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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailashsagarsuri Gyanmandir
Atman and More
worshippers of the Saguņam Brahman, all enter after death by the Devayāna into the lower Brahman. S'arikara weaves the various stages of this long way into one whole continuity of regions. The soul of his who possesses the lower knowledge on leaving the body by the artery of the head, passes through the following regions. It goes first to the flame ( 341 "), then to the day, thence to the half of the month when the moon wanes, thence to the half of the year when the days grow longer, then to the year, to the gamtai (region of the gods), to the areasta (region of the winds), then to the sun, then to the moon and then to the lightning. These stages help the soul only as the guides to direct them to the further regions. When the individual soul reaches the lightning it is received by "a man, who is not as a human being (Puruso Mánavaḥ) and conducts to the Brahman through the Varunaloka, Indraloka and Prajāpatiloka. The Brahman that they reach is the lower Brahman which forms the world out of it and perishes it at the pralaya, which is the destruction of the world. In the world of this Brahman the souls enjoy lordship ( *) which consists in a quasi-divine but limited omnipotence and includes the fulfilment of all wishes. The higher knowledge (orgsgatah) is communicated to the souls here and they then, at the destruction of the world when the lower Brahman also perishes, enter with him into the eternal perfect Nirväņa. This gradual and progressive way of entering the Brahman is termed as the 'Progressive
i Deussen Paul: The System of Vedānta, p. 473.
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