________________
will employ it only in a modified way to indicate the specific notion under discussion, or simply use the Sanskrit term.
flat country between the rivers Ganga (Ganges) and Yamunā, and from there advanced to the eastern part of the broad basin formed by the Ganga. In the North, the area of expansion was delimited by the Himalayan foothills, in the South by the range of the Vindhyl mountains which roughly divides the subcontinent into a northern and a southern part.
In view of this background, it would indeed be astonishing if we would not be confronted with a variety or at least several variations of notions of 'soul" and of terms referring to these "souls," or, conversely, if only a single notion and its de velopment - connected with a single term - would be discernible in the ancient texts. Furthermore, it is a matter of fact that in the history of Indian religion and philosophy old concepts can often be observed to live on parallel to more developed ideas. It is to the multiple distinguishable notions of "soul" and the respective terms in the ancient period, preceding the period of the classical philosophies, that I would like to turn now, as the central topic of this contribution. In this connection the body, inasmuch as it is the visible and tangible, material point of reference for the "soul" or "souls" of an individual, will also have to be addressed in passing, Considering the aforementioned observations by Hasenfratz and Flew to be of considerable programmatic and methodological value, I do not intend to define in the following one specific meaning of "soulonly and then look for its applicability in the Indian context, with the possible result that this concept of "soul," no matter under which designation, cannot be found there in the relevant historical period. Rather, I would like to refer to some of the basic notions of "soul" known from other cultural traditions, including the Western traditions, and, following in many fundamental respects the pioneering studies by Ernst Arbman, present materials generally connected with such notions in Vedic literature, in order to discuss those aspects of them which may have stimulated the formation of the idea of a "soul" in a similar specific sense. From there it becomes possible to turn to additional notions connected with the respective Sanskrit term that refers to this specific idea of a "soul"; in this endeavour, it will become necessary to address some philological details." Henceforth, I will also refrain from the use of the simple unqualified word "soul" and
To begin with, I would like to take up the notion of the so-called "vital soul" known from different cultures which relates to that "power of life" which is thought to be responsible for the body's being alive as manifested foremost in the vital physical functions. In distinction to the psychè or "free soul," also imagined as an excursion-soul," "image-soul," "dream-soul," or "shadow-soul," that represents the individual personality unbound by the body and may - foremost (but not exclusively) under special circumstances such as dreaming and deep sleep, swooning or states of ecstasy - temporarily leave the living body and only then become active, this "functional soul" or "vital soul" is also called "bodysoul."* Foremost among the vital functions is, naturally, breathing other important vital functions guaranteed by the presence of the "vital soul" include the regulation and maintenance of the right body temperature, the involuntary opening and closing of the eyes, and the healing of wounds and broken bones. If the capacity of the "vital soul" to perform its functions is impeded, the person faints, in the case of more serious impediment, there follows disease, and eventually death may occur as the most dire consequence on account of this special "power
12 Cf. also Bodewitz's decision to use the term "soul" "as a collective term denoting a variety
of conceptions concerning personality and life in opposition to the body which without
this so-called soul does not function" (Bodewitz 1991:36). 13 Its presence thus means consciousness in the sense that only then mental activity takes
place. On the concept of the free soul" (psyché) cf. Arbman 1926, especially 92-107 and 121-162, on that of a "free soul" in Vedic literature cf. Arbman 1927: 20-29 and passim, especially 105ff. and 1927b: 351-357. On the body-soul(s) cf. Arbman 1926: 166-172, 180-183 and 185-190; based on his ideas cf. the distinction in Bremmer 1983: 9. and 21f., especially in connection with Homer. This concept of a basic dualism" of the soul was proposed first by Wilhelm Wundt and adopted by Arbman, according to Bodewitz 1991: 32, although the latter does not refer prominently to the former. Cf. also the (very abbreviated) critical exposition of Arbman's theses in Bodewitz 1991: 32-35 and 38. Concerning this criticism, Bodewitz does not seem to have realized that Arbman indeed assumed a function of as (cf. below) as a "free soul," next to that of a "vital soul" in the sense of the basic vital force, in Arbman 19272. Bodewitz's own position, which is not formulated in a very pregnant manner (cf. also n. 39 below), thus does not seem to be essentially different from Arbman's more de cided position, at least as long as the former does not explain the relationship, also from a historical point of view, between the two referents of this term suggested by himself. Does the disagreement lie in the choice of (or emphasis on?) either of the two in the interpreta tion of specific passages, or does it rather concern the combination of these two aspects in the notion of as at a specific historical period, as clearly postulated by Arbman (cf. also below, pp. 141-145)?
• Cf. Arbman 1927: 104-105 on ideas about metempsychosis and Bodewitz 1991: 39 with
specific reference to concepts of 'soul. 10 Cf. Arbman 1926 and 1927a as well as 1927b and 1928.
On the various terms referring to notions of soul in general in earliest Vedic poetry cf. especially the learned exposition by Hermann Oldenberg in his Die Religion des Veda (four editions, first edition Stuttgart/Berlin 1894), Section 4 ("Seelenglaube und Totenkultus) which also illuminates the larger cultural context and is still worthwhile reading
124
125
