English
/ ^ The word /ivSrrjpiov is, again, cognate with /ivetv which literally means 4 closing of lips or eyes ’— perhaps as being symbolic, and suggestive, of with¬ drawal of the senses from the scene of their opera¬ tion and concentration within the soul. Tt is strikingly similar to the literal as well as symbolic meaning of ( %ng * w y.) ( dvrttacakshuh) or 4 closed eyes ’ that occur in the opening verse of the second chapter of Kathopanishad, which, again, in its turn, is strongly reminiscent of the 4 averted eye ’ of the Pythagoreans. There is, undeniably, in man’s nature a haunting passion for a Beyond, a twilight region, or a realm beyond the senses—figuring more or less as the outlying penumbra of the known. It is from this region, as Bradley would have us believe, that 4 philosophy as a satisfaction of what may be called the mystical side of our nature ’ derives its constant inspiration : only 4 when the sense of mystery and enchantment no longer draws the mind to wander aimlessly and to love it knows not what *, when, in short, twilight has no charm—then meta¬ physics will be worthless.’* This is one, perhaps the only one, way of ensuring the satisfaction of the THE CULTURAL VALUE OF THE VBDINTA 393 mystical side of our being—through an intellectual effort to understand the universe; and with certain persons, among whom Bradley is one, it is a ‘ principal way of experiencing the Deity.’ But when it is claimed that ‘ the Vedic hymns were conceived and constructed ’ in such a way as to convey ‘ a spiritual sense for the elect ’ and the ‘initiate,’ terminating eventually in ‘self-know¬ ledge and the true knowledge of the gods,’ it is instructive to note, as Bradley clearly affirms, that * there is no calling or pursuit which is a private road to the Deity,’ and that ‘ there is no sin ’ ‘which philosophy can justify so little as spiritual pride.’ Granted that the initiate are privy to this sacred and secret knowledge from which the vulgar and the profane are shut out, and like Browning’s musicians it is they that can say : ‘ it is we mystics know.’ But that knowledge, from which reason is debarred on pain of profanation, has not even that redeeming grace of letting down the ladder for the vulgar and the uninitiate, which entitles it to the name of ‘ knowledge.’ When all is said and done, one feels that there is a peculiar persuasiveness inherent in the claim thus advanced on behalf of the hymns of the Rgveda. At the same time there is some pathos attaching to this forlorn endeavour to espouse a dying cause and stick to it unto the last. But whatever the nature of the appeal, the truth- claim of this hypothesis cannot reasonably be en¬ dorsed by any systematic study of the kind to which this course of lectures stands pledged. What is, however, instructive to note in regard to the aues- 60 394 A systematic study of the vbdinta tion of a continuous development from the Rgveda to the Upanishads is, in the luminous phraseology of the late Prof. Wallace, that ‘ all development is by breaks and yet makes for continuity.’ The conceptual formulation of the Hymns of the Rgveda, by way of three recognised strata of naturalistic polytheism, spiritualistic monotheism, and speculative (or agnostic) monism, hardly does justice to Rgvedic thought and culture as a whole. There may, roughly speaking, be distinguished six stages in the history of human culture and civilisa¬ tion, and it is usual to reckon six stages in the development of a philosophical doctrine or thought- type, the second half recapitulating the first half on a higher plane and thus constituting what has been aptly called the method of spiral progress.* The first in the first half is the Magic stage which in¬ variably expresses itself in social instincts and postulates expressed in rituals. The second is the Myth stage in which the ingrained mythopoeic activity of the race bursts forth in the form of myth, folklore, beast fables, etc. The third is the Symbol stage which evinces a growing maturity in symboli¬ zation and sublimation of myth and ritual. Now, the fourth stage in the series (which is but the reproduction of the first on a higher plane in this spira of progress), is the stage of Dogma manifest¬ ing itself in varying degrees of conceptual abstrac- tion—in pmton 81 imagination, in Vorstellung as the alterum idem of the thing, and in creed. The fifth * Vide Dr. B. N. Seal's illuminating point in his •• Syllabus of Lectures,” notes on this THE Ctl/TURAL VALUE OF THE VEDANTA 395 is the stage of Rationalisation proper with its ela¬ boration and perfection of the conceptual apparatus in the form of Critique and Dialectic—of Purva- paksha, Uttarapaksha and Siddhanta. The sixth and the final stage in the series is the stage, not of ffeapia. merely, -but of irpafw, of sadharui or realisa¬ tion. Applying this formula to the famous doctrine of Karma and its evolution in Indian Culture history we have the following series. The first stage is that of Yajna karma as ritual, drawing its inspiration from the instinct of continued personal existence or will to live and expressing itself in ritualistic per¬ formances for heaven ( svarga ), and from the instinct of race-preservation and manifesting itself in rituals for fertilization, fecundity, or race-multiplication. The germinal beginning of this law of Karma makes itself felt also, in this very first stage, as certain sarriskaras, family and tribal customs, as sacraments and the like. The second is the stage of myth formation which crystallizes as the myth of the double path of prayana (outward journey) and of punaravrtti (return journey), of Heaven and Hell and the like—pointing unmistakably to what is known as the doctrine of the transmigration of souls or metempsychosis. The third stage in the evolu¬ tion of the law of Karma is that of symbolization or sublimation of Yajnas, Tapas, Sarriskaras, as rituals —such as we have in the different Upanishads and the GitS. The fourth stage which marks the begin¬ ning of conceptual formulation naturally expresses itself in the Dogma of Karma conceived as a Law along with the entire paraphernalia of Sarpcita ana 396 A SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF THE VEDlNTA Pmrabdha Karma together with the idea of a cyclical existence. The fifth stage is that of Moral causation and. its dialectic revealing itself in a code of injunc¬ tions and prohibitions (vidhinishedha), niyoga being the ground of Karma. It is on this stage that a rational enquiry into the relation between Karma as Law and free of will of man and Karma and Ihara or the Moral Governor of the universe is fully envisaged. The sixth and the final stage in the development of the law' of Karma is the emergence of the notion of value (purushdrtha), intrinsic and instrumental, of irpa£isand sddhana or disciplines, and of the relation of the way of Karma ( karma- marga) to Paramapurushartha, the Summum Bonnm and Moksha or redemption as a final release from the domination of the Law of Karma. Similarly, reviewing the various stages in the development of the thought-types or categories in religious philosophy among the early Vedantic teachers, we find KaSakrtsna* employing the cate¬ gory of absolute identity in conceiving the relation between the individual and the universal self, Atmarathyat and handily a teaching an identity-in- difference, Audulomi inculcating difference before absorption,4 and finally, Kd&yapa insisting on a fundamental difference between the two. Our interest in these early conceptual formulations of one * e.g., in the V.S. ernwnnr.—I. 4. xxii. t e.g., in V.S. —I. 4. xx. e.g., in V.S. vqwftam —I. 4. xxi. THE OtLTUKAL VALUE OF THE VEDiNTA 397 of the main problems of the Vedanta is that they are the distinct anticipations of a more articulate and dialectical defence of these in Samkara-Yedanta, Ramanuja, Nimvarka (and Bhaskara), and Madhvft- caryya—comparing not unfavourably with the so- called ‘ review-course ’ ( Repetitionkursus ) in con¬ temporary German thought of the phases of the Kantian movement in the well-recognised move¬ ments of Neo-Kantianism, Neo-Fichteanism, Neo- Hegelianism and Neo-Romanticism. Now, what is the net result, it will be asked, of our findings with regard to the Vedanta from the standpoint of an all-round culture ? Deussen thinks that ‘ the New Testament and the Upanishads, these two noblest products of the religious conscious¬ ness of mankind, are found when we sound their deeper meaning to be nowhere in irreconcilable con¬ tradiction, but in a manner, the most attractive, serve to elucidate and complete one another.’* The supplementation in question, according to Deussen, appears in relation .to the central teaching of each. “ ‘ Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy¬ self ’ is the requirement of the Bible ’ ’ and this injunction remains inexplicable and unauthorita- tive, until the Vedanta adds by way of explanation the reason therefor : ‘ ‘ Because thy neighbour is in truth thy very self, and what separates you from him is mere illusion. ”f Apart from the fact that Deussen has not sustained this position all through * The Philosophy, of the Upaniahade, p. 49. t Loo. 0U. 398 A SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF THE VBDINTA his book, the comparison in question is altogether inapt and unsatisfactory. The Upanishads might not unreasonably suffer under the pressure of this somewhat embarrassing charity displayed in paying to them a compliment they do not go in for. What¬ ever may be the point of comparison between the ‘ Sermon on the Mount ’ and the Upanishads, the latter do neither claim to be, nor are, in point of fact, sermons or injunctions figuring as so many copy-book headings for the guidance of our lives.