Types of Life Forms

You have seen and heard living beings being born in multiple ways. In the scriptures you might have heard of some types of births that might be difficult to comprehend. And, there might be some that you have not even heard.

So here we briefly describe the types of life forms found in the creation and divine world. Total there are ten life forms; nine of which are material and only one is divine.

Let us briefly discuss them here

Material Life Forms

Most material life forms that propagate in the world can be divided into two types -

शरीरं द्विविधं योनिजमयोनिजं च ।
śarīraṃ dvividhaṃ yonijamayonijaṃ ca ।

“Body is formed inside the mother's womb called viviparous or yonij in Hindi, and those whose body is not formed inside mother's womb or non-viviparous or ayonij in Hindi”.

नर नारी योग से ही गोविंद राधे । बने प्रायः तनु प्राकृत बता दें ॥

राधा गोविंद गीत 7238

nara nārī yoga se hī goviṃda rādhe । bane prāyaḥ tanu prākṛta batā deṃ ॥

rādhā goviṃda gīta 7238

“Most often, bodies are created by union of male and female form”.

1. Viviparous life forms When the baby's body is developed inside the body of the parent those are called viviparous life forms. These includes human beings and many animals like cows, goats, whales etc.

In the not-viviparous category there are many sub categories. First three of these are very well known to us since those are within our everyday experience on earth.

2. Born from sweat (Svedaj) – Sved means sweat. So those bodies that are created by sweat or moisture fall in this category e.g. lice, bacteria, viruses etc.

3. Born from eggs (Andaj) - The bodies created from an egg, such as sparrows, snakes etc.

4. Born from land (Udbhij) – those that are created from earth. Ud means ‘created’, and bhij means ‘from earth’. E.g. trees, shrubs etc.

There are 5 more not-viviparous type of bodies. Some of these you might have heard in the scriptures. Each of these subsequent one is increasingly superior than the previous one.

5. Born from touch of the upper body is called ūrdhvaretā saṃkalpajaj (ऊर्ध्वरेता संकल्पज शरीर) - The body of a child born merely by the touch of the part of the body above the waist.

6. Born by glance (दृष्टि से उत्पन्न): You must have heard this in Mahabharat, where Ved Vyas cast his glance on Ambika, Ambalika and their maid, and subsequently Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidur respectively were born

7. Born from resolve (Manas - मानस) – the child is born merely by thinking.

काम जन्य तनु हो या गोविंद राधे। ऊर्ध्वरेता संकल्पज बता दे ॥ राधा गोविंद गीत 7239
kāma janya tanu ho yā goviṃda rādhe। ūrdhvaretā saṃkalpaja batā de ॥ rādhā goviṃda gīta 7239 

"Regardless of whether the body came into being due to union of male and female, or just by touch"...

दृष्टि मात्र हो या गोविंद राधे। बिना दृष्टि के ही देह हो बता दे॥ राधा गोविंद गीत 7240
dṛṣṭi mātra ho yā goviṃda rādhe। binā dṛṣṭi ke hī deha ho batā de॥ rādhā goviṃda gīta 7240

"it might be born by sight or otherwise"...

मैथुनी अमैथुनी गोविंद राधे । सभी देह हैं प्राकृत ही बता दे ॥ राधा गोविंद गीत 7241
maithunī amaithunī goviṃda rādhe । sabhī deha haiṃ prākṛta hī batā de ॥ rādhā goviṃda gīta 7241

"irrespective of whether the body development might have been viviparous (maithunī) or not-viviparous (amaithunī), if it is created by the union of a male and a female then such a body is always material."

There are 2 more material bodies that are not formed by union of male and female, yet they too are material.

8. Body created by Yogic power (निर्माण शरीर) – When the duration of a body finishes, Yogis burn their body into ashes in the yogic fire (from the heat created through yogic austerities), and thereafter create a new body for themselves. This type of body is called Nirmaan body (निर्माण शरीर). In Mahabharat you might have heard of Amba, who burnt her body to ashes and was reborn as a girl named Shikhandi. This body is superior to the bodies described earlier.

योग निर्माण काय गोविंद राधे । शुद्ध है किंतु है प्राकृत बता दे॥ राधा गोविंद गीत 7242
yoga nirmāṇa kāya goviṃda rādhe । śuddha hai kiṃtu hai prākṛta batā de॥ rādhā goviṃda gīta 7242

"Body created by yogic power is pure yet it is a material body".

9. Ethereal body (तैजस्) - tej (तेज) means luster. Since these are bodies made from tej hence are called Taijas (तैजस्). The bodies of celestial beings are created from tej

देवों का दिव्य देह गोविंद राधे । रक्त मांस अस्थि आदि रहित बता दे॥ राधा गोविंद गीत 7243
devoṃ kā divya deha goviṃda rādhe । rakta māṃsa asthi ādi rahita batā de॥ rādhā goviṃda gīta 7243

"Bodies of celestial-beings (devi-devata) do not have blood, flesh, bones, fat, bone-marrow etc. Their bodies do not produce urine or stool. They have no flaws such as old age or physical ailments. These bodies are fragrant, their eyelids don’t blink, their feet do not touch the earth, they do not cast shadows and they don’t feel hunger, thirst etc either".

किंतु देव देह भी गोविंद राधे । प्राकृतिक देह है देवों ते बता दे ॥ राधा गोविंद गीत 7244
kiṃtu deva deha bhī goviṃda rādhe । prākṛtika deha hai devoṃ te batā de ॥ rādhā goviṃda gīta 7244

"Still, devi-devata bodies are material". Hence even this body will die when its time comes.

Divine Body Types

10. God Himself and his descensions all have divine bodies (सच्चिदानन्द). Also, after God-realization, a soul also gets a divine body (सच्चिदानन्द). Though both body and jeev are divine yet, even in this body, there is a distinction between the body and the jeev. In other words, the soul and its body are two separate things. In this category, the attributes of Shri Krishna's body are different from all others.

We will describe Shri Krishna's body in more detail in a later article...

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