New Faiths: Vishnu Religion, Buddhism, and Jainism
Religious Ages—Influence of the Upanishads—The Inspiration
of Great Teachers—Conception of a Supreme Personal God—Rise
of Vishnu and Shiva Cults—Krishna a Human Incarnation of
Vishnu—The Bhagavad-gita—Salvation by Knowledge—Buddha's Revolt
against Brahmanism—His Gloomy Message to Mankind—Spread of
Buddhism—Jainism—Revival of Brahmanism—The Puranas—Incarnations
of Vishnu—Creator as a Boar—Egyptian and European Conceptions and
Customs—Jagganath—Kalki.
Modern-day Brahman pundits, the cultured apostles of the ancient forest
sages, acknowledge a Trinity composed of Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the
Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer. A rock carving at Elephanta, which
depicts the supreme god with three heads, indicates that the conception
is of considerable antiquity. To what particular period it must be
assigned, however, we cannot yet definitely decide.
The religious history of India is divided into four Ages: (1) the Vedic
Age; (2) the Brahmanical Age; (3) the Buddhist Age; and (4) the Age of
the reform and revival of Brahmanism.
As we have seen, many gods were worshipped in the Vedic Age, but ere it
had ended Pantheistic ideas found expression in the hymns. Two distinct
currents of thought characterize the Brahmanical Age. On the one hand
there was the growth of priestly influence which is the feature of the
_Brahmanas_, and on the other the development of the bold Pantheism
of the _Upanishads_, which are permeated with a catholicity of spirit
directly opposed to narrow and pedantic ritualism. Towards the close of
this Age, Vishnu and Shiva were deities of growing ascendancy.
The Buddhist Age began in the sixth century before Christ, and Buddhism
gradually supplanted Brahmanism as a national religion. In the tenth
century of our era, however, Brahmanism was revived, drawing its
inspiration mainly from the _Upanishads_, and purified by the teachings
of Buddha and other reformers.
These religious movements of the post-Vedic times, which have exercised
a cumulative influence in shaping modern-day Hinduism, were due
directly and indirectly to the speculative reasonings of the unknown
authors of the _Upanishads_. The Pantheistic doctrines of these ancient
philosophers, however, hardly constituted a religion: they were rather
an esoteric system of belief devoid of popular appeal. But they have
been the inspiration of a succession of profound thinkers and eloquent
teachers of revered memory in India, who infused ancient modes of
thought with high philosophic doctrines, and utilized archaic myths
to develop a religion which in its purest form permeates the acts of
everyday life and requires the whole-hearted devotion and service of
pious Hindus to the will of the Supreme Being.
In the Brahmanical Age Upanishadic teachings made limited appeal, but
evidences are not awanting that knowledge of them was not confined
to the Brahmans, because the revolts which gave India Buddhism and
Jainism originated among the Kshatriyas. Meanwhile the gods of the
_Vedas_ continued their hold upon the allegiance of the great masses
of the people, although the ancient Vedic religion had been divested
of its simplicity and directness by the ritualistic priesthood. Gods
and men depended upon the Brahmans for their prosperity and even for
their continued existence. It was taught that “the gods lived in fear
of death, the strong Ender”, but were supported and fed by penance and
sacrifice. The priests achieved spiritual dominion over their rivals,
the Kshatriyas.
[Illustration: THE HINDU TRINITY AT ELEPHANTA (see page 119)
20]
There was, however, more than one “school of thought” among the
Brahmans. The sages who memorized and repeated the older Upanishads,
and composed new ones, could not have failed to pass unrecorded
judgments on the superstitious practices of their ritualistic
brethren. Account must also be taken of the example and teachings of
the bands of wandering devotees, the Bhiksus, who neither performed
penances nor offered up sacrifices, and of the influence exercised
by the independent thinkers among the Kshatriyas, who regarded with
disfavour the pretensions of the powerful priesthood. The elements
of revolt could never have been absent during the two centuries of
the Brahmanical Age. Upanishadic teachings had stirred the minds of
thinking men, but they had one marked defect; they left unsatisfied
the religious sense which could find no repose in a jungle of abstract
thought. It was impossible, however, for the leaders of thought to
return to the polytheism of the Vedic Age, or to worship deities
controlled by human beings. A new and higher religion became a
necessity for those who, like the Hebrew Psalmist, appear to have cried:
“O Lord ... thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it; thou
delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit.”
—_Psalms_, li, 16, 17.
At any rate, we find that, before the Brahmanical Age had ended,
the conception was becoming more prevalent of a supreme personal
god, greater than Indra or Agni, and worthy of minds influenced by
the _Upanishads_—a god who was the embodiment of the First Cause,
an Infinite Being uncontrolled by the priesthood. One section of the
people appears to have worshipped Vishnu as the Celestial incarnation
of the World Soul, while another gave recognition to Shiva. In the
absence of records, however, it is impossible to ascertain to what
extent monotheistic ideas were developed by unorthodox teachers. The
new doctrines may have degenerated, like Buddhism, as they became
widespread. It is evident, however, that the priesthood were unable to
ignore them, for they are referred to in their “books”.
Although the political prominence of Vishnu and Shiva belong to the
Age of reformed Brahmanism, it is undoubted that both deities were
worshipped throughout the long period of Buddhistic ascendancy. The
Greek ambassador Megasthenes, who resided in India between B.C. 311
and 302, and wrote _Ta Indika_, furnishes interesting evidence in
this connection. “By his description of the god Dionysus, whom they
worshipped in the mountains, Shiva”, says Professor Macdonell, “must
be intended, and by Herakles, adored in the plains ... no other can be
meant than Vishnu and his incarnation Krishna.... These statements seem
to justify the conclusion that Shiva and Vishnu were already prominent
as highest gods, the former in the mountains, the latter in the Ganges
valley.... We also learn from Megasthenes that the doctrine of the
four Ages of the World (Yugas) was fully developed in India by this
time.”[165]
[165] _A History of Sanskrit Literature_, p. 411.
In the _Rigveda_ Vishnu is a god of grace. He is, however, a secondary
deity—an attribute of the sun and a phase of Agni. From the earliest
times, it is significant to note, his benevolent character is
emphasized. In one of the hymns[166] he is called “the Kinsman”; he
welcomed to his heaven of bliss the faithful worshippers of the gods.
An interesting reference is made to his “highest step”. As detailed in
later writings, the myth involved is to the effect that the demon Bali,
one of the dreaded Danavas (Titans), had, in the Treta Yuga, secured
temporary ascendancy over the gods. Vishnu appeared before him in the
form of the dwarf Vamana, and requested as much territory as he could
measure out by taking three strides. The demon granted this request,
and Vishnu immediately assumed the form of a giant; his first step
covered the heavens, the second crossed the entire earth, and the third
and highest reached the abode of the gods. So was the Universe won back
from the Asuras. It is believed that the myth refers to the progress of
the conquering sun by day and by night.
[166] _Rigveda_, i, 154, 155.
In _Yajurveda_ Vishnu is more prominent than in the _Rigveda_, and
in the _Brahmanas_ “there is a growing tendency”, remarks Professor
Barnett, “to regard him as a blessed Cosmic Spirit”.[167] He is fully
identified with Brahma in the _Mahábhárata_. In some of the myths he
is the source of Indra's strength and valour, and he appears to have
absorbed the sublime character of Varuna, the god of sinners; he is
similarly associated with the sea, but the Sea of Milk.
[167] _Hinduism_, by L. D. Barnett.
Shiva is a development of the Vedic storm god Rudra, who was not only
dreaded, but also revered as a destroyer of evil-doers, hatred, evil,
and disease, and as a nourisher who gave long life.[168]
[168] _Rigveda_, ii, 33.
Both deities inspired love and reverential fear; they won the
affections of human hearts and were worshipped emotionally. Their
cults have had independent doctrinal development, however, and they
divide Hinduism to-day into two great churches, one of which recognizes
Vishnu, and the other Shiva, as the greatest god. Their union in the
Trinity has not yet obliterated sectarian differences.
Many myths have collected round Vishnu, originally a purely abstract
deity, because the faith which he represents had to be imparted to the
masses in “parables”. These “parables” were, of course, given literal
interpretation by the people. The majority of the myths belong to the
post-Buddhist Age—the Age of Brahmanical revival, during which came
into existence the sacred poems called the _Puranas_. Many were also
incorporated in the great epics, the _Mahábhárata_ and the _Ramáyana_,
which existed in part, at least, before the rise of Buddhism and
Jainism.
When Vishnu, the god of mercy and goodness, received recognition
as Narayana in the Brahmanical Age, he was worshipped as the
“unconquerable preserver” who at the dawn of each Yuga (Age) awoke as
the child of the primordial waters. In one myth he rises from a lotus
bloom; in another he is supposed to sleep, as Brahma, on the coils
of the world-serpent Shesha, which is “a part of a part of Vishnu”.
This serpent rests on the tortoise, Kurma, another form of Vishnu.
When the tortoise moves its limbs, Shesha is roused to yawn; thus
are earthquakes caused. A creation myth which teaches the absolute
supremacy of Vishnu tells that at the beginning Brahma sprang from a
lotus issuing from the navel of the Preserver, while Shiva came from
his forehead.
[Illustration: VISHNU UPHOLDING THE UNIVERSE
_From a sculpture at Mâmallapuram_
21]
Vishnu is a dark god with four arms; in one of his right hands he holds
a warshell, and in the other a flaming discus, which destroys enemies
and returns after it is flung; in one left hand he holds a mace, and in
the other a lotus bloom.
The belief that the Supreme Being from time to time “assumes a human
form ... for the preservation of rectitude and morality” is an
outstanding feature of Vishnuite religion, which teaches that Vishnu
was born among men as Ramachandra, Krishna, Balarama, and Buddha. These
are the Avataras of the Preserver. Avatara means literally “a descent”,
but is used in the sense of an “Incarnation”.
Rama Chandra is the hero of the _Ramáyana_ epic, which is summarized in
our closing chapters; he is the human ideal of devotion, righteousness,
and manliness, the slayer of the demon Ravana, who oppressed and
persecuted mankind.
Krishna and his brother Balarama figure as princes of Dwaraka in the
_Mahábhárata_. Krishna is represented as the teacher of the Vishnuite
faith, the devotional religion which displaced the Vedic ceremonies
and links Upanishadic doctrines with modern Hinduism. It recognizes
that all men are sinful, and preaches salvation by Knowledge which
embraces Works. Sinners must surrender themselves to Krishna, the human
incarnation (Avatara) of Vishnu, the Preserver, the God of Love.
This faith is unfolded in the famous _Bhagavad-gita_[169] in the
_Bhishma Parva_ section of the _Mahábhárata_ epic. Krishna is acting
as the counsellor and charioteer of the Pandava warrior Arjuna. Ere
the first day's battle of the Great War begins, the human Avatara of
Vishnu reveals himself to his friend as the Divine Being, and gives
instruction as to how men may obtain salvation.
[169] The “Divine Song”.
Krishna teaches that the soul is “unborn, unchangeable, eternal, and
ancient”; it is one with the Supreme Soul, Vishnu, the First Cause,
the Source of All. The soul “is not slain when the body is slain”; it
enters new bodies after each death, or else it secures emancipation
from sin and suffering by being absorbed in the World Soul.... All
souls have to go through a round of births. “On attaining to Me,
however,” says Krishna, “there is no rebirth.”
Krishna gives Salvation to those who obtain “Knowledge of self or
Brahma”.... He says: “The one who hath devoted his Self (Soul) to
abstraction, casting an equal eye everywhere, beholdeth his Self in
all creatures, and all creatures in his Self. Unto him that beholdeth
Me in everything and beholdeth everything in Me, I am never lost and
he also is never lost in Me. He that worshippeth Me as abiding in all
creatures, holding yet that All is One, is a devotee, and whatever mode
of life he may lead, he liveth in Me....
“Even if thou art the greatest sinner among all that are sinful, thou
shalt yet cross over all transgressions by the raft of Knowledge”....
Knowledge destroys all sins. It is obtained by devotees who, “casting
off attachment, perform actions for attaining purity of Self, with
the body, the mind, the understanding, and even the senses, free from
desire”. To such men “a sod, a stone, and gold are alike”.
Krishna, as Vishnu, is thus revealed: “I am the productive cause of
the entire Universe and also its destroyer. There is nothing else that
is higher than myself.... I am Om (the Trinity) in all the Vedas,
the sound in space, the manliness in man. I am the fragrant odour in
earth, the splendour in fire, the life in all creatures, and penance in
ascetics.... I am the thing to be known, the means by which everything
is cleansed.... I am the soul (self) seated in the heart of every
being. I am the beginning, the middle, and the end of all beings.... I
am the letter A (in the Sanskrit alphabet).... I am Death that seizeth
all, and the source of all that is to be.... He that knoweth me as the
Supreme Lord of the worlds, without birth and beginning ... is free
from all sins.... He who doeth everything for me, who hath me for his
supreme object, who is freed from attachment, who is without enmity
towards all beings, even he cometh to me.... He through whom the world
is not troubled, and who is not troubled by the world, who is free from
joy, wrath, fear, and anxieties, even he is dear to me.”
To Arjuna Krishna says: “Exceedingly dear art thou to me. Therefore
I will declare what is for thy benefit. Set thy heart on Me, become
my devotee, sacrifice to me, bow down to me. Then shalt thou come to
me.... Forsaking all (religious) duties, come to me as thy sole refuge.
I will deliver thee from all sins. Do not grieve.”
It is, however, added: “This is not to be declared by thee to one who
practiseth no austerities, to one who is not a devotee, to one who
never waiteth on a preceptor, nor yet to one who calumniateth Me.”
Unbelievers are those who are devoid of knowledge. Krishna says: “One
who hath no knowledge and no faith, whose mind is full of doubt, is
lost.... Doers of evil, ignorant men, the worst of their species ... do
not resort to Me.” ... Such men “return to the path of the world that
is subject to destruction”. He denounces “persons of demoniac natures”
because they are devoid of “purity, good conduct, and truth.... They
say that the Universe is void of truth, of guiding principle and of
ruler.... Depending on this view these men of lost souls, of little
intelligence and fierce deeds, these enemies of the world, are born
for the destruction of the Universe.” They “cherish boundless hopes,
limited by death alone”, and “covet to obtain unfairly hoards of wealth
for the gratification of their desires”; they say, “This foe hath been
slain by me—I will slay others.... I am lord, I am the enjoyer....
I am rich and of noble birth—who else is there that is like me?...
I will make gifts, I will be merry.... Thus deluded by ignorance,
tossed about by numerous thoughts, enveloped in the meshes of delusion,
attached to the enjoyment of objects of desire, they sink into foul
hell.... Threefold is the way to hell, ruinous to the Self (Soul),
namely, lust, wrath, likewise avarice.... Freed from these three gates
of darkness, a man works out his own welfare, and then repairs to the
highest goal.”[170]
[170] Extracts from Roy's translation of _Mahábhárata_.
Balarama is an incarnation of the world serpent Shesha. According to
the legend, he and Krishna are the sons of Vasudeva and Devakí. It
was revealed to Kansa, King of Mat´hurã[171], who was a worshipper
of Shiva, that a son of Devakí would slay him. His majesty therefore
commanded that Devakí's children should be slain as soon as they were
born. Balarama, who was fair, was carried safely away. Krishna, the
dark son, performed miracles soon after birth. The king had his father
and mother fettered, and the doors of the houses were secured with
locks. But the chains fell from Vasudeva, and the doors flew open
when he stole out into the night to conceal the babe. As he crossed
the river Jumna, carrying Krishna on his head in a basket, the waters
rose high and threatened to drown him, but the child put out a foot
and the river immediately fell and became shallow. In Mathura the
two brothers performed miraculous feats during their youth. Indeed,
the myths connected with them suggest that their prototypes were
voluptuous pastoral gods. Krishna, the flute-player and dancer, is the
shepherd lover of the Gopis or herdsmaids, his favourite being Radhá.
He was opposed to the worship of Indra, and taught the people to make
offerings to a sacred mountain.
[171] Or Muttra.
[Illustration: KRISHNA AND THE GOPIS (HERDSMAIDS)
_From a modern sculpture_
22]
King Kansa had resort to many stratagems to accomplish the death
of Krishna, but his own doom could not be set aside; ultimately he
was slain by the two brothers. The _Harivamsa_, an appendix to the
_Mahábhárata_, which is as long as the Iliad and the Odyssey together,
is devoted to the life and adventures of Krishna, who also figures in
the _Puranas_.
Vishnu's Buddha Avatara was assumed, according to orthodox teaching,
to bring about the destruction of demons and wicked men who refused to
acknowledge the inspiration of the Vedas and the existence of deities,
and were opposed to the caste system. This attitude was assumed by the
Brahmans because Buddhism was a serious lay revolt against Brahmanical
doctrines and ceremonial practices.
Buddha, “the Enlightened”, was Prince Siddartha of the royal family
Gautama, which, as elsewhere told, ruled over a Sakya tribe. At his
birth marvellous signs foretold his greatness. Reared in luxury, he was
kept apart from the common people; but when the time of his awakening
came, he was greatly saddened to behold human beings suffering from
disease, sorrow, and old age. One night he left his wife and child, and
went away to live the life of a contemplative hermit in the forest,
with purpose to find a solution for the great problem of human sin and
suffering. He came under the influence of Upanishadic doctrines, and
at the end of six years he returned and began his mission.
Buddha, the great psychologist, was one of the world's influential
teachers, because his doctrines have been embraced in varying degrees
of purity by about a third of the human race. Yet they are cold and
unsatisfying and gloomy. The “Enlightener's” outlook on life was
intensely timid and pessimistic; he was an “enemy of society” in
the sense that he made no attempt to effect social reforms so as to
minimize human suffering, which touched him with deepest sympathy, but
unfortunately filled him with despair; his solution for all problems
was Death; he was the apostle of benevolent Nihilism and Idealistic
Atheism.
There is no supreme personal god in Buddhism and no hope of
immortality. Gods and demons and human beings are “living creatures”;
gods have no power over the Universe, and need not be worshipped or
sacrificed to, because they are governed by laws, and men have nothing
to fear from them.
Buddha denied the existence of the Self-Soul of the _Upanishads_.
Self is not God, in the sense that it is a phase of the World Soul.
The “self-state” is, according to the “Enlightener”, a combination of
five elements—matter, feeling, imagination, will, and consciousness;
these are united by Kamma,[172] the influence which causes life to
repeat itself. Buddha had accepted, in a limited sense, the theory
of Transmigration of Souls. He taught, however, that rebirth was the
result of actions and desire. “It is the yearning for existence”, he
said, “which leads from new birth to new birth, which finds its desire
in different directions, the desire for pleasure, the desire for
existence, the desire for power.” Death occurs when the five elements
which constitute life are divided; after death nothing remains but the
consequences of actions and thoughts. Rebirth follows because “the
yearning”, the essence of “works”, brings the elements together again.
The individual exists happily, or the reverse, according to his conduct
in a former life; sorrow and disease are results of wrong living and
wrong thinking in previous states of existence.
[172] Karma, “works” and their consequences.
[Illustration: BUDDHA EXPOUNDING THE LAW
23]
The aim of the Buddhist is to become the “master of his fate”. Life
to him is hateful because, as the Enlightener taught,“birth is
suffering, death is suffering; to be joined to one thou dost not love
is suffering, to be divided from thy love is suffering, to fail in thy
desire is suffering; in short, the fivefold bonds that unite us to
earth—those of the five elements—are suffering”. As there can be no
life without suffering in various degrees, it behoves the believer to
secure complete emancipation from the fate of being reborn. Life is
a dismal and tragic failure. The Buddhist must therefore destroy the
influence which unites the five elements and forms another life. He
must achieve the complete elimination of inclination—of the yearning
for existence. Buddha's “sacred truth”, which secures the desired end,
is eightfold—“right belief, right resolve, right speech, right action,
right life, right desire, right thought, and right self-absorption”.
The reward of the faithful, who attains to perfect knowledge, unsullied
by works, is eternal emancipation by Nirvana, undisturbed repose or
blissful extinction[173], which is the Supreme Good. If there had been
no belief in rebirth, the solution would have been found in suicide.
[173] Buddha's negative attitude towards immortality and the conception
of a Supreme Being was departed from by those of his followers who have
taught that Nirvana is a conscious state of eternal bliss.
Buddha taught that the four Noble Verities are: (1) pain, (2) desire,
the cause of pain, (3) pain is extinguished by Nirvana, (4) the way
which leads to Nirvana. The obliteration of Desire is the first aim
of the Buddhist. This involves the renunciation of the world and of
all evil passions; the believer must live a perfect life according to
the Buddhist moral code, which is as strict as it is idealistic in the
extreme. “It does not express friendship, or the feeling of particular
affection which a man has for one or more of his fellow creatures, but
that universal feeling which inspires us with goodwill towards all men
and constant willingness to help them.”[174]
[174] Burnouf, quoted by Max Müller, _Chips from a German Workshop_, i,
222.
Belief in the sanctity of life is a prevailing note in Buddhism. The
teacher forbade the sacrifice of animals, as did Isaiah in Judah.
“To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith
the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed
beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of
he goats.”
_Isaiah_, i, II.
Brahmanism was influenced in this regard, for offerings to Vishnu were
confined to cakes, curds, sweetmeats, flowers, oblations, &c.
Buddha, the enemy of the priesthood, was of the Kshatriya caste, and
his religion appears to have appealed to aristocrats satiated with
a luxurious and idle life, who felt like the Preacher that “all is
vanity”; it also found numerous adherents among the wandering bands of
unorthodox devotees. The perfect Buddhist had to live apart from the
world, and engage for long intervals in introspective contemplation so
as to cultivate by a stern analytic process that frame of mind which
enabled him to obliterate Desire blankly and coldly. Familiar statues
of Buddha show the posture which must be assumed; the legs are crossed
and twisted, and the hands arranged to suggest inaction; the eyes gaze
on the bridge of the nose.
Monastic orders came into existence for men and women, but the status
of women was not raised. From these orders were excluded all officials
and the victims of infectious and incurable diseases. A lower class of
Buddhists engaged in worldly duties. Although Buddha recognized the
caste system, his teaching removed its worst features, for Kshatriyas
and converted Brahmans could accept food from the Sudras without fear
of contamination. Kings embraced the new religion, which ultimately
assumed a national character.
Missionaries were from the earliest times sent abroad, and Buddhism
spread into Burma, Siam, Anam, Tibet, Mongolia, China, Java, and Japan.
The view is suggested that its influence can be traced in Egypt. “From
some source,” writes Professor Flinders Petrie, “perhaps the Buddhist
mission of Asoka, the ascetic life of recluses was established in the
Ptolemaic times, and monks of the Serapeum illustrated an ideal to man
which had been as yet unknown in the West. This system of monasticism
continued until Pachomios, a monk of Serapis in Upper Egypt, became the
first Christian monk in the reign of Constantine.”[175]
[175] Petrie, _The Religion of Egypt_, pp. 92-3.
Jainism, like Buddhism, was also a revolt against Brahmanic orthodoxy,
and drew its teachers and disciples chiefly from the aristocratic
class. It was similarly influenced in its origin by the _Upanishads_.
Jainites believe, however, in soul and the world soul; they recognize
the Hindu deities, but only as exalted souls in a state of temporary
bliss achieved by their virtues; they also worship a number of
“conquerors” or “openers of the way”, as Buddhism, in debased form,
recognizes Buddha and his disciples as gods, and allows the worship
here of a tooth and there of a hair of the Enlightener, as well as
sacred mounds connected with his pilgrimages. In the gloomy creed of
the Jainites it is taught that “emancipation” may be hastened by rigid
austerities which entail systematic starvation. Many Jainites have in
their holy places given up their lives in this manner, but the practice
is now obsolete.
In the Age which witnessed the decline of Buddhism in India, and the
rise of reformed Brahmanism, the religious struggle was productive
of the long poems called the _Puranas_ (old tales) to which we have
referred. In these productions some of the ancient myths about the
gods were preserved and new myths were formulated. They were meant
for popular instruction, and especially to make converts among the
unlettered masses. Their authors were chiefly of the Vishnu cult, which
had perpetuated the teachings of the unknown sages who at the close
of the Brahmanical Age revolted against impersonal Pantheism, the
ritualistic practices of the priesthood, and the popular conceptions
regarding the Vedic deities who ensured worldly prosperity, but
exercised little influence on the character of the individual.
Indra and Agni and other popular deities were not, however, excluded
from the Pantheon, but were divested of their ancient splendour and
shown to be subject to the sway of Brahma, their Lord and Creator,
whose attributes they symbolized in their various spheres of activity.
Vishnuites taught that Vishnu was Brahma, and Shivaites that Shiva was
the supreme deity.
In this way, it would appear, the authors of the _Puranas_ effected
a compromise between immemorial beliefs and practices and the higher
religious conceptions towards which the people were being gradually
elevated. A similar policy was adopted by Pope Gregory the Great, who
in the year 601 caused the Archbishop of Canterbury to be instructed to
infuse Pagan ceremonials with Christian symbolism. It was decreed that
heathen temples should be changed into churches, and days consecrated
to sacrificial ceremonies to be observed as Christian festivals. The
Anglo-Saxons were not to be permitted to “sacrifice animals to the
Devil”, but to kill them for human consumption “to the praise of God”,
so that “while they retained some outward joys they might give more
ready response to inward joys”. The Pope added: “It is not possible to
cut off everything at once from obdurate minds; he who endeavours to
climb to the highest place must rise not by bounds, but by degrees or
steps.”[176]
[176] Bede, _Historia Ecclesiastica_, lib. i, chap. xxx.
It is necessary for us, therefore, in dealing with Puranic beliefs,
and the movement which culminated in modern-day Hinduism, to make a
distinction between the popular faith and the beliefs of the most
enlightened Brahmans, and also between the process of mythology-making
and the development of religious ideas.
In early Puranic times, when Brahmanism was revived, Vishnu's
benevolent character was exalted to so high a degree that, it was
taught, even demons might secure salvation through his grace. Prahlada,
son of the King of the Danavas, worshipped Vishnu. As a consequence,
terrible punishments were inflicted upon him by his angry father. At
length Vishnu appeared in the Danava palace as the Nrisinha incarnation
(half man, half lion), and slew the presumptuous giant king who had
aspired to control the Universe.
Another incarnation of Vishnu was the boar, Varáha. A demon named
Hiranyaksha had claimed the earth, when at the beginning of one of the
Yugas it was raised from the primordial deep by the Creator in the form
of a boar. Vishnu slew the demon for the benefit of the human race.
Earlier forms of this myth recognize Brahma, or Prajapati, as the boar.
In _Taittiriya Brahmana_ it is set forth: “This Universe was formerly
water, fluid; with that (water) Prajapati practised arduous devotions
(saying), ‘How shall this universe be (developed)?’ He beheld a lotus
leaf standing. He thought, ‘There is something on which this rests.’
He as a boar—having assumed that form—plunged beneath towards it. He
found the earth down below. Breaking off (a portion of) her, he rose to
the surface.”
This treatment of the boar is of special interest. In Egypt the boar
was the demon Set, and the “black pig” is the devil in Wales and
Scotland, and also in a “layer” of Irish mythology. Hatred of pork
prevailed in Egypt and its vicinity, and still lingers in parts of
Ireland and Wales, but especially in the Scottish Highlands. The Gauls,
like the Aryans of India, did not regard the boar as a demon, and they
ate pork freely, as did also the Achæans and the Germanic peoples.
Roast pig is provided in Valhal and in the Irish Danann Paradise, but
the Irish “devil”, Balor, who resembles the Asura king of India, had a
herd of black pigs.
The struggle between Kshatriyas and Brahmans is reflected in Vishnu's
incarnation as Parasu-rama (Rama with the axe). He clears the earth
twenty-one times of the visible Kshatriyas, but on each occasion a few
survive to perpetuate the caste.
Jagannath[177] is also regarded as a form of Vishnu, although
apparently not of Brahmanic origin. He is represented by three forms,
representing the dark Krishna, the fair Balarama, and their sister,
Subhadra. Once a year the idol is bathed and afterwards taken forth
in a great car, which is dragged by pious worshippers. Some have
considered it a meritorious act to commit suicide by being crushed
under its wheels.
[177] Juggernaut.
[Illustration: THE BOAR INCARNATION OF VISHNU RAISING THE EARTH FROM
THE DEEP
_From a rock sculpture at Udayagiri_
24]
It is believed that Vishnu will yet appear as Kalki, riding on a
white horse and grasping a flaming sword. He will slay the enemies of
evil and re-establish pure religion. Many pious Vishnuites in our own
day look forward to the coming of their supreme deity with fear and
trembling, but not without inflexible faith.