172 THE ARAB AL-BIRUNI ON HINDU RELIGION comes to Asipatravana. The hunter and the maker of snares and traps come to Vahnijvdla. He who neglects the customs and rules, and he who violates the laws and he is the worst of all come to Sandamsaka." We have given this enumeration only in order to show what kinds of deeds the Hindus abhor as sins. Some Hindus believe that the middle world, the one for earning rewards, is the human world, and that a man wanders about in it because he has received a reward which does not lead him into heaven, but at the same time saves him from hell. They consider heaven as a higher stage, where a man lives in a state of bliss which must be of a certain duration on account of the good deeds he has done. On the contrary, they consider the wandering about in plants and animals as a lower stage, where a man dwells for punishment for a certain length of time, which is thought to correspond to the wretched deeds he has done. People who hold this view do not know of any hell but this kind of degradation below the degree of living as a human being. All these degrees of retribution are necessary for the reason that the seeking for salvation from the fetters of matter frequently does not proceed on the straight line which leads to absolute knowledge, but on lines chosen by guessing or chosen because others have chosen them. Not one action of man shall be lost, not even the least of all; it shall be brought to his account after his good and bad actions have been balanced against each other. The retribution, however, is not according to the deed, but according to the intention
