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ÄBRAVA
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of the taijasa śarīra. The position occupied by these two bodies in relation to that of gross matter is something like that which comes into existence by holding the volume, or mass, of coloured liquid in a sponge, so that the liquid saturates every portion of the sponge without actually becoming fused or united with it. There is, however, this important distinction to be drawn between the sponge and the physical organism that while the former is an independent article, the latter is only organised by the soul which is to become ensouled in it.
To return to the influx of matter into the soul, the idea of asrava through the senses can be easily understood if we put ourselves the question : who feels the sensations of taste, smell, colour, touch and sound which are received through sense-organs? Is it, for instance, the tongue that enjoys the relish of food, or the soul? Obviously, the soul; for if its attention is exclusively engaged elsewhere it is not only not conscious of the taste of food but may also fail to take conscious cognizance of the quality of eatables put before it. It follows from this that while the bulk of food passes into the stomach through the gullet, some finer particles of its relish teach the soul through the glands of taste and the nerves connected with them, enabling it to feel and enjoy the taste of each morsel. Hence, when these relish-particles do not come in contact with the soul it is not cognizant of their presence. The same is the case with the feelings of pain and pleasure and with the bodily sensations in general; these, too, are not felt if the mind is busy elsewhere. These facts unmistakably point to some kind of material ăsrava with every sensation and feeling. The same conclusion is to be arrived at by a study of certain kinds of mental statęs, for the process of controlling such passions as anger, greed, and the like, clearly points to the exertion of will on some kind of matter, while their complete eradication means neither more nor less than a complete annihilation of their causes, i.e., the freedom of the mind from some kind of foreign material whose presence was responsible for their existence and recurring recrudescence. Whether we regard our passions and emotions as the states of our consciousness or as so many kinds of rhythms of the soul, or in any other way, it is certain that a simple substance like the soul or consciousness can never, by itself, be the basis of so
