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Her poets, her artists, her musicians, and her thinkers, have been more or less pantheists.... It may be recognized in the clear Gbthe no less than in the mystical Novalis." p. 602. Dr, Paul Deussen, a German professor of philo- sophy, observes in his work The Elements of Metaphysics : — “The Vedanta is, now as in the ancient time, living in the mind and heart of every thoughtful Hindu This fact may be for poor India in so many misfortunes a great consolation; for the eternal interests are higher than the temporary; and the system of the Ved4nta, as founded on the Upani- shads and Ved4nta-s4tra8 and accomplished by Qankara's commentaries on them,-equal in rank to Plato and Kant-is one of the most valuable products of the genifls of mankind in its search for the eternal truth-as I propose to show now by a short sketch of ^ankara’s Advaita and comparison of its principal 1. Three Lectures on the- Vedd'nta Philosophy by Dr. Max Muller, p. 8. 52 doctrines with the best that occidental philosophy has produced till now." pp. 323-324. Or, in the words of Mr. Gladstone, the illustrious statesman and scholar: — ^“It (Pantheism) is a candidate in greater favour for the place which it is supposed Christianity and Theism are about to vacate;... Pantheism is, or may be, the highest Christianity.’' In the language of the celebrated Dr. Groldstucker,— “The Ved&,nta is the sublimest machinery set into motion by oriental thought.’’ It is, moreover, a system which is not only transcendental, but which is also never in antagonism to science or any reason- able theories that are or may be propounded. It is most tolerant, catholic, and comprehensive. The special beauty of the Vedinta is, as stated in the beginning, that it is the most beautiful Poetry, the most sublime Philosophy, and the most satisfying Re- ligion simultaneously, with which the highest and dearest interests of our life are bound up. It is, in fact, the most fragrant flower and the sweetest fruit of the precious tree of the Upanishad religion — the highest consummation of the spirit of all religions in the world. Dr. Max Muller observes: — “The Upanishada are the... sources of. the Vedanta philosophy, a system in which human speculation seems to me to have reached its very acme.” And the reason for such a high flight is not far to seek. The Indian philoso- phers were privileged individuals, living in high, calm, and cool places of retirement, whose minds were untrammelled by the thoughts of the great mass of the people. They raised themselves into the region of universal, or unindividual thinking, and reached the First Principle, the Unity amidst diversity, the Cause 53 or Origin of all things, the Universal, the Necessary, the Ultimate. They had a certain gravitation to- wards truth. They sincerely devoted themselves to dhe sublime study with unswerving love of truth, and most fully developed some of the choicest gifts of mind pondering on the greatest problems of life, and have found solutions which are treasured up in their philosophy. Having a profound respect for truth, they inquired into and investigated the nature of (fsRn) Knowledge, as well as the nature of Ignorance, and deeply saw, scientifically worked out, and boldly proclaimed logical and vital truths far beyond the reach of their fellow-men. They never shrunk back from the consequences whither the truth irresistibly led them. Their love of Truth and God was far greater than their fear of men. Thrice happy is the man who, it is truly observed, — “ Finds comfort in himself and his cause, And while the mortal mist is gathering, draws His breath in confidence of Heaven’s applause.” Such is the Ved^ntin philosopher and the V ed^nta-philosophy. The Aim and Teaching of the Vedanta. The (tRTf JTVt^) noble aim and object of the Vedanta philosophy, as the venerable (^ankara says in his ‘ Introduction to the Bhagavadgit4’ which Krishna,— the Lord of the Univer8e,-who was seen by the world as though He was born, whereas really He is unborn,-taught to Arjuna with the sole view of helping his creatures, deeply plunged in the ocean of grief and illusion, is,^ *'biiefly the Supreme 1. I avail myself of Mahftdeva S'&stri’s Translation. 54 Bliss, a complete cessation of ( ) Samdru or transmigratory life as well as its cause Nescience). This accrues from that religion which consists in a steady devotion to the knowledge of the(3ntlR) Self. The Religion of Works which is a means of attaining worldly prosperity is also enjoined on all Though it is a means of attaining to the condition of the Devas and the like, still when (disinterestedly) practised in complete devotion to the Lord, without regard to the (immediate) results (or rewards,) it conduces to purity of the mind. The man whose mind is pure is competent to tread the path of knowledge, and to him comes (^TR) Knowledge ; and thus (indirectly) the Religion of Works forms also a means to (f^- salvation (or the supreme bliss.). The Gitd. S'^stra specially expounds this two-fold Religion, whose aim is the Supreme Bliss. It also expounds the nature of the Supreme Being and Reality known as the Para-Brahman which forms the subject of the discourse.... A knowledge of its teaching leads to the realization of all human aspirations A great preparation is necessary for the attain- ment of this Bummum Bonum, viz., the fulfilment of the duties incumbent on a house-holder — a good citizen ; the subduing of his passions ; the development of a wide, large, penetrating, pure, and lofty intellect; all energies to be concentrated on the accumulation of true knowledge, &c. Among the noble personages who, asking them- selves 'What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul V, have accom- plished the highest purpose of their life, (^ankara is 55 regarded as a paragon. He serves as an ideal and a model for mankind inasmuch as he nobly enshrines and reflects the goodness, the greatness, the glory, the beauty of God, the highest Self. “Through such Souls alone God, stooping, shows suflScient of His light For us in the dark to rise by.” Browning, (^ankara is one of the most revered names in the world’s Pantheon, who gave a new impulse to the human mind, and left, as an inheritance to man- kind, the grand example of a noble and heroic life devoted to Truth and Knowledge. His exalted virtues were luminous, and surrounded with the halo of imperishable glory. Qankara’s sublime writings are full of suggestive thoughts and wisdom. As we read them again from time to time they seem every time like new books: so little do we perceive at first all that is px’esuppos- ed in them — the accumulated mould of thought and truth. Qankara’s exposition of the teaching of the Upanishads or the Vedanta philosophy, as given in his universally admired and admittedly best commentary on the VedS.nta Sdtras, contains the inexhaustible germs of latent wealth. Every time his pages are turned they throw forth new seeds of knowledge or wisdom, new scintillations of thought, so teeming is the fertility, so impressive the fulness of his genius. All philosophy has been fore- shadowed by his divine and prophetic intelligence. It is briefly summarised as follows: — 56 "Whatever is, is in reality one; there truly exists only one universal being called Brahman or Par- in^ltman, the highest Self. This being is of an ab- olutely homogeneous nature; it is pure “Being/* or, which comes to the same, pure intelligence or thought ifiJiaitanya, Jndna). Intelligence or thought is not to be predicated of Brahman as its attribute (!PT), but constitutes its substance Brahman is not a> thinking being, but thought itself. It is absolute- ly destitute of qualities (^^); whatever qualities or attributes are conceivable, can only be denied of it. — But, if nothing exists but one absolutely simple being, whence the appearance of the world by which we see ourselves surrounded, and in which we our- selves exist as individual beings? — Brahman, the answer runs, is associated with a certain power called Mdyd or Avidya to which the appearance of this entire world is due. This power cannot be called “being’* (Sat), for being is only Brahman;. nor can it be called ‘non-being’ {asat), in the strict sense, for it at any rate produces the ap- pearance of this world. It is, in fact, a principle of illusion; the undefinable cause owing to which there seems to exist a material world compre- bending distinct individual existences Mdya thus constitutes the UpOMna, the material cause of the world; or we may say that the material cause of the world is Brahman in so far as it is associated with Mdyd (or S'ahti). In this latter quality Brahman is more properly called Js'vara, the Lord. “ Mdyd, under the guidance of the Lord, modifies itself by a progressive evolution into all the individ- 57 ual existences — Bheda), distinguished by special names and forms, of which the world consists; from it there spring in due succession the diflferent material elements and the whole bodily apparatus belonging to sentient beings. In all those apparently individual forms of existence the one indivisible Brahman is present, but, owing to the particular adjuncts (wf^) into which Mayd has specialized itself, it appears to be broken up — ^it is broken up, as it were — into a multiplicity of intellec- tual or sentient principles, the so called Jivas (individual or personal souls). What is real in each Jiva is only the universal Brahman itself; the whole aggregate of individualising bodily organs and men- tal functions, which in our ordinary experience separate and distinguish one Jiva from another, is the offspring of Mdyd and as such unreal.