Acknowledgements Abbreviations 1 Introduction 1 "Souls" in Vedic Indian Beliefs 2 The Purpose of the Study 3 The Concept of "Soul" in the Study of Religion 4 Towards a Working Definition of "Soul"2 Approaching the Sources 1 The Material 2 Previous Research on Vedic Soul-Conceptions 3 Notes on Methodology 4 Structure of the Study Part 1: General Background 3 Afterlife, Person, and Soul in Pre-Upaniadic Vedic Thought 1 The Vedic Concept of the Person 2 The Earliest Conceptions of the Afterlife 3 Later Vedic Views of the Afterlife 4 Conclusions4 The Rise of New Doctrines on the Soul and Afterlife: A Late Vedic Conundrum 1 The Decline of Ritualism: Theories on the Transformation of Late Vedic Ideology 2 Conclusions Part 2: Vedic Soul-Concepts 5 The asu 1 Meanings of the Term 2 asu in the Rgveda 3 asu in the Atharvaveda 4 asu in the Yajurvedic Sahitas 5 asu in the Brahmaas 6 asu in the Upaniads 7 Conclusions 8 Excursus: A Note on asu in Epic Sanskrit6 manas, the Mind 1 manas in the Rgveda 2 manas in the Atharvaveda 3 The Relation of manas to asu 4 manas in Middle Vedic Thought 5 Late Vedic: Mind as the Central Vital Faculty 6 manas in the Upaniads 7 Conclusions7 praa, the Breath 1 Etymology and Meaning of praa 2 On praa and the praas 3 praa in the Rgveda 4 praa in the Atharvaveda 5 praa and the praas in Later Vedic Literature 6 The praa''s Rise to Greatness in Late Vedic Texts 7 The Supreme Cosmic and Psychic Force 8 The Fate of the Upaniadic praa Concept 9 Conclusions8 The purua 1 Uses of the Word in Early Vedic 2 purua in Brahmaas and arayakas 3 Excursus: Some Possible Sources of the Homunculus Conception 4 purua in the Upaniads 5 Conclusions9 The atman 1 Etymology and Original Sense of the Word 2 atman in the Rgveda 3 atman in the Atharvaveda 4 atman in Middle Vedic Texts 5 atman in Late Brahmaas and in the arayakas 6 atman in the Upaniads 7 Conclusions PART 3: The Transformation of Vedic Soul-Beliefs 10 Self and Sacrifice: Ritual Interiorization and the Rise of Soul-Doctrines 1 The Interiorization of Ritual and the Emergence of the "Self" 2 Theories on the Causes of Interiorization 3 Interiorization and the Soul 4 Political Symbolism in the Imagery of the Soul 5 Conclusions11 Soul and Selfhood: Changing Late Vedic Conceptions of the Person 1 Theories on the Unification of the Soul in India and Elsewhere 2 The Unitary Soul in Late Vedic Texts 3 The Question of Spirit-Matter Dualism 4 A Changing Society? 5 The Problem of Individualism in Ancient India 6 Conclusions12 States of the Soul: Dreaming, Unconsciousness, and Ecstasy in Vedic Thought 1 Free-souls in Vedic India 2 Soul and Dreaming: Vedic Theories on the Nature of Dreams 3 Soul-travel in Vedic Texts 4 Mysticism and the Soul: The Case of the Upaniads 5 Conclusions13 Soul in Non-Brahmanical Traditions 1 Bronkhorst''s Theory: The Inactive Self 2 More on atman and Renunciation 3 Was There a sramaic Concept of the Soul? 4 Conclusions 5 Excursus: Some Remarks on the Self in Early Buddhism and in the Upaniads14 The Doctrine of Rebirth 1 The Early Vedic Evidence 2 Rebirth Understood in the Ancestral Rites? 3 The Recurring Death 4 Karma 5 The Earliest Theories of Rebirth 6 Conclusions Part 4: Conclusions 15 Souls and Self in Vedic Thought Appendix 1: Indo-Iranian and Indo-European Soul-Concepts Appendix 2: Shadow and Reflection Appendix 3: The Soul or the Dead as Birds Appendix 4: Soul and Fire Bibliography Index.