The soul is not said to have finally perished unless it merges into the divine self and attains moksha or…
- Date of account
- Published 1914
- Source
- Folk Lore Notes. Vol. I—Gujarat
- Reference
- Folk Lore Notes. Vol. I—Gujarat · selected passage 46
- Rights
- public_domain
- Language
- English
- Record updated
- 2026-08-25
Record summary
The soul is not said to have finally perished unless it merges into the divine self and attains moksha or salvation
Published source text
Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.
Source passage
Source text · mention onlyThe soul is not said to have finally perished unless it merges into the divine self and attains moksha or salvation. The passions and desires of a dying man do not permit his soul ascending beyond a certain stage, where he or she remains as a ghost until the soul is purged of all his or her desires and sins by the performance of funeral ceremonies. For relieving ancestral spirits from the low order of bhuts and pishachas, shraddhas are performed by their surviving relatives in such holy places as Prabhas, Gaya and Pindtarak. These ceremonies are known as Narayanbali, Nilotsarga and saptaha-parayan (recitation of a sacred book for seven consecutive days).
Historical context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyThis material belongs to a folklore tradition. Story type, collector, community, transmission and literary editing matter when comparing it with other sources.
Modern context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyLattice compares motifs and reported features without assuming that a traditional being is a biological species or that similar stories document one external cause.
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