English
The early peoples did not possess the conception of a lofty moral law by which all customs and all men are judged ; nor did they think of their own moral customs as being in any sense binding on the gods. They were above morality. We ought also to notice that there is a very large and very serious historical reason for this permanent attitude of the Hindu to the foundations of Hindu society. The race has been preserved amid the countless military and political changes of India by its faithful adherence to the traditional family and caste life. Of that there can be no question. The Chinese people have had a similar experience, and they are filled with a similar reverence. Thus, the old attitude is very largely justifiable ; but the changed circumstances of India render a new attitude most necessary to-day, as all thoughtful leaders see. On the other hand, it is this lofty belief in the sacredness of custom that has shielded all the abuses of family-life and caste-life in India. When a custom is believed to have come down from early times, the obligation to observe it seems to the ordinary Hindu to be absolutely beyond dis pute. To break away from it in his eyes is tantamount to a revolt against society. Hence child-marriage, compulsory widowhood, widow-burning, widow-drudgery, female infanti- FORMATIVE ELEMENTS 193 cide and the thousand inhuman cruelties of caste were in the past regarded as inviolably sacred, even by the thinking Hindu. 125. The main idea which the Hindu has with regard to worship is that every god must be worshipped according to his own wishes. The command of a god must be honoured, no matter what it may be. The Hindu mind possessed no settled conception as to the moral or religious character of the gods ; and consequently no man could tell beforehand what might be demanded by any god or goddess in the way of worship. The origin of the great gods of the Aryan peoples will make this idea still clearer. They were originally powers of nature, and therefore had ;/rt/wra/attributes. Sun and wind, fire and rain had no necessary connexion with morality. But they were powers, and therefore to be honoured and pacified by men. One could not guess beforehand what their wishes might be ; but it was man's interest to gratify them, whatever form of worship they desired, whatever kind of action they ordained. The conception of Brahman which inspires the Upani- shads also illustrates the point. In chapter v we found that Brahman is thought of as reality, intelligence, and joy, but not as righteousness. Yet the Upanishads are the very summit of Hindu thought. Thus moral character was in no sense a part of the Vedic conception of God. This explains the fact that new forms of worship were constantly admitted into Hinduism, once the people began to spread over India. So long as the practice of the new cult did not come into violent collision with the ancient organization of the family and society and with the old customs connected therewith, there was no objection raised. It was quite probable that one of the innumerable gods had appeared and had given instructions for the institution of the new cult. 1 94 HINDUISM AS A SYSTEM . We are now in a position to realize how it has been possible for the Hindu to admit such things as the follow ing into his worship : — unlimited idolatry, human sacrifice, cruel torture, temple prostitution, and obscene sculpture. The same idea explains how the Hindu did not regard it as unbecoming that Kali should be the patron divinity of robbers and murderers. From the same point of view we can realize how the gross and grotesque images of the gods were possible. There was no definite conception in the Hindu mind as to what a god must be ; and consequently any form might conceivably represent some divine power. All this lack of a limiting moral conception will also enable us to understand how the coarse myths of the Mahdbhdrata and the Jyuranas were attributed to the gods, and how the ancient ascetics could believe that the tortures they endured were of real value. 126. As among all early peoples, so among Hindus orthodoxy is conformity to religions custom and not any form of belief. The man who does what is demanded of him to the gods, to his ancestors, to his family, and to society is a good Hindu, no matter what he believes. This is quite comprehensible : it is only when spiritual religion arises that men realize the religious importance of the state of a man's mind. Character too stands in no definite relation to Hindu orthodoxy. A man may be guilty of gross immoralities and yet may be in good standing in his caste and his family; while a man of the noblest character who breaks a caste-law, however absurd or inhuman it may be, will be outcasted. In Mysore, where Christian baptism still deprives a man of his property, there were two brothers. One was a man of high character, but he had become a Christian ; the other was an orthodox Hindu, but was lying in prison undergoing a sentence for some crime. The Christian was disinherited, and the criminal got his property. This is in strict accor- FORMATIVE ELEMENTS 195 dance with Hindu principle. The law-books contain many pieces of moral advice, but they scarcely touch the organiza tion of the family or society. 127. Thus far we have dealt with the principles lying at the basis of the ancient faith in its unmixed state as it still survives among the ignorant classes all over the country. But, as we have seen, the growth of culture and the conquest of India produced at a very early date a cata- clysmal revolution in Hindu thought. A great new theology was built up which set forth the one Reality over against the mirage of the world, and put forward trans migration and Karma as the explanation of the sorrows and inequalities of human life. From this upheaval came the whole philosophic movement within Hinduism, with its speculative theories, on the one hand, and its ascetic renunciation, on the other. Wherever the Brahman has gone, he has carried with him some slight sketch of this new theology ; and in consequence it has become diffused generally throughout India. Ascetics have proved a power ful object-lesson to the common people. Hence, there are a number of great religious ideas which are held by most Hindus and which have had a certain influence over the mind of the people. Perhaps, the most prominent of these principles are: — (i) the vanity of the world, (2) the supremacy of the spiritual life, and (3) the nobility of asceticism. Men have believed that only the man who is willing to give up everything for God is a true saint. Union with God has been the spiritual ideal of the people. The various theistic movements have greatly enriched the religious life of India. The belief in a personal God, in His love and grace and in the possibility of personal inter course with Him has helped multitudes of Hindus to live a life of real religious joy and peace. Bhakti has been a source of deep spiritual feeling, first to many educated men, N 2 196 HINDUISM AS A SYSTEM and then to the thousands of the common people who have followed Ramananda, Kablr, Tulsi Das, and the rest. 128. Yet, strange to say, these spiritual movements, pantheistic and theistic, have failed utterly to spiritualize the Hindu faith. Popular Hinduism remains to this day gross, materialistic, idolatrous, and often obscene. How are we to account for the fact that the new thought has touched deeply only the minority and has failed to transform the life, the thought, and the religion of the masses ? There are several reasons for this gigantic failure : — (<?) The very pantheism which satisfies the Yedantist justifies polytheism and idolatry. If you do not know Brahman, you must stick to your idols. So Indian theism, even the theism of Ramanuja and Tulsi Das, has never been seriously monotheistic. The god chosen for the place of the Supreme is set above all others, but the rest retain their divine position and form a happy family around him. The only Hindu reformer who is a serious monotheist is Kabir, and he is half a Muhammadan. Even Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, acknowledges the whole Hindu pantheon. (b] The doctrine of transmigration has been a serious hindrance in two distinct ways.