Liṅga Śarīra

Liṅga Śarīra is a compound Sanskrit word from liṅga (लिङ्ग), in this context interpreted as "mark, image"; and Śarīra (शरीर) "body". In Theosophical literature this term is used to name the second (sometimes third) principle of the human beings. This is "the double" of the physical body, frequently called astral body by H. P. Blavatsky. This principle should not be confused with the Hindu Linga sharira, which is frequently used as a synonym for the Sūkṣma Śarīra, the subtle body that accompanies the individual soul in all its transmigrations and is not destroyed by death, till the individualized soul is finally merged in the Universal.

This term designates the döppelganger or the “astral body” of man or animal. It is the eidolon of the Greeks, the vital and prototypal body; the reflection of the men of flesh. It is born before and dies or fades out, with the disappearance of the last atom of the body.

Astral Body, or Astral “Double”. The ethereal counterpart or shadow of man or animal. The Linga Sharira, the “Doppelganger”. The reader must not confuse it with the ASTRAL SOUL, another name for the lower Manas, or Kama-Manas.

This subtle body "is composed of highly etherialized matter; in its habitual passive state, the perfect but very shadowy duplicate of the body; its activity, consolidation and form depending entirely on the kama rupa." It can be projected outside the physical body and affected by physical matter, especially sharp instruments:

This ethereal Body, built outside the Sthûla-Śarîra, is the Liṅga-Śarîra, properly so termed . . . This Liṅga-Śarîra is united to the physical Body by an umbilical cord, a material cord, and cannot therefore travel very far from it. It may be hurt by a sharp instrument, and would not face a sword or bayonet, although it can easily pass through a table or other piece of furniture. When swords are struck at Shades, it is the sword itself, not its Liṅga-Śarîra, or Astral that cuts. Sharp instruments alone can penetrate such Astrals; thus, under water, a blow with a blunt object would not affect you so much as a cut would.

Further reading

• Etheric Double at Theosopedia