Chapter XXXVI. Fundamental and Leading Characteristics of Hindu Culture and Civilization

Volume V: Part II pp. 1613–1657

Chapter XXXVI. Fundamental and Leading Characteristics of Hindu Culture and Civilization

Fundamental and leading characteristics of Hindu culture and civilization

It is necessary to gather together the threads scattered over six thousand pages of the History of Dharmaśāstra and to emphasize the fundamental and leading characteristics and conceptions of Hindu culture and civilizatioṇ

The word Hindu ( in the form ‘ Hidu ’) appears to have been applied by the Persian¹ Emperors Darius ( 522–486 B. C. ) and Xerxes ( 486–465 B. C. ) to the territory and people to the west and to the east of the great river Sindhu, while the Greeks referred to the people in the same region as ‘ Indoi ’, from which comes the word ‘ Indian ’. Herodotus in his History ( Loeb series ) states that the Thracians were the biggest nation in the world next to the Indians ( Book 5 para 3, vol. III p. 3 ) and that the Indians constituted the 20th province of the Persian Empire and paid 360 talents of gold dust as tribute. The word ‘ Sindhu ’ occurs more than two hundred times in the Ṛgveda alone in the singular as well as in the plural. The words ‘ Sindhavah ’ and ‘ Sapta Sindhūn ’ occur more frequently than Sindhu in the singular. Indra is often described as having let loose the seven Sindhus for flowing ( Ṛg. I, 32.12, II. 12.12, IV. 28.1, VIII. 96.1, X. 43.3 ). In such passages what is meant is the great river Sindhu and its tributaries ( or possibly its seven mouths ). Many passages of the Ṛgveda where the singular is employed refer to the river Sindhu alone (as in Ṛg. II. 15.6, IV. 30.12, V. 4.9 &c). In Ṛg. II. 15.6 it is said that Indra made Sindhu flow northwardṣ This would obviously refer to the first part of the river flowing northward from the Himalayaṣ Pāṇini uses the word 'Sindhu' as the name of a country in IV. 3.93 ('Saindhava' means one who or whose ancestors lived in the Sindhu country). For the fluctuating limits of Āryāvarta, vide H. of Dh. Vol. II pp. 11-16 and p. 1525, note 2483 above, where Ṛg. passages about Bharatas are set out and it is shown that the Purāṇas speak of Bharata-varṣa as of the same extent as that of modern India and the name is said to have been due to Bharata, son of Dūṣyanta and Śakuntalā. Bharatavarṣa occurs in the Hathīgumpha Inscription of Khāravela (line 10 on p. 79) which cannot be assigned to a date later than the 1st century² B. C. It has been shown above (p. 1016 ṇ 1649) that Aśoka in one of his edicts refers to his kingdom as Jambudvīpa. Even in these days in the rather long saṅkalpa (declaration) at the beginning of a religious act in Mahārāṣṭra, occur the words 'Jambudvīpe Bharatavarṣe Bauddhāvatāre Godāvaryā dakṣiṇe tīre' &c. Therefore, the proper word to be used by us for our country should be Bharatavarṣa. It may be said that our culture and civilization had throughout the past ages a geographical backgrounḍ The Constitution of India has recognized this in its very first Article which runs 'India, that is Bharat, shall be a union of States'. In view of the fact, however, that the words 'Hindu' and 'Indian' have been employed for centuries by foreign as well as our own writers, this work will employ those words instead of 'Bharatavarṣa'.

The words 'culture' and 'civilization' are used as synonyms by some writers, while some others regard them as quite distinguishable. These two are defined in various ways by scholarṣ A few definitions are set out here by way of sample.

Dr. Tyler states (in 'Primitive Culture' vol I p. 1, Murray, London, 1871) 'Culture or civilization is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society'. Matthew Arnold's definition of culture in his lengthy essay on 'Culture and Anarchy' (1869, Preface p. VIII) is rather restricted in scope. He regards culture as a 'pursuit of our total perfection by means of getting to know, on all the matters which concern us, the best which has been thought and said in the world, and through this knowledge turning a stream of fresh and free thought upon our stock notions and habits which we know follow staunchly but mechanically, vainly imagining that there is a virtue in following them staunchly which makes up for the mischief of following them mechanically'. Prof. P. A. Sorokin in 'Social and Cultural Dynamics' (1957, p. 2) defines human culture as 'the sum total of everything which is created or modified by the conscious or unconscious activity of two or more individuals interacting with one another or condi- tioning one another's behaviour.³ Prof. Edgerton in Journal of American Oriental Society in a paper on the 'Dominant ideas in the formation of Indian Culture' (vol. 62 for 1942 pp. 151-156) understands culture as a total way of life viewed as a norm and as such approved or at least tolerated by a people as a whole and by its articulate representatives generally.

Prof. Toynbee in 'Civilizations on trial' (1948) states (p. 223) 'I mean by a civilization the smallest unit of historical study at which one arrives when one tries to understand the history of his own country, U. S. A., say, or U. K.' Prof. Toynbee in his latest work 'Reconsiderations' (vol. XII pp. 76-77, of his Study of History) adopts Bagbey's definition of culture as meaning 'regularities in the behaviour, internal and external, of the members of a Society, excluding those regularities which are clearly hereditary in origin' and adds that 'religious practices and institutions and, by implication, also religious beliefs and experiences are certainly a part of culture as thus defined' and mentions religion together with art, technology, social structure as examples of the elements of which culture consists (pp. 84, 95). Prof. Toynbee further says that in his volumes he employed the word 'culture' in two different senses, viz. (1) the comprehensive one in which it is used by Bagby and (2) in an exclusive sense in which the word has been current in contemporary English since the time of Matthew Arnold (ibidi. p. 272). As regards the word 'civilization' he remarks (p. 273) that civilization is a hybrid word of modern French coinage and Johnson refused to include it in his dictionary.

Archibald Robertson (in 'Rationalism in theory and practice', London, 1954 p. 62) says "when we use the word 'civilization', we mean a society with enough command over nature to raise it above savagery or barbarisṃ Civilization primarily means 'civitas' city life, division of labour and consequent surplus production over and above mere animal needṣ' Vide Prof. S. Levi's book 'L' Inde et le Monde' p 63 translated in H. Kraemer's 'World cultures and world religions' (London 1960) p. 315 where it is really a definition of Hindu civilization alone.

It is unnecessary to cite further definitionṣ We may accept any one of these for a working hypothesiṣ If a distinction is to be made between the two words, one may say that the word 'culture', being neutral in meaning, is the better one to use than the word 'civilization'. The latter word is often employed for an advanced stage of social development and is contrasted with the stage of primitive or barbarian societieṣ People often speak of primitive culture, but rarely, if at all, of primitive civilizatioṇ

During the last 6000 years of human history, several cultures and civilizations rose and fell. Spengler, a militarist and anti-rationalistic author, who does not rely on religion, morality or politics but is a votary of force, examines about thirty civilizations and cultures and propounds the thesis that all of them (except seven or eight) follow a certain common pattern, viz. they are born, grow, decline and die and that once defunct they are not reviveḍ Prof. Toynbee, a Christian (and not a militarist ) in his ‘Study of History’ appears to arrive at conclusions not unlike those of Spengler, viz. culture and societies have stages of childhood, maturity, senility and disintegratioṇ On p. 758 of Volume IX of his ‘Study of History’ he gives a table for nineteen civilizations with the dates of their Epiphany ( manifestation ), of their breakdown and the span of growth phase in number of yearṣ He puts down Indic Civilization as starting in 1375 B. C. and as breaking down in 725 B. C. and Hindu civilization as beginning in 775 A. D. and its breakdown in 1175 A. D. This is, to say the least, most objectionable.⁴ The distinction between Indic and Hindu civilization is arbitrary and the dates also are so. Why the Hindu civilization is held by him as breaking down in 1175 A. D. is quite unconvincing and what was the nature or name of India’s civilization between 725 B. C. and 775 A. D. is not stated by hiṃ On the other hand, the whole metaphor of being born, growing, maturing and disintegrating is held inapplicable to civilizations by other distinguished writers, such as J. G. De Beus in the ‘Future of the West’ (London, 1953), who remarks that civilizations are not born and they do not die (p. 60), but are transformed or absorbeḍ Prof. Sorokin asserts (in ‘Social and Cultural Dynamics’) that his theory has little in common with the age-old theories of the life cycle of culture and societies with stages of childhood, maturity, senility and decay (p. 627). Leonard Woolf in ‘Quack, quack’ mercilessly criticizes Spengler’s theories (pp. 139-160). A. L. Kroeber in ‘Style and Civilizations’ ( New York, 1957 ) agrees with Prof. Sorokin and disagrees with Spengler and Toynbee and remarks that ‘the study of civilizations can hardly become truly scientific or scholarly until it divests itself of emotional concern about crisis, decay, collapse, extinction and doom’ (p. 160).

Among the numerous civilizations and cultures that flourished in the world there are only two ( namely, the Indian and the Chinese ) that have survived and kept up a continuity of tradition for four thousand years ( if not more ) in spite of recurrent invasions by foreign hordes like those by Persians, Greeks, Scythians, Huns, Turks and notwithstanding internal conflicts and convulsionṣ⁵ India absorbed such people and made many Greeks, Śakas and other foreigners adopt the spiritual Ideologies of India and found for them a place in the Indian social fabric ( as has been and will be shown later ). Not only so, India could spread its literature, religion, art and culture, not by invasions or annexations but mostly by peaceful means, viz. teaching, translations of Sanskrit works and persuasion, to Ceylon, Burma, Sumatra, Malaya, Java, Bali, Borneo, China, Tibet, Japan, Mongolia and Corea.⁶ The charming island of Bali is still Hindu with four varṇas, priests being called Pedanda ( Paṇḍita ), consecrated water for worship being called Toya ( vide S. Levi's 'Sanskrit texts from Bali' Preface p. XIII G. O. S.), priests still repeating one quarter of Gāyatri, viz. 'bhargo devasya dhīmahi' (ibiḍ p. XV) and repeating the yajñopavīta mantra (yajñopavitam paramam etc. ) in a corrupt forṃ

This persistence of Indian culture and civilization for several millennia requires an explanation and a consideration of the fundamental conceptions, values and characteristics of that civilization would enable us to offer a satisfactory one. Indian culture and civilization have a distinct personality and should not and could not be judged by purely European standardṣ Various peoples during past centuries had the conceit that they were far superior to others and had a mission to propagate. When the British empire became so extensive that the ‘Sun never set on it’, many British imperialists claimed (most hypo-critically) that they were carrying on the ‘white man’s burden’⁷ A for the benefit and betterment of undeveloped and backward people (when British Imperialism was impoverishing to the utmost the people whom they governed by their colonial policies as will be briefly indicated later on so far as India is concerned). Russia claims that it has the mission to liberate the proletariat from capitalism and to bring about a Paradise on Earth. The Germans under Hitler believed that they belonged to the superior Nordic race and that they would save the world from communisṃ Such a conceit is not confined to the West. The Chinese believed that they alone were civilizeḍ The Japanese hold that their Emperor is the son of Heaveṇ In these days some Indians also claim that spirituality existed nowhere except in India. It is quite correct to say that ancient Indian culture and civilization were based on great spiritual valueṣ It would be entirely in the wrong to say that other people had no spirituality. All that we can at most say is that spirituality is more basic to Hinduism and was more diffused among Hindu people than anywhere else. The Manusmṛti provides that only those usages of varnas and mixed castes that are traditionally prevalent in the country of Brahmāvarta, in Kurukṣetra, in the countries of Matsya, Pañcāla (the country called Doab) and Śūrasena (round about Mathurā) are spoken of as sadācāra (II, 17–19) and that all men on the earth should learn their respective duties from brāhmaṇas born in those countrieṣ The Manusmṛti excludes the countries of Madhyadeśa (as defined by it) and Āryāvarta from this provision (II 21–22). Recently, some people appear to rely on the words ‘kṛṇvanto viśvam-āryam’ occurring in Rg. IX. 63. 5–6 and hold that the Veda has put forward the mission of our country as making the whole world ārya. But there is hardly any foundation for this conceit. These words occur about the offering of Soma juice (indavah) to Indra. They only mean this-these Soma libations, brown in colour,⁸ (pressed from Soma plant) increase (the might of ) Indra, making the waters to fall (from the sky), destroy hostile men coming to Indra, making all (the whole environment) noble they reach their proper sphere.⁹ There is here no reference whatever to Vedic people making the whole world Ārya. At the most these verses may be interpreted as suggesting that Soma sacrifices to Indra would make the world Ārya. Then there is no message in it which modern Indians can give and spreaḍ Soma plant itself became unavailable in Vedic times and substitutes had to be utilizeḍ And hardly any solemn Vedic sacrifices have been performed for centuries in India and very rarely, if at all, Soma sacrificeṣ

During the last four or five hundred years the Western nations professing Christianity started on a career of conquest, exploitation of undeveloped countries and peoples, colonial empires, use of the discoveries of science for competitive purposes, the amassing of wealth with such ideologies as those expressed in the words 'everybody should be for himself and the devil take the hind-most.' But the devastation and atrocities of the last two world wars and the possibility of the annihilation of the human race or a very large part of it by atomic warfare have now opened the eyes of many thoughtful leaders and people in the West that, if modern civilization is to be saved, they must cultivate regard for spiritual values, love of righteousness, and justice, sympathy with the oppressed, and active belief in the brotherhood of maṇ Though our ancient sages and lawgivers laid great emphasis on spiritual values, a very large majority of our people and so-called leaders have been wanting in the practice of those values for centurieṣ Instead of merely praising our past glories, the present author would humbly request all educated Indians to be introspective and to ponder over certain questions that are often asked and seek to find the reasons for the loss of our freedom from the 13th century onwardṣ (1) Why Hindus were generally found inferior to the invaders, Persian, Greek, Scythian, Turk, English, even though Indians far outnumbered and even though most invaders were impressed by the courage and perfect indifference to death on the part of India's soldiers; (2) Why Hindus could not form a permanent organized State comprising the whole of India for many centuries; (3) why did they fail to take advantage of the splendid natural resources of India to excel in manufactures, commerce and industry. We must enter upon a thoroughgoing and honest inquiry into our past to find our own defects (political and others) that led to our fall for centuries and try to remove those defects as quickly as possible, now that Bhārata has won independence after centurieṣ There was no political unity of the whole of India till the British began to rule over the whole of India. There were constant wars among Hindu kingdoms and princeṣ For example, because the Marathas invaded Bengal, the Bengalis hated Marathas and were jubilant over the defeat of the Marathas by the British. We Indians hardly had any deep-seated feeling of all Indians being one people or of nationalism till the 2nd half of the 19th century A. D. This chapter cannot discuss at length the subject of the causes of the downfall of India, politically and in other respectṣ But a few remarks would not be altogether out of place here.

Hinduism is a combination of many systems and religious ideologies including Vedic ritualism, Vedāntic thought, Vaiṣṇavism, Śaivism, Śaktism and primeval cults, adapted to the requirements of different types of men and communities with great disparities of intellectual and spiritual attainmentṣ There were only a few matters that would be said to have bound most of the Hindus to each other, viz. the doctrine of Karma and Punarjanma, the unifying influence of the vast and venerated Sanskrit literature that gradually enriched the regional langu ages, the veneration in which the Vedas were held by all Hindus as the final authority in religious matters, though only a small minority could learn and understand them, the geogra phical unity of the country from the Himālaya to Cape Comorin emphasized by the Purāṇas and by the pilgrimages to holy places from Mānasalake and Badrinath to Rāmeśvara. These few elements, however, were not enough to neutralize the causes that militated against effective unity amongst all Hinduṣ Most of the ācāryas and saints laid too much emphasis on other-worldliness and Vedānta and did not lay equal or greater emphasis on or recognize the importance of active and thorough performance of people's duties to themselves, to their families, and to society, the result being that many people, whether fit or unfit, tried to become otherworldly and did not actively pursue worldly values with righteousnesṣ Another cause of disunity and downfall was the great disparity between the high meta- physical teaching of the whole world being one and the treatment of men and untouchables, owing to ideas of exclusiveness, of purity and pollution by touch &c. The education of the masses was greatly neglected¹⁰ and the higher classes did not seriously mind who ruled the country as long as their life was not much disturbeḍ The great patriot and revolu- tionary Savarkar, hammered on seven fetters by which Hindu society was bound for centuries, viz. untouchability, prohibitions of several kinds viz. sea travel, of mutual dining among the hundreds of castes and subcastes, of intercaste marriages, of Veda study against several castes, prohibition against following certain occupations and prohibition against re-admission to Hinduism of people that were converted to other religious faiths by force, fraud or ignorance.

Our cultural history shows some central features which may be mentioned in one place here. The first is that there has been an unbroken religious tradition from the Vedic times almost to the present day. Vedic mantras are still employed throughout the whole of India in religious rites and ceremonies by all brāhmaṇas and by a large number of the members of castes claiming to be kṣatriyas and Vaiśyaṣ The Vedic gods are not entirely forgotteṇ Kindling of Agni is still required at the beginning of all rites; Viṣṇu (though not so frequently praised as Indra, Agni or Varuna, yet often enough, is praised in Rg.I.22 16-21, I. 154. 1-6, I. 155. 1-6, VI. 69. 1-8, both Indra and Viṣṇu are praised in Rg. VII. 99. 1-7, Atharvaveda VII. 27.4-9) and Śiva ( Rudra of the Ṛgveda, transformed a great deal yet highly praised in Rg. II. 1.6, II, 33.9, X. 92.9 where he is spoken of as Śiva) are even now the principal deities worshippeḍ In the morning and evening Sandhyā worship, brāhmaṇas in many parts of India still repeat respectively verses addressed to Mitra ( Rg. III. 59 ) and Varuna ( Rg. I. 25 ). The second feature is that, India being a vast country (as large as the whole of Europe minus Russia), central authority in political power never existed ( except perhaps for a short time under Asoka ). The ideal was that of supreme ruler ( samrāt or cakravartin ). But, if a king submitted, acknowledged the prowess of the successful conqueror and paid some tribute, no samrāt troubled himself to look into the affairs of the kingdoms ruled by petty kingṣ There could, therefore, be no common front against a foreign invader, no uniformity in laws, customs and practices and there were frequent wars among kings and petty princeṣ A third feature was that there did not develop a serious clash of cultures, there was tolerance about varying ideologies and beliefs and constant adaptation to create harmony in diversity.

It makes one sad to find that not a single Hindu scholar resembling Alberuni came forward to inquire into the causes of the successful invasions of India by Mahmud of Gazni and later hordeṣ Intellectuals were mostly engaged at least from the 11th century onwards in composing works of thousands of pages on such topics as Vrata, Dāna, Śrāddha ( as the very learned minister Hemādri did ) or in mental gymnastics about logic, Vedānta, Poetics and similar subjects and appear to have bestowed little thought on finding means of meeting the onslaught of foreigners or the remedies for removing their own weaknesses and defectṣ There were also other causes of the downfall of Hinduṣ Our intellectuals did not or could not pursue and make their own discoveries of science and technology made in the world from the 15th century A. D. Shahaji purchased firearms from foreignerṣ Neither he, nor his great son Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha empire, started factories for the manufacture of up-to-date firearms and cannoṇ Similarly, our people did not properly appreciate the role of a powerful navy. If the Hindus or their rulers had possessed a powerful navy they would have been able to nip in the bud the ambitions of the Portuguese, the French and the English.

We must now set out the important characteristics of Hindu culture and civilizatioṇ

1. The most striking conception even as early as the Ṛgveda is that there is only one Reality or Essence, in spite of the fact that people speak of it or worship it as Indra, Mitra, Varūṇa, Agni &c. ( Ṛg. I. 164. 46, VIII. 58. 1, X. 129. 2, q. above on p. 1487 ). In the Mahābhārata, Purāṇas, in classical Sanskrit Poetry and even in medieval times, when there were various cults and schisms, such as the worship of Viṣṇu or Śiva or Śakti, almost all Hindus had an inner consciousness that God is one though called by various names; vide p. 118 note 306, p. 973 and note 1593 above, and Harivaṁśa ( Viṣṇuparva 25. 31 ), Kumāra-sambhava VII. 44. 2. From this conception arose the great tolerance that Hinduism at all times showed to freedom of thought and worship, which has been dwelt upon by the present author in H. of Dh. Vol. II p. 388 note 928, Vol. V. pp. 970-71, 1011-1018 (references to Asoka's edicts and Yaj. I. 343 and numerous instances of Indian kings and donors of one persuasion making gifts to temples and institutions of other cults and persuasions); vide also Gītā 7. 21-22 and 9.23. To hunt down heretics, real or supposed, has been a favourite business of some religions¹ for centurieṣ This has been absent from Hinduisṃ Hinduism is not bound by any fixed creed nor does it rely on a single book² or a prophet as its founder. All that it requires is that man should be God-fearing and what matters is not correct beliefs but moral conduct and social behaviour. Hindus do not deny the truth of any religion or reject the validity of another man's religious experience. A verse² quoted below breathes a broad-minded approach to religious beliefs and worship 'May Hari, the Lord of the three worlds, bestow on you the desired reward, whom the Śaivas worship as Śiva, Vedāntins as brahman, the Bauddhas as Buddha, the Naiyāyikas proficient in the means of knowledge as the Creator, those devoted to Jain teachings as Arhat and Mīmāṁsakas as Yajña'. The great logician Udayana who composed his Lakṣaṇāvalī in śaka 906 (984 A. D.) breathes in his Nyāyakusumāñjali the same spirit as is contained in the verse translated above. Tolerance is thus of the essence of Hinduism and even an atheist is often met with amusement and not with persecutioṇ

III. Working on the doctrine that there is only one Essence or Godhead, the sages of the Upaniṣads arrived at the

conclusion that the individual self is non-different from the one Essence, that all manifoldness is only apparent, that even fishermen, slaves, gamblers and the inanimate world are non-different from it. This Vedānta doctrine is one of the most characteristic features of Hinduism and is India's great contribution to the spiritual development of man, though there are sporadic instances of this doctrine having been held by some ancient philosophers in other landṣ This idea of one in the many and many in one is the very core or centre of Vedānta. This has been dealt with above (vide pp. 1499-1500 notes 2451-52 and pp. 1509-10). In Europe the study of philo- sophy is an end in itself. In ancient India this idea of the unity in diversity was made the basis of education and sociology and it was held that the realization of this unity in one's life was the highest freedom (mokṣa).

The Upaniṣadic teaching is a universal doctrine in which all men of good will can meet and combine, in whatever religion they might have been brought up from their childhooḍ Many illustrations are adduced in the Upaniṣads to bring home non-difference to the inquirer about the Essence. But two are very apt. The Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (III, 2. 8) declares "just as rivers flowing ( towards the ocean ) become merged in the ocean ( knows ), being free from name and form, attains the divine Person that is higher than the highest". The Praśnopaniṣad has (VI.5) the same illustration in prose. The Kathopaniṣad IV. 15 states 'just as pure water poured into pure water assumes the same form ( appearance ), similarly the soul of the sage who has realized ( the Essence ) becomes the Ātman (Self)." Deussen in his address on 20th February 1893 before the Asiatic Society of Bombay (in J. B. B. R. A. S. No. 18 for 1893 Art 20 pp. 330-340) after quoting the verse of Muṇḍaka III. 2. 8 remarks "It is not the falling of the drops in the infinite ocean, it is the whole ocean returning to that which he really is and has never ceased to be, to his own all-pervading eternal almighty nature" and concludes ( p. 340 ) " Vedānta in its unfalsified form is the strongest support for morality, is the greatest consolation in the sufferings of life and death; Indians, keep to it." Vide V. S. II. 3.43, where reference is made to Atharvaveda 'Brahma dāsā brahma dasā brahmemę kitavā uta' (occurring in the Paippalāda version as shown by Prof. Durgamohan Bhattacharya in his paper on a H. D. 204 palm-leaf mṣ of the Paippalāda-saṃhitā in Adyar Library Bulletin, vol. XXV, parts 1–4 ).

From very ancient Vedic times one of the fundamental conceptions of our Indian culture has been the idea of three spiritual and religious debts owed by a person to the sages, gods and pitṛs, which he paid off by the study of the ancient lore, by sacrifices, and by having a son or sons respectively. This subject has been dealt with at length in the H. of Dh. Vol. II pp. 270, 425, 560–61, 676, Vol. III p. 416 and above. p. 1318 note 2168. To these three debts the Mahābhārata added a fourth viz. the debt owed to all men paid off by goodness ( vide H. of Dh. Vol. III p. 416 ṇ 675 ). Śabara on Jaimini VI. 2.31 explains that this doctrine is not confined to brāhmaṇas but to all members of the three classes, the word 'brāhmaṇa' used in the Tai. S. and other Vedic texts being only illustrative.

Another set of values is contained in the conception of puruṣārthas ( ends or goals of human endeavour ) viz. Dharma ( right conduct ), Artha ( economics, politics and civics ), Kāma ( life of sex, of pleasures and aesthetics ), Mokṣa ( salvation, release or recovery by the self of its real nature and freedom from the bondage of low desires and aims ). Mokṣa is said to be the highest goal ( paramapuruṣārtha ) and the first three are spoken of as 'trivarga'. The concept of Dharma is a far-reaching one and has been emphasized from very ancient times and refers to the principles which men have to observe in their lives and in social relationṣ This subject of puruṣārthas and of dharma has been dealt with at some length in H. of Dh. Vol. II pp. 2–11 and Vol. III pp. 8–10 and 239–241. Therefore, only a few matters would be briefly emphasized here. It has been shown above on pp. 1–21 how the Ṛgveda had three words viz. ṛta ( cosmic order ), vrata ( laws or ordinances deemed to be laid down by a god or gods ) and dharma ( religious rites or sacrifices or fixed principles ), how gradually ṛta receded into the background and ‘satya’ took its place and Dharma became an all-embracing conception and vrata came to be restricted to sacred vows and rules of conduct. When a teacher was about to take leave of the pupil at the end of the latter's studenthood he placed in his final exhortation ( Tai. Up. I. 11 ) Truth as the first and Dharma as next to it ( satyaṁ veda dharmaṁ cara ). The Bṛ. Up. I. 4. 14 equates Satya with Dharma. One of the noblest prayers occurs in the Bṛ. Up. ( I. 3. 28 ) ‘from falsehood lead me unto truth, from darkness unto light, from death

sake of life itself. Dharma is eternal, pleasure and pain are impermanent, the individual self is eternal, but the conditions (under which self works) are impermanent.' The Mahābhārata passages quoted in ṇ 18 p. 8 of H. of Dh. Vol. II say 'the three (Dharma, Artha, Kāma) are meant for all men, that Dharma is the best of the three, that Artha is middling and Kāma is the lowest and that if there be conflict then Dharma must be followed and the other two abandoneḍ' This shows that Artha and Kāma were made subservient to Dharma (the ethical code) and all three were subservient to the spiritual goal. Our Śāstras do not at all prescribe asceticism for all, but they recognized a scale of valueṣ The Manusmṛti (IV. 3 and 15) provides 'one should accumulate wealth for securing only his needs by actions proper for his station (varṇa &c) and without harm to his body. One should not desire to acquire wealth by excessive attachment nor by actions condemned by Śāstra nor when he has already enough wealth nor from any kind of person (a sinner or like), even when he is in straightened circumstanceṣ' Ap. Dh. S. (II. 8. 20 22-23) declares that man should enjoy all such pleasures as are not against Dharma; by doing so he secures both worlds (this life and life in the next world). Gautama Dharmasūtra³ IX. 46-47 and Yaj. I. 115 practically say the same thing. In the Bhagavadgītā (VII. 11) Kṛṣṇa identifies himself with Kāma that is not in conflict with Dharma. The Arthaśāstra of Kauṭilya no doubt says (I. 7) that 'Artha is the chief among the three puruṣārthas', but he also provides that one should enjoy a life of pleasures in such a way as not to conflict with Dharma and Artha, that one should not lead a life devoid of pleasures altogether. The Anuśāsanaparva (chap. III. 18-19) states that Dharma, Artha and Kāma are the three prizes (fruits) of human life, these three should be striven for but in such a way as not to conflict with Dharma'. The Manusmṛti (V. 56) declares that eating flesh, drinking intoxicants and sexual intercourse are not sinful in themselves; all beings are naturally inclined to these; but abstention (from these) leads to great rewards (and therefore Śāstra emphasizes abstention)'. The Rāmāyaṇa (Araṇyakāṇda 9.30) contains a statement similar to Svargarohanaparva 5. 62. When reforms are suggested in these days, conservative people put forward the plea that ours is 'sanātana-dharma' ⁴ and so no changes should be introduceḍ But the words 'sanātana dharma' do not mean that Dharma always stands still or is immutable; all that those words mean is that our culture is very ancient and has a long tradition behind it but they do not mean that Dharma permits no change. As a matter of fact funda- mental changes in conceptions, beliefs and practices have been made from ancient times to the medieval times by means of various deviceṣ Attention may be drawn to a few. Veda was all in all in very ancient times but in the Upaniṣads this was changed, the Muṇḍaka I. 1. 5 designating the four Vedas as inferior knowledge (aparā vidyā) and the knowledge of the immutable brahman as the higher vidyā; in the Chāṇ Up. VII. 1.4, the four Vedas and several other branches of knowledge are called by Sanatkumāra (whom Nārada approached for instruction) mere name (nāma). Yajñas were the most important religious practice in the early Vedic period, but the Muṇḍaka Up. I. 2. 7 designates them as leaky boats and regards those who hold them as the best thing to be foolṣ Vide above pp. 1265-72 about changes in the views on anuloma marriages, on the topic of whose food may be partaken even by a brāhmaṇa, the abrogation by the doctrine of Kalivarjya (matters forbidden in Kali age) &c. Manu, Yāj., Viṣṇudharmasūtra, Viṣṇu and other purāṇas expressly provide that one should not observe but give up what was once Dharma, if it has come to be hateful to the people and if it would end in unhappiness (vide p. 1270 ṇ 2071 above). The Śāntiparva ⁵ expressly states that what was adharma (in one age) may become dharma in another and that dharma and adharma are both subject to the limitations of country and time. Kāma also was not neglected, as the Kāma-sūtra (particularly its chapter on ‘nāgaraka-vṛtta’ I. 4) will show. The extensive Nāṭyaśāstra of Bharata (containing about 5000 verses) is a witness to the aesthetic enjoyment of dance, music and drama in ancient India by thousands of ordinary men and womeṇ

Hindu thought on the three goals of human life came to this ‘do your duty, do not fall into temptations, perform duties for their own sake (Gītā II. 47, III. 19 ), do unto others as you would be done by ( Gītā VI. 32, Anuśāsanaparva 113. 8–9, Śānti 259. 20. = Cr. eḍ 251. 19 ), earn wealth but without conflict with dharma and without injury to others and lead a chaste sexual life and enjoy aesthetic pleasureṣ These summarise the teachings underlying the conceptions of the three puruṣārthaṣ There was hardly any real pessimism⁶ in the principal Dharmaśāstra works except perhaps here and there in the Mahābhārata. They consider life to be worth living, provided all actions are informed by the dictates of Dharma. Manu (XII. 88-89) provides that Karma ( conduct or actions ) prescribed by the Veda is of two kinds, viz. pravṛtta and nivṛtta, the former leading to happiness in this world and to svarga, and the latter to nihśreyasa (mokṣa) and requiring complete absence of all hankerings preceded by realization of brahma. The Anuśāsana-parva (chap. 146. 76-80 ) divides Dharma into pravṛttilakṣaṇa (characterised by persistent activity) and nivṛttilakṣaṇa (characterised by abstention from worldly activities and desires), which latter is to be followed for mokṣa and lays down certain practical and salutary rules viz. one should constantly make gifts according to one’s ability, constantly offer sacrifices and perform rites to secure one’s prosperity. One should collect wealth following what is right and such wealth obtained righteously should be divided into three parts; one should secure both dharma and artha with one-third of the wealth acquired, one-third should be spent on Kāma ( i. e. chaste sexual life and enjoyment of other pleasures not in conflict with dharma ) and one-third he should increase. Manu (VII. 99 and 101) prescribes similar rules for the king. The same parvan (Anuśāsana chap. 144. 10–25 and 31–39) dwells at length upon those actions that lead men to heaven (the phrase ‘te narāḥ svarga-gāminaḥ’ is repeated in each verse). These provisions are meant for all ordinary people. The Rāmāyaṇa ²⁶¹⁵ quotes a popular verse that man is not condemned to never-ending misery but joy comes to a man even after a hundred years if he be alive.

The 4th Puruṣārtha Mokṣa can be obtained only by a few. It is not a bow which every man or any man can make strung. It was a very difficult path like a razor's edge (Katha Up. III, 14), far more difficult than the path of devotion to a Personal God (Bhagavadgītā XII, 5). The Upaniṣadic doctrine of liberation comes to this that man's nature is really divine, that it is possible for a human being to know and become actually identified with the Godhead, that this should be the ultimate goal of man's life, that this can be achieved by one's own efforts, but the aspirant to give up egotism, selfishness and worldly attachmentṣ Besides, there is another difficulty. The conceptions about Mokṣa differ in the different schools of thought like Nyāya Sāṅkhya, Vedānta. Even in the Vedānta the conception about Mokṣa on the part of the different ācāryas differṣ Some declared that there were four stages in Mukti viz. Sālokya (place in Lord's world), Sāmīpya (proximity), Sārūpya (attaining same form as God) and Sāyujya (absorption). ²⁶¹⁶ These matters cannot be gone into here. Dharma is divided into different classes from different standpointṣ One classification is into śrauta (based on the Vedas) and Smārta (based on Smṛtis). There was another and a more comprehensive classification of Dharma into six classes viz. varṇadharma (duties and rights of varṇas), āśramadharma (rules about the āśramas), varṇāśramadharma (rules enjoined because the person belongs to a certain class and was also in a certain āśrama (e. g. the rule that a brāhmaṇa brahmacārī should carry a staff of palāśa tree), guṇadharma (rules for one who holds or occupies a certain position, as in the case of a king), naimittikadharma (rules that have to be observed only on certain occasions such as bath on an eclipse, expiation for a lapse) and lastly sāmānyadharma (duties common to all (such as those described in pp. 10-11 of the H. of Dh. Vol. II). This leads on to the next important characteristic of Hindu culture and society, viz. varṇas and casteṣ

VI. Varṇa and caste. The subject of the origin of varṇa classification, the caste system and the duties, privi- leges and disabilities of the four varṇas have been dealt with at length in the History of Dharmaśāstra Vol. II. pp. 19-164. It has been shown that the word ‘varṇa’ (colour) has been applied to Āryas and dāsas in the Ṛgveda, that these two (āryas and dāsas) were opposite camps, that brāhmaṇas and kṣatriyas are mentioned in the Ṛgveda, but the word varṇa has not been expressly connected with theṃ The words Vaiśya and Śūdra do not occur in the Ṛgveda except in the Puruṣasūkta (Ṛg. X. 90. 12) but even in that hymn the word ‘varṇa’ is not employed with reference to theṃ That hymn is held to be comparatively a late one by most modern scholarṣ It may be conceded that at the time when the Puruṣasūkta was composed the community was divided into four groups viz brāhmaṇas (thinkers, learned men, priests) kṣatriyas (rulers and warriors), vaiśyas (common people following agriculture and crafts) and śūdras (those that did menial work). Such a division of people into four groups is not unnatural and is found in many countries even now. In England there are aristocratic families, there is the middle class and the workers in factories &c. They are not necessarily based on birth alone, though largely so baseḍ It has been shown above (p. 1265) that intermarriages between brāhmaṇas and the other varṇas were allowed up to the time of the Yājñ- valkya Smṛti which expresses its dissent from its predecessors and prohibits a person of the three upper classes from marrying a śūdra womaṇ There is no evidence to show that intermarriage or interdining among the four varņas was prohibited in the Vedic age. In the Vāj. S. 30, 6–13, Kāṭhaka S. XVII. 13, Tai. Br. III. 4. 2–3 numerous artisans and craftsmen such as takṣan, rathakāra, kulāla, karmāra, niṣāda, śūta and others are mentioned but it is extremely doubtful whether they had become petrified castes at the period of these workṣ Rathakāra and karmāra and śūta are mentioned in Atharvaveda III. 5. 6–7. It is probable that by the time of the Chāṇ Up. V. 10.7 Cāṇḍālas had become untouchables (like dogs and hogs) and Paulkasa seems to be equated with Cāṇḍāla in Br. Up.IV.3.22. Even in the times of Yājñavalkya and Parāśara (2nd to 6th century A. D.) a brāhmaṇa was permitted to take food at the house of such śūdras as his dāsa, cowherd, barber, a tenant of his land on the rent of half share of crops ( vide above p. 1266 ). The varņas were only four, there was no fifth varṇa ( Manu X. 4 and Anuśāsanaparva, chap. 48, 30), though in modern times untou- chables are often spoken of as pañcamas ( against Smṛti usage ). The word jāti in the sense of caste hardly ever occurs in Vedic literature but it occurs in the Nirukta ( XII. 13 ) and in Pāņini (V. 4, 9) who explains ‘brāhmaṇajātīya’ as meaning one who is a brāhmaṇa by caste’. Sometimes, Jāti and varṇa are differentiated in Smṛtis ( Yāj. II. 69, 260 ), but from ancient times the word Jāti is confounded with the word varṇa. Manu (X. 31 ) uses the word varṇa in the sense of mixed castes; conversely, the word Jāti is employed in the sense of ‘ varṇa ’ in Manu ( VIII. 177, IX. 85-86, X. 41 ).

A sort of caste system existed in several countries such as Persia, Rome and Japan, but it disappeared and had never attained the complexity of the Indian caste systeṃ

There are now several thousand castes and sub-castes in India. How they arose is, according to the present author, an insoluble probleṃ Sherring in ‘Hindu Tribes and Castes’ (1881, vol. III. p. 231 ) held that caste was an invention ( of the brāhmaṇas ). How such a huge system could be invented and imposed upon millions of people by a small minority without physical or political power never occurred to the prejudiced Christian missionary of the third quarter of the 19th century.

It is well-known that at least from the 6th century B. C. H. D. 205 onwards India was being invaded by Persians, Kāmbojas,⁷ Greeks, Scythians (generally held to be the same as Śakas), and people like Pāradas, Pahlavas, Cīnas, Kirātas, Daradas (Dards) and Khasas emigrated into India. Manu (X. 43-44) after mentioning these and Pauṇḍrakas, Oḍras (Orissa), Dravidas, asserts that these were originally Kṣatriyas but had become Śūdras because the sacraments like Upanayana had ceased among them and because they lost contact with brāhmaṇaṣ Manu X. 45 shows that in his day there were mixed castes that spoke mleccha tongues and Arya languages but were treated as dasyus (śūdras). Gautama-dharmasūtra (IV. 14-17), Manu X. 5-40, Yāj. I. 91-95 and many other works dilate upon the rise of mixed castes from the marriages or unions of men and women of different varṇas and declare how further castes and sub-castes arise from the marriages and unions of men and women belonging to different classes and casteṣ This was called Varṇasaṅkara or simply saṅkara, about which Arjuna expressed concern (Gītā I. 41-42) and against which the Bhagavad-gītā (III. 24-25) inveighs bitterly. It was stated by Gautama (Dh. S. VIII. 3) that the prosperity (of the castes and sub-castes), protection of varṇas) depend on the king and the non-mixture (of varṇas) on learned brāhmaṇaṣ The Nasik Inscription of king Siri Pulūmāyi (E. I. Vol. VIII. p. 60 about 130 A.D.) extols the king as having prevented the intermingling of varṇas (Varṇasaṅkara).

The mixture of castes (varṇasaṅkara)⁸ had gone so far even in the early ages that in the Vanaparva (180. 31-33) Yudhiṣṭhira is made to say that 'It is difficult to ascertain the caste of a person on account of the confusing mixture of Varṇas; all men raise progeny from all sorts of women; therefore, those who are wise regard character as the principal and desirable matter' (q. in H. of Dh. vol. II, p. 61 ṇ 149). The original scheme of varṇas was natural and based on the work that men put in for the community as a whole. It was not based on birth. The ideas underlying the original varṇa system made the nearest approach towards a society in which there was no attempt to secure a competitive equality but in which the interest of all groups were regarded as identical. In Vedic times there were only classes and not castes in the modern sense. Even in the smṛtis when many castes had arisen the greatest emphasis was laid on duties rather than on privileges and on high moral character and the value of the effort made by a maṇ It is therefore stated in the Gītā (IV. 13) that the system of four varṇas was created on the basis of quality (or on the basis of sattva, rajas and tamas) and actions and (in XVIII. 42-44) it specifies the qualities and actions required in the four varṇas as an ideal, viz. serenity of mind, self-control, austerity, purity, forbearance, straightforwardness, wisdom (spiritual knowledge), knowledge (of all kinds), faith (in God)–these are the natural actions (duties) for a brāhmaṇa; bravery, fury, energy, steadiness, capability, not running away in battle, charity and rulership–these are duties of a kṣatriya; agriculture, keeping herds of cows (and cattle), trade and commerce–these are the natural duties of the Vaiśya; work of the nature of service is the natural duty of the Śūdra. These words of Gītā cannot be used for supporting the present scheme of thousands of castes and sub-castes of water-tight character. If birth had been regarded as the sole or principal basis, the words in the Gītā ⁹ (IV.13) should have been, 'Jati-karmavibhāgaśaḥ' ('or janma-karma') and not 'Guṇakarma'. It would be noticed that out of the nine कर्मणि specified as natural to ब्राह्मणs most are moral and spiritual and no emphasis is laid on the element of birth. At the time of the महाभारत there must have been a great deal of ferment, some revolt and criticism about the petrified caste systeṃ The epic frequently refers to the theme of वर्णस and जातिस्. Vide for example, Vanaparva (chapter 180), Virāṭaparva 50. 4-7, Udyoga 23. 26, 40. 25-29, शान्ति 188. 10-14, Anusāsana 143. A few passages may be set out here. शान्ति 188. 10 says 'there is no (real) distinction between the वर्णस, (since) the whole world is of ब्रह्मा, since it was formerly created by Brahmā, and has had the system of वर्णस on account of the various actions (of men)'; शान्ति (189. 4 and 8) avers 'that man is known as ब्राह्मण in whom are seen truthfulness, generosity, absence of hate, absence of wickedness, shame (restraint for avoiding wrong-doing), compassion and a life of austerity; if these signs are observed in a शूद्र and are not found in a ब्राह्मण, then the शूद्र is not a शूद्र (should not be treated as a śūdra ) and the brāhmaṇa is not a brāhmaṇa. A similar passage occurs in Vanaparva 216. 14–15 ( quoted above in note 1640 pp. 1005–6 and compared to Dhammapada 393, translated on p. 1005 ). When the wrangles between Vaiṣṇavas and others were at their highest the Bhāgavatapurāṇa ( VII. 9. 10 ) avers that a caṇḍāla who is a devotee of Viṣṇu is superior to a brāhmaṇa who is not a devotee of Viṣṇu. Apart from the specific qualities required to be possessed by the members of each of the four varṇas, all dharmaśāstra works attach the highest importance to certain moral qualities and enjoin them on all meṇ Manu X. 63, Yāj. I. 22, Gaut. Dh. S. VIII. 23–25, Matsya 52. ⁵-10 ( quoted above on p. 1023 ṇ 1652 ) prescribe for all Varṇas a brief code of morals, such as ahiṁsā, truthfulness, non-stealing ( i. e. no wrongful taking of another's property ), purity and restraint of the senseṣ The Mitākṣarā on Yāj. I. 22 explains that the word ‘ sarveṣām ’ therein states that these moral qualities if practised are the means of Dharma for all men from brāhmaṇas to caṇḍālaṣ Vide H. of Dh. Vol. II pp. 10–11 for different enumerations of dharmas common to all meṇ The Manusmṛti ( I. 1 ) begins by saying that the great sages requested Manu to expound the dharmas of all varṇas and of the intermediate casteṣ This ( viz. the Dharmas of varṇas and āśramas ) is the principal topic in most of the smṛtis

A very high ideal was placed before brāhmaṇas ( vide above pp 936–938 ). They were to study the Veda and its subsidiary lores as a duty ( to be discharged ), were to perform sacrifices and make gifts also and their proper means of livelihood were only three viz. teaching the Veda and Śāstras, officiatiating as priests in religious and other giftṣ How arduous learning the Veda was will be clear when it is remembered that a brāhmaṇa who was to be regarded as a very learned one had to memorize one Veda at least. Supposing he was a student of the Ṛgveda he had to commit to memory the ten thousand and odd verses of the Ṛgveda, also its pada-pāṭha, its krama-pāṭha, the Brāhmaṇa text ( generally the Aitāreya ), the six Vedāṅgas ( auxilliary works ) viz. the Kalpasūtra ( of Āśvalāyana generally ), Vyākaraṇa ( the Grammar of Pāṇini in about four thousand sūtras ), the Nirukta ( in at least 12 chapters ), metrics, Śikṣā ( Phonetics ) and Jyotiṣa. The first three of these six Vedāṅgas are rather longish treatises and abstruse. These extensive texts were generally committed to memory without understanding the meaning and so entailed very great strain on The mind and memory. There were thousands of such brāhmaṇas in India up to the beginning of this century, and even now there are still hundreds of such meṇ They were to teach the Veda without demanding any fee ( demanding a fee to teach Veda was and is regarded as sinful even to this day). They were allowed to receive a fee if the pupil or somebody on his behalf paid something at the end of studenthooḍ Not only did they transmit the Veda free, but there were in the present author's youth in Koṅkaṇa and Mahārāṣṭra many Vaidik brāhmaṇas who gave free board and lodging to several pupils (or arranged to feed them by turns at the houses of brāhmaṇa families in the village or town ). All this has now almost stopped owing to rationing during the world wars and present high priceṣ So teaching hardly brought any regular and substantial amount of money ( vide H. of Dh. Vol. II. pp. 108–110 ). As regards officiating as priests, that was a precarious and fitful source of income. Besides, in Ṛg. times at least, the scion of a royal family could be a purohita i. e. a priest ( vide H. of Dh. Vol. II. p. 109 ). It should be remembered that all brāhmaṇas were not priests; they could be so if they chose and if they were learneḍ Further, many learned brāhmaṇas refuse even now to act as priests in śrāddhas for pitṛs ( at least for three years after the man's death ). Pāṇini ( V. 2. 71 ) provides for the formation of the word 'Brāhmaṇaka' meaning a province or country where ' brāhmaṇas followed the profession of arms ' and Kauṭilya ( IX. 2 ) also refers to armies of brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas &c. The third source specially permitted to brāhmaṇas was the privilege of receiving religious gifts from a worthy or unblemished person ( vide H. of Dh. Vol. II pp. 110, 11 ). Brāhmaṇas could follow other occupations in distress, but even then there were great restrictions imposed on them by śāstras even when they took to other means of livelihood ( vide H. of Dh. Vol. II pp. 118–132 ). The ideal set before brāhmaṇas was one of poverty, of plain living and high thinking, of forsaking a very active pursuit of wealth, of insisting on the necessity and high value to themselves and the Aryan society of studying, preserving, propagating and augmenting the ancient literature and culture. Kings, rich persons and even¹¹ ordinary men made gifts of lands and houses to learned brāhmaṇas ( which were deemed the most meritorious gifts ).¹² The present author saw in his boyhood very learned Vaidika brāhmaṇas themselves ploughing their own lands, while repeating inaudibly the Veda ( i. e. revising it, as otherwise it might slip from their memory ) and knew a middle class Vaidika brāhmaṇa family that for seven generations had taught Veda to a number of pupils and provided them with free board and lodging; ( out of these seven the present author personally knew three generations, the last of whom stopped a few years ago the Vaidika school owing to present high prices of food, decrease in gifts due to the increasing poverty of the people round about and their unconcern for Vedic studies ). Even in the times of the early Upaniṣads, the brāhmaṇa’s first duty was to learn and teach the Veda and to take all knowledge for his province. Ajātaśatru, king of Kāśī, exclaimed, when the brāhmaṇa Bālāki Gārgya approached him for knowledge of brahman, 'this is against the natural usual course that a brāhmaṇa should approach a kṣatriya to learn about brahman' ( Br. Up. II, 1. 15 ). That indicates that many brāhmaṇas must have endeavoured to act up to the old ideal of learning in olden timeṣ They became the custodians of the vast literature that had accumulated and were growing every day and were expected to preserve that literature and propagate it. Though every brāhmaṇa could not have lived up to the high ideals set up for brāhmaṇas, a very large number must have made as near an approach to the ideal as possible It was the greatness of these latter that led to the glorification of the whole clasṣ In most communities there is a group of the élite, which represents the ideals of the whole community, its essential tendencies and acts up to the idealṣ Learning, great moral and spiritual attainments among individuals are rather elusive and impalpable, while birth in a certain family is a very obvious thing. Most people in ancient and medieval times followed the occupation of their forefatherṣ The kingly office was highly eulogised by Manu ( VIII. 4–8 ), who propounded the theory that the king represented in his person eight deities ( Indra, Agni, Varuṇa, the Sun, the Moon, Kubera, Yama and Vāyu ) and that the king was a great divinity in human forṃ The office of the king also was hereditary. Except in a few cases the brāhmaṇas were never rulerṣ It was the kṣatriyas and śūdras that were rulerṣ Therefore, a generalisation was made that birth in a particular group or family was a more or less sure indication of the possession of certain qualities generally associated with the members of that group or family. The brāhmaṇas were teachers with no salary, officiated as priests when called and were given fees, but there was no assurance of a continuous and certain payment. They had no church organization ¹³ (such as Archbishops, bishops, priests, deacons in the Anglican church) and monasteries for monks among Buddhists and in the Christian Church. The brāhmaṇas were not monks but house-holders who had to maintain a family and bring up children and to make their sons learned and of high moral and spiritual worth. There is no example in the whole world of a small minority of the population of a country, that had no military strength behind it, being revered for at least thirty centuries without any serious challenge not only by the common people but by nobles and kingṣ What was the basis of the reverence shown to brāhmaṇas as a class for at least three thousand years? They were believed to be religious, moral and spiritual leaders and the possessors and representatives of an idealistic culture (‘ideational’ in the language of Prof. Sorokin). The secret of the power of and regard for brāhmaṇas had been the fact that as a class they performed well three of their appointed tasks of study, teaching and comparative renunciation (in spite of the failings of some individual brāhmaṇas). The brāhmaṇas had no army to support them and they could not, by devoting themselves to physical sciences, find new sources of income or well-being for themselves or for the whole community.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in his Autobiography (p. 432) pays in passing a tribute to the Brāhmaṇa ideal as follows: ‘But the West also brings an antidote to the evils of this cut-throat civilization – the principles of socialism, co-operation and service to the community for the common gooḍ This is not so unlike the old Brahmin ideal of service etc.’ The ancient Indian culture exalted the mind and soul over the body and hence arose an extra-ordinary development of asceticisṃ If in modern times the caste system has broken down and has become harmful and unpopular among all people, it may be scrapped and discarded (vide above p. 1270 note 2071 for provisions about this ). But such a huge and all-pervading system cannot be destroyed in a short time nor by legislatioṇ What those who desire to destroy altogether the caste system want is not clear. Do they want complete westernization of the whole of India ? To the present author this appears to be not only very difficult but almost impossible. Legislation may help a little, but it cannot eradicate within the foreseeable future the mental attitudes and outlook of millions of people. Cases have been reported where village kunbis and craftsmen threatened to beat untouchables that wanted to draw water from a village well in the presence of a magistrate. If this campaign against the whole caste system is carried on with force, there are sure to be widespread riots and disorders and the Independence of the country attained after two centuries of colonial rule may be jeopardizeḍ Two matters must be carefully considered and strenuously worked for. Government must see to it that nationalism, the emotion of being one people, in spite of differences in some respects, must be instilled from childhood and among the masseṣ For that purpose free and compulsory education for all children on national lines must be achieved as quickly as possible. Merely inveighing against casteism by leaders would not do, when people often suspect them as guilty of other 'isms' (such as nepotism ). Universal primary and secondary education, growing number of inter-caste marriages, a growing sense of solidarity as to essentials of culture (though petty differences may exist ) would be the first requisites in any scheme of the removal of casteṣ Besides, very large numbers of self-sacrificing men, of high moral character and devotion to duty would be required for eradicating the evils of the decayed caste systeṃ Another matter also must be very carefully considereḍ What is going to be substituted in place of the old caste system ? People are afraid that a new caste system of ministers, bureaucrats, captains of industry, men in power and workers is going to be substituted without the saving grace of the ancient caste systeṃ

It should not be forgotten that high spiritual life and mokṣa were not denied to the śūdra. It is true that the Pūrvamīmāṁsā denied to the śūdra the right to study the Veda and to perform Vedic sacrifices ( VI, I, 26 ). But even in those ancient times H, D. 206 one sage, Bādari, advocated that the śūdra could study the Veda and perform Vedic sacrifices ( P. M. S. VI. 1. 27 ). Besides, it should be noted that the śūdra was not at all debarred from a spiritual life and could secure mokṣa by studying the Mahābhārata ( which contains thousands of verses on Mokṣa ), which Vyāsa compassionately composed for the benefit of women and śūdras and which calls itself ( in Ādiparva chap. 62. 23 ) Dharmaśāstra, Arthaśāstra and Mokṣaśāstra, as declared by the Bhāgavatapurāṇa I. 4. 25. All that was decided was that a śūdra could not secure Mokṣa by the study of Veda. Śankarācārya on V. S. I. 3. 38 points out that śūdras like Vidura ( Ādiparva 63. 96–97 and 114, 106. 24–28, Udyogaparva 41. 5 ) and Dharma-vyādha ( Vanaparva 207 ) possessed knowledge of brahmavidyā and that it is impossible to say that they were not able to secure Mokṣa. Vide above pp. 921–22 and note 1468a for the discussion of the relevant passageṣ It is noteworthy that even in early Vedic times the Rathakāra ( a caste not belonging to any of the three higher classes ) was allowed to set up Vedic fires and could repeat certain Vedic mantras for that purpose and the Niṣāda ( also not belonging to any of the three varṇas, but being a śūdra ) was allowed to perform an iṣṭi to Rudra with Vedic mantraṣ Vide pp. 1290–91 (for Rathakāra) and pp. 1295–96 (for Niṣāda) above. These facts show that Vedic sacrifices had penetrated into certain śūdra castes long before the sūtras and smṛtis The Bhāgavatapurāṇa ( VII. 9. 10 ) was prepared to hold that a cāṇḍāla ( by birth ) if he becomes a devotee of Viṣṇu was superior to a brāhmaṇa who was not such a devotee.

The disappearance of the caste system, when it comes about, will not at all imply the disappearance or destruction of all that for which Hinduism has stood up during several millennia.

We should not be constantly harping on the caste system as the only or most basic cause of our downfall. The Moslems have no caste system and yet most of the Moslem countries in the world have been backward and under the thumb of Western powerṣ China, Japan and the countries in S. E. Asia had hardly anything like the caste system of our country, but the first two about a hundred years ago were very backward and many of the countries in S. E. Asia were within the Colonial Empire of Holland, a small country the population of which is even now only about eleven millionṣ Since 1818 when the British acquired the Deccan, for about 130 years what little royal power remained in India was distributed among about 600 princely States ruled by kṣatriyas and others and hardly a dozen brāhmaṇa States existed among those 600. What little trade and commerce existed or was allowed by the British to Indians was in the hands of Parsis, Bhatias, Banias, Marvadis, Jains and Lingayats and the brāhmaṇas had very little share in trade and commerce. It was the brāhmaṇa politicians like Tilak that insisted on Swadeshi. Agriculture, money lending and Zamindari were mostly in the hands of non-brāhmaṇas except in Bengal and contiguous territories where the Zamindari system supported by Lord Cornwallis prevaileḍ Our downfall for centuries was due to lack of certain virtues and idealogies among all our people, high or low. Let us, therefore, all Indians, stop blaming the caste system for our downfall and try to eradicate it or lessen its evils and cultivate virtues like duty for duty's sake, high endeavour, high moral character, nationalism, freedom and justice.

VI. Āśramas: Another important characteristic of our culture is the system of Āśramas, which have been in existence for certainly several centuries before the Christian era. The word Āśrama does not occur in the Vedic Saṁhitās or Brāhmaṇaṣ In Sv. Up. VI. 21 occurs the word ‘atyāśramibhyaḥ’ (to the best of ascetics ) which indicates that the word ‘āśrama’ had then been coined long after the several words for the component parts have been knowṇ A generic word comprehending several matters is coined long after the several words for the component parts have been current for centurieṣ The word śrāddha does not occur in any ancient Vedic passages, though the Piṇḍapitṛyajña ( performed in the cāturmāsya rite Sākamedha ) and the Aṣṭakā rites ( all of which are rites in honour of pitṛs ) were known in early Vedic literature ( vide H. of Dh. Vol IV. pp. 349-50 ). Similarly, some of the āśramas were certainly known from the times of the Ṛgveda. The Āśramas ¹⁴ long before the time of the sūtra literature at least have been four viz. brahmacarya ( stage of studenthood ), gārhasthya ( householder stage ), vānaprasthya ( stage of forest hermit ) or vaikhānasa ( Gaut. III, 2 ), Sannyāsa ( stage of ascetic life ) or Mauna or Parivrājya or Pravrajyā or Bhikṣu ( Gaut. III, 2 ). Āśramas have been dealt with in H. of Dh. Vol II pp. 416-426, brahmacarya in H. of Dh. Vol II pp. 349-382, forest hermit ( in pp. 919-929 ) and sannyāsa in pp. 930-975 ( of the same volume ). The span of human life is said to be one hundred years or winters or autumns from the times of the Ṛgveda ( Rg. VI. 4. 8; 10. 7. 12. 6, 17. 15, 24. 10 in all these hundred winters ), VII. 101. 6, X. 161. 3 and 4 ( autumns ). As no one could say how long one might live it is not to be supposed that each stage was of 25 years; all that is meant is that a man may, if he lives long, pass through the four stageṣ The word brahmacārī occurs in Rg. X. 109. 9 and Tai. S. VI. 3. 10. 5 and brahmacarya in Tai. S. VI. 3. 10. 5 and Tai. Br. III. 10. 11. In Rg. VI. 53. 2 occurs the word 'grhapati' ( lord of the house ) meaning the same thing as gṛhastha. Indra is said to be the friend of munis ( in Rg. VIII. 17. 14 ) and yatis are said to have praised Indra ( Rg. VIII. 6. 18 ). The Katha Up. IV. 15 saying that the self of the Munī ( knowing the reality ) becomes one with the Supreme Self indicates that the reference is to a Sannyāsin who had realized the Supreme Spirit. The Br. Up. IV. 4. 22 saying that the Great Self is the Lord of the Universe, that brāhmaṇas seek to know him by study of the Veda, by sacrifices and gifts, by austerities ( tapas ) and by fasting and that, after realizing that Supreme Self the man becomes a muni, that desiring this stage only the wandering ( ascetics ) leave home ( take to that stage ). Here those engaged in tapas are placed at an earlier stage than pravrajyā. Therefore, the Ch. Up. II. 23. 1, speaking about three branches of Dharma, should be taken as mentioning the three āśramas and the words ' one who is firmly established in brahman obtains immortality ' should be taken as referring to the 4th Āśrama. As pointed out in H. of Dh. Vol. II. pp. 928-929 most of the rules laid down for forest hermits are the same as those for the sannyāsin and there was difference between the two in a few matters only. From Br. Up. II. 4. 1 ff. and IV. 5. 2 ff. ( where the word pravrajisyan is used ) for udyāsyan ( in II. 4. 1 ) it follows that Yājñavalkya became a sannyāsin ( or parivrājaka ) immediately after leaving the householder's life. Later on in the Kativarjya acts the stage of being a forest hermit is includeḍ Vide H. of Dh. Vol. II. p. 420 ṇ 999 on Chāṇ Up. II. 23. 1. The stage of householder ( gṛhastha ) was highly praiseḍ Vide H. of Dh. Vol II pp. 424-425, 640-41, Vol. V. pp. 1026-27.

The stage of sannyāsa or yati was highly honoured, because it was deemed to lead to mokṣa. The result was that many persons quite unfit to lead the life prescribed for a real sannyāsin only entered the order and possessed all the outward signs of that stage such as wearing ochre-coloured garments, shaving the head, carrying three staffs and a water jar. They are condemned in the Mahābhārata, Śāntiparva 308. 47 ( cr. eḍ = 320. 47 Ch. eḍ) quoted in H. of Dh. Vol. II p. 936 n 2151b and above p. 1369 ṇ 2241 ). Yaj. III. 58 provides that the sannyāsin should be good to all beings, quiescent, have three daṇḍas and a water jar and should enter a village for begging almṣ Some interpreted the word tridaṇḍī as meaning 'carrying three staffs', while others like Manu XII. 10 and Dakṣa VII. 30 provide that a person is called tridaṇḍī who observes threefold restraint, viz. of speech, mind and body. The sannyāsin was so highly esteemed that for deciding doubtful points of dharma a single ascetic was allowed to do the work of a pariṣad and declare the proper decision ( vide H. of Dh. Vol. II p. 969 ). Similarly, great emphasis was laid on inviting a Yati at a śrāddha dinner ( vide H. of Dh. Vol. IV pp. 388, 399 ). The Bṛhaj-jātaka ( chapter 15 ) deals with the question about the horoscopic indications for different kinds of ascetics being born on the conjunction of four or more powerful planets in the same sign of the zodiac in the horoscope and adds that according as Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, the Moon, Venus, Saturn, or the Sun is the most powerful of the four or more planets in one sign in a horoscope, the person whose nativity it is becomes respectively an ascetic of the types of Bauddha, Ājīvika,²⁶²⁴ a bhikṣu ( i. e. vedic ascetic ), Vṛddha ( a Kâpālika ), a caraka, a nirgrantha ( a Jain ascetic ) or one subsisting on forest produce, fruits, roots &c.²⁶²⁵ This shows that long before Varāhamihira ( 6th century A. D. ) so many kinds of ascetics flourished or were common in India.

The varṇa system classified the whole community and was addressed to people in the mass; the Āśrama theory addresses itself to the individuals in a community and maps out for them how they should order their lives and what preparations are required for the several goals of human life. Deussen in the ‘Philosophy of the Upaniṣads’ (English translation of 1906, p. 397 ) says about the āśrama theory that ‘the entire history of mankind does not produce much that approaches in grandeur to this thought.’

VII. The doctrine of Karma and Punarjanma (transmigration or metempsychosis).

This is one of the most fundamental doctrines of the Hindu system of religion and philosophy and is unique in its own way, particularly in its long continuity and immense early literature. It has been dealt with above in a separate and extensive chapter ( XXXV pp. 1530 ff ). It is not, therefore, necessary to say anything more here.

VIII. Another important doctrine is that of ahiṃsā. So far as the Upaniṣads, Mahābhārata, Dharmaśāstras and Purāṇas are concerned the subject of ahiṃsā has been dealt with above in pp. 944-947 and in Vol. II. p. 10. A few matters are briefly mentioned here. The words kratu and yajña occur hundreds of times in the Ṛgveda. The difference sometimes made is this that the word yajña is very general (including the five daily religious duties laid down in Manu III. 70), while kratu is confined to solemn Vedic sacrifices like Somayāga. Pāṇini mentions the two separately (IV. 3. 68) and the Gītā IX. 16 (ahaṃ kraturahaṃ yajñaḥ) also does the same. Animals were offered in some of these, though not in all. Gradually it came to be thought even in the Ṛgveda times that worshipping Agni with fuel sticks or with an oblation of cooked food or ghee or with Veda study or obeisances or with a solemn sacrifice is on the same level and the worshipper is rewarded with swift horses (dashing against enemies) and with highest glory and no trouble whether divine or due to men, reaches him ( Ṛg. VIII. 19. 5-6 ). Some Brāhmaṇa texts are couched in the same straiṇ The Ait. ¹⁷ Br. (VI. 9) remarks ‘he who offers a cake performs a sacrifice equal to the offering of all sacrificial animals’. The Tai. Br. provides that the forest sacrificial animals, after a firebrand is carried around them, are let off for the sake of ahiṃsā. Dr. A. Schweitzer in his ‘Indian thought and its development’ ( tr. into English by Mrṣ Russell, 1936 ) tries hard to establish a contrast between the attitude of what he calls ‘world and life negation’ in Hindu thought and ‘world and life affir- information characteristic of Christianity and as a side issue remarks ( on p. 80 ) that ‘ the ahimsā commandment does not arise from a feeling of compassion but from a feeling of keeping a person undefiled ’. The learned author ignores several things; firstly,¹⁸ not a word is said about purity ( śauca ) in the West was criticized by Dr. Radhakrishnan in ‘ Eastern Religion and Western thought ’ (1939 pp. 76–110) and by Shri D. S. Sharma in ‘ Renaissance of Hinduism ’ pp. 618–634. On p. 2 Dr. Schweitzer boldly asserts that world and life affirmation unceasingly urges men to serve their fellows, society, the nation, mankind and indeed all that lives with their utmost will &c. One should like to know the Biblical passages where all this grand thought is explicitly stateḍ On p. 4 he contradicts himself when he says ‘ Christianity also brought European thought into relation with world and life negatioṇ ’ The two great commandments of Jesus are first ‘ to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul ’ and the second is ‘ thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself ’ ( vide Matthew 22.37 and 39 and Mark 12. 30–31 ). This is hardly anything like what Schweitzer says about Christianity’s world and life affirmatioṇ Not a word is said here about even loving all human beings, much less loving ‘ all that lives ’. The world has had enough of the world and life affirmation of Christianity (or rather of Christian nations or people). Attention is invited to H. of Dh. Vol. II. p. 180, where Westermarck’s remarks in his ‘ Origin and development of the moral ideas ’ (1912) Vol. I. p. 711 are cited on slavery. The world knows what during the last four or five hundred years the colonial empires of Christian countries like England, France, Holland, Belgium, Portugal and Spain did in India, Africa, S. E. Asia, the Congo and America. On p. VII of his Preface he appears to contradict himself when he disagrees with the view of Schopenhauer and Deussen about Indian thought being completely governed by the ideal of world and life negation and admits the fact that ‘ world and life affirmation is present at the back of this thought ( Indian thought ) from the very dawn of its history, and life and life affirmation constitute its chief characteristic and determine its development ’. Both books ( Dr. Sweitzer’s and Dr. Radhakrishnan’s ) are reviewed in ‘ Hibbert Journal ’ for 1953 pp. 234–241 and 355–365 by O. W. M. Gell who finds both works disappointing, holds that Schweitzer has misunderstood the Hindu ideal of supra-ethical man, that negation and affirmation have not been properly defined by him, that it was only very late in Christian history that the West began to work actively for improvement of social and economic conditionṣ Social service was not unknown in Ancient India. The very idea of ‘ pūrta ’ dharma is social service. Vide above pp. 947–949. The Purāṇas emphasize the importance of work for relieving distressed beingṣ For example the Mārkaṇḍeya has the following very noble sentiment ( 15. 57 ) ‘ men would not obtain that happiness in heaven or in the world of Brahmā which arises from giving happiness to distressed men ’ ( न स्वर्गे ब्रह्मालोके वा तत्सुखं प्राप्यते नरेः । यद्दातृजन्यु–निर्वापणौत्सवात्प्रौतिमिति मे मतिः ॥ ). Vide also note 6 on pp. 3–4 of H. of Dh. vol. II. Chāndogya and other passages about ahimsā. Secondly, the injunction about not giving pain to any being (in Chāṇ Up.) is immediately preceded by the words 'having concentrated all his senses on the Self'. That shows that one who knows and has come to realize that all is brahma should give no pain to others as all those also are brahma and not on the ground of purity or defilement. Further, in the Mahābhārata and Smṛtis some of which at least are not far removed in time from the Upaniṣads both ahimsā and śauca (purity) are separately mentioned along with other duties (dharmas) common to all varṇaṣ Gaut. (8. 23-24) lays down eight qualities of the soul for every dvija viz. compassion towards all beings, forbearance, freedom from jealousy, freedom from excessive harm (to himself), doing auspicious acts, absence of abjectness (or miserliness), absence of discontent'. The same eight are specified in the Matsya-purāṇa 52. 8-10, Atri-smṛti 34-41. Manu V. 46 (= Viṣṇu Dh. S. 51. 69) provides 'he who does not cause pain to living beings, thus desirous of doing good to all, secures highest (or never ending) happiness'. Śauca is external (of the body) and internal (of the mind). Manu V. 106 expressly says that he who is pure as to money matters is really pure and not one who washes himself with sand or water. Vide above pp. 1421-22 notes 2331 and 2333. It is worthy of note that the Śāntiparva (chapter 162. 4-5 = Cr. eḍ 156. 4-5) contains an apotheosis of Satya as the ancient Dharma and brahman itself and then in verses 7-9 Satya is stated to appear in thirteen aspects such as tyāga (renunciation of attachment and pleasures), samatā (being the same to all), dama (restraint of senses), kṣamā (forbearance), hrī (being ashamed to boast of one's good deeds), anasūyā (absence of jealousy), dayā (compassion) and so on, ahimsā being the 13th aspect of Satya.

It was only in Jainism that thoroughgoing ahimsā was preached and practiseḍ Buddha had no objection to eating flesh, provided the animal was not killed specially for doing him honour or treating hiṃ

IX. The three paths, viz. Karmamārga, Bhaktimārga and Jñānamārga. These have already been dealt with above in pp. 964-967, 1463. The Bhagavadgītā expounds the further doctrine of what is called niṣkāma-karmayoga, which has been explained above on pp. 966-67. Doing one's duty without hankering for the fruit thereof is worship of Goḍ X. Adhikāra-bheda It was recognised in India from very early times that in the matter of religious worship and philosophical doctrines, there are different grades among human beingṣ All are not competent to grasp and act upon abstruse metaphysical doctrines or to follow higher forms of worship. This has been brought out in several places before. Vide above p. 973 note 1593 and p. 1462. Abstruse metaphysical doctrines are likely to be misunderstood and therefore we find that there is an effort to keep such doctrines secret and frequent warnings are given in the Upanisads not to impart the knowledge of brahman to all and sundry and to keep it secret. Vide p. 1071–72 and Chāṇ Up. III. 11. 5 set out above on p. 1460, Sv. Up. VI. 22, Katha Up. III. 17, Br. Up. III. 2. 13 (Yājñavalkya and Ārtabhāga did not discuss brahman among people). The word upaniṣad came to mean 'secret doctrine' (vide Tai. Up. II. 9 and III. 10). This tendency to keep abstruse doctrines secret obtained in other nations in antiquity (vide St. Mark 4. 11, 34–35). The Hathayogapradipika¹⁹ has similar provisions (vide p. 1460 above). Many modern writers condemn people that engage in image worship. The reasons advanced for image worship by Indian works are given in note 1593 p. 973 above. The worshipper of an image of Gaṇeśa or Kāli casts the image in water (a river, sea &c.) after a day or more (when the period of the festival is over). So it is not as if he worshipped the wooden or earthen object but he has an emotional idea for the time being that God is enthroned in that object. These common people, if questioned, will say 'God is everywhere, in you, in me and in the wooden image'. The Nṛsimhapurāṇa 62. 5 (quoted by Aparārka p. 140 on Yāj. I. 101) says that sages declare that the worship of Hari (God Viṣṇu) may be performed in six ways, viz. in water, in fire, in one's own heart, in the sun's orb, on an altar or in an image.²⁰ The Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa appears to have been conscious that image worship came later in Kali age and was not prevalent. in former ages (III chap. 93. 5-7 and 20). The present author saw in several European Churches the images of the Madonna or the images or pictures of certain saints worshipped by Christian people that addressed prayers to the image of the Madonna or the pictures of saints for fulfilment of their desireṣ Therefore, he thinks that it would not be wrong for him to say that the religion of many Christians in Europe is image worship. ²¹ The several darśanas (except that of Cārvāka) were looked upon generally as approximations to truth. There was no question of all of them being false and one alone as containing the truth.

(XI) Vast Sanskrit literature. India produced a vast amount of Sanskrit literature of a most varied character for at least three thousand yearṣ There is no country in the world that can exhibit continuous creation of several departments of literature for such a long perioḍ Sanskrit literature penetrated to countries like Tibet, China, Java and otherṣ Its literature influenced the Moslem world and European world by means of the decimal place value system, its fable literature and system of Vedānta. Vide Winternitz's ‘Some problems of Indian Literature’ (the Readership Lectures in Calcutta University) pp. 59-81 for a brief but instructive treatment of the influence of Sanskrit Literature in the West. Its study by Europeans at the end of the 18th century and in the 19th century laid the foundation of several sciences, such as the science of language, of comparative religion, of thought and of mythology. There exist several Histories of Sanskrit Literature by several scholars such as Weber, Max Müller, Winternitz, Keith, M. Krishnamachariar, which will give an idea to any reader of the variety and vastness of Sanskrit literature. India has preserved for itself and for the world a vast literature in the best part of which the principal theme is to ask men never to cease in their efforts to control the senses and to reach higher and higher heights of morality and spirituality. H. H. Gowen in 'A History of Indian Literature' (1931) observes (on p. 8) 'Indian literature has an intrinsic value which no remoteness avails to destroy. For sacredness, variety and continuity, scarcely any other may compare with it, certainly none surpasses it. As for sacredness no other scripture, not even our Bible, may compete with the Veda in its continuity or in the matter of general acceptance'. He dilates also on the variety and remarkable continuity of Indian literature. Classical Sanskrit first blossomed at least before 500 B. C. Pāṇini names at least ten predecessors and his sūtras IV. 3. 87 and 88 clearly indicate that before his time there was considerable non-vedic secular literature.

XII. Yoga : Yoga has been treated of above (pp. 1385–1462 ). In the whole world there exists hardly any well thought out and comprehensive system of psychical and moral discipline like Yoga. Mircea Eliade observes (on p. 359 ) in 'Yoga, Immortality and Freedom' (tr. by Willard R. Trask, 1958 ) 'Yoga constitutes a characteristic dimension of the Indian mind, is marked by reaction against metaphysical speculations and the excesses of a fossilized ritualism'. Western minds having experienced a surfeit of economic prosperity, but worried by the tensions and crises of these times are turning more and more to Yoga and to Indian philosophy such as the Vedānta. In recent years numerous books are being published that deal with 'perennial philosophy', Yoga ( including Tibetan Yoga ), meditation, concentration, mystical experience &c. Many of these books are written by honest people after reading a good deal of literature on these subjects but they are wanting in any personal yogic or mystic experience. There are some books that are written by persons who want to take advantage of the popular craze for Yoga and similar mystical practices for the sake of wealth and fame. In 'Vedānta for the Western World' edited by Christopher Isherwood (Allen and Unwin, London, 1948) the famous writer Mr. Aldous Huxley sounds a note of warning against the plethora of books on mysticism and Yoga in the market (p. 376).

XIII. Philosophy : The central point of much of our philosophy is contained in Chāndogyopaniṣad VI.1, where Uddālaka inquires of his conceited son Śvetaketu “Have you asked for that instruction by which one hears what cannot be heard, by which one perceives what cannot be perceived, by which one knows what cannot be known;’ and when Śvetaketu asked for that instruction, Uddālaka expounds to him (in VI. 1-16) the subject at length and winds up with the words ‘tat-tvam-asi’ (thou art that Self). An inquirer into philosophy will find in the various branches of Indian philosophy a vast mass of material, hardly surpassed by any other ancient country in the worlḍ The word for philosophy is darśana and there is a famous work called ‘Sarvadarśanasaṅgraha’ in which fifteen different points of view apart from advaita Vedānta are summariseḍ The principal orthodox darśanas are six—Sāṅkhya, Yoga, Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika, Pūrvamīmāṁsā and Uttaramīmāṁsā’ (or Vedānta), which have been treated above and their relation to and influence on Dharmaśāstra has been dwelt upoṇ The chief marks of Indian philosophy are that it concentrates on the spiritual, that philosophy has to be lived and not merely discussed, that it seeks the Reality, that for real philosophy great moral preparation is necessary, that reason has to be extensively used in arriving at the truth, that tradition and authority have to be accepted and not neglecteḍ Almost all darśanas (except that of Cārvāka) are concerned with Liberation (variously called Mokṣa, Kaivalya, Nirvāṇa, Amṛtatva, Niḥśreyasa, Apavarga) and all (except Cārvāka) are agreed on the doctrine of Karma and Punarjanma. It is not necessary to say more on Indian Philosophy in this Chapter.

XIV. Artṣ Architecture, Sculpture, Painting:

Though the present author has travelled throughout India for over fifty years and seen most of the famous places rich in ancient architecture, sculpture and painting, he lays no claim to being a connoisseur in these matters and cannot give his own valuation of these relics of ancient Indian Art. The number of works on these is legioṇ A mere bibliography would not be of much use to the reader. Therefore, he will content himself with mentioning a few works on each of the above branches which he has read wholly or partly or which he consulteḍ

Among the most remarkable ancient monuments of India are the stūpa at Sāñchī, the paintings in the Ajantā caves, the Kailāsa temple at Ellora, and the Koṇārka²² temple in Orissa.

Some of the Purāṇas contain information on the above topicṣ The Matsyapurāṇa (chap. 252. 2–4) names 18 expounders of Vāstuśāstra (architecture) such as Bhṛgu, Atri, Vasiṣṭha, Viśvakarmaṇ, Maya, Nārada, Nagnajit, Viśālākṣa, Purandara, Brahmā, Kumāra, Nandīśa, Śaunaka, Garga, Vāsudeva, Aniruddha, Śukra and Bṛhaspati. Chapters 253–257 deal with the construction of mansions and houses, chap. 258–263 with images of several deitieṣ The Vāyupurāṇa (8.108 ff.) describes the founding of a capital. Agnipurāṇa, chapters 42, 104–106 deal with the building of mansions, houses and laying out citieṣ The Viṣṇudharmottara (third section) is called citrasūtra²³ because dancing is held to be the primary art and painting rests on it. It is further said that painting is the best of arts (III. 33. 38) and the foremost of auspicious things in a house, that the rules that apply to painting are applicable to the making of images of metals, stone and wood (III. 43.31–32). Chapters 36–43 deal with painting, chapters 44–85 with the making of images of gods and goddesses and housebuilding is dilated upon in chap. 86 ff. The Bṛhat-saṃhitā (eḍ by M. M. Sudhakar Dvivedi, 1895) of Varāhamihira (500–550 A.D.) deals with palaces, mansions and houses of king, crown prince and others; in chap. 52 (123 verses) with temples of several gods, in chap. 53 (31 verses) with images of gods, in chap. 57 (Rāma, Viṣṇu, Brahmā, Indra, Śiva, Buddha, Jina, the Sun, Liṅga, Mother Goddesses, Yama), with images or statues of five kinds of men (chap. 68 verse 30) called Haṁsa, Śaśa, Rucaka, Bhadra and Mālavya and their bodily featureṣ There are several other works like the Yuktikalpataru of Bhoja (Calcutta eḍ of 1917), the Abhilāṣitārthacintāmaṇi (also called Mānasollāsa)²⁴ of king Someśvara, Śilparatna (T. S. S.), Mayamata (T. S. S.) on these subjectṣ

Paintings—The only famous ancient paintings are those in the caves of Ajanta, in the Bagh caves in the former Gwalior State and those in the caves at Sigiriya in Ceyloṇ For reasons of space it is not possible to quote the enthusiastic appreciations of Western writers on ancient Indian Art, particularly paintings and sculpture. The author would quote a few passages from Rene Grousset's²⁵ works: 'India has given a mighty art or a complete Aesthetic equal in originality and power to the Greek and Chinese. It is marked by its naturalism in depicting animals'. The same writer says about Ajanta's immortal paintings 'they count among the most moving that have ever come within human vision'. 'In civilizations of the East' (tr. by Mrs C. A. Phillips, London, 1932 with 249 illustrations) the same author (after citing paintings of the Jātakas of self-sacrifice) remarks 'these are but a few examples, the most poetic, tender and moving that could be imagineḍ No better example could be found of that purely Indian sentiment of universal brotherhood, that fervour of humanitarianism which extends even to animals and plants' (p. 79). For Ajanta, there is a fine edition by Dr. G. Yazdani, the text in two parts (1930 and 1933) and there are besides many coloured and monochrome plates with an Introduction by Lawrence Binyoṇ There is also another small work prepared for the use of Lord Reading on his visit to Ajanta in 1924 in which Dr. Yazdani gives ten colour plates and one monochrome plate (of a bull fight) with notes on some of the scenes in several caves and appreciations by Binyon, Rothenstein, Solomon and otherṣ Another good book is 'My pilgrimage to Ajanta and Bagh' by Sri Mukul Chandra Dey, with Introduction by Lawrence Binyon (London, 1925) A third book on Ajanta is in Marathi written and published in 1929 by Balasaheb Pant Pratinidhi, Chief of Aundh State, with half-tone and coloured illustrationṣ Percy Brown on 'Indian Painting' deals with Buddhist, Hindu and Mahomedan Painting and covers a long period from 6th century A. D. to 19th Century A. D. He gives two illustrations of Sigiriya paintings opposite pp. 33, 69, which are remarkably similar to some paintings in caves 16 and 17 at Ajanta. In Ananda K. Coomaraswamy's 'History of Indian and Indonesian Art' illustrations No. 183 and No. 184 are respectively from Bagh and Sigiriya.

Many modern works deal with all three viz. architecture sculpture and painting or with two of them or with one only Some important works are mentioned here: 1. E. B. Havell's 'Indian Sculpture and Painting' (London, 1908) with 45 plates for sculpture and 8 for painting. 2. V. A. Smith's 'History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon' with 38 illustrations (including some of Moslem Art), Oxford, 1911. 3. A. Foucher's 'Beginnings of Buddhist Art' (1917), with plateṣ 4. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy's 'History of Indian and Indonesian Art' (1927), with 400 illustrations on 128 plateṣ 5. 'Ellora' by Balasaheb Pant Pratinidhi, Chief of Aundh with 89 half-tone illustrations, published by D. B. Taraporevala and Sons, Bombay. 6. James Fergusson's 'History of Indian and Eastern Architecture', volumes I and II, London, 1910. 7. T. A. Gopinath Rao's 'Elements of Hindu Iconography,' Vol. I and II (Madras, 1914, 1916). 8. Dr. Stella Kramrisch on 'The Art of India' (sculpture, painting, architecture), London, Phaidon Press, 1954, with 156 plates and 7 coloured plateṣ 9. Dr. Stella Kramrisch's 'Indian Sculpture' (1933) with 116 illustrationṣ 10. Rene Grousset's 'The civilizations of the East' Vol. II (on India) with 249 illustrationṣ 11. A. V. T. Iyer's 'Indian Architecture' in three volumes (Madras). 12. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy’s ‘Elements of Buddhist Iconography’ (Harvard Uṇ Cambridge, U. S. A., 1935), also his ‘Dance of Śiva’ (frontispiece of Naṭarāja in cosmic dance), Foreword by Romain Rolland, 27 plates, (1924). 13. ‘Indian Architecture’ (Buddhist and Hindu), published by D. B. Taraporevala and Sons, Bombay, with 118 illustrationṣ 14. Benjamin Rowland’s ‘The Art and Architecture of India’ (Buddhist, Hindu, Jain), Penguin Books, 1956; remarks that some sculptures are worthy of being placed in world culture and the Art presents synthesis of beautiful forms and deep spiritual expressioṇ 15. Heinrich Zimmer’s ‘Myths and Symbols of Indian Art and Civilization’ posthumously published by J. Campbell, 70 plates from 2nd century B. C. to 19th century A. D. 16. ‘Immortal India’ by Alfred Newrath, translated from German, published by D. B. Taraporewala and Sons, Bombay, with 12 coloured and 106 photographic reproductions, 1956. 17. H. Goetz’s ‘Five thousand years of Indian Art’ Bombay, 1959; 72 plates (many coloured ones) and two maps; D. B. Taraporewala and Sons, Bombay. 18. Sir John Marshall’s ‘Buddhist Art of Gandhara’ Vol. I, Memoir of Archaeological Department of Pakistan, 1960, (111 Plates) and his work in three volumes on ‘Taxila’ Cambridge Uṇ Press 1951 for scholars, and his ‘Guide to Taxila’ (4th eḍ of 1960) for tourists and general readerṣ

South Indian Architecture and Sculpture has some peculiarities of its owṇ Some works thereon may be mentioned here viz. Dravidian Architecture by G. J. Dubreuil (1917), ‘Mahabalipuram’ by C. Śivaramamurty (Dept. of Archaeology) 7 full page plates; ‘Art of Pallavas’ text and notes by B. C. Ganguly and eḍ by A. Goswami, 46 plates (1957).

Besides, on music also several works have been written: ‘Music of Hindustan’ (Oxford 1914) by A. H. Fox Strangway, Alain Danielou’s ‘Northern Indian music’ vol. I and II (London, 1949, 1954), H. A. Popley’s ‘the Music of India’, (Calcutta, 1950), O. Goswami’s ‘The story of Indian Music (Bombay, 1957), G. H. Ranade’s ‘Hindustani Music and Outline of its Physicṣ and Aesthetics' (Poona, 1951). But the present author unfortunately knows little about music.

Indian architectonic and iconographic symbolism spread to Java, Bali and other parts of Indonesia and many works have been written on this subject such as 'Barabudur' (Java) by Paul Mus, G. Gorer's 'Bali and Angkor', 'Towards Angkor' by Quaritch Wales (with a full Bibliography at end), W. F. Stutterheim's 'Indian influences in Balinese Art' (London, 1935).

A few more characteristics could have been mentioned; the present writer desists from adding them since the list is already a long one. It is not claimed that no other culture had or has these characteristicṣ What is claimed is that there is no other single culture in the world where all these can be found now or existed in the past and that some of these characteristics such as the noble Vedānta concept of man, lower animals and even inanimate things being one in Essence, the great tolerance throughout the ages for differing religious and philosophical views, the emphasis on satya and ahiṁsā are unique and not found elsewhere.