Gorakhnath and the Kanphata Yogis c19.138

c19.138

Five sheaths (*vyoman*) are also mentioned. They are *ākāśa*, *prākāśa*, *mahākāśa*, *sattvākāśa*, and *sūryakāśa*. They refer to realms of experience. The commentary on verse thirteen of the Poona edition points out that the Yogī should know and meditate upon these. They are described in turns as freedom from impurities, like great darkness, like destroying fire, one’s real form, and the sun shining like a thousand suns. They are also described from above down through the cakras to the mūlādhāra. In this case the first is white, the second red, the third like fire, the fourth is blue and the fifth like lightning. By looking at these (*vyoman*) one becomes like the sky. *Ākāśa* in the viśuddha is the sheath of liberation. They (*vyoman*) are the substances of the cakras.