________________
70
Ť. G. Kalghatgi
them and for their sustenance. They sometimes make their presence felt through a medium when they are not satisfied or when they want to convey something specific to their living and their relatives. Modern Psychical Reserch has vouchsafed for this phenomenon after carrying careful investigation in this direction,
All the souls must go to the judgement seat, where God Yama with the help of Citragupta passes judgement. The good are brought to Yama by the messengers of God in stately chariots and sent to heaven. The wicked have to wander for a long time in the terrible places and have to cross the river Vaitarani. Then they are hurled into hell. The theory of the way of the Gods (devayāna) and the way of the father (pitryāna) has always existed alongside of the idea of judgement by Yama. This doctrine was first mentioned in the Upanişads and since remained a dogma with some of the Absolutist philosophers. The moon is considered to be the heavenly abode and souls destined for rebirth enjoy rewards of their good action on the moon for sometime and then descend to earth. We have given a description of the journey of the soul after death as described in the Myth of Er in the Rep. ublic.
Thus we find that in the ancient Indian thought, the philosophical conception of soul, death, and rebirth have been combined with popular mythological narratives with a view to presenting an acceptable picture even to the common man. The secret doctrine 'only to the initiates' mentioned in the Upanişads presented an appealing way to the common man and that was admirably done in the Indian thought and literature.
Theosophists have made metaphysical and psychological approaches to the problem of rebirth. "It is only the knowledge of the constant rebirths of one and the same individuality through the life cycle; the assurance that the same MONADS- among whom are many Dhyan-Chohans, or the “Gods themselves- have to pass through the "Circle of Necessity", rewar. ded or punished by such rebirth for the suffering endured for crimes com. mitted in the former life.”61 Closely connected with Karma is a law of rebirth or of the re-incarnation of the same spiritual individuality in a long almost interminable series of personalities. “The latter are like the various costumes and characters played by the same actor, with each of which that actor identifies himself and is identified by the public, for the space of a few hours."62 Theosophists explain the phenomenon of rebirth on the basis of the idea of seven-fold nature of man. The seven factors constitute the nature of personality :
61. Blavatsky & Judge, Reincarnation, U. L. T. Pamphlet, No. 12, p. 2. 62. Ibid. p. 4.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
