THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
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The State Elephant of the Gaikwar of Baroda
The (iaikwar of Baroda, one of the few independent native princes
of India, rules over a district of nearly five thousand square miles in
the Bombay Presidency and traces the origin of his power to the early
part of tiie eighteenth century. Like all Hindu rulers and high officials
in India, this potentate has a special state elephant, which is adorned
with magnificent trappings and surmounted by a howdah, in which ride
the prince and those whom he chiefly honours.
I STORY
of INDIA
Edited by
A. V. WILLIAMS JACKSON, PK.D..LL.D.
Professor of Indo-lranian Languages in Columbia University
VOLUME I
From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century, B. C.
By
ROMESH CHUNDER DUTT, C. I. E.
Of the Indian Civil Service ; and of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-law, Member of
the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the Asiatic
Society of Bengal, Finance Minister to His Highness, the
Maharaja of Baroda. India
LONDON
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INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR
Not the least historic of the ancient nations of the
East is India, even when compared with Egypt and
its monuments, China and its annals, or Assyria and
Babylonia with their cuneiform tablets and their cylin-
ders. India's earliest records, written in its literature,
have been inscribed in the hearts of the people for more
than three thousand years; and from that remote age
its history is recorded in an almost unbroken line to
this very century, so that he who will may follow its
development through the early centuries that preceded
the Christian era, onward through the mediaeval period
of Mohammedan rule, down to the days when the Euro-
peans entered India and the country came under British
dominion.
The aim of this series of volumes is to present a
continuous narrative of the history of India from the
dim ages of the past down to the present time, com-
bining into an organic whole a succession of standard
works by recognized authorities, each a master of the
special period with which he deals, thus providing a
vi INTRODUCTION
complete picture of the development of the country
whose teeming millions are now under the sceptre of
Great Britain. In carrying out this design, the pub-
lishers and the editor have had the generous assistance
of the scholars whose work is represented by these
volumes. Special care has been taken to make such
changes as were needed to meet the requirements of
the series in a sympathetic manner and in such a
way as to preserve all the essentials, thus giving the
reader the results of the ripest scholarship in each
field.
Ancient India and its civilization is discussed by
the Honourable Romesh Chunder Dutt, of Baroda State,
in a manner that will awaken interest in the life and
history of our earliest kinsmen of Aryan blood. The
second volume, written by Mr. Vincent Smith, recounts
the history of the land of the Ganges from the time
of Buddha to the first centuries after the Mohammedan
conquest of Hindustan, when the history of Mediaeval
India begins. A comprehensive picture of the fortunes
of the country under the rule of Islam is given in the
volumes by Mr. Stanley Lane-Poole, and this is sup-
plemented by a collection of the most characteristic
descriptions of the period by Mohammedan writers
themselves, as translated from their Arabic and Persian
originals by Sir Henry M. Elliot, thus covering the
history of India down to the time when the land was
brought into direct contact with Europe. The settle-
ments by the Portuguese, Dutch, French, and English,
and the struggle for supremacy which resulted in Eng-
INTRODUCTION vii
land's triumph, are thoroughly treated in the volumes
originally prepared by Sir William Hunter, and Sir
Alfred Lyall relates the modern history of British do-
minion in India. A volume designed to give an objec-
tive view of the land and its people, as seen through
the eyes of foreigners, presents a collection of the most
striking descriptions of India by foreign travellers from
ancient times to the eighteenth century, selected by the
editor from Greek, Chinese, Persian, and Arabic sources,
and from the accounts of the earliest European trav-
ellers and discoverers from the Western World.
Throughout the entire series the endeavour has been
to eliminate the more technical matters and to omit
detailed discussions of mooted points, while foot-notes
have been almost universally avoided and diacritical
marks omitted in the spelling of proper names. The
illustrations of the various volumes have been chosen
with great care, and many of them have been taken
from photographs in my own collection, made during
my travels in India. I am happy to have the oppor-
tunity to acknowledge my obligations to those scholars
who have so kindly aided me by giving permission to
make use of their works and to thank those who have
allowed me to reproduce pictures which were their
special property.
My thanks in particular are due to my friend and
former pupil, Dr. Louis H. Gray, sometime Fellow in
Indo-Iranian at Columbia University, for aid in the
preparation of the text and for the indexing of the
volumes. Mr. George C. 0. Haas, formerly Scholar,
viii INTRODUCTION
now Fellow, in Indo-Iranian at Columbia, has also lent
generous assistance in reading the proof-sheets and in
various matters of detail.
A. V. WILLIAMS JACKSON.
PREFATORY NOTE BY THE AUTHOR
The method by which this work has been written
is very simple. My principal object has been to fur-
nish the general reader with a practical and handy
work on the Ancient History of India not to compose
an elaborate work of discussions on Indian antiquities.
To study clearness and conciseness on a subject like
this was not, however, an easy task. Every chapter
deals with matters about which long researches have
been made and various opinions recorded. It would
have afforded some satisfaction to me to have given
the reader the history of every controversy, the account
of every antiquarian discovery, and the pros and cons
of every opinion advanced. But I could not yield to
this temptation without increasing the work greatly
in bulk and thus sacrificing the very object with which
it is written. To carry out my purpose, I have avoided
every needless controversy and discussion, and I have
tried to explain as clearly, concisely, and distinctly as
I was able, each succeeding phase of Hindu civilization
and Hindu life in ancient times.
But, while conciseness has been the main object, I
ix
x PREFATORY NOTE
have also endeavoured to tell my story so that it may
leave some distinct memories in the minds of my read-
ers after they have closed the work. For this reason
I have avoided details as far as possible and have tried
to develop, fully and clearly, the leading facts and fea-
tures of each succeeding age. Repetition has not been
avoided, where such repetition seemed necessary to im-
press the cardinal facts the salient features of the
story of Hindu civilization.
The copious extracts which I have given (in trans-
lation) from the Sanskrit works may, at first sight,
seem to be inconsistent with my desire for conciseness.
Such extracts, however, have been advisedly given. In
the first place, on a subject where there is so much
room for difference of opinion, it is of the highest
importance to furnish the reader with the text on, which
my conclusions are based, to enable him to form his
own judgment, and to rectify my mistakes if my con-
clusions are erroneous. In the second place, it is a
gain to the cause of historical knowledge to familiarize
the reader with the texts of these ancient authors. It
is scarcely to be hoped that the busy student will spend
much of his time in reading the ancient and abstruse
works in the original, or even in learned translations,
and the historian who seeks to familiarize his readers
with some portions at least of these ancient works,
adds in so far to the accurate knowledge of his readers
on this subject. And lastly, it has been well said, that
thought is language, and language is thought; and if
it be the intention of the historian to convey an idea
PREFATORY NOTE xi
of ancient thought of what the ancient Hindus felt
and believed he cannot do this better than by quot-
ing the words in which that ancient people expressed
themselves. Such brief extracts very often give the
modern reader a far more realistic and intimate knowl-
edge of ancient Hindu society and manners and ways
of thinking than any account that I could give at twice
the length. And it is because I have desired the mod-
ern reader to enter into the spirit and the inner life
of the ancient Hindus, that I have tried to bring the
old composers of hymns and sutras face to face with
the reader, and allowed them to speak for themselves.
Such an intimate grasp of the inner life and feelings
of the ancients is the very kernel of true historical
knowledge, and I have felt it a hopeless task to impart
this knowledge more accurately or more concisely than
in the words of the ancients. It is for this reason
mainly, and consistently with my anxiety to be concise,
that I have quoted extensively from ancient works.
R. C. DUTT.
CONTENTS
I. ANCIENT INDIA AND THE RIG - VEDA . . ,
II. THE INDO- ARYANS AND THEIR LITERATURE
III. AGRICULTURE, PASTURE, AND COMMERCE
IV. FOOD AND ART IN THE VEDIC AGE
V. WARS AND DISSENSIONS
VI. SOCIAL LIFE
VII. VEDIC RELIGION
VIII. THE BRAHMANIC PERIOD AND LITERATURE .
IX. THE EPIC AGE THE MAHABHARATA .
X. THE EPIC AGE THE RAMAYANA
XI. ARYANS AND NON- ARYANS
XII. CASTE IN THE BRAHMANIC AND EPIC AGE . .
XIII. SOCIAL LIFE IN BRAHMANIC AND EPIC TIMES
XIV. LAW, ASTRONOMY, AND LEARNING
XV. THE SACRIFICIAL RITES OF THE BRAHMANAS
XVI. THE RELIGIOUS DOCTRINES OF THE UPANISHADS
XVII. THE AGE OF LAWS AND PHILOSOPHY . . ,
XVIII. EXPANSION OF THE HINDUS .
XIX. ADMINISTRATION, AGRICULTURE, AND ARTS .
XX. LAWS
XXI. CASTE IN THE AGE OF LAWS AND PHILOSOPHY .
XXII. SOCIAL LIFE IN THE AGE OF PHILOSOPHY . ,
XXIII. SANKHYA AND YOGA
XXIV. NYAYA AND VAISESIKA
XXV. PURVA MlMAMSA AND VEDANTA .
XXVI. BUDDHIST SACRED LITERATURE .
XXVII. LIFE OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA
XXVIII. DOCTRINES OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA . . .
XXIX. MORAL PRECEPTS OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA
XXX. HISTORY OF BUDDHISM
XXXI. HISTORY OF JAINISM
xiii
PAGE
1
6
13
21
30
44
62
82
97
112
126
134
143
155
159
172
184
197
208
220
230
238
253
262
268
274
284
304
312
318
323
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
The State Elephant of the Gaikwar of Baroda .... Frontispiece
Primitive Manner of Grinding Corn . 8
Khaiber Pass, a Gateway from Afghanistan into India .... 9
Bridge of Boats on the Indus . .10
Original Text of a Vedic Hymn . 12
Ploughing in Ancient India 14
Primitive Indian Well 16
Old Indian Jewelry 19
Sacrifice of a Goat t| . 22
The Horse-sacrifice (Asvamedha) 23
The Soma-plant 24
Fort Jamrud Peshawar 27
Indian Elephant of State 28
Colonnade of Hindu Pillars 29
An Indian Scene 35
Women Drawing Water 36
Ancient Indian Head-dress 40
Scene on an Indian River 45
Primitive Indian Boats 46
Women of Salsette 47
Hindu Women 53
Nautch Girl 55
A Nautch Girl of Delhi 57
Burning Ghats 59
A Scene in the Himalayas 66
Indra 68
Surya . 70
A Late Conception of Vishnu .71
Agni 72
Reciting the Sacred Texts at Benares . . . . . .77
xvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Kali as worshipped to-day 77
A View of the Ganges 83
Type of the Sudra Caste 84
Sacrificial Implements used in the Funeral Rites 87
Utensils for Religious Ceremonies .88
A Lake Scene in India 92
Overlooking Indrapat, the Ancient Pandu Capital 94
The Opening Page of the Bombay edition of the Mahabharata, reduced . 97
The five Pandus and Draupadi 101
Winning the hand of the Princess 104
The Ill-fated Gambling-match 106
The reputed birthplace of Krishna at Mathura 107
Old Fort at Indrapat, near Delhi, the Ancient Indraprastha . . . 107
Draupadi dragged into the Assembly 108
The Pandus and Kurus in Battle ........ 109
After the Battle of Eighteen Days 110
The Closing Page of the Bombay edition of the Mahabharata, reduced . Ill
A Place Hallowed by Rama 113
Scene in Ceylon 115
Temple dedicated to Rama at Pushkar near Ajmere 118
Sacred Tank of Rama at Nasik 119
Ravana 121
Abduction of Sita ' . .122
Hanuman 123
Hanuman and the Vanars rejoicing at the restoration of Sita . . .124
Rama with Sita, Lakshmana, and Hanuman ...... 125
Hindus of Western Deccan 129
A Rajput Descendant of the Kshatriya Caste ...*.. 131
The Monkey Temple at Benares . . 135
Shop of a Merchant of the Vaisya Caste 137
Brahman Types 140
A Hindu Youth 145
Hindu Women Bathing in a Pool 147
A Country Bullock-cart . 148
A Type of Brahman Woman 153
The Astronomical Observatory, Yantra Samantra, at Delhi . . . 156
Rail in the Gautamiputra Cave, Nasik 159
Ceremonial bathing in the Ganges 161
Sacred Tank of the Temple at Madura 161
Cremation on the Banks of the Ganges at Benares 164
The Fish Avatar of Vishnu 167
The Golden Temple at Benares 169
Siva Slaying Kamadeva, or Cupid 170
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xvii
PAGE
Vishnu . 171
An Indian Scene 177
Gold Wire-drawers 180
Brahma 183
Sculpture from the Buddhist Tope near Benares 185
Law Code of Manu A page of the text . 187
Travelling in the Nilgiri Hills 199
Peak to North of Khinchinjunga, 21,500 feet, Sikkim .... 201
Capital of Half Column from a temple in Orissa . . . . . 203
An Indian Scene 209
Bhil Women of Kathiawar 212
Fresco in the Sheesh Mahal, at Rajgarh 217
Ganesa 219
Water Scene in India .......... 224
Woman carrying water .......... 231
Sylvan Scene 235
Hindu Widows at the Mission in Bombay 239
The Vedi, or Marriage Altar . 240
Ascetic at Benares . . 242
Propitiation of the Serpents . . 249
Swastika 253
A chapel in the Elephanta caves ........ 255
Ascetic at Nasik 255
A Hindu Devotee 258
Undergoing Yogi Penance 260
Indian Scenery 265
Indian Carving 268
Carved Temple at Ramesvara 273
Western Gateway of the Buddhist Tope at Sanchi 277
Brass image of Gautama Buddha from Ceylon 287
Buddhist Rock-temple at Karli 294
Ruins of the Sakiya Tope 302
Footprints of Buddha 310
Sculptures in the Cave-temple at Karli ....... 312
Buddhist Tope at Sanchi 318
Buddhist carving at Anuradhapura ........ 320
Jain Temple of Vimala Sah, Mount Abu 325
Jain Temple at Ahmadabad . . 327
CHAPTER I
ANCIENT INDIA AND THE RIG -VEDA
history of Ancient India is a history of thirty
centuries of human culture and progress. It di-
vides itself into several distinct periods, each of which,
for length of years, will compare with the entire history
of many a modern people.
The earliest date claimed by modern scholars for
its oldest literary monument, the Rig- Veda, is about
2000 B. c. Even at that remote age, Hindu civilization
must have been hundreds or thousands of years old,
and from that time the literary works of successive
periods form a continuous picture of the culture and
the history of India for three thousand years, so full,
so clear, that he who runs may read. The oldest records
were not written on parchment or inscribed on stone;
they were written in the faithful memory of the people,
who handed down the precious heritage from century
to century with a scrupulous exactitude that would be
considered, in modern days, a miracle.
Scholars who have studied the Yedic hymns historic-
2 ANCIENT INDIA AND THE BIG -VEDA
ally are aware that the materials they afford for con-
structing a history of civilization are fuller and truer
than any accounts which could have been recorded on
stone or papyrus. And those who have pursued Hindu
literature through the different periods of ancient
Hindu history are equally aware that they form a
complete and comprehensive story of the progress and
gradual modifications of Hindu civilization, thought,
and religion through three thousand years. The philo-
sophical historian of human civilization need not be
a Hindu to think that the Hindus have preserved
the fullest, the clearest, and the truest materials for
his work.
We wish not to be misunderstood. We have made
the foregoing remarks simply with a view to remove
the very common and very erroneous impression that
Ancient India has no history worth studying, no con-
nected and reliable chronicle of the past which would
be interesting or instructive to the modern reader.
Ancient India has a connected story to tell, and so
far from being uninteresting, its special feature is its
intense attractiveness. We read in that ancient story
how a gifted Aryan people, separated by circumstances
from the outside world, worked out their civilization
under natural and climatic conditions which were
peculiarly favourable. We note their intellectual dis-
coveries age after age; we watch their religious prog-
ress and development through successive centuries; we
mark their political career, as they gradually expand
over India and found new kingdoms and dynasties;
THE VALUE OF INDIA'S HISTORY 3
we observe their struggles against priestly domination,
their successes and their failures; we study with in-
terest their great social and religious revolutions and
their far-reaching consequences. And this great story
of a nation's intellectual life is nowhere broken and
nowhere disconnected. The great causes which led to
great social and religious changes are manifest to the
reader, and he follows the gradual development of
ancient Hindu civilization through thirty centuries,
from 2000 B. c. to one thousand years after Christ.
The story of India's success is not more instructive
than the story of her failure. The hymns of Visva-
mitra, the philosophy of Kapila, and the poetry of
Kalidasa have no higher lessons for the modern reader
than the decadence of her political life and the ascend-
ency of priests. The story of the religious rising of
the people under the leadership of Gautama Buddha
and Asoka is not more instructive than the absence
of any efforts after popular freedom. And the great
heights to which the genius of Brahmans and Kshat-
riyas soared are not more suggestive and not more
instructive than the absence of genius in the people
at large in their ordinary pursuits and trades in
mechanical inventions and maritime discoveries, in
sculpture, architecture, and arts, in manifestations of
popular life and the assertion of popular power.
The history of the intellectual and religious life
of the ancient Hindus is matchless in its continuity,
its fulness, and its philosophical truth. But the his-
torian who paints only the current of that intellectual
4 ANCIENT INDIA AND THE RIG -VEDA
life performs but half his duty. There is another and a
sadder portion of Hindu history, and it is necessary that
this portion of the story, too, should be faithfully told.
We have said before that the history of Ancient
India divides itself into several distinct and long peri-
ods or eras, marked by great historical events. We
shall begin with the earliest period of India's history,
that of Aryan settlements in the Pan jab. The hymns
of the Rig- Veda furnish us with the materials for a
history of this period, which we may call the Vedic,
and which we may approximately date from 2000 to
1400 B. c., or later according to some authorities.
In this priceless volume, the Rig-Veda, we find
the Hindu Aryans as conquerors and settlers on the '
banks of the Indus and its five branches; and India
beyond the Sutlaj was almost unknown to them. They
were a conquering race, full of the self-assertion and
vigour of a young national life, with a strong love of
action and a capacity for active enjoyments. They
were, in this respect, far removed from the contempla-
tive and passive Hindus of later days; they rejoiced
in wealth and cattle and pasture-fields; and, with their
strong right arm, they won by force new possessions and
realms from the aborigines of the soil, wjio vainly strug-
gled to maintain their own against the invincible con-
querors. Thus the period was one of wars and con-
flicts with the aborigines; and the Aryan victors
triumphantly boast of their victories in their hymns,
and implore their gods to bestow on them wealth and
new possessions and to destroy the barbarians.
THE EARLY HINDU COMMUNITY 5
It is needless to say that the entire body of Aryans
was then a united community, and the only distinction
of caste was between the Aryans and the aborigines.
Even the distinction between professions was not very
marked; and the sturdy lord of many acres, .who
ploughed his fields and owned large herds in times of
peace, went out to defend his village or to plunder the
aborigines in times of war, and often composed spirited
hymns to the martial gods in his hours of devotion.
There were no temples and no idols; each patriarch of
a family lighted the sacrificial fire on his own hearth,
and offered milk and rice offerings, or animals, or liba-
tions of the Soma juice to the fire, and invoked the
" bright " gods for blessings and health and wealth
for himself and his children. Chiefs of tribes were
kings and had professional priests to perform sacrifices
and utter hymns for them; but there was no priestly
caste and no royal caste. The people were free, enjoy-
ing the freedom which belongs to vigorous pastoral and
agricultural tribes.
CHAPTER II
THE INDO- ARYANS AND THEIR LITERATURE
r I THE site of the early home of the Aryans has been
J- a subject of endless controversies among scholars.
Into this mooted problem we cannot enter here. Suffice
it to say that enthusiastic and patriotic Hindu scholars
will not admit that the first home of. the Aryans was
anywhere outside of India; while equally patriotic Eu-
ropean scholars would place the abode of the primitive
Aryans on the shores of the Baltic Sea. We need
hardly say that it is not our object to enter into this
discussion, and we merely repeat here that it is uni-
versally granted that the civilization, religion, language,
and literature of the Hindus, from the earliest ages
to the present day, are centred in India, and in India
alone. There are, however, a number of facts about
the life of the primitive Aryans regarding which there
is no dispute.
DOMESTIC LIFE OF THE ARYANS 7
The domestic economy among the early Aryans was
much the same as it is to-day. The historian of man
does not find in Aryan history any traces of hetairism
(or of promiscuous relationship between the sexes),
of families being reckoned on the mother's side, or
of inheritance by the female line. On the contrary,
the father was the protector and the nourisher of the
family, the mother looked after and fed the children,
the daughter milked the cattle, and relationship by
marriage was recognized. Probably the primitive Ar-
yans had already reached a higher state of civilization
than promiscuous living would imply. The family, and
not the tribe, was the unit of society, and the father
was the head of the family.
Many of the useful animals had been domesticated,
as, for example, the cow, the bull, the ox, the sheep,
the goat, the swine, the dog, and the horse. The wild
bear, the wolf, the hare, and the dreaded serpent were
known. Similarly among birds, the goose, the duck,
the cuckoo, the raven, the quail, the crane, and the owl
were well known to the early Aryans.
The various industries were still in their infancy;
but a commencement in manufactures and arts had
been made. The Aryans built houses, villages, and
towns, made roads, and constructed boats for communi-
cation by water or for a humble kind of trade. Weav-
ing, spinning, and plaiting were known, and furs, skins,
and woollen fabrics were made into garments. Car-
pentry must have made considerable progress, and
dyeing was known.
8 THE INDO- ARYANS AND THEIR LITERATURE
It need scarcely be stated that agriculture was prac-
tised by the primitive Aryans, and it was this occupa-
tion which probably gave them their name (arya =
cultivator). Corn was ground, prepared, and cooked
in various ways, while the flocks of sheep and cows
by which every family was surrounded afforded milk
and meat. There can be little doubt that, although
PRIMITIVE MANNER OF GRINDING CORN.
Copyright by Underwood and Underwood, N. T.
agriculture was largely resorted to, many patriarchs
of families used also to rove about from place to place
with their attendants and flocks in search of new pas-
tures, and a fairly large portion of the early Aryans
led a nomad life.
War was not infrequent in those primitive times,
and weapons of bone and of wood, of stone and of
metal, were known. The bow and the arrow, the sword
and the spear seem to have been the weapons of war.
a
3
o
.1
RJ
a
8
FIKST AKYAN MIGRATIONS 9
It argues some advance in civilization that the use
of gold and of silver was undoubtedly known to the
early Aryans, and, with the simplicity of early races,
they called gold by the name " yellow " and silver by
the name " white. " A third metal (ay as) was also
known, but it is doubtful whether it was iron.
It is perhaps impossible to conjecture the sort of
government which obtained in those olden days. Patri-
archs of tribes and leaders of men undoubtedly ob-
tained ascendency, and the simple subjects looked up
to them and called them the protectors or nourishers
of men, or the chiefs (pati, vis pati, raja) in war as
well as in peace. The natural feelings of civilized man
distinguished between right and wrong, and custom and
a vague perception of what was good for the nation had
the force of law. And lastly, the primitive religion
of the Aryans was largely suggested by that which was
beautiful and striking in the phenomena of nature.
Adventurous bands of Aryans left their primitive
home from time to time in quest of food or pasture, of
kingdoms or plunder. The exact order in which the
different nations left has not been ascertained and may
never be ascertained. All that is even approximately
certain from the historian's standpoint is that a branch
of the Aryans, designated as Indo-Iranians, appeared
at an unknown epoch in the land of Asia, but it is not
yet known whether they were immigrants or indigenous
to the soil. They travelled southward together, but
became separated by religious, social, or tribal condi-
tions, before they reached India. Only the Hindus,
10
THE ESTDO- ARYANS AND THEIR LITERATURE
the worshippers of the Devas as gods, made their way
to the River Indus and the land of the Five Rivers,
the Panjab.
It was these worshippers of the Devas who com-
posed those hymns which are known as the Rig- Veda,
and we shall say a few words here about this ancient
work. Probably there is not another work in the litera-
BRIDGE OF BOATS ON THE INDUS.
ture of mankind which is so deeply interesting, so
unique in the lessons it imparts. The hoary antiquity
of this ancient monument, the picture it affords of the
earliest form of civilization that the Aryans developed
in any part of the world, and the flood of light it throws
on the origin of the myths and religions of all Aryan
nations, make the Rig- Veda deeply interesting. It is,
moreover, the oldest work in the Aryan world. It
gives us a picture of the oldest civilization that the
DIVISIONS OF THE BIG -VEDA 11
Aryans developed, and it enlightens and clears up much
that is dark and obscure in the religions and myths
of Aryan nations all over the world.
To the Hindus the Eig-Veda is a work of still higher
importance. It explains the whole fabric of the later
Hindu religion; it solves all the complications of later
mythology; it throws light on the history of the Indian
mind from its earliest stage of infancy. The Hindu
learns from this ancient and priceless volume that
Vishnu, the supreme preserver, and his three steps,
which cover the universe, mean the sun at its rise, its
zenith, and its setting; that the terrible god Rudra,
the supreme destroyer, originally meant the thunder or
thunder-cloud; and that Brahma, the supreme creator,
was originally prayer or the god of prayer.
The Rig- Veda consists of 1028 hymns, comprising
over ten thousand verses. The hymns are divided
into ten Mandalas or Books, and with the exception
of the first and last books, every one of the remaining
eight books contains hymns said to have been composed
or rather proclaimed by one Rishi, by which we may
understand one family or line of teachers. Thus the
second book is by Gritsamada; the third is by Visva-
mitra; the fourth is by Vamadeva; the fifth is by Atri;
the sixth is by Bharadvaja; the seventh is by Vasish-
tha; the eighth is by Kanva; and the ninth is by
Angiras. The first book contains 191 hymns, which,
with scattered exceptions, are composed by fifteen
Rishis; and the tenth book also contains 191 hymns,
which are mostly ascribed to fictitious authors.
12 THE ItfDO- ARYANS AND THEIR LITERATURE
The whole or the greater portion of the tenth book
seems to have been the production of a later period,
but was thrown in and preserved with the body of the
older hymns. The hymns of the Eig-Veda were handed
down from father to son or from teacher to pupil for
centuries together, and it was in a later age, in the
Epic Period, that they were arranged and compiled.
By the close of this period, every verse, every word,
and every syllable of the Eig-Veda had been counted.
The number of verses, as computed, varies from 10,402
to 10,622; the number of words is 153,826; and there
are altogether 432,000 syllables.
ORIGINAL TEXT OF A VEDIC HTMK.
Rig-Veda 3.33.
CHAPTER III
AGRICULTURE, PASTURE, AND COMMERCE
main industry of the ancient Hindus was agri-
culture; and the very word dry a, " cultivator," is
the one term in the Rig-Veda which distinguishes the
conquerors as a class from the aborigines of the coun-
try. There are, however, two other words in the Rig-
Veda, which are synonymous, not with the Aryan tribe,
but rather with man generally; and both of them come
from roots which indicate cultivation. These are char-
shana and krishti, and both come from modifications
of the root krish, to cultivate.
There are numerous direct allusions in the Rig- Veda
to agriculture, but the most remarkable among them is
found in the fourth book in the fifty-seventh hymn,
which is dedicated to a supposed god of agriculture,
the Lord of the Field, as he is called, and which we
translate in full:
" We will win (cultivate) this field with the Lord
of the Field; may he nourish our cattle and our horses;
may he bless us thereby.
13
14 AGRICULTURE, PASTURE, AND COMMERCE
" O Lord of the Field! bestow on us sweet and pure
and butter-like and delicious and copious rain, even as
cows give us milk. May the Lords of the water bless
us.
" May the plants be sweet unto us; may the skies
and the rains and the firmament be full of sweetness;
may the Lord of the
Field be gracious to us.
We will follow him, un-
injured by enemies.
" Let the oxen work
merrily; let the men
work merrily; let the
f plough move on merrily.
Fasten the traces mer-
rily; ply the goad mer-
PLOUGHING IN ANCIENT INDIA. rily.
From a Buddhist sculpture. ,, /-*. /-* -, r-^.
O Suna and Sira!
accept this hymn. Moisten this earth with the rain you
have created in the sky.
" fortunate Furrow! proceed onwards, we pray
unto thee; do thou bestow on us wealth and an abun-
dant crop.
" May Indra accept this Furrow; may Pushan lead
her onwards. May she be filled with water, and yield
us corn year after year.
" Let the ploughshares turn up the sod merrily; let
the men follow the oxen merrily; may Parjanya mois-
ten the earth with sweet rains. Suna and Sira!
bestow on us happiness."
A VEDIC HYMN ON AGRICULTURE 16
We shall seek in vain in the entire range of later
Sanskrit literature for a passage in which the humble
hopes and wishes of simple agriculturists are so nat-
urally described; and equally naive is another hymn,
also relating to agriculture, part of which may be trans-
lated thus:
" Fasten the ploughs, spread out the yokes, and sow
the seed on this field which has been prepared. Let
the corn grow with our hymns; let the scythes fall on
the neighbouring fields where the corn is ripe.
" The ploughs have been fastened; the labourers
have spread the yokes; the wise men are uttering
prayers to gods.
" Prepare troughs for the drinking of the animals.
Fasten the leather string, and let us take out water
from this deep and goodly well which never dries up.
" The troughs have been prepared for the animals;
the leather string shines in the deep and goodly well
which never dries up, and the water is easily got.
Take out water from the well.
" Refresh the horses; take up the corn stacked in
the field; and make a cart which will convey it easily.
This well, full of water for the drinking of animals, is
one drona in extent, and there is a stone wheel to it.
And the reservoir for the drinking of men is one
skanda. Fill it with water.''
Irrigation and cultivation in the Pan jab are only
possible by means of wells, and wells are reserved
also for the drinking of men and of beasts; and it is
not surprising therefore that we should find references
16
AGRICULTURE, PASTURE, AND COMMERCE
to wells in the Big- Veda. Another remarkable fact is
that horses were used for cultivation in those days, a
custom still common in Europe, but not in India in
modern times. In yet another hymn we are told how
PRIMITIVE INDIAN WELL.
water was raised from wells for irrigation. The con-
trivance was the same as is still in vogue in Northern
India; a number of pots are tied to a string, and as
the pots go up and down by the movement of a wheel,
they are filled in the well and pulled up and emptied
and sent down again. One hymn of the tenth book
A HYMN TO THE HERDSMAN'S GOD 17
alludes to irrigation of fields by means of canals
which were replenished with water by means of a
drona; and in another we are told that cultivators
who irrigated their fields kept away birds by uttering
loud cries.
Allusions to pasturage, however, are by no means
so frequent as allusions to agriculture. Piishan is the
god of shepherds he is the sun as viewed by shep-
herdsand is supposed to protect them and trav-
ellers generally in their wanderings over the country.
And here and there in a hymn to Pushan, we find that
the Aryans of India had brought with them recollec-
tions and songs about those migrations which they
occasionally undertook in their primitive home, if not
after their settlement in India. We translate one such
hymn below:
" Pushan! help us to finish our journey, and
remove all dangers. Son of the Cloud, do thou march
before us!
" Pushan! do thou remove from our path him
who would lead us astray, who strikes and plunders
and does wrong.
" Do thou drive away that wily robber who inter-
cepts journeys.
" Do thou trample under thy foot the vile carcass
of him who plunders us in both ways (by stealth and
by force) and who commits outrages.
11 wise Pushan, destroyer of enemies! we implore
of thee the protection with which thou didst shield and
encourage our forefathers.
18
" Pushan, possessed of all wealth, possessed of
golden weapons, and chief among beings! bestow on
us thy riches.
" Lead us so that enemies who intercept may not
harm us; lead us by an easy and pleasant path.
Pushan! devise means (for our safety) on this journey.
" Lead us to pleasant tracts covered with green
grass; let there be no extreme heat by the way. O
Pushan! devise means (for our safety) on this journey.
" Be powerful in thy protection; fill us with riches;
bestow on us wealth; make us strong and give us food!
Pushan! devise means (for our safety) on this
journey.
" We do not blame Pushan; but we extol him in
our hymns. We solicit wealth from the handsome
Pushan."
There is also another interesting hymn on the prac-
tice of taking out cattle to pasture-fields and bringing
them back. A few verses are worth translating:
" We call the cowherd, let him take out these cows;
let him pasture them in the fields; let him know and
pick out the animals; let him bring them back to the
house; let him pasture them on all sides.
" The cowherd seeks for the cows and brings them
back to the house; he pastures them on all sides. May
he come home safe.
" O cowherd! pasture the cows in all directions
and bring them back. Pasture them in various parts
of the earth and then bring them back."
References to trade and commerce must necessarily
MONEY IN THE RIG -VEDA 19
be rare in a collection of hymns to gods; but, neverthe-
less, we are here and there surprised by passages which
throw a curious light on the manners of the times.
Loans and usury were well understood in those days,
and in one remarkable verse we are reminded of the
finality of a sale-transaction, when once the sale is
completed:
" One sells a large quantity for a small price, and
then goes to the purchaser and denies the sale and asks
for a higher price. But he cannot exceed the price once
OLD INDIAN JEWELRT.
fixed, on the plea that he has given a large quantity.
Whether the price was adequate or inadequate, the
price fixed at the time of sale must hold good."
A passage like this would indicate the existence of
current money for the purposes of buying and selling.
We have instances of Rishis, or Vedic bards, acknowl-
edging the gift of a hundred pieces of gold, and there
can be no doubt that pieces of gold of a certain fixed
value were used as money as indicated in these pas-
sages. At the same time it must be admitted that there
is no distinct allusion to coined money in the Rig- Veda.
20 AGRICULTURE, PASTURE, AND COMMERCE
The word nishka is often used in the Kig-Veda with
a connotation that is by no means clear. In some pas-
sages it means money, in others it implies a golden
ornament for the neck. The two interpretations are
not necessarily contradictory, for in India pieces of
gold which serve as money have been used as ornaments
for the neck from times immemorial.
On the other hand, there are distinct references to
voyages by sea, though of course the words used may
mean rivers only, and not the sea. The shipwreck of
Bhujyu and his deliverance by the gods Asvins, is con-
stantly alluded to, and the god Varuna is said to know
the paths of the birds through the sky and the paths
of the ships over the sea. Allusion is also made to
the " people who, desiring to acquire wealth, pray to
the sea before undertaking a voyage " ; and another
passage runs:
" When Varuna and I went on a boat and took her
out to sea, I lived in the boat floating on the water
and was happy in it, rocking gracefully (on the
waves)."
While there are these and other distinct allusions
to voyage, there is absolutely no prohibition against
it in the Rig- Veda, such as prevailed in later times
and still holds among the orthodox of India.
CHAPTER IV
FOOD AND ART IN THE VEDIC AGE
BARLEY and wheat seem to have been the chief
produce of the field, and the principal articles of
food. The names of grain found in the Rig- Veda are
somewhat misleading, as they have come to bear a
different signification in modern days from what they
had in the ancient times. Thus the word yava, which
in modern Sanskrit implies barley only, was used in
the Veda to imply food-grains generally, including
wheat and barley. And the word dhana, which, in
Bengal at least, now means paddy or rice, implies in
the Rig- Veda fried barley, which was used as food and
offered to the gods. There is no allusion to rice (vrihi)
in the Rig- Veda.
We also find mention of various kinds of cakes pre-
pared from these grains and used as food and offered
to the gods. The term pakti (from pach, to cook, or
to prepare) means prepared cakes, and various other
terms, such as puroddsa (sacrificial cake), apupa (cake),
and karam'bJia (barley groats), are also used.
It may easily be imagined that animal food was
largely used by the early Hindus of the Panjab, and
21
22
FOOD AND ART IN THE VEDIC AGE
we have frequent allusions to the sacrifice and to the
cooking of cows, buffaloes, and bulls. Mention is also
made of a slaughter-house where cows were killed, as
well as of the sacrifice of horses, bulls, and rams. The
allusions to the sacrifice of the horse are extremely
rare, showing that, although the custom was introduced
SACHIFICE OF A GOAT.
into India by the early Aryans from their primitive
home, the flesh of horse as an article of food soon fell
into disuse. In later times the asvamedha, or sacrifice
of the horse, was performed on rare occasions with
great pomp and circumstance by powerful kings, after
they had subdued their neighbours and assumed a title
answering to the imperial title in Europe. There can
be no doubt that this great imperial rite rose out of
SACRIFICE OF THE HOUSE
23
the simple sacrifice of the horse practised in primitive
times when the horse was still an article of food, but
the pomp and ceremony, as well as certain revolting
rites connected with the horse-sacrifice of later days,
were unknown in Vedic times.
A fairly complete account of the sacrifice of the
THE HORSE - SACRIFICE (ASVAMEDHA).
horse, as it prevailed in Vedic times, is to be found
in the one hundred and sixty-second hymn of the
first Mandala of the Rig- Veda. The body of the horse
was marked with a cane and was then dissected along
the lines marked, and the ribs and the different limbs
were separated. The meat was roasted and boiled,
while the soul of the horse was supposed to go to the
24
FOOD AND AKT IN THE VEDIC AGE
gods. In later times an endless amount of pomp, cere-
mony, and detail was woven about this rite of the horse-
sacrifice, in contrast to the simplicity of Vedic days.
The fermented juice of the plant called Soma ap-
pears to have been the only intox-
icating drink used in Vedic times.
So much were the ancient Aryans
addicted to this drink, that Soma
was soon worshipped as a deity
both in India and in Iran (under
the name Haoma in the latter coun-
try), and we find one entire Man-
dala, or Book, of the Eig-Veda,
dedicated to this deity. The Ar-
yans appear to have been more
habituated to fermented and intox-
icating Soma than their peaceful
brethren of Iran, and some allu-
sions in the Avesta are thought to
refer to the hated customs of their
Indian brethren. Some antiquari-
ans think that this was one great
reason of those dissensions which
broke out among the southern Ar-
yans and led to the final separation of the Iranians
from the Hindus.
The process by which the Soma juice was prepared
is fully described in the sixty-sixth hymn of the ninth
book of the Rig- Veda, from which the following verses
are selected:
THE SOMA - PLANT.
A HYMN TO SOMA 25
..
Soma! you have been crushed; you flow as a
stream to Indra, scattering joy on all sides; you bestow
immortal food.
" Seven women stir you with their fingers, blend-
ing their voices in a song to thee; you remind the
sacrificer of his duties at the sacrifice.
" You mix with water with a pleasing sound; and
the fingers stir you over a woollen strainer, and filter
you. Your particles are thrown up then, and a sound
arises from the woollen strainer.
" The woollen strainer is placed on a vessel, and
the fingers repeatedly stir the Soma, which sends down
a sweet stream into the vessel.
" Soma! you are then mixed with milk. Water
runs toward you with a pleasing sound. "
From this description it would appear that the juice
of Soma used to be taken mixed with milk. The poets
of the Rig-Veda go into ecstasy over the virtues and
the exhilarating powers of the Soma, and some of their
descriptions have developed into the strange Puranic
legends of the churning of the ocean and the discovery
of the Amrita, or immortal drink. The sky in the Veda
is considered watery and is often confused with the
sea, and the milking of Soma from the sky is trans-
formed in the Puranas into the churning of the ocean
for the Amrita.
It would appear from many passages in the Rig-
Veda that many arts were carried to a high state of
excellence. Weaving was well known, of course, and
deft female fingers wove the warp and woof. In one
26 FOOD AND AKT IN THE VEDIC AGE
curious passage the seer laments his ignorance of the
mysteries of religious rites by saying: " I know not
the warp and I know not the woof ' of religious
rites; and elsewhere the weaving and bleaching of
sheep's wool are attributed to the god Pushan, who, as
we have already seen, is the god of shepherds.
Every Aryan village had probably its barber then
as now, and the clearance of forests by fire is in one
passage described as the shaving of the earth. Car-
pentry was also well known, and we have frequent
allusions to the construction of carts and chariots. The
use of iron, of gold, and of other metals w T as well
known, and the Rig-Veda contains references to the
work of the blacksmith and the goldsmith.
But we get a better idea of working in metals
in Vedic times from the descriptions of various gold
ornaments and iron utensils and implements of war
which are to be found throughout the Rig- Veda. The
allusions are numerous, and we select only a few
as illustrations. We are told of armour used in war
and of golden helmets, while mention is also made of
armour for the shoulders or arms, probably a shield.
The lightning is compared not only to a javelin, but
also to a sword or battle-axe, and to bows and arrows
and quivers. Three thousand mailed warriors are men-
tioned; feathered, sharp-pointed, shining shafts are
described; and sharp-edged swords are noted, as well
as war-chariots and kettle-drums. And lastly, we have
a spirited account of the arms and accoutrements of
war, which we shall translate for our readers further on.
ORNAMENTS OF THE EARLY PERIOD
27
The steeds of war had golden caparisons, and the
warriors had golden ornaments about their necks. The
lightning ornaments of the Maruts are compared to jew-
elry, necklaces, golden breastplates, and bracelets and
anklets. We also learn of anklets for the feet, and of
FORT JAMRUD PESHAWAR.
golden breastplates for the breast, as well as of golden
crowns for the head.
Thus it will be seen that a very considerable advance
had been made in the manufacture of arms, weapons,
and various kinds of ornaments. We have references
also to vessels of skin and iron vessels, as well as to
iron towns, which must be taken in a figurative sense
as signifying strong forts, and there are likewise allu-
sions to a hundred stone-built towns.
There can be no doubt that in the various rocky
28 FOOD AND ART IN THE VEDIC AGE
and mountainous tracts where the early Hindus estab-
lished their colonies, they soon learnt to utilize stone
as a durable and cheap material for architecture, and
there can be little difficulty in believing that in some
of the Vedic towns there were structures and surround-
ing walls of stone. That the art of building was car-
ried to some degree of excellence appears from many
INDIAN ELEPHANT OF STATE.
From a Buddhist sculpture.
allusions to mansions with a thousand pillars, but at the
same time it must be admitted that there is no distinct
allusion in the Eig-Veda to the art of sculpture prop-
erly so called, and the researches of antiquarians have
failed to discover in any part of India traces of sculp-
tured stone much anterior to the Buddhist era.
Most of the animals domesticated at the present
day were domesticated in India in the remote period
Colonnade of Hindu Pillars.
From a Photograph.
DOMESTIC ANIMALS 29
of the Rig- Veda, including cows, goats, sheep, buffaloes,
and dogs (the latter used in carrying burdens), while
one passage alludes to a king riding with his ministers
on an elephant.
The war-horse, too, received his meed of praise, and
so highly was he esteemed by the early Aryans in their
battles against the aborigines, that under the name of
Dadhikra he soon became an object of worship. It is
evident, moreover, that the war-horses of the early
Aryans inspired the aborigines with dire terror, as is
shown by the following passage from the Rig- Veda:
" As people shout and raise a cry after a thief who
has purloined a garment, even so the enemies yell and
shout at the sight of Dadhikra! As birds make a noise
at the sight of the hungry hawk on its descent, even so
the enemies yell and shout at the sight of Dadhikra
careering in quest of plunder and cattle !
" Enemies fear Dadhikra, who is radiant and des-
troying as a thunderbolt. When he beats back a thou-
sand men around him, he becomes excitable and un-
controllable in his strength. "
CHAPTER V
WAKS AND DISSENSIONS
WHEN the early Hindus wrested the fertile tracts
on the banks of the Indus and its tributaries
from the primitive races of the Pan jab, the aborigines
did not give up their birthright without a struggle.
Retreating before the more civilized organization and
valour of the Hindus in the open field, they still lurked
in fastnesses and forests near every Aryan settlement
and village, harassed their conquerors in their communi-
cations, waylaid and robbed them at every opportunity,
stole their cattle, and often attacked them in consider-
able force.
Unfortunately for themselves, however, they had no
poet to hand down their story to later ages, and our
only account of this long war of centuries is from the
conquering Hindus. The conquest by the Aryans meant
a widening of the area of civilization; waste and jungle
lands were reclaimed and dotted with villages and
towns, and the barbarians either submitted to the con-
querors or retreated to those hills and mountains where
their descendants still live. History repeats itself, and
the banks of the Indus were cleared of these non- Aryan
30
ARYAN WAES WITH THE ABORIGINES 31
aborigines less than eighteen hundred years before
Christ in much the same manner as the banks of
the Mississippi have been cleared of their non- Aryan
tribes in modern times eighteen hundred years after-
Christ.
To these wars with the aborigines we have frequent
allusions in the Rig- Veda, and a translation of some
of these passages will give a better idea of these inter-
minable hostilities than any account that we can give
of them. The allusions are so numerous that our
only difficulty is in making a selection. Thus we
read:
" Indra, who is invoked by many, and is accom-
panied by his fleet companions, has destroyed by his
thunderbolt the Dasyus and Simyus who dwelt on
earth, and then he distributed the fields to his white-
complexioned friends (Aryans)/' Or again: " Indra
with his weapon, the thunderbolt, and in his vigour,
destroyed the towns of the Dasyus, and wandered at
his will. holder of the thunderbolt be thou cogni-
zant of our hymns, and cast thy weapon against the
Dasyu, and increase the vigour and the fame of the
Arya."
One of the hymns of the Rig- Veda contains a curi-
ous allusion to aboriginal robbers who dwelt on the
banks of four small streams called the Sipha, the
Anjasi, the Kulisi, and the Virapatni. These robbers,
led by Kuyava and Ayu, issued from their fastnesses
and harassed the civilized Aryan villages, much in the
same way as a true descendant of those aborigines, the
32 WARS AND DISSENSIONS
Bhil Tantia in our own times, harassed the peaceful
villages of Central India.
Other passages alluding to these early struggles
read as follows:
" Indra protects his Arya worshipper in wars. He
who protects him on countless occasions, protects him
in all wars. He subdues the people who do not per-
form sacrifices for the benefit of men. He flays the
enemy of his black skin and kills him and reduces him
to ashes. He burns down all who do injury and all
who are cruel."
" O destroyer of foes! collect together the heads of
these marauding troops, and crush them with thy wide
foot! Thy foot is wide!
" O Indra! destroy the power of these marauding
troops! Throw them into the vile pit the vast and
vile pit!
" Indra! thou hast destroyed three times fifty such
troops! People extol this thy deed, but it is nothing
compared to thy prowess!
" Indra! destroy the Pishachis, who are reddish
in appearance and utter fearful yells. Destroy all these
Rakshasas.
" Indra! the poet prays to thee for pleasant food.
Thou hast made the earth the bed (burial-ground) of
the Dasas. Indra has beautified the three regions with
his gifts; he has slain Kuyavacha for King Daryori.
" Indra! Seers still extol that ancient deed of
prowess! Thou hast destroyed many marauders to put
an end to war; thou hast stormed the towns of enemies
CONFLICTS WITH THE DASYUS 33
who worship no gods; and thou hast bent the weapons
of foes who worship no gods.
" Asvins! destroy those who are yelling hideously
like dogs and are coming to destroy us! Slay those
who wish to fight with us! You know the way to
destroy them.
" The far-famed god Indra has raised up the (Ar-
yan) man. Strong, mighty, and triumphant, he has
brought low the head of the malignant Dasa!
" Indra, who slew Vritra and stormed towns, has
destroyed the troops of the black Dasas, and has made
the earth and the water for the (Aryan) man, and
fulfilled the wishes of the sacrifices "
It would seem from numerous passages in the Rig-
Veda that Kutsa was a powerful warrior and a mighty
destroyer of the black aborigines. Thus we are told
that the god Indra, in order to bestow wealth on Kutsa,
slew the " Dasyu, who is wily and impious " ; that
he helped Kutsa and came to his house with the
object of slaying the Dasyu; and that he slew fifty
thousand " black-complexioned enemies ' in battle.
We also learn that Indra made the Dasyus devoid of
all virtues, and the object of hatred of all men; and
that Indra destroyed five hundred and a thousand
Dasas.
We have similar allusions to the subjugation and
destruction of Dasyus or Dasas in other passages, while
there is a curious reference to an unknown region in-
habited by the Dasyus which deserves translation:
"0 ye gods! We have travelled and lost our way
34 WARS AND DISSENSIONS
and come to a region where cattle do not pasture. The
extensive region gives shelter to Dasyus only. O Bri-
haspati! lead us in our search for cattle. O Indra!
show the way to your worshippers who have lost their
way."
We have already mentioned Kuyava and Ayu, two
aboriginal robbers who dwelt in fastnesses surrounded
by rivers, and harassed the Aryan villages. We like-
wise have frequent allusions to another powerful ab-
original leader called Krishna, or Black, probably be-
cause of his black complexion. One of the passages
relating to him is here rendered:
" The fleet Black warrior lived on the banks of
the Ansumati River with ten thousand troops. Indra
of his own wisdom became cognizant of this loud-yelling
chief; he destroyed the marauding host for the benefit
of (Aryan) men.
" Indra said: ' I have seen the fleet Krishna. He
is lurking in the hidden regions near the Ansumati,
like the sun in a cloud. O Maruts! I desire you to
engage in fight and to destroy him.'
" The fleet Black warrior then appeared shining on
the banks of the Ansumati. Indra took Brihaspati
as his ally and destroyed the fleet and godless army."
Not only have the aborigines been described as
howling, yelling, and devoid of a language, but they
are considered scarcely human. We are told in one
place:
" We are surrounded on all sides by Dasyu tribes.
They do not perform sacrifices; they do not believe in
HATRED OF THE ABORIGINES 35
anything; their rites are different; they are not men!
destroyer of foes, kill them! Destroy the Dasa
race! '
Elsewhere Indra proclaims that he deprived the
Dasyu race of the name of Arya; that he destroyed
Navavast T a and Brihadratha of the Dasa race ; and that
AN INDIAN SCENE.
he cut the Dasas in twain" it is for this fate that they
have been born! '
Such were the aborigines with whom the early
Hindus carried on interminable war, and such was the
fate to which they consigned their less civilized neigh-
bours, the primeval owners of the Indian soil ! It is
abundantly evident that no love was lost between the
conquerors and the conquered. It was by ceaseless
fighting that the conquerors protected themselves in
36 WARS AND DISSENSIONS
their newly conquered country, gradually extended the
limits of cultivation, built new villages, threw out new
colonies in primeval jungles, and spread the fame of
their prowess around, and thus Aryan history moves
forward.
On the other hand, the stubborn barbarians had their
revenge. Retreating before the more civilized valour
of the Hindus, they hung about in every fastness and
WOMEN DRAWING WATEB.
every bend of a river, they waylaid and robbed trav-
ellers, harassed villages, killed or stole cattle, and some-
times fell on the Aryans in great hordes. With that
dogged tenacity which is peculiar to barbarians they
disputed every inch of ground as they retreated, they
interrupted the religious rites of the conquerors, de-
spised their gods, and plundered their wealth. But in
spite of every resistance, the colonies of the more civ-
ilized races extended in every direction, the area of
civilization widened, jungles and wastes were brought
THE BATTLE OF THE TEN KINGS 37
under cultivation and dotted with villages and royal
towns, and the kingdoms of the early Hindus extended
over the whole of the Panjab. The barbarians either
were exterminated or retreated before the ever-advan-
cing line of Aryan civilization into those hills and fast-
nesses which their children still inhabit.
It may be imagined, however, that some of the
weaker barbarians preferred subjection to extermina-
tion or exile; and the Rig- Veda contains allusions to
Dasyus who at last owned the domination of the more
powerful race and who adopted their civilization and
their language. These, then, were the first Hinduized
aborigines of India.
On the other hand, the Aryan conquerors were not
always at peace among themselves. Sudas was an
Aryan king, lord of the Tritsu tribe, and a mighty
conqueror. We are frequently told that various Aryan
tribes and kings combined against him, but he was vic-
torious over them all. The allusions to these internecine
wars among Aryan races, and to the particular tribes
who fought against Sudas, especially in the famous bat-
tle known as the Battle of the Ten Kings, are historic-
ally among the most important passages in the Rig-
Veda. The united armies of ten allied kings, aroused
to combat by the priest Visvamitra, who had himself
once been a warrior, met Sudas at the river Ravi (then
called Parushni). Sudas is aided by divine help, in-
voked by his priest Vasishta, and by the river whose
flood sweeps the foe to destruction. The following are
verses from the paean that celebrates the victory:
38 WARS AND DISSENSIONS
" The wily foes planned destruction and broke
down the embankment of the Adina (to cause an inun-
dation). But Sudas filled the earth with his prowess,
and Kavi, the son of Chayamana, fell like a victim.
" For the waters of the river flowed through their
old channel and did not take a new course; and Sudas 's
horse marched over the country. Indra placed the hos-
tile and talkative men and their children under Sudas.
" Sudas earned glory by killing twenty-one men
of both regions. As the young priest cuts the kusa
grass in the house of sacrifice, even so Sudas cut his
enemies. The hero Indra sent the Maruts for his
succour.
" The sixty-six thousand six hundred and sixty-six
warriors of Ami and Druhya, who had desired cattle
and were hostile to Sudas, were laid low. These deeds
proclaim the glory of Indra! '
Another hymn relating to Sudas runs thus:
" Indra and Varuna! Your worshippers, relying
on your help and seeking to win cattle, have marched
eastwards with their weapons. Crush, Indra and Va-
runa, your enemies, whether Dasas or Aryas, and
defend Sudas with your protection.
" Where men raise their banners and meet in battle,
where nothing seems to favour us, where the men look
up to the sky and tremble, there, Indra and Varuna!
help us and speak to us words of comfort.
" O Indra and Varuna! the ends of the earth seem
to be lost, and the noise ascends to the skies! The
troops of the enemy are approaching. O Indra and
A HYMN TO INDRA AND VARUNA 39
Varuna! who ever listen to prayers, come near us with
your protection.
" Indra and Varuna! you pierced the yet unas-
sailed Bheda, and saved Sudas. You listened to the
prayers of the Tritsus. Their priestly vocation bore
fruit in the hour of battle.
" Indra and Varuna! the weapons of the enemy
assail me in all directions, the foes assail me among
marauding men. You are the owners of both kinds of
wealth! Save us in the day of battle.
" Both parties invoked Indra and Varuna for wealth
at the time of war. But in this battle you protected
Sudas with the Tritsus who were attacked by ten kings.
" Indra and Varuna! the ten kings who did not
perform sacrifices were unable, though combined, to
beat Sudas.
" You bestowed vigour, Indra and Varuna, on Sudas,
when surrounded by ten chiefs; when the white-robed
Tritsus, wearing braided hair, worshipped you with
oblations and hymns."
Another remarkable hymn gives an account of the
weapons used in war in those days. We make some
extracts:
" When the battle is nigh and the warrior marches
in his armour, he appears like the cloud! Warrior, let
not thy person be pierced; be victorious; let thy
armour protect thee!
" We will win cattle with the bow, we will win
with the bow; we will conquer the fierce and proud
enemy with the bow! May the bow foil the desires of
40
WARS AND DISSENSIONS
the enemy! We will spread our conquests on all sides
with the bow!
" The string of the bow when pulled approaches
the ear of the archer, making way in battle. It whis-
pers words of consolation to him and with sound it
ANCIENT INDIAN HEAD-DRESS.
(From a Gandbara sculpture.)
clasps the arrow, even as a loving wife clasps her
husband.
" The quiver is like the parent of many arrows; the
many arrows are like its children. It makes a sound
and hangs on the back of the warrior and furnishes
arrows in battle and conquers the enemy.
" The expert charioteer stands on his chariot and
A CORONATION HYMN 41
drives his horses wheresoever he will. The reins re-
strain the horses from behind. Sing of their glory.
" The horses raise the dust with their hoofs and
career over the field with the chariots, with loud neigh-
ings. They do not retreat, but trample the marauding
enemies under their feet.
" The arrow is feathered; the deer (horn) is its
teeth. Well pulled and sent by the cow-leather string,
it falls on the enemy. Wherever men stand together
or are separate, there the shafts reap advantage.
" The leather guard protects the arm from the abra-
sion of the bow-string, and coils round the arm like a
snake in its convolutions. It knows its work, and is
efficient, and protects the warrior in every way.
" We extol the arrow which is poisoned, whose face
is of iron and whose stem is of Parjanya."
Before concluding our extracts, we will make one
more from a hymn about the coronation of victorious
kings. It is commonly regarded as a later hymn, but
it has an interest for the student of history and of
customs.
" king! I place you in the station of a king.
Be the lord of this country! Be immovable and fixed!
Let all your subjects cherish you! Let not your king-
dom be destroyed!
" Eemain here fixed as the mountain; do not be
dethroned! Eemain fixed like Indra and support the
kingdom!
" Indra has received the sacrificial offerings and
supports the newly crowned king! Soma blesses him.
42 WAES AND DISSENSIONS
" The sky is fixed, the earth is fixed, the moun-
tains are fixed, this universe is fixed. He also is fixed
as king among his subjects!
" May King Varuna make you immovable! May
the good Brihaspati make you immovable! May Indra
and Agni support you and make you immovable!
" See, I mix these immortal offerings with the
immortal Soma-juice. Indra has brought your subjects
under your rule, and made them willing to pay you
revenue.'
These extracts are enough. We have elsewhere
shown that the warriors used not only armour and
helmets, but also protecting armour for the shoulder,
probably shields. They used javelins and battle-axes,
and sharp-edged swords, besides bows and arrows. All
the weapons of war known elsewhere in ancient times
were known in India four thousand years ago. Drums
assembled men in battle, banners led them on in com-
pact masses, and the use of war-horses and chariots
was well known; but it does not appear that elephants
were regularly used in war in the Vedic Period, as
they were in the third and fourth centuries before
Christ when the Greeks came to India.
For the rest, it was a turbulent time when the Vedic
warriors lived and fought. They had not only to wage
unceasing war against the aborigines, but the Hindu
states were divided among themselves, and a powerful
leader was often bent on annexing his neighbour's state.
Rishis engaged in sacrifices asked for prowess to conquer
their foes or prayed to the gods for sons who would
VALOUR OF THE EARLY ARYANS 43
win victory in battles. Every able-bodied man was a
warrior and was ever prepared to defend his home
and his fields and his cattle with his strong right arm.
Every Hindu colony or tribe, while attentive to the
worship of the gods and to the cultivation of the vari-
ous arts of peace, was at the same time alive to the
fact that its national existence depended on constant
readiness for war. And the great conglomeration of
Hindu tribes, which spread from the banks of the Indus
to the banks of the Sarasvati, consisted of hardy, brave,
and warlike peoples who maintained their footing in
the land and their independence and national existence
by constant struggles and a determination to win or
die.
CHAPTER VI
SOCIAL LIFE
IT was by such continuous wars against the aborigines
of the soil that the Aryans at last conquered the
whole of the Pan jab from the Indus to the Sarasvati,
and from the mountains probably to the sea. As might
be expected, we have in the Rig- Veda frequent allusions
to the Indus and its five tributaries, especially in the
seventy-fifth hymn of the tenth book, which we trans-
late in full:
" ye streams! The bard celebrates your excellent
prowess in the house of the worshipper. They flow in
three systems, seven streams in each system. The
prowess of the Indus is superior to that of all others.
" Indus! when you ran towards land rich in food,
Varuna opened out the way for you. You flow over
a spacious path on the land. You shine above all
flowing rivers.
" The mighty sound of the Indus ascends above
the earth to the sky! She flows with mighty force
and in radiant form. Her mighty sound is heard as if
rains were descending from the clouds with great noise.
The Indus comes roaring like a bull.
" As cows bring milk to their calves, even thus,
44
A HYMN TO THE KIVERS
45
Indus, the other streams come sounding to you with
their waters! As a king marches with his forces to
battle, even thus you march in front with two systems
of rivers flowing by your side!
" Ganga! Yamuna and Sarasvati and Sutudri
(Sutlaj) and Parushni (Ravi) ! share this my praise
among you! O river combined with Asikni (Chinab)!
SCENE ON AN INDIAN RIVER.
Vitasta (Jihlam)! Arjikiya (Beas), combined
with Sushoma (Indus)! hear my words.
" Indus! first thou flowest united with Trishtama,
then with Susartu and Rasa and the Sveti. You unite
Krumu (Kurum River) and Gomati (Gomal River)
with Kubha (Cabul River) and Mehatnu. You proceed
together with these rivers.
" The irresistible Indus proceeds straight, white
and dazzling in splendour! She is great, and her
waters fill all sides with mighty force. Of all the
flowing rivers, none is flowing like her! She is wild
like a mare, beautiful like a well-developed woman!
46
SOCIAL LIFE
" The Indus is ever young and beautiful. She is
rich in horses, in chariots, and in garments; she is rich
in gold and is beauteously clad! She is rich in corn
and in wool and in straw, and has covered herself with
sweet flowers.
" The Indus has fastened horses to her easy chariot
PRIMITIVE INDIAN BOATS.
and has brought food therein to us. The greatness of
the chariot is extolled as mighty; it is irresistible and
great and rich in its fame! '
The poet in this hymn, as Max Miiller said, takes
in at one swoop three great river-systems, those flowing
from the northwest into the Indus, those joining it from
the northeast, and in the distance the Ganges and the
Jumna with their tributaries. " It shows the widest
WOMEN OF SALSETTB
THE KIVERS OF THE PANJAB 49
geographical horizon of the Vedic poets, confined by
the snowy mountains in the north, the Indus and the
range of the Suleiman Mountains in the west, the Indus
or the sea in the south, and the valley of the Jumna
and Ganges in the east." The hymn has historical
significance, therefore, with regard to the expansion of
the Aryans.
The rivers of the Pan jab are sometimes spoken of
together as the " seven rivers," and in one passage
the seven rivers are said to have the Indus for their
mother and the Sarasvati as the seventh. The Indus
and its five branches still water the primeval home of
the early Hindus, but the Sarasvati, which was the most
sacred of ancient rivers and was worshipped even in
that remote time as a goddess, has since ceased to flow.
Its bed remains visible near Kurukshetra and Thanes-
var, however, and these places are still considered
sacred by the Hindus.
There is one somewhat curious passage in which the
sage Visvamitra, accompanied by chariots and horses
and the booty-seeking host of the Bharatas, finds dif-
ficulty in crossing the confluence of the Bias and the
Sutlaj and pours out an entire hymn to appease the
anger of the roaring flood. The rivers yield to the
honeyed words of the priest and lower their courses so
that the raiding host crosses in safety.
While references to the rivers of the Panjab are
thus frequent, allusions to the Ganges and the Jumna
are rare, the former being mentioned only twice and
the latter three times, but with sufficient clearness to
50 SOCIAL LIFE
show that the Aryans had at least begun to push as far
to the south and east as this territory.
Thus the land of the five rivers was the earliest
home of the Aryan settlers in India, and it would seem
that the settlers in the Panjab gradually formed them-
selves into five tribes or nations, especially as the " five
lands," " five cultivating tribes/' and " five peoples '
are frequently mentioned in the Rig- Veda.
We now turn to the interesting and pleasing subject
of the social and domestic manners and the home life of
these five tribes of the Panjab. The first thing that
strikes us here is the absence of those unhealthy rules
and restrictions, those marked distinctions between man
and man and between class and class, which form the
most unpleasant feature of later Hindu society. We
have already seen that the sturdy Hindus of the Vedic
Period recognized no restrictions against the use of beef,
and that they referred with pride to their merchants'
going to sea. We have seen, too, that the Rishis did
not form a separate and exclusive class and did not
pass their lives apart from the world in penance and
contemplation. On the contrary, the Rishis were prac-
tical men of the world who owned large herds of cattle,
cultivated fields, fought against the aboriginal enemies
in time of war, and prayed to their gods for wealth
and cattle, for victory in war, and for blessings on
their wives and children. Every father of a family was,
in fact, a Rishi on a small scale, and worshipped his
gods in his own house in his own fashion, while the
women of the family joined in the worship and helped
CASTE UNKNOWN IN THE KIG-VEDA 61
in the performance of the ceremonies. Some among
the community were of course prominent in the com-
position of hymns and the performance of great sac-
rifices, and kings and rich men sent for them on great
occasions, and rewarded them handsomely. But even
these great composers these great Rishis of the Rig-
Vedadid not form an exclusive caste of their own.
They were worldly men, who mixed and married with
the people, shared property with the people, fought the
wars of the people, and were of the people; nor is there
a shadow of evidence to prove that they formed a caste
of their own, different from the fighters and cultivators.
Except for the ninetieth hymn of the tenth book, writ-
ten long after the Vedic period, there is not a single
allusion to caste in the entire collection of the Rig-
Veda, composed during six hundred years and more,
and replete with references to the habits and manners
and customs of the people, to agriculture and pasture
and manufacture, to wars against aborigines, to mar-
riage and domestic rules, to the duties and position
of women, to religious observances and to the science
of the time. But if this be negative proof, there is
positive evidence as well, and various passages in the
Rig- Veda show that the caste system did not exist at
the time when the hymns were written and compiled.
The very word varna, which in later Sanskrit denotes
caste, is used in the Rig- Veda to distinguish the Aryans
and the non-Aryans, and nowhere indicates separate
sections in the Aryan community. The word Kshat-
riya, which in later Sanskrit means the military caste,
52 SOCIAL LIFE
is used in the Rig- Veda simply as an adjective which
means strong, and is applied to gods. The word Vipra,
which in later Sanskrit denotes the priestly caste, is
used in the Rig- Veda merely as an adjective which
means wise and which is applied to gods. And the
word Brahmana, which in later Sanskrit connotes also
the priestly caste, is used in a hundred places in the
Rig- Veda to imply the composers of hymns, and nothing
else.
As we have seen, every father of a family was his
own priest, and his home was his temple. There is
no mention of idols in the Rig- Veda, none of temples
or places of worship where the people were to congre-
gate. The sacred fire was lighted in the house of every
householder, and he chanted the hymns which we now
find collected in the Rig- Veda. We have a pleasing
picture of women who assisted at these sacrifices, who
ordered the necessary things, prepared them with pestle
and mortar, extracted the Soma-juice, stirred it with
their fingers, and strained it through a woollen strainer.
In numerous places we find mention of wives that joined
their husbands and performed the sacrifice together with
them, as is shown in the following hymn:
" ye gods! The married couple who prepare ob-
lations together, who purify the Soma-juice and mix
it with milk,
" May they obtain food for their eating and come
united to the sacrifice. May they never have to go in
quest of food.
" They do not make vain promises of offerings to the
DOMESTIC SACRIFICES
53
gods, nor withhold your praise. They worship you with
the best offerings.
" Blest with youthful and adolescent offspring, they
acquire gold, and they
both attain to a ma-
ture age.
" The gods them-
selves covet the wor-
ship of such a couple
who are fond of sacri-
fices, and offer grate-
ful food to the gods."
Still more charm-
ing is the picture of
women who them-
selves acted as Eishis,
and composed hymns
and performed sacri-
fices like men. For
there were no harmful
restrictions placed on
women in those days,
no attempt to keep
them secluded or un-
educated or debarred
from their legitimate place in society. There is men-
tion of veiled wives and brides, but no reference to
the enforced seclusion of women. On the contrary, we
meet them everywhere in their legitimate spheres of
action, taking a share in sacrifices and exercising their
HINDU WOMEN.
From a painting by Edwin Lord Weeks. Copy-
right, 1895, by Harper & Brothers.
64 SOCIAL LIFE
influence on society. We cherish the picture of the
cultured lady Visvavara, which has been handed down
to us through thousands of years a pious woman who
composed hymns, performed sacrifices, and with true
fervency invoked the god Agni to regulate and keep
within virtuous bounds the mutual relations of married
couples. We meet with the names of other women also
who were Eishis of the Rig- Veda.
In Vedic times, the relations of life were determined
by the needs and requirements of individuals rather
than by cast-iron rules, as in later days, and there was
no religious obligation, therefore, that every girl must
be married. On the contrary, we find allusions to un-
married women who remained in the homes of their
fathers and naturally claimed and obtained a share
of the paternal property. On the other hand, we have
frequent references to careful and industrious wives
who superintended the arrangements of the house and
who possessed those domestic virtues for which Hindu
wives have always been noted from the earliest to the
present times. Occasionally we have allusions to
women who went astray, to maidens who had no broth-
ers to watch over their morals, and to wives who
were faithless to their husbands, while elsewhere we
are told of the wife of a ruined gambler who becomes
the object of other men's lust.
It would seem that girls had some voice in the
selection of their husbands. Their selection was not
always happy, for " many a woman is attracted by the
wealth of him who seeks her. But the woman who is
MARRIAGE IN EARLY INDIA
55
of gentle nature and of graceful form selects, among
many, her own loved one as her husband." There
can be no doubt, however, that fathers always exercised
a wise control in the selection of husbands for their
daughters, and, as at the
present day, fathers gave
the maidens away adorned
and decked with golden or-
naments.
The ceremony of mar-
riage was an appropriate
one, and the promises
which the bridegroom and
the bride made to each
other were suitable to the
occasion. It is happily
described in a hymn in the
later portion of the Rig-
Veda, which proves that
the custom of child-mar-
riage was then unknown, and that girls were married
after they had attained their youth. The following
verses from it show the Vedic marriage ritual:
" Visvavasu (god of marriage)! arise from this
place, for the marriage of this girl is over. We extol
Visvavasu with hymns and prostrations.
" Visvavasu! arise from this place. We wor-
ship thee, bending in adoration. Go to an unmarried
maiden whose person is well developed; make her a
wife and unite her to a husband.
NAUTCH GIRL.
56 SOCIAL LIFE
" Let the paths by which our friends go in quest
of a maiden for marriage be easy and free of thorns.
May Aryaman and Bhaga lead us well. gods! may
the husband and wife be well united.
" maiden! the graceful sun had fastened thee
with ties (of maidenhood), we release thee now of those
ties. We place thee with thy husband in a place which
is the home of truth and the abode of righteous actions.
" We release this maiden from this place (her
father's house), but not from that place (her husband's
house). We unite her well with that place. Indra!
may she be fortunate and the mother of worthy sons.
" May Pushan lead thee by the hand from this
place. May the two Asvins lead thee in a chariot. Go
to thy (husband's) house and be the mistress of the
house. Be the mistress of all and exercise thine au-
thority over all in that house.
" Let children be born unto thee, and blessings
attend thee here. Perform the duties of thy household
with care. Unite thy person with the person of this
thy husband; exercise thy authority in this thy house
until old age.
" First Soma accepts thee; then Gandharva accepts
thee; Agni is thy third lord; the child of man is the
fourth to accept thee.
" Soma bestowed this maiden on Gandharva, Gan-
dharva gave her to Agni, Agni has given her to me with
wealth and progeny.
" bridegroom and bride! do ye remain here to-
gether; do not be separated. Enjoy food of various
THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY 57
kinds; remain in your own home and enjoy happiness
in the company of your children and grandchildren.
" (The bride and bridegroom say) May Prajapati
bestow on us children; may Aryaman keep us united
till old age. (Address to the bride) O bride! Enter
with auspicious signs the home of thy husband. Do
good to our male servants and our female servants, and
to our cattle.
" Be thine eyes free from anger; minister to the
happiness of thy husband; do good to our cattle. May
thy mind be cheerful, and may thy beauty be bright.
Be the mother of heroic sons and be devoted to the
gods. Do good to our male servants and our female
servants, and to our cattle.
" Indra! make this woman fortunate and the
mother of worthy sons. Let ten sons be born of her,
so that there may be eleven men in the family with
the husband.
" (Address to the bride) Mayest thou have influence
over thy father-in-law and over thy mother-in-law, and
be as a queen over thy sister-in-law and brother-in-
law."
Polygamy was allowed among kings and the rich
in Vedic times, as it was allowed in olden times in all
countries and among all nations. Domestic dissensions
were the natural result, and we have hymns in the
latter part of the Rig- Veda in which wives curse their
fellow wives. The evil seems, however, to have grown
in the latter part of the Vedic Age, for there are
scarcely any allusions to it in the earlier hymns.
58 SOCIAL LIFE
There are two curious verses which seem to lay
down the law of inheritance and are therefore of pecul-
iar interest. We give a translation of them here:
" The father who has no son honours his son-in-law,
capable of begetting sons, and goes (i. e. leaves his
property) to the son of his daughter. The sonless
father trusts in his daughter's offspring and lives
content.
" A son does not give any of his father's property
to a sister. He gives her away to be the wife of a
husband. If a father and mother beget both son and
daughter, then one (i. e. the son) engages himself in
the acts and duties of his father,, while the other (the
daughter) receives honour."
This is the first germ of the Hindu law of inherit-
ance, which makes the son, and not the daughter, the
inheritor of his father's property and religious duties,
and which allows the property to go to the daughter's
son only in the absence of male issue. We think we
discover the first germs of the Hindu law of adoption,
too, in such passages as the following:
" A son begotten of another may yield us happiness,
but can never be regarded or accepted as one's own.
And verily he ultimately goes back to his own place.
Therefore may a son be newly born unto us who will
bring us food and destroy our foes."
We will now supplement our account of domestic
customs by making some extracts with regard to fu-
neral rites. Yama in the Rig-Veda is the god of the
heaven of the righteous, the god who rewards the vir-
FUNERAL RITES 59
tuous man in a happy land after his death. His two
dogs, however, are objects to be avoided or propitiated.
" thou deceased! proceed to the same place where
our forefathers have gone, by the same path which they
BURNING GHATS.
followed. The two kings, Yama and Varuna, are
pleased with the offerings; go and see them.
" Go to that happy heaven and join the early fore-
fathers. Join Yama and the fruits of thy virtuous
deeds. Leave sin behind, enter thy home.
" ye ghosts! leave this place, go away, move
away! for the forefathers have prepared a place for
the deceased. That place is beautiful with day, with
sparkling waters, and with light; Yama assigns this
place to the dead.
60 SOCIAL LIFE
" thou deceased! these two dogs have four eyes
each, and a strange colour. Go past them quickly.
Then proceed by the beautiful path to those wise fore-
fathers who spend their time in joy and happiness with
Yama."
These verses give us some idea of the belief in future
happiness as it prevailed among the Hindus of the
Vedic Age. The rites of cremation and burial are
alluded to in the following passages:
" fire! do not reduce this deceased to ashes; do
not give him pain. Do not mangle his skin or his
person. fire! send him to the home of our fathers
as soon as his body is burnt in thy heat."
" thou deceased! go to the extended earth who
is as a mother; she is extensive and beautiful. May
her touch be soft as that of wool or of a female. You
have performed sacrifices; may she save thee from
unrighteousness.
" O earth! rise up above him, do not give him pain.
Give him good things, give him consolation. As a
mother covers her child with the hem of her garment,
so cover the deceased.
" Let the earth, raised on him as a mound, lie light.
Let a thousand particles of dust rest on him. Let
them be to him as a house filled with butter, let them
form a shelter to him."
It remains only to allude to one more remarkable
verse of this hymn, the eighteenth in the tenth book,
which distinctly sanctions the marriage of widows:
" Rise up, woman, thou art lying by one whose life
THE ORIGIN OF SUTTEE 61
is gone; come to the world of the living, away from
thy husband, and become the wife of him who holds
thy hand and is willing to marry thee."
It is with pain and regret that we refer to another
passage belonging to the same hymn in the tenth book
from which this last verse is cited. The passage in
question may be thus translated:
" May these women not suffer the pangs of widow-
hood. May they who have good and desirable husbands
enter their houses with collyrium and butter. Let these
women, without shedding tears and without any sor-
row, first proceed to the house, wearing valuable orna-
ments." In itself this verse is perfectly harmless, yet
by the change in it of agre (" first ") to agneh (" of
the fire ") sanction was found in later times for the
institution of suttee, or the burning of the widow on
the pyre of her husband, though in the original form
of the stanza and this cannot be too strongly empha-
sizedthe cruelest of all Hindu institutions finds no
support whatever.
CHAPTER VII
VEDIC RELIGION
THE religion of the Rig- Veda is well known. It was
pre-eminently the worship of nature in its most
imposing and sublime aspects. The sky which bends
over all, the beautiful and blushing dawn which like
a busy housewife wakes men from slumber and sends
them to their work, the gorgeous tropical sun which
vivifies the earth, the air which pervades the world,
the fire which cheers and enlightens man, and the
violent storms which in India usher in those copious
rains which fill the land with plenty these were the
gods whom the early Hindus loved to extol and to wor-
ship. And often when an ancient Rishi sang the praises
of any of the gods, he forgot that there was any other
god besides, and his hymn had the character and the
sublimity of a prayer to the one God of the universe.
Indeed the seers themselves often rose higher than
the level of nature-worship and boldly declared that
the different gods were but different manifestations
or different names of the one Primal Cause.
The sky was naturally the most prominent object
of worship, and as the sky assumes various aspects,
various names were given to it, and the conception
62
THE GODS OF THE SKY 63
of various deities was formed. The oldest is probably
Dyu, but in India he soon lost his place, and the sky
in one of its peculiar functions soon usurped his place.
For in India the annual rise of rivers, the fertility of
land, and the luxuriance of crops depend, not on the
sky which shines above us, but on the sky that rains,
and Indra soon became the first among the Vedic gods.
Another ancient name of the sky was Varuna, the
sky which covered the earth, probably the sky with-
out light, the nightly sky. Both the idea and the name
of Varuna as a god of sky were known to the ancestors
of the Aryan nations before the Indo- Aryans and the
Iranians separated. In that remote period Varuna was
the highest and holiest of the gods, and represented the
spiritual aspect of religion. After the separation had
taken place, this deity of righteousness was translated
in Iran into Ahura Mazda, the supreme deity, while
to the Hindu Varuna the Vedic bard sang:
" O Varuna! the birds that fly have not attained
thy power or thy vigour; the water which flows cease-
lessly and the moving wind do not surpass thy speed.
" King Varuna of unsullied power remains in the
firmament and holds on high the rays of light.
" King Varuna has spread out the path for the
course of the sun. He has made the path for the sun
to traverse in pathless space.
" O King Varuna! a hundred and a thousand medi-
cinal drugs are thine; may thy beneficence be vast and
deep. Keep unrighteousness away from us, deliver us
from the sins we have committed.
64 VEDIC RELIGION
" Yonder stars which are placed on high and are
seen by night where do they go by day? The acts
of Varuna are irresistible; the moon shines brightly
by his mandate."
Elsewhere, in more ethical strain, the poet prays
forgiveness for his sins:
" O Varuna! with an anxious heart I ask thee about
my sins. I have gone to learned men to make inquiry;
the sages have all said to me, ' Varuna is displeased
with thee.'
" O Varuna! what have I done that thou wishest
to destroy thy friend, thy worshipper? thou of irre-
sistible power, declare it to me, so that I may quickly
bend in adoration and come unto thee.
" O Varuna! deliver us from the sins of our fathers.
Deliver us from the sins committed in our persons.
royal Varuna! deliver Vasishtha, like a calf from its
tether, like a thief who has feasted on a stolen animal.
" Varuna! all this sin is not wilfully committed
by us. Error or wine, anger or dice, or even thought-
lessness, has begotten sin. Even an elder brother leads
his younger astray; sin is begotten even in our dreams.
" Freed from sin, I will faithfully serve, as a slave,
the Varuna who fulfils our wishes and supports us. We
are ignorant, may the Arya god bestow on us knowl-
edge. May the wise deity accept our prayer and bestow
on us wealth."
Still more poignant is the entreaty:
" O King Varuna! may I never go to the earthen
home! thou of great power! have mercy, have mercy!
HYMNS TO THE GOD VARUNA 65
" Varuna with thy weapons! I come trembling
even like a cloud driven by the wind. O thou of great
power! have mercy, have mercy!
" O rich and pure Varuna! I have been driven
against righteous acts through weakness. thou of
great power! have mercy, have mercy!
" Thy worshipper hath thirsted even when living
in water. O thou of great power! have mercy, have
mercy!
" O Varuna! we are mortals. In whatever way
we have sinned against gods, in whatever manner we
have through ignorance neglected thy work do not
destroy us for these sins."
Despite the sanctity invariably ascribed to Varuna,
however, he was less popular than Indra, who is pecul-
iarly Indian and is unknown to other Aryan nations.
One of the most famous legends about Indra, prob-
ably the most famous legend in the Aryan world, is
the myth of his destruction of the demon Vritra, who
confined the waters and would not let them descend
until Indra struck the monster with his thunderbolt.
The captive waters then descended in copious showers,
rivers rose almost instantaneously, and gods and men
rejoiced over the changed face of nature. The Maruts,
or storm-gods, helped Indra in the battle; sky and
earth trembled at the noise. Vritra long waged an un-
equal combat, only to fall and die at last the drought
was over, and the rains began. Many are the hymns
in the Rig- Veda which recount this conflict, but here we
have space to cite only one:
66 VEDIC RELIGION
" We sing the heroic deeds which were performed
by Indra the thunderer. He destroyed Ahi (the cloud-
serpent) and caused rains to descend and opened out
the paths for the mountain streams to roll.
" Indra slew Ahi, who rested on the mountains;
Tvashtri had made the far-reaching thunderbolt for
him. Water in torrents flowed towards the sea, as cows
run eagerly towards their calves.
" Impetuous as a bull, Indra quaffed the Soma-juiee;
he drank the Sorna libations offered in the three sac-
A SCENE IN THE HIMALAYAS.
rifices. He then took the thunderbolt and therewith
slew the eldest of the Ahis.
" When you killed the eldest of the Ahis, you des-
troyed the contrivances of the artful contrivers. You
cleared the sun and the morning and the sky, and left
no enemies behind.
" Indra with his all-destructive thunderbolt slew
the darkling Vritra (cloud) and lopped his limbs. Ahi
now lies touching the earth like the trunk of a tree
felled by the axe.
" The proud Vritra thought that he had no equal j
and defied the destroyer and conqueror Indra to com-
INDKA'S CONFLICT WITH VKLTRA 67
bat. But he did not escape destruction, and Indra's foe
fell, crushing the clouds in his fall.
" Glad waters are bounding over the prostrate body
as rivers flow over fallen banks. Vritra when alive had
withheld the water by his power; Ahi now lies pros-
trate under that water.
" The prostrate body lies concealed and nameless
under ceaseless and restless waters, and the waters
flow above. Indra's foe sleeps the long sleep."
It would be easy to multiply such legends, but our
limits forbid such a course. We will therefore only
make a passing mention of the legend of the recovery
of light by Indra after the darkness of night. The rays
of light are compared to cattle which have been stolen
by the powers of darkness, and Indra seeks for them
in vain. He sends his messenger Sarama (probably
the dawn) after them, and she finds the fortress where
the Panis, or powers of darkness, have concealed the
cattle. The Panis try to tempt Sarama, but in vain.
She returns to Indra, and Indra marches with his
forces, destroys the fort, and recovers the cattle; dark-
ness is gone, and the day has dawned. The legend is
related in its fullest form in the following hymn:
The Panis say:" O Sarama! why hast thou come
here? It is a long distance. He who looks back can-
not come this way. What have we with us for which
thou hast come? How long hast thou travelled? How
didst thou cross the Rasa? '
Sarama replies:"! come as the messenger of
Indra. Panis! it is my object to recover the abundant
68 VEDIC RELIGION
cattle which you have hidden. The water has helped
me; the water felt a fear at my crossing, and thus I
crossed the Rasa."
Panis. " What is that Indra like, whose messenger
thou art and for whom thou hast come from a long
distance? How does he look?
(To one another) Let her
come, we will own her as a
friend. Let her take and own
our cows."
Sarama. " I do not see
any one who can conquer the
Indra whose messenger I am
and for whom I have come
From a modern Hindu drawing. f rOm a long distance. It is he
who conquers everybody. The deep rivers cannot re-
strain his course. Panis! you will surely be slain
by Indra and will lie down."
Panis. " beautiful Sarama! thou hast come from
the farthest ends of the sky; we will give thee without
any dispute these cows as thou desirest. Who else
would have given the cattle without a dispute? We
have many sharp weapons with us."
Panis. " Sarama! thou hast come here because
the god threatened thee and sent thee here. We will
accept thee as a sister; do not return. O beautiful
Sarama! we will give thee a share of these cows."
Sarama. " I do not comprehend your words about
brothers and sisters. Indra and the powerful sons of
Angiras know all. They sent me here to guard the cattle
JNDRA A^D MINOE GODS 69
until its recovery. I have come here under their shelter.
Panis! run away far, far from here."
Indra is, in fact, the most vigorous of the Vedic
gods, fond of Soma wine, delighting in war, leading
his comrades, the Maruts, to fight against drought, lead-
ing hosts of the Aryans against the black aborigines,
and helping them to win the most fertile spots along
the five rivers of the Panjab. The sky and earth gave
him birth as a cudgel for their enemies, but when the
child went to his mother Aditi for food, he saw Soma
wine on her breast and thus drank Soma before he
drank his mother's milk.
We now turn to a group of deities who have a more
distinctly solar character, some of whom are classed
together under the common name of Adityas, or sons
of Aditi, the undivided, the unlimited, the eternal.
There is much confusion in the Rig- Veda as to who
the Adityas are the sons of this celestial light. Some
lists name Aryaman, Bhaga, Daksha, Ansa, Varuna, and
Mitra, while elsewhere the Adityas are said to be seven
in number, but are not named. We have already seen
that Indra is called a son of Aditi. Savitri, the sun,
is often described as an Aditya, and so are Pushan and
Vishnu, who are also different names of the sun. When,
in course of time, the year was divided into twelve
months, the number of the Adityas was fixed at twelve,
and they became the suns of the twelve months.
Surya and Savitri are the most common names of
the sun in the Rig- Veda, and commentators draw a
distinction between Savitri, the rising or the unrisen
70
VEDIC RELIGION
sun, and Surya, the bright sun of day. The golden rays
of the sun were naturally compared with arms, until
a story found its place in Hindu mythology that Savitri
lost his arm at a sacrifice and that it was replaced by
a golden arm.
The only extract we will make from the hymns to
the sun will be that most
celebrated of the many
stanzas in the Rig-Veda,
the Gayatri, or the morn-
ing hymn of the later
Brahmans. It is found
in the third book and
runs as follows:
Tat savitur varenyam
Bhargo devasya dhimahi
Dhiyo yo nah prachodayat.
" We meditate on the
desirable light of the
divine Savitri who influ-
ences our pious rites."
Piishan is the sun as viewed by shepherds in their
wanderings in quest of fresh pasture-lands, and the
hymns in his honour are all pastoral in their tone. He
travels in a chariot yoked with goats, guides men and
cattle in their travels and migrations, and knows and
protects the flocks. Vishnu has obtained such a prom-
inent place as the Supreme Deity in later Hinduism
that there is a natural reluctance among orthodox mod-
THE SUN AND FIKE AS GODS 71
ern Hindus to accept him in his Vedic character as
a mere sun-god. Yet such he is in the Rig- Veda, and
he is a very humble deity in the Vedic pantheon, far
below Indra or Varuna, Savitri or Agni. It was not
till the Puranic times, long after the Christian Era, that
Vishnu was considered a Supreme Deity. In the Veda,
Vishnu is said to traverse space in three steps, and
A LATE CONCEPTION OF VISHNU.
From Moor's Hindu Pantheon.
is thus to be identified with the sun at dawn, at noon,
and at sunset.
Fire was an object of worship in ancient India,
where sacrificial fire received the highest regard. As
no sacrifice could be performed without fire, Agni, or
fire, was called the invoker of the gods. So high was
the esteem in which fire was held among the gods of
the Rig- Veda, that when the ancient commentator
Yaska tried to reduce the number of the Vedic gods
to three, he named Agni, or fire, as the god of the
earth, Indra or Vayu as the god of the firmament, and
the Sun as the god of the sky.
72 VEDIC RELIGION
But Agni is not only the terrestrial fire in the Rig-
Veda; he is also the fire of the lightning and the sun,
and his abode is the invisible heaven. The Bhrigus dis-
covered him there, Matarisvan brought him down, and
Atharvan and Angiras, the first
sacrificers, first installed him in
this world as the protector of
men.
Vayu, or the air, has re-
ceived less consideration from
the Vedic bards, and there are
but few hymns assigned to
"him. But the Maruts, or the
storm-gods, are oftener invoked, probably because they
inspired more terror; and they are considered as the
companions of Indra in obtaining rain from the reluctant
clouds. The earth trembles as they move in their deer-
yoked chariots, and men see the flashing of their arms
or the sparkle of their ornaments, the lightning. Yet
they are benevolent, and they milk from the udder of
their mother Prisni (the storm-cloud) copious showers
for the benefit of man.
Rudra, a storm deity, is the father of the Maruts.
Like Vishnu, he is a humble deity in the Rig- Veda,
and only a few hymns are assigned to him. But like
Vishnu,' Rudra has attained prominence in later times,
and is one of the Hindu Trinity of the Puranic religion,
a portion of the Supreme.
Another god who has also changed his character in
the Puranas (and very much for the worse!) is Yama,
I
YAMA, GOD OF THE DEAD 73
the king of the dead. Whatever the original conception
of Yama may be, there is no doubt that in the Rig- Veda
he is the king of the departed and the beneficent king
of the happy world where the virtuous live and enjoy
themselves in after-life. Clothed in a glorious body,
they sit by the side of Yama in the realms of light and
sparkling waters, they enjoy endless felicity there, and
are adored here below under the name of Pitris, or
fathers. In the Puranas, on the other hand, Yama,
later called the child of the Sun, is the stern avenger
of sin and the god of death and hell. The older con-
ception of Yama, whom the Rig- Veda regards as the off-
spring of Vivasvat (the rising sun) and Saranyu (the
dawn), may be illustrated by the stanzas:
" Worship Yama, the son of Vivasvat, with offerings.
All men go to him. He takes men of virtuous deeds
to the realm of happiness. He clears the way for
many.
" Yama first discovered the path for us. That path
will not be destroyed again. All living beings will,
according to their acts, follow by the path by which
our forefathers have gone."
As a more complete allusion to the future life we
may quote here another passage from a hymn to Soma,
the juice of a plant made into wine and used as liba-
tion in sacrifices:
" flowing Soma! take me to that immortal and
imperishable abode where light dwells eternal, and
which is in heaven. Flow, Soma, for Indra.
" Take me where Yama is king, where there are
74 VEDIC RELIGION
the gates of heaven, and where mighty rivers flow.
Take me there and make me immortal. Flow, Soma,
for Indra.
" Take me where there is the third heaven, where
there is the third realm of light above the sky, and
where one can wander at his will. Take me there and
make me immortal. Flow, Soma, for Indra.
" Take me where every desire is satiated, where
Bradhna has his abode, where there is food and con-
tentment. Take me there and make me immortal.
Flow, Soma, for Indra.
" Take me where there are pleasures and joys
and delights, where every desire of the anxious heart
is satiated. Take me there and make me immortal.
Flow, Soma, for Indra."
In addition to Yama and his twin sister, Yami,
Vivasvat and Saranyu had another pair of twins, the
Asvins, who appear in the Rig- Veda as great physi-
cians, healers of the sick and the wounded, and tending
many persons with kindness. Long lists of the kind
acts of the Asvins are given in several hymns, and the
same cures are spoken of over and over again. On
their three-wheeled chariot they make the circuit of
the world day by day and succour men in their distress.
Brihaspati, or Brahmanaspati, is the lord of hymns,
brahma in the Rig-Veda meaning hymn. The concep-
tion of this deity arose in much the same way as the
conception of the deities Fire and Soma. As there is
power in the flame and the libation of the sacrifice,
so there is power in the prayer uttered; and this power
BRAHMA AND THE GODDESS OF DAWN 76
of prayer is personified in the Vedic god Brahmanas-
pati.
He was a humble god in the Rig- Veda, but in the
course of centuries the thinkers of the Upanishads con-
ceived of a Supreme Universal Being and gave him
the Vedic name Brahma; and when at last Puranic
Hinduism supplanted Buddhism in India, the Puranic
thinkers gave the name of Brahma to the Supreme
Creator of the Universe.
These are the important gods of the Rig^Veda. Of
the goddesses there are only two who have any marked
individuality, Ushas, the dawn, and Sarasvati, the god-
dess of the river of that name, who afterwards became
the goddess of flowing speech.
There is no loveh'er conception in the Rig- Veda than
that of the dawn. There are no hymns in the Veda
more truly poetical than those dedicated to her, and
nothing more charming is to be found in the lyrical
poetry of any ancient nation, though here we can make
room for only a single extract:
" She, the young, the white-robed daughter of the
sky, the mistress of all earthly treasure, dawns upon
us, dissipating darkness! Auspicious Ushas! shine
upon us to-day on this spot.
" Following the path of mornings that have passed,
to be followed by endless mornings to come, bright
Ushas dispels darkness and awakens to life all beings,
unconscious like the dead in sleep.
" How long have the Dawns risen? How long will
the Dawns arise? The present morning pursues those
76 VEDIC RELIGION
that are gone, future mornings will pursue this re-
splendent Ushas.
" Mortals who beheld the pristine Ushas have passed
away; we behold her now; and men will come after
us who will behold Ushas in the future."
Sarasvati, as her name implies, is the goddess of
the river of that name, which was considered holy
because of the religious rites performed on its banks
and the sacred hymns uttered there. By a natural de-
velopment of ideas, she was considered the goddess of
those hymns, or in other words the goddess of speech,
in which character she is worshipped now. She is the
only Vedic goddess whose worship continues in India
to the present day; all her modern companions, Durga,
Kali, Lakshmi, and others, are creations of a later day.
There are no indications in the Eig-Veda of any
" temples reared by mortal hands " and consecrated as
places of worship. On the contrary, every householder,
every patriarch of his family, lighted the sacrificial fire
in his own home and poured libations of the Soma-
juice and prayed to the gods for happiness to his fam-
ily, for abundant crops and wealth and cattle, for im-
munity from sickness, and for victory over the black
aborigines. There was no separate priestly caste, and
men did not retire into forests and subject themselves
to penances in order to meditate on religion and chant
these hymns. On the contrary, the old Eishis were
worldly men, men with considerable property in crops
and in cattle and surrounded by large families, men
who in times of danger exchanged the plough for the
Reciting the Sacred Texts at Benares
As comparatively feu 1 of the orthodox Hindus arc able to read, they
are dependent for a knozvlcdge of the sacred texts on the pandits, or
scholars, who choose suitable spots on the banks of the Ganges and
there repeat the hallowed words to those that assemble about them to
listen with devotion to their recitation.
RISE OF THE PRIESTS
77
spear and the sword, and defended against the black
barbarians those blessings of civilization which they
solicited from their gods and secured with so much
care.
But though each householder was himself the priest,
the warrior, and the cultivator, yet we find evidence
of kings performing
rites on a large scale
by help of men spe-
cially proficient in
the chanting of the
hymns and in other
religious rites and
specially engaged
and paid for the
purpose. And as we
go towards the later
hymns of the Rig-
Veda, we find this
class of professional
priests gaining in
reputation and in
wealth, honoured by
KALI AS WORSHIPPED TO-DAT.
Chiefs and kinffS Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, New York.
and rewarded by princely gifts of cattle and chariots.
We find mention of particular families specially pro-
ficient in the performance of religious rites and cere-
monies and in the composition of hymns, and it is more
than probable that the existing hymns of the Rig-Veda
were composed by members of these families and were
78 VEDIC RELIGION
traditionally learnt by rote and preserved in those fam-
ilies.
It is to these and other venerable houses that the
Aryan world owes the preservation of the most ancient
compositions of the Aryan race. From century to cen-
tury the hymns were handed down without break or
intermission, and the youths of the priestly houses
spent the prime of their life in learning by rote the
sacred songs from the lips of their gray-headed sires.
It was thus that the inestimable treasure, the Rig- Veda,
was preserved for hundreds of years.
In course of time the priests boldly grappled with
the deeper mysteries of nature, they speculated about
creation and about the future world, and they resolved
the nature-gods into the Supreme Deity.
" That all- wise Father saw clearly, and after due
reflection created the sky and the earth in their watery
form and touching each other. When their boundaries
were stretched afar, then the sky and the earth became
separated.
" He who is the Creator of all is great; he creates
and supports all, he is above all and sees all. He is
beyond the seat of the seven Rishis. So the wise men
say, and the wise men obtain fulfilment of all their
desires.
" He who has given us life, he who is the Creator,
he who knows all the places in this universe he is
one, although he bears the names of many gods. Other
beings wish to know of him.
" You cannot comprehend him who has created all
HYMNS OF CEEATION 79
this; he is incomprehensible to your mind. People
make guesses, being shrouded in a mist; they take
their food for the support of their life and utter hymns
and wander about. "
This sublime hymn teaches us in unmistakable
words that the different Vedic gods are but different
names of the one incomprehensible Deity. We quote
another such hymn:
" At that time what is, was not, and what is not,
was not. The earth was not, and the far-stretching
sky was not. What was there that covered? Which
place was assigned to what object? Did the inviolate
and deep water exist?
" At that time death was not, nor immortality; the
distinction between day and night was not. There was
only One who lived and breathed without the help of
air, supported by himself. Nothing was, excepting
Him.
" At first darkness was covered in darkness. All
was without demarcation; all was of watery form. The
world that was a void was covered by what did not
exist and was produced by meditation.
" Desire arose in the mind, the cause of creation was
thus produced. Wise men reflect and in their wisdom
ascertain the birth of what is from what is not.
" Males with generating seed were produced, and
powers were also produced. Their rays extended on
both sides and below and above, a self-supporting prin-
ciple beneath, an energy aloft.
"Who knows truly? Who will describe? When
80 VEDIC RELIGION
was all born? Whence were all these created? The
gods have been made after the creation. Who knows
whence they were made?
" Whence all these were created, from whom they
came, whether any one created them or did not create,
is known only to Him who lives as Lord in the highest
place. If He knows not (no one* else knows)/'
We will quote here one more hymn, which shows
how the later Rishis soared beyond the conception of
the nature-gods to the sublime idea of One Deity:
" In the beginning the Golden Child existed. He
was the Lord of all from his birth. He placed this
earth and sky in their respective places. Whom shall
we worship with offerings?
" Him who has given life and strength, whose will
is obeyed by all the gods, whose shadow is immortal-
ity and whose slave is death. Whom shall we worship
with offerings?
" Him who by his power is the sole king of all the
living beings that see and move; him who is the Lord
of all bipeds and quadrupeds. Whom shall we wor-
ship with offerings?
" Him by whose power these snowy mountains have
been made, and whose creations are this earth and
its oceans. Him whose arms are these quarters of
space. Whom shall we worship with offerings?
" Him who has fixed in their places this sky and
this earth; him who has established the heavens and
the highest heaven; him who has measured the firma-
ment. Whom shall we worship with offerings?
THE UNKNOWN GOD 81
" Him by whom the sounding sky and earth have
been fixed and expanded; him whom the resplendent
sky and earth own as Almighty; him by whose support
the sun rises and gains its lustre. Whom shall we wor-
ship with offerings?
" Mighty waters pervaded the universe, they held
in their womb and gave birth to fire. The One Being,
who is the life of the gods, appeared. Whom shall we
worship with offerings?
" He who by his own prowess controlled the waters
which gave birth to energy, he who is the Lord above
all gods, he was One. Whom shall we worship with
offerings?
" He, the True, who is the creator of this earth,
who is the creator of the sky, who is the creator of
the glad and mighty waters may he not do us harm!
Whom shall we worship with offerings?
11 Lord of creatures! None but thee has pro-
duced all these created things. May the object with
which we worship be fulfilled! May we acquire wealth
and happiness! '
Thus the religion of the Rig- Veda ascends from
nature up to nature's God. The worshipper appre-
ciates the glorious phenomena of nature, and rises
from these phenomena to grasp the mysteries of crea-
tion and its great Creator.
CHAPTER VIII
THE BRAHMANIC PERIOD AND LITERATURE
WHEN once the Aryan Hindus had reached the
Sutlaj, they lost but little time in crossing it and
hastening to the valley of the Ganges, so that, in the
course of centuries, the entire region as far as the mod-
ern Tirhut was the seat of powerful kingdoms and na-
tionalities, who cultivated science and literature in their
schools and developed new forms of religion and of
civilization widely different from those of the Vedic
Period.
Among the nations who flourished in the Ganges
valley and left their names in the epic literature of
India, the most renowned are the Kurus, who had their
kingdom near the modern Delhi; the Panchalas, who
settled farther to the southeast, near the present
Kanauj; the Kosalas, who occupied the land between
the Ganges and the Gandak, or Gunduck, which includes
the modern Oudh; the Videhas, who lived beyond the
Gandak, in what is now known as Tirhut; and the Kasis,
who settled about the modern Benares. These were the
most renowned nations of the second period, though
other less powerful nationalities also flourished and
extended their kingdoms from time to time.
82
A View of the Ganges
From early ages the Ganges has been the sacred river of India, and its
ti'atcrs arc as hallowed as those of the Jordan or the well of Zemsem.
Such miraculous powers are ascribed to this stream, that, according to
Hindu tradition, those who die immersed in its i^aters attain hear en ly
bliss.
DECADENCE OF ARYAN VALOUR 83
When the Kurus and Panchalas entered the Doab,
they gave indications of a vigorous national life, and
their internecine wars form the subject of the first
National Epic of India, the Mahabharata. And al-
though this work, in its present shape, is the production
of a later age, it preserves indications of that rude
and sturdy vigour and the warlike jealousy which char-
acterized the early conquerors of the Ganges Valley.
The Hindus did not, however, live many centuries in
the soft climate of this valley before declining in prow-
ess as they gained in learning and civilization. The
royal courts of the Videhas and the Kasis were learned
and enlightened, but contemporary literature does not
bear witness to their warlike qualities. The Kosalas,
too, were a polished nation, but their traditions, pre-
served in the second National Epic of India, the Rama-
yana (in its present form a production of later ages),
show devotion to social and domestic duties, obedience
to priests, and regard for religious forms, rather than
the sturdy valour and the fiery jealousies of the Ma-
habharata.
This gradual enervation of the Hindus was the cause
A
of most important changes in religious and social
rules. Eeligion changed its spirit. The hymns with
which the conquerors of the Pan jab had invoked the
nature-gods scarcely commended themselves to the more
effete and more ceremonious Hindus of the Ganges
valley. The hymns were still repeated, but lost their
meaning and sense, and ceremonials and observances
took the place of simple forms. The priestly class in-
84
THE BRAHMANIC PERIOD AND LITERATURE
creased in number and in influence, until they formed
a hereditary caste of their own. The kings and war-
riors of the valley of the Ganges lived in more splendid
courts, and had more gorgeous surroundings than the
warriors of the Panjab, and soon separated themselves
from the people and formed
a caste of their own. The
mass of the people the
Vaisyas or Visas of the Rig-
Vedabecame more feeble
than their forefathers in the
Panjab, and wore, without
a protest, the chains which
priests and warriors the
Brahmans and the Kshat-
riy as threw around them.
'And lastly, the aborigines
who were subjugated and
had adopted the Aryan civ-
ilization formed the low caste of Sudras and were de-
clared unfit to perform the Aryan religious rites or to
acquire religious knowledge.
Such was the origin of the caste system in India,
in the second period of Hindu history. The system
arose out of weakness and lifelessness among the peo-
ple, and, to a certain extent, it has perpetuated that
weakness ever since. At the close of the period, how-
ever, there appears to have been a reaction, and the
Kshatriyas at last tried to prove their equality with
the Brahmans in learning and religious culture. Wea-
TTPK OF THE SUDRA CASTE.
OEIGIN OF THE CASTE SYSTEM 86
ried with the rituals and ceremonials prescribed by
priests, the Kshatriyas started new speculations and
bold inquiries after the truth. The efforts were unavail-
ing. The priests remained supreme. But the vigorous
speculations which the Kshatriyas began are the only
redeeming portion of the literature of this period and
form the nucleus of the Hindu philosophical systems
and religious revolutions of a later day.
It was in this period of Aryan expansion in the
Granges valley that the Rig- Veda and the three other
Vedas Sanaa, Yajur, and Atharva were finally ar-
ranged and compiled. Then followed another class of
compositions known as the Brdhmanas, and devoted to
sacrificial rites. The custom of retirement from the
world into forest life, which was unknown in the earlier
ages, then sprang up, and the last portions of the
Brahmanas are Aranyakas devoted to forest rites. And
lastly, the bold speculations started by the Kshatriyas
are known as the Upanishads and form the last por-
tions of he literature of this period, even as they close
the so-called Revealed Literature of India formed by
the Rig- Veda of the previous period and by the Brah-
manas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads, which were writ-
ten approximately between 1400 and 800 B. c. and
which form the literature of the Brahmanic age. This
literature alludes constantly to the deeds of the Kurus,
the Panchalas, the Kosalas, and the Videhas living in
the valley of the Ganges, but it was impossible in the
nature of things that hymns like those of the Rig-
Veda should be composed after the Hindus had achieved
86 THE BRAHMANTC PEEIOD AND LITERATURE
the elaborate civilization and adopted the pompous
religious rites of the Brahmanic and Epic Period. Nat-
ural phenomena no longer excited the wonder and relig-
ious admiration of the cultured and somewhat artificial
Aryans of the Ganges valley engaged in solemn rites
and elaborate sacrifices. The fervent prayer to the
rain-god Indra and the loving address to the dawn-god-
dess Ushas were almost impossible. The very import
and object of the old simple hymns were forgotten,
and sacrifices of various descriptions, from simple
morning and evening libations to elaborate royal sac-
rifices lasting for many years, formed the essence
of the later religion. The rules of the sacrifices, the
import and object of every minute rite, the regulations
for each insignificant observance these constituted
the religion of the people, these formed the subjects
of discussion between learned kings and royal priests,
these formed the bulk of the Brahmana literature.
It was during such a period that the hymns of the
Rig-Veda, written in the previous epoch, were com-
piled, and the same age saw the redaction of the other
three Vedas known as the Sama-Veda, the Yajur-Veda
(White and Black), and the Atharva-Veda. The rea-
sons which led to the compilation of the Sama-Veda
and the Yajur-Veda have been ascertained with a fair
degree of certainty. We find mentioned in the hymns
of the Rig- Veda different classes of priests who per-
formed different duties at sacrifices. The Adhvaryus
were entrusted with the material performance of sac-
rifice. They measured the ground, built the altar, pre-
DUTIES OF THE PRIESTS
87
pared the sacrificial vessels, fetched wood and water,
and immolated animals. The Udgatris, on the other
hand, were entrusted with the duty of singing, as ac-
cording to ancient custom some parts of the sacrifice
had to be accompanied by songs. The Hotris had to
i i
SACRIFICIAL IMPLEMENTS USED IN THE FUNERAL BITES.
recite hymns. And lastly, the Brahmans presided at
sacrifices over all the rest.
Of these four classes of priests, neither the Brah-
man nor the Hotri required any special manual. The
Brahman was required to know the entire ceremonial,
to be able to superintend the performance of the sacri-
88
THE BRAHMANIC PERIOD AND LITERATURE
fice, to advise the other priests on doubtful points, and
to correct their mistakes. The Hotri had simply to
recite, and if he knew the hymns of the Eig-Veda,
he did not require any separate compilation. But the
duties of the Adhvaryu and the Udgatri required spe-
cial training. Special sacrificial formulas must have
UTENSILS FOR RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES.
existed for the former, and a stock of the Rig- Veda
hymns, set to music, must also have existed for the
latter in the Vedic Period, for we find the names Yajur
and Sama in the Rig- Veda hymns. These formulas
and chants were, however, separately collected and com-
piled at a later age, and these separate compilations,
in their final form, are the Yajur- Veda and the Sama-
Veda as we now have them.
THE YAJUR-VEDA AND THE SAMA-VEDA 89
All the verses of the latter Veda, with the exception
of a few, are to be found in the Kig-Veda, and it is
supposed that these verses, too, must have been con-
tained in some other recension of the Rig- Veda now
lost to us. It is clear, therefore, that the Sanaa- Veda
is only a selection from the Eig-Veda set to music for
a special purpose.
Of the actual compilers of the Yajur-Veda, on the
other hand, we have some information. The more
ancient, or Black, Yajur-Veda is called the Taittiriya
Samhita, from Tittiri, who probably compiled or pro-
mulgated it in its present shape, although in the Anu-
kramani of the Atreya recension of this Veda we are
told that it was handed down by Vaisampayana to
Yaska Paingi, by Yaska to Tittiri, by Tittiri to Ukha,
and by Ukha to Atreya, which would imply that the
existing oldest recension of the Yajur-Veda was not the
first redaction.
We have fuller information with regard to the more
recent White Yajur-Veda. It is called the Vaja-
saneyi Samhita, from Yajnavalkya Vajasaneya, who
held the influential position of chief priest in the court
of Janaka, king of the Videhas, so that the promulga-
tion of this new Veda probably proceeded from his
royal master's court.
There is a striking difference in arrangement be-
tween the White Yajur-Veda and the Black Yajur-
Veda. In the latter, the sacrificial formulas are fol-
lowed by dogmatic explanations, and by accounts of
ceremonials belonging to them. In the former, the
90 THE BRAHMANIC PERIOD AND LITERATURE
formulas are found only in the Samhita, the explanation
and the ritual being assigned to the Brahmana. It is
not improbable, as has been supposed, that it was to
improve the old arrangement and to separate the
exegetic matter from the formulas, that Yajnavalkya
founded the new school known as the Vajasaneyins, and
that their labours resulted in a new (Vajasaneyi) Sam-
hita and an entirely separate (Satapatha) Brahmana.
But although the promulgation of the White Yajur-
Veda is ascribed to Yajnavalkya, a glance at its con-
tents will show that it is not the compilation of any
one man or even of one age. Of its forty chapters only
the first eighteen are cited in full and explained in due
order in the first nine books of the Satapatha Brah-
mana, and it is 'the formulas of these eighteen chapters
alone which are found in the older Black Yajur-Veda.
These chapters are, therefore, the oldest portion of the
White Yajur-Veda, and may have been compiled or
promulgated by Yajnavalkya Vajasaneya. The next
seven chapters are probably a later addition, while the
remaining fifteen chapters are undoubtedly a still later
accretion, and are expressly called Parisishta or Khila
(" supplement ").
Of the Atharva-Veda, we need only state that it was
not generally recognized as a Veda till long after the
period of which we are speaking, though a class of lit-
erature known as the Atharvangiras was growing up
during the Brahmanic Period, and is alluded to in the
later portions of some of the Brahmanas. Throughout
the first three periods of Hindu history, and even in
THE ATHARVA -VEDA 91
Manu and other metrical codes, three Vedas are gen-
erally recognized. And although the claims of the
Atharva were sometimes put forward, still the work
was not generally recognized as a fourth Veda till long
after the Christian Era. It is only in the Brahmana
and Upanishads of the Atharva- Veda itself that we
find a uniform recognition of this work as a Veda. It
is divided into twenty books, and contains nearly six
thousand verses, although a sixth of the collection is
in prose. Another sixth is taken from the hymns of
the Eig-Veda, mostly from the tenth book. The nine-
teenth book is a kind of supplement to the previous
eighteen, while the twentieth book is made up of ex-
tracts from the Eig-Veda.
The Atharva- Veda consists for the most part of
formulas intended to protect men against the baneful
influences of divine powers, against diseases, noxious
animals, and curses of enemies. It knows a host of
imps and goblins, and offers homage to them to prevent
them from doing harm. The hymns are supposed to
bring from the unwilling hands of gods the favours
that are wanted. Incantations calculated to procure
long life or wealth or recovery from illness, and invo-
cations for good luck in journeys, in gambling, and in
intrigue, fill the work. These hymns resemble similar
hymns in the last book of the Eig-Veda, except that
in the Eig-Veda they are apparently additions made at
the time of the compilation, while in the Atharva-Veda
they are the natural utterance of the present.
We must now hasten to an account of the compo-
92
sitions called Brahmanas. We have seen that in the
Black Yajur-Veda the texts are, as a rule, followed
by their dogmatic explanations. These explanations
were supposed to elucidate the texts and to explain
their hidden meanings, and they contain the specu-
lations of generations of priests. A single discourse
A LAKE SCENE IN INDIA.
of this kind was called a Brahmana; and in later
times collections of such discourses were called Brah-
manas.
The Rig- Veda has two Brahmanas, the Aitareya
and the Kaushitaki. The composition of the former
is attributed to Mahidasa Aitareya, son of Itara. In
the Kaushitaki Brahmana, on the other hand, special
regard is paid to the sage Kaushitaki, whose authority
THE EXPLANATORY MANUALS, OR BRAHMANAS 93
is considered to be final. These two Brahmanas, how-
ever, seem to be only two recensions of the same work,
used by the Aitareyins and the Kaushitakins respect-
ively, and they agree with each other in many respects,
except that the last ten chapters of the Aitareya are
not found in the Kaushitaki and probably belong to
a later age.
The Sama-Veda has the Tandya, or Panchavinsa,
Brahmana, the Shadvinsa Brahmana, the Mantra Brah-
mana, and the better known Chhandogya.
The Black Yajur-Veda, or Taittiriya Samhita, has
its Taittiriya Brahmana, and the White Yajur-Veda,
or Vajasaneyi Samhita, has its voluminous Satapatha
Brahmana. We have already stated that the Satapatha
Brahmana is attributed to Yajnavalkya, though it is
more likely the text-book of the school he founded,
as he is often quoted in the work. Nor does the work
belong entirely to one school or to one age. On the
contrary, both in the case of the White Yajur-Veda
Samhita and in the case of its Brahmana, there is
reason to think that the work belongs to different
periods. The first eighteen chapters of the Samhita
are the oldest part of the work, and the first nine books
of the Brahmana, which comment on these eighteen
chapters, are the oldest part of the Brahmana. The
remaining five books are later than the first nine.
The Atharva-Veda has its Gopatha Brahmana, a
comparatively recent production, the contents of which
are a medley, derived to a large extent from other
sources.
94
THE BRAHHANIC PERIOD AND LITERATURE
Next after the Brahmanas come the Aranyakas,
which may indeed be considered the last portions of
the Brahmanas. They were so designated because they
had to be read in the forest, while the Brahmanas were
OVERLOOKING UTDRAPAT, THE ANCIENT PANDU CAPITAL.
for use in sacrifices performed by householders in their
homes.
The Rig- Veda has its Kaushitaki Aranyaka and its
Aitareya Aranyaka, the latter ascribed to Mahidasa
Aitareya. The Black Yajur-Veda has its Taittiriya
Aranyaka, and the last book of the Satapatha Brah-
THE ARANYAKAS AND THE UPANISHADS 95
mana is called its Aranyaka. The Sama-Veda and the
Atharva-Veda have no Aranyakas.
What gives these Aranyakas a special importance,
however, is that they are the proper repositories of
those celebrated religious speculations known as the
Upanishads. The Upanishads that are the best known
and that are undoubtedly ancient are the Aitareya and
the Kaushitaki, found in the Aranyakas of those names
and belonging to the Rig- Veda; the Chhandogya and
the Talavakara (or Kena), belonging to the Sama-Veda;
the Vajasaneyi (or Isa) and the Brihadaranyaka, be-
longing to the White Yajur-Veda; the Taittiriya and
Katha and Svetasvatara, belonging to the Black Yajur-
Veda; and the Mundaka and Prasna and Mandukya, be-
longing to the Atharva-Veda. But when the Upanishads
had once come to be considered sacred and authorita-
tive works, new compositions of the class began to be
added, until the total number reaches two hundred or
more. Some of the later Upanishads, which are gener-
ally known as the Atharva Upanishads, are as late as
the Puranic times, and are sectarian in tendency, in-
stead of being devoted to an inquiry into the nature of
Brahma, or the Supreme Spirit, like the old Upanishads.
Others still were written long subsequent to the Moham-
medan Conquest of India, and the idea of a universal
religion which was cherished by the great emperor
Akbar finds expression in an Upanishad called the
Allah Upanishad.
With the ancient Upanishads the Brahmanic Period
ends. Other classes of works, besides those named
96
THE BRAHMANIC PERIOD AND LITERATURE
herein, undoubtedly existed during this epoch, but they
have now been lost to us or more frequently replaced
by newer works, so that only a fragment of the vast
literature of the Brahmanic age has survived to the
present day.
THE OPENING PAGE OF THE BOMBAY EDITION OF THE MAHABHARATA, REDUCED.
CHAPTER IX
THE EPIC AGE THE MAHABHARATA
r I THE tide of Aryan conquests rolled onward. If the
J- reader will refer to a map of India, he will find
that from the banks of the Sutlaj to the banks of the
Jumna and the* Ganges, there is not a very wide strip
of country to cross. The Aryans, who had colonized
the whole of the Paiijab, were not likely to remain
inactive on the banks of the Sutlaj or of the Sarasvati.
Already in the Vedic Period bands of enterprising
colonists had crossed those rivers and explored the
distant shores of the Jumna and the Ganges, and those
noble streams, though alluded to in the hymns as on
the very horizon of the Hindu world, were not un-
known. In course of time the emigrants to the fertile
banks of the two rivers must have increased in numb'er,
until they founded a powerful kingdom of their own
97
98 THE EPIC AGE THE MAHABHARATA
in the country near the modern Delhi the kingdom
of the Kurus.
These colonists were no others than the Bharatas
renowned in the wars of Sudas, but their kings be-
longed to the house of Kuru, and hence the tribe went
by both names, Bharatas and Kurus. From what part
of the Pan jab the Kurus came, is a question still in-
volved in obscurity. In the Aitareya Brahmana it is
stated that the Uttara Kurus and the Uttara Madras
lived beyond the Himalaya, perhaps in Kashmir, but
in the epics of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana,
the land of the Uttara Kurus became a mythical coun-
try, although it is identified with the Ottorakorrha of
Ptolemy and placed somewhere east of the modern
Kashgar; but we would place the Uttara Kuru alluded
to in the Aitareya Brahmana somewhere north of the
Sub-Himalayan range, i. e. in Kashmir. We assume
that the colony of the Kurus on the Ganges rose to
prowess and fame about 1400 B. c.
When the Hindus had once begun to settle on the
fertile banks of the Jumna and the Ganges, other
colonists descended these streams and soon occupied
the whole of the Doab, the tract of country between
the two rivers. While we find the Kurus or Bharatas
occupying the country near the modern Delhi, another
adventurous tribe, the Panchalas, seized the tract of
country near the modern Kanouj. The original seat
of the Panchalas is still less known than that of the
Kurus, and it has been supposed that they also came
from the northern hills, like the Kurus.
CIVILIZATION OF THE EPIC AGE 99
The Panchala kingdom probably rose to distinction
about the same time as the kingdom of the Kurus, and
the Brahmana literature frequently refers to these
allied tribes as forming the very centre of the Hindu
world and as renowned by their valour, their learning,
and their civilization. Centuries had elapsed since
the Aryans had first settled on the banks of the Indus,
and the centuries had done their work in progress
and civilization. Manners had changed, society had
become more refined and polished, learning and art
had made considerable progress. Kings invited wise
men to their courts, held learned controversies with
their priests, performed elaborate sacrifices according
to the rules of the age, led trained armies to the field,
appointed qualified men to collect taxes and to admin-
ister justice, and performed all the duties of civilized
administrators. The relations and friends of the king
and the warriors of the nation practised archery and
driving the war-chariot from their early youth, and
also learned the Vedas and all the sacred lore that was
handed down from generation to generation. The
priests multiplied religious rites and observances, pre-
served the traditional learning of the land, and in-
structed and helped the people in their religious duties.
And the people lived in their towns and villages, cher-
ished the sacrificial fire in their houses, cultivated the
arts of peace, trained their boys from early youth in
the Vedas and in their social and religious duties, and
gradually developed those social customs which in
India have the force of laws. Women had their legiti-
100 THE EPIC AGE THE MAHABHARATA
mate influence in society and moved without restric-
tion or restraint.
Civilization, however, does not necessarily put a
stop to wars and dissensions; and the only reminis-
cences we possess of the political history of the Kurus
and the Panchalas are those of a sanguinary war in
which many neighbouring tribes took part, and which
forms the subject of one of the two great epics of India.
The incidents of the war described in the Mahabharata
are undoubtedly legendary, but nevertheless the great
epic is based on the recollections of an actual war of
the great Bharatas and faithfully describes the manners
and customs of the ancient Hindus in the Brahmanic
and Epic Period, as the Hiad describes the manners
of the ancient Greeks.
The, capital of the Kurus at the time of which we
are speaking was the city of Hastinapura, the supposed
ruins of which have been discovered on the upper
course of the Ganges, about sixty-five miles to the
northeast of Delhi. Santanu, the aged King of Hastina-
pura, died, leaving two sons, Bhishma, who had taken
a vow of celibacy, and a younger prince, who became
king. This young prince died in his turn, leaving two
sons, Dhritarashtra, who was blind, and Pandu, who
ascended the throne.
Pandu died, leaving five sons who are the heroes
of the epic. Dhritarashtra virtually remained king dur-
ing the minority of the five Pandavas and of his
own children, while Dhritarashtra 's uncle, Bhishma, re-
mained the chief councillor and friend of the state.
THE PANDA VA PRINCES
101
The account of the martial training of the young
Pandavas and the sons of Dhritarashtra throws much
light on the manners of royal houses. Drona was a
Brahman and a renowned warrior, for caste had not
yet completely formed itself, Kshatriyas had not yet
obtained the monopoly of the use of arms, nor Brah-
mans of religious learning. He had been insulted by
his former friend, the King of the Panchalas, and had
THE FIVE PANDtJS AND DEAUPADI.
retired in disgust to the court of the Kurus, where he
educated the princes in the art of war.
Yudhisthira, the eldest of the Pandavas, never be-
came much of a warrior, but was versed in the religious
learning of the age, and is the most righteous char-
acter in the epic. Bhima, the second, learned to use
the club, was renowned for his gigantic size and giant
strength, and is indeed the Ajax of the poem. The third,
Arjuna, excelled all other princes in the skill of arms
and aroused the jealousy and hatred of the sons of
102 THE EPIC AGE THE MAHABHARATA
Dhritarashtra, even in their boyhood, Nakula, the
fourth, learned to tame horses, and Sahadeva, the fifth,
became proficient in astronomy. Duryodhana, the eldest
son of Dhritarashtra, was proficient in the use of the
club and was a rival to Bhima.
At last the day came for a public exhibition of the
proficiency which the princes had acquired in the use
of arms. A spacious area was enclosed. Seats were
arranged all round for warriors and aged chieftains,
for ladies and courtiers, while the whole population
of Kuru-land flocked to see the skill of their young
princes.
There was shooting of arrows at a target and there
was fighting with swords and bucklers and clubs. Dur-
yodhana and Bhima soon began to fight in earnest, and
rushed toward each other like mad elephants. Shouts
ascended to the sky, and soon the fight threatened to
have a tragic end, but at last the infuriated young men
were parted, and peace was restored.
Then the young Arjuna entered the lists in golden
mail, with his wondrous bow. His splendid archery
surprised his most passionate admirers and thrilled the
heart of his mother with joy, while shouts of admira-
tion rose from the multitude like the roar of the ocean.
He played with his sword, which flashed like lightning,
and also with his sharp-edged quoit, or chakra, and
never missed his mark. Lastly, he brought down horses
and deer to the ground by the noose and concluded
by doing obeisance to his worthy preceptor Drona,
amidst the ringing cheers of the assembled multitude.
THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR 103
The dark cloud of jealousy lowered on the brow of
Dhritarashtra's sons, and soon they brought to the field
an unknown warrior, Kama, who was a match for
Arjuna in archery. Kings' sons could fight only with
their peers, like the knights of old, and Dhritarashtra
therefore knighted the unknown warrior, or rather
made him a king on the spot, so that Arjuna might
have no excuse for declining the fight. To awkward
questions which were put to him, the haughty Kama
replied that rivers and warriors knew not of their origin
and birth their prowess was their genealogy; but the
Pandavas declined the fight, and Kama retired in
silence and in rage.
Drona now demanded the reward of his tuition.
Like doughty warriors of old, he held revenge to be
the dearest joy of a warrior, and for his reward he
asked the help of the Kurus to be revenged on Drupada,
king of the Panchalas, who had insulted him. The
demand could not be refused. Drona marched against
Drupada, conquered him, and wrested from him half
his kingdom. Drupada swore to be avenged.
Dark clouds now arose on the horizon of Kuru-land.
The time had come for Dhritarashtra to name a Yuva-
raja, or prince who would reign during his old age. The
claim of Yudhisthira to the throne of his father could
not be gainsaid, and he was appointed Tuvardja. But
the proud Duryodhana rebelled against the arrange-
ment, and the old monarch had to yield, and sent the
five Pandavas in exile to Varanavata, perhaps the mod-
ern Barnawa, not far from Delhi, and then the very
104
THE EPIC AGE THE MAHABHAEATA
frontier of Hindu settlements. The vengeance of Duryo-
dhana pursued them there, and the house where the
Pandavas lived was burnt to ashes. The Pandavas and
their mother escaped by an underground passage and
for a long time roamed about disguised as Brahmans.
Heralds now went from country to country and pro-
claimed in all lands that the daughter of Drupada,
WINNING THE HAND OF THE PRINCESS.
king of the Panchalas, was to choose for herself a
husband among the most skilful warriors of the time.
The trial was a severe one, for a heavy bow of great
size must be bent, and an arrow shot through a whirling
chakra, or quoit, into the eye of a golden fish set high
on the top of a pole!
Not only princes and warriors, but multitudes of
spectators flocked from all parts of the country to
Kampilya, the capital of the Panchalas. The princes
thronged the seats, and Brahmans filled the place with
Vedic hymns. Then appeared Draupadi with the gar-
THE WOOIXG OF DRAUPADI 105
land in her hand which she was to offer to the victor
of the day. By her side stood her brother Dhrishta-
dyumna, who proclaimed the feat which was to be per-
formed.
Kings rose and tried to bend the bow, one after
another, but in vain. The proud and skilful Kama
stepped forth to do the feat, but was prevented.
A Brahman suddenly rose and drew the bow, shoot-
ing the arrow through the whirling chakra into the eye
of the golden fish. A shout of acclamation arose. And
Draupadi, the Kshatriya princess, threw the garland
round the neck of the brave Brahman, who led her
away as his bride. But murmurs of discontent arose
like the sound of troubled waters from the Kshatriya
*ranks at this victory of a Brahman, who, technically,
had no right to the use of arms; and they gathered
round the bride's father and threatened violence. The
Pandavas now threw off their disguise, and the victor
of the day proclaimed himself to be Arjuna, a true-born
Kshatriya!
Then follows the strange myth that the Pandavas
went back to their mother and said that a great prize
had been won. Their mother, not knowing what the
prize was, told her sons to share it among them, and
as a mother's mandate cannot be disregarded, the five
brothers wedded Draupadi as their wife. The Pan-
davas now formed an alliance with the powerful king
of the Panchalas, and forced the blind King Dhritarash-
tra to divide the Kuru country between his sons and
the Pandavas. The division, however, was unequal;
106
THE EPIC AGE THE MAHABHARATA
the fertile tract between the Ganges and the Jumna
was retained by the sons of Dhritarashtra, while the
uncleared jungle in the west was given to the Panda vas.
The jungle Khandava Prastha was soon cleared by fire,
and a new capital called Indraprastha was built, the
supposed ruins of which are shown to every modern
visitor to Delhi. The Pandavas, according to the Ma-
habharata, now undertook various military campaigns
THE ILL-FATED GAMBLING - MATCH.
extending to Bengal and even to Ceylon, but the ac-
counts of these distant expeditions are thought to be
later interpolations in the poem.
Now Yudhishthira, as Yuvaraja, was to celebrate
the Rajasuya, or coronation ceremony, and all the
princes of the land, including his kinsmen of Hastina-
pura, were invited. The place of honour was given to
Krishna, chief of the Yadavas of Gujarat. Sisupala
of Chedi violently protested, and Krishna killed him
on the spot. The tumult finally subsided, however, and
-o
V
3
o
U.
12
O
HUMILIATION AND EXILE
107
the consecrated water was sprinkled on the newly
created monarch, while Brahmans went away laden
with presents.
But the newly created king was not long to enjoy
his realm. .With all his righteousness, Yudhishthira
had a weakness for gambling like the other chiefs of
the time, and the unfor-
giving and jealous Dur-
yodhana challenged him to
a game. Kingdom, wealth,
himself and his brothers,
and even his wife were
staked and lost, and the
five brothers and Draupadi
became the slaves of Dur-
yodhana. The proud Drau-
padi refused to submit to
her position, but Duhsa-
sana dragged her to the
assembly-room by her hair,
and Duryodhana compelled
her to sit on his knee in the sight of the stupefied as-
sembly. The blood of the Pandavas was rising, when
the old Dhritarashtra was led to the assembly-room and
stopped a tumult. It was decided that the Pandavas
had lost their kingdom, but should not be slaves. They
agreed to go into exile for twelve years, after which
they should remain concealed for a year. If the sons
of Dhritarashtra failed to discover .them during the
year, they would get back their kingdom.
THE REPUTED BIRTHPLACE OF KRISHNA
AT JIATHURA.
108
THE EPIC AGE THE MAHABHARATA
Thus the Panda vas again went into exile; and after
twelve years of wanderings in various places, disguised
themselves in the thirteenth year and took service
under the King of Virata. Yudhishthira was to teach
the king gambling;
B h i m a was the
head cook; Arjuna
was to teach danc-
ing and music to
the king's daugh-
ter; Nakula and
Sahadeva were to
be master of horse
and master of cat-
tle r e s p e ctively,
and Draupadi was
to be the queen's
handmaid. A dif-
ficulty arose. The
queen's brother
was enamoured of
the new handmaid
of superb beauty and insulted her and was resolved to
possess her. Bhima interfered and killed the ruffian
in secret.
Cattle-lifting was not uncommon among the princes
of those days, and the princes of Hastinapura carried
away some cattle from Virata. Arjuna, the dancing-
master, could stand this no longer; he put on his ar-
mour, drove out in chariot, and recovered the cattle, but
.DI DRAGGED INTO THE ASSEMBLY.
From Oman's Indian Epics.
THE GREAT BATTLE
109
was discovered. The question whether the year of
secret exile had quite expired was never settled.
And now the Pandavas sent an envoy to Hastina-
pura to claim back their kingdom. The claim was
refused, and both parties prepared for a war, the like
of which had never been seen in India. All the princes
of note joined one side or the other, and the battle
which was fought in the plains of Kurukshetra, north
THE PANDUS AND KURUS IN BATTLE.
of Delhi, lasted for eighteen days, ending in fearful
slaughter and carnage.
The long story of the battle with its endless episodes
need not detain us. Arjuna killed the aged Bhishma
unfairly, after that chief was forced to cease from
fighting. Drona, with his impenetrable " squares " or
phalanxes, slew his old rival Drupada, but Drupada 's
son revenged his father's death and killed Drona un-
fairly. Bhima met Duhsasana, who had insulted Drau-
padi in the gambling-room, cut off his head, and in
110
THE EPIC AGE THE MAHABHARATA
fierce vindictiveness drank his blood. Lastly, there was
the crowning contest between Kama and Arjuna, who
had hated each other through life; and Arjuna killed
Kama unfairly when his chariot wheels had sunk in the
earth and he could not move or fight. On the last or
eighteenth day, Duryodhana fled from Bhima, but was
compelled by taunts and rebukes to turn and fight, and
Bhima by a foul blow (because struck below the waist)
AFTER THE BATTLE OF EIGHTEEN DATS.
broke the knee to which Duryodhana had once dragged
Draupadi. The wounded warrior was left to die, but
the bloodshed was not yet over, for Drona's son made
a midnight raid on the enemy's camp, killed Dru-
pada's son, and finally quenched the ancient feud in
blood. The Pandavas then went to Hastinapura, and
Yudhishthira became king. He is said to have sub-
dued every monarch in Aryan India, and at last cele-
brated the Asvamedha ceremony, or great horse-sac-
rifice, by letting loose a horse which wandered for a
THE VICTORY OF. THE PANDA VAS
111
year at will and which no king dared to stop; thus
betokening the submission of all the surrounding mon-
archs, since all the land traversed by the consecrated
steed became the domain of the king who had sent it
forth.
Such is the story of India's great epic divested of
its numerous legends and episodes, its supernatural
incidents and digressions; but it is clear, even from
this brief account, that the first Hindu colonists of the
Ganges valley had not yet lost the sturdy valour and
the stubborn warlike determination of the Vedic Age.
How imperfectly the caste system flourished among
these sturdy races is shown by many facts which still
loom out in bold outline amidst the interpolations and
additions of later writers. Santanu, the ancient king
of Hastinapura, had a brother Devapi, who was a
priest; the most learned character in the epic, Yudhish-
thira, was a Kshatriya; and the most skilful warrior,
Drona, was a Brahman.
CHAPTER X
THE EPIC AGE THE RAMAYANA
tide of Aryan conquests rolled onward. When
the country between the Jumna and the Ganges
had been completely conquered, peopled, and Hindu-
ized, new bands of adventurous settlers crossed the
Ganges and marched further eastward to found new
colonies and new Hindu kingdoms. Stream after
stream was crossed, forest after forest was explored
and cleared, region after region was slowly conquered,
peopled, and Hinduized in this onward march towards
the unknown east. The history of the long struggles
and the gradual development of the Hindu power in
these regions has been lost to us; and we only see, in
the literature which has been preserved, the establish-
ment of powerful and civilized Hindu kingdoms east
of the Ganges the kingdom of the Kosalas in the
country now known as Oudh, that of the Videhas in
North Behar, and that of the Kasis round the modern
Benares.
Some recollection of the eastern march of the Vide-
has has been preserved in a stray passage in the first
book of the Satapatha Brahmana.
112
THE ADVANCE OF THE ARYANS
113
In legendary form the story is told how King Ma-
dhava followed the course of the sacred fire from the
A PLACE HALLOWED BY RAMA.
banks of the Sarasvati eastward to the river which
flows from the northern mountains, or the Himalayas,
and is called Sadanira, the modern G-andak. That river
formed the boundary between the two kingdoms; the
114 THE EPIC AGE THE RAMAYANA
Kosalas lived to the west of it, and the Videhas to
the east of it.
In course of years, probably of centuries, the king-
dom of the Videhas rose in power and in civilization,
until it became the most prominent kingdom in North-
ern India, and Janaka, King of the Videhas, is prob-
ably the most important figure in the history of the
Brahmanic and Epic Period in India, for he not only
established his power in the farthest confines of the
Hindu dominions, but also gathered round him the most
learned men of his time, entered into discussion with
them, and instructed them in holy truths about the
Universal Being. But Janaka has a still higher claim
to our respect and admiration. While the priestly caste
was multiplying rituals and supplying dogmatic ex-
planations for each rite, the royal caste seems to have
felt some impatience at this course, and learned Kshat-
riyas, while still conforming to the rites laid down by
priests, began to inquire about the destination of the
soul and the nature of the Supreme Being. So bold,
so healthy, and so vigorous were these new and earnest
speculations, that the priestly classes at last felt their
inferiority and came to Kshatriyas to learn something
of the wisdom of the new school. The Upanishads
contain these speculations of the warrior caste, and
King Janaka of Videha is honoured and respected more
than any other king of the time as one of those who
inspired the Upanishads, the culmination, in many
ways, of the philosophy of India.
These are real claims of Janaka, King of the Vide-
JANAKA, KING OF THE VIDEHAS
115
has, to the admiration and gratitude of posterity, but,
curiously enough, posterity remembers him, as well
SCENE IN CEYLON.
as the Videhas and the Kosalas, rather through a myth
which has become associated with their names, and
relates to the Aryan conquest of Southern India, the
Eamayana, the second great epic of India, being devoted
116 THE EPIC AGE THE EAMAYANA
to the conquest of Ceylon by a king of the Kosalas who
had married the daughter of Janaka, King of the Vide-
has. This poem, like the Mahabharata, is utterly value-
less as a narrative of historical events and incidents.
In both the heroes are myths pure and simple.
Sita, the field furrow, had received divine honours
from the tune of the Rig- Veda and had been wor-
shipped as a goddess. When cultivation gradually
spread in Southern India, it was not difficult to invent
a poetical myth that Sita was carried to the south.
And when this goddess and woman had acquired a dis-
tinct and lovely individuality, she was naturally de-
scribed as the daughter of the holiest and most learned
king on record, Janaka of the Videhas.
But who is Rama, described in the epic as Sita's
husband and the King of the Kosalas? The later Pu-
ranas tell us that he was an incarnation of Vishnu,
but Vishnu himself had not risen to prominence at
the time of which we are speaking. Indra was still the
chief of the gods of the Brahmanic and Epic Period,
and in the Sutra literature we learn that Sita, the fur-
row goddess, is the wife of Indra; it seems, therefore,
that Rama, the hero of the Ramayana, is, in his original
conception, only a new form of Indra battling with the
demons of drought. Myth is thus mixed with the epic
which describes the historic conquest of Southern India.
But though the Ramayana is utterly valueless as
a narrative of events, still, like the Mahabharata, it
throws side-lights on the state of ancient society in
India, and the story of the epic therefore needs to be
THE SPIBIT OF THE BAMAYANA 117
briefly told. In the Ramayana we miss the fiery valour
and the proud self-assertion of the Kshatriyas of the
Mahabharata, and the subordination of the people to
the priestly caste is more complete. Janaka himself
is not described as the proud assertor of Kshatriya
learning and dignity that he was, but as a humble
servant of priests, and Kama himself, the hero of the
epic, though he encounters and defeats a Brahman
warrior, Parasurama, does so with many apologies and
due submission! The story of Parasurama probably
conceals a great historic truth. He is said to have
fought against the Kshatriyas and exterminated the
caste; and then he was conquered by the Kshatriya
Rama, the hero of the epic. It would seem that this
story indicates the real rivalry and hostilities between
the priestly and warrior castes, indications of which
we have found in a literary form in the Upanishads.
For the rest, one feels on reading the Ramayana
that the real heroic age of India had passed, and that
centuries of residence in the valley of the Ganges had
produced an enervating effect on the Aryans. We miss
the heroic, if somewhat rude and sturdy, manners and
incidents which mark the Mahabharata. We miss char-
acters distinguished by real valour and battles fought
with real obstinacy and determination. We miss men
of flesh and blood, of pride and determination, like
Kama and Duryodhana and Bhima; and the best-de-
veloped characters in the Ramayana are women like
the proud and scheming Kaikeyi or the gentle and ever
suffering Sita.
118
THE EPIC AGE THE RAMA Y ANA
The heroes of the Ramayana are somewhat tame
and commonplace personages, very respectful to priests,
very anxious to conform to the rules of decorum and
duty, doing a vast amount of fighting work mechanic-
TEMPLB DEDICATED TO RAMA AT PFSHKAB NEAR AJMERB.
ally, but without the determination, the persistence of
real fighters. A change had come over the spirit of
the nation; princes and men had become more pol-
ished and law-abiding, but they had become less sturdy
and heroic.
KING DASAKATHA AND HIS SONS
119
Turning to the story of the Ramayana, we find that
Dasaratha, a distinguished king of the Kosalas, had
his capital in Ayodhya, or Oudh, whose ruins are still
shown to travellers in some shapeless mounds. King
Dasaratha had
three queens hon-
oured above the
rest, of whom Kau-
salya bore him his
eldest son Rama,
while Kaikeyi was
the mother of Bha-
rata, and Sumitra
of Lakshmana and
Satrughna. Dasa-
ratha in his old age
decided on making
Rama the Yuva-
raja, or reigning
prince, but Kai-
keyi insisted that
her son should be Yuvaraja, and the feeble old king
yielded to the determined will of his wife.
Before this Rama had won Sita, the daughter of
Janaka, King of the Videhas, at a svayamvara, or court
of love, in which the bride chooses her husband. Kings
and princes had assembled there, but Rama alone could
lift the heavy bow and bend it till it broke in twain.
But now, when Ayodhya was still ringing with accla-
mation at the prospect of Rama's installation as Yuva-
SACRED TANK OF RAMA AT NA8IK.
120 THE EPIC AGE THE KAMAYANA
raja, it was decided in Queen Kaikeyi's chambers that
Bharata must be the Yuvaraja and that Rama must
go into exile for fourteen years.
Rama was too obedient and dutiful to resist or even
to resent this decision. His faithful half-brother Laksh-
mana accompanied him, and the gentle Sita would not
hear of parting from her lord. Amidst the tears and
lamentations of the people of Ayodhya, Rama and Sita
and Lakshmana went from Kosala's capital.
The exiles first found their way to the hermitage
of Bharadvaja in Prayaga, or Allahabad, and then to
that of Valmiki in Chitrakuta, somewhere in modern
Bundelkhand. Valmiki is reputed to be the author of
the epic Ramayana, just as Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa,
the compiler of the Vedas, is said to be the author of
the Mahabharata.
Dasaratha died of grief for Rama. The youthful
Bharata proceeded at once to Chitrakuta, informed
Rama of their father's death, and implored him to
return. But Rama felt himself bound by the promise
he had made, and it was agreed that he should return
after fourteen years and then ascend the throne. Bha-
rata hastened back to Ayodhya, and leaving Chitra-
kuta, Rama wandered for thirteen years in the Dan-
daka forest and toward the sources of the Godavari
among jungles and non-Aryan tribes, for Southern
India had not yet been colonized by the Aryans.
Meanwhile Ravana, the monster King of Lanka, or
Ceylon, and of Southern India, heard of the beauty
of Sita, who now dwelt in the jungles, and in the
THE ABDUCTION OF SITA
121
absence of Rama he stole her away from their hut
and carried her off to Ceylon. Rama, after a long
search, obtained a clue of her, made an alliance with the
non- Aryan tribes of
Southern India,
who are described
as monkeys and
bears, and made
preparations for
crossing over to
Ceylon to recover
his wife.
Vali was a great
king among the
non- Aryans, but his
brother Sugriva
thirsted after his
kingdom and his
wife. Rama fought
and killed Vali, helped Sugriva to win the kingdom and
Vali's widow, and Sugriva then marched his army to
Lanka.
Hanuman, the commander-in-chief of the non- Aryan
army, led the way. He leaped over the strait of sixty
miles which separates India from Ceylon, found Sita,
and returned to Rama.
A causeway was then built across the strait by
means of boulders and stones. The reader is aware
that a natural causeway runs nearly across the strait,
and there is no doubt that the physical aspect of this
HAVANA.
122
THE EPIC AGE THE EAMAYANA
locality suggested to the poet the idea that the cause-
way was built by the superhuman labours of Rama's
army. The whole army then crossed over and laid siege
to the capital of Ravana.
The account of the war which follows, though full
of poetical incidents and stirring description, is un-
natural and tedious. Chief after chief was sent out by
Ravana to beat back the invaders, but they all fell
ABDUCTION OF SITA.
From Oman's Indian Epics.
before the supernatural weapons and mystic mantras
of Rama. Indrajit, the proud son of Ravana, battled
from the clouds, but Lakshmana killed him. Ravana
came out in rage and killed Lakshmana, but the dead
hero revived under the influence of some medicine
brought by the faithful Hanuman. One of Ravana 's
brothers, Vibhishana, had left his brother and had
joined Rama, and told him the secret by which each
KAMA'S VICTORY OVER RAVANA 123
warrior could be killed, and thus chief after chief of
Ravana's proud host fell. At last Ravana himself
came out, and was killed by Rama. Sita was recovered,
but she had to prove her purity by throwing herself
into a lighted pyre and then coming out of it unin-
jured.
The fourteenth year of exile having now expired,
HANUMAN.
Rama and Sita returned to Ayodhya and ascended the
throne. But the suspicions of the people fell on Sita,
who had been in Ravana's house and could not, they
thought, have returned unstained. And Rama, as weak
as his father had been, obediently exiled his wife.
Valmiki received her at Chitrakuta, and there her
two sons, Lava and Kusa, were born. Valmiki com-
124
THE EPIC AGE THE RAMAYANA
posed the poem of the Ramayana and taught the boys
to repeat it, and thus years were passed.
Then Rama decided to celebrate the Asvamedha
sacrifice, and sent out the horse. The animal came as
far as Valmiki's hermitage, and the boys playfully
caught it and detained it. Rama's troops tried in vain
HANCMAN AND THE VAHAKS REJOICING AT THE RESTORATION OF SITA.
Reduced from Moor's " Hindu Pantheon."
to recover the animal. At last Rama himself saw the
princely boys, but did not know who they were; he
heard the poem Ramayana chanted by them, and it was
in a passion of grief and regret that he at last knew
them and embraced them as his own.
But there was no joy in store for Sita. The people's
suspicions could not be allayed, and Rama was too weak
to act against his people. The earth, which had given
SITA'S PATHETIC FATE 126
Sita birth, opened and received its long-suffering child.
The Vedic conception of Sita, as the field furrow, mani-
fests itself in the epic in this incident; but to millions
of Hindus, Sita is a real human character, a pattern
of female virtue and female self-abnegation. There are
few Hindu women throughout the length and breadth
of India to whom the story of Sita is not known, and
to whom her character is not a model to strive after
and to imitate. And Rama, too, though scarcely equal to
Sita in worth of character, has been a pattern to men
for his truth, his obedience, and his piety. And thus
the epic has been for the millions of India a means of
moral education, the value of which can hardly be over-
estimated.
RAMA WITH SITA, T.AKSIIMANA. AND
HANUMAN.
From a native paintiner.
CHAPTER XI
AEYANS AND NON- ARYANS
J great river systems of Northern India deter-
niined the course of Aryan conquests; when we
survey the course of these rivers, we comprehend the
history of Aryan conquests during ten centuries. And
when we have traced the course of the Indus and its
tributaries, and of the Ganges and the Jumna as far
as Benares and North Behar, we have seen the whole
extent of the Indo-Aryan world as it existed at the
close of the Brahmanic and Epic Period, or about
1000 B. c. Beyond this wide tract of Hindu kingdoms,
South Behar, Malwa, and a portion of the Deccan and
the regions to the south of the Rajputana desert formed
a wide semicircular belt of country, as yet not Hindu-
ized, but becoming gradually known to the Hindus and
therefore finding occasional mention in the latest works
of the Brahmana literature. We can imagine hardy
colonists penetrating into this encircling belt of un-
known and uncivilized regions, obtaining a mastery
126
INDIA'S EARLY PEOPLES 127
over the aborigines wherever they went, establishing
some isolated settlements on the banks of fertile rivers,
and presenting to the astonished barbarians some of
the results of civilized administration and civilized life.
We can also imagine saintly anchorites retiring into
these wild jungles and fringing the tops of hills or
fertile valleys with their holy hermitages, which were
the seats of learning and of sanctity. And lastly, ad-
venturous royal huntsmen not infrequently penetrated
into these jungles, and unhappy princes exiled by their
more powerful rivals often chose to retire from the
world and take up their abode in these solitudes.
There is a passage in the last book of the Aitareya
Brahmana which, along with an account of the prin-
cipal Hindu kingdoms of the time, makes some mention
of aboriginal races in the south and southwest, and the
passage deserves to be quoted:
" The Yasavas then inaugurated him (Indra) in the
eastern direction during thirty-one days by these three
Rig verses, the Yajur verse, and the great words
(' earth, ether, sky '), for the sake of obtaining uni-
versal sovereignty. Hence all kings of eastern nations
are inaugurated to universal sovereignty and called
Samraj (' universal sovereign ') after this precedent
made by the gods.
" Then the Eudras inaugurated Indra in the south-
ern region during thirty-one days, with the three Rig
verses, the Yajur, and the great words, for obtain-
ing enjoyment of pleasures. Hence all kings of living
creatures in the southern region are inaugurated for the
128 AEYANS AND NON - ARYANS
enjoyment of pleasures and called Bhoja (' the en-
joy er ')
" Then the divine Adityas inaugurated him in the
western region during thirty-one days, with those three
Rig verses, that Yajur verse, and those great words
for obtaining independent rule. Hence all kings of the
Mchyas and Apachyas in the western countries are
inaugurated to independent rule and called ' indepen-
dent rulers/
" Then the Visvedevas inaugurated him during
thirty-one days in the northern region by those three
Rig verses, that Yajur verse, and those great words,
for distinguished rule. Hence all people living in north-
ern countries beyond the Himalaya, such as the Uttara
Kurus and Uttara Madras, are inaugurated for living
without a king and called Viraj (' without a king ').
" Then the divine Sadhyas and Aptyas inaugurated
Indra during thirty-one days in the middle region,
which is a firmly established footing (' the immovable
centre ') to the kingship. Hence the kings of the Kuru
Panchalas, with the Vasas and Usinaras, are inaugu-
rated to kingship and called l kings.'
This passage shows us at a glance the whole of the
Hindu world as it existed at the close of the Epic
Period. To the farthest east lived the Videhas and the
Kasis and the Kosalas, as we have seen before, and
those newest and youngest of the Hindu colonists ex-
celled in learning and reputation their elder brethren
in the west.
In the south, some bands of Aryan settlers must
THE SPREAD OF THE ARYANS
129
have worked their way up the valley of the Chambal
and become acquainted with the aboriginal tribes in-
habiting the country now known as Malwa. We note,
however, that the kingdoms in this direction were
already called Bhoja, which was in later times the name
of the same region, lying immediately to the north of
the Vindhya chain and along the valley of the Chambal.
Westwards from this place surged the waves of
HINDUS OP WESTERN DECCAN.
Aryan settlers or adventurers, until the invaders came
to the shores of the Arabian Sea and could proceed
no farther. The aboriginal tribes in these distant tracts
were regarded with contempt by the civilized colonists
or invaders, yet these races, dimly known at the very
close of the Epic Period, were the ancestors of the
proudest and most warlike Hindu tribe of later times,
the Maharattas.
To the north the Uttara Kurus and the Uttara
Madras and other tribes seem to have lived in the val-
130 ARYANS AND NON - ARYANS
leys of the Himalayas. To the present day men in
these hills live in independent primitive communities,
and have very little concern with chief or king, and
it is no wonder that in ancient times they should be
known as peoples without kings.
And then, in the very centre of the Hindu world,
along the valley of the Ganges, lived the powerful tribes
of the Kurus and the Panchalas, and the less known
tribes, the Vasas and the Usinaras.
In the west, the deserts of Rajputana were wholly
unexplored by the Aryans, and the Bhil aborigines of
those deserts and mountains were left undisturbed until
new and hardy tribes of invaders entered India after
the Christian era.
In the far east, South Behar was not yet Hinduized.
A passage in the Atharva-Veda which shows that the
people of South Behar did not yet belong to the Hindu
confederation alludes in terms of enmity to the Angas
and the Magadhas. Bengal proper was as yet unknown.
The whole of India south of the Vindhya range was
as yet unoccupied by the Hindus, but the Aitareya
Brahmana gives the names of certain degraded bar-
barous tribes, including the Andhras, who in the Philo-
sophic Period rose to be a great civilized Hindu power
in the Deccan.
We have now spoken of all the principal Aryan
races and kingdoms which flourished in the Epic Period,
and of the non- Aryan kingdoms, which formed a semi-
circular belt in the south of the Hindu world. But
before we take leave of kings, we must make some
THE CROWNING OF A KING
131
mention of the great coronation ceremony, as described
in the Aitareya Brahmana:
" He spreads the tiger-skin on the throne in such
a manner that the hairs come outside and that part
A RAJPUT DESCENDANT OP THE K8HATRIYA CASTE.
which covered the neck is turned eastward. The king,
when taking his seat on the throne, approaches it from
behind, turning his face eastwards, kneels down with
crossed legs, so that his right knee touches the earth,
and taking hold of the throne with his hands, prays
over it an appropriate mantra.
132 ARYANS AND NON- ARYANS
" The priest then pours the holy water over the
king's head and repeats the following: ' With these
waters, which are happy, which cure everything, and
increase the royal power, the immortal Prajapati sprin-
kled Indra, Soma sprinkled the royal Varuna, and
Yama sprinkled Manu; with the same sprinkle I thee!
Be the ruler over kings in this world! ' And the cere-
mony concludes with a drink of the Soma wine which
the priest gives to the king."
We are then told that with this ceremony priests
invested a number of kings whose names are already
known to us. Tura, the son of Kavasha, thus inaugu-
rated Janamejaya, the son of Parikshit. " Thence
Janamejaya went everywhere, conquering the earth up
to its ends, and sacrificed the sacrificial horse." Par-
vata and Narada thus invested Yudhamsraushti, the
son of Ugrasena. Vasishtha invested Sudas, the great
conqueror of the Rig- Veda hymns; and Dirghatamas
invested Bharata, the son of Duhshanta, with this cere-
mony. All these allusions have some historic value.
We have another excellent account of the corona-
tion rite in the White Yajur-Veda, from which we
quote a remarkable passage in which the priest blesses
the newly crowned king: " May God who rules the
world bestow on you the power to rule your subjects.
May fire, worshipped by householders, bestow on you
supremacy over the householders. May Soma, the lord
of trees, bestow on you supremacy over forests. May
Brihaspati, the god of speech, bestow on you supremacy
in speech. May Indra, the highest among gods, bestow
133
on you the highest supremacy. May Rudra, the cher-
isher of animals, bestow on you supremacy over ani-
mals. May Mitra, who is truth, make you supreme in
truth. May Varuna, who cherishes holy works, make
you supreme in holy acts."
And in the same Veda is found the sum total of all
kingly ethics and kingly duty in the noble verse:
" If thou shalt be a ruler, then from this day judge
the strong and the weak with equal justice, resolve on
doing good continually to the people, and protect the
country from all calamities."
CHAPTER XII
CASTE IN THE BRAHMANIC AND EPIC AGE
FOUR or five centuries of peaceful residence in a
genial climate in the fertile basin of the Ganges
and the Jumna enabled the Hindus to found civilized
kingdoms, to cultivate philosophy, science, and arts,
and to develop their religious and social institutions;
but it was under the same gentle but enervating in-
fluences that they divided themselves into those sep-
arate social classes known as " castes."
We have seen that about the close of the Vedic
Period the priests had already formed themselves into
a separate profession, and sons stepped forward to take
up the duties of their fathers. When religious rites
became more elaborate in the Brahmanic and Epic
Period, when with the founding of new kingdoms along
the fertile Doab kings prided themselves on the per-
formance of vast sacrifices with endless rites and ob-
servances, it is easy to understand that the priests
who alone could undertake such complicated rites rose
in the estimation of the people, until they were natu-
rally regarded as aloof from the ordinary people, as a
distinct and superior race as a caste. They devoted
134
The Monkey Temple at Benares
This temple, erected in honour of the dread goddess Durga by the
Queen of Natre in the eighteenth century, derives its name from the
myriads of monkeys which throng it and live on the offerings of food
given them by those u'ho visit the shrine.
THE ORIGIN OF CASTE DISTINCTIONS 135
their lifetime to learning these rites, they alone were
able to perform them in all their details, and the
natural inference in the popular mind was that they
alone were worthy of the holy task.
The very same causes led to the rise of a royal
caste. Royalty had not assumed a very high dignity
among the Pan jab Hindus. Warlike chiefs led clans
from conquests to conquests, and the greatest of them
were regarded rather as leaders of men and protectors
of clans than as mighty kings. Far different was the
state of things with the Hindus along the Ganges. Prob-
ably in the early days of the martial Kurus and Pan-
chalas caste distinctions had not yet been fully matured.
But later, the kings of the peaceful Kosalas and Videhas,
surrounded by all the pomp and circumstance of roy-
alty, were looked upon by the humble and lowly people
as more than human.
Although the simple origin of caste was obscured
in later Hindu literature by strange myths and legends,
later Hindu writers never completely lost sight of the
fact that it was originally only a distinction based on
professions, and this account of its genesis often occurs
in the same Puranic works which elsewhere delight in
marvellous legends concerning its beginnings.
In the Vayu Purana we are told that in the first,
or Krita, Age there were no castes, and that subse-
quently Brahma established divisions among men ac-
cording to their works. " Those who were suited for
command and prone to deeds of violence, he appointed
to be Kshatriyas, from their protecting others. Those
136 CASTE IN THE BRAHMANIC AND EPIC AGE
disinterested men who attended upon them, spoke the
truth, and declared the Veda aright, were Brahmans.
Those of them who formerly were feeble, engaged in
the work of husbandmen, tillers of the earth, and
industrious, were Vaisyas, cultivators and providers of
subsistence. Those who were cleansers and ran about
on service, and had little vigour or strength, were
called Sudras." Accounts more or less similar to this
occur in the other Puranas as well.
The Ramayana in its present shape is, as we have
seen before, the work of later ages. In its closing
sections we are told that in the Krita Age Brahmans
alone practised austerities; that in the Treta Age
Kshatriyas were born, and then was established the
modern system of four castes. Reduced from mythical
to historical language, this implies that in the Vedic
Age the Hindu Aryans were a united body and prac-
tised Hindu rites, but in the Epic Age priests and
kings separated themselves as distinct castes, and the
people also formed themselves into the lower orders,
the Vaisyas and the Sudras.
The Mahabharata also is, in its present shape, a
work of later ages, yet there we read that " red-limbed
twice-born men who were fond of sensual pleasure,
fiery, irascible, daring, and forgetful of their sacrificial
duties, fell into the caste of Kshatriyas. Yellow twice-
born men, who derived their livelihood from cows and
agriculture, and did not practise religious perform-
ances, fell into the caste of Vaisyas. Black twice-born
men who were impure and addicted to violence and
EPIC ALLUSIONS TO CASTE
137
lying, and were covetous and subsisted by all kinds of
works, fell into the caste of Sudras. Being thus sep-
arated by these their works, the twice-born men be-
came of different castes. "
Throughout the Epic Period, and throughout the
SHOP OF A MERCHANT OF THE VAISTA CASTE.
succeeding periods almost to the time of the Moham-
medan conquest, the great body of the Aryan people
were Vaisyas, although they followed numerous pro-
fessions. Along with the Brahmans and the Kshat-
riyas, they formed the Aryan nation, and were entitled
to all the rights and privileges and the literary and
religious heritages of the nation; The conquered abo-
138 CASTE IN THE BRAHMANIC AND EPIC AGE
rigines, who formed the Sudra caste, were alone de-
barred from the heritage of the Aryans.
This is the cardinal distinction between the ancient
caste-system and the caste-system of the present age.
Caste reserved some privileges for priests, and some
privileges for warriors, in ancient times; but never
divided and disunited the Aryan people. Priests and
warriors and citizens, though following their hereditary
professions from generation to generation, felt that they
were one nation and one race, received the same relig-
ious instructions, attended the same schools of learning,
possessed the same literature and traditions, ate and
drank together, intermarried and intermixed in all re-
spects, and were proud to call themselves the Aryan
race.
There are numerous passages in the Brahmana lit-
erature which show that the distinctions between the
castes were by no means so rigid in the early times as
at a later period. A remarkable passage, for instance,
occurs in the Aitareya Brahmana. When a Kshatriya
eats at a sacrifice the portion assigned for Brahmans,
his progeny has the characteristics of a Brahman,
" ready to take gifts, thirsty after drinking Soma, hun-
gry of eating food, and ready to roam about every-
where according to pleasure." And " in the second or
third generation he is capable of entering completely
into Brahmanship." When he eats the share of Vaisyas,
his " offspring will be born with the characteristic
of Yaisyas, paying taxes to another king "; " and in
the second or third degree they are capable of entering
THE TALE OF SATYAKAMA 139
the caste of Vaisyas." When he takes the share of
Sudras, his progeny " will have the characteristics
of Sudras; they are to serve the three higher castes,
to be expelled and beaten according to the pleas-
ure of their masters." And " in the second or third
degree, he is capable of entering the condition of Su-
dras."
In the same Brahmana we are told of Kavasha, the
son of Ilusha, whom the other Rishis expelled from
a sacrificial session, saying, " How should the son of
a slave girl, a gamester, who is no Brahman, remain
among us and become initiated! ' But Kavasha knew
the gods and all the gods knew him, and he was ad-
mitted as a Rishi. Similarly, in the beautiful legend
of Satyakama Jabala in the Chhandogya Upanishad,
is exemplified the fact that truth and learning opened
out in those days a path to the highest honour and to
the highest caste. The legend is so beautiful in its
simplicity and its poetry, that we feel no hesitation
in quoting a portion of it:
" Satyakama, the son of Jabala, addressed his
mother and said: ' 1 wish to become a Brahmachari
(religious student), mother. Of what family am I? '
" She said to him: 1 1 do not know, my child, of
what family thou art. In my youth, when I had to
move about much as a servant, I conceived thee. I do
not know of what family thou art. I am Jabala by
name, thou art Satyakama; say that thou art Satya-
kama Jabala.'
" He, going to Gautama Haridrumata, said to him:
140
CASTE IN THE BRAHMANIC AND EPIC AGE
i I wish to become a Brahmachari with you, sir. May
I come to you, sir? '
" He said to him: ' Of what family are you, my
friend? ' He replied: ' I do not know, sir, of what
family I am. I asked my mother, and she answered,
" In my youth, when I had to move about much as a
BRAHMAN TYPES.
servant, I conceived thee. I do not know of what
family thou art. ' I am Jabala by name, thou art Satya-
kama." I am therefore Satyakama Jabala, sir.'
" He said to him: ' No one but a true Brahman
would thus speak out. Go and fetch fuel, friend; I
shall initiate you. You have not swerved from the
truth.' "
And this truth-loving young man was initiated, and,
CASTE AS YET UNDEVELOPED 141
according to the custom of the times, went out to tend
his teacher's cattle. In time he learnt the great
truths which nature, and even the brute creation,
teach those whose minds are open to instruction. He
gained wisdom even from the herd that he was tend-
ing, from the fire that he had lighted, and from a
flamingo and a diver-bird which flew near him, when
in the evening he had penned his cows and laid wood
on the evening fire, and sat behind it. Then the young
student came back to his teacher, and his teacher said:
" Friend, you shine like one who knows Brahma: who
then has taught you? ' " Not men," was the young
student's reply. And the truth which the young stu-
dent had learnt, though clothed in the fanciful style
of the period, was that the four quarters of heaven,
and the earth, the sky, the ocean, the sun, the moon,
the lightning, and the fire, and the organs and minds
of living beings were none other than Brahma, or
God.
This legend shows that the rules of caste had not
yet become rigid when such legends were composed.
We find in the legend that the son of a servant girl,
who did not know his own father, became a religious
student simply through his love of truth, learnt the
lessons which nature and the learned men of the time
could teach him, and subsequently became classed
among the wisest religious teachers of the time. Surely
the caste of that ancient time must have been free-
dom itself compared to the system of later times, when
the Kshatriya, the Vaisya, and the Sudra were doomed
142 CASTE IN THE BKAHMANIC AM) EPIC AGE
throughout their lives never to rise above the station
in which they had been born, though they might sink
to the lowest Pariahs if they disobeyed the laws of
caste.
CHAPTER XIII
SOCIAL LIFE IN BRAHMANIC AND EPIC TIMES
THE great distinction between the society of Vedic
times and the society of the Brahmanic and Epic
Periods was, as we have seen, that caste was unknown
in the former, and had developed in the latter. But
this was not the only distinction. Centuries of culture
and progress had had their influence on society, and
the Hindus of the period of which we are now speaking
had attained a high degree of refinement and civiliza-
tion, and had developed minute rules to regulate their
domestic and social duties. Royal courts were the
seats of learning, and sages of all nations were in-
vited, honoured, and rewarded. Justice was officially
administered, and law regulated every duty of life.
Cities were multiplied throughout India, and had their
judges, their executive officers, and their police. Agri-
culture was fostered, and the king's officers looked to
the collection of taxes and the comforts of cultivators.
To such courts as those of the Videhas, the Kasis,
and the Kuru-Panchalas learned priests were attached
for the performance of sacrifices, and also for the
cultivation of learning; and many of the Brahmanas
143
144 SOCIAL LIFE IN BKAHMANIC AND EPIC TIMES
which have been handed down to us were composed
in the schools which these priests founded. On great
occasions men of learning came from distant towns
and villages, and discussions were held not only on
ritualistic matters, but on such subjects as the human
soul, the future world, the nature of the gods, and the
different orders of being, and lastly, on the nature of
the Universal Being.
But learning was not confined to royal courts.
There were Parishads, or Brahmanic establishments for
the cultivation of learning, to which young men went
to acquire learning. According to modern writers, a
Parishad ought to consist of twenty-one Brahmans well
versed in philosophy, theology, and law; but these
rules are laid down in later law books, and do not
describe the character of the Parishads of earlier days,
when four, or even three, Brahmans in a village, who
knew the Veda and kept the sacrificial fire, might form
a Parishad.
Besides these Parishads, individual teachers often
gathered round themselves students from various
parts of the country. These students lived with their
teachers, served them in a menial capacity during the
time of their studentship, and, after twelve years or
more, made suitable presents to their teachers and
returned to their homes and their relatives. Learned
Brahmans too, who retired to forests in their old age,
frequently attracted students, and much of the boldest
speculation of this period proceeded from these sylvan
seats of sanctity and learning.
STUDENTS AND HOUSEHOLDERS 145
When students had thus acquired the traditional
learning of the age either in Parishads or under pri-
vate teachers, they returned to their homes, married,
and settled down as householders. With marriage
began their duties as householders, and the first duty
A HINDU YOUTH.
of a householder was to light the sacrificial fire under
an auspicious constellation, to offer libations of milk
to the fire both morning and evening, to perform other
religious and domestic rites, and, above all, to offer
hospitality to strangers. The essence of a Hindu's
duties are inculcated in passages like the follow-
ing:
146 SOCIAL LIFE IN BKAHMANIC AND EPIC TIMES
" Say what is true! Do thy duty! Do not neglect
the study of the Veda! After having brought to thy
teacher the proper reward, do not cut off the lives of
children! Do not swerve from the truth! Do not
swerve from duty! Do not neglect what is useful! Do
not neglect greatness! Do not neglect to teach the
Veda!
" Do not neglect the works due to the gods and
fathers! Let thy mother be to thee like unto a god!
Let thy father be to thee like unto a god! Let thy
teacher be to thee like unto a god! Whatever actions
are blameless, those should be regarded, not others.
Whatever good works have been performed by us,
those should be observed by thee."
Pleasing pictures of a happy state of society are
presented in many passages which we meet with in
the literature of the period: " May the Brahmans in
our kingdom," says the priest at a horse-sacrifice,
" live in piety; may our warriors be skilled in arms
and mighty; may our cows yield us profuse milk, our
bullocks carry their weights, and our horses be swift;
may our women defend their homes, and our warriors
be victorious; may our youths be refined in their
manners. . . . May Parjanya shower rain in every
home and in every region; may our crops yield grains
and ripen, and we attain our wishes and live in
bliss."
In the Brahmanic age wealth consisted of gold and
silver and jewels; of chariots; horses, cows, mules, and
slaves; of houses and fertile fields, and even of ele-
KNOWLEDGE OF METALS 147
phants. Many metals besides gold and silver were
known, as is clear from a passage of the Chhandogya
Upanishad which describes gold as soldered by means
of borax, and silver by means of gold, and tin by means
of silver, and lead by means of tin, and iron by means
HINDU WOMEN BATHING IN A POOL.
From a painting by Edwin Lord Weeks. Copyright, 1895, by Harper & Brothers.
of lead, and wood by means of iron, and also by
means of leather.
Here and there in the towns and villages were pools
that collected rain-water to serve the varied needs of
the people. In these pools they washed their clothes,
and in their waters they often found relief from the
oppressive heat of midday.
As in the Vedic Period, the food of the people
consisted of various kinds of grain as well as the
meat of animals. In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad,
148 SOCIAL LIFE IN BKAHMANIC AND EPIC TIMES
ten kinds of seeds are mentioned, rice and barley,
sesamum and kidney beans, millet and panic seed,
wheat, lentils, pulse, and vetches, while the White
Yajur-Veda also mentions green gram, wild rice, and
shamalo - grass. Grains
were ground and sprinkled
with curds, honey, and
clarified butter, and made
into different kinds of
cake. Milk and its various
preparations have ever
been a favourite food in
India.
A COUNTRY BULLOCK -CART. Animal food was in use
in the Brahmanic and Epic Period, and the cow and
the bull were often laid under requisition. The Aitareya
Brahmana states that an ox or a cow was killed when
a king or an honoured guest was received; and an hon-
oured guest is called, even in comparatively modern
Sanskrit, a cow-killer.
In the Brahmana of the Black Yajur-Veda, the
kind and character of the cattle which should be slaugh-
tered in minor sacrifices, for the gratification of par-
ticular divinities, are laid down in detail, and the
same Brahmana lays down instructions for carving,
while the Gopatha Brahmana tells who received the
different portions. The priests got the tongue, the
neck, the shoulder, the rump, and the legs, while the
master of the house appropriated to himself the sir-
loin, and his wife had to content herself with the
THE EATING OF MEAT 149
pelvis. Plentiful libations of Soma were taken to wash
down the meat.
In the Satapatha Brahmana there is an amusing dis-
cussion as to the propriety of eating the meat of an
ox or a cow, but the conclusion is not very definite:
" Let him (the priest) not eat the flesh of the cow and
the ox." Nevertheless Yajnavalkya said (taking ap-
parently a very practical view of the matter), " I, for
one, eat it, provided it is tender," yet he could scarcely
have contemplated the wonderful effects of vege-
table and animal diets respectively, as laid down in
the following passage in the Brihadaranyaka Upani-
shad:
" If a man wishes that a learned daughter should
be born to him, and that she should live to her full
age, then after having prepared boiled rice with ses-
amum and butter they (the husband and wife) should
both eat, being fit to have offspring.
" And if a man wishes that a learned son should be
born to him, famous, a public man, a popular speaker,
that he should know all the Vedas, and that he should
live to his full age, then, after having prepared boiled
rice with meat and butter, they (the husband and wife)
should both eat, being fit to have offspring. The meat
should be of a young or of an old bull."
And now let our readers construct for themselves
a picture of the social life which the Hindus of the
Brahmanic and Epic Period the citizens of Hasti-
napura and Kampilya and Ayodhya and Mithila
lived three thousand years ago. The towns were sur-
150 SOCIAL LIFE IN BKAHMANIC AND EPIC TIMES
rounded by walls, beautified by edifices, and laid out
in streets. The king's palace was always the centre
of the town, and was frequented by boisterous courtiers
and a rude soldiery, as well as by holy saints and
learned priests. The people flocked to the palace on
every great occasion, loved, respected, and worshipped
the king, and had no higher faith than loyalty to the
king. Householders and citizens had their possessions
and wealth in gold, silver, and jewels; in chariots,
horses, mules, and slaves; and in the fields surrounding
the town. They kept the sacred fire in every respect-
able household, honoured guests, lived according to
the law of the land, offered sacrifices with the help
of Brahmans, and honoured knowledge. Every Aryan
boy was sent to school at an early age. Brahmans and
Kshatriyas and Vaisyas were educated together, learned
the same lessons and the same religion, and returned
home, married, and settled down as householders.
Priests and soldiers were a portion of the people,
intermarried with the people, and ate and drank with
the people. Various classes of manufacturers supplied
the various wants of a civilized society, and followed
their ancestral professions from generation to gener-
ation, but were not cut up into separate castes. Agri-
culturists lived with their herds and their ploughs in
their own villages, and, according to the ancient cus-
tom of India, Hindu village communities managed and
settled their own village concerns.
We have seen that the absolute seclusion of women
was unknown in ancient India. Hindu women held
THE POSITION OF WOMEN 151
an honoured place in society from the dawn of Hindu
civilization four thousand years ago; they inherited
and possessed property; they took a share in sacrifices
and religious duties; they attended great assemblies on
state occasions; they openly frequented public places;
they often distinguished themselves in science and in
the learning of their times; and they even had their
legitimate influence on politics and administration.
And although they never mixed so freely in the society
of men as women do in modern Europe, yet absolute
seclusion and restraint were not Hindu customs; they
were unknown in India till the Mohammedan times,
and are to this day unknown in parts of India like
the Maharashtra, where the rule of the Moslems was
brief.
Innumerable passages might be quoted from the
Brahmana literature, showing the high esteem in which
women were held, but we will content ourselves with
one or two. The first is the celebrated conversation
between Yajnavalkya and his learned wife Maitreyi
on the eve of his retirement to the forest:
" Now when Yajnavalkya was going to enter upon
another state, he said: l Maitreyi, verily I am going
away from this my house. Forsooth let me make a
settlement between thee and Katyayani.'
" Maitreyi said: l My lord, if this whole earth full
of wealth belonged to me, tell me, should I be immortal
by it? ' ' No,' replied Yajnavalkya; ' like the life of
rich people will be thy life. But there is no hope of
immortality by wealth.'
152 SOCIAL LIFE IN BRAHMANIC AND EPIC TIMES
" And Maitreyi said: ' What should I do with that
by which I do not become immortal? What my lord
knoweth of immortality, tell that to me.'
" Yajnavalkya replied: * Thou who art truly dear to
me, thou speakest dear words. Come, sit down, I will
explain it to thee, and mark well what I say.'
And then he explained the principle which is so
often and so impressively taught in the Upanishads,
that the Universal Soul dwells in the husband, in the
wife, in the sons, and in wealth; in the Brahmans and
Kshatriyas, and in all the worlds; in the Devas, in all
living creatures, and in all the universe. Maitreyi re-
ceived and grasped this great truth, and valued it more
than the wealth of all the world.
Our next quotation, which is also from the Brihad-
aranyaka Upanishad, relates to a great assembly of
learned men in the court of Janaka, King of the Vide-
has:
" Janaka Videha sacrificed with a sacrifice at which
many presents were offered to the priests. Brahmans
of the Kurus and the Panchalas had come thither, and
Janaka wished to know which of those Brahmans was
the best read. So he enclosed a thousand cows, and
ten padas of gold were fastened to each pair of horns.
" And Janaka spoke to them: ' Ye venerable Brah-
mans, he who among you is the wisest, let him drive
away these cows.' Then those Brahmans durst not,
but Yajnavalkya said to his pupil, ' Drive them away! '
He replied, i glory of the Sama! ' and drove them
away."
A WOMAN DEBATES WITH A PRIEST
153
On this the Brahmans became angry, and plied
Yajnavalkya with questions, but he was a match for
them all, and the sages, one by one, held their peace.
There was one in the great assembly who was not
deficient in the learning and
the priestly lore of those
times, and that one was a
woman, who rose in the open
assembly, and said: " O
Yajnavalkya, as the son of
a warrior from the Kasis or
Videhas might string his
loosened bow and take two
pointed foe-piercing arrows
in his hand and rise to bat-
tle, I have risen to fight thee
with two questions. Answer
me these questions." The
questions were put and were
answered, and Gargi Vacha-
knavi was silent.
These passages and many
others like them show that
women were honoured in
ancient India and consid-
ered the intellectual compan-
ions of their husbands, their affectionate helpers in the
journey of life, and the inseparable partners of their
religious duties. Hindu wives received the honour and
respect due to their position, in addition to having rights
A TYPE OF BRAHMAX WOMA1C.
154 SOCIAL LIFE IN BKAHMANIC AND EPIC TIMES
to property and to inheritance. In return Hindu wives
have ever been honourably distinguished for their fidel-
ity, and feminine unfaithfulness is comparatively rare.
Early marriage and child-marriage were still un-
known in the Brahmanic and Epic Periods, and we
have numerous allusions to the marriage of girls after
they had reached maturity. Widow-marriage was not
only not prohibited, but there is distinct sanction for it ;
and the rites which the widow had to perform before
she entered into the married state again are distinctly
laid down. As caste was still a pliable institution,
men belonging to one caste frequently married widows
of another, and Brahmans married widows of other
castes without any scruple.
Polygamy was allowed among the Hindus as among
many other ancient nations, but was practically con-
fined to kings and wealthy lords. Polyandry, we need
hardly say, was unknown in Aryan India, so that the
Aitareya Brahmana declares: " For one man has many
wives, but one wife has not many husbands at the same
time."
There is in the Satapatha Brahmana a curious pas-
sage prohibiting marriages among blood-relations to
the third or fourth generation: " For now kinsfolk
live sporting and rejoicing together, saying, l in the
fourth or third generation we unite, 7 " and the rule of
prohibition became still more strict in later times.
CHAPTER XIV
LAW, ASTRONOMY, AND LEARNING
punishment of criminals and the proper admin-
-I- istration of laws are foundations on which all civ-
ilized societies are built, and no nobler concept of the
law has ever been discovered than that formulated by
the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad in the words: " Law
is the power of the kingdom, nor is there aught higher
than the law. Therefore even a weak man rules a
stronger with the help of the law as with the help of
a king. Thus the law is what is called the true. And
if a man declares what is true, they say he declares the
law; and if he declares the law, they say he declares
what is true. Thus both are the same."
The judicial procedure was still crude, however, and,
as among other ancient nations, criminals were often
tried by the ordeal of fire.
" They bring a man hither whom they have taken
by the hand, and they say: ' He has taken something,
he has committed theft.' (When he denies, they say)
' Heat the hatchet for him. 7 If he committed the theft,
then he grasps the heated hatchet, he is burnt, and he
is killed. But if he did not commit the theft, then he
155
156
LAW, ASTEONOMY, AND LEAENING
grasps the heated hatchet, he is not burnt, and he is
delivered." Murder, theft, drunkenness, and adultery
were considered the most heinous offences.
We will now turn to astronomy. The first elemen-
tary knowledge of the astronomical science is discern-
THE ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY, YANTRA SAMANTRA, AT DELHI.
ible in the Rig- Veda itself. The year was divided into
twelve lunar months, and a thirteenth, or intercalary,
month was added to adjust the lunar with the solar year.
The six seasons of the year were named Madhu, Mad-
hava, Sukra, Suchi, Nabha, and Nabhasya, and each was
sacred to an individual god. The different phases of the
moon were observed and were personified as deities.
The position of the moon with regard to the Nakshat-
ADVANCE IN ASTRONOMICAL KNOWLEDGE 157
ras, or the lunar mansions, is also recognized, and some
of the constellations of the lunar mansions are named.
It would appear from this that the Nakshatras were
observed and named in the Vedic Age, but it was
in the later period that the lunar zodiac was finally
settled.
As might be expected, considerable progress was
made in the Brahmanic Period. Astronomy had now
come to be regarded as a distinct science, and astrono-
mers by profession were called Nakshatra Darsa and
Ganaka. The twenty-eight lunar mansions are also
enumerated in the Black Yajur-Veda, and a second and
later enumeration occurs in the Atharva Samhita and
in the Taittiriya Brahmana, while sacrificial rites were
regulated by the position of the moon with reference
to these lunar asterisms.
Besides astronomy, other branches of learning were
also cultivated in the Brahmanic and Epic Period. Thus
in the Chhandogya Upanishad we find Narada saying
to Sanatkumara, " I know the Rig- Veda, sir, the Yajur-
Veda, the Sanaa- Veda, as the fourth the Atharvana, as
the fifth the Itihasa Purana, the Veda of the Vedas
(grammar); the Pitrya (rules for sacrifices for the
ancestors); the Rasi (the science of numbers); the
Daiva (the science of portents) ; the Nidhi (the science
of time); the Vakovakya (logic); the Ekayana (eth-
ics) ; the Deva Vidya (etymology) ; the Brahma Vidya
(pronunciation, prosody, and similar subjects); the
Bhuta Vidya (the science of demons); the Kshatra
Vidya (the science of weapons); the Nakshatra Vidya
158 LAW, ASTRONOMY, AND LEARNING
(astronomy) ; the Sarpa Devanjana Vidya (the science
of serpents and of genii). All this I know, sir."
In the Brihadaranyaka we are told that " Rig-
Veda, Yajur-Veda, Sama-Veda, Atharvangirasas, Iti-
hasa (legends), Purana (cosmogonies), Vidya (knowl-
edge), the Upanishads, Slokas (verses), Sutras (prose
rules), Anuvyakhyanas (glosses), and Vyakhyanas
(commentaries) have all been breathed forth from the
Supreme Being " ; while in the eleventh book of the
Satapatha Brahmana, we have mention of the three
Vedas, the Atharvangirasas, the Anusasanas, the Vid-
yas, the Vakovakya, the Itihasa Purana, the Nara-
sansis and the Gathas.
It is true that these names do not necessarily imply
distinct works which existed in the Epic Period, and
which have since been lost to us, and many of these
names merely imply the different subjects which are
still found in the Brahmanas. It was at a later age,
in the Philosophic Period, that these different subjects
which we find interwoven in the Brahmanas and Upan-
ishads were developed into separate subjects of study,
and were taught in the separate Sutra works and com-
positions which have come down to us. At the same
time, many of these subjects could scarcely have been
taught properly and handed down from teacher to pupil
without the help of special works on those subjects.
We therefore believe that such separate works existed
in the Epic Period, and have been lost, only to be re-
placed by more elaborate and scientific works of a later
age on the same subjects.
RAIL IN THE GAUTAMIPUTRA CAVE, NA8IK.
CHAPTER XV
THE SACRIFICIAL RITES OF THE BRAHMANAS
THE main feature which distinguishes the religion
of the Brahmanic and Epic Period from that of
the preceding age is the great importance which came
to be attached to sacrifice. In the earlier portion of the
Vedic age, men composed hymns in praise of the most
imposing manifestations of nature; they deified these
various natural phenomena, and they worshipped these
deities under the name of Indra or Varuna, of Agni or
the Maruts. And the worship took the shape of sac-
rifice, the offering of milk or grain, as well as of ani-
mals or of libations of Soma-juice to the gods.
A gradual change, however, is perceptible towards
the close of the Vedic Age, and in the Brahmanic and
Epic Age the sacrifice as such, the mere forms and cere-
monials and offerings, had acquired such an abnormal
importance that everything else was lost in it. This
was inevitable when the priests formed a caste. They
multiplied ceremonials, and attached the utmost impor-
159
160 THE SACRIFICIAL EITES OF THE BRAHMANAS
tance to every minute rite, until both they and the wor-
shippers almost lost sight of the deities they worshipped
in the voluminous rites they performed.
Sacrifices were generally accompanied by gifts of
cattle, gold, garments, and food, and by the offering of
animals as victims, and there is a curious passage in
the Satapatha Brahmana about animal sacrifice, which
deserves to be quoted:
" At first the gods offered up a man as a victim.
When he was offered up, the sacrificial essence went
out of him. It entered into the horse. They offered
up the horse. When it was offered, the sacrificial es-
sence went out of it. It entered into the ox. When
it was offered up, the sacrificial essence went out of it.
It entered into the sheep. They offered up the sheep.
When it was offered up, the sacrificial essence went out
of it. It entered into the goat. They offered up the
goat. When it was offered up, the sacrificial essence
went out of it. It entered into this earth. They
searched for it by digging. They found it in the shape
of those two substances, the rice and barley: therefore
even now they obtain those two by digging; and as
much efficacy as all those sacrificed animal victims
would have for him, so much efficacy has this oblation
for him who knows this."
If, however, human sacrifice actually prevailed in
India either before or during the Yedic Period, we
should certainly have found far more frequent allusions
to it in the hymns themselves than we find in the later
Brahmana literature. But in the Rig- Veda we find no
I
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6|
12 1
V OH
"= -
""X E
1
HUMAN SACRIFICE
161
such allusions, for the story of Sunahsepha is no evi-
dence of human sacrifice, and there is absolutely nothing
else in the Kig-Veda which can be so construed. It is
impossible, on the other hand, to suppose that such a
custom should have existed and gradually fallen into
disuse without leaving the slightest trace in the Vedic
CEREMONIAL BATHING IN THE GANGES.
hymns, some of which have come down from a very
ancient date.
Where, then, do we find allusions to human sacri-
fice in the literature of the Brahmanic Period? The
Sama-Veda is compiled from the Vedic hymns, and of
course there is no mention of human sacrifice in this
Veda, nor are there allusions to it in the Black Yajur-
Veda, or the early portions of the White Yajur-Veda.
It is in the very latest compositions of the Brahmanic
Period, in the khila or supplementary portion of the
White Yajur-Veda, in the Brahmana of the Black Yajur-
Veda, in the Aitareya Brahmana of the Big-Veda, and
the last book but one of the Satapatha Brahmana, that
we have accounts of human sacrifice. Is it possible
to postulate the existence of a custom in India which
had passed from the memory of men before the com-
position and compilation of the Rig-Veda, in the Sama-
Veda, in the Black or White Yajur-Veda, but which
suddenly revived after a thousand years in the supple-
ments and Brahmanas of the Vedas ? Is it not far more
natural to suppose that all the allusions to human sac-
rifice in the later compositions of the Epic Period are
the speculations of priests, just as there are specula-
tions about the sacrifice of the Supreme Being himself?
If the priests needed any suggestion, the customs of
the non- Aryan tribes with whom they became familiar
in the Epic Period would give them their cue.
We will now give a brief account of the principal
sacrifices which were performed in this ancient age,
especially since we know from the Yajur-Veda what
these sacrifices were.
The Darsa-purnamasa was performed on the first
day after the full and new moon, and Hindus down to
the present time consider these days as sacred. The
Pindapitri-yajna was a sacrifice to the departed ances-
tors and is one of the few ancient sacrifices which are
performed to this day. The Agnihotra was the daily
libation of milk to the sacred fire, performed morning
and evening, and the Chaturmasya was a sacrifice which
KITES OF THE HOUSEHOLDER 163
was performed only once every four months. The Agni-
shtoma was a Soma sacrifice, and the Sautramani was
originally an expiation for overindulgence in Soma.
The Rajasuya was the imperial coronation sacrifice
which was performed by great kings after they had
established their prowess and fame by conquests, and
the Asvamedha was the celebrated horse-sacrifice which
was also performed after great wars and conquests.
Humbler than these, but far more important for our
purpose, was the Agnyadhana, or setting up of the sac-
rificial fires, which had an important bearing on the
life of every Hindu, and which deserves a few words
in explanation.
The monarch Asvapati boasted that in his kingdom
there was no thief, no miser, no drunkard, no ignorant
person, no adulterer or adulteress, and " no man with-
out an altar in his house." In those days, to keep the
sacred fire in the altar was a duty incumbent on every
householder, and the breach of this rule was regarded
as the deepest impiety. The student who had returned
home from his teacher or his Parishad married in due
time and then set up the sacrificial fires. This was
generally done on the first day of the waxing moon,
but sometimes also at full moon, probably to enable
the newly married couple to enter on the sacred duties
as early as possible. The performance of the Agnya-
dhana, or the establishment of the sacred fires, gen-
erally required two days. The sacrificer chose his four
priests, the Brahman, the Hotri, the Adhvaryu, and the
Agnidhra, and erected two sheds or fire-houses, for the
164
Garhapatya and the Ahavaniya fires respectively. A
circle was marked for the Garhapatya fire, and a square
for the Ahavaniya; while if a southern, or Dakshinagni,
fire was required, a semicircular area was marked to
the south of the space between the other two.
The Adhvaryu then procured a temporary fire, either
CREMATION ON THE BANKS OP THE GANGES AT BENARES.
producing it by friction, or obtaining it from certain
specified sources in the village, and after the usual five-
fold lustration of the Garhapatya fireplace, he placed
the fire upon it. Towards sunset the sacrificer invoked
the gods and manes. He and his wife then entered
the Garhapatya house, and the Adhvaryu handed him
FUNERAL CEREMONIES 165
two pieces of wood, the Arani, for the production of the
Ahavaniya fire on the next morning. The sacrificer and
his wife laid them on their laps, performed propitiatory
ceremonies, and remained awake the whole night and
kept up the fire. In the morning the Adhvaryu ex-
tinguished the fire, or if there was to be a Dakshinagni,
he kept it till that fire was kindled. Such, in brief, is
the ceremony of the Agnyadhana, or the setting up of
sacrificial fires, which formed an important duty in the
life of every Hindu householder in ancient days, when
the gods were worshipped by each man on his hearth,
and when temples and idols were unknown.
In ancient ages burial was practised by the Hindus.
In the Epic Period, however, the custom of burying
had ceased altogether; the dead were burnt, and the
ashes were buried. According to the account in the
White Yajur-Veda, the bones of the dead were collected
in a vessel and buried in the ground near a stream, and
a mound was raised as high as the knee and covered
with grass. The relatives then bathed and changed
their clothes and left the funeral ground. The same
ceremony is more fully described in the Aranyaka of
the Black Yajur-Veda. It is scarcely necessary to add
that the custom which now prevails among the Hindus
is simple cremation, without the burial of the ashes,
and probably began early in the Christian Era.
Another important rite which deserves some expla-
nation is the Pindapitri-yajna, or the gift of cakes to
the departed ancestors. The cakes were offered to Fire
and to Soma, and the Fathers were invoked to receive
166 THE SACRIFICIAL RITES OF THE BRAHMANAS
their shares. Then followed an address to the Fathers
with reference to the six seasons of the year. The
worshipper then looked at his wife and said: " Fathers!
you have made us domestic men we have brought these
gifts to you according to our power." Then, offering
a thread or wool or hair, he said: " Fathers! this is
your apparel, wear it." The wife then ate a cake with
a desire to have children, and said: " Fathers! let a
male be born in me in this season. Do you protect
the son in this womb from all sickness." Departed
spirits, according to the Hindu religion, receive offer-
ings from their living descendants, and get none when
the family is extinct. Hence the extreme fear of Hindus
of dying without male issue, so that the birth or adop-
tion of a son is a part of their religion.
We do not purpose to give an account of the other
sacrificial rites; what we have already said will convey
a general idea as to how sacrifices were performed.
We will now turn to some of the legends of the Brah-
manas, which are curious and interesting. A most re-
markable legend is told of Manu, who in the Vedic
hymns is mentioned as the ancient progenitor of man,
and who introduced cultivation and worship by fire. The
legend of Manu in the Satapatha Brahmana gives the
Hindu version of the story of the Flood. As Manu
was washing his hands, a fish came unto him and said:
" Rear me, I will save thee." Manu reared it, and in
time it told him: " In such and such a year that flood
will come. Thou shalt then attend to me by preparing
a ship." The flood came, and Manu entered into the
THE LEGEND OF THE FLOOD
167
ship which he had built in time, and the fish swam up
to him and carried the ship beyond the northern moun-
tain. There the ship was fastened to a tree, and as the
flood subsided, Manu gradually
descended. " The flood then
swept away all these creatures,
and Manu alone remained here."
The legends relating to the
creation of the world are also
interesting. There is a beautiful
Vedic simile in which the Sun
pursuing the Dawn is compared
to a lover pursuing a maiden.
This gave rise to the legend
which is found in the Brah-
manas, that Prajapati, the su-
preme god, felt a passion for
his daughter, and this was the
origin of creation. This legend
in the Brahmanas was further developed in the Puranas,
where Brahma is represented as enamoured of his daugh-
ter, and all these myths arose from a simple metaphor
in the Rig- Veda about the Sun following the Dawn.
That such is the origin of the Puranic fables was known
to Hindu thinkers and commentators, as will appear
from the following well-known argument of Kumarila,
the great opponent of Buddhism and the predecessor of
Sankaracharya :
"It is fabled that Prajapati, the Lord of Creation,
did violence to his daughter. But what does it mean?
THE FISH AVATAR OF VISHNU.
168 THE SACRIFICIAL BITES OF THE BRAHMANAS
Prajapati, the Lord of Creation, is a name of the sun;
and he is so called because he protects all creatures.
His daughter Ushas is the dawn. And when it is said
that he was in love with her, this only means that at
sunrise the sun runs after the dawn, the dawn being
at the same time called the daughter of the sun because
she rises when he approaches. In the same manner it
is said that Indra was the seducer of Ahalya. This does
not imply that the god Indra committed such a crime;
but Indra means the sun, and Ahalya the night; and
as the night is seduced and ruined by the sun of the
morning, Indra is called the paramour of Ahalya."
There is another legend of creation in the Taittiriya
Brahmana. In the beginning there was nothing except
water and a lotus leaf standing out of it. Prajapati
dived in the shape of a boar and brought up some earth
and spread it out and fastened it down by pebbles. This
was the earth.
A similar story is told in the Satapatha Brahmana
that, after the creation, the gods and demons both
sprang from Prajapati, and the earth trembled like a
lotus leaf when the gods and their foes contended for
mastery.
Another account of the creation is given in the same
Brahmana: " Verily in the beginning Prajapati alone
existed here." He created living beings and birds and
reptiles and snakes, but they all passed away for want
of food. He then made the breasts in the fore part of
their body teem with milk, and so the living creatures
survived. And thus the world was originally peopled.
The Golden Temple at Benares.
From a Photograph.
THE KISE OF NEW DEITIES 169
While legends and sacrificial rites thus multiplied
in the Brahmanic Period, religion was still the same
as in the Vedic Period. The gods of the Rig- Veda were
still worshipped, and the hymns of the Rig, Sama, or
Yajur were still uttered as texts, but the veneration
with which the gods were looked up to in the Vedic
Period was now merged in the veneration for the sacri-
ficial ceremonies.
New gods, however, were slowly finding a place in
the Hindu pantheon. Arjuna was another name of
Indra, even in the Satapatha Brahmana. In the White
Yajur- Veda we find Rudra already assuming his more
modern Puranic names, and acquiring a more distinct
individuality, while in the Rig- Veda, as we have already
seen, Rudra is the father of the storms, and typifies the
thunder. In the White Yajur- Veda he is also described
as the thunder-cloud, although his chief aspect is that
of a god of destruction and the deity of thieves and
criminals. Among his epithets are Girisha (because
clouds rest on mountains), Tamra, Aruna, Babhru
(from the colour of the clouds), Mlakantha, or blue-
necked (for the same reason), Kapardin, or the long-
haired, Pasupati, or the nourisher of animals, Sankara,
or the benefactor, and Siva, or the beneficent. Yet no-
where in Brahmana literature do we find Rudra repre-
sented as the Puranic Siva, the consort of Durga or
Kali. In the Kaushitaki Brahmana we find great im-
portance attached in one passage to Isana, or Mahadeva,
and the Satapatha Brahmana contains the remarkable
passage: " This is thy share, Rudra! Graciously
170 THE SACRIFICIAL RITES OF THE BRAHMANAS
accept it, together with thy sister Ambika! ' In a
celebrated passage in the Mundaka Upanishad, an Upan-
ishad of the Atharva-Veda, we find Kali, Karali,
Manojava, Sulohita, Sudhumarvarna, Sphulingini, and
Visvarupi as the names of the seven tongues of fire.
Finally, in the Sata-
patha Brahmana we
are told of a sacri-
fice being per-
formed by Daksha
Parvati, and in the
Kena Upanishad we
find mention of a
woman named Uma
Haimavati, who ap-
8IVA SLATING KAMADEVA, OR CUPID.
peared before Indra
and explained to Indra the nature of Brahma. These
are a few specimens of the scattered materials in the
Brahmana literature, from which the gorgeous Puranic
legend of Siva and his consort was developed.
In the Aitareya Brahmana and in the Satapatha
Brahmana we are told the story of the gods obtaining
from the Asuras the part of the world which Vishnu
could stride over or cover, and thus they managed to
get the whole world. It is in the concluding book of
this latter Brahmana that Vishnu obtains a sort of
supremacy among gods, and his head is then struck off
by Indra. Krishna, the son of Devaki, is not yet a deity;
he is a pupil of Ghora Angirasa in the Chhandogya
Upanishad.
TRACES OF EAKLY SKEPTICISM
171
.While in these scattered allusions we detect mate-
rials for the construction of the Puranic mythology of
a later day, we also find in the Brahmanic and Epic
Period occasional
traces of that disbelief
in rites and creeds
which broke out at a
later day in the Bud-
dhist revolution. The
Tandya Brahmana of
the Sama-Veda con-
tains the Vratya-sto-
mas, by which the Vrat-
yas, or Aryans not
living according to the
Brahmanical system,
could get admission
into that community,
and some of these here-
tics are thus described: " They drive in open char-
iots of war, carry bows and lances, wear turbans,
robes bordered with red and having fluttering ends,
shoes, and sheepskins folded double; their leaders are
distinguished by brown robes and silver neck-orna-
ments; they pursue neither agriculture nor commerce;
their laws are in a state of confusion; they speak the
same language as those who have received Brahmanical
consecration, but nevertheless call what is easily spoken
hard to pronounce."
VISHNU.
CHAPTER XVI
THE RELIGIOUS DOCTRINES OF THE UPANISHADS
FROM the ritual and legends of the Brahmanas the
mind of India passed to the more vigorous specu-
lations of the Upanishads. Some impatience appears
to have been felt with the elaborate but unmeaning
rites, the dogmatic but childish explanations, and the
mystic but grotesque reasoning which fill the volumi-
nous Brahmanas; and thinking men asked themselves
if this was all that religion could teach. While still
conforming to the rites laid down in the older texts,
they began to speculate on the destination of the Soul
and on the nature of the Supreme Being, and even after
the lapse of nearly three thousand years, we must mar-
vel still at the vigour, the earnestness, and the philos-
ophy which characterize the Upanishads, whose most
important doctrines are the universal soul, creation,
transmigration, and final beatitude.
We begin with the doctrine of a universal soul, an
all-pervading Breath, which is the keystone of the phi-
losophy and thought of the Upanishads. This idea is
somewhat different from monotheism as it is now under-
stood, for monotheism generally recognizes a Creator
172
173
as distinct from his creation, but the monotheism of
the Upanishads, which has been the monotheism of the
Hindu religion ever since, recognizes God as the Uni-
versal Being: all things else have emanated from him,
are a part of him, and will mingle in him, so as to
have no separate existence. This is the great idea which
is taught in the Upanishads in a hundred similes,
stories, and legends, that impart to them their unique
value in the literature of the world. In this spirit the
Chhandogya Upanishad declares:
" All this is Brahma (the Universal Being). Let
a man meditate on the visible world as beginning, end-
ing, and breathing in Brahma.
" His body is spirit, his form is light, his thoughts
are true, his nature is like ether (omnipresent and in-
visible), from him all works, all desires, all sweet odours
and tastes proceed; he it is who embraces all this, who
never speaks and is never surprised.
" He is my self within the heart, smaller than a corn
of rice, smaller than a corn of barley, smaller than a
mustard seed, smaller than a canary seed or the kernel
of a canary seed. He also is my self within the heart,
greater than the earth, greater than the sky, greater
than heaven, greater than all these worlds.
" He from whom all works, all desires, all sweet
odours and tastes proceed, who embraces all this, who
never speaks and is never surprised, he my self within
the heart is that Brahma, When I shall have de-
parted from hence, I shall obtain him."
Such is the sublime language in which the ancient
174 EELIGIOUS DOCTKESTES OF THE UPANISHADS
Hindus expressed their sublime conception of the mi-
nute but all-pervading and Universal Being whom they
called Brahma, or God.
In the same Upanishad is told the beautiful story
of Svetaketu, who stayed with his teacher from his
twelfth year to his twenty-fourth, and then returned
home, " having then studied all the Vedas, conceited,
considering himself well read, and stern." But he had
yet things to learn which were not ordinarily taught in
the schools of the age, and his father Uddalaka Aruneya
taught Til the true nature of the Universal Being in
such similes as these:
" As the bees, my son, make honey by collecting the
juices of distant trees, and reduce the juice into one
form; and as these juices have no discrimination, so
that they might say, 1 1 am the juice of this tree or that,'
in the same manner, my son, all these creatures, when
they have become merged in the True, know not that
they are merged in the True.
" These rivers, my son, run, the eastern (like the
Ganges) towards the east, the western (like the Indus)
towards the west. They go from sea to sea (i. e. the
clouds lift up the water from the sea to the sky and
send it back as rain to the sea). They become indeed
sea. And as those rivers, when they are in the sea, do
not know, ' I am this or that river,' in the same manner,
my son, all these creatures, proceeding from the True,
know not that they have proceeded from the True.
* Place this salt in water and then wait on me in
the morning.'
THE OMNIPRESENCE OF BKAHMA 175
" The son did as he was commanded. The father
said to him: ' Bring me the salt which you placed in
the water last night.' The son, having looked for it,
found it not, for, of course, it was dissolved.
" The father said: ' Taste it from the surface of the
water. How is it? ' The son replied: ' It is salt.'
* Taste it from the middle. How is it? ' The son re-
plied : * It is salt. ' ' Taste it from the bottom. How
is it? ' The son replied: * It is salt.' The father said:
* Throw it away and then wait on me.'
" The son waited on the father, and the father ex-
plained to his son that the Universal Being, though
invisible, dwells in us, as the salt is in the water."
These extracts from the Chhandogya bring home to
us the Hindu idea of a Universal Being. We will now
quote one or two passages from the Kena and the Isa
Upanishads:
11 At whose wish does the mind, sent forth, proceed
on its errand? " asks the pupil. " At whose command
does the first breath go forth? At whose wish do we
utter this speech? What god directs the eye or the
ear? "
The teacher replies: "It is the ear of the ear, the
mind of the mind, the speech of the speech, the breath
of the breath, and the eye of the eye.
" That which is not expressed by speech, and by
which speech is expressed; that which does not think
by mind, and by which mind is thought; that which
does not see by the eye, and by which one sees; that
which does not hear by the ear, and by which the ear
176 EELIGIOUS DOCTKINES OF THE UPAKISHADS
is heard; that which does not breathe by breath, and
by which breath is drawn that alone know as Brahma
not that which people here adore."
And the joy of him who has comprehended, how-
ever feebly, the incomprehensible God, has been well
described:
" He who beholds ah 1 beings in the Self, and Self
in all beings, he never turns away from it.
" When, to a man who understands, the Self has
become all things, what sorrow, what trouble can there
be to him who once beheld that unity?
" He, the Self, encircled all, bright, incorporeal,
scatheless, without muscles, pure, untouched by evil,
a seer, wise, omnipresent, self-existent, he disposed all
things aright for eternal years."
Lastly, in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad we are
told that all gods are the manifestation of Self, or
Purusha, " for he is all gods "; and likewise that he
exists in all men, in the Brahman, the Kshatriya, the
Vaisya, and the Sudra.
Our extracts on this subject have been somewhat
lengthy, but the reader will not regret it. For the
doctrine of a Universal Soul is the very keystone of
the Hindu religion, and it is necessary to know how this
idea was first developed in India in the Upanishads.
We will now pass on to another important teaching,
the doctrine of creation.
The creation of the world was still a mystery to
those early thinkers, and the attempts to solve it were
necessarily fanciful. A few passages may be quoted:
THE COSMIC EGG
177
' In the beginning the universe was non-existent.
It became existent as it grew. It turned into an egg.
AN INDIAN SCENE.
The egg lay for the time of a year. The egg broke open.
The two halves were one of silver, the other of gold.
" The silver one became this earth, the golden one
the sky, the thick membrane (of the white) the moun-
178 RELIGIOUS DOCTRINES OF THE UPANISHADS
tains, the thin membrane (of the yolk) the mist with
the clouds, the small veins the rivers, the fluid the sea.
" And what was born from it was Aditya, the Sun.
When he was born shouts of joy arose, and all beings
arose, and all things which they desired."
A different account is given in the same Chhandogya
Upanishad, where we are told that " in the beginning
there was that only, which is, One only, without a sec-
ond." And that sent forth fire, and fire sent forth
water, and the water sent forth the earth.
The Aitareya Aranyaka describes how Prana, the
Universal Breath, created the world, and then discusses
the question of the material cause out of which the
world was created. As in the Kig-Veda, and as in the
Biblical account of creation, water is said to be the first
material cause.
" Was it water really? Was it water? Yes, all
this was water indeed. The water was the root, the
world was the shoot. He (the person) is the father,
they (earth, fire, and other elements) are the sons."
And elsewhere in the same Upanishad the following
account of Creation is given:
" Verily in the beginning all this was Self one
only. There was nothing else whatsoever." And that
Self sent forth the water (above the heaven), the lights
which are the sky, the mortal which is the earth, and
the waters under the earth. He then formed the Pu-
rusha, and the universe was produced from the Pu-
rusha.
Some of these extracts clearly recognize an original
TEANSMIGRATION OF SOULS 179
Creator the Breath or the Soul or the Self and also
a material cause, water or fire. We shall see hereafter
how this doctrine of a Primal Soul and Primal Matter
is developed in later Hindu Philosophy. We must now
turn to the most important doctrine of the transmigra-
tion of souls. It is to the Hindus what the doctrine of
Resurrection is to Christians. And while the Chris-
tians believe that our souls will live in another sphere
after death, the Hindus believe that our souls have lived
in other spheres before, and will live again in other
spheres after death.
The central idea is that which has been adopted as
the cardinal principle of the Hindu religion, that good
acts lead to their rewards in future existences, but only
true knowledge leads to union with the Universal Spirit.
" As here on earth whatever has been acquired by
exertion perishes, so perishes whatever is acquired for
the next world by sacrifices and other good actions per-
formed on earth. Those who depart from hence with-
out having discovered the Self and those true desires,
for them there is no freedom in all the worlds."
The doctrine of transmigration of souls is explained
as follows in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:
" As a caterpillar, after having reached the end of
a blade of grass, and after having made another ap-
proach to another blade, draws itself together towards
it, thus does the Self, after having thrown off this body
and dispelled all ignorance, and after making another
approach to another body, draw itself together to-
wards it.
180 RELIGIOUS DOCTRINES OF THE UPANISHADS
" And as a goldsmith, taking a piece of gold, turns
it into another newer and more beautiful shape, so does
the Self, after having thrown off this body and dispelled
GOLD WIRE - DRAWERS.
all ignorance, make unto himself another newer and
more beautiful shape, whether it be like the Fathers, or
like the Gandharvas, or like the Devas, or like Praja-
pati, or like Brahma, or like other beings.
" So much for the man who desires. But as to the
THE DOCTRINE OF FINAL BEATITUDE 181
man who does not desire; who, not desiring, free from
desires, is satisfied in his desires, or desires the Self
only, his vital spirits do not depart elsewhere; being
Brahma, he goes to Brahma.
" And as the slough of a snake lies on an ant-hill,
dead and cast away, thus lies the body; but that dis-
embodied immortal spirit is Brahma only, is only light."
And this brings us to the doctrine of final beatitude
and salvation. There is nothing more sublime in the
literature of the ancient Hindus than the passages in
which they fervently recorded their hope and faith that
the disembodied soul, purified from all stains and all
sins, will at last be received in the Universal Soul, even
as light mingles with light. We quote another passage
from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:
" He, therefore, that knows, after having become
quiet, subdued, satisfied, patient, and collected, sees self
in Self, sees all in Self. Evil does not overcome him,
he overcomes all evil. Evil does not burn him, he burns
all evil. Free from evil, free from spots, free from
doubt, he becomes a true Brahman enters the Brahma
world."
It was this doctrine of final beatitude which Death
explained to Nachiketas in that beautiful idyl of an
Upanishad called Katha, and our chapter may find a
fitting close in an extract from that beautiful creation
of fancy and of piety.
Nachiketas was given by his father unto Death and
entered the abode of Yama Vaivasvata, whom he asked
for three boons, the last of which was this:
182 EELIGIOUS DOCTRINES OF THE UPANISHADS
" There is that doubt, when a man is dead; some
saying, he is; others, he is not. This I should like to
know, taught by thee; this is the third of my boons."
But Death was unwilling to reveal his secrets, and
told Nachiketas to ask for other boons.
" Choose sons and grandsons who shall live a hun-
dred years, herds of cattle, elephants, gold, horses.
Choose the wide abode of the earth, and live thyself
as many harvests as thou desirest.
" If thou canst think of any boon equal to that,
choose wealth and long life. Be king, Nachiketas, on
the whole earth. I make thee the enjoy er of all desires.
" Whatever desires are difficult to attain among mor-
tals,- ask for them, anything to thy wish; these fair
maidens with their chariots and musical instruments
such indeed are not to be obtained by men; be waited
on by them whom I give thee, but ask not me about
dying."
Nachiketas said: " These things last till to-morrow,
O Death, for they wear out this vigour of all the senses.
Even the whole of life is short. Keep thou thy horses,
keep dance and song for thyself."
Pressed by the pious inquirer, Death at last revealed
the great secret, which is the principle of the Upani-
shads and the principle of the Hindu religion:
" The sage who, by means of meditation on himself,
recognizes the Ancient, who is difficult to be seen, who
has entered into the dark, who has hidden in the cave,
who dwells in the abyss, as God he indeed leaves joy
and sorrow far behind.
THE VALUE OF THE UPANISHADS
183
. .
A mortal who has heard this and embraced it, who
has separated from it all qualities, and has thus reached
the subtle Being, rejoices because he has obtained what
is a cause for rejoicing. The house of Brahma is open.
I believe, Nachiketas! '
Who can, even in the pres-
ent day, peruse these pious
inquiries and fervent thoughts
of a long-buried past, without
feeling a new emotion in his
heart, without seeing a new
light before his eyes? The
mysteries of the unknown fu-
ture will never be solved by
human intellect or by human
science; but the first recorded
attempts of India to solve
them in a pious, fervent, phil-
osophical spirit will ever have an abiding interest for
every patriotic Hindu and for every thoughtful man.
By no other has this truth been recognized more fully
or felt more deeply than by Schopenhauer when he
wrote: " From every sentence deep, original, and sub-
lime thoughts arise, and the whole is pervaded by a high
and holy and earnest spirit. Indian air surrounds us,
and original thoughts of kindred spirits. In the whole
world there is no study so beneficial and so elevating
as that of the Upanishads. It has been the solace of
my life; it will be the solace of my death. "
BRAHMA.
CHAPTER XVII
THE AGE OF LAWS AND PHILOSOPHY
age of laws, rationalism, and philosophy is, in
- many respects, the most brilliant epoch of India's
history, for it was in this period that the Aryans spread
forth from the valley of the Ganges and established
Hindu kingdoms with Hindu civilization as far as the
southernmost boundaries of the peninsula. Magadha,
or South Behar, already known to the Hindus of the
Brahmanic period, was now completely Hinduized, and
the young and powerful kingdom founded there soon
eclipsed all the ancient realms of the Ganges valley.
Buddhism spread from Magadha to surrounding do-
minions, and Aryan colonists penetrated to Bengal
and introduced Hindu religion and culture among the
aborigines. The kingdoms established in the south
won still greater distinction. The Andhras founded
a powerful dominion in the Deccan and developed
great schools of learning, while further south the
Aryans came in contact with the ancient Dravidian
civilization. The more perfect Hindu culture prevailed,
and the Dravidians were Hinduized and founded king-
doms which became distinguished for learning and
184
TERRITORIAL EXPANSION 185
power. The three sister kingdoms of the Cholas, the
Cheras, and the Pandyas made their mark before the
third century B. c., and Kanchi (Conjevaram), the cap-
ital of the Cholas, distinguished itself as the seat of
Hindu learning at a later day. In the west the Sau-
rashtras (including Gujarat and the Maharatta coun-
try) received Hindu civilization; and in this period
SCULPTURE FROM THE BUDDHIST TOPE NEAR BENARES.
Ceylon was discovered, and formed a great resort of
Hindu traders.
The practical and enterprising spirit of the age
showed itself in literature as well as in territorial
conquests.
All learning, all sciences, and all religious teach-
ings were reduced to concise practical manuals called
Sutras, whose characteristic is brevity, as verbosity is
of the Brahmanas. One main reason which led to this
extreme conciseness was that young Hindu students
were expected to place themselves under some teacher
186 THE AGE OF LAWS AND PHILOSOPHY
at the early age of eight or ten or twelve, and for
twelve years or more to remain in their teacher's house,
doing menial service under him, begging alms for him,
and learning the ancestral religion by rote. The diffuse
details of the Brahmanas were therefore compressed
into short treatises in order that they might be im-
parted and learnt with ease, and a separate body of
Sutras was thus composed for each Sutra-charana or
school. The names of the authors of many of these
compositions have been handed down to us, and while
the Vedas and the Brahmanas are declared to be re-
vealed, no such claim is put forward for the Sutras,
which are admitted to be human compositions. The so-
called revealed literature of India closes, therefore,
with the Upanishads, which form the last portions of
the Brahmanas.
When the composition of Sutras had once begun,
the system spread rapidly all over India, and Sutra
schools multiplied. The Charanyavyuha names five
Charanas of the Rig- Veda, twenty-seven of the Black
Yajur-Veda, fifteen of the White Yajur-Veda, twelve
of the Sama-Veda, and nine of the Atharva-Veda. A
vast mass of Sutra literature thus gradually sprang
up in India, but of the Sutras which must have been
composed and taught in these numerous Sutra-charanas
comparatively few have survived. The Sutra literature
falls into three great classes, dealing respectively with
religion (Srauta Sutras), law (Dharma Sutras), and
domestic life (Grihya Sutras). Of these the earliest
were the Sutras connected with religion and consisting
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CLASSIFICATION OF THE LAW MANUALS 189
of concise manuals of the details of Vedic sacrifices.
Two collections of these Srauta Sutras belonging to
the Big-Veda, called Asvalayana and Sankhayana;
three belonging to the Sanaa- Veda, and called Masaka,
Latyayana, and Drahyayana; four belonging to the
Black Yajur-Veda, and called Baudhayana, Bharadvaja,
Apastamba, and Hiranyakesin; and one belonging to
the White Yajur-Veda, and called Katyayana, have
been left entire. To the general reader the Srauta
Sutras are but dreary and tedious reading, and we
therefore turn with pleasure to the Dharma Sutras,
which present to us the customs and manners and
laws of the times, and are far more valuable for our
historical purpose. In the Srauta Sutras we see the
Hindus as sacrificers; in the Dharma Sutras we see
them as citizens. But the Dharma Sutras of this an-
cient period have a deeper claim to our attention,
because they were modified and put into verse at a
later age, and transformed into those law-books with
which modern Hindus are familiar, such as Manu and
Yajnavalkya. In their original Sutra form (often in
prose, sometimes in prose and verse, but never in con-
tinuous verse like the later codes), they were com-
posed, just as the Srauta Sutras, by the founders
of the Sutra-charanas, and were learned by rote by
young Hindus, so that they might, in later life, never
forget their duties as citizens and as members of so-
ciety.
Among the Dharma Sutras which are lost and have
not yet been recovered, was the Manava Sutra, or Sutra
190
of Manu, from which the later metrical Code of Manu
was compiled, and which was held in high esteem in
the Sutra Period, just as the metrical Code of Manu
is honoured at the present day.
Among the Dharma Sutras still extant, the Vasishtha
belonging to the Rig- Veda, the Gautama belonging to
the Sama-Veda, and the Baudhayana and Apastamba
belonging to the Black Yajur-Veda are accessible in
English translations.
In point of time Gautama is the oldest, and we find
Baudhayana transferring a whole chapter of Gautama's
into his Sutra, while Vasishtha, in his turn, borrowed
the same chapter from Baudhayana.
We have spoken of the Srauta Sutras which treat
of the duties of a worshipper, and of the Dharma
Sutras, which define the duties of a citizen. But man
has other responsibilities beyond those of a worshipper
and a citizen. As a son, a husband, and a father, he
has duties to perform towards the members of his
family. He has rites to perform in connection with
domestic occurrences, which are quite different from
the elaborate ceremonials taught in the Srauta Sutras.
A distinct class of rules was necessary to fix the details
of the domestic rites, and these regulations are given
in the Grihya Sutras.
Much interest attaches to these simple domestic
rites performed at the domestic fireside, and not at
the hearths which had to be specially lighted at great
sacrifices. The domestic fire was kindled by each
householder on his marriage, and the simple rites, the
191
Paka-yajnas, were easily performed. Gautama enumer-
ates seven Paka sacrifices: Astaka, performed in the
four winter months; Parvana, at full and new moon;
Sraddha, or monthly funeral oblations; Sravani, Agra-
hayani, Chaitri, and Asvayuji, performed on the days
of full moon in the months from which the rites have
been named. The account of these rites contained in
the Grihya Sutras is deeply interesting, because after
a lapse of over two thousand years the Hindus still
practise the same rites, sometimes under the same
name, and often under a different name and in a
somewhat different way. The Grihya Sutras also con-
tain accounts of social ceremonies performed at mar-
riage, at the birth of a child, at his first feeding, at
his assuming the life of a student, and at other im-
portant periods in his life, and thus we get a complete
idea of domestic life among the ancient Hindus from
these Grihya Sutras.
The Srauta Sutra, the Dharma Sutra, and the Grihya
Sutra go collectively under the name of Kalpa Sutra.
Indeed, each Sutra-charana is supposed to have had a
complete body of Kalpa Sutra, including the divisions
mentioned above, but much of what once existed has
been lost, and we have only fragments of the Sutra
literature left. The entire Kalpa Sutra of Apastamba
still exists, and is divided into thirty prasnas or sec-
tions. The first twenty-four of these treat of Srauta
sacrifices; the twenty-fifth contains the rules of inter-
pretation; the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh treat
of the Grihya rites; the twenty-eighth and twenty-
192 THE AGE OF LAWS AND PHILOSOPHY
ninth contain the Dharma Sutra, and the thirtieth sec-
tion, the Sulva Sutra, teaches the geometrical principles
according to which the altars for the sacrifices had to
be constructed. In addition to the Sutras, ancient
writers enumerate five other Vedangas, or departments
of Vedic study, which may be briefly enumerated here.
Siksha, or Phonetics, is the science of pronunciation,
and there is reason to believe that rules on the subject
were formerly embodied in the Aranyakas and even in
the Brahmanas, but that they have disappeared in con-
sequence of the appearance of more scientific works on
the same subject in the Philosophic Period. These
works are called Pratisakhyas, since they were collec-
tions of phonetic rules applicable to each Sakha, or
recension, of each Veda.
Many of the Pratisakhyas, however, have been lost,
and only one Pratisakhya for each Veda (except the
Sama-Veda) has been preserved to us. The Prati-
sakhya of the Eig-Veda is ascribed to the renowned
Saunaka. Similarly, a Pratisakhya of the White Yajur-
Veda is also extant and is ascribed to Katyayana.
A Pratisakhya of the Black Yajur-Veda and one of the
Atharva-Veda are also extant, but the names of the
authors are forgotten.
Chhandas, or Metre, is mentioned in the Vedas, and
whole chapters in the Aranyakas and Upanishads are
devoted to it. But as in the case of Siksha, so in the
case of Chhandas, we have a clear scientific treat-
ment of the subject for the first time in the Sutra
literature.
SCIENTIFIC TREATISES 193
Vyakarana, or Grammar, was a product of this age,
and the deservedly great fame of Panini, perhaps the
foremost grammarian of the world, has eclipsed all
other grammarians of the period. We will not enter
here into the controversy of the date of this great
scholar, who is thought by some to have lived in the
fourth century B. c., but in our own opinion it seems
not improbable that his date is to be placed before
the rise of Buddhism. Whatever may be the fact, it is
acknowledged that his grammatical rules affected the
entire classical language of the Sanskrit and exercised
an influence even on the modern science of language,
which owes its existence to the opening of Sanskrit to
Europe within little more than a century. Second only
to Panini in ancient philological work is Yaska in the
kindred department of etymology (Nirukta).
The object of Jyotisha, or Astronomy, which should
likewise be mentioned here, was to give a knowledge
of the heavenly bodies necessary for fixing the time
for sacrifices, and to establish a sacred calendar.
Besides the six Vedangas detailed above, there is
another class of works called the Anukramani, or In-
dex to the Vedas, which also belongs to Sutra liter-
ature. The Anukramani of the Rig- Veda is ascribed
to Katyayana and gives the first words of each hymn,
the number of verses, the name of the poet, the metre,
and the deity; and although there were older Anu-
kramanis of the Rig-Veda, all have been superseded
by Katyayana 's fuller work.
The Yajur-Veda has three Anukramanis, one for
194 THE AGE OF LAWS AND PHILOSOPHY
the Atreya recension of the Black Yajur-Veda, one
for the recension of the Charakas, and the third for
the Madhyamdina recension of the White Yajur-
Veda.
Of the Sama-Veda we have an ancient index in
the Arsheya Brahmana, and others among the Parisish-
tas, or supplementary works; while one of the Atharva-
Veda exists in manuscript in the British Museum.
It is appropriate to draw attention, furthermore,
to a science which belongs to the Age of Philosophy.
It is the science of geometry, which, like grammar,
astronomy, and other sciences, owes its origin to
India, and has its roots in religion, for geometry was
developed in India from the rules for the construction
of the altars. It should be remembered that the world
owes its first lessons in geometry not to Greece, but
to India, even if the Greeks of a later age cultivated
the science with greater success than the Hindus.
The system of decimal notation is also of Indian ori-
gin, as the Arabs first learned it from the Hindus
and introduced it into Europe. All science must
therefore recognize an obligation to India in this
respect.
We have still to refer to the most important
product of the Hindu mind in this Philosophic and
Rationalistic Period. The inquiries started at the
close of the Brahmanic and Epic Period in the Upani-
shads led to those deeper investigations and profound
researches which are known as the six schools of Hindu
Philosophy. The most abstruse problems of matter and
THE GROWTH OF SKEPTICISM 195
spirit, of creation and future existence, were consid-
ered by the Sankhya Philosophy, not as by the Upan-
ishads in guesses and speculations, but with the strict-
est method and most relentless logic. Other schools
of philosophy followed the lead of the Sankhya system,
and boldly inquired into the mysteries of soul and mind,
of creation and of the Creator.
Orthodox Hindus became alarmed at the spread of
skeptical ideas, and a reaction set in. The result is the
Vedanta system of philosophy, which re-asserts the
great doctrines of the Upanishads, and which forms to
this day the basis of Hindu beliefs and religious con-
victions. In the meantime, however, a far mightier
movement than that caused by philosophical opinions
had been set on foot, when, in the sixth century before
Christ, Gautama Buddha was born and proclaimed to
the poor and the lowly that Vedic rites were useless,
that a holy and tranquil and benevolent life is the
essence of religion, and that caste distinctions do not
exist among those who strive after holiness and purity.
Thousands responded to his appeal, and thus a catholic
religion began to spread in India, which has since be-
come the religion of Asia.
From this brief account of the age given by way of
introduction, the reader will have some idea of the intel-
lectual activity of this most brilliant period of Hindu
civilization. Eeligious rights and duties were laid down
lucidly and concisely for householders; civil and crim-
inal laws were compiled; phonetics, metre, and gram-
mar were dealt with with scientific accuracy; geometry
196
THE AGE OF LAWS AND PHILOSOPHY
and mathematics were cultivated; mental philosophy
and logic were studied and developed with marvellous
success; and a noble religion was proclaimed which is
now the faith of a third of the human race.
CHAPTER XVIII
EXPANSION OF THE HINDUS
THE history of India received a new light in the
Age of Laws, or Philosophic Period, when the
Greeks visited India and also compiled accounts of it
from report. The first two epochs of Hindu history
receive no light, therefore, from Greek literature, but in
this third era India began to be known to Greece. Not
to mention the philosopher Pythagoras, who is supposed
by some scholars to have come under Indian influence,
we may refer to the allusions to India in Herodotus,
the Father of History, who lived in the fifth century
before Christ.
Herodotus never visited India, but he gives from
report valuable accounts of the Hindus, although he
mingles them with legends and stories, and often con-
founds Hindu customs with those of the uncivilized
aborigines who still inhabited large tracts in India.
He tells us that the Indians were the greatest nation
of the age, that they were divided into various tribes
and spoke different tongues, that they procured great
quantities of gold in their country, that India abounded
197
198 EXPANSION OF THE HINDUS
in animals larger than those of any other country,
and produced wild trees which bore wool (cotton) from
which the Indians made their clothing. He also men-
tions the fact, which is probably historically true, that
Darius, King of Persia, subjugated a part of India,
and that his ships sailed down the Indus to the sea.
And lastly, Megasthenes came to India in the fourth
century before Christ, and lived in the court of Chan-
dragupta in Pataliputra, or ancient Patna, writing an
account of India which still survives in fragments pre-
served by subsequent authors, although his original
work is lost.
We have seen that by the end of the Brahmanic and
Epic Periods the whole of the valley of the Ganges and
Jumna from Delhi to North Behar had been conquered,
peopled, and Hinduized, and we also know that towards
the close of this period Hindu settlers and colonists left
the valley of the Ganges and penetrated into remote un-
known lands, into Southern Behar, Malwa, the Deccan,
and Gujarat. Thus these non-Aryan provinces were
becoming gradually known to the Hindus, and were
slowly coming under Hindu influence and power when
the Epic Period closed and the Philosophic Period
began.
The waves of Hindu conquests rolled onwards, and
the aborigines submitted themselves to a higher civiliza-
tion and a nobler creed. Rivers were crossed, forests
were cleared, lands were reclaimed, wide wastes were
peopled, and new countries hitherto aboriginal wit-
nessed the rise of Hindu power and of Hindu religion.
THE SPREAD OF CIVILIZATION
199
Where a few scanty settlers had penetrated at first,
powerful colonies grew; where religious teachers had
retired in seclusion, quiet villages and towns arose.
Where a handful of merchants had made their way by
TRAVELLING IN THE NILGIRI HTLL8.
some unknown river, boats plied up and down with
valuable cargoes for a civilized population. Where
hardy warriors or scions of royal houses had dwelt in
exile or by the chase, powerful monarchs reigned over
a conquered, civilized, and Hinduized aboriginal pop-
ulation. And where foresters had felled trees and
200 EXPANSION OF THE HINDUS
cleared small tracts of land, smiling fields covered with
waving corn spread for miles around, betokening the
spread of civilization and of the civilized arts of life.
Such was the history of Aryan conquests from gen-
eration to generation and from century to century in
the Philosophic Period, and each succeeding Sutra work
shows that the circle of civilization spread wider, and
that the zone of unreclaimed barbarism receded farther
and farther. And long before the close of this period,
in the fourth century B. c., the entire peninsula had been
reclaimed, civilized, and Hinduized, and primitive bar-
barians dwelt only in rocks, forests, and deserts which
the Aryans disdained to conquer. It is not merely a
story of conquests, which would have little interest for
the philosophical reader. It is a story of the spread of
Hindu civilization among hitherto unknown countries
and aboriginal nations. It was the acceptance, by the
Andhras of the Deccan and the Saurashtras of Gujarat,
by the Cholas, Cheras, and Pandyas of Southern India,
by the Magadhas, the Angas, the Vangas, and the Ka-
lingas of Eastern India, of that superior religion and
language and civilization which the Hindu Aryans of-
fered to them. The gift was accepted and cherished,
and henceforth the Dravidian and other tribes of South-
ern and Eastern India were Aryans in religion, language,
and civilization. This was the great work and result
of the Philosophic Period.
Baudhayana lived probably in the sixth century
before Christ, and was one of the earliest of the Sutra-
karas. In his time the zone of Hindu kingdoms and
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GEOGRAPHY OF THE PERIOD 201
civilization extended as far south as Kalinga, or the
eastern seaboard, stretching from modern Orissa south-
ward to the mouth of the Krishna. The passage which
we quote is interesting, because it shows that the an-
cient Aryan region along the Ganges and the Jumna
was still regarded as the suitable home of the Aryans,
while tracts of country in which the non-Aryan tribes
had been recently Hinduized were regarded with some
degree of contempt.
" The country of the Aryas (Aryavarta) lies to the
east of the region where the River (Sarasvati) disap-
pears, to the west of the Black Forest (Kalakavana),
to the north of the Paripatra (Vindhya mountains),
and to the south of the Himalaya. The rule of conduct
which prevails there is authoritative.
" Some declare the country between the Yamuna
and Ganga (to be the Aryavarta).
" Now the Bhallavins quote also the following verse:
" In the west the boundary river, in the east the
region where the sun rises, as far as the black antelopes
wander, so far spiritual pre-eminence is found.
" The inhabitants of Avanti (Malwa), of Anga
(East Behar), of Magadha (South Behar), of Sau-
rashtra (Gujarat), of the Deccan, of Upavrit, of Sindh,
and the Sauviras (South Panjab) are of mixed origin.
" He who has visited the Arattas (in the Panjab),
Karaskaras (in South India), Pundras (in North Ben-
gal), Sauviras (in the Panjab), Vangas (in Eastern
Bengal), Kalingas (in Orissa), or Pranunas shall offer
a Punastoma or a Sarvaprishtha sacrifice "such was
202 EXPANSION OF THE HINDUS
the extreme limit of the Hindu world about the sixth
century before Christ.
That portions of Southern India had not only been
colonized by this date, but had become the seats of
Hindu kingdoms and of distinct schools of laws and
learning, is proved by the writings of Baudhayana.
Baudhayana himself may have been a southerner, at
any rate he takes care to mention the peculiar laws and
customs of Southern India. We will cite one passage:
" There is a dispute regarding five practices, in the
south and in the north.
" We will explain those peculiar to the south.
" They are to eat in the company of an uninitiated
person, to eat in the company of one's wife, to eat stale
food, to marry the daughter of a maternal uncle or of
a paternal aunt.
" Now the customs peculiar to the north are: to
deal in wool, to drink rum, to sell animals that have
teeth in the upper and in the lower jaws, to follow the
trade of arms, and to go to sea.
" He who follows these practices in any other coun-
try than where they prevail commits sin.
" For each of these customs the rule of the country
should be the authority."
Let us now take leave of Baudhayana and come to
the next Sutrakara of India. If Baudhayana be sup-
posed to have flourished in the sixth century before
Christ, Apastamba probably flourished in the fifth.
There can be little doubt that Apastamba lived and
taught in the Andhra country, and the limits of that
SOUTHERN INDIA HINDUIZED
203
great monarchy embraced all the districts between the
Godavari and the Krishna, the capital apparently being
situated near the modern Amaravati on the lower
Krishna. It was the Andhra text of the Taittiriya
Aranyaka which Apastamba recognized and followed,
and his teachings are to
this day held in regard by
the Apastambiya Brah-
manas of Nasik, Puna,
Ahmadabad, Satara,
Sholapur, Kolhapur, and
other places in the Dec-
can.
Thus we find that the
conquest of Southern In-
dia which was commenced
at the close of the Epic
Period went on through
succeeding centuries; that
by the sixth century, Bengal, Orissa, Gujarat, and the
Deccan had been conquered and Aryanized; and that by
the fifth century the Deccan as far south as the Krishna
Eiver was the seat of a powerful Hindu Empire. By the
fourth century B. c. the whole of Southern India south
of the Krishna River had been Hinduized, and three
great Hindu kingdoms, those of the Cholas, the Cheras,
and the Pandyas had been founded, stretching as far
south as Cape Comorin; and Ceylon, too, had been dis-
covered. And when we come towards the close of this
century, we issue now from the obscurity of isolated
CAPITAL OF HALF COLUMN FHOM A
TEMPLE IN ORISSA.
204 EXPANSION OF THE HINDUS
passages in the Sutra works into the sunlight of Greek
accounts of India. For it was in this century that
Megasthenes, the ambassador of Seleucus, came to
India and resided in the royal court of Chandragupta
in Pataliputra, or ancient Patna, between 317 and
312 B. c.
The account of the races and kingdoms in India
given by Megasthenes is full and intelligible, and
gives us a clear idea of the state of the country at
the close of the Philosophic Period.
The Prachyas, by which name we are now to under-
stand the Magadhas, had become the most powerful
and foremost nation in India in the fourth cen-
tury B. c., as the Kurus, the Panchalas, the Videhas
and the Kosalas had been in the Epic Period. They
had their capital at Pataliputra, a flourishing town
described as eighty stadia, or nine miles, long and fif-
teen stadia, or nearly two miles, wide. It was a par-
allelogram in shape, girded with a wooden wall pierced
with loopholes for the discharge of arrows, and de-
fended by a ditch in front.
It would seem that the whole of Northern India
was now included in the powerful and extensive em-
pire of Chandragupta, for the Jumna, flowing through
Mathura and Caresbora, was said to run through the
kingdom of Pataliputra. The nation surpassed in power
and glory every other people in India, and their king
Chandragupta had a standing army of 600,000 foot
soldiers, 30,000 cavalry, and 9,000 elephants.
Speaking of South Bengal, Megasthenes mentions
A GREEK DESCRIPTION OF INDIA 205
the Kalingoi living nearest the sea, the Mandu and the
Malli living higher up, the Gangerides, near the mouths
of the Ganges, and the Modo-Galingoi in an island
in the Ganges. It is impossible not to recognize in
the first and last of these names the ancient name of
Kalinga, which included Orissa and the sea-coast of
Bengal.
Megasthenes describes Parthalis as the capital of
the Kalingoi. The powerful king of this place had
60,000 foot-soldiers, 1,000 horse, and 700 elephants.
A large island in the Ganges is said to have been in-
habited by the Modo-Galingoi (Madhya-Kalinga), and
beyond them several powerful tribes lived under a
king who had 50,000 foot-soldiers, 4,000 cavalry, and
400 elephants. Beyond them again lived the Andaroi, in
whom it is impossible not to recognize the Andhras
of Southern India. The Andhras were a great and
powerful nation who had settled originally between
the Godavari and the Krishna, but who before the
time of Megasthenes had extended their kingdom as
far north as the Narmada. Megasthenes writes that
they were a powerful race, possessed numerous vil-
lages and thirty walled towns, and supplied their king
with 100,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry, and 1,000 ele-
phants.
In the extreme northwest, Megasthenes speaks of
the Isari, the Cosyri, and other tribes located prob-
ably in Kashmir or its neighbourhood. The Indus is
said to skirt the frontiers of the Prachyas, by which
we understand that the powerful and extensive empire
206 EXPANSION OF THE HINDUS
of Magadha extended as far as the frontiers of the
Panjab, and embraced all Northern India.
In the time of Megasthenes a great portion of mod-
ern Rajputana was still the home of aboriginal tribes,
of men who lived in woods, among tigers noted for
their ferocity. He speaks of the tribes who lived in
the fertile tracts surrounded by deserts, and of tribes
who inhabited the hills, which ran in an unbroken
chain parallel to the shores of the ocean. He also
speaks of the tribes who lived enclosed by the loftiest
mountain, Capitalia, which has been identified with
Abu. He speaks further on of the Horatoi, who were
undoubtedly the Saurashtras. They had a capital on
the coast, which was a noble emporium of trade, and
their king was the master of 1,600 elephants, 150,000
foot, and 5,000 horse.
" Next come the Pandoi, the only race in India
ruled by women. They say that Hercules had but one
daughter, who was on that account all the more be-
loved, and that he endowed her with a noble kingdom.
Her descendants rule over 300 cities and command an
army of 150,000 foot and 500 elephants."
Such is the half-mythical account which Megas-
thenes gives us of the Pandyas, who were the ruling
nation in the extreme south of India. These Pandyas
have a history which is remarkable.
The Yadavas, who, under the leadership of Krishna,
left Mathura and settled in Dwarka in Gujarat, did not
flourish there long. They fell fighting among them-
selves, and the remainder left Dwarka by sea. It is
THE ACCOUNT OF MEGASTHENES 207
believed that they came to Southern India, where they
founded a new kingdom. They probably called them-
selves Pandyas because they pretended to be of the
same race with the Pandavas, and they named their
new southern capital Mathura, or Madura, as the town
is called to the present day. Megasthenes no doubt
refers to Krishna under the name of Hercules, and
he had probably heard some legend which was then
current in India, about the foundation of the southern
kingdom by Krishna for his daughter.
And lastly, the island of Ceylon was known in the
time of Megasthenes. It was conquered by Vijaya, a
prince of Magadha who had been exiled by his father
for his misdeeds in the fifth century before Christ.
When Megasthenes came to India, Ceylon was already
a Hindu kingdom. The island was called Taprobane
by the Greeks, the name being slightly altered from
the Pali name Tambapanni, which corresponds to the
Sanskrit Tamraparni, or the copper-leaved. Megas-
thenes says that the island was separated from the
mainland by a river, and that the country was pro-
ductive of gold and large pearls, and elephants much
larger than the Indian breeds. ^Elian, who wrote long
after Megasthenes, but got much of his information
about India from the account of Megasthenes, states
that Taprobane was a large mountainous island full of
palm groves, that the inhabitants dwelt in huts of
reeds, and that they transported their elephants in
boats which they constructed for the purpose, and sold
them to the King of Kalinga.
CHAPTER XIX
ADMINISTRATION, AGRICULTURE, AND ARTS
AN account of the system of administration which
prevailed in India over two thousand years ago
will naturally interest our readers, and fortunately
both Hindu Sutrakaras and Greek writers furnish us
with reliable information on the subject. We will
begin our account with some extracts from Sutra
works. The king is directed to build a royal town
and a palace for himself, looking towards the south:
" The palace shall stand in the heart of the town.
" In front of that there shall be a hall. That is
called the hall of invitation.
" At a little distance from the town to the south
he shall cause to be built an assembly house with doors
on the south and on the north sides, so that one can
see what passes inside and outside."
Fires shall burn constantly and oblations shall be
offered in these fires, and
" In the hall he shall entertain his guests, at least
those who are skilled in the Vedas.
" Rooms, a couch, meat, and drink should be given
to them according to their good qualities. 1
THE ROYAL PALACE
209
A table with dice should also be provided, and
Brahmans, Vaisyas, and Sudras may be allowed to
play there. Assaults of arms, dancing, singing, and
music are allowed in the houses of the king's servants;
AN INDIAN SCENE.
and the king shall constantly take care of his sub-
jects:
" That king only takes care of the welfare of his
subjects in whose dominions, be it in villages or forests,
there is no danger from thieves."
Both Vasishtha and Baudhayana declare that the
king is entitled to a sixth portion of the income of his
subjects as taxes, but they exempt many classes who
210 ADMINISTKATION, AGRICULTUKE, AND AKT
are unable to pay, while Gautama details the taxes
thus:
" Cultivators pay to the king a tax amounting to
one-tenth, one-eighth, or one-sixth (of the produce).
" Some declare that the tax on cattle and gold
amounts to one-fiftieth (of the stock).
" In the case of merchandise one-twentieth (must
be paid by the seller) as duty.
" Of roots, fruits, flowers, medicinal herbs, honey,
meat, grass, and fire-wood, one-sixtieth.
" Each artisan shall monthly do one day's work
(for the king).
" Hereby the taxes payable by those who support
themselves by personal labour have been explained.
" And those payable by owners of ships and carts.
" He must feed these persons while they work for
him."
Megasthenes gives us a valuable account of the
manner in which the work of administration was ac-
tually carried on, and the following passages from
McCrindle's translation will be read with interest:
" Those who have charge of the city are divided
into six bodies of five each. The members of the first
look after everything relating to the industrial arts.
Those of the second attend to the entertainment of
foreigners. To these they assign lodgings, and they
keep watch over their modes of life by means of those
persons whom they give to them for assistants. They
escort them on the way when they leave the country,
or in the event of their dying, forward their property
OFFICERS OF THE KING 211
to their relatives. They take care of them when they
are sick, and if they die bury them. The third body
consists of those who inquire when and how births
and deaths occur, with the view not only of levying a
tax, but also in order that births and deaths among
both high and low may not escape the cognizance of
government. The fourth class superintends trade and
commerce. Its members have charge of weights and
measures, and see that the products in their season are
sold by public notice. No one is allowed to deal in more
than one kind of commodity unless he pays a double
tax. The fifth class supervises manufactured articles,
which are sold by public notice. What is new is sold
separately from what is old, and there is a fine for
mixing the two together. The sixth and last class
consists of those who collect the tenths of the prices
of the articles sold."
The military officers " also consist of six divisions
with five members to each. One division is appointed
to co-operate with the admiral of the fleet; another
with the superintendent of the bullock trains which
are used for transporting engines of war, food for the
soldiers, provender for the cattle, and other military
requisites. The third division has charge of the foot-
soldiers, the fourth of the horses, the fifth of the war-
chariots, and the sixth of the elephants."
Besides the municipal officers and military officers,
there was yet a third class of officers who superin-
tended agriculture, irrigation, forests, and generally
the work of administration in rural tracts. " Some
212 ADMINISTRATION, AGRICULTURE, AND ART
superintend the rivers, measure the land, as is done in
Egypt, and inspect the sluices by which water is let
out from the main canals into their branches, so that
every one may have an
equal supply of it. The
same officers have
charge also of the hunts-
men, and are entrusted
with the power of re-
warding or punishing
them according to their
deserts. They collect the
taxes and superintend
the occupations c o n -
nected with land, as
those of the wood-cut-
ters, the carpenters, the
blacksmiths, and the
miners. They construct
roads, and at every ten
stadia set up a pillar to
show the by-roads and distances."
Of the personal habits and occupations of kings,
Megasthenes has given us a picture which agrees in
the main with the picture given in Sanskrit literature.
The care of the king's person was entrusted to female
slaves, who were bought from their parents, and the
guards and the rest of the soldiery were stationed
outside the gates. The king attended the court every
day and remained there during the day without allow-
BHIL WOMEN OF KATHIAWAR.
PERSONAL HABITS OF THE KING 213
ing the business to be interrupted. The only other
occasions on which he left the palace were when he
performed sacrifices or went out for the chase. Crowds
of women surrounded him when he went out for the
chase, and outside this circle the spearmen were ranged.
Armed women attended the king in chariots, on horses,
or on elephants, when he hunted in the open grounds
from the back of an elephant. Sometimes he shot
arrows from a platform inside an enclosure, and two
or three armed women stood by him on the platform.
These accounts show that the sturdy and warlike man-
ners of the Kurus and the Panchalas of the Epic Age
had already been replaced by more luxurious and effem-
inate habits in the Philosophic Age. The age of chiv-
alry had gone, and that of luxury had come.
Arrian gives an account of the way in which the
Hindus equipped themselves for war: " The foot-
soldiers carry a bow made of equal length with
the man who bears it. This they rest upon the
ground, and pressing against it with their left foot,
thus discharge the arrow, having drawn the string
far backwards; for the shaft they use is little short
of being three yards long, and there is nothing which
can resist an Indian archer's shot neither shield
nor breastplate, nor any stronger defence, if such there
be. In their left hand they carry bucklers made of
undressed ox-hide, which are not so broad as those
who carry them, but are about as long. Some are
equipped with javelins instead of bows, but wear a
sword, which is broad in the blade, but not longer
214 ADMINISTRATION, AGRICULTURE, AND ART
than three cubits; and this, when they engage in close
fight (which they do with reluctance), they wield with
both hands to fetch down a lustier blow. The horse-
men are equipped with two lances like the lances called
Saunia, and with a shorter buckler than that carried
by the foot-soldiers. For they do not put saddles on
their horses; nor do they curb them with bits in use
among the Greeks or the Kelts, but they fit on round
the extremity of the horse's mouth a circular piece
of stitched raw ox-hide studded with pricks of iron or
brass pointing inwards, but not very sharp; if a man
is rich he uses pricks made of ivory."
The laws of war were more humane among the
Hindus than among other nations in the world, and
Apastamba declares that " the Aryans forbid the
slaughter of those who have laid down their arms, of
those who beg for mercy with flying hair or joined
hands, and of fugitives," while Baudhayana says:
" Let him not fight with those who are in fear, in-
toxicated, insane, or out of their minds, nor with those
who have lost their armour, nor with women, infants,
aged men, and Brahmans." Megasthenes also vouches
for the humane laws of war among the Hindus. " For
whereas among other nations it is usual in the con-
tests of war to ravage the soil and thus to reduce it
to an uncultivated waste, among the Indians, on the
contrary, by whom husbandmen are regarded as a class
that is sacred and inviolable, the tillers of the soil,
even when battle is raging in their neighbourhood,
are undisturbed by any sense of danger; for the com-
HINDU LIFE IK GKEEK EYES 215
batants on either side, in waging the conflict, make
carnage of each other, but allow those engaged in
husbandry to remain quite unmolested. Besides, they
neither ravage an enemy's land with fire, nor cut down
its trees."
Megasthenes tells us that the Indian tribes num-
bered 118 in all. On the north of India and beyond
the Himalaya the country " is inhabitated by those
Scythians who are called the Sakai." Such is the
brief mention made of that powerful tribe which hung
like an ominous cloud on the northern slopes of the
Himalaya in the fourth century before Christ, but which
in the course of a few centuries burst like a hurri-
cane on the plains of Western India.
Of the peaceful and law-abiding people in India,
Megasthenes gives an account which is well-nigh
Utopian:" They live happily enough, being simple
in their manners and frugal. They never drink wine,
except at sacrifices. Their beverage is a liquor pre-
pared from rice instead of barley, and their food is
principally a rice pottage. The simplicity of their
laws and their contracts is proved by the fact that they
seldom go to law. They have no suits about pledges
and deposits, nor do they require either seals or wit-
nesses, but make their deposits and confide in each
other. Their houses and property they generally leave
unguarded. These things indicate that they possess
sober sense. Truth and virtue they hold alike in
esteem. Hence they accord no special privileges to
the old unless they possess superior wisdom."
216 ADMINISTRATION, AGRICULTURE, AND ART
Megasthenes further states that the Indians did
" not even use aliens as slaves, and much less a
countryman of their own," that thefts were very rare
among them, that their laws were administered from
memory, and even that they were ignorant of the art
of writing. We have the evidence of Nearchos, how-
ever, that writing was known in India in the Philo-
sophic Period, and the statement of Megasthenes only
shows that writing was in very little use, either in
schools, where boys received their learning and their
religious lessons by rote, or even in courts of justice,
where the Dharma Sutras were administered by learned
judges entirely from memory.
Arrian quotes a passage from Nearchos, and says
that the Indians " wear an under-garment of cotton
which reaches below the knee half-way down to the
ankles, and also an upper garment which they throw
partly over their shoulders and partly twist in folds
round their head. They wear shoes made of white
leather, and these are elaborately trimmed, while the
soles are variegated, and made of great thickness/'
And the great mass of the " people of India live
upon grain and are tillers of the soil, but we must
except the hillmen, who eat the flesh of beasts of
chase."
Our faithful guide Megasthenes also gives us an
account of cultivation in Ancient India which, on the
whole, corresponds with the system of cultivation prev-
alent at the present time. He speaks of a double rain-
fall in the year, considering the winter showers as a
MEGASTHENES' ACCOUNT OF AGRICULTURE 217
regular rainfall. He speaks of " many vast plains of
great fertility, more or less beautiful, but all alike
intersected by a multitude of rivers. The greater part
of the soil, moreover, is under irrigation and conse-
quently bears two crops in the course of the year.
It teems at the same time with animals of all sorts,
beasts of the field and fowl of the air, of all different
degrees of strength and size. It is prolific, besides,
in elephants which are of monstrous bulk. In addition
FRESCO IN THE 8HEESH MAHAL, AT RAJGARH.
to cereals, there grows throughout India much millet,
which is kept well watered by the profusion of river
streams, and much pulse of different sorts, and rice
also, and what is called bosporum, as well as many
other plants useful for food, of which most grow spon-
taneously. The soil yields, moreover, not a few other
edible products fit for the subsistence of animals about
which it would be tedious to write. It is accordingly
affirmed that famine has never visited India, and that
there has never been a general scarcity in the supply
218 ADMINISTRATION, AGRICULTURE, AND ART
of nourishing food. For since there is a double rain-
fall in the course of each year one in the winter
season, when the sowing of wheat takes place as in
other countries, and the second at the time of the
summer solstice, which is the proper season for sowing
rice and bosporum, as well as sesamum and millet
the inhabitants of India almost always gather two har-
vests annually; and even should one of the sowings
prove more or less abortive, they are always sure of
the other crop. The fruits, moreover, of spontaneous
growth, and the esculent roots, which grow in marshy
places and are of varied sweetness, afford abundant
sustenance for man."
The excellent manufactures of India were known
to the traders of Phoenicia and in the markets of
Western Asia and Egypt long before the Christian
era. Megasthenes naively says that the Indians were
" well skilled in the arts, as might be expected of men
who inhale a pure air and drink the very finest water."
The soil, too, has " under ground numerous veins of
all sorts of metals, for it contains much gold and silver,
and copper and iron in no small quantity, and even
tin and other metals, which are employed in making
articles of use and ornament, as well as the implements
and accoutrements of war."
With regard to finery and ornament, Megasthenes
says that " in contrast to the general simplicity of their
style, they love finery and ornament. Their robes are
worked in gold and ornamented with precious stones,
and they also wear flowered garments of the finest
HINDU LOVE OF ORNAMENT 219
muslin. Attendants walking behind hold up umbrellas
over them, for they have a high regard for beauty
and avail themselves of every device to improve their
looks."
CHAPTER XX
LAWS
r India, as throughout the ancient world, legal
equality was unknown. There was one law for the
Brahman and another for the Sudra; the former was
treated with undue leniency, the latter with cruel
severity. If a Brahman committed one of the four or
five heinous crimes enumerated in the law-books, that
is, if he slew a Brahman, violated his guru's bed, stole
the gold of a Brahman, or drank spirituous liquor, the
king branded him on the forehead with a heated iron
and banished him from his realm. If a man of a lower
caste slew a Brahman, he was punished with death
and the confiscation of his property, while if he slew a
man of equal or lower caste, other suitable punish-
ments were meted out to him.
Adultery has always been looked upon in India
not only as a criminal offence, but as an offence of a
heinous nature; but here again punishment for the
offence was regulated by the caste of the offender.
A man of the first three castes who committed adultery
with a Sudra woman was banished; but a Sudra who
committed adultery with a woman of the first three
castes suffered capital punishment.
220
SEVERITY TOWARD THE LOWER CASTES 221
Indeed, Brahman legislators have painted them-
selves worse than they really were. In order to point
out the vast distinction between themselves and the
Sudras, they prescribed monstrous punishments for the
latter, which, it is safe to assert, always remained
an empty threat, and were meant as a threat only.
If a Sudra spoke evil of a virtuous person belonging
to one of the first three castes, his tongue was to be
cut out, and a Sudra who assumed an equal position
with those castes was to be flogged. Similarly we are
told that a Sudra who reviled a twice-born man or
assaulted him with blows should lose the limb with
which he offended; that if he listened to a recitation
of the Veda, his ears should be stopped with molten
lac or tin; that if he recited the Veda, his tongue
should be cut out; and if he remembered Vedic texts,
his body should be split in twain.
A Kshatriya abusing a Brahman must pay 100 kar-
shapanas, and one beating a Brahman pays 200 karsha-
panas. A Vaisya abusing a Brahman is fined 150 kar-
shapanas, and we suppose pays 300 for beating him.
But a Brahman has to pay only 50 karshapanas for
abusing a Kshatriya, 25 for abusing a Vaisya, and for
abusing a Sudra nothing!
Death or corporal punishment seems to have been
the punishment for theft, at least in some cases; and
the thief is directed to appear before the king with
dishevelled hair, holding a club in his hand, and pro-
claiming his deed. If the king pardons him and does
not slay him or strike him, the guilt falls on the king.
222 LAWS
The prerogative of mercy was the king's alone, but a
guru, a priest, a learned householder, or a prince could
intercede for an offender, except in the case of a capi-
tal offence.
The lawgiver Vasishtha reserves the right of self-
defence in the case of a person attacked by an Ata-
tayi, a class of criminals including incendiaries, poi-
soners, those ready to kill with weapons in their hands,
robbers, and those who take away another's land or
abduct another's wife.
Agriculture and trade were the means of the
people's subsistence, and crimes relating to a cultiva-
tor's land or to an artisan's trade were punished
with the utmost severity. We have seen that defence
of land was one of the cases in which the right of self-
protection was allowed, and false evidence given about
land was regarded with the utmost detestation. By
giving false evidence concerning small cattle, a witness
commits the sin of killing ten men; by false evidence
concerning cows, horses, and men, he commits the sin
of killing a hundred, a thousand, and ten thousand men
respectively; but by false evidence concerning land, he
commits the sin of killing the whole human race.
A severe penance is ordained for the man who at-
tempts suicide, and the relations of a suicide are pro-
hibited from performing funeral rites for him. Such
was the criminal law of the Hindus over two thousand
years ago.
We now turn to the more complicated subject of
civil law, which may be conveniently treated under
CIVIL LAW 223
five heads, the law of agriculture and pasture, the law
of property, usury laws, the law of inheritance, and
the law of partition. We begin with the law of agri-
culture and pasture. According to Apastamba:
" If a person who has taken a lease of land does
not exert himself, and hence the land bears no crop,
he shall, if he be rich, be made to pay the value of the
crop that ought to have been grown.
" A servant in tillage who abandons his work shall
be flogged.
" The same punishment shall be awarded to a
herdsman who leaves his work.
" And the flock entrusted to him shall be taken
away.
" If cattle, leaving their stable, eat crops, the owner
of the crops may make them lean (by impounding
them) ; but shall not exceed that.
" If a herdsman who has taken cattle under his
care allows them to perish or loses them, he shall
replace them to the owners.
" If (the king's forester) sees cattle that have been
sent into the forest through negligence, he shall lead
them back to the village and restore them to their
owners."
Again Gautama says:
" If damage is done by cattle, the responsibility
falls on the owner.
" But if the cattle were attended by a herdsman,
it falls on the latter.
" If the damage was done in an unenclosed field
224
LAWS
near the road, the responsibility falls on the herdsman
and on the owner of the field."
As in the present day, unenclosed fields were used
as common property for grazing cattle and for obtain-
ing firewood.
Some equitable provisions are laid down by Vasish-
WATER SCENE IN INDIA.
tha about the right of way and about the evidence
necessary in disputes about immovable property.
"It is declared in the Smriti that there are three
kinds of proof which give a title to property, docu-
ments, witnesses, and possession; thereby an owner
may recover property which formerly belonged to him.
" From fields through which there is a right of
way a space sufficient for the road must be set apart,
likewise a space for turning a cart.
THE LAWS OF PROPERTY 225
" Near new-built houses and other things of the
same description, there shall be a passage three feet
broad.
" In a dispute about a house or a field, reliance
must be placed on the depositions of neighbours.
" If the statements of the neighbours disagree,
documents may be taken as proof.
" If conflicting documents are produced, reliance
must be placed on the statements of aged inhabitants of
the village or town, and on those of guilds and corpora-
tions of artisans or traders."
This brings us to the law of property. Property is
divided into eight classes, thus:
" Property inherited from a father, a thing bought,
a pledge, property given to a wife after marriage by
her husband's family, a gift, property obtained for per-
forming a sacrifice, the property of re-united copart-
ners, and wages as the eighth.
" Whatever belonging to these eight kinds of prop-
erty has been enjoyed by another person for ten years
continuously is lost to the owner.
" A pledge, a boundary, the property of minors,
an open deposit, a sealed deposit, women, the prop-
erty of a king, and the wealth of a Srotriya, are not
lost by being enjoyed by others.
" Property entirely given up by its owner goes to
the king."
Women and females here mean female slaves. With
regard to minors and widows, there are provisions to
the effect that the king shall administer their property
226 LAWS
and shall restore it in the case of a minor when he
comes of age.
We next turn to the usury laws of Ancient India.
According to Vasishtha and Gautama, the interest for
a money-lender was five mashas for twenty (karsha-
panas) every month.
The commentator Hara Datta reckons 20 mashas to
the karshapana, so that the rate of interest comes to
1*4 per cent, per month, or fifteen per cent, per annum;
and Krishna Pandita correctly states that this rate of
interest applies to loans for which security is given.
Gautama also says that after the principal has been
doubled, interest ceases, and when the object pledged
is an object used by the creditor, the money lent bears
no interest at all.
Other articles might be lent at a much higher per-
centage of interest, apparently when no security was
given, as is clear from the following rules:
" Gold may be lent, taking double its value on re-
payment, and grain trebling the original price.
" The case of flavouring substances has been ex-
plained by the rule regarding grain.
" As also the case of flowers, roots, and fruit.
1(1 He may lend what is sold by weight, taking eight
times the original value on repayment " ; and Gautama
says: " The interest on products of animals, on wool,
on the produce of a field, and on beasts of burden, shall
not increase more than fivefold the value of the object
lent."
Gautama likewise names no less than six different
THE LAW OF INHERITANCE 227
forms of interest, compound, periodical, stipulated, cor-
poral, and daily, in addition to the use of a pledge.
He lays down the rule that the heirs shall pay the debts
of the dead, but provides that money due by a surety,
a commercial debt, a fee due to the parents of the bride,
immoral debts, and fines shall not devolve on the sons
of the debtor.
We thus come to the most important portion of the
civil law, the law of inheritance.
To leave male issue was considered a religious duty
by the ancient Hindus, and in the older law-books sev-
eral kinds of sons are recognized, some of whom were
legitimate or quasi-legitimate, and might therefore in-
herit, while others were considered unlawful and were
debarred from all rights to their fathers' estates. At
an early time, however, a reaction appears to have set
in against the recognition of sons legitimate and ille-
gitimate, even to escape the torments of hell after death.
Apastamba, who lived a century or more after Baudha-
yana, protests against the recognition of heirs and sons
of various kinds, and explains away ancient customs
by stating that what had been allowed in ancient times
could not be permitted among the sinful men of the
present time. He made a clear sweep, moreover, not
only of niyoga, or the appointment of a wife to raise
issue, but also of the adoption or the purchase of a son,
and modern Hindus recognize no kinds of sons except
legitimate sons, or those adopted in the absence of
legitimate issue.
Lastly, we come to the subject of the law of parti-
228 LAWS
tion. The law of primogeniture never obtained in India,
but so long as the joint family system remained in
vogue, the property of the father was inherited by the
eldest son, who supported the rest as a father. It would
seem, however, that to live in a joint family under the
eldest brother was never the universal custom in India,
and even Gautama, the earliest of the Sutrakaras whose
works are extant, considers a partition among brothers
preferable. According to Gautama, the eldest son got
as an additional share a twentieth part of the estate,
some animals, and a carriage; the middlemost son re-
ceived some poor animals, and the youngest obtained
sheep, grain, utensils, a house, a cart, and some ani-
mals; while the remain ing property was divided equally.
As an alternative, he allowed the eldest two shares, and
the remaining sons one share each; or he would permit
each to take one kind of property by choice, according
to seniority; or the special shares might be adjusted
according to their mothers.
Vasishtha permitted the eldest brother to take a
double share and a little of the kine and horses; he
allowed the youngest to take the goats, sheep, and
house; while the middlemost received utensils and fur-
niture. If a Brahman had sons by Brahman, Kshat-
riya, and Vaisya wives, the first obtained three shares,
the second two, and the third one.
Baudhayana allowed all the children to receive equal
shares, or the eldest son might take one-tenth more
than his brothers. Where there were sons born of wives
of different castes, the sons were to receive four, three,
DEVELOPMENT OF THE LEGAL SYSTEM 229
two, and one shares respectively, according to the order
of the castes.
Apastamba differed in this respect from his pred-
ecessors, and protested against the unequal division of
property, declaring that all sons who were virtuous
should inherit, but that he who spent money unright-
eously should be disinherited, though he were the eldest
son.
The separate property of a wife, that is, her nuptial
presents and ornaments, was inherited by her daugh-
ters.
Such were the laws of the Philosophic Age. They
show unmistakably the vast distance of time between
this and the Epic Period, and show also the culture, the
training, and the practical method of dealing with in-
tricate subjects which were the peculiar features of
this epoch. Criminal offences and civil cases were no
longer tried according to the vague and varying opin-
ions and feelings of learned men and priests, but were
arranged, condensed, and codified into bodies of laws
which learned men were called upon to administer.
CHAPTER XXI
CASTE IN THE AGE OF LAWS AND PHILOSOPHY
IN trying to reduce the caste-system into a code of
rigid rules, the Sutrakaras of the period met with
difficulty from the very first. They firmly believed that
there were originally but four castes among men, Brah-
mans, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras; but they actu-
ally found around them various other castes, formed
by tribes of non-Aryans, who had gradually entered
into the Hindu fold and formed low Hindu castes.
Believing that all mankind was originally divided into
only four castes, the Sutrakaras tried to evolve the new
castes from the four parent castes. The fiction was
then conceived that the new castes were formed by
intermarriages among the parent castes. Thus Vasish-
tha, from whom other Sanskrit authorities vary but in
detail, says:
" The offspring of a Sudra and a Brahman woman
becomes a Chandala.
" That of a Sudra and Kshatriya woman, a Vaina.
" That of a Sudra and Vaisya woman, an Antya-
vasayi.
" The son begotten by a Vaisya on a Brahman
woman becomes a Bamaka.
230
THE FICTION OF MIXED CASTES
231
" The son begotten by a Vaisya on a Kshatriya
woman, a Paulkasa.
" The son begotten by
a Kshatriya on a Brah-
man woman becomes a
Suta.
" Children begotten
by Brahmans, Kshatri-
yas, and Vaisyas on
women of the next lower,
second lower, and third
lower castes become re-
spectively Ambashthas,
Ugras, and Nishadas.
" The son of a Brah-
man and a Sudra woman
is a Parasava."
Here we have an
authoritative statement
which may well stagger
the most faithful believer.
Magadhas and Yaidehas,
who were different races,
Chandalas and Paulkasas,
who were undoubtedly
non - Aryan tribes, and
even Yavanas, who were
Bactrian Greeks and foreigners, were all treated by
the same general and rigid law which recognized no
exception, and were all declared to be descended from
WOMAN CARRYING WATER.
the four parent castes. And as the Hindus came to
know other foreign nations later on, the elastic theory
was stretched, and Manu derived those nations, too,
from the same Hindu parent castes.
It is remarkable, however, that the castes or races
named above were nearly all aboriginal tribes or for-
eigners, or Aryans who had incurred odium by their
partiality for skepticism and Buddhism. We do not
find names of profession-castes, answering to the Ka-
yasthas, the Vaidyas, the goldsmiths, the blacksmiths,
the potters, the weavers, and other artisans of Modern
India, for the great and yet undivided Vaisya caste of
the Philosophic Period still embraced all those different
professions which in modern times have been divided
and disunited into castes. The Aryan Vaisyas followed
different trades and professions in Ancient India with-
out forming separate castes; they were scribes and
physicians, goldsmiths and blacksmiths, potters and
weavers, while still belonging to the same caste. Thus
the great body of the Aryan population was still united,
and was still entitled to religious knowledge and learn-
ing.
The study of the Veda, the performance of sacrifices,
and the gift of alms were prescribed for all twice-born
men, i. e. for Brahmans, Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas. The
special and additional occupations of the Brahman were
the performance of sacrifice for others and the receiv-
ing of alms, and agriculture and trade were also allowed
to him provided he did not work himself. Yet the
abuses begotten of the privileges of caste had already
THE DUTIES OF THE CASTES 233
commenced as early as the Philosophic Period, and
Brahmans, relieved of manual labour, had already com-
menced to feed on the resources of the industrious
classes, without acquiring that learning which alone
would justify their exemption from labour. Vasishtha
felt the injustice keenly and protested against it in
language which could only be indited while Hinduism
was still a living nation's religion, when he wrote:
" (Brahmans) who neither study nor teach the Veda
nor keep sacred fires become equal to Sudras.
" The king shall punish that village where Brah-
mans, unobservant of their sacred duties and ignorant
of the Veda, subsist by begging, for it feeds robbers.
" The sin that dunces, perplexed by ignorance, and
unacquainted with the sacred law, declare to be duty,
shall fall, increased a hundredfold, on those who pro-
pound it.
" An elephant made of wood, an antelope made of
leather, and a Brahman ignorant of the Veda, those
three have nothing but the name of their kind."
The additional occupations of the Kshatriya were
to govern and fight and make conquests, to learn the
management of chariots and the use of the bow, and to
stand firm in battle and not to turn back. The special
duties of the Vaisya were trade, agriculture, tending
cattle, lending money, and labour for gain. Sudras
were to serve the other three castes, but were also
allowed to labour for gain, an<J there can be no doubt
that they traded and earned money by independent
work to a large extent in the Philosophic Period as in
234 CASTE IN THE AGE OF LAWS AND PHILOSOPHY
all succeeding periods. Religious knowledge was, how-
ever, forbidden to them.
It is evident that the seven castes described by
Megasthenes are virtually the four castes spoken of
above. His philosophers and counsellors were the
Brahmans, those who engaged in religious study, and
those who took employment under the state respect-
ively. His husbandmen, shepherds, and artisans were
the Vaisyas and Sudras, who engaged in cultivation, in
pasture, and in manufacture. And his soldiers were the
Kshatriyas; while his overseers were only special serv-
ants, spies of the king.
Megasthenes further subdivides the philosophers
into Brahmans or householders, and Sramans or ascet-
ics. Of the former he says that " the children are
under the care of one person after another, and as they
advance in age, each succeeding master is more accom-
plished than his predecessor. The philosophers have
their abode in a grove in front of the city within a
moderate-sized enclosure. They live in a simple style,
and lie on beds of rushes or skins. They abstain from
animal food and sensual pleasures, and spend their time
listening to religious discourse and in imparting their
knowledge to such as will listen to them. After living
in this manner for seven and thirty years, each individ-
ual retires to his own property, where he lives for the
rest of his days in ease and security. They then array
themselves in fine muslin, and wear a few trinkets of
gold on their fingers and in their ears. They eat flesh,
but not that of animals employed in labour. They ab-
A GREEK DESCRIPTION OF THE CASTES
235
stain from hot and highly seasoned food. They marry
as many wives as they please, with a view to having
numerous children, for by having many wives greater
advantages are enjoyed, and
since they have no slaves, they
have more need to have chil-
dren around them to attend to their wants."
Of the Sramans, or ascetics, Megasthenes tells us
that " they live in the wood, where they subsist on
leaves of trees and wild fruits, and wear garments made
from the bark of trees. They communicate with the
kings, who consult them by messengers, regarding the
causes of things, and who through them worship and
supplicate the deity." Some of them practised medi-
cine, and Megasthenes writes: " They effect cures
rather by regulating diet than by the use of medicines.
The remedies most esteemed are ointments and plas-
ters." We learn from this account, as we learn from
other sources, that sects of ascetics, subsisting on roots
and wild fruits, lived in Ancient India, bearing the
name of Sramanas, before and after the time of Gau-
tama Buddha. And when that great reformer preached
a holy lif e and retirement from the world as the essence
of his religion, his followers, who retired from the
world, were called Sakyaputriya Sramans, or ascetics
who followed the Sakya, to distinguish them from other
sects of ascetics.
Elsewhere Megasthenes says of the philosopher-
caste that they, " being exempted from all public duties,
are neither the masters nor the servants of others.
They are, however, engaged by private persons to offer
the sacrifices due in lifetime and to celebrate the obse-
quies of the dead. They forewarn assembled multitudes
about droughts and wet weather, and also about pro-
pitious winds and diseases/'
Of the military class, or the Kshatriya caste, Megas-
thenes gives a very brief sketch. The soldiers were
organized and equipped for war, but in times of peace
gave themselves up to idleness and amusements.
Of the husbandmen, shepherds, and artisans, Megas-
thenes gives us a more interesting and lifelike sketch.
Being exempted from fighting and other public services,
the husbandmen " devote the whole of their time to
tillage; nor would an enemy, coming upon a husband-
man at work on his land, do him any harm, for men
of this class, being regarded as public benefactors, are
protected from all injury. The land thus remaining un-
ravaged, and producing heavy crops, supplies the inhab-
itants with all that is requisite to make life very enjoy-
MEGASTHENES ON THE LOWER CASTES
237
able. They pay a land tribute to the king, because all
India is the property of the crown, and no private per-
son is permitted to own land. Besides the land tribute,
they pay into the royal treasury a fourth part of the
produce of the soil. The shepherds neither settle in
towns nor in villages, but live in tents. By hunting
and trapping they clear the country of noxious birds
and wild beasts. Of the artisans some are armourers,
while others make the implements which husbandmen
and others find useful in their different callings. This
class is not only exempted from paying taxes, but even
receives maintenance from the royal exchequer."
CHAPTER XXII
SOCIAL LIFE IN THE AGE OF PHILOSOPHY
IT is in the Sutras that we first find mention of the
different forms of marriage with which we are famil-
iar from the later metrical codes of law. Vasishtha
mentions six forms:
Brahma marriage; the father pours out a libation
of water and gives his daughter to a suitor, a student.
Daiva marriage; the father decks his daughter with
ornaments and gives her to an officiating priest, while
a sacrifice is performed.
Arsha marriage; the father gives his daughter in
exchange for a cow or a bull.
Gandharva marriage; the lover takes and weds a
loving maiden.
Kshatra (or Bakshasa) marriage; the bridegroom
forcibly takes a maiden, destroying her relatives by
force of arms.
Manusha (or Asura) marriage; the suitor purchases
a damsel from her father.
The lawgiver Apastamba recognizes only these six
forms of marriage ; but the older writers, Gautama and
Baudhayana, sanction eight forms of marriage, adding
238
T
3
X
MAKRIAGE CUSTOMS 239
to these six forms one rite, Prajapatya, which was
considered praiseworthy, and another form, Paisacha,
which was sinful. In the Prajapatya form the father
merely gave away his daughter to the suitor, saying,
" Fulfil ye the law conjointly." The Paisacha form
was simply a rape of an unconscious woman.
Marriages among kinsfolk were rigorously prohib-
ited in the Philosophic Period. Vasishtha prohibits
marriage between a man and a woman of the same
gotra or pravara, or who are related within four de-
grees on the mother's side, or within six degrees on the
father's side. Apastamba forbids wedlock between men
and women of the same gotra, or who are related
(within six degrees) on the mother's (or father's) side,
but Baudhayana allows a man to marry the daughter
of a maternal uncle or a paternal aunt.
The marriage of girls at a tender age was not yet
prevalent in the Philosophic Period. Vasishtha says:
" A maiden who has attained puberty shall wait
for three years.
" After three years, she may take a husband of equal
caste."
The marriage of widows, which was a prevalent
custom in the Vedic and Brahmanic Periods, continued
to prevail in the Philosophic Period, but was not looked
upon with favour except in the case of child-widows,
and the son of a remarried widow was often classed
with adopted sons, or sons by^ an appointed wife or
daughter.
The first great event in a boy's life seems to have
CZ1 CZZJ
THE VEDI, OB MAB-
KIAGE ALTAR.
240 SOCIAL LIFE IN THE AGE OF PHILOSOPHY
been his initiation as a student. A Brahman boy
was initiated between eight and sixteen, a Kshatriya
between eleven and twenty-two, and a Vaisya be-
tween twelve and twenty-four. The initiated boy
then lived as a religious student in
the house of his teacher for twelve,
twenty-four, thirty-six, or forty-eight
years, according as he wished to master
one, two, three, or the four Vedas. Dur-
ing this period of his life he avoided all
spiced food, perfumes, and articles of
luxury; he tied his hair in a knot, he bore a staff and a
girdle, and a cloth of flax or hemp, or even only a skin.
Avoiding all places of amusement and of pleasure, re-
straining his senses, modest and humble, the young
student went out every morning with his staff to beg
for food from charitable householders in the neigh-
bouring villages, and all that he obtained in the course
of the day he placed before his teacher, tasting food
only after his teacher had done with his meals. He
went to the forest to fetch fuel, and evening and morn-
ing he brought water for household use. Every morn-
ing he swept and cleaned the altar, kindled the fire,
and placed the sacred fuel on it; and every evening
he washed his teacher's feet and rubbed him and put
him to bed, before he retired to rest. Such was the
humble and simple life which ancient Hindu students
led, when they devoted all the energies of their mind
to the acquisition of the sacred learning of their fore-
fathers.
THE TRAINING OF A BRAHMAN YOUTH 241
Instruction, it is needless to repeat, was imparted
by rote. The student respectfully held the hand of his
teacher, and fixed his mind on the teacher and said,
" Venerable sir, recite," and the Savitri (the well-
known Gayatri verse of the Rig- Veda) was recited, and
learned as the introduction to the study of the Vedas.
From day to day new lessons were recited and learned,
the student dividing his day's work between his lessons
and the household work of his teacher.
When, after years of study, often under different
teachers, the student at last returned to his home, he
made a handsome gift to his instructors, married, and
settled down as a householder. The Sutrakaras are
never tired of impressing on householders the para-
mount duty of courtesy and hospitality towards guests,
for the reception of guests is an everlasting sacrifice
offered by the householder to God.
Besides the order of the student and that of the
householder, there were two other orders of life, those
of the ascetic (bhikshu), and the hermit (vaikhdnasa).
We learn from later Sanskrit literature that a typ-
ical or perfect life was the life of a man who belonged
to these four orders in the successive periods of his
life. But this was not the original idea, and in early
times a man might have chosen to spend the whole
of his life in one of these four orders. It is needless
here to dwell on rules laid down for an ascetic and a
hermit respectively. It will suffice to state that an
ascetic shaved his head, had no property or home, prac-
tised austerities, fasted or lived on alms, wore a single
242 SOCIAL LIFE IN THE AGE OF PHILOSOPHY
garment or a skin, slept on the bare ground, wandered
about from place to place, and discontinued the per-
formance of all religious ceremonies, but never ceased
to study the Veda or to meditate upon the Universal
Soul. A hermit, on the other hand, though dwelling
in woods, living on roots and fruits, and leading a chaste
ASCETIC AT BEKARES.
life, kindled the sacred fire and offered the morning and
evening libations.
We now return to the householders, who formed the
nation. For them no less than forty sacraments were
prescribed, and an account of them will give us a
glimpse into the religious and domestic life of the
ancient Hindu.
Domestic Ceremonies. Garbhadhana (ceremony
DOMESTIC CEREMONIES 243
to cause conception); Pumsavana (ceremony to cause
the birth of a male child); Simantonnayana (arrang-
ing the hair of the pregnant wife); Jatakarman (cere-
mony on the birth of a child) ; naming the child; the
first feeding; the tonsure of the head; the initia-
tion; the four vows for the study of the Veda; the
bath of completion of studentship; marriage; and the
five sacrifices to gods, manes, men, spirits, and to
Brahma.
Grihya rites, also called Pakayajnas. Astaka, or
rites performed in winter; Parvana, or new and
full moon rites; Sraddha, or sacrifices to departed
ancestors; Sravani, a rite performed in the Sravana
month; Agrahayani, performed in the Agrahayana
month; Chaitri, performed in the month of Chai-
tra; and Asvayugi, performed in the month of As-
vina.
Srauta rites. These are again divided into two
classes, Haviryajna, performed with offerings of rice,
milk, butter, meat, and the like, and the Somayajna,
performed with libations of the Soma-juice.
The Haviryajna rites are Agnyadhana, Agnihotra,
Darsapurnamasa, Agrayana, Chaturmasya, Mrudhapa-
subandha, and Sautramani.
The Somayajna rites are Agnishtoma, Atyagnish-
toma, Ukthya, Shodasin, Vajapeya, Atiratra, and Ap-
toryama.
Such were the forty sacraments prescribed for
householders; but far above the performance of these
sacrifices was esteemed the possession of virtue and
244 SOCIAL LIFE IN THE AGE OF PHILOSOPHY
goodness, which alone led to heaven, so that Gautama
says:
" He who is sanctified by these forty sacraments,
but whose soul is destitute of the eight good qualities,
will not be united with Brahma, nor does he reach His
heaven.
" But he, forsooth, who is sanctified by only a few
of these forty sacraments, and whose soul is endowed
with the excellent qualities, will be united with Brahma
and will dwell in His heaven/'
We will now say a few words with regard to those
of the forty sacraments which illustrate Hindu life.
They include, as stated above, domestic ceremonies,
Grihya rites, and Srauta rites. The Srauta rites, which
have been briefly described in our account of the Brah-
manic Age, throw little light on the manners and life
of the people. The domestic ceremonies and Grihya
rites, on the other hand, give us glimpses of inestimable
value of the manners of the ancient Hindus. The most
important of the domestic ceremonies are marriage,
ceremonies performed during pregnancy, birth of a child,
the first feeding of a child, tonsure, initiation, and re-
turn from school on the completion of education.
Marriage. The bridegroom sent messengers to the
house of the girl's father, and if the proposal pleased
both parties, the promise of marriage was ratified, both
parties touching a full vessel into which flowers, fried
grain, barley, and gold had been put, and reciting a
formula. The bridegroom then performed a sacrifice.
On the appointed day, the bride's relations bathed her
THE MARRIAGE RITUAL 245
with water fragrant with the choicest fruits and scents,
clad her in a newly dyed garment, and caused her to
sit down by a fire while the family priest performed
a sacrifice. The bridegroom, who had also bathed and
gone through auspicious ceremonies, was escorted by
young unwidowed women to the house of his bride.
The actual marriage ceremony varied in detail in
different localities, but agreed in the essential points.
The bridegroom took the hand of the bride, and led
her three times round a fire, reciting certain verses,
such as, " Come, let us marry. Let us beget offspring.
Loving, bright, with genial mind, may we live a hun-
dred autumns." Each time he made her tread a mill-
stone, saying, " Like a stone be firm." The bride's
brother or guardian filled her hands with ajya, or fried
grain, which she sacrificed to the fire. The bridegroom
then caused the bride to step forward seven steps, re-
citing suitable words. The going round the fire, tread-
ing the stone, sacrificing the fried grain, and stepping
forward seven steps, constituted the principal forms
of the marriage ceremony. " And she should dwell that
night," says Asvalayana, " in the house of an old Brah-
man woman whose husband is alive and whose children
are alive. When she sees the Polar Star, the star of
Arundhati, and the Seven Rishis (Ursa Major), let her
break silence and say, ' May my husband live, and
I get offspring.' " In like manner Sankhayana says,
" Let them sit silent, when the sun has set, until the
Polar Star appears. He shows her the star with the
words, * Firm be thou, thriving with me.' Let her say,
246 SOCIAL LIFE IN THE AGE OF PHILOSOPHY
' I see the polar star; may I obtain offspring.' Through
a period of three nights let them refrain from conjugal
intercourse."
Pregnancy. Various were the rites performed dur-
ing the pregnancy of a wife. In the first place, there
was the Garbhadhana rite, which was supposed to se-
cure conception. The Pumsavana rite was supposed to
determine the male sex of the child, and the Garbha-
rakshana secured the unborn child from danger, while
the Simantonnayana, performed, according to Asva-
layana, in the fourth month, and according to Sankha-
yana, in the seventh month of pregnancy, or even, ac-
cording to Gobhila, in the fourth, sixth, or eighth month,
was a more interesting ceremony, and consisted in the
husband's affectionately parting his wife's hair, with
certain rites.
Birth of a child. The rites performed on this occa-
sion were called Jatakarman, or birth ceremony, Medha-
jananam, or the production of intelligence, and Ayushya,
or rite for prolonging life. On this occasion the father
gave the child a secret name of an even number of syl-
lables if the child was a male, and an uneven number if
it was a female and only the father and mother knew
that name. On the tenth day, when the mother was
convalescent, an appellative for common use was given
to the child. " The name of a Brahman should end in
Sarman (e.g. Vishnu Sarman), that of a Kshatriya
in Varman (e.g. Lakshmi Varman), and that of a
Vaisya in Gupta (e.g. Chandra Gupta)."
First feeding of the child with solid food. This is
CEREMONIES OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 247
the well-known Annaprasana ceremony. The child
seems to have been allowed a greater variety of food
in the olden days than at the present time. Thus,
Asvalayana and Sankhayana declare that he should par-
take of " goat's flesh, if he be desirous of nourishment;
flesh of partridge, if desirous of holy lustre; boiled rice
with ghee, if desirous of splendour," to which Paras-
kara adds such foods as " flesh of that bird called Bha-
radvaji, if he wishes fluency of speech, and fish, if swift-
ness be desired."
Tonsure. This was performed when the child was
one year old, according to Sankhayana and Paraskara,
or when the child was in his third year, according to
Asvalayana and Gobhila. The child's head was shaved
with a razor with the recitation of certain Vedic verses
(but without them in the case of a girl), and some hair
was left and arranged according to the custom of the
family.
Initiation. This was an important ceremony, and
was performed when a boy was entrusted by his father
or guardian to the teacher for education. The age
of initiation, as we have seen before, varied in the case
of Brahmans, Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas, and the sacred
thread was worn on this occasion by all the three castes.
Return from school. The student, after he had fin-
ished his education, returned to his home, and if he
had no ancestral house to go to, had to build a house.
This, too, was accompanied by a ceremony, and by the
utterance of the hymns of the Rig- Veda to Vastospati,
the lord of dwelling-houses, as well as to other divini-
248 SOCIAL LIFE IN THE AGE OF PHILOSOPHY
ties. Then followed marriage and the setting up of
fires, and the student became a householder, and had
other and graver duties to perform.
The most important of the Grihya rites was the
Sraddha, or monthly offering to the departed fathers,
and the feeding of Brahmans. " Brahmans endowed
with learning, moral character, and correct conduct,"
were invited, and sat down " as representatives of the
fathers r to whom the oblations were offered. The
sacrificer then offered the Arghya water to the fathers
with the words, " Father, this is thy Arghya; Grand-
father, this is thy Arghya; Great-grandfather, this is
thy Arghya." Gifts of perfumes, garlands, incense,
lights, and clothes were then made to the Brahmans.
With the permission of the Brahmans, food of the
Sthalipaka prepared for the Pindapitriyajna was
smeared with ghee and sacrificed in the fire, or in the
hands of the Brahmans, together with other food. And
when the sacrificer saw that the Brahmans were sati-
ated, he recited the Vedic verse, " They have eaten,
they have enjoyed themselves."
Parvana. This was the rite observed on the new
and full moon days, and consisted in fasting, as well
as in offering cooked oblations to the deities of those
days, with appropriate mantras.
Sravani. This was a rite observed on the full moon
day of the month of Sravana in the rainy season, and
the idea was to propitiate serpents, which multiply in
India in the rains.
Asvayugi. This was a rite performed on the full
PROPITIATION OF THE SERPENTS.
THE CHIEF GRIHYA RITES 251
moon day of Asvayuga or Asvina month, and is de-
scribed by Sankhayana as follows:
" On the full moon day of Asvayaga a milk-rice
oblation to Indra.
" Having sacrificed Ajya with the words, ' Hail to
the two Asvins! Hail to the two Asvayugas! Hail
to the full moon of Asvayuga! Hail to the autumn!
Hail to Prajapati! Hail to the tawny one! '
" He shall sacrifice a mixture of curds and butter
with this (Vedic) hymn, t The cows come hither,' verse
by verse.
" That night they let the calves join their mothers.
" Then feeding of the Brahmans."
It is impossible not to suspect from this account
that the rite is essentially agricultural, and this inter-
pretation is confirmed when Paraskara tells us that
the rite was to be followed by a sacrifice to Sita, the
goddess of the field furrow.
Agrahayani. This rite was performed on the full
moon day of the Agrahayana month. This particular
night was considered to be the consort of the year, or
the image of the year, and adoration was offered to the
year, to Samvatsara, Parivatsara, Idavatsara, Idvat-
sara, and to Vatsara, terms designating the different
years of the quinquennial period of Yuga.
Ashtaka. These rites received their name from the
fact that they were performed on the eighth day of the
three or four successive dark fortnights after the full
moon of Agrahayana. Oblations were made with vege-
tables, flesh, and cakes respectively. Gobhila quoted
252 SOCIAL LIFE IN THE AGE OF PHILOSOPHY
different opinions as to the object of these oblations,
and declared that they might be for the gratification
of Agni, or of the Fathers, or of Prajapati, or of the
season gods, or of all the gods. It is more probable,
however, that they were suggested by the winter sea-
son, which is an enjoyable season in India, when the
Aman rice is harvested and wheat and barley thrive,
and when cakes and flesh and vegetables are not only
acceptable to the " season gods," but are also highly
gratifying to men.
Chaitri, the last rite in the year, was performed on
the full moon day of Chaitra, when Indra and Agni
and Rudra and the Nakshatras, or constellations, were
propitiated.
bfi
SWASTIKA.
CHAPTER XXIII
SANKHYA AND YOGA
true glory of the Philosophic Period consists
-- in the philosophy of Kapila and the religion of
Buddha. Both worked to some extent on the same
lines; both began with the great object of affording
humanity a relief from the suffering which is the lot
of all living beings; both rejected the remedies which
the Vedic rites offered; both declared knowledge and
meditation to be the means of salvation; both adopted
the doctrine of transmigration from the Upanishads;
both aimed at Nirvana; and both professed an agnostic
creed.
But here the parallel ends. Kapila, who probably
lived a century before Buddha, started the system of
philosophy, but meant it only as philosophy addressed
to high thinkers and speculative scholars, and not to
the masses. Buddha, on the other hand, who was
probably born in the very town sanctified by the mem-
ory of the great philosopher, and was well versed in the
philosophy of Kapila, possessed a deep and all-embra-
cing sympathy, a feeling for the poor, a tear for the
253
254 SANKHYA AND YOGA
bereaved and the suffering. This was the secret of
Buddha's great success.
The object of Kapila's philosophy was to relieve
mankind from the three kinds of pain, bodily and
mental, natural and extrinsic, divine or supernatural.
Vedic rites are inefficacious, because they are tainted
with the slaughter of living beings; the complete and
final emancipation of the soul is secured by knowledge
alone.
Nature and Soul are eternal and self-existent.
From Nature (prakriti) is produced intellect, conscious-
ness, the five subtle elements, the five grosser elements,
the five senses of perception, the five organs of action,
and the mind. Soul (purusha) produces nothing, but
is only linked with Nature, until its final emancipation.
Kapila does not accept the orthodox opinion of the
Upanishads that all souls are portions of the Universal
Soul. He asserts that each soul is separate, and has
a separate existence after its emancipation from the
bonds of Nature.
It will be seen that, according to Kapila, everything
except purusha, or Soul, is derived from prakriti, or
primordial matter, and is therefore material, so that
he differs from modern materialistic philosophers only
in asserting that there is a soul, independent of matter
and eternal, though for a time linked with matter.
The five senses simply receive impressions; the
five organs of action, such as the voice, hands, and
feet, act according to their functions; but the mind
(manas) is not what is implied by the English word,
A Chapel in the Elephanta Caves
By far the best kiwzcn of all the cave-temples of India are those at
Elephanta, an island some six miles from Bombay. Unlike the temple
at Kadi, the rock-shrine at Elephanta is sacred to Brahiiianisin, and
especially to Siva. The caves are belie-red to hare been excavated be-
tween the ninth and eleventh centuries of our era. although the pious
natives who flock there in rast numbers at the great festival of Sira
in the latter part of February attribute to them a fabulous antiquity
and a legendary origin.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF KAPILA 255
being only a sense organ which arranges the impres-
sions and presents them to consciousness. Conscious-
ness individualizes those impressions as " mine," and
the intellect distinguishes and discriminates, and forms
them into ideas.
K a p i 1 a recog-
nized only three
kinds of evidence,
perception, infer-
ence, and testimony,
and he admitted
nothing which could
not thus be known,
so that, as neither
perception, nor in-
ference, nor testi-
mony presented to
him the idea of an
external Author of
all things, the Su-
preme Deity Was not ASCETIC AT NASIK.
admitted by him as knowable. On the other hand, he
recognized causation, and argued the production of all
formal existences from prakriti, or Nature, on five dif-
ferent grounds. Firstly, specific objects are finite in
their nature and must have cause. Secondly, different
things have common properties and must be different
species of the same primary genus. Thirdly, all things
are in a constant state of progression, and show an active
energy of evolution which must have been derived from
256 SANKHYA AND YOGA
a primary source. Fourthly, the existing world is an
effect, and there must be a primary cause. And fifthly,
there is an undividedness, a real unity in the whole
universe, which argues a common origin.
Purusha, or Soul, however, has a separate exist-
ence, first, because matter is apparently collected and
arranged with a design, which proves, according to
Kapila, not a Designer, but the existence of soul, for
which the things must have been arranged. Secondly,
matter furnishes materials for pleasure and pain;
hence sentient nature, which feels pleasure and pain,
must be different from it. Thirdly, there must be a
superintending force. Fourthly, there must be a nature
that enjoys. And the fifth argument is that the yearn-
ing for a higher life points to the possibility of gain-
ing it. These were Kapila 's arguments for the exist-
ence of soul independent of matter, yet he did not be-
lieve in one soul, but held that the souls of different
beings are distinct one from the other, thus diverging
from the teaching of the Upanishads and the Vedantic
school, which is based upon them.
We have already said that Kapila borrowed the doc-
trine of transmigration of souls from the Upanishads,
and having borrowed this idea, he had to adapt it to
his own system of philosophy. The soul, according to
him, is so passive that the individuality of man is
scarcely stamped on it, while the intellect, the con-
sciousness, and the mind all belong to the material
part of a man. Hence Kapila was constrained by his
own rigid reasoning to assume that a subtle body,
SANKHYA DOCTRINES OF THE SOUL 257
consisting of the intellect, the consciousness, the mind,
and the subtle principles, migrated with the soul.
This subtle body, or linga sarira, forms the personality
of an individual, and ascends to a higher region or
descends to a lower with the soul, according to the
virtues or vices committed in this life, nor does the
soul gain final emancipation till it is freed from its
subtle body by the knowledge which it acquires through
its union with nature.
Even after the soul has obtained complete knowl-
edge, it resides for a time in the body, " as a potter's
wheel continues to revolve from the force of the pre-
vious impulse." This is the Nirvana of Buddha, a
state of quietude, when perfect knowledge has been
gained, when all passions have been restrained, all de-
sires have been checked, and the enlightened soul
awaits its final emancipation. That separation of soul
and matter comes at last. Nature ceases to act, as her
purpose has been accomplished, and the soul obtains
an abstraction from matter, and both continue to exist
eternally isolated from each other and independent of
each other.
The great fault of Kapila's philosophy as a creed
for the people was its agnosticism, and the Yoga sys-
tem of philosophy sought to obviate this defect. The
Yoga philosophy is ascribed to Patanjali, who probably
lived in the second century before Christ. All that we
know of the life and history of Patanjali is that his
mother was called Gonika, as he himself tells us, and
that he resided for a certain time in Kashmir, al-
258
SANKHYA AND YOGA
though he was a native of Gonarda, a place in the
eastern part of India. His system is contained in his
Yoga Sutra. In the first chapter of this work yoga
is derived from yuj, " to join " or " to meditate," and
this meditation is possible only by the suppression
of the functions of the mind by constant exercise and
A HINDU DEVOTEE.
by dispassion, thus leading to Yoga, conscious or uncon-
conscious.
The attainment of this coveted state of mind is ha-
stened by devotion to Isvara, or God, who is regarded
as a soul untouched by affliction, works, deserts, and
desires.
Disease, doubt, and worldly-mindedness are obsta-
cles to the attainment of Yoga, but may be overcome
TEACHINGS OF THE YOGA SYSTEM 259
by concentration of the mind, by benevolence, by indif-
ference to happiness or misery, and even by the regula-
tion of the breath.
The first exercises in the performance of Yoga are
asceticism, the muttering of a mantra, and devotion to
Grod, which overcome all afflictions like ignorance, ego-
ism, desire, and aversion, or ardent desire to live. These
are the motives of work (karma), and works must bear
their fruits in subsequent births, while the object of
Yoga is to devise means to abstain from works, and so
to preclude future births.
We have, then, the Sankhya definition of the soul
and the intellect; knowledge finally severs the connec-
tion between the two, and thenceforward the soul is
free, and an end is put to its reincarnation and its
suffering. Knowledge passes through seven stages be-
fore it is perfect, and eight means (which remind one
of the eightfold path of the Buddhists) are prescribed,
by which this perfect knowledge can be obtained. The
first way is abstinence from evil actions, slaughter,
falsehood, theft, incontinence, and avarice; and the sec-
ond consists of an obligation to perform certain acts,
purification, contentment, penance, study, and devotion
to God. These two means are prescribed for all, house-
holders and ascetics alike, while the rules for Yogis
are supplemented by additional duties. The third stage
is the assumption of special postures for meditation;
the fourth is regulation of the breath; the fifth is the
abstraction of the organs from their natural functions;
and the sixth, seventh, and eighth are steadfastness,
260
SANKHYA AND YOGA
contemplation, and meditation, which are the essential
constituents of Yoga itself. When these three are
united, occult powers are acquired, and through them
one may know the past and the future, make himself
invisible to men, observe the details of what is passing
UNDERGOING YOGI PENANCE.
Copyright by Underwood & Underwood.
in distant regions or in the stars and planets, converse
with spirits, travel in the air or through water, and
acquire various superhuman powers.
It will thus be seen that as a system of philosophy
Yoga is valueless; all its fundamental maxims about
the soul and intellect and sensations, about the trans-
migration of souls and their eternity and final emanci-
pation by knowledge, are those of the Sankhya philos-
ophy. In fact Patanjali tried to blend the idea of a
Supreme Deity with the philosophy of Kapila; but un-
fortunately he or his followers mixed up with it much
of the superstition and the mystic practices of the age,
while in still later times the philosophy of the Yoga
THE DEGENERATION OF YOGA 261
system has been completely forgotten, and the system
has degenerated into cruel and indecent Tantrika rites,
or into the impostures and superstitions of the so-called
Yogis of the present day.
CHAPTER XXIV
NYAYA AND YAISESIKA
philosopher Gautama was the Aristotle of
-A- India, and his system of Nyaya is the Hindu logic,
which is still studied in India along the traditional
lines, even though the number of teachers and pupils
is growing less year by year. The date of Gautama is
not known, but he lived in the Philosophic Period,
probably a century after Kapila. The Nyaya Sutra,
which is ascribed to him, is divided into five books,
each subdivided into two " days," or diurnal lessons,
and these are again divided into articles, each of which
consists of a number of Sutras.
The Nyaya system starts with the subjects to be
discussed, which are fourteen in number: proof, prob-
lem, doubt, motive, instance or example, determined
truth, argument or syllogism, confutation, ascertain-
ment, controversy, jangling, objection, fallacy, perver-
sion, futility, and controversy.
Proof is of four kinds: Perception, inference, anal-
ogy, and verbal testimony. Cause (karana) is that
which necessarily precedes an effect, which could not
be without the cause; and effect (karya) is that which
262
THE HINDU SYSTEM OF LOGIC 263
necessarily ensues and otherwise could not be. For the
relation of cause and effect, the connections might be
twofold simple conjunction (samyoga), and constant
relation (samavaya). Hence cause may be of three
kinds: immediate and direct, as the yarn is of cloth;
mediate or indirect, as the weaving is of cloth; and
instrumental, as the loom is of cloth.
The problems are soul, body, the senses, the objects
of sense, intellect, mind (or the internal organ), produc-
tion, fault, transmigration, retribution, pain, and eman-
cipation.
The soul, which is the seat of knowledge, is different
in each person, and is separate from the body and the
senses. Each individual soul is infinite and eternal, and
transmigrates according to the works performed in life.
So far we see an agreement with Kapila's philosophy.
But the Nyaya adds that the Supreme Soul is one, the
seat of eternal knowledge, and the maker or former of
all things. The body is earthly, the five external senses
are also material, and the mind is the organ of the
senses.
Intellect is twofold, including memory and concept.
A concept is true if derived from clear proof, and is
wrong if not derived from proof. Similarly, memory
may be right or wrong. The objects of sense are odour,
taste, colour, touch, and sound.
Acts are the causes of virtue or vice, of merit or de-
merit; and the only motive to them is the hedonistic
desire to attain pleasure or to avoid pain.
Transmigration is the passing of the soul to succes-
264 NYAYA AND VAISESTKA
sive bodies. Pain is the primary evil, and there are
twenty-one varieties of evil which are causes of pain.
The soul attains its emancipation by knowledge and
not by action.
The specialty of Nyaya is its development of infer-
ence by the construction of a true syllogism, which, in
its Hindu form consists of five parts, which are called
the proposition, the reason, the instance, the applica-
tion of the reason, and the conclusion, as may be illus-
trated by the following example:
The hill is fiery.
For it smokes.
Whatever smokes is fiery.
The hill is smoking.
Therefore it is fiery.
Logic has always been a favourite study with
learned Hindus, and neither the Ancient Greeks, nor
the Mediaeval Arabs, nor the European schoolmen of
the Middle Ages displayed more acuteness and sub-
tlety in reasoning, or more rigid and scientific strictness
in their discussions, than is witnessed in the numerous
works of the Hindus on logic.
Kanada's atomic philosophy is supplementary to
Gautama's logic, as the Yoga is supplementary to the
Sankhya, and therefore need not detain us long. The
cardinal principle of Kanada is that all material sub-
stances are aggregates of atoms, whence the name ka-
ndda, " atom-eater," by which he is known. The atoms
are eternal, the aggregates only are perishable by dis-
integration.
THE ATOMIC PHILOSOPHY OF KANADA
265
The first compound is of two atoms; the next con-
sists of three double atoms, and so on. The mote visible
in the sunbeam is thus a compound of six atoms. In
this way two earthly atoms acting under an unseen law
constitute a double atom of earth; three binary atoms
constitute a tertiary atom;
four tertiary atoms make a
quaternary atom; and so on
to gross, grosser, and gross-
est masses of earth. In this
manner the great earth is
produced, the great water is
thus produced from aque-
ous atoms, great light from
luminous atoms, and great
air from aerial atoms.
Kanada recognizes seven
categories of objects: substances, quality, action, com-
munity, particularity, coherence, and non-existence.
Under the first of these categories, the nine sub-
stances of Kanada are earth, water, light, air (all eter-
nal in atoms, but transient and perishable in aggre-
gates), ether (which transmits sound, and which has no
atoms, but is infinite, one, and eternal), time, space
(neither of which is material, and therefore is not
compounded of atoms), soul, and manas (or the internal
organ). Light and heat are considered as only different
forms of the same essential substance. Ether (dkdsa)
conveys sound; and manas, or the internal organ, is
supposed to be extremely small, like an atom.
INDIAN SCENERY.
266 NYAYA AND VAISESIKA
The second category, quality, embraces seventeen
varieties or qualities of the nine substances enumerated
above. The qualities are colour, savour, odour, tangi-
bility, number, extension, individuality, conjunction,
disjunction, priority, posteriority, intellections, pleas-
ure, pain, desire, aversion, and volition.
The third category, action, is divided into five kinds,
upward and downward movement, contraction, dilation,
and general motion.
The fourth category, community (genus), denotes
qualities common to many objects, and also, implies
species. These common qualities and species have a
real and objective existence, according to Kanada, but
not according to the Buddhists, who affirm that only
individuals have existence, and that abstractions are
unreal conceptions.
The fifth category, particularity, denotes simple ob-
jects, devoid of community. They are soul, mind, time,
place, the ethereal element, and atoms.
The sixth category, coherence, is connection between
things which must be connected so long as they exist,
as yarn and cloth.
The seventh category, non-existence, is either uni-
versal or mutual.
It will be seen from this brief account that the
Vaisesika system of Kanada, in so far as it is an
original system, is physics rather than philosophy. It
was the first attempt made in India to inquire into
the laws of matter and force, of combination and dis-
integration.
THE SEVEN CATEGORIES OF KANADA 267
In every system of Hindu Philosophy (except
Vedantism) matter is supposed to be eternal, and dis-
tinct from soul. The Vedantists alone regard matter
as the manifestation of the One Supreme Soul who com-
prises all and is all. Of this system we shall speak in
the next chapter.
INDIAN CARVING.
CHAPTER XXV
PURVA MIMAMSA AND VEDANTA
WE now come to the last two systems of the philos-
ophy of the Hindus, the Purva Mimamsa of Jai-
mini and the Uttara Mimamsa of Badarayana Vyasa.
To the historian of India they are of the utmost impor-
tance and value, for the Mimamsa schools represent the
conservative phase of the Hindu mind at a time when
philosophers and laymen were alike drifting towards
agnostic and heterodox opinions. Sankhya philosophy
led hosts of thinking men away from the teachings of
the Upanishads on the Universal Soul; and the Bud-
dhist religion was embraced by many of the lower
classes as a relief from caste inequalities and elaborate
Vedic rites. Against this general movement of the day
the Mimamsa schools made a stand. The Purva Mi-
mamsa insisted on those Vedic rites and practices which
later philosophers had come to regard as useless or
even as unholy; and the Uttara Mimamsa proclaimed
the doctrine of the Universal Soul which the Upani-
268
TEXTS OF THE PURVA MIMAMSA 269
shads had taught before, and which continues to be the
cardinal doctrine of Hinduism to this day.
The controversy, or rather the division in opinion,
went on for centuries, but orthodoxy prevailed in India
in the end. The great Kumarila Bhatta, who lived in
the seventh century after Christ, wrote his celebrated
Vartika, or commentary on the Purva Mimamsa Sutras,
and was the most redoubted champion of Hinduism, as
well as the most uncompromising opponent of Bud-
dhism. He not only vindicated the ancient rites of the
Vedas, and inveighed against the heterodox opinions
of the Buddhists, but he denied them any consideration,
even when they happened to agree with the Veda.
The Uttara Mimamsa also had its champion, a man
greater than Kumarila, the celebrated Sankaracharya,
who wrote in the first half of the ninth century.
The Sutras of the Purva Mimamsa are ascribed to
Jaimini, and are divided into twelve lectures and sub-
divided into sixty chapters. The first lecture treats of
the authority of enjoined duty; the varieties of duty,
supplemental duties, and the purpose of the perform-
ance of duties are treated in the second, third, and
fourth lectures. The order of their performance is con-
sidered in the fifth, and the qualification for their per-
formance is treated in the sixth. The subject of indi-
rect precept is treated in chapters seven and eight.
Inferable changes are discussed in the ninth, and excep-
tions in the tenth chapter. Efficacy is considered in
the eleventh chapter, and the work closes with a dis-
cussion of co-ordinate effect in the twelfth chapter.
270 PURVA MIMAMSA AND VEDANTA
The Purva Mimamsa philosophy was, however,
merely a philosophy of Vedic rites, and a supplemen-
tary system of philosophy was therefore required, this
want being supplied by the Uttara Mimamsa or Ve-
danta. It is the Vedanta which tells us of the Su-
preme Being, the Universal Soul, the Pervading Breath,
as the Purva Mimamsa speaks of rites and sacrifices.
The Vedanta is the direct outcome of the Upanishads,
as the Purva Mimamsa is the outcome of the Brah-
manas, and the two schools of Mimamsa taken to-
gether represent orthodox Vedic Hinduism, both in
its rites and observances, and in its belief. The two
schools taken together were an answer to Buddhist
heretics who ignored Vedic rites and denied a Su-
preme Being, as well as to the agnostic Sankhya system
of philosophy, and to other systems which proclaimed
the eternity of matter, and thus, when combined, they
form the basis of true Hinduism. The great text-book
of the Vedanta is the Sariraka Mimamsa Sutra, or
Brahma Sutra, which is attributed to Badarayana
Vyasa, and which cannot have been compiled very long
before the Christian Era.
The Vedanta adopts the syllogism of the Nyaya sys-
tem, with the obvious improvement of reducing its five
members to three, as in the syllogism of Aristotle.
Badarayana 's Brahma Sutra is divided into four
lectures, and each lecture is subdivided into four chap-
ters. It opens precisely as the Purva Mimamsa, an-
nouncing its purport in the very same terms, except
that it substitutes Brahma, or G-od, for Dharma, or
BASIC CONCEPTS OF THE VEDANTA 271
Duty. The author then confutes the Sankhya doctrine
that Nature is the material cause of the universe, and
declares that a sentient rational Being is the material
as well as the efficient First Cause of the universe.
The second lecture continues the confutation of
Kapila's Sankhya philosophy, as well as of Patanjali's
Yoga system and Kanada's atomic theory. All the
universe is rigidly assigned to Brahma, who is the
Cause and the Effect.
The soul is active, not passive as the Sankhyas
maintain, although its activity is merely adventitious,
and it is in reality a portion of the Supreme Ruler,
while the corporeal organs and the vital actions are all
modifications of Brahma.
The third lecture treats of transmigration of souls,
of the attainment of knowledge, of final emancipation,
and of the attributes of the Supreme Being. The soul
transmigrates, invested with a subtle body, from one
state to another. Departing from one body, it expe-
riences the recompense of its works, and returns to
occupy a new body with the resulting influence of its
former deeds.
The Supreme Being is impassable, unaffected by
worldly modifications, as the clear crystal, seemingly
coloured by the hibiscus flower, is really pellucid. He
is pure Sense, Intellect, Thought.
The reader will perceive that the Yedanta philos-
ophy is a direct and legitimate result of the Upani-
shads, and the idea of unity is carried to its extreme
limit in the Vedanta as in the Upanishads.
272 PURVA MIMAMSA AND VEDANTA
The second half of this lecture relates to devout ex-
ercises and pious meditation, which are necessary for
the reception of divine knowledge.
The fourth and last lecture relates to the fruit of
pious meditations properly conducted, and the attain-
ment of divine knowledge. So soon as that knowledge
is attained, past sins are annulled and future sins are
precluded. In like manner the effects of merit and vir-
tue are also annulled. And " having annulled by frui-
tion other works which had begun to have effect,
having enjoyed the recompense and suffered the pains
of good and bad actions, the possessor of divine knowl-
edge, on the demise of the body, proceeds to a re-union
with Brahma." This, as we know, is the final beati-
tude taught by the Upanishads.
There are two other less perfect forms of emancipa-
tion. One of them qualifies the soul for reception at
Brahma's abode, but not for immediate re-union and
identity with his being. The other is still less perfect,
and is called Jivanmukti, which can be acquired in the
present life by Yogis, and enables them to perform
supernatural acts, such as evoking the shades of fore-
fathers, assuming different bodies, and going immedi-
ately to any place at pleasure.
The attributes of God, according to the Yedanta phi-
losophy, have thus been recapitulated by Colebrooke in
his " Philosophy of the Hindus ": " God is the om-
niscient and omnipotent cause of the existence, contin-
uance, and dissolution of the universe. Creation is an
act of His will. He is both efficient and material cause
ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE PHILOSOPHIC PERIOD 273
of the world, creator and nature, framer and frame, doer
and deed. At the consummation of all things, all are
resolved into Him. The Supreme Being is one, sole
existent, secondless, entire, without parts, sempiternal,
infinite, ineffable, invariable, ruler of all, universal soul,
truth, wisdom, intelligence, happiness."
Such are the six systems of philosophy which were
developed in India in the Philosophic Period; such are
the answers which Hindu philosophers have given to
the questions which were started in the Upanishads, to
questions which rise in the mind of every reflective
man, but which it is not given to him to answer com-
pletely What is God, and what is man?
Summed up as a whole, this rationalistic period of
philosophy and laws was rich in results of which every
Hindu may be proud. Besides producing the first re-
corded systems of mental philosophy and logic, and
codifying a body of civil and criminal law, it developed
the infant sciences of geometry and grammar. The ad-
ministration of government was perfected in the latter
part of this period and the whole of Northern India was
brought under a single great ruler. And, lastly, it was
in this period that the great reformer Gautama Bud-
dha proclaimed that religion of equality and brother-
hood of man which is at the present day the living faith
of one-third of the human race. To the story of that
great revolution we now turn.
CHAPTER XXVI
BUDDHIST SACRED LITERATURE
IN the sixth century before Christ, India witnessed
the commencement of a great revolution. Her
ancient religion, which the Hindu Aryans had practised
and proclaimed for fourteen centuries, had degenerated
into forms. The gods of the Rig- Veda, whom the
ancient Rishis had invoked and worshipped, had come
to be regarded as mere names; the libations of the
Soma juice, and offerings of milk, grain, or flesh, which
the Rishis of old had offered to their gods, had de-
veloped into cumbrous ceremonials, elaborate rites, un-
meaning forms. The descendants or successors of those
Rishis had now stepped forth as a powerful and
hereditary caste, and claimed the right to perform
elaborate religious rites and utter sacred prayers for
the people. The people were taught to believe that
they earned merit by having these rites performed and
these prayers uttered by hired priests. The religious
instinct which had inspired the composers of the Vedic
hymns was dead, and vast ceremonials alone remained.
But a reaction had taken place. About the eleventh
century before Christ, five centuries before the time of
274
THE REACTION FROM BRAHMANISM 275
which we are now speaking, earnest and thoughtful
Hindus had ventured to go beyond the rituals of the
Brahmana literature, and had inquired into the mys-
teries of the soul and its Creator. The composers of
the Upanishads had conceived the bold idea that all
animate and inanimate nature proceeded from one uni-
versal deity, and were portions of one pervading soul.
Inquiries were made into the mysteries of death and
the future world, conjectures were made about the
transmigration of souls, and doctrines were started con-
taining in a crude form the salient principles of later
Hindu philosophy.
Few, however, could devote their lives to these spec-
ulations and the abstruse ' philosophy which they in-
volved. The mass of the Aryan householders Brah-
mans, Kshatriyas, and Vaisy as contented themselves
with performing the rites, unintelligible to them,
which the Brahmanas had laid down and the Sutras
had condensed.
For the Sudras, who had come under the domina-
tion of the Aryan religion, there was no religious in-
struction, no religious observance, no social respect.
Despised and degraded in the very community in
which they were forced to live, they sighed for a
change, and as they increased in number, pursued va-
rious useful industries, owned lands and villages, and
gained in influence and power, they became more and
more conscious of the unbearable conditions to which
they were condemned.
To an earnest and inquisitive mind, to a sympa-
276 BUDDHIST SACKED LITERATURE
tlietic and benevolent soul, there was something anom-
alous in all this. Gautama of the Sakya race was
versed in the Hindu learning and religion of the age,
but he pondered and asked if what he had learnt could
be efficacious or true. His soul rebelled against the
distinctions between man and man; and his benevolent
heart longed for a means to help the humble, the op-
pressed, and the lowly. The ceremonials and rites
which householders practised appeared as vain and
fruitless to him as the penances and mortifications
which hermits voluntarily underwent in forests. The
beauty of a holy and a sinless life of benevolence be-
came to him as the perfection of human destiny, and
with the earnest conviction of a prophet and a re-
former he proclaimed this as the essence of religion,
inviting the poor and lowly to end their sufferings by
cultivating virtue, by eschewing passions and evil de-
sire, and by spreading brotherly love and universal
peace. The Brahman and the Sudra, the high and the
low, were the same in his eyes; each and all could effect
their salvation by a holy life, and he invited every man
to embrace his creed of love. Mankind responded to
the appeal, and Buddhism in the course of a few cen-
turies became the prevailing faith, not of a sect or a
country, but of the continent of Asia.
Nevertheless, it would be wrong to suppose that
Gautama Buddha consciously set himself up as the
founder of a new religion. On the contrary, he believed
to the last that he was proclaiming only the pure and
ancient religion which had prevailed among the Hin-
WESTERN GATEWAY OF THE BXJDDHIST TOPE AT SANCHI.
THE POWER OF BUDDHA'S TEACHING 279
dus, but which had been corrupted at a later day.
Hinduism itself recognized wandering bodies of ascet-
ics who renounced the world, performed no Vedic rites,
and passed their days in contemplation. Such bodies
were popularly termed Sramans. Gautama founded only
one sect of Sramans among many sects which then
existed, and his sect was known as that of the Sakya-
putriya Sramans, to distinguish them from others. He
taught them renunciation of the world, a holy life, and
pious meditation, such as all sects of Sramans recom-
mended and practised.
Gautama's holy and pious life, his universal sym-
pathy, his unsurpassed moral precepts, his gentle and
beautiful character, stamped themselves on his teach-
ings, which were not altogether new, gathered round
him the meek and lowly, the gentlest and best of the
Aryans, converted kings on their thrones and peasants
in their cots, and united sect and caste in a communion
of love. And the sacred recollections of his life and
teachings remained long after he had passed away,
uniting the community which cherished his teachings,
and in course of time giving his doctrines the char-
acter of a distinct religion.
Inspired by his love of purity and a holy, gentle
life, Gautama eschewed the rites of the Vedas and the
penances of ascetics alike, insisting only on self -culture,
on benevolence, on pious resignation. This is what
has made Buddhism a living and life-giving religion,
when so many rival forms of asceticism have withered
away and died.
280 BUDDHIST SACKED LITEEATURE
In its historical development, Buddhism became
divided into two great sects, so that the forms of Bud-
dhism prevailing in Nepal and Tibet, China and Japan,
are called Northern Buddhism, while the older and
purer forms prevailing in Ceylon and Burma are termed
Southern Buddhism. The Northern Buddhists furnish
us with scanty materials directly illustrating the
religion in its earliest form in India, for they embraced
Buddhism some centuries after the Christian Era, and
the works which they then obtained from India do not
represent the earliest form of Hindu Buddhism. The
Lalita Vistara, a most important work of the Northern
Buddhists, is only a gorgeous poem, composed prob-
ably in Nepal in the second or third or fourth cen-
tury after Christ, although it contains passages the
Gathas which are of much older date. In China,
Buddhism was introduced from the first century after
Christ, but did not become the state religion until
the fourth century, and the works on Buddhism
which were then carried by Chinese pilgrims from
India from century to century, and translated into the
Chinese language, do not illustrate the earliest phase
of Buddhism in India. Buddhism spread to Japan in
the sixth century, and to Tibet in the seventh cen-
tury after Christ, although the latter country has drifted
far from primitive Hindu Buddhism, and has adopted
forms and ceremonies which were unknown to Gau-
tama and his followers.
The date of Buddha's death was for a long time
believed to be 543 B.C.; but it is now generally ac-
EAKLY BUDDHIST COUNCILS 281
cepted that the great reformer died about 487 (or
477) B. c., having been born about 567 (or 557) B. c.
A council of five hundred monks was held in Raja-
griha, the capital of Magadha, immediately after his
death, and together they chanted the sacred laws, so
as to fix them on their memory. A hundred years
later, in 377 B. c., a second council was held in Vaisali,
mainly for the discussion and settlement of ten ques-
tions on which difference of opinion had arisen. A
hundred and thirty-five years after this, the great
Asoka, King of the Magadhas, held a third council in
Patna about 242 B. c., to determine upon the religious
works, or Pitakas. 1 Through the preaching of this
monarch's son, Mahinda, a Buddhist whose zeal led
him to send- missionaries to Ceylon and even to foreign
countries, Syria, Macedon, and Egypt, to preach the
religion, Ceylon embraced Buddhism in the third cen-
tury B. c. About a hundred and fifty years after this
the Pitakas were formally reduced to writing, and thus
we have the most authentic account of the earliest form
of Buddhism in Magadha in the Pali Pitakas of Ceylon.
These facts will show that the three Pitakas of the
Southern Buddhists can claim a date anterior to
242 B. c., for no work which could not claim a respect-
able antiquity was included as canonical by the Coun-
cil of Patna, and there is internal evidence in the
Vinaya Pitaka for the hypothesis that the main por-
tions of that Pitaka were settled before the Vaisali
Council in 377 B.C.
1 On the question of the latter date, see vol. ii, p 139.
282 BUDDHIST SACKED LITERATURE
In the Scriptures of the Southern Buddhists we
thus have reliable materials for the history of India
for the centuries immediately after the time of Gau-
tama Buddha, while they give a more consistent and
a less exaggerated account of the life and work and
teachings of Buddha himself than anything which the
Northern Buddhists can supply.
The three Pitakas are known as the Sutta Pitaka,
the Vinaya Pitaka, and the Abhidhamma Pitaka. The
works comprised in the Sutta Pitaka profess to record
the sayings and doings of Gautama Buddha himself.
Gautama is the actor and the speaker in the earliest
works of this Pitaka, and teaches his doctrines in his
own words, although occasionally one of his disciples
is the instructor, and there are short introductions to
indicate where and when Gautama or his disciple
spoke.
The Vinaya Pitaka contains very minute rules,
often on the most trivial subjects, for the conduct
of monks and nuns, the Bhikkhus and the Bhikkhunis
who had embraced the holy order. Gautama respected
the lay disciple, but he held that to embrace the Holy
Order was a quicker path to salvation. As the number
of Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis multiplied, it was necessary
to fix elaborate rules, often on very minute subjects,
for their proper conduct and behaviour in the Vihara,
or monastery. As Gautama lived for nearly half a
century after he had proclaimed his religion, there can
be no doubt that he himself settled many of these
rules, but, at the same time, it is equally certain that
THE BUDDHIST CANON 283
many of them grew up after Ms death, although they
are all attributed in the Vinaya Pitaka to the direct
order of the Blessed One himself.
And lastly, the Abhidhamma Pitaka contains dis-
quisitions on various subjects, such as the conditions
of life in different worlds, personal qualities, the ele-
ments, and the causes of existence.
Gautama, disregarding the precedent set by all
classical writers and thinkers in India, preached his
doctrine and morality to the people of India, not in
Sanskrit, but in their own vernacular, and the Chulla-
vagga accordingly says: " There were two brothers,
Bhikkhus, by name Yamelu and Tekula, Brahmans
by birth, excelling in speech, excelling in pronuncia-
tion." And they went up to Gautama and said, " At
the present time, Lord, Bhikkhus differing in name,
differing in lineage, differing in birth, differing in fam-
ily, have gone forth. These corrupt the word of the
Buddhas by their own dialect. Let us, Lord, put the
word of the Buddhas into Sanskrit verse."
But Gautama would have none of this; he worked
for the humble and the lowly, his message was for the
people, and he wished it to be conveyed to them in
their own tongue. " You are not, O Bhikkhus, to
put the word of the Buddhas into (Sanskrit) verse.
I allow you, O Bhikkhus, to learn the word of the
Buddhas each in his own tongue."
CHAPTER XXVII
LIFE OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA
IN the sixth century before Christ, the kingdom of
Magadha was rising to power and greatness. The
realm, corresponding to the modern South Bihar, ex-
tended to the south of the Ganges, and on either side
of the Son Eiver. North of the Ganges it had a power-
ful rival in the haughty confederation of the Lich-
chhavis. Rajagriha, to the south of the Ganges, was
the capital of Bimbisara, King of the Magadhas; and
Vaisali, to the north of the Ganges, was the capital
of the Lichchhavis. To the east lay the kingdom of
Anga, or East Bihar, which is mentioned in connection
with Magadha, and Champa was the capital of Anga.
Far to the northwest lay the ancient kingdom of the
Kosalas, and its capital had been removed from Ayo-
dhya farther northwards to the flourishing town of
Sravasti, where Prasenajit reigned at the time of which
we are speaking. The equally ancient country of the
Kasis, lying to the south, seems to have been subject at
this time to the King of Sravasti, and a viceroy of
Prasenajit ruled at Benares.
A little to the east of the Kosala kingdom, two
284
THE BIKTH OF BUDDHA 285
kindred clans, the Sakyas and the Koliyans, lived on
the opposite banks of the small stream Rohini, and
enjoyed a sort of precarious independence, more
through the jealousies of the rival kings of Magadha
and Kosala than by their own power. Kapilavastu
was the capital of the Sakyas, who were then living in
peace with the Koliyans, and Suddhodana, chief of the
Sakyas, had married two daughters of the chief of
the Koliyans.
Neither queen bore a child to Suddhodana for many
years, and the hope of leaving an heir to the princi-
pality of the Sakyas was well-nigh abandoned. At last,
however, the elder queen promised her husband an
heir, and, according to ancient custom, left for her
father's house, that her child might be born there. On
her way, however, she gave birth to a son in the pleas-
ant grove of Lumbini. The mother and the child were
carried back to Kapilavastu, where the former died
seven days after, leaving the child to be nursed by his
stepmother and aunt, the younger queen.
The boy was named Siddhartha, but Gautama was
his family name. He belonged to the Sakya tribe, and
is therefore often called Sakyasimha, " Lion of the
Sakyas; " and when he had proclaimed his new faith,
he was called Buddha, or the " Awakened " or " En-
lightened."
Little is known of the early life of Gautama, except
that he married his cousin Subhadhra, or Yasodhara,
daughter of the chief of Koli, when he was about eight-
een years of age. Ten years later, however, he re-
286 LIFE OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA
solved to leave his home and his wife to study philos-
ophy and religion. In the midst of his prosperity,
position, and wealth, he felt a secret yearning after
something higher, which neither wealth nor position
could satisfy; and an irresistible desire to seek for
a remedy for the sufferings of men arose in his heart
even amid the luxuries of his palace home. It is said
that the sight of a decrepit old man, of a sick man,
of a decaying corpse, and of a dignified hermit led him
to form his resolution to quit his home. The story,
whether well-founded or not, represents in a concrete
shape the thoughts that arose in his mind with regard
to the woes of a worldly life, and the holy calm of a
retired existence.
At this very time a son was born to him, but it is
said that when the news was announced to him in a
garden on the riverside, he only exclaimed, " This is
a new, strong tie that I shall have to break."
That night he repaired to the threshold of his wife's
chamber, and there by the light of the flickering lamp
he gazed on a scene of perfect bliss. The young mother
lay surrounded by flowers, with one hand on the in-
fant's head. A yearning arose in his heart to take the
babe in his arms for the last time before relinquishing
all earthly bliss, but this he might not do, lest the
mother awake and by her importunities and tears
unnerve his heart and shake his resolution. Silently
he tore himself away from the blissful sight, and in
that one eventful moment, in the silent darkness of
the night, he renounced for ever his wealth and posi-
BRASS IMAGE OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA FROM CEYLON.
He ia seated on the Mucalinda Serpent in an attitude of profound meditation, with eyes
half-closed, and five rays of light emerging from the crown of his head.
BENUNCIATIOH AND TEMPTATION 289
tion and power, his proud rank and his princely fame,
the love of his young wife and of his sleeping babe,
being determined to become a poor student and a home-
less wanderer. He rode quietly out of the city, accom-
panied only by his faithful servant, named Channa,
who asked to be allowed to stay with him and become
an ascetic, but Gautama sent him back, and repaired
alone to Kajagriha, which lay in a valley surrounded
by five hills. Some Brahman ascetics lived in the caves
of these hills, sufficiently far from the town for study
and contemplation, and yet sufficiently near to obtain
supplies. Gautama attached himself first to one and,
then to another, and learnt from them all that Hindu
philosophers had to teach.
Not content with this learning, he retired to the
jungles of Uruvela, near the site of the present temple
of Bodh Gaya, and for six years, attended by five
disciples, he gave himself up to the severest penances
and self -mortification. His fame spread far and wide,
yet he did not obtain the emancipation that he sought,
and, despairing of deriving any profit from penance,
he abandoned it.
Deserted then by his disciples, Gautama wandered
alone towards the banks of the Niranjara, received his
morning meal from the hands of Sujata, the daughter
of a villager, and sat himself down under the famous
Bo-tree, or the tree of wisdom. Here he was tempted
by Mara, the evil spirit, and many legends relate the
circumstances and details of this successful struggle
with temptation. Long he sat in contemplation, and
290 LIFE OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA
the scenes of his past life came thronging into his
mind, until the doubts cleared away like mists in the
morning and the daylight of truth flashed before his
eyes. He had made no new discovery, he had acquired
no new knowledge. Self -culture and universal love
this was his discovery, this is the essence of Buddhism,
and his pious nature and benevolent heart told him that
a holy life and an all-embracing love were the panacea
to all evils.
Gautama's old teacher Alara was dead, and he
therefore went to Benares to proclaim the truth to his
five former disciples. In the cool of the evening he
entered the Deer Park in the holiest city of India, and
there found the followers who had deserted him. To
them he explained his new tenets:
" There are two extremes, O Bhikkhus, which the
man who has given up the world ought not to follow:
the habitual practice, on the one hand, of those things
whose attraction depends upon the passions, and spe-
cially of sensuality, a low and pagan way, unworthy,
unprofitable, and fit only for the worldly-minded; and
the habitual practice, on the other hand, of asceticism,
which is painful, unworthy, and unprofitable.
" There is a middle path, Bhikkhus, avoiding
these two extremes, discovered by the Tathagata (Bud-
dha), a path which opens the eyes and bestows under-
standing, which leads to peace of mind, to the higher
wisdom, to full enlightenment, to Nirvana! '
And then he explained to them the four truths con-
cerning suffering, the cause of suffering, the destruc-
BUDDHA'S FIRST CONVERTS 291
tion of suffering, and the way which leads to such de-
struction of suffering.
It is needless to say that the five former disciples
were soon converted, and became the first members
of the Order, and within five months after his arrival
at Benares Gautama had sixty followers. He now
called them together and sent them out in different
directions to preach the truth for the salvation of man-
kind. "Go ye now, O Bhikkhus, and wander, for the
gain of the many, for the welfare of the many, out of
compassion for the world, for the good, for the gain,
for the welfare of gods and men. Let not two of you
go the same way. Preach, Bhikkhus, the doctrine
which is glorious in the beginning, glorious in the mid-
dle, glorious in the end, in the spirit, and in the letter;
proclaim a consummate, perfect, and pure life of holi-
ness.'
Gautama himself went to Uruvela, where he
achieved distinguished success by converting three
brothers named Kasyapa, who worshipped fire in the
Vedic form, and had high reputation as hermits and
philosophers. This event created a sensation, and
Gautama, with his new disciples and a thousand fol-
lowers, walked towards Rajagriha, the capital of Ma-
gadha. Tidings of the new prophet soon reached the
king, and Seniya Bimbisara, surrounded by numbers
of Brahmans and Vaisyas, went to visit Gautama, only
to declare himself an adherent of Gautama and invite
him to take his meal with him the next day.
The saintly wanderer accordingly went, an hon-
292 LIFE OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA
oured guest, to the palace of the king, and the entire
population of the capital of Magadha thronged to see
the great preacher of the religion of love, who had
suddenly appeared in the land. The king then assigned
a bamboo grove (Veluvana) close by for the residence
of Gautama and his followers, and there Gautama
rested for some time, shortly afterward gaining two
distinguished converts, Sariputra and Moggallana.
The fame of Gautama had now travelled to his
native town, and his old father expressed a desire to
see him once before he died. Gautama accordingly
went to Kapilavastu, but, according to custom, re-
mained in the grove outside the town. His father and
relations came to see him there; .and the next day
Gautama himself went into the town, begging alms
from the people who had once adored him as their
beloved prince and master.
The king took his son into the palace, where all
the members of the family came to greet him except
his wife. The deserted Yasodhara, with a wife's grief
and a wife's pride, exclaimed, " If I am of any value
in his eyes, he will himself come; I can welcome him
better here." Gautama understood this and went to
her, attended by only two disciples; and when Yaso-
dhara saw him enter, a recluse with shaven head and
yellow robes, her heart failed her, she flung herself
on the ground, held his feet, and burst into tears.
Then, remembering the impassable gulf between them,
she rose and stood aside. She listened to his new
doctrines, and when Gautama was subsequently in-
BUDDHA'S KETURN TO HIS NATIVE TOWN 293
duced to establish an order of female mendicants, she
was one of the first to become a Buddhist nun. Gau-
tama's son, Rahula, also became a convert later. The
king, his grandfather, was much aggrieved at this,
because the celibate tendencies of the religion threat-
ened the royal line with extinction, and asked Gautama
to establish a rule that no one should be admitted to
the Order without his parents' consent. Gautama con-
sented to this and made a rule accordingly.
On his way back to Rajagriha, Gautama stopped
for some time at Anupiya, " a town belonging to the
Mallas," and while he was stopping there, he made
many converts both from the Koliyan and from the
Sakya tribe, some of whom deserve special mention.
Anuruddha, the Sakya, went to his mother and asked
to be allowed to enter the houseless state. His mother
did not know how to stop him, and so told him, " If,
beloved Anuruddha, Bhaddiya, the Sakya Raja, will
renounce the world, thou also mayest go forth into the
houseless state."
Anuruddha accordingly went to Bhaddiya, and it
was decided that they would embrace the Order in
seven days. " So Bhaddiya, the Sakya Raja, and Anu-
ruddha and Ananda and Bhagu and Kimbila and Deva-
datta, just as they had so often previously gone out to
the pleasure-ground with fourfold array, even so did
they now go out with fourfold array, and Upali the
barber went with them, making seven in all.
" And when they had gone some distance, they sent
their retinue back and crossed over to the neighbour-
294
LIFE OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA
ing district, and took off their rich garments and
wrapped them in their robes and made a bundle of
them, and said to Upali the barber, l Do you now,
Upali, turn back. These things will be sufficient for
you to live upon.' " But Upali was of a different mind,
BUDDHIST ROCK -TEMPLE AT KARLI.
and so all the seven went to Gautama and became con-
verts. And when Bhaddiya had retired into solitude
he exclaimed over and over, " O happiness! happi-
ness! " and on being asked the cause, he said:
" Formerly, Lord, when I was a king, I had a guard
completely provided both within and without my pri-
vate apartments, both within and without the town,
and within the borders of my country. Yet though,
DISTINCTION OF THE FIRST CONVERTS 295
Lord, I was thus guarded and protected, I was fearful,
anxious, distrustful, and alarmed. But now, Lord,
even when in the forest at the foot of a tree, in soli-
tude, I am without fear or anxiety, trustful, and not
alarmed; I dwell at ease, subdued, secure, with my
mind as peaceful as an antelope."
We have narrated this story because some of the
converts, spoken of here, rose to distinction. Ananda
became the most intimate friend of Gautama, and
after his death led a band of five hundred monks
in chanting the Dharma in the Council of Rajagriha.
Upali, though a barber by birth, became an eminent
member of the Holy Order, and was recognized as an
authority in matters connected with Vinaya. Anu-
ruddha lived to become the greatest master of Abhi-
damma, or metaphysics, but Devadatta, a cousin to the
Buddha, subsequently became the rival and opponent
of Gautama, and is even said to have advised Ajatasa-
tru, the Prince of Magadha, to kill his own father
Bimbasara, and then attempted to kill Gautama him-
self. Such at least is the orthodox Buddhist tradition. 1
After spending his second vassa, or rainy season, in
Rajagriha, Gautama repaired to Sravasti, the capital of
the Kosalas, where Prasenajit reigned as king. A wood
called Jetavana was presented to the Buddhists, and
there Gautama often preached.
The third vassa was also passed in Rajagriha, and
in the fourth year from the date of his proclaiming his
creed Gautama crossed the Ganges, went to Vaisali,
1 For an account of this tradition see vol. ii, pp. 30-32.
296 LIFE OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA
and stopped in the Mahavana grove, but in the follow-
ing year he again repaired to Kapilavastu, and was
present at the death of his father, then ninety-seven
years of age.
His widowed stepmother Prajapati Grant ami, and his
hardly less widowed wife Yasodhara, had now no ties
to bind them to the world, and insisted on joining the
Order established by Gautama. The sage had not yet
admitted women to the Order, and was reluctant to do
so, but his mother was inexorable and followed him to
Vaisali, begging to be admitted.
Ananda pleaded her cause, but Gautama still replied,
" Enough, Ananda! Let it not please thee that women
should be allowed to do so." But Ananda persisted,
and asked:
" Are women, Lord, capable when they have gone
forth from the household life and entered the homeless
state, under the doctrine and discipline proclaimed by
the Blessed One are they capable of realizing the fruit
of conversion or of the second path or of Arhatship? r
There could be only one reply to this. Honour to
women has ever been a part of religion in India, and
salvation and heaven are not barred to them by the
Hindu religion. " They are capable, Ananda,'' replied
the sage, whereupon they were admitted to the Order
as Bhikkhunis under some rules making them strictly
subordinate to the Bhikkhus.
In the sixth year, after spending the rainy season
at Kosambi, near Prayaga, Gautama returned to Raja-
griha, and Kshema, the Queen of Bimbisara, was ad-
WANDERINGS OF THE GREAT TEACHER 297
mitted to the Order, while in the same year he is said
to have performed miracles at Sravasti, and to have
gone to heaven to teach the Law to his mother, who had
died seven days after his birth.
In the twelfth year of his ministry Buddha under-
took the longest journey he had ever made, going to
Mantala and returning by Benares, and then preaching
the famous Maha Rahula Sutta to his son Rahula, then
eighteen years old. Two years after, Rahula, being
twenty, was formally admitted into the Order, and the
Rahula Sutta was preached.
In the fifteenth year from the date of his proclaim-
ing his creed, he again visited Kapilavastu, and ad-
dressed a discourse to his cousin Mahanama, who had
followed Bhadraka, the successor of Suddhodana, as
the king of the Sakyas.
In the seventeenth year he delivered a discourse
on the death of Srimati, a courtesan; in the next year
he comforted a weaver who had accidentally killed his
daughter; in the following year he released a deer
caught in a snare and converted the angry hunter who
had wished to shoot him; and in the twentieth year he
converted the famous robber Angulimala of the Chaliya
forest.
For twenty-five years more Gautama wandered
through the Ganges valley, preaching benevolence and
holiness to the poor and humble, making converts
among the high and the low, the rich and the poor,
and proclaiming his law throughout the length and
breadth of the land. He was now eighty years of age.
298 LIFE OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA
Most of those whom he had known in his early days
were dead, and the aged saint preached to sons and
grandsons the same holy law which he had proclaimed
to their sires and grandsires, but the faithful Ananda
still accompanied him like his shadow, and ministered
to his wants. The old King of Rajagriha was no more;
his warlike and ambitious son Ajatasatru had ascended
the throne of Magadha it is said by murdering his
father and was now maturing schemes of conquest.
It was no part of Ajatasatru's policy to offend so popu-
lar and widely respected a person as Gautama, and,
outwardly at least, Ajatasatru honoured the reformer.
The powerful Vrijjian clans who occupied the plains
on the northern shore of the Ganges, opposite to Ma-
gadha, first attracted Ajatasatru's attention. They
were a Turanian tribe who had entered into India
through the northern mountains and had established
a republican form of government in the very centre of
Hindu civilization, threatening the conquest of all
Magadha.
Gautama was then residing in the Vulture's Peak
(Gridhrakuta) , a cave on the side of the loftiest of the
five hills overlooking the beautiful valley of Rajagriha.
Ajatasatru, who was not without some kind of super-
stitious faith in prophecies, sent his prime minister
Vassakara to Gautama to inquire how his expedition
against the Vrijjians would end. Gautama was no
respecter of kings, and replied that so long as the
Vrijjians remained united in their adherence to their
ancient customs they would not decline, but prosper.
BUDDHA'S VISIT TO PATNA 299
From the Vulture's Peak Gautama wandered to
neighbouring places to Ambalathika, to Nalanda, and
to Pataligrama, the site of the future capital of Ma-
gadha, Pataliputra. At the time of Gautama it was
an insignificant village, but Sunidha and Vassakara,
the chief ministers of Ajatasatru, were building a for-
tress there to repel the Vrijjians. Such, according to
some accounts, was the origin of the town which became
the capital of Chandragupta and Asoka, and was the
metropolis of India for nearly a thousand years, and
which, under the name of Patna, is still one of the
largest cities in India. Gautama is said to have visited
it upon invitation of the ministers and to have prophe-
sied the greatness of the place, saying to Ananda:
" Among famous places of residence and haunts of busy
men, this will become the chief, the city of Pataliputra,
a centre for the interchange of all kinds of wares."
Leaving Pataligrama, Buddha went to Kotigrama, and
then to Nadika, where he rested in the " brick hall,"
which was a resting-place for travellers. There he
taught Ananda the lesson that each disciple could ascer-
tain for himself whether he had attained salvation.
If he felt within himself that he had faith in the
Buddha, that he had faith in the Law, that he had
faith in the Order, then he was saved, and thus Buddha,
the Law (Dharma), and the Congregation (Sdngha)
became the triad of the Buddhists.
From Nadika, Gautama went to Vaisali, the capital
of the powerful confederacy of the Lichchhavis to the
north of the Ganges. Ambapali, a courtesan, heard
300 LIFE OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA
that the saint was stopping in her mango grove and
came and invited him to a meal, and Gautama ac-
cepted the invitation.
From Ambapali's grove, Gautama went to Beluva.
He felt his end approaching, and said to the faithful
Ananda, " I am now grown old and full of years, my
journey is drawing to its close, I have reached the sum
of my days, I am turning eighty years of age. . . .
Therefore, be ye lamps unto yourselves. Be ye a refuge
to yourselves. Betake yourselves to no external ref-
uge. Hold fast to the truth as a lamp. Hold fast
as a refuge to the truth. "
At Kutagara, Gautama once more proclaimed to
his followers the substance and essence of his religion,
and enjoined upon them to practise it, to meditate
upon it, and to spread it abroad, " in order that pure
religion may last long and be perpetuated, in order that
it may continue to be for the good and the happiness
of great multitudes. "
Having paid his last visit to Vaisali, Gautama then
wandered through the villages of Bhandagrama, Hasti-
grama, Ambagrama, Jambugrama, and Bhoganagara,
and then went to Pava. There Chunda, a goldsmith
and blacksmith, invited him to a meal, and gave him
sweet rice and cakes and a quantity of dried boar's
flesh. Gautama never refused the poor man's offering,
but the boar's flesh did not agree with him. " Now
when the Blessed One had eaten the food prepared by
Chunda, the worker in metal, there fell upon him a dire
sickness, the disease of dysentery, and sharp pain came
THE LAST DAYS OF BUDDHA 301
upon him even unto death. But the Blessed One, mind-
ful and self-possessed, bore it without complaint."
On his way from Pava to Kusinagara, Gautama
converted a low-caste man Pukkusa. At Kusinagara,
eighty miles due east from Kapilavastu, Gautama felt
that his death was nigh. With that loving anxiety
which had characterized all his life, he tried on the eve
of his death to impress on his followers that Chunda
was not to blame for the food he had supplied, but that
the humble smith's act, kindly meant, would redound
to length of life, to good birth, and to good fortune.
It is said that just before his death the trees were in
bloom out of season, and sprinkled flowers on him; that
heavenly flowers and sandalwood powder descended on
him, and that music and heavenly songs were wafted
from the sky. But the great apostle of holy life said,
"It is not thus, Ananda, that the Tathagata (Buddha)
is rightly honoured, reverenced, venerated, held sacred,
or revered. But the brother or the sister, the devout
man or the devout woman, who continually fulfils all
the greater and the lesser duties, who is correct in life,
walking according to precepts it is he who rightly
honours, reverences, venerates, holds sacred, and re-
veres the Tathagata with the worthiest homage."
On the night of Gautama's death, Subhadra, a
Brahman philosopher of Kusinagara, came to ask
some questions, but Ananda, fearing that this might
be wearisome to the dying sage, would not admit him.
Gautama, however, had overheard their conversation,
and he would not turn back a man who had come for
302
LIFE OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA
instruction. He ordered the Brahman to be admitted,
and with his dying breath explained to him the prin-
ciples of his religion. Subhadra was the last disciple
whom G-autama converted, and shortly after, at the last
watch of the night, the great sage departed this life,
with the exhortation to his brother men still on his
RUIXS OF THE 8AKITA TOPE, PUT UP BY BUDDHA'S RELATIVES OVER THEIR PORTION
OF THE ASHES FROM HIS FUNERAL PYRE.
lips, " Decay is inherent in all component things; work
out your salvation with diligence."
The body of G-autama was cremated by the Mallas
of Kusinagara, who surrounded his bones " in their
council-hall with a lattice-work of spears and with a
rampart of bows; and there, for seven days, they paid
honour and reverence and respect and homage to them
with dance and song and music, and with garlands
and perfumes."
It is said that the remains of Gautama were divided
into eight portions. Ajatasatru of Magadha obtained
one portion, and erected a mound over it at Rajagriha.
THE DEATH OF BUDDHA 303
The Lichchhavis of Vaisali obtained another portion,
and erected a mound at that town. Similarly the
Sakyas of Kapilavastu, the Bulis of Allakappa, the
Koliyas of Ramagrama, the Mallas of Pava, the Mallas
of Kusinagara, and a Brahman named Vethadipaka
obtained portions of the relics and erected mounds
over them. The Moriyans of Pipphalivana made a
mound over the embers, and the Brahman Dona made
a mound over the vessel in which the body had been
burned.
CHAPTER XXVIII
DOCTRINES OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA
IT is not possible, within the limits of a single
chapter, to give our readers anything like a com-
plete summary of the doctrines of Buddha's creed, and
oiir attempt will rather be to present the substance of
the great lessons and ideas which Gautama preached
and inculcated among his countrymen.
Buddhism is, in its essence, a system of self-culture
and self-restraint. Doctrines and beliefs are of second-
ary importance, for the effort to end human suffering
by living a holy life, free from passions and desires,
was the cardinal idea with which Gautama was im-
pressed on the day on which he was " enlightened '
under the Bo-tree in Bodh Gaya, and it was the central
idea which he preached to the last day of his life.
When he went from Bodh Gaya to Benares, and
first preached his religion to his five former disciples, he
explained to them the Fourfold Wisdom and the Eight-
fold Path, which form the essence of Buddhism.
" This, Bhikkhus, is the Noble Truth of Suffering.
Birth is suffering, decay is suffering, illness is suffer-
ing, death is suffering. Presence of objects we hate is
304
THE FOURFOLD WISDOM 305
suffering, not to obtain what we desire is suffering.
Briefly, the fivefold clinging to existence (the five
elements) is suffering.
" This, Bhikkhus, is the Noble Truth of the Cause
of Suffering. Thirst, that leads to rebirth accompanied
by pleasure and lust, finding its delight here and there,
thirst for pleasure, thirst for existence, thirst for
prosperity.
" This, O Bhikkhus, is the Noble Truth of the Ces-
sation of Suffering. It ceases with the complete ces-
sation of thirst a cessation which consists in the ab-
sence of every passion, with the abandoning of this
thirst, with the doing away with it, with the deliver-
ance from it, with the destruction of desire.
" This, O Bhikkhus, is the Noble Truth of the Path
which leads to the cessation of suffering the holy
Eightfold Path of Right Belief, Right Aspiration,
Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Means of Liveli-
hood, Right Exertion, Right Mindfulness, and Right
Meditation."
The substance of this teaching is that life is suffer-
ing, the thirst for life and its pleasures is the cause
of suffering, the extinction of that thirst is the cessa-
tion of suffering, and that such extinction can be
brought about only by a holy life. It is impossible to
convey in a few words all that is implied by the eight
maxims into which a holy life is thus analyzed, but to
Buddhists, trained in the traditions of their religion,
these aphorisms speak volumes. Correct views and be-
liefs must be learnt and entertained; high aims and
306 DOCTBLNES OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA
aspirations must always remain before the mind's eye;
truthfulness and gentleness must characterize every
word; uprightness and absolute integrity must mark
the conduct. A livelihood must be sought and adhered
to which does no harm to living things; there must be
a lifelong perseverance in doing good, in acts of kind-
ness, gentleness, and beneficence; the mind and intellect
must be active and watchful; calm and tranquil medi-
tation must fill the life with peace. A more beautiful
picture of life was never conceived by poet or visionary ;
and a more perfect system of self-culture was never
proclaimed by philosopher or saint.
The idea of self-culture was no doubt developed
during the long course of meditation and good works
in which Gautama passed his life. On the eve of his
death he called together his brethren and recapitulated
the entire system of self-culture under seven heads, and
these are known as the Seven Jewels of the Buddhist
Law.
" Which, then, O brethren, are the truths which,
when I had perceived, I made known to you; which,
when you have mastered, it behoves you to practise,
meditate upon, and spread abroad, in order that pure
religion may last long and be perpetuated, in order that
it may continue to be for the good and the happiness
of the great multitudes, out of pity for the world, to
the good and the gain and the weal of gods and men.
They are these: the four earnest meditations, the four-
fold great struggle against sin, the four roads to saint-
ship, the five moral powers, the five organs of spiritual
THE IDEA OF SELF -CULTURE 307
sense, the seven kinds of wisdom, and the noble Eight-
fold Path."
The four earnest meditations here alluded to are the
meditations on the body, the sensations, the ideas, and
the reason. The fourfold struggle against sin is the
struggle to prevent sinfulness, the struggle to put away
sinful states which have arisen, the struggle to produce
goodness, and the struggle to increase goodness. The
fourfold roads to saintship are the four means, the will,
the exertion, the preparation, and the investigation,
by which iddhi is acquired. In later Buddhism iddhi
implies supernatural powers, but what Gautama prob-
ably meant was the influence and power which the
mind by long training and exercise can acquire over the
body. The five moral powers, and the five organs of
spiritual sense, are faith, energy, , thought, contempla-
tion, and wisdom; and the seven kinds of wisdom are
energy, thought, contemplation, investigation, joy, re-
pose, and serenity. The Eightfold Path has already
been described.
It is by such prolonged self-culture and by the
breaking of the ten fetters of doubt, sensuality, and all
other evils that Nirvana may at last be gained. This
was formerly believed to imply final extinction or death,
but the majority of scholars now hold that Nirvana does
not mean death, but only the extinction of that sinful
condition of the mind, that thirst for life and its pleas-
ures, which is the cause of reincarnation. What Gau-
tama meant by Nirvana is attainable in life, for it is
the sinless calm of mind, the freedom from passion and
308 DOCTRINES OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA
desire, the perfect peace, goodness, and wisdom, which
continuous self-culture can procure for man.
But is there no future bliss and no future heaven
for those who have attained Nirvana? This was a
question which, of ten puzzled Buddhists, and many a
time they pressed their great Master for a categorical
answer.
On this point Gautama's replies are uncertain; nor
does he ever appear to have inspired in his followers
any hopes of heaven, beyond Nirvana, which is the
Buddhist's heaven and salvation.
If a man does not attain to this state of Nirvana in
life, he is liable to future births. Gautama did not
believe in the existence of a soul; but, nevertheless,
the theory of transmigration of souls was too deeply
implanted in the Hindu mind to be eradicated, and
Gautama therefore adhered to the theory of transmi-
gration by assuming that the karma, or deeds, of man
cannot die, but must necessarily lead to its legitimate
result. When a living being dies, a new being is pro-
duced according to the karma of the being that is dead,
and Buddhist writers are fond of comparing the rela-
tion of one life to the next with that of the flame of
a lamp to the flame of another lighted by it.
But the theory of transmigration was not the only
doctrine which Gautama accepted from ancient Hindu-
ism and adopted in a modified form into his own relig-
ion, for the whole of the Hindu pantheon of the day
was taken over and made to square with his cardinal
idea of the supreme efficacy of a holy life. The thirty-
THE DOCTRINE OF NIKVAJSTA 309
three gods of the Kig-Veda were recognized, but they
were not supreme. Brahma, the Supreme Deity of the
Upanishads, was recognized, but was not supreme.
For they, too, were struggling through repeated births,
to attain to that holy life, that Nirvana, which alone
was supreme.
With regard to the caste-system, Gautama respected
a Brahman as he respected a Buddhist Sraman, but
he respected him for his virtue and learning, not for
his caste, which he ignored. When two Brahman
youths, Vasishtha and Bharadvaja, began to quarrel on
the question, " How does one become a Brahman? "
and came to Gautama for his opinion, Gautama deliv-
ered to them a discourse in which he emphatically
ignored caste, and held that a man's distinguishing
mark was his work, not his birth.
At another time Gautama explained to his follow-
ers, " As the great streams, disciples, however many
they may be, lose their old name and their old descent
when they reach the great ocean, and bear only the
one name of ocean, so also do Brahmans, Kshatriyas,
Vaisyas, and Sudras." A touching story is also told
in the Theragatha, which enables us to comprehend how
Buddhism came like a salvation to the lowly in India,
and how they eagerly embraced it as a refuge from
caste. In this tale Sunita, the them, or elder, says, " I
came of a humble family, I was poor and needy. The
work which I performed was lowly, sweeping the with-
ered flowers. I was despised of men, looked down upon
and lightly esteemed. With submissive mien I showed
310
DOCTRINES OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA
FOOTPRINTS OF BUDDHA.
respect to many. Then I beheld Buddha with his band
of monks as he passed to the town of Magadha. I cast
away my burden and ran to bow myself in reverence
before him. From pity for
me he halted, that highest
among men. Then I bowed
myself at the master's feet,
drew nigh to him and
begged him, the highest
among all beings, to accept
me as a monk. Then said
unto me the gracious mas-
ter, ' Come hither, O monk '
that was the initiation I
received." And the passage
concludes with the lesson which Gautama had so often
preached, " By holy zeal and chaste living, by restraint
and self -repression, thereby a man becomes a Brahman:
that is the highest Brahmanhood. "
Thus the great teacher who regarded nor wealth,
nor rank, nor caste, came to the poor and the despised,
as well as to the rich and the noble, urging them to
effect their own salvation by a pure and unblemished
life. Virtue opened the path of honour to high and
low alike; no distinction was known or recognized in
the Holy Order. Thousands of men and women re-
sponded to this appeal, and merged their caste inequal-
ities in common love for their teacher and common
emulation of his virtues.
Yet it would be a mistake to suppose that Gautama
THE AIM OF BUDDHA'S TEACHING 311
commanded all to retire from the world and embrace
the Holy Order. To conquer the yearning for life and
its pleasures was his cardinal aim, and he assigned no
peculiar virtue to a mere outward act of renunciation
of the world. Nevertheless, as it was difficult to con-
quer that thirst so long as one was actually living in
the midst of his family and enjoying the pleasures
of life, Gautama recommended the life of a Bhikkhu
as the most efficacious means for securing the great end,
and so thousands retired from the world and became
Bhikkhus, thus forming the Buddhist monastic system,
which was probably the first organized monastic system
in the world.
These are the leading doctrines of Gautama's relig-
ion, whose great distinguishing feature is that it is a
training towards a virtuous and holy life on this earth,
and takes little thought of reward or punishment. It
appeals to the most disinterested feelings in man's na-
ture, sets before him virtue as its own reward, and
enjoins a lifelong endeavour towards its attainment. It
knows of no higher aim among gods or men than the
attainment of a tranquil, sinless life; it speaks of no
other salvation than virtuous peace, it knows of no
other heaven than holiness. Small wonder, then, that
within three centuries from the time when Gautama
proclaimed his message of equality and of love in Be-
nares, his creed was the state religion of India, triumph-
ing for a space over Brahmanism under the sway of
Asoka, " Beloved of the Gods."
CHAPTER XXIX
MORAL PRECEPTS OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA
A RELIGION, whose great aim is the teaching of
holy living in this world, must necessarily be rich
in moral precepts, and such maxims are the peculiar
beauty of Buddhism, for which the religion is held in
honour over all the civilized world. It will be our
pleasant task in this chapter to glean some of these
graceful precepts, which will give our readers some idea
of the essence of Gautama's moral teachings.
Gautama prescribed for lay disciples five prohib-
itory rules or precepts, which are binding on all Bud-
dhists, whether laymen or Bhikkhus, and are recapitu-
lated thus: " Let not one kill any living being. Let
not one take what is not given him. Let not one speak
falsely. Let not one drink intoxicating drinks. Let
not one be unchaste."
Three other rules are laid down which are not con-
sidered obligatory, but which are recommended to
austere and pious lay disciples, and run as follows:
" Let not one eat untimely food at night. Let not
one wear wreaths or use perfumes. Let one lie on a
bed spread on the earth."
312
Sculptures in the Cave- temple at Karli
One of the most famous cave-temples in India is that of Karli, about
midway between Bombay and Poona. The sanctuaries arc Buddhist
in origin and are of unknown antiquity. The detail and finish of the
carvings is marvellous, and the sculptures have fortunately been pre-
served almost in their original perfection.
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 313
The virtuous and ascetic householder is recom-
mended to take a vow of all these eight precepts, and
to them two more are added: to abstain from dancing,
music, singing, and stage plays, and to abstain from the
use of gold and silver. These Ten Precepts are binding
on Bhikkhus, as the Five Precepts are binding on all
laymen.
To honour one's father and mother, and to follow
an honourable trade, though not included in the Com-
mandments, are duties enjoined upon all householders.
We now turn from Gautama's categories of duties
to his precepts of benevolence and love, as when he
taught:
" Hatred does not cease by hatred at any time,
hatred ceases by love; this is its nature.
" Let us live happily, not hating those who hate
us. Among men who hate us, let us live free from
hatred.
" Let one overcome anger by love, let him over-
come evil by good. Let him overcome the greedy by
liberality, the liar by truth."
Parables were told to impress this great lesson on
the followers of the gentle and pure-souled Gautama,
and we will here narrate one of these parables as briefly
as we can. Trying to heal contentions and differences
among his followers, Buddha said:
" In former times, Bhikkhus, there lived at Be-
nares a king of the Kasis, Brahmadatta by name,
wealthy, rich in treasures, rich in revenues, and rich in
troops and vehicles, the lord over a great realm, with
314 MORAL PRECEPTS OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA
full treasuries and storehouses. And there was also a
king of the Kosalas, Dighiti by name, not wealthy, poor
in treasures, poor in revenues, poor in troops and vehi-
cles, the lord over a small realm, with empty treasuries
and storehouses."
As often happens, the rich king robbed the weak
one of his realm and treasures, and Dighiti with his
queen fled to Benares, and dwelt there in a potter's
house in the guise of an ascetic. There the exiled queen
gave birth to a child who was called Dighavu, and in
course of time the boy reached the years of discretion.
In the meantime King Brahmadatta heard that his
former rival was living in the town in disguise with
his wife, and he ordered them to be brought before
him, and had them cruelly executed.
Their son Dighavu was then living outside Benares,
but happened to come to the town at the time of his
father's execution. The dying king looked at his son,
and with more than human forgiveness left his last
injunctions on his son. " Not by hatred, dear Dighavu,
is hatred appeased. By love, dear Dighavu, hatred is
appeased."
And young Dighavu went to the forest, where he
lamented and wept to his heart's content. He then re-
turned to the town, after having formed his resolution,
and took employment under an elephant trainer in the
royal stables.
Early in the dawn he arose and sang in a beautiful
voice and played upon the lute. And the voice was so
beautiful that the king inquired who it was that had
A PARABLE OF A PIOUS PRINCE 315
risen so early and had sung in the elephant stables in
so beautiful a voice. And the young boy was taken to
the king, who liked him well and employed him as his
attendant.
It so happened that on one occasion the king went
out to hunt, taking young Dighavu with him. Digha-
vu 's secret resentment was burning within him, and
he so drove the royal chariot that the hosts went one
way, and the king's chariot went another way.
At last the king was wearied and fell asleep, resting
his head in Dighavu 's lap.
" And young Dighavu thought, Bhikkhus, t This
King Brahmadatta, of Kasi, has done much harm to
us. By him we have been robbed of our troops and
vehicles, our realm, our treasuries, and storehouses.
And he has killed my father and mother. Now the time
has come for me to satisfy my hatred ' and he un-
sheathed his sword."
But with the recollection of his father, the last words
of his dying parent came to the remembrance of the
vengeful prince. " Not by hatred, dear Dighavu, is
hatred appeased. By love, dear Dighavu, hatred is
appeased "and the prince put back his sword.
The king dreamed a frightful dream, and started
up terrified and alarmed. Dighavu told him the whole
truth. The king was astonished, and exclaimed, " Grant
me my life, my dear Dighavu! Grant me my life, my
dear Dighavu! " whereupon the prince forgave his
father's murder by carrying out his father's injunction
and granting Brahmadatta his life. And Brahmadatta
316
restored to Mm his father's troops and vehicles, his
realm, his treasures, and his storehouses, and he gave
him his daughter.
" Now, O Bhikkhus, if such is the forbearance and
mildness of kings who wield the sceptre and bear the
sword, so much more, Bhikkhus, must you so let your
light shine before the world, that you, having embraced
the religious life according to so well-taught a doctrine
and a discipline, may be seen to be forbearing and
mild."
Not only forbearance and mildness, but the virtue
of good acts is repeatedly and impressively enjoined
by Gautama on his followers.
" Like a beautiful flower, full of colour, but without
scent, are the fine and fruitless words of him who does
not act accordingly.
" A man is not an elder because his head is gray.
His age may be ripe, but he is called old in vain.
" He in whom there is truth, virtue, love, restraint,
moderation, he who is free from impurity and is wise,
he is called an elder."
Again in the Amagandha Sutta of the Sutta Nipata,
Gautama explains to a Brahman, Kasyapa by name,
that the destruction of life, killing, cutting, binding,
stealing, lying, fraud, adultery, backbiting, treachery,
cruelty, intoxication, deceit, pride, and a bad mind
and wicked deeds are what defile a man, who can
be purified neither by abstinence from fish or flesh, nor
by nakedness, tonsure, matted hair, dirt, rough gar-
ments, penances, hymns, oblations, or sacrifices.
MAXIMS OF THE DHAMMAPADA 317
The whole of the Dhammapada is a series of 423
moral precepts which in their beauty and moral worth
are unsurpassed by any similar collection of precepts
made in any age or country; and a good-sized volume
might be compiled from the legends and maxims, the
parables and precepts, which are interspersed through-
out the Buddhist sacred scriptures, of which the follow-
ing may serve as specimens:
" All men tremble at punishment, all men fear death.
Remember that you are like unto them, and do not kill,
nor cause slaughter. "
" The fault of others is easily perceived, but that
of oneself is difficult to perceive; a man winnows his
neighbour's faults like chaff, but his own fault he hides,
as a cheat hides the bad die from the gambler."
" This is called progress in the discipline of the
Noble One, if one sees his sin in its sinfulness, and duly
makes amends for it, and refrains from it in future."
BUDDHIST TOPE AT SANCHI.
CHAPTER XXX
HISTORY OF BUDDHISM
WE are told in the Chullavagga that, on the death
of Gautama, the venerable Mahakasyapa pro-
posed, " Let us chant together the Dhamma and the
Vinaya." The proposal was accepted, and 499 Arhats
were selected for the purpose; and Ananda, the faithful
friend and follower of Gautama, completed the number
five hundred.
This was the Council of Rajagriha held in the year
of Gautama 's death, presumably 487 B. c., to settle the
sacred text and, by chanting it together, to fix it on the
memory.
A century after the death of Gautama, according to
tradition, the Bhikkhus of Vaisali promulgated ten
theses, which permitted, among other things, the use
of unfermented liquor, and the receipt of gold and sil-
ver by Bhikkhus, or monks.
Yasa, the son of Kakandaka, a venerable Bhikkhu,
protested against these licenses, and convoked a great
318
NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN BUDDHISM 319
Buddhist council at Vaisali. He sent messengers to the
Bhikkhus of the western country, and of Avanti, as
well as of the southern country; but in the meantime
the Bhikkhus of Vaisali heard that he was obtaining
support from the Bhikkhus of the western provinces,
and they, in their turn, sought for sanction from the
east. Indeed the difference was between the eastern
Buddhists of Vaisali and the western Buddhists of the
provinces along the higher course of the Ganges, and
also of Malwa and the Deccan.
The final decision of the Council, rendered by a com-
mittee of four from each side, was against all the pro-
posed innovations except one, which was allowed in
certain cases; but this verdict the majority of monks
refused to accept. Those who thus renounced western
conservatism in favour of the eastern innovations of
the Vrijjians, formed the school known as the Northern
Buddhism of Nepal, Tibet, China, and Japan, while
their orthodox opponents are represented by the South-
ern Buddhism of Ceylon, Burma, and Siam.
Buddhism first became the state religion of India
when Asoka, who had ascended the throne of Magadha
about 272, became a convert to the new faith. About
the seventeenth year of his reign, he held at his capital,
Pataliputra, the third council, which lasted for nine
months, under the presidency of Tissa, son of Moggali,
and was attended by a thousand elders. After the close
of the Council, Asoka sent missionaries to Kashmir and
Gandhara, to Mahisa (near modern Mysore), to Vana-
vasa (probably Eajputana), to Aparantaka (West Pan-
320 HISTORY OF BUDDHISM
jab), to Maharattha, to Yonaloka (Bactria and Greece),
to Himavanta (Central Himalayas), to Subannabhumi
(probably Burma), and to Lanka (Ceylon). The edicts
of Asoka also inform us that his orders were carried
out in Chola (Madras country), Pandya (Madura),
Satyapura (Satpura range), Kerala (Travancore), Cey-
lon, and the land of the Greek King Antiochus of Syria,
while in another edict he informs us that he sent em-
BUDDHIST CARVING AT ANURADHAPURA.
bassies to the five Greek kingdoms of Syria, Egypt,
Macedon, Epirus, and Cyrene.
We have already seen that Asoka sent his own son
Mahendra, or Mahinda, to Ceylon, and that he soon
converted King Tissa and spread Buddhism throughout
the island. The scenes of Mahinda 's labours are still
visible in Ceylon. Eight miles from the ruined city
of Anuradhapura is the hill of Mihintale, where the
Ceylonese king built a monastery for the Indian monks,
and here is a great stupa, or cupola, under which rest
the ashes of Asoka 's son.
THE SPREAD OF BUDDHISM 321
After the death of King Tissa and of Mahinda,
Ceylon was twice overrun and conquered by Dravidian
conquerors, who were finally expelled by Watta Gamini
about 88 B. c., when the three Pitakas, which had been
so long preserved by word of mouth, are said to have
been reduced to writing.
About 450 A. D. Buddhism was introduced into
Burma, and in 638 it penetrated to Siam. Java seems
to have received Buddhist missionaries about the same
time, and Buddhism apparently spread thence to Su-
matra. All these countries belonged to the Southern
Buddhist school.
Northern Buddhism was the prevailing faith in the
northwest of India before the commencement of the
Christian Era. Pushpamitra, the King of Kashmir,
whose history will be found in the next volume, perse-
cuted the Buddhists early in the second century B. c.,
and Pushpamitra 's son, Agnimitra, met the Greeks on
the banks of the Ganges. The Greeks under Menander
were victorious, and about 150 B. c. extended their con-
quests as far as the Ganges. But the victory of the
Greeks was no loss to Buddhism, and Nagasena, a re-
nowned Buddhist teacher of the time, had religious
controversies with the Greek king, which have been
preserved to us in a most interesting Pali work.
Between the first and second centuries after Christ
the Yueh-chi under Kanishka conquered Kashmir.
Kanishka's vast empire extended over Kabul, over
Yarkand and Khotan, over Kashmir and Rajputana,
and over the whole of the Pan jab, to Gujarat and Sind
322 HISTORY OF BUDDHISM
in the south, and to Agra in the east, and even China
had hostages at his court. Kanishka was a zealous
Buddhist of the Northern school, and held a council of
five hundred monks. If this council had settled the
text as the Council of Asoka at Pataliputra did, we
should now have in our possession the canon of North-
ern Buddhism as we have the Three Pitakas of the
South. But Kanishka 's council satisfied itself with
writing three commentaries only, and Northern Bud-
dhism drifted more and more from its primitive form,
and assumed different aspects in different lands.
As early as the second century B. c., Buddhist books
were taken to the Emperor of China, probably from
Kashmir. Another emperor, in 62 A. D., procured more
Buddhist works and Buddhism spread rapidly from
that date until it became the state religion in the fourth
century. 1
From China the religion spread to Korea in 372 A. D.,
and thence to Japan in 552 A. D. Cochin-China, For-
mosa, Mongolia, and other countries received Buddhism
from China in the fourth and fifth centuries ; while from
Kabul the religion travelled to Balkh, Bokhara, and else-
where.
Buddhism must have penetrated into Nepal at an
early date, although the kingdom did not become Bud-
dhist until the sixth century, nor did the first Buddhist
King of Tibet send for scriptures from India before
632 A. D.
1 For an account of the introduction of Buddhism into China see vol. 11,
pp. 231-234.
CHAPTER XXXI
HISTORY OF JAINISM
Jain religion was long considered an offshoot
-I- from the religion proclaimed by Gautama Buddha,
but it is now known to be an independent faith which
began about the same time as the religion of Gautama,
the two creeds flowing in parallel streams for long
centuries, until Buddhism declined, while Jainism still
continues to be a living faith in some parts of India.
The Jains, both of the Svetambara (with white
clothing) and the Digambara (without clothing) sect,
allege that Mahavira, the founder of the religion, was
the son of Siddhartha of Kundagrama, and belonged
to the clan of Jnatrika Kshatriyas. This Kotigrama
is identified with the Kundagrama of the Jains, and
the Natikas mentioned in the Buddhist Scriptures are
identified with the Jnatrika Kshatriyas. Further, Ma-
havira 's mother Trisaa is said to have been the sister
of Kataka, King of Vaisali, whose daughter was mar-
ried to the renowned Bimbisara, King of Magadha.
The Jain saint and the Buddha preached, therefore, in
Magadha during the reign of the same ruler.
Mahavira, at first called Vardhamana or Jnatripu-
823
324 HISTORY OF JAINISM
tra, entered the Holy Order at the age of twenty-eight,
and after twelve years of self-mortification became a
saint and prophet. During the last thirty years of his
life he organized his order of ascetics. He was thus
a rival of Gautama Buddha, and is mentioned in Bud-
dhist writings under the name of Nataputra as the head
of a numerous sect in Vaisali. Mahavira's death oc-
curred some time after 500 B. c., probably shortly before
the decease of Buddha.
Jain tradition goes on to say that in the second cen-
tury after Mahavira's death at Papa there was a famine
in Magadha. The renowned Chandragupta was then
the sovereign of Magadha. Bhadrabahu, with a portion
of his Jain followers, left Magadha under pressure of
the famine and went to Karnata. During his absence,
the Jains of Magadha settled their scriptures, consist-
ing of the eleven Angas and the fourteen Puvvas, the
latter sometimes called the twelfth Anga. On the re-
turn of peace and plenty, the Jains again sought Ma-
gadha; but within these years a difference in custom
had arisen between those who had stayed in Magadha,
and those who had gone to Karnata. The former had
assumed a white dress, and the latter adhered to the
old rule of absolute nudity. The former were accord-
ingly called Svetambaras, and the latter Digambaras.
The scriptures which had been settled by the former
were not accepted by the latter, and the Digambaras
therefore have no Angas. The final division between
the two sects is said to have taken place in 83 A. D.
Tn course of time the scriptures of the Svetambaras
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE JAIN CANON 325
fell into confusion, and were in danger of becoming
extinct. It was necessary to record them in writing,
and this was done at the Council of Valabhi in Guja-
rat in 454 or 467 A. D. The operations of the council
JAIN TEMPLE OF VIMALA 8AH, MOUNT ABU.
resulted in the redaction of the Jain canon in the form
in which we find it at the present day.
Besides these facts and traditions, inscriptions have
been discovered on the pedestals of Jain statues at
Mathura which prove that the Svetambara sect existed
in the first century A. D.
Such is the substance of the evidence on which it
is contended that the Jain religion is coaeval with Bud-
dhism, and not an offshoot from that religion. From
326 HISTOEY OF JAINISM
the mention of " Nataputra " and of the " Nirgran-
thas " in the Buddhist scriptures, it is reasonable to
suppose that the Jain sect of unclad ascetics also had
its origin about the same time. Indeed, we have al-
ready stated repeatedly that various sects of ascetics
lived in India at the time when Gautama Buddha lived
and taught and led his sect of ascetics. It is difficult
to believe, however, that the Jain religion, as we have
it now, was professed by the Nirgranthas of the sixth
century B. c. The story that the canon was settled by
a council in Magadha at the tune of Chandragupta is
probably a myth; and even if the legend be true, the
canon settled *in the third century B. c. would be very
different from that recorded in the fifth century A. D.
For there can be little doubt that the early tenets of
the first Nirgranthas had long since been modified and
completely transformed, and that the more cultured
section of that body, who adopted a white garment,
borrowed their maxims and precepts, their rules and
customs, their legends and traditions, from Buddhism,
which was the prevailing religion of India after the
third century B. c. Thus the Jains drifted more and
more towards Buddhism for long centuries, until they
had adopted the substance of the Buddhist religion as
their own, and very little of the early tenets of the
unclad Nirgranthas was left. It was then, in the fifth
century A. D., that their scriptures were committed to
writing, and it is no wonder that those sacred texts read
like a copy of the Buddhist scriptures made six cen-
turies before.
THE TENETS OF THE JAINS
327
Like the Buddhists, the Jains have their monastic
order, and they refrain from killing animals, and praise
retirement from the world. In some respects they go
even further than the Buddhists, and maintain that not
only animals and plants, but the smallest particles of
JAIN TEMPLE AT AHMADABAD.
the elements, fire, air, earth, and water, are endowed
with life. For the rest, the Jains, like the Buddhists,
reject the Veda, they accept the tenets of karma and
of nirvana, and believe in the transmigration of souls.
They also believe in twenty-five Tirthakaras, or Jinas,
as the early Buddhists believed in twenty-four Buddhas
who had risen before Gautama Buddha. The sacred
328 HISTORY OF JADttSM
books, or Agamas, of the Jains consist of seven divi-
sions, among which the eleven Angas form the first and
most important division.
Among the other sects of ascetics which flourished
side by side with the Buddhists and the Mrgranthas in
the sixth century B. c., the best known in their day
were the Ajivakas founded by Gosala. Asoka names
them in his inscriptions, along with the Brahmans and
Nirgranthas. Gosala was therefore a rival of Buddha
and Mahavira; but his sect has now ceased to exist.
The great religious movements that had their rise
in the latter* part of the sixth century B. c. have been
traced here with some attention to detail, not only
because of the importance of religion throughout all
of India's development, but especially because of the
prominent part which Buddhism played in the history
of the greatest kings of India during the next thousand
years after the date with which this volume closes.
INDEX
Abhidhamma Pitaka, contains Buddhist
metaphysics, 283
Aborigines, wars with, 30
Description of, in Rig- Veda, 34-35
First Hinduized, 37
Formed Sudra caste, 84
Actions, five, in Vaisesika philosophy,
266
Acts, in Nyaya philosophy, 263
Adhvaryus, class of Vedic priests, duties
of, 86
Aditi, Vedic goddess, 69
Adityas, sons of Aditi, 69
Twelve, the suns of the months, 69
Administration, Megasthenes's account
of, 210-212
Adoption, Hindu law of, 58
Of a son, part of Hindu religion, 166
Adornment, according to Megasthenes,
218-219
Adultery, a criminal offence, 220
Againas, sacred books of the Jains, 228
Agni, the god of fire, 71-72
Agnihotra, daily milk-libation to sacred
fire, 162
Agnimitra, son of Pushpamitra, 321
Agnishtoma, Soma sacrifice, 163
Agnosticism of Sankhya philosophy coun-
teracted by Yoga school, 257
Agnyadhana, ceremony, 163-166
Agrahayani, rite performed in month of
Agrahayana, 251
Agrarian laws, 223, 224
Agriculture, 8
Derivation of Sanskrit word for, 13
Among the ancient Hindus, 13
Ahura Mazda, Iranian equivalent of Va-
runa, 63
Aitareya Brahmana, coronation ceremony
in, 131-132
Ajatasatru, son of Rajagriha, 298
Ajivakas, a sect of ascetics, 328
Alan, teacher of Buddha, 290
Amrita, the immortal drink, 25
Ananda, convert to Buddhism, 293-295
Ancestor-worship among Hindus, 166
Andaroi (Andhras), Hindu nation, 205
Audhra kingdom, in the Deccan, found-
ing of, 184
Limits of, 203
Andhras, described by Megasthenes, 205
Anga, kingdom of Ancient India, 284
Animal food, 22
Animals, 7, 29
Sacrifice of, 22, 160
In ancient India, 217
Anukramanis, Vedic indexes, 193-194
Anuruddha, convert to Buddhism, 293,
295
Apastamba, Kalpa Sutra of, 191-192
A teacher who flourished in the fifth
century B. c., 202
Modern followers of, 203
Aranyakas, compilation of, 85
General character of, 94
Of the Rig- Veda, 94
Of the Yajur-Veda, 94-95
Arjuna, one of the five Pandava princes,
101
Skill of, 102
Wins the hand of Draupadi, 105
Recovers cattle stolen from Virata,
108
Discovery of, 108
Kills Bhishma, 109
Conflict of, with Karna, 110
Kills Karna, 110
Rise of, as a god, 169
Arrian, Greek historian, 213
Arsha marriage, 238
Aryan settlements in the Pan jab, 4
Derivation of, 8
Civilization, extension of, 36
Conquerors, internal strife among, 37
World, boundaries of, in 1000 B. c., 126.
128
Nation, formed of Brahmans, Kshatri-
yas, and Vaisyas, 137
People principally Vaisyas almost to
the Mohammedan conquest, 187
329
330
INDEX
Aryans, development of, in Ancient
India, 2-3
A united community, 5
Domestic Economy of, 7
Nomadic life led by, 8
Expansion of, 30, 82, 128-130
Ancient compositions of, preserved tra-
ditionally by certain families, 78
Home of, passage concerning, 201
Ascetics, Hindu, 235, 236
Rules for, 241-242
Ashtaka, rites performed in the month of
Agrahayana, 261-262
Asia, spread of Buddhism throughout, 322
Asoka, Hindu king, 3
Father of Mahinda, 320
Astronomy, science of, 193
In the Rig-Veda, 156-167
In the Brahmanic period, 156, 167
Asvamedha, horse-sacrifice, 163
Celebrated by Yudhishthira, 110
Celebrated by Rama, 124*
Asvapati, a monarch, 163
Asvayugi, rite performed in the month of
Asvayuga, 251
Rites described by Sankhayana, 251
Asvins, 20
Known as great physicians, 74
Atharva-Veda, compilation of, 85, 86
Late in gaining canonicity, 90-91
Division of, ,91
Character of, 91
Brahmanas of, 93
Atomic theory in Hindu philosophy, 264,
265
Avesta, possible allusions to Aryan cus-
toms in, 24
Ayodhya, capital of the Kosalas, 119
Social life in, in the Brahmanic period,
149
B
Badarayana Vyasa, founder of the Ve-
danta philosophy, 270
Outline of Brahma Sutra of, 270-271
Barbarians, revenge of, 36
Battle of the Ten Kings, 37, 38
Baudhayana, one of the earliest of the
Sutrakaras, 200
Benares, a city, 126
Bengal, believed to have been invaded by
Pandavas, 106
Hinduized, 203
Bhaddiya, convert to Buddhism, 293
Bhagu, convert to Buddhism, 293
Bharadvaja, a hermitage, 120
Bharata, son of Duhshanta, 132
Son of Kaikeyi, 119
Bharatas, known also as Kurus, a tribe,
Bhima, one of the five Pandava princes,
101
Fights with Duryodhana, 102
Kills brother of Queen of Virata, 108
Kills Duhsasana, 109
Bhishma, a renowned warrior, son of
Santanu, 100
Killed unfairly by Arjuna, 109
Bhujya, shipwreck of, 20
Bimbisara, King of the Magadhas, 284
Conversion of, to Buddhism, 291
Birds, 17
Brahma, evolution of, 75
Theme of the older Upanishads, 95
His part in creation, 167
True nature of, as taught in the Chhan-
dogya Upanishad, 174-176
Marriage of, 238
Brahmadatta and Dighavu, parable of,
313-316
Brahmana literature, 86
Brahman, caste, 136
Duties of a, 86, 87
Worsted in learning by warrior caste,
114
Only, practise austerities in Krita Age,
136
Allowed to marry into other castes, in
Brahmanic and Epic periods, 164
Occupations of, 232, 233
Arrogance toward other castes, 233
Translation from Megasthenes concern-
ing, 234-236
Brahmanas, composition of, 85, 143-144
General character of, 92
Of Rig-Veda, 92-93
Of Sama-Veda, 93
Of Yajur-Veda, 93
Of Atharva-Veda, 93
Brahmanic period, hermit life in, 85, 144
Justice officially administered in, 143
Municipal government in, 143
Students in, 144
Teachers in, 144
Ethical ideal in, 146-146
Metals in, 147
Food in, 147-149
Social life in, 149-154
Plan of towns in, 160
Manufactures in, 160
Child marriage unknown in, 164
Widow marriage not prohibited in, 164
Astronomy a distinct science in, 167
Brihaspati, conception of, 74
Lord of hymns, 74
Buddha, birth of, 281
Religion of, 253
Disapproval of caste by, 276
Beginning of teachings of, 276
Character of, 279
INDEX
331
Preaches his doctrines in the vernacu-
lar, 283
Marries Subhadhra, 286
Son born to, 286
Leaves home to study philosophy and
religion, 286, 289
Converts his former disciples, 291
Sends his sixty followers out to preach,
291
Wife of, a convert, 292
Residence in Veluvaua, 292
Guest of Bimbisara, 292
Son of, a convert, 293
Stepmother and wife admitted to order
of Buddhist nuns by, 296
Temptation of, 289-290
Work of, in the seventeenth, eighteenth,
and twentieth years of his ministry,
297
Still preaching at the age of eighty, 297,
298
Resides on Vulture's Peak, 298
Wanderings of, 296-300
Seized with fatal illness at Pava, 800
Death of, at Kusinagara, 280, 301-302
Cremation of, 302
Body of, said to have been divided into
eight portions, 302-303
Teachings of, on caste, 309
Buddhism, spread of, 184
Partial resemblance to Sankhya philos-
ophy, 263
Opposed by Mimamsa philosophies, 270
Prevailing faith of Asia, 276
Spread of, to Tibet, in seventh century
A. D., 280
Spread of, to Japan, in sixth century
A. D., 280
Becomes state religion in China in
fourth century A. D., 280, 322
Divided into two sects, 280
Essentially a system of self-culture and
self-restraint, 304
Distinguishing features of, 313
Ten prohibitory rules for monks, 312-
313
The precepts of benevolence and love,
313
State religion of India, 319
Early missionary activity of, 319-320
In Ceylon, 320
Introduced into Burma about 460 A. D.,
321
Spread of, throughout Asia, 322
Introduced into Siain about 638 A. D.,
321
Buddhist books in China in the second
century, 322
Law, seven jewels of, 306-307
Monastic system, antiquity of, 311
Missionaries visit Java about 638 A. D.,
321
Buddhists, sacred books of the, 281
Triad of the, 299
Burial customs in the Black Yajur-Veda,
166
Customs in the White Yajur-Veda, 165
Hymn on, 60
Practised by the ancient Hindus, 165
Unknown in the Epic period, 166
Building, art of, 28
Burma, Buddhism in, about 460 A. D.,
321
Cakes, preparation of, from grain, 21
Canons, Jain, codification of, 326
Carpentry, 26
Caste, absence of, among the early
Hindus, 6, 60
Unknown in Rig- Veda, 51-52, 143
No priestly, in Vedic period, 76
Brahmanic, rise of the, 83-84
Kshatriya, rise of the, 84, 186
Vaisya, rise of the, 84
Sudra, rise of the, 84
Aborigines formed the Sudra, 84
Reaction against, 84
Among priests, 134
System, beginning of, 186
Brahmanic, 136
Vaisya, 136
Sudra, 136
Not distinguished in the Brahmanic
age, 138, 141-142
Developed in Brahmanic and Epic
times, 143
Brahmans allowed to marry outside
their own, in Brahmanic period, 164
Vaisya, undivided in Philosophic
period, 154
Translation from Vasishtha concerning,
233
Vaisya, translation from Megasthenes
concerning, 236-237
Kshatriya, translation from Megas-
thenes concerning, 236
Buddha's teaching on, 309
No distinction of, recognized by Bud-
dhism, 310
Laws varied in severity according to,
220-221
Theoretic origin of, according to Va-
sishtha, 230
Castes, three highest, educated together,
160
Seven, described by Megasthenes, 234
Categories, seven in Vaisesika philosophy,
266-266
332
INDEX
Cattle, 18
Stolen from Virata by princes of Has-
tinapura, 108
Causation, according to Sankhya philos-
ophy, 255-256
Cause and effect, in Nyaya philosophy,
262-263
Ceylon, discovery of, 203
Believed to have been invaded by the
Pandavas, 106
A resort of Hindu traders, 185
Known to Megasthenes and .Mian, 207
Converted to Buddhism, 320
Twice conquered by the Dravidians,
321
Chaitri, a rite performed in the month of
Chaitra, 262
Chandalas explained as a caste, 231
Chandragupta, empire of, included whole
of Northern India, 204
Army of, 204
Chaturmasya, a sacrifice, 162
Chera, Hindu kingdom, 185, 203
Chhandogya, extracts from, 174-175
Child, rites performed at birth of, 246
Name of, 246
First feeding of, with solid food, 246-
247
Marriage unknown in Brahmanic and
Epic periods, 164
Marriage not prevalent in Philosophic
Age, 239
Children, desire for, 166
China, Buddhism state religion in, in
fourth century A. D., 280
Buddhist books in, about the second
century, 322
Chola, Hindu kingdom, 185, 203
Chullavagga, translation from, 283
Chumbala, a river, 129
Churning of the ocean of milk, 26
Civilization, Hindu, age of, 1
Aryan, higher state of, 7
Extension of, 36
Development of, in Brahmanic period,
99
Advance of, among Hindus, 133
In the time of Baudhayana, 201
Coherence, category of, in Vaisesika phi-
losophy, 266
Commerce in the Eig-Veda, 18
Conquests, Aryan, determined by course
of river systems of Northern India,
126
Corn, preparation of, 8
Coronation of Yudhishthira, 106
Ceremony described in the Aitareya
Brahmana, 131-132
Ceremony described in the White Ta-
jur-Veda, 132-133
Corpses burned and ashes buried in Epic
period, 166
Cosyri, a Hindu tribe, 206
Council, first Buddhist, at Rajagriha, 281
Second Buddhist, at Vaisali, 281
Third Buddhist, at Patna, 281
Of Rajagriha, 318
At Vaisali, 318-319
Third, at Pataliputra, 319
Creation, two hymns on, 78-80
Legends of, 167-168
Extracts from the Upanishads con-
cerning, 176-178
Extracts in the Aitareya Aranyaka
concerning, 178
Cremation, hymn on, 60
Among the Hindus, 165
Of Buddha, 302
Crimes, agrarian, severe punishment of,
222
Criminals tried by the ordeal of fire, 166,
166 *
Cultivation in Ancient India, 216
D
Dadhikra, a deified war-horse, 29
Daiva marriage, 238
Dandaka, a forest, 120
Darsa-purnamasa, a sacrifice performed
on the first day after the full and new
moon, 162
Dasaratha, king of the Kosalas, 119
Death of, 120
Dasyus, 33
Reference in Rig-Veda to habitation of,
33-34
Debate between a woman and a priest, 163
Deccan, 126
Hinduized, 203
Delhi, central district of Kuru kingdom,
98
Devadatta, convert to Buddhism, 293, 295
Devas, 10
Worshippers of the, 10
Dhammapada, Buddhist work, extracts
from, 317
Dharma Sutras, theme and value of, 189
Source of Manu's code, 189-190
Dhrishtadyumna, brother of Draupadi,
105
Dhritarashtra, grandson of Santanu, 101
Father of Duryodhana, 104
Dyu, primitive sky-god, 63
Digambaras, Jain sect, 323-324
Dighavu and Brahmadatta, parable of,
313-316
Dirghatamas, a Brahman . 132
Dissensions, domestic, 67
Doab, entry of the Kurus into the, 83
INDEX
333
Entry of the Panchalas into the, 83
Colonization of the, 98
Domestic ceremonies, value of, for knowl-
edge of Hindu life, 244
Draupadi, svayamvara of, 104
Chooses Arjuna as her husband, 105
Marries the five Pandava princes, 105
Publicly insulted by Duryodhaua, 107
Slave of Duryodhana, 107
The Queen of Virata's handmaid, 108
Dravidiaus, 184
Conquer Ceylon twice, 321
Drona, a warrior, 101
Conquers Drupada, 103
Kills Drupada, 109
Killed by Drupada' s son, 109
Drupada conquered by Drona, 103
King of the Panchalas, 104
Alliance of, with the five Pandava
princes, 105
Killed by Drona, 109
Duhshanta, father of Bharata, 132
Durga, goddess, 76
Duhsasana killed by Bhima, 109
Duryodhana, son of Dhritarashtra, 102
Fights with Bhima, 102
Publicly insults Draupadi, 107
Flight of, from Bhima, and subsequent
return to him, 110
E
Eightfold path, Buddhist, 304-305
Emancipation, final, according to Ve-
dauta philosophy, 272
Epic period, municipal government in,
143
Equality, legal, unknown in ancient
India, 220
Ethical ideal in Brahmanic period, 145-
146
Evidence, kinds of, recognized by San-
khya philosophy, 255
Evil, true nature of, 216
Exile of Rama, 120
Of Pandava princes, 103, 107
F
False evidence, 222
Famine unknown in India, 217
Fire, various offerings to, 5
Sacred, kept burning in every house-
hold, 52, 150
Sacrificial, 76
Ordeal of, criminals tried by, 155-156
Names of, 170
Five Pandava princes, 100-101
Flood, Hindu tradition of, 166-167
Food, vegetable, 21
Animal, 22
In Brahmanic period, 147-148
Foreigners explained as castes, 232
Forest hermits in the Brahmanic period,
144
Fourfold wisdom, Buddhist, 304-306
Future life, hymn on, 69-60
Gambling match of Yudhishthira, 107
Gandharva marriage, 238
Ganges, river, 97, 126
Valley of, reached by the Hindus, 82
Exploration of shores of, 97
Gautama, see also Buddha
Buddha, 3
Haridrumata, a Vedic teacher, 139-141
Founder of the Nyaya philosophy, 262
Gayatri, the, 70
Genus, in Buddhism, 266
In Vaisesika philosophy, 266
Geometry, 192, 194
Godavari, a river of ancient India, 120
Gods of the Rig- Veda still worshipped in
Brahmanic and Epic times, 169
Gosala, founder of sect of Ajivakas, 328
Government, 9
Grammar, science of, in India, 193
Greek knowledge of India, 197-198, 204-
207
Grain, names of, in Rig- Veda, 21
Grihya Sutras, regulations concerning
domestic rites, 190
Value of, for knowledge of Hindu life,
191, 244
Gujarat, Hinduized, 203
H
Hanuman, commander-in-chief of the
non-Aryan army, 121
Restores Sita to Rama, 121
Haoma, Iranian name for Soma, 24
Hastinapura, capital of the Kurus, 100
Ruins of, said to be near Delhi, 100
Social life of, in the Brahmanic period,
149
Harvests, two annually in India, 218
Hercules, identified with Krishna, 207
Hermit life, in the Brahmanic period, 85,
86
Hermits, rules for, 241, 242
Hetairism, 7
Hindu Aryans, a united body in the Vedic
Age, 136
Civilization, age of, 1
Civilization, expansion of, 112
Literature, ancient, 2
Pantheon adopted and modified by
Buddha, 308-309
334
INDEX
Religion, cardinal principle of, 179
Religion, explanation of, by Rig-Veda,
11
Villages, manage their own affairs, 160
Women, Sita model of, 125
World, Panchalas and Kurus centre of,
99
Hindus, Vedic, character of, 4
Vedic, settlement of, on Indus, 4
Agriculture among, 13
Separation of, from the Iranians, 24
Effect of climate of Ganges valley on,
83
Gradual enervation of, 83
Cremation among, 165
Ancestor-worship among, 166
Advance of civilization among, 133
Rules of, to regulate domestic and so-
cial duties, 143
Spread of civilization among, 198-200
As described by Megasthenes, 124-215
Food and clothing of, 216
Home, early Aryan, controversy concern-
ing, 6
Horatoi (Saurashtras), Hindu nation, 206
Horse, sacrifice of a, 22, 23, 24, 163
Sacrificial, captured by Rama's *ons
and his subsequent recognition of
them, 125
Horses, 16
Hospitality, 145, 150, 241
Hotris, Vedic priests, duties of, 86, 88
Household worship, 50
Householders, students as, 145
Forty sacraments of, 242-243
Hymn to the rivers, historical significance
of, 49
Recounting Indra's slaying of Vritra,
66-67
Relating to the storm-myth of Indra,
69-70
Hymns, sung by professional priests, 5
Certain families proficient in compos-
ing, 77
Of the Vedas still repeated as texts in
Brahmanic and Epic times, 169
Idols, unknown in the Vedic period, 5, 52
India, oldest records of, 1
Political life, decadence of, 3
History, value of, 3-4
Early civilization centred in, 6
Buddhism state religion of, 319
Indian tribes, number one hundred and
eighteen, 215
Lido-Iranians in Asia, 9
Indra, 33-35
Hymn to, 32-33
First among Vedic gods, 63
Slays Vritra, 65
Storm-myth of, 67
An Aditya, 69
As leader, 69
Indrajit, son of Ravana, 122
Killed by Lakshmana and revived by a
powerful medicine, 122
Indraprastha, city in ancient India, 106
Indus, sacred river of the Panjab, 49, 126
Industries, 7
Inheritance, law of, 68, 227-229
Initiation into religious life, 239-241
Age of, varies in different castes, 247
Inscriptions on Jain statues, 326
Intellect, in Nyaya philosophy, 263
Interest, six forms of, according to Gau-
tama, 226-237
Internecine wars of the Kurus, 83
Wars of the Panchalas, 83
Invocation of the bright gods, 5
Iranians, separation of, from the Hindus,
24
Irrigation in the Panjab, 15
Reference to, in the tenth book of the
Rig-Veda, 17
In ancient India, 217
Isari, Hindu tribe, 205
Isa Upanishad, extract from, 176
Jabala, mother of Satyakama, 139-140
Jaimini, founder of the Purva Mimamsa
philosophy, 269
Outline of sutras of, 269
Jainism, a religion of India, 323
Coaeval with Buddhism, 325
Approximation to Buddhism, 326
Jains, division of, into two sects, 324
Refrain from killing animals, 327
Monastic order of, 327
Beliefs of, 333
Sacred books of, 333
Janaka, king of the Videhas, 114
In the Ramayana, 117
Quotation from Brihadaranyaka Upani-
shad relating to, 152
Janamejaya, son of Parikshit, 132
Japan, Buddhism in, in the sixth century
A. D., 280
Java, Buddhist missionaries visit, 321
Jnatrika Kshatriyas, Hindu clan, 323
Judicial procedure still crude in Brah-
manic and Epic periods, 166
Jumna, a river, 96, 126
Exploration of shores of, 97
Justice officially administered in the
Brahmanic period, 143
INDEX
335
Kaikeyi, queen of Dasaratba, 119
Kali, goddess, 76
Kalidasa, poetry of, 8
Kalingoi, army of, 206
Kalpa sutra, 191
Kampilya, capital of the Panchalas, 104
Social life in, in the Brahmanic period,
149
Kanada, founder of the Vaisesika phi-
losophy, 264
Eanchi, capital of the Cholas, 186
Kanishka, early Buddhist monarch, 321
Extent of territory of, 321
Council of, 322
Kapila, founder of the Sankhya philos-
ophy, 8, 263
Kapilavastu, capital of the Sakyas, 285
Buddha's return to, 292, 296, 297
Kama knighted to fight with Arjuna, 103
Fights with Arjuna, 110
Killed by Arjuna, 110
Kashmir, 321
Kasis, a nation of ancient India, 82, 112,
143, 284
Kasyapa, conversion to Buddhism of three
brothers named, 291
A Brahman, 316
Katha Upanishad, extract from, concern-
ing Nachiketas, 181-183
Kausalya, queen of Dasaratha, 119
Kavasha, father of Tura, 132
Legend of, 139
Kena Upanishad, extract from, 175-176
Kimbila, a convert to Buddhism, 293
Kingdoms, Hindu, account of, in the Ai-
tareya Brahmana, 125-126
Kings, customs relating to coronation of,
in the Rig- Veda, 41-42
Performing religious rites, 77
Invested by priests at the coronation
ceremony, 132
Palaces of, centre of life in the Brah-
inanic and Epic times, 160
Rules for, regarding subjects, 208-209
Occupations of, 212-213
Koliyans, Hindu clan, 285
Kosalas, 119
A nation of ancient India, 112
Capital of, changed to Sravasti, 284
Krishna, a leader of the aborigines, 34
Chief of the Yadavas of Gujarat, 106
Entirely human in the Upanishads, 170
Dvaipayaua Vyasa, reputed author of
the Mahabharata, 120
Krita age, 135, 136
Kshatriya caste, 136
Kshatriyas, 3
Religious speculations of, 85, 114
Occupations of, 232, 233
Kshema, queen of Bimbisara, admitted to
the order of Buddhist nuns, 296
Kumarila, argument of, 167-168
Bhatta, Hindu philosopher, 269
Kundagrama identified with Buddhist
Kotigrama, 323
Kuru country divided, 106-106
Kurukshetra, battle of, 109
Kurus, known also as Bharatas, a Hindu
nation, 84, 100
Entry into the Doab, 83
Provenience of, a mooted question, 98
And Panchalas centre of the Hindu
world, 99
Kusa, son of Sita and Rama, 123
Kusinagara, place of Buddha's death, 301
Kutsa, a warrior, 33
Lakshmana, son of Sumitra, 119
Accompanies his half-brother Rama
into exile, 120
Lakshmi, 76
Lalita Vistara, poem of the Northern
Buddhists, 280
Lanka besieged by a non-Aryan army, 122
Lava, son of Sita and Rama, 123
Law as laid down in the Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad, 155
Of property, 225
Of inheritance, 227-229
Varied in severity according to castes,
220, 221
Agrarian, passage from Apastamba on,
223
Agrarian, passage from Gautama on,
223-224
Usury, of ancient India, 226
Learning, branches of, in the Brahmanic
and Epic periods, 167-168
Legends, development of Puranic, from
poets of the Rig- Veda, 25
Lichchhavis, nation of ancient India, 284
Literature, ancient Hindu, 2
Brahmana, 88
Lord of the Field, hymn to, 13-14
Lunar asterisms, enumerated, 167
M
Madhava, legend of king, 113
Magadha, Hinduized, 184
Kingdom of, 284
Jain council of, 226
Magadhas, explained as a caste, 231
Mahabharata, Sanskrit epic, 83
Description of Kuru-Panchala war in, 98
Lessons of the, 111
336
IXDEX
A work of later ages, 136
Maha Rahula Sutta, preached, 827
Mahavira, son of Siddhartha of Kunda-
grama, 323
Founder of Jainism, 323, 324
Entered the Holy Order at the age of
twenty-eight, 324
Death of, 324
Mahinda, son of Asoka, 320
Maitreyi, discussion of, with Yajnavalkya,
151-162
Malwa, Hindu kingdom, 126
Man, as protector and head of the family, 7
Manu, legend of, in Satapatha Brahmana,
166-167
Manufactures, commencement of, 7
Allusions to, in Rig- Veda, 26-27
In Brahmanic and Epic periods, 150
Of ancient India known to the Greeks,
218
Mara, an evil spirit, 289
Maritime travel not forbidden in ancient
India, 50
Marriage, not compulsory in Vedic India,
54
Vedic ceremony of, 55-57
Of students, 145
Among blood relations prohibited, 164
Eight varieties of, 238-239
Among kinsfolk prohibited by Vasish-
tha and Apastamba, 239
Among kinsfolk permitted by Baudha-
yana, 239
Of widows, 239
Ritual of, 244-246
Maruts, storm gods, legend of, 72
Mathura (Madura), capital of the Pan-
dyas, 207
Matriarchy, no trace of, in India, 7
Matter, in Hindu philosophy, 267
Meat, eating of, 8, 60
Megasthenes' account of India, 204, 205-
207, 210-212, 214, 219, 234, 235
Takes up residence in India, 204
Subdivides the philosophers into Brah-
inans and Sramans, 236
Metals, in ancient India, 9, 218
In the Rig-Veda, 26
Knowledge of, in Brahmanic times, 147
Metre, science of, 192
Mihintale, seat of an Indian monastery,
320
Mind, according to Sankhya philosophy,
264-265
Mithila, social life in, in Brahmanic pe-
riod, 149
Mitra, an Aditya, 69
Modo-Galingoi (Madhya-Kalingas), Hindu
tribe, 205
Moggali, father of Tissa, 319
Moggallana, convert to Buddhism, 292
Monastery, Indian, at Mihintale, 320
Money, in the Rig-Veda, 19-20
Monotheism, 172-173
In the Rig- Veda, 80-81
Moon, regulation of sacrificial rites by
position of, 157
Morning hymn to the sun, 70
Municipal government in the Brahmauic
and Epic periods, 141
Nachiketas, story of, 181-183
Nagasena, a renowned Buddhist teacher,
321
Nakula, one of the Pandava princes, 102
Narada, 132
Nature, according to Sankhya philosophy,
254
Nearchos, a Greek historian, 216
Nirvana, parallel to, in Sankhya philoso-
phy, 267
Meaning of, 307-308
Gained by breaking the ten fetters, 308
Nomadic life among the Aryans, 8
Non-existence, category of, in Vaisesika
philosophy, 266
Northern Buddhism, the form prevailing
in Nepal and Tibet, China, and Japan,
280, 319
O
Occult power, gained by Yoga, 260
Ocean, churning of, 25
Order of Buddhist nuns founded, 296
Orissa, Hinduized, 203
Paisacha marriage, 239
Palace, description of, in the sutras, 208
Pauchala kingdom, the, in 1400 B. c., 99
Panchalas, a nation of ancient India, 82
Provenience of, a mooted question, 98
Entry into the Doab, 83
Settlement of, near the modern Kanouj,
98
And Kurus, centre of the Hindu world,
99
Pandava princes, five, 104-105
Princes, exhibition of skill in the use of
arms, 104
Princes, the five, wed Draupadi, 109
Princes, slaves of Duryodhana, 107
Pandavas, refuse to fight with Kama, 103
First exile of, 103
House of the, burnt, 104
Disguised as Brahinans, 104
INDEX
337
Alliance of, with Drupada, 106
Military campaigns of, 106
Believed to have invaded Bengal and
Ceylon, 110
Second exile of, 107
In thirteenth year of exile take service
under the king of Virata, 108
Send an envoy to Hastinapura to claim
back their kingdom, 109
Go to Hastinapura, 110
Pandoi (Pandyas), Hindu nation, 206
Pandu, grandson of Santanu, 100
Pandya, a Hindu kingdom, 203
Pandyas, kingdom of, 185
History of, 206-207
Panini, Sanskrit grammarian, 193
Panjab, Aryan settlements in, 4
Irrigation by means of wells in, 15
Seven rivers of the, 49
Colonized by Aryans, 97
Pantheon, Hindu, adopted and modified
by Buddha, 308-309
Parasurama, legend of, 117
Parikshit, father of Janamejaya, 132
Parishads, schools, 144
Parthalis, capital of the Kalingoi, 205
Particularity, category of, in Vaisesika
philosophy, 266
Parvana, a rite performed on new and full
moon days, 248
Parvata, 132
Pasturage in Early India, 17
Pataliputra (Patna), metropolis of India
for nearly a thousand years, 299
Capital of the Prachyas, 204
Council at, 819
Patanjali, founder of Yoga philosophy,
257-258
Paulkasas, explained as a caste, 231
Philosophic period, summary of, 273
Philosophy, its debt to the Kshatriya
caste, 85
Six schools of Hindu, 194-195
Miinamsa, 268
Purva Mimamsa, 268-270
Uttara Mimamsa, 268-269
Nyaya, 262-264
Sankhya, 254-267, 268, 271
Vaisesika 264-266, 271
Vedanta, 195, 268-273
Yoga, 268-261, 271
Phonetics, science of, 192
Pindapitri-yajna, sacrifice to departed
ancestors, 162
Ceremony of, 166-166
Pitakas, sacred books of the Buddhists,
281-282
Date of, 281
Said to have been reduced to writing
about 88 B. c., 321
Plants of ancient India, 217
Political life, decadence of, in India, 3
Polygamy, 164
Allowed among kings and rich people
in Vedic times, 67
Polyandry unknown in ancient India, 164
Prachyas, the most powerful nation in
the fourth century B. c., 204
Boundary of, 205-206
Prajapati, his part in creation, 167-168
Prajapatya marriage, 239
Pratisakhyas, 192
Pregnancy, rites of, 246
Priestly caste, rise of the, 83-84
Priests, professional, 6, 77
Studied nature, 78
Divisions of, 86-87
Sacrificial duties, 86
And kings become separate castes in
the Epic Age, 136
And soldiers mingle and intermarry
with the people, 150
Prisni, the storm cloud, 72
Problems, in Nyaya philosophy, 263
Proof, in Nyaya philosophy, 262-263
Puranic legends, development of, from the
myths of the Big- Veda, 26
Purusha, 176
Pushan, an Aditya, 69
Hymn to, 17-18
Sun-god of the shepherds, 70
Pushpamitra, king of Kashmir, 321
Qualities, seventeen, in Vaisesika philos-
ophy, 266
Eahula, a convert to Buddhism, 293
Son of Buddha, admitted to the order,
297
Rajagriha, Council of, 318
Eajasuya, imperial coronation sacrifice,
163
Rajputana, a desert, 126
Described by Megasthenes, 206
Rama, son of Kausalya, 119
An incarnation of Vishnu, 116
A recrudescence of Indra, 116
Wins Sita at a svayamvara, 119
Husband of Sita, 116
Goes into exile, 120
Preparations of, for the recovery of
Sita, 121
Alliance of, with non-Aryan tribes, 121
Kills Vali, 121
Exiles Sita, 123
Kills Ravana, 123
338
INDEX
Return to Ayodhya and ascends the
throne, 123
Celebrates the Asvamedha sacrifice, 124
Sons of, capture the sacrificial horse,
126
Ideal Hindu man, 126
Ramayana, the second great epic of India,
83, 116
Value of, 116
Decline in warlike spirit in, 117
Characters of heroes of, 118
A means of moral education to the
Hindus, 126
A work of later ages, 136
Ravana, the demon-king of Lanka, 120
Steals Sita, 121
Killed by Rama, 123
Religion, Hindu, explanation of, by the
Rig- Veda, 11
Of the Rig- Veda, 62-81
Kshatriyas speculate on, 85
Vedic, decline of, 86
Later, essence of the, 86
Religious discussions in Brahmanic and
Epic times, 144
Life, initiation into, 229-241
Revealed literature, 86
Right of way, passage from Vasishtha,
on, 224-225
Rig- Veda, earliest date of, 1
Composition of, 10
Composers of, 11
Divisions of, 11
Tenth book of, 12
Wells in, 16
Commerce in, 18
Voyages in, 20
Money in, 20
Grains named in, 21
Metals in, 26
Allusions to aborigines in, 81
Weapons in, 39, 41, 42
Coronation customs in, 41-42
Religion of, 62, 81
Preservation of, by youths of priestly
houses, 78
Monotheism in, 80-81
Brahmanas of, 92-93
Aranyakas of, 94
Astronomy in, 166-167
Translations from, 13-14, 15, 17-18, 19,
20, 26, 29, 31, 32-35, 38-42, 44^46,
62-63, 56-67, 58, 59-60, 61, 63, 64,
66, 66-68, 70, 73-74, 75-76, 78-81
Rishis, Vedic bards, 76
Not a separate class, 60-51
As warriors, 77
Rivers, hymns to, in the Rig-Veda, 44-46
Robbers, allusion to aboriginal, in the
Rig-Veda, 31
Royal caste, rise of, 135
Courts, the seats of learning, 143
Rudra, father of the Maruts, one of the
Hindu Triad, 11, 72
Development of, as a deity, 169
Not yet identified with Siva in the
Brahmanas, 169
Rules, prohibitory, of Buddhism, 312-
313
Sacred books of the Jains, 327
Sacred fire in the household, 62, 160
Sacraments inferior to virtue, 244
Sacrifice, increasing importance of, 86
Importance of, in Brahmanic and Epic
periods, 169
Human, no reference to, in Rig-Veda,
160-161
Human, in ancillary Vedic literature,
161-162
Performed by professional priests, 6
Sacrifices, accompanied by gifts in Brah-
manic and Epic periods, 159
Seven Paka, 191
Sacrificial fire, 6
Rites regulated by the position of the
moon, 157
Fire, setting up of the, 163
Sadanira, a river, 113
Sahadeva, one of the five Pandava princes,
102
Sakai, a tribe of the fourth century B.C.,
215
Sakyaputriya Sramans, a sect founded by
Gautama, 236-279
Sakyas, a clan, 285
Sale-transaction, a verse on, 19
Salvation, doctrine of, from the Brihad-
aranyaka Upanishad, 181
Sanaa- Veda, compilation of, 86-86
Duplicate verses found in the Rig- Veda,
89
Selections from Rig- Veda set to music,
89
Brahmanas of, 93
Sankaracharya, a Hindu philosopher,
167, 269
Santanu, king of Hastinapura, 109
Father of Bhishma, 100
Saranyu, the dawn, 73
Sarasvati, sacred river of the Panjab, 49,
97
Goddess of speech, 75-76
Sariputra, a convert to Buddhism, 292
Satapatha Brahmana, various strata in, 93
Satrughna, son of Sumitra, 119
Satyakama, story of, 139-140
Saurashtras, Hinduized, 185
INDEX
339
Sautramani, sacrifice in expiation of an
overindulgence in Soma, 163
Savitri, a sun-god, 69-71
Schopenhauer, on Upanishads, 183
Self-defence, right of, 222
Settlements, Aryan, in the Panjab, 4
Settlers, Aryan, earliest home of, 50
Seven jewels of the Buddhist law, 306-307
Rivers of the Panjab, 49
Siam, Buddhism in, about 638 A. D., 321
Siddhartha, see Buddha
Sisupala of Chedi, killed by Krishna, 107
Sita, described as the daughter of Janaka,
116
Originally a goddess of the furrow, 116
Won by Rama at a svayainvara, 119
Accompanies Rama into exile, 120
Stolen by Havana, 121
Proof of purity required of, 123
Exiled by Rama, 123
Mythical character of, 126
Ideal Hindu woman, 125
Death of, 125
Skepticism, Hindu, 171
Sky, the most prominent object of wor-
ship in early India, 62
Social customs, had force of laws in an-
cient India, 99
Soldiers and priests mingle and inter-
marry with the people, 150
Soma, plant, 24
Juice, 24, 76
As a deity, 24
Celebrated in an entire book of the Rig-
Veda, 24
Mixed with milk, 25
Iranian name of, 24
Hymn to, 26
Indra's fondness for, 69
Hymn to, containing an allusion to the
future life, 73-74
Soul, according to Sankhya philosophy,
264-256
In Nyaya philosophy, 263
Nature of, according to Vedanta philos-
ophy, 271
Souls, transmigration of, 308
South Behar, 126
Southern Buddhism, the form prevailing
in Ceylon and Burma, 280, 319
Southern India from the writings of
Baudhayana, 202
Sraddha rite, a monthly offering to de-
parted ancestors, 248
Sramans, Hindu hermits, 279
Translation from Megasthenes concern-
ing, 235
Srautra Sutras, extant, 188
Sravani, a rite performed in the month of
Sravana, 249
Sravasti, new capital of the Kosalas, 284
Stone, uses of, for architectural pur-
poses, 28
Student life, termination of, 241, 247
Students, 186
In Brahmanic period, 144
Marriage of, 146
Duties as householders, 145, 247
Subhadhra, wife of Buddha, 285, 302
Substances, nine, in Vaisesika philoso-
phy, 265
Subtle body, according to Sankhya phi-
losophy, 266-267
Sudas, Vedic king, 37, 132
Hymns to, 38-39
Suddhodana, chief of the Sakyas and the
father of Buddha, 286
Sudra caste, 136
Rise of the, 84
Formed of aborigines, 138
Religious knowledge forbidden to, 234
Oppression of, 276
Sugriva, brother of Vali, 121
Wins Vali's kingdom and widow, 121
Marches his army to Lanka, 121
Suicides, 222
Sumitra, queen of Dasaratha, 119
Sunidha, chief minister of Ajatasatru,
299
Sunita, story of, 309-310
Supreme being, not recognized by San-
khya philosophy, 256
Being, in Yoga philosophy, 266
Being, in Nyaya philosophy, 263
Being, according to Vedanta philoso-
phy, 271, 272-273
Deity, Vishnu developed into, 70-71
Surya, a sun-god, 69
Sutras, character of, 185
Human compositions, 186
Schools of, 186
Classes of, 186
Sutta Pitaka, record of sayings and do-
ings of Gautama Buddha, 282
Sutlaj, river of the Panjab, 4, 97
Reached by the Hindus, 82
Suttee, supposed Vedic basis for, 61
Svayamvara, of Draupadi, 104
Svetaketu, story of, 174
Svetambaras, a sect of Jains, 323-324
Existence of, in first century A. D., 325
Syllogism, in Hindu philosophy, 264, 270
Taprobane, Greek name of Ceylon, 207
Taxes, 209-210
Some exempt from paying, 209
Teachers, individual, in Brahmanic period
144
340
INDEX
Teaching of the Golden Mean, 290
Temples, unknown in the Vedic period, 6
Not mentioned in the Rig- Veda, 62, 76
Ten fetters, Buddhist, breaking of the,
307
Kings, battle of the, 37, 38
Theft, punishment of, 221
Tibet, Buddhism in, in the seventh cen-
tury A. D., 280
Tissa, son of Moggali, 319
Tonsure, ceremony of, 247
Towns, stone-built, 27
Plan of, in Brahmanic and Epic peri-
ods, 150
Transmigration of souls, 308
Doctrine of, 179
Extract concerning, in the Brihadaran-
yaka Upanishad, 179-180
According to Sankhya philosophy, 256-
267
In Nyaya philosophy, 263-264
According to Vedanta philosophy, 271
Travel, maritime, not forbidden in an-
cient India, 50
Treta age, 136
Triad of the Buddhists, 299
Tribes, chiefs of, as kings, 5
Five, of the Panjab, 50
Indian, number of, one hundred and
eighteen, 216
Trisaa, mother of Mahavira, 323
Tura, son of Kavasha, 132
Twice-born men, caste of, 136-137
U
Udgatris, Vedic priests, duties of, 87
Ugrasena, father of Yudhamsraushti,
132
Uma Haimavati, a female theologian,
170
Universal soul, doctrine of, in the Upan-
ishads, 172-176
Upali, convert to Buddhism, 293-295
Upanishads, 172
Compilation of, 85
Number and enumeration of principal,
96
Contain religious speculations of the
warrior caste, 114
Doctrines of, 172
Pantheism in, 173
Passage of Schopenhauer on, 183
Continued by Vedanta philosophy, 271
Basic concept of, 276
Uruvela, place of Buddha's residence for
six years, 289
Ushas, goddess of dawn, 75
Hymn to, in the Rig- Veda, 76-76
Uttara Kurus, 98
Vaidehas, Hindu nation, explained as a
caste, 231
Vaisali, capital of Lichchhavis, 284
Buddhist council at, 318-319
Vaisya caste, 136
Rise of the, 84
Undivided in Philosophic period, 232
Occupations of the, 232-233
Vali, king among the non-Aryans, 121
Brother of Sugriva, 121
Killed by Rama, 121
Valabhi, council of, records the scriptures
of the Svetambaras in writing about
467-67 A. D., 325
Valmiki, the reputed author of the Rama-
yana, 120
Instructor of Rama's sons, 124
Varanavata, place of exile of the Pandava
princes, 103
Varuna, Hindu deity, 20
The sky-god, 63
Three hymns to, 63-65
An Aditya, 69
Vasishtha, Hindu legislator, 132, 222
Dharmasastra of, translation from,
230-231
Vassakara, chief minister of Ajatasatru,
299
Vayu, god of air, 72
Puraua, describes the beginnings of the
caste system, 135
Vedangas, 192-193
Vedanta philosophy, 270-273
Vedas, compilation of, 86-86
Indexes of, 193-194
Vedic hymns, study of, 1-2
Period, 4
Religion, decline of, 86, 274
Age, Hindu Aryans a united body in,
136
Religion, reaction against, 274-276
Vegetable food, 21
Vibhishana, brother of Ravana, 122
Videhas, rise of kingdom of, 82, 112-114
Most prominent kingdom of Northern
India, 114
Court of the, 143
Vijaya, conquers Ceylon, 207
Vinaya Pitaka, record of minute rules
for Buddhist monks and nuns, 282
Virata, king of, taught by the Pandava
princes, 108
Vishnu, Hindu deity, 11
An Aditya, 69
Developed into a supreme deity, 70-71
Legends of, 170
Visvamitra, hymn of, 3
First a warrior, then a priest, 37
INDEX
341
Hymn of, to the rivers, 49
Visvavara, woman of the Vedic period, 54
Vivasvat, the rising sun, 73
Voyages, no prohibition against, in the
Rig- Veda, 20
Vratyas, 171
Vrijjians, a Turanian tribe, 298
Vritra slain by Indra, 66
W
War, 8
With the aborigines, 30
Kuru-Panchala, 83, 100
Not stopped by advance of civilization,
100
Equipment, account of, by Arrian,
213-214
Laws of, among Hindus, 214-215
Warrior caste, rise of the, 84
Warriors, Vedic, 42-43
Water, manner of obtaining, for cultiva-
tion, 16
Wealth, in Brahmanic period, 146-150
Weapons, 8
Allusions to, in the Rig- Veda, 39, 41, 42
Weaving, 25
Widow-marriage, 61
Not prohibited in Brahmanic and Epic
periods, 154
Wives and husbands in Vedic sacrifices, 52
Women take part in Vedic sacrifices, 50,
62
Freedom of, in Vedic India, 53-55
Influence of, in ancient India, 100
Absolute seclusion of, unknown in an-
cient India, 150, 151
Privileges accorded to, 151
Hold honoured place in ancient India,
151, 153-154
Worship, household, 50
Writing known in India in the Philo-
sophic period, 216
Yadavas, a Hindu nation, 206-207
Yajnavalkya, discussion of, with Mai-
treyi, 161-152
Yajur-Veda, compilation of, 85, 86, 89
Brahmanas of, 93
Aranyakas of, 94, 96
Account of coronation ceremony in,
132-133
Verse from, descriptive of kingly duty,
133
Burial customs in, 166
Yama, god of the heaven of the righteous,
68
God of the dead, 73
In the Puranas, 73
Stanzas concerning older conception
of, 73
Yaska, plan of, to reduce Vedic gods to
three, 71
Yasodhara, wife of Buddha, 292
Yavanas (Greeks) explained as a caste, 230
Yoga, meaning of the word, 258
Obstacles to, 268-259
Rules to attain to, 259-260
Yudhamsraushti, son of Ugrasena, 132
Yudhisthira, one of the five Pandava
prmces, 101
Appointed crown prince, 103
Coronation ceremony of, 106
Gambling match of, 106
Becomes king, 110
Celebrates the Asvamedha ceremony,
110
Said to have subdued every monarch in
Aryan India, 110
Yueh-chi, conquer Kashmir, 321
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