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of common knowledge. The exponents of Jñanavāda used to emphasise the fact that the dying soul, if it is equipped with a full knowledge of God, would not be required to leave the body at the moment of death and take a course suitable to its development and culture. In the case death is no death. It is as it were a door or entrance into absolute consciousness. In the case of such a person there is actually no death. The subtle body or Linga Sarīra is dissolved on illumination and the Jiva becomes one with Supreme Light. In this case the karma of the soul having been already burnt up fully under the action of perfect illumination the soul is no longer required to transmigrate and gets emancipated from the shackles of māyā immediately after illumination. In this case there is actually no death ard no departure of the soul. It gets unified with Paramātmā but in case where (Jñāna) knowledge is not perfect or where knowledge is totally absent, the soul has to depart from this life accordingly. In ancient literature there are two usual ways for this departure. One is the straight way of light i. e. the path of devayana which runs on in a straight manner into the Brahmaloka. The presence of knowledge and its degree of realization determine this straight path. In this case there is no question of attainment of pure Brahman, as this knowledge was not of the purest kind and was mixed up with action. Action implies ignorance in a certain way and knowledge mixed with action means a straight pathway into the world of light, of course through intermediate luminous zones. This is practically a path of Jñānakarma Samuccaya. Karma does exist though in different proportions in different cases. Had there been absolute knowledge and no action mixed with it, there would have been no possibility of a path. This is devayānamārga of light which passes through the sun and terminates in the world of Brahma. This is as traight path and there is no return from it. This is a path of the jñānis, yogis or the illuminated ones. The other path is that of the moon and is curved in its passage. It is called dhumamarga in ancient Vedic literature. It is not a straight way in so far as it forward
goes
