— Papers for Thoughtful Hindus. No. 7. vi BISHOP CALDWELL os KRISHNA AND THE BHAGAVAD GITA. A REPRINT OF Remarks on the late Hon. Sadagopah Charloo’s Introduction to a Reprint of a / Pamphlet, entitled, THEOSOPHY Q3f THE HINDUS,” £>; ^ x ' Co A Preface by the Rdv,)J. L. WYATT. ^ 1 " i n n R V fi? EDITION, 3,06^ COPIES. r MAg^AS: thI^hristian literature society. k. press, vepert. 1894 . Price f Anna. Papers for Thoughtful Hindus. So. 1. The Relation of Christianity and Hinduism. 8vo. 32 pp. By the Rev. Dr. Krishna Mohun Banekjea, late Sanskrit Examiner to the Calcutta University. \ An. The remarkable resemblances, in some respects, between ancient Hin- duism and Christianity are pointed out. No. 2. The Supposed and Real Doctrines of Hinduism, as held by Educated Hindus. 8yo. 32 pp. By the Rev. Nehemiah (Nilakanth) Goreh. ^ Anna. It is shown that the belief of educated Hindus with regard to God, His Attributes, Creation, &c., are not found in the Vedas; but have been de- rived from Christianity. No. 3. Moral Courage. 8vo. 32 pp. ^ Anna. A lecture by the Bishop of Bombay. No. 4. The Importance of Religion. 8vo. 48 pp. § Anna. An appeal to the young, by John Foster, author of Essay on Decision of Character. No. 5. Christianity, or — What ? 8vo. 16 pp. \ An. By the Rev. H. Rice. Christianity is shown to be the only religion which meets the wants of man. No. 6. The Sense of Sin in the Light of History. A Lec- ture by the Rf.v. F. W. Kellett, M.A., Madras Christian College. 8vo. 20 pp. Price $ Anna. It is shown that the deeper the sense of sin, the more mature the reli- gious life. Cheap Reprints of “ Present Day Tracts.” $ Anna Each. The Hindu Religion : a Sketch and a Contrast. 8vo. 43 pp. By the Rev. Dr. Murray Mitchell. Author of Letters to Indian Youth on the Evidences of Christianity . The -Rise and Decline of Islam. 8vo. 43 pp. By Sir William Muir, late Lieut. -Governor, North-West Provinces, and Author of a Life of Mahomet. With pictures of the Kaaba, Mecca, and Medina. The Existence and Character of God. 8vo. 35 pp. By the Rev. Prebendary Row, M. a. The Adaptation of Bible Religion to the Needs and Nature of Man. 8vo. 33 pp. By the Rev. Dr. Blaikie. The Witness of Man’s Moral Nature to Christianity. 8vo. 36 pp. By the Rev. J. Radford Thomson. The Christ of the Gospels : A Religious Study. 8vo. 27 pp. By Rev. Henri Mayer, P.D. The above complete in one volume, half cloth. G Annas, Neb Papers for Thoughtful Hindus. No. 6. BISHOP CALDWELL ON KRISHNA AND THE BHAGAVAD GITA. A REPRINT OF • Remarks on the late Hon. Sadagopah Charloo’s Introduction to a Reprint of a Pamphlet, entitled “THEOSOPHY OP THE HINDUS,” WITH A Preface by the Rev. J. L. WYATT. SECOND EDITION, 3,000 COPIES. MADRAS: THE CHRISTIAN LITERATURE SOCIETY. S. P. C. K. PRESS, YE PERT. 1894 . PREFACE. At a time when so much attention is being 1 drawn to Theosophy and to one of*its chief expounders — Mrs. Annie Besant, — it may perhaps be worth our while to read what the late Bishop Caldwell had to say on this subject. In 1863 he wrote a reply to the late Honourable Sadagopah Charloo’s Introduction to a pamphlet entitled “ Theosophy of the Hindoos .” The reply appears to be out of print, and probably but few of the present generation of readers have ever heard or seen it.. As it seems not only to meet the arguments of the Hon’ble Sadagopah Charloo, but also many of those put forth by Mrs. Besant, we venture to reprint the Bishop’s pamphlet in order that that those in- terested in the matter may compare the statements of the Bishop with those of Mrs. Besant, as stated in a “ A reprint from the New York World, February 26, 1893” which has doubtless been sent in a pamphlet form to many Missionaries in this Presidency by some one in Madras. Mrs. Besant says, “ We have the Krishna of the Hindu, the Buddha of the Buddhist, the Christ of the Christian. These are not antagonistic concepts, but complementary aspects of a fact in nature. Each is looked on as unique by the adherents of each religion. All are looked on as repeated examples of the same truth by the follower of the Wisdom Religion. The fact in nature is that every man is the incarnation of a God, and the work of evolution is the gradual manifestation of that divine nature. The supreme teachers of the race, the divine founders of great religions, are men who, during ages of evolutionary progress, have so purified and sublimed their human nature, that it has become translucent to the God ivithin. Thus the Buddhist should see in every man a potential Buddha, as the Christian in every man a potential Christ, and each should recognize that, while the other uses a different label, he affixes his label to the same IV PREFACE. thing. The practical result of recognizing this esoteric truth under the exoteric veil will not only be to soften religious antagonisms, but also that religious teachers will appeal to this divine nature in man, and will trust it, instead of treating man as being naturally inclined to evil, and only to be held back by threats. The most advanced teachers in the Christian Churches are more and more recognizing this truth, and are seeing in Christ the promise of what each shall become, instead of an external Saviour bearing the penalty of other men’s sins. That these great teachers had reached a common ground is shown by the identity of their moral teachings ; their philosophic presentations of nature and of man varied, for one was speaking to a highly intellectual and other to a grossly ignorant people, but the moral doctrine is identical. And it is significant that that doctrine is still the high-water marie of morality ; no teacher has arisen that has carried the tide higher. And what is true of these is true of the teaching of Krishna as found in the Bhagavad Gita. Do you not see that, as more and more people look at things from this standpoint, unity must be approached ?” There are two points in this paragraph deserving special attention, (1) that Krishna (by implication) is said to be one “ who during ages of evolutionary progress has so purified and sublimed his human nature that it has become translucent to the God within,” and that every Hindu “should see in every man a potential Krishna.” (2) That the doctrine taught by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita “ is still the high water mark of morality” and that “ no teacher has arisen who has carried the tide higher.’’ These statements will be found to have been fairly considered in the Bishop’s pamphlet, and it seems desirable, therefore, that what so ripe a scholar has written should be widely circulated among those who profess to be Hindu theosophists, as well as among those who are called upon to meet the specious arguments the theosophists put forth. Trichinopoly , 1894, J. L. WYATT. REMARKS. A few days ago the writer was favoured by a friend with a copy of a Madras reprint of a pamphlet entitled, “ Theosophy of the Hindus, being a review of the doctrines of the Bhagavat Gita by an Englishman, with an Intro- duction by the Honorable Sadagopah Charloo.” The Introduction derives a melancholy interest from the premature death of the author a few days after its publi- cation, and the melancholy interest attached to it is increased by the insight which it affords into the religious opinions and position of one of the most eminent of the now numerous class of Hindus who have received a liberal English education in this Presidency. A lover of truth, and one who anticipates valuable re- sults from the spread of English education, cannot but feel disappointed when he finds that the religious views of the able and respected author of the Introduction had scarcely in any particular risen above those of the unanglicised, and it may be added, the uneducated, mass of his fellow- countrymen, and that the principal difference between the line he has taken in this public manifesto of his opinions and the line which is commonly taken by the uneducated, consists in the skilful adaptation of his remarks to the special purpose of recalling Hindu students of the English language and literature to faith in their hereditary Hinduism. The form which the Introduction takes is that of an endeavour to aid the enquiring Hindu in his search after truth by furnishing him with a series of hints towards the formation of right opinions ; and I may be permitted to follow up this endeavour by examining whether the princi- ples taught or implied in most of those hints are sound, and whether the iuquirer after truth can safely entrust himself to the author’s guidance. I. Even with respect to matters of trivial importance, 6 PAPERS FOR THOUGHTFUL HINDUS. the author of the Introduction claims for Hindu ideas a substantial accordance with truth which does not exist. “ The anglicised youth/’ he says, “ is taught in school to wonder at the absurd sub-division of matter into the five elements by the Hindu philosophers. On inquiry this wonder disappears. He soon finds that the Sanskrit word Pancha-bhutam does not mean an element in the chemical sense of a simple substance. The term represents a -five- fold state of matter, viz., solidity, liquidity, gaseousness, imponderability, and extension. There is therefore nothing absurd in this rough sub-division of matter, more especially when it is seen that the division had reference to moral considerations such as the influence of the material world on the actions and destinies of the soul.” Now in reality there is not the slightest foundation for this statement. In the text-books of Hindu philosophy in which the Padarthas, or categories, are treated of, the five elements are placed, not in the category of “ quality,” as fluidity is, but in that of “substance/’ and in stating the qualities which are supposed to reside in each of the five elementary substances, solidity is not mentioned as a quality of earth at all. On the contrary its distinguishing quality is represented to be odour ! (“Earth is that in which there is the quality of odour.”) So also the distinguishing quality of water is not liquidity, but taste. The distin- guishing quality of light or heat is not gaseousness, but warmth. The distinguishing quality of air is not impon- derability, but tangibility, and the distinguishing quality of ethfer is not extension, but sound. Moreover, this classification of the elements does not refer to any moral considerations whatever, except the mode in which the world originated can be called a moral consideration, but is intended to explain the creation of the world by develop- ment, the elements being developed out of the senses, and the world being developed out of the elements. The elements are represented as five, simply because the senses are five. The error of the existence of only five elementary sub- stances is one which pervaded all the philosophies of PAPERS FOR THOUGHTFUL HINDUS. 7 - antiquity, not Hindu philosophy alone, and it would be better to acknowledge it to be an error than to represent it, by an arbitrary use of words, as au anticipation of European science. • II: In page II. the author represents the youthful Hindu inquirer as “turning his attention to the fountain- head of all Hindu religions and religious teachings — the sacred Vedas. With the help of the able gloss of S&yana- charya, commonly called Vidyaranya Bhashya, ho unravels their mystic contents ; and is agreeably surprised to find a really pure and elevatedmonotheism developed from and out of an apparently discordant system of polytheism and even of pantheism.” This, statement also is marked rather by a skilful use of European phraseology than by an ingenuous allegiance to truth. Not to speak of the improbability of five complete copies of Sayana’s immense work, (except as published by Professor Max Muller and translated by Professor Wilson,) being found in all Southern India, would it not have been more reasonable to represent the Hindu inquirer as sur- prised to find in the hymns of the Veda on which Sayana has commented no trace of any of the religions or religious teachings of which he had been taught to regard it as the fountain-head — no trace of Siva or Parvati, of Ganesa or Subrahmanya — no trace of Vishnu, except as a name of the sun and as a divinity far inferior to Indra — no trace of idol-worship, or of the use of sectarial marks, or of penances and pilgrimages ? Hinduism indeed, as it exists at present, is a religion of comparatively modern origin, and can no more be said to be founded upon the Vedas than the image- worship of the Roman Catholics can be said to be founded upon the Bible, or the idolatrous ceremonies of the Indian Muhammadans founded upon the Koran. The pure and elevated monotheism which the enquiring Hindu is sup- posed to find developed in the Vedas is little better than a flight of the imagination. The worship taught in almost every hymn of the Vedas is that of the sky, fire, the sun, the dawn, the winds, and other elemental divinities, with mythological additions more or less intelligible. 8 PAPERS FOR THOUGHTFUL HINDUS. It is true that in a few of the hymns of the last book of the Rig Veda a more elevated system begins to make its appearance. One hymn (the celebrated Purusha sukta) teaches a doctrine concerning the Supreme Spirit which is evidently identical with the pantheism taught in most of the Upanishadas, and another hymn is distinctively mono- theistic ; but the religious system of the Vedas, in so far as it can be regarded as a system, remains demonstrably that of the worship of the elements. Isolated exceptions, to the extent of one hymn in several hundreds, leave this fact unshaken. It might be an agreeable surprise to the Hindu, and certainly would be to the European scholar, to find a pure and elevated monotheism scientifically developed, whether by Sayana or by any other commentator, .out of the elemental polytheism of the Vedas ; but if Sayana has educed any such doctrine out of the Vedas, considered as a whole, it is only because he has systematically interpreted the ancient Vaidik hymns in the sense of the Vedantic philosophy of his own times. The interpretation is a proof of his ingenuity, not of his ingenuousness. He puts bis own meaning on everything, and then naturally enough finds his own meaning everywhere. I may mention as an illustration of this the celebrated Gayatri. Sayana renders this accurately enough into ordinary Sanskrit, — “We meditate on that desirable light of the radiant sun, which animates all our acts,” and then instead of interpreting it, in accordance with its natural and obvious meaning, as simply an invocation of the sun to render religious performances successful, — a meaning which would accord with the similar invocations of the sun and the waters contained in the Sandhya, or daily prayers of the Brahmans, — he proceeds to comment mystically upon it, representing the sun as meaning Brahma, the soul of the world, and its light as the light of Brahma, one with himself, which consumes ignorance. Sayana’s interpretation however, imaginative as it is, is far surpassed, in imagi- native fervor by the translation of this very text put forth by Sir W. Jones, a translation with which no doubt he was furnished by his pundit. He rendered it thus : — “ Let us PAPERS FOR THOUGHTFUL HINDUS. 9 adore the supremacy of that divine sun, the godhead, who illuminates all, who recreates all, from whom all proceed, to whom all must return, whom we invoke to direct our understandings aright in our progress towards his holy seat.” On this principle of translation it would not be difficult to develop anything out of anything. III. 1 readily admit that the doctrine held by the author of the Introduction, in common with most of the Vaishnavas of Southern India, — whether it be the doctrine of the Dwaita or that of the Visishtadwaita Schools — with respect to the Universe, to Soul, and to the relation in which both stand to God, is more in accordance with Christian philosophy than the Adwaita doctrine of the Smartas. I pass over for the present the denial by the Vaishnavas, as by all Hindus, of creation properly so called, and accept as an instalment of the truth, their doctrine of the existence of a Supreme Deity “ possessed of attributes,” and who may therefore be regarded as a personal God. I ask, however, is the inquirer after truth to rest satisfied with high sounding words concerning the existence of God, without rendering him the homage of corresponding deeds ? No temple is erected by any Hindu sect in Southern India to ihe honour of that one Supreme Being, whom they all profess to acknowledge, nor are there any rites prescribed for his worship. No assembly of Hindus, with the solitary exception of the “ Brahma Samaja” in Calcutta, is ever convened for offering him prayer or praise. No means are in operation for teaching people to know him, or expound- ing to them how they may serve him, and how his favour may be obtained. Worship is offered to every conceivable and inconceivable form of being, but no worship is offered to him who is admitted to be the only Source of Being. Like the nature of European writers, for all practical purposes, he is non-existent. Might not the Hindu inquirer have been reminded that in this respect at least it must be allowed that there is an important difference between the religions of India and Christianity, seeing that whilst Hindus of every School regard God as merely “ a subject 10 PAPERS FOR THOUGHTFUL HINDUS. of speculation/’ just in the same way as causality, matter, and the existence of ether are subjects of speculation amongst European philosophers, He is regarded by Chris- tians as “ the object of faith,” the sole object of worship, as an ever-present Father and King, whose favour is life and whose service is perfect freedom. IV. The author of the Introduction appears to oscillate between the denial of all incarnations of God, whether Christian or Hindu, and the theory that “ both the Christian and the Hindu incarnations were true and intended for different nations and differing ages.” It is evident how- ever that his predilections are in favour of the latter view, and that he regards “ the seeming improbabilities and inconsistencies of both as being the productions of imaginative minds in credulous ages. He observes that “ the question for decision is the weight to be attached to the evidence in support of each of the incarnations set up on each side,” and adds that “ in respect of this, Christians are in possession of historical evidence of more modern date than the Hindus.” The author does not inform bis readers, and I may there- fore be allowed to remind them in his room, that the dif- ference between the incarnations believed in by Hindus and the incarnation of Christ is far too great and essential to be capable of being attributed to any difference of nation or age, and that with respect to evidence, the question for decision is not between different degrees of evidence, but between evidence on the one side which is admitted by all to be weighty and the entire absence of evidence on the other. Our moral consciousness being the divinest part of our nature, and that which speaks to us most directly of God, an incarnation of God must bear witness of itself to our moral consciousness as au iucarnation not only of God’s power, but still more of His character. It must be an incarnation of purity, truth, and grace ; and as duty and man’s moral nature by which duty is discerned are every- where the same, these characteristics of a true iucarnation cannot be affected by any difference in race or age. The PAPERS FOR THOUGHTFUL HINDUS. 11 purpose which is to be accomplished by the incarnation must also be a purpose worthy of God. Will any of the Hiudu incarnations abide this test ? I need not refer to any of the earlier incarnations of Vishnu, as a fish, a boar, &c., as it will be admitted that those fabulous appearances were not incarnations properly so called, but mere apparitions. The first incarnation which professes to have been real was that of Parasu Rama, so called from the parasu, or battle-axe, which he wielded as his weapon of war. Though regarded as an incarnation, nothing superhuman has ever been pointed out iu his character or acts, except the super- human ruthlessness with which he destroyed the Kshatri- yas, or warrior race of India, in the interest of the Brahmans. Moreover as he was a votary of Siva, though an incarnation of Vishnu, and is represented in the R&mayana as having had a duel with the second and greater Rama, in which he was deservedly worsted, few Vaishnavas in these days will care to stand up for his divinity. The next incarnation was that of Rama-chandra, the second Rama, the hero of the Ratmvyana. Admitting Rama, if he ever really lived, to have been a brave, gener- ous, faithful hero, an excellent specimen of the chivalrous age of India, the claim set up for his having been an incarnation of Vishnu rests exclusively on the evidence of his impossible achievements in the slaughter of impossible giants and monkeys. His divinity is not, and cannot be, argued for from moral considerations, for whatever his virtues may have been, they were equalled and surpassed by those of persons for whose divinity no claim is set up — equalled by his brothers Bharata and Lakshraana, and far surpassed by his wife Sita, the finest creation of the Hindu poetic mind. Strangely enough the chief blemish apparent iu Rama’s character consisted in the coldness and suspicion with which the Ramayana represents him as receiving back his long lost,, recovered Sita, and which are developed into still darker proportions in the Uttara Kbanda or supplementary section, of the Ramayana, and in the drama entitled the Uttara 12 PAPERS FOR THOUGHTFUL HINDUS. Rama Charitra. Rama’s character throughout is that of a human hero, characterised by human limitations and requiring help in the accomplishment of his purposes, not that of a god ; and the portions of the R&mdyana which represent him as an incarnation of Vishnu have all the appearance of being later additions to the poem. The third incarnation properly so called was that of Bala-Rama, half-brother of Krishna, a strong-handed, empty-headed hero, who in all his battles used a plough as his weapon of war, and who is remarkable chiefly for having been the first to discover the use of toddy, to which he addicted himself ever after with great perseverance. The only conceivable reason for regarding him as a divine incarnation is the supposition (which is not however a Hindu one) that he may have typified the discovery of the use of the plough and the cultivation of the palm. The most popular of all the Indian incarnations is that of Krishna, whose mark is worn on the forehead of perhaps three-fifths of the Natives of India, taking India as a whole, and one of whose names was worn by the author of the Introduction. It is a melancholy fact however that the moral evidence against the admission of Krishna’s divinity, notwithstanding his popularity, is not merely of a negative character, like that which applies to Rama, but is of the most positive and conclusive kind. If our moral intuitions, our moral judgments, our conscience, and our sense of decency and propriety, are allowed to decide the question, Krishna certainly was not an incarnation of God. In the Maha-bharata, in which he first comes upon the stage, the only thing in which he is represented as differing from ordinary heroes is in the possession of supernatural strength. In every moral quality he is much inferior to Arjuna, the real hero of the poem, and inferior even to Yudhishtara and Kama. The legends which are current respecting his youthful frolics and licentious excesses belong to a later period. They are collected and related in an attractive style in the Bhigavata Purina, which for this reason is the most popular Purina in India, and the celebrated Tenth Book PAPERS FOR THOUGHTFUL HINDUS. 13 of which may be called the Gospel according to the Vaishnavas. I need not adduce any Christian arguments, or argu- ments derived from ethics, to disprove the divinity of such a character as that which is attributed to Krishna. It will be sufficient for this purpose to quote a saying attributed to Krishna himself in the Bhagavad Git&, a much purer composition than the Bhagavata , — “ As often as there is af decline of virtue or an increase of vice in the world, I create myself anew ; and thus I appear from age to age for the preservation of the just, the destruction of the wicked and establishment of virtue.” According to the teaching of this passage, Krishna’s claim to be a divine incarnation falls self-refuted to the ground, for the signs of a true incarnation, as stated in this passage, are diametrically opposed to the whole tone and tenor of his life. The Krishna of the Bhagavad Git£ was bound to appear for the destruction of such characters as the Krishna of the Bhagavata. Hindus frequently argue, and the Bhagavata Purana argues, that the impurities of Krishna’s life are not to be imitated by his followers, inasmuch as they were the actions of a god and were merely a “ divine amusement.” This argument is refuted by anticipa- tion in another passage of the Gita. Krishna is re- presented as saying, “ Whatever the prince practises that the rest of the people practice : whatever example he sets they follow. If I were not to continue acting (that is performing religious and moral duties), men in all respects would follow my steps. These men would be ruined, if I were not to act; and I should become the author of a confusion (of castes), I should destroy these creatures.” Krishna’s claims to immunity from moral obligations are here refuted by Krishna himself. The theosophical Krishna refutes the mythological Krishna. The state of things deprecated by the Gita in the passage last quoted is the very state of things that has been brought about. The people follow Krishna’s steps and are ruined ; for the stories related of Krishna’s life do more 14 PAPERS FOR THOUGHTFUL HINDUS. than any thing else to destroy the morals and corrupt the imaginations of the Hindu youth. I need not set myself, on the other hand, to prove the conformity of Christ’s character, as recorded in the Gos- pels, to every thing that our moral consciousness tells us respecting the character of God. It would be unnecessary for me to undertake such a task; for happily the educated youth of Madras have ready access to the Bible, and may acquire, and probably already possess, a better acquaint- ance with its contents than with the contents of the Vedas, Itihasas and Puranas. I would only ask them to ascertain for themselves by an examination of the Gospels; (l) whether it is not a fact that the character of Christ as represented in the Gospels, not in vague poetical imagery, but in minute historical detail, is distinguished beyond that of any person recorded in history for purity, goodness, and grace ; (2) whether the purpose for which Christ became a man and died, viz., to furnish men with a pattern of moral excellence and to reconcile sinful men to the holy and blessed God, was not a purpose worthy of a divine incarnation ; (3) whether the life, doctrines and death of Christ, or the influence of His life, doctrines and death upon Christians, has not, as a matter of historical fact, been the origin of all that is most elevated in the moral and spiritual life of Christendom, and of all that has rendered Christendom the source of moral and spiritual life to the rest of the world ; and (4) whether it would not be unreasonable to ascribe results so divine to any thing less than a divine cause. Let educated, inquiring Hindus examine the Christian Scriptures for themselves “ to see whether these things are so” (Acts of the Apostles, xvii. 11), and they will nec- essarily I believe cease to draw any sort of comparison between things so essentially different as the incarnation of Krishna and the incarnation of Christ. With respect also to the historical evidence of these events, the difference between the one narrative and the other is equally essential. Though historical evidence is not intuitively apparent, as moral evidence is, to every PAPERS FOR THOUGHTFUL HINDUS. 15 mind, yet every one who has read history and knows any thing of the nature of historical proof is aware of the fact that the Gospels, in which the life and death of Christ are recorded, can be proved to have been written by the per- sons whose names they bear — persons who either (as' St. Matthew and St. John) were eye-witnesses of the facts they relate, or who (as St. Mark and St. Luke) received their information from persons who were eye-witnesses. Evidence of this kind is all that would be required in a Court of Law for establishing the reality of alleged facts or the authenticity of documents ; but what Court of Law would listen for a moment to the evidence (it is a libel on history to call it by the name of evidence) which is alleged in behalf of the incarnations of Vishnu ? How does the case stand ? Was the author of the Ram&yana an eye-witness of any of the events he relates, or does he even pretend to Lave received his information from eye-witnesses ? Nothing of the kind. The work is anonymous, and the author no where makes any allusion to himself or to the relation in which he stood to his hero. It is commonly supposed indeed that the Rdmdyana was written by Valmiki, before the events related in it occurred ; but on what authority ? The authority alleged is that of Kusa and Lava, the sons of Rama, who first recited the poem in public at a great horse-sacrifice, and who professed to have been taught it by Valmiki. Who Kusa and Lava really were wifi appear as soon as their names are combined. Their compound name is in Sanskrit Kusilavau, and the singular of this name is Kusilava, which means simply “a bard,” “a herald,” in later times “ an actor.” All therefore that can really be said is that the Ramayana was composed by some bard or bards of whom nothing now is known. Valmiki was in reality a rishi of the Vaidik period, and is represented as one of the early collectors of the Vedas. Probably his name was given to the poem, just as the Maha-bharata was ascribed to Vyasa, the last and most celebrated collector of the Vedas, simply for the purpose of gaining for it the reputation of great antiquity. 16 PAPERS FOR THOUGHTFUL HINDUS. If he ever really lived lie cannot have been later than. 800 years before Christ, whereas it is certain that the Ramayana cannot have been composed before 400 B. C., inasmuch as Buddhism had already appeared and had begun to make progress, before its composition. In addition to this, it is to be remembered that the object the author of the Rama- yana had in view was plainly that of gratifying the imagi- nation and pleasing the ear, not that of narrating facts which he wished posterity to believe. His poem is not a sober, truth-like narrative, like the Gospels, but a highly ornamented epic, a poetical romance, of which the utmost that can be said is that it is possibly founded on facts. For this reason the more critical Hindus term the RcLmayana not an itihdsa, “a history,” or an dkhydna, “a narrative,” but kdvya , “ a poem,” “ an epic.” The historical evidence of the narrative of the life of Krishna is even less tangible and less worthy of serious consideration. The Maha-bharata is the earliest Indian poem in which Krishna’s life is narrated, and “ the great war” of the de- scendants of Bharata, which forms the nucleus of the Maha- bh&rata, is said by the writer of the Review of Hindu Theosophy (to which the Introduction on which I have been remarking is prefixed) to have taken place about 5,000 years ago. All scholars have long been agreed that this date is an extravagant exaggeration, and that about B. C. 800 is more probably the date of the war. The most important enquiry however is, when dpesthe Maha-bharata, in which Krishna’s life and the events of the war between the Pandava and Kaurava cousins are recorded, appear to have been composed ? It is said to have been composed by Krishna-Dwaipayana (“ Island-born Krishna”), surnamed Vyasa or Veda-Vyasa, “the collector of the Vedas,” the rishi to whom the final collection of the Vedas is attributed. The collection of the Vedas, from which Krishna-Dwaipayana takes his name, may also have taken place about B. C. 800, (see Muller’s Sanskrit Literature), but the Malia-bhiirata could not have been composed till many hundreds of years later. Bud- PAPERS FOR THOUGHTFUL. HINDU8. 17 dhistn is spoken of in the Bh&rata as a flourishing and powerful system, professed by many of the nations and kings of India ; and this brings down the composition of the poem to about 300 years before Christ, or 500 years after “the great war." It speaks also of Yavanas, or Greeks, and Sakas, or Scythians, as bearing rule in India, and this brings the date of the poem, or at least the date of the collection of the legends of which it is composed, lower down still ; for the Indo-Greek kingdom was estab- lished in Western India 160 B. C., and the rule of the Indo-Scythians commenced in 120 B. C. The date of the Maha-bharata has not yet, however, reached its lowest limit ; for mention is made in it of the dynasty of the Andhra kings of Magadha, and that dynasty succeeded the Kanwas in B. C. 23, and continued to bear rule for 256 years. Another circumstance bearing on the composition of the Maha-bharata requires to be noticed. It is stated in the poem itself that on its first publication, when it was recited at Janamejaya’s snake-sacrifice by Vaisampayana, as he had been taught it by Vyasa, it contained only 24,000 verses. The Calcutta edition of the Mahi-bharata contains 91,015 verses, not including the Hari-vamsa ! At what period and by whom was this immense addition composed ? We have a hint given us in the Maha-bharata itself as to the mode in which additions were made ; for it is stated therein that the poem was next learned by Lomaharshana, (“ Hair-standing-on-end”), a Suta or palace-bard, by whom it was taught to Ugrasrava (“Sharp-listener”), his son, who recited it in public the second time at the sacrifice of Saunaka, and that on the occasion of this second publication of the poem it was found to have grown to much larger proportions than it possessed at first. This is no doubt the clue to the history of the composition of the poem. A succession of bards have made it what it is. Some portions of it may be as old as 400 B. C. ; the larger portion is probably as old as 200 B. C. ; the portions which represent Krishna as an incarnation are probably later than the Christian era ; whilst the 2 18 PAPERS FOR THOUGHTFUL HINDUS. Bhagavad Gitd, which is proved by its style and by its eclectic philosophy to be the most modern portion, is placed by Professor Wilson as low as 800 years after Christ. Thomson, a recent editor of the Gita, thinks it may have been written before 300 A. D. On what ground therefore can it be seriously argued that the narrative of Krishna’s life contained in the Gita is capable of being regarded as “ historical evidence,” or that the evidence of the truth of the life of Christ as contained in the Gospels which Christians adduce is merely “ of more modern date” than that which is possessed by Hindus ?” Krishna’s life, moreover, is narrated in the Mah&-bh£rata in several different ways. In the briefest and therefore probably the earliest series of stories, he is represented simply as a hero ; in the more extended and adorned narratives he is represented as a god, as an incarnation of Yishnu, but not as himself the Supreme ; whilst in the episode of the Bhagavad-Giti and other portions which belong evidently to a later period, he is represented as the only God, the soul of the world, the primeval spirit whose material form is the universe. As every representation of Krishna as a divine incar- nation is probably later than the Christian era, it has been conjectured by Professor Wilson, and argued for by the eminent German Orientalist Weber, that not only the doctrine of Krishna’s incarnation and many particulars respecting his early history, but also and especially the doctrine of the all-sufficiency of faith in him, as taught in the Bhagavad Git&, originated in the teaching of Christians, during the period of the intercourse of the Hindus with the Greeks. Lassen, one of the most learned and dispas- sionate of Sanslh-it scholars, whilst disputing the accuracy of the theory as a whole, admits that it is implied in a remarkable story in the Maha-bharata, according to which the rishi Narada, in teaching the efficacy of exclusive faith in Vasu-deva, or Krishna, states that he learned this doctrine during a visit he had made to Sweta-dwipa, “ the White island,” or island of the Whites, so called because PAPERS FOR THOUGHTFUL HINDUS. 19 its inhabitants were as “ white as the Moon.” Those people were distinguished, he says, for their faith in one invisible God, whom they worshipped without images, and had attained, even whilst in this life, to a state of heavenly blessedness through the efficacy of their exclusive faith in him. It seems certain that a great gulf exists between the earliest representations of Krishna and those of a later date, which can be filled up only by the supposition of an influence from some external source ; and it seems most in accordance with such statements as the above to suppose that that external source was Christianity. V. In page VIII of his Introduction the author under- takes the defence of the worship of idols, and urges the Hindu youth to “ divest himself of all school learned pre- judices against Idolatry in the Christian sense of the word, and try to understand the origin of this institution, its objects, and its effects on the mind of its votaries, and judge for himself whether there is really anything grovel- ling or absurd in the institution.” This apology set up in behalf of Idolatry is the most melancholy portion of the Introduction, especially considering who the author was, and the expectations that might justly have been formed respecting his enlightenment. I should be ashamed to make any rejoinder to this apology in the English language. With the uneducated Hindu, who knows no better, I should be perfectly ready to discuss such a subject in the vernacular. I think I may safely leave it to schoolboys acquainted with English to vindicate the propriety of their “school-learned prejudices” against Idolatry. The only assistance I shall give them will be to direct their attention to a note of the author’s, in which he admits the novelty of idol-worship to be, as it can easily be proved to be, an historical fact. He says, “ This mode of worshipping God has been instituted in later days of Hindu religious history, i. e., during the Agama period, when it icas seen that the people were unable to worship God in spirit VI. The composition to which the Introduction is pre- fixed purports to be a “ Review of the Doctrines of the 20 PA.PEBS FOB THOUGHTFUL HINDUS. Bhagavad Gita by an Englishman,” including copious extracts from Wilkins’ rhetorical and unreliable translation of that work. The author of the Introduction eulogizes the Review as an “able and dispassionate” production, whilst his estimate of the merits of the Gita itself is pecu- liarly exalted. “ The Gitd,” he says, “ is to the Hindu what the four Gospels are to the Christian. It is the re-ambodiment of the doctrines of the Vedas in a new dress ” ; and he concludes by expressing his conviction, that “ if not of direct divine origin, as is believed by his countrymen, it must unquestionably have been inspired by The Mobal Govebnoe of the Universe, at a period of remote antiquity.” It is necessary, after such an eulogy as this, that the inquiring Hindu should be enabled to form a more correct estimate of the merits of the Gita and of the value of the evidence on which it is asserted to have been inspired by the Moral Governor of the Universe; and it is all the more necessary to enquire carefully into this matter because of the deserved celebrity of the Gita, considered as a poetical composition. The Git£ is undoubtedly a poem of great beauty and sweetness, as well as of great metaphysical acumen. Schlegel does not overstep the mark when he describes it as the finest philosophical poem in the world. The author of the Gita makes use of the machinery of the Maha-bharata for the purpose of expounding his meta- physical views, and has thus succeeded in getting his poem regarde'd as an episode of the Mahd-bharata. The valiant, generous Arjuna and Krishna, his powerful friend, re- appear on the stage, but each is represented in a new character. Arjuna hesitates to da his part in battle through fear of slaying his kinsmen, and Krishna, who acts as Arj una’s charioteer (hence called Pdrthasarathi), forgetting the licentiousness of his past life, proceeds to deliver to Arjuna a series of lectures on philosophy and religion. “ Bhagavad Git£” means the song of Bhagavat, or the Lord, and Bhagavat iB here to be understood as meaning Krishna. The Gita is one of the most sacred text- PAPERS FOR THOUGHTFUL HINDUS. 21 books of the Vaishnavas, but is not regarded by the Saivas as a book of authority. Warren Hastings, in his introduction to Sir Charles Wilkins’ translation of the Git£, eulogizes the doctrine taught therein as “ accurately corresponding with that of the Christian dispensation.” I have already montioned that the Gita, far from being a production of “ remote antiquity,” is undoubtedly later than the Christian era. I am not disposed therefore to deny the existence of a Christian element in some portions of the Git£, especially in its teaching respecting faith and works, and it is possible that it is that very element which attracts the attention of Hindfis who are acquainted with English literature and commends itself to them as inspired. The greater portion however of the Gihi is decidedly anti- Christian, and I think I shall be able to prove to the satisfaction of the discerning Hindu that its philosophy, taken as a whole, is unsound and incapable of being regarded as inspired by the Moral Governor of the Uni- verse. A convincing proof of this is furnished by the teaching contained in the Introductory Chapter. Arjuna seeing before him the hosts of the Kauravas begius to lament the necessity of warring with his own relations. He says in substance, “ Amongst them I see uncles, cousins, and preceptors. Why am I about to fight with the kindred of my own blood ? were it not better for me to die than to be the murderer of my race?” Arjuna’s reluctance to cause the death of his relations, even for the sake of recovering a dominion to which he had a right, shows that, though a valiant hero, he had a feeling heart. The English author of the Review of the Gita eulogizes Arjuna’s sentiments as forestalling “ the future spiritual revelations of the world,” by which he evidently means the Christian religion, and is so sure that those sentiments are to be regarded as a revelation that he adds, “It is high time there were some plain speaking on this matter of ex- clusive revelation, which although it may subserve the purposes of priestcraft, is no longer tenable with real 22 PAPERS FOE THOUGHTFUL HINDUS. scholars and unfettered thinkers.” This “ real scholar and unfettered thinker” has put his foot into a trap, as people frequently do who attack Christianity. Krishna being represented as the divine teacher, and Arjuna as the human scholar, it is evident that whatever claim to inspiration is set up in behalf of the Gita, that claim must be judged not by Arjuna’s lamentations, but by Krishna’s reply. Now Krishna expressly repudiates the generous and compassionate sentiments expressed by Arjuna ! The writer of the Beview, therefore, if he would show himself an “ unfettered thinker,” will have to unsay what he has said. The substance of Krishna’s reply is a3 follows : — “ You need not feel any reluctance to kill your relations, for they cannot really die. The soul can neither kill nor be killed. It knows neither pain nor death. Every thing that is born dies, and every thing that dies is born again. The wise therefore do not grieve about either the dead or the living, nor do they allow themselves to be disturbed by any thing that comes to pass.” The question to be decided with respect to these sentiments of Krishna is, are they to be regarded as a divine revelation ? Is this teaching in accordance with our moral intuitions, and fitted to promote the good of mankind ? It appears to me that to state it, without poetical' circumlocution or embellishment, is to refute it. I may place the tendency of the doctrine however in a clear light by supposing it acted upon in the concerns of daily' life. A man accused of murder neither denies his guilt, nor pleads that he committed the act in self-defence, but addresses the Court in the language of Krishna. “ It is needless,” he says, “ to trouble yourselves about the inquiry any further, for it is impossible that any murder can have taken place. The soul can neither kill, nor be killed. It is eternal and indestructible. When driven from one body it passes into another. Death is inevitable, and another birth is equally inevitable. It is not the part therefore of wise men, like the judges of this PAPERS FOR THOUGHTFUL HINDUS. 23 Court to trouble themselves about such things.” Would the judges regard this defence as conclusive ? Certainly not. Nor would it be regarded as a conclusive defence by the friends of the murdered person, or by the world at large. The criminal might borrow from the Gita as many sounding nothings as he liked, but the moral sense of the community would continue to regard his murder as the crime. If the argument which Krishna uses respecting the slaughter of relations is good for any thing, it will hold good also when used respecting offences in general. Suppose then that a man accused of adultery should defend himself by saying, “ the soul can neither pollute by adultery, nor be polluted by it. It is not the part of a wise man to feel any remorse about mere bodily phenomena — would the injured husband appreciate this line of defence, or regard this philosophy as a consolation ? Suppose again that a thief were to defend himself after the manner of the Gitd, : — “ The soul can neither steal nor be stolen from. Its walls cannot be dug through with a crow-bar. It cannot be tied up in a bundle and sold in the Thieving Bazar. Every thing that is material is moveable. Why trouble ye yourselves about the transfer of moveables from one place to another ?” — would the owner of the stolen property regard this philosophy as a compensation for the loss he had sustained ? or would the Court hesitate to sentence the thief to the roads ? When we thus proceed to test the truth of Krishna’s teaching by applying it to the affairs of ordinary life, the rope breaks at the first pull. Here it must be remembered that Krishna does not base his exhortations to Arjuna on the justice of the war in which he was engaged. That ground might have been taken with propriety, and Arjuna was evidently persuaded of the justice of the Pandava cause. But Krishna’s arguments are not based on the “limited ideas” of justice and necessity, but upon transcendental doctrines respecting the immortality and impassibility of the soul, which, if they proved his point, would equally prove the most unjust war that ever was waged to be innocent. 24 PAPERS FOR THOUGHTFUL HINDUS. Krishna’s English advocate paraphrases his words thus, — “Resolve to fight, 0 Arjuna, for the bodies of men are but apparitions unworthy the thought of a warrior and philosopher who has right on his side. The vitally important words which I have put in italics — “ who has right on his side ” — have no existence in the exhortation of Krishna, but proceed from the promptings of that Christianity which the writer undervalued, but could not forget. Arjuna is encouraged by Krishna on another ground also. “ Cast but your eyes on the duties of your caste, and it ill becomes you to tremble. A soldier of the Kshatriya caste has no duty superior to fighting.” If fighting and slaying are regarded as lawful, simply because they are caste employments, the immutability of moral obligations is ignored. What shall we say then of the Kallars, the thief caste of the South, the ancient (but now generally aban- doned) employment of whose caste was to steal, and whose caste-name means simply “thieves?” Krishna’s teaching on these heads elevates the conventional duties of the institutions of a dark age above the essential distinctions between right and wrong. We may freely assert, therefore, with regard to this part of the subject, the Introductory Chapter of the Gita, that Arjuna’s human — it may well be styled humane — compassion and generosity is far preferable to the stony-hearted philosophy which Krishna professes to be divine. The style of the composition is flowing and elegant, but the philosophy taught is unsound and the doctrine immoral. It is poison administered in honey. The bulk of the Gita consists of lectures supposed to have been delivered to Arjuna by Krishna before the com- mencement of the battle, on Soul ; on the Universe ; on himself, Krishna, considered as identical with the Supreme Soul, and as containing the Universe within himself; on Works and Faith ; and on the means of obtaining final Emancipation. It would occupy too much space to enter into a full and searching examination of each and all of the doctrines taught in the Gita with respect to these sub- jects ; nor would it be necessary to do so, for the substance PAPERS FOR THOUGHTFUL HINDUS. 25 of its doctrine, when freed from repetitions, illustrations, and poetical embellishments, may be compressed into a very few words. TJie rhetorical beauty of the Gita is an accident, the system of philosophy which it teaches con- stitutes its essence. The question before us is not, — does the Gita abound in subtle distinctions and ingenious para- doxes ? Nor is it the question, — do we discover in it here and there noble sentiments beautifully expressed ? The question we have to decide is this, — is the claim set up in behalf of the Gita, that it is inspired by the Moral Gover- nor of the Universe, and that it is possessed in consequence of divine authority, warranted by the essential characteris- tics of its teaching ? Setting poetical embellishment aside, the system of the Gita may be expressed in a few general principles; and of the soundness or unsoundness of those general principles, when set nakedly before him, the discerning reader can easily judge for himself. (1.) The doctrine of the Gitd concerning God may be regarded as its chief characteristic. It occupies the greater portion of the poem, and it is in virtue of this that the English author entitles his production, not a Review of the Gitd, but a Review of the Theosophy of the Hindus. What then is the doctrine of the Gita concerning God ? Is it a refutation, or is it a confirmation, of the saying of the Christian Scriptures, “ the world by wisdom knew not God ?” (1 Corinthians i. 21.) According to the Gita, God is the Soul of the world ; its material cause, as well as its efficient cause. The world is his body, framed by himself out of himself. A consequence of this doctrine, a consequence which is distinctly taught again and again, is that God is all things, as containing all things. Every thing that exists is a portion of God, and every action that is performed is an action of God. The doctrine knows no limitations, and is incapable of being exaggerated. The basest animals that creep on the face of the earth have not merely been created by God for some good purpose, but are divine, inasmuch as they are portions of God’s material form ; and the most wicked ac- tions which men, vainly fancying themselves free agents, 26 PAPERS FOR THOUGHTFUL HINDUS. are ever tempted to perform, are not only permitted by God, but are actually perpetrated by him, inasmuch as they are performed by his power and will, working out their ends through the human constitution, which is a part of himself. This doctrine differs it is true from the Adwaita doctrine, to which alone the name of Yedantism is popularly given, that the Supreme Spirit alone really exists and that the word is unreal ; but it may be regarded as questionable whether the unreality of phenomena be not preferable to the doctrine that their reality consists in their inclusion in God as parts of his totality. Irrespective of the pantheistic audacity of this philosophy, is it reasonable to suppose it a revelation from God to man ? What use would it be to mankind to have a revelation made to them consisting 'in metaphysical speculations respecting the nature of God’s existence and insoluble questions respecting his relation to the universe ? In nature God reveals himself not in theories, but in entities and operations. He affords no explanation respecting his mode of action, but leaves it to men to search it out. In this respect the Bible accords with nature, inasmuch as God reveals himself therein not in theories respecting Being and Duty, but in the intelligible language of commands, threatenings and promises, and especially in the impressive language of facts. What the human mind requires to be supplied with from without is facts, that is, objective truth. It can manufacture for itself, and does not require to have revealed to it, such fine spun, misty speculations as those of the Gitfi. (2.) Next to its doctrine concerning God, the most distinguishing principle taught in th9 Gita is the supreme importance of quietism. This quietism, which is substan- tially the Yaga philosophy in a more refined and less irrational shape, is treated of at great length, aud illus- trated again and again in a great variety of ways. The quietism of the Gita consists not merely in the abandonment of the hope of reward as the motive from which works are performed, about which the doctrine PAPERS FOE THOUGHTFUL HINDUS. 27 taught by the Git£ is one of which Christians approve, nor does it correspond with that freedom from care respectiug “ what we shall eat, and what we shall drink, and where- withal we shall be clothed” which is enjoined on his disciples by Christ in the “ Sermon on the Mount.” The quietism of the Gita is not unknown in Europe, for it is nearly identical with a system of philosophy which was once popular amongst the Greeks and Romans ; but India, the hottest land in which people have philosophized, is the native home of the philosophy of quietism, aud in the Indian philosophical systems it still survives in its first bloom. To the wise man, according to the Giti, pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat, are the same. He is of the same mind to the good and the bad. He is free from desire and aversion, hope and fear, unconcerned about the issue of his actions. Knowing that principles act according to their nature, he gives himself no trouble. Knowing that all things are contained in God and are God, and that he himself is a portion of God, he fixes his mind upon God, and whether he acts or refrains from acting, abandons intention and desire: The soundness or unsoundness of this philosophy and the probability or otherwise of its divine origin and authority, may be estimated, like the characteristics of a tree, by its fruits. What are the visible, tangible fruits of this philosophy ? What has it done for India, the land of its birth ? Has it promoted popular education, civilization aud good government ? Has it educated the people in generous emotions ? Has it abolished caste, or even mitigated its evils ? Has it promoted female education ? Has it obtained for widows the liberty of re-marriage ? Has it driven away dancing girls from the temples ? Has it abolished poly- gamy ? Has it repressed vice and encouraged virtue ? Was it this philosophy which abolished female infanticide, the Meriah sacrifice, and the burning of widows ? Is it this which is covering the country with a net-work of railways and telegraphs ? Is it this which has kindled 28 PAPERS FOR THOUGHTFUL HINDUS. amongst the native inhabitants of India the spirit of improvement and enterprise which is now apparent ? Need I ask the question ? All this time the philosophy of quietism has been sound asleep, or with “ its eyes fixed on the point of its nose,” according to the directions of the Gita, it has been thinking itself out of its wits. This philosophy has substantially been the creed of the majority of the people for upwards of two thousand years ; and if it had emanated from God, the proofs of its divine origin ought long ere this to have been apparent ; but it has all this time been too much absorbed in “ contemplating self by means of self” to have had any time or thought left for endeavouring to improve the world. What could be ex- pected of the philosophy of apathy, but that it should leave things to take their course ? There is much real work now being done in India in the way of teaching truth, putting down evil, and promoting the public welfare ; but that work is being done, not by Vedantists or quietists of any school, but by Christians from Europe, whose highest philosophy is to do good, and by those natives of India who have been stimulated by the teaching and example of Europeans to choose a similar philosophy. The remarks of Lord Macaulay in his Essay on Lord Bacon on the Stoical philosophy of the ancients, as con- trasted with the modern Baconian philosophy, which is developed from and leavened by the practical teaching of the Christian Scriptures, will illustrate the unprofitable- ness of the Vedantic philosophy better than can be done by any words of mine. I commend the study of that brilliant Essay to the youthful Hindu. If Sanskrit words be substituted for the Greek technical terms quoted by Macaulay, every word that he says respecting the philoso- phy of Zeno may be said with equal truth of the philoso- phy of the Gita. Before leaving the Gita I feel under the necessity of pointing out what appears to me to be the most fatal defect under which it labours, in common with the other philoso- phical Sastras of the Hindus. It claims to have been in- spired by the Moral Governor of the Universe, and yet it PAPERS FOR THOUGHTFUL HINDUS. 29 ignores some of the most important principles which are implied in every theory of Moral Government. It nowhere exhibits any sense of the evil of sin considered as a violation of law, as defiling the conscience, and as counteracting the ends for which man was created. It makes no provision for the re-establishment of the authority of the Divine Law- giver by the expiation of sin in such a manner as to render forgiveness compatible with justice. It teaches nothing and knows nothing respecting the forgiveness of sin. It makes no provision for the healing of the wounds of the sin-sick soul by the communication of sanctifying grace and instruction in sanctifying truth. The salvation it teaches is not a salvation from sin by means of a new birth to righteousness, commencing in the present life and perfected hereafter, but merely a salvation from the neces- sity of being born again in repeated births, by means of the final emancipation of Spirit from matter. The moral system of the Git£ fails therefore in the most essential points — the vindication of the justice of the Moral Governor of the Universe and the restoration of harmony between man’s moral nature and the constitution of things under which he is placed. In every particular which I have now mentioned Chris- tianity succeeds where the Gita fails, and it succeeds not by its speculations, but by its facts. Its mission in the world is to reconcile justice to mercy, aud man to God, and it effects the objects of its mission in every soul in which the voluntary self-sacrificing tapas — the suffering and dying love, of God manifest in the flesh, is realized by faith, and in which the attraction of that sacrifice produces the resolution to offer soul and body in return as a living sac- rifice of grateful obedience. This is a doctrine which Hindus might be expected to be eager to accept, for it contains the complement and full development of some parts of their own system which they have failed to comprehend. Here is the hidden mystery of their incarnations, penances, and sacrifices. Here their doctrine of lhakti, or exclusive faith, obtains for the first time a worthy object. They have long, as it were, been 30 PAPERS FOR THOUGHTFUL HINDUS. “ feeling after ” the truth. Here the truth visits them un- sought, and is offered to them in all its completeness by Him who is “ the way, the truth and the life.” “ As I passed by and beheld your devotions. I found an altar with this inscription, To the unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.” Acts of the Apostles, xvii. 23. “Immortal East! dear land of glorious lays," “ Lo ! here the 1 unknown God’ of thy unconscious praise.” “ 0 Lord, our Lord, and spoiler of our foes,” “ There is no light but thine; with thee all beauty glows.” There are many other matters contained in the Honor- able Sadagopah Charloo’s Introduction on which I should have wished to remark, but I have been deterred by the fear of making this paper so lengthy as to be unreadable. I have selected for discussion only the most salient points, and if I have contributed to a more thorough investigation and a fuller knowledge of the matters discussed, and placed the thoughtful Hindu in a better position for judg- ing for himself, between the systems in which he has been brought up and the system which claims his alle- giance in the name of God, and in the name of truth and goodness and progress, I shall have accomplished the object I have had in view. Tinnevelly, September 30th, 1863. j ENGLISH PUBLICATIONS. 31 Papers on Indian Reform. This is a Series of Papers treating of the great questions connected with Indian progress — Material and Moral. Social Reform. On Decision of Character and Moral Courage. 8vo. 56 pp. 1^ As. Post-free, 2 As. A reprint of Foster’s celebrated Essay, with some remarks on its application to India. Sanitary Reform in India. 55 pp. 2 As. Post-free, 2^ As. 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