Are there any scriptures about this? For instance, how would a jiva move the arm of the body, or walk?
1 Answer
Whatever action a man performs with his body, speech and mind whether right or the reverse these five are its causes.
Bhagavad Gita 18.15 Translation Swami Gambirananda
For moving the hand or walking (as in instance) , the five stakeholders are Golaka(physical gross organ), Indriya (corresponding subtle organ),Antahkarana(Mind),Prana(Vital energy), Daivam(Presiding deity .. Past karma.. other forces of nature .. that which is incalculable).
अधिष्ठानं तथा कर्ता करणं च पृथग्विधम् । विविधाश्च पृथक्चेष्टा दैवं चैवात्र पञ्चमम् ॥
Adhisthanam, the locus, the body, which is the seat, the basis, of the manifestation of desire, hatred, happiness, sorrow, knowledge, etc.; tatha, as also karta, the agent, the enjoyer [The individual Self which has intelligence etc. as its limiting adjuncts, due to which it appears to possess their characteristics and become identified with them.] who has assumed the characteristics of the limiting adjuncts; prthak vidham, the different kinds of; karanam, organs, the ears etc. which, twelve [The five organs of knowledge (eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin), the five organs of actions (hands, feet, speech, organ of excertion and that of generation), the mind and the intellect.] in number, are of different kinds for the experience of sound etc.; the vividhah, many; and prthak, distinct; cesta, activities connected with air-exhalation, inhalation, etc.; ca eva, and; daivam, the divine, i.e. the Sun and the others who are the presiding deities of the eye etc.; is atra, here, in relation to these four; pancamam, the fifth-completing the five.
Sri Shankaracharyas commentary ,Translation Swami Gambirananda.BG 18.14
Sarva vedanta sidhantha Sara sangraha , Sri Shankaracharya , Verses 420,421,422 Translation Swami Tatvananda RK mutt
Presiding deities avail themselves of the various sensory organs to hinder or to help one's progress. All that depends upon the nature of one's past actions.(svsss 420)(anugraha or nigraha of devatas is a factor)
Therefore, these five viz, thebody, the senses, the vital breath, the ego, and the various presiding deities should all the regarded as the ultimate cause of all that is performed. (svsss 421 , as in BG 18.4)
It is according to the bent of one's past actions that the gunas make themselves manifest. The inclination of the mind in its turn, follow the gunas. That is how both the organs of knowledge and those of action impel a person here on earth to perform various kinds of actions, both those that are meritorious and those that are sinful.(svsss 422)
PS : Sri Shankaracharyas commentary, Brihadaranyaka upanishad 4.3.7 Translation Sri SN Saastri
Just as an emerald or any other gem, dropped into a vessel of milk, imparts its lustre to the milk, so does this luminous self(atma), being subtler than even the mind and the intellect, impart consciousness to the whole body, mind and organs. (When an emerald is dropped into milk, the latter gets a green hue. Similarly, the self, being pure consciousness, makes the insentient mind, body and organs sentient.)
