Isvara

“ Instead of entering, the two offenders remained outside, Sānkya rishi standing on the right side and Yugamuni on the left of the doorway. Isvara seems to have cursed them to become Chandalas or outcasts. Hence, Sānkya’s descendants are, from his having stood on the right side, designated right-hand caste or Holayas; whilst those who sprang from Yugamuni and his wife Mātangi are called left-hand caste or Mādigas.” The occupation of the latter is said also to be founded on the belief that, by making shoes for people, the sin their ancestors had committed by cow-killing would be expiated. ”

“ Who does not fail when they fail—he who recognizes that, has learned well,
For whosoever recognizes the same lord as the one who dwells in all,
Wounds not the self through the self, and travels so the highest road.” XIII 27f. [pg 290] These passages elucidate the progressive function of the idea of God in the “work.” Incidentally, I believe that the devotional doctrines (Yoga) which are theoretically based on the Samkhya philosophy that originated without a God, has for good practical reasons taken the idea of isvara (God) into its system. ”

“ The ideal spiritual bliss is that of Râdhikâ and of her fellow Gopis. It is the Bliss aspect of Ísvara that in the Jiva causes mutual attractions and makes devotion a law, a necessity. Reflected in the Universe at large, it is the one bond that holds together all beings, and becomes a force of attraction on all planes. Man is guided by bliss in his relations to the Universe. He is guided by bliss in his relation to himself.
Nanda is located in the brain, in the thousand-petalled Lotus. The spiritual seat in the head is Gokul, the first abode of Nanda. ”

“ You entertain extraordinary affection for Íśvaravarman, but he must certainly go on a trading expedition to Svarnadvípa immediately. There he will obtain so much wealth, that he will come and live with you in happiness all his life, consent to it, my friend." When Sundarí heard this, she gazed on the face of Íśvaravarman with tears in her eyes and assumed despondency, and said to Arthadatta, *' What am I to say? you gentlemen know best. Who can rely on any one before seeing the end? ”

“ Do not be grieved, control yourself ; your lover will certainly return when he has made his fortune; he will not abandon you." In these words her mother consoled her, but made an agreement with her, and had a net secretly prepared in a well, that lay in the road they must take. And then Íśvaravarman's mind was in a state of tremulous agitation about parting, and Sundarí, as if out of grief, took but little food and drink. And she shewed no inclination for singing, music, or dancing, but she was consoled by Íśvaravarman with various affectionate attentions. ”

“ Íshvara gives us existence, consciousness and bliss, so that we may develop new centres that approach the state of Íshvara, and when we do that we have no right to keep them to ourselves, but should give them back to Him from whom we owe them. Nothing can please the Lord so much as when we pay this willing homage to Him. He has full control over the senses and experiences of the Gopas and Gopis that dwell in Goloka. He can turn them to any use He likes. They are His own property, and the dwellers of Goloka form His own household. He is one with them as they are with Him. ”

“ This early discovery of the Indian savants, which resulted in the marriage of Iswara with Pracriti, led to the consideration of the universe as the product of two principles, each possessing its own peculiar function of the male and female qualities. Iswara and Pracriti stood for Adam and Eve to the whole of the universe, not simply for humanity. This system, remarkable by its very simplicity, which attracted men by giving to all that surrounded him an origin similar to his own, is to be found amongst most races, which received it from the Hindus. ”

“ This was the perverse idea that guided the people of the Atlantean Continent. The intellectual giants, maddened by this material grandeur, did not look for any world beyond the one they lived in. They cared not for Svarga, nor for the sacrifices that led to Svarga. The flow of evolution, the breath of Íshvara seemed to stand still for a time as it were. The human will tried to override the divine will. There was chaos and disorder, which tended to cause dissolution in the universe. Hence Râvana was a Râkshasa. ”

“ Ishtar is the Truth, she has no image. She is invisible to us veiled in matter. She hides herself behind seven veils, or rather our eyes are so wrapped about that we cannot see her who is visible only in spirit. Thou knowest that in the Temple floor is a rent, and through that rent the breath of the gods ascends. I will place Helena over that rent, and she will fall into a trance, and if I say certain prayers and use certain invocations, then the veils will fall away, and in pure spiritual essence she will look into the face of Ishtar and read therein the Truth, past, present, and future. ”

“ In time, all the names that we have been considering—Innanna, Nanâ, and Anunit—became merely so many designations of Ishtar. She absorbs the titles and qualities of all, and the tendency which we have pointed out finds its final outcome in the recognition of Ishtar as the one and only goddess endowed with powers and an existence independent of association with any male deity, though even this independence does not hinder her from being named at times as the associate of the chief god of Assyria—the all-powerful Ashur. ”

“ Arriving at a mountain river they hear foot-steps pursuing them, and a figure is indistinctly seen approaching. After a short struggle the pursuer, whom Isidora, by his voice, recognizes to be an ancient domestic of the family, is flung into the river. The lovers continue their way and Isidora is dragged up into the ruins, where a hand places hers into that of Melmoth. Almost unconscious as she is from terror, she feels the hand to be cold as death ”

“ Kasháya ("sin," "defilement") is so called because it "hurts" (kash) the soul by leading it into evil states; it comprises anger, pride, delusion, and lust. Ásrava is twofold, as good or evil. Thus abstaining from doing injury is a good yoga of the [54] body; speaking what is true, measured, and profitable is a good yoga of the speech.
These various subdivisions of ásrava have been described at length in several Sútras. "Ásrava is the impulse to action with body, speech, or mind, and it is good or evil as it produces merit or demerit," &c. ”

“ Ultimately the cult of Ishtar appears to have become absolutely secret and hidden and shrouded in mystery and darkness. Its priestesses became the most famous oracle-givers of Assyria who imparted “divine knowledge concealed from men.” In the eighth century B.C., Arbela became the centre of the cult of Ishtar and “developed [pg 350] a special school of theology marked by the attempt to accord a superior position to the goddess. In a series of eight oracles addressed to Esarhaddon six are given forth by women” (Jastrow, p. 342) . ”

“ Even across immemorial generations it is impossible to read without emotion the legend of the Descent of Ishtar into Hades.1 Through seven gates the goddess of Love passes in search of her beloved, and at each some of her ornaments and clothing are removed by the dread guardian. Ishtar enters naked into the presence of the Queen of Death. But gods, men, and herds languish in her absence, and the wonder-working Hea, the Saviour, so charms the Infernal Queen, that she bids the Judge of her realm, Annunak, absolve Ishtar from his golden throne. ”

“ Then Isuro answered:
‘If we must die, put us in the place where the wood is cut, and heap it up all round us, so that we cannot escape, and set fire to the wood; and if one is burned and the other is not, then he that is burned is the goat-slayer.’
And the people did as Isuro had said. But Isuro knew of a hole under the wood-pile, and when the fire was kindled he ran into the hole, but Gudu died there. ”

“ She has abolished the worship of Ishtar, and turned the temple into a shrine of idolatry. She has destroyed the ivory image of the goddess which these eastern Hyborians worship (and which, inferior as it is to the true religion of Mitra which we Western nations recognize, is still superior to the devil-worship of the Shemites) and filled the temple of Ishtar with obscene images of every imaginable sort—gods and goddesses of the night, portrayed in all the salacious and perverse poses and with all the revolting characteristics that a degenerate brain could conceive. ”

“ By love distracted, though the queen of love, Pale Ishtar downward flashed toward death's domain, And swift approached these gates of Urugal, Then paused impatient at its portals grim; [Pg 368] For love, whose strength no earthly bars restrain, Gives not the key to open Darkness' Doors. By service from all living men made proud, Ishtar brooked not resistance from the dead. She called the jailer, then to anger changed The love that sped her on her breathless way, And from her parted lips incontinent Swept speech that made the unyielding warder quail. ”

“ The following day, Hjalmar said to Ivar: “Let us find out the decrees that fate has in store for us, for I do not like the ‘roller-reddening’ that has taken place at the launching of our ships, or the vision of the bloody goat. Let us consult the oracles, as well as sacrifice to Frey. I still fear some impending misfortune is going to happen to some of us, and that some great sorrow will overtake us. Let us make ready and beware of treachery. Perhaps we may meet a witch full of evil on the way; then it is better to walk on than to lodge in her house, though the night may be stormy. ”

“ Even so late as the days of Mahārāja Rāma Verma, who died in 973 M.E., large numbers of Izhavas were employed as soldiers of the State, if we may believe the account of Friar Bartolomeo,* [2] who is generally a very accurate writer. The South Travancore Izhavas used to divide themselves into two parties on the occasion of the Ōnam festival, and fight at Kaithamukku near Trivandrum. Any young man who did not attend this camp of exercise had a piece of wood tied as a wedding ornament round his neck, was led in procession thrice round the village, and transported to the sea-coast. ”

“ He considered Isvar Chandra the best bridegroom for his daughter, and he resolved on marrying her to him. Isvar Chandra was thus married, at the early age of fourteen, to Satrughna Bhattacharya's daughter. Dinamayi Devi, a most beautiful girl of eight years. [2] Satrughna said to Thakurdas:—'You see, Bandyopadhyay, I present my daughter to your son, not for the sake of your riches, for you are not a rich man, I know, but simply because your son, Isvar Chandra, has won a great reputation for his profound erudition. ”

“ As she spoke, there was a light in her eye,—a glow on her brow,—an expansive and irradiated sublimity around her figure,—that made it appear like the rare and glorious vision of the personified union of passion and purity,—as if those eternal rivals had agreed to reconcile their claims, to meet on the confines of their respective dominions, and had selected the form of Isidora as the temple in which their league might be hallowed, and their union consummated—and never were the opposite divinities so deliciously lodged. ”

“ So intimately bound up with the goddess were the sexual functions of the whole animal kingdom that without her presence they could not be discharged. A messenger of the great god Ea was accordingly despatched to rescue the goddess on whom so much depended. The stern queen of the infernal regions, Allatu or Eresh-Kigal by name, reluctantly allowed Ishtar to be sprinkled with the Water of Life and to depart, in company probably with her lover Tammuz, that the two might return together to the upper world, and that with their return all nature might revive. ”

“ ISHTAR OF ARBELA was the goddess of war, the “Lady of Battles.” She was the daughter of Anū, whose messengers were the seven evil spirits, and the favorite goddess of King Assur-bani-pal, who claims that he received his bow from her, though he declares in his inscriptions that he worshipped also Bel or Baal, and Nebo; he frequently implores the protection of Ishtar.
“Oh, thou, goddess of goddesses, terrible in battle, goddess in war, queen of the gods! Teūman, king of Elam, he gathered his army and prepared for war; he urges his fighting men to go to Assyria. ”

“ The sufferers remember the terrors of the day, and the still darkness of the night feels to them like a shelter. Isidora gazed on her espoused with delight, when she saw no longer his withering frown, or more withering smile; and she felt the hope that the calm purity of female hearts always suggests, that its influence will one day float over the formless and the void, like the spirit that moved upon the face of the waters; and that the unbelieving husband may yet be saved by the believing wife. ”

“ This is a point in which Izhavas may be said to differ from the South Travancore Nāyar matrons. The ear ornament of elderly Izhava women in North Travancore is of an antique type called atukkam-samkhu-chakkravum. Women in the rural parts wear a curious neck ornament called anti-minnu. Of late, all ornaments of Nāyar women are being worn by fashionable Izhava females. But Izhava and Nāyar women can be distinguished by the tie of the hair lock, the Izhava women usually bringing it to the centre of the forehead, while the Nāyars place it on one side, generally the left. ”