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Vol. XXVI, 2003
SPACE - TRAVEL OF THE SOUL
superior to the prior one.
Tailtiriya Upanisad enurerates the five sheets of the soul are Vāk, Prāna, Mana, Vijñana and Ananda on account of the assosciation of the soul with these sheets the soul is known as Parmatmā, Ksetrajña, Mahātmā (Sodesī), Sūtratmā and Bhūtmā. Jivātmā residing in the physical today of five elements namely Earth, Water, Tejas and Air and Ether (Akaśa) possesses personalities of Ksetrajña Mahān and Bhūtamā confined. So this physical body possesses chiefly saura, soma and Bhūta, elements of sun, moon and Pañca Mahabhūta respectively.
The Bhūtamā makes one to believe the physical world as real. To him perception is the only source of knowledge. This Dehātmabhāva leads the soul to the bondage of actions.
All the upanişads agree to the four stages of the soul passing through the experience of Jāgrata, Svapna, Susupti and Turīya. In Jagrata stage Kestrajña accumulates the wordly experiences through the organs as Bhūtātmā with perception as I see, I hear, I taske, I trough, I smell, I enjoy, I feel sorrow etc. There is no distinction between body and soul. So Ahmkrti (ego) is in the centre. Association of the soul with the five elements and mainly with the earth the sourrounding of the earth or of the earthen atmospher always attract the Bhūtātmā to the earth through the experience of the objects Sabda, Sparsa, Rūpa, Rasa Gandha enjoyed through the five organs ears, skin, eyes, tounge and the nose on account of the predominent elements namely Ākāśa, Vāyu, Teja, Jala and Pșthvī. Bhūtātmāmā enjoys the worldy experiences and wish to have such experiences more and more. Such endless ardent desires keep the soul always associated with the wordly environment even after death. Such soul can not move upwords on account of the bondage of Vāsanā. In Purāņas the yayati episode preaches this philosophy and shows that such endless desires spoil the human goal of self-realisation. Such thirst for worldly experiences keeps the soul in the lowest state of the environment of earth i.e. Bhūmandala. In this state soul desires to satisfy his thrist for worldy experiences even in bodiless condition by entering in the physical bodies of the other beings. This is Durgati of the soul. Yayāti, lastly gives up the thirst of the senses for the objects. In this Jāgrata state the Bhūtāmā is samvid who may have the knowledge of perishable body and the things made of the five elements. The soul is quite different from the physical body. Gradually this knowledge leads one beyond the worldly experiences. In this state the effects of the actions never bind the soul. He acts only according to the nature. No ego is associated. Ahmkriti disappears. No desire for fruits of action is any more. One
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