in Virtue Of The Three Gunas, He Treads Three Paths, And Is Therefore

 - said to be "three pathed." When Sattva predominates, he practices self control (dama and s'ama), and by the eight-stepped yoga resorts to the worship of Saguna

- the Conditioned Brahman and attains to the Brahma-loka by the "northern path" or "the path of light." (vide Bhagavad Gita VIII 23-27)

- When Rajas predominates, he takes to such kamyakarmani, interested or desire-prompted acts - such as Jyotishtoma - and attains the Somaloka called Svarga

- by "the southern path" or the "path of smoke." (Svetasvatara Upanishad 3-13). When tamas predominates he commits the major and minor sins'

- mahapatakas and upapatakas and attains to hell (Naraka) by the third path. Thus the Ego, the lord of the senses, traverses the three paths by his acts

- And the nature of the Ego (Jiva) is described in the same Upanishad as follows:

"He who is thumb-sized, like the Sun in form, endued with thought and egoism, par-taking both of the nature of buddhi and of the nature of Atman, with the size of a goad point, the lower one (Jiva) too is seen"

- The heart-lotus is of the same size as the thumb. As dwelling therein, the Ego, too, is said to be thumb-sized. That he dwells in the heart may be seen from

- such other passages of the Sruti as the following: "In the heart, verily, is this Atman." (Prasna Upanishad 3-6). 

- When one would point with the hand to oneself - be it a learned man, or a woman, or a shepherd, or a cowherd - saying "this I am," it is the region of the heart that one touches, but not the head, the buttocks, the feet, or the like