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Moksha is there- fore the revival of the lost memory, that is, it is the correction of the mistaken notion of individuality. As such it is not a posi- tive gain but is only a restoration of its own nature, which was only fictitiously altered. Sankara says that Moksha is not a thing to be obtained, nor a condition to be produced, but it is the restoration of the very nature of things, which ignorance prevents us from cognising. The destruc- tion of ignorance is what all teaching, all learning, and all philsophy, has to accom- plish. As in the neck-jewel' illustration, one having a jewel suspended on his neck, forgets it, and looks for it here and there, but rests in peace when he is informed of the fact that it was never lost, so the individual Soul, having Brahman within his heart, only loses sight of it but, on being enlightened by true knowledge, realises his unity with Brahman. It is in this knowledge, that there is no evil, no diversity, no limitation, no crea- tion, no bond ; nor there is the worker, the aspirant, nor even the released. This is ITHB VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY. 57 proper jnana. This proper or true know- ledge, 'oiz.t the knowledge of the one-ness of the Soul, and the highest Soul, is called Para-vidya, L e., the highest knowledge, in contradistinction to the other kind of know- ledge, which is called Apara-vidya, i. e., a low kind of knowledge. To understand this one-ness of Souls, let me draw your attention to what we do in our every day life in identifying two things. Practically we identify two things by leaving out . the unessential parts of them. Brahman invisible and Brahman visible, i. e,, the in- dividual Souls, are one and the same, be- cause invisibility and visibility, being only modifications of Nescience, are unessential parts of the two sentences. This figure of speech in Sanskrit is called I should remind you here, gentlemen, that this non-duality of the Soul and Brahman is not in accordance with Ra- manujah’s system. But it cannot be called, reasonably, Sankara’s innovation, as I have said before that Sankara very probably represented other ancient teach- ers as regards this view. Moreover this probability almost amounts to cer- tainty when we compare the meanings of the four Maha-vakyas, or great sayings, be- 58 A LEOTITRE ON .. . longing to each of the four Vedas (1) i e,j Thou art it, (2) i- e., this Soul is Brahman, (3) L e., I am Brahman, and i, e, the knowledge is Brahman. But then where is the necessity of this true knowledge ? We have seen that the Soul in its eternal journey from body to body is the subject of innumerable mi- series — of evils which are the creations of our own minds and of troubles which are inevitable to the cycle of births.. We know that all these do not really belong to the Soul, and that it is our thinking which makes them aj^pear so. The popu- lar expression that “ tliere is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so ” has a full Vedantistic colouring in it. So natu- rally the idea comes to us that if we stop thinking in that way, nothing will appear to us good or bad. If we can realise our Brahmie nature, no evils, no miseries, and no troubles, will approach us. i- e , knowing Brahman makes one Brahman. Know that you are Brahman andyoubecome Brahman. When you reach .this true knowledge, no acts will affect you, no sins will touch you, no meritorious ■ITHE VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY, ad deeds will elevate you, and you shall be one With the highest bliss, the eternal peacL' the pure thought, and the fontal essence. iTow the question comes whether salvation is possible before death, or after death? As you know, gentlemen, that free- dom of the will implies freedom of action •as regards knowledge; if we choose, we may strive after true knowledge and can acquire it' at any moment of our existence .here or elsewhere. But the Soul, coming to know. that it is one with Brahman, cannot ' realise its nature, cannot become one. with Brahman, without casting off its body and its environments, which are all products of Nescience. Now this body with its organs is the effect of our past actions of a pre- vious life. As such, viz , as effects ' of cer- tain: given causes, they must necessarily remain . with the Soul for a certain fixed time, after the lapse of which the Soul will ■merg6 into its own nature, i, e., the Soul will become one with Brahman. The stock .example here is the whirling of the pot- ter’s wheel, after his vessel is ready. The wheel will go on moving on account of the force applied to it before, and after some time when the force is exhausted, it ceases ■to move at alL Very similarly a person’s 60 A LECTTTRE OST life will continue as an effect of his pre- vious actions, even after his acquisition of the right knowledge, but it will cease with the end of those causes. The actions of the the present life of the enlightened Vedan- tist will no longer affect him, and will not prolong. his journey in the world of pheno- mena. His world will be the world of truth. His actions of his present life will be reduced to ashes^r^f ifif : He will leave nothing behind but his name and form and his individuali- ty, When he sees Brahman as the highest and the lowest everywhere, all knots of his heart and all sorrows are split, all doubts vanish and his works become nil. Of The man acquiring this knowledge is called L e., released alive. His actions’ will'* be the same as of those who are ignorant, he will be equally guided by the same laws of nature, as his ignorant neighbour, that is to say, he will go on acting as a rational being so long as he will liveo But he knows that all his works are THE VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY. 61 illusive as this whole world is, and there- fore they do not adhere to him, nor produce for him a . new life after his death. Such enlightened Vedantists are thus described ; — (1) ^TSIT WTiT mm ’iTTnfFT b Moreover; — ( 2 ) mnnm ^ CN'* ?55ft^5{t ?cr^ qtfarw; xx (The pure-hearted ascetics are the hap- piest of men, since they have crossed the river of ambition, of which the water is our desire, the furious waves are our anxie- ties, the dangerous aqueous animals are our different passions, the water-fowls are our doubts, the tree on its banks, liable to be swept, away by the current, is our strength of mind, the dangerous whirl- pools are our errors and ignorance, and the steep banks are our oppressive thoughts. Tell me friend, whom need an en- lightened ascetic fear, when, as his rela- 62 - A LECTURE ON •• lives, he has his patience for his father, his toleration for his mother, his peace for his faithful wife, his truthfulness for his son, his charity for his sister, and his control over his mind for his brother, and when he has the bare ground for his bed, the different quarters for his clothes . and his knowledge — the elixir, for his food?) The state in salvation is like an ever- lasting sound and dreamless sleep, in which state there is no evil, no joy, and no idea of the world. The state of our sound sleep differs from the state of salvation, in its being temporary, and in its being accompanied with certain Sanskaras, or inherent inclinations, owing to the pre- sence of which the external world again comes to our cognisance and we are again made to suffer. Whereas in the state of salvation, the blissful state continues for ever, we being merged into our true na- ture, — ^the nature of Brahman — the i, e., the truth, the thought, and the pure joy. W e come now to the Doctrine of Brah- man. The word Brahman derivatively means to grow. Hence what gTows or developes in the form of the universe is Brahman. But this idea is connected THE VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY. 63 with that of Brahman’s being associated with Maya or !NFescience, and owing to which Brahman phenomenally only, and not really, becomes the material cause of the world. Now the proof of the existence of this highest God i. e.. Brahman, according to this philosophy, is revelation or SrutL But as it has already been said, it is not solely guided by it. Beason also perfectly vindicates the truth of this reve- lation. 'This revealed doctrine follows at o.nce from indirect or negative reason- ing. For, a Vedantist would say, if not Brahman, what else would account jfor this seeming world? What would be its •origin ? What Avould be its material or eflacient cause ? The effect being given, what should be its appropriate cause ?' Firstly, with regard to the materialistic point of view. If it bejpossible,(let matter be eternal, evolving in the ’ form of the ’ universe. So nothing lies beyond it, and there is no highest self. AH the individual selves, along with their cognitive or intellectual apparatus, are but developments of this unintelligent matter, 'the primordial substance. According to the €4 A LECTURE ON Sankhya system, it would be Prakriti with the three qualities of^?^(Satwa-goodness) (Rajas-activity) and ?f?T; (Tamas-dark- ness), which are the characteristics of the Vedantic Nescience. Before giving the Vedantic refutation of this theory, let me sum up Professor Deussen’s view against materialism. He says, “so surely as materialism scorns all that is highest and deepest in philosophy and religion, so surely are its results in the sphere of art flat and vulgar, and in that of mora- lity hopeless, desolate, .and perverting." He goes on, “ Heavy lies on our heart the burden of a world in which for Qod, freedom, and immortality, there is no place. The empirical sciences, dealing with matters of fact, overlook one which of all facts is the first and most certain." It is, therefore. Professor Deussen thinks, lost labour to endeavour to refute materialism.