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24 four principles in man. First, there is the physical body, about which we need not go into details, as they appertain more to the field of enquiry of the physiologist than to that of the religious investigator. No doubt certain branches of physiology do become matters of considerable importance in dealing with certain subjects connected with Yoga Philosophy; but we need not discuss those questions at present.

Next there is the sukshma sharira. This bears to the physical body the same relationship which the astral world bears to the objective plane of the solar system. It is sometimes called kamarupa in our Theosophical dissertations. This unfortunate expression has given rise also to a misconception that the principle called kama represents this astral body itself, and is transformed into it. But it is not so. It is composed of elements of quite a different nature. Its senses are not so differentiated and localised as in the physical body, and, being composed of finer materials, its powers of action and thought are considerably greater than those found in the physical organism. Karana sharira can only be conceived as a centre of Prajna--a centre of force or energy into which the third principle (or Sutratma) of the cosmos was differentiated by reason of the same impulse which has brought about the differentiation of all these cosmic principles. And now the question is, what is it that