रश्म्यनुसारी ॥ १८ ॥
raśmyanusārī || 18 ||
raśmi-anusārī—Following the rays.
18. (The soul of a knower of the Saguna Brahman when he dies) follows the rays (of the sun).
In the Chhandogya Upanishad we have, “… so do these rays of the sun go to both the worlds, this as well as the other. They proceed from the sun and enter into these nerves” (8. 6. 2); again, “When he thus departs from this body, then along these very rays he proceeds upwards” etc. (8. 6. 5). In these texts we learn that the soul of the knower of the Saguna Brahman, after departing from the body along the Sushumna, follows the rays of the sun. A doubt arises whether the soul of one who passes away in the night also follows the rays. The Sutra says that the soul, whether it departs in the night or during the day, follows the rays.