FOOTNOTES:

"God, and all other words, designate the soul, none else than That, called the established entity,"Of this there is much significant and undoubted exemplification in common speech and in the Veda;"Existence when dissociated from spirit is unknown; in the form of gods, mortals, and the rest"When pervading the individual spirit, the infinite has made a diversity of names and forms in the world."

"God, and all other words, designate the soul, none else than That, called the established entity,

"Of this there is much significant and undoubted exemplification in common speech and in the Veda;

"Existence when dissociated from spirit is unknown; in the form of gods, mortals, and the rest

"When pervading the individual spirit, the infinite has made a diversity of names and forms in the world."

In these words the author, setting forth that all words, God, and the rest, designate the body, and showing in the words, "No unity in systems," &c., the characteristic of body, and showing in the words, "By words which are substitutes for the essence of things," &c., that it is established that nothing is different from the universal Lord, lays down in the verses, Significant of the essence, &c., that all words ultimately designate the Supreme Spirit. All this may be ascertained from that work. The same matter has been enforced by Rámánuja in the Vedártha-saṅgraha, when analysing the Vedic text about names and forms.

Moreover, every form of evidence having some determinate object, there can be no evidence of an undetermined (unconditionate) reality. Even in non-discriminative perception it is a determinate (or conditioned) thing that is cognised. Else in discriminative perception there could not be shown to be a cognition characterised by an already presented form. Again, that text, That art thou, is not sublative of the universe as rooted in illusion, like a sentence declaratory that what was illusorily presented, as a snake is a piece of rope; nor does knowledge of the unity of the absolute and the soul bring (this illusory universe) to an end; for we have already demonstrated that there is no proof of these positions.

Nor is there an absurdity (as the Śáṅkaras would say), on the hypothesis enunciatory of the reality of the universe, in affirming that by a cognition of one there is a cognition of all things: for it is easily evinced that the mundane egg, consisting of the primary cause (prakṛiti), intellect, self-position, the rudimentary elements, the gross elements, the organs (of sense and of action), and the fourteen worlds, and the gods, animals, men, immovable things, and so forth, that exist within it, constituting a complex of all forms, is all an effect, and that from the single cognitionof absolute spirit as its (emanative) cause, when we recognise that all this is absolute spirit (there being a tautology between cause and effect), there arises cognition of all things, and thus by cognition of one cognition of all. Besides, if all else than absolute spirit were unreal, then all being non-existent, it would follow that by one cognition all cognition would be sublated.

It is laid down (by the Rámánujas) that retractation into the universe (pralaya) is when the universe, the body whereof consists of souls and the originant (prakṛiti), returns to its imperceptible state, unsusceptible of division by names and forms, existing as absolute spirit the emanative cause; and that creation (or emanation) is the gross or perceptible condition of absolute spirit, the body whereof is soul and not soul divided by diversity of names and forms, in the condition of the (emanative) effect of absolute spirit. In this way the identity of cause and effect laid down in the aphorism (of Vyása) treating of origination, is easily explicable. The statements that the Supreme Spirit is void of attributes, are intended (it is shown) to deny thereof phenomenal qualities which are to be escaped from by those that desire emancipation. The texts which deny plurality are explained as allowed to be employed for the denial of the real existence of things apart from the Supreme Spirit, which is identical with all things, it being Supreme Spirit which subsists under all forms as the soul of all, all things sentient and unsentient being forms as being the body of absolute Spirit.[109]

What is the principle here involved, pluralism or monism, or a universe both one and more than one? Of these alternatives monism is admitted in saying that Supreme Spirit alone subsists in all forms as all is its body; both unity and plurality are admitted in saying that one only Supreme Spirit subsists under a plurality of forms diverse as soul and not-soul; and plurality is admitted in sayingthat the essential natures of soul, not-soul, and the Lord, are different, and not to be confounded.

Of these (soul, not-soul, and the Lord), individual spirits, or souls, consisting of uncontracted and unlimited pure knowledge, but enveloped in illusion, that is, in works from all eternity, undergo contraction and expansion of knowledge according to the degrees of their merits. Soul experiences fruition, and after reaping pleasures and pains proportionate to merits and demerits, there ensues knowledge of the Lord, or attainment of the sphere of the Lord. Of things which are not-soul, and which are objects of fruition (or experience of pleasure and pain), unconsciousness, unconduciveness to the end of man, susceptibility of modification, and the like, are the properties. Of the Supreme Lord the attributes are subsistence, as the internal controller (or animator) of both the subjects and the objects of fruition; the boundless glory of illimitable knowledge, dominion, majesty, power, brightness, and the like, the countless multitude of auspicious qualities; the generation at will of all things other than himself, whether spiritual or non-spiritual; various and infinite adornment with unsurpassable excellence, singular, uniform, and divine.

Veṅkaṭa-nátha has given the following distribution of things:—

"Those who know it have declared the principle to be twofold, substance and non-substance;"Substance is dichotomised as unsentient and sentient; the former being the unevolved (avyakta), and time."The latter is the 'near' (pratyak) and the 'distant' (parák); the 'near' being twofold, as either soul or the Lord;"The 'distant' is eternal glory and intelligence; the other principle some have called the unsentient primary."

"Those who know it have declared the principle to be twofold, substance and non-substance;

"Substance is dichotomised as unsentient and sentient; the former being the unevolved (avyakta), and time.

"The latter is the 'near' (pratyak) and the 'distant' (parák); the 'near' being twofold, as either soul or the Lord;

"The 'distant' is eternal glory and intelligence; the other principle some have called the unsentient primary."

Of these—

"Substance undergoes a plurality of conditions; the originant is possessed of goodness and the other cords;"Time has the form of years, &c.; soul is atomic and cognisant; the other spirit is the Lord;"Eternal bliss has been declared as transcending the three cords (or modes of phenomenal existence), and also as characterised by goodness;"The cognisable manifestation of the cognisant is intelligence; thus are the characteristics of substance summarily recounted."

"Substance undergoes a plurality of conditions; the originant is possessed of goodness and the other cords;

"Time has the form of years, &c.; soul is atomic and cognisant; the other spirit is the Lord;

"Eternal bliss has been declared as transcending the three cords (or modes of phenomenal existence), and also as characterised by goodness;

"The cognisable manifestation of the cognisant is intelligence; thus are the characteristics of substance summarily recounted."

Of these (soul, not-soul, and the Lord), individual spirits, called souls, are different from the Supreme Spirit and eternal. Thus the text: Two birds, companions, friends, &c. (Rig-Veda, i. 164, 20). Accordingly it is stated (in the aphorisms of Kaṇáda, iii. 2, 20), Souls are diverse by reason of diversity of conditions. The eternity of souls is often spoken of in revelation—

"The soul is neither born, nor dies, nor having been shall it again cease to be;"Unborn, unchanging, eternal, this ancient of days is not killed when the body is killed" (Bhagavad-gítá, ii. 20).

"The soul is neither born, nor dies, nor having been shall it again cease to be;

"Unborn, unchanging, eternal, this ancient of days is not killed when the body is killed" (Bhagavad-gítá, ii. 20).

Otherwise (were the soul not eternal) there would follow a failure of requital and a fruition (of pleasures and pains) unmerited. It has accordingly been said (in the aphorisms of Gautaṃa, iii. 25): Because no birth is seen of one who is devoid of desire. That the soul is atomic is well known from revelation—

"If the hundredth part of a hair be imagined to be divided a hundred times,"The soul may be supposed a part of that, and yet it is capable of infinity."

"If the hundredth part of a hair be imagined to be divided a hundred times,

"The soul may be supposed a part of that, and yet it is capable of infinity."

And again—

"Soul is of the size of the extremity of the spoke of a wheel. Spirit is to be recognised by the intelligence as atomic."

The visible, unsentient world, designated by the term not-soul, is divided into three, as the object, the instrument, or the site of fruition. Of this world the efficient and substantial cause is the Deity, known under the names Purushottama (best of spirits), Vásudeva (a patronymic of Kṛishṇa), and the like.

"Vásudeva is the supreme absolute spirit, endowed with auspicious attributes,"The substantial cause, the efficient of the worlds, the animator of spirits."

"Vásudeva is the supreme absolute spirit, endowed with auspicious attributes,

"The substantial cause, the efficient of the worlds, the animator of spirits."

This same Vásudeva, infinitely compassionate, tender to those devoted to him, the Supreme Spirit, with the purpose of bestowing various rewards apportioned to the deserts of his votaries in consequence of pastime, exists under five modes, distinguished as "adoration" (archá), "emanation" (vibhava), "manifestation" (vyúha), "the subtile" (súkshma), and the "internal controller." (1.) "Adoration" is images, and so forth. (2.) "Emanation" is his incarnation, as Ráma, and so forth. (3.) His "manifestation" is fourfold, as Vásudeva, Saṅkarshaṇa, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha. (4.) "The subtile" is the entire Supreme Spirit, with six attributes, called Vásudeva. His attributes are exemption from sin, and the rest. That he is exempt from sin is attested in the Vedic text: Passionless, deathless, without sorrow, without hunger, desiring truth, true in purpose. (5.) The "internal controller," the actuator of all spirits, according to the text: Who abiding in the soul, rules the soul within. When by worshipping each former embodiment a mass of sins inimical to the end of the soul (i.e., emancipation) have been destroyed, the votary becomes entitled to practise the worship of each latter embodiment. It has, therefore, been said—

"Vásudeva, in his tenderness to his votaries, gives, as desired by each,"According to the merits of his qualified worshippers, large recompense."For that end, in pastime he makes to himself his five embodiments;"Images and the like are 'adoration;' his incarnations are 'emanations;'"As Saṅkarshaṅa, Vásudeva, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, his manifestation is to be known to be fourfold; 'the subtile' is the entire six attributes;"That self-same called Vásudeva is styled the Supreme Spirit;"The internal controller is declared as residing in the soul, the actuator of the soul,"Described in a multitude of texts of the Upanishads, such as 'Who abiding in the soul.'"By the worship of 'adoration,' a man casting off his defilement becomes a qualified votary;"By the subsequent worship of 'emanation,' he becomes qualified for the worship of 'manifestation;' next,"By the worship thereafter of 'the subtile,' he becomes able to behold the 'internal controller.'"

"Vásudeva, in his tenderness to his votaries, gives, as desired by each,

"According to the merits of his qualified worshippers, large recompense.

"For that end, in pastime he makes to himself his five embodiments;

"Images and the like are 'adoration;' his incarnations are 'emanations;'

"As Saṅkarshaṅa, Vásudeva, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, his manifestation is to be known to be fourfold; 'the subtile' is the entire six attributes;

"That self-same called Vásudeva is styled the Supreme Spirit;

"The internal controller is declared as residing in the soul, the actuator of the soul,

"Described in a multitude of texts of the Upanishads, such as 'Who abiding in the soul.'

"By the worship of 'adoration,' a man casting off his defilement becomes a qualified votary;

"By the subsequent worship of 'emanation,' he becomes qualified for the worship of 'manifestation;' next,

"By the worship thereafter of 'the subtile,' he becomes able to behold the 'internal controller.'"

The worship of the Deity is described in the Pañcha-rátra as consisting of five elements, viz., (1.) the access, (2.) the preparation, (3.) oblation, (4.) recitation, (5.) devotion. Of these, access is the sweeping, smearing, and so forth, of the way to the temple. The preparation is the provision of perfumes, flowers, and the like appliances of worship. Oblation is worship of the deities. Recitation is the muttered ejaculation of sacred texts, with attention to what they mean, the rehearsal of hymns and lauds of Vishṇu, the commemoration of his names, and study of institutes which set forth the truth. Devotion is meditation on the Deity. When the vision of the visible world has been brought to a close by knowledge accumulated by the merit of such worship, the infinitely compassionate Supreme Spirit, tender to his votaries, bestows upon the votary devoted to his lord and absorbed in his lord, his own sphere infinite and endless, marked by consciousnessof being like him, from which there is no future return (to the sorrows of transmigratory existence). So the traditionary text—

"When they have come to me, the high-souled no longer undergo future birth, a receptacle of pain, transitory, having attained to the supreme consummation."Vásudeva, having found his votary, bestows upon him his own mansion, blissful, undecaying, from whence there is no more return."

"When they have come to me, the high-souled no longer undergo future birth, a receptacle of pain, transitory, having attained to the supreme consummation.

"Vásudeva, having found his votary, bestows upon him his own mansion, blissful, undecaying, from whence there is no more return."

After laying up all this in his heart, leaning upon the teaching of the great Upanishad, and finding the gloss on the Vedánta aphorisms by the venerated Bodháyanachárya too prolix, Rámánuja composed a commentary on the Śárírakamímánsá (or Vedánta theosophy). In this the sense of the first aphorism, "Then hence the absolute must be desired to be known," is given as follows:—The wordthenin this aphorism means, after understanding the hitherto-current sacred rites. Thus the glossator writes: "After learning the sacred rites," he desires to know the absolute. The wordhencestates the reason, viz., because one who has read the Veda and its appendages and understands its meaning is averse from sacred rites, their recompense being perishable. The wish to know the absolute springs up in one who longs for permanent liberation, as being the means of such liberation. By the wordabsoluteis designated the Supreme Spirit, from whom are essentially excluded all imperfections, who is of illimitable excellence, and of innumerable auspicious attributes. Since then the knowledge of sacred rites and the performance of those rites is mediately through engendering dispassionateness, and through putting away the defilement of the understanding, an instrument of the knowledge of the absolute; and knowledge of sacred rites and knowledge of the absolute being consequently cause and effect, the former and the latter Mímánsá constitute one system of institutes. On this account the glossator has describedthis system as one with the sixteenfold system of Jaimini. That the fruit of sacred rites is perishable, and that of the knowledge of the absolute imperishable, has been laid down in virtue of Vedic texts, such as: Scanning the spheres gained by rites, let him become passionless; Not wrought by the rite performed, accompanied with inference and disjunctive reasoning. Revelation, by censuring each when unaccompanied by the other, shows that it is knowledge together with works that is efficacious of emancipation, in the words: Blind darkness they enter who prefer illusion, and a greater darkness still do they enter who delight in knowledge only; knowledge and illusion, he who knows these both, he passing beyond death together with illusion, tastes immortality by knowledge. Conformably it is said in the Pañcharátra-rahasya—

"That ocean of compassion, the Lord, tender to his votaries,"For his worshipper's sake takes five embodiments upon him."These are styled Adoration, Emanation, Manifestation, the Subtile, the Internal Controller,"Resorting whereto souls attain to successive stages of knowledge."As a man's sins are worn away by each successive worship,"He becomes qualified for the worship of each next embodiment."Thus day by day, according to religion, revealed and traditional,"By the aforesaid worship Vásudeva becomes propitious to mankind."Hari, when propitiated by devotion in the form of meditation,"At once brings to a close that illusion which is the aggregate of works."Then in souls the essential attributes, from which transmigration has vanished,"Are manifested, auspicious, omniscience, and the rest."These qualities are common to the emancipated spirits and the Lord,"Universal efficiency alone among them is peculiar to the Deity."Emancipated spirits are ulterior to the infinite absolute, which is unsusceptible of aught ulterior;"They enjoy all beatitudes together with that Spirit."

"That ocean of compassion, the Lord, tender to his votaries,

"For his worshipper's sake takes five embodiments upon him.

"These are styled Adoration, Emanation, Manifestation, the Subtile, the Internal Controller,

"Resorting whereto souls attain to successive stages of knowledge.

"As a man's sins are worn away by each successive worship,

"He becomes qualified for the worship of each next embodiment.

"Thus day by day, according to religion, revealed and traditional,

"By the aforesaid worship Vásudeva becomes propitious to mankind.

"Hari, when propitiated by devotion in the form of meditation,

"At once brings to a close that illusion which is the aggregate of works.

"Then in souls the essential attributes, from which transmigration has vanished,

"Are manifested, auspicious, omniscience, and the rest.

"These qualities are common to the emancipated spirits and the Lord,

"Universal efficiency alone among them is peculiar to the Deity.

"Emancipated spirits are ulterior to the infinite absolute, which is unsusceptible of aught ulterior;

"They enjoy all beatitudes together with that Spirit."

It is therefore stated that those who suffer the three kinds of pain must, for the attainment of immortality, investigate the absolute spirit known under such appellations as the Highest Being. According to the maxim: The base and the suffix convey the meaning conjointly, and of these the meaning of the suffix takes the lead, the notion of desire is predominant (in the wordjijñásitavya), and desired knowledge is the predicate (in the aphorism, Then hence the absolute must be desired to be known). Knowledge is cognition designated by such terms as meditation, devotion; not the merely superficial knowledge derived from verbal communication, such being competent to any one who hears a number of words and understands the force of each, even without any predication; in conformity with such Vedic texts as: Self indeed it is that is to be seen, to be heard, to be thought, to be pondered; He should meditate that it is self alone; Having known, let him acquire excellent wisdom; He should know that which is beyond knowledge. In these texts "to be heard" is explanatory, hearing being understood (but not enounced) in the text about sacred study (viz.,shaḍaṅgena vedo'dhyeyo jñeyaścha, the Veda, with its six appendages, is to be studied and known); so that a man who has studied the Veda must of his own accord, in acquiring the Veda and its appendages, engage in "hearing," in order to ascertain the sense by examining it and the occasion of its enouncement. The term "to be thought" (or "to be inferred") is also explanatory, cogitation (or inference) being understoodas the complementary meaning of hearing, according to the aphorism: Before its signification is attained the system is significant. Meditation is a reminiscence consisting of an unbroken succession of reminiscences like a stream of oil, it being revealed in the text, in continuity of reminiscence there is a solution of all knots,—that it is unintermittent reminiscence that is the means of emancipation. And this reminiscence is tantamount to intuition.

"Cut is his heart's knot, solved are all his doubts,"And exhausted are all his works, when he has seen the Highest and Lowest,"

"Cut is his heart's knot, solved are all his doubts,

"And exhausted are all his works, when he has seen the Highest and Lowest,"

because he becomes one with that Supreme. So also in the words, Self indeed is to be seen, it is predicated of this reminiscence that it is an intuition. Reminiscence becomes intuitional through the vivacity of the representations. The author of the Vákya has treated of all this in detail in the passage beginning Cognition is meditation. The characters of this meditation are laid out in the text: This soul is not attainable by exposition, nor by wisdom, nor by much learning; Whom God chooses by him God may be attained. To him this self unfolds its own nature. For it is that which is dearest which is choice-worthy, and as the soul finds itself most dear, so the Lord is of Himself most dear, as was declared by the Lord Himself—

"To them always devoted, who worship me with love,"I give the devotion of understanding whereby they come to me."

"To them always devoted, who worship me with love,

"I give the devotion of understanding whereby they come to me."

And again—

"That Supreme Spirit, Arjuna, is attainable by faith unwavering."

But devotion (or faith) is a kind of cognition which admits no other motive than the illimitable beatitude, and is free from all other desires; and the attainment of this devotion is by discrimination and other means. As is said by the author of the Vákya: Attainment thereofresults from discrimination (viveka), exemption (vimoka), practice (abhyása), observance (kriyá), excellence (kalyáṇa), freedom from despondency (anavasáda), satisfaction (anuddharsha), according to the equivalence (of the definition), and the explication (of these terms). Of these means, discrimination is purity of nature, resultant from eating undefiled food, and the explication (of discrimination) is From purity of diet, purity of understanding, and by purity of understanding the unintermittent reminiscence. Exemption is non-attachment to sensuous desires; the explication being, Let the quietist meditate. Practice is reiteration; and of this a traditionary explication is quoted (from the Bhagavad-gítá) by (Rámánuja) the author of the commentary: For ever modified by the modes thereof. Observance is the performance of rites enjoined in revelation and tradition according to one's ability; the explication being (the Vedic text), He who has performed rites is the best of those that know the supreme. The excellences are veracity, integrity, clemency, charity (alms-giving), and the like; the explication being, It is attained by veracity. Freedom from despondency is the contrary of dejection; the explication being, This soul is not attained by the faint-hearted. Satisfaction is the contentment which arises from the contrary of dejection; the explication being, Quiescent, self-subdued. It has thus been shown that by the devotion of one in whom the darkness has been dispelled by the grace of the Supreme Spirit, propitiated by certain rites and observances, which devotion is meditation transformed into a presentative manifestation of soul, without ulterior motive, as incessantly and illimitably desired, the sphere of the Supreme Spirit (Vaikuṇṭha) is attained. Thus Yámuna says: Attainable by the final and absolute devotion of faith in one internally purified by both (works and knowledge); that is, in one whose internal organ is rectified by the devotion of works and knowledge.

In anticipation of the inquiry, But what absolute is tobe desired to be known? the definition is given (in the second aphorism). From which the genesis, and so forth, of this. The genesis, and so forth, the creation (emanation), sustentation, and retractation (of the universe). The purport of the aphorism is that the emanation, sustentation, and retractation of this universe, inconceivably multiform in its structure, and interspersed with souls, from Brahmá to a tuft of grass, of determinate place, time, and fruition, is from this same universal Lord, whose essence is contrary to all qualities which should be escaped from, of illimitable excellences, such as indefeasible volition, and of innumerable auspicious attributes, omniscient, and omnipotent.

In anticipation of the further inquiry, What proof is there of an absolute of this nature? It is stated that the system of institutes itself is the evidence (in the third aphorism): Because it has its source from the system. To have its source from the system is to be that whereof the cause or evidence is the system. The system, then, is the source (or evidence) of the absolute, as being the cause of knowing the self, which is the cause of knowing the absolute. Nor is the suspicion possible that the absolute may be reached by some other form of evidence. For perception can have no conversancy about the absolute since it is supersensible. Nor can inference, for the illation, the ocean, and the rest, must have a maker, because it is an effect like a water-pot, is worth about as much as a rotten pumpkin. It is evinced that it is such texts as, Whence also these elements, that prove the existence of the absolute thus described.

Though the absolute (it may be objected) be unsusceptible of any other kind of proof, the system, did it not refer to activity and cessation of activity, could not posit the absolute aforesaid. To avoid by anticipation any queries on this point, it is stated (in the fourth aphorism): But that is from the construction. This is intended to exclude the doubt anticipated. The evidence, then, of thesystem is the only evidence that can be given of the absolute. Why? Because of the construction, that is because the absolute, that is, the highest end for man, is construed as the subject (of the first aphorism, viz., Then thence the absolute is to be desired to be known). Moreover, a sentence which has nothing to do either with activity or with cessation of activity is not therefore void of purpose, for we observe that sentences merely declaratory of the nature of things, such as, A son is born to you, This is not a snake, convey a purpose, viz., the cessation of joy or of fear. Thus there is nothing unaccounted for. We have here given only a general indication. The details may be learnt from the original (viz., Rámánuja's Bháshya on the Vedánta aphorisms); we therefore decline a further treatment, apprehensive of prolixity; and thus all is clear.[110]

A. E. G.

FOOTNOTES:[107]Cf. "The argument in defence of the Maxim of Contradiction is that it is a postulate employed in all the particular statements as to matters of daily experience that a man understands and acts upon when heard from his neighbours; a postulate such that, if you deny it, no speech is either significant or trustworthy to inform and guide those who hear it. You may cite innumerable examples both of speech and action in the detail of life, which the Herakleitean must go through like other persons, and when, if he proceeded upon his own theory, he could neither give nor receive information by speech, nor ground any action upon the beliefs which he declares to co-exist in his own mind. Accordingly the Herakleitean Kratylus (so Aristotle says) renounced the use of affirmative speech, and simply pointed with his finger."—Grote's Aristotle, vol. ii. pp. 297, 298.[108]Cf. the dictum of Herakleitus: Making worlds is Zeus's pastime; and that of Plato (Laws, Book vii. p. 803): Man is made to be the plaything of God.[109]"Whose body nature is, and God the soul."—Pope.[110]For further details respecting Rámánuja and his system, see Wilson's Works, vol. i. pp. 34-46; and Banerjea's Dialogues, ix. TheTattva-muktávalíwas printed in thePanditfor September 1871; but the lines quoted in p. 73 are not found there.

[107]Cf. "The argument in defence of the Maxim of Contradiction is that it is a postulate employed in all the particular statements as to matters of daily experience that a man understands and acts upon when heard from his neighbours; a postulate such that, if you deny it, no speech is either significant or trustworthy to inform and guide those who hear it. You may cite innumerable examples both of speech and action in the detail of life, which the Herakleitean must go through like other persons, and when, if he proceeded upon his own theory, he could neither give nor receive information by speech, nor ground any action upon the beliefs which he declares to co-exist in his own mind. Accordingly the Herakleitean Kratylus (so Aristotle says) renounced the use of affirmative speech, and simply pointed with his finger."—Grote's Aristotle, vol. ii. pp. 297, 298.

[108]Cf. the dictum of Herakleitus: Making worlds is Zeus's pastime; and that of Plato (Laws, Book vii. p. 803): Man is made to be the plaything of God.

[109]"Whose body nature is, and God the soul."—Pope.

[110]For further details respecting Rámánuja and his system, see Wilson's Works, vol. i. pp. 34-46; and Banerjea's Dialogues, ix. TheTattva-muktávalíwas printed in thePanditfor September 1871; but the lines quoted in p. 73 are not found there.

Ánanda-tírtha (Púrṇa-prajña, or Madhva) rejected this same Rámánuja system, because, though like his own views, it teaches the atomic size of the soul, the servitude of the soul, the existence of the Veda without any personal author, the authenticity of the Veda, the self-evidence of the instruments of knowledge, the triad of evidences, dependency upon the Pañcha-rátra, the reality of plurality in the universe, and so forth,—yet, in accepting three hypotheses as to reciprocally contradictory divisions, &c., it coincides with the tenets of the Jainas. Showing that He is soul, That art thou, and a number of other texts of the Upanishads bear a different import under a different explanation, he set up a new system under the guise of a new explication of the Brahma-Mímáṇsá (or Vedánta).

For in his doctrine ultimate principles are dichotomised into independent and dependent; as it is stated in the Tattva-viveka:—

"Independent and dependent, two principles are received;"The independent is Vishṇu the Lord, exempt from imperfections, and of inexhaustible excellences."

"Independent and dependent, two principles are received;

"The independent is Vishṇu the Lord, exempt from imperfections, and of inexhaustible excellences."

Here it will be urged (by the Advaita-vádins): Why predicate of the absolute these inexhaustible excellences in the teeth of the Upanishads, which lay down that the absolute principle is void of homogeneity and heterogeneity, and of all plurality in itself? To this be itreplied: Not so, for these texts of the Upanishads, as contradictory of many proofs positive of duality, cannot afford proof of universal unity; perception, for example, in the consciousness, This is different from that, pronounces a difference between things, blue and yellow, and so forth. The opponent will rejoin: Do you hold that perception is cognisant of a perceptional difference, or of a difference constituted by the thing and its opposite? The former alternative will not hold: for without a cognition of the thing and its opposite, the recognition of the difference, which presupposes such a cognition, will be impossible. On the latter alternative it must be asked, Is the apprehension of the difference preceded by an apprehension of the thing and its contrary, or are all the three (the thing, its contrary, and the contrariety) simultaneously apprehended? It cannot be thus preceded, for the operation of the intellect is without delay (or without successive steps), and there would also result a logical seesaw (apprehension of the difference presupposing apprehension of the thing and its contrary, and apprehension of the thing and its contrary presupposing apprehension of the difference). Nor can there be a simultaneous apprehension (of the thing, its contrary, and the difference); for cognitions related as cause and effect cannot be simultaneous, and the cognition of the thing is the cause of the recognition of the difference; the causal relation between the two being recognised by a concomitance and non-concomitance (mutual exclusion), the difference not being cognised even when the thing is present, without a cognition of its absent contrary. The perception of difference, therefore (the opponent concludes), is not easily admissible. To this let the reply be as follows:—Are these objections proclaimed against one who maintains a difference identical with the things themselves, or against one who maintains a difference between things as the subjects of attributes? In the former case, you will be, as the saying runs, punishing a respectable Bráhman for the offence of a thief, the objectionsyou adduce being irrelevant. If it be urged that if it is the essence of the thing that is the difference, then it will no longer require a contrary counterpart; but if difference presuppose a contrary counterpart, it will exist everywhere; this statement must be disallowed, for while the essence of a thing is first known as different from everything else, the determinate usage (name and notion) may be shown to depend upon a contrary counterpart; for example, the essence of a thing so far as constituted by its dimensions is first cognised, and afterwards it becomes the object of some determinate judgment, as long or short in relation to some particular counterpart (or contrasted object). Accordingly, it is said in the Vishṇu-tattva-nirṇaya: "Difference is not proved to exist by the relation of determinant and determinate; for this relation of determinant and determinate (or predicate and subject) presupposes difference; and if difference were proved to depend upon the thing and its counterpart, and the thing and its counterpart to presuppose difference, difference as involving a logical circle could not be accounted for; but difference is itself a real predicament (or ultimate entity). For this reason (viz., because difference is athing) it is that men in quest of a cow do not act (as if they had found her) when they see a gayal, and do not recall the wordcow. Nor let it be objected that (if difference be a real entity and as such perceived) on seeing a mixture of milk and water, there would be a presentation of difference; for the absence of any manifestation of, and judgment about, the difference, may be accounted for by the force of (the same) obstructives (as hinder the perception of other things), viz., aggregation of similars and the rest." Thus it has been said (in the Sáṅkhya-káriká, v. vii.)—

"From too great remoteness, from too great nearness, from defect in the organs, from instability of the common sensory,"From subtilty, from interposition, from being overpowered, and from aggregation of similars."

"From too great remoteness, from too great nearness, from defect in the organs, from instability of the common sensory,

"From subtilty, from interposition, from being overpowered, and from aggregation of similars."

There is no perception respectively of a tree and the like on the peak of a mountain, because of its too great remoteness; of collyrium applied to the eyes, and so forth, because of too great proximity; of lightning and the like, because of a defect in the organs; of a jar or the like in broad daylight, by one whose common sensory is bewildered by lust and other passions, because of instability of the common sensory; of an atom and the like, because of their subtility; of things behind a wall, and so forth, because of interposition; of the light of a lamp and the like, in the day-time, because of its being overpowered; of milk and water, because of the aggregation of similars.

Or let the hypothesis of difference in qualities be granted, and no harm is done; for given the apprehension of a subject of attributes and of its contrary, the presentation of difference in their modes is possible. Nor let it be supposed that on the hypothesis of difference in the modes of things, as each difference must be different from some ulterior difference, there will result an embarrassing progression to infinity, there being no occasion for the occurrence of the said ulterior difference, inasmuch as we do not observe that men think and say that two things are different as differenced from the different. Nor can an ulterior difference be inferred from the first difference, for there being no difference to serve as the example in such inference, there cannot but be a non-occurrence of inference. And thus it must be allowed that in raising the objection you have begged for a little oil-cake, and have had to give us gallons of oil. If there be no difference for the example the inference cannot emerge. The bride is not married for the destruction of the bridegroom. There being, then, no fundamental difficulty, this infinite progression presents no trouble.

Difference (duality) is also ascertained by inference. Thus the Supreme Lord differs from the individual soul as the object of its obedience; and he who is to be obeyed by any person differs from that person, a king, for instance,from his attendant. For men, desiring as they do the end of man, Let me have pleasure, let me not have the slightest pain, if they covet the position of their lord, do not become objects of his favour, nay, rather, they become recipients of all kinds of evil. He who asserts his own inferiority and the excellence of his superior, he it is who is to be commended; and the gratified superior grants his eulogist his desire. Therefore it has been said:—

"Kings destroy those who assert themselves to be kings,"And grant to those who proclaim their kingly pre-eminence all that they desire."

"Kings destroy those who assert themselves to be kings,

"And grant to those who proclaim their kingly pre-eminence all that they desire."

Thus the statement of those (Advaita-vádins) in their thirst to be one with the Supreme Lord, that the supreme excellence of Vishṇu is like a mirage, is as if they were to cut off their tongues in trying to get a fine plantain, since it results that through offending this supreme Vishṇu they must enter into the hell of blind darkness (andha-tamasa). The same thing is laid down by Madhya-mandira in the Mahábhárata-tátparya-nirṇaya:—

"O Daityas, enemies of the eternal, Vishṇu's anger is waxed great;"He hurls the Daityas into the blind darkness, because they decide blindly."

"O Daityas, enemies of the eternal, Vishṇu's anger is waxed great;

"He hurls the Daityas into the blind darkness, because they decide blindly."

This service (or obedience of which we have spoken) is trichotomised into (1.) stigmatisation, (2.) imposition of names, (3.) worship.

Of these, (1.) stigmatisation is (the branding upon oneself) of the weapons of Náráyaṇa (or Vishṇu) as a memorial of him, and as a means of attaining the end which is needful (emancipation). Thus the sequel of the Sákalya-samhitá:—

"The man who bears branded in him the discus of the immortal Vishṇu, which is the might of the gods,"He, shaking off his guilt, goes to the heaven (Vaikuṇṭha) which ascetics, whose desires are passed away, enter into:"The discus Sudarśana by which, uplifted in his arm, the gods entered that heaven;"Marked wherewith the Manus projected the emanation of the world, that weapon Bráhmans wear (stamped upon them);"Stigmatised wherewith they go to the supreme sphere of Vishṇu;"Marked with the stigmas of the wide-striding (Vishṇu), let us become beatified."

"The man who bears branded in him the discus of the immortal Vishṇu, which is the might of the gods,

"He, shaking off his guilt, goes to the heaven (Vaikuṇṭha) which ascetics, whose desires are passed away, enter into:

"The discus Sudarśana by which, uplifted in his arm, the gods entered that heaven;

"Marked wherewith the Manus projected the emanation of the world, that weapon Bráhmans wear (stamped upon them);

"Stigmatised wherewith they go to the supreme sphere of Vishṇu;

"Marked with the stigmas of the wide-striding (Vishṇu), let us become beatified."

Again, the Taittiríyaka Upanishad says: "He whose body is not branded, is raw, and tastes it not: votaries bearing it attain thereto." The particular parts to be branded are specified in the Ágneya-puráṇa:—

"On his right hand let the Bráhman wear Sudarśana,"On his left the conch-shell: thus have those who know the Veda declared."

"On his right hand let the Bráhman wear Sudarśana,

"On his left the conch-shell: thus have those who know the Veda declared."

In another passage is given the invocation to be recited on being branded with the discus:—

"Sudarśana, brightly blazing, effulgent as ten million suns,"Show unto me, blind with ignorance, the everlasting way of Vishṇu."Thou aforetime sprangest from the sea, brandished in the hand of Vishṇu,"Adored by all the gods; O Páṅchajanya, to thee be adoration."

"Sudarśana, brightly blazing, effulgent as ten million suns,

"Show unto me, blind with ignorance, the everlasting way of Vishṇu.

"Thou aforetime sprangest from the sea, brandished in the hand of Vishṇu,

"Adored by all the gods; O Páṅchajanya, to thee be adoration."

(2.) Imposition of names is the appellation of sons and others by such names as Keśava, as a continual memorial of the name of the Supreme Lord.

(3.) Worship is of ten kinds, viz., with the voice, (1.) veracity, (2.) usefulness, (3.) kindliness, (4.) sacred study; with the body, (5.) alms-giving, (6.) defence, (7.) protection; with the common sensory, (8.) mercy, (9.) longing, and (10.) faith. Worship is the dedication to Náráyaṇa of each of these as it is realised. Thus it has been said:—

"Stigmatisation, imposition of names, worship; the last is of ten kinds."

Difference (or duality between the Supreme Being and the universe) may also be inferred from cognisability and other marks. So also difference (or duality) may be understood from revelation, from texts setting out duality in emancipation and beatitude, such as: "All rejoice over truth attained; truthful, and celebrating the gift of the divine Indra, they recount his glory;" "Sarva, among those that know the truth, O Bráhman, is in the universe, true spirit; true is individual spirit; truth is duality, truth is duality, in me is illusion, in me illusion, in me illusion."

Again:—

"After attaining this knowledge, becoming like unto me,"In creation they are not born again, in retractation they perish not" (Bhagavad-gítá, xiv. 2).

"After attaining this knowledge, becoming like unto me,

"In creation they are not born again, in retractation they perish not" (Bhagavad-gítá, xiv. 2).

According also to such aphorisms as, "Excepting cosmical operation because of occasion, and because of non-proximity."

Nor should suggestion be made that individual spirit is God in virtue of the text, He that knows the absolute becomes the absolute; for this text is hyperbolically eulogistic, like the text, Worshipping a Bráhman devoutly a Śúdra becomes a Bráhman,i.e., becomes exalted.

If any one urge that according to the text:—

"If the universe existed it would doubtless come to an end,"

this duality is merely illusory, and in reality a unity, and that duality is learnt to be illusorily imagined; it may be replied: What you say is true, but you do not understand its meaning; for the real meaning is, If this world had been produced, it would, without doubt, come to an end; therefore this universe is from everlasting, a fivefold dual universe; and it is not non-existent, because it is mere illusion. Illusion is defined to be the will ofthe Lord, in virtue of the testimony of many such passages as:—

"The great illusion, ignorance, necessity, the bewilderment,"The originant, ideation,—thus is thy will called, O Infinite."The originant, because it originates greatly; ideation, because it produces ideas;"The illusion of Hari, who is calleda, is termed (avidyá) ignorance:"Styled (máyá) illusion, because it is pre-eminent, for the namemáyáis used of the pre-eminent;"The excellent knowledge of Vishṇu is called, though one only, by these names;"For Hari is excellent knowledge, and this is characterised by spontaneous beatitude."

"The great illusion, ignorance, necessity, the bewilderment,

"The originant, ideation,—thus is thy will called, O Infinite.

"The originant, because it originates greatly; ideation, because it produces ideas;

"The illusion of Hari, who is calleda, is termed (avidyá) ignorance:

"Styled (máyá) illusion, because it is pre-eminent, for the namemáyáis used of the pre-eminent;

"The excellent knowledge of Vishṇu is called, though one only, by these names;

"For Hari is excellent knowledge, and this is characterised by spontaneous beatitude."

That in which this excellent knowledge produces knowledge and effects sustentation thereof, that is pure illusion, as known and sustained, therefore by the Supreme Lord duality is not illusorily imagined. For in the Lord illusory imagination of the universe is not possible, illusory imagination arising from non-perception of differences (which as an imperfection is inconsistent with the divine nature).

If it be asked how then that (illusory duality) is predicated, the answer is that in reality there is a non-duality, that is in reality, Vishṇu being better than all else, has no equal and no superior. Accordingly, the grand revelation:—

"A difference between soul and the Lord, a difference between the unsentient and the Lord,"A difference among souls, and a difference of the unsentient and the soul each from the other."Also the difference of unsentient things from one another, the world with its five divisions."This same is real and from all eternity; if it had had a beginning it would have an end:"Whereas it does not come to an end; and it is not illusorily imagined:"For if it were imagined it would cease, but it never ceases."That there is no duality is therefore the doctrine of those that lack knowledge;"For this the doctrine of those that have knowledge is known and sustained by Vishṇu."

"A difference between soul and the Lord, a difference between the unsentient and the Lord,

"A difference among souls, and a difference of the unsentient and the soul each from the other.

"Also the difference of unsentient things from one another, the world with its five divisions.

"This same is real and from all eternity; if it had had a beginning it would have an end:

"Whereas it does not come to an end; and it is not illusorily imagined:

"For if it were imagined it would cease, but it never ceases.

"That there is no duality is therefore the doctrine of those that lack knowledge;

"For this the doctrine of those that have knowledge is known and sustained by Vishṇu."

The purpose, then, of all revelations is to set out the supreme excellence of Vishṇu. With this in view the Lord declared:—

"Two are these persons in the universe, the perishable and the imperishable;"The perishable is all the elements, the imperishable is the unmodified."The other, the most excellent person, called the Supreme Spirit,"Is the undecaying Lord, who pervading sustains the three worlds."Since transcending the perishable, I am more excellent than the imperishable (soul),"Hence I am celebrated among men and in the Veda as the best of persons (Purushottama);"He who uninfatuated knows me thus the best of persons, he all-knowing worships me in every wise."Thus this most mysterious institute is declared, blameless (Arjuna):"Knowing this a man may be wise, and may have done what he has to do, O Bhárata" (Bhagavad-gítá, xv. 16-20).

"Two are these persons in the universe, the perishable and the imperishable;

"The perishable is all the elements, the imperishable is the unmodified.

"The other, the most excellent person, called the Supreme Spirit,

"Is the undecaying Lord, who pervading sustains the three worlds.

"Since transcending the perishable, I am more excellent than the imperishable (soul),

"Hence I am celebrated among men and in the Veda as the best of persons (Purushottama);

"He who uninfatuated knows me thus the best of persons, he all-knowing worships me in every wise.

"Thus this most mysterious institute is declared, blameless (Arjuna):

"Knowing this a man may be wise, and may have done what he has to do, O Bhárata" (Bhagavad-gítá, xv. 16-20).

So in the Mahá-varáha—

"The primary purport of all the Vedas relates to the supreme spouse of Śrī;"Its purport regarding the excellence of any other deity must be subordinate."

"The primary purport of all the Vedas relates to the supreme spouse of Śrī;

"Its purport regarding the excellence of any other deity must be subordinate."

It is reasonable that the primary purport should regard the supreme excellence of Vishṇu. For emancipation isthe highest end of all men, according to the text of the Bhállaveya Upanishad: While merit, wealth, and enjoyment are transitory, emancipation is eternal; therefore a wise man should strive unceasingly to attain thereto. And emancipation is not won without the grace of Vishṇu, according to the text of the Náráyaṇa Upanishad: Through whose grace is the highest state, through whose essence he is liberated from transmigration, while inferior men propitiating the divinities are not emancipated; the supreme object of discernment to those who desire to be liberated from this snare of works. According also to the words of the Vishṇu-puráṇa—

"If he be propitiated, what may not here be won? Enough of all wealth and enjoyments. These are scanty enough. On climbing the tree of the supreme essence, without doubt a man attains to the fruit of emancipation."

And it is declared that the grace of Vishṇu is won only through the knowledge of his excellence, not through the knowledge of non-duality. Nor is there in this doctrine any confliction with texts declaratory of the identity (of personal and impersonal spirit) such as, That art thou (for this pretended identity) is mere babbling from ignorance of the real purport.

"The word That, when undetermined, designates the eternally unknown,"The word Thou designates a knowable entity; how can these be one?"

"The word That, when undetermined, designates the eternally unknown,

"The word Thou designates a knowable entity; how can these be one?"

And this text (That art thou) indicates similarity (not identity) like the text, The sun is the sacrificial post. Thus the grand revelation:—

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