slaughter of animals obstructs the path to beatitude; from flesh meat,
therefore, let man abstain.
"Attentively considering the formation of bodies, and the death or
confinement of embodied spirits, let him abstain from eating flesh meat
of any kind.
"Not a mortal exists more sinful than he who, without an oblation to
the manes or the gods, desires to enlarge his own flesh with the flesh
of another creature.
"By subsisting on pure fruit and on roots, and by eating such grains as
are eaten by hermits, a man reaps not so high a reward as by carefully
abstaining from animal food.
"In lawfully tasting meat, in drinking fermented liquor, in caressing
women, there is no turpitude; for to such enjoyments men are naturally
prone, but a virtuous abstinence from them produces a signal
compensation.
"Sacred learning, austere devotion, fire, holy aliment, earth, the
mind, water, smearing with cow-dung, air, prescribed acts of religion,
the sun, and time are purifiers of embodied spirits.
"But of all pure things purity in acquiring wealth is pronounced the
most excellent; since he who gains wealth with clean hands is truly
pure; not he who is purified merely with earth and water.
"By forgiveness of injuries, the learned are purified; by liberality,
those who have neglected their duty; by pious meditation, those who
have secret faults; by devout austerity, those who best know the Veda.
"Bodies are cleansed by water; the mind is purified by truth; the vital
spirit, by theology and devotion; the understanding, by clear
knowledge.
"No sacrifice is allowed to women apart from their husbands, no
religious rite, no fasting; as far only as a wife honors her lord, so
far she is exalted in heaven.
"A faithful wife, who wishes to attain in heaven the mansion of her
husband, must do nothing unkind to him, be he living or dead.
"Let her emaciate her body by living voluntarily on pure flowers,
roots, and fruit; but let her not, when her lord is deceased, even
pronounce the name of another man.
"Let her continue till death forgiving all injuries, performing harsh
duties, avoiding every sensual pleasure, and cheerfully practising the
incomparable rules of virtue, which have been followed by such women as
were devoted to one only husband."
The Sixth Book of the Laws of Manu relates to devotion. It seems that the
Brahmans were in the habit of becoming ascetics, or, as the Roman
Catholics would say, entering Religion. A Brahman, or twice-born man, who
wishes to become an ascetic, must abandon his home and family, and go to
live in the forest. His food must be roots and fruit, his clothing a bark
garment or a skin, he must bathe morning and evening, and suffer his hair
to grow. He must spend his time in reading the Veda, with a mind intent on
the Supreme Being, "a perpetual giver but no receiver of gifts; with
tender affection for all animated bodies." He is to perform various
sacrifices with offerings of fruits and flowers, practise austerities by
exposing himself to heat and cold, and "for the purpose of uniting his
soul with the Divine Spirit he must study the Upanishads."
"A Brahman, having shuffled off his body by these modes, which great
sages practise, and becoming void of sorrow and fear, it exalted into
the divine essence."
"Let him not wish for death. Let him not wish for life. Let him expect
his appointed time, as the hired servant expects his wages."
"Meditating on the Supreme Spirit, without any earthly desire, with no
companion but his own soul, let him live in this world seeking the
bliss of the next."
The anchorite is to beg food, but only once a day; if it is not given to
him, he must not be sorrowful, and if he receives it he must not be glad;
he is to meditate on the "subtle indivisible essence of the Supreme
Being," he is to be careful not to destroy the life of the smallest
insect, and he must make atonement for the death of those which he has
ignorantly destroyed by making six suppressions of his breath, repeating
at the same time the triliteral syllable A U M. He will thus at last
become united with the Eternal Spirit, and his good deeds will be
inherited by those who love him, and his evil deeds by those who hate him.
The Seventh Book relates to the duties of rulers. One of these is to
reward the good and punish the wicked. The genius of punishment is a son
of Brahma, and has a body of pure light. Punishment is an active ruler,
governs all mankind, dispenses laws, preserves the race, and is the
perfection of justice. Without it all classes would become corrupt, all
barriers would fall, and there would be total confusion. Kings are to
respect the Brahmans, must shun vices, must select good counsellors and
brave soldiers. A King must be a father to his people. When he goes to war
he must observe the rules of honorable warfare, must not use poisoned
arrows, strike a fallen enemy, nor one who sues for life, nor one without
arms, nor one who surrenders. He is not to take too little revenue, and so
"cut up his own root"; nor too much, and so "cut up the root of others";
he is to be severe when it is necessary, and mild when it is necessary.
The Eighth Book relates to civil and criminal law. The Raja is to hold his
court every day, assisted by his Brahmans, and decide causes concerning
debts and loans, sales, wages, contracts, boundaries, slander, assaults,
larceny, robbery, and other crimes. The Raja, "understanding what is
expedient or inexpedient, but considering only what is law or not law,"
should examine all disputes. He must protect unprotected women, restore
property to its rightful owner, not encourage litigation, and decide
according to the rules of law. These rules correspond very nearly to our
law of evidence. Witnesses are warned to speak the truth in all cases by
the consideration that, though they may think that none see them, the gods
distinctly see them and also the spirit in their own breasts.
"The soul itself is its own witness, the soul itself is its own refuge;
offend not thy conscious soul, the supreme internal witness of men."
"The fruit of every virtuous act which thou hast done, O good man,
since thy birth, shall depart from thee to the dogs, if thou deviate
from the truth."
"O friend to virtue, the Supreme Spirit, which is the same with
thyself, resides in thy bosom perpetually, and is an all-knowing
inspector of thy goodness or wickedness."
The law then proceeds to describe the punishments which the gods would
inflict upon false witnesses; but, curiously enough, allows false witness
to be given, from a benevolent motive, in order to save an innocent man
from a tyrant. This is called "the venial sin of benevolent falsehood."
The book then proceeds to describe weights and measures, and the rate of
usury, which is put down as five percent. It forbids compound interest.
The law of deposits occupies a large space, as in all Eastern countries,
where investments are difficult. A good deal is said about the wages of
servants, especially of those hired to keep cattle, and their
responsibilities. The law of slander is carefully laid down. Crimes of
violence are also minutely described, and here the _Lex Talionis_ comes
in. If a man strikes a human being or an animal so as to inflict much
pain, he shall be struck himself in the same way. A man is allowed to
correct with a small stick his wife, son, or servant, but not on the head
or any noble part of the body. The Brahmans, however, are protected by
special laws.
"Never shall the king flay a Brahman, though convicted of all possible
crimes: let him banish the offender from his realm, but with all his
property secure and his body unhurt."
"No greater crime is known on earth than flaying a Brahman; and the
king, therefore, must not even form in his mind the idea of killing a
priest."
The Ninth Book relates to women, to families, and to the law of castes. It
states that women must be kept in a state of dependence.
"Their fathers protect them in childhood; their husbands protect them
in youth; their sons protect them in age. A woman is never fit for
independence."
It is the duty of men to watch and guard women, and very unfavorable
opinions are expressed concerning the female character.
"Women have no business with the text of the Veda; this is fully
settled; therefore having no knowledge of expiatory texts, sinful women
must be as foul as falsehood itself. This is a fixed law."
It is, however, stated that good women become like goddesses, and shall be
joined with their husbands in heaven; and that a man is only perfect when
he consists of three persons united,--his wife, himself, and his son. Manu
also attributes to ancient Brahmans a maxim almost verbally the same as
that of the Bible, namely, "The husband is even one person with his wife."
Nothing is said by Manu concerning the cremation of widows, but, on the
other hand, minute directions are given for the behavior of widows during
their life. Directions are also given concerning the marriage of daughters
and sons and their inheritance of property. The rest of the book is
devoted to a further description of crimes and punishments.
The Tenth Book relates to the mixed classes and times of distress.
The Eleventh Book relates to penance and expiation. In this book is
mentioned the remarkable rite which consists in drinking the fermented
juice of the moon-plant (or acid asclepias) with religious ceremonies.
This Hindu sacrament began in the Vedic age, and the Sanhita of the
Sama-Veda consists of hymns to be sung at the moon-plant sacrifice.[51]
This ceremony is still practised occasionally in India, and Dr. Hang has
tasted this sacred beverage, which he describes as astringent, bitter,
intoxicating, and very disagreeable.[52] It is stated by Manu that no one
has a right to drink this sacred juice who does not properly provide for
his own household. He encourages sacrifices by declaring that they are
highly meritorious and will expiate sin. Involuntary sins require a much
lighter penance than those committed with knowledge. Crimes committed by
Brahmans require a less severe penance than those performed by others;
while those committed against Brahmans involve a much deeper guilt and
require severer penance. The law declares:--
"From his high birth alone a Brahman is an object of veneration, even
to deities, and his declarations are decisive evidence."
"A Brahman, who has performed an expiation with his whole mind fixed on
God, purifies his soul."
Drinking intoxicating liquor (except in the Soma sacrifice) is strictly
prohibited, and it is even declared that a Brahman who tastes intoxicating
liquor sinks to the low caste of a Sudra. If a Brahman who has tasted the
Soma juice even smells the breath of a man who has been drinking spirits,
he must do penance by repeating the Gayatri, suppressing his breath, and
eating clarified butter. Next to Brahmans, cows were the objects of
reverence, probably because, in the earliest times, the Aryan race, as
nomads, depended on this animal for food. He who kills a cow must perform
very severe penances, among which are these:--
"All day he must wait on a herd of cows and stand quaffing the dust
raised by their hoofs; at night, having servilely attended them, he
must sit near and guard them."
"Free from passion, he must stand while they stand, follow when they
move, and lie down near them when they lie down."
"By thus waiting on a herd for three months, he who has killed a cow
atones for his guilt."
For such offences as cutting down fruit-trees or grasses, or killing
insects, or injuring sentient creatures, the penance is to repeat so many
texts of the Veda, to eat clarified butter, or to stop the breath. A
low-born man who treats a Brahman disrespectfully, or who even overcomes
him in argument, must fast all day and fall prostrate before him. He who
strikes a Brahman shall remain in hell a thousand years. Great, however,
is the power of sincere devotion. By repentance, open confession, reading
the Scripture, almsgiving, and reformation, one is released from guilt.
Devotion, it is said, is equal to the performance of all duties; and even
the souls of worms and insects and vegetables attain heaven by the power
of devotion. But especially great is the sanctifying influence of the
Vedas. He who can repeat the whole of the Rig-Veda would be free from
guilt, even if he had killed the inhabitants of the three worlds.
The last book of Manu is on transmigration and final beatitude. The
principle is here laid down that every human action, word, and thought
bears its appropriate fruit, good or evil. Out of the heart proceed three
sins of thought, four sins of the tongue, and three of the body, namely,
covetous, disobedient, and atheistic thoughts; scurrilous, false,
frivolous, and unkind words; and actions of theft, bodily injury, and
licentiousness. He who controls his thoughts, words, and actions is called
a triple commander. There are three qualities of the soul, giving it a
tendency to goodness, to passion, and to darkness. The first leads to
knowledge, the second to desire, the third to sensuality. To the first
belong study of Scripture, devotion, purity, self-command, and obedience.
From the second proceed hypocritical actions, anxiety, disobedience, and
self-indulgence. The third produces avarice, atheism, indolence, and every
act which a man is ashamed of doing. The object of the first quality is
virtue; of the second, worldly success; of the third, pleasure. The souls
in which the first quality is supreme rise after death to the condition of
deities; those in whom the second rules pass into the bodies of other
men; while those under the dominion of the third become beasts and
vegetables. Manu proceeds to expound, in great detail, this law of
transmigration. For great sins one is condemned to pass a great many times
into the bodies of dogs, insects, spiders, snakes, or grasses. The change
has relation to the crime: thus, he who steals grain shall be born a rat;
he who steals meat, a vulture; those who indulge in forbidden pleasures of
the senses shall have their senses made acute to endure intense pain.
The highest of all virtues is disinterested goodness, performed from the
love of God, and based on the knowledge of the Veda. A religious action,
performed from hope of reward in this world or the next, will give one a
place in the lowest heaven. But he who performs good actions without hope
of reward, "perceiving the supreme soul in all beings, and all beings in
the supreme soul, fixing his mind on God, approaches the divine nature."
"Let every Brahman, with fixed attention, consider all nature as
existing in the Divine Spirit; all worlds as seated in him; he alone as
the whole assemblage of gods; and he the author of all human actions."
"Let him consider the supreme omnipresent intelligence as the sovereign
lord of the universe, by whom alone it exists, an incomprehensible
spirit; pervading all beings in five elemental forms, and causing them
to pass through birth, growth, and decay, and so to revolve like the
wheels of a car."
"Thus the man who perceives in his own soul the supreme soul present in
all creatures, acquires equanimity toward them all, and shall be
absolved at last in the highest essence, even that of the Almighty
himself."
We have given these copious extracts from the Brahmanic law, because this
code is so ancient and authentic, and contains the bright consummate
flower of the system, before decay began to come.
§ 6. The Three Hindoo Systems of Philosophy,--Sánkhya, Vedanta, and Nyasa.
Duncker says[53] that the Indian systems of philosophy were produced in
the sixth or seventh century before Christ. As the system of Buddha
implies the existence of the Sánkhya philosophy, the latter must have
preceded Buddhism.[54] Moreover, Kapila and his two principles are
distinctly mentioned in the Laws of Manu,[55] and in the later
Upanishads.[56] This brings it to the Brahmana period of Max Müller, B.C.
600 to B.C. 800, and probably still earlier. Dr. Weber at one time was of
the opinion that Kapila and Buddha were the same person, but afterward
retracted this opinion.[57] Colebrooke says that Kapila is mentioned in
the Veda itself, but intimates that this is probably another sage of the
same name.[58] The sage was even considered to be an incarnation of
Vischnu, or of Agni. The Vedanta philosophy is also said by Lassen to be
mentioned in the Laws of Manu.[59] This system is founded on the
Upanishads, and would seem to be later than that of Kapila, since it
criticises his system, and devotes much space to its confutation.[60] But
Duncker regards it as the oldest, and already beginning in the Upanishads
of the Vedas.[61] As the oldest works now extant in both systems are later
than their origin, this question of date can only be determined from their
contents. That which logically precedes the other must be chronologically
the oldest.
The Sánkhya system of Kapila is contained in many works, but notably in
the Káriká, or Sánkhya-Káriká, by Iswara Krishna. This consists in
eighty-two memorial verses, with a commentary.[62] The Vedanta is
contained in the Sutras, the Upanishads, and especially the Brahma-Sutra
attributed to Vyasa.[63] The Nyaya is to be found in the Sutras of Gotama
and Canade.[64]
These three systems of Hindoo philosophy, the Sánkhya, the Nyaya, and the
Vedanta, reach far back into a misty twilight, which leaves it doubtful
when they began or who were their real authors. In some points they agree,
in others they are widely opposed. They all agree in having for their
object deliverance from the evils of time, change, sorrow, into an eternal
rest and peace. Their aim is, therefore, not merely speculative, but
practical. All agree in considering existence to be an evil, understanding
by existence a life in time and space. All are idealists, to whom the
world of sense and time is a delusion and snare, and who regard the Idea
as the only substance. All agree in accepting the fact of transmigration,
the cessation of which brings final deliverance. All consider that the
means of this deliverance is to be found in knowledge, in a perfect
knowledge of reality as opposed to appearance. And all are held by
Brahmans, who consider themselves orthodox, who honor the Vedas above all
other books, pay complete respect to the Hinduism of the day, perform the
daily ceremonies, and observe the usual caste rules.[65] The systems of
philosophy supplement the religious worship, but are not intended to
destroy it. The Vedantists hold that while in truth there is but one God,
the various forms of worship in the Vedas, of Indra, Agni, the Maruts,
etc., were all intended for those who could not rise to this sublime
monotheism. Those who believe in the Sánkhya maintain that though it
wholly omits God, and is called "the system without a God," it merely
omits, but does not deny, the Divine existence.[66]
Each of these philosophies has a speculative and a practical side. The
speculative problem is, How did the universe come? The practical problem
is, How shall man be delivered from evil?
In answering the first question, the Vedanta, or Mimansa doctrine,
proceeds from a single eternal and uncreated Principle; declaring that
there is only ONE being in the universe, God or Brahm, and that all else
is Maya, or illusion. The Sankhya accepts TWO eternal and uncreated
substances, Soul and Nature. The Nyaya assumes THREE eternal and uncreated
substances,--Atoms, Souls, and God.
The solution of the second problem is the same in all three systems. It is
by knowledge that the soul is emancipated from body or matter or nature.
Worship is inadequate, though not to be despised. Action is injurious
rather than beneficial, for it implies desire. Only knowledge can lead to
entire rest and peace.
According to all three systems, the transmigration of the soul through
different bodies is an evil resulting from desire. As long as the soul
wishes anything, it will continue to migrate and to suffer. When it
gathers itself up into calm insight, it ceases to wander and finds repose.
The _Vedanta_ or _Mimansa_ is supposed to be referred to in Manu.[67]
_Mimansa_ means "searching." In its logical forms it adopts the method so
common among the scholastics, in first stating the question, then giving
the objection, after that the reply to the objection, and lastly the
conclusion. The first part of the Mimansa relates to worship and the
ceremonies and ritual of the Veda. The second part teaches the doctrine of
Brahma. Brahma is the one, eternal, absolute, unchangeable Being. He
unfolds into the universe as Creator and Created. He becomes first ether,
then air, then fire, then water, then earth. From these five elements all
bodily existence proceeds. Souls are sparks from the central fire of
Brahma, separated for a time, to be absorbed again at last.
Brahma, in his highest form as Para-Brahm, stands for the Absolute Being.
The following extract from the Sáma-Veda (after Haug's translation)
expresses this: "The generation of Brahma was before all ages, unfolding
himself evermore in a beautiful glory; everything which is highest and
everything which is deepest belongs to him. Being and Not-Being are
unveiled through Brahma."
The following passage is from a Upanishad, translated by Windischmann:--
"How can any one teach concerning Brahma? he is neither the known nor the
unknown. That which cannot be expressed by words, but through which all
expression comes, this I know to be Brahma. That which cannot be thought
by the mind, but by which all thinking comes, this I know is Brahma. That
which cannot be seen by the eye, but by which the eye sees, is Brahma. If
thou thinkest that thou canst know it, then in truth thou knowest it very
little. To whom it is unknown, he knows it; but to whom it is known, he
knows it not."
This also is from Windischmann, from the Kathaka Upanishad: "One cannot
attain to it through the word, through the mind, or through the eye. It is
only reached by him who says, 'It is! It is!' He perceives it in its
essence. Its essence appears when one perceives it as it is."
The old German expression _Istigkeit_, according to Bunsen, corresponds to
this. This also is the name of Jehovah as given to Moses from the burning
bush: "And God said unto Moses, I AM THE I AM. Thus shalt thou say unto
the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." The idea is that God
alone really exists, and that the root of all being is in him. This is
expressed in another Upanishad: "HE WHO EXISTS is the root of all
creatures; he WHO EXISTS is their foundation, and in him they rest."
In the Vedanta philosophy this speculative pantheism is carried further.
Thus speaks Sankara, the chief teacher of the Vedanta philosophy
("Colebrooke's Essays"): "I am the great Brahma, eternal, pure, free, one,
constant, happy, existing without end. He who ceases to contemplate other
things, who retires into solitude, annihilates his desires, and subjects
his passions, he understands that Spirit is the One and the Eternal. The
wise man annihilates all sensible things in spiritual things, and
contemplates that one Spirit who resembles pure space. Brahma is without
size, quality, character, or division."
According to this philosophy (says Bunsen) the world is the Not-Being. It
is, says Sankara, "appearance without Being; it is like the deception of a
dream." "The soul itself," he adds, "has no actual being."
There is an essay on Vedantism in a book published in Calcutta, 1854, by a
young Hindoo, Shoshee Chunder Dutt, which describes the creation as
proceeding from Maya, in this way: "Dissatisfied with his own solitude,
Brahma feels a desire to create worlds, and then the volition ceases so
far as he is concerned, and he sinks again into his apathetic happiness,
while the desire, thus willed into existence, assumes an active character.
It becomes Maya, and by this was the universe created, without exertion on
the part of Brahma. This passing wish of Brahma carried, however, no
reality with it. And the creation proceeding from it is only an illusion.
There is only one absolute Unity really existing, and existing without
plurality. But he is like one asleep. Krishna, in the Gita, says: 'These
works (the universe) confine not me, for I am like one who sitteth aloof
uninterested in them all.' The universe is therefore all illusion, holding
a position between something and nothing. It is real as an illusion, but
unreal as being. It is not true, because it has no essence; but not false,
because its existence, even as illusion, is from God. The Vedanta
declares: 'From the highest state of Brahma to the lowest condition of a
straw, all things are delusion.'" Chunder Dutt, however, contradicts
Bunsen's assertion that the soul also is an illusion according to the
Vedanta. "The soul," he says, "is not subject to birth or death, but is in
its substance, from Brahma himself." The truth seems to be that the
Vedanta regards the individuation of the soul as from Maya and illusive,
but the substance of the soul is from Brahma, and destined to be absorbed
into him. As the body of man is to be resolved into its material elements,
so the soul of man is to be resolved into Brahma. This substance of the
soul is neither born nor dies, nor is it a thing of which it can be said,
"It was, is, or shall be." In the Gita, Krishna tells Arjun that he and
the other princes of the world "never were not."[68]
The Vedantist philosopher, however, though he considers all souls as
emanations from God, does not believe that all of them will return into
God at death. Those only who have obtained a knowledge of God are rewarded
by absorption, but the rest continue to migrate from body to body so long
as they remain unqualified for the same. "The knower of God becomes God."
This union with the Deity is the total loss of personal identity, and is
the attainment of the highest bliss, in which are no grades and from which
is no return. This absorption comes not from good works or penances, for
these confine the soul and do not liberate it. "The confinement of fetters
is the same whether the chain be of gold or iron." "The knowledge which
realizes that everything is Brahm alone liberates the soul. It annuls the
effect both of our virtues and vices. We traverse thereby both merit and
demerit, the heart's knot is broken, all doubts are split, and all our
works perish. Only by perfect abstraction, not merely from the senses, but
also from the thinking intellect and by remaining in the knowing
intellect, does the devotee become identified with Brahm. He then remains
as pure glass when the shadow has left it. He lives destitute of passions
and affections. He lives sinless; for as water wets not the leaf of the
lotus, so sin touches not him who knows God." He stands in no further need
of virtue, for "of what use can be a winnowing fan when the sweet southern
wind is blowing." His meditations are of this sort: "I am Brahm, I am
life. I am everlasting, perfect, self-existent, undivided, joyful."
If therefore, according to this system, knowledge alone unites the soul to
God, the question comes, Of what use are acts of virtue, penances,
sacrifices, worship? The answer is, that they effect a happy
transmigration from the lower forms of bodily life to higher ones. They
do not accomplish the great end, which is absorption and escape from Maya,
but they prepare the way for it by causing one to be born in a higher
condition.
The second system of philosophy, the Sánkhya of Kapila, is founded not on
one principle, like the Vedanta, but on two. According to the seventy
aphorisms, Nature is one of these principles. It is uncreated and eternal.
It is one, active, creating, non-intelligent. The other of the two
principles, also uncreated and eternal, is Soul, or rather Souls. Souls
are many, passive, not creative, intelligent, and in all things the
opposite to Nature. But from the union of the two all the visible universe
proceeds, according to the law of cause and effect.
God not being recognized in this system, it is often called atheism. Its
argument, to show that no one perfect being could create the universe, is
this. Desire implies want, or imperfection. Accordingly, if God desired to
create, he would be unable to do so; if he was able, he would not desire
to do it. In neither case, therefore, could God have created the universe.
The gods are spoken of by the usual names, Brahma, Indra, etc., but are
all finite beings, belonging to the order of human souls, though superior.
Every soul is clothed in two bodies,--the interior original body, the
individualizing force, which is eternal as itself and accompanies it
through all its migrations; and the material, secondary body, made of the
five elements, ether, air, fire, water, and earth. The original body is
subtile and spiritual. It is the office of Nature to liberate the Soul.
Nature is not what we perceive by the senses, but an invisible plastic
principle behind, which must be known by the intellect. As the Soul
ascends by goodness, it is freed by knowledge. The final result of this
emancipation is the certainty of non-existence,--"neither I am, nor is
aught mine, nor do I exist,"--which seems to be the same result as that of
Hegel, Being = Not-Being. Two or three of the aphorisms of the Karika are
as follows:--
"LIX. As a dancer, having exhibited herself to the spectator, desists
from the dance, so does Nature desist, having manifested herself to the
Soul."
"LX. Generous Nature, endued with qualities, does by manifold means
accomplish, without benefit (to herself), the wish of ungrateful Soul,
devoid of qualities."
"LXI. Nothing, in my opinion, is more gentle than Nature; once aware of
having been seen, she does not again expose herself to the gaze of
Soul."
"LXVI. Soul desists, because it has seen Nature. Nature desists,
because she has been seen. In their (mere) union there is no motive for
creation."
Accordingly, the result of knowledge is to put an end to creation, and to
leave the Soul emancipated from desire, from change, from the material
body, in a state which is Being, but not Existence (_esse,_ not
_existere_; Seyn, not Da-seyn).
This Sánkhya philosophy becomes of great importance, when we consider that
it was the undoubted source of Buddhism. This doctrine which we have been
describing was the basis of Buddhism.[69]
M. Cousin has called it the sensualism of India,[70] but certainly without
propriety. It is as purely ideal a doctrine as that of the Vedas. Its two
eternal principles are both ideal. The plastic force which is one of them,
Kapila distinctly declares cannot be perceived by the senses.[71] Soul,
the other eternal and uncreated principle, who "is witness, solitary,
bystander, spectator, and passive,"[72] is not only spiritual itself, but
is clothed with a spiritual body, within the material body. In fact, the
Karika declares the material universe to be the result of the contact of
the Soul with Nature, and consists in chains with which Nature binds
herself, for the purpose (unconscious) of delivering the Soul. When by a
process of knowledge the Soul looks through these, and perceives the
ultimate principle beyond, the material universe ceases, and both Soul and
Nature are emancipated.[73]
One of the definitions of the Karika will call to mind the fourfold
division of the universe by the great thinker of the ninth century,
Erigena. In his work, περὶ φύσεως μερισμοῦ he asserts that there is, (1.)
A Nature which creates and is not created. (2.) A Nature which is created
and creates. (3.) A Nature which is created and does not create. (4.) A
Nature which neither creates nor is created. So Kapila (Karika, 3) says,
"Nature, the root of all things, is productive but not a production. Seven
principles are productions and productive. Sixteen are productions but not
productive. Soul is neither a production nor productive."
Mr. Muir (Sanskrit Texts, Part III. p. 96) quotes the following passages
in proof of the antiquity of Kapila, and the respect paid to his doctrine
in very early times:--
_Svet. Upanishad._ "The God who superintends every mode of production
and all forms, who formerly nourished with various knowledge his son
Kapila the rishi, and beheld him at his birth."
"_Bhagavat Purana_ (I. 3, 10) makes Kapila an incarnation of Vischnu.
In his fifth incarnation, in the form of Kapila, he declared to Asuri
the Sankhya which defines the collection of principles.
"_Bhagavat Purana_ (IX. 8, 12) relates that Kapila, being attacked by
the sons of King Sangara, destroyed them with fire which issued from
his body. But the author of the Purana denies that this was done in
_anger_. 'How could the sage, by whom the strong ship of the Sankhya
was launched, on which the man seeking emancipation crosses the ocean
of existence, entertain the distinction of friend and foe'?"
The Sánkhya system is also frequently mentioned in the Mahabarata.
The Nyaya system differs from that of Kapila, by assuming a third eternal
and indestructible principle as the basis of matter, namely, _Atoms_. It
also assumes the existence of a Supreme Soul, Brahma, who is almighty and
allwise. It agrees with Kapila in making all souls eternal, and distinct
from body. Its evil to be overcome is the same, namely, transmigration;
and its method of release is the same, namely _Buddhï_, or knowledge. It
is a more dialectic system than the others, and is rather of the nature of
a logic than a philosophy.
Mr. Banerjea, in his Dialogues on the Hindu philosophy, considers the
Buddhists' system as closely resembling the Nyaya system. He regards the
Buddhist Nirvana as equivalent to the emancipation of the Nyaya system.
Apavarga, or emancipation, is declared in this philosophy to be final
deliverance from pain, birth, activity, fault, and false notions. Even so
the Pali doctrinal books speak of Nirvana as an exemption from old age,
disease, and death. In it desire, anger, and ignorance are consumed by the
fire of knowledge. Here all selfish distinctions of mine and thine, all
evil thoughts, all slander and jealousy, are cut down by the weapon of
knowledge. Here we have an experience of immortality which is cessation of
all trouble and perfect felicity.[74]
§ 7. Origin of the Hindoo Triad.
There had gradually grown up among the people a worship founded on that of
the ancient Vedas. In the West of India, the god RUDRA, mentioned in the
Vedic hymns, had been transformed into Siva. In the Rig-Veda Rudra is
sometimes the name for Agni.[75] He is described as father of the winds.
He is the same as Maha-deva. He is fierce and beneficent at once. He
presides over medicinal plants. According to Weber (Indische Stud., II.
19) he is the Storm-God. The same view is taken by Professor Whitney.[76]
But his worship gradually extended, until, under the name of Siva, the
Destroyer, he became one of the principal deities of India. Meantime, in
the valley of the Ganges, a similar devotion had grown up for the Vedic
god VISCHNU, who in like manner had been promoted to the chief rank in the
Hindoo Pantheon. He had been elevated to the character of a Friend and
Protector, gifted with mild attributes, and worshipped as the life of
Nature. By accepting the popular worship, the Brahmans were able to oppose
Buddhism with success.
We have no doubt that the Hindoo Triad came from the effort of the
Brahmans to unite all India in one worship, and it may for a time have
succeeded. Images of the Trimurtti, or three-faced God, are frequent in
India, and this is still the object of Brahmanical worship. But beside
this practical motive, the tendency of thought is always toward a triad of
law, force, or elemental substance, as the best explanation of the
universe. Hence there have been Triads in so many religions: in Egypt, of
_Osiris_ the Creator, _Typhon_ the Destroyer, and _Horus_ the Preserver;
in Persia, of _Ormazd_ the Creator, _Ahriman_ the Destroyer, and _Mithra_
the Restorer; in Buddhism, of _Buddha_ the Divine Man, _Dharmma_ the Word,
and _Sangha_ the Communion of Saints. Simple monotheism does not long
satisfy the speculative intellect, because, though it accounts for the
harmonies of creation, it leaves its discords unexplained. But a dualism
of opposing forces is found still more unsatisfactory, for the world does
not appear to be such a scene of utter warfare and discord as this. So the
mind comes to accept a Triad, in which the unities of life and growth
proceed from one element, the antagonisms from a second, and the higher
harmonies of reconciled oppositions from a third. The Brahmanical Triad
arose in the same way.[77]
Thus grew up, from amid the spiritual pantheism into which all Hindoo
religion seemed to have settled, another system, that of the Trimurtti, or
Divine Triad; the Indian Trinity of _Brahma, Vischnu_, and _Siva_. This
Triad expresses the unity of Creation, Destruction, and Restoration. A
foundation for this already existed in a Vedic saying, that the highest
being exists in three states, that of creation, continuance, and
destruction.
Neither of these three supreme deities of Brahmanism held any high rank in
the Vedas. Siva (Çiva) does not appear therein at all, nor, according to
Lassen, is Brahma mentioned in the Vedic hymns, but first in a Upanishad.
Vischnu is spoken of in the Rig-Veda, but always as one of the names for
the sun. He is the Sun-God. His three steps are sunrise, noon, and sunset.
He is mentioned as one of the sons of Aditi; he is called the
"wide-stepping," "measurer of the world," "the strong," "the deliverer,"
"renewer of life," "who sets in motion the revolutions of time," "a
protector," "preserving the highest heaven." Evidently he begins his
career in this mythology as the sun.
BRAHMA, at first a word meaning prayer and devotion, becomes in the laws
of Manu the primal God, first-born of the creation, from the self-existent
being, in the form of a golden egg. He became the creator of all things by
the power of prayer. In the struggle for ascendency which took place
between the priests and the warriors, Brahma naturally became the deity of
the former. But, meantime, as we have seen, the worship of Vischnu had
been extending itself in one region and that of Siva in another. Then took
place those mysterious wars between the kings of the Solar and Lunar
races, of which the great epics contain all that we know. And at the close
of these wars a compromise was apparently accepted, by which Brahma,
Vischnu, and Siva were united in one supreme God, as creator, preserver,
and destroyer, all in one.
It is almost certain that this Hindoo Triad was the result of an ingenious
and successful attempt, on the part of the Brahmans, to unite all classes
of worshippers in India against the Buddhists. In this sense the Brahmans
edited anew the Mahabharata, inserting in that epic passages extolling
Vischnu in the form of Krishna. The Greek accounts of India which followed
the invasion of Alexander speak of the worship of Hercules as prevalent
in the East, and by Hercules they apparently mean the god Krishna.[78]
The struggle between the Brahmans and Buddhists lasted during nine
centuries (from A.D. 500 to A.D. 1400), ending with the total expulsion of
Buddhism, and the triumphant establishment of the Triad, as the worship of
India.[79]
Before this Triad or Trimurtti (of Brahma, Vischnu, and Siva) there seems
to have been another, consisting of Agni, Indra, and Surya.[80] This may
have given the hint of the second Triad, which distributed among the three
gods the attributes of Creation, Destruction, and Renovation. Of these
Brahma, the Creator, ceased soon to be popular, and the worship of Siva
and Vischnu as Krishna remain as the popular religion of India.
One part, and a very curious one, of the worship of Vischnu is the
doctrine of the Avatars, or incarnations of that deity. There are ten of
these Avatars,--nine have passed and one is to come. The object of Vischnu
is, each time, to save the gods from destruction impending over them in
consequence of the immense power acquired by some king, giant, or demon,
by superior acts of austerity and piety. For here, as elsewhere, extreme
spiritualism is often divorced from morality; and so these extremely
pious, spiritual, and self-denying giants are the most cruel and
tyrannical monsters, who must be destroyed at all hazards. Vischnu, by
force or fraud, overcomes them all.
His first Avatar is of the Fish, as related in the Mahabharata. The object
was to recover the Vedas, which had been stolen by a demon from Brahma
when asleep. In consequence of this loss the human race became corrupt,
and were destroyed by a deluge, except a pious prince and seven holy men
who were saved in a ship. Vischnu, as a large fish, drew the ship safely
over the water, killed the demon, and recovered the Vedas. The second
Avatar was in a Turtle, to make the drink of immortality. The third was in
a Boar, the fourth in a Man-Lion, the fifth in the Dwarf who deceived
Bali, who had become so powerful by austerities as to conquer the gods
and take possession of Heaven. In the eighth Avatar he appears as Krishna
and in the ninth as Buddha.
This system of Avatars is so peculiar and so deeply rooted in the system,
that it would seem to indicate some law of Hindoo thought. Perhaps some
explanation may be reached thus:--
We observe that,--
Vischnu does not mediate between Brahma and Siva, but between the deities
and the lower races of men or demons.
The danger arises from a certain fate or necessity which is superior both
to gods and men. There are laws which enable a man to get away from the
power of Brahma and Siva.
But what is this necessity but nature, or the nature of things, the laws
of the outward world of active existences? It is not till essence becomes
existence, till spirit passes into action, that it becomes subject to law.
The danger then is from the world of nature. The gods are pure spirit, and
spirit is everything. But, now and then, nature _seems to be something_,
it will not be ignored or lost in God. Personality, activity, or human
nature rebel against the pantheistic idealism, the abstract spiritualism
of this system.
To conquer body, Vischnu or spirit enters into body, again and again.
Spirit must appear as body to destroy Nature. For thus is shown that
spirit cannot be excluded from anything,--that it can descend into the
lowest forms of life, and work _in_ law as well as above law.
But all the efforts of Brahmanism could not arrest the natural development
of the system. It passed on into polytheism and idolatry. The worship of
India for many centuries has been divided into a multitude of sects. While
the majority of the Brahmans still profess to recognize the equal divinity
of Brahma, Vischnu, and Siva, the mass of the people worship Krishna,
Rama, the Lingam, and many other gods and idols. There are Hindoo atheists
who revile the Vedas; there are the Kabirs, who are a sort of Hindoo
Quakers, and oppose all worship; the _Ramanujas_, an ancient sect of
Vischnu worshippers; the _Ramavats_, living in monasteries; the _Panthis_,
who oppose all austerities; the _Maharajas_, whose religion consists with
great licentiousness. Most of these are worshippers of Vischnu or of Siva,
for Brahma-worship has wholly disappeared.
§ 8. The Epics, the Puranas, and modern Hindoo Worship.
The Hindoos have two great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, each
of immense length, and very popular with the people. Mr. Talboys Wheeler
has recently incorporated both epics (of course much abridged) into his
History of India, and we must refer our readers to his work for a
knowledge of these remarkable poems. The whole life of ancient India
appears in them, and certainly they are not unworthy products of the
genius of that great nation.
According to Lassen,[81] the period to which the great Indian epics refer
follows directly on the Vedic age. Yet they contain passages inserted at a
much later epoch, probably, indeed, as long after as the war which ended
in the expulsion of the Buddhists from India.[82] Mr. Talboys Wheeler
considers the war of Rama and the Monkeys against Ravana to refer to this
conflict, and so makes the Ramayana later than the Mahabharata. The
majority of writers, however, differ from him on this point. The writers
of the Mahabharata were evidently Brahmans, educated under the laws of
Manu.[83] But it is very difficult to fix the date of either poem with any
approach to accuracy. Lassen has proved that the greater part of the
Mahabharata was written before the political establishment of
Buddhism.[84] These epics were originally transmitted by oral tradition.
They must have been brought to their present forms by Brahmans, for their
doctrine is that of this priesthood. Now if such poems had been composed
after the time of Asoka, when Buddhism became a state religion in India,
it must have been often referred to. No such references appear in these
epics, except in some solitary passages, which are evidently modern
additions.[85] Hence the epics must have been composed before the time of
Buddhism. This argument of Lassen's is thought by Max Müller to be
conclusive, and if so it disproves Mr. Talboys Wheeler's view of the
purpose of the Ramayana.
Few Hindoos now read the Vedas. The Puranas and the two great epics
constitute their sacred books. The Ramayana contains about fifty thousand
lines, and is held in great veneration by the Hindoos. It describes the
youth of Rama, who is an incarnation of Vischnu, his banishment and
residence in Central India, and his war with the giants and demons of the
South, to recover his wife, Sita. It probably is founded on some real war
between the early Aryan invaders of Hindostan and the indigenous
inhabitants.
The Mahabharata, which is probably of later date, contains about two
hundred and twenty thousand lines, and is divided into eighteen books,
each of which would make a large volume. It is supposed to have been
collected by Vyasa, who also collected the Vedas and Puranas. These
legends are very old, and seem to refer to the early history of India.
There appear to have been two Aryan dynasties in ancient India,--the Solar
and Lunar. Rama belonged to the first and Bharata to the second. Pandu, a
descendant of the last, has five brave sons, who are the heroes of this
book. One of them, Arjuna, is especially distinguished. One of the
episodes is the famous Bhagavat-gita. Another is called the Brahman's
Lament. Another describes the deluge, showing the tradition of a flood
existing in India many centuries before Christ. Another gives the story of
Savitri and Satyavan. These episodes occupy three fourths of the poem, and
from them are derived most of the legends of the Puranas. A supplement,
which is itself a longer poem than the Iliad and Odyssey combined (which
together contain about thirty thousand lines), is the source of the modern
worship of Krishna. The whole poem represents the multilateral character
of Hinduism. It indicates a higher degree of civilization than that of the
Homeric poems, and describes a vast variety of fruits and flowers existing
under culture. The characters are nobler and purer than those of Homer.
The pictures of domestic and social life are very touching; children are
dutiful to their parents, parents careful of their children; wives are
loyal and obedient, yet independent in their opinions; and peace reigns in
the domestic circle.
The different works known as the Puranas are derived from the same
religious system as the two epics. They repeat the cosmogony of the poems,
and they relate more fully their mythological legends. Siva and Vischnu
are almost the sole objects of worship in the Puranas. There is a
sectarian element in their devotion to these deities which shows their
partiality, and prevents them from being authorities for Hindoo belief as
a whole.[86]
The Puranas, in their original form, belong to a period, says Mr. Wilson,
a century before the Christian era. They grew out of the conflict between
Buddhism and Brahmanism. The latter system had offered no personal gods to
the people and given them no outward worship, and the masses had been
uninterested in the abstract view of Deity held by the Brahmans.[87]
According to Mr. Wilson,[88] there are eighteen Puranas which are now read
by the common people. They are read a great deal by women. Some are very
ancient, or at least contain fragments of more ancient Puranas. The very
word signifies "antiquity." Most of them are devoted to the worship of
Vischnu. According to the Bhagavat Purana,[89] the only reasonable object
of life is to meditate on Vischnu. Brahma, who is called in one place
"the cause of causes," proclaims Vischnu to be the only pure absolute
essence, of which the universe is the manifestation. In the Vischnu
Purana, Brahma, at the head of the gods, adores Vischnu as the Supreme
Being whom he himself cannot understand.
The power of ascetic penances is highly extolled in the Puranas, as also
in the epics. In the Bhagavat it is said that Brahma, by a penitence of
sixteen thousand years, created the universe. It is even told in the
Ramayana, that a sage of a lower caste became a Brahman by dint of
austerities, in spite of the gods who considered such a confusion of
castes a breach of Hindoo etiquette.[90] To prevent him from continuing
his devotions, they sent a beautiful nymph to tempt him, and their
daughter was the famous Sakuntala. But in the end, the obstinate old
ascetic conquered the gods, and when they still refused to Brahmanize him,
he began to create new heavens and new gods, and had already made a few
stars, when the deities thought it prudent to yield, and allowed him to
become a Brahman. It is also mentioned that the Ganges, the sacred river,
in the course of her wanderings, overflowed the sacrificial ground of
another powerful ascetic, who incontinently drank up, in his anger, all
its waters, but was finally induced by the persuasions of the gods to set
the river free again by discharging it from his ears. Such were the freaks
of sages in the times of the Puranas.
Never was there a more complete example of piety divorced from morality
than in these theories. The most wicked demons acquire power over gods and
men, by devout asceticism. This principle is already fully developed in
the epic poems. The plot of the Ramayana turns around this idea. A Rajah,
Ravana, had become so powerful by sacrifice and devotion, that he
oppressed the gods; compelled Yama (or Death) to retire from his
dominions; compelled the sun to shine there all the year, and the moon to
be always full above his Raj. Agni (Fire) must not burn in his presence;
the Maruts (Winds) must blow only as he wishes. He cannot be hurt by gods
or demons. So Vischnu becomes incarnate as Rama and the gods become
incarnate as Monkeys, in order to destroy him. Such vast power was
supposed to be attained by piety without morality.
The Puranas are derived from the same system as the epic poems, and carry
out further the same ideas. Siva and Vischnu are almost the only gods who
are worshipped, and they are worshipped with a sectarian zeal unknown to
the epics. Most of the Puranas contain these five topics,--Creation,
Destruction and Renovation, the Genealogy of the gods, Reigns of the
Manus, and History of the Solar and Lunar races. Their philosophy of
creation is derived from the Sánknya philosophy. Pantheism is one of their
invariable characteristics, as they always identify God and Nature; and
herein they differ from the system of Kapila. The form of the Puranas is
always that of a dialogue. The Puranas are eighteen in number, and the
contents of the whole are stated to be one million six hundred thousand
lines.[91]
The religion of the Hindoos at the present time is very different from
that of the Vedas or Manu. Idolatry is universal, and every month has its
special worship,--April, October, and January being most sacred. April
begins the Hindoo year. During this sacred month bands of singers go from
house to house, early in the morning, singing hymns to the gods. On the
1st of April Hindoos of all castes dedicate pitchers to the shades of
their ancestors. The girls bring flowers with which to worship little
ponds of water dedicated to Siva. Women adore the river Ganges, bathing in
it and offering it flowers. They also walk in procession round the banyan
or sacred tree. Then they worship the cow, pouring water on her feet and
putting oil on her forehead. Sometimes they take a vow to feed some
particular Brahman luxuriously during the whole month. They bathe their
idols with religious care every day and offer them food. This lasts during
April and then stops.
In May the women of India worship a goddess friendly to little babies,
named Shus-ty. They bring the infants to be blessed by some venerable
woman before the image of the goddess, whose messenger is a cat. Social
parties are also given on these occasions, although the lower castes are
kept distinct at four separate tables. The women also, not being allowed
to meet with the men at such times, have a separate entertainment by
themselves.
The month of June is devoted to the bath of Jugger-naut, who was one of
the incarnations of Vischnu. The name, Jugger-naut, means Lord of the
Universe. His worship is comparatively recent. His idols are extremely
ugly. But the most remarkable thing perhaps about this worship is that it
destroys, for the time, the distinction of castes. While within the walls
which surround the temple Hindoos of every caste eat together from the
same dish. But as soon as they leave the temple this equality disappears.
The ceremony of the bath originated in this legend. The idol Jugger-naut,
desiring to bathe in the Ganges, came in the form of a boy to the river,
and then gave one of his golden ornaments to a confectioner for something
to eat. Next day the ornament was missing, and the priests could find it
nowhere. But that night in a dream the god revealed to a priest that he
had given it to a certain confectioner to pay for his lunch; and it being
found so, a festival was established on the spot, at which the idol is
annually bathed.
The other festival of this month is the worship of the Ganges, the sacred
river of India. Here the people come to bathe and to offer sacrifices,
which consist of flowers, incense, and clothes. The most sacred spot is
where the river enters the sea. Before plunging into the water each one
confesses his sins to the goddess. On the surface of this river castes are
also abolished, the holiness of the river making the low-caste man also
holy.
In the month of July is celebrated the famous ceremony of the car of
Jugger-naut, instituted to commemorate the departure of Krishna from his
native land. These cars are in the form of a pyramid, built several
stories high, and some are even fifty feet in height. They are found in
every part of India, the offerings of wealthy people, and some contain
costly statues. They are drawn by hundreds of men, it being their faith
that each one who pulls the rope will certainly go to the heaven of
Krishna when he dies. Multitudes, therefore, crowd around the rope in
order to pull, and in the excitement they sometimes fall under the wheels
and are crushed. But this is accidental, for Krishna does not desire the
suffering of his worshippers. He is a mild divinity, and not like the
fierce Siva, who loves self-torture.
In the month of August is celebrated the nativity of Krishna, the story of
whose birth resembles that in the Gospel in this, that the tyrant whom he
came to destroy sought to kill him, but a heavenly voice told the father
to fly with the child across the Jumna, and the tyrant, like Herod, killed
the infants in the village. In this month also is a feast upon which no
fire must be kindled or food cooked, and on which the cactus-tree and
serpents are worshipped..
In September is the great festival of the worship of Doorga, wife of Siva.
It commences on the seventh day of the full moon and lasts three days. It
commemorates a visit made by the goddess to her parents. The idol has
three eyes and ten hands. The ceremony, which is costly, can only be
celebrated by the rich people, who also give presents on this occasion to
the poor. The image is placed in the middle of the hall of the rich man's
house. One Brahman sits before the image with flowers, holy water,
incense. Trays laden with rice, fruit, and other kinds of food are placed
near the image, and given to the Brahmans. Goats and sheep are then
sacrificed to the idol on an altar in the yard of the house. When the head
of the victim falls the people shout, "Victory to thee, O mother!" Then
the bells ring, the trumpets sound, and the people shout for joy. The
lamps are waved before the idol, and a Brahman reads aloud from the
Scripture. Then comes a dinner on each of the three days, to which the
poor and the low-caste people are also invited and are served by the
Brahmans. The people visit from house to house, and in the evening there
is music, dancing, and public shows. So that the worship of the Hindoos
is by no means all of it ascetic, but much is social and joyful,
especially in Bengal.
In October, November, and December there are fewer ceremonies. January is
a month devoted to religious bathing. Also, in January, the religious
Hindoos invite Brahmans to read and expound the sacred books in their
houses, which are open to all hearers. In February there are festivals to
Krishna.
The month of March is devoted to ascetic exercises, especially to the
famous one of swinging suspended by hooks. It is a festival in honor of
Siva. A procession goes through the streets and enlists followers by
putting a thread round their necks. Every man thus enlisted must join the
party and go about with it till the end of the ceremony under pain of
losing caste. On the day before the swinging, men thrust iron or bamboo
sticks through their arms or tongues. On the next day they march in
procession to the swinging tree, where the men are suspended by hooks and
whirled round the tree four or five times.
It is considered a pious act in India to build temples, dig tanks, or
plant trees by the roadside. Rich people have idols in their houses for
daily worship, and pay a priest who comes every morning to wake up the
idols, wash and dress them, and offer them their food. In the evening he
comes again, gives them their supper and puts them to bed.
Mr. Gangooly, in his book, from which most of the above facts are drawn,
denies emphatically the statement so commonly made that Hindoo mothers
throw their infants into the Ganges. He justly says that the maternal
instinct is as strong with them as with others; and in addition to that,
their religion teaches them to offer sacrifices for the life and health of
their children.
§ 9. Relation of Brahmanism to Christianity.
Having thus attempted, in the space we can here use, to give an account of
Brahmanism, we close by showing its special relation as a system of
thought to Christianity.
Brahmanism teaches the truth of the reality of spirit, and that spirit is
infinite, absolute, perfect, one; that it is the substance underlying all
existence. Brahmanism glows through and through with this spirituality.
Its literature, no less than its theology, teaches it. It is in the dramas
of Calidasa, as well as in the sublime strains of the Bhagavat-gita.
Something divine is present in all nature and all life,--
"Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean and the living air."
Now, with this Christianity is in fullest agreement. We have such passages
in the Scripture as these: "God is a Spirit"; "God is love; whoso dwelleth
in love dwelleth in God, and God in him"; "In him we live, and move, and
have our being"; "He is above all, and through all, and in us all." But
beside these texts, which strike the key-note of the music which was to
come after, there are divine strains of spiritualism, of God all in all,
which come through a long chain of teachers of the Church, sounding on in
the Confessions of Augustine, the prayers of Thomas Aquinas, Anselm,
Bonaventura, St. Bernard, through the Latin hymns of the Middle Ages, and
develop themselves at last in what is called romantic art and romantic
song. A Gothic cathedral like Antwerp or Strasburg,--what is it but a
striving upward of the soul to lose itself in God? A symphony of
Beethoven,--what is it but the same unbounded longing and striving toward
the Infinite and Eternal? The poetry of Wordsworth, of Goethe, Schiller,
Dante, Byron, Victor Hugo, Manzoni, all partake of the same element. It is
opposed to classic art and classic poetry in this, that instead of limits,
it seeks the unlimited; that is, it believes in spirit, which alone is the
unlimited; the _in_finite, that which _is,_ not that which appears; the
_essence_ of things, not their _ex_istence or outwardness.
Thus Christianity meets and accepts the truth of Brahmanism. But how does
it fulfil Brahmanism? The deficiencies of Brahmanism are these,--that
holding to eternity, it omits time, and so loses history. It therefore is
incapable of progress, for progress takes place in time. Believing in
spirit, or infinite unlimited substance, it loses person, or definite
substance, whether infinite or finite. The Christian God is the infinite,
definite substance, self-limited or defined by his essential nature. He is
good and not bad, righteous and not the opposite, perfect love, not
perfect self-love. Christianity, therefore, gives us God as a person, and
man also as a person, and so makes it possible to consider the universe as
order, kosmos, method, beauty, and providence. For, unless we can conceive
the Infinite Substance as definite, and not undefined; that is, as a
person with positive characters; there is no difference between good and
bad, right and wrong, to-day and to-morrow, this and that, but all is one
immense chaos of indefinite spirit. The moment that creation begins, that
the spirit of the Lord moves on the face of the waters, and says, "Let
there be light," and so divides light from darkness, God becomes a person,
and man can also be a person. Things then become "separate and divisible"
which before were "huddled and lumped."
Christianity, therefore, fulfils Brahmanism by adding to eternity time, to
the infinite the finite, to God as spirit God as nature and providence.
God in himself is the unlimited, unknown, dwelling in the light which no
man can approach unto; hidden, not by darkness, but by light. But God, as
turned toward us in nature and providence, is the infinite definite
substance, that is, having certain defined characters, though these have
no bounds as regards extent. This last view of God Christianity shares
with other religions, which differ from Brahmanism in the opposite
direction. For example, the religion of Greece and of the Greek
philosophers never loses the definite God, however high it may soar. While
Brahmanism, seeing eternity and infinity, loses time and the finite, the
Greek religion, dwelling in time, often loses the eternal and the
spiritual. Christianity is the mediator, able to mediate, not by standing
between both, but by standing beside both. It can lead the Hindoos to an
Infinite Friend, a perfect Father, a Divine Providence, and so make the
possibility for them of a new progress, and give to that ancient and
highly endowed race another chance in history. What they want is evidently
moral power, for they have all intellectual ability. The effeminate
quality which has made them slaves of tyrants during two thousand years
will be taken out of them, and a virile strength substituted, when they
come to see God as law and love,--perfect law and perfect love,--and to
see that communion with him comes, not from absorption, contemplation, and
inaction, but from active obedience, moral growth, and personal
development. For Christianity certainly teaches that we unite ourselves
with God, not by sinking into and losing our personality, in him, but by
developing it, so that we may be able to serve and love him.