Question: In the SB 6.1.51 it is explained that the subtle body is endowed with sixteen parts — the five knowledge-acquiring senses (nose, tongue, eyes, skin and ears), the five working senses (speech, hands, legs, genitals and anus), the five objects of sense gratification (beauty, taste, smell, sound and touch), and the mind. In other places the subtle body is described as composed of mind, intelligence and false-ego. In SB 6.1.51 it is stated that “this subtle body is an effect of the three modes of material nature and is composed of insurmountably strong desires.”
Question 1: How does one reconcile all these compositions of the subtle body. Are they quantitative, qualitative and functional? How do we relate these elements to one another?
Answer by Romapada Swami: The sankhya-yoga system of Lord Kapiladev identifies the material composition of creation as being composed of 24 elements, whereas the seventh chapter of BG identifies 8 elements which comprise the entire material creation. They can be thought of as two systems, both of which are equally valid and correct. They both analyze material composition effectively; one will obviously have more detail than the other, yet they are both equally valid.
The same comparison can be made with the 16 parts which make up the subtle body in the sankhya system, found in SB 6.1.51 and the 3 subtle elements which make up subtle body, per BG Ch 7‘s analysis.
In SB 3.26.24-34, an explanation is found wherein the subtle body is manifest in it’s various components due to contact of the primal element of creation, i.e. ahankar, with the 3 modes of nature.
Finally, the subtle body includes the mind in both systems of analysis. The mind is the sitting place of all material desires, which are very strong—so strong that they bind and bewilder the superior energy, the jiva soul!
Question 2: Why does bad thoughts come in my mind without any desire or even if I don’t like to have such thoughts? Is it the result of past karma that is acting on the mental plane?
Answer by Romapada Swami: Exactly! Seeds or subtle impressions are stored in the mind from past bad activity; these impressions or seeds fructify in the form or bad thoughts after some time, bringing the reaction of disturbance to the mind for the past bad activities.
