20 THE CORONAL ARTERY AND THE 'SOLAR RAY'
We must now return to the examination of what happens to the being who, not being 'delivered' at the precise moment of death, has to pass through a series of degrees, represented symbolically as the stages of a journey and forming so many intermediate but not conclusive states which it is necessary to traverse before reaching the final goal. It should be remarked, moreover, that all these states, being still relative and conditioned, have no common measure with that state which alone is absolute and unconditioned; therefore, no matter how exalted certain of them may be when compared with the bodily state, it would still seem that by obtaining them the being is no nearer to its final objective, which is 'Deliverance'; and the whole of manifestation being strictly nil in comparison with the Infinite, it is evident that the differences between the states which go to make up manifestation must likewise be nil in Its presence, however considerable they may be in themselves; this holds good so long as the various conditioned states, which those differences separate one from another, are alone taken into account. However, it is nonetheless true that the passage to certain higher states constitutes as it were an advance toward 'Deliverance'; but in that case it is gradual (krama-mukti), and may be compared to the use of certain appropriate means, such as those of Hatha-Yoga, which are effective as a preparation, although there is certainly no possible comparison between these contingent means and the 'Union' which it is intended to realize by using them as 'supports.'. But it must he
clearly understood that 'Deliverance' when realized, will always imply a discontinuity in relation to the state in which the being who obtains it finds himself and that, no matter what that state may be, this discontinuity will be of exactly the same order, since in all cases, between the state of the 'undelivered' and that of the 'delivered' being, there is no relationship such as exists between different conditioned states. The same is true even for states which are so far superior to the human state that, looked upon from the point of view of the latter, they might be taken for the goal toward which the being must ultimately tend; and this illusion is possible even with regard to states which are actually only modalities of the human state, although widely separated in every respect from the corporeal modality. It has seemed advisable to draw attention to this point in order to prevent any misunderstanding or erroneous interpretation, before continuing our exposition of the posthumous modifications which the human being can undergo.
The 'living soul' [jīvātmā], with the vital faculties reabsorbed into it [and remaining there as possibilities, as has already been explained], having withdrawn into its own dwelling place [the center of the individuality, described symbolically as the heart, as we saw at the beginning, wherein it dwells by reason of its being, in essence and independently of its conditions of manifestation, really identical with Purusha, from which it is separated only in
an illusory manner], the apex [that is to say the most elevated portion] of this subtle organ [pictured as an eight-petalled lotus] shines [2] and illuminates the passage through which the soul must pass [to attain the various states about to be described], namely, the crown of the head, if the individual is a Sage [vidvān], and another region of the organism [corresponding physiologically to the solar plexus] [3] if he is ignorant [avidvān]. [4] A hundred and one arteries [nādīs, likewise subtle and luminous] [5] issue from the vital center [as the spokes of a wheel issue from its hub], and one of these [subtle] arteries passes through the crown of the head [the region considered to correspond to the higher states of the being insofar as their possibilities of communication with the human individual are concerned, as was seen in the description of the members of Vaishvānara]; it is called sushumnā. [6]
Besides this nādī, which occupies a central position, there are two others which play a particularly important part (notably as regards
the correspondence in the subtle order with respiration, and consequently in the practices of Hatha-Yoga): the one, situated on its right, is called pingalā: the other, on its left, is called idā. It is said furthermore that pingalā corresponds to the sun and idā to the moon; now we have seen above that the sun and the moon are described as the two eyes of Vaishvānara; these then are related respectively to the two nādīs in question, while sushumnā, being in the center, is related to the 'third eye', that is to say to the frontal eye of Shiva; [7] but we can only point out these connections in passing, since they lie outside our present subject.
By this passage [sushumnā and the crown of the head where it finishes], as a result of knowledge acquired and of consciousness of the meditated path [consciousness belonging essentially to an extra-temporal order, since, even when viewed in the human state, it is a reflection of higher states], [8] the soul of the Sage,
endowed [by virtue of the psychical regeneration which has made of him a man twice born, dvija] [9] with the spiritual Grace [Prasāda] of Brahma, which resides in this vital center [relatively to the human individual concerned], escapes [frees itself of every link with the bodily condition which may still exist] and enters a solar ray [that is to say, symbolically, an emanation from the spiritual Sun, which is Brahma Itself, this time considered universally: this solar ray is nothing else than a particularization, relatively to the being in question, or, if it be preferred, a 'polarization' of the supra-individual principle Buddhi or Mahat, by which the multiple manifested states of the being are linked to one another and placed in communication with Ātmā, the transcendent Personality, which is identical with the spiritual Sun itself]; it is along this route [described as the path of the 'solar ray'], that it travels by night or by day, in winter or in summer. [10] The contact of a ray of the [spiritual] Sun with the sushumnā is constant, so long as the body lasts [as a living organism and vehicle of the manifested being]: the rays of the [intelligible] Light,
emitted from this Sun, [11] reach this [subtle] artery, and, reciprocally [in reflected mode], extend from the artery to the Sun [as an indefinite prolongation by means of which communication, either virtual or effective, is established between the individuality and the Universal]. [12]
Everything that has just been said is completely independent of temporal circumstances and of all other similar contingencies which accompany death; that is not to say, however, that these circumstances are always devoid of any influence upon the posthumous condition of the being, but they have only to be considered in certain cases, which moreover we can but indicate here without further development.
The preference for summer, as an example of which the case of Bhishma is cited, who waited for the return of this favorable season for his death, does not concern the Sage who, in the contemplation of Brahma, has accomplished the rites [relative to 'incantation'] [13] as prescribed by the Veda, and who has consequently acquired [at least virtually] the perfection of Divine Knowledge; [14] but it concerns those who have followed the observances taught by the Sāṇkhya or the Yoga-Shāstra in accordance
with which the time of day and the season of the year are not matters of indifference, but have [for the liberation of the being leaving the bodily state after a preparation carried out in conformity, with the methods referred to] an effective action as elements inherent to the rite [in which they intervene as conditions upon which the effects to be obtained depend]. [15]
It goes without saying that, in the latter case, the restriction referred to only applies to beings that have stopped short at the attainment of degrees of realization corresponding to extensions of the human individuality; for one that has effectively transcended the limits of individuality, the nature of the means employed at the startingpoint of realization could have no influence of any kind on its subsequent condition.