Romesh Chunder Dutt

“ Gautama of the Sakya race was versed in the Hindu learning and religion of the age, but he pondered and asked if what he had learnt could be efficacious or true. His soul rebelled against the distinctions between man and man; and his benevolent heart longed for a means to help the humble, the oppressed, and the lowly. The ceremonials and rites which householders practised appeared as vain and fruitless to him as the penances and mortifications which hermits voluntarily underwent in forests. ”

“ Caste reserved some privileges for priests, and some privileges for warriors, in ancient times; but never divided and disunited the Aryan people. Priests and warriors and citizens, though following their hereditary professions from generation to generation, felt that they were one nation and one race, received the same religious instructions, attended the same schools of learning, possessed the same literature and traditions, ate and drank together, intermarried and intermixed in all respects, and were proud to call themselves the Aryan race. ”

“ May God who rules the world bestow on you the power to rule your subjects. May fire, worshipped by householders, bestow on you supremacy over the householders. May Soma, the lord of trees, bestow on you supremacy over forests. May Brihaspati, the god of speech, bestow on you supremacy in speech. May Indra, the highest among gods, bestow on you the highest supremacy. May Rudra, the cherisher of animals, bestow on you supremacy over animals. May Mitra, who is truth, make you supreme in truth. ”

“ Your worshippers, relying on your help and seeking to win cattle, have marched eastwards with their weapons. Crush, Indra and Varuna, your enemies, whether Dasas or Aryas, and defend Sudas with your protection.
"Where men raise their banners and meet in battle, where nothing seems to favour us, where the men look up to the sky and tremble, there, Indra and Varuna! help us and speak to us words of comfort.
"O Indra and Varuna! the ends of the earth seem to be lost, and the noise ascends to the skies! The troops of the enemy are approaching. ”

“ These Ten Precepts are binding on Bhikkhus, as the Five Precepts are binding on all laymen. To honour one's father and mother, and to follow an honourable trade, though not included in the Commandments, are duties enjoined upon all householders.
We now turn from Gautama's categories of duties to his precepts of benevolence and love, as when he taught:—
"Hatred does not cease by hatred at any time, hatred ceases by love; this is its nature.
"Let us live happily, not hating those who hate us. Among men who hate us, let us live free from hatred. ”

“ We begin with the doctrine of a universal soul, an all-pervading Breath, which is the keystone of the philosophy and thought of the Upanishads. This idea is somewhat different from monotheism as it is now understood, for monotheism generally recognizes a Creator as distinct from his creation, but the monotheism of the Upanishads, which has been the monotheism of the Hindu religion ever since, recognizes God as the Universal Being: all things else have emanated from him, are a part of him, and will mingle in him, so as to have no separate existence. ”

“ From early ages the Ganges has been the sacred river of India, and its waters are as hallowed as those of the Jordan or the well of Zemsem. Such miraculous powers are ascribed to this stream, that, according to Hindu tradition, those who die immersed in its waters attain heavenly bliss. ”

“ The Brahman and the Sudra, the high and the low, were the same in his eyes; each and all could effect their salvation by a holy life, and he invited every man to embrace his creed of love. Mankind responded to the appeal, and Buddhism in the course of a few centuries became the prevailing faith, not of a sect or a country, but of the continent of Asia.
Nevertheless, it would be wrong to suppose that Gautama Buddha consciously set himself up as the founder of a new religion. ”

“ Suffice it to say that enthusiastic and patriotic Hindu scholars will not admit that the first home of the Aryans was anywhere outside of India; while equally patriotic European scholars would place the abode of the primitive Aryans on the shores of the Baltic Sea. We need hardly say that it is not our object to enter into this discussion, and we merely repeat here that it is universally granted that the civilization, religion, language, and literature of the Hindus, from the earliest ages to the present day, are centred in India, and in India alone. ”

“ Such were the aborigines with whom the early Hindus carried on interminable war, and such was the fate to which they consigned their less civilized neighbours, the primeval owners of the Indian soil! It is abundantly evident that no love was lost between the conquerors and the conquered. It was by ceaseless fighting that the conquerors protected themselves in their newly conquered country, gradually extended the limits of cultivation, built new villages, threw out new colonies in primeval jungles, and spread the fame of their prowess around, and thus Aryan history moves forward. ”

“ The beauty of a holy and a sinless life of benevolence became to him as the perfection of human destiny, and with the earnest conviction of a prophet and a reformer he proclaimed this as the essence of religion, inviting the poor and lowly to end their sufferings by cultivating virtue, by eschewing passions and evil desire, and by spreading brotherly love and universal peace. ”

“ Every able-bodied man was a warrior and was ever prepared to defend his home and his fields and his cattle with his strong right arm. Every Hindu colony or tribe, while attentive to the worship of the gods and to the cultivation of the various arts of peace, was at the same time alive to the fact that its national existence depended on constant readiness for war. ”

“ The Supreme Being is one, sole existent, secondless, entire, without parts, sempiternal, infinite, ineffable, invariable, ruler of all, universal soul, truth, wisdom, intelligence, happiness." Such are the six systems of philosophy which were developed in India in the Philosophic Period; such are the answers which Hindu philosophers have given to the questions which were started in the Upanishads, to questions which rise in the mind of every reflective man, but which it is not given to him to answer completely—What is God, and what is man? ”

“ Evil does not overcome him, he overcomes all evil. Evil does not burn him, he burns all evil. Free from evil, free from spots, free from doubt, he becomes a true Brahman—enters the Brahma world."
It was this doctrine of final beatitude which Death explained to Nachiketas in that beautiful idyl of an Upanishad called Katha, and our chapter may find a fitting close in an extract from that beautiful creation of fancy and of piety. ”

“ A livelihood must be sought and adhered to which does no harm to living things; there must be a lifelong perseverance in doing good, in acts of kindness, gentleness, and beneficence; the mind and intellect must be active and watchful; calm and tranquil meditation must fill the life with peace. A more beautiful picture of life was never conceived by poet or visionary; and a more perfect system of self-culture was never proclaimed by philosopher or saint.
The idea of self-culture was no doubt developed during the long course of meditation and good works in which Gautama passed his life. ”

“ You proceed together with these rivers.
"The irresistible Indus proceeds straight, white and dazzling in splendour! She is great, and her waters fill all sides with mighty force. Of all the flowing rivers, none is flowing like her! She is wild like a mare, beautiful like a well-developed woman! "The Indus is ever young and beautiful. She is rich in horses, in chariots, and in garments; she is rich in gold and is beauteously clad! ”

“ Not only forbearance and mildness, but the virtue of good acts is repeatedly and impressively enjoined by Gautama on his followers.
"Like a beautiful flower, full of colour, but without scent, are the fine and fruitless words of him who does not act accordingly.
"A man is not an elder because his head is gray. His age may be ripe, but he is called old in vain. ”

“ For the Sudras, who had come under the domination of the Aryan religion, there was no religious instruction, no religious observance, no social respect. Despised and degraded in the very community in which they were forced to live, they sighed for a change, and as they increased in number, pursued various useful industries, owned lands and villages, and gained in influence and power, they became more and more conscious of the unbearable conditions to which they were condemned. ”

“ Pleasing pictures of a happy state of society are presented in many passages which we meet with in the literature of the period: "May the Brahmans in our kingdom," says the priest at a horse-sacrifice, "live in piety; may our warriors be skilled in arms and mighty; may our cows yield us profuse milk, our bullocks carry their weights, and our horses be swift; may our women defend their homes, and our warriors be victorious; may our youths be refined in their manners. ”

“ Fire was an object of worship in ancient India, where sacrificial fire received the highest regard. As no sacrifice could be performed without fire, Agni, or fire, was called the invoker of the gods. So high was the esteem in which fire was held among the gods of the Rig- Veda, that when the ancient commentator Yaska tried to reduce the number of the Vedic gods to three, he named Agni, or fire, as the god of the earth, Indra or Vayu as the god of the firmament, and the Sun as the god of the sky. ”

“ We have already said that Kapila borrowed the doctrine of transmigration of souls from the Upanishads, and having borrowed this idea, he had to adapt it to his own system of philosophy. The soul, according to him, is so passive that the individuality of man is scarcely stamped on it, while the intellect, the consciousness, and the mind all belong to the material part of a man. Hence Kapila was constrained by his own rigid reasoning to assume that a subtle body, consisting of the intellect, the consciousness, the mind, and the subtle principles, migrated with the soul. ”

“ The sky was naturally the most prominent object of worship, and as the sky assumes various aspects, various names were given to it, and the conception of various deities was formed. The oldest is probably Dyu, but in India he soon lost his place, and the sky in one of its peculiar functions soon usurped his place. For in India the annual rise of rivers, the fertility of land, and the luxuriance of crops depend, not on the sky which shines above us, but on the sky that rains, and Indra soon became the first among the Vedic gods. ”

“ It is appropriate to draw attention, furthermore, to a science which belongs to the Age of Philosophy. It is the science of geometry, which, like grammar, astronomy, and other sciences, owes its origin to India, and has its roots in religion, for geometry was developed in India from the rules for the construction of the altars. It should be remembered that the world owes its first lessons in geometry not to Greece, but to India, even if the Greeks of a later age cultivated the science with greater success than the Hindus. ”

“ Now, O Bhikkhus, if such is the forbearance and mildness of kings who wield the sceptre and bear the sword, so much more, O Bhikkhus, must you so let your light shine before the world, that you, having embraced the religious life according to so well-taught a doctrine and a discipline, may be seen to be forbearing and mild. ”

“ Be ye a refuge to yourselves. Betake yourselves to no external refuge. Hold fast to the truth as a lamp. Hold fast as a refuge to the truth."
At Kutagara, Gautama once more proclaimed to his followers the substance and essence of his religion, and enjoined upon them to practise it, to meditate upon it, and to spread it abroad, "in order that pure religion may last long and be perpetuated, in order that it may continue to be for the good and the happiness of great multitudes." ”

“ These are the leading doctrines of Gautama's religion, whose great distinguishing feature is that it is a training towards a virtuous and holy life on this earth, and takes little thought of reward or punishment. It appeals to the most disinterested feelings in man's nature, sets before him virtue as its own reward, and enjoins a lifelong endeavour towards its attainment. It knows of no higher aim among gods or men than the attainment of a tranquil, sinless life ”

“ Both the idea and the name of Varuna as a god of sky were known to the ancestors of the Aryan nations before the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians separated. In that remote period Varuna was the highest and holiest of the gods, and represented the spiritual aspect of religion. After the separation had taken place, this deity of righteousness was translated in Iran into Ahura Mazda, the supreme deity, while to the Hindu Varuna the Vedic bard sang:—
"O Varuna! the birds that fly have not attained thy power or thy vigour; the water which flows ceaselessly and the moving wind do not surpass thy speed. ”