diff options
Diffstat (limited to '22885-8.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 22885-8.txt | 3054 |
1 files changed, 3054 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/22885-8.txt b/22885-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8850d9c --- /dev/null +++ b/22885-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3054 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hindu Gods And Heroes, by Lionel D. Barnett + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Hindu Gods And Heroes + Studies in the History of the Religion of India + +Author: Lionel D. Barnett + +Release Date: October 4, 2007 [EBook #22885] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HINDU GODS AND HEROES *** + + + + +Produced by Thierry Alberto, Sankar Viswanathan, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + The Wisdom of the East Series + + EDITED BY + + L. CRANMER-BYNG + + Dr. S. A. KAPADIA + + + + + WISDOM OF THE EAST + + + HINDU GODS AND + + HEROES + + STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF + THE RELIGION OF INDIA + + + + BY + + LIONEL D. BARNETT, M.A., LITT + + * * * * * + + + + +PREFACE + + +The following pages are taken from the Forlong Bequest lectures which +I delivered in March last at the School of Oriental Studies. Owing to +exigencies of space, much of what I then said has been omitted here, +especially with regard to the worship of Siva; but enough remains to +make clear my general view, which is that the religion of the Aryans +of India was essentially a worship of spirits--sometimes spirits of +real persons, sometimes imaginary spirits--and that, although in early +days it provisionally found room for personifications of natural +forces, it could not digest them into Great Gods, and therefore they +have either disappeared or, if surviving, remain as mere Struldbrugs. +Thus I am a heretic in relation to both the Solar Theory and the +Vegetation Theory, as everyone must be who takes the trouble to study +Hindu nature without prejudice. + +L. D. B. + +_May 29, 1922._ + + * * * * * + + + + +CONTENTS + + +I. THE VEDIC AGE: + +Popular Religion, p. 9--Rig-veda and priestly religion, p. +11--Dyaus-Zeus, p. 14--Ushas, p. 18--Surya, p. 19--Savita, p. +19--Mitra and Varuna, p. 19--Agni, p. 22--Soma, p. 23--Indra, p. +25--The Asvins, p. 35--Vishnu, p. 37--Rudra-Siva, p. 42--Summary, p. +42. + + +II. THE AGE OF THE BRAHMANAS: + +Growth of Brahman influence in expanding Aryan society, p. 45--System +of priestly doctrine: theory of Sacrifice and mechanical control of +nature thereby, p. 48--Its antinomianism: partly corrected by the +growing cult of Rudra-Siva, p. 53--The Upanishads: their relation to +the Brahmanas, p. 59--Brahma the Absolute, p. 60--Karma-Samsara, p. +63--Results: Saiva Theism, p. 65--Krishna: early history and legends, +p. 66--Teachings, p. 68. + + +III. THE EPICS, AND LATER: + +I. The Great War and the Pandavas, p. 70--Vishnu-Krishna, p. +74--Narayana, p. 76--Bhagavad-gita and Narayaniya, p. 77--Growth of +church of Vishnu-Krishna, p. 79--Worship of Pandavas, p. 92--New +erotic and romantic Krishnaism, p. 94. + +II. Rama: legend of Rama and constitution of Ramayana, p. 98. + +III. Some later Preachers, p. 103--Religions of Vishnu-Krishna and +Siva in Southern India, p. 103--Samkara Acharya, p. 105--Ramanuja, p. +107--Nimbarka, Madhva, Vallabha, p. 108--Jñanadeva, p. 109--Nama-deva, +p. 109--Tukaram, p. 109--Ramananda, p. 110--Tulsi Das, p. 110--Kabir, +p. 110--Nanak, p. 110--Chaitanya, p. 110. + +IV. Brahma and the Trimurti, p. 111--Dattatreya, p. 114. + +V. Two Modern Instances, p. 116. + + +CONCLUSION. + + * * * * * + + + + +EDITORIAL NOTE + + +The object of the Editors of this series is a very definite one. They +desire above all things that, in their humble way, these books shall +be the ambassadors of goodwill and understanding between East and +West--the old world of Thought and the new of Action. In this +endeavour, and in their own sphere, they are but followers of the +highest example in the land. They are confident that a deeper +knowledge of the great ideals and lofty philosophy of Oriental thought +may help to a revival of that true spirit of Charity which neither +despises nor fears the nations of another creed and colour. + +L. CRANMER-BYNG. + +S. A. KAPADIA. + +NORTHBROOK SOCIETY, + +21 CROMWELL ROAD, + +KENSINGTON, S. W. + + * * * * * + + + + +HINDU GODS AND HEROES + +CHAPTER I + +THE VEDIC AGE + + +Let us imagine we are in a village of an Aryan tribe in the Eastern +Panjab something more than thirty centuries ago. It is made up of a +few large huts, round which cluster smaller ones, all of them rudely +built, mostly of bamboo; in the other larger ones dwell the heads of +families, while the smaller ones shelter their kinsfolk and followers, +for this is a patriarchal world, and the housefather gives the law to +his household. The people are mostly a comely folk, tall and +clean-limbed, and rather fair of skin, with well-cut features and +straight noses; but among them are not a few squat and ugly men and +women, flat-nosed and nearly black in colour, who were once the free +dwellers in this land, and now have become slaves or serfs to their +Aryan conquerors. Around the village are fields where bullocks are +dragging rough ploughs; and beyond these are woods and moors in which +lurk wild men, and beyond these are the lands of other Aryan tribes. +Life in the village is simple and rude, but not uneventful, for the +village is part of a tribe, and tribes are constantly fighting with +one another, as well as with the dark-skinned men who often try to +drive back the Aryans, sometimes in small forays and sometimes in +massed hordes. But the world in which the village is interested is a +small one, and hardly extends beyond the bounds of the land where its +tribe dwells. It knows something of the land of the Five Rivers, in +one corner of which it lives, and something even of the lands to the +north of it, and to the west as far as the mountains and deserts, +where live men of its own kind and tongue; but beyond these limits it +has no knowledge. Only a few bold spirits have travelled eastward +across the high slope that divides the land of the Five Rivers from +the strange and mysterious countries around the great rivers Ganga and +Yamuna, the unknown land of deep forests and swarming dark-skinned +men. + +In the matter of religion these Aryans care a good deal about charms +and spells, black and white magic, for preventing or curing all kinds +of diseases or mishaps, for winning success in love and war and trade +and husbandry, for bringing harm upon enemies or rivals--charms which +a few centuries later will be dressed up in Rigvedic style, stuffed +out with imitations of Rigvedic hymns, and published under the name of +Atharva veda, "the lore of the Atharvans," by wizards who claim to +belong to the old priestly clans of Atharvan and Angiras. But we have +not yet come so far, and as yet all that these people can tell us is a +great deal about their black and white magic, in which they are hugely +interested, and a fair amount about certain valiant men of olden times +who are now worshipped by them as helpful spirits, and a little about +some vague spirits who are in the sun and the air and the fire and +other places, and are very high and great, but are not interesting at +all. + +This popular religion seems to be a hopeless one, without ideals and +symbols of love and hope. Is there nothing better to be found in this +place? Yes, there is a priestly religion also; and if we would know +something about it we must listen to the chanting of the priests, the +_brahmans_ or men of the "holy spirit," as they are called, who are +holding a sacrifice now on behalf of the rich lord who lives in the +largest house in the village--a service for which they expect to be +paid with a handsome fee of oxen and gold. They are priests by +heredity, wise in the knowledge of the ways of the gods; some of them +understand how to compose _riks_, or hymns, in the fine speech dear to +their order, hymns which are almost sure to win the gods' favour, and +all of them know how the sacrifices shall be performed with perfect +exactness so that no slip or imperfection may mar their efficacy. +Their psalms are called _Rig-veda_, "lore of the verses," and they set +themselves to find grace in the ears of the many gods whom these +priests worship, sometimes by open praise and sometimes by riddling +description of the exploits and nature of the gods. Often they are +very fine; but always they are the work of priests, artists in ritual. +And if you look heedfully into it you will also mark that these +priests are inclined to think that the act of sacrifice, the offering +of, say, certain oblations in a particular manner with particular +words accompanying them, is in itself potent, quite apart from the +psalms which they sing over it, that it has a magic power of its own +over the machinery of nature.[1] Really this is no new idea of our +Vedic priests; ten thousand years before them their remote forefathers +believed it and acted upon it, and if for example they wanted rain +they would sprinkle drops of water and utter magic words. Our Vedic +priests have now a different kind of symbols, but all the same they +still have the notion that ceremony, _rita_ as they call it, has a +magic potency of its own. Let us mark this well, for we shall see much +issuing from it. + +[Footnote 1: Cf. e.g. RV. III. xxxii. 12.] + +Who are the gods to whom these priests offer their prayers and psalms? +They are many, and of various kinds. Most of them are taken from the +religion of the people, and dressed in new garb according to the +imagination of the priest; and a few are priestly inventions +altogether. There is Dyaush-pita, the Sky-father, with Prithivi Mata, +the Earth-mother; there are Vayu the Wind-spirit, Parjanya the +Rain-god, Surya the Sun-god, and other spirits of the sky such as +Savita; there is the Dawn-goddess, Ushas. All these are or were +originally deified powers of nature: the people, though their +imagination created them, have never felt any deep interest in them, +and the priests who have taken them into their charge, though they +treat them very courteously and sing to them elegant hymns full of +figures of speech, have not been able to cover them with the flesh and +blood of living personality. Then we have Agni the Fire-god, and Soma +the spirit of the intoxicating juice of the soma-plant, which is used +to inspire the pious to drunken raptures in certain ceremonies; both +of these have acquired a peculiar importance through their association +with priestly worship, especially Agni, because he, as bearing to the +gods the sacrifices cast into his flames, has become the ideal Priest +and divine Paraclete of Heaven. Nevertheless all this hieratic +importance has not made them gods in the deeper sense, reigning in the +hearts of men. Then we find powers of doubtful origin, Mitra and +Varuna and Vishnu and Rudra, and figures of heroic legend, like the +warrior Indra and the twin charioteers called Asvinaa and Nasatya. All +these, with many others, have their worship in the Rig-veda: the +priests sing their praises lustily, and often speak now of one deity, +now of another, as being the highest divinity, without the least +consistency. + +Some savage races believe in a highest god or first divine Being in +whom they feel little personal interest. They seldom speak of him, and +hardly ever worship him. So it seems to be with Dyaush-pita. The +priests speak of him and to him, but only in connexion with other +gods; he has not a single whole hymn in his honour, and the only +definite attribute that attaches to him is that of fatherhood. Yet he +has become a great god among other races akin in speech to the Aryans +of India: Dyaush-pita is phonetically the same as the Greek [Greek: +Zeus patêr] and the Latin _Iuppiter_. How comes it then that he is +not, and apparently never was, a god in the true sense among the +Indian Aryans? Because, I think, his name has always betrayed him. To +call a deity "Sky-father" is to label him as a mere abstraction. No +mystery, no possibility of human personality, can gather round those +two plain prose words. So long as a deity is known by the name of the +physical agency that he represents, so long will he be unable to grow +into a personal God in India. The priests may sing vociferous psalms +to Vayu the Wind-spirit and Surya the Sun-spirit, and even to their +beloved Agni the Fire-god; but sing as much as they will, they never +can make the people in general take them to their hearts. + +Observe what a different history is that of Zeus among the +Greeks--Zeus, Father of Gods and Men, the ideal of kingly majesty and +wisdom and goodness. The reason is patent. Ages and ages before the +days when the Homeric poets sang, the Greeks had forgotten that Zeus +originally meant "sky": it had become to them a personal name of a +great spiritual power, which they were free to invest with the noblest +ideal of personality. But very likely there is also another reason: I +believe that the Olympian Zeus, as modelled by Homer and accepted by +following generations, was not the original [Greek: _Zeus patêr_] at +all, but a usurper who had robbed the old Sky-father of his throne and +of his title as well, that he was at the outset a hero-king who some +time after his death was raised to the seat and dignity of the old +Sky-father and received likewise his name. This theory explains the +old hero-sagas which are connected with Zeus and the strange fact that +the Cretans pointed to a spot in their island where they believed Zeus +was buried. It explains why legends persistently averred that Zeus +expelled his father Kronos from the throne and suppressed the Titan +dynasty: on my view, Kronos was the original Father Zeus, and his name +of Zeus and rank as chief god were appropriated by a deified hero. +How natural such a process was in those days may be seen from the +liturgy of Unas on the pyramids at Sakkarah in Egypt.[2] Here Unas +is described as rising in heaven after his death as a supreme god, +devouring his fathers and mothers, slaughtering the gods, eating their +"magical powers," and swallowing their "spirit-souls," so that he thus +becomes "the first-born of the first-born gods," omniscient, +omnipotent, and eternal, identified with the Osiris, the highest god. +Now this Unas was a real historical man; he was the last king of the +Fifth Dynasty, and was deified after death, just like any other king +of Egypt. The early Egyptians, like many savage tribes, regarded all +their kings as gods on earth and paid them formal worship after their +death; the later Egyptians, going a step further, worshipped them even +in their lifetime as embodiments of the gods.[3] What is said in the +liturgy for the deification of Unas is much the same as was said of +other kings. The dead king in early Egypt becomes a god, even the +greatest of the gods, and he assumes the name of that god[4]; he +overcomes the other gods by brute force, he kills and devours them. +This is very like what I think was the case with Zeus; the main +difference is that in Egypt the _character_ of the deified king was +merged in that of the old god, and men continued to regard the latter +in exactly the same light as before; but among the forefathers of the +Greeks the reverse happened in at least one case, that of Zeus, where +the character of a hero who had peculiarly fascinated popular +imagination partly eclipsed that of the old god whose name and rank he +usurped. The reason for this, I suppose, is that even the early +Egyptians had already a conservative religion with fixed traditions +and a priesthood that forgot nothing,[5] whereas among the forefathers +of the Greeks, who were wandering savages, social order and religion +were in a very fluid state. However that may be, a deified hero might +oust an older god and reign under his name; and this theory explains +many difficulties in the legends of Zeus. + +[Footnote 2: Sir E. A. W. Budge, _Literature of the Ancient +Egyptians_, p. 21 ff., and _Gods of the Egyptians_, i, pp. 32 f., 43.] + +[Footnote 3: Erman, _Handbook of Egyptian Religion_, p. 37 f.] + +[Footnote 4: Budge, _Lit. of the Egyptians_, p. 21; Erman, _ut supra_, +p. 37 f.] + +[Footnote 5: It is even possible that in one case, that of Osiris, a +hero in Egypt may have eclipsed by his personality the god whom he +ousted. See Sir J. W. Frazer's _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, ii, p. 200, +and Sir W. Ridgeway's _Dramas and Dramatic Dances, etc._, p. 94 ff.] + +As to the Roman Iuppiter, I need not say much about him. Like all the +genuine gods of Latium, he never was much more than an abstraction +until the Greeks came with their literature and dressed him in the +wardrobe of their Zeus. + +Coming now to Ushas, the Lady of the Dawn, and looking at her name +from the standpoint of comparative philosophy, we see that the word +_ushas_ is closely connected with the Greek [Greek: heôs] and the +Latin _aurora_. But when we read the literature, we are astonished to +find that while the Greek Dawn-lady has remained almost always a mere +abstraction, the Indian spirit is a lovely, living woman instinct with +the richest sensuous charms of the East. Some twenty hymns are +addressed to her, and for the most part they are alive with real +poetry, with a sense of beauty and gladness and sometimes withal an +under-note of sadness for the brief joys of life. But when we look +carefully into it we notice a curious thing: all this hymn-singing to +Ushas is purely literary and artistic, and there is practically no +religion at all at the back of it. A few stories are told of her, but +they seem to convince no one, and she certainly has no ritual worship +apart from these hymns, which are really poetical essays more than +anything else. The priestly poets are thrilled with sincere emotion at +the sight of the dawn, and are inspired by it to stately and lively +descriptions of its beauties and to touching reflections upon the +passing of time and mortal life; but in this scene Ushas herself is +hardly more than a model from an artist's studio, in a very Bohemian +quarter. More than once on account of her free display of her charms +she is compared to a dancing girl, or even a common harlot! Here the +imagination is at work which in course of time will populate the Hindu +Paradise with a celestial _corps de ballet_, the fair and frail +Apsarasas. Our Vedic Ushas is a forerunner of that gay company. A +charming person, indeed; but certainly no genuine goddess. + +As his name shows, Surya is the spirit of the sun. We hear a good deal +about him in the Rig-veda, but the whole of it is merely description +of the power of the sun in the order of nature, partly allegorical, +and partly literal. He is only a nature-power, not a personal god. The +case is not quite so clear with Savita, whose name seems to mean +literally "stimulator," "one who stirs up." On the whole it seems most +likely that he represents the sun, as the vivifying power in nature, +though some[6] think that he was originally an abstraction of the +vivifying forces in the world and later became connected with the sun. +However this may be, Savita is and remains an impersonal spirit with +no human element in his character. + +[Footnote 6: See Oldenberg, _Religion des Veda_, p. 64 f.] + +Still more perplexing are the two deities Mitra and Varuna, who are +very often associated with one another, and apparently are related. +Mitra certainly is an old god: if we go over the mountains to the west +and north-west of the country of our Indian Aryans, we shall find +their kinsmen in Persia and Bactria worshipping him as a power that +maintains the laws of righteousness and guards the sanctity of oaths +and engagements, who by means of his watchmen keeps mankind under his +observation and with his terrible weapons crushes evil powers. The +Indian Aryans tell almost exactly the same tale of their Mitra and his +companion Varuna, who perhaps is simply a doublet of Mitra with a +different name, which perhaps is due to a variety of worship. But they +have more to say of Varuna than of Mitra. In Varuna we have the +highest ideal of spirituality that Hindu religion will reach for many +centuries. Not only is he described as supreme controller of the order +of nature--that is an attribute which these priestly poets ascribe +with generous inconsistency to many others of their deities--but he is +likewise the omniscient guardian of the moral law and the rule of +religion, sternly punishing sin and falsehood with his dreaded noose, +but showing mercy to the penitent and graciously communing with the +sage who has found favour in his eyes. + +But Mitra and Varuna will not enjoy this exalted rank for long. Soon +the priests will declare that Mitra rules over the day and Varuna over +the night (TS. II. i. 7, 4; VI. iv. 8, 3), and then Varuna will begin +to sink in honour. The "noose of Varuna" will come to mean merely the +disease of dropsy. His connection with the darkness of the night will +cause men to think of him with fear; and in their dread they will +forget his ancient attributes of universal righteousness, justice, and +mercy, and remember him chiefly as an avenger of guilt. They will +banish him to the distant seas, whose rivers he now guides over the +earth in his gracious government of nature; and there he will dwell in +exile for ever, remembered only to be feared. And Mitra will become +merely another name for the sun. + +What is the origin of this singular couple? And why are they destined +to this fall? Neither of these questions can be answered by anything +but conjectures. There is no evidence either from Indian or from +Iranian religion that Mitra or his double Varuna grew out of the +worship of the sun or the sky, although in their worship they were +sometimes connected with the sun and the sky. However far backwards we +look, we still find them essentially spirits of natural order and +moral law, gods in the higher sense of the word. But their character, +and especially the character of Varuna, it seems to me, is rather too +high to survive the competition of rival cults, such as that of the +popular hero Indra and the priests' darling Agni, which tend to +engross the interest of worshippers lay and cleric, and to blunt their +relish for more spiritual ideals. So Mitra and Varuna become stunted +in their growth; and at last comes the fatal time when they are +identified with the sky by day and night. This is the final blow. No +deity that is plainly limited to any one phase or form of nature in +India can be or become a great god; and speedily all their real +divinity fades away from Mitra and Varuna, and they shrivel into +insignificance. + +Next we turn to a spirit of a very different sort, the Fire-god, Agni. +The word _agni_ is identical with the Latin _ignis_; it means "fire," +and nothing else but fire, and this fact is quite sufficient to +prevent Agni from becoming a great god. The priests indeed do their +best, by fertile fancy and endless repetition of his praises, to lift +him to that rank; but even they cannot do it. From the days of the +earliest generations of men Fire was a spirit; and the household fire, +which cooks the food of the family and receives its simple oblations +of clarified butter, is a kindly genius of the home. But with all his +usefulness and elfish mystery Fire simply remains fire, and there's an +end of it, for the ordinary man. But the priests will not have it so. +The chief concern of their lives is with sacrifice, and their deepest +interest is in the spirit of the sacrificial fire. All the riches of +their imagination and their vocabulary are lavished upon him, his +forms and his activities. They have devoted to him about 200 hymns and +many occasional verses, in which they dwell with constant delight and +ingenious metaphor upon his splendour, his power, his birth from +wood, from the two firesticks, from trees of the forest, from stones, +or as lightning from the clouds, his kinship with the sun, his +dwelling in three abodes (viz. as a rule on earth, in the clouds as +lightning, and in the upper heavens as the sun), his place in the +homes of men as a holy guest, a friend and a kinsman, his protection +of worshippers against evil spirits and malignant sorcerers, and +especially his function of conveying the oblation poured into his +flames up to the gods. Thus they are led to represent him as the +divine Priest, the ideal hierophant, in whom are united the functions +of the three chief classes of Rigvedic sacrificial priests, the +_hota_, _adhvaryu_, and _brahman_, and hence as an all-knowing sage +and seer. If infinite zeal and ingenuity in singing Agni's praises and +glorifying his activities can avail to raise him to the rank of a +great god, we may expect to find him very near the top. But it is not +to be. The priests cannot convince the plain man of Agni's +super-godhead, and soon they will fail to convince even themselves. +The time will shortly come when they will regard all these gods as +little more than puppets whose strings are pulled by the mysterious +spirit of the sacrifice. + +The priests have another pet deity, Soma. For the sacred rites include +the pressing and drinking of the fermented yellow juice of the +soma-plant, an acid draught with intoxicating powers, which when mixed +with milk and drunk in the priestly rites inspires religious ecstasy. +This drinking of the soma-juice is already an ancient and important +feature in the worship of our Aryans, as it is also among their +kinsmen in Iran; so it is no wonder that the spirit of the sacred +plant has been made by the priests into an important deity and +celebrated with endless abundance of praise and prayer. As with Agni, +Soma's appearance and properties are described with inexhaustible +wealth of epithets and metaphors. The poets love to dwell on the +mystic powers of this wonderful potion, which can heal sickness of +soul and body and inspire gods and men to mighty deeds and holy +ecstasy. Most often they tell how the god Indra drank huge potions of +it to strengthen himself for his great fight with the dragon Vritra. +Most of this worship is of priestly invention; voluminous as its +rhetoric is, it makes no great impression on the laity, nor perhaps on +the clergy either. Some of the more ingenious of the priests are +already beginning to trace an affinity between Soma and the moon. The +yellow soma-stalks swell in the water of the pressing-vat, as the +yellow moon waxes in the sky; the _soma_ has a magical power of +stimulation, and the moon sends forth a mystic liquid influence over +the vegetation of the earth, and especially over magic plants; the +soma is an ambrosia drunk by gods and heroes to inspire them to mighty +deeds, and the moon is a bowl of ambrosia which is periodically drunk +by the gods and therefore wanes month by month. The next step will +soon be taken, and the priests will say that Soma _is_ the moon; and +literature will then obediently accept this statement, and, gradually +forgetting nearly everything that Soma meant to the Rigvedic priests, +will use the name Soma merely as a secondary name for Chandra, the +moon and its god. A very illuminating process, which shows how a god +may utterly change his nature. Now we turn to the hero-gods. + +Indra and the Asvina at the beginning came to be worshipped because +they were heroes, men who were supposed to have wrought marvellously +noble and valiant deeds in dim far-off days, saviours of the +afflicted, champions of the right, and who for this reason were +worshipped after death, perhaps even before death, as divine beings, +and gradually became associated in their legends and the forms of +their worship with all kinds of other gods. Times change, gods grow +old and fade away, but the remembrance of great deeds lives on in +strange wild legends, which, however much they may borrow from other +worships and however much they may be obscured by the phantom lights +of false fancy, still throw a glimmer of true light back through the +darkness of the ages into an immeasurably distant past. + +Indra is a mighty giant, tawny of hair and beard and tawny of aspect. +The poets tell us that he bears up or stretches out earth and sky, +even that he has created heaven and earth. He is a monarch supreme +among the gods, the lord of all beings, immeasurable and irresistible +of power. He rides in a golden chariot drawn by two tawny horses, or +many horses, even as many as eleven hundred, and he bears as his chief +weapon the _vajra_, or thunderbolt, sometimes also a bow with arrows, +a hook, or a net. Of all drinkers of soma he is the lustiest; he +swills many lakes of it, and he eats mightily of the flesh of bulls +and buffaloes. To his worshippers he gives abundance of wealth and +happiness, and he leads them to victory over hostile tribes of Aryans +and the still more dreaded hordes of dark-skins, the Dasas and Dasyus. +He guided the princes Yadu and Turvasa across the rivers, he aided +Divodasa Atithigva to discomfit the dark-skinned Sambara, he gave to +Divodasa's son Sudas the victory over the armies of the ten allied +kings beside the river Parushni. Many are the names of the devils and +demons that have fallen before him; but most glorious of all his deeds +is the conquest of Vritra, the dragon dwelling in a mountain fastness +amidst the waters, where Indra, accompanied by the troop of Maruts, or +storm-gods, slew the monster with his bolt and set free the waters, or +recovered the hidden kine. Our poets sing endless variations on this +theme, and sometimes speak of Indra repeating the exploit for the +benefit of his worshippers, which is as much as to say that they, or +at least some of them, think it an allegory. + +In all this maze of savage fancy and priestly invention and wild +exaggeration there are some points that stand out clearly. Indra is a +god of the people, particularly of the fighting man, a glorified type +of the fair-haired, hard-fighting, hard-drinking forefathers of the +Indian Aryans and their distant cousins the Hellenes; and therefore he +is the champion of their armies in battles. He is not a fiction of +hieratic imagination, whom priests regale with hyperbolic flattery +qualified only by the lukewarmness of their belief in their own words. +He is a living personality in the faith of the people; the priests +only invent words to express the people's faith, and perhaps add to +the old legends some riddling fancies of their own. Many times they +tell us that after conquering Vritra and setting free the waters or +the kine Indra created the light, the dawn, or the sun; or they say +that he produced them without mentioning any fight with Vritra; +sometimes they speak of him as setting free "the kine of the Morning," +which means that they understood the cows to signify the light of +morning, and it would seem also that they thought that the waters +mentioned in the story signified the rain. But why do they speak of +these acts as heroic deeds, exploits of a mighty warrior, in the same +tone and with the same epic fire as when they sing of Indra's battles +in times near to their own, real battles in which their own +forefathers, strong in their faith in the god, shattered the armies of +hostile Aryan tribes or the fortresses of dark-skinned natives? The +personality of Indra and the spirit in which his deeds are recounted +remind us of hero-sagas; the allegories which the poets read into them +are on the other hand quite in the style of the priest. How can we +explain the presence of these two voices? Besides, why should the +setting free of the rain or the daylight be a peculiarly heroic +attribute of Indra? Other gods are said to do the same things as part +of their regular duties: Parjanya, Mitra and Varuna, Dyaus, dispense +the rain, others the light. + +The explanation is simple. Indra, it seems to me, is a god of just the +same sort as Zeus, whose nature and history I have already explained +according to my lights. In the far-away past Indra was simply a hero: +very likely he was once a chieftain on earth. The story of his great +deeds so fascinated the imagination of men that they worshipped his +memory and at last raised him to the rank of a chief god. Now they had +previously worshipped two very high gods; one of these was +Dyaush-pita, the Sky-father, of whom I have spoken before, and another +was Tvashta, the All-creator. So some of them, as the Rig-veda +proves, declared that Dyaus was the father of Indra, and others appear +to have given this honour to Tvashta, while others regarded Tvashta as +Indra's grandfather; and some even said that in order to obtain the +soma to inspire him to divine deeds Indra killed his father, which of +course is just an imaginative way of saying that Indra was made into a +god and worshipped in place of the elder god. + +The puzzle now is solved. Indra has remained down to the time of the +Rig-veda true to his early nature, an epic hero and typical warrior; +but he has also borrowed from the old Sky-father the chief attributes +of a sky-spirit, especially the giving of rain and the making of +light, which the priests of the Rig-veda riddlingly describe as +setting free the waters and the cows. He bears the thunderbolt, as +does also Zeus; like Zeus, he has got it from the Sky-father, who had +likewise a thunderbolt, according to some Rigvedic poets, though +others say it was forged for him by Tvashta, his other father. I even +venture to think that there is a kernel of heroic legend in the story +of the slaying of Vritra; that at bottom it is a tale relating how +Indra with a band of brave fellows stormed a mountain hold surrounded +by water in which dwelt a wicked chieftain who had carried away the +cattle of his people, and that when Indra had risen to the rank of a +great god of the sky men added to this plain tale much mythical +decoration appropriate to his new quality, turning the comrades of +Indra into the storm-gods and interpreting the waters and cows to mean +rain and daylight. Since most of us are agreed that stories such as +that of Indra defeating Sambara for the benefit of Divodasa refer to +real events, it seems unnatural to suppose that the Vritra-legend is a +purely imaginary myth. We can thus explain why the ideas of Indra +setting free the rain and the light fit in so awkwardly with the +heroic element in the legend: for they are merely secondary +attributes, borrowed from the myths of other gods and mechanically +attached to Indra on his elevation in the pantheon. But we can explain +much more. There is a regular cycle of hero-saga connected with Indra +which is visible or half-visible at the back of some of the Vedic +hymns and of the priestly literature which is destined to follow them. + +The truth is that the priests of the Rig-veda on the whole have not +quite made up their minds about Indra's merits, and we shall find them +a few generations hence equally uncertain. They praise his heroic +deeds lustily and admire his power immensely; but they are keenly +aware that he is a god with a past, and sometimes they dwell on that. +Their favourite method is to relate some of his former questionable +deeds in the form of a reproach, and then to turn the story to his +credit in some way or another; but as time goes on and the priests +think less and less of most of their gods, Indra's character will +steadily sink, and in the end we shall find him playing a subordinate +part, a debauched king in a sensuous paradise, popularly worshipped as +a giver of rain. But this is to anticipate. As yet Indra is to the +Rigvedic priests a very great god; but how did he become so? If we +read carefully the hymn RV. IV. xviii.[7] we see at the back of it a +story somewhat like this. Before he was born, Tvashta, Indra's +grandfather, knew that Indra would dispossess him of his sovereignty +over the gods, and therefore did his best to prevent his birth (cf. +RV. III. xlviii.); but the baby Indra would not be denied, and he +forced his way into the light of day through the side of his mother +Aditi, who seems to be the same as Mother Earth (cf. _Ved. Stud._, ii, +p. 86), killed his father, and drank Tvashta's soma, by which he +obtained divine powers. In v. 12 of this hymn Indra excuses himself by +saying that he was in great straits, and that then the soma was +brought to him by an eagle. What these straits were is indicated in +another hymn (IV. xxvii.), which tells us that he was imprisoned, and +escaped on the back of the eagle, which he compelled to carry him; the +watchman Krisanu shot an arrow at the bird, but it passed harmlessly +through its feathers. Evidently in the story Indra had a hard struggle +with rival gods. One poet says (RV. IV. xxx. 3): "Not even all the +gods, O Indra, defeated thee, when thou didst lengthen days into +nights," which apparently refers also to some miracle like that +ascribed to Joshua. Another tradition (MS. I. vi. 12) relates that +while Indra and his brother Vivasvan were still unborn they declared +their resolve to oust the Adityas, the elder sons of their mother +Aditi; so the Adityas tried to kill them when born, and actually slew +Vivasvan, but Indra escaped. Another version (TS. II. iv. 13) says +that the gods, being afraid of Indra, bound him with fetters before he +was born; and at the same time Indra is identified with the Rajanya, +or warrior class, as its type and representative.[8] This last point +is immensely important, for it really clinches the matter. Not once, +but repeatedly, the priestly literature of the generations that will +follow immediately after that of the Rig-veda will be found to treat +Indra as the type of the warrior order.[9] They will describe an +imaginary coronation-ceremony of Indra, ending with these words: +"Anointed with this great anointment Indra won all victories, found +all the worlds, attained the superiority, pre-eminence, and supremacy +over all the gods, and having won the overlordship, the paramount +rule, the self rule, the sovereignty, the supreme authority, the +kingship, the great kingship, the suzerainty in this world, +self-existing, self-ruling, immortal, in yonder world of heaven, +having attained all desires he became immortal."[10] Thus we see that +amidst the maze of obscure legends about Indra there are three points +which stand out with perfect clearness. They are, firstly, that Indra +was a usurper; secondly, that the older gods fought hard but vainly to +keep him from supreme divinity, and that in his struggle he killed his +father; and thirdly, that he was identified with the warrior class, as +opposed to the priestly order, or Brahmans. This antagonism to the +Brahmans is brought out very clearly in some versions of the tales of +his exploits. More than once the poets of the Rig-veda hint that his +slaying of Vritra involved some guilt, the guilt of _brahma-hatya_, or +slaughter of a being in whom the _brahma_, or holy spirit, was +embodied[11]; and this is explained clearly in a priestly tale (TS. +II. v. 2, 1 ff.; cf. SB. I. i. 3, 4, vi. 3, 8), according to which +Indra from jealousy killed Tvashta's son Visvarupa, who was chaplain +of the gods, and thus he incurred the guilt of _brahma-hatya_. Then +Tvashta held a soma-sacrifice; Indra, being excluded from it, broke up +the ceremony and himself drank the soma. The soma that was left over +Tvashta cast into one of the sacred fires and produced thereby from it +the giant Vritra, by whom the whole universe, including Agni and Soma, +was enveloped (cf. the later version in Mahabharata, V. viii. f.). By +slaying him Indra again became guilty of _brahma-hatya_; and some +Rigvedic poets hint that it was the consciousness of this sin which +made him flee away after the deed was done. + +[Footnote 7: I follow in the interpretation of this hymn E. Sieg, _Die +Sagenstoffe des Rgveda_, i. p. 76 ff. Cf. on the subject _Ved. Stud._, +i. p. 211, ii. pp. 42-54. Charpentier, _Die Suparnasage_, takes a +somewhat different view of RV. IV. xxvi.-xxvii., which, however, does +not convince me; I rather suspect that RV. IV. xxvi. 1 and 4, with +their mention of Manu, to whom the soma was brought, are echoes of an +ancient and true tradition that Indra was once a mortal.] + +[Footnote 8: The other legend in MS. II. i. 12, that Aditi bound the +unborn Indra with an iron fetter, with which he was born, and of which +he was able to rid himself by means of a sacrifice, is probably +later.] + +[Footnote 9: E.g. AB. VII. xxxi., VIII. xii. Cf. BA. Up. I. iv. +11-13.] + +[Footnote 10: AB. VIII. xiv. (Keith's translation).] + +[Footnote 11: Cf. Sayana on RV. I. xciii. 5.] + +These bits of saga prove, as effectually as is possible in a case like +this, that Indra was originally a warrior-king or chieftain who was +deified, perhaps by the priestly tribe of the Angirasas, who claim in +some of the hymns to have aided him in his fight with Vritra, and that +he thus rose to the first rank in the pantheon, gathering round +himself a great cycle of heroic legend based upon those traditions, +and only secondarily and by artificial invention becoming associated +with the control of the rain and the daylight. + +The name Asvina means "The Two Horsemen"; what their other name, +Nasatya, signifies nobody has satisfactorily explained. But even with +the name Asvina there is a difficulty. They are described usually as +riding together in a chariot which is sometimes said to be drawn by +horses, and this would suit their name; but more often the poets say +that their chariot is drawn by birds, such as eagles or swans, and +sometimes even by a buffalo or buffaloes, or by an ass. I do not see +how we can escape from this difficulty except by supposing that +popular imagination in regard to this matter varied from very early +times, but preferred to think of them as having horses. At any rate +they are very ancient gods, for the people of Iran also have +traditions about them, and in the far-away land of the Mitanni, in the +north of Mesopotamia, they are invoked together with Indra, Mitra, and +Varuna to sanction treaties. In India the Aryans keep them very busy, +for they are more than anything else gods of help. Thrice every day +and thrice every night they sally forth on their patrols through earth +and heaven, in order to aid the distressed[12]: and the poets tell us +the names of many persons whom they have relieved, such as old +Chyavana, whom they restored to youth and love, Bhujyu, whom they +rescued from drowning in the ocean, Atri, whom they saved from a fiery +pit, Vispala, to whom when her leg had been cut off they gave one of +iron, and Ghosha, to whom they brought a husband. Many other helpful +acts are ascribed to them, and it is very likely that at least some of +these stories are more or less true. Another legend relates that they +jointly wedded Surya, the daughter of the Sun-god, who chose them from +amongst the other gods.[13] + +[Footnote 12: Cf. _Ved. Studien_, ii. p. 31, RV. I. xxxiv. 2.] + +[Footnote 13: Cf. _Ved. Studien_, i. p. 14 ff.] + +Amidst the medley of saga and facts and poetical imagination which +surrounds the Asvina, can we see the outlines of their original +character? It is hard to say: opinions must differ. The Aryans of +India are inclined to say that they are simply divine kings active in +good works; but the priests are perhaps beginning to fancy that they +may be embodiments of powers of nature--they are not sure which--and +in course of time they will have various theories, partly connected +with their rituals. But really all that is certain in the Vedic age +about the Asvins is that they are an ancient pair of saviour-gods who +ride about in a chariot and render constant services to mankind. We +are tempted however to see a likeness between them and the [Greek: +Diòs kórô] of the distant Hellenes, the heroes Kastor and Polydeukes, +Castor and Pollux, the twin Horsemen who are saviours of afflicted +mankind by land and sea. There are difficulties in the way of this +theory; but they are not unsurmountable, and I believe that the +Asvina of India have the same origin as the Twin Horsemen of Greece. +At any rate both the pairs are hero-gods, whose divinity has been +created by mankind's need for help and admiration for valour. Whether +there was any human history at the back of this process we cannot say. + +Now we may leave the heroes and consider a god of a very different +kind, Vishnu. + +The Rig-veda has not very much to say about Vishnu, and what it says +is puzzling. The poets figure him as a beneficent young giant, of +unknown parentage, with two characteristic attributes: the first of +these is his three mystic strides, the second his close association +with Indra. Very often they refer to these three strides, sometimes +using the verb _vi-kram_, "to step out," sometimes the adjectives +_uru-krama_, "widely-stepping," and _uru-gaya_, "wide-going." The +three steps carry Vishnu across the three divisions of the universe, +in the highest of which is his home, which apparently he shares with +Indra (RV. I. xxxii. 20, cliv. 5-6, III. lv. 10; cf. AB. I. i., etc.). +Some of them are beginning to imagine that these steps symbolise the +passage of the sun through the three divisions of the world, the +earth, sky, and upper heaven; certainly this idea will be held by many +later scholars, though a few will maintain that it denotes the sun at +its rising, at midday, and at its setting. Before long we shall find +some priests harping on the same notion in another form, saying that +Vishnu's head was cut off by accident and became the sun; and later on +we shall see Vishnu bearing as one of his weapons a chakra, or discus, +which looks like a figure of the sun. But really all this is an +afterthought: in the Veda, and the priestly literature that follows +directly upon the Veda, Vishnu is _not_ the sun. Nor do we learn what +he is very readily from his second leading attribute in the Rig-veda, +his association with Indra. Yet it is a very clearly marked trait in +his character. Not only do the poets often couple the two gods in +prayer and praise, but they often tell us that the one performed his +characteristic deeds by the help of the other. They say that Vishnu +made his three strides by the power of Indra (VIII. xii. 27), or for +the sake of Indra (Val. iv. 3), and even that Indra strode along with +Vishnu (VI. lxix. 5, VII. xcix. 6), and on the other hand they tell us +often that it was by the aid of Vishnu that Indra overcame Vritra and +other malignant foes. "Friend Vishnu, stride out lustily," cries Indra +before he can strike down Vritra (IV. xviii. 11).[14] The answer to +this riddle I find in the Brahmanas, the priestly literature which is +about to follow immediately after the Veda. In plain unequivocal words +the Brahmanas tell us again and again that _Vishnu is the +sacrifice_.[15] Evidently when they repeat this they are repeating an +old hieratic tradition; and it is one which perfectly explains the +facts of the case. Vishnu, I conceive, was originally nothing more or +less than the embodied spirit of the sacrificial rites. His name seems +to be derived from the root _vish_, meaning stimulation or +inspiration; and this is exactly what the sacrifice is supposed in +priestly theory to do. The sacrifice, accompanied by prayer and +praise, is imagined to have a magic power of its own, by which the +gods worshipped in it are strengthened to perform their divine +functions. One poet says to Indra: "When thy two wandering Bays thou +dravest hither, thy praiser laid within thine arms the thunder" (RV. +I. lxiii. 2); and still more boldly another says: "Sacrifice, Indra, +made thee wax so mighty ... worship helped thy bolt when slaying the +dragon" (III. xxxii. 12). So it would be very natural for the priests +to conceive this spirit of the sacrificial rites as a personal deity; +and this deity, the Brahmanas assure us, is Vishnu. Then the idea of +the three strides and the association with Indra would easily grow up +in the priestly imagination. The inspiring power of the sacrifice is +supposed to pervade the three realms of the universe, earth, sky, and +upper heavens; this idea is expressed in the common ritual formula +_bhur bhuvas svah_, and is symbolised by three steps taken by the +priest in certain ceremonies, which are translated into the language +of myth as the three strides of Vishnu.[16] Observe that in the +Rig-veda the upper heaven is not the dwelling-place of Vishnu only; +Agni the Fire-god, Indra and Soma have their home in it also (RV. I. +cliv. 6, IV. xxvi. 6, xxvii. 3-4, V. iii. 3, VIII. lxxxix. 8, IX. +lxiii. 27, lxvi. 30, lxviii. 6, lxxvii. 2, lxxxvi. 24, X. i. 3, xi. 4, +xcix. 8, cxliv. 4). Later, however, when their adventitious divinity +begins to fade away from Agni and Soma, and Indra is allotted a +special paradise of his own, this "highest step" will be regarded as +peculiar to Vishnu, _Vishnoh paramam padam_. + +[Footnote 14: A later and distorted version of this myth appears in +AB. VI. xv.] + +[Footnote 15: E.g. MS. 1. iv. 14, SB. I. i. 1, 2, 13, TB. I. ii. 5, 1, +AB. I. xv., KB. IV. ii., XVIII. viii., xiv.] + +[Footnote 16: SB. I. ix. 3, 8-11. Cf. the three steps of the +Amesha-spentas from the earth to the sun, imitated in the Avestic +ritual (Avesta, transl. Darmesteter, I. 401).] + +As soon as this spirit of sacrifice was thus personified, he at once +attached himself to Indra; for Indra is pre-eminently the god of +action, and for his activities he needs to be stimulated by sacrifice +and praise. As the priests will tell us in plain unvarnished words, +"he to whom the Sacrifice comes as portion slays Indra" (AB. I. iv.). +Therefore we are told that Vishnu aids Indra in his heroic exploits, +that Vishnu takes his strides and presses Soma in order that Indra may +be strengthened for his tasks. Now we can see the full meaning of +Indra's cry before striking Vritra, "Friend Vishnu, stride out +lustily!"; for until the sacrifice has put forth its mystic energy the +god cannot strike his blow. We are told also that Vishnu cooks +buffaloes and boils milk for Indra,[17] for buffaloes were no doubt +anciently offered to Indra. The vivid reality of Indra's character has +clothed Vishnu with some of its own flesh and blood; originally a +priestly abstraction, he has become through association with Indra a +living being, a real god. The blood which has thus been poured into +his veins will enable him to live through a critical period of his +life, until by combination with another deity he will rise to new and +supreme sovereignty. But of that more anon. Meanwhile let us note the +significance of this union of Vishnu and Indra in the Veda. Vishnu, +the spirit of Sacrifice, is in a sense representative of the Brahman +priesthood, and Indra, as I have shown, is commonly regarded as +typical of the warrior order. In the Rig-veda Indra is powerless +without Vishnu's mystic service, and Vishnu labours to aid Indra in +his heroic works for the welfare of men and gods. Surely this is an +allegory, though the priests may so far be only dimly conscious of its +full meaning--an allegory bodying forth the priestly ideal of the +reign of righteousness, in which the King is strong by the mystic +power of the Priest, and the Priest lives for the service of the King. + +[Footnote 17: RV. VI. xvii. 11, VIII. lxvi. 10; the myth in RV. I. +lxi. 7, VIII. lxvi. 10, and TS. VI. ii. 4, 2-3 is expanded from this +original idea. Cf. Macdonell, _Vedic Myth._, p. 41.] + +There is another god who is destined to become in future ages Vishnu's +chief rival--Rudra, "The Tawny," or Siva, "The Gracious." He belongs +to the realm of popular superstition, a spiteful demon ever ready to +smite men and cattle with disease, but likewise dispensing healing +balms and medicines to those that win his favour. The Rigvedic priests +as yet do not take much interest in him, and for the most part they +leave him to their somewhat despised kinsmen the Atharvans, who do a +thriving trade in hymns and spells to secure the common folk against +his wrath. + +There are many more gods, godlings, and spirits in the Vedic religion; +but we must pass over them. We have seen enough, I hope, to give us a +fair idea of the nature and value of that religion in general. What +then is its value? + +The Rigveda is essentially a priestly book; but it is not entirely a +priestly book. Much of the thought to which it gives utterance is +popular in origin and sentiment, and is by no means of the lowest +order. On this groundwork the priests have built up a system of +hieratic thought and ritual of their own, in which there is much that +deserves a certain respect. There is a good deal of fine poetry in +it. There is also in it some idea of a law of righteousness: in spite +of much wild and unmoral myth and fancy, its gods for the most part +are not capricious demons but spirits who act in accordance with +established laws, majestic and wise beings in whom are embodied the +highest ideals to which men have risen as yet. Moreover, the priests +in the later books have given us some mystic hymns containing vigorous +and pregnant speculations on the deepest questions of existence, +speculations which are indeed fanciful and unscientific, but which +nevertheless have in them the germs of the powerful idealism that is +destined to arise in centuries to come. On the other hand, the priests +have cast their system in the mould of ritualism. Ritual, ceremony, +sacrifice, professional benefit--these are their predominant +interests. The priestly ceremonies are conceived to possess a magical +power of their own; and the fixed laws of ritual by which these +ceremonies are regulated tend to eclipse, and finally even to swallow +up, the laws of moral righteousness under which the gods live. A few +generations more, and the priesthood will frankly announce its ritual +to be the supreme law of the universe. Meanwhile they are becoming +more and more indifferent to the personalities of the gods, when they +have preserved any; they are quite ready to ascribe attributes of one +deity to another, even attributes of nominal supremacy, with +unscrupulous inconsistency and dubious sincerity; for the +personalities of the different gods are beginning to fade away in +their eyes, and in their mind is arising the conception of a single +universal Godhead. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE AGE OF THE BRAHMANAS AND UPANISHADS + + +Centuries have passed since the hymns of the Rig-veda were composed. +The Aryans have now crossed the fateful ridge on the east of their +former settlements, and have spread themselves over the lands of +Northern Hindostan around the upper basins of the Ganges and Jamna, +reaching eastward as far as Bihar and southward down to the Vindhya +Mountains, and in the course of their growth they have absorbed not a +little of the blood of the dark-skinned natives. The old organisation +of society by tribes has come to an end, though the names of many +ancient tribes are still heard; the Aryans are now divided laterally +by the principle of what we call "caste," which is based upon a +combination of religious and professional distinctions, and vertically +by the rule of kings, while a few oligarchic governments still survive +to remind them of Vedic days. In these kingdoms the old tribes are +beginning to be fused together; from these combinations new States are +arising, warring with one another, constantly waxing and waning. +Society is ruled politically by kings, spiritually by Brahmans. With +the rise of the kingdom an Established Church has come into existence, +and the Brahman priesthood works out its principles to the bitterest +end of logic. + +The Brahmans are now, more than they ever were before, a close +corporation of race, religion, and profession, a religious fraternity +in the strict sense of the words. While other classes of the Aryans +have mixed their blood to a greater or less degree with that of the +natives, the Brahmans have preserved much of the pure Aryan strain. +They, moreover, have maintained the knowledge of the ancient Vedic +language in which the sacred hymns of their forefathers were composed, +of the traditions associated with them, and of the priestly lore of +Vedic ritual. Proud of this heritage and resolved to maintain it +undiminished, they have knitted themselves into a close spiritual and +intellectual aristocracy, which stands fast like a lighthouse amidst +the darkness and storms of political changes. They employ all the arts +of the priest, the thinker, the statesman, and even the magician to +preserve their primacy; and around them the manifold variety of the +other castes, in all their divisions and subdivisions, groups itself +to make up the multi-coloured web of Indian life. + +In course of time this priesthood will spread out octopus-like +tentacles over the whole of India. Becoming all things to all men, it +will find a place in its pantheon for all gods and all ideas, +baptising them by orthodox names or justifying them by ingenious +fictions. It will send forth apostles and colonies even to the +furthermost regions of the distant South, which, alien in blood and in +tradition, will nevertheless accept them and surrender its best +intellect to their control. It will even admit into the lower ranks of +its own body men of foreign birth by means of legal fictions, in order +to maintain its control of religion. Though itself splitting up into +scores of divisions varying in purity of blood and tradition, it will +still as a whole maintain its position as against all other classes of +society. That the Brahman is the Deity on earth, and other classes +shall accept this dogma and agree to take their rank in accordance +with it, will become the principle holding together a vast +agglomeration of utterly diverse elements within the elastic bounds of +Catholic Brahmanism. + +But as yet this condition of things has not arrived. The Brahmans are +still comparatively pure in blood and homogeneous in doctrine, and +they have as yet sent forth no colonies south of the Vindhya. They are +established in the lands of the Ganges and Jamna as far to the east as +Benares, and they look with some contempt on their kinsmen in the +western country that they have left behind. They are busily employed +in working out to logical conclusions the ideas and principles of +their Rigvedic forefathers. They have now three Vedas; for to the old +Rig-veda they have added a Yajur-veda for the use of the sacrificant +orders of priests and a Sama-veda or hymnal containing Rigvedic hymns +arranged for the chanting of choristers. The result of these labours +is that they have created a vast and intricate system of sacrificial +ritual, perhaps the most colossal of its kind that the world has ever +seen or ever will see. What is still more remarkable, the logical +result of this immense development of ritualism is that the priesthood +in theory is practically atheistic, while on the other hand a certain +number of its members have arrived at a philosophy of complete +idealism which is beginning to turn its back upon ritualism. + +The atheist is not so much the man who denies the existence of any god +as the man to whom God is not God, who looks upon the Deity as +subordinate to powers void of holiness and nobility, the man who will +not see in God the highest force in the world of nature and in the +realm of the spirit. In this sense the Brahmans are thorough atheists. +According to them, the universe with all that is in it--gods, men, and +lower things--is created and governed by an iron law of soulless +natural necessity. It has arisen by emanation from a cosmic Principle, +Prajapati, "the Lord of Creatures," an impersonal being who shows no +trace of moral purpose in his activity. Prajapati himself is not +absolutely the first in the course of nature. The Brahmanas, the +priestly books composed in this period to expound the rules and mystic +significance of the Brahmanic ceremonies, give us varying accounts of +his origin, some of them saying that he arose through one or more +intermediate stages from non-existence (TB. II. ii. 9, 1-10, SB. VI. +i. 1, 1-5), others deriving him indirectly from the primitive waters +(SB. XI. i. 6, 1), others tracing his origin back to the still more +impersonal and abstract Brahma (Samav. B. I. 1-3, Gop. B. I. i. 4). +All these are attempts to express in the form of myth the idea of an +impersonal Principle of Creation as arising from a still more abstract +first principle. We have seen the poets of the Rig-veda gradually +moving towards the idea of a unity of godhead; in Prajapati this goal +is attained, but unfortunately it is attained by sacrificing almost +all that is truly divine in godhead. The conception of Prajapati that +we find in the Brahmanas is also expressed in some of the latest hymns +of the Rig-veda. Among these is the famous Purusha-sukta (RV. X. 90), +which throws a peculiar light on the character of Prajapati. It is in +praise of a primitive Purusha or Man, who is, of course, the same as +Prajapati; in some mysterious manner this Purusha is sacrificed, and +from the various parts of his body arise the various parts of the +world. The idea conveyed by this is that the universe came into +existence by the operation of the mystic laws revealed in the +Brahmanic rituals, and is maintained in its natural order by the same +means. The Brahmanas do not indeed often assert on their own authority +that Prajapati was himself sacrificed in order to produce the world, +and in fact they usually give other accounts of the creation; but as +their authors live in a rarefied atmosphere of mystical allegory in +which fact and fancy are completely confused with one another and +consistency ceases to have any meaning, none of them would have +difficulty in accepting the Rigvedic statement that he was sacrificed. +Hence they tell us on the one hand that Prajapati has created the +world from a blind will for generation or increase, producing from +each of his limbs some class of beings corresponding to it (e.g. MS. +IV. vi. 3), or copulating with the earth, atmosphere, sky, and speech +(SB. VI. i. 2, 1), or that he brought it into existence indirectly by +entering with the Triple Science or mystic lore of the three Vedas +into the primeval waters and thence forming an egg from which was +hatched the personal Demiurge Brahma, who actually created the world +(SB. VI. i. 1, 10); and on the other hand they relate that he created +sacrifice and performed it, making of himself a victim in order that +the gods, his offspring, might perform the rites for their own +benefit, forming an image of himself to be the sacrifice, by which he +redeemed himself from the gods (SB. XI. i. 8, 2-4; cf. AB. VII. 19, +KB. XIII. 1, SB. III. ii. 1, 11), and that after creation he ascended +to heaven (SB. X. ii. 2, 1). The thought that lies underneath these +bewildering flights of fancy is one of mystic pantheism: all created +existence has arisen by emanation from the one Creative Principle, +Prajapati, and in essence is one with Prajapati; Prajapati is an +impersonal being, a creative force, in which are embodied the laws of +Brahmanic ritual, which acts only in these laws, and which is above +the moral influences that affect humanity; and the whole of created +nature, animate and inanimate, is controlled in every process of its +being by these laws, and by the priest who possesses the knowledge of +them. Thus there lies a profound significance in the title of "gods on +earth" which the Brahmans have assumed. + +When we speak of sacrifice in India, we must clear our minds of the +ideas which we have formed from reading the Bible. The Mosaic +conception of sacrifice was that of a religious ceremony denoting a +moral relation between a personal God and His worshippers: in the +sin-offerings and trespass-offerings was symbolised a reconciliation +between man and his God who was angered by man's conscious or +unconscious breach of the laws which had been imposed upon him for +his spiritual welfare, while meat-offerings and peace-offerings +typified the worshipper's sense of gratitude for the Divine love and +wisdom that guarded him. Of such relations there is to be found in the +Brahmanas no trace. If we may use a modern figure of speech, they +conceive the universe of gods, men, and lower creatures as a single +immense electric battery, and the sacrifice as a process of charging +this battery with ever fresh electricity. The sacrifice is a process, +at once material and mystic, which preserves the order of nature as +established by the prototypic sacrifice performed by Prajapati. The +gods became divine and immortal through sacrifice (TS. VI. iii. 4, 7, +VI. iii. 10, 2, VII. iv. 2, 1, SB. I. vi. 2, 1, MS. III. ix. 4, AB. +VI. i. 1, etc.); and they live on the gifts of earth, as mankind lives +on the gifts of heaven (TS. III. ii. 9, 7, SB. I. ii. 5, 24). The +sacrifice is thus the life-principle, the soul, of all gods and all +beings (SB. VIII. vi. 1, 10, IX. iii. 2, 7, XIV. iii. 2, 1); or, what +amounts to the same thing, the Triple Science or the knowledge of the +ceremonies of the Three Vedas is their essence (SB. X. iv. 2, 21). As +Prajapati created the primeval sacrifice, and as the gods by following +this rule obtained their divinity, so man should seek to follow their +example and by means of sacrifice rise to godhead and immortality. As +one Brahmana puts it, the sacrifice leads the way to heaven; it is +followed by the _dakshina_, or fee paid by the sacrificer to the +sacrificant priests, which of course materially strengthens the +efficacy of the sacrifice; and third comes the sacrificer, holding +fast to the _dakshina_. This ascent of heaven is symbolised in the +ceremony called _durohana_, or "hard mounting" (AB. IV. 20, 21, KB. +XXV. 7), and it is ensured by the rite of _diksha_, or consecration, +in which the sacrificer is symbolically represented as passing through +a new conception, gestation, and birth, by which he is supposed to +obtain two bodies. One of these bodies is immortal and spiritual; the +other is mortal and material, and is assigned as a victim to all the +gods. He then ransoms his material body from the obligation of being +sacrificed, as did Prajapati, and thus ranks literally as a "god on +earth," with the certainty of becoming in due course a god in heaven. + +When the student on reading the Brahmanas finds them full of +interminable ceremonial rules with equally interminable commentaries +interpreting them by wildest analogies as symbolical of details of +myths or of laws of nature and hence as conferring mystic powers, +besides all kinds of myths, some forcibly dragged into the +interpretation of the ritual because of some imaginary point of +resemblance, others invented or recast on purpose to justify some +detail of ceremony, and when moreover he observes that many of these +myths and some of the rites are brutally and filthily obscene, and +that hardly any of them show the least moral feeling, he may be +excused for thinking the Brahmanas to be the work of madmen. But there +is some method in their madness. However strangely they may express +them, they have definite and strictly logical ideas about the +sacrificial ritual and its cosmic function. It is more difficult to +defend them against the charge of want of morality. It must be +admitted that their supreme Being, Prajapati, is in the main lines of +his character utterly impersonal, and where incidentally he shows any +human feelings they are as a rule far from creditable to him. He +created the universe from mechanical instinct or blind desire, and +committed or tried to commit incest with his daughter (the accounts +are various). He has begotten both the gods and the demons, _devas_ +and _asuras_, who are constantly at war with one another. The gods, +who are embodiments of "truth" (that is to say, correct knowledge of +the law of ritual), have been often in great danger of being +overwhelmed by the demons, who embody "untruth," and they have been +saved by Prajapati; but he has done this not from any sense of right, +but merely from blind will or favour, for he can hardly distinguish +one party from the other. The gods themselves, in spite of being of +"truth," are sadly frail. Dozens of myths charge them with falsehood, +hatred, lust, greed, and jealousy, and only the stress of the danger +threatening them from their adversaries the demons has induced them to +organise themselves into an ordered kingdom under the sovereignty of +Indra, who has been anointed by Prajapati. True, many of the offensive +features in this mythology and ritual are survivals from a very +ancient past, a pre-historic time in which morals were conspicuously +absent from religion; the priesthood has forgotten very little, and as +a rule has only added new rituals and new interpretations to this +legacy from the days of old. Nevertheless it must be confessed that +there is a tone of ritualistic professionalism in the Brahmanas that +is unpleasing; the priesthood are consciously superior to nature, God, +and morals by virtue of their "Triple Science," and they constantly +emphasise this claim. It is difficult for us to realise that these are +the same men who have created the Brahmanic culture of India, which, +however we may criticise it from the Western point of view, is +essentially a gentle life, a field in which moral feeling and +intellectual effort have born abundance of goodly fruit. Yet if we +look more closely we shall see that even these ritualists, besotted as +they may seem to be with their orgies of priestcraft, are not wholly +untouched by the better spirit of their race. Extremes of sanctity, +whether it be ritualistic or anti-ritualistic sanctity, always tend in +India--and in other countries as well--to produce supermen. And if +our priesthood in the Brahmanas feel themselves in the pride of +spiritual power lifted above the rules of moral law, they are not in +practice indifferent to it. Their lives are for the most part gentle +and good. Though "truth" in the Brahmanas usually means only +accordance with the ritual and mystic teachings of the Triple Science, +it sometimes signifies even there veracity and honesty also. +Truthfulness in speech is the hall-mark of the Brahman, says +Haridrumata Gautama to Satyakama Jabala (Chhand. Up. IV. iv. 5); and +even in the Brahmanas a lie is sometimes a sin. If conservatism +compels the priests to keep obscene old practices in their rituals, +they are not always satisfied with them, and voices begin to be heard +pleading that these rites are really obsolete. In short, a moral sense +is beginning to arise among them. + +Now the moral law, in order that it may be feared, needs to be +embodied in the personality of a god. Most of their gods inspire no +fear at all in the souls of the Brahmans; but there is one of whom +they have a dread, which is all the greater for being illogical. +Prajapati is a vast impersonality, too remote and abstract to inspire +the soul with either fear or love. The other gods--Indra, Agni, Soma, +Varuna, Vishnu, and the rest--are his offspring, and are moved like +puppets by the machinery of the ritual of sacrifice created by him. +However much they may seem to differ one from another in their +attributes and personalities, they are in essence one and negligible +in the eyes of the master of the ritual lore. In the beginning, say +the Brahmanas, all the gods (except Prajapati, of course) were alike, +and all were mortal; then they performed sacrifices and thereby became +immortal, each with his peculiar attributes of divinity.[18] Thus at +bottom they are all the same thing, merely phases of the universal +godhead, waves stirred up by the current of the cosmic sacrifice. They +have no terrors for the priesthood. But there is one deity who +obstinately refuses to accommodate himself to this convenient point of +view, and that is Rudra, or Siva. By rights and logically he ought to +fall into rank with the rest of the gods; but there is a crossgrained +element in his nature which keeps him out. As we have seen, he comes +from a different source: in origin he was a demon, a power of terror, +whose realm of worship lay apart from that of the gods of higher +class, and now, although it has extended into the domains of orthodox +religion, an atmosphere of dread still broods over it.[19] Rudra +wields all his ancient terrors over a much widened area. The priests +have assigned him a regular place in their liturgies, and fully +recognise him in his several phases as Bhava, Sarva, Ugra, Maha-deva +or the Great God, Rudra, Isana or the Lord, and Asani or the +Thunderbolt (KB. VI. 2-9). Armed with his terrors, he is fit to be +employed in the service of conscience. Hence a myth has arisen that in +order to punish Prajapati for his incest with his daughter the gods +created Bhuta-pati (who is Pasu-pati or Rudra under a new name), who +stabbed him. The rest of the myth is as immaterial to our purpose as +it is unsavoury; what is important is that the conscience of the +Brahmans was beginning to feel slight qualms at the uncleanness of +some of their old myths and to look towards Rudra as in some degree an +avenger of sin. In this is implied an immense moral advance. +Henceforth there will be a gradual ennoblement of one of the phases of +the god's character. Many of the best minds among the Brahmans will +find their imaginations stirred and their consciences moved by +contemplation of him. To them he will be no more a mere demon of the +mountain and the wild. His destructive wrath they will interpret as +symbolising the everlasting process of death-in-life which is the +keynote of nature; in his wild dances they will see imaged forth the +everlasting throb of cosmic existence; to his terrors they will find a +reverse of infinite love and grace. The horrors of Rudra the deadly +are the mantle of Siva the gracious. Thus, while the god's character +in its lower phases remains the same as before, claiming the worship +of the basest classes of mankind, and nowise rising to a higher level, +it develops powerfully and fruitfully in one aspect which attracts +grave and earnest imaginations. The Muni, the contemplative ascetic, +penetrates in meditation through the terrors of Siva's outward form to +the god's inward love and wisdom, and beholds in him his own divine +prototype. And so Siva comes to be figured in this nobler aspect as +the divine Muni, the supreme saint and sage. + +[Footnote 18: For the original mortality of the gods see TS. VII. iv. +2, 1, SB. X. iv. 33 f., XI. i. 2, 12, ii. 3, 6; for their primitive +non-differentiation, TS. VI. vi. 8, 2, SB. IV. v. 4, 1-4.] + +[Footnote 19: Cf. e.g. KB. III. 4 & 6, VI. 2-9, and Ap. SS. VI. xiv. +11-13.] + +While the worship of Siva is slowly making its way into the heart of +Brahmanic ritualism, another movement is at work which is gradually +drawing many of the keenest intellects among the Brahmans away from +the study of ritual towards an idealistic philosophy which views all +ritual with indifference. Its literature is the Upanishads. + +The passing of the Rigvedic age has left to the Brahmans a doctrinal +legacy, which may be thus restated: a single divine principle through +a prototypic sacrifice has given birth to the universe, and all the +processes of cosmic nature are controlled by sacrifices founded upon +that primeval sacrifice. In short, the ritual symbolises and in a +sense actually _is_ the whole cosmic process. The ritual implies both +the knowledge of the law of sacrifice and the proper practice of that +law, _both understanding and works_. This is the standpoint of the +orthodox ritualist. But there has also arisen a new school among the +Brahmans, that of the Aupanishadas, which has laid down for its first +doctrine that _works are for the sake of understanding_, that the +practice of ritual is of value only as a help to the mystic knowledge +of the All. But here they have not halted; they have gone a further +step, and declared that _knowledge once attained, works become +needless_. Some even venture to hint that perhaps the highest +knowledge is not to be reached through works at all. And the knowledge +that the Aupanishadas seek is of Brahma, and _is_ Brahma. + +The word _brahma_ is a neuter noun, and in the Rig-veda it means +something that can only be fully translated by a long circumlocution. +It may be rendered as "the power of ritual devotion"; that is to say, +it denotes the mystic or magic force which is put forth by the +poet-priest of the Rig-veda when he performs the rites of sacrifice +with appropriate chanting of hymns--in short, ritual magic. This +mystic force the Rigvedic poets have represented in personal form as +the god Brihaspati, in much the same way as they embodied the spirit +of the sacrifice in Vishnu. Their successors, the orthodox ritualists +of the Brahmanas, have not made much use of this term; but sometimes +they speak of Brahma as an abstract first principle, the highest and +ultimate source of all being, even of Prajapati (Samav. B. I. 1, Gop. +B. I. i. 4); and when they speak of Brahma they think of him not as a +power connected with religious ceremony but as a supremely +transcendent and absolutely unqualified and impersonal First +Existence. But the school of the Aupanishadas has gone further. +Seeking through works mystic knowledge as the highest reality, they +see in Brahma the perfect knowledge. To them the absolute First +Existence is also transcendently full and unqualified Thought. As +knowledge is power, the perfect Power is perfect Knowledge. + +Brahma then is absolute knowledge; and all that exists is really +Brahma, one and indivisible in essence, but presenting itself +illusively to the finite consciousness as a world of plurality, of +most manifold subjects and objects of thought. The highest wisdom, the +greatest of all secrets, is to know this truth, to realise with full +consciousness that there exists only the One, Brahma, the infinite +Idea; and the sage of the Upanishads is he who has attained this +knowledge, understanding that he himself, as individual subject of +thought, is really identical with the universal Brahma. He has +realised that he is one with the Infinite Thought, he has raised +himself to the mystic heights of transcendental Being and Knowledge, +immeasurably far above nature and the gods. He knows all things at +their fountain-head, and life can nevermore bring harm to him; in his +knowledge he has salvation, and death will lead him to complete union +with Brahma. + +The Aupanishadas have thus advanced from the pantheism of the orthodox +ritualists to a transcendental idealism. The process has been gradual. +It was only by degrees that they reached the idea of salvation in +knowledge, the knowledge that is union with Brahma; and it was +likewise only through slow stages that they were able to conceive of +Brahma in itself. Many passages in the Upanishads are full of +struggles to represent Brahma by symbols or forms perceptible to the +sense, such as ether, breath, the sun, etc. Priests endeavoured to +advance through ritual works to the ideas which these works are +supposed to symbolise: the ritual is the training-ground for the +higher knowledge, the leading-strings for infant philosophy. Gradually +men become capable of thinking without the help of these symbols: +philosophy grows to manhood, and looks with a certain contempt upon +those supports of its infancy. + +The nature of Brahma as conceived in the Upanishads is a subject on +which endless controversies have raged, and we need not add to them. +Besides, the Upanishads themselves are not strictly consistent on this +point, or on others, for that matter; for they are not a single +homogeneous system of philosophy, but a number of speculations, from +often varying standpoints, and they are frequently inconsistent. But +there are some ideas which are more or less present in all of them. +They regard Brahma as absolute and infinite Thought and Being at once, +and as such it is one with the consciousness, soul or self, of the +individual when the latter rids himself of the illusion of a manifold +universe and realises his unity with Brahma. Moreover, Brahma is +bliss--the joy of wholly perfect and self-satisfied thought and being. +Since Brahma as universal Soul is really identical with each +individual soul or _atma_, and vice versa, it follows that each +individual soul contains within itself, _qua_ Brahma, the whole of +existence, nature, gods, mankind, and all other beings; it creates +them all, and all depend upon it. Our Aupanishadas are thoroughgoing +idealists. + +Another new idea also appears for the first time in the early +Upanishads, and one that henceforth will wield enormous influence in +all Indian thought. This is the theory of _karma_ and _samsara_, +rebirth of the soul in accordance with the nature of its previous +works. Before the Upanishads we find no evidence of this doctrine: the +nearest approach to it is in some passages of the Brahmanas which +speak of sinful men dying again in the next world as a punishment for +their guilt. But in the Upanishads the doctrine appears full-fledged, +and it is fraught with consequences of immense importance. Samsara +means literally a "wandering to and fro," that is, the cycle of births +through which each soul must everlastingly pass from infinite time, +and Karma means the "acts" of each soul. Each work or act performed by +a living being is of a certain degree of righteousness or +unrighteousness, and it is requited by a future experience of +corresponding pleasure or pain. So every birth and ultimately every +experience of a soul is determined by the righteousness of its +previous acts; and there is no release for the soul from this endless +chain of causes and effects unless it can find some supernatural way +of deliverance. The Aupanishadas point to what they believe to be the +only way: it is the Brahma-knowledge of the enlightened sage, which +releases his soul from the chain of natural causation and raises him +to everlasting union with Brahma. + +The teaching of the Upanishads has had two very different practical +results. On the one hand, it has moved many earnest thinkers to cast +off the ties of the world and to wander about as homeless beggars, +living on alms and meditating and discoursing upon the teachings of +the Upanishads, while they await the coming of death to release their +souls from the prison of the flesh and bring it to complete and +eternal union with Brahma. These wandering ascetics--_sannyasis_, +_bhikshus_, or _parivrajakas_ they are called--form a class by +themselves, which is destined to have an immense influence in +moulding the future thought of India. The teaching of Brahmanism is +beginning to recognise them, too. It has already divided the life of +the orthodox man into three stages, or _asramas_, studentship, the +condition of the married householder, and thirdly the life of the +hermit, or _vanaprastha_, to which the householder should retire after +he has left a son to maintain his household; and now it is beginning +to add to these as fourth stage the life of the homeless ascetic +awaiting death and release. But this arrangement is for the most part +a fiction, devised in order to keep the beggar-philosophers within the +scheme of Brahmanic life; in reality they themselves recognise no such +law. + +The other current among the Aupanishadas is flowing in a very +different direction. We have seen how the worship of Rudra-Siva has +grown since the old Rigvedic days, and how some souls have been able +to see amidst the terrors of the god a power of love and wisdom that +satisfies their deepest hopes and longings, as none of the orthodox +rituals can do. A new feeling, the spirit of religious devotion, +_bhakti_ as it is called, is arising among them. To them--and they +number many Brahmans as well as men of other orders--Siva has thus +become the highest object of worship, Isvara or "the Lord"; and having +thus enthroned him as supreme in their hearts, they are endeavouring +to find for him a corresponding place in their intellects. To this end +they claim that Siva as Isvara is the highest of all forms of +existence; and this doctrine is growing and finding much favour. Among +the Aupanishadas there are many who reconcile it with the teaching of +the Upanishads by identifying Siva with Brahma. Thus a new light +begins to flicker here and there in the Upanishads as the conception +of Siva, a personal god wielding free grace, colours the pale +whiteness of the impersonal Brahma; and at last in the Svetasvatara, +which though rather late in date is not the least important of the +Upanishads, this theistic movement boldly proclaims itself: the +supreme Brahma, identified with Siva, is definitely contrasted with +the individual soul as divine to human, giver of grace to receiver of +grace. Later Upanishads will take up this strain, in honour of Siva +and other gods, and finally they will end as mere tracts of this or +that theistic church. + +Yet another current is now beginning to stir men's minds, and it is +one that is also destined to a great future. It starts from Krishna. + +The teaching of the Upanishads, that all being is the One Brahma and +that Brahma is the same as the individual soul, has busied many men, +not only Brahmans but also Kshatriyas, noblemen of the warrior order. +Some even say that it arose among the Kshatriyas; and at any rate it +is likely that they, being less obsessed with the forms of ritual than +the Brahmans and therefore able to think more directly and clearly, +have helped the Brahmans in their discussions to clear their minds of +ritual symbolism, and to realise more definitely the philosophic ideas +which hitherto they had seen only dimly typified in their ceremonies. + +Krishna was one of these Kshatriyas. He belonged to the Satvata or +Vrishni tribe, living in or near the ancient city of Mathura. +Sometimes in early writings he is styled Krishna Devakiputra, Krishna +Devaki's son, because his mother's name was Devaki; sometimes again he +is called Krishna Vasudeva, or simply Vasudeva, which is a patronymic +said to be derived from the name of his father Vasudeva. In later +times we shall find a whole cycle of legend gathering round him, in +which doubtless there is a kernel of fact. Omitting the miraculous +elements in these tales, we may say that the outline of the +Krishna-legend is as follows: Krishna's father Vasudeva and his mother +Devaki were grievously wronged by Devaki's cousin Kamsa, who usurped +the royal power in Mathura and endeavoured to slay Krishna in his +infancy; but the child escaped, and on growing to manhood killed +Kamsa. But Kamsa had made alliance with Jarasandha king of Magadha, +who now threatened Krishna; so Krishna prudently retired from Mathura +and led a colony of his tribesmen to Dvaraka, on the western coast in +Kathiawar, where he founded a new State. There seems to be no valid +reason for doubting these statements. Sober history does not reject a +tale because it is embroidered with myth and fiction. + +Now this man Krishna in the midst of his stirring life of war and +government found time and taste also for the things that are of the +spirit. He talked with men learned in the Upanishads about Brahma and +the soul and the worship of God; and apparently he set up a little +Established Church of his own, in which was combined something of the +idealism of the Upanishads with the worship of a supreme God of grace +and perhaps too a kind of religious discipline, about which we shall +say more later on. It must be confessed that we know sadly little +about his actual doctrine from first hand. All that we hear about it +is a short chapter in the Chhandogya Upanishad (iii. 17), where the +Brahman Ghora Angirasa gives a sermon to Krishna, in which he compares +the phases of human life to stages in the _diksha_ or ceremony of +consecration, and the moral virtues that should accompany them to the +_dakshina_ or honorarium paid to the officiating priests, and he +concludes by exhorting his hearer to realise that the Brahma is +imperishable, unfailing, and spiritual, and quoting two verses from +the Rig-veda speaking of the Sun as typifying the supreme bliss to +which the enlightened soul arises. This does not tell us very much, +and moreover we should remember that here our author, being an +Aupanishada, is more interested in what Ghora preached to Krishna than +in what Krishna accepted from Ghora's teaching. But we shall find +centuries later in the Bhagavad-gita, the greatest textbook of the +religion of Krishna, some distant echoes of this paragraph of the +Chhandogya. + +The beginnings of the religion of Krishna are thus very uncertain. But +as we travel down the ages we find it growing and spreading. We see +Krishna himself regarded as a half-divine hero and teacher, and +worshipped under the name of _Bhagavan_, "the Lord," in association +with other half-divine heroes. We see him becoming identified with old +gods, and finally rising to the rank of the Supreme Deity whose +worship he had himself taught in his lifetime, the Brahma of the +philosophers and the Most High God of the theists. As has happened +many a time, the teacher has become the God of his Church. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE EPICS, AND LATER + +I. VISHNU-KRISHNA + + +We now enter upon an age in which the old gods, Indra and Brahma, +retire to the background, while Vishnu and Siva stand in the forefront +of the stage. + +The Hindus are of the same opinion as the Latin poet: _ferrea nunc +aetas agitur_. We are now living in an Iron Age, according to them; +and it began in the year 3102 B.C., shortly after the great war +described in the Mahabharata. The date 3102, I need hardly remark, is +of no historical value, being based merely upon the theories of +comparatively late astronomers; but the statement as a whole is +important. The Great War marks an epoch. It came at the end of what +may be called the pre-historic period, and was followed by a new age. +To be strictly correct, we must say that the age which followed the +Great War was not new in the sense that it introduced any startling +novelties that had been unknown previously; but it was new in the +sense that after the Great War India speedily became the India that we +know from historical records. A certain fusion of different races, +cultures, and ideals had to take place in order that the peculiar +civilisation of India might unfold itself; and this fusion was +accomplished about the time of the Great War, and partly no doubt by +means of the Great War, some ten centuries before the Christian era. + +The story of the Great War is told with a wild profusion of mythical +and legendary colouring in the Mahabharata, an epic the name of which +means literally "The Great Tale of the Bharata Clan." It relates how +the blind old King Dhritarashtra of Hastinapura had a hundred sons, +known as the Kuru or Kaurava princes, the eldest of whom was +Duryodhana, and Dhritarashtra's brother Pandu had five sons, the +Pandava brethren; how the Pandavas were ousted by the Kauravas from +the kingdom, the eldest Pandava prince Yudhishthira having been +induced to stake the fortunes of himself and his brethren on a game of +dice, in which he was defeated; how the five Pandavas, with their +common wife Draupadi (observe this curious and ugly feature of +polyandry, which is quite opposed to standard Hindu morals, but is by +no means unparalleled in early Indian literature[20]) retired into +exile for thirteen years, and then came back with a great army of +allies, and after fierce and bloody battles with the Kauravas and +their supporters in the plain of Kurukshetra at last gained the +victory, slew the Kauravas, and established Yudhishthira as king in +Hastinapura. Among the Pandavas the leading part is played by the +eldest, Yudhishthira, and the third, Arjuna; of the others, Bhima, the +second, is a Hercules notable only for his strength, courage, and +fidelity, while the twins Nakula and Sahadeva are colourless figures. +Krishna plays an important part in the story; for on the return of +the Pandavas to fight the Kauravas he accompanies Arjuna as his +charioteer, and on the eve of the first battle delivers to him a +discourse on his religion, the Bhagavad-gita, or Lord's Song, which +has become one of the most famous and powerful of all the sacred books +of India. + +[Footnote 20: See H. Raychaudhuri, _Materials for the Study of the +Early History of the Vaishnava Sect, p. 27_.] + +Now if the Mahabharata were as homogeneous even as the Iliad and +Odyssey, which give us a fairly consistent and truthful picture of a +single age, we should be in a very happy position. Unfortunately this +is not the case. Our epic began as a Bharata, or Tale of the Bharata +Clan, probably of very moderate bulk, not later than 600 B.C., and +perhaps considerably earlier; and from that time onward it went on +growing bigger and bigger for over a thousand years, as editors +stuffed in new episodes and still longer discourses on nearly all the +religious and philosophic doctrines admitted within the four walls of +Hinduism, until it grew to its present immense bulk, which it claims +to amount to 100,000 verses. Thus it pictures the thought not of one +century but of more than ten, and we cannot feel sure of the date of +any particular statement in it. Nevertheless we can distinguish in a +general way between the old skeleton of the story, in which the theme +is treated in simple epic fashion, society is far freer than in later +days and no one objects to eating beef, from the additional matter, in +which the tale is recast in a far more grandiose vein and is padded +out with enormous quantities of moral, religious, and philosophic +sermons. The religion too is different in the different parts. In the +older portions the gods who are most popular are Indra, Agni, and +Brahma--not the neuter abstract Brahma, but the masculine Brahma, the +Demiurge, who corresponds more or less to Prajapati of the Brahmanas +and is represented in classical art as a four-headed old man reciting +the Vedas--and Krishna seems to figure only as a hero or at best as a +demigod; but the later parts with fine impartiality claim the +supremacy of heaven variously for Siva, Brahma, and Vishnu; and +Vishnu, as we have seen, is sometimes identified with Krishna, notably +in the chapters known as the Bhagavad-gita. + +The gods have changed somewhat since earlier days. Indra has settled +down in the constitutional monarchy of Paradise assigned to him by +the Brahmanas; he now figures as the prototype of earthly kings, +leading the armies of the gods to war against the demons when occasion +requires, and passing the leisure of peace in the enjoyment of +celestial dissipation. His morals have not improved: he is a debonair +debauchee. Brahma the Creator, a more popular version of Prajapati, is +still too impersonal to have much hold on the popular imagination; the +same is the case with Agni the Fire-god. Plainly there was a vacancy +for a supreme deity whose character was powerful enough to move men's +souls, either through awe or love; and for this vacancy there were two +strong candidates, Vishnu and Siva, who in course of time succeeded to +the post and divided the supremacy between them. + +Vishnu has altered immensely since last we met him. First, after an +extraordinary change in his own character, he has been identified with +Narayana, and then both of them have been equated with Krishna. The +development is so portentous that it calls for a little study. + +We have seen that in the Vedas Vishnu appears to be, and in the +Brahmanas certainly is, the embodied Spirit of the Sacrifice, and that +ritual mysticism has invented for him a supreme home in the highest +heaven. But in the Epics he has developed into a radiant and gracious +figure of ideal divinity, an almighty saviour with a long record of +holy works for the salvation of mankind, a god who delights in moral +goodness as well as in ritual propriety, and who from time to time +incarnates himself in human or animal form so as to maintain the order +of righteousness. Symbolism has further endowed him with a consort, +the goddess Sri or Lakshmi, typifying fortune; sometimes also he is +represented with another wife, the Earth-goddess. The divine hawk or +kite Garuda, who seems to have been originally the same as the eagle +who in the Rigvedic legend carried off the soma for Indra, has been +pressed into his service; he now rides on Garuda, and bears his figure +upon his banner. I have already suggested a possible explanation of +this evolution (above, p. 41): owing to his close association with +Indra, the most truly popular of Rigvedic deities, the laic +imagination transfused some of the live blood of Indra into the veins +of the priestly abstraction Vishnu. To the plain man Indra was very +real; and as he frequently heard tales of Indra being aided in his +exploits by Vishnu, he came to regard Vishnu as a very present helper +in trouble. The friend of Indra became the friend of mankind. The post +of Indra had already been fixed for him by the theologians; but the +functions of Vishnu, outside the rituals, were still somewhat vaguely +defined, and were capable of considerable expansion. Here was a great +opportunity for those souls who were seeking for a supreme god of +grace, and were not satisfied to find him in Siva; and they made full +use of it, and wholly transformed the personality of Vishnu. + +One of the stages in this transformation was the absorption of +Narayana in Vishnu. Narayana was originally a god of a different kind. +The earliest reference to him is in a Brahmana which calls him Purusha +Narayana, which means that it regards him as being the same as the +Universal Spirit which creates from itself the cosmos; it relates that +Purusha Narayana pervaded the whole of nature (SB. XII. iii. 4, 1), +and that he made himself omnipresent and supreme over all beings by +performing a _pañcha-ratra sattra_, or series of sacrifices lasting +over five days (ib. XIII. vi. 1, 1). Somewhat later we find prayers +addressed to Narayana, Vasudeva, and Vishnu as three phases of the +same god (Taitt. Aran. X. i. 6). But was Narayana in origin merely a +variety of the Vedic Purusha or our old acquaintance Prajapati? His +name must give us pause. The most simple explanation of it is that it +is a family name: as Karshnayana means a member of the Krishna-family +and Ranayana a man belonging to the family of Rana, so Narayana would +naturally denote a person of the family of Nara. But Nara itself +signifies a _man_: is the etymology therefore reduced to absurdity? +Not at all: Nara is also used as a proper name, as we shall see.[21] +Probably the name really means what naturally it would seem to mean, +"a man of the Nara family"; that Narayana was originally a divine or +deified saint, a _rishi_, as the Hindus would call him; and that +somehow he became identified with Vishnu and the Universal Spirit. + +[Footnote 21: It must be admitted that ancient writers give different +etymologies of the name: thus, a poet in the Mahabharata (III. +clxxxix. 3) derives it from _narah_, "waters," and _ayanam_, "going," +understanding it to mean "one who has the waters for his +resting-place"; Manu (I. 10, with Medhatithi's commentary), accepting +the same etymology, interprets it as "the dwelling-place of all the +Naras"; and in the Mahabharata XII. cccxli. 39, it is also explained +as "the dwelling-place of mankind." But these interpretations are +plainly artificial concoctions.] + +This theory really is not by any means as wild as at first sight it +may seem to be. Divine saints are sometimes mentioned in the Rig-veda +and Brahmanas as being the creators of the universe[22]; and they +appear again and again in legend as equals of the gods, attaining +divine powers by their mystic insight into the sacrificial lore. But +there is more direct evidence than this. + +[Footnote 22: RV. X. cxxix. 5, SB. VI. i. 1, 1-5. Cf. Charpentier, +_Suparnasage_, p. 387.] + +In the Mahabharata there are incorporated two documents of first-rate +importance for the doctrines of the churches that worshipped Vishnu. +One of these is the Bhagavad-gita, or Lord's Song (VI. xxv.-xlii.); +the other is the Narayaniya, or Account of Narayana (XII. +cccxxxvi.-cccliii.). Their teachings are not the same in details, +though on most main points they agree; for they belong to different +sections of the one religious body. Leaving aside the Bhagavad-gita +for the moment, we note that the Narayaniya relates a story that there +were born four sons of Dharma, or Righteousness, viz. Nara, Narayana, +Hari or Vishnu, and Krishna. In other places (I. ccxxx. 18, III. xii. +45, xlvii. 10, V. xlviii. 15, etc.) we are plainly told that Nara is a +previous incarnation of Arjuna the Pandava prince, and Narayana is, of +course, the supreme Deity, who in the time of Arjuna was born on earth +as Krishna Vasudeva, and that in his earlier birth Nara and Narayana +were both ascetic saints. This tradition is very important, for it +enables us to see something of the early character of Narayana. He was +an ancient saint of legend, who was connected with a hero Nara, just +as Krishna was associated with Arjuna; and the atmosphere of +saintliness clings to him obstinately. Tradition alleges that he was +the _rishi_, or inspired seer, who composed the Purusha-sukta of the +Rig-veda (X. 90), and represents him by choice as lying in a +_yoga-nidra_, or mystic sleep, upon the body of the giant serpent +Sesha in the midst of the Ocean of Milk. Thus the worship of Vishnu, +like the worship of Siva, has owed much to the influence of live yogis +idealised as divine saints; though it must be admitted that the yogis +of the Vaishnava orders have usually been more agreeable and less +ambiguous than those of the Saiva community. + +We must briefly consider now the religious teachings of the +Bhagavad-gita and the Narayaniya, and then turn to the inscriptions +and contemporary literature to see whether we can find any sidelights +in them. We begin with the Bhagavad-gita, or The Lord's Song. + +The Bhagavad-gita purports to be a dialogue between the Pandava prince +Arjuna and Krishna, who was serving him as his charioteer, on the eve +of the great battle. In order to invent a leading motive for his +teaching, the poet represents Arjuna as suddenly stricken with +overwhelming remorse at the prospect of the fratricidal strife which +he is about to begin. "I will not fight," he cries in anguish. Then +Krishna begins a long series of arguments to stimulate him for the +coming battle. He points out, with quotations from the Upanishads, +that killing men in battle does not destroy their souls; for the soul +is indestructible, migrating from body to body according to its own +deserts. The duty of the man born in the Warrior-caste is to fight; +fighting is his caste-duty, his _dharma_, and as such it can entail +upon him no guilt if it be performed in the right spirit. But how is +this to be done? The answer is the leading motive of Krishna's +teaching. For the maintenance of the world it is necessary that men +should do the works of their respective castes, and these works do not +operate as _karma_ to the detriment of the future life of their souls +if they perform them not from selfish motives but as offerings made in +perfect unselfishness to the Lord. This is the doctrine of +_Karma-yoga_, discipline of works, which is declared to lead the soul +of the worshipper to salvation in the Lord as effectually as the +ancient intellectualism preached in the Upanishads and the Samkhya +philosophy. But there is also a third way to salvation, the way +through loving devotion, or _bhakti_, which is as efficacious as +either of the other two; the worshippers of Siva had already preached +this for their own church in the Svetasvatara Upanishad. Besides +treating without much consistency or method of many incidental +questions of religious theory and practice, Krishna reveals himself +for a few instants to Arjuna in his form as Viraj, the universal being +in which all beings are comprehended and consumed. Finally Arjuna is +comforted, and laying the burden of all his works upon Krishna, he +prepares in quiet faith for the coming day of battle. + +There are four main points to notice in this teaching. (1) The Supreme +God, superior to Brahma, he who rules by grace and comprehends in his +universal person the whole of existence, is Vishnu, or Hari, +represented on earth for the time being by Krishna Vasudeva. The +author makes no attempt to reconcile the fatalism implied in the old +theory of _karma-samsara_ with his new doctrine of special and general +grace: he allows the two principles to stand side by side, and leaves +for future generations of theologians the delicate task of harmonising +them. (2) Three roads to salvation are recognised in principle, the +intellectual gnosis of the old Upanishads and the Samkhya, the "way of +works" or performance of necessary social duties in a spirit of +perfect surrender to God, and the "way of devotion," continuous loving +worship and contemplation of God. In practice the first method is +ignored as being too severe for average men; the second and third are +recommended, as being suitable for all classes. (3) The way of +salvation is thus thrown open directly to men and women of all castes +and conditions. The Bhagavad-gita fully approves of the orthodox +division of society into castes; but by its doctrine that the +performance of caste-duties in a spirit of sacrifice leads to +salvation it makes caste an avenue to salvation, not a barrier. (4) +The Bhagavad-gita has nothing to say for the animal-sacrifices of the +Brahmans. It recognises only offerings of flowers, fruits, and the +like. The doctrine of _ahimsa_, "thou shalt do no hurt," was making +much headway at the time, and the wholesale animal-sacrifices of the +Brahmans roused general disgust, of which the Buddhists and Jains +took advantage for the propagation of their teachings. + +I have previously spoken of the solitary passage in the Chhandogya +Upanishad in which Krishna's name is mentioned, as receiving the +teachings of Ghora Angirasa, and it will now be fitting to see how far +these teachings are reflected in the Bhagavad-gita. Ghora compares the +functions of life to the ceremonies of the _diksha_ (see above, p.68): +and this is at bottom the same idea as the doctrine of _karma-yoga_ +preached again and again in the Bhagavad-gita. "Whatever be thy work, +thine eating, thy sacrifice, thy gift, thy mortification, make of it +an offering to me," says Krishna (IX. 27); all life should be regarded +as a sacrifice freely offered. Then Ghora continues: "In the hour of +death one should take refuge in these three thoughts: 'Thou art the +Indestructible, Thou art the Unfailing, Thou art instinct with +Spirit.' On this there are these two verses of the Rig-veda: + + Thus upward from the primal seed + From out the darkness all around + We, looking on the higher light, + Yea, looking on the higher heaven, + Have come to Surya, god midst gods, + To him that is the highest light, the highest light." + +In the Bhagavad-gita (IV. 1 ff.) Krishna announces that he preached +his doctrine to Vivasvan the Sun-god, who passed it on to his son the +patriarch Manu; elsewhere in the Mahabharata (XII. cccv. 19) the +Satvata teaching is said to have been announced by the Sun. Ghora in +his list of moral virtues enumerates "mortification, charity, +uprightness, harmlessness, truthfulness"; exactly the same attributes, +with a few more, are said in the Bhagavad-gita to characterise the man +who is born to the gods' estate (XVI. 1-3). Ghora's exhortation to +think of the nature of the Supreme in the hour of death is balanced by +Krishna's words: "He who at his last hour, when he casts off the body, +goes hence remembering me, goes assuredly into my being" (VIII. 5; cf. +10). These parallels are indeed not very close; but collectively they +are significant, and when we bear in mind that the author of the +Bhagavad-gita is eager to associate his doctrine with those of the +Upanishads, and thus to make it a new and catholic Upanishad for all +classes, we are led to conclude that its fundamental ideas, +sanctification of works (_karma-yoga_), worship of a Supreme God of +Grace (_bhakti_) by all classes, and rejection of animal sacrifices +(_ahimsa_) arose among the orthodox Kshatriyas, who found means to +persuade their Brahmanic preceptors to bring it into connection with +their Upanishads and embellish it with appropriate texts from those +sources. Very likely Krishna Vasudeva, if not the first inventor of +these doctrines, was their most vigorous propagator. + +Now what are the teachings of the Narayaniya? It appears to contain +two accounts. In the first we have the story of king Vasu Uparichara, +who is said to have worshipped the Supreme God Hari (Vishnu) in +devotion without any animal-sacrifices, in accordance with doctrines +ascribed to the Aranyakas, i.e. the later sections of the Brahmanas, +including the older Upanishads. This fully agrees with the standpoint +of the Bhagavad-gita. The second account gives the story of a visit +paid by the divine saint Narada to a mysterious "White Island," +Sveta-dvipa, inhabited by holy worshippers of God who are, strangely +enough, described as having heads shaped like umbrellas and feet like +lotus-leaves and as making a sound like that of thunder-clouds[23]; +they are radiant like the moon, have no physical senses, eat nothing, +and concentrate their whole soul on rapturous adoration of the spirit +of God, which shines there in dazzling brightness to the eye of +perfect faith. Narayana there reveals himself to Narada, and sets +forth to him the doctrine of Vasudeva. According to this, Narayana has +four forms, called _murtis_ or _vyuhas_. The first of these is +Vasudeva, who is the highest soul and creator and inwardly controls +all individual souls. From him arose Samkarshana, who corresponds to +the individual soul; from Samkarshana issued Pradyumna, to whom +corresponds the organ of mind, and from Pradyumna came forth +Aniruddha, representing the element of self-consciousness. Observe in +passing that these are all names of heroes of legend: Samkarshana is +Vasudeva's brother Bala-rama, Pradyumna was the son and Aniruddha the +grandson of Vasudeva. Narayana then goes on to speak of the creation +of all things from himself and their dissolution into himself, and of +his incarnations in the form of the Boar who lifted up on his tusk the +earth when submerged under the ocean, Narasimha the Man-lion who +destroyed the tyrant Hiranya-kasipu, the Dwarf who overthrew Bali, +Rama Bhargava who destroyed the Kshatriyas, Rama Dasarathi, of whom we +shall have something to say later. Krishna Vasudeva the slayer of +Kamsa of Mathura, the Tortoise, the Fish, and Kalki. Then follow some +further details, among them a statement that this doctrine was +revealed to Arjuna at the beginning of the Great War--a clear +reference to the Bhagavad-gita--that at the beginning of every age it +was promulgated by Narayana, that it requires activity in pious works, +that at the commencement of the present age it passed from him to +Brahma, from him to Vivasvan the Sun-god, from him to the patriarch +Manu, etc., that it does not allow the sacrifice of animals, and that +for salvation the co-operative grace of Narayana is necessary. Most of +this doctrine is already in the Bhagavad-gita; what is not found in +the latter is the account of the mysterious White Island, the theory +of _vyuhas_ or emanations, which represents Vasudeva as issuing from +Narayana and so forth, and the details of Narayana's incarnations. It +is therefore a distinct textbook of the Satvata or Pañcharatra church, +not much later than the Bhagavad-gita. According to it, the Supreme +Being is Narayana, the Almighty God who reveals himself as highest +teacher and saintly sage, whose legendary performance of a five-days' +sacrifice (above, p. 76) has gained for his doctrine the title of +Pañcharatra. Next in order of divinity is Krishna Vasudeva, whose +tribal name of Satvata has furnished the other name of this church; +then follow in due order Samkarshana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha, all of +his family; and with Vasudeva is closely associated the epic hero +Arjuna, a prototype for this mortal pair being discovered in the +legendary Nara and Narayana. + +[Footnote 23: It is obvious that this island lies in a latitude +somewhere between that of Lilliput and Brobdingnag, and that the +professors who have endeavoured to locate it on the map of Asia have +wasted their time.] + +Comparing then the Bhagavad-gita with the Narayaniya, we see that in +all essentials they agree, but in two points they differ. Both preach +a doctrine of activity in pious works, _pravritti_, in conscious +opposition to the inactivity of the Aupanishadas and Samkhyas; but +the Narayaniya does not dwell much on this topic, and limits activity +to strictly religious duties, while the Bhagavad-gita develops the +idea so as to include everything, thus sketching out a bold system for +the sanctification of all sides of life, which enables it to open the +door of salvation directly to all classes of mankind. Secondly, the +Bhagavad-gita says nothing about the theory of emanations or _vyuhas_ +in connection with Vasudeva; probably its author knew the legends of +Samkarshana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha, but he apparently did not know +or at least did not accept the view that these persons were related as +successive emanations from Vasudeva. We must therefore look round for +sidelights which may clear up the obscurities in the history of this +church. + +Our first sidelight glimmers in the famous grammar of Panini, who +probably lived in the fifth century B.C., or perhaps early in the +fourth century. Panini informs us (IV. iii. 98) that from the names of +Vasudeva and Arjuna the derivative nouns _Vasudevaka_ and _Arjunaka_ +are formed to denote persons who worship respectively Vasudeva and +Arjuna. Plainly then in the fifth century Krishna Vasudeva and Arjuna +were worshipped by some, probably in the same connection as is shown +in the Mahabharata. Perhaps Vasudeva had not yet been raised to the +rank of the Almighty; it is more likely that he was still a deified +hero and teacher, and Arjuna his noblest disciple. But both of them +were receiving divine honours; they had been men, and were now gods, +with bands of adorers. + +Our next evidence is an inscription found not long ago on the base of +a stone column at Besnagar near Bhilsa, in the south of Gwalior +State,[24] and must have been engraved soon after 200 B.C. It reads as +follows: "This Garuda-column of Vasudeva the god of gods was erected +here by Heliodorus, a worshipper of the Lord [_bhagavata_], the son of +Diya [Greek _Dion_] and an inhabitant of Taxila, who came as +ambassador of the Greeks from the Great King Amtalikita [Greek +_Antialcidas_] to King Kasiputra Bhagabhadra the Saviour, who was +flourishing in the fourteenth year of his reign"; and below this are +two lines in some kind of verse, which announce that "three immortal +steps ... when practised lead to heaven--self-control, charity, and +diligence." Here, then, in the centre of a thriving kingdom probably +forming part of the Sunga empire, Vasudeva is worshipped not as a +minor hero or teacher, but as the god of gods, _deva-deva_; and he is +worshipped by the Greek Heliodorus, visiting the place as an +ambassador from Antialcidas, a Hellenic king of the lineage of +Eucratides, who was reigning in the North-West of India. Doubtless the +act of Heliodorus was a diplomatic courtesy, in order to please King +Kasiputra Bhagabhadra. But observe the nature of his act. He caused to +be erected a Garuda-column, that is, a pillar engraved with the figure +of Garuda, the sacred bird of Vishnu; and he added a verse about +"three immortal steps" (_trini amutapadani_), as leading to heaven, +which sounds suspiciously like an attempt to moralise the old mythical +feature of the three Steps of Vishnu. Plainly Vasudeva had now risen +in this part of the country from being the teacher of a church of +Vishnu-Narayana to the rank of its chief god, with which he had become +fully identified. + +[Footnote 24: See Rapson, _Ancient India_, p. 156 ff., _Cambridge +Hist. India_, i, pp. 521, 558, 625, H. Ray Chaudhuri, _Materials for +the Study of the Early History of the Vaishnava Sect_, p. 59, and +Ramaprasad Chanda, _Archæology and Vaishnava Tradition_ in _Memoirs of +the Archæological Survey of India_, No. 5, p. 151 ff., etc.] + +Another inscription, a few years later in date, has been found in +Besnagar. It is a mere fragment, but it supplements the other; for it +states that a certain _bhagavata_, or "worshipper of the Lord," named +Gotama-puta (Gautama-putra in Sanskrit) erected a Garuda-column for +the Lord's temple in the twelfth year from the coronation of King +Bhagavata. This king is perhaps the same as the person of that name +who appears in some genealogical lists as the last but one of the +Sunga Kings.[25] + +[Footnote 25: See R. Chanda, _ut supra_, p. 152 f.] + +Next in date is an inscription on a stone slab found at Ghasundi, +about four miles north-east of Nagari, in Udaipur State. It was +engraved about 150 B.C., and records that a certain _bhagavata_, or +"worshipper of the Lord," named Gajayana, son of Parasari, caused to +be erected in the Narayana-vata, or park of Narayana, a stone chapel +for the worship of the Lords Samkarshana and Vasudeva.[26] Here their +worship is associated with that of Narayana. + +[Footnote 26: It is noteworthy that Samkarshana is here mentioned +first, as is also the case in the Nanaghat inscription of about 100 +B.C., which mentions them as descendants of the Moon in a list of +various deities. This order may possibly be due to the fact that in +ancient legend Samkarshana, or Bala-bhadra, is the elder brother of +Krishna Vasudeva, and it does not entitle us to draw the inference +that he ever received equal honour with Vasudeva. Special devotees of +Samkarshana are mentioned in the Kautiliya, the famous treatise on +polity ascribed to Chanakya, the minister of Chandra-gupta Maurya, who +came to the throne about 320 B.C. (Engl. transl. 1st edn., p. 485). I +suspect that in its present form the Kautiliya is considerably later +than 320 B.C.; but in any case the existence of special votaries of +Samkarshana is no proof that he ever ranked as equal to Vasudeva, just +as the presence of special worshippers of Arjuna is no proof that +Arjuna was ever considered a peer of Vasudeva. On the Ghasundi +inscription see R. Chanda, _ut supra_, p. 163 ff., etc.; for the +Nanaghat inscription, _ibidem_ and _Memoirs of the Arch. Survey of +India_, No. 1, with H. Raychaudhuri's _Materials, etc._, p. 68 ff.] + +Passing over an inscription at Mathura which records the building of a +part of a sanctuary to the Lord Vasudeva about 15 B.C. by the great +Satrap Sodasa,[27] we note that the grammarian Patañjali, who wrote his +commentary the Mahabhashya upon Panini's grammar about 150 B.C., has +something to say about Krishna Vasudeva, whom he recognises as a divine +being (on IV. iii. 98). He quotes some verses referring to him. The +first (on II. ii. 23) is to the following effect: "May the might of +Krishna accompanied by Samkarshana increase!" Another (on VI. iii. 6) +speaks of "Janardana with himself as fourth," that is to say, Krishna +with three companions: the three may be Samkarshana, Pradyumna, and +Aniruddha, or they may not. Another verse (on II. ii. 34) speaks of +musical instruments being played at meetings in the temples of Rama and +Kesava. Rama is Bala-rama or Bala-bhadra, who is the same as +Samkarshana, and Kesava is a title of Krishna, which was applied also to +Vishnu or Narayana according to the Bodhayana-dharma-sutra, which may be +assigned to the second century B.C. The Ovavai, or Aupapatika-sutra, a +Jain scripture which may perhaps belong to the same period, mentions (§ +76) _Kanha-parivvaya_, wandering friars who worshipped Krishna. Thus +literature as well as inscriptions shows that Krishna Vasudeva and his +brother Samkarshana were in many places worshipped as saints of a church +of Vishnu-Narayana about 150 B.C., and that in some parts Vasudeva was +recognised as the Almighty himself about 200 B.C. + +[Footnote 27: R. Chanda, _ut supra_, p. 169 f.] + +In another passage (on III. i, 26) Patañjali describes dramatic and +mimetic performances representing the killing of Kamsa by Vasudeva. +Altogether his references show that the legend and worship of Vasudeva +bulked largely in the popular mind at this time in India north of the +Vindhya mountains. Vasudeva was adored as the great teacher and +hero-king, in whom the gods Vishnu and Narayana were incarnated; and +he was associated with two great cycles of legend, the one that +related his birth at Mathura, his victory over the tyrant Kamsa, his +establishment of the colony at Dvaraka, and his adventures until his +death and translation to heaven, and the other telling of his share in +the Great War as ally of the five Pandava brethren. Both cycles +represented him as supported by princely heroes. The Mathura-Dvaraka +legend gave him his brother Bala-bhadra or Samkarshana, his son +Pradyumna, and his grandson Aniruddha, whom theologians about the +beginning of the Christian era fitted into their philosophical schemes +by representing them as successive emanations from him; and the +Mahabharata furnished him with the Pandavas, whose heroic tale soon +created for them a worship everywhere. As we have seen, there were +adorers of Arjuna already in the fifth century B.C.; and in the first +century B.C. there seems to be evidence for a worship of all the five +together with Vasudeva, for an inscription has been found at Mora +which apparently mentions a son of the great Satrap Rajuvula, +probably the well-known Satrap Sodasa, and an image of the "Lord +Vrishni," probably Vasudeva, and of the "Five Warriors."[28] Already +the poets of the Mahabharata have taken the first step towards the +deification of the Pandavas by finding divine fathers for each of +them, making Yudhishthira the son of Dharma or Yama, the god of the +nether world, Arjuna son of Indra, Bhima son of Vayu the Wind-god, and +Nakula and Sahadeva offspring of the Asvins. Hundreds of caverns +throughout India are declared by popular legend to have been their +dwellings during their wanderings; and a noble monument to their +memory has been raised by one of the great Pallava kings of Conjevaram +who in the seventh century A.D. carved out of the solid rock on the +seashore at Mamallapuram the fine chapels that bear their names. +Doubtless all these heroes from both cycles were once worshipped in +the usual manner, with offerings of food, incense, lights, flowers, +etc., and singing of hymns on their exploits--chiefly in connection +with Vasudeva; but all this worship is now utterly forgotten, except +where echoes of it linger in popular legend. + +[Footnote 28: R. Chandra, _ut supra_, p. 165 f.] + +Our survey of the religion of Vasudeva has brought us down to a date +which cannot indeed be exactly fixed, but which may be placed +approximately in the second century of our era. This religion, as we +have seen, arose and grew great in the fertile soil of the spiritual +needs and experiences of India. It began by moulding a personal God +out of ancient figures of myth and legend, and it surrounded him with +a hierarchy of godly heroes. Though its doctrines were often +philosophically incongruous and incoherent, its foundation was a true +religious feeling; it gave scope to the mystic raptures of the ascetic +and the simple righteousness of the laic; and it claimed for its +heroes, Vasudeva and his kindred and his friends the Pandava brethren, +a grave and dignified hero-worship. In short, it is a serious Indian +religion with an epic setting. + +And now suddenly and most unexpectedly an utterly new spirit begins to +breathe in it. To the old teachings and legends are added new ones of +a wholly different cast. The old epic spirit of grave and manly +chivalry and godly wisdom is overshadowed by a new passion--adoration +of tender babyhood and wanton childhood, amorous ecstasies, a hectic +fire of erotic romance. + +Of this new spirit there is no trace in the epic, except in one or two +late interpolations. But the Hari-vamsa, which was added as an +appendix to the Mahabharata not very long before the fourth century +A.D., is already instinct with it. It adds to the epic story of +Krishna a fluent verse account of his miraculous preservation from +Kamsa at his birth, his childhood among the herdsmen and herdswomen +of Vraja (the Doab near Mathura) with its marvellous freaks and +wonderful exploits, his amorous sports with the herdswomen, in fact +all the sensuous emotionalism on which the later church of Krishna has +ever since battened. About the same time appeared the Vishnu-purana, +which includes most of the same matter as the Hari-vamsa; and some +centuries later, probably about the tenth century, there was written a +still more remarkable book, the Bhagavata-purana, of which a great +part is taken up with the romance of Krishna's babyhood and childhood, +and especially his amorous sports. In the Bhagavata the later worship +of Krishna found its classic expression. In the Hari-vamsa and +Vishnu-purana religious emotion is still held under a certain +restraint; but in the Bhagavata it has broken loose and runs riot. It +is a romance of ecstatic love for Krishna, who is no longer, as in the +Vishnu-purana, the incarnation of a portion of the Supreme Vishnu, but +very God become man, wholly and utterly divine in his humanity. It +dwells in a rapture of tenderness upon the God-babe, and upon the +wanton play of the lovely child who is delightful in his naughtiness +and marvellous in his occasional displays of superhuman power; it +figures him as an ideal of boyish beauty, decked with jewels and +crested with peacock's feathers, wandering through the flowering +forests of Vraja, dancing and playing on his flute melodies that fill +the souls of all that hear them with an irresistible passion of love +and delight; it revels in tales of how the precocious boy made wanton +sport with the herdswomen of Vraja, and how the magic of his fluting +drew them to the dance in which they were united to him in a rapture +of love. The book thrills with amorous, sensuous ecstasy; the thought +of Krishna stirs the worshipper to a passion of love in which tears +gush forth in the midst of laughter, the speech halts, and often the +senses fail and leave him in long trances. Erotic emotionalism can go +no further. + +Where did this new spirit come from? Some have laboured to prove that +it had its source in Christianity; others have argued that it was +Christianity that was the debtor to India in this respect. Both +theories are in the main impossible. This cult of the child Krishna +arose in India, and, with the possible exception of a few obscure +tales, it never spread outside the circle of Indian religion. But how +and where did it arise? That is a question hard to answer; there is no +direct evidence, and we can only balance probabilities. Now what are +the probabilities? + +The worship of Krishna as a babe, a boy, and a young man among the +herdsfolk of Vraja seems to have no relation with the older form of +the religion as set forth in the epic textbooks. It is a new element, +imported from without. The most natural conclusion then is that it +came from the people who are described in it, some tribe that pastured +their herds in the woodlands near Mathura. Perhaps these herdsfolk +were Abhiras, ancestors of the modern Ahir tribes. If so, it would be +natural that their cult should attract attention; for sometimes +Abhiras counted for something in society, and we even find a +short-lived dynasty of Abhira kings reigning in Nasik in the third +century A.D.[29] Be this as it may, it seems very likely that some +pastoral tribe had a cult of a divine child blue or black of hue, and +perhaps actually called by them Krishna or Kanha, "Black-man" (observe +that henceforth Krishna is regularly represented with a blue skin), a +cult in which gross rustic fantasy had free play; that it came in some +circles to be linked on to the epic cycle of Krishna Vasudeva; and +that some Bhagavatas, seeing in it latent possibilities, gave it +polished literary expression and thereby established it as a part of +the Vasudeva legend. It quickly seized upon the popular imagination +and spread like wild-fire over India. For it satisfied many needs. The +tenderness of the father and still more of the mother for the little +babe, their delight in the sports of childhood, the amorist's pleasure +in erotic adventure, and, not by any means least, the joy in the +romantic scenery of the haunted woodlands--all these instincts found +full play in it, and were sanctified by religion. + +[Footnote 29: Rapson, _Catal. of the Coins of the Andhra Dynasty, +etc._, pp. xliv, lxii, lxix, cxxxiii-cxxxvi, clxii; _Indian Antiq._, +xlvii, p. 85, etc.] + + +II. RAMA + +Rama is the hero of the Ramayana, the great epic ascribed to Valmiki, +a poet who in course of time has passed from the realm of history into +that of myth, like many other Hindus. The poem, as it has come down to +us, contains seven books, which relate the following tale. Dasa-ratha, +King of Ayodhya (now Ajodhya, near Faizabad), of the dynasty which +claimed descent from the Sun-god, had no son, and therefore held the +great _Asva-medha_, or horse-sacrifice, as a result of which he +obtained four sons, Rama by his queen Kausalya, Bharata by Kaikeyi, +and Lakshmana and Satrughna by Sumitra. Rama, the eldest, was also +pre-eminent for strength, bravery, and noble qualities of soul. +Visiting in his early youth the court of Janaka, king of Videha, Rama +was able to shoot an arrow from Janaka's bow, which no other man could +bend, and as a reward he received as wife the princess Sita, whom +Janaka had found in a furrow of his fields and brought up as his own +daughter. So far the first book, or Bala-kanda. The second book, or +Ayodhya-kanda, relates how Queen Kaikeyi induced Dasa-ratha, sorely +against his will, to banish Rama to the forests in order that her son +Bharata might succeed to the throne; and the Aranya-kanda then +describes how Rama, accompanied by his wife Sita and his faithful +brother Lakshmana, dwelt in the forest for a time, until the demon +King Ravana of Lanka, by means of a trick, carried off Sita to his +city. The Kishkindha-kanda tells of Rama's pursuit of Ravana and his +coming to Kishkindha, the city of Sugriva, the king of the apes, who +joined him as an ally in his expedition; and the Sundara-kanda +describes the march of their armies to Lanka, which is identified with +Ceylon, and their crossing over the straits. Then comes the +Yuddha-kanda, which narrates the war with Ravana, his death in battle, +the restoration of Sita, the return of Rama and Sita to Ayodhya, and +the crowning of Rama in place of Dasa-ratha, who had died of grief +during his exile. Finally comes the Uttara-kanda, which relates that +Rama, hearing some of the people of Ayodhya spitefully casting +aspersions on the virtue of Sita during her imprisonment in the palace +of Ravana, gave way to foolish jealousy and banished her to the +hermitage of Valmiki, where she gave birth to twin sons, Kusa and +Lava; when these boys had grown up, Valmiki taught them the Ramayana +and sent them to sing it at the court of Rama, who on hearing it sent +for Sita, who came to him accompanied by Valmiki, who assured him of +her purity; and then Sita swore to it on oath, calling upon her mother +the Earth-goddess to bear witness; and the Earth-goddess received her +back into her bosom, leaving Rama bereaved, until after many days he +was translated to heaven. + +Such is the tale of Rama as told in the Valmiki-ramayana--a clean, +wholesome story of chivalry, love, and adventure. But clearly the +Valmiki-ramayana is not the work of a single hand. We can trace in it +at least two strata. Books II.-VI. contain the older stratum; the rest +is the addition of a later poet or series of poets, who have also +inserted some padding into the earlier books. This older stratum, the +nucleus of the epic, gives us a picture of heroic society in India at +a very early date, probably not very long after the age of the +Upanishads; perhaps we shall not be far wrong if we say it was +composed some time before the fourth century B.C. In it Rama is simply +a hero, miraculous in strength and goodness, but nevertheless wholly +human; but in the later stratum--Books I. and VII. and the occasional +insertions in the other books--conditions are changed, and Rama +appears as a god on earth, a partial incarnation of Vishnu, exactly as +in the Bhagavad-gita and other later parts of the Mahabharata the hero +Krishna has become an incarnation of Vishnu also. The parallel may +even be traced further. Krishna stands to Arjuna in very much the same +relation as Rama to his brother Lakshmana--a greater and a lesser +hero, growing into an incarnate god and his chief follower. This is +thoroughly in harmony with Hindu ideas, which regularly conceive the +teacher as accompanied by his disciple and abhor the notion of a voice +crying in the wilderness; indeed we may almost venture to suspect that +this symmetry in the epics is not altogether uninfluenced by this +ideal. This, however, is a detail: the main point to observe is that +Rama was originally a local hero of the Solar dynasty, a legendary +king of Ayodhya, and as the Puranas give him a full pedigree, there is +no good reason to doubt that he really existed "once upon a time." But +the story with which he is associated in the Ramayana is puzzling. Is +it a pure romance? Or is it a glorified version of some real +adventures? Or can it be an old tale, perhaps dating from the early +dawn of human history, readapted and fitted on to the person of an +historical Rama? The first of these hypotheses seems unlikely, though +by no means impossible. The second suggestion has found much favour. +Many have believed that the story of the expedition of Rama and his +army of apes to Lanka represents a movement of the Aryan invaders from +the North towards the South; and this is supported to some extent by +Indian tradition, which has located most of the places mentioned in +the Ramayana, and in particular has identified Lanka with Ceylon. In +support of this one may point to the Iliad of Homer, which has a +somewhat similar theme, the rape and recovery of Helen by the armies +of the Achæans, the basis of which is the historical fact of an +expedition against Troy and the destruction of that city. But there +are serious difficulties in the way of accepting this analogy, the +most serious of all being the indubitable fact that there is not a +tittle of evidence to show that such an expedition was ever made by +the Aryans. True, there were waves of emigration from Aryan centres +southward in early times; but those that travelled as far as Ceylon +went by sea, either from the coasts of Bengal or Orissa or Bombay. +Besides, the expedition of Rama is obviously fabulous, for his army +was composed not of Aryans but of apes. All things considered, there +seems to be most plausibility in the third hypothesis[30]. Certainly +Rama was a local hero of Ayodhya, and probably he was once a real +king; so it is likely enough that an old saga (or sagas) attached +itself early to his memory. And as his fame spread abroad, principally +on the wings of Valmiki's poem, the honours of semi-divinity began to +be paid to him in many places beyond his native land, and about the +beginning of our era he was recognised as an incarnation of Vishnu +sent to establish a reign of righteousness in the world. In Southern +India this cult of Rama, like that of Krishna, has for the most part +remained subordinate to the worship of Vishnu, though the Vaishnava +church there has from early times recognised the divinity of both of +them as embodiments of the Almighty. But its great home is the North, +where millions worship Rama with passionate and all-absorbing love. + +[Footnote 30: I regret that I cannot accept the ingenious hypothesis +lately put forward by Rai Saheb Dineshchandra Sen in his _Bengali +Ramayanas_. The story of the Dasaratha-jataka seems to me to be a +garbled and bowdlerised snippet cut off from a possibly pre-Valmikian +version of the old Rama-saga; the rest of the theory appears to be +quite mistaken.] + + +III. SOME LATER PREACHERS + +With all its attractions and success, the new Krishnaism did not +everywhere overgrow the older stock upon which it had been engrafted. +There were many places in which the early worship of Vishnu and +Vasudeva remained almost unchanged. The new legends of Krishna's +childhood might indeed be accepted in these centres of conservatism, +but they made little difference in the spirit and form of the worship, +which continued to follow the ancient order. In some of them the +Bhagavad-gita, Narayaniya, and other epic doctrinals still remained +the standard texts, which theologians connected with the ancient +Upanishads and the Brahma-sutra summarising the latter; in other +centres there arose, beginning perhaps about the seventh century A.D., +a series of Samhitas, or manuals of doctrine and practice for the +Pañcharatra[31] sect, which, though in essentials agreeing with the +Narayaniya, taught a different theory of cosmogony and introduced the +worship of the goddess Sri or Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu, as the +agency or energy through which the Supreme Being becomes active in +finite existence; and in yet other places other texts were followed, +such as those of the Vaikhanasa school. This worship of +Vishnu-Vasudeva on the ancient lines was peculiarly vigorous among the +representatives of Aryan culture in the South, who had introduced the +cults of Vishnu and Siva with the rest of the Aryan pantheon into the +midst of Dravidian animism. Hinduism, transplanted into the Dravidian +area, has there remained more conservative than anywhere else, and has +clung firmly to its ancient traditions. There is nothing of Dravidian +origin in the South Indian worship of Vishnu and Siva; they are +entirely Aryan importations. But they have become thoroughly +assimilated in their southern home, and each of them has produced a +huge mass of fine devotional literature in the vernaculars. In the +Tamil country the church of Vishnu boasts of the Nal-ayira-prabandham, +a collection of Tamil psalms numbering about 4,000 stanzas composed by +twelve poets called Alvars, which were collected about 1000 A.D.; +and the worship of 'Siva is equally well expressed in the Tiru-murai, +compiled about the twelfth century, of which one section, the Devaram, +was put together about the same time as the Nal-ayira-prabandham. Both +the Tiru-murai and the Nal-ayira-prabandham breathe the same spirit of +ecstatic devotion as the Bhagavata-purana; they are the utterances of +wandering votaries who travelled from temple to temple and poured +forth the passionate raptures of their souls in lyrical praise of +their deities. Through these three main channels the stream of +devotion spread far and wide through the land. Like most currents of +what we call "revivalism," it usually had an erotic side; and the +larger temples frequently have attached to them female staffs of +attendant votaries and _corps de ballet_ of very easy virtue. But this +aspect was far more marked in neo-Krishnaism, which often tends to +intense pruriency, than in the other two cults. The Alvars pay +little regard to the legends of Krishna, and concentrate their +energies upon the worship of Vishnu as he is represented in the great +temples of Srirangam, Conjevaram, Tirupati, and similar sanctuaries. + +[Footnote 31: On this name see above, p. 86.] + +About the beginning of the ninth century the peaceful course of +Vaishnava religion was rudely disturbed by the preaching of Samkara +Acharya. Samkara, one of the greatest intellects that India has ever +produced, was a Brahman of Malabar, and was born about the year 788. +Taking his stand upon the Upanishads, Brahma-sutra, and Bhagavad-gita, +upon which he wrote commentaries, he interpreted them as teaching the +doctrine of Advaita, thorough monistic idealism, teaching that the +universal Soul, Brahma, is absolutely identical with the individual +Soul, the _atma_ or Self, that all being is only one, that salvation +consists in the identification of these two, and is attained by +knowledge, the intuition of their identity, and that the phenomenal +universe or manifold of experience is simply an illusion (_maya_) +conjured up in Brahma by his congenital nature, but really alien to +him--in fact, a kind of disease in Brahma. This was not new: it had +been taught by some ancient schools of Aupanishadas, and was very like +the doctrine of some of the Buddhist idealists; but the vigour and +skill with which Samkara propagated his doctrines threatened ruin to +orthodox Vaishnava theologians, and roused them to counter-campaigns. +Among the Vaishnava Brahmans of the South who won laurels in this +field was Yamunacharya, who lived about 1050, and was the grandson of +Natha Muni, who collected the hymns of the Alvars in the +Nal-ayira-prabandham and founded the great school of Vaishnava +theology at Srirangam. In opposition to Samkara's monism, Yamunacharya +propounded the doctrine of his school, the so-called Visishtadvaita, +which was preached with still greater skill and success by his famous +successor Ramanuja, who died in 1137. Ramanuja's greatest works are +his commentaries on the Brahma-sutra and Bhagavad-gita. In them he +expounds with great ability the principles of his school, namely, that +God, sentient beings or souls, and insentient matter form three +essentially distinct classes of being; that God, who is the same as +Brahma, Vishnu, Narayana, or Krishna, is omnipotent, omnipresent, and +possessed of all good qualities; that matter forms the body of souls, +and souls form the body of God; that the soul attains salvation as a +result of devout and loving meditation upon God, worship of him, and +study of the scriptures; and that salvation consists in eternal union +of the soul with God, but not in identity with him, as Samkara taught. +The scriptures on which Ramanuja took his stand were mainly the +Upanishads, Brahma-sutra, and Bhagavad-gita; but he also acknowledged +as authoritative the Pañcharatra Samhitas, in spite of their +divergences in details of doctrine, and it is from them that his +church has derived the worship of Sri or Lakshmi as consort of Vishnu, +which is a very marked feature of their community and has gained for +them the title of Sri-vaishnavas. But Ramanuja was much more than a +scholar and a writer of books; he was also a man of action, a +"practical mystic." Like Samkara, he organised a body of _sannyasis_ +or ascetic votaries, into which, however, he admitted only Brahmans, +whereas Samkara opened some of the sections of his devotees to +non-Brahmans; but on the other hand he was far more liberal than +Samkara in the choice of his congregations, for he endeavoured to +bring men of the lowest castes, Sudras and even Pariahs, within the +influence of his church, though he kept up the social barrier between +them and the higher castes, and he firmly upheld the principle of the +Bhagavad-gita that it is by the performance of religious and social +duties of caste, and not by knowledge alone, that salvation is most +surely to be won. He established schools and monasteries, reorganised +the worship of the temples, usually in accordance with the Pañcharatra +rules, and thus placed his church in a position of such strength in +Southern India that its only serious rival is the church of Siva. + +Nimbarka, who probably flourished about the first half of the twelfth +century, preached for the cult of Krishna a doctrine combining monism +with dualism, which is followed by a small sect in Northern India. +Ananda-tirtha or Madhva, in the first three quarters of the thirteenth +century, propounded for the same church a theory of thorough dualism, +which has found many admirers, chiefly in the Dekkan. Vallabhacharya, +born in 1479, founded a school of Krishna-worshippers which claims a +"pure monism" without the aid of the theory of _maya_, or illusion, +which is a characteristic of Samkara's monism. This community has +become very influential, chiefly in Bombay Presidency; but in recent +times it has been under a cloud owing to the scandals arising from a +tendency to practise immoral orgies and from the claims of its +priesthood, as representing the god, to enjoy the persons and property +of their congregations. + +Besides these and other schools which were founded on a basis of +Sanskrit scholastic philosophy, there have been many popular religious +movements, which from the first appealed directly to the heart of the +people in their own tongues. + +The first place in which we see this current in movement is the +Maratha country. Here, about 1290, Jñanesvara or Jñanadeva, popularly +known as Jñanoba, composed his Jñanesvari, a paraphrase of the +Bhagavad-gita in about 10,000 Marathi verses, as well as a number of +hymns to Krishna and a poem on the worship of Siva. To the same period +belonged Namadeva, who was born at Pandharpur, according to some in +1270 and according to others about a century later. Then came +Ekanatha, who is said to have died in 1608, and composed some hymns +and Marathi verse-translations from the Bhagavata. The greatest of all +was Tukaram, who was born about 1608.[32] In the verses of these +poets the worship of Krishna is raised to a level of high +spirituality. Ramananda, who apparently lived between 1400 and 1470 +and was somehow connected with the school of Ramanuja, preached +salvation through Rama to all castes and classes of Northern India, +with immense and enduring success. To his spiritual lineage belongs +Tulsi Das (1532-1623), whose Rama-charita-manasa, a poem in Eastern +Hindi on the story of Valmiki's Ramayana, has become the Bible of the +North. The same influences are visible in the poems of Kabir, a Moslem +by birth, who combined Hindu and Muhammadan doctrines into an eclectic +monotheism, and is worshipped as an incarnation of God by his sect. He +died in 1518. A kindred spirit was Nanak, the founder of the Sikh +church (1469-1538).[33] + +[Footnote 32: The student may refer to Sir R. G. Bhandarkar's +_Vaisnavas and Saivas_ (in Bühler's _Grundriss_, p. 74 ff.,) J. N. +Farquhar's _Outline of the Relig. Liter. of India_, p. 234 f., 298 +ff., and my _Heart of India_, p. 60 ff., for some details on these +poets.] + +[Footnote 33: See Farquhar, _ut supra_, p. 323 ff.; _Heart of India_, +p. 49 f., etc.] + +By the side of these upward movements there have been many which have +remained on the older level of the Bhagavata. The most important is +that of Visvambhara Misra, who is better known by his titles of +Chaitanya and Gauranga (1485-1533); he carried on a "revival" of +volcanic intensity in Bengal and Orissa, and the church founded by +him is still powerful, and worships him as an incarnation of Krishna. + + +IV. BRAHMA AND THE TRIMURTI + +_Brahma_, the Creator, a masculine noun, must be carefully +distinguished from the neuter _Brahma_, the abstract First Being. The +latter comes first in the scale of existence, while the former appears +at some distance further on as the creator of the material world (see +above, p. 60 f.). In modern days Brahma has been completely eclipsed +by Vishnu and Siva and even by some minor deities, and has now only +four temples dedicated to his exclusive worship.[34] But there was a +time when he was a great god. In the older parts of the Mahabharata +and Ramayana he figures as one of the greater deities, perhaps the +greatest. But in the later portions of the epic he has shrunk into +comparative insignificance as compared to Vishnu and Siva, and +especially to Vishnu. This change faithfully reflects historical +facts. During the last four or five centuries of the millennium which +ended with the Christian era the orthodox Vedic religion of the +Brahmans had steadily lost ground, and the sects worshipping Vishnu +and Siva had correspondingly grown in power and finally had come to +be recognised as themselves orthodox. Brahma, as his name implies, is +the ideal Brahman sage, and typifies Vedic orthodoxy. He is +represented as everlastingly chanting the four Vedas from his four +mouths (for he has four heads), and he bears the water-pot and rosary +of eleocarpus berries, the symbols of the Brahman ascetic. But Vedic +orthodoxy had to make way for more fascinating cults, and the Vedic +Brahman typified in the god Brahma sank into comparative unimportance +beside the sectarian ascetics. Still the old god, though shorn of much +of his glory, was by no means driven from the field. The new churches +looked with reverence upon his Vedas, and often claimed them as divine +authority for their doctrines; and though each of them asserted that +its particular god, Siva or Vishnu, was the Supreme Being, and +ultimately the only being, both of them allowed Brahma to retain his +old office of creator, it being of course understood that he held it +as a subordinate of the Supreme, Siva or Vishnu as the case might be. +Meanwhile, at any rate between the third and the sixth centuries, +there existed a small fraternity who regarded Brahma as the Supreme, +and therefore as identical with the abstract Brahma; but although they +have left a record of their doctrines in the Markandeya-purana and the +Padma-purana, they have had little influence on Indian religion in +general. + +[Footnote 34: Those are at Pushkar in Rajputana, Dudahi in +Bundelkhand, Khed Brahma in Idar State, and Kodakkal in Malabar.] + +A love of system--unfortunately not always effectual--is a notable +feature of the Hindu mind in dealing with most subjects, from grammar +to _Ars Amoris_; and this instinct inspired some unknown theologian +with the idea of harmonising the three gods into a unity by +representing in one compound form or _Trimurti_ Brahma as creator, +Vishnu as the sustaining power in the universe, and Siva as the force +of dissolution which periodically brings the cosmos to an end and +necessitates in due course new cycles of being.[35] This ingenious +plan has the advantage that it is without prejudice to the religion of +any of the gods concerned, for all the three members of this trinity +are subordinate to the Supreme Being, or Param Brahma, whom the +Vaishnavas identify with Vishnu in his highest phase, Para-Vasudeva, +and distinguish from his lower phase, the Vishnu of this compound, +while the Saivas draw a corresponding distinction between Parama-Siva, +the god in his transcendent nature, and the Siva who figures in the +Trimurti. So the most orthodox Vaishnava and the most bigoted Saiva +can adore this three-headed image of the Trimurti side by side with +easy consciences. + +[Footnote 35: This idea in germ is already suggested in Maitr. Upan., +IV. 5 f., and V. 2.] + +This idea of the three gods in one, though it is embodied in some +important works of sculpture such as the famous Trimurti in the Caves +of Elephanta, has not had much practical effect upon Hindu religion. +But it has given birth to at any rate one interesting little sect, the +worshippers of Dattatreya, who are to be found mainly in the Maratha +country. The legend of the saint Dattatreya, which is already found in +the Mahabharata and Puranas and is repeated with some modifications +and amplifications in modern works of the sect,[36] relates that when +the holy Rishi Atri subjected himself to terrific austerities in order +to obtain worthy progeny, the gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva visited +him and promised him the desired boon; accordingly his wife Anasuya +gave birth to three sons, of whom the first was the Moon, an +incarnation of Brahma, the second Dattatreya, an incarnation of +Vishnu, and the third the holy but irascible saint Durvasas, +representing Siva. Dattatreya dwelt in a hermitage in the Dekkan: he +indulged in marriage and wine-drinking, which however were not +detrimental to his miraculous sanctity and wisdom, and he became +famous as a benefactor to humanity. He is said to have lived in the +time of Kartavirya Arjuna, the Haihaya king, and to have counselled +the latter to remain on his throne when he wished to resign it. In +older works of plastic art he is sometimes represented by the simple +expedient of placing the three gods side by side, sometimes by +figuring him as Vishnu in the guise of a Yogi with some of the +attributes of the other two; but in modern times he usually appears as +a single figure with three heads, one for each of the great gods, and +four or six arms bearing their several attributes (usually the rosary +and water-pot of Brahma, the conch and discus of Vishnu, and the +trident and drum of Siva), while he is accompanied by four dogs of +different colours, supposed to represent the four Vedas, and a +bull.[37] Observe that in all these types Dattatreya is conceived as +an embodiment of the three gods, which is comparatively a later idea, +for in the oldest version of the legend he was simply an incarnation +of Vishnu; but as Vishnu was regarded not only as a member of the +Trinity but also the Supreme Being over and above it, Dattatreya as +his representative has come to include in his personality the nature +of all the trio. There is, moreover, something curious in his +character. His love of wine and woman is a singular trait, and is +quite incompatible with the nature of an ideal saint. It smells of +reality, and strongly suggests that he was not a figment of the +religious imagination but an actual man; and this is supported by the +tradition of his association with Kartavirya Arjuna, who, in spite of +all the mythical tales that are related of him, really seems to have +been a king of flesh and blood. Thus we may venture to see in him yet +another example of the metamorphosis so common in India from a saint +to an incarnation of the god worshipped by him. + +[Footnote 36: See Vasudevananda Sarasvati's _Datta-purana_ and Ganesa +Narayana Karve's _Dattatreya-sarvasva_.] + +[Footnote 37: On these figures see Gopinatha Rau, _Elements of Hindu +Iconography_, i. p. 252 ff. The dogs seem to be connected with the +Vedic Sarama, on whom see Charpentier, _Die Suparnasage_, p. 91.] + + +V. TWO MODERN INSTANCES + +In Northern India, and especially in Bengal, you will often find +Hindus worshipping a god whom they call Satya-narayana and believe to +be an embodiment of Vishnu himself. The observance of this ritual is +believed to bring wealth and all kinds of good fortune; a Sanskrit +sacred legend in illustration of this belief has been created, and you +may buy badly lithographed copies of it in most of the bazaars if you +like, besides which you will find elegant accounts of the god's career +on earth written by quite a number of distinguished Bengali poets of +the last three centuries. But curiously enough this "god," though +quite real, was not a Hindu at all; he was a Bengali Moslem, a fakir, +and the Muhammadans of Bengal, among whom he is known as Satya Pir, +have their own versions of his career, which seem to be much nearer +the truth than those of the Hindus. In their stories he figures simply +as a saint, who busied himself in performing miracles for the benefit +of pious Moslems in distress; and as one legend says that he was the +son of a daughter of [H.]usain Shah, the Emperor of Gaur, and another +brings him into contact with Man Singh, it is evident that tradition +ascribed him to the sixteenth century, which is probably quite near +enough to the truth.[38] + +[Footnote 38: See Dineshchandra Sen, _Folk-literature of Bengal_, p. +99 ff.] + +The next instance belongs to the twentieth century. A few years ago +there died in the village of Eral, in Tinnevelly District, a local +gentleman of the Shanar caste named Arunachala Nadar. There was +nothing remarkable about his career: he had lived a highly respectable +life, scrupulously fulfilled his religious duties, and served with +credit as chairman of the municipal board in his native village. If he +had done something prodigiously wicked, one might have expected him to +become a local god at once, in accordance with Dravidian precedent; +but he being what he was, his post-mortem career is rather curious. +For a legend gradually arose that his kindly spirit haunted a certain +place, and little by little it has grown until now there is a regular +worship of him in Eral, and pilgrims travel thither to receive his +blessings, stimulated by a lively literary propaganda. He is +worshipped under the name of "The Chairman God," in affectionate +memory of his municipal career, and as Jagadisa, or "Lord of the +Universe," a phase of the god Siva. + + + + +CONCLUSION + + +Can we trace any uniform principle running through the bewildering +variety of changes that we have observed? + +Consider the changes through which Vishnu has passed. At the beginning +a spirit of vaguely defined personality, he appears successively as a +saviour-god, as the mystic saint Narayana, as the epic warriors +Krishna and Rama, as a wanton blue-skinned herd-boy fluting and +dancing amidst a crowd of wildly amorous women, and as the noble ideal +of God preached by the great Maratha and Ramanandi votaries, not to +mention the many other incarnations that have delighted the Hindu +imagination. What does all this mean? It means that the history of a +god is mainly moulded by two great factors, the growth of the people's +spiritual experience and the character of its religious teachers. As +the stream of history rolls on, it fills men's souls with deeper and +wider understanding of life. Old conceptions are pondered upon, +explored, tested, sometimes rejected, sometimes accepted with a new +and profounder content, and thus enlarged they are applied to the old +ideals of godhead. When Indian society had organised itself out of +tribal chaos and settled down under an established monarchical +government, it made Indra the king of the gods, ruling with the same +forms and under the same conditions as a human sovereign. When men of +finer cast realised that the kingdom of the spirit is higher than +earthly royalty, they turned away from Indra and set their souls upon +greater conceptions, ideals of vaster spiritual forces, mystic +infinitudes. Attracted thus to worships such as those of Siva and +Vishnu, they filled them with their own visions and imparted to these +gods the ideals of their own strivings, making them into Yogisvaras, +Supreme Mystics. And so the sequence of change has gone on through the +generations. Most potently it has been effected by the characters of +the preachers and teachers of religion. Almost every teacher who has a +personality of his own, whose soul contains thoughts other than those +of the common sort, stamps something of his own type upon the ideal of +his god which he imparts to his followers, and which may thereby come +to be authoritatively recognised as a canonical character of the god. +India is peculiarly liable to this transference of personality from +the guru to the god whom the guru preaches, because from immemorial +times India has regarded the guru as representative of the god, and +often deifies him as a permanent phase of the deity. Saivas declare +that in the guru who teaches the way of salvation Siva himself is +manifested: Vaishnavas tell the same tale, and find a short road to +salvation by surrendering their souls to him. We have seen cases of +apotheosis of the guru in modern and medieval times; reasoning from +the known to the unknown, we may be sure that it took place no less +regularly in ancient ages, and brought about most of the surprising +changes in the character of gods which we have noticed. Sometimes the +gurus have only preached some new features in the characters of their +gods; sometimes, as is the Hindu fashion, they have also exhibited in +their own persons, their dress and equipment, their original ideas of +divinity, as, for example, Lakulisa with his club; and their sanctity +and apotheosis have ratified their innovations in theology and +iconology, which have spread abroad as their congregations have grown. +Thus the gurus and their congregations have made the history of their +deities, recasting the gods ever anew in the mould of man's hopes and +strivings and ideals. There is much truth in the saying of the +Brahmanas: "In the beginning the gods were mortal." + + * * * * * + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Hindu Gods And Heroes, by Lionel D. Barnett + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HINDU GODS AND HEROES *** + +***** This file should be named 22885-8.txt or 22885-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/8/8/22885/ + +Produced by Thierry Alberto, Sankar Viswanathan, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |