OUR INDEBTEDNESS TO ANCIENT INDIA
It is more than thirty years since in Southern Europe, England, and
America, a genuine Renaissance of Vedic literature, philosophy, and
religion began to assume a popular form and to become accessible to the
general reading public.
Scholars, like Sir William Jones, had for the past century been familiar
with the ancient civilization and the Vedic literature and the study of
Sanscrit had made some progress in the Universities.
The idea, however, that these antiquities had any vital interest to us,
beyond curious myths and obsolete superstitions, had not been perceived,
much less admitted.
The antiquity of man, and the Philosophy of Evolution, had opened new
fields for thought, and necessitated a revision of all previous concepts
of man and nature.
Old records and interpretations were everywhere revised, and the
interpretations of the Mosaic records were challenged at every point.
Popular religions were up in arms and were compelled to adjust themselves
to the new régime.
But even after this century of progress and enlightenment, it has scarcely
yet dawned on the mind of theologians that the challenge of science was,
after all, insignificant, compared with that which was to come, and for
which modern science had paved the way.
The whole realm of theology, and the foundations of religion, were to
undergo revision.
Facts incontestable were being gathered and proofs established beyond all
possible denial, or controversy, that all modern theologies and religions
were copied and adapted from Vedic and ante-Vedic sources, antedating our
present era by more than two thousand years.
The superficial and devout churchman, whose faith is fortified on the one
hand by superstition, and on the other at least borders on fanaticism, is
apt to be resentful in the presence of these facts, and, falling back on
the infallibility and plenary inspiration of the Bible, to declare that if
his own superficial interpretations are questioned or denied, Religion
will be done for and mankind left in utter darkness.
He does not perceive that the facts of nature and the essentials of
religion are one thing, and man's _interpretation_ of them another thing
entirely.
He does not perceive how these ignorant and superstitious interpretations
of men have set at naught the real life of Jesus and the teachings of the
Christ.
He does not realize how doctrine has usurped the place of duty, and
dogmatism has hardened the soul of man.
One thing, however, is inevitable. Facts and evidence as to origin,
analogies, and adaptation of the Christian Mysteries from ancient India,
are widely known, and the time has come when these mysteries are being
examined as to their intrinsic meaning and their bearing on the daily life
of man and the progress of the human race.
The author of this little book has only attempted a bare outline of these
great facts, and to put them in such shape that the reader may perceive
their general bearing, and the sources whence they are derived.
The following extracts made almost at random, the quantity of evidence
being so redundant, from Jacolliot's "Bible in India," a translation of
which was made in this country as early as 1873, and Prof. Max Müller's
Lectures, "India, What Can It Teach Us?" printed here more than a quarter
of a century ago, will give the reader the evidence and the assurance that
these ancient sources of wisdom are scarcely yet known in outline to the
Western World.
Jacolliot spent many years in India, studying its present civilization and
its ancient lore, while Prof. Max Müller derived his knowledge largely
from study of Sanscrit and the Vedanta.
"Soil of Ancient India, cradle of humanity, hail! Hail, venerable and
efficient nurse, whom centuries of brutal invasion have not yet buried
under the dust of oblivion! Hail, fatherland of faith, of love, of poetry,
and of science. May we hail a revival of thy past in our Western future.
"I have dwelt 'midst the depths of your mysterious forests, seeking to
comprehend the language of your lofty nature, and the evening airs that
murmured 'midst the foliage of banyans and tamarinds whispered to my
spirit these three magic words: Zeus, Jehovah, Brahma.
"I have inquired of Brahmins and priests under the porches of temples and
ancient pagodas, and they have replied:
"'To live is to think, and to think is to study God, who is all, and in
all....
"'To live is to learn, to learn is to examine and to fathom in all their
perceptible forms the innumerable manifestations of celestial power.
"'To live is to be useful; to live is to be just; and we learn to be
useful and just in studying this book of the Vedas, which is the word of
eternal wisdom, the principle of principles as revealed to our fathers.'"
("The Bible in India," p. 15.)
Plotinus, the Neoplatonist, said: "God is not the principal of beings, but
the principle of principles."
This was the Hindoo concept of _Para Brahm_ two thousand years before.
"In the whole world there is no study so beneficial and so elevating as
that of the Upanishads. It has been the solace of my life--it will be the
solace of my death. [Schopenhauer, quoted by Max Müller.] ... If I were to
look over the whole world to find out the country most richly endowed with
all the wealth, power and beauty that nature can bestow--in some parts a
very paradise on earth--I should point to India. If I were asked under
what sky the human mind had most fully developed some of its choicest
gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life, and has
found solutions of some of them which well deserve the attention even of
those who have studied Plato and Kant--I should point to India. And if I
were to ask myself from what literature we, here in Europe, we who have
been nurtured almost exclusively on the thoughts of Greeks and Romans, and
of one Semitic race, the Jewish, may draw that corrective which is most
wanted in order to make our inner life more perfect, more comprehensive,
more universal, in fact more truly human, a life, not for this life only,
but a transfigured and eternal life--again I should point to India."
The reader should remember that this is not the _opinion_ of an ignorant
enthusiast, but the mature judgment of one of the most profound scholars
and Sanscritists in Europe in his day--Prof. Max Müller.
"The study of Mythology has assumed an entirely new character, chiefly
owing to the light that has been thrown on it by the ancient Vedic
Mythology of India.
"Buddhism is now known to have been the principal source of our legends
and parables."
The story of the two women who claimed each to be the mother of the same
child is found literally in the Kanjur, translated from the Buddhist
Tripitake, and the "Judgment of Solomon" is only a copy of the older
story.
"The history of all histories, and yet the mystery of all mysteries--take
religion, and where can you study its true origin, its natural growth and
its inevitable decay better than in India, the home of Brahmanism, the
birthplace of Buddhism, and the refuge of Zoroastrianism.
"Take any of the burning questions of the day--popular education, higher
education, parliamentary representation, codification of laws, finance,
emigration, poor-law, and whether you have anything to teach and to try,
or anything to observe and to learn, India will supply you with a
laboratory such as exists nowhere else.
"And in the study of the history of the human mind, and the study of
ourselves, of our true selves, India occupies a place second to no other
country. Whatever sphere of the human mind you may select for your special
study, whether it be language, or religion, or mythology, or philosophy,
whether it be laws or customs, primitive art or primitive science,
everywhere, you have to go to India, whether you like it or not, because
some of the most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of
man are treasured up in India, and in India only.
"Sleeman tells us men (in India) adhere habitually and religiously to the
truth, and 'I have had before me hundreds of cases,' he says, 'in which a
man's property, liberty, and life have depended upon his telling a lie,
and he has refused to tell it.' Could many an English judge say the same?"
(Remarks by Prof. Müller.)
Prof. Müller quotes from an Arabian writer of the thirteenth century, "The
Indians are innumerable, like grains of sand, free from all deceit and
violence. They fear neither death nor life."
And again, from Marco Polo, in the thirteenth century, "You must know,
Marco Polo says, that these Abralaman (Hindoos) are the best merchants in
the world, and the most truthful, for they would not tell a lie for
anything on earth."
"In the sixteenth century Abu Fazl, the minister of the Emperor Akbar,
says in his 'Ayin Akbari,' 'The Hindus are religious, affable, cheerful,
lovers of justice, given to retirement, able in business, admirers of
truth, grateful and of unbounded fidelity, and their soldiers know not
what it is to fly from the field of battle.'"
(How badly these "poor heathen" were in need of the Jesuit missionary, and
the British government and civilization!)
Prof. Müller quotes Warren Hastings regarding the Hindus in general, as
follows, "They are gentle and benevolent, more susceptible of gratitude
for kindness shown them, and less prompted to vengeance for wrongs
inflicted, than any people on the face of the earth--faithful,
affectionate, submissive to legal authority."
Bishop Heber said, "The Hindus are brave, courteous, intelligent, most
eager for knowledge and improvement, sober, industrious, dutiful to
parents, affectionate to their children, uniformly gentle and patient, and
more easily affected by kindness and attention to their wants and feelings
than any people I ever met with."
Elphinstone said, "No set of people among the Hindus are so depraved as
the dregs of our own great towns." (It might have been wiser to have
employed English missionaries at home.)
Sir Thomas Munro bears even stronger testimony. He writes, "If a good
system of agriculture, unrivaled manufacturing-skill, a capacity to
produce whatever can contribute to either convenience or luxury, schools
established in every village for teaching reading, writing and arithmetic,
the general practice of hospitality, and charity among each other, and
above all, a treatment of the female sex full of confidence, respect, and
delicacy, are among the signs which denote a civilized people--then the
Hindus are not inferior to the nations of Europe--and if civilization is
to become an article of trade between England and India, _I am convinced
that England will gain by the import cargo_.
"Even at the present moment, after a century of English rule and English
teaching, I believe that Sanskrit is more widely understood in India, than
Latin was in Europe at the time of Dante.
"There are thousands of Brahmans, even now, when so little inducement
exists for Vedic studies, who know the whole of the Rig-Veda by heart, and
can repeat it, and what applies to the Rig-Veda, applies to many other
books." (Ten thousand and seventeen hymns.)
Speaking of other and later literature, Prof. Müller says, "It is
different with the ancient literature of India, the literature dominated
by the Vedic and Buddhistic religions. That literature opens to us a
chapter in what has been called the Education OF THE HUMAN RACE, TO WHICH
WE CAN FIND NO PARALLEL anywhere else. Whoever cares for the historical
growth of our language, that is, of our thoughts; whoever cares for the
intelligible development of religion and mythology, whoever cares for the
first foundation of what in later times we call the sciences of astronomy,
metronomy, grammar and etymology; whoever cares for the first intimations
of philosophical thought; for the first attempts at regulating family
life, village life, and state life, as founded on religion, ceremonial,
tradition and contact (Samaya), must in future pay the same attention to
the literature of the Vedic period as to the literature of Greece and Rome
and Germany.
"I maintain then that for a study of man, or, if you like, for a study of
Aryan humanity, there is nothing in the world equal in importance with the
Veda.
"The aristocracy of those who know--_di color che sanno_--or try to know,
is open to all who are willing to enter, to all who have a feeling for the
past; an interest in the genealogy of our thoughts, and a reverence for
the ancestry of our intellect, who are, in fact, historians in the true
sense of the word, i.e. inquirers into that which is past, but not lost.
"But if we mean by primitive the people who have been the first of the
Aryan race to leave behind literary relics of their existence on earth,
then I say the Vedic poets are primitive; the Vedic language is primitive;
the Vedic religion is primitive, and, taken as a whole, _more primitive
than anything else that we are ever likely to recover in the whole history
of our race_....
"For this reason, because the religion of the Veda was so completely
guarded from all strange infection, it is full of lessons which the
student of religion could learn nowhere else."
The foregoing quotations have been made from a little volume, "India: What
Can It Teach Us?" published by Funk and Wagnalls in 1883, and sold at 25
cents, so that these statements of Prof. Max Müller have been accessible
for more than a quarter of a century.
Since 1883, however, we have heard more and more of the "Wisdom of Old
India."
The whole Theosophical movement, degenerate as it may have become in some
directions, and much as it has been misinterpreted, and ridiculed and
exploited in others, was primarily a sincere and earnest attempt "to bring
the Secret Doctrine of ancient India within reach of Western students," to
promote the brotherhood of man; the study of ancient philosophy and the
psychical powers latent in man. There are thousands of intelligent and
earnest students all over the world who have been uplifted, illuminated,
and encouraged by these studies. When the true history of the present
epoch comes to be written, there can be no shadow of doubt as to the
recognition that will be accorded to H. P. Blavatsky and her aims, her
life, and her work.
But such movements as are going on in the world, continually change their
base, their methods, and their prospective. While the new awakening
unmistakably goes back to old India, and compels a review and a
readjustment of all our knowledge, and all our hopes and aims, another
spirit has entered our intellectual realm, and compelled attention and
recognition.
It has made for itself a habitation and a name, and nothing less than a
cataclysm can altogether overthrow it.
It is the Genius of Scientific Criticism, Research, and Demonstration.
The "Mistakes of Moses" may indeed be paralleled by those of modern
physical science, and these are being revealed side by side with those of
theology and dogmatic assertion.
It has hardly yet dawned upon the mind of the physical scientist that the
concept of the psychical and spiritual life and nature of man comprises,
with the world of matter and form, a complete theorem of human life. He is
often as incredulous, resentful, and contemptuous as the creed-bound
religionist at the approach of more light, and the suggestion that all
these essential problems were included and solved ages ago in ancient
Aryavarta; and that "the few who know," the ancient order of the
_Illuminati_, now designated the "School of Natural Science," has
treasured this knowledge for ages.
The Vedas are not only ancient, but complicated and diffuse, and the busy
life of the modern student will hardly suffice for the mastery of their
wisdom, or the understanding of their secrets.
When, however, this ancient wisdom is condensed and epitomized, in perfect
harmony with the concepts, the methods, and the demonstrations of Natural
Science, the "Jewel in the Lotus,"--to use a Vedic synonym,--will appear
in all its beauty and glory, to all who have eyes to see, and ears to
hear, with determination to "honor every truth by use," and loyal
service.
In the foregoing quotations it may be seen what this real knowledge did
for the people of ancient India in building character on constructive
lines, promoting justice, equity, charity, and kindness among the common
people, and the teeming millions of India, when our Saxon and Norman
ancestors were still barbarians, and before the Jew or the Christian were
even dreamed of.
In the following quotations from Jacolliot's "Bible in India," an outline
will be given as to the source of some of our myths, pantheons, and
religions.
These brief and imperfect outlines from two small and generally forgotten
books, ought to satisfy any intelligent and unbiased student how
completely the general thesis may be demonstrated from the ancient records
themselves.
The books from which these quotations are made are like kindergarten
primers for the use of beginners.
The present writer's interest in and study of Theosophy and the Secret
Doctrine were instigated by Schopenhauer's "World as Will and Idea." He
found how largely Schopenhauer had drawn from the Upanishads (see previous
quotation), and how little, after all, his "Philosophy" had utilized the
ancient Wisdom. Hence he resolved to seek the ancient sources of
knowledge, and has been trying his best to apprehend and utilize them, the
hoarded wisdom of the ages.
He is not in the least anxious to gain recognition for, or to seek to
rehabilitate old India, for its own sake. She speaks for herself, through
the centuries of the past, and will continue to speak and to influence all
coming time.
Jacolliot shows, however, a little irritation at this point over the
suppression of facts, the brutality of marauding invaders, and the
wholesale and brazen appropriation without the least credit to India's
store of wisdom.
The present writer is, however, exceedingly desirous that his
fellow-students in the West should discover, recognize, and utilize this
ancient mine of wisdom for themselves.
Its day of recognition is just now at the dawn, and the most pressing
problems concerning the real nature, the spiritual possibilities, and the
eternal destiny of the soul of man, are pressing and burning questions
to-day.
That these problems do not wait solution by modern physical science and
physio-psychology, but await only the understanding and acceptance of
every earnest and intelligent student, is easily demonstrated. It
challenges the world to-day, as it has not done before for many
millenniums, and the issues are to be tried out to a scientific
demonstration.
The preferences and prejudices of partisans will not be consulted, nor
will they in the least interrupt the progress, nor interfere with the
solution.
The question is no longer, "What think ye of Jesus?" but "What _know_ ye
of your own soul?" A new faith will supersede the old superstitions.
Faith, from the viewpoint of Natural Science, is "the soul's intuitive
_conviction_ of that which both reason and conscience approve." Blind
faith, or belief, is ever the handmaid of superstition. The new faith is
the harbinger, the promise, and the potency of knowledge, the anchor of
the soul, and the armor of righteousness.
This is indeed the language of confidence, and it should be put to the
test of science and experience.
The scornful and the contemptuous are not even _invited_! They are left
alone with their Idols.
Coming now more directly to the splendid work of Jacolliot, one thing I
think ought to be apparent to every honest and intelligent reader of "The
Bible in India," and that is, that its author is in no sense a partisan of
Hinduism, but a searcher and witness for the simple Truth as he finds and
apprehends it.
He puts aside mystery, miracle, and Divine Revelation, as dispassionately
in the Vedic, Brahmanical, and Buddhistic cults, as in the Mosaic and
Christian. Belief in God, and reverence for Truth in the light of reason
and conscience, shine from every page of his work.
To flippantly call him an "atheist," or a "destroyer of holy things," as
though that were in any sense an answer to his thesis, and which formerly
was the rule, and may even now be attempted in certain quarters, will
simply brand the bigot as by no means intelligent--if indeed honest--who
attempts it. The majority of such sectarians have grown wise or prudent
enough to ignore all such issues.
There has been a great change in public sentiment since Jacolliot went to
India as an earnest student of these subjects, and in the nearly forty
years since he wrote this book.
The saying that "Truth passes through three phases before being accepted,"
specially applies here. First, people say, "It is not true." Second, "It
contradicts Scripture," and when it at last is triumphant, that
"_Everybody knew it before_."
The truths of which Jacolliot writes have already reached at least the
beginning of the third stage. Of course, "Everybody" here means those who
read, and think, and dare to use conscience and reason.
In referring to a religious debate between a missionary and a Brahman, and
the universal interest manifested among all classes as to the outcome of
the encounter, "hooting the vanquished in either case with strict
impartiality," Jacolliot adds, "We shall be less surprised at this when it
is known that there is not a Hindoo, whatever his rank or caste, who does
not know the principles of the Holy Scripture, that is, the Vedas, and who
does not _perfectly know how to read and write_."
Three hundred and forty millions of people, thousands of them pariahs and
outcasts, sharing refuse with the dogs, with no rights that any one else
is bound to respect, bowing their faces in the dust when a Brahman passes
ten paces away--and yet everyone can read and write!
Max Müller said he had had in his study at Oxford a young Hindoo who could
repeat the whole of the Mahabharata _without missing a word or an
inflection_ from beginning to end.
These are some of the _remnants_ in the decline of old India after
thousands of years of Brahman rule and slavish domination of the people to
preserve their own exclusive caste and exploitation. Western people have
yet to learn the inevitable tendency, and the invariable rule of
exploitation of the people, by a dominant priesthood, and the poverty and
degradation of the masses that always results. It has never once failed in
this result in three thousand years.
The whole of Southern Europe is already awakening to a realization of this
result to-day. It is accomplished in the name of "Religion" by those who
call themselves "Viceregents of God," and who arrogantly trample on the
rights of conscience, and the freedom of man.
Brahmanism first set the example as originators of this slavish
abomination.
The studies and investigations of Jacolliot in India, go back to the Vedic
or pre-Brahmanic age; then to the rise, development, and slow decline of
Brahmanism; then the epoch of Christna; the influence of Buddha, and his
being driven out of India by the powerful Brahmans; and finally, to the
present poverty and degradation of the millions through foreign invasion
and domination.
The ruling Brahmans had neither thought nor desire for _Constructive
Nationality_. In their pride and lust for power and gold, even in their
just pride over their inheritance from Vedic ancestors, and wisdom,
Patriotism was unknown to them. Invaders contended with them in robbing
and enslaving the people.
The people who despised and hated the foreign invader dare not, even yet,
to rise against their real despoilers--the Brahmans--or defy or break
their power.
It is the Vedic literature, and the earliest, or pre-Brahmanic time that
Jacolliot lauds so highly, and in which he finds and demonstrates, the
existence of the sources of all human knowledge.
It will be ignorant folly, therefore, for the bigot and the sectarian to
attempt to answer or oppose him, by referring to the condition of the
people of India as it is to-day.
Jacolliot simply shows the causes that have led to the present
degradation.
It is _priestcraft_, despite the Vedic wisdom, and the missions and
teaching of Christna and Buddha.
All this Jacolliot demonstrates beyond all controversy.
The bulk of his work consists in demonstrating the source of Greek and
Roman Mythology, Language, Law, Philosophy, etc., and equally of every
Jewish and Christian doctrine and tradition.
Jacolliot shows that as the French code is copied or adapted from the
Justinian, so equally the Justinian was derived from that of Manu, many
centuries previously. And what is true of Law is equally true of
philosophy, theology, morals, and the principles of science, art,
architecture, and all the rest.
The Hindoos were demoralized by the priests, but the moral degradation
extended even to them, and the arms they employed were turned against
themselves.
"The first result of the baneful domination of priests in India was the
abasement and moral degradation of woman, so respected and honored during
the Vedic period.
"If you would reign over the persons of slaves, over brutalized
intelligence, the history of these infamous epochs presents a means of
unequaled simplicity. _Degrade and demoralize the woman_, and you will
soon have made of man a debased creature, without energy to struggle
against the darkest despotisms; for, according to the fine expression of
the Vedas, 'the woman is the soul of humanity.'"
As did the Brahman priesthood, when through greed and ambition they
forsook the ancient wisdom, so do the priesthood of Rome, with their
celibacy added to the abominations and opportunities of the confessional.
Search the records of all time, and the traditions and customs of every
people, and you will find nowhere else such recognition and reverence paid
to woman as in the early Vedic days.
"Let it be well understood," says Jacolliot, "that it was but sacerdotal
influence and Brahminical decay that, in changing the primitive condition
of the East, reduced woman to a state of subordination which has not yet
disappeared from our social system.
"Let us read these maxims taken at hazard from the sacred books of India."
(I quote only a few.) "Man is strength--woman is beauty; he is the reason
that governs, but she is the wisdom that moderates; the one cannot exist
without the other, and hence the Lord created them two, for the one
purpose.
"He who despises woman, despises his mother.
"Who is cursed by a woman, is cursed by God.
"The tears of woman call down the fire of heaven on those who make them
flow.
"The songs of women are sweet in the ears of the Lord; men should not, if
they wish to be heard, sing the praise of God without women.
"Women should be protected with tenderness, and gratified with gifts, by
all who wish for length of days.
"It was at the prayer of a woman that the Creator pardoned man; cursed be
he who forgets it." (See the Vedic "Garden of Eden.")
Moses, trained only in the decay of the old religion by the degenerate
priests of Egypt, while drawing his legend of creation from the ancient
Vedic source, reverses all this and places the blame of the "Fall" on
woman, and the women of the Bible are more often concubines and
prostitutes than Love's pure evangels as in the ancient days. Jacolliot
proves this from many citations, as witness also the following: (Numbers,