The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c40.s10.56

v2.c40.s10.56

The Kauṣītaki Upaniṣad⁵ presents an accommodation version: here the souls are all sent to the moon: their knowledge is there tested, and according to the result they proceed by the Devayāna leading through the worlds of Agni, Vāyu, Varuṇa, Indra, and Prajāpati to that of Brahman, or they return to earth in rebirth as a worm or a fly or a fish or a bird or a lion or a boar or a serpent or a tiger or a man or as something else. The later Upaniṣads add nothing of value to this doctrine: the Kaṭha¹ refers to the rebirth of men as men or plants according to their deeds and knowledge, and the Praçna² follows the Chāndogya with some deviation. It, with the Jaiminīya Upaniṣad Brāhmaṇa,³ recognizes two ways from the start, one by the north course to the world of Āditya, the other by the south course to the moon, from the former there being no return. The mention of Āditya here is an archaic touch in comparison with the world of Brahman, while on the other hand it is more recent than the conception of the goal as the world of Yama, as in the Rigveda. The Jaiminīya version contains the curious assertion⁴ that a man can, after attaining the world of Brahman through the earth, Agni, Vāyu, the atmosphere, the quarters, day and night, the half months, the months, the seasons, the year, the heavenly Gandharvas, the Apsarases, the sky, the gods, the sun, the moon, each of which is the world of Brahman,⁵ choose at will birth in a Brahman or a Kṣatriya family, a clear proof of a doctrine independent of Karman, and a curious parallel to the Buddhist doctrine—found also in Jainism—of the choice of family made by the Buddha while in the Tuṣita heaven.⁶ In the Bhagavadgītā⁷ we find the process carried one degree further and above the world of Brahman, from which once no return was possible, is set that of Kṛṣṇa as all-god. The Muṇḍaka⁸ makes the soul attain release by passing through the sun; Hertel's view⁹ that release is attained after life in the Brahmaloka seems erroneous; attainment of the Brahmaloka is release.