The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hindu Gods And Heroes, by Lionel D.

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Barnett

(elease Date& *ctober +, ,--. /EBook 0,,1123 Language& English 4haracter set encoding& )'*%1125%6 777 'TA(T *8 TH)' P(*9E4T G:TE;BE(G EB**< H);D: G*D' A;D HE(*E' 777

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The ?isdo! of the East 'eries ED)TED B# L. 4(A;@E(%B#;G Dr. '. A. <APAD)A

?)'D*@ *8 THE EA'T H);D: G*D' A;D HE(*E' 'T:D)E' ); THE H)'T*(# *8 THE (EL)G)*; *8 );D)A

B# L)*;EL D. BA(;ETT, @.A., L)TT 7 7 7 7 7

P(E8A4E The follo ing $ages are taken fro! the 8orlong BeAuest lectures hich ) deli"ered in @arch last at the 'chool of *riental 'tudies. * ing to eBigencies of s$ace, !uch of hat ) then said has been o!itted here, es$ecially ith regard to the orshi$ of 'i"aC but enough re!ains to !ake clear !y general "ie , hich is that the religion of the Aryans of )ndia as essentially a orshi$ of s$irits%%so!eti!es s$irits of real $ersons, so!eti!es i!aginary s$irits%%and that, although in early days it $ro"isionally found roo! for $ersonifications of natural forces, it could not digest the! into Great Gods, and therefore they ha"e either disa$$eared or, if sur"i"ing, re!ain as !ere 'truldbrugs. Thus ) a! a heretic in relation to both the 'olar Theory and the =egetation Theory, as e"eryone !ust be ho takes the trouble to study Hindu nature ithout $rejudice. L. D. B. D@ay ,5, 65,,.D 7 7 7 7 7

4*;TE;T' ). THE =ED)4 AGE& Po$ular (eligion, $. 5%%(ig%"eda and $riestly religion, $. 66%%Dyaus%Eeus, $. 6+%%:shas, $. 61%%'urya, $. 65%%'a"ita, $. 65%%@itra and =aruna, $. 65%%Agni, $. ,,%%'o!a, $. ,F%%)ndra, $. ,2%%The As"ins, $. F2%%=ishnu, $. F.%%(udra%'i"a, $. +,%%'u!!ary, $. +,. )). THE AGE *8 THE B(AH@A;A'& Gro th of Brah!an influence in eB$anding Aryan society, $. +2%%'yste! of $riestly doctrine& theory of 'acrifice and !echanical control of nature thereby, $. +1%%)ts antino!ianis!& $artly corrected by the gro ing cult of (udra%'i"a, $. 2F%%The :$anishads& their relation to the Brah!anas, $. 25%%Brah!a the Absolute, $. G-%%<ar!a%'a!sara, $. GF%%(esults& 'ai"a Theis!, $. G2%%<rishna& early history and legends, $. GG%%Teachings, $. G1.

))). THE EP)4', A;D LATE(& ). The Great ?ar and the Panda"as, $. .-%%=ishnu%<rishna, $. .+%%;arayana, $. .G%%Bhaga"ad%gita and ;arayaniya, $. ..%%Gro th of church of =ishnu%<rishna, $. .5%%?orshi$ of Panda"as, $. 5,%%;e erotic and ro!antic <rishnais!, $. 5+. )). (a!a& legend of (a!a and constitution of (a!ayana, $. 51. ))). 'o!e later Preachers, $. 6-F%%(eligions of =ishnu%<rishna and 'i"a in 'outhern )ndia, $. 6-F%%'a!kara Acharya, $. 6-2%%(a!anuja, $. 6-.%%;i!barka, @adh"a, =allabha, $. 6-1%%9anade"a, $. 6-5%%;a!a%de"a, $. 6-5%%Tukara!, $. 6-5%%(a!ananda, $. 66-%%Tulsi Das, $. 66-%%<abir, $. 66-%%;anak, $. 66-%%4haitanya, $. 66-. )=. Brah!a and the Tri!urti, $. 666%%Dattatreya, $. 66+. =. T o @odern )nstances, $. 66G. 4*;4L:')*;. 7 7 7 7 7

ED)T*()AL ;*TE The object of the Editors of this series is a "ery definite one. They desire abo"e all things that, in their hu!ble ay, these books shall be the a!bassadors of good ill and understanding bet een East and ?est%%the old orld of Thought and the ne of Action. )n this endea"our, and in their o n s$here, they are but follo ers of the highest eBa!$le in the land. They are confident that a dee$er kno ledge of the great ideals and lofty $hiloso$hy of *riental thought !ay hel$ to a re"i"al of that true s$irit of 4harity hich neither des$ises nor fears the nations of another creed and colour. L. 4(A;@E(%B#;G. '. A. <APAD)A. ;*(THB(**< '*4)ET#, ,6 4(*@?ELL (*AD, <E;');GT*;, '. ?. 7 7 7 7 7

H);D: G*D' A;D HE(*E' 4HAPTE( )

THE =ED)4 AGE Let us i!agine e are in a "illage of an Aryan tribe in the Eastern Panjab so!ething !ore than thirty centuries ago. )t is !ade u$ of a fe large huts, round hich cluster s!aller ones, all of the! rudely built, !ostly of ba!booC in the other larger ones d ell the heads of fa!ilies, hile the s!aller ones shelter their kinsfolk and follo ers, for this is a $atriarchal orld, and the housefather gi"es the la to his household. The $eo$le are !ostly a co!ely folk, tall and clean%li!bed, and rather fair of skin, ith ell%cut features and straight nosesC but a!ong the! are not a fe sAuat and ugly !en and o!en, flat%nosed and nearly black in colour, ho ere once the free d ellers in this land, and no ha"e beco!e sla"es or serfs to their Aryan conAuerors. Around the "illage are fields here bullocks are dragging rough $loughsC and beyond these are oods and !oors in hich lurk ild !en, and beyond these are the lands of other Aryan tribes. Life in the "illage is si!$le and rude, but not une"entful, for the "illage is $art of a tribe, and tribes are constantly fighting ith one another, as ell as ith the dark%skinned !en ho often try to dri"e back the Aryans, so!eti!es in s!all forays and so!eti!es in !assed hordes. But the orld in hich the "illage is interested is a s!all one, and hardly eBtends beyond the bounds of the land here its tribe d ells. )t kno s so!ething of the land of the 8i"e (i"ers, in one corner of hich it li"es, and so!ething e"en of the lands to the north of it, and to the est as far as the !ountains and deserts, here li"e !en of its o n kind and tongueC but beyond these li!its it has no kno ledge. *nly a fe bold s$irits ha"e tra"elled east ard across the high slo$e that di"ides the land of the 8i"e (i"ers fro! the strange and !ysterious countries around the great ri"ers Ganga and #a!una, the unkno n land of dee$ forests and s ar!ing dark%skinned !en. )n the !atter of religion these Aryans care a good deal about char!s and s$ells, black and hite !agic, for $re"enting or curing all kinds of diseases or !isha$s, for inning success in lo"e and ar and trade and husbandry, for bringing har! u$on ene!ies or ri"als%%char!s hich a fe centuries later ill be dressed u$ in (ig"edic style, stuffed out ith i!itations of (ig"edic hy!ns, and $ublished under the na!e of Athar"a "eda, Hthe lore of the Athar"ans,H by iIards ho clai! to belong to the old $riestly clans of Athar"an and Angiras. But e ha"e not yet co!e so far, and as yet all that these $eo$le can tell us is a great deal about their black and hite !agic, in hich they are hugely interested, and a fair a!ount about certain "aliant !en of olden ti!es ho are no orshi$$ed by the! as hel$ful s$irits, and a little about so!e "ague s$irits ho are in the sun and the air and the fire and other $laces, and are "ery high and great, but are not interesting at all. This $o$ular religion see!s to be a ho$eless one, ithout ideals and sy!bols of lo"e and ho$e. )s there nothing better to be found in this $laceJ #es, there is a $riestly religion alsoC and if e ould kno so!ething about it e !ust listen to the chanting of the $riests, the Dbrah!ansD or !en of the Hholy s$irit,H as they are called, ho are holding a sacrifice no on behalf of the rich lord ho li"es in the largest house in the "illage%%a ser"ice for hich they eB$ect to be $aid ith a handso!e fee of oBen and gold. They are $riests by

heredity, ise in the kno ledge of the ays of the godsC so!e of the! understand ho to co!$ose DriksD, or hy!ns, in the fine s$eech dear to their order, hy!ns hich are al!ost sure to in the godsK fa"our, and all of the! kno ho the sacrifices shall be $erfor!ed ith $erfect eBactness so that no sli$ or i!$erfection !ay !ar their efficacy. Their $sal!s are called D(ig%"edaD, Hlore of the "erses,H and they set the!sel"es to find grace in the ears of the !any gods ho! these $riests orshi$, so!eti!es by o$en $raise and so!eti!es by riddling descri$tion of the eB$loits and nature of the gods. *ften they are "ery fineC but al ays they are the ork of $riests, artists in ritual. And if you look heedfully into it you ill also !ark that these $riests are inclined to think that the act of sacrifice, the offering of, say, certain oblations in a $articular !anner ith $articular ords acco!$anying the!, is in itself $otent, Auite a$art fro! the $sal!s hich they sing o"er it, that it has a !agic $o er of its o n o"er the !achinery of nature./63 (eally this is no ne idea of our =edic $riestsC ten thousand years before the! their re!ote forefathers belie"ed it and acted u$on it, and if for eBa!$le they anted rain they ould s$rinkle dro$s of ater and utter !agic ords. *ur =edic $riests ha"e no a different kind of sy!bols, but all the sa!e they still ha"e the notion that cere!ony, DritaD as they call it, has a !agic $otency of its o n. Let us !ark this ell, for e shall see !uch issuing fro! it. /8ootnote 6& 4f. e.g. (=. ))). BBBii. 6,.3 ?ho are the gods to ho! these $riests offer their $rayers and $sal!sJ They are !any, and of "arious kinds. @ost of the! are taken fro! the religion of the $eo$le, and dressed in ne garb according to the i!agination of the $riestC and a fe are $riestly in"entions altogether. There is Dyaush%$ita, the 'ky%father, ith Prithi"i @ata, the Earth%!otherC there are =ayu the ?ind%s$irit, Parjanya the (ain%god, 'urya the 'un%god, and other s$irits of the sky such as 'a"itaC there is the Da n%goddess, :shas. All these are or ere originally deified $o ers of nature& the $eo$le, though their i!agination created the!, ha"e ne"er felt any dee$ interest in the!, and the $riests ho ha"e taken the! into their charge, though they treat the! "ery courteously and sing to the! elegant hy!ns full of figures of s$eech, ha"e not been able to co"er the! ith the flesh and blood of li"ing $ersonality. Then e ha"e Agni the 8ire%god, and 'o!a the s$irit of the intoBicating juice of the so!a%$lant, hich is used to ins$ire the $ious to drunken ra$tures in certain cere!oniesC both of these ha"e acAuired a $eculiar i!$ortance through their association ith $riestly orshi$, es$ecially Agni, because he, as bearing to the gods the sacrifices cast into his fla!es, has beco!e the ideal Priest and di"ine Paraclete of Hea"en. ;e"ertheless all this hieratic i!$ortance has not !ade the! gods in the dee$er sense, reigning in the hearts of !en. Then e find $o ers of doubtful origin, @itra and =aruna and =ishnu and (udra, and figures of heroic legend, like the arrior )ndra and the t in charioteers called As"inaa and ;asatya. All these, ith !any others, ha"e their orshi$ in the (ig%"eda& the $riests sing their $raises lustily, and often s$eak no of one deity, no of another, as being the highest di"inity, ithout the least consistency. 'o!e sa"age races belie"e in a highest god or first di"ine Being in ho! they feel little $ersonal interest. They seldo! s$eak of hi!, and hardly e"er orshi$ hi!. 'o it see!s to be ith Dyaush%$ita. The

$riests s$eak of hi! and to hi!, but only in conneBion ith other godsC he has not a single hole hy!n in his honour, and the only definite attribute that attaches to hi! is that of fatherhood. #et he has beco!e a great god a!ong other races akin in s$eech to the Aryans of )ndia& Dyaush%$ita is $honetically the sa!e as the Greek /Greek& Eeus $atr3 and the Latin D)u$$iterD. Ho co!es it then that he is not, and a$$arently ne"er as, a god in the true sense a!ong the )ndian AryansJ Because, ) think, his na!e has al ays betrayed hi!. To call a deity H'ky%fatherH is to label hi! as a !ere abstraction. ;o !ystery, no $ossibility of hu!an $ersonality, can gather round those t o $lain $rose ords. 'o long as a deity is kno n by the na!e of the $hysical agency that he re$resents, so long ill he be unable to gro into a $ersonal God in )ndia. The $riests !ay sing "ociferous $sal!s to =ayu the ?ind%s$irit and 'urya the 'un%s$irit, and e"en to their belo"ed Agni the 8ire%godC but sing as !uch as they ill, they ne"er can !ake the $eo$le in general take the! to their hearts. *bser"e hat a different history is that of Eeus a!ong the Greeks%%Eeus, 8ather of Gods and @en, the ideal of kingly !ajesty and isdo! and goodness. The reason is $atent. Ages and ages before the days hen the Ho!eric $oets sang, the Greeks had forgotten that Eeus originally !eant HskyH& it had beco!e to the! a $ersonal na!e of a great s$iritual $o er, hich they ere free to in"est ith the noblest ideal of $ersonality. But "ery likely there is also another reason& ) belie"e that the *ly!$ian Eeus, as !odelled by Ho!er and acce$ted by follo ing generations, as not the original /Greek& DEeus $atrD3 at all, but a usur$er ho had robbed the old 'ky%father of his throne and of his title as ell, that he as at the outset a hero%king ho so!e ti!e after his death as raised to the seat and dignity of the old 'ky%father and recei"ed like ise his na!e. This theory eB$lains the old hero%sagas hich are connected ith Eeus and the strange fact that the 4retans $ointed to a s$ot in their island here they belie"ed Eeus as buried. )t eB$lains hy legends $ersistently a"erred that Eeus eB$elled his father <ronos fro! the throne and su$$ressed the Titan dynasty& on !y "ie , <ronos as the original 8ather Eeus, and his na!e of Eeus and rank as chief god ere a$$ro$riated by a deified hero. Ho natural such a $rocess as in those days !ay be seen fro! the liturgy of :nas on the $yra!ids at 'akkarah in Egy$t./,3 Here :nas is described as rising in hea"en after his death as a su$re!e god, de"ouring his fathers and !others, slaughtering the gods, eating their H!agical $o ers,H and s allo ing their Hs$irit%souls,H so that he thus beco!es Hthe first%born of the first%born gods,H o!niscient, o!ni$otent, and eternal, identified ith the *siris, the highest god. ;o this :nas as a real historical !anC he as the last king of the 8ifth Dynasty, and as deified after death, just like any other king of Egy$t. The early Egy$tians, like !any sa"age tribes, regarded all their kings as gods on earth and $aid the! for!al orshi$ after their deathC the later Egy$tians, going a ste$ further, orshi$$ed the! e"en in their lifeti!e as e!bodi!ents of the gods./F3 ?hat is said in the liturgy for the deification of :nas is !uch the sa!e as as said of other kings. The dead king in early Egy$t beco!es a god, e"en the greatest of the gods, and he assu!es the na!e of that god/+3C he o"erco!es the other gods by brute force, he kills and de"ours the!. This is "ery like hat ) think as the case ith EeusC the !ain difference is that in Egy$t the DcharacterD of the deified king as !erged in that of the old god, and !en continued to regard the latter in eBactly the sa!e light as beforeC but a!ong the forefathers of the Greeks the re"erse ha$$ened in at least one case, that of Eeus, here

the character of a hero ho had $eculiarly fascinated $o$ular i!agination $artly ecli$sed that of the old god hose na!e and rank he usur$ed. The reason for this, ) su$$ose, is that e"en the early Egy$tians had already a conser"ati"e religion ith fiBed traditions and a $riesthood that forgot nothing,/23 hereas a!ong the forefathers of the Greeks, ho ere andering sa"ages, social order and religion ere in a "ery fluid state. Ho e"er that !ay be, a deified hero !ight oust an older god and reign under his na!eC and this theory eB$lains !any difficulties in the legends of Eeus. /8ootnote ,& 'ir E. A. ?. Budge, DLiterature of the Ancient Egy$tiansD, $. ,6 ff., and DGods of the Egy$tiansD, i, $$. F, f., +F.3 /8ootnote F& Er!an, DHandbook of Egy$tian (eligionD, $. F. f.3 /8ootnote +& Budge, DLit. of the Egy$tiansD, $. ,6C Er!an, Dut su$raD, $. F. f.3 /8ootnote 2& )t is e"en $ossible that in one case, that of *siris, a hero in Egy$t !ay ha"e ecli$sed by his $ersonality the god ho! he ousted. 'ee 'ir 9. ?. 8raIerKs DAdonis, Attis, *sirisD, ii, $. ,--, and 'ir ?. (idge ayKs DDra!as and Dra!atic Dances, etc.D, $. 5+ ff.3 As to the (o!an )u$$iter, ) need not say !uch about hi!. Like all the genuine gods of Latiu!, he ne"er as !uch !ore than an abstraction until the Greeks ca!e ith their literature and dressed hi! in the ardrobe of their Eeus. 4o!ing no to :shas, the Lady of the Da n, and looking at her na!e fro! the stand$oint of co!$arati"e $hiloso$hy, e see that the ord DushasD is closely connected ith the Greek /Greek& hes3 and the Latin DauroraD. But hen e read the literature, e are astonished to find that hile the Greek Da n%lady has re!ained al!ost al ays a !ere abstraction, the )ndian s$irit is a lo"ely, li"ing o!an instinct ith the richest sensuous char!s of the East. 'o!e t enty hy!ns are addressed to her, and for the !ost $art they are ali"e ith real $oetry, ith a sense of beauty and gladness and so!eti!es ithal an under%note of sadness for the brief joys of life. But hen e look carefully into it e notice a curious thing& all this hy!n%singing to :shas is $urely literary and artistic, and there is $ractically no religion at all at the back of it. A fe stories are told of her, but they see! to con"ince no one, and she certainly has no ritual orshi$ a$art fro! these hy!ns, hich are really $oetical essays !ore than anything else. The $riestly $oets are thrilled ith sincere e!otion at the sight of the da n, and are ins$ired by it to stately and li"ely descri$tions of its beauties and to touching reflections u$on the $assing of ti!e and !ortal lifeC but in this scene :shas herself is hardly !ore than a !odel fro! an artistKs studio, in a "ery Bohe!ian Auarter. @ore than once on account of her free dis$lay of her char!s she is co!$ared to a dancing girl, or e"en a co!!on harlotL Here the i!agination is at ork hich in course of ti!e ill $o$ulate the Hindu Paradise ith a celestial Dcor$s de balletD, the fair and frail A$sarasas. *ur =edic :shas is a forerunner of that gay co!$any. A char!ing $erson, indeedC but certainly no genuine goddess. As his na!e sho s, 'urya is the s$irit of the sun. ?e hear a good deal about hi! in the (ig%"eda, but the hole of it is !erely descri$tion of the $o er of the sun in the order of nature, $artly allegorical,

and $artly literal. He is only a nature%$o er, not a $ersonal god. The case is not Auite so clear ith 'a"ita, hose na!e see!s to !ean literally Hsti!ulator,H Hone ho stirs u$.H *n the hole it see!s !ost likely that he re$resents the sun, as the "i"ifying $o er in nature, though so!e/G3 think that he as originally an abstraction of the "i"ifying forces in the orld and later beca!e connected ith the sun. Ho e"er this !ay be, 'a"ita is and re!ains an i!$ersonal s$irit ith no hu!an ele!ent in his character. /8ootnote G& 'ee *ldenberg, D(eligion des =edaD, $. G+ f.3 'till !ore $er$leBing are the t o deities @itra and =aruna, ho are "ery often associated ith one another, and a$$arently are related. @itra certainly is an old god& if e go o"er the !ountains to the est and north% est of the country of our )ndian Aryans, e shall find their kins!en in Persia and Bactria orshi$$ing hi! as a $o er that !aintains the la s of righteousness and guards the sanctity of oaths and engage!ents, ho by !eans of his atch!en kee$s !ankind under his obser"ation and ith his terrible ea$ons crushes e"il $o ers. The )ndian Aryans tell al!ost eBactly the sa!e tale of their @itra and his co!$anion =aruna, ho $erha$s is si!$ly a doublet of @itra ith a different na!e, hich $erha$s is due to a "ariety of orshi$. But they ha"e !ore to say of =aruna than of @itra. )n =aruna e ha"e the highest ideal of s$irituality that Hindu religion ill reach for !any centuries. ;ot only is he described as su$re!e controller of the order of nature%%that is an attribute hich these $riestly $oets ascribe ith generous inconsistency to !any others of their deities%%but he is like ise the o!niscient guardian of the !oral la and the rule of religion, sternly $unishing sin and falsehood ith his dreaded noose, but sho ing !ercy to the $enitent and graciously co!!uning ith the sage ho has found fa"our in his eyes. But @itra and =aruna ill not enjoy this eBalted rank for long. 'oon the $riests ill declare that @itra rules o"er the day and =aruna o"er the night MT'. )). i. ., +C =). i". 1, FN, and then =aruna ill begin to sink in honour. The Hnoose of =arunaH ill co!e to !ean !erely the disease of dro$sy. His connection ith the darkness of the night ill cause !en to think of hi! ith fearC and in their dread they ill forget his ancient attributes of uni"ersal righteousness, justice, and !ercy, and re!e!ber hi! chiefly as an a"enger of guilt. They ill banish hi! to the distant seas, hose ri"ers he no guides o"er the earth in his gracious go"ern!ent of natureC and there he ill d ell in eBile for e"er, re!e!bered only to be feared. And @itra ill beco!e !erely another na!e for the sun. ?hat is the origin of this singular cou$leJ And hy are they destined to this fallJ ;either of these Auestions can be ans ered by anything but conjectures. There is no e"idence either fro! )ndian or fro! )ranian religion that @itra or his double =aruna gre out of the orshi$ of the sun or the sky, although in their orshi$ they ere so!eti!es connected ith the sun and the sky. Ho e"er far back ards e look, e still find the! essentially s$irits of natural order and !oral la , gods in the higher sense of the ord. But their character, and es$ecially the character of =aruna, it see!s to !e, is rather too high to sur"i"e the co!$etition of ri"al cults, such as that of the $o$ular hero )ndra and the $riestsK darling Agni, hich tend to engross the interest of orshi$$ers lay and cleric, and to blunt their relish for !ore s$iritual ideals. 'o @itra and =aruna beco!e stunted

in their gro thC and at last co!es the fatal ti!e hen they are identified ith the sky by day and night. This is the final blo . ;o deity that is $lainly li!ited to any one $hase or for! of nature in )ndia can be or beco!e a great godC and s$eedily all their real di"inity fades a ay fro! @itra and =aruna, and they shri"el into insignificance. ;eBt e turn to a s$irit of a "ery different sort, the 8ire%god, Agni. The ord DagniD is identical ith the Latin DignisDC it !eans Hfire,H and nothing else but fire, and this fact is Auite sufficient to $re"ent Agni fro! beco!ing a great god. The $riests indeed do their best, by fertile fancy and endless re$etition of his $raises, to lift hi! to that rankC but e"en they cannot do it. 8ro! the days of the earliest generations of !en 8ire as a s$iritC and the household fire, hich cooks the food of the fa!ily and recei"es its si!$le oblations of clarified butter, is a kindly genius of the ho!e. But ith all his usefulness and elfish !ystery 8ire si!$ly re!ains fire, and thereKs an end of it, for the ordinary !an. But the $riests ill not ha"e it so. The chief concern of their li"es is ith sacrifice, and their dee$est interest is in the s$irit of the sacrificial fire. All the riches of their i!agination and their "ocabulary are la"ished u$on hi!, his for!s and his acti"ities. They ha"e de"oted to hi! about ,-- hy!ns and !any occasional "erses, in hich they d ell ith constant delight and ingenious !eta$hor u$on his s$lendour, his $o er, his birth fro! ood, fro! the t o firesticks, fro! trees of the forest, fro! stones, or as lightning fro! the clouds, his kinshi$ ith the sun, his d elling in three abodes M"iI. as a rule on earth, in the clouds as lightning, and in the u$$er hea"ens as the sunN, his $lace in the ho!es of !en as a holy guest, a friend and a kins!an, his $rotection of orshi$$ers against e"il s$irits and !alignant sorcerers, and es$ecially his function of con"eying the oblation $oured into his fla!es u$ to the gods. Thus they are led to re$resent hi! as the di"ine Priest, the ideal hiero$hant, in ho! are united the functions of the three chief classes of (ig"edic sacrificial $riests, the DhotaD, Dadh"aryuD, and Dbrah!anD, and hence as an all%kno ing sage and seer. )f infinite Ieal and ingenuity in singing AgniKs $raises and glorifying his acti"ities can a"ail to raise hi! to the rank of a great god, e !ay eB$ect to find hi! "ery near the to$. But it is not to be. The $riests cannot con"ince the $lain !an of AgniKs su$er%godhead, and soon they ill fail to con"ince e"en the!sel"es. The ti!e ill shortly co!e hen they ill regard all these gods as little !ore than $u$$ets hose strings are $ulled by the !ysterious s$irit of the sacrifice. The $riests ha"e another $et deity, 'o!a. 8or the sacred rites include the $ressing and drinking of the fer!ented yello juice of the so!a%$lant, an acid draught ith intoBicating $o ers, hich hen !iBed ith !ilk and drunk in the $riestly rites ins$ires religious ecstasy. This drinking of the so!a%juice is already an ancient and i!$ortant feature in the orshi$ of our Aryans, as it is also a!ong their kins!en in )ranC so it is no onder that the s$irit of the sacred $lant has been !ade by the $riests into an i!$ortant deity and celebrated ith endless abundance of $raise and $rayer. As ith Agni, 'o!aKs a$$earance and $ro$erties are described ith ineBhaustible ealth of e$ithets and !eta$hors. The $oets lo"e to d ell on the !ystic $o ers of this onderful $otion, hich can heal sickness of soul and body and ins$ire gods and !en to !ighty deeds and holy ecstasy. @ost often they tell ho the god )ndra drank huge $otions of

it to strengthen hi!self for his great fight ith the dragon =ritra. @ost of this orshi$ is of $riestly in"entionC "olu!inous as its rhetoric is, it !akes no great i!$ression on the laity, nor $erha$s on the clergy either. 'o!e of the !ore ingenious of the $riests are already beginning to trace an affinity bet een 'o!a and the !oon. The yello so!a%stalks s ell in the ater of the $ressing%"at, as the yello !oon aBes in the skyC the Dso!aD has a !agical $o er of sti!ulation, and the !oon sends forth a !ystic liAuid influence o"er the "egetation of the earth, and es$ecially o"er !agic $lantsC the so!a is an a!brosia drunk by gods and heroes to ins$ire the! to !ighty deeds, and the !oon is a bo l of a!brosia hich is $eriodically drunk by the gods and therefore anes !onth by !onth. The neBt ste$ ill soon be taken, and the $riests ill say that 'o!a DisD the !oonC and literature ill then obediently acce$t this state!ent, and, gradually forgetting nearly e"erything that 'o!a !eant to the (ig"edic $riests, ill use the na!e 'o!a !erely as a secondary na!e for 4handra, the !oon and its god. A "ery illu!inating $rocess, hich sho s ho a god !ay utterly change his nature. ;o e turn to the hero%gods. )ndra and the As"ina at the beginning ca!e to be orshi$$ed because they ere heroes, !en ho ere su$$osed to ha"e rought !ar"ellously noble and "aliant deeds in di! far%off days, sa"iours of the afflicted, cha!$ions of the right, and ho for this reason ere orshi$$ed after death, $erha$s e"en before death, as di"ine beings, and gradually beca!e associated in their legends and the for!s of their orshi$ ith all kinds of other gods. Ti!es change, gods gro old and fade a ay, but the re!e!brance of great deeds li"es on in strange ild legends, hich, ho e"er !uch they !ay borro fro! other orshi$s and ho e"er !uch they !ay be obscured by the $hanto! lights of false fancy, still thro a gli!!er of true light back through the darkness of the ages into an i!!easurably distant $ast. )ndra is a !ighty giant, ta ny of hair and beard and ta ny of as$ect. The $oets tell us that he bears u$ or stretches out earth and sky, e"en that he has created hea"en and earth. He is a !onarch su$re!e a!ong the gods, the lord of all beings, i!!easurable and irresistible of $o er. He rides in a golden chariot dra n by t o ta ny horses, or !any horses, e"en as !any as ele"en hundred, and he bears as his chief ea$on the D"ajraD, or thunderbolt, so!eti!es also a bo ith arro s, a hook, or a net. *f all drinkers of so!a he is the lustiestC he s ills !any lakes of it, and he eats !ightily of the flesh of bulls and buffaloes. To his orshi$$ers he gi"es abundance of ealth and ha$$iness, and he leads the! to "ictory o"er hostile tribes of Aryans and the still !ore dreaded hordes of dark%skins, the Dasas and Dasyus. He guided the $rinces #adu and Tur"asa across the ri"ers, he aided Di"odasa Atithig"a to disco!fit the dark%skinned 'a!bara, he ga"e to Di"odasaKs son 'udas the "ictory o"er the ar!ies of the ten allied kings beside the ri"er Parushni. @any are the na!es of the de"ils and de!ons that ha"e fallen before hi!C but !ost glorious of all his deeds is the conAuest of =ritra, the dragon d elling in a !ountain fastness a!idst the aters, here )ndra, acco!$anied by the troo$ of @aruts, or stor!%gods, sle the !onster ith his bolt and set free the aters, or reco"ered the hidden kine. *ur $oets sing endless "ariations on this the!e, and so!eti!es s$eak of )ndra re$eating the eB$loit for the benefit of his orshi$$ers, hich is as !uch as to say that they, or at least so!e of the!, think it an allegory. )n all this !aIe of sa"age fancy and $riestly in"ention and ild

eBaggeration there are so!e $oints that stand out clearly. )ndra is a god of the $eo$le, $articularly of the fighting !an, a glorified ty$e of the fair%haired, hard%fighting, hard%drinking forefathers of the )ndian Aryans and their distant cousins the HellenesC and therefore he is the cha!$ion of their ar!ies in battles. He is not a fiction of hieratic i!agination, ho! $riests regale ith hy$erbolic flattery Aualified only by the luke ar!ness of their belief in their o n ords. He is a li"ing $ersonality in the faith of the $eo$leC the $riests only in"ent ords to eB$ress the $eo$leKs faith, and $erha$s add to the old legends so!e riddling fancies of their o n. @any ti!es they tell us that after conAuering =ritra and setting free the aters or the kine )ndra created the light, the da n, or the sunC or they say that he $roduced the! ithout !entioning any fight ith =ritraC so!eti!es they s$eak of hi! as setting free Hthe kine of the @orning,H hich !eans that they understood the co s to signify the light of !orning, and it ould see! also that they thought that the aters !entioned in the story signified the rain. But hy do they s$eak of these acts as heroic deeds, eB$loits of a !ighty arrior, in the sa!e tone and ith the sa!e e$ic fire as hen they sing of )ndraKs battles in ti!es near to their o n, real battles in hich their o n forefathers, strong in their faith in the god, shattered the ar!ies of hostile Aryan tribes or the fortresses of dark%skinned nati"esJ The $ersonality of )ndra and the s$irit in hich his deeds are recounted re!ind us of hero%sagasC the allegories hich the $oets read into the! are on the other hand Auite in the style of the $riest. Ho can e eB$lain the $resence of these t o "oicesJ Besides, hy should the setting free of the rain or the daylight be a $eculiarly heroic attribute of )ndraJ *ther gods are said to do the sa!e things as $art of their regular duties& Parjanya, @itra and =aruna, Dyaus, dis$ense the rain, others the light. The eB$lanation is si!$le. )ndra, it see!s to !e, is a god of just the sa!e sort as Eeus, hose nature and history ) ha"e already eB$lained according to !y lights. )n the far%a ay $ast )ndra as si!$ly a hero& "ery likely he as once a chieftain on earth. The story of his great deeds so fascinated the i!agination of !en that they orshi$$ed his !e!ory and at last raised hi! to the rank of a chief god. ;o they had $re"iously orshi$$ed t o "ery high godsC one of these as Dyaush%$ita, the 'ky%father, of ho! ) ha"e s$oken before, and another as T"ashta, the All%creator. 'o so!e of the!, as the (ig%"eda $ro"es, declared that Dyaus as the father of )ndra, and others a$$ear to ha"e gi"en this honour to T"ashta, hile others regarded T"ashta as )ndraKs grandfatherC and so!e e"en said that in order to obtain the so!a to ins$ire hi! to di"ine deeds )ndra killed his father, hich of course is just an i!aginati"e ay of saying that )ndra as !ade into a god and orshi$$ed in $lace of the elder god. The $uIIle no is sol"ed. )ndra has re!ained do n to the ti!e of the (ig%"eda true to his early nature, an e$ic hero and ty$ical arriorC but he has also borro ed fro! the old 'ky%father the chief attributes of a sky%s$irit, es$ecially the gi"ing of rain and the !aking of light, hich the $riests of the (ig%"eda riddlingly describe as setting free the aters and the co s. He bears the thunderbolt, as does also EeusC like Eeus, he has got it fro! the 'ky%father, ho had like ise a thunderbolt, according to so!e (ig"edic $oets, though others say it as forged for hi! by T"ashta, his other father. ) e"en "enture to think that there is a kernel of heroic legend in the story of the slaying of =ritraC that at botto! it is a tale relating ho

)ndra ith a band of bra"e fello s stor!ed a !ountain hold surrounded by ater in hich d elt a icked chieftain ho had carried a ay the cattle of his $eo$le, and that hen )ndra had risen to the rank of a great god of the sky !en added to this $lain tale !uch !ythical decoration a$$ro$riate to his ne Auality, turning the co!rades of )ndra into the stor!%gods and inter$reting the aters and co s to !ean rain and daylight. 'ince !ost of us are agreed that stories such as that of )ndra defeating 'a!bara for the benefit of Di"odasa refer to real e"ents, it see!s unnatural to su$$ose that the =ritra%legend is a $urely i!aginary !yth. ?e can thus eB$lain hy the ideas of )ndra setting free the rain and the light fit in so a k ardly ith the heroic ele!ent in the legend& for they are !erely secondary attributes, borro ed fro! the !yths of other gods and !echanically attached to )ndra on his ele"ation in the $antheon. But e can eB$lain !uch !ore. There is a regular cycle of hero%saga connected ith )ndra hich is "isible or half%"isible at the back of so!e of the =edic hy!ns and of the $riestly literature hich is destined to follo the!. The truth is that the $riests of the (ig%"eda on the hole ha"e not Auite !ade u$ their !inds about )ndraKs !erits, and e shall find the! a fe generations hence eAually uncertain. They $raise his heroic deeds lustily and ad!ire his $o er i!!enselyC but they are keenly a are that he is a god ith a $ast, and so!eti!es they d ell on that. Their fa"ourite !ethod is to relate so!e of his for!er Auestionable deeds in the for! of a re$roach, and then to turn the story to his credit in so!e ay or anotherC but as ti!e goes on and the $riests think less and less of !ost of their gods, )ndraKs character ill steadily sink, and in the end e shall find hi! $laying a subordinate $art, a debauched king in a sensuous $aradise, $o$ularly orshi$$ed as a gi"er of rain. But this is to antici$ate. As yet )ndra is to the (ig"edic $riests a "ery great godC but ho did he beco!e soJ )f e read carefully the hy!n (=. )=. B"iii./.3 e see at the back of it a story so!e hat like this. Before he as born, T"ashta, )ndraKs grandfather, kne that )ndra ould dis$ossess hi! of his so"ereignty o"er the gods, and therefore did his best to $re"ent his birth Mcf. (=. ))). Bl"iii.NC but the baby )ndra ould not be denied, and he forced his ay into the light of day through the side of his !other Aditi, ho see!s to be the sa!e as @other Earth Mcf. D=ed. 'tud.D, ii, $. 1GN, killed his father, and drank T"ashtaKs so!a, by hich he obtained di"ine $o ers. )n ". 6, of this hy!n )ndra eBcuses hi!self by saying that he as in great straits, and that then the so!a as brought to hi! by an eagle. ?hat these straits ere is indicated in another hy!n M)=. BB"ii.N, hich tells us that he as i!$risoned, and esca$ed on the back of the eagle, hich he co!$elled to carry hi!C the atch!an <risanu shot an arro at the bird, but it $assed har!lessly through its feathers. E"idently in the story )ndra had a hard struggle ith ri"al gods. *ne $oet says M(=. )=. BBB. FN& H;ot e"en all the gods, * )ndra, defeated thee, hen thou didst lengthen days into nights,H hich a$$arently refers also to so!e !iracle like that ascribed to 9oshua. Another tradition M@'. ). "i. 6,N relates that hile )ndra and his brother =i"as"an ere still unborn they declared their resol"e to oust the Adityas, the elder sons of their !other AditiC so the Adityas tried to kill the! hen born, and actually sle =i"as"an, but )ndra esca$ed. Another "ersion MT'. )). i". 6FN says that the gods, being afraid of )ndra, bound hi! ith fetters before he as bornC and at the sa!e ti!e )ndra is identified ith the (ajanya, or arrior class, as its ty$e and re$resentati"e./13 This last $oint is i!!ensely i!$ortant, for it really clinches the !atter. ;ot once,

but re$eatedly, the $riestly literature of the generations that ill follo i!!ediately after that of the (ig%"eda ill be found to treat )ndra as the ty$e of the arrior order./53 They ill describe an i!aginary coronation%cere!ony of )ndra, ending ith these ords& HAnointed ith this great anoint!ent )ndra on all "ictories, found all the orlds, attained the su$eriority, $re%e!inence, and su$re!acy o"er all the gods, and ha"ing on the o"erlordshi$, the $ara!ount rule, the self rule, the so"ereignty, the su$re!e authority, the kingshi$, the great kingshi$, the suIerainty in this orld, self%eBisting, self%ruling, i!!ortal, in yonder orld of hea"en, ha"ing attained all desires he beca!e i!!ortal.H/6-3 Thus e see that a!idst the !aIe of obscure legends about )ndra there are three $oints hich stand out ith $erfect clearness. They are, firstly, that )ndra as a usur$erC secondly, that the older gods fought hard but "ainly to kee$ hi! fro! su$re!e di"inity, and that in his struggle he killed his fatherC and thirdly, that he as identified ith the arrior class, as o$$osed to the $riestly order, or Brah!ans. This antagonis! to the Brah!ans is brought out "ery clearly in so!e "ersions of the tales of his eB$loits. @ore than once the $oets of the (ig%"eda hint that his slaying of =ritra in"ol"ed so!e guilt, the guilt of Dbrah!a%hatyaD, or slaughter of a being in ho! the Dbrah!aD, or holy s$irit, as e!bodied/663C and this is eB$lained clearly in a $riestly tale MT'. )). ". ,, 6 ff.C cf. 'B. ). i. F, +, "i. F, 1N, according to hich )ndra fro! jealousy killed T"ashtaKs son =is"aru$a, ho as cha$lain of the gods, and thus he incurred the guilt of Dbrah!a%hatyaD. Then T"ashta held a so!a%sacrificeC )ndra, being eBcluded fro! it, broke u$ the cere!ony and hi!self drank the so!a. The so!a that as left o"er T"ashta cast into one of the sacred fires and $roduced thereby fro! it the giant =ritra, by ho! the hole uni"erse, including Agni and 'o!a, as en"elo$ed Mcf. the later "ersion in @ahabharata, =. "iii. f.N. By slaying hi! )ndra again beca!e guilty of Dbrah!a%hatyaDC and so!e (ig"edic $oets hint that it as the consciousness of this sin hich !ade hi! flee a ay after the deed as done. /8ootnote .& ) follo in the inter$retation of this hy!n E. 'ieg, DDie 'agenstoffe des (g"edaD, i. $. .G ff. 4f. on the subject D=ed. 'tud.D, i. $. ,66, ii. $$. +,%2+. 4har$entier, DDie 'u$arnasageD, takes a so!e hat different "ie of (=. )=. BB"i.%BB"ii., hich, ho e"er, does not con"ince !eC ) rather sus$ect that (=. )=. BB"i. 6 and +, ith their !ention of @anu, to ho! the so!a as brought, are echoes of an ancient and true tradition that )ndra as once a !ortal.3 /8ootnote 1& The other legend in @'. )). i. 6,, that Aditi bound the unborn )ndra ith an iron fetter, ith hich he as born, and of hich he as able to rid hi!self by !eans of a sacrifice, is $robably later.3 /8ootnote 5& E.g. AB. =)). BBBi., =))). Bii. 4f. BA. :$. ). i". 66%6F.3 /8ootnote 6-& AB. =))). Bi". M<eithKs translationN.3 /8ootnote 66& 4f. 'ayana on (=. ). Bciii. 2.3 These bits of saga $ro"e, as effectually as is $ossible in a case like this, that )ndra as originally a arrior%king or chieftain ho as deified, $erha$s by the $riestly tribe of the Angirasas, ho clai! in so!e of the hy!ns to ha"e aided hi! in his fight ith =ritra, and that

he thus rose to the first rank in the $antheon, gathering round hi!self a great cycle of heroic legend based u$on those traditions, and only secondarily and by artificial in"ention beco!ing associated ith the control of the rain and the daylight. The na!e As"ina !eans HThe T o Horse!enHC hat their other na!e, ;asatya, signifies nobody has satisfactorily eB$lained. But e"en ith the na!e As"ina there is a difficulty. They are described usually as riding together in a chariot hich is so!eti!es said to be dra n by horses, and this ould suit their na!eC but !ore often the $oets say that their chariot is dra n by birds, such as eagles or s ans, and so!eti!es e"en by a buffalo or buffaloes, or by an ass. ) do not see ho e can esca$e fro! this difficulty eBce$t by su$$osing that $o$ular i!agination in regard to this !atter "aried fro! "ery early ti!es, but $referred to think of the! as ha"ing horses. At any rate they are "ery ancient gods, for the $eo$le of )ran also ha"e traditions about the!, and in the far%a ay land of the @itanni, in the north of @eso$ota!ia, they are in"oked together ith )ndra, @itra, and =aruna to sanction treaties. )n )ndia the Aryans kee$ the! "ery busy, for they are !ore than anything else gods of hel$. Thrice e"ery day and thrice e"ery night they sally forth on their $atrols through earth and hea"en, in order to aid the distressed/6,3& and the $oets tell us the na!es of !any $ersons ho! they ha"e relie"ed, such as old 4hya"ana, ho! they restored to youth and lo"e, Bhujyu, ho! they rescued fro! dro ning in the ocean, Atri, ho! they sa"ed fro! a fiery $it, =is$ala, to ho! hen her leg had been cut off they ga"e one of iron, and Ghosha, to ho! they brought a husband. @any other hel$ful acts are ascribed to the!, and it is "ery likely that at least so!e of these stories are !ore or less true. Another legend relates that they jointly edded 'urya, the daughter of the 'un%god, ho chose the! fro! a!ongst the other gods./6F3 /8ootnote 6,& 4f. D=ed. 'tudienD, ii. $. F6, (=. ). BBBi". ,.3 /8ootnote 6F& 4f. D=ed. 'tudienD, i. $. 6+ ff.3 A!idst the !edley of saga and facts and $oetical i!agination hich surrounds the As"ina, can e see the outlines of their original characterJ )t is hard to say& o$inions !ust differ. The Aryans of )ndia are inclined to say that they are si!$ly di"ine kings acti"e in good orksC but the $riests are $erha$s beginning to fancy that they !ay be e!bodi!ents of $o ers of nature%%they are not sure hich%%and in course of ti!e they ill ha"e "arious theories, $artly connected ith their rituals. But really all that is certain in the =edic age about the As"ins is that they are an ancient $air of sa"iour%gods ho ride about in a chariot and render constant ser"ices to !ankind. ?e are te!$ted ho e"er to see a likeness bet een the! and the /Greek& Dis kr3 of the distant Hellenes, the heroes <astor and Polydeukes, 4astor and PolluB, the t in Horse!en ho are sa"iours of afflicted !ankind by land and sea. There are difficulties in the ay of this theoryC but they are not unsur!ountable, and ) belie"e that the As"ina of )ndia ha"e the sa!e origin as the T in Horse!en of Greece. At any rate both the $airs are hero%gods, hose di"inity has been created by !ankindKs need for hel$ and ad!iration for "alour. ?hether there as any hu!an history at the back of this $rocess e cannot say. ;o e !ay lea"e the heroes and consider a god of a "ery different kind, =ishnu.

The (ig%"eda has not "ery !uch to say about =ishnu, and hat it says is $uIIling. The $oets figure hi! as a beneficent young giant, of unkno n $arentage, ith t o characteristic attributes& the first of these is his three !ystic strides, the second his close association ith )ndra. =ery often they refer to these three strides, so!eti!es using the "erb D"i%kra!D, Hto ste$ out,H so!eti!es the adjecti"es Duru%kra!aD, H idely%ste$$ing,H and Duru%gayaD, H ide%going.H The three ste$s carry =ishnu across the three di"isions of the uni"erse, in the highest of hich is his ho!e, hich a$$arently he shares ith )ndra M(=. ). BBBii. ,-, cli". 2%G, ))). l". 6-C cf. AB. ). i., etc.N. 'o!e of the! are beginning to i!agine that these ste$s sy!bolise the $assage of the sun through the three di"isions of the orld, the earth, sky, and u$$er hea"enC certainly this idea ill be held by !any later scholars, though a fe ill !aintain that it denotes the sun at its rising, at !idday, and at its setting. Before long e shall find so!e $riests har$ing on the sa!e notion in another for!, saying that =ishnuKs head as cut off by accident and beca!e the sunC and later on e shall see =ishnu bearing as one of his ea$ons a chakra, or discus, hich looks like a figure of the sun. But really all this is an afterthought& in the =eda, and the $riestly literature that follo s directly u$on the =eda, =ishnu is DnotD the sun. ;or do e learn hat he is "ery readily fro! his second leading attribute in the (ig%"eda, his association ith )ndra. #et it is a "ery clearly !arked trait in his character. ;ot only do the $oets often cou$le the t o gods in $rayer and $raise, but they often tell us that the one $erfor!ed his characteristic deeds by the hel$ of the other. They say that =ishnu !ade his three strides by the $o er of )ndra M=))). Bii. ,.N, or for the sake of )ndra M=al. i". FN, and e"en that )ndra strode along ith =ishnu M=). lBiB. 2, =)). BciB. GN, and on the other hand they tell us often that it as by the aid of =ishnu that )ndra o"erca!e =ritra and other !alignant foes. H8riend =ishnu, stride out lustily,H cries )ndra before he can strike do n =ritra M)=. B"iii. 66N./6+3 The ans er to this riddle ) find in the Brah!anas, the $riestly literature hich is about to follo i!!ediately after the =eda. )n $lain uneAui"ocal ords the Brah!anas tell us again and again that D=ishnu is the sacrificeD./623 E"idently hen they re$eat this they are re$eating an old hieratic traditionC and it is one hich $erfectly eB$lains the facts of the case. =ishnu, ) concei"e, as originally nothing !ore or less than the e!bodied s$irit of the sacrificial rites. His na!e see!s to be deri"ed fro! the root D"ishD, !eaning sti!ulation or ins$irationC and this is eBactly hat the sacrifice is su$$osed in $riestly theory to do. The sacrifice, acco!$anied by $rayer and $raise, is i!agined to ha"e a !agic $o er of its o n, by hich the gods orshi$$ed in it are strengthened to $erfor! their di"ine functions. *ne $oet says to )ndra& H?hen thy t o andering Bays thou dra"est hither, thy $raiser laid ithin thine ar!s the thunderH M(=. ). lBiii. ,NC and still !ore boldly another says& H'acrifice, )ndra, !ade thee aB so !ighty ... orshi$ hel$ed thy bolt hen slaying the dragonH M))). BBBii. 6,N. 'o it ould be "ery natural for the $riests to concei"e this s$irit of the sacrificial rites as a $ersonal deityC and this deity, the Brah!anas assure us, is =ishnu. Then the idea of the three strides and the association ith )ndra ould easily gro u$ in the $riestly i!agination. The ins$iring $o er of the sacrifice is su$$osed to $er"ade the three real!s of the uni"erse, earth, sky, and u$$er hea"ensC this idea is eB$ressed in the co!!on ritual for!ula Dbhur bhu"as s"ahD, and is sy!bolised by three ste$s taken by the $riest in certain cere!onies, hich are translated into the language

of !yth as the three strides of =ishnu./6G3 *bser"e that in the (ig%"eda the u$$er hea"en is not the d elling%$lace of =ishnu onlyC Agni the 8ire%god, )ndra and 'o!a ha"e their ho!e in it also M(=. ). cli". G, )=. BB"i. G, BB"ii. F%+, =. iii. F, =))). lBBBiB. 1, )O. lBiii. ,., lB"i. F-, lB"iii. G, lBB"ii. ,, lBBB"i. ,+, O. i. F, Bi. +, BciB. 1, cBli". +N. Later, ho e"er, hen their ad"entitious di"inity begins to fade a ay fro! Agni and 'o!a, and )ndra is allotted a s$ecial $aradise of his o n, this Hhighest ste$H ill be regarded as $eculiar to =ishnu, D=ishnoh $ara!a! $ada!D. /8ootnote 6+& A later and distorted "ersion of this !yth a$$ears in AB. =). B".3 /8ootnote 62& E.g. @'. 6. i". 6+, 'B. ). i. 6, ,, 6F, TB. ). ii. 2, 6, AB. ). B"., <B. )=. ii., O=))). "iii., Bi".3 /8ootnote 6G& 'B. ). iB. F, 1%66. 4f. the three ste$s of the A!esha%s$entas fro! the earth to the sun, i!itated in the A"estic ritual MA"esta, transl. Dar!esteter, ). +-6N.3 As soon as this s$irit of sacrifice as thus $ersonified, he at once attached hi!self to )ndraC for )ndra is $re%e!inently the god of action, and for his acti"ities he needs to be sti!ulated by sacrifice and $raise. As the $riests ill tell us in $lain un"arnished ords, Hhe to ho! the 'acrifice co!es as $ortion slays )ndraH MAB. ). i".N. Therefore e are told that =ishnu aids )ndra in his heroic eB$loits, that =ishnu takes his strides and $resses 'o!a in order that )ndra !ay be strengthened for his tasks. ;o e can see the full !eaning of )ndraKs cry before striking =ritra, H8riend =ishnu, stride out lustilyLHC for until the sacrifice has $ut forth its !ystic energy the god cannot strike his blo . ?e are told also that =ishnu cooks buffaloes and boils !ilk for )ndra,/6.3 for buffaloes ere no doubt anciently offered to )ndra. The "i"id reality of )ndraKs character has clothed =ishnu ith so!e of its o n flesh and bloodC originally a $riestly abstraction, he has beco!e through association ith )ndra a li"ing being, a real god. The blood hich has thus been $oured into his "eins ill enable hi! to li"e through a critical $eriod of his life, until by co!bination ith another deity he ill rise to ne and su$re!e so"ereignty. But of that !ore anon. @ean hile let us note the significance of this union of =ishnu and )ndra in the =eda. =ishnu, the s$irit of 'acrifice, is in a sense re$resentati"e of the Brah!an $riesthood, and )ndra, as ) ha"e sho n, is co!!only regarded as ty$ical of the arrior order. )n the (ig%"eda )ndra is $o erless ithout =ishnuKs !ystic ser"ice, and =ishnu labours to aid )ndra in his heroic orks for the elfare of !en and gods. 'urely this is an allegory, though the $riests !ay so far be only di!ly conscious of its full !eaning%%an allegory bodying forth the $riestly ideal of the reign of righteousness, in hich the <ing is strong by the !ystic $o er of the Priest, and the Priest li"es for the ser"ice of the <ing. /8ootnote 6.& (=. =). B"ii. 66, =))). lB"i. 6-C the !yth in (=. ). lBi. ., =))). lB"i. 6-, and T'. =). ii. +, ,%F is eB$anded fro! this original idea. 4f. @acdonell, D=edic @yth.D, $. +6.3 There is another god ho is destined to beco!e in future ages =ishnuKs chief ri"al%%(udra, HThe Ta ny,H or 'i"a, HThe Gracious.H He belongs to the real! of $o$ular su$erstition, a s$iteful de!on e"er ready to s!ite !en and cattle ith disease, but like ise dis$ensing healing

bal!s and !edicines to those that in his fa"our. The (ig"edic $riests as yet do not take !uch interest in hi!, and for the !ost $art they lea"e hi! to their so!e hat des$ised kins!en the Athar"ans, ho do a thri"ing trade in hy!ns and s$ells to secure the co!!on folk against his rath. There are !any !ore gods, godlings, and s$irits in the =edic religionC but e !ust $ass o"er the!. ?e ha"e seen enough, ) ho$e, to gi"e us a fair idea of the nature and "alue of that religion in general. ?hat then is its "alueJ The (ig"eda is essentially a $riestly bookC but it is not entirely a $riestly book. @uch of the thought to hich it gi"es utterance is $o$ular in origin and senti!ent, and is by no !eans of the lo est order. *n this ground ork the $riests ha"e built u$ a syste! of hieratic thought and ritual of their o n, in hich there is !uch that deser"es a certain res$ect. There is a good deal of fine $oetry in it. There is also in it so!e idea of a la of righteousness& in s$ite of !uch ild and un!oral !yth and fancy, its gods for the !ost $art are not ca$ricious de!ons but s$irits ho act in accordance ith established la s, !ajestic and ise beings in ho! are e!bodied the highest ideals to hich !en ha"e risen as yet. @oreo"er, the $riests in the later books ha"e gi"en us so!e !ystic hy!ns containing "igorous and $regnant s$eculations on the dee$est Auestions of eBistence, s$eculations hich are indeed fanciful and unscientific, but hich ne"ertheless ha"e in the! the ger!s of the $o erful idealis! that is destined to arise in centuries to co!e. *n the other hand, the $riests ha"e cast their syste! in the !ould of ritualis!. (itual, cere!ony, sacrifice, $rofessional benefit%%these are their $redo!inant interests. The $riestly cere!onies are concei"ed to $ossess a !agical $o er of their o nC and the fiBed la s of ritual by hich these cere!onies are regulated tend to ecli$se, and finally e"en to s allo u$, the la s of !oral righteousness under hich the gods li"e. A fe generations !ore, and the $riesthood ill frankly announce its ritual to be the su$re!e la of the uni"erse. @ean hile they are beco!ing !ore and !ore indifferent to the $ersonalities of the gods, hen they ha"e $reser"ed anyC they are Auite ready to ascribe attributes of one deity to another, e"en attributes of no!inal su$re!acy, ith unscru$ulous inconsistency and dubious sincerityC for the $ersonalities of the different gods are beginning to fade a ay in their eyes, and in their !ind is arising the conce$tion of a single uni"ersal Godhead.

4HAPTE( )) THE AGE *8 THE B(AH@A;A' A;D :PA;)'HAD' 4enturies ha"e $assed since the hy!ns of the (ig%"eda ere co!$osed. The Aryans ha"e no crossed the fateful ridge on the east of their for!er settle!ents, and ha"e s$read the!sel"es o"er the lands of ;orthern Hindostan around the u$$er basins of the Ganges and 9a!na, reaching east ard as far as Bihar and south ard do n to the =indhya @ountains, and in the course of their gro th they ha"e absorbed not a little of the blood of the dark%skinned nati"es. The old organisation

of society by tribes has co!e to an end, though the na!es of !any ancient tribes are still heardC the Aryans are no di"ided laterally by the $rinci$le of hat e call Hcaste,H hich is based u$on a co!bination of religious and $rofessional distinctions, and "ertically by the rule of kings, hile a fe oligarchic go"ern!ents still sur"i"e to re!ind the! of =edic days. )n these kingdo!s the old tribes are beginning to be fused togetherC fro! these co!binations ne 'tates are arising, arring ith one another, constantly aBing and aning. 'ociety is ruled $olitically by kings, s$iritually by Brah!ans. ?ith the rise of the kingdo! an Established 4hurch has co!e into eBistence, and the Brah!an $riesthood orks out its $rinci$les to the bitterest end of logic. The Brah!ans are no , !ore than they e"er ere before, a close cor$oration of race, religion, and $rofession, a religious fraternity in the strict sense of the ords. ?hile other classes of the Aryans ha"e !iBed their blood to a greater or less degree ith that of the nati"es, the Brah!ans ha"e $reser"ed !uch of the $ure Aryan strain. They, !oreo"er, ha"e !aintained the kno ledge of the ancient =edic language in hich the sacred hy!ns of their forefathers ere co!$osed, of the traditions associated ith the!, and of the $riestly lore of =edic ritual. Proud of this heritage and resol"ed to !aintain it undi!inished, they ha"e knitted the!sel"es into a close s$iritual and intellectual aristocracy, hich stands fast like a lighthouse a!idst the darkness and stor!s of $olitical changes. They e!$loy all the arts of the $riest, the thinker, the states!an, and e"en the !agician to $reser"e their $ri!acyC and around the! the !anifold "ariety of the other castes, in all their di"isions and subdi"isions, grou$s itself to !ake u$ the !ulti%coloured eb of )ndian life. )n course of ti!e this $riesthood ill s$read out octo$us%like tentacles o"er the hole of )ndia. Beco!ing all things to all !en, it ill find a $lace in its $antheon for all gods and all ideas, ba$tising the! by orthodoB na!es or justifying the! by ingenious fictions. )t ill send forth a$ostles and colonies e"en to the further!ost regions of the distant 'outh, hich, alien in blood and in tradition, ill ne"ertheless acce$t the! and surrender its best intellect to their control. )t ill e"en ad!it into the lo er ranks of its o n body !en of foreign birth by !eans of legal fictions, in order to !aintain its control of religion. Though itself s$litting u$ into scores of di"isions "arying in $urity of blood and tradition, it ill still as a hole !aintain its $osition as against all other classes of society. That the Brah!an is the Deity on earth, and other classes shall acce$t this dog!a and agree to take their rank in accordance ith it, ill beco!e the $rinci$le holding together a "ast agglo!eration of utterly di"erse ele!ents ithin the elastic bounds of 4atholic Brah!anis!. But as yet this condition of things has not arri"ed. The Brah!ans are still co!$arati"ely $ure in blood and ho!ogeneous in doctrine, and they ha"e as yet sent forth no colonies south of the =indhya. They are established in the lands of the Ganges and 9a!na as far to the east as Benares, and they look ith so!e conte!$t on their kins!en in the estern country that they ha"e left behind. They are busily e!$loyed in orking out to logical conclusions the ideas and $rinci$les of their (ig"edic forefathers. They ha"e no three =edasC for to the old (ig%"eda they ha"e added a #ajur%"eda for the use of the sacrificant orders of $riests and a 'a!a%"eda or hy!nal containing (ig"edic hy!ns

arranged for the chanting of choristers. The result of these labours is that they ha"e created a "ast and intricate syste! of sacrificial ritual, $erha$s the !ost colossal of its kind that the orld has e"er seen or e"er ill see. ?hat is still !ore re!arkable, the logical result of this i!!ense de"elo$!ent of ritualis! is that the $riesthood in theory is $ractically atheistic, hile on the other hand a certain nu!ber of its !e!bers ha"e arri"ed at a $hiloso$hy of co!$lete idealis! hich is beginning to turn its back u$on ritualis!. The atheist is not so !uch the !an ho denies the eBistence of any god as the !an to ho! God is not God, ho looks u$on the Deity as subordinate to $o ers "oid of holiness and nobility, the !an ho ill not see in God the highest force in the orld of nature and in the real! of the s$irit. )n this sense the Brah!ans are thorough atheists. According to the!, the uni"erse ith all that is in it%%gods, !en, and lo er things%%is created and go"erned by an iron la of soulless natural necessity. )t has arisen by e!anation fro! a cos!ic Princi$le, Praja$ati, Hthe Lord of 4reatures,H an i!$ersonal being ho sho s no trace of !oral $ur$ose in his acti"ity. Praja$ati hi!self is not absolutely the first in the course of nature. The Brah!anas, the $riestly books co!$osed in this $eriod to eB$ound the rules and !ystic significance of the Brah!anic cere!onies, gi"e us "arying accounts of his origin, so!e of the! saying that he arose through one or !ore inter!ediate stages fro! non%eBistence MTB. )). ii. 5, 6%6-, 'B. =). i. 6, 6%2N, others deri"ing hi! indirectly fro! the $ri!iti"e aters M'B. O). i. G, 6N, others tracing his origin back to the still !ore i!$ersonal and abstract Brah!a M'a!a". B. ). 6%F, Go$. B. ). i. +N. All these are atte!$ts to eB$ress in the for! of !yth the idea of an i!$ersonal Princi$le of 4reation as arising fro! a still !ore abstract first $rinci$le. ?e ha"e seen the $oets of the (ig%"eda gradually !o"ing to ards the idea of a unity of godheadC in Praja$ati this goal is attained, but unfortunately it is attained by sacrificing al!ost all that is truly di"ine in godhead. The conce$tion of Praja$ati that e find in the Brah!anas is also eB$ressed in so!e of the latest hy!ns of the (ig%"eda. A!ong these is the fa!ous Purusha%sukta M(=. O. 5-N, hich thro s a $eculiar light on the character of Praja$ati. )t is in $raise of a $ri!iti"e Purusha or @an, ho is, of course, the sa!e as Praja$atiC in so!e !ysterious !anner this Purusha is sacrificed, and fro! the "arious $arts of his body arise the "arious $arts of the orld. The idea con"eyed by this is that the uni"erse ca!e into eBistence by the o$eration of the !ystic la s re"ealed in the Brah!anic rituals, and is !aintained in its natural order by the sa!e !eans. The Brah!anas do not indeed often assert on their o n authority that Praja$ati as hi!self sacrificed in order to $roduce the orld, and in fact they usually gi"e other accounts of the creationC but as their authors li"e in a rarefied at!os$here of !ystical allegory in hich fact and fancy are co!$letely confused ith one another and consistency ceases to ha"e any !eaning, none of the! ould ha"e difficulty in acce$ting the (ig"edic state!ent that he as sacrificed. Hence they tell us on the one hand that Praja$ati has created the orld fro! a blind ill for generation or increase, $roducing fro! each of his li!bs so!e class of beings corres$onding to it Me.g. @'. )=. "i. FN, or co$ulating ith the earth, at!os$here, sky, and s$eech M'B. =). i. ,, 6N, or that he brought it into eBistence indirectly by entering ith the Tri$le 'cience or !ystic lore of the three =edas into the $ri!e"al aters and thence for!ing an egg fro! hich as hatched the $ersonal De!iurge Brah!a, ho actually created the orld M'B. =). i. 6, 6-NC and on the other hand they relate that he created

sacrifice and $erfor!ed it, !aking of hi!self a "icti! in order that the gods, his offs$ring, !ight $erfor! the rites for their o n benefit, for!ing an i!age of hi!self to be the sacrifice, by hich he redee!ed hi!self fro! the gods M'B. O). i. 1, ,%+C cf. AB. =)). 65, <B. O))). 6, 'B. ))). ii. 6, 66N, and that after creation he ascended to hea"en M'B. O. ii. ,, 6N. The thought that lies underneath these be ildering flights of fancy is one of !ystic $antheis!& all created eBistence has arisen by e!anation fro! the one 4reati"e Princi$le, Praja$ati, and in essence is one ith Praja$atiC Praja$ati is an i!$ersonal being, a creati"e force, in hich are e!bodied the la s of Brah!anic ritual, hich acts only in these la s, and hich is abo"e the !oral influences that affect hu!anityC and the hole of created nature, ani!ate and inani!ate, is controlled in e"ery $rocess of its being by these la s, and by the $riest ho $ossesses the kno ledge of the!. Thus there lies a $rofound significance in the title of Hgods on earthH hich the Brah!ans ha"e assu!ed. ?hen e s$eak of sacrifice in )ndia, e !ust clear our !inds of the ideas hich e ha"e for!ed fro! reading the Bible. The @osaic conce$tion of sacrifice as that of a religious cere!ony denoting a !oral relation bet een a $ersonal God and His orshi$$ers& in the sin%offerings and tres$ass%offerings as sy!bolised a reconciliation bet een !an and his God ho as angered by !anKs conscious or unconscious breach of the la s hich had been i!$osed u$on hi! for his s$iritual elfare, hile !eat%offerings and $eace%offerings ty$ified the orshi$$erKs sense of gratitude for the Di"ine lo"e and isdo! that guarded hi!. *f such relations there is to be found in the Brah!anas no trace. )f e !ay use a !odern figure of s$eech, they concei"e the uni"erse of gods, !en, and lo er creatures as a single i!!ense electric battery, and the sacrifice as a $rocess of charging this battery ith e"er fresh electricity. The sacrifice is a $rocess, at once !aterial and !ystic, hich $reser"es the order of nature as established by the $rototy$ic sacrifice $erfor!ed by Praja$ati. The gods beca!e di"ine and i!!ortal through sacrifice MT'. =). iii. +, ., =). iii. 6-, ,, =)). i". ,, 6, 'B. ). "i. ,, 6, @'. ))). iB. +, AB. =). i. 6, etc.NC and they li"e on the gifts of earth, as !ankind li"es on the gifts of hea"en MT'. ))). ii. 5, ., 'B. ). ii. 2, ,+N. The sacrifice is thus the life%$rinci$le, the soul, of all gods and all beings M'B. =))). "i. 6, 6-, )O. iii. ,, ., O)=. iii. ,, 6NC or, hat a!ounts to the sa!e thing, the Tri$le 'cience or the kno ledge of the cere!onies of the Three =edas is their essence M'B. O. i". ,, ,6N. As Praja$ati created the $ri!e"al sacrifice, and as the gods by follo ing this rule obtained their di"inity, so !an should seek to follo their eBa!$le and by !eans of sacrifice rise to godhead and i!!ortality. As one Brah!ana $uts it, the sacrifice leads the ay to hea"enC it is follo ed by the DdakshinaD, or fee $aid by the sacrificer to the sacrificant $riests, hich of course !aterially strengthens the efficacy of the sacrificeC and third co!es the sacrificer, holding fast to the DdakshinaD. This ascent of hea"en is sy!bolised in the cere!ony called DdurohanaD, or Hhard !ountingH MAB. )=. ,-, ,6, <B. OO=. .N, and it is ensured by the rite of DdikshaD, or consecration, in hich the sacrificer is sy!bolically re$resented as $assing through a ne conce$tion, gestation, and birth, by hich he is su$$osed to obtain t o bodies. *ne of these bodies is i!!ortal and s$iritualC the other is !ortal and !aterial, and is assigned as a "icti! to all the gods. He then ranso!s his !aterial body fro! the obligation of being sacrificed, as did Praja$ati, and thus ranks literally as a Hgod on earth,H ith the certainty of beco!ing in due course a god in hea"en.

?hen the student on reading the Brah!anas finds the! full of inter!inable cere!onial rules ith eAually inter!inable co!!entaries inter$reting the! by ildest analogies as sy!bolical of details of !yths or of la s of nature and hence as conferring !ystic $o ers, besides all kinds of !yths, so!e forcibly dragged into the inter$retation of the ritual because of so!e i!aginary $oint of rese!blance, others in"ented or recast on $ur$ose to justify so!e detail of cere!ony, and hen !oreo"er he obser"es that !any of these !yths and so!e of the rites are brutally and filthily obscene, and that hardly any of the! sho the least !oral feeling, he !ay be eBcused for thinking the Brah!anas to be the ork of !ad!en. But there is so!e !ethod in their !adness. Ho e"er strangely they !ay eB$ress the!, they ha"e definite and strictly logical ideas about the sacrificial ritual and its cos!ic function. )t is !ore difficult to defend the! against the charge of ant of !orality. )t !ust be ad!itted that their su$re!e Being, Praja$ati, is in the !ain lines of his character utterly i!$ersonal, and here incidentally he sho s any hu!an feelings they are as a rule far fro! creditable to hi!. He created the uni"erse fro! !echanical instinct or blind desire, and co!!itted or tried to co!!it incest ith his daughter Mthe accounts are "ariousN. He has begotten both the gods and the de!ons, Dde"asD and DasurasD, ho are constantly at ar ith one another. The gods, ho are e!bodi!ents of HtruthH Mthat is to say, correct kno ledge of the la of ritualN, ha"e been often in great danger of being o"er hel!ed by the de!ons, ho e!body Huntruth,H and they ha"e been sa"ed by Praja$atiC but he has done this not fro! any sense of right, but !erely fro! blind ill or fa"our, for he can hardly distinguish one $arty fro! the other. The gods the!sel"es, in s$ite of being of Htruth,H are sadly frail. DoIens of !yths charge the! ith falsehood, hatred, lust, greed, and jealousy, and only the stress of the danger threatening the! fro! their ad"ersaries the de!ons has induced the! to organise the!sel"es into an ordered kingdo! under the so"ereignty of )ndra, ho has been anointed by Praja$ati. True, !any of the offensi"e features in this !ythology and ritual are sur"i"als fro! a "ery ancient $ast, a $re%historic ti!e in hich !orals ere cons$icuously absent fro! religionC the $riesthood has forgotten "ery little, and as a rule has only added ne rituals and ne inter$retations to this legacy fro! the days of old. ;e"ertheless it !ust be confessed that there is a tone of ritualistic $rofessionalis! in the Brah!anas that is un$leasingC the $riesthood are consciously su$erior to nature, God, and !orals by "irtue of their HTri$le 'cience,H and they constantly e!$hasise this clai!. )t is difficult for us to realise that these are the sa!e !en ho ha"e created the Brah!anic culture of )ndia, hich, ho e"er e !ay criticise it fro! the ?estern $oint of "ie , is essentially a gentle life, a field in hich !oral feeling and intellectual effort ha"e born abundance of goodly fruit. #et if e look !ore closely e shall see that e"en these ritualists, besotted as they !ay see! to be ith their orgies of $riestcraft, are not holly untouched by the better s$irit of their race. EBtre!es of sanctity, hether it be ritualistic or anti%ritualistic sanctity, al ays tend in )ndia%%and in other countries as ell%%to $roduce su$er!en. And if our $riesthood in the Brah!anas feel the!sel"es in the $ride of s$iritual $o er lifted abo"e the rules of !oral la , they are not in $ractice indifferent to it. Their li"es are for the !ost $art gentle and good. Though HtruthH in the Brah!anas usually !eans only accordance ith the ritual and !ystic teachings of the Tri$le 'cience, it so!eti!es signifies e"en there "eracity and honesty also.

Truthfulness in s$eech is the hall%!ark of the Brah!an, says Haridru!ata Gauta!a to 'atyaka!a 9abala M4hhand. :$. )=. i". 2NC and e"en in the Brah!anas a lie is so!eti!es a sin. )f conser"atis! co!$els the $riests to kee$ obscene old $ractices in their rituals, they are not al ays satisfied ith the!, and "oices begin to be heard $leading that these rites are really obsolete. )n short, a !oral sense is beginning to arise a!ong the!. ;o the !oral la , in order that it !ay be feared, needs to be e!bodied in the $ersonality of a god. @ost of their gods ins$ire no fear at all in the souls of the Brah!ansC but there is one of ho! they ha"e a dread, hich is all the greater for being illogical. Praja$ati is a "ast i!$ersonality, too re!ote and abstract to ins$ire the soul ith either fear or lo"e. The other gods%%)ndra, Agni, 'o!a, =aruna, =ishnu, and the rest%%are his offs$ring, and are !o"ed like $u$$ets by the !achinery of the ritual of sacrifice created by hi!. Ho e"er !uch they !ay see! to differ one fro! another in their attributes and $ersonalities, they are in essence one and negligible in the eyes of the !aster of the ritual lore. )n the beginning, say the Brah!anas, all the gods MeBce$t Praja$ati, of courseN ere alike, and all ere !ortalC then they $erfor!ed sacrifices and thereby beca!e i!!ortal, each ith his $eculiar attributes of di"inity./613 Thus at botto! they are all the sa!e thing, !erely $hases of the uni"ersal godhead, a"es stirred u$ by the current of the cos!ic sacrifice. They ha"e no terrors for the $riesthood. But there is one deity ho obstinately refuses to acco!!odate hi!self to this con"enient $oint of "ie , and that is (udra, or 'i"a. By rights and logically he ought to fall into rank ith the rest of the godsC but there is a crossgrained ele!ent in his nature hich kee$s hi! out. As e ha"e seen, he co!es fro! a different source& in origin he as a de!on, a $o er of terror, hose real! of orshi$ lay a$art fro! that of the gods of higher class, and no , although it has eBtended into the do!ains of orthodoB religion, an at!os$here of dread still broods o"er it./653 (udra ields all his ancient terrors o"er a !uch idened area. The $riests ha"e assigned hi! a regular $lace in their liturgies, and fully recognise hi! in his se"eral $hases as Bha"a, 'ar"a, :gra, @aha%de"a or the Great God, (udra, )sana or the Lord, and Asani or the Thunderbolt M<B. =). ,%5N. Ar!ed ith his terrors, he is fit to be e!$loyed in the ser"ice of conscience. Hence a !yth has arisen that in order to $unish Praja$ati for his incest ith his daughter the gods created Bhuta%$ati M ho is Pasu%$ati or (udra under a ne na!eN, ho stabbed hi!. The rest of the !yth is as i!!aterial to our $ur$ose as it is unsa"ouryC hat is i!$ortant is that the conscience of the Brah!ans as beginning to feel slight Aual!s at the uncleanness of so!e of their old !yths and to look to ards (udra as in so!e degree an a"enger of sin. )n this is i!$lied an i!!ense !oral ad"ance. Henceforth there ill be a gradual ennoble!ent of one of the $hases of the godKs character. @any of the best !inds a!ong the Brah!ans ill find their i!aginations stirred and their consciences !o"ed by conte!$lation of hi!. To the! he ill be no !ore a !ere de!on of the !ountain and the ild. His destructi"e rath they ill inter$ret as sy!bolising the e"erlasting $rocess of death%in%life hich is the keynote of natureC in his ild dances they ill see i!aged forth the e"erlasting throb of cos!ic eBistenceC to his terrors they ill find a re"erse of infinite lo"e and grace. The horrors of (udra the deadly are the !antle of 'i"a the gracious. Thus, hile the godKs character in its lo er $hases re!ains the sa!e as before, clai!ing the orshi$ of the basest classes of !ankind, and no ise rising to a higher le"el,

it de"elo$s $o erfully and fruitfully in one as$ect hich attracts gra"e and earnest i!aginations. The @uni, the conte!$lati"e ascetic, $enetrates in !editation through the terrors of 'i"aKs out ard for! to the godKs in ard lo"e and isdo!, and beholds in hi! his o n di"ine $rototy$e. And so 'i"a co!es to be figured in this nobler as$ect as the di"ine @uni, the su$re!e saint and sage. /8ootnote 61& 8or the original !ortality of the gods see T'. =)). i". ,, 6, 'B. O. i". FF f., O). i. ,, 6,, ii. F, GC for their $ri!iti"e non%differentiation, T'. =). "i. 1, ,, 'B. )=. ". +, 6%+.3 /8ootnote 65& 4f. e.g. <B. ))). + P G, =). ,%5, and A$. ''. =). Bi". 66%6F.3 ?hile the orshi$ of 'i"a is slo ly !aking its ay into the heart of Brah!anic ritualis!, another !o"e!ent is at ork hich is gradually dra ing !any of the keenest intellects a!ong the Brah!ans a ay fro! the study of ritual to ards an idealistic $hiloso$hy hich "ie s all ritual ith indifference. )ts literature is the :$anishads. The $assing of the (ig"edic age has left to the Brah!ans a doctrinal legacy, hich !ay be thus restated& a single di"ine $rinci$le through a $rototy$ic sacrifice has gi"en birth to the uni"erse, and all the $rocesses of cos!ic nature are controlled by sacrifices founded u$on that $ri!e"al sacrifice. )n short, the ritual sy!bolises and in a sense actually DisD the hole cos!ic $rocess. The ritual i!$lies both the kno ledge of the la of sacrifice and the $ro$er $ractice of that la , Dboth understanding and orksD. This is the stand$oint of the orthodoB ritualist. But there has also arisen a ne school a!ong the Brah!ans, that of the Au$anishadas, hich has laid do n for its first doctrine that D orks are for the sake of understandingD, that the $ractice of ritual is of "alue only as a hel$ to the !ystic kno ledge of the All. But here they ha"e not haltedC they ha"e gone a further ste$, and declared that Dkno ledge once attained, orks beco!e needlessD. 'o!e e"en "enture to hint that $erha$s the highest kno ledge is not to be reached through orks at all. And the kno ledge that the Au$anishadas seek is of Brah!a, and DisD Brah!a. The ord Dbrah!aD is a neuter noun, and in the (ig%"eda it !eans so!ething that can only be fully translated by a long circu!locution. )t !ay be rendered as Hthe $o er of ritual de"otionHC that is to say, it denotes the !ystic or !agic force hich is $ut forth by the $oet%$riest of the (ig%"eda hen he $erfor!s the rites of sacrifice ith a$$ro$riate chanting of hy!ns%%in short, ritual !agic. This !ystic force the (ig"edic $oets ha"e re$resented in $ersonal for! as the god Brihas$ati, in !uch the sa!e ay as they e!bodied the s$irit of the sacrifice in =ishnu. Their successors, the orthodoB ritualists of the Brah!anas, ha"e not !ade !uch use of this ter!C but so!eti!es they s$eak of Brah!a as an abstract first $rinci$le, the highest and ulti!ate source of all being, e"en of Praja$ati M'a!a". B. ). 6, Go$. B. ). i. +NC and hen they s$eak of Brah!a they think of hi! not as a $o er connected ith religious cere!ony but as a su$re!ely transcendent and absolutely unAualified and i!$ersonal 8irst EBistence. But the school of the Au$anishadas has gone further. 'eeking through orks !ystic kno ledge as the highest reality, they see in Brah!a the $erfect kno ledge. To the! the absolute 8irst EBistence is also transcendently full and unAualified Thought. As kno ledge is $o er, the $erfect Po er is $erfect <no ledge.

Brah!a then is absolute kno ledgeC and all that eBists is really Brah!a, one and indi"isible in essence, but $resenting itself illusi"ely to the finite consciousness as a orld of $lurality, of !ost !anifold subjects and objects of thought. The highest isdo!, the greatest of all secrets, is to kno this truth, to realise ith full consciousness that there eBists only the *ne, Brah!a, the infinite )deaC and the sage of the :$anishads is he ho has attained this kno ledge, understanding that he hi!self, as indi"idual subject of thought, is really identical ith the uni"ersal Brah!a. He has realised that he is one ith the )nfinite Thought, he has raised hi!self to the !ystic heights of transcendental Being and <no ledge, i!!easurably far abo"e nature and the gods. He kno s all things at their fountain%head, and life can ne"er!ore bring har! to hi!C in his kno ledge he has sal"ation, and death ill lead hi! to co!$lete union ith Brah!a. The Au$anishadas ha"e thus ad"anced fro! the $antheis! of the orthodoB ritualists to a transcendental idealis!. The $rocess has been gradual. )t as only by degrees that they reached the idea of sal"ation in kno ledge, the kno ledge that is union ith Brah!aC and it as like ise only through slo stages that they ere able to concei"e of Brah!a in itself. @any $assages in the :$anishads are full of struggles to re$resent Brah!a by sy!bols or for!s $erce$tible to the sense, such as ether, breath, the sun, etc. Priests endea"oured to ad"ance through ritual orks to the ideas hich these orks are su$$osed to sy!bolise& the ritual is the training%ground for the higher kno ledge, the leading%strings for infant $hiloso$hy. Gradually !en beco!e ca$able of thinking ithout the hel$ of these sy!bols& $hiloso$hy gro s to !anhood, and looks ith a certain conte!$t u$on those su$$orts of its infancy. The nature of Brah!a as concei"ed in the :$anishads is a subject on hich endless contro"ersies ha"e raged, and e need not add to the!. Besides, the :$anishads the!sel"es are not strictly consistent on this $oint, or on others, for that !atterC for they are not a single ho!ogeneous syste! of $hiloso$hy, but a nu!ber of s$eculations, fro! often "arying stand$oints, and they are freAuently inconsistent. But there are so!e ideas hich are !ore or less $resent in all of the!. They regard Brah!a as absolute and infinite Thought and Being at once, and as such it is one ith the consciousness, soul or self, of the indi"idual hen the latter rids hi!self of the illusion of a !anifold uni"erse and realises his unity ith Brah!a. @oreo"er, Brah!a is bliss%%the joy of holly $erfect and self%satisfied thought and being. 'ince Brah!a as uni"ersal 'oul is really identical ith each indi"idual soul or Dat!aD, and "ice "ersa, it follo s that each indi"idual soul contains ithin itself, DAuaD Brah!a, the hole of eBistence, nature, gods, !ankind, and all other beingsC it creates the! all, and all de$end u$on it. *ur Au$anishadas are thoroughgoing idealists. Another ne idea also a$$ears for the first ti!e in the early :$anishads, and one that henceforth ill ield enor!ous influence in all )ndian thought. This is the theory of Dkar!aD and Dsa!saraD, rebirth of the soul in accordance ith the nature of its $re"ious orks. Before the :$anishads e find no e"idence of this doctrine& the nearest a$$roach to it is in so!e $assages of the Brah!anas hich s$eak of sinful !en dying again in the neBt orld as a $unish!ent for

their guilt. But in the :$anishads the doctrine a$$ears full%fledged, and it is fraught ith conseAuences of i!!ense i!$ortance. 'a!sara !eans literally a H andering to and fro,H that is, the cycle of births through hich each soul !ust e"erlastingly $ass fro! infinite ti!e, and <ar!a !eans the HactsH of each soul. Each ork or act $erfor!ed by a li"ing being is of a certain degree of righteousness or unrighteousness, and it is reAuited by a future eB$erience of corres$onding $leasure or $ain. 'o e"ery birth and ulti!ately e"ery eB$erience of a soul is deter!ined by the righteousness of its $re"ious actsC and there is no release for the soul fro! this endless chain of causes and effects unless it can find so!e su$ernatural ay of deli"erance. The Au$anishadas $oint to hat they belie"e to be the only ay& it is the Brah!a%kno ledge of the enlightened sage, hich releases his soul fro! the chain of natural causation and raises hi! to e"erlasting union ith Brah!a. The teaching of the :$anishads has had t o "ery different $ractical results. *n the one hand, it has !o"ed !any earnest thinkers to cast off the ties of the orld and to ander about as ho!eless beggars, li"ing on al!s and !editating and discoursing u$on the teachings of the :$anishads, hile they a ait the co!ing of death to release their souls fro! the $rison of the flesh and bring it to co!$lete and eternal union ith Brah!a. These andering ascetics%%DsannyasisD, DbhikshusD, or D$ari"rajakasD they are called%%for! a class by the!sel"es, hich is destined to ha"e an i!!ense influence in !oulding the future thought of )ndia. The teaching of Brah!anis! is beginning to recognise the!, too. )t has already di"ided the life of the orthodoB !an into three stages, or Dasra!asD, studentshi$, the condition of the !arried householder, and thirdly the life of the her!it, or D"ana$rasthaD, to hich the householder should retire after he has left a son to !aintain his householdC and no it is beginning to add to these as fourth stage the life of the ho!eless ascetic a aiting death and release. But this arrange!ent is for the !ost $art a fiction, de"ised in order to kee$ the beggar%$hiloso$hers ithin the sche!e of Brah!anic lifeC in reality they the!sel"es recognise no such la . The other current a!ong the Au$anishadas is flo ing in a "ery different direction. ?e ha"e seen ho the orshi$ of (udra%'i"a has gro n since the old (ig"edic days, and ho so!e souls ha"e been able to see a!idst the terrors of the god a $o er of lo"e and isdo! that satisfies their dee$est ho$es and longings, as none of the orthodoB rituals can do. A ne feeling, the s$irit of religious de"otion, DbhaktiD as it is called, is arising a!ong the!. To the!%%and they nu!ber !any Brah!ans as ell as !en of other orders%%'i"a has thus beco!e the highest object of orshi$, )s"ara or Hthe LordHC and ha"ing thus enthroned hi! as su$re!e in their hearts, they are endea"ouring to find for hi! a corres$onding $lace in their intellects. To this end they clai! that 'i"a as )s"ara is the highest of all for!s of eBistenceC and this doctrine is gro ing and finding !uch fa"our. A!ong the Au$anishadas there are !any ho reconcile it ith the teaching of the :$anishads by identifying 'i"a ith Brah!a. Thus a ne light begins to flicker here and there in the :$anishads as the conce$tion of 'i"a, a $ersonal god ielding free grace, colours the $ale hiteness of the i!$ersonal Brah!aC and at last in the '"etas"atara, hich though rather late in date is not the least i!$ortant of the :$anishads, this theistic !o"e!ent boldly $roclai!s itself& the su$re!e Brah!a, identified ith 'i"a, is definitely contrasted ith

the indi"idual soul as di"ine to hu!an, gi"er of grace to recei"er of grace. Later :$anishads ill take u$ this strain, in honour of 'i"a and other gods, and finally they ill end as !ere tracts of this or that theistic church. #et another current is no beginning to stir !enKs !inds, and it is one that is also destined to a great future. )t starts fro! <rishna. The teaching of the :$anishads, that all being is the *ne Brah!a and that Brah!a is the sa!e as the indi"idual soul, has busied !any !en, not only Brah!ans but also <shatriyas, noble!en of the arrior order. 'o!e e"en say that it arose a!ong the <shatriyasC and at any rate it is likely that they, being less obsessed ith the for!s of ritual than the Brah!ans and therefore able to think !ore directly and clearly, ha"e hel$ed the Brah!ans in their discussions to clear their !inds of ritual sy!bolis!, and to realise !ore definitely the $hiloso$hic ideas hich hitherto they had seen only di!ly ty$ified in their cere!onies. <rishna as one of these <shatriyas. He belonged to the 'at"ata or =rishni tribe, li"ing in or near the ancient city of @athura. 'o!eti!es in early ritings he is styled <rishna De"aki$utra, <rishna De"akiKs son, because his !otherKs na!e as De"akiC so!eti!es again he is called <rishna =asude"a, or si!$ly =asude"a, hich is a $atrony!ic said to be deri"ed fro! the na!e of his father =asude"a. )n later ti!es e shall find a hole cycle of legend gathering round hi!, in hich doubtless there is a kernel of fact. *!itting the !iraculous ele!ents in these tales, e !ay say that the outline of the <rishna%legend is as follo s& <rishnaKs father =asude"a and his !other De"aki ere grie"ously ronged by De"akiKs cousin <a!sa, ho usur$ed the royal $o er in @athura and endea"oured to slay <rishna in his infancyC but the child esca$ed, and on gro ing to !anhood killed <a!sa. But <a!sa had !ade alliance ith 9arasandha king of @agadha, ho no threatened <rishnaC so <rishna $rudently retired fro! @athura and led a colony of his tribes!en to D"araka, on the estern coast in <athia ar, here he founded a ne 'tate. There see!s to be no "alid reason for doubting these state!ents. 'ober history does not reject a tale because it is e!broidered ith !yth and fiction. ;o this !an <rishna in the !idst of his stirring life of ar and go"ern!ent found ti!e and taste also for the things that are of the s$irit. He talked ith !en learned in the :$anishads about Brah!a and the soul and the orshi$ of GodC and a$$arently he set u$ a little Established 4hurch of his o n, in hich as co!bined so!ething of the idealis! of the :$anishads ith the orshi$ of a su$re!e God of grace and $erha$s too a kind of religious disci$line, about hich e shall say !ore later on. )t !ust be confessed that e kno sadly little about his actual doctrine fro! first hand. All that e hear about it is a short cha$ter in the 4hhandogya :$anishad Miii. 6.N, here the Brah!an Ghora Angirasa gi"es a ser!on to <rishna, in hich he co!$ares the $hases of hu!an life to stages in the DdikshaD or cere!ony of consecration, and the !oral "irtues that should acco!$any the! to the DdakshinaD or honorariu! $aid to the officiating $riests, and he concludes by eBhorting his hearer to realise that the Brah!a is i!$erishable, unfailing, and s$iritual, and Auoting t o "erses fro! the (ig%"eda s$eaking of the 'un as ty$ifying the su$re!e bliss to hich the enlightened soul arises. This does not tell us "ery !uch, and !oreo"er e should re!e!ber that here our author, being an Au$anishada, is !ore interested in hat Ghora $reached to <rishna than

in hat <rishna acce$ted fro! GhoraKs teaching. But e shall find centuries later in the Bhaga"ad%gita, the greatest teBtbook of the religion of <rishna, so!e distant echoes of this $aragra$h of the 4hhandogya. The beginnings of the religion of <rishna are thus "ery uncertain. But as e tra"el do n the ages e find it gro ing and s$reading. ?e see <rishna hi!self regarded as a half%di"ine hero and teacher, and orshi$$ed under the na!e of DBhaga"anD, Hthe Lord,H in association ith other half%di"ine heroes. ?e see hi! beco!ing identified ith old gods, and finally rising to the rank of the 'u$re!e Deity hose orshi$ he had hi!self taught in his lifeti!e, the Brah!a of the $hiloso$hers and the @ost High God of the theists. As has ha$$ened !any a ti!e, the teacher has beco!e the God of his 4hurch.

4HAPTE( ))) THE EP)4', A;D LATE( ). =)'H;:%<()'H;A ?e no enter u$on an age in hich the old gods, )ndra and Brah!a, retire to the background, hile =ishnu and 'i"a stand in the forefront of the stage. The Hindus are of the sa!e o$inion as the Latin $oet& Dferrea nunc aetas agiturD. ?e are no li"ing in an )ron Age, according to the!C and it began in the year F6-, B.4., shortly after the great ar described in the @ahabharata. The date F6-,, ) need hardly re!ark, is of no historical "alue, being based !erely u$on the theories of co!$arati"ely late astrono!ersC but the state!ent as a hole is i!$ortant. The Great ?ar !arks an e$och. )t ca!e at the end of hat !ay be called the $re%historic $eriod, and as follo ed by a ne age. To be strictly correct, e !ust say that the age hich follo ed the Great ?ar as not ne in the sense that it introduced any startling no"elties that had been unkno n $re"iouslyC but it as ne in the sense that after the Great ?ar )ndia s$eedily beca!e the )ndia that e kno fro! historical records. A certain fusion of different races, cultures, and ideals had to take $lace in order that the $eculiar ci"ilisation of )ndia !ight unfold itselfC and this fusion as acco!$lished about the ti!e of the Great ?ar, and $artly no doubt by !eans of the Great ?ar, so!e ten centuries before the 4hristian era. The story of the Great ?ar is told ith a ild $rofusion of !ythical and legendary colouring in the @ahabharata, an e$ic the na!e of hich !eans literally HThe Great Tale of the Bharata 4lan.H )t relates ho the blind old <ing Dhritarashtra of Hastina$ura had a hundred sons, kno n as the <uru or <aura"a $rinces, the eldest of ho! as Duryodhana, and DhritarashtraKs brother Pandu had fi"e sons, the Panda"a brethrenC ho the Panda"as ere ousted by the <aura"as fro! the kingdo!, the eldest Panda"a $rince #udhishthira ha"ing been induced to stake the fortunes of hi!self and his brethren on a ga!e of dice, in hich he as defeatedC ho the fi"e Panda"as, ith their co!!on ife Drau$adi Mobser"e this curious and ugly feature of

$olyandry, hich is Auite o$$osed to standard Hindu !orals, but is by no !eans un$aralleled in early )ndian literature/,-3N retired into eBile for thirteen years, and then ca!e back ith a great ar!y of allies, and after fierce and bloody battles ith the <aura"as and their su$$orters in the $lain of <urukshetra at last gained the "ictory, sle the <aura"as, and established #udhishthira as king in Hastina$ura. A!ong the Panda"as the leading $art is $layed by the eldest, #udhishthira, and the third, ArjunaC of the others, Bhi!a, the second, is a Hercules notable only for his strength, courage, and fidelity, hile the t ins ;akula and 'ahade"a are colourless figures. <rishna $lays an i!$ortant $art in the storyC for on the return of the Panda"as to fight the <aura"as he acco!$anies Arjuna as his charioteer, and on the e"e of the first battle deli"ers to hi! a discourse on his religion, the Bhaga"ad%gita, or LordKs 'ong, hich has beco!e one of the !ost fa!ous and $o erful of all the sacred books of )ndia. /8ootnote ,-& 'ee H. (aychaudhuri, D@aterials for the 'tudy of the Early History of the =aishna"a 'ect, $. ,.D.3 ;o if the @ahabharata ere as ho!ogeneous e"en as the )liad and *dyssey, hich gi"e us a fairly consistent and truthful $icture of a single age, e should be in a "ery ha$$y $osition. :nfortunately this is not the case. *ur e$ic began as a Bharata, or Tale of the Bharata 4lan, $robably of "ery !oderate bulk, not later than G-- B.4., and $erha$s considerably earlierC and fro! that ti!e on ard it ent on gro ing bigger and bigger for o"er a thousand years, as editors stuffed in ne e$isodes and still longer discourses on nearly all the religious and $hiloso$hic doctrines ad!itted ithin the four alls of Hinduis!, until it gre to its $resent i!!ense bulk, hich it clai!s to a!ount to 6--,--- "erses. Thus it $ictures the thought not of one century but of !ore than ten, and e cannot feel sure of the date of any $articular state!ent in it. ;e"ertheless e can distinguish in a general ay bet een the old skeleton of the story, in hich the the!e is treated in si!$le e$ic fashion, society is far freer than in later days and no one objects to eating beef, fro! the additional !atter, in hich the tale is recast in a far !ore grandiose "ein and is $added out ith enor!ous Auantities of !oral, religious, and $hiloso$hic ser!ons. The religion too is different in the different $arts. )n the older $ortions the gods ho are !ost $o$ular are )ndra, Agni, and Brah!a%%not the neuter abstract Brah!a, but the !asculine Brah!a, the De!iurge, ho corres$onds !ore or less to Praja$ati of the Brah!anas and is re$resented in classical art as a four%headed old !an reciting the =edas%%and <rishna see!s to figure only as a hero or at best as a de!igodC but the later $arts ith fine i!$artiality clai! the su$re!acy of hea"en "ariously for 'i"a, Brah!a, and =ishnuC and =ishnu, as e ha"e seen, is so!eti!es identified ith <rishna, notably in the cha$ters kno n as the Bhaga"ad%gita. The gods ha"e changed so!e hat since earlier days. )ndra has settled do n in the constitutional !onarchy of Paradise assigned to hi! by the Brah!anasC he no figures as the $rototy$e of earthly kings, leading the ar!ies of the gods to ar against the de!ons hen occasion reAuires, and $assing the leisure of $eace in the enjoy!ent of celestial dissi$ation. His !orals ha"e not i!$ro"ed& he is a debonair debauchee. Brah!a the 4reator, a !ore $o$ular "ersion of Praja$ati, is still too i!$ersonal to ha"e !uch hold on the $o$ular i!aginationC the sa!e is the case ith Agni the 8ire%god. Plainly there as a "acancy

for a su$re!e deity hose character as $o souls, either through a e or lo"eC and for strong candidates, =ishnu and 'i"a, ho in the $ost and di"ided the su$re!acy bet een

erful enough to !o"e !enKs this "acancy there ere t o course of ti!e succeeded to the!.

=ishnu has altered i!!ensely since last e !et hi!. 8irst, after an eBtraordinary change in his o n character, he has been identified ith ;arayana, and then both of the! ha"e been eAuated ith <rishna. The de"elo$!ent is so $ortentous that it calls for a little study. ?e ha"e seen that in the =edas =ishnu a$$ears to be, and in the Brah!anas certainly is, the e!bodied '$irit of the 'acrifice, and that ritual !ysticis! has in"ented for hi! a su$re!e ho!e in the highest hea"en. But in the E$ics he has de"elo$ed into a radiant and gracious figure of ideal di"inity, an al!ighty sa"iour ith a long record of holy orks for the sal"ation of !ankind, a god ho delights in !oral goodness as ell as in ritual $ro$riety, and ho fro! ti!e to ti!e incarnates hi!self in hu!an or ani!al for! so as to !aintain the order of righteousness. 'y!bolis! has further endo ed hi! ith a consort, the goddess 'ri or Laksh!i, ty$ifying fortuneC so!eti!es also he is re$resented ith another ife, the Earth%goddess. The di"ine ha k or kite Garuda, ho see!s to ha"e been originally the sa!e as the eagle ho in the (ig"edic legend carried off the so!a for )ndra, has been $ressed into his ser"iceC he no rides on Garuda, and bears his figure u$on his banner. ) ha"e already suggested a $ossible eB$lanation of this e"olution Mabo"e, $. +6N& o ing to his close association ith )ndra, the !ost truly $o$ular of (ig"edic deities, the laic i!agination transfused so!e of the li"e blood of )ndra into the "eins of the $riestly abstraction =ishnu. To the $lain !an )ndra as "ery realC and as he freAuently heard tales of )ndra being aided in his eB$loits by =ishnu, he ca!e to regard =ishnu as a "ery $resent hel$er in trouble. The friend of )ndra beca!e the friend of !ankind. The $ost of )ndra had already been fiBed for hi! by the theologiansC but the functions of =ishnu, outside the rituals, ere still so!e hat "aguely defined, and ere ca$able of considerable eB$ansion. Here as a great o$$ortunity for those souls ho ere seeking for a su$re!e god of grace, and ere not satisfied to find hi! in 'i"aC and they !ade full use of it, and holly transfor!ed the $ersonality of =ishnu. *ne of the stages in this transfor!ation as the absor$tion of ;arayana in =ishnu. ;arayana as originally a god of a different kind. The earliest reference to hi! is in a Brah!ana hich calls hi! Purusha ;arayana, hich !eans that it regards hi! as being the sa!e as the :ni"ersal '$irit hich creates fro! itself the cos!osC it relates that Purusha ;arayana $er"aded the hole of nature M'B. O)). iii. +, 6N, and that he !ade hi!self o!ni$resent and su$re!e o"er all beings by $erfor!ing a D$acha%ratra sattraD, or series of sacrifices lasting o"er fi"e days Mib. O))). "i. 6, 6N. 'o!e hat later e find $rayers addressed to ;arayana, =asude"a, and =ishnu as three $hases of the sa!e god MTaitt. Aran. O. i. GN. But as ;arayana in origin !erely a "ariety of the =edic Purusha or our old acAuaintance Praja$atiJ His na!e !ust gi"e us $ause. The !ost si!$le eB$lanation of it is that it is a fa!ily na!e& as <arshnayana !eans a !e!ber of the <rishna%fa!ily and (anayana a !an belonging to the fa!ily of (ana, so ;arayana ould naturally denote a $erson of the fa!ily of ;ara. But ;ara itself signifies a D!anD& is the ety!ology therefore reduced to absurdityJ ;ot at all& ;ara is also used as a $ro$er na!e, as e shall see./,63 Probably the na!e really !eans hat naturally it ould see! to !ean,

Ha !an of the ;ara fa!ilyHC that ;arayana as originally a di"ine or deified saint, a DrishiD, as the Hindus ould call hi!C and that so!eho he beca!e identified ith =ishnu and the :ni"ersal '$irit. /8ootnote ,6& )t !ust be ad!itted that ancient riters gi"e different ety!ologies of the na!e& thus, a $oet in the @ahabharata M))). clBBBiB. FN deri"es it fro! DnarahD, H aters,H and Dayana!D, Hgoing,H understanding it to !ean Hone ho has the aters for his resting%$laceHC @anu M). 6-, ith @edhatithiKs co!!entaryN, acce$ting the sa!e ety!ology, inter$rets it as Hthe d elling%$lace of all the ;arasHC and in the @ahabharata O)). cccBli. F5, it is also eB$lained as Hthe d elling%$lace of !ankind.H But these inter$retations are $lainly artificial concoctions.3 This theory really is not by any !eans as ild as at first sight it !ay see! to be. Di"ine saints are so!eti!es !entioned in the (ig%"eda and Brah!anas as being the creators of the uni"erse/,,3C and they a$$ear again and again in legend as eAuals of the gods, attaining di"ine $o ers by their !ystic insight into the sacrificial lore. But there is !ore direct e"idence than this. /8ootnote ,,& (=. O. cBBiB. 2, 'B. =). i. 6, 6%2. 4f. 4har$entier, D'u$arnasageD, $. F1..3 )n the @ahabharata there are incor$orated t o docu!ents of first%rate i!$ortance for the doctrines of the churches that orshi$$ed =ishnu. *ne of these is the Bhaga"ad%gita, or LordKs 'ong M=). BB".%Blii.NC the other is the ;arayaniya, or Account of ;arayana MO)). cccBBB"i.%cccliii.N. Their teachings are not the sa!e in details, though on !ost !ain $oints they agreeC for they belong to different sections of the one religious body. Lea"ing aside the Bhaga"ad%gita for the !o!ent, e note that the ;arayaniya relates a story that there ere born four sons of Dhar!a, or (ighteousness, "iI. ;ara, ;arayana, Hari or =ishnu, and <rishna. )n other $laces M). ccBBB. 61, ))). Bii. +2, Bl"ii. 6-, =. Bl"iii. 62, etc.N e are $lainly told that ;ara is a $re"ious incarnation of Arjuna the Panda"a $rince, and ;arayana is, of course, the su$re!e Deity, ho in the ti!e of Arjuna as born on earth as <rishna =asude"a, and that in his earlier birth ;ara and ;arayana ere both ascetic saints. This tradition is "ery i!$ortant, for it enables us to see so!ething of the early character of ;arayana. He as an ancient saint of legend, ho as connected ith a hero ;ara, just as <rishna as associated ith ArjunaC and the at!os$here of saintliness clings to hi! obstinately. Tradition alleges that he as the DrishiD, or ins$ired seer, ho co!$osed the Purusha%sukta of the (ig%"eda MO. 5-N, and re$resents hi! by choice as lying in a Dyoga%nidraD, or !ystic slee$, u$on the body of the giant ser$ent 'esha in the !idst of the *cean of @ilk. Thus the orshi$ of =ishnu, like the orshi$ of 'i"a, has o ed !uch to the influence of li"e yogis idealised as di"ine saintsC though it !ust be ad!itted that the yogis of the =aishna"a orders ha"e usually been !ore agreeable and less a!biguous than those of the 'ai"a co!!unity. ?e !ust briefly consider no the religious teachings of the Bhaga"ad%gita and the ;arayaniya, and then turn to the inscri$tions and conte!$orary literature to see hether e can find any sidelights in the!. ?e begin ith the Bhaga"ad%gita, or The LordKs 'ong. The Bhaga"ad%gita $ur$orts to be a dialogue bet een the Panda"a $rince

Arjuna and <rishna, ho as ser"ing hi! as his charioteer, on the e"e of the great battle. )n order to in"ent a leading !oti"e for his teaching, the $oet re$resents Arjuna as suddenly stricken ith o"er hel!ing re!orse at the $ros$ect of the fratricidal strife hich he is about to begin. H) ill not fight,H he cries in anguish. Then <rishna begins a long series of argu!ents to sti!ulate hi! for the co!ing battle. He $oints out, ith Auotations fro! the :$anishads, that killing !en in battle does not destroy their soulsC for the soul is indestructible, !igrating fro! body to body according to its o n deserts. The duty of the !an born in the ?arrior%caste is to fightC fighting is his caste%duty, his Ddhar!aD, and as such it can entail u$on hi! no guilt if it be $erfor!ed in the right s$irit. But ho is this to be doneJ The ans er is the leading !oti"e of <rishnaKs teaching. 8or the !aintenance of the orld it is necessary that !en should do the orks of their res$ecti"e castes, and these orks do not o$erate as Dkar!aD to the detri!ent of the future life of their souls if they $erfor! the! not fro! selfish !oti"es but as offerings !ade in $erfect unselfishness to the Lord. This is the doctrine of D<ar!a%yogaD, disci$line of orks, hich is declared to lead the soul of the orshi$$er to sal"ation in the Lord as effectually as the ancient intellectualis! $reached in the :$anishads and the 'a!khya $hiloso$hy. But there is also a third ay to sal"ation, the ay through lo"ing de"otion, or DbhaktiD, hich is as efficacious as either of the other t oC the orshi$$ers of 'i"a had already $reached this for their o n church in the '"etas"atara :$anishad. Besides treating ithout !uch consistency or !ethod of !any incidental Auestions of religious theory and $ractice, <rishna re"eals hi!self for a fe instants to Arjuna in his for! as =iraj, the uni"ersal being in hich all beings are co!$rehended and consu!ed. 8inally Arjuna is co!forted, and laying the burden of all his orks u$on <rishna, he $re$ares in Auiet faith for the co!ing day of battle. There are four !ain $oints to notice in this teaching. M6N The 'u$re!e God, su$erior to Brah!a, he ho rules by grace and co!$rehends in his uni"ersal $erson the hole of eBistence, is =ishnu, or Hari, re$resented on earth for the ti!e being by <rishna =asude"a. The author !akes no atte!$t to reconcile the fatalis! i!$lied in the old theory of Dkar!a%sa!saraD ith his ne doctrine of s$ecial and general grace& he allo s the t o $rinci$les to stand side by side, and lea"es for future generations of theologians the delicate task of har!onising the!. M,N Three roads to sal"ation are recognised in $rinci$le, the intellectual gnosis of the old :$anishads and the 'a!khya, the H ay of orksH or $erfor!ance of necessary social duties in a s$irit of $erfect surrender to God, and the H ay of de"otion,H continuous lo"ing orshi$ and conte!$lation of God. )n $ractice the first !ethod is ignored as being too se"ere for a"erage !enC the second and third are reco!!ended, as being suitable for all classes. MFN The ay of sal"ation is thus thro n o$en directly to !en and o!en of all castes and conditions. The Bhaga"ad%gita fully a$$ro"es of the orthodoB di"ision of society into castesC but by its doctrine that the $erfor!ance of caste%duties in a s$irit of sacrifice leads to sal"ation it !akes caste an a"enue to sal"ation, not a barrier. M+N The Bhaga"ad%gita has nothing to say for the ani!al%sacrifices of the Brah!ans. )t recognises only offerings of flo ers, fruits, and the like. The doctrine of Dahi!saD, Hthou shalt do no hurt,H as !aking !uch head ay at the ti!e, and the holesale ani!al%sacrifices of the Brah!ans roused general disgust, of hich the Buddhists and 9ains took ad"antage for the $ro$agation of their teachings.

) ha"e $re"iously s$oken of the solitary $assage in the 4hhandogya :$anishad in hich <rishnaKs na!e is !entioned, as recei"ing the teachings of Ghora Angirasa, and it ill no be fitting to see ho far these teachings are reflected in the Bhaga"ad%gita. Ghora co!$ares the functions of life to the cere!onies of the DdikshaD Msee abo"e, $.G1N& and this is at botto! the sa!e idea as the doctrine of Dkar!a%yogaD $reached again and again in the Bhaga"ad%gita. H?hate"er be thy ork, thine eating, thy sacrifice, thy gift, thy !ortification, !ake of it an offering to !e,H says <rishna M)O. ,.NC all life should be regarded as a sacrifice freely offered. Then Ghora continues& H)n the hour of death one should take refuge in these three thoughts& KThou art the )ndestructible, Thou art the :nfailing, Thou art instinct ith '$irit.K *n this there are these t o "erses of the (ig%"eda& Thus u$ ard fro! the $ri!al seed 8ro! out the darkness all around ?e, looking on the higher light, #ea, looking on the higher hea"en, Ha"e co!e to 'urya, god !idst gods, To hi! that is the highest light, the highest light.H )n the Bhaga"ad%gita M)=. 6 ff.N <rishna announces that he $reached his doctrine to =i"as"an the 'un%god, ho $assed it on to his son the $atriarch @anuC else here in the @ahabharata MO)). ccc". 65N the 'at"ata teaching is said to ha"e been announced by the 'un. Ghora in his list of !oral "irtues enu!erates H!ortification, charity, u$rightness, har!lessness, truthfulnessHC eBactly the sa!e attributes, ith a fe !ore, are said in the Bhaga"ad%gita to characterise the !an ho is born to the godsK estate MO=). 6%FN. GhoraKs eBhortation to think of the nature of the 'u$re!e in the hour of death is balanced by <rishnaKs ords& HHe ho at his last hour, hen he casts off the body, goes hence re!e!bering !e, goes assuredly into !y beingH M=))). 2C cf. 6-N. These $arallels are indeed not "ery closeC but collecti"ely they are significant, and hen e bear in !ind that the author of the Bhaga"ad%gita is eager to associate his doctrine ith those of the :$anishads, and thus to !ake it a ne and catholic :$anishad for all classes, e are led to conclude that its funda!ental ideas, sanctification of orks MDkar!a%yogaDN, orshi$ of a 'u$re!e God of Grace MDbhaktiDN by all classes, and rejection of ani!al sacrifices MDahi!saDN arose a!ong the orthodoB <shatriyas, ho found !eans to $ersuade their Brah!anic $rece$tors to bring it into connection ith their :$anishads and e!bellish it ith a$$ro$riate teBts fro! those sources. =ery likely <rishna =asude"a, if not the first in"entor of these doctrines, as their !ost "igorous $ro$agator. ;o hat are the teachings of the ;arayaniyaJ )t a$$ears to contain t o accounts. )n the first e ha"e the story of king =asu :$arichara, ho is said to ha"e orshi$$ed the 'u$re!e God Hari M=ishnuN in de"otion ithout any ani!al%sacrifices, in accordance ith doctrines ascribed to the Aranyakas, i.e. the later sections of the Brah!anas, including the older :$anishads. This fully agrees ith the stand$oint of the Bhaga"ad%gita. The second account gi"es the story of a "isit $aid by the di"ine saint ;arada to a !ysterious H?hite )sland,H '"eta%d"i$a, inhabited by holy orshi$$ers of God ho are, strangely enough, described as ha"ing heads sha$ed like u!brellas and feet like lotus%lea"es and as !aking a sound like that of thunder%clouds/,F3C they are radiant like the !oon, ha"e no $hysical senses, eat nothing,

and concentrate their hole soul on ra$turous adoration of the s$irit of God, hich shines there in daIIling brightness to the eye of $erfect faith. ;arayana there re"eals hi!self to ;arada, and sets forth to hi! the doctrine of =asude"a. According to this, ;arayana has four for!s, called D!urtisD or D"yuhasD. The first of these is =asude"a, ho is the highest soul and creator and in ardly controls all indi"idual souls. 8ro! hi! arose 'a!karshana, ho corres$onds to the indi"idual soulC fro! 'a!karshana issued Pradyu!na, to ho! corres$onds the organ of !ind, and fro! Pradyu!na ca!e forth Aniruddha, re$resenting the ele!ent of self%consciousness. *bser"e in $assing that these are all na!es of heroes of legend& 'a!karshana is =asude"aKs brother Bala%ra!a, Pradyu!na as the son and Aniruddha the grandson of =asude"a. ;arayana then goes on to s$eak of the creation of all things fro! hi!self and their dissolution into hi!self, and of his incarnations in the for! of the Boar ho lifted u$ on his tusk the earth hen sub!erged under the ocean, ;arasi!ha the @an%lion ho destroyed the tyrant Hiranya%kasi$u, the D arf ho o"erthre Bali, (a!a Bharga"a ho destroyed the <shatriyas, (a!a Dasarathi, of ho! e shall ha"e so!ething to say later. <rishna =asude"a the slayer of <a!sa of @athura, the Tortoise, the 8ish, and <alki. Then follo so!e further details, a!ong the! a state!ent that this doctrine as re"ealed to Arjuna at the beginning of the Great ?ar%%a clear reference to the Bhaga"ad%gita%%that at the beginning of e"ery age it as $ro!ulgated by ;arayana, that it reAuires acti"ity in $ious orks, that at the co!!ence!ent of the $resent age it $assed fro! hi! to Brah!a, fro! hi! to =i"as"an the 'un%god, fro! hi! to the $atriarch @anu, etc., that it does not allo the sacrifice of ani!als, and that for sal"ation the co%o$erati"e grace of ;arayana is necessary. @ost of this doctrine is already in the Bhaga"ad%gitaC hat is not found in the latter is the account of the !ysterious ?hite )sland, the theory of D"yuhasD or e!anations, hich re$resents =asude"a as issuing fro! ;arayana and so forth, and the details of ;arayanaKs incarnations. )t is therefore a distinct teBtbook of the 'at"ata or Pacharatra church, not !uch later than the Bhaga"ad%gita. According to it, the 'u$re!e Being is ;arayana, the Al!ighty God ho re"eals hi!self as highest teacher and saintly sage, hose legendary $erfor!ance of a fi"e%daysK sacrifice Mabo"e, $. .GN has gained for his doctrine the title of Pacharatra. ;eBt in order of di"inity is <rishna =asude"a, hose tribal na!e of 'at"ata has furnished the other na!e of this churchC then follo in due order 'a!karshana, Pradyu!na, and Aniruddha, all of his fa!ilyC and ith =asude"a is closely associated the e$ic hero Arjuna, a $rototy$e for this !ortal $air being disco"ered in the legendary ;ara and ;arayana. /8ootnote ,F& )t is ob"ious that this island lies in a latitude so!e here bet een that of Lilli$ut and Brobdingnag, and that the $rofessors ho ha"e endea"oured to locate it on the !a$ of Asia ha"e asted their ti!e.3 4o!$aring then the Bhaga"ad%gita ith the ;arayaniya, e see that in all essentials they agree, but in t o $oints they differ. Both $reach a doctrine of acti"ity in $ious orks, D$ra"rittiD, in conscious o$$osition to the inacti"ity of the Au$anishadas and 'a!khyasC but the ;arayaniya does not d ell !uch on this to$ic, and li!its acti"ity to strictly religious duties, hile the Bhaga"ad%gita de"elo$s the idea so as to include e"erything, thus sketching out a bold syste! for the sanctification of all sides of life, hich enables it to o$en the door of sal"ation directly to all classes of !ankind. 'econdly, the

Bhaga"ad%gita says nothing about the theory of e!anations or D"yuhasD in connection ith =asude"aC $robably its author kne the legends of 'a!karshana, Pradyu!na, and Aniruddha, but he a$$arently did not kno or at least did not acce$t the "ie that these $ersons ere related as successi"e e!anations fro! =asude"a. ?e !ust therefore look round for sidelights hich !ay clear u$ the obscurities in the history of this church. *ur first sidelight gli!!ers in the fa!ous gra!!ar of Panini, ho $robably li"ed in the fifth century B.4., or $erha$s early in the fourth century. Panini infor!s us M)=. iii. 51N that fro! the na!es of =asude"a and Arjuna the deri"ati"e nouns D=asude"akaD and DArjunakaD are for!ed to denote $ersons ho orshi$ res$ecti"ely =asude"a and Arjuna. Plainly then in the fifth century <rishna =asude"a and Arjuna ere orshi$$ed by so!e, $robably in the sa!e connection as is sho n in the @ahabharata. Perha$s =asude"a had not yet been raised to the rank of the Al!ightyC it is !ore likely that he as still a deified hero and teacher, and Arjuna his noblest disci$le. But both of the! ere recei"ing di"ine honoursC they had been !en, and ere no gods, ith bands of adorers. *ur neBt e"idence is an inscri$tion found not long ago on the base of a stone colu!n at Besnagar near Bhilsa, in the south of G alior 'tate,/,+3 and !ust ha"e been engra"ed soon after ,-- B.4. )t reads as follo s& HThis Garuda%colu!n of =asude"a the god of gods as erected here by Heliodorus, a orshi$$er of the Lord /Dbhaga"ataD3, the son of Diya /Greek DDionD3 and an inhabitant of TaBila, ho ca!e as a!bassador of the Greeks fro! the Great <ing A!talikita /Greek DAntialcidasD3 to <ing <asi$utra Bhagabhadra the 'a"iour, ho as flourishing in the fourteenth year of his reignHC and belo this are t o lines in so!e kind of "erse, hich announce that Hthree i!!ortal ste$s ... hen $ractised lead to hea"en%%self%control, charity, and diligence.H Here, then, in the centre of a thri"ing kingdo! $robably for!ing $art of the 'unga e!$ire, =asude"a is orshi$$ed not as a !inor hero or teacher, but as the god of gods, Dde"a%de"aDC and he is orshi$$ed by the Greek Heliodorus, "isiting the $lace as an a!bassador fro! Antialcidas, a Hellenic king of the lineage of Eucratides, ho as reigning in the ;orth%?est of )ndia. Doubtless the act of Heliodorus as a di$lo!atic courtesy, in order to $lease <ing <asi$utra Bhagabhadra. But obser"e the nature of his act. He caused to be erected a Garuda%colu!n, that is, a $illar engra"ed ith the figure of Garuda, the sacred bird of =ishnuC and he added a "erse about Hthree i!!ortal ste$sH MDtrini a!uta$adaniDN, as leading to hea"en, hich sounds sus$iciously like an atte!$t to !oralise the old !ythical feature of the three 'te$s of =ishnu. Plainly =asude"a had no risen in this $art of the country fro! being the teacher of a church of =ishnu%;arayana to the rank of its chief god, ith hich he had beco!e fully identified. /8ootnote ,+& 'ee (a$son, DAncient )ndiaD, $. 62G ff., D4a!bridge Hist. )ndiaD, i, $$. 2,6, 221, G,2, H. (ay 4haudhuri, D@aterials for the 'tudy of the Early History of the =aishna"a 'ectD, $. 25, and (a!a$rasad 4handa, DArchology and =aishna"a TraditionD in D@e!oirs of the Archological 'ur"ey of )ndiaD, ;o. 2, $. 626 ff., etc.3 Another inscri$tion, a fe years later in date, has been found in Besnagar. )t is a !ere frag!ent, but it su$$le!ents the otherC for it states that a certain Dbhaga"ataD, or H orshi$$er of the Lord,H na!ed

Gota!a%$uta MGauta!a%$utra in 'anskritN erected a Garuda%colu!n for the LordKs te!$le in the t elfth year fro! the coronation of <ing Bhaga"ata. This king is $erha$s the sa!e as the $erson of that na!e ho a$$ears in so!e genealogical lists as the last but one of the 'unga <ings./,23 /8ootnote ,2& 'ee (. 4handa, Dut su$raD, $. 62, f.3 ;eBt in date is an inscri$tion on a stone slab found at Ghasundi, about four !iles north%east of ;agari, in :dai$ur 'tate. )t as engra"ed about 62- B.4., and records that a certain Dbhaga"ataD, or H orshi$$er of the Lord,H na!ed Gajayana, son of Parasari, caused to be erected in the ;arayana%"ata, or $ark of ;arayana, a stone cha$el for the orshi$ of the Lords 'a!karshana and =asude"a./,G3 Here their orshi$ is associated ith that of ;arayana. /8ootnote ,G& )t is note orthy that 'a!karshana is here !entioned first, as is also the case in the ;anaghat inscri$tion of about 6-B.4., hich !entions the! as descendants of the @oon in a list of "arious deities. This order !ay $ossibly be due to the fact that in ancient legend 'a!karshana, or Bala%bhadra, is the elder brother of <rishna =asude"a, and it does not entitle us to dra the inference that he e"er recei"ed eAual honour ith =asude"a. '$ecial de"otees of 'a!karshana are !entioned in the <autiliya, the fa!ous treatise on $olity ascribed to 4hanakya, the !inister of 4handra%gu$ta @aurya, ho ca!e to the throne about F,- B.4. MEngl. transl. 6st edn., $. +12N. ) sus$ect that in its $resent for! the <autiliya is considerably later than F,- B.4.C but in any case the eBistence of s$ecial "otaries of 'a!karshana is no $roof that he e"er ranked as eAual to =asude"a, just as the $resence of s$ecial orshi$$ers of Arjuna is no $roof that Arjuna as e"er considered a $eer of =asude"a. *n the Ghasundi inscri$tion see (. 4handa, Dut su$raD, $. 6GF ff., etc.C for the ;anaghat inscri$tion, Dibide!D and D@e!oirs of the Arch. 'ur"ey of )ndiaD, ;o. 6, ith H. (aychaudhuriKs D@aterials, etc.D, $. G1 ff.3 Passing o"er an inscri$tion at @athura hich records the building of a $art of a sanctuary to the Lord =asude"a about 62 B.4. by the great 'atra$ 'odasa,/,.3 e note that the gra!!arian Patajali, ho rote his co!!entary the @ahabhashya u$on PaniniKs gra!!ar about 62- B.4., has so!ething to say about <rishna =asude"a, ho! he recognises as a di"ine being Mon )=. iii. 51N. He Auotes so!e "erses referring to hi!. The first Mon )). ii. ,FN is to the follo ing effect& H@ay the !ight of <rishna acco!$anied by 'a!karshana increaseLH Another Mon =). iii. GN s$eaks of H9anardana ith hi!self as fourth,H that is to say, <rishna ith three co!$anions& the three !ay be 'a!karshana, Pradyu!na, and Aniruddha, or they !ay not. Another "erse Mon )). ii. F+N s$eaks of !usical instru!ents being $layed at !eetings in the te!$les of (a!a and <esa"a. (a!a is Bala%ra!a or Bala%bhadra, ho is the sa!e as 'a!karshana, and <esa"a is a title of <rishna, hich as a$$lied also to =ishnu or ;arayana according to the Bodhayana%dhar!a%sutra, hich !ay be assigned to the second century B.4. The *"a"ai, or Au$a$atika%sutra, a 9ain scri$ture hich !ay $erha$s belong to the sa!e $eriod, !entions M .GN D<anha%$ari""ayaD, andering friars ho orshi$$ed <rishna. Thus literature as ell as inscri$tions sho s that <rishna =asude"a and his brother 'a!karshana ere in !any $laces orshi$$ed as saints of a church of =ishnu%;arayana about 62- B.4., and that in so!e $arts =asude"a as recognised as the Al!ighty hi!self about ,-- B.4.

/8ootnote ,.& (. 4handa, Dut su$raD, $. 6G5 f.3 )n another $assage Mon ))). i, ,GN Patajali describes dra!atic and !i!etic $erfor!ances re$resenting the killing of <a!sa by =asude"a. Altogether his references sho that the legend and orshi$ of =asude"a bulked largely in the $o$ular !ind at this ti!e in )ndia north of the =indhya !ountains. =asude"a as adored as the great teacher and hero%king, in ho! the gods =ishnu and ;arayana ere incarnatedC and he as associated ith t o great cycles of legend, the one that related his birth at @athura, his "ictory o"er the tyrant <a!sa, his establish!ent of the colony at D"araka, and his ad"entures until his death and translation to hea"en, and the other telling of his share in the Great ?ar as ally of the fi"e Panda"a brethren. Both cycles re$resented hi! as su$$orted by $rincely heroes. The @athura%D"araka legend ga"e hi! his brother Bala%bhadra or 'a!karshana, his son Pradyu!na, and his grandson Aniruddha, ho! theologians about the beginning of the 4hristian era fitted into their $hiloso$hical sche!es by re$resenting the! as successi"e e!anations fro! hi!C and the @ahabharata furnished hi! ith the Panda"as, hose heroic tale soon created for the! a orshi$ e"ery here. As e ha"e seen, there ere adorers of Arjuna already in the fifth century B.4.C and in the first century B.4. there see!s to be e"idence for a orshi$ of all the fi"e together ith =asude"a, for an inscri$tion has been found at @ora hich a$$arently !entions a son of the great 'atra$ (aju"ula, $robably the ell%kno n 'atra$ 'odasa, and an i!age of the HLord =rishni,H $robably =asude"a, and of the H8i"e ?arriors.H/,13 Already the $oets of the @ahabharata ha"e taken the first ste$ to ards the deification of the Panda"as by finding di"ine fathers for each of the!, !aking #udhishthira the son of Dhar!a or #a!a, the god of the nether orld, Arjuna son of )ndra, Bhi!a son of =ayu the ?ind%god, and ;akula and 'ahade"a offs$ring of the As"ins. Hundreds of ca"erns throughout )ndia are declared by $o$ular legend to ha"e been their d ellings during their anderingsC and a noble !onu!ent to their !e!ory has been raised by one of the great Palla"a kings of 4onje"ara! ho in the se"enth century A.D. car"ed out of the solid rock on the seashore at @a!alla$ura! the fine cha$els that bear their na!es. Doubtless all these heroes fro! both cycles ere once orshi$$ed in the usual !anner, ith offerings of food, incense, lights, flo ers, etc., and singing of hy!ns on their eB$loits%%chiefly in connection ith =asude"aC but all this orshi$ is no utterly forgotten, eBce$t here echoes of it linger in $o$ular legend. /8ootnote ,1& (. 4handra, Dut su$raD, $. 6G2 f.3 *ur sur"ey of the religion of =asude"a has brought us do n to a date hich cannot indeed be eBactly fiBed, but hich !ay be $laced a$$roBi!ately in the second century of our era. This religion, as e ha"e seen, arose and gre great in the fertile soil of the s$iritual needs and eB$eriences of )ndia. )t began by !oulding a $ersonal God out of ancient figures of !yth and legend, and it surrounded hi! ith a hierarchy of godly heroes. Though its doctrines ere often $hiloso$hically incongruous and incoherent, its foundation as a true religious feelingC it ga"e sco$e to the !ystic ra$tures of the ascetic and the si!$le righteousness of the laicC and it clai!ed for its heroes, =asude"a and his kindred and his friends the Panda"a brethren, a gra"e and dignified hero% orshi$. )n short, it is a serious )ndian religion ith an e$ic setting.

And no suddenly and !ost uneB$ectedly an utterly ne s$irit begins to breathe in it. To the old teachings and legends are added ne ones of a holly different cast. The old e$ic s$irit of gra"e and !anly chi"alry and godly isdo! is o"ershado ed by a ne $assion%%adoration of tender babyhood and anton childhood, a!orous ecstasies, a hectic fire of erotic ro!ance. *f this ne s$irit there is no trace in the e$ic, eBce$t in one or t o late inter$olations. But the Hari%"a!sa, hich as added as an a$$endiB to the @ahabharata not "ery long before the fourth century A.D., is already instinct ith it. )t adds to the e$ic story of <rishna a fluent "erse account of his !iraculous $reser"ation fro! <a!sa at his birth, his childhood a!ong the herds!en and herds o!en of =raja Mthe Doab near @athuraN ith its !ar"ellous freaks and onderful eB$loits, his a!orous s$orts ith the herds o!en, in fact all the sensuous e!otionalis! on hich the later church of <rishna has e"er since battened. About the sa!e ti!e a$$eared the =ishnu%$urana, hich includes !ost of the sa!e !atter as the Hari%"a!saC and so!e centuries later, $robably about the tenth century, there as ritten a still !ore re!arkable book, the Bhaga"ata%$urana, of hich a great $art is taken u$ ith the ro!ance of <rishnaKs babyhood and childhood, and es$ecially his a!orous s$orts. )n the Bhaga"ata the later orshi$ of <rishna found its classic eB$ression. )n the Hari%"a!sa and =ishnu%$urana religious e!otion is still held under a certain restraintC but in the Bhaga"ata it has broken loose and runs riot. )t is a ro!ance of ecstatic lo"e for <rishna, ho is no longer, as in the =ishnu%$urana, the incarnation of a $ortion of the 'u$re!e =ishnu, but "ery God beco!e !an, holly and utterly di"ine in his hu!anity. )t d ells in a ra$ture of tenderness u$on the God%babe, and u$on the anton $lay of the lo"ely child ho is delightful in his naughtiness and !ar"ellous in his occasional dis$lays of su$erhu!an $o erC it figures hi! as an ideal of boyish beauty, decked ith je els and crested ith $eacockKs feathers, andering through the flo ering forests of =raja, dancing and $laying on his flute !elodies that fill the souls of all that hear the! ith an irresistible $assion of lo"e and delightC it re"els in tales of ho the $recocious boy !ade anton s$ort ith the herds o!en of =raja, and ho the !agic of his fluting dre the! to the dance in hich they ere united to hi! in a ra$ture of lo"e. The book thrills ith a!orous, sensuous ecstasyC the thought of <rishna stirs the orshi$$er to a $assion of lo"e in hich tears gush forth in the !idst of laughter, the s$eech halts, and often the senses fail and lea"e hi! in long trances. Erotic e!otionalis! can go no further. ?here did this ne s$irit co!e fro!J 'o!e ha"e laboured to $ro"e that it had its source in 4hristianityC others ha"e argued that it as 4hristianity that as the debtor to )ndia in this res$ect. Both theories are in the !ain i!$ossible. This cult of the child <rishna arose in )ndia, and, ith the $ossible eBce$tion of a fe obscure tales, it ne"er s$read outside the circle of )ndian religion. But ho and here did it ariseJ That is a Auestion hard to ans erC there is no direct e"idence, and e can only balance $robabilities. ;o hat are the $robabilitiesJ The orshi$ of <rishna as a babe, a boy, and a young !an a!ong the herdsfolk of =raja see!s to ha"e no relation ith the older for! of the religion as set forth in the e$ic teBtbooks. )t is a ne ele!ent, i!$orted fro! ithout. The !ost natural conclusion then is that it

ca!e fro! the $eo$le ho are described in it, so!e tribe that $astured their herds in the oodlands near @athura. Perha$s these herdsfolk ere Abhiras, ancestors of the !odern Ahir tribes. )f so, it ould be natural that their cult should attract attentionC for so!eti!es Abhiras counted for so!ething in society, and e e"en find a short%li"ed dynasty of Abhira kings reigning in ;asik in the third century A.D./,53 Be this as it !ay, it see!s "ery likely that so!e $astoral tribe had a cult of a di"ine child blue or black of hue, and $erha$s actually called by the! <rishna or <anha, HBlack%!anH Mobser"e that henceforth <rishna is regularly re$resented ith a blue skinN, a cult in hich gross rustic fantasy had free $layC that it ca!e in so!e circles to be linked on to the e$ic cycle of <rishna =asude"aC and that so!e Bhaga"atas, seeing in it latent $ossibilities, ga"e it $olished literary eB$ression and thereby established it as a $art of the =asude"a legend. )t Auickly seiIed u$on the $o$ular i!agination and s$read like ild%fire o"er )ndia. 8or it satisfied !any needs. The tenderness of the father and still !ore of the !other for the little babe, their delight in the s$orts of childhood, the a!oristKs $leasure in erotic ad"enture, and, not by any !eans least, the joy in the ro!antic scenery of the haunted oodlands%%all these instincts found full $lay in it, and ere sanctified by religion. /8ootnote ,5& (a$son, D4atal. of the 4oins of the Andhra Dynasty, etc.D, $$. Bli", lBii, lBiB, cBBBiii%cBBB"i, clBiiC D)ndian AntiA.D, Bl"ii, $. 12, etc.3 )). (A@A (a!a is the hero of the (a!ayana, the great e$ic ascribed to =al!iki, a $oet ho in course of ti!e has $assed fro! the real! of history into that of !yth, like !any other Hindus. The $oe!, as it has co!e do n to us, contains se"en books, hich relate the follo ing tale. Dasa%ratha, <ing of Ayodhya Mno Ajodhya, near 8aiIabadN, of the dynasty hich clai!ed descent fro! the 'un%god, had no son, and therefore held the great DAs"a%!edhaD, or horse%sacrifice, as a result of hich he obtained four sons, (a!a by his Aueen <ausalya, Bharata by <aikeyi, and Laksh!ana and 'atrughna by 'u!itra. (a!a, the eldest, as also $re%e!inent for strength, bra"ery, and noble Aualities of soul. =isiting in his early youth the court of 9anaka, king of =ideha, (a!a as able to shoot an arro fro! 9anakaKs bo , hich no other !an could bend, and as a re ard he recei"ed as ife the $rincess 'ita, ho! 9anaka had found in a furro of his fields and brought u$ as his o n daughter. 'o far the first book, or Bala%kanda. The second book, or Ayodhya%kanda, relates ho Queen <aikeyi induced Dasa%ratha, sorely against his ill, to banish (a!a to the forests in order that her son Bharata !ight succeed to the throneC and the Aranya%kanda then describes ho (a!a, acco!$anied by his ife 'ita and his faithful brother Laksh!ana, d elt in the forest for a ti!e, until the de!on <ing (a"ana of Lanka, by !eans of a trick, carried off 'ita to his city. The <ishkindha%kanda tells of (a!aKs $ursuit of (a"ana and his co!ing to <ishkindha, the city of 'ugri"a, the king of the a$es, ho joined hi! as an ally in his eB$editionC and the 'undara%kanda describes the !arch of their ar!ies to Lanka, hich is identified ith 4eylon, and their crossing o"er the straits. Then co!es the #uddha%kanda, hich narrates the ar ith (a"ana, his death in battle, the restoration of 'ita, the return of (a!a and 'ita to Ayodhya, and the cro ning of (a!a in $lace of Dasa%ratha, ho had died of grief

during his eBile. 8inally co!es the :ttara%kanda, hich relates that (a!a, hearing so!e of the $eo$le of Ayodhya s$itefully casting as$ersions on the "irtue of 'ita during her i!$rison!ent in the $alace of (a"ana, ga"e ay to foolish jealousy and banished her to the her!itage of =al!iki, here she ga"e birth to t in sons, <usa and La"aC hen these boys had gro n u$, =al!iki taught the! the (a!ayana and sent the! to sing it at the court of (a!a, ho on hearing it sent for 'ita, ho ca!e to hi! acco!$anied by =al!iki, ho assured hi! of her $urityC and then 'ita s ore to it on oath, calling u$on her !other the Earth%goddess to bear itnessC and the Earth%goddess recei"ed her back into her boso!, lea"ing (a!a berea"ed, until after !any days he as translated to hea"en. 'uch is the tale of (a!a as told in the =al!iki%ra!ayana%%a clean, holeso!e story of chi"alry, lo"e, and ad"enture. But clearly the =al!iki%ra!ayana is not the ork of a single hand. ?e can trace in it at least t o strata. Books )).%=). contain the older stratu!C the rest is the addition of a later $oet or series of $oets, ho ha"e also inserted so!e $adding into the earlier books. This older stratu!, the nucleus of the e$ic, gi"es us a $icture of heroic society in )ndia at a "ery early date, $robably not "ery long after the age of the :$anishadsC $erha$s e shall not be far rong if e say it as co!$osed so!e ti!e before the fourth century B.4. )n it (a!a is si!$ly a hero, !iraculous in strength and goodness, but ne"ertheless holly hu!anC but in the later stratu!%%Books ). and =)). and the occasional insertions in the other books%%conditions are changed, and (a!a a$$ears as a god on earth, a $artial incarnation of =ishnu, eBactly as in the Bhaga"ad%gita and other later $arts of the @ahabharata the hero <rishna has beco!e an incarnation of =ishnu also. The $arallel !ay e"en be traced further. <rishna stands to Arjuna in "ery !uch the sa!e relation as (a!a to his brother Laksh!ana%%a greater and a lesser hero, gro ing into an incarnate god and his chief follo er. This is thoroughly in har!ony ith Hindu ideas, hich regularly concei"e the teacher as acco!$anied by his disci$le and abhor the notion of a "oice crying in the ildernessC indeed e !ay al!ost "enture to sus$ect that this sy!!etry in the e$ics is not altogether uninfluenced by this ideal. This, ho e"er, is a detail& the !ain $oint to obser"e is that (a!a as originally a local hero of the 'olar dynasty, a legendary king of Ayodhya, and as the Puranas gi"e hi! a full $edigree, there is no good reason to doubt that he really eBisted Honce u$on a ti!e.H But the story ith hich he is associated in the (a!ayana is $uIIling. )s it a $ure ro!anceJ *r is it a glorified "ersion of so!e real ad"enturesJ *r can it be an old tale, $erha$s dating fro! the early da n of hu!an history, reada$ted and fitted on to the $erson of an historical (a!aJ The first of these hy$otheses see!s unlikely, though by no !eans i!$ossible. The second suggestion has found !uch fa"our. @any ha"e belie"ed that the story of the eB$edition of (a!a and his ar!y of a$es to Lanka re$resents a !o"e!ent of the Aryan in"aders fro! the ;orth to ards the 'outhC and this is su$$orted to so!e eBtent by )ndian tradition, hich has located !ost of the $laces !entioned in the (a!ayana, and in $articular has identified Lanka ith 4eylon. )n su$$ort of this one !ay $oint to the )liad of Ho!er, hich has a so!e hat si!ilar the!e, the ra$e and reco"ery of Helen by the ar!ies of the Achans, the basis of hich is the historical fact of an eB$edition against Troy and the destruction of that city. But there are serious difficulties in the ay of acce$ting this analogy, the !ost serious of all being the indubitable fact that there is not a tittle of e"idence to sho that such an eB$edition as e"er !ade by

the Aryans. True, there ere a"es of e!igration fro! Aryan centres south ard in early ti!esC but those that tra"elled as far as 4eylon ent by sea, either fro! the coasts of Bengal or *rissa or Bo!bay. Besides, the eB$edition of (a!a is ob"iously fabulous, for his ar!y as co!$osed not of Aryans but of a$es. All things considered, there see!s to be !ost $lausibility in the third hy$othesis/F-3. 4ertainly (a!a as a local hero of Ayodhya, and $robably he as once a real kingC so it is likely enough that an old saga Mor sagasN attached itself early to his !e!ory. And as his fa!e s$read abroad, $rinci$ally on the ings of =al!ikiKs $oe!, the honours of se!i%di"inity began to be $aid to hi! in !any $laces beyond his nati"e land, and about the beginning of our era he as recognised as an incarnation of =ishnu sent to establish a reign of righteousness in the orld. )n 'outhern )ndia this cult of (a!a, like that of <rishna, has for the !ost $art re!ained subordinate to the orshi$ of =ishnu, though the =aishna"a church there has fro! early ti!es recognised the di"inity of both of the! as e!bodi!ents of the Al!ighty. But its great ho!e is the ;orth, here !illions orshi$ (a!a ith $assionate and all%absorbing lo"e. /8ootnote F-& ) regret that ) cannot acce$t the ingenious hy$othesis lately $ut for ard by (ai 'aheb Dineshchandra 'en in his DBengali (a!ayanasD. The story of the Dasaratha%jataka see!s to !e to be a garbled and bo dlerised sni$$et cut off fro! a $ossibly $re%=al!ikian "ersion of the old (a!a%sagaC the rest of the theory a$$ears to be Auite !istaken.3 ))). '*@E LATE( P(EA4HE(' ?ith all its attractions and success, the ne <rishnais! did not e"ery here o"ergro the older stock u$on hich it had been engrafted. There ere !any $laces in hich the early orshi$ of =ishnu and =asude"a re!ained al!ost unchanged. The ne legends of <rishnaKs childhood !ight indeed be acce$ted in these centres of conser"atis!, but they !ade little difference in the s$irit and for! of the orshi$, hich continued to follo the ancient order. )n so!e of the! the Bhaga"ad%gita, ;arayaniya, and other e$ic doctrinals still re!ained the standard teBts, hich theologians connected ith the ancient :$anishads and the Brah!a%sutra su!!arising the latterC in other centres there arose, beginning $erha$s about the se"enth century A.D., a series of 'a!hitas, or !anuals of doctrine and $ractice for the Pacharatra/F63 sect, hich, though in essentials agreeing ith the ;arayaniya, taught a different theory of cos!ogony and introduced the orshi$ of the goddess 'ri or Laksh!i, the consort of =ishnu, as the agency or energy through hich the 'u$re!e Being beco!es acti"e in finite eBistenceC and in yet other $laces other teBts ere follo ed, such as those of the =aikhanasa school. This orshi$ of =ishnu%=asude"a on the ancient lines as $eculiarly "igorous a!ong the re$resentati"es of Aryan culture in the 'outh, ho had introduced the cults of =ishnu and 'i"a ith the rest of the Aryan $antheon into the !idst of Dra"idian ani!is!. Hinduis!, trans$lanted into the Dra"idian area, has there re!ained !ore conser"ati"e than any here else, and has clung fir!ly to its ancient traditions. There is nothing of Dra"idian origin in the 'outh )ndian orshi$ of =ishnu and 'i"aC they are entirely Aryan i!$ortations. But they ha"e beco!e thoroughly assi!ilated in their southern ho!e, and each of the! has $roduced a huge !ass of fine de"otional literature in the "ernaculars. )n the Ta!il country the church of =ishnu boasts of the ;al%ayira%$rabandha!,

a collection of Ta!il $sal!s nu!bering about +,--- stanIas co!$osed by t el"e $oets called Al"ars, hich ere collected about 6--- A.D.C and the orshi$ of K'i"a is eAually ell eB$ressed in the Tiru%!urai, co!$iled about the t elfth century, of hich one section, the De"ara!, as $ut together about the sa!e ti!e as the ;al%ayira%$rabandha!. Both the Tiru%!urai and the ;al%ayira%$rabandha! breathe the sa!e s$irit of ecstatic de"otion as the Bhaga"ata%$uranaC they are the utterances of andering "otaries ho tra"elled fro! te!$le to te!$le and $oured forth the $assionate ra$tures of their souls in lyrical $raise of their deities. Through these three !ain channels the strea! of de"otion s$read far and ide through the land. Like !ost currents of hat e call Hre"i"alis!,H it usually had an erotic sideC and the larger te!$les freAuently ha"e attached to the! fe!ale staffs of attendant "otaries and Dcor$s de balletD of "ery easy "irtue. But this as$ect as far !ore !arked in neo%<rishnais!, hich often tends to intense $ruriency, than in the other t o cults. The Al"ars $ay little regard to the legends of <rishna, and concentrate their energies u$on the orshi$ of =ishnu as he is re$resented in the great te!$les of 'riranga!, 4onje"ara!, Tiru$ati, and si!ilar sanctuaries. /8ootnote F6& *n this na!e see abo"e, $. 1G.3 About the beginning of the ninth century the $eaceful course of =aishna"a religion as rudely disturbed by the $reaching of 'a!kara Acharya. 'a!kara, one of the greatest intellects that )ndia has e"er $roduced, as a Brah!an of @alabar, and as born about the year .11. Taking his stand u$on the :$anishads, Brah!a%sutra, and Bhaga"ad%gita, u$on hich he rote co!!entaries, he inter$reted the! as teaching the doctrine of Ad"aita, thorough !onistic idealis!, teaching that the uni"ersal 'oul, Brah!a, is absolutely identical ith the indi"idual 'oul, the Dat!aD or 'elf, that all being is only one, that sal"ation consists in the identification of these t o, and is attained by kno ledge, the intuition of their identity, and that the $heno!enal uni"erse or !anifold of eB$erience is si!$ly an illusion MD!ayaDN conjured u$ in Brah!a by his congenital nature, but really alien to hi!%%in fact, a kind of disease in Brah!a. This as not ne & it had been taught by so!e ancient schools of Au$anishadas, and as "ery like the doctrine of so!e of the Buddhist idealistsC but the "igour and skill ith hich 'a!kara $ro$agated his doctrines threatened ruin to orthodoB =aishna"a theologians, and roused the! to counter%ca!$aigns. A!ong the =aishna"a Brah!ans of the 'outh ho on laurels in this field as #a!unacharya, ho li"ed about 6-2-, and as the grandson of ;atha @uni, ho collected the hy!ns of the Al"ars in the ;al%ayira%$rabandha! and founded the great school of =aishna"a theology at 'riranga!. )n o$$osition to 'a!karaKs !onis!, #a!unacharya $ro$ounded the doctrine of his school, the so%called =isishtad"aita, hich as $reached ith still greater skill and success by his fa!ous successor (a!anuja, ho died in 66F.. (a!anujaKs greatest orks are his co!!entaries on the Brah!a%sutra and Bhaga"ad%gita. )n the! he eB$ounds ith great ability the $rinci$les of his school, na!ely, that God, sentient beings or souls, and insentient !atter for! three essentially distinct classes of beingC that God, ho is the sa!e as Brah!a, =ishnu, ;arayana, or <rishna, is o!ni$otent, o!ni$resent, and $ossessed of all good AualitiesC that !atter for!s the body of souls, and souls for! the body of GodC that the soul attains sal"ation as a result of de"out and lo"ing !editation u$on God, orshi$ of hi!, and study of the scri$turesC and that sal"ation consists in eternal union of the soul ith God, but not in identity ith hi!, as 'a!kara taught.

The scri$tures on hich (a!anuja took his stand ere !ainly the :$anishads, Brah!a%sutra, and Bhaga"ad%gitaC but he also ackno ledged as authoritati"e the Pacharatra 'a!hitas, in s$ite of their di"ergences in details of doctrine, and it is fro! the! that his church has deri"ed the orshi$ of 'ri or Laksh!i as consort of =ishnu, hich is a "ery !arked feature of their co!!unity and has gained for the! the title of 'ri%"aishna"as. But (a!anuja as !uch !ore than a scholar and a riter of booksC he as also a !an of action, a H$ractical !ystic.H Like 'a!kara, he organised a body of DsannyasisD or ascetic "otaries, into hich, ho e"er, he ad!itted only Brah!ans, hereas 'a!kara o$ened so!e of the sections of his de"otees to non%Brah!ansC but on the other hand he as far !ore liberal than 'a!kara in the choice of his congregations, for he endea"oured to bring !en of the lo est castes, 'udras and e"en Pariahs, ithin the influence of his church, though he ke$t u$ the social barrier bet een the! and the higher castes, and he fir!ly u$held the $rinci$le of the Bhaga"ad%gita that it is by the $erfor!ance of religious and social duties of caste, and not by kno ledge alone, that sal"ation is !ost surely to be on. He established schools and !onasteries, reorganised the orshi$ of the te!$les, usually in accordance ith the Pacharatra rules, and thus $laced his church in a $osition of such strength in 'outhern )ndia that its only serious ri"al is the church of 'i"a. ;i!barka, ho $robably flourished about the first half of the t elfth century, $reached for the cult of <rishna a doctrine co!bining !onis! ith dualis!, hich is follo ed by a s!all sect in ;orthern )ndia. Ananda%tirtha or @adh"a, in the first three Auarters of the thirteenth century, $ro$ounded for the sa!e church a theory of thorough dualis!, hich has found !any ad!irers, chiefly in the Dekkan. =allabhacharya, born in 6+.5, founded a school of <rishna% orshi$$ers hich clai!s a H$ure !onis!H ithout the aid of the theory of D!ayaD, or illusion, hich is a characteristic of 'a!karaKs !onis!. This co!!unity has beco!e "ery influential, chiefly in Bo!bay PresidencyC but in recent ti!es it has been under a cloud o ing to the scandals arising fro! a tendency to $ractise i!!oral orgies and fro! the clai!s of its $riesthood, as re$resenting the god, to enjoy the $ersons and $ro$erty of their congregations. Besides these and other schools hich ere founded on a basis of 'anskrit scholastic $hiloso$hy, there ha"e been !any $o$ular religious !o"e!ents, hich fro! the first a$$ealed directly to the heart of the $eo$le in their o n tongues. The first $lace in hich e see this current in !o"e!ent is the @aratha country. Here, about 6,5-, 9anes"ara or 9anade"a, $o$ularly kno n as 9anoba, co!$osed his 9anes"ari, a $ara$hrase of the Bhaga"ad%gita in about 6-,--- @arathi "erses, as ell as a nu!ber of hy!ns to <rishna and a $oe! on the orshi$ of 'i"a. To the sa!e $eriod belonged ;a!ade"a, ho as born at Pandhar$ur, according to so!e in 6,.- and according to others about a century later. Then ca!e Ekanatha, ho is said to ha"e died in 6G-1, and co!$osed so!e hy!ns and @arathi "erse%translations fro! the Bhaga"ata. The greatest of all as Tukara!, ho as born about 6G-1./F,3 )n the "erses of these $oets the orshi$ of <rishna is raised to a le"el of high s$irituality. (a!ananda, ho a$$arently li"ed bet een 6+-- and 6+.and as so!eho connected ith the school of (a!anuja, $reached sal"ation through (a!a to all castes and classes of ;orthern )ndia, ith i!!ense and enduring success. To his s$iritual lineage belongs

Tulsi Das M62F,%6G,FN, hose (a!a%charita%!anasa, a $oe! in Eastern Hindi on the story of =al!ikiKs (a!ayana, has beco!e the Bible of the ;orth. The sa!e influences are "isible in the $oe!s of <abir, a @osle! by birth, ho co!bined Hindu and @uha!!adan doctrines into an eclectic !onotheis!, and is orshi$$ed as an incarnation of God by his sect. He died in 6261. A kindred s$irit as ;anak, the founder of the 'ikh church M6+G5%62F1N./FF3 /8ootnote F,& The student !ay refer to 'ir (. G. BhandarkarKs D=aisna"as and 'ai"asD Min BhlerKs DGrundrissD, $. .+ ff.,N 9. ;. 8arAuharKs D*utline of the (elig. Liter. of )ndiaD, $. ,F+ f., ,51 ff., and !y DHeart of )ndiaD, $. G- ff., for so!e details on these $oets.3 /8ootnote FF& 'ee 8arAuhar, Dut su$raD, $. F,F ff.C DHeart of )ndiaD, $. +5 f., etc.3 By the side of these u$ ard !o"e!ents there ha"e been !any hich ha"e re!ained on the older le"el of the Bhaga"ata. The !ost i!$ortant is that of =is"a!bhara @isra, ho is better kno n by his titles of 4haitanya and Gauranga M6+12%62FFNC he carried on a Hre"i"alH of "olcanic intensity in Bengal and *rissa, and the church founded by hi! is still $o erful, and orshi$s hi! as an incarnation of <rishna. )=. B(AH@A A;D THE T()@:(T) DBrah!aD, the 4reator, a !asculine noun, !ust be carefully distinguished fro! the neuter DBrah!aD, the abstract 8irst Being. The latter co!es first in the scale of eBistence, hile the for!er a$$ears at so!e distance further on as the creator of the !aterial orld Msee abo"e, $. G- f.N. )n !odern days Brah!a has been co!$letely ecli$sed by =ishnu and 'i"a and e"en by so!e !inor deities, and has no only four te!$les dedicated to his eBclusi"e orshi$./F+3 But there as a ti!e hen he as a great god. )n the older $arts of the @ahabharata and (a!ayana he figures as one of the greater deities, $erha$s the greatest. But in the later $ortions of the e$ic he has shrunk into co!$arati"e insignificance as co!$ared to =ishnu and 'i"a, and es$ecially to =ishnu. This change faithfully reflects historical facts. During the last four or fi"e centuries of the !illenniu! hich ended ith the 4hristian era the orthodoB =edic religion of the Brah!ans had steadily lost ground, and the sects orshi$$ing =ishnu and 'i"a had corres$ondingly gro n in $o er and finally had co!e to be recognised as the!sel"es orthodoB. Brah!a, as his na!e i!$lies, is the ideal Brah!an sage, and ty$ifies =edic orthodoBy. He is re$resented as e"erlastingly chanting the four =edas fro! his four !ouths Mfor he has four headsN, and he bears the ater%$ot and rosary of eleocar$us berries, the sy!bols of the Brah!an ascetic. But =edic orthodoBy had to !ake ay for !ore fascinating cults, and the =edic Brah!an ty$ified in the god Brah!a sank into co!$arati"e uni!$ortance beside the sectarian ascetics. 'till the old god, though shorn of !uch of his glory, as by no !eans dri"en fro! the field. The ne churches looked ith re"erence u$on his =edas, and often clai!ed the! as di"ine authority for their doctrinesC and though each of the! asserted that its $articular god, 'i"a or =ishnu, as the 'u$re!e Being, and ulti!ately the only being, both of the! allo ed Brah!a to retain his old office of creator, it being of course understood that he held it as a subordinate of the 'u$re!e, 'i"a or =ishnu as the case !ight be.

@ean hile, at any rate bet een the third and the siBth centuries, there eBisted a s!all fraternity ho regarded Brah!a as the 'u$re!e, and therefore as identical ith the abstract Brah!aC but although they ha"e left a record of their doctrines in the @arkandeya%$urana and the Pad!a%$urana, they ha"e had little influence on )ndian religion in general. /8ootnote F+& Those are at Pushkar in (aj$utana, Dudahi in Bundelkhand, <hed Brah!a in )dar 'tate, and <odakkal in @alabar.3 A lo"e of syste!%%unfortunately not al ays effectual%%is a notable feature of the Hindu !ind in dealing ith !ost subjects, fro! gra!!ar to DArs A!orisDC and this instinct ins$ired so!e unkno n theologian ith the idea of har!onising the three gods into a unity by re$resenting in one co!$ound for! or DTri!urtiD Brah!a as creator, =ishnu as the sustaining $o er in the uni"erse, and 'i"a as the force of dissolution hich $eriodically brings the cos!os to an end and necessitates in due course ne cycles of being./F23 This ingenious $lan has the ad"antage that it is ithout $rejudice to the religion of any of the gods concerned, for all the three !e!bers of this trinity are subordinate to the 'u$re!e Being, or Para! Brah!a, ho! the =aishna"as identify ith =ishnu in his highest $hase, Para%=asude"a, and distinguish fro! his lo er $hase, the =ishnu of this co!$ound, hile the 'ai"as dra a corres$onding distinction bet een Para!a%'i"a, the god in his transcendent nature, and the 'i"a ho figures in the Tri!urti. 'o the !ost orthodoB =aishna"a and the !ost bigoted 'ai"a can adore this three%headed i!age of the Tri!urti side by side ith easy consciences. /8ootnote F2& This idea in ger! is already suggested in @aitr. :$an., )=. 2 f., and =. ,.3 This idea of the three gods in one, though it is e!bodied in so!e i!$ortant orks of scul$ture such as the fa!ous Tri!urti in the 4a"es of Ele$hanta, has not had !uch $ractical effect u$on Hindu religion. But it has gi"en birth to at any rate one interesting little sect, the orshi$$ers of Dattatreya, ho are to be found !ainly in the @aratha country. The legend of the saint Dattatreya, hich is already found in the @ahabharata and Puranas and is re$eated ith so!e !odifications and a!$lifications in !odern orks of the sect,/FG3 relates that hen the holy (ishi Atri subjected hi!self to terrific austerities in order to obtain orthy $rogeny, the gods Brah!a, =ishnu, and 'i"a "isited hi! and $ro!ised hi! the desired boonC accordingly his ife Anasuya ga"e birth to three sons, of ho! the first as the @oon, an incarnation of Brah!a, the second Dattatreya, an incarnation of =ishnu, and the third the holy but irascible saint Dur"asas, re$resenting 'i"a. Dattatreya d elt in a her!itage in the Dekkan& he indulged in !arriage and ine%drinking, hich ho e"er ere not detri!ental to his !iraculous sanctity and isdo!, and he beca!e fa!ous as a benefactor to hu!anity. He is said to ha"e li"ed in the ti!e of <arta"irya Arjuna, the Haihaya king, and to ha"e counselled the latter to re!ain on his throne hen he ished to resign it. )n older orks of $lastic art he is so!eti!es re$resented by the si!$le eB$edient of $lacing the three gods side by side, so!eti!es by figuring hi! as =ishnu in the guise of a #ogi ith so!e of the attributes of the other t oC but in !odern ti!es he usually a$$ears as a single figure ith three heads, one for each of the great gods, and four or siB ar!s bearing their se"eral attributes Musually the rosary

and ater%$ot of Brah!a, the conch and discus of =ishnu, and the trident and dru! of 'i"aN, hile he is acco!$anied by four dogs of different colours, su$$osed to re$resent the four =edas, and a bull./F.3 *bser"e that in all these ty$es Dattatreya is concei"ed as an e!bodi!ent of the three gods, hich is co!$arati"ely a later idea, for in the oldest "ersion of the legend he as si!$ly an incarnation of =ishnuC but as =ishnu as regarded not only as a !e!ber of the Trinity but also the 'u$re!e Being o"er and abo"e it, Dattatreya as his re$resentati"e has co!e to include in his $ersonality the nature of all the trio. There is, !oreo"er, so!ething curious in his character. His lo"e of ine and o!an is a singular trait, and is Auite inco!$atible ith the nature of an ideal saint. )t s!ells of reality, and strongly suggests that he as not a fig!ent of the religious i!agination but an actual !anC and this is su$$orted by the tradition of his association ith <arta"irya Arjuna, ho, in s$ite of all the !ythical tales that are related of hi!, really see!s to ha"e been a king of flesh and blood. Thus e !ay "enture to see in hi! yet another eBa!$le of the !eta!or$hosis so co!!on in )ndia fro! a saint to an incarnation of the god orshi$$ed by hi!. /8ootnote FG& 'ee =asude"ananda 'aras"atiKs DDatta%$uranaD and Ganesa ;arayana <ar"eKs DDattatreya%sar"as"aD.3 /8ootnote F.& *n these figures see Go$inatha (au, DEle!ents of Hindu )conogra$hyD, i. $. ,2, ff. The dogs see! to be connected ith the =edic 'ara!a, on ho! see 4har$entier, DDie 'u$arnasageD, $. 56.3 =. T?* @*DE(; );'TA;4E' )n ;orthern )ndia, and es$ecially in Bengal, you ill often find Hindus orshi$$ing a god ho! they call 'atya%narayana and belie"e to be an e!bodi!ent of =ishnu hi!self. The obser"ance of this ritual is belie"ed to bring ealth and all kinds of good fortuneC a 'anskrit sacred legend in illustration of this belief has been created, and you !ay buy badly lithogra$hed co$ies of it in !ost of the baIaars if you like, besides hich you ill find elegant accounts of the godKs career on earth ritten by Auite a nu!ber of distinguished Bengali $oets of the last three centuries. But curiously enough this Hgod,H though Auite real, as not a Hindu at allC he as a Bengali @osle!, a fakir, and the @uha!!adans of Bengal, a!ong ho! he is kno n as 'atya Pir, ha"e their o n "ersions of his career, hich see! to be !uch nearer the truth than those of the Hindus. )n their stories he figures si!$ly as a saint, ho busied hi!self in $erfor!ing !iracles for the benefit of $ious @osle!s in distressC and as one legend says that he as the son of a daughter of /H.3usain 'hah, the E!$eror of Gaur, and another brings hi! into contact ith @an 'ingh, it is e"ident that tradition ascribed hi! to the siBteenth century, hich is $robably Auite near enough to the truth./F13 /8ootnote F1& 'ee Dineshchandra 'en, D8olk%literature of BengalD, $. 55 ff.3 The neBt instance belongs to the t entieth century. A fe years ago there died in the "illage of Eral, in Tinne"elly District, a local gentle!an of the 'hanar caste na!ed Arunachala ;adar. There as nothing re!arkable about his career& he had li"ed a highly res$ectable life, scru$ulously fulfilled his religious duties, and ser"ed ith

credit as chair!an of the !unici$al board in his nati"e "illage. )f he had done so!ething $rodigiously icked, one !ight ha"e eB$ected hi! to beco!e a local god at once, in accordance ith Dra"idian $recedentC but he being hat he as, his $ost%!orte! career is rather curious. 8or a legend gradually arose that his kindly s$irit haunted a certain $lace, and little by little it has gro n until no there is a regular orshi$ of hi! in Eral, and $ilgri!s tra"el thither to recei"e his blessings, sti!ulated by a li"ely literary $ro$aganda. He is orshi$$ed under the na!e of HThe 4hair!an God,H in affectionate !e!ory of his !unici$al career, and as 9agadisa, or HLord of the :ni"erse,H a $hase of the god 'i"a.

4*;4L:')*; 4an e trace any unifor! $rinci$le running through the be ildering "ariety of changes that e ha"e obser"edJ 4onsider the changes through hich =ishnu has $assed. At the beginning a s$irit of "aguely defined $ersonality, he a$$ears successi"ely as a sa"iour%god, as the !ystic saint ;arayana, as the e$ic arriors <rishna and (a!a, as a anton blue%skinned herd%boy fluting and dancing a!idst a cro d of ildly a!orous o!en, and as the noble ideal of God $reached by the great @aratha and (a!anandi "otaries, not to !ention the !any other incarnations that ha"e delighted the Hindu i!agination. ?hat does all this !eanJ )t !eans that the history of a god is !ainly !oulded by t o great factors, the gro th of the $eo$leKs s$iritual eB$erience and the character of its religious teachers. As the strea! of history rolls on, it fills !enKs souls ith dee$er and ider understanding of life. *ld conce$tions are $ondered u$on, eB$lored, tested, so!eti!es rejected, so!eti!es acce$ted ith a ne and $rofounder content, and thus enlarged they are a$$lied to the old ideals of godhead. ?hen )ndian society had organised itself out of tribal chaos and settled do n under an established !onarchical go"ern!ent, it !ade )ndra the king of the gods, ruling ith the sa!e for!s and under the sa!e conditions as a hu!an so"ereign. ?hen !en of finer cast realised that the kingdo! of the s$irit is higher than earthly royalty, they turned a ay fro! )ndra and set their souls u$on greater conce$tions, ideals of "aster s$iritual forces, !ystic infinitudes. Attracted thus to orshi$s such as those of 'i"a and =ishnu, they filled the! ith their o n "isions and i!$arted to these gods the ideals of their o n stri"ings, !aking the! into #ogis"aras, 'u$re!e @ystics. And so the seAuence of change has gone on through the generations. @ost $otently it has been effected by the characters of the $reachers and teachers of religion. Al!ost e"ery teacher ho has a $ersonality of his o n, hose soul contains thoughts other than those of the co!!on sort, sta!$s so!ething of his o n ty$e u$on the ideal of his god hich he i!$arts to his follo ers, and hich !ay thereby co!e to be authoritati"ely recognised as a canonical character of the god. )ndia is $eculiarly liable to this transference of $ersonality fro! the guru to the god ho! the guru $reaches, because fro! i!!e!orial ti!es )ndia has regarded the guru as re$resentati"e of the god, and often deifies hi! as a $er!anent $hase of the deity. 'ai"as declare that in the guru ho teaches the ay of sal"ation 'i"a hi!self is !anifested& =aishna"as tell the sa!e tale, and find a short road to

sal"ation by surrendering their souls to hi!. ?e ha"e seen cases of a$otheosis of the guru in !odern and !edie"al ti!esC reasoning fro! the kno n to the unkno n, e !ay be sure that it took $lace no less regularly in ancient ages, and brought about !ost of the sur$rising changes in the character of gods hich e ha"e noticed. 'o!eti!es the gurus ha"e only $reached so!e ne features in the characters of their godsC so!eti!es, as is the Hindu fashion, they ha"e also eBhibited in their o n $ersons, their dress and eAui$!ent, their original ideas of di"inity, as, for eBa!$le, Lakulisa ith his clubC and their sanctity and a$otheosis ha"e ratified their inno"ations in theology and iconology, hich ha"e s$read abroad as their congregations ha"e gro n. Thus the gurus and their congregations ha"e !ade the history of their deities, recasting the gods e"er ane in the !ould of !anKs ho$es and stri"ings and ideals. There is !uch truth in the saying of the Brah!anas& H)n the beginning the gods ere !ortal.H 7 7 7 7 7

End of Project GutenbergKs Hindu Gods And Heroes, by Lionel D.

Barnett

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