ENTERING ANOTHER'S BODY. 7 



other's body and some others are subservient to the foot-lotuses of 

 the these mahasiddhis (the great Arts)." For all that the parakaya- 

 prave<;a is an art destined to make a brilliant career in fiction. It 

 is applied in two rather distinctive ways, one more philosophical, 

 the other plainly folk-lore. In its philosophical aspect " the mind- 

 stuff penetrates into the body of another." Patafijali's Commen- 

 tator (Yoga-Bhasya of Veda-Vyasa) remarks that the Yogin, as 

 the result of concentration reduces his karma, becomes conscious 

 of the procedure of his mind-stuff, and then is able to withdraw 

 the mind-stuif from his own body and to deposit it in another body. 

 The organs also fly after the mind-stuff thus deposited.^^ In its 

 folk-lore aspect the art consists of abandoning one's body and enter- 

 ing another body, dead or in some other way bereft of its soul. The 

 second form is naturally more popular in fiction. 



There is but one elaborate instance of the art of pervading 

 another's body with one's mind-stuif, Mahabharata, 13. 40 if. A 

 noble sage, named Devagarman, had a wife, Ruci by name, the like 

 of whom there was not upon the earth. Gods, Gandharvas, and 

 Demons were intoxicated by her charms, but none so much so as 

 the God Indra, the slayer of Vrtra, the punisher of Paka. Indra 

 is of old a good deal of a viveiir and man about town. In remote 

 antiquity he established for himself his dubious reputation by 

 violating Ahalya, the beautiful wife of the great Sage Gautama; 

 therefore he is known ever after as the " Paramour of Ahalya " 

 (ahalyayai jarah).^^ Now Devagarman, the great Sage, under- 

 stood the nature of women, therefore guarded that wife with every 

 device and endeavor. Also, he was aware that Indra, seeker of 

 intrigues with the wives of others, was the most likely source of 

 danger: hence he yet more strenuously guarded his wife.- Being 

 minded to perform a sacrifice he pondered the means of protecting 

 his spouse during his absence. He called to him his disciple Vipula, 

 and said : " I am going to perform a sacrifice ; since Indra constantly 



18 Wood, The Yoga-System of Patanjali, HOS. Vol. XVII. p. 266. Cf. 

 the kamavasayitva of the commentator to Vacaspatimigra's " Samkhya-tattva- 

 kaumudi," 1. c. 



19 From Catapatha Brahmana, 3. 3. 4. 18, on to Kathasaritsagara i". 137 ff.; 

 see my Vedic Concordance under ahalyayai. 



