Sthūla śarīra

Physical body (1)

The dense physical body — the visible vehicle of action on the earthly plane. In Blavatsky's scheme it is the lowest of the seven principles, transient and subject to dissolution at death. Leadbeater repeatedly cautions that the physical body, though the most familiar to ordinary perception, is the least informative of the constitution: 'the man himself is not the body but uses it as an instrument' (Man Visible and Invisible, ch. I).

Sthūla śarīraSthūla śarīraLiṅga śarīraKāma rūpaLower manasHigher manasBuddhiĀtman

Point 1 of 7 in Theosophy — Seven Subtle Bodies

Cross-tradition overlaps

No overlapping points are registered for this point.

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Sources

Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine (primary_canonical)

Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine, Adyar edition, vol. I, pp. 153–159, 'The Planetary Divisions and the Human Principles' and 'Transmigrations of the Ego,' places sthula-sharira among the seven human principles and distinguishes the transient physical basis from the higher principles; the scheme is not a claim that the body is permanent.

Besant, The Ancient Wisdom (primary_canonical)

Besant, The Ancient Wisdom, ch. II, 'The Constitution of Man,' presents the physical body as the dense vehicle used for action and experience on the physical plane; this chapter is the direct Adyar-era exposition of the lower principle.

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