Inner instrument

What is the inner instrument? The Antahkarana, as it’s called, is an inner instrument, which forms the subtle body, not the gross body, but that body which is a part of the body, though not physical. This body comprises four parts – the mind, the memory, the intellect and the ego. Together these four aspects of our subtle body or subtle selves are called Antahkarana, and they are the ones that develop the impression of all actions, habits; they are the ones that live beyond the life of the physical body.

We all know that our physical body doesn’t live forever, but our Antahkarana – the inner instrument, the subtle body never dies. The subtle body lives till it realizes that in reality, it is not the ego, it is God. But as long as there is the mind, the memory and the intellect working against the realization, the inner instrument believes it’s the ego and continues to live, life after life. It is understood that after one dies, the inner instrument, depending on its karmas or its cause-effect ratio, takes birth in another physical form, but while the physical form changes, the inner instrument does not change. The memory, mind, intellect and ego continue to carry the same personality into the new body that the inner instrument acquires. This new body that it acquires will live and die, but the inner instrument or the subtle body continues to live, repaying or enjoying the rewards or punishment of its karmas. It is reformed finally when the soul realizes that it is not the ego - it is the soul and hence, God too is realized. This, however,  happens only to those lucky few who realize the truth.

AiR