The Subtle Body (Sūkṣma-Śarīra)
The fine vehicle of mind and karma that outlasts the body and travels on to the next birth.
Alongside the gross physical body that dies, Hindu thought posits a 'subtle body' — a finer vehicle made of the mind, the vital energies (prāṇa), the senses in their subtle form, and the residue of past actions. This is what carries on at death and travels to the next birth, so that rebirth is not the wandering of the bare self but the migration of this subtle equipment until liberation dissolves it. It anchors the mechanics of karma and rebirth.
How it traveled
- VivekacūḍāmaṇiŚṛṅgeri (Sringeri) · 1400explains
Key passages(14)
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)