Class 103, vivekacūḍāmaṇi

In this foundational class on the causal body (kāraṇa śarīraṁ), Acharya Tadany completed the discussion of the three bodies (śarīra-trayam) by introducing kāraṇa śarīraṁ (verses 108–123) as the unmanifest, seed condition (avyakta) from which both the gross (sthūla) and subtle (sūkṣma) bodies emerge during creation (sṛṣṭi) and into which they dissolve during cosmic dissolution (pralaya), operating on the principle that matter/energy is never created or destroyed but only transforms between manifest (vyakta) and unmanifest (avyakta) states, forming an eternal, beginningless and endless cycle (anādi-ananta). 

Acharya Tadany clarified that at the causal level, the distinction between individual (vyaṣṭi) and cosmic (samaṣṭi) disappears—hence kāraṇa śarīraṁ (individual) and kāraṇa prapañca (cosmic) are treated synonymously in Vivekacūḍāmaṇi, also called avidyā (individual ignorance) or māyā (cosmic power), with three key names from verse 108: avyakta (unmanifest, beyond sense perception), śaktiḥ (paramēśa-śaktiḥ, the total creative power located in consciousness), and māyā (to be elaborated in subsequent verses). 

Acharya Tadany emphasized that this is the subtlest layer of anātmā (non-self), the potential condition containing all future bodies and universes in seed form (like a tree inside a seed), and used the deep sleep state (suṣupti) as experiential evidence: no distinctions exist, yet consciousness remains present in its dormant, blissful form. 

The class concluded by reminding students that understanding kāraṇa śarīraṁ is essential to recognise the dependent nature of manifestation and dissolution, preparing the mind for the direct understanding of the eternal ātmā beyond all three bodies.

Vivekacuḍamaṇi_विवेकचूडामणि_Classes_AI-Generated-Summary_Class-103_Acharya-Tadany