Page:Philosophy of bhagawad-gita.pdf/64

40 that many of the phenomena exhibited at scances are really produced by elementals (which naturally subsist on the astral plane} masquerading, as it were, in the garb of elementaries or pisachas.

I need not, however, enter further into this branch of the subject, as it has but a very remote bearing upon the teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita with which I am concerned. Suffice it to say, that what has been stated is all that ordinarily takes place at the death of a man, but there are certain kinds of karma which may present exceptions to the general law. Suppose, for instance, a man has devoted all his life to the evocation of elementals. In such a case either the elementals take possession of the man and make a medium of him, or, if they do not do that completely, they take possession of his astral body and absorb it at the time of death. In the latter case the astral body, associated as it is with an independent elemental being, will subsist for a considerable length of time. But though elemental worship may lead to mediumship--to irresponsible mediumship in the majority of cases--and may confuse a man's intellect, and make him morally worse than he was before, these elementals will not be able to destroy the karana sharira. Still it is by no means a desirable thing that we should place ourselves under the control of elementals.

There is another kind of worship, however, which a man may follow, and which may lead to far more