12.3 Mental Sheath (Manomaya Kosha) and Mental Purusha (Manomaya Purusha)

Mental Sheath : Inside the vital force sheath, and pervading the vital force sheath, there is another body which is the self of the vital force sheath. The organs of knowledge and mind are its components (Vivekachoodaamani 169). It is called the mental sheath. The pervasive awareness that understands this sheath as its "I-me" is called the mental Purusha.
 
"This [sheath of the praana] is the embodied soul of the former (the sheath of food). Verily, different from this [sheath], which consists of the essence of the praana, but within it, is another self, which consists of the mind (manomayakosha). By this the former is filled. This too has the shape of a man. Like the human shape of the former is the human shape of the latter. The Yajur-Veda is its head, the Rig-Veda is its right wing, the Sama-Veda is its left wing, the teaching (aadesha) is its trunk the hymns of Atharva and Angiras are its tail, its support." (Taitireeya Upanishad 2.3.1). The meaning is that the mental Purusha is comprised of Vedas. The Vedic non-immediate knowledge of the self resides in the mental sheath.
 
Knowledge of worldly objects, knowledge-actions of past objects [knowledge and actions undertaken to attain those worldly objects or goals], and the fruition of enjoyments which are desires or vaasanaas (in this are included all worldly-otherworldly desires), all these are a part of the mental sheath. The mental sheath also is a component of the subtle body.
 
This mental sheath cannot be the self. It is a scene, it undergoes modification, it undergoes transformation, and it is absent in the deep sleep state.
 
In the mental Purusha, the mental aspect is falsified (baadhita) whereas the Purusha aspect is not. The Purusha is the same one found in the food and the vital force sheaths. The mental sheath is the third covering of the self.
 
"I am knowledgeable, I am filled with desires, I am distracted, I am focused" etc., all these arrogations (abhimaanaas) belong to the mental Purusha.
 
All scripture-sanctioned action, worship and Yoga are meant for the purification of this mental sheath alone. An impure mind is the cause of bondage, and a pure mind is the cause of liberation. But even with all this, the mental sheath is not the self. The refuge of ignorance and science (avidyaa and vidyaa) is the mind alone.