——_—

VEDIC RELIGION
AND.

PHILOSOPHY
SWAMI PRABHAVANANDA

: A lucid exposition of the wisdom en-

| shrined in the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the
Bhagavad-Gita, together with a chapter on
the general features of Indian Philosophy.
Though satisfying the strictest standards of
scholarship, the book has primarily in view
the growing body of intelligent interest in
Indian thought and civilization. Throughout,
the significance of Indian Philosophy as a
gospel of life has been emphasised:

ig
 Books with Sanskrit Text
English Translation and Notes

THE UPANISHAD SERIES

y:)"vv
Isha
Kena
Katha
Prasna
Mundaka
Mandukya
Aitareya
Taittiriya
Svetasvatara oO
oo
VEDIC RELIGION AND
PHILOSOPHY

BY
SWAMI PRABHAVANANDA
(Head of the Vedanta Centre, Hollywood, U. S. A.)

Written under the Editorial Supervision of

DR. P. H. HOUSTON
(Professor of English, Occidental College, Los Angeles,
California, U.S. A.)

SRI RAMAKRISHNA MATH

MYLAPORE, MADRAS _ (INDIA)
1950
 Published by
THE PRESIDENT
Spar RAMAKRISHNA MATH
My apore, MADRAS
Copyright by

SWAMI PRABHAVANANDA

THIRD IMPRESSION

—_—

THE JUPITER PRESS, LTD., 16, SEMBUDOSS STREET, MADRAS—-1

 PREFACE

The. purpose of ‘ Vedic Religion and Philosophy’

is not primarily to add to the vast literature of
scholarly interpretation of Indian philosophy and
religion, though it is the fervent hope of the author
that it will meet the severest scholarly tests. It is
rather to make as wide an appeal as possible to the
growing body of intelligent interest in Indian philo-
sophy and civilization.

Our thanks are due to Mr. V. Subramanya Iyer,

President, Board of Sanskrit Studies and Examina-
tion, Mysore, and Reader in Philosophy to His
Highness the Maharaja of Mysore, for his valuable
suggestions and criticisms.

Vivekananda Home PRABHAVANANDA

Hollywood, California, U.S.A.
 CONTENTS

The Spirit of Indian Philosophy

The Vedas and Their Teachings

The Philosophy of the Upanishads

IV: The Message of the Bhagavad Gita . 103

 CHAPTER I

THE SPIRIT OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHY

THE word Darshana, which is usually translated

The Relation as ‘philosophy’, means in Sans-
between Religion krit ‘seeing’ or ‘experience’.
and Fateseeny: rom this we may gather that
Indian philosophy of religion is not merely meta-
physical speculation, but has its foundation in the
immediate data of experience. The verities of life
like God and soul are regarded by the Hindu mind,
not as concepts speculative and problematical, as
is the ease in Western philosophy, but as definitely
experienced truths. These ultimate truths can be
experienced not merely by a chosen few, but under
right conditions, by all humanity.
This insistence upon direct experience rather than
on abstract reasoning is what distinguishes Indian
philosophy of religion from philosophy as Western
nations know it. This direct experience is the

source from which all Indian thought flows, and it

is the accepted basis of philosophy in India.

This experience, it must be made clear, is not
of the senses, nor must it be confused with the
operations of the intellect, nor with emotional
experience ; it is super-sensuous and transcendental,
terms.
not to be completely explained in rational
2 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

The Mandukya Upanishad speaks of three states of

consciousness—waking, dreaming, and dreamless
sleep. These three states are common to all. In
addition to these there is the Fourth, or the Turiya
—the transcendental state which may be described
as the innate nature of consciousness. , Though it is
present in all, man does not recognise it in his
ignorant state. Indian philosophers call this trans-
cendental state by various names, but all of them
unmistakably point to the same goal.
From the foregoing we may comprehend the!
relation between Indian religion and _ Indian
philosophy. Religion to a Hindu is not, however,
the common Western conception of faith, nor does
it merely comprise dogmas and creeds. It is rather
Anubhuti — realization and experience. Swami
Brahmananda, my spiritual. master and a great
saint of modern India, once told me, “ Spiritual
life begins after one enters into Samadhi (the trans-
cendental state). Religion is therefore not divorced
from philosophy ; the latter, in fact, is an attempt
to present ultimate truths, already realized in
experience, in terms of the rationalising intellect.
Professor Max Muller has declared that philosophy
was recommended in India ‘not for the sake of
knowledge, but -for the highest purpose that man
can strive after in this life’. In India, philosophers
are saints, and saints are philosophers.
This fact of Samadhi or the transcendental state
of consciousness is a matter of experience throughout
 THE SPIRIT OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHY 3

the whole history of Indian life. Today, as well

as in earliest times, it has been experienced. Sri
Ramakrishna, the greatest saint of modern India,
though not a learned man, attained Samadhi, and,
having realized the highest illumination, spoke words
of solace and wisdom to alj men. So also this state
is attainable by any one who strives to purify
himself from the dross of worldliness.
The Hindu mind, however, is careful not to
“Tie Place.of confuse reveries, dreams, hallucin-
Reason. ations and hypnotic spells with
transcendental experience. So certain proofs of its
validity and its relation both to life in general, and
to reason in particular, are taken into consideration.
The first condition or test of this transcendental
truth must be, in the words of Jaimini (founder of
the Purva Mimamsa school of thought), ‘ Arthe
Anupalabdhe ’—that is, that the revelation should
be related to ‘something which is _ otherwise
unknown and unknowable’. This transcendental
revelation is therefore not a revelation of things
or truths normally perceived or generally known,
nor of truths capable of perception and of being
known through the ordinary instruments of know-
ledge. And yet this transcendental truth must be
universally understandable in relation to human
experience, and must be communicable to us in
terms of known experience.
The next condition or test of truth is that the
revealed truth must not contradict other Pramanas
- VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

or proofs. It is necessarily beyond and above

reason, but it must not contradict reason.
Thus Indian philosophy, though having its founda- :
tions in personal revelation, gives a legitimate place
to logic and reason, and there has never been any
check to the growth of philosophic thinking. In
fact, no other race has produced a succession of
more subtle or more rigidly logical thinkers than the
Hindus ; only, without exception, they have declared
that reason, unaided by transcendental experience,
is blind. Those who are called orthodox philoso-
phers, as we shall see, accept the Vedic scriptures
as recording revealed truths ; and they make these
scriptures the basis of their reasoning. Sankara,
one of the foremost philosophers of India, has this
to say concerning the part reason plays’in the
investigation of truth: “As the thoughts of man
are altogether unfettered, reasoning, which disregards
the holy texts and rests on individual opinion, has
no proper foundation. We see how arguments,
which some clever men had excogitated with great
pains, are shown by people still more ingenious,
to be fallacious, and how the arguments of the latter
again are refuted in their turn by other men; so
that, on account of the diversity of men’s opinions,
it is impossible to accept mere reasoning as having
a sure foundation.” !
1 Sankara, while explaining the final cause and substance
of the universe, further remarks as follows: “ Perfect
knowledge has the characteristic mark of uniformity
because it depends on accomplished actually existing things ;
 THE SPIRIT OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHY 5

The systems of Indian philosophy

fall into two
The Authority main divisions according as they
of the Vedas. do or do not accept the authority
of the Vedas. That is to say, all systems except
Buddhism and Jainism are pronounced Astika or
orthodox ; the two latter, which deny the authority
of the great primary scriptures, are Nastika or
heterodox.. If, however, we accept the literal mean-
ing of the word Astika as belief in existence after
death, then all systems of thought, with the ex'cep-
tion of the materialism of Charvaka, are Astika.

for whatever thing is permanently of one and the same

nature is acknowledged to be a true or real thing, and
knowledge conversant about such is called perfect know-
ledge; as, for instance, the knowledge embodied in the
proposition, ‘Fire is hot’. Now it is clear that in the case
of perfect knowledge a mutual conflict of men’s opinions is
impossible. But that cognitions founded on reasoning co
conflict is generally known; for we continually observe
that what one logician endeavours to establish as perfect
knowledge is demolished by another, who, in his turn, is
treated alike by a third. How, therefore, can knowledge,
which is founded on reasoning, and whose object is not
something permanently uniform, be perfect knowledge ?
Nor can we collect at a given moment and on a given spot
all the logicians of the past, present, and future time, SO as
to settle that their opinion regarding some uniform object
is to be considered perfect knowledge. The Veda, on the
other hand, which is eternal and the source of knowledge,
may be allowed to have for its object firmly established
things, and hence the perfection of that knowledge which
the Veda cannot be denied by any of the
is founded on
the past, present, or future. We have thus
logicians of
which
established the perfection of this our knowledge
it, perfect
reposes on the Upanishad, and, as apart from
knowledge is impossible. Our final position, therefcre, is
that on the ground of scripture and of reasoning subordinate
to scripture, the intelligent Brahman is to be considered
the cause and substance of the world.” (From the transla-
on the Vedanta Sutras, by
tion of Sankara’s commentary.
G. Thibaut.)
 \
6 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

What Charvaka really taught, or whether there

was a philosopher named Charvaka at all, it is
difficult to know, for we hear of him only through
the refutation of his philosophy of sensualism by
various other schools of thought. It is, in effect, but
the simple philosophy of scepticism which runs as a
cross-current in every age and every country. The
name Charvaka literally means ‘sweet word’.
Some Oriental scholars translate this word
Nastika as atheist. But if this meaning of the
word is applied to Buddhism and Jainism because
they reject an anthropomorphic God, then many
of the orthodox schools are similarly at fault. The
Sankhya philosophy, for example, denies God as
creator, yet it is held to be orthodox.
Curiously, there is no equivalent in Sanskrit for
the word ‘atheism’. In the Gita mention is made
of those who do not believe in God, the Intelligent
Principle, and these are said to be of ‘ deluded
intellect ’.
We have declared that the Vedas or Sruti (the
revealed truths) stand as an absolute authority
behind which the orthodox schools cannot go. ifn
this sense their authority might seem to resemble
apparently the position held by the Holy Bible in
many periods of Christian thought ; but in the words
of Sir S. Radhakrishnan, “ This appeal to the Vedas
does not involve any referenceto any extra-philo-
sophical standard. What is dogma to the ordinary
man is experience to the pure in heart.” With the
 THE SPIRIT OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHY q

exception of Buddhism and Jainism, all schocls of

thought regard the Vedas as recording the trans-
cendental experience of the first. mighty seers ot
ancient India. These experiences, because they
have become standard for all Hindus, cannot and
should not contradict those in any other age.

Furthermore they are the truths experienced and

experienceable in every age and every country by

all who are pure in heart. For this reason, all

Hindus believe that the Vedas are eternal, begin-

ningless and without end. Transcendental experience

therefore has received its standard expression in
these Indo-Aryan scriptures.
It is true that, though all orthodox Indian philo-
sophers regard the Vedas as eternal—without begin-
ning or end—some limit these eternal laws to the
records in the Vedas, the Indo-Aryan scriptures.
other
Transcendental experiences of gther ages and
rity,
countries, though not denied their due autho
but as
are regarded by them not as Vedas or Sruti,
Agamas. A distinction is thus drawn between the
and the Agamas, though the Vedas are still
Vedas
regarded as beginningless and endless. In the words
may
of the learned Professor M. Hiriyanna, “We
a fourth
deduce a distinction between the two from
condition sometimes laid down (cf. Kusumanjali,
have proved
II, 3), that the revealed truth should
the community
acceptable to the general mind of
d be in har-
(Mahajana-parigraha), or that it shoul
race-intuition.
mony with what may be described as
 8 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

It is this sanction of the community in general that

in the end seems to distinguish orthodox Sruti from
heterodox Agama.”
This distinction is arbitrary and seems opposed to
the very definition and spirit of the Vedas. What-
ever a particular community may or may not
sanction, a revealed truth is a direct experience, and
as such it must be in the same category of revealed
truth as the Vedas. But at the same time, we must
naturally exert great care in judging the validity
of any particular revelation, so that it does not cori-
tradict the experiences of other seers and the
recorded standard experiences that we may read
in the Indo-Aryan Vedas.
What then of Buddhism and Panic ? Shall we
_ discard them from among the highest expressions of
Indian thought ? They do in fact accept the autho-
rity of revealed knowledge and_ transcendental
experience, though they denysthe authority of the
Vedas, particularly of the ritualistic portions, as a
result of certain particular historical circumstances.
They were born at a time when the spirit of the
Vedas had been lost, and the Hindus held faithfully
to the letter of the law, and priestcraft reigned
supreme. Religion then confined itself to sacrificial
rites. The yearning to know the truth of the self
or Brahman in one’s own soul, which is attained
only by the pure in heart, was wanting. Buddha,
though he denied the authority of the Vedas,
actually impressed their real _ spirit upon his
 THE SPIRIT OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHY 9

followers by urging them to live the life of pure

conduct in order to free themselves from the burden
of sorrow. And he showed the way by himself
attaining Nirvana or the transcendental state of
consciousness.
Thus the teachings of Buddha as well as those of
Mahavira, Founder of Jainism, do not contradict
the spirit of the Vedas but are in entire harmony
with it.
From the foregoing it can be readily seen’ that
‘Gua Contiel Pro Indian philosophy of religion is
blem of Indian fundamentally mystic and _ spirit-
oe ual. ‘‘Indian philosophy,’ says
Professor M. Hiriyanna, ‘‘ aims beyond logic. This
peculiarity is to be ascribed to the fact that
philosophy in India did not take its rise in wonder
or curiosity as it seems to have done in the West ;
rather under the pressure of a _ practical need
arising from the presence of physical evil in life.
It is the problem of how to remove this evil that
troubled the ancient Indians most, and Mckshea
in all the systems represents a state in which it
is, in one sense or another, taken to have been over-
come. Philosophic endeavour was directed primarily
to find a remedy for the ills of life, and the
consideration of metaphysical’ questions came in
as a matter of course.”
This, then, is the central problem of Indian
philosophy—an overmastering sense of the evil of
physical existence, combined with a search for
!
 10 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

release from pain and sorrow—and in this respect,

it is distinguished from the philosophies of any
other race or country.
We are led here to a consideration of the
charge of pessimism brought against Indian philo-
sophy by the West—the charge that it springs, as
Chailley declares, ‘from lassitude and a desire for
rest’. This criticism by those who, as in the
West, seek fulfilment through positive aggressive
action, arises from a misunderstanding of the
purpose of Indian philosophy. This philosophy is
pessimistic, if by that word is meant the acknow-
ledgement of the nature of life in this world,—
that it is a strange, mingling of good and evil, that
life on the plane of the senses yields but a doubt-
ful happiness, and that physical and moral evils
continue to the end of our mortal existence. The
distinctive characteristic of Indian philosophy lies
in the fact that it is not merely dissatisfied with
existing suffering, but that it points out the path
towards the attainment of Moksha or release,
which is a state of unalloyed and infinite bliss,
and of freedom from all earthly suffering.
Philosophers differ, however, with respect to
the exact nature. of- this goal of Moksha, and of the
methods to be employed in attaining it; and these
differences make up the substance of Hindu thought.
They are due to the varying grades of experience
in realizing transcendental life rather than to a
great diversity of opinion with respect to it.
 THE SPIRIT OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHY Bk

And of course it is above all due to the attempt

to express the inexpressible.
In one thing, however, they all agree. That is
that spiritual perfection can be attained in this life.
‘*Man’s aim,” says Professor Hiriyanna, ‘was no
longer represented as the attainment of perfection
in a hypothetical hereafter, but a continual progress.
towards it within the lmits of the present life.”
Moksha, or the attainment of freedom from the
limitations and sufferings of physical life, is the
supreme aspiration of Indian philosophy. !
Sankara, speaking of the supreme goal of human
life, says, “A man is born not to desire life in
the world of the senses, but to realize the bliss of
Jivanmukti.” And the Upanishads over and again
emphasize this truth, “ Blessed is he who attains
illumination in this very life; otherwise it is his
greatest calamity.” But it is immediately pointed
out that if a man fails to attain the supreme goai
in this life, he must attain it in some other life,
for he will be given many opportunities by
rebirths to reach the goal of perfection.

1 The Purva Mimamsa, one of the six philosophical

systems of India, is an apparent exception to what we have
fust said; for it does not speak of Moksha or release, but
rather teaches work and sacrifices for heaven and the
enjoyments thereof. But, though this philosophy does not
include Moksha as the direct goal of its striving, indirectly
it does. For work, as taught by Jaimini, brings purification
of the heart, which leads one to Moksha. If, however, we
take Purva and Uttara Mimamsa as forming one system of
thought, then we may declare that, without exception,
Indian Philosophies set forth Moksha as the ultimate goal
which may be attained in this life.
2 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

This failure to attain direct experience of the ,

truth, and consequently of freedom, is due to
man’s ignorance, which is universal, and which
forms the chief cause of sin and suffering. It can
be dispelled by direct knowledge of ultimate truth
through purification of the heart, and a constant
striving for detachment of the soul from worldly
desires. By transcending the limitations of the
body, the mind and the senses, one may enter the
superconscious state of experience.
The methods of attaining this higher state of
consciousness are hearing, reasoning, and meditating
upon the ultimate reality. One must first hear of
it from the Sruti or the Vedas. Then one must
reason upon it. Finally comes meditation upon it
in order to realize the truth for oneself. Different
schools offer different methods of attaining the
same goal, and the practice of Yoga, or the exercises
prescribed in the art of concentration and medita-
tion, constitutes a salient part of Indian religious life.
_ To tread the path of philosophy is to seek after
truth and follow a way of life. Before a man sets
out on this quest after truth, he must fulfil certain
conditions. Sankara sums them up as follows:
First, there must be discrimination between the
real and the unreal. This statement means, not that
he must possess a complete knowledge of absolute
reality, which is attained only as a culmination
of long practice, but that he must unfailingly
subject the nature of things to a rigid analysis by
 THE SPIRIT OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHY 13

discriminating between what is transitory and what

is abiding, or between what is true and what is false.
The second condition is detachment from the
selfish enjoyments of this or a future life. The
aspirant must learn that the highest good is realized
not through material pleasure, but through a con-
tinuous search for the Infinite, the Abiding Joy.
This ideal of renunciation must be realized by a
gradual purification of the seeker’s heart and soul.
Se a third condition is prescribed whereby the
student may acquire tranquillity of the mind, self-
control, patience, poise, burning faith in the ideal,
and self-surrender. These are called the _ six
treasures of life.The thirst for Moksha or liberation
is the fourth condition. ‘‘The people of India,”
says Sir S. Radhakrishnan, ‘“ have such an immense
respect for these philosophers who glory in the
might of knowledge of intellect, that
and the power
they worship them. The prophetic souls, who with
a noble passion for truth, strive hard to understand
the mystery of the world and give utterance to it
spending laborious days and sleepless nights, are
philosophers in a vital sense of the term.”
Deliverance from ignorance and entrance upon
the path of illumination come only through

annihilation of the false ego. ‘‘ When the ego dies,

all troubles cease,” says Sri Ramakrishna. Such a

condition of being does not, however, imply the loss

a
of one’s individuality, but rather the attainment of
greater individuality, for we can lose nothing that
 14 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

is real. Kalidasa, the great Hindu poet and

dramatist, has beautifully expressed the idea when
he says that the ideal of renunciation consists in
owning the whole world while disowning one’s
own self.
What then is the relation of psychology and ethics
Place of Psycho- +0 Indian religious philosophy ”
logy and Ethics. The science of psychology, as
Westerners know it, is man’s attempt to explain the
behaviour and the operations of his mind with crefer-
ence to his body and the stimuli received through
his senses. Ethics is the formulation of the science
of conduct in relation to society as man faces his
“multifarious activities as a social being. Do these
two interpretations of man’s material life enter
into the consideration of the philosophies of India ?
They do, in a very. definite way. As a matter of
fact, Indian philosophy and Indian psychology are
not merely allied subjects, but the latter is actually
an integral part of the former. To the Hindu mind,
psychology has its inception in the thinking self and
not in the objects of thought. It is not content
with merely stating the working of the mind in the
normal planes of consciousness as is the case with
our modern system of behaviourism, but it points
out how the mind ranges beyond the ordinary
conscious plane of psychic activity, and how the
resulting experiences are even more real than
the experiences of the objective world. It also
differs from the psycho-analysis of Freud in that,
 THE SPIRIT OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHY 15

though it accepts the sub-conscious mind, it claims

that man is capable of controlling his sub-conscious
impressions as well as his conscious mind, and of
attaining to the superconscious state, which no
school of Western psychology has yet taken into
consideration. By teaching the normal mind
methods of restraining its own vagaries, with the
aim of gaining supreme mastery over itself, and of
ultimately rising above it, Indian philosophy distin-
guishes itself from all other known systems of
philosophy or psychology. The Yoga system of
Patanjali deals specifically with this process of
mind control.
The problem of ethics is also a problem of Indian
philosophy. Though not actually identified with
Hindu philosophy, ethics is its very foundation.
Philosophy seeks to transcend the mere life of
conduct so that ethics remains the means for its
own supererogation. Moreover, Hindu _ ethics
concerns itself not only with outer human activity,
but extends to inner life as well. Every teaching is _
conditioned by the phrase, ‘in thought, word, and
deed’. Ways and methods of conduct are explicitly
revealed, which, if followed, will enable one naturally
to live the ethical life. The emphasis is laid upon
the ultimate transformation of the Whole being
when one rises above the injunctions of moral
codes. He is not troubled, we read in the Upani-
shads, by thoughts like these: Have I not done
the right ? Have I done the wrong? Bhavabhuti,
 !

16 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

a Sanskrit poet says, appropriately: ‘“‘ An ordinary

man is truthful when the words follow the fact.
But the saint’s words are followed by facts.” Such
is the relation between saintliness and truthfulness.
Indian philosophy is thus not a mere way of
thinking but a way of life, a way of light, and a way
of truth. To become a philosopher is to become
transformed in life, renewed in mind, and baptized
in spirit.
 CHAPTER II

THE VEDAS AND THEIR TEACHINGS

May my speech be united with the mind, and

teks Ohant may my mind be united with the
speech.
O Thou Self-luminous (Brahman), may Thy lght
shine forth in me (by removing the veil of
ignorance). baie:
Do Thou reveal the spirit of the Vedas unto me.
May the truth of the Vedas never forsake me.
May I seek day and night (to realize) what I learn
from my study. May I speak the truth
(Brahman).
May I speak the truth.
May It (Brahman) protect me.
May It protect my teacher.
Om Peace, Peace, Peace.
—The Rig Veda

II

With the important exceptions of Buddhism and

‘ Origin of the Jainism, all schools of Indian
Vedas. philosophy and all sects. of
Indian religion recognize in the Vedas their origin
and final authority. This is true even of all those
2
18 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

sects and schools which have arisen in modern

times. What is known as Hinduism or Hindu philo-
sophy is in reality ; it should be properly
a misnomer
called the Vedic religion, which is also the universal-
ly accepted religion and philosophy of modern India
known as Vedanta.
Even more the other scriptures of the world,
than
the Vedas make a special claim to be Divine in their
origin. Whereas the Bible, the Koran, and other
revelations of the Word of God owe their sacred
authority either to Divine inspiration, or to delivery
of the sacred message through an angel or other
special messenger from God unto certain chosen
persons, the Vedas are said to be Apaurusheya or
simply Divine in their origin. They are themselves
authority, being the knowledge of God.
This mysterious distinction between the Indo-
Aryan scriptures and other Divine revelations needs
some elucidation.
Yo vedebhyah akhilam jagat nirmame.— God
created the whole universe out of the knowledge of
the Vedas.” (That is to say, Vedic knowledge comes
even before creation.) In these words of Sayana-
charya, the learned commentator on the Vedas, is
expressed the universal belief regarding them. So
the attempt to discover the date of the origin of the
Vedas is like trying to discover the origin of the
knowledge of God, or of God Himself. The search
for the beginning of the Vedic literature is similar to
the search for the origin of the universe. While it
 THE VEDAS AND THEIR TEACHINGS 19

is true that the universe has undergone an evolution

from primitive forms through successive stages to
its present stage of development, the Vedas are
themselves a development.
completed
Indian philosophers are of course believers in the
theory of evolution. They were in fact evolutionists
long before the word evolution meant anything to
the Western world. But they insisted that evolution
implies involution, which means that the present
universe is only one of a series of universes existing
from the past, and that there can therefore be no
‘beginning to creation. So to the Indian mind creation
is without beginning and without end. Every
Brahmin boy repeats daily this Vedic prayer, “ The
sun and the moon the Lord created like the suns
and the moons of previous cycles.”’
What a Hindu means when he declares that the
Vedas are eternal is not that the particular books

which contain the scriptures have lasted from the

beginning of time. Just as creation is infinite and

eternal, without beginning and without end, so is

the Knowledge of God ; and this knowledge is what

is meant by the Vedas. At the beginning of a cycle,
this knowledge is made manifest, to return, when
the cycle ends, to its unmanifested state. It is mere

sophistry to claim that these books, the Indo-Aryan

are eternal; what really deserves to be
scriptures,
eternal are the great laws of God discovered
called
and recorded in these books by the Rishis, the seers
of thought who have lived close to God in every
20 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

age. They discovered these spiritual laws by

directly perceiving them while in a transcendental
state of consciousness. And these truths can be
perceived again and again at all times and in ail ages
through this same means. In the words of Swami
Vivekananda, “‘ Of all the scriptures of the world, it
is the Vedas alone that declare that even the study
of the Vedas is secondary. The real study is that
‘by which we realize the unchangeable’.” (cf.
Mundaka Upanishad.)
In the Purusha Sukta of the Rig Veda we read
thus about the origin of the Vedas: ‘The gods
then performed a sacrificial rite mentally, meditating
on the transcendental Purusha as the sacrifice itself.
From that sacrifice, which is the Purusha (the
Transcendental Being), came out Rik, Sama, and
Yajus (the different Vedas).”
Another passage in the Satapatha Brahmana of
the Vedas reads, “‘As clouds of smoke come out
from a damp wood on fire, so have the Vedas come
out like breath from the Supreme Being.” Accord-
ing to tradition, Brahma (the creator in the Hindu
trinity) first received the knowledge contained in
the Vedas, and from Brahma it descended to the
Rishis, who are born in the beginning of each cycle.
At the beginning of a cycle are born Rishis with
perfect knowledge, which they come to be endowed
with by virtue of the high stage of evolution reached
bv them in previous cycles ; they are therefore the
special messengers of God for the transmission of
 THE VEDAS AND THEIR TEACHINGS 21

knowledge of Him through the -great cycles of

creation. *
So it is the belief of all Hindus that in the very
earliest stage of each cycle of creation, there are
born on earth highly evolved souls as well as
primitive people, and that it is through these former
types that religion first enters the world. This belief
in full intellectual and spiritual maturity, without
the necessity of a social process of gradual
unfoldment, distinguishes the Hindu theory of the
origin of religion from that held by Western scholars,
namely, that religion has evolved from primitive
forms of Nature worship and fetish ritual. The

Hindu theory of evolution is one of a continuous birth

of worlds in an infinite series, with the knowledge
of God descending throughout the entire process.
We may readily understand, therefore, how
Vedic
impossible it is to fix any date for the origin of
knowledge. The extant records as revealed in the
Indo-Aryan scriptures are accepted as of Divine
fear ot
origin, and they may be called, without
in the
contradiction, the earliest spiritual records
world. They are not primitive in their ideas and
contrary they
conceptions of spiritual life; on the
and spiritual
contain the truly lofty metaphysical
sophers from
ideas that have inspired saints and philo
be the source of
earliest times, and that continue to
spiritual life in India even today.
the Vedas ideas
It is true that we can discover in
of these others
apparently primitive by the side
22 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

that are indicative of the highest spiritual inspira-

tion. That is because these scriptures represent
the intellectual gropings of primitive men as well as
the conceptions of the Deity and spiritual life held
by men. of the highest intellectual and _ spiritual
advancement. There are present in these books
both higher and lower forms of thought ; for, just
as today, religious teaching always conforms to the
capacity of those who would receive it. The Vedas
reveal both genuine inspiration on the part of a few
divinely gifted men and women, and a slow fumb-
ling search for spiritual consolation on the part of
a great many others.
III
Traditional Indian legends give the following
te account of the beginning of Vedic
Legendary Ac-
count of the literature :

Origin of the Once upon a time, before the

Vedas.
historic account of man was at-
tempted, Brahma, the first-born of God, was medi-
tating upon the Supreme Brahman when, through
His grace, there was manifested within the shrine
of his heart the eternal Word Om (the Logos), the
seed of all knowledge and of all thought.! There
were also manifest one by one all: the sounds of
the different letters. Through these letters there
became known unto Brahma, the knowledge of the
1 Cf. The Platonic philosophy of Logos—the identity of
word and thought. See also the Gospel according to St.
John—‘ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God.”
 AND THEIR TEACHINGS © 23
THE VEDAS

Vedas. In order to spread this knowledge through-

disciples like
out the world, he taught it to his
s. In this
Marichi, Atri, Angiras, and other Rishi
humanity
way the Vedas became known to all
(perhaps
After many cycles came Dvapara Yuga
the Copper Age). The Lord Narayana incarnated
and
Himself as the son of the Rishi Parasara
Satyavati, taking the name Krishna-
Mother
Dvaipayana. To give the Vedas greater simplicity,
parts, name-
he compiled and divided them into four
the Atharva,
ly, the Rik, the Sama, the Yajus, and
chief disciples,
and taught each of them to his four
Sumantu, who
Paila, Vaisampayana, Jaimini, and
iples.!
in turn taught the Vedas to their disc
t Yajur Veda
An interesting legend is told abou
had under him
and its teacher, Vaisampayana, who
—
several disciples. On a certain occasion many Rishis
at which it was
met together for a conference
ent. ‘‘ Whoever
desired that all Rishis should be pres
, ‘“ will commit
fails to attend,” they announced
a great sin, equal’ to that of killing a Brahmin.”
failed to attend,
Now the great Rishi Vaisampayana
e of all the Rishis
and as a consequence, the curs
he
fell upon him. In order to expiate the sin
austerities. One
requested his disciples to practise
by name, however, said,
disciple, Yajnavalkya
your sin by the
“ Master, how can you expiate

hmins claiming to be des-

1 In India there still live Bra
s. And they are followers of
cendants of these Vedic seer
as.
one or another of the Ved
 24 ' VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

austerities of these thy worthless disciples? I am

the one amongst them who can bring good unto
thee by’ my practices.”
At this the master grew
angry and said, ‘‘ How dare you speak so? I do not
like to have such a hot-headed egotistical disciple as
you. Give back what you have learned from me
and be off.” P
So the egotist Yajnavalkya cast from him what
he had learned and went forth. The other Rishis,
- hot enduring this insult to their knowledge, assumed
the forms of Tittiri birds and gathered up the
knowledge that had just been ejected, and taught it
to their own disciples. And this knowledge was
thenceforth known as Krishna-Yajur Veda, and the
branch, as Taittiriya.
Now Yajnavalkya, having cast out knowledge of
the Vedas felt how empty he was, as he realized
what a very beast a man becomes without any
Vedic knowledge. Where then might he find a
teacher? And it came to him that the sun god is
never separated
from the Vedas ; for in the morning
he is adorned with the Rig Veda, at noon with the
Yajur Veda, and in the evening with the Sama
Veda. And so, accepting the sun god as _ his
teacher, Yajnavalkya prayed to him for knowledge.
The sun god, pleased with the devotion of his new
votary, taught him the Vedas. This particular
branch of knowledge was thenceforth known as
Sukla-Yajur Veda. Yajnavalkya then taught it to
his disciples.
 THE VEDAS AND THEIR TEACHINGS 25

According to tradition, none can study the Vedas

without a teacher. ‘“‘ Approach a teacher,” it is said
and
in the Vedas, “ being ‘ Samitpani’, with humility
a spirit of service.” Only thus can the spirit of the
Vedas be revealed.
The following hymn from the Satapatha Brahmanc
describes the good effects of such study :
pleasing
“The study and teaching of the Vedas are
indeed.
mind,
He who follows this attains concentrated
;
He does not become a slave to his passions
His desires come true, and he rests happily.
own self,
Verily does he become a healer of his
Self-controlled, devoted, with well-cultivated

mind.
world.”
He attains fame and does good to the

IV

Indian philosophers differ in but minor details as

to what the Vedas teach. We
The Teachings of
the four Vedas:
may, therefore, safely say that they
1. The General
Import. give the knowledge of Brahman,
and lay down work as a means to that knowledge.
When through work (and by work is meant sacrificial
ed,
rites as well as selfless labour) our hearts are purifi
edge
we become fit to inquire into the highest knowl
:
of Brahman.
parts--
The Vedas are accordingly divided into two
a Kanda,
Karma Kanda devoted to work, and Jnan
26 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

devoted to knowledge. The Upanishads, the latter

part of the Vedas (also called Vedanta, meaning
‘the end of the Vedas’), comprise the section dealing
with knowledge.
The Karma Kanda may be roughly divided into
three parts: (a) the Mantras or hymns addressed
in adoration of Brahman or God in His various
aspects, a collection of these hymns being called
Samhita; (b) the Brahmanas written in prose
describing the sacrificial rites and including precepts
and religious duties; and (c) the Aranyakas or
forest treatises which supplant the external rituals
with symbolic meditations.
Professor Deussen has declared that this division
of the Vedas is based on the principle of dividing
life into Ashramas or stages of life. According to
Vedic teachings, man’s life has four stages. First
is Brahmacharya or student life, when a boy lives
with his teacher and receives both religious and
secular instruction. The youth is trained in self-
control and acquires such virtues as chastity, truth-
fulness, faith and self-surrender. The next stage
is Garhasthya or married life. The chief injunction
for this stage is to practise the ritualistic sacrifices
as explained in the Brahmanas. At the stage of
retirement or Vanaprastha, he is no longer required
to adhere to ritualism, but is enjoined to follow the
Aranyakas or symbolic meditation. Finally he
enters upon the life of renunciation, in which
he is bound neither by work nor desire, but is
 THE VEDAS AND THEIR TEACHINGS a ~4

dedicated wholly to acquiring the knowledge ot

Brahman.
Thus the general plan of life as taught in the
Vedas is, successively, student life, married life, the
life of retirement, and the life of renunciation.
Each of these periods of a man’s mortal existence
has its special duties and observances, though it is

also true that through a special Vedic declaration a

person may enter immediately into the life of renun-
ciation without passing through the intermediate
stages of probation. |
Through the institution of monasticism a man
may enter early the life of renunciation. When one

enters a monastery, he passes through a Vedic

of the
ritual the while he meditates upon the truths
According to Vedic teaching, this
Upanishads.
life is the highest stage, a man may
monastic
Modern India retains this ideal, and there
attain.
in Western
are not wanting today men highly trained
to assume
science and literature who are willing
these monastic vows. Thus the influence of the
ages.
Vedas has been perpetuated through the
daily life
Parenthetically it may be said that the
even today are
and conduct of the people of India
Vedas. This is
guided by the injunctions of the
connected with
particularly true of the ceremonies
words of Professor
birth, marriage, and death. In the
the social,
Das Gupta, “The laws which regulate
oms and rites of
legal, domestic and religious cust
day are said to be
* the Hindus even to the present
 28 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

but mere systematized memories of old Vedic

teachings, and are held to be obligatory on their
authority.” Every Brahmin repeats daily the Vedic
prayer called the Gayatri mantra, which is a verse
from the Rig-Veda. It runs as follows:
Om bhur bhuvah swah tat savitur varenyam, |
bhargo devasya dhimahi, dhiyo yo nah prachodayat
Om. :
“May we meditate on the effulgent Light (or
power) of Him who is worshipful, and who has
given birth to all worlds. May He direct the rays
of our intelligence towards the path of good.”

The Samhitas form the first division of the work

2. The
portion of the Vedas. They are
Samhitas.
collections of hymns sung in praise
of the Devas or gods, the bright ones. These
Devas are quite numerous in early Vedic literature,
—Indra, Varuna, Mitra, Parjanya, and many others.
. These sometimes appear to be Nature gods, though
again each one of them is also exalted and sublimat-
ed by the highest epithets of Godhead—that He is
infinite, omnipresent, omnipotent, sees the hearts of
all beings and so on, For example, Indra, one of the
popular Vedic gods, possesses a body, is very strong,
wears golden armour, and descends to earth where
he lives and eats and with his votaries, fights their
enemies, overcomes the demons, and establishes his
 “

VEDAS AND THEIR TEACHINGS 29°

THE

rule in heaven and upon earth. Another hymn tells

who is
how the whole universe exists in Indra,
omnipotent and omnipresent. So also with Varuna,
ol over
who is described as god of the air with contr
but is also called omnipresent and
the waters,
omnipotent. .
Veda
The following hymn!,from the Atharva
e to this
addressed to the god Varuna gives utteranc
sublimation of his conception : |
at hand,
The mighty Lord on high our deeds, as if
espies ;
The gods all men do, though men would
know
fain their deeds disguise.
Or steals from
Whoever stands, whoever moves,
place to place,
in his secret cell—the gods his
Or hides him
movements trace.
plot, and deem they are~
Wherever two together
alone, | ;
there, a third, and all their
King Varuna is
schemes are known.
belong those vast and
This earth is his, to him
boundless skies;
within him rest, and yet in that small
Both seas
pool he lies.
sky should think his way
Whoever far beyond the
to wing,
elude the grasp of Varuna
He could not there
the King.
1 Translation by Muir.
30 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

His spies, descending from the skies, glide all the

world around ;
Their thousand eyes all-scanning sweep to
earth’s remotest bound.
Whate’er exists in heaven and earth, whate’er
beyond the skies,
Before the eyes of Varuna, the King, unfolded
lies.
The ceaseless winkings all he counts of every
mortal’s eyes.
He wields this universal frame, as gaimester
throws his dice.
We thus find in the Vedas a peculiar situation.
While there is evidence that the outlook of the
primitive man, with his Nature worship and his
polytheism, is present, and hymns are addressed to
many gods, yet each of these gods is at times
‘sublimated into a single universal conception which
possesses the character of the infinite Personal
God of the universe. So does polytheism merge
into a monotheistic, though still anthropomorphic,
view of a Supreme God. Professor Max Muller
designates this process as henotheism.
The real explanation of this phenomenon, how-
ever, is to be found in the Rig Veda, “and it is a
grand explanation,” declares Swami Vivekananda,
“one that has given the theme to all subsequent
thoughts in India, and
that will be the theme one
of the whole world of religions—Ekam sat viprah
bahudha_ vedanti— They call It Indra, Mitra,
 THE VEDAS AND THEIR TEACHINGS 3]a

Varuna: That which exists is One, sages call It by

various names.”
Extraordinary results followed in India from this

verse, for in it we find the germ of a universal

religion. For this reason India has never known
either religious fanaticism, or wars in the name ot

the gods. Through all the ages India has sought

the truth in every religion; not only does she

tolerate other religions but she has an active

sympathy for faiths not her own. Sri Ramakrishna

in the modern age echoes this truth of universality
when he says: ‘“ There is but one God, but endless
are His names and endless the aspects in which He
may be regarded. Call Him by any name, and
you
worship Him in any aspect that pleases you;
are sure to find Him. As many religions, so many
paths to reach the same Truth. You will advance
e upon
yourself in whatever way you may meditat
The cake made with
Him or recite His holy name.
will taste equally sweet whether it be
sugar-candy
held or obliquely when you eat it.”
straight
ng the Vedas,
Western Vedic scholars, in explaini
ry of a gradual
are not ready to give up their theo
d from simple
evolution of the conception of Godhea
through personification of the
Nature worship,
and the higher
powers of Nature, to henotheism
Whatever may have
conception of monotheism.
of popular religious
been the historical development
in the Vedic tradition
ideas, a Hindu brought up
that even the earliest
finds no difficulty in realizing
 a VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

Vedic seers were also worshipping the one God

under various names; for they knew that infinite
is God and infinite are His expressions. Indra.
Varuna, Mitra and others are as it were so many
doors through which to enter into the inner being
of the One Existence. Ishtam, the chosen ideal of
Deity, is to a Hindu worshipper both the Supreme
Being and He in whom the other gods reside.
The following famous hymn of the Rig Veda
(X. 21) addressed to Hiranyagarbha gives expression
to the conception of a Supreme Being :
“Before the universe became manifest, there was’
manifest Hiranyagarbha. He, being manifest,
became the one lord of the manifested universe. He
held within Himself the invisible world, the sky,
and this earth. Unto Him who is Ka! we offer our
sacrifice.
‘‘He who is the purifier of our hearts, He who is
the giver of strength, whose command all beings

1 In the original Sanskrit there is the word Kasmai at the

end of each verse. Professor Max Muller has translated the
word as ‘ who is the god to whom we should offer our sacri-
fice?” And he has entitled the hymn as Hymn to the
Unknown God. But Sayana renders the word differently.
He declares that Ka means unknown; that is, whose true
being remains unknown and unknowable. Secondly, Ka
denotes the one who desired the creation or manifestation
of the universe. Third, the word means one who is the
source of happiness. Thus these three renderings of the last
sentence are possible:
(a) Unto Him whose being is unknown and unknowabl:,
we offer our sacrifice.
(b) Unto Him who desired that this universe be created,
we offer our sacrifice.
(c) Unto Him who is the source of happiness we offer
our sacrifice.
 THE VEDAS AND THEIR TEACHINGS 33

together with the gods obey, whose shadow is

immortality as well as mortality—unto Him, who
is Ka, we offer our sacrifice.”}
The Vedic seers, however, did not stop with the
concept of a personal God. They realized that
whether they conceived Him as a God of revenge
or of justice, as a benevolent creator loving His
creatures or as Ritasya Gopa, the keeper and dis-
penser of physical and moral law and order, He
yet remained an anthropomorphic God. So these
bold Vedic thinkers are found asking, ‘“‘ Who has
seen the first born, when he that had no bones
(form and personality) bore him that has bones ?
Where is the life, the blood, the self of the universe ?
Who went to ask of any who knew?” Swami
Vivekananda remarks of the Vedic seers, ‘“‘ The
monotheistic idea was much too human for them,
although they gave it such descriptions as—-‘ The
whole universe rests on Him’, and ‘Thou art the
keeper of all hearts’. 'The Hindus were, to their
great credit be it said, bold thinkers in all their
ideas, so bold that one spark of their thought
frightens the so-called bold thinkers of the present-
day world.”
A creator, a ruler of the universe, is not his own
explanation; and a God who is but an architect
does not satisfy man’s insistent urge to understand
Him. Hence the ;Vedic seers continued to question,

1 We have translated the above, following the com-

mentary of Sayana.

3
 <
34 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

and so we discover in various Vedic hymns answers

formulated and poetically rendered. The following
sublime hymn is such an answer :
“Then there was neither existence nor non-exisi-
ence ; the world was not, not the sky, nor anything
beyond. Were there any of the subtle elements
which by their appearance cover the reality behind ?
Where would they exist ? And for whose experi-
ence? Was there the deep fathomless abyss of
water ?
“Then there was neither death nor deathlessness.
Nor was there the knowledge of the distinction
between night and day. That One, the source of
light, existed without the motion of life. It existed
united as one with its Power (Maya). Other than
It, there was nothing.
“In the beginning there existed gloom hidden
in gloom. This universe then remaine@ undistin-
guished from its cause. This universe, which lay
hidden in gloom, though it remained undistinguished,
became manifested by the power of Tapas (the will
of that One—the source of life and existence).
“Because in the heart there existed the seed,
continued from the cycle of the previous universe,
there arose the will. And the sages searching within
themselves found the manifested existence hidden
in the unmanifest.
‘Who in reality knows and who can truly say
how this creation came into existence and from
what cause? Ewen the Devas, were born after the
 THE VEDAS AND THEIR TEACHINGS ah

creation came into existence. Hence who can know

the cause of this universe ?
“The source from which the universe sprang,
that alone can sustain it, none else. That One, the
lord of the universe, dwelling in Its own being,
undefiled as the sky above, alone knows the truth
of Its own creation, none else.” !
Sayana, the great commentator, states that in.
this hymn is brought out the truth that God is the
efficient as well as the material cause of the uni-
verse. Here also is found the advanced hypothesis
that the universe, which is without beginning or end
alternates between the phases of potentiality and
expression. This hymn is the source and authority
for a great deal of later philosophical speculation.
We have already seen that the Vedic seers cid
not rest with of a monotheistic God.
the concept
God in this hymn is described as Tad Ekam---That
One—neither masculine nor feminine, but neuter
“That.
Another hymn, the famous Purusha Sukta of the
Rig Veda, attempts to express the inexpressible
nature of the infinite, impersonal, Absolute Truth.
It says:
“The Universal Being (the Purusha) has infinite
heads, un-numbered eyes, and un-numbered feet.

Enveloping the universe on every side, He exists

transcending it. All this is He—what has been

We have translated it following the com-

1 Rig Veda. *
mentary of Sayana.
36 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

and what shall be. He is the lord of immortality.

Though He has become all this, He is not all this
in reality. For verily is He transcendental. The
whole series of universes (the past, present and
future) expresses His glory and power, but indeed
He transcends His own glory. All beings of the
universe form, as it were, a fraction of His Being.
‘But the rest of His being is self-luminous and un-
changeable. He who is beyond all predicates exists
as the relative universe. That part of His being
coming within relativity, becomes extended as
sentient and insentient beings. From a part of Him
was born the body of the universe. Out of it were
born the gods, the earth, and men.”
In this hymn a definite rejection of pantheism is
made in the words, ‘‘ Though He has become all
this, He is not all this in reality. For verily is He
transcendental.”’
But the conception of a Personal God still persists
in spite of the acceptance of an ideal of Godhead
which is impersonal and absolute. The truth is that
the infinite names, forms, attributes and expres-
sions of God are but different ways of viewing a
single truth—That One Existence. “Ekam Sat
viprah bahudha vadanti.”—‘ Truth is one; sages
call It by various names.” The Absolute is too
much of an abstraction to be loved, worshipped, or
meditated upon. It is to be realized by being or

1 We have translated the hymn following the com-

mentary of Sayana.
 THE VEDAS AND THEIR TEACHINGS 37

becoming It, and the process of that realization is

worship and meditation upon It in Its personal aspect.
“Personal God,” declares Swami Vivekananda, “ is
the reading of the Impersonal by the human mind.”
A Hindu, when taught to love and worship God,
loves and worships Him as Personal-Impersonal.
In this connection, Max Muller says pertinently:
“ Whatever is the age when the collection of our
Rig Veda Samhita was finished, it was before the
age when the conviction was formed that there is
but One, One Being, neither male nor female-—a
Being raised high above all the conditions and
limitations of personality and of human nature, and,
nevertheless, the Being that was really meant by all
such names as Indra, Agni, Matarisvan, nay, even
* by the name of Prajapati, lord of creatures. In fact

the Vedic poets had arrived at a conception of the

Godhead which was reached once more by some of
the Christian philosophers of Alexandria, but which
even at present is beyond the reach of many who
call themselves Christians.”’

VI

The second part of the work portion of the Vedas

3. The Brahma-_ is called the Brahmanas. They
nas. are written in prose, and lay
special emphasis upon sacrifices and sacrificial rites.
“ Brahmanah vividishanti yajnena danena.”—‘ The
Brahmins desire to know, with the sacrifices and
38 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

charity as the means.” That is, when the heart

becomes purified by the performance of sacrifices
and charity, there arises the hunger for the know-
ledge of Brahman. Thus. is acknowledged the need
for the performance of sacrifices and the ceremonials.
and rites of religion. But it is true that at times
undue importance was laid upon these rites as well
as on the mere chanting of the words of the Vedas,
so much so that the sacrifices themselves often took
the place of a living religon—a circumstance that
occurs in the development of all religious institutions.
Under such circumstances, prayer or supplication
before the object of worship becomes unnecessary ;
for by the performance of elaborate and fixed
sacrifices the gods may be forced to grant one’s
desires. Professor Das Gupta believes that in these
sacrificial rites is to be found the germ of the law of
Karma, which the Hindu lawgiver Manu subse-
quently systematized philosophically in his code of
laws. ‘“‘ Thou canst not gather what thou dost not
sow. As thou dost sow, so wilt thou reap.” !
This hardening of the institutional part of
religion exalted in time the power of the priests.
And it was in opposition to this externalizing and
crystallizing of what should have remained living
symbols of deeper truths behind appearances, and
also in opposition to the tyranny of a rising priest-
hood, that Buddha rose in revolt. The Bhagavad
1 Cf. ‘Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap.” Gal. Ch. 6, V. 7.
 THE VEDAS AND THEIR TEACHINGS 39

Gita also condemns this tendency to attribute undue

importance to ritualistic sacrifices.
Apart from the consideration of rituals, the Brah-
manas lay emphasis upon duties and conduct as well.
“Side by side with its insistence on the outer,”
writes S. Radhakrishnan, “ there was also the em-
phasis on inner purity. Truth, godliness, honour to

parents, kindness to animals, love of man, abstinence

from theft, murder and adultery, were inculecated
as the essentials of a good life.” We find also
certain injunctions which everyone must follow.

The Brahmanas declare that we owe debts both to

world and to God, and certain duties must be

the
discharged in repayment of these debts. These

debts are mainly five, namely, to the gods, to

those
to
the Rishis or seers, to the Pitris or ‘manes,
men, and to the lower creation. Our debt to the
; to the
gods, we repay by performing the sacrifices
for their
seers, by feeling devotion in our hearts
for them; to
greatness ; to the manes, by praying
by doing kind
men, by feeling love and sympathy and
offering them
deeds ; and to the lower creation, by
food and drink. When we partake of our daily
ly to gods,
meals, we must offer parts of it regular
by proper
manes, men and animals accompanied
No
prayers. These are debts and must be paid.
observance ; on
merit is therefore acquired by their
we degenerate
the other hand, by neglecting them,
These duties en-
below the worth of a human being.
must not be performed for
joined in the Brahmanas
40 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

the purpose of gaining selfish ends. They are to be

gone through for the sake of purifying the heart
and as the obligatory duty of a righteous man.

Vil

The Aranyakas, which form the third part of the

Vedas, regard the various rites
4. The Aranyakas.
explained in the Brahmanas as
but symbols for meditation. They lay far greater
stress upon retiring into one’s own self than, upon
the intrinsic value of external acts. Swami Viveka-
nanda explains the change in these words:
“Thus we find that the minds of these ancient
Aryan thinkers had begun a new theme. They
found out that in the external world no search would
give an answer to their question. So they fell back
upon this other method, and according to this
they were taught that these desires of the senses,
desire for ceremonials and externalities, have caused
a veil to come between themselves and the truth,
and that this cannot be removed by any ceremonial.
They seem to declare, ‘Look not for the
truth in any of the forms of religion; it is here
in the human soul, the miracle of all miracles—in
the human soul, the emporium of all knowledge,
the mine of all existence—and they found out step
by step that that which is external is but a dull
reflection at best of that which is inside . .. Just
at first it was a search after the Devas, the bright
 ”

THE VEDAS AND THEIR TEACHINGS 41

ones, and then it was the origin of the universe, and

the very same search is getting another name more
philosophical, clearer,—the unity of all things,
‘knowing which everything else becomes known’. ” 1

1 The Complete Works—Vol. 1, pp. 354-355.

 CHAPTER III

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS

: Z

THE Upanishads form the concluding portion of »

the Vedas. They are also called
What are the
Upanishads ? the Vedanta, the anta, or end of
the Vedas, that is, the highest
wisdom. ,Although one hundred and eight of them
have been preserved, ten of them alone have been
commented upon by the great Vedantist Samkara
(686 A.D.), and have, as a consequence, become the
principal source for the study of Hindu religion.!
The exact date of their composition is not known,
but the most authoritative opinion assigns the
earliest of them to a period between 3000 B.c. and
800 B.c. Some of the most important manuscripts
are dated about 500 B.c., some years later than the
age of Buddha. Their authorship, if individual
authorship there was, is also unknown, and the
tradition concerning the origin of the early Vedas
persists with respect to these later scriptures also.
1 These ten are Isa, Kena, Katha, Prasna, Mundaka,
Mandukya, Chandogya, Brihadaranyaka, Aitareya, and
Taittiriya.
*
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS 43

The word Upanishad means literally ‘ sitting

near devotedly’, (wpa, near; ni, devotedly ; shad,

sitting). The word is also used in the further sense
of ‘secret teachings’. Samkara derives a third
meaning from the word, v%z., the knowledge of

Brahman ; for such knowledge destroys the bonds

of ignorance and leads to the supreme goal of

All the three of these meanings can, in

freedom.
fact, be derived from the word ; for this highest

wisdom can be learned by sitting devotedly at the

of a teacher who himself possesses it and

feet
it in life, and communicates the same to
embodies
the world at large through secret channels—that is,
of
imparts it only to those who have attained purity
heart through previous self-discipline.
The great importance of the Upanishads in reli-

history has been recognized by scholars the

gious
world over. The famous German Orientalist,
words :
Deussen, gives utterance to this fact in these
g in the
~ LHe sparks of philosophic light appearin
until at
Rig Veda, shine out brighter and brighter
bright
last in the Upanishads they burst into that
flame is able to light and warm us today.”
which
inspiration
One great modern philosopher, whose
philosophy,
came largely from the study of Indian
rsal appeal
has also given testimony to the unive
early expressions of religious insight.
of these
sentence deep,
Schopenhauer declares : ‘From every
the whole is
original and sublime thoughts arise, and
spirit.....
pervaded by a high and holy and earnest
44 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

In the whole world there is no study, except that of

the originals, so beneficial and so elevating as that
of the Oupanikhat (the Persian word for Upanishad).
It has been the solace of my life, it will be the
solace of my death.”
The Upanishads do, indeed, reveal to us in exalted
and sublime language the central fact of religion,
the mystery of the ultimate reality, as they record
the direct perception of the Rishis of early ages—
the truths concerning God, man and the universe.
‘These are the same truths that have been revealed
to specially endowed spiritual leaders in every age,
and that can be rediscovered by every individual
who aspires for his own soul’s liberation. They
form the original source of the great religions
of the world. 3
The Rishis, who gave utterance to these revela-
tions, remain wholly in the background. We know
nothing of their personal lives. They remain as
impersonal as the truths which they realized and
gave forth to be the possession of all humanity.
In no sense are these writings a systematic exposi-
tion of any particular doctrine, but they are rather
revelations and outpourings from: inspired souls.
Many later philosophers, it is true, have attempted
to derive from them a systematic doctrine and a
unified revelation. Of these, Samkara (686 a.v.),
the champion of Advaita Vedanta, and Ramanuja
(1017-1137 a.p.), the founder of the qualified
monistic school of Vedanta, are among the most
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS 45

important. Both of these philosophers have unques-

tionably found support for their schools of thought
in certain of the texts. Especially is this the case
with Samkara’s school; for, as we have already
noted, his commentary is concerned with ten of the
greatest Upanishads. But whatever philosophical
theory or world-view may be derived from a partial
reading of these great religious documents, the
fundamental fact remains that they stand essentially
as a witness of an unchangeable reality behind the
universe of change, and of the fact of this reality
being identical with the reality within man. The
Upanishads invariably give the name Atman to this.
reality within, which is identical with Brahman or
reality behind the universe. The teachings of these
books do, in fact, distinctly lead us, in our quest for
truth, from the external world to a search within
ourselves. | In the words of the Katha Upanishad,
“God created the senses outgoing. Hence man
experiences the external world and sees not the
Inner Self. Some who are wise, wishing immor-
tality, control those outgoing senses and find the
Self within.”

Il

These two words, ‘Brahman’ and ‘ Atman’, are,

as it were, ‘the two pillars on
Brahman and the whole edifice of
Atman which rests
Indian philosophy’. They are,

respectively, the objective and the subjective views

46 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

of the reality behind the world of appearances

which is the constant theme of these early religious
writings. In Brahman we find something, of which
this changing world is but a partial and incomplete
expression ; It is the source and sustenance of the
universe. Says the Taittiriya Upanishad, “ That
from which all these beings are born, and in which,
being born, they live, and into which they all enter
after dissolution—seek to know That. Thai is

Brahman.”
Brahman, as the source of all power, such as

of fire to burn, of water to drench, and of the

senses of man to work, is explained allegorically
in the Kena Upanishad. In contrast to this, Its
transcendental nature has thus been described in
the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: “This. 18°28
Brahman, without cause and without effect, without
anything inside or outside.”
He is both transcendent and immanent, and this
latter quality of immanence, the Mundaka Upanisrad
explains in the following words: “Formless, that
self-luminous Being exists within and _ without,
higher than the highest. From Him issue life, and
mind, and senses—ether, air, water, fire, and the
earth. Heaven is his head, the moon and the sun
are His eyes, the quarters His ears, the revealed
Vedas His speech. His breath is the air, the universe
is His heart, and the earth touches His feet. .He
is the innermost Self in all »beings. He who
knows Him hidden in the shrine of his heart cuts
)
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS 4"

the knot of ignorance even in this life. Self-

luminous, ever present in the hearts of all, is the
great Being. He is the refuge of all. In Him exists
all that moves and breathes. Adorable is He. He
is the supreme goal. He is beyond the known,
and beyond the knowable. He is _ self-luminous,
subtler than the subtlest; in Him exist all the
worlds and those that live therein. He is that
imperishable Brahman. He is the life-principle ;
He is the speech and the mind; He is the truth;
He is immortal. He is to be realized. Attain
Him, O friend.”
But Brahman is also indefinable, predicateless.
How, then, can these opposing attributes be recon-
ciled 2? In the words of the Taittiriya Upanishad,
Brahman is He ‘whom speech cannot express and
from whom the mind comes away baffled, unabie to
reach’. Samkara’s commentary upon the aphorisms
of Vendanta tells, in reference to an Upanishad no
longer extant, of a student approaching a Master
to learn of Brahman. “Sir, teach me the nature
of Brahman,’ he requested. The Master did not
When he was importuned a second and a
reply.
time, he answered, “I teach you indeed, but
third
you do not follow. His name is silence.”’ Says the
which
Kena Upanishad describing Brahman : “That
illumines
cannot be expressed by speech, but which
that to be Brahman. That which
speech, know
by which mind
cannot be conceived by mind, but
thinks, know that. to be Brahman. That which is
48 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

not visible to the eye, but by which the eye sees,

know that to be Brahman. That which is not heard
by the ear, but by which the ear hears, know that
to be Brahman. That which is not breathed, but
by which the breath functions, know that to be
Brahman.”
Brahman, then, was the name given by the Rishis
to the unchanging reality in this external universe.
But this Brahman remains a mere abstraction un=
less It becomes known to us through realization,
and we become It. We read in the Upanishads
how, when the quest for knowledge of Brahman
is pushed to its furthermost limit, it eventually
ends by the inquirer seeing the Brahman within
his own Self. Only thus does the abstraction become
a reality, and the hypothesis assumes the character
of certitude. Atman signifies this self in man, ©
the self which is not limited in Itself but, in the
words of the Katha Upanishad, is subtler than the
subtle, greater than the great, and is dwelling in the
hearts of all. As fire, being one, assumes different
forms according to what it burns, so the Atman exist-
ing in all, though one, assumes different forms ac-
cording to whatever It enters. It also exists without.
Deussen truly remarks, “It was here that for the
first time, the original thinkers of the Upanishads,
to their immortal honour, found It when . they
recognized one Atman, one inmost individual being,
as the Brahman, the inmost being of universal
Nature and of all her phenomena.”
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS 49

Brahman and Atman, and indeed the whole

teaching of the Upanishads, are revealed with a
fair degree of completeness in the Great Sayings!
or the Mahavakyas, such as Tat tvam asi (Thou
art That); Aham Brahmasmi (I am Branman) ;
Soham asmi (I am He); and so on.
There is preserved in the Chandogya Unvanishud,
a dialogue between a certain Uddalaka and his son,
Svetaketu, which helps to make clear the meaning
and implication of the Great Saying Tat tvam asi
or ‘Thou art That’. When Svetaketu was twelve
years old, so runs the tale, his father Uddalaka
said to him, “‘ Svetaketu, you must now go to school
to study. None of our family, darling, is ignorant
of Brahman.’ Thereupon Svetaketu went to a
teacher and studied for twelve years. Then, after
learning all the Vedas, he returned home and was
full of pride in his learning. His father, noticing
the boy’s conceit, asked him: “ Svetaketu, my child,
have you asked for that knowledge by which we
hear the unhearable, by which we perceive the

1 These Great Sayings or Mahavakyas, which bring out

the identity of Brahman and Atman, are found in differ-
ent places in the Upanishads. It would be of interest to
note in this connection, that the Sannyasins or monks of
the school of Samkara, who are divided into ten classes,
receive one of these Mahavakyas from a competent
teacher during the time of initiation into monkhood.
The disciple must then meditate on the Mahavakya and
realize Brahman as identical with the inner Self. The
different classes of monks are differentiated accord-
ing to the particular Mahavakya they receive in their
particular Orders.
4
50 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

unperceivable, by which we know the unknowable? ” ~

“What is that knowledge, sir?” asked Svetaketu.
The father replied: ‘‘ My dear, as by knowing one
lump of clay, all that is made of clay is known,
the difference being only in name, and the truth
being that all is clay; as by knowing a nugget
of gold, all that is made of gold is known, the
difference being only in name, and the truth being
that all is gold,—so, my child, is that knowledge,
knowing which we know everything.’ The son
replied: ‘Surely those venerable teachers of
mine do not know this knowledge ; for if they had
knowledge of it, they would have taught it to me.
Do you, sir, therefore, impart that knowledge to
me.” ‘Be it so,’ said the father. “ Believe, my
child, that That which is the subtle essence, in That
has all its existence. That is the True, That is the
Self ; and Thou art That, O Svetaketu.” ‘“ Please,
sir, tell me more about this Self,” said the son. “So
be it, my child,’ replied the father. “ Put this salt
in water, and come to me tomorrow morning.”
The son did as he was told.
The next morning the father asked the boy to
bring him the salt which he had put into the water.
But he could not, for it had dissolved. The father
said, “Sip the” water and tell me how it tastes.”
“It is salty, sir,” replied the son. Then the father
said, “‘In the same way, though you do not perceive
the True, there indeed is That. That which is the
subtle essence, in That has all this its existence,
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS ol

That is the True ; That is the Self; and Thou art

That, O Svetaketu.”’
“Please, sir, tell me more about this Self,”
requested Svetaketu. “So be it, my child,” the
father said. “As a bee, O Svetaketu, gathers
honey from differeent flowers, and as the different
drops of honey do not know that they are from
different flowers, so all of us, having come to that
existence, know not that we have done so. And
as the rivers, when they become one with the ocean,
do not know that they have been various rivers, even
so when we come out of that existence, we do not
know that we are That. Now That which- is the
subtle essence, in It is the True. It is the Self; and
thou, O Svetaketu, art That.”
“Please, sir, tell me more about this Self,” said
the son again. “So be it, my child,’ replied the
father. “As a person might be blindfolded and led
away from his home and left in a strange place;
and as he would turn in every direction and cry for
someone to remove his bandages and show him the
way home; and as someone might loosen the
bandages and show him the way ; and as thereupon
he would walk, asking his way from village to village
as he went, and arrive at his home at last,—in
exactly the same manner does a man who meets
with an illumined teacher, obtain the true knowledge.
That which is the subtle essence, in That has all
this its existence. That is the True; That is the
Self ; and Thou art That, O Svetaketu.”
52 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

Til

In this dialogue between Uddalaka and his son.

we learn, “ That which
Svetaketu,
Thou art That.
is the subtle essence, in That has
all this its existence, and That which is Sat

_Fxistence itself—That thou art.” This, then,

is the fundamental truth of the philosophy

of the Upanishads—the identity between Brahman

and Atman, between God and man. To.38

superficial reader who fails to penetrate deep into

the mystery soul, this doctrine of identity

of man’s
may easily become the ground for misconceptions
and misinterpretations. But the Upanishads give us
that profounder analysis of the essential nature of
man, which the people of the Western world seem

have missed—an analysis which affords a

to
convincing explanation of the identity of the Spirit
in man with ‘God.
Accordingto this account of human nature, man,
in the form in which he is known to his fellows, is
called Jiva—he who breathes—denoting the biologi-
cal and physiological aspects of his life. His

individual self is further indicated by the words,

Bhokta, meaning the-experiencer, the enjoyer ; and
Karta, meaning the doer. “For he it is,’ says the
Prasna Upanishad, ‘‘ who sees, hears, smells, tastes,
perceives, conceives, acts,—he whose essence is
knowledge, the Person who dwells in the highest,
indestructible Self.’ Again, in the words of the
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS 58)

Katha Upanishad, “ When the Self is in union with

the body, the senses, and the mind, then wise people
eall him enjoyer.”
These quotations have reference to the psycho-
logical or conscious aspect of life. So man is the
Self associated with Prana—the vital principle or

that which expresses itself as breath—and with

Manas, which comprises mind, intelligence and ego.
In addition to these there are also thé physical
body and the organs of the senses. These Indriyas

or sense organs are, according to the Upanishads,

ten in number, five known as the senses of know-

ledge, i.e., the organs of sight, hearing, touch, smell,

and flavour (taste); and five senses of action, namely,
the organs of speech, holding, moving, excretion
and generation.
Says the Taittiriya Upanishad, in its detailed
analysis of man: “This ‘Self is covered over by

‘sheaths’ as it were. First is the physical sheath,

this body, which is made up of the essence of food.

Therefore it is called Annamaya, or composed

of food. Different from this is another more subtle
sheath of the Self, which is made of Prana, the
life principle. Like the shape of the former is the
human shape of the latter, even as water which

assumes the shape of the vessel into which it is

It is known as Pranamaya, inasmuch as

poured.
is constituted of Prana, which manifests as
it
energy. Different from this is the Manomoya
which is made up of Manas, mind. It is
sheath,
a
54 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

also like unto the shape of the man. Different from

this, which is made up of Manas, is the other
sheath, which is made up of Vijnana or intelligence.
And different from this is the other, which is made
up of ego. It is called Anandamaya, the sheath
of bliss: for it is the innermost covering of the
blissful Self.” j
These sheaths cover the Self. Since the true
Self is one with Brahman, it can be none of these
sheaths, nor can Its nature be known so long as
It is identified in our consciousness with one or
all of them. Hence the Katha Upanishad says,
“Know the body to be the chariot, the intellect
the charioteer, the mind the reins, and the Aiman
the lord of the chariot.”
But what proof have we of an Atman distinct
from- the mind, the intelligence, the ego and the
body ? Western philosophy declares mind and soul
to be identical, with nothing existing behind the
mind and the ego. But in the Upanishads this
something behind the changing forms of our lives is
declared to exist, and no need is felt for proofs of
any sort. For the Self is the basis of all proofs, and
so stands in need of nene. In the words of the
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, ‘‘That by which one
knows all this—whereby could one know That? By
what means could the Knower be known ? ”
All this, of course, is not tantamount to agnosti-
cism. We find again and again the injunction to
‘know thyself’, to seek to ‘know the knower’, ‘ to

\
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS - oo

to know, not the object seen, but the seer of

seek
objects’.
fact is that the existence of the Atman is
The
since It is the ‘eternal witness’, the
self-evident,
subject’, ‘unchangeable
the reality” “in
‘eternal
man. There is indeed a simple argument implicit
has been
in the utterances of these seers, and this
brought to light by later philosophers. To state
only in
it briefly, motion or change can be known
static.
relation to something that is comparatively
known in
The movement of this, in turn, must be
slower, and
relation to a third object moving still
at something
so on ad infinitum, until one arrives
change. Body,
absolutely beyond all motion and
mind, everything we experience, is a series of
hing beyond
changes. There must, therefore, be somet
them which does not change. Moreover, the subject
seen or cognized ;
or the witness cannot be an object
etc., as the instru-
and our minds, egos, senses, bodies,
zed objects. They
ments of knowledge, are only cogni
or the witness. So
cannot, therefore, be the subject
hing, the Atman,
there must be a separate somet
eternal subject.
which is the eternal witness, the
with the sheaths,
When the Atman identifies Itself
dual man. How this
it appears as Jiva, an indivi
identification has come about is an_ interesting
The Upanishads
problem in later philosophies.
n effected by the forget-
declare that Jivahood has bee
the loss of its essentia!
fulness of the Atman, and
a, in the Introduction
identity with Brahman. Samkar
56... VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

to his commentary on the Vedanta aphorisms,

considers the problem of how the Atman identifies
itself with its sheaths, the non-self. This, he says,
is caused by Avidya or ignorance. He points out
that the subject is the Self whose nature is intelli-
gence, and the object is the non-self. They are oppo-
sed to each other as darkness is to light, and so they
cannot be identified, much less their respective attri-
butes. And it is wrong to superimpose upon the
subject, the object or its attributes. Yet. through
some unexplainable cause that has its root in igno-
rance, man, from a beginningless past, fails to dis-
tinguish between the two and their respective attri-
butes, although they are absolutely distinct, and
would “superimpose upon each the characteristic
nature and the attributes of the other, thus coupling
the real and the unreal..... Extra-personal attri-
butes are superimposed on the Self if a man consi-
ders himself sound and entire, or the contrary, as
long as his wife, children and so on are sound and
entire or not. Attributes of the body are super-
imposed on the Self, if a man thinks of himself (his
Self) as stout, lean, fair, as standing, walking or
jumping. Attributes of the sense-organs, if he
thinks, ‘I am mute, or deaf, or one-eyed, or blind’.
Attributes of the internal organs, when he considers
himself subject to desire, intention, doubt, deter-
mination, and so on. . . .
In this way there goes
on this natural beginning—and endless superimpodsi-
tion, which appears in the form of wrong conception,
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS a7
\
is the cause of individual souls appearing as agents
and enjoyers (of the results of their actions), and is
observed by every one.” !
In this connection, Swami Vivekananda relates
the following interesting story : ‘There was once a
baby lion left by its dying mother among some
sheep. The sheep fed it and gave it shelter. The
ion grew apace and said ‘ Ba-a-a’ when the sheep
said ‘Ba-a-a’. One day another lion came by.
‘What do ‘you do here?’ said the second lion in
astonishment, for he heard the sheep-lion bleating
with the rest. ‘ Ba-a-a,’ said the other, ‘I ama
little sheep, I am a little sheep, I am frightened.’
‘Nonsense!’ roared the second lion. ‘Come with
me: I will show you your true nature!’ And he
took him to the side of a smooth stream and
showed him his own image therein. ‘You are a
lion; look at me, look at the sheep, look at
yourself.’ And the sheep-lion looked, and then he
said, do not look like the sheep, it is true, [
‘Ba—I
am a lion!’ and with that he roared a roar that
shook the hills to their depths. That is it. We are
lions in sheep’s clothing of habit, we are hypnotized
into weakness by our surroundings, and the province
of Vedanta is the de-hypnotization of the Self.”
A beautiful allegory is related in the Mundaka
Upanishad to illustrate this point. “ Like two birds
of beautiful golden plumage—inseparable companions

1 From G. Thibaut’s translation of Sankara’s Sutra

Bhashya.
58 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

—the Jivatman (the individual self) and the Para-

matman (the Universal Self) are perched on the
branches of the self-same tree. Of those, the one
(the individual self) tastes of the sweet and bitter
fruits of the tree, and the other (the Universal
Self) remains motionless, calmly observing. Though
living on the self-same tree, the individual sell,
deluded by the forgetfulness of its divine nature,
grieves, bewildered by its own helplessness. And
when the same one recognizes the worshipful Lord
as its own true Self, and beholds His glory, it
becomes free from all grief. Thus, when the
individual realizes the self-luminous Lord, the cause
of all causes, it sheds all impurities and realizes its
identity with the Universal Self.”
In the Chandogya Upanishad the question regard-
ing the essential nature of man or the Self, is
discussed in the tale of Indra and Virochana who
approached the teacher Prajapati to gain the
knowledge of the Self. Prajapati commences his
instruction with an indication of the nature of the
Self. ‘ That Self which is free from impurities, free
from old age or death, from hunger or thirst, whose
desire is true and whose desires come true, that Self
is to be sought after, that Self is to be enquired about
and realized. He who, learning about his Self,
realizes Him, obtains all the worlds and all desires.”
Students of logic may condemn this tendency to
assume that the Self is self-evident and true, on the
ground that one takes for granted what one is
 .

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS 59°

required to prove. Deeper reflection on the subject

however, would convince one that, after all, it is not
so illogical. We have already seen how, logically,
we must accept the existence of an unchanging
reality. In virtue of its unchangeability, this reality
is free from impurities, old age, and death, which are
the attributes of the mind and the body alone, and

not of the Self. So the Self in Itself must not only

be unchangeable, but pure, free, and immortal.
Now in the story we are told that Indra from
among the Devas or gods, and Virochana from
among the Asuras or demons, approached Prajapati,.
and after having served him for thirty-two years..

begged of him the knowledge of the

to teach them
Self. Prajapati replied to them: “ The Person that
is seen in the eye, that is the Self. That is immortal,
That is fearless, and That is Brahman.” Then they
asked, “‘ Sir, is he the Self who is seen reflected in.
the water or in a mirror?” Prajapati gave a clear
reply that they might inquire further. He said,

‘He, the Atman, indeed, is seen in all thesé. Look

at your own self in the water, and whatever you do

not understand, come and tell me.”
They looked at their reflections in water, and when
asked what they had seen of the Self, they replied,
nails.”’
“Sir, we see the Self,-we see even the hair and
Then Prajapati bade them don their finest clothes
This
and look again at their ‘selves’ in the water.
they
they did, and when asked what they had seen,
well
replied: ‘We see the Self, just as we are,
60 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

adorned and in our finest clothes.” Prajapati said

then, ‘“‘ The Self indeed is seen in these. That Seif
is immortal, fearless, and That is Brahman.” |
And they went away, pleased at heart. But
Prajapati, looking after them, said, “ Both of ‘hem
departed without analysing or discriminating, and
without comprehending the true Self. And whoever
will follow this false doctrine of the Self will perish.”
Now Virochana, satisfied that he had known the
Self, returned to the Asuras and preached the
doctrine of the body as Self. But Indra, on his way
back, realized the uselessness of this knowledge. ~So
he thought within himself, “ As this Self seems to
be well adorned when the body is well adorned,
well dressed when the body is well dressed, so will
this Self be blind if the body is blind, lame if the
body is lame, deformed if the body is deformed—
in fact, this Self will die also when the body perishes.
I see no good in such knowledge.” So he returned
to Prajapati and asked for further instruction.
Prajapati said, ‘“‘He who moves about in dreams,
enjoying and glorified, he is the Self. That is
immortal, fearless, and That is Brahman.”
Pleased at heart, Indra again departed. But
before he had returned to the Devas, he realized
the uselessness of that Knowledge also. He thought
within himself. “True it is that this Self is not
blind if the body is blind; nor lame, nor hurt
if the body is lame or hurt. But in dreams, too, this
Self is conscious of many sufferings. So I see no
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS 61

good in this teaching.”

Thus. Prajapati takes his disciple step by step
through the long process of thinking for himself.
From the realization that the body cannot be the
free, immortal, unchanging Self, Indra now turns to
analyse the dream self. For in dreams one attains
to a purer state of mind, in so far as one experiences
objects through means other than the body and the
senses. Ina way the dream self is above the physical
self. But the disciple soon/discovered that this also
could not be the true Self. And he again approached
Prajapati for further instruction on the matter.
Prajapati then said, ‘“ When a person is asleep,
reposing and at perfect rest, dreaming no dreams,
then he realises the Self. That is immortal and
fearless, and That is Brahman.” Satisfied, Indra
went away. But even before he had reached home,
he felt the uselessness of this knowledge. “In
reality,’ thought he, “ one does not know oneself as,
‘This is I’, while asleep. One is not, in fact,
conscious of any existence. That state is almost an-
nihilation. I see no good in this knowledge either.”
Sir S. Radhakrishnan on this statement
comments
thus: “Indra was too much of a psychologist for
Prajapati. He felt that this Self, freed from all
bodily experience, from the shapeless mass of

dreams, etc., is an objectless and barren fiction.

_.Peel off layer after layer of an onion, and what
remains? Nothing. Bradley points out: ‘The ego
that pretends to be anything either before or beyond
‘62 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

its concrete psychical filling is a gross fiction and

a mere monster, and for no purpose admissible.
On this view, in dreamless sleep there is no self
at all. Locke declares that every drowsy nod
explodes the self theory. ‘In sleep and trances the
mind exists not—there is no time, no succession of
ideas. To say the mind exists without thinking is
a contradiction’ (Berkeley’s Works, Vol. 1, p. 34).
Indra seems to have been an empiricist ages before
Locke and Berkeley. ‘If the soul in a perfectly
dreamless sleep thinks, feels and wills nothing, is
the soul then at all, and if it is, how is it?’ asks
Locke. ‘ How often has the answer been given, that
if this could happen, the soul would have no being ?
‘Why have we not the courage to say, that, as often
as this happens, the soul is not?’ Indra has the
courage to declare it. It is indeed destroyed.” !
To explain to Indra that the mind is not the Self,
because the Self continues to exist without the
mind, Prajapati wished his disciple to analyse the
state of deep sleep. And Indra, who had identified
the mind with the Self through ignorance, discovered
that he had not known the Self ; for mind is ‘ almost
annihilated’ in dreamless sleep. It is a conclusion
similar to that of Western rationalists like Bradley,
Locke, and Berkeley. But these philosophers failed
to inquire further, and remained satisfied with their
conclusion—‘ To say that the mind exists without

1 The Philosophy of the Upanishads, by S. Radhakrish-

nan, pp. 31-2.
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS 63

thinking is a contradiction, nonsense, nothing.” Indra

became so much dissatisfied that he sought to know
the Self beyond the mind. For though the mind
exists not in deep sleep, it being contentless and
objectless then, there must continue to exist some-
thing which holds our experiences before and after
sleep. This persisting entity is the unchangeable
reality, the Self. S. Radhakrishnan rightly remarks,
however, ‘‘ Devadatta, after good sleep, continues to
be Devadatta, since his experiences unite them-
selves to the system which existed at the time
when he went to sleep. They link themselves to
his though¢s and do not fly to any other’s. This con-
tinuity of experience requires us to admit a perma-
nent self underlying all contents of consciousness.”
Indra approached his teacher Prajapati once more
and asked to be taught. And this time Prajapati
gave him the highest truth of the Self. He said:
“This body is mortal, always gripped by death.
But herein resides the immortal Self, formless.
This Self, when associated in consciousness with
the body (the different sheaths), becomes subject
to pleasure and pain. As long as there is the asso-
ciation with the body, no one is free from the
dual throng of pleasure and pain. But as one
becomes free from-this association and body cons-
ciousness, no pleasure or pain can touch or affect
the Self. Rising above physical consciousness, and
knowing the Self as distinct from the senses sense-
organs and the mind, knowing Him in His true light,
64 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

one rejoices and is free.’ He who knows that Self,

and meditates and realizes that Self obtains all

worlds and all desires.”

IV

The Mandukya Upanishad refers to three states

of consciousness, and to a Fourth,
Sager 1O%r which may be termed transcen-
dental consciousness. From the

standpoint of the Jiva each state is given a name.

From the standpoint of Brahman also four corres-
ponding aspects are conceived. The first is the
waking state, which is known as Vaisvangra. It is
characterised by the awareness of things outside, the
enjoyment of gross objects with the senses, and the
feeling of identification of consciousness with the
physical body. This we may call the individual as-
pect of man. we consider the universal aspect
When
of Brahman as the physical world parallel to this
state of individual consciousness, we call it Virat or
the Cosmos. It is the totality of all existence:
‘Heaven is His head, the moon and the sun are His
eyes, the quarters His ears, the revealed Vedas His
speech, the air His breath, and the universe His
heart. The earth touches His feet.” Of the Virat or
Cosmos, the individual being or Vaisvanara is a vart.
The second is the dreaming state. This aspect of
consciousness in the individual is known as
Taijasa. It is aware of internal objects and enjoys
mental impressions. This is the intermediate state
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS 65

between waking and deep sleep. The mind is now

active without the use of the sense-organs and is
devoid of consciousness of the gross body. Man now
becomes a mental being. In the universal aspect,
corresponding to this state of individual conscious-
ness, Brahman is known as Hiranyagarbha, or
sometimes simply Brahma, the first born of God—
the effect God—as distinguished from Isvara, the
causal God. Hiranyagarbha is the cosmic mind, and
our individual minds are parts of this universal mind.
The third of these states is deep sleep, in which
consciousness is known as Prajna. Here, there is
cessation of all awareness of the external world, and
besides, the mind’s self-consciousness ‘appears to
be unified under the pall of gloom, and is said to
be of the form of bliss’. Man is now free from
physical consciousness, and the mind is negated as
well. We have now reached the veil of ego, the
causal sheath, so named because the root of ail
consciousness is in the ‘sheath’ of ego. Corres-
ponding to it, in the universal aspect, is Isvaura
or God, the creator of all beings and all things.
This Isvara is the Personal God of the Hindus,
defined as Brahman in association with Mvya or
universal ignorance. But it must be understood
that, though Isvara is the Lord of Maya, He is not
in any manner affected by Maya. In contrast to
Isvara, Jiva or man is Brahman associated with
Avidya, individual ignorance, and is bound by it.
Isvara, or Brahman in His personal aspect, is the
B)
66 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

object of adoration for the devout, who at the same

time know that He is the Squl of their souls, dwelling
within the shrine of their hearts.
The Turiya, which means the Fourth, is the

transcendental consciousness. This Turiya is

identical with pure Atman. The Mandukya Upani-

shad describes it thus: “That which is not con-
scious of internal objects, nor of external objects,
nor of objects in the intermediary state, and is not
a negative consciousness ; which is neither conscious
nor unconscious ; whieh is unrelated, unperceivable
beyond all connotations, beyond all thought,
indefinable, whose nature is pure self-consciousness,
beyond relative existence ; which is peaceful, of
blissful nature and is the One without a second—
that the wise call Turiya, the Fourth. That is the

Self. He is to be realized.” Here there is neither

individual aspect nor’ universal aspect. Atman is
Brahman.—‘ Thou art That”. !
1 The following table will be helpful in understanding
the relationship of the states of consciousness, and their
various expressions in their individual and universal
aspects : 2

INDIVIDUAL UNIVERSAL

1. Waking .. Vaisvanara or phy- F

: ‘ ir
sical consciousness Virat or Cosmos

9 Dream .. Taijasa or subtle Hiranyagarbha, the

body (mind) Effect God

3. Sleep .. Prajna or causal Isvara or Brahman

sheath (ego body) and Maya: (but Lord
of, Maya)
4. Turiya or Atman-Brahman as set forth in the Great
Saying ‘Thou art That’.
 °

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS 67

V
In the teachings of the Upanishads, the
doctrine of identity of Brahman
eee with Atman assumes two distinct
forms following two different
trends of thought. The first of them is Saprapancha
or cosmic, and identifies Brahman not only with the
Atman but with the Cosmos. The second is Nish-
prapancha or acosmic, as it negates the Cosmos and
lays stress on the oneness of Brahman and Atman in
the transcendental state. To these two views may
be added a third—one merely suggested in the
Upanishads—that this Brahman or Atman is

In this connection it may be pointed out that Vedanta

has three schools of thought, all finding their authority in
the Vedas. The main distinction between them centres
round the problem of the relation of man to God. The _
Dvaita, or dualist school expounded by Madhva, believes
in man and God as eternally separate, related as created
being and Creator. The Visishtadvaita school, expounded
by Ramanuja, believes in one Universal Totality, a Whole,
and man is a part of the Whole. There is unity in differ-
ence. The Advaita school, expounded by Samkara, be-
lieves in the complete identity of Atman with Brahman.
The Upanishads,on the whole, support the philosophy df
Samkara.
Sri Ramakrishna harmonises the different schools by
quoting an old Sanskrit verse, “When I have the cons-
ciousness that I am the body, I am Thy servant and Thou
art my Lord. When I identify myself as the individual
soul, Thou art the Whole and I am Thy part. And when
I know my true Self, I am one with Thee.” And the high-
est truth is this identity.
Christ also seems to have had the same idea in view
when at one time he prayed to the “Father in Heaven”.
Then again he says, “I am the vine, ye are the branches.”
And the highest truth is taught when he declares, “I and
my Father are one.”
68 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

indefinable and inexpressible. Upasantoyamatmd.—

“Silence is His name.”
Concerning Saprapancha, the first of these
aspects, the Chandogya Upanishad tells us that
Brahman is ‘He who gives birth to this world,
who supports it and re-absorbs it—whose body is
spirit, whose form is light, whose thoughts are true,
who pervades all and is the living presence in all
and everything’. And the Self or Atman, it is
stated, is subtler than the subtle and greater than
the great, and dwells within the heart, and is
identical with Brahman.
A famous dialogue between Yajnavalkya and his
wife Maitreyi, to be found in the Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad, explains the way in which the one
Self pervades everything in the universe, dwells in
_the body of man, and expresses Itself as the life of
all beings. ‘‘ This world, which is so sweet to all
beings, and to which every being is so sweet, is but
the Self-effulgent. The Immortal is the bliss in the
world. In us also He is that bliss. He is Brahman.”
The Self or Brahman is the essence, the reality,
behind this universe. Having created this world out
of Himself, He again enters into it. “From Ananda
or joy springs this universe ; in joy it has its being,
and unto joy it returns.”
The all-pervading nature of Brahman is expressed
in this exquisite passage from the Svetasvatara Upia-
nishad: ‘Thou art woman; Thou art man; Thou
art maiden ; Thou as an old man art tottering with
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS 69

Thy staff. Thou existeth everywhere. Thou art

the dark blue insect. Thou art the green parrot
with red eyes. Thou art the thunder cloud. Thou
art the seasons. Thou art without beginning. Thou
art all-pervading. From Thee has come forth the
whole universe.” .
On such passages as these, has the philosopher
Ramanuja based his doctrine of transformation
(Parinamavada). The world, he declares, is not
separate from has transformed Him-
God, but God
self as this world. But in so doing, He has not
exhausted Himself, nor is He affected in any way.
Thus in the Upanishads we hear this truth:
Filled with Brahman are the things we sense;
Filled with Brahman are the things we sense
not ;
From out of Brahman floweth all that is,
From all, yet is He still the same.
Brahman
Before discussing Nishprapancha, the second of
these aspects of identity between Brahman and
Atman, be well to summarize the principles
it may
to be derived from such passages as we have quoted
above.
1. Brahman is one with Atman, is the essence,

the reality, behind the changing phenomena of the

universe. He pervades it in the sense that He is

contained, in His infinitude, within every finite

object of this universe.

2. Finite objects are not separate or distinct

from Brahman, but are Brahman transformed.

 70 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

Though Brahman transformed is the universe, He,

the source, remains unaffected. So, again, Brahman
includes all within Himself and also transcends all.
‘All existence in the Self and the Self in all
existence ’—is the purport of these passages.
Coming now to Nishprapancha, the acosmic
ideal, its principal teachings can be illustrated by
referring again to the dialogue between Yaina-
valkya and Maitreyi. In the course of his teaching,
Yajnavalkya says: “ Maitreyi, I have said nothing
that should frighten or puzzle you. This is the
truth that has to be realized. When there is duality,
as it were, one sees the other, one hears the other,
one touches the other, one knows the other, one
welcomes the other. But when the whole is
recognized as this Self, who is to be seen by whom,
who is to be known by whom? That Self is to be
described only as ‘Not ‘this’, ‘Not that’. He is.
incomprehensible, for He cannot be comprehended.
He is imperishable, unattached, unfettered.”
Other passages in the Upanishads employ the
figure of clay and its various modifications. “In
words or speech alone the modification originates
and exists. In reality there is no such thing as
modification. It is-merely a name, and the clay
alone is real.” So the universe of name and torm
is in name and form alone. For Brahman is the only
reality. On this point the Mundaka Upanishad says
thus: “ He who has attained the highest knowledge
becomes -one with the Universal Self, freed from
 PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS 71
THE

Namarupa—name and form—as the flowing streams

enter into, and become united with, the sea, leaving

name and form behind.”
Samkara founded his philosophy of non-dualism
of the
and the doctrine of Maya upon these teachings
Upanishads. The world, he declares, is a misread-
ing of God. The finite is a misinterpretation of the
Infinite. Samkara, however, nowhere asserts that
the world of plurality is non-existent as some of his
Western interpreters declare. According to him,

the world ‘is’ and ‘is not’. As_ he says, it is not

non-existent ‘like the son of a barren woman’. It

is real as long as we experience it in relative

consciousness; the while it is experienced, it

possesses an empirical reality. It is unreal only

when obliterated in the absolute consciousness.

What is the underlying
then truth of the relation
man
between the world of finite objects and Brah
as revealed in the Upanishads? Two doctrines
—
seem to prevail among the philosophers of India
Parinamavada or the doctrine of transformation
propounded by Ramanuja, and Vivartavada or
as
the of superimposition and the theory of
doctrine
Maya as held by Samkara. In the one the universe
sense
ig an emanation from Brahman, and in that
all is Brahman. In the other, the universe of
As we
appearance is superimposed upon Brahman.
universe
see the snake on the rope, so do we see the
The reality is Brahman—the One
on Brahman.
without a second.
72 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

These two interpretations of reality have been

variously understood by Western scholars, who have
often identified them with pantheism and illusionism
respectively. |
We have already noted that the theory of Maya
is not illusionism ; for the world of phenomena
possesses an empirical reality, though not an abso-
lute one, and is therefore neither false nor
absolutely .real. It has a kind of intermediate
existence—it ‘is’ and ‘is not’.
Is then the theory of emanation identical with
pantheism ? Pantheism may be defined as the
identification of God with Nature. The sum-total
of this universe is, according to it, identical with
God. Nowhere in the Upanishads is to be found such
an identification. It is said that God has become
transformed as this universe, and yet He remains
the same as before, for He is not only immanent
but also transcendent. This transcendental aspect
of God is emphasized again and again nearly every-
where in the Upanishads. This interpretation can
in no respect be regarded as pantheism.
Furthermore, when it is declared that all is Brah-
man, this ‘all’ is not what we sense or perceive.
The universe is in reality an emanation from Him,
and He is the indwelling Spirit in every object of
the universe. We can comprehend this truth about
the. emanation and the indwelling of Spirit only
after gaining what is known as the mystic experi-
ence or intuition of Brahman.
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS 73

Which of these two- doctrines then is the actual

teaching of the Upanishads? The answer to this
question is that they favour neither the one nor the
other of these apparently antagonistic interpreta-
tions of Reality, though both of these can be

deduced from them. The truth is that these Vedic

scriptures did not in any sense attempt to propound

a set of systematic doctrines. The sages were
entirely satisfied with their mystic experiences and
accorded simple utterance to what was revealed to
them while they were in that ‘state. And these mystic
experiences, will reveal rather harmony
if compared,
than discord. In these revelations we find a

philosophy and process of experience rather than

a philosophy of doctrines. And as we analyse

this process, we find that the primary step in the

search for reality is the negation or denial of all

external objects ofexperien€e. The Atman is

neither ‘this’ nor ‘ that —Nett Neti Atma. As the

became deeply absorbed in meditation, as

sages
rose above physical perception, above the
they
subtle and ‘sheaths’, this universe of finite
causal
ated
objects and the universe of ideas were obliter
the
from their consciousness, and there remained
One Existence without a second. “ Who is there to

see whom? Who is there to know whom 7°" Sane

of Brahman becomes verily Brahman.”
knower
conditions
Time, space and causation, which are the
the objective universe, cease to
‘of experiencing
exist when one is in that state.
74 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

On return from this umitary consciousness, a

mystic, illumined in regard to the nature of the
abiding reality, may be either in the normal state of
consciousness, or in Bhavamukha—an intermediate
state in which he has the empirical as well as the
transcendental consciousness.
In the normal state he perceives finite objects,
and is aware that this finitude is a misreading of
the Infinite. Behind every finite object lies the
Infinite, the indwelling Spirit. Sri Ramakrishna
illustrates this state by the example of a man
who has seen that inside all pillows is cotton. He
does not actually see the cotton afterwards, but
rather sees the pillow cases, and yet he knows that
cotton is inside the cases of pillows of all forms and
S1Zes.
In Bhdvamukha, the intermediate state, the
mystic may have an empirical consciousness of the
objective universe, but. he is also aware of the
Ananda, the blissful Brahman vibrating in all. To
illustrate this also Sri Ramakrishna makes use of an
analogy, this time of wax dolls. The dolls may be
of various forms and sizes, but one sees the wax
assuming these forms and sizes. Thus does the
mystic see Brahman assuming many forms and
names. But he sees with never-failing vision that
all is Brahman.
Both these doctrines, then, find their authority
and truth in the Upanishads, yet neither in itself
gives the whole truth about reality.
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS -7vl

VI

Concerning types of knowledge, Mundaka the

Upanishad speaks in specific terms:
Hsieee At “There are two kinds of know-
ledge—the lower or Apara, and
of the
the higher or Para. Intellectual understanding
mar,
scriptures, phonetics, the code of rituals, gram
different
- etymology, prosody and astronomy, and the
know-
branches of science and art, form the lower
ledge. The higher knowledge is that by which is
realized and attained the imperishable Truth.”

lower knowledge, being of the intellect and

The
is limited to the objective world of
the senses,
experience. knowledge is concerned with
Empirical
Brahman or Atman, which is
the finite alone.
unperceived
‘ unseen but seeing, unheard but hearing,
unknown but knowing’, cannot
but perceiving,
ledge. And
be made the object of empirical know
the knowledge
yet the culmination of wisdom is
In the Chandogya Upanishad we
of Brahman.
son Svetaketu,
read of Uddalaka enquiring of his
about that knowledge by
“Have you inquired
which we per-
which we hear the unheard, by
h we know the
ceive the -ecuampoag by whic
unknown ?’
grasp this knowledge, and
The intellect cannot
brings us to the conclusion that
reason inevitably
or Atman is unknown and unknow-
Brahman
intellect, not by
able. “Not by study, not by
‘76 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

erudition is the Atman attained,’ declares the

Katha Upanishad. And the Taittiriya Uvanishad
describes the Atman as “That from which
speech along with the mind turns away not able
to’ apprehend.”
This Para-vidya or the higher knowledge, which
reveals to us the unknown, is neither an objective
knowledge nor a subjective experience in the sense
of mental cognition or feeling as understood in the
West; it is rather ‘being’ and ‘becoming’. Jae.
knower of Brahman becomes verily Bruhman.”
Metaphysically, it is the Nirvikalpa knowledge
in which the three categories of empirical know-
ledge—the knower, the object of knowledge and
the process of knowledge—are transcended. It
is identical with Turiya or consciousness in its
pristine, transcendental condition. But
it is to be
distinguished specially from the degeneration of
consciousness into a condition of blankness: for it
is a state of illumination. The following description
of the transcendental state makes this point
clear: ‘“ This.indescribable, ineffable, supreme joy
is perceived as—This is That. How can I ex-
press That? Is That a borrowed light, or does
It shine by Itself? There the sun does not shine,
nor the moon, nor the stars, nor lightning, nor
fire. That shining, every other object shines.
It is the light of That that gives light unto
all.” By the practice of Yoga or spiritual discip-
lines man attains to this state of transcendental
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS 77

consciousness and realises the identity of his inner

Self with the Divine.
The knowledge of the Self is the highest purpose
of man, the supreme goal of his life. ‘‘ Blessed is
he who attains to this supreme wisdom in this very
life ; if he does not, his life is in vain.” All beings
in the universe, it is asserted everywhere in the
Upanishads, are moving towards this end—the
realization of the Infinite Self. For, the Infinite,
the Sat-chid-ananda (the Absolute Existence, the
Absolute Knowledge and the Absolute Bliss), is
the indwelling Self in all. And in all men is the
impulse to express and to unfold and realize one’s
own being. Behind the struggles of life is this
urge to know the Self. Even when one
struggles
blindly for life, to find love and happiness, and
to gather knowledge, one is in reality moved
by that urge.
The nature of the Self is Sat or Existence, Chit
or knowledge, and Ananda or Bliss and Love. Some
philosophers of the West, having caught a glimpse
of the true Self of man, have concluded that we
realize the ideal of life by perfectly expressing the
infinite through the finite. So in the West there
is a universal tendency to find and express God in
the finite universe,—to revel in a creative ajpre-
ciation of His joy through the body, the senses,
the mind and all external material forms. This

romantic ideal would, no doubt, be pleasing and

comforting to those who know of no other bliss
78 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

But such a realization of life has all the limitations

of a purely sensational and sense-bound philosophy ;
it offers nothing to heal the sores and sufferings of
the inner man. It is, in effect, an effort to idealize
the real, to compromise our weaknesses and our
failures, and not an attempt to realize the real
nature of the Self. The sages of the Upanishads,
on the other hand, point out that man is in reality
the Infinite Self, and that his attempt to express his
real nature through the finite is necessarily a mis-
directed effort prompted by ignorance. ior the
Infinite, declare these sages, can never be expressed
through the finite, and the aim of all the struggles
of life is to learn just this.
The vanity of earthly life is brought home to the
mind of man when the experience of repeated failures
teaches him that within the limits of life itself no
solution of its riddle can be discovered, and that
it is folly to hope for infinite happiness, infinite
knowledge and in the life of the body
immortality
and the senses. It is then that he turns to the
Source of all light, happiness, and existence—-his own
true Self. And by knowing the Self through the
process of ‘ being’ and ‘ becoming’ It, he attains the
supreme goal of life. For he realizes the trans-
cendental Self which is Sat, Existence ; Chit, Know-
ledge ; and Ananda, Bliss or Love.
This in brief is the teaching of the Upanishads
with reference to what we might realize upon this
earth and in this life.
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS 719

VII

In all beings exists the Self. ‘In the heart of

all—whatever there is in the uni-
The One Atman- ‘
Difference in the Verse—abides the Lord,” declares
mjoibeare tia the Isa Upanishad. He who has
attained the highest wisdom by
rising above the differences which exist in the
sphere of name and form, perceives only sameness
where another would perceive infinite diversity.
From the absolute point of view, no difference exists
in beings and things; but empirically, with refer-
ence to this world, there is difference and diversity
between one individual and another. But this
empirical difference is not, however, one of kind
but only one of degree in which the Atman is

manifested. In fact beings are higher or lower

aceording to the degree of manifestation of the

higher reality. The Self exists equally in all,
but all do not exist equally in It, since It is not
of
revealed equally to all. Here in the teachings
the Upanishads is suggested a process of evolution not
increa-
of the Self but of the forms of life as they
Self.
singly reveal the nature and the power of the
This idea is made clear in the following passage
Aranyaka: ‘‘He who knows the
of the Aitareya
of the Self in him, obtains for
gradual unfoldment
development. There are herbs
himself a greater
and animals, and he knows the Self
and trees
gradually unfolding in them. For in herbs and trees
80 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

sap only is seen, but in animals there is thought.

Among animals, again, the Self develops gradually,
for in some sap is seen as well as thought, but in
others thought is absent. And in man, again, the
Self reveals itself gradually, for he is most endow-
ed with self-consciousness. He says what he has
known, he sees what he has known, he knows what
is to happen tomorrow, he knows the gross and
the subtle. Through the mortal he desires the
immortal—thus is he endowed. In other animals,
only hunger and thirst are a kind of understanding.
But they do not say what they have known, nor do
they see what they have known. They do not know
what is to happen tomorrow, nor do they know the
gross and the subtle. They go so far and no further.”
We see that, though the Atman exists in all beings,
there is a larger degree of manifestation of It in
some of them than in others. The Atman or the
real Self, when It is identifying Itself with indivi-
dual mind, body and senses, is cognized as the Jiva,
individual being. It then diversifies Itself into plant
life, animal life and human life, just as, to quote the
favourite illustration in the Vedanta literature, uni-
versal space is cut off into the shape of a room, a
jar and other similar objects. The Chit or Pure
Consciousness is not the limited self we know of,
neither is It the same as reason or instinct. When
It is reflected through the mind and the senses, we
call it reason, instinct and perception. But these are
degenerations of this Pure Consciousness, the Chit.
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS 81

In lower animals it is called merely instinct ; in man

it is reason and self-consciousness. When this self-
consciousness reaches the higher stages of its evolu-
tion, man feels the summons of the Infinite Self,
and starts on the path of realization of the Divine.
Sat-chit-ananda—absolute existence, absolute
knowledge and absolute blessedness—are not quali-
ties of the Self but are its essence; that is to say,
there is no distinction between them and the Self
Itself.’ The three are one; only we perceive the one
thing in three different aspects. That eternal con-
sciousness of the Self reflecting through the mind
of man becomes reason and instinct. Its differ-
ences are all due to differences in the mediums
through which it is revealed. As the heart becomes
purer, it becomes a better reflector of the Atiman.
It is only in the Turiya, the transcendental state,
that Consciousness is revealed in Its purity as
absolute existence, absolute knowledge and absolute
bliss. Hence the Tarttiriya Upanishad describes it
as Pranaramam, sportiveness of cosmic life; Mana-
anandam, the delight of the mind; and Santi-sain-
riddham amritam, highest peace and immortality.

Vill

The term Moksha implies freedom from all

limitations, bondages and imper-
Moksha or ;
Freedom, and fections, as well as release from
Eeamortalisy. birth and death. It is the state
of oneness with God, and is the birthright of every
6
82 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

man. The soul in its real nature is, as we have

seen, free and divine, and for man freedom comes
with this knowledge of his true Self. Submerged
in ignorance, man considers himself finite, bound
and miserable. So bondage lies in ignorance, and
freedom in dissipating it by the knowledge of the
Self and in realizing one’s true nature. Moxsha is
just this recognition of one’s divine Self, and not a
transformation into something else. It is the
discovery of the truth that has always been.
The Chandogya Upanishad brings out this fact
as follows: “‘ As people ignorant of the presence of
a golden treasure, which has been hidden under-
ground, may walk over it again and again and yet
never find it, so all beings, though every moment
living in Brahman, never find Him, for he is
hidden by a covering of ignorance.” Again
the same Upanishad says: “ Brahman is the Self
within, untouched by any deed, ageless and
deathless, free from grief, free from hunger and
thirst. The etheric centre within the heart, where
dwells Brahman, is like a boundary which separates
That from the mundane world. The day and the
night do not cross that boundary, nor old age, nor
death ; neither grief, nor pleasure, nor good, ror
evil deeds reach That. All evil shuns That,
because That is free and can never be touched
by any impurity.”
Thus, despite our ignorance, the pure, perfect,
divine nature of the Atman remains quite unaffected.
 e

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS 83

Similarly, Christ has said, “The lght shineth in

darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not” ;
“Know ye the truth, and the truth shall make you
free’’; and “ The Kingdom of God is at hand, watch
and pray.”
One Indian philosopher has defined Moksha as
Svarajyasiddhi or the attainment of one’s own
kingdom. The’ exact ‘nature of this state of
liberation cannot be defined in rational terms, for
it is identical with the supra-rational Turiya or
transcendental consciousness. But that it is not a
negative state of existence is certain. It is always
described as infinite and ineffable joy of a positive
type, realizable, yet not to be expressed. To define
is to limit, but this state is illimitable, infinite.
In the Upanishads the state of Moksha or libera-
tion is described as realization of our oneness with
Brahman. In the words of the Mundaka Upanishad,
“As the flowing rivers enter into the sea, losing
their names and forms, even so the wise man,
freed from name and form, attains the supreme
Divine Being. Verily, he who knows Brahman
becomes Brahman. No one ignorant of Brahman
is ever born in his family. Such a knower of

Brahman overcomes evil. He passes beyond all

sorrow. Freed from the fetters of the heart, he

becomes immortal.”
TheUpanishads do not recognize the absolute
reality of the individual self. The individuality
which we so fondly cling to in this life, and hope to
84 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

retain through eternity, is in reality derived from

our identification, through ignorance, of the
Atman—the eternal Subject—with the non-self.
When the Self identifies itself with body, mind or
senses, it appears as an individual being. In com-
mon experience too we discern that. Though we are
clinging to our individual bodies, we are losing them
from moment to moment in the process of change
that is continually at work. The Atman, which is
changeless, is the real man. Our true individuality
lies in It, and in It alone we find the fullest expres-
sion of our being.
Moksha may be attained in this life, or it may
be reached after death. Both these forms of
liberation are recognized in the Upanishads. The
first one is called Jivanmukti or freedom attained
in this life. For the man who has reached Self-
knowledge through transcendental consciousness,
the vision of the world has changed into the vision
of Reality or Brahman. He is called the ‘living
free’. For such a man delusion has vanished
for ever. He is free from selfish desires, for the
sense of want is annihilated in him once for ail
by the ineffable experience of Self-realization.
His only delight is now in God or the Self, for he
is truly conscious of ‘living, moving, and having
his being in God’. And the transcendental intuition
which has brought him the realization of his oneness
with God, gives him also the realization of the same
God in all beings. His life, therefore, becomes
 ‘

PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS 85

THE

cone of service in the light of the knowledge of the

one Self and one God in all.
a
The second form of liberation is called Videh
Mukti, or freedom after death. In this the man
Self
concerned realizes the highest knowledge of the
time of
and its identity with Brahman only at the
death. This, however, can be achieved only if one
lie,
has disciplined and prepared oneself all through
with this as the only aim. Liberation, whether it is
an end
gained in life itself or after death, puts
to re-birth once for all.
l of
Moksha is, therefore, a stopping of the whee
ad of
birth and death, cutting asunder the thre
ignorance by the sword of knowledge. Hence this

state is identical with immortality.

Upani-
The ideal of immortality as taught in the
e cf the
shads does not imply a continuous existenc
that the
individual after death but rather the fact
true Self is unborn and undying. It is said in
Knower, is
the Katha Upanishad: “The Self, the
neither born or dies. This ancient One is unborn,
everlasting. This ancient One is never
eternal,
If the slayer
destroyed even when the body dies.
he is slain,
thinks he slays, if the slain thinks
neither of them knows. He slays not, nor is He
the
slain. Subtler than the subtle, greater than
great, this Atman dwells in the hearts of all.
,
He who is free from desire and free from grief
glory
with his mind and senses purified, beholds the
of the Self.”
86 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

The question is not whether the soul continues

its existence after death or not; for, as it is
affirmed by the Upanishads, the Self is neither
born, nor does It die. That which has birth
must also have death. On this point, Swami
Vivekananda says:
“T am studying a book ; page after page is keing
read and turned over. Who changes? Who comes
and goes? NotI, but the book. This whole Nature
is a book before the soul; chapter after chapter is
being read and turned over, and every now and
then a scene opens. That is read and turned over.
A fresh one comes but the soul is ever the same—
eternal. It is Nature! that is changing, not the
soul of man, This never changes. Birth and death
are in Nature, not in you. Yet the ignorant are
deluded. Just as we under delusion think that the
sun is moving and not the earth, in exactly the
same way we think that we are dying, and not
Nature. These are all, therefore, hallucinations,
just as it is a hallucination when we think that the
fields are moving and not the railway train. Exactly
in the same manner is the hallucination of birth
and death.”
So immortality is not continuity in time, but
participation, by knowledge of identity, in the con-
sciousness and entity of the eternal Divine. Through
ignorance we identify ourselves with body and

1 Within the category of Nature is also classified the

body, mind, and senses, for these are not the Self.
 OF THE UPANISHADS 87
THE PHILOSOPHY
\

ego; through ignorance we think ourselves to be

subject to birth and death. With the dawn of

knowledge we realize our true Self which is

recognized as identical with the Supreme Divinity,
and with this realization, we are released from the

wheel of birth and death.

But as the state of ignorance iasts, and
so long
the concomitant identification with the non-self con-—
tinues, we have to undergo birth and death, that
is, we remain subject to the laws of Karma and

the of, mortality.

woes This is the doctrine of
In
reincarnation propounded by the Upanishads.
the words of the Chandogya Upanishad, ‘“ Those
depart from this world, without having
who
worlds,
realized the Self, find no freedom in all the
Self,
while those who depart, having realized the
find freedom everywhere.” q

IX

furnishes a clear
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
explanation of the problem of
Karma and death and reincarnation. We read
Reincarnation
in it: ‘‘When the body grows
sickness or old age, the
weak either through
from the body as a
departing soul separates itself
from its stalk, and
mango or a fig is separated
life. When that soul,
hastens to begin another
about to make its
having sunk into weakness, is
appears to be no
journey to another world, and
 88 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

longer conscious, then it gathers its senses around it

and lives for a while within the heart. No more
does it see any external form or colour. Then the
point of the heart is lighted by the light of the soul,
and by that light it departs either through the eve
or the skull, or through other apertures of the bedy.
When it thus departs, life departs with it, and when
‘ life departs, the rest of the senses and vital £pirits
also depart. The soul is conscious, and with con-
sciousness it goes to the next world. And the
impressions of its knowledge and the-deeds of this
life follow it. As a caterpillar, having reached the
end of a blade of grass, takes hold of another blade
of grass and then draws itself together towards it,
so does the soul, after having given up this present
body, take poold of another body, and draw itself
together towards it.
“This Self is indeed Brahman. But because of
Its association and_ identification with limiting
adjuncts, It appears to consist of intellect, mind,
sight, and hearing; of different elements such as
earth, water, air, ether, and
and no fire; of desire
desire ; of anger and no anger ; of right and wrong ;
and of all other things. As his deeds and thought
in fact are, so does he appear to become. A man
of good deeds becomes good; a man of bad deeds,
bad. He becomes pure by pure deeds, impure by
evil deeds.
“As is a person’s
desire, so is his will ; as is his
will, so is his deed ; as is his deed, so will he reap.
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS 69

To whatever object a man’s mind is attached, to

that he goes with the impressions of his deeds.

And after having enjoyed the results of his deeds in
the other world, he returns from that world to
this world of action. Such is the case with the raan
who desires and has not yet attained the knowledge
of Self.”
Our life is thus guided by our deeds and
future
our desires in the present life. The law of Karma
essentially means that our actions produce results
in two ways—in the first place as effects in the
shape of happiness and sorrow we reap, and in the
next place as actions producing impressions on our

minds, the sum total of which forms our character.

And our is determined by our character

next life
formed in the present. In the words of the Chan-
dogya Upanishad : “ Those whose conduct has been
good will attain good birth’; but those whose con-
¥
duct is evil will verily attain evil birth.”
Two paths there are by which souls travel after
the
death—one known as Pitriyana or the path of
Fathers, and the other as Devayana or the path of .
the Gods. He who goes by the path of Pitriyana,
enjoying the fruits of his good deeds in the
after
or heavenly regions, returns to earth. These
Lokas
regions are called Bhogabhumi or places
heavenly
onethe fruits of one’s deeds.
enjoys This
in which
where
earth is Karmabhumi or the region of action
and it is
we make our future through our deeds ;
freedom.
also the place where we finally realize our
90 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

We are bound to reincarnate again and again

until, through knowledge, we ultimately become
free. According to the Upanishads no soul will
be lost.
He who travels by Devayana does not return to
this world but gradually attains knowledge and
freedom in the Brahmaloka. This process is known
as Kramamukti or gradual liberation. But for him
who gains the knowledge of the Self in this very
life, freedom from the wheel of birth and death
becomes possible in this world itself!. In the words
of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad : ‘‘ When all the
desires of the heart are destroyed at the dawn of
the knowledge of Brahman, the mortal becomes im-
mortal ; then man attains Brahman even in this life.
And as the slough of a snake lies cast away on an
ant-hill, so lies the body. The Spirit, disembodied
and immortal, becomes united with Brahman.
“If a man realizes the Self as one with the bliss-
ful Brahman, what desire is left to impel him to
assume the frailties and weaknesses of the body ?
One who realizes the Self residing within this frail
body as one with Brahman, is verily Brahman.
All the worlds are within him, and he is in ail
the worlds. Those who realize this truth of
Brahman become immortal. Others, ignorant of the
glory of this Self, remain within the bonds of birth
and death, and verily that is misery.

1 A third path, which leads to the joyless regions of

the wicked souls, is also mentioned in the Upanishads.
 »

OF THE UPANISHADS 91
THE PHILOSOPHY

“They who the Self as the life of life, the

know
the
eye of the eye, the ear of the ear, the mind of
Brah-
mind, they indeed know the ancient primeval
man. By the purified mind alone can this be known.
He who sees difference goes from death to death.
Self,
“Tet a man, after he has heard about this
om. He
meditate on Him in order to attain wisd
cularly
must give up all vain talk, for that is parti
fatiguing to the organ of speech.
ligence
“This glorious, unborn Self, who is the intel
senses,
of the intellect, who is surrounded by the
within the
who is the ruler and lord of all, resides
sanctuary of the heart. He is not touched by any
deed; neither does He become great by great

works, nor belittled by evil works. He is the ruler,

the lord, the protector of all. He is like a bridge

world.
which crosses the ocean of the miseries of the
study the
“The Brahmins, desiring to know Him,
nce. Know-
Vedas, offer sacrifices, and practise pena
ing Him one becomes a seer. Desiring to know Him
. Desiring
alone, they take to the life of renunciation
es. ”
Him alone, they give up all other desir

that the highest freedom is

We have learned
attained through knowledge of the
Bott '
Spiritual It is identical with the
Disciplines and real Self.
realization of our oneness with
Ethical Life.
Brahman, who, in the words of the Brihadaranyaka
‘92 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

Upanishad, ‘is far above hunger and thirst, above

sorrow and confusion, above old age and death’.
We have also learned that the Self, in Its true
nature, is free, divine and pure, and that ignorance
only hides this true nature of It. Just so does the
Bible also declare, ‘‘ The Light shineth in darkness ;
and the darkness comprehendeth it not.” (Gospel
according to St. John.)
This idea of a Self, pure and undefiled, which is
the basis of the teachings in the Upanishads, is to be
found in every religion. In the Old Testament, for
example, Adam, the first-born, was pure, but this
purity was obliterated by his own evil deeds. And
the very essence of Christian teachings is that the
lost paradise may be recovered, that one’s lost in-
nocence may be regained, that the pristine purity
of the soul may return, and that the Kingdom of
Heaven lies within. Similarly, the Buddhist con-
ception of Nirvana denotes a state beyond the world
of relative objects; and the whole philosophical
system of the Buddhists revolves about rediscovering
that state of bliss. And so the Moksha or liberation
of the Upanishads is only another instance of the cry
of man in his misery for help to find the bliss he
has lost and to rid himself of his present state of
helplessness and restless striving.
Since the veil of ignorance covers the perfection
of the Self, spiritual disciplines are necessary for
removing that evil. With their help the light of
knowledge begins to shine on the aspirant, and he
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS g3

becomes ‘ perfect even as our Father in Heaven is

perfect’. These disciplines consist in the observance
of moral laws and the practice of Yoga.
In the West as in the East, this teaching
as well
is often misunderstood by some. They ask if
man is pure and divine by nature, may he not
dispense with moral obligations ? In this connection
it is interesting to note how Sri Ramakrishna, the
holy prophet of Dakshineswar, treated a man who
posed as a Vedantist and at the same time led a
bad life. When advised by the sage to learn self-
control before aspiring to be a Vedantist, the man
replied, ‘I am divine and pure. My actions do not
affect me. There is no evil, for evil is but an
illusion.” At this, Sri Ramakrishna indignantly
remarked, ‘‘I despise such teachings. Never support
your weakness by quoting the scriptures.” The
truth of the matter is that, though man is divine,
his real natureis hid in ignorance. Perfect obser-
vance of moral principles and perfect self-control
are the only means by which: the veil of ignorance
can be removed. Ethical conduct is the very basis
of spiritual life, but it is not the whole of religion.
The Upanishads declare that when the transcend-
ental level of consciousness is reached and man
realizes his Divinity, he rises above all laws. ‘He

is not afflicted by the thought, ‘Why have I

not done what is good, why have I committed

sin?’ The immortal is beyond both, beyond

good and evil.”
94 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

But again we must remember that though he is

above all laws, his nature has been so transformed
that he has become the very embodiment of good-
ness. No evil can be done by a man who has had
such an experience. Swami Vivekananda has beauti-
fully described the state of such a saint in the
following words: “Even if he lives in the body
and works incessantly, he works only to do good;
his lips speak only benediction to all; his hands do
only good works; his mind can think only good
thoughts ; his presence is a blessing wherever he
goes. He is himself a living blessing. Such a
man will, by his very presence, change even the most
wicked persons into saints. Can such men do any
evil, can they do wicked deeds ? There is, you must
remember, all the difference of pole to pole between
realization and mere talking.”
_ What then of the charge that the Upanishads
contain no systematic ethical teachings? It is
urged that, if there is but one existence, and if all
beings form one unity, there can be no possibility of
relations between men, and as a consequence, moral
laws will lose all meaning. But this idea of unity
of existence, far from being a weakness, is the only
basis upon which true ethical life is possible. If
men were really so separated from each other that
the gulf between them could not be bridged, the
ethical ideal of love would be meaningless. For, if
the experience of separate individual selves is an
abiding fact, then each man would always live for
 OF THE UPANISHADS 95
THE PHILOSOPHY

himself without any regard for the good of

alone,
in his state of
others, as he is actually doing now
ignorance. Through the ideal of unity we learn the
ourselves, and
truth that by loving others we love
s. ‘“‘ Love thy
that by hating others we hate ourselve
first find in
neighbour as thyself,” is a precept we
Buddha and
the Upanishads, and later echoed by
re-echoed by Christ. You are asked to love your
is yourself.
neighbour as yourself, for verily he
expression
Thus morality, which differs in its
different peoples
in different countries and among
definition: Whatever leads us
has this single
gs, is good, and
towards unity with God and all bein
ideal of unity
whatever draws us away from this
is evil.
the absolute consists
truth in this
Though
ussing, in this
oneness which we have been disc
man is far away
world of relativity the ordinary
y. Ethical laws
from the realization of this unit
as their observance
have thus their value in as much’
absolute truth of
leads us to the perception of the
Self-realization.
‘oneness, which is identical with
upon again and
In this book it has been insisted
is covered by
again that the divine nature of man
e can reveal it.
ignorance, and that knowledge alon
lly an intellectual
This knowledge is not essentia
aphysical doctrines,
mastery of some abstruse met
process of ‘ being’
but is rather identical with the
n of ‘ being’ and
and ‘ becoming ’. ‘And the conditio
is the transformation of our whole
‘becoming’
96 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

nature, which is made possible by ‘the renewal cf

our minds’, in the words of St. Paul, and by what the
Upanishads denominate as ‘self-control’ or check
of selfish desires, passions and impulses. This ideal
of self-control is summed up in the Katha Upanishad
as follows: ‘‘ Know the body to be the chariot, the
intellect the charioteer, the mind the reins, the
Self the lord in the chariot. The senses are the
horses, the objects their road. He who has no
control over his mind and is without discrimination,
permits his senses to become unmanageable like’
untamed horses. But he who is discriminative and
whose mind is restrained, controls his senses like
trained horses. The man who has a discriminative
intellect for his charioteer, and a well regulated
mind for the reins, reaches the end of the journey,
the supreme abode of Vishnu, the all-pervading One.
This Self, hidden in all beings, reveals not Him self
unto all; but He is comprehended by the pure ones
of sharpened and purified intellect.”
A purified intellect implies essentially inner
purity of both heart and mind, and also the proper
regulation of outer conduct in the light of moral
principles as a means to that end. Certain injunc-
tions concerning the ways
of attaining this purity of
heart are scattered throughout these scriptures. In
the Taittiriya Upanishad we read: “One should
observe the following: Truthfulness in word, deed
and thought; self-denial and ‘the practice of
austerity ; self-control and poise; performance of
 °

OF THE UPANISHADS 97
THE PHILOSOPHY

the everyday duties of life with a cheerful heart and

unattached mind. Above all follow the way of
the truth. Perform your duties.
truth—speak
Revere great-
Deviate not from the path of good.
Do only such actions as are blameless.
ness.
who are superior
Always show reverence to those
r-
and great. Give no gifts without love and reve
with humility
ence, but give in plenty with joy,
with compassion. If at any time there is
and
conduct, follow
any doubt with regard to right
who are cuileless, who are
those great souls
of good judgment and who are devoted to the
truth.”
te self-abnega-
Inner purity is achieved by comple
m all selfish and \
tion, as by it we free ourselves fro
personal desires. ‘Detachment from the lower self
er Self or love
er ego, and attachment to the high
life. Sir S. Radha-
of God, are the fruits of a moral
this truth in the
krishnan has beautifully expressed
following words: “If a man’s desire Is the flesh, he
an artist ;
becomes an adulterer ; if things of beauty,
if God, a saint.”
until one has conquered his
The fact is that
him. The Katha
desires, the truth cannot shine in
out these truths when it says:
Upanishad points
thing, and different indeed is the
“The good is one
age
pleasant. These two, having different ends, eng
the
men differently. It is well for him who chooses
the
good ; he who chooses the pleasant misses
true goal.” -
7
98 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

Giving up of fieshly desires means in the end the

renunciation of ‘me’ and ‘mine’, Swami Viveka-
nanda expresses himself thus on this point: “ What
is the watchword of all ethical codes? ‘Not I but
Thou’; and this ‘I’ is the outcome of the Infinite
behind, trying to manifest Itself in the outside
world. This little ‘I’ is the result, and it will have
to go back and join the Infinite, its own naiure.
Every time you say, ‘Not I, my brother, but thou’,
you are trying to go back, and every time you say,
‘IT and not thou’, you take the false step of trying
to manifest the Infinite through the sense-world.
That brings struggle and evil into the world, but
after a time renunciation must come, eternal
renunciation. The little ‘I’ is dead and gone. Why
care so much for this little life? All these vain
desires of living and enjoying this life, here or in
some other place, bring death.”
As a parallel to this idea may be mentioned the
central teaching of Christ: ‘For whosoever will
save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose
his life for my sake shall find it.”

XI

For the realization of the truth of God in our

own souls, the sages have pres-
Spiritual
Puviecioiahbes. cribed three steps, namely Sravana
or hearing, Manana or reflection,
and Nidhidhyasana or meditation. We must first
 v

- THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS 99

hear of the truth of God and of the Atman, and we

must hear this truth from one unto whom it has been
revealed. Great stress is laid upon the necessity of
seeking a Guru or teacher, one who is a living
embodiment of the ideal. Samkara has rightly
said: and blessed is the combination of these
“Rare
three—human birth, desire’ for freedom, and

association with a holy man.” In all Indian scrip-

tures an aspirant after spiritual enlightenment is
strongly advised to associate himself with a holy

man and to revere him. In the Katha Upanishad

we “ Wonderful must be the teacher and
read:
wonderful must be the pupil.” “He that hath a
teacher alone knows,” declares the Chandogya
Upanishad.
But hearing is not enough. No true teacher

a blind acceptance of his teaching. We

demands
must reflect to gain intellectual conviction
in order
of what we learn. The study of logic or of science
sovhical
aids us in reflection, and independent philo
thinking trains the mind. But this mental training
must be finally supplemented by meditation.
and
Our imperfections are caused by ignorance,
oy this
right knowledge alone can dissipate or destr
These imperfections are immediate
ignorance.
be removed
experiences, and they cannot therefore
by intellectual awareness of the true Self;
mere
to destroy
another immediate experience is required
the present relative experience of imperfection.
religion
And that is the real meaning of describing
100 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

as realization or experience. The surest means:

towards this realization or immediate perception
of the truth of the Self and God is the habit of
meditation.
The highest form of this meditation as stated in
the Upanishads is concentration upon the truth
‘Aham Brahmasmw—‘I am Brahman”. This is the
Absolute Brahman which is one with our inner Self
—a truth that has been stated and restated in these
pages. But the éxact nature of the special form
of meditation cannot be understood unless it is
learned under a competent teacher. In the Uveni-
shads we discover only hints regarding the various
methods of meditation. Hence the exact method
can be learned only through the right kind of
instruction. From the Guru, then, we must first
hear and learn to reflect and meditate, for without
him we remain in ignorance.
In these scattered hints upon the subject of medi-
tation, the Upanishads point to the heart of man as
the imner sanctuary where dwells the Supreme
Brahman. That is the central truth of the whole
body of these scriptures. As aids to meditation, the
Upanishads have accepted various objects as
symbols of Brahman, and of these the mystic
syllable ‘Om’ is the most important. The following
passage from the Mundaka Upanishad brings out
the. importance of this syllable: “Having iaken
what is taught in the Upanishads as the bow, affix
to it the arrow sharpened by devotional worship.
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS 10%

‘Then, witha concentrated heart, draw it and hit

Om is the
the mark—that imperishable Brahman.
Brahman the
bow, the arrow the individual soul, and
Become
target. With a tranquil heart, take aim.
w becomes one
absorbed in Him even as the arro
with the target. In Him are woven the heaven, the
Prana. Know
earth, the sky, the mind, and the
Give up all vain talk. He is
that one Self alone.
the bridge to immortality. He lives tpere within
like the spokes
the heart where all the nerves meet
of a wheel inthe nave. Meditate on the Self as Om.”

XIil

poetic beauty of
The high literary quality and the
these ancient Indian scriptures
vie Litetary
Perfection of the cannot adequately be conveyed to
a reader unacquainted with
SS
language ditficult
Sanskrit, an ancient and obsolete
Vive-
to learn. Perhaps a quotation from Swami
ern India and a
kananda, himself a saint of mod
gious thought, may
learned exponent of Hindu reli
r merit as literature.
give one an indication of thei
z
Says the Swami :
lo-
“ Apart their merit as the greatest phi
from
theology, from their
sophy, from their merit as
of salvation to man-
success in showing the path
re is the most sublime
kind, the Upanishadic literatu
intros-
in the world. Here is shown in full force the
d. There are poems
pective and intuitive Hindu min
102 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

of sublimity in all nations, but you will find that

almost without exception, their ideal is to grasp the
sublime in the material. Take for instance, Milton,
Dante, Homer, or any of the Western poets. There
are passages in them which express the sublime
wonderfully ; but there is always the endeavour to
grasp it through the senses and the muscles, infini-
tely expanding them, as it were, in the infinity of
space. We jfind the same attempt in the Sambhiia
portion of the Vedas. But there they soon found
out that the infinite could not be reached in that
way, that even infinite space and expansion and
infinite external Nature could not express the ideas
that were struggling to find expression in their
minds ; and they fell back upon other explanations.
Henceforth the language became new, as it were, in
the Upanishads; it became almost negative : it
appears almost chaotic at times—taking you beyond
the senses, sometimes going half way towards the
godl, as it were, and leaving you there pointing out
to you something which you cannot sense, but which
at the same time you feel certain is there. The
language and the thought of the Upanishads fall
upon you like the blade of a sword, like a blow from
a hammer, and appeal directly to your heart. And
there is no mistaking the meaning. Every tone of
that music is true and produces its full effect. If
this be human literature, it cannot but be the pro-
duction of a race still in possession of its national
vigour.”
 CHAPTER IV

OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA

THE MESSAGE

of the great Indian epic,

EMBEDDED in one Book
occurs the
Introduction: the Mahabharata,
es-
1. The Teacher Bhagavad Gita or the Song Cel
tial, the most popular of alk the
ee Del
The date of this great
religious literature of India.
olars to a time some-
document is assigned by sch
the second centuries i
where between the fifth and
Its influence upon the minds of
before Christ.
the
prophets, reformers, and ascetics, and upon
le of Hindu life and
laity—indeed upon the who
generations—is recognis- |
thought through countless
ian culture. Without fear
ed by all students of Ind
said to be the Holy Bible
of contradiction it may be
the Upanishads, it is not
of India, though, unlike
ed scripture, but only as
regarded as Sruti or reveal
ng the doctrines of the
Smriti or tradition elaborati
Upanishads.’
having
scripture is regarded as
1 The Sruti or revealed iti emb odi es the
self. The Smr
originated from God Him sai nts and sag es.
arnations, prophets,
teachings of Divine Inc
 104 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

The following invocation on the Gita gives ex-

pression to what has just now been said: ‘“ All the
Upanishads are the cows, the son of the cowherd
(Krishna) is the milker, Partha (Arjuna) is the calf,
men of purified intellect are the drinkers, and the
supreme nectar known as the Gita is the milk.”
The song Celestial is written in the form of a
dialogue between Krishna, who may be called the
Christ of India, and his friend and disciple, Arjuna.
This Krishna is the Divine One, the ‘Lord who
abides within the heart of all beings’. It is a con-
ception which expresses the basic truth in all Indian
religious thought, namely, that all existence is a
manifestation of God, and that God exists in all
beings as the innermost Self. In every heart is
Krishna concealed, and when the veil of ignorance
which covers the inner sanctuary is withdrawn, we
hear the voice of Krishna, the very voice of God.
In the Gita, Krishna openly declares himself to be
one with Brahman, the Infinite Self, and urges
Arjuna to attain to ‘My being’. “Freed from at-
tachment, fear and anger,” he says, “ absorbed in
Me, taking refuge in Me, purified by the fire of
knowledge, many have attained My being” (IV, 10).
Thus the teacher of the Gita as an_ historical
personage has but a secondary importance. Therein
he differs from the Christ of the New Testament,
It derives its authority from the Sruti, which it must in
no way contradict. The distinction emphasised in this is
that between revealed scripture on the one hand, and
religious commentary and tradition on the other.
 oO

OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA 195

THE MESSAGE

ity is based
at least the Christ upon whose personal
. The Gita is
the whole religion of Christianity
teacher, who
mainly concerned with Krishna! the
or the Infinite in
is identical with the Divine Self
illumina-
man. Indeed, to those who seek spiritual
both Krishna and
tion, it matters little, in the case of
ever existed as
Christ, whether these two figures
it! is possible for
historical personages, so long as
re, namely, union
them to attain their heart’s desi
hrough the inner
with God—the Universal Self—t
Krishna or the living Christ.
not on Krishna
And in the Gita we find stress laid
on Krishna in his
as an individual personality, but
of all souls, the
transcendental aspect, as the Soul
great ‘I AM’. Arjuna’s vision of the Universal
doubt, existed. We meet
1 “The historical Krishna, no wher e all we
gya Upan isha d
the name first in the Chando well known in
that he was
can gather about him is wn
of Brahman, so well kno
spiritual tradition as a knower
the circumstances of his life,
indeed in his personality and his
r to him by the name of
that it was sufficient to refe rsta nd
Devaki, for all to unde
mother, as Krishna, son of find mention
who was meant. In the same Upanishad we
son of Vichitravirya, and since
of King Dhritarashtra,
together so closely that they
tradition associated the two the
personages in the action of
are both of them leading that they were
we may fairly conclude
Mahabharata, epic .is to a great ex-
and that the
actually contemporaries, in the war of
characters and
tent dealing with historical impr inte d firmly
al occurrence
Kurukshetra, with a historic There is a hint also in
. ...
on the memory of the race Avat ar’s earl y life
legend of the
the poem of the story or Pura nas into an
developed py the
in Vrindaban which, as has exer cise d so
spiritual symbol,
intense and powerful mind of Indi a. We
the religious
profound an influence on an account of Krisfina
very
also in the Har iva msa
have the basis
which perhaps formed
evidentiy full of legends, on the Gita, by Sri
of the Puranic accounts.”—Essays
Aurobindo Ghosh.
 106 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

Form in the body of Krishna, described in the

eleventh Chapter of the Gita, illustrates this
truth.
Arjuna, the disciple and friend of whom Krishna
is the constant companion, is typically human,
being neither a saint nor a sinner, but a struggling
human soul seeking to escape from the griefs and
miseries of this world. He is represented in the
Gita as a man of action, a fighter,—a man living in
the world, but one confused as to his duty and the
true meaning and goal of life, and yet eager to find
a way towards peace and freedom.
The Gita is therefore in the form of a conver-
sation between Krishna, who is Narayana or God,
and Arjuna, who represents Nara or man. The Gita
is the song of God chanted in thrilling notes to the
ear of man.
The commentaries upon the Gita are numerous :
2. The Teachings for each school of philosophy in
of the Gita. India has found in it the source of
its own metaphysical system, and every philosopher
or saint has drawn inspiration from the same
fountain-head. So the Gita contains the germs of
all forms and systems of religious thought, but it
cannot itself be limited to any particular system of
metaphysics or religion. For it is not a metaphysical
treatise, nor is it the fruit of the traditional religious
thinking of any particular sect; rather, one should
say, it contains metaphysical truths in their diverse
aspects, and embodies every form of religious.
 »

MESSAGE OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA 107

THE

thought, practice discipline.

and Conflicting ideas
A person
apparently lie side by side unreconciled.
true will
who holds to one religion as exclusively
find in the Gita, as some Western critics hold,
confused
‘different streams of tradition becoming
in the mind of the author’.
feature of
The spirit of catholicity is a prominent
all Indian teachings. They evince a spirit of har-
than of conflict, of synthesis and
mony rather
sectarianism.
toleration rather than of opposition and
‘and infinite
Infinite is God, infinite are His aspects,
are the ways to reach Him. In the Rig Veda we
nti.”—“ Truth
read: “Ekam sat vipra bahudha vada
s.” This ideal
is one, sages call it by various name
of harmony has held its own in India down ‘to
the present time. The Gita carries this ideal ,of
harmony universality
and to its logical conclu-
synthesising, and
sion in the process of blending,
metaphysical ideals and
harmonising conflicting
s. “In whatever
conceptions of spiritual discipline
in its pages, or 7
way men worship me,” we read
desires. It is My
the same way do I fulfil their
” (IV, By. Sri
path that men tread in all ways
has rightly remarked: ‘‘ The
Aurobindo Ghosh
ectical warfare ; it is
Gita is not a weapon for dial
world of spiritual truth
a gate opening on the whole
it gives us embraces
and experience, and the view
eme region. It maps
all the provinces of that supr
or build walls or hedges
out, but it does not cut up
to confine our vision.”
 108 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

Fundamentally the Gita insists upon knowledge

of Self or God as the only goal of life. All religions,
all doctrines spring from God,—and yet no single
religion or doctrine can be identified with Him, and
none of them possesses any value until we have
attained unto Him. All the conflicts of doctrines
cease only when He shines in our hearts. “To the
knower of Brahman who has attained the truth,”
declares the Gita, “all the Vedas are of so
much use as a reservoir is when there is a flood
everywhere ” (II, 46). ’
In his last utterance Sri Krishna, the divine
teacher, clearly and definitely states the ‘supreme
word’ of the poem, the ‘highest note of the divine
discourse: “Hear thou again My supreme word,
> the profoundest of all. Give thy heart to Me. Be
devoted to Me. Sacrifice to Me. Prostrate
thyself before Me. Verily shalt thou attain Me. I
promise true, for thou art dear to Me. Let go
all the formalities of religion and duty ; take refuge
in Me alone.. I will liberate thee from all thy
impurities. Do not grieve” (XVIII, 64-66).
This ‘supreme word’
of the Gita, though a simple
utterance of the profoundest truth, is not easy to
follow and realize. Self-surrender, knowingly ‘to
live, move, and have our being in God a8 ‘central
in all religious teachings, or Yogas, as they are called
in the Gita.
These Yogas or ways of spiritual
attainment,
which are peculiar to Indian life, are fully expounded
 Cy

MESSAGE OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA 109

THE

in the Gita. The word Yoga literally means union

with God. Its secondary meaning, ‘the
—union
rent
path of union with Godhead’, defines the diife
Yogas. These paths of attainment may be found
were
in the earliest Indian scriptures, and they
They
known to the sages and adepts of the land.
of
are principally four: Jnana Yoga or the paths
path
union through knowledge ; Raja Yoga or the
con-
of realization through meditation and psychic
trol: Bhakti Yoga or the path of at-one-ment
or the
through love and devotion ; and Karma Yoga
path of union through work. All of these have not
various
only been expounded in the Gita as the
in its
methods of attaining union with God, but
they jstand reconciled, blended, and
teachings
harmonized.
however, stress: "ene or
Most commentators,
another Yogaas the actual teaching of Sri Krishna.
Formerly, either Jnana Yoga or Bhakti Yoga—
tion—-was
attainment by means of knowledge or devo
put on Karna
stressed ; today much emphasis is
ary teaching
Yoga or the path of work, as the prim
of the Gita. But the fact is that whenever Sri
naturally puts
Krishna speaks of one of them, he
ar one: so
extreme importance upon that particul
assumes the same
much so each of the Yogas in turn
importance as the others. The perfect man of the
the Aristotelian
Gita, with some resemblance to
the harmonious
conception of the ideal man as
one who is active
embodiment of all the virtues, is
 \
110 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

as well as meditative, who is devotional and at the

same time possesses the knowledge of the Self.
The Gita is divided into eighteen chapters, which
can again be classified into three sections, eacn
comprising six chapters. The first of these three
divisions deal with Karma Yoga, the path of work,
and here the insistence is upon action. The second
book is devoted to an exposition of Jnana Yoga, the
path of knowledge, and here the insistence is upon
knowledge of the Self. In this section the subject
of Karma is not entirely dismissed, but is harmonized
with the path of knowledge. The last of these
books discusses Bhakti Yoga, or the path of love and
devotion, and the insistence here is on worship and
love of the one Supreme Lord. Here again Jnana
(knowledge) and Karma (work) ‘do not disappear -
from the book, but are both ‘harmonized with
devotion. As Sri Aurobindo Ghosh has beautifully
expressed it, “The double path (Jnana and Karma)
becomes the: triune way of knowledge, works, and
devotion. And the fruit of the sacrifice, the one
fruit still placed before the seeker, is attained—
union with the Divine Being and oneness with the
supreme divine nature.” And in and through this
triune way of knowledge, works and devotion, runs
the thread of Raja Yoga or the path of meditation,
which insists on poise, self-control, tranquillity and
meditative life.
From another angle, the first book, comprising the
first six chapters, deals with the true nature of
‘
,
 a

THE MESSAGE OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA bls |

*“Tvam’ (i.e., the nature of the true Self)

or ‘Thou’
occurring in the great Vedantic saying; “Tat
tvamasi’—‘ Thou art That’. The second book
explains the nature of ‘ Tat’ or ‘That’ ; and the last
book brings out the truth of the identity of ° Thou’
with ‘That’. Thus the great Vedantic truth
embodied in the saying ‘ Thou art That’, forms the
subject-matter of the Gita, and the whole of that
scripture is only an exposition of this teaching.
Once, when Sri Ramakrishna was asked, “What
does the Gita teach?” he replied,
3. Renunciation ; . ?
is the Central “if you utter the word ‘ Gita’,
a of the ‘Gita’, a few times, you begin to
say, ‘ Tagi’, ‘ Tagi’—one who has

renounced. In other words, the ideal of renuncia-

tion is the spirit of the teachings of the Gita.”
Renunciation is indeed the beginning, the middle
and the end of spiritual life. This spirit of passion-
less renunciation is inseparable from any of the
Yogas taught in the Cita. Renunciation does not,

however, imply the adoption of monastic

necessarily
life. For it is a discipline that has to be practised
by all, whether one be a monk or a man of the
world discharging one’s respective duties. ‘ Other-

worldliness ’, in spite of the associations of the worid,

does not imply escape into the forest, shunning the
duties of every-day life in society. Throughout, the
life
Gita insists on the performance of the duties of
of
with a heart free from attachment and thoughis
worldly gain, and devoted entirely to the adoration

‘
a “VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

of God. It condemns in unmistakable terms the

acceptance of monastic life if the spirit of renun-
ciation is lacking in the heart, removing thereby the
misconception that the ideal of renunciation can be
practised only away from society in a lonely cave
or within the walls of a monastery.
The failure to grasp the true spiritual outlook of
the Gita has led many in modern times to read the
ideals of modern secularism into the pages of this
ancient Indian Scripture. Instead of the ideal of
renunciation—the denial of ‘me’ and ‘mine’ and
the conversion of the lusts of the flesh into a
passionate love of God—they find in it only a
condemnation of ‘ otherworldliness’ and an insist-
ence on living in the world for the performance of
the world’s works. The ideal of knowledge, devotion,
meditation, and non-attachment, they aver, are
subservient to Karma, the central doctrine of the
Gita according to them. So the Western ideals of
humanitarian service and social uplift, besides
political activity and family life, have been identified
with the Karma Yoga of the Gita. All of these
objectives and ideals are of course laudable, and the
Gita does not condemn them, but it is also certain
that it does not teach them as Karma Yoga. Grant-
ing that these ideals are recognized in the Gita, unless
they themselves are spiritualized, they have no
relation to Karma Yoga. Not Karma, mere action,
but Karma Yoga, union with God through action, is
the essence of the teaching of the Gita on this score.
/
 THE MESSAGE OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA 113

Thus, not sacrifice for humanity, but service to

humanity as a sacrifice unto God, whose image we

learn to see in man, is the true ideal. No political
activities undertaken with a selfish motive, but
duties performed as worship of God; not merely
family life and the performance of the ordinary ©

domestic duties, but a life of non-attachment in the

midst of these duties, combined with the knowledge
of the nature of one’s immutable, eternal Self,—this
is the real message of the Bhagavad Gita. It is
only as these worldly affairs are spiritualized and
transformed that they become a part of Karma
Yoga as expounded in the Gita. In short, temporal
of
life and spiritual values stand in a relation
In-
harmony—one divine life, as the Gita tells us.
one’s
sistence on the performance of Svadharma or
met
own duty, in the spirit of Yoga, is indeed often
with
with but this insistence loses much of its force
the growth of higher knowledge. Sri Aurobindo has
says:
made this issue abundantly clear when he
the
“An inner situation may even arise, as with
doned,
Buddha, in which all duties have to be aban
the call
trampled on, flung aside in order to follow
of the Divine within. I cannot think that the Gita
sending
would solve such an inner situation by
govern-
Buddha back to his wife and father and the
t a Rama-
ment of the Sakya State, or would direc
school
krishna to become a Pundit in a vernacular
lessons, or
and disinterestedly teach little boys their
his family and
bind down a Vivekananda to support
&
114 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

for that to follow dispassionately law or medicine

or journalism. The Gita does not teach the disin-
terested performance of duties, but the following
of the divine life, the abandonment of all Dharmas,
Sarva-dharman, to take refuge in the Supréme
alone, and the divine activity of a Buddha or a
Ramakrishna or a Vivekananda is perfectly in
consonance with this teaching.”

II

The great poem opens with a description of

two armies arrayed against each
The Battlefield of
Kurakshetws. other, ready for battle. The scene
is laid in the field of Kurukshetra
where, accompanied by his divine charioteer Krishna,
stands Arjuna, the hero, about to give battle to the
host of the \Kauravas. As Arjuna views both the
armies he is filled with melancholy. The horrors of
war and the terror of death overwhelm him. And
he turns to Krishna, who urges him to carry on the
fight against his enemies, the enemies of righteous-
ness and truth. Arjuna’s feeling of revulsion against
useless slaughter meets with Krishna’s_ stern
rebuke ; it is, in his words, ‘ disgraceful and contrary
to the attainment of heaven’ (II, 2).
So, at the very commencement of the great book,
we are astonished to see one of the supreme
teachers of the spiritual gospel supporting war.
What is the explanation of this?
 THE MESSAGE OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA 115

As we proceed, we discover that the way of

realizing the divine consciousness and attaining

eternal life and infinite peace, is through complete

detachment and self-surrender. We can understand

the Gita as a holy scripture and Krishna as a divine
teacher only when we consider that this war is but
an occasion for bringing spiritual truths to our
attention. But it is still difficult to understand how
the actual war and Krishna’s urging to wage it. ta

the end, can be reconciled with any spiritual

teaching. Gita’s ideal man is certainly not the

The
superman of Nitzsche’s imagination, who would

erush all opposition in his struggle fot power.

Quite to the contrary, it is he ‘ who delights in God’
a Yogi, whose spiritual practices correspond to
as
the life of contemplation which Aristotle considers
as the highest attainment of mah. And Yoga has
been defined in the Gita as follows: “ When the
of con-
mind, absolutely restrained by the practice
the Self
centration, attains quietude ; when seeing
; when
by the self, one is satisfied in one’s own Self
by
one feels that infinite bliss which js perceived
transcends the
the purified intellect and which
departs
senses, and wherein established one never
no other
from one’s real state; when one regards
one is not
acquisition superior to that ; and when
even by heavy sorrow,—then let that be
moved
as the state called by the name of Yoga,
inown
severance’ from the contact of pain”
4 state of
(VI, 20-23).
116 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

But we are still facing the problem of war and

the destruction it involves. This Gordian knot of
war can easily be cut if we read a symbolic meaning
into the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Modern com-
mentators point out the fact that Kurukshetra is
not an external battlefield but one of our own
making, within ourselves. It is the battlefield of
life. It is not a war in the world outside ourselves,
but one which we continually wage within us
against the evil forces of passions, prejudices and
evil inclinations, in order that we may regain the
Kingdom of the Self. Arjuna was awakened enough
to realize the need of struggling against these forces ;
but then despondency and weakness of will got the
upper hand, and he longed to fall back on the
familiar ways of pleasure, which is the path of least
effort. At this point of weak despair, Krishna, the
voice of God, urged him to struggle further against
his evil nature, and win the Kingdom of Heaven.
This explanation is in entire harmony with ihe
teachings of the Gita. If the Gita had been a book
independent of the Mahabharata, we need not
have concerngd ourselves with the question whether
or not the war was actually fought. But since it
forms a chapter of the great epic, dealing with the
history of the war between the Pandavas and the
Kauravas, we are forced-to find a reconciliation
between the fact of war and the aspiration after
spiritual life as we read in the Gita. Ancient
commentators like Sankara, Ramanuja and Sridhara.
 OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA 117
THE MESSAGE

war for granted. None of them

-took the actual
made any attempt to explain the war away,
either
n the spirit of war
or to find reconciliation betwee
they all took it for
and the spirit of peace ; for
Gita were familiar
granted that the readers of the
India based on caste,
with the traditional Dharma of
But the modern
or gradation of life and duties.
ancient tradition,
mind is not so familiar with this
st horrors of war.
and, moreover, it knows the wor
find justification for
Hence it finds it difficult to
part in the war.
Krishna urging Arjuna to take
may perceive more
In order, therefore, but we
Arjuna fight, and how
clearly just why Krishna bade
r he could attain to
by fulfilling his duty as a warrio
e, we must fami-
the highest peace and beautitud
itional religion of
liarize ourselves with the trad
known as Varnash-
India based on the Vedas, and
the
ramadharma or religion and duty based on
erent orders of life.
divisions of caste and the diff
y, does not believe in
“The West, at least theoreticall
the social ohilo-
caste. ‘ All men are born equal,” is
Equal opportunities
sophy of the democratic West.
will bring equal results. But has this theory any

basis in the facts of life? Even supposing equality

would this world then
may be established on earth,
make
remain a world? Variety and unity in variety
tion. Take away this
up the uniform law of crea
cease to be. The facts
variety, and this world would
life itself, contradict the
of birth and death, and of
ss. Since individuals
theory of equality and samene
 118 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

are born with temperaments of different orders, they

cannot grow and succeed in the same way and to the
same extent, however equal might be the opportuni-
ties afforded them.
Indian philosophy does truly recognise this unity
in variety. In the soul of man there is no distinction
“either of sex or caste, and the one God dwells in
the hearts of all beings alike. In the Gita, as well
as in the Upanishads, God is described as Purusha—
one who resides in the temple of the body. But
God is not expressed equally in all beings, and
all beings are not equally living in God: nor is
God’s power equally manifest in both Nature and
man.
Sri Krishna, on the one hand, declares that ‘a
knower of the Self looks with an equal eye on a
Brahmana endowed with learning and humility, a
cow, an elephant, a dog and an outcaste’ (V, 18
on the other hand he points out the difference
between man and beast, as well as between man
and man. And this difference iss caused by the
‘differentiation of Guna and Karma’ hy. 3);
Most Indian philosophers admit the view of the
Samkhya philosophy that the whole of Nature is
composed of three forces or Gunas, called in Sanskrit
Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. In the world of mind
and matter these correspond to equilibrium,
activity and inertness. Sattva or equilibrium is
expressed by calmness, purity and tranquillity.
Rajas or activity expresses itself in desire, power
 aT

BHAGAVAD GITA 119

THE MESSAGE OF THE

or inertia expresses itself as

and energy. Tamas
dullness, laziness and weakness.!
s of energies in
Every man has these three type
lazy ; we
him. At times Tamas prevails, and we are
w weak. Again
lose ambitions and our wills gro
active, hopeful and
Rajas prevails, and we become
up and doing. Or
ambitious, and we want to be
of which we grow
Sattva possesses uS, aS a result
and nobler thoughts
calm and serene, and higher
k
fill our minds. Though all the three forces wor
another predominates
in each man, always one or
over the other two. And a man belongs to a certain
as which one of these
group or caste, according
forces is predominant in him.
that human society
There is no denying the fact
is a graded organization. Since men have different
the same ideal cannot
mental constitutions, one and
in quite the same way.
be followed by every one
this wise remark upon the
Swami Vivekananda has
left open to us,—the way
matter: “Two ways are
nk that there is only one
of the ignorant, who thi
the rest are wrong—and
way to truth and that all
admit that, according to
the way of the wise, who
of
or the different planes
our mental constitution
may
are, duty and morality
existences in which we
to know, that there
vary. The important thing is

(Republic IV) of the

division
1 Cf. Plato’s threefold isc ent , and the
spirited or concup
soul—the rational, the by Justic e or Rig hte ous -
temperant. These are reconciled clu sio ns thr oug h
e arrived at his con
ness. Pla to may hav
ophy.
study of Hindu philos
 120 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

are gradations of duty and morality,

the duty that
of one state of life, in one set of circumstances, will
not and cannot be that of another.”
All this does not mean, however, that the univer-
sal ideals of non-resistance, purity, non-attachment,
tranquillity and the like—in short, the ideal of
living in the consciousness of God—have to be
adapted to the temperaments of the various people
on the earth ; for the highest ideals and the supreme
goal of life must ever be kept before the sight of
people. But at the same time ways must be found,
graded ideals must be recognized, so that everyone
may gradually be enabled to follow those highest
ideals.
Indian systems of morality and religion have
stressed this fact from earliest times, and in the
Hindu scriptures and books on ethics, different
rules of conduct are formulated for different types
of men. And the Gita insists that man should accept
his ideals according to the type to which he belongs,
and thus endeavour to follow his Svadharma—-his
duty according to the state of his growth. This is
a surer way of progress than that of taking up other
men’s ideals, which can never be fully realized by
one to whom they are temperamentally unsuited.
“For instance,” to quote Swami
“‘ we Vivekananda,
take a child and at once give him the task of walk-
ing twenty miles; either the little one dies, or one
in a thousand crawls the twenty miles to reach the
end, exhausted and half dead.”’
 THE MESSAGE OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA 121

As a further illustration, let us consider the ideal

which is the highest virtue
of non-resistance,
of the world.
recognized by all the great teachers
, but does
The Gita also regards it as the highest ideal
umstances
not assert that all people under all circ
must practise that virtue. On the contrary, it points
learn to ‘ resist
out that for some it is necessary to
into a state in
evil’ in order that they may grow
non-resistance.
which they may practise the ideal of
man who does
Take the concrete illustration of a
and will not
not resist because he is weak or lazy,
he cannot. Is this the virtue of non-
because
knows that he
resistance ? Or take another who
likes, and yet
-ean strike an irresistible blow if he
ies. In the
does not strike, but blesses his enem
one who from
words of Swami Vivekananda, “The
sin, and as such
weakness does not resist commits a
eannot receive any benefit from non-resistance ;
sin by offering
while the other would commit a
the
resistance.” That is to say, we must gather
gained it, we must
power to resist; then, having
only will this power be a
renounce it. Then
unable to
virtue. But if we are weak and lazy,
deceive ourselves
resist, and yet at the same time
by the highest
into the belief that we are actuated
se. Swami Viveka-
motives, we do not merit prai
est ideal is non-
nanda, admitting that the high
resistance, again remarks :
hest manifestation
“This non-resistance is the hig
and also what is called
of power in actual possession,
122 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

the resisting of evil is but a step on the way towards

the manifestation of this highest power, namely,
non-resistance. . . . Arjuna became a coward at the
sight of the mighty array against him; his ‘love’
made him forget his duty towards his country and
king. That is why Sri Krishna told him that he
was a hypocrite, and said, ‘ Thou talkest like a wise
man, but thy actions betray thee to be a coward: ’
therefore stand up and fight ’.”
Dr. Paul Elmer More, while reviewing the teach-
ings of Christ, such as non-resistance, humility and
renunciation, remarks: “ They, if accepted by the
world in their integrity, would simply make an end
of the whole social fabric ; and if to these chastity
be added, they would do away with human existence
altogether. . . . There is every reason to believe
that he (Christ) looked to see only a few chosen
souls follow in his steps.”
I would add here that only a few can follow in his
steps, because only a few are Brahmanas, with an
endowment of Sattva in them. All others must seek
graded ideals, different. grades of standards and
duties, in order that they may also grow to be
Brahmanas and entirely follow the highest.
Mr. More, making a distinction between worldly
and spiritual virtues, further adds: “To apply the
laws of the spirit to the activities of this earth is at
once a desecration and denial of religion, and a
bewildering and unsettling of the social order.” He
declares, in effect, that as we meet other men who.
 OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA 423
THE MESSAGE

s—and ‘particular-
are not inspired by religious virtue
s—we cannot, in
ly is this true of social aggregate
virtues like humi-
our relations with them, practise
non-resistance in
lity, purity, poverty, chastity and
the very structure
their highest form ; for if we do,
In place of these,
of society would be undermined.
Aristotelian or car-
he would have us practise the
e, courage and
dinal virtues of justice, temperanc
self-control.
cs meet this
The Gita and all Hindu books on ethi
somewhat different
central problem of conduct in a
of distinction
way. Instead of drawing a sharp line
itual, they indicate
between virtues, worldly and spir
different according
the existence of graded virtues,
and their varying
to the different types of humanity
conditions of life. But they insist that each is a step
scale of life, and
leading to a virtue higher in the
ainment of spiritual
that the ultimate goal is the att
consciousness.
the duties and
The Gita is emphatic regarding
anity. Sri Krishna
virtues of various types of hum
iated ‘according to
asserts that they are different
ure ’.
the Gunas, born of their own nat
of the mind, self-
He says in the Gita: “ Serenity
as well as honesty,
control, purity, forbearance,
hereafter—these are
knowledge, wisdom, belief in a
hmanas are naturally
virtues with which the Bra
dexterity in
endowed. Heroism, bravery, fortitude,
from it, generosity, and
battle, as well as not flying
are natural to
the desire for supremacy—these
 124 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY
od

Kshatriyas. The Vaisyas are naturally inclined to

agriculture, cattle-rearing and trade ; and the Sudras
are naturally inclined to service” (XVIII, 42-44).
Since, as the Gita teaches, a man must follow the
‘duties and virtues according to the law of his own
being, he should learn to worship God through the
performance and fulfilment of his duties. This
would ultimately help him to rise above them. To
rise above the Gunas, says the Gita, is the highest
ideal of man. Hence though Sri Krishna does urge
Arjuna to fulfil his duty as a Kshatriya, he wishes
him again to be Nistraigunya—one above the three
Gunas. Such a process is identical with union with
Brahman or God.
In his commentary on the Gita, Swami Swarup-
ananda notes as follows: ‘“ The highest worship to
the Lord consists in the closest approach to Him.
The veil of Maya, comprising Karma or habits,
tendencies and actions, prevents a man from near-
ing the Lord, 1.e., realizing his own Self. By work-
ing out one’s Karma alone, according to the law of
one’s own being, can this veil be rent and the end
accomplished.”
The Gita furthermore explains how, through the
fulfilment of the law of one’s own being, and by
offering all work and duties and virtues as worship
to the Lord, one may attain purity of heart, self-
control and dispassionateness of soul. Then it is
that he, “renouncing all egotism, power, pride, lust,
‘wrath and property, freed from the idea of ‘mé and
 THE MESSAGE OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA 125

mine’, and attaining tranquillity of heart, becomes

fit. for realising his oneness with Brahman”

(XVIII, 53).
Thus human society becomes a graded organiza-

tion, and as such, though the highest goal of life is

the same for all men, and certain truths are univer-
these matters of highest import cannot be
sal,
by all in precisely the same way. The
attained
special requirement of individuals—their varying
-
natures, tendencies, temperaments—must be recog
itual
nized, and man has to be treated as a ‘spir
in the process of formation’. Hence the
being
of an accepted scripture or a spiritual
necessity
a person
teacher to provide the right means by which
would
may understand those graded ideals which
and
help him, according to the law of his own life
ent
being, to move towards his spiritual developm
and self-perfection.

Ill

the
Upanishads, as we have learned, gave
The
vaw of Karna philosophy of Karma and re-birth
and a central place in their teachings,
ion" and this is true of the Gita also. It
to which the
was in fact during the Epic Period,
its greatest
Gita belongs, that this doctrine received
lopment. Sub-
emphasis and attained its fullest deve
uding Jainism
sequently, all systems of thought, incl
theory into their
and Buddhism, incorporated this
126 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

teachings with but slight variations, indeed, it has

become the basic universal principle in all Indian
thought. It is especially true that many of the
verses of the Gita make reference to the doctrine in
a most illuminating manner.
Karma is a Sanskrit word meaning work or action.
In a broader sense this word includes thoughts as
well. Thus both thoughts and actions, whether
conscious, subconscious, or reflex, can be inciuded
in the term Karma. After an act is done and for-
gotton, it is not altogether lost, for it produces
thought waves, which in turn, subside and remain
in the subconscious region of the mind as impressions.
A deed is done and forgotton, but the mental impres-
sion, called Samskara, remains. Memory is the
process of recalling to the conscious mind these sub-
conscious .impressions. Countless such impressions
are stored up in the subconscious mind, some of
which may at our will issue forth into conscious
thought. The sum total of these impressions forms
one’s individual character, and this character guides
one’s motives and conduct as well as future thought
and action. Thus every Karma becomes the seed
of another Karma. , So every Karma, good or bad,
is both cause and_effect, just as every action pro-
duces reaction in the form of experience of happiness
or misery according to the nature of the thought or
deed, whether it be good or evil.
~ Philosophically the word Karma signifies the law
of causation. In science this law is applied ta the
 THE MESSAGE OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA 127

physical universe. Indian philosophy applies it to

the mental and moral planes as well, as the just law

of compensation and of retribution. ‘‘As a man
soweth, so shall he reap,” we read in the Hebrew
scriptures. Manu, the law-giver of India, declares,

“Thou canst not gather what thou dost not

sow. As thou dost plant the tree, so will it

grow.” !
Our enjoyments and our sufferings, our knowledge
or
and our ignorance, our experiences of happiness
misery, are of our own making—the effects of our
good or evil Karmas. And it follows that our
characters are our own creations.
Kant, the German philosopher, in discussing the

moral order of the universe, says very truly that

happiness is the result of virtuous deeds, and

suffering arises from sin. Then, in pointing to the

actual facts as they exist in this world, he declares

of
that want of virtue does not result in want
by
happiness, nor is virtue always unaccompanied
suffering. He explains the apparent injustice in
nues
this contrarity by admitting that the soul conti
world
to exist after death, and that in the next
ded
justice is meted out, the virtuous being rewar
suffer-
with happiness and the sinful punished with
ing. This he calls the postulate of Practical
Reason.
origin in some phase
1 The Greek idea of Nemesis has its
recognition in nearly
of this law of retribution, which finds
all the ‘religions of the world.
128 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

Thus one great Western philosopher assumes

a moral universe in which the law of justice and
compensation operates through the continuity of
the soul after death. But does the admission of a
future life explain the injustices of the present
life ? Why should a good man suffer in this world ?
That his sufferings are the effect of some deeds is
also admitted by Kant. Why then seek the cause in
some after-life ? The cause cannot follow the effect,
but the effect invariably follows the cause. The
Indian law of Karma or causation assumes not only
the continuity of the soul in a future life but also
its continuity from a beginningless past.
Sri Krishna pertinently says: ‘‘ Many are the
births that have been passed through by me and
thee, O Arjuna. I know them all, whilst thou
knowest not (IV, 5). It is not that I have never
existed, nor thou, nor these kings. Nor is it that
we shall cease to exist in the future\ (II, 12).
Therefore, our present life, with all its joys and
its sufferings, with all its inborn tendencies, is the
result of our Karmas in our past lives. Metaphysi-
cally, Karma is divided into three classes—Kriya-
mana or the deeds of the present life, Samchita or
stored-up Karmas, and Prarabdha or the stored-up
Karmas of the past which unfold in the present life.
In our present life we are creating new Karmas
known as Kriyamana. Some deeds bear fruit
either immediately or later in this present life
itself. All do not, however, bear fruits in the same
 MESSAGE OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA 129
THE

become Samchita or stored-up Karmas.

life but
from many past lives we carry the Samchita
And
or stored-up Karmas, some of which in turn become

Prarabdha, as we reap the effect of past deeds in

life. Our present life and many of
the present
experiences are the effects of our
our current
Prarabdha.
anation of
This law of Karma is the only valid expl
the moral order of the universe. If we do not admit
hold to the
the fact of pre-existence, and instead
explanation of
theory of first birth, we can have no
of the world,
the inequality and manifold mysteries
who is responsi-
unless of course we admit of a God
is no explana-
ble for such a state of things—which
the great Indian
tion at all. On this point Samkara
says: ‘Passion and malice would
philosopher,
attributes would
have to be ascribed to God, which
ness of the Lord
be contrary to the essential good
according
the fact is that beings are born
past.” Again he
to their merits and demerits in the
to be looked
says: “ The position of the Lord is
janya, the giver of
upon as analogous to that of Par
cause of the
rain. For as Parjanya is the common
other plants, while
production of rice, barley and
ous species is due to
the difference between the vari
in the respective
the potentialities lying hidden
common cause of the
seeds, so the Lord is the
while the differences
creation of gods, men, etc.,
due to the
between these classes of beings are
ing to the individual
difference in the merit belong
9
130 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

souls. Hence the Lord cannot be reproached with

inequality of dispensation and cruelty.” }
The law of Karma is generally identified with
fatalism or determinism by mistake ; for according
to this law our actions as well as our wills are to a
certain degree determined by our character. It is
true that a man has imposed upon himself the limi-
tation of his own character as determined by his
Karmas, but at the same time he is free either to
follow the tendency formed by the past or to strug-
gle against it. This faculty of choosing is the func-
tion of the will, which possesses freedom. Karma
implies a free doer. The law of Karma therefore
postulates that every man is placed in charge of
himself by the fact of self-consciousness. Buddhism,
for example, though it stresses the law of Kurma,
at every point urges self-exertion. And the Gita
1 An objection may be raised that the words, ‘ Being only
was in the beginning, one without a second’, affirms that
before the creation there was no distinction and. conse-
quently no merit on account of which creation might have
become unequal. And if we assume the Lord to have been
guided in His dispensations by the actions of living beings
subsequent to their creation, we involve ourselves in the
circular reasoning that work depends on diversity of con-
dition of life, and diversity of condition again on work.
The Lord may be considered as acting with regard to reli-
gious merit after distinction had once risen; but as before
that, the cause of inequality, viz., merit, did not exist, it
follows that the first creation must have been free from
inequalities.
“This objection we meet by the remark that the trans- ,
migratory world is without beginning. The objection would
be valid if the world had a beginning; but as it is without
beginning, merit and inequality are, like seed and spraut,
caused as well as causes, and there is therefore no icgical
objection to their operation.”—Samkara’s commentary on
the Vedanta Sutras, translated by G. Thibaut.
 MESSAGE OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA 131
THE

teaches that self is to be saved by one’s own

‘the
self
self. The self alone is either the friend of the
or the enemy of the self’ (VI, 5).
the law
Another charge is often brought against
namely, that it leaves no room for social
of Karma,
If each man’s pleasure or pain is of his
service.
own making, ‘the direct result of his deeds or mis-
ate his
deeds, why should another interfere to mitig
suffering ?
that if,
On the contrary, the law of Karma implies
another’s
in spite of having the power to relieve
he creates
suffering, a person does not exercise it,
for himself; and that when a man in
4 bad Karma
of his own
pain finds help, he finds help also because
Thus the law urges every man to
good deed.
elf to over-
perform good deeds and to exert hims
come his own misdeeds.
already seen how the law of Karma
We have
moral order. of the universe by
establishes the
the
admitting not only the continuity of the soul in
future but also its pre-existence. Psychologically,
possibility of
‘+t alone offers the explanation of the
in this our present life. No
gaining experience
experience.
knowledge is possible without previous
beginning is
If, as Locke contended, the mind in the
4 ‘tabula rasa’, a blankof paper, then the
sheet
state. Western
mind would always remain in that
also point out
psychologists and scientists of to-day
previous know-
that children are born endowed with
ledge, which they eall instinct. Herbert Spencer
132 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

declares that if a child one month old is observed

attentively, his individual character may be distin-
guished. Whence came this instinct and _ this
character ? Western psychologists. ascribe it to
heredity, but Dr. August Weismann, the great
scientist, disproves this theory of heredity by show-
ing that ‘an organism cannot acquire anything
unless it has the pre-disposition to acquire it. .
Nothing can arise in an organism unless the pre-
disposition to it is pre-existent, for every acquired
characteristic is simply the reaction of the organism
upon a certain stimulus.’
Having proved that instinct and character are not
directly inherited from parents—for there must
pre-exist the pre-disposition in the child—the learned
doctor finds himself at a loss to explain wherefrom
the child receives its pre-disposition, and he falls
back, therefore, on the theory that tendencies and
peculiarities are inherited ‘from the common stock ’,
a vague conclusion leading us to the same dilemma
as before, i.e., whence and how did the ‘common
stock’ begin to exist ?
The Indian philosophers argue that these tenden-
cies, and what are known as instincts, are acquired
by the child itself in previous incarnations, and that
the soul has existed from a beginningless past. For
these philosophers say that our experiences cannot
be annihilated. Our Karmas, though apparently
disappearing, remain still unperceived (Adrishta).
and reappear in their effect as Pravritti or
 OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA 133
THE MESSAGE

Swami Vivekananda summarises the

tendencies.
matter thus :
the present
“So far as explaining the tendencies of
the reincarna-
life by past conscious efforts goes,
ol of evolu-
tionists of India and the latest scho
tionists are at one. The only difference is that the
the conscious
Hindus, as spiritualists, explain it by
the materialistic
efforts of individual souls, and
explain it by hereditary
school of evolutionists
physical transmission. The schools which hold to
ing, are entirely
the theory of creation out of noth
-out of court.
to be fought out between the
“The issue has
experiences are
reincarnationists who hold that all
subject of those
stored up as tendencies in the
are transmitted
experiences, the individual soul, and
individuality—
by reincarnation of that unbroken
the brain is the
and the materialists who hold that
theory of trans-
subject of all actions and adopt the
mission through cells.
“Tt is thus the doctrine of reincarnation assumes

an infinite importance to our mind, for the fight

between reincarnation and mere cellular transmis-
n spiritualism and
sion is, in reality, the fight betwee
If cellular transmission is the all-
materialism.
sm is inevitable, and
sufficient explanation, materiali
ry of a soul. If it
there is no necessity for the theo
the theory of an
is not a_ sufficient explanation,
life the experiences
individual soul bringing into this
There is no escape
of the past, is absolutely true.
 134 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

from the alternative, reincarnation or materialism.

Which shall we accept ? ”
One objection brought against the theory of pre-
existence is that we do not remember our past. But
is memory the criterion of existence ? Does the fact
that we do not remember the days of our infancy
prove that we did not exist as infants? Whether
we remember them or not, the sum total of our
experiences in the past reappears in the form of
tendencies in our present. Furthermore, some
_ exceptional children are born with memories of past
birth. These are called Jatismaras—born with
memories of a past life. Instances are not wanting
of such children in every age. Patanjali, father of
Yoga philosophy, explains how by a certain process
of Yoga memory of the past may be revived by any
one who will submit to its discipline!

1 (a) Cf. Tennyson’s sense of this recurrence-of the past

in The Two Voices:
Or, if through lower lives I came—
Tho’ all experiences past became
Consolidate in mind and frame—
I might forget my weaker, lot;
For is not our first year forgot ?
‘The haunts of memory echo noi.

(b) Other Western philosophers, scientist and poets have

echoed the belief-in “pre-existence and reincarnation. In
Plato’s Phaedo, above all, one of the characters says, “ Your
favorite doctrine, Socrates, that knowledge is simply recol-
lection, if true, also necessarily implies a previous time in
which we learned that which we now recollect. But this
would be impossible unless our soul was in some place
before existing in the human form; here then is another
argument for the soul’s immortality.” And the beautiful
dialogue, conducted by Socrates with his friends just before
\
 ”
ny t

OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA | 13 oO

THE MESSAGE

Upanishads, teaches that the

The Gita, like the
birth and death are
soul is unborn and undying ; for
the mind, and not of
attributes of the body and ‘of
existent,
the soul. It declares: “ Unborn, eternally
Self. He who knows
changeless, ever Itself—is this
changeless, without
his Self to be indestructible,
he to slay or cause the
birth, and immutable, how is
. This Self, weapons
slaying of another ? (II, 20, 21).
not; This, water wets
eut not; This, fire burns
(Ti, 23). Changeless,
not : and This, wind dries not
immovable, the Self is
all-pervading, unmoving,
eternal’’ (II, 24).
matter of
has to do with this very
he drank the hemlock, d at
n. See also the myth relate
rebirth and reincarnatio
ublic.
the conclusion of The Rep for to
it, this is Elias, which was
(ce) “If ye will receive .
come.”—Matt. XI, 14. the
stion how it happens that
(d) “I think this is a que . ‘Ihe
now by good, now by evil
human mind is influenced e anc ien t tha n this cor-
be mor
causes of this I suspect to lived bef ore
Church Father who
poreal birth.”—Origen, a
the Council of Nicaea. it is
laughable merely because
(ce) “Is this hypothesis so tandin g, bef ore the
the oldest? because the human unders lita ted it,
had dissipated and debi
sophistries of the schools I com e bac k as
Why should not
lighted upon it at once? h kno wle dge , fres h
acquiring fres
often as I am capable of s0 muc h fro m one
Do I bring away
experience ? trouble of
nothing to repay the
experience that there is
coming back ? ”_T,essing. incarna-
nkers will reject it (re
(f) “None but hasty thi absurdity. Lik e the
on the ground of inherent
tion) on has its
lf, that of transmigrati
doctrine of evolution itse ley .
reality.”.—Thomas H. Hux
roots in the world of
ourselves on a stairs. There are
(g) “We wake and find ed ; there
we seem to have ascend
stairs below us which ard and out
y a one, which go upw
are stairs above us, man
of sight.”—R. W. Emerson.
136 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

What are death and re-birth? The Gita says:

““As are childhood, youth and old age in this body
to the embodied soul, so also is the attaining of
another body (II, 13). Even as a man casts off
worn-out clothes, and puts on others which are new,
so the embodied casts off worn-out bodies, and
enters into others which are new”’ (II, 22).}
When we realise the soul as the innermost Self,
as the indestructible and unchangeable reality within
us, then it is that for us birth and death cease to be.
The soul reincarnates only so long as it remains
ignorant of its real nature and therefore of God. In
the words of the Gita: “ Reaching the highest per-
fection, and having attained Me, the great-souled
ones are no more subject to re-birth—the home of
pain and ephemeral living. All the Worlds, includ-
ing the realm of Brahma, are subject to return but
after attaining Me, there is no re-birth” (VII,
15-16).
But if there is no re-birth for these great-souled
ones, what becomes of their Karmas? The law of
Karma, as we have already learned, necessitates
re-birth that the succession of Karmas may fructify ;

1 Cf. “ Death, so-called, is but other

matter dress’d
In some new form. And in a
varied vest,
From tenement to tenement
though toss’d,
The soul is still the same,
The figure only lost.
—Poem on Pythagoras, Dryden’s Ovid.
 BHAGAVAD GITA 137
THE MESSAGE OF THE

create new Karma,all of which do

that is, as we
i-
, and as there are in add
not take effect in this life
yet
rmas which have not
tion other stored-up Ka
to be
rm in at ed in the pre sen t, there would seem
ge
of this law if there is no
an unfulfilled termination
for which there
re-birth. Where then is the effect
of
log ica l cau se ? Ho w can one break the chain
is a
causation? ~~
philosophy offers a
To this problem Indian
-
tement that Karma attach
rational solution in the sta
ch
not to the real Self whi
es itself to the mind and
attachment. The effects of
is above impurity and
i-
lized so long as the ind
Karma are therefore rea
the
ual ego exi sts , So lon g as through ignorance
vid
nd and body. The moment
Self is identified with mi
law
e of the true Self, the
one attains to knowledg
over-
rates for him ; for he
of Karma no longer ope
birth. Thus the Gita says -
comes all Karma and re-
fuel to ashes, so does the
“ As blazing fire reduces
reduce all Karma to ashes.
fire of knowledge
-
ily the re exi sts not hin g in this world so purify
Ver
ched
ing as knowledge. In good time, having rea
’s
realizes one’s seif in one
perfection in Yoga, one
own heart” (IV, 37, 38).
commentator on the
Sridhara Swami, a noted
of
from that blazing fire
Gita, however, exempts
the
s all Karmas to ashes,
knowledge which reduce
Karma
of the stored-up past
Prarabdha or the part
life.
h has be gu n to ge rm inate in this present
whic
centuries
mk ar a, wh o pr ec ed ed him by many
Sa
138 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

holds the same view as is evident from his com-

mentary on the passage quoted. These authorita-
tive views make it clear that Prarabdha can be
exhausted only by being worked out, in this present
life. et
The Sankya philosopher, Kapila, further ex-
plains how the Prarabdha works itself out in a free
soul, an enlightened one, like the momentum of an
automaton when the operator has left it running.
Eventually it runs down and stops of its own accord.
All other Kamas are like unto burned seeds.
But there still remain the new Karmas created
after enlightenment. What of them ? The Cita
declares that these do not affect the free soul, for
the soul is no longer possessed by the ego. It says :
‘“He who has nothing more to hope for, he who is
self-controlled, and who has renounced all passes-
sions, he does not suffer the consequences by mere
bodily ‘action. Content with what comes to him
without effort, unaffected by the pairs of opposites,
free from envy, even-minded in success and tailure,
though acting, he is not bound” (IV, ‘21, 22).
‘With the mindpurified by devotion to performance
of action, and with the body conquered and senses
subdued, one who-realises one’s self as the Self of
all beings, though acting, is not tainted ” CV, (7).
Thus, just as in the Vedic scriptures, the supreme
goal of life held forth by the Gita is the knowledge
of Self or God, and the attainment of freedom from
Karma and re-birth.
 OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA 139!
THE MESSAGE

IV

As we have already learned,the supreme goal of

a eee ee human life is Moksha or libera-

patible with Works tion. It is in effect the release
the wheel of birth and
Be ee or from
death through the attainment of knowledge of the
n. It is also
true Self. which is one with Brahma
sorrow. As already
complete cessation of pain and
immediate experiences,
explained, our sufferings are
direct experience of
and, as such, the immediate and
blissful Brahman can
the Self in union with the
ering. This ideal of
alone free us from all our suff
as Brahma-nirvand—
Moksha is called in the Gita
union with Brahman. It
extinction in Brahman or
ining the Kingdom of
exactly corresponds to atta
Christ teaches us, “Be ye perfect
Heaven within.
is perfect.” The same
even as the Father in Heaven
in the Gita as attainable
ideal of perfection is taught
nma-
in this very life. Moksha (salvation) or Brah
post-mortem experience,
nirvana (Heaven) is not a
and now. And every
but one to be attained here
that do attain Nirvana in
age produces living souls
: “ With the
this life. In the words of the Gita
l objects, he realizes the
heart unattached to ‘externa
Such a one attains the
joy that is in the Self.
his self is in constant
undecaying happiness, for
with Brahman” (V, 21).
union
ted, doubts dispelled,
‘With imperfections exhaus
of all
an interest in the good
senses controlled, with
;
/
 140° VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

beings, the Rishis attain Nirvana in Brahman.”

Released from lust and anger, with the heart con-
trolled and the Self realized, such great ones
find Brahma-nirvana, both here and _ hereafter”
(V, 25-26).
Thus the Gita teaches that through Yogic prac-
tices of non-attachment, and through freedom from
lust and anger, one attains purity and perfection and
everlasting peace (the peace that passeth all under-
standing) while still living in this world. This
‘means that complete cessation of miseries and per-
fect freedom can be won here upon earth to be
‘enjoyed in our earthly life. For according to the
Gita, ““ He who has inner happiness, who has repose
within and light within, that Yogi becomes one with
Brahman as he attains Nirvana or self-extinction
in Brahman” (V, 24).
Nirvana or self-extinction in Brahman clearly
implies extinction of the ego, the false self, in the
higher spiritualized Self—the basis of all knowiedge,
of all existence, and of all happiness. One no longer
identifies oneself with the limitations of the body,
the senses and the mind, but unites oneself in con-
sciousness with Brahman, the all-pervading and
divine existence. This consciousness is the tran-
scendental consciousness which is beyond outer
consciousness—the Samadhi of the Yogis, the
Nirvana of the Buddhists, and- the Kingdom of
Heaven of the Christians. One does not, however,
dwell in that state of complete absorption without
 ‘

OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA 141

THE MESSAGE

cessation. He returns toconsciousness

normal
outer-
when he is in contact with what we may call
he
world-consciousness, but the illumination which
again
experienced in the transcendental state never
leaves him. Though he is now experiencing the
and is vividly conscious of the manifold uni-
world,
he knows his true Self, and the sense of the
verse,
Presence is ever with him. We read in the
Divine
Gita: “ With the heart to itself by Yogo,
gathered
he beholds
with the eye of evenness for all things,
Self. He
the Self in all beings, and all beings in the
s in Me,
who sees Me in all things, and sees all thing
separated
he is never separated from Me, nor am I
from him” (VI, 29, 30).
derived
Thus we comprehend that the illumination
from the transcendental experience is not confined
nds beyond
to the state of actual absorption, but exte
changing
into the normal state of multiplicity of the
sees
hvorld. But one who has had that experience
evenness ; for,
the relative universe with an eye of
ivity, and
though he perceives multiplicity and relat
ws, of life
the concomitant play of joys and sorro
relativity
and death, yet he sees present behind the
e, blissful
and the multiplicity—the one, immutabl
Brahman. It is then, affirms the Gita, that he dis-
creates the will
covers a love for all his fellows and
to do them good.
worldly
Thus Nirvana is clearly compatible with
of
activity. In practice also we see in the lives
Buddha, Christ, Samkara, Ramakrishna,
Krishna,
 '
142 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

Vivekananda, and many others how, having attained

to transcendental consciousness, they continued to
pass illumined lives in the service of humanity. But
this humanitarian service is first of all founded on
the love of God—a love which perceives all men in
the being of God.
More than all the sacred scriptures of the world,
the Gita insists on action in the world, and exhorts
men never to cease from activity and the doing of
good to others. We shall see, when we come to
discuss Karma Yoga, how works aid in self-purifi-
cation and the attainment of Brahma-nirvana.
Having reached perfection in Yoga, one ceases not
from action, though one has nothing more to gain
from works.
The charge brought against Indian religions, espe-
cially Buddhism, that they inculcate passivity and
inaction, is without any real basis. Both Hinduism
and Buddhism have as their ideal Nirvana, or the
attainment of the Kingdom of Heaven, which is an
experience of unalloyed bliss in God while one con-
tinues to live a life of intense activity in this world
of flux and multiplicity, knowing the one God behind
this world of appearances.
One very pertinent question, however, arises in
this connection. The Brahma-nirvana of the Gita
as well as the Nirvana of Buddhism clearly means
the extinction of the ego and the realization of the
transcendental consciousness, or state of attainment
beyond external consciousness ; but as one returns
 ~~

THE MESSAGE OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA >

us-
from the transcendental state to normal cons¢cio
usness return
ness, does not his former ego--conscio
i-
to him? Without this consciousness, how is it poss
erse or per-
ble again to perceive the multiple univ
form any service to humanity ?
or transcer:-
Sri Ramakrishna, to whom Samadhi
have been as
dental consciousness may be said to
to us, and who
natural as is normal consciousness
of humanity,
yet continued to live for the good
this problem in his simple way as
explained
follows :
the sense of ego as ‘the servant I’
“Some retain
I’—the sense ‘Thou art the Lord.
or ‘the devotee
child’—even after attaining Samadhi.
I am Thy
harm to any living
The ‘I’ ofa devotee does no
the
creature. It is like a sword which, after touching
. The sword
Philosopher’s Stone, is turned to gold
cut or injure
retains the same form but it does not
drop
anyone. The dry leaves of the cocoanut tree
the trunk ; those
off in the wind, leaving marks on
es there at one
marks only show that there were leav
of ego js
time. Similarly, only the form or mark
Also his passions
left in one who has reached God.
remain only as empty forms. He becomes simple

and pure like a child.

teachers like him came
‘Sankara and spiritual
the teaching
down to the consciousness of ‘ego’ for
and good of humanity. The bee buzzes until it
It becomes silent
alights in the heart of the flower.
honey. Then again,
4s soon as it begins to drink the
 144 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

after it has drunk its fill, it makes a sweet humming

sound.
“Few can stay long on the roof. Those who
reach Samadhi and attain Brahman return to the
lower plane of consciousness and then realize that it
is He who has become man and the universe. The
singer cannot hold to the highest note very long. He
comes down to the lower notes. Similarly, the man
of realization comes back from the transcendental
consciousness and perceives the world of relativity,
and, though he sees the world, he sees Brahman
everywhere.”
A liberated man, as we saw in discussing the law
of Karma, overcomes the world of Karmas, and
though he continues to live and work, he is not
bound or tainted by Karmas. And he lives only to
exhaust the Prarabdha Karmas.! After he has ex-
hausted his Prarabdha, the body falls away and he
attains what is known as absolute freedom. The
state of mind of the free soul at death is thus des-
cribed in the Gita: “‘ Remembering whatever object,
at the end, he leaves the body, that alone is reached
‘by him, because of his constant thought of the
object”? (VIII, 6). This is the general law : a man’s
1 In the teachings of the Gita, however, a distinction is
made between the Avataras or Divine Incarnations such as
Krishna, Christ and others on the one hand, and ordinary
souls who attain Nirvana through struggles of their own,
on the other. The former have no Prarabdhas and have
never been subject to the law of Karma; the latter free
themselves from all Karmas except the Prarabdha, and this
part of the Karma they work out and attain absolute’ free-
dom at death. :
r
 THE MESSAGE OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA TJ. V1

next life is guided by his present one ; the sum total

of his deeds in the present life, the attachment or
desire that has been his, comes to his mind before
death and determines his immediate future evxist-
ence. And this same law applies to a free soul
whose only love and attachment has been God. So

it is said, he goes to Him.

Thus we read in the Gita: ‘“‘ With the mind not
moving towards anything else, made steadfast by
the method of habitual meditation, and dweliing in
the supreme, resplendent Purusha, one goes to
Him (VIII, 8). Controlling all the senses, confining
the mind in the heart, drawing the Prana into the
head, occupied in the practice of concentration,
uttering the one syllable Om, the Brahman, and
meditating on Me, he who departs, leaving the body,
attains the supreme goal (VIII, 12, 13). Reaching
the highest perfection, and having attained Me, the
great-souled ones are no more subject to re-birth
which is sorrowful and impermanent” (VIII, 15).
This is known as absolute freedom.
The Gita raises one more problem, this time with
reference to the man who stuggles to attain perfec-
tion and fails to realize it in this life. Perhaps the
following extended quotation will best explain the
problem :
Arjuna ‘Though
said: possessed of Shraddha
but unable to control himself, with the mind wan-
dering away from Yoga, what end does one, failing
to gain perfection in Yoga, meet, O Krishna? Does

10
146 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

he not, fallen from both, perish, without support, like

a rent cloud, deluded in the path of Brahman ?”’
The Blessed Lord replied': ‘‘ Verily there is des-
truction for him, neither here nor hereafter: for
the doer of good never comes to grief. Having
attained to the worlds of the righteous!, and 2we!-
ling there for long years, the fallen in Yoga reincar-
nate in the home of the pure and the prosperous.
Or else he is born into a family of wise Yogis only :
verily, a birth such as that is very rare to obtain in
this world. There he is united with the intelligence
acquired in his former body, and strives more than
before, for perfection. By that previous practice
alone he is borne on in spite of himself. The Yogi,
striving assiduously, purified of heart, gaining per-
fection through many births, reaches the highest
goal” (VI, 37-45).

In its analysis of the Ultimate Reality, the Gita

The Ultimate brings out explicitly what is implied
Reality: God and jin the direct experiences of the
Avatara. :
seers and sages of the Upanishads.
Behind the following objects of this phenomenal
1 The worlds of the righteous refer to the heavens—the
spheres of enjoyment. The Hindus have the conception of
heavens and heavenly enjoyments which one experiences
after death ; but according to all Indian philosophy, to go
to such heavens issnot the supreme goal. One may go
there to enjoy the fruits of one’s good deeds; but after the
exhaustion of the good deeds accumulated during earthly
‘existence, one reincarnates again in the world.
 THE MESSAGE OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA 147

world lies a changeless, permanent reality, the

Supreme Brahman ; and behind the fleeting body,

senses and mind of an individual human being is the
Self, also a changeless, permanent reality ; and this
Self is one with Supreme Self. Every individual

houses within himself the Eternal Spirit, the im-

mutable, self-existence; and though He

timeless
dwells within all, and all beings exist in Him, Hews.
s,
not tainted or affected by the thoughts and action
good or evil, of individual men. “The Omnipresent
takes note of the merit or fault of none. Knowledge

is enveloped in ignorance, hence do beings be-

come deluded. But where ignorance is destroyed
by the knowledge of the Self, that knowledge,
like the sun, reveals the Supreme Brahman. ”

(V, 14, 15).

This knowledge of the immutable, eternal, time-

less Self-existence is, as we have already seen, called

Brahma-nirvana. It is not, however, to be confused
with intellectual concepts, nor understood to be a
of thinking. It is a direct, immediate ex-
method
perience, in which, as Sri Ramakrishna once tdld
conscious-
his disciple Vivekananda, the spiritualized
, than
ness sees God more directly, more intimately
the physical consciousness experiences the objective
world.!
possible to, define this experience of
Is it then
The Gita affirms that His Svarupa or true
God?
between knowledge and opinion
i Cf. Plato’s distinetion
(Republic IV).
 148 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

being is unthinkable, indefinable, and yet realisable.

For it says: “He who knows My true being, he
amongst mortals is liberated from ignorance and
bondage of sin.”
Sri Ramakrishna says: ‘‘When one _ attains
Samadhi, then alone comes the knowledge of
Brahman, and one attains the vision of God. In
‘that ecstatic realization, all thoughts cease, and one
becomes perfectly silent. There is no power of
speech left by which to express Brahman. For
verily is He béyond thought and speech.”
The method adopted by the philosophic mind of
India to determine the Indeterminable has been the
process of negation—Neti Neti Atman, “ Atman is
neither this nor that.” In the case of Buddha we
find he did not attempt even this negative way of
defining. He always remained silent when ques-
tioned about the undefinable. But the Gita admits
that this difficult and abstract method of negation
can be followed only by a select few of exceptional
nature and training. ‘“ But those who worship the
Imperishable, the Indefinable, the Unmanifested,
the Omnipresent, the Unthinkable, the Unchange-
able, the Immovable, the Eternal, having subdued
all their senses, even-minded everywhere, and
devoted to the welfare of all beings,—verily, they
reach Myself alone. Greater is their trouble whose
minds are set on the Unmanifested, for the goal of
the Unmanifested is very hard fer the embodied to.
reach’ (XII, 3,°4, 5).
 OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA 149
THE MESSAGE

the path to
So, because of the arduous nature of
l as in the
Godhead, we find in the Gita, as wel
of
nis had s, not mer ely the abstract conception
Upa
the Beyond, but a God
an Absolute who is merely
her, the Sustainer of the
who is ‘ the Father, the Mot
in the
world’ €1%, 17). We find an ideal of God
Supporter, the Lord, the
Gita, who is ‘ the Goal, the
Refuge, the Friend, the
Witness, the Abode, the
re-
the Substratum, the Sto
Origin, the Dissolution,
-
e’ (1X, 18),—thus answer
house, the Seed immutabl
love
n heart, the need for
ing the need of a huma
and work and worship.
d
Impersonal-Personal Go
This conception of an
of the Indian
which we find in the teachings
man
nor is it the fruit of hu
scriptures is not new,
rs do not pelieve
reason. Indeed most Hindu thinke
the
existence of God lie in
that the proofs of the
of His
but rather in the fact
realm of our reason,
and
erience of seing Him
realization, in the exp
m in His Ful nes s. Both these aspects
realiz ing Hi
ersonal
al as well as the Imp
of Godhead—the Person
ed by those whose
_-are realized and experienc
opened.
divine sight has been
opher
greatest mystic philos
Sri Ramakrishna, the
aspects
lized God in all His
of our age, having rea of an
erning the conception
utters this truth conc in
al -P er so na l Go dh ea d, which is revealed
Imperson
one of
Git a as wel l. He says: “ The Jnani or
the senses,
lyses the universe of
philosophic mind ana up
this, not that’, and gives
saying, ‘ Brahman is not
 150 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY -.

all worldliness. Thus does he reach the knowledge

of Brahman, just as the man who climbs a stairway
leaves each step behind and so reaches the roof.
But the Vijnani who gains an intimate knowledge of
Him has his consciousness extended. He knows
that the roof and the steps are all made of the same
substance. He who is realized as Brahman, by
following the process of elimination, is also realiz-
ed as becoming man and the universe. The
Vijgnani, the man of higher realization, knows that
He who is without attributes in one aspect is, in
another aspect, the repository of all blessed attri-
butes.
“The
true knower knows that He who is Brahman
is God; He who is impersonal, attributeless and
beyond the Gunas, is again the Personal God, the
repository of all blessed qualities. Man, the universe,
mind, intelligence, love, dispassion, knowledge—these
are the expressions of His power and glory ” (Sri
Ramakrishna Kathamrita in Bengali by M.).
The conception of a Personal God, as explained
in the Gita, has been identified by certain modern
Indian thinkers with theism whereas some Western
writers have called that conception of Godhead by
the name of pantheism. But it would be a great
mistake to identify the teachings of the Gita with
phases of Western ‘isms’. God, to Hindu thinkers,
is not a mere intellectual abstraction, nor a mode of
thinking ; He is a Being realized and realizable.
Western theism and pantheism are at their best
 BHAGAVAD GITA 151
THE MESSAGE OF THE

convictions of the mind,

intellectual concepts, or
n clearly revealed in all
whereas God, as has bee
is beyond mind and thought.
Hindu scriptures,
thought is given by the
When this Being beyond
domain of thought, this
seers a name within the
pantheism, yet He
name appears like theism or
from the intellectualised
remains vastly different
who,
God of the West. On this point Aurobindo,
erpreters of the Gita. has
perhaps of all modern int
the poem, says:
best caught the spirit of
gerly theism afraid
_ it is no shrinking and gin
God.
ns, but one which sees
of the world’s contradictio
ipotent, the sole original
as the omniscient and omn
self all, whatever it may
Being who manifests in him
and pleasure, light and
be. good and evil, pain
s
own existence and govern
darkness as stuff of his
he has manifested. Un-
himself what in himself
unbound by his creation,
affected by its oppositions,
related to this Nature and
exceeding, yet intimately
Self,
creatures, their Spirit,
closely one with her
n
t Sou l, Lor d, Lov er, Friend, Refuge, he is eve
hig hes
ve
hin them and from abo
leading them from wit
fer-
es of ignorance and suf
through mortal appearanc
his
r leading each through
ing and sin and evil, ove
s
and all thr oug h universal nature toward
nat ure
immortality and
a supreme light and bliss and
the liberating
transcendence. This is the fulness of
Divine within
knowledge. It is a knowledge of the
a trans-
and in the wor ld as at the same time
us
become all
cendent Infinite. An Absolute who has
 152 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

that is by his divine Nature, his effective powers of

Spirit, he governs all from his transcendence. He
is intimately present within every creature and the
cause, ruler, director of all cosmic happenings and
yet is he far too great, mighty and infinite to be
limited by his creation”—(Essays on the Gita by
Sri Aurobindo, Second Series, pp. 133-134).
The ideal of a Personal God is certainly present in
the Gita, but it is an ideal of an Impersonal-Personal
Deity, expressing ultimate Oneness in which there
exists no ‘I’ or ‘Thou’ but only the one impartible,
self-luminous, blissful Existence. This truth of
absorption in the Absolute and perfect union by
identity, from which the devotee, pre-occupied too
exclusively with some Divine Personality and in the
values of the finite world, may at first shrink, is
however borne witness to by the mystic experiences
of the sages and devotees. Be they a St. Francis
of Assisi or a Sri Chaitanya of Bengal, though they
may begin their life of devotion by loving and
worshipping a Personal God, they conclude it by
realising their oneness with the Eternal and by
being absorbed in Him.
In the same way the teachings of Christ, or of the
Bible as a whole cannot be identified with any of the
theological conceptions of Godhead, either theistic
or pantheistic, in spite of all apparent resemblances
with them. When Christ bids us pray to the Father
in Heaven, we can give his words a theistic or
deistic interpretation ; but when he indicates that
 OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA $)d3
THE MESSAGE

the Kingdom of God is within, and that ‘I and my

Father are one’, he gives to the whole a mystic

usually understood by the word
implication not
ow-
‘theism’. And in the 139th Psalm occur the foll
ing words of great mystic significance :
? Or whither
‘““ Whither shall I go from Thy spirit
I ascend up into
shall I flee from Thy presence ? If
e my bed in hell,
Heaven, Thou art there; if I mak
behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the
t parts of the
morning, and dwell in the uttermos
lead me, and Thy
sea, even there shall Thy hand
right hand shall hold me.”
God, personal
Just as the idea of one, immutable
pervades all
and yet impersonal in His nature,
tion of an Avatara,
advanced religions, so the concep
descending upon earth in
the Supreme Being
universal. ‘This con-
human form, seems also to be
first time in Indian
ception finds its place for the
its basis is Laid: mn.
philosophy in the Gita, though
s. That God dwells
certain passages of the Upanishad
their innermost Self,
in the hearts of all beings as
both these scriptures.
is the fundamental truth of
is to become one with
To know’ that innermost Self
becomes Brahman,”
God. ‘A knower of Brahman
Upanishads. Since God
declare the seers of the
being in a sense is a
exists in all beings, every
finiteness of name and
descent from God into the
of ignorance hides its
form, and only the veil
n one is born with the
essential idehtity ; but whe
Self, and with the Divine
full knowledge of the
 *

154 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

consciousness not veiled by ignorance, that being:

appears to be a full embodiment of the Godhead.
Such a man is known as an Avatara.
The Gita doctrine of Avatara is parallel and
almost identical with the conception
Word of the
made flesh, ‘full of grace and truth *, as we find it in
the Gospel according to St. John,! but with this
difference, that Jesus of Nazareth has alone been
identified with the Logos, the only begotten Son of
God (John 3: 16), whereas in the Gita it is clearly
stated that He is made flesh many times, in diifer-
ent ages and in different forms. It is thus easy for
Hindus to accept Christ as one of the Avataras of
Godhead, and they may unreservedly worship Him
in the same way in which they worship Krishna.
They cannot, however, understand Christ as the
only Son of God, and they do not accept Him as
such a being.
Krishna, the teacher of the Gita, openly
declares
himself to be the Incarnation of the Godhead, asseri-
ing that He had passed through many incarnations.
whenever He was needed upon earth. “ Many are
the births that have been passed by Me and thee,
O Arjuna. I know them all, while thou knowest
not” (IV, 5). _His-birth, however, is not similar to
those of Arjuna and other embodied souls, who are
born in consequence of their past Karmas, are tied
by the fetters of ignorance, and pe under the
1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was
with God, and the Word was God.” Jona tT.
 ‘=

OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA 15 Ci

THE MESSAGE

or a Christ
thraldom of Maya. The birth of a Krishna
the- weight
or a Ramakrishna does not lhe under
choice ; for
of past Karmas but is the result of free
domination of
the Incarnation does not yield to the
on, does not
Maya but rather puts it under subjecti
s of his divi-
live in ignorance but in full consciousnes
nature,
nity. “Though I am unborn, of changeless
my Prakriti,
and the Lord of beings, yet subjugating
gates © 2" Sh i
I come into being by my own Maya
knows, in
Sri Krishna continues: ‘‘ He who thus
on, leaving the
true light, My divine birth and acti
body is not born again: he attains to Me, O
Arjuna.”
“ But
Compare these with the words of the Bible:
gave He power
as many as received Him, to them
to become the sons of God; even to them that
12 127:
believe on His name” (St. yornn,
or a Christ or a
To know or to receive a Krishna
verily these are
Ramakrishna is to know God ; for
selves. Swami
the children of Light, Light them
the vibrations of
Vivekananda has remarked that
darkness, but to see
light are everywhere, even in
h an electric bulb.
,a light, one must look throug
everywhere, to see
Similarly though God dwells
children of Light.
Him, one must look through these
however,
To worship a Krishna or a Christ is not,
not to worship a per-
to worship a man as God, is
elf, the Impersonal-
son : it is to worship God Hims
ough a man-god. Sri
Personal Existence in and thr
Divine Incarnations are
Ramakrishna said that the
156 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

lke so many doors through which we peep into or

touch the Infinite.
Avatarhood,:therefore, is not limited to one per-
sonality but manifests itself through many incar-
nations. ‘Freed from attachment, fear and anger,
absorbed in Me, taking refuge in Me, purified by
the fire of knowledge, many have attained My
Being” (IV, 30);
. Thus Sri Krishna makes it clear that this ‘I’ or
‘Me’ is not limited to himself, one man-god. More-
over, he declares:
“In whatever way men worship Me, in the same
way do I fulfil their desires ; it is My path that men
tread, in all ways” (IV, 11).
The Gita also describes the conditions which
necessitate the birth of Divine Incarnations. The
Hindus have a theory, demonstrated by historical
events, that spiritual culture moves in cyclic waves.
There is an upward movement which is followed by
a downward one, which may be described as the
dilation and contraction of the cultural life of
society. When the pendulum swings low and truth
and righteousness are low, the necessity arises for
the birth of an Avatara. The Gita says: “ When-
ever there is decline of Dharma (truth and righteous-
ness) and rise of Adharma (its opposite), then
I body Myself forth. For the protection of the
good, for the destruction of the wicked, and for the
establishment of
Dharma, I come into being in
every age” (IV, 7, 8).
 MESSAGE OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA 1 oo)
THE

The object and necessity of a Divine incarnation

therefore to establish the eternal truth, the

are
ple,
eternal spirit of religion, by his own living exam
man to
God descends upon earth in the form of a
Thus
instruct man how to ascend towards Godhead.
truth
does the Avatara really become the way, the
and the light.
Saradananda, one of the foremost disci-
Swami
arized
ples of Sri Ramakrishna, has beautifully summ
the characteristics of an Avatara: “ The first and
aras) are
foremost of these is that they (the Avat
born free. In the endless struggle and hardship
super-
which they undergo to discover the path to
by their
consciousness, they are prompted always
s, and
desire to enrich the lives of their fellow being
not by any selfish motive whatsoever. Indeed, every
motive.
action in their lives proceeds from such a
perfect
‘Secondly, they are born endowed with
This enables them to remember their
memory.
they accom-
former births and the deeds which
plished in those. It helps them besides to remember
of human life
always the utterly transitory nature
run to the goal
and its enjoyments, and makes them
as fast as possible. And by means of this power
the present with
they are able moreover to compare
g which the
the past and find out the direction alon
proceeded hither-
development of people’s mind has
help them to grow
to, and the means which would
future. Thirdly,
and reach the goal quickly in the
s in the field of
they are discoverers of new path
158 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

religion. Fourthly, they are able to transmit know-

ledge to their fellow beings simply by touching them
or even by their will-power. Fifthly, they are able
to perceive clearly, at the very first sight, the Sams-
karas or tendencies produced by past Karmas of
their fellow beings, although they are never eager to
make a show of that power to others: and that helps
them to know instantly what would help each one
of them to reach easily the highest stage of suner-
consciousness.. Thus they are the born spiritual
guides of humanity. And, lastly, they are conscious
of their mission throughout their lives.”

VI

We have already seen that the purpose of life

; should be to break down the
Ethics and Moral ; :
Disciplines. barrier of the ego and realise
Brahman, the innermost Self in
all beings, and that the means to that end is to see
the one Self revealed in all and to love all equally.
So the man of attainment, who has arrived at the
goal of Divine consciousness or Brahma-nirvana,
devotes his life to the service of all; and one who
aspires to the Divine state should likewise devote
himself to the~service of God in humanity. “ He
who judges of pleasure or pain everywhere, by the
same standard as he applies to himself, that Yogi is
regarded as the highest” (VI, 32). And we find
this truth echoed in a different setting, and amongst
 ‘

THE MESSAGE OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA 159

a different race, when Jesus of Nazareth declared :

“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that

men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for

this is the law and the prophets” (St. Matt.
tT; 32s:
The inner life of man must possess perfect tran-

quillity, and freedom from passions and possionate

desires, in order that he may realize the blissful
Brahman. This tranquillity is not, in the words of

Aurobindo, ‘an indolence, incapacity, insensibility,

inertia ; it is full of immortal power, capable of all

action, attuned to deepest delight, open to pro-

foundest love and compassion and to every manner

of intensest Ananda (bliss).’

To gain this tranquillity, there is involved the

practice of self-control. Samkara sums up the whole

in one pregnant sentence: “By whom is the world
conquered ? By him who has conquered his own
mind.” By self-control is not meant the repressions
and inhibitions so much talked about in the language
of the recent psychology of the West, for this very
thing is condemned by Sri Krishna in unmistakable
action,
terms: ‘He who, restraining the organs of
s
sits revolving in the mind, thoughts regarding object
is called
of the senses, he, of deluded understanding,
But the behaviouristic remedy
a hypocrite ” (III, 6).
desires,
of giving free play to all impulses and all
emong
which is creating a condition of moral choas
of to-day, is not the remedy offered
the youths
Gita. “The turbulent senses do violently
by the
 ‘ ‘

160 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

snatch away the mind of even a wise man, striving

after perfection. The steadfast, having controlled
them all, sit with his mind focussed on Me es the
Supreme. His wisdom is steady, whose senses are
under control”! (II. 60, 61).
This ideal of control means in short the directing
of the thoughts and energies of the mind towards a
higher ideal. Direction rather than repression, is
the method of the Hindus for control of the opera-
tions of the mind. ‘‘ No knowledge of the Self has
the unsteady. Nor has he meditation. To the un-
meditative there is no peace. And how can one
without peace have happiness ? For the mind which
follows in the wake of the wandering senses
carries away his discrimination, as a wind carries
away from its course a boat on the waters”
(1i56G.767 ).
A further distinction is made in the Gita between
the divine man and the Asura or demoniac man.
The one moves towards the attainment of liberation
as the other moves away from God to plunge down
to lower births and deeper sufferings.
‘“Fearlessness, purity of heart, steadfastness in
knowledge and Yoga, giving of charity, control of
the senses, Yajna (sacrifice); reading of the scrip-
tures, austerity, uprightness; non-injuriousness,
truth, absence of anger, renunciation, tranquillity,
1 Cf. Christ’s words; ‘“ Be ye therefore perfect even as
your Father which is in Heaven is perfect; (Matt. 5, 48).
In fact the entire Imitation of Christ may be defined as a
striving after perfection and mastery of self.
 . THE MESSAGE OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA 161

absence of ‘calumny, compassion, non-covetousness,

~ gentleness, modesty, absence of fickleness, boldness,

forgiveness, fortitude, purity, absence of hatred,

absence of pride ;—these belong to one born to a

divine state. Ostentation, arrogance, self-conceit,

anger, as also harshness and ignorance, belong
to one who is born to an Asura _ state 7
(XVI, 1-4).
Describing evil qualities further, the teacher con-

cludes: “Triple is this gate of hell, destructive

of the Self—lust, anger and greed; therefore one

should forsake these three” (XVI, 21).

One more point is to be considered regarding
self-control and the moral life. The Gita lays great
stress on self-exertion for the sake of self-improve-
ment, and at the same time exalts Divine grace and
the need for us to surrender ourselves to God.

“The self is to be saved by one’s own seit” :;"‘so

one ‘exert oneself’. Buddha laid stress on

must
self-exertion and Christ on Divine grace. But these

two stand reconciled in the life of a man who

has become absorbed in a godly life. He is aware

that he must strive, and through his strivings he

learns that all the success he gains is
ultimately
only by Divine grace. This is what is meant

by reliance a higher will.

upon Sri Ramakrishna
e
expressed this truth in these words: ‘“ The breez
of Divine grace is blowing upon all, ‘But one

needs to set the sail to feel this breeze of

grace.”
11
162 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

VII

*The Gita is considered a handbook of practical

living as well as a guide to spiri-
The Yogas: tual attainment. In fact, practical
1. General Con- cae
siderations. life, if rightly pursued, follows one
of the paths towards the spiritual
life. These paths are known as Yogas, which we
have briefly discussed in.a previous section of this
book.
The word Yoga literally means yoking or union
(the two words Yoga and yoke are derived from ihe
same root), just as the word religion (re, again, and
ligo, to bind) has a similar derivation. The distinc-
tions between individuals—their finiteness and
limitedness—are caused, as we have noted again
and again, by ignorance, and do not represent the
true nature of man. Until the barrier of ego is
broken down and the union with the true Self is
consummated, one cannot attain the Kingdom of
God within. The word Yoga defines the methods
by which that union with God in man is made possi-
ble. Many are the paths by which one may travel
to attain this one destination. “So many religions,
so many paths.” Hindu philosophy recognizes four
main paths (Yogas) to attainment. They are, as
elsewhere indicated, Jnana Yoga, the path of know-
ledge ; Karma Yoga, the path of action; Bhakti
Yoga, the path of devotion or love ; and Raja Yoga,
the path of meditation.
 2

THE MESSAGE OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA 163

Each of these Yogas is an*‘independent path to

God, and when the end is attained, all four seem to
blend in one. Supreme love, divine knowledge, true
meditation, and true and divine action are at last
identical and cannot be differentiated from eacn
other. The Gita insists that they must be both
followed and blended not only when the end is
reached but as paths to travel. Man is a complex
of faculties—reason, will, emotion and the impulse
to action—and he must seek union with God through
all of them. He must be active as well as medita-
tive ;:he-must cultivate his intelligence and seek the
supreme knowledge as well as cultivate love for the
Divine Being ;—such in short is the Yoga ideal as
taught in the Gita.
Jnana Yoga literally means the path of union
through knowledge. It has come
2. Jnana Yoga. ;
to connote the path of intellectual
analysis leading to the immediate perception (Anu-
bhuti) of God, who is both transcendent and
immanent, who is the inner reality of both man and,
the universe. Philosophic reasoning does not imply
merely intellectual ratiocination, but something
more, for man’s unaided intellect cannot lead him

to God. There must be in addition a transformation

of life and conduct, a conversion of the soul, beiore
the knowledge of God or the Self can be attained.
Thus says the Gita: “Some look upon the Self as

marvellous. Others speak of It as wonderful. Others

again hear of It as a wonder. And still others,

 *

164 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

though hearing, do. not understand It at all”

(II,..2993
In order to attain this immediate realization and
understanding of the Self, Jnana Yoga advocates
certain disciplines to be practised after the process
of ratiocination. .
First of all, the philosopher must learn to Gis-
criminate between the real and the unreal. The
opening chapters of the Gita explains this process
of discrimination : “ The unreal never is. The Real
never is not. Men possessed of the knowledge of
Truth fully know both of these” (II, 16).
The only abiding reality—the immutable, the
illimitable, the indestructible reality—is that by
which the whole universe is pervaded. That is the
same as the Self in man and the reality in the
universe. Whatever we perceive or sense or ex-
perience has both beginning and end; therefcre
must our faculty of discrimination lead us to hold
fast to the abiding reality, the Self or God, in the
midst of the fleeting objects and the experiences of
life and of death. ‘‘ That calm man who is the same
in pain and pleasure, whom these cannot disturb,,.
alone is able to attain to immortality” (II, 15).
Since we know this Self alone to be real, we should
renounce desire for pleasure and learn to realise the
great source of happiness in the Self within. ‘“‘ When
a man completely casts away all the desires of the
mind, satisfied in the Self alone by the Self, then is.
he said to be one of steady wisdom” (II, 55).
 .

MESSAGE OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA 165

THE

To follow the path of philosophy is also to follow

sises
the path of self-control, and the Gita empha
the
this truth in a passage already quoted, in which
by the
unmeditative is compared to a boat carried
wind out of its course (II, 66-67).
Neti’,
Jnana Yoga is the very process of ‘ Neti,
not this’, which we considered in our
‘not this,
study of the Upanishads. That is, the Self must
like the
not be identified with impermanent entities
any object
body, the mind and the senses, or with
and instrument of experience. When a person has
Self from
become an adept in detaching his true
vision of ihe
non-self, he becomes blessed with the
ledge of
Divine, and there dawns upon him the know
the Self in all and all in the Self.
discrimina-
Following the path of knowledge and
or giving up
tion does not, however, imply inactivity
the normal activities of life: What one is required
se:in which
to do is to regard the body as the hou
senses as the
one abides, and the mind and the
h the Lord is
instruments of living, to all of whic
the witness. Such a person acts but does not
He experiences
identify himself with his actions.
learned to detach
the objective universe but he has
himself from his experiences.
d, is not opposed
Activity, we have already note
to the highest wisdom. An indi-
3. Karma Yoga. who has attained the
vidual
reme peace, though he
highest knowledge and sup
actions, nor anything to
has nothing to gain by his
166 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

lose by inactivity, yet works, not however for himeslf

as the doer, but, through exercise of his mind, senses
and body, as instruments of his true Self, which he
has identified with the true Lord of the universe.
Never forgetful of his true Self, he is for ever united
in the consciousness of God ; knowing that the one
Self exists in all, he engages himself in the service
of God in all. Intense rest in the midst of intense
activity is the experience of such a man of steady
wisdom. ‘‘He who sees inaction in action, and
action in inaction, he is intelligent among men, he
is a Yogi and a doer of all action” (IV, 18).
Thus a perfected soul, though active in the world
of impermanence, unites his consciousness with
God, and, says the Gita, a man desiring perfection
may have this union with God through these very
activities in the outer world. This is just what is
meant by Karma Yoga. Before the advent of Sri
Krishna there came a period in the spiritual life
of India when the teachings of the Upanishads
were misunderstood and misinterpreted. We have
seen that, according to the scriptures, knowledge
alone can give freedom or salvation, but knowledge
cannot be acquired through action. The law of
Karma moreover, teaches how Karma _ creates
bondage. And over and above all these concerns
of life in the world is the ideal of renunciation
of worldly things. The Upanishads are aciually
saturated with this doctrine of renunciation. In
course of time these teachings, when not thoroughly
 THE BHAGAVAD GITA 167
THE MESSAGE OF

belief in passivism
understood, ied inevitably to the
t. The opening
as the supreme state of attainmen
the disciple Arjuna,
chapters of the Gita tell how
the right conduct
confused as to the right path and
counsel. Krishna,
to choose, turned to Krishna for
true interpretation
the god incarnate, then gave the
s. Renunciation,
of the teachings of the Upanishad
ion of the world
he pointed out, is not renunciat
ons but of desires.
but of worldliness, not of acti
increases the weight
Karma leads to bondage if it
; it leads to freedom
of desires and magnifies the ego
or to free one from
if it helps to deny the self
to the fruits of actions. Sri Rama-
attachment
strated this interpre-
krishna, in modern age, has illu
ideal of renuncia-
tation of Karma Yoga and the
tion by his famous simile of a boat staying on
water.
water,” he said, “ but let
“Tet the boat stay on
not the water stay in the boat. So let a man live in
ld live in him.” That
the world, but let not the wor
of it.
is, be in the world but be not
the fruits of actions.
Work, but be not attached to
t, but not to the fruits
‘To work you have the righ
'
thereof.”
teach that knowledge alone can
The Upanishads
knowledge is stored
give freedom, and that infinite
f
in the soul of man. The very nature of the Sel
ty and perfect bliss but
implies not only immortali
Consciousness. “ The infinite
also Chit or Pure
Self, is covered by the
knowledge, which is the
 168 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

shadows of ignorance—hence man’s delusion.” The

Gita clarifies the issue by teaching the secret of
work, namely, that we must so work that every act
will help to unfold the knowledge of the Self by
removing the ignorance of the ego. The one aim and
the true goal of Karma Yoga is the union of one’s
self with God through action. Not through any
special actions do we accomplish this, but through
our Svadharmas—the particular duties suited to our
natures and the law of our beings, performed as a
means to that end. ‘“ Whatever you do, do as
worship unto God.”
In order to learn this union with God through
activity, we must also. possess
4. Raja Yoga.
tranquillity and the peace that
‘comes through meditation.
to the unmedita- Since
tive man no peace will come, the Gita puts emphasis
upon the practice of meditation, technically known
as Raja Yoga. Patanjali explains Raju Yoga
as an eightfold path consisting of Yama (moral-
disciplines), Niyama (religious disciplines), Ascna
(posture), Pranayama (breathing exercises), Pratya-
hara (gathering the mind from the thraldom of
the senses), Dharana (concentration), Dhuana
(meditation) and Samadhi (superconscious state).
The Gita does not Systematically explain these
eight steps, yet they are implied in its teachings
on meditation. The main stress is laid on stilling
the restless mind and becoming absorbed in the
‘consciousness of the divine Self.

“
 THE MESSAGE OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA 169°

“Through whatever reason the restless, unsteady

wanders away, let him, curbing it from that,

mind
it under the subjugation of the Self alone.
bring
ctly
Verily, supreme bliss comes to that Yogi of perfe
pure
tranquil mind whose passions are quieted, who is
, 2:0).
and who has become one with Brahman (X26
does
As a lamp in a spot sheltered from the wind
used for
not flicker, even such has been the simile
ion of
a Yogi of subdued mind, practising concentrat
the Self. When the mind, absolutely restrained by
quietude, and
the practice of concentration, attains
is satisfied in
when seeing the Self by the self, one
te bliss—
his own Self; when he feels that infini
intellect and
which is perceived by the (purified)
lished where-
which transcends the senses, and estab
state ; and aaving
in he never departs from his real
he regards no _ other acauuisi-
obtained which,
to that, and where estabiished,
tion superior
sorrow—let that
he is not moved even by heavy
name of
be known as the state, called by the
from the contact of
Yoga, a state of severance
with per-
pain. This Yoga should be practised
by depression of heart”
severance, undisturbed
(VI, 19-23). |
ce of Yoga, the Gita
In connection with this practi
ing, drinking, sleeping
counsels moderation in eat
must be avoided, and
and recreation. Extremes
terms Sri Krishna condemns
in unmistakable
in the name of
extreme practice of austerities
Yoga.
 170 VEDIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

Knowledge is not of the dry intellectual kind;

neither is meditation directed to
5. Bhakti Yoga. cp S
some dry or abstract principle;
rather, they are knowledge of, and meditation upon,
Him who is Rasa or full of bliss, and is love itself.
The pursuit of a spiritual ideal is ever accomplished
in an atmosphere of joy where no sorrows enter.
Sorrow itself, which for an aspirant can be only the
sorrow of separation from the Beloved Lord, is also
tinged with joy; for there is always present the
expectancy of union with the source of joy and love.
In separation as in union with God, the aspirent as
well as the perfected soul live in .continuous adora-
tion of the Infinite. Bhakti Yoga or the path of
love is this adoration and worship in continuous
worship of the Lord, who is the inner Being, the
Self in man, and the embodiment of.love and all
blessed qualities. The teachings of the Gita em-
phasise a ‘whole-souled devotion’ to the Supreme,
as the devotee is required constantly to recall the
presence of the all-pervading, all-blissful God.
“Even if the very wicked worships Me, with
devotion to none else, he should be regarded as
good, -for he has rightly resolved. Soon does he
become righteous; and attains to eternal peace.
Boldly canst thou proclaim that my devotee is
never destroyed” (IX, 30; 31).
The culmination of Bhakti Yoga, and in fact of
all Yogas, is the complete,surrender unconditional
of the lower self or ego to God or the Supreme Self.
 MESSAGE OF THE BHAGAVAD Pek 171
THE

of ego is removed, either by

When the barrier
oF of
following the path of knowledge, or of work,
of these means,
love, or of meditation, by any or all
Lord of the
the omnipresent, omniscient, immortal
of the heart
universe becomes revealed as the Lord
—the Supreme Self.
 »

UNIVERSAL PRAYERS
~

The choicest selection of devotional

texts from the Vedas, Puranas, Tantras
and Hymns. With Sanskrit text, English
translation and an elaborate Introduction
on the philosophy and meaning of prayer.
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————

DIVINE LIFE

A companion to the above-mentioned

prayer book on the same model, but
containing texts representing the cream
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of the best passages from the Gita, the
Upanishads and other Scriptures with a
valuable Introduction. Very useful for
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