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, the discrimination of what is eternal and what is non-eternal; the renun- ciation of all desire to enjoy the fruit of one’s actions ; six accomplishments, viz., (5W) the acquirement of tranquillity, ( ) self-restraint, discontinuance of worldly ceremonies, patience in suffering, (^:g[T) faith in the instructions conveyed by the Vedanta philosophy and its instructor attention and concentra- tion ; and ( the desire of final release. When he is thus duly qualified, knowledge renders him worthy to receive the light, which shows that he has everything within himself, and he is richer than heaven and earth. It enables him to arrive at the highest stage of perfection by realising his unity with the Divine Being, which is eternal, unalloyed, through and through pure bliss itself. This is called Atmajadna, the knowledge of the Self. The Self-knowledge ( STTriTflT?! ). From the knowledge of the Self, a duly qualified aspirant is to ascend to the knowledge of the Highest Self, just as in the more perfect of the sciences we ascend, by generalization from particulars to the cause, and then reason downward to the effects of the same cause. The Vedanta considers Man to be made up of three component parts of M^yil, and the highest Self, viz., ( 1 ) Physical body, ( 2 ) ) internal organ with the reflection of the highest Self, and ( 3 ) ( ) the substrate and enlightener, the all-pervading highest Self im- 140 manent in the body. The immanent enshrined Self lends, like a magnet, animation, consciousness, &c., to the physical portion of man, ( the MflyA portion); and M^y^’s power of envelopment (sn?- ) makes him ignorant of his true nature. He becomes thus, as it were, blind, entrapped, and en- tangled in ignorance, and loses the power of discri- mination between right and wrong. He believes himself to be doer or agent and (^rlgn') enjoyer, and suffers all the consequences that issue therefrom. He wrongly imputes to the physical portion in him what really belongs to the portion of the highest Self, and vice versa. A kind of very intricate knot ( ) takes place in him. It makes him commit errors after errors. The darkness in him extends very much. He thinks he knows many things, while he is most ignorant of what he is most assured of. The bondage and attraction of ( ) I-ness and ( JWcfT ) Mine-ness, and the repulsion of ('n:aT)separateness — otherness, hostility, very curious- ly make him restless. He hangs oscillating between them. He grows, as it were, giddy, and sees himself and everything around him erroneously. He anxiously seeks happiness in and from things which have never had it. The more he becomes of the world, the less he feels near to God and happiness. Three Classes in Mankind. Mankind may be divided into three main classes:- the wild, the worldly, and (9^) those desirous of final release. The former is grovel- ling in ignorance and misery, and leads not the life of a man but the wretched one of an animal, the nature of which is only sensual. The worldly class adds 141 rational nature to a sensual one. The third is a very small class which rises above and combines the angelic nature with the two others. Men of this class desire to enquire into and know Brahman. In the make of man strange extremes are brought together. In his mind different natures— divine and brutal-are marvellously mixed. He is of kin to the beasts by his body, and of kin to God by his spirit. He is ‘born but to die, and reasoning but to err.' ‘He thinks too little or too much’. Generally, man grows very selfish. He thinks and believes that all things are made for him, and he not for anyone ; and covets to be tyrant of the whole. In his self-love and ambition he many a time falls into the notion ‘ that vice or virtue there is none at all.’ On entering upon life he directs his eyes to whatever comes within his sphere, and tries by fair or foul means to possess it. He knows no rest. He believes whatever he sees to be that which will make him happy. First, small things please and seem great to him, but his desire extends itself more and more. Just as we see a child desii'es and is pleased most greatly by a rattle or an apple, and then proceeding further on desiring playthings and fine raiment, then in youth riches, not great, then greater and greater, then women and children. But in none of these things does he find that which he goes seeking. One desirable stands before another in his eye, in a fashion, as it were, pyramidal. The further he goes, the desirables appear greater, and this is the reason why human desires become wider one after another. He is never pleased with these baubles, because he finds that with their ‘rosy pleasures kindred griefs 142 pursue/ He is ignorant of the truth that the true quietness of heart is got by resisting our passions, not by obeying them ; that there is no peace in the heart which is given to outward things ; that only the spiritual and devout hearts can have it. He never knows the benefit of self-acquaintance. He is blind in relation to himself, and suffers the mischief of self-ignorance. An educated man conceives an object in life. His conception of his own happiness is entirely identical with this object. He imagines that by placing his happiness on something durable and distant, in which some progress might be always making, he Avill enjoy a happy life. For some time this seems enough to fill up an interesting and animated existence. But the time comes when he awakes from this as from a dream. He finds himself un- susceptible to enjoyment or j)leasurable excitement. In this frame of mind it occurs to him to put the question directly to himself: “Suppose that all your objects in life were realized, would this be a great joy and happiness to you ? And an irrepressible answer generally is, “No’^ The end ceases to charm ; and how could there be any interest in the means ? He seems to have nothing left to live for. The woful fact remains present to his mind. If lie is more thoughtful, the cloud of dejection grows thicker and thicker. He in vain seeks relief from his books or occupations. He believes, — 'that all mental and moral feeling and qualities, whether of a good or of a bad kind, are the results of associ- ation ; that man loves one thing, and hates another, takes pleasure in one sort of action or contem- 143 plation, and pain in another sort, through ( ) the clinging of pleasurable or painful ideas to these things, from the effect of education or of experience. His education has perhaps taught him that the pleasure of sympathy with human beings, and the feelings which make the good of others the object of existence, are the greatest and surest sources of happiness. But the real desire for the end has ceased with the above-mentioned question and the answer, and he grows indifferent to the pursuit. He cannot enjoy life, and remains miserable and helpless. This is the result of mere so-called education.’^ The phenomena of moral and physical evil on the earth, and the arrival of disasters which make no discrimination between their victims, are proverbial. To the religiously disposed well-to-do class of people of optimist conceptions, who enjoy a measure of material prosperity, the black side of life remains strange and a matter only of hearsay for some time. They enjoy the loveliness and variety of external nature, the delight of all young creatures, the order of the seasons bearing their copious fruit, the vivid intelligence and serviceable power of man, who, they think, is the divinely appointed recipient of all these multitudinous favours. But the facts of life are that all things, all forms, all living beings, undergo constant changes. liiving beings also suffer pain, and man suffers most of all, for he suffers both in and by his body and by his intelligent part. Men suffer also from one another, and perhaps the largest part of human suffering 1. See J. S. Mill’s Autobiography, Chap. V. 144 comes to man from those whom he calls his rela- tives. In short, the mass of men have to endure the hardships of the brutes, but yet to preserve the intelligence of men. This makes the suffering world doubly miserable. This intelligence shows thoughtful men ^the vastness of the agony of earth, the vainness of its joys, the mockery of all its best, the anguish of its worst; "Since pleasures end in pain, and youth in age, And love in loss, and life in hateful death. ” 'Man has to whirl the round of false delights and woes that are not false.’ In his Natural Religion, Hume paints the mise- ries of life as follows:— "The whole earth is cursed and polluted. A per- petual war is kindled amongst all living creatures. Necessity, hunger, want, stimulate the strong and courageous ; fear, anxiety, terror agitate the weak and infirm. The first entrance into life gives anguish to the new-born infant and to its wretched parent ; weakness, impotence, distress, attend each stage of that life ; and is at last finished in agony and horror The stronger prey upon the weaker The weakei*, too, in their turn, often prey upon the stronger and vex and molest them Man, by combination in society, can master all creatures " But this very society by which we surmount those wild beasts what woe and misery does it not occasion ? Man is the greatest enemy of man. Oppression, injustice, contempt, contumely, violence, sedition, war, calumny, treachery, fraud ; by these they mutually torment each other 145 “ But though these external insults form a frightful catalogue of woes, they are nothing in comparison of those which arise within ourselves, from the distempered condition of our mind and body. How many lie under the lingering torment of diseases?