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TG 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 Resercb has voucbsared for this phenomenon alter carrying careful Investigation in this direction
All the souls must go to the judgemeat 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 wandes for a long time ia the terrible places and have to cross the river Yaitarasıl Then they are hurled into hell The theory of the way of the Gods (desayana) and the way of the father (pitryana) has always existed alongside of the idea of judgement by Yama This doctrine was first mentioned in the Upanışads 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 la 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 Upanigads presented an appealiog 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 problein of rebirth "It is only the knowledge of the constant rebirths of une and the same individuality through the life cycle, the agguranco that ibe same MONADS- among whom are many Dhyan-Chohans, or the "Gods" themselves- bave to pass through the "Circle of Necessity", rewar. ded or punished by such rebirth for the suffering endured for crimes committed in the former life 'e 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 personallties "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 "" Theosophists explain the phenomenon of rebirth on the basis of the idea of seven-fold natore of man. The seven factors constitute the nature of personality
61 62
Blavatsky & Judge, Reincarnation, U L Ibud p 4
T Pamphlet, No 12, p 2
