Page:History of India Vol 9.djvu/207

 SCIENTIFIC AND PHILOSOPHIC SPECULATIONS 167 and of the calamities which befall men when they ap- pear. These calamities compel them to emigrate from their homes, lean from exhaustion, moaning over their mishap, leading their children by the hand along the road, and saying to each other in low tones: " We are punished for the sins of our kings; " whereupon others answer: " Not so. This is the retribution for what we have done in the former life, before we entered these bodies. " The following passage is taken from the book of the philosopher Patanjali: " The soul, being tied on all sides to ignorance, which is the cause of its being fettered, is like rice in its cover. As long as it is there, it is capable of growing and ripening in the transition stages between being born and giving birth itself. But if the cover is taken off the rice, it ceases to develop in this way, and becomes stationary. The retribution of the soul depends on the various kinds of creatures through which it wanders, upon the extent of life, whether it be long or short, and upon the particular kind of its happiness, be it scanty or ample." The pupil asks: " What is the condition of the spirit when it has a claim to a recompense or has committed a crime, and is then entangled in a kind of new birth either in order to receive bliss or to be punished? ' The master says: " It migrates according to what it has previously done, fluctuating between happiness and misfortune, and alternately experiencing pain or pleas- ure." The pupil asks: " If a man commits something