OUTLINE oso ehs) VEDANTA DEUSSEN urmnen university Libra ii Cornell Aniversity Library BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF Henry W. Sage Sor OUTLINE OF THE VEDANTA OUTLINE OF THE VEDANTA SYSTEM OF PHILOSOPHY ACCORDING TO SHANKARA By PAUL DEUSSEN PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KIEL TranstaTeD By J. H. WOODS INSTRUCTOR IN PHILOSOPHY AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY ann C. B. RUNKLE OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS NEW YORK THE GRAFTON PRESS 70 FIFTH AVENUE > tb be 14 7 COPYRIGHT, 1906 IN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE UNITED STATES BY THE GRAFTON PRESS Aceves CONTENTS PAGE PREFATORY NOTE BY THE AUTHOR vii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1 1, FUNDAMENTAL IDEA: IDENTITY OF BRAHMAN AND THE SOUL 2, CONTRADICTED BY EXPERIENCE 3. AND BY THE ASSUMPTIONS OF THE VEDIC RITUAL 4, IGNORANCE AND KNOWLEDGE 5, SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE . CHAPTER II: THEOLOGY 5 6. ESOTERIC AND EXOTERIC SCIENCE 7. ESOTERIC AND EXOTERIC BRAHMAN 8. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ESOTERIC AND EXOTERIC 9, ESOTERIC BRAHMAN IS UNKNOWABLE 10. NATURE OF ESOTERIC BRAHMAN 11. INTUITIVE COGNITION OF ESOTERIC BRAHMAN AS SOUL 12, EXOTERIC BRAHMAN 18. EXOTERIC BRAHMAN AS WORLD-SOUL 14, EXOTERIC BRAHMAN AS INDIVIDUAL SOUL 15, EXOTERIC BRAHMAN AS PERSONAL GOD CHAPTER III: COSMOLOGY 14 16. EMPIRICAL AND METAPHYSICAL POINTS OF VIEW 17. THEIR RELATION TO ESOTERIC AND EXOTERIC SCIENCE 18. WORLD-PERIODS 19. THE WORLD IS WITHOUT BEGINNING 20. MORAL NECESSITY FOR REPEATED CREATIONS OF THE WORLD 21, INORGANIC NATURE: ELEMENTS 22. ORGANIC NATURE: SOULS 23. NON-EXISTENCE OF WORLD FROM METAPHYSICAL POINT OF VIEW CHAPTER IV: PSYCHOLOGY 27 24, THE SOUL ALONE REAL 25. THE SOUL IDENTICAL WITH BRAHMAN vi CONTENTS 96, THE SOUL FROM THE METAPHYSICAL POINT OF VIEW 27, THE SOUL FROM THE EMPIRICAL POINT OF VIEW 98, I'S LIMITING CONDITIONS (THE UPADHIS) 29, MIND (MANAS) AND SENSE-ORGANS (INDRIYAS) 80, VITAL PRINCIPLE (MUKHYA PRANA) 81. SUBTILE BODY (sUKsMA CARIRA) 82, MORAL QUALIFICATION 88, SPECIAL STATES OF THE SOUL CHAPTER V: MIGRATION OF THE SOUL 34 $4, DEPARTURE OF THE SOUL FROM THE BODY 85. DESTINY OF THE DOER OF PIOUS DEEDS $6. DESTINY OF THE WICKED: HELL AND THE THIRD PLACE 87. DESTINY OF PIOUS WORSHIPPERS OF BRAHMAN CHAPTER VI: EMANCIPATION 39 88. EMANCIPATION COMES FROM KNOWLEDGE 39. KNOWLEDGE BY THE GRACE OF GOD 40, AIDS TO THE ATTAINMENT OF KNOWLEDGE 41, ANNIHILATION OF DEEDS (KARMA) 42, ABOLITION OF MORAL DUTIES 48, PERSISTENCE OF THE EMANCIPATED BODIES 44, ABSORPTION INTO BRAHMAN PREFATORY NOTE BY THE AUTHOR On the tree of Indian wisdom there is no fairer flower than the Upanishads, and no finer fruit than the Vedanta philosophy. This system grew out of the teachings of the Upanishads, and was brought to its consummate form by the great Shankara (born 788 .D., exactly one thousand years before his spiritual kinsman Schopenhauer). Even to this day, Shankara’s system represents the common be- lief of nearly all thoughtful Hindus, and deserves to be widely studied in the Occident. To the end that it might be so studied, I published more than twenty years ago a com- pendium of the system, under the title “Das System des Vedanta” (Leipzig: F. A Brockhaus, 1853), and at the close of the work, I added a brief outline of Shankara’s doctrine. The translation of that outline was submitted to me by my friend and for some time disciple in Germany, Dr. James H. Woods, after his return from Benares. I have read and revised it with care, and suggested some changes and additions; and I trust that it may prove to be of ser- vice in acquainting American students with Shankara. PAUL DEUSSEN Kiel, November 18, 1905 ABBREVIATIONS BAU. =Brhad Aranyaka Upanishad ChU. =Chandogya Upanishad CvetU. = Cvetacvatara Upanishad Ica. = Ica Upanishad KU. =Kena Upanishad KshU. = Kaushitaki Upanishad KthU. = Kathaka Upanishad MuU. =Mundaka Upanishad PU. =Pracna Upanishad Ts. = Taittiriya-samhita OUTLINE OF THE VEDANTA SYSTEM OF PHILOSOPHY CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION HE fundamental idea of the Vedanta system, as most tersely expressed in the words of the Veda, “That art thou” (tat tvam asi1), and “I am Brahman” (cham brahma asmi*), is the identity of |. samental Brahman and the soul. This means that _ idea of Brahman, that is, the eternal principle of all eee being, the power which creates all worlds, sustains them and again absorbs them, is identical with the Atman, the self, or the soul; namely, with that in us which, when we judge rightly, we acknowledge as our own self, as our inner and true essence. This soul in each one of us is not a part of Brahman nor an emanation from him, but it is, fully and entirely, the eternal indivisible Brahman it- self. 2. This assertion contradicts experience,’ which pre- sents not any such unity, but rather a 9 sited multiplicity, a complex® of names and by _ forms,® and as a part of these, our Self, in- = “P™""°* corporated in our body which has come into being and must in time be disintegrated. 1CAU. vi. 8.7. 2 BAU. i. 4,10. 3 Vyavahara. 4 Nanatva. 5 Prapafica. 6 Namaripe, that is, impressions of the ear and of the eye, sense-perceptions. 2 THE VEDANTA SYSTEM 3. No less the fundamental assumption of the Vedanta system contradicts the canon of the Vedic ritual: this indeed assumes a survival’ of the self be- Contradiction of the yond the body; but it also presupposes Vedic ritual 4 multiplicity of individual souls discrete from Brahman. These souls, engaged in an endless round-of-rebirth,® enter one body after another, the deeds® done in each life necessarily determining the succeeding life and its quality. 4, Experience, as it is the result of our perceptive and cognitive faculties,” and the Vedic ritual as well, with ee its commands and prohibitions, its promises and and threats, both rest on a false cogni- Xnowledge tion, an innate illusion,” called avidya or ignorance, the assertions of which, like apparitions in a dream, are true only till one awakes. On closer in- quiry this innate avidya is found to consist in the fact that the Gtman, that is, the soul, the self, is not able to distinguish itself from the upadhis or limiting con- ditions with which it is invested. These limiting condi- tions include the body, the physical organs, and the deeds; and only a part of them, namely, the body, is destroyed at death, the rest accompanying the soul in its transmigrations, The converse of this avidya is know- ledge (vidya), also called right cognition or universal TVyatireka. 8 Sarhsara. 9Karman. 10 Pramana, including immediate apprehension (pratyagka), inference (anumana), and so forth. 1 Mithya-jfiana. 12 Bhranti. INTRODUCTION 3 cognition,” by virtue of which the atman distinguishes himself from the wpadhis, and recognizes that the latter, resting on avidyG, are mere illusion“ or erroneous assump- tion, whereas he himself is identical with the one and only one, the all-embracing Brahman. 5. Universal cognition’® cannot be attained by means of worldly perceptive and cognitive faculties,” . Sas The source nor can it be enjoined as a duty by thecanon- of ical ordinances of the Veda, because both of seal cis these have their origin in avidyé and cannot lead be- yond it. The sole source of vidya is rather revelation, gruti (or Scripture, as we not very appropriately translate it). By ¢ruti is meant the Veda, both its “Work-section and Knowledge-section,”** the latter including several chap- ters scattered through the Mantras and Brahmanas, and especially the concluding chapters of the Brahmanas called the Veda-end (Veda-anta, that is, Vedanta) or Upan- ishads. The entire Veda, including both Work-section and Knowledge-section, the whole body of the Mantras (hymns and sacrificial formulas), the Brahmanas (theo- logical expositions), and the Upanishads, is of divine origin. It was “breathed forth” by Brahman, and only “seen” by the human authors, the inspired sages or Rishis. The world, including the gods, passes away, but 13 Sarnyag-darcana. 14 Maya, 15 Abhimana. 16 Samnyag-darcana, literally, cognition which converges from all sides to one point. 17See paragraph 4. 18Karma-kanda and jiiana-kanda. 4 THE VEDANTA SYSTEM the Veda is eternal; it survives the destruction of the universe and continues,to exist in the soul of Brahman. In accordance with the word of the Veda which contains the eternal archetypes of all things, gods, men, animals, and so forth, are created anew by Brahman at the be- ginning of each world-cycle. The Veda is then revealed to them by the breath of Brahman. The Work-section is revealed as a code of conduct having happiness” as its object; the Knowledge-section, as the source of right cognition,” the one and only fruit of which is blessed- ness,” that is, emancipation. Not by reflection™ is right cognition to be attained, nor yet through tradition or smrti.* Both reflection and tradition can only in a sec- ondary sense be considered the source of truth, namely, in so far as, being based on the Veda, they attempt to interpret and supplement its revelation. 19 Abhyudaya. 20 Sarnyag-darcana. 21 Nihcreyasa, the summum bonum. 22 Tarka. 23 Smrti includes the Vedic Sutras, the Samkhyaand Yoga systems, the Law-book of Manu, the Mahabharata, and so forth. CHAPTER II THEOLOGY 6. THE supreme aim of human beings? is emancipa- tion,’ that is, the cessation of the soul’s transmigrations;* but this emancipation of the soul from its |. is and transmigrations is brought about by the exoteric recognition of the individual self,* as identi- Morne cal with the highest Self,> namely, Brahman. The entire content of vidya is, consequently, knowledge of the Atman or Brahman, for the two concepts are inter- changeable. There are, however, two kinds of knowledge in refer- ence to Brahman, the higher® and the lower” knowledge. The higher knowledge has for its object right cognition,® and its one and only fruit is emancipation; the lower knowledge does not aim at knowledge of Brahman, but at his worship,° and has as its fruit, according to the grade of worship, success in undertakings,” happiness, and fmally progressive emancipation.” The object of the higher knowledge is the higher Brahman;* of the lower knowledge, the lower Brahman.” 7. The Veda, then, distinguishes two forms» of Brah- 1 Purusa-artha. 2 Moksa. 3 Sathsara. 4 Atman. 5 Parama-atman. 6 Para vidya. 7 Apara vidya. 8 Sarnyag-darcana. 9 Upasana. 10 Karma-samrddhi. 11 Abhyudaya, in heaven, or perhaps in the succeeding birth. 12 Kramamukti. 13 Param brahma. 14 Aparam brahma. 15 Ripe. 6 THE VEDANTA SYSTEM man: the higher, attributeless* Brahman; and the lower we Brahman, possessing attributes.” As to and exoteric the former, the Veda teaches that Brah- Heiney man is devoid of all attributes,!® distinc- tions,’ forms,” and limiting conditions.” To the latter, for purposes of worship, it ascribes various attributes, distinctions, forms, and conditions. 8. One and the same object cannot be with and with- out attributes, with and without form in itself.” Brahman "is without attributes, form, difference, and Difference be- tween esoteric limitation, but becomes the lower Brah- ane Saehee man when ignorance” imposes on it, for the purpose of worship, the limiting conditions or upadhis. The imposition on Brahman of upadhis is only an illu- sion, just as it is an illusion to look upon a crystal as red when it reflects a red colour. As the transparency of the crystal is not affected by the red colour, so the es- sence of Brahman is not changed by the limiting condi- tions imposed upon it by avidya. 9. The higher Brahman is, in essence, without attri- shariseiete butes, formless,”* devoid of distinctions, Brahman is and unconditioned.” It is “not gross and rant not subtile, not short and not long,”® and so forth; “not to be heard, not to be touched, formless, 16 Para, nirguna. 17 Apara, saguna. 18 Guna. 19 Vigesa. 20 Akara, 21 Upadhi. 22 Svatas. 23 Avidya. 24 Nirguna. 25 Nirakara. 26 Nirvicesa. #7 Nirupadhika. 28 BAU. iii. 8.8. THEOLOGY 7 imperishable;”” it is “not so and not so,” that is, no form and no representation can express its essence. It is therefore “different from that which we know and from that which we do not know;” * words and thoughts turn back from it without finding it; *? and Bahva, the sage, answered the question regarding its essence by silence.* 10. The only thing that can be predicated of the at- tributeless Brahman is that it is not non-existent. It is therefore The Existent (Sat); but from the Qo. of empirical point of view Brahman is rather the esoteric Non-Existent. The Scriptures still further de- een fine the essence of Brahman by declaring that, as a lump of salt has the taste of salt throughout, so Brahman is throughout pure intelligence.™ In these assertions, two attributes are not ascribed to Brahman, since both are identical; for the essence of being consists in intelli- gence; that of intelligence, in being. Bliss (@nanda)* is occasionally acknowledged as a predicate of the attri- buteless Brahman, but it is not mentioned in the discus- sion of its essence, perhaps because it is considered a 29 KthU. 7. 3.15. 30 Neti, neti, BAU. ii. 3.6. 31 KU. i. 3. 32 TS. wi. 4. 33 When Vashkali bade Bahva teach him Brahman, the sage explained it to him by silence. He said to him, ‘* Learn Brahman, O friend,” and became silent. When questioned the second and the third time, he re- plied, **I am teaching you indeed, but you do not understand. Silent is that Self.” See Shankara on Vedanta Sutra, wi. 2.17, 3 Caitanya. 35 The later Vedanta attributes ananda to Brahman as a third predi- cate under the name Sac-cid-ananda. 8 THE VEDANTA SYSTEM merely negative quality, that is, as freedom from pain. Of Brahman alone can freedom from pain be predicated ; for the Scripture saith, “All that is different from Brahman, — that is subject to pain.” * 11. The impossibility of cognizing the attributeless Brahman rests on the fact that Brahman is the inner oe on Self *” in everything that exists. As such of esoteric Brah- it is more certain than anything else Miao tree and cannot be denied by any one; but, on the other hand, it is impossible to cognize it, be- cause in every act of cognition it is the knowing subject and therefore never an object. Brahman is, however, per- ceived by the sage in the state of samradhana, complete satisfaction, which consists in the withdrawing the or- gangs of sense from everything external, and in con- centrating them upon one’s own inner nature. In the consciousness that our inner Self is the attributeless Brahman, and in the accompanying conviction of the non-reality of the whole complex of names and forms, lies emancipation. 12, The higher Brahman is converted into the lower = Brahman * by imposing upon it pure® or un- exoteric —_ surpassable “° determinations. The lower Brah- Brahman : : man is to be understood in all passages where the Scriptures ascribe any sort of determination, attri- 36 Ato ’nyad artam, BAU. iii, 4.2. 37 Antar-atman. 38 Aparam brahma. 39 Vicuddha. 40 Niraticaya. THEOLOGY 9 bute, form, or distinguishing feature to Brahman. This is done not for the sake of cognition, but for purposes 41 of worship,“ and the fruit of this worship, as well as that of works which belong to the same category, is not emancipation,” but happiness,“ chiefly in heaven, but nevertheless limited to the round-of-rebirths or samsara, Heavenly glory,“ however, attained after death by way of the Path of the Gods,* through worship of the lower Brahman, leads to full cognition and hence to com- plete emancipation. This is called progressive emancipa- tion.“ Complete emancipation is not its immediate result, since the worshippers of the lower Brahman have not yet wholly burnt away their ignorance. For it is ignorance which determines the higher Brahman and thereby con- verts it into the lower Brahman. The nature of Brahman is as little changed by being thus determined (to use again the oft-cited simile) as the clearness of the crystal is af- fected by the colour by which it is tinged, or the sun by its reflections moving on the surface of a body of water, or space by bodies burnt in it or moving in it. The elaborately developed conceptions of the lower Brahman may be divided into three groups according as it is conceived pantheistically as world-soul, psychologi- cally as principle of the individual soul, or theistically as a personal God. 41 Upasana. 42 Moksa, nihcreyasa. 43 Abhyudaya. 44 Aicvarya. 45 Devayana. 46 Krama-mukti. 10 THE VEDANTA SYSTEM 13. Several of the most important of the passages that constitute the first group may here be mentioned. ol oon At ChU. iii. 14, Brahman is called “all-ef- Brahmanas _fecting, all-wishing, all-smelling, all-tasting ia (that is, the principle of all action and sen- suous perception), embracing the universe, silent, un- perturbed.” Again, the moon and sun are called its - eyes, the four quarters of the sky its ears, the wind its breath,“ and so forth. To this class, also, belong such pas- sages as represent Brahman as the source of all light; “ as the light beyond the heavens and in the heart; °° as the ether from which all creatures proceed, and which dif- ferentiates names and forms; as the vital principle 41 Verily this universe is Brahman ; in silence one should think it as beginning, ending, and breathing in him (the Brahman). Now man és formed out of will. According to what his will is in this world, so he will be when he has departed ; let him then seek (the good) will. Spirit is his substance, life is his body, light is his form, his thoughts are truth, his self is infinity. All-effecting, all-wishing, all-smelling, all-tasting, embracing the universe, silent, unperturbed—this is my- self in the inner heart, smaller than a kernel of rice, smaller than a grain of barley, smaller than a mustard seed, smaller than agrain of millet, even than a husked grain of millet—this is myself in the inner heart, greater than the earth, greater than the sky, greater than heaven, greater than all these worlds. The all-effecting, all-wishing, all- smelling, all-tasting, embracing the universe, silent, unperturbed — this is myself in the inner heart, this is the Brahman. When I shall depart from here I shall enter into it. He who knows this has no doubt. Thus spake Candilya; thus spake Candilya.” This is the well-known doctrine of Qandilya in the Chandogya-Upanishad, iii. 14. 8 Mu. ii. 1.1. MuV, ii. 2.10; KthU. v. 15; QvetU. vi. 14, 50 CAU. wii. 13.7. 51 ChU. 4. 9.1. 52 «Jt is the ether which expands names and forms: that wherein they THEOLOGY 11 from which all creatures spring, and in which the en- tire world moves trembling; * as the inward ruler;® as the principle of the world-order, the bridge which keeps these worlds asunder so that they are not confounded; ® and as the power by which sun and moon, heaven and earth, minutes, hours, years, and days remain discrete; ™ ‘finally as the world-destroyer who reabsorbs all created things. 14, Frequently contrasted with the vast spatial extent which the preceding conceptions suggest are the minute both are is the Brahman, the Immortal, the Self. I go forth to the hall of the Lord of Creatures, to his house (this world). I am the glory of the Brahmans, the glory of the warriors, the glory of the hus- bandmen. To the glory I have attained. May I, the glory of glory, never go to the gray, toothless (a human body ).” ChU. viii. 14.1. 53 ChU. i. 11.5. 54 KthU. vi. 1. 55 BAU, iii. 7.3. 56 ChU. viii. 4.1-2. 51 “This it is, O Gargi, that the Brahmanas call the Imperishable. It is neither coarse nor subtile, neither short nor long, neither red (like fire) nor fluid (like water ), neither shadowy nor dark, neither wind nor ether, not adherent, without taste, without smell, without eye and without ear, without speech, without understanding, without vigour and without breath, without mouth and without measure, without inner or outer ; it devours nothing and is devoured by no one. By the command of that Imperishable, O Gargi, sun and moon stand apart. By the command of that Imperishable, O Gargi, heaven and earth stand apart. By the command of that Imperishable, O Gargi, what are called min- utes and hours, days and nights, half-months, months, seasons, years, all stand apart. By the command of that Imperishable, O Gargi, some streams flow to the East from the snow-mountains, others to the West, or to any other quarter. By the command of that Imper- ishable, O Gargi, men praise the generous, the gods follow the sacri- ficer, the fathers the libation for the dead.” BAU. iii. 9.8-9. 58 KthU. tt. 25. 12 THE VEDANTA SYSTEM dimensions attributed to Brahman as psychical princi- The exoterie Pie: As such it abides in the citadel of the Brahman as body; in the lotus of the heart;™ as a individual soul dwarf; as tall as a single span; ® or an inch; ® smaller than a grain of millet; as big as the point of an awl;® as vital principle; as spectator; also as the man in the eye.® Illustrations of this sort might be multiplied. 15. These conceptions of the conditioned Brahman culminate in the conception of him as Icvara, that is, as Theexoterie 2 Personal God. In the Upanishads we find Brahmanas = this view comparatively seldom and less Personal God fully developed, but in the Vedanta sys- tem it plays an important part. On Icvara’s consent de- pends the round-of-rebirths, and on his grace” depends that true knowledge which brings emancipation. Just as rain develops each plant from seed, each after its ownkind, so I¢vara, guided by the deeds done in the previous exis- tence, and making the conditions of the new life to pro- ceed from these deeds, decrees to souls both what they are to do and what they are to experience. It must be borne in mind, however, that the personification of Brahman as Icvara, as Ruler, in contrast to the world 59 PU. v. 5. 60 ChU. viii. 1.1. 61 KthU. v. 3. ® CRU. v. 18.1. 63 KthU. iv. 12. 64 OAU. iii. 14.3. § Covet U. v. 8. 66 KshU. it. 2 and 8. 67 MuU. ii. 1.1. 68 OU. i. 7.6; iv. 15.1. 69 See Id, 1; BAU. iv. 4.22; KshU. iii. 8; RthU. ii. 4.19. 70 Prasadda, anugraha. THEOLOGY 13 over which he is to rule, is confined to the empirical point of view. This view, based on ignorance, has in the strict sense no reality.” 1 BAU, wt, 4.13. CHAPTER III COSMOLOGY 16. Tux duality of teachings in theology, and, as we shall see, in eschatology, corresponds to two different ec mestaue points of view, one view in the province metaphysical of cosmology, and the other in that of pointsofview — sychology. The first of these, the em- pirical point of view,” teaches the creation of the world by Brahman and the transmigration of souls invested with the wpadhis and thus made individual. The second, the metaphysical point of view,? maintains the identity of the soul and Brahman, denies all manifoldness, and in so doing denies not only the creation and existence of the world, but also individuality and transmigration of souls. Greatly to the detriment of clearness and consis- tency, this distinction is not everywhere strictly observed in the cosmology and in the psychology. The system is, in general, treated from the metaphysical point of view to the neglect of the empirical, without, however, denying, or being able to deny, to the latter its relative justifica- tion, since it is the necessary postulate of the apara vidya of the eschatology. In consequence of this, the creation of the world is treated at length and in very realistic fashion in the cosmology; but we are nevertheless con- stantly meeting with the assertion that this teaching of 1 Apara and para vidya. 2 Vyavahara-avastha, literally, point of view of practical life. 3 Paramartha-avastha, literally, point of view of highest reality. COSMOLOGY 15 the Scriptures in regard to the creation is merely intended to enforce the doctrine of the Brahmanhood of the world, and that for this reason only has the conception of caus- ality been substituted for that of identity. In the psy- chology, the metaphysical doctrine of the identity of Brahman and the world is maintained throughout, and is defended against the opposite empirical point of view presupposed in eschatology. At times, however, the meta- physical doctrine gives way before the empirical, as, for instance, in maintaining the coming into being of souls. Since, however, the arguments of the empirical point of view apply to a part of the exposition only, a clear pre- sentation of the empirical psychology is lacking. Never- theless, we may get a correct idea of this side of the system from the consideration of incidental and scattered remarks, . 17. The consistency of the system requires that the higher knowledge in theology and eschatology, together with the metaphysical point of view in cos- The relation of the esoteric and ‘ exoteric teach- inseparable metaphysical system. Also it ings to the metaphysical and empirical theology and eschatology should unite with Pint of view mology and psychology, should make one requires that the lower knowledge of the the empirical point of view of the cosmology and psy- chology to form a general presentation of metaphysics as it appears from the empirical point of view of avidya (that is, realism), and that this empirical metaphysics 16 THE VEDANTA SYSTEM should constitute a system of popular religion for the use of all those who cannot rise to the point of view of identity. Above all, it is plain that only the lower and not the higher Brahman can be conceived as the creator of the universe, chiefly because, for creation, as is re- peatedly asserted, a multiplicity of faculties is needed.* Such a multiplicity, however, is predicated only of the lower Brahman. And, indeed, the passage which enume- rates such a multiplicity of creative faculties, “he is all- effecting, all-wishing, all-smelling, all-tasting,”* is by preference cited as a proof-text in favour of the doctrine of the lower Brahman. 18. According to the Upanishads,’ Brahman creates the world, and then enters it through the individual soul.’ world. here is no mention either of the existence of periods the individual soul before the creation of the 4 This multiplicity of powers appears to be inconsistent with the omni- potence of Brahman expressed in such statements as ‘‘all-effecting, all-wishing,” and so forth. These powers, without which he could not create: or be the cause of the beginning, preservation, or destruction of the world, are inferred from the multiplicity of effects. The relation of these powers to Brahman appears to be that they are immanent in him. He is filled with powers. There is some similarity with the Pla- tonic ideas. One particular power creates and orders the world as a whole. The present world of names and forms, in undeveloped form, is latent in this original power. Particular souls, names and forms, are identical with the multiplex developed states of this latent power. The constant factor running through the cycles of recreated worlds ia due to this power in Brahman. The multiple factor must also be in him. 5 ChU. tii. 14.2. 6 ChU. vi. 3.2; TS. vt. 6; BAU. i. 4.7; KshU. iv. 20, 7 Anena jivena atmana. COSMOLOGY 17 world, or of a creation periodically repeated. In this con- ception, the germs of the empirical and of the meta- physical doctrines of the Vedanta system lie side by side as yet undeveloped. The metaphysical element is the identity of the soul and Brahman; the empirical ele- ment, the unfolding of the world of sense. In the Vedanta system these two doctrines are entirely separate. On the metaphysical side we have identity of the soul and Brah- man, but no beginning nor persistence nor dissolution of the world. On the empirical side we have a creation of the universe, but no identity of Brahman and the soul; for the individual soul, with the upadhis which make it individual, exists from eternity, and transmi- grates, except in case of emancipation, from one body to another for all eternity. The doctrine of the creation of the universe is, however, transformed into a periodical and alternating unfolding of the world from Brahman and reabsorption of the same into Brahman, each cycle repeating itself not once, but countless times through all eternity. The Souls, as well as the elements, at the reabsorp- tion of the world into Brahman exist potentially as germs in latent power, and at each new creation come forth from him unchanged. In this new conception the origi- nal meaning of the doctrine of creation is entirely aban- doned, but in the form just indicated the dogma is re- tained because the Veda teaches it. In the Vedanta system 18 THE VEDANTA SYSTEM itself there is no motive for a creation of the universe, but rather for its existence from eternity; instead of this, in accordance with the authority of the Scrip- tures, we find a periodic creation and reabsorption, a cycle which must repeat itself without ceasing and with- out changing the stability of the universe. For the sys- tem demands the eternal existence of the world, —an ex- istence depending, as we shall see, on a moral necessity. 19. The leading idea of the empirical cosmology and psychology is the existence from eternity of the round- aoa of-rebirths.* Without beginning there has ex- is without isted, separately from Brahman, a multiplicity beginning of individual souls. These souls are distin- guished from Brahman, with whom metaphysically they are identical, by the upadhis in which they are envel- oped. Among these wpadhis, which together with the deeds adhere to the soul, must be counted the psychical organs® of the subtile body '° which supports them, and also, occasionally, in a wider sense, the gross body and the external objects. Only the gross body is destroyed in death; the subtile body, with the psychical organs, has existed as the investment of the soul from eternity, and accompanies it in all its transmigrations. The trans- migrating soul is also accompanied by the deeds, ritual and moral, which it has done during life, and these pre- vent the round-of-rebirths from coming to an end; for 8 Samsara. 9 Indriya, manas, mukhya prana. 10 Siksma carira. COSMOLOGY 19 every deed, good as well as bad, demands in compensa4 tion reward or punishment, and this not only in another world, but in the form of a subsequent earthly existence. Without deeds no human life is possible; hence no life is possible which is not followed by another as its atone- ment. Very good deeds produce existence as a god; very bad deeds produce existence as an animal or plant. Even if in this life the soul should not act at all, it would not thereby be preserved from subsequent rebirths, since deeds of remarkable goodness or badness demand sev- eral successive births as an atonement. This is the rea- son why the round-of-rebirths extends through all spheres of existence, from the gods down to plants, without be- ginning, and, unless the latent power of deeds is con- sumed by knowledge, also without end. 20. The unfolding of the perceptible world” is, in its es- sence, nothing more than the fruit of deeds imposed upon the soul. The world is, as the common for- 2 Moral necessity for mula™ runs, “retribution of the deed the repeated cre- visited upon the doer,” it is “that which Shee ee one is to be enjoyed” (bhogya); whereas the soul in it is “the enjoyer” (bhoktar), and “the doer” (kartar), both of them corresponding necessarily and exactly to its “condition of being a doer,” that is, to its katrtva or to its activity 11 Nama-riipa-prapafica. 12 Adhyaropita: see Shankara on iv. 1.2; 3.14. 13 Kriya-karaka-phala: see Shankara on i. 3.22; 3.18; i. 1. 14: di. 4.16. 20 THE VEDANTA SYSTEM ° in the previous existence. The connecting link between the deeds and their fruit—the latter comprising action and suffering in the subsequent existence—is not an in- visible power or adrsta of deeds, reaching beyond exis- \ tence, or at least not that alone; but it is rather the ; Igvara, a personification of Brahman valid only for the | empirical point of view,"* who retributes action and suf- \ fering to the soul in the new birth, according to the ' deeds done in the previous existence. The recreation of the world after its absorption into Brahman depends each time upon the same necessity as the succession of rebirths. For souls, although absorbed into Brahman, still persist, together with their deeds, in a latent state as germs, and the latter demand for their atonement the repeated creation of the universe, that \ is, the unfolding of the elements from Brahman. We will now consider this process in detail. 21. At the time of creation, srsti, which, according to the meaning of this word, must be conceived as an “outpouring” or emanation, the akaga (the Inorganic ‘ nature: the ether, or, more correctly, the all-penetrating ees visible space conceived as a very subtile mat- ter) comes forth from Brahman first. From the ether comes wind; * from wind comes fire; * from fire comes wa- ter; from water comes earth.”* In this process the subse- quent element is brought forth each time, not by means of 14 See paragraph 15. 15 Vayu. 16 Apni, tejas. 17 Apas. 18 Prthivi, anna. COSMOLOGY 21 the elements themselves, but by Brahman in the form of the elements. In reverse order, at the dissolution of the world earth merges into water, water into fire, fire into wind, wind into ether, ether into Brahman. The ether is perceived through the sense of hearing ; wind, through hearing and touch ; fire, through hearing and touch and sight ; water, through hearing and touch, sight and taste; and earth, through hearing and touch and sight and taste and smell. The elements, however, as they occur, are not the pure original elements, but a mixture of them, each with a preponderance of one or the other.” 22. After Brahman has created the elements, he en- ters into them, according to the Upanishads, by means of individual souls; that is, according to the sys- oa tem which we are here considering, the transmi- nature: grating souls, which even after the dissolution of oe the world have persisted potentially,” awake from this “deep sleep” which is part of the illusion of empir- ical reality, and receive, in accordance with their deeds in the previous existence, the of a god or a human being or an animal or a plant. The process is as follows: the seed of the elements which souls carry with them in their transmigrations, in the form of the subtile 19.4 systematic exposition of this theory of the blending of the elements is not found in Shankara’s Commentary on the Brahmasitras, but only later in the Vedantasara. 20Cakti-dtmana. 2! Mayamayi mahasusupti: see Shankara oni. 4.3. 22 THE VEDANTA SYSTEM body, grows through the accretion of similar particles proceeding from the gross elements to the gross body;” at the same time the psychical organs,” which were all implicated™ during the transmigration, unfold them- selves.” ~~ The body is “the complex of organs of activity built up of names and forms ;”* it is, then, a complex of elements; the soul is the lord (svamin) of this com- plex. The growth of the body arises from the elements of which three parts, gross, middle, and subtile, are dis- tinguished. In correspondence with this tripartite divi- sion, faeces and flesh and manas come from the earth; urine and blood and prana come from water; bones and marrow and speech come from fire. Since, however, according to this system, the soul has already brought its psychical organs with it, and among them, manas and prana and speech, we must either admit an inconsis- 22 Cause and effect are identical not only in unalterable substances, but also in substances which are perceived to change. The substance milk is the same whether in the form of curds or of butter or of ghee. Certain particles of a permanent substance become more or less evi- dent, as the case may be. There is no transition from being to not-be- ing. The baby is not different in substance from the youth, or the boy from the aged man. Similarly, gross elements in our body remain un- changed in substance when they become a part of the physical frame, and also when the body is resolved again into its elements. 23 Mukhya prana, manas, indriya. 2 Sampindita. 25 What happens to the organs of the souls of plants is not said; we may assume that they remain implicated. 26 Nama-ripa-krta-karya-karana-samghata: see Shankara on ii. 1.22 31.14; 3.43, COSMOLOGY 23 tency, or else assume that the growing manas and prana and speech bear the same relation to the innate psychi- cal organs of like name that the gross body does to the subtile one. The evolution of these substances from nourishment is made possible by the fact that each body ” contains all the original elements of nature. According to their ee i are divided into those spn from ym germs (p lants), those_sprung.from born a alive|Procreation takes ‘place | as follows: the soul of the child. entering the father through the medium of nourishment remains in him only as a guest, and pass- ing over through the medium of sperma to the body of the mother, develops, by the aid of her blood, the sub- tile body into the gross body. Death is the separation; of the soul, together with its organs and with the subtile body, from the gross body; the organism is de- stroyed, and the soul proceeds on its further migration. The length of life is not a matter of chance, but is exactly predetermined by the quantity of deeds to be expiated, just as the nature of the life is predetermined by their quality. However, there are deeds which cannot be expiated in one life, but only by a series of births. Only such deeds, for instance, explain why a soul does not stop migrating when it enters a plant. Since each plant is an incarnated soul, and each incarnation serves 27 See paragraph 21. 24 THE VEDANTA SYSTEM the purpose of an expiation, the system proceeds logi- cally in attributing sensation to plants also.” Although the life of'the souls of plants and of ani- mals and of human beings is of short duration, those souls which, by. reason of- superior achievements in a previous existence, have been born as gods are death- less, that is, they persist until the next dissolution of the world. Then they too revert to the round-of-rebirth, and the places of Indra and others may next time be filled by other souls.” 23. As all clay vessels are in reality clay, and as the conversion of clay into vessels, “depending on words Non-existence of only,” is “but a name,” *° so the whole uni- the world from the metaphysical point of view from Brahman * has no existence; there verse is in fact only Brahman, and apart is nothing separate from Brahman.” Here our system goes further than the Veda. The 28 See Shankara on iii. 1.24, 29 The gods are mortal. The Vedas are eternal. The Vedas speak of the gods. Why then are not the gods eternal ? The words of the Vedas are eternal ; but the objects to which they refer are not the individual, but the species. The word “‘ Indra” refers not to the individual, but toa particular position (sthina). Whoever holds this position bears the name. The distinction is between the individual, the manifestation (vyakti), and the species, the form (akriti). These species, like Plato’s eldos, become powers (cakti, duvayis). From them the worlds are re- created after a world-dissolution. 30 Vacarambhanath vikaro, namadheyam, CAU. vi. 1.4. Compare the saying of Parmenides, TG rdvr’ bvou’ éorly, boca Bporol karébevro, merobdres elvar ddnOF- 31 Brahma-vyatirekena. 32.Na iha nana asti kithcana, BAU. iv. 4.19. COSMOLOGY 25 whole unfolding of names and forms,* the whole com- plex of phenomena,* when we regard it from the point of view of ultimate reality * is created, maintained, and imposed. upon the soul by ignorance,* springs from false cognition,” and is mere false supposition * which is to be disproved by complete cognition;*® just as the illusion that a rope is a snake, or that the trunk of a tree is a man, or that a mirage is an expanse of water, is dis- proved on closer examination and disappears. The whole world is only an illusion“ which Brahman as magician* evolves” from himself, and by which he is no more af- fected than is the magician by the illusion which he has produced. To use a variation of this simile, Brahman is made to appear multiplex by ignorance“ just as is the magician by his magic. Brahman is the cause of the persistence of the world just as the magician is the cause of the illusion which he produces; and he is the cause of the reabsorption of the world into himself * just as, in similar fashion, the earth absorbs creatures into itself. The variety of action* during the persistence of the world, and the variety of potential existence “’ before and after the world’s phenomenal appearance, both rest on ignorance or false cognition. The conception of avidya 33 Namaripa-prapafica. 34 Riipa-bheda. 35 Paramartha-avastha. 36 Avidya-kalpita, avidya-pratyupasthapita, avidya-adhyaropita. 37 Mithyajfiana-vijrmbhita. °*8Abhimana. 9 Sarnyag-darcana. 40 Maya. 41 Mayavin. 42 Prasarayati. 43 Vibhavyate. 44 Avidya. 45 Sva-atmani eva upasamhara-karanam. 46 Bheda-vyavahara. £7 Bheda-cakti. 26 THE VEDANTA SYSTEM or mithya jana bars the way to all further investiga- tion. We cannot answer the question which is innate in all of us, the question, Whence arises this ignorance? The deepest explanation lies perhaps in the oft-recur- ring simile of a man who, through defective vision, sees two moons when in fact there is but one. In general, the non-existence of the universe is a relative non-existence only. The multiplex of phenomena, the universe of names and forms, the illusion (maya), cannot be said to be the same as Brahman (faz), nor yet to be different (anya) from him. Like visions in a dream, the names and forms are true (satya) so long only as the dream lasts, and no longer true when the sleep comes to an end. This idealism which we see first appearing in the Upan- ishads, the Vedanta tries to bring into agreement with the Vedic doctrine of creation, by maintaining that cre- ation signifies only the identity “ of the universe and of Brahman; that the world is the effect and that Brah- man is the cause, but that cause and effect are identical, —a thesis for the proof of which the persistence of sub- stance in changes of its qualities serves as chief argu- ment. 48 Tattva-anyatvabhyam anirvacaniya. 49 Ananyatva, tadatmya. CHAPTER IV PSYCHOLOGY 24, ALTHOUGH we are persuaded that all the complex of phenomena spread before us, all names and forms of which the world is composed, are an illusion The soul resting on ignorance, comparable to the illu- _ alone sion of a dream, still there is one point in the si universe where this view is not applicable. This point is our own soul, our true self. This self cannot be demon- strated because it is the presupposition of every demon- stration; but also it cannot be disproved because even the denial implies an affirmation of it.? What now is the nature of this sole basis of all cer- tainty, of the soul, of our inner self? How is it related to Brahman who comprehends all existence in himself? 25. The soul cannot be different from Brahman be- cause there is nothing existing beyond Brahman. It is 1 Or atman. 2+ Tf the Self were a modification of something else, it would be a mere effect. But just because it is the Self, it is impossible for us to entertain the idea of its being capable of refutation. For the know- ledge of the Self is not adventitious, not established by any so-called means of right knowledge; it is rather self-established. The Self, the abode of the power which acts through the means of right knowledge, is established previously to that knowledge. And to refute such a self- established entity is impossible. An adventitious thing may be refuted, but not that which is the essential nature (of him who attempts the re- futation) ; for it is the essential nature of him who refutes. The heat of the fire is not sublated by the fire itself.” This form of the Cogito ergo sum is found in Shankara on Ve- danta Sutra, ii. 3.7. 28 THE VEDANTA SYSTEM not, however, to be considered as a transformation of eee Brahman, because Brahman is unchange- identical with able. Neither is it a part of Brahman, since ee Brahman has no parts. There remains then only the assumption that the soul is identical with Brah- man; that each one of us is himself the whole, indivis- ible, immutable, all-pervading Brahman. 26. From this it follows that everything established in regard to the nature of the higher Brahman applies also to the soul. As Brahman is in essence The soul from the metaphysi- pure intelligence,’ so is the soul also; and SEES sy it apply equally all those negative pre- dicates the object of which is to keep away from Brah- man all determinations which could limit his being. Ac- cording to this, the soul is, like Brahman, omnipresent,' or, as we might say, superspatial, all-knowing and all- powerful, neither acting * nor enjoying ® nor suffering. 27. If this is the true nature of the soul, it follows that everything which is at variance with this nature is The soul from MCTely “attributed” to the soul through theempirical ignorance. To such attributes or upadhis, point ofview Which depend on false cognition only and which include all physical existence, the following facts are due. First, that the soul while in the state of sam- sara is not all-pervasive and omnipresent, but dwells in the limited space of the manas within the heart. Second, 3 Caitanya. 4Vibhu, sarvagata. 5 Kartar. 6 Bhoktar. PSYCHOLOGY 29 that it is not all-knowing and all-powerful, since through the upadhis its original omniscience and omnipotence become latent, just as light and heat of the fire are latent in wood. Finally, that through its union with the upadhis, the soul becomes an actor and enjoyer; and by these latter qualities its entanglement in the samsara is necessitated; for the deeds of one life must be requited by enjoyment and action in the next succeeding life. The action, again, which forms a part of that requital, requires in turn a new requital, and so on to infinity. 28. This round-of-rebirth (samsara), without begin- ning and without end, rests wholly on the fact that the soul’s true nature is hidden from it by the lim- | jniting iting conditions (upadhis) imposed upon it by conditions ignorance (avidya). Among these upadhis, which convert Brahman into the individual soul together with the ac- tivities and sensations of the soul, the gross body, to- gether with all the things and relations of the external world, is not included. The gross body is resolved at death into the elements. The upddhis consist of the fol- lowing: First, the manas and the indriya; Second, the mukhya prana; Third, the siiksma ¢arira. To this permanent psychical equipment, with which the soul remains endowed from eternity and until emanci- pation, there is added a fourth variable element which 30 THE VEDANTA SYSTEM we may call the moral qualification. We will now con- sider these upadhis in detail. 29. Though the gross body" and its organs,* the eye, ear, hands, feet, and so forth, perish with death, the func- tions * of these organs, conceived as self-exis- Mind and tent essences, remain bound up with the sense-organs soul for all time. These are the indriya, the senses, which the soul puts forth as tentacles during life and at death draws back into itself. Upon these depend the two sides of conscious life, perception and action. Cor- responding to these two sides, the soul has five perceptive faculties,” seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touch; and five faculties relating to action," grasping, moving, speaking, generating and voiding. These ten indriya, which are usually denoted by the names of the correspond- ing organs of the gross body,are governed by a central organ, the manas, which transforms into representations the data supplied by the perceptive faculties” and effects the accomplishment of volitions through the faculties of action. It consequently represents both what we call un- derstanding and what we call conscious will. The indriya permeate the whole body, but the manas dwells, “having the size of an awl’s point,” in the heart; and in the manas, filling it entirely and in closest union, to be sun- dered only by emancipation, dwells the soul,—the soul 7Deha, karya-karana-samghata. 8 Karana. 8 Vriti. 10 Jiiana-indriya. 11 Karma-indriya. 12 Manasa hi eva pacyati, manasa crnoti, BAU. i. 5.3. PSYCHOLOGY 31 which only through the organs to which it is bound by ignorance becomes actor and enjoyer, but itself stands aloof from all the activity of the organs as pure per- ception,” a passive spectator, so that in spite of its being plunged into the activities of daily life, it remains in its rea] essence untouched.® 30. Less closely than to the manas and the indriya, the soul seems to be attached to the mukhya prana, a term, which in the Upanishads, still denotes “breath ,,,., in the mouth;” whereas in the Vedanta system principle it has come to mean “the chief breath of life.” As the manas and the indriya are functions of perception and action hypostasized as special entities, so the mukhya prana, on which they all depend, is a hypostasis of the physical life itself which is regulated through this mukhya prana in its five branches, prana, apana, vyana, samana, udaina. Of these, prana regulates expiration; apana in- spiration. Vyana is that which maintains life while breathing is momentarily suspended; samana is the di- gestive principle, and just as these four cause the per- sistence of life, so uddna causes its end by leading the soul out of the body at death through one of the one hundred and one principal veins. Along with the soul the manas, indriya and mukhya prana leave the body. As during life they are the forces which govern the organs of the body, so after the death of the body they are the 13 Upalabdhi. 14 Saksin. 15 Asanga, ananvagata. 32 THE VEDANTA SYSTEM germ from which at each new birth the organs of the body grow anew. 31. As the soul carries with it the germ of the physi- cal organs in the indriya, so it carries the germ of the body itself in the sikgma ¢arira, or, as it is de- Subtile body ‘ ae (sukgma scribed more explicitly by Shankara, “the vee subtile parts of the elements forming the germ of the body.”"* How these subtile parts of the ele- ments are related to the gross body is not more definitely determined. The subtile body composed of them possesses materiality,” but also transparency ;" hence it is not seen in the soul’s migration. From it is derived animal warmth. The coldness of the dead body arises from the fact that the subtile body has left it at the same time as the other organs, to accompany the soul in its transmigrations. 32. To the psychical organism ** which adheres to the soul at all times in life and in death, and which appears ae always unchangeable, there is attached fur- moral quali: ther, escorting the soul in its migration, a asi variable wpadhi. This is the moral qualifica- tion consisting in the store of deeds* collected during life. Besides the physical substrate,” that is, the subtile body, this goes out with the soul as a moral substrate” 16 Deha-bijani bhitta-suksmani. According to Shankara, in his com- ment on iit. 1.2, the elements already mixed are meant. A contrary interpretation is given in Vedanta-sara, xxvii. 17 Tanutva. 18 Svacchatva. 19 Manas, indriya, mukhya-prana, siiksma ¢arira. 20 Karma-acaya. 21 Bhiita-dcraya. 22 Karma-acraya. PSYCHOLOGY 33 and absolutely conditions the future existence in enjoy- ment and suffering as well as in action. 33. There are four states of the migratory soul: wak- ing, dreaming, a state of deep sleep, and death. In the waking state, the soul, which in union with the oat manas dwells in the heart, rules the whole body, _ states of perceiving and acting through the medium of ‘°° the manas and the indriya. In dreaming, the indriya are at rest, but the manas still remains active, and the soul, surrounded by the manas and the indriya which have entered the manas, circulates by means of the veins in the body, and while doing so sees dream-pictures built up of waking impressions.” In deep sleep the connection of the soul with the manas is broken; the manas and indriya, having come to rest, enter the veins or the peri- cardium, and thence enter the mukhya préna, the activ- ity of which continues even in deep sleep. The soul, thus temporarily freed from all these wpadhis, enters by means of the ether of the heart into Brahman. Since, apart from the upadhis, the soul is Brahman, this entrance into Brahman is merely another expression of complete eman- cipation from the wpadhis. On waking, the soul goes forth from this temporary identification with Brahman with all its individual limitations, exactly as it was before. 23 Vasana. CHAPTER V MIGRATION OF THE SOUL 34, Ar death, the indriya first enter the manas; the manas then enters the mukhya prana; the mukhya prana Departure enters the soul to which is adhering the moral ofthe soul qualification; the soul then enters the suksma eee carira. After all these have come together in the heart, the point of the heart becomes luminous in such wise as to light up the path, and the udana escorts the soul with the wpadhis from the body. From the body of those possessing the lower knowledge, the soul goes through the artery of the head;* from the body of the ignorant, it goes through the hundred other principal veins of the body. The soul of a person possessing the higher knowledge, as we shall see, does not go out at all. Beginning at this point, the paths divide. The performer of pious works goes upon the path of the fathers (pitr- yana); the man possessing the lower knowledge, upon the path of the gods (devayana); he who is without know- ledge and without pious works, that is, the bad man, re- mains shut out from both these paths. 35. The path of the fathers, which is destined for those who possess neither the higher nor the lower Gouapee knowledge of Brahman, but who have done the doer of good deeds, leads the soul in compensation pious works up to the moon. The stations on this road 1 Mirdhanya nadi, later called sugsumna. MIGRATION OF THE SOUL 35 are as follows: smoke; night; the part of the month in which the moon wanes; the part of the year in which the days shorten; the world of the fathers; the ether; the moon. In the heaven of the moon the souls enjoy inter- course with the gods as reward for their deeds. This in- tercourse lasts till the deeds are consumed. However, only a portion of deeds are thus rewarded by enjoyment on the moon; another portion is left over as a remainder,? and finds its recompense in the succeeding birth. In which category any particular deed is to be classed is not made clear. After all the deeds which find their recompense on the moon are consumed, the soul descends again. As sta- tions on the return there are named: ether; wind; smoke; clouds; rain; plants; the sperma; the womb. At all these stations the soul remains only temporarily, and must be distinguished from the elements and souls through which it passes. Finally, after it has arrived in the womb cor- responding to its deeds, it comes forth to another life on earth. \ 36. The wicked, who have neither knowledge nor deeds, do not ascend to the moon. Their fate is not clearly traced, since Shankara in one place refers ee to a punishmentin the seven hells of Yama; wicked. Hell and in another, to the “third place” in which ees these souls are born as lower animals. Although the wicked are excluded from life on the moon, not all souls 2 Anucaya. 36 THE VEDANTA SYSTEM which return from there obtain a happy life. Some, owing to good conduct, are destined to be born again in one of the three higher castes, but others, owing to bad con- duct, enter the bodies of Candalas and animals. A re- duction of these statements to a consistent whole, which could easily have been brought about by distinguishing different grades in the good and bad deeds to be atoned for, is not made in the work of Shankara. 37. From those who perform religious works? pre- scribed in the old Vedic sacrificial cult, must be distin- Amie guished those who adhere to the doctrine worshippersof Of Brahman, but nevertheless cannot raise akc themselves to a right knowledge of the dogma of identity, and accordingly know Brahman, not as their own soul, but as a god different from themselves whom they worship. These possessors of the lower know- ledge,* that is, worshippers of the lower, conditioned Brahman, all, with the exception of those who have wor- shipped him under a symbol (pratika), go after death by the path of the gods into the lower Brahman. The sta- tions of this path are differently designated in the dif- ferent accounts. Shankara interweaves them into a whole. According to the Chandogya Upanishad * the following regions are traversed by the soul of the man possessing 3 See paragraph 35. . 4 Lower knowledge is apara vidya; lower, conditioned Brahman is apara saguna, 5 With variations in BAU. and in KshU. MIGRATION OF THE SOUL 37 the lower knowledge after it has passed out of the body through the artery of the head: the flames of the fire; the day; the part of the month in which the moon waxes; the part of the year in which the days lengthen; the year;® the sun; the moon; the lightning. These stations are not to be considered either as signposts or as places of enjoyment for the soul, but as guides which it needs because it cannot use its own organs, which are in an en- veloped condition. The guides of the soul hitherto men- tioned are to be understood as divine but anthropo- morphic beings; later, however, after its entrance into the lightning, the soul is received by a “man who is not like a human being,”” and by him is escorted through Varunaloka, Indraloka, and Prajapatiloka into Brahman. Nevertheless, by Brahman is here meant the lower, condi- tioned Brahman who has been born himself® and hence, at the dissolution of the universe, perishes. In the world of this Brahman souls enjoy sovereignty, ai¢varya, which consists in an omnipotence like that of a god though re- stricted to fixed limits, and including the fulfilment of every wish. The manas serves as medium of enjoyment. Whether souls also make use of the indriyas, which also accompany them, is doubtful. Among their sovereign powers belongs the ability to animate several bodies at once, and they divide themselves among these bodies by means of a division of their upddhis. Although for souls 6 As variants: devaloka or vayuloka. 7 Puruso ’manavah. 8 Karya. 38 THE VEDANTA SYSTEM which have entered the lower Brahman by the devaydana, this ai¢varya is finite and lasts only till the dissolution of the universe, still Scripture says of them: “for such there is no return.” We must therefore suppose that in the world of Brahman the higher knowledge of the samyag-dar¢ana is revealed to them, and that at the end of the world, when the lower Brahman also perishes, they enter with him into “eternal and absolute nirvana.” This entranceis called progressive emancipation (kramamukti); it is performed in progression, or gradual emancipation, because it is obtained by the intermediate grades of heavenly sovereignty. Opposed to this stands the im- mediate emancipation of the knowing one, which is reached even here on earth, and which we have next to consider. CHAPTER VI EMANCIPATION 38. THE question of the possibility of emancipation from individual existence, which serves as the keystone of the Vedanta as of other Indian systems ; Emancipation of philosophy, presupposes the pessimistic comes from . é ei . a e knowledge view that all individual existence is an evil. e This thought finds occasional expression in the Veda! as well as in the system under consideration,? but it is not proclaimed with so much emphasis as we should expect. How, then, is an emancipation® from the bonds‘ of existence possible? Not by works: for these, good as well as bad, demand their requital ; necessitate accordingly a new existence, and are the cause of the continuance of the sarisara; not yet by (moral) purification,® for this can take place only in an object capable of change, whereas the atman, the soul, whose emancipation is con- 1 These worlds are in sooth pleasureless” (ananda nama te lokah): see BAU, iv. 4.11; also tii. 4.2; KthU. 7. 1.3; Iga, 3. 2«« Mortal surely, O Mighty One, is this body and always beset by death. It is the abode of that Self which is immortal and unembodied. The embodied is beset by pleasure and pain. So long as he is embodied, no repulsion of pleasure and of pain is possible. But the disembodied neither pleasure nor pain affect. Disembodied is the wind ; the cloud, the lightning, and the thunder are disembodied. Now as these, arising Srom the heavenly space, appear in their own form as soon as they have approached the highest light, so this complete satisfaction (of the Self in emancipation ) arises out of this body, enters the highest light, and appears in its own form. That is the supreme soul (uttama purusah).” CAU. viii. 12.1-3. 3 Moksa. 4 Bandha. 5 Sarnskara. 40 THE VEDANTA SYSTEM cerned, is unchangeable. Emancipation therefore cannot consist in any development or in any activity, but only in the recognition of something already real, still con- cealed through ignorance. “From knowledge comes emancipation.” ® When once the soul knows its identity with Brahman, this knowledge is emancipation.” The in- dividual soul on recognizing its identity with Brahman becomes by that concept the universal spirit.* 39. The atman, in the knowledge of which emancipa- tion consists, is nothing else than the knowing subject euetisaics in us. For this reason it is not knowable by by the grace the senses, “ne’er canst thou see the seer of God 99 of seeing;”® it cannot, like an object, be placed before us and examined; knowledge of it can- not be obtained at will, and even searching in the Scrip- ture is not enough to attain this knowledge, but merely serves to remove obstacles. Whether the atman is known or not depends, as does the perception of every object, on one fact, whether it manifests itself to us; depends consequently on the atman itself. Hence in the lower knowledge, which opposes the @man to our own self as a personal god and worships it,!° knowledge appears as the grace of God. In the higher knowledge, since the 6 Jianan moksah, 1 The saying is ‘‘that art thou,” not ‘‘that shalt thou be.” See Shan- kara, ii. 3.32. 8 See Shankara, 7.1.4. 9% BAU. iii. 4.2. 10 See paragraph 15. EMANCIPATION 41 atman is in reality not an object, the cause of its know- ledge is not further explicable. 40. In spite of this, religious practice recognizes cer- tain means” by which knowledge of the atman may be promoted. From the man who enters upon gies the pursuit of the higher knowledge there is attainment of demanded study of the Veda and the four pra requisites: distinguishing between eternal and perishable substance; renunciation of the enjoyment of reward here and hereafter; attainment of the six means; longing for emancipation. The six means are, tranquillity; control of passions; renunciation; patient endurance; concentra- tion; and faith. Besides these requisites, commonly enumerated in the instruction of the schools, two other means serve in a gen- eral way to promote knowledge: works and meditation. Works, it is true, do not have a positive, but merely a negative value in the scheme of salvation.” They can- not create knowledge, but they aid in acquiring it by destroying the barriers standing in the way of its acquisi- tion. Among such barriers are enumerated various emo- tional disturbances," such as passionate love, hate, and so forth. The works which serve as a means in the acquisition of knowledge are useful partly in a remoter ¥ and partly in a closer! sense. As remoter means are enumerated, 11 Sadhana. 12 Samadhi. 13 See Shankara on iv. 1.16. 14 Kleca. 15 Bahya. 16 Pratydsanna. 42 THE VEDANTA SYSTEM study of the Veda, sacrifice, almsgiving, penance, and fasting.” These are to be pursued only till knowledge is attained. In distinction from these, the closer means are to be continued even after the attainment of knowledge. These are, tranquillity of spirit, control of the passions, renunciation, patience, and composedness.¥* Besides works, pious meditation” serves as a means of acquiring knowledge. It consists in devout contempla- tion of words of Scripture, for example, the words tat tvam asi, and, like the process of threshing, is to be re- peated until knowledge appears as its fruit. For this re- sult a longer or a shorter time is required according as a person is subject to mental dullness or doubt. After the acquisition of the higher knowledge meditation is no longer needed since it has attained its end. On.the other hand, meditations which are connected with works, as well as those practised in the lower knowledge, are to be continued till death, since the thoughts at the _ hour of death are of importance in shaping the destiny beyond. For meditation in the service of the higher knowledge the position of the body is of no importance; nor is it so for the performance of works. Meditation practised in the lower knowledge must be carried on not standing or lying, but sitting. 41. Knowledge consists in the immediate perception” Ww BAU. iv. 4.22. 18 BAU. w. 4.23. 19 Upasana. 20 Anubhava. EMANCIPATION 43 of the identity of the soul with Brahman. For the man who has attained to this perception, and with ered: it to the conviction of the non-reality of the tion of phenomenal world and of the round-of-rebirth, ‘°° past deeds are annihilated. To him in the future deeds no longer cling. This annihilation, moreover, has reference to good as well as to bad deeds, since both require re- quital and both cease to exist when the samsdra ceases. The man possessing knowledge has arrived at the follow- ing judgement: “The Brahman who, instead of being in essence an actor and enjoyer, as I once thought him, is in truth in all the past, the present, and the future, a non-actor and a non-enjoyer, this Brahman am I; there- fore neither was I formerly an actor and enjoyer, nor am I now, nor shall I ever be.”?! With the recognition of the non-reality of being an actor, is recognized also the non-reality of one’s own body, which exists as the fruit of action; hence the man possessing knowledge is as little moved by pain in his own body as by that of an- other; and he who still feels pain has not yet attained perfect knowledge. 42, As for the man possessing knowledge there is no longer any world, any body, or any pain, sothere os. are no longer any rules to direct his action. ofall He will not, however, on that account, do evil, for nee in him has been destroyed that illusion which is the pre- 21 See Shankara on iv. 1.13. 44 THE VEDANTA SYSTEM liminary to all action good and bad alike. Whether he continues to act at all is unimportant, since his acts do not belong to him and do not cling to him any longer. ‘Opportune as it would have been to derive positive moral conduct from the condition just described of the man who knows himself to be the soul of the universe,— conduct expressing itself in works of justice and char- ity,—and though such a conduct may be derived from the Bhagavadgita,”* yet Shankara does not touch this question. 43. Knowledge consumes the seed of deeds, so that there is no material left for another birth. On the other Cause ofthe hand, knowledge cannot destroy deeds whose persistence of emancipated. bodies which determine the present course-of life. seed has already sprung up, namely, those For this reason the body persists for a time even. after the awakening® has been accomplished, just as the potter’s wheel continues to turn after the vessel is com- pleted. Still this persistence is a mere illusion of which the enlightened Sage cannot, indeed, rid himself, but by which on the other hand he can no longer be de- ceived. Likewise the man with defective vision sees two moons, but knows that in fact there is only one. 44. When the deeds whose fruit has not yet begun Aten: 88 form, and when those whose fruit is the intoBrahman present existence, have been destroyed by 22 witi. 27-28. 23 Prabodha. EMANCIPATION 45 knowledge, then, at the moment of death, complete and eternal emancipation begins for the enlightened sage: “his vital spirits do not depart, but he is Brahman, and in Brahman is he merged.” As rivers run, and in the ocean Renouncing name and form from vision vanish, So names and forms the Enlightened Sage renouncing Enters great Brahman, the all-embracing Spirit. THE END