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The path of the manes and the path of the gods Ch.up.S.B.Introduction---
samastam
karmaadhigatam ----------------------------chandralokapratipattikaaraNam. All
the rituals performed along with meditation on praaNa and other deities become
the means of reaching Brahmaloka (the world of hiraNyagarbha) through
the path of the gods (devayaana) .
Rituals alone (without meditation) are the means of attaining the Lunar
region through the path of the manes (pitr.yaana).
These
paths are elaborated below. Ch.up.5.1.1.S.B---
saguNabrahmavidyayaa
uttaraa gatiH uktaa. --------------------vaktavyaa iti aarabhyate. It
has been said that meditation on the conditioned Brahman leads to the
path of the gods. Now, in this fifth chapter, after reiterating that
same path for the householder who knows the panchaagni
vidyaa (meditation on the five fires), and the celibates who are
possessed of faith and perform other forms of meditation, the path of
transmigration (or the path of the manes) characterised by smoke, etc,
for those who perform rites alone (without meditation) is described in
order to generate a spirit of detachment (vairaagya).
The
path of the gods (devayaana or
the northern path) is described in
Ch.up.5.10.1 as well as in Br.up. 6.2.15. Some other upanishads
also describe this path with some variations. Taking all these
descriptions together, the complete enumeration of the stages of the
path of the gods is as follows: First the deity of fire, then the deity
of the day, the deity of the bright fortnight, the deity of the six
months when the sun travels northward, the deity of the year, the deity
of the world of gods, the deity of the air, the sun, the moon, the deity
of lightning, the world of Varuna, the world of Indra, the world of
Prajapati, and finally Brahmaloka. (B.S.4.3.3). In B.S. 4.3.4 it is made
clear that the terms fire, bright fortnight, year, etc, refer to the
deities identified with these. That deities are meant here, and not
marks or places of enjoyment, is indicated by the text of the Chhandogya
upanishad, which says—“From the moon to the lightning. Then a
superhuman being leads them to Brahman”-(Ch. up. 4.15.5, 5.10.1). In
B.S. 4.3.7 it is asserted that these meditators go to the Saguna
Brahman, for no journey is possible to Nirguna Brahman which is
all-pervading. This path is also known as the path of light or archiraadimaarga.
The
path of the manes (pitr.yaana or the southern path) is described in Ch.up. 5.10.3 and
4. Householders who perform Vedic rites such as agnihotra and activities for public welfare such as construction of
tanks, wells and rest-houses and practise charity (these are known as ishTa,
puurta and dattam) go through the
path of the manes. The stages in this path are the deity of smoke, the
deity of the night, the deity of the dark fortnight, the deity of the
six months during which the sun travels southward, the region of the
manes, aakaas’a and the moon. This moon is King Soma. Reaching there, they
become identified with this moon and enjoy there. They are also in turn
enjoyed by the gods. Enjoyment is possible only with a body. Therefore
the jiiva who reaches this
moon by this path gets a body produced out of the water particles and
smoke rising out of his dead body, which was his last offering on the
earth into fire. The water, together with the smoke, arising out of the
cremated body envelops the jiiva and
goes to the region of the moon and produces a body for enjoyment. The
enjoyment of the jiivas here consists in the companionship of the gods, who in turn
enjoy them by being served by them. Those
who go by the path of the manes have to return on the exhaustion of the
results of the rites and other good deeds performed by them, which
earned them this path. This is described in Ch.up. 5.10.5 and 6. The
aqueous body which the jiiva had
in the region of the moon takes a subtle form like aakaas’a
and remains in the sky. Then it successively appears as air, smoke,
white cloud and rain-bearing cloud and then falls down in the form of
rain. Then these jiivas come
down to this world by
remaining attached to rice, barley, herbs and trees, sesamum plants,
beans, etc. There is no certainty where the rainwater will fall and
where the jiivas attached to
the grains etc, will go. When the rice, etc is eaten by a male capable
of reproduction, the jiiva attached
to it may enter the womb of a female and be born as a human being,
animal, bird, or any other creature. This process and the difficulties
in the way are described in detail in the Bhaashya. The
nature of the birth is determined by the residual karma (See
KaTh.up.2.2.7).
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