Disclaimer: This translation does not guarantee complete accuracy, please confirm with the original page text.
2. 37-49
Regarding Bodies
It is only acquired like the food-gathering. According to this view, during intervals, only the karmic body exists. Therefore, at that time, it is possible to have one body.
Question: What is the reason for not using the two acquirements, the Vaikriya and the Aahaarak, simultaneously?
Answer: When the Vaikriya acquirement is used and a body is formed from it, the state of being oblivious (pramatta) occurs according to the rules. However, this is not the case with the Aahaarak, because the use of Aahaarak acquirement occurs in a state of oblivion, but after forming a body from it, a state of pure determination (shuddha adhyavasaya) is possible, resulting in a non-oblivious state (apramatta). Hence, the simultaneous use of these two acquirements is considered invalid. In summary, it is stated that with respect to appearance, the simultaneous existence of five bodies is negated. In terms of potential, all five bodies could exist, for the monk with the Aahaarak acquirement can also have the Vaikriya acquirement.
Purpose: Every object has some purpose. Therefore, bodies should also have a purpose, but the question is, what is their main purpose, and is it the same for all bodies or does each have specific characteristics? The main purpose of the body is consumption, which is established by the first four bodies. Only the final karmic body does not serve this purpose, which is why it is said to be non-consumable (nirupabhoga).
Question: What does consumption mean?
Answer: It refers to the experience of pleasure and pain by receiving auspicious and inauspicious sounds, etc., through the senses like the ears; binding auspicious or inauspicious actions such as donations or violence through limbs like hands and feet; experiencing the effects of good or bad karmas; and the destruction (kshaya) of karma through pure rituals—all of this is called consumption.
Question: The Audaarik, Vaikriya, and Aahaarak bodies are sensory and equipped with limbs, and hence such consumption can be achieved through them. However, the Tejas body is neither sensory nor equipped with limbs; how can consumption be accomplished through it?
Answer: Although the Tejas body is neither sensory nor equipped with limbs (like hands and feet), its consumption can occur through processes such as digestion, whereby the experience of pleasure and pain is established through the aforementioned consumption. Its other functions include curses and blessings. In other words, everyone utilizes the Tejas body in processes like digestion, but those practitioners (tapasvis) who gain specific results from special austerities also participate in this.