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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 completes this trinity and makes it a quaternary?"
4."Of course this light of the Logos."*[1]
Again it is said: "In the opinion of the Vedantists and in the opinion of Krishna also man is a quaternary. He has first the physical body or Sthula sarira; secondly, the astral body or Sukshma sarira; thirdly, the seat of his higher individuality, the Karana sarira; and fourthly and lastly, his atma†[2]."
Is the human atma then the light of the Logos? The word atma is used several times in the lectures, and it seems that the term atma is applied to the Logos. What does the word "atma" mean in reference to the four-fold classification?
The word human soul is also used in several places, and it is not clear what is meant by the word "soul" as applied to the four-fold classification of man.
"The Sukshma sarira or the astral body is simply said to be the seat of the lower nature of man. His animal passions and emotions, and those ordinary thoughts which are generally connected with the physical wants of man, may no doubt communicate themselves to the astral man, but higher than this they do not go."
"The Karana sarira is what passes as the real ego which subsists through incarnation after incarnation, adding in each incarnation something to its fund of experiences and evolving a higher individuality as the resultant of the whole process of assimilation. It is for this that the Karana sarira is called the Ego of man, and in certain systems of philosophy it is called the Jiva."
