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PRESENTED BY

K\y^ a, a,Svv/eei:

IbanOboofts on tbc Ibistorg of IRcUgions

THE

Religions of India

EDWARD WASHBURN HOPKINS

Ph.D. (Leip.sic)

professor of sanskrit and comparative philology in
bryn mawk college

" This holy mystery I declare unto you :
There is nothing nobler ihaii htnnanityP

The Mahabharata.

Boston, U.S.A., and London
GINN & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS

189^
b3>

c^^^

Q.00\

TO THE MEMORY OF

muiiam H)wiQbt mbitnei^

THIS VOLUME

IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED

BY THE AUTHOR

PREFATORY NOTE

BY THE EDITOR.

The growing interest both in this country and abroad in the
historical study of reUgions is one of the noticeable features
in the intellectual phases of the past decades. The more gen-
eral indications of this interest may be seen in such foundations
as the Hibbert and Gifford Lectureships in England, and the
recent organization of an American committee to arrange in
various cities for lectures on the history of religions, in the
establishment of a special department for the subject at the
University of Paris, in the organization of the Muse'e Gui-
met at Paris, in the publication of a journal — the Re7'ue de
r Histoire des Religio7is — under the auspices of this Museum,
and in the creation of chairs at the College de France, at the
Universities of Holland, and in this country at Cornell Univer-
sity and the University of Chicago,^ with the prospect of others
to follow in the near future. For the more special indications
we must turn to the splendid labors of a large array of scholars
toiling in the various departments of ancient culture — India,
Babylonia, Assyria, Egypt, Palestine, Arabia, Phoenicia, China,
Greece, and Rome — with the result of securing a firm basis
for the study of the religions flourishing in those countries —

1 In an article by the writer published in the Biblical World (University of
Chicago Press) for January, 1893, there will be found an account of the present
status of the Historical Study of Religions in this country.

viii PKEFATORY NOTE.

a result due mainly to the discovery of fresh sources and to the
increase of the latter brought about by exploration and incessant
research. The detailed study of the facts of religion every-
where, both in primitive society and in advancing civilization,
and the emphasis laid upon gathering and understanding these
facts prior to making one's deductions, has succeeded in set-
ting aside the speculations and generalizations that until the
beginning of this century paraded under the name of "Philos-
ophy of Religion."

Such has been the scholarly activity displayed and the fer-
tility resulting, that it seems both desirable and timely to focus,
as it were, the array of facts connected with the religions of
the ancient world in such a manner that the summary resulting
may serve as the point of departure for further investigations.

This has been the leading thought which has suggested the
series of Handbooks on the History of Religions. The treat-
ment of the religions included in the series differs from pre-
vious attempts in the aim to bring together the ascertained
results of scholarship rather than to make an additional con-
tribution, though the character of the scholars whose coopera-
tion has been secured justifies the hope that their productions
will also mark an advance in the interpretation of the subject
assigned to each. In accord with this general aim, mere dis-
cussion has been limited to a minimum, while the chief stress
has been laid upon the clear and full presentation of the data
connected with each religion.

A uniform plan has been drawn up by the editor for the
order of treatment in the various volumes, by following which it
is hoped that the continuous character of the series will be se-

PREFATORY NOTE. ix

cured. In this plan the needs of the general reader, as well
as those of the student, for whom, in the first place, the series
is designed, have been kept in view. After the introduction,
which in the case of each volume is to be devoted to a setting
forth of the sources and the method of study, a chapter follows
on the land and the people, presenting those ethnographical
and geographical considerations, together with a brief histori-
cal sketch of the people in question, so essential to an under-
standing of intellectual and religious life everywhere.

In the third section, which may be denominated the kernel of
the book, the subdivisions and order of presentation necessarily
vary, the division into periods being best adapted to one reli-
gion, the geographical order for another, the grouping of themes
in a logical sequence for a third ; but in every case, the range
covered will be the same, namely, the beliefs, including the
pantheon, the relation to the gods, views of life and death, the
rites — both the official ones and the popular customs — the reli-
gious literature and architecture. A fourth section will furnish
a general estimate of the religion, its history, and the relation
it bears to others. Each volume will conclude with a full bib-
liography, index, and necessary maps, with illustrations intro-
duced into the text as called for. The Editor has been fortu-
nate in securing the services of distinguished specialists whose
past labors and thorough understanding of the plan and pur-
pose of the series furnish a guarantee for the successful
execution of their task.

It is the hope of the Editor to produce in this way a series
of manuals that may serve as text-books for the historical
study of religions in our universities and seminaries. In ad-

X PREFATORY NOTE.

dition to supplying this want, the arrangement of the manuals
will, it is expected, meet the requirements of reliable reference-
books for ascertaining the present status of our knowledge of
the religions of antiquity, while the popular manner of presenta-
tion, which it will be the aim of the writers to carry out, justi-
fies the hope that the general reader will find the volumes no
less attractive and interesting.

University of Pennsylvania.

PREFACE.

-•o^

IT has been said somewhere by Lowell that " an illustration
is worth more than any amount of discourse," and, if we
were asked to specify in which regard we thought that this
manual, when compared with the only other book that covers
the same ground, was likely to be useful, we should reply
that, whereas Barth in his admirable handbook (the out-
growth of an article in the Encyclopedie des Sciences Religieiises)
aimed at making his reader know all about the religions of
India, we have sought to make our reader know those religions.
We have tried to show the lines on which developed the various
theological and moral conceptions of the Hindus, not only by
furnishing, from the point of view of a foreign critic, an anno-
tated narrative of the growth of these conceptions, but also and
chiefly by taking the reader step by step through the literature
that contains the records of India's dosfmas. The scheme of
Earth's Religions excludes all illustrative matter. His reader
must take as authoritative the word of some modern scholar,
or he must look up for himself the texts to which occasional
reference is made. By omitting all quotations the author was
enabled, in the compass of a small volume, to give an account,
extraordinarily compact and complete, of every ramification of
Hindu belief, and his book deserves all the praise that it
has won. It is invaluable as exegesis. But it presents the
religions of India as Bernhardy exhibits the literature of
Greece, or as the daylight lecturer describes invisible stars.
If one desire to orient himself in respect of any point of the
Hindu creeds, if he v/ish a reliable sketch of those creeds, he

xii , PREFACE.

will obtain from Barth the information he is seeking, and find
a survey not only traced in detail, but at the same time dis-
cussed in so masterly a way as to make superfluous for long
any new 7'esmne of the sort, withal despite the fact that in
some regards Earth's views have become obnoxious to later
criticism. But it is not to criticise Barth that this book was
written. It is to reveal the religions of India by causing them
to reveal themselves, and to elucidate them by commenting on
them as they appear before the reader, traverse his field of
vision, and finally leave his sight. We admit that it behooves
whoever writes under the same title with that of the French
savant, to show cause why he does so ; but we think that to
open up the religions of India from within, and in orderly suc-
cession to explain them as they display themselves, will not be
otiose if there be any students ignorant of Sanskrit who yet
desire independently to examine and to make their own the
very words of the Hindu sages.

In accordance with this plan of teaching Hindu religions we
have been more prone to ignore than to collect such results
of modern scholarship as tend to blur the picture we would
show. For a first view of Greek theology Homer is more use-
ful than Preller, and the same is true elsewhere. Above all,
as we have said in the Introduction, in regard to many a recent
' interpretation ' of Hindu deities, w^e are content to be con-
servative. We doubt the historical value of most of these
expositions, and, since we are not of those scholars that try
to keep abreast of the times by swallowing every new idea,
we have not been inclined to broach unsatisfactory theories
without a good deal of provocation, which existed for us only
in the case of one or two Vedic divinities, where the religious
significance of new interpretations compelled attention.

In regard to the great length at which we have reviewed the
gods of the earlier period, we have not forgotten what differ-
ence exists between mythology and religion, but we believe

PREFACE. xiii

that the reader will see, before he gets to the end of the
book, that such amplitude of treatment as we have permitted
ourselves was not alien to our proper subject-matter.

We scarcely can hope that the professional Indologian will
see much that is valuable to him in this work, which is in-
tended only for students, although we think that our view of
the relation of Vedic belief to that of the ' primitive Aryans '
is one that some scholars of the day might substitute with
advantage for their own. But our more especial field of inves-
tigation has lain along the lines marked by the two chapters
on Hinduism, and these such Sanskrit scholars as have not
made particular study of the Hindu epic perhaps may find to
be readable.

Although we have quoted Hindu works more often than we
have referred to those of European scholars, yet have we
endeavored to make the notes sufficiently copious to put the
reader au courant with the most important studies of the
present time.

As to the method of writing Sanskrit words, being unable to

adopt the unpleasant characters of the Sacred Books, and

knowing no other system that is satisfactory both to English

eye and to linguistic sense, we have employed the simplest

transcription, ignoring, in fact, all Unguals save the sibilant,

which alone can be rendered by English letters, and which

usage has long made familiar.

E. W. H.

Brvn Mawr, Penna., July, i8g4.

CONTENTS.

Chapter Page

I. Introductfon I

11. People and Land ........ 26

III. The Rig Veda. — The Upper Gods .... 37

IV. The Rig Veda (continued). — The Middle Gods . . 87

V. The Rig Veda (continued). — The Lower Gods . 105

VI. The Rig Veda (concluded). — Yama and Other Gods,

Vedic Pantheism, Eschatology . . . .127

VII. The Religion of the Atharva Veda . . . 151

VIII. Early Hindu Divinities Compared with Those of

Other Aryans 161

IX. Brahmanism 176

X. Brahmanic Pantheism. — The Upanishads . . 216

VXI. The Popular Brahmanic Faith 242

XII. Jainism 280

XIII. Buddhism 298

XIV. Early Hinduism 348

XV. Hinduism (continued). — Vishnu and Qiva . . . 3S8

XVI. The Puranas. — Early Sects, Festivals, the Trinity 434

XVII. Modern Hindu Sects 472

XVIII. Religious Traits of the Wild Tribes . . . 524

^XIX. India and the West 542

Addenda 572

BiBLIOGRAPi.v ^73

ABBREVIATIONS.

AIL Zimmer's Altindisches Leben.

AMG Annales du Musee Guimet.

AJP American Journal of Philology.

AR Asiatick Researches.

ASL Miillers Ancient Sanskrit Literature.

BB Bezzenberger"s Beitriige.

BOR Babylonian and Oriental Record.

LA.. ..... Indian Antiquary.

IF Indogermanische Forschungen.

IS Weber's Indische Studien.

JA Journal Asiatique.

JAO.S Journal of the American Oriental Society.

JRAS. . . . Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.

KZ Kuhn's Zeitschrift flir vergleichende Sprachforschung.

OLS Whitney's Oriental and Linguistic Studies.

00 Benfey's Orient und Occident.

OST Muir's Original Sanskrit Texts.

PAOS. . . . Proceedings of the American Oriental Society.

SEE Sacred Books of the East.

WZKiSI. . . . Wiener Zeitschrift fiir die Kunde des Morgenlandes.

VS Pischel's and Geldner's V'edische Studien.

ZDA Ilaupt's Zeitschrift fiir Deutsches Alterthum.

ZDMG. . . . Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft.

MAP OF
AXCIENT IXDIA

AFTER KeIPERT
Scai.k of Miles

0 lOJ 200 *iO 4''lO

THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

CHAPTER L — INTRODUCTION.

SOURCES. — DATES. — METHODS OF INTERPRETATION.—

DIVISIONS OF SUBJECT.

SOURCES.

India always has been a land of religions. In the earliest
Vedic literature are found not only hymns in praise of the
accepted gods, but also doubts in regard to the worth of
these gods ; the beginnings of a new religion incorporated
into the earliest records of the old. And later, when, about
300 B.C., Megasthenes was in India, the descendants of those
first theosophists are still discussing, albeit in more modern
fashion, the questions that lie at the root of all religion.
" Of the philosophers, those that are most estimable he
terms Brahmans (/3pax/xavas). These discuss with many words
concerning death. For they regard death as being, for the
wise, a birth into real life — into the happy life. And in many
things they hold the same opinions with the Greeks : saying
that the universe was begotten and will be destroyed, and that
the world is a sphere, which the god who made and owns it
pervades throughout ; that there are different beginnings of
all things, but water is the beginning of world-making, while,
in addition to the four elements, there is, as fifth, a kind of
nature, whence came the sky and the stars, . . . And concern-
ing the seed of things and the soul they have much to say also,

2 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

whereby they weave in myths, just as does Plato, in regard to
the soul's immortality, judgment in hell, and such things."^

And as India conspicuously is a country of creeds, so is its
literature preeminently priestly and religious. From the first
Veda to the last Purana, religion forms either the subject-matter
of the most important works, or, as in the case of the epics,"
the basis of didactic excursions and sectarian interpolations,
which impart to worldly themes a tone peculiarly theological.
History and oratory are unknown in Indian literature. The
early poetry consists of hymns and religious poems ; the early
prose, of liturgies, linguistics, "law," theology, sacred legends
and other works, all of which are intended to supplement the
knowledge of the Veda, to explain ceremonies, or to inculcate
religious principles. At a later date, formal grammar and sys-
tems of philosophy, fables and commicntaries are added to
the prose; epics, secular lyric, drama, the Puranas and such
writings to the poetry. But in all this great mass, till that time
which Miiller has called the Renaissance — that is to say, till
after the Hindus were come into close contact with foreign
nations, notably the Greek, from which has been borrowed,
perhaps, the classical Hindu drama,' — there is no real litera-
ture that was not religious originally, or, at least, so apt for
priestly use as to become chiefly moral and theosophic ; while
the most popular w'orks of modern times are sectarian tracts,
Puranas, Tantras and remodelled worldly poetry. The sources,
then, from which is to be drawn the knowledge of Hindu
religions are the best possible — the original texts. The infor-

1 ISIegasthenes, Fr. XLI, ed. Schwanbeck.

2 Epic literature springs from lower castes than that of the priest, but it lias been
worked over by sacerdotal revisers till there is more theology than epic poetry in it.

3 See Weber, Sansk7-it Literature, p. 224 ; Windisch, Greek Influence on Indian
Drama ; and Levi, Le theatre indien. The date of the Renaissance is given as
"from the first century B.C. to at least the third century a.d.'' {hidia, p. 2S1).
Extant Hindu drama dates only from the fifth century a.d. We exclude, of course,
from " real literature ■' all technical hand-books and commentaries.

DA TES. 3

mation furnished by foreigners, from tlie times of Ktesias and
Megasthenes to that of Mandelslo, is considerable; but one is
warranted in assuming that what little in it is novel is inaccu-
rate, since otherwise the information would have been furnished
by the Hindus themselves; and that, conversely, an outsider's
statements, although presumably correct, often may give an
inexact impression through lack of completeness; as when — to
take an example that one can control — Ktesias tells half the
truth in regard to ordeals. His account is true, but he gives
no notion of the number or elaborate character of these inter-
esting ceremonies.

The sources to which we shall have occasion to refer will be,
then, the two most important collections of Vedic hymns — the
Rig Veda and the Atharva Veda ; the Brahmanic literature,
with the supplementary Upanishads, and the Sutras or mne-
monic abridgments of religious and ceremonial rules ; the
legal texts, and the religious and theological portions of the
epic ; and the later sectarian writings, called Puranas. The
great heresies, again, have their own special writings. Thus
far we shall draw on the native literature. Only for some of
the modern sects, and for the religions of the wild tribes which
have no literature, shall we have to depend on the accounts
of European writers.

DATES.

For none of the native religious works has one a certain
date. Nor is there for any one of the earlier compositions
the certainty that it belongs, as a whole, to any one time.
The Rig Veda was composed by successive generations ; the
Atharvan represents different ages ; each Brahmana appears to
belong in part to one era, in part to another; the earliest
Sutras (manuals of law, etc.) have been interpolated ; the
earliest metrical code is a composite ; the great epic is the
work of centuries ; and not only do the Upanishads and Puranas

4 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

represent collectively many different periods, but exactly to
which period each individually is to be assigned remains always
doubtful. Only in the case of the Buddhistic writings is there
a satisfactorily approximate terminus a quo, and even here
approximate means merely within the limit of centuries.

Nevertheless, criteria fortunately are not lacking to enable
one to assign the general bulk of any one work to a certain
period in the literary development ; and as these periods are,
if not sharply, yet plainly distinguishable, one is not in so
desperate a case as he might have expected to be, considering
that it is impossible to date with certainty any Hindu book or
writer before the Christian era. For, first, there exists a differ-
ence in language, demarcating the most important periods ;
and, secondly, the development of the literature has been upon
such lines that it is easy to say, from content and method of
treatment, whether a given class of writings is a product of
the Vedic, early Brahmanic, or late Brahmanic epochs. Usu-
ally, indeed, one is unable to tell whether a later Upanishad
was made first in the early or late Brahmanic period, but it is
known that the Upanishads, as a whole, i.e., the literary form
and philosophical material which characterize Upanishads,
were earlier than the latest Brahmanic period and subsequent
to the early Brahmanic period ; that they arose at the close of
the latter and before the rise of the former. So the Brah-
manas, as a whole, are subsequent to the Vedic age, although
some of the Vedic hymns appear to have been made up in the
same period with that of the early Brahmanas. Again, the
Puranas can be placed with safety after the late Brahmanic
age; and, consequently, subsequent to the Upanishads, al-
though it is probable that many Upanishads were written after
the first Puranas. The general compass of this enormous
literature is from an indefinite antiquity to about 1500 a.d.
A liberal margin of possible error must be allowed in the
assumption of any specific dates. The received opinion is that

DA TES. 5

the Rig Veda goes back to about 2000 B.C., yet are some
scholars inclined rather to accept 3000 B.C. as the time that
represents this era. Weber, in his Lectures on Saiiskrit Litera-
ture {^. 7), rightly says that to seek for an exact date is fruitless
labor; while Whitney compares Hindu dates to ninepins — set
up only to be bowled down again. Schroeder, in his Lndiens
Literatur und Cultur^ suggests that the prior limit may be "a few
centuries earlier than 1500," agreeing with Weber's preferred
reckoning ; but Whitney, Grassmann, and Benfey provisionally
assume 2000 B.C. as the starting point of Hindu literature.
The lowest possible limit for this event Miiller now places at
about 1500, which is recognized as a very cautious view;
most scholars thinking that Miiller's estimate gives too little
time for the development of the literary periods, which, in their
opinion, require, linguistically and otherwise, a greater number
of years. Brunnhofer more recently has suggested 2800 B.C.
as the terminus ; while the last writers on the subject (Tilak
and Jacobi) claim to have discovered that the period from
3500 to 2500 represents the Vedic age. Their conclusions,
however, are not very convincing, and have been disputed
vigorously.^ Without the hope of persuading such scholars
as are wedded to a terminus of three or four thousand years
ago that we are right, we add, in all deference to others, our
own opinion on this vexed question. Buddhism gives the first
semblance of a date in Hindu literature. Buddha lived in the
sixth century, and died probably about 480, possibly (Wester-
gaard's extreme opinion) as late as 368.- Before this time
arise the Sutras, back of which lie the earliest Upanishads, the
bulk of the Brahmanas, and all the Vedic poems. Now it is
probable that the Brahmanic literature itself extends to the

1 Jacobi, in Roth's Festgriiss^ pp. 72, 'j'l^ (1893); Whitney, Proceed. A. O. S., 1S94,
p. Ixxxii ; Perry, Pushan. in the Drisler Alemorial ; Weber, Vedische Bcitrlige.

2 Westergaard, Uebcr Buddha's Todesjahr. The prevalent opinion is that
Buddha died in 477 or 480 B.C.

6 THE RELIGIOXS OF INDIA.

time of Buddha and perhaps beyond it. For the rest of pre-
Buddhistic literature it seems to us incredible that it is neces-
sary to require, either from the point of vi^w of linguistic or
of social and religious development, the enormous period of
two thousand years. There are no other grounds on which
to base a reckoning except those of Jacobi and his Hindu
rival, who build on Vedic data results that hardly support the
superstructure they have erected. Jacobi's starting-point is
from a mock-serious hymn, which appears to be late and does
not establish, to whatever date it be assigned, the point of
departure from which proceeds his whole argument, as Whitney
has shown very well. One is driven back to the needs of
a literature in respect of time sufficient for it to mature.
What changes take place in language, even with a written
literature, in the space of a few centuries, may be seen in
Persian, Greek, Latin, and German. No two thousand years
are required to bridge the linguistic extremes of the Vedic
and classical Sanskrit language.^ But in content it will be
seen that the flower of the later literature is budding already in
the Vedic age. We are unable to admit that either in lan-
guage or social development, or in literary or religious growth,
more than a few centuries are necessary to account for the
whole development of Hindu literature (meaning thereby com-
positions, whether v.-ritten or not) up to the time of Buddha.
Moreover, if one compare the period at which arise the earliest
forms of literature among other Aryan peoples, it will seem
very strange that, whereas in the case of the Romans, Greeks,
and Persians, one thousand years B.C. is the extreme limit
of such literary activity as has produced durable works, the
Hindus two or three thousand years B.C. were creating

1 It must not be forgotten in estimating the broad mass of Brahmanas and Sutras
that each as a school represents almost the whole length of its period, and hence one
school alone should measure the time from end to end, which reduces to very moderate
dimensions the literature to be accounted for in time.

DA TES. 7

poetry so finished, so refined, and, from a metaphysical
point of view, so advanced as is that of the Rig Veda.
If, as is generally assumed, the (prospective) Hindus and
Persians were last to leave the common Aryan habitat, and
came together to the south-east, the difficulty is increased ;
especially in the light of modern opinion in regard to the ficti-
tious antiquity of Persian (Iranian) literature. For if Darme-
steter be correct in holding the time of the latter to be
at most a century before our era, the incongruity between
that oldest date of Persian literature and the " two or three
thousand years before Christ," which are claimed in the case
of the Rig Veda, becomes so great as to make the latter as-
sumption more dubious than ever.

We think in a word, without wishing to be dogmatic, that
the date of the Rig Veda is about on a par, historically, with
that of ' Homer,' that is to say, the Collection^ represents a
long period, which was completed perhaps two hundred years
after looo B.C., while again its earliest beginnings precede that
date possibly by five centuries ; but we would assign the bulk
of the Rig Veda to about looo B.C. With conscious imitation
of older speech a good deal of archaic linguistic effect doubt-
less was produced by the latest poets, who really belong to the
Brahmanic age. The Brahmanic age in turn ends, as we
opine, about 500 B.C., overlapping the Sutra period as well as
that of the first Upanishads. The former class of writings
(after 500 b.c. one may talk of writings) is represented by
dates that reach from circa 600-500 B.C. nearly to our era.
Buddhism's floruit is from 500 B.C. to 500 a.d., and epic
Hinduism covers nearly the same centuries. From 500 to 1000
Buddhism is in a state of decadence ; and through this time
extend the dramatic and older Puranic writings ; while other

1 ' Rig Veda Collection ' is the native name for that which in the Occident is called
Rig Veda, the latter term embracing, to the Hindu, all the works (Brahmanas, Siitras,
etc.) that go to explain the ' Collection ' (of hymns).

8 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

Puranas are as late as 1500, at which time arises the great
modern reforming sect of the Sikhs. In the matter of the earUer
termini a century may be added or subtracted here and there,
but these convenient divisions of five hundreds will be found
on the whole to be sufficiently accurate.-^

METHODS OF INTERPRETATION.

At the outset of his undertaking a double problem presents
itself to one that w^ould give, even in compact form, a view of
Hindu religions. This problem consists in explaining, and, in
so far as is possible, reconciling opposed opinions in regard
not only to the nature of these religions but also to the
method of interpreting the Vedic hymns.

That the Vedic religion was naturalistic and mytho-poetic is
doubted by few. The Vedic hymns laud the powers of nature
and natural phenomena as personified gods, or even as imper-
sonal phenomena. They praise also as distinct powers the
departed fathers. In the Rig Veda I. 168, occur some verses
in honor of the storm-gods called Maruts : " Self-yoked are
they come lightly from the sky. The immortals urge them-
selves on with the goad. Dustless, born of power, with shining
spears the Maruts overthrow the strongholds. Who is it, O
Maruts, ye that have lightning-spears, that impels you within ?
. . . The streams roar from the tires, when thev send out their
cloud-voices," etc. Nothing would seem more justifiable, in view
of this hymn and of many like it, than to assume with Miiller
and other Indologians, that the Marut-gods are personifications
of natural phenomena. As clearly do Indra and the Dawn
appear to be natural phenomena. But no less an authority than
Herbert Spencer has attacked this view : " Facts imply that

1 Schroeder, /^^/Vwi^ Literatiir uiid Cn/hir, -p. 2gi, gives: Rig- Veda, 2000-1000
B.C.; older Brahmanas, looo-Soo; later Brahmanas and Upanishads, 800-600 j
Sutras, 600-400 or 300.

METHODS OF INTERPRETATION. 9

the conception of the dawn as a person results from the giving
of dawn as a birth-name." ^ 'And again : '' If, then, Dawn [in
New Zealand and elsewhere] is an actual name for a person,
if where there prevails this mode of distinguishing children, it
has probably often been given to those born early in the morn-
ing; the traditions concerning one of such who became noted,
would, in the mind of the uncritical savage . . . lead to identi-
fication with the dawn."- In another passage: " The primi-
tive god is the superior man . . . propitiated during his life
and still more after his death." ^ Summing up, Spencer thus
concludes : " Instead of seeing in the common character of
so-called myths, that they describe combats of beings using
w^eapons, evidence that they arose out of human transactions ;
mythologists assume that the order of Nature presents itself
to the undeveloped mind in terms of victories and defeats."^
Moreover (a posteriorly^ " It is not true that the primitive man
looks at the powers of Nature with awe. It is not true that
he speculates about their characters and causes." ^ If Spencer
had not included in his criticism the mythologists that have
written on Vedic religion, there would be no occasion to take
his opinion into consideration. But since he claims by the
light of his comparative studies to have shown that in the Rig
Veda the "so-called nature gods," "^ were not the oldest, and
explains Dawn here exactly as he does in New Zealand, it
becomes necessary to point out, that apart from the question
of the origin of religions in general, Spencer has made a fatal
error in assuming that he is dealing in the Rig Veda with
primitive religion, uncritical savages, and undeveloped minds.
And furthermore, as the poet of the Rig Veda is not primitive,
or savage, or undeveloped, so when he worships Dyaus pitar
(Zevs rrarrip) as the ' sky-father,' he not only makes it evident

1 Principles of Sociology, I. p. 448 (Appleton, 1S82).

2 lb. p. 398. 3 lb. p. 427. 4 lb. p. 824.
5 lb. 6 lb. p. 821.

10 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

to every reader that he really is worshipping the visible sky
above ; but in his descriptions of gods such as Indra, the
Dawn, and some other new gods he invents from time to time,
long after he has passed the savage, primitive, and undeveloped
state, he makes it no less clear that he worships phenomena
as they stand before him (rain, cloud, lightning, etc.), so that
by analogy with what is apparent in the case of later divinities,
one is led inevitably to predicate the same origin as theirs in
the case of the older gods.

But it is unnecessary to spend time on this point. It is im-
possible for any sober scholar to read the Rig Veda and believe
that the Vedic poets are not worshipping natural phenomena ;
or that the phenomena so worshipped were not the original
forms of these gods. Whether at a more remote time there
was ever a period when the pre-historic Hindu, or his pre-
Indic ancestor, worshipped the Manes exclusively is another
question, and one with which at present we have nothing to
do. The history of Hindu religions begins with the Rig Veda,
and in this period the worship of Manes and that of natural
phenomena were distinct, nor are there any indications that
the latter was ever developed from the former. It is not
denied that the Hindus made gods of departed men. They
did this long after the Vedic period. But there is no proof
that all the Vedic gods, as claims Spencer, were the worshipped
souls of the dead. No argumentum a fcro can show in a Vedic
dawn-hymn anything other than a hymn to personified Dawai,
or make it probable that this dawn was ever a mortal's name.

In respect of that which precedes all tradition we, whose
task is not to speculate in regard to primitive religious con-
ceptions, but to give the history of one people's religious prog-
ress, may be pardoned for expressing no opinion. But without
abandoning history (/.f., tradition) we would revert for a moment
to the pre-Indian period and point out that Zarathustra's re-
jection of the dacvas^ which must be the same devas that ars

METHODS OF IXTERPRETATION. 11

worshipped in India, proves that deva-^ox'i\\v^ is the immediate
predecessor of the Hindu religion. As far back as one can
scrutinize tiie Aryan past he finds, as the earUest known objects
of reverence, 'sun' and 'sky,' besides and beside the blessed
Manes. A word here regarding the priority of monotheism or
of polytheism. The tradition is in favor of the latter, while on
a priori grounds whoever thinks that the more primitive the race
the more apt it is for monotheism will postulate, with some of
the older scholars, an assumed monotheism as the pre-historic
religion of the Hindus ; while whosoever opines that man has
gradually risen from a less intellectual stage will see in the
early gods of the Hindus only another illustration of one uni-
versal fact, and posit even Aryan polytheism as an advance
on the religion which it is probable that the remoter ancestors
of the Aryans once acknowledged.

A word perhaps should be said, also, in order to a better
understanding between the ethnologists as represented by
Andrew Lang, and the unfortunate philologists whom it de-
lights him to pommel. Lang's clever attacks on the myth-
makers, whom he persistently describes as the philologists —
and they do indeed form part of that camp — have had the
effect of bringing 'philological theories' into sad disrepute
with sciolists and ' common-sense ' people. But the sun-myths
and dawn-myths that the myth-makers discover in Cinderella
and Red Riding Hood, ought not to be fathered upon all
philologists. On the other hand, who will deny that in India
certain mythological figures are eoian or solar in origin ? Can
any one question that Vivasvant the ' wide gleaming ' is sun
or bright sky, as he is represented in the Avesta and Rig
Veda ? Yet is a very anthropomorphic, nay, earthly figure,
made out of this god. Or is Mr. Lang ignorant that the god
Yima became Jemshid, and that Feridun is only the god Trita ?
It undoubtedly is correct to illuminate the past with other light
than that of sun or dawn, yet that these lights have shone and

12 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

have been quenched in certain personahties may be granted
without doing violence to scientific principles. All purely
etymological mythology is precarious, but one may recognize
sun-myths without building a system on the basis of a Dawn-
Helen, and without referring Ilium to the Vedic bila. Again,
myths about gods, heroes, and fairies are to be segregated.
Even in India, which teems with it, there is little, if any, folk-
lore that can be traced to solar or dawn-born myths. Mr. Lang
represents a healthy reaction against too much sun-myth, but
we think that there are sun-myths still, and that despite his
protests all religion is not grown from one seed.

There remains the consideration of the second part of the
double problem which was formulated above — the method of
interpretation. The native method is to believe the scholiasts'
explanations, which often are fanciful and, in all important
points, totally unreliable ; since the Hindu commentators lived
so long after the period of the literature they expound that
the tradition they follow is useful only in petty details. From
a modern point of view the question of interpretation depends
mainly on whether one regard the Rig Veda as but an Indie
growth, the product of the Hindu mind alone, or as a work
that still retains from an older age ideas which, having once
been common to Hindu and Iranian, should be compared with
those in the Persian Avesta and be illustrated by them. Again,
if this latter hypothesis be correct, how is one to interpret an
apparent likeness, here and there, between Indie and foreign
notions, — is it possible that the hymns were composed, in
part, before the advent of the authors into India, and is it for
this reason that in the Rig Veda are contained certain names,
ideas, and legends, which do not seem to be native to India?
On the other hand, if one adopt the theory that the Rig Veda
is wholly a native work, in how far is he to suppose that it is
separable from Brahmanic formalism ? Were the hymns made
independently of any ritual, as their own excuse for being, or

METHODS OF INTERPRETATION. 13

were they composed expressly for the sacrifice, as part of a
formal cult ?

Here are views diverse enough, but each has its advocate or
advocates. According to the earlier European writers the Vedic
poets are fountains of primitive thought, streams unsullied
by any tributaries, and in reading them one quaffs a fresh
draught, the gush of unsophisticated herdsmen, in whose re-
ligion there is to be seen a childlike belief in natural phenomena
as divine forces, over which forces stands the Heaven-god as
the highest power. So in 1869 Pfleiderer speaks of the "pri-
meval childlike naive prayer" of Rig Veda vi. 51. 5 ("Father
sk}^ mother earth," etc.);^ while Pictet, in his work Les Ori-
gines Lido-Etiropeejines., maintains that the Aryans had a primi-
tive monotheism, although it was vague and rudimentary ; for
he regards both Iranian dualism and Hindu polytheism as
being developments of one earlier monism (claiming that
Iranian dualism is really monotheistic). Pictet's argument is
that the human mind must have advanced from the simple to
the complex ! Even Roth believes in an originally " supreme
deity" of the Aryans.- Opposed to this, the 'naive' school of
such older scholars as Roth, Miiller,'^ and Grassmann, who see
in the Rig Veda an ingenuous expression of ' primitive ' ideas,
stand the theories of Bergaigne, who interprets everything
allegorically; and of Pischel and Geldner, realists, whose gen-
eral opinions may thus be formulated : The poets of the Rig
Veda are not childlike and naive ; they represent a compara-
tively late period of culture, a society not only civilized, but
even sophisticated ; a mode of thought philosophical and scep-

1 Compare Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts ^ V. p. 412 ff., where are given the
opinions of Pfleiderer, Pictet, Roth, Scherer, and others.

^ ZDMG., vi. "]"]■. " Ein alter gemeinsam arischer [indo-iranic], ja vielleicht ge-
meinsam indo-germanischer oberster Gott, Varuna-Ormuzd-Uranos."

3 In his Science of Language^ Miiller speaks of the early poets who " strove in
their childish way to pierce beyond the limits of this finite world." Approvingly
cited, SBE. xxxii. p, 243 (1891). ^

14 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

tical ; a religion not only ceremonious but absolutely stereotyped.
In regard to the Aryanhood of the hymns, the stand taken
by these latter critics, who renounce even Bergaigne's slight
hold on mythology, is that the Rig Veda is thoroughly Indie.
It is to be explained by the light of the formal Hindu ritual-
ism, and even by epic worldliness, its fresh factors being lewd
gods, harlots, and race-horses. Bloomfield, w]io does not go
so far as this, claims that the 'Vedic' age really is a Brahmanic
age ; that Vedic religion is saturated wdth Brahmanic ideas
and Brahmanic formalism, so that the Rig Veda ought to be
looked upon as made for the ritual, not the ritual regarded
as ancillary to the Rig Veda.-^ This scholar maintains that
there is scarcely any chronological distinction between the
hymns of the Rig Veda and the Brahmana, both forms having
probably existed together "from earliest times"; and that
not a single Vedic hymn " was ever composed without
reference to ritual application"; nay, all the hymns were
"liturgical from the very start." ^ This is a plain advance
even on Bergaigne's opinion, who finally regarded all the
family-books of the Rig Veda as composed to subserve the
so7na-Q.\\S.\.?

In the Rig Veda occur hymns of an entirely worldly charac-
ter, the lament of a gambler, a humorous description of frogs
croaking like priests, a funny picture of contemporary morals
(describing how every one lusts after wealth), and so forth.
From these alone it becomes evident that the ritualistic view
must be regarded as one somewhat exaggerated. But if the
liturgical extremist appears to have stepped a little beyond
the boundary of probability, he yet in daring remains far

1 The older view may be seen in Miiller's Lecture on the Vedas (Chips, I. p. 9) :
" A collection made for its own sake, and not for the sake of any sacrificial per-
formance." For Pischel's view, compare Vedische Sttidien, I. Preface.

2 Bloomfield, JAOS., xv. p. 144.

3 Compare Barth (Preface): "A literature preeminently sacerdotal. . . . The poetry
„ . . of a singularly refined character, . . . full of . . . pretensions to mysticism," etc.

METHODS OF INTERPRETATION. 15

behind Bergaigne's disciple Regnaud, who has a mystical
'system,' which is, indeed, the outcome of Bergaigne's great
work, though it is very improbable that the latter would have
looked with favor upon his follower's results. In Le Rig Veda
(Paris, 1892) Paul Regnaud, emphasizing again the connec-
tion between the liturgy and the hymns, refers every word of
the Rig Veda to the sacrifice in its simplest form, the oblation.
According to this author the Hindus had forgotten the mean-
ing of their commonest words, or consistently employed them
in their hymns in a meaning different to that in ordinary use.
The very word for god, deva (deus), no longer means the 'shin-
ing one' (the god), but the 'burning oblation'; the common
word for mountain, giri, also means oblation, and so on. This
is Bergaigne's allegorical mysticism run mad.

At such perversion of reasonable criticism is the exegesis of
the Veda arrived in one direction. But in another it is gone
astray no less, as misdirected by its clever German leader.
In three volumes ^ Brunnhofer has endeavored to prove that
far from being a Brahmanic product, the Rig Veda is not even
the work of Hindus ; that it was composed near the Caspian
Sea long before the Aryans descended into India. Brunn-
hofer's books are a mine of ingenious conjectures, as sugges-
tive in detail as on the whole they are unconvincing. His
fundamental error is the fancy that names and ideas which
might be Iranian or Turanian would prove, if such they really
could be shown to be, that the work in which they are con-
tained must be Iranian or Turanian. He relies in great meas-
ure on passages that always have been thought to be late, either
whole late hymns or tags added to old hymns, and on the most
daring changes in the text, changes which he makes in order
to prove his hypothesis, although there is no necessity for
making them. The truth that underlies Brunnhofer's extrava-

1 Iran nnd Tiiran, 1889 ; Vom Pontiis bis ziim Indus^ 1S90; Vom Aral bis zur
Gangd, 1S92.

16 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

gance is that there are foreign names in the Rig Veda, and
this is all that he has proved thus far.

In regard to the relation between the Veda and the Avesta
the difference of views is too individual to have formed systems
of interpretation on that basis alone. Every competent
scholar recognizes a close affinity between the Iranian Yima
and the Hindu Yama, between the soi7ia-Q.\A\. and the Jiaoj7ia-
cult, but in how far the thoughts and forms that have clustered
about one development are to be compared with those of the
other there is no general agreement and there can be none.
The usual practice, however, is to call the Iranian Yima., haoma.,
etc., to one's aid if they subserve one's own view of Ya7na,
sojna, and other Hindu parallels, and to discard analogous
features as an independent growth if they do not. This pro-
cedure is based as well on the conditions of the problem as on
the conditions of human judgment, and must not be criticized
too severelv ; for in fact the two relisfions here and there touch
each other so nearly that to deny a relation between them is
impossible, while in detail they diverge so widely that it is
always questionable whether a coincidence of ritual or belief
be accidental or imply historical connection.

It is scarcely advisable in a concise review of several reli-
gions to enter upon detailed criticism of the methods of inter-
pretation that affect for the most part only the earliest of them.
But on one point, the reciprocal relations between the Vedic
and Brahmanic periods, it is necessary to say a few words.
Why is it that well-informed Y^edic scholars differ so widely
in regard to the ritualistic share in the making of the Veda.''
Because the extremists on either side in formulating the prin-
ciples of their system forget a fact that probably no one of
them if questioned would fail to acknowledge. The Rig Veda
is not a homogeneous whole. It is a work which successive
generations have produced, and in which are represented differ-
ent views, of local or sectarian origin ; while the hymns from a

METHODS OF INTERPRETATION. 17

literary point of view are of varying value. The latter is a fact
which has been ignored frequently, but it is more important
than any other. For one has almost no criteria, with which to
discover whether the hymns precede or follow the ritual, other
than the linguistic posteriority of the ritualistic literature, and
the knowledge that there were priests with a ritual when some
of the hymns were composed. The bare fact that hymns are
found rubricated in the later literature is surely no reason for
believing that such hymns were made for the ritual. Now
while it can be shown that a large number of hymns are
formal, conventional, and mechanical in expression, and while
it may be argued with plausibility that these were composed to
serve the purpose of an established cult, this is very far from
being the case with many which, on other grounds, may be sup-
posed to belong severally to the older and later part of the
Rig Veda. Yet does the new school, in estimating the hymns,
never admit this. The poems always are spoken of as ' sacer-
dotal,' 'ritualistic,' without the slightest attempt to see whether
this be true of all or of some alone. We claim that it is not
historical, it is not judicious from a literary point of view, to
fling indiscriminately together the hymns that are evidently
ritualistic and those of other value ; for, finally, it is a sober
literary judgment that is the court of appeals in regard to
whether poetry be poetry or not. Now let one take a hymn
containing, to make it an unexceptionable example, nothing
very profound or very beautiful. It is this well-known

Hymn to the Sun {Rig Veda, I. 50).

Aloft this all-wise^ shining god
His beams of light are bearing now,
That every one the sun may see.

1 Or "all-possessing" (Whitney). The metre of the translation retains the num-
ber of feet in the original. Four (later added) stanzas are here omitteds.

18 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

Apart, as were they thieves, yon stars,
Together with the night, ^ withdraw
Before the sun, who seeth all.

His beams of light have been beheld
Afar, among (all) creatures ; rays
Splendid as were they (blazing) fiies.

Impetuous-swift, beheld of all,
Of light the maker, thou, O Sun,
Thou all the gleaming (sky) illum'st.

Before the folk of shining gods
Thou risest up, and men before,
'Fore all — to be as light beheld ;

(To be) thine eye, O pure bright Heaven,
"Wherewith amid (all) creatures born
Thou gazest down on busy (man).

Thou goest across the sky's broad place,
Meting with rays, O Sun, the days,
And watching generations pass.

The steeds are seven that at thy car
Bear up the god whose hair is flame
O shining god, O Sun far-seen !

Yoked hath he now his seven fair steeds.
The daughters of the sun-god's car,
Yoked but by him ; "^ with these he comes.

For some thousands of years these verses have been the
daily prayer of the Hindu. They have been incorporated into
the ritual in this form. They are rubricated, and the nine
stanzas form part of a prescribed service. But, surely, it were
a literary hysteron-proteron to conclude for this reason that
they were made only to fill a part in an established ceremony.

1 So P.W. Possibly "by reason of (the sun^s) rays"; ?>., the stars fear the sun
as thieves fear light. For ' Heaven,' here and below, see the third chapter.

- Yoked only by him ; literally, '• self-yoked." Seven is used in the Rig Veda in
the general sense of "many," as in Shakespeare's "a vile thief this seven years."

METHODS OF INTERPRETATION. 19

The praise is neither perfunctory nor lacking in a really religious
tone. It has a directness and a simplicity, without affectation,
which would incline one to believe that it was not made
mechanically, but composed with a devotional spirit that gave
voice to genuine feeling.

We will now translate another poem (carefully preserving all
the tautological phraseology), a hymn

To Dawn {Rig Veda, VI. 64).

Aloft the lights of Dawn, for beauty gleaming,
Have risen resplendent, like to waves of water ;
She makes fair paths, (makes) all accessible ;
And good is she, munificent and kindly.

Thou lovely lookest, through wide spaces shin'st thou,
Up fly thy fiery shining beams to heaven ;
Thy bosom thou reveals't, thyself adorning,
Aurora, goddess gleaming bright in greatness.

The ruddy kine (the clouds) resplendent bear her,
The Blessed One, who far and wide extendeth.
As routs his foes a hero armed with arrows,
As driver swift, so she compels the darkness.

Thy ways are fair ; thy paths, upon the mountains ;

In calm, self-shining one, thou cross'st the waters. '

O thou whose paths are wide, to us, thou lofty

Daughter of Heaven, bring wealth for our subsistence.

Bring (wealth), thou Dawn, who, with the kine, untroubled
Dost bring us good commensurate with pleasure.
Daughter of Heaven, who, though thou art a goddess,
Didst aye at morning-call come bright and early.

Aloft the birds fly ever from their dwelling.
And men, who seek for food, at thy clear dawning.
E'en though a mortal stay at home and serve thee.
Much joy to him. Dawn, goddess (bright), thou bringest.

The " morning call " might, indeed, suggest the ritual, but
it proves only a morning prayer or offering. Is this poem

20 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

of a "singularly refined character," or "preeminently sacer-
dotal " in appearance ? One other example (in still a different
metre) may be examined, to see if it bear on its face evidence
of having been made with "reference to ritual application," or
of being " liturgical from the very start."

To Indra {Rig Veda, I. ii).

'Tis Indra all (our) songs extol,
Him huge as ocean in extent ;
Of warriors chiefest warrior he,
Lord, truest lord for booty's gain.

In friendship, Indra, strong as thine
Naught will we fear, O lord of strength;
To thee we our laudations sing.
The conqueror unconquered.^

The gifts of Indra many are.
And inexhaustible his help
Whene'er to them that praise he gives
The gift of booty rich in kine.

A fortress-render, youthful, wise,
Immeasurably strong was born
Indra, the doer of every deed.
The lightning-holder, far renowned.

'Twas thou, Bolt-holder, rent'st the cave
Of Val, who held the (heavenly) kine ; ^
Thee helped the (shining) gods, when roused
(To courage) by the fearless one.^

1 Jetdrmn aparajitam. 2 The rain, see next note.

3 After this stanza two interpolated stanzas are here omitted. Grassman and
Ludwig give the epithet " fearless •' to the gods and to Vala, respectively. But com-
pare 1. 6. 7, where the same word is used of Indra. For the oft-mentioned act of
cleaving the cave, where the dragon Val or Vritra (the restrainer or envelopper) had
coralled the kine {i.e., without metaphor, for the act of freeing the clouds and letting
loose the rain), compare I. 32. 2, where of Indra it is said: ''He slew the snake that
lay upon the mountains . . . like bellowing kine the waters, swiftly flowing, descended
to the sea"; and verse 11 : "Watched by the snake the waters stood . . . the waters'
covered cave he opened wide, vvh::t time he Vritra slew."

METHODS OF INTERPRETATION. 21

Indra, who lords it by his strength,
Our praises now have loud proclaimed ;
His generous gifts a thousand are,
Aye, even more than this are they.

This is poetry. Not great poetry perhaps, but certainly not
ground out to order, as some of the hymns appear to have
been. Yet, it may be said, why could not a poetic hymn have
been written in a ritualistic environment ? But it is on the
hymns themselves that one is forced to depend for the belief
in the existence of ritualism, and we claim that such hymns as
these, which we have translated as literally as possible, show
rather that they were composed without reference to ritual
application. It must not be forgotten that the ritual, as it is
known in the Brahmanas, without the slightest doubt, from the
point of view of language, social conditions, and theology,
represents an age that is very different to that illustrated by
the mass of the hymns. Such hymns, therefore, and only
such as can be proved to have a ritualistic setting can be
referred to a ritualistic age. There is no convincing reason
why one should not take the fully justified view that some of
the hymns represent a freer and more natural (less priest-
bound) age, as they represent a spirit freer and less mechanical
than that of other hymns. As to the question which hymns,
early or late, be due to poetic feeling, and which to ritualistic
mechanism or servile imitation, this can indeed be decided
by a judgment based only on the literary quality, never on the
accident of subsequent rubrication.

We hold, therefore, in this regard, that the new school, valu-
able and suggestive as its work has been, is gone already
farther than is judicious. The Rig Veda in part is synchro-
nous with an advanced ritualism, subjected to it, and in some
cases derived from it ; but in part the hymns are " made for
their own sake and not for the sake of any sacrificial perform-
ance," as said Miiller of the whole ; going in this too far, but

22 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

not into greater error than are gone they that confuse the
natural with the artificial, the poetical with the mechanical,
gold with dross. It may be true that the books of the Rig
Veda are chiefly family-books for the so7na-Q.v\\.^ but even were
it true it would in no wise impugn the poetic character of some
of the hymns contained in these books. The drag-net has
scooped up old and new, good and bad, together. The Rig
Veda is not of one period or of one sort. It is a ' Collection,'
as says its name. It is essentially impossible that any sweep-
ing statement in regard to its character should be true if that
character be regarded as uniform. To say that the Rig Veda
represents an age of childlike thought, a period before the
priestly ritual began its spiritual blight, is incorrect. But no
less incorrect is it to assert that the Rig Veda represents a
period when hymns are made only for rubrication by priests that
sing only for baksheesh. Scholars are too prone to-day to
speak of the Rig Veda in the same way as the Greeks spoke of
Homer. It is to be hoped that the time may soon come when
critics will no longer talk about the Collection as if it were all
made in the same circumstances and at the same time ; above
all is it desirable that the literary quality of the hymns may re-
ceive due attention, and that there may be less of those universal
asseverations which treat the productions of generations of
poets as if they were the work of a single author.

In respect of the method of reading into the Rig Veda what is
found in parallel passages in the Atharva Veda and Brahmanas,
a practice much favored by Ludwig and others, the results of
its application have been singularly futile in passages of im-
portance. Often a varied reading will make clearer a doubtful
verse, but it by no means follows that the better reading is the
truer. There always remains the lurking suspicion that the
reason the variant is more intelligible is that its inventor did
not understand the original. As to real elucidation of other
sort by the later texts, in the minutiae of the outer world, in

METHODS OF INTERPRETATION, 23

details of priestcraft, one may trust early tradition tentatively,
just as one does late commentators, but in respect of ideas
tradition is as apt to mislead as to lead well. The cleft be-
tween the theology of the Rig Veda and that of the Brah-
manas, even from the point of view of the mass of hymns that
comprise the former, is too great to allow us with any content
to explain the conceptions of the one by those of the other.
A tradition always is useful when nothing else offers itself, but
traditional beliefs are so apt to take the color of new eras that
they should be employed only in the last emergency, and then
with the understanding that they are of very hypothetical value.
In conclusion a practical question remains to be answered.
In the few cases where the physical basis of a Rig Vedic deity
is matter of doubt, is it advisable to present such a deity in the
form in which he stands in the text or to endeavor historically
to elucidate the figure by searching for his physical prototype ?
We have chosen the former alternative, partly because we
think the latter method unsuitable to a handbook, since it
involves many critical discussions of theories of doubtful value.
But this is not the chief reason. Granted that the object of
study is simply to know the Rig Veda, rightly to grasp the
views held by the poets, and so to place oneself upon their
plane of thought, it becomes obvious that the farther the
student gets from their point of view the less he understands
them. Nay, more, every bit of information, real as well as
fancied, which in regard to the poets' own divinities furnishes
one with more than the poets themselves knew or imagined,
is prejudicial to a true knowledge of Vedic beliefs. Here
if anywhere is applicable that test of desirable knowledge
formulated as das E7'kenneii dcs Erkajinten. To set oneself in
the mental sphere of the Vedic seers, as far as possible to
think their thoughts, to love, fear, and admire with them —
this is the necessary beginning of intimacy, which precedes
the appreciation that gives understanding.

24 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

DIVISIONS OF THE SUBJECT.

After the next chapter, which deals with the people and
land, we shall begin the examination of Hindu religions with
the study of the beliefs and religious notions to be found in
the Rig Veda. Next to the Rig Veda in time stands the
Atharva Veda, which represents a growing demonology in con-
trast with >s-6';;/^z- worship and theology ; sufficiently so at least
to deserve a special chapter. These two Vedic Collections
naturally form the first period of Hindu religion.

The Vedic period is followed by what is usually termed
Brahmanism, the religion that is inculcated in the rituals
called Brahmana and its later development in the Upanishads.
These two classes of works, together with the Yajur Veda, will
make the next divisions of the whole subject. The formal
religion of Brahmanism, as laid down for popular use and
instruction in the law-books, is a side of Brahmanic religion
that scarcely has been noticed, but it seems to deserve all the
space allotted to it in the chapter on ' The Popular Brahmanic
Faith.' We shall then review Jainism and Buddhism, the two
chief heresies. Brahmanism penetrates the great epic poem
which, however, in its present form is sectarian in tendency, and
should be separated as a growth of Hinduism from the literature
of pure Brahmanism. Nevertheless, so intricate and perplexing
would be the task of unraveling the theologic threads that
together make the yarn of the epic, and in many cases it would
be so doubtful whether any one thread led to Brahmanism or
to the wider and more catholic religion called Hinduism, that
we should have preferred to give up the latter name altogether,
as one that was for the most part idle, and in some degree
misleading. Feeling, however, that a mere manual should not
take the initiative in coining titles, we have admitted this un-
satisfactory word ' Hinduism ' as the title of a chapter which
undertakes to give a comprehensive view of the religions

DIVISIONS OF THE SUBJECT. 25

endorsed by the many-centuried epic, and to explain theii
mutual relations. As in the case of the 'Popular Faith,' we
have had here no models to go upon, and the mass of matter
which it was necessary to handle — the great epic is about
eight times as long as the Iliad and Odyssey put together —
must be our excuse for many imperfections of treatment in this
part of the work. The reader will gain at least a view of the
religious development as it is exhibited in the literature, and
therefore, as far as possible, in chronological order. The
modern sects and the religions of the hill tribes of India form
almost a necessary supplement to these nobler religions of the
classical literature ; the former because they are the logical as
well as historical continuation of the great Hindu sectarian
schisms, the latter because they give the solution of some
problems connected with Qivaism, and, on the other hand,
offer useful un-Aryan parallels to a few traits which have been
preserved in the earliest period of the Aryans.^

1 Aryan, Sanskrit aryci, arya, Avestan airya, appears to mean the loyal or the
good, and may be the original national designation, just as the Medes were long
called "Apioi. In late Sanskrit drya is simply ' noble.' The word survives, perhaps,
in dpLCTTos, and is found in proper names, Persian Ariobarzanes, Teutonic Ariovistus ;
as well as in tlie names of people and countries, Vedic Aryas, Iran, Iranian ; (doubt-
ful) Airem, Erin, Ireland. Compare Zimmer, BB. iii. p. 137 ; Kaegi, Dcr Rig Veda,
p. 144 (Arrowsmith's translation, p. 109). In the Rig Veda there is a god Aryaman,
* the true,' who forms with Mitra and Varuna a triad (see below). Windisch ques-
tions the propriety of identifying Iran with Erin, and Schrader (p. 5S4-) doubts
whether the Indo-Europeans as a body ever called themselves Aryans. We employ
the latter name because it is short.

CHAPTER II.

PEOPLE AND LAND.

The Aryan Hindus, whose religions we describe in this
volume,^ formed one of the Aryan or so-called Indo-European
peoples. To the other peoples of this stock, Persians, Ar-
menians, Greeks, Italians, Kelts, Teutons, Slavs, the Hindus
were related closely by language, but very remotely from the
point of view of their primitive religion. Into India the Aryans
brought little that was retained in their religious systems, A
few waning gods, the worship of ancestors, and some simple
rites are common to them and their western relations ; but
with the exception of the Iranians (Persians), their religious
connection with cis-Indic peoples is of the slightest. With
the Iranians, the Hindus (that were to be) appear to have
lived longest in common after the other members of the Aryan
host were dispersed to west and south.- They stand in closer
religious touch with these, their nearest neighbors, and in the
time of the Rig Veda (the Hindus' earliest literature) there
are traces of a connection comparatively recent between the
pantheons of the two nations.

According to their own, rather uncertain, testimony, the
Aryans of the Rig Veda appear to have consisted of five tribal
groups.^ These groups, j'anas, Latin gens, are subdivided into

1 We take this opportunity of stating that by the religions of the Aryan Hindus
we mean the religions of a people who, undoubtedly, were full-blooded Ai-yans at
first, however much their blood may have been diluted later by un-Aryan admixture.
Till the time of Buddhism the religious literature is fairly Aryan. In the period
of " Hinduism" neither people nor religion can claim to be quite Aryan.

~ If, as thinks Schrader, the Aryans' original seat was on the Volga, then one
must imagine the Indo-Iranians to have kept together in a south-eastern emigration.

3 That is to say, frequent reference is made to ' five tribes.' Some scholars deny
that the tribes are Aryan alone, and claim that ' five,' like seven, means ' many.'

PEOPLE AND LAXD. 27

vi f as *lj2itin vicus, and these, again, into gramas. The names,
however, are not employed with strictness, and jana, etymo-
logically gens but politically tribus, sometimes is used as a
synonym of grdma.^ Of the ten books of the Rig- Veda seven
are ascribed to various priestly families. In the main, these
books are rituals of song as inculcated for the same rites by
different family priests and their descendants. Besides these
there are books which are ascribed to no family, and consist,
in part, of more general material. The distinction of priestly
family-books was one, possibly, coextensive with political de-
marcation. Each of the family-books represents a priestly
family, but it may represent, also, a political family. In at
least one case it represents a political body.^

These great political groups, which, perhaps, are represented
by family rituals, were essentially alike in language, custom
and religion (although minor ritualistic differences probably
obtained, as well as tribal preference for particular cults);
while in all these respects, as well as in color and other racial
peculiarities, the Aryans were distinguished from the dark-
skinned aborigines, with whom, until the end of the Rig Vedic
period, they were perpetually at war. At the close of this
period the immigrant Aryans had reduced to slavery many of
their unbelieving and barbarian enemies, and formally incor-
porated them into the state organization, where, as captives,
slaves, or sons of slaves, the latter formed the "fourth caste."
But while admitting these slaves into the body politic, the
priestly Aryans debarred them from the religious congregation.
Between the Aryans themselves there is in this period a loosely
defined distinction of classes, but no system of caste is known
before the close of the first Vedic Collection. Nevertheless,
the emphasis in this statement lies strongly upon system, and

1 RV. III. 33. II ; 53. 12. Zimmer, Altindisches Lebeii, p. 160, incorrectly identi-
fies vie with tribus (Leist, RechtsgcschicJite^ p. 105).

2 Vigvamitra. A few of the hymns are not ascribed to priests at all (some were
made by women; some by 'royal-seers,' i.c.^ kings, or, at least, not priests).

2S , THE RELIGIOXS OF INDIA.

it may not be quite idle to say at the outset that the general
caste-distinctions not only are as old as the Indo-Iranian unity
(among the Persians the same division of priest, warrior and
husbandman obtains), but, in all probability, they are much
older. For so long as there is a cult, even if it be of spirits
and devils, there are priests ; and if there are chieftains there
is a nobility, such as one finds among the Teutons, nay, even
among the American Indians, where also is known the inevita-
ble division into priests, chiefs and commons, sometimes heredi-
tary, sometimes not. There must have been, then, from the
beginning of kingship and religious service, a division among
the Aryans into royalty, priests, and people, i.e.^ whoever were
not acting as priests or chieftains. When the people becomes
agricultural, the difference tends to become permanent, and
a caste system begins. Now, the Vedic Aryans appear in
history at just the period when they are on the move south-
wards into India ; but they are no irrupting host. The battles
led the warriors on, but the folk, as a folk, moved slowly, not
all abandoning the country which they had gained, but settling
there, and sending onwards only a part of the people. There
was no fixed line of demarcation between the classes. The
king or another might act as his own priest — yet were there
priestly families. The cow-boys might fight — yet were there
those of the people that were especially 'kingsmen,' i-ajanyas^
and these were, already, practically a class, if not a caste. -^
These natural and necessary social divisions, which in early
times were anything but rigid, soon formed inviolable groups,
and then the caste system was complete. In the perfected
legal scheme what was usage becomes duty. The warrior may

1 Caste, at first, means ' pure,' and signifies that there is a moral barrier between
the caste and outcast. The word now practically means class, even impure class.
The native word means * color,' and the first formal distinction was national, (white)
Aryan and ' black-man.' The precedent class-distinctions among the Aryans them-
selves became fixed in course of time, and the lines between Aryans, in some regards,
were drawn almost as sharply as between Aryan and slave.

PEOPLE AND LAND. 29

not be a public priest ; the priest may not serve as warrior or
husbandman. The farmer ' people ' were the result of eliminat-
ing first the priestly, and then the fighting factors from the
whole body politic. But these castes were all Aryans, and as
such distinguished most sharply, from a religious point of view,
from the " fourth caste " ; whereas among themselves they were,
in religion, equals. But they w^ere practically divided by inter-
ests that strongly affected the development of their original
litanies. For both priest and warrior looked down on the
'people,' but priest and warrior feared and respected each
other. To these the third estate was necessary as a base of
supplies, and together they guarded it from foes divine and
mortal. But to each other they were necessary for wealth and
glory, respectively. So it was that even in the earliest period
the religious litany, to a great extent, is the book of worship
of a warrior-class as prepared for it by the priest. Priest and
king — these are the main factors in the making of the hymns
of the Rig Veda, and the gods lauded are chiefly the gods
patronized by these classes. The third estate had its favorite
gods, but these were little regarded, and were in a state of
decadence. The slaves, too, may have had their own gods, but
of these nothing is known, and one can only surmise that here
and there in certain traits, which seem to be un-Aryan, may
lie an unacknowledged loan from the aborigines.

Between the Rig Veda and the formation or completion of
the next Veda, called the Atharvan, the interval appears to have
been considerable, and the inherent value of the religion incul-
cated in the latter can be estimated aright only when this is
weighed together with the fact, that, as is learned from the
Atharvan's own statements, the Aryans were now advanced
further southwards and eastwards, had discovered a new land,
made new gods, and were now more permanently established,
the last a factor of some moment in the religious development.
Indications of the* difference in time may be seen in the

30 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

geographical and physical limitations of the older period as
compared with those of the later Atharvan. When first the
Aryans are found in India, at the time of the Rig Veda, they
are located, for the most part, near the upper Indus (Sindhu).
The Ganges, mentioned but twice, is barely known. On the
west the Aryans lingered in East Kabulistan (possibly in Kash-
meer in the north) ; and even Kandahar appears, at least, to
be known as Aryan. That is to say, the ' Hindus ' were still
in Afghanistan, although the greater mass of the people had
already crossed the Indus and were progressed some distance
to the east of the Punjab. That the race was still migrating
may be seen from the hymns of the Rig Veda itself.^ Their
journey-was to the south-east, and both before and after they
reached the Indus they left settlements, chiefly about the Indus
and in the Punjab (a post-Vedic group), not in the southern
but in the northern part of this district.^

The Vedic Aryans of this first period were acquainted with
the Indus, Sutlej ((Jutudri), Beas (Vipa^, "Y^ao-ts), Ravi (Paru-
shni or Iravati); the pair of rivers that unite and flow into the
Indus, viz. : Jhelum (Vitasta, Behat), and Chinab (Asikni,^
Akesines) ; and knew the remoter Kubha (Kco^tJv, Kabul) and
the northern Suvastu (Swat) ; while they appear to have had a
legendary remembrance of the Rasa, Avestan Rahha (Rangha),
supposed by some to be identical with the Araxes or Yaxartes,
but probably (see below) only a vague 'stream,' the old name
travelling with them on their wanderings ; for one would err if
he regarded similarity or even identity of appellation as a proof
of real identitv."^ West of the Indus the Kurum and Gonial
appear to be known also. Many rivers are mentioned of which

1 Compare RV. iii. y^^ and in I. 131. 5, the words: ' God Indra, thou didst help
thy suppHants ; one river after another they gained who pursued glory.'

2 Thomas, Rivers of the Vedas (JRAS. xv. 357 ff. ; Zimmer, loc. cit. cap. i).

3 Later called the Candrabhaga. For the Jumna and Sarayu see below.

4 This is the error into which falls Brunnhofer, whose theory that the Vedic
Aryans were still settled near the Caspian has been criticised above (p. 15).

PEOPLE AND LAND. 31

the names are given, but their location is not established. It
is from the district west of the Indus that the most famous San-
skrit grammarian comes, and long after the Vedas an Indie
people are known in the Kandahar district, while Kashmeer
was a late home of culture. The Sarasvati river, the name of
which is transferred at least once in historical times, may have
been originally one with the Arghandab (on which is Kandahar),
for the Persian name of this river {s becomes h) is Harahvati
(Arachotos, Arachosia), and it is possible that it was really this
river, and not the Indus which was first lauded as the Saras-
vati. In that case there- would be a perfect parallel to what
has probably happened in the case of the Rasa, the name —
in both cases meaning only ' the stream ' (like Rhine, Arno,
etc.) — being transferred to a new river. But since the Iranian
Harahvati fixes the first river of this name, there is here a
stronger proof of Indo-Iranian community than is furnished
by other examples.^

These facts or suggestive parallels of names are of exceed-
ing importance. They indicate between the Vedic Aryans
and the Iranians a connection much closer than usually has
been assumed. The bearings of such a connection on the
religious ideas of the two peoples are self-evident, and will
often have to be touched upon in the course of this history.
It is of less importance, from the present point of view, to say
how the Aryans entered India, but since this question is also
connected with that of the religious environment of the first
Hindu poets, it will be well to state that, although, as some
scholars maintain, and as we believe, the Hindus may have
come with the Iranians through the open pass of Herat (Haraiva,
Haroyu), it is possible that they parted from the latter south of
the Hindukush^ (descending through the Kohistan passes from
the north), and that the two peoples thence diverged south-east

1 Compare Geiger, Ostiranische Citltur, p. 8i. See also Muir, OST. ii. p. 355.

2 Lassen, I. p. 616, decided in favor of tlie western passes of the Hindukush.

32 . THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

and south-west respectively. Neither assumption would pre-
vent the country lying between the Harahvati and Vitasta ^ from
being, for generations, a common camping-ground for both
peoples, who were united still, but gradually diverging. This
seems, at least, to be the most reasonable explanation of the fact
that these two rivers are to each people their farthest known
western and eastern limits respectively. With the exception of
the vague and uncertain Rasa, the Vedic Hindu's geographical
knowledge is limited by Kandahar in the west, as is the
Iranian's in the east by the Vitasta." North of the Vitasta
Mount Tricota (Trikakud, ' three peaks ') is venerated, and
this together with a Mount Miijavat, of which the situation is
probably in the north, is the extent of modern knowledge in
respect of the natural boundaries of the Vedic people. One
hears, to be sure, at a later time, of 'northern Kurus,' whose
felicity is proverbial; and it is very tempting to find in this name
a connection with the Iranian Kur, but the Kurus, like the Rasa
and Sarasvati, are re-located once (near Delhi), and no similar-
ity of name can assure one of a true connection. If not coinci-
dences, such likenesses are too vague to be valuable historically.^
Another much disputed point must be spoken of in connec-
tion with this subject. In the Veda and in the Avesta there is
mentioned the land of the ' seven rivers.' Now seven rivers
are often spoken of in the Rig Veda, but only once does this
term mean the country, while in the ' Hymn to the Rivers ' no

1 From Kandahar in Afghanistan to a point a little west of Lahore. In the
former district, according to the Avesta, the dead are buried (an early Indian custom,
not Iranian).

2 Geiger identifies the Vitaguhaiti or Vitanghvati with the Oxus, but this is im-
probable. It lies in the extreme east and forms the boundary between the true
believers and the 'demon-worshippers ' (Vasht, 5, "j^; Geiger, loc. cit. p. 131, note 5).
The Persian name is the same with Vitasta, which is located in the Punjab.

3 On the Kurus compare Zimmer (loc. cit.), who thinks Kashmeer is meant, and
Geiger, loc. cit. p. 39. Other geographical reminiscences may lie in Vedic and Brah-
manic allusions to Bactria, Balkh (AV.) ; to the Derbiker (around Merv ? RV.), and
to Manu's mountain, whence he descended after the flood (Naubandhana) : Cata-
patha DrdJunana. I. S. i, 6, ' Manu's descent ').

PEOPLE AND LAND. 33

less than twenty-one streams are enumerated (RV. X. 75). In
order to make out the ' seven rivers ' scholars have made different
combinations, that most in favor being Miiller's, the' five rivers
of the Punjab together with the Kabul and (Swat or) Saras-
vatl. But in point of fact ' seven ' quite as often means many,
as it does an exact number, and this, the older use, may well be
applied here. It is quite impossible to identify the seven, and
it is probable that no Vedic poet ever imagined them to be a
group of this precise number. It would be far easier to select
a group of seven conspicuous rivers, if anywhere, on the west
of the Indus. A very natural group from the Iranian side
would be the Herirud, Hilmund, Arghandab, Kurum, Kabul,
Indus, and Vitasta. Against this, however, can be urged that
the term ' seven rivers ' may be Bactrian, older than the Vedic
period ; and that, in particular, the Avesta distinguishes Vai-
kerta, Urva, and other districts from the ' seven rivers.' It is
best to remain uncertain in so doubtful a matter, bearing in
mind that even Kurukshetra, the 'holy land,' is said to-day to
be watered by ' seven streams,' although some say nine ; apropos
of which fact Cunningham remarks, giving modern examples,

that "the Hindus invariably assign seven branches to all their

?) 1
rivers. ^

Within the Punjab, the Vedic Aryans, now at last really
* Hindus,' having extended themselves to the Qutudri (Qatadru,
Sutlej), a formidable barrier, and eventually having crossed
even this, the last tributary of the Indus, descended to the
Jumna (Yamuna), over the little stream called 'the Rocky'
(Drishadvati) and the lesser Sarasvati, southeast from Lahore
and near Delhi, in the region Kurukshetra, afterwards famed as
the seat of the great epic war, and always regarded as holy in
the highest degree.

Not till the time of the Atharva Veda do the Aryans appear
as far east as Benares (Varanasi, on the ' Varanavati'.?), though

i Arch. Survey^ yiv. p. 89 ; Thomas, loc. cit. p. 363.

34 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

the Sarayu is mentioned in the Rik. But this scarcely is the
tributary of the Ganges, Gogra, for the name seems to refer to
a more western stream, since it is associated with the Gomati
(Gomal). One may surmise that in the time of the Rig Veda
the Aryans knew only by name the country east of Lucknow.
It is in the Punjab and a little to the west and east of it (how
far it is impossible to state with accuracy) where lies the real
theatre of activity of the Rig Vedic people.

Some scholars believe that this people had already heard of
the two oceans. This point again is doubtful in the extreme.
No descriptions imply a knowledge of ocean, and the word for
ocean means merely a ' confluence ' of waters, or in general a
great oceanic body of water like the air. As the Indus is too
wide to be seen across, the name may apply in most cases to this
river. An allusion to ' eastern and western floods,' ^ which is
held by some to be conclusive evidence for a knowledge of the
two seas, is taken by others to apply to the air-oceans. The
expression may apply simply to rivers, for it is said that the
Vipag and ^utudri empty into the ' ocean ', z>., the Indus or
the Qutudri's continuation.^ One late verse alone speaks of
the Sarasvati pouring into the ocean, and this would indicate
the Arabian Sea.^ Whether the Bay of Bengal was known,
even by hearsay and in the latest time of this period, remains
uncertain. As a body the Aryans of the Rig Veda were cer-
tainly not acquainted with either ocean. Some straggling
adventurers probably pushed down the Indus, but Zimmer
doubtless is correct in asserting that the popular emigration
did not extend further south than the junction of the Indus
and the Pancanada (the united five rivers).'* The extreme
south-eastern geographical limit of the Rig Vedic people may

1 RV. X. 136. 5. 2 RV. iii. ^y 2.

3 RV. vii. 95. 2. Here the Sarasvati can be only the Indus.

4 Panca-nada, Punjnud, Persian ' Punjab,' the five streams, Vitasta, AsiknT, Iravatl, ^
Vipag, Cutudrl. The Punjnud point is slowly moving up stream; Vyse, JRAS.
X. 323. The Sarayu may be the Herlrud, Geiger, loc. cit. p. 72.

PEOPLE AND LAND. 35

be reckoned (not, however, in Oldenberg's opinion, with any
great certainty) as being in Northern Behar (Magadha). The
great desert, Marusthala, formed an impassable southern ob-
stacle for the first immigrants.-^

On the other hand, the two oceans are well known to the
Atharva Veda, while the geographical (and hence chronologi-
cal) difference between the Rik and the Atharvan is furthermore
illustrated by the following facts : in the Rig Veda wolf and
lion are the most formidable beasts ; the tiger is unknown and
the elephant seldom alluded to ; while in the Atharvan the tiger
has taken the lion's place and the elephant is a more familiar
figure. Now the tiger has his domicile in the swampy land
about Benares, to which point is come the Atharvan Aryan,
but not the Rig Vedic people. Here too, in the Atharvan, the
panther is first mentioned, and for the first time silver and iron
are certainly referred to. In the Rig Veda the metals are
bronze and gold, silver and iron being unknown.^ Not less sig-
nificant are the trees. The ficus religiosa, the tree later called
the ' tree of the gods ' (jieva-sadajia, afvatfha), under which
are fabled to sit the divinities in heaven, is scarcely known
in the Rig Veda, but is well known in the Atharvan ; while
India's grandest tree, the 7iyagrod/ia, ficus indica, is known to
the Atharvan and Brahmanic period, but is utterly foreign to
the Rig Veda. Zimmer deems it no less significant that fishes
are spoken of in the Atharvan and are mentioned only once in
the Rig Veda, but this may indicate a geographical difference
less than one of custom. In only one doubtful passage is the
north-east monsoon alluded to. The storm so vividly described
in the Rig Veda is the south-west monsoon which is felt in the
northern Punjab. The north-east monsoon is felt to the south-

1 Muir, OST. ii. 351 ; Zimmer, loc. cit. p. 31 identifies the Klkatas of RV. iii. 53. 14
with the inhabitants of Northern Behar. Marusthala is called simply ' the desert.'

2 The earlier ayas^ Latin aes, means bronze not iron, as Zimmer has shown,
loc. cit. p. 51. Pischel, Vedische Stndien, I, shows that elephants are mentioned
more often than was supposed (but rarely in family-books).

36 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

east of the Punjab, possibly another indication of geographical
extension, withal within the limits of the Rig Veda itself.

The seat of culture shifts in the Brahmanic period, which
follows that of the Vedic poems, and is found partly in the
'holy land ' of the west, and partly in the east (Behar, Tirhut).^
The literature of this period comes from Aryans that have
passed out of the Punjab. Probably, as we have said, settle-
ments were left all along the line of progress. Even before
the wider knowledge of the post- Alexandrine imperial age (at
which time there was a north-western military retrogression),
and, from the Vedic point of view, as late as the end of the
Brahmanic period, in the time of the Upanishads, the north-
west seems still to have been familiarly known. '-^

1 Weber, hidische Stiiditm, I. p. 228 ; Oldenberg, Bitddha^ pp. 399 ff., 410.

■- Very lately (1893) Franke has sought to show that the Pali dialect of India is in
part referable to the western districts (Kandahar), and has made out an interesting
case for his novel theory (ZDMG. xlvii. p, 595).

CHAPTER III.

THE RIG VEDA. THE UPPER GODS.

The hymns of the Rig Veda may be divided into three
classes, those in which are. especially lauded the older divini-
ties, those in which appear as most prominent the sacrificial
gods, and those in which a long-weakened polytheism is giving
place to the light of a clearer pantheism. In each category
there are hymns of different age and quality, for neither did
the more ancient with the growth of new divinities cease to be
revered, nor did pantheism inhibit the formal acknowledgment
of the primitive pantheon. The cult once established persisted,
and even when, at a later time, all the gods had been reduced
to nominal fractions of the All-god, their ritualistic individuality
still was preserved. The chief reason for this lies in the
nature of these gods and in the attitude of the worshipper.
No matter how much the cult of later gods might prevail, the
other gods, who represented the daily phenomena of nature,
were still visible, awe-inspiring, divine. The firmest pantheist
questioned not the advisability of propitiating the sun-god,
however much he might regard this god as but a part of one
that was greater. Belief in India was never so philosophical
that the believer did not dread the lightning, and seek to avert
it by praying to the special god that wielded' it. But active
veneration in later times was extended in fact only to the
strong Powers, while the more passive divinities, although they
were kept as a matter of form in the ceremonial, yet had in
reality only tongue-worshippers.

With some few exceptions, however, it will be found impossible
to say whether any one deity belonged to the first pantheon.

38 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

The best one can do is to separate the mass of gods from those
that become the popular gods, and endeavor to learn what was
the character of each, and what were the conceptions of the
poets in regard both to his nature, and to his relations with
man. A different grouping of the gods (that indicated below)
will be followed, therefore, in our exposition.

After w^hat has been said in the introductory chapter con-
cerning the necessity of distinguishing between good and bad
poetry, it may be regarded as incumbent upon us to seek to
make such a division of the hymns as shall illustrate our words.
But we shall not attempt to do this here, because the distinc-
tion between late mechanical and poetic hymns is either very
evident, and it would be superfluous to burden the pages with
the trash contained in the former,^ or the distinction is one
liable to reversion at the hands of those critics whose judgment
differs from ours, for there are of course some hymns that to
one may seem poetical and to another, artificial. Moreover,
we admit that hymns of true feeling may be composed late
as well as early, while as to beauty of style the chances are
that the best literary production will be found among the latest
rather than among the earliest hymns.

It would, indeed, be admissible, if one had any certainty in
regard to the age of the different parts of the Rig Veda, simply
to divide the hymns into early, middle, and late, as they are
sometimes divided in philological works, but here one rests on
the weakest of all supports for historical judgment, a linguistic
and metrical basis, when one is ignorant alike of what may have
been accomplished by imitation, and of the work of those later
priests who remade the poems of their ancestors.

Best then, because least hazardous, appears to be the method
which we have followed, namely, to take up group by group

1 Such for instance as the hymn to the Agvins, RV. ii. 39. Compare verses 3-4 :
'Come (ye pair of Agvins) Uke two horns; Uke two hoofs; Uke two geese; Hke two
wheels ; like two ships ; like two spans ' ; etc. This is the content of the whole hymn.

THE RIG VEDA. THE UPPER GODS. 39

the most important deities arranged in the order of their rela-
tive importance, and by studying each to arrive at a fair under-
standing of the pantheon as a whole. The Hindus themselves
divided their gods into highest, middle, and lowest, or those of
the upper sky, the atmosphere, and the earth. This division,
from the point of view of one who would enter into the spirit
of the seers and at the same time keep in mind the changes to
which that spirit gradually was subjected, is an excellent one.
For, as will be seen, although the earlier order of regard may
have been from below upwards, this order does not apply to
the literary monuments. These show on the contrary a wor-
ship which steadily tends from above earthwards ; and the
three periods into which may be divided all Vedic theology
are first that of the special worship of sky-gods, when less
attention is paid to others ; then that of the atmospheric and
meteorological divinities ; and finally that of terrestrial powers,
each later group absorbing, so to speak, the earlier, and there-
with preparing the developing Hindu intelligence for the recep-
tion of the universal god with whom closes the series.

Other factors than those of an inward development undoubt-
edly were at work in the formation of this growth. Espe-
cially prominent is the amalgamation of the gods of the lower
classes with those of the priest-hood. Climatic environment, too,
conditioned theological evolution, if not spiritual advance. The
cult of the mid-sphere god, Indra, was partly the result of the
changing atmospheric surroundings of the Hindus as they ad-
vanced into India. The storms and the sun were not those of
old. The tempests were more terrific, the display of divine power
was more concentrated in the rage of the elements ; while
appreciation of the goodness of the sun became tinged with
apprehension of evil, and he became a deadly power as well as
one beneficent. Then the relief of rain after drought gave to
Indra the character of a benign god as well as of a fearful one.
Nor were lacking in the social condition certain alterations

40 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

which worked together with climatic changes. The segregated
mass of the original people, the braves that hung about the
king, a warrior-class rapidly becoming a caste, and politically
the most important caste, took the god of thunder and lightning
for their god of battle. The fighting race naturally exalted to
the highest the fighting god. Then came into prominence the
priestly caste, which gradually taught the warrior that mind
was stronger than muscle. But this caste was one of thinkers.
Their divinity was the product of reflection. Indra remained,
but yielded to a higher power, and the god thought out by the
priests became God. Yet it must not be supposed that 1^he
cogitative energy of the Brahman descended upon the people's
gods and suddenly produced a religious revolution. In India
no intellectual advance is made suddenly. The older divini-
ties show one by one the transformation that they suffered at
the hands of theosophic thinkers. Before the establishment
of a general Father-god, and long before that of the pantheistic
All-god, the philosophical leaven was actively at work. It will
be seen operative at once in the case of the sun-god, and,
indeed, there were few of the older divinities that were un-
touched by it. It worked silently and at first esoterically.
One reads of the gods' ' secret names,' of secrets in theology,
which 'are not to be revealed,' till at last the disguise is with-
drawn, and it is discovered that all the mystery of former
generations has been leading up to the declaration now made
public : 'all these gods are but names of the One.'

THE SUN-GOD.

The hymn which was translated in the first chapter gives
an epitome of the simpler conceptions voiced in the few whole
hymns to the sun. But there is a lower and a higher view of
this god. He is the shining god par excellence, the deva, siirya^

1 Dex'a is ' shining' (deus), and Surya (sol, -tjXios) nieans the same.

THE SUX-GOD. 41

the red ball in the sky. But he is also an active force, the
power that wakens, rouses, enlivens, and as such it is he that
gives all good things to mortals and to gods. As the god that
gives life he (with others) ^ is the author of birth, and is prayed
to for children. From above he looks down upon earth, and as
with his one or many steeds he drives over the firmament he
observes all that is passing below. He has these, the physical
side and the spiritual side, under two names, the glowing one,
Surya, and the enlivener, Savitar ;^ but he is also the good god
who bestows benefits, and as such he was known, probably
locally, by the name of Bhaga. Again, as a herdsman's god,
possibly at first also a local deity, he is Pushan (the meaning is
almost the same with that of Savitar). As the 'mighty one'
he is Vishnu, who measures heaven in three strides. In gen-
eral, the conception of the sun as a physical phenomenon will
be found voiced chiefly in the family-books : " The sightly
form rises on the slope of the sky as the swift-going steed
carries him . . . seven sister steeds carry him." " This is the
prevailing utterance. Sometimes the sun is depicted under a
medley of metaphors : " A bull, a flood, a red bird, he has
entered his father's place ; a variegated stone he is set in the
midst of the sky ; he has advanced and guards the two ends of
space." * One after the other the god appears to the poets as
a bull, a bird,^ a steed, a stone, a jewel, a flood, a torch-holder,°
or as a gleaming car set in heaven. Nor is the sun indepen-
dent. As in the last image of a chariot," so, without symbolism,
the poet speaks of the sun as made to rise by Varuna and
Mitra : " On their wonted path go Varuna and ]\Iitra when in

1 Let the reader note at the outset that there is scarcely an activity considered as
divine wliich does not belong to several gods (see below).

2 From sti^ sat', enliven, beget, etc. In RV. iv. 53. 6 and vii. 63. 2, prasaziiar.

3 RV. VII. 66. 14-15; compare X. 17S. i. In the notes immediately following
the numbers all refer to the Rig Veda.

^ V. 47. 3 ; compare vs. 7, and X. 1S9. 1-2.

5 Compare X. 177. r. c x. 37. 9.

■^ V. 63. 7. Varuna and Mitra set the sun's car in heaven.

42 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

the sky they cause to rise Surya, whom they made to avert
darkness"; where, also, the sun, under another image, is the
"support of the sky."^ Nay, in this simpler view, the sun is
no more than the "eye of Mitra Varuna," ^ a conception for-
mally retained even when the sun in the same breath is spoken
of as pursuing Dawn like a lover, and as being the * soul of
the universe' (I. 115. 1-2). In the older passages the later
moral element is almost lacking, nor is there maintained the
same physical relation between Sun and Dawn. In the earlier
hymns the Dawn is the Sun's mother, from whom he proceeds.^
It is the "Dawns produced the Sun," in still more natural
language ; ^ whereas, the idea of the lover-Sun following the
Dawn scarcely occurs in the family-books/ Distinctly late,
also, is the identification of the sun with the all-spirit {atuid^
I. 115. i), and the following prayer: "Remove, O sun, all
weakness, illness, and bad dreams." In this hymn, X. 37. 14,
Surya is the son of the sky, but he is evidently one with Savitar,
who in V. 82. 4, removes bad dreams, as in X. 100. 8, he
removes sickness. Men are rendered ' sinless ' by the sun
(IV. 54. 3 ; X. 37. 9) exactly as they are by the other gods,
Indra, Varuna, etc. In a passage that refers to the important
triad of sun, wind and fire, X. 158. i ff., the sun is invoked to
'save from the sky,' i.e.^ from all evils that may come from the
upper regions ; while in the same book the sun, like Indra, is
represented as the slayer of demons {asiiras) and dragons ; as
the slayer, also, of the poet's rivals ; as giving long life to the
worshipper, and as himself drinking sweet so7na. This is one
of the poems that seem to be at once late and of a forced and
artificial character (X. 170).

1 IV. 13. 2-5; X. 37. 4; 85, I. But ib. 149. I Savitar holds the sky 'without
support.'

2 VII. 63. I ; I. 115. I ; X. 37. I.

3III. 61.4; VII. 63. 3. 4VII. 78. 3. '

5 I. 56. 4; IX. 84. 2 ; Compare I. 92. 11 ; 115, 2 ; 123. 10-12. V. 44. 7, and per-
haps 47. 6, are late. VII. 75. 5, is an exception (or late).

THE SUN-GOD. \%

Although Surya is differentiated explicitly from Savitar
(V. 8 1. 4, "Savitar, thou joyest in Surya's rays"), yet do many
of the hymns make no distinction between them. The Enlivener
is naturally extolled in fitting phrase, to tally with his title :
" The shining-god, the Enlivener, is ascended to enliven the
world " ; " He gives protection, wealth and children " (II. 2i'^. i ;
IV. 53. 6-7). The later hymns seem, as one might expect, to
show greater confusion between the attributes of the physical
and spiritual sun. But what higher power under either name
is ascribed to the sun in the later hymns is not due to a
higher or more developed homage of the sun as such. On the
contrary, as with many other deities, the more the praise the
less the individual worship. It is as something more than the
sun that the god later receives more fulsome devotion. And,
in fact, paradoxical as it seems, it is a decline in sun-worship
proper that is here registered. The altar-fire becomes more
important, and is revered in the sun, whose hymns, at most,
are few, and in part mechanical.

Bergaigne in his great work. La Religion Vedique, has laid
much stress on sexual antithesis as an element in Vedic wor-
ship. It seems to us that this has been much exaggerated.
The sun is masculine ; the dawn, feminine. But there is no
indication of a primitive antithesis of male and female in their
relations. What occurs appears to be of adventitious char-
acter. For though sun and dawn are often connected, the
latter is represented first as his mother and afterwards as his
* wife ' or mistress. Even in the later hymns, where the marital
relation is recognized, it is not insisted upon. But Bergaigne ^
is right in saying that in the Rig Veda the sun does not play
the part of an evil power, and it is a good illustration of the
difference between Rik and Atharvan, when Ehni cites, to
prove that the sun is like death, only passages from the Athar-
van and the later Brahmanic literature.^

1 La Religion Vcdiqiie, I. 6 ; II. 2. 2 Ehni, Yama, p. 134,

44 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

When, later, the Hindus got into a region where the sun was
deadly, they said, "Yon burning sun-god is death," but in the
Rig Veda they said, "Yon sun is the source of life,"^ and no
other conception of the sun is to be found in the Rig A^eda.

There are about a dozen hymns to Siirya, and as many to
Savitar, in the Rig Veda.^ It is noteworthy that in the family-
books the hymns to Savitar largely prevail, while those to
Surya are chiefly late in position or content. Thus, in the
family-books, where are found eight or nine of the dozen
hymns to .Savitar, there are to Surya but three or four, and of
these the first is really to Savitar and the A^vins ; the second
is an imitation of the first ; the third appears to be late ; and
the fourth is a fragment of somewhat doubtful antiquity. The
first runs as follows : " The altar-fire has seen well-pleased the
dawns' beginning and the offering to the gleaming ones ; come,
O ye horsemen (A^vins), to the house of the pious man ; the
sun (Surya), the shining-god, rises with light. The shining-god
Savitar has elevated his beams, swinging his banner like a good
(hero) raiding for cattle. According to rule go Varuna and
Mitra when they make rise in the sky the sun (Surya) whom
they have created to dissipate darkness, being (gods) sure of
their habitation and unswerving in intent. Seven yellow swift-
steeds bear this Surya, the seer of all that moves. Thou
comest with swiftest steeds unspinning the web, separating, O
shining-god, the black robe. The rays of Siirya swinging
(his banner) have laid darkness like a skin in the waters.
Unconnected, unsupported, downward extending, why does
not this (god) fall down ? With what nature goes he, who
knows (literally, * who has seen ') ? As a support he touches
and guards the vault of the sky" (IV. 13).

There is here, no more than in the early hymn from the first
book, translated in the first chapter, any worship of material

1 RV., IV. 54. 2. Here the sun gives life even to the gods.

2 Ten hundred and twenty-eight hymns are contained in the ' Rig Veda Collection.'

THE SUN-GOD. 45

phenomena. Siirya is worshipped as Savitar, either expressly
so called, or with all the attributes of the spiritual. The hj^mn
that follows this ^ is a bald imitation. In V. 47 there are
more or less certain signs of lateness, e.g.^ in the fourth stanza
("four carry him, . . . and ten give the child to drink that he
may go," etc.) there is the juggling with unexplained numbers,
which is the delight of the later priesthood. Moreover, this
hymn is addressed formally to Mitra-Varuna and Agni, and
not to the sun-god, who is mentioned only in metaphor ; while
the final words ndfjio dive., 'obeisance to heaven,' show that
the sun is only indirectly addressed. One cannot regard
hymns addressed to Mitra-Varuna and Surya (with other gods)
as primarily intended for Surya, who in these hymns is looked
upon as the subject of Mitra and Varuna, as in vii. 62 ; or as
the "eye" of the two other gods, and 'like Savitar' in vii. 63.
So in vii. 66. 14-16, a mere fragment of a hymn is devoted
exclusively to Surya as " lord of all that stands and goes."
But in these hymns there are some very interesting touches.
Thus in vii. 60. 1, the sun does not make sinless, but he
announces to Mitra and Varuna that the mortal is sinless.
There are no other hymns than these addressed to Surya, save
those in the first and tenth books, of which nine stanzas of
I. 50 (see above) may be reckoned early, while I. 115, where
the sun is the soul of the universe, and at the same time the
eye of Mitra-Varuna, is probably late ; and I. 163 is certainly
so, wherein the sun is identified with Yama, Trita, etc.; is 'like
Varuna ' ; and is himself a steed, described as having three
connections in the sky, three in the waters, three in the sea.
In one of the hymns in the tenth book, also a mystical song,
the sun is the ' bird ' of the sky, a metaphor which soon gives
another figure to the pantheon in the form of Garutman, the
sun-bird, of whose exploits are told strange tales in the epic,
where he survives as Garuda. In other hymns Surya averts

1 iv. 14.

46 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

carelessness at the sacrifice, guards the worshipper, and slays
demons. A mechanical little hymn describes him as measur-
ing the ' thirty stations.' Not one of these hymns has literary
freshness or beauty of any kind. They all belong to the class
of stereotyped productions, which differ in origin and content
from the hymns first mentioned.^

SAVITAR.

Turning to Savitar one finds, of course, many of the same
descriptive traits as in the praise of Surya, his more material
self. But with the increased spirituality come new features.
Savitar is not alone the sun that rises ; he is also the sun that
sets ; and is extolled as such. There are other indications
that most of the hymns composed for him are to accompany
the sacrifice, either of the morning or of the evening. In II.
38, an evening song to Savitar, there are inner signs that the
hymn was made for rubrication, but here some fine verses
occur : " The god extends his vast hand, his arms above there
— and all here obeys him; to his command the waters move,
and even the winds' blowing ceases on all sides." Again :
"Neither Indra, Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman, Rudra, nor the
demons, impair his law." We call attention here to the fact
that the Rig Veda contains a stong current of demonology,
much stronger than has been pointed out b^* scholars intent on
proving the primitive loftiness of the Vedic religion.

In III. 62. 7-9 there are some verses to Pushan, following
which is the most holy couplet of the Rig Veda, to repeat
which is essentially to repeat the Veda. It is the famous
Gayatri or Savitri hymnlet (10-12):

Of Savitar, the heavenly, that longed-for glory may we win,
And may himself inspire our prayers.^

1 X, 37; 158; 170; 177; 189, Each has its own mark of lateness. In I'j^ the
dream; in 158, the triad ; in 170, the sun as asttraha ; in 177, the mystic tone and
the bird-sun (compare Garutnian, I. 164 ; X. 149) ; in 189, the thirty stations.

2 See Whitney in Colebrooke' s Essays, revised edition, ii. p. iii.

SA VITAR. 47

Whitney {loc. cit.) says of this hymn that it is not remarkable
in any way and that no good reason has ever been given for its
fame. The good reason for this fame, in our opinion, is that
the longed-for glory was interpreted later as a revealed indica-
tion of primitive pantheism, and the verses were understood to
express the desire of absorption into the sun, which, as will be
seen, was one of the first divine bodies to be accepted as the
type of the All-god. This is also the intent of the stanzas
added to I. 50 (above, p. 17), where Siirya is "the highest
light, the god among gods," mystic words, taken by later
philosophers, and quite rightly, to be an expression of pan-
theism. The esoteric meaning of the Gayatri presumably made
it popular among the enlightened. Exoterically the sun was
only the goal of the soul, or, in pure pantheism, of the sight.
In the following ^ the sin-forgiving side of Savitar is developed,
whereby he comes into connection with Varuna :

God Savitar deserveth now a song from us;
To-day, with guiding word, let men direct him here.
He who distributes gifts unto the sons of men,
Shall here on us bestow whatever thing is best ;
For thou, O Savitar, dost first upon the gods
Who sacrifice deserve, lay immortality.
The highest gift, and then to mortals dost extend
As their apportionment a long enduring life.
Whatever thoughtless thing against the race of gods
We do in foolishness and human insolence,
Do thou from that, O Savitar, mid gods and men
Make us here sinless, etc.

But if this song smacks of the sacrifice, still more so does
V. 81, where Savitar is the 'priest's priest,' the 'arranger of
sacrifice,' and is one with Pushan. He is here the swift horse
(see above) and more famous as the divider of time than any-
thing else. In fact this was the first ritualistic glory of Savitar,
that he divides the time for sacrifice. But he receives more in

1 iv. 54.

48 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

the light of being the type of other luminous divinities. In
the next hymn, another late effort (v. 82 ; see the dream in
vs. 4), there may be an imitation of the Gayatri. Savitar is
here the All-god and true lord, and frees from sin. There is
nothing new or striking in the hymns vi. 71 ; vii. 38 and 45.
The same golden hands, and references to the sacrifice occur
here. Allusions to the Dragon of the Deep, who is called
upon with Savitar (vii. 38. 5), and the identification of Savitar
with Bhaga (ib. 6) are the most important items to be gleaned
from these rather stupid hymns. In other hymns not in the
family-books (ii.-viii.), there is a fragment, X. 139. 1-3, and
another, I. 22. 5-8. In the latter, Agni's (Fire's) title, 'son
of waters,' is given to Savitar, who is virtually identified with
Agni in the last part of the Rig Veda ; and in the former
hymn there is an interesting discrimination made between
Savitar and Pushan, who obeys him. The last hymn in the
collection to Savitar, X. 149, although late and plainly intended
for the sacrifice (vs. 5), is interesting as showing how the phil-
osophical speculation worked about Savitar as a centre. ' He
alone, he the son of the waters, knows the origin of water,
whence arose the world.' This is one of the early speculations
which recur so frequently in the Brahmanic period, wherein
the origin of ' all this ' (the universe) is referred to water, A
hymn to Savitar in the first book contains as excellent a song
as is given to the sun under this name. It is neither a morn-
ing nor an evening song in its original state, but mentions all
the god's functions, without the later moral traits so prominent
elsewhere, and with the old threefold division instead of thrice-
three heavens.

TO SAVITAR (I. 35).

I call on Agni first (the god of fire) for weal ;
I call on Mitra-Varuna to aid me here ;
I call upon the Night, who quiets all that moves;
On Savitar, the shining god, I call for help.

SA VITAR. 49

After this introductory invocation begins the real song in
a different metre.

Through space of darkness wending comes he hither,

Who puts to rest th' immortal and the mortal,

On golden car existent things beholding,

The god that rouses, Savitar, the shining ;

Comes he, the shining one, comes forward, upward,

Comes with two yellow steeds, the god revered,

Comes shining Savitar from out the distance,

All difficulties far away compelling.

His pearl-adorned, high, variegated chariot.

Of which the pole is golden, he, revered,

Hath mounted, Savitar, whose beams are brilliant,

Against the darksome spaces strength assuming.

Among the people gaze the brown white-footed

(Steeds) that the chariot drag whose pole is golden.

All peoples stand, and all things made, forever.

Within the lap of Savitar, the heavenly.

[There are three heavens of Savitar, two low ones,l
One, men-restraining, in the realm of Yama.
As on (his) chariot-pole - stand all immortals,
Let him declare it who has understood it !]

Across air-spaces gazes he, the eagle.
Who moves in secret, th' Asura,-^ well-guiding.
Where is (bright) Surya now? who understands it .»*
And through which sky is now his ray extending .''

He looks across the earth's eight elevations,'*
The desert stations three, and the seven rivers.
The gold-eyed shining god is come, th' Arouser,
To him that worships giving wealth and blessings.

1 Two 'laps' below, besides that above, the word meaning 'middle' but also
' under-place.' The explanation of this much-disputed passage will be found by
comparing i. 154. 5 and vii. 99. i. The sun"s three places are where he appears on
both horizons and in the zenith. The last is the abode of the dead where Vama
reigns. Compare iv. 53. The bracketed verses are probably a late puzzle attached
to the word ' lap ' of the preceding verse. - Doubtful.

3 The Spirit, later of evil spirits, demons (as above, the astir aha). Compare
Ahura.

■1 A numerical conception not paralleled in the Rig ^'eda, though mountains are
called protuberances (' elevations ') in other places.

50 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

The golden-handed Savitar, the active one,
Goes earth and heaven between, compels demoniac powers,
To Surya gives assistance, and through darksome space
Extends to heaven, etc.^

PUSHAN AND BHAGA AS SUN-GODS.

With Pushan, the 'bestower of prosperity,' appears an ancient
side of sun-worship. While under his other names the sun has
lost, to a great extent, the attributes of a bucolic solar deity, in
the case of Pushan he appears still as a god whose characteris-
tics are bucolic, war-like, and priestly, that is to say, even as
he is venerated by the three masses of the folk. It will not
do, of course, to distinguish too sharply between the first two
divisions, but one can very well compare Pushan in these roles
with Helios guiding his herds, and Apollo swaying armed hosts.
It is customary to regard Pushan as too bucolic a deity, but
this is only one side of him. He apparently is the sun, as
herdsmen look upon him, and in this figure is the object of
ridicule with the warrior-class who, especially in one family or
tribe, take a more exalted view of him. Consequently, as in
the case of Varuna, one need not read into the hymns more
than they offer to see that, not to speak of the priestly view,
there are at least two Pushans, in the Rig Veda itself.^

As the god 'with braided hair,' and as the 'guardian of
cattle,' Pushan offers, perhaps, in these particulars, the original
of Rudra's characteristics, who, in the Vedic period, and later
as Rudra-^iva, is also a ' guardian of cattle ' and has the
' braided hair.'

Bergaigne identifies Pushan with Soma, with whom the poets
were apt to identify many other deities, but there seems to be
little similarity originally.^ It is only in the wider circles of

1 The last stanza is in the metre of the first ; two more follow without significant
additions.

2 The texts are translated by Muir, OST, v. p. 171 ff.

3 La Religion Vcdique, ii. p. 42S. Compare Hillebrandt, Sovta, p, 456.

PUSH AN AND BHAGA AS SUN-GODS. 51

each god's activity that the two approach each other. Both
gods, it is true, wed Surya (the female sun-power), and Soma,
like Pushan, finds lost cattle. But it must be recognized once
for all that identical attributes are not enough to identify
Vedic gods. Who gives wealth ? Indra, Soma, Agni, Heaven
and Earth, Wind, Sun, the Maruts, etc. Who forgives sins ?
Agni, Varuna, Indra, the Sun, etc. Who helps in war .^ Agni,
Pushan, Indra, Soma, etc. Who sends rain ? Indra, Parjan3-a,
Soma, the Maruts, Pushan, etc. Who weds Dawn ? The
A^vins, the Sun, etc. The attributes must be functional or
the identification is left incomplete.

The great disparity in descriptions of Pushan may be illus-
trated by setting vi. 48. 19 beside x. 92. 13. The former
passage merely declares that Pushan is a war-leader " over
mortals, and like the gods in glory " ; the latter, that he is
" distinguished by all divine attributes " ; that is to say, what
has happened in the case of Savitar has happened here also.
The individuality of Pushan dies out, but the vaguer he
becomes the more grandiloquently is he praised and asso-
ciated with other powers ; while for lack of definite laudation
general glory is ascribed to him. The true position of Pushan
in the eyes of the warrior is given unintentionally by one who
says,-*^ " I do not scorn thee, O Piishan," /.<?., as do most people,
on account of thv ridiculous attributes. For PCishan does not
drink soma like Indra, but eats mush. So another devout
believer says : " Pushan is not described by them that call
him an eater of mush." ^ The fact that he was so called
speaks louder than the pious protest. Again, Pushan is simply
bucolic. He uses the goad, which, however, according to Ber-
gaigne, is the thunderbolt ! So, too, the cows that Pushan
is described as guiding have been interpreted as clouds or
'dawns.' But they may be taken without 'interpretation' as

1 i. 138. 4.

2 vi. 56. I.

52 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

real cows.^ Pushan drives the cows, he is armed with a goad,
and eats mush ; bucolic throughout, yet a sun-god. It is on
these lines that his finding-qualities are to be interpreted.
He finds lost cattle,^ a proper business for such a god ; but
Bergaigne will see in this a transfer from Pushan's finding of
rain and of so7na? Pushan, too, directs the furrow.^

Together with Vishnu and Bhaga this god is invoked at
sacrifices, (a fact that says little against or for his original sun-
ship), ° and he is intimately connected with Indra. His sister
is his mistress, and his mother is his wife (Dawn and Night ?)
according to the meagre accounts given in vi. 55. 4-5." As a
god of increase he is invoked in the marriage-rite, X. 85. 37.

As Savitar and all sun-gods are at once luminous and dark,
so Pushan has a clear and again a revered (terrible) appear-
ance ; he is like day and night, like Dyaus (the sky) ; at one
time bright, at another, plunged in darkness, vi. 58. i. Quite
like Savitar he is the shining god who " looks upon all beings
and sees them all together" ; he is the "lord of the path,'' the
god of travellers ; he is invoked to drive away evil spirits,
thieves, footpads, and all workers of evil ; he makes paths for
the winning of wealth ; he herds the stars and directs all with
so77ia. He carries a golden axe or sword, and is borne through
air and water on golden ships ; and it is he that lets down the
sun's golden wheel. These simpler attributes appear for the
most part in the early hymns. In what seem to be later hymns,
he is the mighty one who '' carries the thoughts of all " ; he is

1 In i. 2^. 13-15 Pushan is said to bring king (soma), "whom he found like a lost
herd of cattle."' The fragment is late if, as is probable, the ' six" of vs. 15 are the six
seasons. Compare vi. 54. 5, '' may Pushan go after our kine."

- Compare vi. 54.

3 He is the 'son of freeing,' from darkness.'' vi. 55. i.

4 iv. 57. 7.

" vi. 17. Ti; 48. II ff. ; iv. 30. 24 ff. He is called like a war-god with the
Maruts in vi. 48.

6 So, too, Bhaga is Dawn's b/other, I. 123. 5. Pushan is Indra's brother in vi.
55. 5. Gubernatis interprets Pushan as 'the setting sun.'

PUSH AN AND BHAGA AS SUN-GODS. 53

like sojna (the drink), and attends to the filter ; he is " lord of
the pure " ; the " one born of old," and is especially called
upon to help the poets' hymns. ^ It is here, in the last part of
the Rig Veda, that he appears as i//x;;(07ro/x7ro?, who "goes and
returns," escorting the souls of the dead to heaven. He is
the sun's messenger, and is differentiated from Savitar in X.
139. \} Apparently he was a god affected most by the
Bharadvaja family (to which is ascribed the sixth book of the
Rig Veda) where his worship was extended more broadly.
He seems to have become the special war-god of this family,
and is consequently invoked with Indra and the Maruts
(though this may have been merely in his role as sun). The
goats, his steeds, are also an attribute of the Scandinavian
war-god Thor (Kaegi, Rig Veda., note 210), so that his bucolic
character rests more in his goad, food, and plough.

Bhaga is recognized as an Aditya (luminous deity) and was
perhaps a sun-god of some class, possibly of all, as the name
in Slavic is still kept in the meaning ' god,' literally ' giver.'
In the Rig Veda the word means, also, simply god, as in
bhdgabhakta, ' given by gods ' ; but as a name it is well known,
and when thus called Bhaga is still the giver, ' the bestower '
{indha?'ta). As bhaga is also an epithet of Savitar, the name
may not stand for an originally distinct personality. Bhaga
has but one hymn.^ There is in fact no reason why Bhaga
should be regarded as a sun-god, except for the formal identifi-

1 Contrast I. 42, and X. 26 (with i. 138. i). In the first hymn Pushan leads the
way and drives away danger, wolves, thieves, and helps to booty and pasturage. In
the last he is a war-god, who helps in battle, a 'far-ruler,' embracing the thoughts of
all (as in III. 62. 9).

2 For the traits just cited compare iv. 57. 7 ; vi. 17. 11 ; 48. 15 ; 53 ; 55 ; 36. 1-3 ;
57. 3-4; 58. 2-4; 11.40; X. 17. 3 ff.; 26. 3-8; I. 23. 14; all of I. 42, and 138;
viii. 4, 15-1S ; III. 57. 2. In X. 17. 4, Savitar, too, guides the souls of the dead.

3 That is to say, one hymn is addressed to Bhaga with various other gods, vii. 41.
Here he seems to be personified good-luck (" of whom even the king says, ' I would
have thee,"" vs. 2). In the Brahmanas 'Bhaga is bUnd,' which applies better to
Fortune than to the Sun.

54 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

cation of him as an Aditya, that is as the son of Aditi (Bound-
lessness, see below); but neither Surya nor Savitar is originally
an Aditya, and in Iranic bagha is only an epithet of Ormuzd.

HYMNS TO PUSHAN AND BHAGA.

To PusHAN (vi. 56).

The man who Pushan designates
"With words like these, * mush-eater he,'
By him the god is not described.

With Pushan joined in unison
That best of warriors, truest lord,
Indra, the evil demons slays.

'T is he, the best of warriors, drives
The golden chariot of the sun
Among the speckled kine (the clouds).

Whate'er we ask of thee to-day,
O w'onder-worker, praised and wise,
Accomplish thou for us that prayer.

And this our band, which hunts for kine,i
Successful make for booty's gain ;
Afar, O Pushan, art thou praised.

We seek of thee success, which far
From ill, and near to wealth shall be ;
For full prosperity to-day;
And full prosperity the morn.^

To Bhaga (vii. 41).

Early on Agni call we, early Indra call ;
Early call Mitra, Varuna, the Horsemen twain ;
Early, too, Bhaga, Pushan, and the Lord of Strength ;
And early Soma will we call, and Rudra too.

1 The hymn is sung before setting out on a forray for cattle. Let one observe
how unsupported is the assumption of the ritualists as applied to this hymn, that it
must have been " composed for rubrication."

2 After Muir, V. p. i ']'$>. The clouds and cattle are both called gas^ ' wanderers,'
which helped in the poetic identification of the two.

PUSH AN AND BHAGA AS SUN-GODS. 55

This stanza has been prefixed to the hymn by virtue of the
catch-word ' early ' (in the morning), with whicli really begins
this prosaic poem (in different metre) :

The early-conquering mighty Ehaga call we,
The son of Boundlessness, the gift-besto\ver,i
Whom weak and strong, and e'en the king, regarding,
Cry bhdgam bhakshi, 'give to me the giver.' ^

O Bhaga, leader Bhaga, true bestower,
O Bhaga, help this prayer, to us give (riches),
O Bhaga, make us grow in kine and horses,
O Bhaga, eke in men, men-wealthy be we !

And now may we be rich, be (^//a^cz-holders,^
Both at the (day's) approach, and eke at midday,
And at the sun's departure, generous giver.
The favor of the gods may we abide in.

O gods, (to us) be Bhaga really bhaga,^
By means of him may we be bhaga-\\o\^Q.x^.
As such an one do all, O Bhaga, call thee.
As such, O Bhaga, be to-day our leader.

May dawns approach the sacrifice, the holy

Place, like to Dadhikra,° like horses active,

Which bring a chariot near ; so, leading Bhaga,

Who finds good things, may they approach, and bring him.

As this is the only hymn addressed to Bhaga, and as it
proves itself to have been made for altar service (in style as
well as in special mention of the ceremony), it is evident that
Bhaga, although called Aditi's son, is but a god of wealth and
(like An^a, the Apportion er) very remotely connected with

1 Compare ix. 97. 55, " Thou art Bhaga, giver of gifts."

2 Bhagaiit bhakshi! Compare baksheesh. The word as 'god' is both Avestan,
bagha, and Slavic, bogii (also meaning 'rich'). It may be an epithet of other gods
also, and here it means only luck.

3 Literally ' possessed of bhaga^ i.e., wealth.

4 May Bhaga be bhdgavan, z.e., a true b/iaga-ho\der. Here and below a pun on
the name (as above).

5 Mythical being, possibly the sun-horse. According to Pischel a real earthly
racer.

56 THE RELIGIOXS OF INDIA,

physical functions. But tlie hymn appears to be so late that
it cannot throw much light on the original conception of the
deity. We rather incline to doubt whether Bhaga was ever,
strictly speaking, a sun-god, and think that he was made so
merely because the sun (Savitar) was called bhaga. A (Zeus)
Bagaios was worshipped by the Phrygians, while in the Avesta
and as a Slavic god Bhaga has no especial connection with the
sun. It must be acknowledged, however, that every form of
the sun-god is especially lauded for generosity.

VISHNU.

In the person of Vishnu the sun is extolled under another
name, which in the period of the Rig Veda was still in the
dawn of its glory. The hymns to Vishnu are few ; his fame
rests chiefly on the three strides with which he crosses heaven,
on his making fast the earth, and on his munificence.-^ He,
too, leads in battle and is revered under the title Qipivishta,^
of unknown significance, but meaning literally 'bald.' Like
Savitar he has three spaces, two called earthly, and one, the
highest, known only to himself. His greatness is inconceiv-
able, and he is especially praised with Indra, the two being
looked upon as masters of the world.^ His highest place is
the realm of the departed spirits.* The hymns to him appear
to be late (thus I. 155. 6, where, as the year, he has four
seasons of ninety days each). Like Pushan (his neighbor in
many lauds) he is associated in a late hymn with the Maruts
(V. 87). His later popularity lies in the importance of his
' highest place ' (or step) being the home of the departed
spirits, where he himself dwells, inscrutable. This led to the
spirit's union with the sun, which, as we have said, is one of

1 I. 22. 17, etc. ; 154 ff. ; vii. loo.

2 vii, 100, 5-6. Vishnu (may be the epithet of Indra in I. 6i. 7) means winner (?).

3 vi. 69; vii. 99. But Vishnu is ordered about by Indra (iv, 18. 11 j viii. 89. 12).

4 I. 154. 5. In II. I. 3, Vishnu is one with Fire (Agni).

VISHNU. 57

the first phases of the pantheistic doctrine. In the family-
books Vishnu gets but two hymns, both in the same collection,
and shares one more with Indra (vii, 99-100 ; vi. 69). In
some of the family-collections, notably in that of the Vicva-
mitras, he is, if not unknown, almost ignored. As Indra's
friend he is most popular wdth the Kanva family, but even here
he has no special hymn.

None born, God Vishnu, and none born hereafter

E'er reaches to the Hmit of thy greatness ;

'Twas thou establish'st yon high vault of heaven,

Thou madest fast the earth's extremest mountain, (vii. 99. 2.)

Three steps he made, the herdsman sure,

Vishnu, and stepped across (the world). (I. 22. 18.)

The mighty deeds will I proclaim of Vishnu,
Who measured out the earth's extremest spaces,
And fastened firm the highest habitation.
Thrice stepping out with step all-powerful.

O would that I might reach his path beloved.

Where joy the men who hold the gods in honor. (I. 154. i, 5.)

Under all these names and images the sun is worshipped.
And it is necessary to review them all to see how deeply the
worship is ingrained. The sun is one of the most venerable
as he is the most enduring of India's nature-gods.-^ In no
early passage is the sun a malignant god. He comes " as kine
to the village, as a hero to his steed, as a calf to the cow, as a
husband to his wife."" He is the 'giver,' the 'generous one,'
and as such he is Mitra, 'the friend,' who with Varuna, the
encompassing heaven, is, indeed, in the Rig Veda, a personality
subordinated to his greater comrade ; yet is this, perhaps, the
sun's oldest name of those that are not descriptive of purely
physical characteristics. For Mithra in Persian keeps the

1 Thus, for example, Vishnu in the Hindu trinity, the separate worship of the
sun in modern sects, and in the cult of the hill-men.

2 X. 149.

58 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

proof that this title was given to the Indo-Iranic god before
the separation of the two peoples. It is therefore (perhaps
with Bhaga ?) one of the most ancient personal designations of
the sun, — one, perhaps, developed from a mere name into
a separate deity.

HEAVEN AND EARTH.

Not only as identical with the chief god of the Greeks, but
also from a native Indie point of view, it might have been
expected that Dyaus (Zeus), the 'shining sky,' would play an
important role in the Hindu pantheon. But such is not the
case. There is not a single hymn addressed independently to
Dyaus, nor is there any hint of especial preeminence of Dyaus
in the half-dozen hymns that are sung to Heaven and Earth
together. The word dyaus is used hundreds of times, but gen-
erally in the meaning sky (without personification). There is,
to be sure, a formal acknowledgment of the fatherhood of
Dyaus (among gods he is father particularly of Dawn, the
Agvins, and Indra), as there is of the motherhood of Earth,
but there is no further exaltation. No exaggeration — the
sign of Hindu enthusiasm — is displayed in the laudation, and
the epithet 'father' is given to half a dozen Vedic gods, as in
Rome ]Ma(r)spiter stands beside Jup(p)iter. Certain functions
are ascribed to Heaven and Earth, but they are of secondary
origin. Thus they bring to the gods the sacrifice/ as does
Agni, and one whole hymn may thus be epitomized : ' By the
ordinance of Varuna made firm, O Heaven and Earth, give us
blessings. Blest with children and wealth is he that adores
you twain. Give us sweet food, glory and strength of heroes,
ye who are our father and mother.' "

The praise is vague and the benevolence is the usual
' bestowal of blessings ' expected of all the gods in return for

1 II. 41. 20. 2 vi. 70.

HEAVEN AXD EARTH. 59

praise. Other hymns add to this something, from which one
sees that these deities are not regarded as self-created; for the
seers of old, or, according to one poet, some wonderful divine
artisan, " most wondrous worker of the wonder-working gods,"
created them. Their chief office is to exercise benign pro-
tection and bestow wealth. Once they are invited to come to
the sacrifice "with the gods," but this, of course, is not meant
to exclude them from the list of gods.^

The antithesis of male and female, to Bergaigne's insistence
on which reference was made above (p. 43), even here in this
most obvious of forms, common to so many religions, shows
itself so faintly that it fails utterly to support that basis of
sexual dualism on which the French scholar lays so much
stress. Dyaus does, indeed, occasionally take the place of
Indra, and as a bellowing bull impregnate earth, but this is
wholly incidental and not found at all in the hymns directly
lauding Heaven and Earth. Moreover, instead of "father and
mother" Heaven and Earth often are spoken of as "the two
mothers," the significance of which cannot be nullified by the
explanation that to the Hindu 'two mothers' meant two parents,
and of two parents one must be male, — Bergaigne's explana-
tion. For not only is Dyaus one of the 'two mothers,' but
when independently used the word Dyaus is male or female
indifferently. Thus in X. 93. i : " O Heaven and Earth be
wide outstretched for us, (be) like two young women." The
position of Heaven and Earth in relation to other divinities
varies with the fancy of the poet that extols them. They are
either created, or they create gods, as well as create men. In
accordance with the physical reach of these deities they are
exhorted to give strength whereby the worshipper shall " over-
reach all peoples "; and, as parents, to be the " nearest of the
gods," to be "like father and mother in kindness." (I. 159 ;
160. 2, 5.)

1 I. 160.4; iv. 56- 1-3; vii. 53. 2.

60 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

One more attribute remains to be noticed, which connects
Dyaus morally as well as physically with Savitar and Varuna.
The verse in which this attribute is spoken of is also not with-
out interest from a sociological point of view : " Whatsoever
sin we have committed against the gods, or against a friend,
or against the chief of the clan (family) ^ may this hymn to
Heaven and Earth avert it." It was shown above that Savi-
tar removes sin. Here, as in later times, it is the hymn that
does this. The mystery of these gods' origin puzzles the seer :
" Which was first and which came later, how were they begot-
ten, who knows, O ye wise seers ? Whatever exists, that they
carry." ^ But all that they do they do under the command of
Mitra.^

The most significant fact in connection with the hymns to
Heaven and Earth is that most of them are expressly for
sacrificial intent. " With sacrifices I praise Heaven and
Earth" (I. 159. i); "For the sake of the sacrifice are ye come
down (to us)" (iv. 56. 7). In vi. 70 they are addressed in
sacrificial metaphors; in vii. 53. i the poet says: ''I invoke
Heaven and Earth with sacrifices," etc. The passivity of the
two gods makes them yield in importance to their son, the
active Savitar, who goes between the two parents. None of
these hymns bears the impress of active religious feeling or has
poetic value. They all seem to be reflective, studied, more or
less mechanical, and to belong to a period of theological
philosophy. To Earth alone without Heaven are addressed one
uninspired h3nTin and a fragment of the same character : " O
Earth be kindly to us, full of dwellings and painless, and give
us protection."* In the burial service the dead are exhorted
to ''go into kindly mother earth" who will be "wool-soft, like
a maiden." ^ The one hymn to Earth should perhaps be placed

1 I. 1S5. 8 {Jdspati). The expiatory power of the hymn occurs again in I. 159.

2 I. 1S5. I. 3 iv. 56. 7. 4 I. 22. 15.
5 X. iS. 10 (or: "like a wool-soft maiden").

V A RUN A. 61

parallel with similar meditative and perfunctory laudations in
the Homeric hymns :

To Earth (v. S4).

In truth, O broad extended earthy
Thou bear'st the render of the hills, ^
Thou who, O mighty mourrtainous one,
Quickenest created things with might.
Thee praise, O thou that wander'st far,
The hymns which light accompany,
Thee who, O shining one, dost send
Like eager steeds the gushing rain.
Thou mighty art, who holdest up
With strength on earth the forest trees.
When rain the rains that from thy clouds
And Dyaus' far-gleaming lightning come.^

On the bearing of these facts, especially in regard to the
secondary greatness of Dyaus, we shall touch below. He is
a god exalted more by modern writers than by the Hindus !

VARUNA.

Varuna has been referred to already in connection with the
sun-god and with Heaven and Earth. It is by Varuna's power
that they stand firm. He has established the sun ' like a tree,'
?>., like a support, and Mnade a path for it.' ^ He has a thou-
sand remedies for ills ; to his realm not even the birds can
ascend, nor wind or swift waters attain. It is in accordance
with the changeless order ^ of Varuna that the stars and the
moon go their regular course ; he gives long life and releases
from harm, from WTong, and from sin."*

1 The lightning. In I. 31. 4, 10 "(Father) Fire makes Dyaus bellow" like "a
bull " (v. 36. 5). Dyaus " roars '' in vi. 72. 3. Nowhere else is he a thunderer.
- I. 24. 7-S. The change in metaphor is not unusual.

3 This word means either order or orders (law) ; literally the ' way ' or ' course.'

4 I. 24 (epitomized).

62 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

Varuna is the most exalted of those gods whose origin is
physical. His realm is all above us ; the sun and stars are his
eyes ; he sits above upon his golden throne and sees all that
passes below, even the thoughts of men. He is, above all, the
moral controller of the universe.

To Varuna (i. 25).

Howe'er we, who thy people are,
O Varuna, thou shining god,
Thy order injure, day by day.
Yet give us over nor to death.
Nor to the blow of angry (foe),
Nor to the wrath of (foe) incensed.^
Thy mind for mercy we release —
As charioteer, a fast-bound steed —
By means of song, O Varuna.

('T is Varuna) who knows the track
Of birds that fly within the air.
And knows the ships upon the flood; ^
Knows, too, the (god) of order firm.
The twelve months with their progeny,
And e'en which month is later born ; ^
Knows, too, the pathway of the wind.
The wide, the high, the mighty (wind).
And knows who sit above (the wind).

(God) of firm order, Varuna
His place hath ta'en within (his) home
For lordship, he, the very strong.*
Thence all the things that are concealed
He looks upon, considering
Whate'er is done and to be done.
May he, the Son of Boundlessness,
The very strong, through every day
Make good our paths, prolong our life.

1 Perhaps better with Ludwig " of (thee) in anger, of (thee) incensed."

2 Or: " Being (himself) in the (heavenly) flood he knows the ships." (Ludwig.)

3 An intercalated month is meant (not the primitive ' twelve days ').

4 Or 'very wise,' of mental strength.

VAJ^UiVA. 63

Bearing a garment all of gold,
In jewels clothed, is Varuna,
And round about him sit his spies ;
A god whom injurers injure not,
Nor cheaters cheat among the folk,
Nor any plotters plot against ;
Who for himself 'mid (other) men
Glory unequalled gained, and gains
(Such glory) also 'mid ourselves.

Far go my thoughts (to him), as go
The eager cows that meadows seek.
Desiring (him), the wide-eyed (god).
Together let us talk again.
Since now th'e offering sweet I bring.
By thee beloved, and like a priest
Thou eat'st.

I see the wide-eyed (god)!
I see his chariot on the earth,
My song with joy hath he received.

Hear this my call, O Varuna,

Be merciful to me today,

For thee, desiring help, I yearn.

Thou, wise one, art of everything.
The sky and earth alike, the king ;
As such upon thy way give ear,
And loose from us the (threefold) bond ;
The upper bond, the middle, break.
The lower, too, that we may live.

In the portrait of such a god as this one comes very near to
monotheism. The conception of an ahnost soHtary deity,
recognized as watcher of wrong, guardian of right, and primi-
tive creator, approaches more closely to unitarianism than does
the idea of any physical power in the Rig Veda.

To the poet of the Rig Veda Varuna is the enveloping
heaven ; ^ that is, in distinction from Dyaus, from whom he

1 viii. 41. 7 ; vii. 82. 6 (Bergaigne) ; X. 132, 4.

64 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

differs ioto cae/o, so to speak, the invisible world, which em-
braces the visible sky. His home is there where lives the
Unborn, whose place is unique, above the highest heaven,^

But it is exactly this loftiness of character that should make
one shy of interpreting Varuna as being originally the god
that is presented here. Can this god, 'most august of Vedic
deities,' as Bergaigne and others have called him, have be-
lons^ed as such to the earliest stratum of Arvan belief ?

There are some twelve hymns in the Rig Veda in Varuna's
honor. ♦Of these, one in the tenth book celebrates Indra as
opposed to Varuna, and generally it is considered late, in
virtue of its content. Of the hvmns in the eisrhth book the
second appears to be a later imitation of the first, and the first
appears, from several indications, to be of comparatively recent
origin.^ In the seventh book (vii. 86-89) ^^^^ short final hymn
contains a distinctly late trait in invoking Varuna to cure
dropsy ; the one preceding this is />/ majorem gloriajn of the
poet Vasistha, fitly following the one that appears to be as
new, where not only the mysticism but the juggling with
" thrice-seven," shows the character of the hymn to be
recent.^ In the first hymn of this book the late doctrine of
inherited sin stands prominently forth (vii. 86. 5) as an indi-
cation of the time in which it was composed. The fourth
and sixth books have no separate hymns to Varuna. In the
fifth book the position of the one hymn to Varuna is one
favorable to spurious additions, but the hymn is not otherwise
obnoxious to the criticism of lateness. Of the two hymns in
the second book, the first is addressed only indirectly to
Varuna, nor is he here very prominent ; the second (ii. 28) is
the only song which stands on a par with the hymn already

1 Compare Bergaigne, La Religion Vediqiie, iii. pp. 116-118.

2 The insistence on the holy seven, the ' secret names " of dawn, the confusion of
Varuna with Trita. Compare, also, the refrain, viii. 39-42. For X. 124, see below.

'^ Compare Hillebrandt's Varuna and Mitra. p. 5 ; and see our essay on the Holy
Numbers of the Rig \'eda (in the Oriental Studies).

VARUiVA. 65

translated. There remain the hymns cited above from the
first, not a family-book. It is, moreover, noteworthy that in
ii. 28, apart from the ascription of general greatness, almost
all that is said of Varuna is that he is a priest, that he causes
rivers to flow, and loosens the bond of sin.-^ The finest hymn
to Varuna, from a literary point of view, is the one translated
above, and it is mainly on the basis of this hymn that the lofty
character of Varuna has been interpreted by occidental writers.
To our mind this hymn belongs to the close of the first
epoch of the three which the hymns represent. That it can-
not be very early is evident from the mention of the inter-
calated month, not to speak of the image of Varuna eating
the sweet oblation ' like a priest.' Its elevated language is in
sharp contrast to that of almost all the other Varuna hymns.
As these are all the hymns where Varuna is praised alone by
himself, it becomes of chief importance to study him here, and
not where, as in iii. 62, iv. 41, vi. 51, 67, 68, and elsewhere, he
is lauded as part of a combination of gods (Mitra or Indra
united with Varuna). In the last book of the Rig Veda there
is no hymn to Varum," a time when pantheistic monotheism
was changing into pantheism, so that, in the last stage of the
Rig Veda, Varuna is descended from the height. Thereafter
he is god and husband of waters, and punisher of secret sin
(as in ii. 28). Important in contrast to the hymn translated
above is v. 85. . ^

To Varuna.

" I will sing forth unto the universal king a high deep
prayer, dear to renowned Varuna, who, as a butcher a hide,
has struck earth apart (from the sky) for the sun. Varuna has

1 Varuna's forgiving of sins may be explained as a washing out of sin, just as fire
burns it out, and so loosens therewith the imagined bond, V. 2. 7. Thus, quite apart
from Varuna in a hymn addressed to the ' Waters,' is found the prayer, " O waters,
carry off whatever sin is in me . . . and untruth," I. 23. 22.

- But as in iv. 42, so in x. 124 he shares glory with Indra.

66 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA,

extended air in trees, strength in horses, milk in cows, and has
laid wisdom in hearts ; lire in water ; the sun in the sky ; soma
in the stone. Varuna has inverted his- water-barrel and let the
two worlds with the space between, flow (with rain). With this
(heavenly water-barrel) he, the king of every created thing,
wets the whole world, as a rain does a meadow. He wets the
world, both earth and heaven, when he, Varuna, chooses to
milk out (rain) — and then do the mountains clothe themselves
with cloud, and even the strongest men grow weak. Yet
another great and marvellous power of the renowned spirit
(Asura) will I proclaim, this, that standing in mid-air he has
measured earth with the sun, as if with a measuring rod. (It
is due to) the marvellous power of the wisest god, which none
ever resisted, that into the one confluence run the rivers, and
pour into it, and fill it not. O Varuna, loosen whatever sin we
have committed to bosom-friend, comrade, or brother ; to our
own house, or to the stranger ; what (we) have sinned like
gamblers at play, real (sin), or what we have not known.
Make loose, as it were, all these things, O god Varuna, and
may we be dear to thee hereafter."

In this hymn Varuna is a water-god, who stands in mid-air
and directs the rain ; who, after the rain, reinstates the sun ;
who releases from sin (as water does from dirt ?). According
to this conception it would seem that Varuna were the
'coverer' rather than the ' encompasser.' It might seem
probable even that Varuna first stood to Dyaus as cloud and
rain and night to shining day, and that his counterpart,
Oupavos, stood in the same relation to Zei;? ; that Oupavos were
connected with oupew and Varuna wdth varl, river, vdri, water.^

1 Later, Varuna's water-office is his only physical side. Compare Ait. Ar. ii. i. 7. 7,
' water and Varuna, children of mind.' Compare with vdri, ovpd = vara, and var'i,
an old word for rivers, vars^ (= far + j-), 'rain.' The etymology is very doubtful
on account of the number of -'^T-roots. Perhaps dew (^ip<xa) and rain first as
' coverer.' Even var = vas ' shine,' has been suggested (ZDMG. xxii. 603).

VARUNA. 67

It is possible, but it is not provable. But no interpretation of
Varuna that ignores his rainy side can be correct. And this is
fully recognized by Hillebrandt. On account of his " thousand
spies," i.e., eyes, he has been looked upon by some as exclu-
sively a night-god. But this is too one-sided an interpretation,
and passes over the all-important fact that it is only in con-
junction with the sun (Mitra), where there is a strong antithesis,
that the night-side of the god is exclusively displayed. Wholly
a day-god he cannot be, because he rules night and rain. He
is par excellence the Asura, and, like Ahura jMazdao, has the
sun for an eye, i.e.., he is heaven. But there is no Varuna in
Iranian worship and Ahura is a sectarian specialization. With-
out this name may one ascribe to India what is found in Iran?-^
It has been suggested by Bergaigne that Varuna and Vritra,
the rain-holding demon, were developments from the same idea,
one revered as a god, the other, a demon ; and that the word
means ' restrainer,' rather than ' encompasser.'

From all this it will be evident that to claim an original
monotheism as still surviving in the person of Varuna, is im-
possible ; and this is the one point we would make. Every one
must admire the fine hymn in which he is praised, but what
there is in it does not make it seem verv old, and the inter-
calated month is decisive evidence, for here alone in the Rig
Veda is mentioned this month, which implies the five-year
cyclus, but this belongs to the Brahmanic period (Weber,
Vedische Beitrdge, p. 38). Every explanation of the original
nature of Varuna must take into consideration that he is a
rain-god, a day-god, and a night-god in turn, and that where he
is praised in the most elevated language the rain-side disap-
pears, although it was fundamental, as may be seen by compar-
ing many passages, where Varuna is exhorted to give rain,
where his title is ' lord of streams,' his position that of ' lord

1 The old comparison of Varcna cathrttgaosha turns out to be " the town of
Varna with four gates " !

68 THE RELIGIOXS OF INDIA.

of waters,' The decrease of Varuna worship in favor of Indra
results partly from the more peaceful god of rain appearing" less
admirable than the monsoon-god, who overpowers with storm
and lightning, as well as ' wets the earth.'

The most valuable contribution to the studv of Varuna is
Hillebrandt's 'Varuna and iNIitra.' This author has succeeded
in completely overthrowing the old error that Varuna is exclu-
sively a night-god/ Quite as definitively he proves that A'aruna
is not exclusively a day-god.

Bergaigne, on the other hand, claims an especially tenebrous
character for Varuna.- iNIuch has been written on luminous
deities bv scholars that fail to reco2:nize the fact that the
Hindus regard the night both as light and as dark. But to
the Vedic poet the night, star-illumined, was bright. Even
Hillebrandt speaks of "the bright heaven " of day as "opposed
to the dark night-heaven in which Varuna also shows himself."^

In the Rig Veda, as it stands, with all the different views of
Varuna side by side, Varuna is a universal encompasser, moral
as well as physical. As such his physical side is almost gone.
But the conception of him as a moral watcher and sole lord of
the universe is in so sharp contrast to the figure of the rain-
god, who, like Parjanya, stands in mid-air and upsets a water-
barrel, that one must discriminate even between the Vedic
views in regard to him.'*

It is Varuna who lets rivers flow ; with Indra he is besought
not to let his weapons fall on the sinner ; wind is his breath.^

1 In India: What Can it Teach ns, pp. 197, 200, Muller tacitly recognizes in
the physical Varuna only the ' starry ' night-side.

2 Loc. cit. Ill, 119, Bergaigne admits Varuna as god of waters, but sees in him
identity with Vritra a ' restrainer of waters.' He thinks the ' luminous side ' of
Varuna to be antique also (III. 117-119), Varuna's cord, according to Bergaigne,
comes from 'tying up' the waters; 'night's fetters,' according to Hillebrandt.

3 Loc. cit. p. 13.

4 One of the chief objections to Bergaigne's conception of Varuna as water-
restrainer is that it does not explain the antique union with IMitra.

5 II. 28. 4, 7 ; vii. 82. 1, 2 ; 87. 2.

V A RUN A. 69

On the other hand he is practically identified with the sun.^
How ill this last agrees with the image of a god who ' lives by
the spring of rivers,' ' covers earth as with a garment,' and 'rises
like a secret sea (in fog) to heaven ' ! - Even when invoked
with the sun, Mitra, Varuna still gives rain : " To whomsoever
ye two are kindly disposed comes sweet rain from heaven ; we
beseech you for rain . . . you, the thunderers who go through
earth and heaven " (v. 63), — a strange prayer to be addressed
to a monotheistic god of light ! " Ye make the lightning flash,
ye send the rain ; ye hide the sky in cloud and rain " {ib^. In
the hymn preceding we read : " Ye make firm heaven and
earth, ye give growth to plants, milk to cows ; O ye that give
rain, pour down rain ! " In the same group another short
hymn declares: "They are universal kings, who have ghee
(rain) in their laps ; they are lords of the rain " (v. 68). In
the next hymn : " Your clouds (cows) give nourishment, your
streams are sweet." Thus the twain keep the order of the
seasons (i. 2. 7-8) and protect men by the regular return of
the rainy season. Their weapons are always lightning (above,
i. 152. 2, and elsewhere). A short invocation in a family-book
gives this prayer: "O ]\Iitra -Varuna, wet our meadows with
ghee; wet all places with the sweet drink" (iii. 62. 16).

The interpretation given above of the office of Varuna as
regards the sun's path, is supported by a verse where is made
an allusion to the time "when they release the sun's horses,"
i.e.^ when after two or three months of rain the sun shines
again (v. 62. i). In another verse one reads: "Ye direct
the waters, sustenance of earth and heaven, richly let come
your rains " (viii. 25. 6).

Now there is nothing startling in this view. In opposition
to the unsatisfactory attempts of modern scholars, it is the

1 vii. Sj. 6 ; 88. 2.

2 viii. 41. 2, 7, S. So Varuna gives soma, rain. As a rain-god he surpasses
Dyaus, who, ultimately, is also a rain-god (above), as in Greece.

70 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

traditional interpretation of Mitra and Varuna that Mitra is
the god of day (/>., the sun), and Varuna the god of night {i.e.,
covering),^ while native belief regularly attributes to him the
lordship of water.^ The ' thousand eyes ' of A'^aruna are the
result of this view. The other light-side of Varuna as special
lord of day (excluding the all-heaven idea with the sun as his
' eye ') is elsewhere scarcely referred to, save in late hymns
and viii. 41.^ In conjunction wdth the storm-god, Indra, the
wrath-side of Varuna is further developed. The prayer for
release is from ' long darkness,' i.e., from death ; in other
words, may the light of life be restored (ii. 27. 14-15 ; ii.
28. 7). Grassmann, who believes that in Varuna there is an
early monotheistic deity, enumerates all his offices and omits
the giving of rain from the list ; ^ while Ludwig derives his
name from var (=velle) and defines him as the lofty god who
wills !

Varuna's highest development ushers in the middle period
of the Rig Veda ; before the rise of the later All-father, and
even before the great elevation of Indra. But when Surya and
Dawn were chief, then Varuna was chiefest. There is no
monotheism in the worship of a god who is regularly asso-
ciated as one of a pair with another god. Nor is there in
Varuna any religious grandeur which, so far as it exceeds that
of other divinities, is not evolved from his old physical side.
One cannot personify heaven and write a descriptive poem
about him without becoming elevated in style, as compared
with the tone of one that praises a rain-cloud or even the more
confined personality of the sun. There is a stylistic but not a
metaphysical descent from this earlier period in the ' lords of
the atmosphere,' for, as we shall show, the elevation of Indra

1 Compare Cat. Br. v. 2. 5. 17, " whatever is dark is Varuna's."

2 In ii. 38. 8 varuna means 'fish,' and 'water' in i. 1S4. 3.

3 V. 62. I, 8 ; 64. 7 ; 64. 5 ; 65. 2 ; 67. 2 ; 69. i ; vi. 51. i ; 67. 5. In viii. 47. 11
the Adityas are themselves spies.

4 Introduction to Grassmann, ii. 27 ; iv. 42. Lex. s. v.

VARUNA. 71

and Agni denotes a philosophical conception yet more advanced
than the almost monotheistic greatness attained by Varuna.
But one must find the background to this earlier period ; and
in it Varuna is not monotheistic. He is the covering sky
united with the sun, or he whose covering is rain and dew.
Indra treats Varuna as Savitar treats Mitra, supplants him ;
and for the same reason, because each represents the same
priestly philosophy.

In the one extant hymn to Mitra (who is Indo-Iranian) it is
Mitra that 'watches men,' and 'bears earth and heaven.' He
is here (iii. 59) the kindly sun, his name (Mitra, 'friend')
being frequently punned upon.

The point of view taken by Barth deserves comment. He
says •} "It has sometimes been maintained that the Varuna of
the hymns is a god in a state of decadence. In this view we
can by no means concur ; ... an appeal to these few hymns
is enough to prove that in the consciousness of their authors
the divinity of Varuna stood still intact." If, instead of ' still
intact,' the author had said, ''on the increase, till undermined
by still later philosophical speculation,' the true position, in
our opinion, would have been given. But a distinction must
be made between decadence of greatness and decadence of
popularity. It has happened in the case of some of the Vedic
inherited gods that exactly in proportion as their popularity
decreased their greatness increased ; that is to say, as they
became more vague and less individual to the folk they were
expanded into wider circles of relationship by the theosophist,
and absorbed other gods' majesty. Varuna is no longer a
popular god in the Rig Veda. He is already a god of specu-
lation, only the speculation did not go far enough to suit the
later seers of Indra-Savitar-hood. Most certainly his worship,
when compared in popularity with that of Agni and Indra, is
unequal. But this is because he is too remote to be popular.

1 Religions of htdia, p. 1 7.

72 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

What made tlie popular gods was a union of near physical
force to please the vulgar, with philosophical mysticism to
please the priest, and Indra and Agni fulfilled the conditions,
while awful, but distant, Varuna did not.

In stating that the great hymn to Varuna is not typical of
the earliest stage of religious belief among the Vedic Aryans,
we should add one word in explanation. Varuna's traits, as
shown in other parts of the Rig Veda^ are so persistent that
they must be characteristic of his original function. It does
not follow, however, that any one hymn in which he is lauded
is necessarily older than the hymn cited from the first book.
The earliest stage of religious development precedes the
entrance into the Punjab. It may even be admitted that at
the time when the Vedic Aryans became Hindus, that is, when
they settled about the Indus, Varuna was the great god we see
him in the great hymn to his honor. But while the relation
of the Adityas to the spirits of Ahura in Zoroaster's system
points to this, yet it is absurd to assume this epoch as the start-
ing point of Vedic belief. Back of this period lies one in
which Varuna was by no means a monotheistic deity, nor even
the greatest divinity among the gods. The fact, noticed by
Hillebrandt, that the Vasishtha family are the chief praisers of
Varuna, may also indicate that his special elevation was due
to the theological conceptions of one clan, rather than of the
whole people, since in the other family books he is worshipped
more as one of a pair, Varuna and Mitra, heaven and sun.

ADITI.

The mother of Varuna and the luminous gods is the 'mother
of kings,' Boundlessness (aditi)^ a product of priestly theoso-
phy. Aditi makes, perhaps, the first approach to formal pan-

1 The Rik kno^YS, also, a Diti, but merely as antithesis to Aditi — the 'confined
and unconfined.' Aditi is prayed to (for protection and to remove sin) in sporadic
verses of several hymns addressed to other gods, but she has no hymn.

DA WN. 73

theism in India, for all gods, men, and things are identified
with her (i. 89. 10). Seven children of Aditi are mentioned,
to whom is added an eighth (in one hymn).' The chief of
these, who \s par excellence the Aditya (son of Aditi), is Varuna.
Most of the others are divinities of the sun (x. 72). With
Varuna stands Mitra, and besides this pair are found ' the
true friend ' Aryaman, Savitar, Bhaga, and, later, Indra, as
sun (?). Daksha and An^a are also reckoned as Adityas, and
Siirya is enumerated among them as a divinity distinct from
Savitar. But the word ^7 c////, 'unbound,' is often a mere epithet,
of Fire, Sky, etc. Moreover, in one passage, at least, adi/i
simply means 'freedom' (i. 24. i), less boundlessness than
'un-bondage' ; so, probably, in i. 185. 3, 'the gift of freedom.'
Anga seems to have much the same meaning with Bhaga, zv's.,
the sharer, giver. Daksha may, perhaps, be the ' clever,'
' strong ' one (Se^'to?), abstract Strength ; as another name of
the sun Q). Aditi herself (according to Miiller, Infinity; accord-
ing to Hillebrandt, Eternity) is an abstraction that is born later
than her chief sons. Sun and Varuna." Zarathustra (Zoroaster,
not earlier than the close of the first Vedic period) took the
seven Adityas and reformed them into one monotheistic (dual-
istic) Spirit (Ahura), with a circle of six moral attendants,
thereby dynamically destroying every physical conception of
them.

DAWN.

We have devoted considerable space to Varuna because of
the theological importance with wdiich is invested his personal-
ity. If one admit that a monotheistic Varuna is the 7/r-Varuna,
if one see in him a sign that the Hindus originally worshipped
one universally great superior god, whose image effaced that

1 Miiller (loc. cit, below) thinks that the ' sons of Aditi ' were first eight and were
then reduced to seven, in which opinion as in his whole interpretation of Aditi as a
primitive dawn-infinity we regret that we cannot agree with him.

2 See Hillebrandt, Die Gbiiin Aditi ; and IVIuller, SBE., xxxii., p. 241, 252.

74 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

of all the others/ then the attempt to trace any orderly devel-
opment in Hindu theology may as well be renounced ; and one
must imagine that this peculiar people, starting with monothe-
ism descended to polytheism, and then leapt again into the
conception of that Father-god whose form, in the end of the
Rig Vedic period, out-varunas Yaruna as encompasser and lord
of all. If, on the other hand, one see in Yaruna a god who,
from the ' covering,' heaven and cloud and rain, from earliest
time has been associated with the sun as a pair, and recognize
in Varuna's loftier form the product of that gradual elevation
to which were liable all the gods at the hands of the Hindu
priests ; if one see in him at this stage the highest god which
a theology, based on the worship of natural phenomena, was
able to evolve ; then, for the reception of those gods who over-
threw him from his supremacy, because of their greater free-
dom from physical restraints, there is opened a logical and
historical path — until that god comes who in turn follows
these half-embodied ones, and stands as the first immaterial
author of the universe — and so one may walk straight from
the physical beginning of the Rig Yedic religion to its spiritual
Brahmanic end.

We turn now to one or two phenomena-deities that were
never much tampered with by priestly speculation ; their forms
being still as bright and clear as when the first A'edic wor-
shipper, waiting to salute the rising sun, beheld in all her
beauty, and thus praised

The Dawn.2

As comes a bride hath she approached us, gleaming ;
All things that live she rouses now to action.
A fire is born that shines for human beings ;
Light liath slie made, and driven away the darkness.

1 That is to say, if one believe that the ' primitive Aryans ' were innoculated with
Zoroaster's teaching. This is the sort of Yaruna that Roth believes to have existed
among the aboriginal Aryan tribes (above, p. 13. note 2). - vii. 77.

DA IVN. IS

Wide-reaching hath she risen, to all approaching,

And shone forth clothed in garments white and glistening,

Of gold her color, fair to see her look is.

Mother of kine,i leader of days she gleameth.

Bearing the gods' eye, she, the gracious maiden,

— Leading along the white and sightly charger- —
Aurora, now is seen, revealed in glory.

With shining guerdons unto all appearing.

O near and dear one, light far off our foes, and
Make safe to us our kines' \nde pasture-places.
Keep from us hatred ; what is good, that bring us,
And send the singer wealth, O generous maiden.

With thy best beams for us do thou beam widely,
Aurora, goddess bright, our life extending;
And food bestow, O thou all goods possessing.
Wealth, too, bestowing, kine and steeds and war-cars

Thou whom Vasistha's ^ sons extol with praises,
Fair-born Aurora, daughter of Dyaus, the bright one,
On us bestow thou riches high and mighty,

— O all ye gods with weal forever guard us.

In the laudation of Varuna the fancy of the poet exhausts
itself in lofty imagery, and reaches the topmost height of Vedic
religious lyric. In the praise of Dawn it descends not lower
than to interweave beauty with dignity of utterance. Nothing
in religious poetry more graceful or delicate than the Vedic
Dawn-hymns has ever been written. In the daily vision of
Dawn following her sister Night the poet sees his fairest god-
dess, and in his worship of her there is love and admiration,
such as is evoked by the sight of no other deity. " She comes
like a fair young maiden, awakening all to labor, with an hun-
dred chariots comes she, and brings the shining light ; gleam
forth, O Dawn, and give us thy blessing this day ; for in thee
is the life of every living creature. Even as thou hast rewarded
the singers of old, so now reward our song" (i. 48).

1 Clouds. 2 The sun.

3 The priest to whom, and to whose family, is ascribed the seventh book.

76' THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

The kine of Dawn are the bright clouds that, like red cattle,
wander in droves upon the horizon. Sometimes the rays of
light, which stretch across the heaven, are intended by this
image, for the cattle-herding poets employed their flocks as
figures for various ends.

The inevitable selfish pessimism of unripe reflection is also
woven into the later Dawn-hymns : " How long will it be ere
this Dawn, too, shall join the Dawns departed ? Vanished are
now the men that saw the Dawns of old ; w^e here see her now ;
there will follow others who will see her hereafter ; but, O
Dawn, beam here thy fairest ; rich in blessings, true art thou
to friend and right. Bring hither (to the morning sacrifice)
the gods " (i. 113).

Since the metre (here ignored) of the following hymn is not
all of one model, it is probable that after the fourth verse a
new hymn began, which was distinct from the first ; but the
argument from metre is unconvincing, and in any event both
songs are worth citing, since they show how varied were the
images and fancies of the poets : " The Dawns are like heroes
with golden weapons ; like red kine of the morning on the field
of heaven ; shining they weave their webs of light, like women
active at work ; food they bring to the pious w^orshipper. Like
a dancing girl is the Dawn adorned, and opens freely her
bosom ; as a cow gives milk, as a cow comes forth from its
stall, so opens she her breast, so comes she out of the darkness
(verses 1-4) . . . She is the ever new, born again and again,
adorned always with the same color. As a player conceals the
dice, so keeps she concealed the days of a man ; daughter of
Heaven she wakes and drives away her sister (Night). Like
kine, like the waves of a flood, with sunbeams she appears.
O rich Dawn, bring us wealth ; harness thy red horses, and
bring to us success " (i. 92). The homage to Dawn is natur-
ally divided at times with that to the sun : " Fair shines the
light of morning ; the sun awakens us to toil ; along the path

DA WN. 77

of order goes Dawn arrayed in light. She extendeth herself in
the east, and gleameth till she fills the sky and earth " ; and
again : " Dawn is the great work of Varuna and Mitra ;
through the sun is she awakened" (i. 124; iii. 61. 6-7). In
the ritualistic period Dawn is still mechanically lauded, and her
beams "rise in the east like pillars of sacrifice" (iv. 51. 2);
but otherwise the imagery of the selections given above is that
which is usually employed. The ' three dawns ' occasionally
referred to are, as we have shown elsewhere,-' the three dawn-
lights, white, red, and yellow, as they are seen by both the
Vedic poet and the Florentine.

Dawn becomes common and trite after awhile, as do all the
gods, and is invoked more to give than to please. ' Wake us,'
cries a later poet, ' Wake us to wealth, O Dawn ; give to us,
give to us ; wake up, lest the sun burn thee with his light ' —
a passage (v. 79) which has caused much learned nonsense
to be written on the inimical relations of Sun and Dawn as
portrayed here. The dull idea is that Dawn is lazy, and had
better get up before Surya catches her asleep. The poet is
not in the least worried because his image does not express a
suitable relationship between the dawn and the sun, nor need
others be disturbed at it. The hymn is late, and only import-
ant in showing the new carelessness as regards the old gods.^
Some other traits appear in vii. 75. i ff., where Dawn is 'queen
of the world,' and banishes the d?'u/is, or evil spirit. She here
is daughter of Heaven, and wife of the sun (4, 5); ib. 76. i,
she is the eye of the world; and ib. 81. 4, she is invoked as
' mother.'

There is, at times, so close a resemblance between Dawn-
hymns and Sun-hymns that the imagery employed in one is

1 JAOS., XV. 270.

^ Much theosophy, and even history (!), has been read into ii. i;, and iv. 30,
where poets speak of Indra slaying Dawn ; but there is nothing remarkable in these
passages. Poetry is not creed. The monsoon (here Indra) does awav with dawns
for a time, and that is what the poet says in his own way.

78 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

used in the other. Thus the hymn vi. 64 begins : " The
beams of Dawn have arisen, shining as shine the waters'
gleaming waves. She makes good paths, . . . she banislies
darkness as a warrior drives away a foe (so of the sun, iv.
13. 2 ; X, 37. 4; 170. 2). Beautiful are thy paths upon the
mountains, and across the waters thou shinest, self-gleaming "
(also of the sun). With the last expression may be compared
that in vi. 65. 5 : " Dawn, whose seat is upon the hills."

Dawn is intimately connected not only with Agni but with
the Twin Horsemen, the A^vins (equites) — if not so intimately
connected as is Helen with the Dioskouroi, ^^\\o^ pace Pischel,
are the A9vins of Hellas. This relationship is more empha-
sized in the hymns to the latter gods, but occasionally occurs
in Dawn-hymns, of which another is here translated in full.

To Dawn (iv. 52).

The Daughter of Heaven, this beauteous maid,
Resplendent leaves her sister (Night),
And now before (our sight) appears.

Red glows she like a shining mare,
Mother of kine, who timely comes- —
, The Horsemen's friend Aurora is.

Both friend art thou of the Horsemen twain,
And mother art thou of the kine,
And thou, Aurora, rulest wealth.

We wake thee with our praise as one
"Who foes removes ; such thought is ours,
O thou that art possesst of joy.

Thv radiant beams beneficent
Like herds of cattle now appear ;
Aurora fills the wide expanse.

With light hast thou the dark removed,
Filling (the world), O brilliant one.
Aurora, help us as thou us'st.

With rays thou stretchest through the heaven
And through the fair wide space between,
O Dawn, with thy refulgent light.

DA WN. 79

It was seen that Savitar (Pushan) is the rising and setting
sun. So, antithetic to Dawn, stands the Abendroth with her
sister, Night. This last, generally, as in the hymn just trans-
lated, is lauded only in connection with Dawn, and for herself
alone gets but one hymn, and that is not in a family-book.
She is to be regarded, therefore, less as a goddess of the pan-
theon than as a quasi-goddess, the result of a poet's meditative
imagination, rather than one of the folk's primitive objects of
adoration; somewhat as the English poets personify "Ye clouds,
that far above me float and pause, ye ocean-waves ... ye
woods, that listen to the might-bird's singing, O ye loud waves,
and O ye forests high, and O ye clouds that far above me
soared; thou rising sun, thou blue rejoicing sky!" — and
as in Greek poetry, that which before has been conceived
of vaguely as divine suddenly is invested with a divine person-
ality. The later poet exalts these aspects of nature, and
endows those that were before only half recognized with a
little special praise. So, whereas Night was divine at first
merely as the sister of divine Dawn, in the tenth book one
poet thus gives her praise :

Hymn to Night (x. 127).

Night, shining goddess, comes, who now
Looks out afar with many eyes.
And putteth all her beauties on.

Immortal shining goddess, she

The depths and heights alike hath filled,

And drives with light the dark away.

To me she comes, adorned well,

A darkness black now sightly made;

Pay then thy debt, O Dawn, and go.^

1 Transferred by Roth from the penultimate position where it stands in the
original. Dawn here pays Night for the latter's matutinal withdrawing by withdraw-
ing herself. Strictly speaking, the Dawn is, of course, the sunset light conceived of
as identical with that preceding the sunrise {iisas, -fj'M, 'east' as 'glow').

80 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

The bright one coming put aside
Her sister Dawn (the sunset light),
And lo ! the darkness hastes away.

So (kind art thou) to us ; at whose

Appearing we retire to rest,

As birds fly homeward to the tree.

To rest are come the throngs of men ;
To rest, the beasts ; to rest, the birds ;
And e'en the greedy eagles rest.

Keep off the she-wolf and the wolf,
Keep, off the thief, O billowy Night,
Be thou to us a saviour now.

To thee, O Night, as 'twere an herd,

To a conqueror (brought), bring I an hymn

Daughter of Heaven, accept (the gift).^

THE ACVINS.

The Agvins who are, as was said above, the ' Horsemen,'
parallel to the Greek Dioskouroi, are twins, sons of Dyaus,
husbands, perhaps brothers of the Dawn. They have been
variously 'interpreted,' yet in point of fact one knows no more
now what was the original conception of the twain than was
known before Occidental scholars began to study them.- Even
the ancients made mere guesses : the A^vins came before the
Dawn, and are so-called because they ride on horses (afz-a,
equos)\ they represent either Heaven and Earth, or Day and

1 Late as seems this hymn to be, it is interesting in revealing the fact that \Yolves
(not tigers or panthers) are the poet's most dreaded foes of niglit. It must, therefore
have been composed in the northlands, where woh-es are the herdsman's worst
enemies.

2 Myriantheus, Die A(yms ; Muir, OST. v, p. 234 ; Bergaigne, Religioji Vcdigue,
ii. p. 431 ; Miiller, Lectures, 2d series, p. 508; Weber, I)id. St. v. p. 234. Sayana
on i. 180. 2, interprets the ' sister of the Agvins" as Dawn.

THE ACVIXS. 81

Night, or Sun and Moon, or two earthly kings — such is the
unsatisfactory information given by the Hindus themselves.^

Much the same language with that in the Dawn-hymns is
naturally employed in praising the Twin Brothers. They, like
the Dioskouroi, are said to have been incorporated gradually
into the pantheon, on an equality with the other gods,- not
because they were at first human beings, but because they,
like Night, were adjuncts of Dawn, and got their divinity
through her as leader.^ In the last book of the Rig Veda they
are the sons of Saranyu and Vivasvant, but it is not certain
whether Saranyu means dawn or not ; in the first book they
are born of the flood (in the sky)."^ They are sons of Dyaus,
but this, too, only in the last and first books, while in the
latter they are separated once, so that only one is called the
Son of the Sky.^ They follow Dawn 'like men' (viii. 5. 2)
and are in Brahmanic literature the 'youngest of the gods.' ^

The twin gods are the physicians of heaven, while to men
they bring all medicines and help in times of danger. They
w'ere apparently at first only 'wonder-workers,' for the original
legends seem to have been few. Yet the striking similarity
in these aspects with the brothers of Helen must offset the
fact that so much in connection with them seems to have been
added in books one and ten. Thev restore the blind and
decrepit, impart strength and speed, and give the power and
seed of life ; even causing waters to flow, fire to burn, and
trees to grow. As such they assist lovers and aid in producing
offspring.

The Agvins are brilliantly described. Their bird-drawn
chariot and all its appurtenances are of gold ; they are swift

1 Muir, loc. cit. Weber regards them as the (stars) Gemini.

2 Weber, however, thinks that Dawn and Acvins are equally old divinities, the
oldest Hindu divinities in his estimation.

3 In the Epic (see below) they are called the lowest caste of gods (Ciidras).

4 X. 17. 2 ; i. 46. 2. 5 i. iSi. ^ (Roth, ZDMG. iv. 425).
6 Taitt. S. vii. 2. 7. 2 ; Muir, loc. cit. p. 235.

82 THE RELIGIONS OE INDIA.

as thought, agile, young, and beautiful. Thrice they come to
the sacrifice, morning, noon, and eve ; at the yoking of their
car, the dawn' is born. When the 'banner before dawn'
appears, the invocation to the Acvins begins ; they ' accom-
pany dawn.' Some variation of fancy is naturally to be looked
for. Thus, though, as said above. Dawn is born at the
Acvins yoking, yet Dawn is herself invoked to wake the
Agvins ; while again the sun starts their chariot before Dawn ;
and as sons of Zeus they are invoked " when darkness still
stands among the shining clouds (cows)." ^

Husbands or brothers or children of Dawn, the Horsemen
are also Siirya's husbands, and she is the sun's daughter
(Dawn ?) or the sun as female. But this myth is not without
contradictions, for Surya elsewhere weds Soma, and the Acvins
are the bridegroom's friends ; whom Pdshan chose on this
occasion as his parents ; he who (unless one with Soma) was
the prior bridegroom of the same much-married damsel. -

The current explanation of the Acvins is that they represent
two periods between darkness and dawn, the darker period
being nearer night, the other nearer day. But they probably,
as inseparable twins, are the twinlights or twilight, before
dav/n, half dark and half bright. In this light it may well be
said of them that one alone is the son of bright Dyaus, that
both v/ed Dawn, or are her brothers. They always come to-
gether. Their duality represents, then, not successive stages
but one stage in day's approach, when light is dark and dark
is light. In comparing the Acvins to other pairs " this dual
nature is frequently referred to ; but no less is there a triality
in connection with them which often in describing thenj has
been ignored. This is that threefold light which opens day ;
and, as in many cases they join with Dawn, so their color is

1 vii. 67. 2 ; viii. 5.2; x. 39. 12 ; viii. 9. 17 ; i- 34. 10 ; x. 61. 4. Muir, loc. cit.
238-9. Compare ib. 234, 256.

2 Muir. loc. cit. p. 237. RV. vi. 5S. 4; x. 85. 9 ff .

3 They are compared to two ships, two birds, etc.

THE ACVIXS. 83

inseparable. Strictly speaking, the break of red is the dawn
and the white and yellow lights precede this.^ Thus in v.
73. 5 : '' Red birds flew round you as Surya stepped upon your
chariot"; so that it is quite impossible, in accordance with the
poets themselves, to limit the A^vins to the twilight. They
are a variegated growth from a black and white seed. The
chief function of the Acvins, as originally conceived, was the
finding and restoring of vanished light. Hence they are
invoked as finders and aid-gods in general (the myths are
given in Myriantheus).

Some very amusing and some silly legends have been col-
lected and told by the Vedic poets in regard to the preserva-
tion and resuscitating power of the Agvins — how an old man
was rejuvenated by them (this is also done by the three Rib-
hus, master-workmen of the gods) ; how brides are provided
by them ; how they rescued Bhujyu and others from the dangers
of the deep (as in the classical legends) ; how they replaced
a woman's leg with an iron one ; restored a saint's eye-sight ;
drew a seer out of a well, etc., etc. Many scholars follow Ber-
gaigne in imagining all these miracles to be anthropomorphized
forms of solar phenomena, the healing of the blind represent-
ing the bringing out of the sun from darkness, etc. To us
such interpretation often seems fatuous. No less unconvinc-
ing is the claim that one of the Agvins represents the fire
of heaven and the other the fire of the altar. The Twins are
called Jidsatyd, the 'savers' (or 'not untrue ones'); ^ explained
by some as meaning ' gods with good noses.

> 3

1 In Cat. Br. v. 5. 4. i, to the A§vins a red-white goat is sacrificed, because
' Agvins are red-white.'

- Perhaps best with Brunnhofer, 'the savers' from Jias as in nasjan (AG. p. 99).

3 La Religion Vedique, ii. p. 434. That ndsatya means 'with good noses' is an
epic notion, ndsatyadasrdu sutiasdu, Mbha. i. 3. 5S, and for this reason, if for no
other (though idea is older), the etymology is probably false ! The epithet is also
Iranian. Twinned and especially paired gods are characteristic of the Rig Veda.
Thus Vama and YamI are twins; and of pairs Indra-Agni, Indra-Vayu, besides the
older Mitra-Varuna, Heaven-Earth, are common.

84 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

Hymn to the Horsemen.

Whether ye rest on far-extended earth, or on the sea in house upon it
made, come hither thence, O ye that ride the steeds. If ever for man ye
mix the sacrifice, then notice now the Kanva [poet who sings]. I call upon
the gods [Indra, Vishnu] ^ and the swift-going Horsemen.'-^ These Horse-
men I call now that they work wonders, to seize the works (of sacrifice),
whose friendship is preeminently ours, and relationship among all the gods ;
in reference to whom arise sacrifices ... If, to-day, O Horsemen, West
or East ye stand, ye of good steeds, whether at Druhyn's, Ann's, Turva9a's,
or Yadu's, I call ye ; come to me. If ye fly in the air, O givers of great
joy; or if through the two worlds; or if, according to your pleasure, ye
mount the car, — thence come hither, O Horsemen.

From the hy^mn preceding this, the following verses : "

Whatever manliness is in the aether, in the sky, and among the five
peoples, grant us that, O Horsemen . . . this hot .r^wa-drink of yours with
laudation is poured out ; this soma sweet through which ye discovered
Vritra . . . Ascend the swift-rolling chariot, O Horsemen ; hither let these
my praises bring ye, like a cloud . . . Come as guardians of homes ;
guardians of our bodies. Come to the house for (to give) children and
offspring. Whether ye ride on the same car with Indra, or be in the same
house with the Wind; whether united with the Sons of Boundlessness or
the Ribhus, or stand on Vishnu's wide steps (come to us). This is the best
help of the horsemen, if to-day I should entice them to get booty, or call
them as my strength to conquer in battle. . . . Whatever medicine (y€
have) far or near, with this now, O wise ones, grant protection. . . . Awake,
O Dawn, the Horsemen, goddess, kind and great. . . . When, O Dawn,
thou goest in light and shinest \\ith the Sun, then hither comes the Horse-
men's chariot, to the house men have to protect. When the swollen soma-
stalks are milked like cows with udders, and when the choric songs are
sung, then they that adore the Horsemen are preeminent. . . .

Here the A^vins are associated with Indra, and even find
the evil demon ; but, probably, at this stage Indra is more than
god of storms.

1 Perhaps to be omitted.

2 Pischel, Ved. St. i. p. 4S. As swift-going gods they are called ' Indra-like.'

3 viii. 9 and 10.

THE ACVINS. 85

Some of the expanded myths and legends of the Agvins
may be found in i. ii8, 119, 158; x. 40. Here follows one
with legends in moderate number (vii. 71):

Before the Dawn her sister, Night, withdraweth ;
The black one leaves the ruddy one a pathway.
Ye that have kine and horses, you invoke we ;
By day, at night, keep far from us your arrow.

Come hither, now, and meet the pious mortal.

And on your car, O Horsemen, bring him good things;

Keep off from us the dry destroying sickness,

By day, at night, O sweetest pair, protect us.

Your chariot may the joy-desiring chargers.
The virile stallions, bring at Dawn's first coming ;
That car whose reins are rays, and wealth upon it ;
Come with the steeds that keep the season's order.

Upon the car, three-seated, full of riches.
The helping car, that has a path all golden.
On this approach, O lords of heroes, true ones,
Let this food-bringing car of yours approach us.

Ye freed from his old age the man Cyavana ;
Ye brought and gave the charger swift to Pedu ;
Ye two from darkness' anguish rescued Atri;
Ye set Jahusha down, released from fetters. ^

This prayer, O Horsemen, and this song is uttered ;
Accept the skilful poem, manly heroes.
These prayers, to you belonging, have ascended,
O all ye gods protect us aye with blessings ! ^

The sweets which the A^vins bring are either on their
chariot, or, as is often related, in a bag ; or they burst forth
from the hoof of their steed. Pegasus' spring in Helicon has
been compared with this. Their vehicles are variously pictured

1 Doubtful.

2 The last verse is not peculiar to this hymn, but is the sign of the book (family)
in which it was composed.

86 THE RELIGIOXS OF INDIA.

as birds, horses, ships, etc. It is to be noticed that in no one
of their attributes are the A9vins unique. Other gods bring
sweets, help, protect, give offspring, give healing medicines,
and, in short, do all that the Agvins do. But, as Bergaigne
points out, they do all this pacifically, while Indra, who per-
forms some of their wonders, does so by storm. He protects
by not injuring, and helps by destroying foes. Yet is this
again true only in general, and the lines between warlike,
peaceful, and ' sovereign ' gods are often crossed.

CHAPTER IV.

THE RIG VEDA (CONTINUED).— THE MIDDLE GODS.

Only one of the great atmospheric deities, the gods that
preeminently govern the middle sphere between sky and earth,
can claim an Aryan lineage. One of the minor gods of the
same sphere, the ancient rain-god, also has this antique dig-
nity, but in his case the dignity already is impaired by the
strength of a new and greater rival. In the case of the wind-
god, on the other hand, there is preserved a deity who was one
of the primitive pantheon, belonging, perhaps, not only to the
Iranians, but to the Teutons, for Vata, Wind, may be the Scan-
dinavian Woden. The later mythologists on Indian soil make
a distinction between Vata, wind, and Vayu (from the same
root ; as in German weheji), and in this distinction one
discovers that the old Vata, who must have been once the
wind-god, is now reduced to physical (though sentient) wind,
while the newer name represents the higher side of wind as
a power lying back of phenomena ; and it is this latter con-
ception alone that is utilized in the formation of the Vedic
triad of wind, fire, and sun. In short, in the use and appli-
cation of the two names, there is an exact paralfel to the
double terminology employed to designate the sun as Siirya
and Savitar. Just as Surya is the older ijAto? and sol (ac-
knowledged as a god, yet palpably the physical red body in
the sky) contrasted with the interpretation which, by a newer
name (Savitar), seeks to differentiate the (sentient) physical
from the spiritual, so is Vata, Woden, replaced and lowered
by the loftier conception of Vayu. But, again, just as, when
the conception of Savitar is formed, the spiritualizing ten-
dency reverts to Surya, and makes of him, too, a figure

88 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

reclothed in the more modern garb of speech, which is in-
vented for Savitar alone ; so the retroactive theosophic fancy,
after creating Vayu as a divine power underlying phenomenal
Vata, reinvests Vata also with the garments of Vayu. Thus,
finally, the two, who are the result of intellectual differentia-
tion, are again united from a new point of view, and Surya
or Savitar, Vayu or Vata, are indifferently used to express
respectively the whole completed interpretation of the divinity,
which is now visible and invisible, sun and sun-god, wind and
wind-god. In these pairs there is, as it were, a perspective
of Hindu theosophy, and one can trace the god, as a spiritual
entity including the physical, back to the physical prototype
4;hat once was worshipped as such alone.

In the Rig Veda there are three complete hymns to Wind,
none of these being in the family books. In x. i86, the poet
calls on Wind to bring health to the worshipper, and to pro-
long his life. He addresses Wind as ' father and brother and
friend,' asking the power that blows to bring him ambrosia,
of which Wind has a store. These are rather pretty verses
without special theological intent, addressed more to Wind as
such than to a spiritual power. The other hymn from the
same book is directed to Vata also,, not to Vayu, and though
it is loftier in tone and even speaks of Vata as the soul of the
gods, yet is it evident that no consistent mythology has worked
upon the purely poetic phraseology, which is occupied merely
with describing the rushing of a mighty wind (x. i68). Never-
theless, Vata is worshipped, as is Vayu, with oblations.

Hymn to Wind (Vata).

Now Vata's chariot's greatness ! Breaking goes it,
And thundering is its noise ; to heaven it touches,
Goes o'er the earth, cloud ^ making, dust up-rearing;

1 Compare i. 134. 3.

THE MIDDLE GODS. 89

Then rush together all the forms of Vata ;

To him they come as women to a meeting.

With them conjoint, on the same chariot going,

Is born the god, the king of all creation.

Ne'er sleepeth he when, on his pathway wandering,

He goes through air. The friend is he of waters ;

First-born and holy, — where was he created.

And whence arose he ? Spirit of gods is Vata,

Source of creation, goeth where he listeth ;

Whose sound is heard, but not his form. This Vata

Let us with our oblations duly honor.

In times later than the Rig Veda, Vayu interchanges with
Indra as representative of the middle sphere ; and in the Rig
Veda all the hymns of the family books associate him with
Indra (vii. 90-92 ; iv. 47-4S). In the first book he is associ-
ated thus in the second hymn; while, ib. 134, he has the only
remaining complete hymn, though fragments of songs occa-
sionally are found. All of these hymns except the first two
simply invite Vayu to come with Indra to the sacrifice. It is
Vayu who with Indra obtains the first drink of soma (i. 134. 6).
He is spoken of as the artificer's, Tvashtar's, son-in-law, but
the allusion is unexplained (viii. 26. 22); he in turn begets
the storm-gods (i. 134. 4).

With Vayu is joined Indra, one of the popular gods. These
divinities, which are partly of the middle and partly of the
lower sphere, may be called the popular gods, yet were the
title 'new gods ' neither wholly amiss nor quite correct. For,
though the popular deities in general, when compared with
many for whom a greater antiquity may be claimed, such as
the Sun, Varuna, Dyaus, etc., are of more recent growth in
dignity, yet there remains a considerable number of divinities,
the hymns in whose honor, dating from the latest period, seem
to show that the power they celebrate had been but lately
admitted into the category of those gods that deserved special
worship. Consequently new gods would be a misleading term,

90 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

as it should be applied to the plainer products of theological
speculation and abstraction rather than to Indra and his peers,
not to speak of those newest pantheistic gods, as yet unknown.
The designation popular must be understood, then, to apply to
the gods most frequently, most enthusiastically revered (for in
a stricter sense the sun was also a popular god); and reference
is had in using this word to the greater power and influence
of these gods, which is indicated by the fact that the hymns
to Agni and Indra precede all others in the family books,
while the Soma-hymns are collected for the most part into one
whole book bv themselves.

But there is another factor that necessitates a division
between the divinities of sun and heaven and the atmos-
pheric and earthly gods which are honored so greatly; and this
factor is explanatory of the popularity of these gods. In the
case of the older divinities it is the spiritualization of a sole
material appearance that is revered; in the case of the popular
gods, the material phenomenon is reduced to a minimum, the
spirituality behind the phenomenon is exalted, and that spiritu-
ality stands not in and for itself, but as a part of a union of
spiritualities. Applying this test to the earlier gods the union
will be found to be lacking. The sun's spiritual power is
united with Indra's, but the sun is as much a physical phenome-
non as a spirituality, and always remains so. On the other hand,
the equation of Varunic power with Indraic never amalgamated
the two ; and these are the best instances that can be chosen
of the older gods. For in the case of others it is self-evident.
Dyaus and Dawn are but material phenomena, slightly spiritual-
ized, but not joined with the spirit-power of others.

Many have been the vain attempts to go behind the returns
of Vedic hymnology and reduce Indra, Agni, and Soma to
terms of a purely naturalistic religion. It cannot be done.
Indra is neither sun, lightning, nor storm ; Agni is neither
hearth-fire nor celestial fire ; Soma is neither planet nor moon.

IiYDRA. 91

Each is the transient manifestation of a spirituality lying
behind and extending beyond this manifestation. Here alone
is the latch-key of the newer, more popular religion. Not
merely because Indra was a 'warrior god,' but because Indra
and Fire were one ; because of the mystery, not because of the
appearance, was he made great at the hands of the priests. It
is true, as has been said above, that the idol of the warriors
was magnified because he was such ; but the true cause of the
greatness ascribed to him in the hymns lay in the secret of his
nature, as it was lauded by the priest, not in his form, as it
was seen by the multitude. Neither came first, both worked
together; but had it not been for the esoteric wisdom held by
the priests in connection with his nature, Indra would have
gone the way of other meteorological gods ; whereas he became
chiefest of the gods, and, as lord of strength, for a time came
nearest to the supreme power.

INDRA.

Indra has been identified with ' storm,' with the ' sky,' with the
'year'; also with 'sun' and with 'fire' in general.^ But if he
be taken as he is found in the hymns, it will be noticed at once
that he is too stormv to be the sun ; too luminous to be the
storm ; too near to the phenomena of the monsoon to be the
year or the sky ; too rainy to be fire ; too alien from every one
thing to be any one thing. He is too celestial to be wholly
atmospheric ; too atmospheric to be celestial ; too earthly to
be either. A most tempting solution is that offered by
Bergaigne, who sees in Indra sun or lightning. Yet does this
explanation not explain all, and it is more satisfactory than
others only because it is broader ; while it is not yet broad
enough. Indra, in Bergaigne's opinion, stands, however, nearer

1 For the different views, see Perry, JAOS. xi. p. 119; Muir, OST. v. p. ']'].

92 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

to fire than to sim.^ But the savant does not rest content with
his own explanation : " Indra est peut-etre, de tons les dieux
vediques, celui qui resiste le plus longtemps a un genre
d'analyse qui, applique a la plupart des autres, les resout plus
ou moins vite en des personnifications des elements, soit des
phe'nomenes naturels, soit du culte " {ibid. p. 167).

Dyaus' son, Indra, who rides upon the storm and hurls the
lisfhtnin^is with his hands ; who ' crashes down from heaven '
and ' destroys the strongholds ' of heaven and earth ; whose
greatness 'fills heaven and earth'; whose 'steeds are of red and
gold'; who 'speaks in thunder,' and 'is born of waters and
cloud'; behind whom ride the storm-gods ; with whom Agni
(fire) is inseparably connected ; who ' frees the waters of
heaven from the demon,' and 'gives rain-blessings ard wealth'
to man — such a god, granted the necessity of a naturalistic
interpretation, may well be thought to have been lightning
itself originally, which the hymns now represent the god as
carrying. But in identifying Indra with the sun there is more
difficulty. In none of the early hymns is this suggested, and
the texts on which Bergaigne relies besides being late are not
always conclusive. " Indra clothes himself with the glory of
the sun"; he "sees with the eye of the sun" — such texts
prove little when one remembers that the sun is the eye of all
the gods, and that to clothe ones'self with solar glory is far from
being one with the sun. In one other, albeit a late verse, the
expression 'Indra, a sun,' is used ; and, relying on such texts,
Bergaigne claims that Indra is the sun. But it is evident that
this is but one of many passages where Indra by implication
is compared to the sun ; and comparisons do not indicate
allotropy. So, in ii. 11. 20, which Bergaigne gives as a
parallel, the words say expressly " Indra [did so and so] like a
sun.'''' ^ To rest a building so important on a basis so frail is

1 La Religion Vediqne, ii. pp. 159, 161, 166, 187.

2 Tiie chief texts are ii. 30. i ; iv. 26. i ; vii. 98. 6 ; viii. 93. i, 4 ; x. S9. 2 ; x. 1 12. 3.

INDRA. 93

fortunately rare with Bergaigne. It happens here because he
is arguing from the assumption that Indra primitively was a
general luminary. Hence, instead of building up Indra from
early texts, he claims a few late phrases as precious confir-
mation of his theory.^ What was Indra may be seen by com-
paring a few citations such as might easily be amplified from
every book in the Rig Veda.

According to the varying fancies of the poets, Indra is
armed with stones, clubs, arrows, or the thunderbolt (made for
him by the artificer, Tvashtar), of brass or of gold, with many
edges and points. Upon a golden chariot he rides to battle,
driving two or many red or yellow steeds ; he is like the sun
in brilliancy, and like the dawn in beauty; he is multiform,
and cannot really be described ; his divine name is secret; in
appearance he is vigorous, huge ; he is wise and true and kind;
all treasures are his, and he is a wealth-holder, vast as four
seas ; neither his greatness nor his generosity can be compre-
hended ; mightiest of gods is he, filling the universe ; the
heavens rest upon his head ; earth cannot hold him ; earth and
heaven tremble at his breath ; he is king of all ; the mountains
are to him as valleys ; he goes forth a bull, raging, and rushes
through the air, whirling up the dust ; he breaks open the
rain-containing clouds, and lets the rain pour down ; as the
A^vins restore the light, so he restores the rain ; he is (like)
fire born in three places ; as the giver of rain which feeds, he
creates the plants ; he restores or begets Sun and Dawn (after
the storm has passed) ; " he creates (in the same way) all things,
even heaven and earth; he is associated with Vishnu and Pushan
(the sun-gods), with the A^vins, with the Maruts (storm-gods)
as his especial followers, and with the artisan Ribhus. With
Varuna he is an Aditya, but he is also associated with another

1 Other citations given by Bergaigne in connection with this point are all of the
simile class. Only as All-god is Indra the sun.

2 i. 51. 4 : " After slaying Vritra, thou did'st make the sun climb in the sky."

94 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

group of gods, the Vasus (x. 66. 3), as Vasupati, or 'lord of
the Vasus.' He goes with many forms (vi. 47. 18).^

The luminous character^ of Indra, which has caused him to
be identified with light-gods, can be understood only when one
remembers that in India the rainy season is ushered in by such
displays of lightning that the heavens are often illuminated in
every direction at once ; and not with a succession of flashes,
but with contemporaneous ubiquitous sheets of light, so that it
appears as if on all sides of the sky there was one lining of
united dazzling flame. When it is said that Indra 'placed light
in light,' one is not to understand, with Bergaigne, that Indra
is identical with the sun, but that in day (light) Indra puts
lightning (x. 54. 6 ; Bergaigne ii. p. 187).

Since Indra's lightning^ is a form of fire, there is found in
this union the first mvstic dualism of tw^o distinct 2:ods as one.
This comes out more in Agni-worship than in Indra-worship,
and will be treated below. The snake or dra2:on killed bv
Indra is Vritra, the restrainer, who catches and keeps in the
clouds the rain that is falling to earth. He often is called
simply the snake, and as the Budhnya Snake, or snake of the
cloud-depths, is possibly the Python (= Budh-nya)."* There is
here a touch of primitive belief in an old enemy of man — the
serpent ! But the Budhnya Snake has been developed in
opposite ways, and has contradictory functions.^

Indra, however, is no more the lightning than he is the sun.
One poet says that he is like the sun ; ^ another, that he is
like the lightning (viii. 93. 9), w^hich he carries in his arms

1 Aditya, only vii. 85. 4 ; Val. 4. 7. For other references, see Perry (loc. cit.),

2 Bergaigne. ii. 160. 1S7.

3 Indra finds and begets Agni, iii. 31. 15.

4 Unless the Python be, rather, the Demon of Putrefaction, as in Iranian belief.

5 Demons of every sort oppose Indra; Vala, Vritra, the 'holding' snake {dhi =
6Xis), Cushna ('drought '), etc.

c So he finds and directs the sun and causes it to shine, as explained above (viii,
3. 6; iii. 44. 4 ; i. 56. 4 ; iii. 30. 12). He is praised with Vishnu (vi. 69) in one hymn,
as distinct from him.

INDRA. 95

(viii, 12. 7) ; another, that he is like the light of dawn (x. 89.
12). So various are the activities, so many the phenomena,
that with him first the seer is obliged to look back of all these
phenomena and find in them one person ; and thus he is the
most anthropomorphized of the Vedic gods. He is born of
heaven or born of clouds (iv. iS), but that his mother is Aditi
is not certain. As the most powerful god Indra is again re-
garded as the All-god (viii. 98. 1-2). With this final suprem-
acy, that distinction between battle-gods and gods sovereign,
which Bergaigne insists upon — the sovereign gods belonging
to une cojiception iinitaire de Vonh-e du vionde (iii. p. 3 ; ii.
p. 167) — fades away. As Varuna became gradually greatest,
so did Indra in turn. But Varuna was a philosopher's god,
not a warrior's ; and Varuna was not double and mvstical. So
even the priest (Agni) leaves Varuna, and with the warrior
takes more pleasure in his twin Indra ; of him making an All-
god, a greatest god. Varuna is passive ; Indra is energetic ;
but Indra does not struggle for his lordship. Inspired by so77ia^
he smites, triumphs, punishes. Victor already, he descends upon
his enemies and with a blow destroys them. It is rarely that
he feels the effect of battle ; he never doubts its issue.

There is evidence that this supremacy was not gained with-
out contradiction, and the novelty of the last extravagant Indra-
worship may be deduced, perhaps, from such passages as viii.
96. 15 ; and 100. 3, where are expressed doubts in regard
to the existence of a real Indra. How late is the worship of
the popular Indra, and that it is not originality that causes his
hymns to be placed early in each collection, may be judged
from the fact that only of Indra (and Agni ?) are there idols :
viii. 1-5; iv. 24. 10: "Who gives ten cows for my Indra .'^
When he has slain his foe let (the purchaser) give him to me
again." -^ Thus it happens that one rarely fmds such poems

1 Bollensen would see an allusion to idols in i. 145. 4-5 (to Agni), but this is very
doubtful (ZDMG. xlvii. p. 586). Agni, however, is on a par with Indra, so that the
exception would have no significance. See Kaegi, Rig Veda, note 79 a.

96 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

to Indra as to Dawn and to other earlier deities, but almost
always stereotyped descriptions of prowess, and mechanical
invitations to come to the altar and reward the hymn-maker.
There are few of Indra's many hymns that do not smack of
soma and sacrifice. He is a warrior's god exploited by priests ;
as popularly conceived, a sensual giant, friend, brother, helper
of man. One example of poetry, instead of ritualistic verse-
making to Indra, has been translated in the introductory
chapter. Another, which, if not very inspiring, is at least free
from obvious ^<9;;/^7-worship — which results in Indra being in-
voked chiefly to come and drink — is as follows (vi. 30) :

Great hath he grown, Indra, for deeds heroic ;

Ageless is he alone, alone gives riches ;

Beyond the heaven and earth hath Indra stretched him,

The half of him against both worlds together !

So high and great I deem his godly nature ;

What he hath stablished there is none impairs it.

Day after day a sun is he conspicuous,

And, wisely strong, divides the wide dominions.

To-day and now (thou makest) the work of rivers,

In that, O Indra, thou hast hewn them pathway.

The hills have bowed them down as were they comrades ;

By thee, O wisely strong, are spaces fastened.

'T is true, like thee, O Indra, is no other,

Nor god nor mortal is more venerable.

Thou slew'st the dragon that the flood encompassed.

Thou didst let out the waters to the ocean.

Thou didst the waters free, the doors wide opening,

Thou, Indra, brak'st the stronghold of the mountains,

Becamest king of all that goes and moveth.

Begetting sun and heaven and dawn together.

THE MARUTS.

These gods, the constant followers of Indra, from the present
point of view are not of great importance, except as showing
an unadulterated type of nature-gods, worshipped without much

THE MA RUTS. 97

esoteric wisdom (although there is a certain amount of mystery
in connection with their birth). There is something of the
same pleasure in singing to them as is discernible in the hymns
to Dawn. They are the real storm-gods, following Rudra, their
father, and accompanying the great storm-bringer, Indra. Their
mother is the variegated cow Pricni, the mother cloud. Their
name means the shining, gleaming ones.

Hymn to the Maruts (vii. 56. i-io).

Who, sooth, are the gleaming related heroes,

the glory of Rudra, on beauteous chargers ?
For of them the birthplace no man hath witnessed ;

they only know it, their mutual birthplace.
With wings expanded they sweep each other,i

and strive together, the wind-loud falcons.
Wise he that knoweth this secret knowledge,

that Pri9ni the great one to them was mother.^
This folk the Maruts shall make heroic,

victorious ever, increased in manhood ;
In speed the swiftest, in light the lightest,

with grace united and fierce in power —
Your power fierce is ; your strength, enduring ;

and hence with the Maruts this folk is mighty.
Your fury fair is, your hearts are wrothful,

like maniacs wild is your band courageous.
From us keep wholly the gleaming lightning ;

let not your anger come here to meet us.
Your names of strong ones endeared invoke I,

that these delighted may joy, O Maruts.

What little reflection or moral siR:nificance is in the Marut
hymns is illustrated by i. '^'$>. 1-9, thus translated by Miiller :

What then now ? When will ye take us as a dear father takes his son
by both hands, O ye gods, for whom the sacred grass has been trimmed .-*

1 Or 'pluck with beaks,' as Miiller translates, SBE. xxxii. p. -i^']-}^.

2 " Bore them " (gave an udder). In v. 52. 16 Rudra is father and Pri§ni, mother.
Compare viii. 94. i : " The cow . . . the mother of the Maruts, sends milk (rain)."
In X. 7S. 6 the Maruts are sons of Sindhu (Indus).

98 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

Where now ? On what errand of yours are you going, in heaven, not on
earth? Where are your cows sporting ? Where are your newest favors,
O Maruts ? Where are blessings ? Where all delights ? If you, sons of
Pricni, were mortals and your praiser an immortal, then never should your
praiser be unwelcome, like a deer in pasture grass, nor should he go on the
path of Yama.i Let not one sin after another, difficult to be conquered,
overcome us ; may it depart, together with greed. Truly they are terrible
and powerful ; even to the desert the Rudriyas bring rain that is never
dried up. The lightning lows like a cow, it follows as a mother follows
after her young, when the shower has been let loose. Even by day the
Maruts create darkness with the water-bearing cloud, when they drench the
earth, etc.

The number of the Maruts was originally seven, afterwards
raised to thrice seven, and then given variously,' sometimes
as high as thrice sixty. They are the servants, the bulls of
Dyaus, the glory of Rudra (or perhaps the 'boys of Rudra '),
divine, bright as suns, blameless and pure. They cover them-
selves with shining adornment, chains of gold, gems, and tur-
bans. On their heads are helmets of gold, and in their hands
gleam arrows and daggers. Like heroes rushing to battle,
they stream onward. They are fair as deer ; their roar is like
that of lions. The mountains bow before them, thinkins: them-
selves to be valleys, and the hills bow down. Good warriors
and good steeds are their gifts. They smite, they kill, they
rend the rocks, they strip the trees like caterpillars ; they rise
together, and, like spokes in a wheel, are united in strength.
Their female companion is Rodasi (lightning, from the same
root as ?-udra, the 'red'). They are like wild boars, and (like
the sun) they have metallic jaws. On their chariots are
speckled hides ; like birds they spread their wings ; they strive
in flight with each other. Before them the earth sways like
a ship. They dance upon their path. Upon their chests for
beauty's sake they bind gold armor. From the heavenly udder

1 /.^., die.

2 The number is not twenty-seven, as Muir accidentally states, OST. v. p. 147.

RUBRA. 99

they milk clown rain. '' Through whose wisdom, through whose
design do they come ? " cries the poet. They have no real ad-
versary. The kings of the forest they tear asunder, and make
tremble even the rocks. Their music is heard on every side.-^

RUBRA.

The father of the ]\Iaruts, Rudra, is ' the ruddy one,' par
excellence., and so to him is ascribed paternity of the ' ruddy
ones.' But while Indra has a plurality of hymns, Rudra has
but few, and these it is not of special importance to cite. The
features in each case are the same. The Maruts remain as
gods whose function causes them to be invoked chiefly that they
may spare from the fury of the tempest. This idea is in Rudra's
case carried out further, and he is specially called on to avert
(not only ' cow-slaying ' and ' man-slaying ' by lightning," but
also) disease, pestilence, etc. Hence is he preeminently, on
the one hand, the kindly god who averts disease, and, on the
other, of destruction in every form. From him Father Manu
got wealth and health, and he is the fairest of beings, but,
more, he is the strongest god (ii, ■^^. 3, 10). From such a
prototype comes the later god of healing and woe — Rudra,
who becomes Qiva.^

RAIN-GODS.

There is one rather mechanical hymn directed to the Waters
themselves as goddesses, where Indra is the god who gives
them passage. But in the unique hymn to the Rivers it is
Varuna who, as general god of v/ater, is represented as their
patron. In the first hymn the rain-water is meant."* A descrip-

1 V. 58. 4, 5 ; i. 88. I ; 88. 5 ; v, 54. 11 ; viii. 7. 25 ; i. 166. 10 ; i. 39. i ; 64. 2-8;
V. 54. 6 ; i. 85. 8 ; viii. 7. 34 ; v. 59. 2.

- He carries lightnings and medicines together in vii. 46. 3.

3 Civa is later identified with Rudra. For the latter in RV. compare i. 43; 114,
1-5, ID ; ii. 33. 2-13. 4 vii. 47, and x. 75.

100 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

tion in somewhat jovial vein of the joy produced by the rain
after long drought forms the subject matter of another lyric
(less an hymn than a poem), which serves to illustrate the posi-
tion of the priests at the end of this Vedic collection. The
frogs are jocosely compared to priests that have fulfilled their
vow of silence ; and their quacking is likened to the noise of
students learning the Veda. Parjanya is the god that, in dis-
tinction from Indra as the first cause, actually pours down the
rain-drops.

The Frogs.i

As priests that have their vows fulfilled,

Reposing for a year complete,
The frogs have now begun to talk, —

Parjanya has their voice aroused.

When down the heavenly waters come upon him.

Who like a dry bag lay within the river.
Then, like the cows' loud lowing (cows that calves have),

The vocal sound of frogs comes all together.

When on the longing, thirsty ones it raineth,
(The rainy season having come upon them),

Then akkala !- they cry; and one the other

Greets with his speech, as sons address a father.

The one the other welcomes, and together

They both rejoice at falling of the waters ;
The spotted frog hops when the rain has wet him,

And with his yellow comrade joins his utterance.

When one of these the other's voice repeateth,

Just as a student imitates his teacher,
Then like united members \^^th fair voices,

They all together sing among the waters.

1 vii. 103.

2 Akhkhala is like Latin eccere^ a shout of joy and wonder {Am. J. Phil. XIV.
p. i:).

RAIiX-GODS, 101

One like an ox doth bellow, goat-like one bleats ;

Spotted is one, and one of them is yellow ;
Alike in name, but in appearance different,

In many ways the voice they, speaking, vary.

As priests about th' intoxicating i soma

Talk as they stand before the well-filled vessel,

So stand ye round about this day once yearly,
On which, O frogs, the time of rain approaches.

(Like) priests who soma have, they raise their voices.
And pray the prayer that once a year is uttered ;

(Like) heated priests who sweat at sacrifices,
They all come out, concealed of them is no one.

The sacred order of the (year) twelve-membered,
These heroes guard, and never do neglect it ;

When every year, the rainy season coming,
The burning heat receiveth its dismission.^

In one hymn no less than four gods are especially invoked
for rain — Agni, Brihaspati, Indra, and Parjanya. The two
first are sacrificially potent ; Brihaspati, especially, gives to the
priest the song that has power to bring rain ; he comes either
'as Mitra-Varuna or Pushan,' and 'lets Parjanya rain'; while
in the same breath Indra is exhorted to send a flood of rain, —
rains which are here kept back by the gods," — and Agni is
immediately afterwards asked to perform the same favor, appar-
ently as an analogue to the streams of oblation which the priest
pours on the fire. Of these gods, the pluvius is Parjanya:

1 Literally, ' that has stood over-night,' i.e.. fermented.

- To this hymn is added, in imitation of tlie laudations of generous benefactors,
which are sometimes suffixed to an older hymn, words ascribing gifts to the frogs.
Bergaigne regards the frogs as meteorological phenomena ! It is from this hymn
as a starting-point proceed the latter-day arguments of Jacobi, who would prove the
'period of the Rig Veda' to have begun about 3500 B.C. One might as well date
Homer by an appeal to the Batrachomyomachia.

3 X. 9S. 6.

102 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

Parjanya loud extol in song,

The fructifying son of heaven ;

May he provide us pasturage !

He who the fruitful seed of plants,

Of cows and mares and women forms,

He is the god Parjanya.

For him the melted butter pour

In (Agni's) mouth, — a honeyed sweet, —

And may he constant food bestow ! ^

This god is the rain-cloud personified,- but he is scarcely to
be distinguished, in other places, from Indra ; although the
latter, as the greater, newer god, is represented rather as
causing the rain to flow, while Parjanya pours it down. Like
Varuna, Parjanya also upsets a water-barrel, and wets the
earth. He is identical with the Slavic Perkuna.

For natural expression, vividness, energy, and beauty, the
following hymn is unsurpassed. As a god unjustly driven out
of the pantheon, it is, perhaps, only just that he should be
exhibited, in contrast to the tone of the sacrificial hymnlet
above, in his true light. Occasionally he is paired with Wind;
and in the curious tendency of the poets to dualize their divini-
ties, the two become a compound, Farjanyavdtd (" Parjanya
and Vata"). There is, also, vii. loi, one mystic hymn to
Parjanya. The following, v. 83, breathes quite a different
spirit : ^

Greet him, the mighty one, with these laudations,
Parjanya praise, and call him humbly hither;

With roar and rattle pours the bull his waters,
And lays his seed in all the plants, a foetus.

He smites the trees, and smites the evil demons, too;
While every creature fears before his mighty blow.
E'en he that hath not sinned, from this strong god retreats.
When smites Parjanya, thundering, those that evil do,

1 vii. 102, 2 Compare Blihler, Orient and Occident, i. p. 222.

3 This hymn is another of those that contradict the first assumption of the ritual-
ists. From internal evidence it is not likely that it was made for baksheesh.

RAIN-GODS. ■ 103

As when a charioteer with wliip his horses strikes,

So drives he to the fore his messengers of rain ;

Afar a lion's roar is raised abroad, whene'er

Parjanya doth create the rain-containing cloud.

Now forward rush the winds, now gleaming lightnings fall ;

Up spring the plants, and thick becomes the shining sky.

For every living thing refreshment is begot.

Whene'er Parjanya's seed makes quick the womb of earth.

Beneath whose course the earth hath bent and bowed her,

Beneath whose course the (kine) behoofed bestir them,

Beneath whose course the plants stand multifarious,

He — thou, Parjanya — grant us great protection !

Bestow Dyaus' rain upon us, O ye Maruts !

Make thick the stream that comes from that strong stallion !

With this thy thunder come thou onward, hither,

Thy waters pouring, a spirit and our father.^

Roar forth and thunder ! Give the seed of increase !

Drive with thy chariot full of water round us ;

The water-bag drag forward, loosed, turned downward ;

Let hills and valleys equal be before thee !

Up with the mighty keg! then pour it under!

Let all the loosened streams flow swiftly forward ;

Wet heaven and earth with this thy holy fluid ; ^

And fair drink may it be for all our cattle !

When thou with rattle and with roar,
Parjanya, thundering, sinners slayest,
Then all before thee do rejoice,
Whatever creatures live on earth.

Rain hast thou rained, and now do thou restrain it ;
The desert, too, hast thou made fit for travel ;
The plants hast thou begotten for enjoyment ;
And wisdom hast thou found for thy descendants.

The different meters may point to a collection of small
hymns. It is to be observed that Parjanya is here the father-

1 Asuras, pita nas.

- Literally, * with gkce ' ; the rain is like the ghee, or sacrificial oil (melted butter).

104 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

god (of men) ; he is the Asura, the Spirit ; and rain comes
from the Shining Sky (Dyaus). How like Varuna !

The rain, to tlie poet, descends from the sky, and is liable
to be caught by the demon, Vritra, whose rain-swollen belly
Indra opens with a stroke, and lets fall the rain ; or, in the
older view just presented, Parjanya makes the cloud that gives
the rain — a viev/ united with the descent of rain from the sky
(Dyaus). With Parjanya as an Ar3^an rain-god may be men-
tioned Trita, who, apparently, was a water-god, Aptya, in gen-
eral ; and some of whose functions Indra has taken. He appears
to be the same with the Persian Thraetaona Athwya ; but
in the Rig Veda he is interesting mainly as a dim survival
of the past.-^ The washing out of sins, which appears to be
the original conception of Varuna's sin-forgiving,- finds an
analogue in the fact that sins are cast off upon the innocent
waters and upon Trita — also a water-god, and once identified
with Varuna (viii. 41. 6). But this notion is so unique and
late (only in viii. 47) that Bloomfield is perhaps right in imput-
ing it to the [later] moralizing age of the Brahmanas, with
which the third period of the Rig Veda is quite in touch.

1 Some suppose even Indra to be one with the Avestan Andra, a demon, which is
possible.

2 Otherwise it is the ' bonds of sin ' which are broken or loosed, as in the last verse
of the first Varuna hymn, translated above. But the two views may be of equal
antiquity (above, p. 65, note). On Trita compare JRAS. 1893, p. 419; PAOS. 1894
(Bloomfield).

CHAPTER V.

THE RIG VEDA (CONTINUED) . — THE LOWER GODS.

AGNI.

Great are the heavenly gods, but greater is Indra, god of
the atmosphere. Greatest are Agni and Soma, the gods of earth.

Agni is the altar-lire. Originally fire, Agni, in distinction
from sun and lightning, is the fire of sacrifice ; and as such is
he great. One reads in v. 3. 1-2, that this Agni is Varuna,
Indra ; that in him are all the gods. This is, indeed, formally
a late view, and can be paralleled only by a few passages of a
comparatively recent period. Thus, in the late hymn i. 164.
46 : " Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, they say ; he is the sun (the
bird in the sky); that which is but one they call variously," etc.
So X. 114. 5 and the late passage iii. 38. 7, have reference to
various forms of Agni.

Indra had a twofold nature in producing the union of light-
ning and Agni ; and this made him mysteriously great. But
in Agni is found the first triality, which, philosophically,
is interpreted as a trinity. The fire of the altar is one with
the lightning, and, again, one with the sun. This is Agni's
threefold birth ; and all the holy character of three is
exhausted in application where he is concerned. It is the
highest mystery until the very end of the Vedic age. This
Agni it is that is the real Agni of the Rig Veda — the new
Agni ; for there was probably an Agni cult (as simple fire) long
before the soma cult. Indra and Agni are one, and both are
called the slayers of the demons.-^ They are both united as an
indissoluble pair (iii. 12, etc.). Agni, with, perhaps, the

1 viii. 38. 4; i. 108. 3; Bergaigne, ii. 295.

106 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

exception of Soma, is the most important god in the Rig Veda;
and it is no chance that gives him the first place in each family
hymn-book ; for in him are found, only in more fortunate
circumstances, exactly the same conditions as obtain in the case
of Indra. He appealed to man as the best friend among divine
beings ; he was not far off, to be wondered at ; if terrible, to be
propitiated. He was near and kind to friends. And as he
seemed to the vulgar so he appealed to the theosophy which
permeates the spirit of the poets ; for he is mysterious ; a
mediator between god and man (in carrying to heaven the
offerings) ; a threefold unity, typical of earth, atmosphere, and
heaven. From this point of view, as in the case of Indra, so
in the case of Agni, only to a greater extent, it becomes impos-
sible to interpret Agni as one element, one phenomenon.
There is, when a distinction is made, an agni which is single,
the altar-fire, separate from other fires ; but it is seldom that
Agni is not felt as the threefold one.

And now for the interpretation of the modern ritualists.
The Hindu ritual had ' the three fires,' which everv orthodox
believer was taught to keep up. The later literature of the
Hindus themselves very correctly took these three fires as
types of the three forms of Agni known in the Rig Veda. But
to the ritualists the historical precedence is inverted, and
they would show that the whole Vedic mythological view of an
Agni triad is the result of identifying Agni with the three fires
of the ritual. From this crass method of interpretation it
would result that all Vedic mythology was the child of the
liturgy.^

1 On this point Bergaigne deprecates the appHcation of the ritualistic method,
and says in words that cannot be too emphasized : " ]\Iais qui ne voit que de telles
expUcations n'expUquent rien. ou phitot que le detail du ritucl ne pent trouver son
explication que dans le mythe, bien loin de pouvoir servir lui-menies a expliquer le
mythe ? . . . Ni le ciel seul ni la terre seule, mais la terre et le ciel etroitement unis
et presque confondus, voila le vrai domaine de la mythologie vedique, mythologie
dont le rituel n'est que la reproduction" (i. p. 24).

AGiVL 107

As earthly fire Agni is first ignis :^ "Driven by the wind,
he hastens through the forest with roaring tongues. . . .
black is thy path, O bright immortal ! " " He mows down, as
no herd can do, the green fields ; bright his tooth, and golden
his beard." " He devours like a steer that one has tied up."
This is common fire, divine, but not of the altar. The latter
Agni is of every hymn. For instance, the first stanza of the
Rig Veda : " Agni, the family priest, I worship ; the divine
priest of sacrifice ; the oblation priest, who bestows riches,"
where he is invoked under the names of different priests. But
Agni is even more than this ; he is the fire (heat) that causes
production and reproduction, visibly manifest in the sun. This
dual Agni, it is to be noticed, is at times the only Agni recog-
nized. The third form is then added, lightning, and there-
with Agni is begotten of Indra, and is, therefore, one with
Indra: "There is only one fire lighted in many places" (Val.
lo. 2). As a poetical expression, Agni in the last form is the
* Son of Waters,' an epithet not without significance in philo-
sophical speculation ; for water, through all periods, was re-
garded as the material origin of the universe.

Agni is one with the sun, with lightning (and thunder), and
descends into the plants." To man he is house-priest and
friend. It is he that has " grouped men in dwelling-places "
(iii. I. 17) like Prometheus, in whose dialectic name, Proman-
theus, lingers still the fire-creator, the twirling {inatJi) sticks
which make fire in the wood. He is man's guest and best
friend (Mitra, iv. i. 9; above).

An hymn or two entire will show what was Agni to the
Vedic poet. In the following, the Rig Veda's first hymn, he is
addressed, in the opening stanza, under the names of house-
priest, the chief sacrificial priest, and the priest that pours obla-
tions. In the second stanza he is extolled as the messenger

li. 5S. 4; V. 7. 7; vi. 3.4.

2 iii. 14. 4 ; i. 71. 9 ; vi. 3. 7 ; 6. 2 ; iv. i. 9.

lOS THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

who brings the gods to the sacrifice, himself rising up in
sacrificial flames, and forming a link between earth and
heaven. In a later stanza he is called the Messenger (Angiras
= ayyeA.os?), — one of his ordinary titles :

To Agni (i. i).

I worship Agni ; house-priest, he,

And priest divine of sacrifice,

Th' oblation priest, who giveth wealth.

Agni, by seers of old adored,
To be adored by those to-day —
May he the gods bring here to us.

Through Agni can one wealth acquire.
Prosperity from day to day.
And fame of heroes excellent.

O, Agni ! whatsoe'er the rite

That thou surround'st on every side,

That sacrifice attains the gods.

May Agni, who oblation gives —

The wisest, true, most famous priest —

This god with (all) the gods approach !

Thou doest good to every man
That serves thee, Agni ; even this
Is thy true virtue, Angiras.

To thee, O Agni, day by day.

Do we with prayer at eve and dawn,

Come, bringing lowly reverence ;

To thee, the lord of sacrifice,
And shining guardian of the rite,^
In thine own dwelling magnified.

As if a father to his son,

Be easy of access to us.

And lead us onward to our weal.

1 Or of time or order.

AGNI. 109

This is mechanical enough to have been made for an estab-
lished ritual, as doubtless it was. But it is significant that the
ritualistic gods are such that to give their true character
hymns of this sort must be cited. Such is not the case with
the older gods of the pantheon. Ritualistic as it is, however,
it is simple. Over against it may be set the following (vi. 8) :
" Now will I praise the strength of the variegated red bull
(Agni), the feasts of the Knower-of-beings -^ (Agni) ; to Agni,
the friend of all men, is poured out a new song, sweet to him
as clear soma. As soon as he was born in highest heaven,
Agni began to protect laws, for he is a guardian of law (or
order). Great in strength, he, the friend of all men, measured
out the space between heaven and earth, and in greatness
touched the zenith ; he, the marvellous friend, placed apart
heaven and earth ; with light removed darkness ; separated
the two worlds like skins. Friend of all men, he took all might
to himself. ... In the waters' lap the mighty ones (gods)
took him, and people established him king. Matari^van, mes-
senger of the all-shining one, bore him from afar, friend of all
men. Age by age, O Agni, give to poets new glorious wealth
for feasts. O ever-youthful king, as if with a ploughshare,
rend the sinner ; destroy him with thy flame, like a tree ! But
among our lords bring, O Agni, power unbent, endless strength
of heroes ; and may we, through thy assistance, conquer wealth
an hundredfold, a thousandfold, O Agni, thou friend of all ;
with thy sure protection protect our royal lords, O helper, thou
who hast three habitations ; guard for us the host of them
that have been generous, and let them live on, friend of all,
now that thou art lauded."

Aryan, as Kuhn " has shown, is at least the conception if not
the particular form of the legend alluded to in this hymn, of
fire brought from the sky to earth, which Promethean act is

1 Or ' Finder-of-beings.'

2 Herabkunft des Fetters nttd des G'dttertrankes.

no THE RELIGIOXS OF IXDIA.

attributed elsewhere to the fire-priest.^ Agni is here Mitra,
the friend, as sun-god, and as such takes all the celestials'
activities on himself. Like Indra he also gives personal
strength : " Fair is thy face, O Agni, to the mortal that de-
sires strength ; — they whom thou dost assist overcome their
enemies all their lives" (vi. i6. 25, 27). Agni is drawn down
to earth by means of the twirling-sticks, one the father, one
the mother.^ "The bountiful wood bore the fair variegated
son of waters and plants ; " the gods united in mind, and payed
homage to the glorious mighty child when he was born " (iii.
I. 13). As the son of waters, Agni loves wood but retreats to
water, and he is so identified with Indra that he ' thunder's '
and 'gives rain' (as lightning; ii. 6. 5; iii. 9. 2).

The deeper significance of Agni-worship is found not alone
in the fact that he is the god in whom are the other gods,
nor in that he is the sun alone, but that " I am Agni, immor-
tality is in my mouth ; threefold my light, eternal fire, my
name the oblation (fire)," iii, 26. 7. He is felt as a mysterious
trinity. As a sun he lights earth ; and gives life, sustenance,
children, and wealth (iii. 3. 7) ; as lightning he destroys, as
fire he befriends ; like Indra he gives victory (iii. 16. i) ; like
Varuna he releases the bonds of sin ; he is Varuna's brother
(v. 2. 7; vi. 3. i; iv. I. 2); his 'many names' are often
alluded to (iii. 20. 3, and above). The ritualistic interpreta-
tion of the priest is that the sun is only a sacrificial fire above
lighted by the gods as soon as the corresponding fire is
lighted on earth by men (vi. 2.3). He is all threefold ; three
his tongues, his births, his places ; thrice led about the sacri-
fice given thrice a day (iii. 2. 9 ; 17. i ; 20. 2 ; iv. 15. 2 ;

1 R\'. vi. 16. 13 : " Thee, Agni, from out the sky Atharvan twirled," 7itr amaiithata
(cf. Promantheus). In x. 462 the Bhrigus, 0\e7i;at, discover fire.

2 Compare v. 2. i. Sometimes Agni is "born with the fingers," which twirl the
sticks (iii. 26. 3 ; iv. 6. 8).

3 Compare ii. i : " born in flame from water, cloud, and plants . . . thou art the
creator."

AGNI. Ill

I. 7; 12. i). He is the upholder of the religious order, the
guest of mortals, found by the gods in the heavenly waters ; he
is near and dear ; but he also becomes dreadful to the foe
(iii. 1.3-6; 6. 5 ; vi. 7. i ; 8. 2 ; iii. i. 23 ; 22. 5 ; vi. 3. 7; iii.
18. I ; iv. 4. 4 ; 1.6).

It is easy to see that in such a conception of a triune god,
who is fearful yet kind, whose real name is unknown, while
his visible manifestations are in earth, air, and heaven, whose
being contains all the gods, there is an idea destined to over-
throw, as it surpasses, the simpler conceptions of the natural-
ism that precedes it. Agni as the one divine power of creation
is in fact the origin of the human race : " From thee come
singers and heroes" (vi. 7. 3). The less weight is, therefore,
to be laid on Bergaigne's ' fire origin of man ' ; it is not as
simple fire, but as universal creator that Agni creates man ; it
is not the ' fire-principle ' ^ philosophically elicited from con-
nection of fire and water, but as god-princijole, all-creative,
that Agni gets this praise.

Several hymns are dedicated to ludragm, Indra united with
Agni ; and the latter even is identified with Dyaus (iv. i. 10),
this obsolescent god reviving merely to be absorbed into Agni.
As water purifies from dirt and sin (Varuna), so fire purifies
(iv. 12. 4). It has been suggested on account of v. 12. 5 :
'Those that were yours have spoken lies and left thee,' that
there is a decrease in Agni worship. As this never really
happened, and as the words are merely those of a penitent
who has lied and seeks forgiveness at the hands of the god of

1 Bergaigne, i. p. 32 ff. The question of priestly names (loc. cit. pp. 47-50), should
start with Bharata as Tvpcpopos, a common title of Agni (ii, 7; vi. 16. 19-21). So
Bhrigu is the 'shining' one; and Vasishtha is the 'most shining' (compare Vasus,
not good but shining gods). The priests got their names from their god, like Jesuits.
Compare Gritsamada in the Bhrigu family (book ii.) ; Vigva-mitra, 'friend of all,' in
the Bharata family (book iii.) ; Gautama Vamadeva belonging to Angirasas (book iv.);
Atri 'Eater,' epithet of Agni in RV. (book v.); Bharadvaja 'bearing food' (book
vi.) ; Vasishtha (book vii.) ; and besides these Jamadagni and Kagyapa, ' black-
toothed (Agni).'

112 THE RELIGIOXS OF INDIA.

truth, the suggestion is not very acceptable. Agni comprehends
not only all naturalistic gods, but such later femininities as Rever-
ence, Mercy, and other abstractions, including Boundlessness.

Of how great importance was the triune god Agni may be
seen by comparing his three lights with the later sectarian
trinity, where Vishnu, originally the sun, and (Rudra) ^iva,
the lightning, are the preserver and destroyer.

We fear the reader may have thought that we were develop-
ing rather a system of mythology than a history of religion.
With the close of the Vedic period we shall have less to say
from a mythological point of view, but we think that it will
have become patent now for what purpose was intended the
mythological basis of our study. Without this it would have
been impossible to trace the gradual growth in the higher
metaphysical interpretation of nature which goes hand in hand
with the deeper religious sense. With this object we have
proceeded from the simpler to the more complex divinities.
We have now to take up a side of religion which lies more
apart from speculation, but it is concerned very closely with
man's religious instincts — the worship of Bacchic character,
the reverence for and fear of the death-god, and the eschato-
logical fancies of the poets, together with those first attempts
at creating a new theosophy which close the period of the
Rig Veda.

SOMA.

Inseparably connected with the worship of Indra and Agni
is that of the 'moon-plant,' soma^ the intoxicating personified
drink to whose deification must be assigned a date earlier than
that of the Vedas themselves. For the soma of the Hindus is
etymologically identified with the haoma of the Persians (the
o,a(o/x.t of Plutarch),^ and the cultus at least was begun before

1 De Isid. et Osir. 46. Compare Windischmann, Ueber den Sontaciiltiis der
Arte}- (1846), and Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, vol. ii. p. 471. Hillebrandt,
Vedische Mytholoqie, i. p. 450. believes Jiaonia to mean the moon, as does soma in
some hymns of the Rig Veda (see below).

S0JL4. 113

the separation of the two nations, since in each the plant is
regarded as a god. The inspiring effect of intoxication seemed
to be due to the inherent divinity of the plant that produced
it ; the plant was, therefore, regarded as divine, and the
preparation of the draught was looked upon as a sacred
ceremony.-^

This offering of the juice of the so7;ia--p\ant in India was
performed thrice daily. It is said in the Rig Veda that soma
grows upon the mountain Miijavat, that its or his father is
Parjanya, the rain-god, and that the waters are his sisters."
From this mountain, or from the sky, accounts differ, soma
was brought by a hawk." He is himself represented in other
places as a bird ; and as a divinity he shares in the praise
given to Indra, "who helped Indra to slay Vritra," the demon
that keeps back the rain. Indra, intoxicated by soma, does
his great deeds, and indeed all the gods depend on soma for
immortalit}'. Divine, a weapon-bearing god, he often simply
takes the place of Indra and other gods in Vedic eulogy. It
is the god Soma himself who slays Vritra, Soma who over-
throws cities, Soma who begets the gods, creates the sun, up-
holds the sky, prolongs life, sees all things, and is the one best
friend of god and man, the divine drop {jndii), the friend of
Indra.*

As a god he is associated not only with Indra, but also with
Agni, Rudra, and Piishan. A few passages in the later portion
of the Rig Veda show that so7na already was identified with the
moon before the end of this period. After this the lunar yellow

1 Compare Kuhn, Hcrabkinift dcs Fcjicrs laid des Gottcrtra7ikcs (1859) ; Ber-
gaigne, La Religion Vcdiqiic, i. 14S ff. ; Haug's Aitarcya BrdJimana, Introduction,
p. 62 ; Whitney in Join-. Am. Or. Soc. iii. 299 ; Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts., vol.
V. p. 258 iT., where other literature is cited.

2 RV. X. 34. 1 ; ix. 98. 9 ; 82. 3. The Vedic plant is unknown (not the sarcostemma
viminalc).

3 RV. iii. 43. 7 ; iv. 26. 6 (other references in I\Iuir. lo:. cit. p. 262. Perhaps rain
as soma released by lightning as a hawk (Bloomfield).

4 See the passages cited in Muir, loc. cit.

114 THE RELIC 10 XS OF INDIA.

god regularly was regarded as the visible and divine Soma of
heaven, represented on earth by the plant. ^

From the fact that Soma is the moon in later literature, and
undoubtedly is recognized as such in a small number of the
latest passages of the Rig Veda, the not unnatural inference
has been drawn by some Vedic scholars that Soma, in hymns
still earlier, means the moon ; wherever, in fact, epithets
hitherto supposed to refer to the plant may be looked upon as
not incompatible with a description of the moon, there these
epithets are to be referred directly to Soma as the moon-god,
not to soma., the mere plant. Thus, with Rig Veda, x. 85 (a
late hymn, which speaks of Soma as the moon " in the lap
of the stars," and as "the days' banner") is to be compared
vi. 39. 3, where it is said that the drop {soma) lights up the
dark nights, and is the day's banner. Although this expression,
at first view, would seem to refer to the moon alone, yet it may
possibly be regarded as on a par with the extravagant praise
given elsewhere to the so7na-'^\?iX\X, and not be so significant of
the moon as it appears to be. Thus, in another passage of the
same book, the so77ia, in similar language, is said to " lay light
in the sun," a phrase scarcely compatible with the moon's
sphere of activity."

The decision in regard to this question of interpretation is
not to be reached so easily as one might suppose, considering
that a whole book, the ninth, of the Rig Veda is dedicated to
Soma, and that in addition to this there are many hymns
addressed to him in the other books. For in the greater num-
ber of passages which may be cited for and against this theory
the objector may argue that the generally extravagant praise
bestowed upon Soma through the Veda is in any one case

1 A complete account of soma as given by the Vedic texts will be found in Hille-
brandt's Vedische Mythologie, vol. i., where are described the different ways of fer-
menting the juice of the plant.

2 Although so interpreted by Hillebrandt, loc. cit. p. 312. The passage is found in
RV. vi. 44. 23.

SOMA. 115

merely particularized, and that it is not incongruous to say of
the divine j'cw/^z-plant, "he lights the dark nights," when one
reads in general that he creates all things, including the gods.
On the other hand, the advocate of the theory may reply that
everything which does not apply to the moon-god Soma may
be used metaphorically of him. Thus, where it is said, '• Soma
goes through the purifying sieve," by analogy with the drink
of the plant soma passing through the sieve the poet may be
supposed to imagine the moon passing through the sieve-like
clouds ; and even when this sieve is expressly called the
' sheep's-tail sieve' and 'wool-sieve,' this may still be, meta-
phorically, the cloud-sieve (as, without the analogy, one speaks
to-day of woolly clouds and the 'mare's tail ').

So it happens that, with an hundred hymns addressed to
Soma, it remains still a matter of discussion whether the so/zia
addressed be the plant or the moon. Alfred Hillebrandt, to
whom is due the problem in its present form, declares that
everywhere-^ in the Rig Veda Soma means the moon. No
better hymn can be found to illustrate the difficulty under
which labors the soma-exegete than ix. 15, from which Hille-
brandt takes the fourth verse as conclusive evidence that by
soma only the moon is meant. In that case, as will be seen
from the 'pails,' it must be supposed that the poet leaps from
Soma to soma without warning. Hillebrandt does not include
the mention of the pails in his citation ; but in this, as in other
doubtful cases, it seems to us better to give a whole passage
than to argue on one or two verses torn from their proper
position :

Hymn to Soma (ix. 15).

Query : Is the hymn addressed to the plant as it is pressed out into the pails, or
to the moon ?

I. This one, by means of prayer (or intelligence), comes through the fine
(sieve), the hero, with swift car, going to the meeting with Indra.

1 Loc. cit. pp. 340, 450.

116 THE RELIGIOXS OF IXDIA.

2. Phis one thinks much for the sublime assembly of gods, where sit

immortals.

3. This one is despatched and led upon a shining path, when the active

ones urge (him).i

4. This one, shaking his horns, sharpens (them), the bull of the herd,

doing heroic deeds forcibly.

5. This one hastens, the strong steed, with bright golden beams, becoming

of streams the lord.

6. This one, pressing surely through the knotty (sieve .'') to good things,

comes down into the vessels.

7. This one, fit to be prepared, the active ones prepare in the pails, as he

creates great food.

8. Him, this one, who has good weapons, who is most intoxicating, ten

fingers and seven (or many) prayers prepare.

Here, as in ix. 70, Hillebrandt assumes that the poet turns
suddenly from the moon to the plant. Against this might be
urged the use of the same pronoun throughout the hymn.
It must be confessed that at first sight it is almost as difficult
to have the plant, undoubtedly meant in verses 7 and 8, repre-
sented by the moon in the preceding verses, as it is not to see
the moon in the expression ' shaking his horns.' This phrase
occurs in another hymn, where Hillebrandt, with the same
certainty as he does here, claims it for the moon, though the
first part of this hymn as plainly refers to the plant, ix. 70.
I, 4, Here the plant is a steer roaring like the noise of the
Maruts (5-6), and then (as above, after the term steer is
applied to the plant), it is said that he 'sharpens his horns,'
and is 'sightly,' and further, 'he sits down in the fair place
... on the wooly back,' etc., which bring one to still ah-
other hymn where are to be found like expressions, used, evi-
dently, not of the moon, but of the plant, viz.^ to ix. 37, a
hymn not cited by Hillebrandt :

1 Compare ix. 7'9. 5, where the same verb is used of striking, urging out the soma-
juice, rasa.

SOMA, 117

This strong (virile) soma, pressed for drink, flows into the purifying
vessel ; this sightly (as above, where Hillebrandt says it is epithet of the
moon), yellow, fiery one, is flowing into the purifying vessel ; roaring into
its own place (as above). This strong one, clear, shining (or purifying
itself), runs through the shining places of the sky, slaying evil demons,
through the sheep-hair-sieve. On the back of Trita this one shining (or
purifying itself) made bright the sun with (his) sisters.^ This one, slaying
Vritra, strong, pressed out, finding good things (as above), uninjured, soma,
went as if for booty. This god, sent forth by seers, runs into the vessels,
the drop {indii) for Indra, quickly (or willingly).

So far as we can judge, after comparing these and the other
passages that are cited by Hillebrandt as decisive for a lunar
interpretation of so7na, it seems quite as probable that the
epithets and expressions used are employed of the plant meta-
phorically as that tne poet leaps thus lightly from plant to
moon. And there is a number of cases which plainly enough
are indicative of the plant alone to make it improbable that
Hillebrandt is correct in taking Soma as the moon 'every-
where in the Rig Veda.' It may be that the moon-cult is
somewhat older than has been supposed, and that the language
is consciously veiled in the ninth book to cover the worship
of a deity as yet only partly acknowledged as such. But it is
almost inconceivable that an hundred hymns should praise
the moon ; and all the native commentators, bred as they were
in the belief of their day that so77ia and the moon were one,
should not know that sovia in tlie Rig Veda (as well as later)
means the lunar deity. It seems, therefore, safer to abide by
the belief that so7na usually means what it was understood to
mean, and what the general descriptions in the j-<9;;/<^-hymns
more or less clearly indicate, 7nz., the intoxicating plant, con-
ceived of as itself divine, stimulating Indra, and, therefore,
the causa 77iove7is of the demon's death, Indra being the causa
efficie7is. Even the allusions to so77ia being in the sky is not

1 Compare ix. 32. 2, where " Trita's maidens urge on the golden steed with the
press-stones, indii as a drink for Indra."

118 777^ RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

incompatible with this. For he is carried thence from the
place of sacrifice. Thus too in 83. 1-2 : " O lord of prayer/ thy
purifier (the sieve) is extended. Prevailing thou enterest its
limbs on all sides. Raw {soma)., that has not been cooked (with
milk) does not enter into it. Only the cooked {sofnd)^ goi^ig
through, enters it. The sieve of the hot drink is extended in
the place of the sky. Its gleaming threads extend on all sides.
This {sojna's) swift (streams) preserve the man that purifies
them, and wisely ascend to the back of the sky." In this,
as in many hymns, the drink soma is clearly addressed ; yet
expressions are used which, if detached, easily might be thought
to imply the moon (or the sun, as with Bergaigne) — a fact
that should make one employ other expressions of the same
sort with great circumspection.

Or, let one compare, with the preparation by the ten fingers,
85. 7 : "Ten fingers rub clean (prepare) the steed in the
vessels ; uprise the songs of the priests. The intoxicating
drops, as they purify themselves, meet the song of praise and
enter Indra." Exactly the same images as are found above
may be noted in ix. 87, where not the moon, but the plant,
is conspicuously the subject of the hymn : " Run into the pail,
purified by men go unto booty. They lead thee like a swift
horse with reins to the sacrificial straw, preparing (or rubbing)
thee. With good weapons shines the divine (shining) drop
(i7tdii), slaying evil-doers, guarding the assembly ; the father
of the gods, the clever begetter, the support of the sky, the
holder of earth. . . . This one, the so?fia (plant) on being
pressed out, ran swiftly into the purifier like a stream let out,
sharpening his two sharp horns like a buffalo ; like a true
hero hunting for cows ; he is come from the highest press-
stone," etc. It is the noise of so?na dropping that is compared
with 'roaring.' The strength given by (him) the drink, makes

1 On account of the position and content of this hymn, Hillebrandt regards it as
addressed to Soma ^= Brihaspati.

SOMA. 119

him appear as the 'virile one,' of which force is the activity,
and the bull the type. Given, therefore, the image of the bull,
the rest follows easily to elaborate the metaphor. If one add
that so7?ia is luminous (yellow), and that all luminous divinities
are 'horned bulls,' ^ then it will be unnecessary to see the
crescent moon in sojua. Moreover, if so??ta be the same with
Brihaspati, as thinks Hillebrandt, why are there three horns in
V. 43. 13 ? Again, that the expression ' sharpening his horns '
does not refer necessarily to the moon may be concluded from
X. 86. 15, where it is stated expressly that the dri/ik is a sharp-
horned steer : " Like a sharp-horned steer is thy brewed drink,
O Indra," probably referring to the taste. The sun, Agni,
and Indra are all, to the Vedic poet, 'sharp-horned steers,'^
and the sojfia plant, being luminous and strong (bull-like), gets
the same epithet.

The identity is rather with Indra than with the moon, if one
be content to give up brilliant theorizing, and simply follow
the poets : "The one that purifies himself yoked the sun's swift
steed over man that he might go through the atmosphere, and
these ten steeds of the sun he yoked to go, saying Indra is the
drop (/;/(///)." ^ When had ever the moon the power to start the
sun ? What part in the pantheon is played by the moon when
it is called by its natural name (not by the priestly name, soma) ?
Is 7?ids or cajidramas (moon) a power of strength, a great god .''
The words scarcely occur, except in late hymns, and the moon,
by his own folk-name, is hardly praised except in mechanical
conjunction with the sun. The floods of which so?7ia is lord
are explained in ix. 86. 24-25 : "The hawk (or eagle) brought
thee from the sky, O drop {mdu), . . . seven milk-streams
sing to the yellow one as he purifies himself with the wave in
the sieve of sheep's wool. The active strong ones have sent

1 So the sun in i. 163. 9, 11. 'Sharpening his horns' is used of fire in i. 140. 6;
V. 2. 9. 2 vi, 16. 39; vii. ig. i ; viii. 60. 13.

3 ix. 63. 8-9 ; 5. 9. Soma is identified with lightning in ix. 47. 3.

120 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

forth the wise seer in the lap of the waters." If one wishes
to clear his mind in respect of what the Hindu attributes to
the divine drink (expressly drink, and not moon), let him read
ix. 104, where he will find that "the twice powerful god-rejoic-
ing intoxicating drink" finds goods, finds a path for his friends,
puts away every harmful spirit and every devouring spirit, averts
the false godless one and all oppression ; and read also ix.
21. 1-4 : "These j-^;;/<7-drops for Indra flow rejoicing, madden-
ing, light- (or heaven-) finding, averting attackers, finding
desirable things for the presser, making life for the singer.
Like waves the drops flow into one vessel, playing as they
will. These j-^^w^z-drops, let out like steeds (attached) to a
car, as they purify themselves, attain all desirable things."
According to ix. 97. 41 ^ and ib. 37. 4 (and other like passages,
too lightly explained, p. 387, by Hillebrandt), it is soma that
"produced the light in the sun" and "makes the sun rise,"
statements incompatible with the (lunar) Soma's functions, but
quite in accordance with the magic power which the poets
attribute to the divine drink. Soma is ' king over treasure.'
Soma is brought by the eagle that all may ",see light" (ix. 48.
3-4). He traverses the sky, and guards order — but not
necessarily is he here the moon, for soDia, the drink, as a
"galloping steed," "a brilliant steer," a "stream of pressed
so7na,^' " a dear sweet," " a helper of gods," is here poured forth ;
after him "flow great water-floods"; and he "purifies himself
in the sieve, he the supporter, holder of the sky"; he "shines
with the sun," "roars," and "looks like Alitra"; being here both
"the intoxicating draught," and at the same time "the giver of
kine, giver of men, giver of horses, giver of strength, the soul
of sacrifice" (ix. 2).

Soma is even older than the Vedic Indra as slayer of Vritra
and snakes. Several Indo-Iranian epithets survive (of sojna
and /iao7fm, respectively), and among those of Iran is the title
* Vritra-slayer,' applied to hao7?ia, the others being 'strong' and

SOMA. 121

'heaven-winning,' just as in the Veda.-^ All three of them are
contained in one of the most lunar-like of the hymns to Soma,
which, for this reason, and because it is one of the few to this
deity that seem to be not entirely mechanical, is given here
nearly in full, with the original shift of metre in the middle of
the hymn (which may possibly indicate that two hymns have
been united).

To Soma (i. 91).

Thou, Soma, wisest art in understanding ;

Thou guidest (us) along tlie straightest pathway;
'Tis through thy guidance that our pious '-^ fathers

Among the gods got happiness, O Indu.

Thou, Soma, didst become in wisdom wisest;

In skill 3 most skilful, thou, obtaining all things.
A bull in virile strength, thou, and in greatness;

In splendor wast thou splendid, man-beholder.

Thine, now, the laws of kingly Varuna;*

Both high and deep the place of thee, O Soma.

Thou brilliant art as Mitra, the beloved, ^
Like Aryaman, deserving service, art thou.

Whate'er thy places be in earth or heaven,

Whate'er in mountains, or in plants and waters,

In all of these, well-minded, not injurious.

King Soma, our oblations meeting, take thou.

Thou, Soma, art the real lord, ,

Thou king and Vritra-slayer, too ;
Thou art the strength that gives success.

1 Hukhratiis, vereihrajao, Jivaresa. ~ Or : wise.

3 Or: strength. Above, 'shared riches,' perhaps, for 'got happiness.'

4 Or : thine, indeed, are the laws of King Varuna.

5 Or: brilliant and beloved as Mitra (Mitra means friend) ; Aryaman is translated
'bosom-friend ' — both are Adityas.

122 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

And, Soma, let it be thy will
For us to live, nor let us die ; ^
, Thou lord of plants,- who lovest praise.

•

Thou, Soma, bliss upon the old.
And on the young and pious man
Ability to live, bestowest.

Do thou, O Soma, on all sides
Protect us, king, from him that sins.
No harm touch friend of such as thou.

"Whatever the enjoyments be
Thou hast, to help thy worshipper,
With these our benefactor be.

This sacrifice, this song, do thou,
Well-pleased, accept ; come unto us ;
Make for our weal, O Soma, thou.

In songs we, conversant with words,
O Soma, thee do magnify;
Be merciful and come to us.

*^ ^ -^ ^ ^ ^ %
^I^ *^ *V^ ^T* 'T^ ^T* O

All saps unite in thee and all strong powers,

All virile force that overcomes detraction ;
Filled full, for immortality, O Soma,

Take to thyself the highest praise in heaven.
The sacrifice shall all embrace — whatever

Places thou hast, revered with poured oblations.
Home-aider, Soma, furtherer with good heroes,

Not hurting heroes, to our houses come thou.
Soma the cow gives ; Soma, the swift charger ;

Soma, the hero that can much accomplish
(Useful at home, in feast, and in assembly

His father's glory) — gives, to him that worships.

1 Or : an thou wiliest for us to live we shall not die.

2 Or : lordly plant, but not the moon.

3 Some unessential verses in the above metre are here omitted.

SOMA. 123

In war unharmed ; in battle still a saviour ;

Winner of heaven and waters, town-defender,
Born mid loud joy, and fair of home and glory,

A conqueror, thou ; in thee may we be happy.
Thou hast, O Soma, every plant begotten ;

The waters, thou; and thou, the cows; and thou hast
Woven the wide space 'twixt the earth and heaven ;

Thou hast with light put far away the darkness.
With mind divine, O Soma, thou divine ^ one,

A share of riches win for us, O hero ;
Let none restrain thee, thou art lord of valor ;

Show thyself foremost to both sides in battle.'^

Of more popular songs, Hillebrandt cites as sung to Soma(!)
viii. 69. 8-10 :

Sing loud to him, sing loud to him ;
Priyamedhas, oh, sing to him.
And sing to him the children, too;
Extol him as a sure defence. . . .
To Indra is the prayer up-raised.

The three daily i-^;;z(^-oblations are made chiefly to Indra and
Vayu ; to Indra at mid-day ; to the Ribhus, artisans of the
gods, at evening ; and to Agni in the morning.

Unmistakable references to Soma as the moon, as, for instance,
in X. 85. 3 : " No one eats of that so??ia which the priests know,"
seem rather to indicate that the identification of moon and
Soma was something esoteric and new rather than the received
belief of pre-Vedic times, as will Hillebrandt. This moon-
so7na is distinguished from the " j<?;?M-plant which they crush."

The floods of scmia are likened to, or, rather, identified with,
the rain-floods which the lightning frees, and, as it were, brings
to earth with him. A whole series of myths depending on this
natural phenomenon has been evolved, wherein the lightning-

1 Or: shining.

2 The same ideas are prominent in viii. 4S, where Soma is invoked as ' so7}ia that
has been drunk,' i.e., the juice of the ('three days fermented') plant.

124 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

fire as an eagle brings down SLW2a to man, that is, the heavenly
drink. Since Agni is threefold and the Gayatri metre is three-
fold, they interchange, and in the legends it is again the metre
which brings the soina^ or an archer, as is stated in one doubt-
ful passage.^

What stands out most clearly in j-^w^-laudations is that the
j<7w^-hymns are not only quite mechanical, but that they presup-
pose a very complete and elaborate ritual, with the employment
of a number of priests, of whom the hotars (one of the various
sets of priests) alone number five in the early and seven in the
late books ; with a complicated service ; with certain divinities
honored at certain hours ; and other paraphernalia of sacer-
dotal ceremony ; while Indra, most honored with Soma, and
Agni, most closely connected with the execution of sacrifice,
not only receive the most hymns, but these hymns are, for the
most part, palpably made for ritualistic purposes. It is this
truth that the ritualists have seized upon and too sweepingly
applied. For in every family book, besides this baksheesh
verse, occur the older, purer hymns that have been retained
after the worship for which they were composed had become
changed into a trite making of phrases.

Hillebrandt has failed to show that the Iranian haonia is
the moon, so that as a starting-point there still is plant and
drink-worship, not moon-worship. At what precise time, there-
fore, the soma was referred to the moon is not so important.
Since drink- worship stands at one end of the series, and moon-
worship at the other, it is antecedently probable that here and
there there may be a doubt as to which of the two was
intended. Some of the examples cited by Hillebrandt may
indeed be referable to the latter end of the series rather than
to the former ; but that the author, despite the learning and

1 In the fourth book, iv. 27. 3. On this myth, with its reasonable explanation as
deduced from the ritual, see Bloomfield, JAOS. xvi. i ff. Compare also Muir and
Hillebrandt, loc. cit.

SOMA. 125

ingenuity of his work, has proved his point definitively, we are
far from believing. It is just like the later Hindu speculation
to think out a subtle connection between moon and j'6'w^7-plant
because each was yellow, and swelled, and went through a sieve
(cloud), etc. But there is a further connecting link in that
the divinity ascribed to the intoxicant led to a supposition
that it was brought from the sky, the home of the gods ; above
all, of the luminous gods, which the yellow soma resembled.
Such was the Hindu belief, and from this as a starting-point
appears to have come the gradual identification of soma with
the moon, now called Soma. For the moon, even under the
name of Gandharva, is not the object of especial worship. • '

The question so ably discussed by Hillebrandt is, however,
one of considerable importance from the point of view of the
religious development. If soma from the beginning was the
moon, then there is only one more god of nature to add to
the pantheon. But if, as we believe in the light of the Avesta
and Veda itself, sojua., like haoma, was originally the drink-
plant (the root sii., press, from which comes so?na, implies the
plant), then two important facts follow. First, in the identifi-
cation of yellow soma-^\2.wt witb yellow moon in the latter stage
of the Rig Veda (which coincides with the beginning of the
Brahmanic period) there is a striking illustration of the gradual
mystical elevation of religion at the hands of the priests, to
whom it appeared indecent that mere drink should be exalted
thus ; and secondly, there is the significant fact that in the
Indie and Iranian cult there was a direct worship of deified
liquor, analogous to Dionysiac rites, a worship which is not
unparalleled in other communities. Again, the surprising iden-
tity of worship in Avesta and Veda, and the fact that hymns
to the earlier deities. Dawn, Parjanya, etc., are frequently
devoid of any relation to the soj?m-c\\\t, not only show that
Bergaigne's opinion that the whole Rig Veda is but a collec-
tion of hymns for i-f^w^-worship as handed down in different

126 THE, RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

families must be modified ; but also that, as we have explained
apropos of Varuna, the Iranian cult must have branched off
from the Vedic cult (whether, as Haug thought, on account
of a religious schism or not); that the hymns to the less popu-
lar deities (as we have defined the word) make the first period
of Vedic cult ; and that the special liquor-cult, common to Iran
and India, arose after the first period of Vedic worship, when,
for example, Wind, Parjanya, and Varuna were at their height,
and before the priests had exalted mystically Agni or Soma,
and even Indra was as yet undeveloped.

CHAPTER VI.

THE RIG VEDA (CONCLUDED). — YAMA AND OTHER GODS,
VEDIC PANTHEISM, ESCHATOLOGY.

In the last chapter we have traced the character of two
great" gods of earth, the altar-fire and the personified kind of
beer which was the Vedic poets' chief drink till the end of this
period. With the discovery of surd^ Iiuinor ex hnrdeo (oryzaque ;
Weber, Vdjapeya, p. 19), and the difficulty of obtaining the
original soma-'p^2ir\t (for the plant used later for so7Jia, the ascle-
pias acida, or sarcostemina viminale, does not grow in the Punjab
region, and cannot have been the original somd)^ the status of
soma became changed. While surd became the drink of the
people, so7na, despite the fact that it was not now so agreeable
a liquor, became reserved, from its old associations, as the
priests' (gods') drink, a sacrosanct beverage, not for the vulgar,
and not esteemed by the priest, except as it kept up the rite.

It has been shown that these gods, earthly in habitation,
absorbed the powers of the older and physically higher divini-
ties. The ideas that clustered about the latter were transferred
to the former. The altar-fire, Agni, is at once earth-fire, light-
ning, and sun. The drink soma is identified with the heavenly
drink that refreshes the earth, and from its color is taken at
last to be the terrestrial form of its aqueous prototype, the
moon, which is not only yellow, but even goes through cloud-
meshes just as so7na goes through the sieve, with all the other
points of comparison that priestly ingenuity can devise.

Of different sort altogether from these gods is the ancient
Indo-Iranian figure that now claims attention. The older
religion had at least one object of devotion very difficult to
reduce to terms of a nature-religion.

128 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

YAMA.

Exactly as the Hindu had a half-divine ancestor, Manu, who
by the later priests is regarded as of solar origin, while more
probably he is only the abstract Adam (man), the progenitor
of the race; so in Yama the Hindu saw the primitive "first
of mortals." While, however, Mitra, Dyaus, and other older
nature-gods, pass into a state of negative or almost forgotten
activity, Yama, even in the later epic period, still remains a
potent sovereign — the king of the dead.

In the Avesta Yima is the son of the ' wide-o^leaminsr ' Vivan2:h-
vant, the sun, and here it is the sun that first prepares the
soma (Jiaoma) for man. And so, too, in the Rig Veda it is
Yama the son of Vivasvant (x. 58. i ; 60. 10) who first "ex-
tends the web" of {soma) sacrifice (vii. t^-^. 9, 12). The Vedic
poet, not influenced by later methods of interpretation, saw
in Yama neither sun nor moon, nor any other natural phe-
nomenon, for thus he sings, differentiating Yama from them
all : " I praise with a song Agni, Pushan, Sun and Moon,
Yama in heaven, Trita, Wind, Dawn, the Ray of Light, the
Twin Horsemen " (x. 64. 3); and again : " Deserving of lauda-
tion are Heaven and Earth, the four-limbed Agni, Yama,
Aditi," etc. (x. 92. 11).

Yama is regarded as a god, although in the Rig Veda he is
called only 'king' (x. 14. i, 11); but later he is expressly a
god, and this is implied, as Ehni shows, even in the Rig Veda :
'a god found Agni' and 'Yama found Agni' (x. 51. i if.).
His primitive nature was that of the 'first mortal that died,' in
the words of the Atharva Veda. It is true, indeed, that at a
later period even gods are spoken of as originally 'mortal,'^
but this is a conception alien from the early notions of the
Veda, where 'mortal' signifies no more than 'man.' Yama

1 Compare Taitt. S. vii. 4. 2. i. The gods win immortality by means of ' sacrifice '
in this later priest-ridden period.

VAMA. 129

was the first mortal, and he lives in the sky, in the home that
"holds heroes," Le., his abode is ^vhere dead heroes congregate
(i. 35. 6; X. 64. 3).^ The fathers that died of old are cared
for by him as he sits drinking with the gods beneath a fair
tree (x. 135. 1-7). The fire that devours the corpse is invoked
to depart thither (x. 16. 9). This place is not very definitely
located, but since, according to one prevalent view, the saints
guard the sun, and since Yama's abode in the sky is compar-
able with the sun in one or two passages, it is probable that
the general idea was that the departed entered the sun and
there Yama received him (i. 105. 9, * my home is there where
are the sun's rays'; x. 154. 4-5, 'the dead shall go, O Yama,
to the fathers, the seers that guard the sun '). ' Yama's abode '
is the same v.ith 'sky' (x, 123. 6); and when it is said, 'may
the fathers hold up the pillar (in the grave), and may Yama
build a seat for thee there' (x. 18. 13), this refers, not to the
grave, but to heaven. And it is said that ' Yama's seat is what
is called the gods' home' (x. 135. 7).^ But Yama does not
remain in the sky. He comes, as do other Powers, to the
sacrifice, and is invited to seat himself ' with Angirasas and the
fathers' at the feast, where he rejoices with them (x. 14. 3-4;
15. 8). And either because Agni devours corpses for Yama,
or because of Agni's part in the sacrifice which Yama so joy-
fully attends, therefore Agni is especially mentioned as Yama's
friend (x. 21. 5), or even his priest (/^. 52. 3). Yama stands
in his relation to the dead so near to death that ' to go on
Yama's path ' is to go on the path of death ; and battle is called
'Yama's strife.' It is even possible that in one passage Yama
is directly identified with death (x. 165. 4, 'to Yama be rever-
ence, to death'; i. 38. 5; i7>. 116. 2).'" There is always a close

1 Ludwig (iv. p. 134) wrongly understands a hell here.

2 ' Yama's seat' is here what it is in the epic, not a chapel (Pischel), but a home.

3 This may mean 'to Yama (and) to death.' In the Atharva Veda, v. 24. 13-14,
it is said that Death is the lord of men ; Yama, of the Manes.

130 THE RELIGIOXS OF INDIA.

connection between Varuna and Yama, and perhaps it is owing
to this that parallel to ' Varuna"s fetters' is found also ' Yama's
fetter,' /.<?., death (x. 97. 16).

As Yama was the first to die, so was he the first to teach
man the road to immortality, which lies through sacrifice,
whereby man attains to heaven and to immortality. Hence
the poet says, 'we revere the immortality born of Yama'
(i. 83, 5). This, too, is the meaning of the mystic verse which
speaks of the sun as the heavenly courser 'given by Yama,'
for, in giving the way to immortality, Yama gives also the sun-
abode to them that become immortal. In the same hymn the
sun is identified with Yama as he is with Trita (i. 163. 3).
This particular identification is due, however, rather to the
developed pantheistic idea which obtains in the later hymns.
A parallel is found in the next hymn: "They speak of Indra,
]Mitra, Varuna, Agni . . . that which is one, the priests speak
of in many ways, and call him Agni, Yama, Fire " (or Wind,
i. 164. 46).

Despite the fact that one Vedic poet speaks of Yama's name
as 'easy to^mderstand ' (x. 12. 6), no little ingenuity has been
spent on it, as well as on the primitive conception underlying
his personality. Etymologically, his name means Twin, and
this is probably the real meaning, for his twin sister Yami is
also a Vedic personage. The later age, regarding Yama as a
restrainer and punisher of the wicked, derived the name from
yajH^ the restrainer or punisher, but such an idea is quite out
of place in the province of Vedic thought. The Iranian Yima
also has a sister of like name, although she does not appear
till late in the literature.

That Yama's father is the sun, Vivasvant (Savitar, 'the arti-
ficer,' Tvashtar, x. 10. 4-5),^ is clearly enough stated in the

1 It is here said, also, that the * Gandharva in the waters and tlie water-woman '
are the ties of consanguinity between Yama and Yami, which means, apparently, that
their parents were ^Nloon and Water; a late idea, as in viii, 4S, 13 (unique).

VAM.^.. 131

Rik ; and that he was the first mortal, in the Atharvan, Men
come from Yama, and Yama comes from the sun as 'creator,'
just as men elsewhere come from Adam and Adam comes from
the Creator. But instead of an Hebraic Adam and Eve there
are in India a Yama and Yami, brother and sister (wife), who,
in the one h3aTin in which the latter is introduced (Av. r//.),
indulge in a moral conversation on the propriety of wedlock
between brother and sister. This hymn is evidently a protest
against a union that was unobjectionable to an older genera-
tion. In the Yajur Yeda Yami is wife and sister both. But
sometimes, in the varying fancies of the Y'edic poets, the arti-
ficer Tvashtar is differentiated from Vivasvant, the sun ; as
he is in another passage, where Tvashtar gives to Y^ivasvant
his daughter, and she is the mother of Yama.^

That men are the children of Yama is seen in x. 13. 4, where
it is said, ' Yama averted death for the gods ; he did not avert
death for (his) posterity.' In the Brahmanic tradition men
derive from the sun (Taitt. S. vi. 5. 6. 2).- So, in the Iranian
belief, Yima is looked upon, according to some scholars, as the
first man. The funeral hymn to Yama is as follows :

Him who once went over the great mountains ^ and spied out a path for
many, the son of Vivasvant, who collects men, King Yama, revere ye with
oblations. Yama the first found us a way . . . There where our old fathers
are departed. . . . Yama is magnified with the Angirasas. . . . Sit here, O
Yama, with the Angirasas and with the fathers. . . . Rejoice, O king, in this
oblation. Come, O Yama, with the venerable Angirasas. I call thy father,
Vivasvant, sit down at this sacrifice.

And then, turning to the departed soul :

Go forth, go forth on the old paths where are gone our old fathers;
thou shalt see both joyous kings, Yama and God Varuna. Unite with the

1 The passage, X. 17. 1-2, is perhaps meant as a riddle, as Bloomfield suggests
(JAOS. XV. p. 172). At any rate, it is still a dubious passage. Compare Hille-
brandt. Vcdische MytJiolcgic^ i. p. 503.

- Cited by Scherman, Vzsioiislitteratitr, p. 147.

3 Possibly, '■ streams.'

132 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

fathers, with Yama, with the satisfaction of desires, in highest heaven. . . .
Yama will give a resting place to this spirit. Run past, on a good path,
the two dogs of Sarama, the four-eyed, spotted ones ; go unto the fathers
who rejoice with Yama.

Several things are here noteworthy. In the first place, the
Atharva Veda reads, "who first of mortals died,''-^ and this is
the meaning of the Rig Veda version, although, as was said
above, the mere fact that Varuna is called a god and Yama a
king proves nothing." But it is clearly implied here that he
who crossed the mountains and 'collected men,' as does Yima
in the Iranian legend, is an ancient king, as it is also implied
that he led the way to heaven. The dogs of Yama are
described in such a way as to remind one of the dogs that
guard the path the dead have to pass in the Iranian legend,
and of Kerberus, with whose very name the adjective 'spotted'
has been compared.^ The dogs are elsewhere described as
white and brown and as barking (vii. 55. 2), and in further
verses of the hymn just quoted (x. 14) they are called "thy
guardian dogs, O Yama, the four-eyed ones who guard the path,
v/ho look on men . . . broad-nosed, dark messengers of Yama,
who run among the people."

These dogs are due to the same fantasy that creates a Ker-
berus, the Iranian dogs,^ or other guardians of the road that
leads to heaven. The description is too minute to make it
probable that the Vedic poet understood them to be 'sun and
moon,' as the later Brahmanical ingenuity explains them, and
as they have been explained by modern scholarship. It is not
possible that the poet, had he had in mind any connection

1 AV. xviii. 3. 13.

2 Compare AV. vi. SS. 2 : •' King \'aruna and God Brihaspati," where both are
gods.

3 K^p^epos (= Cabala) = Cdn'ara. Sarama is storm or dawn, or something else
that means ' runner.'

■t Here the fiend is expelled by a four-eyed dog or a white one which has yellow
ears. See the Sacred Books of the East. iv. p. Ixxxvii.

VAA/A. 133

between the dogs and the sun and moon (or 'night and day'),
would have described them as ' barking ' or as ' broad-nosed and
dark'; and all interpretation of Yama's dogs must rest on the
interpretation of Yama himself.-^

Yama is not mentioned elsew^here ^ in the Rig Veda, except
in the statement that 'metres rest on Yama,' and in the closing
verses of the burial hymn : " For Yama press the soma, for
Yama pour oblation ; the sacrifice goes to Yama ; he shall
extend for us a long life among the gods," where the pun on
Yama (yamad a ), in the sense of 'stretch out,' shows that as
yet no thought of 'restrainer' was in the poet's mind, although
the sense of ' twin ' is lost from the name.

In recent years Hillebrandt argues that because the Manes
are connected with Soma (as the moon), and because Yama
was the first to die, therefore Yama was the moon. Ehni, on
the other hand, together with Bergaigne and some other
scholars, takes Yama to be the sun. Miiller calls him the
'setting-sun.'"" The argument from the Manes applies better
to the sun than to the moon, but it is not conclusive. The
Hindus in the Vedic age, as later, thought of the Manes living
in stars, moon, sun, and air ; and, if they were not good Manes
but dead sinners, in the outer edge of the universe or under
ground. In short, they are located in every conceivable place.^

The Yama, 'who collects people,' has been rightly compared
with the Yima, who 'made a gathering of the people,' but it
is doubtful whether one should see in this an Aryan trait ; for
"AiSt/s 'Ayy;crtAao5 is not early and popular, but late (Aeschylean),

1 Scherman proposes an easy solution, namely to cut the description in two, and
maks only part of it refer to the dogs ! (/oc. cit. p. 130).

^ The dogs may be meant in i. 29. 3, but compare ii. 31. 5. Doubtful is i. 66. 8,
according to Bergaigne, applied to Yama as fire.

3 India, p. 224.

•i Barth, p. 23, cites i. 125. 6 ; x. 107. 2 ; 82. 2, to prove that stars are souls of dead
men. These passages do not prove the point, but it may be inferred from x. 68. 11.
Later on it is a received belief. A moon-heaven is found only in viii. 48.

134 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

and the expression may easily have arisen independently in the
mind of the Greek poet. From a comparative point of view,
in the reconstruction of Yama there is no conclusive evidence
which will permit one to identify his original character either
with sun or moon. Much rather he appears to be as he is in
the Rig Veda, a primitive king, not historically so, but poeti-
cally, the first man, fathered of the sun, to whom he returns,
and in whose abode he collects his offspring after their inevita-
ble death on earth. In fact, in Yama there is the ideal side
of ancestor-worship. He is a poetic image, the first of all
fathers, and hence their type and king. Yama's name is un-
known outside of the Indo-Iranian circle, and though Ehni
seeks to find traces of him in Greece and elsewhere,^ this
scholar's identifications fail, because he fails to note that
similar ideas in myths are no proof of their common origin.

It has been suggested that in the paradise of Yama over the
mountains there is a companion-piece to the hyperboreans,
whose felicity is described by Pindar. The nations that came
from the north still kept in legend a recollection of the land
from whence they came. This suggestion cannot, of course,
be proved, but it is the most probable explanation yet given
of the first paradise to which the dead revert. In the late
Vedic period, when the souls of the dead were not supposed
to linger on earth with such pleasure as in the sky, Yama's
abode is raised to heaven. Later still, when to the Hindu the
south was the land of death, Yama's hall of judgment is again
brought down to earth and transferred to the 'southern district.'

The careful investigation of Scherman" leads essentially to
the same conception of Yama as that we have advocated.
Scherman believ^es that Yama was first a human figure, and
was then elevated to, if not identified with, the sun. Scher-
man's only error is in disputing the generally-received opinion,

1 Especially with Ymir in Scandinavian mythology.

2 Visionslitteratit7-. 1S92.

VAJ/A. 135

one that is on the whole correct, that Yama in the early period
is a kindly sovereign, and in later times becomes the dread
king of horrible hells. Despite some testimony to the con-
trary, part of which is late interpolation in the epic, this is
the antithesis which exists in the works of the respective
periods.

The most important gods of the era of the Rig Veda we
now have reviewed. But before passing on to the next period
it should be noticed that no small number of beings remains
who are of the air, devilish, or of the earth, earthy. Like the
demons that injure man by restraining the rain in the clouds,
so there are bhuts^ ghosts, spooks, and other lower powers,
some malevolent, some good-natured, who inhabit earth ; whence
demonology. There is, furthermore, a certain chrematheism,
as we have elsewhere ^ ventured to call it, which pervades the
Rig Veda, the worship of more or less personified things, dif-
fering from pantheism in this,- that whereas pantheism assumes
a like divinity in all things, this kind of theism assumes that
everything (or anything) has a separate divinity, usually that
which is useful to the worshipper, as, the plough, the furrow,
etc. In later hymns these objects are generally of sacrificial
nature, and the stones with which soma is pressed are divine
like the, plant. Yet often there is no sacrificial observance to
cause this veneration. Hymns are addressed to weapons, to
the war-car, as to divine beings. Sorcery and incantation is
not looked upon favorably, but nevertheless it is found.

Another class of divinities includes abstractions, generally
female, such as Infinity, Piety, Abundance, with the barely-men-
tioned Gungu, Raka, etc. (which may be moon-phases). The

1 Henotheism in the Rig Veda, p. 8i.

2 This religious phase is often confounded loosely with pantheism, but the dis-
tinction should be observed. Parkman speaks of (American) Indian 'pantheism ' ;
and Barth speaks of rituahstic ' pantheism,' meaning thereby the deification of differ-
ent objects used in sacrifice Cp. 37, note). But chrematheism is as distinct from
pantheism as it is from fetishism.

136 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

most important of these abstractions ^ is ' the lord of strength,' a
priestly interpretation of Indra, interpreted as religious strength
or prayer, to whom are accredited all of Indra's special acts.
Hillebrandt interprets this god, Brahmanaspati or Brihaspati, as
the moon ; Miiller, somewhat doubtfully, as fire ; while Roth
will not allow that Brihaspati has anything to do with natural
phenomena, but considers him to have been from the beginning
' lord of prayer.' With this view we partly concur, but we would
make the important modification that the god was lord of prayer
only as priestly abstraction of Indra in his higher development.
It is from this god is come probably the head of the later trinity,
Brahma, through personified bra/wia, power, prayer, with its
philosophical development into the Absolute. Noteworthy is
the fact that some of the Vedic Aryans, despite his high pre-
tensions, do not quite like Brihaspati, and look on him as a
suspicious novelty. If one study Brihaspati in the hymns, it
will be difficult not to see in him simply a sacerdotal Indra.
He breaks the demon's power ; crushes the foes of man ; con-
sumes the demons with a sharp bolt ; disperses darkness ;
drives forth the 'cows'; gives offspring and riches ; helps in
battle ; discovers Dawn and Agni ; has a band (like Maruts)
singing about him ; he is red and golden, and is identified with
fire. Although 'father of gods,' he is begotten of Tvashtar,
the artificer.-

Weber has suggested (Vajapeya Sacrifice, p. 15), that Brihas-
pati takes Indra's place, and this seems to be the true solution,
Indra as interpreted mystically by priests. In RV. i. 190, Bri-
haspati is looked upon by 'sinners' as a new god of little value.
Other minor deities can be mentioned only briefly, chiefly that
the extent of the pantheon may be seen. For the history of

1 Some seem to be old ; thus Aramati, piety, has an Iranian representative, Ar-
maiti. As mascuUne abstractions are to be added Anger, Death, etc.

2 Compare iv. 50; ii. 23 and 24; v. 43. 12; x. 68. 9: ii. 26. 3 : 23. 17; x. 97. 15.
For interpretation compare Hillebrandt, Ved. Myth. i. 409-420 ; Bergaigne, La Rcl.
Ved. i. 304 ; Muir, OST. v. 272 ff. (with previous literature).

YAMA. 137

religion they are of only collective importance. The All-gods
play an important part in the sacrifice, a group of 'all the
gods,' a priestly manufacture to the end that no god may be
omitted in laudations that would embrace all the gods. The
later priests attempt to identify these gods with the clans, ' the
All-gods are the clans' i^Cat. Br. v. 5. i. 10), on the basis of a
theological pun, the clans, vicas, being equated with the word
for all, 2nfve. Some modern scholars follow these later priests,
but without reason. Had these been special clan-gods, they
would have had special names, and would not have appeared
in a group alone.

The later epic has a good deal to say about some lovely
nymphs called the Apsarasas, of whom it mentions six as chief
(Urva^i, Menaka, etc.).-^ They fall somewhat in the epic from
their Vedic estate, but they are never more than secondary
figures, love-goddesses, beloved of the Gandharvas who later
are the singing guardians of the moon, and, like the lunar
stations, twenty-seven in number. The Rik knows at first but
one Gandharva (an inferior genius, mentioned in but one
family-book), who guards Soma's path, and, when Soma be-
comes the moon, is identified with him, ix. 86. 36. As in the
Avesta, Gandharva is (the moon as) an evil spirit also ; but
always as a second-rate power, to whom are ascribed magic
(and madness, later). He has virtually no cult except in sofna-
hymns, and shows clearly the first Aryan conception of the
moon as a demoniac power, potent over women, and associated
wdth waters.

Mountains, and especially rivers, are holy, and of course
are deified. Primitive belief generally deifies rivers. But in
the great river-hymn in the Rig Veda there is probably as much
pure poetry as prayer. The Vedic poet half believed in the
rivers' divinity, and sings how they 'rush forth like armies,'
but it will not do to inquire too strictly in regard to his belief.

1 Mbhd. i. 74. 6S. Compare Holtzmann, ZDMG. xxxiii. 631 ff.

138 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

He was a poet, and did not expect to be catechized. Of
female divinities there are several of which the nature is doubt-
ful. As Dawn or Storm have been interpreted Sarama and
Saranyu, both meaning 'runner.' The former is Indra's dog,
and her litter is the dogs of Yama. One little poem, rather
than hymn, celebrates the ' wood-goddess ' in pretty verses of
playful and descriptive character.

Long before there was any formal recognition of the dogma
that all gods are one, various gods had been identified by the
Vedic poets. Especially, as most naturally, was this the case
when diverse gods having different names were similar in any
way, such as Indra and Agni, whose glory is fire ; or Varuna
and Mitra, whose seat is the skv. From this casual union of
like pairs comes the peculiar custom of invoking two gods as
one. But even in the case of gods not so radically connected,
if their functions were mutually approximate, each in turn
became credited with his neighbor's acts. If the traits were
similar which characterized each, if the circles of activity over-
lapped at all, then those divinities that originally were tangent
to each other gradually became concentric, and eventually
were united. And so the lines between the gods were wiped
out, as it were, by their conceptions crowding upon one an-
other. There was another factor, however, in the development
of this unconscious, or, at least, unacknowledged, pantheism.
Aided by the likeness or identity of attributes in Indra, Savitar,
Agni, Mitra, and other gods, many of which were virtually the
same under a different designation, the priests, ever prone to
extravagance of word, soon began to attribute, regardless of
strict propriety, every power to every god. With the exception
of some of the older divinities, whose forms, as they are less
complex, retain throughout the simplicity of their primitive
character, few gods escaped this adoration, which tended to
make them all universally supreme, each being endowed with
all the attributes of godhead. One might think that no better

VAA/A. 139

fate could happen to a god than thus to be magnified. But
when each god in the pantheon was equally glorified, the effect
on the whole was disastrous. In fact, it was the death of the
gods whom it was the intention of the seers to exalt. And
the reason is plain. From this universal praise it resulted
that the individuality of each god became less distinct ; every
god was become, so to speak, any god, so far as his peculiar
attributes made him a god at all, so that out of the very praise
that was given to him and his confreres alike there arose the
idea of the abstract godhead, the god who was all the gods,
the one god. As a pure abstraction one finds thus Aditi,
as equivalent to 'all the gods,'^ and then the more personal
idea of the god that is father of all, which soon becomes
the purely personal All-god. It is at this stage where begins
conscious premeditated pantheism, which in its first begin-
nings is more like monotheism, although in India there is no
monotheism which does not include devout polytheism, as will
bs seen in the review of the formal philosophical systems of
religion.

It is thus that we have attempted elsewhere ^ to explain that
phase of Hindu religion which Miiller calls henotheism.

Miiller, indeed, would make of henotheism a new religion, but
this, the worshipping of each divinity in turn as if it were the
greatest and even the only god recognized, is rather the result
of the general tendency to exaltation, united with pantheistic
beginnings. Granting that pure polytheism is found in a few
hymns, one may yet say that this polytheism, with an accom-
paniment of half-acknowledged chrematheism, passed soon into
the belief that several divinities were ultimately and essentially
but one, which may be described as homoiotheism ; and that
the poets of the Rig Veda were unquestionably esoterically

1 i. 89. 10: "Aditi is all the gods and men; Aditi is whatever has been born;
Aditi is whatever will be born."'

2 Henotheism in the Rig Veda (Drisler Memorial),

140 THE RELIGIONS OF EVDIA.

unitarians to a much greater extent and in an earlier period
than has generally been acknowledged, ^lost of the hymns
of the Rig Veda were composed under the influence of that
unification of deities and tendency to a quasi-monotheism,
w^hich eventually results both in philosophical pantheism, and
in the recognition at the same time of a personal first cause.
To express the difference between Hellenic polytheism and
the polytheism of the Rig Veda the latter should be called, if
by any new term, rather by a name like pantheistic polytheism,
than by the somewhat misleading word henotheism. What is
novel in it is that it represents the fading of pure polytheism
and the engrafting, upon a polytheistic stock, of a speculative
homoiousian tendency soon to bud out as philosophic pan-
theism.

The admission that other gods exist does not nullify the
attitude of tentative monotheism. " Who is like unto thee, O
Lord, among the gods ? " asks Moses, and his father-in-law,
when converted to the new belief, says : " Now I know that
the Lord is greater than all gods."^ But this is not the quasi-
monotheism of the Hindu, to whom the other gods were real
and potent factors, individually distinct from the one supreme
god, who represents the All-god, but is at once abstract and
concrete.

Pantheism in the Rig Veda comes out clearly onl}" in one or
two passages : " The priests represent in many ways the (sun)
bird that is one"; and (cited above) "They speak of him as
Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, . . . that which is but one they
call variously." So, too, in the Atharvan it is said that Varuna
(here a pantheistic god) is "in the little drop of water,"- as
in the Rik the spark of material fire is identified with the sun.

The new belief is voiced chiefly in that portion of the Rig
Veda which appears to be latest and most Brahmanic in tone.

1 Ex. XV. II ; xviii. ii.

2 RV. X. 114. 5 ; i. 164. 46; AV. iv. 16. 3.

VAA/A. 141

Here a supreme god is described under the name of " Lord
of Beings," the "All-maker," "The Golden Garm," the "God
over gods, the spirit of their being" (x. 121). The last, a
famous hymn, Miiller entitles " To the Unknown God." It
may have been intended, as has been suggested, for a theo-
logical puzzle,^ but its language evinces that in whatever form
it is couched — each verse ends with the refrain, 'To what god
shall we offer sacrifice ? ' till the last verse answers the ques-
tion, saying, 'the Lord of beings' — it is meant to raise the
question of a supreme deity and leave it unanswered in terms
of a nature-religion, though the germ is at bottom fire : " In
the beginning arose the Golden Germ ; as soon as born he
became the Lord of All. He established earth and heaven —
to what god shall we offer sacrifice ? He who gives breath,
strength, whose command the shining gods obey ; whose shadow
is life and death. . . . When the great waters went everywhere
holding the germ and generating light, then arose from them
the one spirit (breath) of the gods. . . . May he not hurt us,
he the begetter of earth, the holy one who begot heaven . . .
Lord of beings, thou alone embracest all things . . ."

In this closing period of the Rig Veda — a period which in
many ways, the sudden completeness of caste, the recognition
of several Vedas, etc., is much farther removed from the begin-
ning of the work than it is from the period of Brahmanic specu-
lation — philosophy is hard at work upon the problems of the
origin of gods and of being. As in the last hymn, water is the
origin of all things ; out of this springs fire, and the wind which
is the breath of god. So in the great hymn of creation : " There
was then neither not-being nor being ; there was no atmosphere,
no sky. What hid (it) ? Where and in the protection of what ?
Was it w^ater, deep darkness ? There was no death nor immor-
tality. There was no difference between night and day. That
One breathed . . . nothing other than this or above it existed.

1 Bloomfiel4, JAOS. xv. 1S4.

142 THE RELIGIOiXS OF INDIA.

Darkness was concealed in darkness in the beginning. Undif-
f2rentiated water was all this (universe)." Creation is then
declared to have arisen by virtue of desire, which, in the
be^rinnino^ was the ori^rin of mind;-^ and "the o-ods," it is said
further, "were created after this." Whether entity springs
from non-entity or vice versa is discussed in another hymn of
the same book.'-^ The most celebrated of the pantheistic
hymns is that in which the universe is regarded as portions of
the deity conceived as the primal Person: "Purusha (the Male
Person) is this all, what has been and will be . . . all created
things are a fourth of him ; that which is immortal in the sky
is three-fourths of him." The hymn is too well known to be
quoted entire. All the castes, all gods, all animals, and the
three (or four) Vedas are parts of him.^

Such is the mental height to which the seers have raised
themselves before the end of the Rig Veda. The figure of
the Father-god, Prajapati, ' lord of beings,' begins here ; at
first an epithet of Savitar, and finally the type of the head of a
pantheon, such as one finds him to be in the Brahmanas. In
one hymn only (x. 121) is Prajapati found as the personal
Father-god and All-god. At a time when philosophy created
the one Universal Male Person, the popular religion, keeping
pace, as far as it could, with philosophy, invented the more
anthropomorphized, more human. Father-god — whose name is
ultimately interpreted as an interrogation, God Who ? This trait
lasts from now on through all speculation. The philosopher
conceived of a first source. The vulgar made it a personal god.

One of the most remarkable hymns of this epoch is that on
Vac, Speech, or The W^ord. Weber has sought in this the
prototype of the Logos doctrine (below). The Word, Vac
(feminine) is introduced as speaking (x. 125):

1 " Desire, the primal seed of mind," x. 129. 4.

2 X. 72 (contains also the origin of the gods from Aditi).

3 X. 90. Here chatiddinsi, carmina, is probably the Atharvan.

MANES. 143

I wander with the Rudras, with the Vasus,^ with the Adityas, and with
all the gods ; I support Mitra, Varuna, Indra-Agni, and the twin A9vins. . . .
I give wealth to him that gives sacritice, to him that presses the so??ia. I
am the queen, the best of those worthy of sacrifice. . . . The gods have
put me in many places. ... I am that through which one eats, breathes,
sees, and hears. . . . Him that I love I make strong, to be a priest, a seer,
a wise man. 'Tis I bend Rudra's bow to hit the unbeliever; I prepare war
for the people ; I am entered into heaven and earth. I beget the father of
this (all) on the height ; my place is in the waters, the sea ; thence I extend
myself among all creatures and touch heaven with my crown. Even I blow
like the wind, encompassing all creatures. Above heaven and above earth,
so great am I grown in majesty.

This is almost Vedantic pantheism with the Vishnuite doc-
trine of ' special grace ' included.

The moral tone of this period — if period it may be called — •
may best be examined after one has studied the idea which the
Vedic Hindu has formed of the life hereafter. The happiness
of heaven will be typical of what he regards as best here.
Bliss beyond the grave depends in turn upon the existence of
the spirit after death, and, that the reader may understand this,
we must say a few words in regard to the Manes, or fathers
dead. " Father Manu," as he is called," was the first ' Man.'
Subsequently he is the secondary parent as a kind of Noah ;
but Yama, in later tradition his brother, has taken his place
as norm of the departed fathers, Pitaras.

These Fathers (Manes), although of different sort than the
gods, are yet divine and have many godly powers, granting
prayers and lending aid, as may be seen from this invocation :
" O Fathers, may the sky-people grant us life ; may we follow
the course of the living" (x. 57. 5). One whole hymn is
addressed to these quasi-divinities (x. 15):

1 Rudras. Vasus, and Adityas, the three famous groups of gods. The Vasus are
in Indra's train, the 'shining,' or, perhaps, 'good' gods.

- ii. -^T,. 13; X. 100. 5, etc. If the idea of manus = bonus be rejected, the Latin
manes may be referred to manavas, the children of INIanu.

144 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

Arise may the loAvest, the highest, the middlemost Fathers, those worthy
of the soma, who without harm have entered into the spirit (-world) ; may
these Fathers, knowing the seasons, aid us at our call. This reverence be
to-day to the Fathers, who of old and afterwards departed ; those who have
settled in an earthly sphere, ^ or among peoples living in fair places (the
gods?). I have found the gracious Fathers, the descendant(s) and the
wide-step - of Vishnu ; those who, sitting on the sacrificial straw, willingly
partake of the pressed drink, these are most apt to come hither. . . . Come
hither with blessings, O Fathers; may they come hither, hear us, address
and bless us. . . . May ye not injure us for whatever impiety we have as
men committed. . . . With those who are our former Fathers, those worthy
of soma, who are come to the so)}ia drink, the best (fathers), may Yama
rejoicing, willingly with them that are willing, eat the oblations as much as
is agreeable (to them). Come running, O Agni, with these (fathers), who
thirsted among the gods and hastened hither, finding oblations and praised
with songs. These gracious ones, the real poets, the P^athers that seat
themselves at the sacrificial heat ; who are real eaters of oblation ; drinkers
of oblation ; and are set together on one chariot with Indra and the gods.
Come, O Agni, with these, a thousand, honored like gods, the ancient, the
original Fathers who seat themselves at the sacrificial heat. . . . Thou, Agni,
didst give the oblations to the Fathers, that eat according to their custom ;
do thou (too) eat, O god, the oblation offered (to thee). Thou knowest,
O thou knower (or finder) of beings, how many are the Fathers — those
who are here, and who are not here, of whom we know, and of whom we
know not. According to custom eat thou the well-made sacrifice. With
those who, burned in fire or not burned, (noAv) enjoy themselves according
to custom in the middle of the sky, do thou, being the lord, form (for us)
a spirit life, a body according to (our) wishes.^

Often the Fathers are invoked in similar language in the
hymn to the " All-gods " mentioned above, and occasionally
no distinction is to be noticed between the powers and attri-
butes of the Fathers and those of the gods. The Fathers, like
the luminous gods, "give light" (x. 107. i). Exactly like the
gods, they are called upon to aid the living, and even ' not to

1 Or : " in an earthly place, in the atmosphere, or," etc.

" That is where the Fathers live. This is the only place where the Fathers are
said to be napdt (descendants) of Vishnu, and here the sense may be " I have discov-
ered Ncipdt (fire?) "' But in i. 154. 5 Vishnu's worshippers rejoice in his home.

3 Or : '• form as thou wilt this body (of a corpse) to spirit life,"

HE A VEN. 145

harm' (iii. 55. 2; x. 15. 6). x\ccording to one verse, the
Fathers have not attained the greatness of the gods, who
impart strength only to the gods.^

The Fathers are kept distinct from the gods. When the
laudations bestowed upon the former are of unequivocal char-
acter there is no confusion between the two.'

The good dead, to get to the paradise awaiting them, pass
over water (X. 63. 10), and a bridge (ix. 41. 2). Here, by the
gift of the gods, not by inherent capacity, they obtain immor-
tality. He that believes on Agni, sings : " Thou puttest the
mortal in highest immortality, O Agni"; and, accordingly,
there is no suggestion that heavenly joys may cease ; nor is
there in this age any notion of a Gdtterddm7nerimg. Immortality
is described as "continuing life in the highest sky," another
proof that when formulated the doctrine was that the soul of
the dead lives in heaven or in the sun.^

Other cases of immortality granted by different gods are
recorded by Muir and Zimmer. Yet in one passage the words,
"two paths I have heard of the Fathers (exist), of the gods
and of mortals," may mean that the Fathers go the way of
mortals or that of gods, rather than, as is the usual interpreta-
tion, that mortals have two paths, one of the Fathers and one
of the gocis,** for the dead may live on earth or in the air as
well as in heaven. When a good man dies his breath, it is
said, goes to the wind, his eye to the sun, etc.^ — each part to
its appropriate prototype — while the "unborn part" is carried

1 x. 56. 4 ; otherwise, Grassmann.

2 vi. 75. 9 refers to ancestors on earth, not in heaven.

3 Compare Muir, OST. v. 285, where i. 125. 5 is compared with x. 107. 2:
'•The gift-giver becomes immortal; the gift-giver lives in the sky; he that gives
horses lives in the sun." Compare Zimmer, Altind. Lcben, p. 409; Geiger. Ostiraii.
Cicliur, p. 290.

4 X. 88. 15, word for word : "two paths heard of the Fathers I, of the gods and of
mortals." Cited as a mystery. Brih. Aran. Up. vi. 2. 2.

5 X. 16. 3 : '"if thou wilt go to the waters or to the plants," is added after this (in
addressing the soul of the dead man). Plant-souls occur again in x. 58. 7.

146 THE RELIGIOXS OF IXDIA.

"to the world of the righteous," after having been burned and
heated by the funeral fire. All these parts are restored to the
soul, however, and Agni and Soma return to it what has been
injured. With this Muir compares a passage in the Atharva
Veda where it is said that the Manes in heaven rejoice with all
their limbs." We dissent, therefore, wholly from Barth, who
declares that the dead are conceived of as " restins: forever in
the tomb, the narrow house of clay." The only passage cited
to prove this is x. i8. 10-13, where are the words (addressed to
the dead man at the burial) : " Go now to mother earth . . . she
shall guard thee from destruction's lap. . . , Open wide, O earth,
be easy of access ; as a mother her son cover this man, O earth,"
etc. Ending with the verse quoted above : " May the Fathers
hold the pillar and Yam a there build thee a seat." ^ The fol-
lowing is also found in the Rig Veda bearing on this point : the
prayer that one may meet his parents after death ; the state-
ment that a generous man goes to the gods ; and a suggestion
of the later belief that one wins immortality by means of
a son.'"^

The joys of paradise are those of earth ; and heaven is thus
described, albeit in a late hymn :^ "Where is light inexhaust-
ible ; in the world where is placed the shining sky ; set me
in this immortal, unending world, O thou that purifiest thyself
(Soma) ; where is king (Yama), the son of Vivasvant, and the
paradise of the sky ; ^ where are the flowing waters ; there
make me immortal. Where one can go as he will ; in the
third heaven, the third vault of the skv: where are worlds full
of light, there make me immortal ; where are wishes and desires

1 AV. xviii. 4. 64 ; Muir, loc. cit. p. 298. A passage of the Atharvan suggests that
the dead may have been exposed as in Iran, but there is no trace of this in the Rig
Veda (Zimmer, loc. cit. p. 402).

'^ Barth, Vedic Religions, p. 23; ib.. the narrow 'house of clay.' RV. vii, 89. i.

3 i. 24. I ; i. 125. 6; vii. 56. 24 ; cited by Miiller, Chips, i. p. 45,

4 ix. 113. 7 ff.

5 Avarodhanain divas, ' enclosure of the sky.'

HELL. 147

and the red (sun)'s highest place ; where one can follow his
own habits^ and have satisfaction ; there make me immortal ;
where exist delight, joy, rejoicing, and joyance ; where wishes
are obtained, there make me immort'al."- Here, as above,
the saints join the Fathers, -who guard the sun.'

There is a ' bottomless darkness ' occasionally referred to
as a place where evil spirits are to be sent by the gods ; and
a ' deep place ' is mentioned as the portion of ' evil, false, un-
truthful men'; w^iile Soma casts into 'a hole' (abyss) those
that are irreligious.^

As darkness is hell to the Hindu, and as in all later time
the demons are spirits of darkness, it is rather forced not to
see in these allusions a misty hell, without torture indeed, but
a place for the bad either 'far away,' as it is sometimes said
(/c7;mYf//), or 'deep down,' 'under three earths,' exactly as the
Greek has a hell below and one on the edge of the earth.
Ordinarily, however, the gods are requested simply to annihilate
offenders. It is plain, as Zimmer says, from the office of Yama's
dogs, that they kept out of paradise unworthy souls ; so that the
annihilation cannot have been imagined to be purely corporeal.
But heaven is not often described, and hell never, in this period.
Yet, when the paradise desired is described, it is a place where
earthly joys are prolonged and intensified. Zimmer argues
that a race which believes in good for the good hereafter must
logically believe in punishment for the wicked, and Scherman,
strangely enough, agrees with this pedantic opinion."* If either
of these scholars had looked away from India to the western
Indians he would have seen that, whereas almost all American

1 Literally, 'where custom' (obtains), i.e., where the old usages still hold,

2 The last words are to be understood as of sensual pleasures (^Ivivijoc. at. p. 307,
notes 462, 463).

3 RV. ii. 29. 6 ; vii. 104. 3. 17 ; iv. 5. 5 ; ix. "jt,. 8, Compare I\Iuir, loc. cit. pp. 311-
312 ; and Zimmer, loc. cit. pp. 40S, 418. Yama's 'hero-holding abode' is not a hell,
as Ludwig thinks, but, as usual, the top vault of heaven.

•i Loc. cit. p. 123.

14S THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

Indians believe in a happy hereafter for good warriors, only
a very few tribes have any belief in punishment for the bad.
At most a Niflheim awaits the coward. Weber thinks the
Aryans already believed in a personal immortality, and we
agree with him. Whitney's belief that hell was not known
before the Upanishad period (in his translations of the Katha
Upanishad) is correct only if by hell torture is meant, and if
the Atharvan is later than this Upanishad, which is im-
probable.

The good dead in the Rig Veda return wdth Yama to the
sacrifice to enjoy the sojna and viands prepared for them by
their descendants. Hence the whole belief in the necessity
of a son in order to the obtaining of a joyful hereafter. What
the rite of burial was to the Greek, a son was to the Hindu,
a means of bliss in heaven. Roth apparently thinks that the
Rig Veda's heaven is one that can best be described in Dr.

Watt's hymn :

There is a land of pure delight
Where saints immortal reign,
Eternal day excludes the night,
And pleasures banish pain ;

and that especial stress should be laid on the w^ord ' pure.' But
there is very little teaching of personal purity in the Veda, and
the poet who hopes for a heaven where he is to find ' longing
women,' 'desire and its fulfillment' has in mind, in all proba-
bility, purely impure delights. It is not to be assumed that the
earlier morality surpassed that of the later day, when, even in
the epic, the hero's really desired heaven is one of drunken-
ness and women ad libitum. Of the ' good man ' in the Rig
Veda are demanded piety toward gods and manes and liberality
to priests ; truthfulness and courage ; and in the end of the
work there is a su2:2:estion of ascetic 's^oodness' bv means of
tapas, austerity.^ Grassman cites one hymn as dedicated to

1 X, 154. 2 ; 107. 2. Compare the mad ascetic, imhii^ viii. 17. 14.

INCANTA TIONS. 149

' Mercy.' It is really (not a hymn and) not on mercy, but a
poem praising generosity. This generosity, however (and in
general this is true of the whole peoplej, is not general gene-
rosity, but liberality to the priests.-^ The blessings asked for
are wealth (cattle, horses, gold, etc.), virile power, male children
(' heroic offspring ') and immortality, with its accompanying
joys. Once there is a tirade against the friend that is false to
his friend (truth in act as well as in word) ; ^ once only, a poem
on concord, which seems to partake of the nature of an
incantation.

Incantations are rare in the Rig Veda, and appear to be
looked upon as objectionable. So in vii. 104 the charge of a
' magician ' is furiously repudiated ; yet do an incantation
against a rival wife, a mocking hymn of exultation after subdu-
ing rivals, and a few other hymns of like sort show that magical
practices were well known. ^

The sacrifice occupies a high place in the religion of the
Rig Veda, but it is not all-important, as it is later. Neverthe-
less, the same presumptuous assumption that the gods depend
on earthly sacrifice is often made ; the result of which, even
before the collection was complete (iv. 50), was to teach that
gods and men depended on the will of the wise men who knew
how properly to conduct a sacrifice, the key-note of religious
pride in the Brahmanic period.

Indra depends on the sacrificial soma to accomplish his great
works. The gods first got power through the sacrificial fire
and so??ta} That images of the gods were supposed to be

1 X. 117. This is clearly seen in the seventh verse, where is praised the ' Brahman
who talks,' i.e., can speak in behalf of the giver to the gods (compare verse three).

2 X. 71. 6.

*J Compare x. 145 ; 159. In x. 184 there is a prayer addressed to the goddesses
Sinivali and SarasvatI (in conjunction with Vishnu, Tvashtar, the Creator, Prajapati,
and the Horsemen) to make a woman fruitful.

^ ii. 15. 2 ; X. 6. 7 (Barth, loc. cit. p. 36). The sacrifice of animals, cattle, horses,
goats, is customary; that of man, legendary ; but it is implied in x. iS. 8 (Hillebrandt,
ZDMG. xl. p. 70S), and is ritualized in the next period (below).

150 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

powerful may be inferred from the late verses, "who buys
this Indra," etc. (above), but allusions to idolatry are else-
where extremely doubtful.^

1 Phallic worship may be alluded to in that of the ' tail-gods,' as Garbe thinks, but
it is deprecated. One verse, however, which seems to have crept in by mistake, is
apparently due to phallic influence (viii. i. 34), though such a cult was not openly
acknowledged till Civa-worship began, and is no part of Brahmanism.

CHAPTER VII.

THE RELIGION OF THE ATHARVA VEDA.

The hymns of the Rig Veda inextricably confused ; the
deities of an earlier era confounded, and again merged together
in a pantheism now complete ; the introduction of strange
gods ; recognition of a hell of torture ; instead of many divini-
ties the One that represents all the gods, and nature as well ;
incantations for evil purposes and charms for a worthy pur-
pose ; formulae of malediction to be directed against ' those
whom I hate and w^ho hate me'; magical verses to obtain
children, to prolong life, to dispel ' evil magic,' to guard against
poison and other ills ; the paralyzing extreme of ritualistic
reverence indicated by the exaltation to godhead of the ' rem-
nant ' of sacrifice ; hymns to snakes, to diseases, to sleep, time,
and the stars ; curses on the ' priest-plaguer ' — such, in general
outline, is the impression produced by a perusal of the Atharvan
after that of the Rig Veda. How much of this is new }

The Risf Veda is not lackins: in incantations, in witchcraft
practices, in hymns to inanimate things, in indications of
pantheism. But the general impression is produced, both by
the tone of such hymns as these and by their place in the col-
lection, that they are an addition to the original work. On
the other hand, in reading the Atharvan hymns the collective
impression is decidedly this, that what to the Rig is adventi-
tious is essential to the Atharvan.

- It has often been pointed out, however, that not only the
practices involved, but the hymns themselves, in the Atharvan,
may have existed long before they were collected, and that,
while the Atharvan collection, as a whole, takes historical place

152 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

after the Rig Veda, there yet may be comprised in the former
much which is as old as any part of the latter work. It is also
customary to assume that such hymns as betoken a lower wor-
ship (incantations, magical formulae, etc.) were omitted pur-
posely from the Rig Veda to be collected in the Atharvan.
That which eventually can neither be proved nor disproved is,
perhaps, best left undiscussed, and it is vain to seek scientific
proof where only historic probabilities are obtainable. Yet, if
a closer approach to truth be attractive, even a greater proba-
bility wdll be a gain, and it becomes worth while to consider the
problem a little with only this hope in view.

Those portions of the Rig Veda which seem to be Atharvan-
like are, in general, to be found in the later books (or places)
of the collection. But it would be presumptuous to conclude
that a work, although almost entirely given up to what in the
Rig Veda appears to be late, should itself be late in origin.
By analogy, in a nature-religion such as was that of India, the
practice of demonology, witchcraft, etc., must have been an
early factor. But, while this is true, it is clearly impossible to
postulate therefrom that the hymns recording all this array of
cursing, deviltry, and witchcraft are themselves early. The
further forward one advances into the labyrinth of Hindu
religions the more superstitions, the more devils, demons,
magic, witchcraft, and uncanny things generally, does he find.
Hence, while any one superstitious practice may be antique,
there is small probability for assuming a contemporaneous
origin of the hymns of the two collections. The many verses
cited, apparently pell-mell, from the Rig Veda, might, it is
true, revert to a version older than that in which they are
found in the Rig Veda, but there is nothing to show that they
were not taken from the Rig Veda, and re-dressed in a form
that rendered them in many cases more intelligible ; so that
often what is respectfully spoken of as a ' better varied reading '
of the Atharvan may be better, as we have said in the intro-

THE RELIGION OF THE ATHARVA VEDA. 153

ductory chapter, only in lucidity ; and the lucidity be due
to tampering with a text old and unintelligible. Classical
examples abound in illustrations.

Nevertheless, although an antiquity equal to that of the
whole Rig Veda can by no means be claimed for the Atharvan
collection (which, at least in its tone, belongs to the Brahmanic
period), yet is the mass represented by the latter, if not con-
temporaneous, at any rate so venerable, that it safely may be
assigned to a period as old as that in which were composed the
later hymns of the Rik itself. But in distinction from the
hymns themselves the weird religion they represent is doubtless
as old, if not older, than that of the Rig Veda. For, while the
Rig Vedic so7na-Q.v\\. is Indo-Iranian, the original Atharvan (fire)
cult is even more primitive, and the basis of the work, from
this point of view, may have preceded the composition of Rik
hymns. This Atharvan religion — if it may be called so — is,
therefore, of exceeding importance. It opens wide the door
which the Rik puts ajar, and shows a world of religious and
mystical ideas which without it could scarcely have been sus-
pected. Here magic eclipses Soma and reigns supreme. The
wizard is greater than the gods ; his herbs and amulets are
sovereign remedies. Religion is seen on its lowest side. It
is true that there is ' bad magic ' and ' good magic ' (the exist-
ence of the former is substantiated by the maledictions against
it), but what has been received into the collection is apparently
the best. To heal the sick and procure desirable things is the
object of most of the charms and incantations - — but some of
the desirable things are disease and death of one's foes. On
the higher side of religion, from a metaphysical point of
view, the Atharvan is pantheistic. It knows also the import-
ance of the ' breaths,'^ the vital forces ; it puts side by side the
different gods and says that each 'is lord.' It does not lack
philosophical speculation which, although most of it is puerile,

1 XV, 15.

154 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

sometimes raises questions of wider scope, as when the sage in-
quires who made the body with its wonderful parts — implying,
but not stating the argument, from design, in its oldest form.-^
Of magical verses there are many, but the content is seldom
more than "do thou, O plant, preserve from harm," etc.
Harmless enough, if somewhat weak, are also many other
hymns calculated to procure blessings :

Blessings blow to us the wind,
Blessings glow to us the sun,
Blessings be to us the day,
Blest to us the night appear,
Blest to us the dawn shall shine,

is a fair specimen of this innocuous sort of verse.- Another
example maybe seen in this hymn to a king: "Firm is the
sky ; firm is the earth ; firm, all creation ; firm, these hills ;
firm the king of the people (shall be)," etc.^ In another hymn
there is an incantation to release from possible ill coming from
a foe and from inherited ill or sin."* A free spirit of doubt
and atheism, already foreshadowed in the Rig Veda, is implied
in the prayer that the god will be merciful to the cattle of that
man "whose creed is 'Gods exist.'" ^ Serpent-worship is not
only known, but prevalent." The old gods still hold, as always,
their nominal places, albeit the system is pantheistic, so that
Varuna is god of waters ; and Mitra with Varuna, gods of
rain."^ As a starting-point of philosophy the dictum of the
Rig Veda is repeated : ' Desire is the seed of mind,' and ' love,
i.e., desire, was born first.' Here Aditi is defined anew as the

1 X. 2. 2 vii. 69. Compare RV, vii. 35, and the epic (below). 3 x. 173.

4 V. 30. 5 xi. 2. 2S. 6 xi. 9 ; viii. 6 and 7, with tree-worship.

■^ V. 24. 4-5. On 'the one god' compare x. 8. 28; xiii. 4. 15. Indra as Surj'a,
in vii. II ; cf. xiii. 4; xvii. i. 24. Pantheism in x. 7. 14, 25. Of charms, compare
ii. 9, to restore life ; iii. 6, a curse against 'whom I hate ' ; iii. 23, to obtain offspring.
On the stars and night, see hymn at xix. 8 and 47. In v. 13, a guard against poison;
ib. 21, a hymn to a drum; ib. 31, a charm to dispel evil magic: vi. 133, magic to
produce long life; v. 23, against worms, etc., etc. Aditi, vii. 6. 1-4 (partly Rik).

THE RELIGION OF THE ATHARVA VEDA. 155

one in whose lap is the wide atmosphere — she is parent and
child, gods and men, all in all — ' may she extend to us a
triple shelter.' As an example of curse against curse may be
compared ii. 7 :

The sin-hated, god-born plant, that frees from the curse as waters (wash
out) the spot, has washed away all curses, the curse of my rival and of my
sister ; (that) which the Brahman in anger cursed, all this lies under my
feet. . . . With this plant protect this (wife), protect my child, protect our
property. . . . May the curse return to the curser. . . . We smite even
the ribs of the foe with the evil (viantra) eye.

A love-charm in the same book (ii. 30) will remind the clas-
sical student of Theocritus' second idyl : 'As the wind twirls
around grass upon the ground, so I twirl thy mind about, that
thou mayst become loving, that thou mayst not depart from
me,' etc. In the following verses the Horsemen gods are
invoked to unite the lovers. Characteristic among bucolic
passages is the cow-song in ii. 26, the whole intent of which
is to ensure a safe return to the cows on their wanderings :
' Hither mav thev come, the cattle that have wandered far
away,' etc.

The view that there are different conditions of Manes is
clearly taught in xviii. 2. 48-49, w^here it is said that there
are three heavens, in the highest of which reside the Manes ;
while a distinction is made at the same time between 'fathers'
and 'grandfathers,' the fathers' fathers, 'who have entered air,
who inhabit earth and heaven.' Here appears nascent the
doctrine of 'elevating the Fathers,' which is expressly taught
in the next era. The performance of rites in honor of the
Manes causes them to ascend from a low state to a higher
one In fact, if the offerings are not given at all, the spirits
do not go to heaven. In general the older generations of
Manes go up highest and are happiest. The personal offering
is only to the immediate fathers.

156 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

If, as was shown in the introductory chapter, the Atharvan
represents a geographical advance on the part of the Vedic
Aryans, this fact cannot be ignored in estimating the primi-
tiveness of the collection. Geographical advance, acquaintance
with other flora and fauna than those of the Ris: Veda, means
— although the argument of silence must not be exaggerated —
a temporal advance also. And not less significant are the
points of view to which one is led in the useful little work
of Scherman on the philosophical hymns of the Atharvan.
Scherman wishes to show the connection between the Upan-
ishads and Vedas. But the bearing of his collection is toward
a closer union of the two bodies of works, and especially of
the Atharvan, not to the greater gain in age of the Upanishads
so much as to the depreciation in venerableness of the former.
If the Atharvan has much more in common with the Brahmanas
and Upanishads than has the Rig Veda, it is because the
Atharvan stands, in many respects, midway in time between
the era of Vedic hymnology and the thought of the philosophi-
cal period. The terminology is that of the Brahmanas, rather
than that of the Rig Veda. The latter knows the great person ;
the Atharvan, and the former know the original great person, ?>.,
the causa niovais under the causa efficiens^ etc. In the Atharvan
appears first the worship of Time, Love, ' Support ' (Skambha),
and the 'highest bf-aJuna.'' The cult of the holy cow is fully
recognized (xii. 4 and 5). The late ritualistic terms, as well
as linguistic evidence, confirm the fact indicated by the geo-
graphical advance. The country is known from western Balkh
to eastern Behar, the latter familiarly.^ In a word, one may
conclude that on its his/her side the Atharvan is later than
the Rig Veda, while on its lower side of demonology one may
recognize the religion of the lower classes as compared with
that of the two upper classes — for the latter the Rig Veda,
for the superstitious people at large the Atharvan, a collection

1 Compare Muir, OST. ii. 447 ff.

THE RELIGION OF THE ATHARVA VEDA. 157

of which the origin agrees with its appHcation. For, if it at
first was devoted to the unholy side of tire-cult, and if the fire-
cult is older than the soma-Q.\\\\.^ then this is the cult that one
would expect to see most affected by the conservative vulgar,
who in India hold fast to what the' cultured have long dropped
as superstition, or, at least, pretended to drop ; though the
house-ritual keeps some magic in its fire-cult.

In that case, it may be asked, why not begin the history of
Hindu religion with the Atharvan, rather than with the Rig
Veda ? Because the Atharvan, as a whole, in its language,
social conditions, geography, 'remnant' worship, etc., shows
that this literary collection is posterior to the Rik collection.
As to individual hymns, especially those imbued with the tone
of fetishism and witchcraft, any one of them, either in its pres-
ent or original form, may outrank the whole Rik in antiquit}^,
as do its superstitions the religion of the Rik — if it is right
to make a distinction between superstition and religion, mean-
ing by the former a lower, and by the latter a more elevated
form of belief in the supernatural.

The difference between the Rik-worshipper and Atharvan-
worshipper is somewhat like that which existed at a later age
between the philosophical Qivaite and Durgaite. The former
revered Qiva, but did not deny the power of a host of lesser
mights, whom he was ashamed to worship too much ; the latter
granted the all-god-head of Qiva, but paid attention almost
exclusively to some demoniac divinity.

Superstition, perhaps, always precedes theology; but as
surely does superstition outlive any one form of its protean
rival. And the simple reason is that a theology is the real
belief of few, and varies with their changing intellectual point
of view ; while superstition is the belief unacknowledged of
the few and acknowledged of the many, nor does it materially
change from age to age. The rites employed among the clam-
diggers on the New York coast, the witch-charms they use, the

158 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

incantations, cutting of flesh, fire-oblations, meaningless formu-
lae, united with sacrosanct expressions of the church, are all
on a par with the religion of the lower classes as depicted in
Theocritus and the Atharvan. If these mummeries and this
hocus-pocus were collected into a volume, and set out with
elegant extracts from the Bible, there would be a nineteenth
century Atharva Veda. What are the necessary equipment of
a Long Island witch ? First, " a good hot fire," and then
formulae such as this : ^

" If a man is attacked by wicked people and how to banish
them :

" Bedgoblin and all ye evil spirits, I, N. N., forbid you my
bedstead, my couch ; I, N. N., forbid you in the name of God
my house and home ; I forbid you in the name of the Holy
Trinity my blood and flesh, my body and soul ; I forbid you
all the nail-holes in my house and home, till you have travelled
over every hill, waded through every water, have counted all
the leaves of every tree, and counted all the stars in the sky,
until the dav arrives when the mother of God shall bare her
second son."

If this formula be repeated three times, with the baptismal
name of the person, it will succeed !

" To make one's self invisible :

'' Obtain the ear of a black cat, boil it in the milk of a black
cow, wear it on the thumb, and no one will see you."

This is the Atharvan, or fire- and witch-craft of to-day — not
differing much from the ancient. It is the unchanging founda-
tion of the many lofty buildings of faith that are erected,
removed, and rebuilt upon it — the belief in the supernatural at
its lowest, a belief which, in its higher stages, is always level
with the general intellect of those that abide in it.

The latest book of the Atharvan is especially for the war-
rior-caste, but the mass of it is for the folk at large. It was

1 This old charm is still used among the clam-diggers of Canarsie, N. Y.

THE RELIGION OF THE A THAR V A VEDA. 159

long before it was recognized as a legitimate Veda. It never
stands, in the older period of Brahmanism, on a par with the
Saman and Rik. In the epic period good and bad magic are
carefully differentiated, and even to-day the Atharvan is repu-
diated by southern Brahmans. But there is no doubt that
sub rosa^ the silliest practices inculcated and formulated in the
Atharvan were the stronghold of a certain class of priests, or
that such priests were feared and employed by the laity, openly
by the low classes, secretly by the intelligent.

In respect of the name the magical cult was referred, histori-
cally with justice, to the fire-priests, Atharvan and Angiras,
though little application to fire, other than in ^'o'w^-w^orship,
is apparent. Yet was this undoubtedly the source of the cult
(the fire-cult is still distinctly associated with the Atharva
Veda in the epic), and the name is due neither to accident
nor to a desire to invoke the names of great seers, as will
Weber.^ The other name of Brahmaveda may have connection
with the ' false science of Brihaspati,' alluded to in a Upanishad.^
This seer is not over-orthodox, and later he is the patron of
the unorthodox Carvakas. It was seen above that the god
Brihaspati is also a novelty not altogether relished by the
Vedic Aryans.

From an Aryan point of view how much weight is to be placed
on comparisons of the formulae in the Atharvan of India with
those of other Aryan nations? Kuhn has compared^ an old
German magic formula of healing with one in the Atharvan, and
because each says ' limb to limb ' he thinks that they are of
the same origin, particularly since the formula is found in
Russian. The comparison is interesting, but it is far from con-
vincing. Such formulae spring up independently all over
the earth.

1 Ind. Lit? p. 164.

2 Mdit. Up. vii. 9. He is ' the gods' Brahma ' (Rik.)

3 Indische iind germanische Scgensspriiche ; KZ. xiii, 49.

160

THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

Finally, it is to be observed that in this Veda first occurs
the implication of the story of the flood (xix. 39. 8), and the
saving of Father Manu, who, however, is known by this title
in the Rik. The supposition that the story of the flood is
derived from Babylon, seems, therefore, to be an unnecessary
(although a permissible) hypothesis, as the tale is old enough
in India to warrant a belief in its indigenous origin.^

1 One long hymn, xii. i, of the Atharvan is to earth and fire (19-20). In the Rik,
dtharvan is fire-priest and bringer of fire from heaven ; while once the word may
mean fire itself (viii. 9, 7), The name Brahmaveda is perhaps best referred to
braJwia as fire (whence 'fervor,' 'prayer,' and again 'energy,' 'force'). In distinction
from the great jowm-sacrifices, the fire-cult always remains the chief thing in the
domestic ritual. The present Atharvan formulae have for the most part no visible
application to fire, but the name still shows the original connection.

CHAPTER VIII.

EARLY HINDU DIVINITIES COMPARED WITH THOSE OF

OTHER ARYANS.

Nothing is more usual than to attempt a reconstruction of
Aryan ideas in manners, customs, laws, and religious concep-
tions, by placing side by side similar traits of individual Aryan
nations, and stating or insinuating that the result of the com-
parison shows that one is handling primitive characteristics of
the whole Aryan body. It is of special importance, therefore,
to see in how far the views and practices of peoples not Aryan
may be found to be identical with those of yVryms. The
division of the army into clans, as in the Iliad and the Veda ;
the love of gambling, as shown by Greeks, Teutons, and
Hindus ; the separation of captains and princes, as is illus-
trated by Teuton and Hindu ; the belief in a flood, common
to Iranian, Greek, and Hindu ; in the place of departed spirits,
with the journey over a river (Iranian, Hindu, Scandinavian,
Greek); in the after-felicity of warriors who die on the field
of battle (Scandinavian, Greek, and Hindu); in the reverence
paid to the wind-god (Hindu, Iranian, and Teutonic, Vata-
Wotan); these and many other traits at different times, by
various writers, have been united and compared to illustrate
primitive Aryan belief and religion.

The traits of the Five Nations of the Veda for this reason
may be compared very advantageously with the traits of the
Five Nations of the Iroquois Indians, the most united and
intelligent of American native tribes. Their institutions are not
yet extinct, and they have been described by missionaries of
the 17 th century and by some modern writers, to whom can

162 THE RELIGIOXS OF INDIA.

be imputed no hankering after Aryan primitive ideas. -^ It is
but a few years back since tlie last avatar of the Iroquois'
incarnate god Uved in Onondaga, N. Y.

First, as an illustration of the extraordinary development of
memory among rhapsodes, Vedic students, and other Aryans ;
among the Iroquois " memory was tasked to the utmost, and
developed to an extraordinary degree," says Parkman, who
adds that they could repeat point by point with precision any
address made to them.- Murder was compromised for by
We/irgeid, as among the Vedic, Iranic, and Teutonic peoples.
The Iroquois, like all Indians, was a great gambler, staking
all his property^ (like the Teutons and Hindus). In religion
" A mysterious and inexplicable power resides in inanimate
things. . . . Lakes, rivers, and waterfalls [as conspicuously
in India] are sometimes the dwelling-place of spirits ; but more
frequently they are themselves living beings, to be propitiated
by pra3'ers and offerings." ^ The greatest spirit among the
Algonquins is the descendant of the moon, and son of the
west-wind (personified). After the deluge (thus the Hindus,
etc.) this great spirit (Manabozho, inana is Manu?) restored
the world ; some asserting that he created the world out of
water. But others say that the supreme spirit is the sun
(Le J3une, Relation, 1633). The Algonquins, besides a belief
in a good spirit {inanitoii), had also a belief in a malignant
ma7iitou, in whom the missionaries recognized the devil (why
not Ormuzd and Ahriman ?). One tribe invokes the ' Maker
of Heaven,' the 'god of waters,' and also the 'seven spirits of
the wind ' (so, too, seven is a holy number in the Veda, etc.).

1 Compare the accounts of Lafitau ; of the native Iroquois, baptized as IMorgan ;
and the works of Schoolcraft and Pari<man.

'^ Jesuits in North America, Introduction, p. Ixi,

3 "Like other Indians, the Hurons were desperate gamblers, staking their all, —
ornaments, clothing, canoes, pipes, weapons, and wives," loc. cit. p. xxxvi. Compare
Palfrey, of Massachusetts Indians. The same is true of all savages.

4 lb. p. Ixvii.

EARLY HINDU DIVIiYITIES. 163

The Iroquois, like the Hindu (later), believe that the earth
rests on the back of a turtle or tortoise,^ and that this is ruled
over by the sun and moon, the first being a good spirit ; the
second, malignant. The good spirit interposes between the
malice of the moon and mankind, and it is he who makes
rivers ; for when the earth was parched, all the water being
held back from earth under the armpit of a monster frog, he
pierced the armpit and let out the water (exactly as Indra lets
out the water held back by the demon). According to some,
this great spirit created mankind, but in the third generation a
deluge destroyed his posterity.'-^ The good spirit among the
Iroquois is the one that gives good luck (perhaps Bhaga).
These Indians believe in the immortality of the soul. Skillful
hunters, brave warriors, go, after death, to the happy hunting-
grounds (as in India and Scandinavia); the cowardly and
weak are doomed to live in dreary regions of mist and dark-
ness (compare Niflheim and the Iranian eschatology T). To
pass over other religious correspondences, the sacrifice of ani-
mals, use of amulets, love-charms, magic, and sorcery, which
are all like those of Aryans (to compare, also, are the burying
or exposing of the dead and the Hurons' funeral games), let
one take this as a good illustration of the value of ' compar-
ative Aryan mythology ' :

According to the Aryan belief the soul of the dead passes
over a stream, across a bridge, past a dog or two, which guard
the gate of paradise. The Hindu, Iranian, Greek, and Scan-
dinavian, all have the dog, and much emphasis has been laid
on the ' Aryan ' character of this creed. The native Iroquois
Indians believed that "the spirits on their journey (to heaven)
were beset with difficulties and perils. There was a swift river

1 Compare Cat. Br. vi. i. i, 12 ; vii. 5.1,2 sq., for the Hindu tortoise in its first
form. The totem-form of the tortoise is well known in America. (Brintonj Mytlis
of the New World, p. 85.) "

2 Charlevoix ap. Parkman,

164 THE RELIGIOXS OF INDIA.

to be crossed on a log that shook beneath the feet, while a
ferocious dog opposed their passage,"^ Here is the Persians'
narrow bridge, and even Kerberos himself !

It is also interesting to note that, as the Hindus identify
with the sun so many of their great gods, so the Iroquois
'' sacrifices to some superior spirit, or to the sun, with which
the superior spirits were constantly confounded by the primi-
tive Indian."' "

Weber holds that because Greek and Hindu gave the name
'bear' to a constellation, therefore this is the "primitive Indo-
Germanic name of the star.'" ^ But the Massachusetts Indians
"gave their own name for bear to the Ursa major" (Williams'
' Key,' cited Palfrey, I. p. 36 ; so Lafitau, further west).

Again, three, seven, and even ' thrice-seven,' are holy not
only in India but in America.

In this new world are found, to go further, the analogues of
Varuna in the monotheistic god Viracocha of the Peruvians, to
whom is addressed this prayer: "Cause of all things! ever
present, helper, creator, ever near, ever fortunate one ! Thou
incorporeal one above the sun, infinite, and beneficent";^ of
the Vedic Snake of the Deep, in the Mexican Cloud-serpent ;
of the Vedic Lightning-bird, who brings fire from heaven, in
the Indian Thunder-bird, who brings fire from heaven ; ^ of the
preservation of one individual from a flood (in the epic, Manu's
' Seven Seers ') in the same American myth, even including
the holy mountain, which is still shown ; ^ of the belief that the
sun is the home of departed spirits, in the same belief all over

1 Parkman, loc. cit. p. Ixxxii ; Brinton, Myths of the New World, p. 24S. A
good instance of bad comparison in eschatolog}' will be found in Geiger, Ostir. Cult.
pp. 274-275.

- Parkman, loc. cit. p. Ixxxvl. 3 Sitz. Berl. Akad. 1891. p. 15.

4 Brinton, American Hero Myths, p. 174. The first worship was Sun-worship,
then Viracocha-worship arose, which kept Sun-worship while it predicated a 'power
beyond."

0 Brinton, Myths of the A'cu> World, pp. S5, 205. G //;. pp. 55. 202.

EARLY HINDU DIVINITIES. 165

America ; ^ of the belief that stars are the souls of the dead, in
the same belief held by the Pampas ; ^ and even of the late
Brahman ic custom of sacrificing the widow (suttee), in the
practice of the Natchez Indians, and in Guatemala, of burning
the widow on the pyre of the dead husband.^ The storm wind
(Odin) as highest god is found among the Choctaws ; while
' Master of Breath ' is the Creeks' name for this divinity.
Huraka (hurricane, ouragon, ourage) is the chief god in Hayti.*
An exact parallel to the vague idea of hell at the close of the
Vedic period, with the gradual increase of the idea, alternating
with a theory of reincarnation, may be found in the fact that,
in general, there is no notion of punishment after death among
the Indians of the New World ; but that, while the good are
assisted and cared for after death by the ' Master of Breath,'
the Creeks believe that the liar, the coward, and the niggard
(Vedic smnQxs par excellence f) are left to shift for themselves in
darkness ; whereas the Aztecs believed in a hell surrounded
by the water called 'Nine Rivers,' guarded by a dog and a
dragon; and the great Eastern American tribes believe that
after the soul has been for a while in heaven it can, if it chooses,
return to earth and be born again as a man, utilizing its old
bones (which are, therefore, carefully preserved by the surviv-
ing members of the family) as a basis for a new body/

To turn to another foreign religion, how tempting would it be
to see in Nutar the ' abstract power ' of the Egyptian, an ana-
logue of brahma and the other ' power ' abstractions of India ;
to recognize Brahma in El ; and in Nu, sky, and expanse of
waters, to see Varuna ; especially when one compares the boat-
journey of the Vedic seer with Ra's boat in Egypt. Or, again,
in the twin children of Ra to see the A^vins ; and to associate

1 Brinton, Myths of the New VVor/d, p. 243. The American Indians "uniformly
regard the sun as heaven, the soul goes to the sun."

2 //-. p. 245, 3 /!>. p. 239-40. 4 /i>. p. 50, 51.
5 Id. pp. 242, 248, 255 ; Schoolcraft, iii. 229.

166 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

the mundane egg of the Egyptians with that of the Brahmans.^
Certainly, had the Egyptians been one of the Aryan famiUes,
all these conceptions had been referred long ago to the cate-
gory of 'primitive Aryan ideas.' But how primitive is a certain
rehgious idea will not be shown by simple com.parison of Aryan
parallels. It will appear more often that it is not ' primitive,'
but, so to speak, per-primitive, aboriginal with no one race, but
with the race of man. When we come to describe the religions
of the wild tribes of India it will be seen that among them also
are found traits common, on the one hand, to the Hindu, and
on the other to the wild tribes of America. With this w^arning
in mind one may inquire at last in how far a conservative
judgment can find among the Aryans themselves an identity
of original conception in the different forms of divinities and
religious rites. Foremost stand the universal chrematheism,
worship of inanimate objects regarded as usefully divine, and
the cult of the departed dead. This latter is almost universal,
perhaps pan-Aryan, and Weber is probably right in assuming
that the primitive Aryans believed in a future life. But
Benfey's identification of Tartaras wdth the Sanskrit Talatala,
the name of a special hell in very late systems of cosmogony,
is decidedly without the bearing he would put upon it. The
Sanskrit word may be taken directly from the Greek, but of
an Aryan source for both there is not the remotest historical
probability.

When, however, one comes to the Lord of the Dead he finds
himself already in a narrower circle. Yama is the Persian
Yima, and the name of Kerberos may have been once an
adjective applied to the dog that guarded the path to paradise ;
but other particular conceptions that gather about each god
point only to a period of Indo-Iranian unity.

Of the great nature-gods the sun is more than Aryan, but
doubtless was Aryan, for Surya is Helios, but Savitar is a

1 Renouf, Religion of Anciait Egypt., pp. 103, 113 ff.

EARLY HINDU DIVIXITIES. 167

development especially Indian. Dyaiis-pitar is Z^iis-pater,
Jupiter.^ Trita, scarcely Triton, is the Persian Thraetaona who
conquers Vritra, as does Indra in India. The last, on the
other hand, is to be referred only hesitatingly to the demon
Aiidra of the Avesta. Varuna, despite phonetic difficulties,
probably is Ouranos ; ]jut Asura (Asen .'') is a title of many
gods in India's first period, while the corresponding Ahura is
restricted to the good spirit, K(xr l^oyy]v. The seven Adityas
are reflected in the Ames/ia Cpeiitas of Zoroastrian Puritanism,
but these are mere imitations, spiritualized and moralized into
abstractions. Bhaga is Slavic Bogu and Persian Bagha ; Mitra
is Persian Mithra. The Acvins are all but in name the Greek
gods Dioskouroi, and correspond closely in detail (riding on
horses, healing and helping, originally twins of twilight). Taci-
tus gives a parallel Teutonic pair (Germ. 43). Ushas, on the
other hand, while etymologically corresponding to Aurora, Eos,
is a specially Indian development, as Eos has no cult. Vata,
Wind, is an aboriginal god, and may perhaps be Wotan, Odin.^
Parjanya, the rain-god, a^ Biihler has shown, is one with
Lithuanian Perkiina, and with the northern Fiogyu. The
'fashioner,' Tvashtar (sun) is only Indo-Iranian ; Thwasha
probably being the same word.

Of lesser mights, Angiras, name of fire, may be Persian aii-
garos, 'fire-messenger' (compare ayyeAos), perhaps originally one
with Sk. ajigara, ' coal.' ^ Hebe has been identified with. yavya,
young w^oman, but this word is enough to show that Hebe has
naught to do with the Indian pantheon. The Gandharva,
moon, is certainly one wdth the Persian Gandarewa, but can
hardly be identical with the Centaur. Sarama seems to have,
together wdth Sarameya, a Grecian parallel development in

1 Teutonic Tuisco is doubtful, as the identity with Dyaus has lately been con-
tested on phonetic grounds.

2 Vata, ventus, does not agree very well with Wotan.

3 Ait. Br. iii. 34. ayyapov irvp is really tautological, but beacon fires gave way
to couriers and ayyapos lost the sense of fire, as did dyyeXos.

16S THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

Helena (a goddess in Sparta), Selene, Hermes ; and Saranyu
may be the same with Erinnys, but these are not Aryan
figures in the form of their respective developments, though
they appear to be so in origin. It is scarcely possible that
Earth is an Aryan deity with a cult, though different Aryan
(and un-Aryan) nations regarded her as divine. The Maruts
are especially Indian and have no primitive identity as gods
with Mars, though the names may be radically connected.
The fire-priests, Bhrigus, are supposed to be one with the
4>/\eyuat. The fact that the fate of each in later myth is to
visit hell would presuppose, however, an Aryan notion of a
torture-hell, of which the Rig Veda has no conception. The
Aryan identity of the two myths is thereby made uncertain,
if not implausible. The special development in India of
the fire-priest that brings down fire from heaven, when com-
pared with the personification of the ' twirler ' (Promantheus)
in Greece, shows that no detailed myth was current in primi-
tive times. ^ The name of the fire-priest, /i'/'-^/z;;^^^;/ = fla(g)men(?),
is an indication of the primitive fire-cult in antithesis to the
^<?;;/<!7-cult, which latter belongs to the narrower circle of the
Hindus and Persians. Here, however, in the identity of names
for sacrifice (^yajTia, yacna) and of ba?'his, the sacrificial straw,
of S07na = haoma., together with many other liturgical similari-
ties, as in the case of the metres, one must recognize a fully
developed so7Jia-Q.\AX. prior to the separation of the Hindus and
Iranians.

Of demigods of evil type the Ydtus are both Hindu and
Iranian, but the priest-names of the one religion are evil names
in the other, as the devas, gods, of one are the daevas, demons,
of the other.^ There are no other identifications that seem at

1 But the general belief that fire (Agni, ignis, Slavic ogni) was first brought to
earth from heaven by a half-divine personality is (at least) Aryan, as Kuhn has shown.

2 Compare the kavis and itcijs (poets and priests) of the Veda with the evil spirits
of the same names in the Avesta, like daeva = dcva. Compare, besides, the Indo-
Iranian feasts, medha, that accompany this Bacchanalian liquor-worship.

EARLY HINDU DIVINITIES. 169

all certain in tlie strict province of religion, although in myth
the form of Manus, who is the Hindu Noah, has been associ-
ated with Teutonic Mannus, and Greek Minos, noted in Thu-
cydides for his sea-faring. He is to Yama (later regarded
as his brother) as is Noah to Adam.

We do not lay stress on lack of equation in proper names,
but, as Schrader shows (p. 596 ff.), very few comparisons on
this line have a solid phonetic foundation. Minos, Manu ;
Ouranos, Varuna ; Wotan, Vata, are dubious ; and some equate
flamen with blotan, sacrifice.

Other wider or narrower comparisons, such as Neptunus
from nctpat apavi^ seem to us too daring to be believed. Apollo
(saparj), Aphrodite (Apsaras), Artamis (non-existent rfa7?id/),
Pan (^pava/ia), have been cleverly compared, but the identity
of forms has scarcely been proved. Nor is it important for
the comparative mythologist that Okeanus is ' lying around '
(acdydnd). More than that is necessary to connect Ocean
mythologically with the demon that surrounds (swallows) the
waters of the sky. The Vedic parallel is rather Rasa, the far-
off great 'stream.' It is rarely that one finds Aryan equivalents
in the land of fairies and fays. Yet are the Hindu clever
artizan Ribhus^ our 'elves,' who, even to this day, are distinct
from fairies in their dexterity and cleverness, as every wise
child knows.

But animism, as simple spiritism, fetishism, perhaps an-
cestor-worship, and polytheism, with the polydaemonism that
may be called chrematheism, exists from the beginning of the
religious history, undisturbed by the proximity of theism,
pantheism, or atheism ; exactly as to-day in the Occident, be-
side theism and atheism, exist spiritism and fetishism (with
their inherent magic), and even ancestor-worship, as implied
by the reputed after-effect of parental curses.

1 Ludwig interprets the three Ribhus as the three seasons personified. Etymo-
logically connected is Orpheus, perhaps.

170 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

When the circle is narrowed to that of the Indo-Iranian
connection the similarity in religion between the Veda and
Avesta becomes much more striking than in any other group,
as has been shown. It is here that the greatest discrepancy
in opinion obtains among modern scholars. ' Some are inclined
to refer all that smacks of Persia to a remote period of Indo-
Iranian unity, and, in consequence, to connect all tokens of
contact with the west with far-away regions out of India. It
is scarcely possible that such can be the case. But, on the
other hand, it is unhistorical to connect, as do some scholars,
the worship of so7na and Varuna with a remote period of unity,
and then with a jump to admit a close connection between
Veda and Avesta in the Vedic period. The Vedic Aryans
appear to have lived, so to speak, hand in glove with the
Iranians for a period long enough for the latter to share in
that advance of Varuna-worship from polytheism to quasi-
monotheism w^hich is seen in the Rig Veda. This worship of
Varuna as a superior god, with his former equals ranged under
him in a ^roup, chiefly obtains in that family (be it of priest
or tribe, or be the two essentially one from a religious point
of view) which has least to do with pure j"^;;/^-worship, the
inherited Indo-Iranian cult ; and the Persian Ahura, with the
six spiritualized equivalents of the old Vedic Adityas, can have
come into existence only as a direct transformation of the
latter cult, which in turn is later than the cult that developed
in one direction as chief of gods a Zeus ; in another, a Bhaga ;
in a third, an Odin. On the other hand, in the gradual change
in India of Iranic gods to devils, asuras, there is an exact coun-
terpart to the Iranian change of meaning from dcz'a to daeva.
But if this be the connection, it is impossible to assume a long
break between India and the west, and then such a sudden
tie as is indicated by the allusions in the Rig Veda to the
Persians and other western lands. The most reasonable view,
therefore, appears to be that the Vedic and Iranian Aryans

EARLY IIIXDU D I VI XI TIES. 171

were for a long time in contact, that the contact began to cease
as the two peoples separated to east and west, but that after
the two peoples separated communication was sporadically
kept up between them by individuals in the way of trade or
otherwise. This explains the still surviving relationship as it
is found in later hymns and in thank-offerings apparently
involving Iranian personages.

They that believe in a monotheistic Varuna-cult preceding
the Vedic polytheism must then ignore the following facts : The
Slavic equivalent of Bhaga and the Teutonic equivalent of
Vata are to these respective peoples their highest gods. They
had no Varuna. ^^loreover, there is not the slightest proof
that Ouranos in Greece ^ w^as ever a god worshipped as a great
god before Zeus, nor is there any probability that to the Hindu
Dyaus Pitar was ever a great god, in the sense that he ever
had a special cult as supreme deity. He is ph3^sically great,
and physically he is father, as is Earth mother, but he is reli-
giously great only in the Hellenic-Italic circle, where exists no
Uranos-cult.'- Rather is it apparent that the Greek raised Zeus,
as did the Slav Bhaga, to his first head of the pantheon.
Now when one sees that in the Vedic period Varuna is the
tj'pe of Adityas, to which belong Bhaga and Mitra as distinctly
less important personages, it is plain that this can mean only
that Varuna has gradually been exalted to his position at the
expense of the other gods. Nor is there perfect uniformity
between Persian and Hindu conceptions. Asura in the Veda
is not applied to Varuna alone. But in the Avesta, Ahura is
the one great spirit, and his six spirits are plainly a protestant
copy and modification of Varuna and his six underlings. This,
then, can mean — which stands in concordance with the other

1 6 5^ XoXk^os da(pa\is aiev eSos /le'vet ovpavbs, Pind. X. vi. 5 ; compare Preller'*,
p. 40.

- Wahrscheinlich sind Uranos und Kronos erst aus dem Culte des Zeus abstrahirt
worden. Preller-^. p. 43.

172 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

parallels between the two religions — only that Zarathustra
borrows the Ahura idea from the Vedic Aryans at a time when
Varuna was become superior to the other gods, and when the
Vedic cult is established in its second phase. ^ To this fact
points also the evidence that shows how near together geo-
graphically were once the Hindus and Persians. Whether
one puts the place of separation at the Kabul or further to
the north-west is a matter of indifference. The Persians
borrow the idea of Varuna Asura, whose eye is the sun.
They spiritualize this, and create an Asura unknown to other
nations.

Of von Bradke's attempt to prove an original Dyaus Asura
we have said nothing, because the attempt has failed signally.
He imagines that the epithet Asura was given to Dyaus in the
Indo-Iranian period, and that from a Dyaus Pitar Asura the
Iranians made an abstract Asura, while the Hindus raised
the other gods and depressed Dyaus Pitar Asura ; whereas it
is quite certain that Varuna (Asura) grew up, out, and over
the other Asuras, his former equals.

And yet it is almost a pity to spend time to demonstrate
that Varuna-worship was not monotheistic originally. We
gladly admit that, even if not a primitive monotheistic deity,
Varuna yet is a god that belongs to a very old period of Hindu
literature. And, for a worship so antique, how noble is the
idea, how exalted is the completed conception of him 1 Truly,
the Hindus and Persians alone of Aryans mount nearest to
the high level of Hebraic thought. For Varuna beside the
loftiest figure in the Hellenic pantheon stands like a god
beside a man. The Greeks had, indeed, a surpassing aesthetic
taste, but in grandeur of religious ideas even the daring of
Aeschylus becomes but. hesitating bravado when compared with
the serene boldness of the Vedic seers, who, first of their race,
out of many gods imagined God.

1 When Aryan deities are decadent, Trita, Mitra, etc.

EARLY HIXDU DIVINITIES. 173

In regard to eschatology, as in regard to myths, it has been
shown that the utmost caution in identification is called for.
It may be surmised that such or such a belief or legend is
in origin one with a like faith or tale of other peoples. But
the question whether it be one in historical origin or in
universal mythopoetic fancy, and this latter be the only com-
mon origin, must remain in almost every case unanswered.^
This is by far not so entertaining, nor so picturesque a solu-
tion as is the explanation of a common historical basis for any
two legends, with its inspiring 'open sesame' to the door of the
locked past. But which is truer ? Which accords more with
the facts as they are collected from a wider field ? As man
in the process of development, in whatever quarter of earth
he be located, makes for himself independently clothes, lan-
guage, and gods, so he makes myths that are more or less like
those of other peoples, and it is only when names coincide
and traits that are unknown elsewhere are strikingly similar
in any two mythologies that one has a right to argue a prob-
able community of origin.

But even if the legend of the flood were Babylonian, and
the Asuras as devils were due to Iranian influence — which can
neither be proved nor disproved — the fact remains that the
Indian religion in its main features is of a purely native
character.

As the most prominent features of the Vedic religion must
be regarded the worship of sfl77ia^ of nature-gods that are in
part already more than this, of spirits, and of the Manes ; the
acknowledgment of a moral law and a belief in a life hereafter.
There is also a vaguer nascent belief in a creator apart from

1 Spiegel holds that the whole idea of future punishment is derived from Persia
(Eranische Alterthitmskunde, i. p, 458), but his point of view is naturally prejudiced.
The allusion to the supposed Babylonian coin, mand, in RV. viii. ']'$>. 2, would indi-
cate that the relation with Babylon is one of trade, as with Aeg}-pt. The account
of the flood may be drawn thence, so may the story of Deucalion, but both Hindu
and Hellenic versions may be as native as is that of the American redskins.

174 THE RELIGIOXS OF IXDIA.

any natural phenomenon, but the creed for the most part is
poetically, indefinitely, stated: ' ^Nlost wonder-working of the
wonder-working gods, who made heaven and earth ' (as above).
The corresponding Power is Cerus in Cerus-Creator (Kronos ?),
although when a name is given, the Maker, Dhatar, is employed ;
while Tvashtar, the artificer, is more an epithet of the sun than
of the unknown creator. The personification of Dhatar as cre-
ator of the sun, etc., belongs to later Vedic times, and foreruns
the Father-god of the last Vedic period. Not till the classical
age (below) is found a formal identification of the Vedic
nature-gods with the departed Fathers (Manes). Indra, for
example, is invoked in the Rig Veda to 'be a friend, be a
father, be more fatherly than the fathers';^ but this implies
no patristic side in Indra, who is called in the same hymn
(vs. 4) the son of Dyaus (his father); and Dyaus Pitar no
more im.plies, as say some sciolists, that Dyaus was regarded
as a human ancestor than does 'Mother Earth' imply a belief
that Eirth is the ghost of a dead woman.

In the Veda there is a nature-religion and an ancestor-religion.
These approach, but do not unite : they are felt as sundered
beliefs. Sun-myths, though by some denied in toto, appear
plainly in the Vedic hymns. Dead heroes may be gods, but
gods, too, are natural phenomena, and, again, they are abstrac-
tions. He that denies any one of these sources of godhead
is ignorant of India.

Miiller, in his Ancient Sansk?'it Literature, has divided Vedic
literature into four periods, that of c/iandjis, songs ; 7nantras,
texts ; braJimanas ; and sutras. The mantras are in distinc-
tion from c/ia?idas, the later hymns to the earlier gods.- The
latter distinction can, however, be established only on subjec-
tive grounds, and, though generally unimpeachable, is some-
times liable to reversion. Thus, Miiller looks upon RV.
viii. 30 as ' simxple and primitive,' while others see in this

1 iv. 17. 17. 2 Loc. c'U. pp. 70, 4S0.

EARLY HINDU DIVINITIES. 175

hymn a late mantra. Between the Rig Veda and the Brah-
manas, which are in prose, hes a period filled out in part
by the present form of the Atharva Veda, which, as has been
shown, is a Veda of the low cult that is almost ignored by
the Rig Veda, while it contains at the same time much that
is later than the Rig Veda, and consists of old and new
* together in a manner entirely conformable to the state of
every other Hindu work of early times. After this epoch
there is found in the liturgical period, into which extend
the later portions of the Rig Veda (noticeably parts of the
first, fourth, eighth, and tenth books), a religion which, in
spiritual tone, in metaphysical speculation, and even in the
interpretation of some of the natural divinities, differs not more
from the bulk of the Risf Veda than does the social status of
the time from that of the earlier text. Religion has become,
in so far as the gods are concerned, a ritual. But, except in
the building up of a Father-god, theology is at bottom not much
altered, and the eschatological conceptions remain about as
they were, despite a preliminary sign of the doctrine of metem-
psychosis. In the Atharva Veda, for the first time, hell is
known by its later name (xii. 4. 36), and perhaps its tortures ;
but the idea of future punishment appears plainly first in the
Brahmanic period. Both the doctrine of re-birth and that of
hell appear in the earliest Sutras, and consequently the assump-
tion that these dogmas come from Buddhism does not appear
to be well founded ; for it is to be presumed whatever religious
belief is established in legal literature will have preceded that
literature by a considerable period, certainly by a greater
length of time than that which divides the first Brahmanic law
from Buddhism.

CHAPTER IX.

BRAHMANISM.

Besides the Rig Veda and the Atharva Veda there are two
others, called respectively the Sama Veda and the Yajur Veda.-^
The former consists of a small collection of verses, which are
taken chiefly from the eighth and ninth books of the Rig
Veda, and are arranged for singing. It has a few more verses
than are contained in the corresponding parts of the Rik, but
the whole is of no added importance from the present point of
view. It is of course made entirely for the ritual. Also made
for the ritual is the Yajur Veda, the Veda of sacrificial for-
mulae. But this Veda is far more important. With it one is
brought into a new land, and into a world of ideas that are
strange to the Rik. The period represented by it is a sort
of bridge between the Rik and the Brahmanas. The Yajus is
later than Rik or Atharvan, belonging in its entirety more
to the age of the liturgy than to the older Vedic era. With the
Brahmanas not only is the tone changed from that of the Rig
Veda ; the whole moral atmosphere is now surcharged with
hocus-pocus, mysticism, religiosity, instead of the cheerful, real
religion which, however formal, is the soul of the Rik. In the
Brahmanas there is no freshness, no poetry. There is in some
regards a more scrupulous outward morality, but for the rest
there is only cynicism, bigotry, and dullness. It is true that
each of these traits may be found in certain parts of the Rig

1 In A if. Br. i. 22, there is an unexplained antithesis of Rik, Yajus, Saman, Veda,
and Brahma ; vvhere the commentator takes Yeda. to be Atharva \'eda. The priests,
belonging respectively to the first three Vedas. are for the Rig Veda, the Hotar priest,
who recites; for the Saman, the Udgatar, 'the singer'; for the Yajus. the Adhvaryu.
who attends to the erection of the altar, etc. Compare Miiller, ASL. p. 46S.

BRAHMA XIS:J. 1 77

Veda, but it is not true that they represent there the spirit of
the age, as they do in the Brahmanic period. Of this Brahmanic
stoa, to which we now turn, the Yajur Veda forms the fitting
entrance. Here the priest is as much lord as he is in the
Bralimanas. Here the sacrifice is only the act, the sacrificial
forms (^yajus), without the spirit.

In distinction from the verse- Veda (the Rik), the Yajur Veda
contains the special formulae which the priest that attends to
the erection of the altar has to speak, with explanatory remarks
added thereto. This of course stamps the collection as mechan-
ical; but -the wonder is that this collection, with the similar
Brahmana scriptures that follow it, should be the only new
literature which centuries have to show.-^ As explanatory of
the sacrifice there is found, indeed, a good deal of legendary
stufi^, which sometimes has a literary character. But nothing
is for itself ; everything is for the correct performance of the
sacrifice.^

The geographical centre is now changed, and instead of the
Punjab, the ' middle district ' becomes the seat of culture.
Nor is there much difference between the district to which can
be referred the rise of the Yajur Veda and that of the Brah-
manas. No less altered is the religion. All is now symbolical,
and the gods, though in general they are the gods of the Rig
Veda, are not the same as of old. The priests have become
gods. The old appellation of ' spirit,' asiira, is confined to
evil spirits. There is no longer any such ' henotheism ' as that
of the Rig Veda. The Father-god, ' lord of beings,' or simply
' the father,' is the chief god. The last thought of the Rig

1 It is the only literature of its time except (an important exception) those fore-
runners of later Sutra and epic which one may suppose to be in process of forma-
tion long before they come to the front.

2 There are several schools of tliis Veda, of which the chief are the Vajasaneyi. or
' White Yajus,' collection; the TaittirTya collection; and the MaitrayanT collection;
the first named being the latest though the most popular, the last two being the fore-
most representatives of the ' Black Yajus.'

178 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

Veda is the first thought of the Yajur Veda. /Other changes
have taken place. The demigods of the older period, the
water-nymphs of the Rik, here become seductive goddesses,
whose increase of power in this art agrees with the decline of
the warrior spirit that is shown too in the whole mode of think-
ing, / ]\Iost important is the gradual rise of Vishnu and the first
appearance of Qiva. Here brahma, which in the Rik has the
meaning ' prayer ' alone, is no longer mere prayer, but, as in
later literature, holiness.-/ In short, before the Brahmanas are
reached they are perceptible in the near distance, in the Veda
of Formulae, the Yajus ;^ for between the Yajur Veda and the
Brahmanas there is no essential dift'erence. The latter consist
of explanations of the sacrificial liturgy, interspersed with
legends, bits of history, philosophical explanations, and other
matter more or less related to the subject. They are completed
by the Forest Books, Aranyakas, which contain the speculations
of the later theosophy, the Upanishads (below). It is with
the Yajur Veda and its nearly related literature, the Brah-
manas, that Brahmanism really begins. Of these latter the
most important in age and content are the Brahmanas (of the
Rig Veda and Yajur Veda), called Aitareya and Qata-patha,
the former representing the western district, the latter, in great
part, a more eastern region.

Although the ' Northerners ' are still respectfully referred to,
yet, as we have just said, the people among whom arose the
Brahmanas are not settled in the Punjab, but in the country
called the ' middle district,' round about the modern Delhi.
For the most part the Punjab is abandoned ; or rather, the
literature of this period does not emanate from the Aryans
that remained in the Punjab, but from the still emigrating
descendants of the old Vedic people that used to live there.
Some stay behind and keep the older practices, not in all

1 The different traits here recorded are given with many illustrative examples by
Schroeder, in his Literatiir tind Ctiltur, p. 90 ff.

AHMAXISM. 179

regards looked upon as orthodox by their more advanced
brethren, who have pushed east and now live in the country
called the land of the Kurus and Pahcalas.-^ They are spread
farther east, along the banks of the Jumna and Ganges, south
of Nepal ; while some are still about and south of the holy
Kurukshetra or 'plain of Kurus.' Eist of the middle district
the Kosalas and Videhas form, in opposition to the Kurus and
Pancalas, the second great tribe (Tirhut). There are now two
S3t3 of ' Seven Rivers,' and the holiness of the western group
is perceptibly lessened. Here for the first time are found the
F>'^/)'<7-hymns, intended to initiate into the Brahmanic order
Aryans who have not conformed to it, and speak a dialectic
language.^ From the point of view of language and geography,
no less than from that of the social and spiritual conditions, it
is evident that quite a period has elapsed since the body of
the Rig Veda was composed. The revealed texts are now
ancient storehouses of wisdom. Religion has apparently be-
come a form ; in some regards it is a farce.

" There are two kinds of gods ; for the gods are gods, and
priests that are learned in the Veda and teach it are human
gods." This sentence, from one of the most important Hindu
prose works,^ is the key to the religion of the period which it
represents ; and it is fitly followed by the further statement,
that like sacrifice to the gods are the fees paid to the human
gods the priests.^ Yet with this dictum, so important for the

1 Compare Weber, Ind. Strcifcn. ii. 197. 2 Web2r, Lit. p. "ji.

3 The Cata-fatlia Brdhviaiia (or " Brahmana of the hundred paths "') ii. 2. 2. 6 ;
4. 3. 14.

^ The chief family priest, it is said in the Cat. Br. ii. 4. 4. 5, is a man of great in-
fluence. Sometimes one priest becomes religious head of two clans (an extraordinary
event, however ; only one name is reported) and then how exalted is his position.
Probably, as in the later age of the drama, the chief priest was often at the same time
practically prime minister. It is said in another part of the same book that although
the whole earth is divine, yet it is the priest that makes holy the place of sacrifice
(iii. I. I. 4). In this period murder is defined as killing a priest; other cases are not
called murder. Weber, IS. x. 66.

ISO THE RELIGIOXS OF INDIA.

understanding of the religion of tlie age, must be joined an-
other, if one would do that age full justice: 'The sacrifice is
like a ship sailing heavenward ; if there be a sinful priest in
it, that one priest would make it sink' {Cat. Br. iv. 2. 5. 10),
For although the time is one in which ritualism had, indeed,
become more important than religion, and the priest more
important than the gods, yet is there no lack of reverential
feeling, nor is morality regarded as unimportant. The first
impression, however, which is gained from the literature of
this period is that the sacrifice is all in all ; that the endless
details of its course, and the petty questions in regard to its
arrangement, are not only the principal objects of care and of
chief moment, but even of so cardinal importance that the
whole religious spirit swings upon them. But such is not
altogether the case. It is the truth, yet is it not the whole
truth, that in these Brahmanas religion is an appearance, not
a reality. (^The sacrifice is indeed represented to be the only
door to prosperity on earth and to future bliss ; but there is a
quiet yet persistent belief that at bottom a moral and religious
life is quite as essential as are -the ritualistic observances with
which worship is accompanied. \

To describe Brahmanism as implying a religion that is purely
one of ceremonies, one composed entirely of observances, is
therefore not altogether correct. In reading a liturgical work
it must not be forgotten for what the work was intended. If
its object be simply to inculcate a special rite, one cannot
demand that it should show breadth of view or elevation of
sentiment. Composed of observances every work must be of
which the aim is to explain observances. In point of fact,
religion (faith and moral behavior) is here assumed, and so
entirely is it taken for granted that a statement emphasizing
the necessity of godliness is seldom found.

Nevertheless, having called attention to the religious spirit
that lies latent in the pedantic Brahmanas, we are willing to

BRAHMAXIC THEOLOGY AND THE SACRIFICE. ISl

admit that the age is overcast, not only with a thick cloud of
ritualism, but also with an unpleasant mask of phariseeism.
There cannot have been quite so much attention paid to the
outside of the platter without neglect of the inside. And it is
true that the priests of this period strive more for the comple-
tion of their rites than for the perfection of themselves. It is
true, also, that occasionally there is a revolting contempt for
those people who are not of especial service to the priest.
There are now two godlike aristocrats, the priest and the noble.
The 'people' are regarded as only ht to be the "food of the
nobility." In the symbolical language of the time the bricks
of the altar, which are consecrated, are the warrior caste ; the
fillings, in the space between the bricks, are not consecrated; and
these "fillers of space " are "the people" {Cat. Br. vi. i. 2. 25).
Yet is religion in these books not dead, but sleeping ; to
wake again in the Upanishads with a fuller spiritual life than
is found in any other pre-Christian system. Although the sub-
ject matter of the Brahmanas is the cult, yet are there found in
them numerous legends, moral teachings, philosophical fancies,
historical items, etymologies and other adventitious matter, all
of which are helpful in giving a better understanding of the
intelligence of the people to whom is due all the extant litera-
ture of the period. Long citations from these ritualistic pro-
ductions would have a certain value, in showing in native form
the character of the works, but thev would make unendurable
reading ; and we have thought it better to arrange the multi-
farious contents of the chief Brahmanas in a sort of order,
although it is difficult always to decide where theology ends
and moral teachings begin, the two are here so interwoven.

BRAHMAXIC THEOLOGY AND THE SACRIFICE.

\Yhile in general the pantheon of the Rig Yeda and Atharva
Yeda is that of the Brahmanas, some of the older gods are

1S2 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

now reduced in importance, and, on the other hand, as in the
Yajur Veda, some gods are seen to be growing in importance.
'Time,' deified in the Atharvan, is a great god, but beside him
still stand the old rustic divinities ; and chrematheism, which
antedates even the Rig Veda, is still recognized. To the
' ploughshare ' and the ' plough ' the Rig Veda has an hymn
(iv. 57. 5-8), and so the ritual gives them a cake at the sacri-
fice {Cujiaclrya., Cat. Br. ii. 6. 3. 5). The number of the gods,
in the Rig Veda estimated as thirty-three, or, at the end of this
period, as thousands, remains as doubtful as ever ; but, in
general, all groups of deities become greater in number.
Thus, in TS. i. 4. 11. i, the Rudras alone are counted as
thirty-three instead of eleven; and, ib. v. 5. 2. 5, the eight
Vasus become three hundred and thirty-three ; but it is
elsewhere hinted that the number of the gods stands in the
same relation to that of men as that in which men stand to
the beasts ; that is, there are not quite so many gods as men
(Cat. B}'. ii, 3. 2. 18),

Of more importance than the addition of new deities is the
subdivision of the old. As one finds in Greece a Zeus Kara-
■)(B6vio<i beside a Zevs ^cVtos, so in the Yajur Veda and Brah-
manas are found (an extreme instance) hail ' to Kaya,' and
hail 'to Kasmai,' that is, the god Ka is differentiated into tv/o
divinities, according as he is declined as a noun or as a pro-
noun ; for this is the god " Who ? " as the dull Brahmanas
interpreted that verse of the Rig Veda which asks ' to whom
(which, as) god shall we offer sacrifice?' (Mait. S. iii. 12. 5.)
But ordinarily one divinity like Agni is subdivided, according
to his functions, as 'lord of food,' 'lord of prayer,' etc.-^

In the Brahmanas different names are given to the chief
god, but he is most often called the Father-god (Prajapati,
' lord of creatures,' or the Father, pita). His earlier Vedic type
is Brihaspati, the lord of strength, and, from another point of

1 Barth, loc. cit. p. 42.

BRAHMANIC THEOLOGY AiYD THE SACRIFICE. 183

view, the All-god,-^ The other gods fall into various groups,
the most significant being the triad of Fire, Wind, and Sun.''^
Not much weight is to be laid on the theological speculations
of the time as indicative of primitive conceptions, although
they may occasionally hit true. For out of the number of
inane fancies it is reasonable to suppose that some might coin-
cide with historic facts. Thus the All-gods of the Rig Veda,
by implication, are of later origin than the other gods, and this,
very likely, was the case ; but it is a mere guess on the part of
the priest. The Catapatka, iii. 6.'i. 28, speaks of the All-gods
as gods that gained immortality on a certain occasion, i.e., be-
came immortal like other gods. So the Adityas go to heaven
before the Angirasas (Ait. Br. iv. 17), but this has no such
historical importance as some scholars are inclined to think.
The lesser gods are in part carefully grouped and numbered,
in a manner somewhat contradictory to what must have been
the earlier belief. Thus the ' three kinds of gods ' are now
Vasus, of earth, Rudras, of air, and Adityas, of sky, and the
daily offerings are divided between them ; the morning offering
belonging only to the Vasus, the mid-day one only to (Indra
and) the Rudras, the third to the Adityas with the Vasus and
Rudras together.^ Again, the morning and mid-day pressing
belong to the gods alone, and strict rule is observed in dis-
tinguishing their portion from that of the Manes {Qat. Br. iv.
4. 22). The difference of sex is quite ignored, so that the
' universal Agni ' is identified with (mother) earth ; as is also,
once or twice, Piishan {ib. iii. 8. 5. 4 ; 2. 4. 19 ; ii. 5. 4. 7). As
the 'progenitor,' Agni facilitates connubial union, and is called
" the head god, the progenitor among gods, the lord of beings "
(/^. iii. 4. 3. 4; iii. 9. i. 6). Pushan is interpreted to mean

1 He has analogy with Agni in being made of 'seven persons (males),' Cat. Br.
X. 2. 2. T.

2 Compare Mait. S. iv. 2. 12, ' sons of Prajapati, Agni, Vayu, SHrya.'

3 Cat. Br. i. 3. 4. 12 ; iv. 3. 5. i.

184 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

cattle, and Brihaspati is the priestly caste {ih. iii. 9. i. 10 ff.).
The base of comparison is usually easy to find. ' The earth
nourishes,' and ' Pushan nourishes,' hence Pushan is the earth;
or 'the earth belongs to all' and Agni is called 'belonging to
all ' (universal), hence the two are identified. The All-gods,
merely on account of their name, are now the All ; Aditi is the
'unbounded' earth {Jb. iii. 9. i. 13; iv. i. i. 23; i. i. 4. 5 ; iii.
2. 3. 6). Agni represents all the gods, and he is the dearest,
the closest, and the surest of all the gods (//'. i. 6. 2. 8 fi.).
It is said that man on earth fathers the fire (that is, protects it),
and when he dies the fire that he has made his son on earth
becomes his father, causing him to be reborn in heaven {ib. ii.

3- 3- 3-5 ; ^'i- I- 2. 26).

The wdves of the gods {lievlinam patnlr yajati), occasionally
mentioned in the Rig Veda, have now an established place and
cult apart from that of the gods {ib. i. 9. 2. 11). The fire on
the hearth is god Agni in person, and is not a divine or mystic
type ; but he is prayed to as a heavenly friend. Some of these
traits are old, but they are exaggerated as compared with the
more ancient theology. When one goes on a journey or
returns from one, ' even if a king were in his house ' he should
not greet him till he makes homage to his hearth-fires, either
with spoken words or with silent obeisance. For Agni and
Prajapati are one, they are son and father (//». ii. 4. i. 3, 10;
vi. I. 2. 26). The gods have mystic names, and these 'who
will dare to speak?' Thus, Indra's mystic name is Arjuna
(//'. ii. I. 2. 11). In the early period of the Rig Veda the
priest dares to speak. The pantheism of the end of the Rig
Veda is here decided and plain-spoken, as it is in the Atharvan.
As it burns bri2:htlv or not the fire is in turn identified with
different gods, Rudra, Varuna, Indra, and ]Mitra (Jb. ii. 3. 2. 9 ff.).
Agni is all the gods and the gods are in men (ib. iii. i. 3. 1 ;
4. I. 19; ii. 3. 2. I : Indra and King Yama dwell in men).
And, again, the Father (Prajapati) is the All; he is the year

BRAHMANIC THEOLOGY AND THE SACRIFICE. 1S5

of twelve months and five seasons (Jb. i. 3. 5. 10), Then fol-
lows a characteristic bit. Seventeen verses are to be recited
to correspond to the ' seventeenfold ' Prajapati. But 'some
say ' twenty-one verses ; and he may recite twenty-one, for if
' the three worlds ' are added to the above seventeen one gets
twenty, and the sun (yja csa tapati^ makes the twenty-first ! As
to the number of worlds, it is said {jb. i. 2. 4. 11, 20-21) that
there are three worlds, and possibly a fourth.

Soma is now the moon, but as being one half of Vritra, the
evil demon. The other half became the belly of creatures
{ib. i. 6. 3. lyj. Slightly different is the statement that Soma
was Vritra, iv. 2, 5. 15. In Ait. Br. i. 27, King Soma is bought
of the Gandharvas by Vac, ' speech,' as a cow.^ With phases of
the moon Indra and Agni are identified. One is the deity
of the new : the other, of the full moon ; v»'hile Mitra is the
waning, and Varuna the waxing moon {Cat. Br. ii. 4. 4. 17-18).
This opposition of deities is more fully expressed in the at-
tempt to make antithetic the relations of the gods and the
Manes, thus : ' The gods are represented by spring, summer,
and rains ; the Fathers, by autumn, winter, and the dewy
season ; the gods, by the waxing ; the Fathers, by the waning
moon ; the gods, by day ; the Fathers, by night ; the gods, by
morning; the Fathers, by afternoon' {Cat. Br. ii. i. 31; ib. ii.
4. 2. iff.: 'The sun is the light of the gods; the moon, of
the Fathers ; fire, of men'). Between morning and afternoon,
as representative of gods and Manes respectively, stands mid-
day, which, according to the same authority (ii. 4. 2. 8), repre-
sents men. The passage first cited continues thus : ' The
seasons are gods and Fathers ; gods are immortal ; the Fathers

1 Interesting is the fact that only priests may eat sacrificial food and drink soma
at this period. When even the king should drink soma^ he is made to drink some
transubstantiated liquor which, the priests inform him, has been • made into sotna '
for him by magic, for the latter is too holy for any warrior really to drink (vii. 19 ;
viii. 20). But in the more popular feasts there are indications that this rule is often
broken. Compare Weber, Rdjasilya p. 98.

1S6 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

are mortal.' In regard to the relation between spring and the
other seasons, the fifth section of this passage may be com-
pared : ' Spring is the priesthood ; summer, the warrior-caste ;
the rains are the {j'tc) people.' ^

Among the conspicuous divine forms of this period is the
Queen of Serpents, v/hose verses are chanted over lire ; but she
is the earth, according to some passages {Ait. Br. v. 23 ; Cat.
Br. ii. I. 4. 30 ; iv, 6. 9. 17). In their divine origin there is,
indeed, according to the theology now current, no difference
between the powers of light and of darkness, between the gods
and the ' spirits,' a suras, i.e., evil spirits. Many tales begin with
the formula : ' The gods and evil spirits, both born of the
Father-god' {Cat. Br. i. 2. 4. 8). Weber thinks that this
implies close acquaintance with Persian worship, a sort of tit-
for-tat ; for the Hindu would in that case call the holy spirit,
ahura, of the Persian a devil, just as the Persian makes an
evil spirit, daeva, out of the Hindu god, dcva. But the rela-
tions between Hindu and Persian in this period are still very
uncertain. It is interesting to follow out some of the Brah-
manic legends, if only to see what was the conception of the
evil spirits. In one such theological legend the gods and the
(evil) spirits, both being sons of the Father-god, inherited
from him, respectively, mind and speech ; hence the gods got
the sacrifice and heaven, while the evil spirits got this earth.
Again, the two entered on the inheritance of their father in
time, and so the gods have the waxing moon, and the evil
spirits, the waning moon {Jb. iii. 2. i. 18 ; i. 7. 2. 22).

But what these Asuras or (evil) spirits really are may be
read easily from the texts. The gods are the spirits of light ;
the Asuras are the spirits of darkness. Therewith is indis-
solubly connected the idea that sin and darkness are of the
same nature. So one reads that when the sun rises it frees

1 For the relations of the different castes at this period, see Weber, in the tenth
volume of the bidische Stiidicn.

BRAHMANIC THEOLOGY AXD THE SACRIFICE. 1S7

itself 'from darkness, from sin,' as a snake from its slough
ijb. ii. 3. I. 6). And in another passage it is said that dark-
ness and illusion were given to the Asuras as their portion by
the Father-god {ib, ii. 4. 2. 5). With this may be compared also
the frequent grouping of the Asuras or Rakshas with darkness
(c.g.^ ib. iii. S. 2. 15 ; iv. 3. 4. 21). As to the nature of the gods
the evidence is contradictory. Both gods and evil spirits were
originally soulless and mortal. Agni (Fire) alone was immortal,
and it was onlv throuiih him that the others continued to live.
They became immortal by putting in their inmost being the
holy (immortal j fire {ib. ii. 2. 2. 8). On the other hand, it is
said that Agni was originally without brightness ; and Indra,
identified with the sun, was originally dark {ib. iv. 5. 4. 3 ; iii. 4.
2. 15). The belief in an originally human condition of the
gods (even the Father-god was originally mortal) is exemplified
in a further passage, where it is said that the gods used to
live on earth, but they grew tired of man's endless petitions
and fled ; also in another place, where it is stated that the
gods used to drink together with men visibly, but now they
do so invisibly {ib. ii. 3. 4. 4 ; iii. 6. 2. 26). How did such gods
obtain their supremacy ? The answer is simple, ' by sacrifice '
{Cat. Br. iii. i. 4. 3 ; Ait. Br. ii. i. i). So now they live by
sacrifice : * The sun would not rise if the priest did not make
sacrifice' {Cat. Br. ii. 3. i. 5). Even the order of things would
change if the order of ceremonial were varied : Night would
be eternal if the priests did so and so ; the months would not
pass, one following the other, if the priests walked out or
entered together, etc. {ib. iv. 3. i. 9-10). It is by a knowledge
of the Vedas that one conquers all things, and the sacrifice
is part and application of this knowledge, which in one passage
is thus reconditely subdivided : 'Threefold is knowledge, the
Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda, and the Sama Veda.^ The Rig
Veda, i.e., the verses sung, are the earth ; the Yajus is air ; the

1 The Atharvan is not yet recognized as a \'ed.a.

ISS THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

Saman is the sky. He conquers earth, air, and sky respectively
by these three Vedas, The Rik and Saman are Indra and are
speech ; the Yajus is Vishnu and mind' (//'. iv. 6. 7. i it.). An
item follows that touches on a modern philosophical question.
Apropos of speech and mind : 'Where speech (alone) existed
everything was accomplished and known ; but where mind
(alone) existed nothing was accomplished or known ' ijb. i. 4.
4. 3-4, 7). Mind and speech are male and female, and as
yoke-fellows bear sacrifice to the gods ; to be compared is
the interesting dispute between mind and speech {ib. 5. 8).
As dependent as is man on what is given by the gods, so
dependent are the gods on what is offered to them by men
{Till ft. Br. ii. 2, 7. 3 ; Cat. Br. i. 2. 5. 24). Even the gods
are now not native to heaven. They wan heaven by sacrifice,
by metres, etc. {Cat. Br. iv. 3. 2. 5).

What, then, is the sacrifice ? A means to enter into the
godhead of the gods, and even to control the gods : a cere-
mony where every word was pregnant with consequences ; ^
every movement momentous. There are indications, however,
that the priests themselves understood that much in the cere-
monial was pure hocus-pocus, and not of such importance as
it was reputed to be. But such faint traces as survive of a
freer spirit objecting to ceremonial absurdities only mark more
clearly the level plain of unintelligent superstition which was
the feeding-ground of the ordinary priests.

Some of the cases of revolted common-sense are worth
citing. Conspicuous as an authority on the sacrifice, and at
the same time as a somewhat recalcitrant priest, is Yaj naval kya,
author and critic, one of the greatest names in Hindu ecclesi-
astical history. It was he who, apropos of the new rule in

1 And even the pronunciation of a word or the accent is fateful. The famous
godly example of this is where Tvashtar, the artificer, in anger mispronounced indra-
Qcctrii 2i?, indracaf7'u, whereby \he. meaning was changed from ' conqueror of Indra'
to ' Indra-conquered,' with unexpected result {^ai. Br. i. 6. 3. 8 ; Tdiit. S. ii. 4. 12. i).

BRAHMAXIC THEOLOGY AND THE SACRIEICE. 1S9

ethics, so strongly insisted upon after the Vedic age and al-
ready beginning to obtain, the rule that no one should eat the
flesh of the (sacred) cow (' Let no one eat beef. . . . Whoever
eats it would be reborn (on earth) as a man of ill fame ') said
bluntly : 'As for me I eat (beef) if it is good (firm).'^ It cer-
tainly required courage to say this, with the especial warning
against beef, the meat of an animal peculiarly holy {Cat. Br.
iii. I. 2. 2i). It was, again, Yajnavalkya {Cat. Br. i. 3. i. 26),
who protested against the priests' new demand that the benefit
of the sacrifice should accrue in part to the priest ; v.'hereas
it had previously been understood that not the sacrificial priest
but the sacrificer (the worshipper, the man who hired the priest
and paid the expenses) got all the benefit of the ceremony.
Against the priests' novel and unjustifiable claim Yajnavalkya
axclaims : ' How can people have faith in this ? Whatever be
the blessing for which the priests pra}^, this blessing is for the
worshipper (sacrificer) alone.' ^ It was Yajnavalkya, too, who
rebutted some new superstition involving the sacrificer's wife,
with the sneer, 'who cares whether the wife,' etc. {kas tad
adriveta, ib. 21). These protestations are naively recorded,
though it is once suggested that in some of his utterances
Yajnavalkya was not in earnest {jb. iv. 2. i. 7). The high
mind of this great priest is contrasted with the mundane views
of his contemporaries in the prayers of himself and of another
priest ; for it is recorded that whereas Yajnavalkya's prayer to
the Sun was 'give me light' (or 'glory,' %'arco me dc/ii^, that
of Aupoditeya was 'give me cows' {ib. i. 9. 3. 16). The
chronicler adds, after citing these prayers, that one obtains

1 The word is m'nsala, strong, or 'from the shoulder' (?). In iii. 4. i. 2 one cooks
an ox or a goat for a very distinguished guest, as a sort of guest-sacrifice. So the
guest is called 'cow-killer' (Weber, Ved. Beitriige, p. 36).

2 Compare il>. i. 9. i. 21, "let the priest not say ' guard me (or us),' but 'guard
this worshipper (sacrificer),' for if he says 'me' he induces no blessing at all; the
blessing is not for the priest, but for the sacrificer." In both passages, most emphati-
cally, yaja7nanasyaiva, ' for the sacrificer alone.'

190 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

whatever he prays for, either illumination or wealth.^ . Yajna-
valkya, however, is not the only protestant. In another pas-
sage, ib. ii. 6. 3. 14-17, the sacrificer is told to shave his head
all around, so as to be like the sun ; this will ensure his being
able to ' consume (his foes) on all sides like the sun,' and it
is added : But Asuri said, ' What on earth has it to do with
his head ? Let him not shave.' ^

* Eternal holiness' is won by him that offers the sacrifice of
the seasons. Characteristic is the explanation, ' for such an
one wins the year, and a year is a complete whole, and a
complete whole is indestructible (eternal) ; hence his holiness
is indestructible, and he thereby becomes a part of a year and
goes to the gods ; but as there is no destruction in the gods,
his holiness is therefore indestructible' {ib. ii. 6. 3. i).

Not only a man's self but also his Manes are benefited by
means of sacrifice." He gives the Manes pleasure with his
offering, but he also ra'ises their estate, and sends them up to
live in a higher world."* The cosmological position of the
Manes are the a7'anta?'adi^as, that is, between the four quarters;
though, according to some, there are three kinds of them, so?na-
Manes, sacrifice-Manes (?klanes of the sacrificial straw), and
the burnt, i.e., the spirits of those that have been consumed in
fire. They are, again, identified with the seasons, and are
expressly mentioned as the guardians of houses, so that the
Brahmanic Manes are at once Penates, Lares, and Manes.^

1 Yant kdviain kamayatc so ^svtdt kdmah samrdhyate,

2 Asuri's name as a theologian is important, since the Sankhya philosophy is
intimately connected with him ; if this Asuri be not another man with the same
name (compare Weber, Lit. p. 152).

3 The regular sacrifices to the. Manes are daily and monthly ; funerals and ' faith-
feasts ' crdddha, are occasional additions.

^ Each generation of Manes rises to a better (higher) state if the offerings con-
tinue. As a matter of ceremonial this means that the remoter generations of fathers
are put indefinitely far off, while the immediate predecessors of a man are the real
beneficiaries ; they climb up to the sky on the offering.

5 Compare Qat. Br. i. 8. i. 40 ; ii. 6. i. 3, 7, 10, 42 ; ii. 4. 2. 24 ; v. 5. 4. 28.

BRAHMANIC THEOLOGY AND THE SACRIFICE. 191

The sacrifice is by no means meant as an aid to the acquire-
ment of heavenly bliss alone. Many of the great sacrifices are
for the gaining of good things on earth. In one passage there
is described a ceremony, the result of which is to be that the
warrior, who is the sacrificer, may say to a man of the people
"fetch out and give me your store " {ib. i. 3. 2. 15; iv. 3. 3. 10).
Everybody sacrifices, even the beasts erect altars and fires ! ^
That one should sacrifice without the ulterior motive of gain is
unknown. Brahmanic India knows no thank-offering. Ordi-
narily the gain is represented as a compensating gift from the
divinity, whom the sacrificer pleases with his sacrifice. Very
plainly is this expressed. " He offers the sacrifice to the god
with this text : ' Do thou give to me (andj I (will) give to thee ;
do thou bestow on me (and) I (will) bestow on thee' " i^Vaj. S.
iii. 50 ; Cat. Br. ii. 5, 3. 19). But other ends are accomplished.
By the sacrifice he may injure his enemy, but in offering it, if
he leaves too much over, that part accrues to the good of his
foe (Cat. Br. i. 2. i. 7; 9. i. 18).

The sacrifice is throughout symbolical. The sacrificial
»straw represents the world; the metre used represents all
living creatures, etc., — a symbolism frequently suggested
by a mere pun, but often as ridiculously expounded with-
out such aid. The altar's measure is the measure of
metres. The cord of regeneration (badge of the twice-born,
the holy cord of the high castes) is triple, because food is
threefold, or because the father and mother with the child
make three {Cat. Br. iii. 5. i. 7 ff. ; 2. i. 12); the jagati >
metre contains the living world, because this is called jagat
{ib. i. 8. 2. 11).

Out of the varied mass of rules, speculations, and fancies, a
few of general character may find place here, that the reader*

1 This passage {ib. ii. 1.2, 7) is preceded by a typical argument for setting up the
fires under the Pleiades, the wives of the Great Bear stars. He may do or he may
not do so — the reasons contradict er.ch other, and all of them are incredibly silly.

192 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

may gain a collective impression of the religious literature of
the time.

The fee for the sacrifice is mentioned in one place as one
thousand cows. These must be presented in groups of three
hundred and thirty-three each, three times, with an odd one of
three colors. This is on account of the holy character of the
numeral three. ' But Asuri (apparently fearful that this rule
would limit the fee) said "he may give more "' {Cat. Br. iv. 5.
8. 14). As to the fee, the rules are precise and their pro-
pounders are unblushing. The priest performs the sacrifice
for the fee alone, and it must consist of valuable garments,
kine, horses,^ or gold — when each is to be given is carefully
stated. Gold is coveted most, for this is 'immortality,' 'the
seed of Agni,' and therefore peculiarly agreeable to the pious
priest.^ For his greed, which goes so far that he proclaims
that he who gives a thousand kine obtains all things of heaven
{ib. iv. 5. I. 11), the priest has good precept to cite, for the
gods of heaven, in all the tales told of them, ever demand a
reward from each other when they help their neighbor-gods.
Nay, even the gods require a witness and a vow, lest they,
injure each other. Discord arose among them when once they
performed the guest-offering ; they divided into different parties,
Agni with the Vasus, Soma with the Rudras, Varuna with the
Adityas, and Indra with the Maruts. But with discord came
weakness, and the evil spirits got the better of them. So they
made a covenant with each other, and took \\'ind as witness
that they would not deceive each other. This famous covenant
of the gods is the prototype of that significant covenant made
by the priest, that he would not, while pretending to beseech

1 This last fee is not so common. For an oblation to Surya the fee is a white
horse or a white bull ; either of them representing the proper form of the sun
{^Qat. Br. ii. 6. 3. 9) ; but another authority specifies twelve oxen and a plough
(Taitt. S. i. 8. 7).

2 (^at. Br. ii. I. I. 5 ; 2. 3. 28 ; iv. 3. 4. 14 ; 5. i. 15 ; four kinds of fees. ib. iv, 3. 4.
6, 7, 24 ff. (Milk is also ' Agni's seed,' ib. ii. 2. 4. 15).

BRAIIMAXIC THEOLOGY AXD THE SACRIEICE. 193

good for the sacrificer,^ secretly do him harm (as he could by
altering the ceremonial).'^ The theory of the fee, in so far as
it affects the sacrifices, is that the gods, the A'lanes, and men
all exist by what is sacrificed. Even the gods seek rewards ;
hence the priests do the same.^ The sacrificer sacrifices to get
a place in dei'aloka (the world of the gods). The sacrifice goes
up to the world of gods, and after it goes the fee which the
sacrificer (the patronj gives ; the sacrificer follows by catching
hold of the fee given to the priests (//''. i. 9. 3. 1). It is to be
noted, moreover, that sacrificing for a fee is recognized as a
profession. The work (sacrifice is work, 'work is sacrifice,' it
is somewhere said) is regarded as a matter of business. There
are three means of livelihood occasionallv referred to, tellinsr
stories, singing songs, and reciting the Veda at a sacrifice
{Cat. Br. iii. 2. \. 16).

As an example of the absurdities given as ' the ways of
knowledge ' (absurdities which are necessary to know in order
to a full understanding of the mental state under consideration)
may be cited Qat. Br. iv. 5. 8. 11, where it is said that if the
sacrificial cow goes east the sacrificer wins a good world here-
after ; if north, he becomes more glorious on earth ; if west,
rich in people and crops; if south, he dies; 'such are the
ways of knowledge.' In the same spirit it is said that the sun
rises east because the priest repeats certain verses {Ait. Br. i.

7. 4). No little stress is laid on geographical position. The
east is the quarter of the gods ; the north, of men ; the south,
of the dead (Manes; Cat. Br. i. 2. 5. 17); while the west is
the region of snakes, according to ib. iii. i. i. 7. On account
of the godly nature of the east ("from the east came the gods

1 Yet in Ait. Br. iii. 19, the priest is coolly informed how he may be able to slay
his patron by making a little change in the invocations. Elsewhere such conduct is
reprobated.

- For other covenants, see the epic (chapter on Hinduism).

3 Cat. Br. iii. 4. 2. i ff . ; iii. 6. 2. 25 ; iv. 3. 5. 5 ; iv. 4. i. 17 ; 6. 6. 5 ; 7. 6, etc.; iii.

8. 2. 27 ; 3. 26 ; Ait. Br. i. 24.

194 THE RELIGIONS OE INDIA,

westward to men," ib. ii. 6. i, ii) the sacrificial building, like
occidental churches, is built east and west, not north and
south. The cardinal points are elsewhere given to certain
gods ; thus the north is Rudra's.^

It has been said that the theological ideas are not clear.
This was inevitable, owing to the tendency to identify various
divinities. Especially noticeable is the identification of new or
local gods with others better accredited, Rudra and Agni, etc,
Rudra is the god of cattle, and when the other gods went to
heaven by means of sacrifice he remained on earth ; his local
names are Qarva, Bhava, 'Beast-lord,' Rudra, Agni {Cat. Br. i.
7. 3. 8; ]\Iait. S. i. 6. 6). Indra is the Vasu of the gods. The
gods are occasionally thirty-four in number, eight Vasus, eleven
Rudras, twelve Adityas, heaven and earth, and Prajapati as
the thirty-fourth ; but this Prajapati is the All and Everything
{Cat. B?'. i. 6. 4. 2 ; iv. 5.7.2 ff.). Of these gods, who at first
were all alike and good, three became superior, Agni, Indra,
and Surya. But, again, the Sun is death, and Agni is head of
all the gods. ^Moreover, the Sun is now Indra ; the Manes
are the seasons, and Varuna, too, is the seasons, as being the
year {Cat. Br. iv. 5. 4. i ; i. 6. 4. iS ; iv. 4, 5. 18). Aditi, as we
have said, is the Earth ; the fee for an offering to her is a
cow. Why ? Because Earth is a cow and Aditi is Earth ;
Earth is a mother and a cow is a mother. Hence the fee
is a cow."

The tales of the gods, for the most part, are foolish. But
they show well what conception the priests had of their divini-

1 //'. ii. 6. 2. 5. Here Rudra (compare (^iva and Hekate of the cross-roads) is said
to go upon ' cross-roads ' ; so that his sacrifice is on cross-roads — one of the new teacli-
ings since the time of the Rig Veda. Rudra's sister, Ambika, ib. 9, is another new
creation, the genius of autumnal sickness.

2 (^at. Br. ii. 2. 1. 21. How much non-serious fancy there may be here it is diffi-
cult to determine. It seems impossible that such as follows can have been meant in
earnest : " The sacrifice, prayaja, is victory, jaya, because yoja =^Jaya. With this
knowledge one gets the victory over his rivals" (ib. i. 5. 3. 3, 10).

BRAHMANIC THEOLOGY AXD THE SACKIEICE. 195

ties. Man's original skin was put by the gods upon the cow;
hence a cow runs away from a man because she thinks he is
trying to get back his skin. The gods cluster about at an
oblation, each crying out ' My name,' i.e.^ each is anxious to
get it. The gods, with the evil spirits — 'both sons of the
Father' — attract to themselves the plants; Varuna gets the
barley by a pun. They build castles to defend themselves
from the evil spirits. Five gods are picked out as worthy of
offerings: Aditi, Speech, Agni, Soma, the Sun (five, because
the seasons are five and the regions are five). Indra and Wind
have a dispute of possession; Prajapati, the Father, decides it.
The heavenly singers, called the Gandharvas, recited the Veda
to entice (the divine female) Speech to come to them ; while
the gods, for the same purpose, created the lute, and sang and
played to her. She came to the gods; hence the weakness of
women in regard to such things. Indra is the god of sacrifice;
the stake of the sacrifice is Vishnu's ; Vayu (Wind) is the
leader of beasts ; Bhaga is blind ; ^ Pushan (because he eats
mush) is toothless. The gods run a race to see who shall get
first to the sacrifice, and Indra and A2;ni win ; thev are the
warrior-caste among the gods, and the All-gods are the people
(i'i(ve, z'/f.). Yet, again, the Maruts are the people, and Varuna
is the warrior-caste ; and, again, Soma is the warrior-caste.
The Father-god first created birds, then reptiles and snakes.
As these all died he created mammalia; these survived because
they had food in themselves; hence the Vedic poet says 'three
generations have passed away.'

1 Although Bhaga is here {(^ai. Br. i. -. 4. 6-7, aiidho bhagas) interpreted as the
Sun, he is evidently the same with Good Luck {•• TV(p\6s yap 6 UXovtos'-) or -wealth.

- CMt. Br. iii. i. 2. 13 ft'.; i. i. 2. iS ; iii. 6. i. 8 ff. ; ii. 5. 2. i; iv. 2. i. 11; iii. 4. 4.
3 ff. ; 2. 3. 6-12, 13-14; iv. 5. 5. 12 : I. 3. 13 ff. ; iii. 2. 4. 5-6 ; 3. 2. S ; 7. i. 17 ; iv. 2.
5. 17; 4. I. 15 ; i. 7. 4. 6-7 ; ii. 4. 3. 4 ff. : ii. 5. 2. 34 : 5. i. 12 ; 5. i. i ff. ; RV. viii. loi.
14. The reader must distinguish, in the name of Brahma, the god from the priest,
and this from brahmd, prayer. The first step is brahma — force, power, prayer;
then this is, as a masculine Brahma, the one who prays, that is, pray-er, the Brahman

196 . THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

Varuna is now quite the god of niglit and god of purification,
as a water-god. Water is the ' essence (sap) of immortality,'
and the bath of purification at the end of tlie sacrifice {ava-
hhrihd) stands in direct relation to Varuna. The formula to
be repeated is : "With the gods' help may I wash out sin
against the gods; with the help of men the sin against men"
{(^at. Br. iv. 4. 3. 15; ii. 5. 2. 47). Tvlitra and Varuna are,
respectively, intelligence and will, priest and warrior ; and
while the former may exist without the latter, the latter cannot
live without the former, ' but they are perfect only when they
cooperate' {ih. iv. i. 4. i).

Of the divine legends some are old, some new. One speaks
of the sacrifice as having been at first human, subsequently
changing to beast sacrifice, eventually to a rice offering,
which last now represents the original sacrificial animal, man.-^
Famous, too, is the legend of the flood and Father Manu's
escape from it {Celt. Br. i. 8. i. i ff.). Again,- the Vedic myth
is retold, recounting the rape of soma by the metrical equiva-
lent of fire {Taitt. Br. i. i. 3. 10; Cat. Br. i. 8. 2. 10). An-
other tale takes up anew the old story of Cupid and Psyche
(Pururavas and Urva^i); and another that of the Hindu Pro-
metheus story, wherein Matari^van fetches fire from heaven,
and gives it to mortals {Taitt. Br. iii. 2. 3. 2 ; Cat. Br. xi. 5. i.
I ; i. 7. I. 11)."

Interesting, also, is the tale of Vishnu having been a dwarf,
and the tortoise avatar, not of Vishnu, but of Prajapati ; also
the attempt of the evil spirits to climb to heaven, and the trick
with which Indra outwitted them.'^ For it is noticeable that

priest, as, in the Rig Veda, x. 141. 3, Brihaspati is the ' Brahma of gods.' The next
(Brahmanic) step is deified bra/vna, the personal Brahma as god, called also Father-
god (Prajapati) or simply The Father {pita).

1 Compare Mdit. S. iii. lo. 2 ; Ait. Br. ii. 8 ; (^at. Br. i. 2. 3. 5 ; vi. 2. i. 39: 3. i.
24 ; ii. ;. 2. 16, a ram and ewe ' made of barley.' On human sacrifices, compare
Miiller, A.SL. p. 419; Weber, ZD]\IG. xviii. 262 (seethe Bibliography); Strcifen, i. 54.

2 Weber has translated some of these legends, hid. Strcifeii. i. 9 ff.

3 Tditt. Br. iii. 2. 9. 7 ; (Jat. Br. i. 2. 5. 5 ; ii. i. 2. 13 ff. ; vii. 5. i. 6. ^

BRAHMANIC RELIGION. 197

the evil spirits are as strong by nature as are the gods, and it
is only by craft that the latter prevail.^

Seldom are the tales of the gods indecent. The story of
Prajapati's incest with his daughter is a remnant of nature
worship which survives, in more or less anthropomorphic form,
from the time of the Rig Veda (x. 6i.) to that of mediaeval
literature,^ and is found in full in the epic, as in the Brahmanic
period ; but the story always ends wdth the horror of the gods
at the act/'

Old legends are varied. The victory over Vritra is now
expounded thus : Indra, who slays Vritra, is the sun. Vritra
is the moon, who swims into the sun's mouth on the night of
the new moon. The sun rises after swallowing him, and the
moon is invisible because he is swallowed (" he who knows
this swallows his foes "). The sun vomits out the moon, and
the latter is then seen in the west, and increases again, to
serve the sun as food. In another passage it is said that when
the moon is invisible he is hiding in plants and waters (^Qat.
Br. i. 6. 3. 17; 4. iS-20).

BRAHMANIC RELIGION.

When the sacrifice is completed the priest returns, as it were,
to earth, and becomes human. He formally puts off his sacri-
ficial vow, and rehabilitates himself with humanity, saying, "I
am even he that I am."'* As such a man, through service to
the gods become a divine offering, and no longer human, was
doubtless considered the creature that first served as the

^ Compare Mdit. S. i. 9. 8 ; (^at. Br. i. 6. i. i ff. The seasons desert the gods,
and the demons thrive. In (^at. Br.A. 5. 4. 6-1 1, the Asuras and Indra contend with
numbers. ~ Miiller, ASL. p. 529.

3 Mdit. S. iv. 2. 12 ; ^at. Br. i. 7. 4. i; ii. i. 2. 9 ; vi. i. 3. 8 ; Ait. Br. iii. 33. Com-
pare Muir, OST. iv. p. 45. At a later period there are frequently found indecent tales
of the gods, and the Brahmanas themselves are vulgar enough, but they exhibit no
special lubricity on the part of the priests.

4 Idam aham ya ci'd'snii so asmi, (^at. Br. i. i. 1.6; 9, 3. 23.

198 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

sacrificial animal. Despite protestant legends such as that just
recorded, despite formal disclaimers, human sacrifice existed
long after the period of the Rig Veda, where it is alluded to ;
a period when even old men are exposed to die.-^ The
anaddhapurusha is not a fiction ; for that, on certain occasions,
instead of this 'man of straw' a real victim was offered, is
shown by the ritual manuals and by Brahmanic texts.- Thus,
in Cat. Br. vi. 2. i. 18: "He kills a man first. . . . The cord
that holds the man is the longest." It is noteworthy that also
among the American Indians the death of a human victim by
fire was regarded as a religious ceremony, and that, just as in
India the man to be sacrificed was allowed almost all his
desires for a year, so the victim of the Indian was first greeted
as brother and presented with gifts, even with a wife.'"

But this, the terrible barbaric side of religious w^orship, is
now distinctly yielding to a more humane religion. The 'barley
ewe ' ^ is taking the place of a bloodier offering. It has been
urged that the humanity^ and the accompanying silliness of
the Brahmanic period as compared with the more robust char-
acter of the earlier age are due to the w^eakening and softening
effects of the climate. But we doubt whether the climate of
the Punjab differs as much from that of Delhi and Patna as
does the character of the Rig Veda from that of the Brahmanas.
We shall protest again when we come to the subject of

1 RV. viii. 51. 2 ; Zimmer, loc. cit. p. 328.

2 Compare Weber, Episch. in Vedisch. Ritual^ p. ']']'] (and above). The man who
is slaughtered must be neither a priest nor a slave, but a warrior or a man of the
third caste (Weber, loc. cit. above).

3 Le Mercier^ 1637, ap. Parkman, loc. cit. p. 80. The current notion that the
American Indian burns his victims at the stake merely for pleasure is not incorrect.
He frequently did so, as he does so to-day, but- in the seventeenth century this act
often is part of a religious ceremony. He probably would have burned his captive,
anyway, but he gladly utilized his pleasure as a means of propitiating his gods. In
India it was just the other way.

^ Substitutes of metal or of earthen victims are also mentioned.
. 5 That the'Vedic rite of killing the sacrificial beast (by beating and smothering)
was very cruel may be seen in the description, Ait. Br. ii. 6.

BRAHMAXIC RELIGION. 199

Buddhism against the too great influence which has been
claimed for climate. Politics and society, in our opinion, had
more to do with altering the religions of India than had a
higher temperature and miasma'. As a result of ease and sloth
— for the Brahmans are now the divine pampered servants of
established kings, not the energetic peers of a changing popu-
lation of warriors — the priests had lost the inspiration that
came from action ; they now made no new hymns ; they only
formulated new rules of sacrifice. They became intellectually
debauched and altogether weakened in character. Synchro-
nous with this universal degradation and lack of fibre, is found
the occasional substitution of barley and rice sacrifices for
those of blood ; and it may be that a sort of selfish charity was
at work here, and the priest saved the beast to spare himself.
But there is no very early evidence of a humane view of sacri-
fice influencing the priests.

The Brahman is no Jain. One must read far to hear a note
of the approaching ahimsd doctrine of 'non-injury.' At most
one finds a contemptuous allusion, as in a pitying strain, to the
poor plants and animals that follow after man in reaping some
sacrificial benefit from a ceremony.^ It does not seem to us
that a recognized respect for animal life or kindness to dumb
creatures lies at the root of proxy sacrifice, though it doubtless
came in play. But still less does it appear probable that, as is
often said, aversion to beast-sacrilice . is due to the doctrine of
karma^ and re-birth in animal form. /The karma notion begins
to appear in the Brahmanas, but U'Ot in the sainsai-a shape of
transmigration. It was surely not because the Hindu was
afraid of eating his deceased grandmother that he first abstained
from meat. For, long after the doctrine of ka?'77ia and sainsara'^
is established, animal sacrifices are not only permitted but

1 Cat. Br. \. 5. 2. 4.

2 Samsdra is transmigration ; ka7-}}ia, ' act,' implies that the change of abode is
conditioned by the acts of a former life. Each may exclude the other ; but in common
parlance each implies the other.

200 THE RELIGIOXS OF IXDIA.

enjoined ; and the epic characters shoot deer and even eat
cows. We think, in short, that the cliange began as a sump-
tuary measure only. In the case of human sacrifice tliere is
doubtless a civilized repugnance to the act, which is clearly
seen in many passages where the slaughter of man is made
purely symbolical. The only wonder is that it should have
obtained so long after the age of the Rig Veda. But like the
stone knife of sacrifice among the Romans it is received custom,
and hard to do away with, for priests are conservative. Human
sacrifice must have been peculiarly horrible from the fact that
the sacrificer not only had to kill the man but to eat him, as is
attested by the formal statement of the liturgical works. -^ But
in the case of other animals (there are five sacrificial animals,
of which man is first) we think it was a question of expense on
the part of the laity. When the soma became rare and expen-
sive, substitutes were permitted and enjoined. So with the
great sacrifices. The priests had built up a great complex of
forms, where at every turn fees were demanded. The whole
expense, falling on the one individual to whose benefit accrued
the sacrifice, must have been enormous ; in the case of ordinary
people impossible. But the priests then permitted the sacrifice
of substitutes, for their fees still remained; and even in the
case of human sacrifice some such caution may have worked,
for ordinarily it cost 'one thousand cattle' to buy a man to be
sacrificed. A proof of this lies in the fact that animal sacrifices
were not forbidden at any time, only smaller (cheaper) animals
took the place of cattle. In the completed Brahmanic code the
rule is that animals ought not to be killed except at sacrifice,
and practically the smaller creatures were substituted for cattle,
just as the latter had gradually taken the place of the old horse
(and man) sacrifice.

If advancins: civilization results in an as^reeable chancre of
morality in many regards, it is yet accompanied with wretched

1 Weber, IndlscJie Strcifcn, i. p. 72.

BRAHMAXIC RELIGION. 201

traits in others. The whole silliness of superstition exceeds
belief. Because Bhallabheya once broke his arm on changing
the metre of certain formulae, it is evident to the priest that it
is wrong to trifle with received metres, and hence "let no one
do this hereafter." There is a compensation on reading such
trash in the thought that all this superstition has kept for us
a carefully preserved text, but that is an accident of priestly
foolishness, and the priest can be credited only with the folly.
Why is ' horse-grass ' used in the sacrifice ? Because the sacri-
fice once ran away and "became a horse," Again one is
thankful for the historical side-light on the horse-sacrifice ;
but the witlessness of the unconscious historian can but bring
him into contempt.^ Charms that are said against one are of
course cast out by other charms. If one is not prosperous
with one name he takes another. If the cart creaks at the
sacrifice it is the voice of evil spirits ; and a formula must
avert the omen. ^(?;;/<^z-husks are liable to turn into snakes ;
a formula must avert this catastrophe. Everything done at
the sacrifice is godly ; crgo.^ everything human is to be done
in an inhuman manner, and, since in human practice one cuts
his left finger-nails first and combs the left side of the beard
first, at the sacrifice he must cut nails and beard first on the
other side, for "whatever is human at a sacrifice is useless"
(jiyrddham vai tad yajnasya yad manusani). Of religious puns
we have given instances already. Agni says: "prop me on
the propper for that is proper " (Jiitd)^ etc., etc.- One of these
examples of depraved superstition is of a more dangerous
nature. The effect of the sacrifice is covert as well as overt.

1 Cat. Br. i. 7. 3. 19; iii. 4. i. 17.

- (^'at. Dr. iii. 5. 4. 10 ; 6. 2. 24 ; 5. 3. 17 (compare 6. 4. 23-24 ; 3. 4. 11 ; 2. i. 12) ;
iii. I. 2. 4; 3. 14; i. 7. 2. 9: vi. I. 2. 14. The cliange of name is interesting. There
is a remark in another part of tlie same work to the effect tiiat wlien a man prospers
in Ufe they give his name also to his son, grandson, aiid to his father and grand-
father (vi. I. 2. 13). On the other hand, ft was the custom of the Indian kings in
later ages to assume the names of their prosperous grandfathers (JRAS. iv. S5).

202 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

The word is as potent as the act. Consequently if the sacrificer
during the sacrifice merely mutter the words "let such an one
die," he must die; for the sacrifice is holy, godl}' ; the words
are divine, and cannot be frustrated {Cat. Br. iii. i. 4. i ;
iv. I. I. 26).

All this superstition would be pardonable if it were primitive.
But that it comes long after the Vedic poets have sung reveals
a continuance of stupidity which is marvellous. Doubtless
those same poets were just as superstitious, but one would
think that with all the great literature behind them, and the
thoughts of the philosophers just rising among them, these later
priests might show a higher level of intelligence. But in this
regard they are to India what were the monks of mediaeval
times to Europe.

We turn now to the ethical side of religion. But, before
leaving the sacrifice, one point should be explained clearly.
The Hindu sacrifice can be performed only by the priest,
and he must be of the highest caste. No other might or could
perform it. For he alone understood the ancient texts, which
to the laity were already only half intelligible. Again, as Barth
has pointed out, the Hindu sacrifice is performed only for one
individual or his family. It was an expensive rite (for the
gaining of one object), addressed to many gods for the benefit
of one man. To ofi^set this, however, one must remember that
there w^ere popular fetes and sacrifices of a more general nature,
to which tnan}^ were invited and in which even the lower castes
took part; and these were also of remote antiquity.

Already current in the Brahmanas is the phrase 'man's
debts.' Either three or four of such moral obligations were
recognized, debts to the gods, to the seers, to the ]\Ianes, and
to men. Whoever pays these debts, it is said, has discharged
all his duties, and by him all is obtained, all is won. And
what are these duties ? To the gods he owes sacrifices ; to the
seers, study of the Vedas ; to the Mayes, oiTspring ; to man,

BRAHMANIC RELIGIOX. 203

hospitality {Cat. B?-. i. 7. 2. iff.; in Taitt. Br. vi. 3. 10. 5, the
last fails). Translated into modern equivalents this means
that man must have faith and good works. But more really is
demanded than is stated here. First and foremost is the duty
of truthfulness. Agni is the lord of vows among the gods
(RV. viii. II. I ; Cat. Br. iii. 2. 2. 24), and speech is a divinity
(Sarasvati is personified speech, Cat. Br. iii. i. 4. 9, etc.).
Truth is a religious as well as moral duty. " This (All) is
two-fold, there is no third; all is either truth or untruth ; now
truth alone is the gods {satyatn eva devds) and untruth is man.'" -^
Moreover, ''one law the gods observe, truth" {Qat. Br. i. i. i.
4; iii. 3. 2. 2 ; 4. 2. 8). There is another passage upon this
subject : '• To serve the sacred fire means truth ; he who speaks
truth feeds the hre ; he who speaks lies pours water on it ; in
the one case he strengthens his vital (spiritual) energy, and
becomes better ; in the other he weakens it and becomes
w^orse " (//''. ii, 2. 2. 19). The second sin, expressly named
and reprobated as such, is adultery. This is a sin against
Varuna.' In connection with this there is an interestinof
passage implying a priestly confessional. At the sacrifice
the sacrificer's wife is formally asked by the priest whether
she is faithful to her husband. She is asked this that she
may not sacrifice with guilt on her soul, for "when confessed
the guilt becomes less."^ If it is asked what other moral virtues
are especially inculcated besides truth and purity the answer is
that the acts commonly cited as self-evidently sins are murder,
theft, and abortion ; incidentally, gluttony, anger, and procras-

1 Were it not for the first clause it would be more natural to render the original
' The gods are truth alone, and men are untruth.'

2 In (^at. Br. ii. 4. 2. 5-6 it is said that the Father-god gives certain rules of eating
to gods. Manes, men, and beasts: '• Neither gods, Manes, nor beasts transgress the
Father's law. only some men do."

3 Cat. Br. ii. ;. 2. 20. "\''aruna seizes on her paramour, when she confesses. Tditt.
Br. i. 6. 5. 2. The guilt confessed becomes less "because it thereby becomes truth"
(right).

204 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

tination.-^ As to the moral virtue of observing days, certain
times are allowed and certain times are not allowed for worldly
acts. But every day is in part a holy-day to the Hindu. The
list of virtues is about the same, therefore, as that of the deca-
logue — the worship of the right divinity ; the observance of
certain seasons for prayer and sacrifice ; honor to the parents ;
abstinence from theft, murder, adultery. Envy alone is omitted.^

What eschatological conceptions are strewn through the
literature of this era are vao;ue and often contradictorv. The
souls of the departed are at one time spoken of as the stars
{Taitt. S. V. 4. I. 3) ; at another, as uniting with gods and
living in the world of the gods {Cat. Br. ii. 6. 4. 8).

The principle of kai'ina., if not the theory, is already known,
but the very thing that the completed philosopher abhors is
looked upon as a blessing, viz., rebirth, body and all, even on
earth. "^ Thus in one passage, as a reward for knowing some
divine mystery (as often happens, this mystery is of little im-
portance, only that ' spring is born again out of winter '), the
savant is to be 'born again in this world ' {piuiar ha vTi \is7)i'ni
loke hhavati^ Cat. Br. i. 5. 3. 14). The esoteric wisdom is
here the transfer of the doctrine of metempsychosis to spring.
]\Ian has no hope of immortal life (on earth) ; "* but, by estab-

1 See (^at. Br. ii. 4. 2. 6; 4. i. 14; i. 3. 9; 3. i. 28: "Who knows man's morrow?
Then let one not procrastinate." " Today is self, this alone is certain, uncertain is
the morrow."'

" Some little rules are interesting. The Pythagorean abstinence from viashs,
beans, for instance, is enjoined ; though this rule is opposed by Barku Varshna,
(^at. Br. i. i. i. lo, on the ground that no offering to the gods is made of beans;
" hence he said ' cook beans for me.' "

3 Animals may represent gods. " The bull is a form of Indra," and so if the bull
can be made to roar {Cat. Br. ii. 5. 3. iS), then one may know that Indra is come to
the sacrifice. " Man is born into (whatever) world is made (by his acts in a previous
existence)," is a short formula {(^af. Br. vi. 2. 2. 27), which represents the karma
doctrine in its essential principle, though the ' world ' is here not this world, but
the next. Compare Weber, ZDIMG. ix. 237 ff. ; Muir, OST. v. 314 ff.

4 Though youth may be restored to him by the Agvins, ^at. Br. iv. i. 5. i ff.
Here the Horsemen are identified with Heaven and Earth (16).

BRAHMANIC RELIGION. 205

lishing the holy fires, and especially by establishing in his
inmost soul the immortal element of fire, he lives the full
desirable length of life {ib. ii. 2. 2. 14. To the later sage,
length of life is undesirable). But in yonder world, where the
sun itself is death, the soul dies again and again. All those
on the other side of the sun, the gods, are immortal ; but all
those on this side are exposed to this death. When the sun
wishes, he draws out the vitality of any one, and then that one
dies ; not once, but, being drawn up by the sun, which is
death, into the very realm of death (how different to the con-
ception of the sun in the Rig Veda !) he dies over and over
again. ^ But in another passage it is said that when the sac-
rificer is consecrated he ' becomes one of the deities ' ; and
one even finds the doctrine that one obtains ' union with
Brahma,' which is quite in the strain of the Upanishads ; but
here such a saying can refer only to the upper castes, for " the
gods talk only to the upper castes " {Cat. Br. xi. 4. 4. i ; iii.
I. I. 8-10). The dead man is elsewhere represented as going
to heaven ' with his whole body,' and, according to one passage,
when he gets to the next world his good and evil are weighed
in a balance. There are, then, quite diverse views in regard
to the fate of a man after death, and not less various are the
opinions in regard to his reward and punishment. According
to the common belief the dead, on leaving this world, pass
between two fires, agiikikhe, raging on either side of his path.
These fires burn the one that ought to be burned (the wicked),
and let the good pass by. Then the spirit (or the man him-

1 Cat. Br. ii. 3. 3. 7. Apropos of the Brahmanic sun it may be mentioned that,
according to Ait. Br. iii. 44, the sun never really sets. " People think that he sets,
but in truth he only turns round after reaching the end of the day, and makes night
below, day above; and when they think he rises in the morning, he. having come to
the end of the night, turns round, and makes day below, niglit above. He never
really sets. Whoever knows this of him, that he never sets, obtains union and like-
ness of form with the sun. and the same abode as the sun's." Compare Muir, OST.
V. 321. This may be the real reason why the Rig Veda speaks of a dark and
light sun.

206 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

self in body) is represented as going up on one of two paths.
Either he goes to the Manes on a path which, according to
later teaching, passes southeast tlirough the moon, or he goes
northeast (the gods' direction) to the sun, which is his 'course
and stay.' In the same chapter one is informed that the rays
of the sun are the good (dead), and that every brightest light
is the Father-god. The general conception here is that the
sun or the stars are the destination of the pious. On the other
hand it is said that one will enjoy the fruit of his acts here on
earth, in a new birth ; or that he will 'go to the next world';
or that he will suffer for his sins in hell. The last is told in
legendary form, and appears to us to be not an early view
retained in folk-lore, but a late modification of an old legend.
Varuna sends his son Bhrigu to hell to find out what happens
after death, and he finds people suffering torture, and, again,
avenging themselves on those that have wronged them. But,
despite the resemblance between this and Grecian myth, the
fact that in the whole compass of the Rik (in the Atharvan
perhaps in v. 19) there is not the slightest allusion to torture
in hell, precludes, to our mind, the possibility of this phase
having been an ancient inherited belief.^

Annihilation or a life in under darkness is the first (Rik)
hell. The general antithesis of light (as good) and darkness
(as bad) is here plainly revealed again. Sometimes a little
variation occurs. Thus, according to Cat. Br. vi. 5. 4. 8, the
stars are women-souls, perhaps, as elsewhere, men also. The

1 Qat. Br. i. 4. 3. 11-22 ('The sinner shall suffer and go quickly to yonder
world') ; xi. 6. i (compare Weber, loc. cit. p. 20 if.; ZDMG. ix. 237), the Bhrigu
story, of which a more modern form is found in the Upanishad period. For the
course of the sun, the fires on either side of the way, the departure to heaven ' with
the whole body,' compare (^at. Br. i. 9. 3. 2-15 ; iv. 5. i. i ; vi. 6. 2. 4 ; xi. 2. 7. il '1
Weber, /£)<:. clt.: ]kluir, loc. cit. v. p. 314. Not to have all one's bones in the next
world is a disgrace, as Muir says, and for that reason they are collected at burial.
Compare the custom as described by the French missionaries here. The American
Indian has to have all his bones for future use, and the burying of the skeleton is an
annual religious ceremony.

BRAHMA XI C THE OKIES OE C RE ATI OX. 207

converse notion that darkness is the abode of evil appears at
a very early date : " Indra brought down the heathen, dasyns,
into the lowest darkness," it is said in the Atharva Veda

(ix. 2. 1^)}

In the later part of the great ' Brahman a of the hundred
paths ' there seems to be a more modern view inculcated in
regard to the fate of the dead. Thus, in \\. i. 2. 36, the
opinion of ' some,' that the fire on the altar is to bear the
worshipper to the sky, is objected to, and it is explained that
he becomes immortal ; which antithesis is in purely Upani-
shadic style, as will be seen below.

BRAHMANIC THEORIES OF CREATION.

In Vedic polytheism, with its strain of pantheism, the act of
creating the world" is variously attributed to dift'erent gods. At
the end of this period theosophy invented the god of the
golden germ, the great Person (known also by other titles),
who is the one (pantheistic) god, in whom all things are con-
tained, and who himself is contained in even the smallest
thing. The Atharvan transfers the same idea in its delinea-
tion of the pantheistic image to Varuna, that Varuna who is
the seas and yet is contained "in the drop of water" (iv. 16),
a Varuna as different to the Varuna of the Rik as is the

1 Compare RV. iv. 28. 4 : ' Thou Indra madest lowest the heathen.' Weber has
shown, loc. cif.. that the general notion of the Brahmanas is that all are born again
in the next world, where they are rewarded or punished according as they are good
or bad ; whereas in the Rig Veda the good rejoice in heaven, and the bad are anni-
hilated. This general view is to be modified, however, by such side-theories as those
just mentioned, that the good (or wise) may be reborn on earth, or be united with
gods, or become sunlight or stars (the latter are 'watery' to the Hindu, and this
may explain the statement that the soul is ' in the midst of waters ').

- There is in this age no notion of the repeated creations found in later literature.
On the contrary, it is expressly said in the Rig \'eda, vi. 4S. 22, that heaven and
earth are created but once : " Only once was heaven created, only once was earth
created," Zimmer, AIL, 40S.

20S THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

Atharvan Indra to his older prototype. Philosophically the
Rik, at its close, declares that "desire is the seed of mind,*'
and that '* being arises from not-being."

In the Brahmanas the creator is the All-god in more anthropo-
morphic form. The Father-god, Prajapati, or Brahma (per-
sonal equivalent of b?'ahma) is not only the father of gods,
men, and devils, but he is the All. This Father-god of uni-
versal sovereignty, Brahma, remains to the end the personal
creator. It is he who will serve as creator for the Puranic
Sankhya philosophy, and even after the rise of the Hindu
sects he will still be regarded in this light, although his activity
wall be conditioned by the will of Vishnu or Civa. In pure
philosophy there will be an abstract First Cause ; but as there
is no religion in the acknowledgment of a First Cause, this too
will soon be anthropomorphized.

The Brahmanas themselves present no clear picture of crea-
tion. All the accounts of a personal creator are based merely
on anthropomorphized versions of the text 'desire is the seed.'
Prajapati wishes offspring, and creates. There is, on the
other hand, a philosophy of creation which reverts to the tale
of the 'golden germ.'-*^ The world was at first water; thereon
floated a cosmic golden egg (the principle of fire). Out of
this came Spirit that desired ; and by desire he begat the
worlds and all things. It is improbable that in this somewhat
Orphic mystery there lies any pre-Vedic myth. The notion
comes up first in the golden germ and egg-born bird (sun) of
the Rik. It is not specially Aryan, and is found even among
the American Indians.^ It is this Spirit with which the Father-
god is identified. But guess-work philosophy then asks what

1 When the principle of life is explained it is in terms of sun or fire. Thus
Prajapati, Lord of beings, or Father-god, is first an epithet of Savitar, R\'. iv. 53. 2 ;
and the golden germ must be fire.

2 Schoolcraft, Historical afid Statistical hifonnation. i. 32. As examples of the
many passages where 'water is the beginning' may be cited Cat. B-r. vi. 7. i. 17;
xi. 1.6. I. The sun, born as Aditi's eighth son, is the bird, ' egg-born,' R\'. x. ']2. S.

BRAHMAXIC THEORIES OF CREATIOX. 209

upheld this god, and answers that a support upheld all things.
So Support becomes a god in his turn, and, since he must
reach through time and space, this Support, Skambha, becomes
the All-god also ; and to him as to a great divinity the Atharv^an
sings some of its wildest strains. When once speculation is
set going in the Brahmanas, the result of its travel is to land
its followers in intellectual chaos. -^ The gods create the Father-
god in one passage, and in another the Father-god creates the
gods. The Father creates the waters, whence rises the golden
^2,%. But, again, the waters create the ^g^, and out of the &gg is
born the Father. A farrago of contradictions is all that these tales
amount to, nor are they redeemed even by a poetical garb."

In the period immediately following the Brahmanas, or
toward the end of the Brahmanic period, as one will, there is a
famous distinction made between the gods. Some gods, it is
said, are spirit-gods ; some are work-gods. They are born of
spirit and of works, respectively. The difference, however, is
not essential, but functional ; so that one may conclude from
this authority, the Nirukta (a grammatical and epexigetical
work), that all the gods have a like nature ; and that the spirit-
gods, who are the older, differ only in lack of specific functions
from the work-gods. A not uninteresting debate follows this
passage in regard to the true nature of the gods. Some people
say they are anthropomorphic : others deny this. " And cer-
tainly what is seen of the gods is not anthropomorphic ; for
example, the sun, the earth, etc."" In such a period of theo-
logical advance it is matter of indifference to which of a group
of gods, all essentially one, is laid the task of creation. And,
indeed, from the Vedic period until the completed systems of
philosophy, all creation to the philosopher is but emanation ;
and stories of specific acts of creation are not regarded by him

1 Among the new creators of Atharvan origin are, for instance, the sun under the
name of Rohita, Desire (Love), etc.. etc.

- Ilkistrations of these contradictions may be found in plenty apicd Muir iv.
p. 20 ff. 3 Xirukta, vii. 4 ; Muir, loc. cit. p. 131 and v. 17.

210 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

as detracting from the creative faculty of the First Cause. The
actual creator is for him the factor and agent of the real god.
On the other hand, the vulgar worshipper of every era believed
only in reproduction on the part of an anthropomorphic god ;
and that god's own origin he satisfactorily explained by the
myth of the golden egg. The view depended in each case not
on the age but on the man.

If in these many pages devoted to the Brahmanas we have
produced the impression that the religious literature of this
period is a confused jumble, where unite descriptions of cere-
monies, formulae, mysticism, superstitions, and all the output
of active bigotry ; an olla podrida which contains, indeed, odds
and ends of sound morality, while it presents, on the whole, a
sad view of the latter-day saints, who devoted their lives to
making it what it is ; we have offered a fairly correct view of
the age and its priests, and the rather dreary series of illustra-
tions will not have been collected in vain. We have given,
however, no notion at all of the chief object of this class of
writings, the liturgical details of the sacrifices themselves.
Even a re'sunne' of one comparatively short ceremony would be
so long and tedious that the explication of the intricate formali-
ties would scarcely be a sufficient reward. AVith Hillebrandt's
patient analysis of the New- and Full-Moon sacrifice,^ of which
a sketch is given by von Schroeder in his Literatur luid Cu/tiir,
the curious reader will be able to satisfy himself that a minute
description of these ceremonies would do little to further his
knowledge of the religion, when once he grasps the fact that
the sacrifice is but show. Svmbolism without folk-lore, onlv
with the imbecile imaginings of a daft mysticism, is the soul of
it; and its outer form is a certain number of formulae, mechani-
cal movements, oblations, and slaughterings.

1 Neil- Jind Vollnio)ids Offc)-, iSSo. The Dlks/ia, or initir.tion, has been described
by Lindner ; the RTyasfiya and Vajapcya, by Weber.

THE SACRIFICE OF DOGS TAIL. 211

But we ought not to close the account of the era without
giving counter-illustrations of the legendary aspect of this
religion ; for which purpose we select two of the best-known
tales, one from the end of the Brahinana that is called the
Aitareya ; the other from the beginning of the Qatapatha ;
the former in abstract, the 1-atter in full.

THE SACRIFICE OF DOGSTAIL {Ait. Br. vii. 13).

Hari^candra, a king born in the great race of Ikshvaku, had
no son. A sage told him what blessings are his who has a
son : ' He that has no son has no place in the world ; in the
person of a son a man is reborn, a second self is begotten.'
Then the king desired a son, and the sage instructed him to
pray to Varuna for one, and to offer to sacrifice him to the god.
This he did, and a son, Rohita, at last was born to him. God
Varuna demanded the sacrifice. But the king said : ' He is not
fit to be sacrificed, so young as he is ; wait till he is ten days
old.' The god waited ten days, and demanded the sacrifice.
But the king said : ' Wait till his teeth come.' The god waited,
and then demanded the sacrifice. But the king said : ' Wait
till his teeth fall out ' ; and when the god had waited, and
again demanded the sacrifice, the father said : ' Wait till his
new teeth come.' But, when his teeth were come and he was
demanded, the father said : ' A warrior is not fit to be sacrificed
till he has received his armor ' (i.e., until he is knighted). So
the god waited till the boy had received his armor, and then
he demanded the sacrifice. Thereupon, the king called his
son, and said unto him : ' I will sacrifice thee to the god who
gave thee to me.' But the son said, ' No, no," and took his
bow and fled into the desert. Then Varuna caused the king
to be afflicted with dropsy.^ When Rohita heard of this he

1 The water-sickness already imputed to tliis god in the Rig Veda. This tale and
that of Bhrigu (referred to above) show an ancient trait in the position of Varuna, as
chief god.

212 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

was about to return, but Indra, disguised as a priest, met him,
and said : ' Wander on, for the foot of a wanderer is like a
riower ; his spirit grows, and reaps fruit, and all his sins are
forgiven in the fatigue of wandering.' ■■• So Rohita, thinking
that a priest had commanded him, wandered ; and every year,
as he would return, Indra met him, and told him still to wander.
On one of these occasions Indra inspires him to continue on
his journey by telling him that the krita was now auspicious ;
using the names of dice afterwards applied to the four ages.^*
Finally, after six years, Rohita resolved to purchase a substi-
tute for sacrifice. He meets a starving seer, and offers to buy
one of his sons (to serve as sacrifice), the price to be one hun-
dred cows. The seer has three sons, and agrees to the bargain ;
but "the father said, ' Do not take the oldest,' and the mother
said, ' Do not take the youngest,' so Rohita took the middle
son, Dogstail." Varuna immediately agrees to this substitu-
tion of Dogstail for Rohita, " since a priest is of more value
than a warrior."

The sacrifice is made ready, and Vigvamitra (the Vedic seer)
is the officiating priest. But no one would bind the boy to
the post. ' If thou wilt give me another hundred cows I will
bind him,' says the father of Dogstail. But then no one
would kill the boy. ' If thou wilt give me another hundred
cows I will kill him,' says the father. The Apri verses '"' are
said, and the fire is carried around the boy. He is about to
be slain. Then Dogstail prays to 'the first of gods,' the
Father-god, for protection. But the Father-god tells him to
pray to Agni, 'the nearest of the gods.' Agni sends him to
another, and he to another, till at last, when the boy has
prayed to all the gods, including the All-gods, his fetters drop

1 This is the germ of the pilgrimage-doctrine (see Jjelow).

2 Perhaps (M. ix. 301) interpolated; or the first allusion to the Four Ages.

3 These (compare afi-i, 'blessing." in the Avesta) are verses in the Rig \'eda
introducing the sacrifice. They are meant as propitiations, and appear to be an
ancient part of the ritual.

THE SACRIFICE OF DOGS TAIL. 213

off ; Hari^xandra's dropsy ceases, and all ends well.^ Only,
\vhen the avaricious father demands his son back, he is refused,
and Vi^vamitra adopts the boy, even dispossessing his own
protesting sons. For fifty of the latter agree to the exaltation
of Dogstail ; but fifty revolt, and are cursed by Vi^'vamitra,
that their sons' sons should become barbarians, the Andhras,
Pundras, Cabaras, Pulindas, and Mutibas, savage races (of this
time), one of which can be located on the southeast coast.
The conclusion, and the matter that follows close on this tale,
is significant of the time, and of the priest's authority. For it
is said that ' if a king hears this story he is made free of sin,'
but he can hear it only from a. priest, who is to be rewarded
for telling it by a gift of one thousand cows, and other rich
goods.

The matter following, to which we have alluded, is the use
of sacrificial formulae to defeat the king's foes, the description
of a royal inauguration, and, at this ceremony, the oath which
the king has to swear ere the priest will anoint him (he is
anointed with milk, honey, butter, and water, ' for water is
immortalitv ') : "I swear that thou mavst take from me what-
ever good works I do to the day of my death, together with
my life and children, if ever I should do thee harm." ^

When the priest is secretly told how he may ruin the king
by a false invocation at the sacrifice, and the king is made to
swear that if ever he hurts the priest the latter may rob him of
earthly and heavenly felicity, the respective positions of the
two, and the contrast between this era and that of the early
hymns, become strikingly evident. It is not from such an age
as this that one can explain the spirit of the Rig Veda.

1 A group of h} mns in the first book of the Rig Veda are attributed to Dogstail.
At any rate, they do allude to him, and so prove a moderate antiquity (probably the
middle period of the Rik) for the tale. The name, in Sanskrit Qunasgepa, has been
ingeniously starred by Weber as Cynosoura : the last part of each compound having
the same meaning, and the first part being even phonetically the same {^ii}ias, kxjvos).

2 Ait. Br. viii. lo, 15, 20.

214 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

The nsxt selection is the famous story of the flood, which
we translate literally in its older form/ The object of the
legend in the Brahmana is to explain the importance of the
Ida (or Ilaj ceremony, which is identified with Ida, Manu's
daughter,

" In the morning they brought water to Manu to wash with,
even as they bring it to-day to wash hands with. While he
was washing a fish came into his hands. The fish said, ' Keep
me, and I will save thee.' 'What wilt thou save me from?'
' A flood will sweep away all creatures on earth. I will save
thee from that.' ' How am I to keep thee .'" ' As long as we
are small,' said he (the fish), '\ye are subject to much destruc-
tion ; fish eats fish. Thou shalt keep me first in a jar. When
I outgrow that, thou shalt dig a hole, and keep me in it.
When I outgrow that, thou shalt take me down to the sea,
for there I shall be beyond destruction.'

" It soon became a (great horned fish called a) Jhasha, for
this grows the largest, and then it said : ' The flood will come
this summer (or in such a year). Look out for (or worship)
me, and build a ship. When the flood rises, enter into the
ship, and I will save thee.' After he had kept it he took it
down to the sea. And the same summer (year) as the fish
had told him he looked out for (or worshipped) the fish ; and
built a ship. And when the flood rose he entered into the
ship. Then up swam the fish, and Manu tied the ship's rope
to the horn of the fish ; and thus he sailed swiftly up toward
the mountain of the north. ' I have saved thee ' said he (the
fish). ' Fasten the ship to a tree. But let not the water leave
thee stranded while thou art on the mountain (top). Descend
slowly as the water goes down.' So he descended slowly,
and that descent of the mountain of the north is called the

1 The epic has a later version. This earlier form is found in (^at. BrA. 8. i. For
the story of the flood among the American Indians compare Schoolcraft {Historical
and Statistical Information), i. 17.

THE STORY OF THE FLOOD. 215

'Descent of Manu.' The flood then swept oft all the creatures
of the earth, and Manu here remained alone. Desirous of
posterity, he worshipped and performed austerities. While he
was performing a sacrifice, he offered up in the waters clarified
butter, sour milk, whey and curds. Out of these in a year was
produced a woman. She arose when she was solid, and clari-
fied butter collected where she trod. Mitra and Varuna met
her, and said : ' Who art thou.'' ' ' Manu's daughter,' said she.
'Say ours,' said they. 'No,' said she; 'I am my father's.'
They wanted part in her. She agreed to this, and she did
not agree ; but she went by them and came to Manu. Said
Manu: 'Who art thou?' 'Thy daughter,' said she. 'How
my daughter, glorious woman ? ' She said : ' Thou hast
begotten me of the offering, which thou madest in the water,
clarified butter, sour milk, whey, and curds. I am a blessing ;
use me at the sacrifice. If thou usest me at the sacrifice, thou
shaft become rich in children and cattle. Whatever blessing
thou invokest through me, all shall be granted to thee.' So
he used her as the blessing in the middle of the sacrifice.
For what is between the introductory and final offerings is the
middle of the sacrifice. With her he went on worshipping and
performing austerities, wishing for offspring. Through her he
begot the race of men on earth, the race of Manu ; and
whatever the blessing he invoked through her, all was granted
unto him.

" Now she is the same with the Ida ceremony ; and whoever,
knowing this, performiS sacrifice with the Ida, he begets the
race that Manu generated ; and whatever blessing he invokes
through her, all is granted unto him."

There is one of the earliest avatar stories in this tale.
Later writers, of course, identify the fish with Brahma and
with Vishnu. In other early Brahmanas the avatars of a
god as a tortoise and a boar were known long before they
were appropriated by the Vishnuites.

CHAPTER X.
BRAHMANIC PANTHEISM. —THE UPANISHADS.

In the A'^edic hymns man fears the gods, and imagines God.
In the Brahmanas man subdues the gods, and fears God. In
the Upanishads man ignores the gods, and becomes God.y

Such in a word is the theosophic relations between the
three periods represented by tlie first Vedic Collection, the
ritualistic Brahmanas, and the philosophical treatises called
Upanishads. Yet if one took these three strata of thought
to be quite independent of each other he would go amiss.
Rather is it true that the Brahmanas logically continue what
the hymns begin ; that the Upanishads logically carry on the
thought of the Brahmanas. And more, for in the oldest
Upanishads are traits that connect this class of writings (if
they were written) directly, and even closely with the Vedic
hymns themselves ; so that one may safely assume that the
time of the first Upanishads is not much posterior to that of
the latest additions made to the Vedic collections, though this
indicates only that these additions were composed at a much
later period than is generally supposed," In India no literary
period subsides with the rise of its eventually ' succeeding '
period. All the works overlap. Parts of the Brahmanas suc-
ceed, sometimes with the addition of whole books, their proper

1 Compare (^at. Br. ii. 4. 2. 1-6, where the Father-god gives laws of conduct ; and
Kaushltaki Brahmana Upanishad, 3. S : '' This spirit (breath) is guardian of the
world, the lord of the world ; he is my spirit "' (or, myself), sa ma at ma. The Brah-
manic priest teaches that he is a god like other gods, and goes so far as to say that
he may be united with a god after death. The Upanishad philosopher says ' I am
God.'

2 Compare Scherman, Philosophische Hymneii, p. 93 ; above, p. 156.

■7

BRAHMAXIC PANTHEISM.— THE UPAXISHADS. f^TO^

literary successors, the Upanishads. Vedic hymns are com-
posed in the Brahmanic period.-^ The prose Sutras, which, in
general, are earlier, sometimes post-date metrical Qastra-rules.
Thus it is highly probable that, whereas the Upanishads began
before the time of Buddha, the Qatapatha Brahmana (if not
others of this class) continued to within two or three centuries
of our era ; that the legal Sutras were, therefore, contemporary
with part of the Brahmanic period ; " and^ that, in short, the
end of the Vedic period is so knit with the beginning of the
Brahmanic, while the Brahmanic period is so knit with the rise
of the Upanishads, Sutras, epics, and Buddhism, that one can-
not say of any one: 'this is later,' 'this is earlier'; but each
must be taken only for a phase of indefinitely dated thought,
exhibited on certain lines. It must also be remembered that
by the same class of works a wide geographical area may be
represented ; by the Brahmanas, west and east ; by the Sutras,
north and south ; by the Vedic poems, northwest and east
to Benares (AV.); by the epics, all India, centred about the '
holy middle land near Delhi.

The meaning of Upanishad as used in the compositions
themselves, is either, as it is used to-day, the tirle of a
philosophical work ; that of knowledge derived from esoteric
teaching ; or the esoteric teaching itself. Thus bf-aJuna
jipanis/iad is the secret doctrine of bra/ima, and ' whoever
follows this upanishad^ means whoever follows this doc-
trine. This seems, however, to be a meaning derived from
the nature of the- Upanishads themselves, and we are almost
inclined to think that the true sisinificance of the word was
originally that in which alone occurs, in the early period, the
combination itpa-ni-sad, and this is purely external : " he makes

1 Or, in other words, the thought of the Brahmanic period (not necessarily of
extant Brahmanas) is synchronous witli part of the Vedic collection.

- The last additions to this class of literature would, of course, conform in
language to their models, just as the late Vedic Mantras conform as well as their
com.posers can make them to the older song or chandas style.

218 THE RELIGIOXS OF IXDIA.

the common people upa-zii-sadin,''^ i.e., 'sitting below' or 'sub-
ject,' it is said in Qat. Br. ix. 4. 3. 3 (from the literal meaning
of 'sitting below ').^ Instead, therefore, of seeing in upanisad,
Upanishad, the idea of a session, of pupils sitting down to
hear instruction (the prepositions and verb are never used in
this sense), it may be that the Upanishad s were at first sub-
sidiary works of the ritualistic Brahmanas contained in the
Aranyakas or Forest Books, that is, appendices to the Brah-
mana, ostensibly intended for the use of pious forest-hermits
(who had passed beyond the need of sacrifice) ; and this, in
point of fact, is just what they were ; till their growth resulted
in their becoming an independent branch of literature. The
usual explanation of ' Upanishad,' however, is that it represents
the instruction given to the pupil ' sitting under ' the teacher.

Although at present between two and three hundred Upani-
shads are known, at least by name, to exist, yet scarcely a
dozen appear to be of great antiquity. Some of these are
integral parts of Brahmanas, and apparently were added to the
ritualistic works at an early period.^

While man's chief effort in the Brahmanic period seems to
be by sacrifice and penance to attain happiness hereafter, and
to get the upper hand of divine powers ; while he recognizes a
God, who, though supreme, has yet, like the priest himself,
attained his supremacy by sacrifice and penance ; while he
dreams of a life hereafter in heavenly worlds, in the realm of
light, though hardly seeking to avoid a continuation of earthly
re-births ; nevertheless he frees himself at times from ritualistic
observances sufficiently to continue the questioning asked by
his Vedic ancestors, and to wonder whither his immortal part
is definitively going, and whether that spirit of his will live
independentl}', or be united with some higher power, such
as the sun or Brahma.

1 Cited by Miiller in SBE. i. Introd. p. Ixxxii.

2 Compare Weber, Ind. Lit. p. 171 ; Miiller, loc. cit. p. Ixviii.

BRAHMAXIC PAXTHEISM. — THE UPAXISHADS. 219

The philosophical writings called Upanishads ^ take up this
question in earnest, but the answer is already assured, and the
philosophers, or poets, of this period seek less to prove the
truth than to expound it. The soul of man will not only join
a heavenly Power. It is part of that Power. Man's spirit
(self) is the world-spirit. And what is this ? While all the
Upanishads are at one in answering the first question, they are
not at one in the method by which they arrive at the same
result. There is no systematic philosophy ; but a tentative,
and more or less dogmatic, logic. In regard to the second
question they are still less at one ; but in general their answer
is that the world-spirit is All, and everything is a part of It or
Him. Yet, whether that All is personal or impersonal, and
what is the relation between spirit and matter, this is still an
unsettled point.

The methods and results of this half-philosophical literature
will most easily be understood by a few examples. But, before
these are given, it will be necessary to emphasize the colloquial
' and scrappy nature of the teaching. Legend, parable, ritual-
istic absurdities, belief in gods, denial of gods, belief in heaven,
denial of heaven, are all mingled, and for a purpose. For
some men are able, and some are unable, to receive the true
light of knowledge. But man's fate depends on his knowledge.
The wise man becomes hereafter what his knowledge has pre-
pared him to be. Not every spirit is fitted for imm.ortality, but
only the spirit of them that have wisely desired it, or, rather,

1 The relation between the Brahmanas (ritual works discussed in the last chapter)
and the early Upanishads will be seen better with the help of a concrete example.
As has been explained before, Rig Veda means to the Hindu not only the ' Collec-
tion ' of hymns, but all the library connected with this collection ; for instance, the
two Brahmanas (of the Rig Veda), namely, the Aitareya and the Kaushltaki (or
Qankhayana). Now. each of these Brahmanas concludes with an Aranyaka, that
is, a Forest-Book (araJtya, forest, solitude); and in each Forest Book is an Upa-
nishad. For example, the third book of the Kaushltaki Aranyaka is the Kaushftaki
Upanishad. So the Chandogya and Brihad Aranyaka belong respectively to the
Saman and Yajus.

220 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

not desired it ; for every desire must .have been extinguished
before one is fitted for this end. Hence, with advancing
beUef in absorption and pantheism, there still lingers, and
I not as a mere superfluity, the use of sacrifice and penance.
Rites and the paraphernalia of religion are essential till one
learns that they are unessential. Desire will be gratified till
one learns that the most desirable thing is lack of desire. But
so Ions: as one desires even the lack of desire he is still in the
ifetters of desire. The way is long to the extinction of emotion,
but its attainment results in happiness that is greater than
delight ; in peace that surpasses joy.

In the exposition of this doctrine the old gods are retained
as figures. They are not real gods. But they are existent
forms of God. They are portions of the absolute, a form of
the Eternal, even as man is a form of the same. ' Absolute
being, again, is described as anthropomorphic. ' This is that '
under a certain form. Incessantly made is the attempt to
explain the identity of the absolute with phenomena. The
powder (J^ra/u?ia), which is originally applied to prayer, is now
taken as absolute being, and this, again, must be equated with
the personal spirit (ego, self, atina). One finds himself back
in the age of Vedic speculation when he reads of prayer (or
penance) and power as one. For, as was shown above, the
Rig Veda already recognizes that prayer is power. There the
word for power, b?'a/u?ia, is used only as equivalent of prayer,
and Brihaspati or Brahmanaspati is literally the 'god of power,'
as he is interpreted by the priests. The significance of the
other great word of this period, namely afma., is not at all
uncertain, but to translate it is difficult. It is breath, spirit,
self, soul. Yet, since in its original sense it corresponds to
spiritus (comparable to athmen), the word spirit, which also
signifies the real person, perhaps represents it best. We shall
then render brahma and aima by the absolute and the ego or
spirit, respectively ; or leave them, which is perhaps the best

BRAHMAXIC PAXTHEISM. — THE UPANISHADS. 11\

way, in their native form. The physical breath, prana, is occa-
sionally used just like atmd. Thus it is said that all the gods
are one god, and this is prana, identical with braJwia (Brihad
Aranyaka Upanishad, 3. 9. 9); ox prana is so used as to be the
same with spirit, though, on the other hand, ' breath is born of
spirit' (Pracna Up. 3. 3), just as in the Rig Veda (above) it is
said that all comes from the breath of God.

One of the most instructive of the older Upanishads is the
Chandogya. A sketch of its doctrines will give a clearer idea
of Upanishad philosophy than a chapter of disconnected
excerpts :

All this (universe) is brah??ia. Man has intelligent force (or
will). He, after death, will exist in accordance with his will
in life. This spirit in (my) heart is that mind-making, breath-
bodied, light-formed, truth-thoughted, ether-spirited One, of
whom are all works, all desires, all smells, and all tastes ; who
comprehends the universe, who speaks not and is not moved ;
smaller than a rice-corn, smaller than a mustard-seed. . . .
greater than earth, greater than heaven. This (universal
being) is my ego, spirit, and is braJwia., force (absolute being).
After death I shall enter into him (3. 14).-^ This all is breath
(= spirit in 3. 15. 4).

After this epitome of pantheism follows a ritualistic bit :

Man is sacrifice. Four and twenty years are the morning
libation; the next four and forty, the mid-day libation; the
next eight and forty, the evening libation. The son of Itara,
knowing this, lived one hundred and sixteen years. He who
knows this lives one hundred and sixteen years (3. 16).

Then, for the abolition of all sacrifice, follows a chapter
which explains that man may sacrifice symbolically, so that,

1 This teaching is ascribed to Qandilya, to whose heresy, as opposed to the pure
Vedantic doctrine of (^ankara, we shall have to revert in a later chapter. The heresy
consists, in a word, in regarding the individual spirit as at any time distinct from
the Supreme Spirit, though (^andilya teaches that it is ultimately absorbed into the
latter.

222 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

for example, gifts to the priests (a necessary adjunct of a real
sacrifice) here become penance, liberality, rectitude, non-injury,
truth-speaking {Jb. 17. 4). There follows then the 'identifica-
tion of brahma with mind, sun, breath, cardinal points, ether,
etc., even puns being brought into requisition, Ka is K/ia and
Kha is Ka (4. 10. 5);^ earth, fire, food, sun, water, stars, man,
are brahma^ and bj'ahma is the man seen in the moon (4. 12. i).
And now comes the identity of the impersonal braJwia with the
personal spirit. The man seen in the eye is the spirit ; this is
the immortal, unfearing brahma (4. 15. i==S. 7. 4). He that
knows this goes after death to light, thence to day, thence to
the light moon, thence to the season, thence to the year, thence
to the sun, thence to the moon, thence to lightning ; thus he
becomes divine, and enters bra/i7?ia. They that go on this
path of the gods that conducts to bra/ima do not return to
human conditions {ib. 15. 6).

But the Father-god of the Brahmanas is still a temporary
creator, and thus he appears now {ib. 17): The Father-god
brooded over- the worlds, and from them extracted essences,
fire from earth, wind from air, sun from sky. These three
divinities (the triad, fire, wind, and sun) he brooded over, and
from them extracted essences, the Rig Veda from fire, the
Yajur Veda from wind, the Sama Veda from sun. In the
preceding the northern path of them that know the absolute
{braJuna^ has been described, and it was said that they return
no more to earth. Now follows the southern path of them
that only partly know braJwia :

" He that knows the oldest, 7J't'.f///(Tw, and the best, crcstha??:,
becomes the oldest and the best. Now breath is oldest and
best" (then follows the famous parable of the senses and
breath, 5. i. 1). This (found elsewhere) is evidently regarded

1 " God '■ Who ' is air, air (space) is God ' Who,' " as if one said ' either is aether.'
-' Did penance over,' as one doing penance remains in meditation. 'Brooded'
is Miiller's apt word for this abhi-tap.

BRAIIMAXIC PAXTHEISM. — THE UPAXISIIADS. 223

as a new doctrine, for, after the deduction has been made
that, because a creature can Uve without senses, and even
without mind, but cannot live without breath, therefore the
breath is the 'oldest and best,' the text continues, 'if one told
this to a dry stick, branches would be produced and leaves
put forth' (5, 2. 3).^ The path of him that partly knows the
bralwia which is expressed in breath, etc., is as follows : He
goes to the moon, and, when his good works are used up, he
(ultimately mist) rains down, becoming seed, and begins life
over again on earth, to become like the people who eat him
(5. 10. 6); they that are good become priests, warriors, or
members of the third estate ; while the bad become dogs, hogs,
or members of the low castes." A story is now told, instructive
as illustrating the time. Five great doctors of the law came
together to discuss what is Spirit, what is braJima. In the
end they are taught by a king that the universal Spirit is
one's own spirit (5. 18. i).

It is interesting to see that, although the Rig Veda distinctly
says that ' being was born of not-being ' {asatas sad ajdyata, x.
72. 3),^ yet not-being is here derived quite as emphatically
from being. For in the philosophical explanation of the uni-
verse given in 6. 2. i ff. one reads : " Being alone existed in
the beginning, one, and without a second. Others say 'not-
being alone ' . . . but how could being be born of not-being ?
Being: alone existed in the beo-inning:."^ This beins: is then
represented as sentient. _" It saw (and desired), 'may I be
mmy,' and sent forth fire (or heat); fire (or heat) desired and
produced water ; water, food (earth) ; with the living spirit the

1 Compare Brihad Aran. Up. 6. 3. 7.

2 This is the karma or sainsara doctrine.

3 In J. U. B. alone have we noticed the formula asserting that 'both being and not-
being existed in the beginning' (i. 53. i ; JAOS. xvi. 130).

■1 Opposed is 3. 19. i and Taitt. Up. 2. 7. i \Br. ii. 2. 9. i, 10): "Not-being was
here in the beginning. From it arose being." And so C'at. Br. vi. i. i. i (though in
word only, for here not-being is the seven spirits of God !)

224 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

divinity entered fire, water, and earth" (6. 3). As mind comes
from food, breath from water, and speech from fire, all that
makes a man is thus derived from the (true) being (6. 7. 6); and
when one dies his speech is absorbed into mind, his mind into
breath, his breath into fire (heat), and heat into the highest
godhead (6. 8. 7). This is the subtile spirit, that is the Spirit,
that is the True, and this is the spirit of man. Xow comes
the grand conclusion of the Chandogya. He who knows the
ego escapes grief. What is the ego ? The Vedas are names,
and he that sees brahma in the Vedas is indeed (partly) wise :
but speech is better than a name ; mind is better than speech ;
will is better than mind ; meditation, better than will ; reflec-
tion, than meditation ; understanding, than reflection ; power,
than understanding ; food, than power ; water, than food ; heat
(fire), than water ; ether, than heat ; memory, than ether ; hope,
than memory ; breath (= spirit), than hope. In each let one
see braJwia ; ego in All. Who knows this is supreme in knowl-
edge ; but more supreme in knowledge is he that knows that
in true (being) is the highest being. True being is happiness ;
true being is ego ; ego is all ; ego is the absolute.-^

The relativity of divinity is the discovery of the Upanishads.
And the relativity of happiness hereafter is the key-note of
their religious philosophy. Pious men are of three classes,
according to the completed system. Some are good men, but
they do not know enough to appreciate, intellectually or spiritu-
ally, the highest. Let this class meditate on the Vedas. They
desire wealth, not freedom. The second class wish, indeed,
to emancipate themselves ; but to do so step by step ; not to
reach absolute bra/nfta, but to live in bliss hereafter. Let these
worship the Spirit as physical life. They will attain to the

1 As the Vedic notion of not-being existing before being is refuted, so the Atharvan
homage to Time as Lord is also derided {(^vet. 6) in the Upanishads. The supreme
being is above time, as he is without parts (ib). In this later Upanishad wisdom,
penance, and the grace of God are requisite to know bi-ahma.

BRAHMAXIC PAXTHEISM.— TIIE UPAXISHADS. 225

bliss of the realm of light, the realm of the personal creator.
But the highest class, they that wish to emancipate themselves
at once, know that physical life is but a form of spiritual life ;
that the personal creator is but a form of the Spirit ; that
the Spirit is absolute bra/ima ; and that in reaching this they
attain to immortality. These, then, are to meditate on spirit
as the highest Spirit, that is. the absolute. To fear heaven as
much as hell, to know that knowledge is, after all, the key to
braJuna ; that hi'aJuna is knowledge ; this is the way to emanci-
pation. The gods are ; but they are forms of the ego, and
their heaven is mortal. It is false to denv the 2:ods. Indra
and the Father-god exist, just as men exist, as transient forms
of bj'alwia. Therefore, according to the weakness or strength
of a man's mind and heart (desire) is he fitted to ignore gods
and sacrifice. To obtain braJwia his desires must be weak,
his knowledge strong ; but sacrifice is not to be put away as
useless. The disciplinary teaching of the sacrifice is a neces-
sary preparation for highest wisdom. It is here that the Upan-
ishads, which otherwise are to a great extent on the highway
to Buddhism, practically contrast with it. Buddhism ignores
the sacrifice and the stadia in a priest's life. The Upanishads
retain them, but only to throw them over at the end when one
has learned not to need them. Philosophically there is no
place for the ritual in the Upanishad doctrine ; but their
teachers stood too much under the dominion of the Brahmanas
to ignore the ritual. They kept it as a means of perfecting
the knowled2:e of what was essential.

So 'by wisdom' it is said 'one gets immortality.' The
Spirit develops gradually in man ; by means of the mortal he
desires the immortal ; whereas other animals have only
hunger and thirst as a kind of understanding, and they are
reborn according to their knowledge as beasts again. Such
is the teaching of another of the Upanishads, the Aitareya
Aranyaka.

226 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA,

This Upanishad contains some rather striking passages:
" Whatever man attains, he desires to go beyond it ; if he
should reach heaven itself he would desire to go beyond it "
(2. 3. 3. 1). "-BraJwia is the A, thither goes the ego" (2. 3.
8. 7). "A is the whole of Speech, and Speech is Truth, and
Truth is Spirit" (2. 3. 6. 5-14).^ "The Spirit brooded over
the water, and form (matter) was born" (2. 4. 3. i 11.); so
physically w^ater is the origin of all things" (2. i. 8. i).-
" Whatever belongs to the father belongs to the son, whatever
belongs to the son belongs to the father" (//a). "Man has
three births : he is born of his mother, reborn in the person
of his son, and finds his highest birth in death" (2. 5).

In the exposition of these two Upanishads one gets at once
the sum of them all. The methods, the illustrations, even the
doctrines, differ in detail ; but in the chief end and object of
the Upanishads, and in the principle of knowledge as a means
of attaining b?'a/i7na, they are united. This it is that causes
the refutation of the Vedic ' being from not-being.' It is even
said in the Aitareya that the gods worshipped breath (the
spirit) as being and so became gods (great); while devils wor-
shipped spirit as not-being, and hence became (inferior) devils
(2. I. 8. 6).

It was noticed above that a king instructed priests. This
interchange of the roles of the two castes is not unique. In
the Kaushitaki Upanishad (4. 19), occurs another instance of a
warrior teaching a Brahman. This, with the familiar illustra-
tion of a Gandhara (Kandahar) man, the song of the Kurus,
and the absence of Brahmanic literature as such in the list of

1 This Vedic X670S doctrine is conspicuous in the Brahmana. Compare ^at. Br.
vii. 5. 2. 21 : '-Wlc (\670s) is the Unborn one; from Vac the all-maker made crea-
tures."' See Weber, ///(/. Stud. ix. 477 ft.

- Compare J. U. B. i. 56. i, ' Water (alone) existed in the beginning.' This is the
oldest and latest Hindu explanation of the matter of the phj-sical universe. From
the time of the Vedas to mediaeval times, as is recorded by the Greek travellers,
water is regarded as the original element.

BRAHMANIC PANTHEISM. — THE UPANISHADS. Ill

works, cited vii. i, would indicate that the Chandogya was at
least as old as the Brahmana literature.^

In their present form several differences remain to be pointed
out between the Vedic period and that of the Upanishads.
The goal of the soul, the two paths of gods and of braJwia, have
been indicated. As already explained, the road to the abso-
lute braJwia lies beyond the path to the conditioned brahvia.
Opposed to this is the path that leads to the world of heaven,
whence, when good works have been exhausted, the spirit
descends to a new birth on earth. The course of this second
path is conceived to be the dark half of the moon, and so
back to man. Both roads lead first to the moon, then one
goes on to bra/wia, the other returns to earth. It will be seen
that good works are regarded as buoying a man up for a time,
till, like gas in a balloon, they lose their force, and he sinks
down again. What then becomes of the virtue of a man who
enters the absolute brahvia, and descends no more ? He him-
self goes to the world where there is "no sorrow and no snow,"
where he lives forever {Brihad Aran. 5. 10); but "his beloved
relations get his virtue, and the relations he does not love get
his evil'' {Kaiish'it. Cp. i. 4). In this Upanishad fire, sun,
moon, and lightning die out, and reappear as braJnna. This
is the doctrine of the Gotterddmrneriing, and succession of
aeons with their divinities (2. 12). Here again is it distinctly
stated that prdna, breath, is brahma ; that is, spirit is the
absolute (2. 13).

What becomes of them that die ignorant of the ego ? They
go either to the worlds of evil spirits, which are covered with
darkness — the same antithesis of light and darkness, as good
and evil, that was seen in the Brahmanas — or are reborn on
earth again like the wicked {led, 3).

It is to be noted that at times all the parts of a man are

1 The Gandhara might indicate a late geographical expansion as well as an early
heritage, so that this is not conclusive.

228 THE RELIGIOXS OF IXDIA.

said to become immortal. For just as different rivers enter
the ocean and their names and forms are lost in it, so the
sixteen parts of a man sink into the godhead and he becomes
without parts and immortal {Fraaia Up. 6. 5) ; a purely pan-
theistic view of absorption, in distinction from the Vedic view
of heaven, which latter, in the form of immortal joy hereafter,
still lingers in the earlier Upanishads.

It is further to be observed as the crowning point of these
speculations that, just as the bliss of emancipation must not
be desired, although it is desirable, so too, though knowledge is
the fundamental condition of emancipation, yet is delight in the
true a fatal error : " They that revere what is not knowledge
enter into blind darkness ; thev that delii^ht in knowled2:e come
as it were into still greater darkness " (/^^, 9). Here, what is
not real knowledge means good works, sacrifice, etc. But the
sacrifice is not discarded. To those people capable only of
attaining to rectitude, sacrifices, and belief in gods there is
given some bliss hereafter ; but to him that is risen above this,
who knows the ego (Spirit) and real being, such bliss is no
bliss. His bliss is union with the Spirit.

This is the completion of Upanishad philosophy. Before it
is a stage where bliss alone, not absorption, is taught.^ But
what is the ego, spirit or self {atma) ? First of all it is con-
scious ; next it is not tRe Person, for the Person is produced
by the dtvid. Since this Person is the type of the personal
god, it is evident that the ego is regarded as lying back of
personality. Nevertheless, the teachers sometimes stop with
the latter. The developed view is that the immortality of the
personal creator is commensurate only with that of the world
which he creates. It is for this reason that in the Mundaka
(i. 2. 10) it is said that fools regard fulfillment of desire in

1 Gough, Philosophy of the Ufanishads, has sought to show that the pure
Vedantism of C^ankara is the only beHef taught in tlie Upanishads, ignoring the
weight of those passages that oppose his (in our view) too sweeping assertion.

BRAHMA NIC PANTHEISM, — THE UPANISHADS. 229

heavenly happiness as the best thing ; for although they have
their reward in tlie top of heaven, yet, when the elevation
caused by their good works ends, as it will end, when the
buoyant power of good works is exhausted, then they drop
dowai to earth again. Hence, to worship the creator as the
dt?nd is indeed productive of temporary pleasure, but no more.
'• If a man worship another divinity, devata, with the idea that
he and the god are different, he does not know" (Brikad
Aran. Up. i. 4. 10). " Without passion and without parts" is
the brahma {Alund. 2. 2. 9). The further doctrine, therefore,
that all except braJwia is delusion is implied here, and the
"extinction of gods in brahma''' is once or twice formulated.-^
The fatal error of judgment is to imagine that there is in
absolute being anything separate from man's being. When
personified, this being appears as the supreme Person, identical
with the ego, who is lord of what has been and wdiat will be.
By perceiving this controlling spirit in one's own spirit (or
self) one obtains eternal bliss ; " when desires cease, the
mortal becomes immortal ; he attains brahma here " in life
{Katha Up. 2. 5. 12; 6. 14; Br. Aran. Up. 4. 4. 7).

How inconsistent are the teachings of the Upanishads in
regard to cosmogonic and eschatological matters will be evident
if one contrast the statements of the different tracts not only
with those of other writings of the same sort, but even wdth
other statements in the same Upanishads. Thus the Mundaka
teaches first that Brahma, the personal creator, made the
world and explained brahma (i. i. i). It then defines brahma
as the Imperishable, which, like a spider, sends out a web of
being and draws it in again {ib. 6, 7). It states with all dis-
tinctness that the (neuter) brahma comes from The (masculine)

1 See the Parimara described, Ait. Br. viii. 28. Here brahma is wind, around
which die five divinities — lightning in rain, rain in moon, moon in sun, sun in fire,
fire in wind — and they are reborn in reverse order. The • dying' is used as a curse.
The king shall say, • When fire dies in wind then may my foe die,' and he will die ;
so when any of the other gods dies around brahma.

230 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

One who is all-wise, all-knowing {ih. 9). This heavenly Person
is the imperishable ego ; it is without form ; higher than the
imperishable (i. 2. 10 if.; 2. i. 2); greater than the great
(3. 2. 8). Against this is then set (2. 2. 9) the great being
b7'aJi7}ia^ without passions or parts, i.e., without intelligence such
as was predicated of the atma ; and (3. i. 3) then follows the
doctrine of the personal 'Lord, who is the maker, the Person,
who has his birth in hraJuna ' (purusho bj-aJunayonis). That this
Upanishad is pantheistic is plain from 3. 2, 6, where Vedanta
and Yoga are named. According to this tract the wise go to
In-aJwia or to ego (3. 2. 9 and i. 2. 11), while fools go to
heaven and return again.

On the same plane stands the I^a, where atma., ego, Spirit, is
the True, the Lord, and is in the sun. Opposed to each other
here are 'darkness' and 'immortality,' as fruit, respectively, of
ignorance and wisdom.

In the Kaushitaki Upanishad, taken with the meaning put
into it by the commentators, the wise man goes to a very
different sort of hraJuna — one where he is met by nymphs,
and rejoices in a kind of heaven. This braJwia is of two
sorts, absolute and conditioned ; but it is ultimately defined
as 'breath.' Whenever it is convenient, 'breath' is regarded
by the commentators as ego, 'spirit'; but one can scarcely
escape the conviction that in many passages ' breath ' was
meant by the speaker to be taken at its face value. It is the
vital power. With this vital power (breath or spirit) one in
dreamless sleep unites. Indra has nothing higher to say than
that he is breath (spirit), conscious and immortal. Eventually
the soul after death comes to Indra, or gains the bright heaven.
But here too the doctrine of the dying out of the gods is known
(as in Taitt. 3. 10. 4). Cosmogonically all here springs from
water (i. 4, 6, 7 ; 2. i, 12 ; 3. i, 2 ; 4. 20).

Most striking are the contradictions in the Brihad Aranyaka:
^' In the beginning there was only nothing ; this (world) was

BRAHMANIC PANTHEISM. — THE UPAA'ISHADS. 231

covered with death, that is hunger;^ he desired," etc. (i. 2. i).
" In the beginning there was only ego (atmd).^^ Atind articu-
lated " I am," and (tinding himself lonely and unhappy)
divided himself into male and female,"^ whence arose men, etc.
(i. 4. i). Again : "In the beginning there was only bi'ahma ;
this (neuter) knew dtmd . . . Irrahma was the one and only
. . . it created" (i. 4. lo-ii); followed immediately by "he
created" (12). And after this, in 17, one is brought back to
"in the beginning there was only dt??ia ; he desired 'let me
have a wife.' "

In 2. 3. I ff. the explicitness of the differences in brahma
makes the account of unusual value. It appears that there are
two forms of bra/wta, one is mortal, with form ; the other is
immortal, without form. Whatever is other than air and the
space between (heaven and earth) is mortal and with form.
This is being, its essence is in the sun. On the other hand,
the essence of the immortal is the person in the circle (of the
sun). In man's body breath and ether are the immortal, the
essence of which is the person in the eye. There is a visible
and invisible brahtna {dtjna) ; the real brahma is incompre-
hensible and is described only by negations (3. 4. i ; 9. 26).
The highest is the Imperishable (jieuter), but this sees, hears,
and knows. It is in this that ether (as above) is woven
(3. 8. 11). After death the wise man goes to the world of
the gods (i. 5. 16) ; he becomes the at7Jid of all beings, just
like that deity (i. 5. 20) ; he becomes identical ('how can one
know the knower?' I'ljudtar) in 2. 4. 12-13 5 ^^'^i according to
3. 2. 13, the doctrine of samsd7'a is extolled ("they talked of
kar?na, extolled karvia^ secretly"), as something too secret to
be divulged easily, even to priests.

That different views are recognized is evident from Tditf.
2. 6: "If one know*:: braJima as asat he becomes only asat

1 Compare sterben, starve.

2 The androgynous creator of the Brahmanas.

232 THE RELIGIOXS OF IXDIA.

(non-existence); if he knows that '■ b?'a/i7?m is' (J.e., a sad
brahma), people know him as thence existing." Personal dt7fia
is here insisted on (" He washed 'may I be many' "); and from
af7ua, the conscious b?-a/wia, in highest heaven, came the ether
(2. I, 6). Yet, immediately afterwards: "In the beginning
was the non-existent; thence arose the existent; and That
made for himself an ego (spirit, conscious life, dtiiui; tad
dtmanam svayam akuruta, 2. 7). In man braJima is the sun-
brahma. Here too one finds the braluiiaiiaJi pariina?-as (3. 10. 4
= Kaushit. 2. 12, ddiva), or extinction of gods in brahma. But
what that braJuiia is, except that it is bliss, and that man after
death reaches 'the bliss-making ^/;;^<r?,' it is impossible to say
(3. 6; 2. 8). Especially as the departed soul 'eats and sits
down singing' in heaven (3. 10. 5).

The greatest discrepancies in eschatology occur perhaps in
the Aitareya Aranyaka. After death one either "gets b?'ahma "
(i. 3. I. 2), "comes near to the immortal spirit" (i. 3. 8. 14),
or goes to the " heavenly world." Knowledge here expressly
conditions the hereafter ; so much so that it is represented not
(as above) that fools go to heaven and return, but that all, save
the very highest, are to recognize a personal creator (Prajapati)
in breath (^ ego^ brah7?ia), and then they will "go to the
heavenly world" (2. 3. 8. 5), "become the sun" (2. i. 8. 14),
or "go to gods" (2. 2. 4. 6). Moreover after the highest
wisdom has been revealed, and the second class of men has
been disposed of, the author still returns to the 'shining
sky,' svarga, as the best promise (3). Sinners are born again
(2. I. I. 5) on earth, although hell is mentioned (2. 3. 2. 5).
The origin of world is water, as usual (2. i. 8. i). The highest
teaching is that all was dhnd, who sent forth worlds {lokdn
asrjafa), and formed the Person (as guardian of worlds), taking
him from, waters. Hence dfmd, Prajapati (of the second-class
thinkers), and braJwia are the same. Knowledge is brahma
(2. 4- I- I ; 6. I. 5-7).

BRAHMANIC PANTHEISM. — THE UPANISHADS. 233

In the Kena, where the best that can be said in regard to
hrahma is that he is tadvana, the one that 'likes this' (or,
perhaps, is Mike this'), there is no absorption into a world-
spirit. The wise ' become immortal ' ; ' by knowledge one
gets immortality'; 'who knows this stands in heaven' (i. 2 ;
2.4; 4. 9). The general results are about those formulated by
Whitney in regard to the Katha: knowledge gives continuation
of happiness in heaven ; the punishment of the unworthy is to
continue samsdra, the round of rebirths. Hell is not mentioned
in the Aitareya Upanishad itself but in the Aranyaka^ (2.3. 2. 5).
That, however, a union with the universal dtmd (as well as
heaven) is desired, would seem to be the case from several of
the passages cited above, notably Brihad x\ran,, i. 5. 20 {sa
evamvit san'esdm hJmtdnam dtmd bhavati^ yathiasd devatdivani
sa) ; 'he that knows this becomes the dt??td of all creatures, as
is that divinity so is he ' ; though this is doubtless the dnanda-
viaya dtmd^ or joy-making Spirit (Taitt. 2. 8).

Again two forms of brahma are explained (Mait. Up. 6. 15 ff.) :
There are two forms of bi'ahma., time and not-time. That which
was before the sun is not-time and has no parts. Time and
parts begin with the sun. Time is the Father-god, the Spirit.
Time makes and dissolves all in the Spirit. He knows the
Veda who knows into what Time itself is dissolved. This
manifest time is the ocean of creatures. But brahma exists
before and after time."

As an example of the best style of the Upanishads we will
cite a favorite passage (given no less than four times in various
versions) where the doctrine of absorption is most distinctly
taught under the form of a tale. It is the famous

1 We cannot, however, quite agree with Whitney who, loc. cit. p. 92, and Journal,
xiii, p. ciii ff., implies that belief in hell comes later than this period. This is not so
late a teaching. Hell is Vedic and Brahmanic.

- This, in pantheistic style, is expressed thus ((^vet. 4) : '• When the light has
arisen there is no day no night, neither being nor not-teing; the Blessed One alone
exists there. There is no likeness of him whose name is Great Glory."

234 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA. \

DIALOGUE OF YAJXAVALKYA AND MAITREYLi

Yajnavalkya had two wives, Maitreyi and Katyayani.
Now Maitreyi was versed in holy knowledge {brahmd)., but
Katyayani had only such knowledge as women have. But
when Yajiiavalkya was about to go away into the forest (to
become a hermit), he said : ' Maitreyi, I am going away from
this place. Behold, I will make a settlement between thee and
that Katyayani.' Then said Maitreyi: 'Lord, if this whole
earth filled with wealth were mine, how then ? should I be
immortal by reason of this wealth 1 ' ' Nay,' said Yajiiavalkya.
' Even as is the life of the rich would be thy life ; by reason of
w^ealth one has no hope of immortality.' Then said ^laitreyi :
'With what I cannot be immortal, what can I do with that?
whatever my Lord knows even that tell me.' And Yajnavalkya
said: 'Dear to me thou art, indeed, and fondly speakest.
Therefore I will explain to thee and do thou regard me as I
explain.' And he said : ' Not for the husband's sake is a
husband dear, but for the ego's sake is the husband dear.
Not for the wife's sake is a wife dear ; but for the ego's sake
is a wife dear ; not for the son's sake are sons dear, but for the
ego's sake are sons dear ; not for wealth's sake is wealth dear,
but for the ego's sake is wealth dear ; not for the sake of the
Brahman caste is the Brahman caste dear, but for the sake of
the ego is the Brahman caste dear ; not for the sake of the
Warrior caste is the Warrior caste dear, but for love of the ego
is the Warrior caste dear ; not for the sake of the worlds are
worlds dear, but for the sake of the ego are worlds dear ; not
for the sake of gods are gods dear, but for the ego's sake are
gods dear ; not for the sake of hhuts (spirits) are hhuts dear,
but for the ego's sake are hhuts dear ; not for the sake of
anything is anything dear, but for love of one's self (ego)
is anything (everything) dear ; the ego (self) must be seen,

1 Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad, 2. 4 ; 4. 5.

BRAHMANIC PANTHEISM.— THE UPANJSHADS. 235

heard, apprehended, regarded, Maitreyi, for with the seeing,
hearing, apprehending, and regarding of the ego the All is
known. . . . Even as smoke pours out of a fire lighted with
damp kindling wood, even so out of the Great Being is blown
out all that which is, Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda,
Atharva (-Angiras) Veda, Stories, Tales, Sciences, Upani-
shads, food, drink, sacrifices ; all creatures that exist are blown
(breathedj out of this one (Great Spirit) alone. As in the
ocean all the waters have their meeting-place ; as the skin is the
meeting-place of all touches ; the tongue, of all tastes ; the nose,
of all smells ; the mind, of all precepts ; the heart, of all knowl-
edges ; ... as salt cast into water is dissolved so that one
cannot seize it, but wherever one tastes it is salty, so this Great
Being, endless, limitless, is a mass of knowledge. It arises
out of the elements and then disappears in them. After death
there is no more consciousness.-^ I have spoken.' Thus said
Yajhavalkya. Then said Maitreyi : ' Truly my Lord has
bewildered me in saying that after death there is no more con-
sciousness.' And Yajnavalkya said: 'I say nothing bewilder-
ing, but what suffices for understanding. For where there
is as it were duality {livditani)., there one sees, smells, hears,
addresses, notices, knows another; but when all the universe
has become mere ego, with what should one smell, see, hear,
address, notice, know any one (else) ? How can one know him
through whom he knows this all, how can he know the knower
(as something different) 1 The ego is to be described by
negations alone, the incomprehensible, imperishable, un-
attached, unfettered ; the ego neither suffers nor fails.
Thus, Maitreyi, hast thou been instructed. So much for
immortality.' And having spoken thus Yajnavalkya went
away (into the forest).

Returning to the Upanishad, of which an outline w^as given
in the beginning of this chapter, one finds a state of things

1 Na pretya sainjha 'sti.

236 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

■which, in general, may be said to be characteristic of the whole
Upanishad period. The same vague views in regard to cos-
mogony and eschatology obtain in all save the outspoken
sectarian tracts, and the same uncertainty in regard to man's
future fate prevails in this whole cycle. -^ A few extracts wall
show this. According to the Chandogya (4. 17. i), a personal
creator, the old Father-god of the Brahmanas, Prajapati, made
the elements proceed from the worlds he had ' brooded ' over
(or had done penance over, abhyatapat). In 3. 19. i, not-being
was first ; this became being (with the mundane tgg, etc.). In
sharp contradiction (6. 2. i) : 'being was the first thing, it
willed,' etc., a conscious divinity, as is seen in ib. 3. 2, where
it is a 'deity,' producing elements as 'deities' {ib. 8. 6) which
it enters 'with the living dtma,^ and so develops names and
forms (so Tditf. 2. 7). The latter is the prevailing view^ of the
Upanishad. In i. 7. 5 ff. the df7na is the same with the uni-
versal dtmd ; in 3. 12. 7, the brahma is the same with ether
without and wdthin, unchanging; in 3. 13. 7, the 'light above
heaven' is identical wath the light in man ; in 3. 14. i, all is
braJima (neuter), and this is an intelligent universal spirit.
Like the ether is the dtvid in the heart, this is hraJuna (Jb. 2 ff.);
in 4. 3, air and breath are the tw^o ends (so in the argument
above, these are immortal as distinguished from all else) ; in 4.
10. 5 yad Tdvd kai'n tad eva kha7n {l)raJnna is ether) ; in 4. 15.
I, the ego is brahma ; in 5. 18. i the universal ^go is identified
with the particular ego {atvia) ; in 6. 8 the ego is the True,
with which one unites in dreamless sleep; in 6. 15. i, into /^7/'^
devatd or 'highest divinity' enters man's spirit, like salt in
water {ib. 13). In 7. 15-26, a view but half correct is stated
to be that ' breath ' is all, but it is better to know that yo bliumd

1 Some of the Upanishads have been tampered with, so that all of the contradictions
may not be due to the composers. Nevertheless, as the uneertainty of opinion in
regard to cosmogony is quite as great as that in respect of absorption, all the vague-
ness cannot properly be attributed to the efforts of later systematizers to bring the
Upanishads into their more or less orthodox Vedantism.

BRAHMAXIC PANTHEISM. — THE UPANISHADS. 237

tad a7n7'tam, the immortal (all) is infinity, which rests in its own
greatness, with a corrective ' but perhaps it doesn't ' (^yadi vd
no). This infinity is ego and dtnid}

What is the reward for knowing this ? One obtains worlds,
unchanging happiness, braJima; or, with some circumnaviga-
tion, one goes to the moon, and eventually reaches braJwia
or obtains the worlds of the blessed (5. 10. 10). The round
of existence, sa77isdra, is indicated at 6. 16, and expressly stated
in 5. 10. 7 (insects have here a third path). Immortality is
forcibly claimed: 'The living one dies not' (6. 11. 3). He
who knows the sections 7. 15 to 26 becomes dt77id7ia7ida and
"lord of all worlds" ; whereas an incorrect view gives perish-
able worlds. In one Upanishad there is a verse {Cvet. 4. 5)
which would indicate a formal duality like that of the
Sankhyas;^ but in general one may say that the Upanishads
are simply pantheistic, only the absorption into a world-soul
is as yet scarcely formulated. On the other hand, some of the
older Upanishads show traces of an atheistic and materialistic
(asad) philosophy, which is swallowed up in the growing
inclination to personif}^ the creative principle, and ultimately
is lost in the erection of a personal Lord, as in the latest
Upanishads. This tendency to personify, with the increase of
special sectarian gods, will lead again, after centuries, to the
rehabilitation of a triad of gods, the t7'i77iU7'ti, where unite
Vishnu, Qiva, and, with these, who are more powerful, Brahma,
the Prajapati of the Veda, as the All-god of purely pantheistic
systems. In the purer, older form recorded above, the pU7'ttsha
(Person) is sprung from the dt77ia. There is no distinction
between matter and spirit. Conscious being (sat) wills, and
so produces all. Or dt77ia comes first; and this is conscious

1 In 4. 10. 5 kain is pleasure, one with ether as Irahina, not as wrongly above,
p. 222, the god Ka.

2 This Upanishad appears to be sectarian, perhaps an early Qivaite tract (dual-
istic), if the allusion to Rudra ^iva, below, be accepted as original.

238 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

sat, and the cause of the worlds ; which atmd eventually
becomes the Lord. The at7na in man, owing to his environ-
ment, cannot see whole, and needs the Yoga discipline of
asceticism to enable him to do so. But he is the same ego
which is the All.

The relation between the absolute and the ego is through
will. "This (neuter) brahma willed, 'May I be many,' and
created" {Chdjid., above). Sometimes the impersonal, and
sometimes the personal "spirit willed" {Taitt. 2. 6). And
when it is said, in Brihad Aran. i. 4. i, that "In the beginning
ego, spirit, atma, alone existed," one finds this spirit (self) to be
a form of brahma {ib. lo-i i). Personified in a sectarian sense,
this spirit becomes the divinity Rudra Qiva, the Blessed One
{Cvetdcvatara, 3. 5, n).'^

In short, the teachers of the Upanishads not only do not
declare clearly what they believed in regard to cosmogonic and
eschatological matters, but many of them probably did not
know clearly what they believed. Their great discovery was
that man's spirit was not particular and mortal, but part of the
immortal universal. Whether this universal was a beins: aiive
and a personal dtmd, or whether this personal being was but a
transient form of impersonal, imperishable being; ^ and whether
the union with being, brahma, would result in a survival of
individual consciousness, — these are evidently points they were
not agreed upon, and, in all probability, no one of the sages was
certain in re2:ard to them. Crass identifications of the vital

1 As is foreshadowed in the doctrine of grace by Vac in the Rig Veda, in the
Qvet., the Katha, and the Mund. Upanishads (K. 2. 23 ; AI. 3. 2. 3), but nowheie
else, there enters, with the sectarian phase, that radical subversion of the Upanishad
doctrine which becomes so powerful at a later date, the teaching that salvation is a
gift of God. " This Spirit is not got by wisdom ; the Spirit chooses as his own the
body of that man whom He chooses."

■^ See above. As descriptive of the immortal conscious Spirit, there is the famous
verse : " If the slayer thinks to slay, if the slain thinks he is slain ; they both under-
stand not; this one (the Spirit) slays not, and is not slain" {Kaiha, 2. 19) ; loosely
rendered by Emerson, ' If the red slayer think he slays,' etc.

BRAIIMAXIC PANTHEISM. — THE UPANISHADS. 239

principle with breath, as one with ether, which is twice
emphasized as one of the two immortal things, were provision-
ally accepted. Then breath and immortal spirit were made one.
Matter had energy from the beginning, brahma; or was chaos,
asat., without being. But when asat becomes sat., that sat
becomes brahma., energized being, and to asat there is no
return. In eschatology the real (spirit, or self) part of man
(ego) either rejoices forever as a conscious part of the
conscious world-self, or exists immortal in brahma — imperish-
able being, conceived as more or less conscious.^

The teachers recognize the limitations of understanding :
" The gods are in Indra, Indra is in the Father-god, the Father-
god (the Spirit) is in brahma'" — "But in what is brahma V
And the answer is, " Ask not too much " (Brihad. Aran. Up.

3. 6).

These problems will be those of the future formal philoso-
phy. Even the Upanishads do not furnish a philosophy alto-
gether new. Their doctrine of kanna, their identification
of particular ego and universal ego, is not original. The
'breaths,' the 'nine doors,' the 'three qualities,' X\\^ piirusha as
identical with ego, are older even than the Brahmanas (Scher-
man, loc. cit. p. 62).

It is not a new philosophy, it is a new religion that the
Upanishads offer." This is no religion of rites and ceremonies,
although the cult is retained as helpful in disciplining and teach-
ing ; it is a religion for sorrowing humanity. It is a religion
that comforts the afflicted, and gives to the soul ' that peace
which the world cannot give.' In the sectarian Upanishads
this bliss of religion is ever present. " Through knowing Him
who is more subtile than subtile, who is creator of everything^

1 The fact remarked by Thibaut that radically different systems of philosophy are
built upon the Upanishads is enough to show how ambiguous are the declarations of
the latter.

2 Compare Barth, Religions^ p. 76.

240 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

who has many forms, who embraces everything, the Blessed
Lord — one attains to peace without end"' {Cvet. 4. 14-15).
These teachers, who enjoin the highest raoraUty (' self-restraint,
generosity, and mercy ' are God's commandments in Brihad
Aran. 5. 2) refuse to be satisfied with virtue's reward, and,
being able to obtain heaven, ' seek for something beyond.'
And this they do not from mere pessimism, but from a convic-
tion that they will find a joy greater than that of heaven, and
more enduring, in that world where is " the light beyond the
darkness " [C^'et. 3. 8); "where shines neither sun, moon, stars,
lightning, nor fire, but all shines after Him that shines alone,
and through His light the universe is lighted" {Mund. 2. 2. 10).
This, moreover, is not a future joy. It is one that frees from
perturbation in this life, and gives relief from sorrow. In the
Chandogya (7. 1.3) a man in grief comes seeking this new
knowledge of the universal Spirit; ''For," says he, "I have
heard it said that he who knows the Spirit passes beyond
grief." So in the I^a, though this is a late sectarian work, it
is asked, " What sorrow can there be for him to whom Spirit
alone has become all things?" (7). Again, " He that knows
the joy of h-a/wia, whence speech with mind turns away with-
out apprehending it, fears not" {Taitt. 2. 4); for "fear comes
only from a second" {Brihad Aran. Up. i. 4. 2), and when one
recognizes that all is one he no longer fears death {ib. 4. 4.

Such is the religion of these teachers. In the quiet assump-
tion that life is not worth living, they are as pessimistic as was
Buddha. But if. as seems to be the case, the Buddhist be-
lieved in the eventual extinction of his individuality, their
pessimism is of a different sort. For the teacher of the
Upanishads believes that he will attain to unending joy ; not
the rude happiness of ' heaven-seekers,' but the unchanging
bliss of immortal peace. For him that wished it, there was
heaven and the gods. These were not denied ; they were as

BRAIIMAXIC PAXTHEISM.— THE UPAXISIIADS. 241

real as the "fool'' that desired them. But for him that con-
quered passion, and knew the truth, there was existence
without the pain of desire, life without end, freedom from
rebirth. The spirit of the sage becomes one with the Eternal;
man becomes God.

CHAPTER XL

THE POPULAR BRAHMANIC FAITH.

For a long time after the Vedic age there is little that gives
one an insight into the views of the people. It may be pre-
sumed, since the orthodox systems never dispensed with the
established cult, that the form of the old Vedic creed was kept
intact. Yet, since the real belief changed, and the cult became
more and more the practice of a formality, it becomes neces-
sary to seek, apart from the inherited ritual, the faith which
formed the actual religion of the people. Inasmuch as this
phase of Hindu belief has scarcely been touched upon else-
where, it may be well to state more fully the object of the
present chapter.

We have shown above that the theology of the Vedic period
had resulted, before its close, in a form of pantheism, which v.as
accompanied, as is attested by the Atharva Veda, with a demon-
ology and witch-craft religion, the latter presumably of high
antiquity. Immediately after this come the esoteric Brahmanas,
in which the gods are, more or less, figures in the eyes of the
priests, and the form of a Father-god rises into chief prom-
inence, being sometimes regarded as the creative force, but at
all times as the moral authority in the world. At the end of
this period, however, and probably even before this period
ended, there is for the first time, in the Upanishads, a new
religion, that, in some regards, is esoteric. Hitherto the secrets
of religious mysteries had been treated as hidden priestly wis-
dom, not to be revealed. But, for the most part, this wisdom
is really nonsense ; and v.hen it is said in the Brahmanas, at
the end of a bit of theological mystery, that it is a secret, or

THE POPULAR BRAIIMAXIC FAITH. 243

that 'the gods love that which is secret,' one is not persuaded
by the examples given that this esoteric knowledge is intellec-
tually valuable. But with the Upanishads there comes the
antithesis of inherited belief and ri^rht belief. The latter is
public property, though it is not taught carelessly. The
student is not initiated into the higher wisdom till he is drilled
in the lowTr. The most unexpected characters appear in the
role of instructors of priests, Aamely, women, kings, and mem-
bers of the third caste, whose deeper wisdom is promulgated
oftentimes as something quite new, and sometimes is whis-
pered in secret. Pantheism, sanisara^ and the eternal bliss of
the individual spirit when eventually it is freed from further
transmigration, - — these three fundamental traits of the new
religion are discussed in such a way as to show that they had
no hold upon the general public, but they were the intellectual
wealth of a few. Some of the Upanishads hide behind a veil
of mystery; yet many of them, as Windisch has said, are, in a
way, popular; that is, they are intended for a general public,
not for priests alone. This is especially the case with the
pantheistic Upanishads in their more pronounced form. But
still it is only the very wise that can accept the teaching. It
is not the faith of the people.

Epic literature, wdiich is the next living literature of the
Brahmans, after the Upanishads, takes one, in a trice, from the
beginnings of a formal pantheism, to a pantheism already dis-
integrated by the newer worship of sectaries. Here the imper-
sonal atnia., or nameless Lord, is not only an anthropomorphic
Civa, as in the late Upanishads, where the philosophic bi-ahma
is equated with a long recognized type of divinity, but atma is
identified with the figure of a theomorphic man.

1 Literan3% transmigration, the doctrine of metempsychosis, successive births ;
first, as in Plato: /j.eTa[3o\rj tls rvyxo-vei oZ'aa Kal fxeToiKTjais t^ '>pvxv '''^^ towov
Tov ivOevde €is aWov tottov ; then vietabole. from ' the other place,' back to earth ;
then, with advancing speculation, fresh mctabole again, and so on ; a theory more or
less clumsily united with the hell-doctrine. V

244 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

Is there, then, nothing with which to bridge this gulf?

In our opinion the religion of the law-books, as a legitimate
phase of Hindu religion, has been too much ignored. The
religion of Upanishad and Vedanta, with its attractive analo-
gies with modern speculation, has been taken as illustrative
of the religion of a vast period, to the discrediting of the
belief represented in the manuals of law. To these certainly
the name of literature can scarcely be applied, but in their
rapport with ordinary life they will be found more apt than are
the profounder speculations of the philosophers to reflect the
religious belief taught to the masses and accepted by them.

The study of these books casts a broad light upon that
interval between the Vedic and epic periods wherein it is
customary to imagine religion as being, in the main, cult or
philosophy. Nor does the interest cease with the yield of
necessarily scanty yet very significant facts in regard to escha-
tological and cosmogonic views. The gods themselves are
not what they are in the rites of the cunning priests or in the
dogmas of the sages. In the Hindu law there is a reversion
to Vedic belief ; or rather not a reversion, but here one sees
again, through the froth of rites and the murk of philosophy,
the under-stream of faith that still flows from the old fount,
if somewhat discolored, and waters the heart of the people.

At just what time was elaborated the stupendous system of
rites, which are already traditional in the Brahmanas, can
never be known. Some of these rites have to do with special
ceremonies, such as the royal inauguration, some are stated
i'i'W/^-sacrifices.-^ Opposed to these >f6'w<7-feasts is the simpler
and older fire-cult, which persists in the house-rituals. All of
these together make up a sightly array of sacrifices.^ The

1 Weber has lately published two monographs on the sacrifices, the Rajasuya and
the Vajapeya rites, both full of interesting details and popular features.

- The traditional sacrifices are twenty-one in number, divided into three classes
of seven each. The formal divisions are (i) oblations of butter, milk. corn, etc.;
(2) s:ii:a sacrifices ; (3) animal sacrifices, regarded as part of the first two. The

THE POPULAR BRAHMANIC FAITH. 245

soma-x\{.wA is developed in tlie Brahmanas. But with this
class of works there must have been from ancient times an-
other which treated of the fire-ritual, and of which the more
modern representatives are the extant Sutras. It is with
Sutras that legal literature begins, but these differ from the
ritualistic Siitras. Yet both are full of religious meat. In
these collections, even in the more special, there is no arrange-
,ment that corresponds to western ideas of order. In a com-
pleted code, for example, there is a rough distribution of
subjects under different heads, but the attempt is only tenta-
tive, and each work presents the appearance of a heterogeneous
mass of regulations and laws, from which one must pick out
the law for which he is seeking. The earlier legal works were
in prose ; the later evolved codes, of which there is a large
number, in metre. It is in these two classes of house-ritual
and law-ritual, which together constitute what is called Smriti,
tradition-ritual (in distinction from the so-called Cruti, revela-
tion-ritual), that one may expect to find the religion of the
time ; not as inculcated by the promoters of mystery, nor yet
as disclosed by the philosopher, but as taught (through the
priest) to the people, and as accepted by them for their daily
guidance in matters of every-day observance. We glance first
at the religious observances, for here, as in the case of the
great sacrifices, a detailed examination would be of no more
value than a collective impression ; unless, indeed, one were
hunting for folk-lore superstitions, of which we can treat now
only in the mass. It is sufficient to understand that, accord-
ing to the house-ritual {grhya-sutra) and the law-ritual {dharma-
sutra, and dhanna-castra),^ for every change in life there was
an appropriate ceremony and a religious observance ; for
every day, oblations (three at least); for every fortnight and

sacrifice of the new and full moon is to be repeated on each occasion for thirty years.
A sattra^ session, is a long sacrifice which may last a year or more.
1 The latter are the metrical codes, a part of Smriti (smrti).

246 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

season, a sacrifice. Religious formulae were said over the
child yet unborn. From the moment of birth he was sur-
rounded with observances.-^ At such and such a time the
child's head was shaved ; he was taken out to look at the sun ;
made to eat from a golden spoon ; invested with the sacred
cord, etc., etc. When grown up, a certain number of years
Vv^ere passed with a Guru, or tutor, who taught the boy his
Veda; and to whom he acted as body-servant (a study and.
office often cut short in the case of Aryans who were not
priests). Of the sacraments alone, such as the observances to
which we have just alluded, there are no less than forty accord-
ing to Gautama's laws (the name-rite, eating-rite, etc.). The
pious householder who had once set up his own fire, that is,
got married, must have spent most of his time, if he followed
directions, in attending to some religious ceremony. He had
several little rites to attend to even before he might say his
prayers in the morning ; and since even to-day most of these
personal regulations are dutifully observed, one may assume
that in the full power of Brahmanhood they were very straitly
enforced."

It is, therefore, important to know what these works, so closely
in touch with the general public, have to say in regard to religion.
What they inculcate will be the popular theology of completed
Brahmanism. For these books are intended to give instruction
to all the Aryan castes, and, though this instruction filtrates
through the hands of the priest, one may be sure that the
understanding between king and priest was such as to make
the code the real norm of justice and arbiter of religious
opinions. For instance, when one reads that the king is a prime

1 The Five Paramount Sacrifices (Observances) are, according to Manu iii. 70,
study of the Veda (or teaching it) ; sacrifice to the Manes and to the gods; offerings
of foods to gliosts (or spirits) ; and hospitality.

2 In the report of the Or. Congress for 1880, p. 158 ff., Williams has a very inter-
esting account of the daily rites of the modern orthodox Hindu i!^ Rig Veda in Reli-
gious Service^).

THE POPULAR DRAIIMANIC FAITH. 247

divinity, and that, quid pro quo, the priest may be banished,
but never may be punished corporally by the king, because the
former is a still greater divinity, it may be taken for granted
that such was received opinion. When we come to take up
the Hinduism of the epic we shall point out that that work
contains a religion more popular even than that of the legal
literature, for one knows that this latter phase of religion was
at first not taught at all, but grew up in the face of opposi-
tion. But for the present, before the rise of epic ' Hinduism,'
and before taking up the heretical writings, it is a great gain
to be able to scan a side of religion that m,ay be called popular
in so far as it evidently is the faith which not only was taught
to the masses, but which, as is universally assumed in the law,
the masses accept ; whereas philosophers alone accept the
atjjici religion of the Upanishads, and the Brahmanas are not
intended for the public at all, but only for initiated priests.

What, then, is the religious belief and the moral position of
the Hindu law-books ? In how far has philosophy affected
public religion, and in what way has a reconciliation been
affected between the contradictory beliefs in regard to the
gods ; in regard to the value of works on the one hand, and
of knowledge on the other ; in regard to hell as a means of
punishment for sin on the one hand, and reincarnation {sa77i-
sdrd) on the other; in regard to heaven as a reward of good
deeds on the one hand, and absorption into God on the other;
in regard to a pei'sonal creator on the one hand, and a First
Cause without personal attributes on the other ?

For the philosophical treatises are known and referred to in
the early codes ; so that, although the completed systems post-
dated the Sutras, the cosmical and theological speculations of
the earlier Upanishads were familiar to the authors of the
legal systems.

The first general impression produced by a perusal of the
law-books is that the popular religion has remained unaffected

24S THE RELIGIOXS OF IXDIA.

by philosophy. And this is correct in so far as that it must
be put first in describing the codes, which, in the main, in
keeping the ancient observances, retiect the inherited faith.
When, therefore, one says that pantheism^ succeeded poly-
theism in India, he must qualify the assertion. The philos-
ophers are pantheists, but what of the vulgar ? Do they give
up polytheism ; are they inclined to do so, or are they taught
to do so ? No. For there is no formal abatement in the rigor
of the older creed. Whatever the wise man thought, and
whatever in his philosophy was the instruction which he im-
parted to his peers, when he dealt with the world about him
he taught his intellectual inferiors a scarcely modified form of
the creed of their fathers. How in his own mind this wise
man reconciled the two sets of opinion has been shown above.
The works of sacrifice, with all the inherited belief implied by
them, w-ere for him preparatory studies. The elasticity of his
philosophy admitted the whole world of gods, as a temporary
reality, into his pantheistic scheme. It was, therefore, neither
the hypocrisy of the Roman augur, nor the fear of results that
in his teaching held him to the inheritance he had received.
Gods, ghosts, demons, and consequently sacrifices, rites, ordeals,
and formulae were not incongruous wdth his philosophical
opinions. He himself believed in these spiritual powers and
in the usefulness of serving them. It is true that he believed
in their eventual doom, but so far as man was concerned they
were practically real. There was, therefore, not only no reason
why the sage should not inculcate the old rites, but there was
every reason why he should. Especially in the case of pious
but ignorant people, whose wisdom was not yet developed to a
full appreciation of divine relativity, w'as it incumbent on
him to keep them, the lower castes, to the one religion that
they could comprehend.

1 We ignore here the later distinction between the Vedanta and Sankhya systems.
Properly speaking, the latter is dualistic.

THE POPULAR BRAHMAXIC PAITH. 249

It is thus that the apparent inconsistency in exoteric and
esoteric beliefs explains itself. For the two are not contra-
dictory. They do not exclude each other. Hindu pantheism
includes polytheism with its attendant patrolatry, demonology,
and consequent ritualism.^

With rare exceptions it was only the grosser religion that
the vulgar could understand ; it was only this that they were
taught and believed.

Thus the old Vedic gods are revered and worshipped by
name. The Sun, Indra, and all the divinities embalmed in
ritual, are placated and ' satiated ' with offerings, just as they
had been satiated from time immemorial. But no hint is given
that this is a form; or that the Vedic gods are of less account
than they had been. Moreover, it is not in the inherited
formulae of the ritual alone that this view is upheld. To be
sure, w^hen philosophical speculation is introduced, the Father-
god comes to the fore; Brahma- sits aloft, indulgently advising
his children, as he does in the intermediate stage of the
Brahmanas ; and atma {l)7'ahmd) too is recognized to be the
real being of Brahma, as in the Upanishads.^ But none of this
touches the practice of the common law, where the ordinary
man is admonished to fear Yama's hell and Varuna's bonds, as
he would have been admonished before the philosopher grew
wiser than the Vedic seers. Only personified Right, Dharma,
take3 his seat with shadowy Brahma among the other gods.*

1 At a later date Buddha himself is admitted into the Brahmanic pantheon as an
avatar of the All-god I

2 Sometimes regarded as one with Prajapati, and sometimes treated as distinct
from him.

3 Thus (for the priestly ascetic alone) in M. vi. 79 : ' Leaving his good deeds to
his loved ones and liis evil deeds to his enemies, by force of meditation he goes to the
eternal brahma.- Here brahma; but in Gautama perhaps Brahma.

4 That is, when the latter are grouped as in the following list. Our point is that,
despite new^ faith and new gods. Vedic polytheism is taught not as a form but as a
reality, and that in this period the people still believe as of old in the old gods,
though they also acknowledge new ones (below).

250 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

What is the speech which the judge on the bench is ordered
to repeat to the witnesses? Thus says tlie law-giver Manu:
"When the witnesses are collected together in the court, in
the presence of the plaintiff and defendant, the (Brahman)
judge should call upon them to speak, kindly addressing them
in the following manner: 'Whatever you know has been done
in this affair . . . declare it all. A witness who in testifying
speaks the truth reaches the worlds where all is plenty . . .
such testimony is honored by Brahma. One who in testifying
speaks an untruth is, all unwilling, bound fast by the cords of
Varuna,^ till an hundred births are passed.' . . . (Then,
speaking to one witness) : ' Spirit (soul) is the witness for the
Spirit, and the Spirit is likewise the refuge of the Spirit.
Despise not, therefore, thine own spirit (or soul), the highest
witness of man. Verily, the wicked think ' no one sees us,'
but the gods are looking at them, and also the person within
(conscience). Dyaus, Earth, the Waters, (the person in the)
heart, Moon, Sun, Fire, Yama, Wind, Alight, the twin Twilights,
and Dharma know the conduct of all corporeal beings. . . .
Although, O good man, thou regardest thyself, thinking, ' I am
alone,' yet the holy one (saint) who sees the evil and the good,
stands ever in thy heart. It is in truth god Yama, the son of
Vivasvant, who resideth in thy heart ; if thou beest not at
variance with him (thou needest) not (to) go to the Ganges
and to the (holy land of) the Kurus (to be purified).' "

Here there is no abatement in Vedic polytheism, although
it is circled round with a thin mist from later teachings. In
the same way the ordinary man is taught that at death his
spirit (soul) will pass as a manikin out of his body and go to
Yama to be judged; while the feasts to the Manes, of course,
imply always the belief in the individual activity of dead
ancestors. Such expressions as ' The seven daughters of

1 Compare Manu. ix. 245: "Varuna is the lord of punishment and holdeth a
sceptre (punishment) even over kings."'

THE POPULAR BRAHMAXIC FAITH. 251

Varima ' {sapta rdnni'ir hnds, A^v. G?'i/i. S. 2. 3. 3) show that
even in detail the old views are still retained. There is no
advance, except in superstitions/ on the main features of the
old religion. So the same old fear of words is found, resulting
in new euphemisms. One must not say ' scull,' kapdla, but
call it bhagdia, 'lucky' (Gaut. 9. 21); a factor in the making
of African languages also, according to modern travellers.
Images of the gods are now over-recognized by the priest, for
they must be revered like the gods themselves {ib. 12; Par,
Gi'ih. S. 3. 14. 8. etc.). Among the developed objects of the
cult serpents now occupy a prominent place. They are
mentioned as worshipful in the Brahmanas. In the Sutra
period offerings are made to snakes of earth, air, and heaven;
the serpents are ' satiated ' along with gods, plants, demons,
etc. (Cankh. 4. 9. 3 ; 15. 4; A^v. 2. i. 9; 3. 4. i; Parask. 2.
14. 9) and blood is poured out to them (Agv. 4. 8. 27).- But
other later divinities than those of the earliest Veda, such as
Wealth (Kubera), and Dharma, have crept into the ritual. With
the Vedic gods appears as a divinity in Khad. i. 5. 31 the love-
god Kama, of the Atharvan; while on the other hand Rudra the
beast-lord (Pacupati, Lord of Cattle), the 'kindly' Qiva, appears
as 'great god,' whose names are Qankara, Prishataka, Bhava,
Qarva, Ugra, Icana (Lord); who has all names and greatness,
while he yet is described in the words of the older text as ' the
god that desires to kill ' (A^v. 2. 2. 2; 4. 8. 9, 19,'^ 29, 32; A/L
Br. 3. 34). On the other hand Vishnu is also adored, and
that in connection with the Aoyo?, or Vac {jb. 3. 3. 4). Quite
in Upanishad manner — for it is necessary to show that these

1 In new rites, for instance. Thus in Parask. Grih. S. t,- 7 a silly and dirty rite
' prevents a slave from running away ' ; and there is an ordeal for girls before becom-
ing engaged (below).

- Blood is poured out to the demons in order that they may take this and no
other part of the sacrifice. AtL Br. ii, 7. i.

3 Here, 4. S. 19, Qiva's names are Hara, Mrida, Qarva, (^iva, Bhava, Mahadeva,
Ugra, Bhima, Pacupati, Rudra, Qankara, Igana.

252 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

were then really known — is the formula 'thou art a student
Qip7'ana (Breath,) and art given over to Ka ' {ib. i. 20. 8.), or
'■whomV In A9valayana no Upanishads are given in the
list of literature, which includes the ' Eulogies of men,' Itihasas,
Puranas, and even the Mahabharata (3. 3. i; 4- 4)- But in
I. 13. I, Upanishad-7'ites (and that of a very domestic nature)
are recognized, which would corroborate the explanation of
Upanishad given above, as being at first a subsidiary work,
dealing with minor points.^ Something of the sciolism of the
Upanishads seems to lie in the prayer that of the four paths
on which walk the gods the mortal may be led in that which
bestows 'freedom from death' (Par. 3. i. 2): and many of the
teachers famous in the Upanishads are now revered by name
like gods (A^v. 3. 4. 4, etc.).

On turning from these domestic Sutras to the legal Sutras it
becomes evident that the pantheistic doctrine of the Upan-
ishads, and in part the Upanishads themselves, were already
familiar to the law-makers, and that they influenced, in some
degree, the doctrines of the law, despite the retention of the
older forms. Not only is samsara the accepted doctrine, but
the atmd, as if in a veritable Upanishad, is the object of relig-
ious devotion. Here, however, this quest is permitted only
to the ascetic, who presumably has performed all ritualistic
duties and passed through the stadia that legally precede
his own.

Of all the legal Sutra-writers Gautama is oldest, and perhaps
is pre-buddhistic. Turning to his work one notices first that the
Mimamsist is omitted in the list of learned men (28. 49);" but
since the Upanishads and Vedanta are expressly mentioned, it
is evident that the author of even the oldest Sutra was

1 These rites are described in 6. 4. 24 of the Brihad Aranyaka Upaitishad which
consists both of metaphysics and of ceremonial rules.

- Especially mentioned in the later Vasistha (see below) ; on viimamsd a
branch of the Vedanta system see below.

THE POPULAR BRAHMAXIC FAITH. 253

acquainted ^vith whatever then corresponded to these works, -^
The opposed teaching of hell versus savisara is found in
Gautama. But there is rather an interesting attempt to unite
them. Ordinarily it is to hell and heaven that reference is
made, e.g.., ' the one that knows the law obtains the heavenly
world' (28. 52); 'if one speak untruth to a teacher, even in
thought, even in respect to little things, he slays seven men
after and before him ' (seven descendants and seven ancestors,
23. 31). So in the case of witnesses: 'heaven (is the fruit) for
speaking the truth; otherwise hell ' (13. 7); 'for stealing (land)
hell' (is the punishment, ib. 17). Now and then comes the
philosophical doctrine: 'one does not fall from the world of
Brahma' (9. 74); 'one enters into union and into the same
world with Brahma ' (8. 25).

But in 21, 4-6 there occurs the following statement: 'To be
an outcast is to be deprived of the works of the twice-born,
and hereafter to be deprived of happiness; this some (call)
hell.' It is evident here that the expression asiddhis (depriva-
tion of success or happiness) is placed optionally beside
naraka (hell) as the view of one set of theologians compared
with that of another ; ' lack of obtaining success, i.e., reward '
stands parallel to 'hell.' In the same chapter, where Manu
says that he who assaults a Brahman " obtains hell for one
hundred years" (AI. xi. 207), Gautama (21. 20) says "for one
hundred years, lack of heaven " (as7'argya77i), which may mean
hell or the deprivation of the result of merit, /.<?., one hundred
years will be deducted from his heavenly life. In this case
not a new and better birth but heaven is assumed to be the
reward of good acts. Now if one turns to 11. 29-30 he finds
both views combined. In the parallel passage in Apastamba

1 The commentator here (19. 12, cited by Biihler) defines Vedanta as the part of
the Aranyakas which are not Upanishads, that is. apparently as a local ' Veda-end'
{veda-ajita), though this meaning is not admitted by some scholars, who will see in
a}ita only the meaning 'goal, aim.'

254 THE RELIGIOXS OF INDIA.

only better or worse re-births are promised as a reward for
good or evil (2. 5. 11. lo-ii); but here it is said: "The castes
and orders that remain by their duty, having died, having en-
joyed the fruits of their acts, with the remnant of their (merit)
obtain re-birth, having an excellent country, caste, and family;
having long life, learning, good conduct, wealth, happiness, and
wisdom. They of different sort are destroyed in various
ways." Here, heavenly joys (such as are implied by
nihcreyasam in 26) are to be enjoyed first, and a good birth
afterwards, and by implication one probably has to interpret
the next sentence to mean 'they are sent to hell and then
re-born in various low births.' This, too, is ]\Ianu's rule
(below). At this time the sacred places which purify are in
great vogue, and in Gautama a list of them is given (19. 14),
viz.: "all mountains, all rivers, holy pools, places of pilgrimage
(/>., river-fords, ti?-thani), homes of saints, cow-pens, and
altars." Of these the tlrthas are particularly interesting, as
they later become of great importance, thousands of verses in
the epic being devoted to their enumeration and praise.

Gautama says also that ascetics, according to some teachers,
need not be householders first (3. i), and that the Brahman
ascetic stays at home during the rainy season, like the heretic
monks (Jb. 13). If one examine the relative importance of the
forms and spirit of religion as taught in this, the oldest dharma-
sutra,^ he will be impressed at first with the tremendous weight
laid on the former as compared with the latter. But, as was
said apropos of the Brahmanic literature, one errs who fails to
appreciate the fact that these works are intended not to give
a summary of religious conduct, but to inculcate ceremonial
rules. Of the more importance, therefore, is the occasional
pause which is made to insist, beyond peradventure, on the
superiority of moral rules. A very good instance of this is
found in Gautama. He has a list of venial sins. Since lying

1 The Rudra (Civa) invocation at 26. 12 ff. is interpolated, according to BUhler.

THE POPULAR BRAHMANIC FAITH. 255

is one of the most heinous oiYences to a Hindu lawgiver, and
the penances are severe, all the treatises state formally that an
untruth uttered in fun, or when one is in danger, or an oath of
the sort imiplied by Plato : d^poStViov o/okov ov <^a<jiv eTvat, — ■
all these are venial, and so are lies told to benefit a (holy)
cow, or to aid a priest ; or told from religious motives of
any sort without self-interest. This is alm.ost the only
example of looseness in morals as taught in the law. But the
following case shows most plainly the importance of morality
as opposed to formal righteousness. After all the forty sacra-
ments (to which allusion was made above), have been re-
counted, there are given 'eight good qualities of the soul,'
viz., mercy, forbearance, freedom from envy, purity, calmness,
correct behavior, freedom from greed and from covetousness.
Then follows : " He that has (performed) the forty sacraments
but has not the eight good qualities enters not into union with
Brahma, nor into the heaven of Brahma.-^ But he that has
(performed) only a part of the forty sacraments and has the
eight good qualities enters into union with Brahma, and into
the heaven of Brahma."' This is as near to heresy as pre-
buddhistic Brahmanism permitted itself to come.

In the later legal Sutra of the northern Vasistha^ occurs a
rule which, while it distinctly explains what is meant by liber-
ality, viz., gifts to a priest, also recognizes the 'heavenly reward':
" If gifts are given to a man that does not know the Veda the
divinities are not satisfied" (3, 8). In the same work (6. i)
' destruction ' is the fate of the sinner that lives without ob-

1 Here there is plainly an allusion to the two states of felicity of the Upanishads.
Whether the law-giver believes that the spirit will lie united with Brahma or simply
live in his heaven he does not say.

2 Gautama, too, is probably a Northerner. The SiJtra. it should be observed, are
not so individual as would be implied by the name of the teachers to whom they are
credited. They were each texts of a school, car ana, but they are attributed uni-
formly to a special teacher, who represents the car ana ^ as has been shown by Miiller.
For what is known in regard to the early ' Sutra-makers' see Buhler's Introductions
to volumes ii. and xiv. of the Sacred Books.

256 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

servance of good custom ; yet is it said in the same chapter
(27) : " If a twice-born man dies with the food of a Qudra (lowest
caste) in his belly, he would become a village pig, or he is
born again in that (Qudra's) family"; and, in respect to sons
begotten when he has in him such food : " Of whom the food,
of him are these sons ; and he himself would not mount to
heaven ... he does not find the upward path " (29, 28). In
ib. 8. 17 the Brahman that observes all the rules 'does not fall
from braJwialoka,^ /.<?., the locality of Brahma. Further, in
10. 4 : "Let (an ascetic) do away with all (sacrificial) works;
but let him not do away with one thing, the Veda ; for from
doing away with the Veda (one becomes) a Cudra." But, in
the same chapter : " Let (the ascetic) live at the end of a vil-
lage, in a temple ('god's house'), in a deserted house, or at
the root of a tree ; there in his mind studying the knowledge
(of the attna) ... so they cite (verses) : ' Sure is the freedom
from re-birth in the case of one that lives in the wood with
passions subdued . . . and meditates on the supreme spirit '
. . . Let him not be confined to any custom . . . and in regard
to this (freedom from wordly pursuits) they cite these verses :
' There is no salvation (literally ' rslease ') for a philologist {71a
^abdacdstrabhiratasya 7?iokshas), nor for one that delights in
catching (men) in the world, nor for one addicted to food and
dress, nor for one pleased with a fine house. By means of
prodigies, omens, astrology, palmistry, teaching, and talking
let him not seek alms ... he best knows salvation who (cares
for naught)' . . . (such are the verses). Let him neither harm
nor do good to anything. . . . Avoidance of disagreeable con-
duct, jealousy, presumption, selfishness, lack of belief, lack of
uprightness, self-praise, blame of others, harm, greed, distrac-
tion, wrath, and envy, is a rule that applies to all the stadia of
life. The Brahman that is pure, and wears the girdle, and
carries the gourd in his hand, and av'oids the food of low castes
fails not of obtaining the world of Brahma" {ib. 10. 18 ft".). Yama,

THE POPULAR BRAHMAXIC FAITH. 257

the Manes, and evil spirits {tism'Tis) are referred to in the fol-
lowing chapter (20, 25); and hell in the same chapter is
declared to be the portion of such ascetics as will not eat meat
when requested to do so at a feast to the ^Manes or gods
(11. 34), — rather an interesting verse, for in Manu's code the
corresponding threat is that, instead of going to hell 'for as
long, />., as many years, as the beast has hairs,' as here, one
shall experience 'twenty-one rebirths,' i.c.^ the hell-doctrine in
terms of sajusara : while the same image occurs in ^lanu in
the form ' he that slaughters beasts unlawfully obtains as many
rebirths as there are hairs on the beast' (v. 35,38). The
passive attitude sometimes ascribed to the jManes is denied ;
they rejoice over a virtuous descendant (11. 41); a bad one
deprives them of the heaven they stand in (16. 36). The
authorities on morals are here, as elsewhere, Manu and other
seers, the Vedas, and the Father-god, who with Yama gives
directions to man in regard to lawful food, etc. (14. 30). The
moral side of the code, apart from ritual impurities, is given,
as usual, by a list of good and bad qualities (above), while
formal laws in regard to theft, murder (especially of a priest),
adultery and drunkenness (20. 44 ; i. 20), with violation of
caste-regulations by intercourse with outcasts, are ' great crimes.'
Though older than Apastamba, who mentions the Purva-mi-
mamsa, Vasistha, too, knows the Vedanta (3. 17), and the
Mimamsa {jnkalpiii^^ tarkiii^ 3. 20, M. xii. iii

From the Sutras of Baudhayana's probably southern school
something of additional interest is to be gained. Here ' dark-
ness' takes the place of hell (2. 3. 5. 9), which, however, by a
citation is explained (in 2. 2. 3. 34) as ' Yama's hall.' A verse is
cited to show that the greatest sin is lack of faith (i. 5. 10. 6)
and not going to heaven is the reward of folly i^ib. 7) ; while the
reward of virtue is to live in heaven for long (4. 8. 7). The
same freedom in regard to ascetics as occurs in other Sutra
w^orks is to be found in this author, not in the more suspicious

258 THE RELIGIONS OE INDIA.

final chapters, but in that part of the work which is accepted as
oldest/ and agrees with the data found in the Brahmanas, where
the pre-buddhistic monk is called Bhikshu, 'beggar,' or Sannyasin
'he that renounces,' just as these terms are employed in the he-
retical writings. As among the Jains (and Buddhists), the Brah-
manic ascetic carries a few simple utensils, and wanders about
from house to house and village to village, begging food. Some
authorities (among the Brahmans) say that one may become
an ascetic as soon as he has completed his study, though ordi-
narily this may be done only after passing through the house-
holder stadium. On becoming an ascetic the beggar takes the
vow not to injure any living thing (Baudh. ii. lo. 17. 2. 11, 29),
exactly as the Jain ascetic takes the vow of non-injury. More
than this, as will be seen below, the details of the Brahman
ascetic's vows are almost identical with those of the Jain
ascetic. He vows not to injure living beings, not to lie, not
to steal, to be continent, to be liberal ; with the five minor
vows, not to get angry, to obey the Teacher, not to be rash,
to be cleanly and pure in eating." To this ascetic order in
the Brahman priesthood may be traced the origin of the
heretical monks. Even in the Brahmanas occur the termini
technici of the Buddhist priesthood, notably the (Jramana or
ascetic monk, and the word budd/ia, ' awakened ' (^pratibudJi).
The ' four orders ' are those enumerated as the householder,
student, ascetic, and forest-hermit. If one live in all four
orders according to rule, and be serene, he will come to peace,
that is, salvation (Apastamba, 2. 9. 21. i, 2).

According to this later legal writer, who belongs to Southern
India,^ it is only after one has passed through all the preceding

1 Compare Biihler's Introduction, p. xxxv. SBE, vol. xiv.

- Baudh. ii. iS. r-3. Compare Jacobi"s Introduction, p. xxiii ff. of SBE. vol. xxii.

3 Biihler (Introduction, p. xxxi) gives as the district of the Apastamblya school
parts of the Bombay Presidency, the greater parts of the Nizam's possessions, and parts
of the Madras Presidency. Apastamba himself refers to Northerners as if they were
foreigners {loc. cit.).

THE POPULAR BRAHMANIC FAITH. 259

Stadia that he may give up works (sacrifice, etc.) and devote
himself to seeking the cT/wcT, 'wandering about, without caring for
earth or heaven, renouncing truth and falsehood, pleasure and
pain ' ijb. lo, 13). There follows this passage one sig^iificant of
the opposition between purely Upanishad-ideas and those of
the law-givers : 'Acquirement of peace (salvation) depends, it is
said, on knowledge ; this is opposed by the codes. If on knowl-
edge (depended) acquirement of peace, even here (in this world)
one would escape grief' (Jb. 14-16). Further, in describing the
forest-hermit's austerities {ib. 23. 4 ff.), verses from a Purana are
cited which are virtually Upanishadic : ' The eight and eighty
thousand seers who desired offspring (went) south on Arya-
man's path, and obtained (as their reward) graves ; (but) the
eight and eighty thousand who did not desire offspring (went)
north on Aryaman's path and make for themselves immor-
tality,' that is to say 'abandon desire for offspring; and of the
two paths (which, as the commentator observes, are mentioned
in the Chandogya Upanishad), that which gives immortality
instead of death (graves) will be yours.' It is admitted that
such ascetics have miraculous powers ; but the law-maker
emphatically protests in the following Siitra against the sup-
position that a rule which stands opposed to the received rites
(marriage, sacrifice, etc.) is of any power, and asserts that for
the future life an endless reward ('fruit'), called in revelation
'heavenly,' is appointed (/7a8-ii). The next chapter, how-
ever, limits, as it were, this dogma, for it is stated that immor-
tality is the re-birth of one's self in the body of one's son, and
a verse is cited : ' Thou procreatest progeny, and that's thy
immortality, O mortal,' with other verses, which teach that
sons that attend to the Vedic rites magnify the fame and
heaven of their ancestors, who ' live in heaven until the de-
struction of creation' {a bhutasamplavat, 2. 9. 24. 5). But
' according to the Bhavishyat-Purana ' after this destruction of
creation ' they exist again in heaven as the cause of seed '

260 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

{ib. 6). And then follows a quotation from the Father-god :
' We live with those people who do these (following) things :
(attend to) the three Vedas, live as students, create children,
sacritice to the Manes, do penance, make sacrifice to the gods,
practice liberality ; he that extols anything else becomes air
(or dust) and perishes ' {ib. 8) ; and further : ' only they that
commit sin perish ' (not their ancestors).

The animus of this whole passage is apparent. The law-
maker has to contend with them that would reject the neces-
sity of following in order the traditional stadia of a priest's
life ; that imagine that by becoming ascetics without first
having passed through the preliminary stadia they can by
knowledge alone attain the bliss that is obtained by union with
bra/wia (or Brahma). In other words the jurist has to con-
tend with a trait eminently anti-brahmanistic, even Buddhistic.
He denies this value of knowledge, and therewith shows that
what he wishes to have inculcated is a belief in the temporary
personal existence of the Manes; in heaven till the end of the
world-order; and the annihilation of the wicked; while he has
a confused or mixed opinion in regard to one's own personal
immortality, believing on the one hand that there is a future
existence in heaven with the gods, and on the other (rather a
materialistic view) that immortality is nothing but continued
existence in the person of one's descendants, who are virtually
one's self in another body: dehatvam evcCnyat., "only the body
is different " {ib. 2). As to cosmogony it is stated to be (not
the emanation of an atma) but the "emission (creation) of the
Father-god and of the seers " (the latter being visible as stars,
ib. 13, 14). In this there is plainly a received popular opinion,
which reflects the Vedic and Brahmanic stage, and is opposed
to the philosophical views of the Upanishads, in other words
of the first Vedantic philosophy ; while it is mixed up with the
late doctrine of the cataclysms, which ruin each succeedins;
creation. The equal annihilation of the wicked {dhvamsanti^

THE POPULAR BRAHMANIC FAITH. 261

and unorthodox {dhvafnsate) is to be noticed. They are here
subject neither to hell nor to rebirth, but they "become dust
and perish " {ib. 8, 9).

Throughout the whole legal literature one will find this same
antithesis of views in regard to the fate of good and bad,
although it is seldom that annihilation is predicated of the
latter. Usually hell or rebirth are their fate — two views,
which no one can really reconcile. They are put side by side;
exactly as in priestly discussion in India and Europe it still
remains an unsettled question as to when the soul becomes
immortal.^ Occidental experience teaches how easy it is for
such views to stand together unattacked, although they are
the object of speculation. This passage is perhaps, histor-
ically, the most satisfactory (as it is philosophically unsatis-
factory) that can be cited in answer to the questions that were
posed above. But from other parts of legal literature a few
more statements may be culled, to illustrate still further the
lack of uniformity not only in popular belief, but in the '
teaching provided for the public. First from the same work
of Apastamba, in 2. 11. 29. 9-10 it is said that if a witness in
court perjure himself he shall be punished by the king, "and
further, in passing to the next world, hell" (is his portion);
whereas " (the reward) for truth is heaven, and praise on the
part of all creatures." Now, let one compare first ib. 2. 5. 11.
lo-ii : "Men of low castes are reborn in higher castes in suc-
cessive births, and men of high castes in low castes, if they
respectively perform and neglect their duties." And then this
Vedantic passage of the same author (i. 8. 22 £f.): "Let one
(as penance for sin) devote himself to the Yoga (mental disci-
pline) which has to do with the highest at7?ia. . . . Nothing
is known higher than the acquisition of at7nd. We shall (now)

1 In India the latter question is : does the soul immediately at death unite with
the dtmd or does it travel to it. In Europe : does the soul wait for the Last Day, or
get to heaven immediately ? Compare Maine, Early Law and Custom, P- 7i-

262 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

cite some ^7/;;z^?-acquisition-verses, viz.: All living creatures
(are) the citadel of him that rests in secret, the indestructible
one, the immaculate one. Immortal they that devote them-
selves to the moveless one who has a movable dwelling . . .
the great one whose body is light, universal, free . . . the
eternal (part) in all creatures, the wise, immortal, unchanging
one, limbless, voiceless, formless, touchless, purest, the highest
goal. He that everywhere devotes himself to Him (afma as
Lord), and always lives accordingly ; that by virtue of Yoga
recognizes Him, the subtile one, shall rejoice in the top of
heaven. . . . He, atma, comprehends all, embraces all, more
subtile than a lotus-thread and huger than the earth. . . .
From him are created all bodies; he is the root, he the Ever-
lasting, the Eternal One."

This discipline it will be observed is enjoined as penance
and to get rid of faults, that is, to subdue the passions. As
the same chapter contains a list of the faults which are to be
•overcome before one " arrives at peace " (salvation) they may
be cited here : "Anger, joy, wrath, greed, distraction, injury,
threats, lying, over-eating, calumny, envy, sexual desire, and
hate, lack of studying afma., lack of Yoga — the destruction of
these (faults) is based on Yoga " (mental concentration). On
the other hand : " He that devotes himself, in accordance with
the law, to avoiding anger, joy, wrath, greed, distraction, in-
jury, threats, lies, over-eating, calumny and envy; and practices
liberality, renunciation, uprightness, kindness, subduing (of
the passions), self-control ; and is at peace with all creatures ;
and practices Yoga ; and acts in an Aryan (noble) way ; and
does not hurt anything ; and has contentment — qualities
which, it is agreed, appertain to all the (four) stadia — he
becomes sarvagmiiin^' {ih. 23. 6), that is 'one belonging to the
all-pervading' (All-soul). There appears to be a contradiction
between the former passage, where Yoga is enjoined on
ascetics alone; and this, where Yoga is part of the discipline

THE POPULAR BRAHMANIC FAITH. 263

of all four stadia. But what was in the author's mind was
probably that all these vices and moral virtues are enumerated
as such for all ; and he slips in mental concentration as a virtue
for the ascetic, meaning to include all the virtues he knows.

A few further illustrations from that special code which has
won for itself a preeminent name, 'the law-book of Manu,' ^
will give in epitome the popular religion as taught to the
masses ; withal even better than this is taught in the Sutras.
For Father Manu's law-book, as the Hindus call it, is a
popular Castra or metrical- composite of law and religion, which
reflects the opinion of Brahmanism in its geographical strong-
hold, whereas the Sutras emanate from various localities, north
and south. To Manu there is but one Holy Land, the Kurus'
plain and the region round-about it (near Delhi).

The work takes us forward in time beyond even the latest
Sutras, but the content is such as to show that formal Brah-
manism in this latest stage still keeps to its old norm and to
Brahmanic models.

It deserves therefore to be examined with care from several
points of view if one would escape from the belief of the phil-
osopher to the more general teaching. In this popular religion
all morality is conditioned by the castes," which is true also to
a certain degree of the earlier Sutras, but the evil fruit of this
plant is not there quite so ripe as it is in the later code. The
enormity of all crimes depends on who commits them, and
against whom they are committed. The three upper castes

1 Thought by some scholars to have been developed out of the code of the
Manavas ; but ascribed by the Hindus to Father Manu, as are many other verses of
legal character contained in the epic and elsewhere.

2 Although Sutras may be metrical too in part, yet is the complete metrical form,
as in the case of still later <^astra, evidence that the work is intended for the general
public.

^ The priest alone, in the post-Vedic age, has the right to teach the sacred texts ;
he has immunity from bodily punishment ; the right to receive gifts, and other special
privileges. The three upper castes have each the right and duty of studying the
sacred texts for a number of years.

264 THE RELIGIO.XS OF IXDIA.

alone have religious privileges. The lowest caste, outcasts,
women, and diseased persons are not allowed to hear the holy
texts or take part in ceremonies.^ As to the rites, they are
the inherited ones, sacrifices to gods, offerings to Manes and
spirits, and all the ceremonies of house and individual, as
explained above ; with especial and very minute rules of ob-
servance for each of the four stadia of a priest's life.- There
is no hint in any of this of the importance of the knowledge of
the at}na. But in their proper place the rules of morality and
the higher philosophical views are taught. The doctrine of
re-birth is formally stated, and the attainment of the world of
Brahma {braJwia) by union of ceremonies and knowledge is in-
culcated. The ascetic should seek, by meditation, to go to
Brahma (or braJuna) for w^hen he is utterly indifferent, then, both
here and after death, he gains everlasting happiness. There-
fore he should study the Vedas, but especially the teachings in
regard to the Supreme Spirit, and the Upanishads ; studying
the Vedanta is a regular part of his final discipline (vi. 74-94).
In another part of the work the distinction made in the
Upanishads is upheld, that religious acts are of two sorts, one
designed to procure bliss, and cause a good man to reach
equality with the gods ; the other performed without selfish
motive ; by which latter " even the five elements are overcome,"
that is, the absorption into hraJuiia is effected. For "among all
virtuous acts the knowledge of the spirit, dt?fia, is highest ;
through this is obtained even immortality. One that sees
spirit in all things and all things in spirit sacrifices to spirit
and enters Brahma (or braJwid).'" "The spirit (or self) is all

1 Weber has shown, loc. cit., that the Qudras did attend some of the more popular
ceremonies, and at first apparently even took a part in them.

2 The ' four orders ' or stadia of a priest's life, student, householder, hermit, ascetic,
must not be confused with the 'four (political) orders' (castes), priest, warrior,
farmer, slave — to which, from time to time, were added many ' mixed castes,' as well
as ' outcasts,' and natural pariahs. At the time of Manu's code there were already
many of these half-assimilated groups.

THE POPULAR BRAHMANIC FAITH. 265

divinities; the All is based on spirit.'' And in Upanishadic
vein the Person is then proclaimed as lord of gods, whom
'• some call nre, some call Manu, some call Indra, some call
air, and some call eternal braJimay But though this be the
view of the closing verses, yet in the beginning of the work is
this Person represented as being produced from a First Cause.
It would be out of place here to analyse the conflicting philo-
sophical views of the Manu code. Even his commentators
are uncertain whether he belonged to the pantheistic Vedanta
or dualistic Sankhya school. For them that believe in no
Manu the solution is simpler. Although Manu is usually called
a Puranic Sankhyan, yet are both schools represented, and
that without regard to incongruous teaching. Manu is no
more Sankhyan than Vedantic, Indeed in the main part of
the work the teaching is clearly more Vedantic. But it
suffices here to point out that the ^/W(?-philosophy and religion
is not ignored : it is taught as essential. Nevertheless, it is
not taught in such a way as to indicate that it is requisite for
the vulgar. On the contrary, it is only when one becomes an
ascetic that he is told to devote himself to the pursuit of the
knowledge of atma. In one passage there is evidence that two
replies were given to this fundamental question in regard to
works and knowledge. For after enumerating a list of good
acts, among which are knowledge and Vedic ceremonies, it is
asked which among them most tends to deliverance. The
answer is vital. Or it should be, but it is given in an ambig-
uous form (xii. 85-6): "Amid all these acts the knowledge
of self, dtmii, is the highest, for it produces immortality.
Amid all these acts the one most productive of happiness, both
after death and in this life, is the Vedic ceremony."

Knowledge gives real immortality ; rites give temporary bliss.
The Upanishads teach that the latter is lower than the former,
but each answers the question. There were tv.^o answers, and
Manu gives both. That is the secret of many discrepancies

266 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

in Hindu rules. The law-giver cannot admit absolutely and once
for all that the Vedic ceremony is of no abiding use, as it can
be of no use to one that accepts the higher teaching. He
keeps it as a training and allows only the ascetic to be a phi-
losopher indeed. But at the same time he gives as a sort of
peroration to his treatise some ' elegant extracts ' from philo-
sophical works, which he believes theoretically, although prac-
tically he will not allow them to influence his ritualism. He
is a true Brahman priest.

It is this that is always so annoying in Brahmanic philos-
ophy. For the slavery of tradition is everywhere. Not only
does the ritualist, while admitting the force of the philosopher's
reasons, remain by Vedic tradition, and in consequence refuse
to supplant ' revelation ' with the higher wisdom and better
religion, which he sees while he will not follow it ; but even
the philosopher must needs be 'orthodox,' and, since the scrip-
tures themselves are self-contradictory, he is obliged to use
his energies not in discovering truth, but in reconciling his
ancestors' dogmas, in order to the creation of a philosophical
system which shall agree with everything that has been said
in the Vedas and Upanishads. When one sees what subtlety
and logical acumen these philosophers possessed, he is moved
to wonder what miijht have been the outcome had their minds
been as free as those of more liberal Hellas, But unfortu-
nately they were bound to argue within limits, and were as
much handicapped in the race of thought as were they that
had to conform to the teachinj^s of Rome. For thouo'h India
had no church, it had an inquisitorial priestly caste, and the
unbeliever was an outcast. What is said of custom is true of
faith : " Let one walk in the path of good men, the path in
which his father walked, in which his grandfathers walked ;
walking in that path one does no wrong" (Manu iv. 178). Real
philosophy, unhampered by tradition, is found only among the
heretics and in the sects of a later time.

THE POPULAR BRAIIMANIC FAITIf. 267

The gods of old are accepted by the orthodox as a matter
of course, although theoretically they are born of the All-god,
who is without the need of ceremonial rites. To the other
castes the active and most terrible deity is represented as being
the priest himself. He not only symbolizes the hre-god, to
whom is offered the sacrifice, but he actually is the divinity in
person. Hence there is no greater merit than in giving gifts
to priests. As to eschatology, opinions are not contrasted any
more. They are put side by side. In morality truth, purity,
and harmlessness are chiefly inculcated. But the last (ascribed
by some scholars to Buddhistic influence) is not permitted to
interfere with animal sacrifices.

Some of the rules for the life of a householder will show in
brief the moral excellence and theoretical uncertainty of Manu's
law-code. The following extracts are from the fourth, the Ten
Commandments from the sixth, and the description of the
hells (twenty-two in all) ^ from the fourth and twelfth books of
Manu's code. These rules may be accepted as a true reflexion
of what was taught to the people by stringent Brahmanism as
yet holding aloof from Hinduism.

A householder must live without giving any pain (to living
creatures). He must perform daily the ceremonies ordained
in the Veda. In this way he obtains heaven. Let him never
neglect the offerings to seers, gods, spirits (sprites), men, and
Manes. Some oft'er sacrifice only in their organs of sense (not
in external offerings); some by knowledge alone. Let him
not explain law and rites to the Qudra (slave) caste ; if he does
so, he sinks into the hell Boundless. Let him not take presents
from an avaricious king who disobeys the law-codes ; if he
does so, he goes to twenty-one hells (called Darkness, Dense-
darkness, Frightful, Hell, Thread of Death, Great Hell, Burn-
ing, Place of Spikes, Frying-pan, River of Hell, etc., etc., etc.).
Let him never despise a warrior, a snake, or a priest. Let

1 Theoretically, twenty-one; but an extra one has slipped in by mistake.

268 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

him never despise himself. Let him say what is true and what
is agreeable, but not disagreeable truth or agreeable false-
hood. Let him not dispute with anybody, but let him sa}'
* very well.' Let him not insult anybody. Remembering his
former births, and studying the Veda again and again, he gets
endless happiness. Let him avoid unbelief and censure of the
Vedas, reviling of gods, hatred, pride, anger, and cruelty. He
that even threatens a priest will go to the hell Darkness for
one hundred years ; if he strikes him he will be born in twenty-
one sinful rebirths (according to another passage in the
eleventh book he o:oes to hell for a thousand vears for the
latter offence). Priests rule the v;orld of gods. But deceitful,
hypocritical priests go to hell. Let the householder give gifts,
and he will be rewarded. One that gives a garment gets a
place in the moon ; a giver of grain gets eternal happiness ;
a giver of the Veda gets union with Brahma ibraJuna ; these
gifts, of course, are all to priests). He that gives respectfully
and he that receives respectfully go to heaven ; otherwise both
go to hell. Let him, without giving pain to any creature,
slowly pile up virtue, as does an ant its house, that he may
have a companion in the next world. For after death neither
father, nor mother, nor son. nor wife, nor relations are his com-
panions ; his virtue alone remains with him. The relations
leave the dead body, but its virtue follows the spirit ; with his
virtue as his companion he will traverse the darkness that is
hard to cross ; and virtue will lead him to the other world with
a luminous form and etherial body. A priest that makes low
connections is reborn as a slave. The Father-god permits a
priest to accept alms even from a bad man. For fifteen years
the Manes refuse to accept food from one that despises a free
gift. A priest that sins should be punished (that is, mulcted,
a priest may not be punished corporally), more than an ordi-
nary man, for the greater the wisdom the greater the offence.
They that commit the Five Great Sins live many years in hells,

THE POPULAR BRAHMANIC FAITH. 269

and afterwards obtain vile births ; the slayer of a priest be-
comes in turn a dog, a pig, an ass, a camel, a cow, a goat, a
sheep, etc., etc. A priest that drinks intoxicating liquor be-
comes various insects, one after another. A priest that steals
becomes a spider, snake, etc., etc. By repeating sinful acts men
are reborn in painful and base births, and are hurled about in
hells ; where are sword-leaved trees, etc., and where they are
eaten, burned, spitted, and boiled ; and they receive births
in despicable wombs ; rebirth to age, sorrow, and unquench-
able death. But to secure supreme bliss a priest must study
the Veda, practice austerity, seek knowledge, subdue the
senses, abstain from injury, and serve his Teacher. Which of
these gives highest bliss .'' The knowledge of the spirit is the
highest and foremost, for it gives immortality. The perform-
ance of Vedic ceremonies is the most productive of happi-
ness here and hereafter. The Ten Commandments for the
twice-born are : Contentment, patience, self-control, not to steal,
purity, control of passions, devotion (or wisdom), knowledge,
truthfulness, and freedom from anger. These are concisely
summarized again in the following : ' Manu declared the con-
densed rule of duty for (all) the four castes to be : not to injure
a living thing ; to speak the truth ; not to steal ; to be pure ;
to control the passions' (vi. 92 ; x. 63). The 'non-injury' rule
does not apply, of course, to sacrifice {ib. iii. 268). In the
epic the commandments are given sometimes as ten, some-
times as eight.

In order to give a completed exposition of Brahmanism we
have passed beyond the period of the great heresies, to which
we must soon revert. But, before leaving the present division
of the subject, we select from the mass of Brahmanic domestic
rites, the details of which offer in general little that is worth
noting, two or three ceremonies which possess a more human
interest, the marriage rite, the funeral rite, and those strange
trials, known among so many other peoples, the ordeals. We

270 THE RELIGIOXS OF IXDIA.

sketch these briefly, wishing merely to illustrate the religious
side of each ceremony, as it appears in one or more of its
features.

THE MARRIAGE RITE.

Traces of exogamy may be suspected in the bridegroom's
driving off with his bride, but no such custom, of course, is
recognized in the law. On the contrary, the groom is supposed
to belong to the same village, and special rites are enjoined
' if he be from another village,' But again, in the early rule
there is no trace of that taint of family which the totem-scholars
bf to-day cite so loosely from Hindu law. The girl is not pre-
cluded because she belongs to the same family within certain
degrees. The only restriction in the House-rituals is that she
shall have had "on the mother's and father's side" wise, pious,
and honorable ancestors for ten generations (A^vl. i. 5). Then
comes the legal restriction, which some scholars call 'primitive,'
that the wife must not be too nearly related. The girl has her
own ordeal (not generally mentioned among ordeals !) : The
wooer that thus selects his bride (this he does if one has not
been found already either by his parents or by his own incli-
nation) makes eight balls of earth and calls on the girl to choose
one (' may she get that to which she is born '). If she select a
ball made from the earth of a field that bears two crops, she
(or her child) will be rich in grain ; if from the cow-stall, rich
in cattle; if from the place of sacrifice, godly; if from a pool
that does not dry, gifted ; if from the gambler's court, devot-ed
to 2:amblin2; ; if from cross-roads, unfaithful ; if from a barren
field, poor in grain ; if from the burying-ground, destructful of
her husband. There are several forms of making a choice, but
we confine ourselves to the marriage.^ In village-life the bride-

1 The girl is given or bought, or may make her own choice among different
suitors. Buying a wife is reprehended by the early law-givers (therefore, customary).
The rite of marriage presupposes a grown girl, but child-marriages also were known
to the earlv law.

THE FUNERAL CEREMONY. 271

groom is escorted to the girl's house by young women who
tease him. The bridegroom presents presents to the bride,
and receives a cow. The bridegroom takes the bride's hand,
saying 'I take thy hand for weal' (Rig Veda, x. 85. 36), and
leads her to a certain stone, on which she steps first with the
right foot (toe). Then three times they circumambulate the
fire, keeping it to the right, an old Aryan custom for many
rites, as in the deisel of the Kelts ; the bride herself offer-
ing grain in the fire, and the groom repeating more Vedic
verses. They then take together the seven solemn steps (with
verses),^ and so they are married. The groom, if of another
village, now drives away with the bride, and has ready Vedic
verses for every stage of the journey. After sun-down the
groom points out the north star, and admonishes the bride to
be no less constant and faithful. Three or twelve days they
remain chaste, some say one night ; others say, only if he be
from another village. The new husband must now see to the
house-fire, which he keeps ever burning, the sign of his being
a householder.

THE FUNERAL CEREMONY.

Roth has an article in the Journal of the German Oriental
Society (viii. 467) which is at once a description of one of the
funeral hymns of the Rig Veda (x. 18) with the later ritual,
and a criticism of the bearing of the latter on the former."
He show^s here that the ritual, so far from having induced the
hymn, totally changes it. The hymn was written for a burial
ceremony. The later ritual knows only cremation. The ritual,

1 The groom ' releases her from Varuna's fetter,' by symbolically loosening the
hair. They step northeast, and he says : ' One step for sap ; two for strength ; three
for riches ; four for luck; five for children ; six for the seasons; seven for friendship.
Be true to me ; may vi'e have many long-lived sons."

2 There is another funeral hymn, x. 16, in which the Fire is invoked to burn the
dead, and bear him to the fathers ; his corporeal parts being distributed ' eye to the
sun, breath to the wind,' etc.

272 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

therefore, forces the hymn into its service, and makes it a cre-
mation-hymn. This is a very good (though very extreme) ex-
ample of the difference in age between the early hymns of the
Rig Veda and the more modern ritual. Mliller, ib. ix. p. I (i"/V),
has given a thorough account of the later ritual and ritualistic
paraphernalia. We confine ourselves here to the older cere-
mony.

The scene of the Vedic hymn is as follows : The friends
and relatives stand alDOut the corpse of a married man. By
the side of the corpse sits the widow. The hymn begins:
" Depart, O Death, upon some other pathway, upon thy path,
which differs from the path of gods . . . harm not our children,
nor our heroes. . . . These living ones are separated from the
dead; successful to-day was our call to the gods. (This man
is dead, but) we go back to dancing and to laughter, extending
further our still lengthened lives." Then the priest puts a
stone between the dead and living: "I set up a wall for the
living, may no one of these come to this goal ; may they live
an hundred full harvests, and hide death with this stone. . . .''

The matrons assembled are now bid to advance without
tears, and make their offerings to the fire, while the widow is
separated from the corpse of her husband and told to enter
again into the world of the living. The priest removes the
dead warrior's bow from his hand : " Let the women, not
widows, advance with the ointment and holy butter : and with-
out tears, happy, adorned, let them, to begin with, mount to
the altar (verse 7, p. 274, below). Raise thyself, woman, to the
world of the living ; his breath is gone by whom thou liest ;
come hither ; of the taker of thy hand (in marriage), of thy
wooer thou art become the wife ^ (verse 8). I take the bow
from the hand of the dead for our (own) lordship, glory, and
strength." Then he addresses the dead : " Thou art there,
and we are here ; we will slay every foe and every attacker (with

1 See below.

THE FUXERAL CEREMOXY. 273

the power got from thee). Go thou now to iMother Earth, who
is wide opened, favorable, a wool-soft maiden to the good man ;
may she guard thee from the lap of destruction. Open, O earth,
be not oppressive to him ; let him enter easily ; may he fasten
close to thee. Cover him like a mother, who wraps her child
in her garment. Roomy and firm be the earth, supported by
a thousand pillars ; from this time on thou (man) hast thy
home and happiness yonder ; may a sure place remain to him
forever. I make firm the earth about thee ; may I not be
harmed in laying the clod here ; may the fathers hold this
pillar for thee, and Yama make thee a home yonder."

In the Atharva Veda mention is made of a cofiiin, but none
is noticed here.

Hillebrandt {Joe. cit. xl. 711) has made it probable that
the eighth verse belongs to a still older ritual, according to
which this verse is one for human sacrifice, which is here
ignored, though the text is kept.^ Just so the later ritual
keeps all this text, but twists it into a crematory rite. For in
the later period only young children are buried. Of burial
there was nothing for adults but the collection of bones and
ashes. At this time too the ritual consists of three parts, cre-
mation, collection of ashes, expiation. How are these to be
reconciled with this hymn ? Very simply. The rite is de-
scribed and verses from the hymn are injected into it without
the slightest logical connection. That is the essence of all
the Brahmanic ritualism. The later rite is as follows : Three
altars are erected, northwest, southwest, and southeast of a
mound of earth. In the fourth corner is the corpse ; at whose
feet, the widow. The brother of the dead man, or an old
servant, takes the widow's hand and causes her to rise while
the priest says " Raise thyself, woman, to the world of the

1 Compare Weber, Strcifen, 1. 66 ; The king's first wife lies with a dead victim, and
is bid to come back again to Ufe. Levirate marriage is known to all the codes, but
it is reprehended by the same code that enjoins it. (M. ix. 65.)

274 THE RELIGIONS OF lA'DIA.

living." Then follows the removal of the bow ; or the break-
ing of it, in the case of a slave. The body is now burned,
while the priest says " These living ones are separated from
the dead"; and the mourners depart without looking around,
and must at once perform their ablutions of lustration. After
a time the collection of bones is made with the verse "Go
thou now to Mother Earth" and "Open, O earth." Dust is
flung on the bones with the words " Roomy and firm be the
earth"; and the skull is laid on top with the verse "I make
firm the earth about thee." In other words the original hymn
is fitted to the ritual only by displacement of verses from their
proper order and by a forced application of the words. After
all this comes the ceremony of expiation with the use of the
verse " I set up a wall " without application of any sort.
Further ceremonies, with further senseless use of ftther verses,
follow in course of time. These are all explained minutely in
the essay of Roth, whose clear demonstration of the modern-
ness of the ritual, as compared with the antiquity of the hymn
should be read complete.

The seventh verse (above) has a special literature of its
own, since the words " let them, to begin with, mount the
altar," have been changed by the advocates of suttee, widow-
burning, to mean 'to the place of fire'; which change, how-
ever, is quite recent. The burning of widows begins rather
late in India, and probably was confined at first to the pet wife
of royal persons. It was then claimed as an honor by the first
wife, and eventually without real authority, and in fact against
early law, became the rule and sign of a devoted wife. The
practice was abolished by the English in 1829; but, consider-
ing the widow's present horrible existence, it is questionable
whether it would not be a mercy to her and to her family to
restore the right of dying and the hope of heaven, in the
place of the living death and actual hell on earth in which
she is entombed to-day.

ORDEALS. 21S

ORDEALS.i

Fire and water are the means employed in India to test
guilt in the earlier period. Then comes the oath with judg-
ment indicated by subsequent misfortune. All other forms of
ordeals are first recognized in late law-books. We speak first
of the ordeals that have been thought to be primitive Aryan.
The Fire-ordeal : (i) Seven fig-leaves are tied seven times
upon the hands after rice has been rubbed upon the palms ;
and the judge then lays a red-hot ball upon them; the accused,
or the judge himself, invoking the god (Fire) to indicate the
innocence or the guilt of the accused. The latter then walks
a certain distance, ' slowl)^ through seven circles, each circle
sixteen fingers broad, and the space between the circles being
of the same extent,' according to some jurists ; but other
dimensions, and eight or nine circles are given by other
authorities. If the accused drop the ball he must repeat the
test. The burning of the hands indicates guilt. The Teutonic
laws give a different measurement, and state that the hand is
to be sealed for three days (manus sub sigillo triduum tegatur)
before inspection. This sealing for three days is paralleled by
modern Indie practice, but not by ancient law. In Greece
there is the simple fxv8pov<; alpav x^P^lv (Ant. 264) to be com-
pared. The German sealing of the hand is not reported till
the ninth century. -

(2) Walking on Fire : There is no ordeal in India to corre-
spond to the Teutonic walking over six, nine, or twelve hot
ploughshares. To lick a hot ploughshare, to sit on or handle

1 The ordeal is called divyam {praindJiavi) ' Gottesurtheil.' This means of in-
formation is employed especially in a disputed debt and deposit, and according to the
formal code is to be applied only in the absence of witnesses. The code also restricts
the use of fire, water, and poison to the slaves (Yaj. ii. 98).

2 Kaegi, Alter und Herkiinft dcs Gcrmanischeii Gottesiirtheils, p. 50. ^^'e call
especial attention to the fact that the most striking coincidences in details of practice
are not early either in India or Germany.

276 THE RELIGIONS OF EVDIA.

hot iron, and to take a short walk over coals is late Indie,
The German practice also according to Schlagintweit " war
erst in spaterer Zeit aufgekommen." ^ •

(3) Walking through Fire: This is a Teutonic ordeal, and
(like the conflict-ordeal) an Indie custom not formally legalized.
The accused walks directly into the fire. So irvp hUpireiv Hoc.
cit.).

Water-ordeals: (i) May better be reckoned to fire-ordeals.
The innocent plunges his hand into boiling water and fetches
out a stone (Anglo-Saxon law) or a coin (Indie law) without
injury to his hand. Sometimes (in both practices) the plunge
alone is demanded. The depth to which the hand must be
inserted is defined by Hindu jurists.

(2) The Floating-ordeal. The victim is cast into water. If
he floats he is guilty; if he drowns he is innocent. According
to some Indie authorities an arrow is shot off at the moment
the accused is dropped into the water, and a ' swift runner '
goes after and fetches it back. " If at his return he find the
body of the accused still under water, the latter shall be
declared to be innocent." - According to Kaegi this ordeal
would appear to be unknown in Europe before the ninth cen-
tury. In both countries Water (in India, Varuna) is invoked
not to keep the body of a guilty man but to reject it (make it
float).

Food-ordeal: Some Hindu law-books prescribe that in the
case of suspected theft the accused shall eat consecrated rice.
If the gums be not hurt, no blood appear on spitting, and the
man do not tremble, he will be innocent. This is also a

1 Schlagintweit, Die Gottesurfhcile der Indicr, p. 24.

- This is the earliest formula. Later law-books describe the length and strength
of the bow. and some even give the measure of distance to which the arrow must be
shot. Two runners, one to go and one to return, are sometimes allowed. There is
another water-ordeal " for religious men." The accused is to drink consecrated
water. If in fourteen (or more or less) days no calamity happen to him he will be
innocent. The same tsst is made in the case of the oath and of poison (below).

ORDEALS. 277

Teutonic test, but it is to be observed that the older laws in
India do not mention it.

On the basis of these examples (not chosen in historical
sequence) Kaegi has concluded, while admitting that ordeals
with a general similarity to these have arisen quite apart
from Arj^an influence, that there is here a bit of primitive'
Aryan law; and that even the minutiae of the various trials
described above are ^//--Aryan. This w^e do not believe.
But before stating our objections we must mention another
ordeal.

The Oath: While fire and water are the usual means of
testing crime in India, a simple oath is also permitted, which
may inv^olve either the accused alone or his whole family. If
misfortune within a certain time (at once, in seven days, in a
fortnight, or even half a year) happen to the one that has
sworn, he will be guilty. This oath-test is also employed in
the case of witnesses at court, perjury being indicated by the
subsequent misfortune (Manu, viii. io8).^

Our objections to seeing primitive Aryan law in the minutiae
of ordeals is based on the gradual evolution of these ordeals
and of their minutiae in India itself. The earlier law of the
Sutras barely mentions ordeals ; the first ' tradition law ' of
Manu has only fire, water, and the oath. All others, and all
special descriptions and restrictions, are mentioned in later
books alone. Moreover, the earliest (pre-legal) notice of
ordeals in India describes the carrying of hot iron (in the test
of theft) as simply "bearing a hot axe," while still earlier
there is only walking through fire.""^

1 In the case of witnesses Manu gives seven days as the limit. When one adopts
the oath as an ordeal the misfortune of the guilty is supposed to come ' quickly.'
As an ordeal this is not found in the later law. It is one of the Greek tests
(loc. cit.). When swearing the Hindu holds water or holy-grass.

2 AV. ii. 12 is not a certain case of this, but it is at least Brahmanic. The carrying
of the axe is alluded to in the Chandogya Upanishad (Schlagintweit, Die Goitesuriheile
der Indier, p. 6).

278 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

To the tests by oath, fire, and water of the code of Manu
are soon added in later law those of consecrated water, poison,
and the balance. Restrictions increase and new trials are
described as one descends the series of law-books (the con-
secrated food, the hot-water test, the licking of the plough-
share, and the lot). Some of these later forms have already
been described. The further later tests we will now sketch
briefly.

Poison: The earliest poison-test, in the code of Yajnavalkya
(the next after Manu), is an application of aconite-root, and as
the poison is very deadly, the accused is pretty sure to die.
Other laws give other poisons and very minute restrictions,
tending to ease the severity of the trial.

The Balance-test : This is the opposite of the floating-test.
The man ^ stands in one scale and is placed in equilibrium
with a weight of stone in the other scale. He then gets out
and prays, and gets in again. If the balance sinks, he is
guilty ; if it rises, he is innocent.

The Lot-ordeal : This consists in drawing out of a vessel one
of two lots, equivalent respectively to dharma and adkarma,
right and wrong. Although Tacitus mentions the same ordeal
among the Germans, it is not early Indie law, not being known
to any of the ancient legal codes.

One may claim without proof or disproof that these are all
' primitive Aryan ' ; but to us it appears most probable that
only the idea of the ordeal, or at most its application in the
simplest forms of water and fire (and perhaps oath) is primi-
tive Aryan, and that all else (including ordeal by conflict) is of
secondary growth among the different nations.

As an offset to the later Indie tendency to lighten the sever-
ity of the ordeal may be mentioned the description of the
floating-test as seen by a Chinese traveller in India in the

1 Yajnavalkya {loc. cit.) restricts this test to women, children, priests, the old,
blind, lame, and sick. On phdla for ag}ii, ib. ii. 99, see ZDMG, ix. 677.

ORDEALS. 219

seventh century a.d. : ^ " The accused is put into a sack and a
stone is put into another sack. The two sacks are connected
by a cord and flung into deep water. If the sack with the
man sinks and the sack with the stone floats the accused is
declared to be innocent."

1 Schlagintweit, loc. cit. p. 26 (Hiouen Thsang).

CHAPTER XII.

JAINISM.i

One cannot read the Upanishads without feeling that he is
already facing an intellectual revolt. Not only in the later
tracts, which are inspired with devotion to a supreme and uni-
versal Lord, but even in the oldest of these works the atmos-
phere, as compared with that of the earlier Brahmanic period, is
essentially different. The close and stifling air of ritualism
has been charged with an electrical current of thought that
must soon produce a storm.

That storm reached a head in Buddhism, but its premonitory
signs appear in the Upanishads, and its first outbreak preceded
the advent of Gautama. Were it possible to draw a line of
demarcation between the Upanishads that come before and
after Buddhism, it w^ould be historically more correct to review
the two great schisms, Jainism and Buddhism, before referring
to the sectarian Upanishads. For these latter in their present
form are posterior to the rise of the two great heresies. But,
since such a division is practically uncertain in its application,
we have thought it better in our sketch of the Upanishads and
legal literature to follow to the end the course of that agitated
thought, which, starting with the great identification oijiva, the

1 We retain here and in Buddhism the usual terminology. Strictly speaking,
Jainism is to Jina (the reformer's title) as is Bauddhism to Buddha, so that one
should say Jinism, Buddhism, or Jainism, Bauddhism. Both titles, Jina and Buddha
('victor' and 'awakened'), were given to each leader; as in general many other
mutual titles of honor were applied by each sect to its own head, Jina, Arhat ('ven-
erable'), Mahavira (' great hero ') , Buddha, etc. One of these titles was used, how-
ever, as a title of honor by the Jains, but to designate heretics by the Buddhists, viz.,
Tirthakara, 'prophet' (see Jacobi, SBE. xxii. Introd. p. xx).

JAINISM. 281

individual spirit, and atma, the world-spirit, the All, continues
till it loses itself in a multiplication of sectarian dogmas, where
the All becomes the god that has been elected by one com-
munion of devotees.^

The external characteristics of Upanishad thought are those
of a religion that has replaced formal acts by formal introspec-
tion. The Yogin devotee, who by mystic communion desires
absorption into the world-spirit, replaces the Sannyasin and
Yati ascetics, who would accomplish the same end by renunci-
ation and severe self-mortification. This is a fresh figure on
the stage of thought, where before were mad Munis, beggars,
and miracle-mongers. On this stage stands beside the ascetic
the theoretical theosophist who has succeeded in identifying
himself, soberly, not in frenzy, with God.^ What were the
practical results of this teaching has been indicated in part
already. The futility of the stereotyped religious oftices was
recognized. But these offices could not be discarded by the
orthodox. With the lame and illogical excuse that they were
useful as discipline, though unessential in reality, they were
retained by the Brahman priest. Not so by the Jain ; still less
so by the Buddhist.

In the era in which arose the public revolt against the dog-
matic teaching of the Brahman there were more sects than one
that have now passed away forgotten. The eastern part of
India, to which appertain the later part of the ^atapatha Brah-
mana and the schismatic heresies, was full of religious and
philosophical controversy. The great heretics were not inno-
vators in heresy. The Brahmans permitted, encouraged, and
shared in theoretical controversy. There was nothing in the

1 It is possible, however, on the other hand, that both Vishnuite and Qivaite sects
(or, less anglicized. Vaishnavas, Qaivas, if one will also say Vaidic for Vedic). were
formed before the end of the sixth century B.C. Not long after this the divinities
Qiva and Vishnu receive especial honor.

2 The Beggar (Qramana, Bhikshu), the Renunciator (Sannyasin), the Ascetic
(Yati), are Brahmanic terms as well as sectarian.

282 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

tenets of Jainism or of Buddhism that from a philosophical
point of view need have caused a rupture with the Brahmans.

But the heresies, nevertheless, do not represent the priestly
caste, so much as the caste most apt to rival and to disregard
the claim of the Brahman, viz., the warrior-caste. They were
supported by kings, who gladly stood against priests. To a
great extent both Jainism and Buddhism owed their success
(amid other rival heresies with no less claim to good protest-
antism) to the politics of the day. The kings of the East
were impatient of the Western church ; th.y were pleased to
throw it over. The leaders in the ' reformation ' were the
younger sons of noble blood. The church received many of
these younger sons as priests. Both Buddha and Mahavira
wer^ in fact, revolting adherents of the Brahmanic faith, but
they were princes and had royalty to back them.

Nor in the Brahmanhood of Benares was Brahmanhood at
its strongest. The seat of the Vedic cult lay to the westward,
where it arose, in the 'holy land,' which received the Vedic
Aryans after they had crossed out of the Punjab. With the
eastward course of conquest the character of the people and
the very orthodoxy of the priests were relaxed. The country
that gave rise to the first heresies was one not consecrated to
the ancient rites. Very slowly had these rites marched thither,
and they were, so to speak, far from their religious base of
supplies. The West was more conservative than the East. It
was the home of the rites it favored.. The East was but a
foster-father. New tribes, new land, new growth, socially and
intellectually, — all these contributed in the new seat of Brah-
manhood to weaken the hold of the priests upon their specu-
lative and now recalcitrant laity. So before Buddha there were
heretics and even Buddhas, for the title was Buddha's only by
adoption. But of most of these earlier sects one knows little.
Three or four names of reformers have been handed down ;
half a dozen opponents or rivals of Buddha existed and vied

JA/AVSM. 2S3

with him. Most important of these, both on account of his
probable priority and because of the lasting character of his
school, was the founder or reformer of Jainism, ]\lahavira Jna-
triputra,^ who with his eleven chief disciples may be regarded
as the tirst open seceders from Brahmanism, unless one assign
the same date to the revolt of Buddha. The two schisms have
so much in common, especially in outward features, that for
long it was thought that Jainism was a sub-sect of Buddhism.
In their legends, in the localities in which they flourished, and
in many minutiae of observances they are alike. Nevertheless,
their differences are as great as the resemblance between them,
and what Jainism at first appeared to have got of Buddhism
seems now to be rather the common loan made by each sect
from Brahmanism. It is safest, perhaps, to rest in the assu-
rance that the two heresies were contemporaries of the sixth
century B.C., and leave unanswered the question w^hich Master
preceded the other, though we incline to the opinion that the
founder of Jainism, be he Mahavira or his own reputed master,
Parcvanatha, had founded his sect before Gautama became
Buddha. But there is one good reason for treating of Jainism
before Buddhism,- and that is, that the former represents a
theological mean between Brahmanism and Buddhism.

Mahavira, the reputed founder of his sect, was, like Buddha

1 The three great reformers of this period are Mahavira, Buddha, and Gosala.
The last was first a pupil and then a rival of Mahavira. The latter's nephew, Jamali,
also founded a distinct sect and became his uncle's opponent, the speculative sectarian
tendency teing as pronounced as it was about the same time in Hellas. Gosala appears
to have had quite a following, and his sect existed for a long time, but now it is
utterly perished. An account of this reformer and of Jamali will be found in Leu-
mann"s essay, Indischc Sftidien. xvii. p. 98 ff. and in the appendix to Rockhiirs Life
of BmidJia.

2 The Xirgranthas (Jains) are never referred to by the Buddhists as being a new
sect, nor is their reputed founder, Xataputta, spoken of as their founder ; whence
Jacobi plausibly argues that their real founder was older than Mahavira, and that
the sect preceded that of Buddha. Tassen and Weber have claimed, on the contrary,
that Jainism is a revolt against Buddhism. The identification of Xataputta (Jnatri-
putra) with Mahavira is due to Biihler and Jacobi (Kalpasutra, Introd, p. 6).

2S4 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

and perhaps his other rivals, of aristocratic birth. His father
is called king, but he was probably hereditary chief of a district
incorporated as a suburb of the capital city of Videha, while
by marriage he was related to the king of Videha, and to
the ruling house of Magadha. His family name was Jnatri-
putra, or, in his own Prakrit (Ardhamagadhi) dialect, Nata-
putta ; but by his sect he was entitled the Great Hero, Maha-
vira ; the Conqueror, Jina ; the Great One, Vardahmana, etc.
His sect was that of the Nirgranthas (Nigganthas), i.e., 'with-
out bonds,' perhaps the oldest name of the whole body. Later
there are found no less than seven sub-sects, to which come
as eighth the Digambaras, in contradistinction to all the seven
Cvetambara sects. These two names represent the two present
bodies of the church, one body being the Cvetambaras, or
' white-attire ' faction, who are in the north and west . the
other, the Digambaras, or 'sky-attire,' /.<?., naked devotees of
the south. The latter split off from the main body about two
hundred years after Mahavira's death ; as has been thought
by some, because the Qvetambaras refused to follow the Di-
gambaras in insisting upon nakedness as the rule for ascetics.-^
The earlier writings show that nakedness was recommended,
but was not compulsory.- Other designations of the main
sects, as of the sub-sects, are found. Thus, from the practice
of pulling out the hairs of their body, the Jains were derisively
termed Luncitakegas, or ' hair-pluckers.' The naked devotees

1 According to Jacobi, ZDMG. xxxviii. 17, the split in the party arose in this way.
About 350 B.C. some Jain monks under the leadership of Bhadrabahu went south,
and they followed stricter rules of asceticism than did their fellows in the north. Both
sects are modifications of the original type, and their differences did not result in
sectarian separation till about the time of our era, at which epoch arose the differenti-
ating titles of sects that had not previously separated into formal divisions, but had
drifted apart geographically.

2 Compare Jacobi, loc. cit., and Leumann's account of the seven sects of the Qve-
tambaras in the essay in the Indische Studien referred to above. At the present day
the Jains are found to the number of about a million in the northwest (Qvetambaras),
and south (Digambaras) of India. The original seat of the whole body in its first
form was, as we have said, near Benares, where also arose and flourished Buddhism.

JAINISM. ^j 2S5

of this school are probably the gymnosophists of the Greek
historians, although this general term may have been used in
describing other sects, as the practice of dispensing with attire
is common even to-day with many Hindu devotees.^

An account of the Jain absurdities in the way of speculation
would indeed give some idea of their intellectual frailty,
but, as in the case of the Buddhists, such an account has but
little to do with their religion. It will suffice to state that the
' ages ' of the Brahmans from whom Jain and Buddhist derived
their general conceptions of the ages, are here reckoned quite
differently; and that the first Jina of the long series of pre-
historic prophets lived more than eight million years and was
five hundred bow-lengths in height. Monks and laymen now
appear at large in India, a division which originated neither
with Jain nor Buddhist," though these orders are more clearly
divided among the heretics, from whom, again, was borrowed
by the Hindu sects, the monastic institution, in the ninth
century (a.d.), in all the older heretical completeness. Al-
though atheistic the Jain worshipped the Teacher, and paid
some regard to the Brahmanical divinities, just as he worships
the Hindu gods to-day, for the atheistical systems admitted
gods as demi-gods or dummy gods, and in point of fact became
very superstitious. Yet are both founder-worship and super-
stition rather the growth of later generations than the original
practice. The atheism of the Jain means denial of a divine
creative Spirit.^

1 Hemacandra's Yogagastra, edited by Windisch, ZDMG. xxviii. 185 flf. (iii. 133).
The Jain's hate of women did not prevent his worshipping goddesses as the female
energy Hke the later Hindu sects. The Jains are divided in regard to the possibility
of woman's salvation. The Yogagastra alludes to women as ' the lamps that burn on
the road that leads to the gate of hell,' ii. 87. The Digambaras do not admit women
into the order, as do the (^vetambaras.

- Die Bharata-sage, Leumann, ZDMG. xlviii. p. 65. See also above in the Sutras.
With the Jains there is less of the monastic side of religion than with the Buddhists.

3 Jains are sometimes called Arhats on account of their veneration for the Arhat
or chief Jina (whence Jain). Their only real gods are their chiefs or Teacheis, whose

286 > THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

Though at times in conflict with the Brahmans the Jains
never departed from India as did the Buddhists, and even
Brahmanic priests in some parts of India serve to-day in Jain
temples.

In metaphysics as in religion the Jain differs radically from
the Buddhist. He believes in a dualism not unlike that of the
Sankhyas, whereas Buddhistic philosophy has no close connec-
tion with this Brahmanic system. To the Jain eternal matter
stands opposed to eternal spirits, for (opposed to pantheism)
every material entity (even water) has its own individual spirit.
The Jain's Nirvana, as Barth has said, is escape from the
body, not escape from existence.^ Like the Buddhist the
Jain believes in reincarnation, eight births, after one has
started on the right road, being necessary to the completion of
perfection. Both sects, with the Brahmans, insist on the non-
injury doctrine, but in this regard the Jain exceeds his Brah-
manical teacher's practice. Both heretical sects claim that
their reputed founders were the last of twenty-four or twenty-
five prophets who preceded the real founder, each successively
having become less monstrous (more human) in form.

The Jain literature left to us is quite large - and enough has
been published already to make it necessary to revise the old
belief in regard to the relation between Jainism and Buddhism.

We have said that Jainism stands nearer to Brahmanism
(with which, however, it frequently had quarrels) than does

idols are worshipped in the temples. Thus, like the Buddhist and some Hindu sects
of modern times, they have given up God to worship man. Rather have they adopted
an idolatry of man and worship of womanhood, for they also revere the female energy.
Positivism has ancient models !

1 The Jain sub-sects did not differ much among themselves in philosophical spec-
ulation. Their differences were rather of a practical sort.

2:See the list of the BerUn MSS. ; Weber, Berlin MSS. vo\. ii. 1S92 ; and the
thirty-third volume of the German Oriental Journal, pp. 47S, 693. For an account of
the literature see also Jacobi's introduction to the SBE. vol. xxii ; and Weber, Ucber
die heiligoi Schriftcn der Jaina in vols, xvi, xvii of the Indische Stiidieji (translated
by Smyth in the Indian Antiquary) ; and the Bibliography (below).

JAINISM. 2S7

Buddhism.^ The most striking outward sign of this is the
weight laid on asceticism, which is common to Brahmanism and
Jainism but is repudiated by Buddhism. Twelve years of asceti-
cism are necessary to salvation, as thinks the Jain, and this
self-mortification is of the most stringent sort. But it is not in
their different conception of a Nirvana of release rather than
of annihilation, nor in the Sankhya-like - duality they affect,
nor yet in the prominence given to self-mortification that the
Jains differ most from the Buddhists. The contrast will appear
more clearlv when we come to deal with the latter sect. At
present we take up the Jain doctrine for itself.

The ' three gems ' which, according to the Jains,^ result in
the spirit's attainment of deliverance are knowledge, faith, and
virtue, or literally ' right knowledge, right intuition, and right
practices.' Right knowledge is a true knowledge of the rela-
tion of spirit and non-spirit (the world consists of two classes,
spirit and non-spirit), the latter being immortal like the former.
Rio^ht intuition is absolute faith in the word of the Master and
the declarations of the Agamas, or sacred texts. Right prac-
tices or virtue consists, according to the Yogacastra, in the
correct fivefold conduct of one that has "knowledge and faith:
(i) Non-injury, (2) kindness and speaking what is true (in so
far as the truth is pleasant to the hearer),* (3) honorable con-
duct, typified by ' not stealing,' (4) chastity in word, thought,
and deed, (5) renunciation of earthly interests.

The doctrine of non-injury found but modified approval
among the Brahmans. They limited its application in the case of

1 A case of connection in legends between Buddhist and Jain is mentioned below.
Another is the history of king Paesi, elaborated in Buddhistic literature (Tripitaka)
and in the second Jain Upanga alike, as has been shown by Leumann.

'^ The Jain's spirit, however, is not a world-spirit. He does not believe in an
All-Spirit, but in a plurality of eternal spirits, fire-spirits, wind-spirits, plant-
spirits, etc.

■^ Compare Colebrooke's Essays, vol. ii. pp. 404, 444, and the Yogacastra cited
above. ^ This is not in the earlier form of the vow (see below).

288 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

sacrifice, and for this reason were bitterly taunted by the Jains
as ' murderers.' " Viler than unbelievers," says the Yogagastra,
quoting a law of Manu to the effect that animals may be slain
for sacrifice, " are those cruel ones who make the law that
teaches killing."^ For this reason the Jain is far more partic-
ular in his respect for life than is the Buddhist. Lest animate
things, even plants and animalculae, be destroyed, he sweeps
the ground before him as he goes, walks veiled lest he inhale
a living organism, strains water, and rejects not only meat but
even honey, together with various fruits that are supposed to
contain worms ; not because of his distaste for worms but
because of his regard for life. Other arguments which, logic-
ally, should not be allowed to influence him are admitted, how-
ever, in order to terrify the hearer. Thus the first argument
against the use of honey is that it destroys life ; then follows
the argument that honey is 'spit out by bees ' and therefore it
is nasty. ^

The Jain differs from the Buddhist still more in ascetic
practices. He is a forerunner, in fact, of the horrible modern
devotee whose practices we shall describe below. The older
view of seven hells in opposition to the legal Brahmanic num-
ber of thrice seven is found (as it is in the Markandeya
Purana), but whether this be the rule we cannot say.'^ It is
interesting to see that hell is preserved with metempsychosis
exactly as it is among the Brahmans.^ Reincarnation on

1 ii. '})'] and 41. Although the Brahman ascetic took the vow not to kill, yet is he
permitted to do so for sacrifice, and he may eat flesh of animals killed by other ani-
mals (Gautama, 3. 31).

2 Loc. cit. iii. 37-38. The evening and night are not times to eat, and for the
same reason " The Gods eat in the morning, the Seers at noon, the Fathers in the
afternoon, the devils at tv^ilight and night'' {ib. 58). For at night one might eat a
a living thing by mistake. 3 [^qc. cit. ii. 27.

•1 The pun ttzduisa, " Me eat will be hereafter whose meat I eat in this life " (Lan-
man), shows that Jain and Brahman believed in a hell where the injured avenged
themselves (Manu, v. 55 ; HYf . iii. 26), just as is related in the Bhrigu story
(above).

JAIXISM. 289

earth and punishment in hells between reincarnation seems to
be the usual belief. The salvation which is attained by the
practice of knowledge, faith, and five-fold virtue, is not imme-
diate, but it will come after successive reincarnations ; and
this salvation is the freeing of the eternal spirit from the bonds
of eternal matter ; in other words, it is much more like the
' release ' of the Brahman than it is like the Buddhistic
Nirvana, though, of course, there is no ' absorption,' each spirit
remainins: sinsrle. In the order of the Ratnatrava or ' three
gems ' Cankara appears to lay the greatest weight on faith, but
in Hemacandra's schedule knowledge ^ holds the first place.
This is part of that Yoga, asceticism, which is the most im-
portant element in attaining salvation. -

Another division of right practices is cited by the Yogacastra
(i. 2)Z ff-) : Some saints say that virtue is divided into five kinds
of care and three kinds of control, to wit, proper care in walk-
ing, talking, begging for food, sitting, and performing natural
functions of the body — these constitute the five kinds of care,
and the kinds of control are those of thought, speech, and act.
This teaching it is stated, is for the monks. The practice of the
laity is to accord with the custom of their country.

The chief general rules for the laity consist in vows of obe-
dience to the true god, to the law, and to the (present) Teacher :
which are somewhat like the vows of the Buddhist. God here
is the Arhat, the 'venerable' founder of the sect. The laic has
also five lesser vows : not to kill, not to lie, not to steal, not to
commit adultery or fornication, to be content with little.

According to the Qastra already cited the laic must rise
early in the morning, worship the god's idol at home, go to the
temple and circumambulate the Jina idol three times, strewing
flowers, and sinfrins: hvmns, and then read the Pratvakhvana
(an old Piirva, gospel).^ Further rules of prayer and practice

1 By intuition or instruction. - Loc. cit. i. 15 ff.

^ Loc.cit.\\\. 121 ff. Wilson, ^'jj'iT^'i-, 1. 3 19, gives a description of the simple Jain ritual

290 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

guide him through his day. And by following this rule he ex-
pects to obtain spiritual ' freedom ' hereafter ; but for his life
on earth he is ''without praise or blame for this world or the
next, for life or for death, having meditation as his one pure
wife " (iii. 150). He will become a god in heaven, be reborn
again on earth, and so, after eight successive existences (the
Buddhistic number), at last obtain salvation, release (from
bodies) for his eternal soul (153).

As in the Upanishads, the gods, like men, are a part of the
system of the universe. The wise man goes to them (becomes
a god) only to return to earth again. All systems thus unite
hell and heaven with the karma doctrine. But in this Jain
work, as in so many of the orthodox wTitings, the weight is
laid more on hell as a punishment than on rebirth. Prob-
ably the first Jains did not acknowledge gods at all, for it is
an early rule with them not to say ' God rains,' or use any such
expression, but to say 'the cloud rains '; and in other ways they
avoid to employ a terminology which admits even implicitly
the existence of divinities. Yet do they use a god not infre-
quently as an agent of glorification of Mahavira, saying in
later writings that Indra transformed himself, to do the Teacher
honor ; and often they speak of the gods and goddesses as if
these were regarded as spirits. Demons and inferior beings
are also utilized in the same way, as when it is said that at the
Teacher's birth the demons (spirits) showered gold upon the
town.

The religious orders of the (Jvetambara sect contained nuns
as well as monks, although, as we have said, women are not
esteemed very favorably : " The w^orld is greatly troubled by
women. People say that women are vessels of pleasure. But
this leads them to pain, to delusion, to death, to hell, to
birth as hell-beings or brute-beasts." Such is the decision in
the Acaranga Siitra, or book of usages for the Jain monk and
nun. From the same work we extract a few rules to illustrate

JAINISM. 291

the practices of the Jains. This Uterature is the most tedious
in the world, and to give the gist of the heretic law-maker's
manual will suffice.

Asceticism should be practiced by monk and nun, if possible.
But if one finds that he cannot resist his passions, or is dis-
abled and cannot endure austerities, he may commit suicide;
although this release is sometimes reprehended, and is not
allowable till one has striven against yielding to such a means.
But when the twelve years of asceticism are passed one has
assurance of reaching Nirvana, and so may kill himself. Of
Nirvana there is no description. It is release, salvation, but
it is of such sort that in regard to it 'speculation has no place,'
and ' the mind cannot conceive of it ' (copied from the
Upanishads). In other regards, in contrast to the nihilistic
Buddhist, the Jain assumes a doubtful attitude, so that he is
termed the 'may-be philosopher,' rjv?^/z'^^//;/,^ in opposition to
the Buddhist, the philosopher of 'the void.'

But if the Jain may kill himself, he may not kill or injure
anything else. Not even food prepared over a fire is accept-
able, lest he hurt the 'fire-beings,' for as he believes in
w^ater-beings, so he believes in fire-beings, wind-beings, etc.
Every plant and seed is holy w4th the sacredness of life. He
may not hurt or drive away the insects that torment his naked
flesh. ' Patience is the highest good,' he declares, and the
rules for sitting and lying conclude with the statement that
not to move at all, not to stir, is the best rule. To lie naked,
bitten by vermin, and not to disturb them, is religion. Like
a true Puritan, the Jain regards pleasure in itself as sinful.
"What is discontent, and what is pleasure? One should live
subject to neither. Giving up all gaiety, circumspect, restrained,
one should lead a religious life. Man ! Thou art thine own
friend; why longest thou for a friend beyond thyself? . . .
First troubles, then pleasures ; first pleasures, then troubles.

1 Who says " may be."

292 THE RELIGIOXS OF IXDIA.

These are the cause of quarrels." And again, " Let one think,
' I am I,' " i.e., let one be dependent on himself alone. When
a Jain monk or nun hears that there is to be a festival (per-
haps to the gods, to Indra, Skanda, Rudra, Vishnu,^ or the
demons, as in Acaranga Sutra, ii. 1.2) he must not go thither ;
he must keep himself from all frivolities and entertainments.
During the four months of the rainy season he is to remain in
one place,- but at other times, either naked or attired in a few
garments, he is to wander about begging. In going on his
begging tour he is not to answer questions, nor to retort if
reviled. He is to speak politely (the formulae for polite
address and rude address are given), beg modestly, and not
render himself liable to suspicion on account of his behavior
when in the house of one of the faithful. Whatever be the
quality of the food he must eat it, if it be not a wrong sort.
Rice and beans are especially recommended to him. The
great Teacher Jnatriputra (Mahavira), it is said, never went to
shows, pantomines, boxing-matches, and the like ; but, remain-
ing in his parents' house till their death, that he might not
grieve his mother, at the age of twenty-eight renounced the
world with the consent of the government, and betook himself
to asceticism ; travelling naked (after a year of clothes) into
barbarous lands, but always converting and enduring the re-
proach of the wicked. He was beaten and set upon by sinful
men, yet was he never moved to anger. Thus it was that he
became the Arhat, the Jina, the Kevalin (perfect sage).' It

1 Mukunda.

2 This ' keeping vasso' is also a Brahmanic custom, as Biihler has pointed out.
But it is said somewhere that at that season the roads are impassible, so that there
is not so much a conscious copying as a physical necessity in keeping z'rtj-jt?; perhaps
also a moral touch, owing to the increase of life and danger of killing.

3 In the lives of the Jinas it is said that Jiiatriputra's (Nataputta's) parents wor-
shipped the ' people's favorite,' Pargva, and were followers of the (^ramanas (ascetics).
In the same work (which contains nothing further for our purpose) it is said that
Arhats. Cakravarts. Baladevas, and Vasudevas, present, past, and future, are aristo-
crats, born in noble families. The heresies and sectaries certainly claim as much.

JAINISM. 293

is sad to have to add, however, that Mahavira is traditionally-
said to have died in a fit of apoplectic rage.

The equipment of a monk are his clothes (or, better, none),
his alms-bowl, broom, and veil. He is ' unfettered,' in being
without desires and without injury to others. ' Some say that
all sorts of living beings may be slain, or abused, or tormented,
or driven away — the doctrine of the unworthy. The righteous
man does not kill nor cause others to kill. He should not
cause the same punishment for himself.'

The last clause is significant. What he does to another
living being will be done to him. He will suffer as he has
caused others to suffer. The chain from emotion to hell —
the avoidance of the former is on account of the fear of the
latter — is thus connected : He who knows wrath knows pride ;
he who knows pride knows deceit ; he who knows deceit knows
greed (and so on ; thus one advances) from greed to love, from
love to hate, from hate to delusion, from delusion to concep-
tion, from conception to birth, from birth to death, from death
to hell, from hell to animal existence, ' and he who knows ani-
mal existence knows pain.'

The five great vows, which have been thought by some
scholars to be copies of the Buddhistic rules, whereas they
are really modifications of the old Brahmanic rules for
ascetics as explained in pre-Buddhistic literature, are in detail
as follows : ^

The First vow : I renounce all killing of living beings, whether
subtile or gross, whether movable or immovable. Nor shall I
myself kill living beings nor cause others to do it, nor consent
to it. As long as I live I confess and blame, repent and exempt
myself of these sins in the thrice threefold way,^ in mind, speech,
and body.

1 Acaranga S. ii. 15. We give Jacobi's translation, as in the verses already cited
from this work.

2 Acting, commanding, consenting, past, present, or future (Jacobi).

294 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

The five 'clauses' that explain this vow are: (i) the
Niggantha (Jain) is careful in walking ; (2) he does not allow
his mind to act in a way to suggest injury of living beings ;
(3) he does not allow his speech to incite to injury; (4) he is
careful in laying down his utensils ; (5) he inspects his food
and drink lest he hurt living beings.

The Second Vow : I renounce all vices of lying speech aris-
ing from anger, or greed, or fear, or mirth. I confess (etc., as
in the first vow).

The five clauses here explain that the Niggantha speaks
only after deliberation ; does not get angry ; renounces greed ;
renounces fear; renounces mirth- — lest through any of these
he be moved to lie.

The Third Vow : I renounce all taking of anything not
given, either in a village, or a town, or a wood, either of little
or much, or small or great, of living or lifeless things. I shall
neither take myself what is not given nor cause others to take
it, nor consent to their taking it. As long as I live I confess
(etc., as in the first vow).

The clauses here explain that the Niggantha must avoid
different possibilities of stealing, such as taking food without
permission of his superior. One clause states that he may take
only a limited ground for a limited time, ?>., he may not settle
down indefinitely on a wide area, for he may not hold land
absolutely. Another clause insists on his having his grant to
the land renewed frequently.

The Fourth Vow : I renounce all sexual pleasures, either
with gods, or men, or animals. I shall not give way to sensu-
ality (etc.).

The clauses here forbid the Niggantha to discuss topics
relating to women, to contemplate the forms of women, to
recall the pleasures and amusements he used to have with
women, to eat and drink too highly seasoned viands, to lie
near women.

JAINISM. 295

The Fifth Vow : I renounce all attachments, whether little
or much, small or great, living or lifeless ; neither shall I my-
self form such attachments, nor cause others to do so, nor
consent to their doing so (etc.).

The five clauses particularize the dangerous attachments
formed by ears, eyes, smell, taste, touch.

It has been shown above (following Jacobi's telling com-
parison of the heretical vows with those of the early Brahman
ascetic) that these vows are taken not from Buddhism but from
Brahmanism. Jacobi opines that the Jains took the four first
and that the reformer Mahavira added the fifth as an offset to
the Brahmanical vow of liberality.-^ The same writer shows
that certain minor rules of the Jain sect are derived from the
same Brahmanical source.

The main differences between the two Jain sects have been
catalogued in an interesting sketch by Williams,- who mentions
as the chief Jain stations of the north Delhi (where there is an
annual gathering), Jeypur, and Ajmir. To these Mathura on
the Jumna should be added.^ The Cvetambaras had forty-five
or forty-six Agamas, eleven or twelve Angas, twelve Upangas,
and other scriptures of the third or fourth century B.C., as they
claim. They do not go naked (even their idols are clothed),
and they admit women into the order. The Digambaras do
not admit women, go naked, and have for sacred texts later
works of the fifth century a.d. The latter of course assert
that the scriptures of the former sect are spurious.*

1 SBE. xxii. Introd. p. xxiv.

■^ JRAS. XX. 279.

3 See Biihler, the last volume of the Epigraphica Indica, and his other articles in
the WZKM. V, 59, 175. Jeypur, according to Williams, is the stronghold of the
Digambara Jains. Compare Thomas, JRAS. ix. 155, Early Faith of A^oka.

^ The redaction of the Jain canon took place, according to tradition, in 454 or 467
A.D. (possibly 527). "The origin of the extant Jaina literature cannot be placed
earlier than about 300 B.C." (Jacobi, Introduction to Jain Siltras, pp. xxxvii, xliii).
The present Angas (' divisions ') were preceded by Purvas, of which there are said to
have been at first fourteen. On the number of the scriptures see Weber, loc. cit.

296 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

In distinction from the Buddhists the Jains of to-day keep
up caste. Some of them are Brahmans. They have, of course,
a different prayer-formula, and have no Stupas or Dagobas (to
hold relics) ; and, besides the metaphysical difference spoken
of above, they differ from the Buddhists in assuming that
metempsychosis does not stop at animal existence, but includes
inanimate things (as these are regarded by others). According
to one of their own sect of to-day, a/ihnsd para??io d/iar7nas,''th.Q
highest law of duty is not to hurt a living creature.' ^

The most striking absurdity of the Jain reverence for life has
frequently been commented upon. Almost every city of west-
ern India, where they are found, has its beast-hospital, where
animals are kept and fed. An amusing account of such an
hospital, called Pinjra Pol, at Saurarashtra, Surat, is given in
the first number of the Joiwtial of the Royal Asiatic Society}
Five thousand rats were supported in such a temple-hospital
in Kutch.^

Of all the great religious sects of India that of Nataputta is
perhaps the least interesting, and has apparently the least ex-
cuse for being.* The Jains offered to the world but one great
moral truth, withal a negative truth, ' not to harm,' nor was
this verity invented by them. Indeed, what to the Jain is
the great truth is only a grotesque exaggeration of what
other sects recognized in a reasonable form. Of all the sects
the Jains are the most colorless, the most insipid. They have

1 Williams, loc. cit. The prayer-formula is : ' Reverence to Arhats, saints, teachers,
sub-teachers, and all good men.'

2 ' A place which is appropriated for the reception of old, worn-out, lame, or dis-
abled animals. At that time (1823) they chiefly consisted of buffaloes and cows, but
there were also goats and sheep, and even cocks and hens,' and also ' hosts of
vermin.'

3 JRAS. 1S34, p. 96. The town was taxed to provide the food for the rats.

4 Because the Jains have reverted to idolatry, demonology, and man-worship. But
at the outset they appear to have had two great principles, one, that there is no
divine power higher than man ; the other, that all life is sacred. One of these is now
practically given up, and the other was always taken too seriously.

JAINISM. 297

no literature worthy of the name. They were not original
enough to give up many orthodox features, so that they seem
like a weakened rill of Brahmanism, cut off from the source,
yet devoid of all independent character. A religion in which
the chief points insisted upon are that one should deny God,
worship man, and nourish vermin, has indeed no right to exist ;
nor has it had as a system much influence on the history of
thought. As in the case of Buddhism, the refined Jain meta-
physics are probably a late growth. Historically these sectaries
served a purpose as early protestants against ritualistic and
polytheistic Brahmanism ; but their real affinity with the latter
faith is so great that at heart they soon became Brahmanic
again. Their position geographically would make it seem
probable that they, and not the Buddhists, had a hand in the
making of the ethics of the later epic.

CHAPTER XIII.

BUDDHISM.

While the pantheistic believer proceeded to anthropomor-
phize in a still greater degree the atina of his fathers, and
eventually landed in heretical sectarianism; while the orthodox
Brahman simply added to his pantheon (in Manu and other
law-codes) the Brahmanic figure of the Creator, Brahma : the
truth-seeker that followed the lines of the earlier philosophical
thought arrived at atheism, and in consequence became either
stoic or hedonist. The latter school, the Carvakas, the so-
called disciples of Brihaspati, have, indeed, a philosophy without
religion. They simply say that the gods do not exist, the priests
are hypocrites ; the Vedas, humbug ; and the only thing worth
living for, in view of the fact that there are no gods, no heaven,
and no soul, is pleasure : ' While life remains let a man live
happily ; let him not go without butter (literally ghee) even
though he run into debt,' etc.-^ Of sterner stuff was the man
who invented a new religion as a solace for sorrow and a refuse
from the nihilism in which he believed.

Whether Jainism or Buddhism be the older heresy, and it is
not probable that any definitive answer to this question will
ever be given, one thing has become clear in the light of
recent studies, namely, the fact already shown, that to Brah-
manism are due some of the most marked traits of both the
heretical sects. The founder of Buddhism did not strike out a ,
new system of morals; he was not a democrat; he did not /
originate a plot to overthrow the Brahmanic priesthood ; he

1 Compare Colebrooke's Essays, vol. ii. 460; and Muir. OST, iv, 296

BUDDHISM. 299

did not invent the order of monks. -^ There is, perhaps, no
person in history in regard to whom have arisen so many
opinions that are either wholly false or half false."

We shall not canvass in detail views that would be mentioned
only to be rejected. Even the brilliant study of Senart,^ in
which the figure of Buddha is resolved into a solar type and
the history of the reformer becomes a sun-myth, deserves only
to be mentioned and laid aside. Since the publication of the
canonical books of the southern Buddhists there is no longer
any question in regard to the human reality of the great knight
who illumined, albeit with anything but heavenly light, the
darkness of Brahmanical belief. Oldenberg^ has taken Senart
seriously, and seriously answered him. But Napoleon and
]\Iax Miiller have each been treated as sun-myths, and Senart's
essay is as convincing as either yV/^ d' esprit.

In Nepal, far from the site of Vedic culture, and generations
after the period of the Vedic hymns, was born a son to the
noble family of the Cakyas. A warrior prince, he made at last
exclusively his own the lofty title that was craved by many of
his psers, Buddha, the truly wise, the 'Awakened.'

The Cakyas' land extended along the southern border of
Nepal and the northeast part of Oude (Oudh), between the
Iravati (Rapti) river on the west and south, and the Rohini on
\\it east : the district which lies around the present Gorakhpur,
about one hundred miles north-northeast of Benares. The
personal history of the later Buddha is interwoven with legend
from which it is not always easy to disentangle the threads of
truth. In the accounts preserved in regard to the Master, one
has first to distinguish the Pali records of the Southern
Buddhists from the Sanskrit tales of the Northerners ; and
again, it is necessary to discriminate between the earlier and

1 Compare Oldenberg, Buddha., p. 155.

2 Especially Koppen views Buddha as a democratic reformer .and liberator.
8 Emile Senart, Essai siir la Icgende du Buddha. 1875.

^Buddha (1881), p. 73 ff.

300 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

later traditions of the Southerners, who have kept in general
the older history as compared with the extravagant tradition
preserved in the Lalita Vistara, the Lotus of the Law. and the
other works of the North. What little seems to be authentic
history is easily told ; nor are, for our present purpose, of
much value the legends, which mangonize the life of Buddha.
They will be found in every book that treats of the subject,
and some of the more famous are translated in the article on
Buddha in the Encyclopcedia Brittanica. We content ourselves
with the simplest and oldest account, giving such facts as help
to explain the religious significance of Buddha's life and work
anions: his countrvmen. Several of these facts, Buddha's
place in society, and the geographical centre of Buddhistic
activity, are essential to a true understanding of the relations
between Buddhism and Brahmanism.

Whether Buddha's father was king or no has rightly been
questioned. The oldest texts do not refer to him as a king's
son, and this indicates that his father, who governed the
^akya-land, of which the limits have just been specified,-^ was
rather a feudal baron or head of a small clan, than an actual
king. The Qakya power was overthrown and absorbed into
that of the king of Oude (Kosala) either in Buddha's own life-
time or immediately afterwards. It is only the newer tradition
that extols the power and wealth which the Master gave up on
renouncins: worldlv ties, a trait characteristic of all the later
accounts, on the principle that the greater was the sacrifice i^jk
greater was the glory. Whether kings or mere chieftains, tflo
Qakyas were noted as a family that cared little to honor the
Brahmanic priests. They themselves claimed descent from
Ikshvaku, the ancient seer-king, son of Manu. and traditionally
first king of Ayodha (Oude). They assumed the name of

1 The exact position of Kapilavastu, the capital of the Qakyas. is not known,
although it must have been near to the position assigned to it on Kiepert's map of
India (just north of Gorakhpur). The town is unknown in Brahmanic literature.

BUDDHISM. 301

Gautama, one of the Vedic seers, and it was by the name of
' the Ascetic Gautama ' that Buddha was known to his contem-
poraries ; but his personal name was Siddhartha ' he that
succeeds in his aim,' prophetic of his life ! His mother's
name Maya (illusion) has furnished Senart with material for
his sun-theory of Buddha ; but the same name is handed down
as that of a city, and perhaps means in this sense ' the won-
derful.' She is said to have died when her son was still a boy.
The boy Siddhartha, then, was a warrior rajpiit by birth, and
possibly had a very indifferent training in Vedic literature,
since he is never spoken of as Veda-wise.^ The future Buddha
was twentv-nine when he resolved to renounce the world. He
was already married and had a son (Rahula, according to later
tradition). The legends of later growth here begin to thicken,
telling how, when the future Buddha heard of the birth of his
son, he simply said ' a new bond has been forged to hold me
to the world'; and how his mind was first awakened to appre-
ciation of sorrow by seeing loathy examples of age, sickness,
and death presented to him as he drove abroad. Despite his
father's tears and protests Siddhartha, or as one may call him
now by his patronymic, the man Gautama, left his home and
family, gave up all possessions, and devoted himself to self-
mortification and Yoga discipline of concentration of thought,
following in this the model set by all previous ascetics. He
says himself, according to tradition, that it was a practical
pessimism which drove him to take this step. He was • not
pleased with life, and the pleasures of society had no charm for
him. When he saw the old man, the sick man, the dead man,
he became disgusted to think that he^too would be, subject to
age, sickness, and death :." I 'felt ' disgust at old age; all
pleasure then forsook me." In becoming an ascetic Gautama

1 This is Oldenberg's opinion, for the reason here stated. On the other hand it
may be questioned whether this negative evidence be conclusive, and whether it be
not more probable that a young nobleman would have been well educated.

302 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

simply endeavored to discover some means by which he might
avoid a recurrence of life, of which the disagreeable side in his
estimation outweighed the joy. He too had already answered
negatively the question Is life worth living ?

We must pause here to point out that this oldest and
simplest account of Gautama's resolve shows two things. It
makes clear that Gautama at first had no plan for the uni-
versal salvation of his race. He was alert to 'save his own
soul,' nothing more. We shall show presently that this is
confirmed by subsequent ' events in his career. The next
point is that this narration in itself is a complete refutation
of the opinion of those scholars who believe that the doctrine
of karma and reincarnation arose first in Buddhism, and
that the Upanishads that preach this doctrine are not of the
pre-Buddhistic period. The last part of this statement of
opinion is, of course, not touched by the story of Gautama's
renunciation, but the first assumption wrecks on it. Why
should Gautama have so given himself to Yoga discipline ?
Did he expect to escape age, sickness, death, in this life
by thit means ? No. The assumption from the beginning
is the belief in the doctrine of reincarnation. It was in order
to free himself from future returns of these ills that Gautama
renounced his home. But nothing whatever is said of his dis-
covering; or inventing^ the doctrine of reincarnation. Both hell
and karma are taken for granted throughout the whole early
Bud-dhistic literature. Buddha discovered neither of them, any
more than he discovered a new system of morality, or a new
system of religious life ; although more credit accrues to him
in regard to the last because his order was opposed to that
then prevalent ; yet even here he had antique authority for his
discipline.

Tq return to Gautama's ^ life. Legend tells how he fled

1 Siddhartha, the boy, Gautama by his family cognomen, the (^akya-son by his
clan-name, was known also as the (^akya-sage, the hermit, Samana ((^ramana) ; the

BUDDHISM. ^ 303

away on his horse Kanthaka, in search of solitude and the
means of salvation, far from his home to the abode of ascetics,
for he thought : " Whence comes peace t ■. When the fire of
desire is extinguished, when the fire ol '^te is extinguished,
when the fire of illusion is extin^i^uished/ leu all sins and all
sorrows are extinguished, then comes peace." And the only
means to this end was the renunciation of desire, the discipline
of Yoga concentration, where the mind fixed on one point loses
all else from its horizon, and feels no drawing aside to worldly
things.

What then has Gautama done from the point of view of the
Brahman ? He has given up his home to become an ascetic.
But this was permitted by usage, for, although the strict
western code allowed it only to the priest, yet it was customary
among the other twice-born castes at an earlier day, and in this
part of India it awakened no surprise that one of the military
caste should take up the life of a philosopher. For the
historian of Indie religions this fact is of great significance,
since such practice is the entering wedge which was to split
the castes. One step more and not only the military caste
but the lower, nay the lowest castes, might become ascetics.
But, again, all ascetics were looked upon, in that religious
society, as equal to the priests. In fact, where Gautama
lived there was rather more respect paid to the ascetic
than to the priest as a member of the caste. Gautama
was most fortunate in his birth and birth-place. An aristocrat,
he became an ascetic in a land where the priests were particu-
larly disregarded. He had no public opinion to contend
against when later he declared that Brahman birth and Brah-
man wisdom had no value. On the contrary, he spoke to

venerable, Arhat (a general title of perfected saints); Tathagata ' who is arrived like'
(the preceding Buddhas, at perfection); and also by many other names common to
other sects, Buddha, Jina, The Blessed One (Bhagavat), The Great Hero, etc. The
Buddhist disciple may be a layman, qravaka ; a moxik, bhikshti ; a perfected saint,
arhat ; a saintly doctor of the law, bodhisattva ; etc.

304 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

glad hearers, who heard repeated loudly now as a religious
truth what often they had said to themselves despitefuUy in
private.

Gautama journeyed as a 7?timi, or silent ascetic sage, till
after seven years he abandoned his teachers (for he had be-
come a disciple of professed masters), and discontentedly
wandered about in Magadha (Behar), ' the cradle of Buddhism,'
till he came to Uruvela, Bodhi Gaya.-^ Here, having found
that concentration of mind. Yoga-discipline, availed nothing,
he undertook another method of asceticism, self-torture. This
he practiced for some time. But it succeeded as poorly as
his first plan, and he had nearly starved himself to death when
it occurred to him that he was no wiser than before. There-
upon he gave up starvation as a means of wisdom and began
to eat. Five other ascetics, who had been much impressed by
his endurance and were quite ready to declare themselves his
disciples, now deserted him, thinking that as he had relaxed
his discipline he must be weaker than themselves. But
Gautama sat beneath the sacred fig-tree" and lo ! he became
illumined. In a moment he saw the Great Truths. He was
now the Awakened. He became Buddha.

The later tradition here recoi'ds how he was tempted of
Satan. For Mara (Death), ' the Evil One ' as he is called by
the Buddhists, knowing that Buddha had found the way of
salvation, tempted him to enter into Nirvana at once, lest by
converting others Buddha should rob Mara of his power and
dominion. This and the legend of storms attacking him and
his being protected by the king of snakes, Mucalinda, is lack-
ing in the earlier tradition.

Buddha remains under the bo-tT&e fasting, for four times
seven days, or seven times seven, as says the later report. At

1 South of the present Patna. Less correct is the Buddha Gaya form.

2 The famous bo or Bodhi-tree, ficus roXigioss.. pippala, at Bodhi Gaya, said to be
the most venerable and certainly the most venerated tree in the world.

BUDDHISM. 305

first he resolves to be a 'Buddha for himself,'^ that is to save
only himself, not to be ' the universal Buddha/ who converts
and saves the world. But the God Brahma comes down from
heaven and persuades him out of pity for the world to preach
salvation. In this legend stands out clearly the same fact we
have animadverted upon already. Buddha had at first no
intention of helping his fellows. He found his own road to
salvation. That sufficed. But eventually he was moved
through pity for his kind to give others the same knowledge
with which he had been enlightened.^

Here is to be noticed with what suddenness Gautama be-
comes Buddha. It is an earlv case of the same absence of
study or intellectual preparation for belief that is rampant in
the idea of ictic conversion. In a moment Gautama's eyes are
opened. In ecstacy he becomes illuminated with the light of
knowledge. This idea is totally foreign to Brahmanism. It
is not so strange at an earlier stage, for the Vedic poet often
' sees ' his hymn,^ that is, he is inspired or illumined. But no
Brahman priest was ever ' enlightened ' with sudden wisdom,
for his knowledge was his wisdom, and this consisted in learn-
ins: interminable trifles. But the wisdom of Buddha was this :

I. Birth is sorrow, age is sorrow, sickness is sorrow, death —
is sorrow, clinging to earthly things is sorrow.

II. Birth and re-birth, the chain of reincarnations, result -
from the thirst for life together with passion and desire. I j

III. The only escape from this thirst is the annihilation of
desire.

IV. The only way of escape from this thirst is by following
the Eightfold Path : Right belief, right resolve, right word,

1 K pacceka Buddha (Oldenberg, Buddha, p. 122).

2 '^ Then be the door of salvation opened !
He that hath ears to hear let him hear.
I thought of my own sorrow only, and, therefore,
Have not revealed the Word to the world."'

3 He sometimes, however, quite prosaically ' makes' or ' manufactures ' it.

306 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

right act, right life, right effort, right thinking, right medi-
tation.^

But Buddha is said to have seen more than these, the Four
Great Truths, and the Eightfold Path, for he was enlightened
at the same time (after several days of fasting) in regard to
the whole chain of causality which is elaborated in the later
tradition.

The general result of this teaching may be formulated thus,
that most people are foolishly optimistic and that the great
awakening is to become a pessimist. One must believe not
only that pain is inseparable from existence, but that the
pleasures of life are only a part of its pain. When one has got
so far along the path of knowledge he traverses the next stage
and gets rid of desire, which is the root of life, — this is a
Vedic utterance, — till by casting off desire, ignorance, doubt,
and heresy, as add some of the texts," one has removed far
away all unkindness and vexation of soul, feeling good-will
to all.

Not only in this scheme but also in other less formal decla-
rations of Buddha does one find the key-note of that which
makes his method of salvation different alike to that of Jain or
Brahman. Knowledge is wisdom* to the Brahman ; asceticism
is wisdom to the Jain ; purity and love is the first wisdom to the
Buddhist. We do not mean that the Brahman does not reach
theoretically a plane that puts him on the same level with
Buddhism. We have pointed out above a passage in the work
of the old law-giver Gautama which might almost have been

1 Dhaiu7nacakkaffa-i.attaiia. Rhj's Davids in his introduction to this siiifa gives
and explains the eight as follows (SBE. xi. p. 144): i, Right views; freedom from
superstition or delusion. 2, Right aims, high and worthy of the intelligent, earnest
man. 3, Right speech, kindly, open, truthful. 4, Right conduct, peaceful, honest,
pure. ;. Right livelihood, bringing hurt to no living thing. 6, Right effort in self-
training and in self-control. 7, Right mindfulness, the active watchful mind.
S, Right contemplation, earnest thought on the deep mysteries of life.

2 Hardy, Mamial, p. 496.

^ BUDDHISM. 307

uttered by Gautama Buddha: "He that has performed all the
forty sacraments and has not the eight good qualities enters
not into union with Brahma nor into the heaven of Brahma ;
but he that has performed only a part of the forty sacraments
and has the eight good qualities, enters into union with
Brahma and into the heaven of Brahma"; and these eight
good qualities are mercy, forbearance, freedom from envy,
purity, calmness, correct behavior, freedom from greed and
from covetousness. Nevertheless with the Brahman this is
adventitious, with the Buddhist it is essential.

These Four Great Truths are given to the world first at
Benares, whither Buddha went in order to preach to the five
ascetics that had deserted him. His conversation with them
shows us another side of Buddhistic ethics. The five monks,
when they saw Buddha approaching, jeered, and said : " Here
is the one that failed in his austerities." Buddha tells them to
acknowledge him as their master, and that he is the Enlightened
One. "How," they ask, "if you could not succeed in be-
coming a Buddha by asceticism, can we suppose that you
become one by indulgence ? " Buddha tells them that neither
voluptuousness nor asceticism is the road that leads to
Nirvana ; that he, Buddha, has found the middle path between
the two extremes, the note is struck that is neither too high
nor too low. The five monks are converted when they hear
the Four Great Truths and the Eightfold Path, and there are
now six holy ones on earth, Buddha and his five disciples.

Significant also is the social status of Buddha's first conver-
sion. It is ' the rich youth ' of Benares that flock about him,^
of whom sixty soon are counted, and these are sent out into
all the lands to preach the gospel, each to speak in his own
tongue, for religion was from this time on no longer to be hid
behind the veil of an unintelligible language. And it is not

1 " A decided predilection for the aristocracy appears to have Hngered as an heir-
loom of the past in the older Buddhism,'' Oldenberg, Buddha, p. 157.

308 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

only the aristocracy of wealth that attaches itself to the new
teacher and embraces his doctrines with enthusiasm. The next
converts are a thousand Brahman priests, who constituted a
religious body under the leadership of three ascetic Brahmans.
It is described in the old writings how these priests were still
performing their Vedic rites when Buddha came again to
Bodhi Gaya and found them there. They were overcome
with astonishment as they saw his power over the King of
Snakes that lived among them. The gods — for Buddhism, if
not Buddha, has much to do with the gods — descend from
heaven to hear him, and other marvels take place. The Brah-
mans are all converted. The miracles and the numbers may
be stripped off, but thus denuded the truth still remains as
important as it is plain. Priests of Brahman caste were
among the first to adopt Buddhism. The popular effect of the
teaching must have been great, for one reads how, when
Buddha, after this great conversion, begins his victorious
wanderings in Behar (Magadha), he converted so many of the
young nobles that — since conversion led to the immediate
result of renunciation — the people murmured, saying that
Gautama (Gotama) was robbing them of their youth. -^

From this time on Buddha's life was spent in wandering
about and preaching the new creed mainly to the people of
Behar and Oude (Ka^i-Kosala, the realm of Benares-Oude),
his course extending from the (IravatI) Rapti river in the
north to Rajagriha {ga/ia, now Rajgir) south of Behar, while
he spent the 7'asso or rainy season in one of the parks, many
of which were donated to him by wealthy members of the
fraternitv."

Wherever he went he was accompanied with a considerable
number of followers, and one reads of pilgrims from distant

1 Mahdvagga, i. 24. On the name (Gautama) Gotam.a, see Weber, IS. i. iSo.

2 The parks of Veluvana and Jetavana were especially affected by Buddha. Com-
pare Oldenberg, Buddha, p. 145.

BUDDHISM. 309

places coming to see and converse with him. The number of
his followers appears to have been somewhat exaggerated by
the later writers, since Buddha himself, when prophesying of
the next Buddha, the "Buddha of love" (jMaitreya) says that,
whereas he himself has hundreds of followers, the next Buddha
will lead hundreds of thousands.

Although, theoretically, all the castes give up their name,
and, when united in the Buddhistic brotherhood, become "like
rivers that give up their identity and unite in the one ocean,"
yet were most of the early recruits, as has been said, from
influential and powerful families ; and it is a tenet of Buddhism
in regard to the numerous Buddhas, which have been born ^
and are still to be born on earth, that no Buddha can be born
in a low caste.

/rhe reason for this lies as much as anything in the nature
of the Buddhistic system which is expressly declared to be |
"for the wise, not for the foolish." It was not a system based
as such on love or on any democratic sentiment. It was a
philosophical exposition of the causal nexus of birth and
freedom from re-birth. The common man, untrained in logic,
might adopt the teaching, but he could not understand it.
The " Congregation of the son of the Qakyas " — such was the
earliest name for the Buddhistic brotherhood — were required
only to renounce their family, put on the yellow robe, assume
the tonsure and other outward signs, and be chaste and high-
minded. But the teachers were instructed in the subtleties of
the ' Path,' and it needed no little training to follow the
leader's thought to its logical conclusion.

Of Buddha's life, besides the circumstances already narrated
little is known. Of his disciples the best beloved was Ananda,
his own cousin, whose brother was the Judas of Buddhism.
The latter, Devadatta by name, conspired to kill Buddha in
order that he himself might get the post of honor. But hell

1 Like the Jains the Buddhists postulate twenty-four (five) precoJent Buddhas.

310 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

opened and swallowed him up. He appears to have had con-
victions of Jain tendency, for before his intrigue he preached
against Buddha, and formulated reactionary propositions which
inculcated a stricter asceticism than that taught by the
Master.^

It has been denied that the early church contained lay mem-
bers as well as monks, but Oldenberg appears to have set the
matter right (p. 165) in showing that the laity, from the begin-
ning, were a recognized part of the general church. The
monk {bhiks/iu, bhikkii) was formally enrolled as a disciple,
wore the gown and tonsure, etc. The lay brother, ' reverer '
{jipasakii), was one that assented to the doctrine and treated
the monks kindly. There were, at first, only men in the con-
gregation, for Buddhism took a view as unfavorable to woman
as did Jainism. But at his foster-mother's request Buddha
finally admitted nuns as well as monks into his fold. When
Ananda asks how a monk should act in presence of a woman
Buddha says 'avoid to look at her'; but if it be necessary to
look, 'do not speak to her'; but if it be necessary to speak,
'then keep wide awake, Ananda.'"

Buddha died in the fifth century. Rhys Davids, who puts
the date later than most scholars, gives, as the time of the
great Nirvana, the second decade from the end of the fourth
century. On the other hand, Biihler and Miiller reckon the
year as 477, while Oldenberg says 'about 480.'^ From
Buddha's own words, as reported by tradition, he was eighty

1 Buddha's general discipline as compared with that of the Jains was much more
lax, for instance, in the eating of meat. Buddha himself died of dysentery brought
on by eating pork. The later Buddhism interprets much more strictly the rule of
' non-injury'; and as we have shown, Buddha entirely renounced austerities, choosing
the mean between laxity and asceticism.

2 Or 'take care of yourself ; Mahaparinibbdna. v. 23.

3 The chief Buddhistic dates are given by Miiller (introduction to Dhammapada^
SBE. vol. X.) as follows: 557. Buddha's birth; 477, Buddha's death and the First
Council at Rajagriha ; t^jj, the Second Council at Vaigall ; 259, Agoka's coronation ;
242, Third Council at Pataliputta ; 222, Agoka's death. These dates are only tenta-

BUDDHISM. 311

years old at the time of his death, and if one allots him thirty-
six years as his age when he became independent of masters,
his active life would be one of forty-four years. It was proba-
bly less than this, however, for some years must be added to
the first seven of ascetic practices before he took the field as a
preacher.

The story of Buddha's death is told simply and clearly. He
crossed the Ganges, where at that time was building the town
of Patna (Pataliputta, ' Palibothra '), and prophesied its future
greatness (it was the chief city of India for centuries after);
then, going north from Rajagriha, in Behar, and Vaicall, he
proceeded to a point east of Gorukhpur (Kasia). Tradition
thus makes him wander over the most familiar places till he
comes back almost to his own country. There, in the region
known to him as a youth, weighed down with years and ill-
health, but surrounded by his most faithful disciples, he died.
Not unaffecting is the final scene. ^

' Now the venerable Ananda (Buddha's beloved disciple)
w^ent into the cloister-building, and stood leaning against the
lintel of the door and weeping at the thought : " Alas ! I
remain still but a learner, one who has yet to work out his own
perfection. And the IMaster is about to pass away from me — he
Vv'ho is so kind." Then the Blessed One called the brethren
and said: "Where then, brethren, is Ananda.^" "The vener-
able Ananda (they replied) has gone into the cloister-building
and stands leaning against the lintel of the door, weeping." . . .
And the Blessed One called a certain brother, and said " Go

tive, but they give the time nearly enough to serve as a gtiide. From the Buddhists
(Ceylon account) it is known that the Council at Vaigali was held one hundred years
after Buddha's death (one hundred and eighteen years before the coronation of
Agoka, whose grandfather, Candragupta, was Alexanders contemporary). The in-
terval between Nirvana and Agoka, two hundred and eighteen years, is the only cer-
tain date according to Koppen, p. 20S, and despite much argument since he wrote, the
remark still holds.

^ Englished by Rhys Davids, Mahaparinibbdna-sutta (SBE. xi. 95 ff.).

312 THE RELIGIONS OF IiYDIA.

now, brother, and call Ananda in my name and say, 'Brother
Ananda, thy Master calls for thee.'" "Even so, Lord," said
that brother, and he went up to where Ananda was, and said to
the venerable Ananda: "Brother Ananda, thy Master calls for
thee." "It is well, brother," said the venerable Ananda, and
he went to the place where Buddha was. And when he was
come thither he bowed down before the Blessed One, and took
his seat on one side. Then the Blessed One said to the vener-
able Ananda, as he sat there by his side : " Enough, Ananda,
let not thyself be troubled ; weep not. Have I not told thee
already that we must divide ourselves from all that is nearest
and dearest .'' How can it be possible that a being born to die
should not die 1 For a long time, Ananda, hast thou been very
near to me by acts of love that is kind and good and never
varies, and is beyond all measure. (This Buddha repeats three
times.) Thou hast done well. Be earnest in effort. Thou, too,
shalt soon be free." . . . When he had thus spoken, the vener-
able Ananda said to the Blessed One: "Let not the Blessed
One die in this little wattle and daub town, a town in the midst
of the jungle, in this branch township. For, Lord, there are
other great cities such as Benares (and others). Let the
Blessed One die in one of them." '

This request is refused by Buddha. Ananda then goes to
the tow^n and tells the citizens that Buddha is dying. ' Now,
when they had heard this saying, they, with their young men
and maidens and wives were grieved, and sad, and afflicted at
heart. And some of them wept, dishevelling their hair, and'
stretched forth their arms, and wept, fell prostrate on the
ground and rolled to and fro, in anguish at the thought " Too
soon will the Blessed One die ! Too soon will the Happy One
pass away ! Full soon will the Light of the world vanish
away ! " ' . . . When Buddha is alone again with his disci-
ples, 'then the Blessed One addressed the brethren and said
" It may be, brethren, that there may be doubt or misgiving in

BUDDHISM. 313

the mind of some brother as to the Buddha, the truth, the path
or the way. Inquire, brethren, freely. Do noi have to re-
proach yourselves afterwards with this thought: 'Our Teacher
was face to face with us, and we could not bring ourselves to
inquire of the Blessed One when we were face to face with
him.' " And when he had thus spoken they sat silent. Then
(after repeating these words and receiving no reply) the
Blessed One addressed the brethren and said, " It may be that
you put no questions out of reverence for the Teacher. Let
one friend communicate with another."' And when he had
thus spoken the brethren sat silent. And the venerable
Ananda said: "How wonderful a thing, Lord, and how mar-
vellous. Verily, in this whole assembly, there is not one
brother who has doubt or misgiving as to Buddha, the truth,
the path or the way." Then Buddha said: "It is out of the
fullness of thy faith that thou hast spoken, Ananda. But I
know it for certain." . . . Then the Blessed One addressed
the brethren saying: "Behold, brethren, I exhort you saying,
transitory are all component things ; toil without ceasing."
And these were the last words of Buddha.'

It is necessary here to make pause for a moment and survey
the temporal and geographical circumstances of Buddha's life.
His lifetime covered the period of greatest intellectual growth
in Athens. If, as some think, the great book of doubt ^ was
written by the Hebrew in 450, there would be in three lands,
at least, about the same time the same earnestly scornful
skepticism in regard to the worn-out teachings of the fathers.
But at a time when, in Greece, the greatest minds were still
veiling infidelity as best they could, in India atheism was
already formulated.

It has been questioned, and the question has been answered
both affirmatively and negatively, whether the climatic con-
ditions of Buddha's home were in part responsible for the

1 Ecclcsiastes.

314 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

pessimistic tone of his philosophy. If one compare the geo-
graphical relation of Buddhism to Brahmanism and to Vedism
respectively with a more familiar geography nearer home, he
will be better able to judge in how far these conditions may
have influenced the mental and relig^ious tone. Takine: Kabul
and Kashmeer as the northern limit of the period of the Rig
Veda, there are three geographical centres. The latitude of
the Vedic poets corresponds to about the southern boundary of
Tennessee and North Carolina. The entire tract covered by
the southern migration to the time of Buddhism, extending
from Kabul to a point that corresponds to Benares (35° is a
little north of Kabul and 25° is a little south of Behar), would
be represented loosely in the United States by the difference
between the northern line of Mississippi and Key West. The
extent of Georgia about represents in latitude the Vedic prov-
ince (35° to 30°), while Florida (30° to 25^) roughly shows the
southern progress from the seat of old Brahmanism to the cradle
of young Buddhism. These are the extreme limits of Vedism,
Brahmanism and proto-Buddhisra. South of this the country
was known to Brahmanism only to be called savage, and not
before the late Sutras (c. 300 b.c.) is one brought as far south
as Bombav in the West. The Aitareva Brahmana. which
represents the old centre of Brahmanism around Delhi,
knows of the Andhras, south of the Godavarl river in the
southeast (about the latitude of Bombay and Hayti), only as
outer ^Barbarians.' It is quite conceivable that a race of hardy
mountaineers, in shifting their home through generations from
the hills of Georgia and Tennessee to the sub-tropical region
of Key \\'est (to Cuba), in the course of many centuries might
become morallv affected. But it seems to us, althouo-h the
miasmatic plains of Bengal may perhaps present even a sharper
contrast to the Vedic region than do Key West and Cuba to
Georgia, that the climate in effecting a moral degradation (if
pessimism be immoral) must have produced also the effect of

BUDDHISM. 315

mental debility. Now to our mind there is not the slightest
proof for the asseveration, which has been repeated so often
that it is accepted by many nowadays as a truism, that
Buddhism or even post-Buddhistic literature shows any trace
of mental decay. ^ There certainly is mental weakness in the
Brahmanas, but these cannot all be accredited to the miasms
of Bengal. They are the bones of a religion already dead,
kept for instruction in a cabinet ; dry, dusty, lifeless, but awful
to the beholder and useful to the owner. Again, does Bud-
dhism lose in the comparison from an intellectual point of
view when set beside the mazy gropings of the Upanishads 1
We have shown that dogma was the base of primal pantheism ;
of real logic there is not a whit. We admire the spirit of the
teachers in the Upanishads, but we have very little respect for
the logical ability of any early Hindu teachers; that is to say,
there is very little of it to admire. The doctors of the Upani-
shad philosophy were poets, not dialecticians. Poetry indeed
waned in the extreme south, and no spirited or powerful litera-
ture ever was produced there, unless it was due to foreign
influence, such as the religious poetry of Ramaism and the
Tamil Sitta?-s. But in secondary subtlety and in the marking of
distinctions, in classifying and analyzing on dogmatic premises,
as well as in the acceptance of hearsay truths as ultimate
verities — we do not see any fundamental disparity in these
rerards between the mind of the Northwest and that of the
Southeast ; and what superficial difference exists goes to the
credit of Buddhism. For if one must have dogma it is something
to have system, and while precedent theosophy was based on
the former it knew nothing of the latter. Moreover, in Bud-
dhism there is a greater intellectual vigor than in any phase of

' The common view is thus expressed by Oldenberg: " In dem schwiilen, feuchten,
von der Natur mit Reichthiimern uppig gesegneten Tropenlande des Ganges hat das
Volk. das in frischer Jugendkraft steht, als es vom Norden her eindringt, bald aufge-
hort jung und stark zu sein. Menschen und Volker reifen in jenem Lande . . •
schnell heran, um ebenso schnell an Leib und Seele zu erschlaffen " {loc, cit. p. ii).

316 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

Brahmanism (as distinct from Vedism). To cast off not only
gods but soul, and more, to deny the moral efficacy of asceti-
cism, this was a leap into the void, to appreciate the daring of
which one has but to read himself into the priestly literature of
Buddha's rivals, both heterodox and orthodox. We see then
in Buddhism neither a debauched moral type, nor a weakened
intellectuality. The pessimism of Buddhism, so far as it con-
cerns earth, is not only the same pessimism that underlies the
religious motive qf Brahmanic pantheism, but it is the same
pessimism that pervades Christianity and even Hebraism.
This world is a sorry place, living is suffering ; do thou escape
from it. The pleasures of life are vanity ; do thou renounce
them. ''To die is gain," says the apostle; and the Preacher:
" I have seen all the works that are done under the sun and
behold all is vanity and vexation of spirit. He that increaseth
knowleds^e increaseth sorrow. For what hath man of all his
labor and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured
under the sun ? For all his days are sorrows and his travail
grief. That which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts ;
even one thing befalleth them : as the one dieth so dieth
the other ; yea, they have all one breath ; so that a man
hath no preeminence above a beast : for all is vanity. All go
unto one place ; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
Who knoweth the spirit of man whether it goeth upward? I
praised the dead which are already dead more than the living
which are yet alive. The dead know not anything, their love
and their hatred and their envy is now perished ; neither have
they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under
the sun. The wandering of the desire, this also is vanity."

The Preacher is a fairly good Buddhist.

If pessimism be the conviction that life on earth is not worth
living, this view is shared alike by the greatest of earth's
religions. If pessimism be the view that all beauty ends with
life and that bevond it there is nothins: for which it is worth

BUDDHISM. 317

while to live, then India has no parallel to this Homeric belief.
If, however, pessimism mean that to have done with existence
on earth is the best that can happen to a man, but that there
is bliss be3'ond, then this is the opinion of Brahmanism,
Jainism, and Christianity. Buddhism alone teaches that to
live on earth is weariness, that there is no bliss beyond, and
that one should yet be calm, pure, loving, and wise.

How could such a religion inspire enthusiasm ? How could
it send forth jubilant disciples to preach the gospel of joy.?
Yet did Buddhism do even this. Not less happy and blissful
than were they that received the first comfort of pantheism
were the apostles of Buddha. His progress was a triumph of
gladness. They that believed in him rejoiced and hastened
to their fellows with the good tidings. Was it then a new
morality, a new ethical code, that thus inspired them.? Let
one but look at the vows and commandments respectively
taken by and given to the Buddhist monk, and he will see
that in Buddhism there is no new morality.

The Ten Vows are as follows :

I take the vow not to kill ; not to steal ; to abstain from impurity ; not
to lie ; to abstain from intoxicating drinks which hinder progress and
virtue ; not to eat at forbidden times ; to abstain from dancing, singing,
music and stage plays ; not to use garlands, scenfs', unguents, or ornaments ;
not to use a high or broad bed ; not to receive gold or silver.

The Eight Commandments are as follows :

Do not kill ; do not steal ; do not lie ; do not drink intoxicating drinks;
do not commit fornication or adultery ; do not eat unseasonable food at
night ; do not wear garlands or use perfumes ; sleep on a mat spread on
the ground.

The first five of these commands are given to every Buddhist,

monk, or layman; the last three are binding only on the monk.-^

These laws and rules were, however, as we have indicated in

1 Rhys Davids, Buddhism^ pp. i6o, 139.

318 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

the chapter on Jainism, the common property, with some unim-
portant variations and exceptions, of the Brahman ascetic, the
Jain, and the Buddhist. There was surely nothing here to
rouse especial interest. No. But there was one side of Bud-
dhism that was new, not absolutely new, for it formed part of
the moral possession of that early band which we may call the
congregation of the Spirit. The Brahman theoretically had
done away with penance and with prayer, with the Vedic gods
and with the Vedic rites. Yet was it impossible for him prac-
tically to absolve the folk of these. The priest might admit
that he knew a better way to salvation, but he still led the
people over the hard old road, and he himself went that way
also, because it was the way of the fathers, because it was the
only way for them that were unwise, and perhaps, too, because
it was the only way in which the priest could keep his place as
guide and leader of the people.

Jainism smote down some of the obstacles that the Brahman
had built and kept. Mahavira made the way to salvation
shorter, but he did not make it easier for the masses. Asceti-
cism, self-miortification, starvation, torture, — this was his
means of gaining happiness hereafter.

But Buddha cut down all obstacles. He made the lowest
equal with the highest. It is true that he was no democrat.
It is true that his success depended, in great part, on political
influence, on the conversion of kings and nobles, men of his
own class. It is true also that Buddha at hrst, like every other
Hindu theosophist, sought no salvation for the world around
him, but only for himself. But he was moved with pity for the
multitude. And why? The sages among them knew no path
to happiness save through life-long torture ; the common peo-
ple knew only a religion of rites in which they took no interest,
the very words of which were unintelligible ; and its priests in
their eyes, if not contemptible, at least were unsympathetic.
And at the same time the old caste-system oppressed and in-

BUDDHISM. 319

suited them. It is evident that the times were ripe for a more
humane religion and a new distribution of social privileges.

Then Buddha arose and said: "He that is pure in heart is
the true priest, not he that knows the Veda. Like unto one
that standeth where a king hath stood and spoken, and stand-
ing and speaking there deems himself for this a king, seems
to me the man that repeateth the hymns, which the wise men
of old have spoken, and standing in their place and speaking,
deems himself for this a sage. The Vedas are nothing, the
priests are of no account, save as they be morally of repute.
Again, what use to mortify the flesh ,'' Asceticism is of no
value. Be pure, be good ; this is the foundation of wisdom —
to restrain desire, to be satisfied with little. He is a holy man
who doeth this. Knowledge follows this."

Here is the essence of Buddhism, here is its power ; and
when one reflects that Buddha added: "Go into all lands and
preach this gospel ; tell them that the poor and lowly, the rich
and high, are all one, and that all castes unite in this religion,
as unite the rivers in the sea" — he will understand what key
was used to open the hearts of Buddha's kinsmen and people.

But, it will be said, there is nothing in this of that extreme
pessimism, of which mention has just been made. True. And
this, again, is an important point to bear in mind, that whereas
the logic of his own system led Buddha into a formal and com-
plete pessimism, which denies an after-life to the man that
finds no happiness in this, he yet never insists upon this. He
not only does not insist, but in his talks with his questioners and
disciples he uses all means to evade direct inquiry in regard to
the fate of man after death. He believed that Nirvana (extinc-
tion of lust) led to cessation of being; he did not believe in
an immortal soul. But he urged no such negative doctrine
as this. What he urged repeatedly was that every one accept-
ing the undisputed doctrine of ka?'ma or re-birth in its full ex-
tent {i.e., that for every sin here, punishment followed in the

320 THE RELIGIOXS OF IXDIA.

next existence), should endeavor to escape, if possible, from
such an endless course of painful re-births, and that to accom-
plish this it was necessary first to be sober and good, then to
be learned, but not to be an ascetic. On the other hand the
doctrine, in its logical fullness, was a teaching only for the wise,
not for fools. He imparted it only to the wise. What is one
to understand from this ? Clearly, that Bud-dha regarded the
mass of his disciples as standing in need merely of the Four
Great Truths, the confession of vvhrch was the sign of be-
coming a disciple ; while to the strong and wise he reserved
the logical pessimism, which resulted from his first denials and
the premises of causality on which was erected his compli-
cated system. Only thus can one comprehend the importance
of Buddhism to his own time and people, only in this light
reconcile the discrepancy between the accounts of a religion
which roused multitudes to enthusiasm and joy, while on the
other hand it stood on the cold basis of complete nihilism.
Formally there was not an esoteric ^ and exoteric Buddhism,
but practically what the apostles taught, what Buddha himself
taught to the mass of his hearers was a release from the bond-
age of the law and the freedom of a high moral code as the
one thing needful. But he never taught that sacrifice was a
bad thing ; he never either took the priest's place himself or
cast scorn upon the Brahman caste : " Better even than a
harmless - sacrifice is liberality " he says, " better than liberal-
ity is faith and kindness (non-injury) and truth, better than
faith, kindness, and truth is renunciation of the world and the
search for peace ; best of all, the highest sacrifice and greatest
good, is when one enters Nirvana, saying " I shall not return
again to earth." This is to be an Arhat (Perfect Sage).

1 Buddha taught, of course, nothing related to the thaumaturgy of that folly which
calls itself to-day ' Esoteric Buddhism.'

2 That is a sacrifice where no cattle are slain, and no injury is done to living
beings.

A.'

BUDDHISM. 321

These are Buddha's own words as he spoke with a Brahman
priest,^ who was converted thereby and replied at once with
the Buddhist's confession of faith : " I take refuge in Buddha,
in the doctrine, in the church."

A significant conversation ! In many ways these words
should be corrective of much that is hazarded today in regard
to Buddhism. There is here no elaborate system of meta-
physics. Wisdom consists in the truth as it is in Buddha ;
and before truth stand, as antecedently essential, faith and
kindness ; for so may one render the passive non-injury of the
Brahman as taught by the Buddhist. To have faith and good
works, to renounce the pomps and vanities of life, to show
kindness to every living thing, to seek for salvation, to under-
stand, and so finally to leave no second self behind to suffer
again, this is Buddha's doctrine.

We have avoided thus far to define Nirvana. It has three
distinct meanings, eternal blissful repose (such was the Nir- /
vana of the Jains and in part of Buddhism), extinction and
absolute annihilation (such was the Nirvana of some Bud-
dhists), and the Nirvana of Buddha himself. Nirvana meant
to Buddha the extinction of lust, anger, and ignorance. He
adopted the term, he did not invent it. He was often ques-
tioned, but persistently refused to say whether he believed
that Nirvana implied extinction of being or not. We believe that
in this refusal to speak on so vital a point lies the evidence
that he himself regarded the ' extinction ' or ' blowing out ' (this
is what the word means literally) as resulting in annihilation.
Had he believed otherwise we think he would not have hesi-
tated to say so, for it would have strengthened his influence
among them to w^hom annihilation was not a pleasing thought.

But one has no right to ' go behind the returns ' as these are
given by Buddha. The later church says distinctly that Buddha
himself did not teach whether he himself, his ego, was to live

1 Kutadania-szitta, Oldenberg, Buddha^ p. 175.

322 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

after death or not ; or whether a permanent &go exists. It is
useless, therefore, to inquire whether Buddha's Nirvana be a
completion, as Midler defines it, or annihilation. To one
Buddhistic party it was the one ; to the other, the other ; to
Buddha himself it was what may be inferred from his refusal
to make any declaration in regard to it.

The second point of interest is not more easily disposed of.
What to the Buddhist is the spirit, the soul of man t It cer-
tainly is not an eternal spirit, such as was the spirit of Brah-
manic philosophy, or that of the Jain. But, on the other hand,
it is clear that something survived after death till one was
reborn for the last time, and then entered Nirvana. The
part that animates the material complex is to the Buddhist an
individuality which depends on the nature of its former com-
plex, home, and is destined to project itself upon futurity till
the house which it has built ceases to exist, a home rebuilt no
more to be its tabernacle. When a man dies the component
parts of his material personality fall apart, and a new complex
is formed, of which the individuality is the effect of the kai-ma
of the preceding complex. The new person is one's karmic
self, but it is not one's identical ego. There appears, therefore,
even in the doctrine of Nirvana, to lie something of that altruism
so conspicuous in the insistence on kindness and conversion of
others. It is to save from sorrow this son of one's acts that
one should seek to find the end. But there is no soul to
save.

We cannot insist too often on the fact that the religion of
Buddha was not less practical than human. He practiced, as
he taught, that the more one worked for others, was devoted to
others, the less he cared for himself, the less was he the victim
of desire. Hence he says that a true Nirvana may come even
in one's own lifetime — the utter surrender of one's self is
Nirvana,^ while the act of dying only draws the curtain after

1 Sometimes distinguished ixom pari-ntrvd7ia as absolute annihilation.

BUDDHISM. 323

the tragedy has ended. "Except," Buddha says, "for birth,
age, and death, there would be no need of Buddha.''

A review of Buddha's system of metaphysics is, therefore,
doubly unnecessary for our present purpose.-^ In the first
place we believe that most of the categories and metaphysical
niceties of Buddhism, as handed down, are of secondary origin ;
and, were this not so, it is still evident that they were but the
unimportant, intellectual appendage of a religion that was based
on anything but metaphysical subtleties. Buddha, like every
other teacher of his time, had to have a 'system,' though
whether the system handed down as his reverts to him it is
impossible to say. But Buddha's recondite doctrine was only
for the wise. " It is hard to learn for an ordinary person," says
Buddha himself. But it was the ordinary person that Buddhism
took to its bosom. The reason can be only the one we have
given. For the last stage before Arhat-ship Buddha had
ready a complicate system. But he did not inflict it on the
ordinary person.^ It was not an essential but the completing
of his teaching ; in his own eyes truth as represented by the
Four Great Truths was the real doctrine.

The religion of Buddha, for the mass of people, lies
in the Four Great Truths and their practical application to
others, which implies kindness and love of humanity. For
Buddha, whatever may have been the reluctance with which he

,-— ■

Ci'Some scholars think that the doctrine of Buddha resembles closely that of the
Sankhya philosophy (so Barth, p. ii6), but Miiller, Oldenberg, and others, appear to
be right in denying this. The Sankhyan ' spirit ' has, for instance, nothing correspond-
ing to it in Buddha's system.

- The twelve Nidanas are dogmatic, and withal not very logical. " From ignorance
arise forms, from forms arises consciousness, from consciousness arise name and bodi-
ness; from name and bodiness arise the six senses (including understanding as the
sixtK) and their objects ; from these arises contact ; from this, feeling ; from this,
thirst ; from this, clinging ; from clinging arises becoming ; from becoming arises
birth; from birth arise age and sorrow."' One must gradually free himself from the
ten fetters that bind to life, and so do away with the first of these twelve Nidanas,
ignorance. .

324 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA,

began to preach, shows in all his teachings and dealings with
men an enduring patience under their rebuffs, a brotherly sym-
pathy with their weakness, and a divine pity for their sorrows.
Something, too, of divine anger with the pettiness and mean-
ness of the unworthy ones among his followers, as when, after
preaching with parable and exhortation to the wrangling
brothers of the monastery of Kosambi, he left them, saying,
" ' Truly these fools are infatuate ; it is no easy task to admin-
ister instruction to them,' and,"' it is added simply, " he rose
from his seat and went away^" -^

The significance of the church organization in the develop-
ment of Buddhism should not be under-estimated. Contrasted
with the lack of an organized ecclesiastical corporation among
the Brahmans the Buddhistic synod, or congregation, Sangha,
exerted a great influence. In different places there would be
a park set apart for the Buddhist monks. Here they had their
monastery buildings, here they lived during the rainy season,
from this place out as a centre the monks radiated through the
country, not as lone mendicants, but as members of a power-
ful fraternity. To this monastery came gifts, receipts of all
kinds that never would have been bestowed upon individuals.
Undoubtedly organization did much for the spread of Buddhism.
Yet we think its influence has been emphasized almost too
much by some scholars, or rather the effect has been repre-
sented as too radical. For the monasteries, as represented by
tradition, with their immense wealth and political importance
as allies of the heretical kings of the East, are plainly of sec-
ondary growth. If one limit their national and political impor-
tance to a period one or two hundred years after the Master's
time, he will not err in attributing to this cause, as does Barth^
the reason for the rapid rise and supremacy of Buddhism over
India. But the first beginnings of the institution were small,
and what is to be sought in the beginning of Buddhism is rather

1 Mahavagga, x. 3 (SBE. xvii. 306).

BUDDHISM. 325

the reason why the monasteries became popular, and what was
the hold which Buddha had upon the masses, and which
induced the formation of this great engine of religious war.
And when this first question is raised the answer must still be
that the banding together of the monks was not the cause but
the effect of the popularity of Buddhism. The first monas'
teries, as Barth well says, were only assemblies of pious men
who formed a spiritual band of religious thinkers, of men who
united themselves into one body to the end that they might
study righteousness, learning together how to imitate the
Master in holiness of living. But the members converted soon
became so many that formal assemblies became a necessity to
settle the practical disputes and theoretical questions which
were raised by the new multitude of believers, some of whom
were more factious than devout. Brahmanism had no need of
this. The Brahman priest had his law in tradition ; his life and
conduct were regulated by immemorial law. The corporations
-^ of these priests were but temporary organizations for specific
^ ^purposes. They made no attempt to proselytize. Their mem-
bers never exceeded the bounds of the caste. The cause,
then, of the rapid spread of Buddhism at the beginning of its
career lies only in the conditions of its teaching and the influ-
ential backing of its founder. It was the individual Buddha
that captivated men ; it was the teaching that emanated from
him that fired enthusiasm ; it was his position as an aristocrat
that made him acceptable to the aristocracy, his magnetism
that made him the idol of the people. From every page
stands out the strong, attractive personality of this teacher and
winner of hearts. No man ever lived so godless yet so godlike.
Anogating to himself no divinity, despairing of future bliss, but
without fear as without hope, leader of thought but despising
lovingly the folly of the world, exalted but adored, the universal
brother, he wandered among men, simply, serenely ; with gentle
irony subduing them that opposed him, to congregation after

326 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

congregation speaking with majestic sweetness, the master to
each, the friend of all. His voice was singularly vibrant and elo-
quent ; ^ his very tones convinced the hearer, his looks inspired
awe. From the tradition it appears that he must have been
one of those whose personality alone suffices to make a man
not only a leader but a god to the hearts of his fellows. When
such an one speaks he obtains hearers. It matters little what
he says, for he influences the emotions, and bends whoever
listens to his will. But if added to this personality, if encom-
passing it, there be the feeling in the minds of others that what
this man teaches is not only a verity, but the very hope of
their salvation ; if for the first time they recognize in his words
the truth that makes of slaves free men, of classes a brother-
hood, then it is not difficult to see wherein lies the lightning-
like speed with which the electric current passes from heart to
heart. Such a man was Buddha, such was the essential of his
teaching ; and such was the inevitable rapidity of Buddhistic
expansion, and the profound influence of the shock that was
produced by the new faith upon the moral consciousness of
Buddha's people.

The literature of earlv Buddhism consists of a number of
historical works embodying the life and teaching of the master,
some of more didactic and epigrammatic intent, and, in the
writings of the Northern Buddhists, some that have given up
the verbose simplicity of the first tracts in favor of tasteless
and extravagant recitals more stagey than impressive. The
final collection of the sacred books (earlier is the Suttanta
division into Nikayas) is called Tripitaka, ' the three baskets,'
one containing the tracts on discipline ; one, the talks of
Buddha ; and one, partly metaphysical ; called respectively
Vinaya, Sutta, and Abhidhamma. The Southern ^ Pali

1 Compare Kern, the Lotus, iii. 21, and Fausboll, Parayana-sttita, 9 (i 131), the
"deep and lovely voice of Buddha." (SBE. xxi. 64, and x. 210.)

" As Southern Buddhists are reckoned those of Ceylon, Burmah, Siam, etc.

BUDDHISM. 327

redaction — for the writings of the Northern ^ Buddhists
are in Sanskrit -^ — was commented upon in the fifth cen-
tury of this era by Buddha-gosha (' Buddha's glory '), and ap-
pears to be older than the Sanskrit version of Nepal. Some
of the writings go back as far as the Second Council, and their
content, so far as it concerns Buddha's own words, in many
cases is doubtless a tradition that one should accept as author-
itative. The works on discipline, instead of being as dull as
one might reasonably expect of books that deal with the petty
details of a monastery, are of exceeding interest (although
whole chapters conform to the reasonable expectation), for
they contain fragments of the work and words of Buddha
which give a clearer idea of his personality and teaching than
do his more extended and perhaps less original discourses.
They throw a strong light also on the early church, its recalci-
trant as well as its obedient members, the quarrels and schisms
that appear to have arisen even before Buddha's death. Thus
in the Mahdvagga (ch. x) there is found an account of the
schism caused by the expulsion of some unworthy members.
The brethren are not only schismatic, some taking the side of
those expelled, but they are even insolent to Buddha ; and
when he entreats them for the sake of the effect on the outer
world to heal their differences,^ they tell him to his face that
they will take the responsibility, and that he need not concern
himself with the matter. It is on this occasion that Buddha
says, "Truly, these fools are infatuate," leaves them, and goes
into solitude, rejoicing to be free from souls so quarrelsome
and contentious. Again these tracts give a picture of how they
should live that are truly Buddha's disciples. Buddha finds
three disciples living in perfect harmony, and asks them how

1 As Northern Buddhists are reckoned those of Nepal, Tibet, China, Corea,
Japan, Java, Sumatra, Annam, and Cambodia.

2 '• Let your light so shine before the world, that you, having embraced the religious
life according to so well-taught a doctrine and discipline, may be seen to be forbear-
ing and mild." (SEE. xvii. 305, David's and Oldenberg's translation.)

328 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

they live together so peaceably and lovingly. In quaint and
yet dignified language they reply, and tell him that they serve
each other. He that rises first prepares the meal, he that
returns last at night puts the room in order, etc. {ib. 4). Occa-
sionally in the account of unruly brothers it is evident that
tradition must be anticipating, or that many joined the Bud-
dhist fraternity as an excuse from restraint. The Cullavagga
opens with the story of two notorious renegades, ' makers of
strife, quarrelsome, makers of dispute, given to idle talk, and
raisers of legal questions in the congregation.' Such were the
infamous followers of Panduka and Lohitaka. Of a different
sort. Epicurean or rather frivolous, were the adherents of
Assaji and Punabbasu, who, according to another chapter of
the Cullavagga (i. 13), 'cut fiowers, planted cuttings of flowers,
used ointment and scents, danced, wore garlands, and revelled
wickedly.' A list of the amusements in which indulged these
flighty monks includes ' games played with six and ten pieces,
tossing up, hopping over diagrams, dice, jackstraws,^ ball,
sketching, racing, marbles, wrestling,' etc.; to which a like list
{Tevijja^ ii) adds chess or checkers ('playing with a board of
sixty-four squares or one hundred squares '), ghost stories, and
unseemly wrangling in regard to belief ("I am orthodox, you
are heterodox "), earning a living by prognostication, by taking
omens ' from a mirror ' or otherwise, by quack medicines, and
by 'pretending to understand the language of beasts.' It is
gratifying to learn that the scented offenders described in the
first-mentioned work were banished from the order. According
to the regular procedure, they were first warned, then reminded,
then charged ; then the matter was laid before the congrega-
tion, and they were obliged to leave the order. Even the
detail of Subhadda's insolence is not wanting in these records
{CuU. xi. I. and elsewhere). No sooner was Buddha dead than

1 ' Removing pieces from a pile without moving the remainder ' must, we presume,
be jackstraws.

BUDDHISM. 329

the traitor Subhadda cries out : " We are well rid of him ; he
gave us too many rules. Now we may do as we like." On
which the assembly proceeded to declare in force all the rules
that Euddha had given, although he had left it to them to dis-
card them when they would. The Confessional (Patimokkha),
out of which have been evolved in narrative form the Vinaya
texts that contain it, concerns graded offences, matters of
expiation, rules regarding decency, directions concerning robes,
rugs, bowls, and other rather uninteresting topics, all discussed
in the form of a confession.^ The church-reader goes over the
rules in the presence of the congregation, and asks at the end
of each section whether any one is guilty of having broken this
rule. If at the third repetition no one responds, he says, ' They
are declared innocent by their silence.' This was the first
public confessional, although, as we have shown above, the
idea of a partial remission of sin by means of confession to
the priest is found in Brahmanic literature." The confession
extends to very small matters, but one sees from other texts
that the earlv cono^regation laid a great deal of weight on
details, such as dress, as the sign of a sober life. Thus in
Mahdvagga^ v. 2 il., certain Buddhists dress in a worldly way.
At one time one is informed of the color of their heretical slip-
pers, at another of the make of their wicked gowns. All this
is monastic, even in the discipline which 'sets back' a badly
behaved monk, gives him probation, forces him to be subordi-
nate. In Ciilhuagga^ i. 9, there is an account of stupid Sey-
yasaka, who was dull and indiscreet, and was always getting
'set back' by the brethren. Finally they grow weary of pro-
bating him and carry out the nissaya against him, obliging him

1 For instance, rules for eating, drinking (liquor), and for bathing. The Buddhist
monk, except in summer, bathed once a fortnight only.

- No one is so holy that sin does not hurt him, according to Buddhistic belief.
The Brahman, on the contrary, was liable to become so holy that he could commit
any sin and it did not affect his virtue, which he stored up in a heap by cumulative
asceticism.

330 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

to remain under the superintendence of others. For, according
to Buddha's rule, a wise novice was kept under surveillance,
or rather under the authority of others, for live years ; a stupid
uninformed monk, forever. Buddha's relations with society
are plainly set forth. One reads how his devoted friend, King
Seniya Bimbisara, four years younger than Buddha, and his
protector (for he was King of Magadha), gives him a park,
perhaps the first donation of this sort, the origin of all the
monastic foundations : " The King of Magadha, Bimbisara,
thought "here is this bamboo forest Veluvana, my pleasure-
garden, which is neither too near to the town nor too far from
it. . . . \Miat if I were to give it to the fraternity ? ' . . .
And he took a golden vessel (of water) and dedicated the gar-
den to Buddha, saying, ' I give up the park to the fraternity
with Buddha at its head.' And the Blessed One accepted the
park" (^Mahdvagga, i. 22).^ Another such park Buddha ac-
cepts from the courtezan, Ambapali, whose conversation with
Buddha and dinner-party to him forms a favorite story with
the monks {JMahai'. v. 30 ; Cull. ii). The protection offered
by Bimbisara made the order a fine retreat for rogues. In
Mahav. i. 41 ff. one reads that King Seniya Bimbisara made
a decree : " No one is .to do any harm to those ordained
among the Cakya-son's monks. ^ Well taught is their doctrine.
Let them lead a holy life for the sake of complete extinction of
suffering." But robbers and runaway slaves immediately took
advantage of this decree, and by joining the order put the
pwlice at defiance. Even debtors escaped, became monks,
and mocked their creditors. Buddha, therefore, made it a
rule that no robber, runaway slave, or other person liable to
arrest should be admitted into the order. He ordained further

1 The offering and reception of gifts is always accompanied with water, both in
Buddhistic and Brahmanic circles. Whether this was a religious act or a legal sign
of surrender we have not been able to discover. Perhaps it arose simply from water
always being offered as refreshment to a guest (with fruit), as a sign of guest-friend-
ship. - Sakyaputtiya Samanas, i.e., Buddhists.

BUDDHISM. 331

that no son might join the order without his parents' consent
{lb. 54j. Still another motive of false disciples had to be com-
bated. The parents of Upali thought to themselves : "What
shall we teach Upali that he may earn his living? If we teach
him writing his fingers will be sore ; if we teach him arithmetic
his mind will be sore ; if we teach him money-changing his
eyes will be sore. There are those Buddhist monks ; they live
an easy life ; they have enough to eat and shelter from the
rain ; we will make him a monk." Buddha, hearing of this,
ordained that no one should be admitted into the order under
twenty (with some exceptions).

The monks' lives were simple. They went out by day to
beg, were locked in their cells at night {Mahdv. i. <^Ty^^ were
probated for light offences, and expelled for very severe ones.^
The people are represented as murmuring against the practices
of the monks at first, till the latter were brought to more
modest behavior. It is perhaps only Buddhist animosity that
makes the narrator say: "They did not behave modestly at
table. . . . Then the people murmured and said, ' These
Buddhist monks make a riot at their meals, /hey act Just like
the Bra/wian priests.' " {Mahdv. i. 25 ; cf. i. 70.)

We turn from the Discipline to the Sermons. Here one finds
everything, from moral exhortations to a book of Revelations.^
pjuddha sometimes is represented as entering upon a dramatic
dialogue with those whom he wishes to reform, and the talk is
narrated. With what soft irony he questions, with what
apparent simplicity he argues ! In the Tevijja^ the scene opens
with a young Brahman. He is a pious and religious youth,

1 In the case of a monk having carnal connection with a nun the penalty was
instant expulsion 'ib. 60). The nuns were subject to the monks and kept strictly in
hand, obliged always to greet the monks first, to go to lessons once a fortnight, and
so forth.

2 Mahasudassana, the great King of Glory whose city is described with its four
gates, one of gold, one of silver, one of jade and one of crystal, etc. The earlier
Buddha had as ' king of glory' S4.000 wives and other comforts quite as remarkable.

'^ Translated by Davids, Buddhist Suttas and Hibbert Lectures.

332 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

and tells Buddha that although he yearns for ' union with
Brahma,'^ he does not know which of the different paths
proposed by Brahman priests lead to Brahma. Do they all
lead to union with Brahma ? Buddha answers : ' Let us see ;
has any one of these Brahmans ever seen Brahma?' 'No,
indeed, Gautama.' 'Or did any one of their ancestors
ever see Brahma?' 'No, Gautama.' 'Well, did the most
ancient seers ever say that they knew where is Brahma?'
'No, Gautama.' 'Then if neither the present Brahmans know,
nor the old Brahmans knew where is Brahma, the present
Brahmans say in point of fact, "We can show the way to union
with what we know not and have never seen ; this is the
straight path, this is the direct way which leads to Brahma" —
and is this foolish talk?' 'It is foolish talk.' 'Then, as to
yearning for union with Brahma, suppose a man should say,
" How I long for, how I love the most beautiful woman in this
land," and the people should ask, "Do you know whether that
beautiful woman is a noble lady, or a Brahman woman, or of
the trader class, or a slave?" and he should say, "No"; and
the people should say, "What is her name, is she tall or short,
in what place does she live?" and he should say, "I know
not," and the people should say, "Whom you know not, neither
have seen, her you love and long for?" and he should say,
"Yes," — would not that be foolish?' Then, after this is
assented to, Buddha suggests another parallel. 'A man builds
a staircase, and the people ask, "Do you know^ where is the
mansion to which this staircase leads?" "I do not know."
"Are vou makins: a staircase to lead to somethino;, takino- it for
a mansion, which you know not and have never seen ? " "Yes."
Would not this be foolish talk? . . . Now what think you, is
Brahma in possession of wives and wealth?' 'He is not.'

1 What we have several times had to call attention to is shown again by the side
light of Buddhism to be the case in Brahmanic circles, namely, that even in Buddha's
day while Brahma is the god of the thinkers Indra is the god of the people (together
with Vishnu and (^iva, if the texts are as old as they pretend to be).

BUDDHISM. 333

'Is his mind full of anger or free from anger? Is his mind full
of malice or free from malice?' 'Free from anger and malice.'
'Is his mind depraved or pure?' 'Pure.' 'Has he self-
mastery?' ,'Yes.' 'Now what think you, are the Brahmans in
possession of wives and wealth, do they have anger in their
hearts, do they bear malice, are they impure in heart, are they
without self-mastery?' 'Yes.' 'Can there then be likeness
between the Brahmans and Brahma?' 'No.' 'Will they then
after death become united to Brahma who is not at all like
them?' Then Buddha points out the path of purity and love.
Here is no negative 'non-injury,' but something very different
to anything that had been preached before in India. When
the novice puts away hate, passion, wrong-doing, sinfulness of
every kind, then : 'He lets his mind pervade the whole wide
world, above, below, around and everywhere, with a heart of
love, far-reaching, grown great, and beyond measure. And he
lets his mind pervade the whole world with a heart of pity,
sympathy, and equanimity, far-reaching, grown great, and
beyond measure.' Buddha concludes (adopting for effect the
Brahma of his convert) : 'That the monk who is free from
anger, free from malice, pure in mind, and master of himself
should after death, when the body is dissolved, become united
to Brahma who is the same — such a condition of things is
quite possible.' Here is no metaphysics, only a new religion
based on morality and intense humanity, yet is the young man
moved to say, speaking for himself and the friend wdth him :
'Lord, excellent are the words of thy mouth. As if one were
to bring a lamp into the darkness, just so, Lord, has the truth
been made known to us in many a figure by the Blessed One.
And we come to Buddha as our refuge, to the doctrine and to
the church. May the Blessed One accept us as disciples, as
true believers, from this day forth, as long as life endures.'

The god Brahma of this dialogue is for the time being play-
fully accepted by Buddha as the All-god. To the Buddhist

334 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

himself Brahma and all the Vedic gods are not exactly non-
existent, but they are dim figures that are more like demi-gods,
fairies, or as some English scholars call them, 'angels.'
Whether Buddha himself really believed in them, cannot be
asserted or denied. This belief is attributed to him, and his
church is ver}^ superstitious. Probably Buddha did not think
it worth while to discuss the question. He neither knew nor
cared whether cloud-beings existed. It was enough to deny
a Creator, or to leave no place for him. Thaumaturgical
powers are indeed credited to the earliest belief, but there cer-
tainly is nothing in harmony with Buddha's usual attitude in
the extraordinary discourse called Aka?ik/ieyya, wherein Buddha
is represented as ascribing to monks miraculous powers, only
hinted at in a vague * shaking of the earth ' in more sober
speech.^ From the following let the ' Esoteric Buddhists ' of
to-day take comfort, for it shows at least that they share an
ancient folly, although Buddha can scarcely be held responsible
for it : " If a monk should desire to become multiform, to
become visible or invisible, to go through a wall, a fence, or a
mountain as if through air ; to penetrate up or down through
solid ground as if through water ... to traverse the sky, to
touch the moon ... let him fulfil all righteousness, let him
be devoted to that quietude of heart which springs from within
. . . let him look through things, let him be much alone."
That is to say, let him aim for the very tricks of the Yogis,
which Buddha had discarded. Is there not here perhaps a
little irony ? Buddha does not say that the monk will be able
to do this — he says if the monk wishes to do this, let him be
quiet and meditate and learn righteousness, then perhaps —
but he will at least have learned righteousness !

The little tract called Cetokhila contains a sermon which has
not lost entirely its usefulness or application, and it is charac-
teristic of the way in which Buddha treated eschatological

1 Mahafarmibbana iii, to which Rhys Davids refers, is scarcely a fair parallel.

BUDDHISM. 335

conundrums : ' If a brother has adopted the reUgious Hfe in
the hope of belonging to some one of the angel (divine) hosts,
thinking to himself, "by this morality or by this observance or
by this austerity or by this religious life I shall become an
angel," his mind does not incline to zeal, exertion, persever-
ance and struggle, and he has not succeeded in his religious
life ' (has not broken through the bonds). And, continuing,
Buddha says that just as a hen might sit carefully brooding
over her well- watched eggs, and might torment herself with the
wish, ' O that this ^gg would let out the chick,' but all the time
there is no need of this torment, for the chicks will hatch if
she keeps watch and ward over them, so a man, if he does not
think what is to be, but keeps watch and ward of his words,
thoughts, and acts, will ' come forth into the light.' ^

The questions in regard to Buddha's view of soul, immortal-
ity, and religion are answered to our mind as clearly in the
following passages as Buddha desired they should be. ' Un-
wisely does one consider : " Have I existed in ages past . . .
shall I exist in ages yet to be, do I exist at all, am I, how am I ?
This is a being, whence is it come, whither will it go ? " Con-
sideration such as this is walking in the jungle of delusion.
These are the things one should consider : " This is suffering,
this is the origin of suffering, this is the cessation of suffering,
this is the way that leads to the cessation of suffering." From
him that considers thus his fetters fall away ' {Sabbasavd). In
the Vangisa-siitta Buddha is asked directly : " Has this good
man's life been vain to him, has he been extinguished, or is he
still left with some elements of existence ; and how was he
liberated ? " and he replies : " He has cut off desire for name
and form in this world. He has crossed completely the stream
of birth and death." In the Salla-siitta it is said : " Without
cause and unknown is the life of mortals in this world,

1 The imitation of the original play on words is Rhys Davids', who has translated
these Suttas in SBE. vol. xi. For the following see Fausboll, ib, vol. x.

336 THE RELIGIOXS OF IXDIA.

troubled, brief, combined with pain. ... As earthen vessels
made by the potter end in being broken, so is the life of mor-
tals." One should compare the still stronger image, which
gives the very name of nir-va7ia ('blowing out') in the Upasiva-
7naJiavapucchd : " As a flame blown about by wind goes out
and cannot be reckoned as existing, so a sage delivered from
name and body disappears, and cannot be reckoned as exist-
ing." To this Upasiva replies : " But has he only disappeared,
or does he not exist, or is he only free from sickness ? " To
which Buddha : " For him there is no form, and that by which
they say he is exists for him no longer." One would think
that this were plain enough.

Yet must one always remember that this is the Arhat's death,
the death of him that has perfected himself.^ Buddha, like
the Brahmans, taught hell for the bad, and re-birth for them
that were not perfected. So in the Kokdliya-sutta a list of
hells is given, and an estimate is made of the duration of the
sinner's suffering in them. Here, as if in a Brahman code, is
it taught that 'he who lies goes to hell,' etc. Even the names
of the Brahmanic hells are taken over into the Buddhist system,
and several of those in Manu's list of hells are found here.

On the other hand, Buddha teaches, if one may trust tradi-
tion, that a good man may go to heaven. ' On the dissolution
of the body after death the well-doer is re-born in some happy
state in heaven ' {Mahdparimbbdfia, i. 24).^ This, like hell, is a
temporary state, of course, before re-birth begins again on earth.
In fact, Buddhist and Brahmanic pantheists agree in their atti-
tude toward the respective questions of hell, heaven, and karma.
It is only the emancipated Arhat that goes to Nirvana.^

1 After one enters on the stream of holiness there are only seven more possible
births on earth, with one in heaven ; then he becomes arhat, venerable, perfected,
and enters Nirvana.

2 Compare the fairies and spirits in ib. v. 10; and in i. 31, 'give gifts to the gods.'
^ We agree with Rhys Davids, Buddhism, pp. in, 207, that Buddha himself was

an atheist ; but to the statement that Nirvana was " the extinction of that sinful,

BUDDHISM. 337

When it is said that Buddha preaches to a new convert 'in
due course,' it means always that he gave him first a lecture
on morality and religion, and then possibly, but not necessarily,
on the ' system.' And Buddha has no narrow-minded aversion
to Brahmans; he accepts 'Brahman ' as he accepts ' Brahma,'
only he wants it to be understood what is a real Brahman :
'A certain Brahman once asked Buddha how one becomes a
Brahman, — what are the characteristics that make a man a
Brahman. And the Blessed One said : " The Brahman who
has removed all sinfulness, who is free from haughtiness, free
from impurity, self-restrained, who is an accomplished master
of knowledge, who has fulfilled the duties of holiness, — such
a Brahman justly calls himself a Brahman." '^ The Mahdvagga^
from which this is taken, is full of such sentiments. As here,
in i. 2, so in I. 7: "The Blessed One preached to Yasa, the
noble youth, 'in due course,'" that is to say, "he talked about
the merit obtained by alms-giving, the duties of morality, about
heaven, about the evils of vanity and sinfulness of desire,"
and when the Blessed One saw that the mind df Yasa, the
noble youth, was prepared, " then he preached the principal
doctrine of the Buddhists, namely, suffering, the cause of suf-
fering, the cessation of suffering, the Path;" and "just as a
clean cloth takes the dye, thus Yasa, the noble youth, even
while sitting there, obtained the knowledge that whatsoever
is subject to birth is also subject to death." -

The " spirit and not the letter of the law " is expressed in
the formula {^Mahdvagga, i. 23) : " Of all conditions that proceed

grasping condition of mind and heart which would otherwise be the cause of renewed
individual existences" should in our opinion be added "and therewith the extinction
of individuality.-' Compare Rhys Davids' Hibbc7-t Lectures ., p. 233.

1 Compare the definition of an ' outcast ' in the Vasala-sittta : '•' Pie that gets angry
and feels hatred, a wicked man, a hypocrite, lie that embraces wrong views and is
deceitful, such an one is an outcast, and he that has no compassion for living
things."

- Compare ib. 5. 36 : " In due course he spoke, of charity, morality, heaven, pleas-
ure, and the advantage of renunciation."

33S THE RELIGIONS OF IiYDIA.

from a cause, Buddha has explained the cause, and he has
explained their cessation." This is the Buddhist's credo.

In several of the sermons the whole gist is comprised in the
admonition not to meddle with philosophy, nor to have any
' views,' for " philosophy purifies no one ; peace alone purifies." ^

Buddha does not ignore the fact that fools will not desire
salvation as explained by him : " What fools call pleasure the
noble say is pain ; this is a thing difftcult to understand ; the
cessation of the existing body is regarded as pleasure by
the noble, but those wise in this world hold the opposite
opinion " {Dvayataiiup. suffn^ 38).^ But to him the truly wise
is the truly pure : " Not by birth is one a Brahman, not by birth
is one an outcast ; by deeds is one a Brahman, by deeds is
one an outcast" (^Vasala-siittd)\ and not alone in virtue of
kartna of old, for : " The man who knows in this world the de-
struction of pain, who lays aside the burden and is liberated,
him I call a Brahman ; whosoever in this world has overcome
good and evil, both ties, who is free from grief and defilement,
and is pure, — him I call a Brahman; the ignorant say that
one is a Brahman by birth, but one is a Brahman by penance,
by religious life, by self-restraint, and by temperance " ( Vasettha-
sntta).

The penance here alluded to is not the vague penance of
austerities, but submission to the discipline of the monastery
when exercised for a specific fault.

Later Buddhism made of Buddha a god. Even less exalta-
tion than this is met by Buddha thus : Sariputta says to him,
" Such faith have I, Lord, that methinks there never was and
never will be either monk or Brahman who is greater and wiser
than thou," and Buddha responds : "Grand and bold are the
words of thy mouth ; behold, thou hast burst forth into ecstatic

1 See especially the Nandavian., Paramatthaka, Magatidiya, and Suddhatthaka
Stittas, translated by Fausboll, SBE. vol. x.

2 Fausboll, in SBE. vol. x, Suttanipata.

BUDDHISM, 339

song. Come, hast thou, then, known all the Buddhas that
were ? " '' No, Lord." " Hast thou known all the Buddhas
that will be 1 " " No, Lord." " But, at least, thou knowest
me, my conduct, my mind, my wisdom, my life, my salvation
(/>., thou knowest me as well as I know myself) ? " " No,
Lord." "Thou seest that thou knowest not the venerable
Buddhas of the past and of the future ; why, then, are thy
words so grand and bold ? " {Alahaparmibbana ^

]\Ietaphysically the human ego to the Buddhist is only a col-
lection of five skajidhas (form, sensations, ideas, faculties of
mind, and reason) that vanishes when the collection is dis-
persed, but the factors of the collection re-form again, and the
new ego is the result of their re-formation. The Northern
Buddhists, who turn Buddha into a god, make of this an im-
mortal soul, but this is Buddhism in one phase, not Buddha's
own belief. The strength of Northern Buddhism lies not, as
some say, in its greater religious zeal, but in its grosser animism,
the delight of the vulgar.

It will not be necessary, interesting as would be the com-
parison, to study the Buddhism of the North after this review
of the older and simpler chronicles. In Hardy's Manual of
Buddhis77i (p. 138 ff.) and Rockhill's Life of Buddha will be
found the weird and silly legends of Northern Buddhism, to-
gether with a full sketch of Buddhistic ethics and ontology
(Hardy, pp. 460, 387). The most famous of the Northern
books, the Lotus of the Law and the Lalita Vistara, give a
good idea of the extravagance and supernaturalism that already
have begun to disfigure the purer faith. According to Kern,
who has translated the former work again (after Burnouf), the
whole intent of the Lotus is to represent Buddha as the su-
preme, eternal God. The works, treating of piety, philosophy,
and philanthropy, contain ancient elements, but in general are
of later form. To this asre belonsfs also the whole collection
of Jatakas, or 'birth-stories,' of the Buddhas that were before

340 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

Gautama, some of the tales of which are historically important,
as they have given rise to Western fables.^ These birth-stories
represent Buddha (often as Indra) as some god or mortal, and
tell what he did in such or such a form. It is in a future form
that, like Vishnu, who is to come in the ai'atar of Kalki, the
next Buddha will appear as Maitreya, or the 'Buddha of love.'-
Some of the stories are very silly ; some, again, are beautiful
at heart, but ugly in their bizarre appearance. They are all,
perhaps, later than our era.^

The history of Buddhism after the Master's death has a
certain analogy with that of Mohammedanism. That is to say
it was largely a political growth. Further than this, of course,
the comparison fails. The religion was affected by heretical
kings, and by noiroeaux riches^ for it admitted them all into its
community on equal terms — no slight privilege to the haughty
nabob or proud king who, if a believer and follower of Brah-
man orthodoxy, would have been obliged to bend the head,
yield the path, and fear the slightest frown of any beggar priest
that came in his way.

The Maurya monarch Agoka adopted Buddhism as a state
religion in the third century b.c, and taught it unto all his people,
so that, according to his own account, he changed the creed of
the country from Brahmanism to Buddhism.^ He was king
over all northern India, from Kabul to the eastern ocean, from
the northern limit of Brahmanic civilization to its southern
boundary. Buddhist missionaries were now spread over India

1 The distinction between the Northern and Southern doctrine is indicated by
the terms ' Great Vehicle ' and ' Little Vehicle " respectively, the former the works of
Nagarjuna's school (see below).

- As Maitrakanyaka Buddha came once to earth " to redeem the sins of men.'-

8 Of historic interest is the rapport between Brahmanic, Jain, and Buddhist tales.
A case of this sort has been carefully worked out by Leumann. Die Legeiide von
Citta und Sambhftta, WZKM. v. iii ; vi. i.

4 " The gods who were worshipped as true divinities in India have been rendered
false ... by my zeal"; inscription cited by Barth, p. 135. But Agoka was a very
tolerant prince. Earth's notion of Buddhistic persecution can hardly be correct.

BUDDHISM. 341

and beyond it. And here again, even in this later age, one
sees how Httle had the people to do with Buddha's metaphysi-
cal system. Like the simple confession ' I take refuge in
Buddha, in the doctrine, and in the church ' was the only
credo demanded, that cited above : " Buddha has explained
the cause of whatever conditions proceed from a cause, and he
has declared their cessation." In this credo, which is en-
graved all over India, everything is left in confidence to
Buddha. However he explained the reason, that creed is to be
accepted without inquiry. The convert took the patent facts
of life, believing that Buddha had explained all, and based his
own belief not on understanding but on faith.

With the council of Patna, 242 B.C., begins at the hands of
the missionaries the geographical separation of the church,
which results in Southern and Northern Buddhism.^

It is at this period that the monastic bodies become influen-
tial. The original Sangha, congregation, is defined as consist-
ing of three or more brethren. The later monastery is a business
corporation as well as a religious body. The great emperors
that now ruled India (not the petty clan-kings of the centuries
before) were no longer of pure birth, and some heresy was
the only religion that would receive them with due honor. They
affected Buddhism, endowed the monasteries, in every way en-
riched the church, built for it great temples, and in turn were
upheld by their thankful co-religionists. Among the six - rival
heresies that of Buddha was predominant, and chiefly because
of royal influence. The Buddhist head of the Ceylon church
was Agoka's own son. Still more important for Buddhism was
its adoption by the migratory Turanians in the centuries fol-
lowing. Tibet and China were opened up to it through the
influence of these foreign kings, who at least pretended to

1 Koppen, Die Religion des Btiddha. p. 198.

2 Not to be confused with the seventeen heresies and sixty-three different philo-
sophical systems in the church itself.

342 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

adopt the faith of Buddha.^ But as it was adopted by them,
and as it extended beyond the limits of India, just so much
weaker it became at home, where its strongest antagonists
were the sectarian pantheistic parties not so heterodox as
itself.

Buddhism lingered in India till the twelfth or thirteenth
century, although in the seventh it was already decadent, as
appears from the account of Hiouen-Thsang, the Chinese pil-
grim. It is found to-day in Tibet, Ceylon, China, Japan,
and other outlying regions, but it is quite vanished from its old
home. The cause of its extinction is obvious. The Buddhist
victorious was not the modest and devout mendicant of the early
church. The fire of hate, lighted if at all by Buddhism,- smoul-
dered till Brahmanism, in the form of Hinduism, had begotten
a religion as popular as Buddhism, or rather far more popular,
and for two reasons. Buddhism had no such picturesque tales
as those that enveloped with poetry the history of the man-god
Krishna. Again, Buddhism in its monastic development had
separated itself more and more from the people. Not mendi-
cant monks, urging to a pure life, but opulent churches with
fat priests ; not simple discourses calculated to av/aken the
moral and religious consciousness, but subtle arguments on
discipline and metaphysics were now what Buddhism repre-
sented. This religion was become, indeed, as much a skeleton
as was the Brahmanism of the sixth century. As the Brah-
manic belief had decomposed into spiritless rites, so Buddhism,

1 For more details see Barth, loc. cit., p. 130 ff. According to tradition Buddhism
was introduced into Tibet in the fourth century, a.d., the first missionaries coming
from Nepal (Rockhill, p. 210).

2 Barth justly discredits the tale of Buddhism having been persecuted out of India.
In this sketch of later Buddhism we can but follow this author's admirable summary
of the causes of Buddhistic decline, especially agreeing with him in assigning the first

•place to the torpidity of the later church in matters of religion. It was become a
great machine, its spiritual enthusiasm had been exhausted ; it had nothing poetical
or beautiful save the legend of Buddha, and this had lost its freshness ; for Buddha
was now, in fact, only a grinning idol.

BUDDHISM. 343

changed into dialectic and idolatry (for in lieu of a god the later
church worshipped Buddha), had lost now all hold upon the
people. The love of man, the spirit of Buddhism, was dead,
and Buddhism crumbled into the dust. Vital and energetic
was the sectarian ' love of God ' alone (Hinduism), and this
now became triumphant. Where Buddhism has succeeded is
not where the man-gods, objects of love and fear, have entered;
but where, without rivalry from more sympathetic beliefs, it
has itself evolved a system of idolatry and superstition ; where
all that was scorned by the Master is regarded as holiest, and
all that he insisted upon as vital is disregarded.^ One speaks
of the millions of Buddhists in the world as one speaks of the
millions of Christians; but while there are some Christians that
have renounced the bigotry and idolatry of the church, and
hold to the truth as it is in the words of Christ, there are still
fewer Buddhists who know that their Buddhism would have
been rebuked scornfully by its founder.

The geographical growth of formal Buddhism is easily
sketched. After the first entrance into Kashmeer and Ceylon,
in the third century B.C., the progress of the cult, as it now
may be called, was steadily away from India proper. In the
fiith century a.d., it was adopted in Burmah,^ and in the
seventh in Siam. The Northern school kept in general to the
'void ' doctrine of Nagarjuna, whose chief texts are the Lotus
and the Lalita Vistara, standard works of the Great Vehicle.^
In Tibet Lamaism is the last result of this hierarchical state-
church.^ , We have thought it much more important to give a

1 Here are developed fully the stories of hells, angels, and all supernatural para-
phernalia, together with theism, idolatry, and the completed monastic system ; magic,
fable, absurd calculations in regard to nothings, and spiritual emptiness.

■2 At the same time the Ceylon canon was fixed by the commentary of Bud-
dhaghosha.

3 I,ater it follows the mystical school. Both schools have been affected by Brah-
manism. The Great V^ehicle, founded by Nagarjuna, was recognized at a fourth
council in Kashmeer about the time of the Christian era. Compare Koppen, p. 199.

^ On the Lamaistic hierarchy and system of succession see Mayers, JRAS. iv. 284.

344 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

fuller account of early Buddhism, that of Buddha, than a full
account of a later growth in regions that, for the most part, are
not Indie, in the belief that the Pali books of Ceylon give a
truer picture of the early church than do those of Kashmeer
and Nepal, with their Qivaite and Brahmanic admixture. For
in truth the Buddhism of China and Tibet has no place in
the history of Indie religions. It may have been introduced
by Hindu missionaries, but it has been re-made to suit a
foreign people. This does not apply, of course, to the canon-
ical books, the Great Vehicle, of the North, which is essentially
native, if not Buddhistic. Yet of the simple narrative and the
adulterated mystery-play, if one has to choose, the former must
take precedence. From the point of view of history, Northern
Buddhism, however old its elements, can be regarded only as
an admixture of Buddhistic and Brahmanic ideas. For this
reason we take a little more space, not to cite from the Lotus
or the grotesque Lalita Vistara,^ but to illustrate Buddhism at
its best. Fausboll, who has translated the dialogue that
follows, thinks that in the Suttas of the Sutta-nipata there is a
reminiscence of a stage of Buddhism before the institution of
monasteries, while as yet the disciples lived as hermits. The
collection is at least very primitive, although we doubt whether
the Buddhist disciples ever lived formally as individual her-
mits. All the Samanas are in groups, little 'congregations,'
which afterwards grew into monasteries.

This is a poetical (amcebic) contest between the herdsman
Dhaniya and Buddha, with which Fausboll^ compares St. Luke,
xii. 1 6, but which, on the other hand reminds one of a spirit-
ualized Theocritus, with whom its author was, perhaps, con-
temporary.

1 For the same reason we do not enter upon the outer form of Buddhism as ex-
pressed in demonology, snake-worship (JRAS. xii. 2S6) and symbolism {ib. OS. xiii.

7i» "4)-

2 SBE. vol. X, part ii, p. 3.

BUDDHISM. 345

I have boiled the rice, I have milked the kine — so said the herdsman
Dhaniya — I am living with my comrades near the banks of the (great) Mahl
river ; the house is roofed, the fire is lit — then rain if thou wilt, O sky !

I am free from anger, free from stubbornness — so said the Blessed One

— I am abiding for one night near the banks of the (great) Mahi river; my
house has no cover, the fire (of passion) is extinguished — then rain if thou
wilt, O sky !

Here are no gad-flies — so said the herdsman Dhaniya — the cows are
roaming in meadows full of grass, and they can endure the rain — then rain
if thou vvilt, O sky !

I have made a well-built raft — so said the Blessed One — I have crossed
over, I have reached the further bank, I have overcome the torrent (of
passions) ; I need the raft no more — then rain if thou wilt, O sky !

My wife is obedient, she is not wanton — so said the herdsman Dhaniya

— she has lived with me long and is winning ; no wickedness have I heard
of her — then rain if thou wilt, O sky !

My mind is obedient, delivered (from evil) — so said the Blessed One —
it has been cultivated long and is well-subdued ; there is no longer anything
wicked in me — then rain if thou wilt, O sky !

I support myself by my own earnings — so said the herdsman Dhaniya

— and my children are around me and healthy; I hear no wickedness of
them — then rain if thou wilt, O sky !

I am the servant of none — so said the Blessed One — with what I have
gained I wander about in all the world ; I have no need to serve — then rain
if thou wilt, O sky !

I have cows, I have calves — so said the herdsman Dhaniya — cows in
calf and heifers also ; and I have a bull as lord over the cows — then rain
if thou wilt, O sky !

I have no cows, I have no calves — so said the Blessed One — no cows
in calf, and no heifers; and I have no bull as a lord over the cows — then
rain if thou wilt. O sky !

The stakes are driven in and cannot be shaken — so said the herdsman
Dhaniya — the ropes are made of holy-grass, new and well-made; the cows
will not be able to break them — then rain if thou wilt, O sky !

Like a bull I have rent the bonds — so said the Blessed One — like an
elephant I have broken through the ropes, I shall not be born again — then
rain if thou wilt, O sky !

Then the rain poured down and filled both sea and land. And hearing the
sky raining, Dhaniya said : Not small to us the gain in that we have seen
the Blessed Lord ; in thee we take refuge, thou endowed with (wisdom's)
eye ; be thou our master, O great sage ! My wife and myself are obedient

346 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

to thee. If we lead a pure life we shall overcome birth and death, and put
an end to pain.

He that has sons has delight in sons — so said the Evil One — he that
has cows has delight in cows, for substance is the delight of man, but he
that has no substance has no delight.

He that has sons has care with his sons — so said the Blessed One — he
that has cows has likewise care with his cows, for substance is (the cause
of) care, but he that has no substance has no care.

From Buddha's sermons choice extracts were gathered at an
early date, which, as well as the few longer discourses, that
have been preserved in their entirety, do more to tell us what
was the original Buddha, before he was enwrapped in the
scholastic mysticism of a later age, than pages of general
critique.

Thus in the Mahapai'inibbdiia casual allusion is made to
assemblies of men and of angels (divine bfeings), of the great
thirty-three gods. Death the Evil One and Brahma (iii. 21).
Buddha, as we have said, does not. deny the existence of
spiritual beings ; he denies only their power to affect the per-
fect man and their controlling part in the universe. In the
same sermon the refuge of the disciple is declared to be truth
and himself (ii. 2)Z) • " ^^ Y^ lamps unto yourselves. Betake
yourselves to no external refuge. Hold fast to the truth as to
a lamp."

And from the famous 'Path of Duty' or 'Collection of truths':^

All that we are is the result of what we have thought : it is founded on
our thoughts ; it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts
with an evil thought pain follows him as the wheel follows the foot of the
ox that draws the carriage, (but) if a man speaks or acts with a pure
thought happiness follows him like a shadow that never leaves him.

Earnestness is the path that leads to escape from death, thoughtlessness
is the path that leads to death. Those who are in earnest do not die;'^

1 Dhammapada (Franke, ZDISIG. xlvi. 731). In Sanskrit one has dharmapatha
with the same sense. The text in the main is as translated by Mliller, separately,
1872, and in SBE., vol. x. It was translated by Weber, Streifoi. i. 112. in 1S60.

2 That is, they die no more ; they are free from the chain ; they enter Nirvana.

BUDDHISM. 347

those who are thoughtless are as if dead already. Long is the night to
him who is awake; long is a mile to him who is tired; long is life to the
foolish.

There is no suffering for him who has finished his journey and aban-
doned grief, who has freed himself on all sides and thrown off the fetters.

Some people are born again ; evil-doers go to hell ; righteous people go
to heaven ; those who are free from all worldly desires attain Nirvana.

He who, seeking his own happiness, punishes or kills beings that also
long for happiness, will not find happiness after death.

Looking for the maker of this tabernacle I shall have to run through a
course of many births, so long as I do not find ; and painful is birth again
and again. But now, maker of the tabernacle, thou hast been seen ; thou
shalt not make up this tabernacle again. All thy rafters are broken, thy
ridge-pole is sundered; thy mind, approaching Nirvana, has attained to
extinction of all desires. ^

Better than going to heaven, better than lordship over all worlds, is the
reward of entering the stream of holiness.

Not to commit any sin, to do good, and to purify one's mind, that is the
teaching of the Buddhas.

Let us live happily, not hating them that hate us. Let us live happily,
though we call nothing our own. We shall be like bright gods, feeding on
happiness.

From lust comes grief, from lust comes fear; he that is free from lust
knows neither grief nor fear.

The best of ways is the eightfold (path) ; this is the way, there is no
other that leads to the purifying of intelligence. Go on this way ! Every-
thing else is the deceit of Death. You yourself must make the effort.
Buddhas are only preachers. The thoughtful who enter the way are freed
from the bondage of Death.'-^

1 Buddha'S words on becoming Buddha.

2 It is to be observed that transmigration into animal forms is scarcely recognized
by Buddha. He assumes only men and superior beings as subjects of Karma.
Compare Rhys Davids' Lectures, pp. 105, 107. To the same scholar is due the state-
ment that he was the first to recognize the true meaning of Nirvana, 'extinction (not
of soul but) of lust, anger, and ignorance.' For divisions of Buddhist literature other
than the Tripitaka the same author's Hibbcrt Lectures may be consulted (see also
Miiiler, SBE. x, Introduction, p. i.).

CHAPTER XIV.

EARLY HINDUISM.

While the great heresies that we have been describing were
agitating the eastern part of India,^ the old home of Brahman-
ism in the West remained true, in name if not in fact, to the
ancient faith. But in reahty changes almost as great as those
of the formal heresies were taking place at the core of Brah-
manism itself, which, no longer able to be the religion of a
few clans, was now engaged in the gigantic task of remodelling
and assimilating the indigenous beliefs and religious practices
of its new environment. This was not a conscious act on the
part of Brahmanism. At first it was undertaken almost un-
wittingly, and it was accomplished later not without repug-
nance. But to perform this task was the condition of continued
existence. Brahmanism had to expand, or shrink, wither, and
die.

For a thousand years almost the only source of information
in regard to this new growth is contained in the epic poetry
of the time, with the help of a few additional facts from the
law, and some side light from inscriptions. It is here that
Vishnuism and Civaism are found as fully developed sectarian
beliefs, accepted by Brahmanism with more or less distrust,
and in more or less fulness of faith. It is to the epic that one

1 The rival heresies seem also to. belong to the East. There were thus more than
half a dozen heretical bodies of importance agitating the region about Benares at
the same time. Subsequently the Jains, who, as we have shown, were less estranged
from Brahmanism, drifted westward, while the Buddhist stronfjhold remained in the
East (both, of course, being represented in the South as well), and so. whereas Bud-
dhism eventually retreated to Nepal and Tibet, the Jains are found in the very
centres of old and new (sectarian) Brahmanism, Delhi, Mathura, Jeypur, Ajmir.

EARLY HINDUISM. 349

must turn to study the budding and gradual flowering of the
modern religions, which have cast strict orthodoxy into the
shade.

Of the two epics, one, the Ramayana,^ has become the Old
Testament of the Ramaite Vishnuites of the present day. The
Bharata,- on the other hand, is scriptural for all sects, because
it is more universal. The former epic, in its present form, is
what the Hindus call an ' art-poem,' and in its hnish, its exclu-
sively romantic style, and its total lack of nervous dramatic
power, it is probably, as the Hindus claim, the work of one
man, Valmiki, who took the ancient legends of Eastern India
and moulded them into a stupid sectarian poem. On the
other hand, the Bharata is of no one hand, either in origin
or in final redaction ; nor is it of one sect ; nor has
it apparently been thoroughly affected, as' has the Rama-
yana, by Buddhistic influences. Moreover, in the huge con-
glomeration of stirring adventure, legend, myth, history, and
superstition which goes to make up the great epic there is
contained a far truer picture of the vulgar custom, belief, and
religion of the time than the too polished composition of Val-
miki is able to afford, despite the fact that the latter also has
many popular elements welded into it. There are, in fact,
only two national works in India, only two works which, withal,
not in their entirety, but in their nucleus, after one has stripped
each of its priestly toggery, reflect dimly the heart of the people,
not the cleverness of one man, or the pedantry of schools.
For a few Vedic hymns and a few Bharata scenes make all the
literature, with perhaps the exception of some fables, that is
not markedly dogmatic, pedantic, or 'artificial.'^ So true is
this that even in the case of the Ramayana one never feels

1 ' The wandering of Rama,' who is the sectarian representative of Vishnu.

2 The ' Bharata (tale)', sometimes called Maha-Bharata, or Great Bharata. The
Visnnuite sectarianism here advocated is that of Krishna. But there is as much
Qivaism in the poem as there is Vishnuism.

3 Dramatic and lyric poetry is artificial even in language.

350 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

that he is getting from it the genuine behef of the people,
but only that form of popular belief which Valmiki has chosen
to let stand in his version of the old tale. The great epic is
heroic, Valmiki's poem is romantic ; the former is real, the
latter is artificial ; and the religious gleaning from each cor-
responds to this distinction.^

The Bharata, like other Hindu works, is of uncertain date,
but it was completed as a ' Great Bharata ' by the end of the
sixth century a.d., and the characters of the story are men-
tioned, as wall known, by Panini, whose work probably belongs
to the fourth century B.C. Furthermore, Dio Chrysostomos,
probably citing from Megasthenes, refers to it ; and the latter
authority describes the worship of the chief gods of the epic ;
while the work is named in one of the domestic Sutras, and
a verse is cited from it in the legal Sutra of Baudhayana.- On
the other hand, in its latest growth it is on a par with the
earlier Puranas, but it is not quite so advanced in sectarianism
as even the oldest of these writings. It may, then, be reck-
oned as tolerably certain that the beginnings of the epic date
from the fourth or fifth century before the Christian era, and
that it was quite a respectable work by the time that era
began ; aftel" which it continued to grow for five centuries more.^
Its religious importance can scarcely be overestimated. In
600 A.D., far away from its native home, in Cambodia, it was
encircled with a temple, and an endowment was made by the

1 Schroeder, p. 453, compares the mutual relation of the Mahabharata and Rama-
yana to that of the Nibelungenlied and the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach.
Jacobi, in his ' Ramayana,' has lately claimed a considerable antiquity for the founda-
tion legends of the Ramayana, but he does not disprove the late completed form.

2 i. 78. 10; see Biihlers Introduction.

3 Jacobi seeks to put the completed nucleus at the time of the Christian era, but
it must have been quite a large nucleus in view of the allusions to it in precedent
literature. Holtzmann puts the completion at about 1000 a.d.; but in 700 a.d. it
was complete, and most scholars will agree with BUhler that the present Maha-Bharata
was completed by the sixth or seventh century. In 533 A.D. it contained 100,000
distichs, that is, it was about the size it is now.

EARLY HINDUISM. 351

king providing for the daily recitation of the poem. Its legal
verses are authoritative ; its religion is to-day that of India as
a whole. The latest large additions to it were, as we think,
the Book of Laws, the Book of Peace, and the genealogy of
Vishnu, which together form a sort of pseudo-epic. But por-
tions of other books, notably the first, fourth, and seventh,
are probably almost as recent as are the more palpable inter-
polations.

The Bharata (or the epic Kar kioyy]v) gives us our first view
of Hinduism in its sectarian developments. But no less does
it show us a changing Brahmanism. The most typical change
in the Brahmanism of this period, which covers all that time
called by Miiller the era of the Renaissance, and ends with
the pedantically piquant literature of the drama,^ is the ab-
normal growth of the ascetic religious exercise. Older Brah-
manism, like the sects, admitted Yogis and ascetics of various
kinds, but their aim was to attain oneness with God ; and
' union ' (with God) is the yoga (Latin jugiim has the same
origin) which they sought. But it was not long before the
starved ascetic, with his wild appearance and great reputation
for sanctity, inspired an awe which, in the unscrupulous, was
easily turned to advantage. The Yogi became more or less
of a charlatan, more or less of a juggler. Nor was this all.
Yoga-practices began to take precedence before other religious
practices. In the Brahmanas it is the sacrifice that is god-
compelling; but in the epic, although sacrifice has its place,
yet when miraculous power is exerted, it is due chiefly to Yoga
concentration, or to the equally general use of formulae ; not

1 By the time the drama began the epic was become a reUgious storehouse, and
the actual epic story represented not a fifth of the whole work, so that, with its
simple language, it must have seemed, as a literary production, very wearisome to
the minds that delighted in tlie artificial compounds and romantic episodes of the
drama and lyric. But even to-day it is recited at great fetes, and listened to with
rapt attention, as the rhapsodes with more or less dramatic power recite its holy
verses.

352 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

formulae as part of a sacrifice, but as in themselves potent ;
and mysterious mantras., used by priest and warrior alike, serve
every end of magic.-^ Apart from acquisition of power, this
Yoga-training is, moreover, all that is needful from the point
of view of righteousness. Physical prowess here is the one
thing admirable. To stand for years on one leg, to be eaten
by ants, to be in every way an ascetic of the most stoical sort,
is the truest religion. Such an ascetic has no ordinary rules
of morality. In fact, his practices are most peculiar, for
to seduce young women is one of his commonest occupations ;
and in his anger to cause an injury to his foes is one of the
ends for which he toils. The gods are nothing to him. They
are puppets whom he makes shake and tremble at will. As
portrayed in the epic, in terms of common sense, the Muni (silent
saint) is a morose^ and very vulgar-minded old man, who seeks
to intimidate others by a show of miraculous power. In the
matter of penances those of the law are extended beyond all
bounds. The caste-restrictions are of the closest, and the
most heinous crime is to commit an offence against caste-
order. On the other hand, the greatest merit is to give gifts
to priests. This had already proceeded far enough, as was
indicated by a passage cited above from Manu. But in the
epic the greed and rapacity of the priest exceeds all imaginable
limits. He takes whatever he can get and asks for more. He
has, by his own showing, scarcely one estimable trait. Avarice,
cupidity, sensuality, gluttony, love of finery, effeminacy, mean-
ness, and pride — everything charged against him by the
Buddhist — are his most marked characteristics. He appears,

1 The later law-books saj' expressly that women and slaves have a riglit to use
mantra, mantradhikarinas. But the later legal Smritis are no more than disguised
sectarian Puranas.

2 Compare the visit of the old Muni on the prince in iii. 262. S. He is parania-
kopatta, '■ extremely irritable ' ; calls for food only to reject it ; growls at the service,
etc. Everything must be done 'quickly' for him. "I am hungry, give me food,
quick,''' is his way of speaking, etc. (12). The adjective is one applied to tlae All-
gods, paramaki'odhinas.

EARLY HIXDUISM. 353

however, to be worse than he always was. For nothing is
plainer, from this very epic, than that the priests, although
united as a caste, were sharply distinguished in their lives.
The ascetic described above represents the fourth period of
the priestly life. Below these stood (apart from students) ^
hermits and householders. The householders, or such of them
as the epic unfortunately is busied with, the royal priests, seem
to be those that are in reality priests only in name. In the
king's palace, his constant advisors, his most unscrupulous
upholders in wickedness, they gave themselves up to quest of
wealth and power. But one would err if he thus dismissed
them all. There were others that had no preferment, who lived
in quiet content in their own houses, and deserved none of the
opprobrium rightly bestowed upon their hypocritical brotliers.
The hermits, too, appear to have been a mild and inoffensive
race, not presuming too much on their caste-privileges.

To offset rapaciousness there are tomes of morality of the
purest sort. Even in the later additions to the epic one reads:
"Away with gifts; receiving gifts is sinful. The. silkworm
dies of its wealth " (xii. 330. 29). One should compare, again,
the exalted verse (Buddhistic in tone) of ib. 321. 47: "The
red garment, the vow of silence, the three-fold staff, the water-
pot — these only lead astray; they do not make for salvation."
There were doubtless good and bad priests, but the peculiarity of
the epic priest, rapacious and lustful, is that he glories in his
sins.

The chief objects of worship (except for the influence of the
sectarian religions) were priests, Manes, and, for form's sake,
the Vedic gods. These gods, with the addition of the Hindu
Plutus (Kubera, the god of riches), are now called the eight
'world-guardians,' viz., Indra, Yama, Varuna, Kubera, Agni,

1 Each spiritual teacher instructed high-caste boys, in classes of four or five at
most. In xii. 32S. 41 the four students of a priest go on a strike because the latter
wants to take another pupil besides themselves and his own son.

354 THE RELIGIOiVS OF INDIA.

Siirya, Vayu, Soma, and are usually simple and shadowy subor-
dinates of the greater new gods.

In the shifting of religious opinion and in the development
of theological conceptions what difference can be traced be-
tween the same gods as worshipped in the Veda and as wor-
shipped in the epic ? Although the Vedic divinities have been
twice superseded, once by the Father-god and again by the
citma., Lord, they still remain adorable and adored, active in
many ways, though passive before the great All-god. It is,
indeed, extremely difficult, owing to the superstruction of sec-
tarian belief, to get dov.'n to the foundation-religion of the
epic. The best one can do is to see in what way the old gods
differ, as represented in the poem, from their older selves of
the Rig Veda. From this point of view alone, and entirely
irrespective of the sects, manifold changes will be seen to have
taken place. Great Soma is no more. Soma is there, the
moon, but the glory of the Vedic Soma has departed. His
lunar representative is of little importance. Agni, too, is
changed. As Fire in the Rig Veda is not only the altar-fire,
but also common, every-day fire, so, too, in the epic this god
is the material fiame, and as such even performs his greatest
deeds for his worshippers. He takes on every form, even
becoming a priest, and a dove. He remains the priest of the
gods, but his day of action in war is over. He no longer
wins battles. But he burns down a forest to aid his party.
For the Vedic gods are now but weak partizans of the com-
batants. In the sectarian parts of the epic Agni is only a
puppet. His new representative, Skanda, is the chief battle-
god, a name almost unknown before. He himself is either
the son of Vishnu or a form of Qiva. He is the All-god, the
atrna. It is he who burns the world when the time shall have
come for the general destruction.

The high and mighty Varuna of the Rig Veda is no longer
great. He is no longer serene. He descends and fights on

EARLY HINDUISM. 355

earth. Indra, too, battles with Vritra as of old, but he is quite
anthropomorphic, and of no marked value in the contest of
heroes. Not only this, but all the gods together are repre-
sented as weaker than a good hero, not to speak of a priestly
ascetic. In a word, the gods are believed in, but with what a
belief ! They no longer, as natural powers, inspire special
respect. Their nature-origin is for the most part lost. They
are thoroughly antlfropomorphic. Even SCirya, the sun, in
action if not in laudation, is often more man than god. This
gives a strange effect to the epic battle-scenes as compared
with those of Homer. Unless Vishnu is active on the field
the action is essentially human. No great god or goddess
stands ready to save the fainting warrior. He fights and falls
alone. Save for the caresses and plaudits of the half-gods, the
most that the Vedic gods can do is to wipe away the sweat
from the hero's brow.-^ The AH-god does not take the place
of the band of watchful and helpful gods pictured by Homer.
Vishnu fights on the field ; he saves only his proteges, and
much as a mortal warrior w^ould do it. But the A^edic 2:cds
hang like a mist upon the edge of battle, and are all but idle
spectators of the scene. Abstractions, as well as the All-god,
have routed them, and Dharma or Duty is a greater god than
Indra. But there is an older side to this, as we shall presently
show. On the moral side the heroes of the epic profess great
belief in the power and awfulness of this god Duty. And so
far as go rules of chivalry, they are theoretically moral. Prac-
tically they arj savage, and their religion does not interfere
with their brutal barbarity. The tendency to cite divine
instances of sin as excuse for committing it is, however,
rebuked : " One should neither practice nor blame the (wrong)
acts of gods and seers," xii. 292. 17-18.

1 The saints in the sky praise the combatants (vii. 1S8. 41 ; viii, 15. 27); and the
gods roar approval of prowess "with roars like a lion's" (viii. 15, -i,^- Indra and
Surya and the Apsarasas cool off the heroes with heavenly fans {ib. 90. iS). For the
last divinities, see Holtzmann's essays, ZDMG. xxxii. 290 ; xxxiii, 631.

356 THE RELIGIOXS OF IXDIA.

From an eschatological point of view it is most difficult to
get back of the statements made by the priestly composers/
who, in their various reeditingsof the epic, uniformly have given
the pantheistic goal as that in which the characters believe.
But it is evident that the warriors were not much affected by
this doctrine. To them there was one law of righteousness
exceeding all others — to die on the field of battle. And for
such as did so, over and over again is the assurance given that
'happiness in Indra's heaven' is their reward. And probably
a true note is struck in this reiterated promise. To the mass of
the vulgar, union with bj-aJwia would have been no attractive end.

It is interesting to see the remains of the older belief still
flourishing in midst of epic pantheism. Although Indra has no
such hymn as has Surya, yet is he still lauded, and he is a very
real person to the knight who seeks his heaven.- In fact, so
long as natural phenomena we're regarded as divine, so long as
thunder was godly, it was but a secondary question which name
the god bore ; whether he was the 'chief and king of gods,' or
Vishnu manifesting himself in a special form. This form, at
any rate, was to endure as such till the end of the cycle. There
are other Indras. Each cycle has its own (i. 197. 29). But
sufficient unto the age is the god thereof. If, relinquishing the
higher bliss of absorption, the knight sought only Indra's heaven,

1 The original author of the Mahabharata is reputed to be of low caste, but the
writers of the text as it is to-day were sectarian priests. It was written down, it is
said, by Gane^a, ' lord of the troops ' of (^iva, i. i. 79, and some historic trutli lies in the
tale. The priests of (^iva were the last to retouch the poem, as we think.

^ Agni-worship is partly affected by the doctrine that the Samvartaka fire (which
destroys the world at the cycle's end) is a form of Vishnu. In Stambamitra's hymn
it is said : '• Thou, O Agni, art the all, in thee rests the universe . . . Sages know thee
as single yet manifold. At the expiration of time thou burnest up the three worlds,
after having created them. Thou art the originator and support of all beings "
(i. 232. 12). Elsewhere more Vedic epithets are given, such as ' mouth of the gods"
(ii. 31. 42), though here 'the Vedas are produced for Agni's sake.' In this same
prayer one reads, ' may Agni give me energy ; wind, give me breath ; earth, give nie
strength; and water, give me health' (45). Agni, as well as (^iva, is the father of
Kumara Kartikeya, /.«?., Skanda {ib. 44).

EARLY HINDUISM. 557

and believed he was to find it, then his belief practically does
not differ much from that of his ancestor, who accepts Indra as
an ultimate, natural power. The question arises whether, after
all, the Indra-worship of the epic is not rather popular than
merely old and preserved* Certainly the reality of the belief
seems quite as strong as that of the ever-newly converted sec-
tar}'. It may be doubted whether the distribution of theologi-
cal belief is very different in the epic and Vedic ages. Philo-
sophical pantheism is very old in India. The priest believes
one thing ; the vulgar, another. The priest of the Vedic age,
like the philosopher of the next age, and like the later sectarian,
has a belief which runs ahead of the popular religion. But the
popular religion in its salient features still remains about the
same. Arjuna, the epic hero, the pet of Krishna, visits Indra's
heaven and stays there five years. It is the old Vedic gods to
whom he turns for weapons, till the Qivaite makes Indra send
the knight further, to Civa himself. The old name, king of the
Vasus, is still retained for Indra ; and though the 'divine weap-
ons,' which are winged with sacred formulae, are said to be
more than a match for the gods ; though in many a passage the
knight and the saint make Indra tremble, yet still appear,
through the mists of ascetic and sectarian novelties, Indra's
heaven and his grandeur, shining with something of their old
glory. Vishnu still shows his solar origin. Of him and of the
sun is it said in identical words : " The sun protects and
devours all," and '-Vishnu protects and devours" (of Vishnu,
passim; of the sun, iii. t^^)- 7'^)- ^ good deal of old stuff' is
left in the Forest Book amongst the absurd tales of holy water-
ing places. One finds repeated several times the Vedic account
of Indra's fight with Vritra, the former's thunderbolt, however,
being now made of a saint's bones (iii. ch. 100-105). Agni
is lauded (/<^. ch. 123). To the Agvins^ there is one old hymn

1 But the A^vins are Qudras in the ' caste-hood of gods ' (the caste-order being
Angirasas, Adityas, Maruts and Agvins), xii. 20S. 23-25 ; and Indra in one passage
refuses to associate with them, xiii. 157. 17 (cited by Holtzmann, ZDMD. xxxii. 321).

358 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

which contains Vedic forms (i. 3). Varuna is^still lord of the
West, and goes accompanied with the rivers, ' nale and female,'
with snakes, and demons, and half-gods {daityas, sad/iyas,
ddivatas). Later, but earlier than the pseudo-epic, there stands
with these gods Kubera, the god of wealth, the 'jewel-giver,'
who is the guardian of travellers, the king of those demons
called Yakshas, which the later sect makes servants of Qiva.
He is variously named ; ^ he is a dwarf ; he dwells in the North,
in Mt. Kailasa, and has a demoniac gate-keeper, Macakruka.
Another newer god is the one already referred to, Dharma
Vaivasvata, or Justice (Virtue, Right), the son of the sun, a
title of Yama older than the Vedas. He is also the father of
the new love-god, Kama. It is necessary to indicate the names
of the gods and their functions, lest one imagine that with pan-
theism the Vedic religion expired. Even that old, impious
Brahmanic fable crops out again : " The devils were the older
brothers of the gods, and were conquered by the gods only with
trickery" (iii. ^t'h- ^0)5 ^" interesting reminiscence of the fact
that the later name for evil spirit was originally the one applied
to the great and good spirit (Asura the same with Ahura)."
According to a rather late chapter in the second book each of
the great Vedic gods has a special paradise of his own, the
most remarkable feature of the account being that Indra's
heaven is filled with saints, having only one king in it — a
view quite foreign to the teaching that is current elsewhere in
the epic. Where the sectarian doctrine would appose the old
belief it set above Indra's heaven another, of Brahma, and
above that a third, of Vishnu (i. 89. 16 ff.). According to one
passage Mt. Mandara^ is a sort of Indian Olympus. Another
account speaks of the Himalayas, Himavat, as ' the divine

1 Manibhadra, in iii. 64, is king of Yaksash ; he is the same with Kubera. ib. ch. 41
(Vaigravana).

2 In the Cosmogony the gods are the sons of the Manes, xii. 312. 9.

3 When the gods churn the ocean to get ambrosia, an ancient tale of the epic, Man-
dara is the twirling-stick. It is situated in modern Behar, near Bhagalpur.

EARLY HINDUISM. 359

mountain, beloved of the gods/ though the knight goes thence
to Gandhamadaii^, and thence to Indrakila, to find the gods'
habitat (iii. 37. '41). Personified powers He all around the
religious Hindu. And this is especially true of the epic char-
acter. He prays to Mt. Mandara, and to rivers, above all to
the Ganges. Mt. Kolahala is divine, and begets divine off-
spring on a river (i. 63). The Vindhya range of mountains
rivals the fabled Meru (around which course the sun and all
the heavenly bodies), and this, too, is the object of devotion
and prayer.^ In one passage it is said that in Behar (Magadha)
there was a peak which was continuously ' worshipped with
offeriUj^-s of flowers and perfumes,' exactly as if it were a god.
The reason why flowers are given and worn is that they bring
good luck, it is said in the same chapter (ii. 21. 15, 20, 51).

What is, perhaps, the most striking feature of Hindu religious
thought, as a« whole, is the steadfastness with which survive,
even in the epic and in Buddhism, the forms and formulae of
the older faith. At a time when pantheism or nihilism is the
avowed creed the ancient gods still exist, weak, indeed, yet
infused with a true immortality. This is noticeable even more
in unnoticeable ways, in the turns of speech, in little compari-
sons, in the hymns, in short, in the by-play of the epic.
' Withered are the garlands of the gods, and their glory is
departed,'" but -they still receive homage in time of need.
And in that homage is to be seen, and from the same cause,
the revived or surviving worship of the Veda. Each god in
turn is mighty, though Agni is the mightiest of the old divini-
ties. In an epic hymn to him it is said : " Thou art the mouth

1 iii. 42 ; 139. 14, where the Ganges and Jumna are invoked together with the Vedic
gods. So in iii. 104 (Vindhya); and Damayanti prays to mountains. Mt. Meru is
described in iii. 163. 14 (compare i. i". 5 ff.). In i. 18. i ff., is related the churning of
the ocean, where Indra (vs. 12) places Mt. Mandara on Vishnu, the tortoise.

- Mbh. i. 30. 37, mamhcr mdlydni dcvdndm, etc. The older belief was that the
gods' garlands never withered ; for the gods show no mortal signs, cast no shad-
ows, etc.

360 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

of the worlds ; the poets declare thee to be one and three-fold ;
as carrier of the sacrifice they arrange thee eight-fold. By thee
was all created, say the highest seers. Priests that have made
reverence to thee attain the eternal course their acts have won,
together with their wives and sons. They call thee the water-
giver in the air, together with lightning. On thee first depends
water. Thou art the creator and Brihaspati, thou art the two
Horsemen, the two Yamas, Mitra, Soma, Wind" (i. 229, 23 ff.).^
And yet this is in a pantheistic environment ! The Rig Veda
is directly invoked, though, of course, not directly cited, in the
old hymn to the Horsemen, who are, however, elsewhere put
with low animals and Guhyakas, demons (i. 66).^ They are
the " physicians of the gods," the " first-born," the golden birds
which weave the white and black of time, create the wheel of
time with all its seasons, and make the sun and sky (i. 3. 55 ff.,
" vagbhir rgb/iis "). Indra himself is extolled in Kadru's hymn ;
he is the slayer of Namuci, the lord of Qaci ; he is the great
cloud, cloud and its thunder, creator and destroyer ; he is
Vishnu, ' Soma, greatly praised,' as well as fire, air, time in all
its divisions, earth and ocean ; when lauded he drinks the
soma, and he is sung in the Vedangas (i. 25. yff.). Praised
with this hymn in time of need of rain, Indra "commanded the
clouds, saying, 'rain down the ambrosia' " (26. 2); where there
is still the rain as synonymous with ambrosia, and Indra not
very differently conceived from his Vedic self. Thus in com-
parisons : " As Indra standing in heaven brings bliss to the
world of the livins;, so Vidura ever brouo:ht bliss to the Pandus "
(i. 61. 15). But at the same time what changes! The gods
assemble and sing a hymn to Garuda, the epic form of Garut-
man, the heavenly bird, who here steals the soi7ia vainly guarded

1 Compare the four hymnlets to Agni in i. 232, 7 ff.

2 After the mention of the thirty-three gods, and Vishnu ' born after them,' it is
said that the Agvins, plants, and animals, are Guhyakas (vs. 40), though in vs. 35 :
*' Tvashtar's daughter, the \Yife of Savitar, as a mare (vadava) bore in air the two
A§vins" (see above), in Vedic style. For Qruti compare iii. 207. 47; 208. 6, 11.

EARLY HINDUISM. 361

by the gods. Garuda, too, is Prajapati, Indra, and so forth. ^
The gods are no longer divinities distinct from the dead
Fathers, for they are "identical in being." So Agni says when
the latter is cursed by Bhrigu : " The divinities and the Manes
are satisfied by the oblation in fire. The hosts of gods are waters,
so, too, are the ]\Ianes. The feasts of the new and full moon
belong to the gods with the Manes ; hence the Manes are
divinities and the divinities are Manes. Thev are of one
being {ekibhutas). I (Fire) am the mouth of both, for both eat
the oblation poured upon me. The Manes at the new moon, the
gods at the full, are fed by my mouth" (i. 7. yff.)." Such gods
the epic hero fears not (i. 227. 38 ff.). Hymns to them are par-
alleled by hymns to snakes, as in i. 3. i34ff., against whom is
made the "■' sarpasatti-am (snake sacrifice) of the Puranas"
(i. 51. 6). Divinity is universal. Knights are as divine as the
divinest god, the All-god. Arjuna, the god-born man, to whom
Krishna reveals the Divine Song, is himself god.^ In this case
wdiether god becomes human, or vice versa., no one knows.

Under the all-embracing cloak of pantheism the heart of the
epic conceals many an ancient rite and superstition. Here is
the covenant of blood, the covenant of death (represented by
the modern ' sitting ' ^), and the covenant of water, which sym-
bolizes both friendship and the solemnity of the curse. The
former are illustrated by Bhima's drinking blood as a sign that
he will fulfil his vow/ and by Rama lying by Ocean to die
unless Ocean grants his wish. Of the water-rite that of offer-

1 i, 23. 15 ff. His name is explained fancifully in 30. 7.

2 It is at the funeral feasts to the Manes that the Mahabharata is to be recited
(i. 62. i:).

3 Arjuna is an old name of Indra, and in the epic Arjuna is Indra's son.

4 The legal dJiania or sitting at a debtor's door, which still obtains in India, is,
so far as we know, not a very ancient practice. But its application in the case of
heralds (who become responsible) is epic.

5 This is the covenant (with friends) of revenge ; the covenant of mutual protec-
tion in the sacrifice is indicated by the ' protection covenant' of the gods (see the
chapter on Brahmanism above, p. 192).

362 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

ing water in hospitality and as a form in reception of gifts is
general ; that of cursing by ' touching water ' {^fdry iipasprcya),
occurs in iii. lo. 32. For this purpose holy-grass and other sym-
bols are known also,^ and formulae yield only in potency to
love-philters and magic drugs. Another covenant besides
those just noticed seems to lie concealed in the avoidance of
the door when injury is intended. If one goes in by the door
he is a guest who has anticipated hospitality, and then he dares
not refuse the respect and offering of water, etc. which makes
the formal pact of friendship. If, on the contrary, he does not
go in by the door he is not obliged to receive the offering, and
may remain as a foe in the house (or in the city) of his enemy,
with intent to kill, but without moral wrong. This may be im-
plied in the end of the epic, where Agvatthaman, intent on
secret murder of his foe, is prevented by god Civa from enter-
ing in at the gate, but going in by stealth, and ' not by the
door ' of the camp, gets to his foe, who lies asleep, and kills
him (x. 8. 10). This might be thought, indeed, to be merely
strategic, but it is in accordance with the strict law of all the
law-books that one, in ordinary circumstances, shall avoid to
enter a town or a house in any other way than through the
door (Manu, iv. 73; Gaut. 9. 32, etc.), and we think it has a
moral significance, for this a-dvara (non-door) rule occurs
again in the epic in just the circumstances we have described.
The heroes in this case are not afraid of their foe, who is in
his town. They insult every one as they approach, but they
find some other way of getting in than by passing through the
gate, for the express purpose of being morally able to make the
kins: fi2:ht with them after thev have entered his citv. And
they cite the rule 'according to law,' which is that one may
enter his foe's house by a-dvara, 'not by door,' but his friend's
house only ' by door.' As they have not entered ' by door ' they
say they may refuse the hospitality which the king urges them

1 See an essay on the Ruling Caste in the epic, in J AOS. xiii. 232 ff.

EARLY HINDUISM, 363

to accept, and so they kill him (ii. 21. 14, 53). Stepping in
through the door seems, therefore, to be a tacit agreement that
one will not injure the resident.^

In the epic, again, fetishism is found. The student of the
'science of war,' in order to obtain his teacher's knowledge
when the latter is away, makes a clay image of the preceptor
and worships this clay idol, practicing arms before it (i. 132.
T^'^. Here too is embalmed the belief that man's life may be
bound up with that of some inanimate thing, and the man
perishes with the destruction of his psychic prototype (iii. 135).
The old ordeals of fire and water are recognized. " Fire does
not burn the house of good men." " If (as this man asserts)
he is Varuna's son, then let him enter water and let us see if
he win drown " (iii. 134. 27 ff.). A human sacrifice is per-
formed (iii. 127); although the priest who performs it is cast
into hell {ib. 128).^ The teaching in regard to hells is about
the same wdth that already explained in connection with the
law-books, but the more definite physical interpretation of hell
as a hole in the ground (^garta, just as in the Rig Veda) is
retained. Agastya sees his ancestors 'in a hole,' which they
call ' a hell ' {iiirayd). This is evidently the hell known to the
law-punsters and epic (i. 74. 39) 2iSputtra, 'the//// hell' from
which the son (^putrd) delivers {tni). For these ancestors are in
the ' hole ' because Agastya, their descendant, has not done his
duty and begotten sons (i. 45. 13; iii. 96. 15); one son being
'no son ' according to law and epic (i. 100. 68), and all the
merit of sacrifice being equal to only one-sixteenth of that
obtained by having a son. The teaching, again, in regard to

1 Reverend Doctor H. C. Trumbull has kindly called our attention to Roberfs
Oriental Illustrations^ p. 148 ff., where it is said that in India to-day the threshold is
sacred. In reference to threshold-offerings, common in the law, Dr. Trumbull's own
forthcoming book on Covenants may be compared.

2 But these are by no means the last examples of human sacrifices. Several of
the modern Hindu sects have caused to be performed such sacrifices, even in this cen-
tury.

364 THE RELIGIONS OE IXDIA.

the Fathers themselves (the Manes), while not differing materi-
ally from the older view, offers novelties which show how little
the absorption-theory had taken hold of the religious con-
sciousness. The very fact that the son is still considered to
be as necessary as ever (that he may offer food to his ances-
tors) shows that the believer, whatever his professed faith, ex-
pects to depend for bliss hereafter upon his post moj'tan meals,
as much as did his fathers upon theirs. In the matter of the
burial of the dead, one finds, what is antique, that although
according to the formal law only infants are buried, and adults
are burned, yet was burial known, as in the Vedic age. And the
still older exposure of the body, after the Iranian fashion, is
not only hinted at as occurring here and there even before the
epic, but in the epic these forms are all recognized as equally
approved: "When a man dies he is burned or buried or ex-
posed " {iiikrsyate)^ it is said in i. 90. 17; and the narrator
goes on to explain that the "hell on earth," of which the
auditor "has never heard" (vs. 6) is re-birth in low bodies,
speaking of it as a new doctrine. " As if in a dream remain-
ing conscious the spirit enters another form"; the bad be-
coming insects and worms ; the good going to heaven by
means of the "seven gates," viz., penance, liberality, quietism,
self-control, modesty, rectitude, and mercy. This is a union
of two views, and it is evidently the popular view, that, namely,
the good go to heaven while the bad go to new existence in a
low form, as opposed to the more logical conception that both
alike enter new forms, one good, the other bad. Then the
established stadia, the pupil, the old teaching {iipaiiishad) of
the householders, and the wood-dwellers are described, with
the remark that there is no uniformity of opinion in regard to
them ; but the ancient view crops out again in the statement

1 This can hardly mean 'put out on the river' as has been suggested as an expla-
nation of tlie corpse ' thrown aside ' in accordance with the earhcr text, A V. xviii. 2.
34 {parofia), where the dead are 'buried, thrown aside, burned, or set out.'

EARLY HIXDUISM. 365

that one who dies as a forest-hermit ''establishes in bliss " ten
ancestors and ten descendants. In this part of the epic the Pun-
jab is still near the theatre of events, the 'centre region ' being
between the Ganges and Jumna (i. 87. 5); although the later
additions to the poems show acquaintance with all countries,
known and unknown, and with peoples from all the world.
Significant in xii. 61. i, 2 is the name of the third order
bhdikshyacaryani ' beggarhood ' (before the forest-hermit and
after the householder).

It was said above that the departed Fathers could assume a
mortal form. In the formal classification of these demigods
seven kinds of jNIanes are enumerated, the title of one subdivi-
sion being 'those embodied.' Brahma is identified with the
Father-god in connection with the Manes : " All the ]\Ianes
worship Prajapati Brahma," in the paradise of Prajapati,
where, by the way, are (Jiva and Vishnu (ii. 11. 45, 50, 52; 8.
30). According to this description 'kings and sinners,' to-
gether with the Manes, are found in Yama's home, as well as
"those that die at the solstice" (ii. yff.; 8. 31). Constantly
the reader is impressed with the fact that the characters of the
epic are acting and thinking in a way not conformable to the
idea one misiht form of the Hindu from the law. We have
animadverted upon this point elsewhere in connection with
another matter. It is this factor that makes the study of the
epic so invaluable as an oftset to the verisimilitude of belief, even
as belief is taught (not practiced) in the law\ There is a very
old rule, for instance, against slaughtering animals and eating
meat; while to eat beef is a monstrous crim.e. Yet is it plain
from the epic that meat-eating was customary, and Yedic texts
are cited (/// cmtis) to prove that this is permissible ; while a
king is extolled for slaughtering cattle (iii. 208. 6-1 1). It is
said out and out in iii. 313. 86 that 'beef is food,' gaur aniiam.
Deer are constantly eaten. There is an amusing protest
against this practice, which was felt to be irreconcilable with

366 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

the ahimsa (non-injury) doctrine, in iii. 258, where the rem-
nant of deer left in the forest come in a vision and beg to be
spared. A dispute between gods and seers over vegetable
sacrifices is recorded, xii. 338. Again, asceticism is not the
duty of a warrior, but the epic hero practices asceticism
exactly as if he were a priest, or a Jain, although the warning
is given that a warrior ' obtains a better lot' (Jokd) by dying in
battle than by asceticism. The asceticism is, of course, exag-
gerated, but an instance or two of what the Hindu expects in
this regard mav not be without interest. The warrior who be-
comes an ascetic eats leaves, and is clothed in grass. For one
month he eats fruits every third day (night); for another
month every sixth day ; for another month every fortnight ;
and for the fourth month he lives on air, standing on tiptoe
with arms stretched up. Another account says that the knight
eats fruit for one month ; water for one month ; and for the
third month, nothing (iii. 2)3' 73; 38. 22-26; 167). One may
compare with these ascetic practices, which are not so ex-
aggerated, in fact, as might be supposed,^ the 'one-leg' prac-
tice of virtue, consisting in standing on one leg, ekapadena, for
six months or longer, as one is able (i. 170. 46; iii. 12. 13-16).
Since learning the Vedas is a tiresome task, and ascetic prac-
tice makes it possible to acquire anything, one is not surprised
to find that a devotee undertakes penance with this in view,
and is only surprised when Indra, who, to be sure has a personal
interest in the Vedas, breaks in on the scene and rebukes the
ascetic with the words: "Asceticism cannot teach the Vedas;
go and be tutored by a teacher" (iii. 135. 22).

One finds in the epic the old belief that the stars are
the souls of the departed,^ and this occurs so often that it is

1 It is assumed in xii. 364. 2 that *• leaves and air " are food enough for a great
saint. Compare below the actual asceticism of modern devotees.

2 iii. 25. 14 : saptarsayas . . . divi viprahhanti. Compare ib. 261. 13, and the apoca-
lypse in vii. 192. 52 ff., where Drona's soul ascends to heaven, a burning fire like a

EARLY 11 I AW U ISM. 367

another sign of the comparative newness of the pantheistic
doctrine. When the hero, Arjuna, goes to heaven he ap-
proaches the stars, " which seen from earth look small on
account of their distance," and finds them to be self-luminous
refulgent saints, royal seers, and heroes slain in battle, some of
them also being nymphs and celestial singers. All of this is
in contradiction both to the older and to the newer systems of
eschatology ; but it is an ancient belief, and therefore it is pre-
served. Indra's heaven,-^ AmaravatI, lies above these stars."
No less than five distinct beliefs are thus enunciated in regard
to the fate of good men after death. If they believe in the
All-god they unite with him at once. Or they have a higher
course, becoming gradually more elevated, as gods, etc., and
ultimately ' enter ' the All-god. Again they go to the world of
Brahma. Again they go to Indra's heaven. Again they be-
come stars. The two last beliefs are the oldest, the braJwia-
loka belief is the next in order of time, and the first-mentioned
are the latest to be adopted. The hero of the epic just walks
up to heaven, but his case is exceptional.

While angels and spirits swarm about the world in every
shape from mischievous or helpful fairies to Rahu, w^hose head
still swallows the sun, causing eclipses (i. 19. 9), there are a
few that are especially conspicuous. Chief of the good spirits,
attendants of Indra, are the Siddhas," 'saints,' w^io occasion-
ally appear to bless a hero in conjunction with 'beings invis-

sun ; in sharp contrast to the older ' thumbkin ' soul which Yama receives and car-
ries off in tlie tale of Satyavant. Compare also ArundhatI in i. 233. 29.

1 Described, as above, as a place of singers and dancers, where are the Vedic gods
and sages, but no sinners or cowards (iii. 42. 34 ff.).

- From another point of view the stars are of interest. They are favorable or
unfavorable, sentient, kind, or cruel ; influential in man's fate. Compare iii. 200. 84,
8;, where the sun is included with Xhitgrahas (planets) which influence men, and ib.
209. 21, tiilyanaksairamahgala.

^ Other of Indra's spirits are the singers, Gandharvas and Apsarasas; also the
horse-headed Kinnaras and Caranas, who, too, are singers ; while later the Vidya-
dharas telong both to Indra and to Qiva. In modern times the South Indian Sit-
tars, ' saints,' take their name from the Siddhas.

368 THE RELIGIOXS OF IXDIA.

ible ' (iii. 37. 21). Their name means literally 'blessed' or
' successful,' and probably, like the seers, Rishis, they are the
departed fathers in spiritual form. These latter form various
classes. There are not only the 'great seers,' and the still
greater ' /v-^//;;/<7-seers,' and the 'god-seers,' but there are even.
' devil-seers,' and 'king-seers,' these being spirits of priests of
royal lineages.-^ The evil spirits, like the gods, are sometimes
grouped in threes. In a blessing one cries out: "Farewell
{svasti gacchahy ajiamayani) ; I entreat the Vasus, Rudras, Adi-
tyas, Marut-hosts and the All-gods to protect thee, together
with the Sadhyas ; safety be to thee from all the evil beings
that live in air, earth, and heaven, and from all others that dog
thy path." ^ In xii. 166. 61 ff. the devils fall to earth, moun-
tains, water, and other places. According to i. 19. 29. it is
not long since the Asuras were driven to take refuge in earth
and salt water.^

These creatures have every kind of miraculous powder,
whether they be good or bad. Hanuman, famed in both
epics, the divine monkey, with whom is associated the divine
'king of bears' Jambavan (iii. 2S0. 23), can grow greater than
mortal eye can see (iii. 150. 9). He is still w-orshipped as a
great god in South India. As an illustration of epic spiritism
the case of Ilvala may be taken. This devil, daifeya, had a
trick of cooking his embodied younger brother, and giving
him to saints to eat. One saint, supposing the flesh to be
mutton (here is saintly meat-eating !), devours the dainty viand ;
upon \vhich the devil ' calls ' his brother, who is obliged to
come, whether eaten or not, and in coming bursts the saint

1 In ddnavarsi there is apparently the same sort of compound as in dcvarsi
and bra/wiarsi, all associated with the siddhas in iii. 169. 23. But possibly
' demons and seers ' may be m.eant,

2 iii. 37. 32-35 {prapadye vicvedez'dn .').

3 Weber finds in the Asuras' artisan, Asura Maya, a reminiscence of Ptolemaios,
He is celebrated in i. 22S. 39, and ii. i, and is the general leader of the ddnavas,
demons, perhaps originally a folk-name of enemies.

EARLY HIXDUISM. 369

that has eaten him (iii. 96). This is folk-lore ; but what reli-
gion does not folk-lore contain ! So, personified Fate holds
its own as an inscrutable power, mightier than others/ There
is another touch of primitive religious feeling which reminds
one of the usage in Iceland, where, if a stranger knocks at the
door and the one within asks ' who is there ? ' the guest an-
swers, 'God.' So in the epic it is said that ' every guest is god
Indra' (^Parjanyo 'juidJiusai'ncarau^ iii, 200. 123. In the epic
Parjanya, the rain-god, and Indra are the same). Of popular
old tales of religious bearing may be mentioned the retention
and elaboration of the Brahmanic deluge-story, with ]\Ianu as
Noah (iii. 1S7) ; the Acvins' feats in rejuvenating (iii. 123) ;
the combats of the gods with the demons (Namuci, ^ambara,
Vala, Vritra, Prahlada, Naraka), etc. (iii. 168).

Turning now to some of the newer traits in the epic, one
notices first that, while the old sacrifices still obtain, especially
the horse-sacrilice, the rajasuya and the less meritorious vaja-
peya, together with the monthly and seasonal sacrifices, there
is in practice a leaning rather to new sacrifices, and a new
cult. The soma is scarce, and the putika plant is accepted as
its substitute (iii, 35. t^t^ in a matter-of-course way, as if this
substitution, perm.itted of old by law, were now common. The
sacrifice of the widow is recognized, in the case of the wives
of kings, as a means of obtaining bliss for a woman, "-^ for the
religion of the epic is not entirely careless of woman. Some-
what new, however, is the self-immolation of a man upon the
pyre of his son. Such a case is recorded in iii. 137. 19,
where a father burns his son's body, and then himself enters

1 See below. The formal division is, ddiva, hatha, karvia. i.e.. man's fate depends
on gods, Fate, and his own acts ; although hatha, Fate, is often implied in ddiva, 'the
divine power.' But they are separated, for example, in iii. 183. 86.

2 Compare the tales and xii. 148. 9, satl (suttee). In regard to the horse-sacrifice,
compare Yama's law as expounded to Gautama : " The acts by which one gains bliss
hereafter are austerities, purity, truth, worship of parents, and the horse-sacrifice."
xii. 129. 9, 10.

370 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

the fire. New also, of course, are the sectarian festivals
and sacrifices ; and pronounced is the gain in the godhead of
priests, king, parents, elder brother, and husband. The priest
has long been regarded as a god, but in the epic he is god of
gods, although one can trace even here a growth in adulation.^
The king, too, has been identified before this period wdth the
gods. But in the epic he is to his people an absolute divinity,^
and so are the parents to the son ; ^ while, since the elder
brother is the same with a father, when the father is dead the
younger brother worships the elder. So also the wife's god is
her husband ; for higher even than that of the priest is the
husband's divinity (iii. 206). The wife's religious service is
not concerned with feasts to the Manes, with sacrifice to the
gods, nor with studying the Veda. In all these she has no
part. Her religion is to serve her husband (iii. 205. 23), and
to die, if worthy of the honor, on his funeral pyre. Other-
wise the epic woman has religious practices only in visiting the
holy watering-places, which now abound, and in reading the
epic itself. For it is said of both practices: "Whether man or
woman read this book (or ' visit this holy pool ') he or she is
freed from sin" (so in iii. 82, ;^t,: "Every sin committed since
birth by man or woman is absolved by bathing in holy Push-
kara"). It may be remarked that as a general thing the dei-
ties invoked by women are, by predilection, female divinities,
some of them beins: mere abstractions, while ' the Creator ' is

1 Compare iii. 200. S8, even prakrta priests are divine and terrible (much more in
later books). Woxt prakrta, vulgar, is opposed to sainskria, refined, priests.

2 iii. 1S5. 26-31.

3 " Mj'^ father and mother are my highest idol ; I do for them what I do for idols.
As the three and thirty gods, with Indra foremost, are revered of all the world, so
are my parents revered by me" (iii. 214. 19, 20). The speaker further calls themi
paramam bra/nna, absolute godhead, and explains his first remark by saying that he
offers fruits and flowers to his parents as if they were idols. In iv. 68. 57 a man
salutes {abhivddyd) his father's feet on entering into his presence. For the worship
of parents compare xii. 108. 3; 12S. 9, 10 ; 267. 31, xiii. 75. 26 : "heroes in obedience
to the motb.er.''

EARLY HIXDUISM. 371

often the only god in the woman's list, except, of course, the
priests : " Reverence to priests, and to the Creator . . . May
Hri, (Jri (Modesty and Beauty), Fame, Glory, Prosperity,
Uma (Qiva's wife), Lakshmi (Vishnu's wife), and also Saras-
vati, (may all these female divinities) guard thy path, because
thou reverest thy elder brother," is a woman's prayer (iii. 37.

26-33)-'

Of the sectarian cults just mentioned the bralunajnaha^ i.

164. 20, elsewhere referred to, is the all-caste"" feast in honor
of Brahma (or of the Brahmans); as ib. 143. 3 one finds ^^saniaja
in honor of Civa ; and distinctly in honor of the same god of
horror is the sacrifice, i.e.^ immolation, of one hundred kings,
who are collected "in the temple of Civa," to be slaughtered
like cattle in Magadha (ii. 15. 23) ; an act which the heroes of
the epic prevent, and look upon with scorn.^ As a substitute
for the 7-aJasuya, which may be connected with the human sac-
rifice {Ind. St?'eifen, i. 61), but is the best sacrifice because it
has the best largesse (iii. 255. 12), the Vaishnava is suggested
to Duryodhana. It is a great sattram or long sacrifice to
Vishnu {ib. 15 and 19); longer than a Vishnuprabodha (26 Oct.).
There is a Smriti rite described in iii. 198. 13 as a svastivdamain^
a ceremony to obtain a heavenly chariot which brings prosperity,
the priests being invoked for blessings {svasW). Quite mod-
ern, comparatively speaking, is the cult of holy pools ; but it is
to be observed that the blessings expected are rarely more
than the acquirement of braJuna-\\ox\^'s>, so that the institution
seems to be at least older than the sectarian religions, although
naturally among the holy pools is intruded a Vishnu-pool.
This religious rite cannot be passed over in silence. The
custom is late Brahmanic (as above), and still survives. It

1 The marked Brahma Creator-worship is a bit of feminine rehgious conservatism
(see below).

2 Weber has shown that men of low caste took a subordinate part even in the
rajasilya sacrifice.

3 In ii. iS. there is a brand-new festival appointed in honor of a female fiend, etc.

372 THE RELIGIOXS OF INDIA.

has been an aspect of Hindu religion for centuries, not only in
the view taken of the pools, but even occasionally in the place
itself. Thus the Ganges, Gaya, Prayaga, and Kuru-Piain are
to-day most holy, and they are mentioned as among the
holiest in the epic catalogue.^ Soma is now revamped by a
bath in a holy pool (ix. 35. 75). As in every antithesis of act
and thought there are not lacking passages in the epic which
decry the pools in comparison with holy life as a means of salva-
tion. Thus in iii. 82. 9 ff., the poet says : ''The fruit of pil-
grimage (to holy pools) — he whose hands, feet, and mind are
controlled ; - he who has knowledge, asceticism, and fame, he
gets all the fruit that holy pools can give. If one is averse
from receiving gifts, content, freed from egoism, if one injures
not, and acts disinterestedly, if one is not gluttonous, or carnal-
minded,, he is freed from sin. Let one (not bathe in pools but)
be -without wrath, truthful, firm in his vows, seeing his self in
all beings." This is, however, a protest little heeded.^ Pil-
grimage is made to pool and plain, to mountain, tree, and
river. Even then, as now. of all pilgrimages that to Ganges
was most esteemed : '• Originally all were holy ; in the second
age Pushkara'^ was holy; in the third age the Plain of the
Kurus was holy ; and in this age Ganges is holy" (iii. 85. 90).^
Besides Ganges, the Plain of the Kurus and Prayaga, the junc-
tion of Ganges and Jumna, get the highest laudation. Other
rivers, such as the Gonial and Sarasvati, are also extolled, and

1 iii. 84. 83 (87. 11). We see the first idea in the injunction of Indra to 'wander,'
as told in the tale of Dogstail in the Brahmana (see above).

2 The usual formula (also Avestan) is ' pure in thought, speech, and act.' The
comparison of the six senses to unrestrained wild horses is familiar (iii. 211. 24).

3 There is, further, no unanimity in regard to the comparative value of holy
places. In xii. 152. 11, Sarasvati is holier than Kurukshetra, etc.

4 At Pushkara is Brahma's only (?) shrine — the account is legendary, but half
historical. The modern shrine at Ajmir seems to be meant.

5 Ganges, according to epic legend, was a goddess who sacrificed herself for men
when the earth was parched and men perished. Then Ganges alone of immortals
took pity on men. and flinging herself from heaven became the stream, divine. Her
name among the gods is Alakananda, the ' Blessed Damosel.'

EARLY HINDUISM, ' 37 J

the list is very long of places which to see or to bathe in releases
from sin. " He who bathes in Ganges purifies seven descend-
ants.-^ As long as the bones of a man touch Ganges-water so
long that man is magnified in heaven." Again : " No place of
pilgrimage is better than Ganges ; no god is better than Vishnu ;
nothing is better than hrahma — so said the sire of the gods "
(iii. 85. 94-96). The very dust of Kuru-Plain makes one
holy, the sight of it purifies ; he that lives south of the Saras-
vati, north of the Drishadvati (/>., in Kuru-Plain), he lives in
the third heaven (iii. Z^^. 1-3 = 203-205 -). This sort of expia-
tion for sin is implied in a more general way by the remark that
there are three kinds of purity, one of speech, one of act, and
one of water (iii. 200. 82). But in the epic there is still
another means of expiating sin, one that is indicated in the
Brahmanic rule that if a woman is an adultress she destroys
half her sin by confessing it (as above), where, however,
repentance is rather implied than commanded. But in the epic
Purana it is distinctly stated as a Cruti, or trite saying, that
if one repents he is freed from his sin ; na tat kuryaiii piuiar is
the formula he must use, ' I will not do so again,' and then he
is released from even the sin that he is going to commit a sec-
ond time, as if by a ceremony — so is the Cruti in the laws,
dhanmis (iii. 207. 51, 52).^ Confession to the family priest is
enjoined, in xii. 268. 14, to escape punishment.

1 In iii. 87. 10, "ten descendants and ten ancestors." The epic, i. 170. 19, regards
the SarasvatI and Jumna as parts of the sevenfold Ganges, which descends from
the heavens as these three, and also as the Vitastha (Rathastha), Sarayu, Gomati,
and Gandaki ; being itself ' Vaitaranl among the Manes.' So xii. 322. 32.

2 According to the commentator the " (northern altar of the Father-god) Kuru-
kshetra-Samantapaficakam, between Tarantuka, Arantuka, Ramahrada, and iNIaca-
kruka," mentioned in iii. 83. 208, lies in Benares; but this must be a late addition,
as Kurukshetra's position is without doubt. Compare i. 2. i ff. ; ix. 53. i, 23-25.

3 In ib. 47, mahd drtir ivd'dhmdtah papas, there is an interesting reminiscence of
Rig Veda, vii. 89. 2. The rules of virtue are contained in \'edas and law-books, and
the practice of instructed men, ih. S3 (the threefold sign of righteousness'). A
Qruti cited from dharmas is not uncommon, but the latter word is not properly used
in so wide a sense. See note below, p. 3 78.

374 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

Two other religious practices in the epic are noteworthy.
The first is the extension of idolatry in pictures. The amiable
'goddess of the house ' is represented, to be sure, as a Rakshasi,
or demoniac power, whose name is Jara. But she was created
by the Self-existent, and is really ver}- friendly, under certain
conditions : " Whoever delineates me with faith in his house,
he increases in children ; otherwise he would be destroyed."
She is w^orshipped, i.e., her painted image is worshipped, with
perfumes, flowers, incense, food, and other enjoyable things
(ii. 1 8).-^ Another practice that is very common is the worship
of holy trees. One may compare the banyan at Bodhi Gaya
with the 'worshipful ' village-tree of ii. 24. 23. Seldom and late
is the use of a rosary mentioned {e.g.., iii. 112. 5, akshamala.,
elsewhere aksha), although the word is employed to make an
epithet of ^^^a, Akshamalin.'-^

As has been said already, an extraordinary power is ascribed
to the mere repetition of a holy text, mantra. These are
applied on all occasions without the slightest reference to the
subject. By means of mantra one exorcises ; recovers weap-
ons ; calls gods and demons, etc.^ When misfortune or disease
arrives it is invariably ascribed to the malignant action of a
devil, although the karjua teaching should suggest that it was
the result of a former misdeed on the victim's part. But the
very iteration, the insistence on new explanations of this doctrine,
show that the popular mind still clung to the old idea of demo-
niac interference. Occasionally the naivete with which the

1 Some scholars see in the use of the verb//V, a Vedic picturing of gods ; but in all
instances where this occurs it may be only the poet's mind-picture of the god ' adorned '
with various glories.

2 In vii. 201. 69, Qiva wears an akshmndld. In xii. 38. 23, the Carvaka wears an
aksha, for he is disguised as a b/iiksJui, beggar.

s It must be remembered that the person using the mantra probably did not
understand what the words meant. The epic says, in fact, that the Vedas are
unintelligible : bi'alrma pracuracchalatn, xii. 329. 6. But an older generation
thought the same. In Xirukta, i. 15, Kautsa is cited as saying that the mantras
are meaningless.

EARLY HINDUISM. 375

effect of a 77iantra is narrated is somewhat amusing, as, for
instance, wlien the heroine Krishna faints, and the by-standers
" slowly " revive her " by the use of demon-dispelling mantras^
rubbing, water, and fanning" (iii. 144. 17). All the weapons
of the heroes are inspired with and impelled by viaiitras.

Sufficient insight into the formal rules of morality has
baen given in the extracts above, nor does the epic in this
regard differ much from the law-books. Every man's first duty
is to act, inactivity is sinful. The man that fails to win a good
reputation by his acts, a warrior, for example, that is devoid of
fame, a ' man of no account,' is a hhumivardhana., a.)^9o^ apovpr]<;,
a cumberer of earth (iii. 35. 7). A proverb says that man
should seek virtue, gain, and pleasure; "virtue in the morn-
ing ; gain at noon ; pleasure at night," or, according to another
version, " pleasure when young, gain in middle-age, and virtue
in the end of life" (iii. ^t,. 40,41). " A^irtue is better than
immortality and life. Kingdom, sons, glory, w^ealth, all this
does not equal one-sixteenth part of the value of truth "
(//a 34. 22).-^ One very strong summing up of a discourse on
virtuous behavior ends thus : " Truth, self-control, asceticism,
generosity, non-injury, constancy in virtue — these are the
means of success, not caste nor family " (j'd^i, kula., iii. 181. 42).

A doctrine practiced, if not preached, is that of blood-
revenge. " The unavenged shed tears, which are wiped away
by the avenger" (iii. 11. 66); and in accordance with this feel-
ing: is the statement : "I shall satiate mv brother with his
murderer's blood, and thus, becoming free of debt in respect of
my brother, I shall win the highest place in heaven " {ib. 34, 35).

As of old, despite the new faith, as a matter of priestly, for-
mal belief, all depends on the sacrifice : " Law comes from
usage ; in law are the Vedas established ; by means of the
Vedas arise sacrifices ; by sacrifice are the gods established ;

1 Compare xii. 174. 46 : " The joy of earth and heaven obtained by the satisfaction
of desire is not worth one-sixteenth of the bliss of dead desire."

376 THE RELIGIOXS OF INDIA.

according to the rule of Vedas, and usage, sacrifices being per-
formed support the divinities, just as the rules of Brihaspati
and Uganas support men" (iii. 150. 28, 29). The pernicious
doctrine of atonement for sin follows as a matter of course :
" Whatver sin a king commits in conquering the earth is atoned
for by sacrifices, if they are accompanied with large gifts to
priests, such as cows and villages." Even gifts to a sacred
bull have the same effect (iii. -^t^. 78, 79 ; ib. 35. 34 ; iii. 2. 57;,
the occasion in hand being a king's violation of his oath.^ Of
these sacrifices a great snake-sacrifice forms the occasion for
narrating the whole epic, the plot of which turns on the national
vice of gambling.^ For divine snakes are now even grouped
wnth other celestial powers, disputing the victory of earthly
combatants as do Indra and Siirya : " The great snakes were
on Arjuna's side; the little snakes were for Kama" (viii. 87.
44, 45).'^ They were (perhaps) the local gods of the Nagas
(Snakes), a tribe living between the Ganges and Jumna.

The religion of the epic is multiform. But it stands, in a
certain sense, as one religion, and from two points of view it is
worthy of special regard. One may look upon it either as the
summing up of Brahmanism in the new Hinduism, as the final
expression of a religion which forgets nothing and absorbs
everything ; or one may study it as a belief composed of historical
strata, endeavoring to divide it into its different layers, as they

1 By generosity the Hindu poet means 'to priests.' In iii. 200, where this is
elaborated, sixteen persons are mentioned (vs. 4) to whom to give is not meritorious.

2 Little is known in regard to the play. The dice are thrown on a board, ' odd
and even' determine the contest here (iii. 34. 5), aynja 2,T\d y2tja. At times speed
in counting is the way to win (Nala). Dicing is a regular part of the rajasuya sac-
rifice (Weber, p. 67), but not, apparently, an ancient trait.

3 The snakes belong to Varuna and his region, as described in v. 98. It is on the
head of the earth-upholding snake Cesha that Vishnu muses, iii. 203. 12. The rever-
ence paid to serpents begins to be ritual in the Atharva Veda. Even in the Rig
Veda there is the deification of the cloud-snake. In later times they answered to the
Nymphs, being tutelary guardians of streams and rivers (Biihler). In i. 36, (^esha
Ananta supports earth, and it is told why he does so.

EARLY HIiYDUISM. 377

have been super-imposed one upon another in the course of
ages. From the latter point of view the Vedic divinities claim
the attention first. There are still traces of the original power
of Agni and Surya, as we have shown, and Wind still makes
with these two a notable triad, ^ whereas Indra, impotent as he
is, hymnless as he is, — save in the oldest portions of the work, —
still leads the gods, now godkins, of the ancient pantheon, and
still, in theory, at least, offers a paradise to the knight that dies
nobly on the field.- But one sees at once that the preserva-
tion of the dignity of these deities is due to different causes.
Indra cannot even save a snake that grasps his hand for safety ;
he wages war against the demons' 'triple town,' and signally
fails of his purpose, for the demons are as strong as the gods,
and there are Danavendras as well as Danavarshis.^ But
Indra is the figure-head of the whole ancient pantheon, and
for this reason he plays so constant, if so weak, a role, in the
epic. The only important thing in connection with him is his
heaven. As an individual deity Indra lives, on the whole, only
in the tales of old, for example, in that of his cheating Namuci
(ix. 43. 32 ff.). Nothing new and clever is told of him which
would indicate power, only a new trick or two, as when he
steals from Kama. It is quite otherwise with Agni and
Surya. They are not so vaguely identified with the one god
as is ' Indra and the other Vasus.' It is merely because
these gods are prominently forms of Vishnu that they are
honored with hymns in the epic. This is seen from the
nature of the hymns, and also from the fact that it is either as
fire or as sun that Vishnu destroys at the end of the aeons.
For it is, perhaps, somewhat daring to say, and yet it seems to
be the fact, that the solar origin of Vishnu is not lost sight of.

1 These three are the witnesses for the soul at the judgment, xii. 322. 55. Vayu,
Wind, is said to be even mightier than Indra, Yama, Indra and Varuna, ib. 155. 9, 10.

2 But (in a later account) not if he dies ignobly ; for if one is slain by a man of
low caste he goes to hell. xii. 298. 7.

3 Demoniac Indras (/.f., demon-leaders) and seers, xii. 166. 26.

378 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

The pantheistic Vishnu is the dtina, and Vishnu, after all, is
but a form of fire. Therefore is it that the epic Vishnu is per-
petually lapsing into fire ; while fire and sun are doubly hon-
ored as special forms of the highest. It is, then, not so much
on account of a survival of ancient dignity^ that sun and fire
stand so high, but rather because they are the nearest approach
to the effulgence of the Supreme. Thus while in one place one
is told that after seven suns have appeared the supreme gods
become the fire of destruction and complete the ruin, in another
ha reads that it is the sun alone which, becoming twelvefold,
does all the work of the Supreme.^

Indra has hymns and sacrifices, but although he has no so
exalted hymn as comes to his ' friend Agni,' yet (in an isolated
passage) he has a new feast and celebration, the account of
which apparently belongs to the first period of the epic, when
the worship of Indra still had significance. In i. 63, an ludra-
maha.ox 'glorification of Indra,' is described a festivity extend-
ing over two days, and marked by the erection of a pole in
honor of the god — a ceremony which 'even to-day,' it is said,
is practiced.^ The old tales of the fire-cult are retold, and new
rites are known."* Thus in iii. 251. 20 ff.. Prince Duryodhana
resolves to starve to death (oblivious of the rule that ' a suicide
goes to hell '), and since this is a religious ceremony, he clothes
himself in old clothes and holy-grass, 'touches w^ater,' and

1 ' The god of gods,' who rains blood in i. 30. 36, is declared by the commentator
to be — Parjanya ! The gods are here defending Soma from the heavenly bird,
Garuda, and nearly die of fright.

- xii. 313. 1-7, with the same watery finale as is usual.

3 The morning prayer, etc., to the sun is, of course, still observed, e.g., vii. 186. 4.
Indra is thanked for victory and invoked for rain (iii. T17. 11 ; i. 25. 7 ; Holtzmann,
loc. cit. p. 326) in an hymn that is less fulsome than those to Agni and Surya.

4 iii. 222, Atharvan's rediscovery of fire. .A.s to Qrutis they are probably no more
valuable than Smritis. The one given in iii. 20S. 11, agnayo mdmsakdmds, seems to
be adapted {cf. Acv. Gs. iv. i ; the adjective, by the way, is still starred in Pw.). So
Agv. Gs. i. 15. 9. is repeated Mbha; i. 74. 63, as a " Vedic tfiantragrdma'' {angdd
angdt sambhavasi, etc.).

EARLY HINDUISM. 379

devotes himself with intense application to heaven. Then the
devils of Rudra called Daiteyas and Danavas, who live under-
ground ever since they were conquered by the gods, aided by
priests, make a fire-rite, and with manti-as " declared by Brihas-
pati and Uganas, and proclaimed in the Atharva-Veda," raise
a ghost or spirit, who is ordered to fetch Duryodhana to hell,
which she immediately does.^ The frequent connection of
Brihaspati with the Atharva-Veda is of interest (above, p. 159).
He is quite a venerable, if not wholly orthodox, author in the
epic, and his ' rules ' are often cited. -

That Vedic deity who, alone of pre-Vedic powers, still holds
his proud place, Yama, the king of departed spirits, varies in
the epic according to the period represented. In old tales he
is still quite Vedic in character ; he takes the dead man's soul
off to his own realm. But, of course, as pantheism prevails,
and eschatology becomes confused, Yama passes into a shadow,
and at most is a bugbear for the wicked. Even his companions
are stolen from another realm, and one hears now of " King
Yama with his Rudras " (iii. 237. 11),'" while it is only the
bad* that go to Yama (iii. 200. 24), in popular belief, although
this view, itself old, relapses occasionally into one still older,
in accordance with which {ib. 49) all the world is hounded on
by Yama's messengers, and comes to his abode. His home ^
in the south is now located as being at a distance of 86,000

1 The devils are on the Prince's side, and wish to keep him from death. The
proverb is found ib. 252. 2 ; dtviatyagi hy adho yati. The holy-grass is used in
much the same way when Rama lies down by Ocean, resolved to die or persuade
Ocean to aid him. The rites (vs. 24) are " in the Upanishad."

2 According to xii. 59. 80-84, the ' treatise of Brihaspati ' comes from Qiva
through Brahma and Indra.

3 In Buddhism Yama's messengers are Yakkhas. Scherman, loc. ciL-p. 57.

4 Compare ii. 22. 26 : gacrha yamaksayam, ' go to Yama's destruction ' ; whereas
of a good man it is said, ' I will send Indra a guest ' (vii. 27. 8).

5 Yai7iasya sada7ia. iii. 11. 66. He now has hells, and he it is who will destroy
the world. He is called 'the beautiful' (iii. 41. 9), so that he must, if one take this
Rudrian epithet with the citation above, be loosely (popularly) identified with ^iva,
as god of death. See the second note below.

380 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

leagues over a terrible road, on which passes a procession of
wretched or happy mortals, even as they have behaved during
life ; for example, if one has generously given an umbrella dur-
ing life he will have an umbrella on this journey, etc. The
river in Yama's abode is called Pushpodaka, and what each
drinks out of it is according to what he deserves to drink, cool
w^ater or filth {Jb. 46, 58).-^ In the various descriptions it is
not strange to find discordant views even in portions belonging
approximately to the same period. Thus in contradistinction
to the prevailing view one reads of Indra himself that he is
Yajjiasya ncta Namucccca hajita, 'Yama's leader, Namuci's
slayer' (iii. 25. 10), i.e., those that die in battle go to Yama.

On the other hand, in the later speculative portions, Yama
is not death. ''Yama is not death, as some think; he is one
that gives bliss to the good, and woe to the bad." ^ Death and
life are foolishness and lack of folly, respectively (literally, ' non-
folly is non-mortality'), while folly and mortality are counter
opposites. In pantheistic teaching there is, of course, no real
death, only change. But death is a female power, personified,
and sharply distinguished from Yama. Death as a means of
change thus remains, while Yama is relegated to the guardian-
ship of hell. The difference in regard to the latter subject,
between earlier and later views, has been noted above. One
comparatively early passage attempts to arrange the incongru-
ous beliefs in regard to samsara (re-birth) and hell on a sort of

i The old story of a mortal's visit to Yama to learn about life hereafter {<^at. Br.
xi. 6. I ; Katha Up., of Naciketas) is repeated in xiii. -r.

'- V. 42. 6 : (^ivah civaiiam a^ivo ^^ivaudui (compare xii. 1S7. 27 : ' only fools say
that the man is dead'). Dharma (Justice) seems at times to be the same with Yama.
Mandavya goes to Dharma's sadatia, home (compare Yama's sadand), just as one
goes to Yama's, and interviews him on the 31 stice of his judgments. As result of the
angry interview the god is reborn on earth as a man of low caste, and the law is
established that a child is not morally responsible for his acts till the twelfth year of
his age (i. loS. 8 ff.). When Ruru agrees to give half his life in order to the restora-
tion of Pramadvara, his wife, they go not to Yama but to Dharma to see if the
exchange may be made, and he agrees (i. 9. 11 ff., a mascuHne Savitrl !).

EARLY HIXDUISM. 381

. sliding scale, thus : " One that does good gets in the next life a
good birth ; one that does ill gets an ill birth "; more particu-
larly : "By good acts one attains to the state of gods; by
' mixed ' acts, to the state of man ; by acts due to confusion of
mind, to the state of animals and plants {I'iyonisii) ; by sinful
acts one goes to hell" {ad/ioga??ii, iii. 209, 29-32).-^ Virtue
must have been, as the epic often declares it to be, a ' subtile
matter,' for often a tale is told to illustrate the fact that one
goes to hell for doing what he thinks (mistakenly) to be right.
Thus Kaucika is sent to hell for speaking the truth, whereas
he ought to have lied to save life (viii. 69. 53), for he was
"ignorant of virtue's subtilty."^ A passage (i. 74. 27 ff.) that
is reflected in Alanu (viii. 85-86) says that Yama Vaivasvata
takes away the sin of him with whom is satisfied " the one that
witnesses the act, that stands in the heart, that knows the
ground"; but Yama tortures him with whom this one (personi-
fied conscience) is dissatisfied. For "truth is equal to a
thousand horse-sacrifices; truth is highest kraJwia'"' (Jb. 103,
106).

Following downward the course of religious development, as
reflected in the epic, one next finds traces of Brahmanic theol-
ogy not only in the few passages where (Brahma) Prajapati
remains untouched by sectarianism, but also in the harking
back to old formulae. Thus the insistence on the Brahmanical
sacredness of the number seventeen is preserved (xii. 269. 26 ;
iii. 210. 20, etc.); and Upanishadic is the "food is Prajapati"
of iii. 200. 38 (Yama in 40). There is an interesting rehabili-
tation of the primitive idea of the A^vins in the new ascription
of formal divinity to the (personified) Twilights (Sandhya) in
iii. 200. 83, although this whole passage is more Puranic than

1 The hells are described in xii. 322. 29 ff. The sight of 'golden trees' presages
death [ib. 44).

2 The ordinary rule is that " no sin is greater than untruth," xii. 162. 24, modified
by " save in love and danger of life '" (Lzws. />assi?n).

3S2 THE RELIGIOXS OF INDIA.

epic. From the same source is the doctrine that the fruit of
action expires at the end of one hundred thousand kalpas
{ib. vs. i2i). One of the oddest religious freaks in the epic is
the sudden exaltation of the Ribhus, the Vedic (season-gods)
artisans, to the position of highest gods. In that heaven of
Brahma, which is above the Vedic gods' heaven, there are the
holy seers and the Ribhus, Uhe divinities of the gods'; who
do not change with the change of kalpas (as do other A'^edic
gods), iii. 261. 19-23. One might almost imagine that their
threefoldness was causative of a trinitarian identification with
a supreme triad ; but no, for still higher is the ' heaven of
Vishnu' (vs. 37). The contrast is marked between this and
Ait. Br. iii. 30, where the Ribhus with some difficulty obtain
the right to drink soma.

There is an aspect of the epic religion upon which it is nec-
essary to touch before treating of the sectarian development.
In the early philosophical period wise priests meet together to
discuss theological and philosophical questions, often aided,
and often brought to grief, by the wit of women disputants,
who are freely admitted to hear and share in the discussion.
When, however, pantheism, nay, even Vishnuism, or still more,
Krishnaism, was an accepted fact upon what, then, was the
wisdom of the priest expended ? Apart from the epic, the best
intellects of the day were occupied in researches, codifying
laws, and solving, in rather dogmatic fashion, philosophical
(theological) problems. The epic presents pictures of scenes
which seem to be a reflection from an earlier day. But one
sees often that the wisdom is commonplace, or even silly. In
dialectics a sophistical subtlety is shown ; in codifying moral
rules, a tedious triteness ; in amoebic passes of wit there are
astounding exhibitions, in which the good scholiast sees treas-
ures of wisdom, where a modern is obliged to take them in
their literal dulness. Thus in iii. 132. 18, a boy of twelve or
ten (133. 16), who is divinely precocious, defeats the wise men

EARLY HINDUISM. 3S3

in disputation at a sacrifice, and in the following section
(134. 7 ff.) silences a disputant who is regarded as one of the
cleverest priests. The conversation is recorded in full. In
what does it consist? The opponent mentions a number of
things which are one ; the boy replies with a verse that gives
pairs of things ; the other mentions triads ; the child cites
groups of fours, etc., until the opponent, having cited only one
half-verse of thirteens, can remember no more and stops, on
w'hich the child completes the verse, and is declared winner.
The conundrums which precede must have been considered
very wdtty, for they are repeated elsewhere : What is that wheel
which has twelve parts and three hundred and sixty spokes,
etc. ? Year. What does not close its eye wdien asleep, what
does not move w^hen it is born, w^hat has no heart, what
increases by moving 1 These questions form one-half verse.
The next half-verse gives the answ^ers in order : fish, Q.gg^ stone,
river. This wisdom in the form of puzzles and an-swers,
bi'ahmodya, is very old, and goes back to the Vedic period.
Another good case in the epic is the demon Yaksha and the
captured king, who is not freed till he answers certain questions
correctly.^ But although a certain amount of theologic lore
may be gleaned from these questions, yet is it of greater inter-
est to see how the priests discussed when left quietly to their
own devices. And a very natural description of such a scene
is extant. The priests " having some leisure " - or vacation
from their labors in the king's house, sit down to argue, and
the poet calls their discussion vitandd, i.e., tricky sophistical
argumentation, the description bearing out the justness of the
phrase : '' One cried, ' that is so,' and the other, ' it is not so ';
one cried, ' and that is so,' and the other, ' it must be so '; and

1 The same scenes occur in Buddhistic writings, where Yakkhas ask conundrums.
For example, in the Hcviavatasiitta and Alavnkasutta the Yakkha asks what is the
best possession, what brings bliss, and what is sweetest, to which the answer is : faith,
law, and truth, respectively.

'^ Karvidntaram updsantas, i.e., virdmakdlam tipagacchantas.

384 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

some by arguments made weak arguments strong, and strong
weak ; while some wise ones were always swooping down on
their opponent's arguments, like hawks on meat." ^ In iii. 2. 15,
the type of clever priest is ' skilled in Yoga and Sankhya,' who
inculcates renunciation. This sage teaches that mental diseases
are cured by Yoga ; bodily, by medicine ; and that desire is the
root of ill.

But by far the most interesting theological discussion in the
epic, if one except the Divine Song, is the conversation of the
hero and heroine in regard to the cause of earthly happiness.
This discussion is an old passage of the epic. The very fact
that a woman is the disputant gives an archaic effect to the
narration, and reminds one of the scenes in the Upanishads,
where learned women cope successfully with men in displays
of theological acumen. Furthermore, the theological position
taken, the absence of A-'ishnuism, the appeal to the ' Creator '
as the highest Power, take one back to a former age. The
doctrine of special grace, which crops out in the Upanishads,^
here receives its exposure by a sudden claim that the converse
of the theory must also be true, viz., that to those not saved by
grace and election God is as cruel as He is kind to the elect.
The situation is as follows : The king and queen have been
basely robbed of their kingdom, and are in exile. The queen
urges the king to break the vow of exile that has been forced
from him, and to take vengeance on their oppressors. The
king, in reply, sings a song of forgiveness: "Forgiveness is
virtue, sacrifice, Veda ; forgiveness is holiness and truth ; in the
world of Brahma are the mansions of them that forgive." This
song (iii. 29. 36 ff.) only irritates the queen, who at once
launches into the following interesting tirade (30. i ff.) : " Rev-

1 ii. 36. 3 ff. The phraseology of vs. 5 is exactly that of tov t^ttw \byov /cpetrrcu
iroLovcn, but the Pundit's arguments are ' based on the law.'

2 See above. In a later period (see below) the question arises in regard to the
part played by Creator and individual in the workings of grace, some claiming that
man was passive ; some, that he had to strive for grace.

EARLY HIXDUISM. 385

erence to the Creator and Disposer -^ who have confused thy
mind ! Hast thou not worshipped with salutation and honored
the priests, gods, and manes ? Hast thou not made horse-
sacrifices, the n7/'^j'/7)'rt'-sacrifice, sacrifices of every sort (ypimda-
rlka^- gosavd) ? Yet art thou in this miserable plight! Verily
is it an old story {itihasa) that 'the worlds stand under the
Lord's will.' Following the seed God gives good or ill in the
case of all beings. Men are all moved by the divinity. Like a
wooden doll, moving its limbs in the hands of a man, so do all
creatures move in the Creator's hands. Man is like a bird on
a string, like a bead on a cord. As a bull is led by the nose, so
man follows the will of the Creator ; he never is a creature of
free will (atiiiadhind). Every man goes to heaven or to hell, as
he is sent by the Lord's will. God himself, occupied with noble
or with wicked acts, moves about among all created things, an
unknown power (not known as 'this one '). The blessed God,
who is self-created, the great forefather {prapitdma/ia), plays
with his creatures just as a boy plays with toys, putting them
together and destroying them as he chooses. Not like a father
is God to His creatures ; He acts in anger. When I see the
good distressed, the ignoble happy, I blame the Creator who
permits this inequality. What reward does God get that he
sends happiness to this sinful man (thy oppressor) ? If it be
true that only the individual that does the act is pursued by the
fruit of that act (karma doctrine) then the Lord who has done
this act is defiled bv this base act of His. If, on the other
hand, the act that one has done does not pursue and overtake
the one that has done it, then the only agency on earth is brute
force (this is the only power to be respected) — and I grieve
for them that are without it ! "

1 Perhaps ironical. In v. 175. 32, a woman cries out : " Fie on the Creator for this
bad hick," conservative in behef, and outspoken in word.

2 iii. 30. 17. T\\'^ gosava is a 'cow-sacrifice.' The /zindarll-a is not explained
(perhaps 'elephant-sacrifice').

3S6 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

To this plea, which in its acknowledgment of the Creator as
the highest god, no less than in its doubtful admission of the
ka7'ma doctrine, is of peculiar interest, the king replies with a
refutation no less worthy of regard : " Thy argument is good,
clear and smooth, but it is heterodox {jiastikyani). I have sac-
rificed and practiced virtue not for the sake of reward, but
because it was right. I give what I ought to give, and sacrifice
as I should. That is my only idea in connection with religious
observances. There is no virtue in trying to milk virtue. Do
not doubt. Do not be suspicious of virtue. He that doubts
God or duty goes to hell (confusion), but he that does his duty
and is free from doubt goes to heaven (becomes immortal).
Doubt not scriptural authority. Duty is the saving ship. No
other gets to heaven. Blame not the Lord Creator, who is the
highest god. Through His grace the faithful gets immortality.
If religious observances were without fruit the universe would
go to destruction. People would not have been good for so
many ages if there had been no reward for it. This is a
mystery of the gods. The gods are full of mystery and
illusion."

The queen, for all the world like that wise woman in the
Upanishads, whose argument, as we showed in a preceding
chapter, is cut short not by counter-argument, but by the threat
that if she ask too much her head will fall off, recants her
errors at this rebuke, and in the following section, which evi-
dently is a later addition, takes back what she has said. Her
new expression of belief she cites as the opinion of Brihaspati
(32. 61, 62); but this is applicable rather to her first creed of
doubt. Perhaps in the original version this authority was
cited at the end of the first speech, and with the interpolation
the reference is made to apply to this seer. Something
like the queen's remarks is the doubtful saying of the king
himself, as quoted elsewhere (iii. 273. 6): ''Time and fate,
and what will be, this is the only Lord. How else could

EARLY HINDUISM. 387

this distress have come upon my wife ? For she has been
virtuous alwa3's.''

We turn now to the great sectarian gods, who eventually unite
with Brahma to form a pantheistic trinity, a conception which,
as we shall show, is not older than the fifth or sixth century
after Christ.

CHAPTER XV.

HINDUISM (CONTINUED). — VISHNU A .D CIVA.

In the epic the later union of the sectarian gods is still a
novelty. The two characters remain distinct enough. Vishnu
and Civa are different gods. But each in turn represents the
All-god, and consequently each represents the other. The
Vishnu-worship which grew about Krishna, originally a friend
of one of the epic characters, was probably at hrst an attempt to
foist upon Vedic believers a sectarian god, by identifying the
latter with a Vedic divinity. But, whatever the origin, Krishna
as Vishnu is revered as the All-god in the epic. And, on the
other hand, Qiva of many names has kept the marks of Rudra.
Sometimes one, sometimes another, is taken as the All-god.
At times they are compared, and then each sect reduces the
god of the other to an inferior position. Again they are united
and regarded as one. The Vishnu side has left the best liter-
ary representation of this religion, which has permeated the
epic. It is pantheism, but not an impersonal pantheism. The
Blessed Lord is the All. This is the simple base and crown of
its speculation. It is like the personal development of Vedan-
tic philosophy, only it is here degraded by the personality of
the man-god, who is made the incarnate All-god. The Krishna
of the epic as a man is a sly, unscrupulous fellow, continually
suggesting and executing acts that are at variance with the
knightly code of honor. He is king of Dvaraka and ally of
the epic heroes. But again, he is divine, the highest divinity,
the avatar of the All-god Vishnu. The sectaries that see in
(Jiva rather than in Vishnu the one and only god, have no such
representative to which to refer. For ^i^^? ^^ ^^^^ historical
descendant of the Vedic Rudra, — although even in his case

HINDUISM. — VISHNU AND QIVA. 389

there is an intrusion of local worship upon an older Vedic be-
lief, — represencs a terror-god, either the lightning, the fairest of
the gods, or, when he appears on earth, a divine horror, or,
again, "a very Iiandsome young man."^ These two religions,
of Vishnu as "'"rishna and of Civa alone, are not so much
united in the epic as they are super-imposed upon the older
worship of Brahma, and, indeed, in such a way that ^iva-wor-
ship, in a pantheistic sense, appears to be the latest of the
three beliefs that have influenced the story."

The personal pantheism of the older Vishnuism has in its
form and teachings so close a resemblance to the Christian
religion that it has always had a great attraction for occidental
readers ; while the real power of its " Divine Song " gives the
latter a charm possessed by few of the scriptures of India.
This Divine Song (or Song of the Blessed One) is at present a
Krishnaite version of an older Vishnuite poem, and this in
turn was at first an unsectarian work, perhaps a late Upanishad.
It is accepted by Vishnuites as a kind of New Testament ; and
with the New Testament it has in truth much in common. It
must be pointed out at the outset that there is here the closest
connection with the later Upanishads. The verse, like that of
the Katha Upanishad (quoted above), which stands almost at
the beginning of the Song, is typical of the relation of the Song
to the Upanishad. It will be noticed how the impersonal
'That,' /.6'., absolute being, hi'ahma^ changes almost at once to
the personal He iatmd as Lord). As shows the whole Song,
brahina throughout is understood to be personal.'^

1 He appears in different complete manifestations, while Vishnu appears only in
part, as a ' descent,' avatar ., i.e., Vishnu is incarnate, (^iva appears whole.

2 The original story perhaps antedates the Brahmanic Brahma. But, for all one
knows, when the poem was first written Brahma was already decadent as chief
god. In that case two strata of religious belief have been formally super-imposed,
Vishnuism and Qivaism. ^

3 While agreeing with Telang that the original GIta is an old poem, we cannot
subscribe to his argument (SBE. viii. p. 19) that the priority of the Saman over the
Rig Veda is evidence of antiquity; still less to the argument, p. 21, from the castes.

390 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

To understand the religion which reaches its culmination in
the epic no better course could be pursued than to study the
whole of the Divine Song. It is, however, too long a production
to be introduced here in its entirety ; but the following extracts
give the chief features of the work, than which nothing in
Hindu literature is more characteristic, in its sublimity as in its
puerilities, in its logic as in its want of it. It has shared the
fate of most Hindu works in being interpolated injudiciously,
so that many of the puzzling anomalies, which astound no less
the reader than the hero to whom it was revealed, are probably
later additions. It is a medley of beliefs as to the relation of
spirit and matter, and other secondary matters ; it is uncertain
in its tone in regard to the comparative efficacy of action and
inaction, and in regard to the practical man's means of salvation ;
but it is at one with itself in its fundamental thesis, that all
things are each a part of One Lord, that men and gods are but
manifestations of the One Divine Spirit, which, or rather whom,
the Vishnuite re-writer identifies with Krishna, as Vishnu's
present form.

The Divine Song, as it is revealed in the epic by Vishnu
(-Krishna) to his favorite knight, Arjuna, begins thus : "Know
that the 'That ' in which is comprised the 'This ' is indestruc-
tible. These bodies of the indestructible Eternal One have an
end : but whoso knows Him as slayer, and whoso thinks Him
to be slain, these two have not true wisdom. He slays not and
is not slain. He is not born, he does not die at any time ; nor
will He, having been born, cease to be. Unborn, everlasting,
eternal. He, the Ancient One, is not slain when the body is
slain. As one puts away an old garment and puts on another
that is new, so He. the embodied (Spirit), puts away the old
body and assumes one that is new. Everlasting, omnipresent,

The caste-position of the priest in the Glta is owing to the rehgious exaltation of the
poem ; and the precedence of Saman is not unusual in the latest portions of the epic
(see below).

HINDUISM. — VISHNU AND QIVA. 391

firm, unchanging is He, the Eternal ; indiscernible is He
called, inconceivable, unchangeable." ^

The Song now turns into a plea that the warrior who is hear-
ing it should, as one born to be a soldier, be brave and fight,
lest his sorrow for the slain be taken for fear ; since "nothing is
better for a warrior than a just fight," and "loss of fame is worse
than death." Then follows (with the usual inconsequential
'heaven') "If thou art slain thou wilt obtain heaven, and if
thou art victorious thou shalt enjoy earth ; therefore, careless
of pleasure and pain, get ready for the fight, and so thou wilt
not incur sin. This is the knowledge declared in the Sankhya ;
hear now that of the Yoga," and the Divine Lord proceeds :

"Some are pleased with Vedic words and think that there is
nothing else ; their souls are full of desires ; and they think that
going to heaven is the chief thing. Yet have the Vedas refer-
ence only to the three qualities (of which all things partake).
Be free from the three qualities (do not care for rewards). In
action, not in fruit, is the chief thing. Do thy work, abiding
by serene devotion (Yoga), rejecting every tie ; be indift'erent
to success and failure. Serene devotion is called indifference
(to such things). Action is lower than devotion of mind.
Devotion is happiness. Do thou, wise in devotion, abandon
the fruit that is sprung from action, and, freed from the bonds
of birth, attain a perfect state."

Sankhya here means the philosophy of religion ; Yoga is the
philosophical state of mind, serene indifference, religious sang-
froid., the practical result of a belief in the Sankhya doctrine
of the indestructibility of the spirit. In the following there is
Vedantic teaching, as well as Sankhyan in the stricter sense.

On the warrior's asking for an explanation of this state of
equipoise, the Deity gives illustrations of the balanced mind
that is free from all attachments, serene^emancipated from de-

1 Compare Manu, i. 7 : " He the subtile, indiscernible, eternal, inconceivable One,
who makes all creatures."

392 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

sires, self-controlled, and perfectly tranquil. As the knight is
astonished and confused at the contradiction, action and inac-
tivity both being urged upon him, the Deity replies that there
is a twofold law, that of Sankhyas consisting in knowledge-
devotion, and that of Yogis in action-devotion. Idleness is
not freedom from action. Freedom from attachment must be
united with the accomplishment of such acts as should be per-
formed. The deluded think that they themselves perform acts,
but acts are not done by the spirit (self) ; they are done only
by nature's qualities (this is Sankhya doctrine). ''One should
know the relation between the individual and Supreme Spirit,
and with tranquil mind perform good acts. Let the deluded
ones be, who are erroneously attached to action. The wise man
should not cause those of imperfect knowledge to be unsettled
in their faith, but he should himself not be attached to action.
Each man should perform his own (caste) duties. One's own
duty ill done is better than doing well another man's work."

The knight now asks what causes one to sin. The Deity
answers: ''Love and hate; for from love is born hate; and
from anger, ignorance in regard to right and wrong ; whence
comes lack of reason, and consequently destruction. The
knowledge of a man is enwrapped with desire as is fire with
smoke. Great are the senses ; greater, the mind ; greater still,
the understanding; greatest of all is 'That'" {l)raJiiiia ; as above
in the Chandogya). The Deity begins again : ^ "This system
of devotion I declared to Vivasvant (the sun) ; Vivasvant de-
clared it to Manu, and Manu to kingly seers." (The same
origin is claimed for itself in jManu's lawbook.) The knight
objects, not yet knowing that Krishna is the All-god: "How
did'st thou declare it first ? thy birth is later than the sun's."
To whom the Deity: "Many are my births, and I know them
all ; many too are thine, but thou knowest them not ; unborn
and Lord of all creatures I assume phenomena, ard am

1 Possibly the original opening of another poem.

HINDUISM. — VISHNU AND QIVA. 393

born by the illusion of the spirit. Whenever there is lack of
righteousness, and wrong arises, then I emit (create) myself.^
1 am born age after age for the protection of the good, for the
destruction of the wicked, and for the sake of establishino-
righteousness. Whoso really believes in this my divine birth
and work, he, when he has abandoned his body, enters no sec-
ond birth, but enters ]\Ie. Many there are who, from Me aris-
ing, on Me relying, purified by the penance of knowledge, with
all affections, fear, and anger gone, enter into my being. As
they approach Me so I serve them." IMen in all ways follow
after my path. Some desire the success that is of action, and
worship gods ; for success that is born of action is speedy in
the world of men. Know Me as the maker of the four castes,
know Me as the unending one and not the maker. Action
stains Me not, for in the fruit of action I have no desire. He
that thus know^s Me is not bound by acts." So he that has no
attachment is not bound by acts. His acts become naught.
Bf'aluna is the oblation, and with hrafuna is it offered ; brahvia
is in the fire, and by brahvia is the oblation made. Sacrifices
are of many kinds, but he that sacrifices with knowledge oft'ers
the best sacrifice He that has faith has knowledge ; he that
has knowledge obtains peace. He that has no knowledge and
no faith, whose soul is one of doubt, is destroyed. Action does
not destroy him that has renounced action by means of indif-
ference. Of the two, renunciation of action and indifference,
though both give bliss, indifference in action is better than
renunciation of action. Children, not Pundits, proclaim Sankhya
and Yoga to be distinct. He that is devoted to either alone

1 The avatars of Vishnu are meant. The very knight to whom he speaks is later
regarded (in South India) as incarnate god, and to-day is worshipped as an avatar
of Vishnu. The idea of the ' birth-stories ' of the Buddhists is thought by some
scholars to have been connected historically with the avatars of \'ishnu.

- This is one of the notes struck in the later Upanishads, the doctrine of 'special
grace,' originating perhaps still earlier in the \'ac hymn (see above).

3 That is, one that also has no desires may act (without desiring the fruit of action.)

394 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

finds the reward of both. Renunciation without Yoga is a
thing hard to get; united with Yoga the seer enters braJwia.
, . . He is the renouncer and the devotee wlio does the acts
that ought to be done without relying on the reward of action,
not he that performs no acts and builds no sacrificial fires.
Through his self (spirit) let one raise one's self. Conquer self
by self (spirit). He is the best man who is indifferent to exter-
nal things, who with equal mind sees (his spirit) self in every-
thing and everything in self (God as the Spirit). Such an one
obtains the highest bliss, brahina. Whoso sees Me in all and
all in Me I am not destroyed for him, and he is not destroyed
for Me."

The knight now asks how it fares with a good man who is
not equal to the discipline of Yoga, and cannot free himself
entirely from attachment. Does he go to destruction like a
cloud that is rent, failing on the path that leads to brahma i
The Deity replies: "Neither in this world nor in the beyond
is he destroyed. He that acts virtuously does not enter an evil
state. He obtains the heaven that belongs to the doers of
good, and after living there countless summers is reborn on
earth in the family of pure and renowned men, or of pious
devotees. There he receives the knowledge he had in a
former body, and then strives further for perfection. After
many births he reaches perfection and the highest course
(union with brahma). There are but few that strive for per-
fection, and of them only one here and there truly knows Me.
Earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, understanding, and egoism
(self-consciousness) — so is my nature divided into eight
parts.^ But learn now my higher nature, for this is my lower one.
My higher nature is alive, and by it this world is supported.
I am the creator and destroyer of all the world. Higher
than I is nothing. On Me the universe is woven like pearls
upon a thread. Taste am I, light am I of moon and sun, the

i This is a Sankhya division.

HINDUISM. — VISHNU AND QIVA. 395

mystic syllable Dm {aiim), sound in space, manliness in men;
I am smell and radiance; I am life and heat. Know Me as the
eternal seed of all beings. I am the understanding of them
that have understanding, the radiance of the radiant ones. Of
the strong I am the force, devoid of love and passion; and I
am love, not opposed to virtue. Know all beings to be from
Me alone, whether they have the quality of goodness, of pas-
sion, or of darkness (the three ' qualities ' or conditions of all
things). I am not in them; but they are in Me. Me, the inex-
haustible, beyond them, the world knows not, for it is confused
by these three qualities (conditions); and hard to overcome is
the divine illusion which envelops Me, while it arises from
the qualities. Only they pass through this illusion who come
to Me alone. Wicked men, whose knowledge is taken away
by illusion, relying on a devilish (demoniac) condition, do
not come to Me. They that have not the highest knowledge
worship various divinities; but whatever be the form that any
one worships with faith I make his faith steady. He obtains
his desires in worshipping that divinity, although they are
really bestowed upon him by Me.-^ But the fruit of these men,
in that they have little wisdom, has its end. He that sacrifices
to (lesser) gods goes to those gods; but they that worship Me
come to Me. I know the things that were, that are, and are to
be; but Me no one knoweth, for I am enveloped in illusion,
I am the supreme being, the supreme godhead, the supreme
sacrifice, the Supreme Spirit, braJuna.''''

The knight asks " What is brahma, the Supreme Spirit, the
supreme being, the supreme sacrifice?" The Deity: "The
supreme, the indestructible, is called braJwia. Its personal ex-
istence is Supreme Spirit (self). Destructible existence is

1 This cleverly contrived or profound universality of Vishnuism is one of the
greatest obstacles to missionary effort. The Vishnuite will accept Christ, but as a
form of Vishnu, as here explained. Compare below : " Even they that sacrifice to
other gods really sacrifice to Me."

396 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

supreme being (all except ah7ia). The Person is the supreme
godhead. I myself am the supreme sacrifice in this body."

Then follow statements like those in the Upanishads and in
Manu, describing a day of bfa/ima as a thousand ages; worlds
are renewed; they that go to the gods find an end of their
happiness with the end of their world; but they that go to the
indestructible bra/una, the Deity, the entity that is not de-
stroyed when all else is destroyed, never again return. There
are two roads (as in the Upanishads above), one, the northern
road leading to bra /una; one, the southern road to the moon,
leading back to earth. At the end of a period of time all
beings reenter the divine nature (Prakriti^), and at the begin-
ning of the next period the Deity emits them again and again
(they being without volition) by the volition of his nature.
" Through Me, who am the superintendent, nature gives birth to
all things, and for that cause the world turns about. They of
demoniac nature recognize me not ; they of god-like nature,
knowing Me as the inexhaustible source, worship ]\Ie. I
am the universal Father, the Vedas, the goal, the upholder,
the Lord, the superintendent, the home, the asylum, the
friend. I am the inexhaustible seed. I am immortality
and death. I am being and not-being. I am the sacri-
fice and he that offers it. Even they that, with faith, sacri-
fice to other gods, even they (really) sacrifice to Me. To
them that ever are devout and worship Me with love (faith),
I give the attainment of the knowledge by which they come to
]\Ie " (again the doctrine of special grace). " I am the begin-
ning, the middle, and the end of all created things. I am
Vishnu among sun-gods; the moon among the stars; Indra
among the (Vedic) gods; the Saman among the Vedas; among

1 Prakriti {prakrtt)^ nature ; the term belongs to the Sankhya philosophy,
which recognizes nature as distinct from spirit, a dualit)', opposed to advdita, the
non-duality of the Vedanta system, where the Sankhya ' nature ' is represented by
vidyd, ' illusion.' Otherwise the word Prakrit is the ' natural,' vulgar dialect, opposed
to Sanskrit, the refined, ' put-together ' language.

HINDUISM. — VISIIXU AXD QIVA. 397

the senses, mind; among created beings, consciousness; among
the Rudras I am Civa (^ankara); among army-leaders I am
Skanda; among the great sages I am Bhrigu (who reveals
Manu's code); among the Siddhas ^ I am Kapila the Muni. . . .
I am the love that begets; I am the chief (Vasuki and Ananta)
among the serpents; and among them that live in water I am
Yaruna; among the Manes I am Aryaman; and I am Yama
among controllers;^ among demons I am Prahlada . . .; I am
Rama; I am the Ganges. I am among all sciences the highest
science (that in regard to the Supreme Spirit); I am the word
of the speakers; I am the letter A among the letters, and the
compound of union among the compounds." I am indestructi-
ble time and I am the Creator. I am the death that seizes all
and I am the origin of things to be. I am glory, fortune,
speech, memor}', wdsdom, constancy, and mercy. ... I am the
punishment of the punisher and the polity of them that would
win victory. I am silence. I am knowledge. There is no
end of my divine manifestations."

The knight now asks to see the real form of the deity, which
was revealed to him. " If in heaven the glory of a thousand
suns should appear at once, such would be his glory."

After this comes the real animus of the Divine Song in its
present shape. The believer that has faith in this Yishnu is
even better than the devotee who finds brahma by knowledge.

The philosophy of knowledge (which here is anything but
Yedantic) is now communicated to the knight, in the course of
which the distinction betw^een nature and spirit is explained:
" Nature, Prakriti, and spirit, Purusha (person), are both without
beginning. All changes and qualities spring from nature. Na-
ture is said to be the cause of the body's and the senses' activ-
ity. Spirit is the cause of enjoyment (appreciation) of pleasure

1 Saints, literally ' the successful ones.'

2 Alluding to the later derivation of Yama from yam, control.

3 "The letter A,"' as in the Upanishads (see above, p. 226).

393 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

and pain ; for the Spirit, standing in nature, appreciates the
nature-born quaUties. The cause of the Spirit's re-birth is its
connection with the qualities. (This is Sankhya doctrine, and
tlie same with that propounded above in regard to activity.)
The Supreme Spirit is tlie SupjDort and great Lord of all,
the (itma., while bj-ahma {=prak?'iti) is the womb in which I
place ^ly seed, and from that is the origin of all things.
The great bra/ima is the womb, and I am the seed-giving
father of all the forms which come into beins;. The three
' qualities ' (conditions, attributes), goodness, passion, and
darkness, are born of nature and bind the inexhaustible
incorporate (Spirit) in the body. The quality (or attribute)
of goodness binds the soul with pleasure and knowledge;
that of passion (activity), with desire and action; that of dark-
ness (dulness), with ignorance. One that has the attribute of
goodness chiefly goes after death to the highest heaven; one
that has chiefly passion is born again among men of action;
one that has chiefly darkness is born among the ignorant.
One that sees that these attributes are the onlv a;2:ents, one
that knows what is higher than the attributes, enters into my
being. The incorporate spirit that has passed above the three
attributes (the origin of bodies), being released from birth,
death, age, and pain, obtains immortality. To pass above
these attributes one must become indifferent to all change, be
undisturbed by anything, and worship Me with devotion. . . .
I am to be learned from all the Vedas; I made the Vedanta;
I alone know the Vedas. There are two persons in the world,
one destructible and one indestructible; the destructible one is
all created things; the indestructible one is called the Un-
changing one. But there is still a third highest person, called
the Supreme Spirit, who, pervading the three worlds, supports
them, the inexhaustible Lord. Inasmuch as I surpass the destruc-
tible and am higher than the indestructible, therefore am I
known in the world and in the Veda as the Highest Person."

HINDUISM. — VISHNU AND QIFA. 399

The references to the Sankhyas, or Sankhya- Yogas, are not
yet exhausted. There is another in a following chapter (vi.
i8. 13) which some scholiasts say refers to the Vedanta-system,
though this is in direct contradiction to the text. But the ex-
tracts already given ^suffice to show how vague and uncertain
are, on the whole, the philosophical views on which depends
the Divine Song. Until the end of these citations one hears
only of nature and spirit, the two that have no beginning, but
here one finds the Supreme Spirit, which is as distinct from
the indestructible one as from the destructible. Moreover, ' na-
ture " is in one place represented as from the beginning distinct
from spirit and entirely apart from it, and in another it is only
a transient phase. The delusion (illusion) which in one pas-
sage is all that exists apart from the Supreme Spirit is itself
given up in favor of the Sankhya Prakriti, with which one
must imagine it to be identified, although from the text itself
it cannot be identical. In a word, exactly as in Manu, there
are different philosophical conceptions, united without any
logical basis for their union. The ' system ' is in general that
of the Sankhya- Yogas, but there is much which is purely
Vedanta. The Sankhya system is taught elsewhere as a means
of salvation, perhaps always as the deistic Yoga (i. 75. 7: " He
taught them the Sankhya-knowledge as salvation "). It is fur-
ther noticeable that although Krishna (Vishnu) is the ostensible
speaker, there is scarcely anything to indicate that the poem
was originally composed even for Vishnu. The Divine Song was
probably, as we have said, a late Upanishad, which afterwards
was expanded and put into Vishnu's mouth. The Sankhya por-
tions have been redressed as far as possible and to the illusion
doctrine is given the chief place. But the Song remains, like the
Upanishads themselves, and like Manu, an ill-assorted cabinet
of primitive philosophical opinionis. On the religious side it is
a matter of comparative indifference whether that which is not
the spirit is a delusive output of the spirit or indestructible

400 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

matter. In either case the Spirit is the goal of the spirit. In
this personal pantheism absorption is taught but not death.
Immortality is still the reward that is offered to the believer
that is wise, to the wise that believes. Knowledge and faith
are the means of obtaining this immortality; but, whereas in
the older Upanishads only wisdom is necessary (wisdom that
implies morality), here as much stress, if not more, is laid upon
faith, the natural mark of all sectarian pantheism.

Despite its occasional power and mystic exaltation, the
Divine Song in its present state as a poetical production is
unsatisfactory. The same thing is said over and over again,
and the contradictions in phraseology and in meaning are as
numerous as the repetitions, so that one is not surprised to find
it described as " the wonderful song, which causes the hair to
stand on end." The different meanings given to the same words
are indicative of its patchwork origin, which again would help
to explain its philosophical inconsistencies. It was probably
composed, as it stands, before there was any formal Vedanta
system; and in its original shape without doubt it precedes the
formal Sankhya; though both philosophies existed long before
they were systematized or reduced to Sutra form. One has
not to imagine them as systems originally distinct and opposed.
They rather grew out of a gradual intensification of the opposi-
tion involved in the conception of Prakriti (nature) and Maya
(illusion), some regarding these as identical, others insisting
that the latter was not sufficient to explain nature. The first
philosophy (and philosophical religion) concerned itself less
with the relation of matter to mind (in modern parlance) than
with the relation of the individual self (spirit) to the Supreme
Spirit. Different explanations of the relation of matter to this
Supreme Spirit were long held tentatively by philosophers, who
would probably have said that either the Sankhya or Vedanta
might be true, but that this was not the chief question. Later
came the differentiation of the schools, based mainly on a

HINDUISM. — VISIIXU AXD QIVA. 401

question that was at first one of secondary importance. In
another part of the epic Krishna himself is represented as the
victim of 'illusion ' (iii. 21. 30) on the field of battle.

The doctrine of the Bhagavad Gita, the Divine Song, is by
no means isolated. It is found in many other passages of the
epic, besides being imitated in the Anugita of the pseudo-epic.
To one of these passages it is worth while to turn, because of
the form in which this wisdom is enunciated. The passage im-
mediately following this teaching is also of great interest. Of
the few Vedic deities that receive hymnal homage chief is the
sun, or, in his other form, Agni. The special form of Agni has
been spoken of above. He is identified with the All in some
late passages, and gives aid to his followers, although not in bat-
tle. It will have been noticed in the Divine Song that Vishnu
asserts that the Song was proclaimed to the sun, who in turn
delivers it through Manu to the king-seers, the sun being
especially the kingly god.^ In the third book there is an hymn
to the sun, in which this god is addressed almost in the terms
of the Divine Song, and immediately preceding is the doctrine
just alluded to. After the explanation is given that re-birth
affects creatures and causes them to be born in earth, air, or
water, the changes of metempsychosis here including the vege-
table world as well as the animal and divine worlds,'-^ the very
essence of the Divine Song is given as "Vedic word," viz.,
ku7'u kaj-ma tyajeti ca, " Perform and quit acts,'' i.e., do what
you ought to do, but without regard to the reward of action
(iii, 2. 72, 74). There is an eightfold path of duty, as in Bud-
dhism, but here it consists in sacrifice, study, liberality, and
penance ; truth, mercy, self-control, and lack of greed. As the

1 Compare a parallel list of diadochoi in xii. 349. 51.

2 One of the Jaina traits of the epic, brahmddisn trndnicsu bhfdesu parivartate,
in distinction from the Buddhistic metempsychosis, which stops short of plants.
But perhaps it is rather borrowed from the Brahman by the Jain, for there is a formal
acknowledgment that sfhdvards, ' stationary things,' have part in metempsychosis,
Manu, xii. 42, although in the distribution that follows this is almost ignored (vs. 58).

402 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

result of practicing the first four, one goes on the course that
leads to the Manes ; as the result of practicing the last four,
one goes on the course that leads to the gods. But in practic-
ing any virtues one should practice them without expectation
of reward (cib/iimajia, arriere pensee). The Yogi, the devotee,
who renounces the fruit of everything, is the greatest man ; his
powers are miraculous.

There follows (with the same light inconsistency to be found
in the Divine Song) the appeal for action and the exhortation
to pray to the sun for success in what is desired. For it is
explained that the sun is the father of all creation. The sun
draws up clouds with his heat, and his energy, being trans-
muted into water, with the help of the moon, is distilled into
plants as rain, and in this way the food that man eats is full
of solar energy, and man and all that live by food must regard
the sun as their father. Preliminary to the hymn to the sun
is given a list of his hundred and eight names, ^ among which
are to be noticed : Aryaman, Soma, Indra, Yama, Brahma,
Vishnu, Qiva, Death, Time, Creator, the Endless One, Kapila,
the Unborn One, the Person (Purusha ; with which are to be
compared the names of Vishnu in the Divine Song), the All-
maker, Varuna, the Grandfather, the Door of Heaven, etc.
And then the Hymn to the Sun (iii. 3. 36 ff.):' "Thou, O Sun,
of creatures art the eye ; the spirit of all that have embodied
form ; thou art the source of all created things ; thou art the
custom of them that make sacrifice ; thou art the goal of the
Sankhyas and the hope of the Yogis ; the course of all that
seek deliverance . . . Thou art worshipped by all ; the three
and thirty gods (!) worship thee, etc. ... I think that in all
the seven worlds" and all the ^;'<^//;;/^z-worlds there is nothing

1 It is rather difficult to compress the list into this number. Some of the names
are perhaps later additions.

2 In contrast one niay note the frequent boast that a king ' fears not even the gods,'
e.g.,i. 199. I.

3 Later there are twenty-one worlds analogous to the twenty-one hells.

HINDUISM. — VISHNU AND QIVA. 403

which is superior to the sun. Other beings there are, both
powerful and great, but they have no such glory as the sun's.
Father of light, all beings rest in thee ; O Lord of light, all
thinsfs, all elements are in thee. The disc of Vishnu was
fashioned by the All-maker (one of the sun's names !) with thy
glory. Over all the earth, with its thirteen islands, thou shinest
with thy kine (rays). . . } Thou art the beginning and the
end of a day of Brahma. . . . They call thee Indra ; thou art
Rudra, Vishnu, the Father-god, Fire, the subtile mind ; thou art
the Lord, and thou, eternal braJuna.'"

There is here also a very significant admixture of Vedic and
Upanishadic religion.

In Krishna, who in the Upanishads is known already by his
own and his mother's name, pantheism is made personal accord-
ing to the teaching of one sect. But while the whole epic is in
evidence for the spuriousness of the claim of Krishna to be
regarded as incarnate Vishnu (God), there is scarcely a trace
in the original epic of the older view in regard to Vishnu him-
self. Thus in one passage he is called " the younger brother
of Indra" (iii. 12. 25). But, since Indra is at no time the
chief god of the epic, and the chapter in which occurs this
expression is devoted to extolling Krishna -Vishnu as the All-
god, the words appear to be intended rather to identify Krishna
with Vishnu, who in the Rig Veda is inferior to Indra, than
to detract from Vishnu's glory. The passage is cited below.

What now is the relation of Vishnu-Krishna to the other
divinities? Vishnuite and Civaite, each cries out that his god
includes the other, but there is no current identity of Brahma,
Vishnu, ^iva as three co-equal representations of one God.
For example, in iii. 189. 5, one reads: ''I am Vishnu, I am
Brahma, and I am ^iva," but one cannot read into this any
trinitarian doctrine whatever, for in context the passage reads
as a whole : " I am Narayana, I am Creator and Destro3'er,

1 Elsewhere, on the other hand, the islands are four or seven, the earlier view.

404 THE RELIGIONS OE INDIA.

I am Vishnu, I am Brahma, I am Indra, the master-god, I am
king Kubera, Yama, Qiva, Soma, Ka9yapa, and also the Fatlier-
god." Again, Vishnu says that the Father-god, or grandparent
of the gods, is "one-half of my body," and does not mention
(Jiva (iii. 189. 39). Thus, also, the hymn to Civa in iii. 39, 76 ff.
is addressed " to Qiva having the form of Vishnu, to Vishnu
having the form of Qiva, to the three-eyed god, to Qarva, the
trident-holder, the sun, Gane^a," but with no mention of Brahma.
The three gods, Brahma, Vishnu, Qiva, however, are sometimes
grouped together (but not as a trinity) in late passages, in
contrast to Indra, e.g., ix. 53, 26. There are many hymns to
Vishnu and ^iva, where each is without beginning, the God,
the uncreated Creator. It is only when the later period, look-
ing back on the respective claims of the sects, identifies each
god with the other, and both with their predecessor, that one
gets even the notion of a trinity. Even for this later view of
the pseudo-epic only one passage will be found (cited below).
The part of Brahma in the epic is most distinctly in process
of subordination to the sectarian gods. He is holy and eternal,
but not omniscient, though wise. As was shown above, he
works at the will of Vishnu. He is one with Vishnu only in
the sense that all is one with the All-god. When Vishnu
'raises the earth' as a boar, Brahma tells the gods to go to
him.^ He councils the gods. His heaven is above Indra's,
but he is really only an intermediary divinity, a passive activity,
if the paradox may be allowed. Not like Indra (to whom he
is superior) does he fight with All-gods, or do any great act of
his own will. He is a shadowy, fatherly, beneficent advisor
to the gods, his children ; but all his activity is due to Vishnu.
This, of course, is from the point of view of the Vishnuite,

1 iii. 142. The boar-shape of Vishnu is a favorite one, as is the dwarf -incarnation.
Compare Vamana, Vamanaka, Vishnupada, in the hst of holy watering-places (iii. S3).
Many of Vishnu's acts are simply transferred from Brahma, to whom they belonged
in older tales. Compare above, p. 215.

IIIXDUISM. — VISHNU AND QIVA. 405

But there is no Brahmaite to modify the impression. There
existed no strong Brahma sect as there were Vishnu and Qiva
sects. Brahma is in his place merely because to the preceding
age he was the highest god ; for the epic regards Creator,
Prajapati, Pitamaha, Brahma as synonymous.-^ The abstract
braluna^ which in the Upanishads is the same with the Supreme
Spirit, was called personally Brahma, and this Brahma is now
the Brahmanic Father-god. The sects could never get rid of a
god whose being was rooted alike in the preceding philosophy
and in the popular conception of a Father-god. Each age of
thought takes the most advanced views of the preceding age
as its axioms. The Veda taught gods ; the Brahmanas taught
a Father-god above the gods ; the Upanishads taught a Supreme
Godhead of which this Father-god was the active manifesta-
tion. The sects taught that their heroes were incarnations of
this Supreme, but they carried with them the older pantheon
as well, and, with the pantheon, its earlier and later heads,
Indra and Brahma. Consequently each sect admits that Brahma
is greater than the older Vedic gods, but, while naturally it
identifies its special incarnation hrst with its most powerful
opponent, and thus, so to speak, absorbs its rival, it identifies
this incarnation with Brahma only as being chief of lesser
divinities, not as being a rival. One may represent the atti-
tude of a Krishna-worshipper in the epic somewhat in this way :
" Krishna is a modern incarnation of Vishnu, the form which
is taken in this age by the Supreme Lord. You who worship
Qiva should know that your Qiva is really my Krishna, and

1 In i. 197, Prajapati. the Father-god, is the higliest god, to whom Indra, as usual,
runs for help, (^"iva appears as a higher god. and drives Indra into a hole, where he
sees five former Indras ; and finally \'ishnu comes on to the stage as the highest of
all, '• the infinite, inconceivable, eternal, the All in endless forms." Brahma is invoked
now and then in a perfunctory way, but no one really expects him to do anything.
He has done his work, made the castes, the sacrifice, and (occasionally) everything.
And he will do this again when the new aeon begins. But for this aeon his work is
accomplished.

406 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

the chief point is to recognize my Krishna as the Supreme
Lord. The man Krishna is the Supreme Lord in human form.
Of course, as such, being the One God in whom are all things
and beings, he is also all the gods known by names which
designate his special functions. Thus he is the head of the
gods, the Father-god, as our ancestors called him, Brahma ; and
he is all the gods known by still older names, who are the
children of the secondary creator, Brahma, viz., Agni, Indra,
Surya, etc. All gods are active manifestations of the Supreme
God called Vishnu, who is born on earth to-day as Krishna."
And the Qivaite says : " Qiva is the manifestation of the All-
god," and repeats what the Vishnuite says, substituting Qiva
for Vishnu,^ but with the difference already explained, namely,
that the Civa-sect has no incarnation to which to point, as has
the Vishnuite. Qiva is modified Rudra, and both are old god-
names. Later, however, the Qivaite has also his incarnate god.
As an example of later Qiva-worship may be taken Vishnu's
own hymn to this god in vii. So. 54 ff.: "Reverence to Bhava,
^arva, Rudra (Civa), the bestower of gifts, the lord of cattle,
the terrible, great, fearful, god of three wives ;^ to him who is
peace, the Lord, the slayer of sacrifices {inakhaghnaY' ... to
the blue-necked god ; to the inventor (or author) ... to truth ;
to the red god, to the snake, to the unconquerable one, to the
blue-haired one, to the trident-holder ; ... to the inconceivable
one ... to him whose sign is the bull ; ... to the creator of
all, who pervades all, who is worshipped by all. Lord of all,
Qarva, Qankara, 5^^^' • • • ^^^ ^^^ ^ thousand heads a

1 Thus in xii. ?85. 165 : " Neither Brahma nor Vishnu is capable of understanding
the greatness of (Jiva."

2 Or " three eyes."

3 Compare iii. 39. IT- "The destroyer of Daksha's sacrifice." Compare the same
epithet in the hymn to (^iva, x. 7. 3. after which appear the devils who serve Qiva.
Such devils, in the following, feast on the dead upon the field of battle, though, when
left to themselves, ' midnight is the hour when the demons swarm,' iii. 11. 4 and n.
In X. iS and xiii. 161 Qiva's act is described in full.

HINDUISM. — VISIIXU AND QIVA. 407

thousand arms, and death, a thousand eyes and legs, whose
acts are innumerable." In vii. 201. 71, ^iva is the unborn
Lord, inconceivable, the soul of action, the unmoved one ; and
he that knows Civa as the self of self, as the unknowable one,
goes to braJuna-hXxs'Sy. This also is late Qivaism in pantheistic
form. In other words, everything said of Vishnu must be
repeated for Civa.^

As an example of the position of the lowest member of the
later trinity and his very subordinate place, maybe cited a pas-
sage from the preceding book of the epic. According to the
story in vi. 65. 42 ff., the seers were all engaged in worshipping
Brahma, as the highest divinity they knew, when he suddenly
began to worship "the Person (Spirit), the highest Lord"; and
Brahma then lauds Vishnu as such : "Thou art the god of the
universe, the All-god, Vasudeva (Krishna). Therefore I wor-
ship thee as the divinity; thou, whose soul is devotion. Victory
to thee, great god of all ; thou takest satisfaction in that which
benefits the world. . . . Lord of lords of all, thou out of whose
navel springs the lotus, and whose eyes are large ; Lord of the
things that were, that are, that are to be ; O dear one, self-born
of the self-born . . . O great snake, O boar,- O thou the first
one, thou who dwellest in all, endless one, known as brahma^
everlasting origin of all beings . . . destroyer of the worlds !
Thy feet are the earth . . . heaven is thy head ... I, Brahma,
am thy form . . . Sun and moon are thy eyes . . . Gods and
all beings were by me created on earth, but they owe their origin
to thy goodness." Then the creation of Vishnu through Pra-

i (^iva, called Bhava, ^arva, the trident-holder, the Lord Mgana), Qankara, the
Great God, etc., generally appears at his best where the epic is at its worst, the inter-
polations being more flagrant than in the case of Vishnuite eulogies. The most
devout worshipper of Vishnu is represented as an adherent of Qiva, as invoking him
for help after fighting with him. He is " invincible before the three worlds." He is
the sun ; his blood is ashes. All the gods, with Brahma at their head, revere him.
He has three heads, three faces, six arms (compare iii. 39. 74 ff. ; S3. 125) ; though
other passages give him more.

- (Jiva has as sign the bull : Vishnu, the boar.

408 THE RELIGIONS OE INDIA.

dyumna as a form of the deity is described, " and A^ishnu
(Aniruddha) created me, Bralima, the upholder of the worlds ;
so am I made of Vishnu ; I am caused only by thee."

While Brahma is represented here as identical with Vishnu
he is at the same time a distinctly inferior personality, created
by Vishnu for the purpose of creating worlds, a factor of inferior
godliness to that of the World-Spirit, Krishna-Vishnu.

It had been stated by Holtzmann ^ that Brahma sometimes
appears in the epic as a god superior to Vishnu, and on the
strength of this L. von Schroeder has put the date of the early
epic between the seventh and fourth centuries b.c, because at
that time Brahma Vvas the chief god." von Schroeder rather
exaggerates" Holtzmann's results, and asserts that " in the
original form of the poem Brahma appears throughout as the
highest and most revered god, while the worship of Vishnu and
^iva as great gods is apparently a later intrusion" {lac. a't.).
This asseveration will have to be taken cu?n grauo. Had
von Schroeder said 'pantheistic gods' he would have been
correct in this regard, but we think that both Vishnu and ^iva
w^ere great gods, equal, if not superior to Brahma, when the epic
proper began. And, moreover, when one speaks of the original
form of the poem he cannot mean the pseudo-epic or the
ancient legends which have been woven into the epic, them-
selves of earlier date. No one means by the 'early epic' the
tales of Agastya, of the creation of Death, of the making of
ambrosia, but the story of the war in its earliest shape; for the
epic poem must have begun with its own subject-matter. Now
it is not true that Brahma is regarded ' throughout ' the early
poem as a chief god at all.' If one investigate the cases where
Vishnu or ^iva appears ' below ' Brahma he will see, in almost
every case that Holtzmann has registered, that this condition
of affairs is recorded not in the epic proper but in the Brahmanic
portions of the pseudo-epic, or in ancient legends alone. Thus

1 ZDMG. xxxviii. pp. 197, 200, 2 /,//. 21. Citltnr^ p. 461.

IIIXDUISM.—VISHXU AXD QIVA. 409

in the story of the whining of ambrosia, of Agastya drinking
ocean, and of Rama, Brahma appears to be above Vishnu, and
also in some extracts from the pseudo-epic. For tlie real epic
we know of but two cases that can be put into this category,
and neither is sufficient to support the hypothesis built upon it.
For Krishna, when he ingeniously plots to have Bhima slay
Jaras.mdha, is said to have renounced killing Jarasandha him-
self, 'putting Brahma's injunction before him' (ii. 22. 36), /.t'.,
recalling Brahma's admonition that only Bhima was fated to
slay the foe. And when Krishna and Satyaki salute Krishna's
elder brother they do so (for being an elder brother Baladeva
is Krishna's Guru) respectfully, 'just as Indra and Upendra
salute Brahma the lord of devas' (ix. 34. iS). Upendra is
Indra's younger brother, />., Vishnu (above). But these pas-
sages are scanty proof for the statement that Brahma appears
throughout the early epic as the highest god ; ^ nor is there
even so much evidence as this in the case of Civa. Here, too,
it is in the tale of the churning of ocean, of Sunda and
Upasunda, of the creation of the death-power, and in late di-
dactic (Brahmanic) passages, where Brahma makes Civa to de-
stroy earth and Qiva is born of Brahma, and only in such tales,
or extracts from the Book of Peace, etc., that Brahma appears
as superior. In all other cases, in the real action of the epic,
he is subordinate to Vishnu and Qiva whenever he is compared
with them. When he is not compared he appears, of course,
as the great old Father-god who creates and foresees, but even
here he is not untouched, by passion, he is not all-knowing, and
his role as Creator is one that, with the allotment of duties
among the gods, does not make him the highest god. All the
old gods are great till greater appear on the scene. There is
scarcely a supreme Brahma in the epic itself, but there is a

1 Holtzmann now says (in Nennz^Jm Piiclier^^. 19S) that the whole episode which
terminates with Baladeva's visit is an addition to the original. Holtzmann's mono-
graph on Brahma is in ZDMG. xxxviii. 167.

410 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

great Brahma, and a greater (older) than the sectarian gods in
the old Brahmanic legends, while the old Brahmanhood reasserts
itself sporadically in the Canti, etc., and tells how the sectarian
gods became supreme, how they quarrelled and laid the strife.
Since the adjustment of the relations between the persons of
the later trinity is one of the most important questions in the
theology of the completed epic, it will be necessary to go a lit-
tle further afield and see what the latest books, which hitherto
we have refrained as much as possible from citing, have to say
on the subject. As it seems to be true that it was felt neces-
sary by the Civaite to offset the laud of Vishnu by antithetic
laud of Civa,^ so after the completion of the Book of Peace,
itself a late addition to the epic, and one that is markedly Vish-
nuitic, there was, before the Genealogy of Vishnu, an antithetic
Book of Law, which is as markedly Qivaitic. In these books
one finds the climax of sectarianism, in so far as it is repre-
sented by the epic ; although in earlier books isolated passages
of late addition are sporadically to be found which have much
the same nature. Everyw^here in these last additions Brahma
is on a plane which is as much lower than that of the Supreme
God as it is higher than that of Indra. Thus in viii. ^^, 45,
Indra takes refuge with Brahma, but Brahma turns for help to
Qiva (Bhava, Sthanu, Jishnu, etc.) with a hymn sung by the
gods and seers. Then comes a description of Qankara's "
(^iva's) war-car, with its metaphorical arms, where Vishnu is
the point of Civa's arrow (which consists of Vishnu, Soma,
Agni), and of this war-car Brahma himself is the charioteer
{ib. 34. 76). With customary inconsistency, how^ever, when
Qiva wishes his son to be exalted he prostrates himself before
Brahma, who then gives this youth {kiujidrci)^ called Kartikeya,

1 A good example is that of the two visions of Arjuna, first the vision of Vishnu,
then another vision of (^iva, whom Arjuna and Vishnu visit (vii. So).

2 Qankara and (^iva mean ahnost the same ; * giver of blessings " and ' prospering '
(or 'kindly'), respectively.

HINDUISM. — VISHNU AND QIVA. 411

the 'generalship' over all beings {sdinapafyam, ix. 44. 43-49).
There is even a 'celebration of Brahma,' a sort of harvest festi-
val, shared, as the text tells, by all the castes ; and it must
have been something like the religious games of the Greeks,
for it was celebrated by athletic contests.^ Brahma, as the old
independent creator, sometimes keeps his place, transmitting
posterity through his ' seven mind-born sons,' the great seers
(iii. 133; xii. 166. I iff.). But Brahma himself is born either
in the golden egg, as a secondary growth (as in xii. 312. 1-7),
or, as is usually the case, he is born in the lotus which springs
from the navel of musing' Vishnu (iii. 203. 14). In this pas-
sage Brahma has four faces (Vedas) and four forms, catunnurtis
(15), and this epithet in other sections is transferred to Vishnu.
Thus in vii. 29, 26, Vishu says caiui'murtir akam, " I have four
forms," but he never says trimurtir ahain (' I have three forms').
There is one passage, however, that makes for a belief in a
trinity. It stands in contrast to the various Vishnuite hymns,
one of which may well be reviewed as an example of the regu-
lar Vishnuite laudation affected by the Krishna sect (iii. 12.
21 ff.): " Krishna is Vishnu, Brahma, Soma, the Sun, Right, the
Creator (' founder '), Yama, Fire, Wind, Qiva, Time, Space,
Earth, and the cardinal points. Thou, Krishna, art the Crea-
tor ('emitter"); thou, chief of gods, didst worship the highest;
thou, Vishnu called, becamest Indra's younger brother, entering
into sonship with Aditi ; as a child with three steps thou didst
fill the sky, space, and earth, and pass in glory. ... At the end
of the age thou returnest all things into thyself. At the begin-
ning of the age Brahma was born from thy lotus-navel as the
venerable preceptor of all things (the same epithet is in vs. 22
applied to Vishnu himself); and Civa sprang from thy angry

1 Brahmanas siimahotsavas (compare the commentator). The savidja of Brahma
may be explained by that of (Jiva mentioned in the same place and described else-
where (iv. 13. i4ff. : i. 164. 20).

2 Not sleeping. Mshnu, despite svapbni, does not slumber ; he only muses.

412 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

forehead when the demons would kill him (Brahma) ; both are
born of thee, in whom is the universe." The followins: verses
(45 ff.) are like those of the Divine Song : " Thou, Knight
Arjuna, art the soul of Krishna; thou art mine alone and thine
alone am I ; they that are mine are thine ; he that hates thee
hates Me, and he that is for thee is for Me ; thou art Xara
('man') and I am Xarayana ('whose home is on the waters,'
god);^ we are the same, there is no difference between us."
Again, like the Divine Song in the following verses (51-54) is
the expression ' the sacrifice and he that sacrifices,' etc., together
with the statement that Vishnu plays ' like a boy with plavthings,'
with the crowds of gods, Brahma, Qiva, Indra, etc. The pas-
sage opposed to this, and to other identifications of Vishnu
with many gods, is one of the most flagrant interpolations in
the epic. If there be anything that the Supreme God in Civa-
ite or Vishnuite form does not do it is to extol at length, with-
out obvious reason, his rivals' acts and incarnations. Yet in this
clumsy passage just such an extended laudation of Vishnu is put
into the mouth of Civa. In fact, iii. 272, from 30 to 76, is an
interpretation of the most naive sort, and it is here that we find
the approach to the later triDiurti (trinity): "Having the form
of Brahma he creates; having a human body (as Krishna) he
protects, in the nature of Qiva he would destroy — these are
the three appearances or conditions {avasthds) of the Father-
god" (Prajapati)." This comes after an account of the four-
faced lotus-born Brahma, who, seeing the world a void, emitted
his sons, the seers, mind-born, like to himself (now nine in num-
ber), who in turn begot all beings, including men (vss. 44-47).
If, on the other hand, one take the later sectarian account of

1 Man (divine) and god human, but Narayana is a new name of Vishnu, and the
two are reckoned as two inseparable seers (divinities).

~ This is the only really trinitarian passage in the epic. In i. i. 32; xiii. 16. 15,
the belief may be indicated, but not certainly, as it is in Hariv. 10,662. See on this
point Holtzmann, ZDMG. xxxviii, p. 204. In xiv. 54. 14 the form is Vishnu, Brahma,
Indra.

HIXDUISM. — VISHXU AND QIVA. 413

Vishnu (for the above is more in honor of Krishna the man-god
than of Vishnu, the form of the Supreme God), he \A\\ see that
even in the pseudo-epic the summit of the theological concep-
tions is the emphasis not of trinity or of multifariousness but of
unity. According to the text the Pancakalajnas are the same
with the Vishnuite sect called Pancaratras, and these are most
emphatically ekantiuas, i.e., Unitarians (xii. 336 ; 337. 46 ; 339.
66-67).^ In this same passage 341. 106, Vishnu is again catiir-
viurtidhrt. ' the bearer of four forms,' an entirely different con-
ception of him (below). So that even in this most advanced
sectarian literature there is no real threefoldness of the Su-
preme as one in three. In the following chapter (xii. 335. i ff.)
there is a passage like the great Ka hymn of the Rig Veda,
' whom as god shall one worship ? ' The sages say to Vishnu :
"All men worship thee; to whom dost thou offer worship?"
and he says, 'to the Eternal Spirit.' The conception of the
functions of Brahma and ^iva in relation to Vishnu is plainly
shown in xii. 342. 19: "Brahma and ^iva create and destroy at
the will of Vishnu ; they are born of his grace and his anger."
In regard to Civa himself, his nature and place in Vishnuism
have been sufficiently explained. The worship of this god is
referred to ' Vedic texts' (the cata-riidriyarn., vii. 202. 120);^
Vishnu is made to adore the terrible god {ib. 201. 69) who
appears as a mad ascetic, a wild rover, a monster, a satire on
man and gods, though he piously carries a rosary, and has other
late traits in his personal appearance.^ The strength of (Jiva-
ism lay in the eumenidean (Qiva is 'prospering,' 'kindly')

1 Compare 3^,9. 114, "thou art pancamahdkalpa-'' The commentator gives the
names of five sects, Saura, (^'akta, Gane^a, Qaiva, Vaishnava, The ' five times.' im-
plied in Paiicakala, he says are day, night, month, seasons, and year {ib. 66). In 340.
117 (which chapter is Pancaratric), Brahma '-knows that Vishnu is superior.''

2 Vaj. S. xvi. 1-66 ; Taitt. S. iv. 5. i-ii.

3 (^iva has no ordinary sacrifice : he is (as above) in general a destroyer of sacri-
fice, i.e.^ of Vedic sacrifice ; but as Pa^upati, " Lord of beasts," he claims the bloody
sacrifice of the first beast, man.

414 THE RELIGIOXS OF IKDTA.

euphemism and fear alike, which shrank in speech and mind
from the object of fear. But this religion in the epic had a
firmer hold than that of fear. It was essentially phallic in its
outward form (vii. 201. 93-96), and as such was deeply rooted
in the religious conscience of a people to whom one may ven-
ture perhaps to ascribe such a form of worship even in the
time of the Rig Veda, although the signs thereof in great part
have been suppressed. This may be doubted,^ indeed, for the
earlier age ; but there is no question that epic Civaism, like
^ivaism to-day, is dependent wholly on phallic worship (xiii.
14. 230 ff.). It is the parallel of Bacchic rites and orgies, as
well as of the worship of the demons in distinction from that of
good powers. Qiva represents the ascetic, dark, awful, bloody
side of religion : Vishnu, the gracious, calm, hopeful, loving
side ; the former is fearful, mysterious, demoniac ; the latter is
joyful, erotic, divine. In their later developments it is not sur-
prising to see that Vishnuism, in the form of Krishnaism, be-
comes more and more erotic, while Qivaism becomes more and
more ghastly and ghoulish.

Wild and varied as are the beliefs of the epic, there is space
but to show a few more characteristic sides of its theology —
a phase that may seem questionable, yet, since the devout
Hindu believes the teachings of the epic, they must all to him
constitute one theology, although it w'as gradually amalgamated
out of different creeds.

In connection with Civa stands, closely united, his son,
Gane^a, "leader of troops," still worshipped as one of the
popular gods, and the battle-god, Skanda, the son first of Agni
then of Civa, the conqueror of the demons, ddnai^as, and later
representative of Indra, with whom the epic identifies him.
For it is Skanda that is the real battle-god of the later epic ;

1 The usual opinion is that phallic worship was a trait of southern tribes foisted
upon northern (^ivaism. Philosophically Qivaism is first monotheistic and then pan-
theistic. To-day it is nominally pantheistic but really it is dualistic.

HINDUISM. — VISHNU AND giVA. 415

though in its original form Indra was still the warrior's refuge,
as attests the stereotyped phraseology. In iii. 225-232 honor
and praise are ascribed to Skanda in much the same language
with that used to portray his father, Qiva. " The god of a
thousand arms, the Lord of all, the creator of gods and
demons " are phrases used in his eulogy. He too has a list
of names; his nurse is the "maiden of the red (bloody) sea,"
called Lohitayanl. His terrible appearance and fearful acts
make him the equal of (Jiva.^ His sign is a kukkiita, cock ;
Uk 229. 2)3'

Associated, again, \vith Skanda are the spirits or 'mothers,'
which afflict people. The belief in mother-gods is old, but its
epic form is new. The exactness and detail in regard to these
beautiful monsters sho\v at least a real belief, which, as one on
a lower plane besides the higher religion, cannot be passed
over without notice. As in other lands, people are ' possessed '
by evil spirits, called possessors or seizers (^g?'ahas). These
are Skanda's demons,- and are both male and female. Until
one reaches the age of sixteen he is liable to be possessed by
one group of ' seizers,' who must be worshipped in proper form
that their wrath may be averted. Others menace mortals from
the age of sixteen to seventy. After that only the fever-demon
is to be feared. Imps of this sort are of three kinds. One
kind indulge only in mischievous sport : another kind lead
one to gluttony ; the third kind are devoted to lust. They are
known as Pi^acas, Yakshas, etc., and when they seize a person
he goes mad. They are to be kept at bay by self-restraint
and moderation (iii. 230. 43-56). In ix. 46 and iii. 226 the
'mothers' are described. They are witches, and live in cross-

1 There are indications in tliis-passage of some sectarian feeling, and the fear of
partisan warfare (229) ; in regard to which we add from Muir and Holtzmann tlie
passage xii. 343. 121, where is symbolized a peaceful issue of war between Vishnuism
and Qivaism.

2 Grahas are also planets, but in this cult they are not astrological, as show their
names.

416 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

roads, cemeteries, and mountains. They may be of Dravidian
origin, and in their epic form, at any rate, are a late intrusion.-^

Just before the Divine Song begins, the knight who is about
to become ilkiminated or ' disillusioned ' offers a prayer to the
terrible goddess Durga, also one of the new, popular, and hor-
rible forms of divine manifestation. In this hymn, vi. 23,
Durga (Uma, ParvatI, Kali, etc.) is addressed as '* leader of the
armies of the blessed, the dweller in ]\Iandara, the youthful
woman, Kali, wife of Qiva, she who is red, black, variegated ;
the savior, the giver of gifts, Katyayani, the great benefactress,
the terrible one, the victorious one, victory itself . . . Uma,
the slaver of demons,""^ and the usual identification and theft
of epithets then follows : " O thou who art the Vedas, who art
Revelation, who art virtue, Jatavedasi, . . . thou art ht'ahma
among the sciences, thou art the sleep of incorporate beings,
the mother of Skanda, the blessed one, Durga . . . thou art
the mother of the Vedas and Vedanta . . . thou art sleep,
illusion, modesty, happiness . . . thou art satisfaction, growth,
contentment, light, the increaser of moon and sun."

Turning from these later parasites,^ which live on their parent
gods and yet tend to reduce them, we now revert to that happi-
ness hereafter to which looks forward the epic knight that has
not been tempted to '■ renounce ' desire. In pantheistic passages
he is what the later remodeller makes him. But enough of old
belief remains to show that the warrior really cared a great

1 They are possibly old, as Weber thinks, but they seem to have nothing in com-
mon ^vith the ancient female divinities.

- Compare another hymn to Durga in iv. 6. 5 ff. (late). Durga was probably an
independent local deity, subsequently regarded as Qiva's female side. She plays a
great role, under various names, in the ' revived ' literature, as do the love-god and
Ganega. In both hj'mns she is 'Vishnu's sister,' and in iv. 6 a 'pure virgin.'

3 One comparatively new god deserves a passing mention, Dharma's son, Kama,
the (Grecian?) love-god, 'the mind-shaker,' * the limbless one,' whose arrows are like
those of Cupid (i. 66. 32 ; 171. 34 ; iii. 46. 2). He is an adventitious addition to the
epic. His later name of Ananga occurs in xii. 59. 91. In i. 71. 41 and 171. 40 he is
Manmatha. The Atharvan god also has darts, iii. 25, a mark of this latest Veda.

HIXDUISM. — VISIIXU AXD (^IVA. 417

deal more for heaven than he did for absorption. As to the
cause of events, as was said above, it is Fate. Repeatedly is
heard the lament, " Fate (impersonal) is the highest thing, fie
on vain hmnan effort." The knight confesses with his lips to
a belief in the new doctrine of absorption, but at heart he is
a fatalist. And his aim is to die on the field of battle, that he
may go thence directly to the heaven that awaits the good
and the brave. ^ Out of a long description of this heaven a
few extracts here selected will show what the good knight
anticipates :

" Upward goes the path that leads to gods; it is inhabited by them that
have sacrificed and have done penance. Unbelieving persons and untruth-
ful persons do not enter there; only they that have duteous souls, that
have conquered self, and heroes that bear the marks of battle. There sit
the seers and gods, there are shining, self-illumined worlds, made of light,
resplendent. And in this heaven there is neither hunger, nor thirst, nor
weariness, nor cold, nor heat, nor fear ; nothing that is terrible is there,
nothing unclean ; but pleasing sights, and sounds, and smells. There is
no care there, nor age, nor work, nor sorrow. Such is the heaven that is
the reward of good acts. Above this is Brahma's world, where sit the
seers and the three and thirty gods," etc.

Over against this array of advantages stands the one great
"fault of heaven," which is stated almost in the words of
" nessun maggior doiore," "the thought (when one lives again
on the lower plane) of former happiness in the higher life is
terrible grief" (vs. 30), /.<?., this heaven will pass away at the
end of the world-period, when the Eternal draws all in to him-
self again (iii. 261); and the thought that one has been in
heaven, while now he is (re-born) on earth, is a sorrow greater
than the joy given by heaven.^

1 Compare ii. 22. iS : "Great holiness, great glory, penance, death in battle, these
are each respectively productive of heaven ; the last alone is a sure cause."

- This description and the sentiments are quite late. The same sort of heaven
(without the philosophical bitterness, with which compare above, p. 229) is, however,
found in other passages, somewhat augmented with nymphs and facile goddesses.

418 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

One is reminded by the epic description of heaven of that
poet of the Upanishads who describes his heavenly bliss as
consisting in the fact that in that world "there is neither
snow nor sorrow." The later version is only an amplification.
Even with the assurance that the "fault of heaven " is the dis-
appointment of being dropped to earth again in a new birth,
the ordinary mortal is more averse from the bliss of absorption
than from the pleasure of heaven. And in truth, except to one
very weary of his lot in life, it must be confessed that the
religion here shown in all its bearings is one eminently pleasant
to believe. Its gist, in a word, is this : " If you feel able to
endure it, the best thing to do is to study the plan of the uni-
verse, and then conform to it. By severe mental discipline
vou can attain to this knowledcre, and for reward vou will be
immortallv united with God." To this the sectarian adds :
" Or believe in mv srod and the result will be the same." But
both philosopher and sectarian continue : " If, however, you
do not want to be united with the Supreme Spirit so soon as
this, then be virtuous and devout, or simply be brave if you
are a warrior; do whatever the rules of morality and caste-custom
bid you do, and you will go to heaven for thousands of ages ;
at the end of which time you will be re-born in a fine family
on earth, and may again decide whether to repeat the process
of gaining heaven or to join God and become absorbed into
the World-Spirit at once." There were probably many that
chose rather to repeat their agreeable earthly experience, with
an interlude of heaven after each death, than to make the
renunciation of earth and heaven, and be absorbed once for all
into the All-god.

The doctrine" of the ages^ is so necessary to a true under-
standing of the relative immortality offered as a substitute for

1 This doctrine is supposed by some scholars to be due to outside influence, but
the doubt is not substantiated, and even in the Rig Veda one passage appears to
refer to it. Doubtless, however, the later expanded view, with its complicated reck-
onings, may have been touched by foreign influence.

HIxWDUISM. — VISHNU AND QIVA. 419

the higher bliss of absorption (that is, genuine immortaUty),
tiiat an account of the teaching in this regard will not be out
of place. The somewhat puzzling distinction between the
happy life of them that fail to desire absorption, and yet are
religious men, and the blissful life of those people that do
attain absorption, is at once explained by a clear understand-
ing of the duration of the time of the gods' own life and of
the divine heaven. Whereas the Greek notion of four as^es
includes within the four all time, all the four ages of the Hindu
are only a fraction of time. Starting at any one point of eter-
nity, there is, according to the Hindu belief, a preliminary
' dawn ' of a new cycle of ages. This dawn lasts four hundred
years, and is then followed by the real age (the first of four),
which lasts four thousand years, and has again a twilight end-
ing of four hundred years in addition. This first is the Krita
age, corresponding to the classical Golden Age. Its charac-
teristics are, that in it everything is perfect ; right eternal now
exists in full power. In this age there are neither gods nor
demons (Danavas, Gandharvas, Yakshas, Rakshas, Serpents),
i^either buying nor selling. By a luciis a no?i the derivation of
the name Krita is krtam era ?ia kartavyam, i.e., with a pun, it
is called the ' sacred age ' because there are no sacrifices in that
age. No Sama Veda, Rig Veda, or Yajur Veda exist as distinct
Vedas.-^ There is no mortal work. Fruit comes by meditation ;
the only duty is renunciation. Disease, lack of mental power,
moral defects (such as pride and hate) do not exist ; the high-
est course of the ascetic Yogis is universally braJuna {para-
makaiii). In this age come into existence the Brahman, Ksha-
triya, Vai^ya, Qudra, i.e.., the distinct castes of priest, warrior,
husbandman, and slave ; all with their special, marks, and all

1 Na dsan sdma-rg-yaj ur-varnds. In xii. 342. 8 the order is Rik-Yajus-Atharvan-
Saman. The habit of putting Saman instead of Rik at the head of the Vedas is still
kept in the late litany to (^iva, who is '' the Saman among the Vedas," meaning, of
course, the first and best. In the same place, "Qiva is the Itihasa" epic (xiii. 14. 323 ;
and ib. 17. -jZ, 91), for the epic outweighs all the Vedas in its own estimation.

420 THE REL. ^ 'ONS OF INDIA.

delighted with their proper occupations. Yei have all the
castes like occupations, like :'efuge, practice, and knowledge.
They are joined to the one god [eka dei'd), and have but one
majitra in their religious rites. Their duties are distinct, but
they follow only one Veda and o:/^, rule. T^e four orders (of
the time of life) are duly obser\ed ; men not desire the

fruit of their action, and so they obtain the > aest course, i.e.,
salvation by absorption into hraJuna. In L s age the 'three
attributes ' (or qualities) are unknown. After this age follows
the dawn of the second age, called Treta, lasting three hundred
years, then the real age of Treta, three thousand years, followed
by the twilight of three hundred years. The characteristics of
this age are, that men are devout ; that great sacrifices begin
{sattram pravartate) ; that Virtue decreases by one quarter ;
that all the various rites are produced, together with the attain-
ment of salvation through working for that end, by means of
sacrifice and generosity ; that every one does his duty and
performs asceticism. The next age, Dvapara, is introduced
by a dawn of two hundred years, being itself two thousand
years in duration, and it closes with a twilight of two hundred
years. Half of Virtue fails to appear in this age, that is, the
general virtue of the world is diminished by a half (' the Bull
of Justice standi on two legs'). The Veda is now subdivided
into four. Instead of every one having one Veda, four Vedas
exist, but some people know only threeT^r two, or one, or are
even Veda-less (anrcas). Ceremonies become manifold, be-
cause the treatises on duty are subdivided (!). The attribute
of passion influences people, and it is with this that they per-
form asceticism and are generous (not with disinterestedness).
Few (kaccit^ are settled in truth ; ignorance of the one Veda
causes a multiplication of Vedas (/>., as Veda means 'knowl-
edge,' the Vedas result from ignorance of the essential knowl-
edge). Disease and sin make penance necessary. People
sacrifice only to gain heaven. After this age and its twilight

UNDUlSM. — VlSI^i'iV AND QIVA. 421

are past begins the Kali, last of the four ages, with a dawn of
^ne hundred, a course of oii^ thousand, and a subsequent
twilight of one hundred yearsl' "This is the present sinful age,
when there is -no real religion, when the Vedas are ignored,
and the caste^ '"^re confu^^C'd, when itis (distresses of every
form) are rife* --/hen Virttie has only one leg left to stand
upon. The b^'^'ver in Krishna as Vishnu, besides this uni-
versal descripti^ir , says that the Supreme Lord in the Krita
age is 'white' (pure); in the Treta age, 'red'; in the Dvapara
age, 'yellow'; in the Kali age, 'black,' i.e.^ Vishnu is Krishna,
which means ' black.' ^ This cycle of ages always repeats
itself anew. Now, since the twelve thousand years of these
ages, with their dawns and twilights, are but one of countless
cycles, when the Kali age and its twilight have brought all
things into a miserable state, the universe is re-absorbed into
the Supreme Spirit. There is then a universal (apparent) de-
struction, pralaya, of everything, first by fire and then by a
general flood. Seven suns appear in heaven, and what they fail
to burn is consumed by the great fire called Samvartaka (really
a manifestation of Vishnu), which sweeps the world and leaves
only ashes ; then follows a flood which completes the annihila-
tion. Thereafter follows a period equal to one thousand cycles
(of twelve thousand years each), which is called ' Brahma's
night,' for during these twelve million years Brahma sleeps; and
the new Krita age begins again "when Brahma wakes up" (iii.
i88. 29, 69 ; 189. 42).^ All the gods are destroyed in the uni-
versal destruction, that is, re-absorbed into the All-god, for
there is no such thing as annihilation, either of spirit or of mat-
ter (which is illusion). Consequently the gods' heaven and the

1 iii. 149. 14 ; 188. 22 ; 189. 32 ; probably with a recollection of the colors of the four
castes, white, red, yellow, black. According to xii. 233. 32, there is no sacrifice in
the Krita age, but, beginning with the Treta age, there is a general diffusion of sacri-
fice in the Eivapara age. In another passage of the same book it is said that marriage
laws arose in the Dvapara age (207. 38 ff.).

2 The teaching varies somewhat in the allotment of years. See Manu, I. 67.

422 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

spirits of good men in that heaven are also re-absorbed into that
Supreme, to be re-born in the new age. This is what is meant
by the constant harping on quasi-immortahty. Righteousness,
sacrifice, bravery, will bring man to heaven, but, though he
joins the gods, with them he is destroyed. They and he, after
millions of years, will be re-born in the new heaven and the
new earth. To escape this eventual re-birth one must desire
absorption into the Supreme, not annihilation, but unity with
God, so that one remains untouched by the new order at the
end of Brahma's 'day.' There are, of course, not lacking
views of them that, taking the precept grossly, give a less dig-
nified appearance to the teaching, and, in fact, upset its real
intent. Thus, in the very same Puranic passage from which
is taken the description above (iii. iS8), it is said that a seer,
who miraculously outlived the universal destruction of one
cycle, was kindly swallowed by Vishnu, and that, on entering
his stomach (the absorption idea in Puranic coarseness), he saw
everything which had been destroyed, mountains, rivers, cities,
the four castes engaged in their duties, etc. In other words,
only transference of locality has taken place. But this account
reads almost like a satire.

One of the most striking; features of the Hindu religions,
as they have been traced thus far, is the identification of right
with light, and wrong with darkness. We have referred to it
several times already. In the Vedic age the deities are lumi-
nous, while the demons and the abode of the wicked generally
are of darkness. This view, usually considered Iranian and
Zoroastrian, is as radically, if not so emphatically. Indie. It
might be said, indeed, that it is more deeply implanted in the
worship of the Hindus than in that of the Iranians, inasmuch
as the latter religion enunciates and promulgates the doctrine,
wdiile the former assumes it. All deeds of sin are deeds of
darkness, tamas. The devils live underground in darkness ;
the hells are below earth and are gloom lighted only by torture-

HINDUISM. — VISHXU AND QIVA. 423

flames. The development of devil-worship (the side-scenes in
the theatre of Qivaism) introduces devils of another sort, but the
general effect remains. The fire-priest Bhrigu says: "Untruth
is a form of darkness, and by darkness one is brought to hell
(downwards) ; veiled in darkness one sees not the light. Light
is heaven, they say, and darkness is hell," xii. 190, 2-3. This
antithesis of evil as darkness, good as light, is too native to
India to admit of the suggestion that it might have been bor-
rowed. But an isolated and curious Puranic chapter of the epic
appears to have direct reference to the Persian religion. All
Hindu gods have sacrifices, even Qiva the ' destroyer of sacri-
fice.' Now in iii. 220, after a preliminary account of the pafi-
caja?iya fire (vs. 5 ff.) there is given a list of 'gods that destroy
sacrifice,' devds yajna7nusas, fifteen in number, who 'stand
here' on earth and 'steal' the* sacrifice. They extend over the
five peoples in three divisions of five each. The first and
third group contain names compounded with Bhima and Siira
respectively; while the third group is that of Sumitra, !Mitra-
van, Mitrajna, Mitravardhana, Mitradharman. There are oth-
ers without the mitra (vs. 10). The appellation devds seems to
take them out of connection with Qiva's demoniac troops, and
the persistency of 7?iit7'a would look as if these 'gods' were of
Iranian origin. There may have been (as are possibly the
modern Sauras) believers in the Persian religion already long
established among the Hindus.

The question will naturally present itself whether in the
religious olla pod7'ida known as the Mahabharata there are dis-
tinct allusions to Buddhism, and, if so, in how far the doctrines
of this sect may have influenced the orthodox religion. Bud-
dhism does not appear to have attacked or to have attracted
the 'holy land,' whence, indeed, according to law, heretics are
'banished.' But its influence of course must have embraced
this country, and it is only a question of in how far epic Brah-
manism has accepted it. At a later period Hinduism, as has

424 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

been observed, calmly accepts Buddha as an avatar of Vishnu.
Holtzmann, who is inclined to attribute a good deal to Bud-
dhism, sees signs of it even in the personal characteristics of
the epic heroes, and believes the whole poem to have been
more or less affected by anti-Buddhistic feeling. If this were
so one would have to give over to Buddhism much also of the
humanitarianism to be found in the moral precepts that are so
thickly strewn through the various books. In our opinion
these signs-manual of Buddhism are not sufficiently evident to
support Holtzmann's opinion for the whole poem, and it is to
be noted that the most taking evidence is drawn from the
latest parts of the work. It is just here that we think it nec-
essary to draw the line, for while much of late date has been
added in earlier books, yet in the books which one may call
wholly late additions appear the strongest indications of Bud-
dhistic influence.^ A great deal of the Book of Peace is
Puranic, the book as a whole is a Vishnuite addition further
enlarged by Qivaite interpolation. The following book is,
again, an offset to the Book of Peace, and is as distinctly
Qivaite in its conception as is the Book of Peace Vishnuite.^
It is here, in these latest additions, which scarcely deserve to
be ranked with the real epic, that are found the most palpable
touches of Buddhism. They stand to the epic proper as stands
to them the Genealogy of A^ishnu, a further addition which has
almost as much claim to be called 'part of the epic ' as have
the books just mentioned, only that it is more evidently the
product of a later age, and represents the Krishna-Vishnu sect
in its glory after the epic was completed. Nevertheless, even
in these books much that is suspected of being Buddhistic may
be Brahmanic ; and in any concrete case a decision, one way

1 Weber thinks, on the other hand, that the parties represent respectively, (^iva
and Vishnu worship, hid. St. \. 206.

2 This book also is closely in touch with the later Puranas. For instance. Citra-
gupta, Yama's secretary, is known only to the books of the pseudo-epic, the Vishnu
Purana, the Padma Purana, etc.

HINDUISM. — VISHNU AND QIVA. 425

or the other, is scarcely to be made on objective grounds. Still
more is this the case in earlier books. Thus, for instance,
Holtzmann is sure that a conversation of a slave and a priest
in the third book is Buddhistic because the man of low caste
would not venture to instruct a Brahman.^ But it is a com-
mand emphasized throughout the later Brahmanism that one
must take refuge in the ship that saves ; and in passages not
suspected of Buddhistic tendency Bhishma takes up this point,
and lays down the rule that, no matter to which caste a man be-
longs, his teaching if salutary is to be accepted. It is even
said in one passage of the Book of Peace that one ought to
learn of a slave, and in another that all the four castes ought to
hear the Veda read:" "Let him get instruction even from a
^udra if he can thereby attain to salvation " ; and again : " Put-
ting the Brahman first, let the four castes hear (the Veda) ; for
this (giving first place to the priest) is (the rule in) reading the
Veda." ^ And in many places are found instructions given by
low-caste men. It may be claimed that every case which re-
sembles Buddhistic teaching is drawn from Buddhism, but this
would be to claim more than could be established. Moreover,
just as the non-injury doctrine is prior to Buddhism and yet
is a mark of Buddhistic teaching, so between the two religions
there are many points of similarity which may be admitted
without compromising the genuineness of the Brahmanic teach-
ing. For Buddhism in its morality is anything but original.'*

1 Neunzehn Biicher, p. 86.

2 The epic does not care much for castes in some passages. In one such it is said
that members of all castes become priests when they go across the Gomal, iii. 84. 48.

3 xii. 319. 87 ff. {prapya jndnam . . . ciidrdd apt) ; xii. 32S. 49 {^rdvaycc cattiro
varndn). The epic regards itself as more than equivalent {adJiiham) to the four
Vedas, i. i. 272.

i Some ascribe the samsdra doctrine to Buddhistic influence — a thesis supported
only by the fact that this occurs in late Brahmanic passages and Upanishads. But
the assumption that Upanishads do not precede Buddha is scarcely tenable. The
Katha, according to Weber {Sitz. Berl. Ak. 1890, p. 930), is late (Christian !) : accord-
ing to Oldenberg and Whitney, early {Buddha^ p. 56 ; Proc. AOS. May, 1SS6).

426 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

Another bit of instruction from the Book of Peace iUustrates
the attitude of the slave just referred to. In sharp contrast to
what one would expect from a Buddhist, this slave, who is a
hunter, claims that he is justified in keeping on with his mur-
derous occupation because it is his caste-occupition ; whereas,
as a Buddhist he ought to have renounced it if he thought it sin-
ful, without regard to the caste-rule. The Book of Peace lays it
down as a rule that the giving up of caste-occupation is meri-
torious if the occupation in itself is iniquitous, but it hedges on
the question to the extent of saying that, no matter whether the
occupation be sinful or not, if it is an inherited occupation a
man does not do wrong to adhere to it. This is liberal Brah-
manism. The rule reads as follows : "Actors, liquor-dealers,
butchers, and other such sinners are not justified in following
such occupations, if they are not born to the profession (/>, if
they are born to it they are justified in following their inher-
ited occupation). Yet if one has inherited such a profession
it is a noble thing to renounce it."^

The marks of Buddhistic influence on which we would lay
greater stress are found not in the fact tlmt Mudgala refuses
heaven (iii. 261. 43), or other incidents that may be due as
well to Brahmanism as to Buddhism, but in such passages of
the pseudo-epical Book of Peace as for example the d/iar7?iyas
panthas of xii. 322. 10-13; the conversation of the female
beggar, bkikshuki, with the king in 321. 7, 168; the huddha
of 289. 45 ; the Buddhistic phraseology of 167. 46 ; the remark
of the harlot Pingala in 174. 60: pratibuddha 'smi jagrnii
(I am ' awakened ' to a sense of sin and knov.ledge of holiness),
and the like phrase in 177, 22: pratibuddho 'sniir Of especial
importance is the shibboleth Nirvana which is often used in
the epic. There seems, indeed, to be a subtile connection

1 xii. 295. 5-6.

2 Noteworthy is the fact that parts of the (^ivaite thirteenth book seem to be most
Buddhistic (ch. i. ; 143. 48, etc.), and monotheistic (16. 12 ff.) ; though the White
Islanders are made \'ishnuite in the twelfth. Com.pare Holtzmann, ad. loc.

HIXDUISM.— VISHNU AND QIVA. 427

between Qivaism and Buddhism. Buddhism rejects pantheism,
Civaism is essentially monotheism. Both were really religions
of the lower classes. It is true that the latter v/as affected
and practiced by those of high rank, but its strength lay with
the masses. Thus while Vishnuism appealed to the contempla-
tive and philosophical (Ramaism), as well as to the easy-going
middle classes (Krishnaism), Civaism with its dirty asceticism,
its orgies and Bacchanalian revels, its devils and horrors
generally, although combined with a more ancient philosophy,
appealed chiefly to the magic-monger and the vulgar. So it is
that one finds, as one of his titles in the thirteenth book, that
Civa is 'the giver of Nirvana,' (xiii. i6. 15). But if one
examines the use of this word in other parts of the epic he will
see that it has not the true Buddhistic sense except in its
literal physical application as when the 7iirva7ia (extinguish-
ing) of a lamp, iv. 22. 22, is spoken of; or the iib'va7ia of
duties (in the Pancaratra ' Upanishad,' xii. 340. 67). On the
other hand, in sections where the context shows that this must
be the case, Nirvana is the equivalent of ' highest bliss ' or
'highest braJima^^ the same with the felicity thus named in
older works. This, for instance, is the case in xii. 21. 17; 26.
16, where Nirvana cannot mean extinction but absorption, />.,
the ' blowing out ' of the individual flame (spirit) of life, only
that it may become one with the universal spirit. In another
passage it is directly equated with sukJiam brakma in the same
way (Jb. 189. 17). If now one turn to the employment of this
word in the third book he will find the case to be the same.
When the king reproaches his queen for her atheistic opinions
in iii. 31. 26 he says that if there were no reward for good
deeds hereafter "people would not seek Nirvana,"' just as he
speaks of heaven ('immortality') and hell, ib. 20 and 19, not
meaning thereby extinction but absorption. So after a de-
scription of that third heaven wherein is Vishnu, when one
reads that ]\Iudgala " attained that highest eternal bliss the

428 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

sign of which is Nirvana" (iii. 261. 47), he can only suppose
that the word means here absorption into hrahuia or union
wdth Vishnu. In fact Nirvana is already a word of which the
sense has been subjected to attrition enough to make it synon-
ymous with 'bliss.' Thus "the gods attained Nirvana by
means of Vishnu's greatness " (iii. 201. 22); and a thirsty man
" after drinking water attained Nirvana," /.<?., the drink made
him happy (Jb. 126. 16). One may best compare the Jain
Nirvana of happiness.

While, therefore. Buddhism seems to have left many mani-
fest traces ^ in the later epic the weight of its influence on th^
early epic may well be questioned. The moral harangues of
the earlier books show nothing more than is consistent with
that Brahmanism which has made its way unaided through the
greater humanitarianism of the earlier Upanishads. At the
same time it is right to say that since the poem is composed
after Buddha's time there is no historical certainty in regard to
the inner connection of belief and morality (as expounded in
the epic) with Buddhism. Buddhism, though at a distance,
environed epic Brahmanism, and may well have influenced it.
The objective proofs for or against this are not, however, decisive.

Whether Christianity has affected the epic is another ques-
tion that can be answered (and then doubtfully) only by draw-
ing a line between epic and pseudo-epic. And in this regard
the Harivan^a legends of Krishna are to be grouped with the
pseudo-epic, of which they are the legitimate if late continua-
tion. Again one must separate teaching from legend. To the
Divine Song belong sentiments and phrases that have been
ascribed to Christian influence. Definitive assurance in this
regard is an impossibility. When Vishnu says (as is said also
in the Upanishads) " I am the letter A," one may, and proba-
bly will, decide that this is or is not an imitation of " I am

1 Nirvana, loosely used ; termini technici ; possibly the evils of the fourth age ; the
mention of (Buddhist) temples, etc.

HINDUISM. — VISHiYU AND QIVA. 429

alpha," strictly in accordance with his preconceived opinions.
There are absolutely no historical data to go upon. One may
say with tolerable certainty that the Divine Song as a whole is
antique, prior to Christianity. But it is as unmistakably in-
terpolated and altered. The doctrine of b/iakt/\ faithful love as
a means of salvation, cannot be much older than the Song, for it
is found only in the latest Upanishads (as shown by comparing
them with those undoubtedly old). But on the other hand the
prasada doctrine (of special grace) belongs to a much earlier
literature, and there is no reason why the whole theory with
its startling resemblance to the doctrine of grace, and its insist-
ence on personal affection for the Lord should not have been
self-evolved. The old omnipotence of inherited knowledge
stops with the Upanishads. To their authors the Vedas are
but a means. They desired wisdom, not knowledge. They
postulated the desire for the Supreme Spirit as the true
wisdom. From this it is but a step to yearning and love for
the Supreme. That step is made in the Divine Song. It is
recognized by early Buddhism as a Brahmanic trait. Is it
necessarily imported from Christianity? The proof is cer-
tainly lacking. Nor, to one accustomed to the middle litera-
ture of Hindu religion, is the phraseology so strikingly unique
as would appear to be the case. Taken all in all, the teaching
of Christianity certainly may be suspected, but it cannot be
shown to exist in the Divine Song.

Quite different is the case with the miraculous matter that
grew up about the infant Krishna. But here one is out of the
epic and dealing with the latest literature in regard to the man-
god. This distinction cannot be too much insisted upon, for
to point first to the teaching of the Divine Song and then to
the Krishna legends as equally reflecting Christianity is to
mix up two periods as distinct as periods can be established
in Hindu literature. And the result of the whole investigation
shows that the proofs of borrowing are as different as these

430 THE RELIGIOXS OF IXDIA.

periods. The inner Christianity thought to be copied by the
re-writer of the Divine Sono^ is doubtful in the last desiree.
The outer Christianity reflected in the Puranic legends of
Krishn? is as palpable as it is shocking. Shocking, for here
not only are miracles treated grotesquely, but everything that is
meant spiritually in the Occident is interpreted physically and
carnally. The love of the Bridegroom is sensual ; the brides
of God are drunken dancing girls.

The ' coincidences,' as some scholars marvellously regard
them, between the legends of Christ and Krishna are too ex-
traordinary to be accepted as such. They are direct importa-
tions, not accidental coincidences. Whatever is most marvel-
lous in the accounts of Christianity finds itself here reproduced
in Krishnaism. It is not in the doctrine of avatars^ which re-
sembles the doctrine of the Incarnation,^ it is in the totality of
legends connected with Krishna that one is forced to see
Christian influence. The scenes of the nativity, the adoration
of the magi, the miracles during the Saviour's childhood, the
transfiguration, and other stories of Christ are reproduced with
astonishing similarity. One may add to this the Christmas
festival, where Krishna is born in a stable, and the use of cer-
tain church-utensils in the temple-service. Weber has proved
by collecting and explaining these ' coincidences,' '^ that there
must be identity of origin. It remains only to ask from which
side is the borrowing? Considering how late are these
Krishna le2:ends in India ^ there can be no doubt that the

'&'

1 On this point we agree neither with Weber, who regards the avatars as an imita-
tion of the Incarnation (///c/. St. ii. p. 169), nor with Schroeder, who {Literatiir vnd
Citltur, p. T)2^) would derive the notion from the birth-stories of Buddha. In our
opinion the avatar-theoYy is older than either and is often only an assimilation of out-
lying totem-gods to the Brahman's god, or as in the case of the flood-story the neces-
sary belief that the ' fish ' must have been the god of the race. Some of these avatars
are Brahmanic, presumably pre-Buddhistic.

'- Krishna's Geburtsfest {jamndstamt). 1S67.

3 Since they do not appear till after the real epic we date them tentatively as
arising after 600 a.d. Most of them are in still later Puranas.

HINDUISM. — XnSHNU AND QIVA. 431

Hindu borrowed the tales, but not the name ; for the last as-
sumption is quite improbable because Krishna (= Christ ?) is
native enough, and Jishnu is as old as the Rig Veda. That
these tales are of secondary importance, as they are of late
origin, is a matter of course. They are excrescences upon
real Vishnuism (Krishnaism) and the result of anthropomor-
phizing in its fullest extent the image of the man-god, who
is represented in the epic as the incarnation of the Supreme
Spirit. The doctrine of the incarnation is thoroughly Indic.
It is Buddhistic as well as Brahmanic, and precedes Vishnuism
as it does Christianity. The lejrends are another matter.
Here one has to assume direct contact with the Occident.^
But while agreeing with Weber and disagreeing with Barth in
the determination of the relation of this secondary matter, we
are unable to agree with Weber in his conclusions in regard to
the one passage in the pseudo-epic that is supposed by him " to
refer to a visit to a Christian church in Alexandria. This is the
famous episode of the White Island, which, to be sure, occurs
in so late a portion of the Book of Peace (xii. 337. 20 ff.) that
it might well be what Weber describes it as being. But to us
it appears to contain no allusion at all to Christianity. The
account in brief is as follows : Three priests with the insignif-
icant names " First, Second, Third," ^ go to the far North (///f
tUtara) where, in the " Sea of Milk," they find an Albion called
"White Island," perhaps regarded as one of the seven or
thirteen 'islands,' of which earth consists; and there Vishnu

1 Incidental rapport \\\W\ the Greeks has been pointed out in other instances ; the
stira7tgd, a mine, of the late tale in i. 14S. 12, etc. {Ind. St. ii. p. 395), has been
equated with syrinx; Skanda with Alexander, etc. It is needless to say that each of
these is only a guess in etymology. But Greek influence is perceptible in the Greek
soldiers and names of (Greek) kings that are found in the epic.

2 Iitd. St. i. 423; ii. 169. Weber believes that little is native to India which re-
sembles Christianity in the way of theology; love of God, special grace, monotheism,
all to him are stolen. We regret that we must disagree with him in these instances.

3 Ekata, Dvita, Trita. A Dvita appears as early as the Rig Veda. Ekata is an
analogous formation and is old also.

432 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

is worshipped as the one god by white men of extraordinary
physical characteristics.

The fact that the ' one god ' is already a hackneyed phrase of
philosophy ; that there is no resemblance to a trinitarian god ;
that the hymn sung to this one god contains no trace of Chris-
tian influence, but is on the other hand thoroughly native in
tone and phraseology, being as follows : " Victory to thee, thou
god with lotus-eyes ; Reverence to thee, thou creator of all
things ; Reverence be to thee, O Vishnu ; ^ thou Great Per-
son; first-born one" ; all these facts indicate that if the \^'hite-
islanders are indeed to be regarded as foreigners worshipping
a strange god, that god is strictly monotheistic and not trinita-
rian. Weber lays stress on the expression 'first-born,' which
he thinks refers to Christ ; but the epithet is old (Vedic), and
is common, and means no more than 'primal deity.'

There is much that appears to be foreign in the epic. This
passage seems rather to be a recollection of some shrine where
monotheism without Christianity was acknowledged. On the
other hand, even in the pseudo-epic, there is much apparently
borrowed which yet is altogether native to Brahmanic land and
sect. It is not in any passage which is proved to be of foreign
origin that one reads of the boy of twelve years who entered
among the wise men and confuted their reasoning (above, p.
382). It is not of course due to Christian influence that the
great 'saint of the stake ' is taken by the 'king's men,' is cruci-
fied (or literally impaled) among thieves, and lives so long that
the guard go and tell the king of the miracle ;" nor is it neces-
sary to assume that everything elevated is borrowed. "When I
revile, I revile not again," sounds indeed like an echo of Chris-
tian teaching, but how thoroughly Hindu is the reason. " For I
know that self-control is the door of immortality." And in the

1 Hrishlkega is 'lord of senses,' a common epithet of Vishnu (Krishna).
- i. 107. I ff. The spirits of the dead come to him and comfort him in the shape
of birds — an old trait, compare Baudh. Dh, C^'ast. ii. S. 14. 10 ; Q'at. Br. vi. 1.1.2.

HINDUISM. — VISHNU AND QIVA. 433

same breath, with a connection of meaning patent only when
one regards the whole not as borrowed but as native, follow the
words that we have ventured to put upon the title-page of this
volume, as the highest and at the same time the truest expres-
sion of a religion that in bringing the gods to men raised man
to equality with God — " This is a holy mystery which I de-
clare unto you : There is nothing nobler than humanity." ^

1 xii. 300. 20.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE PUR ANAS. — EARLY SECTS, FESTIVALS, THE TRINITY.

Archaeologia, 'ancient lore,' is the meaning of Purana
{purana, ' old '). The religious period represented by the extant
writings of this class is that which immediately follows the
completion of the epic.-^ These works, although they contain
no real history, yet reflect history very plainly, and since the
advent and initial progress of Puranic Hinduism, with its
various cults, is contemporary with important political changes,
it will be necessary briefly to consider the circumstances in
which arose these new creeds, for they were destined to become
in the future the controlling force in the development of Hindu
religion.

In speaking of the extension of Buddhism we showed that
its growth was influenced in no small degree by the fact that
this caste-less and, therefore, democratic religion was adopted by
post-Alexandrine rulers in the Graeco-Bactrian period. At this
time the Aryans were surrounded with foreigners and pagans.
To North and South spread savage or half Hinduized native
tribes, while soldiers of Greece and Bactria encamped in the
valley of the Ganges. Barbarians had long been active in the

1 Parts of the epic are called Puranas, as other parts are called Upanishads, These
are the forerunners of the extant Puranas. The name, indeed, is even older tlian
the epic, belonging to the late Vedic period, where are grouped together Puranas and
Itihasas, 'Ancient History' and 'Stories'; to which are added 'Eulogies.' Weber
has long since pointed out that even when the 'deeds of kings' were sung at a
ceremony they were wont to be so embroidered as to be dubbed ' fiction ' by the
Hindus themselves. India has neither literary history (save what can be gleaned
from genealogies of doubtful worth), nor very early inscriptions. The 'archaeology'
of the Puranas was probably always what it is in the extant specimens, legendary
material of no direct historical value.

THE PURANAS. 435

North, and some scholars have even claimed that Buddha's
own family was of Turanian origin. The Brahmans then as
now retained their prestige only as being repositories of ancient
wisdom ; and outside of their own Mioly land' their influence
was reduced to a minimum by the social and political tenden-
cies that accompanied the growth of Buddhism. After the
fourth century B.C. the heart of India, the 'middle district,' be-
tween the Himalaya and Vindhya mountains from Delhi to
Benares,^ was trampled upon by one Graeco-Bactrian horde
after another. The principal effect of this rude dominion was
eventually to give political equality to the two great rival
religions. The Buddhist and the Brahman lived at last if not
harmoniously, at least pacifically, side by side. Members of
the same reigning family would profess Buddhism or Brahman-
ism indifferently. One king would sometimes patronize both
religions. And this continued to be the case till Buddhism
faded out, replaced by that Hinduism which owed its origin
partly to native un- Aryan influence (paganism), partly to this
century-long fusion of the two state religions.

To review these events : In the first decades of the fourth
century (320 or 315-291 B.C.) Candragupta, Sandrocottos, had
built up a monarchy in Behar '^ on the ruins left by the Greek
invasion, sharing his power with Seleucus in the Northwest,
and had thus prepared the way for his grandson, A^oka, the
great patron of Buddhism (264 or 259). This native power
fell before the hosts of Northern barbarians, which, after irrup-
tions into India in the second century, got a permanent foot-
hold there in the first century B.C. These Northern barbarians
(their nationality is uncertain), whose greatest king was Ka-
nishka, 78 a.d., ruled for centuries the land they had seized ;
but they were vanquished at last in the sixth century, probably

1 Strictly speaking to the present Allahabad, where is the Prayaga, or confluence
of Yamuna and Ganga (Jumna and Ganges).

2 Magadha ; called Behar from its many monasteries, vihdras, in A§oka's time.

436 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

by Vikramaditya/ and were driven out. The breathing-space
between Northern barbarian and Mohammedan was nominally
not a long- one, but since the first Moslem conquests had no
definitive result the new invaders did not quite overthrow Hindu
rule till the end of the tenth century. During this period the
native un-Aryan tribes, with their Hinduizing effect, were more
distructive as regards the maintenance of the old Brahmanic
cult than were outsiders."-^

When Tamerlane invaded India his was the fourth invasion
after the conquest of the Punjab by the Moslem in 664.^ In

1 So, plausibly, Miiller, loc. cit. below.

2 The tribes became Hinduized, their chiefs became Rajputs; their religions doubt-
less affected the ritual and creed of the civilized as much as the religion of the latter
colored their own. Some of these un-Aryan peoples were probably part native, part
barbaric. There is much doubt in regard to the dates that depend on accepted eras.
It is not certain, for instance, that, as Miiller claims, Kanishka's inauguration coincides
with the Qaka era, 'jZ a.d. A great Buddhist council was held under him. Some
distinguished scholars still think with Biihler that Vikramaditya's inauguration was
57 B.C. (the date that used to be assigned to him). From our present point of view
it is of little consequence when this king himself lived. He is renowned as patron of
arts and as a conqueror of the barbarians. If he lived in the first century B.C. his
conquest amounted to nothing permanent. What is important, however, is that all
Vikramaditya stands for in legend must have been in the sixth century a.d. For the
drama, of which he is said to have been patron, represents a religion distinctly later
than that of the body of the epic (completed in the sixth or seventh century, Biihler,
Indian Studies, No. ii.). The dramatic and astronomical era was but introductory
to Kumarila's reassertion of Brahmanism in the seventh century, when the Northern
barbarian was gone, and the Mohammedan was not yet rampant. In the rest of
Northern India there were several native dynasties in different quarters, with differ-
ent eras ; one in Surashtra (Gujarat), one again in the ' middle district ' or ' North
Western Provinces,' one in Kutch ; overthrown by Northern barbarians (in the fifth
century) and by the Mohammedans (in the seventh and eighth centuries), respec-
tively. Of these the Guptas of the ' middle district,' and the ValabhTs of Kutch, had
neither of the eras just mentioned. The former dated from 320-321 (perhaps 319),
the latter from 190 (a.d.). The word samvat, 'year,' indicates that the time is dated
from either the Qaka or Vikramaditya era. See lA. xvii. 362; Fergusson, JRAS.
xii. 259; Miiller, India, What Can It Teach Us^ p. 2S2 ; Kielhorn, lA.-xix. 24;
xxii. III. The Northern barbarians are called Scythians, or Huns, or Turanians,
according to fancy. No one really knows what they were.

^ The first host was expelled by the Hindus in 750. After a period of rest Mah-
mud was crowned in 997, who overran India more than a dozen times. In the fol-

THE PUR AN AS. 437

1525 the fifth conqueror, Baber, fifth too in descent from Tam-
erlane, founded the Mogul empire that Listed till the fall of
this dynasty (nominally till 1857). But it must be remem-
bered that each new conqueror from 997 till 1525 merely con-
quered old Mohammedan dynasties with new invasions. It
was all one to the Hindu. He had the Mohammedan with
him all this time ; only each new rival's success made his lot
the harder. But Baber's grandson, the Great Mogul, Akbar
(who reigned from 1556 to 1605), gave the land not only peace
but kindness ; and under him Jew, Christian, Hindu, and
Mohammedan at last forgot to fear or fight. After this there
is only the overthrow of the Mohammedan power to record ;
and the rise of the Mahratta native kingdoms. A new faith
resulted from the amalgamation of Hinduism with Moham-
medism (after 1500), as will be shown hereafter.

In the pauses before the first Mohammedan invasion, and
between the first defeat of the Mohammedans and their suc-
cessful second conquest, the barbarians being now expelled and
Buddhism beinsf decadent, Brahmanism rallied. In the sixth
century there was toleration for all faiths. In the seventh cen-
tury Kumarila renewed the strength of Brahmanism on the ritu-
alistic side with attacks on Buddhism, and in the ninth century
^ankara placed the philosophy of unsectarian pantheism on a
firm basis by his commentary on the Vedanta Sutra. -^ These
two men are the re-makers of ancient Brahmanism, which from
this time on continued in its stereotyped form, adapting Hindu

lowing centuries the land was conquered and the people crushed by the second great
Mohammedan, Ghori, who died in 1206, leaving his kingdom to a vassal, Kutab, the
' slave sultan ' of Delhi. In 1294, this slave dynasty having been recently supplanted,
the new successor to the throne was slain by his own nephew, Allah-ud-din, who is
reckoned as the third ]\Iohammedan conqueror of India. His successor swept even
the Dekhan of all its Hindu (temple) wealth; but his empire finally broke down
under its own size ; preparing the way for Timur (Tamerlane), who entered India in
1398.

1 (^ankara himself was not a pure Brahman. Both Vishnuites and (^^ivaites lay
claim to him.

438 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

gods very coyly, and only as spirits of small importance, while
relying on the laws as well as the gods of old, on holy acara or
' custom,' and the now systematized exposition of its old
(Upanishad) philosophy.^ Its creative force was already spent.
Buddhism, on the other hand, was dying a natural death. The
time was ripe for Hinduism, which had been gathering strength
for centuries. After the sixth century, and perhaps even as late
as 1500, or later, were written the modern Puranas, which
embody the new belief.^ They cannot, on account of the dis-
tinct advance in their cult, have appeared before the end of the
epic age. The breathing spell (between barbarian and com-
plete Mohammedan conquest) which gave opportunity to
Kumarila to take a high hand with Buddhism, was an opportu-
nity also for the codification of the new creeds. It is, therefore,
to this era that one has probably to refer the first of the mod-

1 Coy as was the Brahman in the adoption of the new gods he was wise enough to
give them some place in his pantheon, or he would have offended his laity. Thus he
recognizes Kali as well as C^ri ; in fact he prefers to recognize the female divinities of
the sects, for they offer less rivalry.

2 There was a general revival of letters antedating the Brahmanic theological
revival. The drama, which reflects equally Hinduism and Brahmanism, is now the
favorite light literature of tlie cultured. In the sixth century the first astronomical
works are written (Varahamihira, who wrote the Brhat Samhitd), and the group of
writers called the Nine Gems (reckoned of Vikramaditya's court) are to be referred to
this time. The best known among them is Kalidasa, author of the (^^akitntald. An
account of this Renaissance, as he calls it, will be found in Miiller's htdia, W/iat Can
It Teach Us? The learned author is perhaps a little too sweeping in his conclusions.
It is, for instance, tolerably certain that the Bharata was completed by the time the
' Renaissance ' began ; so that there is no such complete blank as he assumes prior to
Vikramaditya. But the general state of affairs is such as is depicted in the ingenious
article referred to. The sixth and seventh centuries were eras that introduced mod-
ern literature under liberal native princes, who were sometimes not Rajputs at all.
Roughly speaking, one may reckon from 500 B.C. to the Christian era as a period of
Buddhistic control, Graeco-Bactrian invasion, and Brahmanic decline. The first five
centuries after the Christian see the two religions in a state of equilibrium, under
Scythian control, and the I\Iaha-Bharata,the expanded Bharata, is vvritten. From 500
to 1000 is an era of native rulers, Brahmanic revival in its pure form, and Hindu
growth, with little trouble from the Mohammedans. Then for five centuries the hor-
rors of Moslem conquest.

THE PURANAS. 439

ern sectarian Puranas, though the ritualistic Tantras and
Ao^amas of the lower Civaite sects doubtless belono^ rather to
the end than to the beginning of the period. We are strength-
ened in this belief by the fact that the oldest of these works do
not pretend to antedate Kumarila's century, though the sects
mentioned in the epic are known in the first centuries of the
Christian era. The time from the first to the seventh centuries
one may accordingly suppose to have been the era during which
was developing the Brahmanized form of the early Hindu sects,
the literature of these and subsequent sects being composed in
the centuries succeeding the latter term. These sects again
divide into many subdivisions, of which we shall speak below.
At present we take up the character of the Puranas and their
most important points of difference as compared with the sec-
tarian parts of the earlier pseudo-epic, examining especially the
trinitarian doctrine, which they inculcate, and its history.

Save in details, even the special ' faith-scriptures ' called
Tantras go no further than go the Puranas in advocating the
cult of their particular divinities. And to this advocacy of
special gods all else in this class of writings is subordinated. The
ideal Purana is divided into five parts, cosmogony, new creations,
genealogies of gods and heroes, 7na}ivantaras (descriptions of
periodic ' ages,' past and future), and dynasties of kings. But
no extant Purana is divided thus. In the epic the doctrine of
trinitarianism is barely formulated. Even in the Harivanca, or
Genealogy, vahca^ of Vishnu, there is no more than an inverted
triunity, 'one form, three gods,' where, in reality, all that is
insisted upon is the identity of Vishnu and (Jiva, Brahma being,
as it were, perfunctorily added. ^ In the Puranas, on the other
hand, while the trinity is acknowledged, religion is resolved
again into a sort of sectarian monotheism, where the devotee
seems to be in the midst of a squabbling horde of temple-priests,
each fighting for his own idol. In the calmer aspects of religion,

1 Har. 10,662. Compare the laudation of 'the two gods ' in the same section.

440 THE RELIGIONS Or IXDIA.

apart from sectarian schism, these writings offer, indeed, much
that is of second-rate interest, but little that is of real value.
The idle speculations in regard to former divinities are here
made cobweb thin. The philosophy is not new, nor is the
spirit of religion raised, even in the most inspired passages, to
the level which it has reached in the Divine Song. Some of
these Puranas, of which eighteen chief are cited, but with an
unknown number of subordinate works, ^ may claim a respect-
able age ; many of them are the most wretched stuff imaginable,
bearing about the same literary and historical relation to earlier
models as do the later legal Smritis. In fact, save for their
religious (sectarian) purport, the Puranas for sections together
do not differ much in content from legal Smritis, out of which
some may have been evolved, though, probably, they were from
their inception legendary rather than didactic. It is more
probable, therefore, that they appropriated Smriti material
just as they did epic material ; and though it is nov/ received
opinion that legal Smritis are evolved out of Sutras, this yet can
be the case only with the oldest, even if the statement then can
be accepted in an unqualified form. In our own opinion it is
highly probable that Puranas and later legal Smritis are diver-
gent developments from the same source.^ One gives an account
of creation, and proceeds to tell about the social side ; the other
sticks to the accounts of creation, goes on to theology, takes up
tales of heroes, introduces speculation, is finally wrenched over
to and amplified by sectarian writers, and so presents a com-
posite that resembles epic and law, and yet is generally religious
and speculative.

1 As the Jains have Angas and Upangas, and as the pseudo-epic distinguishes
Nishads and Upanishads, so tlie Brahman has Puranas and Upapuranas (Kurma
Purana, i. p. 3). Some of the sects acknowledge only six Puianas as orthodox.

2 As an example of a Puranic Smriti (legal) we may cite the trash published as the
Vrddha-Harita-Saiiihita Here there is polemic against Qiva ; one must worship
Jagannath with flowers, and every one must be branded with the Vishnu disc (cakra).
Even women and slaves are to use imintras, etc.

THE PUR ANAS. 441

A striking instance of this may be seen in the law-book of
'Vishnu.' Here there is an old base of legal lore, Sutra, inter-
larded with Puranic material, and built up with sectarianism.
The writer is a Vishnuite, and while recognizing the trinity, does
not hesitate to make his law command offerings to Krishna
Vasudeva, and his family (Pradyumna, Aniruddha), along with
the regular Brah'manic oblations to older spirits.^ Brahmanism
recognized Hindu deities as subordinate powers at an early date,
at least as early as the end of the Sutra period ; while Manu
not only recognizes Vishnu and Civa (Hara), but recommends
an oblation to Qri and Kali (Bhadrakali, here, as elsewhere, is
Durga).'

In their original form the Puranas were probably Hesiodic in
a great extent, and doubtless contained much that was after-
wards specially developed in more prolix form in the epic itself.
But the works that are come down as Puranas are in general
of later sectarian character, and the epic language, phraseology,
and descriptions of battles are more likely taken straight from
the epic than preserved from ante-epic times. Properly speak-
ing one ought to give first place to the Puranas that are incor-
porated into the epic. The epic Markandeya Purana, for
instance, is probably a good type of one of the earlier works
that went by this name. That the present Puranas are imita-
tions of the epic, in so far as they treat of epic topics, may be
presumed from the fact that although they often have the
formulae intact of the battlefield,^ yet do they not remain by
epic descriptions but add weapons, etc., of more modern date
than are employed in the original.*

1 The lateness of this law-book is evident from its advocacy of sitttee (xxv. 14), its
preference for female ancestors (see below), etc.

2 Manu, iii. 89 ; xii. 121,

3 As, for example, in Kurma Purana, xvi. p. 1S6, where is found a common epic
verse description of battle.

4 A good instance of this is found in Brihan Xaradiya Purana, x., where the cJnirikd
and drughana (24) appear in an imitative scene of this sort ; one of these being later,
the other earlier, than the epic vocabulary.

442 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

The sectarian monotheism of the Puranas never resulted in
dispensing with the pantheon. The Hindu monotheist is a pan-
theist, and whether sectarian or pliilosophical, he kept and added
to his pantheon.-^ Indra is still for warriors, Maruts for hus-
bandmen, althougli old views shift somewhat. So for example, in
the Kurma Purana the Gandharvas are added for the ^iidras.''
The fourfoldness, which we have shown in the epic to be char-
acteristic of Vishnu, is now represented by the militar}- epithet
caturvyuhas (agmen quadratum), in that the god represents
peace, wisdom, support, and renunciation ; though, as a matter
of fact, he is avyu/ia, i.e., without any of these. ^ Starting with
the physical 'god of the four quarters,' one gets even in the
epic the ' controller of four,' or perfect person, conceived like
avr]p rerpdyiovoq. Tennyson's ' four-square to all the winds that
blow ' is a good connecting link in the thought. The Puranas
are a mine of legend, although most of the stories seem to be
but epic tales, more or less distorted. Nala ' the great-great-
grandson of Rama ' is described after the history of Rama him-
self ; the installation of Puru, when his father had passed over
his eldest son, and such reminiscences of the epic are the stock
in trade of the legendary writers.'*

The origin of the four castes ; ^ the descriptions of hell, some-

1 Perhaps the most striking distinction between Vedic and Puranic, or, one may
say, Indie Aryan and Hindu reUgions, is the emphasis laid in the former upon Right ;
in tlie latter, upon idols. The Vedic religion insists upon the law of right (order),
that is, the sacrifice ; but it insists also upon right as rectitude, truth, holiness. Puranic
Hinduism insists upon its idols ; only incidentally does it recommend rectitude, truth,
abstract holiness.

2 KP. i. p. 29.

3 Kiirma, xii. p. 102. Contrast i7>. xxii. p. 245, catiirvyHhadha7-o Vishmir avyiihas
p7-ocyate (elsewhere Jiavavyuha). Philosophically, in the doctrine of the epic

Paficaratras (still held by some sectaries), Mshnu is to be revered as Krishna,
Balarama. Pradyumna, Aniruddha (Krishna's brother, son, and grandson), represent-
ing, respectively, dtvid, J'lva, supreme and individual spirit, perception, and con-
sciousness. Compare Mbha. xii. 340. 8, 72.
^ KP. xxi. p. 236 ; xxii. p. 238, etc.

o lb. I, p. 23.

THE PUR AN AS. - 443

what embellished/ where the 'sinful are cooked in fire';^
the exaltation of Vishnu as Krishna or Rama in one, and that
of Civa in another — these and similar aspects are reflections of
epic matter, spirit, tone, and language, only the faith is still
fiercer in religious matters, and the stories are fainter in histori-
cal references. According to the Purana last cited: "There is
no expiation for one that bows to a phallic emblem," />., ^ivaite,
and " all the Bauddhas are heretics";^ and according to the
Kurma Purana : " Vishnu is the divinity of the gods ; ^iva, of
the devils," although the preceding verses teach, in the spirit of
the Divine Song, that each man's divinity is that which he con-
ceives to be the divinity. Such is the concluding remark made
by Vasistha in adjudicating the strife between the Vishnuite
and Qivaite sectaries of the epic heroes.^ The relation that
the Puranic literature bears to religion in the minds of its authors
is illustrated by the remark of the Naradiya to the effect that
the god is to be honored "by song, by music, by dance, and by
recounting the Puranas" (xvii. 9).

Some of the epic religious ceremonies which there are barely
alluded to are here described with almost the detail of a tech-
nical handbook. So the Naradiya (xix.) gives an elaborate ac-
count of the raising of a dhvaja or standard as a religious
ceremony.'^ The legal rules affecting morality and especially
caste-intercourse ^ show a laxity in regard to the rules as for-

1 Compare Brihan Naradiya Purana. xiv. 10, balii'ini kdsthaydntrdni (torture
machines) in hell. The old tale of Xaciketas is retold at great length in the Varaha
Purana. The oldest Purana, the Markandeya, has but seven hells, a conception older
than Manu's twenty-one (compare on MP. x. So ff., Scherman, loc. cit. p. 33), or the
later lists of thousands. The Padma Purana, which celebrates Rama, has also seven
hells, and is in part old, for it especially extols Pushkara (Brahma's lone shrine) ;
but it recommends the iaptaviiidra^ or branding with hot iron.

2 Nar. xiv. 2. 3 xiv. 54 and 70.
•i KP. xxii. pp. 239-241.

5 As will be shown below, it is possible that this may be a ceremony first taken
from the wild tribes. See the ' pole ' rite described above in the epic.

6 Compare for instance ib. xxviii. 68, on the strange connection of a (^iidra wife of
a Guru.

444 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

merly preached. Even the old Puranic form of the epic is
reproduced, as when Markandeya converses again with Yudhis-
tris, exactly as he does in the epic.-^ The duration of the ages ;
the fruit of sacrifices, among which are still mentioned the
rajasnya^ acvamcdha^ and other ancient rites ; ^ the virtue of
holy-places ; " the admixture of pure pantheism with the idea
of a personal creation'* — these traits are again just those
which have been seen already in the epic, nor is the addition
of sections on temple-service, or other more minute details
of the cult, of particular importance in a history of religious
ideas.

The Puranas for our present purpose may all be grouped
v;ith the remark that what is ancient in them is a more or less
fugitive resemblance to the epic style and matter ; ^ what is new
is the more pronounced sectarianism with its adventitious
growth of subordinate spiritualities and exaggerated miracles.
Thus for instance in the Yaraha Purana there are eleven, in
the Bhagavat Purana twenty (instead of the older ten) ai'atars
of Vishnu. So too the god of love — although Kama and his
dart are recognized in the late Atharvan — as a petty spirit re-
ceives homage only in the latest Sutra (as Cupid, Apastamba,
ii. 2. 4. i), and in late additions to the epic he is a little god ;
whereas in the drama he is prominent, and in the Puranas his
cult is described at length (though to-day he has no temple).
The 'mother '-fiend Piitana, who suckles babes to slay them,

1 KP. xxxvi. It is of course impossible to say how much epic m.aterial is come
from the literary epic and how much is drawn from popular poetry, for t!ie vulgar
had their own epoidic songs which may have treated of the same topics. Thus even
a wild tribe (Gonds) is credited with an 'epic' But such stuff was probably as
worthless as are the popular songs of to-day.

- KP. XXX. p. 305 ; xxxvii. p. 352. 3 /^^ p. ^--^

^ Compare Naradlya, xi. 23, 27, 31 'the one whom no one knows." ' he that rests
in the heart,' ' he that seems to be far off because we do not know,' * he whose form is
(^iva, lauded by Vishnu,' xiii. 201.

5 Even Vishnu as a part of a part of the Supreme Spirit in VP. is indicated by
Vishnu's adoration of dtmd in the epic (see above).

THE PURANAS. — EARLY SECTS. 445

is scarcely known to the early epic, but she is a very real per-
sonality in the late epic and Puranas.

The addition to the trinity of the peculiar inferior godhead
that is advocated in any one Purana, virtually making four di-
vinities, is characteristic of the period.

In proportion as sectarian ardor is heightened religious tone
is lowered. The Puranic votary clinging to his one idea of
god curses all them that believe in other aspects of the divin-
ity. Blind bigotry fills the worshipper's soul. Religion be-
comes mere fanaticism. But there is also tolerance. Some-
times in one and the same Purana rival forms are honored.
The modern Hindu sects are in part the direct development of
Puranic doctrine. But most of the sects of to-day are of very
recent date, though their principles are often of respectable
antiquity, as are too their sectarian signs, as well as the ani-
mals of their gods, some of which appear to be totems of the
wild tribes, while others a're merely objects of reverence among
certain tribes. Thus the ram and the elephant are respectively
the ancient beasts of Agni and Indra. Qiva has the bull ; his
spouse, the tiger. Earth and Skanda have appropriated the
peacock, Skanda having the cock also. Yama has the buffalo
(compare the Khond, wild-tribe, substitution of a buffalo for a
man in sacrifice). Love has the parrot, etc.; while the boar
and all Vishnu's animals in avatars are holy, being his chosen
beasts.^

EARLY SECTS.

A classification of older sects (the unorthodox) than those of
the present remains to us from the works of Qankara's reputed
disciple, Ananda Giri, and of ]\Iadhava Acarya, the former a
writer of the ninth, the latter of the fourteenth century. Ac-
cording to the statements made by these writers there were a
great number of sects, regarded as partly heterodox or wholly

1 Compare Williams' Brahnianism and Hindiiism,

446 THE RELIGIOXS OF IXDIA.

SO, and it is interesting in examining the list of these to see
that some of the epic sects (their names at least) are still in
full force, while on the other hand the most important factions
of to-day are not known at all ; and that many sects then existed
which must have been at that time of great antiquity, although
now they have wholly passed away.-^ These last are indeed to
the author of the critique of the sects not wdiolly heterodox.
They are only too emphatic, in worshipping their peculiar divin-
ity, to suit the more modern conceptions of the Hindu reviewer.
But such sects are of the highest importance, for they show
that despite all the bizarre bigotry of the Puranas the old
Vedic gods (as in the epic) still continue to hold their own,
and had their own idols and temples apart from other newer
gods. The Vedic divinities, the later additions in the shape of
the god of love, the god of wealth, Kubera,- the heavenly bird,
Garuda, the v»'orld-snake, Q^sha, together with countless genii,
spirits, ghosts, the Manes, the heavenly bodies, stars, etc., all
these were revered, though of less importance than the gods of
Vishnuite and ^^vaite sects. Among these latter the Qivaite
sects are decidedly of less interest than the corresponding Vish-
nuite heresies, while the votaries of Brahma (exclusively) are
indeed mentioned, but they cannot be compared with those of
the other two great gods.^ To-day there is scarcely any homage
paid to Brahma, and it is not probable that there ever was the
same devotion or like popularity in his case as in the case of
his rivals. Other interesting sects of this period are the Sun-
worshippers, who still exist but in no such numbers as when

1 Qankara's adherents are chiefly Qivaite, but he himself was not a sectary.
Wilhams saj's that at the present day few worsliip Qiva exclusively, but he has more
partial adherents than has Vishnu. Religious Thought and Life, pp. 59, 62.

2 The two last are just recognized in Brahmanic legal works.

3 See Wilson's sketch of Hindu sects. The author says that there were in his day
two shrines to Brahma, one in Ajmir (compare Pushkara in the epic), and one on the
Ganges at Bithur. The Brahma Purana is known also as Saura (sun). This is the
first in the list ; in its present state it is Vishnuite.

THE PURAXAS. — EARLY SECTS. 447

Ananda Giri counted six formal divisions of them. The vota-
ries of these sub-sects worshipped some, the rising sun, some,
the setting sun, while some again worshipped the noonday
sun, and others, all three as a ti'i-7iiurti. Another division wor-
shipped the sun in anthropomorphic shape, while the last
aw^akens the wrath of the orthodox narrator by branding them-
selves with hot irons. ^

Ganega,^ the lord of ^iva's hosts, had also six classes of
worshippers ; but he has not now as he then had a special and
peculiar cult, though he has many temples in Benares and
elsewhere. Of the declared Qivaite sects of that day, six are
mentioned, but of these only one survives, the ' wandering '
Jangamas of South India, the Qivaite Raudras, Ugras, Bhaktas,
and Pacupatis having yielded to more modern sectaries.

Some at least among the six sects of the Vishnuite sects,
wdiich are described by the old writers, appear to have been
more ancient. Here too one finds Bhaktas, and with them the
Bhagavatas, the old Pancaratras, the 'hermit' Vaikhanasas, and
Karmahinas, the latter '' having no rites." Concerning these
sects one gets scanty but direct information. They all wor-
shipped Vishnu under on.e form or another, the Bhaktas as
Vasudeva, the Bhagavatas ^ as Bhagavat. The latter resembled
the modern disciples of Ramanuja and revered the holy-stone,
appealing for authority to the Upanishads and to the Bhagavad
Gita, the Divine Song. Some too worshipped Vishnu exclu-

1 Sun-worship (Iranian ?) is especially pronounced in the Bhavishya(t) Purana. Of
the other Puranas the Linga is especially C^ivaite {linga is phallus), as are the
Matsya and older \'ayu. Sometimes C^iva is androgynous, ardkandrt^vara, ' half-
female.' But most of the Puranas are Vishnuite.

2 On the Ganega Purana see JRAS. 1S46, p. 319.

•"5 The worshippers of Bhagavat were originally distinct from the Paficaratras, but
what was the difference between them is unknown. The sect of this name in the
pseudo-epic is not (,akta in expression but only monotheistic. Probably the names
of many sects are retained with altered beliefs and practices. The Vishnu Purana,
1. II. 54, gives a model prayer which may be taken once for all as the attitude of the
Vishnuite : " Glory to Vasudeva, him of perfected wisdom, whose unrevealed form is
(known as) Brahir.a, Vishnu, and C^iva" (Hiranyagarbha, Purusha, Pradhana).

448 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

sively as Narayana, and believed in a heaven of sensual delights.
The other sects, now extinct, offer no special forms of worship.
What is historically most important is that in this list of sects
are found none that particularly worship the popular divinities
of to-day, no peculiar cult of Krishna as an infant and no
monkey-service.

Infidel sects are numerous in this period, of which sects the
worst in the old writers' opinion is the sensual Carvaka. Then
follow the (Buddhist) ^linyavads, who believe in 'void,' and
Saugatas, who believe that religion consists only in kindness,
the Kshapanakas, and the Jains. The infamous ' left-hand '
sectaries are also well known.

To one side of the Puranic religions, from the earlier time of
which comes this account of heresies, reference has been made
above: the development of the fables in regard to the infant
Krishna. That the cult is well known in the later Puranas
and is not mentioned in this list of wrong beliefs seems to
show that the whole cult is of modern growth, even if one does
not follow Weber in all his signs of modification of the older
practice.

RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS.

For the history of the cult there is in these works much to
interest one in the description and determination of popular
festivals in honor of the great sectarian gods. Further details
of more specific nature are given in other works which need
not here be regarded. By far the most important of these
festivals are those that seem to have been absorbed by the
sectarian cults, although they were originally more popular.
Weber in the paper on the rajasilya, to which we have had oc-
casion several times to refer, has shown that a popular element
abided long in the formal celebrations of the Brahmanic ritual.-^

1 Weber shows for instance, loc. cit., that Indra takes the place of older Varuna ;
that the house-priest yields to the Brahma ; that in this feast in honor of the king he

THE PURAXAS. — RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS. 449

Undoubtedly the original celebration was a popular one. To-
day the most interesting of these popular fetes is in all respects
the New Year's Festival and the Spring Festival. The latter
has been cut up into several parts, and to show the whole intent
of the original ceremonial it is necessary to take up the disjecta
membra and place them side by side, as has been done by
Wilson, whose sketch of these two festivals, together with that
by Gover of the New Year's Feast called Pongol, we give in
abstract, premising that, however close be the comparison
with European festivals of like nature, we doubt whether there
is any historical connection between them and the Hindu
celebrations.

We begin with the more popular New Year's, the Pongol:^
The interesting feature of this South India festival is that
the Hindus have done their best to alter its divinities and
failed. They have, indeed, for Indra and Agni got Krishna
formally accepted as the god in whose honor it is supposed
to be held, but the feast remains a native festival, and
no one really thinks of the Puranic gods in connection
with it. Europe also has seen such dynamic alterations of
divinities in cases where feasts would persist till patrons of
an orthodox kind were foisted upon them to give an air of pro-
priety to that which remained heathenish.^ The Pongol is a
New Year's festival lastins: for three davs. The first dav is for
Indra; the second, for (x\gni) Surya;^ the third (to which is

is soundly beaten ; that gaming creeps into the ceremony as a popular aspect ; that
there was a special ceremony to cure katzcnjammer caused by over-drinking ; and
that the whole ceremony was a popular spring festival, such as is found to-day (but
without the royal part in the play).

1 Govar, JRAS. v. 91 ; lA. xx. 430.

- In Hinduism itself there is a striking example of this. The Jagannath ('Jug-
gernaut') temple was once dedicated to Buddha as loka-iidtJi or J agan-ndih,'' s?iV\ovir
of the world.' Name, temple, and idol-car are now all Vishnu's !

3 That is, Rain and Sun, for all Indra's warlike qualities are forgotten, absorbed
into those of Qiva and his son, the battle-god. The sun crosses the equator at noon
of the second day, the ' Maha Pongol.'

450 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

added, as a wind-up, a fourth day), for cattle. The whole
feast is a harvest-home and celebration of cattle. The chief
ceremony is the cooking of rice, which is put to boil with great
solemnity, and luck for the next year is argued from its boiling
well. If it does so a universal shout arises,^ all rush about,
congratulate, and give presents to each other, and merry-
making follows. On the cattle-days the beasts are led about
with painted horns and decorated with ribbons, and are then
chased and robbed by the boys. The image of Gane^a is the
only one seen, and his worship is rather j^erfunctory. On the
evening of the last day the women have a party, paying obei-
sance to a peacock, and indulging in a family reunion of very
simple character. On this occasion the girl-wife may return
for a few hours to her mother. It is the only general fete for
women during the year.

Not unlike this festival of the extreme south is the New
Year's celebration at the mouth of the Ganges. Here there is
a grand fair and jewels are cast into the river as propitiation
to the river-goddess. Not long ago it was quite customary to
fling children also into the river, but this usage has now been
abolished." Offerings are made to the Manes, general and
particular, and to the All-gods. As with the Pongol, the feast is
one of good-fellowship where presents are distributed, and its
limit is the end of the third day. After this the festivities

1 " Now every neck is bent, for the surface of the water is disturbed. Then with
a heave, a liiss, and a surge of bubbles, the seething milk mounts to the top of the
vessel. Before it has had time to run down the blackened sides, the air resounds with
the sudden joyous cry of ' Pongol, oh Pongol, Siirya, Surya, oh Pongol,' The word
Pongol means '"boiling." from the Tamil word fongu, to boil; so that the joyous
shout is, ' It boils, oh Surya, it boils.' In a moment a convulsion of greetings ani-
mates the assembly. Every one seizes his neighbor and asks, ' Has it boiled ?' Both
faces gleam with delight as the answer comes — ' It has boiled.' Then both shout at
the top of their voices — ' Oh Pongol, Pongol, oh Surya, oh Indra, Pongol, Pongol.' "
Cover, loc. cit.

2 The crocodile, makara, like the parrot, is sacred "to^Kamadeva, Love. But
as Ganges also is holy it is difficult to say for which divinity the offering was in-
tended. Some, indeed, interpret viakara as dolphin.

THE PURANAS. — RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS. 451

have no religious character. Thousands of pilgrims assemble
for this fete. Wilson, who gives an account of this celebration,
compares the ancient Roman New Year's, with the juutni
amoris pignora which were sent at that season. The gifts in
India are sweetmeats and other delicacies, ominous of good
for the next year.^

On the 2d of February occurs a feast to (^ri, or Lakshmi,
Vishnu's bride, patroness of all prosperity to her worshippers.
At present it is a literary festival on which all books, inkstands,
pens, etc., are cleaned and worshipped, as adjuncts to Sara-
svati, the goddess of learning. This is rather significant, for
Sarasvati is properly the wife of Brahma, but the Vishnuites of
Bengal have made her the wife of Vishnu, and identified her
with Qri. It is to be noticed that in this sole celebration of
abstract learning and literature there is no recognition of ^iva,
but rather of his rival. Qiva and Ganega are revered because
they might impede, not because, as does Sarasvati, they further
literary accomplishment. Sarasvati is almost the only fair god-
dess. She is represented not as a horror, but as a beautiful
woman sitting on a lotus, graceful in shape, a crescent on her
brow.^ The boys, too, celebrate the day with games, bat and
ball, prisoner's base, and others " of a very European charac-
ter." The admixture of sectarian cults is shown by the trans-
ference to this Vishnuite feast of the Qivaite (Durga) practice

1 A feast now neglected, though kept up by strict Brahmans, occurs on or about
the 20th January. The orthodox adherents of the Qivaite sects and (^aktas also ob-
serve it. It is a (^raddha, or funeral feast to the Manes. Also on the 26th and 30th
January there are rites nearly obsolete, the first being signalized by offerings to
Yama; the second, a Qivaite feast (to his spouse, as ' giver of bridegrooms'). The
last is more celebrated in the South than in the North, It is interesting chiefly as a
parallel to St. Valentine's day, or, as Wilson says, the nearer feast of St. Agnes (21st
January), on the eve of which divination is practiced to discover future husbands. It is
this time also that the Greeks call ' marriage-month ' (Gamelion) ; and the fourth day
from the new moon (which gives the name to this Hindu festival, catiirt/n, "fourth
day") is the day when Hesiod recommends the bringing home of the bride.

- In case any writing has to be done on this day it is done with chalk, not with
the pens, " which have a complete holiday '" (Wilson).

452 THE RELIC NS OF INDIA.

of casting into the river the in" ges of the goddess.^ When
appUed distinctly to Sarasvati th "east is observed in August-
September ; when to Lakshmi, v October November, or in
February. There is, however, another feast, celebrated in the
North and South, which comes on the exact date fixed by the
Romans for the beginning of spring, and as an ending to this
there is a feast to Kama, Cupid, and his bride Rati (' Enjoy-
ment "). This is the Vasanta, or spring festival of prosperity
and love, which probably was the first form of the Lakshml-
Sarasvati feast.

Another traditional feast of this month is the loth- (the
eleventh lunar day of the light half of Magha). The eleventh
lunar day is particularly holy with the Yishnuites, as is said in
the Brahma Purana, and this is a Vishnuite festival. It is a
day of fasting and prayer, with presents to priests.^ It appears
to be a mixture of Vedic prayers and domestic Vishnu-worship.
On the nth of February the fast is continued, and in both the
object is expiation of sin. The latter is called the feast of ' six
sesamum acts,' for sesamum is a holy plant, and in each act of
this rite it play a part. Other rites of this month are to the
Manes on the 14th, 2 2d, and 24th of February. Bathing and
oblation are requisite, and all are of a lustral and expiatory
nature. Wilson remarks on the fact that it is the same time of
year in which the Romans gave oblations to the Manes, and

1 The invocations show very well how the worship of Brahma has been driven out
in honor of his more powerful rivals. For Sarasvati is invoked first as '" Thou with-
out whom Brahm.a never lives " ; but again as " Thou of eight forms, Lakshm.i, IMedha,
Dhava, Pushtl, Gauri, Tushti, Prabha, Dhriti, O Sarasvati." The great festivals,
like the great temples, are not very stricty sectarian. Williams says that in (^iva's
temple in Benares are kept monkeys (sacred to Vishnu).

- Between this and the last occur minor holidays, one to avert small-pox ; one
(February the 4th) sacred to the sun (Sunday, the seventh day of each lunar fortnight,
is strictly observed) ; and one to the Manes.

^ Fasting is not necessarily a part of civilized religion alone. It is found in the
Brahmanic and Hindu cults, but it obtains also among the American Indians. Thus
the Dacotahs fast for two or three days at the worship of sun and moon. School-
craft, Histor. and Statist.^ iii. 227.

THE PUR AN AS. — RE' GIOUS FESTIVALS. 453

that Februus is the god of pr^ilication. "There can be no rea-
sonable doubt that the Fer^ ^i, of the Romans and the Qraddha
(feast to the Manes) of thtjj^lindus, the worship of the Pitris
and of the ManeSj have a common character, and had a com-
mon origin." ^ ^^

The 27th of February is the greatest Qivaite day in the year.
It celebrates (Jiva's first manifestation of himself in phallic
form. To keep this day holy expiates from all sin, and secures
bliss hereafter. The worshipper must fast and revere the
Linga. Offerings are made to the Linga. It is, of course, a
celebration formed of unmeaning repetitions of syllables and
the invocation of female Qaktis, snapping the fingers, gesticu-
lating, and performing all the humbug called for by Civaite
worship. The Linga is bathed in milk, decorated, wrapped in
bilva leaves, and prayed to ; which ceremony is repeated at
intervals with slight changes. All castes, even the lowest, join
in the exercises. Even women may use the 7na?itras.- Vigil
and fasting are the essentials of this worship.^

The next festival closes these great spring celebrations. It
bears two names, and originally was a double feast, the first
part being the Dola Yatra, or ' Swing-procession,' the second
part being the execrable Holi. They are still kept distinct in
some places, and when this occurs the Dolotsava, or Dola
Yatra, follows the Holi. They are both spring festivals, and
answer roughly to May-day, though in India they come at the
full moon of March. We have followed Wilson's enumeration
of all the minor spring feasts, that they may be seen in their

1 The last clause (meaning * common historical origin ') were better omitted.

2 Except the mystic syllable Om, supposed to represent the trinity {Otn is a, v, vi),
though probably it was originally only an exclamation.

" A small Vishnu festival in honor of Vishnu as ' man-lion ' (one of his ten avatm-s)
is celebrated on the 13th of INIarch ; but in Bengal in honor of the same god as a
cow-boy. On the 1 5th of IMarch there is another minor festival in Bengal, but it is
to (^iva. or rather to one of his hosts, under the form of a water pot (that is to preserve
from disease).

454 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

entirety. But in ancient times there was probably one long
Vasantotsava (spring-festival), which lasted for weeks, begin- ,
ning with a joyous celebration (2d of February) and continuing
with lustral ceremonies, as indicated by the now detached feast
days already referred to. The original cult, in Wilson's opinion,
has been changed, and the Dola Yatra is now given over to the
Krishna-cult, while the Holi divinity is a hobgoblin. The Dola
Yatra begins with fasting and ends (as Holi) with lire-worship.
An imige of Krishna is sprinkled with red powder (cilur), and
after this (religious) ceremony a bonfire ^ is made, and an effigy,
Holika, is put upon it and burned. The figure is carried to
the fire in a religious procession headed by Vishnuite or Brah-
man priests, of course accompanied with music and song.
After seven circumambulations of the fire the figure is burned.
This is the united observance of the first day. At dawn on the
morning of the second day the image of Krishna is placed in a
swing, dola, and swung back and forth a few times, which cere-
mony is repeated at noon and at sunset. During the day,
wherever a swing is put up, and in the vicinity, it is the com-
mon privilege to sprinkle one's friend with the red powder or
red rose-water. Boys and common people run about the streets
sprinkling red water or red powder over all passengers, and
using abusive (obscene) language. The cow-herd caste is con-
spicuous at this ceremony. The cow-boys, collecting in parties
under a koryphaios, hold, as it were, a komos, leaping, singing,
and dancing ^ through the streets, striking together the wands
which they carry. These cow-boys not only dress (as do others)
in new clothes on this occasion,^ but they give their cattle new

i The bonfire is made of fences, doorposts, furniture, etc. Nothing once seized and
devoted to the fire may be reclaimed, but the owner may defend his property if he can.
Part of the horse-play at this time consists in leaping over the fire, which is also ritu-
alistic with some of the hill-tribes.

2 Compare the Nautch dances on Ramacandra's birthday. Religious dances, gen-
erally indecent, are also a prominent feature of the religions of the wild tribes (as
among American and African savages, Greeks, etc., etc.).

3 The ' Easter bonnet ' in Indie form.

THE PURAiYAS. — RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS. 455

equipments, and regard the whole frolic as part of a religious
rite in honor of Krishna, the cow-herd. But all sects take part
in the performance (that is to say, in the Holi portion), both
Qivaites and Vishnuites. When the moon is full the celebra-
tion is at its height. Holi songs are sung, the crowed throws
abli% the chiefs feast, and an all-night orgy ends the long
carousal.-^ In the south the Dola takes place later, and is dis-
tinct from the Holi. The burning here is of Kama, com-
memorating the love-god's death by the fire of ^iva's eye,
when the former pierced the latter's heart, and inflamed him
with love. For this reason the bonfire is made before a
temple of Qiva. Kama is gone from the northern cult, and in
upper India only a hobgoblin, Holi, a foul she-devil, is asso-
ciated with the rite. The whole performance is described and
prescribed in one of the late Puranas.^ In some parts of the
countrv the bonfire of the Holi is made about a tree, to which
offerings are made, and afterwards the whole is set on fire. For
a luminous account of the Holi, which is perhaps the worst open
rite of Hinduism, participated in by all sects and classes, we
may cite the words of the author of Ante-B ralwianical Religions :
" It has been termed the Saturnalia or Carnival of the Hindus.
Verses the most obscene imaginable are ordered to be read on
the occasion. Figures of men and women, in the most indecent
and disgusting attitudes, are in many places openly paraded
through the streets ; the most filthy words are uttered by per-
sons who, on other occasions, would think themselves disgraced
by the use of them; bands of men parade the street with their
clothes all bespattered with a reddish dye ; dirt and filth are

1 In sober contrast stands the yearly orthodox Qraddha celebration (August-
September), though Brahmans join in sectarian fetes.

'^ Wilson draws an elaborate parallel between the Holi and the Lupercalia, etc.
(Carnival). But the points of contact are obvious. One of the customs of the Holi
celebration is an exact reproduction of April-Fool's day. Making " Holi fools" is to
send people on useless errands, etc. (Festum Stultorum, at the Vernal Equinox, trans-
ferred by the Church to the first of November, " Innocents' Day ").

456 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

thrown upon all that are seen passing along the road ; all busi-
ness is at a stand, all gives way to license and riot." ^

Besides these the most brilliant festivals are the Ras Yatra in
Bengal (September-October), commemorating the dance of
Krishna with the gopls or milk-maids, and the ' Lamp-festival '
(Dipala), also an autumnal celebration.

The festivals that we have reviewed cover but a part of the
year, but they will suffice to show the nature of such fetes as
are enjoined in the Puranas. There are others, such as the
eightfold - temple-worship of Krishna as a child, in July or
August ; the marriage of Krishna's idol to the Tulasi plant ;
the Awakenihg of Vishnu, in October, and so forth. But no
others compare in importance with the New Year's and Spring
festivals, except the Bengal idol-display of Jagannath, the
Rath Yatra of 'Juggernaut'; and some others of local celeb-
rity, such as the Durga-puja.^ The temples, to which reference
has often been made, have this in common with the great Qivaite
festivals, that to describe them in detail would be but to trans-
late into w^ords images and wall-paintings, the obscenity of which
is better left undescribed. This, of course, is particularly true
of the Qiva temples, w^here the actual Linga is perhaps, as Barth
has said, the least objectionable of the sights presented to the
eye of the devout worshipper. But the Vishnu temples are as
bad. Architecturally admirable, and even wonderful, the interior
is but a display of sensual immorality.^

1 Stevenson, JRAS. 1S41, p. 239; Williams, loc. cit.; ^\V^\\y%, Modern Hindtiism,
ch. iii.

2 The daily service consists in dressing, bathing, feeding, etc. It is divided into
eight ridiculous ceremonies, which prolong the worship through the day.

3 The brilliant displays attracted the notice of the Greeks, who speak of the tame
tigers and panthers, the artificial trees carried in wagons, the singing, instrumental
music, and noise, which signalized a fete procession. See Williams, loc. cit.

4 Such, for instance, is the most holy temple of South India, the great temple of
Qrlrangam at Trichinopoly. The idol car. gilded and gaudy, is carved with obscenity ;
the walls and ceilings are frescoed with bestiality. It represents Vishnu's heaven.

HISTORY OF THE HINDU TRIMTY. 457

HISTORY OF THE HINDU TRINITY.

In closing the Puranic period (which name we employ
loosely to cover such sects as are not clearly modern) we pause
for a moment to cast a glance backwards over the long devel-
opment of the trinity, to the units of which are devoted the
individual Puranas. We have shown that the childhood-tales
of Krishna are of late (Puranic) origin, and that most of the
cow-boy exploits are post-epic. Some are referred to in the
story of Qiyupala in the second book of the Mahabharata, but
this scene has been touched up by a late hand. The Vishnu
Purana, typical of the best of the Puranas, as in many respects
it is the most important and interesting, represents Krishnaite
Vishnuism as its height. Here is described the birth of the
man-god as a black, krs/ia, baby, son of Nanda, and his real
title is here Govinda,- the cow-boy.^ 'Cow-boy' corresponds
to the more poetical, religious shepherd ; and the milk-maids,
gopis, with whom Govinda dallies as he grows up, may, per-
haps, better be rendered shepherdesses for the same reason.
The idyllic effect is what is aimed at in these descriptions.
Here Krishna plays his rude and rustic tricks, upsetting wag- .
ons, overthrowing trees and washermen, occasionally killing
them he dislikes, and acting altogether much like a cow-boy
of another sort. Here he puts a stop to Indra-worship, over-
powers ^iva, rescues Aniruddha, marries sixteen thousand
princesses, burns Benares, and finally is killed himself, he the
one born of a hair of Vishnu, he that is Vishnu himself, who in
'goodness' creates, in 'darkness' destroys,^ under the forms
of Brahma and Qiva,^

1 From this name or title comes the GIta Govinda, a mystic erotic poem (in praise
of the cow-boy god) as exaltedly rehgious as it is sensual (twelfth century).

2 VP. i. 2. 63. The 'qualities' or ' conditions' of God"s being are referred to by
' goodness ' and ' darkness.'

3 All this erotic vulgarity is typical of the common poetry of the people, and is in
marked contrast to the chivalrous, but not love-sick, Bharata.

458 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

In Vishnu, as a development of the Vedic Vishnu ; in Qiva,
as affiliated to Rudra ; in Brahma, as the Brahmanic third to
these sectarian developments, the trinity has a real if remote
connection with the triune fire of the Rig Veda, a two-thirds
connection, filled out with the addition of the later Brahmanic
head of the gods.

To ignore the fact that Vishnu and Rudra-^iva developed
inside the Brahmanic! circle and increased in glory before the
rise of sectaries, and to asseverate, as have some, that the two
chief characters of the later trinity are an unmeaning revival of
decadent gods, whose names are used craftily to veil the mod-
ernness of Krishnaism and (Jivaism, — this is to miscalculate
the waxing dignity of these gods in earlier Brahmanic literature.
To say with Burnouf that the Vishnu of the Veda is not at all
the Vishnu of the mythologists, is a statement far too sweep-
ing. The Vishnu of the Veda is not (?nly the same god with
the Vishnu of the next era, but in that next era he has become
greatly magnified. The Puranic All-god Vishnu stands in as
close a relation to his Vedic prototype as does Milton's Satan
to the snaky slanderer of. an age more primitive.

Qiva- worship appears to have been adapted from a local cult
in the mountainous West, and at an early date to have been
amalgamated with that of his next resemblance, the Vedic
Rudra ; while Krishna-worship flourished along the Ganges.
These are those Dionysos and Herakles of whom speak the old
Greek authorities. One cult is possibly as venerable as the
other, but while Qivaism became Brahmanized early, Krish-
naism was adopted much later, and it is for this reason,
amongst others, that despite its modern iniquities ^iva has
appealed more to the Brahman than has Krishna.

Megasthenes tells us a good deal about these Hindu repre-
sentatives of Herakles and Dionysos. According to him there
were Dionysiac festivals in honor of the latter god (Civa),-^ who

1 Compare Duncker, iii.5 p, 327. ISIore doubtful is the identification of Nysian and

HISTORY OF THE HIXDU TRIXITY. 459

belongs where flourishes the wine, in the A^vaka district, north
of the Kabul river. From this place ^iva's worship extended
into the East, Magadha (Behar), around Gokarna in the West,
and even to the Kalinga country in the extreme Southeast.
But it was especially native to the mountainous Northwest,
about the ' Gate of Ganges ' (north of Delhi, near Saharampur),
and still further north in Kashmeer. In the epic, Qiva has
his throne on Kailasa,^ the Northern mountain, in the Hima-
layas, and Ganges descend from the sky upon his head.

On the other hand, Herakles, of the Ganges land, where
grows no wine, is plainly Krishna, who carries club, discus, and
conch. The Greek cities Methora and Kleisobora are Mathura
and Krishna-pur, ^Krishna-town'; the latter on the Jumna,
the former near it on the same river, capital of the clan which
venerated Krishna as its chief hero and god, the Yadavas.
Megasthenes says, also, that Herakles' daughter is Pandaie,
and this agrees with the Pandya, a southern development of the
epic Gangetic Pandavas, who especially worship Krishna in
conjunction with the Yadavas. Their South-Indic town,
Mathura, still attests their origin.

In speaking of the relative antiquity of Vishnuism and (Jiva-
ism one must distinguish the pantheistic form of these gods
from the single forms. While ^ivaism, pe?- se^ that is, the wor-
ship of Qiva as a great and terrible god, preceded the same
exaltation of Krishna, as is shown by their respective literary
appearance, and even by Megasthenes' remark that the worship
of Dionysos preceded that of Herakles by fifteen generations,
yet did Krishnaism, as a popular pantheism, come before Qiva-
ism as such. Although in the late Qveta^vatara Upanishad
Qiva is pantheistic, yet is he not so in the epic till some of the

Nishadan, ib. note. Compare, also, Schroeder, loc. cit. p. 361. Arrian calls (Qivc)
Dionysos the ciivov doTrjpa 'lydols (l^chwanbeck, Frg. L).

1 This remains always as Qiva's heaven in distinction from Goloka or Vaikuntha,
Vishnu's heaven. Nowadays Benares is the chief seat of (^ivaism.

460 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

latest passages make him the All, in imitation of Krishna as
All-god. Probably ^ivaism remained by the first philosophy,
Sankhyan dualism, and was forced into Krishna's Vedantic
pantheism, as this became popular. At first neither was more
than a single great god without any philosophy.^

In one of the early exegetical works, which is occupied some-
what with philosophical matter, there is evidence that a triad
existed between the Vedic triad of fires and the Puranic triad.
Fire, Wind (or Indra), and the Sun (Surya), are stated in a
famous passage to be the only real gods, all the others being
but names of these. But, although in form this triad (Nirukta,
vii. 4, 5) is like the Vedic triad,- it is essentially a triad in a
pantheistic system like that of the epic and Puranas, for it is
addsd that "all the gods are parts of one soul." In explana-
tion it is said : " Fire is the earth-god, Wind, or Indra, is the
god of the atmosphere, and the sun is the god of the sky."
Now in the Rig Veda Indra is closely united not only with
Agni but with Vishnu, albeit in this period Vishnu is his sub-
ordinate. The nearest approach of this Vishnu to his classical
descendant is in one of the latest hymns of the Rig Veda, where
it is said that the seven seeds of creation are A-'ishnu's, as in
later times he comprises seven males. In the philosophy of
the Taittiriya Samhita the three places of Vishnu are not, as
in the Rig Veda, the two points of the horizon (where the sun
sets) and the zenith, but 'earth, air, and sky.' ^ That is to
say, in the Brahmanic period Vishnu is already a greater god
than he had been. Nay, more, he is explicitly declared to be

1 The doctrine of the immaculate conception, common to Vishnuism and Buddhism
(above, p. 431), can have no exact jaarallel in Qivaism, forQiva is not born as a child;
but it seems to be reflected in the laughable ascription of virginity to Uma (Civa's
wife), when she is revered as the emblem of motherhood.

2 In RV. v. 41. 4, the Vedic triad is Fire, Wind, and(Trita of the sky) Indra ; else-
where Fire, Wind, and Sun (above, p. 42), distinct from the triune tire.

3 In the Rig Veda the three steps are never thus described, but in the later age
this vi2w is common. It is. in fact, only on the 'three steps' that the identity
with the sun is established. In RV, i. 156, 4, Vishnu is already above Varuna.

HISTORY OF THE HIXDU TRINITY. 461

"the best of the gocls."^ That best means greatest may be
shown from the same work, where in savage fable it is recited
that all the gods, including Indra, ran up to him to get his
strength.'^ But especially in the Upanishads is Vishnu the one
great god left from the Rig Veda. And it is with the philo-
sophical (not with the ritualistic) Vishnu that Krishna is
equated.

Of Civa, on the other hand, the prototype is Rudra ('red'),
his constant sobriquet. In the Rig Veda he is the god of red
lightning, who is the father of the Maruts, the storm-gods.
His attributes of a fulgurant god are never lost. Even as ^iva
the All-god he is still the god of the blue neck, whose three-
forked trident and home among the mountains remind us of
his physical origin. He is always the fairest of the gods, and
both early and late he is terrible, to be averted by prayer, even
where his magic ' medicines ' are asked for. To him are ad-
dressed the most suppliant cries : " O Rudra, spare us, strike
not the men, slay not the kine." In the Atharva Veda at
every step one finds characteristics which on the one hand are
but exaggerations of the type formulated in the Rig Veda, and
on the other precursors of the signs of the later god. In
Civaism, in contradistinction to Vishnuism, there is not a
trace of the euhemerism which has been suspected in the
Krishna-Vishnu cult. The Rudra of the Rig Veda already
begins to be identified with the triune fire, for he bears the
standing epithet of fire, "he of three mothers.'"'^ And this
name he keeps, whether as Rudra, who is "brilliant as the
sun'' (RA^. i. 43. 5), whose weapon is "the shining one that is
emitted from the sky and passes falong the earth " {jb. vii.46.3) ;
or again, as the " red boar of the^sky," the " holder of the bolt "
{ib. ii. ■^'i,. 3), and, above all gods, "the terrible" (x. 126. 5).

1 Qat. Br. xiv. i. i. 5.

2 For other versions see Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, iv. p. 127 ff.

3 Later interpreted as wives or eyes.

462 , THE RELIGICXS OF IXDIA.

Coming to the Brahmanic period one finds him a dweller in
the mountain tops, of a red color, with a blue s^ieck, the espe-
cial lord of the mountains, and so of robbers ; while he is also
the 'incantation-god,' the ' god of low people.' Some of these
are Rudra's attributes ; but here his name is already Qiva, so
that one may trace the changes down the centuries till he finds
again in the epic that (Jiva is the lord of mountains, the patron
of thieves (Hara, robber ?), and endowed with the trident, the
blue neck,^ and the three mothers of old. In the middle
period he has so many titles that one probably has to accept
in the subsequent Civa not only the lineal descendant of the
Vedic Rudra, but also a combination of other local cults, where
clan gods, originally diverse, were worshipped as one in conse-
quence of their mutual likeness. One of the god's especial
names is here Bhava, while in the earlier period Bhava and
Rudra are distinct, but they are invoked as a pair (AV).^
What gives Civa his later tremendous popularity, however, is
the feature to which we have alluded in the chapter on the
epic. In the epic, all the strength of Civa lies in the Linga,^
Both Bhava and Rudra, as Qarva, the archer — his local east-
ern name — are represented as hurling the lightning, and it is
simply from identity of attributes that they have become iden-
tified in person (AV. x. i. 23). Rudra's title of Pa^upati, or
'lord of cattle ' ^ goes back to the Vedic age : " Be kind to the
kine of him who believes in the gods " is a prayer of the
Atharva Veda (xi. 2. 28). Agni and Rudra, in the Rig- Veda,

1 For an epic guess at the significance of the title n'llakat'ttha, 'blue-throated,' see
Mbha. i. 18. 43.

2 AV. iv. 28 ; viii. 2 ; xi. 2. Thus even in the Rig Veda pairs of gods are fre-
quently besung as one, as if they were divinities not only homogeneous but even
monothelous.

3 Brahma's mark in the lotus ; Vishnu's, the discus (sun) ; Qiva's, the Linga,
phallic emblem.

■1 The grim interpretation of later tinies makes the cattle (to be sacrificed) mc7i.
The theological interpretation is that Qiva is the lord of the spirit, which is bound
like a beast.

HISTORY OF THE HINDU TRINITY. 463

are both called 'cattle-guarding,' but not for the same reason.
Agni represents a fire-stockade, while Rudra in kindness does
not strike with his lightning-bolt. The two ideas, with the iden-
tification of R.udra and Agni, may have merged together. Then
too, Rudra has healing medicines (his magical side), and Agni
is kindest to men. All Agni's names are handed over in the
Brahmanas to Rudra-^iva, just as Rudra previously had taken
the epithets of Pushan (above), true to his robber-name. To
ignore the height to which at this period is raised the form of
Rudra-Civa is surely unhistorical ; so much so that we deem
it doubtful whether Qiva-invocations elsewhere, as in the Sutra
referred to above, should be looked upon as interpolations.
In the Maitrayani Collection, the Rudrajapas, the invocations
to Rudra as the greatest god, the highest spirit, the lord of
beings (Bhava), are expressly to Qiva Giriga, the mountain-
lord (2. 9 ; Schroeder, p. 346). In the Aitareya Brahmana it
evidently is Rudra-Civa, the god of ghastly forms (made by the
gods, it is said, as a composite of all the ' most horrible parts '
of all the gods), who is deputed to slay the Father-god (when
the latter, as a beast, commits incest with his daughter), and
chooses as his reward for the act the ofiice of ' lord of cattle.' ^
This is shown clearly by the fact that the fearsome Rudra is
changed to the innocuous Rudriya in the next paragraph. As
an example of how in the Brahmanas Rudra-Qiva has taken
to himself already the powers of Agni, the great god of the
purely sacrificial period, may be cited Qat. Br. vi. i. 3. 10 and
2. I. 12. Here Agni is Kumara, Rudra, Qarva (Sarva ^), Pa^u-

1 The commenter, horrified by the murder of tlie Father-god, makes Rudra kill ' the
sin ' ; but the original shows that it is the Father-god who was shot by this god, who
chose as his reward the lordship over kine ; and such exaltation is not improbable
(moreover, it is historical!). The hunting of the Father-god by Rudra is pictured in
the stars (Orion), Ait. Br. iii. 33.

2 See Weber, hid. St. ii. ■}y-] ; Muir, iv. 403, Qarva (Qaurva) is Avestan, but at
the same time it is hio ' eastern ' name, wliile Bhava is his western name. (^at. Br.
i. 7. 3. 8.

464 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

pati (lord of beasts), Bhairava (terrible), A^ani (lightning),
Bhava (lord of beings), Mahadeva (great god), the Lord — his
'thrice three names.' But where the Brahmana assumes that
these are names of Agni it is plain that one has Rudra-Qiva
in process of absorbing Agni's honors.

The third element in the Puranic trinity,^ identified with the
Father-god, genealogically deserves his lower position. His
rivals are of older lineage. The reason for his inferior posi-
tion is, practically, that he has little to do with man. Being
already created, man takes more interest in the gods that pre-
serve and destroy." Even Brahma's old exploits are, as we
have shown, stolen from him and given over to Vishnu. The
famous (totemistic) tortoise legend was originally Brahma's, and
so with others of the ten ' forms ' of Vishnu, for instance the
boar-shape, in which Vishnu manifests himself, and the fish-
shape of Brahma (epic) in the flood-story. The formal tri-
mu7'ti or traipui'usha (' three persons ') is a late figure. It
would seem that a Harihara (Vishnu and Qiva as one) pre-
ceded the trinity, though the dual name is not found till quite
late.^ But, as we showed above, the epic practically identifies
Vishnu and ^iva as equals, before it unites with these Brahma
as an equal third.

There arises now the further question whether sectarian
Vishnuism be the foisting of Krishnaism upon a dummy
Vishnu. We think that, stated in this way, such scarcely can
have been the case. Neither of the great sects is professedly
of priestly origin, but each, like other sects, claims Vedic

1 The epic {Joe. cit. above), the Puranas, and the very late Atharva (^iras Upani-
shad and Maitr, Up. (much interpolated). Compare ^luir, loc. cit. pp. 362-3.

2 According to the epic, men honor gods that kill, Indra, Rudra, and so forth ; not
gods that are passive, such as Brahma, the Creator, and Pushan (xii. 15. 18), >'« cva
devd hantdras tdl loko h'cayate bhrcaih, na Brahind^tani.

3 Barth seems to imply that Harihara (the name) is later than the trimurti (p. 185),
but he has to reject the passage in the Hari-vanga to prove this. On Ayenar. a
southern god said to be Hari-Hara (Vishnu-^iva), see Williams, loc. cit.

HISTORY OF THE HIXDU TRINITY. 465

authority, and finds Brahman ical support. We have said that
Vishnu is raised to his position without ictic suddenness. He
is always a god of mystic character, in short, a god for philoso-
phy to work upon. He is recognized as the highest god in one
of the oldest Upanishads, And it is with the philosopher's
Vishnu that Krishna is identified. Krishna, the real Vasudeva
(for a false Vasudeva is known also in the epic), is the god of a
local cult. How did he originate? The king of serpents is
called Krishna, ' the black,' and Vishnu reposes upon Cesha
Ananta, the world-snake ; but a more historical character than
this can be claimed for Krishna. This god-man must be the
same with the character mentioned in the Chandogya Upani-
shad, 3. 17. 6. One may notice the similarities between this
Krishna and him of the epic cult. Krishna, son of Devaki, was
taught by his teacher, Ghora Angirasa, that sacrifice may be per-
formed without objective means ; that generosity, kindness, and
other moral traits are the real signs of sacrifice ; and it is then
said : "The priest Ghora Angirasa having said this to Krishna,
the son of Devaki — and the latter was thereby freed from
(thirst) desire — said : "When a man is about to die let him
resort to this triad: 'the imperishable art thou,' 'the unmoved
art thou,' 'breath's firmness art thou' ; in regard to which are
these two verses in the Rig- Veda : ^ ' till they see the light of
the old seed which is kindled in the sky,' and 'perceiving
above the darkness the higher light, the sun, god among gods,
we come to the highest light.' " Krishna thus learned the
abolition of sacrifice, and the worship of the sun, the highest
light (Vishnu), as true being — for this is the meaning of the
philosophical passage taken with its context. Kings and

1 R\'. viii. 6. 30; i. 50. 10. Weber refers Krishna further back to a priestly
Vedic poet of that name, to whom are attributed hymns of the eighth and tenth
books of the Rig Veda {Janmd.^tainl, p. 316). He interprets Krishna's mother's
name, Devaki, as ' player ' (//'.). But the chance of nanie in a Vedic hymn has no
special significance. The name Devaki is found applied to other persons, and its
etymology is rather deva, divine, as Weber now admits (Berl. Ak. 1S90, p. 931).

466 • THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

priests discuss philosophy together in this period,^ and it
would conform to later tradition to see in the pupil the son of
a king. It is, moreover, significant that the priest, Ghora
Angirasa, is named specially as priest of the sun-god elsewhere
(Kaush. Br. 30. 6), as well as that Krishna Angirasa is also the
name of a teacher. It is said in this same Upanishad (3, i. i)
that the sun is the honey, delight, of the gods ; and this chap-
ter is a meditation on the sun,^ of which the dark ikrsnd)
form is that which comes from the Itihasas and Puranas, the
fore-runners of the epic (3. 4. 3). This is taught as a bra/wia-
tipanisJiad^ a teaching of the absolute, and it is interesting to
see that it is handed down through Brahma, Prajapati, and
Manu, exactly as Krishna says in the Divine Song that his
own doctrine has been promulgated ; while (it is said further)
for him that knows the doctrine ' there is .day,' his sun never
sets (3. II. 3-4). It is a doctrine to be communicated only to
the eldest son or a good student, and to no one else {ib. 5), i.e.,
it was new, esoteric, and of vital importance. Here, too, one
finds Sanatkumara, the 'ever young,' as Skanda,^ yet as an
earthly student also (7. i ; 26. 2), just like Krishna.

It cannot be imagined, however, that the cult of the Gan-
getic Krishna originated with that vague personage whose
pupilage is described in the Upanishad. But this account
may still be connected with the epic Krishna. The epic
describes the overthrow of an old Brahmanic Aryan race at
the hands of the Pandavas, an unknown folk, whose king's

1 In the epic, also, kings become hermits, and perform great penance just as do
the ascetic priests. Compare the heroes themselves, and i. 42. 23 rdjd mahatapds;
also ii. 19, where a king renounces his throne, and with his two wives becomes a
hermit in the woods. In i. 41. 31 a king is said to be equal to ten priests !

2 In fact, the daily repetition of the Savitrl is a tacit admission of the sun j,od as
the highest type of the divine ; and Vishnu is the most spiritualized form of the sun-
god, representing even in the Rig-Veda the goal of the departing spirit.

3 Skanda ^(Subrahmanya) and Ganega are Qiva's two sons, corresponding to
Krishna and Rama. Skanda's own son is Vi^akha, a graha (above, p. 415).

HISTORY OF THE HINDU TRINITY. 467

polyandroiis marriage (his wife is the spouse of his four
brothers as well as of himself) is an historical trait, connecting
the tribe closely with the polyandrous wild tribes located north
of the Ganges. This tribe attacked the stronghold of Brah-
manism in the holy land about the present Delhi ; and their
patron god is the Gangetic Krishna. In the course of the
narrative a very few tales are told of Krishna's early life, but
the simple original view of Krishna is that he is a god, the son
of Devaki. The few other tales are late and adventitious
additions, but this is a consistent trait. Modern writers are
fain to see in the antithesis presented by the god Krishna and
by the human hero Krishna, late and early phases. They for-
get that the lower side of Krishna is one especially Puranic.
In short, they read history backwards, for theirs is not the
Indie way of dealing with gods. In Krishna's case the tricky,
vulgar, human side is a later aspect, which comes to light most
prominently in the Genealogy of Vishnu and in the Vishnu
Purana, modern works which in this regard contrast strono-lv
with the older epic, where Krishna, however he tricks, is
always first the god. It is not till he becomes a very great, if
not the greatest, god that tales about his youthful perform-
ances, when he condescended to be born in low life, begin to
rise. An exact parallel may be seen in the case of Qiva, who
at first is a divine character, assuming a more or less grotesque
likeness to a man; but subsequently he becomes anthropomor-
phized, and is fitted out with a sheaf of legends which describe
his earthly acts.-^ And so with Krishna. As the chief god,
identified with the All-god, he is later made the object of enco-
miums which degrade while they are meant to exalt him. He
becomes a cow-boy and acts like one, a god in a mask. But in

1 Qiva at the present day, for instance, is represented now and then as a man,
and he is incarnate as Virabhadra. But all this is modern, and contrasts with the
older conception. It is only in recent times, in the South, that he is provided with
an earthly history. Compare Williams, Thought and Life, p. 47.

468 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

the epic he is the invading tribe's chief god, in process of
becoming identified with tliat god in the Bralimanic pantlieon
who most resembles him. For tliis tribe, the (Yadavas) Pan-
davas, succeeded in overthrowing the Brahmanic stronghold
and became absorbed into the Brahmanic circle. Their god,
who, like most of the supreme gods of this region among the
wild tribes, was the tribal hero as sun-god, became recognized
by the priests as one with Vishnu. In the Upanishad the priest-
philosopher identifies Krishna with the sun as the ' dark side '
{/^rs?ia, 'dark') of Vishnu, the native name probably being near
enough to the Sanskrit word to be represented by it. The
statement that this clan-god Krishna once learned the great
truth that the sun is the All-god, at the mouth of a Brahman,
is what might be expected. ' Krishna, the son of Devaki,' is
not only the god, but he is also the progenitor of the clan, the
mystic forefather, who as usual is deified as the sun. To the
priest he is merely an avatar of Vishnu. The identity of
Krishna with the Gangetic god described by Megasthenes can
scarcely be disputed. The latter as represented by the Greek
is too great a god to have passed away without a sign except
for a foreigner's account. And there is no figure like his ex-
cept that of Krishna.

The numerous avatars^ of Vishnu are first given as ten, then
as twenty, then as twenty-two,"^ and at last become innumera-
ble. The ten, which are those usually referred to, are as fol-
lows : First come the oldest, the h^2.sX.-avata7-s ^ viz., as a fish ;
as a tortoise ; ^ as a boar (rescuing earth from a fiood) ; and
as a man-lion (slaying a demon). Next comes the dwarf-
avatar, where Vishnu cheats Bali of earth by asking, as a
dwarf, for three steps of it, and then stepping out over all of it

1 Az'a-tara. ' descent,' from ava, 'down,' and tm-, ' pass' (as in Latin \n-irare).

- In tlie Bhdgavata Pm-dna.

3 The tortoise avatar had a famous temple two centuries ago. where a stone tor-
toise received prayer. How much totemism lies in these avatars it is guess-work to
say.

HISTORY OF THE HINDU TRIXITY. 469

(the 'three strides ' of the Rig Veda). Then come the human
avatars^ that of Paragu-Rama (Rama with the axe), Krishna,
Rama ^ (hero of the Ramayana epic), Buddha, and Kalki (who
is still to come).

The parallels between the latest Krishna cult and the Bibli-
cal narrative are found only in the Puranas and other late
works, and undoubtedly, as we have said in the last chapter, are
borrowed from Christian sources. Krishna is here born in a
stable, his father, like Joseph, going with his virgin spouse to
pay taxes. His restoring of a believing woman's son is nar-
rated only in the modern Jaimini Bharata. These tales might
have been received through the first distant Christian mission
in the South in the sixth century, but it is more likely that they
were brought directly to the North in the seventh century ; for
at that time a Northern king of the Vaicya caste, Qiladitya (in
whose reign the Chinese pilgrim, Hiouen Thsang, visited India),
made Syrian Christians welcome to his court (639 a.d.).' The
date of the annual Krishna festival, which is a reflex of Christ-
mastide, is variously fixed by the Puranas as coming in July or
Au2:ust.^

As Krishna is an avatar of Vishnu '^ in the Bharata, and as
the axe-Rama is another avatar in legend (here Vishnu in the
form of Para^u-Rama raises up the priestly caste, and destroys
the warrior-caste), so in the Ramayana the hero Rama (not
Paragu-Rama) is made an avatar of Vishnu. He is a mythical
prince of Oude (hence a close connection between the Rama-

i Balarama (or Baladeva), Krishna's elder brother, is to be distinguished from
Rama. The former is a late addition to the Krishna-cult, and belongs with Nanda,
his reputed father. Like Krishna, the name is also that of a snake, Xaga, and it is
not impossible that Naga worship may be the foundation of the Krishna-cult, but it
would be hard to reconcile this with tradition. In the sixth century Varahamihira
recognizes both the brothers.

2 Edkins, cited by Miiller,. /w^'za, p. 286.

3 Weber, Janmdsfam'i^ pp. 259, 318. Weber describes in full the cult of the
" Madonna with the Child," according to the Puranas.

4 On the subsequent deification of the Pandus themselves see I A. vii. 127.

470 THE RELIGIOiYS OF INDIA.

yana and Buddhism), who is identified with Vishnu. Vishnu
wished to rid earth of the giant Ravana,^ and to do so took the
form of Rama. As Krislinaism has given rise to a number of
sects that worship Krishna as Vishnu, so Ramaism is the mod-
ern cult of Rama as Vishnu. Both of these sects oppose the
Vishnuite that is not incHned to be sectarian ; all three oppose
the Qivaite ; and all four of these oppose the orthodox Brahman,
who assigns supreme godship to Qiva or Vishnu as little as does
the devotee of these gods in unsectarian form to Krishna or
Rama.

^iva is on all sides opposed to Vishnu. The Greek account
of the third century B.C. says that he taught the Hindus to
dance the kordax, but at this time there appears to have been
no such phallic worship in his honor as is recorded in the
pseudo-epic. Civa is known in early Brahmanic and in Bud-
dhistic writings, and even as the bearer-of-the-moon, Candra-
^ekhara, he contrasts with Vishnu, as his lightning-form and
mountain-habitat differ from the sun-form and vallev-home of
his rival. This dire god is conceived of as ascetic partly be-
cause he is gruesome, partly because he is magical in power.
Hence he is the true type of the awful magical Yogi, and as
such appealed to the Braliman. Originally he is only a fearful
magical god, great, and even all-pervading, but, as seen in the
Brahmanic Qatarudriya hymn, he is at first in no sense a pan-
theistic deity. In this hymn there is a significant addition
made to the earlier version. In the first form of the hymn it
is said that Rudra, who is here Qiva, is the god of bucolic
people; but the new version adds 'and of all people.' Here
Qiva appears as a wild, diabolical figure, ' the god of incanta-
tions,' whose dart is death ; and half of the hymn is taken up
with entreaties to the god to spare the speaker. He is
praised, in conjunction with trees, of which he is the lord, as

1 Hence the similarity with Herakles, with whom jNIegasthenes identifies him.
The man-Hon and hero-forms are taken to rid earth of monsters.

HISTORY OF THE HIXDU TRINITY. 471

the one 'clad in skins,' the 'lord of cattle,' the 'lord of paths,'
the 'cheater,' the 'deceiver.' When he is next clearly seen, in
the epic, he is the gcd to \vhom are offered human sacrifices,
and his special claim to worship is the phallus ; while the inter-
mediate literature shows glimpses of him only in his simple
Brahmanic form of terror. It has long been known that Qiva-
ite phallic worship was not borrowed from the Southerners, as
was once imagined, and we venture with some scholars to be-
lieve that it was due rather to late Greek influence than to that
of any native wild tribe. -^

1 Greek influence is clearly reflected in India's architecture. Hellenic bas-reliefs
representing Bacchic scenes and the love-god are occasionally found. Compare the
description of Qiva's temple in Orissa, \\^Qher, Literature, p. 36S ; Berl. Al\, 1890,
p. 912. (^iva is here associated with the Greek cult of Eros and Aphrodite.

CHAPTER XVII.

MODERN HINDU SECTS. i

Although the faith of India seems to have completed a cir-
cle, landing at last in a polytheism as gross as was that of the
Vedic age, yet is this a delusive aspect, as will appear if one
survey the course of the higher intellectual life of the people,
ignoring, as is right, the invariable factor introduced by the
base imaginings of the vulgar. The greater spirituality has
always expressed itself in independent movement, and voiced
itself in terms of revolution. But in reality each change has
been one of evolution. To trace back to the Vedic period
the origin of Hindu sectarianism would, indeed, be a nice task
for a fine scholar, but it would not be temerarious to attempt it.
We have failed of our purpose if we have not already impressed
upon the reader's mind the truth that the progress of Brahmanic
theology (in distinction from demonology) has been one jour-
ney, made with rests and halts, it is true, and even with digres-
sions from the straight path ; but without abatement of intent,
and without permanent change of direction. Nor can one judge
otherwise even when he stands before so humiliating an exhi-
bition of groundling bigotry as is presented by some of the
religious sects of the present day. The world of lower organ-
isms survives the ascent of the higher. There is always under-
growth ; but before the fall of a great tree its seeds sprout,
withal in the very soil of the weedy thicket below. So out of

1 In the following we keep to the practice we have adopted in the early part of the
work, giving anglicized words without distinction of vowel-length, and anglicizing as
far as possible, writing thus Sankhya but Sankhyan, Vedanta but Vedantist. In
modern proper names we have adopted in each case the most familiar form-

MODERN HINDU SECTS. 473

the rank garden of Hindu superstitions arise, one after an-
other, lofty trees of an old seed, which is ever renewed, and
which cultivation has gradually improved.

We have shown, especially in the chapters on the Atharva
Veda and on Hinduism, as revealed in epic poetry, how con-
stant in India is the relation between these two growths. If^
surprised at the height of early Hindu thought, one is yet more
astonished at the permanence of the inferior life which flourishes
beneath the shady protection of the superior. Even here one
may follow the metaphor, for the humbler life below is often a
condition of the grander growth above.

In the Rig Veda there is an hymn of faith and doubt

To Indra.i

He who, just born, with thought endowed, the foremost,
Himself a god hemmed in the gods with power ;
Before whose breath, and at whose manhood's greatness,
The two worlds trembled ; he, ye folk, is Indra.

He who the earth made firm as it was shaking,
And made repose the forward tottering mountains ;
Who measured wide the inter-space aerial.
And heaven established ; he, ye folk, is Indra.

Who slew the dragon, loosed the rivers seven,
And drove from Vala's hiding place the cattle ;2
W^ho fire between the two stones ^ hath engendered,
Conqueror in conflicts ; he, ye folk, is Indra.

Who all things here, (things) changeable, created ;
Wnio lowered and put to naught the barbarous color,*
And, like victorious gambler, took as winnings
His foe's prosperity ; he, ye folk, is Indra.

1 Rig Veda, ii. 12. Compare x. 121. We omit some of the verses.

2 See note, p. 20, above.

3 Metaphor from earthly fire-making ; cloud and cliff (Ludwig) ; or, perhaps,
heaven and earth.

4 ' Made low and put in concealment ' the Dasa color, i.c.^ the black barbarians,
the negroes. * Color ' might be translated ' race ' (subsequently ' caste ').

474 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

\Yhom, a^\^ul, they (yet) ask about : ' where is he ? '
And speak thus of him, saying, ' he exists not ' —
He makes like dice ^ his foe's prosperity vanish ;
Believe on him ; and he, ye folk, is Indra.

In whose direction horses are and cattle ;
In whose, the hosts (of war) and all the chariots ;
Who hath both Surya and the Dawn engendered,
The Waters' leader ; he, ye folk, is Indra.

Both heaven and earth do bow themselves before him,
And at his breath the mountains are affrighted ;
Who bolt in arms is seen, the j-fyw^z-drinker.
And bolt in hand ; ('tis) he, ye folk, is Indra.

Who helps the j-^/wa-presser, (soma-) cooker.
The praiser (helps), and him that active serveth ;
Of whom the increase brahvia is and so?na,
And his this offering ; he, ye folk, is Indra.

Here bra/una, which word ah-eady in the Yajur Veda has
taken to itself the later philosophical signification, is merely
prayer, the meaning which in the Rig Veda is universal.

The note struck in this hymn is not unique:

(The Poet.)

Eager for booty proffer your laudation

To Indra; truth (is he),"-^ if truth existeth ;
' Indra is not,' so speaketh this and that one ;
' Who him hath seen ? To whom shall we give praises ? '

(The God.)

I am, O singer, he ; look here upon me ;
All creatures born do I surpass in greatness.
Me well-directed sacrifices nourish.
Destructive I destroy existent beings.^

1 Dice, 7'{/>i', literally ' hoppers ' (and so sometimes interpreted as birds). The
same figure occurs not infrequent!}-. Compare AV. iv. i6. 5, aksdn iva. ' Believe,'
qrdd-dhatta, i.e., cred-(d)ite, literally ' put trust.'

2 Sometimes rendered, " a true (laudation) if any is true."

3 viii. 100.3-4. The penultimate verse is literally ' the direction (s) of the order
magnify me,' the order being that of the seasons and of seasonable rites.

MODERX HINDU SECTS. 475

These are not pleas in behalf of a new god. It is not the
mere god of physical phenomena who is here doubted and
defended. It is the god that in the last stage of the Rig Veda
is become the Creator and Destroyer, and, in the light of a
completed pantheism, is grown too great to retain his person-
ality. With such a protest begins the great revolt that is the
sign of an inner evolution extending through the Brahmanas and
Upanishads. Indra, like other gods,^ is held by the rite ; to
the vulgar he is still the great god ; " to the philosopher, a name.
The populace respect him, and sacerdotalism conserves him,
that same crafty, priestly power, which already at the close of
the Rig Vedic period dares to say that only the king who is
subject to the priest is sure of himself, and a little later that
killing a priest is the only real murder. We have shown above
how the real divinity of the gods was diminished even at the
hands of the priests that needed them for the rites and
baksheesh, which was the goal of their piety. Even Prajapati,
the Father-god, their own creation, is mortal as well as immortal.^
We have shown, also, how difficult it must have been to release
the reason from the formal band of the rite. Socially it was
impossible to do so. He that was not initiated was excommu-
nicated, an outcast. But, on the other hand, the great sacri-
fices gradually fell over from their own weight. Cumbersome
and costly, they were replaced by proxy works of piety ; vidhdnas
were established that obviated the real rite ; just as to-day,
' pocket altars ' take the place of real altars.^ There was a
gradual intrusion of the Hindu cult ; popular features began to
obtain ; the sacrifice was made to embrace in its workings the

1 Compare the ' devil-worship of U^anas,' and the scoffs at Pushan. The next
step in infideUty is denial of a future life and of the worth of the Vedas.

2 In the Buddhistic writings Indra appears as the great popular god of the Brah-
mans (with Brahma as the philosophical god).

3 His body is mortal ; his breaths immortal, (;at. Br. x. i. 4. i ; xi. i. 2. 12.

•i On these curious pocket-altars, double triangles representing the three gods and
their wives, with Linga and Yoni, see JRAS. 1S51, p. 71.

476 THE RELIGIONS OE INDIA.

whole family of the sacrificer (instead of its effect being con-
fined to him alone, as was the earlier form); and finally village
celebrations became more general than those of the individual.
Slowly Hinduism built itself a ritual,^ which overpowered the
Brahmanic rite. Then, again, behind the geographical advance
of Brahmanism - lay a people more and more prone to diverge
from the true cult (from the Brahmanic point of view). In the
latter part of the great Brahmana^ there is already a distrust
of the Indus tribes, which marks the breaking up of Aryan
unity ; not that breaking up into political division which is
seen even in the Rig Veda, where Aryan fights against Aryan
as well as against the barbarian, but the more serious dismem-
berment caused by the hates of priests, for here there was no
reconciliation.

The cynical scepticism of the Brahmanic ritualists, as well as
the divergence of opinions in regard to this or that sacrificial
pettiness, shows that even where there was overt union there was
covert discord, the disagreement of schools, and the difference
of faith. But all this does but reflect the greater difference in
speculation and theology which was forming above the heads of
the ritualistic bi2:ots. For it is not without reason that the
Upanishads are more or less awkwardly laid in as the top-stone
on the liturgical edifice. They belong to the time but they are
of it only in part. Yet to dissociate the mass of Brahmanic
priestlings from the Upanishad thinkers, as if the latter were
altogether members of a new era, would be to lose the true his-
torical perspective. The vigor of protest against the received
belief continues from the Rig Veda to Buddha, from Buddha
till to-day.

The Vedic cult absorbed a good deal of Hinduism, for in-

1 In the Tantras and late Puranas. In the earher Puranas there is as yet no such
formal cult.

2 Embodied in the tale of Agni's advance, IS. 1. 170,

3 gat. Br. ix. 3. i. 18.

MODERN HINDU SECTS. 477

Stance the worship of Fate,^ just as Hinduism absorbed a good
deal of Vedic cult. Nor were the popular works obnoxious to
the priest. In the Chandogya Upanishad " the Itihasas and
Puranas (fore-runners of the epic) are already reckoned as a
fifth Veda, being recognized as a Veda almost as soon as was
the Atharvan,^ which even in Manu is still called merely ' texts
of Atharvan and Angiras ' (where texts of Bhrigu might as well
have been added). Just as the latter work is formally recog-
nized, and the use of its magical formulas, if employed for a
good purpose, is enjoined in epic ^ and law (e.g.^ Manu, xi. t^'t^^
so the Hinduistic rites crept gradually into the foreground,
pushing back the soina-Q.\j\t. Idols are formally recognized as
venerable by the law-makers ; '" even before their day the ' holy
pool,' which we have shown to be so important to Hinduism,
is accepted by Brahmanism.'' Something, too, of the former's
catholicity is apparent in the cult at an early date, only to be
suppressed afterwards. Thus in Ait. Br. ii. 19, the slave's son
shares the sacrifice ; and the slave drinks soma in one of the
half-Brahmanical, half-popular festivals.' Whether human sac-
rifice, sanctioned by some modern sects, is aught but pure
Hinduism, ^ivaism, as affected by the cult of the wild-tribes,
it is hard to say. At any rate, such sacrifices in the Brah-
manic world were obsolete long before one finds them in Hin-
duism. Of Buddhistic, Brahmanic, and Hinduistic reciprocity

1 On this quasi deity in modern belief compare lA. xviii. 46. It has happened
here that a fate-Providence has become supreme. Thus, too, the Mogul Buddha is
really nothing more or less than Providence.

2 7. I. 2.

3 In RV. X. 90. 9, cha}tdas, songs, incantations, imply a work of this nature.

4 Unless it be distinctly _g^(?<7</ magic the epic heroes are ashamed to use magical
rites. They insist on the intent being unimpeachable.

5 Ap. i. II. 30. 20, etc. Compare Wober.Oiniiia. p. 337, and see the Bibliography.
G Taitt. S. vi. i. i. 2, 3, i'lrthe siidti.

' Compare Weber's account of the Rajasuya, p. 9S ; and, apropos of the Dagapeya,
ib. 78. note ; where it is stated that j-cw^-drinking for the warrior-caste is still reflected
in this (originally independent) ceremony.

478 THE RELIGIOjXS OF INDIA.

we have spoken already, but we may add one curious fact,
namely, that the Buddhism of (Jivaism is marked by its holy
numbers. The Brahmanic Rudra with eight names ^ and eight
forms " is clearly ^ivaite, and the numbers are as clearly Bud-
dhistic.^ Thus, as Feer has shown, Buddhist hells are eight,
sixteen, etc., while the Brahmanic hells are seven, twenty-one,
etc. Again, the use of the rosary was originally ^ivaite, not
Buddhistic ; ■* and Buddha in Bali, where they live amicably
side by side, is regarded as ^iva's brother.^

Two things result from this interlocking of sectarian Brah-
manism with other sects. First, it is impossible to say in how
far each influenced the other ; and, again, the antiquity of
special ideas is rendered doubtful. A Brahmanic idea can
pretty safely be allotted to its first period, because the literature
is large enough to permit the assumption that it will appear
in literature not much later than it obtains. But a sectarian
idea may go back centuries before it is permanently formu-
lated, as, for example, the doctrine of special grace in a modern
sect.

One more point must be noticed before we proceed to review
the sects of to-day. Hindu morality, the ethical tone of the mod-
ern sects, is older than the special forms of Hindu viciousness
which have been received into the cult. A negative altruism
(beyond which Brahmanism never got) is characteristic of the

1 The list given above (p. 464) of the ' thrice three names ' is made eight by sup-
pressing Kumara, and the ' eight names ' are to-day the usual number.

2 Qankh. (Kansh.) Br. vi. i.

3 Tlie Brahmanic multiple by preference is (three and) seven (7, 21, 28, 35), that
of the Buddhist, eight. Feer, J A., 1S93, P- '^^Z'^-i holds the Svargaparva of the epic
to be Buddhistic on account of the hells. More probably it is a Q'ivaite addition.
The rule does not always hold good, for groups of seven and eight are sometimes
Buddhistic and Brahmanic, respectively.

4 Leumann, Rosai'ies.

5 Friederich, JRAS. viii. 157; ix. 59. The only established reference to Buddha on
the part of Brahmanism, with the exception of late Puranas of uncertain date, is after
Kshemendra (106G A.D.). Compare Holtzmann, z. Geschichte, p. 103.

MODERN HINDU SECTS. 479

Hindu sects. But this is already embodied in the golden rule,
as it is thus formulated in the epic ' Compendium of Duty ' :

Not that to others should one do
Which he himself objecteth to.
This is man's duty in one word ;
All other rules may be ignored.^

The same is true of the ' Ten Commandments ' of one of the
modern sects. It is one of the strong proofs that Christian
morals did not have much effect upon early Hinduism, that,
although the Christian Church of St. Thomas, as is well estab-
lished, was in Malabar as early as 522," and Christians were in
the North in the seventh century, yet no trace of the active
Christian benevolence, in place of this abstention from injury,
finds its way into the epic or Puranas. But an active altruism
permeates Buddhism, and one reads in the birth-stories even of
a saviour Buddha, not the Buddha of love, jNlaitreya, who was
to be the next Buddha on earth, but of that Maitrakanyaka, who
left heaven and came to earth that he might redeem the sins of
others.^

Whether there is any special touch between the older sects
and those of modern days'* that have their headquarters in the

1 Na tat farasya sandadhydt pratikulay'n yad dtjnanas. This is a favorite
stanza in the epic, and is imitated in later literature (Spriiche, 3253, 6578, 6593).

2 Burnell in the Indian Antiquary, second and following volumes ; Swanston,
JRAS. 1834; 1835; GeriwTinn, Die Kirche dcr Thomaschristen.

3 Above, cited from Hardj^

4 Some of the multitudinous sub-castes occasionally focus about a religious princi.
pie to such an extent as to give them almost the appearance of religious devotees.
Thus the Bhats and Charans are heralds and bards with the mixed faith of so many
low-caste Hindus. But in their office of herald they have a religious pride, and, since
in the present day they are less heralds than expressmen, they carry property with
religious reverence, and are respected in their office even by robbers ; for it is this
caste that do not hesitate to commit traga, that is, if an agreement which they have
caused to be made between two parties is not carried out they will kill themselves and
their families, with such religious effect that the guilt lies upon the offending party in
the agreement, who expiates it by his own life. They are regarded as a sort of divine
representative, and feci themselves to be so. A case reported from India in this year,

4S0 . THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

same districts is a question which we have endeavored to inves-
tigate, but we have found nothing to substantiate such an
opinion. Buddhism retired too early to have influence on the
sects of to-day, and between Jainism and the same sects there
does not seem to be any peculiar rapport even where the sect
is seated in a Jain stronghold.-^ The Jains occupy, generally
speaking, the Northwest (and South), while the Buddhists
were located in the Northeast and South. So Qivaism may be
loosely located as popular in the Northeast and South, while
Vishnuism has its habitat rather in the Jain centres of the
Northwest (and South).

We have mentioned in the preceding chapter the sects of a
few centuries ago, as these have been described in Brahmanic
literature.^ The importance, and even the existence of some
of the sects, described in the Conquest of CaJikara^ has been
questioned, and the opinion has been expressed that, since they
are described only to be exposed as heretical, they may have
been creations of fancy, imaginary sects ; the refutation of their
principles being a tour de force on the part of the Brahmanic
savant, who shows his acumen by imagining a sect and then
discountenancing it. It does not, indeed, seem to us very prob-
able that communities were ever formed as ' Agnis ' or ' Yamas,'
etc., but on the other hand, we think it is more likely that
sects have gone to pieces without leaving any trace than that
those enumerated, explained, and criticised should have been
mere fancies.^ Moreover, in the case of some of these sects

1894, shows that the feeling still exists. The herald slew his own mother in the
presence of the defaulting debtor, who thereupon slew himself as his only expiation.

1 As, for example, between the Dadu Panthls and the Jains in Ajmir and Jeypur.
The last was a chief Digambara town, while Mathura (on the Jumna) was a (Jvetam-
bara station. For a possible survival of Buddhism, see below, p. 485, note.

2 The Sa7-vadarcanasahgraha of Sayana (fourteenth century) and the (^aiikara-
vijaya, or ' Conquest of (^ankara.'

3 Thus the Dabistan enumerates as actual sects of the seventeenth century, 'moon-
worshippers,' ' star-worshippers,' ' Agni-worshippers,' ' wind-worshippers,' ' water-wor-
shippers,'' earth-worshippers,' ' /r/^/T/'flj ' (or worshippers of all the three kingdoms

AIODERN HINDU SECTS. 4S1

there are still survivors, so that a fo7'tiori one may presume the
others to have existed also, if not as sects or communities, yet
as bodies professing faith in Indra or Yama, etc. The sects
with which we have to deal now are chiefly those of this cen-
tury, but many of these can claim a definite antiquity of sev-
eral centuries at least. They have been described by Wilson
in his famous Sketch, and, in special cases, more recently and
more fully by Williams ^ and other writers.

THE giVAITES.

While the Vishnuites have a dualistic, as well as idealistic
background, they are at present Vedantic, and may be divided
to-day simply into intelligent and unintelligent adherents of
pantheism, the former comprising the Rama sects, and the lat-
ter most of the Krishnaites. On the other hand, in Civaism
one must distinguish quite sharply in time between the differ-
ent sects that go by Qiva's name. If one look at the sects of
modern times he will find that the most degraded are dualistic,
in so far as they may be said to have any philosophy, and that
idealistic Civaism is a remnant of the past. But he will not find
a pronounced sectarianism in any of these old Vedantic aspects
of Civaism. On the contrary, wherever ^ivaism is pantheistic
it is a Qivaism which obtains only in certain ancient schools of
philosophy; where it is monotheistic it is among leaders who
have been influenced by the modern teaching of Islam, and
regard Civa merely as a name for the One God. It is neces-
sary, therefore, as it is everywhere in India, to draw as sharp
a line as possible between the beliefs of the vulgar and the
learned. For from the earliest period the former accepted

of nature), and ' worshippers of man ' {inajiiisyabhaktds), "who recognize the being
of God in man, and know nothing more perfect than mankind "' (ii. 12), a faith which)
as we have shown, is professed in the Mahabharata.
1 Religions Thought and Life.

482 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

perfunctorily the teaching of the latter, but at heart and in
cult they remained true to their own lights.

The older Sankhya form of Qivaism was still found among the
Pa^upatas, ' adherents of the Lord ' (Pa^upati) and Mahe9varas
(' adherents of the great Lord '), who are mentioned in the epic
and in inscriptions of the fifth century. In the ninth century
there was a purely philosophical Qivaism which is Vedantic.
But neither in the fact (which is by no means a certainty) that
Qankara accepted Qiva as the name of the All-god, nor in the
scholastic ^ivaite philosophy of Kashmeer, which in the next
two centuries was developed into a purely idealistic system at
the hands of Abhinavagupta and Somananda, is there any trace
of a popular religion. Qiva is here the pantheistic god, but he
is conceived as such only by a coterie of retired schoolmen.
On the other hand, the popular religions which spring up in the
twelfth century are, if Vedantic, chiefly Vishnuite, or, if Qiva-
ite, only nominally Vedantic. Thus what philosophy the
Jangamas professedly have is Vedantic, but in fact they are
deistic (not pantheistic) disciples of Qiva's priest, Basava
(Sanskrit Vrishabha), who taught Qiva-worship in its grossest
form, the adoration of the Linga (phallus) ; while his adherents,
who are spread over all India under the name of Jangamas,
'vagrants.' or Lingayits, 'phallus-wearers,' are idolatrous deists
with but a tinge of Vedantic mysticism. So in the case of the
Tridandins, the Daganamis, and other sects attributed to (Jiva-
ism, as well as the Smartas (orthodox Brahmans) who professed
^ivaism. According to Wilson the Tridandis (whose triple, /r/,
staff, dandi, indicates control of word, thought, and deed) are
Southern Vishnuites of the Ramanuja sect, though some of
them claim to be Vedantic Qivaites. Nominally Qivaite are
also the Southern ' Saints,' Sittars (Sanskrit Siddhas), but these
are a modern sect whose religion has been taught them by
Islam, or possibly by Christianity.^ The extreme North and

1 Tlie Kashmeer (Jivaites claim Qankara as their teacher. The sect of Basava

MODERN HINDU SECTS. 483

South are the districts where Qivaism as a popuhir religion has,
or had, its firmest hold, and it is for this reason that the higher
religions which obtain in these districts are given to Qiva. But
in reality they simply take Civa, the great god of the neighbor-
hood, in order to have a name for their monotheistic god,
exactly as missionaries among the American Indians pray to
the Great Spirit, to adapt themselves to their audience's com-
prehension. In India, as in this country, they that proselyte
would prefer to use their own terminology, but they wisely use
that of their hearers.

We find no evidence to prove that there were ever really sec-
tarian Qivaites who did not from the beginning practice brutal
rites, or else soon become ascetics of the lowest and most des-
picable sort. For philosophical Qivaites were never sectaries.
They cared little whether the All-god or One they argued about
was called Vishnu or ^iva. But whenever one finds a true
Civaite devotee, that is, a man that will not worship Vishnu
but holds fast to Qiva as the only manifestation of the supreme
divinity, he will notice that such an one quickly becomes obscene,
brutal, prone to bloodshed, apt for any disgusting practice, in-
tellectually void, and morally beneath contempt. If the ^ivaite
be an ascetic his asceticism will be the result either of his lack
of intelligence (as in the case of the sects to be described im-
mediately) or of his cunning, for he knows that there are plenty
of people who will save him the trouble of earning a living.
Now this is not the case with the Vishnuites. To be sure there
are Vishnuites that are no better than Civaites, but there are
also strict Vishnuites, exclusively devotees of Vishnu, who are
and remain pure, not brutal, haters of bloodshed, apt for no dis-
gusting practices, intellectually admirable, and morally above
reproach. In other words, there are to-day great numbers of

started in the south, Mysore. They have some trashy literature (legends, etc.) which
they dignify by the name of Puranas. Biihler has given an account of the Kashmeer
school. For further details see Barth, pp, 184, 206.

4S4 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

Vishnuites who continue to be really A'^ishnuites, and yet are
really intelligent and moral. This has never been the case with
real ^ivaites. Again, as Williams ^ has pointed out, Qivaism is
a cheap religion ; Krishnaism is costly. The Qivaite needs for
his cult only a phallus pebble, bilva leaves and w'ater. The
Krishnaite is expected to pay heavily for leitonrgiai. But
^ivaism is cheap because Qivaites are poor, the dregs of so-
ciety ; it is not adopted because it is cheap.

We think, therefore, that to describe ^ivaism as indifferently
pantheistic or dualistic, and to argue that it must have been
pantheistic a few centuries after the Christian era because Qiva
at that time in scholastic philosophy and among certain intel-
lectual sects was regarded as the on 2 god, tends to obscure the
historical relation of the sects. Without further argumentation
on this point, we shall explain what in our view is necessary to
a true understanding of the mutual relations between ^ivaites
and Vishnuites in the past.

Monotheism - and pantheism are respectively the religious
expression of the Sankhya and Vedanta systems of philosophy.
Qivaism, Krishnaism, and Ramaism are all originally deistic.
I'ure Qivaism has remained so to this day, not only in all its
popular sectarian expressions, but also in the Brahmanic Qiva-
ism of the early epic, nnd in the Qivaism which expresses itself
in the adoration-formulae of the literature of the Renaissance.
But there is a pseudo-Qivaism which starts up from the ninth
to the twelfth centuries, and tries to work ^iva's name into a

1 Brahmanism and Hinduisjn^ p. 62 ff. To this and to the same author's T/ioiig/it
and Life, we are indebted for many facts concerning ihe sects as they appear to-day,
though much in these books is said after Wilson or other scholars, whose work is now
common property, and calls for no further acknowledgment.

- It is, perhaps, necessary to keep repeating that Hindu monotheism does not
exclude other gods which, at the hands of the one god, are reduced to sprites, angels,
demons, etc. But it ought not to be necessary to insist on this, for an American
monotheist that believes in angels and devils is the sam.e sort of monotheist. The
Hindu calls the angels ' gods ' or ' divinities,' but they are only attendant hosts of the
One.

MODERN HINDU SECTS. 48S

pantheistic system of philosophy. Every such attempt, how-
ever, and all of tiiem are the reflex of the growing importance
of Vedantic ideas, fails as such to produce a religion. If the
movement becomes popular and develops into a religious
system for the masses, it at once gives up Qiva and takes up
Vishnu, or, keeping Q^^'^j it drops pantheism and becomes a
low form of sectarian ascetism. ^ivaism is, therefore, funda-
mentally non-Vedantic, and Unitarian.^

On the other hand, while Krishnaism and Ramaism begin
as deistic (tribal) cults, they are soon absorbed into Brahmanic
Vishnuism. Now Vishnuism is essentially Brahmanistic, and
the only orthodox (Brahmanic) system is that which holds to
the completion of Vedic pantheism. The first systematic phi-
losoph}-, however, was not orthodox. It was the Sankhya,
which peeps out in the dualism of the oldest distinctly philo-
sophical works, and lingers in the Puranic Sankhya. The
marks of this dualism we have shown in the Divine Song of
the epic. It is by means of it that Krishnaism as an expres-
sion of this heterodox Vishnuism became possible. Vishnuism
was soon rescued from the dualists, and became again what it
was originally, an expression of pantheism. But Vishnu car-
ried Krishna with him as his alter ego, and in the epic the two
are finally one All-god. Vedantic philosophy continued to
present Vishnu rather than (^iv:\. as its All-god, until to-day
Vishnuism is the sectarian aspect of the Vedanta system. But
with Vishnu have risen Krishna and Rama as still further
types of the All-god. Thus it is that Vishnuism, whether as
Krishnaism or as Ramaism, is to-day a pantheistic religion.
But, while Rama is the god of the philosophical sects,

1 Some of the Qivaite sects are, indeed, Buddhistic in origin, a fact which raises
the question whether Buddhism, instead of disappearing from India, was not simply
absorbed : much as Unitarianism in New England has spent its vitality in modifying
the orthodox creed. Thus the kar?na of Buddhism may still be working in the per-
son of some modern Hindu sects. See the next note below.

4S6 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

and, therefore, is almost entirely a pantheistic god ; Krishna,
who was always a plebeian, is continually reverting, so to
speak, to himself ; that is to say, he is more affected by the
vulgar, and as the vulgar are more prone, by whatever sec-
tarian name they call themselves, to worship one idol, it hap-
pens that Krishna in the eyes of his following is less of a
pantheistic god than is Rama. Here again, therefore, it is
necessary to draw the line not so much between names of sects
as between intelligent and unintelligent people. For Krishnaism,
despite all that has been done for Krishna by the philosophers
of his church, in this regard resembles Qivaism, that it repre-
sents the religion of unintelligent (though wealthy) classes,
who revere Krishna as their one pet god, without much more
thought of his being an All-god avata?' than is spent by the
ordinary Qivaite on the purely nominal trinitarianism which
has been foisted upon Qiva.

But we must now give an account of the low sectaries, the
miracle-mongers, jugglers,-^ and ascetic whimsicalities, which
together stand under the phallic standard of Civaism. Ancient
and recent observers enumerate a sad list of them. The
devotees of the ' highest bird ' are a low set of ascetics, who
live on voluntary alms, the result of their affectation of ex-
treme penance. The Urdhvabahus, 'Up-arms,' raise their
arms till they are unable to lower them again. The Akaga-
mukhas, ' Sky-facers,' hold their faces toward the sky till the
muscles stiffen, and they live thus always. The Nakhis, ' Nail '

1 Most of the Yogi jugglers are (Jivaites (when they are not Buddhistic), and to-
day they share with the (Mohammedan) fakirs the honor of being not only ascetics
but knaves. The juggler Yogi is, however, a figure of respectable antiquity. The
magical tricks practiced on the epic heroes are doubtless a reflex of the current mes-
merism, which deceives so cleverly to-day. We have shown above a Buddhistic
strain of Mahatmaism in an early Buddhistic tract, and Barth, p. 213, suggests a
Buddhistic origin for the Kanaphats. See also Holtzmann, loc. cit. The deistic Yogis
of Gorakhnath's sect are respectable enough (see an account of some of this sort
in the Dabistan, ii. 6), but they are of Buddhistic origin. The Kanaphats of Kutch
(Danodhar) were once a celibate brotherhood. JRAS. 1S39, p. 268.

MOD ERA' HINDU SECTS. 487

ascetics, allow their nails to grow through their clenched hands,
which unfits them for work (but they are all too religiously
lazy to work), and makes it necessary for the credulous faithful
to support them. Some of these, like the Kanaphats, ' Ear-
splitters,' who pierce the ear with heavy rings, have been
respectable Yogis in the past, but most of them have lost what
sense their philosophic founders attached to the sign, and keep
only the latter as their religion. Some, such as the Ukharas
and Sukharas, appear to have no distinctive features, all of
them being the 'refuse of beggars' (\Mlson). Others claim
virtue on the strength of nudity, and subdue their passions
literally with lock and key. The ' Potmen,' the 'Skull-men,'
Gudaras and Kapalikas, are distinguished, as their names
imply, only by their vessels. The former, however, are the
remnant of a once thoughtful sect known by name since the
sixth century, and Kanaphats and Kapalikas both show that
very likely others among these wretches are but the residue
of ancient Qivaite sects, who began as philosophers (perhaps
Buddhists), and became only ascetic and thus degraded ; for,
^iva apparently has no power to make his worshippers better
than himself, and he is a dirty monster, now and then galvan-
ized into the resemblance of a decent god.

There is a well-known verse, not in Manu, but attributed to
him (and for that reason quite a modern forgery),^ which de-
clares that Qambhu (^iva) is the god of priests ; Vishnu, the
god of warriors ; Brahma, the god of the Vai^yas (farmers and
traders) ; and Ganega, the god of slaves. It is, on the con-
trary, Qiva himself, not his son Gane^^a, who is the 'god of low
people' in the early literature. It is he who 'destroys sacri-
fice,' and is anything but a god of priests till he is carefully
made over by the latter. Nowadays some Brahmans profess
the Civaite faith, but they are Vishnuite if really sectarian.

1 See JAOS. xi. 272. To ascribe this verse to the 'older Manu' would be a grave
slip on the part of a Sanskrit scholar.

4SS THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

No Brahman, for instance, will serve at a Qiva shrine, except
possibly at Benares, where among more than an hundred
shrines to Civa and his family, Vishnu has but one ; and
though he will occasionally perform service even in a heretic
Jain temple he will not lower himself to worship the Linga.
Nor is it true that Civa is a patron of literature. Like Gane^a,
his son, Civa may upset everything if he be not properly
placated, and consequently there is, at the beginning of every
enterprise (among others, literary enterprises) in the Renais-
sance literature, but never in the works of religion or law or in
any but modern profane literature, an invocation to Qiva.
But he is no more a patron of literature than is Gane^a, 6r in
other words, ^ivaism is not more literary than is Gane^aism.
In a literary country no religion is so illiterate as Qivaism, no
writings are so inane as are those in his honor. There is no
poem, no religious literary monument, no Purana even, dedicated
to Qiva, that has any literary merit. All that is readable in
sectarian literature, the best Puranas, the Divine Song, the
sectarian Ramayana, come from Vishnuism. Qivaism has
nothing to compare with this, except in the works of them
that pretend to be ^ivaites but are really not sectaries, like the
Sittars and the author of the Qveta^vatara. Qiva as a ' patron
of literature ' takes just the place taken by Ganega in the
present beginning of the Mahabharata. Vyasa has here com-
posed the poem ^ but Gane^a is invoked as Vighne^a, ' Lord of
difficulties,' to help the poet write it out. Vyasa does the
intellectual work and Gane^a performs the manual labor.
Vishnuism, in a word, is the only cultivated (native) sectarian
religion of India ; and the orthodox cult, in that it is Vedantic,
lies nearer to Vishnuism than to Civaism. Why then does one
find Qiva invoked by philosophy.'' Because monotheism in
distinction from pantheism was the belief of the wise in the
first centuries after the Christian era, till the genius of ^ankara

1 i. I. 76.

MODERN IIIXDU SECTS. 4S9

definitively raised pantheism in alliance with orthodoxy to be
the more esteemed ; and because Qiva alone, when the choice
lay between him and Vishnu, could be selected as the One
God. For Vishnuism was now merged with Krishnaism, a new
vulgar cult, and Qiva was an old and venerated god, long since
a member of the Brahmanic pantheon. The connection be-
tween Qivaism and the Sankhya system gave it a more respect-
able and archaic appearance in the eyes of the conservative
Brahman, while the original asceticism of Qiva undoubtedly
appealed much more to Brahmanic feeling than did the senti-
mentalism of the Vishnuite. In the extreme North, in the
ninth century, philosophy and (Jivaism are nominally allied,
but really sectarian Qivaism was the cult of the lowest, not of
the highest classes. Many of the professed Qivaites are to-day
tending to Vedantism, which is the proper philosophy of the
Vishnuite ; and the Civaite sects are waning before the Vish-
nuite power, not only in the middle North, where the mass
of the population is devoted to Vishnu, but even in (Jiva's later
provinces in the extreme South. The social distribution of the
sectaries in the Middle Ages was such that one may assign
older Vishnuism to the middle classes, and Qivaism to the
highest on its philosophical and decently ascetic side, but to
the lowest on its phallic and magical side.

But none of the Qivaite sects we have mentioned, imbecile
as appear to be the impostors that represent them, are equal in
despicable traits to the ^aktas. These worshippers of the
androgynous Civa (or of (Jakti, the female principle alone), do,
indeed, include some Vishnuites among themselves, but they
are originally and prevailingly Qivaite.^ Blood-offerings and
human sacrifices are a modern and an ancient trait of Qiva-

1 The Dabistan, without any animus, reports of the ^aktas of the seventeenth
century that " C^'iva is, in their opinion, zvitli Utile exceptio7i. the highest of the
deities" (ii. 7). WilUams calls (^"aktaism "a mere offshoot of (^ivaism," Religions
Thought and Life, p. 184.

490 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

worship ; ^ and the hill-tribes of the Yindhya and the clas-
sical drama show that the cult of Aghori is a Civaite manifes-
tation which is at once old and derived from un-Aryan sources.
Aghori and all female monsters naturally associate with Civa,
who is their intellectual and moral counterpart. The older
Aghoris exacted human sacrifice in honor of Devi, Parvati, the
wife of Qiva." The adoration of the female side of a god is as
old as the Rig Veda, but Civaism has combined this cult with
features probably derived from other independent local cults,
such as that of Parvati, the 'mountain goddess.' They are all
united in the person of ^iva's wife of many names, the ' great
goddess,' Mahadevi, the 'hard' Durga, Kali, Uma, etc.^ And
it is to this ferocious she-monster that the most abject homage of
the Qivaites is paid. So great is the terror inspired by Durra
that they that are not Qivaites at all yet join in her festival ;
for which purpose, apparently, she is dubbed Vishnu's ' sister.'
But it is not blood-guiltiness alone which is laid at tlie door of
this cult. The sectarian religions have an exoteric and an
esoteric side, the religion of the 'right hand' and of the 'left
hand.' It is the latter (to which belong many that deny the
fact) wherein centre the abominations of Civaism ; in less
degree, those of Vishnuism also. Obscenity is the soul of this
cult. Bestiality equalled only by the orgies of the Indie sav-
ages among the hill-tribes is the form of this 'religion.'"* It is

i The Dabistan rather assumes as a matter of course that a body of Yogis would
kill and eat a boy of the Mohammedan faith (ii. 12) ; but here the author may be
prejudiced.

- The present sect of this name consists only of a few miserable mendicants, par-
ticularly savage and filthy (Wilson).

3 All of them now represent (^akti, the female principle. Linga-worship has also
its counterpart, Bhaga-worship (here Yoni), perhaps represented by the altar itself.
Compare the Dabistan, ii. 7, on the (^ivaite interpretation of the Mohammedan altar.
To Durga human beings were alwaj^s sacrificed. After mentioning a gold idol of
Durga (to whom men were sacrificed yearly), the author adds: " Even now they sac-
rifice in every village of the Kohistan of Nandapur and the country adjacent, a man
of good family" (jb}j. Durga (above, p. 416) is Vishnu's sister.

■i The sexual antithesis, so unimportant in the earliest Aryan nature-hymns, be-

MODERN HINDU SECTS. 491

screened by an Orphic philosophy, for is not Nature or Illusion
the female side of the Divine Male? It is screened again by
religious fervor, for it is pious profligacy that prompts the
rites. It is induced practically by an initial carousal and
drunkenness ; and this is antique, for even the old j-^w<^-feasts
were to a great extent drunken revels, and the gods have got
drunk from the time of the Vedas ^ to do their greatest deeds.
But in practice, Qakti-worship, when unveiled, amounts to this,
that men and women of the same class and family indulge in
a Bacchanalian orgy, and that, as they proceed, they give
themselves over to every excess which liquor and lust can
prompt. A description of the different rites would be to re-
duplicate an account of indecencies, of which the least vile is
too esoteric to sketch faithfully. Vaguely to outline one such
religious festival will suffice. A naked woman, the wife of the
chief priest, sits in the middle of the 'holy circle.' She repre-
sents Durga, the divine female principle. The Bacchic orgy
begins with hard drinking, Qiva as Bhairava, 'the dreadful,'
has his human counterpart also, who must then and there pair
with the impersonated Durga. The worship proper consists
in the repetition of meaningless mantra syllables and yells ;
the worship improper, in indulgence in ' wine and women ' (par-
ticularly enjoined in the rite-books called Tantras). Human
sacrifice at these rites is said to be extinct at the present day.'-^

comes more and more pronounced in the liturgical hymns of the Rig Veda, and may
be especially a trait of the older fire-cult in opposition to sovia-CMXt (compare RV. x.
1 8. 7). At any rate it is significant that Yoni means the altar itself, and that in the
fire-cult the production of fire is represented as resulting from the union of the male
and female organs.

1 Nevertheless the Brahmanic, and even the Hinduistic, law-codes condemn all
intoxicating liquors except in reHgious service. To offer such drink to a man of the
lower castes, even to a (^udra, is punishable with a fine ; but to offer intoxicating
liquor to a priest is punishable with death (Vishnu, v. loo).

2 Formerly performed by the Kararis. " The (,"aktas hold the killing of a man to
be permitted," Dabistan, ii. 7. *' Among them it is a meritorious act to sacrifice a
man," ib.

492 THE RELIGIOjXS OF INDIA.

But blood-lust is appeased by the hacking of their own bodies.
Garments are cast in a heap. Lots are drawn for the women's
garments -^ by the men. With her whose clothes he gets each
man continues the debauch, inviting incest in addition to all
other excess.^

The older Vishnuite sects (Pancaratras, etc.) may have had
some of this filth in their make-up ; but mass for mass the
practices are characteristic of Qivaism and not of Vishnuism.^
Especially Civaite, however, is the 'mother worship,' to which
reference was made in the chapter on epic Hinduism. These
' mothers ' are guardian goddesses, or fiends of disease, etc.
One may not claim that all (Jaktas are ^ivaites, but how small
a part of Vishnuism is occupied with Qakti-worship can be
estimated only by surveying the whole body of w^orshippers of
that name.

We cannot leave the lust and murder of modern Qivaism
without speaking of still another sect which hangs upon the
heels of Kfdi, that of the Thugs. It may, indeed, be ques-
tioned whether ^^^'^ should be responsible for the doings of
his spouse. Kali. But like seeks like, and there is every his-
torical justification in making out Qiva to be as bad as the
company he keeps. Durga and Kali are not vainly looked
upon as Qiva's female side. So that a sect like the Thugs,^

1 Hence the name of Kanculiyas (kanculi, a woman's garment).

2 This has no parallel in Vishnuism except among some of the Radha devotees.
Among the Radha Vallabhls the vulgarities of the (^ivaites are quite equalled ; and
the assumption of women's attire by the Sakhl Bhavas of Benares and Bengal ushers
in rites as coarse if less bloody than those of the (^ivaites.

3 Of course each god of the male trinity has his (^akti. female jDrinciple. Thus
Brahma's Qakti is Savitrl (in the epic), or SarasvatT, or Vac; that of Vishnu is (^ri,
or Lakshml. or Radha; that of (^iva is Uma, Durga, Kali, etc. Together they make
a female trinity (Barth, p. 199). So even the Vcdic gods had their (later) wives, who,
as in the case of Surya, were probably only the female side of a god conceived of as
androgynous, like Prajapati in the Brahm.anic period.

•i Historically, Thags, like Panjab, Santhals, etc., is the m.ore correct form, but
phonetically the forms Thugs, Puniab, Sunthals or Sonthals, are correct, and a, the
indeterminate vowel (like o in London), is generally transcribed by u or o (in

MODERN HINDU SECTS. 493

which worshipped Kali, may, it is true, be taken out of the
Qivaite sects, but only if one will split Civaism in two and
reproduce the original condition, wherein Qiva was one mon-
ster and Kali was another ; which is scarcely possible after
the two have for centuries been looked upon as identical.
With this in mind it may be granted that the Thugs payed
reverence to Kali, rather than to her lord. Moreover, many
of them were Mohammedans ; but, for our purpose, the signifi-
cant fact is that when the Thugs were Hindus they were Kali-
Qivaites. And we believe that these secret murderers, strange
as it seems, originated in a reformatory movement. As is well
known, it was a religious principle with them not to spill
blood. -^ They always throttled. They were, of course, when
they first became known in 1799 (Sherwood's account), nothing
but robbers and murderers. But, like the other Qivaite mon-
strosities, they regarded their work as a religious act, and
always invoked Kali if they were Hindus. We think it prob-
able, therefore, that the sect originated among the Kali-wor-
shippers as a protest against blood-letting. Admitting that
robbery is under ^iva's protection (Civa is ' god of robbers '),
and that Kali wanted victims, a sect probably claimed that
the victims should be throttled, and not bled. Not that this
was necessarily a new reform. There is every reason to sup-
pose that most of Qiva's females are aboriginal wild-tribe

Punjab, Nepal, the a is pronounced very like au, and is sometimes written so,
Punjaub, etc.).

1 The Jemidar, captain, gives the order to the Buttoat, strangler, who takes the
rtinial (yard of cotton) with a knot tied in the left end, and, holding his right hand
a few inches further up, passes it from behind over the victim's head. As the latter
falls the strangler's hands are crossed, and if done properly the Thugs say that '• the
eyes stand out of the head and life becomes extinct, before the body falls to the
ground" (Notes on the ' Thags, Thugs, or Thegs," by Lieutenant Reynolds ; of whom
Lieutenant-Colonel Smythe says that he knew more than any other European about
the Thugs, 1836). The Buttoat received eight annas extra for his sharp. Each
actor in the scene had a title; the victim was called Rosy. For their argot see the
Ramaseeana.

494 THE RELIGIOXS OF Ih'DIA.

divinities. Now among these savages one sees at times a dis-
tinct refusal to bleed human victims. Thuggery may then have
been the claim of an old conservative party, who wished to
keep up the traditional throttling ; though this is pure specula-
tion, for, at the time when the sect became exposed, this meails
of death was merely the safest way to kill. They insisted
always on being called Thugs, and scorned the name of thief.
They were suppressed by 1840. Reynolds describes them as
" mostly men of mild and unobtrusive manners, possessing a
cheerful disposition.'

j> 1

THE VISHNUITE SECTS.

There is a formal idealistic Civaism, as we have shown, and
there was once a dualistic Vishnuism ; but in general the Vish-
nuite is an idealist. To comprehend the quarrels among the
sects of this religion, however, it will be necessary to examine
the radical philosophical differences of their founders, for one
passes, in going from modern Qivaism to Vishnuism, out of
ignorant superstition into philosophical religion, of which many
even of the weaker traits are but recent Hinduistic effeminacy
substituted for an older manly thinking.

1 Thugs (defined as 'knaves' by Sherwood, more probably ' throttlers ') must be
distinguished from Deceits. The latter (Elphinstone, i. 3S4) are irreligious gangs,
secretly bound together to sack villages. Peaceable citizens by day, the Decoits rise at
night, attack a village, slay, torture, rob, and disappear before morning, ' melting into
the population ' and resuming honest toil. When the police are weak enough they
may remain banded together; otherwise they are ephemerally honest and nocturnally
assassins. The Thugs or Phansigars {phdnsi, noose) killed no women, invoked
Kali (as Jayl), and attacked individuals only, whom the decoys, called Tillais, lured
very cleverly to destruction. They never robbed without strangling first, and always
buried the victim. They used to send a good deal of what they got to Kali's temple,
in a village near Mirzapur, where the establishment of priests was entirely supported
by them. Kali (or Bhavani) herself directed that victims should be strangled, not
bled (so the Thug legend). Their symbol was a pick, emblem of the goddess, unto
w^hom a religious ceremony was performed before and after the murder was com-
mitted. Local small bankers often acted as fence for them.

MODERN HINDU SECTS. 495

The complex of Vishnuite sects presents at first rather a
confused appearance, but we think that we can make the whole
body separate itself clearly enough into its component parts, if
the reader will pause at the threshold and before entering the
edifice look at the foundation and the outer plan of Vedantic
philosophy.

At the beginning of Colebrooke's essays on Hindu philosophy
he thus describes four of the recognized systems : " The two
Mimamsas . . . are emphatically orthodox. The prior one,
pT{7'va^ which has Jaimini for its founder, teaches the art of
reasoning, with the express view of aiding the interpretation of
the Vedas. The latter, 2itia?'a,- commonly called Vedanta, and
attributed to Vyasa (or Badarayana), deduces from the text of
the Indian scriptures a refined psychology, which goes to a
denial of a material world. A different philosophical system,
partly heterodox, and partly conformable to the established
ijindu creed, is the Sankhya ; of which also, as of the preced-
ing, there are two schools ; one usually known by that name,'^
the other commonly termed Yoga."*

The eldest of these systems, as we have already had occa-
sion to state, is the dualistic Sankhya. It was still highly
esteemed in the ninth century, the time of the great Vedantist,
^ankara.'^ A theistic form of this atheistic philosophy is
called the Puranic Sankhya, and Patanjali's Yoga is thor-
oughly theistic. Radically opposed to the dualistic Sankhya
stands the Vedanta,^ based on the Upanishads that teach the
identity of spirit and matter.

1 This is called either Purva-mlmamsa (Karma-mimamsa) or simply MImamsa.

2 Or Qarlraka-mlmamsa, or Brahma-mlmamsa {nilvidi'nsd, reflexion, philosophy).

3 Kapila's system, usually known as the Sankhya.

4 And attributed to Patafijali. Compare Deussen, Systetfi des Veddtita, p. 20.

^ Born in 788. But some scholars refer him to the seventh century. See lA.
xiii. 95 ; xvi. 41. His name, a title of (^iva, indicates his nominal sect.

6 For the meaning of Vedanta (whether 'end of Veda,' or 'goal of Veda') compare
Deussen, loc. cit. p. 3, note (above, p. 233, note).

496 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

As representative of the metaphysics of the Sankhya and
Vedanta systems respectively stand in general the two great
religions of India. The former, as we have shown, is still
potent in the great Song of the epic, and its principles are
essentially those of early Qivaism. The latter, especially in
its sectarian interpretation, with which we have now^ to deal,
has become the great religion of India. But there are two
sectarian interpretations of Vishnu, and two philosophical
interpretations of the All-spirit in its relation to the individual
soul or spirit.-^ Again the individual spirit of man either
enjoys after death immortal happiness, as a being distinct
from the All-spirit ; or the jn^a^ individual spirit, is absorbed
into the All-spirit (losing all individuality, but still conscious
of happiness) ; or the individual spirit is absorbed into an All-
spirit that has no happiness or affection of any kind.

Now the strict philosophy of the Vedanta adopts the last
view i)i toto. The individual spirit (soul, self) becomes one
with the universal Spirit, losing individuality and conscious-
ness, for the universal Spirit itself is not affected by any quality
or condition. A creative force without attributes, this is the
All-spirit of Qankara and of the strict Vedantist. To Qankara
the Creator was but a phase of the All-spirit, and the former's
immortality ended with his creation ; in other words, there is
no immortal Creator, only an immortal creative power.

In the twelfth century arose another great leader of thought,
Ramanuja. He disputed the correctness of Qankara's inter-
pretation of Vedantic principles. It is maintained by some
that Cankara's interpretation is really correct, but for our pur-
pose that is neither here nor there. ^ Qankara's brahina is the

1 The Supreme Spirit or All-Spirit is either purely non-dualistic or qualifiedly
non-dualistic; in tlie latter event he is, says the sectary, identical with Vishnu, who
may be represented either by Krishna or Rama (sub-sects). Pure non-duality
(unconditioned dtma) was taught by Qankara.

2 Gough, Philosophy of the Upanishads. Compare Williams, loc. cit. In our
own view the unsystematic Upanishads teach both doctrines (above, p. 228, note).

MODERX HIXDU SECTS. 497

one and only being, pure being, or pure thought. Thought is
not an attribute of bj'ahvia., it is b?'ahma. Opposed to this
pure being (tliought) stands viaya, ilkision, the material cause
of the seen world. It is neither being nor not-being ; it is the
cause of the appearance of things, in that it is associated with
brahina^ and in so far only is brahma rightly the Lord. The
infinite part of each individual is braJwia; the finite part is
maya. Thus Badarayana (author of the Vedanta Sutras) says
that the individual is only illusion.

Ramanuja,^ on the other hand, teaches a brahma that is not
only universal, but is the universal personal Lord, a supreme
conscious and willing God. Far from being devoid of attri-
butes, like Qankara's b?'a/i7na, the brahma of Ramanuja has
all attributes, chief of which is thought or intelligence. The
Lord contains in himself the elements of that plurality which
Qankara regards as illusion. As contrasted with the dualistic
Sankhya philosophy both of these systems inculcate monism.
But according to Qankara all difference is illusion ; while
according to Ramanuja brahma is not homogeneous, but in the
diversity of the world about us he is truly manifested. Qan-
kara's maya is Ramanuja's body of {brahjna) the Lord. Q An-
kara's personal god exists only by collusion with illusion, and
hence is illusory. The brah7jia of Ramanuja is a personal
god, the omnipotent, omniscient, Lord of a real world. More-
over, from an eschatological point of view, Cankara explains
salvation, the release from re-birth, samsara, as complete union
with this unqualified brahma., consequently as loss of individ-
uality as well as loss of happiness. But Ramanuja defines
salvation as the departure from earth forever of the individual

1 Before Ramanuja it was taught by Qandilya that braJwia (and the individual
spirit) was conditioned, a doctrine supposed to be that of the old Bhagavatas or
Pailcaratras ; but this is quite uncertain. The (^"andilyan chapter of the Chandogya
Upanishad (above, p. 221) may be thus interpreted, tvz., that the (conditioned)
individual spirit is identical with brahma.

49S THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

spirit, which enters a heaven where it will enjoy perennial
bliss. ^

Ramanuja's doctrine inspires the sectarian pantheism of the
present time. In this there is a metaphysical basis of con-
duct, a personal god to be loved or feared, the hope of bliss
hereafter. In its essential features it is a verv old belief, far
older than the philosophy which formulates it.^ Thus, after
the hard saying ''fools desire heaven," this desire reasserted
itself, and under Ramanuja's genial interpretation of the
Vedanta Sutras the pious man was enabled to build up his
cheerful hope again, withal on the basis of a logic as difficult
to controvert as was that of ^ankara himself.^

Thus far the product of Vedantism is deism. But now with
two steps one arrives at the inner portal of sectarianism.
First, if bj'aJuna is a personal god, which of the gods is he,
this personal All-spirit ? As a general thing the Vedantist
answers, ' he is Vishnu ' ; and adds, ' Vishnu, who embraces
as their superior those other gods, Qiva, and Brahma.' But
the sectary is not content with making the All-god one with
Vishnu. Vishnu was manifested in the flesh, some say as
Krishna, some say as Rama.* The relation of sectary to Vish-
nuite, and to the All-spirit deist, may be illustrated most
clearly by comparison with Occidental religions. One may
not acknowledge any personal god as the absolute Supreme
Power ; again, one may say that this Supreme Power is a

1 Thibaut, Introdiidion to the Vedanta Sfttras, SBE. xxxiv. p. xxxi; Deussen,
Systcfu des Vedanta^ p. 469.

2 Philosophical illusion, vidyd^ appears first in late Upanishads.

3 The author of the Dabistan (seventeenth century) tells a Berkeleyan story in
regard to (^ankara's doctrine of illusion. His enemies wished to test his belief in his
own philosophy : so they drove an elephant at him, on which the philosopher ran away,
" Ho ! '' they jeered, " Did you not maintain that all was a mere illusion ? Then an
elephant is illusion. Yet you take to flight before it." " Yes," replied the philoso-
pher, " all is illusion ; there was no elephant, and there was no flight " (ii. 4).

4 The Smarta (orthodox) Brahman believes, on the other hand, that Vishnu, Qiva,
and Brahma are all mere forms of the Supreme Atma.

MODERN HINDU SECTS. 499

personal god, Jehovah ; again, Jehovah may or may not be
resiarded as one with Christ. The minuter ramifications of
the Christian church then correspond to the sub-sects of
Krishnaism or Ramaism.^

The Occidental and Oriental conceptions of the trinity are,
however, not identical. For in India the trinity, from the
Vishnuite point of view, is an amalgamation of Civa and
Brahma with Vishnu, irrespective of the question wdiether
Vishnu be manifest in Krishna or not ; while the Christian
trinity amalgamates the form that corresponds to Vishnu
with the one that corresponds to Krishna.^ To the orthodox
Brahman, on the other hand, as Williams has very well put it,
Krishna is an incarnation of Vishnu, who is himself only an
incarnation, that is, a form, of God.

Having now explained the two principal divisions of the
modern sects, we can lead the reader into the church of Vishnu.
It is a church of two great parties, each being variously sub-
divided. Of these two parties the Krishnaites are intellectually
the weaker, and hence numerically the stronger. All Krish-
naites, of course, identify the man-god Krishna with A'^ishnu,
and their sub-sects revert to various teachers, of whom the
larger number are of comparatively recent date, although as
a body the Krishnaites may claim an antiquity as great, if not
greater, than that of the Ramaites.

But the latter party, in their various sub-sects, all claim as

1 If ^Mohammed were regarded as one with Allah there would be an Occidental
parallel to the Krishna and Kama sects.

2 Whether the Hindu trinitarianism derives from the Occident or not (the former
view being historically probable, but not possible to prove) the importance of the
dogma and its place in Hindu theology is very different to the condition of things
in the Christian church. In India trinitarianism is merely a convenience in adjust-
ing the claims of two heterodox sects and orthodoxy, each believer being willing
to admit that the god of the other is his own god, only with the understanding that
the last is a superior manifestation. In late Qivaism both Vishnu and Brahma are
indeed called the 'sons of God' (Qiva). but in the sense that they are distinctly sub-
ordinate creatures of (^iva (JAOS. iv. 147),

500 THE RELIGIOXS OF INDIA.

their founder either Raman uj a himself or one of his followers ;
and since, if the claim be granted, the Rama sects do but con-
tinue his work, we shall begin by following out the result of his
teaching as it was interpreted by his disciples ; especially since
the Krishnaites have left to the Ramaites most of the philoso-
phizing of the church, and devoted themselves more exclu-
sively to the moralities and immoralities of their more practical
religion. As a matter of fact, the Ramaites to-day are less
religious than philosophical, while in the case of the Krishna-
ites, with some reservations, the contrary may be said to be
the case.

THE RAMAITES.

Since the chief characteristic of growth among Hindu sec-
taries is a sort of segmentation, like that which conditions the
development of amcebas and other lower organisms, it is a fore-
gone conclusion that the Ramaites, having formed one body
apart from the Krishnaites, will immediately split up again
into smaller segments. It is also a foregone conclusion, since
one is really dealing here with human types, that these
smaller segments will mutually hate and despise each other
much more than they hate their common adversaries. Just as,
in old times, a Calvinist hated a Lutheran more than he did a
Russian Christian (for he understood his quarrel better), so a
'cat-doctrine' Ramaite hates a 'monkey-doctrine' Ramaite far
more than he hates a Krishnaite, while with a Qivaite he
often has an amJcable union ; although the Krishnaite belittles
the Ramaite's manifestation of Vishnu, and the ^ivaite belit-
tles Vishnu himself.-^

1 But some Hindus worship both Vishnu and (Jiva without insisting that one is
higher than the other. Moreover, there is a Mahratta sect of Vishnuites who com-
placently worship Buddha (Vishnu's ninth avatar) as \'iththala or Panduraiiga.
These are simply eclectic, and their god is without or with quality. Buddha is here
not a deceiver, but an instructor (JRAS. 1842, p. 66; lA. xi. 56, 149).

MODERN- HIKDU SECTS. SOI

The chief ponit of difference theologically between the Rama-
ites is the one just mentioned. The adherents of the 'cat-
doctrine ' teach that God saves man as a cat takes up its kitten,
without free-will on the part of the latter. The monkey-doc-
trinaires teach that man, in order to be saved, must reach out
to their God (Rama, who is Vishnu, who, again, is All-god, that
is, hraJwid)^ and embrace their God as a monkey does its
mother.^ The resemblance to the Occidental sects here becomes
still more interesting. But we have given an earlier example of
the doctrine of free grace from the epic, and can now only locate
the modern sects that still argue the question. The ' monkey'
Ramaites are a sect of the North {I'ada)^ and hence are called
Vada-galais; ^ the ' cat ' or Calvinistic Ramaites of the South (tcji)
are called Ten-galais. Outwardly these sects differ in having
diverse mani7'as^ greetings, dress, and especially in the forehead-
signs, which show whether the ' mark of Vishnu ' shall represent
(Vadagal belief) one or (Tengal) two feet of the god (expressed
by vertical lines ^ painted fresh daily on the forehead). The
Ten-galais, according to a recent account, are the more numer-
ous and the more materialistic.'*

All the Ramaites, on the other hand, hold that (i) the deity
is not devoid of qualities ; (2) Vishnu is the deity and should
be worshipped with Lakshmi, his wife ; (3) Rama is the human
avatar of Vishnu; (4) Ramanuja and all the great teachers
since his day are also avatars of Vishnu.

In upper India, about the Ganges, Ramanuja's disciple,

1 The (Jivaites, too, are divided on the questions both of predestination and of
free grace. The greater body of them hold to the ' monkey doctrine ' ; the I^a^upatas,
to the ' cat.'

2 Sanskrit kald, school (inarkata-yiydya and in rjdra-nyayd). The Southern
school has its own Veda written in Tamil. Williams, J R AS. xiv. 301. According
to the same writer the Ten-galais hold that \'ishnu's wife is finite, created, and a
mediator ; the Vada-galais, that she is infinite, and uncreated,

3 All Vishnuites have the vertical sign ; Qivaites have a horizontal sign (on the
forehead).

4 Proceed. AOS. 1S94, p. lii. The Vada-school may be affected by (Jivaism.

502 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

Ramanand (fifth in descent), who Uved in the fourteenth cen-
tury, has more followers than has the founder. His disciples
worship the divine ape, Hanuman ^ (conspicuous in both epics),
as well as Rama. They are called ' the liberated,' Avadhutas,
but whether because they are freed from caste-restrictions,^ or
from the strict rules of eating enjoined by Raman uj a, is doubt-
ful. Ramanand himself had in turn twelve disciples. Of these
the most famous is Kabir, whose followers, the Kabir Panthis
(sect), are widely spread, and of whom no less a person than
Nanak, the Sikh, claimed to be a successor. But it will be m.ore
convenient to describe the Sikhs hereafter. Of Ramanand's
other disciples that founded sects may be mentioned Kil, whose
sectaries, the Khakis, of Oude, unite successfully Rama-worship,
Hanuman-worship, and ^ivaite fashions (thus presenting a mix-
ture like that of the southern Madhvas, who unite the images
of Qiva and Vishnu). The Ras Dasa sect, again, owes to its
founder the black ^alagrama pebble, an object of reverent awe,
wdiich gives rise to a sort of sub-cult subsequently imitated by
others.^ Another widely-spread sect which claim Ramanand
as their founder's teacher is that of the Dadu Panthis. This
branch also of the Ramaites we shall more appropriately dis-
cuss under the head of deism (below). Finally, we have to
mention, as an outcome of the Ramanand faith, the modern

1 A divine monkey appears in the Rig Veda, but not as an object of devotion.

2 The teachers of the Ramaites are generally Brahmans, but no disciples are ex-
cluded because of their caste. Ramanuja adopted the monastic system, which
Qankara is said to have taken from the Buddhists and to have introduced into Brah-
manic priestly life. Both family priests and cenobites are admitted into his order.

3 What the Linga is to (^ivaite the (^alagrama is to the Vishnuite (who also reveres
the tiilasi wood). The Qalagrama is a black pebble; the Linga is a white pebble or
glass (Williams). The Qivaites have appropriated the durvd grass as sacred to
Ganega. Sesamum seeds and durvd are, however, Brahmanically holy. Compare
(^at. Br. iv. 5. lo, where durvd grass is even holier than -^7/£-(7-grass. The rosaries
used by the sects have been the subject of a paper by Leumann, and are described by
W^illiams. Thirty-two or sixty-four berries of eleocarpus ganitrtcs {rudrdkshd) make
the (^ivaite rosary. That of the Vishnuite is made of lotus-seeds or of tidsi wood in
one hundred and eight pieces.

MODERN HIXDU SECTS. 503

Ramayana, Ramcaritmanas, the new bible of the sect, composed
in the sixteenth century by Tulasidasa (' slave of Vishnu 'j, the
greatest of modern Hindu poets. What the Divine Song and
the Bhagavata Purana are to the Krishnaite, the older (epic)
Ramayana of Valmiki and Tulasidasa's new poem (of the same
name) are to the Ramaite.^

THE KRISHNAITES.

There are two great sects that worship Vishnu as especially
manifested in the human form of Krishna. But, as distinguished
from the philosophical Ramaite, the Krishnaite is not satisfied
with a declaration of faith in the man-god, and in fact his chief
cult is of the child-god Krishna, the Bala Gopala or Infant Shep-
herd. This recalls the older Krishna (of the Harivanga), whose
sporting with the milk-maids is a favorite topic in later Krish-
naite literature. As a formulated cult, consisting for the most
part of observances based on the mystic side of affection for
the personal saver of man (the bhakti principle of 'devotion,'
erotically expanded'-), this worship obtains both among Caitan-
yas and Vallabhas, sects that arose in the sixteenth century.^

Caitanya, born in Bengal in 1485, of whom it is fabled that wise

1 For an account and list of the works of Tulasidasa (Tulsldas), compare I A.
xxii. 89, 122, 227. Jayadeva (twelfth century), the author of the Gita Govinda
(translated by Jones, Lassen, and Rlickert), is sometimes reckoned falsely to the
adherents of Ramanand, but he is really a Krishnaite.

2 The bhakti doctrine is that of the extant (^andilya Sutras, which make faith and
not works or knowledge a condition of salvation. They are modern, as Cowell, in his
preface to the work, has shown. Cowell here identifies KScyapa with Kanada, the
Vaipshika philosopher, his school holding that the individual spirits are infinite
in number, distinct from the Supreme Spirit.

3 The infant-cult is of course older than these sects. For an account of the ritual,
as well as its intrusion into the earlier cult of the Puranas, with the accompanying
resemblances to Madonna-cult, and the new features (the massacre of the innocents,
the birth in the stable, the three wise men, etc.) that show borrowing from Christian-
ity, compare Weber's exhaustive treatise referred to above, the KrniaJ atimdsfaml,
Krishna's Gcbicrtsfest,

504 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

men came and gave homage to him while he was yet a child,
was active in Bengal and Orissa, where his sect (named after
him) is one of the most important at the present day. Caitanya
preached a practical as well as a theoretical reform. He taught
the equality of all worshippers of whatever caste, and the reli-
gious virtue of marriage. At the present day caste-feeling and
religious profession are somewhat at variance. But a compro-
mise is affected. While in the temple the high-caste Caitanyas
regard their lowly co-religionists as equals ; when out of it
they become again arrogantly high-caste. Making a virtue
of marriage instead of celibacy caused the sect to become
popular with the middle and lower classes, but its adherents are
usually drawn from the dregs of the populace.-^ The principle
of love for God (that is, for Krishna) is especially dwelt upon
by Caitanya. The devotee should feel such affection as is felt
by a young man for a girl. To exercise or inspire this rapt
and mystic devotion, recourse is had to singing, dancing, and
other familiar means of arousing religious fervor. If the danc-
ing devotee swoons it is a sign that God accepts his love. At
the present day Caitanya himself is regarded as the incarnate
deity. He and his two chief disciples, who (like all Gosains,
religious Teachers) are divine, form a little sub-trinity for the
sect.' This sect, like so many others, began as a reform, only
to become worse than its rivals.

Vallabha or Vallabhacarya, 'Teacher Vallabha,' was also of
the sixteenth century, but his sect belongs especially to the
Northwest, while the sphere of Caitanya's influence was in the
Northeast. He lived near the Ganges, is said to have been a
scholar, and wrote a commentary on the early life of Krishna in
the tenth book of the Bhagavata Purana, and on the Divine

1 Williams, loc. cit.

2 * Gosain ' means shepherd, like Gopala. Some of the sects, like the Kartabhajs,
recognize only the Teacher as God. Williams states that in Bengal a fourth mem-
ber has been added to this sect-trinity. On Dancing-girls see lA. xiii. 165.

MODERN HINDU SECTS. 505

Song. In Bombay and Kutch his disciples are most numerous,
the Epicureans of Vishnuism. For their precept is ' eat and
enjoy.' No mortification of the senses is allowed. Human
love typifies divine love.-^ The teachers acquired great renown
and power, assuming and maintaining the haughty title of ma/ia
rajas ('great kings'). They are as gods, and command abso-
lutely their devotees.^ Here the worship of the Infant Krishna
reaches its greatest height (or depth). The image of the infant
god is daily clothed, bathed, anointed, and \vorshipped.
Religious exercises have more or less of an erotic tendency, and
here, if anywhere, as one may learn from Wilson, Williams, and
other modem wTiters on this sect, there are almost as great
excesses as are committed among the Qivaite sects. As a sect
it is an odd combination of sensual worship and theological
speculation, for they have considerable sectarian literature.
The most renowned festival of the Infant Krishna is the cele-
bration of the stable-birth of Krishna and of the Madonna (bear-
ing him on her breast), but this we have discussed already.
Besides this the Jagannath procession in Bengal and Orissa,
and the great autumnal picnic called the Ras Yatra, are famous
occasions for displaying Krishnaite, or, indeed, general Vishnu-
ite zeal. At the Ras Yatra assemble musicians, dancers, jug-
glers, and other joy-creating additions to the religious feast, the
ostensible reason for which is the commemoration of Krishna's
dances with the milk-maids. The devotees belong chiefly to
the wealthy middle classes. These low sects worship Krishna

1 The philosophical tenet of this sect ' pure advdita ' (non-dualit}) distinguishes it
from the qualified duality taught by Ramanuja. This is a reversion to (^ankara.
The Caitanya sect teaches not absorption but individual existence in a heaven of sen-
suous (sensual) pleasure.

2 " In the temples where the Maharajas (priests) do homage to the idols men and
women do homage to the ]\Iaharajas. . . . The best mode of propitiating the god
Krishna is by ministering to the sensual appetites of his vicars upon earth. Body
and soul are literally made over to them, and women are taught to deliver up their
persons to Krishna's representatives," Williams, loc. cit. p. 309.

506 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

with Radha (his mistress, instead of Lakshmi, Vishnu's wife).
Here, too, as Krishnaites rather than as Vishnuites, are found
the ' left-hand ' worshippers of the female power. ^

This sensual corruption of Vishnuism, which is really not
Vishnuism but simple Krishnaism, led to two prominent re-
forms within the fold. Among the Vallabhas arose in protest
the Caran Dasis, who have taken from the Madhvas of the
South their Ten Commandments (against lying, reviling, harsh
speech, idle talk, theft, adultery, injury to life, imagining evil,
hate, and pride); and evolved for themselves the tenet that
faith without works is dead. The same protest was made
against the Vallabhas by Svami Narayana. He was born about
1780 near Lucknow, and advocated a return to A^allabha's
purer faith, which had been corrupted. Probably most of the
older reformers have had much the same career as had Svami
Narayana. Exalted by the people, who were persuaded by his
mesmeric eloquence, he soon became a political figure, a mar-
tyr of persecution, a triumphant victor, and then an ascetic,
living in seclusion ; whence he emerged occasionally to go on
tours "like a bishop visiting his diocese" (Williams). He is
worshipped as a god." The sect numbers to-day a quarter of
a million, some being celibate clergy, some householders.

In contrast to Vishnuism the following points are charac-
teristic of orthodox Brahmanism (Cankara's Vedantism) : The

1 On these sects see Wilson, Hunter (Statistical Account), Williams, JRAS. xiv.
289. The festival verses in honor of the Madonna are : "Honor to thee, Devaki,
who hast borne Krishna; may the goddess who destroys sin be satisfied, revered by
me. INIother of God art thou, Aditi, destroying sin. I will honor thee as the gods
honor thee," etc. {WehQX^Janvidstaml, p. 286). The birth-day celebration is not con-
fined to Krishnaites ; but in the Rama sect, though they celebrate the birth, they do
not represent the man-god as a suckling. In other respects this feast is imitated
from that of Krishna (Weber, p. 310, note). The Ramacandra celebration takes
place in the spring. The birth-day of Ganega is also celebrated by the (^ivaites (in
August-September).

2 He himself claimed to be an incarnate god. He adopted the qualified non-
duality of Ramanuja. See WiUiams' account of him and of the two great temples
of the sect, loc. cit.

MODERX HINDU SECTS. 507

orthodox believe that there is one spirit in three forms, co-
eternal impersonal essences — being, knowledge, and joy.
When it wills it becomes personal, exists in the object, knows,
rejoices, associating itself with illusion. In this state it has
three corporeal forms, causal, subtile, gross. With the causal
body (identified with illusion, ignorance) it becomes the Su-
preme Lord, that is, the totality of dreamless human spirits.
With the subtile form it becomes the golden seed, or thread-
spirit (dreaming spirits) ; with the gross form it becomes Viraj,
Vai^vanara, the waking spirit. The lowest state is that of
being wide awake. The personal god (Brahma, Vishnu, Qiva,
of the sectaries) is this it as influenced by the three qualities,
rajas, sattva, tamas (passion, truth, and ignorance), respectively.
Three essences, three corporeal forms, and three qualities con-
stitute, therefore, the threefold trinity of the orthodox, who
are called Smartas, they that 'hold to tradition.'^ What the
sectary rejects, namely, the scriptures (Veda and Upanishads,
etc.) and the caste system, that the orthodox retains ; what the
sectary holds, namely, Ramanuja's qualified non-duality, and
absolute godhead in Qiva or Krishna, that the orthodox rejects
(although he may receive the sectary's god into his pantheon).
Some of the sects still keep respect for caste, excusing their
respect on the ground that " it is well enough for God to ignore
social distinctions, but not for man." But caste-distinctions
are generally ignored, or there is positive hate of the Brahman.
In antithesis to the orthodox, the sectaries all hold one other
important tenet. From the idea of b/iaktl, faith or devotion,
WMS developed that of love for Krishna, and then (as an indi-
cation of devotion) the confession of the name of the Lord as
a means of grace. Hence, on the one hand, the meaningless

1 From Williams, loc. cit. p. 291 ff. The three qualities (sometimes interpreted as
activity, purit)', and indifference) are met with for the first time in the Atharva Veda,
where are found the ^'edantic ' name ' and ' form ' also ; Muir, v. p. 309. The three
quahties that condition the idealist Vedantist's personal Lord in his causal body are
identical with those that constitute the ' nature,' /r«/';-//, of the Sankhya dualist.

508 THE RELIGIOXS OF IXDIA.

repetition of the sect's special kirttan, or liturgies, and mantra,
or religious formula ; the devotion, demanded by the priest, of
man, tan, dJian (mind, body,^ and property); and finally, the
whole theory of death-bed confessions. Sinner or heretic, if
one die at last with Krishna's name upon the lips he will be
saved."

Of the sub-divisions of the sub-sects that we have described,
the numbers often run into scores. But either their differences
are based on indifferent matters of detail in the cult and reli-
gious practice ; or the new sect is distinguished from the old
simply by its endeavor to make for greater holiness or purity
as sub-reformers of older sects. For all the sects appear to
begin as reformers, and later to split up in the process of
re-reformation.

Two general classes of devotees, besides these, remain to be
spoken of. The Sannyasin, • renouncer,' was of old a Brahman
ascetic. Nowadays, according to Wilson, he is generally a
Qivaite mendicant. But any sect may have its Sannyasins, as
it may have its Vairagins, ' passionless ones'; although the latter
name generally applies to the Vishnuite ascetics of the South.

Apart from all these sects, and in many ways most remark-
able, are the sun-worshippers. All over India the sun was
(and is) worshipped, either directly (as to-day by the Sauras),^
or as an incarnate deity in the form of the priest Nimba-aditya,
who is said to have arrested the sun's course at one time and
to be the sun's representative on earth. Both Puranic authority
and inscriptional evidence attest this more direct"* continuance

1 Among the Vallabhas (above, p. 505). The Teacher is the chief god of most
of the Vallabhas (Barth, p. 235), For the Viththal view of caste see I A. xi. 1^2.

2 It is true of other sectaries also, Ramaites and (^ivaites, that the mere repetition
of their god's name is a means of salvation.

3 Now chiefly in the South. The Dabistan gives several divisions of sun-worship-
pers. For more details see Barth, p. 258. Apollonius of Tyana saw a sun-temple at
Taxila, JRAS. 1859, p. 'j'].

■1 More direct than in the form of Vishnu, who at first is merely the sun. Of the
relation with Iranian sun-worship we have spoken above.

MODERN HINDU SECTS. 509

of the old Vedic cult. Some of the finest old temples of India,
both North and South, were dedicated to the sun.

UEISTIC REFORMING SECTS.

We have just referred to one or two reforming sects that
still hold to the sectarian deity. Among these the Madhvas,
founded by (Madhva) i^. nandatlrtha, are less Krishnaite or
Ramaite than Vishnuite/ and less Vishnuite than deist in gen-
eral ; so much so that Williams declares they must have got
their precepts from Christianity, though this is open to Earth's
objection that the reforming deistic sects are so located as to
make it more probable that they derive from Mohammedanism.
Madhva was born about 1200 on the western coast, and opposed
Qankara's pantheistic doctrine of non-duality. He taught that
the supreme spirit is essentially different to matter and to the
individual spirit." He of course denied absorption, and, though
a Vishnuite, clearly belonged in spirit to the older school be-
fore Vishnu ism became so closely connected with Vedanta
doctrines. It is the same Sankhvan Vishnuism that one sees
in the Divine Song, that is, duality, and a continuation of
^andilya's ancient heresy.^

Here ends the course of India's native religions. From a
thousand years B.C. to as many years after she is practically
uninfluenced by foreign doctrine, save in externals.

It is of course permissible to separate the reforming sects of

1 They brand themselves ^vith the Vishnu-mark, are generally high-caste, live in
monasteries, and profess celibacy. They are almost unknown in the North. Tliey
are generally known by their founder's name, but are also called Brahma-Sampra-
dayins, ' Brahma-adherents.'

'^ So the Pagupata doctrine is that the individual spirit is different to the supreme
lord and also to matter {f'aca, the fetter that binds the individual spirit, /rt^«, and.
keeps it from its 'Lord, pacufati). The fact is that every sectary is more a mono-
theist than a pantheist. Especially is this true of the (^ivaite. The supreme is to
him (^iva.

^ Wilson gives a full account of this sect in the Asiatick Researches^ xvi, p. 100.

510 . THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

the last few decades from the older reformers ; but since we
see both in their aim and in their foreign sources (amalgama-
tion with cis-Indic belief) only a logical if not an historical
continuance of the older deists, we prefer to treat of them all
as factors of one whole ; and, from a broader point of view, as
successors to the still older pantheistic and unitarian reformers
who first predicated a supreme spirit as ens f'ea/issi??un?i, when
still surrounded by the clouds of primitive polytheism. Kabir
and Dadii, the two most important of the more modern re-
formers, we have named above as nominal adherents of the
Ramanand sect. But neither was really a sectarian Vishnuite.-^
Kabir, probably of the beginning of the fifteenth century,
the most famous of Ramanand's disciples, has as religious
descendants the sect of the Kabir Panthis. But no less an
organization than that of the Sikhs look back to him, pretend-
ing to be his followers. The religious tenets of the Kabir
Panthis may be described as those of unsectarian Unitarians.
Thev conform to no rites or juantras. Kabir assailed all idol-
atry, ridiculed the authority of all scriptures, broke with Pundit
and with Mohammedan, taught that outer form is of no conse-
quence, and that only the ' inner man ' is of importance. These
Panthis are found in the South, but are located chiefly in and
about Benares, in Bengal in the East, and in Bombay in the
West. There are said to be twelve divisions of them. Kabir
assailed idolatr}-, but alas ! Discipline requires subordination.
The Guru, Teacher, must be obeyed. It was not long before

1 Of the Kabir Panthis Wilson says : " It is no part of their faith to worship any
Hindu deity." A glance at the Dabistan -will preclude the possibility of claiming
much originality for the modern deism of India. This work was written in 1645,
and its Persian author describes, as a matter of every-day occurrence, religious debates
between 'Jews, Nazarines, ]\Iussulmen, and Hindus.' who meet more to criticise than
to examine, but yet to hear explained in full the doctrines of their opponents, in just
such tourneys of argument as we showed to be popular among the priests of the
Upanishads and epic. Speaking of the Vedas, the author says that every one derives
from them arguments in favor of his own creed, whether it be philosopliical, mystical,
unitarian, atheistic, Judaic, or Christian. Dabistan, vol. 11, p. 45.

MODERN HINDU SECTS. 511

he who rejected idolatry became himself a deity. And in fact,
every Teacher, Guru, of the sect was an absolute master of
thought, and was revered as a god.^

In the fifteenth century, near Lahore, was born Nanak (1469),
who is the nominal founder of the Sikhs, a body which, as
Nanak claimed, was a sect embodying the religion of Kabir
himself, of whom he claimed to be a follower. The Granth,
or bible of the Sikhs, was first compiled by the pontiff Arjun,
in the sixteenth century. Besides the portions written by
Nanak and Arjun himself, there were collected into it extracts
from the works of ' twelve and a half ' other contributors to
the volume, Kabir, Ramanand, etc." This Granth was subse-
quently called the Adigranth, or First Book, to distinguish it
from the later, enlarged, collection of several books, one of
which was written by Guru Govind, the tenth Sikh pontiff.
The change from a religious body to a church militant and
political body was made by this Govind in the eighteenth
century.^ The religious sect settled in the Punjab, becam.e
wealthy, excited the greed of the government, was persecuted,
rose in revolt, triumphed, and eventually ruled the province.
One of the first to precipitate the uprising was the above-men-
tioned Arjun (fourth pontiff after Nanak). He played the
king, was accused of rebellion, imprisoned, and probably killed
by the Mohammedans. The Sikhs flew to arms, and from this
time on they were perforce little more than robbers and plun-
derers. Govind made the final change in organization, and,

1 Before election the Guru must be examined. If the faithful are not satisfied,
they may reject him. but, having elected him, they are bound to obey him implicitly.
He can excommunicate, but he may not punish corporally. This deification of the
Guru was retained by the Sikhs, and the office was made hereditary among them (by
Arjun), till Govind, the tenth pontiff, who left no successor, declared that after his
death the Granth (bible) should be the sole authority of the church.

2 The ' half ' contributor was a woman, and hence was not reckoned as a complete
unit.

3 The word Sikh means 'disciple' (of Xanak). The name the Sikhs assumed as
a nation was Singhs {simhas), ' Lions of the Punjab.'

512 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

SO to speak, at one blow created a nation, for the church at
his hands was converted into the united militant body called
Khalsa under the Guru as pontiff-king, with a ' council of
chiefs.' They were vowed to hate the ^lohammedan and
Hindu. All caste-distinctions were abrogated. Govind insti-
tuted the worship of Steel and Book (sword and bible). His
orders were : " If you meet a Mohammedan, kill him ; if you
meet a Hindu, beat and plunder him." The Sikhs invoked the
'Creator' as 'highest lord,' either in the form of Vishnu or
Rama. Their founder, Nanak, kept, however, the Hindu tradi-
tions in regard to rites. He was a travelled merchant, and is
said to have been in Arabia. As an example of the Sikh bible
may serve the following extracts, translated from the original
dialect by Trumpp and Prinsep respectively :

Fi'om Trumpp :

True is the Lord, of a true name,

But the import of (this) language is infinite.

They say and beg, give, give !

The Liberal gives presents.

What may again be put before (him)

By which his court may be seen .''

What word may be spoken by the mouth,

Which having heard he may bestow love .''

Early reflect on the greatness of the True Name.^

From his beneficence comes clothing.

From his look the gate of salvation.

Nanak (says) : Thus it is known,

That he himself is altogether truthful.

From Pi'iiisep :

Thou art the Lord, to thee be praise ;
All life is with thee.
Thou art my parents ; I, thy child.
All happiness is from thy mercy.
No one knows God.

1 The * true name,' sat nam, is the appellation of God.

MODERN HINDU SECTS. 513

Highest Lord among the highest,

Of all that is thou art the regulator,

And all that is from thee obeys thy will,

Thy movements, thy pleasure; thou alone knowest.

Nanak, thy slave is a free-will offering unto thee.^

The religious side of this organization remained under the
name of Udasis," or Nirmalas (' spotless ones '). The Adi-
granth was extended by other additions, such as that of Govind
(above), and now constitutes a large heterogeneous collection
of hvmns and moral rules. Seven sub-sects of the religious
body were developed in course of time. The military body has
a well-known history. They were complete masters of the
Punjab in 1764, and remained there as an independent race
till that province was occupied by the British in 1848. Both
Kabir and his follower Nanak were essentially reformers. They
sotight for a religion which should rest on the common truths
of Hinduism and Mohammedanism.^ As a matter of form the
political party of Govind, the Govind Singhs, or Simhis, wor-
shipped the Hindu gods, and they showed respect for the Brah-
man priests for a long while ; but they rejected the Vedas and
caste — the two most essential features of orthodoxv.'*

Dadu, the second great reformer, who shows Mohammedan
influence quite as plainly as does Kablr, also claimed Rama*
nand as his teacher. The sects that revert to Dadu, Dadu
Panthis, now number more than half an hundred. Some of
the votaries are soldiers ; some are mendicants. The founder
lived about the end of the sixteenth century. The outward

1 JRAS. 1S46, p. 43, Prinsep's compilation (Wilson). Compare Trumpp, ib. v. 197
(1871); and Adigranth, 1S77.

^ This sept was founded by a descendant of Xanak.

3 It was not till Mohammedan persecution influenced them that the religious
Sikhs of Xanak became the political haters and fighters of Govind.

4 It is said that Govind sacrificed to Durga the life of one of his own disciples to
prepare himself for his ministry. Trumpp, Adigranth ; Barth, p. 204. The lives of
the later Gurus will be found in Elphinstone's history and Prinsep's sketch (a resume
by Barth, p. 248 ff.). ,

514 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA,

practices of the sects differ somewhat from those of other sects.
Like Persians, they expose their dead. They are found about
Ajmir and other districts of the North, in the seats of the Jains.
Their faith and reformatory tendency may be illustrated by
the following extract, as translated by Wilson :^

" He is my God who maketh all things perfect. O foolish one, God is
not far from you. He is near you. God's power is always with you.
Whatever is to be is God's wall. What will be will be. Therefore, long
not for grief or joy, because by seeking the one you may find the other.
All things are sweet to them that love God. I am satisfied with this, that
happiness is in proportion to devotion. O God, Thou who art truth, grant
me contentment, love, devotion, and faith. . . . Sit ye with humility at
the feet of God, and rid yourselves of the sickness of your bodies. From
the wickedness of the body there is much to fear, because all sins enter
into it. Therefore, let your dwelling be with the fearless, and direct your-
selves toward the light of God. For there neither sword nor poison have
power to destroy, and sin cannot enter. The greatest wisdom is in pre-
venting your minds from being influenced by bad passions, and in meditat-
ing upon the One God. Afford help also to the poor stranger. Meditate
on Him by whom all things were made."-

This tradition of reform is maintained by others without
intermission down to the present century, and the Madhvas
and Svami Narayana, of whom we have spoken above as being
more directly connected with sectarian bodies, are, in fact,
scarcely more concerned with the tenets of the latter than were
Kabir and Dadii. Thus the seventeenth century sees the
rising of the Babalals and Sadhus ; and the eighteenth, of the
Satnamis, ' worshippers of the true name,' who, with other minor
bodies, such as the Nangi Panthis, founded by Dedraj in this
century, are really pure deists, although some of them, like the
Viththals, claim to be followers of Kabir. And so they are,
in spirit at least.

1 With some small verbal alterations,

2 The conclusion of this extract shows the narrower polemic spirit : " Pundits
and Qazis are fools. What avails it to collect a heap of books ? Let your minds
freely meditate on the spirit of God. Wear not away your lives by studying the
Vedas."

MODERN HIXDU SECTS. 515

, THE DEISM OF TO-DAY.i

And thus one arrives at modern deism, not as the result of
new influences emanating from Christian teaching, but rather
as the legitimate successor of that deism which became almost
monotheistic in the first centuries after our era, and has ever
since varied with various reformers between two beliefs, inclin-
ing now to the pantheistic, now to the unitarian conception,
as the respective reformers were influenced by Vedanta or
Sankhya (later Mohammedan) doctrine.

The first of the great modern reformers is Rammohun Roy,
who was born in 1772, the son of a high-caste Krishnaite
Brahman. He studied Persian and Arabic literature at Patna,
the centre of Indie ^Mohammedan learning. When a mere boy,
he composed a tract against idolatry which caused him to be
banished from home. He lived at Benares, the stronghold of
Brahmanism, and afterwards in Tibet, the centre of Buddhism.
" From his earliest years," says Williams, " he displayed an
eagerness to become an unbiassed student of all the religions
of the globe." He read the Vedas, the Pali Buddhist works,
the Kuran, and the Old Testament in the original : and in
later years even studied Greek that he might properly under-
stand the New Testament. The scholastic philosophy of the
Hindus appeared to him, however, as something superior to
what he found elsewhere, and his efforts were directed mainly
to purifying the national faith, especially from idolatry. It
wis at his instigation that the practice of widow-burning was
abolished (in 1829) by the British. He w^as finally ostracized
from home as a schismatic, and retired to Calcutta, uniting
about him a small body of Hindus and Jains, and there estab-

1 For the data of the following paragraphs on the deistic reformers of to-day we
are indebted to an article of Professor Williams, which first appeared in the thirteenth
volume of ih^ Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, and has since been published in
the same author's Brahmanism and Hinduism.

516 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

lished a sort of church or sect, the Atmiya Sabha, ' spiritual
society' (1816), which met at his house, but eventually was
crushed by the hostility of the orthodox priests. He finally
adopted a kind of Broad-church Christianity or Unitarianism,
and in 1820, in his 'Precepts of Jesus' and in one of his later
works, admits that the simple moral code of the New Testa-
ment and the doctrines of Christ were the best that he knew.
He never, however, abjured caste ; and his adoption of Chris-
tianity, of course, did not include the dogma of the trinity :
"Whatever excuse maybe pleaded in favor of a plurality of
persons of the Deity can be offered with equal propriety in
defence of polytheism " (Final Appeal). Founded by him, the
first theistic church was organized in 1828 at Calcutta, and
formally opened in 1830 as the Brahma Samaj ('the Congrega-
tion of God '). In doing this he wished it to be understood
that he was not founding a new sect, but a pure monotheistic
worship. The only creed was a confession of faith in the
unity of God. For himself, he abandoned pantheism, adopted
the belief in a final judgment, in miracles, and in Christ as the
'Founder of true religion.' He died in 1833 in England.
His successor, Debendranath Tagore,^ was not appointed
leader of the Brahma Samaj till much later ; after he had
founded a church of his own (' the Truth-teaching Society '),
which lasted for twenty years (1839-1859), before it was
united with the Brahma Samaj. In the meantime Debendra-
nath had become a member of the latter society (1841). He
established the covenant of the Samaj, a vow taken by every
member to lead holy lives, to abstain from idolatry, to worship
no created object, but only God, the One without a second,"
the Creator, Preserver, Destroyer, the Giver of Emancipation.

1 Born in iSiS.

2 ekamdtrddvitlya (masculine) ; witli this form contrast below, in the Brahma
Dharma (religion) of Debendranatli, the neuter ckam cvddvifiyam. The only God
of the first Samaj is a person ; that of the reform is exoterically Nature.

MODERN HINDU SECTS. 517

The church was newly organized in 1844 with a regularly ap-
pointed president and minister, and with the administration of
the oath to each believer. This is the Adi Brahma Samaj, the
First Congregation, in distinction from the schism which soon
took place. The first quarrel in this church was due to a dif-
ference of opinion in regard to the authority of the Vedas.
Some members rejected them, others maintained their infalli-
bility ; while between these extremes lay various other opinions,
some members questioning the infallibility of the Vedas but
maintaining their authority. By a majority vote it was eventu-
ally decided that the Vedas (and Upanishads) were not in-
fallible.

In the meantime in other provinces rival Samajas had been
formed, and by 1850 there were several of these broad-minded
Congregations, all trammelled by their environment, but doing
their best to be liberal.

We pause here in the compilation of the data recorded in
this paragraph to assert, independently of Professor Williams,
who has given us the historical facts, but would doubtless not
wish to have imputed to himself the following judgment which
we are led to pass, that the next step of the Samaj placed it
upon the only ground where the objects of this church can
be attained, and that in the subsequent reform of this reform,
which we shall have to record below, a backward step has
been taken. For Debendranath changed the essential char-
acter of the Samaj from pantheistic theism to pure deism. The
inner circle of the society had a narrower declaration of faith,
but in his Brahma Dharma, published about 1850, Debendra-
nath formulated four articles of faith, to subscribe to which
admitted any one into the Samaj. These articles read as
follows: (i) Brahma (neuter) alone existed in the beginning
before the universe; naught else existed; It [He] created all
the universe. (2) It [He] is eternal, intelligent, infinite, bliss-
ful, self-governed (independent), without parts, just one (neuter)

5 IS THE RELIGIONS OF lAlDlA.

without a second, all-pervading, the ruler (masculine noun) of^
all, refuge of all, omniscient, omnipotent, immovable, perfect,
without parallel (all these adjectives are%eut'2r). (3) By wor-
ship of this One alone can bliss be obtained in the next world •
and in this. (4) The worship of this (neuter)' One consists in
love toward this (One) and in performing works pleasant (to
this One).

This deism denies an incarnate God, scriptural authority,
and the good of rites and penance ; but it teaches the efficacy
of prayer and repentance, and the belief in God as a personal
Creator and Heavenly Father.^ Intellectual — anything but
emotional — it failed to satisfy many worshippers. And as a
church it was conservative in regard to social reforms.

In 1858 Keshub Chunder Sen, a Vishnuite by family, then
but twenty, joined the Samaj, and being clever, young, elo-
quent, and cultivated, he, after the manner of the Hindus,
undertook to reform the church he had just entered, first of
all by urging the abolition of caste-restrictions. Debendranath
was liberal enough to be willing to dispense with his own
thread (the caste-mark), but too wisely conservative to demand
of his co-religionists so complete a break with tradition and
social condition. For the sacred thread to the Hindu is the
sign of social respectability. Without it, he is out of society.
It binds him to all that is dearest to him. The leader of the
older Samaj never gave up caste ; the younger members in

1 But, as will be noticed in the four articles (which are in part a compilation of
phrases from the Upanishads) the personality of Brahma is not insisted on for the
outer church. For this reason, although the inner church doubtless understands It
as He, yet this neuter should be preserved in the translation. The articles are so
drawn up as to enable any deist to subscribe (without Vedantic belief as a condition
of acceptance) to the essential creed of the Congregation. One or two sentences in
the original will reveal at a glance the origin of the phraseology : brahma (being)
vd ekam idam-agra dslt ; tad idam sarvam asrjat ; tad cva nityam, ekam cvddvitl-
yam : tasmin pr'itis . . . tadiipdsanam. Compare Cliandogya Upanishad : sad (being)
idam-agra dsid ekam cvddvitl y am ; and the \'ajasaneyi-Brahmana Upanishad:
brahma vd idam-agra dslt, etc.

MXXDERN HINDU SECTS. 519

dbing so mix religion with social etiquette, and so hinder the
advance they aim at. Sen urged this and other reforms, all
repugnant to the society in which he lived, changes in the rite
at the worship of- ahcestors, alterations in the established ritual
at birth-ceremonies and funerals, abolition of polyandry and
of child-marriages, and, worst of all, granting permission to
marry to those of different castes. His zeal was directed espe-
cially against caste-restrictions and child-marriages. Naturally
he failed to persuade the old Samaj to join him in these revo-
lutionary views, to insist on which, however sensible they seem,
cannot be regarded otherwise than as indiscreet from the point of
view of one who considers men and passions. P'or the Samaj,
in the face of tremendous obstacles, had just secured a foot-
hold in India. Sen's headlong reforms would have smashed
to pieces the whole congregation, and left India more deeply
prejudiced than ever against free thought. Sen failed to reform
the old church, so in 1865 he, with some ardent young enthu-
siasts, reformed themselves into a new church, ceremoniously
organized in 1866 as the Brahma Samaj of India, in distinction
from the Calcutta Samaj, or Adi Samaj. A futile effort was
made to get all the other local congregations to join the new
Samaj, the last, of course, to be the first and head of the organi-
zation.

The new Samaj renounced caste-restrictions and Brahmanism
altogether, but it was tainted with the hysterical bhakti fervor
which Sen inherited from his childhood's religion, and which
(if one may credit Williams' words) "brought the latest devel-
opment of Indian Theism into closer harmony with Christian
ideas." The chief leader of this Samaj besides Sen was his
cousin Protap Chunder Mozoomdar, official secretary of the
society. Its literary organ is the Indian Mirror.

The reform of this reform of course followed before long.
The new Samaj was accused of making religion too much a
matter of emotion and excitement. Religious fervor, bhakti^

520 THE RELIGIONS OE INDIA.

had led to "rapturous singing of hymns in the streets"; and
to the establishment of a kind of love-feasts (' Brahma-feasts '
they were called) of prayer and rejoicing; and, on the other
hand, to undue asceticism and self-mortification.-^ Sen him-
self was revered too much. One of the most brilliant, eloquent,
and fascinating of men, he was adored by his followers — as
a god ! He denied that he had accepted divine honors, but
there is no doubt, as Williams insists, that his Vishnuite ten-
dency led him to believe himself peculiarly the recipient of
divine favors. It was charged against him that he asserted
that all he did was at God's command, and that he believed
himself perennially inspired." If one add to this that he was
not only divinely inspired, but that he had the complete con-
trol of his society, it would appear to be easy to foresee where
the next reformer might strike. For Sen " was not only bishop,
priest, and deacon all in one," says Williams, "he was a
Pope, from whose decision there was no appeal." But it was
not this that caused the rupture. In 1877 this reformer, "who
had denounced early marriages as the curse of India," yielded
to natural social ambition and engaged his own young daughter
to a Koch (Rajbanshi) prince, who in turn was a mere boy.
The Samaj protested with all its might, but the marriage was
performed the next year, withal to the accompaniment of idol-
atrous rites. ^ After this Sen became somewhat theatrical. In

1 It is interesting to see this fervor, or ecstatic delirium, surviving from tlie time
of the Rig Veda, where already (albeit only in the latest hymns, which are quite
Brahmanic) flourishes the mad muni; and fervid asceticism {^hezX,' tapas) begins
to appear as a means of salvation. RV. x. log, 136.

2 " I regard myself as Christ and Caitanya," reported by Sen's own missionary as
the words of the former. Sen's disciples deny some of these assertions, but they
seem to be substantiated, and Sen's own language shows that he claimed miraculous
powers. Compare the discussions on this point, JRAS. xiii. 2S1 ff.

3 This was afterwards excused on the ground that the marriage would not have
been legal without these rites. But Sen presumably was aware of this in advance.
From the performance of the rites he had the decency to absent himself. It should
be said, however, in Sen's behalf, that the marriage itself had nothing revolting about

MODERN HINDU SECTS. 521

1879 he recognized (in a proclamation) God's Motherhood —
the old dogma of the female divine. In 1880 he announced,
in fervid language, that Christianity was the only true religion :
"It is Christ who rules British India, and not the British Gov-
ernment. England has sent out a tremendous moral force in
the life and character of that mighty prophet to conquer and
hold this vast empire. None but Jesus, none but Jesus, none
but Jesus, ever deserved this bright, this precious diadem,
India, and Jesus shall have it. . . . Christ is a true Yogi.''
He accepts Christ, but not as God, only as inspired saint (as
says Williams). More recently. Sen proposed an amalgama-
tion of Hinduism, Mohammedanism, and Christianity as the
true religion.

Meanwhile the Samaj was rent by discord. Sen's opponents,
the new reformers, were unable, however, to oust the brilliant
leader from the presidency. Consequently they established a
new church, intended to be a General Congregation, the fourth
development (1878) of the Brahma Samaj. And so the fight
has gone on ever since. At the present day there are more
than a hundred deistic churches, in which the devotional exer-
cises consist in part of readings from the Vedas, Bible, Kuran,
and Avesta. The Arya Samaj is one of the most important
of the later churches, some of which endeavor to obtain unde-
filed religion by uniting into one faith what seems best in all ;
others, by returning to the Vedas and clearing them of what
they think to be later corruptions of those originally pure scrip-
tures. Of the latter sort is the Arya Samaj. Its leader, Daya-
nanda, claims that the Vedas are a true revelation. The last
reformer of which we have knowledge is a bright young high-
caste Hindu of upper India, who is about to found a ' world-
it, and though in consenting to it Sen violated his faith, as is evident from the pro-
test of the Samaj, yet was the marriage not an extreme case of child-marriage, for
both the ' children ' were sixteen. Sen's own excuse (he thought excuse necessary)
was that he was inspired when he consented to the nuptials.

522 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

religion,' for which task he is now making preliminary studies.
He has visited this country, and recently told us that, if he
had time, he could easily convert America. But his lirst duty
lies, of course, in the reformation of India's reformations, espe-
cially of the Samajas !

The difficulty with which all these reformers and re-reformers
have to contend is pitifully clear. Their broad ideas have no
fittino^ environment. Their leaders and thinkers mav continue
to preach deism, and among their equals they will be heard
and understood. They are, however, not content with this.
They must form churches. But a church implies in every case
an unnatural and therefore dangerous growth, caused by the
union either of inferior minds (attracted by eloquence, but
unable to think) with those that are not on the same plane, or of
ambitious zealots with reluctant conservatists. Many join the
church who are not qualified to appreciate the leader's work.
They overload the founder's deism with the sectarian theism
from which they have not really freed themselves. On the other
hand, younger men, who have been educated in English colleges
and are imbued with the spirit of practical reform, enter the
church to use it as an instrument for social progress. So the
church is divided, theists and reformers both being at odds
with the original deists ; and the founder is lucky if he escapes
being deified by one party and being looked upon by the other
as too dull.^

1 The theistic tendency in the Hindu mind is so exaggerated that even now it
is with the greatest difficulty that the vulgar can be restrained from new idolatry.
Not only priests, but even poets are regarded as gods. Jiiandev and Tukaram, the
hymn-makers of the Mahratta A'iththals, are demi-gods to-day (lA. xi. 56. 149). A
few striking examples are almost requisite to make an Occidental reader understand
against what odds the deism of India has to contend. In 1S30 an impudent boy, who
could train snakes, announced that he could also work miracles. The boy was soon
accepted as Vishnu's last avatar : hymns, abhangs. were sung to him, and he was
worshipped as a god even after his early demise (from a snake-bite). A weaver came
soon after to the temple, where stood the boy's now vacant shrine, and fell asleep
there at night. In the morning he was perplexed to find himself a god. The people

MODERX HIXDU SECTS. 523

India is no more prepared as a whole for the reception of
the Hberal views of the Samaj than was the negro for the right
to vote. Centuries of higher preliminary education are needed
before the people at large renounce their ancestral, their natu-
ral faith. A few earnest men may preach deism ; the people
will remain polytheists and pantheists for many generations.
Then, again, the Samajas have to contend not only with the
national predisposition, but with every heretical sect, and,
besides these, with the orthodox church. But thus far their
chief foe is, after all, their own heart as opposed to their head.
As long as deistic leaders are deified by their followers, and
regard themselves as peculiarly inspired, they will preach in
vain. Nor can they with impunity favor the substitution of
emotion for ideas in a land where religious emotion leads
downwards as surely as falls a stone that is thrown.

had accepted him as their snake-conquering god in a new form. The poor weaver
denied his divinity, but that made no difference. In 1834 tlie dead boy-god was still
receiving flowers and prayers. Another case : In the eiglities some Englishmen on
entering a temple were amazed to see revered as an avatar of Vishnu the brass cast-
ings of the arms of the old India Co. This god was washed and anointed daily.
Even a statue of Buddha (with the inscription still upon it) was revered as Vishnu.
In 18S0 a meteorite fell in Behar. In 1S82 its cult was fully established, and it was
worshipped as the ' miraculous god.' A Mohammedan inscription has also been
found deified and regularly worshipped as a god. JRAS. 1842, p. 109; 1884, pt. ill,
pp. 1, lix.

CHAPTER XVIII.

RELIGIOUS TRAITS OF THE WILD TRIBES.

Besides the phases of pure Aryan and modified Aryan re-
ligions which have already been examined, there are repre-
sented in India several other aspects of civilized religion ; for,
apart from Brahmanic and sectarian worships, and apart from
Tamil (southern) imitations of these, there are at present in
the country believers of the Jewish religion to the number of
seventeen thousand ; of Zoroastrianism, eighty-seven thousand ;
of Christianity, two and a quarter millions ; of Mohammedan-
ism, more than fifty-seven millions. But none of these faiths,
however popular, comes into an historical account of India's
religions in a greater extent than we have brought them into it
already, that is, as factors of minor influence in the development
of native faiths till, within the last few centuries, Mohammedan-
ism, which has been the most important of them all in transfigur-
ing the native theistic sects, draws a broad line across the
progress of India's religious thought.

All these religions, however, whether aboriginal or imported,
must again be separated from the more general phenomena of
superstition which are preserved in the beliefs of the native
wild tribes. One descends here to that lowest of rank under-
growth which represents a type of religious life so base that its
undifferentiated form can be mated with like growths from all
over the world. These secondary religions are, therefor^, im-
portant from two points of view, that of their universal aspect,
and, again, that of their historical connection with the upper
Indie growth above them:^ for it is almost certain that some

1 The Dasyus, heathen, or pagans, are by no means a wholly uncivilized mass to
the poets of the Rig Veda. They have wealth, build forts, and are recognized as

RELIGIOUS TRAITS OF THE WILD TRIBES. SIS

of their features have conditioned the development of the
latter.

The native wild tribes of India (excluding the extreme North-
ern Tibeto-Burman group) fall into two great classes, that
of the Kolarians and that of the Dravidians, sometimes distin-
guished as the Yellow and the Black races respectively. The
former, again, are called Indo-Chinese by some writers, and
the geographical location of this class seems, indeed, to show
that they have generally displaced the earlier blacks, and repre-
sent historically a yellow wave of immigration from the North-
east (through Tibet) prior to the Aryan white wave (from the
Northwest), which latter eventually treated them just as they
had treated the aboriginal black Dravidians.^ Of the Kolari-
ans the foremost representatives are the Koles, the Koches, the
Sunthals, and the Savaras (Sauras), who are all regarded by
Johnston as the yellow Dasyus, barbarians, of the earliest
period ; while he sees in the Vai^yas, or third caste of the
Hindu political divisions, the result of a union of the North-
west and Northeast conquerors. But, although the Vai^yas
are called 'yellow,' yet, since they make the most important
numerical factor of the Aryans, this suggestion can scarcely
be accepted, for there is no evidence to show that the yellow
Mongoloid barbarians were amalgamated so early with the body
politic of the Aryans. The chief representatives of the Dra-

living in towns or forts. We learn little about them in Brahmanic literature, except
that they bury their dead and with them their trinkets. Their graves and dolmen
grave-stones are still found.

1 Some scholars think that the Dravidians entered from the Northwest later than
the Kolarians, and, pushing them to either side of the peninsula, descended through
them'to the South. The fact that some Kolarian tribes closely related by language
are separated (to East and West) by hundreds of miles, and have lost all remem-
brance of their former union, favors this view of a Dravidian wedge splitting and
passing through the Kolarian mass. But all here is guess-work. The Dravidians
may have been pushed on by Kolarians that entered later, while the latter may have
been split by the Aryan invasion ; and this seems to us more probable, because the
other theory does not explain why the Kolarians did not go South instead of taking
to the hills of the East and West.

526 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

vidians, on the other hand, are the Khonds and Gonds of the
middle of the peninsula, together with the Oraons and the
Todas of the extreme South. -^ All of these tribes are of course
sub-divided, and in some degree their religious practices have
followed the bent of their political inclinations. We shall ex-
amine first the religions of the older tribes, the Dravidians,
selecting the chief features or such traits as have peculiar'
interest.

THE DRAVIDIANS.

Gonds : These savages, mentioned in early literature, are the
most numerous and powerful of the wdld tribes, and appear to
have been less affected by outside belief than were any other,
except the related Khonds. Their religion used to consist in
adoring a representation of the sun, to which were offered
human sacrifices." As among the Oraons, a man of straw (lit-
erally) is at the present day substituted for the human victim.
Besides the sun, the moon and stars are worshipped by them.
They have stones for idols, but no temples.^ Devils, witch-
craft, and the evil eye also are feared. They sacrifice animals,

1 The whole list of these tribes as given by Cust, Sketch of the Modern Langttages
of the East Indies, is as follows : The Kolarians include the Sunthals, Mundari Koles
(Koches), Kharians. Juangs. Korwas, Kurs, Savaras, Mehtos, Gadabas, Paharias ;
the Dravidians include the tribes called Tamil, Telugu, Kanarese, Maj'ayalim, Tulu,
Kudagu. Toda, Kota, Khond, Gond, Oraon, Rajmahali, Keikadi, Yerukala.

2 The sacrifices of the wild tribes all appear to have the object of pleasing or
placating the god with food, animal or vegetable; just as the Brahmanic sacrifice is
made to please, with the secondary thought that the god will return the favor with
interest : then that he is bound to do so. Sin is carried away by the sacrifice, but
this seems to be merely an extension of the simpler idea ; the god condones a fault
after an expression of repentance and good-will. What lies further back is not re-
vealed in, the early texts, though it is easy to make them fruitful in " tlieories of sac-
rifice."

3 Of course no tribe has what civilization would call a temple, but some have
what answer to it, namely, a filthy hut where live the god and his priest. Yet the
Gonds used to build roads and irrigate very well.

RELIGIOUS TRAITS OF THE WILD TRIBES. Sll

and, with the exception of the Raj Gonds/ have been so little
affected by Hindu respect for that holiest of animals, that they
slaughter cows at their wedding-feasts, on which occasion the
bacchanalian revels in which they indulge are accompanied
with such excess as quite to put them upon the level of Qivaite
bestiality. The pure Gonds are junglemen, and have the vir-
tues usually found among the lowest savages, truth, honesty,
and courage. Murder is no crime, but lying and stealing are
sinful ; for cowardice is the greatest crime, and lying and steal-
ing (instead of straightforward and courageous robbery and
murder) are regarded as indications of lack of courage. But
the ' impure,' that is the mixed Gonds that have been corrupted
by mingling with Hindus and other tribes, lie and steal like
civilized people. In fact, the mixed Gonds are particularly
noted for servility and dishonesty. The uncivilized Gonds of
the table-lands are said still to cut up and eat their aged rela-
tives and friends, not to speak of strangers unfortunate enough
to fall into their hands. Among the pure Gonds is found the
practice of carrying an axe, which is the sign of their religious
devotion to the sacrifice-god.- The favorite religious practice
used to be to take a prisoner alive, force him to bow before
the god-stone, and, at the moment when he bent his head, to
cut it off. To this and to self-defence against other gods (wild
beasts) the hatchet is devoted, while for war are used the bow
and knife. One particular celebration of the Gonds deserves
special notice. They have an annual feast and worship of the
snake. The service is entirely secret, and all that is known

1 The (Raj) Gonds were first subdued by the Rajputs, and where the Hindus and
Gonds have intermarried they are known as Raj Gonds. Others have become the
' Mohammedan Gonds.' Otherwise, in the case of the pure or ' Assul ' (the greater
number), neither Hindu nor Mohammedan has had much influence over them, either
socially or religiously. The Gonds whipped the British in 1818 ; but since then they
have become ' pacified.'

2 It is often no more than a small hatchet stuck in the belt, if they wear the latter,
which in the jungle is more raiment than they are wont to put on.

528 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

of it is that it is of esoteric, perhaps phallic character. Both
at the sun-feast and snake-feast^ licentious and bacchanalian
worship are combined, and the latter trait is also the chief
feature of wedding and funeral sports. In the former case
(the natives of the same tribe intermarry, but with the same
pretence of running off with the bride that is found in the
Hindu ritual)^ there is given a wedding feast by the bride-
groom's father, and the feast ends with a causcrie de lundi (the
favorite drink of the Gonds is called lundi)\ while on the latter
occasion there is a mourning feast, or wake, which also ends
in general drunkenness.

The Khonds : Even more striking is the religion of the
Khonds. Their chief rite is human sacrifice to the earth-god-
dess,^ Tari ; but, like the Gonds, they worship the sun as
chief divinity. Other gods among them are the river-god,
rain-god, spring, v/ealth, hill-god, and smallpox-god. All their
religious feasts are excuses for excess both in drinking and
otherwise. One of their beliefs is that there is a river of hell,
which flows around a slippery rock, up which climbs the one
that would escape torment. Their method of sacrificing a
human victim is to put him into the cleft of a tree, where he is
squashed, or into fire. They seem to have an odd objection
to shedding blood for this purpose, and in this respect may be
compared with the Thugs. Another very interesting trait is
the religion which is intertwined with business, and its peculiar
features. Victims offered either to the sun or to the war-god
serve to mark boundary lines. Great is the patience with which

1 The snake in the tree is common to many tribes, both being tutelary. The
Gonds are ' sons of the forest trees,' and of the northern bull.

2 It seems to us that this feature need not be reckoned as a sign of exogamy. It
is often, so far as we have observed, only a stereotyped form to express bashfulness.

3 Some say earth-^^(?.7. Thus the account given in JRAS. 1S42. p. 172, says ' male
earth-god as ancestor,' but most modern writers describe the divinity as a female.
Some of the Khonds worship only earth (as a peacock). This is the peacock revered
at the Pongol .?

RELIGIOUS TRAITS OT THE WILD TRIBES. 529

these victims, called incrias^ arc waited for. The sacrificer cap-
tures fit specimens when they are young, and treats them with
particular kindness till they are almost grown up. Indeed, they
are treated thus by the whole village. At the appointed time
they are slowly crushed to death or smothered in a mud bath,
and bits of their fiesh are then cut out and strewn alons: the
boundary lines. Boys are preferred, but either boys or girls
may be used. This sacrifice is sometimes made directly to
the ' Boundary-god,' -^ ^n abstraction which is not unique ; for,
besides the divinities recorded above, mention is made also of
a 'Judgment-god.' Over each village and house preside the
Manes of good men gone ; while the ' father is god on earth '
to every one. They used to destroy all their female children,
and this, together with their national custom of offering human
sacrifices, has been put down with the greatest difficulty by
the British, who confess that there is every probability that in
reality the crime still obtains among the remoter clans. These
Khonds are situate in the Madras presidency, and are aborig-
ines of the Eastern Ghats. The most extraordinary views about
them have been published. Despite their acknowledged bar-
barity, savageness, and polytheism, they have been soberly
credited with a belief in One Supreme God, ' a theism embrac-
ing polytheism,' and other notions v.hich have been abstracted
from their worship of the sun as 'great god.'

Since these are by far the most original savages of India, a
completer sketch than will be necessary in the case of others
may not be unwelcome. The chief god is the light- or sun-
god. " In the beginning the god of light created a wife, the
goddess of earth, the source of evil." On the other hand, the

1 The Gonds also have a boundary-god. Graves as boundaries are known among
the Anglo-Saxons. Possibly Hermes as boundary-god may be connected with the
Hermes that conducts souls ; or is it simply as thief-god that he guards from theft ?
The Khond practice would indicate that the corpse (as something sacred) made the
boundary, not that the boundary was made by running a line to a barrow, as is the
case in the Anglo-Saxon connection between barrow and bound.

530 THE RELIGIONS OE INDIA.

sun-god is a good god. Tari, the earth-divinity, tried to pre-
vent Bella ^ Pennu (sun-god) from creating man. But he cast
behind him a handful of earth, which became man. The first
creation was free of evil ; earth gave fruit without labor (the
Golden Age) ; but the dark goddess sowed in man the seed of sin.
A few were sinless still, and these became gods, but the corrupt
no longer found favor in Bella (or Boora) Pennu's eyes. He
guarded them no more. So death came to man. Meanwhile
Bella and Tari contended for superiority, with comets, whirl-
winds, and mountains, as weapons. According to one belief,
Balla won ; but others hold that Tari still maintains the stru2:2:le.
The sun-god created all inferior deities, of rain, fruit, hunt,
boundaries, etc., as well as all tutelary local divinities.'^ Men
have four kinds of fates. The soul goes to the sun, or re-
mains in the tribe (each child is declared by the priest to be
N. N. deceased and returned), or is re-born and suffers punish-
ments, or is annihilated.^ The god of judgment lives on Grippa
Valli, the ' leaping rock,' round which flows a black river, and
up the rock climb the souls with great effort. The Judgment-

1 Some may compare Bellerophon !

2 Tutelary deities are of house, village, groves, etc. The 'House-god' is, of
course, older than this or than Hinduism. The Rig Veda recognizes \'astoshpati,
the ' Lord of the House,' to whom the law (Mar.u, iii. S9, etc.) orders oblations to be
made. But Hinduism prefers a female house-goddess (see above, p. 374). Windisch
connects this Vedic divinity, Vastos-pati, with Vesta and Hestia. The same scholar
compares Keltic vassus, vassalhts, originally 'house-man'; and very ingeniously
equates Vassorix Avith Vedic vasdih rajd ^vicdni rdjd, 'king of the house-men'
(clan), like huskarlar, 'house-fellows,' in Scandinavian (domesticus, oiKerrjs)- Win-
disch, Vassiis tind Vassalhis, in the BericJit. d. k. Sachs. Gcsell. 1892, p. 174.

3 That is to say, a dead man's spirit goes to heaven, or is re-born whole in the
tribe, or is re-born diseased (anywhere, this is penal discipline), or finally is annihilated.
Justly may one compare the Brahmanic division of the Manes into several classes,
according to their destination as conditioned by their manner of living and exit
from life. It is the same idea ramifying a little differently; not a case'of borrowing,
but the growth of two similar seeds. On the other hand, the un-Aryan doctrine of
transmigration may be due to the belief of native wild tribes. It appears first in the
(Jatapatha, but is hinted at in the ' plant-souls ' of the RV. (above, pp. 145, 204, 432),
possibly in RV. i. 164. 30, -^Z ; Botlingk, loc. cit., 1893, p. 88.

RELIGIOUS TRAITS OF THE WILD TRIBES. 531

god decides the fate of the soul, sending it to the sun (the
sun-soul), or annihilating it, etc. The chief sins are, to be in-
hospitable, to break an oath, to lie except to save a guest, to
break an old custom, to commit incest, to contract debts (for
which the tribe has to pay), to be a coward, to betray council.
The chief virtues are, to kill in battle, to die in battle, to be a
priest, to be the victim of a sacrifice. Some of the Khonds wor-
ship the sun-god ; some the earth-goddess, and ascribe to her
all success and power, while they hold particularly to human
sacrifice in her honor. They admit (theoretically) that Bella
is superior, but they make Tari the chief object of devotion,
and in her honor are held great village festivals. They that
do not worship Tari do not practice human sacrifice. Thus
the ^ivaite sacrifice of man to the god's consort is very well
paralleled by the usage that obtains among them. The Khond
priests may indulge in any occupation except war ; but some
exercise only their priestcraft and do nothing else. The chief
feast to the sun-god is Salo Kallo (the former word means
'cow-pen'; the latter, a liquor), somewhat like a ^6'w<7-feast.
It is celebrated at harvest time with dancing, and drinking,
" and every kind of licentious enjoyment." Other festivals of
less importance celebrate the substitution of a buffalo for
human sacrifice (not celebrated, of course, by the Tari wor-
shippers). The invocation at the harvest is quite Brahmanic :
" O gods, remember that our increase of rice is your increase
of worship; if we get little rice we worship little." Among
lesser gods the ' Fountain-god ' is especially worshipped, with a
sheep or a hog as sacrifice. Female infanticide springs from
a feeling that intermarriage in the same tribe is incest (this is
the meaning of the incest-law above ; it might be rendered ' to
marry in the tribe ').

Of the Oraons, or Dhangars,^ we shall mention but one or

1 This tribe now divides with the Lurka Koles the possession of Chota Nagpur,
which the latter tribe used to command entire. The Oraons regard the Lurka Koles

532 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

two good parallels to what is found in other religions. These
Dravidians liv^e in Bengal, and have two annual festivals, a
harvest feast and one celebratins; the marriag:e of heaven and
earth. Like the Khonds, they recognize a supreme god in the
sun, but, just as we showed was the case with the Hindus, \A\o
ignore Brahma because they do not fear him, so here, the
Oraons do not pray to the sun, on the ground that he does
them no harm ; but they sacrifice to evil spirits because the
latter are evil-doers. These savages, like the Burmese IMish-
mis, have no idea of a future life in heaven ; but in the case
of people killed in a certain way they believe in a sort of
metempsychosis ; thus, for instance, a man eaten by a tiger
becomes a tiger. In the case of unfortunates they believe that
they will live as unhappy ghosts ; in the case of other men
they assume only annihilation as their fate.^ It is among this
tribe that the mouse-totem is found, which is Qiva's beast and
the sign of Gane^a.-

THE KOLARIAXS.

The Sunthals : These are immigrants into the West Bengal
jungles, and have descended from the North to their present
site. They are called the finest specimens of the native savage.
The guardian of the tribe is its deceased ancestor, and his ghost
is consulted as an oracle. Their race-god is the ' Great Moun-
tain,' but the sun represents the highest spirit; though they

as inferiors. Compare JRAS. iS6i, p. 370 ff. They are sometimes erroneously
grouped with the Koles, ethnographically as well as geographically. Risley, Tribes
and Castes of Bengal, p. xxxii.

1 Something like this is recorded by Brinton, Myths of the New World, p. 243,
as the belief of an American tribe, which holds that the fate of the dead depends
on the manner of death, the funeral rites, or '' some such arbitrary circumstance '' (as
in Greece).

■■2 Compare the epic ' Mouse-people,' Mushikas, as well as Apollo's mouse. Possi-
bly another Hindu mark of sectarianism may be traced to the wild tribes, the use of
vermilion markings. This is the most important element in the Bengal wedding
rite (Risley).

RELIGIOUS TRAITS OF THE WILD TRIBES. 533

worship spirits of every sort, and regard beasts as divine ; the
men revering the tiger, and tlie women, elephants. The par-
ticularly nasty festival called the bandana., which is celebrated
annually by this tribe, is exactly like the ' left-hand ' cult of the
Qaktas, only that in this case it is a preliminary to marriage.
All unmarried men and women indulge together in an inde-
scribable orgie, at the end of which each man selects the woman
he prefers.-^

The Koles (' pig-stickers ') : Like the last, this tribe worship
the sun, but with the moon as his wife, and the stars as their
children. Besides these they revere Manes, and countless local
and sylvan deities. Like Druids, they sacrifice only in a grove,
but without images."

All these tribes worship snakes and trees," and often the
only oath binding upon them is taken under a tree."^ The

1 Above the Sunthals, who inhabit the jungle and lower slopes of the Rajmahal
hills, live the Paharias, who never tell a lie (it is said), and whose religion in some
aspects is worth noticing. They believe in one god (over each village god), who
created seven brothers to rule eaith. The Paharias descend from the eldest of these
brothers. They believe in transmigration, a future state, and oracles. But it is
questionable whether they have not been exposed to Buddhistic influence, as ' Budo
Gosain' is the name of the supreme (sun-)god.

~ In the ninth century Orissa was formed of the territories of Khonds, Koles, and
Savaras. In the old grouping of tribes these, together with the Gonds and Bhils,
were the " five children of the soil " between the Vindhya mountains, the east chain of
the Ghats, and the mouth of the Godavarl to the centre of the valley of the Nerbudda,
The last mentioned tribe of Bhils (Bheels) is almost devoid of native religion, but is
particularly noted for truth, honesty, and fidelity. JRAS. 1844, pp. iSi, 189,192;
1S52, p. 216 ff. It is an ancient race, but its origin is not certain.

3 Trees are revered by the Brahmans also, as by the American Indians. School-
craft, i. 368. The tree-spirit is an advance on this (Brahmanic and Hinduistic).

4 Thus the Bhils' wedding is simply a mutual promise under the singd tree.
These savages, however, live together only so long as they choose. When the family
separates, the father takes the elder children, and the mother takes the younger
ones. They are poh'gamous. It is from this tribe that the worship of Aghorl, the
Vindhya fiend, accepted as a form of Kali, was introduced into Qivaite worship. At
present their religion is a mixture of Hindu and native superstition. Thus. Hke the
Gonds, they worship stone images of gods placed in a circle, but they recognize
among these gods several of the Hindu divinities.

534 ^ THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

sun-worship, which is found alike in Kolarian and Dravidian
tribes, may be traced through all the ramifications of either.
In most of the tribes the only form of worship is sacrifice, but
oaths are taken on rice, beasts, ants, water, earth, etc. (among
some Pahariahs on the arrow). Some have a sort of belief in
the divinity of the chief, and among the Lurka Koles this
dignity is of so much importance that at a chief's death the
divine dignity goes to his eldest son, while the youngest son
gets the property. In regard to funeral rites, the Koles first
burn and then bury the remains, placing* a stone over the
grave.

Besides the Oraons' totem of the mouse, the Sunthals have
a goose-totem, and the Garos and Kassos (perhaps not to be
included in either of the two groups), together with many other
tribes, have totems, some of them avatars., as in the case of
the tortoise. The Garos, a tribe between Assam and Bengal,
are in many respects noteworthy. They believe that their
vessels are immortal ; and, like the Bhars, set up the bamboo
pole, a religious rite which has crept into Hinduism (above,
p. 378). They eat everything but their totem, immolate hu-
man victims, and are divided into ' motherhoods,' Maharis,
particular Maharis intermarrying. A man's sister marries into
the family from which comes his wife, and that sister's daughter
may marry his son, and, as male heirs do not inherit, the son-
in-law succeeds his father-in-law in right of his wife, and gets
his wife's mother (that is, his father's sister) as an additional
wife.^ The advances are always made by the girl. She and
her party select the groom, go to his house, and carry him off,
though he modestly pretends to run away. The sacrifice for the

1 Rowney, Wild Tribes., p. 194. The goose-totem of the Sunthals is also Brahma's
sign. As Vishnu is carried on an eagle, and (^iva on a bull, so Brahma rides a
goose (or flamingo). The 'ten ancestors' demanded of the Brahman priest were
originally on the mother's side as well as on the father's. Weber, Rdjasuya, p. 78.
The matriarchal theory is, however, southern. (Compare the oblations to the ances-
tresses in Vishnu's law-book, 74.)

RELIGIOUS TRAITS OF THE WILD TRIBES. 535

wedding is that of a cock and hen, offered to the sun. The
god they worship most is a monster (very much Hke Qiva), but
he has no local habitation.

Of the S.ivaras or Sauras of the Dekhan the most interesting
deity is the malevolent female called Thakurani, wife of Thakur.
She was doubtless the first patroness of the throttling Thugs
{thags are t/iaks, assassins), and the prototype of their Hindu
Kali. Human sacrifices are offered to Thakurani, while her
votarias, as in the case of the Thugs, are noted for the secrecy
of their crimes.

Birth-rites, marriage-rites, funeral rites (all of blood), human
sacrii'ice, tabil (especially among the Burmese), witchcraft, wor-
ship of ancestors, divination, and demonology are almost uni-
versal throuirhout the wild tribes. In most of the rites the
holy stone -^ plays an important part, and in many of the tribes
dances are a religious exercise.

Descendants of the great Serpent-race that once ruled JMa-
gadha (Behar), the Bhars, and Chirus (Cheeroos) are historically
of the greatest importance, though now but minor tribes of
Bengal. The Bhars, and Koles, and Chirus may once have
formed one body, and, at any rate, like the last, the Bhars are
Kolarian and not Dravidian. This is not the place to argue a
thesis which might well be supported at length, but in view of
the sudden admixture of foreign elements with the Brahmanism
that begins to expand at the end of the Vedic period it is
almost imperative to raise the question whether the Bhars, of
all the northern wild tribes the most cultivated, whose habitat

1 The marriage-stone, as in the Hindu rite, is quite common. Of lesser supersti-
tions the tabil, analogous to the avoidance of unlucky names among the Hindus, may
be mentioned. Friendship among girls is cemented by a religious ceremony. After
this, among the Oraons, the two avoid each other's name, calling each other only ' my
flower' or 'my meet-to-smile' (Rowney). In this tribe exogamy is ' more respec-
table,' but not necessary. The girls are generally bought, and have fixed prices, but
we have seen the customary price (twenty-five pigs) cited only for Assam among the
Meeris. If one man cannot pay so much, several unite, for polyandry prevails all
through the northern tribes (JRAS. xi. 38), and even in the Punjab.

536 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

extended from Oude (Gorakhpur) on both sides of the Ganges
over all the district between Benares and Allahabad, and whose
name is found in the form Bharats as well as Bhars, is not one
with that great tribe the history of whose war has been handed
down to us in a distorted form under the name of Bharata
(Mahabharata). The Bharatas, indeed, claim to be Aryans.
But is it likely that a race would have come from the North-
east and another from the Northwest, and both have the same
name ? Carnegy believed, so striking was the coincidence,
that the Bharats were a Rajput (Hindu) tribe that had become
barbaric. But against this speaks the type, which is not Aryan
but Kolarian.^ Some influence one may suppose to have come
from the more intelligent tribes, and to have worked on Hindu
belief. We believe traces of it may still be found in the classics.
For instance, the famous Frog-maiden, whose tale is told in
the Mahabharata, reminds one rather forcibly of the fact that
in Oude and Nepal frog-worship (not as totem) was an estab-
lished cult. The time for this worship to begin is October ; it
is different to thunder-worship (July, the naga-i^'2i?A), and the
frog is subordinate to the snake. And, again, the snake-wor-
ship that grows so rapidly into the Hindu cult can scarcely
have been uninfluenced by the fact that there are no less than
thirty snake-tribes.^

But despite some interesting points of view besides those

1 Sherring (JRAS. v. 376) says decidedly that Bhars, or Bharats, and Chirus can-
not be Aryans. This article is one full of interesting details in regard to the high
cultivation of the Bharat tribe. They built large stone forts, immense subterranean
caverns, and made enormous bricks for tanks and fortifications (19 X 11 X 21^ inches),
the former being built regularly to east and west {siirajbedi). One of their chief
cities lay five miles west of Rlirzapur, and covered several miles, entirely surround-
ing the Puranic city of Vindhyacal, built in the midst of it. Six or seven hundred
years ago the Bhars held Oude and Benares. Carnegy's opinion is given in his
Races, Tribes, and Castes of the Provhicc of Oitde (Oudh). The Bhars, says Elliot,
Chronicles of Oonayo, built all the towns not ending in pur, moiv, or dbdd (Hindu,
Mongol, Mohammedan). Their sacra (totems?) are the bamboo, bel-iree, tortoise,
and peacock.

2 JRAS. xii. 229 ; I A. xxii. 293.

RELIGIOUS TRAITS OF THE ll'ILD TRIBES. 537

touched upon here, details are of httle added value, since it
is manifest that, whether Kolarian or Dravidian, or, for the
matter of that, American or African, the same rites will obtain
Avith the same superstition, for they belong to every land, to
the Aryan ancestor of the Hindu as well as to the Hindu him-
self. Even totemism as a survival may be suspected in the
' fish ' and ' dog ' people of the Rig Veda, as has recently been
suggested by Oldenberg. In the Northeast of India many tribes
w^orship only mountains, rivers, and Manes, again a trait both
Vedic and Hinduistic, but not necessarily borrowed. Some cf
these tribes, like the Khasias of Oude, may be of Rajput de-
scent (the Khasas of Manu, x. 22), but it is more likely that
more tribes claim this descent than possess it. We omit many
of the tribal customs lest one think they are not original; for
example, the symbol of the cross among the Abors, who wor-
ship only diseases, and whose symbol is also found among the
Am.erican Indians ; the sun-worship of the Katties, who may
have been influenced by Hinduism ; together with the cult of
Burmese tribes too overspread with Buddhism. But often there
is a parallel so surprising as to make it certain that there has
been influence. The Niadis (of the South), for example, wor-
ship only the female principle. Many other tribes worship fa/:/i
almost exclusively. The Todas worship stone images, buffaloes,
and even cow-bells, but they have a celibate priesthood ! We
do not hesitate to express our ov^-n belief that the cakfi-wor-
ship is native and drawn from similar cults, and that the
celibate priesthood, on the other hand, is taken from civiliza-
tion.

Such a fate appears to have happened in modern times to
several deities, now half Brahmanized. For example, Vetala
(worshipped in many places) is said in the Dekhan to be an
avatar, or, properly speaking, a manifestation of Civa. What
is he in reality 1 A native wild god, without a temple, wor-
shipped in the open air under the shade of a tree, and in an

538 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

enclosure of stones. Just such a deity, in other words, as we
have shown is worshipped in just such a way by the wild tribes.
A monoUth^ in the middle of twelve stones represents this
primitive Druidic deity. The stones are painted red in flame-
shape for a certain distance from the ground, with the upper
portion painted white. Apparently there is here a sun-god of
the aborigines. He is worshipped in sickness, as is Qiva, and
propitiated with the sacrifice of a cock, without the interven-
tion of any priest. The cock to Aesculapius {"■ hiiic galliiiae
ijnmolabantur ") may have had the same function originally, for
the cock is always the sun-bird. Seldom is Vetala personified.
When he has an image (and in the North he sometimes has
temples) it is that of an armless and legless man ; but again
he is occasionally represented as a giant ' perfect in all his
parts.' ^ To the Brahman, Vetala is still a mere fiend, and pre-
sides over fiends ; nor will they admit that the red on his stones
means aught but blood. In such a god, one has a clue to the
gradual intrusion of Qiva himself into Brahmanic worship. At
first a mountain lightning fiend, then identified with Rudra, a
recognized deity, then made anthropomorphic. There are,
especially in the South, a host of minor Hindu deities, half-
acknowledged, all more or less of a fiendish nature in the eyes
of the orthodox or even of the Qivaite. Seen through such
eyes they are no longer recognizable, but doubtless in many
instances they represent a crude form of nature-worship or
demonology, which has been taken from the cult of the wild

1 Among the southern Koders the dolmen form grave-stones ; perhaps the rehgious
employment of them in this wise led to the idea of the god-stone in many cases ; but
it is difficult to say in monolith-worship whether the stone itself be not a god ; not a
fetish, for (as has been said by others) a fetish is a god only so long as he is regarded
as being useful, and when shown to be useless he is flung away ; but a god-stone is
always divine, whether it grants prayers or not.

2 Wilson's note to Stevenson's description, JRAS. 1838, p. 197. The epic disease-
gods are not unique. The only god known to the Andaman Islanders (Bay of Ben-
gal) was a disease-devil, and this is found as a subordinate deity in many of the wild
tribes.

RELIGIOUS TRAITS OF THE WILD TRIBES. 539

tribes, and is now more or less thoroughly engrafted upon that
of their civilized neighbors.-^

One of the most interesting, though not remarkable, cases
of similarity between savage and civilized religions is found in
the worship of snakes and trees.' In the Naga or dragon
form the latter cult may have been aided by the dragon-wor-
shipping barbarians in the period of the northern conquest.
But in essentials not only is the snake and dragon worship of
the wild tribes one with that of Hinduism, but, as has been
seen, the latter has a root in the cult of Brahmanism also, and
this in that of the Rig Veda itself. The poisonous snake
is feared, but his beautiful wave-like motion and the water-
habitat of many of the species cause him to be associated as a
divinity with Varuna, the water-god. Thus in early Hinduism
one finds snake-sacrifices of two sorts. One is to cause the
extirpation of snakes, one is to propitiate them. Apart from
the reil snake, there is revered also the Naga, a beautiful chi-
merical creature, human, divine, and snake-like all in one.
These are worshipped by sectaries and by many wild tribes
alike. The Naga tribe of Chota Na^pur, for instance, not
only had three snakes as its battle-ensign, but built a serpent-
temple.'^

1 In the current Indian Antiquary there is an exceedingly interesting series of
papers by the late Judge Burnell on Devil-worship, with illustrations that show well
the character of these lower objects of worship.

" The standard work on this subject is Fergusson's Tree a7id Serpent Worship.,
which abounds in interesting facts and dangerously captivating fancies.

3 JRAS. 1S46, p. 407. The ensign here may be totemistic. In Hinduism the
epic shows that the standards of battle were often surmounted w ith signa and effigies
of various animals, as was the case, for example, in ancient Germany. We have
collected the material on this point in a paper in JAOS. xiii. 244. It appears that
on top of the flag-staff images were placed. One of these is the Ape-standard : an-
other, the Bull-standard ; another, the Boar-standard. Arjuna's sign was the Ape
(with a lion's tail) ; other heroes had peacocks, elephants, and fabulous monsters like
the carallia. The Ape is of course the god Hanuman ; the Boar, Vishnu ; the Bull,
Qiva ; so that they have a religious bearing for the most part, and are not totemistic.
Some are purely fanciful, a bow, a swan with bells, a lily ; or, again, they are signifi-

540 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA,

Tree and plant worship is quite as antique as is snake-wor-
ship. For not only is soma a divine plant, and not only does
Yama sit in heaven under his 'fair tree' (above, p. 129). but
' trees and plants ' are the direct object of invocation in the
Rig Veda (v. 41. 8); and the Brahmanic law enjoins upon the
faithful to fling an offering, bali, to the great gods, to the
waters, and 'to the trees';^ as is the case in the house-ritual.
We shall seek, therefore, for the origin of tree-worship not in
the character of the tree, but in that of the primitive mind
which deifies mountains, waters, and trees, irrespective of their
nature. It is true, however, that the greater veneration due to
some trees and plants has a special reason. Thus soina intoxi-
cates : and the tn/asi, 'holy basil,' has medicinal properties,
which make it sacred not only in the Krishna-cult, but in Sicily.'^
This plant is a goddess, and is wed annually to the Calagrama
stone with a great feast. ^ So the ca7ni plant is herself divine,
the goddess ^ami. Again, the mysterious rustle of the bo tree,
pipal^ may be the reason for its especial veneration ; as its
seeming immortality is certainly the cause of the reverence
given to the banian. It is not necessary, however, that any
mystery should hang about a tree. The palm is tall, (Qiva's)
acoka is beautiful, and no trees are more revered. But trees
are holy /^r se. Every ' village-tree ' (above, p. 374, and Mbha.
ii. 5. 100) is sacred to the Hindu. And this is just what is
found among the wild tribes, who revere their hut-trees and
village-trees as divine, without demanding a special show of
divinity. The birth-tree (as in Grecian mythology) is also
known, both to Hindu sect and to wild tribe. But here also

cant of the heroe's origin (Drona's 'pot'). Trees and flowers are used as standards
just like beasts. Especially is the palm a favorite emblem. These signa are \\\ addi-
tion to the battle-flags (one of which is blue, carried with an ensign of five stars). On
the plants compare Williams, Bj-ahmajiism and H'mdnism^ p. 338.

1 Apastamba, 2. 2. 3. 22 ; Manu. iii. 88.

2 Yule apitd Williams.

3 ib. The Rig Veda, X. Si. 4, knows also a 'tree of creation.'

RELIGIOUS TRAITS OF THE WILD TRIBES. 541

there is no basis of Aryan ideas, but of common human experi-
ence. The ancestor-tree (totem) has been noticed above in
the case of the Gonds, who claim descent from trees. The
Bhars revere the (^ivaite !) biha or be/, but tliis is a medicinal
tree. The marriage-tree is universal in the South (the tree is
the male or female ancestor), and even the Brahmanic wed-
ding, among its secondary after-rites, is not without the tree,
which is adorned as part of the ceremony.

Two points of view remain to be taken before the wild tribes
are dismissed. The first is that Hindu law is primitive. ]\Iaine
and Leist both cite laws as if any Hindu law were an oracle
of primitive Aryan belief. This method is ripe in wrong con-
clusions. }cIost of the matter is legal, but enough grazes reli-
gion to make the point important. Even with the sketch we
have given it becomes evident that Hindu law cannot be unre-
servedly taken as an exponent of early Brahmanic law, still less
of Aryan law. For instance, Alaine regards matriarchy as a late
Brahmanic intrusion on patriarchy, an inner growth.^ To
prove this, he cites two late books, one being Vishnu, the Hindu
law-2:iver of the South. But it is from the Southern wild tribes
that matriarchy has crept into Hinduism, and thence into
Brahmanism. Here prevails the matriarchal marriage-rite,
with the first espousal to the snake-guarded tree that repre-
sents the mother's family. In many cases geographical limita-
tions of this sort preclude the idea that the custom or law of
a law-book is Aryan. ^

1 Early Law and Custom, p. 73 ff.

2 Thus it is common Aryan law that, on the birth of a child, the mother becomes
impure for ten days, either alone or with the father. But the latter's impurity is
only nominal, and is removed by bathing (Manu, v. 62, and others). Baudhayana
alone states that "according to some" only the father becomes impure (i. 5. 11. 21).
This is the custom of a land described by ApoUonius Rhodius (ii. loio), " where, when
women bear children, the men groan, go to bed. and tie up the head ; but the women
care for them." Yet Baudhayana is a Southerner and a late writer. The custom is
legalized only in this writer's laws. Hence it cannot be cited as Brahmanic or even as
Aryan law. It was probably the custom of the Southern half-Hinduized environment.

542 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

The second point of view is that of the Akkadists. It is
claimed by the late Lacouperie, by Hewitt, and by other well-
known writers that a primitive race overran India, China, and the
rest of the world, leaving behind it traces of advanced religious
ideas and other marks of a higher civilization. Such a cult may
have existed, but in so far as this theory rests, as in a marked
degree it does rest, on etymology, the results are worthless.
These scholars identify Gandharva with Gan-Eden, Ka^i (Be-
nares) with the land of the sons of Kush ; Gautama with Chinese
(' Akkadian ') ^^//Z, 'a bull,' etc. All this is as fruitful of un-
wisdom as was the guess-work of European savants two centu-
ries a^o. We know that the Dasvus had some relisjion and
some civilization. Of what sort was their barbaric cult, whether
Finnish (also 'Akkadian')^ or aboriginal with themselves, really
makes but little difference, so far as the interpretation of Aryan-
ism is concerned ; for what the Aryans got from the wild tribes
of that dav is insi2;nificant if established as existent at all. A
few legends, the Deluge and the Cosmic Tree, are claimed as
Akkadian, but it is remarkable that one may grant all that the
Akkadian scholars claim, and still deny that Aryan belief has
been essentially affected by it.^ The Akkadian theory will
please them that cannot reconcile the Rig Veda with their theory
of Brahmanic influence, but the fault lies with the theory.

i American Indians are also Dravidian, because both have totems !

2 For the Akkadist theory may be consuhed Lacouperie in the Babylonian
and Oriental Record, i. i, 25, 58 ; iii. 62 ff. ; v. 44, 97 ; vi. i ff. ; Hewitt, in reviewing
Risley's Tribes and Castes of Bengal. JRAS. 1S93, p. 23S ff. See also Sayce's
Hibbe7-t Lectures. On the Deluge and Tree of Life, compare the Babylonian and
Oriental Record, iv. 15 and 217.

CHAPTER XIX.

INDIA AND THE WEST.

If in Hinduism, and even in Brahmanism, there are certain
traits wliich, with some verisimilitude, may be referred to the
immediate environment of these religions, how stands it in
respect of that wider circle of influence which is represented
by the peoples of the West ? With Egypt and Phoenicia, India
had intercourse at an early date, but this appears to have been
restricted to mercantile exchange ; for India till very late was
affected neither by the literature nor by the religion of Egyp-
tians or Syrians.^ Of a more direct sort seem to have been the
relations between India and Babylon, and the former may owe
to the latter her later astronomy, but no definitive proof exists
(or even any great historical probability) that Babylon gave
India even legendary additions to her native wealth of
myths.- From the Iranians the Hindus parted too early to
receive from Zoroastrianism any influence. On the contrary,
in our opinion the religion of Zoroaster budded from a branch
taken from Indie soil. Even where Persian influence mav,
with propriety, be suspected, in the later Indie worship of the
sun, India took no new religion from Persia ; but it is very
possible that her own antique and preserved heliolatry was

1 Lassen interprets ophir as Abhlras, at the mouth of the Indus. The biblical
koph is Sanskrit kapi, ape. Other doubtful equivalents are discussed by Weber,
hidische Skizzen, p. 74.

2 The legend of the Flood and the fancy of the Four Ages has been attributed to
Babylon by some writers. Ecstein claims Chaldean influence in Indie atomic phi-
losopliy, Indische Sticdicn, ii. 369, which is doubtful; but the Indie alphabet probably
derived thence, possibly from Greece. The conquests of Serimamis may have in-
cluded a part of India, but only Brunnhofer finds trace of this in \'Gdic literature,
and the character of his work we have already described.

544 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

aided, and acquired new strength from more modern contact
with tlie sun-worshippers of the West. Of Iranian influence in
early times, along the line of Hindu religious development, there
is scarcely a trace, although in 509 B.C. Darius's general con-
quered the land about the Indus. ^ But the most zealous advo-
cate of Persia's prestige can find little to support his claims in
pre-Buddhistic Brahmanic literature, though such claims have
been made, not only in respect of the position of secondary
divinities, but even as regards eschatological conceptions. It
is not so easy to refute an improbable historical theory as it
is to propound it, but, on the other hand, the onus probtvidi
rests upon him that propounds it, and till now all arguments
on this point have resulted only in increasing the number of
unproved hypotheses, which the historian should mention and
may then dismiss.

The Northern dynasty that ruled in India in the sixth cen-
tury seems to have had a hand in spreading Iranian sun-wor-
ship beyond the Indus, but we doubt whether the radical effect
of this dominion and its belief (it is described by Kosmas,
an Egyptian traveller of the time) is as great as has been
claimed.^

From Greece, the Hindus received architectural designs, nu-
mismatic, and perhaps a few literary hints, but they got thence
neither religious myths, nor, with the possible exception of the
cult of the later Love-god and fresh encouragement to phallic

1 Senart attributes to the Achaemenides certain Indie formulae of administration.
lA. XX. 256.

2 Certain Hindu names, like those to which we called attention in the epic, con-
taining Mihira, i.e., Mithra ; the Magas, i.c., Magi ; and recommendations of sun-
worship in the Puranas are the facts on which \\'eber bases a theory of great influ-
ence of Persia at this later period. Weber claims, in fact, that the native sun-worship
was quite replaced by this importation {Indische Skizzeii, p. 104]. This we do not
believe. Even the great number of Persians who, driven out by Arabians, settled in
Gujarat (the name of Bombay is the same with Pumbadita, a Jewish settlement in
IMesopotamia) had no other effect on the Brahmanic world that absorbed them
{ib., p. 109) than to intensify the fervor of a native cult.

IXDIA Ai\D THE WEST. 545

worship, new rites ; ^ though they may have borrowed some
fables, and one even hears of a Buddhistic kinor endeavorins:
to buy a sophist of Antiochus. But there is ho ground for
assuming philosophical influence on Brahmanism.

Christianity came late into the religious life of India, and as
a doctrine made upon her no deep or lasting impression. Cer-
tain details of Christian storv have been woven into the legends
of Krishna, and some scholars believe that the monotheistic
worshippers depicted in the pseudo-epic were Christians. But
in respect of the latter point it is enough to say that this
account of foreign belief had no new monotheizing effect upon
the pantheism of India ; the strange (unbrahmanic) god was
simply accepted as Vishnu. Nor do we believe that the faith-
doctrine of Hindu sectarianism and the trinitarianism of India
were derived from Christian sources. But it must be admitted
to be historically possible that the creed of the Christians, known
to the Hindus of the sixth and seventh centuries, may have
sugofested to the latter the idea of the trinitv as a means of
adjusting the claims of Brahmanism, Krishnaism, and Qivaism.^

But from the Mohammedan India has taken much, albeit

i Weber ascribes to Greek influence the Hindus" first acquaintance with the
planets. On a possible dramatic loan see above, p. 2, note. The Greeks were first
to get into the heart of India (as far as Patna), and between the court of Antiochus
the Great and the king Saubhagasena there was formal exchange of ambassadors in
,the third century B.C. The name of Demetrius appears as Dattamitra in the Hindu
epic. He had "extended his rule over the Indus as far as the H3-daspes and perhaps
over Malava and Gujarat" (about 200 B.C.; Weber, Skizzeii). In the second century
IMenandros (the Buddhists' 'Milinda') got as far as the Jumna; but his successors
retreated to the Punjab and eventually to Kabul {ib). Compare also Weber, Sitz.
d. koii'tg. Preiiss. Akad., 1S90, p. 901 ff., Die Griccheii in Indien. The period of
Greek influence coincides with that of Buddhist supremacy in its first vigor, and it
is for this reason that Brahmanic literature and religion were so untouched by it.
There is to our mind no great probability that tlie Hindu epic owes anything to that
of Greece, although Weber has put in a strong plea for this view in his essay Ueber
das Rd)ndya)ia.

- The romance of a Russian traveller's late ' discovery,' which Sanskrit scholars
estimate at its true value, but which may seem to others worthy of regard, is per-
haps, in view of the interest taken in it, one that should be told correctly. Nicholas

546 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

only in the last few centuries. When Alexander entered India
there were still two bodies of Indie people west of the Indus.
But the trend was eastward, as it had been for centuries, and the
first inroad of the Mohammedan had little further effect than
to seize a land forsaken by Aryans and given over to the
hordes of the North. The foundation of the new empire was
not laid till the permanent occupation of the Punjab and an-
nexation of Lahore in 1022-23. -^'^ '^^^ thirteenth century all
Hindustan acknowledged the authority of the slave sultan of
Delhi. ^ Akbar died in 1605. By the end of the century the
IMogul rule was broken ; the Mahratta princes became imperial.
It is now just in this period of Mohammedan power when arise
the deistic reforming sects, which, as we have shown, were sur-
rounded with deists and trinitarians. Here, then, we draw the
line across the inner development of India's religions, with

Notovitch asserts that he discovered seven years ago in the Tibetan monaster}' of
Himis, a work which purports to give a life of Christ from birth to death, including
sixteen years spent in India. This life of 'Issa' (Jesus) is declared to have been
written in the first century of the Christian era. Unfortunately for the reputation
of the finder, he made a mistake in exploiting his discovery, and stated that liis
manuscript had been translated for him by the monks of Himis 'out of the original
Pali,' a dialect that these monks could not understand if they had specimens of it
before them. This settled Xotovitch's case, and since of course he did not transcribe
a word of the I\IS. thus freely put at his disposal, but published the forgery in a
French ' translation,' he may be added to the list of other imposters of his ilk. The
humbug has been exposed for some time, and we know of no one who, having a right
to express an opinion, believes Xotovitch's tale, though some ignorant people have
been hoaxed by it. If the blank sixteen years in Christ's life ever be explained, it
maybe found that they were passed in a Zoroastrian environment; but until real
evidence be brought to show that Christ was in India, the wise will continue to doubt
it. As little proof exists, it may be added, of Buddhistic influence in the making
of the Gospels. But this point is nowadays scarcely worth discussing, for competent
scholars r.o longer refer vague likenesses to borrowing. Certain features are common
to the story of Christ and to the legends of Buddha ; but they are common to other
divine narratives also. The striking similarities are not found in the earliest texts
of the Southern Buddhists. Tga for Jesus is modern, Weber, loc. cit., p. 931.

1 Elphinstone. i. pp. 140, 50S; ii. chap. i. The 'slave dynasty' of Kutab, 1206-
1288. It was the bigoted barbarity of these Mohammedans that drove Brahmanic
religion into the South.

I.YDIA AND THE WEST. 547

Kabir, Nanak, Dadu, and perhaps even Basava. In the phi-
losophy of the age that succeeds the epic there are but two
phases of religion, pantheism for the wise, a more or less
deistic polytheism for the vulgar^ (in isolated cases may be
added the monotheism of certain scholastic philosophers); and
so Indie religion continued till the advent of Islamism. Never-
theless, though under Mohammedan influence,^ the most thought-
ful spirits of India received monotheism and gave up pantheism,
vet was the reli2:ious attitude of these thinkers not averse from
that taken by the Sankyan philosophers and by the earlier
pantheists. From a philosophical point of view one must,
indeed, separate the two. But all these, the Unitarian Hari-
haraist, the real pantheist of the Upanishads, who completed
the work of the Vedic quasi-pantheist, and the circle that com-
prises Kabir, Nanak, and Dadu, were united in that they stood
against encircling polytheism. They were religiously at one in
that they gave up the cult of many divinities, which represented
respectively nature-worship and fiend-worship (with beast-wor-
ship), for the worship of one god. Therefore it is that, while
native advance stops with the Mohammedan conquest, one
may yet claim an uninterrupted progress for the higher Indie
religion, a continual elevation of the thoughts of the wise ;
although at the same time, beside and below this, there is the
circle of lower beliefs that continually revolves upon itself.
For in the zoolatry ^ and polytheism that adores monsters to-day

1 Though immediately before it the Harihara cult, survival of Sankhyan dualism,
is practically monotheistic, Basava belongs to the twelfth century.

- The literary exchange in the realm of fable between Arabia and later Sanskrit
writers (of tlie twelfth century) is very evident. Thus in Indie dress appear at this
time the story of Troy, of the passage over the Red Sea, of Jonas, etc. On the other
hand, tlie Arabians translated native Hindu fables. See Weber, IS. iii. 327, Ucler
den Zusammenliang griechischcr Fabchi mit indisc/icn, and Indisclie Skizzen,
p. Ill, and Die Gricc/ien in Indicii. Arabia further drew on India for philosophical
material, and Alberuni himself translated Kapila's work (Weber, loc. cit.).

-^ Whereby cows, snakes, cats (sacred to one of the (^ivaite 'mothers'), crocodiles,
monkeys, etc., are worshipped.

548 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

it is difficult to see a form of religion higher in any respect,
than that more simple nature-polytheism which first obtained.^

This lower aspect of Indie religions hinges historically on
the relation between the accepted cults of Hinduism - and those
of the wild* tribes. \\'e cannot venture to make any statements
that will cast upon this question more light than has been
thrown by the above account of the latter cults and of their
points of contact with Hinduism. It may be taken for granted
that with the entrance into the body politic of a class com-
posed of vanquished^ or vanquisiiing natives, some of the
religion of the latter may have been received also. Such,
there is every reason to believe, Avas the original worship of
Qiva as Qarva, Bhava, and of Krishna ; in other words, of the
first features of modern sectarian Hinduism, though this has
been so influenced by Aryan civilization that it has become
an integral part of Hindu religion.^

But, again, for a further question here presents itself, how
much in India to-day is Aryan ? We are inclined to answer
that very little of blood or of religion is Aryan. Some priestly
families keep perhaps a strain of Aryan blood. But Hindu
literature is not afraid to state how many of its authors are of
low caste, how many of its priests were begotten of mixed
marriages, how many formed low connections ; while both
legendary and prophetic {ex post facto) history speak too often

1 Pantheists in name alone, most of the lower caste-men are practically polytheists,
and this means that they are at bottom dualists. They are wont to worship assidu-
ously but one of the gods they recognize.

2 Where Brahmanism may be said to cease and Hinduism to begin can be defined
but vaguely. Krishnaism is rank Hinduism. But (^ivaism is half Brahmanic. For
the rest, in its essential aspects, Hinduism is as old as the Hindus. Only the form
changes (as it intrudes upon Brahmanism).

3 It is highly probable that the mention of the Northwestern Qudras in Mbha. vi.
9. 67 refers to the Afghan Sudroi. and that the slave-caste as a whole, which bears tlie
name (^udra, received this appellation first as conquered tribes of Afghinistan.

4 Brahmanism has always been an island in a sea. Eve.n in the Brahmanic nge
there is evidence to show that it was the isolated belief of a comparatively small
group of minds. It did not even control all the Aryan population.

INDIA AND THE WEST. 549

of slave-kings and the evil times when low castes will teign,
for any unprejudiced person to doubt that the Hindu popula-
tion, excluding many pure priests but including many of the
priests and the Rajputs (' sons of kings '), represents Aryan-
hood even less than the belief of the Rig Veda represents the
primitive religion ; and how little of aboriginal Aryan faith is
reflected in that work has been shown already.

As one reviews the post-Vedic religions of civilized India
he is impressed with the fact that, heterogeneous as they are,
they yet in some regards are so alike as to present, when con-
trasted with other beliefs, a homogeneous whole. A certain
uniqueness of religious style, so to speak, differentiates every
expression of India's theosophy from that of her Western neigh-
bors. What is common and world-wide in the forms of Indie
faith we have shown in a previous chapter. But on this uni-
versal foundation India has erected many individual temples,
temples built after designs which are not uniform, but are all
self-sketched, and therefore peculiar to herself. In each of
these mental houses of God there is revealed the same disposi-
tion, and that disposition is necessarily identical with that
expressed in her profane artistry,^ for the form of religion is
as much a matter of national taste as is that which is embodied
in literature, architecture, and painting. And this taste, as
expressed in religion, isolates Brahmanic and Hinduistic India,

1 We refer partly to literature, that of the drama and novel, for instance ; and
partly to the fine arts. But in connection with the latter it may be remarked that
painting, and the fine arts generally, are expressly reckoned as the pursuit of slaves
alone. For instance, even as late a jurist as he that wrote the law-code of 'Vishnu'
thus (chap, ii.) parcels out the duties and occupations of the four castes : The duty
of a priest is to teach the Veda, his means of livelihood is to sacrifice for others and
to receive alms ; the duty of the warrior is to fight, his means of livelihood is to
receive taxes for protecting the other castes ; the duty of the Vaigya is to tend cattle,
his means of livelihood is gain from flocks, farm, trade, or money-lending. The duty
of a slave, Qudra, is to serve the three upper castes ; his means of livelihood is the
fine arts.

550 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

placing her apart, both from the gloom of Egypt and the grace
of Greece ; even as in her earliest records she shows herself
individual, as contrasted with her Aryan kinsfolk. Like Egypt,
she feels her dead ever around her, and her cult is tinged with
darkness ; but she is fond of pleasure, and seeks it deliriously.
Like Greece, she loves beauty, but she loves more to decorate
it ; and again, she rejoices in her gods, but she rejoices with
fear ; fear that overcomes reason, and pictures such horrors as
are conjured up by the wild leaps of an uncurbed fancy. For
an imagination that knows no let has run away with every form
of her intellectual productivity, theosophy as well as art. This
is perceptible even in her ritualistic, scientific, and philosophi-
cal systems ; for though it is an element that at first seems
incongruous with such systems, it is yet in reality the factor
that has produced them. Complex, varied, minute, exact, as
are the details which she loves to elaborate in all her work,
they are the result of this same unfettered imagination, which
follows out every fancy, pleased with them all, exaggerating
every present interest, unconfined by especial regard for what
is essential.-^ This is a heavy charge to bring, nor can it be
passed over with the usual remark that one must accept
India's canon as authoritative for herself, for the taste of cos-
mopolitan civilization is the only norm of judgment, a norm
accepted even by the Hindus of the present day when they
have learned what it is. But we do not bring the charge of
extravagance for the sake of comparing India unfavorably with
the Occident. Confining ourselves to the historical method of
treatment which we have endeavored heretofore to maintain, we
wish to point out the important bearings which this intellectual
trait has had upon the lesser products of India's religious activity.

1 It is this that has exaggerated, though not produced, that most marked of native
beliefs, a faith which intertwines witli every system, Brahmanic. Buddhistic, or Hin-
duistic, a Ijelief in an ecstatic power in man which gives him control over supernatu-
ral forces. To-day this Yogism and Mahatmaism, wliich is visible even in the Rig
Veda, is nothing but unbridled fancy playing with mesmerism and lies.

INDIA AND THE WEST. 551

Through the whole extent of reUgious literature one finds
what are apparently rare and valuable bits of historical infor-
mation. It is these which, from the point of view to which
we have just referred, one must learn to estimate at their real
worth. In nine cases out of ten, these seeming truths are
due only to the light imagination of a subsequent age, playing
at will over the records of the past, and seeking by a mental
caper to leap over what it fails to understand. To the Oriental
of an age still later all the facts deducible from such statements
as are embodied in the hoary literature of antiquity appear to
be historical data, and, if mystic in tone, these statements are
to him an old revelation of profoundest truth. But the Occi-
dental, who recognizes no hidden wisdom in palpable mystifica-
tion, should hesitate also to accept at their face value such his-
torical notes as have been drafted by the same priestly hand.

Nor would we confine the application of this principle to the
output of extant Brahmanic works. The same truth cuts right
and left among many utterances of the Vedic seers and all the
theories built upon them. To pick out here and there an ipse
dixit of one of the later fanciful Vedic poets, who lived in a
period as Brahmanic (that is, as ritualistic) as is that which is
represented by the actual ritual-texts, and attempt to recon-
struct the original form of divinities on the basis of such vaga-
ries is useless, for it is an unhistorical method which ignores
ancient conditions.

In less degree, because here the conditions are more obvious,
does this apply to the religious interpretation of the great body
of literature which has conserved for posterity the beginnings
of Hinduism. But upon this we have already animadverted,
and now need only range this literature in line with its prede-
cessors. Not because the epic pictures Krishna as making
obeisance to Qiva is Krishna here the undeveloped man-god,
w^ho represents but the beginning of his (later) greatness, and
is still subject to the older Civa. On the contrary, it is the

J
i

552 T//£ RELIGIONS OF lA.

epic's last extravagance in regard to C o 1?

bowed before the great image of Krishna- \ishnu) that demands,
a furious counter-blast against the rival gO'' It is the ^ivaite"*
who says that Krishna- Vishnu bows ; and because it is the Civa-
ite, and because this is the national mode of r ssion of everyi
sectary, therefore what the Civaite says is in probability his-
toricallv false, and the sober historian will at least not discover
* the earlier Krishna ' in the Krishna portrayed by his rival's
satellites.

But when one comes to the modern sects, then he has to
deplore not so much the lack of historical data as the gro-
tesque form into which this same over-vivid imagination of
the Hindu has builded his gods. As the scientific systems
grow more and more fancifully detailed, and as the liturgy
flowers out into the most extraordinary bloom of weird legend,
so the images of the gods, to the eye in their temples, to the
mind in the descriptions of them, take to themselves the most
uncouth details imagined by a curious fancy. This god is an
ascetic; he must be portrayed with the ascetic's hair, the ascetic's
wild appearance. He kills ; he must be depicted as a monster,
every trait exaggerated, every conceivable horror detailed. This
god sported with the shepherdesses ; he must have love-adven-
tures related in full, and be worshipped as a darling god of
love ; and in this worship all must be pictured in excess, that
weaker mortal power may strive to appreciate the magnitude
of the divine in every fine detail.

These traits are those of late Vedism, Brahmanism, and
Hinduism. But how marked is the contrast with the earlier
Vedic age ! The grotesque fancy, the love of minutiae, in a
w^ord, the extravagance of imagination and unreason are here
absent, or present only in hymns that contrast vividly with
those of the older tone. This older tone is Aryan, the later is
Hindu, and it is another proof of what we have already empha-
sized, that the Hinduizing influence was felt in the later Vedic

dPIA AND THE WEST, 553

V. ^ tic ^ •'', There is, indeed, almost as great a gulf

>]etween me Dawn-irymns and the (Jatapatha as there is be-
tween the latter anr'the Puranas. One may rest assured that
the perverted later taste reproduces the advance of Hindu in-
fluence upon t' . Tyan mind exactly in proportion to the enor-
mity displayed, ^^r r

On the other hind, from the point of view of morality, Brah-
manic religion is not in any way individual. The race, whether
Aryan or Hinduistic, had as fragile virtue as have other folks,
and shows the same tentative efforts to become purer as those
which characterize every national advance. There is, perhaps,
a little too much formal insistance on veraciousness, and one
is rather inclined to suspect, despite Miiller's brave defence of
the Hindu in this regard, that lying came very naturally to a
people whose law-givers were so continuously harping on the
beauty of truth. The vicious caste-system necessarily scheduled
immorality in accordance with the caste order, as certain crimes
in other countries are estimated according to the race of the
sinner rather than according to any abstract standard. In the
matter of precept we know no better moral laws than those
promulgated by the Brahman s, but they are the laws that every
people evolves for itself. Religious immorality, the excess of
^akti worship, is also not peculiar to the Hindu. If one ask
how the morality of India as a whole compares with that of other
countries, we reply that, including religious excesses, it stands
level with the personal morality of Greece in her best days,^

1 The Hindu sectarian cults are often strangely like those of Greece in details,
which, as we have already suggested, must revert to a like, though not necessarily
mutual, source of primitive superstition. Even the sacred free bulls, which roam at
large, look like old familiar friends, d(p€Ta}v qvtwv ravpwv ev to) tov YioaeLbdvo^
iepcp (Plato, Kritias. 119); and we have dared to question whether Lang's ■ Bull-roarer '
might not be sought in the command that the priest should make the bull roar
at the sacrifice ; and in the verse of the Rig Veda which says that the priests
'•beget (produce) the Dawn by means of the roar of a bull" (vii. 79. 4) ; or must
the bull be soma ' For Miiller's defence of the Hindu's veraciousness, see his Indict^
What Can It Teach Us, p. 34.

554 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

and that without the reUgiously sensual (Hindu) element, it is
nominally on a par with that of London or New York. There
are good and bad men, and these make good and bad coteries,
which stand inside the pale of a religious profession. There
is not much theoretical difference. Few of the older gods are
virtuous, and Right, even in the Rig Veda, is the moral
power, that is, Right as Order, correct behavior, the prototype
both of ritual and of dcara, custom, which rules the gods.
In the law-court the gods are a moral group, and two of them,
Varuna and Agni, hate respectively the sins of adultery and
untruth. In the law it is, however, Dharma and the Father-
god or his diadochos, who, handing down heavenly precepts,
gives all moral laws, though it must be confessed that the
Father-god is almost the last to care for morality. And pure
Brahmanism stops with Brahma. In modern Hinduism, to kill,
lust, steal, drink, so far from offending, may please a god that
is amorous, or bloodthirsty, or, like Qiva, is ' the lord of thieves.'
Morality here has God himself against it. In the Rig A^eda,
to sin is merely to displease a god. But even in Brahmanism,
as in Buddhism, there is not that intimate connection between
goodness and godness that obtains in Christianity. The Brah-
man, like the Buddhist, was self-controlled, in order to exert
control upon the gods and the course of his own future life.
He not only, as is perhaps the case elsewhere, was moral with
an ulterior motive, but his moral code lacked the divine hand.
It was felt as a system which he applied to himself for his
own good. He did not assume that he offended a god by not
following it, except in two special cases, as in sins against
Agni and Varuna. Ulterior motives are deprecated, but be-
cause he that seeks absorption into God must quit desires.^

1 Some exception may be taken to this on the ground that moral laws really are
referred to the Creator in one form or anotherr. This we acknowledge as a theory
of authority, but it so seldom comes into play, and there is so little rapport between
gods and moral goodness, that the difference in this regard is greater by far than the
resemblance. A Christian sins against God, a Hindu sins against himself. The

INDIA AND THE WEST. _ 555

We have said that the moral code of the Hindus at its best
seems to be on a par with the best as found elsewhere. Not to
lie, not to steal, not to injure another illegally,^ to be brave, to be
loyal, to be hospitable, — these are the factors of its early and
late law. In certain late cases may be added ' to be self-
restrained.' But if these laws be compared with those of the
savage races it will be found that most of them are also factors
of primitive ethics. Therefore we say that the Hindu code as
a whole is savage and antique, and that, excluding religious
excess and debauchery, it is on a par with the modern ethical
code only nominally. In reality, however, this savage and
ancient code is not on a level with that of to-day. And the reason
is that the ideal of each is different. In the savage and old-
world conception of morality it is the ideal virtue that is repre-
sented by the code. It was distinct laudation to say of a man
that he did not lie, or steal, and that he was hospitable.- But
to-day, while these factors remain to formulate the code, they
no longer represent ideal virtue. Nay rather, they are but the
assumed base of virtue, and so thoroughly is this assumed that
to say of a gentleman that he does not lie or steal is not praise,
but rather an insult, since the imputation to him of what is but
the virtue of children is no longer ah encomium w^hen applied
to the adult, who is supposed to have passed the point where
theft and lying are moral temptations, and to have reached a
point where, on the basis of these savage, antique, and now
childish virtues, he strives for a higher moral ideal. And this ideal
of to-day, which makes fair-mindedness, liberality of thought, and
altruism the respective representatives of the savage virtues
of manual honesty, truth-speaking, and hospitality, is just what

Christian may be punished by God ; the Hindu punishes himself (the karina). The
latter may say that moral laws are of God, but he means that they are natural laws,
the violation of which has the same effect as touching fire.

1 The lex ialionis is in full force in Hindu law, even in the codes of Hinduism;
for example, ' Vishnu,' v. 19.

2 Deceit of a foe is no sin in any system. •• .\]1 is fair in war."

556 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

is Licking in the more primitive ideal formulated in the code
of savages and of the Brahman alike. ^ It is not found at all
among savages, and they may be left on one side. In India
all the factors of the modern code are entirely lacking at the
time when the old code was first completely formulated. Liber-
ality of thought comes in with the era of the LTpanishads, but it
is a restricted freedom. Altruism is unknown to pure Brah-
manism. But it obtains among the Buddhists, who also have
liberality of thought and fair-mindedness. Hence, from the
point of view of the higher morality, one must confess that
Buddhism offers the best parallel to the best of to-day. On the
other hand, Buddhistic altruism exceeds all other.

We have sketched the sphere of influence exerted by the
West upon India, and found it on the whole inconsiderable.
The Indie religions till the twelfth century assimilated what
little they drew from foreign sources, and stand before the
world as a peculiar growth, native to the soil in all their essen-
tial characteristics."

But to the other side of India's contact with the West we
have as yet barely alluded. India has given as she has received.
Wliat influence has she had upon Western cults and beliefs ?

The worship that substituted idols for ideal forms we have
traced back to the end of the Vedic period. It is not, how-
ever, a mark of early Brahmanism, nor is it a pronounced fea-
ture before the age of Buddhism. But in Buddha's time, or
soon after, flourished the. worship of images, and with it the
respect for relics. The latter feature of the new religion
made necessary shrines to keep the holy objects, sacred mu-
seums, which soon became the formal stupas, above-ground

1 This idea may be carried out in other instances. The bravery of civilization is
not the bravado that savages call bravery, and modesty is now a virtue where boast-
ing used to be reckoned as the necessary complement of bravery. As for hospitality
in the old sense, it is not now a ' virtue ' not to kill a guest.

'^ India's relations with Rome were late and wholly of mercantile character.

INDIA AND THE WEST. 557

and under-ground, and these made the first temples of India. ^
Fully developed, they became the great religious buildings
affected by Buddhism, with their idol service, prostrations,
repetitions of prayers, dim religious light (lamp-service), offer-
ings of flowers, fruits, etc. From this source may have been
derived many of the details in the Roman Catholic worship,
which appears to have taken from Buddhism the rosary, origi-
nally a mark of the Qivaite.^ By what is, to say the least,
an extraordinary coincidence, each of these churches is con-
spicuous for its use of holy water, choirs, sacred pictures,
tonsure, vestments, the bell in religious service, the orders of
nuns, monks, and the vows of the monastic system." The
most curious loan made by the Roman and Greek churches
is, however, the quasi-worship of Gotama Buddha himself (in
so far as a Romanist worships his saints), for, under cover of
the Barlaam and Josaphat story, Buddha has found a niche as
a saint in the row of canonized Catholic worthies, and has his
saint-day in the calendar of the Greek and Roman churches."*
But it is not his mother who is the Virgin of Lamaism, w^hich
has made of Buddha the Supreme God.

Besides external phases of the religious cult, India has given

1 It is interesting, as showing incidentally the close connection between Buddhism
and Qivaism in other than philosophical aspects, that the first Indie grotto-temple
mentioned by foreigners (in the third century a.d.) was one which contained a statue
of an androgynous (Qivaite) deity (Weber, Indische Skizzot, p. 86, note).

2 Rosaries are first mentioned in the AV. Paricista, xliii. 4. 1 1 (Leumann, Rosaries).

3 In Lamaism there is also the tiara-crowned pope, and the transubstantiation
theory ; the reverence to Virgin and Child, confessions, fasts, purgatory, abbots, car-
dinals, etc. Compare David's Hibbcrt Lcctjn-cs, p. 193.

4 The literature on this subject is very extensive (see the Bibliography). On
Buddhism and Christianity see Bohlen's Altes Indicn, i. 334 (Weber, Indische Skiz-
zen, p. 92). At a recent meeting of the British Association E. B. Tylor presented a
paper in which is made an attempt to show Buddhistic influence on pre-Columbian
culture in America. On comparing the Aztec picture-writing account of the journey
of the soul after death with Buddhistic eschatology, he is forced to the conclusion
that there was direct transmission from Buddhism. We require more proof than
Aztec pictures of hell to telieve any such theory; and reckon this attempt to those
already discussed in the eighth chapter.

558 THE RELIGIONS OF IXDIA.

to the West a certain class of literary works and certain philo-
sophical ideas. The former consists, of course, in the fable-
literature, which spread from India to Eastern Europe (Babrius)
and has preserved in many tales of to-day nothing more than
Buddhistic Birth-stories or other Indie tales (the Pancatantra)
and legends.-^ Of these we can make only passing mention
here, to turn at once to the more important question of philo-
sophical and religious borrowing.

It has been claimed, as we have incidentally stated, that the
Logos doctrine was imported from India. Were this so, it
would, indeed, be a fact of great historical importance, but,
interesting as would be such a loan, we cannot see that the
suggestion is based on data of cogent character. The history
of the doctrine in India and Greece is simply this : Vac, Speech
or Word, appears in the Rig Veda (in the hymn cited above,
p. 143) as an active female divine power, showing grace to
mortals. In the Brahmanic period Vac becomes more and
more like the Greek Logos, and it may truthfully be said that
in this period "the Word was God." In Greece, on the other
hand, the conception of Logos begins with Heraclitus, passes
on to the Stoics ; is adopted by Philo ; becomes a prominent
feature of Neo-Platonism ; and reappears in the Gospel of St.
John. It is certainly legitimate to suppose that Heraclitus
might have received the idea indirectly, if not directly, from
contemporary Eastern philosophers ; but the fact that he did
so remains unproved ; nor is there any foundation for the as-
sumption of borrowing other than the resemblance between
the Grecian and Indie conceptions. But this resemblance is
scarcely marked enough in essential features to prejudice one
in favor of Weber's theory (amplified by Garbe), as it is not
detailed enough to be striking, for Vac is never more than
one of many female abstractions.

1 It is a mooted question in how far the influence in this line has been reciprocal.
See Indische Sttidien, iii. 128.

INDIA AND THE WEST. 559

With the exception of the one case to be mentioned immedi-
ately, we are forced to take the same position in regard to
the similarity between other forms of early Greek and Hindu
philosophy. Both Thales and Parmenides were indeed antici-
pated by Hindu sages, and the Eleatic school seems to be
but a reflexion of the Upanishads. The doctrines of Anaxi-
mander and Heraclitus are, perhaps, not known first in Greece,
but there is no evidence that they were not original to Greece,
or that they were borrowed from India, however much older
may be the parallel trains of thought on Indie soil.

Quite as decidedly, however, as we deny all appearance of
borrowing on the part of the founders of other early Grecian
schools, must we claim the thought of India to be the arche-
type of Pythagorean philosophy. After a careful review of
the points of contact, and Vv^eighing as dispassionately as pos-
sible the historical evidence for and against the originality of
Pythagoras, we are unable to come to any other conclusion
than that the Greek philosopher took his whole system indirectly
from India. His ' numbers,' indeed, are the Sankhya only in
appearances.-^ But his theory of metempsychosis is the Indie
sa77isara, and Plato is full of Sankhyan thought, worked out by
him but taken from Pythagoras. Before the sixth century B.C.
all the religious-philosophical ideas of Pythagoras are current
in India (L. von Schroeder, Pythagoras). If there were but one
or two of these cases, they might be set aside as accidental
coincidences, but such coincidences are too numerous to be the
result of chance. Even in details the transmigration theory
of Pythagoras harmonizes with that of India. Further (after
Schroeder und Garbe) may be mentioned the curious prohibition
against eating beans ; the Hesiodic-Pythagorean Trpos r]kiov fxi]
oixtx^v ; the vow of silence, like that taken by the Hindu muni ;
the doctrine oi five elements (aether as fifth); above all, the
so-called Pythagorean Theorem, developed in the mathematical

1 The Sankhya has no systematic connection with the ' numbers ' of Pythagoras.

560 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

Qulvasutras ^ of India ; the irrrational number V2 ; then the
whole character of the religious-philosophical fraternity, which
is exactly analogous to the Indie orders of the time ; and final-
ly the mystic speculation, which is peculiar to the Pythagorean
school, and bears a striking resemblance to the fantastical
notions affected by the authors of the Brahmana.'"^ Greek
legend is full of the Samian's travels to Egypt, Chaldaea, Phoe-
nicia, and India. The fire beneath this smoke is hidden. One
knows not how much to believe of such tales. But they only
strengthen the inference, drawn from ' the Pythagorean school,'
the man's work itself, that the mysticism and numbers with
which he is surrounded are taken from that system of numbers
and from that mysticism which are so astonishingly like his own.
All -subsequent philosophies borrowed from Pythagoreanism,
and in so far has India helped to form the mind of Europe.^

But we cannot omit a yet more important religious influence
exerted by India upon the West. As is well know^n, Neo-
Platonism and Christian Gnosticism owe much to India. The
Gnostic ideas in regard to a plurality of heavens and spiritual
worlds go back directly to Hindu sources. Soul and light are
one in the Sankhya system before they become so in Greece,
and when they appear united in Greece it is by means of the
thought which is borrowed from India. The famous ' three
qualities ' of the Sankhya reappear as the Gnostic ' three classes,'
TTvevixaviKoi, ij/vxiKOi, vXlkol^ In regard to Neo-Platonism, Garbe

1 Compare on the Qulvasutras, Thibaut, J. A. Beng. xliv. p, 227 ; von Schroeder,
Pythagoras imd die Indcr: Liter at iir zind CiiltJir^ P- 7iS ff., who also cites Cantor,
Geschichtc dcr Mathematik, p. 540, and refutes the possibiUty, suggested by the latter,
of the loan being from Greece to India on the ground that the Qulvasutra are too old
to belong to the Alexandrine period, and too essential a part of the religious literature
to have been borrowed ; and also on the ground that they are not an addition to the
(^rautasutra, but they make an independent portion (p. 721, note).

2 Compare Garbe {loc. cit. below), and his Sdinkhya Philosophie, p. 94.

3 This view is not one universally accepted by Sanskrit scholars. See. for in-
stance, Weber, Die Griechen in Indien. But to us the minute resemblance appears
too striking to be accidental.

* Lassen, and Weber, Indische Skizzen, p. 91.

INDIA AND THE WEST. 561

says : " The views of Plotinus are in perfect agreement with
those of the Sankhya system." -^ Porphyry, the disciple of Plo-
tinus, has the Yoga doctrine of immediate perception of truth
leadins: to union with the deitv. As is well known and undis-
puted, this Porphyry copies directly from the treatise of Barde-
sanes, which contains an account of the Brahmans ; '^ while in
many instances he simply repeats the tenets of the Sankhya
philosophy. The means of communication may have been
Alexandria, where met the trades of the East and West. Per-
haps the philosophers of India as well as of Greece were brought
together there. But, if the East and West had a mutual meet-
ing-ground, the ideas common to both occupy no common
place in their respective homes. In Greece, Pythagoreanism
and Gnosticism are strange, and are felt as such by the natives.
In India these traits are founded on ancient beliefs, long cur-
rent, universal, nationally recognized. The question of giver
and receiver, then, admitting the identity of thought, can
scarcely be raised. If two men meet, one a Methodist and
one a Baptist, and after they have conversed the Methodist
be found totally immersed, he will not be credited with having
invented independently his new mode of baptism.

India's influence as an intellectual factor in modern European
thought has thus far been of the slightest. Her modern deism is
borrowed, and her pantheism is not scientific. Sanskrit schol-
ars are rather fond of citing the pathetic words of Schopen-
hauer, who, speaking of the Upanishads, says that the study
of these works ''has been the solace of my life ; it will be the
solace of my death"; but Schopenhauer knew the Upanishads
only in a very free form of translation, and it can scarcely have
been the loose philosophy so much as the elevated spirit of

1 Garbe, in a recent number of the Monist^ where is given a resttme of the relations
between Greek and Hindu philosophical thought.

2 Weber, loc. cit.

562 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

these works that solaced the unphilosophical bitterness of his
life This general impression will doubtless continue to be
felt by all that study the best works of Brahmanism. The
sincerity, the fearless search of the Indie sages for truth, their
loftiness of thinking, all these will affect the religious student
of every clime and age, though the fancied result of their
thinking may pass without effect over a modern mind. For a
philosophy that must be orthodox can never be definitive. But,
if one turn from the orthodox completed systems to the ten-
tative beginnings of the Vedanta (in the Upanishads), he finds
as the basis of this earlier speculation only an a priori meta-
physical assumption.^

Apart from philosophical influence there is at present more
or less interest in Fvurope and America in Indie superstition
and spiritualism, and half-educated people will doubtless be
influenced for some time to come by Mahatmaism and Yogism,
just as they are moved by native se'ance-spirits and mesmerism.
Blavatskyism (which represents no phase of Buddhism) will
always find disciples among the ignorant classes, especially
in an agnostic or atheistic environment, so that one should
attribute the mental attitude of such minds to their lack
of culture rather than to India ; for if Mahatmaism had
not been discovered, they would still profess it under an-
other name. Buddhism, too, apart from Hartmann, may be said
to have some influence on popular thought, yet it is a very unreal
Buddhism, which amounts only to the adoption of an altruistic
creed. But we know of none among the many that profess
themselves 'Buddhists' who has really adopted Buddhistic
principles, and but few who even understand those principles.
A bar to the adoption of Buddhism lies in the implicit neces-

1 The existence of a soul (spirit) in man is always assumed in the Upanishads.
In the pantheistic system (the completed Vedanta) the verity of traditional belief
is also assumed. The latter assumption is made, too, though not in so pronounced a
manner, in the Upanishads.

INDIA AND THE WEST. 563

sity of renunciation for all who would become perfected, and
in the explicit doctrine of karma in its native form. The true
Buddhist is not satisfied to be a third-class Buddhist, that is,
simply a man that seeks to avoid lust, anger, and ignorance.
He will become a second-class Buddhist and renounce the
world, give up all family ties and earthly affections, and enter
the Order. But he will not do this, thinking that he is thereby
to become perfect. For, to be a first-class Buddhist, he must
get wisdom. He must believe in the impermanence of every-
thing, and in the awful continuation of his own karma as a
resultant group, which, as such, will continue to exist if, to the
purity and peace of the lower classes of Buddhists, he fail to
add in his own case the wisdom that understands the truth of
this karma doctrine.^ Now no modern mind will believe this
hypothesis of karma, and no modern will even enter the Order.
Nevertheless, while one may not become a true Buddhist in the
native sense, it is possible to be a Buddhist in a higher sense,
and in its new form this is a religion that will doubtless attract
many Occidentals, though it is almost too chaste to win ad-
herents where marriage is not regarded as detriment-il to high
thinking. But if one substitute for the Buddhistic kar?na the
kari7ia of to-day, he may well believe that his acts are to have
effect hereafter, not as a complex but as individual factors in
determining the goodness of his descendants and indirectly of
his environment. Then there remains the' attainment of purity,
kindness," and wisdom, which last may be interpreted, in accord-
ance with the spirit of the Master, as seeing things in their

1 The Upanishad philosopher sought only to save his life, but the Buddhist, to
lose it.

- This is not a negative ' non-injury ' kindness. It is a love ' far-reaching, all-per-
vading' (above, p. 333). The Buddhist is no Stoic save in the stoicism with which
he looks forward to his own end. Rhys Davids has suggested that the popularity of
Tibet Buddhism in distinction from Southern Buddhism may have been du3 to the
greater weight laid by the former on altruism. For, while the earlier Buddhist
strives chiefiy for his own perfection, the spiritualist of the North affects greater love

564 THE RELICIOXS OF INDIA.

true relations, and the abandonment of whatever prevents such
attainment, namely, of lust, anger, and ignorance. But to be a
true Buddhist one must renounce, as lust, all desire of evil, of
future life, which brings evil ; and must live without other
hope than that of extinguishing all desire and passion, believ-
ing that in so doing he will at death be annihilated, that is,
that he will have caused his acts to cease to work for good or
ill, and that, since being without a soul he exists only in his
acts, he will in their cessation also cease to be.

At least one thing may be learned from Buddhism. It is
possible to be religious without being devout. True Buddhism
is the only religion which, discarding all animism, consists in
character and wisdom. But neither in sacrificial works, nor in
kindness alone, nor in wisdom alone, lies the highest. One
must renounce all selfish desires and live to build up a char-
acter of which the signs are purity, love for all, and that
courageous wisdom which is calm insight into truth. The Bud-
dhist worked out his own salvation without fear or trembling.
To these characteristics may be added that tolerance and free-
dom of thought which are so dissimilar to the traits of many
other religions.

So much may be learned from Buddhism, and it were much
only to know that such a religion existed twenty-four centuries
ago. But in what, from a wider point of view, lies the impor-
tance of the study of Hindu religions ? Not, we venture to
think, in their face value for the religious or philosophical life
of the Occident, but in the revelation, which is made by this
.study, of the origin and growth of theistic ideas in one land;
in the light these cast by analogy on the origin of such ideas
elsewhere ; in the prodigious significance of the religious factor

for his kind, and becomes wise to save others. The former is content to be an Arhat ;
the latter desires to be a Bodhisat, 'teacher of the law' {Hibbcri Lectures, p. 254)!
We think, however, that the latter's success with the vulgar was the result rather of
his own greater mental vulgarity and animism.

INDIA AND THE WEST. 565

in the development of a race, as exhibited in this instance ;
in the inspiring review of that development as it is seen through
successive ages in the loftiest aspirations of a great people ;
and finally in the lesson taught by the intellectual and religious
fate of them among that people that have substituted, like the
Brahman ritualist, form for spirit ; like the Vedantist, ideas for
ideals ; like the sectary, emotion for morality. But greatest, if
woeful, is the lesson taught by that phase of Buddhism, which
has developed into Lamaism and its kindred cults. For here
one learns how few are they that can endure to be wise, how
inaccessible to the masses is the height on which sits the sage,
how unpalatable to the vulgar is a religion without credulity.

Ever since Cotton Mather took up a collection to convert
the Hindus,^ Americans have felt a great interest in missionary
labor in India. Under the just and beneficent rule of the
British the Hindus to-day are no longer plundered and mur-
dered in the way they once were ; nor is there now so striking
a contrast between the invader's precept and example as ob-
tained when India first made the acquaintance of Christians
militant.

The slight progress of the missionaries, who for centuries
have been working among the Hindus, is, perhaps, justified
in view of this painful contrast. In its earlier stages there
can be no doubt that all such progress was thereby impeded.
But it is cause for encouragement, rather than for dismay, that
the slowness of Christian advance is in part historically expli-
cable, sad as is the explanation. For against what odds had
not the early missionaries to struggle ! Not the heathen, but
the Christian, barred the way against Christianity. Four hun-

1 Hurst's Indika. chap, xlix, referring to India Christiana of 1721, and the corre-
spondence between Mather and Ziegenbalg, who was then a missionary in India-
The wealthy ' young men 'who contributed were, in Hurst's opinion, Harvard stu-
dents.

566 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

dred years ago the Portuguese descended upon the Hindus,
cross and sword in hand. For a whole century these victori-
ous immigrants, with unheard-of cruelty and tyranny, cheated,
stripped, and slaughtered the natives. After them came the
Dutch, but, Dutch or Portuguese, it was the same. For it was
merely another century, during which a new band of Christians
hesitated at no crime or outrage, at no meanness or barbarity,
which should win them power in India. In 1 758 the Dutch were
conquered by the English, who, becoming now the chief stand-
ard-bearers of the Christian church, committed, under Vansit-
tart, more offences against decency, honor, honesty, and human-
ity than is pleasant for believer or unbeliever to record ; and,
when their own theft had brought revolt, knew no better way
to impress the Hindu with the power of Christianity than to
revive the Mogul horror and slay (in their victims' fearful be-
lief) both soul and body alike by shooting their captives from
the cannon's mouth. Such was Christian example. It is no
wonder that the Christian precept (' thou shalt love thy neigh-
bor as thyself ') was uttered in vain, or that the faith it epito-
mized was rejected. The hand stole and killed; the mouth
said, ' I love you.' The Hindu understood theft and murder,
but it took him some time to learn English. One may hope
that this is now forgotten, for the Hindu has not the historical
mind. But all this must be remembered when the expenditures
of Christianity are weighed with its receipts.^

1 The Portuguese landed in Calcutta in 1498. They were driven out by the
Dutch, to whom they ceded their mercantile monopoly, in 1640-1644. The Dutch
had arrived in 1596, and held their ground till their supremacy was wrested from
them by Clive in 175S. The British had followed the Dutch closely (arriving in
1600), and were themselves followed soon after by the Germans and Danes (whose
activity soon subsided), and by the French. The German company, under whose
protection stood Ziegenbalg, was one of the last to enter India, and first to leave it
(1717-1726). The most grotesquely hideous era in India's history is that which was
inaugurated by the supremacy of the Christian British. Major Munroe"s barbaric
punishm^ent of the Sepoys took place, however, in Clive's absence (i 760-1 765).
Marshman, i, p. 305, says of this Munroe onlv that he was "an officer of undaunted

INDIA AND THE WEST. 567

In coming to the end of the long course of Hindu religious
thought, it is almost inevitable that one should ask what is the
present effect of missionary effort upon this people, and what,
again, will eventually be the direction which the native reli-
gious sense, so strongly implanted in this folk, wdll take, whether
aided or not by influence from without.

Although it is no part of our purpose to examine into the
workings of that honest zeal which has succeeded in planting
so many stations up the Indie coast, there are yet some obvious
truths which, in the light of religious history, should be an as-
sistance to all whose work lies in making Hindu converts. To
compile these truths from this history wdll not be otiose. In
th^ first place. Christian dogma was formally introduced into
South India in the sixth century ; it was known in the North
in the seventh, and possibly long before this ; it was the topic
of debate by educated Hindus in the sixteenth and seven-
teenth. It has helped to mould the Hindus' own most intel-
lectual sects ; and, either through the influence of Christian or
native teaching, or that of both, have been created not only the
Northern monotheistic schools, but also the strict unitarianism
of the later Southern sects, whose scriptures, for at least some
centuries, have inculcated the purest morality and simplest
monotheistic creed in language of the most elevated character.^
In the second place, the Hindu sectary has interwoven with

resolution " ! Clive himself was acquitted by his own countrj''men of theft, robbery,
and extortion ; but the Hindus have not acquitted him or Hastings ; nor will Chris-
tianity ever do so.

1 For specimens of the sacred Kural of Tiruvalluvar Narayana, see the examples
given by Pope, Indian Antiquary, seventli and following volumes. The Sittars, to
whom we have referred above, are a more modern sect. Their precept that love
is the essential of religion is not, as in the case of the Hindu idolators, of erotic nature.
They seem to be the modern representatives of that Buddhistic division (see above)
called Saugatas, whose religion consists iJi 'kindness to all.' In these sects there is
found quietism, a kind of quakerism, pure morality, high teaching, sternest (almost
bigoted) monotheism, and the doctrine of positive altruism, strange to the Hindu
idolator as to the Brahman. The Prem Sagar, or ' Ocean of Love,' is a modern

56S THE- RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

his doctrine of pantheism that of the trinity. In the third
place, the orthodox Braliman recognizes in the cult of Chris-
tianity, as that cult is expressed, for instance, in Christmas
festivities, one that is characteristic, in outward form and inner
belief, of a native heterodox sect. In the fourth place, the
Hindu sectary believes that the native expression of trinitarian
dogma, faith-doctrine, child-god worship, and madonna-worship
takes historical precedence over that of Christianity ; and the
orthodox Hindu believes the same of his completed code of lofty
moral teachings. Vishnuism is, again, so catholic that it will
accept Christ as an avatar of Vishnu, but not as an exclusive
manifestation of God. In the fifth place, the Hindu doctors
are very well educated, and often very clever, both delighting
in debate and acute in argument. It follows, if we may draw
the obvious inference, that, to attack orthodox Brahmanism, or
even heterodox Hinduism, requires much logical ability as well
as learning, and that the best thing a missionary can do in India,
if he be not conscious of possessing both these requisites, is
to let the native scholars alone.

But native scholars make but a small part of the population,
and among the uneducated and ' depressed ' classes there is
plenty for the missionary to do. Here, too, where caste is
hated because these classes suffer from it, there is more effect
in preaching equality and the brotherly love of Christianity,
doctrines abhorrent to the social aristocrats, and not favored
even by the middle classes. But what here opposes Christian
efforts is the splendid system of devotion, the magnificent fetes,
the gorgeous shows, and the tickling ritualism, which please
and overawe the fancy of the native, who is apt to desire for
himself a pageant of religion, not to speak of a visible god in

Hindu work, which illustrates the religious love opposed to that of the Sittars,
namel}', the mystic love of the Krishnaite for his savior, whose grace is given only to
him that has faith. It is this mystic rapt adoration that in expression becomes
erotic and sensual.

INDIA AND THE WEST. 569

idol fcrm ; while from his religious teacher he demands either
an asceticism which is no part of the Christian faith, or a lead-
ership in sensuous and sensual worship.

What will be the result of proselytizing zeal among these varie-
gated masses ? ^ Evidently this depends on where and how it
is exercised. The orthodox theologian will not give up his in-
herited faith for one that to him is on a par with a schismatic
heresy, or take dogmatic instruction from a level which he
regards as intellectually below his own. From the Samajas
no present help will come to the missionary ; for, while they
have already accepted the spirit of Christianity, liberal Hindus
reject the Christian creed." At a later day they will join hands
with the missionary, perhaps, but not before the latter is pre-
pared to say : There is but one God, and many are his
prophets.

There remain such of the higher classes as can be induced
to prefer undogmatic Christianity to polytheism, and the lowest
class, which may be persuaded by acts of kindness to accept
the dogmas with which these are accompanied. It is with this
class that the missionary has succeeded best. In other cases
his success has been in inverse ratio to the amount of his dog-
matic teaching. And this we believe to be the key to the
second problem. For, if one examine the maze of India's
tangled creeds, he will be surprised to find that, though dog-
matic Christianity has its Indie representative, there yet is no
indigenous representative of undogmatic Christianity. For a

1 Hinduism itself is unconsciously doing a reforming work among the wild tribes
that are not touched by the Christian missionary. These tribes, becoming Hindu-
ized, become civilized, and, in so far as they are thus made approachable, they are
put in the way of improvement ; though civilization often has a bad effect upon
their morals for a season.

2 The substitution of the doctrine of redemption for that of karma is intellectu-
ally impossible for an educated Hindu. He may renounce the latter, but he cannot
accept the former. The nearest approach to such a conception is that of the Bud-
dhistic ' Redeemer ' heresy referred to above. In all other regards Saniaj and pan-
theism are too catholic to be affected ; in this regard they are both unyielding.

570 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

god in human form is worshipped, and a trinity is revered ;
but this is not Christianity. Love of man is preached ; but this
is not Christianity. Love of God and faith in his earthly
incarnation is taught ; but this, again, is not Christianity. No
sect has ever formulated as an original doctrine Christ's two in-
dissoluble commandments, on which hang all the law and the
prophets.

It would seem, therefore, that to inculcate active kindness,
simple morality, and the simplest creed were the most persua-
sive means of converting the Hindu, if the teacher unite with
this a practical affection, without venturing upon ratiocination,
and without seeking to attract by display, which at best cannot
compete with native pageants.^ Moreover, on the basis of
undogmatic teaching, the missionary even now can unite witli
the Samaj and Sittar church, neither of which is of indigenous
origin, though both are native in their secondary growth. For
it is significant that it is the Christian union of morality and
altruism which has appealed to each of these religious bodies,
and which each of them has made its own. In insisting upon
a strict morality the Christian missionary will be supported by
the purest creeds of India itself, by Brahman ism, unsectarian
Hinduism, the Jain heretics, and many others, all of whom
either taught the same morality before Christianity existed, or
developed it without Christian aid. The strength of Christian
teaching lies in uniting with this the practical altruism which
was taught by Christ. In her own religions there is no hope
for India, and her best minds have renounced them. The

1 We question, for instance, the advisability of such means to " fill up the church"
as is described in a missionary report delivered at the last meeting of the Missionary
Union of the Classis of New York for the current year : "A man is sent to ride on
a bicycle as fast as he can through the different streets. This invariably attracts
attention. Boys and men follow him to the church, where it is easy to persuade
them to enter." But this is an admission of our position in regard to the classes
affected. The rabble may be Christianized by this means, but the intelligent will
not be attracted.

INDIA AND THE WEST. 571

body of Hinduism is corrupt, its soul is evil. As for Brah-
manism — the Brahmanism that produced the Upanishads —
the spirit is departed, and the form that remains is d2ad. But
a new spirit, the spirit of progress and of education, will pre-
vail at last. When it rules it will undo the bonds of caste and
do away with low superstition. Then India also will be free
to accept, as the creed of her new religion, Christ's words,
' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and thy neighbor as thy-
self.' But to educate India up to this point will take many
centuries, even more, perhaps, than will be needed to educate
in the same degree Europe and America.^

1 After the greater part of our Avork had passed the final revision, and several
months after the whole was gone to press, appeared Oldenberg's Die Religion des
Veda, which, as the last new book on the subject, deserves a special note. The author
here takes a liberal view, and does not hesitate to illustrate Vedic religion with
the light cast by other forms of superstition. But this method has its dangers, and
there is perhaps a little too much straining after original types, giant-gods as proto-
types and totemism in proper names, where Vedic data should be separated from
what may have preceded Vedic belief. Oldenberg, as a ritualist, finds in Varuna,
Dawn, and the Burial Service the inevitable stumbling-blocks of such scholars as
confuse Brahmanism with early Vedism. To remove these obstacles he suggests
that Varuna, as the moon, was borrowed from the Semites or Akkadians (though he
frankly admits that not even the shadow of this moon lingers in Vedic belief) : ex-
plains Dawn's non-participation in soma by stating that she never participates in it
(which explains nothing) ; and jumps over the Burial Hymn with the inquiry whether,
after all, it could not be interpreted r.s a cremation-hymn (the obvious answer being
tliat the service does imjply burial, and does not even hint at cremation). On the
other hand, when theoretical barbarism and ritualism are foregone. Oldenberg has a
true eye for the estimation of facts, and hence takes an unimpeachable position in
several important particulars, notably in rejecting Jacobi's date of the Rig Veda ;
in rejecting also Hillebrandt's moon-scma ; in denying an originally supreme Dyaus ;
in his explanation of henotheism (substantially one with the explanation we gave a
year ago) ; and in his account of the relation of the Rig Veda to the (later) Athar-
van. Despite an occasional brilliant suggestion, which makes the work more exciting
than reliable, this book will prove of great value to them that are particularly inter-
ested in the ritual ; though the reader must be on his guard against the substitution
of deduction for induction, as manifested in the confusion of epochs, and in the ten-
dency to interpret by analogy rather than in accordance with historical data. The
worth of the latter part of the book is impaired by an imsubstantiated theory of sac-
rifice, but as a whole it presents a clear and valuable view of the cult.

ADDENDA.

Page 154, note 3 : Add to (RV.) x. 173, AV. vi. 88.

Page 327, third line from the top: Read Buddhaghosha. According
to Chahiiers, as quoted by T. W. Rhys Davids in his recent lec-
tures, traces of mysticism are found in some of the early texts
(as yet unpublished). The fact that the canonical Pali books
know nothing of the controversy (involving the modification of
traditional rules) of the second council gives a terminus to the
canon. Senart, on the other hand, thinks that the vague lan-
guage of the Acoka inscriptions precludes the fixing of the canon
at so early a date.

Page 340, note 4: The gods here are priests. The real meaning saems
to be that the Brahman priests, who were regarded as gods, have
been put to naught in being reduced to their true estate. Com-
pare Senart, (revised) Inscriptions de Piyadasi, third chapter.
Agoka dismissed the Brahman priests that his father had main-
tained, and substituted Buddhist monks.

Page 436, note 2 : From BerunT it would appear that the Gupta and
Valabhi eras were identical (319-20 a.d). See Fleet, Indian
Antiquary, xvii. 245. Many scholars now assign Kumarila to the
eighth century rather than to the end of the seventh.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.^

GENERAL WORKS.

Journals : Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (JRAS.);- Journal
of the German Oriental Society (Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgen-
landischen Gesellschaft, ZDMG.) : Journal Asiatique (JA.) ; Journal
of the American Oriental Society (JAOS.) ; Branch-Journals of the
JRAS.; Calcutta Review ; Madras Journal ; Indian Antiquary (lA.).
Some of the articles in the defunct Zeitschrift fiir die Kunde des Mor-
genlandes (ZKM.), and in the old Asiatick Researches (AR.) are
still worth reading. Besides these, the most important modern jour-
nals are the transactions of the royal Austrian, Bavarian, Prussian,
and Saxon Academies, the Museon and the Revue de I'histoire des
religions. Occasional articles bearing on India's religions or myth-
ology will be found in the American Journal of Philology (AJP.) ;
the Wiener Zeitschrift fiir die Kunde des Morgenlandes (WZKM.) ;
the Babylonian and Oriental Record (BOR.) ; Kiihn's Zeitschrift
fiir vergleichende Sprachforschung (KZ.) ; Bezzenberger's Beitrage
(BB.) ; and the Indogermanische Forschungen (IF.).

Histories, Studies, etc.: Prinsep, Essays (Indian Antiquities);
Lassen, Indische Alterthumskunde. Histories of India by Elphin-
stone (religious material, chapters iv book i, and iv book ii), by

1 This bibliography is meant only to orient the reader in regard to exegetical liter-
ature. It is not complete, nor does it give editions of texts. The order follows in
general that of the chapters, but the second and last paragraphs respectively must be
consulted for interpretation and geography. Works that cover several fields are
placed under the literature of the first. The special studies on Vedic divinities have
been arranged alphabetically.

2 On account of the inconvenient form in which appeared the earlier numbers of
the JRAS. we cite the Old Series only by date. All references without date refer to
the New Series (vol. i, NS., 1864).

574 BIBLIO GRA PHY.

Elliot, by Marshman (complements Elphinstone), and by Wheeler
(unreliable); The Rulers of India; Hunter's Indian Empire and
Brief History. Mill's excellent History of India is somewhat preju-
diced. Dutt's History of Civilization in Ancient India is praise-
worthy (1890). Invaluable are the great descriptive Archaeological
Surveys by Cunningham, Burgess, and Biihler, and Hunter's Statis-
tical Account of Bengal. Literary History : ^ Colebrooke, Essays,
reedited by Cowell, with notes by Whitney ; Wilson, Essays ; Weber,
Indische Studien (IS.) ; Benfey, Orient and Occident (00.) ; Mlil-
ler. Ancient Sanskrit Literature (ASL.), Science of Religion ; Weber,
A^orlesungen liber Indische Literaturgeschichte (also translated),
Indische Streifen, Indische Skizzen ; L. von Schroeder, Indiens
Literatur und Cultur ; Whitney, Oriental and Linguistic Studies,
Language and the Study of Language ; Duncker, Geschichte des
Alterthums (third volume, may be bought separately) ; Williams,
Indian Wisdom (inaccurate but readable).

VEDIC RELIGION.

Literature : Roth, Zur Literatur und Geschichte des Weda ; ^ Ben-
fey, Vedica und Verwandtes ; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben (AIL.);
Rajendralala Mitra, Indo-Aryans (unreliable); Bergaigne, La Religion
Vedique (also JA. ix, xiii) ; De Gubernatis, Letture sopra la Mitolo-
gia Vedica ; Pischel and Geldner, Vedische Studien ; ^ Regnaud, Le
Rig Veda et les origines de la mythologie indo-europeenne, and Les
hymnes du Rig Veda, sont-ils prieres? (Ann. d. Mus. Guimet, Bibl.
d'etudes, t. i, and special studies). Regnaud's point of view renders
nugatory most of what he writes on the Veda.'* The most useful
collection of "\^edic and Brahmanic Texts that illustrate Hindu
Mythology and Religion is to be found in Muir's Original Sanskrit

1 On the artistic side Emil Schlagintweif s great work, Indien in Wort und Bild.
contains much of interest to tlie student of religious paraphernalia. See also below
under wild tribes.

2 Roth, Morality of the Veda; Whitney, Result of Vedic Researches (JAOS. iii.
2S9 and 331) ; Whitney, History of the Vedic Texts, /'/'. iv. 245.

3 Under this title Roth has an essay (on the comparison of texts), KZ. xxvi. 45.

4 See below. Defence of the same by the author, WZKM. vii. 103.

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 575

Texts (OST.), especially the fourth and fifth volumes. ^ For the
Sacred Books of the East (SBE.) see items below.

Translations of the Rig Veda : Complete, by Grassmann and by
Ludvvig ; partial, by Roth, Benfey, Langlois, Bergaigne ; in English
chiefly by Wilson, Miiller, Muir, Peterson, Griffith. Of these the
German translation of Grassmann is often inaccurate ; ^ that of Lud-
wig, often unintelligible. Benfey has translated a number of speci-
mens, 00., BB., i, vii, and in Kleinere Schriften. The incomplete
translation of Wilson has been carried on by Cowell ; those of Peter-
son and Griffith are publishing in India; Langlois' is useless. Miil-
ler's partial translations will be found in various volumes, Ancient
Sanskrit Literature, India: W^hat Can it Teach Us, Chips, Hibbert
Lectures, JRAS. ii. 44S, iii. 199, etc.; and all the Hymns to the
Maruts, SBE. xxxii. Whitney has translated the cosmogonic hymn,
PAOS., May, 1882 ; and Deussen has just published the philosophi-
cal hymns, Geschichte der Philosophic, i, i. A group of Vedic hymns
in English dress will be found in Muir, OST. v.; extracts (without
connection) are given by Bergaigne, in La Religion Vedique, and
special essays in J A. (above). In German a capital little collection
is the Siebzig Lieder of Geldner and Kaegi. The best general
introductory manual for the study of the Rig Veda, accompanied
with frequent translations, is Kaegi's Der Rig Veda (translated into
English by Arrowsmith).

Translations of the Atharva Veda are all partial. The handiest
collection is GrilFs Hundert Lieder des Atharva Veda. Specimens
will be found translated by Aufrecht, IS. i. 121 (book xv) ; (Roth)
Bruce, JRAS. 1862, p. 321 (book xii. i); Kuhn, Indische und Ger-
manische Segensspriiche, KZ. xiii. 49, 113; Weber, IS. iv. 393, v.
195, 218, xiii. 129, xvii. 17S (books i-iii, xiv) ; Grohmann, ib. ix. 381 ;
Ludwig, vol. iii, of his translation of the Rig Veda; Zimmer, AIL.;

1 JRAS. i. 51 ff., and subsequent volumes, Contributions to a Knowledge of the
Vedic Theogony and Mythology and Progress of the Vedic Religion toward Abstract
Conceptions of the Deity.

2 It cannot be too much emphasized that Grassmann's translation should never be
used for comparative purposes. At the same time, for a general understanding of the
contents of the whole Rig Veda it is the only book that can be recommended. Lud-
wig's translation is so uncouth that without a controlling knowledge of the original
it is often meaningless.

576 BIBL 10 GRA PIIY.

Victor Henry, books vii and xiii (Les hymnes Rohitas) ;i Bloomfield,
Seven Hymns, and Contributions AJP. vii. 466, xi. 319, xii. 414,
JAOS. XV. 143, xvi. I ; ZDMG. xlviii. 541; Florenz, BB. xii. 249
(book vi.). Of The Sama Veda : Stevenson (1842) in English (in-
accurate) and Benfey (1848) in German have made translations.
On the Yajur Veda see Schroeder, Literatur und Cultur, and below.

Vedic Mythology : Windischmann, Ursagen der Arischen \'olker,
Bay. Ak., 1858 ; Kuhn, KZ. iv. 88, Herabkunft des Feuers (Pro-
metheus);- Roth, Die hochsten Cotter der Arischen A^olker, ZDMG.
vi. 67 {ib. vii. 607); Wilson, Preface of Langlois; Cox, Aryan Myth-
ology; Whitney, Oriental and Linguistic Studies, ii. p. 149, JAOS.
iii. 291, 331 ; Midler, Second Series of Science of Language, Biog-.
raphiss of W^ords.^ General interpretation of divinities, Miiller,
Muir, Bergaigne, Kaegi, Pischel-Geldner, loc. cit. The last books on
the subject are Oldenberg's scholarly volume, Die Religion des Veda
(note, p. 571, above), and Phillip's The Teaching of the Vedas
(1895), the work of a charlatan.

Special Studies of Vedic Divinities :

Aditi : Roth, IS. xiv. 392; Hillebrandt, Ueber die Gottin Aditi ;
Miiller, SBE. xxxii. 241 ; Colinet, Etude sur le mot Aditi, Museon,
xii. 81. Adityas, Roth, ZDMG. vi. (J"] (above) ; Darmesteter,
Ormazd et Ahriman.

Agni : L. von Schroeder, Apollon-Agni, KZ. xxix. 193^ (see epic,
below).

Apsaras (see Gandharvas).

Aryaman (Acvins, Mitra, etc.) : Bollensen, ZD]\IG. xii. 494.

Asura as Asen, Schrader, p. 599 ; P. von Bradke, Dyaus Asura.
See Dyaus.

1 Bloonifield, AJP. xii. 429. Compare also Regnaud, Le Mythe de Rohita. The
same author has published various Vedic articles in the Rev. de Thistoire des reli-
gions, vols, xv-xxvi. Whitney's complete translation of AV. will soon appear.

2 Sexual side of fire-cult ; whirlwind of fire, iNIatarigvan, Schwartz, KZ. xx. 202 ;
compare Hillebrandt, ZDMG. xxxiii. 24S.

3 Neisser's Vorvedisches im Veda, BB. xvii. 244, is not a mythological study.

4 Apollon here is Saparyenya, 'worshipful.' This derivation is attacked by
Froehde, Apollon, BB. xix. 230 (compare Fick, ib. xviii. 13S), who derives ApoUon
from TreXXwi', ' word,' comparing a-K eWa^eiv , ' conciliare,' /£•// being ' spell ' (in Gos-
pel, etc.), ' inter-pellare.' Thus Apollo would be ' prophet,' ' warspello.' On laJmi,
Agni, compare Xeisser, Vedica, BB. xviii. 301 (xix. 120, 24S).

BIBLIO GKA PH Y. 577

Acvins : Myriantbeus, Die Agvins oder Arischen Dioskuren ; not
Dioskuroi, Pischel, \'edische Studien, Preface, p. xxvii; as constella-
tion, etc., Benfey, OO. ii. 245, iii. 159; Gemini, Weber, last in Raja-
suya, p. 100; as Venus, 'span-god,' Bollensen, ZDMG. xli. 496;
other literature, Muir, OST. v. 234 ; Colinet, Vedic Chips, BOR.
iii. 193 (nasatya, Avestan naonhaithya, na as 'very').i

Brihaspati : Roth, ZDMG. i. 66; Muir, v. 272; Hillebrandt,
Vedische Mythologie, i. 404.

Dawn (see Ushas).

Dyaus : P. von Bradke, Dyaus Asura, also Beitrage, ZDMG.
xl. 347; not the same with Teutonic Tiu, Bremer, IF. iii. 301 ; as
' all-father ' of primitive Aryans, Miiller, Origin of Religion, p. 209 ;
followed by Tiele, Outlines of History of Ancient religions, p. 106 ;
see Hopkins, PAOS. Dec. 1894; form of Word, CoUitz. KZ. xxvii.
187 ; BB. XV. 17.

Earth (see Nritus).

Gandharvas : KZ. i. 513; Meyer, Gandharven-Kentauren (list of
Apsarasas) ; Pischel, VS. i. 78 ; Hillebrandt, Vedische Mythologie,
i. 427.

Haritas (sun's steeds) as Charites, KZ. x. 96 ; ib. 365 ; Sonne,
loc. cit. ^..Surya; Miiller, Science of Language, ii. 388.

Heaven (see Dyaus and Varuna).

Indra (etymology, Benfey, 00. i. 49; PW\ sv. ; andra, A.-Sax.
' ent,' 'giant,' BB. i. 342 ;2 nar, avhp-, Jacobi, KZ. xxxi. 316 ; Indra's
bolt, vadha, 'wetter,' Delbriick, KZ. xvi. 266) : Perry, Indra in the
Rig Veda, JAOS. xi. 117 (see epic, below).

Kama: Weber, ZDMG. xiv. 269, IS. v. 224, xvii. 290; Muir, v.
402.

Manu:^ Roth, ZDMG. iv. 430; Weber, IS. i. 194 ('man and
moon'), ZDMG. iv. 302; Muir. OST. i. 161: Kuhn, KZ. iv, 91 ;
Burnouf, Preface of Bhag. Purana, p. iii ; Ascoli (manus, mactus),

1 Oldenberg, loc. cit., interprets Agvins as morning and evening stars! The epi-
thet (of Agni and Agvins) bhiiravyu has been equated with Phoroneus, we forget by
whom.

2 Oldenberg's (Die ReHgion des Veda) Old-Man-of-the-Mountains-Indra thus gets
etymological support.

3 For convenience included in this list.

578 BIBLIOGRAPHY.

KZ. xvii. 334 ; Maspiter as 'man,' Corssen, KZ. ii. 32 ;i Maiiu's wife,
Weber, ZDMG. xviii. 286. Compare also KZ. xii. 293, xix. 156,
Mannus (see Laws, below).

Maruts (dubious etymology, Grassmann, KZ. xvi. 161 ; P. von
Braclke, loc. cit. s. Dyaus): von Bradke, Wunderliche Geburt, Fest-
gruss an Roth, p. 117 (Brahmanic, same point of view in parody,
RV. X. 102, ZDMG. xlvi. 445). Hymns to Maruts, translated by
Miiller, SBE. xxxii.

Mitra : Windischmann, Abh. K. M., 1857; Weber, IS. xvii. 212
(see Varuna).

Namuci : Lanman, JAS. Beng. viii. 1889; Bloomfield, JAOS. xv.

143-

Nritus as Nerthus, Hoffmann; (Roth) Bruce, Vedic Conceptions

of the Earth, JRAS. 1862, p. 321 ; PrithivT, ZDMG. xli. 494.

Parjanya : Biihler, Zur Mythologie des Rig Veda, OO. i. 214;
Hirt, IF. i. 481, ' oak-god.' --^

Purandhi : Pischel, VS. i. 202 ; Hillebrandt, WZKM. iii. 188, 259;
Colinet, BOR. ii. 245, iv. 121 ('abundance'). Congress, 1892.

Pricni (prgni) as Frigy, KZ. ii. 478 ; 'freckles,' KZ. xix. 438.

Pushan : Muir, OST. v. 171 ; Bergaigne, La Relig. Ved., ii. 420 ;
Hillebrandt, \'ed. Myth., i. 456 (w-ith Soma) ; Gubernatis, Letture, p.
82 (as Setting Sun) ; Pischel, VS. i. 11 (Siirya and Pushan) ; Perry,
Notes on the Vedic Deity Pushan, Drisler Memorial, p. 240.

Ribhus (rbhavas, etymology, 'alf,' 'Orpheus' ; or Orpheus from
rgl''^ opvc'erai, Kuhn, KZ. iv. 103; Wackernagel, KZ. xxiv. 297);
Ludwig, iii. 187, as Seasons. Neve, Etudes sur les hymnes (1842),
and Essai sur le mythe des Ribhavas (1847, misleading, Ribhu as
apotheosis).

Rohitas : Henry (above).

Rudra (etymology, Pischel, VS. i. Sl^^'- Weber, Vedic Concep-
tion of, IS. ii. 19 : Pischel, Vedica, ZDMG. xl. 120; Rudra's mouse

1 Maspiter is Mars-pater.

- Hirt equates Parjanya, Perkiinas, Fjorgyn, as originally epithet of Dyaus-Zeus,
witli 4>7;7oi'a?os, tlie 'Oak-god.' See also Zimmer, ZDA. vii. (19) 164.

3 Miiller explains Rudra as 'howler'; Leo identifies him witli Wuotan ; Jones with
Apollo, Kuhn, KZ. iii. 33; ; as A. -Sax., Rodor. ib. ii. 47S: P. von Bradke. ZDMG. xl.
361. Oldenberg's delineation of Rudra in Die Religion des Veda is based on the
Brahmanic Rudra-Qiva (see PAOS. Dec. 1894).

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 579

and Smintheus, KZ. iii. 335 ; Grohmann, Apollo Smintbeus und die
Bedeutung der Mause in der Mythologie der Indogermanen.

Saranyii (saranyCi) : eptvvu?, ZDA. vi. 117; KZ. i. 439 (storm;
riddle, ib. 440) ; Bloomfield, JAOS. xv. 172; as Dawn, Miiller, Lec-
tures, Second Series ; Sarama, and Sarameyas as Hermeias, ib.;
Aufrecht, ZDMG. xiii. 493 (RV. x. 108, translated).

Soma : Windischmann, Ueber den Somacultus der Arier, Abb.
Miincb. Ak., iv ; Rotb, ZDMG. xxxv. 681, xxxviii. 134; Ebni, ib.
xxxiii. 166; Hillebrandt, Vediscbe Mytbologie, i; Soma and tbe
eagle, Kubn, Herabkunft (above) ; Rotb, ZDMG. xxxvi. 353 ; Bloonv
field, JAOS. xvi (p. i, furtber literature), Festgruss an Rotb, p. 149;
Webjr, Vediscbe Beitrage, p. 3 (Sitz. Berl. Ak. 1894, p. 775) ; and
Agni ritual, Knauer, Vediscbe Fragen, Festgruss an Rotb, p. 61.

Sarya (see Haritas) : Sonne, bymn to, KZ. xii-xv ; form of word,
J. Scbmidt, KZ. xxvi. 9. See PiJsban (and Hinduism, below).
Savitri, Wbitney, Colebrooke's Essays, ii. in.

Trita : Macdonnell, Mytbological Studies, JRAS. 1893, p. 419
(apam napat, ligbtning ; Trita as Thridbi, name of Odin, 'tbird'
form of fire) ; form of word, BB. ix. 99 ; Perry, see Indra (p. 26) ;
Bloomfield, PAOS. 1894, p. cxix. Otber Hterature, Kaegi, loc. cit.^
note 112 d.

Ushas (usas) : Muir, v. 181 ; Bergaigne, i. 241, etc.; Sonne, KZ.
X. 416 ; Miiller, Science of Language, ii. 391, etc.

Vac: logos, Weber, IS. ix. 473.

Varuna (varuna) : Rotb, ZDMG. vi. 71 ; Weber, IS. xvii. 212;
Muir, V. 58; Bergaigne, iii. iio; Hillebrandt, Varuna und Mitra;
Darmesteter, Ormazd et Abriman ; Sonne, KZ, xii. 364 ; Piscbel,
VS. i. 18S; Geldner, ib. 142; Ludwig, iii. 314; Oldenberg as a bor-
rowed god (PAOS. 1894) ; as water, Geldner, BB. xi. 329; form of
word, Bollansen, ZDMG. xli. 504 (var 'bell sein ') ; Bobnenberger
(Rotb), Varuna nacb den Liedern des Rig Veda (Mitra as appella-
tive becomes a new god, p. 85) ;i as svar, Regnaud, Rev. xix. 79.

Vastoshpati (' bouse-lord ') : Windiscb, Vassus und Vassallus,
Bericbt. d. k. Sacb. Gesell. 1892, p. 174 (vassus for vast).

Vata, Vayu (vata is ayT7]<;, ' wind '): Stokes, BB. xix. 74, compares

1 Kerbaker, Varuna e gli Aditya (Naples, Proceedings of the Royal Academy) is
known to us only by title.

580 BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Irish fath, ' breath,' but gives also fath, a kind of poem (vates, vods,
Enghsh 'wood' as 'mad'). Vata, Wuotan, Zimmer, ZDA. vii. (19)
179.

Vishnu (visnu hke jishnu, jisnu, vi, ' fly,' the heavenly bird ?) :
Muir, iv and v (older texts relative to Vishnu), PAOS. Dec, 1894.

Yama : Roth, ZDMG. ii. 216, iv, 417 (Jemshid), JAOS. iii. 335,
IS. xiv. 393 ; Whitney, Oriental and Linguistic Studies, i. 46; Aliul-
ler, Science of Language, ii. 528, 534 ; Westergaard, with Weber's
notes, IS. iii. 402 ; Muir, JRAS. i. 287 ; OST. v. 284 : Bergaigne, i.
'^6., ii. 96, etc.; Grassmann, KZ. xi. 13, ' binder ' ; Ehni, Der Vedische
My thus des Yama ; Hillebrandt, Vedische Mythologie, i. 489 ;
Bloomfield, JAOS. xv. 163, 172; Hopkins, PAOS. 1891, p. xciv ;
Scherman, Visionsliteratur ; Leumann, KZ. xxxii. 301 (Yami i) : L.
von Schroeder, Literatur, p. 217 (Ymir, Prajapati) ; Breal, Hercule
et Cercus ; Benfey, Vedica, 149; A'an den Gheyn, Cerbere (1883);
Casartelli, Dog of Death, BOR. iv. 265.'- Varna's sadana, Pischel,
VS. i. 242.3

Veda and Brahmanism : Oldenberg, Die Hymnen des Rig Veda,
and ZDMG. xlii. 199, L'eber die Liedverfasser des Rig V^eda (see
Hinduism, below); Roth, ib. iv. 514, divisions of the Rig Veda;
Bergaigne, Recherches sur Thistoire de la Samhita du Rig Veda, JA.

1 The author justly remarks that no sociological data can be made of Yama's wife
or sister.

2 Dog sees Death, sharp sight of dog causes myth,

3 Other less important examples of etymological ingenuity are Scherer, Brahman
as flamen (Bpct7K:os, Bragi, see Kaegi, Rig Veda, note 82) ; abhradlta as Aphrodite,
Sonne, KZ. x, 415; Ahalya as Achilleus, Weber, Sitz. Berl. Ak., 18S7; Ida as Iris
(Windischmann), Poseidon, potidas, idaspati (Fick, KZ, xxi. 462) ; but in KZ. i. 459
Poseidon is patye davan. On the form compare BB. viii. 80; x. 2S7; KZ. xxx. 570,
Prelhvitz, BB. ix. 327, agrees with Fick and Pott as to idas representing olS/uLa and
compares -wpocrKKixTTLOS. Garga is Gorgo, Kern, JRAS. iv. 431 ; Fajasya is Pegasos,
etc., KZ. i. 416, xxix. 222; Parvata is Pelasgos, Burda, KZ. xxi. 470; but compare
Stier, ii?. xi. 229, where Pelasgoi are ' cranes ' ; and Pischel, ib. xx. 369, where they
are irappda-LOi. Sabheya is Yavistha (not Hephaistos, as says Kuhn), !\Iii!ler, ifi.
xviii. 212 ; and vrtrahan is not Bellerophon (as says Pott), id. iv. 416, v. 140 (bellero
is varvara). Qarad is Ceres, Miiller, ib. xviii. 211 ; svavan is evas, Aufrecht, ZDMG.
xiii. 499; svar'sing'in Silenus, Siren : Buddhaguru in Pythagoras, etc. Helena is
Sarama. and Hermes is Sarameya. Miiller, Chips, ii. 13S, note. Compare for further
clever guesses Cox's Aryan Mythology, !^^uller■s Lectures, Second Series, and
Biographies of Words.

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 581

(1886 and following years), also on the liturgy, ih, 1888 ; J A. x. No.
3 ; Pincott, JRAS. xvi. 381 ; Hillebrandt, Spuren einer alteren Rig
Veda Recension, BB. viii. 195 ; Lanman, JAOS. x. 580; Brunnhofer,
KZ. XXV, 374, BB. X. 234 (Collitz, BB. vii. 183) ; Roth, on the worth
of tradition, ZDMG. xxi. i ; Whitney, on Translation of Veda, OLS.;
PAOS. Oct. 1867; Goldstiicker on Sayana, in Preface to Panini.
Cult against mantra. Roth, ZDMG. vii, 604; viii. 467; Weber, ib.
viii. 389 ; Pischel and Geldner, Preface to Vedische Studien and
ZDMG, xlviii. 702 ; CoHnet, Les Principes de I'excgese vedique,
Museon, 1890; Bloomfield, Contributions (above); E, Hardy, Die
Vedisch-brahmanische Periode d. Relig. d. Alt. Ind.; Muir, Priests
and Interpreters of the Veda, JRAS. ii. 257, 303 ; Haug, Contribu-
tion, 1S63, and Interpretation of the Veda, Congress, 1874; Ludwig,
Die philosophischen und religiosen Anschauungen des Veda ; also
Ludwig, Rig-Veda, iii (Mantra- Literatur), pp. 262, 284, 301, and his
works, Ueber Methode bei Interpretationen des Rig Veda, and Ueber
die neuesten Arbeiten auf dem Gebiet der RV. Forschung, Further
(\'edic and later literature), Oldenberg, ZDMG. xxxvii. 54 ; ib. xxxix.
52 ; Windisch, Verh. d. Geraer Philologen Versammlung, Vedische
Wettfahrt, in Festgruss an Roth ; Weber, Episches im Vedischen
Ritual, Sitz. Berl. Ak,, 1S91 ; Schermann, Philosophische Hymnen
(also Visionshteratur).

Vedic and Brahmanic Belief : Pott, Vedic and Orphic Kosmic
Egg, Ovidiana, KZ, viii. 179 (Peleus as Urschlamni .') ; von Bradke,
Beitrage z, altind. Religions und Sprachgeschichte, ZDMG, xl. 347,
655; Schrader, chapter xiii ; Zimmer, AIL.; Roth and Bohtlingk,
Vedische Rathsel, ZDMG, xxxvii, 109; (and eschatology) xlvi. 759;
W^indisch, ib. xlviii, 353.^ Eschatology: Weber, Eine Legende,
ZDMG, ix, 237 (Bhrigu) and 308 ; Burnell, a Legend from the
Talavakara, Congress, 1880, I A, xiii. 16, 21 ; Benfey, Orient und
Occident, iii. 169, and Hermes, Minos, Tartaros ; Whitney, PAOS.,
Nov., 1858, May, 18S6: Bohtlingk, Bericht d. k. Sachs. Gesell., 23.
April, 1893, p. 88 ; Henotlieism : WHiitney, loc. ciL, Oct. 1881, see
lA. xi. 146; Hopkins, Drisler Memorial. Social position of priests

1 Compare Deussen, Geschichte der Philosophie, i. 105. On Vedic and Sanskrit
Riddles, loc. cit. : also Haug, Vedische Rathselfragen (also Brahma und die Brah-
raanen) ; Fiihrer, ZDMG. xxxix. 99.

582 BIBLIOGRAPHY.

(castes), Weber,! Nachtrage, p. 795; Collectanea, IS. x ; Muir, JRAS.
ii, 257; OST. i; Hopkins, Four Castes, also JAOS. xlii ; Schlagin-
tweit (Caste at Present), ZDMG. xxxiii. 549. Cult : E. Hardy, loc. cit.
above; on Oni see Bloomfield, PAOS. Oct. 1889; Cult of Manes,
Caland, Altind. Ahnencult, and Ueber Totenverehrung bei Einigen
der IE. Volker ; Winternitz, WZKM. iv. 199 ; Whitney, OLS. i. 46;
Kaegi, loc. cit., note 265, with literature. Funeral : Roth, ZDMG. viii.
467 ; M tiller, ib. ix. pp. i and xliii (sic) ; Wilson, JRAS. 1854, p. 201 ;
Regnaud, (^^raddha vedique. Rev. d'hist. d. relig. xxv. i ; Donner,
pindapitryajha ; Lanman, Mortuary Urns, PAOS. May, 1891. Wed-
ding : Weber, Hochzeitsspriiche, IS. v. 177; Stenzler, Paraskara,
ZDMG. vii. 527; Haas, Heiratsgebriiuche d. alten Inder, IS. v.
267 ; Schroder, Die Hochzeitsbrauche der Esten ; Winternitz, Das
Ai. Hochzeitsrituell. Om^ns, Ordeals, etc.: Weber, Zwei Vedische
Texte iiber Omina und Portenta, Wurfel-Orakel, Vedische Beitrage ; ^
Schlagintweit, Gottesurtheile ; Stenzler, ZDMG. ix. 661; Kaegi,
Alter und Herkunft der germanischen Gottesurtheile (with further
literature) ; Jolly, Beitrage zur Rechtsgeschichte, ZDMG. xliv. 347.
The earliest essay on Ordeals was presented by Warren Hastings,
1 784, Asiatick Researches, i. 389. Star-lore : Colebrooke ; Weber,
IS. ii. 236 ; Haug, Introduction to Ait. Br.; Weber, Die Vedischen
Nachrichten von d. Nakshatra; Sitz. Berl. Ak. 1861, p. 267 ; ^ Miil-
ler. Ancient Hindu Astronomy and Chronology; Burgess, JRAS.
xxv. 717; Jacobi, Methods and Tables. "Witchcraft, Medicine:
Kuhn, KZ. xiii. 49; Grohmann, IS. ix. 381; Bloomfield, Contri-
butions, AJP. vii, xi, xii; Pictet, KZ. v. 24, 321 ; Jolly, Knoblauch,
Festgruss an Roth, p. 18; medicine and divination, Bower MS.,

1 There is an essay on this subject by Kern, Ind. Theorieen over de Standenver-
deeling, which we have not seen.

2 Sitz. Berl. Ak. 1858, 1859, and 1894, respectively. The Wurfel-Orakel (and
Schiefner) is published also in Ind. Streifen, i. 274. The essay on Omina and Por-
tenta contains translations of parts of the Shadvimga Brahmana, of the Sama Veda,
and of the Kaugika (AV.) Sutra.

3 (Whitney) Burgess, Suryasiddhanta, JAOS. vi ; JRAS. 1S63, p. 345 ; Whitney,
ib. i. 316; Lunar Zodiac, Or. Ling. St., ii. 341 ; Kern, translation of BS., JRAS. iv-
vii; IS. X, xiv, xv ; Weber, Ueber altiranische Sternnamen, Sitz. Berl. Ak., 1S88;
see also Whitney, JAOS. viii. 1,382; Burgess, ib. 309; Weber, IS. ix. 424, x. 213;
Whitney vs. Ludwig, PAOS., 1885. On the twelve intercalated days, 'Twelfth
Night,' see Weber, IS. v. 437 ((jiaball-homa), xvii. 224.

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 583

JASB. 1891 ; lA. xxi. 29, 129; WZKM. v. 103. Blood-money:
Roth, ZDMG. xli. 672; Aryan and Indie, Biihler and Schroeder,
Festgruss an Roth ; Jolly, loc. ciL, p. 339. Sacrifices : Hillebrandt,
Das altind. Neu- u. Vollmondsopfer, and Nationale Opfer, Festgruss
an Bohtlingk ; Lindner, Die Dikska, and loc. cit.^ Ernteopfer;
Weber, Vajapeya and RajasQya, Sitz. Berl. Ak., 1892, 1893, and
Zur Kenntniss d. Ved. Opferrituals, IS. x. 321, xiii. 217; Schwab,
Das Altindische Thieropfer. Suttee and Human Sacrifices : Cole-
brooke, Duties of Faithful Hindu Widow, Asiatick Researches,
iv. 209; Wilson, JRAS. 1851, p. 96, 1854, p. 201, 1S59, p. 209,-
Miiller, Chips, ii. 34; Hall, JRAS. iii. 183, 193 ; Rajendralala Mitra,
Indo-Aryans, ii. 114; W^eber, ZDMG. vii. 585, xviii. 262 (Manu,
Minotaur, ib. p. 286), Ind. Streifen, i. 54; Zimmer, AIL. p. 328;
Hillebrandt, ZDMG. xl. 711. Ritual, etc.: (above and) Mliller,
ZDMG. ix. p. xliii ; Garbe, ZDMG. xxxiv. 319 (Pravargya) ; Rarity
of Soma-sacrifice, Haug, ZDMG. xvi. 273 ; Hindu Doctrine of
Atonement, Stenzler, Congress, 1874, P- 205 ; Atharva Ritual, Garbe,
Vaitana Siitra ; Magoun, AsurT Kalpa ; Agni Sacrifice, Thibaut,
Agni Citi, Pandit, J AS. Beng., xHv, 1S75, Qulva Sutra ; Koulikovski,
Les Trois Feux Sacres, Rev. xx. 121. Serpent-worship : Stier, Sar-
pedon, KZ. xi. 234 ; Fergusson, Tree and Serpent Worship ; Cuthbert,
Serpent Temples, JRAS. 1846, p. 407 ; compare ib. 1891 ; Winter-
nitz, Sarpabali, Schlangencult, Mit. d. anthrop. Gesell., Wlen, xviii ;
lA. XV. 258 ; Biihler, ib. vi. 270 ; Snakes and Buddha, Bendall, Meg-
hasQtra, JRAS. xii. 286; Senart, Buddha; Oldham, JRAS. xxiii.
361. Idols : Weber, Omina und Portenta, p. 337; Ludwig, Nach-
richten ; Bollensen, ZDMG. xxii. ^^y, xlvii. 586; Miiller, Chips, i.
37 ;i Muir, OST., v. 453; Kaegi, Rig Veda, note 79a. Ages and
Holy Numbers : ^ Roth, Ueber den AV., and Ueber den Mythus von
den fiinf Menschen-Geschlechtern bei Hesiod; Weber, Cycles, IS.
ix. 460 ; ZDMG. xv. 132; Kaegi, Die Neunzahl ; Schroeder, seven
as holy number, KZ. xxix. 224 ; Hopkins, Holy Numbers of the Rig
Veda.2 ggg Star-lore, above.

1 The statement is here made that the Vedic religion knows nothing of idols ; but
see the other cited works which seem to disprove this.

2 The ' Fifteen Puzzle' is Indic (I A. x. 89, xi. 83).

3 Triton und Euphemos, oder Die Argonauten in Libyen, by Water, in 1S49, treats
of the holy seven in a ridiculous way. Not less ridiculous is the author's attempt to
explain everything by the Moon-Cult, thus anticipating modern vagaries.

584 BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Brahmanism : Specimens, Muir, OST. iv ; Saman, Benfey, Grif-
fith ; Shadvimija, Weber, Omina (above); Mait. S., Haug, IS.
ix. 174; von Schroeder, Literatur, and ZDMG. xxxiii. 177: Cata-
patha, partial translation, Eggeling, SBE., xii, xxvi, xli ; Muir, JRAS.
1862, p. 31 (OST.); Weber, IS. i. 161 and Ind. Streifen, i. 9; first
chapter, ZDMG. iv. 2S9 ; Brunnhofer (relation of parts), BB. x.
234; Ait. Br., Haug; Weber, IS. ix. 177; Deluge, etc., Bopp,
Siindfiiit ; Weber, ZDMG. v. 525, Ind. Streifen, i. 9; Roth, ZDMG.
vi. 243 ; Lindner, Ir. Fluthsage, Festgruss an Roth. Upanishads : ^
Coweil, Roer, Bib. Ind.; Whitney, Bohtlingk (Katha, Chandogya,
Ait. Kaushitaki, Kena, Brhadaranyaka) ; Weber, IS. i, ii, ix ; Miiller,
SBE., i, XV (all the chief works) ; "^ Oertel, Jaiminiya, PAOS. 1S94 ;
list of, Miiller, ZDMG. xix. 137 ; Concordance of Upanishads, Jacob.
For a general introduction the best work_ in English are the transla-
tions in the Sacred Books. Gough's Philosophy of the Upanishads
has many translations, but the book is otherwise not to be recom-
mended. On atma as aijrfxijv, see KZ. xvii. 145. Philosophy:
Deussen, Das System des Vedanta, 1S83, is now the standard
work ; 3 to which should be added the same author's Sutra; Jacob's
Vedantasara ; and Thibaut, Vedanta Siatra, SBE. xxxiv.'* For the
Sankhya, Davies, Sankhya ; and Ballantyne, Aphorisms ; but the best
work is now Ga.rbe, Die Samkhya Philosophic (1894). A good general
introduction to Hindu Pantheism has been given by Lanman, Begin-
nings of Hindu Pantheism. The best general summary '^ of Hindu
philosophies is found in the revised edition of Colebrooke's Essays.
Other special studies include Roth, Brahma und die Brahmanen,^

1 A curious though useless classic is Anquetil du Perron's Oupnekhat, 1801, the
first European version of the Upanishads (through the Persian).

- Whitney, AJP. vii. i, xi. 407 ; Jacob, I A. xv. 279 ; Whitney Trans. Phil. Ass. xxi.
88; BohtUngk, Bericht d. k. Sachs. Gesellschaft, 1S90, and separately.

3 Compare Windischmann, Sancara, 1833; Ecstein, IS. ii. 369; and Bruining-
Bijdrage tot de Kennis van den Vedanta, 1S71.

■i Compare two native expositions, JRAS. x. 33 (Vedantic conception of brahmd),
and WZKM. ii. 95 (Qankara's advaita philosophy) ; also Miiller, Three Lectures.

5 Compare Ballantyne's Hindu Philosophy, Williams' Indian Wisdom, Brahman-
ism and Hinduism, Religious Thought and Life, and also the excellent chapters in
Weber's Lectures (above), and in Schroeder's Literatur und Cultur. Of Deussen's
Allgemeine Geschichte der Philosophie one half volume has appeared.

G Haug has an article on the Mait. Saiiih. with the same title, Brahma und Die
Brahmanen.

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 585

ZDMG. i. 66 (on braJijnd)\ Miiller, ib. vi. i, 219, vii. 287 (Beitrage
zur Kenntniss der Ind. Phil.) ; Roer, ib. xxi. 309, xxii. 383 (Die
Lehrspriiche der Vai^eshika Philosophic) : Muir, Theism in Vaige-
shika Philosophy, JRAS. 1862, p. 22; Ballantyne, Nyayasutras;
Windisch, Ueber das Nyayabhashya, 1888, and Sitz der denkenden
Seele, Beitr. d. k. Sachs. Gesell., 1891, p. ^-^^ Ballantyne and
Cowell, Candilya's Aphorisms (text by B., translation by C, Bib.
Ind.) ; Regnaud, Le Pessimisme Brahmanique, Ann. du Mus. Gui-
met, i, and Materiaux pour servir a I'histoire de la philosophic dTnde.
The Sarvadar^anasahgraha is translated by Cowell and Gough. The
SOtras of the six systems have all been translated (with the texts) in
India. On the date of Cankara see Pathak, I A. xi. 174 ; and Telang
and Fleet, ib. xiii. 95, xvi. 41 ; Logan, ib. xvi. 160.

House-rules and Law : AH the most important manuals of custom
and law have been translated by Stenzler, Biihler, Jolly, Oldenberg,
Bloomtield and Knauer (SBE. ii, vii, xiv, xxv, xxix, xxx, xxxiii ; Sten-
zler, Paraskara, A^valayana and Yajnavalkya ; Oldenberg, IS. xv. r,
(^ahkhayana ; Knauer, Gobhila, also Vedische Fragen, F^estgruss an
Roth; Bloomtield, Gobhila, ZDMG. xxxv. 533).-^

JAINISM.

Colebrooke's Essays (Cowell), ii. 402 ; Lassen, iv. 763 ; Wilson,
Essays, i. 319; Weber, IS. xv. 263, xvi. 211, xvii. i,- and Berlin
MSS., vol. ii, 1892 ; Klatt, Stotra (MSS.), ZDMG. xxxiii. 445 ; Leu-
mann, Berichte von den Schismen der Jaina, IS. xvii. 91 ; Jacobi,
Stutayas and Stotra, ZDMG. xxxii. 509, IS. xiv. 359, also origin of
sects, ZDMG. xxxviii. i, Introduction to Kalpa Sutra (Abh. k. M.,^
1879, MahavTra is Nataputta). Compare also Jacobi, ZDMG. xxxiv.
247 ; Oldenberg, ib. 748 ; Jacobi, ib. xxxv. ^d"], xl. 92 ; Burnell, lA.

1 House-ritual: Agvalayana, Gobhila, (^ankhayana, Paraskara, Khadira, Hiranya-
kegin, Apastamba. Law : Apastamba, Gautama, Vasistha, Baudhayana, Yajnavalkya,
Vishnu, Xarada, Brihaspati, Manu. The last is also translated by Loiseleur, Jones,
Burnell and Hopkins (besides Biihler, SBE., above).

2 Ueber die heiHgen Schriften, translated into English by Smyth in the Indian
Antiquary, 1893.

3 Peer, JA. 188S (xii), p. 209. Leumann has published in the same German
series the Aupapatika Sutra, but as yet only the text (1SS3) has appeared.

586 BIBLIOGRAPHY.

ii. 354; Rice and Biihler, ib. iii. 153, vii. 28, 143, etc.; Burgess, ib.
xiii. 191 ; Windiscb, Hemacandra's Yogagastra, ZDMG. xxviii. 185.
Jacobi has translated Acaranga and Kalpa Sutras for SEE. xxii.
Hoernle, Digambara Pattavalis, I A, xx. 341, xxi. 57. A popular
essay on Jains by Williams appeared JRAS. xx. 279. On Jain
tradition compare Biihler, Sitz. Wien. Ak. 1883, WZKM. i. 165, ii.
141, iii. 233, iv. 313, V. 59, 175 (Mathura, Congress, 1892, p. 219).
On Gosala compare Hoernle, Bib. Ind., Uvasaga Dasao (seventh
Anga) with Leumann's review ; and Rockhill, Life of Buddha, p.
249. Compare also Jain Bharata and Ramayana of Pampa, Rice,
JRAS. xiv. 19; Leumann, Dagavaikalika-Sutra und Niryukti, Jina-
bhadra's Jitakalpa, Sitz. Berl, Ak. 1892, Die Legende von Citta und
Sambhuta, WZKM. v. 1 1 1, vi. i ; Thomas, Early Faith of A9oka (to
show prior Jainism ; a dubious contention) JRAS. ix. 155. On the
Jain nurture of vermin see JRAS. 1834, p. 96. On dates com-
pare Jacobi, Kalpasutra and Oldenberg (above). The Catrunjaya
Mahatmyam (Weber, Abh. k. M., 1858) is probably not an early
work (Biihler, Three New Edicts, I A. vi. 154). On Weber's view
in regard to Jain-Greek legends see his essay Ahalya-Achilleus, Sitz,
Berl. Ak., 1887. See too Barth, Revue, xix. 292 ff., xx. 332.

BUDDHISM.

Colebrook's Essays ; W^ilson, Buddha and Buddhism, JRAS., 1856,
pp. 229, 357; Bennett, Gaudama, JAOS. ii. 3; R. Spence Hardy, East-
ern Monarchism and Manual of Buddhism ; E. Hardy, Der Buddhis-
mus nach iilteren Paliwerken ; Burnouf, Le Lotus de la Bonne Loi and
Introduction a I'histoire du Bouddhisme indien (Nepal); Koppen, Die
Religion des Buddha; Weber, Ueber den Buddhismus, Ind. Skizzen, and
Streifen, i. 104 ; Barthelemy Saint-Hilaire, Le Bouddha et sa religion
(now antiquated); Oldenberg, Buddha; Kern, Der Buddhismus;
T. W. Rhys Davids, Manual of Buddhism, and Hibbert Lectures ;
Cophston, Buddhism; Monier Williams, Buddhism;^ Mary Sumner's

J Of the many manuals we recommend especially those of Rhys Davids for
ontology (also Jatakas. First Part) and Oldenberg (now in second edition). For
Northern Buddhism Koppen's Religion is still excellent, although it is vitiated by
the point of view taken by the author, who regards Buddha as an emancipator, a
political innovator, etc. Davids has two recent articles on Buddhist sects, JRAS.
xxiii. 409 ; xxiv. i (see also below).

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 587

Histoire (ed. Foucaux); Senart's Essai sur la legende du Buddha, J A.
1873, p. 114; 1874, p. 249; 1875, P- 9I1 ^'^cl published separately.
Valuable is the same author's article, J A. viii, 1876, Notes, and work
(containing) Les Inscriptions de Piyadasi ; compare I A. xvii. 188;
ZDMG. xl. 127 (Biihler). On Nagarjuna (second century) see Beal,
I A. XV. 353. Of historical interest, if otherwise valueless, are Schoebel,
Le Buddha et le Bouddhisme, 1857 ; and Holmboe, Traces de Bud-
dhisme en Norvege avant I'introduction du.christianisme. Lillie,
Buddha and Early Buddhism, also Influence of Buddhism on Chris-
tianity, and JRAS. xiv. 218, Buddhist Saint Worship, and ib. xv. 419,
on Ceylon Buddhism ; Beal, Schools, lA. ix. 299.

Buddhist Texts : Burnouf, Foucaux, above ; Weber, Dhamma-
pada,i ZDMG. xiv. 29 : Miiller, Science of Religion, and SBE. x,
with FausbolFs Sutta Nipata; J. Weber and Huth, Tib. Buddhist
SiJtras, ZDMG. xiv. 577; Pischel, Assalayana Sutta; Childers,
Khuddaka Patha, JRAS. iv. 309; Davids, Buddhist Suttas trans-
lated from the Pali ; and Davids and Oldenberg,^ Vinaya Texts,
SBE. xi, xiii, xvii, xx ; Kern, Lotus, ib. xxi; Davids, Milinda, ib.
XXXV ; Cowell and Miiller, Mahayana Siitras, ib. xlix; Foucaux,
Lalita Vistara, Ann. du MG. vi, xix ; Pratimokha, above, and Beal
and Gogerly, JRAS. 1862, p. 407; Dickson, ib. vii. i, viii. 62;
Childers, ib. vii. 49; viii. 219; Rogers (and Miiller), Buddhaghosha's
Parables; Foulkes, I A. xix. 105 ; Carus, Gospel of Buddha.

Nirvana : Out of the immense literature we select Miiller (Budd-
hist Nihilism), Science of Religion, p. 141 ; Oldenberg, Buddha, p.
273; Frankfurter, JRAS. xii. 548; Rhys Davids, Manual, and Hib-
bert Lectures, tenth Appendix.

Date of Nirvana : Westergaard, Buddha's Totesjahr, Ueber den
altesten Zeitraum der Ind. Geschichte ; Cunningham, Bhilsa Topes ;
Biihler I A. vi. 149 ff.. Three New Edicts of A^oka ; Kern, Jaar-
telhng ; Miiller, Acad. March i, 1884, SBE. x. : Davids, Ancient
Coins and Measures of Ceylon, p. z^']\ Oldenberg, Vinaya Pitaka,
SBE. xiii. p. xxii.3

i L. von Schroeder, Worte der Wahrheit. On the word Dhammapada, Franke
ZDMG. xlvi. 734.

2 Also Oldenberg, Dipavamsa, with text.

3 For Nirvana and its date all the manuals may be consulted. See also D'Alwis,
Nirvana (with translation); Edkins, JRAS. xiii. 59, Congress, iSSo, p. 295; Chil-

588 BIBLIOGKAPFIY.

Foreign Buddhism : Stan. Julien, Histoire de la vie de Hiouen
Thsang, Memoires (compare J A. Dec. 1857), Voyages des Pelerins
Bouddhistes ; Wassiljew, Der Buddhismus ; Bigandet, Life of Gau-
dama ; Fergusson, Hiouen Thsang's Journey from Patna, JRAS.
vi. 213, 396 ; Wilson, ib. 1859, P- 106 ('Summary Account'); JAS.
Beng. i; As. Researches, xx (Csoma, Asiatic Buddhism); Beal,
Diamond Siitras (etc., JRAS.); Gutzlaff (Sykes), Buddhism in
China, JRAS. 1854, p. 73 ; 1856, pp. 316, 357 (Wilson, Notes,
Inscriptions); Edkins, Chinese Buddhism; Beal (Chinese), Dhamma-
pada, The Romantic Legend, and Travels of the Buddhist Pilgrim
Fah-Hian,i Life of Buddha, BOR. passim j Miiller, Buddhist Pil-
grims, Chips, i ; Koppen (above); Hodgson, Memoirs ; Burnouf
(above) ; Schlagintweit, Buddhistic Idols in Tibet, JRAS. 1863,
p. 437, and (Ann. du Musee Guimet, iii) Buddhism in Tibet (Lama-
ism in the second part); Rockhill, The Life of Buddha, and The
Land of the Lamas ; Lamaistic succession, Mayers, JRAS. iv. 284 ;
Lamaist extension of Buddhist Confession, I A. xxiii. 73 ; Lamaism and
Catholicism, Davids, Hibbert Lectures; Modern Lamaism, Waddell,
Buddhism of Thibet or Lamaism ; Schiefner, Taranatha's Geschichte
(and Tibetische Lebensbeschreibung); Tibet texts (above); Bastian,
Buddhist Literature of the Burmese, ZDMG. xvii. 697, and Buddhist
Psychology, ib. xx. 419 ; Fiihrer, Buddhist Manu, BBRAS. xv. 329;
Jardine and Forchhammer, Notes on Buddhist Law (in Burmah) ;
Friederich, Buddhism in Bali, JRAS. viii. 158, ix. 59; dharma^astra,
I A. xiii. 24; Crawfurd, Hindu Religion in Bali, AR. xiii. 1 28 ;-
in Ceylon, Foulkes, I A. xvii. 100.

Buddhist Legends : Burnouf, Introduction; Davids, Buddhist Birth
Stories, and BOR. iv. 9; Beal, JRAS. vi. 377; Fausboll, Two
Jatakas, JRAS. v. i., Five and Ten (1872); Feer, J A. 1875 (v,

ders, Dictionary, JRAS. v. 219, 289, vii. 49, etc.; Fergusson, ib. iv. Si (Indie Chro-
nology) ; ?\Iiiller, Origin of Religion, p. 130, note, and Introduction to Buddhaghosha,
and to Dhammp.pada (above"). We incline to accept 471 to 483 as the extreme
limits of the date of Buddha's death (Kern, 380 ; Davids, 412).

1 On I-tsing (671) see Beal, lA. x. 109, 194; Miiller, India. 'Fa-Hien's' travels
are now published by Legge, ' Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms.' There are other
editions. See also Sykes, JRAS. 1S41, p. 24S ; Beal, /<^. xix. 191.

- On Japanese Buddhism there have been published some texts by Japanese
scholars (ed. Miiller, Aryan Series of Anecdota Oxoniensia). See JRAS. xii. 153.

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 5S9

vi);^ Fausboll, WeberJS. v. 412; Acvaghosha (fifth century): Weber,
Streifen, i. 186 ; Cowell, Agvaghosha ; Levi, JA. 1892, p. 201 : Beal,
SBE. xix. Hells: Feer, Etudes Bouddhiques, I'Enfer indien, J A.
1892, p. 1S5, 1893, p. 112 ; 2 Koppen, p. 239; Senart, Notes, JA. viii.
477. Symbols: Cunningham, JRAS. i85i,pp. 71, 114; Hodgson,
ib. 1 861, p. 393; Sewell and Pincott, ib. xix. 238 and xxii. 299 -^ I A.
vii. 176 ; ib. xv. 61, 89, 217, and following volumes (sacred trees);
Lillie, Saints and Trees, JRAS. xiv. 218. Topes, Temples: Cun-
ningham, above, p. 108, and Stiipa of Bharhut, Bhilsa Topes
(synods, schisms); Fergusson, Rock-cut Temples of India, JRAS.
1844, p. 30, and Topes of Sanchi and AmaravatT; Beal, JRAS. v.
164; Burgess, Arch. Surv. of Western India, and Cave Temples of
India (symbols) with Fergusson; the latter. History of Indian and
Eastern Architecture, Tree and Serpent Worship ; Simpson, JRAS.
xxi. 49 (temples from tombs); Miiller, Dagobas from Ceylon, ZDAIG.
xii. 514^ (also dates). Women leaders of Buddhist Reformation,
Miss Bode, JRAS. xxv. 517.

Brahmanism and Buddhism: Burnouf, Bh. P. Introd. p. 137
(Indra highest god); Williams, JRAS. xviii. 127; Holtzmann, Zur
Geschichte, p. 103; (and Jainism) Leumann, Die Legende von Citta
und Sambhijta, WZKM (above) ; Bastian, Brahmanic Inscriptions
in Buddhist Temples (of Siam), JAOS. viii. 377.

Buddhist heresies, DTpavariisa (above) ; doctrines, Wassiljew
(above) ; Le Buddhisme et les Grecs, Levi, Revue, xxiii. 36.

1 Chalmers, Jatakas (ed. Cowell, vol. i) is announced. Compare JRAS. xxiv. 423.
On Barlaam u. Joasaph see now the exhaustive essay of Kuhn, Abh. d. k. Bayerisch.
Ak. 1S94 (with all literature).

2 By the same, Avadanagataka, IMus. Guimet, xviii (J A. 1S79, xiv). The Datha-
vamga, Mellone, Ann. du ]\IG. vii.

3 Triratna and trigula. The articles following are by Murray- Ay nsley (Asiatic
Symbolism), on svastika, trees, serpents, evil eye, etc. On the evil eye and the poison-
girl, visakanya, see now the interesting essay of Hertz (Abh. d. Bayern. Akad, 1894),
who connects the superstition with the religious practice described above, p. 505,
note 2.

4 For older essays see also Schonberg, ZDMG. vii. loi (rock-temples) ; JAS.Beng.
xxv. 222 (Khandgiri temples) ; Yule, JAS. Beng., 1S57, Ancient Buddhistic Remains
(on the Irawady) ; Sykes, Miniature Caityas in Buddhist topes, JRAS. 1854, pp. t^'j,
227.

590 BIBLIOGRAPHY.

HINDUISM.

Epic: Ktesias, lA. x. 296 £f.; McCrindle, Ancient India as de-
scribed by Ktesias and by Megasthenes and Arrian;^ date of Bharata,
Bi-ihler, Kirste, Ind. Studies, No. ii; in Cambodia, Earth, Inscriptions
Sanskrites du Cambodge ; of Ramayana, Weber, Ramayana, I A.,
reprint; Jacobi, Ramayana,- Festgruss an Bohtlingk, p. 44, GGA.,
Nos. 16 of 1892, 1893; epic language, Franke, Was ist Sanskrit?
BB. xvii. 54 ; epos and Veda, Oldenberg, ZDMG. xxxvii. 54, xxxviv.
439, xxxix. 52 ; Weber, Episches im Vedischen Ritual, ^ Sitz, Berl. Ak.
1891 ; Ludwig, Ironie, Festgruss an Bohtlingk. Resume, Wheeler,
History (unreliable); Williams, Indian Wisdom. Translations, Wil-
son, Sabha, JRAS. 1842, p. 137; Thomson (1855), Davies, Lorinser,
and Telang (SBE. viii), Bhagavad Gita, etc.; Milman, Nala ; Muir,
I A. vii, viii, Metrical Translations, and OST.; Arnold, SavitrT,
Idylls, etc. (free) ; Holtzmann (Sr.), Indische Sagen ; Foucaux,
' Kairata Parva ' ; Sadous, fragments (1858); H. Fauche (several
books of Bharata); Pratapa Chandra Roy (almost all); Griffith,
Ramayana, Schoebel (Mus. Guimet, xiii), Gorresio, Fauche, id.
Studies, Holtzmann, Indra, Apsaras, Brahma, ^ ZDAIG. xxxii. 290,
xxxiii. 631, xxxviii. 167, Agni, Arjuna (each separately), Zur Ge-
schichte, Neunzehn Biicher (literature); Hopkins, Manu in Epic,
JAOS. xi. 239, Ruling Caste, ib. xiii, etc.; Sauer, Mahabharata and
Wate (primitive epic, unconvincing); Neve, Morals and Women
(antiquated); Weber, Mother- Worship, Zwei Ved. Texte, and West,
I A. X. 245; Roussel, Les idees religieuses, Museon, xii. 263, 295. For
Philosophy, see above. Puranas, Modern Sects: Lassen, i. 481;
Wilson, Analysis, 1838-39 (essays); Burnouf, Bhagavata ; Wilson,
Vishnu; Riickert, Markandeya, Wortham, JRAS. xiii. 103,355 (P'^'""
tial); ib. xvii. 221; Wolheim, Padma (Latin, partial); Stevenson,
Ganega. JRAS. 1846, p. 319; Ante-Brahmanic Religions, and Feudal-

1 Qiva is here falsely interpret3d as Herakles, p. 39. Compare too Weber, IS. ii.
409, and his Ahalya-AchiUeus, Berl. Ak. 1SS7. The original Greek is edited by
Schwanbeck. On Darius' conquest see Marshman, i. p. 10.

2 Sixth or eighth century, developed with Buddhistic or Greek influence.

3 An example of the survival of the Hindu cult in the Qrauta ritual is given by
Weber, IS. v. 437, QabalT-homa.

4 Weber on Skanda, IS. iii. 47S.

'BIBLIOGRAPHY. 591

ism, zb. 1S46, pp. 330, 390 ; in Dekhan, ib. 1838, p. 189 ; Sykes,
Traits, ib. i860, p. 223; Gita-Govinda, Lassen (Latin), Riickert, ZKAL
i. 132. Fables: WZKIVL vii. 215; Pratapa Chandra Gosha, Durga-
puja; Tirtha: Williams, Hinduism (list), I A. v. 209, Cunningham,
Survey; Hunter, Indian Empire (sects), Orissa, and Report; ^ivaite
sects, Senathi Raja, Mus. Guim. vii ; Krishna, Weber, ZDMG. vi. 92 ;
Berl. Ak., 1867, p. 217, IS. xiii. 354; Neve, Des elements etrangers,
etc.; Phallus, I A. iv. 21 r, v. 183, Kittel, Ueber d. Ursprung des Linga
Cultus (refutes Wurm, Geschichte der Indischen Religion); Steven-
son, JRAS. 1846, p. 337 ; Paficaratra, Hall, Vasavadatta. Carvaka,
Colebrooke, Muir, loc. cit. Varahamihira, see above. Fate : lA.
xviii. 46. Sects : Jones, AR. ii. 334; names of week-days, Cunning-
ham, I A. xiv.i; Grierson, ib. 322; Dikshit, ib. xvi. 113; -Wilson's
Sketch of the Religious Sects of the Hindus, AR., Essays ; Hunter's
Statistical Account of Bengal ; Kitt's Compendium of Castes and
Tribes ; Elphinstone's History; Miiller, Chips, iv. 329; Williams,
Religious Thought and Life, and Brahmanism and Hinduism ; W. J.
Wilkins, Modern Hinduism; Wilson, On the Sikhs, JRAS. 1846, p.
43; Prinsep, Origin of Sikh Power ; MacGregor, History of Sikhs ;i
Kabir; Trumpp, Adigranth, JRAS. v. 197, Congress, 1880, p. 159,
and Adigranth (complete), I A. vi £f. ; Die Religion der Sikhs.
Vishnuism, Williams, JRAS. xiv. 289. Mohammedanism in Hindu-
ism, Dabistan, vol. ii.^ Ritual: Biihler, lA. 1883; temples; Hurst,
Indika (especially p. 294); Burgess, I A. xii. 315; WilHams, Thought
and Life, p. 448 (see Buddhism). Thugs : Reynolds, JRAS. 1837,
p. 200 ; Sherwood, AR. xiii. 25, PhansTgars ; Shakespear, ib. xiii.
282 ; also Sleeman, Report, and Ramaseeana (Thugs' Argot and
papers on Thugs); Elphinstone, i. 369, 371 (Bhats and Charans),
384 (Thugs and Decoits). Caitanyas, Hunter, Statistical Account,
Williams and Wilkins, loc. cit.; On 'pocket-altars,' JRAS. 1851,
p. 71; Vidhanas, Burnell, Meyer; Kanphatis, Celibates, of Kutch,
JRAS. 1839, p. 268 ; Lingayits, Kittel, above, and I A. iv, v ; Tulsi
Das, Ramayana, works of Ramavat sect, Grierson, I A. xxii. 89, 122,

1 Compare also Malcolm, AR. xi (1S12), 197; ZKM. v. i, Die Religion und der
Staat der Sikh.

2 The Dabistan or School of Manners, translated from the Persian, with notes by
Shea and Troyer, 1843.

592 BIBLIOGRAPHY.

227; Pandus as gods, lA, vii. 127; their fish-emblems, ib. xxii. 61;
Bombay Dancing Girls, I A. xiii. 165 ; Sun-worship, temples, St,
Julian, Voy. iii. 172 ; Burgess, Survey, p. 216; in Taxila, JRAS. 1859,
p. T]\ in Puranas, Lassen, ii. 832, 919; lA. vi. 11, vii. 69, 71, viii.
30 (adityabhaktas). Theistic Reformers : Wilson, Essays ; Hunter,
Account; Miiller, Chips j WilHams, JRAS. xiii. i, 281; Tiru Vallu-
var, Graul, Kural, and Pope, I A. vii £f. ; Nangi Panthis, I A. xiii. i ;
Tamil Qivaites, Foulkes, Catechism; JAOS. iv. 129; Phandarpur
Vishnuites, Viththala Bhaktas (Kablr), Stevenson, JRAS. 1842 p.
64; especially Mitchell, lA. xi. ^6^ 149, hymns of Tuka, and celebra-
tion, Congress, 1892, p. 282. Festivals : ^ above, Vajapeya ; Hille-
brandt, Sonnwendfeste ; JRAS. 1846, p. 60; Cover, ib. v. 91; lA.
XX. 430 ; Holi, JRAS. 1838, p. 189 ; 1841, p. 239 ; Vetala, ib. 1838,
p. 192 ; Dekhan deities, ib. 1842, p. 105.

WILD TRIBES.

Johnston, Yellow Men of India; Hunter, loc. cit.j Hewitt, Early
History of Northern India (speculative), JRAS.xx. 321, etc.; Oppert,
Original Inhabitants, Madras Journal, 1887, 1888; Breeks, Account
of Primitive Tribes, etc. (Nilagiris, Todas); Hodgson, Aboriginal
Tribes, J AS. Beng., xxv. 31; Samuelis, Native Dress and Religious
Dances, ib. 295 ; Neumann, English Realm in India, ii ; Latham,
Ethnology of India; Macpherson, JRAS. 1842, p. 172, and 1852,
p. 216 (Khonds); Briggs, Aboriginal Races, ib. 275; Sherring, Hindu
(Bengal) Tribes ; the Sacred City of the Hindus; also Bhar-tribe by
the same, JRAS. v. 376 ; Risley, Tribes and Castes of Bengal;
Rowney, Wild Tribes ; Khonds, Koles,^ Sauras, Gonds (and Bhils)
JRAS. 1852, p. 216 (1844, p. 181); also ib. 1842, p. 172; Marsh-
man, History, iii. p. 108 (Khonds); thirty Snake-tribes, JRAS. xii.
229; ib. 1859, p. i,^ Frye, Uriya and Khonds, religious dances, p. 16;
creed and sacrifice, pp. 20, 36 ; Marshman ii. p. 164 (infanticide);

1 Williams' Hinduism and the third chapter of Wilkins' Modern Hinduism con-
tain a list of the modern festivals. Grierson, Peasant Life, describes Behar.

2 Mons and Koles. JRAS. x. 234. Dards, Congress. 1S74, ^Y Drew; 1S80, by
Leitner.

3 Snake-nation in America, Shoshone, Clark, Sign-language, p. t^'i^'j ; snake-symbol
of life, Schoolcraft, i. 375.

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 593

Kitt, Compendium of Castes and Tribes found in India; Santhals,
JRAS. 1852, p. 285 ; I A. xxii. 294 (emigration); Avery, Aboriginal
Tribes, I A. xiv. 125; Carnegy, Races Tribes and Castes (Oude);
Dalton (Bengal), Descriptive Ethnology; Social Customs in.Kash-
meer and Oude, lA. xviii. 287, 386 : Campbell, Santal foli<lore
(totemistic origin from goose) ;i Korkias, Kolarian Tribe in middle of
(Dravidian) Gonds, JRAS. xvi. 164: Newbold, Chenchwars, wild
tribe in forests of eastern Ghauts, JRAS. 1845, p. 271; Cain, Koi,
southern tribe of Gonds, JRAS. xiii. 410 (witches, Pandus, etc.):
Dunbar, Lurka Koles, JRAS., 1861, p. 370: Dravidians, Kittel, and
Caldwell, loc. cit.j Polyandry, Thomas, JRAS. xi. 37; Simpson
(rites, sacrifices, etc.), Piijas in the Sutlej valley, JRAS. xvi. 13 ;
Burnell, Devil-worship of Tuluvas, I A. 1894: Waddell, Frog-worship
(Nepal), I A. xxii. 293; Steere, Swahili Tales, I A. passim!^ A volume
has lately been published on the Chittagong Hill Tribes ^ by Riebeck
with superb illustrations ; and photographic illustrations of racial
types may be studied in Watson's and Kaye's volumes. The People
of India. Discussion (biassed) oirajpiits of Scythian origin, Elphin-
stone, i. 440. On Dravidian literature, see Elliot, I A. xvi. 158. On
Gipsies, Grierson, ib. 35 ; etymology, ib. 239.

GEOGRAPHY, INDIA AND THE WEST.

Schmidt, Die Urheimath d. Indog. u. d. europaische Zahlsystem,
Sitz. Berl. Akad. 1890, p. 297; Hirt,^ Die Urheimath d. Indoger-
manen, IF. i. 464; Schrader, Sprachvergleichung und Urgeschichte,
p. 616; Lassen, Indische Alterthumskunde. i. 643; Vivien de Saint

1 Totemism repudiated, Kennedy, on Nagas, JRAS. xxiii. 4S0,

2 The Indian Antiquary contains a vast fund of folk-lore stories of more or less
religious importance. See Earth's note. Rev. xxix. 55, for the Orientalist.

3 Early accounts of Burmah will be found in Buchanan's Religion and Literature
of the Burmas, AR. vi. 163 ; of the Rajmahal tribes, T. Shaw, ib. iv. 45 ; of the in-
habitants of the Garrow Hills, Eliot, ib. iii. 17 ; of the Rookies, MacRae (or McRae),
ib.vW. 183; of Nepal (temples, etc.), z<5. ii. 307. An account of the TibetoBurman
tribes by Damant will be found in JRAS. xii. 228.

4 Compare a suggestive paper by the same author. IF. iv. p. 36 (1894), on Die
Verwandtschaftsverhaltnisse der Indogermanen (linguistic, but historically impor-
tant).

594 BIBLIOCKAPHY.

Martin, Etudes sur la Geographie du Veda ; Zimmer, Altindisches
Leben, p. 3; Aufrecht, ZDAIG. xiii. 498 (Rasa as Milky Way);
Ludwig, Nachrichten iiber Geographie, etc. ; Whitney, Language
and the Study of Language ; Oldenberg, Buddha, p, 399 (we cite
from the first edition); Thomas, Rivers of the Rig Veda, JRAS. xv.
357.1 On the relations of the Hindus and the West: Weber (rela-
tions with Semites), Indische Skizzen, and Die Griechen in Indien,
in Sitz. Berl. Akad. 1S90, p. 901 ; Steinthal, ZDMG. xi. 396; Grill, ib.
xxvii. 425 ; Stein, I A. xvii. 89. Leo's view in regard to German-
Indian unity (reviewed, ZDMG. viii. 389) is worth citing as a curi-
osity.'- Brunnhofer's works hav^e been cited above, p. 15, On the
Beziehungen der Indier zum Westen a valuable article has lately been
written by Franke (ZDMG. xlvii. 595). Weber, Ueber d. ParasTpra-
ka^a d. Krsnadasa, as well as in his Rajasiiya, Vajapeya, \^edische
Beitrage, etc., has treated of the relations with Persia (Fables, IS. iii.
327). In the works cited above the same author has discussed the
relations with all other Western nations, including the Greeks, on
which Sykes, Notes on Religious State of India, JRAS. 1841, p. 243,
is- readable ; Bohlen, Altes Indien, and Levi, La Grece et ITnde
d'apres les documents indiens (revue des etudes grecques, 1891)
should be read.^ The subject of Early Christianity in India has
been treated by Burnell, I A. iii. 308, iv. 153, etc. (see also above,
p. 479); while Priaulx, in JRAS. 1861, 1862, has written a series of
interesting articles on India's Connection with Rome. The Indian
travels of Apollonius of Tyana, JRAS. 1859, p. 70, etc., are of no
value beside those of Ktesias and Megasthenes. The origin of the
Hindu Alphabet and the native system of Dates have to do with the
originality of parts of Hindu literature, but these outlying subjects,
which have a literature of their own, we can only touch upon. A
good resiDnc of the discussion in regard to the alphabet will be found
in JRAS. xvi. 325, by Gust; a new theory of Franke's, ZDMG. xlvi.

1 Volga as 'Pa, Ranha, Rasa, Kuhn, KZ. xxviii. 214 ; the SarasvatI and the lost
river, Oldham, JRAS. xxv. 49.

2 Another curiosity will be found in JRAS., 1S54, p. 199, where Curzon claims
that the Aryan Hindus are autochthonous.

3 Leitner, Greek Influence on India, Congress, iSSo, p. 113. On the Drama see
above, pp. 2 and 438.

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 595

731. Halevy derives the alphabet from Greece. But see now Biihler,
Ind. Studies, iii, 1895 (North Semitic, seventh century, B.C.) The
native eras are discussed by Cunningham, Book of Indian Eras ; and
in Miiller's India, What Can It Teach Us.^ p. 282. On the native
date for the beginning of the Kali-yuga, i.e. this age (the year 3101
or 3102 B.C.), JRAS. iv. 136, and Thomas, edition of Prinsep's
Antiquities, may be read.^ A general survey of primitive Aryan
culture will be found in Schrader, loc. cit.. to which may be added on
Vedic (Aryan) metres, Westphal, KZ. ix. 437 ; and Allen, ib. xxiv.
556 (style, Heinzel, Stil d. altgerm. Poesie). On the name Arya,
besidas loc. cit. above, p. 25, may be added, Windisch, Beitr. z.
Geschichte d. D. Sprache, iv. 211 ; Pott, Internat. Zt. fiir allgemeine
Sprachwissenschaft, ii. p. 105 ff. Criticism of a too great confidence
in the results of the comparative method, AJP. xv. i 54 ; PAOS. 1895.

1 Further, Westergaard, Ueber den altesten Zeitraum der Indischen Geschichte ;
Fergusson, JRAS. xii. 259; Fleet, 5^wzyz/ for Qaka-era, JRAS., 1SS4, p. Ixxi ; Gupta,
lA. XV. 1S9, and xvi. 141 ; (BerunI), ib. xvii. 243, 359 ; also Kielhorn, Vikrama, lA. xix.
24 ff.; xxii. 111; Biihler, WZKM. v. 215. Methods and Tables for Computing
Hindu Dates, Jacobi, I A. xvii. 145 ; and Epigraphia Ind. I. 430. Last literature on
date of Rig Veda, above, p. 5, and add now Oldenberg, ZDMG. xlviii. 629. Further
references, above, pp. 436, 571, notes.

INDEX.

-•o*-

A (alpha), 226, 397.

abbots, 557.

abhangs, 522.

abhidhamma, 326.

Abhinavagupta, 482.

Abhiras, 543.

ablr, 454, 455.

absorption, 496.

abstractions, 112, 135.

acara, 554.

Achaemenides, 544.

Adi Brahma Samaj, 517, 519.

Adigranth, 511 ff.

Aditi, 55, 73, 139, 142, 154-

Adityas (see Aditi, Varuna, etc), 55

(Ah9a), 143, 167 ; adityabhaktas,

see sun and Sauras.
adultery, 203.
advaita, 396, 496, 505.
Aesculapius, 538.
Afghanistan, 30, 548.
agamas, 295, 439.
ages, 227, 259, 41S ff., 444, 530.
Aghorl, 490, 533.
Agnes, saint, 451.
Agni, 43, loi, 105 ff., 123, 144, 168,

353. 356. 377> 401, 4M> 445' 449*

476, 480, 554.
ahimsa, 199, 287, 310, 365.
Ahura Mazdao, 49, 67, 167, 170.
Aka9amukhas, 486.
Akbar, 437, 546.
Akkadians, Akkadists, 542, 571.

aksamala (see rosary) 374.

Al BerunI, 547, Addenda.

Alexander, 431, 546.

Alexandria, 431, 561.

All-god, 139, 141, 496.

All-gods, 137, 144, 450.

Allah ud din, 437.

alphabet, 543, 595.

altars, 475, 490.

altruism, 478, 555, 556, 563, 567. '

American Indians, see Indians.

Ananda, 309, 311; Ananda Giri,

445, 447; Anandatirtha, 509.
Ananta, 397.
ancestors (see female. Manes), ten,

534-
Anaximander, 559.
ancestor-tree, 541.
Andaman gods, 538,
androgynous, 447, 492, 557.
ahgas, 440.

Arigiras, 108, 167, 477.
Anlmandavya, 432.
Aniruddha, 441, 442, 457.
annihilation (see Nirvana), 421, 531,

532-
ant-oath, 534.

Antiochus, 545.

Anuglta, 401.

Aphrodite, 471.

Apollonius, 508.

April-Fool, 455.

Apsaras, 137, 169, 355, 368.

598

INDEX.

Arabia, 547.

Aranyakas, 17S, 219.

ardhanari9vara, 447.

Arhat, 280, 285, 303, 320, 564.

Arjun, 511.

Arjuna, 361.

Arrian, 459.

arrow-oath, 534.

art, artists, 549.

Aryaman, 46, 121, 397.

Aryan, 11, 26, 548. *

Arya Samaj, 521.

a9ani, 464.

ascetics, 148, 254, 258, 304, 352 ff.;

asceticism, 287, 366, 470, 520.
a9oka, 540.

Agoka, 311, 340, 341, 435.
astrology, 256, 43S, 543.
Asuras, 42, 49, 104, 170 ff., 1S6 ff.,

358.
Asura Maya, 368.
A9vins, 38, 54, -]"$>, 80, 38 1.
Atharva Veda, 3, 29, 43, 151, 175,

419' 477> 571-
Atharvan, no, 378, 477.

Atnia, 42, 47 (soul), 56, 220 ff., 232,

_ 249' 354' 396' 398, 442.

Atmlya Sabha, 516.

atonement, 376.

Avadhutas, 502.

avasthas, 412.

avatar, 162, 196, 215, 340, 389, 393,
404, 424, 430 ; number of, 444,
46S ; Vishnu's last avatar, 522.

Avesta (see Iranian), 12, 16, 422.

avyiiha 442.

Ayenar, 464.

axe (see Para9u Rama), 527.

Aztecs, 557.

Babalals, 514.

Baber, 437.

Babrius, 558.

Babylon, 543.

Bacchic rites, 414, 427, 528.

Bactria, --,2, y^, 434.

Badarayana, 495, 497.

Bala Gopala, 503.

Balarama, 442, 469.

ball, 540.

Bali, 478.

bamboo (see pole-rite), 536.

bandana, 533.

banian, 540.

Bardesanes, 561.

Barlaam, 557.

Basava, 482, 547.

basil, see tulasl.

Baskets, see Tripitaka.

Behar, 435.

bel-tree, 453, 536, 541.

bell, 557.

Bella Pennu, 530.

Bellerophon, 530.

Benares, 459.

Bhaga, 41, 50 ff.; bhaga, 490.

Bhagavad Gita, 389 ff., 399, 400,

401, 447.
Bhagavat, 303, 389.
Bhagavatas, 447, 497.
Bhairava, 464, 491.
Bhaktas, 447.

bhakti (see faith), 429, 503, 519.
Bharata, 349 ff., 438, 457.
Bhars, 534, 535 ff.
Bhats, 479.
Bhava, 462, 464, 548.
Bhavani, 494.
bhiksu, 258, 281, 303, 310, 374 ;

bhiksuki, 426.
Bhils, 533.
Bhrgu, 168, 397, 423.

INDEX.

599

bicycle, used to make converts, 570.

bigotry, 445.

bila, 12.

bilva, see bel.

bird (of the sky) 45, 49, 113, 124,

140, 164; birds as spirits, 432.
birth-impurity, 541.
Birth-stories, see Jatakas.
birth-tree, 540.
Blavatskyism, 562.
Blessed One, 19, 38S ff.
blood-money, 162.
blood-revenge, 375.
bloodless sacrifice (see ahimsa.

Thugs), 528.
boar, 404, 407, 445.
Bodhisat, bodhisattva, 303, 564.
Bodhi-tree, bo-tree, Bodhi Gaya,

304, 308, 540.
boundary-god, 529.
brahma, 156, 178, 195, 217, 220 ff.,

231 ff., 381, 389, 393, ff., 398, 403,

419, 420, 474, 496, 518.
Brahma, 195, 218, 332, 346, 372, 403

ff., 407, 412, 421, 446, 451, 458 ff.,

464 ff., 487, 492, 499, 518, 534.
Brahma Uharma, 517.
Brahmaloka, 256.
Brahmamaha, 371, 411.
Brahmanas, 4, 5, 6, 22, 23, 174, 219,

502.
Brahmanism, 24, 176 ff., 548.
Brahma Samaj, 516 ; of India,

519-
Brahmasampradayins, 509.

brahmodya, 383.

branding, 440, 447.

Brhaspati, 54 (Lord of Strength),

loi, 136, 159, 379, 386.

Brhat Samhita, 438.

brothers, 370.

Buddha, 2 58, 280, 303 ff., 426; pre-
cedent Buddhas, 309, 523, 557 ;
avatar of Vishnu, 469, 500 ; broth-
er of ^iva, 478.

Buddhaghosa, 327, 343.

Buddhism, 4, 5, 6, 7, 26, 225, 298
ff., 310, 401, 448; Northern and
Southern, 326, 327, 341; esoteric,
320,334; epic, 423 ff.; givaite,
485, 486; morals of, 554, 556;
Occidental, 563 ; lesson of, 564.

Budo Gosain, 533.

buffalo (see cow-bells), 445, 531,

537-
bull, 407, 445, 528, 534.

bull-roarer, 204, 553.

burial, 60, 271, 364, 528, 534, 571.

buttoat, 493.

Calvinism, 501.

Candragupta, 311, 434.

Candra9ekhara, 470.

carana, 255.

Caranas, 367.

Caran Dasis, 506.

Cardinals, 557.

Carnival, 455.

Carvaka, 298, 374, 448.

castes, 27, 28, 29, 40, 141, 226, 263,
426, 507, 571; duties and occu-
pations of, 549.

cat, holy, 547.

cat-doctrine, 500.

cataclysms, 259, 260.

cattle (see cow), 50, 462 ff., 450.

caturmurti, 413.

caturthT, 451.

caturvyuha, 442.

celibates (see monks), 537.

Ceylon, Buddhism of, 341.

Caitanya, 503.

600

INDEX.

chandas, 142, 174, 477.

CharanSi 479.

chief, divinity of, 534.

child-marriages, 519.

children, sacrifice of (see merias),

450-
Chlrus, 535.

choirs, 557.

chrematheism, 135, 166.

Christ, Christianity, 389, 395, 428 £f.,
431, 479, 482, 503, 524, 545, 566,
569, 570 ; and Buddhism, 546,

557-
Christmas, 430, 568.

churika, 441.

circumambulations, 271, 454.

Citragupta, 424.

Clive, 566.

cock, 415, 535, 538.

commandments (see morals), 267,
317, 401, 479. 506.

confessional, 203, yi, 557.

cosmic tree, see tree.

courage, 527.

covenants, 192, 361 ff.

cow, 156, 189, 527, 547.

cow-bells, worship of buffalo cow-
bells, 537.

cow-boys, 454.

creation, 60, 141, 173, 207 ff., 216,

540.
creator, 384, 444.
crocodile, 450, 547.
cross, 537.
Cupid, see Love,
custom, 531, 554.

Dabistan, 480, 510.

Dadu Pan this, 480, 502, 510, 513,

547-
daevas, 10, 168.

Daksa, 406.

Danavas, see devils.

dance, 443, 454, 456, 504, 535.

Darius, 544.

darkness (as hell and evil), 147, 206,

227, 422.
Da9anamis, 482.
Da9apeya, 477.
Dasyus, 524, 542.
dates, 3-8, 434 ff., 571, 595, note.
Dattamitra, 545.
Dawn (see Ushas), hymns, character

o^' 553' 571-
Dayananda, 521.

Death (see dogs, Mara), 43, 129,

136.

Debendranath, 516 ff.

Decoits, 494.

Dedraj, 514.

deism, 49S, 515, 523.

deluge, 160, 162, 214, 369, 421, 542,

543-
demons, see devils.

demonology, 46, 135, 168, 538.

Demetrius, 545.

depressed classes, 568.

devas, 10, 168.

Devadatta, 309.

Devaki, 465, 467.

devils, 368, 414, 423, 475, 526, 539.

Dhammapada, 346.

dhan, 508.

Dhangars, 531.

Dharma, dharma (see Path, Right),

249 ff., 358, 373, 380, 417, 420,

554.
dharna, 361.

Dhava, 452.

Dhrti, 452.

dhvaja, 443.

Digambaras, 2S4 ff., 4S0.

INDEX.

601

Dionysos, 458 ff.

Dipala, 456.

discus, 440, 462.

disease (see small-pox god), 452 ff.,

53S.
divination, 535.

dogs of Death, 132, 138, 147, 163.

Dola Yatra, dolotsava, 453 ff.

dolmen, 538.

dolphin, 450.

dragon (see Naga, snake), 42, 48,

165, 539-
drama, 2, 436, 438.
Dravidian religion, 416, 425, 426 ff.,

542.
dreams, 42.
drughana, 441.
Druids, 533.
drunkenness, 491.
dualism (see prakrti, Sahkhya), 13,

396, 414.
Durga, 416, 451, 456, 490, 492, 513.
durva, 502.

Dutch rule in India, 566.
dvapara, 420.
Dyaus, 9, 19 (heaven), 58, 172, 571.

eagle (see soma), 534.
Earth, 58 ff., 168, 445; earth-wor-
shippers, 480, 531.
Easter, 454.

education, salvation of, 571.
egg, mundane, 166, 208, 411.
Egypt, 543, 550-
ekantinas, 413 ; eka deva, 420.
Eleatics, 559.
elements, i, 559.
elephant, 445, 533.
eleocarpus ganitrus, 502.
emperors, imperialism, 36, 435 ff.
English rule in India, 566.

ensigns, 539.

epic, 2, 25, 348 ff., 425, 444, 496;

Greek influence on, 545.
Epicureans, 505.
eras, 436.
Eros, see Love,
eschatology (see Heaven, Hell,

Manes), 173, 204, 216, 253, 367,

394, 496, 530.
ethnologists, 11.
euphemism, 251.
Europe and India, 556 ff.
evil eye, 155, 526, 589, note 3.
exogamy (see marriage), 534, 535.

fables, 545, 558.
faith, bhakti, 396, 506, 507, 545.
fakirs, 486.

family, see matriarchy,
fasting, 452, 557.
fate (see karma), 369, 417, 477.
Father-god, see Prajapati; Fathers,
see Manes ; father (see parents),

529-
fauna, 35.

fees, 192.

female (see abstractions, infanticide,
mothers, 9akti), divinities, 51,
138, 184,416; female ancestors,

441, 534-
Feridun, 11.

festivals, 202, 448.

fetishism, 169, -^(^t^ ; distinction be-
tween fetish and god-stone, 538.

fire (see Agni), as germ of life, 141 ;
fire-cult, 158, 378; destroys world,
see Sariivartaka ; cult, 454, 460,
491.

flood, see deluge.

flowers, 440, 540, 557.

forest (see wood), 528.

602

INDEX.

fountain-god, 531.
free-will, 3S4.

frogs, 14, 100 ff.; frog-maiden, frog-
feast, 536.
funeral, see burial.

gambler, 14, 162, 376.

games, 328, 451.

Gandharva, 125, 130, 167, 367, 419,

442, 542.
Gan-eden, 542.
Gane9a, 414, 416, 447, 450 ff., 456,

466, 487, 506, 532.
Gane9as, 413.
Ganges, 30, 372 ff., 450.
Garos, 534.
Garutman, Garuda, 45, 360, 378,

446.
Gaurl, 452.
Gautama, 302 ff. ; Gotama, 308,

note ; 542.
gayatri, 46, 124.
generosity, 374.
geography, 28, 29, 177, 193, 314,

342 ff.
Ghori, 437.
ghosts, 532.
giants, 470, 571.
Giri9a, 463.
gita, see Bhagavad.
Gita Govinda, 457, 503.
Gnosticism, 560.
gods (see devas), 29, 90, 141, 182,

209, 395, 402.
golden age, see ages,
golden germ, 141, 208, 507.
golden rule, 479.
Gonds, 444, 526 ff.
goose-totem, 534.
gopTs, 456.
Gorakhnath, 486.

gosam, 504.

Gosala, 283.

gospels, 546.

Gotama, see Gautama.

Govind, 511.

grace of God, 143, 384, 393, 396,

413, 429.
grahas (see planets), 415.
gramas, 27.
Greece, Greeks, i, 3, 6, 416, 431,

434 ff-, 458 ff-, 470, 47 1 » 544 ff-,

550-
Grippa Valli, 530.

Giidaras, 487.

guest, 369, 531.

gunas, 507.

Gupta era, 436, Addenda.

guru, 246, 510.

Hanuman (see monkey), 368, 502.

haoma, 16.

Hara, 462.

Harahvati, 31.

Harihara, 464, 547.

Harivah9a, 424, 428, 439, 464, 467.

Harita, 440.

Hartmann, 562.

Harvard students, 565.

harvest (see festival), 531, 532.

Hastings, 567.

Heathen, 524.

Heaven (see Dyaus, Varuna, escha-

tology), 48, 143, 145 ff., 253, 365,

417, 448.
Helen, 12, 168.
Hell, 147, 165, 206, 232 ff., 253,

267, ZZ^, 363, 3Sr, 402, 443, 478,

528, 557-
henotheism, 139, 177, 571.
Herakles, 45S ff., 470.
Heraklitus, 558.

INDEX.

603

Hestia, 530.

hills, see mountains and wild tribes.

Hinduism, 24, 348 ff., 434 ff., 548,

568 ff.
Hindukush, 31.
Hiranyagarbha (see golden germ),

447-
history, 434.

holiness, 442.

Holl, 453.

holy-days, 204, 248 ff.

holy-places, 444.

holy-stone, see Calagrama and stone.

holy-water, 557.

horse-sacrifice, 444.

honesty, 527, 555.

hospitality (see guest), 555, 556.

house-god, 374, 530.

HrsTke9a, 432.

humanitarianism, 428.

humanity, 433.

idealism, see advaita.

idolatry, modern, 522.

idols, 95, 370, 371, 374, 442, 446,

477. 537> 556 ff.

Ilium, 12.

illusion, 395, 396, 401, 421, 497.

immaculate conception, 431, 460.

immortality (see Heaven), 141, 396,
422 ; immortality of pots, 534.

incantation (see magic), 470.

incarnation, see avatar.

incest (see commandments, left-
hand), 531.

Indians, 161 ff., 452, 532, 533, 542.

Indra, 10, 20, 39, 56, 57, 89, 91 ff.,
loi, 123, 332, 353, 355 ff., 369,
377, 404, 405, 412, 414, 445, 448,

449' 473 ff-
Tndramaha, 378, 457, 460.

Indus, 30.

infanticide, 529, 53T.

infidelity, 448, 475.

Innocents' day, 455.

inspiration, 305.

Iranians, 6, 15, 26, 32 ff., d"], 132,

168, 170, 186, 422, 543.
19a, 546.
islands, 431.
Issa, 546.
Itihasa, 434, 477.

Jagannath, 440, 449, 456, 505.

Jaimini, 495.

Jainism, 2S0, 318, 348, 401, 448,

480.
Jamali, 283.
Jambavan, 368.
janas, 26, 27.
Jangamas, 447, 482.
Janmastaml, 465, 469.
Jatakas, 339 ff., 393, 430, 558.
Jatavedas, 416.
Jayadeva, 503.
Jayl, 494.
Jemidar, 493.
Jemshid, 11.
Jews, 524, 544.
jiva, 442, 496.
Jfiandev, 522.
Jnatriputra, 292.
John, saint, 558.
Jonas, story of, 547.
Josaphat, 557.

Judgment-god (see Dharma),529,53i.
Juggernaut, see Jagannath.
jugglers, see Yogi.
Justice, see Dharma.

Ka, 182, 413.

Kabir (PanthTs), 502, 510, 514, 547.

Kabul, Kabulistan, 30.

kala, 501.

604

INDEX.

Kala, see Time.

kali, 421.

Kali, 416, 438, 441, 490, 492» 533-

Kalidasa, 438.

Kalki, 340, 469.

kalpa, see ages.

Kama, see Love.

Kanada, 503.

Kanaphats, 486, 487.

Kaficuliyas, 492.

Kaniska, 435, 436.

Kapalikas, 487.

kapi, 543.

Kapila, 397, 402, 495, 547.

Kapilavastu, 300.

karma, 199, 231, 253, 302, 319, 369,

374. 401.

Karmahinas, 447.

Karmamlmamsa, 495.

Kartabhajs, 504.

Karttikeya, see Skanda.

Ka9yapa, 503.

Kashmeer, 31, 314, 482.

Kassos, 534.

Katties, 537.

Khakis, 502.

Khalsa, 512.

Khasas, KhasTas, 537.

Khonds, 445, 526, 528 ff.

Kll, 502.

kindness (see love), 448.

kings, 226, 465.

Kinnaras, 367.

kirttan, kirtan, 508.

Koches, 525.

Koles, Kolarians, 525, 531, 532 ff.

koph, 543.

Kosmas, 544.

Krishna (krsna), 349, 361, 3S8 ff.,
399, 401, 405, 411, 412, 429, 448,
449, 456, 457, 465, 498, 548, 551.

Krishnaism, 427, 464, 484 ff., 548.

Krishnaites, 503 ff.

krta, 419.

Ksapanakas, 448.

Ksatriya, 419.

Ksemendra, 478.

Kubera, 251, 353, 358, 446.

kukkuta, see cock.

Kumara Karttikeya (see Skanda),

356, 463-
Kumarila, 436, 437, 572.
Kural, 567.
Kurus, 32, 179.
Kuruksetra, y^, 263, 372 ff.
kush, 542.

Laksml, 451, 492, 501, 506.
Lalita Vistara, 343.
Lamaism, 343, 557, 565.
Lamp-festival, 456 ; service, 557.
Law-books, religion of, 247 ff.;

Aryanism of, 541.
Left-hand cult, 490, 506, 533.
lex talionis, 555,
liberality of thought, 556.
light, as right, 422.
linga (see phallus), 447, 453, 456,

462, 475, 488, 502.
Lihgayits, 482.
liquor, 491, 531.
literature, celebration of, 451.
Logos, Vac, 142, 195, 251, 492, 558.
Lohitayanl, 415.
lotus, 411, 451, 462, 502.
Lotus of the Law, 343.
Love, 154; love-charm, 155; love

as god, 156, 416, 444, 445, 446,

450, 452, 455»47i> 544.
lundi, 528.
Lupercalia, 455.
Lurka Koles, 531, 534.

INDEX.

60'5

Madhava Acarya, 445.
Madhvas, 502, 506, 509, 514.
Madonna-worship, 469, 503, 505,

506, 557.
Magadha, 435.
Magas, Magi, 544.
magic, witchcraft, 135, 137, 149,

151 ff., 477, 526.
Mahadeva, 464, ; mahadevi, 490.
Mahabharata, see Bharata.
Maharajas, 505.
maharis, 534.

mahatmaism, 4S6, 550, 562.
Mahavira, 280 ff.
Mahe9varas, 482.
Mahmud, 436.
Mahrat^?,s, 437.

Maitreya, Maitrakanyaka, 340, 479.
makara, 450.

Man, 50S, worshippers of, 481.
Manes (see ^raddha), 10, 11, 132,

143 ff-' 155' "^IZ^ 190. 250, 361,

364, 365, 446, 450, 452, 529, 530,

532' 533, 537.
Man-lion, 453, 470.
mantra, 174, 374, 440, 453, 491, 508.
Manu, 32, 128, 143, 169, 392 ; code

of, 263 ff., 391, 397, 399, 401;

verse attributed to, 487.
manvantara, 439.
Mara, 304, 346.
marjara nyaya, 501.
markata nyaya, 501.
marriage-rites, 270, 421, 533.
marriage-tree, 541.
Maruts, 8, 56, 97 ff.
Mather, Cotton, 565.
matriarchy, 441, 541.
matter (see prakrti), 400.
Maya, see illusion.
May-day, 453.

meat-eating (see ahimsa), 365, 368.

medha, 452.

Megasthenes, i, 458 ff.

Menandros, 545.

merias, 529.

metals, 35.

metempsychosis, 175, 199, 204, 286,

302, 347, 364, 401, 532, 533, 559;

in the Veda, 145, 432, 530.
methods of interpretation, 8, 12 ff.,

22, 551-
Mihira, see Mithra.
Milinda, 545.
MTm.amsa, 495.
miracles, 430.
missionaries, 566 ff.
Mitra (see Varuna), 41, 44, 57, 60,

71, 138 ; mitra, mihira, 423, 544.
Mohammedans, 436 ff., 482, 509,

524, 546 ff.
monks (see ascetic, bhiksu, Sannya-

sin), 285, 324 ; monasticism, 502,

557-
monkey (see Hanuman), 448, 452,

502, 547 ; monkey-doctrine, 500.
monolith, worship of, 538.
monotheism, ir, 13, 67, 70, 139,

172, 413, 414, 427, 432, 442, 481,

483* 509' 547-
monsoon, 35. ^ — v,^^

moon (see eschatology, Gandharva,
Soma), 185, 470, 480, 526, 533.

morals (see commandments, sin),
14, 143, 180, 203, 353, 375, 401,

443' 553' 570.

mother-divinities, 415, 492 ; mother-
hoods, 534.

mountains, divine, 137, 359, 416,
461, 463, 528, 532, 537.

mouse, 532.

Mozoomdar, 519.

606

INDEX.

muni, 148, 520.
Munroe, Major, 566.
murder, 179, 475, 527.
music, 443.
Musikas, 532.
mysticism (see Yoga), 504.

Nagas (see dragon, snake), 536, 539.

Nagarjuna, 340, 343.

Nakhis, 486.

name of tlie Lord, call upon, 507.

names, 201.

Nanak, 502, 511 ff., 547.

Nahgi Panthis, 514.

Nara, Narayana, 412, 448 ; Svami

Narayana, 506, 514.
Nature, 397.
nautch, 454,

Neo-Platonism, 558, 560.
New Year's festival, 449, 456.
Niadis. 537.

nidanas, chain of causality, 323.
Night, 48, 76, 79.
Nikaya, 326.
Nimbaditya, 508.
Nirgrantha, 283.
Nirmalas, 513.
Nirvana, 286, 310, 319, 321 ff., 336,

346, 347, 426 ff.
Nisads, 440.

non-duality, see advaita.
Notovitch, 546.
numbers, 478.
nuns, 290, 310, 330, 557.
nymphs, in heaven, 417.
Nysian, 458.

oath (see ordeals), of king, 213;
may be broken, 255; water in
oath, 362 ; other forms of oath,
533' 534-

observances, 246.
oceans, 34.
offerings, 183.

<^"^' 395' 453-

Omens (see magic), 256, 328.

ophir, 543-

oracles, 533, 534.

Oraons, 526, 531, 535.

ordeals, 3, 270, 275, 363.

orders, political, priestly stadia, 264,

353' 365-
orthodoxy, 507, 562.

pacceka, 305.

Paharias, 533.

pairs of gods, 83, 102, 138, 462.

palm, 540.

palmistry (see omens), 256.

Paiicajanya fire, 423.

Pancakala, Pancakalajnas, 413.

Pancamahakalpa, 413.

Palicatantra, 558.

Pancaratra, 413, 427, 442, 447, 492,

Pandavas, 466, 469,

Pandurahga, 500.

pantheism (see Krsna, Rama, Visnu),

yi^ 47' 57' 138, 140, 248, 356, 407,

414, 484 ff., 498, 547.
Paradise, see Heaven,
Para9u Rama, 469.
parents, 370.
parimara, 227, 229, 232.
Parjanya, 100 ff., 369, 378.
Parmenides, 559.
parrot, 445, 450.
ParvatI, (goddess) 'of mountains,'

416.
Pa^upati, 413, 462, 463.
Pa^upatas, 447, 4S2, 509
Pataliputta, 311.

INDEX.

GQil

Pataiijali, 495.
Path, holy, 305 ff., 401, 426.
peacock, 445, 450, 52S, 536.
Persian, see Darius, Iranian,
pessimism, 306, 314, 316 ff.
phallus (see linga), 150, 414, 443,

470, 471, 52S, 544.
PhansTgars, 494.
Philo, 558.
philosophy (see Sahkhya, Vedanta),

141, 495.
Phoenicia, 543.
picture-worship, 374, 557.
pipal-tree, see bo-tree.
Pi9acas (see devils), 415.
planets, 367, 415, 545.
plants, worship of (see trees), 540 ;

plant-souls, see metempsychosis.
Plato, 2, 559.
Plotinus, 561.
pocket-altars, 475.
pole-rite, 378, 443, 534.
political divisions, 26, 27.
polyandry, 467, 535.
polygamy, 533.
polytheism, 11, 13, 529, 547.
Pongol, 449, 528.
pools, 254, 370, 372, 404, 444,

478.
pope, 557.
Porphyry, 561.

Portuguese rule in India, 566.
Prabha, 452.
Pradyumna, 441, 442.
Prahlada, 397.
Prajapati, 142, 1S2 ff., 196 ff., 404,

412, 475, 492, 554.
prakrti, 396, 397, 399, 507.
prasada (see grace) 429.
prayaga, 435.
Prem Sagar, 567.

priest, 28, 29, 40, 176, 179, 370 ;

privileges of, 263, 549 ; epic priest,

352-
Pr9ni, 97.

Prometheus, 107, 168.

Punjab, 30, y^, 34.

Puranas, 2, 3, 424, 430, 434 ff., 476,

503-
Puranic Sankhya, 495.

purity, T48, 369.

purgatory, 557.

Purusa, 142, 397, 447.

Purvamimaaisa, 495.

Pu.san, 5, 41, 47, 50 ff., 80, loi, 463,

464, 475.

Puskara, 372.

Pu.sti, 452.

Putana, 444.

putika, 369.

Pythagoras, 209, 559 ff., 5S0, note 3.

quakerism, 567.
quietism (see Yoga), 567.

Radha, Radha Vallabhis, 492, 506.

Rahu, 367.

rain-gods, 99, 528.

rajas, 507.

Rajasuya, 444, 448, 477.

Rak.sas (see devils), 419.

ram, 445.

Rama, 349, 397, 498.

Ramacandra, 454, 506.

Ramaism, 315, 349, 427, 485, 500 ff.

Ramanand, 502, 510, 513.

Ramanuja, 447, 482, 496 ff., 505, 507.

Ramayana, 349 ff,

Ramcaritmanas, 503.

Rammohun Roy, 515.

Rasa (Volga, 26), 30, 169.

Ras Dasas, 502.

60S

INDEX.

Ras Yatra, 456, 505.

Rath Yatra, 456.

Rati, 452.

Raudras, 447.

Ravana, 470.

redemption, doctrine of, 569.

reformation of sects, 508, 522,

relics, 556.

remnant-worship, 151, 157.

Renaissance, 2, 438.

renunciation (see Yogi, Sannyasi),

394-
responsibility, moral, 380.
Ribhus (Rbhavas), 93, 123, 169, 382.
Right (see Dharma), 249, 422, 442,

554-
Right-hand cult, 490.

Rig Yeda (rg), 3, 5, 7, 9, 10 ff., 22,

29, 37 ff., 44; in epic, 360, 419.

Rishis (Rsis), see Seers.

ritual, 12 ff., 16 ff., 106, 124, 175.

ritualism, 568.

rivers, divine, 30 ff., 32, 99, 138,

5-S, 537-
Romans, 6, 556.
rosary, 374, 413, 478, 502, 557.
rosy, 493.
Rudra (see ^atarudriya, ^iva), 50,

54> 97' 99' 379' 3^8, 406 ; Rudra-
^iva, 458 ff.; Rudrajapas, 463.
rudraksa, 502.

sacraments, forty, 255.

sacrifice, 47, 60, 149, 177 ff., 188,

196, 19S, 211, 225, 246, 363, 369,

375, 406, 413, 420, 423, 450, 462,

471, 490 ff., 526, 528, 529, 534,

571-
Sadhus, 514.

Caivas (see (^ivaites), 413.
(^aka era, 436.

Sakhi bhavas, 492.

gaktas, 413, 4S9, t,yy

9akti, 489, 490, 537, 553.

(^akuntala, 438.

^akya, 300, 302.

^alagrama, holy stone, 447, 502,

540.
sallo kallo, 531.
Samajas, 516 ff., 569, 570.
Sama Yeda, 176, 3S9, 396, 419.
Samana, 302, 344.
(^ambhu, 4S7.
CamT, 9aml-plant, 540.
sariivartaka fire, 421.
sariisara, 175, 199, 231, 253, 380,

425-
saihskrta, 396.
sariivat, 436.
Sanatkumara, 466.
^andilya, 221, 497, 509 ; sutras, 503.
Sandrocottos, 435.
Sarigha, 324, 341.
(^aiikara, 289, 437, 445; vijaya, 480;

482, 495, 505, 506.
Sankhya, 323, 365, 391 ff., 396, 399,

400, 402, 460, 482, 484, 489, 495,

509. 547. 560.
Sannyasin, 258, 281, 508.
Saranyu, 81, 138.
Sarama, Sarameya, 131, 132, 138.
Sarasvati, 31 ff., 149, 451, 492.
(^arlrakamlmaihsa, 495.
^arva, 462, 463, 548.
Sarvadarcanasangraha, 480.
Qatarudriya, 413, 470.
Sat nam, 512.
sattra, 371, 420.
sattva, 507.
Saturnalia, 455.
Saubhagasena, 545.
Saugatas, 448, 567.

INDEX.

609

Sauras, 413, 423, 50S.

Savaras, Sauras, 535.

Savitar (see Sun), 41 ff., 46 ff.

Savitri, 46, 466, 492.

Sayana, 4S0.

Schopenhauer, 561.

sects, 445.

Seers, 36S.

Semiramis, 543.

Semites, 571.

Sen, 51S.

sesanium, 452, 502.

Qesa, 446, 465.

seven, iS, 26, 32, 49, 64, 98, 162,

Seypoys, 566.

sex, 43, 59, 183, 490.

Siddhas, 367, 397, 482.

Sikhs (Singhs, Simhas), 8, 502, 510-

513-
sin (see commandments, vows), 42,

47, 51, 60, 65, 329, 376, 392, 530,
554 ; venial, 254 ; sin and sacri-
fice, 526.

sihga-tree, 533.

gicupala, 457.

Sittars, 315, 367, 482, 488, 567, 570.

^iva, 25, 50, 99, 112, 150, 178, 251,

Vo'^^ 354> 365' 374, 38S ff., 397,
404, 406, 412 ff., 487, 532, 534.
^ivaism (see Caivas), 348, 3S9, 407,

4^3' 423, 427, 446, 4SI, 453, 466,
480, 484, 48S, 496, 548 ; sacrifice

of. Zl"^^ 453, 459, 462, 492.
^ivaites, 481 ff., 483.
Skanda (Karttikeya), 354, 410, 414,

445, 466.
slaves, 29, 425, 477, 548, 549.
small-pox god, 452, 528.
Smartas, 482, 507.
Snirti, 440.

snake (see dragon, Naga), 20, 94,
154, 164, 186, 344, 361, 376, 397,
419, 446, 469, 527, 533, 536, 539,

547-
sociological data, 27, 60, 524 ff.
solar myths, 1 1.
Soma, 14, 16, 42, 50, 112 ff., 1S5,

354, 369, W^^ 477, 491, 531, 540,
571-
Somananda, 482.

son, importance of, 148, 363,

sophistry, -t^^t^.

sorcery, see magic.

soul (see atma, jTva), 530.

sources, 3.

spirit (see atma), 400, 442.

spring, god of, 528.

spring-festival, 449, 452, 456.

^"raddha (see Manes), 451, 453, 455.

(^ramana, 281, 292, 302.

9ravaka, y^i^.

gn, 438, 441, 451, 492.

(^rlraiiga, 456.
gruti, 245 ff., y]^, 378.
star-souls, 204, 366, 446.
star-worshippers, 480, 526, 533.
Stoics, 558, 563.

stone, worship of (see ^alagrama),
5-6, 533, 538 ; marriage-stone,

271, 535-
straw (victim), 526.

stupas, 556.

Subrahmanya, 466.

gCidra (see slave), 419; Sudroi, 548.

suicide, 378.

Sukharas, 487.

Qulvasutra, 560.

Sun, 17, 39, 40 ff., 47, 51, 56, 57, 82,
164, 205, 354, y]-i, 401, 402, 446,
449, 452, 460, 492, 508, 509, 526,
528, 530, 532, 534, 543 ff-

610

INDEX.

Sunday, 452.

Sunthals, 532.

(^unyavads, 448.

sura, 127.

Surya (see Sun), 51, 82, 449, 492.

Sutta, 326.

suttee, 165, 274, 369, 441.

Sutras, 3, 4, 5, 7, 174, 245 ff.

Svami, see Narayana.

svastivacanam, y] i .

^vetambaras, 284 ff., 480.

swing, see Dola.

tabu, 251, 535.
tamas (see darkness), 507.
Tamerlane, 436.

Tamil, poetry, 315; religion, 524.
tan, 50S.

Tantras, 2,439, 476, 491.
tapas (see asceticism), 520.
Tari^ 52S, 530.
Tathagata, 303.

temples, 42S, 444, 447, 452, 456,
471, 526, 557; snake-temple, 539.
Ten-galais, 501.
thaks, 535.
I'hakuranI, 535.
Thales, 559.
theft (see commandments, morals),

527. 554-
theosophy, 40, T12, 3S4.

thieves, god of, 554.

Thomas, church of, 479.

three, 42, 49, 1 10, 164.

Time, see fate.

Thugs, 492 ff., 52S, 535.

thunder-worship, 536.

tiger, 533.

tillais, 494.

tlrtha, see pools.

Tiru-valluvar, 567.

Todas, 526, 537.

tonsure, 557.

tortoise (see avatar), 536.

totem, totemism, 163, 430, 445,
464, 468, 532, 534, 537, 557.

traga, 479.

traipurusa, 464.

transmigration, see metempsychosis.

transubstantiation, 557.

trees, worship of, 35, 154, 470, 52S,
533' 540 ; tree of creation, 540,
542.

treta, 420.

triad, 42, 46, 183, 377, 404, 460.

tribes, 26 ff.

Tridandis, 482.

trimurti (see trinity), 447, 464.

trinity (see triad, trimurti, traipuru-
sa), 57, 105, 237, 387, 404, 410,
411, 412, 432, 439, 507, 516, 545;
four members, 445 ; prayer to,
447; history of, 457 ff. ; female,
492, 499.

Tripitaka, 326, 347.

Tripujas, 480.

Trita, 11, 45, 104, 431.

Troy, story of, 547.

truth, 203, 369, 381, 527, 533, 553.

Tukaram, 522.

tulasi, 456, 502, 540.

Tulasldasa, 503.

Turanian, 15, 435.

Tusti, 452.

tutelary gods, 530.

Udasis, 513.

Ugras, 447.

Ukharas, 487.

Uma, 416, 460, 490, 492.

Unitarians, 413, 485, 547.

Uparigas, 440.

INDEX.

611

Upanisads, 3, 4, 5, 7, 24, iS.i, 216 ff.,

389, 399, 405, 434, 447, 518.
Upapuranas, 440.
upasaka, 310.
Upendra, 409.
Urdhvabahus, 4S6.
U9anas, see Brhaspati.
Ushas (Usas), Dawn, 9, 10, 19,

Uttaramimamsa, 495.

Vac, see Logos.

Vada-galais, 501.

Vaikhanasas, 447.

Vairagins, 508.

Vai9esika, 503.

Vaisnava, 371, 413.

Vai9vanara (see Agni), 507.

Vaicya, 419, 4S7, 525.

Vala, 20.

Valabhl era, 436, 572.

Valentine, saint, 451.

Vallabhas, 504-50S.

Valmiki, 503.

Varahamihira, 438.

Varuna, 18, 41, 42, 44, 47, 58, 61 ff.,

138, 170, 196, 353, 354, 397, 448,

539. 554; as the moon, 571.
vasanta, see spring-festival.
Vastospati, 530.
vassallus, vassus, 530.
vasso, 292.
Vasuki, 397.

Vata, Vayu, see Wind-god.
Veda, 12, 15 ff., 142, 174, 188, 222,

256, 374. 401, 420, 425, 510.^
Vedanta, 143, 228, 264, 365, 396,*^

398 ff., 416, 460, 484," 495" ff.;

sutra, 43/.
' Vehicles,' 340.
vermilion, 532.

Vesta, 530.

Vetala, 537.

Vidyadharas, 367.

Vighne9a, 488.

vihara, 435.

Vikramaditya, 436.

village-tree, 540.

Vinaya, 326.

Virabhadra, 467.

Viraj, 507.

Virgin-worship, 557.

virtue (see commandments, dharma,

morals), ideals of, 555.
vi9as, 27, 194.
Vi9akha, 466.
Vishnu (Visnu), 41, 52, 56, 112, 144,

178, 251, 332, 354, 365, 388 ff.,

412 ff., 451 ff. ; feast of, 456 ; 460,

487, 492, 498, 508, 534.
Vishnuism, 143, 348, 389, 413, 446,

464, 480, 494 ff.
Vishnu's law-book, 441.
Vi9vamitra, 27.
Viththala, 500, 508, 514, 522.
Vivasvant, 81, 128 ff., 146, 392.
void, see ^iinya.
Volga, see Rasa,
vows, 293, 317, y]%.
Vrsabha, 482.
Vratya-hymns, 179.
Vritra (Vrtra), 20, 120, 185, 357,

369-
Vyasa, 488, 495.

warriors, 28, 29, 419.

water (origin of all things), 48, I07j,

141. ZTP, 362, 378.
waters, 99.
water-pot, 453.
water-worshippers, 480.
wealth (see Bhaga), 52S.

612

INDEX.

White Island, 413, 426 ff., 431, 545.

wife, see woman.

wild-tribes, 471, 490, 493, 524 ff.,

569-
wind-god, '^■] ff., 123, 165, 354, 460;

worshippers, 4S0.

witchcraft, see magic.

witness (see oath), 250.

women (authors of Rig Veda), 27;
burned, see suttee; as nuns, 291,
310; religion of, 370; use mantra,
440, 450, 453 ; price of wife, 270,

535-
wood, see trees.

wood-goddess, 138, 530.

worlds, number of, 402.

writing, 4, 7> 33i' 544. 595-

Yajur Veda, 24, 176 ff., 419.
Yaksas, 415.

Yama (see Citragupta, Hell), 16, 45,
49, 128 ff., 144, 146,353, 365, 378

ff-. 397. 45 1' 4S0, 540.
Yima, 11, 16, 12S ff.
Yoga, yogin or yogi, 262, 28 1, 304,

351, 391 ff., 399, 402, 470, 486,

495' 550-
yoni, vulva, 475, 490.

yuga, see ages.

Zarathustra, Zoroaster (see Iranian),

10, 72, 524.
Zeus, 9, 66.
Ziegenbalg, 565.
zoolatry, 547.

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3 5002 00398 4676

Hopkins, Edward Washburn
) The religions of India.

BL 2001 . H75

Hopkins, Edward Washburn,
1857-1932.

The religions of India

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