard by the ear of the humans showing, that our ears cannot hear the range exceeding 18000,— cycles per second, of sound vibrations, where as the same can be heard by the dog. Some of the flying mammals like the bats, travel in the sky by using ultra-sound. By these facts one can understand, how many structural changes have taken place in the functioning of the Human Body by evolving to the stage of Vaala Khilyas, or Mammals without tails.

Hindu Philosophy, talks of the twenty four Thathvaas, with which the Soul takes the Human Body. They are given the names as follows:-

Five Karmeindriyams and their five centres in the brain:- 5 + 5 = 10.

Five Jnaaneindriyams and their five centres in the brain:- 5 + 5 = 10.

Anthah(:) Karana Chathushtayam, or the four internal Instruments by which the Soul functions. = 4.

Total = 24.

The Five Karmeindriyams:-

Vaak, or Speech, along with the mouth with the internal organs like teeth tongue, palate the cheeks, pharynx and larynx or voice box. -1

Paanow:- The two hands to hold, or for prehension. -2

Paadow:- The two feet to walk, or for locomotion. -3

Upasthha:- The urethra with its meatus for excretion of Urine. -4

Paayou:- The anus with its excretory function of expelling Faeces. -5

Vaak, or Speech is given the status of a Karmeindriayam, or an instrument to perform an action. The various organs of the mouth take part in modulating the sound. Phonation is then converted in to articulation. Phonation is present in all the animals but, articulation or, speech has become the prerogative of the human species. Besides, the mouth is also intended to chew and swallow food.

Four types of Vaak are described in Hindu thought.

Theyare:- Para, Pasyanthi, Madhyama and Vaikhari.

Para Vaak:- is a part of, OM.- (AUM. } from which the entire audible world of sound has come into existence, or it can be called the sound of Divine which Sages and Rishies only can comprehend.

Pasyanthi:- is the sound which we see coming from different creatures of animate world.

It looks as though, the insect world also has a mode of communication by sound, the proof of which is found in the sound produced by grass hoppers and the like.

Madhyama:- is the thought confined within one’s own self and speech comes out when one is required to express one’s thought.

Vaikhari:- Different people of different nationalities have their own phonation to express their ideas in speech form.

The hands have a centre in the brain, called the Motor Cortex and it may be interesting to note that the thumb of the hand has a greater area or representation in the brain very close to the speech centre in the frontal lobe of the brain. This speech centre in the frontal lobe of the brain is called, Broca’s area.

The legs, and the organs of excretion for urine and faeces have their respective centres in the brain. Thus, the ten Thathvaas pertaining to the Karmeindriyaas are explained.

Similarly, for all the Jnaa-neindriyams or the five special senses, there are centres in the brain. The centre for vision is located in the striate area of the occipital lobe of the brain. The centre for sound is located in the temporal lobe of the brain. The centre for smell and taste, is confined to a very small area in the base of the brain, called the amygdaloid area. The centre for touch fairly wide, is found behind the central fissure in the brain in close proximity to the motor part of the brain behind the central fissure.

Now, some thing should be known about this Anthah(:) Karana Chathushtayam, or the — four internal instruments through which the Soul functions. They are given the names of.

Manah(:) = Mind.

Buddhi = Intellect

Ahankaaram = Ego.

Chith. tham = Reaction.

Though, Mind is the name given to several of our thoughts and actions, when taken in a strict sense, it means the screen of the Soul on which several impulses fall. They may be from without from all the five special senses or from within, from our own thoughts.

A simple example is given to know about Mind. We go in the night bare-footed and trample on some thing and jump suddenly. Till the action of jumping it is Mind. Buddhi analyses and conveys to the Ego, that it is just a rope. The reaction of jumping is called Chith. tham. Thoughts of varied form are present in all individuals. Children and often even some elderly people also talk within themselves while walking. During the wakeful period of life, these thoughts, or Chith tha Vruth-thies, as they are called in the words of Yoga Philosophy, are like whirl pools in a fast running river. When these Vruth-thies, take an abnormal form without proper analysis from Buddhi, persons suffer from hallucinations and delusions leading to mental disease some times even with violence.

Now, Impulses on the Mental Screen, called Mind -analyzed by Buddhi, -conveyed to the -Ego, or Ahankaaram, -leading to Chith. tham or Reaction. These are called the four internal instruments of the Human Soul.

This is just a simplified presentation of the so called, Anthah(:) Karana Chathushtayam. Buddhi means several other faculties, associated with analysis as to, which is wrong and which is correct, which is good and which is bad, which is proper and which is improper and like that so many forms of critical analysis come under its domain. In an intelligent person all the emotions to which the person is subjected to, are corrected by Buddhi, and reactions also are controlled. .The Intellectual is a Buddhi-man. Buddhi also means, the creative faculty. This faculty is present in some persons right from birth. Some become great mathematicians even from birth. Some become great musicians. Some become great scientists and so on.

Having evolved from the animal to the Human level, we cannot escape the nature of the animal in us. Depending on birth (genetic-wealth), environment, education, monetary well-being, influence by great Souls or Mahaathmaas, one can reduce one’s animal element, slowly from a higher to a lower level. Of all things, birth or genetic wealth plays a very great role in the nature of an individual. To be born in an affluent and cultured family both from the side of the mother and the father, is really a great opportunity for an individual and such a one is born in this world with advanced increments. There is tendency to preach in the present day, that all people are born equal. This is absolutely wrong. All are not born equal. We can give only equal opportunities for all and it is up to them to utilize those opportunities to reach higher levels.

Human birth has given many facilities for a Soul to evolve. Some times the evolution may go in the retrograde fashion so that one could easily go to the animal level or even to the demonic level. May the Human Soul at least remain at the Human level and slowly evolve into the Divine!. The enlightened person is the one who sees Divinity in the animate and the inanimate creation and also the most compassionate. The Buddha is such a one and hence could give the highest form of moral code -the eight fold path for Nirvaana.

We find several states of consciousness for the Human Soul. The deep sleep state, the dream state, the moribund state during operation under general anesthesia and finally the conscious state. During the conscious state only the world exists. Yoga mentions of another state called the supra-conscious state of Samaadhi, when the Soul experiences Supreme Bliss and thus gets liberation from the cycles of Birth and Death, to reach its Original State of Bliss.

Let us strive to attain that Supreme State of Bliss, or what is called by the Yogis, a state of Samaadhi, or the State of Equilibrium, or The State of, “One with the Universal Soul” when, Time, Space and Causation disappear. Is it possible? Yes. But a constant effort is required to reach that stage and this is what is called, “Saadhana.”

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