GIFT OF 
 
> j > , - i i" 1 ' 9 , '* V i 
 
 THE RELIGIOUS 
 QUEST OF INDIA 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 J. N. FARQUHAR, M.A., D.Lirr. (OXON) 
 
 LITERARY SECRETARY, NATIONAL COUNCIL OF YOUNG MEN'S 
 CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS, INDIA AND CEYLON 
 
 AND 
 
 H. D. GRISWOLD, M.A., PH.D. 
 
 SECRETARY OF THE COUNCIL OF THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN 
 MISSIONS IN INDIA 
 
UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME 
 
 ALREADY PUBLISHED 
 
 fNDlAN* 
 
 FROM By NICOL MACNICOL, M.A., 
 
 TO-T,HEMU- 
 
 D.LiTT. Pp. xvi 4-292. Price 
 6s. net. 
 
 THE HEART OF JAINISM. By Mrs. SINCLAIR STEVENSON, 
 
 M.A., Sc.D. (Dublin). Pp. 
 xxiv + 336. Price 75. 6iL 
 
 By J. H. MOULTON, D.LiT. 
 (Lond.). Price 8s. 6d. 
 
 THE TREASURE OF THE 
 MAGI. 
 
 IN THE PRESS 
 
 THE RELIGIOUS LITERA- 
 TURE OF INDIA. 
 
 By J. N. FARQUHAR, M.A., 
 D.LITT. (Oxon). 
 
 IN PREPARATION 
 THE RELIGION OF THE By H. D. GRISWOLD, M.A.. 
 
 RIGVEDA. 
 THE VEDANTA 
 
 HINDU ETHICS 
 BUDDHISM . 
 
 THE RITES OF 
 TWICE-BORN. 
 
 THE 
 
 PH.D. 
 
 By A. G. HOGG, M.A., Chris- 
 tian College, Madras. 
 
 By JOHN McKENZiE, M.A., 
 Wilson College, Bombay. 
 
 By K. J. SAUNDERS, M.A., 
 Literary Secretary, National 
 Council of Y.M.C.A., India 
 and Ceylon. 
 
 By Mrs. SINCLAIR STEVENSON, 
 M.A., Sc.D. (Dublin), Raj 
 kot, Kathiawar. 
 
EDITORIAL PREFACE 
 
 THE writers of this series of volumes on the variant forms 
 of religious life in India are governed in their work by two 
 impelling motives. 
 
 I. They endeavour to work in the sincere and sympathetic 
 spirit of science. They desire to understand the perplexingly 
 involved developments of thought and life in India and dis- 
 passionately to estimate their value. They recognize the 
 futility of any such attempt to understand and evaluate, unless 
 it is grounded in a thorough historical study of the phenomena 
 investigated. In recognizing this fact they do no more than 
 share what is common ground among all modern students of 
 religion of any repute. But they also believe that it is neces- 
 sary to set the practical side of each system in living relation 
 to the beliefs and the literature, and that, in this regard, the 
 close and direct contact which they have each had with Indian 
 religious life ought to prove a source of valuable light. For, 
 until a clear understanding has been gained of the practical 
 influence exerted by the habits of worship, by the practice of 
 the ascetic, devotional, or occult discipline, by the social 
 organization and by^the family system, the real impact of the 
 faith upon the life of the individual and the community cannot 
 be estimated ; and, without the advantage of extended personal 
 intercourse, a trustworthy account of the religious experience 
 of a community can scarcely be achieved by even the most 
 careful student. 
 
 II. They seek to set each form of Indian religion by the 
 side of Christianity in such a way that the relationship may 
 stand out clear. Jesus Christ has become to them the light of 
 
 a 2 
 
iv EDITORIAL PREFACE 
 
 all their seeing, and they believe Him destined to be the light 
 of the world. They are persuaded that sooner or later the 
 age-long quest of the Indian spirit for religious truth and 
 power will find in Him at once its goal and a new starting- 
 point, and they will be content if the preparation of this series 
 contributes in the smallest degree to hasten this consumma- 
 tion. If there be readers to whom this motive is unwelcome, 
 they may be reminded that no man approaches the study of 
 a religion without religious convictions, either positive or 
 negative: for both reader and writer, therefore, it is better 
 that these should be explicitly stated at the outset. More- 
 over, even a complete lack of sympathy with the motive here 
 acknowledged need not diminish a reader's interest in following 
 an honest and careful attempt to bring the religions of India 
 into comparison with the religion which to-day is their only 
 possible rival, and to which they largely owe their present 
 noticeable and significant revival. 
 
 It is possible that to some minds there may seem to be 
 a measure of incompatibility between these two motives. The 
 writers, however, feel otherwise. For them the second motive 
 reinforces the first : for they have found that he who would 
 lead others into a new faith must first of all understand the 
 faith that is theirs already understand it, moreover, sympa- 
 thetically, with a mind quick to note not its weaknesses alone 
 but that in it which has enabled it to survive and has given it 
 its power over the hearts of those who profess it. 
 
 The duty of the Editors of the series is limited to seeing 
 that the volumes are in general harmony with the principles 
 here described. Each writer is alone responsible for the 
 opinions expressed in his volume, whether in regard to Indian 
 religions or to Christianity. 
 
THE RELIGIOUS QUEST OF INDIA 
 
 REDEMPTION 
 
 HINDU AND 
 
 BY 
 
 SYDNEY CAVE, D.D. 
 
 Per omnia fides ad Christum penetrat 
 
 HUMPHREY MILFORD 
 OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 
 
 LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW NEW YORK 
 
 TORONTO MELBOURNE CAPE TOWN BOMBAY 
 
 1919 
 

 . 
 . *> 
 
 . 
 
 Thesis approved by the University of London for the 
 Degree of Doctor of Divinity 
 
To MY TEACHERS 
 THE REV. P. T. FORSYTH, D.D. 
 
 AND 
 
 THE REV. A. E. GARVIE, D.D. 
 
 IN 
 
 GRATITUDE AND HONOUR 
 
PREFACE 
 
 THIS Essay -is an attempt to relate to the Christian 
 Gospel the living forces of Hinduism. Of the inadequacy 
 of my understanding both of Hinduism and of Christianity 
 I am deeply conscious, but at least I have striven to deal 
 with Hinduism as a living faith, and to speak of it with the 
 fairness and sympathy with which we discuss the convictions 
 of honoured friends. It is hard to express another's faith. 
 I have sought to make the Sacred Books speak for themselves, 
 and in the first half of the Essay have tried to illustrate the 
 three great doctrines of Hinduism, karma , bkakti, and redemp- 
 tion, in a way that shall at least be textual and to that 
 extent authoritative. The second half of the Essay is an 
 endeavour to relate Christianity to these Hindu doctrines. 
 Though Christ indeed is adequate, our Christianity often is 
 not. To answer the aspirations of Hinduism an enlarged 
 interpretation is required. We need to affirm that, for the 
 Christian, eternal life is a present and indubitable possession. 
 Christianity must be proclaimed as a religion of redemption, 
 not from sin only, but from the world. 
 
 Some sections of the Essay have already appeared in 
 tentative form. Thus much of Chapter VII was given in 
 the first instance as a lecture to educated Hindus at Palamcottah 
 and afterwards appeared in the Young Men of India, and in 
 Chapters I, V, X and XI I have utilized some articles I 
 wrote when in India for the Madras Christian College Maga- 
 zine ; whilst parts of Chapters I and XI formed the basis ot 
 
x PREFACE 
 
 an article which appeared in the Expository Times in March 
 and April of this year. 
 
 I have to express my thanks to the Rev. G. E. Phillips, 
 M.A., of the United Theological College, Bangalore, for his 
 suggestive criticisms, and to Hindu friends who helped me 
 in my understanding of Hinduism by their confidence and 
 candour. It is a great pleasure to inscribe to Principals 
 Forsyth and Garvie, the teachers of my student days, a book 
 which would probably not have been written but for their 
 teaching and encouragement. 
 
 HENLEAZE, 
 BRISTOL. 
 June, 1919. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. RELIGIONS AND RELIGION . . . . . . i 
 
 PART I. 
 THE PRESUPPOSITIONS OF ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 II. THE RELIGION OF THE RIGVEDA AND THE BEGINNINGS 
 
 OF BRAHMANIC SPECULATION . . . . 23 
 
 ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 III. A STUDY IN THE UPANISHADS . . . . . 52 
 
 THE WAY OF KNOWLEDGE 
 
 IV. THE VEDANTA DOCTRINE. ..... 76 
 
 THE WAY OF LOVE 
 V. THE BHAGAVADGITA . ' 98 
 
 VI. THE LOVERS OF GOD . . . . .116 
 
 PART II. 
 
 VII. JESUS CHRIST AND His GOSPEL . . . . ' 141 
 
 VIII. CLASSIC CHRISTIANITY, OR THE APOSTOLIC EXPERIENCE 
 
 OF CHRIST AND His GOSPEL . . . 159 
 
 IX. CHRISTIANITY AND THE DOCTRINE OF CYCLIC RECOMPENSE 179 
 
 X. CHRISTIANITY AND THE WAY OF DEVOTION . . 206 
 
 XL REDEMPTION : HINDU AND CHRISTIAN . . . 223 
 
 INDEX . . . . . . . . -257 
 
QUOTATIONS FROM THE SACRED BOOKS ARE FROM THE 
 FOLLOWING TRANSLATIONS : 
 
 The Hymns of the Rigveda, translated by R. T. H. Griffith. 2nd edit. 
 
 2 vols. Benares, 1896 and 1897. 
 The Hymns of the Atharvaveda, translated by R. T. H. Griffith. 2 vols. 
 
 Benares, 1897. 
 
 The Bhagavadgltd, translated by L. D. Barnett. London, 1905. 
 The Poems of Tukdrdm, translated by J. Nelson Fraser. Madras. 
 
 From 1909. 
 The Rdmdyana of Tulsi Das, translated by F. S. Growse. 4 vol. edit. 
 
 Allahabad. Various dates. 
 The Tiruvasagam, translated by G. U. Pope. Oxford, 1900. 
 
 In the Sacred Books of the East Series, the following volumes : 
 
 The Satapatha Brdhmana-, translated by J. Eggeling. Vols. xii, xxvi, 
 
 xli, xliii, xliv. 
 
 The Upanishads^ translated by F. Max Miiller. Vols. i and xv. 
 The Laws of Manu. translated by G. Biihler. Vol. xxv. 
 The VeddntaSutraS) with the commentary of Sankaracharya, translated 
 
 by G. Thibaut. Vols. xxxiv and xxxviii. 
 The Veddntasfitras. with the commentary of Ramanuja, translated by 
 
 G. Thibaut. Vol. xlviii. 
 
 ABBREVIATIONS USED 
 
 Ait. Br. Aitareya Brdhmana. 
 
 A. V. Athamaveda. 
 
 B. G. Bhagavadgltd. 
 Br. Brdhmana. 
 
 Brih. Up. Brihaddranyka Upanishad. 
 
 Chhdnd. Up. Chhandvgya Upahishnd. 
 
 E. R. E. Encyclopaedia of Religion and lithics. 
 
 Kath. Up. Kathaka Upanishad. 
 
 Kaush. Up. Kaushitaki Upanishad. 
 
 Malt. Up. Maitrdyana Upanisluiil. 
 
 M it fid. Up. Mtmdaka Upanishad. 
 
 R. V. Rigveda. 
 
 S. B. E. Sacred Books of tlu East. 
 
 Sat. Br. Satapatha Bnlhmana. 
 
 Sitet. Up. Svetasvatara Upanishad. 
 
 Taitt. Up Taittinya Upanislmd. 
 
 Up. Upanishad. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 RELIGIONS AND RELIGION 
 
 IT has become a commonplace to say that no great event or 
 movement can be any longer of merely local importance. The 
 world seems smaller now than it did to our forefathers. 
 
 
 
 Humanity is like one great family whose members, in spite 
 of estrangements and aversions, live their life in common, 
 each influenced by each. Not even the most ignorant can 
 identify civilization with Christendom. The great powers 
 of the world include not only America and those that once 
 made up the ' Concert of Europe', but also the non-Christian 
 empire of Japan. East and West, if they have not ' met ', are 
 yet far nearer to each other than before. Indian students will 
 often know their Shakespeare and their Tennyson better than 
 those in English colleges. An Indian poet like Rabindranath 
 Tagore receives from the West the homage of all those who 
 can appreciate noble emotion and exquisite expression. 
 Science also is international. It is clear to-day that whatever 
 is ultimately true must be universally valid. 
 
 It is not easy in this modern world for any one religion 
 to claim for itself finality. Nowhere is such a claim more 
 resented than in India. The culture of the East and of the 
 West has here mingled as nowhere else, and the problems of 
 religion are being discussed with an interest, not academic, but 
 vital. Any one familiar to some extent with the writings of 
 the early fathers of the Church will feel, if he lives in India, 
 that he is living in a world surprisingly like theirs. Such 
 books as Harnack's Expansion of Christianity, or Glover's 
 
 B 
 
2 INTRODUCTION 
 
 "Otfijlict <// Rttigw'ys in the Early Roman Empire, would, 
 mutatis mutandis, ttwft> far better than any missionary reports, 
 tu describe ihe/td-igkwis situation in India to-day. It was in 
 
 its strife with Greek and Oriental religion and" philosophy that 
 Christian theology was chiefly formed. It is in its contact 
 with Indian thought that Christianity has, as nowhere else in 
 the non-Christian world, to face the most incisive criticism and 
 is driven to answer the hardest questions. And of these 
 questions none is so much discussed as that of the relative 
 value and validity of religions, or, to put it in its more concrete 
 form, ' What right has Christianity to claim to be the absolute 
 religion ? Why is it not content to be one religion among 
 many ? ' 
 
 I 
 
 Such a question would have had little meaning to the 
 pioneers of Protestant missionary enterprise. They had felt 
 for themselves God's infinite grace in Jesus Christ, and were 
 assured that Christ was the world's only Saviour. Without 
 this faith, missionary work would not have been begun ; nor 
 can it continue. But such men were of necessity little qualified 
 to look for the best in the non-Christian world to which they 
 went. Their theology was that of their time, deep but not 
 broad. Very literally they believed that the world lay in the 
 evil one. So in India they saw only gross idolatry and super- 
 stition. For this they cannot well be blamed. Missionaries 
 reflect always the theology of the Church which sends them. 
 It is unreasonable to expect them to be other than men of 
 their own time and Church. And if we could suppose that the 
 most tolerant and refined of modern students had been a 
 pioneer missionary, it is not certain that he would have been 
 more successful in discovering the best in Hindu religion. Its 
 Sacred Books were closed to the stranger and little known 
 to the mass of the people. Just as Christianity at the first 
 had its hardest fight not with gross idolatry but with a 
 paganism which Christian influences had refined, so we to-day 
 
RELIGIONS AND RELIGION 3 
 
 are confronted with a Hinduism very different in its emphasis 
 from that of a century or so ago. So competent an observer 
 as Abbe Dubois bears witness to the religious degradation 
 of the people. Then as now men spoke much of Krishna ; but 
 the Krishna men spoke of then was not the ideal Krishna of 
 the Bhagavadgltd) but the gross and foolish Krishna of the 
 Bhdgavata Pur ana. 1 In such a Hinduism it was hard to see 
 anything but an idolatry degrading and often obscene. 2 It 
 was impossible for foreigners to discern the higher elements of 
 Hinduism when these were unknown to the immense majority 
 of the Hindus of that time. Even to-day in India it is the 
 lower forms of religion that are most in evidence, and ' Higher 
 Hinduism ' is still far more limited in its influence than would 
 be supposed by Europeans whose knowledge of Hinduism 
 is derived from Max Muller's lectures and a few choice 
 anthologies. 
 
 It is with this ' Higher Hinduism' that we are chiefly 
 concerned. Idolatry is doomed. True, the excuses provided 
 for it by Theosophy may be utilized by educated men who 
 find it convenient to have the superstitions of their women-folk 
 defended by a pseudo-science. But such men will speak as 
 little of idolatry as possible, and seem to know that their 
 defence of it is clever but not convincing, One great modern 
 
 1 I can find no reference to the Glta in Dubois's text. The word occurs 
 once in the index of the third edition, but it refers there to a note by the 
 modern editor (Abbe J. A. Dubois, Hindu Manners -, Customs ; and 
 Ceremonies). 
 
 2 Compare the following sentence of the prayer uttered by Schwartz at 
 the dedication of his church in Trichinopoly in 1766 a prayer now 
 inscribed on a marble tablet there. ' When strangers who do not know 
 Thy name hear of all Thy glorious doctrines and methods of worshipping 
 Thee preached in this house, incline, oh mercifully incline, their hearts to 
 renounce their abominable idolatry and worship Thee, O God, in the name 
 of Christ.' We would not so describe idolatry to-day, yet any one who 
 knows the obscene carving at the neighbouring Vaishnavite temple of 
 Srirangam or has been to Tanjore, the other sphere of Schwartz's labours, 
 and seen on the gopuram at the entrance of the Saivite temple there, the 
 powerful sculpture of Krishna with the (very) naked Gopis, and seen too 
 in the cloister the 108 lingas conjoined with yonis before which worship is 
 made, will understand Schwartz's adjective, however much he may 
 deplore it. 
 
 " B 3 
 
4 INTRODUCTION 
 
 movement, the Arya-Samaj, denounces the worship of idols 
 uncompromisingly, and denies that it ever formed part of true 
 and primitive Hinduism. Yet this does not mean that there 
 is a greater responsiveness to Christianity. On the contrary, 
 the opposition offered to Christianity is more determined and 
 articulate than it was a generation ago, and no section of 
 Hinduism is more hostile to Christianity than the monotheistic 
 Arya-Samaj. Men are not so content as once they were 
 merely to claim that Hinduism is best for India although 
 Christianity may be intrinsically superior. 1 The rediscovery 
 of the Sacred Books and their enthusiastic praise by Western 
 scholars, have brought a new confidence and pride to men who 
 had become bankrupt of hope. Why should the East despise 
 what the West seemed so highly to value ? Many educated 
 Indians are as convinced as any Hegelian that religion is 
 only a symbol of the truth that philosophy alone can teach. 
 Christianity is an admirable religion. Its moral code is 
 beautiful, if impracticable, but philosophy is the supreme 
 thing, and Hinduism has in the Veddnta the one philosophy 
 finally true and adequate for the interpretation of the eternal. 
 Even the moral supremacy of Christianity can no longer be 
 spoken of as a truism. Men are aware that not all in England 
 are Sahibs. The ' slums ' there, the social vice and misery, 
 are familiar facts. The victory of Japan did much to reha- 
 bilitate Oriental self-respect. Now, on the gigantic scale of a 
 world war, Indians have seen not only the failure of Christianity 
 to preserve Christendom from war, but its failure to keep war 
 free from needless cruelty and lust And Indians can* point 
 with pride to the equal comradeship of their troops with British 
 on the field of battle and their proved discipline and valour. 2 
 
 1 Dr. Farquhar, that most competent of observers, dates from 1870 
 what he calls 'the full defence of the old religions', and from 1895 the 
 reinforcement of this defence by ' religious nationalism '. Modern Religions 
 Movements in India, chapters 4 and 5. 
 
 * Before it was announced that Indian troops would go to the main 
 theatre of war, I found my Hindu friends loyal but not enthusiastic. 
 Afterwards they were proud and eager. 
 
RELIGIONS AND RELIGION 5 
 
 Even the influence of Christ's teaching has in many cases 
 militated against the belief in the supremacy of any one religion. 
 Men, who themselves observe caste, and approve of the outcaste 
 being kept in his degradation, often understand enough of 
 Christianity to appreciate its doctrines of man's essential equality 
 and God's universal Fatherhood. Such men realize how un- 
 christian is any feeling of racial superiority, and on this account 
 also object to the assumption that the religion of the Westerners 
 must be the best. 
 
 To a people thus sensitive and self-conscious, the claim that 
 Christianity is the absolute religion seems often simply a piece 
 of Western arrogance. And such resentment is largely 
 justified. The missionary enterprise has used too much the 
 language of warfare. There is a war we are called to fight 
 with relentless zeal, but that is the war between good and 
 evil, between truth and falsehood. We may not equate our 
 empirical Christianity with goodness and truth. Still less can 
 we identify Hinduism with evil and falsehood. And in using 
 the terminology of warfare we may easily adopt war's ethics. 
 It is well-nigh impossible for a nation at war to appreciate the 
 virtues of its enemy. It looks for the worst and discovers it. 
 If a missionary is a soldier in this sense, he will see only the 
 darker aspects of Hinduism, and he will make the Christianity 
 for which he strives appear as an alien and hostile faith, and 
 such a man will be regarded, not as the bearer of good tidings, 
 but as the enemy of all that men prize, of things good, as well 
 as evil. 
 
 In South India the very success of missions has increased 
 the estrangement. The great mass movements have been 
 chiefly among the outcastes. For such, religion meant devil- 
 worship, and Hinduism the system which sanctioned their 
 degradation, and denied to them the elementary rights of 
 manhood. A locomotive* is an admirable thing, but the man 
 pinioned beneath its wheels will not be thinking of the beauty 
 of its mechanism. It is not surprising if those whom Hinduism 
 has thus treated should regard the very phrase ' Higher 
 
6 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Hinduism ' as an oxymoron. With no tradition from the 
 East, they have grasped eagerly at the culture of the West. 
 Prevented often by caste from becoming artisans, many have 
 found in English education the effective means of social 
 advancement. It is scarcely to be wondered at if many such 
 outwestern any Westerners. There are Christian teachers 
 whose illustrations are nearly all from English life, and who 
 can scarcely preach a sermon without introducing English 
 words. Christians themselves are often as incredulous as 
 Hindus that Christianity will ever supersede Hinduism. 1 And 
 in our great Christian communities even men of university 
 education are often almost incredibly ignorant and indifferent 
 in their attitude to Hinduism. 
 
 It is just here that there seems to be the great contrast 
 between the Church in India and the Church in the times of 
 the Roman Empire. It is true that Tertullian in his fierce 
 exuberant way denounces all philosophy. ' What has Athens 
 to do with Jerusalem or the Academy with the Church ? 
 What have heretics to do with Christians ? . . . Away with all 
 who attempt to introduce a mottled Christianity of Stoicism 
 and Platonism and dialectic. . . . To be ignorant of everything 
 outside the rule of faith, is to possess all knowledge.' 2 Yet 
 Tertullian was not himself thus ignorant. The very invective 
 of his words derives its power from the training he had 
 received in pagan rhetoric. Our Christian theology owes most 
 to the great Greek fathers, and these were men who knew and 
 utilized the philosophy and literature of Greece. Thus, in his 
 Address to the Greeks, Clement of Alexandria denounces, 
 indeed with needed severity, the immorality of many of the 
 tales told of the gods, yet he appeals with admiration to the 
 poets of antiquity, and summons Hesiod, Aeschylus, and 
 
 1 I have heard Christians of high character and incontestable Christian 
 experience speak as if no man became a convert unless there was 
 persecution to evade, or education to gain. On the other hand, there are 
 in the Indian Church many men whose conversion was as costly as 
 St. Paul's and whose zeal is as wholehearted. 
 
 * De pracscr. vii. 
 
RELIGIONS AND RELIGION 7 
 
 Sophocles, as witnesses to the One God. 1 In discussing the 
 benefits conferred on men by Christ he can quote as freely from 
 Homer and Aratus as from the Psalms. 2 And in another 
 book, he declares that the philosophy of the Greeks was a 
 covenant given to them as a stepping-stone to the philosophy 
 which is according to Christ. 3 And in this the Greek fathers 
 were only doing as Paul had done. In writing to Greek 
 Churches, Paul uses freely the categories of Greek thought. 
 He is courteous when addressing Pagans. Even at Ephesus, 
 where idolatry was so rife and so degraded, the ' Town Clerk ' 
 can claim that neither in action nor in language has Paul failed 
 in respect towards the many-breasted Artemis, the guardian 
 goddess of the city. 4 Such a testimony could increasingly be 
 given to the Christian preacher in India. Yet it is possible, 
 while refraining from all discourtesy to other religions, still to 
 fail to recognize in them any good. Even to-day there are too 
 many who forget God's universal Fatherhood and speak as if, 
 outside Christendom, men were completely orphaned of the 
 Father's care. Truer to the spirit of Christ is this legend of 
 Him. Outside the gate of a city lay rotting the carcass of a 
 dead dog. And as men passed by they turned away in disgust 
 from the loathesomeness of the decaying flesh. But when 
 Jesus saw it, He said, ' Pearls are not whiter than its teeth.' 
 Even in the corruption He saw the one thing beautiful. To 
 those that have learnt from Him, the humblest record of 
 religion may become sacred as a transcript of human experience, 
 pathetic often in its failure, yet sublime in its prescience of a 
 higher truth. And in the case of a religion so rich as Hinduism 
 is with the devotion and the speculations of the past, blind indeed 
 must that man be who can see in it only the record of perver- 
 sity and folly. 
 
 1 To the Greeks, vii. 2 Op. tit. xi. 3 Stromata, vi. 8. 
 
 4 As showing the practice of a later age, it is interesting to note 
 Chrysostom's comment that this was a false statement made to calm the 
 riot. But the Clerk was clearly appealing to well-known facts. See 
 Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and Roman Citizen, pp. 146-57. 
 
8 INTRODUCTION 
 
 II 
 
 The intolerance which refuses to recognize in other religions 
 any truth is a folly commoner among Christians than Hindus. 
 The question ' Is any religion final ? ' which, as we have seen, 
 has offended many Christians because it assumes that there is 
 more than one genuine religion, offends many Hindus because 
 it appears to presuppose that one religion can claim supremacy 
 over others. Very common among Hindus is the attitude : 
 all religions are alike true ; let each man abide in the religious 
 community in which he was born. The popularity of this 
 position is sometimes due to its very great convenience. In 
 the West, men indifferent to religion speak little of it. In 
 India, even a College Debating Society will find in religion its 
 most exciting theme. But in the East, as in the West, there 
 are but few who are willing to seek truth at all costs and obey it. 
 If all religions are true, there is clearly no certainty in religious 
 truth. We may continue to exercise our wits upon it, but the 
 one reality is this present life and its prosperity. We can well 
 be content to live 
 
 * With ghastly smooth life dead at heart, 
 Tame in earth's paddock as our prize '.* 
 
 If the position is thus held by men whose genial tolerance 
 is only a cloak for their intellectual indolence or moral super- 
 ficiality, it is also the position of men to whom religion is life's 
 chief concern. 
 
 Ramakrishna declares that a truly religious man should 
 think that other religions also are paths leading to the truth. 
 Every man, therefore, should follow his own religion. A 
 
 1 Dr. Glover's description of Plutarch applies to many in India to-day : 
 ' He will never take a firm stand ; there are always possibilities, ex- 
 
 capable of every conceivable interpretation and everything is a symbol of 
 everything else and all is beautiful and holy'. The Conflict of Religions 
 in the early Roman Empire, p. no. 
 
RELIGIONS AND RELIGION 9 
 
 Christian should follow Christianity, a Muhammadan should 
 follow Muhammadanism, and so forth. For the Hindus the 
 ancient path, the path of the Aryan Rishis, is the best. In 
 Dr. Farquhar's recent book there is reproduced a picture, 
 painted at the order of one of Ramakrishna's disciples, to repre- 
 sent his master's veivvs. In the background are a Christian 
 church, a Muhammadan mosque, and a Hindu temple. Before 
 thechurch is seen Ramakrishna, pointing out to Keshab Chandra 
 Sen, the religious leaders in front of the mosque and temple. 
 In the centre of the picture is depicted Christ and Chaitanya, 1 
 engaged in a religious dance. Round about stand a Confucian, 
 a Muhammadan, a Sikh, a Parsee, an Anglican clergyman, and 
 various Hindus, each carrying some symbol of his faith. 2 
 
 Doubtless God is one, and doubtless He receives all honest 
 worship to whomsoever it is addressed. But is such catholicity 
 as Ramakrishna's true to fact ? Can religion be thus indepen- 
 dent of its objects? Thus Ramakrishna himself worshipped 
 an image of Kali as the Mother of the Universe, and believed in 
 his enthusiasm that it took food from his hand. When later 
 he desired to experience the ecstasy of Krishna's love, he put 
 on woman's clothes, lived in the women's part of the house, spoke 
 in a woman's voice, until at last, as Radha, Krishna's paramour, 
 in a trance he saw standing before him the Krishna he so 
 passionately loved. Surely we cannot say that it makes no 
 difference whether men see God hi the dreaded Kali or in the 
 holy Christ. A devotion to Krishna which is the ecstasy of 
 human passion in its moment of breathless abandonment, is 
 not the same as that quiet constant faith in Christ which means 
 repentance, forgiveness, and a new moral ideal and power. 
 The truly religious man will recognize and appreciate in other 
 religions, sincerity and zeal, but, when we remember how 
 diverse religions are, to say that all religions are alike true is 
 impossible, unless we hold that all religions are alike false, or 
 regard God as so unknown that it simply does not matter how 
 
 1 A Bengali religious leader of the sixteenth century. 
 
 2 Modern Religious Movements in India, pp. 198 and 199. 
 
io INTRODUCTION 
 
 we think of Him. 1 Truth after all is not a mere question of 
 geography. Humanity is one. In religion svadeshiism is out 
 of place. We may try to ignore religion, but its problems 
 will not be evaded. Sooner or later, when religions meet, we 
 are forced back yet once again to the question, Is any religion 
 of final value? Is Christianity, for example, the absolute 
 religion, and if so, in what sense ? 
 
 Ill 
 
 As we turn to the books of the New Testament, this much 
 at least seems clear. From its inception Christianity was 
 proclaimed as a religion of universal significance. The Gospel 
 is essentially a missionary message, and * missions are a 
 brutality unless undertaken with the consciousness that 
 Christianity transcends other religions, and with the knowledge 
 in what respects it does so '. 2 The Apostolic Church saw in its 
 crucified and risen Lord not a local and temporary teacher, 
 but the Saviour of the world. Even those who, like Harnack, 
 for reasons which to many of us seem arbitrary and incon- 
 clusive, deny that Christ bade His disciples preach the Gospel 
 
 1 Here again Christianity is facing in India to-day the same situation 
 as it faced in the Roman Empire in the third and fourth centuries. Thus 
 Dr. Lindsay's description of Neo-Platonism would apply almost without 
 change to the attitude of many educated Hindus. ' If the universe of 
 things seen and unseen be an emanation from Absolute Being, the Primal 
 Cause of all things, the fountain from which all existence flows, and the 
 haven to which everything that has reality in it will return when its cycle 
 is complete, then every heathen deity has its place in this flow of existence. 
 Its cult, however crude, is an obscure witness to the presence of the 
 intuition of the supernatural. The legends which have gathered round its 
 name, if only rightly understood, are mystic revelations of the divine 
 which permeates all things.' . . . * The " common man " was not asked to 
 forsake the deities he was wont to reverence.' ... * The very conjurer was 
 encouraged to cultivate his magic. Pantheism, that wonder child of 
 thought and of the phantasy, included all within the wide sweep of its 
 sheltering arms and made them feel the claim of a common kinship.' . . . 
 Porphyry * was too noble a man not to sympathize with much in Christian- 
 ity,' but ' its claim to be the one religion, its exclusiveness, was hateful to 
 him.' The ( '<nn bridge Mediaeval History^ vol. i, p. 94. 
 
 2 M.Reischle, in his suggestive book on Theologie undReligionsgeschichte, 
 p. 78. 
 
RELIGIONS AND RELIGION n 
 
 to the Gentiles, admit 'that by His universal religion, which 
 at the same time was the religion of the Son', 1 Christ bids 
 men come unto Him as unto one who has a perfect and certain 
 knowledge of the Father. He presents Himself to men, and 
 has from the first been preached by His disciples as the sole 
 sufficient Saviour. 
 
 How can such a claim be substantiated ? Fortunately 
 Christian scholars have by now abandoned the attempt to give 
 'proofs' of Christianity which shall be convincing to the intellect. 2 
 The sciences of which mathematics is the supreme example 
 may be studied objectively. The solutions of their problems 
 depend not on character but on intellect. But our answers to 
 the perennial questions of philosophy and religion depend less on 
 our mental alertness than our moral choice. Our judgements 
 become inevitably judgements of 'value': indications of what 
 we regard as good. And it is in this way that in recent years the 
 truth of Christianity has been very suggestively indicated. 
 The moral selfthe practical reason of Kant's philosophy- 
 demands for its highest good a faith in God/ and an ideal for 
 life at once personal and social. But this ' highest good ' we 
 cannot find in the world-life around us. From it we cannot 
 gather inner peace nor power. By ' the inner dialectic of faith ' 3 
 we are led to look for this good in history, and we find just 
 what we need in the kingdom of God that spiritual realm into 
 which Christ calls men, where men know God as Father, and 
 strive to do His will in the world with the obedience of subjects 
 and the glad freedom of children. 
 
 1 Expansion of Christianity, i. 48. 
 
 2 The old * proof from miracle would be almost ludicrously inappropriate 
 in India. In the West the 'proof has been abandoned because, through 
 the influence of science, miracles for many do not support faith but require 
 it. In many^fabled India the 'proof must always have been useless 
 because to believe in miracles is so easy. College students assure me 
 they have seen them. Even to ask the meaning of the name of a village 
 or hill, will often be to hear of a miracle so portentous that the Gospel 
 miracles seem ordinary events. 
 
 3 j. Kaftan, Die Wahrheit der Religion (p. 550), the classic statement 
 of this proof. 
 
12 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Such an apologetic is full of suggestiveness. It is certainly 
 right in its abandonment of any attempt to ' prove ' Christianity 
 intellectually, but is it right in assuming that by the moral 
 reason a common idea may be realized ? Does this c highest 
 good ' appeal to all men as the highest ? Thus in India ethics 
 has always been less esteemed than metaphysics, and the 
 highest good has been conceived not as moral activity, but as 
 absorption into the infinite. Only if its moral ideal is recreated 
 will India see in Christ's proclamation of the kingdom its 
 highest good. Yet the apologetic is so far true and useful. If 
 Christianity be the final religion, then it must be able not only 
 to reveal new moral needs, but to satisfy all worthy aspiration 
 in itself. History, if it cannot prove, can disprove. Though 
 the claim of Christianity to be the final religion cannot be 
 proved by the history of religion, yet, if true, it will be congruous 
 with its data. 
 
 To bring to the test of history the claim of Christianity to 
 be the absolute religion may well seem a counsel of despair. 
 Christianity claims to be religion the full and perfect satisfac- 
 tion of the religious needs of man. The history of religions 
 shows at once that, whether Christianity be thus religion or not, 
 it is, at any rate in the first place, a religion, one among the 
 many religions of the world. Nor has it lived its life solitary 
 and unaffected. It is not only on the periphery of interest that 
 ethnic words and conceptions have entered into Christianity. 
 Even to express its central doctrines the Church has utilized, 
 from the first, categories of an alien philosophy. It has long 
 been a complaint among Protestants that, after a few centuries 
 of progress, Christianity absorbed from the Roman world 
 pagan thoughts and customs, and that Catholicism, as we 
 know it, is an amalgam of Christian and pagan ideas. The 
 complaint is true, but it can be brought against Protestantism 
 also. As soon as it began its Gentile mission, Christianity came 
 to be influenced in its form by Greek philosophy and religion, 
 Roman conceptions of law and legislature, and, possibly even, 
 
RELIGIONS AND RELIGION 13 
 
 pagan cults and mysteries. This was inevitable. The definition 
 of biology applies also to religion. Life means response to 
 environment. It is mere foolishness for modern missionaries 
 to imagine that the Christianity they bring with them from 
 highly industrial nations like Great Britain and America, or 
 from a military state like Germany, is a Christianity pure, and 
 uninfluenced by its surroundings. Mr. Temple's words are 
 applicable to every one of us : * I am, as I hope, a Christian 
 Englishman, but then I am only an English Christian, and my 
 character is moulded not only by the spirit of Christ but also 
 by the spirit of contemporary England, which are not the 
 same.' l The Church not only influences, it is influenced by, 
 the society in which it lives. It is only prejudice or ignorance 
 which can claim for any extant form of polity or doctrine a 
 final and universal value. 
 
 The scientific study of the history of religions has thus made 
 it impossible to suppose that Christianity is absolute in any of 
 its concrete forms. Does that mean, then, that we must abandon 
 our belief in the finality of the Gospel and, with it, the missionary 
 enterprise ? It does not follow. Missions have been hindered 
 much and helped little by the schemings of ecclesiastics. 
 Xheir impulse has come from the desire to share a gift, not to 
 propagate a system. However it may be with other men, 
 religion means for the Christian, communion with God. God 
 has shown us Himself in Jesus Christ. We know that He is the 
 holy Father ; we know that we are called to lives of trust and 
 service. And we are sure that this knowledge of God is a true 
 knowledge and a certain possession. Our communion with Him 
 depends on what we know Him to be. Doubtless all men may 
 draw near to God and come into intercourse with Him, but 
 intercourse is not communion. 2 Communion is only possible 
 with those we really know, the few whose lives we are permitted 
 to share. Such a communion we may have with God in Jesus 
 Christ. Our certainty of the finality of Christianity which is 
 
 1 Foundations, pp. 355, 3 56. 
 
 2 Cf. L. Ihmels, Centralfragen der Dogmatik in der Gegenivart, p. 46. 
 
14 INTRODUCTION 
 
 only another way of saying, our recognition of its missionary 
 nature depends on the experience of our Christian faith. It is a 
 conviction not based on proof nor capable of it. It is unreasoned, 
 but it need not be irrational. It cannot be proved, but it 
 can be tested. Christianity, as the religion of true communion 
 with God, claims to be religion. If so, it must be adequate to 
 the religious needs of the race as expressed in the great religions. 
 If true, the history of religions, though it cannot prove, should 
 support its claim. 
 
 IV 
 
 It must be admitted that to attempt to make any deductions 
 from the history of religions is a perilous task. ' The science of 
 comparative religion 1 , as M. Loisy says, 'is not yet very old. 
 It gives the impression of still looking for its sphere and of 
 not yet possessing its method. 1 Yet, as he adds, ' the chaos is 
 more in appearance than reality. History is history, the know- 
 ledge of what has been, and the history of religion is the history 
 of religion, the knowledge of that great human fact, the religions 
 of the world/ 1 Nor are the diversities of religion so illimitable 
 as to make impossible a rapid glance at their characteristics. 
 Their seemingly innumerable forms resolve themselves into a 
 few classic types. * It is indeed surprising on how few ideas 
 humanity has had to live.' 2 Thus the lower forms of religion, 
 apparently so multitudinous, are found to be essentially one in 
 their conception. That very common form of religion the 
 animism which peoples the world with spirits good and bad, 
 ignores the good, and worships the evil spirits with abject 
 fear is the same in principle wherever it occurs. And, in any 
 case, a phase of religion so low is irrelevant to the discussion 
 of whether any religion is of final value. Nor do even the 
 higher polytheisms help. However suitable he may regard 
 the worship of the gods for the common people, every educated 
 man knows that really to believe in a multiplicity of gods would 
 
 1 A. Loisy, A propos d'histoire des religions, p, 101. 
 
 2 K. Troeltsch, Die Absolutheit des Christentums und die Religions- 
 geschichte t p. 56 a book to which in the next few pages I owe much. 
 
RELIGIONS AND RELIGION 15 
 
 involve the confusion of his thought and the negation of his 
 culture. Polytheisms are inextricably bound up with the 
 countries of their origin. In the nature of the case they can 
 contribute nothing to the quest for the absolute. Historical 
 religions which transcend in thought the place of their origin 
 are but few, and these we find fall into two distinct types. 
 We have Judaism and Islam, religions of law, and Brahmanism 
 and Bucjdhism, religions of redemption. 1 And it is of interest to 
 note that these two divisions correspond to the two great world- 
 families of religious genius, the Semitic and the Aryan, and in 
 all cases these religions represent the successful quest after 
 unity of peoples who originally worshipped many gods. 
 
 Of the religions of law, Judaism may provide a convenient 
 illustration. 
 
 At first the higher religion of the Hebrews is one long con- 
 flict with the idolatry native to the people. The spiritual 
 genius of Moses had proclaimed that, for the Jews, Jehovah 
 was the only God. Other gods there might be, but in these 
 the Jews had no concern. Gradually the prophets saw and 
 preached a vaster truth. Not for the Jews only, but for all men, 
 this God is the only true God ; all other gods are vanity ; the 
 God of Israel is the Maker of heaven and earth, the Ruler 
 of the universe. The spiritual freshness of the prophets passes 
 away and we have Judaism, the religion of law. The one God 
 becomes remote from His people. His will is revealed in 
 the infallible Book of Law. To do that will thus externally 
 revealed is the sole duty of religion. The law is explained 
 in increasing detail and complexity. The perfect religious man 
 is the Pharisee, who alone has time and opportunity to fulfil all 
 the behests of God. 
 
 The moral advantage of such a rigorous monotheism is 
 obvious. From Jew and Muhammadan alike comes the strong 
 and unfaltering assertion that God is one and is almighty. 
 The will of the distant God is revealed in a sacred writing, in 
 
 1 In a fuller sketch Zoroastrianism would be added to the first division, 
 and Neo-Platonism to the second. 
 
1 6 INTRODUCTION 
 
 the law (Tor ah) of Judaism, and the Qu'rdu of Islam. In 
 irites and pilgrimages, in regularity of prayer, in the giving 
 of tithes, in obedience to all the revealed laws of God, 
 religion consists. History shows the power and force of 
 such religions. The worship of one almighty God gives unity 
 and strength to the worshippers, and endows them often with 
 a splendid tenacity of faith. These * law religions ' gwejife 
 a meaning and a moral contentT The law has been revealed. 
 It is man's duty to obey. God, as the supreme Law-giver, will 
 reward men according to that obedience a heaven of happi- 
 ness for the good, a hell of torment for the evil. 
 
 Experience shows that the emphasis on obedience to a 
 revealed and detailed law tends to externality. Men think more 
 of conduct than of character. The attention is directed to good 
 works and the good things in this life and the next, which good 
 deeds ensure. An ideal is held before men, but not the power 
 to realize it. Men are still left helpless amid the turmoils and 
 uncertainties of life. There is little answer to man's cry to be 
 redeemed from himself and from this world of change and 
 sorrow. There is no adequate recognition of that homesick- 
 ness in the world which no happiness can remove ; no response 
 to that deep mystic craving not for goods but for God. 1 
 Such religions do not speak with power to the heart saddened 
 by the * burthen and the mystery ', ' the heavy and the dreary 
 weight of all this unintelligible world '. 
 
 It is otherwise with the great religions of redemption, of 
 which Brahmanism may well serve as a type. 
 
 As early as the later hymns of the Rigveda we get the quest 
 for unity, the search for the unknown but only real God ; and 
 in the Upanishads the question takes a deeper, and more 
 sombre, form. Amid the multiplicity of deities, where is reality ? 
 Amid the sorrow and the futility of life, where is life's mean- 
 ing ? And if life circles on in wearisome samsara? when at 
 
 1 The fact that, within these law-religions, mystic sects have arisen, does 
 not contradict, but supports, the argument. 
 
 2 Samsara literally, * wandering ' (i. e. of souls). 
 
RELIGIONS AND RELIGION 17 
 
 length can peace be reached ? And the Upanishads gave to 
 this question their great answer. Brahman alone is real, and 
 with Brahman the cosmic and the individual soul are one. He 
 who thus knows himself identical with Brahman, is freed from 
 the illusion of the seen, and thus the soul, harassed by the flux 
 and distress of life, may attain to peace through its sense of 
 oneness with God, the sole reality. 
 
 As we look, even in this most inadequate and scanty way, at 
 these two classic and characteristic forms of religion, the 
 Semitic and the Aryan, we are struck by their difference. It 
 is not so much that one consciously excludes or forbids the 
 other. It is rather that each religion revolves round a different 
 focus. Their reference is to different parts of man's spiritual 
 need. Does not this suggest in each type some limitation, 
 some imperfection ? 
 
 The legal religions proclaim a God of distinct moral content 
 but remote from His worshippers. In a religion of redemption 
 like Brahmanism the reverse is the case. The worshipper is 
 identified with Deity, but at a heavy cost. For this unity of 
 the soul with God is only possible by the elimination from 
 each of all distinction. God becomes the ultimate universal 
 of being, ineffable and unknowable. Because God is thought 
 of as attributeless without definite moral content, life has no 
 moral meaning. The struggle for the good, the remorse of 
 conscience, lose their reality. For ethics, we have an ontology. 
 Because the sense of unity with God is realized not in the 
 'trivial round, the common task } of life, but through philosophy 
 or asceticism, religion at its highest becomes the prerogative of 
 the few. The perfect Buddhist is the monk. The perfect 
 Platonist is the philosopher free from human ties ; and in 
 Brahmanism is it not the meditative recluse who best reaches 
 that shore where is eternal peace ? 
 
 The one type of religion, the Semitic, is interested and 
 influential in the conduct of this life, but fails to meet man's 
 mystic yearnings. The other type, the Aryan, seeks to meet 
 man's -mystic yearnings, but fails to give to life in the world 
 
 C 
 
18 INTRODUCTION 
 
 a moral content and meaning. To which type does Chris- 
 tianity belong ? 
 
 That Christianity is an ethical religion will be universally 
 conceded. It demands of its followers obedience to the law of 
 Christ. It proclaims as its * good tidings ', forgiveness and 
 deliverance from the power of sin. But can we claim that Chris- 
 tianity is also a religion of redemption, redeeming not from sin 
 only but from the world ? In view of Christendom the claim may 
 seem hard to prove. The most prominent Christian nations to- 
 day are the rich and aggressive nations of the West. It is little 
 wonder that many in India, who appreciate the practical value 
 of Christianity, yet assert that it cannot meet their deepest 
 needs. Christianity, they say, is absorbed in the present. 
 It cannot redeem from the seen and transient. 
 
 That Christianity is a religion of deliverance and, as such, 
 meets the aspiration of Hinduism, it is the main purpose of this 
 essay to show. Very summarily may we anticipate its results P 1 
 The presentation of Christianity as ethics and not redemption 
 is one-sided, and, as such, false to the Christian Gospel. Christ 
 came to deliver men not from guilt only, but from bondage 
 to the temporal. Our homesickness for the infinite He meets. 
 Not as orphans are we meant to live in this world of change 
 and darkness. We are God's children. As such we may make 
 the eternal our present, and find in God life's meaning and 
 reality. Born on the Semitic soil of Jewish legalism, 
 Christianity went out into the Aryan world of Greek culture, 
 where the craving for redemption was so intense, and found 
 there a congenial home. It redeems from the world, yet gives 
 moral content to life in the world. As we have seen, to speak 
 of any form of Christianity as absolute is to ignore the teach- 
 ing of history. But can we claim for the Christian Gospel an 
 absolute and final value ? To that, history can give no con- 
 clusive answer. But even from the standpoint of the history 
 of religions, this much may be said. If there be a universal 
 religion, we may expect it to be adequate to the spiritual 
 1 See especially Chapter VII, pages 147-9, and Chapter XI. 
 
RELIGIONS AND RELIGION 19 
 
 necessities revealed by the two great types of world-religions. 
 We may look for it in a reconciliation of the two types in 
 the higher synthesis of an ethical religion of redemption a 
 religion which redeems from the world, and yet enables us to 
 find in the world a sphere for moral activity and progress. 
 Just such a religion is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So the 
 claim of Christian faith that the Christian Gospel is of absolute 
 and universal value is not irrational. Though improvable by 
 history, it is congruous with its data. 
 
 V 
 
 It is with Hinduism alone that Christianity will in 'this 
 essay be related. And the task is one of extraordinary 
 difficulty. In the case of Christianity, though definitions may 
 vary, it is possible for any one to form from the New 
 Testament a tolerably accurate conception of the Christian 
 message and the classic Christian experience. 1 But who shall 
 say what Hinduism is? In view of proportionate representa- 
 tion, the question 'What is a Hindu?' is of political as well as 
 of religious importance. 2 And on this account a great Indian 
 paper 3 invited leaders of Hinduism to answer this question. 
 The answers are for the most part strangely vague. In many, 
 the recognition of the Vedas is regarded as a sufficient sign of 
 Hinduism. In others, even this is regarded as superfluous. 
 Thus Mr. Srinivasa lyengar regards the question, ' What are 
 the beliefs and practices indispensable in one professing the 
 Hindu faith? ' 'as a good illustration of what the logicians call 
 the fallacy of many questions.' Really while 'theMuhammadans 
 
 1 See Chapters VII and VIII. Professor Paterson well remarks, 'In 
 spite of the ecclesiastical and theological divisions of Christendom, there 
 is a groundwork of the Christian religion which is traceable in the 
 divergent forms and which invests all with an unmistakable family likeness ' 
 (The Rule of Faith, p. 389). 
 
 2 Politically the point at issue is : Are the millions of outcastes to be 
 classed as Hindus even although they are excluded from Hindu worship? 
 
 3 The Leader of Allahabad. Twenty-five of these articles have been 
 reprinted under the title Essentials of Hinduism (Natesan& Co., Madras). 
 
 C 2, 
 
20 INTRODUCTION 
 
 / 
 
 are one because they have a common religion and a common 
 law, and the Christians are one because at least one point of faith 
 is common, the Hindus have neither faith, nor practice, nor law 
 to distinguish them from others.' 1 So Mr. Babu Bhagavan Das 
 writes, ' We must content ourselves with saying that any and 
 every one is a Hindu (i) who does not insist that he is a non- 
 Hindu or, more positively, believes and says he is a Hindu, 
 and (2) accepts any of the many beliefs, and follows any of the 
 many practices, that are anywhere regarded as Hinduism.' 2 
 It is probably impossible to make the definition any more 
 precise. Empirically Hinduism means the observance of caste 
 rules and has no authoritative and universal standards either 
 of belief or conduct. Although this be so, it would not retain 
 its hold over a great and gifted people unless it had some 
 meaning and some value. 
 
 If it is impossible to give any comprehensive definition of 
 Hinduism, it does not seem impossible to indicate its great and 
 distinctive doctrines. Are they not these the doctrine of 
 karma? the doctrine of devotion to a God or Gods, and the 
 doctrine of redemption ? As the logical prius of Hindu 
 thought and practice is the doctrine of karma. Men feel them- 
 selves bound and seek release ; some by the way of love, others 
 by the way of knowledge. The power of a religion lies not 
 in its falsehood but in its truth. Christianity can only super- 
 sede Hinduism as it perfectly fulfils the aspiration these great 
 doctrines seek to answer. 
 
 Hinduism is not a book-religion, yet in its sacred books its 
 doctrines find their classic presentation. Hindus themselves 
 
 1 Op. tit., p. 8. 2 Op. tit., pp. 33, 34. 
 
 * So Mr. V. Krishnasvaml Iyer writes, ' I cannot conceive of a follower 
 of Hinduism who repudiates karma and Reincarnation ' (Essentials of 
 Hinduism, p. 39). It has to be said that members of the Brahma and 
 Prarthana Samajes ignore the_belief in karma. The contrast here 
 between the Brahma and the Arya Samaj is su_ggestive. Dayananda 
 Sarasvati retained the doctrine of karma, and the Arya Samaj, in spite of 
 its monotheism, is wholeheartedly Hindu, Ram Mohan Rai rejected the 
 doctrine, and the Brahma Samaj, with its devoted belief in the fatherhood 
 of God and the brotherhood of man, is in many ways less Hindu than 
 Christian in its outlook. 
 
RELIGIONS AND RELIGION 21 
 
 recognize for the most part a triple canon l the Upanishads ^ 
 the Vedanta-sutras of Badarayana, and the Bhagavadglta 
 and it is in these that we may partly find a norm of Hinduism. 
 As this essay is concerned only with the vital forces of 
 Hinduism, in one respect it may seem to exceed its task. 
 Essential Hinduism is based on the belief in karma and has 
 its first literary expression in the Upanishads \ but without 
 reference to the earlier literature the Upanishads themselves 
 can scarcely be understood ; so, even at some loss of symmetry, 
 it seemed necessary to give a brief description of the religion of 
 the Rigveda and the Beginnings of Brahmanic Speculation. 
 In chapter three we reach essential Hinduism in the Philosophy 
 of the Upanishads. The most influential school of Indian 
 thought finds in Sankaracharya's commentary on Badarayana's 
 Sutras its normative expression, and in expounding these 
 Sutras in chapter four this commentary has been followed. 2 
 
 The Gita speaks of the way of devotion, but it seemed well 
 to illustrate also from vernacular literature that bhakti which 
 forms so beautiful and characteristic a part of Hinduism. So 
 in chapter six the love of Krishna is shown in the poems of 
 Tukaram and the love of Rama in the famous epic by Tulsi 
 Das ; then, at somewhat greater length, the love of Siva is 
 described in the poems of Manikka Vasagar, the Tamil saint. It 
 is a perilous task to attempt to describe the religion of others. 3 
 The endeavour has been made to let the sacred books tell 
 their own story that thus the peril may be less. 
 
 In the second half of the book the attempt is made to supply 
 
 1 Prasthanatraya. 
 
 2 In a comprehensive exposition of Hinduism, however brief, it would 
 be necessary to deal more adequately with Ramanuja's interesting and 
 significant interpretation of these Sutras. But no attempt at such an 
 exposition is here made. The aim of the chapters is to illustrate the great 
 Hindu doctrines from a few classic instances, and it seemed better to 
 illustrate the more theistic aspects of Hinduism from the bhakti literature. 
 
 3 How dangerous, the misinterpretations of Christianity show. Thus a 
 writer in the Brahmavadin sees in Matt. viii. 20 ' the idea of unlimitedness 
 of spirit ', whilst a Muhammadan writer will assert that in Luke xvni. 29 
 there is a conception of heaven as sensuous as that of Islam in that a 
 1 hundredfold ' of wives is promised. 
 
22 . INTRODUCTION 
 
 an answer to the long quest of Hinduism. Christ's Gospel and 
 the Apostolic experience of it are described in chapters seven 
 and eight, and in the three concluding chapters this Gospel 
 is brought into relation with the great Hindu doctrines of 
 karma, bhakti, and redemption. Our empirical Christianity 
 does not suffice to meet the demands thus made upon it by the 
 ancient religion of a people so richly endowed with emotional 
 fervour and intellectual acumen, so deeply conscious of the 
 transiency of the present and the reality of the eternal. But 
 though Christianity, as we know it, is insufficient, it is the faith 
 of the writer that Christ is adequate. In meeting new needs, 
 new resources are revealed. We do not increase our inheritance 
 but we learn to possess it. 
 
PART 1 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE PRESUPPOSITIONS OF ESSENTIAL 
 HINDUISM 
 
 THE RELIGION OF THE RIGVEDA AND THE BEGINNING OF 
 BRAHMANIC SPECULATION 
 
 IT has often been asserted that nowhere can the phenomena 
 of religion be so clearly studied as in India. And for that 
 study the vast collection of literature known as the Veda is the 
 chief source. Veda means simply knowledge. The Veda is 
 knowledge, absolute and perfect. In extent the Veda is more 
 than six times as long as the Bible. 1 Its heterogeneous con- 
 tents represent more than ten centuries of religious culture. 
 Its oldest part, the mantra or songs, exists in four collections : 
 
 The Rigveda^ the Veda of Praises. 
 
 The Sdmaveda, the Veda of Sacrificial Chants. 
 
 The Yajurveda, the Veda of Sacrificial Formulae. 
 
 The Atkarvaveda, the Veda of Magic Incantations. 
 Appended to these four collections are the Brdhmanas and the 
 Sutras. The Brdhmanas are chiefly concerned with the con r 
 nexion of the Vedic hymns with the sacrifices. The explana- 
 tion of the ritual is combined with theosophic discussions, 
 myths, and etymologies, often of the most tedious and fantastic 
 kind. Appended to them are the distinctively theosophic 
 Forest Books (Ar any akas), books so profound that only in the 
 solitude of the forest could they be studied. At the end of 
 
 1 So P. Deussen, Allgemeine Geschichte der Philosophic, I. i. ; Ein- 
 leitung und Philosophic des Veda bis auf die Upanishads, p. 65. 
 
24 PRESUPPOSITIONS OF ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 these we have the Upanishads. These are regarded as Vedanta, 
 i. e. they are the end and aim of the Vedas. In them, in 
 unarticulated form are the rich philosophic speculations which 
 are India's greatest glory. To them go back the classic 
 philosophic systems of India, and they are still the cherished 
 study of Indian thinkers. The Sutras, which depend very 
 closely on the Veda, consist of compendious aphorisms giving, 
 in language compressed to the extent of greatest obscurity, 
 rules for the exact observance of rites and practices. With 
 these it will be unnecessary to deal. 
 
 To give a general account of the Veda is beyond the scope 
 of this essay. It is our intention to deal with the Rigveda 
 with great brevity, but with just sufficient adequacy to indicate 
 the general character of the Rigvedic religion. The philosophic 
 hymns of the Rigveda will then be discussed at greater length, 
 and the attempt made to trace in them, and in the Atkarvaveda 
 and the Brahmanas, the decadence of the Rigvedic religion, and 
 the rise of the conceptions afterwards classic in Indian thought. 
 So we shall reach the Upanishads, that rich storehouse of 
 materials, to which all subsequent Indian philosophy has been 
 so greatly indebted. 
 
 We may give as approximate dates : 
 I. The period of the Rigveda . . 1500-1000 B.C. 
 
 II. The period of the Atliarvaveda and 
 
 the Brahmanas . . . . 1000-600 ,. 
 
 III. The period of the Upanishads . . 600- 
 
 A 
 THE RELIGION OF THE RIGVEDA 
 
 The interpretation of the Rigveda is still one of the unsettled 
 questions of historical criticism. The early Vedic scholars 
 spoke with enthusiasm, and sometimes even with rapture, of 
 the fresh simplicity ' of these primaeval hymns '. ' They are the 
 naYve songs of simple herdsmen extolling the mighty works of 
 
THE RELIGION OF THE RIG VEDA 25 
 
 the nature around them.' 1 Such a view appears to-day 
 impossible. Unlike Max Muller, who asserted that 'the 
 collection of hymns was made for its own sake, and not for 
 the sake of any sacrificial performance ', many scholars to- 
 day would connect every hymn with the sacrifice. Some go so 
 far as to call the Rigveda a kind of ' technical magic ', and to 
 regard the hymns throughout as incantations used in the 
 service of a theurgy. 2 Probably the truth lies between the two 
 extremes! The Rigveda is not homogeneous. It professes to 
 be a samhitd, a collection, and includes strata of very different 
 ages. The earlier hymns seem to be genuine prayers made 
 without reference to the sacrificial cult. But the bulk of them, 
 and especially those connected with the fire and the sacred 
 liquor (Agni and Soma), are clearly connected with the rubric. 
 Most popular of all the gods is INDRA, the Vedic god par 
 excellence. His greatest work is the slaying of the dragon. The 
 account of his great victory is one that those who have lived 
 in India will understand. The monsoons are for many the 
 chief interests of the year. Before the monsoon comes, the 
 clouds are banked up, heavy and rain-laden. Day after day 
 there is the lightning, but still no rain. At last the clouds 
 break and the rain comes in tropical abundance. Vritra it is 
 who keeps the waters locked up in the clouds. Indrawith his 
 deadly thunder smites him . The rain falls, and, after the storm, 
 sky and sun again are visible. In every conflict, Indra is the 
 great and always victorious warrior. And in his case -the 
 personification goes far beyond the physical substratum. He 
 is the friend of the Aryans, slaying their dark-skinned foes. 
 He is the genial hero, fond of liquor, sometimes drunken. 
 Thus into his mouth is put a half-tipsy, boastful song with 
 
 this refrain : 
 
 'Have I not drunk the Soma juice?' 3 
 
 1 So Max Muller, India^ what can it teach its? pp. 108, 109. 
 
 2 La religion des Vedas, mieux connue, nous apparait aujourd'hui 
 comme une sorte demagietres savante.' M.S. Levi, quoted in Louis de 
 la Vallee Poussin's Le Vedisme, p. 41. 
 
 3 R. V.x. 119. 
 
26 PRESUPPOSITIONS OF ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 At his birth the heaven and earth trembled. Because of his 
 mighty deeds men call him creator and sustainer of the world. 
 He is kind to those who give him the Soma drink he loves, but 
 to the miserly he is stern in vengeance. 
 
 Next in popularity is AGNI. Agni is the domestic friend. 
 To him men pray for the bride that she may have happiness in 
 her new home and abundant offspring. He is the messenger 
 between gods and men. He it is who summons the gods to the 
 sacrificial feast. At the sacrificial fire he burns up sin's con- 
 tamination. As friend of man and as the sacrificial fire he is 
 the mediator between sinners and the wrath of the sublime 
 Adityas. The case of Agni illustrates well the fact that in the 
 Rigveda^ though there are gods many, there is no regularly 
 ordered pantheon in which each god performs only his peculiar 
 work. Thus Agni in Indra's company became a Soma-drinker ; 
 he kills the dragon and wields the thunderbolt. To him are 
 assigned even the attributes of the Adityas : 
 
 'Thou at thy birth art Varuna, O Agni, 
 
 When thou are kindled thou becomest Mitra, 
 
 In thee, O Son of strength, all gods are centred ; 
 Indra thou art to man who brings oblation.' 1 
 
 Vartina and the Adityas. Above all the other gods tower the 
 Adityas, of whom Varuna, grandest of all Vedic conceptions, 
 is chief. It is in these hymns to Varuna that the thought of 
 India approximates, as rarely elsewhere, to the moral sublimity 
 of Hebraism. Here is proclaimed a holy God, omniscient, 
 the punisher of sin. We quote some stanzas from one of the 
 best known of these hymns. To the Christian reader its 
 words inevitably suggest verses from the Psalms and Job : 2 
 
 i. 'Whatever law of thine, O God, O Varuna, as we are men, 
 Day after day we violate, 
 
 1 K. V. v. 3. i. So too in /?. K ii. I, Agni is identified with a crowd 
 of greater and lesser deities. 
 
 2 For numerous parallels between these hymns to Varuna and the 
 Psalms and Job, see Kaegi, The Rigvcda, translated by Arrowsmith, 
 pp. 62-4. 
 
THE RELIGION OF THE RIG VEDA 27 
 
 2. Give us not a prey to death, to be destroyed by thee in wrath, 
 To thy fierce anger when displeased. 
 
 10. Varuna, true to holy law, sits down among his people, he, 
 Most wise, sits there to govern all, 
 
 11. From thence perceiving, he beholds all wondrous things, both 
 
 what hath been, 
 And what hereafter will be done. 
 
 20. Thou, O wise God, art Lord of all; thou art the king of earth 
 
 and heaven : 
 Hear, as thou goest on thy way. 
 
 21. Release us from the upper bond, untie the bond between and 
 
 loose 
 The bonds below, that I may live.' * 
 
 A later hymn speaks of sin with much insight and recognizes 
 its solidarity : 
 
 3. 'Fain to know this my sin, I question others: I seek the wise, O 
 
 Varuna, and ask them. 
 
 This one same answer even the sages give me, Surely this 
 Varuna is angry with thee. 
 
 4. What, O Varuna, hath been my chief transgression, that thou 
 
 shouldst slay the friend who sings thy praises? 
 Tell me, unconquerable Lord, and quickly, sinless, will I approach 
 thee with mine homage. 
 
 5. Free us from sins committed by our fathers, from those wherein 
 
 we have ourselves offended. 
 
 O King, loose, like a thief who feeds the cattle, as from a cord the 
 calf, set free Vasishtha. 
 
 6. Not our own will betrayed us, but seduction, thoughtlessness, 
 
 Varuna, wine, dice or anger. 
 
 The old is near to lead astray the younger; even slumber 
 leadeth men to evildoing.' a 
 
 It is the supreme tragedy of India's religious history that 
 this sublime conception of a holy God was so uninfluential. 
 Even in the Rigveda the worship of the Adityas is already in 
 the background. Of the thousand and more hymns of the 
 
 1 R. V. i. 25, stanzas I, 2, 10, II, 20, and 21. 
 
 2 R. V. vii. 86. 3-6. 
 
28 PRESUPPOSITIONS OF ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 Rigveda, nearly one-half are devoted to Indra and Agni. To 
 Varuna only twelve hymns are addressed. In one of the 
 later hymns there seems a clear reference to the power of 
 Varuna passing into Indra's hands l and in Brahmanic times 
 Varuna becomes an unimportant god of the waters. So the 
 noblest intuition of Vedic religion faded into obscurity, and, 
 as we shall see, religious speculation became more concerned 
 with the immense than the holy. 
 
 The Character of the Rigvedic Religion. In the Rigveda 
 the gods are for the most part kindly. True there is Rudra 
 whom men call auspicious (Siva), but whose destructiveness 
 they dread ; but, as a rule, the worshipper thinks of his deity 
 not with fear but with cheerful expectation. 
 
 The sublime Adityas, Varuna and Mitra, are indeed held 
 in awe as the august protectors of the moral order, the 
 punishers of sin, but, as has been noted, the worship of 
 the Adityas stands in the background only of the Rigvedic 
 hymns. Indra was the popular and much-praised god, and 
 Indra is the warrior's god and warrior's ideal always brave, 
 always victorious, kindly, and loving much the Soma juice. 
 But in the worship of Indra and the other favourite gods it 
 is not so much justice that is looked for as partiality. In 
 return for the sacrifice they will bestow favours upon their 
 worshippers, and niggardliness in offering is the offence they 
 most abhor. 
 
 That the sorcery and magic of the Atharvaveda existed in- 
 Rigvedic times is very probable, but the compilers of the 
 Rigveda have for the most part ignored these darker aspects 
 of religion. 2 True, occasionally there are charms, sometimes 
 harmless but sometimes malicious. For robbers is provided 
 an incantation to lull the inhabitants of a house to sleep. 3 
 There are spells to prevent evil spirits causing women to mis- 
 carry, 4 and charms to expel diseases. 5 
 
 1 K. V. x. 124. 
 
 2 Sec especially Rhys Davids's Buddhist India, p. 214. 
 
 3 R. V. vii. 55. ' A'. V. x. 162. A 1 . V. x. 163- 
 
THE RELIGION OF THE RIG VEDA 29 
 
 In a well-known hymn to Indra-Soma, fierce imprecations 
 are called down upon malicious evil spirits who spoil the 
 sacrifice, ensnare the pious, and bring about their destruction. 1 
 But, as a whole, the compilation represents a bright and 
 cheerful worship. If optimism means a belief that life is 
 good and its continuance a blessing, then the religion of the 
 Rigveda is optimistic. Men are content with their genial 
 prosperous life on earth. 
 
 Thus the opening stanzas of a funeral hymn pray that 
 death may be far distant from those assembled there and 
 that they ' may survive a hundred lengthened autumns '. 2 So, 
 if death must come, they desire in the next world a life like 
 that of this world, only richer. Yama, the first man who 
 died, is the leader and ruler of the fathers who live in 
 happiness. The wicked go down indeed to the dark pit, but 
 the Rigveda^ unlike the \dte\- Brafananas y makes little mention 
 of their punishment. In a hymn to Soma Pavamana occurs 
 a happy description of the heavenly life : 
 
 7. ' O Pavamana, place me in that deathless, undecaying world, 
 Wherein the light of heaven is set and everlasting lustre shines. 
 
 Flow Indu, 3 flow for Indra's sake. 
 
 8. Make me immortal in that realm where dwells the king Vivasvat's 
 
 son. 4 
 
 Where is the secret shrine of heaven, where are those waters 
 young and fresh. Flow Indu, flow for Indra's sake. 
 
 9. Make me immortal in that realm where they move even as they list. 
 In the third sphere of inmost heaven, where lucid worlds are full of 
 
 light. Flow Indu, flow for Indra's sake. 
 
 10. Make me immortal in that realm of eager wish and strong desire, 
 The region of the radiant moon, where food and full delight are 
 
 found. Flow Indu, flow for Indra's sake. 
 
 11. Make me immortal in that land where happiness and transports, 
 
 where 
 
 Joys and felicities combine, and longing wishes are fulfilled. 
 Flow Indu, flow for Indra's sake.' 5 
 
 1 R. V. vii. 104. 2 R. V. x. 1 8. 3 The drops of Soma. 
 
 4 i.e. Yama. 5 A'. V. ix. 113. 7-11. 
 
30 PRESUPPOSITIONS OF ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 The joys of heaven are thus not spiritual : they are the 
 joys of earth perfected. How different is this estimate of life, 
 and this desire for its continuance, from the pessimism of 
 later Indian thought, with its profound sense of the futility 
 and illusion of the seen. 
 
 Monotheism or Polytheism ? Even in so brief a sketch as 
 this there is one question which claims an answer. It is often 
 asserted by modern Indians that the Rigveda, rightly under- 
 stood, teaches monotheism. It is hard to avoid the conclusion 
 that this is a discovery which could only have been made by 
 men who, through Western influences, recognized the crudity 
 of polytheism, and were unwilling to admit that their most 
 sacred book could be in this respect so mistaken. If there 
 was only one God, why should there be the worship of so 
 many ? It is no answer to say, as is so often said, that the 
 many gods bring out the variety of the great god behind them. 
 Such clearly was not the view of the composers of the large 
 majority of the Vedic hymns. The conception of Varuna as 
 the holy God, the punisher and forgiver of sins, marks the 
 nearest approach of ancient India to a monotheistic faith. 
 
 But that path was not pursued. Even Varuna, however 
 exalted, was only one God among many, and the worship of 
 Varuna recedes behind that of the deities more congenial but 
 less august. Max Miiller, admitting the absence of mono- 
 theism, sought to distinguish the Rigvedic religion from 
 polytheism. If the ordered pantheon of Greece be the test 
 and model of polytheism, then the Rigvedic religion cannot 
 be so called. In the Rigveda there is no Olympus on which 
 the gods dwell in well-ordered state and function. The par- 
 ticular deity praised is extolled above all others. To the 
 gods ' one at a time ' are ascribed the highest attributes. This 
 Max Miiller called ' henotheism ' or ' kathenotheism V The 
 former term is commonly employed now in another sense. 2 
 
 1 See India, what can it teach us ? p. 147. 
 
 2 A religion is said to be ' henotheistic ' when it teaches that although 
 the gods of other nations may exist yet for its followers there is one (iod 
 

 THE RELIGION OF THE RIG VEDA 31 
 
 The later term may be used, but this ' kathenotheism ' has 
 little relation to monotheism. There is indeed little fixity of 
 definition, and to god after god is assigned even the creation 
 of the world. Some hymns are ascribed to all the gods 
 ( Visvedevas). Thus one begins : 
 
 1. 'Not one of you, ye gods, is small. None of you is a feeble child. 
 All of you verily are great. 
 
 2. Thus be ye lauded, ye destroyers of the foe, 
 Ye three and thirty deities. 
 
 The gods of men, the holy ones. 
 
 3. As such defend and succour us ; with benedictions speak to us.' l 
 
 And the fact that the attributes of many gods were 
 ascribed to one blurred the conceptions of the gods, and, by 
 elevating every god, depressed them each. Yet the gods are 
 rarely thought of as mere manifestations. Usually they are 
 held to be absolute, and powerful enough in their own right 
 to be able to succour their worshippers. 
 
 The Rigvedic religion is, then, a polytheism, but a poly- 
 theism unstable and in decay. If the exigencies of the 
 rubric demanded that to so many gods in turn the highest 
 honours should be ascribed, the sacrifice itself was a contract 
 by which the gods gained as well as their worshippers. 
 
 In one verse the singer who has won by his song the service 
 of Indra offers to sell him for ten milch-kine. 2 Whether, as 
 Deussen thinks, this is a piece of flippant mockery, or whether, 
 as seems more probable, it is a proof of an irreligious theurgy, 
 in either case, it shows the decay of simple piety. In an age 
 of faith, as Deussen shrewdly says, men do not pray for faith, 
 yet in one of the later hymns of the Rigveda we have a prayer 
 for faith. 
 
 Faith in the early morning, Faith at noonday will we invocate : 
 Faith at the setting of the sun, O Faith, endow us with belief. 3 
 
 alone who may be^vorshipped, e.g. the Hebrew religion at the time of 
 Moses. 1 R. V. viii. 30. 2 R. V. iv. 24. 10. 
 
 3 R. V. \. 151. 5 ; Deussen, Allgemeine Geschichte derPhilosophie, I. i, 
 p. 95. 
 
32 PRESUPPOSITIONS OF ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 But the decay of polytheism did not lead to the worship of 
 one God, but to the quest of a unitary principle which finds 
 expression in the familiar cosmogonic hymns of the last book 
 of the Rigveda. Even apart from them we can see at work in 
 the Rigveda the two tendencies which are at once the product 
 and the cause of the dissolution of its religion the quest for 
 the one behind the many, and the theurgic view of sacrifice 
 which in the end was to make Brahman, the magic word or 
 prayer, the master of the gods, until at length the two 
 tendencies converge and Brahman becomes the metaphysical 
 principle of the universe. 
 
 So the Rigvedic thought leads to monism, not monotheism. 
 The moral sublimity of Varuna is forgotten. The quest for 
 unity is not the quest for the one holy God. It is the search 
 for the immense, the infinite, the substrate of all being. 
 
 B 
 THE BEGINNINGS OF BRAHMANIC SPECULATION 
 
 The Philosophic Hymns of the Rigveda. In Greece, where 
 there was an ordered pantheon, philosophers developed their 
 search for unity in conscious opposition to the popular 
 worship. In India, where the polytheism was ill-defined and 
 unstable, such a strife was needless. Philosophy could have 
 its one god without in any way conflicting with the worship 
 of the many. Already the attributes of the gods were inter- 
 changed and confused. It was not so great a step from this 
 to assert that behind all the gods there was one great unifying 
 principle. The first book of the Rigveda, like the last, is 
 clearly later than the other eight. In it occurs a famous 
 hymn in which the one is thus sought behind the many. 1 
 The poem is probably the earliest of these philosophic hymns. 
 The poet states problems rather than answers them. He 
 seems to be conscious that he is dealing with enigmas. The 
 hymn is a long one of fifty-two stanzas and it will only be 
 
 1 A\ V. i. 164. 
 
BEGINNINGS OF BRAHMANIC SPECULATION 33 
 
 possible to outline its contents. 1 In obscure and symbolic 
 language, the poet describes the riddle of the universe. The 
 sun and stars of heaven, the lightnings and the fire of sacrifice, 
 are brothers. Behind the multiplicity of the phenomenal is 
 the one. The one bears the world, is present as the father in 
 the starry heaven, and the sacrificial fire on earth. The one 
 is the axle of the earth.- The one is the divine spirit and the 
 World-Father. Corresponding to the world-order are the 
 metres of the Vedic songs and the earthly sacrifices. 
 
 To the earthly speech, the holy word of the Veda^ corre- 
 sponds the heavenly speech ( Vdch), the heavenly cow, wHose 
 lowing is thunder, and whose milk is rain. To the earthly 
 sacrifice corresponds a heavenly. Three-fourths of the holy 
 speech is hidden in heaven ; one-fourth only is revealed 
 through the Vedas on earth. Then comes a verse of great 
 importance : 
 
 'They call him Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, 
 
 And he is heavenly nobly-winged Garutman. 
 To what is one, sages give many a title ; 
 They call it Agni, Yama, Matarisvan.' 2 
 
 The line ' To what is one, sages give many a title ' has 
 been described as the most important in Indian thought 
 before the great ' Thou art that ' of the Upanishads. It is 
 one of the most-quoted lines of the Rigveda to-day. The 
 hymn as a whole marks, in obscure and halting language, the 
 transition from a polytheism in flux to a unitary conception of 
 the real. 
 
 The Hymn of Creation? Of far greater interest and beauty 
 is .the famous hymn of creation in the tenth book. In a few 
 master-strokes the poet describes the primaeval and undif- 
 ferentiated chaos. There was neither being (sat) nor non-being 
 (asat). In the ocean of darkness only the one existed. By 
 ' Tapas ' had he been born from the void. The first meaning 
 of c Tapas' is warmth, and it is thus that Griffiths translates it 
 
 1 For a full commentary see Deussen, op. df., pp. 105-19. 
 
 2 R. V. i. 164. 46. y A'. V. x. 129. 
 
 D 
 
34 PRESUPPOSITIONS OF' ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 here. It suggests a hen brooding over her chickens. But in 
 a land where heat is a hardship, by a natural transition, the 
 word came to denote austerity, asceticism, and it is possible 
 that this is the meaning here. Then in the fourth stanza the 
 poet reaches the height of his argument. Something stirred 
 in the void. It was kama, desire. 1 Because of it the world 
 was created. The next stanza is very obscure, but seems to 
 speak of a differentiation into two. Deussen holds that the 
 division is between the 'thing in itself, the real, and its 
 corresponding phenomenon, 2 but this endeavour to read the 
 Kantian distinction into this ancient hymn is surely strained. 
 In the last two stanzas the poet confesses that the creation is 
 to him a mystery. The creation preceded the gods. Does 
 the one know of it, or is he, too, ignorant ? As the poem is 
 not only important but brief we quote it in full : 
 
 1 . * Then was not non-existent nor existent ; there was no realm of air, 
 
 no sky beyond it. 
 
 What covered in and where? and what gave shelter? was water 
 there, unfathomed depth of water ? 
 
 2. Death was not then, nor was there ought immortal : no sign was 
 
 there, the day's and night's divider. 
 
 That one thing, breathless, breathed by its own nature : apart from 
 it was nothing whatsoever. 
 
 3. Darkness was there : at first, concealed in darkness, this All was 
 
 indiscriminated chaos. 
 
 All that existed then was void and formless : by the great power 
 of warmth (iapas) was born that unit. 
 
 4. Thereafter rose Desire in the beginning, Desire, the primal seed 
 
 and germ of spirit. 
 
 Sages who searched with their heart's thought discovered 'the 
 existent's kinship in the non-existent. 
 
 5. Transversely was their severing line extended ; what was above it 
 
 then, and what below it? 
 
 There were begetters, there were mighty forces, free action here 
 and energy up yonder. 
 
 1 The ?pr of Parmenides. 2 Op. at., p. 125. 
 
BEGINNINGS OF BRAHMANIC SPECULATION 35 
 
 6. Who verily knows and who can here declare it, whence it was bom 
 
 and whence comes this creation? 
 
 The Gods are later than this world's production. Who knows then 
 whence it first came into being ? 
 
 7. He, the first origin of this creation, whether he formed it all or did 
 
 not form it, 
 
 Whose eye controls this world in highest heaven, he verily knows 
 it or perhaps he knows it not.' * 
 
 Here we have in full .power the subtle questionings of the 
 Indian mind, and it is with no surprise that we find a modern 
 Hindu writer claiming for this hymn that it must have been 
 1 1 will not say composed but revealed to the Rishi ', and that 
 ' it contains all the fundamental elements of the religious, 
 philosophic, and scientific, consciousness of humanity '. 2 
 
 Inevitably speculation, once begun, could not rest content 
 with this unknown god, so we have further hymns which seek 
 to define this mysterious one behind the many. 
 
 The Hymn of the Golden Germ? There is a well-known 
 hymn in which Indra's exploits are recounted and at the end 
 of each verse is the refrain : 
 
 'Have faith in him, for he, O men, is Indra.' 4 
 
 It seems to have been in conscious opposition to this hymn 
 that there was written the hymn known as the hymn of the 
 Golden Germ (Hiranyagarbha). 5 In place of Indra this poet 
 puts the great unknown god as the doer of the mighty deeds. 
 First in creation was the Golden Germ : 
 
 i. 'In the beginning rose Hiranyagarbha, born only lord of all 
 
 created beings. 
 
 He fixed and holdeth up this earth and heaven. What god shall 
 we adore with our oblation ? 
 
 1 R. V. x. 129. 2 Brahmadarsanam by Sri Ananda Acharya. 
 
 3 R. V. x. 121. 4 R. V. ii. 12. 
 
 5 Macdonell points out that, although the Hiranyagarbha is mentioned 
 several times in the Atharvaveda and the Brahmanas, this is the only 
 place in which the word occurs in the Rigveda. Vedic Mythology in 
 Grundriss der Indo-Arischen Philologie und Altertumskunde, 1897, 
 p. 119. 
 
 D 2 
 
36 PRESUPPOSITIONS OF ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 5. By him the heavens are strong and earth is steadfast, by him 
 
 light's realm and sky-^ault are supported. 
 
 By him the regions in mid-air were measured. What god shall we 
 adore with our oblation ? 
 
 9. Ne'er may he harm us who is earth's begetter, nor he, whose laws 
 
 are sure, the heaven's creator, 
 
 He, who brought forth the great and lucid waters. What god shall 
 we adore with our oblation ? ' 
 
 At last comes the answer. He gives the unknown god the 
 name Prajapati, Lord of creatures : 
 
 10. ' Prajapati ! thou only comprehendest all these created things, and 
 
 none beside thee. 
 
 Grant us our heart's desire when we invoke thee. May we have store 
 of riches in possession.' l 
 
 This word Prajapati became later one of the most influential 
 of Brahmanic conceptions. Closely allied to this hymn arc 
 two to Visvakarman, the all-creator. 
 
 The Hymns to Visvakarman? In the first of these two 
 hymns (x. 81), Visvakarman, the all-creator, is invoked as at 
 once the high-priest and the architect of the universe. In 
 this way the sacrificial order and the world's creation are even 
 at this early date linked up together. The motive of the 
 world's creation is held to be the desire for offspring. 
 
 In the second of these hymns (x. 82), Visvakarman is 
 acclaimed as ' mighty in word and power ', ' Maker, disposer 
 and most lofty Presence ', * the Father who made us men, the 
 Deities' name-giver '. Then the poet asks : 
 
 5. 'That which is earlier than this earth and heaven, before the Asuras 
 
 and gods had being, 
 
 What was the germ primaeval which the waters received where all 
 the gods were seen together^? 
 
 6. The waters, they received that germ primaeval, wherein the gods 
 
 were gathered all together. 
 
 It rested, set upon the Unborn's navel; that One wherein abide all 
 things existing.' 
 
 The poet feels that none of those reputed wise can help him. 
 
 1 A'. V. x. 121, stanzas I, 5, y, 10. a A'. K x. 81, 82. 
 
BEGINNINGS OF BRAHMANIC SPECULATION 37 
 
 The singers of hymns, self-absorbed and complacent, are 
 unable to behold and declare this great mysterious One. 
 
 7. 'Ye will not find him who produced these creatures: another thing 
 
 hath risen up among you. 
 
 Enwrapt in misty cloud, with lips that stammer, hymn-chanters 
 wander and are discontented.' 1 
 
 The Hymn to Brahmanaspati? In the Rigvedic religion, 
 as we have seen, to prayer is assigned theurgic power. The 
 gods depend on sacrifice and prayer for their well-being. It 
 was natural then to personify brahman, the magic word or 
 prayer, and make of it a god. This was done under the name 
 of Brahmanaspati or, if the metre required a shorter form, 
 Brihaspati the Lord of Prayer. In the earlier part of the 
 chapter, mention has already been made of Brihaspati as one 
 of the gods of the earth, the high-priest, the path-preparer. 
 Gradually his importance grew in priestly estimation till at 
 length in this hymn he is extolled as the all-creator. As 
 a smith he forges out of the non-existent the existent, and 
 with it the world of gods. With that love of the impossible 
 so often found in Indian thinkers, the poet speaks of Daksha 
 as at once the mother and the child of Aditi, the primaeval 
 matter. The cosmogony is at the same time a theogoriy. 
 
 1. 'Let us with tuneful skill proclaim these generations of the gods, 
 That one may see them when these hymns are chanted in a future 
 
 age. ^ 
 
 2. These Brahmanaspati produced with blast and smelting, like a 
 
 smith. 
 Existence, in an earlier age of gods, from non-existence sprang. 
 
 3. Existence in the earliest age of gods, from non-existence sprang. 
 Thereafter were the regions born. This sprang from the Productive 
 
 Power. 
 
 4. Earth sprang from the Productive Power; the regions from the 
 
 earth were born. 
 Daksha was born of Aditi, and Aditi was Daksha's child:' 8 
 
 Then follows an account of the creation of the gods. Last 
 
 1 R. V. x. 82, stanzas 5, 6, 7. 2 R. V. x. 72. 
 
 3 R. V. x. 72, stanzas 1-4. 
 
38 PRESUPPOSITIONS OF ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 to be produced is the sun. This conception of Brahmanaspati, 
 the Lord of Prayer, as the all-creator, marks an important 
 stage in the development of the idea of Brahman as the ulti- 
 mate principle of the universe. 
 
 The Hymn to Purusha} Most famous and probably latest 
 of all the Rigvedic hymns is the hymn known as the Purusha- 
 sukta. 2 
 
 Here in place of personified abstractions like Prajapati and 
 Visvakarman is put Purusha, man, humanity. Mail, the head 
 of creation, is made its origin. Whereas in the Rigveda the 
 gods are primarily personifications of parts or special powers 
 of nature, here nature as a whole is regarded as an extension 
 of the primaeval man, and thus a metaphysical unity is 
 realized. 
 
 The poem falls naturally into three parts : 3 
 
 I. The world is Pumsha. Stanzas 1-5. Purusha as more 
 than an ordinary man has a thousand heads and eyes and feet. 
 He not only fills the earth. He is ten finger-space beyond it 
 in every direction. So he is greater than all that is. All 
 living things on earth sprang from one-fourth of him, while 
 three-fourths of him ' are eternal life in heaven '. From 
 Purusha comes Viraj, and from Viraj Purusha again was 
 born. Purusha is thus the first begetter and the first begotten. 
 
 II. The creation of the world through the sacrifice of 
 Purusha. Stanzas 6-10 with stanza 15. Th gods, the 
 Sadhyas 4 and the Rishis offer up Purusha, and from that 
 sacrifice is born all living things, the Vedas, horses, cattle, 
 sheep and goats. 
 
 I 1 1. The parts of the world are the organs of his body. 
 Stanzas 11-14. In this part of the poem occurs the first and 
 very famous reference to the four castes a reference which 
 clearly proves the lateness of the hymn : 
 
 1 R. V. x. 90. 
 
 * The main idea of the myth embodied in the poem the creation of 
 the world from the body of a giant is indeed, as Macdonell says, very 
 primitive, but ' several details in this myth point to the most recent period 
 of the Rigveda \ Vedic Mythology, p. 13. 
 
 3 See Deussen, op. t/A, 150-8. * " * A class of gods. 
 
BEGINNINGS OF BRAHMANIC SPECULATION 39 
 
 11. 'When they divided Purusha, how many portions did they make? 
 What do they call his mouth, his arms? What do they call his 
 
 thighs and feet? 
 
 12. The Brahman was his mouth, of both his arms was the Rajanya 1 
 
 made. 
 
 His thighs became the Vaisya, from his feet the Sudra was 
 produced. 
 
 13. The Moon was gendered from his mind, and from his eye the Sun 
 
 had birth. 
 Indra and Agni from his mouth were born, and Vayu from his 
 
 breath, 
 14- Forth from his navel came mid-air ; the sky was fashioned from his 
 
 head, 
 Earth from his feet, and from his ear the regions. Thus they formed 
 
 the world.' 
 
 The concluding stanza may be a later addition : 
 
 16. ' Gods, sacrificing, sacrificed the victim : these were the earliest holy 
 
 ordinances ; 
 
 The mighty ones attained the height of heaven, there where the 
 Sadhyas, gods of old, are dwelling.' z 
 
 In this poem we feel we have already approached very near 
 to the UpanishadS) but before we can reach those loftiest 
 summits of India's thought, we have first to traverse as best 
 we may the dense and pathless jungle of the Atharvaveda and 
 the Brdhmanas. 
 
 The Atharvaveda and the Brdhmanas. Before tracing the 
 development of thought in this period it is necessary to speak 
 a little of the Aiharvaveda and the Brdhmanas from the 
 point of view of the moral and spiritual condition which 
 they reveal. 
 
 The Atharvaveda. The Atharvaveda is to-day recognized 
 as being like the Rigveda^ sruti and divine, but it was long 
 before it obtained quite the sanctity of the other three Vedas, 
 and in its present form it is clearly later. Verses from the 
 Rigveda are quoted in it with little regard to meaning or 
 context. In subject-matter it differs much from the Rigveda. 
 The Rigveda presupposes magic, but looks away from it. 
 
 1 i. e. The Kshatriya caste. 2 R. V. x. 90, stanzas 11-14, 1 6. 
 
40 PRESUPPOSITIONS OF ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 The Atharvaveda is first of all a book of magic spells. As 
 such, some enthusiastic admirers of the Rigveda are unwilling 
 to admit that the Atharvaveda can be Aryan. Thus Madame 
 Ragozin writes: 'We "have here, as though in opposition to 
 the bright, cheerful pantheon of beneficent deities, so trustingly 
 and gratefully addressed by the Rishis of the Rigveda, a weird, 
 repulsive world, of darkly scowling demons, inspiring abject 
 fear, such as never sprang from Aryan fancy.' l 
 
 But such a theory, though permissible, is quite unproved. 
 And they do not understand India who suppose that con- 
 tradictions cannot exist side by side. Thus the vague Theism 
 of the modern educated Hindu rarely rids him of his fear of 
 omens and his desire to begin every new phase of his life on 
 an * auspicious day'. Just so. along with the brighter pan- 
 theon of the Rigveda, existed the devil-haunted world of the 
 Atharvaveda. And this Veda is of considerable interest in 
 that its charms reveal in ample detail the life of ancient India. 
 Then as now every stage of life has to be consecrated by 
 religion. So even for trivial purposes we find a charm pro- 
 vided. A man wishes to secure a maiden's love. A maiden 
 seeks to win a husband. A wife desires to destroy her rival. 
 A woman seeks safe delivery and to have only male children. 
 A child has cut his first two teeth and for him blessing is 
 sought. The farmer desires to speed his plough. He wishes 
 to ward off dysentery and fever, vermin, tigers, wolves, and 
 thieves. He is in fear of evil spirits, especially of those that 
 molest his women, and for all these purposes there are charms. 
 Less innocent are curses for the destruction of enemies. 
 Fiercest of all are imprecations on Kshatriyas who dare to 
 oppress the Brahman and rob him of his cows. The limits of 
 this essay do not permit quotation, and there is little need ; for 
 magic spells are the same the whole world over. Of interest 
 as showing that strange blending of the noble and the base 
 so often in Indian religion is the famous hymn to Varuna.- 
 Hcrc more than anywhere in the Rigveda, the omnipotence 
 1 Vedic India, 3rd edit., pp. 117, 1 1 8. 8 A. V. iv. 1 6. 
 
BEGINNINGS OF BRAHMANIC SPECULATION 4* 
 
 and omniscience of Varuna is extolled ; yet the prayer termi- 
 nates with a terrific curse : 
 
 1. 'The mighty ruler of these worlds beholds as though from close at 
 
 hand. 
 
 The man who thinks he acts by stealth, all this the Gods perceive 
 and know. 
 
 2. If a man stands, or walks, or moves, in secret, or goes to his lying 
 
 down or his uprising, 
 
 What two men whisper as they sit together, King Varuna knows : he 
 as the third is present. 
 
 4. If any one should flee afar beyond the heaven, King Varuna would 
 
 still be round about him. 
 
 Proceeding hither from the sky his envoys look, thousand-eyed, 
 over the earth beneath them. 
 
 5. All this the royal Varuna beholdeth, all between heaven and earth 
 
 and all beyond them. 
 
 The twinkling of men's eyelids hath he counted. As one who plays 
 throws dice, he settles all things. 
 
 7. Varuna, snare him with a hundred nooses. Man's watcher ! let not 
 
 him who lies escape thee. 
 
 There let the villain sit with hanging belly and bandaged like a cask 
 whose hoops are broken. 
 
 8. Varuna sends and drives away diseases : Varuna is both native and 
 
 a stranger: 
 Varuna is celestial and is human. 
 
 9. I bincl and hold thee fast with all these nooses, thou son of such a 
 
 man and such a mother. 
 All these do I assign thee as thy portion.' 
 
 The Brdhmanas. The Brahmanas are the earliest of Indian 
 prose writings. Of all works demanding study there are 
 surely few less intelligible or more tedious. As Professor 
 Eggeling, the translator of the most important Brdhmana^ 
 remarks, ' For wearisome prolixity of exposition, characterized 
 by dogmatic assertion and flimsy symbolism rather than by 
 serious reasoning, these works are perhaps not equalled any- 
 where.' l The arguments used in them are often more 
 suggestive of Alice in Wonderland than of the ordinary 
 processes of human reason. Yet without some reference to 
 1 S. B. E. xii, p. ix. 
 
42 PRESUPPOSITIONS OF ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 these Brahmanas, it is impossible to trace the transition from 
 the Rigveda to the Upanishads. The complex phenomena of 
 the later religion have in many cases here their beginnings. 
 Thus, empirically, Hinduism means to-day the observance of 
 caste and the recognition of the supremacy of the Brahmans. 
 Both these conceptions are found in the Brahmanas. Here 
 already, as Professor de la Vallee Poussin says, we have ' the 
 particular mentality which is characteristic of Hinduism, the 
 medley of pantheistic gnosis, of piety and paganism, of social 
 conservatism, and religious anarchy '. l 
 
 The Brahmans, with true sacerdotal instinct, secured for 
 themselves the monopoly not only of the cult but of education. 
 Already we have the beginnings of the division of the Brah- 
 man's life into the four stages (asramas] of student (brah- 
 mackann), householder (grihastha), hermit (vanaprashtd), and 
 ascetic (sannyasin)? As the possessors of the Vedas, the 
 Brahmans were essential to every sacrifice and claimed for 
 themselves a divine sanctity. Thus we read, * Verily there 
 are two kinds of gods ; for the gods themselves assuredly are 
 gods, and those priests who have studied and teach Vedic lore 
 are the human gods.' 3 Like sacrifices to the God are fees 
 j>aid to the human gods, the priests. Even at this period the 
 Sudra is expressly excluded from religion : ' The gods talk 
 only to the higher castes/ 
 
 It is natural in works such as these that sacrifice should be 
 extolled. At the sacrifice every syllable and every accent is 
 of tremendous import. One mistake, and dreadful may be 
 the consequences. By sacrifice the gods are not so much 
 worshipped as subdued. The gods themselves depend on 
 sacrifice. By it the gods obtained heaven. By it the stronger 
 gods overcame the weaker. The sun would not rise if the 
 priest did not offer sacrifices. In fact, as M. Barth says, * the 
 
 1 Le Brahmamsme, p. 43. 
 
 2 Of course the 'beginnings' only. The distinction between the 
 vdnaprashta and the sannyasin was later, and the duty of the grihastha 
 was not at this time obligatory on all. 
 
 3 Sat, Br. ii. 2. 2. 6 and ii. 4. 3. 14. 
 
BEGINNINGS OF BRAHMANIC SPECULATION 43 
 
 sacrifices are the true gods to which the devas, apart from 
 the dreaded Rudra, are mere subordinate agents, abstractions, 
 empty shadows.' l 
 
 As powerful as sacrifice are asceticism and prayer. Asceti- 
 cism (tapas) is practised even when the object is to obtain in 
 heaven most unascetic pleasures. By asceticism and prayer, 
 men may overcome the gods. When religion is thus a theurgy, 
 we cannot expect a lofty conception of the gods. They are 
 depicted as drunken, and some of the stones told of them 
 read intolerably in translation. Yet, on the other hand, the 
 incest of the supreme god Prajapati with his daughter Ushas 
 is referred to as revolting to the other gods. Here and there 
 are traces of the ethical nobility of the hymns to Varuna. 
 Thus we read : ' Let him (the sacrificer) only speak the truth, 
 for the vow indeed the gods do keep, that they speak the truth, 
 and for this reason they are glorious : glorious therefore is he 
 who knowing this speaks the truth.' 2 Already a man's sins 
 are spoken of as his debts. But the doctrine of soul- 
 wandering (Samsdra) is not yet developed. And the re-birth 
 the wise man of a later age sought to avoid is here regarded 
 as a reward. 3 
 
 Such, in briefest outline, are the Brdkmanas and their 
 religion. They reflect an age of priestly pre-eminence in which 
 sacerdotal claims are urged with greedy cynicism. Prayer, 
 sacrifice, and asceticism are a theurgy greater in power than the 
 power of the gods. The age is one of spiritual feebleness, 
 void of moral strength or beauty. Without a revival of 
 religion, religion must have passed from feebleness to death. 
 That revival came in the great age of the Upanishads and 
 Gautama the Buddha. But the philosophy of the Upanishads 
 emerged imperceptibly from the sacerdotal theosophy of the 
 
 1 Earth, Bulletin, 1899, p. 3Q 3 quoted by de la Vallee Poussin, op. '/., 
 p. 46., 
 
 2 Sat. Br. i. I. I. 5. 
 
 3 ' For the spring assuredly comes into life again out of the winter, for 
 out of the one the other is born ,again : therefore he who knows this is 
 indeed born again in this world,' Sat. Br. i. 5. 3. 14. 
 
44 PRESUPPOSITIONS OF ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 Brahmanic age. It is necessary, therefore, to indicate briefly 
 the development in this period of those great conceptions to 
 which the Upanishads afterwards gave classic form. 
 
 The Speculation of the Brahmanic Age. In a famous hymn 
 of the Rigveda already quoted, 1 Prajapati is extolled as the 
 great unknown god. It is around Prajapati that most of the 
 speculation of this period gathers. To him is assigned the 
 world's creation. Many passages begin with some such words 
 as these : 'Prajapati desired, " May I be propagated and multi- 
 plied r V He uses topaz* and thus creates the world. The 
 order and details of creation vary much in the various accounts. 
 It must suffice to quote one of the many given in the 
 Satapatha Brahmana. 
 
 1. ' Verily in the beginning Prajapati atone existed here. He 
 thought within himself, " How can I be propagated ? " He 
 toiled and practised austerities (tapas). He created living 
 beings. The living beings created by him passed away ; they 
 are these birds. Now man is the nearest to Prajapati and man 
 is two-footed ; hence birds are two-footed. 
 
 2. Prajapati thought within himself, "Even as formerly I was 
 alone, so also am I now alone." He created a second (race of 
 beings) : they also passed away ; they are those small creeping 
 reptiles other than snakes. He created a third (race), they 
 say ; they also passed away ; they are those snakes. 
 
 3. While praising and practising austerities, Prajapati 
 thought within himself, " How comes it that the living beings 
 created by me pass away ? ' 
 
 He then became aware that his creatures passed away from 
 want of food. He made the breasts in the fore-part of their 
 body teem with milk. He then created living beings and by 
 resorting to the breasts, the beings created by him thence- 
 forward continued to exist : they are these (creatures) which 
 have not passed away.' :>1 
 
 1 R. V. x. 121. 
 
 2 Here, as in R. V. \. 129, it is hard to say if tapas denotes ' brooding', 
 as of, a hen over her chickens, or * austerity '. 
 
 8 Sat. Br. ii 5. i. 1-3. 
 
BEGINNINGS OF BRAHMANIC SPECULATION 45 
 
 These speculators do not seem to have asked that ancient 
 question, ' Whence came evil ? ' From Prajapati came not only 
 the gods and men but the asuras who, in the Brdhmanas, are 
 demons. Yet he is first of all the friend of the gods. Of the 
 three-and-thirty gods he is the four-and-thirtieth. As this 
 period draws to a close we can see the signs of the decline of 
 Prajapati's glory. Men seek a prior principle. Thus in the 
 following passage it is stated that at first there was the non- 
 existent (asat). 
 
 1. * Verily in the beginning there was here the non-existent. 
 The Rishis doubtless were the vital airs ; inasmuch as before 
 (the existence of) this universe they desiring it, wore themselves 
 out (risk) with toil and austerity (they are called) Rishis. 
 
 2. This same vital air in the midst doubtless is Indra. He by 
 his power (indriya) kindled those other vital airs from the 
 midst ; and inasmuch as he kindled (indh) he is the kindler 
 (indha) ; the kindler indeed him they call Indra mystically, 
 for the gods love the mystic. They (the vital airs) being 
 kindled, created seven separate persons.' l 
 
 Then we read that the seven persons were made into one 
 person and that person became Prajapati. And Prajapati, 
 desiring to be multiplied, performed austerity and produced 
 the Veda, in. which all else rests. 2 The passage is of interest 
 not only as showing the disposition of Prajapati, but as 
 illustrating the strange dialectic of these Brdhmanas. Acci- 
 dental assonances are treated as etymological connexions, and, 
 on the basis of these, elaborate cosmogonies are constructed. 
 
 As the importance of the mythological Prajapati thus grew 
 less, speculation began more and more to gather around the 
 two conceptions now classic in Indian thought : the Brahman 
 and the Atman. It is necessary to trace with some precision 
 the meaning and history of these two words. 3 
 
 Brahman. The origin of the word ' Brahman ' is still much 
 disputed. Its etymology is uncertain and the word is used in 
 
 1 Sat. Br. vi. I. I. 1-2. 2 Sat. Br. vi. I. I. 3-8. 
 
 3 For what follows "see Deussen, op. c/A, pp. 239-336. 
 
46 PRESUPPOSITIONS OF ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 a variety of senses. Thus Deussen quotes from the St. Peters- 
 burg lexicon no less than seven meanings : (i) Prayer, (2) Magic 
 charm, (3) Holy speech, (4) Holy knowledge (i.e. the Veda), 
 (5) Holy mode of life (i.e. chastity), (6) The absolute, (7) The 
 holy caste (i.e. the Brahmans). It is natural to suppose that 
 behind all these there is some unifying thought. Deussen finds 
 this in the conception of 'prayer', and holds that the first 
 meaning of * brahman ' is the ' will of man striving up after the 
 holy and divine V 
 
 Prayer, he says, has two sides, ' the superindividual and the 
 individual.' The individual side desires individual blessings 
 and this tends to mythology .and magic. But it is not this but 
 the ' supeVindividual ' side which he regards as the essential 
 element in the conception of * brahman '. The ' superindividual ' 
 side of prayer denotes the elevation of the spirit through the 
 sense of identity with God above our individual life with its 
 cares and sorrows. So the words of our prayer become the 
 expression of our unity with God, and belong not to us but to 
 the God in us who speaks through them. And in support of 
 this view he quotes many passages which illustrate the belief 
 that prayer is an inspiration. Thus in the well-known hymn 
 of the Rigveda already quoted, it is stated that one-fourth 
 only of the heavenly speech ( Vacli) came down to dwell with 
 men. 2 In this Deussen sees an admirable illustration of the 
 truth that prayer is of a divine nature and is not limited to the 
 prayers of men. 
 
 Interesting as this explanation is, it cannot be said to be 
 probable. As Hillebrandt says, 'With no little probability, 
 research inclines now to the view that the fundamental meaning 
 of the word is neither " devotion " nor " prayer " but " magic 'V 3 
 In the Rigveda, 'Brahman ' is clearly the prerogative only of the 
 few, and it is significant that the Atharvaveda, the Veda of 
 charms belonged originally to the Brahmans. It is very 
 probable, therefore, that originally 'brahman' means magic, 
 and the Brahman was the sorcerer or medicine man, the 
 
 1 op. tit., p. 241. 2 y?. v. 164. 45. 3 /:. R. /:. ii. 797. 
 
BEGINNINGS OF BRAHMANIC SPECULATION 47 
 
 vvielder of those spells of which the Atharvaveda is the great 
 collection. If so, then the gradual elevation of the conception 
 of ' brahman ' affords an admirable illustration of that con- 
 servatism of the Indian mind which will not reject the past, 
 but rather will transform a word belonging originally to the 
 lowest stratum of religion until it becomes in the end the 
 highest metaphysical principle of a lofty idealistic philosophy. 
 
 From the kindred conceptions of magic, prayer, and sacred 
 speech, the word ' brahman ' came to denote the sacred 
 knowledge of the Vedas, and the Brahmans began to be 
 honoured, not as medicine men, but as the upholders and 
 possessors of those sacred Vedic songs without which no 
 sacrifice could be complete. As we have seen, Brahman was 
 deified as Brahmanaspati, the priest of the gods, and, in a late 
 hymn of the Rigveda already quoted, Brahmanaspati is 
 celebrated as the all-creator. 1 
 
 In many passages Brahman is closely connected with the 
 sun. So we read ' the Gayatri is the Brahman, and as to that 
 Brahman it is yonder burning disk 5 . 2 Gradually Brahman is 
 no longer held to be dependent on Prajapati; the two are 
 regarded as identical, and finally Prajapati is subordinated to 
 Brahman. Thus in the following passage, Brahman is clearly 
 regarded as the supreme creative principle, and the quotation 
 is of interest also as one of the earliest instances of that 
 explanation of the phenomenal universe, so common later, as 
 form and name. 
 
 1. * Verily in the beginning, this (universe) was the Brahman. 
 It created the gods ; and having created the gods it made them 
 ascend these worlds : Agni this (terrestrial) world, Vayu the air, 
 and Surya the sky. 
 
 2. And the deities who are above, these he made ascend the 
 worlds which are above these ; indeed, just as these (three) 
 worlds and these (three) deities are manifest, so are those 
 
 1 K. V. x. 72. 
 
 2 Sat. Br. viii. 5. 3. 7. Gayatrl as the metre of the famous hymn to 
 the sun became another name for Savitar, the Sun God. 
 
48 PRESUPPOSITIONS OF ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 (higher) worlds and those (higher) deities manifest (the 
 worlds) which he made these deities ascend. 
 
 3. Then the Brahman itself went up to the sphere beyond. 
 Having gone up to the sphere beyond, it considered, " How 
 can I descend again into these worlds ? " It then descended 
 again by means of these two Form (rupa) and Name (ndma). 
 Whatever has a name, that is name ; and that again which has 
 no name and which one knows by its form, " This is (of 
 a certain) form " that is form : as far as there are Form and 
 Name so far extends this (universe). 
 
 4. These indeed are the two great forces of the Brahman ; 
 and verily he who knows these two great forces of the 
 Brahman becomes himself a great force.' 1 
 
 Of considerable importance in this connexion are some 
 hymns of the Atharvaveda. Thus in one hymn, 2 Purusha, the 
 primaeval man, is identified with Brahman, the highest prin- 
 ciple of being. It was through the Brahman immanent in 
 him that Purusha was able to go to his creative work. The 
 body of man is the fortress of Brahman, the heart of man his 
 dwelling-place. He who knows this becomes as Brahman. 
 In another hymn, 3 Brahman, the highest principle, is said to 
 be embodied in men like a cow in a cow-stall. Along with 
 Brahman was the great primaeval water. From these came 
 forth the oldest gods, Karma (work) and Tapas (austerity). 
 From these three, Brahman, Karma, and Tapas, sprang the 
 twofold generations of the gods the one, the mythological 
 gods, the other the psychological gods, the deified powers of 
 man. The poem is very obscure, and it is hard to say how 
 much is profound and how much meaningless, but it is note- 
 worthy not only for its assertion of Brahman as the first 
 principle, but for its cavalier treatment of the gods and its 
 tendency to explain everything by psychology. 
 
 Atman. Difficult as it is to trace the development in the 
 conception of Brahman from a magic word to the highest 
 principle of the universe, it is still more difficult to trace the 
 1 Sat. />'>. xi. 2. 3. i 4. 2 A. V. x. 2. ' A. V. xi. 8. 
 
BEGINNINGS OF BRAHMANIC SPECULATION 49 
 
 development in the conception of Atman. The derivation of 
 the word is still in dispute. It is conjectured that the word 
 meant first 'breath', then the * life- breath ', and so the life- 
 breath in the sense of the soul, the self. The word is thus 
 primarily a negative one. It denotes the self in opposition to 
 the not-self. As such it has often been compared to the TO 
 orrwy ov of Plato, and the Ding an sick of Kant. It is im- 
 possible to state with precision through what stages the 
 thought developed until at last the Atman came to denote 
 the self of the universe, and, as the highest metaphysical 
 principle, was thus identified with Brahman. 1 
 
 It is probable that the prevalence of the cognate ideas of 
 Purusha and Prana helped to popularize the conception of the 
 Atman. Reference has already been made to the famous 
 hymn in the Rigveda which speaks of Purusha, the primaeval 
 man from whose sacrifice the world arose. 2 In an Athar- 
 vavedic hymn, Prana, the breath a conception closely allied 
 to that of the Atman is hailed as the first and life-giving 
 principle of nature. 3 In two consecutive hymns of the 
 A tharvaveda an attempt is made to define more precisely this 
 first principle of nature. This first principle is Skambha, the 
 prop or pillar, the support of our existence. The first of these 
 hymns 4 is noteworthy as yet another illustration of how 
 lightly these thinkers held the popular religion. The famous 
 three-and-thirty deities are only a part of Skambha and were 
 created out of nothing. Even with this philosophic explana- 
 tion of creation, this author is dissatisfied. To him, Skambha, 
 Prajapati, Purusha, and Brahman are all one. Skambha is 
 the principle and includes in himself all space and time, the 
 gods, Vedas and moral powers. We quote some of the more 
 interesting stanzas : 
 
 7. * Who out of many tell me is that Skambha, 
 
 On whom Prajapati set up and firmly stablished all the worlds? 
 
 1 The suggestion that ' Brahman ' represents the priestly speculation 
 and 'Atman' the more philosophic speculation of the Kshatriyas, is 
 interesting but very hard to prove. 
 
 2 R. V. x. 90. 3 A. V. xi. 4. 4 A. V. x. 7. 
 
 E 
 
50 PRESUPPOSITIONS OF ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 13. Who out of many, tell me is that Skambha, 
 
 He in whose body are contained all the three-and-thirty deities ? 
 17. They who in Purusha understand Brahman know him who is 
 
 supreme. 
 He who knows him who is supreme, and he who knows the lord of 
 
 Life, 
 
 These know the loftiest power divine, and thence know Skambha 
 thoroughly.' 
 
 The following hymn 1 begins with an invocation to Brahman : 
 
 i. ' Worship to loftiest Brahman, Lord of what hath been and what 
 
 shall be, 
 To him who rules the universe, and heavenly light is all his own.' 
 
 In this hymn the mystic pantheism with which Skambha is 
 described comes very near to the standpoint of the Upanishads. 
 Skambha is the woman, the man, the maiden, the boy. He 
 is the people's father and their son ; the oldest and the 
 youngest. He is the one God who men carry in their heart, 
 he is the first-born, he is in the mother's womb. 
 
 In the last stanza of all it is asserted that this Skambha, 
 which has already been identified with Brahman, is the Atman. 
 Whoso knows him, fears death no longer. 
 
 44. ' Desireless, firm, immortal, self-existent, contented with the essence, 
 
 lacking nothing, 
 
 Free from all fear of death is he who knoweth that Soul (Atman) 
 courageous, youthful, undecaying.' 
 
 So already the Atman, like the Brahman, is regarded as the 
 metaphysical principle of the universe. And in one place in 
 the Satapatha Brahmana, the identity of the Brahman with 
 the Atman is asserted in language of which one of the most 
 famous passages in the Upanishads is merely the transcript. 2 
 
 1. ' Let a man meditate upon' the true Brahman. Now man 
 here is possessed of understanding and according to how great 
 his understanding is, when he departs this world so does he on 
 passing away enter yonder world. 
 
 2. Let him meditate on the Self (Atman), which is made up 
 
 1 A. V. x. 8. 2 CMuintt. //>. iii. 14. 
 
BEGINNINGS OF BRAHMANIC SPECULATION 51 
 
 of intelligence and endowed with a body of spirit, with a form 
 of light and with an ethereal nature, which changes the shape 
 at will, is swift as thought, of true resolve, and true purpose, 
 which consists of all sweet odours and tastes, which holds 
 sway over all the regions and pervades this whole universe, 
 which is speechless, indifferent even as a grain of rice or 
 a grain of barley or a grain of millet or the smallest granule ot 
 millet, so is the golden Purusha in the heart ; even as a smoke- 
 less light, it is greater than the sky, greater than the ether, 
 greater than the earth, greater than all existing things ; that 
 self of the spirit (breath) is my self; on passing away from 
 hence I shall obtain that self. Verily whosoever has this 
 trust, for him there is no uncertainty. Thus spake Sandilya 
 and so it is.' * 
 
 So the weary quest is over. The Atman, the Self, is identical 
 with the almighty power of Brahman. We have reached the 
 great equation, 
 
 The Atman = Brahman. 
 
 1 Sat. Br. x. 6. 3. 
 
 E 2 
 
ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 A STUDY IN THE UPANISHADS 
 
 To the ritualistic Brahmanas were added the Aranyakas, 
 works to be studied by the recluse in the silence of the forest. 
 As the completion of these come the Upanishads^ the famous 
 repositories of the redeeming mysteries of Indian philosophy. 
 
 None but special students will ever read the Brahmanas, but 
 the Upanishads have a special place and importance in the 
 history of religion. To them, as their sacred sources, go back 
 the dominant philosophies of India. Especially, and with 
 right, does the Vedanta claim to be their legitimate expression. 
 The ideas of the Upanishads are the very atmosphere of 
 India. Even the simple villager, though he knows nothing of 
 these works, is under their influence. Educated Indians declare 
 with confidence that these venerable writings contain a 
 wisdom which can never be superseded. Men, sincere and 
 able, avow that in them they find the solace and strength of 
 their spiritual life. For this philosophy is also a religion. 
 Indeed, for many gifted Hindus it is the only religious force 
 which is still effective. ' We go to the temple ', they say, 
 * to please our mothers, our relations. But none know better 
 than we do of the degradation of the ignorant priesthood and 
 the folly of the services. But in the Upanishads we have all 
 we need. They rank in value with your New Testament, and 
 are indeed preferable to it, for whereas the New Testament 
 gives a religion, which, as inseparably connected with one 
 historic time and person, is local and temporary, the Upanishads 
 give a philosophy which, as based on pure reason, is universal 
 in scope and permanently valid.' 
 
 And for such claims Indians quote with zest the praise of 
 
A STUDY IN THE UPANISHADS 53 
 
 European scholars. Thus Schopenhauer knew the Upanishads 
 only in Anquetil Duperron's Oupnekhat, a Latin version of a 
 Persian translation. Yet he writes : 
 
 ' How is every one, who by a diligent study of its Persian Latin has 
 1 become familiar with that incomparable book, stirred by that spirit to the 
 very depth of his soul ! How does every line display its firm, definite and, 
 throughout, harmonious meaning ! From every sentence deep, original, and 
 sublime thoughts arise, and the whole is pervaded by a high and holy 
 and earnest spirit. Indian air surrounds us and original thoughts of kindred 
 spirits. And oh how thoroughly is the mind here washed clean of all 
 early engrafted Jewish superstitions and of all philosophy that cringes 
 before those superstitions ! In the whole world there is no study, 
 except that of the originals, so beneficial and so elevating as that of the 
 Oupnekhat. It has been the solace of my life, it will be the solace of my 
 death ! ' x 
 
 Duperron's Persian Latin is, as Max Miiller himself says, 
 ' fearful jargon ', and Schopenhauer's words savour of exaggera- 
 tion. The Upanishads certainly do not ' display a firm, 
 definite and, throughout, harmonious meaning '. They are not 
 a philosophy but its rudiments. They are incoherent and self- 
 contradictory. Yet when all deductions are made, Schopen- 
 hauer's oft-quoted words are full of significance. And his 
 praise has been echoed by the two scholars who have done 
 most in the West for the study of the Upanishads, Max 
 Miiller and Deussen. Thus Max Miiller writes: 'For fitting 
 men to lead contemplative and quiet lives, I know no better 
 preparation than the Vedanta." 2 And Deussen couples the 
 Upanishads with the New Testament as the ' two noblest 
 products of the religious consciousness of mankind ', and holds 
 that the characteristic doctrine of the Upanishads is necessary 
 * to put the finishing touch on the Christian consciousness and 
 make it, on all sides, consistent and complete '/' 
 
 1 S. B. E., vol. i, p. Ixi. 2 Six Systems of Indian Philosophy, p. 193. 
 
 3 Deussen, Philosophy of the Upanishads, Eng. trans., pp. 49, 50. 
 Deussen writes from the standpoint of one to whom Schopenhauer's 
 philosophy is 'the purest form of Christianity' (op. tit., p. 140). His 
 metaphysic has thus much in common with the Vedanta, but few would 
 accept as Christian his interpretation of Christianity. 
 
54 ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 The praise of Western scholars is of importance, as to it. is 
 undoubtedly due much of the patriotic pride that educated 
 Indians feel in these ancient works. But such praise is some- 
 what academic. To Western scholars the Upanishads are an 
 intellectual interest but not a religion. In India, on the other 
 hand, and especially in the last century, many have found 
 in the Upanishads their favourite study and their most sacred 
 scripture, and to the revived interest in these writings much of 
 what is known as the ' Higher Hinduism ' is due. 1 Thus Ram 
 Mohan Rai avowedly based his great work of reform, not on 
 the Rigveda, but on the Upanishads, and saw in them not Pan- 
 theism but the purest Theism. And a man of immeasurably less 
 spiritual genius, Svami Vivekananda, the often-quoted prota- 
 gonist of modern Vedantism, writes in his exuberant way, 
 ' This Vedanta, the philosophy of the Upanishads, I would 
 make bold to state, has been the first as well as the final 
 thought which on the spiritual plane has been vouchsafed to 
 man. 1 
 
 For the study of philosophy or religion these writings are of 
 great historic value. To the student of Hinduism, they are 
 of the first importance. Here in chaotic form is the essential 
 Hinduism in which many of the noblest in India have found 
 the explanation of life's mysteries and the solace of life's 
 troubles. 
 
 ' The study of each single religion ', says Harnack, * must 
 never be separated from the general history of the people con- 
 cerned." 2 In the case of Hinduism, the warning is one hard 
 to observe. The chronology of the literature is uncertain and 
 the historical data meagre. The older Upanishads arc- 
 generally held to date from before the time of Gautama, the 
 Buddha, but the younger Upanishads are clearly later, and in 
 
 1 Rabindranath Tagore tells us that he was ' brought up in a family 
 where texts of the Upanishads were used in daily worship' (Sadhana, 
 p. vii). 
 
 2 Reden und Aufsatze, ii. 167. 
 

 A STUDY IN THE UPANISHADS 55 
 
 the elucidation of the period the Buddhist books are of con- 
 siderable value. 1 
 
 The Upanishads have come down to us through Brahman 
 editors. The tradition was oral, and inevitably the Brahman 
 standpoint has been dominant. But in the Upanishads, as in 
 the Buddhist Suttas y there is clear evidence that the interest 
 in philosophy and religion was by no means confined to the 
 Brahman caste. Kings invite the famous teachers of the time 
 to their court to discuss the deepest problems. Wise men 
 wander up and down the country eager to debate. There is 
 something of the avidity for philosophical discussion that we 
 associate with the age of Socrates and the Athenian supremacy. 
 It is true that some of the discussions in the Upanishads are 
 between gods and men, and so clearly mythical. Yet. there 
 seems no reason on that account to doubt the actual occurrence 
 of the great debates convened by the princes of the time and 
 engaged in by wandering seers. And it is significant that 
 even in these Brahmanically edited Upanishads, it is often 
 men of the warrior caste (Kshatriyas) who are leaders in the 
 quest for truth. The Atharvaveda and the Brahmanas 
 witness to the extraordinary degradation of the Brahmanic 
 religion. Many of the Brahmans were thaumaturgists, sor- 
 cerers, but in no sense religious teachers. So in the Silas ; 
 one of the earliest Buddhist documents, reference is made to 
 Brahmans who, while living on food provided by the faithful, 
 are ' tricksters, droners out of holy words for pay, diviners, 
 exorcists, ever hungering to add gain to gain'. 2 In the 
 Satapatha Brdhmana, a Brahman can find no more con- 
 temptuous epithet for the words of an opponent than to say 
 that they are ' like the words of a Kshatriya '. 3 But in the 
 Upanishad^ to Kshatriyas are assigned some of the most 
 important passages. Thus the leading text on the doctrine of 
 transmigration is definitely stated to be teaching given to 
 
 1 Cp. Rhys Davids's Buddhist India, a fascinating attempt to read the 
 history of the period from other than Brahman sources. , 
 
 2 See Rhys Davids's Buddhist India, p. 215. 3 Sat. Dr. viii. 1.4. 10. 
 
5<> ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 a Brahman by a king. And the king adds : ' This knowledge 
 did not go to any Brahman before you, and therefore this 
 teaching belonged in all the world to the Kshatriya class 
 alone.' l So the great doctrine of the identity of the self with 
 the Brahman is not known to the learned Brahman, Balaki, 
 who after vain attempts to explain the Brahman has to ask 
 the king to take him as a pupil. 2 When the great Brahman 
 sage, Yajnavalkya, gives his doctrine of the self, the At man, 
 he is mocked at by the Brahman teachers. It is the 
 Kshatriya king, Janaka, who upholds his doctrine and rewards 
 him richly/ 1 
 
 Whatever be the derivation of the word Upanishad, its 
 meaning is undoubtedly ' the mysterious', 'the esoteric '. In 
 the Brdhmanas, as we have seen, the great equation had 
 already been reached : Atman = Brahman; the psychic princi- 
 ple is identical with the cosmic. But this equation was there 
 only the occasional philosopheme of an obscure priestly 
 speculation. It is only in the Upanishads that the equation 
 becomes a great doctrine of religion. It is possible that it 
 was in Kshatriya circles that the doctrines of transmigration 
 and of redemption through unity with Brahman were first 
 regularly taught, and that later these doctrines were communi- 
 cated to the Brahmans as mysteries, and hence the writings 
 embodying them are called Upanishads. 
 
 The Upanishads are not philosophic sources in our sense of 
 the word. They are in no way systematic or self- consistent. 
 For the systematic exposition of the Vedanta it will be 
 necessary to turn to Badarayana's Sutras, where the doctrines 
 of the Vedanta are expressed in 55.") aphorisms of extra- 
 ordinary conciseness. These, with Sankara's comments, form 
 the authoritative dogmatic of the most influential school of the 
 Vedanta. But in the Upanishads, poetry, religion, ritual, and 
 
 1 Chhand. Up. v. 3. 7. Kaush. Up. iv. 19. 
 
 3 See the dialogues of the Biih. Up. 
 
A STUDY IN THE UPANISHADS 57 
 
 philosophy are inextricably confused. To speak, then, of the 
 system of the Upanishads is to misrepresent them. Yet with 
 many variations and irreconcilable differences, there stand out 
 clearly in the Upanishads the two great doctrines of the unity 
 of the self with Brahman (brahma-dtma-aikyam) and of trans- 
 migration (samsdra). The relation of these two great doc- 
 trines is still obscure. There is a sombreness in the Upani- 
 shadic thought strange to the Rigveda. There life is a blessing 
 and death abhorred. Here existence is a delusion and 
 a misery. There men hope, when death at length comes, to 
 enjoy in the next world glad commerce with the gods. Here 
 redemption is sought through the realization of the identity of 
 the individual soul with the-cosmic and attributeless Brahman. 
 To explain these strange contrasts, many have thought that 
 we must explain this cheerless doctrine of redemption by 
 a prior belief in transmigration. Genetically this seems 
 impossible. The Brahman- Atman doctrine is the legitimate 
 development of speculation which goes back to the later 
 hymns of the Rigveda, and, as we have seen, is already found 
 in the Brdhmanas. The doctrine of transmigration, on the 
 other hand, is first found in the Upanishads^ and so, if we may 
 rely on our literary records, is thus clearly the later. Yet it 
 may well be that it was the belief in transmigration which 
 deepened the sense of human misery and made poignant the 
 cry to be delivered from the bondage of the weary round of 
 birth and death. If so, then it would be possible to ascribe 
 to this belief in cyclic recompense, the transformation of the 
 doctrine of the identity of the Self with the Brahman from an 
 obscure and occasional speculation into a great message of 
 redemption which to many souls has brought the comfort 
 of a quiet heart. However it may have been at first, from 
 the time of the Upanishads on, the supreme object of philo- 
 sophy in India has been to provide a means of redemption 
 from the flux of births. The logical prius of all speculation 
 has been this doctrine of karma. On this account, it will be 
 convenient to deal first with this doctrine of transmigration, 
 
5$ ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 and then to pass on from it to the doctrine of the identity of 
 the Atman with the Brahman as the means of liberation from 
 the miserable round of birth and death. 
 
 The Doctrine of Transmigration. 
 
 The Upanishadic texts seek to trace back to Rigvedic times 
 the doctrine of transmigration, but they do so only by strained 
 and fantastic exegesis. The whole conception of transmigration 
 is in fact alien to the genial hearty piety of the Rigveda, which 
 has a keen appreciation of the good things of this life and 
 a happy expectation that, for those who propitiate the gods, 
 these good things will be in the next world continued and 
 increased. The origin of the doctrine is still quite obscure. 
 The belief that animals and plants have souls, not unlike the 
 souls of men, and that a human soul may take possession of 
 a tree or animal, is very widespread among peoples at a low 
 stage of culture, 1 and it is probable, as Gough suggests, 2 that 
 such a view was held by the indigenes of India, with whom 
 more and more the Aryan invaders intermingled. This would 
 not in itself provide the doctrine of transmigration, but we 
 find in the Brahmanas 3 a growing emphasis on the principle 
 of recompense, and it is possible that the indigenous belief in 
 the activity, after death, of the spirits of the dead, may have 
 helped to give to this recognition of retribution the special 
 form which it takes in the doctrine of transmigration. 
 
 It is possible that the oldest reference to the doctrine occurs 
 in the Brihaddranyaka Upanishad (iii. 2), as part of the 
 teaching of the Brahman sage, Yajnavalkya. He had claimed 
 the rich prize offered by King Janaka to the most learned 
 Brahman. The other Brahmans challenge his claim. One 
 of them, Artabhaga, questions him as to the nature of the 
 bondage of the soul. Yajnavalkya in obscure language replies 
 
 1 Cp. Bertholet's interesting little book on Sedenwanderung. 
 
 2 Ihe Philosophy of the Upanishads,^. 25. 
 :! Sat. Dr. xii. 9. I. I, xi. 2. 7. 33. 
 
A STUDY IN THE UPANISHADS 59 
 
 that the soul is in bondage as long as it ascribes reality to the 
 organs of sense. Thus the sage may conquer death and 
 release himself from the chain of wandering. When the sage 
 dies his name remains, for ' the name is endless, the Visvedevas 
 are endless, and by it he gains the endless world '. Artabhaga 
 asks about the man not thus released, but this Yajnavalkya 
 will not answer in public. ' Take my hand, my friend/ he 
 says, ' we two alone shall know of this ; let this question of 
 ours not be (discussed) in public.' 
 
 Then these two went out and argued, and what they said 
 was work (karma) and what they praised was work (karma) , 
 viz. ' that a man becomes good by good works and bad by bad 
 works V The truth so darkly hinted at seems to be this. 
 At the death of the sage his organs of sense and motion pass 
 into the original unity of Brahman. The soul, that has not 
 thus won release, passes into some new embodiment : good, 
 if its works have been good ; bad, if its works have been 
 bad. So a man's deeds determine the nature of his new 
 birth on earth. 
 
 In the same Upanishad y Yajnavalkya explains more lucidly 
 his teaching in metaphors which have become the common- 
 place of Indian thought. It is to be noted that in these it is 
 the self which attracts to itself another body : 
 
 'And, as a caterpillar, after having reached the end of the blade of 
 grass, and having made another approach (to another blade), draws 
 itself together towards it, thus does this Self, after having thrown off this 
 body, and dispelled all ignorance, and after making another approach (to 
 another body), draw himself together towards it. And, as a goldsmith 
 taking a piece of gold, turns it into another, newer, and more beautiful 
 shape, so does this Self, after having thrown off this body and dispelled 
 all ignorance, make unto himself another, newer, and more beautiful 
 shape, whether it be like the Fathers or like the Gandharvas, or like the 
 Devas or like Prajapati, or like Brahma or like other beings.' 2 
 
 'Now as a man is like this or like that, according as he acts, and 
 according as he behaves, so will he be : a man of good acts will become 
 good, a man of bad acts, bad. 
 
 1 Brih. Up. iii. 2. 13. 2 Brih. Up. iv. 4. 3, 4. 
 
60 ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 He becomes pure by pure deeds, bad by bad deeds. And here they 
 say that a person consists of desires. And, as his desire, so is his will, and, 
 as his will, so is his deed ; and whatever deed he does, that will he reap. 5 ] 
 
 So stated the doctrine may not command assent, but it is 
 at least simple and consistent. But the new always tends to 
 become subject to the old, and in a country so conservative as 
 India it is rare indeed that any older teaching is entirely dis- 
 placed. The early eschatology spoke of the world where 
 Yama the first man presided over the joyous spirits of the 
 dead. Men went there by ' the way of the Fathers ' (pitriydna). 
 From it the evil were shut out ; for them there was only the 
 lower darkness. A higher path there was by which Agni 
 bore the offerings to the gods (the devayand], and by that 
 path men also might ascend to enjoy the bliss of the gods. 
 The principal source for the doctrine of transmigration incor- 
 porates with the simple doctrine of soul-wandering (samsdra) 
 these earlier views. The passage occurs in each of the two oldest 
 Upanishads? Of these the account, in the Brihaddranyaka 
 Upanishad is more consistent and probably more ancient, and 
 will be first considered here. 
 
 Svetaketu, the son of Gautama, the Brahman sage, is asked 
 by the king five questions : 
 
 (1) ' Do you know how men when they depart from here separate from 
 each other ? 
 
 (2) Do you know how they come back to this world ? 
 
 (3) Do you know how the w r orld does never become full with the many 
 who again and again depart thither ? 
 
 (4) Do you know at the offering of which libation the waters become 
 endowed with a human voice and rise and speak ? 
 
 (5) Do you know the access to the path leading to the Devas and to 
 the path leading to the Fathers ? ' 3 
 
 And Svetaketu, though a Brahman student, has to confess 
 
 1 Op. tit., iv. 4. 5. 
 
 2 The Brihadaranyaka and the Chhandogya Upanishads. For an 
 illuminating commentary and synopsis of the two accounts see Deussen. 
 Das System des Ved&nta, pp. 390-5. 
 
 3 Op. tit., vi. 2. 
 
A STUDY IN THE UPANISHADS 61 
 
 that he cannot answer any of these questions. He goes to 
 his father, but he too cannot answer. So these two, though 
 Brahmans, go to the Kshatriya king and become his pupils. 
 And the king, to reward their humility, imparts to them the 
 knowledge which ' has before now never dwelt with any 
 Brahman '.* 
 
 The passage consists of two parts : 
 The doctrine of the five fires, 
 The doctrine of the two ways. 
 
 The doctrine of the five fires is clothed in language of the 
 greatest obscurity. In countries where the dead are buried it 
 is natural to think of the dead as hidden in the ground, like 
 the seed, one day to spring up again in newness of life. But 
 in India, where cremation is the rule, the burning of the dead 
 is naturally thought of as a sacrifice. It is Agni, the god of 
 the sacrificial fire, that carries the oblations to the gods. 
 
 At the burning of the body, the faith (sraddha) of the dead 
 man passes upwards and is five times offered in sacrifice to 
 the gods. In these five sacrifices is depicted the descent of 
 the soul to be re-born. Faith regarded thus as the immortal 
 part of man passes up to King Soma. From Soma it 
 passes into rain. From rain, through the fertilization of the 
 ground, arises food. From food comes seed. From seed 
 offered on the altar of the woman is formed the embryo 
 from which in due time appears the man. Then, when this 
 man dies once more, the cycle of ascent and descent is begun. 
 This passage has perplexed Indian as well as European 
 commentators. As Max Muller says somewhat quaintly in 
 a comment on the passage as it occurs in the Chhandogya 
 Upanishad : 
 
 ' The great difficulty or danger in the round of transmigration arises 
 when the rain has fructified the earth and passes into herbs and trees, 
 rice, corn, and beans. For, first of all, some of the rain does not fructify 
 at once but falls into rivers and into the sea to be swallowed up by fishes 
 and sea monsters. . . . Even if the rain be absorbed by rice, corn, &c., 
 
 1 vi. 2. 8. 
 
62 ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 and this be eaten, it may be eaten by children, or by men who have 
 renounced marriage, and thus again lose the chance of a*nevv birth.' l 
 
 Combined with this obscure doctrine of the five fires is the 
 famous doctrine of the two paths. 
 The way of the Gods. 
 
 ' Those who thus know this (the doctrine of the rive fires), and those 
 who in the forest worship faith and the true, go to light, from light to day, 
 from day to the increasing half, from the increasing half to the six months, 
 when the sun goes to the north, from those six months, to the world of 
 the Devas (gods), from the world of the Devas to the sun, from the sun 
 to the place of lightning. When they have thus reached the place of 
 lightning, a spirit comes near them and leads them to the worlds of 
 Brahman. In these worlds of Brahman they dwell, exalted for ages. There 
 is no returning for them.' 2 
 
 The ivay of the Fathers. 
 
 ' But they who conquer the worlds by means of sacrifice, charity and 
 austerity go to smoke, from smoke to night, from night to the decreasing 
 half of the moon, from the decreasing half of the moon to the six months 
 when the sun goes to the south, from these months to the world of the 
 Fathers, from the world of the Fathers to the moon. Having reached the 
 moon, they become food, and then the Devas feed on them there, as 
 sacrificers feed on Soma as it increases and decreases. But when this 
 (the result of their good works on earth) ceases, they return again to that 
 ether, from ether to the air, from the air to rain, from rain to the earth. 
 And when they have reached the earth, they become food, they are offered 
 again in the altar fire, which is man, and thence are born in the fire of 
 woman. Thus they rise up towards the worlds and go the same rounds 
 as before.' 
 
 In the Brihaddranyaka Upanis/iad there is yet a third path. 
 ' Those, however, who know neither of these two paths, become 
 worms, birds, and creeping things.' 3 This account of trans- 
 migration is fairly simple. The wise pass up to the world of 
 Brahman from which there is no return. The good ascend by 
 the way of the Fathers to the moon, and then, after enjoying 
 the fruit of their good works, arc born again on earth. The 
 ignorant and careless, after death, are born again as the 
 lowest animals. 
 
 In the Chhandogya UpanisJiad a confusing addition is made, 
 1 S. />'. E. i. 83. 2 Drih. Up. vi. 2. 15. />>///. Up. vi. 2. 16. 
 
A STUDY IN THE UPANISHADS 63 
 
 which has, however, become an integral part of later Indian 
 thought. A moral differentiation is made amongst those who 
 journey along the way of the Fathers. ' Those whose conduct 
 has been good, will quickly attain some good birth, the birth 
 of a Brahman or a Kshatriya or a Vaisya. But those whose 
 conduct has been evil, will quickly attain an evil birth, the 
 birth of a dog or a hog or a Chandala l ' 2 . As retribution is 
 thus introduced into the path of the fathers, there is no need 
 for the third way mentioned in the Brihaddranyaka Upanishad^ 
 but this too is retained at the sacrifice of any consistency. 
 
 Such is the classic text for the doctrine of transmigration. 
 Later, to the wicked before they are re-born on earth, are 
 assigned terrifying hells, and there is thus a double retribution, 
 in the world beyond and in a miserable re-birth on earth. 3 An 
 endeavour is made, even in the Upanishads, to reconcile the 
 inconsistencies of the great passage ; and in the Kaushltaki 
 Upanishad it is stated that ' all, without exception, pass to the 
 moon. Only afterwards do the two paths diverge/ In the 
 bright half, the moon ' delights in the spirits of the wise '. In 
 the dark half, * the moon sends them on to be born again '. 
 Verily the moon is the door of the Svarga (i.e. the heavenly 
 world). Now if a man objects to the moon (i.e. is not satisfied 
 with life there), the moon sets him free. But if a man does 
 not object, then the moon sends him down as rain upon the 
 earth. And according to his deeds, and according to his 
 knowledge, he is born again here as a worm, or as an insect, 
 or as a fish, or as a bird, or as a lion, or as a boar, or as 
 a serpent, or as a tiger, or as a man, or as something else 
 in different places. 4 
 
 However and whensoever the doctrine of transmigration 
 arose, its influence is decisive in all later Indian thought. As 
 Gough says, 'The sum and substance, it may almost be said, 
 
 1 A low caste. / 2 Chhdnd. Up. v. 10. 7. 
 
 5 The popular Saivite manuals are particularly ferocious. Thus the 
 Palapadam, a Tamil Saivite handbook for the use of schools, contains 
 the most lurid description of the future torments reserved for various sins. 
 4 Kaush. Up. i. 2. 
 
64 ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 of Indian philosophy is, from first to last, the misery of 
 metempsychosis and the mode of extrication from it.' Not to 
 remember this, is to * lose the way in what will then seem 
 a pathless jungle of abstractions'. 1 The doctrine has been 
 praised by such Western writers as Goethe and Schopenhauer, 2 
 but to it the sombreness of Indian thought seems chiefly due. 
 Within the limits of the Upanishads there are indeed few 
 explicit references to the misery of the life caught in the 
 ceaseless cycle of death and birth. And its authors are saved 
 from pessimism by the joy they feel at the message of 
 redemption they proclaim. Yet the futility of life seems 
 everywhere quietly to be assumed. Men find in the world not 
 happiness but ennui. 
 
 And in the later Upanishads the gloom deepens. Thus in 
 the Maitrayana Upanishad* we have the following narrative. 
 The king Brihadratha puts his son upon the throne and him- 
 self retires into the forest for meditation and penance. There 
 he stands with uplifted arms looking up to the sun. At length 
 a holy seer comes up to him and bids him choose a boon. 
 The king answers, ' O saint, I know not the Self; thou knowest 
 the essence (of the Self). We have heard so. Teach it us.' 
 The sage replies, 'What thou askest is difficult to obtain. 
 Choose other pleasures/ But the king, touching the saint's 
 feet with his head, thus replies : * O saint, what is the use of 
 the enjoyment of pleasures in this offensive, pithless body 
 a mere mass of bones, skin, sinews, marrow, flesh, seed, blood, 
 mucus, tears, phlegm, ordure, water, bile, and slime. What is 
 the use of the enjoyment of pleasures in this body which is 
 assailed by lust, hatred, greed, delusion, fear, anguish, jealousy, 
 separation from what is loved, union with what is not loved, 
 hunger, thirst, old age, death, illness, grief, and other evils.' 
 Insects, herbs and trees, grow and decay. Mighty kings and 
 
 1 rhilosophy of the Upanishads^ pp. 20, 21. 
 
 2 Vide Bertholet, Scelen'wandcrung, pp. 47-53, and, for a fuller state- 
 ment of the influence of the doctrine in the West, Gennrich, Die Lehre 
 vonder Wiedergeburt, pp. 305-48. 
 
 1 An Upanishad held to be later than the 
 
A STUDY IN THE UPANISHADS 65 
 
 warriors disappear. Oceans dry up, mountains fall, the pole 
 star is unstable, the earth submerges. * In such a world as 
 this what is the use of the enjoyment of pleasures if he who 
 has fed on them is seen to return (to this world) again and 
 again. Deign therefore to take me out. In this world I am 
 like a frog in a dry well, O saint, thou art my way, thou art 
 my way.' 1 
 
 Em ancipation . 
 
 This piteous cry for deliverance from the weary round of 
 birth and death finds in the Upanishads its answer. From 
 first to last, there comes the promise of redemption from the 
 bondage of the seen and the temporal, and it is this which 
 gives these works, in spite of so much that is uncouth 
 and obscure, their permanent and priceless value. As we 
 have seen, in the Satapatha Brdhmana there is already the 
 great surmise that the Atman and the Brahman are one. The 
 self in man is one with the great self of the universe, and this 
 in turn is identical with Brahman, the cosmic principle. In 
 the Upanishads this equation ceases to be the recondite 
 speculation of priestly pedants and becomes a message of 
 redemption which to many has brought satisfaction and 
 peace of soul. What is probably the oldest teaching of the 
 doctrine in the Upanishads is assigned to the great Brahman 
 sage, Yajnavalkya, and it is the king Janaka whom he instructs. 
 Janaka has already learnt the Vedas and been told the 
 Upanishads, but he knows not whither he will go at death. 
 Yajnavalkya promises to explain. * The gods ', he says, * love 
 what is mysterious and dislike what is evident.' So he first 
 describes the Atman in obscure physical terms. At length 
 there comes the famous statement : * And he (the Atman) can 
 only be described as No, no. He is incomprehensible, for he 
 
 1 Mait. Up. i. 2-4. As Dr. Griswold says : ' A kind of pessimism has 
 ever marked the attitude of the choicest spirits towards the world ' ; but 
 whereas * the pessimism of the Hebrew prophets is ethical, based on 
 their theory of duty, the pessimism of the Hindu sages is speculative, and 
 is the consequence of their theory of being '. Brahman, p. 64. 
 
 F 
 
66 ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 cannot be comprehended ; he is undecaying, for he cannot 
 decay; he is not attached, for he does not attach himself; he 
 is unbound, he does not suffer, he does not perish. O Janaka, 
 you have indeed reached fearlessness.' l In the following 
 dialogue, Yajnavalkya proclaims that the man of full desires 
 obtains the result of his deeds and returns again to the world 
 of action. c But as for the man who does not desire, who, not 
 desiring, freed from desire, is satisfied in his desires, or desires 
 the Self only, his vital spirits do not depart elsewhere being 
 Brahman, he goes to Brahman. On this there is the verse : 
 " When all desires which once entered his heart are undone, 
 then does the mortal become immortal, then he obtains 
 Brahman. And as the slough of a snake lies on an ant-hill, 
 dead and cast away, thus lies this body, but that disembodied 
 immortal spirit is Brahman jonly, is only light 'V 2 
 
 Men crave this knowledge, not out of speculative curiosity, 
 but in order to be redeemed from misery. ' Sir/ says one who 
 knew the Sacred Books but not the Self, ' I have heard from 
 men like you that he who knows the Self overcomes grief. 
 I am in grief, do, Sir, help me over this grief of mine.' 3 And 
 the sage at length gives answer : ' We must desire to under- 
 stand what bliss is. The infinite is bliss. The infinite is the 
 I, the Self. The Self is below, is above, is behind, before, right 
 and left. The Self is all this. He who sees this, does not 
 see death, nor illness, nor pain ; he who sees this, sees every- 
 thing and obtains everything everywhere.' 4 
 
 So salvation is won, not by action nor good deeds, but by 
 intuitive knowledge. 'And, as here on earth, whatever has 
 been acquired by exertion, perishes, so perishes whatever is 
 acquired for the next world by sacrifices and other good 
 actions performed on earth. Those who depart from hence 
 without having discovered the Self and those true desires, 
 for them there is no freedom in all the worlds. But those who 
 depart from hence, after having discovered the Self and 
 
 1 Brih. Up. iv. 2. a Brih. Up. iv. 4. 6, 7. 
 
 8 Chhand. Up. vii. 1.3. * Op. cit., vii. 22-6. 
 
A STUDY IN THE UPANISHADS 67 
 
 those true desires, for them, there is freedom in all the 
 worlds.' 1 
 
 Apart from this knowledge of the Self, all life is vanity. 
 Thus in a speech assigned to Yama, the ruler of the dead, it 
 is said : ' Fools dwelling in darkness, wise in their own conceit 
 and puffed up with vain knowledge, go round and round 
 staggering to and fro like blind men led by the blind. The 
 hereafter never rises before the eye of the careless child 
 deluded by the delusion of wealth. "This is the world," he 
 thinks, "there is no other"; thus he falls again and again 
 under my sway.' 2 Only the Self has value. The Atman, the 
 Brahman, is the one reality. * All this is Brahman.' 3 * In the 
 beginning there was that only which is (TO QV\ one only, 
 without a second.' 4 * That which is the subtle essence in all 
 that exists, has its Self. It is the true. It is the Self and 
 thou art it.' 5 The individual soul is identical with the solitary 
 principle of the universe. 
 
 And in the absence of any duality, all the manifest world is 
 an illusion. Even metempsychosis is an illusion, as unreal as 
 the snake for which the traveller at night time mistakes the 
 rope. All deeds, good and bad alike, belong to the illusory 
 sphere. Only he who knows the Self has stability amid the 
 flux of things. For such, his deeds and his self with all his 
 knowledge become one with the highest Imperishable. 'As 
 the flowing rivers disappear in the sea, losing their name and 
 their form, thus a wise man, freed from name and form, goes to 
 the divine Person who is greater than the great.' 6 
 
 And this liberation was felt to be real and blessed. ' The 
 wise who understand this, behold the immortal which shines 
 forth, full of bliss. The fetter of the heart is broken, all doubts 
 are solved, all his works (and their effects) perish, when he has 
 been beheld who is high and low. In the highest, golden 
 
 1 Chhand. Up. viii. I. 6. 
 
 2 Kath. Up. i. 2. 5, 6. In the Mundaka Up. (i. 2. 8) the words are 
 used of those who rely on good works and sacrifices. 
 
 3 Chhand. Up. Hi. 14. I. 4 Chhand. Up. vi. 2. I. 
 5 Op. dt., vi. 14. 3. 6 Mund. Up. iii. 2. 8. 
 
 F 2 
 
68 ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 sheath, there is theBrahman, without passions, and without parts. 
 That is pure, that is the light of lights, that is it which they know 
 who know the Self. The sun does not shine there, nor the 
 moon and the stars, nor these lightnings and much less this fire. 
 When he shines, everything shines after him ; by his light all 
 this is lighted. That immortal Brahman is before, that 
 Brahman is behind, that Brahman is right and left. It has 
 gone forth, below and above ; Brahman alone is all this, it is 
 the best.' ] 
 
 So conceived the doctrine is the purest idealism. Brahman, 
 Atman, is the sole reality. Our self is identical with the 
 great changeless and eternal Self of the world, and as such is 
 delivered from the flux of time, and the cycle of re-birth. 
 The sublimity of this conception has won for it a permanent 
 place in the history of the world's thought, and to many in India 
 it has seemed a genuine philosophy of redemption. Succeeding 
 ages have been able to add nothing to this doctrine, for it 
 represents in one direction the limit of human speculation. 
 Yet it is significant that this idealism has always been unstable. 
 And this is natural, for in this doctrine of redemption arc three 
 implicates, hard to accept, and which, from the time of the 
 Upanishads, have continually been modified. 
 
 (1) This world and this world's life are unreal. 
 
 (2) God and the soul are alike unknowable. 
 
 (3) Redemption, as the intuitive realization of what already 
 
 is, effects no change in a man's life, and so, in most 
 cases, can give neither peace nor power without the 
 added means of asceticism or ecstasy. 
 
 (i) The world and the worlds life are unreal. 
 
 Implicit in the doctrine of redemption is the assertion of the 
 
 1 Mund. Up. ii. 2. 7-11. It is perhaps necessary to re-emphasize here 
 that there is no one doctrine capable of expressing all the various 
 teachings of the Upanishads. At some sacrifice of completeness, the 
 account given in this chapter concentrates on the doctrine of redemption 
 in the form most influential in the subsequent development of Indian 
 thought. 
 
A STUDY IN THE UPANISHADS 69 
 
 unreality of the world and of life in the world. It would 
 seem indeed that the explicit teaching that the world is illusion 
 (rnayd), and God the illusion-maker (rnaym), does not occur 
 before the late Svetdsvatara Upanishad, and many scholars 
 have followed Colebrooke in saying, ' that the notion that the 
 versatile world is an illusion (may a) and that all that passes 
 to the apprehension of the waking individual is but a phantasy 
 presented to his imagination, and every seeming thing is unreal, 
 and all is visionary, does not appear to be the doctrine 
 of the text of the Vedanta. . . . The doctrine of the early 
 Vedanta is complete and consistent without this graft of a later 
 growth.' 1 Against this, Cough's essay on The Primitive 
 Antiquity of the Doctrine of Maya argues strongly. 2 The 
 conception of Maya is implicit in the earliest statements of the 
 doctrine of redemption. Thus the dialogue between the sage 
 Yajnavalkya and his wife, Maitre^, occurs in what is generally 
 held to be one of the earliest parts of the Upanishads? and in 
 it, it is clearly taught that it is only on account of the Self that 
 anything has value. Only in so far as external objects are 
 related to the self, do they exist. " The sounds of a drum have no 
 existence apart from the drum that is struck. Just so it is the 
 Self alone exists. Duality is apparent only. The Self alone 
 is all that is. The Self is to be described as neti t neti, not so, 
 not so. So the only reality is the unknowable and attributeless 
 Self. So the beautiful Isd Upanishadbegms with the assertion 
 that, ' All this, whatsoever moves on earth, is to be hidden in 
 the Lord (the self). When thou hast surrendered all this, then 
 thou mayest enjoy.' The doctrine of mdyd is indeed implicit 
 in the fundamental tenet of the Vedanta, ' One only without a 
 second.' In the Svetdsvatara Upanishad the teaching becomes 
 explicit. In opposition to the Sankhya philosophy, which 
 
 1 In his essay on the Vedanta read before a meeting of the Royal 
 Asiatic Society in 1827. (Vide Gough, Philosophy of the Upanishads, 
 p. 237.) This view is supported by Jacob in his edition of the Vedanta- 
 sara. (A Manual of Hindu Pantheism, p. 46.) 
 
 2 Op.cit., pp. 235-62. 
 
 3 Brih. Up. ii. 4 and iv. 5. 
 
yo ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 postulates an eternal primordial matter (prakriti\ it is asserted 
 that \\\\sprakriti is mdyd, illusion, and that the great Lord is the 
 Mayin, the illusion-maker. 1 
 
 This doctrine is so alien to thought and experience that 
 inevitably and often unconsciously the sages retrogress from it. 
 The idealism, which denies the existence of plurality, and 
 regards matter as an illusion, becomes a pantheism which 
 asserts the reality of the universe and yet holds that the 
 Atman alone is real ; for the Atman is the universe. So the 
 creation of the world is assigned to the projection of the Atman. 
 And in violent contrast to the Vedantic doctrine, and in 
 conscious opposition to it, we find the Sankhyan philosophy, 
 which asserts the eternal reality of the primordial matter 
 (prakriti) side by side with a multiplicity of spirits (purusha). 
 Not only is the universe unreal but, as will be shown in detail 
 later, our moral life is also unreal. Redemption is not unto holi- 
 ness, but unto an intuitive insight to which virtue and vice are 
 without distinction or meaning. 
 
 (3) God and the soul are alike unknowable. 
 
 It was said of Spinoza that he was Gott-betrunken. In 
 their flight from the cycle of birth and death, these ancient 
 thinkers also were 'intoxicated with God '. They might have 
 made their own those words of Jacob Boehme, * I sought only 
 for the heart of God, therein to hide myself.' Yet the God 
 they found was a God who could never be known. He is 
 the self. But, because there is no distinction of subject and 
 object, neither can be known. When one asks Yajnavalkya 
 
 1 Svct. Up. iv. 10. It should in fairness be stated ' that the word need 
 mean no more than that he is the artificer, and the world the product of 
 his miraculous power'. So Nicol Macnicol, Indian Theism from the 
 Vedic to the Miihammadan period, p. 50. Dr. Macnicol denies that the 
 doctrine of mayd\s found in the Upanishads. For a mediating view see 
 Thibaut, S. B. E. xxxiv, pp. cxvii-cxxv. Thibaut holds that although 
 'the Maya doctrine cannot be said to form part of the teaching of the 
 Upanishads it is ; not an 'addition to the system from without, but only 
 a development from within, no graft but only growth '. Op. fit., p. cxxv. 
 
A STUDY IN THE UPANISHADS 71 
 
 to tell him ' the Brahman who is visible, not invisible, the Self 
 who is within all ', the sage replies : ' Thou couldst not see the 
 seer of sight, thou couldst not hear the hearer of hearing, nor 
 perceive the perceiver of the perception, nor the knower of 
 knowledge. This is the Self who is within all.' 1 Brahman or 
 Atman is the subject and not the object of thought, and so 
 essentially unknowable. He is bliss (dnanda), but he is not 
 blissful (dnandin). The whole conception of Brahman is ifl 
 fact essentially negative. It would be truer to say of him not 
 ' he ' but ' it '. Brahman is neuter, not masculine. Only one 
 term can describe him ; he is neti, neti, not so, not so. 
 
 Men have never been able for long to make a God of an 
 abstraction. And in the Upanishads themselves there are 
 many traces of another view of God, not personal in the 
 Christian sense, but at the same time not quite impersonal. 
 Thus often the neuter Brahman gives place to the personal 
 masculine Brahma, whilst Atman is hailed as the creator and 
 upholder of the world. 2 And in a late Upanishad, the 
 Svetasvatara Upanishad^ there is a clear endeavour to assert 
 the existence of individual souls and of a God who can be 
 worshipped. Thus in the following allegory, a distinction is 
 manifestly made between the soul and God. 'Two birds, 
 inseparable friends, cling to the same tree. One of them eats 
 the sweet fruit, the other looks on without eating. On the 
 same tree, man sits grieving, immersed, bewildered, by his 
 own impotence. But, when he sees the other lord, contented, 
 and knows his glory, then his grief passes away.' 3 And in the 
 same section of this Upanishad, mdya> the illusion of the 
 world, is assigned to the creation of the Mayin, the illusion- 
 maker. And this great Lord is identified with Rudra, the 
 Siva of later times. 4 But this conception of Isvara, the 
 personal God, is obscure and ill-developed in the Upanishads, 
 and the sage soon falls back on Brahman, the first principle. 
 
 1 Brih. Up. iii. 4. 2. 
 
 2 Cp. Die Lehre der Upanishaden und die Anfdnge des Bttddkismus, 
 H. O,ldenberg, pp. 103, 104. , 
 
 3 Svet. Up. 6, 7. 4 Svet. Up. iv. ia-14. 
 
73 ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 Later in Sankara's exposition of the Vedanta, Isvara is regu- 
 larly proclaimed as a personal God, but unreal with the 
 unreality of the material world, our moral struggle, and the 
 cycle of re-birth, and it is only after the time of the earlier 
 Upanishads that the craving for a personal God finds passionate 
 expression in the bhakti movement, where loving faith, and 
 not cold intuition, is regarded as the means necessary for 
 redemption. 
 
 With justice did the Buddhist teachers attack the Vedantists 
 for speaking so much of a Brahman of whom they knew 
 nothing. 1 Gautama himself opened the way to all. For him 
 there was no rahasyam, no secret doctrine. The criticism of 
 Jacob, if severe, seems true : 
 
 1 The supreme being, Brahman, is a cold impersonality, out of relation 
 with the world, unconscious of its own existence and of ours, and devoid 
 of all attributes and qualities. The so-called personal God, the first 
 manifestation of the Impersonal, turns out on examination to be a myth ;" 
 there is no God apart from ourselves, no Creator, no Holy being, no 
 Father, no Judge no one, in a word, to adore, to love or to fear. And. 
 as for ourselves, we are only unreal actors on the semblance of a stage.' 2 
 
 (3) Redemption works no change in a mans heart. 
 
 Redemption, as conceived in the Upanishads, is simply the 
 intuitive perception of what already is and eternally has been. 
 So there is in this redemption no re-birth, no new creation. 
 
 1 ' Then you say that not one of the Brahmans or of their teachers or of 
 their pupils, even up to the seventh generation, has ever seen Brahman 
 face to face. And that even the Rishis of old, the utterers of the ancient 
 verses which the Brahmans to-day so carefully intone and recite precisely 
 as they have handed down, even they, did not pretend to know, or to 
 have seen, where or when, or whither, Brahman is. So that the 
 Brahmans versed in the three Vedas have forsooth said thus: To 
 a state of union with that which we know not, and have not seen, we can 
 show the way, and say "This is the straight path, this is the direct way 
 which leads him, who acts according to it, unto a state of Brahman".' 
 Tevijja Sutta 14. 15, quoted by Monier- Williams, Buddhism, p. 94. 
 
 1 Vedantasdra, p. 129. Cp. Gwatkins' words: 'The pantheist strips 
 his deity of all the relations of reality and worships not indeed an idol but 
 a meaningless word which he takes for the name which is above every 
 name ' ( The Knowledge of God, i. 82). 
 
A STUDY IN THE UPANISHADS 73 
 
 We can obtain no knowledge of redemption, for the intuitive 
 knowledge is redemption. So the best emblem of this 
 redemption is deep and dreamless sleep. 'As people who 
 do not know the country, walk again and again over a gold 
 treasure, that has been hidden somewhere in the earth, and 
 do not discover it, thus do all these creatures, day after day, 
 go into the Brahman world (i.e. they are merged in Brahman, 
 while asleep), and yet they do not discover it because they 
 are carried away by untruth.' l The knowledge of the self is 
 itself emancipation. * If a man understands the Self saying 
 " I t am he ", what could he wish or desire that he should pine 
 after the body ? Whoever has found and understood the Self, 
 that has entered into this patched together hiding-place (i. e. 
 the body), he is indeed the creator, for he is the maker of 
 every thing, his is the world, and he is the world itself.' 2 
 
 For such, this life has no further meaning. Later a dis- 
 tinction is made between the man redeemed in this life, and 
 the man redeemed at death, but according to the classic 
 teaching of the great Upanishadic passages, immediately 
 a man knows himself to be identified with the Atman, he is 
 redeemed. This redemption has thus no relation to moral 
 change. The wise man is more than the good, for good works 
 like bad belong to that illusory sphere from which the wise 
 man is redeemed. Deussen regards this doctrine as c one of 
 the most decisive and striking expressions of eternal philo- 
 sophic truth '. Yet even he has to admit that this knowledge 
 is ' like an ice-cold breath which checks every development, 
 and benumbs all life '. 3 One does not need to be a Christian 
 to prefer Christ's test, ' By their fruits ye shall know them.' 
 Hindus, taught by Christianity to associate redemption with 
 newness of character, point somewhat anxiously to those 
 passages which speak of the moral prerequisites of this 
 emancipating truth. Thus these words are quoted from the 
 popular Kdthaka Upanishad : ' But he who has not first 
 
 1 Chhdnd. Up. viii. 3. 2. 2 Brih. Up. iv. 4, 12 and 13. 
 
 3 Philosophy of the Upanishads, pp. 361, 362. 
 
74 ESSENTIAL HINDUISM 
 
 turned away from his wickedness, who is not tranquil, and 
 subdued, or whose mind is not at rest, he can never obtain 
 the Self (even) by knowledge.' 1 But, in spite of an occasional 
 reference of this kind, it is impossible to read the Upanishads 
 without feeling that, at the best, ethics are only at the peri- 
 phery of attention. To the wise man, the distinction of good 
 and evil has lost its meaning. ' As water does not cling to 
 the lotus leaf, so no evil deed clings to one who knows it 
 (i.e. the Atman).' 2 
 
 Sometimes there is an almost brutal emphasis on the 
 insignificance of evil deeds. Thus, in a dialogue in which 
 Indra, the Vedic God, is made to teach the doctrine of the 
 Self, Indra says, ' Know me only : that is what I deem most 
 beneficial for man, that he should know me.' Then follows 
 an account of his heroic deeds, of the many he has slain, and 
 then he adds, ' He who knows me thus, by no deed of his is 
 his life harmed, not by the murder of his mother, not by the 
 murder of his father, not by theft, not by killing of a Brahman. 
 If he is going to commit a sin, the bloom does not depart from 
 his face.' 3 And, of the man by whom the Self is desired, 
 Yajnavalkya says, ' Then a father is not a father, a mother 
 not a mother, the worlds not worlds, the gods not gods, the 
 Vedas not Vedas. Then a thief is not a thief, a murderer not 
 a murderer. He is not followed by good nor followed by evil, 
 for he has then overcome all the sorrows of the heart.' 4 Later, 
 as in the Bhagavadgita, an attempt was made to combine with 
 the Vedantic teaching an emphasis on duty, but that is not 
 the Upanishadic doctrine. Redemption is intuitive, and has 
 in it no moral power. 
 
 From the standpoint of this doctrine men should have 
 attained peace immediately the Self was recognized. Instead, 
 we find that artificial means were sought to produce that 
 synthesis of the ' I ' and the * it ', which is redemption. Even 
 in the earlier Upanishads^ reference is often made to the virtue 
 
 1 Kdl/i. Up. i. 2. 24. a Chhand. Up. iv. 14. 3. 
 
 :1 Kausli. Up. iii. I. ' /////. Up. iv. 3. 22. 
 
A STUDY IN THE UPANISHADS 75 
 
 of the regulated breath and the calmed organs. In the later 
 Upanis/iads^ the idea of yoga is worked out in full, probably 
 owing to the influence of the Sarikhya philosophy. The sacred 
 syllable owi becomes the special object of meditation. By 
 retention of the breath, a cataleptic state is sought, in which 
 the mind shall indeed be one with the attributeless and 
 insentient ' It '. 2 Thus an endeavour is made to realize 
 redemption through an absorption (samddhi) in which all dis- 
 tinctions are lost and the mind actually succeeds in being 
 without consciousness of any object. Thus this new con- 
 ception of redemption leads to a vacuity without moral 
 meaning or intellectual content. And such is the inevitable 
 outcome of a doctrine of redemption, based on the identity of 
 the soul with an attributeless God. For God to be more than 
 personal is to be less. For God to be impersonal means that 
 God and the soul are alike lost for an abstraction. 
 
 But in spite of their chaotic form and inharmonious and 
 defective philosophy, the Upanishads will always retain their 
 value. To them the student of Hinduism must continually 
 return. In many passages there is described, with rare power, 
 the pathetic sense of the futility of this ever-circling life. The 
 solution reached will be displaced, but the intense yearning 
 after reality, after the spiritual and the eternal, will at all times 
 win for them the honour and affection of men who love religion 
 and the quest of the unseen. And this much seems clear. 
 Christianity will not satisfy the best minds of India until it is 
 clearly seen that it answers to the full the craving for redemp- 
 tion and does indeed redeem unto the eternal. And when at 
 last India finds in Christianity the redemption sought for, but 
 not attained, in the Upanishads^ men will turn back to these 
 writings to trace in them a foreglimpse of the glory, and an 
 answer, however mistaken and obscure, to the call of the voice 
 of God. 
 
 1 Such as the Kdthaka, the Svetasvatara, and the Maitrayana 
 Upanishads. f 
 
 2 Cp. the minute instructions in the Svet. Up. ii. 
 
THE WAY OF KNOWLEDGE 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE VEDANTA DOCTRINE 
 
 THE Upanishads, as we have seen, are inchoate and self- 
 contradictory. Only if the term is used in a vague and general 
 sense can we speak of their philosophy. As Thibaut has well 
 said, ' Their various lucubrations on Brahman, the world, and 
 the human soul, do not allow themselves to be systematized 
 simply because they were never meant to form a system.' l 
 They are excursions after truth, often irreconcilable, but 
 held in some sort of unity by the common quest of ultimate 
 reality and redemption. And in them the religious interest 
 is predominant. It is not disinterested knowledge which is 
 sought, but knowledge which delivers from the curse of birth. 
 
 After the creative age of the Upanishads had passed away, 
 philosophy was taught for the most part by means of the 
 aphorisms of unparalleled concision known as the Sutras. 
 Often these were mere mnemonics, intelligible only by the 
 help of a teacher. Thus the philosophy which claimed to be 
 the Veddnta, the true and legitimate expression of the 
 teaching of the Upanishads, was handed down by Sutras 
 which Badarayana is said to have written. These Sutras, 
 together with the Upanishads and the Bhagavadglta, form the 
 three institutes (prasthdnas] on which any philosophy which 
 claims to be Vedantic must still be based. 
 
 Most famous of all commentators on these Sutras is Sari- 
 karacharya, the Thomas Aquinas of Hinduism. Sarikara's 
 famous work is to-day more praised than read, but it remains 
 as the one authoritative exposition of the dominant and most 
 
 1 S. B. E. xxxiv, p. cxiv. 
 
THE VEDANTA DOCTRINE 77 
 
 characteristic philosophy of India, the Vedanta, 1 and with this 
 it will be necessary to deal in detail. 
 
 It cannot be said that Sankara's teaching is in all respects 
 identical with that of the Sutras he expounds, and a very 
 different interpretation of them is given by Ramanuja, 2 the 
 commentator next in influence to Sahkara. To Ramanuja, 
 Brahman is not an attributeless abstraction, but a God of 
 grace, possessed of every perfection, who redeems men to 
 enjoy with Him at death His own attributes of bliss. And 
 this modified non-duality (visishtadvaita) of Ramanuja is not 
 only directly opposed to the ' non-duality ' (advaita) of Sah- 
 kara, but claims itself to be the one legitimate development of 
 the teaching, not only of the Vedantasutras, but of the 
 Upanishads. It is impossible here to attempt to adjudicate 
 such claims, and unnecessary, as Thibaut, the translator of 
 both these commentaries, has discussed the problem with 
 great fullness, and apparent cogency. 3 If we accept his con- 
 clusions, we shall have to recognize that there is lacking in 
 the Veddntasutras, teaching so characteristic of Sarikara's 
 commentary, as the distinctions between the higher and the 
 lower knowledge, and between Brahman and Isvara, and also 
 the doctrines of the unreality of the world and the absolute 
 identity of the individual and the highest Self. Yet Thibaut 
 holds that Sankara's teaching represents, better than the 
 Sutras themselves, the legitimate development of the domi- 
 nant teaching of the Upanishads, and he makes the very 
 interesting suggestion that the Bhagavadgita may have been 
 the influence which caused Badarayana * to lay greater stress 
 on the personal character of the highest being than is in 
 
 1 No less than six systems claim to be Vedantic, but Sankara's system 
 is the most influential and is often referred to as the Vedanta, the 
 Vedanta par excellence. 
 
 2 Ramanuja like Sankara belonged to South India. He lived from 
 about 1050 to 1137 A. D. His name is inseparably connected with 
 Srirangam, near Trichinopoly, where stands to-day the greatest of 
 Vaishnavite temples. 
 
 3 S. B. E. xxxiv, pp. xv-cxxviii. 
 
78 THE WAY OF KNOWLEDGE 
 
 agreement with the prevailing tendency of the Upani- 
 shads \ l 
 
 Of Ramanuja's commentary no detailed account is here 
 given, as the Vaishnavite theism will be illustrated from the 
 far earlier, more famous, and influential Bhagavadgltd. Saii- 
 kara's commentary is of the greatest interest and importance, 
 as the perfect development of the speculation most congenial 
 to Indian thought, and of this a textual exposition is therefore 
 attempted. 
 
 Especially in South India, Saiikara's is a beloved and 
 familiar name, and the popular tradition of his life is of value 
 in enabling us to orientalize his position and importance in 
 Indian religion. 2 
 
 To an obscure village in Malabar is commonly assigned 
 the honour of his birth. His parents, long childless, had 
 prayed to Siva to remove this curse. Siva, before granting 
 this prayer, appeared to the wife in a dream and asked her 
 whether she would rather bear a number of fools and knaves, 
 or one son, short-lived but wise. She chose the latter, and 
 Sarikara was born. Another legend connects his birth with 
 Chidambaram, the most sacred of all Saivite shrines. His 
 mother was a pious Brahman woman whose husband had 
 renounced the world and retired into the forest for meditation. 
 She continued for long to serve Siva, 'and at length to reward 
 her devotion he enabled her miraculously to bear a son and 
 that son was Sarikara. 
 
 It is usually believed that his birth took place in A. D. 788. 
 
 1 Op. cit., cxxvi. Sukhtankar, a modern Indian exponent of Ramanuja's 
 system, goes far beyond Thibaut, and not only denies that * the funda- 
 mental doctrines ' of 3ankara's commentary ' are manifestly in greater 
 harmony with the essential teaching of the Upanishads than those of 
 other Vedantic systems' (op. cit. cxxiv), but claims that Ramanuja's 
 system is the one true Vedanta. (The Teaching of Veddnta according 
 to Ramanuja, by V. A. Sukhtankar, pp. 12, 13, and 17.) 
 
 1 There is an interesting account of his life by C. N. KrishnasvamI 
 Ai,yer,, written from the standpoint of a devout English-educated Hindu 
 (Sri Sankardchdrya, His Life and Times, Natesan & Co., Madras). 
 
THE VEDANTA DOCTRINE 79 
 
 His childhood was precocious and abnormal. At length the 
 time came for marriage. He wished to shun the duty of 
 a householder and become at once a sannydsin. His mother 
 bemoaned the loneliness that would be hers with no daughter- 
 in-law to tend her. At length, when they were bathing in 
 a river, a crocodile seized him by the foot. He told his 
 mother of his plight and begged that he might even then 
 have her permission to become a sannydsin^ that so he might 
 die in peace. She granted it and he escaped from peril. 
 Immediately he renounced all his possessions and wandered 
 off to find a guru to initiate him formally as a sannydsin. 
 At length he found the great teacher, Govinda, whom he 
 served as pupil. Subsequently we hear of him in Benares, by 
 now famous and sought after. According to tradition, he 
 composed there not only works of philosophy but hymns of 
 devotion to the gods. He left Benares and began a triumphal 
 tour through India. At that time North India was free of 
 Buddhists through the zeal of Kumarila-Bhatta, the great 
 Hindu teacher of the way of works (karma mlmdmsa). But 
 Kumarila had committed two sins. Through him, his Guru, 
 a Buddhist, had been killed, and in his defence of the Veda 
 and the Vedic rites he had practically denied God. To 
 expiate these sins he had himself burnt at the stake. Sari- 
 kara, eager to dispute with him, hastened to the spot, but 
 found the fire already lit. Sarikara none the less wished to 
 argue with him, but * as he had already become half-burnt, he 
 could not collect his thoughts '. He therefore referred Sarikara 
 to Mandana, another great teacher of the way of works. 
 Sarikara goes to Mandana and engages in a great controversy 
 with him, with Mandana's wife as umpire. Each promised, if 
 he was defeated, to take the condition of the other. Sarikara 
 would become a householder the worst sin a sannydsin could 
 commit Mandana would take from his wife's hand the saffron 
 robe of the ascetic. Sarikara was declared victor and he then 
 debated with the umpire, Mandana's wife. She found that 
 only in the science of love was Sarikara ignorant. To acquire 
 
8o THE WAY OF KNOWLEDGE 
 
 this Sankara used his yogic powers, and thus enabled his 
 spirit to enter into the body of a king who had just died. 
 Taking the king's place he then enjoyed, and narrated in 
 a poem still extant, his dalliance with the queens. 
 
 For long, Sankara laboured to revive Hinduism. To help 
 in this work he founded monasteries (matha), some of which 
 are still famous and wealthy. At length his mother drew 
 near to death. He tried to teach her his philosophy, but she 
 could not understand. So he composed instead a hymn to 
 Siva. Siva's messengers appeared, but his mother, frightened 
 at their terrible forms, refused to go with them to Siva's 
 world. Then Sankara sang in praise of Vishnu. His messen- 
 gers came, bright and gracious, and Sankara's mother went 
 gladly with them to Vishnu's abode. His relatives protested 
 at him, a sannydsin, performing funeral rites. Alone he had 
 to cremate her, cutting up the body as it was too heavy to 
 move. For this he cursed the Nambutiri Brahmans, and 
 secured that as he had done so they must do. 1 
 
 After this we find him labouring with great zeal to put 
 down the grosser manifestations of the worship of female 
 deities (sakti- worship) and to unite all the sects of Hinduism 
 in the recognition of the supreme Brahman of which the gods 
 are the illusory phenomena. He died young, worn out by 
 his toil, some say in his thirty-second, others in his thirty- 
 eighth year. 
 
 Legendary as much of this tradition clearly is, it is of 
 interest as showing the esteem with which he is still regarded. 
 To the Hindu, Sankaracharya is not only the philosopher 
 meditating on the infinite, he is the Yogin and the miracle- 
 worker, the singer of hymns of love to the gods, and above all 
 the supreme protagonist of Hinduism. 
 
 It is with Sankara rather than with Badarayana that we 
 have here to deal. As we have seen, it cannot be claimed 
 
 1 It is still customary for Nambutiris to cremate their dead in their 
 own compound, and they are said, before doing so, to touch with a knife 
 the joints of the corpse. 
 
THE VEDANTA DOCTRINE 81 
 
 that Sankara's commentary is always in accord with the 
 intention of the Sutras. But it is Sankara's exposition as it 
 stands that is the authoritative expression of classic Vedantism ; 
 and so, for the purposes of this essay, it will suffice to treat 
 the commentary and the Sutras as a whole. 
 
 In his method of teaching, Sankara is essentially scholastic. 1 
 It is by appeal to authority that truth is found. As Scripture 
 (srttti) he quotes especially the Upanishads. As Tradition 
 (stnriti) he recognizes the Sankhya and Yoga systems, the 
 Mdhabharata, especially in its most famous episode, the Bhaga- 
 vadglta, and the Law Book of Manu. But the quotations 
 from the Upanishads far outnumber all others. 2 Sankara's 
 work is indeed a sincere endeavour to give the teaching of the 
 Upanishads greater unity and coherence. He recognizes their 
 manifest antinomies but seeks to solve these by postulating 
 a twofold knowledge, a higher and a lower (para vidya and 
 apard vidya), or, as he elsewhere puts it, a knowledge (vidya) 
 and a nescience (avidyd). 
 
 It is with this distinction that he begins his work. The 
 metaphysical reality is the Self which, as subject and not 
 object, is necessarily unknowable. The phenomenal world 
 the not I is knowable but unreal. And Sankara recognizes 
 that this distinction does not come easily to the untutored 
 mind. ' It is on the part of man ', he says, ' a natural pro- 
 cedure, which has its cause in wrong knowledge, not to 
 distinguish between the two entities.' Yet this confusion is 
 the source of all our evil. It is the object of philosophy to 
 remove this delusion and give to the self the sense of its unity 
 with the infinite and alone real Brahman. So the study of 
 the Veddnta has a practical end, and the introduction con- 
 cludes : ' With a view to freeing one's self from that wrong 
 
 1 The account of Sankara's teaching given in this chapter owes much 
 to Deussen's luminous exposition (Das System des Vedantd). Siitras are 
 in italics. Passages marked as quotations are given verbally from 
 Thibaut's translation. 
 
 2 Deussen (op. cit., p. 32) calculates that of the 2,523 quotations in the, 
 commentary, 2,060 are from the Upanishads. 
 
 G 
 
82 THE WAY OF KNOWLEDGE 
 
 notion, which is the cause of all evil, and attaining thereby the 
 knowledge of the absolute unity of the Self, the study of the 
 Vedanta text is begun.' If Sahkara in his commentary had 
 kept this distinction between exoteric and esoteric knowledge 
 clearly marked, the exposition of his philosophy would be 
 simple. Instead the two spheres are inextricably confused, and 
 it is difficult in a short space to give an exposition, textual 
 and adequate, yet clear. 
 
 Sankara's work is in four parts (adhydyd). His order of 
 treatment is not consistent, but for the most part he deals 
 with his subject in the convenient order of Theology, Cosmo- 
 logy, Psychology, Metempsychosis, and Redemption. 
 
 Theology. 
 
 The first Sutra of all runs : ' Then therefore the inquiry 
 into Brahman' Sankara first denies the view that the word 
 ' then ' indicates that ' the inquiry into Brahman presupposes 
 as its antecedent, the understanding of the acts of religious 
 duty '. Theology is one thing, Religion and Ethics another. 
 ( The knowledge of active religious duty has for its fruit transi- 
 tory felicity, and that again depends on the performance of 
 religious acts. The inquiry into Brahman, on the other hand, 
 has for its fruit eternal bliss, and does not depend on the per- 
 formance of any acts.' An inquiry is necessary because ' there 
 are many various opinions, basing part of them on sound 
 arguments, and scriptural texts misunderstood. If ^therefore 
 a man would embrace some one of these opinions without 
 previous considerations, he would bar himself from the highest 
 beatitude and incur grievous loss. For this reason, the first 
 Sutra proposes under the designation of an inquiry into 
 Brahman, a disquisition of the Vedanta texts.' Sahkara then 
 proceeds to discuss at length the various names ascribed to 
 Brahman in the Upanishads and explains away whatever is 
 contradictory to his doctrine. Amid the intricacies of his 
 polemics his own teaching is repeatedly affirmed. 
 
 Brahman is Being (sat) arid this Being is original. Thus 
 
THE VEDANTA DOCTRINE 83 
 
 a later Sutra runs : ' But there is no origin of that which is 
 (i.e. of Brahman} on account of the impossibility (of such an 
 origin)' 1 Sankara thus refutes any possible origin to Brahman. 
 Brahman as mere being cannot spring from mere being, as 
 wherever ther% is the relation of cause and effect there is 
 a Certain superiority in the cause. And it would clearly be 
 against experience for Brahman to spring from something less 
 general. Nor again can Brahman spring from not-being 
 (asat), for not-being has no self, and besides, this is against 
 Scripture. Nor again does the fact of the effects springing 
 from effects imply that Brahman also would be an effect ; for 
 the non-admission of a fundamental causal substance would 
 drive us to a retrogressus in infinitum. And that fundamental 
 causal substance which, as a matter of fact, is generally 
 acknowledged to exist, just that is our Brahman. This 
 attribute of Brahman is thus purely negative. With it is 
 combined the two attributes of intelligence and bliss. 
 
 Brahman is intelligence (chit). This Sankara defends at 
 length against the objections of the Sankhyan Philosophy. 2 
 Yet this attribute too is negative. Brahman is not the 
 knower but the knowing, not the cognizer but the cognition. 
 Brahman could not from Sankara's standpoint be cognitive 
 for that would involve objects of cognition and so duality. 
 Brahman is cognition in that, like the Self, he is spiritual in 
 his nature. 
 
 Brahman is bliss (anandd), but it is a bliss whose nearest 
 human analogy is the bliss of deep and dreamless sleep. It is 
 bliss ' without the fruition of happiness '. 3 It is the bliss of 
 insensibility. Thus the famous trilogy of attributes, being, 
 intelligence, and bliss, really leaves Brahman undefined and 
 attributeless. 4 And it is just this that is the essence of the 
 esoteric doctrine of Brahman. Brahman is free from all 
 
 1 II. 3. 9. 2 Vide on I. 5-11. 3 See Jacob, Vedantasara, p. 5. 
 
 4 The combined epithet sachchidananda does not seem to be found in 
 Sankara's commentary (so Deussen, op. cit., 228). Later it became the 
 regular Vedantic description of Brahman. Thus the opening words of 
 the Vedantasara are 'to the Self, existing, intelligence, bliss*. 
 
 G 3 
 
84 THE WAY OF KNOWLEDGE 
 
 differences (visesha), attributes (guna), limiting adjuncts 
 (upddhi\ or forms (akdra). Sankara indeed recognizes that, 
 in Scripture, Brahman is very often differently described. 
 Thus Brahman is spoken of as the object of man's worship 
 and devotion. All such expressions, Sankara teaches, must 
 be assigned to the lower knowledge alone. Thus on the 
 Sutra, III. 2. 16, * And (Scripture) declares (Brahman) to con- 
 sist of that (i.e. intelligence),' he writes: 'Scripture declares 
 that Brahman consists of intelligence and is devoid of any 
 other characteristic and is altogether without difference. 
 Simple, non-differentiated, intelligence constitutes its nature 
 just as a lump of salt has inside, as well as outside, one and 
 the same saltish taste and no other taste.' In his comment on 
 the following Sutra, Sankara quotes a story full of interest. 
 After pointing out that Scripture describes Brahman as neti, 
 ueti, ' not so ', ' not so ', he goes on to narrate how Bahva 
 answered a pupil who desired to learn the nature of Brahman. 
 * Learn Brahman, O friend,' replied Bahva, and became silent. 
 A second and a third time the pupil asked him to explain 
 what Brahman was. At last he answered,' I am teaching you 
 but you do not understand. Silent is that self.' In that one 
 sentence the difference between the Vedantic and the Christian 
 conception of God is well summed up. Our God is a God 
 who seeks to be revealed. The only real Brahman is a God 
 whose revelation is silence. 
 
 Neither by word nor deed can Brahman be revealed. Only 
 in one way can it be known by men. 'At the time of perfect 
 conciliation, the Yogins see the unevolved self free from all 
 plurality.' In such ecstasy the difference between Brahman 
 and the Soul passes away. They are not two but one. The 
 soul is Brahman, only differentiated by our description of it, 
 just as we speak of the coils and hood of a snake in distinction 
 from the snake itself with which they arc really one. 
 
 Cosmology. 
 
 It is not easy to relate this attribute-less Brahman to the 
 
THE VEDANTA DOCTRINE 85 
 
 world and its creation. Christianity, teaching that God is in 
 essence Holy Love, can see in that love the motive of the 
 creation. God is the antetypal Father, 1 and our human desire 
 to have children to love and cherish is derived from that 
 Divine Love which created a world, in which men might live 
 who would know God as Father, and answer His love with 
 love. But Brahman has neither desire nor love. How then 
 should the world ever have been created ? On this there are 
 two Sutras : ' (Brahman is] not (the creator of the world] on 
 account of (being engaged in any action} having a motive! 2 { But 
 (Brahman s activity] is mere sport such as we see in ordinary 
 life.^ On this Sankara writes: ' The word "but" discards 
 the objections raised. We see in everyday life that certain 
 doings of princes and other men, who have no unfulfilled 
 desires left, have no reference to any extraneous purpose but: 
 proceed from mere sportfulness, as, for instance, their recrea- 
 tions in places of amusement. We further see that the process 
 of inhalation and exhalation is going on without reference to 
 any extraneous purpose, merely following the law of its own 
 nature. Analogously the activity of the Lord may be supposed 
 to be mere sport proceeding from its own nature without 
 reference to any purpose/ Against the objection that the Lord 
 might as well have remained at rest as created a world useless 
 to himself and the cause of pain, Sankara can only say that his 
 nature cannot be questioned, for in consequence of his con- 
 junction with Maya (delusive ignorance) the creation is 
 unavoidable. Thus the creation of the world lacks an ethical 
 basis. It is a mere sport like the illusions of a conjurer 
 (may in). 
 
 Yet Sankara is not without a theodicy. But this theodicy 
 belongs only to the lower (and unreal) knowledge. According 
 to this, the problem of human misery is solved by transmigra- 
 tion. So we have the Sutra : ( Inequality (of dispensation) and 
 
 1 Cp. Ephesians iii. 15 R.V. marg., 'The Father from whom every 
 fatherhood is named '. 
 
 2 II. I. 32- 3 II. i. 33- 
 
86 THE WAY OF KNOWLEDGE 
 
 cruelty (the Lord can] not (be reproached with), on account of 
 his regarding (merit and demerit) ; for so (Scripture) declares.' * 
 On this Sankara comments : ' If the Lord on his own account, 
 without any extraneous regards, produced this unequal 
 creation, he would expose himself to blame, but, the fact is, 
 he is bound by certain regards, i.e. he has to look to merit and 
 demerit. Hence the circumstances of the creation being 
 unequal, is due to the merit and demerit of the living 
 creatures created, and is not a fault for which the Lord is to 
 blame.' To the objection that previous to creation there would 
 be no distinction of merit and demerit, the following Sutra 
 makes the answer that the world is without a beginning. 2 
 Hence the phenomenal world with its cycles of wandering 
 souls is unoriginated, and so to speak of the world's creation is 
 really from Sankara's standpoint erroneous. 
 
 The world's efficient and material cause is Brahman. 
 Brahman works without any agents, just as a spider emits 
 out from itself the threads of its web, or as a female crane 
 conceives without a male, or as the lotus wanders from one 
 pond to another without any means of conveyance." In 
 accordance with Indian tradition, Sankara thinks, not of 
 a world once created, but of a world without beginning, 
 periodically proceeding out of, and returning to, Brahman. 
 Of this periodic emanation of the world from Brahman, 
 Sankara speaks in language borrowed from the Upanishads. 
 Thus in a well-known passage of the Taittirlya Upanishad* 
 plants, animals, and men are said to have sprung from the 
 Atman through the five elements, ether, wind, fire, water, and 
 earth. These Sankara discusses at length and confutes, 
 especially the doctrine, based on many passages of Scripture^ 
 that the ether (akasa) is eternal. 6 The ether is said to be eternal 
 only in the sense that the gods are called eternal. So too, ether, 
 fire, water, and earth are derivative. At the end of each age 
 (kalpa) the elements retract into Brahman in the reverse order 
 from that in which they originated ; so that the earth turns to 
 
 MI. I. 34- MI. 1.35. MI. i. 25. Tain. Up. II. I. MI. 3. 1-7. 
 
THE VEDANTA DOCTRINE 87 
 
 water, water to fire, fire to air, air to ether, and ether to 
 Brahman. 1 
 
 From the exoteric standpoint some sort of reality is thus 
 ascribed to the world. So Sankara ridicules the Buddhist 
 doctrine of the absolute unreality of the phenomenal. Every 
 act of perception makes us conscious of some corresponding 
 external thing. Why then, should we listen to a man who ; 
 while conscious through his senses of external things, yet 
 affirms that he has no such consciousness of outward things 
 and that no such things exist, 'any more than we listen to 
 a man who while he is eating, or experiencing the feeling of 
 satisfaction, avows that he does not eat and does not feel satis- 
 fied.' 2 Yet although Sankara thus refutes the nihilism of the 
 Buddhists, to him too the world is in fact unreal. Such reality 
 as it has, comes only through nescience. It is due to the 
 association of Brahman with illusion (may a). Thus, as he 
 says on Sutra II. i. 14, it is only before true knowledge comes 
 that phenomena are held to be real, just as it is only until 
 we awake that the phantoms of our dreams seem real. ' As 
 long as a person has not reached the true unity of the Self, so 
 long it does not enter his mind that the world of effects with 
 its means and objects of right knowledge and its results of 
 actions is untrue ; he rather, in consequence of his ignorance, 
 looks on mere effects (such as body, offspring, wealth, &c.) as 
 forming part of, and belonging to, his Self, forgetful of 
 Brahman being in reality the Self of all.' 
 
 Yet we are to live in the world before knowledge comes as 
 if the world were real. ' So long as true knowledge does not 
 present itself there is no reason why the ordinary course of 
 secular religious activity should not hold on undisturbed.' 
 Here Sankara uses the illustration so frequent in Vedantic 
 writings of a man in dreams. When he awakes from sleep, he 
 regards the objects of his dream-perception as unreal. He 
 knows he was not really bitten by a snake, nor was he bathing 
 in a river, but we do not on that account consider the 
 1 II. 3. 14. 2 II. 2. 28. 
 
88 THE WAY OF KNOWLEDGE 
 
 consciousness he had of them to be unreal likewise. Thus 
 Brahman has no real relation with the world. It is only as he 
 is conjoined with Nescience that we can speak of him as an 
 omnipotent Lord. ' The Lord being a Lord, his omniscience, 
 his omnipotence, &c., all depend on the limitation due to 
 the adjuncts whose self is Nescience, while in reality none of 
 these qualities belong to the Self whose true nature is cleared 
 by right knowledge from all adjuncts whatever.' 
 
 Thus the world is only an illusion, and Brahman is related 
 to it only in so far as Brahman is allied with Nescience and as 
 a conjurer (may in) illudes. 
 
 Psychology. 
 
 The cleft between the higher and lower knowledge is 
 particularly great in the portions of Saiikara's commentary 
 dealing with Psychology. Esoterically each soul is the whole 
 and undivided Brahman. Exoterically there is a multiplicity 
 of souls bound in an eternal transmigration, yet emanating 
 from Brahman. To the individual soul, as known by Nescience, 
 belongs the gross body. This leaves it at death. But after 
 death, and through all its wandering, there cleaves to it a subtle 
 body to which belong the vital organs of conscious and 
 unconscious life. With this is joined a variable element 
 formed by the surplus of good and evil deeds. This it is 
 which determines what sort of birth the next shall be. 
 
 Sankara's teaching on the soul is given in considerable 
 detail in a long section of the second book. 1 This we shall 
 chiefly follow here. The fact of transmigration proves that the 
 'individual soul has no beginning and is not subject to dis- 
 solution '. 2 Its nature is spiritual, for it is not a product, but 
 is nothing else than the highest Brahman. If it be argued 
 that the essence of the soul cannot be intelligence, Sankara 
 replies that the absence of ' actual intelligizing is due to the 
 absence of objects, not to the absence of intelligence. Eternal 
 intelligence is the essential nature of the soul.' 3 The soul is as 
 1 II.3- 16-53. 2 II.3- 16. 3 n -3- 18. 
 
THE VEDANTA DOCTRINE 89 
 
 small as an atom. ' Just as a drop of sandal ointment though 
 in actual contact with one spot of the body only, yet produces 
 a refreshing sensation over the whole body,' so the soul can be 
 the cause of perception extending over all the body although 
 in one small part of it. 1 
 
 Yet the soul in the light of true knowledge is infinite. It is 
 only in conjunction with Nescience that it is limited to the 
 intellect (buddki). So long as the soul is thus in connexion 
 with the intellect, its limiting adjunct, so long is it implicated 
 in transmigratory existence. 2 As such it is involved in the 
 chain of deeds. The soul is an agent, as scripture and 
 experience alike prove. Yet its activity does not belong to 
 its essential nature. Were that so, no release would ever be 
 possible. Thus there is a Sutra: ' And as the carpenter in 
 double fashion!* On this Sankara comments : a carpenter, in 
 ordinary life, endures pain so long as he is working with his 
 axe and other tools. When he has laid his tools aside, and 
 returned home, he enjoys ease and leisure. ' So the Self also, 
 as long as it is joined with duality presented by Nescience, and 
 is an agent, in the state of waking and dreaming, undergoes 
 pain, but as soon as it shakes off its weariness it enters into its 
 own highest Self; it frees itself from the complex of effects 
 and instruments, and enjoys full ease in the state of deep 
 sleep.' The soul is thus in essence identical with Brahman. 
 Its deeds belong only to the soul as known to Nescience. To 
 the question as to whether these deeds are free or determined, 
 Sankara replies with exemplary caution. In allotting good 
 and evil circumstances, the Lord remembers efforts for good 
 and evil. And although ' the activity of the soul is not inde- 
 pendent, yet the soul does act. The Lord indeed causes it to 
 act but it acts itself/ 4 So there is a well-balanced synergism 
 between the two. 
 
 Sankara then proceeds to discuss the relation of the soul to 
 God. This relationship may be regarded as that of the part 
 
 ML 3.23.. 2 II. 3. 30. '11.3.40. * II. 3- 42. 
 
90 THE WAY OF KNOWLEDGE 
 
 to the whole or of the ruled to the ruler. 1 As the soul is 
 a part of God, all pain is illusory. " So we have the Sutra : 
 ' (As the soul is affected by pleasure and pain) not so the highest 
 (Lord) ; as in the case of light and so on.' 2 The soul, as 
 Sankara explains, identifies itself through Nescience with the 
 body and imagines itself to be affected by the experience of pain 
 due to Nescience. Yet this pain of individual souls is not real. 
 It is due simply ' to the non-discrimination of the Self from 
 the body, senses, and other limiting adjuncts, which are due 
 to name and form, the effects of Nescience '. If a man is told 
 that his son or friend had died, he will be grieved. Yet that 
 his grief is imaginary only, is shown by the fact that a religious 
 mendicant would not grieve, knowing that he is free from such 
 connexions. By another simile, Sankara seeks to show that 
 the Lord is not affected by the pain of the individual soul. The 
 sun does not tremble, although its image trembles when you 
 shake the cup filled with water in which the sun's light is 
 reflected. Even so the Lord is not affected by pain, although 
 pain is felt by that part of him known to nescience as the 
 individual soul. 
 
 Just as pain and pleasure are illusory, so too are moral 
 obligations. Through the influence of Western ideals, Hindus 
 often endeavour to claim for the Veddnta not only intellectual 
 subtlety but moral sublimity. It is worth while therefore to 
 quote Sankara's authoritative words. Commenting on the 
 Sutra, ' (The possibility of ) injunctions and prohibitions (resttlts) 
 from the connexion (of the self) ivith bodies ; as in the case of 
 light and so on,' 3 he writes : k It is true that obligation exists 
 for him only who views the soul as something different from 
 the body ; but fundamentally all obligation is an erroneous 
 imagination existing in the case of him only who does not see 
 that the Self is no more connected with a body than the ether 
 is with jars and the like.' 
 
 It would appear that, from this standpoint, all distinction of 
 individual souls must be obliterated. In his comment on the 
 1 11.3.46. 2 11.3.46. 8 11.3-48. 
 
THE VEDANTA DOCTRINE 91 
 
 following Sutra, Sankara denies this. The distinction between 
 individual souls is preserved by their connexions with bodies. 
 Thus the results of actions are not confused. 1 Individual souls 
 are mere appearances of the highest Self, just like the reflec- 
 tions of the sun on the water. 'Just as when one reflected 
 image of the sun trembles, another reflected image does not on 
 that account tremble also ; so when one soul is connected with 
 actions and results of actions, another soul is not on that 
 account connected likewise.' But all these appearances are 
 illusory, due only to the effect of Nescience. When Nescience 
 is removed * there results the cognition of the soul being in 
 reality nothing but Brahman '. 2 
 
 In thus teaching that there is in reality one Self only, all- 
 pervasive and indivisible, Sankara seems to have gone beyond 
 his text. Thus in the following Sutra, Badarayana clearly 
 asserts a difference between the individual and the supreme 
 Self: * And the embodied soul (also cannot be understood as the 
 internal ruler) for both also (i.e. both rescensions of the 
 Brihaddranyaka Upanishad) speak of it as different (from the 
 internal ruler]' 3 In his commentary on this, Sankara has to 
 explain away the difference as one of words. It is the soul in 
 union with the organs of action as presented by Nescience that 
 seems different. Really the Self is one only. The difference 
 is illusory. Against this the objection was naturally raised 
 that, if the individual self is thus illusory, the Lord also must 
 be unreal. To this Sankara replies : ' The Lord differs from 
 the soul which is embodied, acts and enjoys, and is the produce 
 of Nescience, in the same way as the real juggler who stands 
 on the ground differs from the illusive juggler who, holding in 
 his hand a shield and a sword, climbs up to the sky by means 
 of a rope, or as the free unlimited ether differs from the ether 
 of a jar which is determined by its limiting adjunct (i.e. 
 the jar).' 4 
 
 Thus from the point of real knowledge there is no such 
 thing as psychology, for the ' psyche ' is an illusion. Brahman 
 1 II.3.49- 2 II- 3- So- " 1.2.20. 4 I. i. 17 
 
92 THE WAY OF KNOWLEDGE 
 
 is the one reality. Such a theory vigorously pressed would 
 make impossible any belief in the soul's responsibility and in 
 transmigration. So Sankara has repeatedly to affirm that to 
 Nescience, the great soul is limited, and thus distinguished 
 from individual souls. 'The Lord and the individual soul 
 stand to each other in the relation of whole and part, yet it is 
 manifest to perception that the attributes of the two are of a 
 different nature.' In reality the individual soul has the same 
 qualities as the Lord, but ' the equality of attributes, although 
 existing, is hidden by the veil of Nescience ', although for 
 some by strenuous meditation, this veil has been removed. 1 So 
 the soul is not different from the Lord, but its knowledge and 
 power are obscured by its connexion with the body. 2 Thus 
 the soul, when on earth, is nearest to the Lord in deep and 
 dreamless sleep. In waking life and dream-troubled sleep, 
 Brahman is hidden, but in deep sleep these hindrances are 
 removed. ' Hence it is said the self alone is the place of deep 
 sleep.' 3 
 
 Transmigration . 
 
 In his teaching on Transmigration, Sankara preserves and in- 
 creases the contradictions of the Vedic texts. So obscure is 
 his teaching, and incoherent, that to describe it with clearness 
 is impossible. 
 
 As we have already seen, according to the early Rigvedic 
 view, the good go at death to Yama's land, where they enjoy 
 endless felicity with the Fathers. The evil pass into nether 
 darkness. According to the Upanishads there arc two ways. 
 The wise go after death along the road of the gods to Brahman 
 and from there they do not return. The good pass by the way 
 of the Fathers to the moon, enjoy there the fruit of their deeds, 
 and then descend to be born again on earth. Those who have 
 neither knowledge nor works, pass to the third place, i.e. they 
 arc born again as plants or lower animals. This teaching of 
 the two ways is confused in the ChJuwdogya Upanishad by the 
 1 111.2.5. 2 III. 2.6. 3 111.2.7. 
 
THE VEDANTA DOCTRINE 93 
 
 addition that the evil also go to the moon before obtaining for 
 their sins an ignoble birth on earth. According to Sahkara's 
 esoteric doctrine, all transmigration is illusory. And not 
 only so. The wise cannot, as the Upanishads teach, reach 
 Brahman and obtain final redemption by the way of the gods, 
 for redemption is no longer to be regarded as something to be 
 attained. It is an intuitive realization of what already is. These 
 conflicting views Sahkara never succeeds in reconciling. And 
 he is most obscure just where definite exposition would be 
 most welcome. 
 
 The soul with all its organs is regarded as morally neutral and 
 indifferent. If this be so, how do the effects of works deter- 
 mine the soul's destiny? As usual, Sahkara shows himself but 
 little interested in such an ethical question, and the answer he 
 gives is hesitating and inadequate. At death the coarse body 
 with its organs passes away. But, until the final release of the 
 soul through perfect knowledge, there remains with it, as its 
 material substrate, the subtle body (bhuta asrayd). In 
 language of the greatest obscurity, Sahkara says that, in addi- 
 tion to this material substrate, the surplus of its acts makes for 
 the soul a moral substrate (karma-asraya) which determines 
 its future destiny. According to the teaching of the Upanishads 
 which Sahkara adopts, the soul receives in the moon the first 
 requital for good and evil deeds. It is not clear why, after 
 that, there should still be a further birth on earth. To solve 
 this difficulty and to connect deeds with their fruits in another 
 birth, Jaimini, the leader of the school of works (karma 
 mlmamsd\ spoke of an apurva which might be viewed either 
 as ' an imperceptible after-state of the deeds ' or an ' impercep- 
 tible antecedent state of the result '. Sahkara is evidently 
 attracted by this view, but, following Badarayana, he rejects it 
 on the ground that such a causal link between action and 
 result is unnecessary, as it is the Lord who allots rewards and 
 punishments. 1 But in another passage, in dark and difficult 
 words, he speaks of faith (sraddha} enveloping in the form of 
 1 III. 2. 40 and 41. 
 
94 THE WAY OF KNOWLEDGE 
 
 an apurva, the souls of those who have performed sacrifices, and 
 leading them up to the heavenly world to receive their reward. 1 
 
 As we have seen, according to the two classic texts of the 
 Upanishads, those who know the teaching of the five fires and 
 who exercise in the forest faith and penance, pass by the way 
 of the gods by a path of light to Brahman. From there they 
 never return, for they attain there to the highest bliss. This 
 doctrine of the gradual ascent (kramamukti) is opposed to 
 Sahkara's teaching that redemption is not a becoming, but the 
 intuitive realization of an already existent identity with 
 Brahman. To speak of an approach to the highest Brahman 
 is from this standpoint impossible. It is only to the effected 
 Brahman that souls are led. 2 There they reign with the Lord 
 (Isvara) in bliss, sharing all his attributes save that of originat- 
 ing and ruling the world. 3 But from Sankara's standpoint 
 * there is no permanence anywhere apart from the highest 
 Brahman'. 4 Have these souls then after all to return to 
 earth? ' No,' says the last Sutra of the book, l (of them) there 
 is non-return, according to Scripture ; non-return according to 
 Scripture' 5 After the darkness of ignorance there shines upon 
 them the light of perfect knowledge. So they know themselves 
 one with the attributeless Brahman and are redeemed. 
 
 In one passage Sankara speaks of the way of the fathers 
 (pitriydna\ and 'the third place', just as the Brihaddranyaka 
 Upanishad does. ' For those who are neither entitled through 
 knowledge to follow the road of the gods nor by works 
 to follow the road of the fathers, for these there is a third path 
 on which they repeatedly return to the existence of small 
 animals.' f5 Yet a little before he gives a totally different doctrine. 
 Those who by sacrifices have earned felicity go to the moon by 
 the road of the fathers but others go, not by the third path to 
 be at once reborn, but to the abode of Yama, there to suffer 
 torments in Yama's seven hells before they rcascend to be born 
 again on earth. 7 
 
 1 III. 1.6. * IV. 3. 7. IV. 4. 17. * IV. 3. 9. 
 
 6 IV. 4. 22. " III. i. 17. 7 HI. i. 13-15. 
 
THE VEDANTA DOCTRINE 95 
 
 This doctrine of reward for good works in the moon and 
 retribution for evil deeds in hell seems inconsistent with transmi- 
 gration : why should souls be born again when already they 
 have been requited for their deeds ?. This Sankara discusses in 
 a long comment on the Sutra : c On the passing away of the 
 works (the soul reascends] with a remainder according to 
 Scripture and tradition (smriti)' 1 To the natural objection 
 that souls go to the moon with the express object of receiving 
 reward for their deeds, and that therefore none will remain over 
 to require a new birth, Sankara replies with a curious illustration. 
 A courtier who has joined the king's court with all the 
 requisites of the king's service, has eventually to leave it 
 because, after a long stay, ' all his things are worn out so that 
 he is perhaps left with a pair of shoes and an umbrella only '. 
 Even * so the soul when possessing only a small particle of the 
 effects of its works can no longer remain in the sphere of the 
 moon '. So the soul descends with a remainder of works. Nor 
 need we fear that the existence of a remainder of works will 
 stand in the way of final release, since 'we know from 
 Scripture that all works whatsoever are destroyed by perfect 
 knowledge '. 
 
 As to the method of the soul's return to the body, Sankara 
 can only fall back on the explanation of the Upanishads. The 
 soul descends finally as rain upon the ground. There it enters 
 into plants. For those who because of their evil deeds become 
 plants, this state is one of requital. For others the souls are 
 in the plants only as guests waiting till they are eaten by man 
 and obtain thus an entry into a new birth. 2 But Sankara's 
 teaching like that of the Upanishads on which it is based, is 
 nowhere so confused, and indeed grotesque, as when it deals 
 with the passage of the soul from its place of requital back 
 again to be born on earth. 
 Redemption. 
 
 The soul's troubled round of birth and death has no begin- 
 ning, and save for redemption can have no end. Yet in reality 
 1 III. 1.8. 2 III. 1.24-7. 
 
96 THE WAY OF KNOWLEDGE 
 
 it is only an illusion ; when true knowledge comes the soul 
 knows itself one with Brahman and is redeemed. ' The state 
 of final release is nothing but Brahman.' l This redemption 
 can come through knowledge alone, for works, good and bad, 
 bring with them their corresponding reward of pleasure and pain. 
 Thus the result of deeds demands a body wherein to be requited, 
 and so works do not redeem from transmigration but perpetuate 
 it. So, on the first Sutra, Sankara wrote : * The knowledge 
 of active religious duty has for its fruit transitory felicity, and 
 that again depends on the performance of religious acts. The 
 inquiry into Brahman on the other hand has for its fruit eternal 
 bliss and does not depend on the performance of any acts.' And 
 later he writes : ' Release is nothing but being Brahman. There- 
 fore Release is not something to be purified.' It cannot stand 
 * in the slightest relation to any action excepting know- 
 ledge'. 2 
 
 Although works do not redeem, yet the seeker after know- 
 ledge must possess calmness of mind and subdue his senses ; 
 and sacrifices performed without hope of reward may prove a 
 help. 3 So, though works are not a means to salvation, they 
 are useful adjuncts in obtaining knowledge. Sankara quotes 
 from an extra-canonical book the noble words: 'Quietly devoted 
 to his duty, let the wise man pass through life unknown ; let 
 him step on this earth as if he were blind, unconscious, deaf.' 4 
 As Deussen puts it, works have importance, not as meritorious, 
 but as ascetic acts. 5 Meditation, the traditional Indian 
 approach to religious truth, is recommended, and a Sutra runs : 
 ' Sitting (a man is to meditate) on account of the possibility' G 
 
 Modern Vedantists, themselves influenced by Western Ideas, 
 claim for the Vedanta an unparalleled universality ' There 
 is no exclusiveness ', we are told, ' about the religion of the 
 Veddnta, the gates of its temple are open to all to enter. The 
 enlightened Vedantin is expected to make no distinction between 
 a Brahman, a Chandala, a cow and a dog, between friends and 
 
 1 111.4.52. 2 I. 1.4. 111.4.27. ' 111.4. 50. 
 
 5 Das System des Vcdtinta, p. 444. '' IV. I. 7. 
 
THE VEDANTA DOCTRINE 97 
 
 foes, as well as between the virtuous and the sinful.' l Such 
 a claim cannot be made for Sarikara, its classic exponent. 
 However much a Sudra may desire redemption, for him it 
 is impossible. Sankara's opponent admits that a Sudra could 
 not sacrifice, but argues that, as redemption depends on know- 
 ledge, by knowledge he could be redeemed. Sankara will 
 not have it. As the three higher castes alone can perform 
 the upanayana ceremony, they alone can qualify themselves for 
 the study of the Veda and so obtain the saving. knowledge 
 which only comes to students of the Veda. ' Spiritual capa- 
 bility is required in spiritual matters, and spiritual capability is 
 (in the case of the Sudras) excluded, by their being excluded 
 from the study of the Veda! 2 
 
 For those thus qualified, when this knowledge comes, life has 
 no further meaning. The man who knows Brahman is one with 
 Brahman, who is * neither agent nor enjoyer'. Hence he says : 
 ' I neither was an agent nor an enjoyer at any previous time, 
 nor am I such at the present time, nor shall I be such at any 
 future time.' 3 So redemption destroys all moral responsibility. 
 Works good or evil lose their effects and produce no result to 
 be enjoyed or expiated. But if so, why need the redeemed 
 man linger on longer in this life ? Why should he not be 
 at once engulfed in Brahman? Not so, says Sankara: the effects 
 of deeds done before redemption remain ; these have to be 
 experienced, before death can come and redemption be com- 
 plete. 4 At death the soul passes into that highest light 
 which is the self. Between it and Brahman there is no 
 distinction and no division. Into Brahman it flows as waters 
 into the sea. ' Hence ', as the teacher Audulomi says, ' the soul 
 manifests itself in the nature of the true intelligence, free from 
 all manifoldness, calm, not capable of being expressed by any 
 terms.' 5 The self is one, without difference or distinction, with 
 Brahman, the attributeless, sole reality. 
 
 1 Prof. M. Rarigachariar, The Vedantic Conception of Religion, re- 
 printed in Aspects of the Vedanta, p. 63. 
 
 M.S. 34. 3 IV. i. 13. 4 IV. i. 15. 5 VI. 4. 6. 
 
 H 
 
THE WAY OF LOVE 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 THE BHAGAVADGITA 
 
 AMONG educated Hindus to-day no book is so loved, no 
 book is so influential, as the Bhagavadgita. Men speak of 
 the Gitd with kindling eye. They affirm that at each new 
 reading fresh light comes. They profess to find in it an all- 
 sufficient guide to life. Indian publishing houses are continu- 
 ally issuing new translations, commentaries, and expositions. 
 The Neo-Krishna movement, 1 especially, sees in the Krishna 
 of the Gltd one worthy to be compared with the Christ of the 
 Gospels, and works in praise of Krishna and Krishna's Song 
 are frequent. He who would understand the religion of the 
 educated Hindu must study the Gltd as no other book. 
 
 And that study is not easy. Short as the book is, its 
 problems are among the most difficult and elusive in Indian 
 scholarship. Questions of date and structure are usually, in 
 the case of Hindu works, of very restricted interest. In the 
 case of the Gitd their discussion is essential to the understand- 
 ing and exposition of the poem. 
 
 By many devout Hindus the introduction to the Gitd is 
 taken as literal fact. It narrates the actual dialogue between 
 Krishna and Arjuna at Kurukshetra, the field on which was 
 fought, in dim antiquity, the battle between the Pandavas and 
 the Kurus. So the poem is indeed the Lord's song. Its counsel 
 and its comfort are the veritable words of Krishna the All- 
 God, and naturally the poem is regarded as of immemorial 
 age. Such a view is, of course, uncritical and contradicts 
 entirely the development of language and of thought. When 
 
 1 For an account of the literature of this movement, especially in Bengal, 
 see J. N. Farquhar, Gita and Gospel, 82-92. 
 
THE BHAGAVADGITA 
 
 99 
 
 the Gltd was written it is impossible definitely to say. Its 
 latest possible date is fixed by quotations from it in Kalidasa, 
 who lived about A. D. 400. And some European scholars 
 have held that the poem was not written more than a century 
 before that time. On the other hand some Indian scholars, 
 including men so distinguished as Telang 1 and Sir R. G. 
 Bhandarkar, 2 have taught that the poem was written some 
 centuries before the Christian era. Amid the confusion of 
 views there seems to be a growing consensus of opinion that 
 the Gita, as we have it, is not later than the first century, or 
 possibly the second century, A. D. The date is of interest as 
 it makes very improbable, if not quite impossible, the theory 
 once so popular with Western scholars that the close resem- 
 blances in the Gltd to the Christian Gospels are due to direct 
 borrowing. Just because the Gltd was written by one ignorant 
 of Christ, its testimony of a mind * naturally Christian ' is the 
 more valuable and striking. 
 
 It is difficult to believe that the Gltd was written originally 
 in its present form. Its contradictions are not those of an 
 occasional inconsistency. They are vital and irreconcilable. 
 The explanation has been given that the author was a poet, 
 and not a philosopher, and that we must not test an inspired 
 work of poetry by the canons of rigid logic. But the explana- 
 tion is insufficient. In many passages the thought of the 
 Gltd soars to lofty heights, but often it is pedestrian enough. 
 The same ideas are repeated time after time. Verses from 
 the Upanishads are taken over unchanged, whilst the teaching 
 of the three moods of the Sankhyan Philosophy is a piece of 
 pedantry. 3 The Gltd> for all its occasional sublimity, is thus 
 primarily not a work of poetic genius, but a work deliberately 
 written to support a particular religious view. 4 
 
 1 In the introduction to his translation of the BhagavadgHa, S. B. E. 
 viii. 
 
 2 In his recent Vaishncwism, Saivism, &c. Against his argument for 
 an^ early date see A. Berriedale Keith, 77?* Samkhya System, p. 29. 
 
 3 Sattva, Rajas, and Tarn as. 
 
 4 Garbe, Die Bhagavadglta, p. 9. 
 
 H 2 
 
ioo THE WAY OF LOVE 
 
 We are familiar in the Veddnta with the distinction of an exo- 
 teric and an esoteric knowledge. But in the Gltd it is no case 
 of a higher and a lower knowledge. The parts which speak of 
 Krishna as the sole and personal God, the succourer of those that 
 love him, convey no suggestion at all that this is mere exoteric 
 knowledge, and that to a higher knowledge only the neuter 
 Brahman is real. There are then, in the poem, two essentially 
 different strata, the one theistic, the other Vedantic, and the 
 question of which is original has to be met. Unfortunately 
 to this question exactly opposite answers have been made, 
 and the points at issue are not mere minutiae of scholarship, 
 they involve our whole conception of the rise of the -bhakti 
 movement. 
 
 Thus, in his brilliant introduction to his translation of the 
 Gttd, Professor Garbe argues strongly that it is the Vedantic 
 element that is not original. Often as the words Sahkhya 
 and Yoga appear, the word Vedanta is only once found and 
 then in the sense of Upanishad. 1 The poem as a whole is 
 essentially theistic. A personal God Krishna, in the form of 
 an earthly hero, demands, in addition to the selfless fulfilment 
 of duty, believing love and surrender to him. He shows 
 himself in his supernatural, but still human, form, and promises 
 to reward all faithful love by union with him after death. 
 Such, then, Garbe holds, is the original Gltd, which he assigns 
 to about 200 B. c. ; 2 later it was redacted in the interests of 
 the Vedanta and the closely related Mlmamsa schools 
 a redaction which Garbe teaches took place in the second 
 century after Christ. Dr. Garbe ventures to indicate these 
 Vedantic interpolations, which amount, in his judgement, to 
 about one-fifth of the whole poem. Their removal, as he 
 
 1 XV. 15 : ' I am to be known by all the Vtnitts. I am thefrumer of the 
 Z'Tv/dfrends (i>edanta\ the knower of the Vetinx' 
 
 " Garbe bases his argument for this early date largely on the ignorance 
 of the author of the B. G. of the Yoga-Sutras of Patanjali, whom he 
 identifies with the Grammarian who lived in the second century r.. r.. 
 but, as Keith shows, this identification of the reputed author of the Yoga- 
 Sutras with Patanjali the Grammarian is very improbable irvV// A. I'.. 
 Keith, The Samkhyn System, pp. 30 and 57). 
 
THE BHAGA VADfA ' t .,.! 
 
 claims, would not only simplify the" teaching but' make the 
 connexion of the poem more intimate and natural. 1 
 
 Dr. Garbe's theory is a very attractive attempt to apply to 
 the problems of Hindu scholarship the apparatus of the 
 Higher Criticism, which has been so fruitful in Old Testament 
 research, but the theory has not won many converts. It is 
 true that Sir R. G. Bhandarkar, whose earlier researches Garbe 
 utilizes, 2 claims that he has ' established on irrefragable evi- 
 dence the existence during the first three or four centuries 
 before Christ of a religion with Vasudeva as its central figure, 
 and of a school of his followers known by the name of 
 Bhagavats ', 3 but unfortunately the evidence he adduces of 
 this early bhakti faith seems not only not ' irrefragable ' but 
 ambiguous and inconsistent. The view of Hopkins and Keith 
 seems more probable. The original Gita was probably an old 
 verse Upanishad written rather later than the Svetasvatara 
 Upanishad, and worked up later into the present Gita in the 
 interests of Krishnaism. In this way a means was provided 
 for Vaishnavite devotees to express their devotion in the terms 
 of the philosophies of the time. Thus Vishnu was identified 
 with the Supreme God, the Brahman-Atman, of the Upani- 
 shads, and also with Krishna, the hero of the Epic. So Vishnu 
 ceased to be merely one of the Hindu gods, or even a member 
 of the so-called Hindu trinity, and became instead the Abso- 
 lute, the Source of All-being. At the same time Krishna 
 becomes the full incarnation of Vishnu-Brahman, and receives 
 
 1 Thus to take, as example, the first big gloss : Garbe regards III. 9-18 
 as a Mimamsa interpolation. As the text stands III. 19, 'Therefore fulfil 
 "ever without attachment the work which thou hast to do ; for the man who 
 
 does his work without attachment wins to the supreme,' contradicts III. 
 17. 18, which assert that for the man whose delight is in self 'there is 
 naught for which he should work'. If the interpolation be removed, then 
 III. 1 9 connects naturally with III. 8 : ' Do thine ordained work for work is 
 more excellent than no work. Even the subsistence of the body cannot 
 be won from no work.' (All verbal quotations from the Gitd, in inverted 
 commas, are from Barnett's translation.) 
 
 2 Garbe, Die Bhagavadgitd, pp. 19, 20. 
 
 3 Vide Vaishnavism, Saivism, &c., pp. 3 and 41. He regards the Gita as 
 a theistic protest against the ascetic and atheistic tendencies of the time. 
 
loj THE WAY OF LOVE 
 
 the title Bhagavan, the blessed Lord. To the familiar ways 
 of knowledge and of works is added the way of bhakti, of 
 devotion. The Vaishnavite practice was thus justified by 
 reason. The best and normal way of worshipping God is to 
 worship Vishnu in the temples. The Glta was thus an 
 attempt to unite Hindu metaphysics and practice, Hindu 
 theology and religion. The popularity of the book to-day 
 shows that the attempt has been as successful as it was 
 brilliant. Irreconcilables remain indeed irreconciled, and yet 
 sufficiently in relation to exist side by side in the minds and 
 hearts of devout Hindus, 
 
 To give a systematic statement of the Glta teaching is 
 clearly impossible. It will be convenient to deal separately 
 with the two chief strata, the theistic and the Vedantic. 
 Whatever theory be adopted of the Gita's origin, it is the 
 theistic element that is most prominent, and important, and 
 we shall describe this chiefly, using, for convenience, Garbe's 
 analysis, though without accepting his conclusions. 
 
 Arjuna on the battle-field hesitates to order the fighting 
 to begin. The leaders of the hostile forces are his kinsmen : 
 why should he be the means of their death ? He appeals to 
 Krishna for counsel, and professes his unwillingness to fight. 
 Though they seek to slay him, he will not slay. To do so 
 would be sin. At the destruction of a family stock, laws 
 perish and lawlessness ensues. The women sin and, through 
 their sin, castes are mixed and that leads to hell the family 
 and its destroyers. No longer can ancestors receive their 
 wonted offerings. A heavy sin then would it be * to slay our 
 kin from lust after the sweets of kingship'. 1 The Lord 
 Krishna bids him lay aside this unmanly spirit, and Arjuna 
 appeals to him for guidance. ' My soul stricken with the stain 
 of unmanliness, my mind all unsure of the law, I ask thee 
 tell me clearly what will be the more blest way. I am thy 
 
 1 1. 45- 
 
THE BHAGAVADGlrA 103 
 
 disciple ; teach me who am come to thee for refuge.' l The 
 Lord replies that his grief is unfitting. The wise grieve not 
 over death. Souls are without beginning and end. The con- 
 nexion of a soul with a particular body is of no moment. 
 Pleasure and pain belong not to the soul but to the influences 
 of matter, and these are transitory. Those who know the 
 truth are delivered from their power. So there is no real 
 slaying. The soul puts off its outward body and takes another 
 as a man puts on new clothes. Why then should we grieve 
 over any born being? If Arjuna shrinks from' the fight, he 
 will be held a coward. If he fights and is slain, he will win 
 paradise. If he fights and conquers, his will be the joys of 
 earth. Let him then be resolute and do his duty. 2 
 
 Thus much, says Krishna, is according to the teaching of 
 the Sarikhya. Now let him learn the lesson of the Yoga. 
 Works must be done but without thought of reward. So 
 even in activity a man may preserve quiet of mind. ' The 
 man who casts off all desires and walks without desire with no 
 thought of a Mine and of an / comes into peace.' 3 And 
 works belong not really to the ' I '. They are done by the 
 moods (gunas) of nature. This teaching, says Krishna, is not 
 new. He declared it in the dim past. For his previous births 
 had been many. Whenever need arises, once more he is born. 4 
 Krishna works yet is workless. Wise is the man who does 
 the same. Those who offer sacrifices, who mortify the flesh 
 and control the breath are not rejected, but the best sacrifice 
 is the sacrifice of knowledge. Such a man works fetter not. 
 He possesses his self.' Thus the casting off (sannydsa) of 
 works and the rule (yoga) of works both lead to bliss. 6 Only 
 the ignorant distinguish between the ^ankhya and Yoga 
 doctrines. The ways of Yoga are many. Some control the 
 breath not looking around them, but the best Yogin, says 
 Krishna, ' is he who worships me in faith with his dwelling 
 in me '. 7 
 
 MI.;. 2 I. 28-11.38. MI. 71. MV. 7. 9. 
 
 5 IV. 41. 6 V. 2. 7 VI. 47. 
 
J04 THE WAY OF LOVE 
 
 At length Arjuna asks Krishna to let him look upon him 
 in his glory. So the Lord granted unto Arjuna to behold him 
 as the Supreme. 1 His light was like the light of a thousand 
 suns ; many were his mouths and eyes, his marvellous aspects. 
 His form filled the mid-space between heaven and earth and 
 all the quarters of the sky. The threefold world quaked. To 
 him gathered all the Gods, the ancestors, the saints. Arjuna 
 trembles at the sight. Krishna's mouths are * grim with teeth 
 like to the fire of the last days '. 2 In them Arjuna beholds 
 the chief of his adversaries caught between the teeth, their 
 heads crushed. Into the blazing mouths, the worlds too were 
 ' passing with exceeding speed to perish '. The Lord explains 
 that in him, Arjuna sees events to come. Already has Krishna 
 smitten the mighty men of war, Arjuna's enemies. Let Arjuna 
 therefore smite and fear not. 
 
 Arjuna beholding the Lord in his splendour, marvels that 
 ever he called him friend and ' hailed him as Krishna, Yadava, 
 or comrade, in ignorance of this, his majesty, through heedless- 
 ness or affection '. :>< He prays the Lord to show himself again 
 as Krishna with diadem and mace and disk in hand, four- 
 armed. And Vasudeva does as he requests. So, with many 
 repetitions and amplifications, the dialogue continues, and the 
 Divine Lay concludes with a beautiful invitation to Arjuna to 
 seek refuge in the Lord and thus be delivered from all sins. 
 And he is promised that all those who recite or read the story 
 of the message thus graciously vouchsafed, shall come unto 
 the Lord. And Arjuna replies, ' My bewilderment has 
 vanished away : I have gotten remembrance of thy grace, 
 O, never-falling, I stand freed from doubt, I will do thy word/ 4 
 
 Such in briefest outline is the Song of the Lord. The 
 Bhagavat religion is here so united with Brahmanism, that 
 Krishna is identified with Vishnu and Vishnu-Krishna is the 
 supreme God. And this religion has found its intellectual 
 expression in categories of the Sankhya and Yoga systems. 
 
 1 In the eleventh song. XI. 25. 3 XI. 41. ' XVIII. 73. 
 
THE BHAGAVADGlrA 105 
 
 This Sankhyan system was an atheistic L dualism which 
 asserted the eternal and separate existence of a primordial 
 matter (prakriti) on the one hand, and a multiplicity of spirits 
 (purusha-dtmau) on the other. Redemption consisted in thus 
 recognizing the absolute independence of the individual soul 
 from matter. All the activities and feelings of man are ulti- 
 mately physical. The soul itself is unchangeable, inactive 
 and impassive. The redemption the Sankhya seeks by way 
 of reflection, the Yoga seeks by way of religious practices. 
 By regulation of the breath and the like, all the activities 
 of the Yogin were withdrawn from external objects into 
 the intelligence (the buddhi)? 1 A higher path is thus made 
 possible and through concentration (dharana), meditation 
 (dhydna), and absorption (samddhi), unconsciousness is reached. 
 The soul, emancipated even from the intelligence (buddhi}^ is 
 completely retracted from all connexion with the material and 
 abides in insentient solitude. Whereas the Sankhya rejected 
 Isvara, the Yoga accepts him as a helper of the Yogin. In the 
 Bhagavadgltd these two systems are combined, and this 
 Sankhya- Yoga system is here made unmistakably monotheistic. 
 Thus when Arj una complains that, if he slays his kinsfolk, 
 great will be his sin, the comfort Krishna gives in pure 
 Sankhya. ' The Body's Tenant ' passes from childhood into 
 age, untouched and unaffected by the body. It is the influ- 
 ences of matter which produce the ' pairs ' of cold and heat, 
 and pleasure and pain. Although matter is eternal, these 
 influences are transitory. It is only the bodies in which the 
 spirit dwells, that die. So Krishna says, ' This body's tenant 
 for all time may not be wounded in the bodies of any beings. 
 Therefore thou dost not well to sorrow for any born beings.' 3 
 And this independence of the soul from matter is frequently 
 reaffirmed. All our activities are due to the moods (guna) of 
 nature. It is only through illusive egoism (ahamkdrd) that 
 
 1 Atheism here means the denial of a supreme God. The popular 
 polytheism was not attacked. 
 
 2 The intelligence, or buddhi, itself belongs to the material. ? ' II. 30. 
 
io6 THE WAY OF LOVE 
 
 the self imagines / am the doer. 1 Of these ' Moods ' there 
 are three, Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. Etymologically these 
 words denote goodness, fieriness, and gloom, but -really the 
 words do not admit of translation. They denote at once 
 qualities in external things and their correlates in the indivi- 
 dual man. The theory is important because, in it, all deeds 
 and traits of character are referred to purely physical causes. 2 
 Goodness (sattva) ' fetters by the attachment of pleasantness 
 and knowledge '. Fieriness (rajas), ' which is in essence 
 passion ', fetters with the attachment of words. Gloom 
 (tamas), which is 'born of ignorance', ' fetters by heedlessness, 
 sloth, and sleep '. 3 
 
 In one passage the conception of redemption does not 
 transcend that of the Sahkhyan system. The spirit and 
 nature with its moods are described as both beginningless. 
 The Spirit (purusha) is born again because of the bondage of 
 the moods of nature. But the wise man, who knows the spirit 
 (purushd), and nature with its moods, is redeemed. He never 
 again is born. 4 But such a redemption, without moral change 
 or love, is not in accordance with the general teaching of the 
 Gltd. It is a piece of Sankhyan philosophy unharmonized 
 with the Bhagavat religion. Generally the discrimination be- 
 tween nature and spirit is regarded merely as a preliminary 
 accessory to the redemption which comes through the way 
 of loving faith in the Lord. In this way the Sahkhyan 
 teaching is transfused into a religion. Instead of a multiplicity 
 of souls in absolute independence, the human soul is regarded 
 as a part of the divine essence. The Adorable One says : 
 ' A portion of me is the ancient elemental soul in the world of 
 souls.' 5 Instead of the denial of a supreme God, we have 
 
 1 III. 27. 
 
 2 External objects convey impressions to three internal physical organs : 
 
 (1) the manas, which receives the impressions and conveys them to 
 
 (2) buddhi* or intelligence, and (3) the ahariikara, the principle of egoism, 
 which makes the self regard the body's activity as its own. Garbe, 
 Sankhya nnd Yoga, p. 24. 
 
 ' XIV. 5-7. " XIII. 19-23. : ' XV. 7. 
 
THE BHAGAVADGlTA 107 
 
 the beautiful and powerful portrayal of a God mighty and 
 merciful. 
 
 God in the Gltd is a spiritual being. In one passage, 1 
 Nature is indeed spoken of as a part of Him, but, in view of 
 the general teaching of the Gtta, the reference would seem to 
 be to God's activity in nature. ' God is beyond the Perishable, 
 and likewise higher than the Imperishable.' 2 He is the ' unborn, 
 the one without beginning, great Lord of worlds '. 3 From 
 Him * the All proceeds '. 4 He it is who at the end of each 
 age makes and moulds nature again. 5 Transcendent, He is 
 immanent in the heart of all born beings. In the Glta's sense 
 of selfless activity, He is the true Yogin ; for He is the doer of 
 work, and yet no worker. ' Works defile Him not. He has 
 no longing for fruit of works.' 6 On His selfless activity the 
 world depends. He is self-sufficient yet He works. 7 Not 
 only does He conserve the world. In times of special need 
 He appears on earth to succour the right and restrain the 
 wrong. Says the Adorable One, ' Many births of me and thee, 
 have passed, O Arjuna. I know them all ; but thou knowest 
 them not, O affright er of the foe. Though birthless, and 
 unchanging of essence, and though Lord of born beings, yet 
 in My sway over the nature that is Mine own I come into 
 birth by My own magic (may a). For whensoever the law 
 fails and lawlessness uprises, then do I bring myself to bodied 
 birth. To guard the righteous, to destroy evil-doers, to 
 establish the law, I come into birth age after age '. 8 Thus the 
 God of the Gltd is not the meaningless cipher of the Veddnta. 
 The Supreme loves men and is known of them : * Exceedingly 
 dear am I to the man of knowledge and he to me '. 9 Graciously 
 He bids men come to share His grace and find in Him their 
 refuge. 
 
 Just as the Gltd has transformed the theoretic teaching of 
 the Sankhya, so it has enriched and modified the practical 
 discipline of the Yoga. The quest for salvation, by flight from 
 
 1 VII. 4-6. 2 XV. 18. 3 X. 3. 4 X. 8. 5 IX. 7. 8. 
 
 IV. 13. 14. 7 III. 22. 8 IV. 5-8. 9 VII. 17. 
 
io8 THE WAY OF LOVE 
 
 the world, austerity, and meditation, was too prevalent to be 
 entirely rejected, and the old Yoga method is still enjoined. 
 In one passage, indeed, it would appear that to the saintly man 
 works were a mere preliminary, and calm the real means of 
 becoming a true Yogin. 1 More characteristically, the Yoga 
 discipline in the technical sense is recommended as a help to 
 complete detachment from the world by the way of knowledge. 
 Let the Yogin ' abide alone in a secret place, utterly subdued 
 in mind, without craving, and without possessions'. Let him 
 sit * with thought intent, and the workings of mind and sense- 
 instruments restrained, holding body, head, and neck in 
 unmoving equipoise, gazing on the end of his nose, and 
 looking not round about him, calm of spirit, void of fear, 
 abiding under the rule of chastity, with mind restrained, and 
 thought set on the Lord, so shall he sit, that is under the Rule 
 (yoga)* given over to me'. 2 
 
 But the author of the Divine Lay puts side by side with 
 this a new and better Yoga, which a man could practise and 
 still remain in the world and do in the world a man's work. 
 Let a man do his duty, but in the Yoga spirit, free from 
 attachment to the fruit of work, and without hope of reward. 
 It is in this teaching that the Gltd makes one of its greatest 
 contributions to Indian thought. And in the verse which 
 Indian commentators have called the quintessence of the 
 whole poem, this way alone is taught. ' He who does My 
 work, who is given over to Me, who is devoted to Me, void of 
 attachment, without hatred of any born being, comes to Me.' a 
 Each man's duty is clear. Let him look to the law of his 
 caste and do it without dismay. Arjuna is a Kshatriya and 
 as a Kshatriya must do a soldier's work unflinchingly. ' For 
 to a knight (Kshatriya), there is no thing more blest than 
 a lawful strife.' 4 Thus to each caste there is a special duty 
 and this duty must be done. This teaching has been often 
 condemned for its immorality, 5 and certainly the doctrine that 
 
 1 VI. 3. - VI. 10-14. JU- 55. 4 II. 31. 
 
 ' And not only by western writers. Thus in an article in the Son' at 
 
THE BHAGAVADGlrA 109 
 
 no man can be blamed if he fulfil the duties of his caste has 
 been carried in India to an appalling extreme. A man's work 
 may be to steal, a woman's, to be a temple prostitute. But it 
 may well be doubted if the author of the Glta would have 
 sanctioned such an application of his doctrine. The strife in 
 which Arjuna is engaged is a ' lawful strife ' and it is assumed 
 that the war is just. And in other parts of the Glta a high 
 morality is enjoined. Thus the qualities assigned to men, born 
 to the estate of the gods, form a goodly catalogue of virtues. 
 ' Fearlessness, purity of the goodness-mood (sattvd), abiding in 
 knowledge and the Rule, almsgiving, restraint of sense, sacri- 
 fice, scripture-reading, mortification, uprightness, harmlessness, 
 truth, wrathlessness, renunciation, restraint of spirit, lack of 
 malice, pity towards born beings, unwantoning sense, tender- 
 ness, modesty, steadfastness, heroic temper, patience, constancy, 
 purity, innocence, and lack of overweening spirit, are in him 
 that is born to God's estate/ a 
 
 Thus a man may be redeemed from the world in the midst 
 of the world's activities. He may do his work as if he did it 
 not. Engaged in his daily task, he may yet be a true Yogin 
 if only he be untrammelled by his deeds. So to do, is better 
 than to renounce activity. ' Casting off of works 2 and the rule 
 of works 3 both lead to bliss, but of these the rule of works is 
 higher than the casting off of works/ 4 It is in Krishna, not 
 
 Reform Advocate of Madras (Oct. 30, 1915) we read: 'Krishna is 
 strangely oblivious, or deliberately ignores, the fact that the Kshatriya 
 is more than a mere Kshatriya, that he is also a comrade, a master, 
 a servant, &c., owing duties as such to others in the various relations 
 of life. How is it that this pretended gospel of duty is silent as the 
 grave upon these other duties of his? Verily the Bhagavadgita is 
 a scripture of ruthless cold-blooded assassination of one's own kindred, 
 of the apotheosis of a soulless, sordid exploitation of the non-Brahman 
 castes by the Brahmans. . . . He (Krishna) is a god after the Brahmans' 
 own heart, a proof that man makes gods in his own image. In the 
 triumphant boom of his conch on the day of Kurukshetra, one hears 
 the knell of India's unity and solidarity, the parting day of her imperial 
 sway under Asoka the Great.' 
 \ XVI. 1-3. 
 
 2 The word used is sannydsa, from which sannyasin is derived. 
 
 3 Yo'jra. 4 V. 2. 
 
no THE WAY OF LOVE 
 
 in sacred rites, that a man must find refuge. 1 Sacrifices lead 
 only to the world of the gods. 2 If a man do them, he must 
 do them without thought of advantage or reward. 3 Through 
 the attraction of the ' mood ' of nature it is hard so to act. 
 One who does so, is a true Sannyasin and a trije Yogin. 4 
 
 Whether a man treads the path of meditation or of selfless 
 activity, it is only that he may be ready for redemption. And 
 redemption comes from Krishna's grace which is appropriated 
 by the bhakti of men. ' Bhakti ' is a word difficult to translate. 
 Perhaps ' devotion ' is the best English rendering. This 
 devotion to the Lord may be directed to other gods. With 
 the tolerance so characteristic of Hinduism, Krishna is said to 
 receive all forms of worship. It is in this way that the most 
 degraded indigenous cults have been absorbed into Hinduism. 
 It is in this way, too, at the other extreme, that many Hindus 
 to-day praise Christ through worshipping Krishna, and describe 
 the worship Christians offer to Christ as acceptable to their 
 Lord Krishna. * If any worshipper whatsoever seeks with 
 faith to reverence any body whatsoever, that same faith in 
 him I make steadfast.' 5 ' They also, who worship other Gods 
 and make offering to them with faith, do verily make offering 
 to Me though not according to ordinance.' G Krishna's grace 
 is open to all, irrespective of character, or caste, or sex. 7 Even 
 doers of great evil, if they worship Krishna, are deemed good 
 because of their purpose, and speedily come to righteousness 
 of soul. Even those who, because of their sins in former 
 births, are born as women, or in the two lower castes (Vaisyas 
 and Sudras), if they turn to Krishna, attain to the supreme 
 path. 8 And it matters not how trifling be the offerings men 
 bring. Krishna will accept them. ' If one of earnest spirit set 
 
 1 XVIII. 66. 2 VII. 23. 
 
 3 This, of course, removes the motive of the Brahmanic rites, which are 
 frankly based on the principle do ut des. 
 
 4 VI. i. 5 VII. 21. MX. 23. 
 
 7 So the Gl/d, though called the * essence of all the Upanishcuis ', is only 
 tradition (smriti) and not scripture (sntfi); for Sudras and women arc 
 not permitted to hear sntfi. 
 
 8 IX. 30-2. 
 
THE BHAGAVADGITA in 
 
 before Me with devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I enjoy', 
 says Krishna, ' this offering of devotion/ l So to all, Krishna 
 gives the invitation He gave to Arjuna. * As thou hast 
 come into this unstable and joyless world, worship Me ; have 
 thy mind on Me, thy devotion towards Me, thy sacrifice to 
 Me, do homage to Me. To Me shalt thou come.' 2 Of the 
 nature of the future life of those who thus come to Krishna, 
 the Gltd speaks with but little clearness. From the Sankhyan 
 standpoint, the soul, when redeemed, is completely freed from 
 all connexion with matter and, as consciousness, becomes 
 extinct. But the promises of the Gltd seem in opposition to 
 this to denote a conscious communion with the supreme. 
 Those who are redeemed by knowledge, says Krishna, c become 
 one in quality with me ' 3 , but this relationship seems one of 
 likeness, not identity. 
 
 Such in brief is the teaching of the more theistic part of the 
 Gltd in which the Bhagavat religion is expressed in terms of 
 the Sankhya-Yoga doctrine. 
 
 In the Gitd, as it stands, this teaching is confused by the 
 Vedantic element. Garbe, as we have seen, would regard this 
 as due to a late Redaction. More probably it is the original 
 element, uncoordinated with the later teaching. Thus, in the 
 passage in the third song already referred to, the command to 
 Arjuna to do his own work, without attachment, is interrupted 
 by a long passage explaining the efficacy of sacrifice. * The 
 gods, comforted by the sacrifice, shall give to him the pleasures 
 of his desire. He that enjoys these their gifts, without giving 
 to them, is a thief.' 4 So elsewhere it is said that neither this 
 world nor the next is for him who does not offer sacrifices. 5 
 Of greater importance is the Vedantic assertion that Krishna 
 is the All. 6 He is the taste in the water, the light in the 
 moon, the mystic syllable Om in the Vedas^ the understanding 
 of them that understand, the splendour of the splendid. 7 Few 
 there are that thus know Krishna to be the All. 8 
 
 1 IX. 26. 2 IX. 33, 34. 3 XIV. 2. 4 III. 12. 5 IV. 31. 
 6 VI. 29-31. 7 VII. 7-1 1. 8 VII. 19. 
 
ii2 THE WAY OF LOVE 
 
 In a long and tedious passage Krishna is identified with the 
 greatest of each kind of being. 1 This beginningless, supreme 
 Brahman is described in familiar Upanishadic terms as Om, 
 tat, sat? To understand the doctrine of the Brahman is to 
 enjoy the essence of immortality/" Krishna as the All is 
 declared to be ' known by all the Vedas ; He is the framer of 
 the Vedas ends (i.e. the Upanishads), the knower of the 
 Vedas '. 4 In Krishna's body, Arjuna may behold the whole 
 universe and all else that he would see. 5 In clear contradiction 
 to the Gltas central teaching, Krishna is said to be veiled by 
 illusion (maya) and known to none, and He, who elsewhere is 
 declared to love men, is here described as * indifferent to all 
 born beings ' ; there is none whom He hates, none whom He 
 loves. 7 
 
 Whatever be the Gltas origin and structure, it is the poem 
 as it stands which is so loved in India to-day. Of a systematic 
 philosophy it is clearly impossible to speak. The contradic- 
 tions are fundamental and irreconcilable. 8 Yet to the devout 
 Hindu, these apparently cause no difficulty. Somehow in 
 Hinduism the 'law of excluded middle' does not seem to 
 apply. ' A ' may be both ' B ' and ' not-B ' and in the same 
 sense. The very inconsistency of the Glta has probably 
 increased its popularity. Thus, in the poem as we have it, 
 there is presented a personal God knowing and loving His 
 worshippers. Yet this God is described, in terms of Vedantic 
 pantheism, as the All, the Brahman. And some such illogical 
 compromise of impersonal pantheism and personal theism 
 seems to be just the religion of many educated Hindus to-day. 
 But it may be doubted whether much of the position and 
 power of the Glta is due to philosophy in the systematic 
 sense. It is because the Glta supplies, what the Vedanta fails 
 
 1 X. 12-42. 2 XVII. 23-7. Mil. 12 -is. ' XV. 15. 
 
 r - XI. 7. t; VII. 25,26 IN. 29. 
 
 8 For a very sympathetic exposition of 'the Comprehensive Universality 
 of the Theology of the Glta' see ('. HowelPs .SV>/// // India, pp. 425-90. 
 
THE BHAGAVADGirA 113 
 
 to give, that it is so highly valued. It is through its demand 
 for selfless obedience to duty, and its portrayal of a gracious 
 God, willing to be loved and trusted, that it has won its place 
 in the heart of India. The true Yogin is described in words 
 of strange and haunting beauty. ' Hateless towards all born 
 beings, friendly and pitiful, void of the thought of Mine and /, 
 bearing indifferently pain and pleasure, patient, ever content, 
 the Man of the Rule, subdued of spirit and steadfast of purpose, 
 who has set mind and understanding on Me and worships Me 
 is dear to Me. He before whom the world is not dismayed, 
 and who is not dismayed before the world, who is void of 
 joy, impatience, fear and dismay, desireless, pure, skilful, 
 impartial, free from terrors, who renounces all undertakings, 
 and worships Me, is dear to me. One indifferent to foe and to 
 friend, indifferent in honour and in dishonour, in heat and in 
 cold, in joy and in pain, free of attachment, who holds in 
 equal account blame and praise, silent, content with whatsoever 
 befall, homeless, firm of judgement, possessed of devotion, is 
 a man dear to Me.' l And in Krishna's final appeal, men 
 have found and do find consolation. ' In Him seek refuge 
 with thy whole soul ; by His grace, thou shalt win supreme 
 peace, the everlasting realm. Thus have I set forth to thee 
 deepest of deep knowledge ; ponder upon it in its fullness, and 
 do as thou wilt. Hear again My supreme word, deepest of 
 all, for that thou art exceedingly beloved of Me, therefore 
 I will say what is for thy weal. Have thy mind on Me, thy 
 devotion towards Me* thy sacrifice to Me, do homage to Me. 
 To Me thou shalt come. I make thee a truthful promise ; 
 thou art very dear to Me. Surrendering all the Laws, come 
 for refuge to Me alone. I will deliver thee from all sins ; 
 grieve not/ 2 
 
 Words such as these are the best witness to the spiritual 
 genius of the author of the Gltd. Yet in two respects he was 
 unfortunate. The Sankhyan philosophy, in which the teaching 
 of the Gltd is expressed, is essentially unethical. Deeds 
 1 XII. 13-19. 2 XVIII. 62-6. 
 
 I 
 
ii4 THE WAY OF LOVE 
 
 belong only to the material world. It is only our ignorance 
 which imagines that the soul is trammelled by its deeds ; in 
 reality the soul is inactive and impassive. Such a view 
 impoverishes the conception of human personality and 
 responsibility. From it can be easily deduced teaching which 
 is immoral. Thus the argument that, as the ' body's tenant ' 
 (i.e. the soul) cannot be injured, there is really no such thing 
 as slaying, is a sophistry which has been used even in recent 
 years to justify political assassination. The author of the Gltd 
 is all the more to be admired that, in spite of a philosophy so 
 unethical, and irreligious, as the Sankhyan, he, for the most 
 part, proclaims so high an ethical ideal. 
 
 And, in its religious influence, the Gltd has suffered much 
 from the fact that the Krishna it proclaims, is inevitably 
 confused in the popular mind with the freakish, vicious 
 Krishna of the Puranas. The Krishna of the Gltd is indeed 
 nobly and beautifully portrayed, and the attempt that used to 
 be made by Christian apologists in India to ridicule the high 
 teaching of the Gltd by saying that it came from the mouth of 
 a murderer, an adulterer, and a thief, was as unjust as it was impo- 
 litic. 1 Yet it has to be recognized more clearly than is generally 
 done in the West that the Krishna cult which the Gltd did so 
 much to further has too often been a debasing influence. It is 
 in this association of the ideal Krishna of the Glta with the 
 Krishna of the Purdnas that we have the most tragic feature in 
 India's religious history. The Krishna of the Gltd is the product 
 of a devout and elevated imagination, bot imagination may be 
 degraded and blasphemous, and, in the Purdnas^ Krishna is 
 conceived by an imagination at once foul and foolish. Porno- 
 graphic literature exists in Europe, to Christendom's disgrace, 
 but it is detested by religious men and exists, not because of, 
 but in spite of, Christianity. But here the records of Krishna's 
 
 1 Such methods of controversy are happily obsolete among missionaries 
 of aJl but the narrowest sects, but I have often heard such arguments used 
 by Indian Christians. It is but natural that in the case of those who, as 
 outcastes, felt the cruelty of Hinduism, there should be a reluctance to 
 recognize its higher aspects. 
 
THE BHA GA VADGITA i j 5 
 
 sensuality, told with every salacious detail, are 'religious' 
 stories and familiar even to children. 1 And the modern 
 endeavour of men, who through the influence of Christianity 
 have grown ashamed of these stories, to treat them as 
 a spiritual allegory is only a counsel of despair, and bad, in 
 that it continues to draw attention to tales which in the 
 interests of Indian morality should be once for all rejected and 
 forgotten. 
 
 Modern Vedantists sometimes speak of the superiority of 
 Hinduism to Christianity in not being confined to one historic 
 figure. The history of the Krishna cult is the best answer to 
 this argument. In the case of Christianity a silly imagination 
 is held in restraint by historic fact. Each age is forced back 
 again upon the actual figure of Jesus Christ as recorded in the 
 Gospels. In the case of the Krishna cult, even the noble 
 conception of the Gita, because it was the product of imagina- 
 tion, and not the record of fact, is unable to provide a standard. 
 It could not save itself from being debased and befouled 
 through association with the lewd Krishna of the Puranas. 
 It is through the influence of Christianity that the Gltd has 
 now won its place as the best-prized book in India. And 
 that place more than all Hindu books it deserves. Here as 
 nowhere else in Indian literature there is depicted the high 
 aspirations of a soul naturally Christian. Here there speaks 
 with poignancy and power the eager craving for the revelation 
 of a God of love, and an actual incarnate Saviour. 
 
 1 Cp. Vishnu Purana, Book V. A Hindu told a friend of mine that the 
 peculiarly vile story of Krishna's night of unspeakable debauchery had 
 always impressed him in boyhood as a proof of divine strength and 
 virility. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 THE LOVERS OF GOD 
 
 THE Vedic hymns, the Upanishads, the Vedantasutras, and 
 the Bhagavadglta, are the chief documents of the Higher 
 Hinduism of the English educated classes. But even the 
 briefest account of living and effective Hinduism would be 
 incomplete which made no mention of the passionate, and 
 sometimes exalted, devotion to the Gods, cherished, not only 
 by those educated in Western thought, but still more by those 
 impervious to Western culture. It is not the purpose of this 
 chapter to give a history of this bhakti movement. 1 It is 
 rather the aim to indicate by a few choice instances its religious 
 nature. For the Vaishnavite, this devotion gathers round the 
 cycle of legends connected with the heroes, regarded as the 
 two chief of Vishnu's incarnations, Krishna and Rama. The 
 Saivite devotion is directed to no incarnation of Siva, but to 
 Siva himself in his various forms and attributes. 
 
 It must suffice to illustrate very briefly the Vaishnavite 
 devotion from the writings of Tukaram and Tulsi Das, and 
 then to deal at greater length with the love to Siva as revealed 
 especially in the works of that fine old Tamil saint and poet, 
 Manikka Vasagar. 
 
 Tukaram and tJic Krishna Cult. 
 
 Too much of the later worship of Krishna is vitiated by its 
 erotic nature. The relation of the soul to God is that of a 
 
 1 There is a most illuminating review of the Bhaktimarga (by Sir 
 G. A. Grierson) in E.R.E. ii., 539-51, and more recently in Sir R. G. 
 
 Bhandarkar's ]'iiishnai>isni. Snh'ixni. iind iMino> Religions Systems, 
 and for a popular description see R. VV. Fni/.er's Jn,Unn Thought. 
 ./;/// /'resent, pp. 200-70. 
 
THE LOVERS OF GOD 117 
 
 passionate woman to her lover, and inevitably a religion so 
 emotional and sexual in conception, leads, as Dr. Barnett says, 
 ' to a deep sensualism both of the spirit and also of the body '. * 
 Yet Krishna too has been worshipped by pure and high-minded 
 men, and such was Tukaram. 2 
 
 Tukaram has himself told us the story of his conversion and 
 ' call ' to service. At famine time his wife had died of 
 starvation, and he was full of shame. He was only a Sudra 
 tradesman, but he resolved to become a devotee of Krishna. 
 He tried to preach and sing his praises, but words would not 
 come, and so he learnt by heart speeches of the saints. At 
 length the gift of poetry became his. ' I counted holy ', he 
 says, 'the water wherein the feet of the saints had been 
 washed. I suffered no shame to enter my mind. I served 
 others when the chance was given me, wearing out my 
 body. I paid no heed to friends who loved me. I was 
 heartily sick of the crowd. The impulse of poetry fell upon 
 me. I embraced the feet of Vithoba.' 3 
 
 He became the perfect devotee of Krishna. ' If I praise any 
 other but thee, let my tongue rot away. If I care for any 
 other but thee, let my head be crushed. If I find pleasure in 
 others, surely it is sinful that very instant. If the ears drink 
 no nectar of God's glory, what use are they ? Tuka says, If I 
 forget thee for one moment, what purpose will life serve ? ' 4 
 Prosaic as his poems sometimes seem, they express often a 
 genuine and hearty joy in Krishna's worship. * O Lord, thou 
 art impatient to serve thy devotees. I have learned to trust 
 
 1 The Heart of India, p. 46. 
 
 2 Tukaram was born in 1608 in the village of Dehu, about thirty miles 
 from Poona. 
 
 3 Paragraph 101 : quotations are from J. N. Eraser's translation. 
 Vithoba is here Krishna as worshipped at the shrine of Vithoba at 
 Pandharpur, round which the popular Vaishnavism of the Maratha country 
 centres. Bhandarkar points out that in the religious literature which 
 gathers round Vithoba, Krishna is conceived, not as the lover of Radha, 
 his mistress, but as the husband of RukminI, his lawful wife, and in this 
 way ' the Vaishnavism of the Maratha country is more sober and purer ' 
 (op. cit., p. 89). 
 
 4 Paragraph 151. 
 
n8 THE WAY OF LOVE 
 
 thy feet ; hence I have given up all other efforts. Sages and 
 saints without number have learned what thy great purpose is. 
 Imperishable is that bliss which thou hast bestowed on these 
 who have altogether ceased to heed the world. Tuka says, 
 The spirit cannot contain that bliss. I have set thy feet in my 
 heart.' l And in another stanza the joy becomes ecstatic. 
 ' As we recall thy name our throat is choked with emotion ; 
 love swells within us. Oh, bless me with that lot. My hair 
 stands erect ; sweat breaks forth from me. A flood of tears 
 fills my eyes ; my eight limbs are filled with thy love. I will 
 consume all my body in uttering thy praises. I will sing thy 
 name day and night. Tuka says, I will do nothing else ; 
 until the end of the world there is peace unending with the 
 saints.' 2 
 
 And Krishna is loved by his devotees as men love their 
 nearest. ' I feel inward sweetness as I gaze upon my treasure 
 of faith. God is my bosom friend ; the bosom friend of this 
 helpless creature: according to his glorious might let him 
 adorn us with purity. Tuka says, God eats with us to give us 
 a share in his love.' 3 And this love of Krishna makes 
 earthly joys lose their attractiveness. ' In this mortal world 
 there is nothing which delights us but Hari's name alone. Our 
 mind revolts from worldly life. Our spirits are sick of it. We 
 count gold as earth, diamonds as pebbles. Tuka says, Women 
 will appear as bears in our eyes.' 4 
 
 His description of Krishna's saints carries the mind back at 
 times to the Fioretti and the ' little brothers ' of St. Francis. 
 'Blessed are the pious, for their heart is pure. The saints 
 worship the visible God. They testify that they have faith 
 therein. They know nothing of rules and prohibitions ; their 
 hearts are filled with devoted love. Tuka says, O God, you 
 must take a form responsive to their faith.' 5 'They dance and 
 clap their hands, and roll on the earth, in a transport of love. 
 My friends are the saints, the simple, the faithful people of Hari. 
 
 1 Paragraph 747. 2 Paragraph 749. 3 Paragraph 771. 
 
 4 Paragraph 790. Paragraph 894. 
 
THE LOVERS OF GOD 119 
 
 They feel no shame ; they have no concern with this world. 
 Tuka says, They feel their hearts choking. Their eyes are 
 filled with tears/ l 
 
 So around the image of Krishna this Sudra tradesman 
 weaves his thoughts of love and service. His worship was 
 idolatrous, and yet his idolatry was able to arouse in him a 
 devotion and a fervour not without worth and beauty. 
 
 Tulsl Das and the Worship of Rama. 
 
 No story in India is so famous and loved as that of Rama, 
 the gracious hero, and Sita, the type and pattern of chaste 
 and loving womanhood. The Ramayana is read aloud in 
 many houses daily as Christians read the Bible. Of the 
 vernacular translations the best known and most significant 
 from the standpoint of religion is the Hindi version of Tulsl 
 Das. 2 In it, Tulsi Das, taking as a basis the familiar story of 
 the Ramayana^ presents to us not an earthly hero merely, but 
 an embodiment of the divine. It is as if we regarded the 
 Idylls of the King as Scripture, and saw in Arthur, not a dim 
 figure of the legendary past, but an actual and divine Redeemer. 
 Rama is proclaimed as the gracious God able to sympathize 
 with his worshippers. 3 We are bidden to love him, and the 
 love enjoined is not the hot and passionate love of a mistress 
 for her lover, but the calm and trustful love of a child in a wise 
 and kindly father. This version is accessible in England in 
 the admirable translation of F. S. Growse. 
 
 It must suffice briefly to illustrate its religious nature. 
 
 The poet begins with the usual invocation to the elephant 
 God for wisdom, and then defends his use of the vulgar tongue 
 
 1 Paragraph 895. 
 
 2 The original Ramayana is the Sanskrit work of Valmiki. Many of the 
 vernaculars have versions which are regarded as classic. Thus, that by 
 Kamban is praised by Tamulians as of incomparable beauty. Tulsl Das 
 is said to have lived from A. D. 1532-1623. 
 
 3 Sir G. A. Grierson says, ' Tulsl Das was the first Hindu to teach that 
 God was dwufjifvos (rvp.TTa6ri(Tai rats d&BfVfiais ^/zeoi/ (" able to sympathize 
 with our infirmities"), a belief which is usually considered to be peculiar 
 to Christianity.' This he ascribes to Nestorian influence (Imperial 
 Gazetteer, ii. 418). 
 
120 THE WAY OF LOVE 
 
 against detractors who assert that all literature should be in 
 Sanskrit. He hastens to proclaim the praise of Rama, and 
 bids us * Place the name of Rama as a jewelled lamp at the 
 door of our lips and there will be light, as we will, both inside 
 and out '. 1 The name is greater than Rama himself. * By 
 incessantly and devoutly repeating his name, all the faithful 
 may attain to felicity. Rama himself redeemed only one 
 woman, the ascetic's wife, but his name has corrected the 
 errors of millions of sinners.' 2 In earlier ages salvation might 
 be won by other means ; in the first age by contemplation, in 
 the second by sacrifice, the third by temple-worship. ' But in 
 this vile, and impure, iron age, where the soul of man floats 
 like a fish in an ocean of sin, in these fearful times the name is 
 the only tree of life, and by meditating on it, all commotion is 
 stilled. In these evil days, neither good deeds, nor piety, nor 
 spiritual wisdom, is of any avail but only the name of Rama.' 3 
 Tulsl Das tells us that the story he has to tell clears his 
 own doubts * as it does every other error and delusion, and is 
 a raft on which to cross the ocean of existence. The story of 
 Rama is a resting place for the intellect, a universal delight, a 
 destroyer of worldly impurity, an antidote to the venom of 
 passion ', ' the cow of plenty in this iron age ', ' a snake to 
 devour toad-like error, the annihilator of hell '. 4 The narrative 
 is told as if by Siva to Uma his wife. As Siva speaks to her 
 of Rama's glory, she is perplexed. 'What, the omnipresent 
 and omnipotent God, the creator, who has neither parts nor 
 passions, and is no respecter of persons, whom not even the 
 Veda can comprehend, has he taken the form of a man ? ' r ' 
 Siva tells her : 
 
 1 Seers and sages, saints and hermits, fix on him their reverent 
 
 gaze, 
 And in faint and trembling accents, holy scripture hymns his 
 
 praise. 
 
 He, the omnipresent spirit, lord of heaven and earth and hell, 
 To redeem his people, freely has vouchsafed with men to dwell.' 
 
 1 i. Doha 25. - i. Chaupat 24. : i. Chaupdi 27. 
 
 4 i. Chaupat 31. 6 i. Doha6\. * i. Chhand. 2. 
 
THE LOVERS OF GOD lai 
 
 Again Lima asks, ' How can he, who dwells beneath the tree 
 of paradise, know aught of sorrow that is born of want ? ' 'If 
 a king's son and so distressed by th loss of his wife, then how 
 the supreme God ? ' * Siva tells her that ' the cause of Hari's 2 
 incarnation is not to be dogmatically defined ', but this much 
 is clear: 'Whenever virtue decays and evil spirits, waxing 
 strong in pride, work iniquity that cannot be told, to the 
 confusion of Brahmans, cows, gods and earth itself, the 
 compassionate Lord assumes some new bodily form, relieves 
 the distress of the faithful, destroys the evil spirits, reinstates 
 the gods, maintains the way of salvation, and diffuses the 
 brightness of his glory throughout the world. Such are the 
 motives of Rama's incarnations.' 3 The plural is significant. 
 There are many * descents ' of Rama. Siva tells Uma of some 
 of the earlier of these. At length comes the story of Rama's 
 most famous ' descent '. 4 
 
 The world was very evil, and terrible was the oppression of 
 the demons. The earth, * seeing the general persecution of 
 religion, was terror-stricken and dismayed '. ' After some con- 
 sideration, she took the form of a cow and went to the spot where 
 the gods and saints were gathered together, and with tears 
 declared to them her distress. ' 5 Brahma bids her ' take courage 
 and remember Han ; the Lord knows the distress of his 
 servants, and will put an end to this cruel oppression '. 6 The 
 voice of the Lord Rama is heard from heaven. ' Fear not : 
 for your sake I am about to assume the form of a man with 
 every element of my divinity incarnate in the glorious Solar 
 race/ In the house of Das*aratha and Kausalya shall * become 
 incarnate four brothers'. 7 Then follows the story of their 
 birth, common to the Rdmdyana legend. Dasaratha sends 
 for his three wives, and divides among them a god-given 
 
 1 i. Chaupai 108, and Doha 116. 
 
 2 i. e. Vishnu, of which Rama was an avatar. 
 
 3 i. Chaupai 121, and Doha 128. 
 
 4 The more familiar word ' incarnation ' has too Christian a connexion 
 to be a good translation of avatar. 
 
 5 i. Chaupai 191. 6 i. Soratha 22. 7 i. Chaupai 193. 
 
122 THE WAY OF LOVE 
 
 oblation. To Kausalya he gives half, to Kaikey! a quarter, and 
 to Sumitra two portions of one-eighth each. According to 
 their share of the oblation was Hari conceived in their womb*. 
 In due time Kausalya gives birth to Rama. At first he 
 wishes to display to her his power and tell of his triumphs, 
 but she complains that she is terrified and would fain see him 
 as a child. He yields to her wish and becomes again a crying 
 babe. ' Thus for the sake of Brahmans, cows and gods, and 
 saints, he took birth as a man in a body formed at his own will, 
 he, who is beyond all form or quality or perception of the 
 senses.' 1 Soon after Kaikeyl bore Bharata, and Sumitra 
 Satrughna and Lakshmana. Rama grows up beloved by all. 
 Then we read of Sita, the maiden of wondrous beauty, to be 
 won only by the hero strong enough to break Siva's bow. Rama 
 breaks the bow and wins her for his bride. There is described 
 at length the splendour of the bridal. The book ends, * Have 
 a hearty love for Hari's feet, discarding all vanities ; much time 
 has been spent in sleep ; awake from the darkness of delusion. 
 Whoever with love and reverence listens to the tale of Rama 
 and Slta's marriage shall be happy for ever, for Rama's praises 
 are an unfailing joy '. In the second book we have the familiar 
 story of the Rama legend. We hear of Kaikeyi's jealousy, 
 Rama's exile, Slta's faithfulness, and Bharata's fraternal love. 
 Interesting as is the story, and admirably told, it contributes 
 little to religion. The book finishes in praise of Bharata. 
 * All who make a vow and listen with reverence to Bharata's 
 acts, shall assuredly acquire a great devotion to the feet of Sita 
 and Rama and a distaste for the pleasures of life.' 
 
 It is the seventh and last book which for our purposes is 
 more important, for like the first it has little story in it and 
 much devotion. The time of Rama's exile has passed. Rama 
 returns, and there is in the royal city perfect happiness and 
 virtue. The description of this ' earthly paradise ' is not only 
 beautiful but instructive. * Devoted to religion, the people 
 
 1 i. Doha 204. It is interesting to note the order ; Brfihmans first, then 
 cows. 
 
THE LOVERS OF GOD 133 
 
 walked in the path of the Vedas, each according to his own 
 caste and stage of life, and enjoyed perfect happiness unvexed 
 by fear or sorrow or disease/ l Not only among men, but 
 among the animals in the jungle, there was peace. ' The 
 earth was suffused with the radiance of the moon, the heat of 
 the sun was no greater than circumstances required, and the 
 clouds dropped rain whenever asked, in the days when Rama 
 was king. The Lord celebrated millions of horse-sacrifices 
 and conferred innumerable gifts upon the Brahmans, approving 
 himself the defender of scriptural usage, the champion of 
 religion, perfect in every virtue, and the sworn foe of all 
 sensuality. Slta was ever obedient to her Lord, incomparable 
 in her beauty, her virtue and her meekness, sensible of the 
 majesty of the all-merciful and devotedly attached to his lotus 
 feet.' 2 And this wedded king was the manifestation of the 
 divine. ' The supreme spirit, that transcends all intelligence, 
 speech and perception, that is from everlasting, unaffected by 
 material phenomena, or the workings of the mind, or the 
 properties of things, even ^he it was who thus exhibited the 
 actions of exalted humanity.' 3 Siva's main narration closes 
 with a speech in which Rama proclaims the nature of good 
 and evil and bids men trust in him. ' Knowledge is difficult 
 and beset with impediments, its appliances are cumbrous, 
 and it has no grasp on the soul. Though a man endure 
 endless tortures, without faith, he is no friend of mine/ How 
 Christian it all sounds, but it goes on : ' Faith is all powerful 
 and a mine of every blessing, but men cannot attain to it 
 except by the fellowship of the saints. Now there is no other 
 meritorious deed in the whole world but this one, to worship 
 Brahmans in thought, word, and deed.' 4 'Devoted to my 
 name, which is the sum of all my perfections, devoid of 
 selfishness, conceit, and vain imagination, such a man's happiness 
 is the very sum of transcendental felicity.' 6 
 
 1 vii. Doha 21. 2 vii. Doha 24, with the Chaitpdi following. 
 
 5 vii. Doha 26. 4 Chaupai following vii. Doha 45. 
 
 5 vii. Doha 47. 
 
124 THE WAY OF LOVE 
 
 The book ends with the poet's own confession of adoration. 
 * Any one who reads or hears or recites this history of the 
 glorious son of Raghu, 1 washes out the stains of the world, 
 and the stains of his own soul, and without any trouble, goes 
 straight to Rama's sphere in heaven.' ' Rama alone is all 
 beautiful, all wise, full of compassion, and of loving-kindness 
 for the destitute, disinterested in his benevolence, and the 
 bestower of final deliverance ; whom else can I desire ? There 
 is no other Lord like Rama, by whose favour, however slight, 
 even I, the dull-witted TulslDas, have found perfect peace.' 2 
 There is no one so poor as I am, and no one so gracious to the 
 poor as you, O Raghubir ; remember this, O glory of the house 
 of Raghu, and rid me of the grievous burden of existence. As 
 a lover loves his mistress, and as a miser loves his money, so 
 for ever and ever may Rama be beloved by me.' 3 
 
 Manikka Vasagar and the Love of Siva. 
 
 Krishna, as the Puranas conceive him, is kindly, if not holy. 
 Rama is a gracious and noble figure, but Siva is a god repre- 
 sented usually in forms terrible and grotesque. Yet in South 
 India there are daily sung to Siva hymns that for warmth of 
 feeling have not often been excelled. And this worship of 
 Siva has not only a beautiful hymnology. It has a subtle 
 philosophy which gifted men still proclaim with enthusiasm as 
 the most satisfying of world-views, and which is described by 
 Dr. Pope, the most famous of European Tamil scholars, as 
 'the most elaborate, influential, and undoubtedly the most 
 intrinsically valuable, of all the religions of India '. 4 It is hard 
 for any but devout Saivites to understand the passionate 
 emotion that the adoration of Siva thus calls forth. The god 
 
 1 One name for Rama is Raghubir or ' son of Raghu '. 
 
 2 Chhand. 12. 3 vii. Doha 127. 
 
 * The Tiruvdsagam, Ixxxiv. Of this philosophy there is an interesting 
 account in English written by J. M. Nallasvami Pijjai, entitled Studies 
 in Sai-ua Siddhanta (Madras, 1911). In German there is the elaborate 
 work Der Saiva-Siddhanta, eine Mystik Indiens. Nach den tamulischen 
 Quellen bearbeitet und dargestellt von H. W. Schomerus. Leipzig, 1912. 
 
THE LOVERS OF GOD 125 
 
 seems so unlovable, yet the Saivite saints are intoxicated with 
 love for him, and call him Grace itself. Incurably religious 
 must such men have been, and richly endowed with the instincts 
 of worship and devotion. 
 
 The endeavour will be made, if not to understand, at least 
 in some measure to expound and appreciate, this strange, yet 
 warm and living faith. It will be convenient to illustrate 
 chiefly from the lyrics so finely translated by Dr. Pope, which 
 form the ' Holy Word ' l of that great saint and poet, Manikka 
 Vasagar. 
 
 Every year there is held in the great Saivite temples of 
 South India a festival in this man's honour, and daily his songs 
 are sung, not only by the impure lips of the 'women-servants' 
 of the god, but also by earnest and devoted worshippers. 
 Often these poems extol Siva for deeds which seem to us 
 fantastic and repulsive. Yet they are the work of one devoted 
 to religion, and are hallowed by the tears and aspirations of 
 the many who, so feelingly, have sung them.- The poems 
 express, in the first place, the penitence, the thanksgiving, and 
 the petitions of the Saivite saint, their author. They are as 
 intimately personal as the letters of St. Paul, and resemble 
 Paul's letters in this also, that in them there is frequent 
 reference to a great conversion. 
 
 The legends of Manikka Vasagar's early life vary con- 
 siderably. As usual in things Indian, the chronology is quite 
 uncertain, but it is probable that it was in the ninth century 
 that he lived. 3 It was a time when Hinduism was hard 
 pressed. So it is said that the gods came to Siva and requested 
 him to save the holy cause. He therefore ordered his holy 
 bull to descend and be born as Manikka Vasagar. He was 
 
 1 Tiruv&sogam. 
 
 2 A Brahman student of mine, whose home adjoined one of the most 
 important Saivite temples in Travancore, told me that his father spent 
 many years before his death in meditation on 3iva, and in singing with 
 intense and often tearful emotion these ancient Saivite songs. 
 
 3 Many Indian and some European scholars would give a far earlier 
 date say the second, third, or fourth century. 
 
126 THE WAY OF LOVE 
 
 born near Madura at Tiruvathavur, and so is often known as 
 Tiruvathavurar. More commonly he is called Manikka 
 Vasagar ; ' he whose utterance is rubies '. His boyhood was 
 distinguished by an extraordinary zeal for knowledge. By 
 sixteen he had mastered the sacred >aiva books. The 
 Pandyan king heard of his fame and made him his chief 
 minister. So for long he lived in pomp and wealth, and in 
 thraldom to the senses. Frequently in his poems he speaks 
 with penitence of these days of worldly joys, and many are the 
 references to women's charms, to 'jet black eyes' and ' rosy 
 lips of tender maidens', to 'bosoms full and fragrant'. Yet 
 already, we are told, ' like those who suffer from the intense 
 glare of heat and seek refreshing shade, his soul dissolves in 
 passionate longing for Siva the loving Lord V 
 
 At length the day of deliverance draws near. The king 
 sends him with great treasure to the seaport to buy horses from 
 abroad. The details of the story vary much. 2 According to 
 the Purana here followed, on his way through Madura he 
 went to the temple to worship Siva. A strange emotion 
 overcame him. * He shed tears of joy, the hair of his body 
 stood erect, his tongue trembled, his hands involuntarily 
 made obeisance, his mind melted like wax in the fire, and 
 desire passed from him.' Summoning his companions, he told 
 them that the horses would not arrive for a month and that 
 they need not stay. Speedily he beheld Siva surrounded by 
 his devotees under a guruntham tree. Siva received him, 
 taught him, and consecrated him to his service. Straightway 
 were his sins expurgated, and Siva bade him worship him by 
 song. So he sang hymns of praise for Siva's grace. Gladly 
 would Manikka Vasagar have left the earth and gone to Siva's 
 realm, but Siva would not permit it. At length Siva and his 
 
 1 Pope, xix. 
 
 2 Pope follows throughout the Tiruv&thavurar Purana. The account 
 given above is from the Tamil life of the poet given by Anavaratha- 
 vinayagam Pijlai in his edition of the Tirni'asagam } and is based on the 
 Tiruvilaiycidal I'm <ind, which is reputed to be earlier. 
 
THE LOVERS OF GOD 127 
 
 disciples vanished. 1 Meditating on his holy guru, with tears 
 of sorrow, Manikka Vasagar composed fresh songs, expressive 
 of his deep longing to rejoin the god whom at last he had 
 beheld, and many of the most beautiful of his extant poems 
 are assigned to this time. When the temple servants came 
 and marvelled at the sweetness of these songs he distributed 
 to them the treasure given him by the king to purchase 
 horses. 2 Envious ministers reported this to the king, 
 who angrily wrote to him that he must return at once. 
 Manikka Vasagar in great distress wrote back that the horses 
 would all be sent. When the day fixed for their return 
 expired, the king had him tortured. The sequel of the story 
 is clearly legendary. Unable to endure the agony, Manikka 
 Vasagar cried out to Siva in his distress. Siva in pity went 
 to the Jackal village and, changing the jackals into horses, 
 brought them into Madura. 3 The king received them with 
 great joy, but at night-time the jackals returned to their 
 old form and, killing the real horses, fled away. The king in 
 natural anger tortured Manikka Vasagar again. Siva, to save 
 him, caused the river to flood so that Madura was imperilled. 
 Orders were given that every one should build a dam before 
 his house. One woman found the work too hard. A coolie 
 came and offered to serve her, receiving as wages a little cake. 
 He neglects the work and the water at that place overflows. 
 The king has him beaten. The coolie is Siva himself. It is 
 one of his sportive acts. As all things are in Siva, the weals 
 inflicted upon his back appear on the backs of gods, men, and 
 
 1 Schomerus suggests that it is this story of Manikka Vasagar's 
 conversion, which to the writers of the 3aiva Siddhanta school appeared 
 not legend but fact, which accounts for the way in which Siva is so often 
 said to manifest himself to his devotees, not in his divine glory as creator, 
 sustainer, and, destroyer of the universe, but as the 'Satguru', the good 
 teacher (Der Saiva Siddhanta, p. 293). 
 
 2 Other accounts say that he spent the money in building temple 
 shrines, or that he gave it to the poor. 
 
 3 There is frequent reference to this in some of the poems assigned 
 to Manikka Vasagar, but it rnay well be doubted if he is the author of 
 them. 
 
128 THE WAY OF LOVE 
 
 beasts alike. A heavenly voice proclaims Manikka Vasagar 
 as Siva's servant. 
 
 The king in penitence asked Manikka Vasagar to reign in 
 his stead, but he refused, and in humble guise, in poverty 
 and well-nigh nakedness, as a sannyasin wandered from shrine 
 to shrine extolling Siva's grace. His influence and the power 
 and beauty of his songs contributed much to the downfall 
 of Buddhism and the spread of Saivism in South India. 
 As Pope well puts it, c South India needed a personal God, an 
 assurance of immortality, and a call to prayer. These it found 
 in Manikka's Vasagar's compositions.' l 
 
 It seems clear that beneath all legendary accretions there is 
 the record of a genuine conversion and a great renunciation, 
 while the story as it stands may serve as an illustration of 
 Saivite hagiology. where saints have visions frequently of Siva, 
 and Siva for his saints does strange and often freakish acts. 2 
 
 Gratitude for his conversion provides one of the great 
 motives for these songs. In the Miracle-Decad, which is 
 perhaps the earliest of them, it is of this alone that Manikka 
 Vasagar sings. Siva has redeemed him from bondage to 
 the flesh, therefore will he praise him. The poem is called 
 also ' the unutterable experience '. One editor, whom Pope 
 quotes, speaks of it as ' the sobbing utterance of unspeakable 
 and unbearable experience'. It must suffice to quote the 
 first and the last stanzas : 
 
 I. 'By lust bewildered ; in this earthly sphere 
 
 caught in the circling sea of joyous life:- 
 By whirling tide of woman's charms engulfed : 
 
 lest I should sink with mind perturbed, 
 He gave his sacred grace, that falseness all 
 
 my soul might flee, and showed his golden feet, 
 The truth himself, He stood in presence there 
 
 This matchless miracle I tell not. I. 
 
 1 'I'iruvdsa^ani) xxxvi. 
 
 - Cp. the legends of Saivite saints in the J'eriyu 
 
THE LOVERS OF GOD 129 
 
 10. I gave no thought on thronging "births" and "deaths", 
 
 but dwelt on tricks and wiles, and glancing eyes 
 Of maids with wealth of braided tresses fair ; 
 
 and thus I lay. The king, our Lord supreme, 
 His jewelled feet, that traverse all the worlds, 
 
 to me made manifest like clustering blooms ; 
 He wisdom gave, and made me all his own : 
 
 This miracle of grace I know not, I.' 1 
 
 He bids men praise the God who as a Brahman once 
 appeared to save him. 
 
 ' Haste, haste ye, garlands of fresh flowers 
 Around his feet to bind. 
 
 Assemble, go around, follow hard on, leave ye no gap. 
 Lay hold of him, although he hide himself, avoid your gaze, 
 The incomparable told out his nature as it is, 
 That those like me might hear. 
 He called in grace, he made me his, 
 He as a Brahman showed his glory forth, 
 Then, while undying love dissolved my frame, I cried ; 
 I raised enraptured voice above the billowy sea's loud waves. 
 In utter wilderment, I fell, I rolled, I cried aloud, 
 Madman distraught, and as a madman raved ; 
 While those who saw were wildered, who heard it, wondered sore ; 
 More than the frenzy wild of raging elephant 
 Bore me away beyond endurance far. 'Twas then through all my 
 
 limbs 
 A honied sweetness he infused and made me blest.' 2 
 
 His conversion was due not to merit of his own but to 
 Siva's grace. 
 
 ' To me, a dog, all things not shown before, he showed ; 
 
 All things not heard before, he caused to hear; 
 And guarding me from future birth he made me his : 
 
 Such is the wondrous work our Lord hath wrought for me.' 3 
 
 'Thou cam'st in grace on this same earth, didst show thy mighty 
 
 feet 
 
 To me who lay mere slave meaner than any dog, 
 Essential grace more precious than a mother's love.' 4 
 
 1 xli, stanzas i and 10. 2 iii. 142-57. 3 v. ill, 112. 4 i. 59-61. 
 
 K 
 
130 THE WAY OF LOVE 
 
 ' Devoid of love for him in sooth was I, 
 
 I know it and he knows it too, 
 And yet he made me his, this too all men, 
 
 On earth shall surely see and know. 
 He there appeared in all his grace revealed. 
 
 He only is my being's king.' l 
 
 The sincerity of these poems cannot be questioned, and even 
 to the European unused to Indian poetry and music their 
 pathetic beauty is unmistakable. Here, assuredly, speaks a man 
 of religious genius and experience, and yet to the Westerner 
 how hard his religion is to understand. The very deeds for 
 which he praises Siva seem often so repulsive. He is 
 moved to tender gratitude by the remembrance of legends of 
 him, barbaric and grotesque. There is thus in the hymns 
 that incongruity which seems characteristic of the Saivite 
 temples. Thus a visitor to the great Saivite temple at Madura 
 feels at once the wealth of devotion shown in the erection of that 
 enormous pile. Here are devotees who have travelled far to 
 worship. Here are holy men chanting Siva's praises. Yet 
 in the inmost shrine, where only caste Hindus may enter, is 
 the nameless emblem of the Saivite faith, that symbol of 
 procreative power, 2 and, in the cloisters, the innumerable 
 statues of the gods are never sublime, but often conceived in 
 a spirit vulgar, trivial, and at times indecent. The phrase of 
 Luther's, ' The two belong together, Faith and God ', seems 
 here no longer to apply. The object of devotion seems so 
 inadequate to the devotion lavished. Doubtless the concep- 
 tion of Siva is syncretic. He is the Rudra of the Rigvcda, 
 the ^destroyer whom men fear and yet call gracious (siva). 
 His home is in the Himalayas. He is the ascetic, austere, and, 
 because of his austerities, of incomparable power. Destroyer 
 
 1 x. 49-51. 
 
 2 It is interesting to note Nallasvaml Pillai's remark ,that the linga of 
 Saivism is nothing but the hill-top in origin (Studies in Saii>a-Siddhctnta y 
 P- 339) as indicative of a modern repugnance to its phallic nature. With 
 tar greater probability Bhandarkar holds that ' the Rudra-Siva cult may 
 have borrowed this element of phallic worship from the barbarian tribes 
 with whom the Aryas came in contact ', op. ci/., p. 115. 
 
THE LOVERS OF GOD 131 
 
 as he is, with him is connected the mystery of birth, and his is" 
 the phallic emblem. He is, withal, the Lord of goblins 
 dancing amid the grave- yards his fierce dance, his body 
 smeared with ashes, his neck adorned with dead men's bones. 
 And in the South, Siva is not only the terrible god. He is 
 the friendly god whose * sports ' men love to praise. 1 To his 
 saints he appears in strange disguises and genially deceives 
 them. 2 And even the weirdest stories of him seem able to 
 arouse in men's hearts devotion and gratitude. 
 
 The very form of Siva brings to Manikka Vasagar the 
 remembrance of his grace. He hails him as ' the god who 
 wears the Ganges in his braided locks '. 3 It is a curious legend. 
 A king Bhaglratha by long austerities induced the gods to 
 send down into the world the heavenly Ganges, that so his 
 ancestors, consumed to ashes through the curses of a sage, 
 might be restored. Down fell the heavenly Ganges ; but 
 Siva, ever gracious, fearing that it would destroy the world, 
 caught the river on his head and kept it there, amid his braided 
 locks, and thus the world was saved. 
 
 Often the poet refers to the tiger-skin with which Siva's 
 waist is girt, and to the snake in Siva's braided hair. The story 
 is an ancient and famous one, yet how unworthy. 
 
 Vishnu went one day to Kailasa to worship Siva. Siva 
 complained that near by in the forest there were multitudes of 
 ascetics who did not recognize his rule. 4 So long as they 
 continued their austerities, not even the greatest gods could 
 prevail against them. So at Siva's wish, Vishnu assumed 
 a female form and accompanied Siva as his wife into the jungle. 
 So beautiful did the two gods appear that all the ascetic's 
 wives were infatuated with Siva and all the ascetics with 
 
 1 There is a brief and convenient account of these legends in Dowson's 
 Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology, 296-300. 
 
 2 So men need to entertain with kindness every Saivite ascetic, for he 
 too may be Siva in disguise. 
 
 3 v. 256. 
 
 4 One commentator says that they were followers ot the Mlmamsa. 
 The whole story seems to refer to an ancient conflict between Vedantists 
 and Saivites. Pope, op. tit. Ixii. 
 
 K 2 
 
THE WAY OF LOVE 
 
 Vishnu. Soon they realized that these two mendicants were 
 gods disguised, and, ashamed of their passion, uttered against 
 them the fiercest curses, but the gods remained unharmed. 
 At length, to destroy them, the ris/tis performed with minutest 
 care an elaborate sacrifice. In consequence a fierce tiger came 
 out of the fire to slay Siva, but Siva seized it, and with his 
 finger-nail ripped off the skin and wrapped it round his body 
 as a garment. Again the rishis renewed their offerings, and 
 out came a great serpent, which he put round his neck, where 
 it still hangs. It is because of this exploit that time after time 
 Siva's saints address him as the deceiver (kalian). 
 
 One deed of Siva the poet praises often, and with most 
 hearty gratitude. Siva's throat is swollen and dark blue in 
 colour. It is the emblem of the suffering he graciously 
 endured to save the world. The gods at one time were in 
 sore distress and cajne to Siva for assistance. He descended 
 from Mount Kailasa and churned the sea of milk, and from 
 thence there issued the ambrosial food of undying joy. But 
 first there came a stream of black halahala poison, and this 
 Siva drank up. His neck, thus dark and swollen, is the per- 
 petual witness of his mighty grace. So to the gods he gave 
 ambrosia ; for himself, he took the deadly poison. Thus 
 Manikka Vasagar writes in one of his poems : 
 
 ' He ate halalam from the sounding sea, that day arisen 
 
 With mighty din; what means this wondrous act, my dear? 
 Had he not eaten on that day the poison fierce T Ayan and Mai, 
 And all the other gods of upper heaven had died.' * 
 
 So in one of the most attractive of his poems, the poem 
 called * Forsake me not ', Manikka Vasagar alludes to this 
 legend with touching effect. His conversion was all due to 
 Siva's grace. False was he, yet Siva made him his. Now 
 Siva has forsaken him to wander in the world alone, tempted 
 and weak. Yet disconsolate as he is, he still can be sure of 
 Siva's grace, for his throat is black with the poison that he 
 
 ' xii, eighth stanza. Ayan is Brahma, and Mai, Vishnu. 
 
THE LOVERS OF GOD 133 
 
 drank. 1 Time after time he appeals to Siva not to leave him. 
 In the temples where he worshipped were the female servants 
 of the god, and, through them, he found it hard to subdue his 
 lusts. So his rapturous enjoyment of Siva's grace passed 
 away. He prays for Siva's mercy, and at length in a frenzy 
 of abandonment he says that if Siva leaves him he will abuse 
 him sore. Yet even his abuse is praise. 
 
 'Lo, thou'st forsaken me, but if thou leave, I shall abuse thee 
 
 sore, 
 " Madman, clad in wild elephant's skin " ; " Madman, with hide for 
 
 his garb " ; 
 " Madman that ate the poison " ; " Madman of the burning-ground 
 
 fire"; 
 " Madman, that chose even me for his own ".' 2 
 
 The poem concludes with a memorable stanza : 
 
 ' Abusing thee or praising, crushed by sin, and grieved am I. 
 Lo, thou'st forsaken me, thou brightness on red coral hill. 
 Thou mad'st me thine ; didst fiery poison eat, pitying poor souls, 
 That I might thine ambrosia taste, I, meanest one.' 
 
 Strange as these legends are, the worship of Siva is a genuine 
 religion which finds in the Saiva Siddhdnta a not unworthy 
 expression. The schoolmen of that philosophy lived after 
 Manikka Vasagar's time, but in undeveloped form its chief 
 doctrines are to be found in the poems. God is regarded not 
 as a negative abstraction, but as personal. He loves his saints 
 and succours them. So we have the famous stanza from 
 Tirumular's Tiruinanthiram : 
 
 ' O ye fools that speak of the unspeakable, 
 Can ye see the limits of the limitless one ? 
 To one whose mind gains clearness as the waveless sea 
 Will appear faultless the Lord with the braided hair. 3 3 
 
 And one of the chief modern exponents of the system 
 writes : 
 
 1 That Siva had no avatars or births is generally known. This is the 
 
 1 vi, seventh stanza. 2 vi, forty-ninth stanza. 
 
 8 Quoted and translated by Nallasvatnl Piljai, Studies in Saiva 
 Siddhanta, p. 272. 
 
134 THE WAY OF LOVE 
 
 greatest distinction of the ancient Hindu philosophy and of the Saiva 
 school, making it a purely transcendental religion, freed of all anthropo- 
 morphic conceptions. . . . But this absolute nature of Siva does not 
 prevent him from his being (sic) personal at the same time, and appearing 
 as Guru and Saviour, in the form of man, out of his great love and 
 feeling for the sin and sorrow of mankind, and helping them to get 
 rid of their bondage.' 1 
 
 Whereas Hindus often ascribe to Siva but one place in the 
 Hindu Trinity and hold his work to be that of destruction, 
 this school of thought regards Siva as the supreme God per- 
 forming alone the threefold task of creation, preservation, and 
 destruction. Thus Manikka Vasagar sings : 
 
 ' All worlds, 
 
 Thou dost create, protect, enrich with grace, 
 Release.' 2 
 
 And this almighty God is proclaimed as a God of love. Thus 
 the gifted exponent of Saivism just quoted refers more than 
 once to the well-known lines : 
 
 ' The ignorant say, Love and God are different. 
 None know that Love and God are the same ; 
 When they know that Love and God are the same, 
 They rest in God as Love.' 3 
 
 And modern Saivites, familiar with the Bible, claim for this 
 religion a close affinity to Christian thought. Certainly some 
 of the Saivite poets come extraordinarily near to Christian 
 speech. Thus Tayumanavar has the stanza : 
 
 ' O my God Lord, the fullness of bliss, great didst thou make thy 
 love; thou earnest to save my precious soul.' 
 
 But the resemblance is more in the word than in the thought. 
 How Siva's grace is popularly conceived the stories of his 
 
 1 Op. '/., p. 299. a i-41-3- 
 
 3 1 give NallasvamI Piljai's translation (pp. <;//., p. 227), but the word he 
 translates 'God* is not the masculine 'Siva' ($ivan), but a neuter form 
 (3ivam). As Schomerus says, 'the word (Sivam) probably denotes 
 redemption, blessedness, and thus the stanza deals not with the nature of 
 God but with the nature of blessedness ' ; but whatever be true of this 
 particular verse, the thought of God',s love occurs very commonly in this 
 Saivite literature ' (vide Der Saiva Siddhanta, p. 62). 
 
THE LOVERS OF GOD 135 
 
 Sacred Sports ' well show. Joyfully he accepts the devotion 
 of his saints, grants them the vision of himself, and by strange 
 means fulfils their desire. 1 Often the stories seem trivial and 
 meaningless. Sometimes they have in them a certain fantastic 
 beauty. Thus in one of his poems Manikka Vasagar confesses : 
 
 ' There was no love in me like Kannappan's.' 2 
 And in another poem he praises Siva's grace in accepting 
 Kannappan's devotion, though he used his mouth for a chalice 
 and proffered flesh for food. 3 It is a strange legend. A shep- 
 herd chieftain's son, as he hunted the wild boar, came across 
 an image of Siva, a phallic stone on which was carved in rough 
 the head of the God. Enraptured with it, refusing to return 
 home, he became its devotee, and offered to it the choicest 
 pieces of the boar he had slain. Day after day he hunted that 
 he might make his offerings. To the Saivite, flesh-eating is 
 an abomination, and the Brahman in charge of the shrine was 
 shocked at the awful desecration he witnessed there each 
 morning. Overwhelmed with shame he appeals to Siva. 
 Siva takes the Brahman at night-time to the rude shrine and 
 bids him hide behind the image. When the herdsman comes 
 to prove his zeal Siva causes blood to trickle down one eye of 
 the image. In great grief the herdsman seeks for herbs to 
 stay the blood. They are of no avail. At length he remem- 
 bered that eye could heal eye. With instant joy he tore out 
 his own eye and applied it to the bleeding eye of the image 
 and the blood ceased to flow. But then the other eye began 
 to bleed. To heal it, he was about to scoop out his one 
 remaining eye but Siva put a hand out from the image, 
 restrained the worshipper, and promised him that he should 
 be for ever on his holy mountain. So the Brahman learns 
 that love was more than ceremonial purity, and the saints sing 
 the praises of this herdsman-devotee, whom Siva renamed 
 
 1 Cp. the acts assigned to him at Manikka Vasagar's conversion ; the 
 turning of jackals into horses ; his work as coolie ; his suffering himself to 
 be beaten. 
 
 2 x, stanza 4. 3 xv, stanza 3. 
 
136 THE WAY OF LOVE 
 
 Kann-appan, 1 the man who gave his eye for the God. Thus 
 Siva's grace was shown. 
 
 Not only through such myths as these is Siva's grace 
 extolled. Poets and philosophers alike ascribe to his grace 
 the release from bondage. So in both Saivism and Chris- 
 tianity there is proclaimed the grace (arul) of God, demanding 
 in response the faith (bhakti) of man. It is not surprising 
 that modern exponents, familiar with Christianity, should say, 
 as Mr. Nullasvami Pillai does, that the doctrine of grace in the 
 Saiva Siddhdnta 'differs in no respect from the Christian 
 doctrine'. 2 And it is sometimes claimed that the bondage 
 from which Siva releases is that of sin. But in reality it is 
 just here that the great distinction lies. Sin is not treated. as 
 the act of a responsible personality. All Siva's grace can do 
 is to illuminate the soul by revealing its identity with himself. 
 This redemption means for the soul * an absolute passivity, and 
 this absolute passivity on the part of the soul makes it impos- 
 sible to understand by this unity with God, communion with 
 God in the Christian sense'. 3 The soul, which Siva's grace 
 illumines, has to gather' itself apart from its threefold bond 
 and thus gradually obtains its final emancipation. But the 
 bond from which the soul is thus released is not that of sin but 
 a bond partly karmic, partly material. 4 So though Manikka 
 Vasagar, in common with the other writers of this school, very 
 frequently praises Siva's grace, the grace thus extolled is not 
 the same as grace in the Christian sense. Grace in Christianity 
 denotes God's holy love seen in relation to human sin. Where 
 God is not regarded as essentially holy, and where man is not 
 
 1 Literally 'the eye-man', or, possibly, as some take it, 'the man who 
 applied his eye as a poultice', taking appan not in its familiar sense, but 
 as a derivative from appu, ' to apply as of a poultice '. 
 
 2 Op. cit., p. 355. 3 Schomerus, Der Saiva Siddhanta, p. 430. 
 * This bond (pasam) is a rope of three strands : (i)Anavajn, an inherent 
 
 defilement which darkens the soul's light or intelligence, so that it cannot 
 understand its true nature, its oneness with Siva. (2) Karma, the effect of 
 past deeds impelling to new births which must be neutralized. (3) Maya, 
 which in this system is not so much illusion as an elemental matter in 
 which inhere the impurities of the soul. For a brief account sec /.. A'. / . 
 v. 27. 
 
THE LOVERS OF GOD 137 
 
 sufficiently responsible for his deeds really to be guilty, we 
 cannot give to grace its Christian meaning. 1 
 
 In spite of an inadequate conception of God and the human 
 soul, the poems of Manikka Vasagar often express with rare 
 beauty his gratitude for God's past favour and his aspiration 
 for perfect union with his Lord. As we have seen, at his 
 conversion he had laid aside his princely pomp and taken the 
 meagre garb of an ascetic. But, in renouncing the world, he 
 had not escaped its temptations. Even to the end he seems 
 to have found it hard to resist the allurements of the ' women 
 servants' of the god, and in his poems are many confessions of 
 his failure to withstand their charms. Eagerly therefore does 
 he desire to quit the body and be perfectly redeemed. 
 
 * To cast quite off this sinful frame ; to enter Siva's home ; 
 To see the wondrous light that so these eyes may gladness gain ; 
 O infinite beyond compare ; th' assembly of thy saints 
 Of old to see, behold, O sire, thy servant's soul hath yearned.' 2 
 
 In another poem he expresses his sorrow that he must still 
 stay on earth amid earth's distractions : 
 
 1. 'Mingling with thy true saints, that day in speechless joy I 
 
 stood ; 
 
 Next day, with dawning daylight, trouble came and there abode. 
 My soul grows old. Master, to seek the gleam of fadeless bliss 
 Wand'ring I went. In grace to me, thy slave, let love abound. 
 
 2. Some of thy saints have gained through plenteous love thy grace. 
 
 Grown old, 
 
 All vain my griefs ; of this vile corpse I see no end. 
 Remove from sinful me my deeds of sin ; let mercy's sea o'erflow ; 
 O Master, to thy slave give ceaseless, soul-subduing grace. 
 
 7. They've seen the sea-like bliss, have seized it and enjoy. Is't 
 
 meet, 
 That I, low dog, with added pains and pining sore should bide? 
 
 1 Pope's statement that 'the Tamil word arul (^0^) is used in every 
 sense given to \dpis in the New Testament, and TDn in the Hebrew ' 
 (pp. cit. xlviii), cannot therefore be accepted without qualification. 
 
 2 xxv, ninth stanza. 
 
138 THE WAY OF LOVE 
 
 Master, do thou thyself give grace ; I 'pray, I faint, I fail ; 
 Cut short thy work, O light, let darkness flee before thy mercy's 
 beam.' 1 
 
 In the poem entitled the ' Decad of the bruised heart ', the 
 grief at his severance from Siva and his homesickness for him 
 find beautiful and poignant expression. No virtue had he 
 when Siva first visited him in love. Why then should he be 
 forsaken now ? Dog as he was, Siva had taken him for his 
 own. Even in his desolation he is altogether Siva's own. On 
 him alone he meditates. In him is his solitary joy. We quote 
 the last three stanzas : 
 
 8. ' Me dog, and lower than a dog, all lovingly thyself didst take 
 
 for thine. This birth-illusion's thrall 
 Is placed within thy charge alone. And I in sooth, is there aught 
 
 I need beyond that with care search out? 
 Herein is there authority at all with me? 
 Thou may'st again consign me to some mortal frame ; or 'neath 
 
 thy jewelled foot may'st place me, Brow-eyed One. 
 
 9. Thou in whose brow a central eye doth gleam. Thy feet the 
 
 twain I saw ; mine eyes rejoiced ; now night and day 
 Without a thought, on them alone I ponder still, how I may quit 
 
 this earthly frame, how I may come 
 To enter 'neath thy feet in bliss, I ponder not ; save thee, O king, 
 
 should I thy servant ponder aught ? 
 Thy service here hath fullness of delight for me. 
 
 10. Thy beauty only, 1, a slavish dog, desire, and cry aloud. O 
 
 Master, thou didst show to me 
 Thy sacred form in lustre shrined and didst accept my service. 
 
 Thou my glory, mine august abode, 
 In ancient days assured, thou now withholdest ; and so, O 
 
 beauteous Lord, Thou of the glorious mystic word, 
 My king sorely indeed hast thou bruised my poor heart.' 2 
 
 But at the end his devotion seems to have become more 
 untroubled. Thus in the poem called * The Decad of the 
 Tenacious Grasp V 5 he speaks as one who, though on earth, is 
 yet redeemed and already one with Siva. 4 Siva has kept him 
 
 1 xxxii, stanzas I, 2, and 7. '' xxxiii, stanzas 8-lo. 3 xxxvii. 
 
 4 A JwHii-nniktn, to use the technical phrase. 
 
THE LOVERS OF GOD 139 
 
 safe through the long years. Greater by far is Siva's love 
 than love of a mother for the child she suckles. Rapture, Siva 
 gives, and sweetness. Siva is the wealth of bliss and the 
 splendour of grace. All bonds for him has he removed. In 
 his servant's vile body Siva deigns to dwell as if in a shrine of 
 gold. In the refrain of each verse the poet triumphantly 
 declares, ' I've seized thee now, I hold thee fast '. 
 
 The last of his hymns is called ' the Wonder of Salvation ', 
 or 'Joy ineffable'. He records with penitence his many 
 failures, but thankfully confesses Siva's all-sufficient grace. 
 In successive verses he hails Siva as Father, the Mystic 
 Dancer, the Guru, the High and Lofty One, the Master, the 
 Last One and the First, the Mother of all : 
 
 I. * To me who toiled and moiled 'mid fools that knew not way of 
 
 final peace 
 He taught the way of pious love; 1 and that old deeds might 
 
 cease and flee, 
 Purging the foulness of my will, made me pure bliss, took for his 
 
 own; 
 'Twas thus the Father gave me grace ; O rapture, who so blest as I ? 
 
 3. Me trusting every lie as truth plunged in desire of woman's 
 
 charms, 
 He guarded that I perished not with soul perturbed, the Lord 
 
 Superne, 
 On whose left side the Lady 2 dwells He brought me nigh his 
 
 jewelled feet, 
 'Twas thus my Guru gave me grace ; O rapture, who so blest as 1 ? 
 
 10. With those that knew not right or good, men ignorant, I 
 
 wandered too. 
 The first, the primal Lord himself, threefold pollution caused to 
 
 cease ; 
 Even men he took as something worth like dog in sumptuous 
 
 litter borne. 
 'Twas thus the Mother gave me grace : O rapture, who so blest 
 
 as I ? ' 3 
 
 1 The Tamil word is bhakti. 
 
 2 Uma, the consort of Siva, or, in philosophic language, his Sakti or 
 power. 
 
 3 li., stanzas i, 3, and 10. 
 
140 THE WAY OF LOVE 
 
 Wonderfully successful as Dr. Pope's translation of these 
 poems is, no translation can express in a language so dis- 
 similar to Tamil as is English the power of the original. To 
 those whose ears have grown accustomed to Indian music and 
 rhythm these poems have a strange and, at times, even 
 a haunting beauty. But their chief interest is not as literature 
 but as religion. Here is expressed the penitence and the joy, 
 the loneliness and the ecstasy, of a man of religious genius and 
 vivid spiritual experience. Unworthy as the God he wor- 
 shipped seems to receive such devotion, unattractive as so 
 many of the legends he uses are, we can understand the Tamil 
 saying, 'He whose heart is not melted by the Tiruvasagam, 
 must have a stone for a heart '. 
 
 Cardinal Barberini, we are told, dedicated his translation of 
 Marcus Aurelius's Meditations ' To his soul, to make it redder 
 than his purple at the sight of the virtues of this Gentile'. 
 And as we read the works of these Indian saints we may well 
 bid our souls blush crimson at the virtues of these true lovers 
 of God, and inevitably we look forward to the day when the 
 devotion so lavishly bestowed on Krishna, Rama, and Siva 
 shall be given in full measure to the crucified and perfectly 
 holy Saviour of the world. 
 
PART II 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 JESUS CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL 
 
 HE who desires to know of Jesus Christ must turn first to 
 the writings of His immediate followers. There in the New 
 Testament he will find a literature in every way unique. 
 Written by men without literary ambition, and for the most 
 part devoid of literary gift, it yet pulsates with energy and 
 strength. The classic writers of the time have the weariness 
 which marks an age's end. These men have the vigour of a new 
 age. Differing in their approach, they are one in their central 
 theme. It is not so much that they feel they have a new truth 
 to proclaim. It is rather that a great event has happened 
 which has changed not only their lives but the world they live 
 in nay, more, has brought heaven to earth and endowed weak 
 men with the power of the life to come. That event is Jesus 
 Christ. Jews, regarding as blasphemy the slightest infringe- 
 ment of God's unique, and transcendent, supremacy, here claim, 
 with calm confidence, that the Man, with whom some of them 
 had lived for longin theclosest intimacy, was none other than the 
 eternal Son of God. Yet these men who write are not fanatics. 
 They have learned from Jesus a moral realism and vigour un- 
 surpassed in ethical literature. And their presentation of His 
 character has a unity in difference, a power, and an attraction, 
 which no fictive genius could invent. 
 
 Yet to the great world at Rome, as reflected in its literature, 
 how contemptible these Christians seemed. Nero could think 
 to avert from himself the suspicion of having set Rome afire 
 by placing it upon them as men capable of any crime. 
 
JESUS CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL 
 
 Though the great historian Tacitus recognizes that this charge 
 was false, yet all he knew of the Christians is that they were 
 a class hated by the common people for their secret crimes ; 
 and of Jesus he says only that * Christus, from whom their name 
 had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty in the reign of 
 Tiberius at tke hands of our procurator, Pontius Pilate ; and a 
 most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, 
 again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, 
 but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from 
 every part of the world, find their centre and become popular \ l 
 A little later, and the younger Pliny writes from Bithynia to the 
 Emperor Trajan about these troublesome Christians. He has 
 put to death many who refused to curse Christ and offer 
 incense to the statue of the Emperor. He is a humane man and 
 manifestly he is uneasy. The superstition, he says, has infected 
 not only the town but the villages and the country. He has 
 endeavoured to get the truth by torturing two deaconesses, but 
 all he could find in their confessions was a depraved supersti- 
 tion. No true Christian, he complains, will ever recant. Those 
 who did so were men who for long had ceased to be Christians. 
 And these said that the sum of their offence had been that on 
 fixed days they sang a hymn to Christ as God and took an oath 
 to commit no crime. 2 
 
 Before the end of the second century Tertullian, though he 
 has still to repudiate shameful accusations brought against 
 Christians by the populace, can yet boast of the vast extent 
 and power of the Church in the West, and, in his vehement 
 way, can bid defiance to the Roman power. A little later, in 
 Alexandria, Clement and Origen can seek, in their own words, 
 ' to bring all learning into the Gospel net ', and the despised 
 
 1 Tacitus, Annals, Bk. xv, Church and Brodribb's translation, page 
 304. Tacitus was a boy of nine in A. D. 64, when the fire of Rome took 
 place. 
 
 2 Letters, x. 97. These pagan witnesses are of considerable importance 
 from the standpoint of this essay. Not unnaturally many Hindus answer 
 the modern criticism, which resolves so much of the Krishna story into 
 a legend, by a tu quoquc, and in turn deny the historicity of Jesus with the 
 help of Western books. 
 
JESUS CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL 143 
 
 cult of Christ becomes in their hands not only a religion, but 
 a sublime philosophy, able to challenge the best wisdom of the 
 Greeks. It is to-day the commonplace of history that no 
 human life can approach Christ's in importance. Through the 
 centuries He has brought both peace and a sword. He has 
 been to multitudes their strength and joy. He has been the 
 great disturbing and revolutionary force demanding of man in- 
 comparable sacrifices, and exacting an obedience which men 
 will only give to God. Such a one cannot be ignored. The 
 most important question in religion is still : Who was Jesus 
 Christ ? What does He mean to us ? 
 
 And the importance of this question is increasingly 
 recognized in the East, and to it the East claims, with justice, 
 the right to express its answer in its own way. When Ram 
 Mohan Rai, the founder of the first Brahma Samaj, was shown 
 a picture of Christ, he complained that the artist had given to 
 Christ a European countenance. And this complaint has in 
 various forms been often repeated. ' England ', said Keshab 
 Chandra Sen, 1 * has sent us after all a Western Christ. It seems 
 that the Christ who has come to us is an Englishman, with 
 English manners and customs about Him, and with the temper 
 and spirit of an Englishman in Him ; why should Hindus go 
 to England to learn Jesus Christ ? Is not Christ's native land 
 nearer to India than to England? Are not Jesus and His 
 apostlesand immediate followers more akin to Indian nationality 
 than Englishmen ? ' And Mozoomdar, his disciple, and in 
 a sense his successor, has described in language that makes 
 painful reading, the contrast between the ' Western ' and the 
 ' Eastern ' Christ. ' The Western Christ ' he speaks of is surely 
 a caricature of some harsh-spirited and intolerant missionary. 
 It is hard for any Christian to recognize in the picture any like- 
 ness to Jesus Christ. 
 
 ' He insists upon plenary inspiration, continually descants on miracles, 
 imports institutions foreign to the genius of the continent, and, in case of 
 non-compliance with whatever he lays down, condemns men to eternal 
 
 1 In his lecture, India asks who is Christ? given in April, 1879. 
 
144 JESUS CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL 
 
 darkness and death. He continually talks of blood and fire and hell. 
 He considers innocent babes as the progeny of deadly sin ; he hurls 
 invectives on other men's faith, however truly and conscientiously held. 
 No sacred notions are sacred to him unless he has taught them. All 
 self-sacrifice which he does not understand is delusion to him. All 
 scriptures are false which have grown up outside of his dispensation, 
 climate, and nationality. He will revolutionize, and denationalize, and 
 alienate men from their kith and kin. Wherever he goes, men learn to 
 beware of him. He is a Mlecha to Hindus, a Kaffir to Muhammadans, 
 a rock of offence to everybody. He is tolerated only because he carries 
 with him the imperial prestige of a conquering race. Can this be the 
 Christ that will save India ? ' . . . * When we speak of an Eastern Christ 
 we speak of the incarnation of unbounded love and grace, and when we 
 speak of the Western Christ we speak of the incarnation of theology, 
 formalism, ethical and physical force. Christ we know is neither of the 
 East nor of the West, but men have localized what God meant to make 
 universal.' 1 
 
 The accusation has to be admitted, in part, with sorrow. 
 Yet it may be doubtful whether Mozoomdar's interpretation 
 does not go as far to one extreme as the view of Christ he so 
 vigorously denounces does to the other. The mystic sannyasin 
 he depicts could have no message for the West. That perhaps 
 matters little. What is more serious is that his interpretation 
 does not bring to the East ' the ethical force ' which is not a 
 Western misconception, but an essential attribute in the character 
 of Christ as given in the Gospels and received by the Church. In 
 truth, this distinction between a Western and an Eastern 
 Christ seems to be of little value. It is indeed true that 
 a man's estimate of another is a revelation of himself, and it 
 has to be admitted that racial differences are more real than 
 home-staying folk can realize. As it has been truly said, ' we 
 may say beauty is only skin-deep, but as a matter of fact there 
 are few deeper things than skin ; it represents, not so much 
 a physiological or racial difference, as an intellectual, a moral, 
 
 '.Pratap Chandra Mozoomdar, The Oriental Christ, pp. 43 and 46. 
 The whole history of the Brahma Samaj is from this point of view very 
 instructive. Vide E. R. E. ii. 813-24, and J. N. Farquhar's Modern 
 Religious Movements in India, pp. 29-74. 
 
JESUS CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL 145 
 
 and a social cleavage between man and man '- 1 The saints- of 
 the East do not win the enthusiasm of the West. The ideals 
 of the West seem often noisy and vulgar to the East. Yet 
 Christ transcends such limitations. An Oriental, He has 
 gained the worship of the West which forgets His Eastern 
 birth ; preached to-day by men of Western blood and speech, 
 He is loved by men of many a race who think of Him as theirs. 
 An Asiatic, He yet belongs to the world, and the history of the 
 Church has shown that men of every clime and colour can 
 find in Him their congenial Lord. 
 
 To the men of His own age, Jesus was in the first place 
 a teacher and a healer of diseases. In days when men have 
 been overawed by the claims of science, the belief in His 
 miracles has often been abandoned ; but in His character 
 of Teacher, He has been always and almost universally 
 admired. It is convenient, therefore, to deal first with the 
 message which He brought. 
 
 It is His transparent sense of God that conditions all His 
 teaching. God is for Him both Father and King. So around 
 the two foci of God, the Father and the kingdom of God, all 
 His teaching gathers. 
 
 Through Christ it is that the Fatherhood of God has become 
 the commonplace of religion. Old Testament saints had 
 indeed spoken of a God who pitied like a Father, 2 and com- 
 forted like a Mother, 3 but such glimpses of God's love are only 
 occasional and transitory. It is true that in some of the earliest 
 of Aryan hymns 'Father-Heaven' is extolled, but it is in 
 conjunction with Mother-Earth, and ' Father ' here means 
 little more than ' Fertilizer'. 4 
 
 Nowhere has Jesus defined God, nowhere does He describe 
 
 1 A. M. Fairbairn, The Philosophy of the Christian Religion, p. 369. 
 
 2 Psalm ciii. 13. . 3 Isaiah Ixvi. 13. 
 
 4 In six hymns of the R. V.> Dyaus Pitar (Father- Heaven) and Prithivi 
 (Mother-Earth) are hailed as the universal parents, but there is nothing 
 in common between this idea of the impregnating sky, referred to a's the 
 roaring bull, and the holy Heavenly Father of the Christian. 
 
 L 
 
146 JESUS CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL 
 
 His attributes. Never was a religious teacher less a schoolman 
 than Jesus. In homely speech, in aphorism and parable, 
 Jesus made God real to His disciples and taught them who 
 He was. It is not because God created man that Jesus calls 
 Him Father. It is because He loves men with an unmerited 
 love, and watches over them and defends them with a Father's 
 care. Fatherhood, as Christ conceived it, is thus a moral 
 and not a physical relationship. And God's gratuitous and 
 forgiving love requires as its complement our childlike trust 
 and receptivity. God is eternally the Father. He loves all 
 men, and to all men alike He shows His bounty. Thus God 
 does not become the Father but we have to become His sons, 1 
 to learn by the way of faith to trust in Him and reflect His 
 character. In words that all the world has learned to love, 
 Christ speaks of God's pursuing grace. Evil-doers are not to 
 God the hopelessly accursed. As a woman seeks her lost money 
 until she find it, so does God seek the lost. Over the restora- 
 tion of every sinner there is joy in heaven, and to the prodigal 
 is given the glad welcome of forgiveness. For God each soul 
 of man is of immeasurable worth. The Heavenly Father cares 
 for us each one, counts the hairs of our head, knows when 
 a sparrow falls. Yet we should wrong Christ's teaching in 
 regard to God if we dwelt only on its graciousness. The 
 glad and tender message is yet incomparably stern. Our 
 Father is the Father in Heaven, the almighty, and infinitely 
 exalted, God. The proper attitude before Him is one not of 
 love and trust only, but of fear. 2 God demands of His children 
 that they should be dissatisfied with the imperfect and seek to 
 be perfect as He is. And this means that a ruthless self- 
 discipline is necessary. Thus to renounce all cherished sins 
 may mean a mutilation of our desires as violent and painful 
 as any mutilation of the body. We are the servants of God 
 as well as His children. And God demands an undivided 
 
 1 Wendt, Teaching of Jesus, i. 1 94 : ' God does not become the Father, 
 but is the heavenly Father even of those who become His sons.' 
 
 2 Cp. Titius' suggestive words, Jesus Lehre vom Reiche Gottes, pp. 104, 
 no. 
 
JESUS CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL 147 
 
 service, and His service seems at times exacting. Jesus knew 
 full well how hard it would be for His disciples to share 
 His glad confidence in the Father's love. Often God would 
 seem as callous as the unjust judge, as reluctant to help as a 
 selfish neighbour at night-time. Yet Jesus recognizes such 
 doubts only to dispel them. Of His disciples He demanded 
 a faith which no circumstance could daunt. Fearing God we 
 need fear nothing and no one else. Even in persecutions His 
 little flock could still be brave. Was it not their Father's 
 good pleasure to give them the kingdom ? 
 
 So with Christ's message of God as Father is inseparably 
 connected His proclamation of the kingdom of God. God as 
 Father gives His best gifts to His children. The best gift of 
 all is the kingdom. This is the treasure, this the pearl which 
 above all else we must seek. Yet the kingdom is not earned 
 by men, but given by God's grace. Already men may rejoice 
 in God's forgiveness, know Him as Father, and, as His servants, 
 find themselves redeemed, not only from sin, but from the 
 strain and pressure of the world. So Jesus calls His message 
 not a law but a gospel. Membership in the kingdom meant 
 at that time for many persecution and death. Yet joyfully He 
 bade men enter it, knowing that thereby they would find not 
 loss,butgain. He who bade men follow Him to the scaffold was 
 no ascetic. "Joyous was the life of the man of sorrows. Joy and 
 peace are meant to be the inalienable right of His disciples. 
 
 Men have often asked whether the kingdom of God as Jesus 
 knew it was a present or a future conception. Such a question 
 fails to understand His teaching. For Him the ' future has 
 become present and the present is projected into the future. 
 The future salvation has become for us present, and yet has 
 not ceased to be future.' 1 Only in heaven, in the sphere of the 
 eternal, is God perfectly known and His will completely 
 obeyed, yet in part the powers and blessings of the kingdom 
 may already be ours. To Christ they completely belonged. 
 His consciousness of the Father was clear. He did at all times 
 
 1 J. Kaftan, Dogmatik^ p. 472. 
 L 2 
 
148 JESUS CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL 
 
 the Father's will, and rejoiced always in His full communion 
 with Him. So He could tell the Pharisees that already the 
 kingdom of God was in their midst. So, though Christ bade 
 men pray ' Thy kingdom come ', He did hot merely wait for a 
 distant boon. Already was the realm of blessing available for 
 men. The miracles of healing that Jesus wrought were thus 
 the signs of the kingdom's presence. 1 To Him and to His 
 disciples belonged already the powers of the eternal world. 
 
 It is this sense of the supremacy of the eternal that defines 
 Christ'sattitudetothis world's life. WiththeEast to-day,Christ 
 held that the finite could never satisfy the soul of man. The rich 
 farmer,intent only on building bigger barns, was in God's sight a 
 pitiable fool. To lose our true life to gain this world was not 
 only wicked, it was stupid. 2 Yet with the West, He made the 
 distinctive note of life not inactivity but energy* As it has 
 been well said, ' Thought, desire, will were not to be disowned 
 in despair, through the overpowering sense of their futility. 
 Life was not to be reduced to zero through their renunciation, 
 but raised to infinity through their affirmation and satisfaction'. 3 
 Though the disciple felt in the world a home-sickness for the. 
 beyond, it was not for him to flee the world. Christ bade men 
 pray not only for spiritual good, but for daily bread. The 
 love which he enjoins is to be shown not only in forgiveness 
 and intercession, but in the active philanthropy of the good 
 Samaritan. And Christ could appreciate not only service to 
 those in such desperate need ; He valued the tender kindness 
 of hospitality, and praised, as no austere man would do, the 
 woman who ' wasted ' in her love the precious ointment. 4 So, 
 to Christ, detachment from the world did not mean renunciation 
 of it. He himself was free, not only from sin and guilt, but 
 from bondage to the finite. How could two years have held 
 
 1 Cp. Luke vii. 22. 
 
 5 Mark viii. 36. 3 Du Bose, Th? ( /VoyV/ /'// the f/V'.v/Wj, p. 19. 
 
 4 Mark xiv. 6-8. Cp. Titius, op. cit., p. 61. 
 
JESUS CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL 149 
 
 more sorrow than did those of Christ's ministry? Poverty, 
 contempt, treachery of friends, malice of foes, anguish of body, 
 loneliness of soul, all these were -His: yet He lived not as the 
 victim but as the master of His circumstances. Sure of His 
 Father's favour, He met with courage and steadfastness His 
 incomparable sorrows and triumphed over them, and over death 
 the last enemy. 1 And His peace He offers to His disciples. 
 Theirs is the kingdom. They too may in fortitude and love 
 show themselves redeemed from the pressure of the painful and 
 the finite. 
 
 Such in briefest outline is Christ's message. No other has 
 spoken of God to us with such beauty and tenderness ; no other 
 has made so clear God's purpose for the world. And this 
 much, most men would admit. In East and West alike few 
 would dispute His supremacy as teacher, or deny His unique 
 spiritual insight and moral vigour. Yet to go so far only, seems 
 to be impossible. As soon as we begin to look with greater 
 care at Christ's teaching in regard to God or the Kingdom, we 
 find implicit in it the assumption that His message is inseparably 
 connected with His Person. But if this is so, either we are 
 compelled to go beyond the recognition of Christ as the greatest 
 of teachers, or, if not, we have to deny His assumption, and in 
 doing so we seriously compromise our belief in the wisdom or 
 even the sanity of His teaching. 
 
 In a few scanty paragraphs we have seen with what vividness 
 and confidence Christ spoke of the Father in heaven and His 
 love for men. Yet He preaches the good tidings, not as a 
 prophet speaks of his God, but as a son speaks of his father. 
 It is not so much that Jesus calls Himself the Son. It is rather 
 that He speaks as only the Son can do. The filial conscious- 
 ness of God is, with Him, perfect, permanent, and normative. 
 As a child, He can speak of His Father's house. The voice 
 which proclaimed at the Baptism and Transfiguration ' This 
 
 1 Cp. Bornemann, Unterricht im Christentum, pp. 83, 84. 
 
150 JESUS CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL 
 
 is My beloved Son ' brought to Him no new message. He 
 bade His disciples say * our Father '. He said ' My Father ' and 
 ' your Father '. Familiarity often robs these words of their 
 meaning. Yet clearly Christ places Himself in a unique 
 relationship with God. In the parable of the husbandmen, He 
 is the Son, and not the servant. It is true that in the first 
 three Gospels, though He accepts, He does not use the phrase 
 ' Son of God '. Yet all that the word involves He makes 
 His own, and so it is probable that the frequent use of the 
 expression in the fourth Gospel is not the product of later 
 reflection, but a genuine echo of the Master's words, remembered 
 by one who by greater insight could receive more of His 
 meaning. Certainly, not even in John's Gospel, have we a 
 clearer record of Christ's filial consciousness than is given us 
 in Matthew and Luke. 1 The seventy disciples had returned 
 from their mission, full of gladness at its success. Jesus, in 
 grateful and exultant joy, praises the wisdom of God in suffering 
 men, weak and ignorant, to receive truths the wise reject. And, 
 in His profound emotion, He enables us to get a glimpse of 
 those deep things of His soul which usually He concealed 
 from men's gaze. ( All things have been delivered unto Me of 
 My Father: and no one knoweth the Son save the Father, 
 neither doth any know the Father save the Son, and he to whom- 
 soever the Son willeth to reveal Him.' 2 This, it is true, is 
 ' not a claim to universal domain, but a confession of entire 
 dependence '. 3 Yet the words -reveal a unique and perfect 
 intimacy with God. As only He so knew the Father, only 
 through Him could the Father be known. And so, in His 
 colossal consciousness of Sonship, He could bid men, weary 
 and fainthearted, come to Him to find a yoke that was easy 
 and a burden that was light. Their refreshment would be 
 Christ. In Him would they find peace for their souls. Only 
 in the Son could the Father be thus known. 
 
 Lukex. I7.-22. Matthew xi. 25-30. a Matthew xi. 27. 
 
 A. E. Garvie, Studies in the Inner Life of Jesus, p. 311. 
 
JESUS CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL 151 
 
 As Christ's revelation of the Father was perfected, not 
 through His teaching, but in Himself, so His proclamation of 
 the Kingdom assumed that, in it, His position was unique. 
 He was the Son of Man. 1 His vocation it was to found the 
 kingdom of God, and, with Him, 'vocation and personality were 
 absolutely coincident '. 2 That Jesus thus knew himself to be 
 the Messiah may be regarded as certain. To deny this, as 
 Kaftan says, is ' to write history not as it is or as it was, but 
 as it ought to be ' 3 in the judgement of rationalizing critics. 
 That He hid His secret from the people was inevitable. Their 
 hopes were political, and had He called Himself the Messiah, 
 they would only have misunderstood the worse His meaning. 
 Yet all the functions of the Messiah He assumed, and, when 
 He entered Jerusalem to die, He made explicit to all His 
 claim. 
 
 If Jesus thus thought Himself to be the Messiah, then He 
 believed Himself to be the goal of this nation's history, and 
 the vehicle of God's salvation to the world. And this belief 
 is implicit in all His teaching. Often men who praise Jesus 
 as the supreme teacher only, speak of ' the simple teaching of 
 the Sermon on the Mount ', and contrast with this the later 
 developments of Christian thought. It is a strange phrase, 
 for the Sermon on the Mount is not ' simple'. Its moral 
 ideal is so exalted that if Christianity were teaching only, we 
 would have to pronounce its demands to be intolerably exact- 
 ing and oppressive. And in this programme of the Kingdom, 
 Jesus speaks of Himself in a way that no wise teacher could 
 do unless he were something more. He revises without 
 hesitation or apology the Jewish law, which men held to be 
 the very word of God. He bids men to be perfect as their 
 Father in heaven is perfect, and does so with no suggestion 
 that He Himself was imperfect. He identifies Himself with 
 
 1 It seems fairly generally agreed that the phrase does not mean 
 'representative man', but goes back to Dan. vii. 13, and possibly to the 
 Similitudes of Enoch, and denotes the ' establisher of the kingdom of God '. 
 
 2 H. R Mackintosh, Person of Jesus Christ, p. 31. 
 
 3 Jesus und Paulus, p. 16. 
 
152 JESUS CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL 
 
 the cause of righteousness. To be persecuted for His sake is 
 the same as to be persecuted for righteousness' sake. 1 In His 
 hands is man's eternal destiny. The future and eternal king- 
 dom of God will be opened to men only by His Word. He 
 assumes with unquestioning confidence that, at the final judge- 
 ment, men will plead that they have done great works in His 
 name, and, if their lives are evil, He will say, ' I know you not '. 
 And such a word will mean exclusion from final blessedness. 8 
 And in a subsequent utterance this claim is re-emphasized. 
 'Every one who shall confess Me before men, him will I also 
 confess before My Father which is in heaven. But whosoever 
 shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My 
 Father which is in heaven.' 3 As Dr. Denney says, ' It is 
 impossible to exaggerate the solemnity of this utterance or 
 the greatness of the claim it makes. It says, as clearly as 
 language can say, that fidelity to Jesus is that on which the 
 final destiny of man depends.' 4 So it is with no surprise that 
 we find that His intercourse with His disciples was marked as 
 much by aloofness and reserve as by kindness and sympathy. 
 They could call no man teacher, no man master. One was 
 their Master, One their teacher. 5 And because He thus 
 identified Himself with God's saving purpose for the world, 
 He, the meek and lowly, could demand of men the severest 
 sacrifices. To be His disciples, men must, if necessary, 
 renounce the dearest ties of blood and kin. They must be 
 willing to follow Him even to the criminal's death. The 
 future of the Kingdom is His future. By His return He shall 
 consummate the Kingdom's glory. 
 
 He mediates the blessings of the Kingdom in a way no 
 man could do. Thus, at the outset of the earliest Gospel, 6 is 
 given an account of the healing of the paralytic. As this 
 passage occurs also in Matthew and Luke, it surely satisfies 
 the most finicking shibboleths of criticism. And Jesus here 
 
 1 Matt. v. 10, II. 2 Matt. vii. 21-3. s Matt. x. 32, 33. 
 
 4 Jesus and the Gospel, p. 225. r ' Matt, xxiii. 8. 
 
 6 Mark ii. 1-12. 
 
JESUS CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL 153 
 
 with final certainty declares that the man's sins are forgiven. 
 Those to whom sin is a trifle may minimize the incident, but 
 those who have been taught by Christ Himself to regard sin 
 as the one intolerable evil, cannot so do. A man, who thus 
 pronounces sin's forgiveness, puts himself unmistakably by 
 the side of God. This passage alone would be sufficient wit- 
 ness to Christ's sense that He was divine, and so could forgive 
 sin as only God could do. 1 
 
 This connexion between Jesus and His Gospel is shown 
 most clearly in regard to His death. He had come to seek 
 and to save the lost. The Son of Man came, not to destroy 
 men's lives, but to save them. 2 And, towards the end of His 
 life, He explained the manner of that salvation. The Son of 
 Man had come, not to be ministered unto, but to minister, 
 and to give His soul a ransom for many. He would deliver 
 men from their slavery to anxiety and sin. He would free 
 men, not by money, but by the giving of His life. So His 
 Kingdom would come, not by the way of drastic conquest, 
 but by the way of apparent failure and sacrificial love. 
 His sovereignty over souls would come through the ignoble 
 cross. 
 
 It is natural to contrast the dying words of Gautama, the 
 Buddha, with those of Christ. When Gautama felt the end 
 was near, he turned to Ananda and said : ' O Ananda, I am 
 growing old and my journey is drawing to its close. I have 
 reached eighty years, my sum of days, and just as a well-worn 
 cart can only be with much care made to move along, so my 
 body can only be kept going with difficulty. It is only when 
 I am plunged in meditation that my body is at ease. In 
 
 1 Cp. Schaeder, Zur Trinitatsfrage, p. 16. 
 
 2 Harnack points out that there are eight prime passages in the 
 Synoptics beginning with the words * I am come \ This is a Messianic 
 phrase, and Harnack regards these verses as programmatic. It is 
 significant that of these eight, four deal with Christ's saving work. Zeit- 
 schriftfur Theologie und Kirche, Jan. 1912, pp. 1-30. 
 
154 JESUS CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL 
 
 future be to yourselves your own light, your own refuge : seek 
 no other refuge. Hold fast to the truth of your refuge ; look 
 not to any but yourselves as refuge.' And just before his 
 death he further said : ' It may be, Ananda, that in some of 
 you the thought may arise, "The words of our Master are 
 ended ; we have lost our Master " ; but it is not thus. The 
 truth and the rules of the Order which I have founded and 
 preached, let these be your teacher when I am gone.' x 
 
 But Christ before His death speaks not at all as one who, 
 having taught, has done His work and desires only that His 
 teaching be remembered. He looks to the work before Him, 
 not to the work behind. On the eve of His betrayal, He 
 institutes the feast that should keep Him in the perpetual 
 remembrance of the Church. He saw in His death, not the 
 symbol of failure, nor the cessation of His work, but the God- 
 given way to perfect victory. It was the beginning of a new 
 covenant between God and man. His death was for 'the for- 
 giveness of sin J . 2 
 
 But a confidence so entire could spring only from the clear 
 and certain consciousness that His life was perfectly at one 
 with the will of God. Only one who needed not to repent for 
 His own sins could forgive sins and proclaim His death as the 
 means of a new covenant of grace. So, to the Christian 
 gospel, the belief in the sinlessness of Jesus is not accessory 
 but essential. To renounce belief in the sinlessness of Jesus 
 is to make ineffective every blessing that He brought. It 
 would be useless in that case to admire Him for His supre- 
 macy as teacher. If He spoke as one sinless and yet was 
 a sinner we might well prefer to turn to humbler guides who 
 bade men look, not at themselves, but at their message. 
 Strange indeed would it be, and unspeakably tragic, if He } 
 who has done more than any other teacher to unmask 
 
 1 Maha Parinibbana Sntta. 
 
 2 Matt. xxvi. 28. The authenticity of the phrase has, of course, been 
 much attacked, but the rite in its Old Testament connexion can only 
 have that meaning. 
 
JESUS CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL 155 
 
 hypocrisy and pretentious virtue, should so terribly have 
 misjudged His own worth. Because of what Christ has 
 shown us of God's perfection, the sense of unworth and failure, 
 of gratitude for God's pardon, and of aspiration after a truer 
 life, has become the normal sign of the Christian character. 
 We say with Luther, ' He that is a Christian is no Christian '. 
 We know that the greatest saints are the greatest penitents. 
 Yet in Christ's consciousness there- is no trace of sin. 
 Nowhere does He crave for Himself forgiveness. He acts, 
 as we have seen, as no sinner could do. He was terribly 
 deluded or He was sinless. 
 
 Yet the word * sinlessness ' may easily be misunderstood- 
 It is negative, and may be thought to denote the absence of 
 evil rather than the presence of triumphant good. It is better 
 therefore to speak of the absolute holiness of Christ. And 
 that holiness was not given ready-made. We cannot penetrate 
 into the secret of His inner life. * His person is beyond all 
 psychology, and its key is in God's hands alone.' 1 But it is 
 clear that His life, like ours, was one of moral conflict. He 
 was tempted, yet His temptations were to acts nobler than 
 other men's best deeds. Thus the temptations of the wilder- 
 ness concerned not His personal ambition but the cause for 
 which He lived. Let Him do His work in the popular way; 
 let Him utilize His vast powers over nature to satisfy men's 
 material needs ; let His attitude to the spirit of the world be 
 one of compromise ; let Him dazzle the people by showing 
 them a conspicuous and drastic miracle : so would His work 
 for God be prosperous and successful. His holiness was thus 
 an act. It came through inner conflict. He chose by the 
 whole force of His soul to do always the Father's will. His 
 sinlessness, then, was not the harmlessness of the feebly good- 
 It was the strong and continuous deed of a great and vigorous 
 soul. The attempts in literature to depict a perfect character 
 have failed. Instead of a saint there has been a prig. What 
 
 1 P. T. Forsyth, Person and Place of Jesus Christ, p. 113. 
 
156 JESUS CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL 
 
 literary men have failed to do, the simple chroniclers of 
 Christ's life have done. There in Jesus Christ is the perfect 
 union of sinlessness and strength, and that picture no genius 
 could invent. 1 
 
 If we were asked why we revered the great teacher of our 
 student days, or why we so love and honour those dearest to us, 
 father, mother, or wife, we would know how poor our answers 
 were, how little they expressed the secret of their personalities 
 or of our own devotion. Immeasurably harder would it be 
 to describe the character of Jesus of Nazareth. The diversity of 
 the attempts shows their failure. Men have spoken of Him as 
 if He were gentle always, averse to conflict, calm and quiet. 
 Others have emphasized His indignation against wrong, and 
 spoken as if stern strength were His most conspicuous character- 
 istic. His character has none of the simplicity of those whose 
 lives flow smoothly in the shallow way. 2 Each estimate is false 
 only in what it omits. In truth, in Him are moral qualities so 
 vast and so opposed, that only His great soul could have con- 
 tained them without rupture. 
 
 Nowhere do the Synoptic writers praise Jesus, or attempt to 
 express their estimate of His moral worth and beauty. They 
 are content with artless simplicity to portray His words and 
 deeds. As we read the Gospels we share with them their 
 knowledge. We see Him with the children gathered around 
 Him. We notice His genial kindness. He is a lover of flowers 
 and birds and the country-side. Devoted as He is to His great 
 vocation, it is not with the fierce concentration of the fanatic, 
 
 1 Tennyson said on one occasion to a young man, * Be ye therefore 
 perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect ', and then added, ' But don't 
 be a prig ' (Memoir by his son, one vol. edit., p. 267). Yet many would 
 be inclined to think that in his ideal picture of Arthur, he has failed to 
 obey his own injunction. 
 
 2 Cp. A. Ritschl : * It is no mere accident that the subversion of Jesus' 
 religious importance has been undertaken under the guise of writing His 
 life, for this very undertaking implies the surrender of the conviction that 
 Jesus as the founder of the perfect, moral and spiritual, religion belongs 
 to a higher order than all other men.' Justification and Reconciliation, 
 P. 3- 
 
JESUS CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL 157 
 
 blind to the life round him. He sees the children playing at 
 'weddings' and 'funerals' in the market-place, the farmer in 
 the fields, the merchant from a distant country seeking 
 treasure. He is one interested in life's homely tasks. For 
 long He laboured to support His mother. When at last He 
 began His public mission, it was obscure men whom He 
 summoned to His service. The poor and the outcast felt they 
 had in Him a friend. He despised no man for ignorance or 
 stupidity. The Gospels show, in their unconscious touches, His 
 infinite patience and His adaptability to His disciples, who 
 so persistently misunderstood '. And even when death drew 
 near, how marvellous is His self-forgetfulness. On the eve 
 of His trial, He partakes with His disciples of the Last Supper, 
 and, for their comfort, makes of it a memorial feast. Even in 
 this time of tragedy, with pitiable triviality, His disciples are 
 striving as to who 'should be accounted the greatest'. His 
 rebuke to them is one of love. He girds himself Avith a towel 
 that He may do the menial task of washing these men's feet. 
 Unworthy as they are, He trusts them to continue His work 
 after His death. He speaks to them of the new covenant of 
 His blood that, when He is dead, they may know that He is 
 with them still, and discover that His death was gain, not loss ; 
 victory, not defeat. In the bitter anguish of the Garden, He 
 remembers His disciples' need. They will not pray. They 
 will not realize their peril. He prays for them. When at 
 last His enemies appear, He offers Himself to them at once, 
 that His disciples may go free. He heals the ear of one of the 
 rude band of His arresters. Even in the time of cruel mockery 
 He remembers Peter's need, and gives him the look that means 
 his restoration. On the way to death He can sorrow for the 
 woes that must befall the daughters of Jerusalem. When 
 stretched in agony upon the Cross, He prays for the rough 
 soldiers who nailed Him there, that they may be forgiven, for 
 they knew not what they did. 1 
 
 1 For much in this paragraph see a fine passage in Du Bose, op. cit., 
 p. 125. 
 
158 JESUS CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL 
 
 Yet, as we have seen, with this self-forgetfulness there was 
 the dignity, not regal but divine, of one who knew Himself to 
 be the Son of God and the vehicle of God's salvation. 
 Sympathetic, He is yet aloof. Tender as the gentlest woman, 
 He can be terribly stern. Careful to provide food for the 
 multitude that had come to hear Him preach, bidding men 
 pray for daily bread, He yet demanded of his followers 
 unparalleled denials. Poor and despised, He claimed and won a 
 devotion which no king has ever obtained. 
 
 And this man belongs to the past only as we adopt towards 
 Him the attitude of the critic unconscious of any need. We 
 begin by judging and admiring Him, but soon we find we can- 
 not do so. It is He that is judging us. Spiritual experience 
 is incommunicable. We can but hint of what we know. But 
 it is the central and authentic fact of Christian experience that 
 in Christ men have apprehended God. We feel that we have 
 seen God, and know that the God of ' all this unintelligible 
 world ' is the God whom Christ called Father, and whose grace 
 and love He in His own life perfectly revealed. As one of our 
 greatest Christian teachers has written : ' We know that in 
 Christ we meet with God, and we know what sort of meeting 
 this is. We know thafthis God gives us comfort and courage 
 to face the world, joy in meeting the demands of duty, and, 
 with all this, eternal life in our hearts.' l So for us Jesus is no 
 longer an ' historical problem but the Reality before which we 
 bow'. 2 He has brought to us God's full redemption. He 
 mediates to us the Father's mercy. He speaks to us and 
 claims our allegiance, not as a dead saint but as a living Lord. 
 
 And such a one we may not ignore. To admire Him is only 
 in a refined way to reject. He demands a faith and an 
 obedience as complete as the salvation He bestows. 
 
 1 Herrmann, Der Verkehr des Christen mil (lott, p. 143 ; The Com- 
 munion of the Christian with God, p. 173. 
 
 2 Op. tit., p. 165. English trans., p. 200. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 CLASSIC CHRISTIANITY 
 
 THE APOSTOLIC EXPERIENCE OF CHRIST AND His GOSPEL 
 
 WHEN Jesus died, the faith of His disciples died too. His 
 resurrection meant the new birth of their hope and courage. 
 From hesitating followers of a Master whose ways they could 
 neither understand nor praise, they became the glad evangelists 
 of a gospel, the proud ambassadors of a risen and regnant 
 Lord. And these early leaders of the Church, though they 
 differed in many matters of polity and doctrine, were one in 
 the central content of their faith. What has been called the 
 first Christian creed, expresses not Paul's distinctive teaching 
 but the common tradition of the Church. The Gospel which 
 Paul preached, and his converts believed, was, he tells us, the 
 message which he himself had received from the Church at 
 his conversion. Its content was simple and sufficient. ' Christ 
 died for our sins according to the scriptures and hath been 
 raised on the third day/ l Or as von Harnack paraphrases it, 
 * Christ died a sacrifice for our sins and He lives '. 2 And the 
 religious life which thus finds expression is not something 
 solitary and unique. It is the classic Christian experience. 
 To understand it, is to enter into the genius of Christianity 
 ajid to be able to appreciate all that is central and permanent 
 in the Christian salvation. 
 
 The New Testament, as has often been remarked, is not in 
 the first place a manual of doctrine, and its unity is not 
 theological but religious. Its writers preserve their idiosyn- 
 crasies and express in their own way, from the standpoint of 
 
 1 I Cor. xv. 3, 4. 2 Das Wesen des Christentums, p. 98. 
 
160 CLASSIC CHRISTIANITY, OR THE 
 
 their own experience, the faith that is in them. So in the 
 unity there is a rich variety of thought and feeling. It must 
 suffice for our purpose to glance at the conceptions of Chris- 
 tianity connected with the great names of Peter, Paul, and 
 John. 
 
 Peter. 
 
 The speeches of Peter in the first chapters of Acts have a 
 peculiar interest as the immediate and unformulated expression 
 of the earliest Christian faith. Peter's worst fears had been 
 realized. The death he could not endure to think of had 
 befallen his Master in its most shameful form. Yet he comes 
 before the people not as a disappointed but as a confident and 
 exultant man. He has a fact to preach which is a Gospel. 
 That fact is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Him whom they 
 had crucified and slain God had raised up. 1 As a Jew speaking 
 to Jews, inevitably he construed his message in terms of Jewish 
 prophecy. The Jesus whom they had done to death was the 
 Christ, the Messiah, the chosen vehicle of God's salvation. 
 And the death which once seemed impossible for the Messiah 
 to die, he now saw to be a necessity. This Jesus was the 
 suffering Servant of the Lord of whom the noblest prophecy 
 of the Old Testament had spoken. 2 Risen, He was strong to 
 save. Once Peter had thought much of earthly pre-eminence ; 
 now he can rejoice in suffering, scourging, and dishonour for his 
 Master's sake. 3 Like the rest of these earliest disciples, Peter 
 was conscious of the power of the Risen Lord, and, rejoicing 
 himself in the realization of a completely adequate salvation, 
 could bid men repent and partake of its benefits. 
 
 It is probable that the First Epistle of Peter was written 
 after the Epistles of Paul, but it, too, represents the primitive 
 and rudimentary type of teaching. It is written to give hope 
 
 1 Acts ii. 23, 24. 
 
 ' 2 Acts iii. 13, 26, iv. 27, 30. In all these cases 'Servant' (not 'son' 
 or ' child ') is certainly the right rendering, as the word (na'is) goes back to 
 the servant passages of the Kxilic Isaiah and especially to Isaiah Hii. 
 
 3 Acts v. 41. 
 
APOSTOLIC EXPERIENCE OF CHRIST 161 
 
 to men in suffering. The Cross of Christ, once a problem, is 
 now to Peter the key to life's mysteries. Via crucis, via lucis} 
 The way of the cross has become the way of blessedness. 
 Christ has shown us how to suffer. Ours it is to do so, gladly and 
 bravely. Peter's interests are pastoral, not didactic. He does 
 not explain ; he exhorts. Yet he too dwells mostly on the 
 death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Not having seen 
 Christ, we yet may love Him, and, because of our faith, rejoice 
 with joy unspeakable and full of glory. 2 To the Christians he 
 addresses has come a great salvation. Before, their life was 
 engrossed in the futility, the mdyd, of the world. Now they 
 were redeemed * through the precious blood of Christ '. 3 Let 
 them therefore 'show forth the praises of Him who called 
 them out of darkness into His marvellous light '. 4 And men 
 who had received so great a salvation could bear, with 
 equanimity, persecution. The reward of well-doing at that 
 time would probably be suffering. 5 But they had before them 
 the example of Jesus Christ. In words that go back to the 
 fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, Peter describes, with power and 
 pathos, Christ's suffering for us. He did no sin, neither was 
 any guile in His mouth. When reviled, He reviled not again. 
 ' In His own self, He carried up our sins in His body to the 
 tree.' 6 To one like Peter brought up in Judaism, the tree, 
 the gallows, was an accursed place. Through human sin, 
 Christ had died on the shameful cross. What sin did to 
 Christ, that Christ did to sin. He took up our sin to the place 
 of shame. 7 By His death He condemned sin, exposed it in 
 its horror. And the object of it all is this, that ' we may live 
 unto righteousness, healed with His stripes '. 
 
 There is little theory, but there is much religion, in all this. 
 Clearly Peter felt that he owed everything to Jesus Christ. 
 So, though Christianity meant persecution, and for many 
 death, he could proclaim it as the greatest blessing earth could 
 
 1 Cp. Stevens, New Testament Theology, p. 295. 2 i. 8. 
 
 3 i. 19. 4 ii. 9. * 5 ii. 20. 6 ii. 24, R. V. margin. 
 
 7 Cp. A. Seeberg, Der Tod Christi, p. 292. 
 
 M 
 
162, CLASSIC CHRISTIANITY, OR THE 
 
 give. Because of the joy that would be theirs, even in suffering 
 men might rejoice. The Epistle is significant as the work of 
 one who, perhaps best of all the apostles, represented the 
 average opinion of the Church, then, as now, less interested in 
 theology than in religion. 
 
 Paul. 
 
 At the conversion of Paul, Christianity gained its greatest 
 Apostle. It would be difficult to exaggerate the importance 
 of his missionary labours, but it is possible to over-estimate 
 his significance to the Church's thought. To regard him, as 
 some have done, as the second founder of Christianity, is to 
 misunderstand both his teaching and the Gospel. As we have 
 seen, the two facts for which he stood, the saving death and 
 the resurrection of Christ, were the common property of the 
 early Church. In his Epistles, Paul has to rebut many false 
 and defective estimates of Christianity. Nowhere does he 
 refer to any within his churches who reject these central 
 doctrines. He does indeed speak of men who are ' the enemies 
 of the Cross of Christ Y but he is referring not to heretics but 
 to libertines, 2 and in his essential teaching he knew himself to 
 be at one with the rest of the Church. Indeed, as one of his 
 most brilliant modern biographers has said, to think of Paul 
 simply as a theologian would be as little justifiable as to 
 remember Frederick the Great by his histories. 3 He was a man 
 of action, interested in the expression of Christian truth, only 
 that the converts of his missionary labours might share with 
 him the fullness of the new life in Jesus -Christ. So his 
 teaching is occasional and disconnected, and often hard to 
 understand. But of the Christian experience he is the greatest 
 interpreter. 
 
 It is impossible to appreciate fully Paul the Christian 
 without some reference to Saul the Pharisee. Born at Tarsus, 
 where Greek culture was known and honoured, having the 
 
 1 Phil. iii. 1 8. 2 Cp. A. Seeberg, Der *fodChristi, pp. 180-1. 
 
 ' H. Weinel, Paulus, p. 222. 
 
APOSTOLIC EXPERIENCE OF CHRIST 163 
 
 suffrage of the Roman citizen, and trained in the strictest, most 
 orthodox and zealous Judaism, he had the freedom of the three 
 worlds of Greek speech, Roman rule, and Jewish religion. But 
 it was the last alone that won the ardent devotion of his young 
 life, and none entered deeper than he into the best aspirations 
 of his race. To such a one the Christian preaching of a 
 crucified Messiah would be offensive in the extreme. The 
 Messiah would come, but He must come in glory. To say 
 that He died on the tree was blasphemy. ' Accursed is every 
 one that hangeth on the tree/ 1 So he was the fiercest enemy 
 of the early Church, and doubtless for long he felt he had in 
 Judaism all he needed. No impersonal narrative would be so 
 passionate as the seventh chapter of Romans , and if we may 
 regard that as autobiographical, then we have there Paul's own 
 account of his discovery that his own religion could not suffice. 
 The tenth commandment, ' Thou shalt not covet ' (or * lust '), 
 bade him control not only deeds but thoughts, and that he 
 could not do. Yet from the Pharisaic standpoint, to transgress 
 the law in anything was to transgress in all ; for righteousness 
 before God could no longer be claimed. Yet he persecuted, 
 as he says, ' hyperbolically ' the Church of God. 2 At last the 
 crisis came. He saw the risen Christ, and knew Him as Lord, 
 and that experience made of the persecutor, the Apostle. 
 * The old things had passed away. He was in Christ Jesus and 
 a new creature.' 3 
 
 This c new creation ' meant for Paul far more than the 
 purification of the old habits and the ennoblement of past 
 aspirations. It changed his whole attitude to God and the 
 world. God had forgiven him. He was God's child. That 
 brought to him joy and peace, ' newness of life '. The darkness 
 had passed away, the light now shone. But it was more than 
 a new vision which Paul gained. It was new power. He felt 
 
 1 Gal. iii. 13. 
 
 2 Gal. i. 13 Ka<9' vrreppoXrjv cMunov. Cp. A. B. Bruce, St. Pa^t^s 
 Conception of Christianity , p. 35. 
 
 3 2 Cor. v. 17. 
 
 M 2 
 
164 CLASSIC CHRISTIANITY, OR THE 
 
 that there had come to him, not a mere change of character but 
 a new personality, over which ruled, not the old ' ego ' with its 
 selfish cravings, but the risen Lord. No natural explanation 
 would account for it. His break with the past was so radical 
 that it could only have been effected by God's creative power. 
 St. Paul's life as a Christian was to him a miracle of God. 1 
 
 As a Jew the supreme problem of religion had been to 
 acquire and maintain a * righteousness before God '. Now, 
 still using the Jewish phrase, he rejoiced to accept a * righteous- 
 ness ' God-given. Religion for him was thus no longer legal but 
 filial, and ' recompense ' ceased to be the ' ultimate principle of 
 the world's moral order '. 2 He no longer asks, c How shall I 
 satisfy the demands of my Lawgiver ? ' but ' How shall I show 
 my gratitude to God for His unspeakable mercies ? ' God 
 had become for him the Father of our Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ, a God of grace. And the supreme proof of 
 God's love, Paul saw in God's gift to the world of a crucified 
 Saviour. Because of that love, he now could rejoice in God's 
 forgiveness and be sure of His Fatherly care. We have in 
 Tamil a proverb, ' Whoso has given the elephant, will he not 
 also give the goad ? ' And so to Paul, God's greatest gift 
 carried by implication all the rest. ' He that grudged not His 
 own son but delivered Him up for us all, shall He not also 
 with Him freely give us all things ? ' 3 Confident of God's 
 grace, he could dedicate his life unreservedly to the Christ 
 who had loved him and given Himself for him. And this 
 crucified Jesus was the risen Lord whom he had seen, and 
 whose power he daily felt. Christ informed his thought and 
 directed his will ; in Him he shared already the life that was 
 supernatural, eternal, and triumphant. 
 
 Such in briefest outline was Paul's religious life, of which 
 all his theology is only an attempted expression. Paul was 
 no systematizer. His theology was made for missionary use 
 
 1 Cp. P. Gennrich, Die Lehre von der Wiedergeburt, p. 22. 
 
 2 The Religion and Theology of Paul, by W. Morgan, p. 84. 
 
 1 Rom. viii. 31. 
 
APOSTOLIC EXPERIENCE OF CHRIST 165 
 
 and apologetic purposes. Yet he has sufficiently indicated in 
 a few great passages the interpretation that he gave to the 
 death and resurrection of his Lord. 
 
 In the most elaborate of his Epistles, that to the Romans ', 
 he deals with the problems of religion avowedly from the 
 standpoint of divine and human righteousness. 1 Man's sin is 
 universal ; as universal therefore is his need of salvation. To 
 one of Paul's intense moral nature, the bare proclamation of 
 God's forgiveness would not have sufficed. But in the death 
 of Jesus he found an answer to his deepest need. In that 
 violent death, sin is not passed over. It is condemned ; shown 
 up for what it is. God, in seeking that we may be righteous, 
 exhibits His condemnation of sin that we may condemn it 
 too. God is revealed as the 'just and the justifier of those 
 who accept this salvation through faith in Jesus'. 2 God 
 forgives us, and at the same time brings us into a communion 
 with Himself in which faith can make actual our ' righteous- 
 ness*. The terminology of the passage is of course Jewish, 
 and may sound archaic to modern ears, but its meaning is an 
 essential part of Paul's interpretation of Christianity. Sin in 
 being forgiven is condemned. And inadequate as explana- 
 tions are, only here has been found a sufficient answer to what 
 is less a speculative question than a moral problem. ' How 
 can sinners be forgiven and God's own righteousness, His 
 inviolable self-consistency, be maintained ? ' Paul knew well 
 enough that his message of the Cross would seem to many 
 scandalous and foolish. But he knew also, as Christians in 
 every age have found, that in it was God's power and wis- 
 dom. 3 And it was of the Cross he boasted. This was the 
 ministry of reconciliation, which God had given him. He was 
 God's ambassador, beseeching men to be reconciled to God. 4 
 
 It was not enough for Paul to say, ' In Him, I am lorgiven '. 
 Inevitably, with a man so earnest, the question had to be 
 faced. 'How can I become holy as He was?' And the 
 
 1 Rom. i. 16, 17. 2 Rom. iii. 22-6. 
 
 3 i Cor. i. 23, 24. 4 2 Cor. v. 18-20. 
 
166 CLASSIC CHRISTIANITY, OR THE 
 
 answer he found in faith's power to enter into, and share, 
 Christ's death and resurrection. 1 * I have been crucified with 
 Christ/ he writes ; * my life is no longer mine ; it is Christ 
 who lives in me ; the life I now live in flesh. I live in faith, in 
 the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself up for me/ 2 
 So, as Dr. Denney says, ' The whole of the Christian life is 
 a response to the love exhibited in the death of the Son of 
 God for men. We cannot point to anything and say, " See, 
 that is Christian, that is good in God's sight," without saying 
 at the same time, " That has been generated in the life of man 
 by the tremendous appeal of the cross ". ' 3 So he bids the 
 Roman Christians reckon themselves dead unto sin but alive 
 unto God in Jesus Christ. 4 And for himself he rejoices to fill 
 up that which is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, 5 and to die 
 for the Church a daily death. 
 
 Yet Christ was to him, not the dead, but the living Lord, 
 and the Christian life meant not only a co-dying but a co- 
 resurrection with Him. It was the vision of the risen Lord 
 that had transformed Paul's life. Christ belonged, in Jewish 
 phrase, * to the age to come '. 6 He dwelt in the eternal, and 
 His resurrection opened up for His followers the powers and 
 forces of that supernatural and eternal world. So Paul felt 
 that, by his faith, he had risen with Christ. He would seek 
 the things that were above. It was not only righteousness ; 
 it was redemption that he sought and found. 7 And, through 
 the resurrection, he was redeemed ; the future and glorious age 
 had become Tor him a present and experienced reality. 
 
 To express his intimate and vital relation with the risen 
 Lord, he used, time after time, a phrase which probably he 
 
 1 Cp. A. B. Bruce, op.cit., p. 213. 2 Gal. ii. 20. 
 
 s The Death of Christ, p. 151. 4 Rom. vi. II. 5 Col. i. 24. 
 
 6a1<av 
 
 7 As J. Kaftan, in his very suggestive essay on the Significance oj 
 Christ's Death for Paul, points out, the Judaism of the time had two 
 foci, Nomism and Messiamsm. The first was concerned with righteous- 
 ness. The second sought redemption from the trouble of this world. 
 Both these aspirations were transformed and satisfied in Paul's Christian 
 experience. Zur Dogmatik, p. 271. 
 
APOSTOLIC EXPERIENCE OF CHRIST 167 
 
 coined. He was ' in Christ Jesus'. No phrase is more charac- 
 teristic of his thought. 1 It denotes ' the most intimate com- 
 munion thinkable between the Christian and the living Christ '. 2 
 He calls himself c a man in Christ '. 3 In Christ, amid the 
 sorrows of the time, God leads him in triumph. 4 It is in the 
 Lord he witnesses. 5 In the Lord he teaches. 6 In the Lord 
 has he the seal of his apostleship. 7 So too he bids his readers 
 be strong in the Lord, 8 walk in Him, 9 and labour. 10 It is in 
 Christ that they are blessed with every spiritual blessing. 11 
 In Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 12 In 
 Him may we be rich in all things. 13 God will fulfil every 
 need in Christ Jesus, 14 in the Lord we rejoice, 15 in the Lord 
 we hope, 16 in the Lord the dead sleep. 17 In the Lord will 
 they be made alive. 18 And the phrase does not denote 
 a mere vague relation of faith to Christ. The risen Lord, 
 dwelling in the eternal, was to him the element in which 
 he lived. In Christ he felt himself already redeemed in 
 principle from the transitory as from the evil. His activities 
 were in Christ. In Christ the eternal had become for him 
 already a present reality. 
 
 Yet his life in the eternal was not one of complete detach- 
 ment from the world, in actionless absorption (samddhi). He 
 was no recluse nor dreamer, but the practical statesman of 
 the early Church. His was a life of disappointment, conflict, 
 and physical suffering. This patriotic Jew was inevitably 
 regarded by his countrymen as a traitor to his race, and the 
 most influential of the Christians treated him with coldness. 
 
 1 Deissmann, in his elaborate essay on Die neutestamentliche Formel 
 ' in Christo Jesu ', shows that of the 196 times the phrase occurs in the New 
 Testament 164 are in Paul's writings, and of the rest 24 are in the late 
 Johannine writings. 
 
 2 Deissmann, op. cit., p. 98. 3 2 Cor. xii. 2. 4 2 Cor. ii. 14. 
 5 Eph. iv. 17. 6 Eph. iv. 21. 7 I Cor. ix. 2. 
 
 8 Eph. vi. 10. 9 Col. ii. 6. 10 Rom. xvi. 12. 
 
 11 Eph. i. 3. 12 Col. ii. 3. 1S I Cor. i. 5. " Phil. iv. 19. 
 
 15 Phil. iii. I. 16 Phil. ii. 19. 17 i Cor. xv. 18. 
 
 J8 i Cor. xv. 22. For the full list of passages see Deissmann, op. cit., 
 pp. 118-24. 
 
i68 CLASSIC CHRISTIANITY, OR THE 
 
 This high-strung, over-sensitive, fully-educated man laboured 
 chiefly for ignorant, and partly servile, congregations, who 
 could not appreciate him, and often gave him little confidence. 
 Called to a life of hardship, his was not a perfectly healthy 
 frame. It is possible that ' the thorn in the flesh ' which so 
 distressed him was of nervous origin. He knew what it was 
 to have added to the ' fight'ings without ' * fears within V He 
 can speak without affectation of daily death, and take to 
 himself the prophetic word, 'For thy sake we are killed 
 all the day long '. 2 He could hold himself the most miser- 
 able of men, if Christ had not risen, and all he had done had 
 been for a delusion. 3 
 
 Such a one will not speak lightly of this world's troubles 
 nor regard the present as the perfect. He knew too well 
 what sorrow was. Forgiven, he yet found that the power 
 of the flesh was with him still. In strong phrase he says he 
 ' beats his body black and blue, lest it shall get the mastery, 
 and he, who has summoned others to run the heavenly race, 
 shall himself be disqualified to run '.* He knew that as yet 
 he had not attained. He looked forward eagerly to the future 
 and complete redemption. To faith, he added hope. But 
 this hope did not produce in him. a quietism, content to leave 
 to God's future catastrophic act, the world's salvation. It 
 showed itself rather in a glad endurance which gave strength, 
 not weakness, to his activities. Already he shared the power 
 and illumination of God's Spirit. That Spirit was the gift of 
 the risen Lord; to use the phrase Paul borrowed from the 
 market-place, the spirit was the 'pledge', 5 the part sum paid 
 in deposit, as a guarantee that all the rest would eventually be 
 given. Thus, with the presence of the Spirit of God in his 
 heart, and with his intimate communion with the Master, the 
 future glory was already partly his. So this hope was to him 
 an actual, positive, and present blessing. In this hope he 
 
 1 2 Cor. vii. 5. 2 Rom. viii. 36. 
 
 8 I Cor. xv. 19. 4 I Cor. ix. 27. 
 
 6 Eph. i. 14. The English version gives 'earnest'. 
 
APOSTOLIC EXPERIENCE OF CHRIST 169 
 
 rejoiced ; l it was his best possession. 2 He was redeemed 
 from the world, yet in the world he laboured. His self- 
 sacrifice was great but it was not world-flight, world-denial. 
 His life in the eternal did not make paltry the duties of the 
 present. On the contrary the interests of the Churches 
 dominate his thought. For them he rejoices and fears ; 
 over them he yearns as a father over his children. For them 
 he prays that they may witness by their life to the Gospel 
 they profess. He would present them to Christ as a spotless 
 bride to her husband. So, in countless ways, he reveals that 
 the Christian life is essentially connected with character and 
 conduct. It means * bringing forth fruit unto God '. 3 It is 
 governed in all things by God's will. 4 It means obedience to 
 God and service to man. Thus faith works through love. And 
 Paul's conception of the ideal Christian is nowhere better 
 expressed than in his famous hymn to love. It is impossible 
 not to suppose that when he so described love, he had in mind 
 the character of Jesus Christ. 5 In that love, patient, kind 
 and long-suffering, rejoicing only in the good, and enduring to 
 the end, we have the pattern of the Christian life. It is a life 
 not of law, but of grace, governed not by precepts, but by 
 principles. Its character is best described by the three words, 
 faith, hope, and love, which in this world and the next abide. 
 
 Christ thus met for Paul every need of religion. That is 
 the fundamental experience on which all his theology is based. 
 And this much-travelled missionary, this citizen of the vast 
 Roman Empire, could think of Christianity with a breadth of 
 view impossible for smaller men. In his later Epistles espe- 
 cially, the massiveness of his conception of Christ and the 
 Gospel is unmistakable. Because of his sense of the fullness 
 of the salvation in Christ, he is sure that Christ is the ulti- 
 mate goal of the whole world's history. ' God ', he writes, 
 
 1 Rom. xii. 12. 
 
 2 For much in the paragraph see A. Titius, Der Paulinismus unter dem 
 Gesichtspunkt der Seligkeit, pp. 87, 88. 
 
 3 Rom. vii. 4. * Cp. Titius, op. tit., p. 131. 5 I Cor. xiii. 4-7. 
 
170 CLASSIC CHRISTIANITY, OR THE 
 
 1 has showered grace on us in Him who is the Beloved, the 
 Bringer of the great emancipation, which is wrought by His 
 death and which delivers us from sin. He has allowed us to 
 know His secret, the hidden purpose which underlies all and 
 interprets all. Long ago His good pleasure was determined ; 
 now, as the times are ripening, He is working out His plan. 
 And the issue of all is this, the summing up, the focusing, 
 the gathering into one, of the whole universe .in Christ.' l So 
 the meaning of history is clear. It is Christ. It is no wonder 
 that, with such a gospel, he prays for his readers that * they 
 may have strength enough to claim their share in the know- 
 ledge which belongs to the holy people, to comprehend the 
 full measure of the Divine purpose ; to know, though it is 
 beyond all knowledge, the love of Christ, and so to attain the 
 Divine completeness, to be filled with all the fullness of God. 2 
 Paul was not primarily interested in philosophy, yet with this 
 gospel he could face the philosophies of his day unabashed, 
 conscious that in Christ he had the answer to their quest. 
 Thus, in the Epistle to the Colossians, he is confronted with 
 the vague mysticism, and the cosmological speculations, of 
 a syncretism of Greek and Oriental thought. He appro- 
 priates the categories of his opponents and applies the highest 
 possible to Christ. He is the image, the visible representation 
 of the unseen God. Not in time only, but before time, is He 
 God's agent. ' In Him the whole world was created. His 
 supremacy is absolute and universal. He is first and He is 
 last. Through Him, as the mediatorial Word, the universe 
 has been created, and unto Him, as the final Goal, it is 
 tending. In Him is no before or after. He is pre-existent 
 and before all worlds. And in Him as the binding and 
 sustaining power, universal nature coheres and consists.' 3 
 Thus the 'ooverty' of the earthly Jesus was the poverty of 
 
 1 Eph. i. 6-10, from Armitage Robinson's paraphrase comm. in loc. t 
 p. 142. 
 
 2 Eph. iii. 1 8, 19, op. cit., p. 173. 
 
 8 Co), i. 15-17, Lightfoot's paraphrase comm. in loc., p. 142. 
 
APOSTOLIC EXPERIENCE OF CHRIST 171 
 
 One infinite and divine. 1 His earthly humiliation was self- 
 chosen. Of His own will He divested Himself of His glory, 
 to come on earth in the form of a servant, and, for our sakes, 
 to die upon the cross. 
 
 So the Christ who redeemed Paul was no dead hero-god, 
 nor one of many incarnations of the Godhead ; He was the one 
 perfect expression of God's revealing love. His saving power 
 Paul knew in the present. The humility of His earthly life 
 was the manifestation of His eternal grace. 
 
 John. 
 
 The writings of John 2 fitly conclude this brief study of the 
 Apostolic experience of the Christian salvation. Like Peter, 
 he had lived in closest intimacy with Jesus during His earthly 
 ministry. Like Paul, he was a man of consummate spiritual 
 genius, and able to express the deepest thoughts with a 
 simplicity of language to which Paul only occasionally attained. 
 No writer moves more quietly and easily among the sublimest 
 truth ; none is more at home in the sphere of the eternal. 
 Yet the eternal is not for him the indeterminate. The truth 
 of the eternal world has been revealed in time in Jesus Christ, 
 and its perception is made to depend on the performance of 
 life's ordinary duties. 
 
 In the Gospel it is John's aim to show that Jesus is the 
 Christ, the Son of God. In that earthly life, so humbly lived, 
 he shows us the glory of the Divine. In the Epistle it is the 
 converse that is shown. The Christ is Jesus. The heavenly 
 Lord is inseparable from the historic Person with whom John 
 once lived. 3 
 
 The Gospel of John presents to the student of the New 
 Testament his most difficult problem. In it reminiscence and 
 reflection are inextricably interwoven, and if, as is often pointed 
 
 1 2 Cor. viii. 9. 
 
 2 I assume that John wrote the 1st Epistle assigned to him, and that the 
 Gospel is at any rate substantially his. As it is not necessary in so brief 
 a sketch to deal with the bookof&Z'4to/&*, the question of its authorship 
 fortunately does not arise. 
 
 8 Cp. Westcott, The Epistles of St. John, xliv. 
 
172 CLASSIC CHRISTIANITY, OR THE 
 
 out, it is impossible to separate his reminiscence from" his 
 reflection, it is equally impossible to separate his reflection 
 from his reminiscence. 
 
 No portrait could be more human than that which John 
 gives us of Christ in his Gospel. Jesus knew hunger and thirst, 
 and mixed freely with the humble and the despised. Yet He 
 was the only-begotten of God. His miracles are * signs ' of 
 His divine nature. He is perfectly one with God, and, as such, 
 men find in Him the Light and Life of the world. He is bread 
 to the hungry, water to the thirsty soul ; He was sent that 
 those who believed on Him might have eternal life. A good 
 shepherd, He would lay down His life for the sheep. 1 It was 
 as lifted up that He would draw all men unto Him. 2 In his 
 account of Christ's last long conversation with His disciples 
 before the crucifixion-, John lets us see clearly how he thought 
 of his Lord. Disciples would be as dependent on Christ, 
 as Christ was on God. Their life was to be in Him. Without 
 Him, they could no more live than could the severed branches 
 of the vine. The risen Christ would come again to them. He 
 would give them His spirit. Theirs should be His peace. 
 Theirs already was eternal life. ' This is eternal life to know 
 God and Him whom God did send.' 3 Knowledge of God 
 comes, not from philosophemes, but from obedience. It 
 means communion with God, and 'eternal life is the blessedness, 
 the increasing perfection which flows from that communion'. 4 
 So men would be in the world, and yet ' not of the world '. 6 
 In tribulation they could share their Master's joy. He had 
 overcome the world. 6 His victory would be theirs, and they 
 would behold the glory of their Lord. 7 
 
 John was not an ' objective historian ', and, in his history of 
 the earthly life of Jesus, his own faith is clearly seen. In the 
 Prologue, 8 he states explicitly his conception of Christianity. 
 In the first words of the Gospel he bids us look, not to the 
 
 1 x. II. 2 xii. 32. s xvii. 3. 
 
 4 G. B. Stevens, The Theology of the New Testament, p. 230. 
 
 5 xvii. 16. 6 xvi. 33. 7 xvii. 24. 8 i. 1-18. 
 
APOSTOLIC EXPERIENCE OF CHRIST 173 
 
 manger at Bethlehem, but to the eternal glory of the Son of 
 God. Both in Jewish and Greek thought, men spoke of the 
 Word of God. 1 John uses the expression as one familiar to 
 his readers, and capable of receiving a definitely Christian 
 meaning. ' In the beginning was the Word/ In contrast to 
 the Vedantic view that God is silence, 2 John thus declares that 
 to reveal, belongs to the essential nature of God. Yet all this 
 is no mere metaphysic of the infinite. It is an interpretation 
 of the concrete and the historic. In the earthly Jesus, whom 
 John liad known, we can see, in temporal projection, the 
 eternal Word of God. He is the Agent of the world's creation. 
 He ' was God ', and He ' became flesh ' ; eternity and time are 
 reconciled in Him. He was with God, and He tabernacled 
 am9ngst us, and to Him John bears his own witness. ' We 
 beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the 
 Father, full of grace and truth '. 3 Those that received Him 
 became, through Him, children of God. So Christ is the 
 visible of the invisible God. He is the interpreter to trans- 
 literate John's Greek the exegete of the Father. 4 
 
 In his Epistle, with strange brevity John has made very 
 clear what Christianity meant to him. He writes to a Church 
 enjoying a temporary respite from persecution. Gnosticism? 
 that weird amalgam of Greek and Oriental mysticism, was, 
 in a Christianized phraseology, proving very attractive to the 
 Christians of the time. And Gnosticism was a most suggestive 
 philosophy. Grotesque and unethical as many of its tenets 
 were, it had one great advantage it was keenly interested in 
 redemption. These early Gnostics regarded spirit and matter 
 as eternal and distinct realities. As matter was essentially evil, 
 from matter the spirit had to be redeemed. Redemption came 
 through this knowledge (gnosis), that matter and spirit were thus 
 eternally distinct, 5 For earnest men, this meant an ascetic life 
 
 1 The Memra of Palestinian and the Logos of Alexandrian Judaism. 
 
 2 Sankara on Badarayana's Sutras, iii. 2. 17. 3 i. 14. 4 j. 18. 
 5 It is interesting to compare the very similar Sankhyan conception of 
 
 redemption as embodied, for example, in parts of the Bhagavadgita 
 (J5. G. ii. 13-30 and of ten). 
 
174 CLASSIC CHRISTIANITY, OR THE 
 
 as an aid to the liberation from the body. For others it meant 
 licence. If deeds belonged only to the material, how could 
 they affect the spirits of the redeemed ? Naturally from this 
 standpoint, belief in the incarnation of the Son of God was 
 impossible. Yet the Christian Gnostics retained the Christian 
 vocabulary. They too spoke of the heavenly Christ. But 
 the heavenly Christ was for them distinct from the earthly Jesus 
 upon whom He descended at the Baptism, and whom He left 
 before the crucifixion. 1 No more stimulating heresy has ever 
 claimed the Christian name, and John's answer is full of 
 illumination. 
 
 John makes the object of his letter plain at once. As one 
 who had actually lived with and known the incarnate Word, he 
 writes that his readers may share his fellowship. ' Yea and our 
 fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.' 2 
 * These things ', he concluded, ' have I written unto you that ye 
 may know that ye have eternal life, even unto you that believe 
 on the Name of the Son of God.' 3 So the object of the Epistle 
 is not only to controvert the Gnostic heresy and affirm the 
 true incarnation in Jesus of Christ, the Son of God. It is also 
 to provide an ' apparatus ' of tests, an ' adequate set of criteria ', 
 by which readers may satisfy themselves that they have 
 eternal life and are thus God's children. 4 
 
 To Christian faith, then, Jesus was not merely a good man on 
 whom the divine Christ descended: He was the true incarnation 
 of the Son of God. And our victory over the world is 
 dependent on this faith. Christ was not the radiant manifesta- 
 tion of God's love, Himself untouched by sorrow. The divine 
 Christ was one with Jesus, not only at the Baptism but on 
 the Cross. It was the Son of God that died for us. Our 
 salvation is a tragic thing, completed only through anguish 
 and sacrifice. 5 It is through Him that we know God, and, in 
 
 1 So Cerinthus, John's great adversary : Irenaeus, Ad Haer. i. 26. 
 
 2 i. 1-3. 8 v. 13. 
 
 4 R. Law's The Tests of Life, 2nd edit., p. 6, an exposition of the 
 Epistle to which this brief account of it owes very much. 
 6 v. 5, 6. 
 
APOSTOLIC EXPERIENCE OF CHRIST 175 
 
 the end, to refuse to believe in the incarnation of the Son, 
 makes impossible the belief in the Fatherhood of God. ' He 
 that denieth the Son the same hath not the Father/ 1 The 
 love of Christ is itself a revelation of God's love. The absolute 
 of love, says John in one place, is to be seen in Christ's death 
 for us. 2 In another place he sees love's absolute in the love 
 of God, who sent His Son to suffer for us. 3 So the sacrifice of 
 Christ is the sacrifice of God. The death of Christ reveals that 
 even God cannot save sinners, such as we are, without sorrow. 
 
 To describe God, John uses a few simple but very significant 
 words. He is righteousness ; He is love ; He is life, original 
 and self-communicative ; He is light. His property it is to 
 reveal Himself, to shine in the darkness, and make Himself 
 known as the truth. So although the word ' eternal ' is often 
 on John's lips, it is not an infinite abstraction that John calls 
 God. This holy, loving, personal Being may be known. He 
 has been made known to men in the incarnate Son. There 
 may we see God's righteousness, love, and mercy, and have 
 fellowship with Him. And this fellowship means for us already 
 eternal life. He who has eternal life stands firm amid the flux 
 of time. For such a one the world has lost its glamour. The 
 selfishness, ostentation, and vainglory, 4 which are the marks 
 of the ' world ', belong not to the Father, and can no longer 
 attract those who have learned to love Him. In John's majestic 
 phrase, ' the world passeth away and the lust thereof, but he 
 that doeth the will of God abideth for ever '. 5 
 
 And eternal life does not mean merely everlasting life. It 
 is the highest life, the life which is like the life of God. It is 
 God's gift, and through communion with Him alone can it be 
 ours. So its characteristics are those of the divine, and by this 
 we may know whether we have already this eternal life. 
 
 1 ii. 23. 
 
 2 ' Hereby know we love, because He laid down His life for us,' iii. i6, 
 The words ' of God ' of the Authorised Version are a gloss. 
 
 3 iv. 10. 
 
 4 ' The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life,' ii. 16. 
 
 5 ii. 17. 
 
176 CLASSIC CHRISTIANITY, OR THE 
 
 Thus, although eternal life means redemption from this world, 
 it is manifested not by mystic ecstasies, or sublime speculations, 
 but by our daily and ordinary deeds. The criteria of this life 
 are righteousness, love, and truth. We know that we know 
 Him, if we keep His commandments. 1 If we say we 
 abide in God, we must walk as He walked. 2 There is no- need 
 to say who the ' He ' is. For John there is only one ' He '. 
 Christ filled all his thoughts. The whole object of the 
 manifestation of the Son of God was, that he might take away 
 sin. Sin is simply ' inadmissible ' in' the man who abides in 
 God. 3 He that does not righteousness is not of God. As 
 with righteousness, so with love. The world-old command- 
 ment of love has taken a new and perfect meaning in Christ's 
 love and sacrifice. 4 There is no eternal life where love is not. 
 Because He laid down His life for us, we ought also to lay 
 down our lives for the brethren. But such a demand is remote 
 from everyday experience, for the call for such sacrifice is rare. 
 So immediately John adds the homely test, ' Do we succour 
 our brethren in their needs ?' 6 It is easy for men to indulge in 
 rapturous emotion at the thought of God, but that will not 
 suffice. Our brother is visible before us. If we do not show 
 love to him in his patent necessity, it is useless for us to claim 
 to love much the God who is invisible. 6 
 
 To the tests of righteousness and love, John adds the test 
 of belief. Our eternal life has come to us through the historic 
 revelation of God in Jesus Christ. Only for him who accepts 
 that revelation are its resources available. For such, every 
 spiritual aspiration, and every demand of the conscience, finds in 
 the Gospel its answer. Old man as he is, John himself has not 
 ceased to wonder at the wealth of God's grace. There is the 
 accent of rapture in his words. ' Behold what manner of love 
 the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the 
 children of God, and such we are/ Not yet is our full salvation, 
 but ' we know that when He shall be manifested we shall be 
 
 ii. 3. 2 ii. 6. 8 Hi. 6. 
 
 4 ii. 7, 8. 3 Hi. 15-17- 6 v - 20 - 
 
APOSTOLIC EXPERIENCE OF CHRIST 177 
 
 like Him, for we shall see Him as He is '- 1 It is typical of the 
 Epistle that even here there follows at once the ethical demand : 
 ' And every one that hath this hope in Him, purifieth himself 
 even as He is pure.' 2 
 
 Where outside the words of the Master is there to be found 
 such a combination of simplicity and sublimity, spirituality 
 and ethical vigour ? 
 
 As in brief outline we thus study the types of Christian 
 experience represented by the three greatest names of the 
 early Church, we are struck less by their difference than their 
 unity. The practical counsels of Peter, the ratiocinations of 
 Paul, the lofty intuitions of John, reveal men of very 
 different mental habits and temperament. But their gospel 
 is the same. It is the gospel of a living and all-powerful 
 Saviour whose service to them was joy, though it meant 
 persecution ; and freedom, though it meant imprisonment. 
 About the centrality of Christ in Christianity none of these men 
 has any doubt. Nor do they limit His significance to the 
 Church. All are at one in seeing in Him the world's final, 
 because perfect, Redeemer, the complete expression of the 
 Father's love and grace. 
 
 And their experience is not of mere historic interest. It has 
 been not only classic but normative to Christian faith, and 
 able to reproduce itself in countless Christians. And men to-day 
 are able to read their words and find in them the best expression 
 of their own personal and living faith. And these Epistles are 
 not Forest Books, or Upanishads^ to be read only by occasional 
 students with a special interest in religious speculation, and 
 with the rare opportunity of spending long years in uninter- 
 rupted meditation. They are the property of the ordinary 
 Christian, and the religious experience they represent is found 
 
 1 iii. i, 2. As Dr. Arnold said in his last Rugby sermon, 'The mere 
 contemplation of Christ shall transform us into His likeness '. 
 
 2 iii. 3- 
 
 N 
 
178 CLASSIC CHRISTIANITY, ETC. 
 
 not only, or chiefly, in the writings of professed scholars and 
 theologians. It may be studied as well in what has been 
 called the layman's manual of Theology, the hymnaries of the 
 Church. The hymns most universally prized and sung in the 
 most sacred and awful moments of life are hymns which, in 
 modern words, express, however imperfectly, the same 
 experience as we have studied in the classic documents 
 of Christianity, the writings of the great Apostles. It is the 
 experience of a salvation adequate to every need. In the death 
 of their Saviour there is brought home to men God's solemn 
 forgiveness. In union with their risen Lord, men find them- 
 selves, in spite of daily failures, redeemed from the tyranny 
 of the sinful and the transitory, to share already something of 
 the power of the life that is eternal. 1 
 
 1 It may be said that the above presupposes a fuller Christianity than 
 that of the average Christian. But in this sense the average Christian is 
 not the normal but the sub-normal Christian. The experience described 
 is not restricted to men of peculiar spiritual genius, but is reproduceablein 
 any Christian who will take his religion whole-heartedly. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND THE DOCTRINE OF 
 CYCLIC RECOMPENSE 
 
 ' THE greatness of man is great ', says Pascal, ' because he 
 knows that he is miserable. . . . His very miseries prove his 
 greatness. They are the miseries of a king deposed.' l When 
 men are thus conscious of their misery an imreflective optimism 
 becomes impossible. Men begin to ask, ' Whence came evil ? ' 
 
 To deny the problem is not to solve it. To say with Pope : 
 
 * And, spite of Pride, in erring Reason's spite, 
 One truth is clear, whatever is, is right,* 
 
 is to mock a misery we do not feel. There is a shallow cheer- 
 fulness which deserves well the fierce rebuke of Schopenhauer. 
 ' To me, optimism, when it is not merely the thoughtless talk 
 of such as harbour nothing but words under their low forehead, 
 appears not merely an absurd, but also as a really wicked, way 
 of thinking, as a bitter mockery of the unspeakable sufferings 
 of humanity/ 2 Why should one man be leprous or crippled 
 and another clean and strong ? Why should one man be born 
 to privilege and wealth, another to misery and poverty ? Such 
 questions must arise in the minds of all who have sufficient 
 leisure to think, and sufficient imagination to feel the cruel 
 inequalities of life. Before the mystery of unmerited suffering, 
 men in the West have been for the most part content to stand 
 dumb. It is not easy 'to justify the ways of God to man'. 
 
 1 Pensees et Opuscules publics par M. L. Brunschvigg, p. 509. 
 
 2 The World as Will and Idea, English trans., i. 420, quoted in E, R. E. 
 vi. 321. But Schopenhauer's own pessimism is as extreme and as 
 unconvincing as the optimism of Leibnitz which Pope was versifying. As 
 Prof. James Ward says, ' If the rosy pictures of the one are not decisive, 
 neither is the gallery of horrors of the other,' The Realm of Ends, or 
 Pluralism and Theism, p. 324. 
 
 N 2 
 
i8o CHRISTIANITY AND THE DOCTRINE 
 
 We need to remember Bishop Butler's warning, ' What men 
 require is to have all difficulties cleared. And this is, or at 
 least for anything we know to the contrary, it may be, the 
 same as requiring to comprehend the Divine nature, and the 
 whole plan of Providence from everlasting to everlasting.' l 
 If perfect knowledge is required to solve the problem, then we 
 must pronounce it insoluble, for our knowledge is imperfect 
 and fragmentary. 
 
 To Hinduism the problem seems not insoluble, but solved. 
 There is in the world no injustice. Events and causes are 
 linked together by inviolable law. At a man's death, the 
 effects of his deeds remain and determine his destiny in his 
 next birth. So a man's condition is always the result of his 
 own acts. The outcaste in his degradation, the virgin-widow 
 in her loneliness, the maimed and the suffering, are all alike 
 atoning for the misdeeds of a previous life. Through cycles of 
 birth and death, acts, good or bad, work out in reward or 
 retribution. With such a theory, Hindus justly claim that, 
 whereas other men confess themselves baffled, they can explain 
 with confidence all those things in the world which seem unjust. 
 And what was once the obscure philosopheme of a few isolated 
 thinkers has become in India, not only the logical prius of all 
 speculation, but the almost universal conviction of the common 
 people, so firmly held that the calamities and inequalities of life 
 appear no longer as mysteries but are regarded as the natural 
 and inevitable consequence of previous deeds. The theory is 
 in many ways an attractive one. As a recent traveller to India 
 has said : * There is an undeniable dignity in the Hindu con- 
 ception of the soul pursuing its long pilgrimage through decay- 
 ing worlds until at length it reaches home in the endless sea.' - 
 
 The importance of the doctrine thus seems to be twofold : 
 
 1. It provides a theodicy easily understood and generally 
 accepted. 
 
 2. It secures the recognition of the principle of retribution. 
 
 1 The Analogy of Religion , Part II, Chap. viii. 
 
 2 J. H. Pratt, India and its Faiths, p. 106. 
 
OF CYCLIC RECOMPENSE 181 
 
 Clear and consistent as the doctrine of karma at first appears 
 to be, it seems doubtful if its simplicity is more than superficial. 
 That there is a connexion between sin and suffering, most men 
 would admit. We reap, for the most part, the crop we sow. 
 As the Indian proverb says: 
 
 1 Who plants mangoes, mangoes shall he eat ; 
 Who plants thorn-bushes, thorns shall wound his feet.' 1 
 Or, as the Mahdbharata puts it, ' As among a thousand cows 
 a calf finds its mother, so the deed previously done follows 
 after the doer J . 2 But it is one thing to recognize the principle 
 of retribution. It is another to make of deeds and their effects 
 a mathematical equation: so much surplus of good deeds 
 equals so much happiness; so much surplus of evil deeds 
 equals so much misery. Such equations deal with deeds, good 
 or ill, as if they were so many counters, to be added to, or 
 removed at will. Deeds are not thus separable from per- 
 sonality. Punishment to be just should deal not so much 
 with the deeds as with the doer. 
 
 Such is not the view of Indian philosophy. The con- 
 sequences of deeds act on without reference to their doer. 
 Nor indeed with its defective psychology could it be otherwise. 
 As Deussen says, 'As the natural consequence of the Indian 
 view which places the essence of the soul in knowing, not in 
 willing, the soul, with all its organs, is a quite neutral thing, 
 devoid of all moral distinctions *. 3 It is not easy, then, to see how 
 the effects of deeds determine the soul's destiny, and it cannot 
 be said that the classic texts of Hinduism give us here much 
 guidance. The' account in the Upanishads is, as we have 
 seen, 4 obscure and confused. Why, after requital in the next 
 world, rebirth is needed here is not explained, and the descrip- 
 tion of the descent of the soul to be born again is certainly 
 more curious than convincing. Nor does Sankaracharya help 
 us here. 5 So far from removing the contradictions of the 
 
 1 Cp. Gal. vi. 7. 
 
 2 Quoted in Macdonell's Sanskrit Literature, p. 388. 
 
 3 Das System des Veddnta^ p. 404. 4 See Chapter iii, pp. 58-63. 
 6 See Chapter iv, pp. 92-5. 
 
182 CHRISTIANITY AND THE DOCTRINE 
 
 Upanishadic texts, his more formal and didactic exposition 
 only makes them more obvious. The illustration he gives of 
 the courtier, who leaves the king's court before he is quite 
 penniless, does not really help us to see why, if the effects of 
 deeds operate in the next world, they still require to be worked 
 ouf in this. And there is a prior difficulty. The soul is not 
 only morally neutral. It is an unconscious entity. Few but 
 theosophists (usually of European extraction) claim to re- 
 member their previous existences. 1 What connexion is there 
 then between the deeds of one birth and their effects in the 
 next ? Sankara, as we have seen, is here not only obscure ; 
 he is self-contradictory. In one place he assumes that there 
 exists a causal link between deeds and their effects (apurvd)? 
 In another passage he expressly denies this, and does so, 
 because only so can he leave room in his system for the 
 activity of Isvara, the effected (and unreal) Lord. 3 But the 
 Gods themselves are under karma and involved in the cycle 
 of birth and death, and the work assigned to Isvara is otiose. 
 In truth, the doctrine of karma, accepted with thoroughness, 
 leaves no place for personality, whether human or divine. So 
 we find that the Sarikhyan philosophy, in which the trans- 
 migration theory finds its most congenial expression, is 
 atheistic, and assigns the whole karmic process to the material 
 sphere ; 4 whilst Gautama the Buddha, regarding as axiomatic 
 
 1 It is only by his divine omniscience that Krishna can say to Arjuna, 
 1 Many births of me and thee have passed, O Arjuna, I know them all '. 
 And he adds at once, 'but thouknowest them not '. B. G. iv. 5. 
 
 2 iii. 1.6. S. B. E. xxxviii, p. 109. 
 
 3 iii. 2. 38. Modern theosophy is, of course, able to explain. It is the 
 four ' Maharajahs, who choose for the composition of the etheric double, 
 the elements suited to the qualities that are to be expressed through it, 
 and this etheric double thus becomes a fitting karmic instrument for the 
 Ego> Riving it alike the basis for expression of the faculties it has evolved, 
 and the limitations imposed upon it by its own past failures and wasted 
 opportunities. This mould is guided by the Maharajahs to the country, 
 ther ace, the family, the social surroundings, which afford the most suitable 
 field for the working out of the karma allotted.' Karma, by Mrs. Besant, 
 p. 47. 
 
 4 This atheism (nirlSvara-vada) does not affect the belief in the popular 
 gods. As we have already seen, redemption in this system consists in 
 
OF CYCLIC RECOMPENSE 183 
 
 the belief in cyclic recompense, ignores as meaningless this 
 belief in a useless God and an insentient soul. 1 Many and 
 persistent have been the endeavours in India to reach Mono- 
 theisnij yet somehow all have failed. Has not their failure 
 been the inevitable consequence of this recognition of a karmic 
 law to which even the gods are subject, and from which the 
 highest Brahman is only exempt because He refrains from all 
 purposed activity? Thus, as we have seen, in Sankara's 
 system, Isvara, the arbiter of men's destiny, is active but 
 unreal. The highest Brahman, the sole reality, is without 
 attribute, action, or desire. And in Ramanuja's elaborate 
 attempt to legitimatize in the Vedanta a more theistic faith, 
 the same necessity seems to be recognized, of removing the 
 highest Brahman from the sphere of action, lest He too come 
 under the karmic law. At times, Ramanuja speaks of the 
 highest Brahman as if He were at once personal and real. ' We 
 know from Scripture', he writes, 'that there is a Supreme 
 Person whose nature is absolute bliss and goodness, who is 
 fundamentally antagonistic to all evil ; who is the cause of the 
 origination, sustentation, and dissolution of the world ; who 
 differs in nature from all other beings, who is all-knowing, 
 who, by His mere thought and will, accomplishes all His 
 purposes ; who is an ocean of kindness, as it were, for all who 
 depend on Him ; whose name is the highest Brahman. And, 
 with equal certainty, we know from Scripture that this 
 Supreme Lord, when pleased by the faithful worship of His 
 Devotees, frees them from the influence of Nescience, which 
 consists of karma> accumulated in the infinite progress of time 
 and hence hard to overcome ; allows them to attain to that 
 supreme bliss which consists in the direct intuition of His own 
 
 knowing the absolute distinction of the soul from all the material world to 
 which belong the organs of our mental and moral life. 
 
 1 In the Buddhist view, ' The new person formed after death is one's 
 karmic soul, but it is not one's identical ego. It is to save from sorrow 
 this son of one's act, that one should seek to find the end. But there is no 
 soul to save.' Hopkins, Religions of India^ p. 322. 
 
184 CHRISTIANITY AND THE DOCTRINE 
 
 true nature ; ' l and, in other passages, Ramanuja speaks of 
 Brahman's all-comprehensive rule. 2 Yet in his discussion of 
 the Sutras dealing with the ' creation ' of the world, Ramanuja 
 has no better solution than Sankara gave. The highest 
 Brahman made, or rather, ' arranged ', the world in motiveless 
 'sport', 3 and Ramanuja's discussion also assumes that God 
 must be without motive and desire, or He too would fall under 
 the karmic law. True, in the passage we have quoted, 
 Brahman seems to be regarded as Redeemer, yet His part in 
 redemption is one of mere passivity. Hindu bkakti has craved 
 a living God, and its saints have sung of the gracious deeds, 
 the active love, of their God ; but such belief has been more 
 the hope of the heart than the conviction of the mind, and the 
 ardour of emotion has found it hard to withstand the chill of 
 the conviction that God, if free from karma, must be inactive. 
 If active, he will be under the karmic law. Real and meaningless, 
 or meaningful and unreal. It is a harsh alternative. But such 
 seems to be the inevitable consequence of this belief in karma. 
 In truth the karmic law leaves no adequate room in the 
 universe for the living God. It is a theodicy which has little 
 use for a ' theos '. 
 
 This explanation of the world's sorrow has not removed but 
 increased its burden. From the time of the Upanishads on, 
 how sombre has been the Indian view of life, how poignant the 
 sense of life's misery and futility. And, general as has been 
 the acceptance df the doctrine of karma, it has never been 
 able quite to displace the older views. Men still continue to 
 sacrifice, and pray, and hope thus to obtain, in spite of karma, 
 deliverance from calamity and abundant wealth and offspring. 
 Ascetics have not ceased to strive in this present life by their 
 austerities to gain supernatural powers unearned by the deeds 
 of their previous birth. 4 The belief in cyclic recompense 
 
 1 On Veddntasiitras, iv. 4. 32. S. B. E. xlviii, p. 770. 
 
 9 E. g. op. cit. on ii. 4. 14, p. 576. " Op. cit. on ii. I. 33, p. 477. 
 
 4 Cp. J. N. Farquhar, The Crown of Hinduism, p. 148. 
 
OF CYCLIC RECOMPENSE 185 
 
 ^provides no consolation to the sufferer, and no motive to the 
 happy to relieve his suffering. The Brahman may be pleased to 
 regard his advantages of caste and opportunity as the due reward 
 of his merit in a previous birth, but it does not help the Pariah 
 to be told that the degradation which makes his very presence 
 * contaminating ' to the Brahman, is the fit and inexorable result 
 of misdeeds done in a life of which he has no knowledge and 
 no recollection. For the miserable, it is no gospel to hear that 
 'the Good Law is working with undeviating accuracy, that 
 its agents apply it everywhere with unerring insight, with 
 unfailing strength, and that all is therefore very well with the 
 world and with its struggling Souls '.* Actually the universal 
 Hindu view is that all is not very well with the world and with 
 its struggling souls. In the working out of karma the world 
 is getting steadily worse. The golden age was at the first ; the 
 present age is the last and most evil of all. The deeds of previous 
 births hold men in an imprisonment more cruel than that of any 
 dungeon, for it lasts not for one, but innumerable lifetimes. 
 
 A man may indeed improve his karma by good works. 
 Thus the Benares text-book says : ' A man has only to desire, 
 to think, to act, and he can make his karma what he chooses. 
 Thus the Gods have risen to their high estate, and thus many 
 others rise.' 2 But in this there is little consolation. Even 
 if we could assume that the human will were strong enough 
 to trample over difficulties, and, unaided, do good in a bad 
 environment, the karma would in this life remain unchanged. 
 The outcaste would still be an outcaste, and the leper a leper. 
 The good karma gained would only be effective in a future 
 life with which this present life has no personal and conscious 
 connexion. And if a man can do but little for himself, he can 
 do less for his neighbours. The Benares text-book indeed 
 informs us that it is a ' mistake to say respecting a sufferer, 
 " He is suffering his karma ; if I help him I may be interfering 
 
 1 Mrs. Besant, Karma, p. 50. 
 
 2 An Advanced Text-book of Hindu Religion and Ethics , Central Hindu 
 College, Benares, p. 117. 
 
1 86 CHRISTIANITY AND THE DOCTRINE 
 
 with his karma \ Those who thus speak forget that each man 
 is an agent of the karma of others, as well as an experience!* of 
 his own. If we are able to help a man, it is the proof that the 
 karma under which he was suffering is exhausted, and that we 
 are the agent of his karma bringing him relief. If we refuse to 
 carry the karmic relief, we make bad karma for ourselves, 
 shutting ourselves out from future help, and some one else will 
 have the good karma of carrying the relief and so ensuring for 
 himself aid in a future difficulty.' 1 Even with this modernized, 
 and modified, view of karma, the incentive to kindness seems 
 strangely circuitous and ineffective. And this is inevitable. 
 The quiescent compassion we feel for the criminal justly 
 expiating his crimes is very different from the energetic help 
 we desire to render the unfortunate ; but, if the karmic view 
 be true, the leper and the cripple, the blind and the bereaved, 
 are all to be regarded as criminals undergoing punishment for 
 misdeeds done in former births. Has it not been this belief 
 which, among a people kindly and humane, has stayed the 
 course of pity and allowed harsh customs to survive unchecked ? 
 How otherwise, for instance, could there be added to the 
 bereavement of the widow the ignominy of the shorn head, 
 and the poor clothes, and the deprivation of her jewels? It 
 is this belief in karma which makes of the unhappy the 
 accursed. 
 
 To the doctrine of karma may be not unjustly assigned the 
 static nature of Indian society. When Christian missionaries 
 began their work among the outcastes, they were told their 
 work would be in vain ; the ignorance, degradation, and semi- 
 servitude of those for whom they laboured were the inevitable 
 and inexpugnable results of past sins done in previous lives. 
 Experience teaches ; and the Hindu view has been found false 
 in fact. The large, and long-established, Christian communities 
 of South India have revealed how effectively Christian education 
 can break the power of an evil past. Thus very many of the 
 Shanar Christians have shown themselves well able in intellectual 
 1 Of. at., p. 1 1 8. 
 
OF CYCLIC RECOMPENSE 187 
 
 ability to compete with the privileged Hindus of the highest 
 castes, and even among the Pariah Christians there are 
 increasingly those of Christian character, education, and 
 refinement. Defective environment provides a more adequate 
 explanation for the degradation of the outcaste than does the 
 law of karma, and experience shows how greatly spiritual 
 forces working in an improved environment can change men 
 even in their present life. Through the success of Christian 
 missions and in emulation of them, Hindus have begun to 
 realize their responsibility for those whom they formerly 
 regarded as outside the pale of sympathy and help. The 
 quest of political freedom has made the social tyrant an 
 anomaly. Stable Home Rule is possible only for a nation, not 
 for a congeries of severed castes. So long as outcastes are 
 regarded as accursed, Hindu leaders must not complain because 
 the outcaste communities prefer that their destinies should be 
 in the hands of aliens, rather than of those who regard them 
 not as fellow countrymen, but as 'untouchables', void of the 
 dignity of common manhood. There are now ' Depressed 
 Classes Missions ' whose endeavours are earnest and admirable. 
 But it is hard to reconcile such work with the belief that in 
 the present life a man's karma is unalterable. If an outcaste 
 must, in any case, work out in this life the karma of his previous 
 birth, such missions lose their motive. We can only strive 
 with enthusiasm to save those whom we regard as salvable. 1 
 
 1 A Syrian Christian friend once remarked to me that Hindus needed to 
 embrace Christianity in order to rid themselves of their belief in karma, and 
 in caste as determined by karma, which makes all social work so ineffective. 
 I replied, * Surely there is needed for social service also the constraint of 
 Christian love in order to arouse that spirit of self-sacrifice and patience 
 which all who labour for the degraded need '. He answered, and with 
 very much truth : ' That would be true in Europe, but in India from the 
 time of Gautama, the Buddha, there have always been very many who 
 would think nothing of self-sacrifice if it were in the pursuit of what they 
 recognized as a spiritual end.' It is significant that the most prominent 
 members of the Depressed Classes Mission have been members of the 
 Prarthana Samaj, and in this Samaj the doctrine of karma is treated as an 
 open question and practically rejected by many of its members. Vide 
 J. N. Farquhar's Modern Religioits Movements in India, p. 78. 
 
i88 CHRISTIANITY AND THE DOCTRINE 
 
 Justly proud as India is of its venerable history, its best 
 minds are looking not to the past but to the future. They 
 believe that the best is yet to be, and have before them the 
 glorious vision of a repristinated India able to take its place 
 among the most spiritual and enlightened of the nations. But 
 the doctrine of karma sounds the death-knell of all such noble 
 hope. The good time has come ; it is not coming. The 
 history of the world is one not of progress, but of retrogression. 
 The first age was golden and in it virtue was perfect and 
 entire. In the two succeeding ages virtue became weak and 
 mutilated. In the age in which we live (the kali yugd) 
 virtue is well-nigh dead, and evil, already supreme, must in- 
 crease and increase until at last the universe is totally destroyed 
 and reabsorbed into Brahma. There is no message here for a 
 rejuvenated India. 
 
 Thus the doctrine which was to solve the problem of evil has 
 increased its burden. And not only so. From what has been 
 said it is clear that, for all its emphasis on retribution, the 
 doctrine has tended to weaken rather than to strengthen the 
 moral nexus between sin and suffering. A man is not born 
 with the experience gained in a previous existence. He has 
 no sense of his past failure, no accumulation of wisdom learnt 
 from his past folly. Against the cruder forms of the 
 karma theory * the old criticism of Herder is still apposite. 
 If a tiger in human form is born in the next life an 
 actual tiger, how is that an expiation? A tiger has no 
 conscience and can now ravage and kill without remorse. 2 
 And in its more subtle forms, too, the karmic law fails to 
 
 1 Cp. The Laws of Manu, section XII. 
 
 59. Men who delight in doing hurt (become) carnivorous (animals) ; 
 those who eat forbidden food, worms ; thieves, creatures who consume 
 their own kind. 
 
 62. For stealing grain, (a man) becomes a rat ; for stealing honey, 
 a stinging insect ; for stealing milk, a cow. 
 
 63. For stealing meat, a vulture. 
 
 67. For stealing fruits and roots, a monkey ; for stealing vehicles 
 a camel. S. B. E. xxv, p. 497, 498. 
 
 3 See P. Gennrich, Die Lehre von der. Wiedergeburt, p. 343. 
 
OF CYCLIC RECOMPENSE 189 
 
 establish any moral connexion between the sins of the past and 
 the sufferings of the present, for of the past we have no 
 memory. And the karma theory gives no hope of a gradual 
 ascent through moral struggle to freedom from sin and evil. 
 And this is inevitable. It is beyond man's unaided powers to 
 reach communion with God. That can come only by God's 
 act. Re-birth will not suffice. It is the new birth which can so 
 transform the personality as to make it, in Paul's words, ' a new 
 creature ', influenced indeed by the effects of past deeds, but 
 no longer in bondage to them because of the great inrush of 
 God's creative power. 
 
 The best criticism of a doctrine* is its history, and history 
 clearly teaches that the effect of the karmic doctrine has been 
 to compel men, in revolt at the inexorable tyranny of the past, 
 to seek to sever themselves completely from the effects of their 
 deeds. 
 
 As we have seen, from the time of the Upanishads on, the 
 classic philosophy of India has been chiefly concerned with 
 redemption from the karmic process. And the nature of the 
 redemption sought is full of significance. Its very one-sidedness 
 shows the one-sidedness of the conception of the karma from 
 which men sought so eagerly to be redeemed. According to 
 the doctrine of karma, the individual soul must wander on 
 from birth to death, and death to birth, bound to its deeds as 
 with chains of steel. Surely it is in reaction against this 
 excessive emphasis on the effect of deeds that, as we have 
 seen, the most influential school of Indian thought proclaims 
 a redemption which removes the soul entirely from the results 
 of its activity, and asserts its identity with the attributeless and 
 inactive Brahman. For the man whom knowledge has thus 
 redeemed, the creation and Isvara, the Creator, are alike illusory. 
 For such a one, deeds have no effect, and retribution no 
 meaning. Not only the deeds of the past life, but the deeds 
 of this life also, are of no importance to the redeemed. For 
 him, moral distinctions no longer exist, and the sense of guilt 
 is known to be illusory. 
 
i 9 o CHRISTIANITY AND THE DOCTRINE 
 
 We have seen that the importance of the doctrine of karma 
 is twofold. It provides a theodicy easily understood and 
 generally accepted. It secures the recognition of the principle 
 of retribution. As a theodicy, in explaining sorrow it has 
 destroyed hope. In its recognition of the principle of 
 retribution, by its externality and over-emphasis, it has led 
 to a view of redemption which ignores altogether the effect of 
 deeds. 
 
 In the last two chapters the endeavour was made briefly to 
 describe the Christian Gospel as it is revealed in Christ 
 Himself and in the classic experience of the greatest Apostles. 
 It remains here to indicate what answer Christianity gives 
 to the problem of evil, and what recognition it accords to the 
 principle of retribution. 
 
 The higher our thought of God, the more mysterious seem 
 the world's sin and misery. If there were many gods, then 
 chaos would occasion no surprise. If God be attributeless, 
 unable to see or feel, then sorrow and inequality may be due 
 to chance, or to the working of an inexorable law. But if God 
 be the holy and almighty Creator, Sustainer, and Ruler of the 
 universe, then surely all things must be obedient to His will 
 and reveal His mercy. What are we to say then of the 
 earthquake which engulfs a city, or of the pestilence which 
 devastates a countryside, and may snatch from a man in one 
 day all his loved ones. 1 For some, the sense of the evils of 
 creation has become an intolerable obsession. ' In sober truth/ 
 wrote Mill, c nearly all things which men are hanged or 
 imprisoned for doing to one another, are nature's everyday 
 performances. . . . Nature impales men . . . and has hundreds 
 of other hideous deaths in reserve Such as the cruelties of a 
 Domitian never surpassed.' 2 Such words seem too emphatic. 
 Nature is not only hostile. The very severity of its laws is 
 often kindness in disguise. Disease has often proved the only 
 1 As cholera will often do in India. a J. S. Mill, Essay on Nature. 
 
OF CYCLIC RECOMPENSE 191 
 
 effective teacher of cleanliness and regard for the poor, and, if 
 men could abuse their bodies without punishment, the race 
 would not be happier but more miserable. The most fertile 
 countries, in which men get food with little labour, have not 
 usually been the homes of the most robust nations. It is 
 necessity which has taught invention. Strength comes from 
 opposition. But worse and more perplexing than physical 
 evil is moral. It is not merely the existence of evil men ; it 
 is their prosperity which seems to challenge our faith in a 
 righteous God. Thus in war, the greatest suffering may fall 
 not upon the aggressor, but upon a peaceful and neutral nation 
 whose only offence it is that it is too small to beat back force 
 with force. And the permission of such colossal crimes is hard 
 to reconcile with our trust in a God of love. It is with no 
 surprise that we find that so much of the greatest literature of 
 the world is concerned with the tragedy of the world's 
 injustice. 
 
 The discussion of the problem in the Old Testament is 
 peculiarly instructive. The pious Israelite, in his emphasis on 
 God's righteousness, for long believed that God requited 
 accurately the good and the bad. To those that obeyed 
 Him, came in this life, prosperity ; to those that disobeyed, 
 trouble and adversity. 1 Thus the Israelite, like the Hindu, 
 looked upon sorrow as the result of sin. If, as in the case of 
 a child born a cripple, or afflicted, the sufferer could not him- 
 self be accused of sin, then the suffering was assigned to the sins 
 of his forefathers working out in retribution. Such a theory 
 was more easily tested by experience than the more subtle and 
 elusive doctrine of karma, and experience showed that it was 
 inadequate to the facts. But there was no other theory to put 
 in its place. The book of Job, the one book in the Old 
 Testament devoted entirely to this problem, shows that the 
 current solution is not true ; suffering is not always due to sin. 
 But it has no explanation to give instead. Even the devoutest 
 of the Jews found that the fact of unmerited suffering bore 
 * * Cp. The Book of Deuteronomy. 
 
192 CHRISTIANITY AND THE DOCTRINE 
 
 heavily on their faith in God, and their faith is expressed at 
 times with a passionate intensity which shows how nearly it had 
 become doubt. Though the wicked prosper and the innocent 
 suffer, yet the innocent still have God. God will be the 
 strength of their heart and their portion for evermore. 1 
 
 In the New Testament all is changed. For its writers the 
 problem is not so much solved as removed. The Jewish 
 explanation Christ expressly rejected. The victims of Pilate's 
 cruelty were not more wicked than other Galileans. 2 Unlike 
 His disciples, He refused to assign the blindness of the man 
 born blind either to his own or his parents' sin. 3 He gave no 
 explanation of the man's affliction, but declared that even such 
 misfortune might ' make manifest the works of God '. After 
 Christ's death and resurrection, the disciples lost their per- 
 plexity. They had been troubled at the blindness of a stray 
 beggar. Now they bear without complaining or surprise their 
 own now heavy sorrows. The Christians were scourged, 
 imprisoned, put to death, but the Church saw in these events, 
 not the working of retribution, nor the failure of God to do 
 justly, but opportunities of glorifying God, and found in these 
 persecutions nothing that could take away from them their joy 
 and sense of triumph. In His lifetime Christ had proclaimed 
 His twofold message of God the Father and the Kingdom of 
 God. His disciples would not understand. Only when He was 
 dead and risen did they obtain the invincible confidence which 
 belongs of right to those who in Christ know God as Father, 
 and share already in the blessings of that Kingdom which is 
 present and eternal. 
 
 The two.great facts of God's Fatherhood and Kingdom are 
 still the inalienable possession of all true Christians. Through 
 
 * Psalm Ixxiii. 26. 2 Luke xiii. 2. 
 
 3 John ix. 2. The disciples' supposition that a man might be born 
 blind through his own sin is curious. The suggestion that they had in 
 mind some such doctrine as that of karma seems improbable. A few 
 Jewish teachers may have been acquainted with that doctrine, but not 
 laymen. More probably it is based on a current Jewish view that a babe, 
 while still in the womb, may have emotions that are sinful. 
 
OF CYCLIC RECOMPENSE 193 
 
 these facts, the problem of evil, though not speculatively solved, 
 loses its urgency and bitterness. For the Christian, the world 
 is not the domain of fate or blind necessity. Whatever be the 
 explanation of its mysteries, he is sure that the world was 
 created and is ruled by the almighty God whom Jesus has 
 bidden us call Father. And because of this faith, he is confident 
 that the creation furthers, and does not thwart, the purposes of 
 love. And the fact of fiuman sin and misery does not refute 
 God's Fatherhood. The motive of fatherhood is love, but love 
 has only meaning among those whose natures are akin. Only 
 persons can be loved or love. And because the men whom 
 God created are persons, and not things, they have the power 
 of choice, and this implies the power of mischoice. If so crude 
 a phrase may be permitted, God ' had to take the risk '. It is 
 the same risk as every human father takes, and if a man knows 
 that he will love and cherish whatever children are born to him, 
 we do not say that he should not call into the world new lives 
 because there is the possibility that, in spite of his nurture and 
 care, they yet may choose the wrong. To complain of the 
 creation of fallible men is to complain of any creation at all ; 
 it is the utter pessimism of those who, like Schopenhauer, 
 regard non-existence as better than existence, and who would 
 prefer to have in place of the rich and varied life of humanity 
 with all its movement, its joys and sorrows, the stillness and 
 silence of the uninhabitable waste. 
 
 The Christian confidence in God's love springs not from 
 speculation but from faith. And such a confidence is inade- 
 quate to our needs unless it can become as real to us as the 
 actual sorrow of our own lives and the patent misery of the 
 world around. It is the witness of innumerable Christians 
 that in Christ just such a certainty has been found. He spoke, 
 in life and death, as one who knew perfectly the Father, and we 
 believe His witness to the Father's love. But to the Christian, 
 Christ is not chiefly the prophet or the teacher. He is the 
 visible of the invisible God. His holy and indomitable love is 
 the projection in time of the holy love of God. We may be 
 
 O 
 
194 CHRISTIANITY AND THE DOCTRINE 
 
 certain of the Father's love because we have seen it in Jesus 
 Christ. Such a confidence may be troubled but not be 
 overthrown. 1 It is not a denial of the sombre evils of life. It 
 is a victory over these evils which is compatible with the 
 bitterest experience of them. It was one whose life was 
 a daily death who spoke with such impassioned eloquence of 
 the love of God from which nothing in life or death could ever 
 separate him. The man certain of God's love can afford to be 
 uncertain of much else, and be content to know that love does 
 all things for the best. 
 
 * Love understands the mystery, whereof 
 
 We can but spell a surface history: 
 Love knows, remembers : Let us trust in Love : 
 Love understands the mystery.' 2 
 
 To stop here would be to misrepresent the attitude towards 
 suffering of classic Christianity. The Fatherhood is only half 
 Christ's message. He proclaimed with it the message of God's 
 Kingdom. If the blessings of the Kingdom were blessings, 
 temporal and material, then the New Testament teaching that 
 sorrow and suffering need not be evil is obviously untrue. 
 The blessings of the Kingdom were spiritual and yet present. 
 Thus the apostles felt that already they shared in the joy and 
 stability of blessings that were eternal. True, their experience 
 of these blessings was as yet but partial, yet, in spite of their 
 afflictions, it sufficed to fill their lives with gratitude and hope. 
 They felt no impulse to speculate on 'the burthen and the 
 mystery '/the heavy and the weary weight of all this unintelli- 
 gible world '. They were content instead to thank God for His 
 unspeakable gifts. Yet these men had, if not a philosophy, 
 
 1 It is from this point of view that we can understand the Divine 
 Omnipotence. As Prof. Pringle-Pattison says, * The omnipotence of God ' 
 means ' neither the tawdry trappings of regal pomp nor the irresistible might 
 of a physical force. The divine omnipotence consists in the all-compelling 
 power of goodness and love to enlighten the grossest darkness and to 
 melt the coldest heart. It is of the essence of the divine prerogative to 
 seek no other means of triumph as, indeed, a real triumph is possible on 
 no other terms.' The Idea of God, by A. Seth Pringle-Pattison, p. 41 1. 
 
 2 Christina Rossetti, Songs for Strangers and Pilgrims. 
 
OF CYCLIC RECOMPENSE 195 
 
 yet an interpretation of evil* The suffering of the world was 
 closely connected with its sin. Its miseries were punitive to 
 those who identified themselves with the sin from which the 
 worst misery arises. But there was no attempt to equate sin 
 and suffering. How could there be when it was the confession 
 of Christ that brought upon many their greatest hardships ? 
 Even in such sorrow they found a discipline which strengthened 
 and enriched their characters, and, like Paul, they are certain 
 that to them that love God, all things work out for good. 
 
 Such a solution can be verified only in experience. Solvitur 
 ambulando cum Deo. The Christian finds, as he reviews his own 
 life, that sorrow was necessary to him, that God has been doing 
 all things well, and he believes that the God, whose love he 
 has experienced, is a God who loves the whole world. And 
 from the Christian standpoint, suffering is not purposeless. It 
 may be vicarious and remedial. The world's saviours have 
 often been men of sorrows and acquainted with grief, wounded 
 for the transgressions and bruised for the iniquities of those 
 they sought to serve. The Holiest died upon the cross. It is 
 not strange that those who seek to follow Him should have to 
 suffer. Such suffering has not been counted punishment but 
 privilege. It is a witness to the love of God. It is a continua- 
 tion of the work of Christ. 
 
 So, in spite of evil, the Christian is certain that a Father 
 rules. Through his membership in the Kingdom he already 
 has an eternal life which takes from sorrow its bitterness, and 
 fills his life with hope. He does not expect to realize on 
 earth his perfect happiness ; he desires that even his suffering 
 should help to make God's will be done, His Kingdom come. 
 So Christianity, too, has a theodicy, but it is a theodicy which 
 is not a universal theory but an individual achievement ; 
 a theodicy to be won not by speculation but by trust and 
 obedience, by moral conflict and participation in God's 
 purposes. 
 
 But the doctrine of karma is not only a theodicy. It is 
 
 O 2, 
 
196 CHRISTIANITY AND THE DOCTRINE 
 
 significant also in its recognition of the principle of retribution. 
 Christianity, as we have seen, declines to equate sin and 
 suffering, or to explain in every case a man's misfortune by 
 his. misdeeds. But, if this is so, does not Christianity ignore 
 the principle of retribution ? Such an accusation may perhaps 
 be sustained against some presentations of Christianity, but 
 it would certainly not be true of any Christianity which is 
 true to type. Christ spoke most distinctly of punishment, 
 and in figurative language referred to the few stripes and 
 the many. 
 
 The great principle that, whatsoever a man sows, that shall 
 he also reap, is regarded as a truism in Christianity. The 
 belief in a divine judgement, however interpreted, has always 
 formed part of accepted Christian truth. But retribution is 
 not regarded as an end in itself. Punishment and sin are not 
 mathematically adjusted. The penalty is not made propor- 
 tionate to deeds irrespective of the doer. It is with guilt that 
 punishment must be related, and guilt depends not so much 
 on the act as on the moral responsibility of the agent. Judge- 
 ment for judgement's sake, judgement which works on irre- 
 spective of the sinner, is, from the Christian standpoint, 
 meaningless. Even criminal justice, rough and imperfect as 
 it is, does not think itself an end independent of the well- 
 being of the State. 1 Its purpose is subsidiary, not final. 
 In most modern states an endeavour is made to prevent 
 the law working as a mere machine. The judge is allowed 
 considerable discretion, and is expected to take into con- 
 sideration the degree of responsibility in the offender. Yet, 
 even so, our criminal justice works but clumsily, and inevitably 
 thinks more of the deed than of the doer. The Christian 
 conception of punishment is not thus juridical. The doctrine 
 of karma, as we have seen, gives no sufficient room for an 
 active Ruler of the world. The Christian doctrine instead 
 proclaims a living God, the Father of all His creatures. 
 Nature indeed does not speak to us of forgiveness. Sins 
 1 Cp. A. G. Hogg, Karma and Redemption , pp. 52-60. 
 
OF CYCLIC RECOMPENSE 197 
 
 which transgress the laws of nature receive automatically 
 their punishment. The vicious and the self-indulgent pay 
 in their bodies for their misdeeds. Unless the law of nature 
 were thus uniform enough to be noted and relied on, ordered 
 life would be impossible, and human 'affairs would have to 
 cease. But such inevitable consequences cannot be regarded 
 as the just recompense of sin. The laws of nature are as 
 often broken in ignorance as in vice, and the ignorant may 
 suffer in this way more than the depraved. To drink unboiled 
 water in cholera time may have more serious physical conse- 
 quences than drunkenness or gluttony. If nature does not 
 speak to us of forgiveness, neither does it speak to us of 
 retribution which is just. 
 
 As the correlate of the Christian doctrine of the divine 
 Fatherhood is the belief that every soul of man has before 
 God an infinite value. It is with the self that retribution 
 has ultimately to do. The worst effect of sin is not on our 
 circumstances, but on ourselves. In this sense it is true that 
 each man makes his own destiny. Our characters are chiefly 
 of our own creation. Outer deeds are, from this point of 
 view, important as expressions of inner acts of choice. Among 
 presented motives the will chooses with which motive it will 
 identify itself. The self is not an aggregate of independent 
 states, nor is it an insentient substratum. It has a history 
 and a character. As it wills, it largely is. Ultimately 
 holiness is blessedness, and if any man chose always to do 
 evil, his will would become evil, and, in a universe ruled by 
 a holy God, such a one would inevitably be shut off from 
 blessedness. The wages of sin is death. 
 
 The Christian gospel proclaims as its first message the 
 forgiveness of sins. It assumes that men who in the past 
 have chosen evil can receive God's forgiveness and with it 
 a new transforming power. It was with this confidence that 
 Christ bade men enter the Kingdom of God, to share in the 
 joy of God's children and the obedience of His servants. He 
 spoke as one who offered men, not new teaching, but new 
 
198 CHRISTIANITY AND THE DOCTRINE 
 
 pow 'r. He assumed that, for all alike, to receive this message 
 would mean a break with the past, drastic and radical. Hin- 
 duism speaks of a rebirth necessitated by the activities of past 
 lives ; Christianity speaks of a new birth, of the possibility of 
 an inrush of divine power great enough to change the direction 
 of the will and transform the personality. And such a new 
 birth is not only possible but necessary. ' Never ', it has 
 been well said, ' does Christ gloss over the difference between 
 those with whom He came in contact. He never groups them 
 together in any rough-and-ready estimate as if they con- 
 stituted one uniform mass. He seeks to find every one 
 individually in his individual isolation from God.' He knew 
 that there were religious as well as sinners, whole as well as 
 sick. Yet He assumes that, in all alike, there was a perversion 
 of the will. Men are prevented from receiving the good gift 
 of the Kingdom, ' not by some weakness which could easily 
 be got over, but by a false strength which a man alone could 
 not overcome '. l Except a man be born again, he cannot 
 enter the Kingdom of God. All alike need forgiveness, for 
 the wills of all- are turned away from God, and this forgiveness 
 is a great creative act. Christ calls us to a communion with 
 God which changes our ideals and re-creates our personality. 
 Some there are who, brought up in Christian homes, have at 
 all times felt the appeal of Christ, and been responsive 
 to it. Such experience the impact on their personality of 
 divine power, and know that, in proportion as they trust God 
 and do His will, they live a life which is not one of bondage 
 to past deeds, but the work of the re-creating power of God. 
 But the ' new birth ' is more conspicuously seen in those who 
 in a moment have had the whole direction of their lives 
 changed. Thus men who through selfish choices tend to 
 selfish choosing, may be brought through the realization of 
 God's love in Christ to lives of unselfish service. Men, 
 slaves to sense, learn temperance and self-sacrifice. To aH 
 
 1 T. Haering, The Christian Faith> Eng. trans., p. 439. 
 
OF CYCLIC RECOMPENSE 199 
 
 men alike, the Christian gospel comes with the offer of for- 
 giveness and the promise of new power. 
 
 But does not such a message of forgiveness violate just 
 what is true in the doctrine of karma, its recognition of the 
 principle of retribution ? If, with those who hold the karma 
 doctrine, we understand retribution only in a juridical sense, 
 that would be true. But Christianity thinks of retribution, 
 not from the juridical so much as from the moral standpoint. 
 Its best analogy is not the practice of the law courts, but the 
 wise discipline of a well-ordered home. Punishment may be 
 deterrent and exemplary for others, but for the wrongdoer 
 himself its object is thus not retribution chiefly, but rather 
 the recognition of the holy law he has transgressed. Through 
 the contumacy of the offender, punishment may become for 
 him vindictive only, but, in so far as this is so, punishment has 
 failed in its chief work and is fulfilling only an inferior 
 function. It has been well said ' the truth of penalty is peni- 
 tence '. And forgiveness means far more than an amnesty. 
 An amnesty is granted without any regard' to its effect on the 
 characters of those who are ' let off '. But forgiveness means 
 reconciliation. The divine forgiveness means the reconciliation 
 of men with a holy God. Forgiveness thus means far more 
 than the cancellation of a debt or the closing of an account. 
 It is a relation between persons ; a man cannot be forgiven 
 unless he is forgivable. 1 So long as a man identifies his will 
 with evil, he is unforgivable. Yet nothing is harder than to 
 repent. Our repentance has mostly to be repented of. It 
 is not sufficient that we should be sorry for the wrong deed in 
 which we have been discovered. Such sorrow is too often 
 .concerned not with guilt but penalty. So long as a man is 
 shrinking more from the consequences of sin than from the 
 sin itself, we cannot speak of him as penitent. To * let men 
 off ', and ignore their sin, would not solve but aggravate the 
 moral problem. It is forgiveness that we need, and, if the 
 
 1 Cp. the fine chapter on Forgiveness in Moberly's Personality and 
 Atonement. 
 
200 CHRISTIANITY AND THE DOCTRINE 
 
 forgiveness is to be adequate, somewhere, somehow, there 
 must be a vindication of righteousness and a recognition of the 
 guilt of sin. 
 
 In classic Christianity the forgiveness of sins has not been 
 proclaimed as an isolated doctrine, but in connexion with the 
 death of Christ. As we have seen, the first article of the 
 primitive Christian confession was this, ' Christ died for our 
 sins '- 1 As Jews, accustomed to offer up to God sacrifices 
 which should cover their iniquity, the early disciples naturally 
 saw in Christ's death the one perfect sacrifice. And the 
 history of the Church shows that even in lands where animal 
 sacrifices have long been offered, directly the Christian Gospel 
 has been accepted such sacrifices have completely ceased ; the 
 truth that they stood for has been expressed completely in 
 Christ's death. 2 To us to-day, unused to the sacrificial 
 system, to say that Christ's death was the propitiation of our 
 sins is to mystify rather than to explain ; yet for us, too, 
 the forgiveness of sins is inseparably connected with the death 
 of the Saviour. 
 
 To our holy God, sin cannot be a matter of indifference. 
 He is our Father. He has endowed us with the power of 
 choice that so as persons we may respond to His love with 
 ours. So He saves us from sin, not by coercion, but by 
 moral means. How He loves, and how He saves,, Christ's 
 death has shown. Of human parents it is true that they 
 cannot save the greatly-erring child, unless they are willing to 
 enter into the misery of his sin, and make its effects their 
 own ; if they would save, then they must suffer. And Christ 
 in entering into our human need, and submitting Himself to 
 the worst curse and sorrow of our humanity, has revealed 
 to us, perfectly and finally, the power and meaning of 
 redemptive love. Here is love's absolute. He died for us. 
 And this love of Christ is to the Christian but the temporal 
 projection of the eternal love of God. His death speaks to us, 
 
 1 See Chapter VIII, p. 159. 
 
 8 Cp. Harnack, Das Wesen des Christentums, p. 99. 
 
OF CYCLIC RECOMPENSE 201 
 
 more clearly than His life, of the love of God which loves 
 us even in our sin and, to save us, loves* to the very end. 
 Here the penitent,' doubtful if 'he is forgiven, experiences the 
 certainty that God does forgive. Yet it is a forgiveness 
 which, instead of diminishing, increases our sense of the guilt 
 of sin. If we could believe that 'we needs must love the 
 highest when we see it', we could hold a better view of 
 ourselves and of the race. Actually it was not so. When 
 the Highest came and lived on earth, men rejected Him and 
 hated Him, and in the end had Him put to a death terrible 
 and disgraceful. The curse of sin is nowhere seen as clearly 
 as here. And in that sin, in that rejection of the good and 
 choice of evil, we feel we take our share. The emblem of 
 God's love is also the emblem of human hate. The certainty 
 of God's forgiveness speaks to us from Christ's awful death. 
 It is impossible to think that sin is a trifle, and forgiveness 
 a matter of course. 
 
 And not only is there revealed to us divine love and human 
 sin. In the death of Christ there is made most clearly mani- 
 fest the actual fact of holiness. To the end, and in the 
 extremest agony, Christ did the Father's will, and offered 
 to Him His perfect obedience. And the forgiveness, so 
 closely connected in Christian thought with the Saviour's 
 death, carries with it the pledge and promise of the obedience 
 of all who believe on Him. His love constrains men, and His 
 Spirit is powerful to transform men's lives. So His death 
 not only speaks to us of God's forgiveness. It is also the 
 surety to God of a new humanity, the earnest of that King- 
 dom in which men, receiving God's mercy, shall do His will 
 and serve Him in humility, confidence, and love. 
 
 Thus the truth for which punishment stands is recognized. 
 Its purpose is fulfilled. Men learn the guilt of sin and come 
 to hate it. Retribution is regarded as a means but not an 
 end. We believe in the forgiveness of sins, and this forgive- 
 ness is not a fiction but a creative act. For the crucified and 
 risen Christ, through whom has come the solemn and certain 
 
202 CHRISTIANITY AND THE DOCTRINE 
 
 word of our forgiveness, is also the present Saviour able to 
 deliver us from sin and weakness. 
 
 So in the face of sorrow, Christianity asserts that God is 
 love, and that, for the Christian, suffering may be a form of 
 service. In the face of sin, Christianity recognizes the principle 
 of retribution and yet proclaims unfalteringly its message 
 of God's forgiveness, brought home to us in Christ who died 
 for us and lives to save. And this answer, much as it differs 
 from the doctrine of karma, is yet in closest accord with 
 aspirations of Hinduism, which the doctrine of karma itself 
 ignores or even contradicts. 
 
 Thus, that most prized of Hindu books, the Bhagavadgita, 
 speaks of a love of God which seeks from men love in return, 
 and upholds before men a moral ideal of selfless activity. The 
 doctrine of karma that all deeds, both good and bad, fetter 
 the doer with new chains, had naturally led to the view that 
 men should be inactive, doing neither well rior ill. This 
 aspiration after contemplative inactivity was too inveterate for 
 the writer of the Glta entirely to abandon, but it is his new 
 and better way for which he chiefly cares. He bids us act, 
 but to act without thought of self-advantage. *He who is not 
 thinking of the effect of deeds, will be untouched by them, 
 and for him the 'rule of works' will be higher than the 
 'casting off of works'. 1 God Himself is ever active and yet 
 is untouched by the effect of deeds. It is a most suggestive 
 teaching, but one for which the doctrine of karma is inade- 
 quate. And this teaching seems itself tentative, incomplete. 
 It speaks of God's love for us and the love He requires in 
 return. It bids us work without hope of reward. But it 
 stops there. It does not .take the further step and bid 
 us, in love for God, labour in love of man, without 
 thought either of winning reward or of shunning the effect 
 of deeds. 
 
 The karmic doctrine carries individualism too far. It would 
 1 B. G. v. 2. 
 
OF CYCLIC RECOMPENSE 203 
 
 appear that it is this which prevents even the Gild substituting 
 for its selfless activity the unselfish service of God. To speak 
 as if the effect of deeds was on the doer only, is false to life, 
 and most false of all to Indian life, where, more than in the 
 West, the bond of' blood and kin' is so intimate and lasting. 
 Ought we not to broaden the conception of karma and say 
 that the karma of a man's deeds does not affect himself alone ? 
 The shame of a son's deeds may press more heavily on his 
 father than on himself. The greed and arrogance of one 
 country, may bring the miseries of war to half a world. No 
 man lives to himself alone. There is a solidarity of well-being 
 and of suffering. And there are those who, not from com- 
 pulsion but from choice, help to bear as far as they are able 
 the karma of others' sins. It is this that Christ bids us do- 
 However refined the egoism, to seek a solitary salvation is 
 egoism still. Christ bids us seek to save others, and this we 
 can only do if we are willing to take upon us some of the 
 karma of their misdeeds. Such a teaching should not sound 
 strange in a land where Gautama the Buddha relinquished his 
 abundant pleasures, not because of his own sorrow, but because 
 of his overwhelming sense of the sorrow of the world. 
 
 So the c selfless activity ' of the Glta may become instead 
 unselfish service, not purposeless but redemptive. And for 
 such service Christianity finds in Christ a motive, a compulsion. 
 He, the Holy One, had no karma of evil deeds to work out. 
 Yet he was the man of sorrows. The karma of others' sin 
 He took upon Himself. He saved men, not by ignoring sin, 
 but by identifying Himself with human need. And this 
 Cross of Christ, as we have seen, is not only the measure of 
 Christ's love. It is also the reflection of the love of God. 1 
 So we think no longer of each man working out alone the 
 inexorable karma of his deeds with no real God to help. 
 Christianity instead tells us of men linked to God and to 
 each other, of God bearing men's burdens, and men inspired, 
 through the thought of God's love, themselves to bear each 
 1 See especially Chapter VIII, p. 175. 
 
204 CHRISTIANITY AND THE DOCTRINE 
 
 others' burdens. This is the Christian Gospel. This it is that 
 gave to the writings of the first disciples their lilt, their joy. 
 
 In this the ideal of the Glta finds its completion. Finely has 
 the Glta described the characteristics of the perfect man. 1 
 To them, Christianity can add the thought of active love 
 which sums up all these virtues, and gives them a new meaning 
 and motive. Only this love can deliver even virtues from their 
 self-centredness. And love brings much insight. It enables 
 men to see in the sorrows of martyrs and saints, not supreme 
 instances of the world's injustice, but supreme instances of 
 a love which can suffer gladly the karma of others' deeds. 
 The Cross, which is the centre of Christian faith, is thus the 
 centre also of Christian service. That Christian life is incom- 
 plete which does- not know what it is to bear a cross itself. 
 When St. Ignatius was on his way to martyrdom he wrote 
 joyously, * Now I am beginning to be a disciple '. 2 To Christian 
 ears these words should not sound strange. 
 
 It is but natural that when Christ's law of love is spoken of, 
 Indians should refer to the economic strife, the eager competi- 
 tion, which has marked our Western life. And if missionaries 
 speak, as some before the war did speak, as if these accidents 
 of Western civilization were Christian, then such an answer is 
 justifiable and indeed unanswerable. It is the perpetual 
 difficulty in attempting to expound the Christian Gospel that 
 the preacher, if honest, has to do so with a confession of his 
 own failure. The aspirations of the best in Hinduism stretch 
 out far beyond the achievements of a conventional Christianity. 
 They demand the Christian ideal itself. They are to be answered 
 in the Beatitudes or in the life-service of men who have become 
 entirely Christ's men, Christ's slaves. Yet for all failure, how 
 many there are in the Christian Church who, in gratitude to 
 Christ, are trying to share the karma of others' deeds. The 
 realization of social injustice and the needs of the poor, which 
 to many sensitive minds has become almost an obsession, the 
 work of medical missions, the successful endeavour in India to 
 
 1 See D. G. xii. 13-19, quoted on p. 113. 2 To the Romans^ v. 
 
OF CYCLIC RECOMPENSE 205 
 
 raise the classes for whom Hinduism has no religion but devil- 
 worship, and no message but of despair these things are 
 some illustration of that love which can regard the sorrows of 
 others as its own. It is not in organized work that this love 
 is most clear. It is shown best in the quiet lives of thousands 
 of men and women who, in their ordinary spheres, are seeking 
 to help others as far as they are able. We have seen, if a motive 
 is adequate, how great a devotion can be. In the interests of 
 their country, and their country's righteous cause, how many 
 have shown a heroism and a consecration which a few years 
 ago would have seemed incredible. And those who remember 
 what they owe to Christ can find in Him the impulse to a love 
 stronger even than the love of country. It is such a love alone 
 which can be adequate for the desperate problems which in the 
 West will be clamouring for solution. It is such a love which 
 alone can in India make a nation of a congeries of warring 
 castes. The source of this love is clear. We have it expressed 
 for us in the familiar words of Paul and John : ' The love of 
 Christ constraineth us.' ' Beloved, if God so loved us we ought 
 also to love one another.' 
 
 The relation of Christianity to the Hindu way of loving faith 
 is discussed in the next chapter. It is only necessary here to 
 point out how congruous is the Christian answer, with that 
 rapt devotion of Indian saints for which the doctrine of karma 
 leaves no proper place. As we remember their passionate 
 praises of the gods, how strange sounds the doctrine that these 
 gods too are under karma and unreal ; the only reality is the 
 impersonal Brahman to whom no attribute of love or grace 
 can be assigned. Emotion so heartfelt can be satisfied only 
 with a God who is a Saviour, not a mere substrate of being. 
 Around the crucified Jesus can gather the rich devotion which 
 the Hindu saints have lavished on their gods. And such 
 a worship need no longer be thought of as the worship of the 
 transitory and unreal ; for the love of Christ, who died to 
 share the karma of men's deeds, is the love of the actual and 
 eternal God. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND THE WAY OF DEVOTION 
 
 % 
 
 ' LOVE to God ', said Aristotle, ' does not exist ; it is absurd 
 to speak of such a thing, for God is an unknowable being.' 1 
 Such a view could never satisfy men so religious as are the 
 Hindus. Even the Vedanta, which taught that the highest 
 principle was indeed unknowable, had at the same time to 
 admit the existence of gods, whom men, unillumined by 
 knowledge, could worship, as if real, with prayers and sacri- 
 fices. And Sankaracharya, its great schoolman, is held in 
 honour as the author of some of the most famous of the 
 Saivite hymns. It would appear that the distinction between 
 a real and attributeless Brahman, and the personal, but illusory, 
 gods, is to very many Hindus rather a tenet of their philosophy 
 than a fact of their experience. The very Vedantists include 
 in their triple canon, 2 the Bhagavadgtta, which, to educated 
 Hindus to-day, is the most prized of Hindu Scriptures. And 
 in the Bhagavadglta, as we have seen, Krishna claims men's 
 adoration not as a lower or transitory god, but as a God 
 ultimate and eternal. And by the masses of India, to whom 
 the Vedanta is only a name, Siva, or one of the avatars of 
 Vishnu, is hailed as the greatest of the gods, and worshipped 
 with a faith untroubled by the speculations of philosophy. 
 As Tulsl Das says, * Why dost thou speak of the unknowable ? 
 Pray thou to Rama and all is known.' Men feel that the gods 
 grant their requests, deliver them from calamity, and, in 
 
 1 Magna M or alia ^ II. xi. 5. 
 
 2 The flrasthdnatraya, which, as we have seen, includes (a) the Upani- 
 shads, (b) the Bhagavadgita, (c) the Veddntasiltras. 
 
CHRISTIANITY AND THE WAY OF DEVOTION 207 
 
 response to their loving faith, save them even from the effects 
 of their deeds. 
 
 In Christianity also faith is proclaimed as the means of 
 salvation, and this 'loving faith', this bhakti, is directed 
 towards Jesus Christ. To-day, as in Pliny's time, 'to sing 
 a hymn to Christ as God' is one of the most obvious 
 characteristics of Christian worship. In overwhelming sorrow, 
 in peril on land, in shipwreck on sea, such words as 
 
 'Jesus, Lover of my soul ' 
 
 come quickly to Christian lips. In such hymns as these, more 
 than in formulated doctrines, Christian faith finds its most 
 fresh and spontaneous expression. Christianity has thus a 
 close affinity with the most influential phase of Hinduism 
 in that it too is a religion of bhakti. In Chapters V and VI 
 the attempt was made to illustrate the beautiful devotion 
 which Hindus have shown towards their gods. It will be 
 the endeavour now to indicate the nature of that loving faith 
 to God in Christ which has been characteristic in Christianity. 
 As this loving faith sees in Christ, not only the fit recipient of 
 love, but also the perfect and final revealer of God, it has 
 inevitably been condemned in India by those who hold that it 
 is impossible for the highest knowledge of God to come to us 
 through an historic person of the distant past, and who assert 
 that it is arrogant, and indeed unseemly, to claim for any one 
 form of the Divine, a universal worship and an exclusive 
 devotion. After describing the nature of Christian bhakti it 
 will be necessary therefore to deal with these two objections. 
 
 So different are men's temperaments and dispositions that,, 
 even within the same religion, the forms of religious expression, 
 may be very varied. Yet in spite of this diversity, in the case 
 of a religion so defined by its history, it is not impossible to 
 discover what is classic in the emotion and experience which 
 Christianity engenders. 
 
 As we turn to the rich literature of Christian devotion, it is 
 perhaps in the Middle Ages that we find the rteajrest approach 
 
CHRISTIANITY AND THE 
 
 to the rapturous bhakti of Indian saints. Thus St. Bernard's 
 words, ' God is known only in so far as He is loved V might 
 serve as a motto for the whole bhakti movement. In the quiet 
 of the forest, St. Bernard meditated on the Scriptures so that 
 at last, after much discipline, he might be able, in an ecstasy 
 which made him dead to the world, to ascend in spirit into the 
 immediate presence of God, there with the angels to enjoy the 
 beatific vision of the divine. So he could see in the luscious 
 love-poetry of the Song of Songs a fit record of the commerce 
 of the soul with its bridegroom Christ. 2 As a wife with her 
 husband, the believer enjoys Christ's presence in a tender 
 intimacy which has left all fear behind. Such love dalliance 
 St. Bernard held to be the highest blessing of religion, 
 vouchsafed only to those wholly consecrated unto God. And 
 even for these, this rapt joy was only an -occasional experi- 
 ence. Just as Manikka Vasagar complains that after his 
 moments of exaltation come times when he feels that Siva 
 has deserted him, so St. Bernard, and those like him, found 
 that the ecstasy of love was followed by the weary sense of 
 dryness and desolation. This type of devotion is in many 
 ways beautiful and attractive, but, judged by the norm of 
 Apostolic experience, it cannot be held classic. 3 St. Bernard 
 himself tells us that in such intercourse of love the soul forgets 
 Christ's majesty, and communes with Him as with lover or 
 neighbour. Never do the Apostles speak as if their relation 
 with Christ were with lover or friend. Always He is to them 
 the holy Saviour whose grace they gratefully receive, whose 
 will they humbly strive to obey. 
 
 Again, in the life of that sweet saint, St. Francis, we read 
 that it was before a crucifix that he gave himself entirely to 
 
 1 * Tantum Deus cognoscitur quantum diligitur.' 
 
 2 * It has been said ', says Miss Underbill, * that the constant use of such 
 imagery [of marriage] by Christian mystics of the mediaeval period is 
 traceable to the popularity of the Song of Solomon. I think that the truth 
 lies rather in the opposite statement ; namely, that the mystic loved the 
 Song of Solomon because he there saw, reflected, as in a mirror, the most 
 secret experiences of his Soul.' Mysticism, 3rd edit., p. 163. 
 
 3 Cp. A. Ritschl, Justification and Reconciliation, pp. 1 80, 594. 
 
WAY OF DEVOTION 209 
 
 Christ. ' From that hour ', says the chronicler in his quaint 
 Latin, 'his heart was wounded and turned to water 1 at the 
 memory of the suffering of his Lord.' 2 And innumerable 
 men and woman since have, like St. Francis, melted in love at 
 the thought of the bloody scourge, the agony, and the ignominy 
 of the awful death. Gratitude for all that Christ endured, and 
 the sense that it was for us He suffered, will always form part 
 of the Christian's recollection of his Lord, and yet, as we turn 
 to the New Testament, it is surprising how little the Apostles 
 seek to arouse men's love by the detailed story of Christ's 
 anguish. They had a more virile message; theirs it was to 
 preach to men who needed pardon and moral power the gospel 
 of an all-sufficient Saviour. 
 
 In truth, the records of Christ's life do not speak to us 
 of a lover seeking from men their rapturous affection, nor of 
 a sad sufferer, craving men's tenderness and pity. The 
 disciples' attitude towards Christ is better called faith than 
 love, for love may be between equals, whilst faith in the 
 Christian sense is from the imperfect to the Perfect, from 
 the sinner to the Saviour. Jesus was gentle to* the children, 
 gracious to the fallen woman who knew her sin, wonderfully 
 patient with His disciples in their intractability. Yet there 
 was in Him a strength and sternness which make 'tenderness' 
 too weak a word to express His character. The evangelists 
 write of Him as one whose body could be tired, as one who 
 knew sorrow and disappointment. Yet His life, as they 
 portray it, is not pathetic but majestic. Even when they 
 speak of the sorrow of Gethsemane and the torture of the trial 
 and crucifixion, they do so as men who are not so much 
 harrowed by His agony as awed by His holiness. They 
 present a Christ who moves us, not to pity but to worship. 
 Hindu saints have thought to serve their gods by the frequent 
 mention of their names. Christ would bid no man call Him 
 Lord unless he does the things which He commands. 
 
 1 Liqiiefactum. 
 
 2 Vie de S. Francois d'Assise } par P. Sabatier, p. 64. 
 
 P 
 
sio CHRISTIANITY AND THE 
 
 As we have seen, the Apostles preached Christ not as the 
 poor sufferer upon the cross, but as the mighty Lord who, for 
 our sakes, died and rose again. We have looked a little at the 
 classic Christian relationship to Christ. Thus Paul's faith in 
 Christ changed his whole life, and put at Christ's service the 
 whole devotion of his intense and ardent nature. Christ lived, 
 and Paul's union with Christ became so close that in his 
 highest moments he could feel that Christ dwelt in him, that 
 Christ's will informed his will, that he was in Christ. So he 
 could say that for him life meant just Christ, 1 and he could 
 even rejoice in his sorrows if by them his communion with the 
 risen Lord was perfected. Yet he speaks but little of his love 
 for Christ. It was Christ's love for him that filled his 
 thoughts. Christ was his Redeemer. In Christ alone had 
 come to him the certainty of forgiveness and strength for 
 holiness. As the sinner whom Christ had saved, he adores 
 the grace of Him who though rich had become poor. Through 
 Christ he found the full revelation of God and God's purpose, 
 and a redemption adequate for all his needs. So Paul shows 
 his love, not in ecstatic praise, but in devoted service. He 
 seeks to bring to others the good news, and in this work 
 counts no sacrifice too great. And we find the same emphasis 
 on service in the writings of John as in those of Paul. If 
 we love God, says John, we must show it by our love to one 
 another. Christ's love revealed itself in deeds. Our love 
 must be energetic, showing itself in act. Men need our help, 
 not God. If we are not showing love to the brother whose 
 needs we see, what use is it to speak of our love to the invisible 
 God? 2 
 
 So the characteristic attitude of the Christian to his Lord is 
 not one of emotion, unmixed with thought, and unexpressed 
 in deed. In some men feeling predominates ; in others 
 intellect, or will ; yet it is as false in religion as it is in 
 psychology to speak as if men could use these faculties in 
 
 1 Phil. i. 21. a I John iv. 20. 
 
WAY OF DEVOTION 
 
 j 
 
 isolation. Emphasis may differ, but a religion to be adequate 
 must be as comprehensive as our personalities. The Christian's 
 relationship to Christ concerns not a part but all his nature. 
 Christ expects, from all His followers alike, a faith which is at 
 once obedience, love, and knowledge. Each man may approach 
 Christ from the standpoint of his need. As Clement of 
 Alexandria says, 'The sick need a Saviour, the wanderers, 
 one to guide them, the blind, one to lead them to the light, the 
 thirsty, the living fountain ; the dead need life, the sheep, the 
 shepherd, the children, the tutor ; but all mankind needs Jesus '. 
 Some men find in Christ at first not so much the divine 
 Saviour as the spiritual Hero, the incomparable Teacher. 
 Later, as they seek to follow Him as their Master, they find 
 in Him something more. They feel that He is speaking to 
 them not as one who lived and died in the distant past, but as 
 the ever-living Lord in whose hands is their eternal destiny. 
 And their blithe admiration of the great teacher changes into 
 a humble gratitude to their Redeemer. In others, as in Paul's 
 case, it is with the experience of forgiveness through Christ 
 that the Christian life begins. Such know themselves at once 
 as ' Christ's men ', Christ's slaves, bought with a price. And, 
 as the years pass, men find in Christ not only power but 
 knowledge. He is the revealer of the Father. In Him the 
 world-old mysteries find an answer incomplete yet adequate. 
 However men begin their Christian life, they go on to find in 
 Christ all they need. He is nearer than a friend, yet we think 
 of Him less as our Friend than as our Lord, for He is holy 
 and we are not. He loves us. Ours it is to entrust our lives 
 to Him in humility and obedience. His spirit dwells in men, 
 but is manifest not in ecstasy, nor in a contemplation which 
 makes them flee the world, but in ' Love, joy, peace, long- 
 suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self- 
 control'. 1 As Dr. Dale so finely wrote, 'As the result of 
 growing familiarity with our Lord, conscience becomes surer of 
 
 1 Gal. v. 22, 23, R. V. marg. 
 
 P 2 
 
CHRISTIANITY AND THE 
 
 Him than of itself, finds in His will the same awful obligation 
 that it finds in the law of Duty ; His will, because it is His, 
 whenever we are certain that we know it, is supreme '. l 
 
 Faith in Christ thus involves the whole personality ; and is 
 it not in this that we have at once the strength of Christianity 
 and the difficulty of its description ? Christian experience is 
 not sectional. Salvation does not come by knowledge to the 
 wise and by emotion to the emotional. Neither knowledge 
 nor emotion may remove a rnan from the sphere of activity 
 and the effects of deeds, One phase of Christian experience 
 carries with it all the rest. Our bhakti to Christ is at the same 
 time a way of knowledge (jnana-mdrga) and of work (karma- 
 mdrga). It means redemption (mukti), but it is a redemption 
 which involves not inactivity but deeds of love. Such an 
 emphasis on duty does not exclude passionate emotion or 
 grateful contemplation. Doubtless in the West, unlike our 
 Master, while we have praised Martha's bustling activities, we 
 have too often disdained Mary's quiet and reverent adoration. 
 As St. Theresa said, ' To give to our Lord a perfect hospitality, 
 Mary and Martha must combine'. 2 Work may be done as 
 part of worship. 
 
 So faith in Christ sums up the whole of Christianity. Take 
 Christ away and the Christian religion will have gone. And 
 it is this which, to very many in India, seems at once the 
 weakness of Christianity, and its offence. 
 
 This dependence of the Christian religion on its founder 
 is regarded as its weakness. How can a religion, thus con- 
 ditioned by time and space, be the revelation of the eternal 
 and illimitable God ? Religion does not need history. The 
 soul of man can commune with the Highest without the 
 mediation of historic fact. In the sphere of religion, history 
 hinders and does not help, for what is history but the record 
 
 1 Christian Doctrine, p. no. 
 
 2 Quoted by Miss Underbill, op. cit. y p. 514 ; see Luke x. 40-42. 
 
WAY OF DEVOTION 313 
 
 of events which belong to the sphere of may a, of illusion ? l 
 Even if the criticism of Western scholars had not shown that 
 history was at best a science of probabilities, it would still be 
 futile to turn to history. It is in the immediate vision of the 
 eternal that spiritual truth is seen. And this intuition of the 
 mystic 2 is more certain, it is argued, than the Christian's faith, 
 for it is independent of historic fact and so not to be denied. 
 It is strange how little educated Hindus seem interested in the 
 historic truth of the stories told about Rama and Krishna. 
 With men of philosophic mind, a half-theistic faith in these 
 gods seems to go quite well with Vedantic idealism. And 
 Vedantists claim not unjustly that the Vedanta is the perfect 
 mysticism, entirely removed from the sphere of history. And 
 so Svami Vivekananda's statement is often quoted and much 
 approved, that Hinduism alone 'escapes shipwreck' on what 
 he calls ' the rock of historicality '. To many educated Hindus 
 this argument against the claims which Christianity makes 
 seems not only incisive but conclusive. To answer this argu- 
 ment, more is needed than a documentary proof that Christ 
 lived, and that the Christian attitude towards Him is in 
 harmony with historic evidence, even if it cannot be deduced 
 from it. The whole question of the relation of our life to 
 history and of time to eternity is here in issue. In this brief 
 
 1 Thus while in the West the emphasis is usually laid on the fact that 
 history deals only with probabilities, and that therefore the religion based 
 upon it must lack certainty, in India the emphasis is rather laid on the 
 essential inability of historic facts to be the media of religious revelation : 
 history belongs to the unreal and the eaternal ; religion to the real and 
 spiritual. 
 
 2 No words are. more variously used than ' mystic ' and ' mysticism '. 
 Thus if, as in a recent and brilliant book on Mysticism (The Meaning and 
 Value of Mysticism, E. Herman), Mysticism is taken to denote the clear 
 and purposed realization of communion with God, then Christianity is 
 pre-eminently a mystical religion, and it is the main purpose of this book 
 to show that it is this ' mystic ' element that must be emphasized if the 
 aspirations of Hinduism are to find their fulfilment in Christ. But it seems 
 better to give the words a more definite meaning and the word ' mysti- 
 cism ' is used in this chapter to denote the attempt at a perception of the 
 Divine which shall be immediate, i.e. unmediated by historic facts or 
 revelation. 
 
214 CHRISTIANITY AND THE 
 
 discussion which is little more than a parenthesis it is only 
 possible to outline the following argument : 
 
 (a) We live in history. 
 
 (b) It is not the eternal we need but God, who is the God 
 not only of eternity but of time. 
 
 (c) Such a God is revealed in historic facts. 1 
 
 (a) We live in history. 
 
 However much men may despise the course of history, one 
 thing is clear : they live in it and are moulded by it. It is easy 
 to forget this and to speak of a man's sublime and innate 
 power, without recognizing how insignificant he would be if 
 unrelated to other men. There is in truth no such thing as an 
 c unrelated man '. The less individual a man's life is, the richer 
 is likely to be his personality. No man could, even if he 
 would, live to himself. A child is born into a family. He 
 brings with him a temperament and capabilities inherited from 
 his ancestors. Even before he learns to speak, he is influenced 
 by those around him. The child grows up, and at first makes 
 his own the ideals of his family. Later he may break away 
 from these, but, before he reaches years of choice, he has 
 already received thoughts and impressions which he wrongly 
 imagines to be entirely his own. And he is the member, not 
 only of a family, but of a section of society. He is born into 
 a nation. No man then can cut himself off from his kind. 
 We are not born ' man ', but a particular man. We inherit 
 a civilization, a language, a tradition, a religion. It is true 
 that in our deepest spiritual experiences, we feel ourselves face 
 to face with God alone. But even then it is presumptuous to 
 forget that God is the God of the human race and that God 
 has dealings with other men. We cannot approach God as if 
 God had not spoken to any man before. What Bergson says 
 in a slightly different connexion is applicable here. 'The 
 great error of the doctrines on the spirit has been the idea 
 
 1 The discussion owes much to W. Herrmann's pamphlet, Warum bedarf 
 unser Glaube geschichtlicher Thatsachen ? 
 
WAY OF DEVOTION 215 
 
 that by isolating the spiritual life from all the rest, by suspend- 
 ing it in space as high as possible above the earth, they were 
 placing it beyond attack as if they were not thereby simply 
 exposing it to be taken as an effect of mirage.' l 
 
 Even in our prayers we have to remember that we are one 
 of a race. To a far less extent than we imagine are we the 
 creators of our own thoughts and ideals. We receive more 
 than we create. Only in youth are men able to regard them- 
 selves as exceptional, unique. As riper manhood comes, men 
 find their experiences strikingly like those of their kind. The 
 aspirations and joys, the sorrows and disappointments, which 
 in the crude vanity of adolescence we thought were so pecu- 
 liarly our own, we find are much the same as other men's. 
 Others have had the same sense of the burden of the trivial, 
 the same longing after a larger life. They too have felt their 
 home-sickness in the world and have craved for the permanent 
 and the perfect. They too have been tempted, have fallen, 
 and have achieved. In spite of all the differences of colour, 
 caste, and race, humanity is essentially one. We are alike 
 more than we differ, and humanity has had a history, long and 
 arduous, full of failure, but full of glory. But if the souls of 
 men are alike, they are unequal. We find in history men who 
 transcend the limits of their time. Thus, in literature, there are 
 writers whose works do more than belong to one age and 
 place. We call them classic because we feel that the human 
 mind will never leave them behind. Such plays of Shake- 
 speare's as Lear, Macbeth, Hamlet, will be prized so long as 
 men can feel the pathos, the tragedy, and the pity of human 
 experience. And it is in religion as in literature. Here too 
 there are the master minds. Here too there are records of 
 spiritual striving and achievement of classic value. The present 
 would be empty indeed if it did not take up into itself these 
 memories of the past We are members of a race and 
 share its history. A man cannot rightly say ' My God ' who 
 does not feel that God is the God of the race. But if He be 
 * l Creative Evolution, p. 283. 
 
2i6 CHRISTIANITY AND THE 
 
 the God of the race, then the race's history cannot be without 
 significance. 
 
 (b) It is not the eternal we need but God, who is the God not 
 
 only of eternity but of time. 
 
 It has been said that ' the work of philosophy is to com- 
 prehend the world, not to make it better'. But quite different, 
 is the work of religion. Religion is connected with man's 
 needs. And these needs are twofold, varying in degree in 
 different men and races. There is the sense of the transitori- 
 ness of life and the desire for the eternal. There is the sense 
 of moral weakness and the desire for moral power. The first 
 of these needs has found admirable expression in the Vedanta, 
 and if this need were solitary, we might be content to adopt 
 the Vedantic standpoint, deny to history any value, and seek 
 the way to truth in the immediate perception of the divine. 
 Certainly no religion can be adequate which does not an*swer 
 the aspiration which mysticism expresses. Man has indeed 
 yearnings for the untrammelled and the infinite, and it is part 
 of the work of religion to redeem from the bondage of the 
 present and the transient. But religion is more than the 
 beatific vision of the eternal. Those glad moments of high 
 emotion, when thought is lost in mystic vision, and men feel 
 the infinite around them, are glad and beautiful and the purest 
 pleasure, but this mystic joy in the eternal differs little in kind 
 from the aesthetic delight with which an artist beholds 
 a glorious sunset or the musician hears the greatest of 
 oratorios. It is not enough to enjoy the sense of the ineffable 
 and the infinite. We live in time, and in time have to face the 
 trials and moral problems of our life. It is not so much the 
 eternal as such that we need. We need to feel that even in 
 time we belong to the eternal, and for the eternal we can live. 
 For this great task of life the sense of identity with the infinite 
 helps but little. It is power we require, not moments of 
 breathless vision. To ignore the present is only possible for 
 those who, with the Vedanta, say that this world's life is maya, 
 
WAY OF DEVOTION 217 
 
 is illusion. But such a view evades, it does not solve life's 
 problems ; it empties life of all its contents ; it regards as the 
 highest phase of life that * dreamless sleep ' which resembles 
 death. Our lives have to be lived ; the world's work has to 
 be done. . There are difficulties to be met. There are loved 
 ones to help and cherish. There are sufferers to succour, 
 unjust to restrain, and weak to strengthen. The world's life, 
 in its rich variety, is surely not without meaning ; is not the 
 sport of an illusion-making God. But if this be so, then the 
 home-sickness for the infinite is not enough. There is a deeper 
 home-sickness, a home-sickness after the God, who is a God of 
 time as well of eternity, who enables us to live in time as those 
 redeemed from its bondage, and to do life's work with joy, 
 certain of the eternal world, and possessing already an eternal 
 life. 
 
 (c] Such a God is revealed in historic facts . 
 
 History has a meaning. It is God we need and not the 
 infinite, and God is the God of time as well as of eternity. 
 Such a God reveals Himself in historic facts. It is through 
 personality that there comes to us truth which is also power. 
 A child believes in God's love if those around it are loving and 
 testify that their love is learnt from God's. And for most 
 men, God's grace becomes real and actual, not through medita- 
 tion, nor through study, but through intercourse with men 
 whose lives are strong and pure, and whose strength and 
 purity are derived from God. Mathematics may be learnt to 
 perfection from a man of brilliant intellect but repulsive 
 . character. Religion can be learnt only from religious men 
 whose lives are devoted and sincere. Is not the whole bhakti 
 movement of Hinduism an implicit criticism of the Vedantic 
 view that God is apprehended best by intuitive knowledge ? 
 If this attributeless abstraction could suffice, why should there 
 be such eager adoration of the Gods ? Tulsi Das tells us that 
 when Bhusundi asked the seer Lomas to tell him how to 
 worship God, 'the great saint, being himself a philosopher, . . . 
 
ai8 CHRISTIANITY AND THE 
 
 began a sermon on Brahman, the unbegotten, the indivisible, 
 the immaterial, the sovereign of the heart, unchangeable, 
 unwishful, nameless, formless, . . . identical with yourself, you 
 and he being as absolutely one as wave and water ; so the 
 Vedas declare '. But Bhusundi complains, ' The worship of 
 the impersonal laid no hold of my heart '- 1 The complaint is 
 true. The worship of the impersonal does indeed lay no hold 
 on the heart. It is the known, the personal, that the heart 
 desires. 
 
 And God is made known as personal in Jesus Christ. By 
 general consent, His is the most potent name in history. 
 Spiritual experience is incommunicable, but innumerable men 
 have testified that they have found, in Christ, God revealed in 
 history as the God of eternity and of time. And this revela- 
 tion of God in Christ awakens in men a faith which redeems 
 from the temporal and enables men in time to live for the 
 eternal. And this Jesus is not an accidental fact of the 
 distant past. In Him history finds a meaning and an end. 
 He is of the present as of the past. Men find in Him to-day 
 redemption, power, and gladness. * He speaks to us not as 
 a dead Lord, but as a living Saviour. In him God is revealed 
 in history, and this revelation is final and unique. 
 
 That Christianity should thus connect the revelation of God 
 with one historic figure appears to Hindus not only the weak- 
 ness of Christianity but its offence. 
 
 Some of this offence has certainly been due to the gratuitous 
 intolerance with which in the past Christianity has been 
 preached. Too often men have refused to recognize any good 
 outside Christianity, and even when they have been compelled 
 to acknowledge truth and beauty in other religions, they have 
 done so, not gladly, but grudgingly, and have so qualified 
 their words as to deprive them of any meaning. So far as 
 
 1 Ramayancit Book VII, Doha 107, with Chaupai following (Growse's 
 translation). 
 
WAY OF DEVOTION 219 
 
 missionaries themselves are concerned, such bigotry is for the 
 most part restricted now to the narrowest of coteries, but in 
 South India, at any rate, it is all too common in the Indian 
 Church. Such is indeed natural, for the great mass-movements 
 have been among the out-castes, and it is hard for such to see 
 any nobility in the Hinduism which sanctioned their degrada- 
 tion and oppression, and denied them, not only the consolations 
 of religion, but the elementary rights of manhood. Christian 
 apologetic has been in so many cases unfair and wantonly 
 destructive, that Hindus not unnaturally associate its claim with 
 the arrogance of ' a ruling race'. Thus in a book of * model 
 addresses ' to Hindus, even a book so admirable as the Gita 
 is disposed of by the retort : ' This Krishna, whom you say 
 gave good teaching, was a murderer, an adulterer, a pander, a 
 thief.' 1 Such an attitude is not only repellent, it is unchristian. 
 The revelation given through the Son should enable us better 
 to appreciate every word of God spoken by the prophets of 
 India as of Judaea. 2 And yet when all is said, it must be 
 admitted that Christianity does claim for itself a unique and 
 supreme position. Apart from Christ men may believe 
 in God but not in the full Christian sense. For the God 
 in whom the Christian trusts is the holy Father revealed 
 in Jesus Christ and ' faith ' for the Christian means, not the 
 mere recognition of God's existence, but the glad response 
 to God's forgiving love which we know with certainty in Christ 
 alone. So if we give to the words their Christian meaning, 
 faith in God is only possible through Christ. 
 
 Such an attitude inevitably seems to the Hindu to be 
 presumptuous. The doctrine of the descent (avatar) of the 
 divine is as congenial to a large section of Hinduism as the 
 doctrine of incarnation is to Christianity, but Hindus do not 
 claim that any one avatar of God is comprehensive and final. 
 Thus, in a very famous passage of the Gita> Krishna declares 
 
 1 This book was prescribed for the first examination in Tamil that the 
 writer had to take. 
 
 2 Cp. Hebrews i. i, 2. 
 
220 CHRISTIANITY AND THE 
 
 that ' Whensoever the law fails and lawlessness uprises, then 
 do I bring myself to bodied birth. To guard the righteous, 
 to destroy evil-doers, to establish the law, I come into birth 
 age after age '. l So Hindus teach that the Buddha is one of 
 the descents of Vishnu, 2 and many would be quite willing 
 to regard Christ in the same way. How often, for instance, 
 will the Hindu chairman at a Christian lecture refer to ' the 
 Lord of love, whom we call Krishna or Rama, and you call 
 Christ '. So even manuals of Christian piety are utilized in the 
 worship of Hindu gods. Men to whom Krishna, not Christ, 
 is the object of worship will yet prize Thomas a Kempis's 
 Imitation of Christ as an aid to their devotion. And in 
 a Tamil translation of this book made by a Hindu for Hindus, 
 the reader is bidden to substitute for Christ whatever be the 
 name of his favourite God, whether Krishna or Rama or Siva. 
 To many Hindus who have been educated in a Christian 
 school or college, the Gospels are more familiar than any 
 Hindu scripture. Feeling the charm of Christ's character, yet 
 unwilling to embrace an alien religion, such inevitably and 
 almost unconsciously endow Krishna with the attributes of 
 Christ, and learn to believe that this christianized Krishna is 
 the Krishna of Hinduism. And all this is good. If, in the last 
 century, Christianity had done nothing more in India than to 
 cause men to substitute for the Puranic conception of Krishna 
 this christianized idealization, its work could not be called a 
 failure. Yet such an idealization cannot permanently suffice 
 for the needs of religion. 
 
 In poetry we may be content with the beauty of a concep- 
 tion without inquiring into its truth, but in religion we need 
 more than an ideal ; we need an ideal which is certain and 
 authoritative. Certainty in the objects of its devotion is just 
 what Hindu bhakti is without. Increasingly men will have to 
 face the question, ' What do we know of Krishna, Rama, or of 
 
 * Come to earth to teach atheism (i.e. Buddhism), in order that the 
 enemies of the truth might be deceived and so destroyed. 
 
WAY OF DEVOTION 331 
 
 Siva ? What assurance have we that our thought of them has 
 any base in fact ? ' 1 Already the attitude of very many Hindus 
 is really agnostic. Ultimately they say, there is no certainty 
 in religion. God is unknowable. And such Agnosticism is not 
 only theological ; it is ethical. If it is hard to believe in God's 
 perfection amid the actual experience of our sorrows, it is no 
 easier to assent to a moral ideal which demands of us an 
 uncompromising devotion to righteousness and love. Because 
 an ideal unembodied in fact is uncertain, it is not authoritative. 
 It depends for its nobility on the imagination which conceives 
 it. And imagination may be degraded as well as exalted. 
 From imagination has come not only the noble conception 
 of the Krishna of the Gita, but the debasing conception of the 
 Krishna of the Puranas. 
 
 And thus in popular thought the lofty teacher of the Gltd 
 is inseparably connected with the kindly but lascivious shepherd 
 god. 2 Even in the Rdmayana of Tulsi Das the warning has 
 
 1 It is amazing how throughout the history of Hinduism this question 
 has been evaded. So in Tulsi Das's Rdmayana we read, ' Rama is infinite, 
 his perfections infinite, and his legends of immeasurable expansion-, men 
 of enlightened understanding will therefore wonder at nothing they hear ' 
 (Book I, Doha 42 ; Growse's translation). As Mr. Benoy Kumar Sarkar 
 truly says,^' The Hindu is fundamentally an agnostic . . . and therefore 
 has ever felt at liberty to imagine and invent whatsoever God or Gods he 
 chooses to adore. He has not feared to conceive the Divinity as He, She, 
 It, or They. He has worshipped his Deity as father, mother, brother, 
 sister, sweetheart, lover, friend, and what not. His polytheism or heno- 
 theism is based essentially on his agnosticism. . . . And the invention of 
 deities has not yet ceased' (The Folk- Element in Hindu Culture, p. 260). 
 
 2 Oman gives an interesting account of the Holi festival as he witnessed 
 it in Lahore : * There came another huge cart freighted with that incarna- 
 tion of amorous passion, Krishna. himself, and four or five of the gopls who 
 shared his wandering affections. The God and his favourites were per- 
 sonated by a handsome young man and some frail, if fair, women of the 
 town' (The Brahmans, Theists, and Muslims of India, p. 253). As the 
 endeavour throughout has been to deal only with the higher aspects of 
 Hinduism no mention has been made of that goddess-worship which has 
 in it so little that is ennobling. Yet Oman estimates * that the worship of 
 Durga and Kali, attended in both cases with animal sacrifices on an 
 extravagant scale, and with licentious songs and lewd dances of a highly 
 unseemly character, is practically the religion of probably three-fourths of 
 the Hindu population of Bengal, the remaining one-fourth being Vaish- 
 navas ' (op. tit., p. 24). 
 
Vaa CHRISTIANITY AND THE WAY OF DEVOTION 
 
 to be given, ' The fool, who in the pride of knowledge presumes 
 to copy the gods, saying it is the same for a man as for a god, 
 shall be cast into hell for as long as this world lasts'. 1 
 The appearances of Siva to his saints are rightly called the 
 sports of Siva, 2 and in many of his temples are the devadasls, 
 the consecrated prostitutes. We saw that in some of the most 
 beautiful of his hymns, Manikka Vasagar refers in words 
 .which would be intolerable in translation, to the charms 
 of these servants of the God and his inability to resist their 
 wiles. He confesses his weakness, because their attractions 
 draw him away from thought of Siva, yet nowhere does he 
 condemn the association of these impure women with the 
 temple worship. 
 
 To-day it is realized that only the highest is worthy to 
 express God. No religion can be permanent which does not 
 proclaim a holy God and demand of its worshippers holy lives. 
 But only in the actual Christ have we an ideal which is certain 
 and authoritative. He it is who is worthy to receive the worship 
 which men can only rightly give to one who is the revelation 
 of the perfect God. This is not to despise the beautiful emotion 
 of so many of the Hindu saints. Who would laugh at the little 
 girl for the love she lavishes upon her doll ? But when in the joy 
 of her motherhood the woman nestles her baby to her breast, will 
 she desire any more the dolls which as a child she thought 
 were real, and loved as if they lived ? Her mother-instinct 
 is satisfied ; she is content. And he who knows Christ, not as 
 the fair product of devout imaginings, but as the certain fact 
 of past history and of his present experience, finds in Him all 
 he needs, and strives to make Him known to men because he 
 is confident that in Christ is what they seek. To do so is not 
 superciliousness or arrogance. It is the spontaneous act of a 
 love which would share with others its highest possession. 
 
 1 Growse's translation, Book I, Doha 79. 
 
 2 His worshippers may expect from him partiality. So Sunthiramiirti 
 Svami, one of the poets of the Tamil Devdram, in a hymn to Siva, after 
 naming some famous 3aivite saints, praises 3iva because ' even if these 
 saints do wrong, thou dost account it right '. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 REDEMPTION: HINDU AND CHRISTIAN 
 
 THE deepest and most persistent aspiration of Higher 
 Hinduism is for redemption, for deliverance from the seen and 
 temporal. A world-view which failed to answer this quest for 
 the eternal would be held unworthy to be called a religion. It 
 is on this account that by many in India, Christianity is regarded 
 as an alien and unsatisfying faith. The conflict of religions is 
 ultimately one of spiritual values. If Christianity thus fails to 
 meet the craving for redemption, it is inadequate to the world's 
 religious needs. It is useless any longer to speak of its universa- 
 lity or finality. 
 
 For the most part in India redemption from the world has 
 been sought by denying the reality of the* world's activities. 
 Thus the Vedantist, who has become conscious of his unity 
 with Brahman, sees in the phenomenal only illusion. Hence- 
 forth whatever deeds he does are unrelated to his self. So, in 
 the Sankhyan philosophy, redemption comes to the wise man 
 when he realizes that his soul is changeless and inactive, 
 untouched by the effect of deeds. Fearing the karma of deeds, 
 he who would be redeemed, as far as possible abstains from 
 them. It would seem that contemplation could not give the 
 confidence of full redemption. Men sought to win this by 
 psychophysical means. By Yoga, the mind is withdrawn from 
 conscious thought until, in a cataleptic state, the soul becomes 
 insentient and so free. Only the few could win redemption 
 thus, but in the hearts of many is the same ideal. It is 
 not the philanthropist who has been most praised, but the 
 
224 REDEMPTION 
 
 sadhu who, renouncing the world, is absorbed in.. tilings 
 eternal. Men admit the lust and arrogance of many of these 
 wandering ' saints ', but whatever be the faults of some, the 
 ascetic, or the contemplative recluse, has been the type of the 
 religious man. And this fact, as it has been pointed out, 
 'speaks volumes for the condition and psychology of the Hindus, 
 because, as Carlyle has well said, " The manner of men's hero- 
 worship, verily it is the innermost fact of their existence 
 and determines all the rest*' V 
 
 This emphasis on the spiritual, forms India's supreme con- 
 tribution to the history of religions. The naive enjoyment of 
 life's blessings, which, in times of peace, comes so easy to very 
 many in the West, stands rebuked before the penetrative 
 pessimism of the East. * Asceticism ', as Professor James says, 
 ' goes with the profounder way of handling the gift of 
 existence. Naturalistic optimism is mere syllabub and flattery 
 and sponge-cake in comparison/ 2 Indians may strive for 
 money and comfort as keenly as men of any other race, but .they 
 will not exalt this practice into a philosophy and assert that 
 actually the blessings of this world are the supreme good. 
 Against all secularism, articulate or implied, the spiritual 
 philosophy of India is an unforgettable protest. It remains as 
 a classic witness that 
 
 4k 
 
 'Our destiny, our being's heart and home, 
 Is with infinitude, and only there'. 3 
 
 It is but natural that those who desire to be redeemed from 
 the world should seek to flee from k. But to flee the world is 
 not to solve, but to evade, life's problems. It is to create a 
 solitude and call it peace. It is to make religion the monopoly 
 of those so circumstanced that they can live unentangled 
 in the world's affairs. These can never be more than a very 
 few, and meanwhile the world is left rrpre helplessly in the 
 bondage of the material. It is not enough to seek to be 
 
 1 J. C. Oman, The Mystics, Ascetics, and Saints of India, p. 271. 
 
 2 W. James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, p. 364. 
 8 Wordsworth's Prelude, vi. 604, 605. 
 
HINDU AND CHRISTIAN 235 
 
 redeemed. It is not the bondage we escape, but the liberty we 
 gain that is the more important. Deliverance is not an end in 
 itself. It is a means by which we win communion with God, 
 eternal life. 
 
 In Hinduism the emphasis on the negative aspect of redemp- 
 tion is probably in large measure due to the doctrine of karma. 
 So terrifying are the effects of past deeds that merely to 
 escape from them seemed the highest good. At all costs and 
 by any means, whether by meditation, by yoga or austerity, 
 men crave deliverance that they may be no longer held, life 
 after life, in the iron grip of cyclic recompense. To flee from 
 this, men seek a life whose analogy is a dreamless sleep, a life 
 not life, but death. Whether Indian thought can rightly 
 be called Pantheistic is largely a question of definition, but 
 John Caird's criticism of Pantheism may be applied to the 
 solution of Hinduism : * The infinite to which it would unite 
 us is not an Infinite of larger, fuller life, but an Infinite in 
 which all thought and life are lost. Its last result is not the 
 conscious surrender of finite desire and will in order to con- 
 scious participation in the thought and will of God, but it is 
 the passing away, as if by a suicidal act, of all consciousness 
 and activity, all individuality into the moveless abyss of the 
 unconditioned. 5 * What Eucken says of the mysticism of 
 Plotinus might be used without alteration here : ' It is here 
 first clearly seen what power the thought of union with the All 
 is able to gain over the human soul. But it cannot be denied 
 that there is no path leading from this inwardness back to the 
 wide field of life.' 2 
 
 And just here is the inadequacy of the solution to modern 
 needs. It speaks of deliverance from the past, but has no 
 word of hope for the future. It gives an opiate when men are 
 seeking a tonic. It takes from history its meaning at a time 
 when men are craving for their Motherland a greater place in 
 
 1 John Caird, The Fundamental Ideas of ' ^Christianity ', vol. i, pp. 108, 
 109. Caird's criticism is the more noteworthy as he judges Pantheism 
 from the sympathetic standpoint of Hegelianism. 
 
 2 R. Eucken, The Life of the Spirit, English trans., p. 353. 
 
 Q 
 
226 REDEMPTION 
 
 history. It leads to seclusion from the world when patriots 
 feel that the times demand activity. Its analogy is, as we have 
 seen, a dreamless sleep, and to-day educated India is awake and 
 alert, looking forward to the future with proud confidence. 
 There is a vivid sense of the country's present need and destined 
 glory, and quietism seems less attractive than it did. In the 
 renaissance of India, there is a new emphasis on duty and 
 service ; a message is wanted of life, not death ; of hope and 
 not despair. ' Who is there ', says Rabindranath Tagore in 
 great and eloquent words, ' that thinks the union with God and 
 man is to be found in some secluded enjoyment of his own 
 imaginings away from the sky-towering temple of the greatness 
 of humanity, which the whole of mankind in sunshine and storm 
 is toiling to erect through the ages ? Who is there who thinks 
 this secluded communion is the highest form of religion? 
 O thou distraught wanderer, thou sannydsin, drunk in the wine 
 of self-intoxication, dost thou not already hear the progress of 
 the human soul along the highway traversing the wide fields of 
 humanity, the thunder of its progress in the car of its achieve- 
 ments which is destined to overpass the bounds that prevent 
 its expansion into the universe ? . . . He who thinks to reach 
 God by running away from the world, when and where does 
 he expect to meet him ? How far can he fly can he fly till he 
 flies to nothingness itself? No, the coward who would fly can 
 nowhere find him. We must be brave enough to be able 
 to say : We are reaching him here in this very spot, now at 
 this very moment/ 1 
 
 A religion which inspires to action and may be experienced 
 in activity this is the expressed need to-day of India. Even 
 men famous for their orthodoxy hailed Mr. Gandhi on his 
 return from South Africa as the modern type of a true 
 sannyasin. What a change of ideal is here if the ascetic is no 
 longer the man who flees from the world, but the man who 
 suffers insult, imprisonment, and hardship, that by his untiring 
 
 1 Sddhana, pp. 129, 130. 
 
HINDU AND CHRISTIAN -227 
 
 labours he may deliver his countrymen from oppression. 1 But 
 if ethics change and not religion, an unhappy cleft is made in 
 the spiritual life. Men feel that activity is demanded of them 
 and yet believe that inactivity is the higher life. Partly 
 on this account is it that the Bhagavadglta is so praised, for 
 there side by side with the Vedantic solution is the proclama- 
 tion of the karma yoga, the way of the man active yet 
 untrammelled by his activity. In devotion to Krishna, such 
 a one fulfils the duty of his caste and yet is free in soul. So 
 he may do his ordained work without attachment to the fruit 
 of works. But if the fruit of work be thus so evil, what 
 meaning and value has work itself? We. hear much to-day of 
 'the Practical Vedanta'. It is Svami Vivekananda's phrase. 
 But what basis has our ethics, what motive has our service ? 
 ' This ', he says, ' we must bear in mind always that in the 
 Vedanta there is no attempt at reconciling the present life, the 
 hypnotized life, this false life which we have assumed, with the 
 ideal.' If this life is thus unreal, why struggle for the uplift of 
 the race ? Again, what meaning has the moral conflict of our 
 own lives if, as he adds, * no man becomes purer and purer : 
 it is more or less of manifestation? The veil goes away and 
 the native purity of the soul begins to manifest itself. Think 
 you, that you are weak and miserable ? Almighty, arise and 
 awake and manifest your own nature. It is not fit that you 
 think yourself a sinner, it. is not fit that you think yourself 
 weak.' 2 It is useless to call men to the Practical Vedanta of 
 strenuous service for the Motherland if at the same time we 
 proclaim that the present life is unreal, and the weaknesses and 
 sins we combat are mere illusion. 
 
 It is not enough to provide an escape from the bondage of 
 past deeds. It is a new life that is needed of moral content 
 and present power. It is^needed for the" individual, it is 
 
 1 And we may add, what an itony that the oppressors he withstood 
 should have been Christians'. - 
 
 2 The Practical Vedanta, Part- 1, reprinted in Lectures on Jndna Yoga 
 in the Prabuddha Bharata Vedanta Library Series, Minerva Press, 
 Madras. 
 
 Q2 
 
228 REDEMPTION 
 
 needed for society. Earnest and enlightened Hindus complain 
 that the initiative to social reform has come chiefly from 
 the Christian Church, and that it is difficult, indeed almost 
 impossible, to arouse among the larger number even of educated 
 Hindus sufficient enthusiasm to secure the abolition of even 
 the most flagrant abuses. 1 Religion, when it means escape 
 from the world and not service in it, may be itself a hindrance. 
 We find social reformers protesting 'against the excessive 
 domination of religion ', and asserting that ' some of our social 
 evils are due to an excess of religiousness } . 2 How can it be 
 otherwise, if religion is concerned only with deliverance from the 
 bondage of past karma, if it has no message of hope and meaning 
 for the future ? It is. not knowledge, as the Vedanta teaches, 
 that is needed ; it is power. 
 
 * Knowledge we ask not ; knowledge Thou hast lent ; 
 
 But Lord, the will there lies our bitter need, 
 Give us to build above the deep intent, 
 
 The deed, the deed.' 3 
 
 If the traditional conception of redemption is proving 
 inadequate to the demands of an active and progressive age, 
 it cannot be said that Hindus are looking to Christianity for an 
 answer at once to their craving for redemption and their moral 
 need in daily life and duty. Much in Christianity is admired 
 and imitated. To its influence many of the social activities of 
 modern Hinduism are, as we have seen, avowedly due. But 
 social reforms are not religion. They belong to the temporal, 
 not the eternal. Most of all is Jesus Christ admired. Even 
 when from Svadeshi motives Christ is not named, the Krishna 
 
 1 Cp. The Indian Social Reformer (of Bombay) of Sept. 20, 1914, in an 
 article on the Rescue Clauses of the Protection of Minor Girls' Bill. ' The 
 fear of the Christian missionaries has been the beginning of much social 
 wisdom amongst us. Our orphanages and boys' and girls' schools, and 
 some other institutions, owe their origin to the fear of the missionary.' 
 
 2 The Social Reform Advocate (of Madras), Oct. 16, 1915, p. 2. 
 
 3 This stanza of Mr. John Drinkwater is used to conclude a very 
 interesting series of short stories written by ' Kusika ' in the Hindu, and 
 afterwards republished (Madras Hindu Office, 1912). The stories deal 
 with the problems of marriage the status of the educated wife, the 
 bestowal of dowries and the like and the pitiable inability of enlightened 
 men to turn their protestations into practice. 
 
HINDU, AND CHRISTIAN 329 
 
 held up to our devotion is often a Krishna whose attributes are 
 derived, not from the Pur anas, nor even from the Glta, but from 
 the Christian Gospels. Very many Hindus cordially acknow- 
 ledge that Christ is the greatest of the world's teachers. Yet 
 these, too, often complain that Christianity fails to answer 
 yearnings which Hinduism meets. Christianity is interested 
 and efficacious only in the realm of the seen. Men assert, as if 
 it were a commonplace requiring no proof, that the East is 
 spiritual, and the West material. In India, religion is the 
 commonest theme for fluent discussion, and the claim for the 
 spiritual superiority of the East is often made by men from 
 whose lips it is ludicrous in its incongruity. For such it is 
 merely an assertion, convenient for the platform or the College 
 debate, high-sounding, certain to win applause. But the 
 claim cannot be thus lightly dismissed as the facile rhetoric of 
 modern Athenians. It expresses the convinced belief of many 
 sincere and high-minded men, who assert without fear of 
 contradiction that in this one thing Christianity is inferior to 
 the highest Hinduism. Wherever else Hinduism has failed, 
 it has better impressed upon its followers the reality of the 
 spiritual life. As a writer in the admirable Indian Social 
 Reformer of Bombay put it 1 : * Hinduism has instilled into the 
 minds even of its most ignorant followers an unshakeable faith 
 in the supremacy of the spiritual over the temporal, an 
 achievement which is as yet only an aspiration with Christianity! 
 The statement is one that requires the most careful considera- 
 tion. If 'an unshakeable faith in the supremacy of the 
 spiritual over the temporal is as yet only an aspiration with 
 Christianity', then so long as that is true, Christianity may 
 hope to continue its work among the outcaste communities, 
 but that is all. If it thus fails to meet the deepest aspirations 
 of Hinduism we can never hope that the best and most 
 spiritual in India will ever find in Christianity a gospel, and so far 
 as caste Hindus are concerned it would be wise for the Churches 
 to abandon what would then be the impertinence of their 
 1 In a sympathetic review of Dr. Farquhar's Primer of Hinduism* 
 
REDEMPTION 
 
 missionary labours. But if 'an unshakeable faith in the 
 supremacy of the spiritual over the temporal ' be indeed ' only 
 an aspiration with Christianity ', we are driven to ask whose 
 fault is it, the Gospel or our interpretation of it ? 
 
 II 
 
 Certainly such a charge could not be brought against the 
 early Church. The Church opposed to idolatry on the one 
 hand, and theosophic mysticism on the other, its proclamation 
 of eternal life. Christians claim to be onlysojourners here, their 
 real home is in heaven. 1 Thus the Didache tells us that the 
 prayer at the Communion service was, ' May grace come and 
 this world pass away. Marana tha, Our Lord cometh'. 2 
 And with this same word ' Marana tha, Our Lord cometh ', 
 Christians encouraged each other to face death gladly in the 
 amphitheatre. So later we find Celsus, the arch-enemy of 
 Christianity, blaming the Christians for their disregard of 
 worldly prudence, and sneering at them ' because, however 
 divided in other respects, they all use these words : the world 
 is crucified to me and I to the world '. 3 Even one so flippant 
 as Lucian could not help noticing their firm belief in the life 
 that is eternal, and records with immense amusement ' that 
 these miserable people have got it into their heads that they 
 are perfectly immortal '. 4 Moral defects there were many in 
 that early Church, but at least with them ' the assertion of 
 the supremacy of the spiritual over the temporal ' was not an 
 { aspiration ' only but an ' achievement '. They claimed to be 
 redeemed from the world and to live in the spirit. They 
 believed in prayer and endured as seeing Him that is invisible. 
 Their creed was unelaborated, but their religious experience 
 was definite and positive, and to this reality and power of their 
 spiritual life the progress of Christianity was chiefly due. 
 
 As we turn to the record of Christ's life and work, we see 
 
 1 e.g. The Shepherd of Hernias, Book III, Similitude i. 
 
 2 The Didache (The Teaching of the Apostles], chap, x, 6. 
 
 3 Origen, Against Celsus, v. 64. * In his Proteus Peregrinus. 
 
HINDU AND CHRISTIAN 231 
 
 that in its assertion of the supremacy of the spiritual the early 
 Church was but continuing the teaching of the Master. Liberal 
 theologians have indeed attempted to describe Christ as a 
 benign ethicist chiefly interested in details of conduct. His 
 message concerning the unseen has been reduced to the 
 proclamation of a loving God unable through natural law to 
 manifest His power. The Kingdom of God has been inter- 
 preted as the realm of human kindness, and its extension 
 regarded as coincident with the gradual evolution of a pros- 
 perous and benevolent world order. 1 But such an interpreta- 
 tion is inadequate. The Kingdom was not a society bound 
 together by new ideals. It was the gift of God, and the very 
 failure of His life only confirmed Christ's certainty of the 
 Kingdom's final triumph. His death was the pledge of the 
 victory of good over evil. The consummation of the Kingdom 
 would not come by the gradual education of the race, nor even 
 by the progressive influence of the Church. It would come 
 by the power of God. The Kingdom was the heavenly realm 
 in which men might share already the life which is eternal and 
 triumphant. To be a member of the Kingdom is thus already 
 to be redeemed from the world. 
 
 In Christ's teaching, redemption from the world is not flight 
 from it. When St. Francis gathered around him his first 
 followers, he read out to them as the rules of their order the 
 words of Christ which seem to demand absolute poverty and 
 complete self-renunciation. 2 But the Franciscan ideal does not 
 represent in its fullness the ideal of Christ. As we have seen, 3 
 Christ's attitude to life was not ascetic. He speaks as one who 
 loved flowers, birds, and the country-side. His kindly eyes 
 
 1 One extreme corrects 'another and the writings of the recent ' eschato- 
 logical' school (e.g. A. Schweitzer's The Quest of the Historical Jesus), 
 perverse in their one-sidedness as they are, have thus been valuable in 
 counteracting the ' liberal ' view. For an incisive discussion of the whole 
 problem see H. T. Andre ws's Eschatological Utterances of Jesus in London 
 Theological Studies, pp. 6795. 
 
 2 Matt. xix. 21, Luke ix. 1-6, Matt. xvi. 24-7. See P. Sabatier's Vie de 
 S. Francois d'Assise, 28th ed., p. 85. 
 
 3 See pp. 146-8. 
 
233 REDEMPTION 
 
 notice every detail of the village life and He uses its homely facts 
 to illustrate the deepest truths. Until the brief period of His 
 ministry He was content quietly to earn for His family and 
 Himself His daily bread. His first recorded miracle was at a 
 wedding feast ; and marriage, which ascetics shun, and usually 
 half scorn, He held in highest honour and laid down for it the 
 strictest rules. Little children loved Him, and mothers freely 
 brought to Him their babies to be blessed. He was no 
 recluse, but one who mingled alike with saint and sinner, so 
 that his enemies sneered at Him as a wine-bibber and a glutton. 
 He was not one who spoke as if the needs of the body must 
 be ignored. He bade men pray for daily bread. He was the 
 good physician whose joy it was to heal the suffering. So 
 there was no * otherworldliness ' in His attitude to life. How 
 could there be when all life's blessings are the good gifts of a 
 loving Father who delights to bestow upon all men His bounty. 
 To be ' otherworldly ' would be ingratitude to the gracious 
 God whom Christ proclaimed. The otherworldly despair of 
 this world and look forward to a distant heaven to enjoy. 
 Christ, on the contrary, brought heaven down to earth. The 
 Kingdom of God was already in their midst. The natural 
 joys were not bled white that men might better prize the 
 heavenly. Instead they gained new strength and beauty 
 through the knowledge that the present life may partake 
 already of the eternal. Though He bade men follow Him 
 even to the Cross, He yet could speak of His message as glad 
 tidings, as a gospel. It was a feast, and not a fast, that He 
 instituted on the eve of His betrayal as the memorial of His. 
 death. In His farewell words to His disciples, though He 
 speaks of tribulation, He promises them His joy and peace. 
 
 With Him ' the supremacy of the spiritual over the temporal ' 
 was not an ' aspiration ' only, but an ' achievement '. He did 
 not evade life's duties. Instead He gave to things temporal 
 an eternal meaning. His communion with the Father was 
 perfect and uninterrupted. His faith was unperturbed by His 
 incomparable trials and seeming failure. He speaks of a 
 
HINDU AND CHRISTIAN 233 
 
 Kingdom of God, not future only, but present. Already the 
 powers of the supernal world were His and were meant to be 
 His followers. Not to 'see the Kingdom", not to enjoy 
 ' eternal life ', was the greatest loss that men could know. 
 Pitiable to Christ seemed the folly of those shrewd folk who 
 think only of worldly gains. No man can serve at the same 
 time God and Mammon. There can be no truce between 
 worldliness and the spirit of Christ. Worldliness sees only the 
 things of this world, and, because it cannot see the realm of 
 God's mercy, thinks that these earthly goods are the only prizes 
 worth seeking. And with this limitation of horizon, there 
 goes always the spirit of anxiety. Men fear to lose the only 
 things they think of value. Such are forgetful of a higher 
 good ; they are forgetting the Father's love which may permit 
 sorrow, but will not permit evil to befall His children. 1 
 
 It is from this point of view that we can understand those 
 commands of Christ which St. Francis took to be the rules of 
 every perfect life. Renunciation in itself has no moral value. 
 On the contrary, wantonly to refuse the good things of life is 
 to deny that they are God's gifts. But the gift of all the world 
 would be worse than useless if it cost the life of the soul. 
 Greater than any earthly good is the Kingdom of God. This 
 first we must seek ; for it no sacrifice, if necessary, can be too 
 great. In time of war men gladly offer up for their country 
 their treasure and their lives, and speak of their offering nof as 
 a sacrifice but a privilege. The Kingdom of God has come 
 and is yet to come. In Christ men may already share in a 
 communion with God which means joy and power. But the 
 kingdom is yet to be perfected. None on earth have known 
 its blessings to the full. Many know them not at all. For the 
 sake of the greater, Christians must be ready to sacrifice the 
 less. Yet they can do so with joy. They are God's children. 
 They can be confident that with them all is well. Christianity 
 does not mean flight from the world, but it does involve 
 
 1 For a profound discussion of the whole subject see A. G. Hogg's 
 Christ's Message of the Kingdom. 
 
234 REDEMPTION 
 
 detachment from it. * Except ye fast to the world ye shall 
 in no wise find the Kingdom of God.' l 
 
 If the Christian records ended with the death of Christ, we 
 could scarcely speak of Christianity as a Gospel. In Christ's 
 lifetime His disciples could not understand His teaching. 
 Expectant of an earthly kingdom, they could not make their 
 own the blessings of that spiritual Kingdom which was already 
 present. Only after Christ's death and resurrection did men 
 appropriate the Christian salvation. Christ had died for them, 
 but that was not all. Christ had risen again from the dead, 
 and after His resurrection they found already theirs the power 
 and joy of the heavenly Kingdom. We have seen how Paul 
 interprets his great experience. 2 -For him too there were 
 times when temptation was hard to meet and disappointment 
 very great, yet he could write, ' I have been crucified with 
 Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in 
 me.' * No doubt', as Professor Mackintosh well says, 'the 
 verse was written at a white heat, and the apostle, had he 
 been cross-examined, would have admitted that he did not 
 after all mean that Christ and Paul were so absolutely one as 
 to be indistinguishable ; but this only indicates that language 
 has broken down under an intolerable strain, and that words, 
 which at their best must always be general, are unequal to 
 expressing a fact that is totally unparalleled. What St. Paul 
 asserts is at least infinitely nearer to truth than its negation 
 would be. He stands for a truly spiritual union ; a reciprocal 
 appropriation and interpenetration of spirit by spirit. The 
 bond between them is sufficiently powerful to support the 
 assignation of the same predicates to both. Our solidarity 
 with Christ is such that in His death we also die ; in His 
 grace we are buried ; with the Risen Lord and in Him, we too 
 rise to newness of life.' 3 Already Paul shared in the bliss of 
 
 1 One of the Logia of Jesus discovered at Oxyrhynchus and first pub- 
 lished in 1897. 
 
 2 Chap. VI 1 1, pp. 166-9. 
 
 8 H. R. Mackintosh, The Person of Jesus Christ, p. 335. 
 
HINDU AND CHRISTIAN 235 
 
 that eternal realm where Christ' was. His mysticism did not 
 mean abstraction from the world into an insentient identity 
 with an attributeless principle. It meant a communion with 
 the living God from which came the strength he needed for 
 his tireless labours and an indomitable courage. In strange 
 contrast to the hardness of his lot, he can speak of his joy and 
 triumph. Already he lived in the eternal as in the present. 
 The eternal was his home, for there Christ dwelt. 
 
 What was the central fact in Paul's experience has been but 
 little emphasized in the modern Church. 1 To many the 
 simple truth that Christianity means, not only redemption 
 from sin, but redemption from the world, comes now with 
 an unfamiliar sound. When the Church through its prosperity 
 became first secularized, one extreme led to another. For 
 worldliness, otherworldliness seemed the natural cure. Monas- 
 ticism arose with its flight from the world order. With the 
 repristination of Christianity at the Reformation, the Protestant 
 Church rejected everything which pertained to monasticism 
 and the monastic ideal ; and rightly, for Christianity ' does not 
 praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue'. 2 But the reformers 
 did not realize that asceticism was the inevitable reaction to 
 worldliness. Monasticism was condemned, but the Protestant 
 Church found nothing to put in its place to meet the need it 
 sought to answer. Christianity was proclaimed as redemption 
 from sin. Too little in the Protestant Church has it been 
 proclaimed as redemption from the world. Even its preachers 
 have often been shy and uncertain of the unseen. Science has 
 seemed to deal with realities more actual than the data of 
 religion. As Eucken used so impressively to point out, the 
 amazing development of the material resources of life has left 
 the soul still more uncertain of itself and without confidence 
 and joy. ' The very contrast of the external wealth with the 
 
 1 I owe much here to Julius Kaftan, Zur Dogmatik, pp. 296, 297. 
 
 2 Cp. the famous passage in Milton's Areopagitica : ' I cannot praise 
 a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never 
 sallies out and seeks her adversary, but slinks out pf the race, where that 
 immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat.' 
 
236 REDEMPTION 
 
 inward poverty allows the emptiness to be better seen, and 
 causes a growing feeling of dissatisfaction.' 1 Whatever we may 
 think of his remedy, Eucken's diagnosis of the prosperous 
 days of peace is surely true. Physical well-being cannot 
 provide happiness nor content. Life as it gains in speed may 
 lose in meaning. Men get the desire of their hearts only 
 to find leanness in their souls. 
 
 For the most part the adaptation of Christianity to the 
 ' spirit of the age ' is implicit. Sometimes it is explicit. Thus 
 Bousset, as a historian of insight, recognizes how large a place 
 in the Christian Gospel is filled with the thought of redemption 
 from this world. But he complains that Christianity so 
 preached does not allow for ' such representatives of modern 
 culture as Bismarck, who aroused from sleep as with a 
 magician's wand the German idealist dreams, so that on every 
 hand we hear of the duty of self-preservation, self-assertion, 
 and strife for world- dominion '. 2 The events of recent years 
 provide a horrible commentary of what it means to sub- 
 ordinate the Christian to the Bismarckian ideal. But it would 
 be Pharisaism and hypocrisy to speak as if only in Germany 
 did Christian teachers thus try to force the Christian Gospel 
 into the mould of modern culture. Elsewhere, if the Christian 
 doctrine of redemption has not been thus candidly rejected, it 
 has too often been implicitly ignored. We have remembered 
 Christ's command that we should be in the world more often 
 than His assumption that we should not be of it, and so have 
 largely failed to influence the world in which we have been too 
 much at home. We have forgotten Christ's teaching that 
 anxiety is sin, and just because of this the Church, which would 
 have protested effectively against men being coerced into 
 drunkenness or vice, has been acquiescent in regard to social 
 conditions which make the freedom and joy of the kingdom 
 almost impossible for many. We have too often forgotten 
 
 1 Konnen wir noch Christen sein? p. 174. 
 
 2 Das Wesen der Religion, p. 208. 
 
HINDU AND CHRISTIAN 237 
 
 that the Christian Gospel means liberation from the bondage 
 of the temporal. 
 
 The immense emphasis in the New Testament on the risen 
 life of Christ and our share in it has been missing in modern 
 preaching. Eternal life has been too often regarded as a 
 vague and merely future thing instead of as a present posses- 
 sion, actual if incomplete. 
 
 Christianity has been preached in India by Westerners, and 
 inevitably the one-sidedness of Western Christianity has been 
 reflected in their preaching. It is only among the non-caste 
 population that the Church has won conspicuous success, and 
 this too has tended to call attention to the social rather than 
 the spiritual aspect of the Gospel. This work among the 
 outcaste communities is a magnificent piece of Christian 
 philanthropy. Men degraded by centuries of oppression and 
 ignorance have proved themselves capable of a fine Christian 
 manhood. We may well make our own the words of an early 
 Christian writer and say ' these things do not look like human 
 works ; they are the power of God ; they are the evidences of 
 His manifestation.' 1 Yet we have to confess that to many 
 Hindus the * divine power' is less obvious than the 'human 
 works '. They admire the efficacy of the organization and the 
 energy and devotion of its directors, but they fail to see in 
 it a religion answering to their needs. Partly the fault is 
 theirs. Denying that good deeds belong to reality, men may 
 miss the meaning of transformed lives. But inevitably the 
 material advance is, even to sympathetic observers, far more 
 apparent than the spiritual. 2 In the mass-movement Churches, 
 many Christians have advanced socially with such celerity that 
 
 1 Ep. to Diognetus, vii. 
 
 2 To speak of 'rice Christians' is absurd. As a matter of fact, in the 
 mass movements pecuniary help is rarely given ; in those of which I myself 
 have knowledge, not at all. But Christianity brings with it education and 
 a better mode of life. In the case of those from the most degraded com- 
 munities, there is an ignorance, dirt, and poverty which simply have to go 
 when they become Christians, and even from such communities there are 
 to-day many Christians of whom the Church may well be proud and whom 
 it is a pleasure and an honour to know. 
 
238 REDEMPTION 
 
 there is among others a feverish eagerness to emulate their 
 successes, and Christians thus often impress their neighbours 
 more by their power of getting on in the world than by the 
 reality of their inner life. Many a missionary finds to his 
 bitter disappointment that he is regarded not as the humble 
 servant of Christ, come to bring the Good News of His 
 salvation, but as the influential sahib, looked up to more. as 
 a competent organizer than as a spiritual guide. 1 Some have 
 indeed tried to show in their lives such self-sacrifice that 
 Indians will see in them true sannyasins, but such attempts 
 have been pathetic in their failure. 2 No missionary in India 
 has a right to live other than with extreme simplicity, but 
 however simply a European lives, there are still many in India 
 to whom his privations will seem luxuries. Most missionaries 
 win the respect, and many also the affection, of their neigh- 
 bours, but the missionary does not, and cannot, live according 
 to the Indian ideal of a religious man. Proverbs express 
 better than philosphemes the life of the people, and many 
 of the Indian proverbs speak of that avidity for money which 
 is at least as common in India as in the West. 3 But though 
 
 1 Thus in an interesting tale of modern Indian life there is this charac- 
 teristic reference to missionaries. ' Their temporal influence is as high as 
 their spiritual influence is low.' 'When I reflect on their thousand and 
 one unchristian cares, I cease to wonder that they have made so little 
 progress in their evangelistical mission ; that they have yet made so faint an 
 impression on intelligent India with a keen reason and an ancient philo- 
 sophy which regards the killing out of all desires and the completest self' 
 abnegation as the only paths to salvation. ... I am not ignorant of the 
 immense material good which even -these missionaries have done to the 
 country and are still doing. I know that they have played and still play 
 a very important part in spreading broadcast western education and 
 culture over the land at a most opportune moment. India's best thanks 
 are due to them for this as also for their serving as an object lesson of 
 worldly prosperity. But I have no patience with them as spiritual teachers 
 and evangelists of the great and gentle heart that perished on the cross.' 
 Thillai Govindan, by ' Pamba ', Madras, 1903. 
 
 2 Cp. Benjamin Robinson's The Brahmaris Holy Land, the record of 
 such an attempt. After seven years Mr. Robinson returned home in 
 shattered health and, in spite of all his asceticism, he found that Jati is 
 birth and an Englishman must always be an alien to Hindus. 
 
 3 Thus in Tamil one of the commonest proverbs runs, 'Say money 
 (panam} and even a corpse (pinani) will open its mouth.' 
 
HINDU AND CHRISTIAN 239 
 
 Indians may be as intent on money-making as it is possible 
 for men to be, they know that not here is reality, and they 
 feel that no religion can be adequate which does not mean 
 redemption from the world. The activities of the Christian 
 Church may be admired and imitated, yet men do not feel 
 that we bring the message of this redemption. We are not 
 able to meet the deepest aspirations of Hinduism unless 
 we learn to speak as men do to whom the eternal is the 
 present, and the spiritual the supremely real. 
 
 How much more Christian than much of our Christian preach- 
 ing is this criticism of the centennial report of one of the most 
 honoured of the Missionary Societies working in India. The 
 report had recommended Christianity on the ground that 
 Japan's position as a world-power was connected with the 
 spread of Christianity there. Besides, business men approved 
 of foreign missions because Christianity helped to create wants 
 which increased business. A writer in the Indian Social 
 Reformer thus comments on these arguments : * How does 
 this argument fit in with the memorable declaration of the 
 Master that His Kingdom was not of this world?' And 
 ' that He who made Himself a scourge of small cords to drive 
 out of the temple the traders and money-changers who made 
 His Father's house a house of merchandise, should be held up 
 to the acceptance of the world on the ground that His teachings 
 have been found by experience to help business men, surely 
 borders on the grotesque. India will never accept any 
 religion on the ground that it will bring her political power or 
 commercial eminence. All appeals that rest on that ground 
 are bound to be worse than ineffective.' ' If we were pleading 
 for the acceptance of Christianity ', adds this Hindu writer, 
 * we would lay stress rather on any larger, vaster opportunities 
 of self-sacrifice and self-surrender in the pursuit of the Divine 
 purpose, which it may open up to mankind. The appeal of 
 Calvary, even from the tactical point of view, is worth 
 
240 REDEMPTION 
 
 immensely more to a religion than that of all the kingdoms 
 and principalities of the world.' 1 
 
 The rebuke is just, but it ought not to have been deserved. 
 It would be a tragic irony if in a land where men, even when 
 they have not sought, have prized the eternal, Christian 
 missionaries should need to be reminded that the power of the 
 Gospel is in its spiritual and not its temporal benefits. The 
 missionary enterprise has suffered much in the past from the 
 rigidity of its phrases and the harshness of its doctrines, but 
 we have lost, not gained, if our reduced and more genial 
 theology represents a religion uncertain of the unseen and 
 hesitant even as to its own finality. It is not enough that we 
 should serve, we must also see. We are not doing our God- 
 given work if, like those lighthouse-keepers of whom Maeterlinck 
 somewhere speaks, we cannot keep our light burning because 
 we have given away our oil to the poor. If men have not seen 
 in Christianity the supremacy of the spiritual, that is our fault, 
 not the Gospel's. We need to enter more fully into our 
 Christian inheritance. We must do so or admit that 
 Christianity cannot satisfy those deep needs which Hinduism 
 for all its failure has striven to express. 
 
 The greatness of the demand made upon our Christian 
 resources is the opportunity which reveals their vastness. 
 Christianity, like Hinduism, is a religion of redemption, but of 
 a redemption adequate to our world-task. The Christian 
 message does not bid us flee the world. If it did, Christianity 
 would have nothing new to give to India. Asceticism has 
 been practised in India with incomparable rigour. To imitate 
 the Hindu doctrine of redemption would be to fail. So far as 
 it goes, the Hindu doctrine is unsurpassable. But it is one- 
 sided and so inadequate. By its breach between the seen and 
 the unseen, the Hindu doctrine has emptied life of its meaning. 
 
 1 With the protest of this Hindu it is interesting to compare Eucken's 
 words : ' The atheist in his denial of religion thinks more religiously than 
 the utilitarian who turns the Divine into a mere means of human welfare.' 
 The Truth of Religion, p. 465. 
 
HINDU AND CHRISTIAN 241 
 
 For Christian preaching to ignore the value of life's ordinary 
 tasks would be simply to repeat, and without excuse, the 
 Hindu error and be involved in the same inadequacy. The 
 educated classes of India are intent on the activities of this 
 life ; the best of them are interested in social reform and 
 national regeneration. It is the tragedy of the present 
 situation that their religion does not provide motives and 
 power for such activity. Here lies the need and the opportunity 
 of the Gospel. As Christianity rejects the idea of a karma 
 order in almost entire independence of the Supreme Being, 
 Christian thought is not compelled, as Hindu has been, in the 
 quest for unity, to deny the reality of life in the world. 
 Instead, Christianity proclaims a truer unity, and one which 
 does not take from life its meaning. This world is God's 
 creation, and exists, not as an end, but as a means, to serve the 
 purpose of God's Kingdom. So its blessings may be enjoyed 
 and yet subordinated throughout to the supreme end of faith 
 in God and service to men. Redemption is to life, not death. 
 God is our Father; we are meant to be His sons. God made 
 the world. We may enjoy its blessings as gifts of His 
 Fatherly love, and its sorrows we may have strength to endure. 
 Joy is no longer an emotion only : it is a duty and a 
 possibility. As children of God we are given freedom to 
 enjoy and a task to perform. History finds in Christianity 
 meaning, and a goal. In history Christ came. The end of 
 history is the Kingdom of God. We may do our work for 
 the world as those who see in that work a service for the eternal. 
 We look forward to perfect life after death, not because this 
 life is empty, but because, in spite of sorrow and imperfection, 
 life is already so good and full of meaning. We may live in 
 time as those who know that their life already partakes of the 
 eternal. 1 The Gospel means redemption, but it is a redemp- 
 
 1 So time and eternity are related. As F. von Hugel says: 'A life 
 lived within the more or less successiveness of our own mode of Existence ' 
 may be ' in willed touch and deliberate union with God, the Simultaneous 
 and the Eternal '. Eternal Life, p. 66. 
 
 R 
 
242 REDEMPTION 
 
 tion not of world-weariness but of gladness. The perfection 
 of our redemption is not insentience, but life more abundant. 
 
 Christianity is a religion of joy, yet an asceticism of spirit 
 has formed, from the first, part of the Christian character. 
 They misrepresent the Gospel who so emphasize the sacredness 
 of the secular as to secularize the sacred, who are so at home 
 in the world as to have lost their home-sickness for God. There 
 is what has been called ' the brokenness of Christ '. In a world 
 of sin and sorrow we may not live as if these things were not. 
 We are combatants, not spectators, in the conflict between good 
 and evil, and soldiering is a costly calling. God's revelation 
 of Himself in Christ was completed in the context of sin and 
 sorrow. 1 The New Testament everywhere assumes that the 
 religion of the Cross means for every Christian the bearing a 
 Cross. Renunciation is not sought and prized as in itself a 
 good. The material is only evil as it becomes the vehicle of 
 the anti-spiritual. But the temporal must be subordinated to 
 the eternal. The supreme good and duty is to do God's will, 
 and in such service renunciation is inevitably involved. It is 
 the Cross of Christ which gives to the Christian redemption its 
 moral content. Redemption is not absorption into the 
 Undififerentiated, the Infinite. It is communion with a holy 
 God, impossible without the realization of forgiveness. And 
 in classic Christian experience, as we have seen, this forgive- 
 ness is most closely connected with Christ's death. Here best 
 we know that love which condemns our sin while it pardons us 
 and saves. A redemption so conceived is ethical through and 
 through. It comes, not through intuition, but through self- 
 surrender. It is a redemption which of necessity shows itself 
 in love. Yet this love is not the restless activity of those who 
 seek to find in action the peace their faith has lost. It is the 
 inevitable expression of communion with God, the outward 
 
 1 Cp. Dora Greenwell's lines : 
 
 'I sought Thee 'mid the leaves, 
 
 I found Thee on the dry and blasted tree, ' 
 I saw Thee not, until I saw the thieves, 
 There crucified with Thee.' 
 
HINDU AND CHRISTIAN 243 
 
 manifestation of a life which already is eternal. The Christ 
 who died rose again. The Christian message is not one only 
 of pardon, but of life in Him. And this eternal life is not a 
 future abstraction ; it is a present experience. So in Chris- 
 tianity spiritual certainty and loving service are inevitably 
 connected. ' If we refuse to be in Christ the brothers of men, 
 we cannot be in Christ the sons of God.' l 
 
 It is thus our fault and not the Gospel's if ' the supremacy 
 of the spiritual over the temporal ' seems in Christianity an 
 'aspiration only' and not an 'achievement'. The Christian 
 Gospel does not need new accretions, but our understanding of 
 it needs much to be enlarged, and is at all times incomplete. 
 Each age interprets the Gospel for its own circumstances, and 
 it is through large demands that the amplitude of our resources 
 is discovered. No one race can ever enter into the fullness of 
 Christ. The Christian Church sends its missionaries to India 
 to give, not to receive ; but in seeking to preach Christ in India 
 we not only give, we receive. In trying to present Christ from 
 the standpoint of new needs, we find how much greater than 
 we imagined are the riches of Christ. In Christ is a gospel 
 adequate to West and East. The success of Christianity in 
 India will not depend on our energy and organization alone. 
 It will depend very much on the Church's understanding of 
 the Gospel it proclaims. Blind to the good, and eagle-eyed 
 to the bad in Hinduism, the'harshness of missionary preaching 
 in the past has left us an evil heritage, and caused many in 
 India to associate the missionary enterprise with arrogance 
 and racial pride. We need to be among men as those who 
 serve, but our service alone will not suffice. It is a Christian 
 Church certain of its faith and sure of the eternal, which can 
 alone proclaim Christ adequately to India. It is the Indian 
 Church, not European missionaries, which alone can be in 
 India the effective messenger of the Christian Gospel ; but the 
 
 ! J. Macleod Campbell, The Nature of the Atobement, p. 318. 
 
 R 2 
 
244 REDEMPTION 
 
 Indian Church is as yet much influenced by the West, and has 
 not been unaffected by that implicit secularism which saw in 
 the gradual growth of comfort the supreme good. The 
 deepest religious experience in the Church of the West is 
 reticent and unobtrusive, and is often unknown not only to 
 Hindus but to Indian Christians. And this is but natural. 
 When our Lord came He found the truest piety, not among the 
 professional theologians and the accredited religious leaders, 
 but among * the people of the earth ', the quiet ones who in 
 meekness and faith were looking for the redemption of Israel. 
 And in every age and Church there have been those who, often 
 in obscure and humble circumstances, have lived as ' more than 
 conquerors', who are redeemed from the world. With them 
 the eternal has been more than the temporal. Losses may 
 come to them, failure and bereavement, yet without bitterness 
 or defeat they hope on and love. Though they desire for their 
 children life's natural blessings, yet they desire for them far 
 more, Christian character and faith.- The missionary enterprise 
 is itself a witness to the Christianity of such. If Indians knew 
 better the devotion and self-sacrifice which lie behind so many 
 of the gifts from those so situated that every gift means sacrifice, 
 they might think differently of the Church's missionary work. 
 And in the mission-field as in the Church at home there are 
 many whose lives already partake of the power of the eternal 
 life. In ill-health it may be, in loneliness and disappointment, 
 they yet witness to the joy and triumph of the Christian life. 
 The experience is there: we need to express it better in the 
 message we proclaim. 
 
 The events of recent years have shown with apocalyptic 
 terror the awful inadequacy of a material civilization. But 
 they have done more than this. They have shown how very 
 many in trfc Christian Church were far more Christian than 
 they knew. Their sccularity was only a veneer. When the 
 testing came it was seen that duty was more to them than 
 comfort, more than life itself. The shallow and obtuse optimism 
 of the days of peaceful security has become indeed an 
 
HINDU AND CHRISTIAN 245 
 
 anachronism and an absurdity. But instead, thanks to the * rich 
 dead ', there is great ground for hope. 
 
 * There's* none of these so lonely and poor of old 
 But, dying, has made us rarer gifts than gold. 
 These laid the world away; poured out the rich, 
 Sweet wine of youth.' 
 
 And this spirit of sacrifice, of which Rupert Brooke's war 
 sonnets are thus the unforgettable expression, has not been 
 without avail. We understand better what Christ meant 
 when He asked what profit was there if a man gained the 
 whole world of things, at the cost of his own soul. Our old 
 complacency has been shattered and our home-sickness for 
 God reawakened through tribulation. We are realizing that 
 in God is our only hope ; that education cannot save us, 
 nor improved social conditions, but only faith and love. It 
 has become impossible for us to construe our religion only 
 for this world. Into the unseen world have gone so many of 
 our best and dearest, too young and vigorous for us to think 
 of them as merely dead. 
 
 The Church in the West in its sore trial is thus learning to 
 utter a larger message. Christianity is not only a gospel of 
 pardon for the past. It is a religion of complete deliverance. 
 We are called to do our tasks in the world, and they are 
 arduous, irksome often, and sometimes very stern. Yet we 
 are^ meant to live as those who live in, and for the eternal, 
 whose lives are lived with Christ in God. The Gospel is 
 so great as to save, not from guilt only, but from anxiety. 
 It enables weak men in otherwise intolerable trials to be 
 strong. It makes men the masters, instead of the victims, 
 of their circumstances, and gives them the confidence that, 
 though sorrow and death come, their Father in Heaven will 
 deliver them from evil. Thus the faith which has sustained 
 so many in every age is becoming more articulate. We need 
 to express it in our Christian message. We need to proclaim 
 that redemption is not from sin only but from the world. And 
 it is just this message which alone is adequate to the deep and 
 
246 REDEMPTION 
 
 searching demands expressed in the Hindu doctrine of re- 
 demption. 
 
 Our task is done. It remains to epitomize the argument. 
 We have seen in the Rigveda the sublime figure of Varuna 
 fading in the background, whilst Indra, the genial soldier-god, 
 became predominant. The moral order had no holy God to 
 give it sanction. 
 
 Religion became more and more a theurgy, and priestly 
 speculators, discontented with the multiplicity of deities, seek 
 the Infinite, and not the Holy, the One behind the many. 
 So Brahman, the priestly speech, is exalted until at length it 
 becomes the cosmic soul, and with this the Atman, the 
 individual soul, is identified, and Brahman-Atman is pro- 
 claimed as the sole reality. Side by side with this develop- 
 ment is the growing acceptance of the doctrine of karma 
 as the presupposition of all religion and speculation. But if 
 deeds thus bind in inexorable bonds, where can deliverance be 
 obtained ? Men found the deliverance they sought in the 
 great equation already reached. The Atman is the Brahman ; 
 the individual soul may realize its identity with the cosmic 
 soul and so be redeemed from the flux of time and the cycle 
 of rebirth. In the Gltd a new and better way is given. The 
 Supreme was one who could love and be loved, who could be 
 reached not by meditation and asceticism only, but by wor- 
 ship and service. Yet the theism reached is unstable, and the 
 development of the thought of the UpanisJiads proceeds until 
 it reaches its logical consummation in Sankaracharya's great 
 system. .Brahman is the sole reality. He is real because, 
 being without motive or action, he is free from the effect of 
 deeds. All the world of gods and men, all the operations of 
 karma, the practices of religion, and the sanctions of ethics, 
 belong to may a, to illusion, and appear real only because of 
 our ignorance. But this conclusion could not satisfy, and 
 endeavours were made, by such as Ramanuja, to continue the 
 
HINDU AND CHRISTIAN 247 
 
 thought of the Gitd and give the Supreme some character and 
 meaning. Yet always the difficulty remains unsolved ; if God 
 has motives, if He loves, if He acts, will not He too fall under 
 the karmic law ? Briefly we glanced at the more popular 
 religion, the. heartfelt devotion to the gods. Here worship is 
 given to gods conceived as living and sentient, but the moral 
 sublimity of Varuna is unrecovered. The gods are not the 
 guardians of the moral law. The moral order is the inexorable 
 law of karma, and with this order Hindu thought finds it hard 
 to relate the activities of the gods. 
 
 In contrast, the attempt was made to describe in a few 
 meagre pages the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the classic 
 Christian experience. Christ proclaimed a Father of love to 
 whom every soul of man was of infinite value. He spoke 
 of a kingdom all must enter. He called men to break with 
 their past, to . substitute for anxiety trust, for self-will 
 obedience to God, for selfishness service to men. He bade 
 men follow Him, confident that, even when discipleship 
 meant persecution and death, it was yet the greatest of all 
 blessings and the truest of all joys. Though Christ's earthly 
 career ended in failure, yet He died, as if death were a victory, 
 witnessing to the end of God's love, certain that the work 
 He had begun would never be superseded. And we saw how 
 men so different as Peter, Paul and John, found in Him the 
 answer to their deepest needs, and a redemption, not from sin 
 only, but from anxiety and feebleness. 
 
 The attempt was made to relate the Gospel to the aspirations 
 of Higher Hinduism. Christianity recognizes no system of 
 karma. The worW, it teaches, was created by God's love and 
 exists to fulfil the purposes of His love. So the world of 
 nature is a means and not an end. There is no karmic system, 
 operating of itself, without the control of God. And this 
 belief in God's love relieves that intolerable burden of suffering 
 which makes men seek at any cost its explanation. The 
 Christian Gospel recognizes retribution, but not a retribution 
 external and mechanical. Because the world exists for the 
 
248 REDEMPTION 
 
 purposes of love, retribution too must serve love's end. And 
 Christianity can bring Tnto a man's life recreative powers so 
 great that it is natural to speak of a new birth, a life compared 
 with which the old life was death. Yet there is no failure 
 to recognize the truth for which punishment stands ; for our 
 forgiveness comes to us through the Christ who died upon 
 the Cross. And the devotion which we give to Christ is not 
 rapt feeling only, but a solemn faith and obedience fitly given 
 to one who is the revelation of .a holy God. He is one with 
 God, and our communion with Him is communion with God. 
 
 Christianity does not presuppose the existence of the karmic 
 order ; redemption does not mean world-flight, for the world 
 was created by God and serves God's ends. Yet, as we in the 
 West so readily forget, the Christian redemption is a redemp- 
 tion from bondage to the temporal. We are redeemed into the 
 present possession of an eternal life. We need a new emphasis 
 on this in our Christian teaching. We need a new realization 
 of it in our Christian practice. A Church whose faith is but 
 a wan aspiration cannot be the effective missionary of Christ. 
 How can we go with the message of deliverance to those who feel 
 their bondage to the karmic law, if we ourselves are shy of the 
 spiritual, and hesitant as to the recreative energies of the new 
 birth ; how proclaim Christ as the worthy object of India's 
 devotion if our faith in Him seems to the warm-hearted devotee 
 of Hindu gods but a chilly indifference ; how meet the age- 
 long craving for the infinite, if we speak as those whose interests 
 are all in time, to whom the Eternal is but a great surmise ? 
 
 Thus the attempt to relate the Christian Gospel to the needs 
 of Higher Hinduism compels us to a new" realization of the 
 greatness of our Christian resources and the inadequacy of our 
 appropriation of them. For the Church's task in East and 
 West we need, not so much a new theology, as a deeper and 
 more adequate religion. Christianity is not only an ethical 
 religion, but an ethical religion of redemption. We need to 
 find in the Christian Gospel what we were meant to find, joy 
 and confidence, the present possession of eternal life. 
 
HINDU AND CHRISTIAN 249 
 
 In the Christian Gospel the truths which the doctrines 
 of Hinduism seek to answer are realized. The problem 
 of retribution is completely faced. The intense devotion of the 
 bhakta can gather round the perfect, holy figure of Jesus 
 Christ. The age-long craving for redemption can find its 
 satisfaction, but the Christianity we preach must be adequate 
 to Christ's Gospel and India's needs. Christianity is a religion 
 of redemption, not from sin only, but from the world. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 Passages in the Bhagavadgltd assigned by Dr. Garbe to its 
 Vedantic redaction. 
 
 (I. 1-19 connecting with the narrative of the Mahabharata.} 
 
 II. 17,72. 
 
 III. 9-18,23. 
 
 IV. 24, 31, 32, 34, 35. 
 V. 6, 7, 10, 16-22, 24-6. 
 
 VI. 27-32. 
 
 VII. 7-1 1, 14, 15, 19, 25, 26, 29, 30. 
 
 VIII. 1-4, 20-8. 
 
 IX. 1-6, 16-19, 29. 
 
 X. 12-42. 
 
 XI. 7, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 37-40. 
 
 XIII. 2, 4, 12-18, 27, 28, 30-3. 
 
 XIV. 26, 27. 
 XV. 12-15. 
 
 XVII. 23-28. 
 
 xviii. 45,46,50-4- 
 
 (74-8 connecting with the narrative of the Mah&bharata^ 
 
LIST OF EDITIONS QUOTED 
 
 Acharya, Sri Ananda. Brahmadarsanam, or Intuition of the Absolute. 
 
 London. 1917. 
 Anavarathavinayagam Pillai, S. The Tiruvasagamsi ManikkaVasagar, 
 
 with introduction and life. (In Tamil.) Madras. 1907. 
 
 Barnett, L. D. The Heart of India. London. 1908. 
 
 Bergson, H. Creative Evolution. Eng. trans. London. 1911. 
 
 Bertholet, A. Seelenivanderung. Tubingen. 1906. 
 
 Buddhismus und Christentum. 2nd edit. Tubingen. 1909. 
 Besant, Annie. Karma. London. 1910. 
 Bhandarkar, Sir R. G. Vaishnavism, Saivism, and Minor Religious 
 
 Systems. Strassburg. 1913. 
 Bornemann, W. Unterricht im Christentum. 3rd edit. Gottingen. 
 
 1893- 
 
 Bousset, W. Das Wesen der Religion. 3rd edit. Tubingen. 1906. 
 Bruce, A. B. St. PauVs Conception of Christianity. Edinburgh. 1896. 
 
 C aird , J . The Fundamental Ideas of Christianity. 1 904 reprint. Glasgow. 
 Campbell, J. Macleod. The Nature of the Atonement. 6th edit. Lon- 
 don. 1906. 
 
 Dale, R. W. Christian Doctrine. London. 1902 edit. 
 
 Davids, T. W. Rhys. Buddhist India. 2nd imp. London. 1903. 
 
 Deissmann, G. A. Die neutestamentliche Formel, 'in Christo Jesu\ 
 
 Marburg. 1892. 
 Denney, J. The Death of Christ. London. 1902. 
 
 Jesus and the Gospel. 2nd edit. London. 1906. 
 Deussen, P. Allgemeine Geschichte der Philosophic -, 7. /. Allgemeine 
 
 Einleitung und Philosophie des Veda bis auf die Upanishads. 2nd 
 
 edit. Leipzig 1906. 
 
 The Philosophy of the Upanishads. Eng. trans. Edinburgh. 1906. 
 
 Das System des Vedanta. 2nd edit. Leipzig. 1906. 
 
252 LIST OF EDITIONS QUOTED 
 
 Dowson, J. A' Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology. 4th edit. 
 
 London. 1903. 
 Dubois, Abbe J. A. Hindu Manners, Customs, and Ceremonies. 3rd edit. 
 
 Oxford. 1906. 
 Du Bose, W. P. The Gospel in the Gospels. London. 1906. 
 
 Eucken, R. The Truth of Religion. Eng. trans. London. 1911. 
 Konnenivir noch Christen sein? Leipzig. 1911. 
 The Life of the Spirit. Eng. trans. 2nd edit. London. 1913. 
 
 Fairbaim, A. M. The Philosophy of the Christian Religion. 4th edit. 
 
 London. .1905. 
 Farquhar, J. N. Gita and Gospel. 2nd edit. Madras. 1906. 
 
 The Crown of Hinduism. Oxford. 1913. 
 
 Modern Reftgioits Movements in India. New York. 1915. 
 Forsyth, P. T. The Person and Place of Jesus Christ. London. 
 
 1911 edit. 
 Frazer, R. W. Indian Thought, Past and Present. London. 1911. 
 
 Garbe, R. Sahkhya und Yoga (Grundriss der Indo-arischen Philologie 
 
 und Alterskunde, III. 4). Strassburg. 1896. 
 
 Die Bhagavadglta. Leipzig. 1905. 
 
 Garvie, A. E. Studies in the Inner Life of Jesus. London. 1907. 
 Gennrich, P. Die Lehre von der \Viedergeburt. Leipzig. 1907. 
 Glover, T. R. The Conflict of Religions in the Early Roman Empire. 
 
 4th edit. London. 1910. 
 Gough, A. E. The Philosophy of the Upanishads. 3rd edit. London. 
 
 1903. 
 Griswold, H. D. Brahman. A Study in Indian Philosophy. New York. 
 
 1900. 
 Gwatkin, H. M. TJie Knowledge of God. 2 vols. 2nd edit. Edinburgh. 
 
 1907. 
 
 Haering, T. The Christian Faith. Eng. trans. 2 vols. London. 1913. 
 
 Harnack, A. Das Wesen des Christentums. Leipzig. 1906 edit. 
 The Expansion of Christianity. Eng. trans. 1st edit. London. 
 Reden ttnd Aufsdtze. Giessen. 1904. 
 
 Herman, E. The Meaning and Value of Mysticism. 2nd edit. Lon- 
 don. 1916. 
 
 Herrmann, W. Warum bedarfunser Glaube geschichtlicher Thatsachen ? 
 2nd edit. Halle. 1891. 
 Der Verkehr des Christen mit Gott. 4th edit. Stuttgart. 1903. 
 
LIST OF EDITIONS QUOTED 253 
 
 Hogg, A. G. Karma and Redemption. Madras. 1909. 
 
 Christ's Message of the Kingdom. Edinburgh. 1911. 
 Hopkins, E. W. The Religions of India. Boston. 1895. 
 Howells, G. The Soul of India. London. 1913. 
 Hiigel, F. von. Eternal Life. 2nd edit. London. 1913. 
 
 Ihmels, L. Centralfragen der Dogmatik in der Gegenwart. Leipzig. 
 1911. 
 
 Jacob, G. A. The Vedantasara. A Manual of Hindu Pantheism. 4th 
 
 imp. London. 1904. 
 James, W. The Varieties of Religious Experience. 7th imp. London. 
 
 1905. 
 
 Kaegi, A. The Rigveda. Authorized translation by R. Arrowsmith. 
 
 Boston. 1886. 
 Kaftan, J. Die Wahrheit der Religion. Basel. 1 888. 
 
 Dogmatik. 5th and 6th edit. Tubingen. 1909. 
 
 Zur Dogmatik. Tubingen. 1904. 
 
 Jesus und Pauhts. Tubingen. 1906. 
 Keith, A. Berriedale. The Samkhya System (The Heritage of India 
 
 Series). Calcutta and London. 1918. 
 Krishnasvami Aiyar, C. N. Sri Sahkaracharya. 3rd edit. Madras. 
 
 Law, R. The Tests of Life. 2nd edit. Edinburgh. 1909. 
 
 Lightfoot, J. B. The Epistles to Colossians and Philemon. London. 
 
 1900 edit. 
 Loisy, A. A propos d'histoire des religions. Paris. 1911. 
 
 Macdonell, A. A. Sanskrit Literature. 2nd imp. London. 1905. 
 
 Vedic Mythology. (Grundriss der Indo-arischen Philologie und 
 
 Alterskunde, III. i. a.) Strassburg. 1897. 
 
 Mackintosh, H. R. The Person of Jesus Christ. Edinburgh. 1912. 
 Macnicol, Nicol. Indian Theism from the Vedic to the Muhammahan 
 
 Period. Oxford. 1915. 
 
 Moberly, R. C. Atonement and Personality. London. 1907 edit. 
 Monier-Williams, M. Buddhism. London. 1889. 
 Morgan, W. The Religion and Theology of Paul. Edinburgh. 1917. 
 Mozoomdar, Pratap Chandra. The Oriental Christ. Boston. 1883. 
 Miiller, F. M. India: What can it teach us ? London. 1899 edit. 
 
 The Six Systems of Indian Philosophy. London. 1903 edit. 
 
 NallasvamI Pillai, J. M. Studies in Sai-va Siddhdnta. Madras. 1911. 
 
354 LIST OF EDITIONS QUOTED 
 
 Oldenberg, Herrmann. Die Lehre der Upanishaden und die Anf tinge 
 
 des Buddhismiis. Gottingen. 1915. 
 Oman, J. C. The Mystics, Ascetics, and Saints of India. 2nd imp. 
 
 London. 1905. 
 
 The Brahmans^TheistS) and Muslims of India. 1907 edit. London. 
 
 Paterson, W. B. The Rule of Faith. London. 1912. 
 
 Poussin, Louis de la Vajlee. Le Vedisme. Paris. 1909. 
 Le Brahmanisme. Paris. 1910. 
 
 Pratt, J. Bissett. India and its Faiths. London. 1916. 
 
 Pringle-Pattison, A. Seth. The Idea of God in the Light of Recent Philo- 
 sophy. Oxford. 1917. 
 
 Ragozin, Z. A. Vedic India. 3rd edit. London. 
 
 Ramsay, Sir W. M. St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen. 
 loth edit. London. 1908. 
 
 Reischle, M. Theologie und Religionsgeschichte. Tubingen. 1904. 
 
 Ritschl, A. The Christian Doctrine of Justification and Reconciliation. 
 Eng. trans. Edinburgh. 1900. 
 
 Robinson, J. A. St. PauFs Epistle to the Ephesians. 2nd edit. Lon- 
 don. 1904. 
 
 Sabatier, P. Vie de S. Francois d'Assise. 28th edit. Paris. 
 
 Sarkar, Benoy Kumar. The Folk-Element in Hindu Culture. London. 
 1917. 
 
 Schaeder, E. Zur Trinitatsfrage. Leipzig. 1912. 
 
 Schomerus, H. W. Der Saw a Siddhanta, eine Mystik Indiens. Leip- 
 zig. 1912. 
 
 Seeberg, A. Der Tod ChristL Leipzig. 1895. 
 
 Stevens, C. B. The Theology of the New Testament. Edinburgh. 1901. 
 
 Sukhtankar, A. V. The Teachings of Veddnta according to Rdmdnuja. 
 Vienna. 1908. 
 
 Tagore, Rabindranath. Sddhana. London. 1913. 
 
 Telang, K. T. The Bhagavadglta. S. B. E. viii. 2nd edit. Oxford. 
 1898. 
 
 Titius, A. Jesu Lehre vom Reiche Gottes. Leipzig. 1895. 
 
 Der Paulinismus unter dem Gesichtspunkt der Seligkeit. Tubin- 
 gen. 1900.- 
 
 Troeltsch, E. Die Absolutheit des Christentums und die Religtons- 
 geschichte. Tubingen. 1902. 
 
 Underbill, E. Mysticism. 3rd edit. London. 1912. 
 
LIST OF EDITIONS QUOTED 355 
 
 Ward, James. The Realm of Ends, or Pluralism and Theism. 2nd edit. 
 
 Cambridge. 1912. 
 
 Weinel, H. Paulus. TUbingen. 1904. 
 
 Wendt, H. H. The Teaching of Jesus. Eng. trans. Edinburgh. 1909. 
 Westcott, B. F. The Epistles of St. John. London. 1883. 
 
 An Advanced Text-book of Hindu Religion and Ethics. ' 2nd edit. 
 
 Benares. 1904. 
 Aspects of the Veddnta. 3rd edit. Madras. 
 
 Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. Edited by J. Hastings. From 1 908. 
 
 Foundations. London. 1914 imp. 
 
 London Theological Studies. London. 1911. 
 
 The Cambridge Mediaeval History. From 191 1. 
 
 The Imperial Gazetteer of India. Vol.2. Oxford. 1909. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Acharya, Sri Ananda, 35. 
 
 Adityas, 26-8. 
 
 advaita, 77. 
 
 Aeschylus, 6. 
 
 Agni, 25, 26, 28, 33, 47, 61. 
 
 ahamkara, 105, 1 06. 
 
 akara, 84. 
 
 akasa, 86. 
 
 Ananda, 153, 154. 
 
 ananda, 71, 83. 
 
 anandin, 71. 
 
 anavam, 136. 
 
 Andrews, H. T., 231. 
 
 apara vidya, 8 1. 
 
 afiurva, 93, 94. 
 
 Aranyakas, 23, 52. 
 
 Aratus, 7. 
 
 Aristotle, 206. 
 
 Arjuna, 98, 102, 104, 107, 108, 109, 
 
 182. 
 
 Arnold, T., 177. 
 Arrowsmith, R., 26. 
 Artabhaga, 59. 
 Artemis, 7. 
 arw/, 137- 
 Arya Samaj, 4, 20. 
 
 <w*, 33 45, 83- 
 
 asramas, 42. 
 
 asuras, 45. 
 
 Atharvaveda^ 23, 28, 35, 39~4i I 
 
 date of, 24 ; magic of, 40 ; specu- 
 _ lation of, 48-50. 
 Atman, 246 ; development of idea 
 
 of, 48-51 ; description of, 65-75. 
 avatar, 121, 133, 206, 219. 
 avidya, 81. 
 Audulomi, 97. 
 Ayan, 132. 
 
 Badarayana, 21, 56, 76, 77. 
 
 Bahva, 84. 
 
 Balaki, 56. 
 
 Barnett, L. D., 101, 117. 
 
 Earth, A., 43- 
 
 Bergson, H., 214. 
 
 Bernard, St., 208. 
 
 Bertholet, A., 58. 
 
 Besant, A., 182, 185. 
 
 Bhag<*vadgttZi*\*Hi 78, 173,219, 
 227, 246, 247 ; not mentioned by 
 Abbe Dubois, 3 ; its importance 
 to-day, 98 ; its probable influence 
 on Badarayana, 77 ; quoted by 
 Sankara, 8l ; 'its date and struc- 
 ture, 98-102 ; the more Theistic 
 teaching of, 102-11 ; its modifi- 
 cation of Sankhya-Yoga, 107-1 1 ; 
 the Vedantic element of, 111-12 ; 
 its spiritual influence marred by 
 (i) its unethical Sankhyan Philo- 
 sophy, 113-1 4 ; (2) the association 
 of its ideal Krishna with the 
 Krishna of the Pttranas, 114, 115 ; 
 its* ' selfless ' activity and the un- 
 selfish love of Christianity, 202-4 j 
 passages assigned by Garbe to a 
 Vedantic redaction, 250. 
 
 Bhagavan, 102. 
 
 Bhagavan Das, 20. 
 Bhagavat religion, 104, in. 
 
 Bhagavata Purana, 3. 
 Bhagiratha, 131. 
 
 ' bhakti, 22 ; meaning of, no; illus- 
 trations of Hindu, 116-40; the 
 nature of Christian, 207-12. 
 Bhandarkar, Sir R. G., 99, 101, 116, 
 
 Bharata, 122. 
 Bhusundi, 217, 218. 
 bhuta hsraya, 93. 
 Boehme, Jacob, 70. 
 Bornemann, W., 149. 
 Bousset, W., 236. 
 Brahma, 71, 121, 132. 
 brahma-atma-aikyam, 57. 
 brahmacharin, 42. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Brahman, 17, 37, 38, 189, 246 ; 
 original meaning of, 46 ; develop- 
 ment of the idea of, 47, 48 ; unity 
 with, 59, 65-75 ; nature of, 66-8 ; 
 Sankara's teaching on, 82-4; 
 Ramanuja's teaching on, 183, 
 184. 
 
 Brahmanas, 23, 35, 55, 57 ; date of, 
 24 ; account of, 41-4 ; speculation 
 of, 44-8, 50, 51. 
 
 Brahmanaspati, 37, 38. 
 
 Brahma Samaj, 143, 144, 187. 
 
 Brahmavadin, 21. 
 
 Brihaddranyaka Upanishad, 56, 
 '59, 60-2,' 66, 69, 71, 73, 74, 91, 
 
 94- 
 
 Brihadratha, 64. 
 Brihaspati, 37. 
 Brooke, Rupert, 245. 
 Bruce, A. B., 163, 166. 
 Buddha, Gautama the, 43, 72, 153, 
 
 154, 187, 220. 
 buddhi) 89, 105. 
 Buddhism, 15. 
 Butler, Bishop, 180. 
 
 Caird, J., 225. 
 
 Campbell, J. Macleod, 243. 
 
 Carlyle, 224. 
 
 Cerinthus, 174. 
 
 Chaitanya, 9. 
 
 Chandala, 63, 96. 
 
 Chhandogya Upanishad, 50, 56, 60, 
 61, 63, 66, 67, 73, 74, 92. 
 
 Chidambaram, 78. 
 
 chit, 83. 
 
 Christ, legend of, 7 ; equated with 
 Hindu leaders, 9; pagan wit- 
 nesses to, 142 ; ' Westernization ' 
 of, 143, 144 ; teaching of, 145-9. 
 231-4 ; His place in His Gospel, 
 149-53; character of, 154-8; 
 death of, 153, 154 ; its relation to 
 the doctrine of karma, 200-2 ; 
 its significance to Peter, 160-2, to 
 Paul, 165-70, to John, 172-7 ; 
 His resurrection, 159, 160; its 
 significance to Paul, 166, 167, 
 234, 235 ; the nature of the bhakti 
 rendered to, 207-12. 
 
 Christianity, its claim to be the 
 
 absolute religion, 2, 10 ; the at- 
 tempted proofs of this, II ; the 
 congruity of this claim with the 
 history of religions, 14-19; its 
 dependence on the historic Christ, 
 212, regarded as its weakness, 
 212-18, and its offence, 218-22 ; 
 an ethical religion of redemption, 
 19 ; not regarded by Hindus as a 
 religion of redemption, 228-30 ; 
 its emphasis on the supremacy of 
 the spiritual over the temporal, 
 146-8, 231-5 ; the need to recover 
 this emphasis in our teaching and 
 practice, 236-46. 
 
 Chrysostom, 7. 
 
 Clement of Alexandria, 6, 142, 211. 
 
 Colebrooke, 69. 
 
 Daksha, 37. 
 
 Dale, R.W., 211. 
 
 Dasaratha, 121. 
 
 Davids, T. W. Rhys, 28, 55. 
 
 Dayananda SarasvatI, 20. 
 
 Deissmann, G. A., 167. 
 
 Denney, J., 152, 166. 
 
 Deussen, P., 23, 31, 33, 38, 46, 53, 
 
 60, 73, 81, 83, 96, 181. 
 Devas, 59, 62. 
 dei.' ay ana, 60-2. 
 dharana, 105. 
 dhyana, 105. 
 Didache, 230. 
 Dowson, J., 131. 
 Drink water, J., 228. 
 Dubois, J. A., 3. 
 Du Bose, W. P., 148, 157. 
 Duperron, Anquetil, 53. 
 Durga, 221. 
 Dyaus Pitar, 145. 
 
 Eggeling, J., 41. 
 Eucken, R., 225, 236, 240. 
 
 Fairbairn, A. M., 145. 
 
 Farquhar, J. N., 4, 9, 98, 144, 184, 
 
 187, 229. 
 Fioretti, 118. 
 Five Fires, The, 6 1, 94. 
 Forsyth, P. T., 155. 
 Francis, St., Ii8, 208, 209, 231, 233. 
 
INDEX 
 
 259 
 
 Fraser, J. N., 117. 
 Frazer, R. W., 116. 
 
 Gandharvas, 59. 
 
 Gandhi, M. K., 226. 
 
 Ganges, 131. 
 
 Garbe, R., 99, 100, 101, 106, 250. 
 
 Garvie, A. E., 150. 
 
 Garutman, 33, 
 
 Gayatrl, 47. 
 
 Gennrich, P., 64, 164, 1 88. 
 
 Glover, T. R., I, 8. 
 
 gop*> 3- 
 
 Gough, A. E., 58, 63, 69. 
 
 Govinda, 7,9. 
 
 grace (in Saiva Siddhanta), 137. 
 
 Greenwell, Dora, 242. 
 
 Grierson, Sir G. A., 116, 119. 
 
 grihastha, 42. 
 
 Griswold, H. D., 65. 
 
 Growse, F. S., 119. 
 
 gunas, 84, 103, 105, 1 06. 
 
 Gwatkin, H. M., 72. 
 
 Haering, T., 198. 
 
 Hari, 121, 122. 
 
 Harnack, A. von, i, 10, 54, 153, 
 159, 200. 
 
 Henotheism, 30. 
 
 Herder, 188. 
 
 Herman, E., 213. 
 
 Hermas, 230. 
 
 Herrmann, W., 158, 214. 
 
 Hesiod, 6. 
 
 Hinduism, its definition, 19, 20 ; its 
 three great doctrines, 20 ; itsinde- 
 pendenceof history, 21 3; a religion 
 of redemption, 16, 17,223-30. 
 
 Hiranyagarbha, 35. 
 
 Hogg, A. G., 196, 233. 
 
 Holl, 221. 
 
 Homer, 7. 
 
 Hopkins, E. W., 101, 183. 
 
 Howells, G., 112. 
 
 Hiigel, F. von, 241. 
 
 Idolatry, condoned _by Theosophy, 
 3 ; attacked by Arya Samaj, 4 ; 
 Tukaram's, 117-19. 
 
 Ignatius, St., 204. 
 
 Ihmels, L., 13. 
 
 Imitation of Christ, 220. 
 
 indh, 45. 
 
 indha, 45. 
 
 Indian Social Reformer, 228, 229, 
 
 2 39- 
 
 Indra, 25, 26, 28, 29, 33, 45, 74. 
 indriya, 45. 
 Indu, 29. 
 Irenaeus, 174. 
 Is a Upanishad, 69. 
 Islam, 15. 
 Isvara, 71,72,94, 189. 
 
 Jacob, G. A., 69, 72, 83. 
 Jaimini, 93. 
 James, W., 224. 
 Janaka, 56, 59, 65, 66. 
 Japan, 4, 239. 
 jnana-marga, 212. 
 John, St., 171-7. 
 Judaism, 15, 16. 
 
 Kaegi, A., 26. 
 
 Kaftan, J., u, 147, 151, 166, 235. 
 
 Kaikeyl, 122, 123. 
 
 Kailasa, 131, 132. 
 
 Kali, 9, 221. 
 
 Kalidasa, 99. 
 
 kaliyuga, 1 88. 
 
 kalpa, 86. 
 
 kama, 34. 
 
 Kamban, 119. 
 
 Kannappan, 135, 136. 
 
 Kant, 11, 49. 
 
 karma, an essential doctrine of 
 Hinduism, 20, 22 ; as oldest god, 
 48 ; origin of belief in, 57, 58 ; 
 the doctrine in the Upanishads, 
 5^8-65, in Sankara, 92-5, in the 
 Saiva Siddhanta, 136; ignored by 
 Brahma and Prarthana Samajes, 
 20 ; its twofold importance: (i) it 
 provides a theodicy easily under- 
 stood and generally accepted, (2) 
 it secures recognition of the 
 principle of retribution, 180; but 
 (i) as a theodicy it leaves little 
 room for God, and has increased 
 the sense of misery, 184-8, (2) by 
 over-emphasizing retribution,, it 
 has led to an endeavour to escape 
 
26o 
 
 INDEX 
 
 entirely from the effects of deeds, 
 188-190; the answer of Christi- 
 anity to the problems the doctrine 
 of karma seeks to solve, 190-202; 
 congruity of this answer with 
 aspirations which the doctrine of 
 karma fails to meet, 202-5, 247. 
 
 karma immamsa, 79, 93. 
 
 karma yoga, 227. 
 
 karma marga, 222. 
 
 Kdthaka Upanishad, 67,74,75. 
 
 Kathenotheism, 30. 
 
 Kausalya, 121, 122.' 
 
 Kaushltaki Upanishad, 56, 63, 74, 
 
 Keith, A. B., 99, 100, 101. 
 
 Keshab Chandra Sen, 143. 
 
 Kingdom of God, as ' the highest 
 good ', 1 1 ; Christ's teaching on, 
 147-9 5 His place in, 151-3 ; the 
 ' liberal ' misinterpretation of, 
 231. 
 . kramamukti, 94. 
 
 Krishna, 9, 142, 206 ; of the B. G., 
 3, 98, loo, 101-15, 220, 221 ; of 
 the Puranas, 3, 114, 115, 124, 
 221 ; of Tukaram, 116-19. 
 
 Krishnasvaml Aiyar, C. N., 20, 
 78. 
 
 Kumarila Bhatta, 79. 
 
 Kurukshetra, 98, 109. 
 
 Kurus, 98. 
 
 'Kusika', 228. 
 
 Lakshmana, 122. 
 Law, R., 174. 
 Levi, M. S., 25. 
 Lightfoot, J. B., 170. 
 Lindsay, T. M., 10. 
 Hnga, 3, 130. 
 Loisy, A., 14. 
 Lomas, 217. 
 Lucian, 230. 
 Luther, 130, 155. 
 
 Macdonell, A. A., 35, 38, 181. 
 Mackintosh, H. R., 151, 234. 
 Macnicol, N., 70. 
 Madura, 126, 127, 130. 
 Maeterlinck, 240. 
 magic, 25, 28, 39, 40, 46. 
 Mahabharata, 8l, 181. 
 
 Mah a Parinibbdna Sutta, 154. 
 
 Maitrdyana Upanishad, 64, 65, 75. 
 
 Maitreyl, 69. 
 
 manasj 106. 
 
 Mandana, 79. 
 
 Manikka Vasagar, 21, 208, 222; 
 
 life of, 125-8 ; poems of, 128-40. 
 Manu, 81, 188. 
 
 Mass movements, 5, 186, 237, 238. 
 Matarisvan, 33. 
 mayd, 69, 70, 85, 87, 107, 112, 136, 
 
 216. 
 
 mayin, 70, 88. 
 Mill, J. S., 190. 
 Milton, 235. 
 
 Mimamsa, 100, 101, 131. 
 Missionary enterprise, 5, 10, 13, 
 
 229, 243 ; Hindu criticism of, 
 
 238 ; unworthy arguments for, 
 
 239- 
 
 Mitra, 26, 28, 33. 
 
 Moberly, R. C., 199. 
 
 Monier-Williams, M., 72. 
 
 Morgan, W., 164. 
 
 Mozoomdar, P. C., 143, 144. 
 
 Miiller, F. M., 3, 25, 30, 53, 61. 
 
 Mundaka Upanishad, 68. 
 
 Mysticism, definition of, 213 ; criti- 
 cism of, 214-17, 225. 
 
 nama, 48. 
 
 Nallasvam! Pi}jai, J. M., 124, 130, 
 
 I33 134, 136. 
 Nambutiri, 80. 
 Neo-Platonism, 10, 15. 
 Neo-Krishna movement, 98. 
 nirisvara-vada ,182. 
 
 Oldenberg, H., 71. 
 Oman, J. C., 221, 224. 
 Origen, 142, 230. 
 
 Palapadam, 63. 
 Pandavas, 98. 
 Pandharpur, 117. 
 Pantheism, lo, 225. 
 para vidya, 8l. 
 Parmenides, 34. 
 pas am, 136. 
 Pascal, 179. 
 Patanjali, loo. 
 
INDEX 
 
 261 
 
 Paterson, W. B., 19. 
 
 Paul, St., his attitude to Paganism, 
 7 ; his experience of the Gospel 
 and his interpretation of it, 162- 
 71, 210, 234, 235. 
 
 Pavamana, 29. 
 
 Periya Purana, 128. 
 
 Pessimism, ascribed to Upanishads, 
 64,65 ; Hindu and Hebraic, 65 : 
 its superiority to optimism, 179. 
 
 Peter, St., 160-2. 
 
 pitriyana, 60-2, 94. 
 
 Plato, 49. 
 
 Pliny, 142, 207. 
 
 Plotinus, 225. 
 
 Plutarch, 8. 
 
 Pope, A., 179. 
 
 Pope, G. U., 124, 125, 137. 
 
 Porphyry, 10. 
 
 Poussin, L. de la Vallee, 25, 42, 43. 
 
 Practical Vedanta, 227. 
 
 Prajapati, 36, 43, 44, 45, 47, 50, 59. 
 
 prakriti, 70, 105. 
 
 Prana, 49. 
 
 Prarthana Samaj, 20, 187. 
 
 Prasthanatraya, 21, 206. 
 
 Pratt, J. B., 1 80. 
 
 Pringle-Pattison, A. Seth, 194. 
 
 Prithivi, 145. 
 
 Purusha, 38, 39, 48, 49, 50, 51, 105, 
 1 06. 
 
 Qu'ran, 16. 
 
 Radha, 9, 117. 
 
 Raghu, 124. 
 
 Raghublr, 124. 
 
 Ragozin, Z. A., 40. 
 
 Rama, 21,119-24,206,213, 220,221. 
 
 Ramakrishna, 8, 9. 
 
 Ramanuja, 21, 77, 78, 183, 184. 
 
 Ramayana, versions of, 119; Tulsi 
 Das's, 119-24, 218, 221. 
 
 Ram Mohan Rai, 20, 143. 
 
 Ramsay, Sir W. M., 7. 
 
 Rangachariar, M., 97. 
 
 Redemption, religions of, 15-18 ; 
 teaching of Upanishads on, 65-8, 
 72-4 ; teaching of Sankara on, 
 95-7 ; Christianity an ethical 
 religion of, 18, 19; deepest aspi- 
 
 ration of Hinduism, 223 ; too 
 negatively taught for modern 
 needs, 225-7; Christianity not 
 regarded as a religion of, 228-30 ; 
 Christ and the Early Church 
 emphasized the redemptive aspect 
 of Christianity, 230-5 ; our need 
 to recover this emphasis to-day, 
 235-46. 
 
 Reischle, M., 10. 
 
 Religions, types of, 15-17; history 
 of, 14. 
 
 ' Rice Christians ', 237. 
 
 Rigveda, 16, 21, 23, 42, 49, 57, 145, 
 246; date of, 24; interpretation 
 of, 24, 25 ; religion of, 24-32 ; 
 philosophical hymns of, 32-9. 
 
 Rishi, 38, 45- 
 
 Ritschl, A., 156, 208. 
 
 Robinson, Benjamin, 238. 
 
 Robinson, J. A., 170. 
 
 Rossetti, Christina, 194. 
 
 Rudra, 28, 43, 7i, 130- 
 Rukmim, 117. 
 rupa, 48. 
 
 Sabatier, P., 209, 231. 
 
 sachchtdananda, 83. 
 
 Sddhana, 54, 226. 
 
 Sadhyas, 38. 
 
 Saiva Siddhanta, 124, 133, 134. 
 
 saktt, 80, 139. 
 
 samadhi, 75, 105, 167. 
 
 Samaveda, 23. 
 
 samsara, 16, 43, 57. 
 
 Sandilya, 5_i. 
 
 Sankaracharya, 21, 56,72, 173, 206, 
 246; life of, 78-80; relation of 
 his teaching to Badarayana's, 77 ; 
 his teaching on theology, 82-4, 
 cosmology, 84-92, psychology, 
 88-92, transmigration, 92-5, 181, 
 182, redemption, 95-7. 
 
 Sankhya, 69, 70, 75 81, 83, 99, loo, 
 173, 182, 223 ; described, 103, 
 105, 106; unethical, 113, 114. 
 
 sannyasa, 103, 109. 
 
 sannyastn, 42, 79, 109, no, 128, 
 238 ; Mr. Gandhi as modern, 226. 
 
 Sarkar, Benoy Kumar, 221. 
 
 sat, 33, 83. 
 
262 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Satapatha Brahmana, 42-5, 47, 48, 
 51,55,65. 
 
 Satrughna, 122. 
 
 Savitar, 47. 
 
 Schaeder, E., 153. 
 
 Schomerus, H. W., 124, 127, 136. 
 
 Schopenhauer, 53, 64, 178, 193. 
 
 Schwartz, 3. 
 
 Schweitzer, A., 231. 
 
 Seeberg, A., 161, 162. 
 
 Silas, 55. 
 
 Siva, 21, 71,78, 80, 206, 221, 222 ; 
 in Tulsl Das, 120-4 m Manikka 
 Vasagar, 124-140. 
 
 Skambha, 49, 50. 
 
 smriti, 81, no. 
 
 Social Reform Advocate, 109, 228. 
 
 Social reform, religion as a hin- 
 drance to, 228. 
 
 Soma, 25, 26, 28, 29, 61, 62. 
 
 Sophocles, 7. 
 
 Spinoza, 70. 
 
 sraddha, 6 1, 93. 
 
 Srlnivasa lyengar, P. T., 19. 
 
 Srlrangam, 3. 
 
 sruti, 8 1, no. 
 
 Stevens, C. B., 161, 172. 
 
 Sukhtankar, V. A., 78. 
 
 Sumitra, 122. 
 
 Sunthiramurti Svami, 222. 
 
 Surya, 47. 
 
 Svarga, 63. 
 
 Svetaketu, 60. 
 
 Svetasvatara Upanishad, 69-71, 
 75, loi. 
 
 Tacitus, 142. 
 
 Tagore, Rabindranath, I, 54, 226. 
 
 Taittiriya Upanishad, 86. 
 
 Tanjore, 3. 
 
 tapas, 33, 34, 43, 48. 
 
 Tayumanavar, 134. 
 
 Telang, K. T., 99. 
 
 Temple, W., 13. 
 
 Tennyson, I, 156. 
 
 Tertullian, 6, 142. 
 
 Tevijja Sutta,, 72. 
 
 Theodicy of Sankara, 85, 86 ; doc- 
 
 trine of karma as, 181-9; of 
 
 Christianity, 192-5. 
 Theosophy, 3, 182. 
 
 Theresa, St., 212. 
 Thibaut, G., 70, 76, 77, 81. 
 Thillai Govindan, 238. 
 Tirumanthiram) 133. 
 Tirumular, 133. 
 Tirwa&agam, 124-40. 
 Tiruvathavfirar Pur ana, 126. 
 Tiruvilaiyadal Pur ana, 126. 
 Titius, A., 146, 148, 169. 
 Tor ah, 16. 
 Trajan, 142. 
 
 Transmigration, see karma. 
 Trichinopoly, 3. 
 Troeltsch, E., 14. 
 Tukaram, 21, 116-19. 
 Tulsl Das, 21, 119-24, 217, 221. 
 
 Uma, 120, 121, 139. 
 
 Underbill, E., 208, 212. 
 
 upadhi, 84. 
 
 upanayana ceremony, 97. 
 
 Upanishads, 16, 17, 21, 24, 246 ; 
 not philosophic sources, 56, 76; 
 praise by Western scholars of, 53 ; 
 Brahmanically edited, 55 ; Ksha- 
 triya influence in, 56 ; sombre- 
 ness of, 64 ; their doctrine of 
 karma, 58-65, of redemption, 
 65-75; theistic tendencies in, 71; 
 lack of ethical interest, 73, 74 ; 
 basis of Sankara's teaching, 81 ; 
 referred to in B. G., 112; their 
 permanent place in the history of 
 thought, 75. 
 
 Vdch, 33, 46. 
 
 Vaishnavism of B. G., 102; of Mara- 
 
 tha country, 117. 
 Valmlki, 119. 
 vanaprastha, 42. 
 Varuna, 26-8, 30, 32, 33, 40, 41, 
 
 246, 247. 
 Vasishtha, 27. 
 Vasudeva, 101, 104. 
 Vayu, 47. 
 Veda, 23, 24. 
 Vedanta, 4, 24, 50, 107, ,112, 223, 
 
 228 ; systems of, 77 ; Sankara's 
 
 exposition of, 81-97 ; its alleged 
 
 universality, 96, 97. 
 Vedantasara, 72, 83. 
 
INDEX 
 
 263 
 
 Vedanta-sutras, 21,76. 
 
 vidya, 8l. 
 
 Viraj, 38. 
 
 visesha, 84. 
 
 Vishnu, 80, 101, 102, 131, 132, 206. 
 
 Vishnu P^^rana^ 115. 
 
 Visishtadvaita, 77. 
 
 Visvakarman, 36, 78. 
 
 Visvedevas, 31. 
 
 Vithoba, 117. 
 
 Vivekananda, SvamI, 54, 213, 227. 
 
 Vritra, 25. 
 
 Ward, J., 179. 
 
 Ways, the two, 60, 92. 
 
 Weinel, H., 162. 
 Wendt, H. H., 146. 
 Westcott, B. F., 171. 
 Wordsworth, 224. 
 
 Yadava, 104. 
 
 Yajnavalkya, 56, 58, 59, 65, 66, 69, 
 
 70. 
 Yajttrveda, 23. 
 
 Yama, 29, 33, 60, 67, 92, 94. 
 
 oga, 75, 
 223, 225. 
 
 a, 29, 33, t 
 
 Yoga, 75, 81, 100, 103, 108, 109, 
 
 223, 225. 
 Yogin, 80, no, 113. 
 
 Zoroastrianism, 15. 
 
PRINTED AT OXFORD, ENGLAND 
 
 BY FREDERICK HALL 
 PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY 
 
GENERAL LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY 
 
 RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED 
 
 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the 
 
 date to which renewed. 
 Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 
 
 FEB 
 
 71955 
 
 LD 
 
 SEP 9 1963 
 
 J5Jwi*54DM 
 
 REC'D 
 
 DEC 3 1*63- 
 
 LC) 
 
 4|>M 
 
 LD 21-100m-l,'54(18878l6)476 
 
90T 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY