12.5 Bliss Sheath (Aanandamaya Kosha) And Bliss Purusha (Aanandamaya Purusha)

Bliss Sheath : Inside the intellectual sheath, and pervading it, there is another body which is the self of the intellectual sheath which is called the bliss sheath. The pervasive awareness that understands this sheath as its "I-me" is called the bliss Purusha.
 
The shape of this bliss Purusha is the same as that of the intellectual, in other words, like the food sheath. "Verily, different from this [sheath], which consists of the essence of the intellect, but within it, is another self, which consists of bliss (aananda). 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. Joy (priyam) is its head, delight (moda) is its right wing, great delight (pramoda) is its left wing, bliss is its trunk, Brahman is its tail, its support." (Taittireeya Upanishad 2.5.1).
 
Due to the command of the impressions (sanskaaraas), we see joy (priya) in some objects. Whose people, objects and situations that were imbibed with happiness in the past are joyous. In the present, the happiness that comes out of seeing dear objects is joy. The happiness on obtaining those objects is delight, and the happiness in consuming those objects is great delight. "Bliss" is the common happiness which pervades all specific (thought-flow-created) happiness. Bliss is the name of brahman. It alone is the centre of all happiness, it is the self. Therefore, the support of this bliss sheath is brahman. This is because the bliss sheath is nothing but a transformation (adjuncted nature) of bliss.
 
What is the access point of this bliss sheath? The manifestation of this sheath is easy and ardent during deep sleep. In that state, this-that-you and the subsequent "I" do not pulsate, only happiness pulsates. But this is happiness which is enveloped by tamas. When there is saatvic understanding in waking and other states, or when there is a state of delight or great delight on attaining joyous (priya) objects due to the fruition of meritorious actions, then there is a manifestation of the bliss sheath. The reflection of the bliss-nature self in the thought-flow of enjoyment of results of meritorious actions generates bliss. The enjoyment (bhogtritva) of the individual soul is the bliss sheath.
 
The bliss sheath also cannot be the self since it is created out of action, it takes refuge in the gross body, it is a transformation of Prakriti, it is endowed with an adjunct, and there is a variation in the proportion of its bliss.
 
By being adjuncted, the bliss in the bliss sheath is falsified (baadhita). The Purusha (witness) is non-falsified. From the food to the bliss sheath, that same Purusha remains in all. That very bliss is the self of the Purusha (enjoyer). That alone is me. Since it has is no other limiter, it is brahman.