Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay

“ One of the dangers against which I must warn the student of Vedic Literature is the tendency to accept unquestioned the dicta of foreign orientalists. Let us give them the honour which is unquestionably their due, but let us also exercise our judgment as to what is true or false. The study of no literature—however patient the study and however valuable the literature,—is of any worth, unless you bring to that study a critical spirit. Approach the Vedas in the spirit of reverence due to them from a Hindu, but study them in the spirit of a respectful and appreciative critic. ”

“ In the next place, not only must the student himself be a competent Sanskrit scholar, but he must also find a competent teacher for himself. By competent teacher, I mean one who has made the Vedas his special study, and has himself been trained in that study by a competent teacher. If it is rather rare to find among my educated countrymen, a good Sanskrit scholar, it is far rarer to find a duly qualified teacher. Then there is the caste difficulty—no orthodox Vedic teacher will consent to impart Vedic knowledge to a Sudra. ”

“ On this subject I cannot do better than quote the words of Professor Goldstücker, himself one of the most distinguished of European orientalists, and one of the very few among them who were or are capable of entertaining broad views on the Indian Literature and History. "If the creed of an individual," says that great scholar, "is founded on texts held sacred and authoritative, it is a national creed. No nation can surrender it without faying the axe to its own root. For religion based on texts embodies the whole history of the nation which professes it. ”

“ But when we look deeper into their meaning we find that they are only the poetical garment into which the lofty Pantheism of Vedas is decked out to catch the fancy of a highly imaginative people. They are the inspired utterances of men of genius, erroneously misconstrued by critics wanting in sympathy and breadth of view, as the utterances of a primitive people hankering after the good things of the world. ”

“ And, first of all, let me offer a few observations about the Vedic Sakhas. Not only are there the four Vedas, but also different recensions of each Veda. I told you in my last address, that the Vedas were originally handed down by oral teaching for many generations. Now, many of you are, no doubt, aware how largely unwritten texts are liable to variations and interpolations. Even written literature, when not printed, is not free from the dangers which arise from the ignorance and carelessness of copyists and the mischievous interference of interpolators. ”

“ I wish to draw your attention to another matter, which I consider to be a misconception of some serious importance, and which, I am afraid, I must be irreverent enough to style the heliomania of European scholars. Nothing in the shape of interpretation will satisfy some of our Western professors, except the reduction of every Vedic legend, allegory, or poem to a solar myth. You must guard yourself against the seductive influences of these far-fetched deductions from the undoubted truths of Comparative Philosophy. ”

“ This was a conception rarely distinctly formulated by the Vedic poets, as it was by the Vedic philosophers, but it was equally present to the mind of the poet and that of the philosopher. Now, if the Universe, if all the perceptible phenomena which constitute the Universe, are in Him, or are a part of Him, the Powers of Nature are also portions of His essence, or manifestations of His Energy. To contemplate or to glorify the Powers of Nature was to contemplate and glorify His attributes. The Infinite is not realizable to our minds in its Infinity. ”

“ It is assumed that the religion of a primitive people must, as a matter of course, have been polytheistic and that monotheistic ideas are possible only to a civilized people. It is forgotten that the comparatively rude and barbarous Jews were stern and uncompromising monotheists, while the highly civilized Greeks were polytheists. It is forgotten that at the time that the uncultured tribes of Arabia adopted the monotheism preached by their illustrious Prophet, highly civilized mediaeval India had developed a marvellously ramified system of polytheistic worship. ”

“ When the Vedic poets glorify Agni, they glorify not the physical phenomenon known as Fire, or Flame, or Combustion, but the great Father of heat and light, whose luminous manifestation in the heavens is the solar Fire, the Electrical Fire in the mid-air—and on earth, the terrestrial fire which burnt down vast forests, cooked the Rishi's food, and consumed his offerings. Fire is also the great Purifying agent, and the Vedic poets when they sing of Infinite Purity call him Agni. ”

“ Ida is a name given to the earth, as any lexicon will tell you. Aida—earth-born, is a name which may well be given to a bit of wood, or to terrestrial fire, but cannot, by any stretch of philological legerdemain, be made to apply to the sun. That so eminent a philologist as Professor Max Müller should overlook these considerations, and should also overlook the important fact that on the sun and dawn theory the three embraces cannot be explained, shows how his energetic pursuit of solar allegories into every nook and corner of ancient mythology vitiates his conclusions. ”

“ Some of you feel inclined to laugh at the phrase "Polytheistic monotheism", and it has certainly the appearance of a paradox, but such attention as I have been able to give to the Puranas, has convinced me that the Puranic religion is in reality a monotheism, and that the Puranas never lose sight of the great central idea in Religion that there is only one God, and that the hundreds of objects of worship whose merits they celebrate are only anthropomorphic representations of His various attributes. ”

“ Unwritten literatures have probably existed in other countries also, but in point of vastness and importance the unwritten literature of no other country can bear any comparison with that of India. The late invention of writing, the unwillingness to substitute written instruction for the old traditional oral teaching, and the intense literary activity of Ancient India, have, no doubt, contributed to render the unwritten literature of this country so voluminous. ”

“ Most European Vedic scholars are men who have taught the Vedas to themselves. I do not mean to say that the help of such a teacher of the Vedas, as can be found among the natives of India only, would have not tended to improve the character of their Vedic knowledge. But still they are models of industry, perseverance, and energetic pursuit of knowledge, which you should keep before you when you take up in earnest such a study as Vedic Literature. ”

“ Treat great native Vedic scholars, from Sayanacharjya down to Dayananda Saraswati and Satyabrata Samasrami, in the same spirit. Think for yourself, even though your independence of judgment should lead you to occasional error. ”

“ There are, no doubt, some who pursue knowledge for its own sake, but there are not many such. Many will not undertake to acquire knowledge which is not generally appreciated even by the educated; very few will undertake the trouble of communicating to others knowledge for which there is no general demand. Something, I admit, has been done of late years to create an interest in Vedic Literature, but more is needed. ”

“ The relation of the three Vedas to each other will become clearer if we call to mind what used to take place at the great Vedic sacrifices of ancient times. At the present day a single priest, or at most two, suffice for the performance of our religious ceremonies, except only in those cases in which the ceremonies still retain their Vedic character, such as the Vrishotsarga. But in the case of Vedic sacrifices of ancient India, sixteen priests were absolutely necessary. The sixteen were divided into four groups of four each, and were styled Hotris, Adharyus, Udgatris, and Brahmans. ”

“ What, however is more to the point is, that a race of men accustomed to solve unaided the most difficult problems of life and nature do not stand in need of teachers when any branch of knowledge has to be mastered. ”