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4. Conductors, this being indicated.

The decision here is that light, Vâyu, and the rest mentioned in the texts as connected with the soul's progress on the path of the Gods are to be interpreted not as mere marks indicating the road, nor as places of enjoyment for the soul, but as divinities appointed by the Supreme Person to conduct the soul along the stages of the road; for this is indicated by what the Khandogya. says with regard to the last stage, viz. lightning, 'There is a person not human, he leads them to Brahman.' What here is said as to that person not human, viz. that he leads the soul, is to be extended to the other beings also, light and the rest.--But if that not human person leads the souls from lightning to Brahman, what then about Varuna, Indra, and Pragâpati, who, as was decided above, are in charge of stages beyond lightning? Do they also lead the soul along their stages?


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