The Normal Colors of Man's Principles 293 



its astral atoms form a separate and distinct entity, 

 which strives to attach itself to the Higher Ego. 

 Mrs. Besant, (The Seven Principles of Man, p. 

 20), makes the nice distinction of confining the 

 use of the term rupa (Sanskrit for " form") to 

 this after-death " vesture of animal nature," which 

 exists in the astral sphere for a length of time 

 proportioned to the tenacity of the physical desires 

 which created it.* Being devoid of ethical sense, 

 possessing only the lower animal consciousness, 

 its rapid disintegration is the greatest blessing. 

 Thus Kama is the most material Principle in the 

 human septenary group, hence the sheath whose 

 composite links of desires for material pleasures 

 and experiences bind us fastest to the physical 

 plane and retard the Soul's progress. 



The second Principle is the Sthula-sharira 

 (gross body), corresponding to Prithivi (earth) 1 , 

 through its state of matter, solid; but in color and 

 tone, because so permeated by Tejas, with orange 

 and Re. It influences the nose, lower posterior 

 lobes of cerebrum, the liver, and the lower limbs 

 from knees downward. Orange has always been 

 recognized as synonymous with physical force; 

 and it is, perhaps, for this reason and also as 



* It is possible that Mrs. Besant does not hold this opinion 

 now ; for in a later work, Ancient Wisdom, she distinctly says 

 that as the astral body [Kamic sheath] develops, " it assumes 

 the likeness of its owner * * : ' a body fit and ready to 

 function and able to maintain itself apart from the physical." 

 (Pp. 98-9.) 



