VIII. Kaushitaki-Upanishad I. 2 :

' And JJTitra said : All who depart from this world (or this body) go to the moon. In the former, (the waxing) half, the moon waxes big by their vital spirits, but in the other, (the waning) half, the moon causes them to be born. Verily, the moon is the door of the Svarga- world (heavenly world). Now, if a man answer the moon (rightly) 2, the moon sets him free. But if a man does not answer the moon, the moon showers him down, having become rain, upon this earth. And according to his deeds, and according to his know- ledge, he is born again here as a worm, or as an insect, or as a fish, or as a bird, or as a lion, or as a boar, or as a serpent (?), or as a tiger, or as a man, or
1 See Bloomfield, Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. xv. p. 1C8 ; Boehtlingk, Jf/iandogya-Upanishad, p. 92.
• Cf. Boehtlingk, Uber eine bisher arg missverstandene Stelle In dcr Kaushitaki-Brahmana-Upanishad.
JOURNEY OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH. 121
as somebody else in different places. But when he has arrived, the moon asks him : " Who art thou ? " And he shall answer : " O seasons l, the seed was brought from the bright moon who was poured forth (in rain) ; who consists of fifteen parts, who harbours our fathers2; raise me now in a vigorous man, and pour me through a vigorous man into a mother.
'"Then I am born as the twelfth or thirteenth additional month through the twelve- or thirteen-fold father (the year). I know that, I remember that. O seasons, bring me then to immortality. By this truth and by this penance I am a season 3, a child of the seasons. I am thou." Thereupon the moon sets him free.
' Having reached the Path of the gods, he comes to the world of Agni (fire), to the world of Vayu (air), to the world of Varuwa, to the world of Indra, to the world of Pra^apati, to the world of Brahman. In that world there is the lake Ara, the moments called Yestaiha, the river Vi^ara (ageless), the tree Ilya, the city Sala^ya, the palace Apara$ita (unconquerable), the door-keepers Indra and Pra^apati, the hall of Brahman, called Vibhu, the throne Vi/jaksha-na (intel- ligence), the couch Amitau^as (endless splendour), and the beloved Manasi (mind), and her image .Kakshushi (eye), who, taking flowers, are weaving the worlds, and the Apsaras, the Ainbas (scriptures ?), and Amba- yavis (understanding1?), and the rivers Ambayas. To this world he who knows this approaches. Brahman
1 The seasons are sometimes called the brothers of Soma, the moon.
2 When only the fifteenth part is left of the moon, the Pitra enter it. Ludwig takes the Eibhus also for the genii of the seasons.
3 The seasons are parts of the lunar year that seem to come and go like the lives of mortal men.
122 LECTURE V.
says, " Run towards him with such worship as is due to myself. He has reached the river Vi^rara (ageless), he will never age."
' Then five hundred Apsaras go towards him, one hundred with fruit in their hands, one hundred with ointments in their hands, one hundred with garlands in their hands, one hundred with garments in their hands, one hundred with perfumes in their hands. They adorn him with an adornment worthy of Brahman, and when thus adorned with the adornment of Brahman, the knower of Brahman moves towards Brahman. He (the departed) approaches the lake Ara, and crosses it by the mind, while those who come to it without knowing the truth, are drowned in it. He comes to the moments called Yeshtfiha, and they flee from him. He comes to the river Vi^ara, and crosses it by the mind alone, and then shakes off his good and evil deeds1. His beloved relatives obtain the good, his unbeloved relatives the evil he has done. And as a man driving in a chariot, might look at the two wheels, thus he will look at day and night, thus at good and evil deeds, and at all pairs (correlative things). Being freed from good and evil he, the knower of Brahman, moves towards Brahman.
' He approaches the tree Ilya, and the odour of Brahman reaches him. He approaches the city Salagya, and the flavour of Brahman reaches him. He approaches the palace Apara^ita, and the splen- dour of Brahman reaches him. He approaches the door-keepers Indra and Pra(/apati, and they run away from him. He approaches the hall Vibhu, and the
1 Cf. JST/iaiid. Up. VI 11. 18.
JOURNEY OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH. 123
glory of Brahman reaches him. He approaches the throne Vi&akshaTia. The Saman verses, Brihat and Kathantara, are the eastern feet of that throne ; the Saman verses, /Syaita and Naudhasa, its western feet ; the Saman verses, Vairupa and Vair%a, its sides, lengthways ; the Saman verses, $akvara and Raivata, its sides, crossways. That throne is Pragma (know.- ledge), for by knowledge he sees clearly. He ap- proaches the couch Amitau^as. That is praTia (breath, speech). The past and the future are its eastern feet ; prosperity and earth its western feet ; the Saman verses, BHhat and Rathantara, are the two sides lengthways of the couch ; the Saman verses, Bhadra and Yar/^ayagwiya, are the cross-sides at the head and feet (east and west) ; the Rik and Saman are the long sheets, the Ya^us the cross-sheets, the moon- beams the cushion, the Udgitha the coverlet ; pros- perity the pillow. On this couch sits Brahman, and he who knows this, mounts it first with one foot. Then Brahman says to him : " Who art thou ? " and he shall answer: "I am a season, and the child of the seasons, sprung from the womb of endless space, the seed of the wife, the light of the year, the self of all that is. Thou art the self of all that is ; what thou art, that am I." '
Difficulties of Interpretation.
This is as close a translation as I can give. But I must confess that many of the names here used in describing the reception given by the god Brahman to the departed, are unintelligible to me. They were equally unintelligible to the native commentators, who, however, try to discover a meaning in some of them,
124 LECTURE V.
as when they explain the lake Ara, which the departed has to cross, as derived from Ari, enemy, these enemies being the passions and inclinations of the heart. We are told afterwards that those who come to that lake without knowing the truth, are drowned in it. When the throne, on which Brahman is seated, is called Vi- /takshami, this seems to mean Intelligence, and Manasi also is probably a personification of the mind of which .Kakshusht, representing the eye, may well bo called the image. But there is such a mixture of symbolical and purely picturesque language in all this, and the text seems so often quite corrupt, that it seems hope- less to discover the original intention of the poet, who- ever he was, that first imagined this meeting between the departed and the god Brahman. On some points we gain a little light, as, for instance, when we are told that the departed, after having crossed the river Vigrara (the ageless) by his mind, shakes off his good and his evil deeds, and that he leaves the benefit of his good deeds to those among his relatives who are dear to him, while his evil deeds fall to the share of his unbeloved relations. We also see more clearly that the throne on which Brahman sits is meant for Prat/ita, or wisdom, while the couch Amitaw/as is iden- tified with pra/Tia. that is breath and speech, and the coverings with the Vedas.
Though there is a general likeness in these different accounts of the fate of the soul after death, still we see how each Upanishad has something peculiar to say on the subject. In some the subject is treated very briefly, as in the Mum^aka-Upanishad I. 2, 11, where we are only told that the soul of the pious man passes through the gate of the sun where the immortal Person
JOURNEY OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH. 125
(spirit) dwells. In the .fi^andogya-Upanishad VIII. 6, 5, one account is equally brief. Here we are told that the soul departs upwards by the rays of the sun, reaches the sun, which is the door to the worlds (loka) for the wise, but a bar to the foolish. The Brihad- araTiyaka also gives in one passage (V. 10, 1) a short account of the soul's journey from the body to the air, from the air to the sun, from the sun to the moon, from the moon to the painless world where the soul dwells for eternal years. Similar short accounts occur in Taitt. Up. I. 6, and Prasna Up. I. 9.
Historical Progress in the tlpaiiisliads.
If we look at the fuller accounts, we can easily perceive that the earliest conception of life after death was that represented by the Pitriyawa, the Path of the Fathers, that is, the path which led the soul to the moon, where the Fathers, or those who have gone before him, dwell. The description of this path is much the same in the Brihad-araTiyaka and in the ^Aandogya- Upanishad. The soul enters into smoke (probably of the funeral pile), then comes to the night, then to the waning half of the moon, then to the six months when the sun moves towards the South. But it does not reach the year, but moves straight to the abode of the Fathers and to the moon. When this abode in the moon came to be considered as temporary only, and as followed by a new cycle of existences, it was natural to imagine a Devayana which led beyond to the gods and to eternal happiness without any return to new transmigrations. But this abode in the Devaloka also did not satisfy all desires, and a further progress was admitted from the sun to the moon, or
126 LECTURE V.
direct from the sun to the abode of lightning, from whence a spirit led the souls to the world of Brahman. This world, though still conceived in mythological phraseology, was probably for a long time the highest point reached by the thinkers and poets of the Upa- nishads, but we shall see that after a time even this approach to a personal and objective God was not considered final, and that there was a higher bliss which could be reached by knowledge only, or by the consciousness of the soul's inseparateness from Brahman. We see traces of this in passages of the Upanishads such as Brih. Ar. Up. V. 4, 8, ' Wise people who know Brahman go on'this road (devayana) to the heaven-world (svarga), and higher up from thence, as quite freed.' Or Maitr. Brahm. Up. VI. 30, ' Stepping over the world of Brahman, they go by it to the highest path.'
While to our minds the belief in the soul's journey to the world of the Fathers, the world of the gods, and the world of the mythological Brahman (masc.), seems to present an historical development, it was not so with Vedanta philosophers. They looked upon every passage in the Upanishads as equally true, because revealed, and they tried to combine all the accounts of the soul's journey, even when they clearly differed from one another, into one harmonious whole.
Attempts to harmonise the different Statements of the Upanishads.
How they achieved this, I shall best be able to show you by translating some portion of the Vedanta- sutras with the commentary by /S'ankara. Though some of it may seem tedious, yet it will be useful in
JOURNEY OP THE SOUL AFTER DEATH. 127
giving you some idea of the style and spirit of the later Vedanta philosophers. You will observe how the Sutras by themselves are almost unintelligible, though we see, after reading $ankara's comments, that they really contain the gist of the whole argument.
VEDANTA-SUTKAS.
FOUETH BOOK, THIBD CHAPTER. FlEST SfiTBA.
On the road beginning with light, Qc., because this is widely recognised.
$ankara explains: From the beginning of the journey (of the departed) the process, as stated, is the same. But the actual journey is revealed differently in different sacred texts. One, by means of the junction of the arteries with the solar rays, is found in the Kh&ud. Up. VIII. 6, 5, ' Then he mounts upwards by those very rays.' Another, beginning with the light (ar&is) is found in Khemd. Up. V. 10, 1, ' They go to the light, from light to day.' Another occurs in the Kaush. Up. I. 3, ' Having reached the path of the gods, he comes to the world of Agni, or fire.' Again, another occurs in the BHh. Ar. V. 10, 1, ' When the person goes away from this world, he comes to the wind.' And one more in the Mura2. Up. I. 2, 11, says, ' They depart free from passions through the gate of the sun.'
Here then a doubt arises, whetherthese roads are really different from each other, or whether it is one and the same road, only differently described. It is assumed, by way of argument, that they are different roads, be-
128 LECTURE V.
cause they occur intheUpanishads under different heads and belong to different kinds of religious meditation (upasana) ; also because the limitation that he mounts upward by these very rays, would be contradicted, if we regarded what is said about light (ar&is) and the rest ; and the statement about the quickness, when it it said, ' as quickly as he sends off the mind J, he goes to the sun,' would also be upset. If on these grounds it is said that these roads are different from one another, we reply : No, ' On the road beginning with liyht ; ' that is, We answer that every one who desires Brahman, hastens on by the road that begins with the light. And why ? — Because that road is so widely recognised. For that road is known indeed to all sages. Thus it is said in the chapter on the Five Fires, ' And those also, who in the forest worship the True (i. e. Brahman) as faith,' &c., clearly proclaiming that this road beginning with the light, is meant for those also who practise other kinds of knowledge. This might pass, we are told, and with regard to those kinds of knowledge for which no road whatever is mentioned, the road beginning with the light might be admitted. But if another and another road are pro- claimed, why should the road beginning with the light be accepted ? Our answer to all this is simply this. This might be so, if these roads were entirely different, but it is really one and the same road with different
1 The words sa yavat kshipyen manas tavat are difficult to translate. They are meant to express quickness (kshipratvam from kship), wind, mind, and horse being the general representa- tions of quickness. I had translated formerly, and 'while his mind is failing,' which Boehtlingk should not have adopted, ren- dering it by ' Wahrend das Denkorgan verschwindet' ; but it is clear that quickness, and not fainting, was intended, and it was so understood by the author of the Vedanta-sutras.
JOUBNEY OP THE SOUL AFTER DEATH. 129
attributes, leading to the world of Brahman, and sometimes determined by one, sometimes by another predicate. For whenever one part has been recognised, the relation should be that as between what determines and what is to be determined l, and the various deter- minations of the road must be summed up together, just as we sum up the several attributes of a science which is one and the same, though its treatments may vary. And even if the subject (under which a certain road to Brahman is taught) is different, the road is the same, because its goal is the same, and because one part of the road has been recognised (as the same). For in all the following passages one and the same object, viz. the obtainment of the Brahma-world, is clearly shown. We read (Brih. lr. VL 2, 15) : ' In these worlds of Brahman they dwell for ever and ever ; '— (Brib. V. 10, 1): 'There he dwells eternal years;' — (Kaush. I. 7) : ( Whatever victory, whatever greatness belongs to Brahman, that victory he gives, that greatness he reaches ; '— (#Aand. VIII. 4,3):' That world of Brahman belongs to those only who find it by Brahma&arya.' And if it is said that in admitting the approach to the light, there would be no room for the restriction ex- pressed in the words, ' By these very rays,' that is no fault ; for its true object is the reaching of these rays: The same word which includes the obtainment of the rays, need not exclude the light, &c. Therefore we must admit that this very union with the rays is here emphasised. And what is said about the speed is
1 The technical meaning of ekadesa is a part, while ekadesin is the whole. But the translation is unsatisfactory, nor does Pro- fessor Deussen make the drift of the sentence clearer. The ekadesa here is simply meant for the beginning and the end of the road.
130 LECTURE V.
not upset, if we confine ourselves to the road beginning with light, for the object is quickness, as if it were said, one gets there in the twinkling of an eye.
And the passage (j&TAand. V. 10, 8) : 'On neither of these two ways,' which attests the third 'or the evil place, shows at the same time that besides the Pitriyana, the road to the Fathers, there is but one other road, the Devayana, the road to the Gods, one station of which is the light. And if in the passage on the light, the road -stations are more numerous, while elsewhere they are less numerous, it stands to reason that the less numerous should be explained in con- formity with the more numerous. On these grounds also the Sutra says, 'On the road beginning with light, &c., because this is widely recognised.'
SECOND S£JTKA.
From the year to the wind, on account of the presence and absence of determinants.
$ankara explains : But by what peculiar combina- tion or insertion can there be the mutual relation of what determines (attributes), and what is determined (subject) between the various attributes of the road? The teacher out of kindness to us, combines them as follows. By the Kausbitaka (I. 3) the Devayana is described in these words : ' He, having reached the path of the gods, comes to the world of Agni (fire), to the world of Vayu (air), to the world of VaniTia, to the world of Indra, to the world of Pra(/apati (Vira^), to the world of Brahman (HiraTiyagarbha).' Now here the words light and world of Agni mean the same thing, as both express burning, and there is no necessity here for looking for any succession. But
JOURNEY OP THE SOUL AFTER DEATH. 131
Vayu (the wind) is not mentioned in the road beginning with light, how then is he here to be inserted ? The answer is : In the passage (jffAand. V. 10, 1) we read : ' They go to the light, from light to day, from day to the waxing half of the moon, from the waxing half of the moon to the six months when the sun goes to the North, from the six months when the sun goes to the North to the year, from the year to the sun.' Here then they reach Vayu, the wind, after the year and before the sun ; and why ? Because there is both absence and presence of determinants. For in the words, ' He goes to the world of Vayu ' (Kaush. I. 3), Vayu is mentioned without any deter- minant, while in another passage a determinative occurs, where it is said (Erik. V. 10, 1): 'When the person goes away from this world, he comes to the wind. Then the wind makes room for him, like the hole of a wheel, and through it he mounts higher, he comes to the sun.' Therefore from the determination, showing the priority of Vayu before the sun, Vayu is to be inserted between the year and the sun.
Why then, as there is a determination, showing his following after light, is not Vayu inserted after light 1 Because we see that there is no determination here. But was there not a text quoted (Kaush. I. 3) : ' Having reached the path of the gods, he comes to the world of Agni, to the world of Vayu.' Yes, but here the sooner and later only is enunciated, but there is not a word said about direct succession. A simple statement of facts is here made, in saying that he goes to this and to that, but in the other text a regular succession is perceived, when it is said, that after having mounted on high through an opening as large as the wheel of
K 2
182 LEOTUBE V.
a chariot, supplied by Vayu, he approaches the sun. Hence it is well said in the Sfttra, ' on account of the presence and absence of determinants.'
The Vac/asaneyins (Brih. VI. 2, 15), however, say that he proceeds from the months to the world of the gods, and from the world of the gods to the sun. Here, in order to maintain the continuity with the sun, he would have to go from the world of the gods to Vayu. And when the Sutra says, from the year to Vayu, this was done on account of the text in the -/TAandogya. As between the Va$asaneyaka and the .KTiandogya, the world of the gods is absent in the one, the year in the other. As both texts have to be accepted, the two have to be combined, and then on account of the connection with the months, the distinction has to be made that the year comes first, the world of the gods last. (1) Year (TfAand.), (2) World of gods (Bnh.), (3) World of Vayu (Kaush.), (4) Sun (A7
THIRD SUTEA.
Above the lightning Varuna, on account of tJie connection.
$ankara explains : When it is said (Kh&nd. V. 10, 2) : ' From the sun to the moon, from the moon to lightning,' Varuiia is brought in so that above that lightning he goes to the world of Varuna. For there is a connection between lightning and VaruTia, there being a Brahmam which says : ' When the broad lightnings dance forth from the belly of the cloud with the sound of deep thunder, the water falls down, it lightens, it thunders, and it will rain.' But the lord of water is VaruTia according to $ruti and
JOURNEY OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH. 133
Snm'ti. And above Varima follow India and Praga- pati, because there is no other place for them, and according to the meaning of the text. Also Varima, &c., should be inserted at the end, because they are additional, and because no special place is assigned to them. As to the lightning, it is the last on the road that begins with light.
FOTIETH SUTRA. They are conductors, because this is indicated.
tfankara explains : With regard to those beginning with light there is a doubt, whether they are signs of the road, or places of enjoyment, or leaders of travellers. It is supposed at first that light and the rest are signs, because the information has this form. For as in the world a man wishing to go to a village or a town is told, ' Go from hence to that hill, then thou wilt come to a fig-tree, then to a river, then to a village, then to the town,' thus he says here also, ' From light to day, from day to the waxing half of the moon.' Or it is supposed that they are meant for places of enjoyment. For he connects Agni and the rest with the word loka (world), as when he says, he comes to the world of Agni. And world is used for places of enjoyment of living beings, as when they say, the world of men, the world of the Fathers, the world of the gods. And there is also a BrahmaTia which says ($at. Br. X. 2, 6, 8) : ' They remain fixed in the worlds which consist of day and night.' Therefore light and the rest are not conductors. Besides, they cannot be conductors, because they are without intelligence. For in this world intelligent men are appointed by the king to
184 LECTUEE V.
conduct those whom they have to conduct over difficult roads.
In answer to all this we say : After all, they are meant for conductors, because this is clearly indicated. For we read : ' From the moon to the lightning ; there a person not being a man, leads them to Brah- man/ and this shows clearly their conductorship. If you think that according to the rule that a sentence says no more than what it says, this sentence, being restricted to its own object (the person, not being a man), falls to the ground, we say No, for the predicate (amanava/i) is only intended to exclude his supposed humanity. Only if with regard to light, &c., personal conductors are admitted, and these human, is it right, that in order to exclude this (humanity), there should be the attribute, amanava, not being a man.
If it is objected that a mere indication is not sufficient, because there is no proof, we say there is no fault in this.
FIFTH SUTBA. Because as both are bewildered, this is right.
$ankara explains: Those who go on the road beginning with light, as they are without a body, and as all their organs are wrapt up, are not independent, and the light, &c., as they are without intelligence, are likewise not independent. Hence it follows that the individual intelligent deities who represent light and the rest, have been appointed to the conductorship. For in this world also drunken or fainting people whose sense-organs are wrapt up, follow a road as commanded by others. Again, light and the rest cannot be taken for mere signs of the road, because they are not always there. For a man who dies in the night,
JOURNEY OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH. 135
cannot come to the actual manifestation of the day. For there is no waiting, as we said, before. But as the nature of the gods is eternal, this objection does not apply to them. And it is quite right to call the gods light and all the rest, because they represent light and the rest. And the expression from light to day, &c., is not objectionable if the sense of con- ductorship is adopted, for it means, through the light, as cause, they come to the day, through the day, as cause, to the waxing half of the moon. And such an instruction is seen also in the case of conductors as known in the world, for they say, Go hence to Balavarman, thence to Grayasimha, thence to Kr^slma- gupta. Besides in the beginning, when it is said they go to the light, a relation only is expressed, not a special relation ; at the end, however, when it is said, he leads them to Brahman, a special relation is expressed, that between conducted and conductor. Therefore this is accepted for the beginning also. And as the organs of the wanderers are wrapt up together, there is no chance of their enjoying any thing, though the word world (loka) may be applied to wanderers also who do not enjoy anything, because the worlds may be places of enjoyment for others who dwell there. Therefore we must understand that he who has reached the world of Agni is conducted by Agni, and he who has reached the world belonging to Vayu, by Vayu. But how, if we adopt this view that they are conductors, can this apply to Varu-na and the rest 1 For above the lightning Varu-na and the rest were inserted, and after the lightning till the obtainment of Brahman the leadership of the person who is not a man, has been revealed. This objection is answered by
136 LECTUBB V.
THE SIXTH SfrrRA.
From thence by him who belongs to tlie lightning, because the Veda says so.
$ankara explains : It must be understood that from thence, that is, after they have come to the lightning, they go to the world of Brahman, having been con- ducted across the worlds of Varuwa, &c., by the person who is not a man, and who follows immediately after the lightning. That he conducts them is revealed by the words, * When they have reached the place of lightning, a person, not a man1, leads them to the world of Brahman' (Brih. VI. 2, 15). But Varuna and the rest, it must be understood, are showing their kindness either by not hindering, or by assisting him. Therefore it is well said that light and the rest are the gods who act as conductors.
D
These extracts from $ankara's commentary on the Vedanta-sutras, difficult to follow as they are, may serve to give you some idea how almost impossible it is to reduce the component parts of ancient sacred literature to a consistent system, and how the Vedic apologists endeavoured vainly to remove contradictions, and to bring each passage into harmony with all the rest. With us this difficulty does not exist, at least not to the same degree. We have learnt that sacred books, like all other books, have a history, that they contain the thoughts of different men and different ages, and that instead of trying to harmonise statements which vary from each other, nay which even contradict each other, we should simply accept them and see in them 1 Here amanavaA, but in the text manasaA.
JOUKNEY OP THE SOUL AFTER DEATH. 137
the strongest proof of the historical origin and genuine character of these bool^s. Brahmanic theologians, however, after once having framed to themselves an artificial conception of revelation, could not shake off the fetters which they had forged themselves, and had therefore to adopt the most artificial contrivances in order to prove that there was no variance, and no contradiction between any of the statements contained in the Veda. As they were convinced that every word of their $ruti came direct from the deity, they concluded that it must be their own fault, if they could not discover the harmony of discordant utter- ances.
Independent Statements in the Mantras.
It is strange, however, to observe that while so great an effort is made to bring all the passages which occur in the Upanishads into order and harmony, hardly any attempt has been made to reconcile the statements of the Upanishads with passages in the hymns which allude to the fate of the soul after death. These passages are by no means in harmony with the passages in the Upanishads, nor are they always in harmony with themselves. They are simply the various expressions of the hopes and fears of individual poets, and free, as yet, from the elaborate details concerning the journey to the Fathers, to the gods, and to Brahman with which the Upanishads abound.
If we examine the hymns of the Rig-veda we find there the simple belief that those who have led a good life go with a new and perfect body to the Fathers in the realm of Yama ; Yama being originally a represen-
138 LECTURE V.
tative of the setting sun 1, the first immortal, and after- wards the first mortal, who entered the blessed abode beyond the West. Thus in a hymn used at the funeral, we read, Rv. X. 14, 7 2 :
' Go forth, go forth on those ancient paths on which our forefathers departed. Thou shalt see the two kings delighting in Svadha (libation), Yam a and the god VaruTia.
' Come together with the Fathers, and with Yama in the highest heaven, as the fulfilment of all desires. Having left all sin, go home again, and radiant in thy body, come together with them.'
Yama is never called the first of mortals except in the Atharva-veda 3. In the Rig-veda we can still clearly perceive his divine character, and its physical substratum, the setting sun. Thus we read X. 14, 2 :
' Yama was the first to find the path for us, a pasture that can never be taken from us, whither our fathers have travelled formerly, being born there, each according to his ways.'
That path of the departed (prapatha) is conceived as dangerous, and Pushan's protection is implored on it (Rv. X. 17, 4). In one place a boat is spoken of for crossing a river (X. 63, 10), two dogs also are men- tioned which the departed has to pass. Another verse introduces an entirely new thought. There (Rv. X. 16, 3) we read :
' May the eye go to the sun, the breath to the wind; go to the sky and the earth, as is right, or
' According to Professor Hillebrandt, tho physical background of Yarna is the Moon, and not tho nocturnal Sun. This is not impossible.
a Anthropological Religion, p. 250.
3 Ath.-veda XVIII. 3, 13, is a corruption of Kv. X. U, 1.
JOURNEY OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH. 139
go to the waters, if it is good for thee there, rest in the plants.'
It has been supposed that some of the Vedic poets placed the abode of the blessed not in the West but in the East, but that depends simply on the right inter- pretation of one passage, Rv. I. 115. 1, 2. Here a sunrise is described, 'The bright face of the gods has risen, the eye of Mitra, Varmia, Agni ; it filled heaven and earth and the air, the sun is the self of all that moves and stands ;
' The sun goes from behind towards the Dawn, as a man follows a woman, in the place where pious people prolong the generations from happiness to happiness.'
This last line has been translated in various ways, but the general idea has always been that the pious people are here as elsewhere meant for the departed 1- There is, however, no necessity for this interpretation. I see in these words an idea often expressed in the Veda, that the pious worshippers prolong their lives or their progeny by offering sacrifices to the gods in the morning, the morning-sun being the symbol of renewal and prolonged life. Anyhow, the abode of Yama and of the departed is near the setting, not near the rising of the sun.
The abode of the departed, however, is by no means described as dark or dreary. At all events when Sorna, the moon, is implored to grant immortality, we read (IX. 113, 7):
' Where there is imperishable light, in the world where the sun is placed, in that immortal, eternal world place me, O Sorna !
1 Kacgi, Siebemig Lieder, p. 55 ; Ziininer, Altind. Leben, p. 410.
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' Where Vaivasvata (Yama) is king, where there IB the descent (or the interior) of heaven, where the ever- flowing waters are, there make me immortal, 0 Soma !
' Where one moves as one listeth, in the third light, the third heaven of heaven, where every place is full of light, there make me immortal, O Soma !
' Where there are all wishes and desires, where the red sun culminates, where there are offerings and enjoyment, there make me immortal, O Soma !
' Where there are delights and pleasures, where joys and enjoyments dwell, where the wishes of the heart are fulfilled, there make me immortal, 0 Soma ! '
It does not follow, however, that the abode of the departed to which they are led by Soma, is always conceived in exactly the same manner. The poetic fancy of the Vedic poets is still very free. Thus we read in another hymn (I. 24, 1, 2) that Agni, the first among the immortal gods, is to restore man to Aditi (the infinite), where the son may see his father and mother again. In another hymn (X. 15) the departed are actually divided into different classes, as dwelling either in the air, or on the earth, and in the villages. Dirghatamas (I. 154, 5) speaks of the beloved place of Vishmi, where pious men rejoice, as the abode of the blessed. This place of Vishnu would be the place where the sun culminates, not where it sets. Another poet (X. 135, 1) speaks of a beautiful tree, where Yama is drinking with the gods. In the Atharva-veda we get still more details. There we read of milk-cows, soft winds, cooling rain, cakes of ghee, rivers running with milk and honey, and a large number of women, all meant for the enjoyment of the departed.
It seems very strange that not one of these statements
JOURNEY OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH. 141
regarding the fate of the soul after death which are contained in the hymns of the Rig-veda, is discussed in the Vedanta-sutras. No effort is made to bring them into harmony with the teaching of the Upani- shads. The same applies to many passages occurring in the Brahma?ias, though they can claim the character of /Stuti or revelation with the same right as the Upanishads, nay, from an historical point of view, with even a better right. This is a point which native Vedantists should take into consideration, before they represent the Vedanta philosophy as founded on $ruti or revelation in the general sense of that word.
Mythological Langriag-e misunderstood.
Another weak point in the authors of the Vedanta- sutras seems to me their inability to understand that in the early periods of language it is impossible to express any thought except metaphorically, hierogly- phically, or, what is the same, mythologically. Ancient sages think in images rather than in concepts. With us these images have faded, so as to leave nothing behind but the solid kernel. Thus when we speak of approaching or drawing near to God, we do no longer think of miles of road which we have to traverse, or of bridges and lakes which we have to cross. Nor when we speak of a throne of God do we allow ourselves to picture a royal throne with legs and supports and canopies. But with the ancient speakers it was different. Their thoughts were not yet free of the imagery of language. Their approach to God could only be represented as a long journey along steep roads and narrow bridges, and the throne of God or Brahman was graphically described as
142 LECTURE V.
golden, and as covered with precious shawls and cushions. We must say, however, to the credit of the poets of the Upanishads that they soon began to correct themselves. They tell us that the throne of Brahman is not a golden throne, but is meant for intelligence, while its coverings represent the sacred scriptures or the Vedas. In the same way a river which the soul in its journey to Brahman has to cross is called Vif/ara, that is, the Age-less ; a man who has crossed it, casts off old age, and never grows old again. He is supposed to have shaken off his good and evil deeds, and to leave the benefit of the former to those among his relatives on earth who were dear to him, while his evil deeds fall to the share of his unbeloved relations. A lake again which bars the way to Brahman is called Ara, and this name is supposed to be derived from Ari, enemy, these enemies being the passions and attachments of the heart, all of which must be left behind before an entrance can be found into the city of God, while those who do not know the truth, are believed to be drowned in that lake.
Even at present there are few, if any, among the most enlightened students of Vedic literature in India, who would admit the possibility of an historical growth with regard to the Veda, and would not prefer the most artificial interpretations to the frank ad- mission that, like other sacred books, the Veda also owes its origin to different localities, to different ages, and to different minds.
Unless we learn to understand this metaphorical or hieroglyphic language of the ancient world, we shall look upon the Upanishads and on most of the
JOURNEY OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH. 143
Sacred Books of the East as mere childish twaddle ; but if we can see through the veil, we shall discover behind it, not indeed, as many imagine, profound mysteries or esoteric wisdom, but at all events in- telligent and intelligible efforts in an honest search after truth.
We must not imagine, however, that we can always reach the original intention of mythological phrase- ology, nor does it follow that the interpretation accepted by Indian commentators is always the right one. On the contrary, these native interpretations, by the very authority which naturally might seem to belong to them, are often misleading, and we must try to keep ourselves, as much as possible, independent of them.
In the circumstantial accounts, for instance, which I read to you from some of the Upanishads as to the return of the soul to Brahman, the soul rising with the smoke of the funeral pile and reaching the night, and then the waning half of the moon, and then the six months during which the sun travels to the South, and then only arriving in the world of the Fathers, we find it difficult, if not impossible, to connect any definite thoughts with these wanderings of the soul. What can be meant by the six months during which the sun travels to the South or to the North 1 It might seem to imply that the soul has to tarry for six months while the sun is moving South, before it can hope to reach the world of the Fathers and the Moon. But this is by no means the inter- pretation of native commentators. They are impressed with a passage where it is said that the soul travels onward with the quickness of thought, and they there-
144 LECTURE V.
fore would object to admit anything like delay in the soul's joining the northern or the southern progress of the sun. They may be right in this, but they leave the difficulty of the six months as a station in the soul's journey unexplained. I can only produce one parallel that may perhaps throw some light on this point.
It occurs in Porphyrius, De Antro Nympharum. This cave of the nymphs, mentioned by Homer (Odyss.