A History of Sanskrit Literature c11.60

c11.60

The most important and detailed account of the theory of transmigration which we possess from Vedic times is supplied by the *Chhāndogya Upanishad*. The forest ascetic possessed of knowledge and faith, it is here said, after death enters the *devayāna*, the "path of the gods," which leads to absorption in Brahma, while the householder who has performed sacrifice and good works goes by the *pitṛiyāṇa* or "path of the Fathers" to the moon, where he remains till the consequences of his actions are exhausted. He then returns to earth, being first born again as a plant and afterwards as a man of one of the three highest castes. Here we have a double retribution, first in the next world, then by transmigration in this. The former is a survival of the old Vedic belief about the future life. The wicked are born again as outcasts (*chaṇḍālas*), dogs or swine.