English
This we have clearly seen while speaking about Nescience, Before giving a Vedantic reply to all these charges, I ought to state that THE VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY.^ , ■83 most of the learned thinkers ^ of the age are of opinion that morality is not to be - founded upon religion, but should always have an independent basis of its own. To meet all the above charges in a body^ the Vedantist would quote the important expression ‘‘ the Mahavakya, as it is called. Tt will be seen that this short expression is the fountain of morality, the source of universal love, and the very ocean of all our noble feelings and religious senti- ments. The highest idea of morality as re- gards other people is expressed in the well- , known s,entence, “ Love thy neighbour as thyself.” But the Vedanta goes further and says,** your neighbour is yourself, and you are to love him, not because he is your ■neighbour, but because he is not different from yourself. ” To. a Vedantist ^J5sr^?T^.e.,the whole world, is his own. Ac- -N cording to the Vedanta, he is called learned who sees every other being as he does him- self, ^TcfT^cT u: ^ In loving a neighbour as a neighbour, we can seenothingreasonable, except that the idea is revelation, but in loving a neighbour as oneself we have sufficient reason, sup- ^84 A IiEOTUEE on- ' ported by revelation. J agnavalka (^ri'g’sr^^) says to his wife, Maitreyi, in the Briha- daranyak-opanishad : Verily, a hus- band is not dear, that you may love the husband ; but that you may love the Self, therefore the husband is dear, ” and so forth. This is the Vedantic re- velation. Now, no one likes to injure himself. N o evidence is required to prove this. When a Vedantist considers every- man as not different from his own self, it is plain that he cannot possibly injure his neighbour. Sruti says no one should injure any living being. Is not this simple expression more pregnant with ideas of universal love, than the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” ? It is said that a i. e,, an enlightened Vedantist, is not bound to follow any law of morality, as the world with him is only an illusion. This remark is the shallowest of all. Gentle- men, the man who had to practise self- denial, self-restraint, concentration of the mind, hardships necessary to study, collec- tedness and faith, solely for the purpose of being initiated into the mystery of this philosophical secret, — ^the man, who, after THE VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY* 85 , ■ ■■ ■ mumimm i ■ constant abstractions of the mindj re- alises the high principle that the world and its pleasures are worth nothing, and that his Soul is one and the same with the highest Self, — the man who comes to understand that his bit- terest social enemy is no other than himself,— na3^, the man who has no interest to realise, no party to follow, no kinsmen to please, and no riches to earn, such a man is supposed by these thought- less readers to live by injuring his neigh- bours, by neglecting his duties, by pleas- ' ing only, his own passions, nay by killing his mother and father. This is far from being the case. But thinking is free andpeo- ple can think as they please. Gentlemen, it is difficult to think rightly. Though such an impertinent question, as why an enligh- tened Vedantist should obey the moral laws, since actions can no longer affect him, cannot reasonably be raised at all, yet such careless thinkers were anti- cipated by the learned teachers of the Vedanta. They say, in reply, that an en- lightened Vedantist will act in accordance with strict moral laws, on account of his long-acquired habits of morality which have become natural to him. A more 86 A LEOTURE ON ■ reasonable reply cannot be imagined. A Vedantist, before be is enlightened, sees the world as every other man does, and the world to him is as much a reality as himself. In this state, his feelings are the same as those of any other man. He has his duties to perform, he has his Iswara to worship, he has his faculties operating for various ends, and lastly he has his freedom to acquire the true know- ledge, e.e, the knowledge of Brahman. Af- ter he is enlightened, he considers the world as phenomenal, and sees the truth behind this phenomenal and illusory world, but at the same time, while he lives with his material body, he lives like a sensible man with his acquired habits acting upon him as his second nature. Professor Max Muller has very aptly said, that we find ethics in the beginning (of the Vedanta), ethics in the middle, and ethics at the end. By this he probably means to say that the young aspi; rant to the Vedantio secret is a highly mo- ral man in the beginning, the reader of this secret, living a life of austerities in the middle, is a highly moral being, and an enlightened Vedantist dies at the end as a type of morality. Gentlemen, it is said that Vedantism gountenances Tnj& VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY. S7 polytheism. But to enlighten our learn- ed critics, we must inform them that there is no such thing as polytheism with right thinking Hindus. No image that they worship is considered as a god or goddess- - in itself, but it is the presiding principle - in it that is worshipped, the Iswara, who is present in it, is adored, nay it is the very manifestation of Brahman itself, in a parti- cular form of thought, * that is meditated upon. With the Hindus there is no real idol-worship. This is clearly proved by the unholy nature of the idol itself before- and after it is worshipped. ^ Looked, at from an utilitarian point of view, the "Vedanta teaches the highest and most perfect form of utilitarianism in the world. If utilitarianism means the greatest- good to the greatest number, the Vedanta teaches the highest good to the whole number. It teaches the universal good, the universal truth, the universal love, and the universal joy. It is said that the Vedanta does not pro- mise any hopes of future happiness to man. Gentlemen, here our critic is right so far. But it should be remembered that even heavenly bliss, not to speak of earthly hap- piness, is. condemned by the- Vedanta, and A LECTURB ON 8B' rightly so, as being fleefeing and tran- sitory, and therefore not worth enjoying. The heavenly bliss, which, by the law of the transmigration of souls, is sure to result in a change which must on its own ac- count be intolerable, should not and can- not be, according to the V edantistic view, the highest goal of man. A Vedantist wants an existence of eternal and peaceful joy, from where there is no falling back, no re- treat. This hope at least the V edanta promi- ses. That transmigration, with its horde of miseries, is far more desirable than remaining in purgatory for an indefinite time is ob- vious to ail. When we think that salva- tion, in the Vedantic sense, can take place at any moment of a person’s life, we are justified in pronouncing that the V edanta holds out better hopes and better prospects, to us than any other system of theology. Gentlemen, a few words on the sacred syllable Om will not be out of place here. Much has been said about it by the critics of the Vedanta. Even Professor MaxMuller, the great admirer of the Vedanta Philoso- phy, while speaking about this syllable, tells us that what is said in the Upanishads about Om seems to him mere twaddle. But, regretting apparently this strange THE VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY. .89 remark of his, .he exonerates himself by telling us that Om originally might have some meaning. It might have been the contraction- of a former “ Avam,” meaning that/’ while ‘‘ Ayam’’ in Sanskrit means *this.” In that meaning Om would stand for tati viz., “it” in the great saying i. e., Thou- art it. In this way, he adds, Om, ultimately might have been used in the sense' of Amen in English. Gentlemefn,- in dealing with such a subject, our European critics labour under a great disadvantage^ Theyare not accustomed to the Indian me- thods of treating a subj ect, or viewing a thing. i. e., “Brahman should be & worshipped, vie wing it as our vitality,” and such other expressions, are very often used in our religious literature. Viewing a thing in some form or other, according to a man’s convenience, is very much ■ in vogue amongst the Hindus. In harmony with this practice, the idea of Om has been explained and interpreted in many different ways, which appear to a foreigner meaningless. We have no room here for the different interpretations of Om. But it should be understood that the sacredness of Om is attributable to the following 'facts ; — . 90 A LECTURE ON ' (1) It was the most fitting .verbal symbol of Brahman. (2) It was frequently used in religious performances. (3) It combines extreme simplicity of sound with depth of meaning. (4) Its sanction from time immemorial. ^5) The very unobjectionable nature of its import which is applicable to any form of worship. A word cannot be thought of as having any value in itself. All its value depends on its signification. A word and its signi- fication are inseparable. Om signifies Brahman, and therefore it is the most sacred syllable. The word Brahman is • equally sacred,' but it is not suitable for purposes of meditation, simply because it is con- nected with other ideas, such as the idea of development, &c. Not so is Om, A V edan- tist utters this syllable, and his attention is at once directed to the centre of existence without being disturbed by any other idea. In the Manduka Upanishads, Om is ana- lysed as ^ (a) the ( Vaiswanara), ^ (z2)the§5i^ (Taijasa), and (^na) the THE VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY. 91 (Prajna), and thus three manifestations of Brahman are signified by it.