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The fourth is not a letter, but tho whole syllable, and as such is unspeakable, like Brahman. Sankara says that Om is the most proxi- mate name of Brahman. Be that as it may, the meditation and utterance of Om are to bei considered as religious ceremonies, leading a man not to salvation but to the region of Brahm4, the first manifestation of Brahman. There are many names of Hindu gods and goddesses, used in refer* ence to images, but Om is a name used only to signify Bra.hman, the unknowable •and the unspeakable. It was for this reason that the value of Om has been so often extolled.,In the Furanas, ^ (a) means the Creator, ^ (z2) the Preserver, and i? (ma) the Destroyer. With the Shaivas, the arrangement of the letters in Om being interchanged, it has been changed into i, e., vam, which means the same thing. Thus in every system of Hindu worship, the three letters expressed in Om are very often repeated and adored only because the simple syllable very adequate- ly signifies the Highest Deity. • Gentlemen, all along these pages we have 92 A LECTURE ON spoken of the V e^ianta as a theory. N o w a theory is held to be valid if it satisfactorily explains all the phenomena that come •under it. Testing it by this logical canon, we see that the Vedanta system is the most correct system of hypothetic philo- sophy, which treats about transcendental knowledge, -all other ancient systems of this nature having been partly or wholly exploded by modern scientific research. The unique character of the Vedantic Philosophy lies in this, that it can satisfy both a Huxley and a MaxMuller. In conclusion, it would be interesting to quote the opinions of some learned European thinkers on the V edanta system. 1. Schopenhauer says, “ In the whole world there is no study so beneficial and so elevating as that of the Upanishads. It has been the solace of my life, it will be the solace of my death. ” 2. Professor MaxMuller fully endorses the opinion of Schopenhauer as the result of his own experience. 3. Sir W. Jones says, “ it is impos- sible to read the Vedanta without believ- ing that Pythogoras and Plato derived their sublime theories from the same foun- THE VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY, 93 tain with the sa^es of India/' 4. Victor Cousin says that when reading the Vedanta, he is constrained to bend his knees before the system of Eastern Philo- sophy, meaning the Vedanta Philosophy. 5. Frederick Schlegel says that the early Indians possessed a knowledge of the true Go,d, and that the loftiest philo- sophy of Europe appears, in comparison with the abundant light and vigour of oriental Idealism, (meaing the Vedanta), like a feeble Promethean spark in the full flood of heavenly glory of the noonday sun, faltenng and feeble, and ever ready ' to be extinguished. 6. Professor Deussen says, '' the system of the Vedanta equals in rank to Plato and Kant, and, is one of the most valuable products of the genius of mankind in its search for the eternal truth/' Thus a Vedantist might fearlessly assert that his ancient philosophy, although it dates far back into the twilight of history, has won the admiration and approval of many wise and profound thinkers of every age ; — ^that, when divested of its sectarian garb, it represents appropriately a univer- sal and* comprehensive psychology ; — and 94 A LECTURE ON that there is no form of religion existing in the world that cannot be brought within the pale of its wonderful system of thought, a system, of which India will ever remain proud, and by means of which she will surely recover, at no distant future, her departed glory. THE END,