Joanna Jurewicz

In this paper I would like to join the discussion about transmigration in Vedic times. It is generally assumed that the ideas of transmigration were introduced by the kṣatriyas, as attested in the Upaniṣads (Bṛhadāraṇyaka,Chāndogya, Kauṣītaki) . The BU and CU present the ‘knowledge of five fires’ (pañcāgnividyā) together with the division into the pitṛyāna and devayāna, paths taken by the dead according to their past deeds. The model of five fires is used to explain how the world works also in the Jaiminīya Brāhmaṇa (JB 1.45-46, 49-50). This Brāhmaṇatoo presents two possible ways the dead can take, depending on their knowledge.

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