Mysteries of Creation, the World's Ages, and Soul Wandering
The World Soul—Vedic Hymn of Creation—Brahmă the only
Reality—Doctrine of the Upanishads—Creation Myths—The Chaos
Egg in India and Egypt—Ancestor Worship—Celestial Rishis and
Manus—Influence of Folk Religion—Imported Doctrines—The Yugas
or Ages of the Universe—Ape God's Revelations—The Ages in
Greek and Celtic Mythologies—Universal Destruction—A Deathless
Sage—His Account of the Mysteries—Narayana the Creator and
Destroyer—Transmigration of Souls—Beliefs in India, Egypt, Greece,
and among the Celts.
Before the Vedic Age had come to a close an unknown poet, who was
one of the world's great thinkers, had risen above the popular
materialistic ideas concerning the hammer god and the humanized spirits
of Nature, towards the conception of the World Soul and the First
Cause—the “Unknown God”. He sang of the mysterious beginning of all
things:
There was neither existence, nor non-existence,
The kingdom of air, nor the sky beyond.
What was there to contain, to cover in—
Was it but vast, unfathomed depths of water?
There was no death there, nor Immortality.
No sun was there, dividing day from night.
Then was there only THAT, resting within itself.
Apart from it, there was not anything.
At first within the darkness veiled in darkness,
Chaos unknowable, the All lay hid.
Till straightway from the formless void made manifest
By the great power of heat was born that germ.
_Rigveda_, x, 129 (Griffith's trans.).
The poet goes on to say that wise men had discovered in their hearts
that the germ of Being existed in Not Being. But who, he asked, could
tell how Being first originated? The gods came later, and are unable to
reveal how Creation began. He who guards the Universe knows, or mayhap
he does not know.
Other late Rigvedic poets summed up the eternal question regarding the
Great Unknown in the interrogative pronoun “What?” (Ka). Men's minds
were confronted by an inspiring and insoluble problem. In our own day
the Agnostics say, “I do not know”; but this hackneyed phrase does
not reflect the spirit of enquiry like the arresting “What?” of the
pondering old forest hermits of ancient India.
The priests who systematized religious beliefs and practices in the
_Brahmanas_ identified “Ka” with Praja´pati, the Creator, and with
Brahma, another name of the Creator.
In the Vedas the word “brahma” signifies “devotion” or “the highest
religious knowledge”. Later Brahmă (neuter) was applied to the World
Soul, the All in All, the primary substance from which all that exists
has issued forth, the Eternal Being “of which all are phases”; Brahmă
was the Universal Self, the Self in the various Vedic gods, the Self
in man, bird, beast, and fish, the Life of Life, the only reality, the
unchangeable. This one essence or Self (Atman) permeates the whole
Universe. Brahmă is the invisible force in the seed, as he is the
“vital spark” in mobile creatures. In the _Khandogva Upanishad_ a young
Brahman receives instruction from his father. The sage asks if his
pupil has ever endeavoured to find out how he can hear what cannot be
heard, how he can see what cannot be seen, and how he can know what
cannot be known? He then asks for the fruit of the Nyagrodha tree.
“Here is one, sir.”
“Break it.”
“It is broken, sir.”
“What do you see there?”
“Not anything, sir.”
“My son,” said the father, “that subtile essence which you do not
perceive there, of that very essence this great Nyagrodha tree exists.
Believe it, my son. That which is the subtile essence, in it all that
exists has itself. It is the True. It is the Self; and thou, my son,
art it.”
In _Katha Upanishad_ a sage declares:
The whole universe trembles within the life (Brahmă); emanating
from it (Brahmă) the universe moves on. It is a great fear, like an
uplifted thunderbolt. Those who know it become immortal....
As one is reflected in a looking-glass, so the soul is in the body; as
in a dream, so in the world of the forefathers; as in water, so in the
world of the Gandharvas; as in a picture and in the sunshine, so in
the world of Brahmă....
The soul's being (nature) is not placed in what is visible; none
beholds it by the eye.... Through thinking it gets manifest Immortal
become those who know it....
The soul is not to be gained by word, not by the mind, not by the eye,
how could it be perceived by any other than him who declares it exists?
When all the desires cease that are cherished in his heart (intellect)
then the mortal becomes immortal.
When all the bonds of the heart are broken in this life, then the
mortal becomes immortal....[146]
[146] Dr. E. Röer's translation (Calcutta).
The salvation of the soul is secured by union with Brahmă, the supreme
and eternal Atman (Self), “the power which receives back to itself
again all worlds.... The identity of the Brahmă and the Atman, of God
and the Soul, is the fundamental thought of the entire doctrine of the
Upanishads.”[147]
[147] Deussen's _Philosophy of the Upanishads_, p. 39.
Various creation myths were framed by teachers to satisfy the desire
for knowledge regarding the beginning of things. The divine incarnation
of Brahmă is known as Brahma (masculine) Prajapati, and Nãrãyana.
In one account we read: “At first the Universe was not anything. There
was neither sky, nor earth, nor air. Being non-existent it resolved,
‘Let me be’. It became fervent. From that fervour smoke was produced.
It again became fervent. From that fervour fire was produced.”
Afterwards the fire became “rays” and the rays condensed like a cloud,
producing the sea. A magical formula (Dásahotri) was next created.
“Prajapati is the Dásahotri.”
Eminently Brahmanic in character is the comment inserted here: “That
man succeeds who, thus knowing the power of austere abstraction (or
fervour), practises it.”
When Prajapati arose from the primordial waters he “wept, exclaiming,
‘For what purpose have I been born if (I have been born) from this
which forms no support?...’ That (the tears) which fell into the
water became the earth. That which he wiped away became the air. That
which he wiped away, upwards, became the sky. From the circumstance
that he wept (_arodít_), these two regions have the name of _rodasí_
(worlds)....”
[Illustration: THE BIRTH OF BRAHMA: SPRINGING FROM A LOTUS ISSUING
FROM VISHNU (see page 124)
_From an original Indian painting_
18]
Prajapati afterwards created Asuras and cast off his body, which became
darkness; he created men and cast off his body, which became moonlight;
he created seasons and cast off his body, which became twilight; he
created gods and cast off his body, which became day. The Asuras
received milk in an earthen dish, men in a wooden dish, the seasons in
a silver dish, and the gods were given Soma in a golden dish. In the
end Prajapati created Death, “a devourer of creatures”.
“Mind (or soul, _manas_) was created from the non-existent”, adds
a priestly commentator. “Mind created Prajapati. Prajapati created
offspring. All this, whatever exists, rests absolutely on mind.”[148]
[148] Muir's _Original Sanskrit Texts_, vol. i, pp. 29-30.
In another mythical account of Creation, Prajapati emerges, like the
Egyptian Horus, from a lotus bloom floating on the primordial waters.
The most elaborate story of Creation is found in the _Laws of Manu_,
the eponymous ancestor of mankind and the first lawgiver.
It relates that in the beginning the Self-Existent Being desired to
create living creatures. He first created the waters, which he called
“narah”, and then a seed; he flung the seed into the waters, and it
became a golden egg which had the splendour of the sun. From the
egg came forth Brahma, Father of All. Because Brahma came from the
“waters”, and they were his first home or path (ayana), he is called
Narayana.
The Egyptian sun god Ra similarly rose from the primordial waters as
the sun-egg. Ptah came from the egg which, according to one myth,
was laid by the chaos goose, and to another issued from the mouth of
Khnumu.[149] This conception may have had origin in the story of the
giant of the folk tales who concealed his soul in the egg, in the
tree, and in various animal forms. There are references in Indian
literature to Brahma's tree, and Brahma is identified with Purusha, who
became in turn a cow, a goat, a horse, &c., to produce living creatures.
[149] See _Egyptian Myth and Legend_.
In Manu's account of Creation we meet for the first time with the
Maha-rishis or Deva-rishis, the Celestial priest poets. These are the
mind-born sons of Brahma, who came into existence before the gods and
the demons. Indeed, they are credited with some acts of creation. The
seven or fourteen Manus were also created at the beginning. Originally
there was but a single Manu, “the father of men”.
The inclusion of the Rishis and the Manus among the deities is a late
development of orthodox Brahmanism. They appear to represent the
Fathers (Pitris) who were adored by ancestor worshippers. The tribal
patriarch Bhrigu, for instance, was a Celestial Rishi.
It must be borne in mind that more than one current of thought was
operating during the course of the centuries, and over a wide area,
in shaping the complex religion which culminated in modern Hinduism.
The history of Hinduism is the history of a continual struggle between
the devotees of folk religion and the expounders of the Forest Books
produced by the speculative sages who, in their quest for Truth, used
primitive myths to illustrate profound doctrinal teachings. By the
common people these myths were given literal interpretation. Among the
priests there were also “schools of thought”. One class of Brahmans, it
has been alleged, was concerned chiefly regarding ritual, the mercenary
results of their teachings, and the achievement of political power: men
of this type appear to have been too ready to effect compromises by
making concession to popular opinion.
Just as the _Atharva-veda_ came into existence as a book after the
_Rigveda_ had been compiled, so did many traditional beliefs of
animistic character receive recognition by Brahmanic “schools” after
the period of the early _Upanishads_. It may be, however, that we
should also recognize in these “innovations” the influence of races
which imported their own modes of thought, or of Aryan tribes that had
been in contact for long periods with other civilizations known and
unknown.
In endeavouring to trace the sources of foreign influences, we
should not always expect to find clues in the mythologies of great
civilizations like Babylonia, Assyria, or Egypt alone. The example of
the Hebrews, a people who never invented anything, and yet produced the
greatest sacred literature of the world, is highly suggestive in this
connection. It is possible that an intellectual influence was exercised
in early times over great conquering races by humble forgotten peoples
whose artifacts give no indication of their mental activity.
In Indian Aryan mythology we are suddenly confronted at a comparatively
late period, at any rate some time after tribal settlements were
effected all over Hindustan from the Bay of Bengal to the Arabian
Sea, with fully developed conceptions regarding the World's Ages and
Transmigration of Souls, which, it is quite evident, did not originate
after the Aryan conquest of Hindustan. Both doctrines can be traced in
Greek and Celtic (Irish) mythologies, but they are absent from Teutonic
mythology. From what centre and what race they originally emanated we
are unable to discover. The problem presented is a familiar one. At the
beginnings of all ancient religious systems and great civilizations
we catch glimpses of unknown and vanishing peoples who had sowed the
seeds for the harvests which their conquerors reaped in season.
The World's Ages are the “Yugas” of Brahmanism. “Of this elaborate
system ... no traces are found in the hymns of the _Rigveda_. Their
authors were, indeed, familiar with the word ‘yuga’, which frequently
occurs in the sense of age, generation, or tribe.... The first passage
of the _Rigveda_ in which there is any indication of a considerable
mundane period being noted is where ‘a first’ or an earlier age
(yuga) of the gods is mentioned when ‘the existent sprang from the
non-existent’.... In one verse of the _Atharva-veda_, however, the word
‘yuga’ is so employed as to lead to the supposition that a period of
very long duration is intended. It is there said: ‘We allot to thee a
hundred, ten thousand years, two, three, four ages (yugas)’.”[150]
[150] Muir's _Original Sanskrit Texts_, vol. i, p. 46.
Professor Muir traced references in the _Brahmanas_ to the belief in
“Yugas” as “Ages”, but showed that these were isolated ideas with
which, however, the authors of these books were becoming familiar.
When the system of Yugas was developed by the Indian priestly
mathematicians, the result was as follows:—
One year of mortals is equal to one day of the gods. 12,000 divine
years are equal to a period of four Yugas, which is thus made up, viz.:
Krita Yuga, with its mornings and evenings, 4,800 divine years.
Treta Yuga, " " " " 3,600 "
Dwãpara Yuga, " " " " 2,400 "
Kali Yuga, " " " " 1,200 "
Making 12,000 "
These 12,000 divine years equal 4,320,000 years of mortals, each
human year being composed of 360 days. A thousand of these periods of
4,320,000 years equals one day (Kalpa) of Brahma. During “the day of
Brahma” fourteen Manus reign: each Manu period is a Manvantara. A year
of Brahma is composed of 360 Kalpas, and he endures for 100 of these
years. One half of Brahma's existence has now expired.
At the end of each “day” (Kalpa) Brahma sleeps for a night of equal
length, and before falling asleep the Universe becomes water as at the
beginning. He creates anew when he wakes on the morning of the next
Kalpa.[151]
[151] Abridged from Muir's _Original Sanskrit Texts_, pp. 43, 44, and
Wilson's _Manu_, p. 50.
One of the most interesting accounts of the Yugas is given in the
_Mahábhárata_. It is embedded in a narrative which reflects a phase of
the character of that great epic.
Bhima of the Pan´davas, the human son of the wind god Vayu, once went
forth to obtain for his beloved queen the flowers of Paradise—those
Celestial lotuses of a thousand petals with sun-like splendour and
unearthly fragrance, which prolong life and renew beauty: they grow
in the demon-guarded woodland lake in the region of Kuvera, god of
treasure. Bhima hastened towards the north-east, facing the wind, armed
with a golden bow and snake-like arrows; like an angry lion he went,
nor ever felt weary. Having climbed a great mountain he entered a
forest which is the haunt of demons, and he saw stately and beautiful
trees, blossoming creepers, flowers of various hues, and birds with
gorgeous plumage. A soft wind blew in his face; it was anointed with
the perfume of Celestial lotus; it was as refreshing as the touch of
a father's hand. Beautiful was that sacred retreat. The great clouds
spread out like wings and the mountain seemed to dance; shining streams
adorned it like to a necklace of pearls.
Bhima went speedily through the forest; stags, with grass in their
mouths, looked up at him unafraid; invisible Yakshas and Gandharvas
watched him as he went on swifter than the wind, and ever wondering how
he could obtain the flowers of Paradise without delay....
At length he hastened like to a hurricane, making the earth tremble
under his feet, and lions and tigers and elephants and bears arose and
took flight from before him. Terrible was then the roaring of Bhima.
Birds fluttered terror-stricken and flew away; in confusion arose the
geese and the ducks and the herons and the kokilas....[152] Bhima tore
down branches; he struck trees and overthrew them; he smote and slew
elephants and lions and tigers that crossed his path. He blew on his
war-shell and the heavens trembled; the forest was stricken with fear;
mountain caves echoed the clamour; elephants trumpeted in terror and
lions howled dismally.
[152] Indian cuckoo.
The ape god Hanuman[153] was awakened; drowsily he yawned and he lashed
his long tail with tempest fury until it stretched forth like a mighty
pole and obstructed the path of Bhima. Thus the ape god, who was also
a son of Vayu, the wind, made Bhima to pause. Opening his red sleepy
eyes, he said: “Sick am I, but I was slumbering sweetly; why hast thou
awakened me so rudely? Whither art thou going? Yonder mountains are
closed against thee: thou art treading the path of the gods. Therefore
pause and repose here: do not hasten to destruction.”
[153] In his character as the Typhoon.
Said Bhima: “Who art thou? I am a Kshatriya, the son of Vayu.... Arise
and let me pass, or else thou wilt perish.”
Hanuman said: “I am sickly and cannot move; leap over me.”
[Illustration: HANUMAN
_From a bronze in the Victoria and Albert Museum_
19]
Said Bhima: “I cannot leap over thee. It is forbidden by the Supreme
Soul, else would I bound as Hanuman bounded over the ocean, for I am
his brother.”
Hanuman said: “Then move my tail and go past.”
Then Bhima endeavoured to lift the tail of the ape god, but failed, and
he said: “Who art thou that hath assumed the form of an ape; art thou a
god, or a spirit, or a demon?”
Hanuman said: “I am the son of Vayu, even Hanuman. Thou art my elder
brother.”
Said Bhima: “I would fain behold the incomparable form thou didst
assume to leap over the ocean.”
Hanuman said: “At that Age the universe was not as it is now. Thou
canst not behold the form I erstwhile had.... In Krita Yuga there was
one state of things and in the Treta Yuga another; greater change came
with Dwãpara Yuga, and in the present Yuga there is lessening, and I
am not what I have been. The gods, the saints, and all things that are
have changed. I have conformed with the tendency of the present age and
the influence of Time.”
Said Bhima: “I would fain learn of thee regarding the various Yugas.
Speak and tell what thou dost know, O Hanuman.”
The ape god then spake and said: “The Krita Yuga (Perfect Age) was so
named because there was but one religion, and all men were saintly:
therefore they were not required to perform religious ceremonies.
Holiness never grew less, and the people did not decrease. There were
no gods in the Krita Yuga, and there were no demons or Yakshas, and no
Rakshasas or Nagas. Men neither bought nor sold; there were no poor and
no rich; there was no need to labour, because all that men required was
obtained by the power of will; the chief virtue was the abandonment
of all worldly desires. The Krita Yuga was without disease; there was
no lessening with the years; there was no hatred, or vanity, or evil
thought whatsoever; no sorrow, no fear. All mankind could attain to
supreme blessedness. The universal soul was Narayana: he was _White_;
he was the refuge of all and was sought for by all; the identification
of self with the universal soul was the whole religion of the Perfect
Age.
“In the Treta Yuga sacrifices began, and the World Soul became _Red_;
virtue lessened a quarter. Mankind sought truth and performed religious
ceremonies; they obtained what they desired by giving and by doing.
“In the Dwãpara Yuga the aspect of the World Soul was _Yellow_:
religion lessened one-half. The Veda, which was one (the _Rigveda_)
in the Krita Yuga, was divided into four parts, and although some
had knowledge of the four Vedas, others knew but three or one. Mind
lessened, Truth declined, and there came desire and diseases and
calamities; because of these men had to undergo penances. It was a
decadent Age by reason of the prevalence of sin.
“In the Kali Yuga[154] the World Soul is _Black_ in hue: it is the Iron
Age; only one quarter of virtue remaineth. The world is afflicted, men
turn to wickedness; disease cometh; all creatures degenerate; contrary
effects are obtained by performing holy rites; change passeth over all
things, and even those who live through many Yugas must change also.”
[154] The present Age, according to Hindu belief.
Having spoken thus, Hanuman bade Bhima to turn back, but Bhima said: “I
cannot leave thee until I have gazed upon thy former shape.”
Then Hanuman favoured his brother, and assumed his vast body; he grew
till he was high as the Vindhya mountain: he was like to a great golden
peak with splendour equal to the sun, and he said: “I can assume even
greater height and bulk by reason of mine own power.”
Having spoken thus, Hanuman permitted Bhima to proceed on his way under
the protection of Vayu, god of wind. He went towards the flowery steeps
of the sacred mountain, and at length he reached the Celestial lotus
lake of Kuvera, which was shaded by trees and surrounded by lilies; the
surface of the waters was covered with golden lotuses which had stalks
of lapis lazuli. Yakshas, with big eyes, came out against Bhima, but
he slew many, and those that remained were put to flight. He drank the
waters of the lake, which renewed his strength. Then he gathered the
Celestial lotuses for his queen.
In this tale we discover the ancient Indo-European myth regarding the
earth's primitive races. The first age is the White Age, the second is
the Red Age, the third the Yellow Age, and the fourth, the present Kali
Yuga, is the Black or Iron Age.
Hesiod, the Greek poet, in his _Works and Days_, divided the mythical
history of Greece similarly, but the order of the Ages was different;
the first was the Golden Age (yellow); the second was the Silver Age
(white); the third was the Bronze Age (red); the fourth was the Age
of the Heroes; and the fifth was the Age in which Hesiod lived—the
Iron (black) Age. The fourth Age is evidently a late interpolation.
Authorities consider that the Heroic Age did not belong to the original
scheme.
In the Greek Golden Age men lived like the gods under the rule of
Kronos; they never suffered the ills of old age, nor lost their
strength; they feasted continually, and enjoyed peace and security.
The whole world prospered. When this race passed away they became
beneficent spirits who watched over mankind and distributed riches.
In the Silver Age mankind were inferior; children were reared up for a
century, and died soon afterwards; sacrifice and worship was neglected.
In the end Zeus, son of Kronos, destroyed the Silver Race.
In the Bronze Age mankind sprang from the ash. They were endowed with
great strength, and worked in bronze and had bronze houses: iron was
unknown. But Bronze Age men were takers of life, and at length Black
Death removed them all to Hades.
Zeus created the fourth race, which was represented by the semi-divine
heroes of a former generation; when they fell in battle on the plain of
Troy and elsewhere, Zeus consigned them to the Islands of the Blest,
where they were ruled over by Kronos. The fifth Age may originally have
been the fourth. As much is suggested by another Hesiodic legend which
sets forth that all mankind are descended from two survivors of the
Flood at the close of the Bronze Age.
In _Le Cycle Mythologique Irlandais et la Mythologie Celtique_, the
late Professor D'Arbois de Jubainville has shown that these Ages are
also a feature of Celtic (Irish) mythology. Their order, however,
differs from those in Greek, but it is of special interest to note that
they are arranged in exactly the same colour order as those given in
the _Mahábhárata_. The first Celtic Age is that of Partholon, which
de Jubainville identified with the Silver Age (white); the second is
Nemed's, the Bronze Age (red); the third is the Tuatha de Danann, the
Golden Age (yellow); and the fourth is the Age of the dark Milesians,
called after their divine ancestor Mile, son of Beli, the god of night
and death. The Irish claim descent from the Milesians.
Professor D'Arbois de Jubainville considered that the differences
between the Irish and Greek versions of the ancient doctrine were due
in part to the developments which Irish legend received after the
introduction of Christianity. There are, however, he showed, striking
affinities. The Tuatha de Danann, for instance, like the “Golden Race”
of the Greeks, became invisible, and shared the dominion of the world
with men, “sometimes coming to help them, sometimes disputing with them
the pleasures of life”.
Like the early Christian annalists of Ireland, the Indian Brahmans
appear to have utilized the legends which were afloat among the people.
Both in the Greek and Celtic (Irish) myths the people of the Silver Age
are distinguished for their folly; in the Indian Silver or White Age
the people were so perfect and holy that it was not necessary for them
to perform religious ceremonies; they simply uttered the mystic word
“Om”.[155]
[155] “Om” originally referred to the three Vedas; afterwards it
signified the Trinity.
There are many interesting points of resemblance between certain of the
Irish and Indian legends. We are informed, for instance, of the Celtic
St. Finnen, who fasted like a Brahman, so to compel a pagan sage, Tuan
MacCarell, to reveal the ancient history of Ireland. Tuan had lived
all through the various mythical Ages; his father was the brother of
Partholon, king of the “Silver Race”. At the end of the First Age,
Tuan was a “long-haired, grey, naked, and miserable old man”. One
evening he fell asleep, and when he woke up he rejoiced to find that
he had become a young stag. He saw the people of Nemed (the Bronze or
Red Race) arriving in Ireland; he saw them passing away. Then he was
transformed into a black boar; afterwards he was a vulture, and in the
end he became a fish. When he had existed as a fish for twenty years he
was caught by a fisherman. The queen had Tuan for herself, and ate his
fish form, with the result that she gave birth to the sage as her son.
In similar manner Bata of the Egyptian Anpu-Bata story,[156] after
existing as a blossom, a bull, and a tree, became the son of his
unfaithful wife, who swallowed a chip of wood.
[156] See _Egyptian Myth and Legend_.
Tuan MacCarell assured St. Finnen, “in the presence of witnesses”,
as we are naively informed, that he remembered all that happened
in Ireland during the period of 1500 years covered by his various
incarnations.
Another, and apparently a later version of the legend, credits the
Irish sage, the fair Fintan, son of Bochra, with having lived for 5550
years before the Deluge, and 5500 years after it. He fled to Ireland
with the followers of Cesara, granddaughter of Noah, to escape the
flood. Fintan, however, was the only survivor, and, according to Irish
chronology, he did not die until the sixth century of the present era.
One of the long-lived Indian sages was named Markandeya. In the _Vana
Parva_ section of the _Mahábhárata_ he visits the exiled Pandava
brethren in a forest, and is addressed as “the great Muni, who has seen
many thousands of ages passing away. In this world”, says the chief
exile, “there is no man who hath lived so long as thou hast.... Thou
didst adore the Supreme Deity when the Universe was dissolved, and the
world was without a firmament, and there were no gods and no demons.
Thou didst behold the re-creation of the four orders of beings when the
winds were restored to their places and the waters were consigned to
their proper place.... Neither death nor old age which causeth the body
to decay have any power over thee.”
Markandeya, who has full knowledge of the Past, the Present, and
the Future, informs the exiles that the Supreme Being is “great,
incomprehensible, wonderful, and immaculate, without beginning and
without end.... He is the Creator of all, but is himself Increate, and
is the cause of all power.”[157]
[157] Roy's translation.
After the Universe is dissolved, all Creation is renewed, and the cycle
of the four Ages begins again with Krita Yuga. “A cycle of the Yugas
comprises twelve thousand divine years. A full thousand of such cycles
constitutes a Day of Brahma.” At the end of each Day of Brahma comes
“Universal Destruction”.
Markandeya goes on to say that the world grows extremely sinful at the
close of the last Kali Yuga of the Day of Brahma. Brahmans abstain
from prayer and meditation, and Sudras take their place. Kshatriyas
and Vaisyas forget the duties of their castes; all men degenerate and
beasts of prey increase. The earth is ravaged by fire, cows give little
milk, fruit trees no longer blossom, Indra sends no rain; the world
of men becomes filled with sin and immorality.... Then the earth is
swept by fire, and heavy rains fall until the forests and mountains are
covered over by the rising flood. All the winds pass away; they are
absorbed by the Lotus floating on the breast of the waters, in which
the Creator sleeps; the whole Universe is a dark expanse of water.
Although even the gods and demons have been destroyed at the eventide
of the last Yuga, Markandeya survives. He wanders over the face
of the desolate waters and becomes weary, but is unable to find a
resting-place. At length he perceives a banyan tree; on one of its
boughs is a Celestial bed, and sitting on the bed is a beautiful boy
whose face is as fair as a full-blown lotus. The boy speaks and says;
“O Markandeya, I know that thou art weary.... Enter my body and secure
repose. I am well pleased with thee.”
Markandeya enters the boy's mouth and is swallowed. In the stomach of
the Divine One the sage beholds the whole earth (that is, India) with
its cities and kingdoms, its rivers and forests, and its mountains and
plains; he sees also the gods and demons, mankind and the beasts of
prey, birds and fishes and insects....
The sage related that he shook with fear when he beheld these wonders,
and desired the protection of the Supreme Being, whereat he was ejected
from the boy's mouth, and found himself once again on the branch of the
banyan tree in the midst of the wide expanse of dark waters.
Markandeya was then informed by the Lord of All regarding the mysteries
which he had beheld. The Divine One spoke saying: “I have called
the waters ‘Nara’, and because they were my ‘Ayana’, or home, I am
Narayana, the source of all things, the Eternal, the Unchangeable. I
am the Creator of all things, and the Destroyer of all things.... I am
all the gods.... Fire is my mouth, the earth is my feet, and the sun
and the moon are my eyes; the Heaven is the crown of my head, and the
cardinal points are my ears; the waters are born of my sweat. Space
with the cardinal points are my body, and the Air is in my mind.”[158]
[158] Roy's translation. This conception of the World God resembles the
Egyptian Ptah and Ra. See _Egyptian Myth and Legend_.
The Creator continues, addressing Markandeya: “I am the wind, I am the
Sun, I am Fire. The stars are the pores of my skin, the ocean is my
robe, my bed and my dwelling-place....” The Divine One is the source
of good and evil: “Lust, wrath, joy, fear, and the overclouding of the
intellect, are all different forms of me.... Men wander within my body,
their senses are overwhelmed by me.... They move not according to their
own will, but as they are moved by me.”
Markandeya then related that the Divine Being said: “I create myself
into new forms. I take my birth in the families of virtuous men....
I create gods and men, and Gandharvas and Rakshas and all immobile
beings, and then destroy them all myself (when the time cometh). For
the preservation of rectitude and morality, I assume a human form;
and when the season for action cometh, I again assume forms that are
inconceivable. In the Krita Age I become white, in the Treta Age I
become yellow, in the Dwãpara I become red, and in the Kali Age I
become dark in hue.... And when the end cometh, assuming the fierce
form of Death, alone I destroy all the three worlds with their mobile
and immobile existences.... Alone do I set agoing the wheel of Time: I
am formless: I am the Destroyer of all creatures: and I am the cause of
all efforts of all my creatures.”[159]
[159] _Mahabharata, Vana Parva_, section clxxxix, P. C. Roy's
translation.
Markandeya afterwards witnessed “the varied and wondrous creation
starting into life”.
The theory of Metempsychosis, or Transmigration of Souls, is generally
regarded as being of post-Vedic growth in India as an orthodox
doctrine. Still, it remains an open question whether it was not
professed from the earliest times by a section of the various peoples
who entered the Punjab at different periods and in various stages of
culture. We have already seen that the burial customs differed. Some
consigned the dead hero to the “House of Clay”, invoking the earth
to shroud him as a mother who covers her son with her robe, and the
belief ultimately prevailed that Yama, the first man, had discovered
the path leading to Paradise, which became known as the “Land of the
Fathers” (Pitris). The fire worshippers, who identified Agni with the
“vital spark”, cremated the dead, believing that the soul passed to
heaven like the burnt offering, which was the food of the gods. It is
apparent, therefore, that in early times sharp differences of opinion
existed among the tribes regarding the destiny of the soul. Other
unsung beliefs may have obtained ere the Brahmans grew powerful and
systematized an orthodox creed. The doctrine of Metempsychosis may
have had its ancient adherents, although these were not at first very
numerous. In one passage of the _Rigveda_ “the soul is spoken of as
departing to the waters or the plants”, and it “may”, says Professor
Macdonell, “contain the germs of the theory” of Transmigration of
Souls.[160]
[160] _History of Sanskrit Literature_, p. 115.
The doctrine of Metempsychosis was believed in by the Greeks and the
Celts. According to Herodotus the former borrowed it from Egypt, and
although some have cast doubt on the existence of the theory in Egypt,
there are evidences that it obtained there as in early Aryanized India
among sections of the people.[161] It is possible that the doctrine
is traceable to a remote racial influence regarding which no direct
evidence survives.
[161] See _Egyptian Myth and Legend_.
All that we know definitely regarding the definite acceptance of
the theory in India is that in _Satapatha Brahmana_ it is pointedly
referred to as a necessary element of orthodox religion. The teacher
declares that those who perform sacrificial rites are born again and
attain to immortality, while those who neglect to sacrifice pass
through successive existences until Death ultimately claims them.
According to Upanishadic belief the successive rebirths in the world
are forms of punishment for sins committed, or a course of preparation
for the highest state of existence.
In the code of Manu it is laid down, for instance, that he who steals
gold becomes a rat, he who steals uncooked food a hedgehog, he who
steals honey a stinging insect; a murderer may become a tiger, or have
to pass through successive states of existence as a camel, a dog, a
pig, a goat, &c.; other wrongdoers may have to exist as grass, trees,
worms, snails, &c. As soon as a man died, it was believed that he was
reborn as a child, or a reptile, as the case might be. Sufferings
endured by the living were believed to be retribution for sins
committed in a former life.
Another form of this belief had evidently some connection with lunar
worship, or, at any rate, with the recognition of the influence
exercised by the moon over life in all its phases; it is declared in
the _Upanishads_ that “all who leave this world go directly to the
moon. By their lives its waxing crescent is increased, and by means of
its waning it brings them to a second birth. But the moon is also the
gate of the heavenly world, and he who can answer the questions of the
moon is allowed to pass beyond it. He who can give no answer is turned
to rain by the moon and rained down upon the earth. He is born again
here below, as worm or fly, or fish or bird, or lion, or boar or animal
with teeth, or tiger, or man, or anything else in one or another place,
according to his works and his knowledge.”[162]
[162] Paul Deussen's translation.
Belief in Metempsychosis ultimately prevailed all over India, and it
is fully accepted by Hinduism in our own day. Brahmans now teach that
the destiny of the soul depends on the mental attitude of the dying
person: if his thoughts are centred on Brahma he enters the state of
everlasting bliss, being absorbed in the World Soul; if, however, he
should happen to think of a favourite animal or a human friend, the
soul will be reborn as a cow, a horse, or a dog, or it may enter the
body of a newly-born child and be destined to endure once again the
ills that flesh is heir to.
In Egypt, according to Herodotus, the adherents of the Transmigration
theory believed that the soul passed through many states of existence,
until after a period of about three thousand years it once again
reanimated the mummy. The Greeks similarly taught that “the soul
continues its journey, alternating between a separate, unrestrained
existence and fresh reincarnation, round the wide circle of necessity,
as the companion of many bodies of men and animals”.[163] According
to Cæsar, the Gauls professed the doctrine of Metempsychosis quite
freely.[164]
[163] _Psyche_, Erwin Rohde.
[164] _De Bello Gallico_, vi, xiv, 4.
Both in India and in Egypt the ancient doctrine of Metempsychosis was
coloured by the theologies of the various cults which had accepted
it. It has survived, however, in primitive form in the folk tales.
Apparently the early exponents of the doctrine took no account
of beginning or end; they simply recognized “the wide circle of
necessity” round which the soul wandered, just as the worshippers of
primitive nature gods and goddesses recognized the eternity of matter
by symbolizing earth, air, and heaven as deities long ere they had
conceived of a single act of creation.