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VIVEKACŪDĀMANI
body which every one knows about; for everyone refers to it as the 'I'.
मज्जास्थि-मेदः-पल-रक्त-चर्म-त्वगाह्वयैर्धातुभिरेभिरन्वितम् । पादोरुवक्षो-भजपृष्ठ-मस्तकैररुपाङ्गरुपयक्तमेतत ॥७४ ॥
अहं ममेति प्रथितं शरीरं मोहास्पदं स्थूलमितीर्यते बुधैः॥ majjāsthi-medaḥ-pala-rakta-carma
tvagähvayair dhātubhirebhiranvitam pādoruvakso-bhuja-prstha-mastakair
angairupāņgairupayuktametat 11 aham mameti prathitam śarīram mohäspadam sthūlamitiryate budhaiḥ 11
Marrow, bone, fat, flesh, blood, skin and the cuticle are the seven substances of which the body is composed. It also consists of the limbs and their subsidiary parts, the legs, thighs, chest, arms, back and the head. This body which is the basis of the delusion of 'l' and 'Mine' is called by the wise the gross body.
In respect of all the items listed here, the transformation of whatever is eaten into the gross, the middling and the subtle is to be understood. Of the ghee etc., that is eaten which is of the nature of tejas, the middle is the marrow, its grossest part is the bone, its earlier transformation is the fat. The flesh is the middle part of the food that is eaten. The red blood is the middle part of the water that is drunk. The skin is the gross covering. The cutaneous sense is the subtle covering. Seven coverings encase the internal substances and the nädis. The division between the gross and the subtle is based on what is outside and what is inside.
The six limbs are the feet, the thighs, the chest, the arms and the shoulder and the head. By implication the hands also are included. The upāngas are the forelegs, the ankles, the knees. All this is clear.
aham mameti: These are referred to as 'l' and as 'my'. A man says: I go; I stand; I jump; I take. These words are the basis of the 'I' sense in respect of these organs. The body is referred to as 'my foot, my hand, my head' etc. Though it consists of various kinds of defects, it is the object of extreme attachment and delusion as being the ātman. This body is referred to by the wise as the gross. It is made up of many and varied components. Even as a house built of pillars and walls indicates that it is for its owner,
