38: The Causal Body.
"This influence or force, or result, or whatever it may be called, of the antecedent actions of man, forms as it were a seed, from which germinates the plant, yielding good or bad fruit, to be eaten by him during his subsequent existence.  (Vishnu Purana I, XIX, 5).  This seed is technically called the Karana Sarira, the causal body (Paingala Upanishad II), as it is the cause of man's enjoyment or suffering.  This Karana Sarira is composed of the fifth Kosa (Anandamaya) of man and adheres to the soul so long as the soul remains enveloped in the gross or subtle body (Sthula or Sukshma Sarira); and vanishes entirely when the soul extricates itself from the trammels of the said two bodies; for then, the soul attains its primeval purity, and burns up as it were every trace of its combination with the body, including this causal body (Karana Sarira).  This happens when the soul is prepared for final emancipation, Moksha.  Till then, of course, the Karana Sarira, the seed, the result of prior actions, remains effective, and asserts a strong controlling influence over man's actions."—The Theosophist, Vol. VII, III, p. 59.
"An ordinary person will by Vasana (Aroma or smell) repeat (In Jagra, the waking state) the old story dreamt in a dream that has passed way.  So also will he, who, investigating the true nature of the self has attained to real knowledge, express himself and still will never become Chidabhasa (chidabhasa is the reflection of atma in the Karana Sarira, which is the vehicle of ignorance).  He who has become a celestial being will nevertheless be called 'man' till the causal body that has already died (by the birth of Pragna, or wisdom) is completely consumed by the predominant fire of wisdom."—Kaivalyanavanita, Part II, 31.
"By the rarest fire of True Wisdom the body of avidya (i.e. the causal body) will be reduced to ashes."—Kaivalyanavanita, Part I, 98.
Copied from The Theosophist, Vol. VIII.