Canto IX: The Paradise of the Life-Gods

Aswapati has moved through the Paradise of Life-Gods. It is the state where one arrives having faced and the wounds and pangs of Hell and yet not succumbing to its assaults of fear and pain. And yet this is not all our soul can climb. Beyond these heavens are greater vistas of light and peace and bliss.

Aswapati discovers the vital heavens, the Paradise and grows into the likeness of the gods of these worlds.

This world is a space where all our heart’s desires seem to be drawn towards satisfaction. All our hopes and wishes and fantasies find their fulfilment there.

Most religions have taken this to be the highest state possible for man, a domain where he goes after death as a reward for his good deeds here upon earth. It is a world of luminous force and compelling joy. The yogis however go much beyond this state.

Paradise is a plane of consciousness, a world where pleasure and joy have been sublimated to a godlike level. There are all things are beautiful and glad and free unstained by the touch of grief and tears.