21 THE 'DIVINE JOURNEY' OF THE BEING ON THE PATH OF LIBERATION
The remainder of the symbolical journey to be carried out during the process of gradual liberation, starting from the end of the coronal artery (sushumnā) and proceeding, in constant communication with a ray of the spiritual Sun, up to the final destination of the being, is effected by following the way marked by the path of this ray and retracing it (according to its reflected direction) back to its source, which is identical with that very destination itself. When we remember, however, that a description of this sort can apply to the posthumous states to be passed through successively both by those beings who obtain 'Deliverance' on leaving the human state and also by those who, after the reabsorption of the human individuality, will be required on the contrary to pass into other states of individual manifestation, it will be evident that there must be two different itineraries corresponding to these two different cases; it is said, in fact, that the former follow the 'Path of the Gods' (devayāna), whilst the latter follow the 'Path of the ancestors' (pitriyāna). These two symbolical itineraries are summarized in the following passage from the Bhagavad-Gitā:
At what time those who tend toward Union [without having effectively realized it] quit manifested existence, either never to return or destined to return to it, I will teach thee, O Bhārata. Fire, light, day-time, waxing moon, the half year when the sun ascends toward the north, it is under these luminous signs that those go to Brahma who know Brahma. Smoke, night, waning
moon, the half year when the sun descends toward the south, it is under these shadowy signs that there pass to the Sphere of the Moon [literally, 'attain the lunar light'] those who later will return [to fresh states of manifestation]. These are the two permanent Paths of the manifested world [jagat], the one bright, the other dim; by the one they go to return no more [from the unmanifested to the manifested]; by the other they go to return again [into manifestation]. [1]
The same symbolism is expounded in greater detail in various passages of the Veda. To deal first with the pitri-yāna, we will confine ourselves to remarking that it does not lead beyond the Sphere of the Moon; it follows that on that path the being is not set free from form, that is to say from the individual condition understood in its most general sense, since, as we have already remarked, it is precisely form which defines individuality as such. [2] According to certain parallels which we have pointed out before, this Sphere of the Moon represents the 'cosmic memory'; [3] it is on this account that it is the appointed abode of the Pitris, that is to say of the beings belonging to the preceding cycle, who are regarded as the generators of the actual cycle, owing to that causal sequence of which the succession of cycles is but the symbol; this is the origin of the term pitri-yāna, while deva-yāna naturally indicates the Path leading to the higher states of the being, toward assimilation therefore with the very essence of the intelligible Light. It is in the Sphere of the Moon that forms which have completed the full course of their development are dissolved; and it is there also that are preserved the germs of forms as yet undeveloped, since in the case of form as of everything else, the starting-point and the finishing-point are necessarily to be found in the same order of existence. For a further development of this subject it would be necessary to deal explicitly
with the theory of cycles; here, however, it is sufficient to recall that each cycle being in reality a state of existence, the old form left off by a being not yet set free from individuality and the new form which it puts on necessarily belong to two different states (the passage from the one to the other taking place in the Sphere of the Moon, where the point common to both cycles is situated), since no being of any kind can pass through the same state twice, as we have explained elsewhere when pointing out the ineptitude of the 'reincarnationist' theories invented by certain modern Westerners. [4]
We shall dwell at rather greater length upon the deva-yāna, which is concerned with the effective identification of the center of the individuality, [5] where all the faculties have previously been reabsorbed into the 'living soul' (jīvātmā), with the very center of the entire being, dwelling place of the Universal Brahma. We must again point out that the process in question only applies therefore in the case where that identification has not been realized during earthly life nor at the moment of death: once it has been achieved, there is in fact no longer any 'living soul' distinct from the 'Self', since the being is from that moment quit of the individual condition; that distinction, which never existed save in illusory mode (the illusion being inherent to the condition itself), ceases for the being from the moment it attains absolute reality; the individuality disappears together with all limiting and contingent determinations, and the personality alone remains in its fullness, containing all its possibilities in their permanent, unmanifested state, principially within itself.
According to the Vedic symbolism, as found in various texts of the Upanishads, [6] the being which follows the deva-yāna, after having left the Earth (Bhū, that is to say the corporeal world or the sphere of gross manifestation), is first conducted to the light (archis), by which is meant here the Realm of Fire (Tejas), the Ruler of which is Agni, also called Vaishvānara in a special signification of that name. It must be carefully noticed, moreover, that when we meet with the names of elements in the enumeration of these successive stages, this can only be in a symbolical sense, since all the bhūtas properly belong to the corporeal world, which is here represented in its entirety by the Earth (which, as element, is Prithvī): in reality, then, the reference is to different modalities of the 'subtle state'. From the Realm of Fire the being is led to the different kingdoms of the rulers (devatās, 'deities') or distributors of the day, of the bright half of the lunation (waxing period or first half of the lunar month), [7] of the six months when the sun is climbing northward and finally of the year, all of which is to be taken as referring to the correspondences of these divisions of time (the 'moments' spoken of in the Bhagavad-Gitā) analogically transposed into the extracorporeal prolongations of the human state, and not as referring to these divisions themselves, which are literally applicable to the corporeal state only. [8] Thence it passes to the Realm of Air (Vāyu), the
Ruler of which (called by the same name) directs it toward the Sphere of the Sun (Sūrya or Āditya), and emerges from the upper limit of his kingdom through a passage likened to the nave of a chariot wheel, that is to say to a fixed axis around which the rotation or mutation of all contingent things takes place (it should not be forgotten that Väyu is essentially the 'moving' principle), a mutation from which the being will henceforth escape. [9] It passes next into the Sphere of the Moon (Chandra or Soma), where however it does not remain like those following the pitri-yāna, but whence it mounts to the region of the lightning (vidyut), [10] above which is the Realm of Water (Ap), the Ruler of which is Varuna [11] (as, analogically, the lightning flashes beneath the rain-clouds). The reference here is to the higher or celestial Waters, representing the totality of formless possibilities, [12] as opposed to the lower Waters, which represent the totality of formal possibilities; there can be no further concern with the latter when once the being has transcended the Sphere of the Moon, since, as we remarked above, that is the cosmic region where
the germs of the whole of formal manifestation are elaborated. Lastly, the remainder of the journey is carried out through the intermediate luminous region Antariksha, which has been mentioned already, though with a somewhat different application, in the description of the seven members of Vaishvānara), [13] which is the Realm of Indra [14] occupied by Ether (Ākāsha, here representing the primordial state of undifferentiated equilibrium), up to the spiritual Center where Prajāpati, 'Lord of produced beings', resides, who, as has already been pointed out, is the principial manifestation and direct expression of Brahma Itself in relation to the whole cycle or degree of existence to which the human state belongs. It is still necessary to take this state into account, although in principle only, since it is the one from which the being sets forth; for even though it has been set free from form and individuality, it still retains certain ties with that state so long as it has not attained the absolutely unconditioned state, that is to say so long as 'Deliverance' is not fully actualized for it.
In the various texts where the 'divine journey' is described, certain variations are to be met with affecting the number and the order of enumeration of the intermediate stations, but they are of slight importance and more apparent than real; the foregoing account, however, is the result of a general comparison of these texts and can thus be regarded as a faithful expression of the traditional doctrine upon this question. [15] Besides, it is not our intention to
embark upon a more detailed explanation of all this symbolism which will be, on the whole, clear enough as it stands to anyone who has some little familiarity with Eastern conceptions (we might even say with traditional conceptions in general) and their usual modes of expression; moreover, its interpretation will be facilitated by all the illustrations we have already given, among which a considerable number of those analogical transpositions will have been met with, such as form the basis of all symbolism. [16] There is one point however which must be emphasized once again, even at the risk of repetition, because it is absolutely essential for the understanding of these matters. It must be clearly understood that when mention is made, for example, of the Spheres of the Sun and of the Moon, it is never the sun and the moon as visible bodies, belonging purely to the corporeal realm, that are referred to, but rather the universal principles which these bodies represent after their own fashion in the sensible world, including in certain cases the manifestations of these principles in different orders, in virtue of the analogical correspondences which interconnect all the states of the being. [17] Indeed, the different Worlds (Lokas), planetary Spheres, and elementary Realms which are symbolically described as so many regions (only symbolically however, since the being that journeys through them is no longer subject to space), are in reality but
different states. [18] This spatial symbolism (like the temporal symbolism which so often serves to express the theory of cycles) is natural enough and in sufficiently general use as to be unlikely to confuse any save those who are incapable of understanding anything but the most grossly literal meaning; such people will never realize the workings of a symbol, because their conceptions are irremediably limited to existence on this earth and to the corporeal world, within which, by the most naive of illusions, they wish to imprison the whole of reality.
The effective possession of these states can be obtained through identification with the principles which are described as their respective Rulers, and this identification operates in every case through knowledge, on condition that such knowledge is not merely theoretical; theory should only be looked upon as a preparation, which is however indispensable, for the corresponding realization. But, as regards each of these principles taken in itself and separately, the results of that identification do not extend beyond its particular domain, so that the obtaining of such states, which are still conditioned states, only constitutes a preliminary stage, a kind of approach (in the sense that we have already explained and with the restrictions which should be applied to such a manner of speaking) toward the 'Supreme Identity', the ultimate goal attainable by the being in its complete and total universalization; moreover, the realization of this Identity, for those who have first of all to pass by the deva-yāna, may be deferred until the pralaya, as already stated, the transition from each stage to the next only becoming possible for the being who has obtained the corresponding degree of effective knowledge. [19]
Thus, in the present case, which is that of krama-mukti, the being may remain in the cosmic order until the pralaya without having attained effective possession of the transcendent states in which true metaphysical realization properly consists; but thenceforth, and from the very fact that it has passed beyond the Sphere of the Moon (that is to say emerged from the 'current of forms'), it will nonetheless have obtained that 'virtual immortality', which we defined previously. It is for this reason that the spiritual Center referred to above is still only the center of a particular state or of a certain degree of existence, to which the being as a human being belonged and continues to belong in a certain manner, because its total universalization in supra-individual mode is not actually accomplished; and this is also the reason for saying that in such a condition the bonds of individuality are not yet completely sundered. It is at this point precisely that conceptions which may properly be called religious stop short: as these conceptions always refer to extensions of the human individuality, the states to which they give access must necessarily preserve some connection with the manifested world, even when they reach beyond it; they are therefore not the same as those transcendent states to which there is no other means of access except pure metaphysical knowledge. This remark is especially applicable to the 'mystical states'; and, as regards the posthumous states, there is precisely the same difference between 'immortality' or 'salvation', understood in the religious sense (the only sense normally taken into account in the West), and 'Deliverance', as there is between mystical realization and metaphysical realization accomplished during earthly life. In the strictest sense, therefore, one can only speak here of 'virtual immortality' and, as its final term, 'reintegration in passive mode'. Actually, this last expression lies outside the religious viewpoint, as commonly understood, and yet it is through it alone that the relative sense in which religion uses the word 'immortality' is justified and that a kind of link or transition can be established between it and the
absolute and metaphysical sense in which the same term is understood by Easterners. All this, moreover, does not prevent us from admitting that religious conceptions are capable of a transposition by means of which they receive a higher and deeper meaning, for the reason that this meaning is also present in the sacred scriptures upon which they are based; but by such a transposition they lose their specifically religious character, because this character is bound up with certain limitations, outside of which one has entered the purely metaphysical order. On the other hand, a traditional doctrine such as the Hindu doctrine, which does not place itself at the point of view of the Western religions, does nonetheless recognize the existence of the states which are more particularly envisaged by those religions, and it must needs be so, seeing that these states effectively constitute possibilities of the being; but such a doctrine cannot attribute to them an importance equal to that assigned to them by those doctrines which go no further (the perspective, if one may so put it, altering with the point of view), for going, as it does, beyond them, it is able to situate them in their exact place in the total hierarchy.
Thus, when it is said that the final goal of the 'divine journey' is the World of Brahma (Brahma-Loka), it is not the Supreme Brahma which is intended, not immediately at all events, but only its determination as Brahmā, who is Brahma 'qualified' (saguna) and, as such, considered as the 'effect of the productive Will (Shakti) of the Supreme Principle' (Kārya-Brahma). [20] When Brahmā is mentioned in this case He must be regarded in the first place as identical with
Hiranyagarbha, principle of subtle manifestation and thus of the whole domain of human existence in its integrality; and we have in fact previously remarked that the being which has attained 'virtual immortality' finds itself so to speak 'incorporated' by assimilation into Hiranyagarbha; and this state, in which it may remain until the end of the cycle (Brahmā existing as Hiranyagarbha for that cycle only), is what is most usually meant by the Brahma-Loka. [21] However, just as the center of each state of a being contains the possibility of identification with the center of the total being, so the cosmic center where Hiranyagarbha dwells is identified virtually with the center of all the worlds: [22] that is to say that for the being that has passed beyond a certain degree of knowledge Hiranyagarbha appears as identical with a higher aspect of the 'Non-Supreme' [23] which is Ishvara or Universal Being, first principle of the whole of manifestation. At this stage, the being is no longer in the subtle state, not even in the purely principial sense, but is in the unmanifested; it retains a certain connection however with the order of universal manifestation, of which Ishvara is properly the principle; but it is no longer attached by any special links to the human state and to the particular cycle of which that state forms a part. This stage corresponds to the condition of Prājña, and it is the being who does not proceed beyond this condition that is described as united with Brahma, even at the time of the pralaya, in the manner of deep sleep only; the return thence to another cycle of manifestation is still possible; but, since the being is set free from individuality (as distinct
from what occurs to one following the pitri-yāna), that cycle can only be a formless and supra-individual state. [24] Finally, in the case where 'Deliverance' is about to be obtained directly from the human state, still more is implied over and above what has just been described, and in such a case the true goal is no longer Universal Being but the Supreme Brahma Itself, that is to say 'unqualified' (nirguna) Brahma in Its total Infinitude, comprising both Being (or the possibilities of manifestation) and Non-Being (or the possibilities of non-manifestation), principle of the one and of the other, beyond them both therefore, [25] while also at the same time containing them both, in accordance with the teaching that we have already expounded on the subject of the unconditioned state of Ātmā, which is precisely what is referred to in the present instance. [26] It is in this sense that the abode of Brahma (or of Ātmā, in this unconditioned state) is even 'beyond the spiritual Sun' (which is Ātmā in its
third condition, identical with Ishvara), [27] just as it is beyond all the spheres of the particular states of existence, individual or supraindividual; but this abode cannot be directly attained by those who have only meditated upon Brahma through the medium of a symbol (pratika), each meditation (upāsanā) only having in that case a definite and limited result. [28]
The 'Supreme Identity' is therefore the finality of the 'liberated' being, that is, of the being freed from the conditions of individual human existence as well as from all other particular and limiting conditions (upādhis), which are looked upon as so many bonds. [29] When the man (or rather the being that was previously in the human state) is thus 'delivered', the 'Self' (Ātmā) is fully realized in its own 'undivided' nature and is then, according to Audulomi, an omnipresent consciousness (having chaitanya as its attribute); the teaching of Jaimini is identical, but he specifies in addition that this consciousness manifests the divine attributes (aishvarya) as transcendent faculties, from the fact that it is united to the Supreme Essence. [30] Such is the nature of complete Liberation, obtained
through the fullness of Divine Knowledge; as for those whose contemplation (dhyāna) has only been partial, although active (metaphysical realization remaining incomplete), or has been purely passive (as in the case of Western mystics), they enjoy certain higher states, [31] but without being able to arrive forthwith at perfect Union (Yoga), which is one and the same thing as 'Deliverance'. [32]