THE QUALITIES OF THE SOUL 105
of wisdom and perfection which permits it to reunite itself anew, and that inseparably and for ever, with God: that is to say, it ceases to migrate from one body to another.
The soul is said to be endowed with one of the following three gunas, or inherent qualities, viz. sattva, rajas, or
tamas— good? iess, passion, or ignorance. It frees itself at one time from one, at another time from another, of these inherent qualities, and it attains perfection only after it is
entirely freed from all of them. The five senses of the body play the part of councillors
and slaves to the soul. For instance, should the soul perceive a desirable object, it immediately conceives the desire of possessing it. The feet are ordered to approach
it, and when the object is in view, the eyes are commanded to behold it, and the hands to seize it, which orders are immediately executed. The nostrils are then commanded to smell it, the mouth to open, and the tongue to taste it; and these organs comply with its wishes. Thereupon the
object passes into the body with which the soul is united, and the soul is then satisfied. Thus it is the soul that
regulates the actions and the movements of the body. It may be compared, in this respect, with a magnet placed on a brass plate beneath which is an iron needle. If the magnet be moved round the plate, the needle follows in the same direction; but if the magnet be removed, the
needle at once drops down and remains motionless. The
magnet is therefore typical of the soul, and the needle of the body. As long as these two are united, the body is
susceptible of motion; but no sooner does the soul quit the body to take up its abode elsewhere than the body
becomes insensible, is dissolved, and returns to the five elements from which it was originally formed. The soul, on the other hand, like the magnet, loses nothing of its efficacy, and in whatever body it takes up its abode, always remains the same.
The two great sects of philosophers above mentioned
were subsequently divided into six others, known by the general name of Shan Mata( the six sects, or schools).
Their names are( 1) Saiva,( 2) Sahta,( 3) Charvaka,( 4) Kapalika,( 5) Vaishnava,( 6) Bouddha. To strive to purify the soul, to acquire wisdom and perfection, to dissipate