Sthūla-śarīra

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Sthūla-śarīra (devanāgarī: स्थूलशरीर) is a compound Sanskrit word from sthūla ("densse, gross, solid"), and śarīra ("body"). This term is used to refer to the physical body, which can be perceived through our five senses.

General description

Esoteric view

The Body is not a Principle in strict Esoteric parlance; it is an upadhi rather than a Principle. But it is a vehicle of consciousness, and therefore must be considered in studying Consciousness. Apart from this, it can be regarded as merely a denser aspect of the Linga-Śarîra, for the Body and the Linga-Śarîra are both on the same plane, and the Linga- Śarîra is molecular in its constitution, like the Body.[1]

Physical body according to Annie Besant

Annie Besant regarded the sthūla-śarīra as being the dense counterpart of

  1. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Collected Writings vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 694.