Consciousness is the supreme subjectivity and all other, mundane, subjectivities or objectivities are mere blendings of the absolute subjectivity. Therefore, the mind is not an absolute entity either but a transformed state of consciousness. For the performance of its actions the mind depends on the motor or sensory organs as its direct agents. Afferent and efferent nerves, in their turn, act as direct agents of these organs. The nerves, which convey the tanmátras from objects to the mind, or activate the object with the force they acquire from the mental structure, and in this way link the mind with the external objectivities, are the indirect agents of the mind.

Whenever the out-going tanmátras carrying mental force get reflected, the objects come within our scope of sensation, perception and conception. When they get refracted, the objects partially come within our scope of sensation, etc. When the tanmátras are neither reflected nor refracted or when there is little reflection or refraction, the objects do not come within the scope of our feeling.

The correctness of perception depends upon a good many factors. The objects transmitting tanmátras must be in healthy condition. The gateways of the organs must be healthy, and also the reflecting tanmátras should be defectless. The afferent and efferent nerves and the citta should be sufficiently strong and active, and the last but not least factor is that the ego (ahaḿtattva) should be ready to receive them. Any defect or slackness of any of the above factors results in incorrect perception and hence in incorrect conception.

For example, in the case of persons suffering from glaucoma, watery fluid is deposited in the optical nerve, which causes a dispersion of light inside. As a result even the white rays transmitted by objects appear to be spectrum-colored.

So far as the efferent nerves are concerned, it is primarily upon the activating capacity of the ego that the process of physical activity depends. One’s personality also depends on the activating (radiating) capacity. The more developed is the radiating power, the more glaring will be one’s personality.

Thus it has been examined that the function of the mind is to act through the organs and nerves and thereby either to receive or radiate the tanmátras. The portion of mind which deals with indriyas is named kámamaya kośa. This kámamaya kośa controls the physical longings of the microcosm.

As regards the Macrocosm the mind is said to be started at that stage where the sense of subjectivity (Mahattattva), the subjectivated “I” (Ahaḿtattva) and the objectivated “I” (citta) are all present. Hence in the stage of citta we get Mahattattva and Ahaḿtattva as well.

In the extroversial saiṋcara process citta gradually crudifies under the influence of static Prakrti, till the crude solid is created. This process of crudification of citta, having a coordination of Mahattattva and Ahaḿtattva, is divided into five stages known as kośas. According to their relative density of crudeness developed through the bondage of the static principle, the five kośas, starting from the initial stage, are hirańmaya kośa, vijiṋánamaya kośa, atimánasa kośa, manomaya kośa and kámamaya kośa. The kámamaya kośa is the crudest stage of citta, where it is metamorphosed into the crudest stuff. With the five manifested fundamental physical factors (it is physical for the microcosm but mental for the Macrocosm) the Macrocosmic Mind displays its will. Macrocosmic control over the five fundamental physical factors means the internal display of the Macrocosmic kámamaya kośa. Nothing is beyond the scope of Cosmic Mind, that is, everything comes within that mental scope; and so the Macrocosmic Entity needs no nervous system or indriyas for controlling these operations and, therefore, the Cosmic Mind at this stage requires no physical structure as the unit mind does.

The manomaya kośa is subtler than the kámamaya kośa and it has the capacity of recollection and contemplation (smarańa and manana). The kámamaya kośa, being the crudest in structure and in the case of the microcosm dealing with the external paiṋcabhútas, is called the “crude mind” or sthúla manah. The manomaya kośa is known as the “subtle mind” or súkśma manah. The remaining three kośas, being still more subtle and also being the rudimental stages of sthúla and súkśma manah, are collectively termed “causal” or “astral” mind. The psychological nomenclature of “conscious”, “sub-conscious” and “unconscious” minds for the crude, subtle and causal minds does not appear to be correct.

From the microcosmic angle of vision the kámamaya kośa of the Macrocosm is expressed through the five rudimental physical factors from which the physical body of the microcosm and other physical objects come into being. The kámamaya kośa of the Cosmic includes, therefore, the annamaya kośa of the unit. Here it may be pointed out that the Macrocosm in its flow of imagination creates actualities for the unit mind, whereas the kámamaya kośa of the unit cannot create physical actualities by its imagination. As already seen, the kámamaya kośa, having the function of dealing with the bhútas, is said to be the crude mind in the case of the microcosm also. The manomaya, performing the function of recollection and contemplation, is known as the subtle mind of the microcosm also. And as in the case of the Macrocosm, the atimánasa, vijiṋánamaya and hirańmaya are the causal portion of the microcosm. But the division of the microcosm into a causal portion is merely a theoretical proposition. There is no separate existence of the unit causal mind from the Cosmic causal mind. In case the crude and subtle portions of the unit mind suspend their work by the process of sádhaná or otherwise, the causal portion of the unit mind will not be able to maintain its separate identity; only the seed of past action will remain just to differentiate the microcosm from the Macrocosm. By a process of correct sádhaná, the sádhaka will feel that there is one causal mind in the universe. There is no causal difference between the microcosm and the Macrocosm. Similarly, by the subtleness of projection, subtle and crude portions of the unit mind can connect themselves with the subtle and crude portions of the Cosmic Mind. The way to achieve this subtleness of projection is the process of yogic sádhaná.

The entire body (here “body” does not mean any crude physical structure) of the Macrocosm can similarly be divided into three parts – crude, subtle, and astral or causal. The physical world being within the psychic scope of the Macrocosm, the Macrocosm cannot have any crude or physical body in the sense the microcosm has, yet because of the inclusion of the five bhútas within its mind, the kámamaya kośa of the Macrocosm is often termed the crude body of Paramátman. The remaining portions of the Macrocosmic kośas are the subtle body, or the súkśma deha, of Paramátman. Ahaḿtattva and Mahattattva of Paramátman are known as Its astral or causal body.

The concept of “causal body” is a philosophic proposition, because philosophy says that the moment Nucleus Puruśottama appeared to have been influenced by His immanent sentient principle, the seed of creation got an expression and His bodies and lokas were created.

Similarly the annamaya kośa of the unit is its crude body (sthúla deha). The kámamaya, the manomaya, atimánasa, vijiṋánamaya and hirańmaya kośas constitute the subtle body of the unit. Above the scope of hirańmaya and till the merger into Puruśottama the unit certainly possesses a body but that body cannot be termed causal. It, being the last phase, is known as sámánya deha.

By its very nature, if the mind is to possess objectivity it must also have a witnessing entity. The witnessing entity is the summum bonum of the mind. Philosophy has given different names to the witnessing entity according to the differences in the nature of the objective mind. But this does not mean that the same Puruśottama is not acting as the witnessing entity at different stages of the mind. It is He who reflects Himself as the witnessing counterpart by functional difference due to the changing mental status. At different stages, different names have been adopted for that singular entity. The Puruśottama witnessing the causal Cosmic mind, subtle Cosmic mind and crude Cosmic mind, has been called Virát́a or Vaeshvánara, Hirańyagarbha and Iishvara, respectively. Similarly, the Puruśottama witnessing the microcosm at the causal, subtle and crude stages is termed Vishva, Taejasa and Prájiṋa respectively.

The Cosmic Entity extends in different lokas wherein the different kośas and the unit minds dwell. The term loka refers only to the Macrocosm and not to the unit. The kámamaya kośa of the Cosmic where material structure has taken form is called bhurloka (“physical world”). The kámamaya kośa of the Cosmic Entity where material structure has just begun taking form but has not actually acquired it is called bhuvarloka or “crude mental world”. The levels of manomaya, atimánasa, vijiṋánamaya and hirańmaya kośa are known as svarloka or “subtle mental world”, maharloka or “supramental world”, janarloka or “subliminal world” and taparloka, respectively. Above that, since the causal body is conceived to be in existence from a philosophic point of view, it is termed Satyaloka.

The above kośas, different stages of mind, witnessing entities and lokas are tabulated below.

MACROCOSM
	Kośa	Mind	Witnessing Entity	Deha (Body)	Loka (World)
Mahattattva			Puruśottama	Causal	Satya
Ahaḿtattva
Citta	Hirańmaya	Causal	Virát́a or Vaeshvánara	Subtle	Tapah
	Vijiṋánamaya				Janah
	Atimánasa				Mahah
	Manomaya	Subtle	Hirańyagarbha		Svah
	Kámamaya	Crude	Iishvara	Crude	Bhuvah
					Bhuh

	Annamaya			Crude
Citta	Kámamaya	Crude	Prájiṋa	Subtle
	Manomaya	Subtle	Taejasa
	Atimánasa	Causal	Vishva
	Vijiṋánamaya
	Hirańmaya
Ahaḿtattva	above Hirańmaya Kośa		Puruśottama	Sámánya Deha
Mahattattva
	Kośa	Mind	Witnessing Entity	Body
MICROCOSM