they are: Annamaya kosha, "food" sheath (Anna) Pranamaya kosha, "energy" sheath (Prana) Manomaya kosha "mind" sheath (Manas) Vijñānamaya kosha, "discernment" or "Knowledge" sheath (Vigynana) Anandamaya kosha, "bliss" sheath (Ananda) According to Vedanta the wise person, being aware of the subtle influences of the five elements within each kosha, ever discerns the Self amidst appearances. The five sheaths Just as each of the five elements (earth, water, fire, air, and ether) appear in corresponding subtlety among each of the five senses so too the intellect cognizes ever subtler causes and effects at play through each of the five sheaths. For example, the annamayakosha, the coarsest sheath, is based in the earth element, which is guarded by Ganesha, while the very subtlest sheath Anandamaya is based in the quanta/ether element, and is guarded by a black disc of utter darkness over the sun, which can be removed only by Ganesha. Awareness of that reflection of atman/self within the most subtle sheath, Anandamayakosha, however, is but the foundation for discerning that which the elements, energies, senses, and kosha serve. To that end, one re-examines the components of the five koshas in daily devotional meditation after recitation of twenty-one OM, viz, one OM per each of the five elements, the five pranas, the five indriyas, and the five kosha, equaling twenty OM, then a twenty-first OM is offered for the ineffable, such that a spiritual discernment of ever-increasing subtlety arises in the purified intellect, alaya nirvijnana, the womb of the tathāgata, wherein silence ensues and clarity blossoms. Panchakoshas are divided in three bodies - The gross body sthula sarira - made up of physical matter. This body consists of Annamaya kosha. the subtle body suksma sarira - This body consists of Pranamaya Kosha, Manomaya Kosha and Vijanamaya Kosha. the causal body karana sarira - This body consists of Ananadamaya Kosha. The atman is behind the Panchakoshas. The Sthula sarira is the Annamayakosha (food-ful, consisting of the gross body). The Suksma sarira is made up of the Pranamayakosha (energy-ful, the subtle body), the Manomayakosha (instinctive, the perceptual body) and the Vigyanamayakosha (cognitive, the conscious body). The Karana sarira is the Anandamayakosha (blissful, the transcendental body). The Sruti insists upon elimination of these five sheaths of the sariras. The doctrine of Panchkoshas represents the hierarchy of human values. Annamaya kosha This is the sheath of the physical (body) self, the grossest of the five koshas, named