CHAPTER  V.                                 55

asked Messiah what would be th e end of those souls which
did not receive the truth nor learn the origin of their
existence. Whereupon he said, ' Any weak soul which
has not received all that belongs to her of truth perishes
without any rest or bliss.' " By perishing Mani means
her being punished, not her total disappearance. For
in another place he says : " The partisans of Bardesanes
think that the living soul rises and is purified in the
carcase, not knowing that the latter is the enemy of
the soul, that the carcase prevents the soul from rising,
that it is a prison, and a painful punishment to the
soul. If this human figure were a real existence, its
creator would not let it wear out and suffer injury, and
would not have compelled it to reproduce itself by the
sperma in the uterus."

The following passage is taken from the book of Patafijaii.
Patanjali :—" The soul, being on all sides tied 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 tran¬
sition 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 Page 28.
and misfortune, and alternately experiencing pain or
pleasure."

The pupil asks :  " If a man commits something which