anna maya koṣa

 In Sanskrit, anna‑maya koṣa means the “sheath made of food,” referring to the physical body as the outermost of the five Vedantic sheaths.

✅ Literal Sanskrit meaning

• anna (अन्न) — food, grain, nourishment

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• maya (मय) — “consisting of,” “made of” (not the ‘illusion’ māyā)

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• kośa (कोश) — sheath, covering, container

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Thus anna‑maya koṣa = the sheath that is made of food, i.e., the body sustained by food.

✅ Meaning in Sanskrit dictionaries

Sanskrit lexicons describe annamaya as:

• “consisting of food,” “made from food,” or “containing food”

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• When compounded as annamaya‑kośa, it specifically means the gross material body (sthūla śarīra)

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The dictionary entries also note that this sheath is the lowest or coarsest form in which Brahman manifests in embodied existence

Wisdom Library

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✅ Meaning in Vedānta and the Upaniṣads

Vedāntic sources define annamaya kośa as:

• the physical body, nourished and sustained by food

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• the outermost of the five kośas (pañcakośa):
  1. annamaya (physical)
  2. prāṇamaya (vital)
  3. manomaya (mental)
  4. vijñānamaya (intellectual)
  5. ānandamaya (bliss)
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The Taittirīya Upaniṣad describes how beings are born from food, live by food, and return to food, establishing the physical body as the “food sheath”

pranayoga.co.in

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✅ Usage in Yoga and Philosophy

Yoga and Vedānta sources consistently define annamaya kośa as:

• the physical sheath or food body

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• the layer composed of the five elements (earth, water, fire, air, ether)

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• the sheath responsible for physical sensation, movement, and interaction with the world

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✅ Summary

In Sanskrit, anna‑maya koṣa literally means “the sheath made of food.”
Philosophically, it refers to the physical body, the outermost layer of human existence in Vedānta, sustained by food and forming the basis for all other sheaths.