Vāhan
A Hindi word (Sk. v€hana) meaning, among other things, “vehicle.” In early theosophical literature the word is used to refer to the bodies in the septenary human constitution. It is used in a somewhat different sense from UPšDHI, which means “limitation” or “substitute” and indicates a “base” or “basis” through which something acts. Thus, buddhi is a v€han or v€hana of €tman, but is not its up€dhi.
In Hindu mythology, “v€han” also refers to the vehicle of a deity, such as a bull for ®iva, Garua for ViŠu or a peacock for Sarasvat…. The v€han is considered to be symbolic of certain principles used by that deity. Garua, the bird with a man’s head, symbolizes a great time cycle. Sometimes the swan — in Sanskrit haˆsa — the v€han of Brahm€, is said to represent one’s spiritual identity with ultimate Reality by revolving the Sanskrit word into ham sa (i.e., aham sa), “I am That” (see also SD I:79-81).
In human evolution, The Secret Doctrine also speaks of the Third Root Race as the v€han of the Lords of Wisdom (Cf., e.g., SD I:181). See Upšdhi; Human Constitution; Ko®as.
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