Ananda K.

Coomaraswamy HINDUISM and BUDDHISM

NEW EDITION REVISED AND ENLARGED IN ACCORDAl'lCE \\1TH AUTHOR'S NOTES

KESHAVARAM N. IENGAR and RAMA P. COOMARASWAMY

i1'l'tfl

Ediwd by

a Preface by

ROBERT A. STROM

INDIRA GANDHI NATIONAL CENTRE FOR THE ARTS NEW DELHI

MAl'\OIIAR IWD

"No lear ning will av ail hut olJly being born."

. -

con tro l led artsclf-posscssed, and self-possessed pos,licssed of God and all that He has ever made." -MEI!ITl:R ECKHART, ,RAN1- PFElfftR, p. 598.

himself. When t ho u art rid of thy-self, then an thou sclf.-controllcd, and \elf

"The h o ly/ sa cre d writings d e c l a re everywhere that man lIIu:\t he empued of

j Ar-OB BOl'.HMF., De inUJmatio Verb!. 1-4-19.

"He who knows himself knows his Lord wi t h a unification t ranscending J.II copartnership. "
-NAJMUODlN
KUTRA

(R.A. Nicholson, Nole.' on Mathnawl, 1.1958-9).

"At what point will you not forgetGod? Whenever you do not forget yourself; for in r e m emh e ri ng your own Ilolhingncss in regard to everything, you will also remember the transccndcnu: of Gud in regard to eve rything."
Rcvlcd edition 1999

reproduced or IransmLlIcd, In any form or hy any means, Without prior permiSSion of the editors and the:

All rights rser.'cd. No part of thh publication may be

<0 Rama P Coomara. ...wamy, 1999

"All sacred writings that have the expl oration of t he Self as object declare: the annihilation of the 1- postulation implies Deliverance."
-sRI RAMAt-fA MAHAI,t1 (c. D,'T WegzuTII Selb,t, p. 199, 1954.
n

-I'HU.o, D. Sacrificiis Abelis _t

Cain 5.5.

1907), in

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"For it behoves the mind that would be led forth a n d let go free to wi thdraw iLSclf from the influence of c\'cl)'lhing, .. , last of all I tself. -PHILa,

Legraum Alkgoriarum, I!I41.

"What is oneself? Reason.

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-MARCUS AUREUUS, Th< Community with HimstlJ, 8.40.

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CONTENTS

FOTf!Word PreJaa Acknowledgements

I. HINDUISM Introduction TheMyth T heology and Autology T he Way of Works The Social Order II. BUDDHIM Introduction TheMytb The Doctrine
Index

ix
xv

xxiii

3
6

12 25 :H

45
52

60
85

FOREWORD

Centre for the Arts (IGNCA)'s programme of re-prin ti ng Dr A.ll Coomaraswamy's CoJJcc L<..g works, re-edited and revised. N. Iengar and Rama P. Coomara'i\vamy. Mr Robert A. Strom has written a The volume has been cartfullyand mo!\tmeticulouslyedited by Kesha...-aram

Hinduism and Buddhism is the eleventh volume in the Indira Gandhi Xational

Preface which condenses themcthod and message of AK. COomaras....-amy publication is an invaluable source for faciJilating comprehension of the nature of discourse on the subject in the 19405. IGNCA. is grateful them, singly and together, for preparing a revised edition afLCf carefully The care with which AK. Coomara5\.....amv re-worked his own work bears each word and phrase was re-examined and fresh references given speaks of testimony to an ever re-investigative mind. The systematic manner in which taking into account A.K. Coomaraswamy's modifications and amendments.
10

succjnctly. The account of reception of che book at the time of its first each of

precision. Sincere thanks to them.

has accomplished the arduous task with h is usual Sense of detail and
isA.K Coomaraswamy's deep and abiding commiunent to search for essence, What emerges from this volume and the illuminating Preface ofMr Strom
uo

ajourney of constant self-examination. The editors, panicularJy Mr Jenga r,

be it religion, philosophy or art. He moves invariably from a point of

differentiation. This is evident in all his work but particularly TimeandEterni'ly principles are distilled here as well as his concern with notions of time and the by some th en

differentiation and on en ess and then can'ruJly traces the levels of and Spiritual Aut/unity and Temporal Power in the Indian Theory of Govmunmt.

This volume is a companion volume to the oilier [}I'-O. His reflections on finl

levels of the sacerdotal and regnum in (he other ",'VO. Self-consciously eschewing the historical method (for which hewas criticized
as

historical origins and linear growth in teI1HS of schools, SUb-schools, cults and sects, even the discussions in the principal philosophic schools. 'historical method' and proceeds
la

this not so easily definable term 'Hinduism', he Slays clear of speaking of its Instead, he dearly states his positJon as regards the non-accepL.'U1ce of the state the fundamentals on the basis of

investigating the fundamentals and not the superstructure. In the comextof

he is today), A.K. Coomaraswamy plunges straight inLO

theological trealises. For him, as for some other thinkers, writers and clear enunciation of his SOli recs and positi on and acceptance ofthe centrality of the BhagavolJ Citii, the chapters \...hich follow are logically divided into which condenses the essential [und.\mentals in a si ngl <:- whole. Given this practitioners, the Bhagatllld GWi is probably the most impoftant single work,

literary sOllrce material from the .flg Veda to the VaiI:1ava. Saiva and Tantric

(kanna) and the social order.

consideration of the myth, the theology and autology, the way of works

l-l'IU,WORll

,,\1 t'XPt'!lt'IH't' i tl,,: It'lupol , \1 Idh'dltllL The 1I1)'lilil id lIillT a ti vc i the

hth

tun d,' ,-, ,1IH\ pl'H'l'-lt, v,Ilidily 1nlt llowl1l'l'c and CVCIYW!Wrt,' It is with this ddllHlhlll th.u Iw exploIt'" tht- myth of tht' e ndl es s ,t:rpl',H (dragon).

(Ilillfl,,\d)

to A. K (:00111.11 ,I'W.UUY i, 'I h,' Pt'IHl1t illlalC" LrUl h of which

correctives on the or i ginlS of blUlhti. He undcnc.ores the concept ()f haring, givin g God his share, as also t he C.O'II,Cxt of giv ing up your hare
the ,

FOREWORD

xi

(bh./am)

nu ough \ .11 dully "i1til\ IlI.Hl'l i,t! ill 1Iit' HK V,.da, KIllVll/,atflIHltJUl lJulll11UlUl. tht" Ti:ultl',i'jeJ llr(;"m(lw. tht' MUldaktl lI/)(mi,\fld, IU" (,lilt... 0111 1i1e 1I 0 l i oo lad
and I Ill' pi 0('"", ul'tlbllH'llllwnm'lll and d ijoi l1tcdn c ss
tdh u" Althollgh then have been tJWlIl (1'h.lt One), tll(' Matt' with o ut <iiflc:rentiation of being h 0111 1I()1lIu-illg

Tht, rrupllH .11 It'l.ltillll,hip of tht' whole ami tilt' pans h, hb f oc l I s. The
f rs \l'qWllt ,llltl tl\(' <11 iltll\ slayt'r, and lilt' vi<:tim, C o o lllarasw:lmy ofe
1I1 ..1).\ht thlOHgh r!\I.-.lt'llllg thest' symhols and drawing:

(i.e. differentiations).

o n is \a cramen ldlIy inU:rprt'ted. hre atiJ il lg, eating, cirillkillg, and thi.., operati This is hanna marga (the way of Ihe works) of the IJhagavad Gi/iL [t is a

in('es,ant ()per<ttiOlI ill each and every lunctifHl of active Ijf( down 11) our very

in

c o nti nu al 'flcrifice not to be differentiated from the actof giving in the ),a]na. A.K. (:IH)lllaraswanlydeduccs from anothe r moral ethical principle 'Sacrifice
thus understood ... .'

DI.I){On abt) tht' \\'<11 Id 'rllT. -1( HIIII;IIII ;IIH I (;a\'e ilH' ('()gllittt'!', (A..I()lllarawallly

con s i d e rabl e commenLo; Oil the endless

al1(llIiOIl
to

th e

Th e ch a p ter 'The Social Order' concludes Part I relating to Hinduism. Log ic all y, if life is a continual sacrifice, in actual practice, the method is Ihr()lIh )'oga (yoking' t ogethe r ) ; yogat ka nn am kau.ialam is the key phrase

l' mptyi ng and regeneration ""Iwtlw!" DI agoll, Trec, Moulltain or Cav(. The

import;UlC(' uf the noti o n s (If cXhallSlltlll, disIHt'IlII)('IIlH'III, swailt,wing alld

tll\"(,llgh which Coomaraswamyexamines the notions of !)ocial order and 1(5

significance. Th is chapter needs

plitn.H), 1Ilt';Ullllg or Giri mOllnlaill, he reminds us, is to swallow. Each .-.iK nil1n tht' pn)C('" of t'Xhlllllil1 and heing. Thr o u gh Ill<" myth and its narration, AK. O,OIlI;\I:\SW:lIIIY IIKlt..",S atttllli<1I1 Oil a et'lltl,,1 priIH.iI,il' '!'salll l ft'fognil.ing that thcre is.m illC

and un d e r s ta nda bl y queMioning and rejecting the very conc-cption of

lO

be carefully read by many who arc today

vanUl

and ii..ira1flllJ. The distortions and deformities of the original structure have b een so lIlany and so frequent that the original intent and purpose of

of

recognizing the human at his/her most optimal in a framework of rdatIon'

and unitiralioll of the inde ti nitdy Many. Th t" rehHiollship of the olle and the many ha" indl'('d hel'1l a pi vo ml nmrnll of\vhall'\'('r philmnphy or I'l'ligiolllhat wc l oday kllow ;\ S IIillduisIll. In Iht' rh,lplt'l 'TII<'olu), alld Alltniogy ', lw explores the relationship of thc
myth ,lIld the ri tua l ()'{Jjlia). T hrough an anal ysis of both, hc points a( the second principl(' n f (()!iointl'rlness. The images o f two birds on onc trec or 0!1t' bird \\'ilh two Ilt'ads clo 1\111 dt'lll)l(' contraries or hillary ')pposites, instead

Coomaraswamy A.K. ships spatial ly and temporally is all hut forgotten. ti on of the inexhausti p lic a mu lti rcminds liS of the original contcxt ofthe sacrifice and functional requirem ent of a Sf)cic ty. The nature of this social order wheth er as groups or age/gender, g('I1<-'ratioll was based on pr inc iples other t ha n that of competition and conBic!. In the original co nc ep tion (remote a nd di stant a<; it is from our

historical an d certainly conlemporary realit y ) , every function from that of a p riest or a k ing down to that ofa potter and scavenger, is li terally a pr iesthood

td

CtllljUgal itlll (nlllh!l1l1l1!l, \llmh/ullIfl, t'lw

.1

' I Ihml, \\"lli{1

l!Iul 1Ia) is a \'i(al operation, pr oduc tive

and every operation a ministerial rite. Coomaraswamy'sobservations provoked a conuoversy th en as it is bound to perhaps provoke now. \\ilc little can be

tht co n juga ti on ofMinrl

<'O() Iill,.IS\\'.llI\)' had ulllo!(Itd de;II'iy

pnnclplt' of ha h't s of I lll' oriillalJy I llld i v id c d. At the Icvd of govt'rnance, it I !o.an'r dotilllll and I (' 1l1111l (1Irfl"1fIfl.k;fllrau) the priest and the king. A.K.

(mmlas) and the Voice (viie) givcs hinh to a co nc e pt (J(1jJtall}(J). Through a series of t 'xampl('s , kK. Coolllar<1SWilmy t'illciciatt's the

ption, redern ondand bey tures now truc done to rcctify the distort cd and deformed of lhe (milRe Ihe of the s nature first is III s perhaps it is still possible to re-examine the sfJCial order on Lht: baSIS of

recognizing and legitimatizing and giving status to all skills-cerebr:.ll. intelll'clual and manual alike-at their optimum and not minimum. At the:
level of applicability, it means the empowerment as equal status and res pect

at tht' psychological 1t'\'('1 it i tlie selralld llotst'lf, thc inner , man and 0111" ' Cr er Ill( I'.' 1\ I( Iua I'11)'. I\Ttlll('lIlly, ht pOIJ1L'i at the tcnet l I lat t lle DUt' mu .. t \uhm l 10 i Ihl' inllt'r Ma ll. This is what is meant by insiste n ce on self (Illltll)l rillht 'r than .st"lfil...s cnion . Coom aras w,ullY COocill<ies by sa y illj.{ thilt 11,, Ihcolo'ru ... s '1IId'auI 0I DRY ,in: o ne amI t1 It: samc SC i n! ' " en Ce . ['Ile onI y po.s"lbl"
,

to POIIU OHt that

t lTUII ,rmpfIIfll PO

Wf'T;71/he Indian Thrmy oJ Govf77lmnlt. Ht' rei urns to tll(, thcmc

of the ext raordi n ary skilled human rCliiources ;lIld not Ihis and patronage in .\/, ir relationship

conc e ssions ont he basis of holding up ct'l'ebral.-.kilh il" the domillant model.

The impliclliollsofthe rethinking would be far reac hing. A.I\.. Coomaraswamy had qllt'sliollt-'d Ihe ad\'ii\bility of a doptin g the industrial model for

d cvc lopnwn t thl'n as some arc ques.tioning it now. O rganization of societ.1.1

n Wa y of the Works', he facilitates a co mpr c l1l'l 1 s io o t Iht proccs . on ti i s ompo of gClH'riltion and divisioll to J'('){t"IH'ration and c , , lilt" 't'(tl , Il("c'ded I ' ' n on t H' 1Illnpn' l.ll ioll of hhahll proVides o 1 muc lTlany
_

min d Ul I(Hl to hrin}.,' y ryda , t'\'t' ill l) Ihe lirst principles to the 1evel of applirahili : . H II\'( hIe.
hi the
c ha ptt ' r

he that art 1 hOll'. ThiS e X lIpl;uy not only for must it!, tt'xllIal richness but for tilt' rlisc erninK
Insw(r to 'WI" Mt .un I" . '

tc ssa y I'k

atI

lcrs is

is of plural abilities and .. strUCtures and isslles of empowerment 011 the ba m u ltipl icity of id ent ities is a l ar ge r qut-'stion not t1nly for I ndia or the HindU w o r ld hut for Cl v ast mjorityof lhe erstwhilt colonized wor ld . It is time not

r en e ct upon ollr own p redic ament IT('ated by misinterpretation of some seminal notion s as also sub scr ipti on

olll}' to ren'ad Coomaraswamy .md his in te rp retations blltalso 10 rethink and

to inilppr opria t c notions of hierarchY. [unction, uni form ity and empowerment based on a unidimcntional lincar progrcs...i\,e 1l1od(1. ' gradualjourneyfrom His COml1\ellls Oil the iiiramasandIthe childhood [0

'The

PREFACE
"Lay h ol d , start up. cross over!"!

flinduism and Buddhism is divided into tWo part'). Both main texts appear to
faithfully reflect two lectures respectively titled "Hinduism" and "'Buddhism"
of New York showed an interest in publishing the combined lectures,

dclh'Cred on February 10 an d 17 of 1942.' After the PhilosophIcal Library

early in 1943. Th e book appeared on I May 1943.' As originally published, these notes were relegated to the ends of both sections, but for this long appropriate pages. "",re arc fortunate in being able to present below a resume
of the entire

Coomaraswamy composed the notes for the book and completed his work

awaited new edition, they are cOIlvcnicmly positioned at the hottom of the

Coomaraswamy. The manuscript of this page is typed and single-spaced but without title. It was intended for promotion probably late Coomaraswamy's spellings.

it among the thousands of unindexed manuscripl pages and notes of

opus from the author's own hand, having found and identified in and in part used by the publisher for lranscription. we have retained
an

1944.4 In our

300 notes, were delh'ercd at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York in February 1942. The doctrines arc expounded from the Indian point of
view. rather than that afthe Indologist whose concern is less with t.he Indian
IThis exact phrase, without reference. \'\'as hand'wrltlCn br Coomar<L.'iwam r at the
[Op of the lecture manus cript of this book's "Hinduism" seClion. We. havc been ablc to trace it to RV.X. 53. 8 and supply helow Coomaraswam),'s own comments as follnd upon to "guard the palhw;ly by contcmplation wrought" and to "beget" (or) in his ''fhe Pi lgri m', Wa)"",JBORS. XXIII (1937), p. 466 . ... RV. X. 53.8 where Ihe long sought A,-ni ha!'! appeared and having been called

The two lectures, now printed with

added documentation of over

LcUer of A.K.c. to Gra ha m C' ..lrcy. 27 Apri l 1943. S. Dur.li IL'lja Sing.utl, uttl'"H of Antmda uWmmrHWtJ1lJY, Vul. 1 (l!172), n.p" Wc ha\'c only been ;Ihll' to find and i(kntif), the manuscript of the "Hinduism"
n.'m'lining m'lJ)u,'>crjp'.\ of the hook have becn lost. scclion, without nOI('S, at FiH'!'!lOnt Library, P,inc('wl1 University. and believe the 10111)' <I lillt' or [WO of Coomaraw:illIl)" .. RCMJlTli" was actually used by the pub lisher along with a portion of tlH "[(\'itw" by \\'ing{.\lt Ch,in from 1944. See our Index of the

"bring forth" the 1-lc;1n:nly Race, addresses the mllmlllunvah as foll o w: "Here flows the River of thc Rock: ]:IY hold, .Iand lip (lit ti.lt/wta), cros o\'er (IJm/amta), 0 Ill)' c omr.lci cs (5(lRhij)'(II). there l e t us leave behind tilt" ineffectual (a.in)(zb) and (orn unto the friendly (Sivan) c ours ers (tlfijan)," We do not k now when or why l ...oom araswamy penned this phra!'!e, but have found it
in context to be a watchword for our work here.

"ReVIews" below . Coomaraswalll), hime1f prcscn.(d a (Op)' of the "Promotion" in his desk copy of the book,

xvi

PREfACE

PREFACE

xvii

ex.unph.', that cycn the old est forms o r H iIlduis m arc neither polytheistic nor

h.achings th.Ul with his own i nterpr etation of them. It is assumed, f o r p.\IHhlisti(, ,md that no dnnrinc of r ciIl ca r n a lion, other than that of the il1lmanent (o d '\\'ho never became anyone", is taught. Hinduism is the oldest

each page facing a new blank page<' Copious ma rginal adrlenda were djed, some typed, which have made the task of the editor an essential and diffIcult med iati on . These addenda have almot entirely been in c orpor ated and the notes "foundational", butaswe find in all o f Co om arasw amy ' slate w riting . they ha ve tremendous importance and at times blossom into ml or e\''iays. the attention on doc umen tat ion and corroborative details. Few authors have ever expended as much effort as Coomaraswamy on these fine dCLaih of intrinsic and extrinsic signifI ca nce . arranged into the notes for this neW edition by Mr. Icngar, Onc could best calJ

of the surviving mystery religions; in no fun d am ental sense unique, but a fonn ofth\'" "\\Tisdom uncrealC " of which t he formulations are e ss entia lly the

same in Plawni:;m, Christianity, Taoismandother traclit.ional doctrines; from

misunderst.1.nding, but never a conflict of essential doctrines; for, Buddha s a\' s, there is but one Truth, and no other.

"re the \'arying names of the onc and tlle same et ernal avatar. There can be
as

theIndian point ofview,Agni, Buddha, Horus, Moses, Christ, and Muhammad the

The reader is urged to utilize both "upper" text and "lower" notes in5iivisibly: the former synthetic and far-ranging as an overview, while the latter fecusing scholarship which are, we believe, models of academic virtue possessih.g favorable. In a letter dated 29 J tine 1943, Eric Schr oedcr , a former
The reaction to the book among Coomaraswamy's friends was certainly
as.,oc ia te at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and a speciali st on Persian Art, called t h e book "a c l assic, round and ripe in meaning, majestically clean in shift; and

the inItial and ba.. "ic statement of Truth , we proceed to its ritual imit;.l.tion and perpetuation in the Sacrifice, and [rOln the formal Sacrifice la it'\reflection in the vocational organisation of society in which life itselfis sacrificiallyinterprcted; the object of such a socie ty being to secure for all men, whatever their natural endowment, the means of Se l f-r ea lisation. The form of such a traditional society is designed to secure at the same time
From tl{c Myth
as

temporal and eternal benefit; in ar t (manufacture), for example, there is no divorce of metaphysical significance from practical utility, no necessary distinction af fine from applied or sacred from pr of ane. Man's last end is to know his real Self, not the impennanent and variable outer personality of this man so-andso, but the Inner !\-lan, immanent Person and immutable Self of art, thou."

mysteries is dazzling". Marguerite Block, an editor and long-time admirer,

formal critiques were collected by CoomaraS\vam y and are preserved in
"Revi ew s", pr esen ted below as an appe n d ix, also includes those items cer tainly seen by Coomaraswamy but probably only retained in the bound copics of his journals. Thesejournals may have

the insight which has chosen and arr ang ed only what is eternal in these

described the work as "a distilled essence of A.K.c. "." Many of the published

his desk copy. Our index of the

The basis of Buddhism is no less m yth ical; the "life" of the pseudo historical Founder, the Conqueror of Death, repealS the or igin al myth of the arch etypal dragonsla)'er. His doctrine-as he asserts very forcibly-is not his own, but the opening up again of the "ancient path"; and in fact it would be difficult to discover in Buddhism anything novel, though there is much that is riginal. The Buddhist polemic is directed mainly a gains t the superstition of life, against t he identification of our Sclfwith the processesof living, acting,
fecling and thinking; these are useful to the wayfarer, but have no nlore significance when he has arrived. The Way is ethical, and involves the discrimination of what ought and oug ht not to be done but the goal lies

all men alike. that can be as and when it ""ill. "That, Brahma, immanent deity,

contained important subsidiary materials, particularly notes and commenlS, and were a part of the Coomara.\'am)' Bequest to Princcton University. They were unfortunately not preserved as a d istinct body of mat erial by the important review of Andr c Preau from 1948. In reading this almost unanimous crowd of admiring witnesses, the first place must he given to Ren e Guenon, the eminent French Traditionalist whose study on the Vedanta should be kno\\TI to m an y Indian savants . ' His

Uni vers ity and might even have been d iscarde d. Our index also includes the

beyond good and evil. Hinduism and Buddhism alike are doctrines of self denial; whoever would save the Self, must have eradicated conscious ness of

self; and this is to be understood not only ethically (since where there is n o "self "there is no "others") hut metaphysically. The who le exposition shows that the Christian theologian who will take the trouble to sllldy I nd i a n

ouvrage, qui rectifie un gr an d nom bre d'erreurs et de confusions commiscs p ar les orientalistes", and unrescf\'cdly endorsed Co om arasv..'amy' s insistence on the underlying unityofthe two grcat spiritual clIrrent'\. Dr. MurrarFowler, who was able to study under A.K.C. t hro ugh an academic grant and !,\tcf\\'aS associated with the University of Wi sconsin (U.S.A.), clearl y placed the
Coomar.lswamy h;1ti almot all of his l ate published books re boun d \'lil h bla nk pages to allow for an easy incorporation of handwriucn .tddcnduill.

review, published in

1946, called

Hinduism and Bluldhirm an "important

religion scriously, and not merely "historically", will find in iL'i teachin gs abundant "cxtrinsic and pr obable p roo fs " of the truth of Christian doc tri e ;

and may at the same time, if he will abandon his "proselytising fury'"' rca1tsc

the essentiili unity of all religions. After receiving his desk copy in 1943, Coo maraswamy had it rebound wi t h

"Letter ofMargarile Block to Murray Fowler,

Collection.

" probab ly the best account of Vl'dantii III any Europt'an language" was cone eWe ' Md . l1Ucl untl11925. before the First World ar, but not pubI,

IM

'Guenon, Rcne (Tram. Richard C. Nich olson ), Man a nd J/,J Bt',omITlK rzucmling t VNlanta, Noonday Press, 1958. Thi o. hook, which Coomara.w<uny des(f
ibed

13 May 1943, Coomarasawa myF amily

{J

\\iti

PREFACE

Coomara.",,\.uui.m "u nderlyi ng ullity" as a I\cct of a per s o nal re l ig i o lls

phi loop l\\', Hisrt'\'iew from 194-t-cll1pllaizl'd tilt' dal\!-{t'rofsllch an a pp ro ac h HI "t ha t the itW\'ltahll' modilk.uions illl posl'(1 hy i<lCal iinliladolls of space \\tOn not t"d b' Coomaraswamy .md (hat "hl' ha s not been tr apped by it here". by W.E., Cl ark, Protls."or of Oril.'l1lai Languages al Harvard University. in his rcvic\" for t he
disrt'gJ.l'(kd". Howeve r , Fowkr gOt'S 011 \I\d Limt.' upon the unin-rsal truths ... may be ove rlooked , or min i miz ed, or
to

the picturingsofprimitive myl h . . . lhi, workdcfinilelp<:t;a,ide tIle hi"oric;al approach w ith its many qu esti ons of c hronol ogy and developmen t, crjtic from t hat angl e is gratuitous." It is i ron i c that Clark cal led on e of the Co oma ra swa l IlY ' s instances for the atc mporal and eternal Traditjon ;p "gratuitous assumption ",!J We h ave found that the co ntesti ng schools of historicism and idealism.

PREFACE

is spet ific\l 1y c omlUt'lHkd . ) Fow l e r' s q u ali fied praise was entirely dismissed

(The cOlTcl.uioll )nndlan formal te r m ino lo gy and IheirWestcrn cquivaJcIlL'i

sa)' that t h i s "dang er " has been

repre s e n ted in t h e

\\ith which we cannot take exception is that found on p, 70: ''The Buddhism w hic h corr esp ond

and renders the wurk v a lue less. Al m ost th e onl y st'ltcmcll t of t h c Clark rev iew and Hind ui sm described by C oom aras",, 'amy are very sub l i m ate d re li gio ns

"danger" intim a ted by Fowl(r has overwhelmcd Coomaraswamy's appr o a ch

Hanomd joumal ofAsiatic Studir-s. August IU44,

For Clark, the

and Spirit. Th i s was a Jlu or l ciuno lif in all of Co om ara swa m y' s late oeU\'fC, exam in e d onto log ic ally in te rms of the inhere nt duality within creation of t he nature of the hu m an m icrocosm , w hi le t he social, p oli ti cal, and pole mic al essays u se it to define the "Devil's p la yg roun d " or the Dr agon "Holdfast" who causes of thc conflict within ourselvcs and between societies, the 'War" among that "mom ent " ( real ly ti m el ess ) and where all p ossible Ways become One manifestalion, t he anthr opolog ica l and psychological essaj's me ir

another nante for one of the hook's ma in themes:

official reaction lo Hillduism aTui Buddhism. are merely the e ternal battle of soul
[0 define

Eckhart corresp onds to the great institutionalized r el i gi on o f Ch ri st ia n i ty", Co om araswamy. him self, seems to ec ho this remark w he n he summed up his perspe cti ve in t he book as not "prec isel y" orthodox, but

LO

the great in stitu tio na lized religions ... as tvlcister

will not set "God's peopl e frce". Coomaraswamy's p rof oun d a\,,'areness ofthe OUf many selves, also and i n verse ly allowed him to rise above the fray. It is in that we hear the voice of the God: Indestructible. Learn thou! t he Life is, spreading life through; Tt cannot anywhere, by any means, Be anyw is e di mi n is hed, stayed , or changed.

T hornism v1s--avis "the not ions of m an y ignorant Chrislians",tI He wou h l l at er describe the Clark review as "a real ' aua.ck"',u d eprecia ti ng the.: entire Inatter through the use of quotation marks. tu A muc h more balanced and e v en
handed assessment is offe re d by Alban Widg ery in the

com parabl e

to

Phiwsophia Perennis [i.e. the transcendent Unity of the various me t ap h y sic a l

Also the anonymous author of the review in the jour.

"Dr. Coomaraswfimy app ears to consider the fundaIneI1(.;1.l

Phi/o.w/)hi{,fl/ R./tlieuJ.

dialect.'iofhumanity] , to beessenlially.,. the Advaitisl... Vcctanlic do c trin e . " '''' Tites .. the auth or does not use the hi st orical m eth od , U nl ike su c h Ind i an i sts
as Lionel Bamett, 1'\' oco l

\Vith Spirit deathless, endle ss, in fi nite, Life cannot sla y. Life is not slain!

But for these fl eeti n g frames which it informs

[d

to define t he parameters of th ese academic udashing opposites" where h e Macnicol and De l a Vallee-Poussin he does not trace

ofBible and Religion helps

They p eris h . Lellhem perish. Princ e ! and fight! . . .

BhaW'vad wliJ 2 ..

stages in devel op men t of d o c trin e, Instead he follows the orthodox Indian

study of Sanskrit and Pali teXts e n abl e s him to carry through this method efTectivelyand with ripe erudition. For the hisLOricallyminded s tudent lh i s is

until affirmations rise which can be c h ecked closely by auth or i ty. Lifelong

technique of de te c ti ng timeless U1.1th5 through meditation o ve r many texts

... thou ... be f ree of l he "pairs of op posit es ". and free From that sad rig h te o usness which calculates;
,

seen to i nvol v e a certain backward reading into primitive tcXL"i of profound ideas (only] developed later. From the angl e o f Co omar aswm y ' s ap pro ach ,

however, that does nOtInatler for the revel ation (srutt) is al ready present in

We see from this that it is a d ty impo sed byour state to "fight".]USI as lllu c h. u it is the duty of the accom pl is hed to find in faith the assurance offinal victory_ DJwrman like Coomaraswamy can show the \Vay to the Primo rdial Unity, and win the Kingd om of Hc'lvcn through '\'iolence", thereby l"Cvcrsing time, o r renew ing time, and like the action and reac tion of d app er and bell or stone aga in st sui king s ton e engender once again the Index of the re\icws for the

Onl y a warr io r for

Le uer of AKC. to Ade Bethune, 1 J uly 1943. S. Durai Raja Singam, Letters, Vol.' (1974). n.p. 'IL euer of A.K.C. to JeanAJbcrt Cunat, 29 July 1944, Coomarsawamy Family

l"We should like to mention in addition lhat Coomaraswamy left a short h and written note amoTlg the cnd-papers of his desk copy in which he directed [he I-cader
to hi.5 re vised nole 47 (Buddhism) at the beginning ofthc c hapt er "'The Do ctrin e" i n the "Buddhism"scction aCthe hook [or a Urcbuttal" o f Clark.

Collection,

"See p. 66 of the CIark rt'\,it\\ ill rhe HJAS :mo eXaq referenc e, pp.9, 17.

IS. Durai R.a SingaOl called Coomar.a.o;wamya "Warrior forDhanna" in ant.' of his many useful enc omiums,

ISir Edwin Arnold , Trans., Bhag avad Gita/TJuSong(Lkstia Heritage Press, 1961 .

our

xx priuhwdi.\!
wn

WI..H Id". A "position" ,\ftu;\l1y llllstablt and u n rea l which i:lils

et luml(',-hoth music of the spheres. Logosand "Lig h t of th e

to

PRE1'ACE

comprehen d

n g of the s yn t h clk .md addres,, 'I the ine\'it.\bk simplifications <lnd t e l es cop i "app ro;lrh " 1S t1nally it.>;df los t in tht, un l'c ,dity of an n s i sten t, unblinking i

Guenon, Reno, F.tU(/es Tradilionell,'\, Aug, 1946, pp, 337f, Notin AJlC, ',desk

PREFACE

cattgoril.\lion. Finally. those who canlwl or wil l not escape from th e ir local

G ul i ck , Si d n cy, "O ri ental C onccp t i o m. of the Self", Penrmalist xxvn (1946)

pp. 306-13. Not in A.K.C.'s desk copy and pos.sibly not knovm letters.

cop y but we have examined A.K.C.'s bound copy of this journal, xc also the shor t notice hy Gucnon in E. T., 1951, p, 94.
J

color1n& (and what a "hkaching"lakes the man i fest being to be en t ire l y fr ee

from here d ity .\Ild genetic "sh;\di ng ") and make the profound, inevitable

descent (ascent)! into the gro lln d of Bein g (Non-Being) c a n hope to underst.\no ,u1.y-thing-that is, grasp re lati o ns h ip s and ev en begin to think, "'hat shocks the hislOricist in this book is the act ive immutahle reign of the Spirit Trad ition s . In India, this has IJtcly been the p rovin ce of Advaita Vedanta, With
world, wc

wherc\'er

that has been manifested fr om the heart of the sanctioned

or pagination avail able), AK.C:, desk copy, Aryan Path, Feb. 1944, pp. 76-7, AXC:, desk copy, Hollis, Howard,JA.A,C" 1943, pp, 8991, Not co llectd by A.K.C but al m ost
Hiriyana , M.,

(P,H.), Freedom (n, d,

Coomaraswamy though he and Gulick did exc hange a number of

to

certainly known to him. Pn:!au, Andre, "A.K. Coomaraswamy etia Pcnse de 1 'Inde", Cahiers du Sud290
(1948), pp, 126-32, Not coI1ccted in

'h i l e we are i n thi.s which Coomaras\\'amy explicitly i dent ified himself. 1[. V\

(KP,L),JOUT. Phi/, XL (1943), pp, 7234, AK.C:, desk copy,

m atter with the wisdom of a Coomaraswamy what will appear on the narroW

"weigh cd" and where "weight" is alway s found wanting. But if o ne sifts the

are i nevit abl y brought

to

m ake a ju d gmen t in which sides arc

stage of the circumscribed to be i rreco nc il able is well-known b ro ther ly love in the "Grt'en Room "yi 'Vc can be confident that it was from such a "Tiring

by AK.C See also Preau's mlew Cahiers du Swl, 1951, pp. 166-8 on the appearance of the French translation by Rene AliaI' and Pierre Ponsoye (1950, Gallimard). Rind, Geo rg e c', Modem Srhoolma" XX (n,d, or pagination available),
A.KC, 's desk copy, Scherman , Lucian. "Indische Weis he it " , JAOS LXIII (1943), pp, 241-62, Sti g all , No t in A.KC. '.'I desk co p ;" but certai n ly known to him.

Room" as this that Coomaraswam y c al mly took up the cudgels of his polemic

and it was to such a benign foom th at he retired when his time was up,

INDEX TO
(Author not given), Carrell

(Author not given) , Jo urnal of Bible and Religion 13, No,

16. A,K.C:s desk copy.

available), AKC:s d esk co p y .

(Mass,)

Tower, November

REVIEWS

1943 2,

( n o pagi nati on

Tyberg,Judith. "H in duism and Buddhism ", Theosophical Review,March 1944, pp, 123-5, A.K.C:s rl es k copy.

Jo hn , Far Eastern

SlIro,)" 22 Sep , 1943 (no pagina tion available).

A.KC, 's desk copy.

May

(AuthornotgivenL MindDi gest, Feb, 1946 (no p agi nati on av a ila b l e) , AK,C, 's

1945, pp, 115-

Varadachari, K.c" Hindu, Madras, 23 jan, 1944 (no pagination available), A.Kc"s desk copy. (F,C,W), The Standard, 1943 (n o pagination available), AXC's desk copy, Wach,joachim,Journal oJ&ligiOl"jan, 1945 p. 60, AKC:sdesk copy, W i d g ery, Alban G" Philosophical Review UIl (1944), pp, 605-7. AK.c"s desk copy.

desk copy, Chan, Wingtsit, Phi/' Ab" 13-14 (1944), p, 6, AK.C,sdesk copy, A portion of this rc\'iew was used in the p ubl ishe r'S "promotion". C lark. Waiter K, HaruardJ, A" S" Au g , 1944, pp, 63-70. Known t o A,KC. Das, Taraknath, Asia and the Americas, Nov. 1943 (no pagination available),
AX C ,' s desk copy, R,T,F., P"'o>lalist (n,d. or pa gin ati on) , AK.C:s desk copy, Fowler, !>I ur ray,

Review o f&ligion VI]]

(1944), No,

3, pp, 281-4,

If'}be many possible ways are finally One Way. lecture 'The Indian Doctrine ofr--lan's Last

ICoomar.lswamy caned himself a "Vedanti!it" in an unpublished

hope to scc appear in the journal Sophia, Oakton, VA (U.S.A.). WIne 'Green Room' was the subject of no specific work by Coomaraswamy but seem to figure prominently in his consciollsness, <:spccially in such works as the "J:g].. ,:aja l:Q!adir and the Fountain of Life . . .", 1934, a n d "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", 1944, to only name the most obvious choices.

port ion of his End", which we have recently ed i t ed and

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It would be impossihlc to list the namesofaH the individuahwho have in onc
However, thanks must be rendered to some of the individuals involved. J encollragemenland suggestion5 have made possible the republication of this and many other works of Or. Ananda K. Coomaraswarny; and to Dr. LaJit

way or another contributed to this second edition of Hinduism and Bwidhjjm.

would first of all like to express my grat i tude to Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan whose

Gujral whose continued effort '; have guided the text th ro ugh the hands of u-st <,clition and who has cooperated and who h o l d s the copyright to the f encouraged the editing a n d publishing of this second edition. Of the many Dr. Wolfgang Smith, Al\'in Moore Jr., Mr. Eric Hansen and Mrs. Made

jar of Xc,", York City editors and publishers, I am g rateful to Mrs. Regeen Na

scholars who have assisted in identifying and translating references, special mention should be made of Roben Strom (the author of !he Preface),
Hanscn. Particular thanks must be given to 1r. K. Ienger who did the ma jor pan

been most im portan t.

of the editing and whose knowledge of Sanskri t and the original texts has RAMA P.

CoOL\RA.sw.\n

HINDUISM

INTRODUCTION
Brahmanism or Hinduism' is nol only the oldct of the mystery religions, or rather m e tap hysi cal (ilscip lines., ofwhich w c h,H-'c a f u ll and p recie knowledge f .-om literary sources, and as regards the last (WO thousa nd years also from iconographic documents, but ;lbo perhaps the onl y on c:: of these that ha., sUlvivcd with all 1ll1hroken t rad i tio n and that is lived and understood at the
pn:scn t day by lllallY JllillioflS of men, of whom some arc peasanL I; and others learned men well able to ex pl ai n their f a ith in European as well as in their o\\TI prac ti ces of H i n du i s'm

and although the an cient and modern scripture .. have been examined by Eu ropea n schobrs for more than a century, it would be hardly an exaggeration to say that a fil i th ful account of Hinduism might well be given in the form of a c ategori cal denial of most of the statement '> thilt have been made about it by European schola rs and by Indians trained in our modern sceptical and evolutionary modes of
lang uages. NcvcnlH.!css,

and

but rather the maternal

matur ity; that the

a quantiwtivc an d in this sense 'material', world of appearances, bywhich wc may be ei t he . enligh tencd or deluded lCco,-ding lo th e degree of our OW11

example, by remarkin g that the Vcdic doctrine is nor polytheistic, nor a wo rsh ip of the powers or Nature except in the sense that Natura nal1lmns t'sI Dt'lI.s and all her powers but the Oan1CS of God's acts; that kamw is not "fate" e xcep t in thL' orthodox sense of the character and destiny that inhere in created things tht'lIlscl\'L's, and rightly un d e rs too d , determines their vocation;l that ma)'li is not "illusion", neither
panthei.tic:!
J1}l";ISUlT . 1nd

thought,l

One would be gin , for

means esscntial LO the manifestation of

notion

of a "reincanlation"

"KnnfllJ i ,hi' 1;1\.1.' of n)llcorcia(ll anion ;md !'c. 'anlon. and Dhannn is inherent naturc. OntO pt'rfonns ;tCliOIl'l or acts in acconlallce ..... ith onc 's inhcrtm naturc. DJian!lfl h aho Ll'x u,.trf7/a, ideal or ab",ohltt' Jmtict' or Rlghtl"OU51ll'S5, Grel'k dikmry"i 01' ItI Plato and Luke 1 2 . 3 1 ; tht proportiona(l' pan (lf thisjusllCl', wh ich perta ns to an indiVidual. h hh 'ownjlltkc' (SIHJ-.dlumna) . the ,oGllion. sonal funcuon, Of du ty <IS dCleUlline(\ for him hy hi.' oWn nature. See note 1 1 5 on May.l lll lht 'I'nioll 011 'B\lddhim',

p.

and future" t'The duu-gc of P.Ulthcjm th:n h,,_ been laid at hi' door i, refuted by the \'cry eXl ravaganet of tlw tenns in which he at'rt the T"1I1sct"IHlcncl' of the GodheadH. will appl)' cqllOlllr to Eckh;!z", and 10 llrahll\,mhllL e.G, Roll. on DiQnpius (1920.
:\4).

"Th e ternl Brahminism lO designate tht, rdigion of the Hindus was erroneously applied first by the Oricntalbts in Europe-. It ha", no 5l1ppOn in any of sacred fex!.\ of (he Hind\l\. "l-lind uimr lms been accepted by (uogr to stand for Sanatill\;1 DhannOl particularly ill its applicatiolls to the l" il';HI dhantra of dw Jlindu.\..-Ed. I In th( whole or the RV there i!'l not a single reference lO <lIly hi.\[oricai person or hi!Otorkaf evcllt. lJ\lt all. all S.iy::u)<l !O<lrs. i!'. etc.nlal (nil)'om), the wpasttense" present, P;L$t

in the popu lar sense of the

HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM

INTRODUCTION

rellrn of deceast'd i ndividuals to rcbiIth on this earth represents only a n\ls und CrstU1diIlS of thl doctrines of heredity, transmigration a n d re gel\ eration;and that the six dtl,:all(lJofthe later Sanskrit "philosophy" are n o
t

!O l\any nnuually exclusive "sy.s tems' but, as their name implies, so many 'i ofvicw"which are no more mUlually contradiclory than are, let us say. POlHL botany and mathematics. 'Ye shall also deny in Hinduism the existerice of

anything unique and peculiar to

iL."elf, apart from the local colouring and social adap l<Hions th at must be expected under the stl n where nothing can

produced in Ind ia this . hteen h00k 0f clg . chapters i'i nor ' a'Jo it haA been somctlmcs called a "secta '. .. wo r k, but o nc u ni ve n.m rsally studied and often ' . repeated dally from mOI . . Uof)' b Y fill 11 IOns of Indians of all persua'iJom; Lt may . be descnb ed 'C , " com pcIl d I U m o f t h ewh0 I e Ved Ic doctrm . the . c to be foundlO earher Vedas, Brahma . I)as and U pamsha(i5, . an d being therefore the basIS of all t e later d vclop menL "i, it can be regarded as the focus of alJ Indian , relIgIOn , thls Wc must add that the pseud o-historical Krishna and AIj una , are to be IdentIfie d with the mythical Agni and Indra.

:0

be known except in the mode of the knower. The Indian tradition is one of onus of the Philosophia Pcrennis, and as such, embodies those universal the f truths to \",hich no one people or age can make exclusive claim. The Hindu

would argue, moreover, that it is upon these heights alone that any true agreement of differing cultures can be effected.

is there fore pcrfcctlywilling to have his own scriptures made use ofby others as "extrinsic and probable proofs" of the truth as they also know it. The Hindu

is usually done in accordance with the "historical method"'" by which the reality is more obscured than illuminated, but from a strictly orthodox point with m athemati cal precision, but never employing words of our ownr. or of view, both
as

We shall try nm...' to state the fundamentals positively: not, however, as this

to pri nci ples and their application; e n deavouring to speak

making any affirmation for which authority could not be cited by chapter and

verse; in this way making eVen oUr technique characteristically Indian . \Ve cannot attempt a survey of the religious literature, since this would am ount to a literary history oflndia, where we cannot say where what is sacred
with the Rigve d a ( 1 200 or m ore B.C.), and only end with the most modern mentio n the
e nds and what is secular begins, and even the songs of bayadercs and

showmen are the hymns of the Fideles de l' Amour. Our literary sources begin
Vail)ava, Saiva and Tanuic theological treatises. We must. however, especially

Bhagavad Gltif' as probably the most important single work ever

p. 58. Cf. aha

4See Rene Guenon,

note 24 . ses \\'here the date of a text need not be regarded as of importafl ce for o u r purpo o e here. We have no intention to ignore the value of the "historical method" for s m with w h ic h purpose; but do not think it is necessary in the exposition of doctrines. alone the present volume is concerned. "We shall fetch nothing from our own stoTe"-Philo. De Dpificio MUlIdi, 1. 5,. "No pronouncement of a prophet is ever his own" -Philo, De Specialillu.f Lrglbus,
6",

f the Hindu Doctrines, Londo n. 1945 , Introduction to tJu Study o Walking on Wat.r, Willam N. Brown (Open Court, )928) , p . )7,

I . . it may be said at once that amongst the sacred writin gs of ma nkind th CTt!' S r probably no other which is at once so great, 50 com plete, and 50 shonw.-S is(c . l o V of Indian Life, ed. 1967 Complne Wo rks o 11. Nivedita. The Web f Si,ster Nilledita,

p. 189.

THE MYfH

THE MYfH
(ilihilw) , t he

e is d ispl ayed . In any GL'iC, the DragonFather rcm aio!lo a Pkroma, n() mor dim i n ish e d hy wh a t he e x ha les than he 15 increased by what he jnhalc, He ibc

Like tht R{'wlation ( -{rull) il..,eI r, we must begin with the Myth pc..IlUllinl,nc

t h e Death. on whom our life dcpcnd:-,;14and to the q uesti on "'I<, Lkath one, or nlany?" the answer is made that "Bc is one as he is thtre , but man y he is in h is children here".'" T he DragollSlayer is already our Friend; the Dragon Serpent (s/Jeirama aionoJ coil of clcrniry) . who fo r so long as he was one Abund a n ce rem ai n ed in vin c ible, 11 is diointed and dismembered as a tree is fe l le d and CUt up into logs," For the Dragon , as we shal l presently find, is also
the World-Tree, and th e re is an allusion to the '\\I'ood" of which the \','odd is m ust be p aci fied an d mad e a fri end OLI!) The passion is both an exh austion and a dismemberment. The endl"..

rnuh. of wh ic h all experience is th e temporal rel1ection . The mythical narrative is of limdt'ss and place1css va l id ity , true nowcvcr7 ,1Iltt e"c" 'rywhc.. 're: just as in Christianity, "Ill the beg i n n i ng God created" and "Through him ,Ill t hi ngs were nracle" , regardless of the millcnia t h a t come bclwct.'n the datablt- wo rd s, <lIlHlllnt to saying that the crcation took p l ace at
Christ's "eternal bi rth ". "In tht: ht:ginniIlg " ( a.L,rre) , or rather "at the summit",

does Hot mC;l1l

means "in the first cause":just as in our still told m yt hs , "once upon

invc n ti on " in the se nse these words noW be ar : on the o th er h and , and j ust clifTnclH points of vlew,

"once" alone. hut "o n c e for all".H The Myth is not a "poClic

tim e "

because- ofits un iversali ty, it can be told, and with equal au thor ity, from tnany Onc" {tadekam),'.l witholllditTcrcntiation of being from non-heing, l i g h t from III this {'\,crla.\ ung beginning there is on ly the Su preme Identity of "Th a t

as iffrom a clamp fire smoking, arc exhaled !.hcScriptlIres, the Sacrifice, these
worl ds and all beings;21
empty skin ." In the same way the Progenitor, when he has

go until he is smitten and made to gape an d pan t'" and from thi s Grea, Being,

the Dry and the M oi st, 53.1.6,3,23), all Gods, all beings, scie nces and good, arc co n stri c te d by the Python, who as "Hol df.Sl " (l\amuci) will no, le, them

made by the Carpenter. "The Fire of Life and Water of Li fe (Agni and Soma,

darkness , orse paration of sky fro m earth . Tile All is for th e present iInp()uncicd 1Il the first principle, which may be sp o ken of as the Person , Proge n i to r ,

ch ild ren , is em p tied outor all his po ss ibil ities offini'e manifes ltion, and falls

leavin g him exhausted of his contents and like an emanated his

filiation or you n gcr brotherhood, and alter ego rather than anoLllCT pr i n c ip le , is the D ragon-sl ayer, born to supplant the Father and take possession of thc kingdom, distrih u t i ng it" treasures to his followcrsYI Fo r if there is to be
a

MOlJl1ltlill, Tree, Dragon or Clld lc.'i," Serpent. Related to thi." rni nciplc by

ViI,lU, to be distinguished o n ly, and then not always sharply, from one anoth er

will; he may "choose death for hbchildreIl' sake",!1 or it maybe that the Gods imposc the pa_'-'iion upon h i m, making him th ei r sacrilicial victim.]:! These are not roJltradictory doctrines, bm diff erent ways of telling one and the sam e story; in re al i ty . Slayer and Dragon. sacrificer and vi c t i m arc of on c mind

world, {he pdson mlJst be .sh at te red and it ,> potentialities liberated.

This can be done either in accordance with th e Father's will or agai ns t his

behind the scenes, where there is no incom patibility of c o n traries, but mo rtal

(.' ncmies on the stage, where the everlasting war afthe GOdS l 3 and the Titans Vith one Mnow" he has filled "always".-Ph l larch, Moralia 393B . ""At that time indct'd, all tlllng:<- took shape !iimultallcously."-Philo , Dr Op. V I I , 28, also Ptotinm, Entlf'ads VI .
" RV.x.l29.1-3; TS.V1 .4.8.3; .JR.JlI .359; SB.X.5.3,1, 2 , etc. ]URV.X. 1 24.4, cl<:, 11 RV.x' 1 3 4, "'TIley made Brhapati the Sacrifice, Yama outpoured his
own

arc t he foml of the SacerdotiulIl and Rcgnum In divinis; their subjecL<;. the '"Many Gods, are the ManltS or Gales. The CC!lU\,llcntj in ou rselves are on th e one hand the immancnt median Breath, somtlimc \ spoken of a.'i Vamadeva, some[jmc. a\ Inner Man and Immortal Self, and on the other its extcnsio n s and sub jects th e Breaths, or powers of seeing, hei\ling, thinking, etc. , of wh ic h our elemental '"soul" is the uuanimous compo.\ite,just a5 1he body is a com posite of fu n c ti onally distinguishable pa ns thar act in Ul1ls01l. The fanlt5 and the B re ath s may act in obedience to t he ir gove ming prin ci ple, or may rebel agaimt it. All this bo, of course, an over simp lified stal('ment. Cr. no te 166 (flirlduirn). See Nicholson Studies . . . p. 153 I\'ilfasu'l Rahman-"Uni\'eral breath I)f the
d ual Mitr .1vanltl3u or Agncndrau

according to their f unctioning and :-ophercs of operacion. The

miX/M pm(JM of the

Merciful",

body."

c1c:t r

MGod" orm the plul.1 to lIH'an MGod.... or SO)lletimes "Angchi";justa!'lwe can !my "Spirit" me.ming tht' l lo!y Gho\l . lOd ah.o ..peak of spi]it5, and amonp;!il others even of "('vil spiriL..M. 'lllt' God\ of Prodll .11'(> the "An gels" o[ Dion)'iw., Vlhat nMy he called til t' "higll Gods" arc tht Pc!"" \ ol\softhe Trinity, Aglli, Indra, Vayu . Adity", or Br,l}lma, Si\';,l,

I1RV.X.90.6-8, 'They mad, tlw f1r..t-horn Pt: rso n their sacrificial vinim." I'Thc word drva lik,' its cogna te'\. lhrm, dl,. can be used in the singular to lIH'an

jarljabh),flmiill(Jt/ flJ., 17I1.Wlll fl "imJmlll;atijm:, cL 86.1,6.3. 13-15; SB.V.55.l "oroldc\,erything

"making a friend of " the VanII.l)';;l agni or Soma who might otherwise destroy the S;Icrificer, .scc AB,IIL4; 1'5.V. 1.5.6 and TS.vI.l . l l . "rA.V.1 .3; MUJ1.6(a). I!1RV.1. 32, cle. "'RV'x' 3 1 . 7; X.81A; TII.I1.8.9,G; c L RV.x.89.7; T S,V1,4,7,g,

170 n

" AB.1I1.4; TS.V.1.5,6; T5.\'1. I . l \ .

"S8.X.5.2. 1 3 "SB.X.5 .2. 16,

Also E,mnui" /V,9,2; 8G.XlII_27,30,16; XVUI,20,

lIRV.I.54 . 5 StmoSflll(u;fl .
Was

.{Wll(Ul'(t; RV.v.29A

l\elt.

wa.lan.llJInmi{J d(jrwtliJmhanTS.1I.G.2 .4
> >

t'tcitll lllnllju mlJ.ivn. ,Hlam; M. U.VI.32, ele. "For all thin gs arhc out of only one being". (Also Bchmen, Slg. Iirr.)(IV.74.) A, in RV,X,90,

(l1J( tl l, t"xpmllion dying h('('. l I h . BU.!V.!). 1 1 /rio/mM bhu.tasya . "S8,1 .6.3.15'\ 6,

Within Vrtra"; /\ll.IIl..:W ;v( lJtlJlh,il {tJ,rlra.rya). J LJB.I.47.3 All is Prd japati'.s:

I I INI)[JISM AND BUDDHISM

THE MYlll

dO\\11 unslrllngtt overcome by Death,'H though the

he survives this woe.2 Now positions are reversed , for (ht' Fiel)' Drag o n will not and cannot be dt'stJ"o"t'd, hut \\'oulct ent('r ilHo tht' H e ro , to whose q U l'st io n "\,Vhal, wouldst thou conSlIllW 11lt'?" it rc pl i l-!i "Rather to kindle (waken, qu i c ke n ) thee, that thou mayst eat".I' The Prog e n i tor, whose emanated children arc as i t were slee pin g and in.mimate Sto l1t'S , reflects "Le t me enter into them, to awaken them "; bm so long as he i s o ne, he cannot, and th e refore divides hiIl1sclfinto the powers ofperception and con.mm p tion. extending th e se powers 1'r0111 h!s h i dden lair in the "cave" of the heart t h rou gh the doors of the sens es to th eI r objcct, th in ki n g I<Lct me eat of these ob jects" ; in th i s way "our" bodies arc set up in POs.'Hs."ion of ronsciowmess, h e bei n g their mover.:!!{ And since th : Several Gods Or Measu res of Fire into which he is thus divided are "'our energies and powers, it is the sam e to say that "the Gods e n te red into man, they made the mortal their house".2'l H is p assible nature has noW become
tJ"rs unstrung", t)'asraruala, i.e, is dioin[cd or dispersed

"ours": and from this predicame nt he cannot ca'\i1y recoll ect or r(: bulid , h himself, w ol e and complete.'o stone from t h e wlJich noW rhe arc \park cm be struc Wc k' th e mO UO ta ' ben eath will ch God lies h Urled, the caly repulian km that conce als . h' Itn d 1I) ' -n lI1g. 'fll a t IliS k' ' Iai . r IS . now a cave or m( 11' the fuel for IliS house pft' ',Up p<) . ' . & th e mo unta m or walls hy whICh he IS enclosed , vt7/mrgm ;:md vrrbaul.. l Iou . or in ' . I pnson all(1 (' .onstncl and "I" arc tIle psyc IlOpIlYSlca Who m the F" l been swallowed up t h a t "Wt''' migh t hI:' a t all.' For as We are rcpea tst has tedl Y told ou rs IlIS SWa 11ows tllrn VICUIll, ' the Drag on-slaye r (,1cv up and d ri n "-' " \ IlJrn , . d ' . ry '1kes possession of the fi and by th is Euchansuc meal he t... ' rst-born Dra on \ and becomes what a n d powers he was. Wc can treasure dIe in /' . . act, ' Il Our compo s' l te IS ' C;I11ccI t Ile "mOuntain ' rcmarkab Ic tc"Un w IlIC ofr' V(J -d" an d
< < _ "

"- Up. I1. 1 . n;'lll . . " 3. ' ". Cf' beings with the eyes 0f ctcrlllty Climhing cf..1UB.I.3:tl

Sig. Rrr. 111.3 8-"The Being of all beings, Who thus manifesu himself in pa .cular rtl

jOimiess, he is articulated. having been one, hi divided and overc ome, l ike Makha

so

chac having been

(TA.V. l . :i) and Vrtra (originally joimle:'t'l, RV.IV.19.3, hut dissevered. 1.32.7). o Pra japau's fall and recomtitution see 5B.1.6.3.35 and passim; PB.IV. I 0 . l and passllll, TB.I.2.6.1; AA Il L2 .6, etc, I t is wi th reference to his "d ivision " that in KU.V.4 te immanent deity (rkMn) is spoken of as "unstnlOg" (visraruamana); for he is o ne m

himself, but many as he is in his children (SB.X.5.2.16) from out of whom he cannot ea. <;ily come toge ther again

he could nOl emerge agai n. 5B.I.6.3.36 Sa vi.mst{li?ll;anlablti?lll(l iaiaJt samJui/um

his relaxed joints.

_ S.V.5.2.1, pf(ljiilJati1 IJrjii \r{hlfl prn)arm pra1JlJat, rabh)'rim punar sam iJhavitum ,Itl ttfTect,lO n entere crcalllres d into the ntiSaJcnot; Pr aja pat i after crtatlIlg

DhAlIL52-Mogall;"ma's plunge into erth and

(ccmrc: !iurnmic slope).

ccn MajJhc na. Mc. Sine

ru.

"SB.x.4.4 , 1 .

Ch. CLXXX.

" PB.VI.S.1. (Pra jiipali); cf, SB.IV,4,3.4 (Vrtra).

(se note 29).

See

al,o M ahaMara/a, Van ap.rva

Mil. 263 maha.(!llnid(Jhr ; 346 dlwmma-Mdi ilnd dhm,unasaga ra. MalhnawilU, 4662_ "Existence in non-cxistcnce is itself a 1I1lf\'el."

BU.IV.3.32

sa/iin l'ho dr!iidTJllito bhmmti,

He W35 unable (0 rilewirh

m; from them

",\(J

brahmaltJlcal) KB.1.7.

eye" is usually spoken of as the Sun or solar Indra, it can qually well

tffTS.lL4.12.6; 5B.I.6.3.17. It is note worthy that whereas the "Person in the ri ( be said t h at It 1S . Susna (the Sorcher) that is smit ten and when he f alls ent er s into the eye as i ts pupIl, or hat Vrtra becomes the right eye (SB.1II.l.3.1 1 , 18). That is one of the many ways ill which "Indra is now what Vnr" wa. <; ". t7SB.V111.5.3.1 Indra and Pra japati who enters into him with the esse nce of food. "MU ,U.6; cf. SB.III.9.1.2;JUB.1.46.1 ,2. . "Mover" , as in Paradiso, 1.1 16. Qut!Jti nei (OT mortali e pernwtor (This is the mOtive e force in mortal hearte). Cf. Laws. 89BG Se Note 47. :l'JAV. X1.B.l8; cf. SB.ll.3.2,3:JUB.l.14.2, mayy tlas .wnlll ckvatah. Cf. KB.V1 .4 itl" . pu:rut droatiiIJ; TS.VI.l.45 prii'f)ii tllli droii . . . Iq" paroamjuhoti ("The Gods m . man . . . they are the Breath!> . , . in them he sacrifice s metaphysically"). Sce Patanph . Yoga Sutrai JV-23. "111c mind, though asuming various fonns by reamn of inmnntr able mental deposits, eXiR'i for the pUll>0sc of the soul's emancipauon a n d OP(r.t[Cs ation therewith". Food is quit hterall)' conrum,d by the (ilgc t ive Fire: o. in cooper when Cl ritual meal is announced onc should say "Klnd\e the FiTe" ClnmintWtlgnnrl [ V.VI.69,10, etc.) by way 0 JUB.U.15 .\-3) or Come to the fea.sl" (agru' a vitayt!, R

VI. 1 622- "opposite!> and likt, ill llwnheras the leavcs ofthe orchard,areasa fie-ck of foam on the Sea that hat h IlO IIkc or oppositett, VIA052-"Hc t h at linels i Iml: lik( ;Ttornnt he ill absorbed in Iht' Ocean." 11. 1 60 1-"\Vhac is <I Su{j', po..c$...ion? FOOlprint." ""GUll liq.t wrhorgen und bedeckt I Ill inwcncilgt'll tntllth ".-Scn ntJn 22 in W. LehmaI1Tl /ohtl1111f',\ Taulrr 'vdlgtrn,Jcna, 1917. Shnll1<lll . ')hi/(Hophj'(l1 1I ),11I11.\, p. l R me this word verborKl'1\ in t ilt.' \('tl'l'
condemns the corpse body to dt'illh. " LA. I. 1 Oa--"Now. when We arc livi ng, footprints art' naught in the Ocean."

V.B02-''Thesc foo tprin ts (extend) a' (ar as Ihe s h ore

of Iht' On';\n; tlwn

the

Kath.Up.I1.20

tl:

':Philo, LA.Il'. 74-"\VhcJ1

mhito g'ulul),iim :;: b lodged in lhl' h,'art

<

Iht' In ind (nou'i) h canwd uITlht' prizt"s ofvin u(:', it

>

of

:'I

the body as in a scpukhn; when'as, shou ld Wt' di(', du,' \oLll li\'t, fonh with its prope l' life, rdt';lcd from tlw hod)" the h'1fl('ful cor}>5C to It W;,l\ held. " PI/(1("(111I.\, !'WC-"('ntolllllt'd I n t h e hody",

Iht" oul ls dead and ha!'! been CIllUlIlbt'd In which

own

bene-didte-.

KU.IV.6

Colossians 1.15 primogtnitw cna.tunu ( = the firstbom of every creature).

Y ala purua

(d. AicUp.U, 1 3).

m tapaso , . ' aiayata. guhtlm p-ravilya . . . bhutebhlr vyapa-fynta.

ETUU:(Jt{l, IV.1C{-"pri\ol l or I Olllh of I he body, cavcrn or G!\'{' of KO\moM 'nle "c,\\,c " M\lHh or 1fll'J)1.\1 M\ivi\y .\.., t'l tlw Yoga Surra IV.23, p Cml)'lu \, 4(1). C' ..- "thc body i\ I t tOlnh of lill' soul",

RV.-t\"'I,hii tIJ,\ir/ou ( aglll ),

111

In \ 1\

E('khan.

Hen ry Cotl!llable-"UUI)'('d a Illdd " 1 l 1I1,llIn er".

III IOl', unto Ill)' sowie appeare," E Bit" MO "ci)t(" p. 1 3. PfeifTcl', p. 593--"hat gewoner in uns verborgenlichc". Tr;ul\, "h,u dwelt

10

HINDUISM AND IlUDDHISM

\'t'c \rc told

that (hl' Com prl'hensor of this doctrine shall in like manner sw.\llow u p his own evil. hateful ad\'ersry :I This " adversuy" is, of course, . none but our self. The mcaning- o f th e text will only b e fully grasp ed if we
exp lai n that the word for "mOlllllail1 ", swallow". Thus his
tunl

TIlE MYTH

11

giri, d er ive s from the rOOl gir, to He in wh om we were imprisoned is n ow ollr prisoner; as our Inner :-'I01n he is submerged in and hidden by our O u ter Man. lL is now
to become the DragolH ilaycr; < lnd

t h e vi c tim is also its b i rth. i n accordan ce with the infallible rule th e de at h of th at every birth must h ave he en preccded hya death: in the fi rstC3SC! the deity i is mu l ti ply bo rn n living be in gs, il l the second they arc reborn in him . BU l ven Gods. in which all m en p art i c ipate by the vCly fac t of their separalt: ject, good and their manncr of kno\\'ing in t(..: rm of SUb ject and ob stence exi

are

Titan, now f ought within you, w h ere We arc "at war wi th ou rse lves " , :15 his

in this war of the God with the

the

" of c ru el ty and even treac hcry;17 and this. is the origi nal sin ac t

so

it i, recogniz ed that th e satrificc and dismemherment of the victi m

(kilbisa) of

vlclOn' and resurrection \\;ll be also ours , if we have known \\'ho we are. It is now fr h im to drink us d l, for liS to be his wine. this is reflected in t h e human rimal, where the ag reem e n t of the victim, who
mu st have been or igi n ally human, is always f o rmal ly secured.36 In

We ha\'c realised that ulC'dcity i s i mpliritl}'or explicitlya willing victim; and

either case

surrender of himself and lht' huilcling up again of the dismembered deity, whole and complete, the mulLi plc selves arc reduced to theirsinglc principle

or rather "ignoran ce" (llvirl),ii. ) , disl)1cmbc rs him d aily; and for this Jgnrn'ontia divisiva an ex p ia tion is provided fo\' in t he Sacrifice, where by the sacrifi cer' s

rom adirect participation and evil, because of which tllc OUler :'vlllll is excluded f in "wh at the Brahm3I.1aS und erstand bySoma".Yl Thcformof our knowledge",

beings , ' , ".

Ka/h. Up.

1II.12-"ra sawqu bhuUpl gi;4ho/mn. . . . ... 188, 190- "man as troglodyte ".

"This Atman. hidden in all

an i n cessant multip lication of th e inexhaustible One and u n ific ation afthe

<ily if th ey arc " lost"). There is thus (consciously if they are "saved ", uncOll."Icioll indefinitely M any. Such arc the heglnIlings and endings of worlds and of

Philo, Migr.

(Dr dec.

II Cor. 4.7-But wc have this trea!\ure in e arthen vessels, . . . Mailn' Up. V1.28- buried treasure ". 'M.l1.1.8. St. Bona\,entura likewise e quated mons ( noon lain ) wi th mens (mind)
tt

individual beings: expanded f rom a point witho lIt position or di mensions a now without date or duration, acco m plish i ng the ir desti ny, and when and
their time is

moun tain which is t he highest mind).

pnucejJtis /I, ascetlllere in montem,

lip

re tu rn i ng "home" to the Sea in wh i c h their life ori ginated. t'!

idest, in, eminentiam mentis) (ascend the

when ca\'e"and "'home"were one and the same thing, underlies the familiar symbols of mining and seek ing for buried treasu re (CU.VIII.3.2: '1U.Vl.28, etc. ) . The powers of the soul ( IJII1Jtam', a word that also mean:; gnomes") at work in the mind-mollntain, bitten iUlO the fruit of good and evil an d fallen into her death-like sleep, in whic h she

This tIlldilional image which, like s o ma ny others, must be dated back la th e time

are the types of the dwarf miners who protect the "Snow-\Vhite" Psyche whell she has
remains until the divine Eros awakens her nd the fmit falls from h er l ips. Whoever has understood t he scriptural Mythos will recognize its paraphrases in the unive rsal fairy-tales tha t were not created by, but ha\'C" bee n inhe rit ed and fa ithful ly transmitted

bythe "folk" towhom theywereoriginally comIllunicatcd. lt is one of the prime e rrors of historical and rational analysic:, to SUppOSe that the "lrmh" and "original fo rm " of
that the truth inheres:

a legend can be separ atcdfrom its miracul(lllS elements. I t is in the m arve l s themselves

"There is no other origin of philosophy than wonder", Plato, TIlf'alelus 1556, An d in the same way Aristotle who adds "therefore even a lover of f;lble s is in a way a love r of widom , for fables are compounded of wonder" (MetaIJ!Jysin 9H2B). Myth mbodles the nearest approach to absolmc t rUlh tha t can be s tat ed in words,
"'Smnyutta Nlk(l),a.

There IS a remarkable echo of the hrahrna-giri doc trine in Majjhima Nikaya, 111 .68 where the higiri pabbara in which the isf are living is so cal h:d in that it L 'i i gHa t\, swa1Jow.. up the Rsis". Bl!.tII.2.13, ,a nkambhiiv'a-"grahiitigraha lakia7Jmll mrty'llnti gnutmn". "'BG.V}.6; cL S.I.57 Dh .66; A.1.149; Rll mi, Mathn(lWI L267f.. ctc. :'\IN.T. Romans, VlI.24--V.,rho shall deli\'cr me from the body of this death? " VI.6-... . . lhatthc body of sin might be dCtroyed . , . ... \-'111.10-", . . the hody is dead
==

11l.86--caten

up by my body, e tc . ".

because of 3in . . . ",

t is the might)' O( ea l l , whi ther t('nds/Whatever it crciltes and nature (Dante, ParatiislJ III.R5.R6), r. I:'o,r ..gOinghOlIl(.. .. (toAglll) RV.1.6G.5; V,2.0; (to Brahrna) MU.VI,22: (lothe" Sea") P "n., Up. VI.!;, (to the Gale) RV.X.HU; AV.X.B.lfi (hkc Ka'ha Up.lV.9; BU.b.23). ) <surUJJ. J . 1 ,2,:, 1 2; CUJV.B. J -:\; (to lIlt, II1111111U11I ixmu.III, mali's la .. 't end) S.lV.l58; . h . 1I. 1 ()7'(i, 1\ '1' I1 . -" 1" .1 ) ; (to our f';ll er) Lu ke 23.'16, "s. Eckhil l "t I , 17( "th e sca of h i-. own unLlth nl llable nalllf<.'''. MotllnauA IV.2062l Itn(. i th (' Sea and 'pel'r ., Iikt !he r vcr"; Rumi Ode" XII, X V: BV.lV.3.S2; h i l K1 11 \, lil, I - \1 ' ' lU, fa.tI\Ol llIess! etc. : . I. I (l" 11111" l . 'ilkii)'fl U W JUdl .. t 1.4HH--Iludd ha like 1II(J /u I 4t). ' Ll kt" river to sca cVCI"y pilgrim 1('lHh (ow'lf(I. IJIblxinQ.
tn akes "

Prasna Up.\'l.5; A. lV. 1 98, Vdilna 55. For fu rther par-,dleh sce Nov. 191 1 , p.lS, note 2. For the return of thc "Ri\'ers" to tht: "Sea" in which their indi\'iduallty is lIlrgl'd, s o that one speaks only of the Sea": CU.VI.lO. l . Pr..t';na LlpVI.5, Mum!. Up.IIL2.8, A.IV.19 8. Ud;lna 55, and simi1 .1rly Lao Tw, Tao T .hing XXXII, Rllllll, Mfltllllawi r {, V1. 4052, -fcis ter Eckl1.1rt (in Pfeifi'ct's cdn., p. .314), . . . all to the t'il('(( t h;lt -1\, the d rop bec omes the ocean, so tht" oul i ddfi('ci, losing hern;une and work, btu nol her cs e ce ( s n " Angelus Silcsius, C}wnlhi1ll'.It!u' \\(lIldmmanll ll.l5): "And III his will is our
:l'JMund.Up.III.2.8; Review o jReligioll,

"T8.1I .5.1.2. 11.5.3.6; cf.VIA.B.I ; 5B.1.2.3.3. III.9.4.17; 5B.XII.6.1.39.40; PB.XII.6.B .9; K. "IS.U p.I1I. l . e te . ; cf. B100mfidd in JAOS.XV. lfil. '"TS.II. 4.12.1; AB.\1.2B. ete.

tl'anquili ty:/I

m}tUlI" Nihilya rv.1 79-80-gIiding downstre3m {o

nihbiino.

THEOLOGY AND AUTOLOGY '"

The Sacriti ce ()'nj7ia) undertaken here below is a ritual mimesis of what Wac; done by the Gods in the beginning, a nd in the same way both a sin and an expiation. We sh all not understand 111 C Myth until we have made tilt: Sacrific e, nor thl.' Sacrifice u n ti l we have understood the Myth. B u t before We can try to understand the op eration it mUst be asked. what is God? and what
are we?

existence.r2 The

undivid ed in divided things.'J He does O o t comc from anywhere,'" nor does he become anyone." but only lends himself to all possible mod.liues of
japati, Siva, Brahma. question of his names, such as Agni, Indra, Pra perso n al or essential, is dealt wilh in the usual way: ..they call

bhutiiniim) , b u t unintcrnlptcdly ( auanlaram), and therefore a total prence,

THEOLOGYANlJ AUTOLOGY

IS

etc,,!" whether

kno... ledge; in other words, all definition of the ultimate Self must be by remotion. Atmau ( roo t an, to breathe , er. fllmo.s, autmiis pri mari lySpirittl$, the lum in ou and

or as some maintain, without duality but no t \\ithoul relations (visj!iidvaita) . He is only to be apprehended as Esse n ce (a.stt) .1 but this Essence subsists in a two- f old nature ( dvaitibhiiva) ;i'l as b eing and as becoming:4' Thus, what is called the Entirety (k rtsna m, purr;.am, bhuman) is both explicit and in explicit ( nirnktiinirukta) , sonant and silent (Sabdiiabda) , cha ract erized and uncharacterized (sagu1.la. nir gua), tempo ral and e te rnal (kiil<lkiila) , partite and impartitc (.akaliiJuila) , in a li ke ness and not in any likeness ( murtamurta). sh ew n and unshewn (vyahtav),akta) . mortal and immortal ( martyamartya) . perishable and the Imperishable (araSciikJanl), and so forth. Whoever knows h i m in his proximate (apara) aspect , im rn.anent. knows him al so in his ultimate (para) aspe ct. transcendent;H the Person seated in our heart, eating and drinkjng, is also the Person in the Sun. ,. This Sun of me n . and Light of ligh [541; "wh o m all men see but few know wi L h lhe mind",47 is the Universal Self (a/man) DEal! things mobile or immobile...4!1 H t" i <:. .b..o!. i;. Ar;oVJe a. W OU'l.li\3e '"kh.,.... &!."t'.W.'{ .t..t.l
God is an essence without duality (advaita) , standing of oneself" { heautoll q;i:lthnr. iilmavid)'ii, (zlrnajiliina) , not l ike other sciences, but the science of itself and of ot he r sciences. See Plato-- Channides 165D, 166E; &public 430, 4.32 and Sophroniscus in Plato's notes.
41KU,V1.l3; MV,IVA, etc.
duali ty" being that of two n.atures coincident without composition. 'Being and becoming, taUva and
nemm.\

John 111.8). Being

the ultimate in all things, tlt";an acquires the secondary ...ense of "Self", regardless of our level of reference, which may hI:! either somatic, psychic or spirituaL So that over against our reaJ Self, the Spirit in oUrseh'cs and aJl lhing things there is the "self ", of which we speak when we say "I" or "you" , meaning thi or that man. so-and-s o. I n o the r words there arc tWo in \L, Outer and Inner Man, pHcho php,ic ul personality and very Person. It is therefore according to the context tl;at ....e .. by the capital, as is commonly done. But it must be clearly understood that the disti nct ion is really of "spirit" (pneuma) from "soul" (psyche) in the Pauline semc. ft must tra nsl a te. Because the word alman, used reflexively, can only be rendered by "self "we h ave adhered to the sense of"sdf " throughout, distinguishing Sclffrom self

pncuma(ic principle, and as such often equated .....ith the Gale ( Vayu, V ala, root va, to blow) of the Spirit which " bl owe t h a it lis teth" h'aJho vaSam caroJi, RV.X.168.4 as in

is true that the ult ima te Self, "this selfs immortal Self" (MU.JII.2, V1.2) , is identical with Phil o 's "soul of the soul" (psyche, psyches). and with Plaro's "irnmort<Il souJ" tU distinguished from the "mortal soul" and that some translators rcnder all1ll1T1 b\'

4OAutology (Chambers, 1983-edn.) has been defined as "knowledge or

unde r

JUSt like all t he re ...t of our environment, "not my Self ",

dj5rincrion of anima from animuS', sc e also P hilo, Hrrr..s 55) it beco mes dangerously misJ t".adJng, In wewo four C1JJTe])J nOljons of"psychology" to speak of the ultimate and universal Self as a "soul ". It would be, forex<l.mple, a verygreal mist,lke to suppose that when a " ph ilosophe r" sllch asJung speaksofman in search ofasoul" tbis hasanythmg wha teve r to do ....;th lhe Indian search for the Self, or for that matter with th e in junction. GniithiseQuton, know thySelf. The em piricist's scIf isfordlC1l!el.Olphysl(JaJl,
womb, the sac rificial fire ( SB.1.8,3.6; and whOev!!f has not thus been "born again"

Thierry. Epistle

... in which '".mul" means "spirit" {cL William "soul"; bue although there arc comext
to the Brethren of MOIlI Dint,

Ch. XV, 011 thi vcr}' problem of {he

de

42SB.X.1.4.1; BV.I1.3: '\lU.VI. 15, VII. 1 1 , No trace of Monophysitism or of Patripa sianim can be discovere d in the so-<alIed "monism" ofthe Vedanta; the " non

"BU.lV.4.24; TaiLUp.IlI.10.4: MV.Vl.l.2.

MU.Vl.22; Prai,Up.V.2,

(:= personifica tion of divine Wldth).

bhava correspond to Gk. ousia (= being) and

is eff ectively posse ssed of but the one a nd mortal self that is bom of the flch and must end with it ( j B . L 1 7 , cf. J ohn III.G, GaI.VL8, I Cod5.50, etc.). Hence in the
undamental questiom "Who art thou ) ", aut! "By Upanishads and Buddhism {he f

Of the two "selves" refe lTcd to, the first is born afll'oman, the second ofthe divine

which se lf ? " is immonality attainab le , the anSWer being, onty by tll.l! St.'lf that immorta l ; the I ndi m texts never fall into the crror of supposing that <l. oul that has Chri.slian Gospels anywhere PUt fOl....ard SIKh ,\11 imposs ible doctrine as this.
J8G.XlII. 15,16; XV. 1 6 , 17; XVIll.20. (,

Autology (atmaj'ii ana) is the funciarne QL"l1 th e me of scripture ; but it !llH.1 be unde rstood that this Self-knowledg e differs from any em pirical knowle dge of ;11). elf is always the .subject and can ncvcr become the o b ject 01 ob J cct in as much ;u our S

F:\'erY one secs thc body of the sun, but no one translation of the Dialoglle of Pla w , Vot. I. p. 640. "RV.!.115.1 . Vl!.lOI.6; AV.X.8.44; AA1I1.2.4.

cvcn1hlng go round."

RV.l. 1 1 3, 1 . I.l46.4: llV.IV.l.6: Mund.Up.ll.2.9: BG.Xlll.17;john 1.4. t?'\V. x.S.14; Plato, Lc.w.\ 898 D. '"Since soul is what , so i t seems to us, I11ak("

h ad a beginning i n timc call also be iml1lOrlal; nor ind('ed,

IKV.lI. i8ItBU.IV.4.5. "'1.er. John 111.18.

sees

t his soul,-Se e Jewe t

ullama); IllInljflJtutJlI)'{J,

can

we .see that the

'

king, Br.t.hma: lordship.

e have bee n drawn-Agni: sOlcerdotlUlIl, !l Idr,l: r gnulI1 ,

"'See ABJV.22 on NilJJles. The

following (orrespOndellcesofnames and fu

Pr.;IP;llj: progen itor,

nctions
Siva:

IUNOlllSM tlNll lll '1lIlI IlSM

the f orms itna int'd lw his

him m.my who is !'laU)' onc";-\t

V,\\'u ;md Adit\,\ or BrahllM Rudril .I!ld Vi. d llw-"are t h e highest cmhodi_ Il\t.: n t o r tlll' M;prt'me i mm o ml . bodikss Brahma-their hecoming is .t b inh , from ont ' .m other , IMrtitionsofa COlUilH>ll S el fdet1 n cd by its cl Hfc rcn t o pcra wht' l't' tllt' whok ('!lds. att ain s the simpl icilY of th e Person. ",,';' Of all the name s

, . "{'vcn ",s he seems, so he bcco m es ;r.r "he takes i t a ri an names-Agll i , \\'( )rhipplrs"..'Ih The: lr in ,

tions-TIlt'se c m,bod iull'I l L'i an,' to hl' co n tem p lated , celebrated, and at last recanted. For by means of them one riSl'S higher arid higher in tIle worlds; h ut
and forms of God the monogrammatic syl lable Aum, the to tal i ty of all sounds

fills the in terven in g Spac e (J.ntaria, Midgard) wi th ligh t'! and j n the rne Way mi cro coslll ica l ly, being kindled in i)lC !.pace of the heart, he i. it" ]ighL He shines i n his Mother's womh,td in fulr osesion of all hj powers.6 He p no soner horn than he travcrs(:" lilt: Sevcri_Worlds,M a.')ce nd_ to pa. through the Sun-door, as t he smoke from an a ltar orentral hearth, whether without
IS

THEOLOGY AND AUTOWGY

15

and the music ofthc sp heres chanted by the reso na n t Sun , is the b es l . The v'al idi t), of suc h ;111 audible symbol is exac tly the same as that ora plastic i c on ,
botll alike set'\'illg as suppor\J\ ofcol1\cmplation
\pp r('hen ded

cOnstructed

r Wi th in you, ascends to pass oUl lhrough rne eye of the dOIne,'1i Thi.<. Ago) at o n ce the messenger of God, the gueit iu all men ' s homes, whe ther l11.issal priest who conveys th e savour of the Burn t-offeri ng hence to the world

or

is n eeded because that which is imperceptible to eye or

but these form s are on ly means by which to approach the fo rm l ess and m ust
be discarded before we can become it. other grammati cally masculine, fem in i n e or neuter names, "That"

infers (iivl'f)'ati, iiviiha)'ati)

must be n aturally adequate , and cannot be chosen at random; one locates or the unseen ill th e seen, the

ob jec ti\'ely

as it is

in i L '\cl f,

ear cannot he but only in a likeness. The symhol unheard in the heard;

(dhiyiila1llba) such a support

of th e

beyond the vault of the Sky, through which there is no other way but this "\\'ay

bo d il y, th e lu m i no us p ne umatic p ri n c iple of life, and the

footprinL 'i, as the word f o r "Way'' it<;cll' reminds us, b:t_all who would reach the "farther shore" of the luminous spati al river of lifetl1 that dhides this

Gods" ( de11U)"iina) . This Way m ust

be f ollowed by the Forenmner's

u nd e rly ing all the de ta i l ed sym b olisms of the Voyage and the Pilgrimage, Bridge and Active Door.

te rrestri al from yonder celestial strand; these conceptions of the Way

principles, without composition or d u al i ty. "s These co rtio in t pri n c i pl es or

selves, indistinguishable ab in U'<l, b u t respec tively seI f -suHici cu t and ins u fiic icl1 t
ab extra, become contrari es o nl), wh en we envisage the act of sclf -manifeswtion ject a n d d uality to speak in terms of sub

tack kam) of which our powers are meas ures ( tanmiitrii) is a syzygy of conjo i n t

\\'h eth e r We call him Person, o r Sacerdotium, o r Magn a Mater, o r by any

Considered apart, the "h alves" of the origi nally undivided Unity can be distinguished in various ways according to our poim of view; politicalJy, for

(tat,

from

These p airs are disparate; an d even when the subordinate has bee n separated the superior with a " iew [0 productive coop eration , it still remains in
<ilFor vac as logos and the :reation of the triple science, see SB.VU . 1 ,9-10.
manas =
1!f1U! .mind,

examp le , as Sacerdoti um and Re gn u m (brahma-kJatrau), and psychologically as Se lf and No t-self. Inner Man and Outer Individuality, Male and Female.

ob ject and to recognize the m.any separa te and indivi.dual existences that the All ( SanJam to pan) or U n iverse (viSva m) p rCSe nL'i to our physical organs of p ercep tio n . And incc this fi ni te
=

(svaprakiiSatuam)

i mpl ied when we descen d from the

silent level

of the Non

prodl/! -soul,

wisdom.
On

totali ty can be only logically and not real ly divided fro m its infinite source , '-That O ne " can also be called an "In tegral Multiplicity''l and "Omnif onn Li ght" .hi! Creation is exemplary. The con j o in t pri nc i pl es , for exatn pl e , Heaven operation. productive of a third in the image of the

and Earth , or Sun and Moon, man and woman, were ori g in ally on e . Ontologically, their conj u gatio n ( mithunam, sambhava, eko bhava) is a vital

second. Just as the conjugation ofM in d (manas) with the Voice ( vac) gives birth to a co nc ept (sa1ikalpa) so the conjugation of Heaven and Ear th kindles the Bambin o, the Fire , whose hirth divides h is parents from o n e an o the r and
"RV.Jl1l4.5, cf . III.5.4. V.3.1. "RV.V.44.6.
7Nirukta V1IA;

first and

nature of the

6RV.V1.16.35, cf. 111.29.14. r'RV.III. 3. 10, RV.X. 1 1 5.1, etc, r'iRv. x.8.4, RV.X. 1 22.3. 1;5For the Sun---door, the "asce nt after Agni" (TS.V.6.8; ABJV,20-2). etc., see my "Svayamatf1:1l).5.;Janua Coeti .. in Zalmoxis n. 1939 (1941). rom mrg "" icll llrflo, t o track, hunt. The doctrine o[thc vestigia pedis 66Miirga. "\Vay"', f is common to Greek, Christian, Hindu and Buddhist teaching and is the basis of the iconogr aphy of the "footprinb". The f OfenUlncn; can bl;" tr aced by the ir spoor as far as the Sundoor.jaflua Coeli, the End of the Road; be yond that thcy cannol be tzMked,
/BuddliiJtn (Rhys Da\'id), 1':0. 680, and follows thc foot p ri nts". er. TIll" OnK"1fl1 Gm/lfl o and MU: Mata{lllo. to search i.\fle r other thlllg, to explore c;lrefuUy, er. also Psalm 123.6 "My soul hll.'i hl"tn ddivt rcd ,IS ;! span ow out of tllt" Ml'\l'(" of rhl.: fowlen." The symb oli sm oftrilCking like that of crror" (sin) a, a failure to 11It tht mar ", is Ont' of those that have come dowl) to u!\ from the o ldest hUllll1lg cultures. Sl'('" Hott' 13.
provision? Footprints. He sta lks the game likt, a hUIltct-: he secs the mmk deer'!', truck 253A-"tracking on their own accord"; also M(J.t'I7U/.wiIl.1 60,1-\Vh<l1 i the Sufi's Phaedms 26GB_MI follow this on e in his tracks as ifhc were a god;" and PhatdruJ

On aisthisis and / JSluhe, doxl! see Philo LA.lII .221.

norts ( m i nd )

ais(/tisi.'i -sense pcrcepcion; sll'iJUllpa = alilhl!ia -tru th, doxt-opinion, sophia

and

logos -word, dianoia -thought; vac ::: Jurminna-interpretation,

echo (sound) see Philo, De migr. 83

XXI!. '#RV.I1I.S4.8 viivam km. f"-VS.V.S5 jyotirasi viSvmiJ/Jom.

Brhad Drou lii 1.704: tU.IV.6. .8 11lere j.s no distin ct ion of elder or younger bClwcn Onc and anot h cr : ' a nai. (Trans . Dom Con nolly, Camb. Univ. Press, 1909.) .H om ily LZfllrgiwlHomilies ojN

!oli /Vlilayatnalni

(sec Cl!)lon Notiunal Review, no. 3, 1907, p. 280) .

10';1..0 gran marrl 's,f(rl', ' th rough the vast sea ofbeing', ParrJdiJol.113 . nlC Mcrossingft is the dia/wlt'ul, o f Plulo's !:. p;'wmi:-. 986E.

16
llU,' latter, mOfr

HINDUISM ,\NO BUDDHISM

THEOLQGY ANDAUTOLOGY

S.\u:rdntinm .md Lht" Rgnulll "-a con d i tio ll found ill the

l'milll"lltly, The Sacel'dotium, for ex amp le , is " bot h the or I nrl r:ig ni-but the Rl'gn u m as
i\

the priest-king Mitr\\'anlll"\t, para

S.lltTtiolium,

f u nnion b nothing bm iL"idf,

\1itra so : : {'un n ion al distinction in terms of sex defines the h ierarchy. God h I ms e lf IS male to all. but j us t as Mitra is male to Vanu)<l and Varuna in turn male to Earth, so tht' Pri<:"st is mal e to the King, and th e King m al e to his realm. I I I t he samt'way till' man is su b j{n to t hejo in t government of Church and State; but in. authority with respect to his ''''ife, who in [urn administers his es tate. Throughout th e series it is the noetic principle that s an c t i o n s or e n jo in s what the aesthe ti c performs or avoids; disorder arising only when the la tte r is distra cted from her r ati onal allegiance by h er own ruling passions and identifies th i s sUb jection ,.,.'ith "libeny".!>li The most pertinent application of all this is t o the in dividual , whether man or woman: (he ou ((, r and ani\'t" indh'iduality of "this man or woman, soand
as

,met a/mm Br.i hm. i, and just

feJ.:lljycl;, fcm;'linc. and su bo rd i n ated 10 the iL 'io Director (netr ;::;;: heb"mull). Milra and Varurya correspond to
Vanll)a is fc lininc tD

mixta Pr.r.H)lUJ o f
separated

1>C

Greek, tdeo is la be pe rf e cted, to be married, or to die. When "Each i5 both",

7-f of all mysteries. For this meanS both ou r death and beatific fto:.urre(tir)n, The word to "marry" (eko Mu, become onc) also m eam lO "die, jusl as in
be neither life nor gladness anywhere.';'>AJj rhi. implies that wha t we can the
<;; and were ir not for no relation pers isL

The acred mar ri ag e , consummated in the heart, adumbrates thedet=pe\t

17

this beati tude (ananda)

world-process and a creation is nothing but a game (krUja, "W, paidia, doiu who play the game oflife s o d esperately for temporal stakes might be plaYing
a t love

there would

gioco) th at the Spirit pl ays with it,elf,

with God for higher stak es--o urselvcs, and his. We play against onc another fo r posscssions, who might be p layi n g with the King who stakes his thron e and what is h i s against our lives and all we are: a game in which the m ore is l ost , the more is won.7ft By the se parati on of Heaven and Earth the "Three W orlds" are di.. tinguished; the inbetween W or ld (antaria) provides the etherial space

and as wnlight "plays" u pon wha tever i t illuminatc5 and quickens, al t hou gh unaffected by its apparent contacts, We

Self. On the one hand, the submission of the Outer to the Inner Man is all t ha t
is meant by the words "self-control" and "au to n o my " , and

so" being naturally fem.ininc and sub ject to its own inner and contemplative

birth in accordance with their several natures. From this first etherial

(iikiiJa) 77 i n which

the inh ibited possibilities of fi n i te manifestation can rake

what is meant by "self-assertion": and o n the other, this is thc basis of the

interpretation of the rcturn to God in tcnns o f an erotic sym bolism " A .:;, onc

the op po si te of ,

Sha1lJsiTabrU.

embraced by a darl i ng bride knows naug h t of ' I ' and ' thou ' , so th e self embraced by lht f oreknowing ( sol ;.lf ) Sclfknows naught of a ' myse l f within

or a 'thyself ' Wi lholl t; 'j bec au se . as Sankara remarks, of "unity". It is th is Self

dJ.<;tinction of "se lfishness" fm m "altruim" lo ses aIt it.s

ulat the man who re.. JJJy Jm'e_ himselfor others, lo ..'cs in himselfand in them: "all things arc dear o nly for the sake of Self ". '" In this true l ove of Self the meaning. He sees the
Self, the Lord, ali ke in al l beings, and al l beings al i ke in that Lordly S elf. " know When thou becomest me',?'

MBut if I l ive , and yet not I, yet not mine, This on e-in-nvain and twainin-one
Have being,

Jacofrom da Todi- "He and the soul are interfused . . .".

Behmen, passim "God, the Be ing of all beings",

Ode XJJI, "What is Love",

"Loving thy Self ", in the words ofMeister Eckhan, "thou lovest all men as thy Self ".>' All these doctrines coincide with the Sufi, "What is Love? Thou sh alt
'"""For thi whole par emjJnml POlJ}eT in lilt J.graph see my "S piritual f1ulhorily and T Indian T1u'OTj o!Cfron71 r1vilr", American Orienlai Society, 1942 (2nd cdn. IGNCA. II'BU.IV.3.21 (r.nhcr frcdy tramialc d), cf. BU.1.4.3; CU.VlI.25.2. Sce Mel.ltn' ErJchari, tram, by E''am, I, p. 36&-"ln the embrace of this SOV1<ll\ One that naugh t5 l)' the cparated r.df uf thing!>, be ing ", one withou t distinction , . . ". We are rep eated . told that the deity IS '"both within and wjlhom", i.e. immanenc and rransccndcnl; III the lal analpi!.lhl theol()gical dllin( tiu n breaks down , and "\\'hoevcr isjo i n c d untO the Lo rd h ont' 'Ipirit'' (1 Cor, 6.17). ote. l'UBUJL4, {'le On true "Self-Love" cc reference in HJASA. 1939, p.135 and n "BG.\.29, XIII.27. V n tMI!I-'oter Eckh\rt, Evans tr.\Il:'io" Vol. 1. p. 239; cc. S,Liia Ni/Jala 705 and abo 0 Hilderbr.md (Lungman Green, 1943), L,Zurgy and Pl"f1oflauly, p. 55. HMalhli(Jwi, Bk.IL Introduction. Sce also note 202 (HinduLsm).

"SB.X.5.2.1I-12; BU.IV.3.21, etc. ''TU.II.7,S. 1"For this whole paragra ph see my -Uta" inJAOS,61 . 1 940. (Aho in Selected Papers, Vel. 1 1 . )
"Thou didsl contrive this 'I' and 'wc' in order that thou m igh test play the game of wo rship ....'ith Thyself, That all 'l's' and 'thou's' sh oul d become one life."
Cambio OIWSIO riso e dokc gloeo. Per .'Ilia diffalta in p ianta cd in affamo

How sh all my words define?"

Rilmi, Mathnawi I. I 787.

Abo PJotinus, Ennl!adr. rv,7,2 and Philo. H"e! 282-3.

"th rough his f;Htlt he had a short stav here through his llUlt he cXc)Mllged h on st)' joy ;lIl t! 5",eel sport for lean and toil. Dante, Purga/ono XXYIII.95,96.

Surn. TIuo IlJ1.25,7 "union ofw;JJs".

Near .\ tlwy Gin, approaching; and Ihey can The mQn, the loflicr their visi o n . Those rOun d t.h em eet. gazing Ih(' Godhead neXt, Mllnd, Up.lJ. l .3, SB.J.4.1.23 agtlt' a tlitll)t!, etc. kV.VI1I.16.6 varivas1trt

;;10\1

18

HINDUISM AND 8Ul)DHlSM

substance are derived in succession air. tire. water and earth; and fro m th ese (bhitcjtf) , (o mh i l lt' d in various proportions. are for m ed ti\'e e1emenlal Bein
thcm , lh\hhng

by means of this All Lhal he

THEOI.{)(;Y AND AUTOLOGY

19

the in.mim.llc,' bodks of c..Tt'\lllrts;7K into which lit(' end clllers to awaken ltiifllltlll) , or co nsc iou s opcrat(' in us, un \ll imously , l... our "Ck'IlH.'lltal soul" ( blWlse1f;:l1 Ollr "sel\'es", illdccd, but for the p resen t mortal and un sp i r i tual

his. chilctrcn, Tht.st lntelligt'nctsll1) art' tlle host o f "Be in gs " (bhii tagatla) that

hil\1sl.' lftn nu these worlds and to bOCOlllC the "Severa l Gods" ,

that h e heco mes this AILII7 To know him by this All belong only u) (fUr in ferL' ll ti al manller of kn owing.1<!! ou must have begun to realis.e that the theo\ogy and the autology are on c Y and the same science, and that the only possible am-wer to the question, 'WhaL <lm I ? " musl be ''T h a l <.ln thou " .H'IFor as there arc twO in himwho is borh

kn ow, hirmcIf, but by hi.' knowledge of him",lf

(alllI1m)'a, arultmall), ignoram of t ilt' ir imI1lorr;il Self (iilnul1'WlIl ananuvici )lal a"ijt71lajlia) ,S and to be dist i n g uishe d from th e Immonal deities who have
already become what they are by their "worth" (arhaTJa) and arc spoken a f as "Arh. 1L'\" ( Dignities") .!I'Through lhc mundane and p erfe c tible deities, and

although

<;, wc sUlnd now, ill between t he first beginni ng and the last only one ofbc)th. A cn d , we arc d i vi d e d against ourselves, essence from nature, and therefore see

Love an d Death ,'/11 so there are, as al l tradition affirms unanimoush', (\\'0 in us; ('- of us, but no! two of h i m or {Wo of us, nor e\'en OilC of him and on'

just lS a King reet'ives tribu te ( ualim all!") ftorn hi s su b 'i ,H th e Person in the jcCL heart, OUr Inner Man \\'ho is also the Person in the Sun (MU.VI.I ,2) , ob tai n s ood (amla, iihiira) , both physical and m enta l , on which h e l11USt subsist the f when he proceeds from being to becoming. And beca use of the simultaneity of his dynam ic presence in all pat and fl.llurc bec o min gs , H.'i the emanated

powers at work in Ollr consc iousness can be regarded as the te m por al support o f the solar Sp i rit' s tim eless provide n ce <prajiiima) and omniscience
m ediate causes (kanna, adrHll,

itsfruits.'ll Fo!' the Comprchcnsor th ese two birdsareonc;'l in the iconography we find either one bird with two heads, or two with necks entwined. But from our p oi n t of view there is a gn:al difference between the spectator's and the
par ticip an t ' s lives; the one is not involved, the other, subme rged i n her

him l ikew ise as divide d against himself an d from Us. Let Ulo describe the si LUation in two different fjgures. Of the conj ugate birds, Sun bird and So ulb ird , th at pe rch on the Tree of Life. one is allsc eing, the other eats of

rather that it is itself the consequence of the Spirit's awareness of ..the

(saroajiiiina) . Not that this sensiblc \'.,'Orld of successive cvcn L detennincd by apurva) is the source of h is knowl e dge , but

t
1

diversifiedworld picture painted by itselfon the vast canvas ofitself. "tu; I t is not

jagaccilra "" chosmos noit05, int elligibl eworld order) may be called the fann ofthe divine

Space, Ether i, t he and aspectM I.e. of existe n ce; the four oth er clement'i ... often in Buddhism. account arise from it and return lO it as to the ir prior. When, a. IS taken only of four elem en ts, these ilfC the concrete ba ..es o f material th i ngs. Cr. Sf. f Art to Theolngy, 3. Qu i nque sunt corpora m und i BonaVentUfil, On the &duction o slmplicia, sCllcet quatuor elementa el q uinta essf'mia (the body of the worJd can be uth . ess ence ) . re duced to fi\'e things, four elements and the f Just a... also in early Greek philosophythe "four rOOL.," or Mclements" (fire, air, earth a nd \\ater ofEmpedokles, and Tl1naeUJ 32, 33-52 where at the divine Nature, MayJ., is : as chora, VOid of an forms) do n ot include the spati.al ether, while Plato descnbed mentions an fI\'e {Epinomu 981C). and as Henn es points out "th e existence of all <; an a n tecede n t things that are would ha\'e been impossible, ifspace had not existed a.. condition of their be ing" {AscLlL 15}. lt woul d be absurd to suppose that those who not conscious ofthi!! rath er obvio us consider-H ion. . speakonlyoffour ..e1ements" ....ere "!\- U.II. 6, VI.26; that is to say, appa re ntly (iva) divided in things divided, but really undl\'lded (BG.XlIL16, XV1IL20). cL Bennes Lib. X.7 where "souls are ' so to sp(ak'" 'i if) pa rc ell ed out and part i tion ed oITfrom the one All Soul. (ho5jJn'= a Jiiiinfmi. praJiiii.-miitra, etc. , KU,VLl O ; MU.VL30; Kaus. Up.IIL8. IW
origin and end of "name

11 1. 1 4 , \1.l2.1, V.15.2; TI.J.I1. 1 . 1 ; SB'x1.2.3.4-5. '"CU.L9. 1 , "

omn isc ie nc e , and is the paradigm, apart from time, of all exi.r.tcnce, the "creation" jASJ , 1 936, "A precursor of the being exemplary. See my "Vedie Exe mplarism " in H In d o-I ral li an arla a nd even ofrhe Pla ton ic idea is found in the Sumerian guh.ghar, the outline , plan, or pa tte rn of [hil1gs-whiclH\rcto-he, deigT1t'rl by the God.\ al the creation of the world and fixed in the heaven in order to detcnn inc the inunutabdnv of thc i r cre'\lion" (AlbIight inJAOS.54. 1934, p. 130, er. p. 1 2 1, note 48). 'nIC world picture " is Plato's jJClmdrigma muna, etemal paradigm ( Timaew 29A, 3 7C) , Henne.s' to nrchefujJon riri(H Ihe arc he t}lJaI fonn (Lib.L8) and St. Augustine 's "etem,t! mirror wh ic h leads the minds of those who look 111 it to a kIlowicdge of al l creatures, and be tte r than elscwhere". Sec Bisscn, L 'E:mnjJlanme didn ultm SI. Bonavrnlura. 1929, p. 39, note 5 ) ; cf. St. Thomas Aquill<ls , Sum. T/J("f)/, L 12.9 and 10, But all things are see n in God as in a certain i n tel ligible mirror, not SU(ct.'ssi\'ciy, but imult'-lncolIsly." "'Vhen t h e body-dweller, controlling th e powers of the soul that seize upon what is their own ill sou nd s , elc, g\ow. then lw ees tlw Spirit ({ilman) ext(,nded in the world in the Spil"it" (Mululbliiimtn IIL210): '" behold Ihe world as ;\ 11ICtul'c. the Spirit (Siddhii.11Irwwktiivali, p . I R l ) . hrology- l O. Beh(} ld , how divint.' wisdom !'.fIBonaVCl1fllra: On 1/((' Rl'dudMlI vi/l it to T is secretly cOlltained in sensitivc kllllwlc<ig('." Dillltc, Pllrtldiso, L 1 16-- "Thi mO\<t'. the h",L 1-11,68.4 ad 31-'11w Holy he.trlS ofmonal a n im als. " St. Thomas Aquin:J.s, Sli m. T Spirit is the prinripal mover. " . Men, who are in a matlUt'r His iUSllU mcllt , as they arc moved hy Him."
'.1('1'5.111.'1.7 , Mrlyll

117BU .lA. 1 0, Pras.lV, 1 0<

Omnisc it.nct' presupposes oITlnipreellce, and convrrsdy.

nSB.IL2.2.8; XI .2.3. 6, etc. Cr. note s 50 and 56 RV.V.86.5, X.63-1, etc

"MU.1II.2f.

"'AV'x.7.39, XI.4.19;JUB.IV.23.7; BU.lV.3.37, 38, e tc .

in lOcction

on

Buddhism.

')SA.XIlI; CU.Vl.8.7,

"'V.X.90.2; AVXS. I ; KU.lV.13; Svet.Up. l[1.I5, etc.

Presiding

l16$aJlk<tracharya, SviilmanlrU/Ja.na., 95. 'nle "world-picture" (SuryaiataJcn 26-

"' RV.l.lb4.20; Mtmd.Up.II I . I . I -:l. '!tRV.X. 1 1 4.5.

Dl'ity of tit(' sacriiin'.

1ma and l{;

de.

alll(Jngt thc componen ts of the

Gandhaf\.l.

tIt(,

20
perct'ives ht'r Lord

HINDUISM ANll lll' I1I1IUSM

kt"ding and ne-sting. grit"ves for her lack of

\''hose wings h,wl' nCVt'T be-t'n dipped:)

to a wh eel (mkm), of which the huh is l he hean, tlw spokes powers, and their

In ..motht"t',,,'ay, the constitution ofworld s and of individuaLs is compan:d

(l("(.I) , .md

rccognill\<j: hel" Sdfin him

IlH'(lship ( anHa ) u n til she and in his llluesly,

points of co n tan on the tt-Ilr . O llr nrgalls of perception and action.H H e re th e "poles" that represent our selves, r espec tively pr ofou n d and Sup c l"t1 c ial , are

the I1lotJonlc's"'\ .t.xkpoint on wh i ch the ,,,'heel revolves-uDuc from the pole, round which the first wllt' el rolls'':'-and the rim in contact with the earth to which it reacts. This is the "wh eel of becoming, or b i rth " ( blwVll cakm = ho trocJws It's grnest'os:::: the ro un d o fge ne ration ) '}ti. The collective motion of all the ''w'heelswithin \"'hceIs-each one lurn ing on a point without position and o ne and the same in al l-that are these worlds and individuals is caIled the Con fluen ce (samwlra) , and it is in thi s "storm of the world ' s flow" that our "ele me n t al self" ( bhiltatman) is fatally involved: fatally, because whatever "\ .. e.. are naturally "destined" to ex pe r ien ce under the sun is the ineluctable consequence of the uninterrupted but unseen ope ra tion of Inediate causes (karma, adrs) , from which only the aforesaid "poin t" remains independen t , be i ng in the wh eel indeed, b ut not a "part" of it. It is no t only our passible nature th at is involved, but also his. In this compatible nature he sympathizes with our miseries and ou r delights and is subjected to the consequences of things done as much as "we" are. He do es not choose his wombs, b Ut enters into births that may be aug h ty or naugh ty (sadasal)" and in which his mortal nature is the f ruc tuary (bhoktr) equally o f good and evil , truth and falsity.'J!i That "he is the only seer, hearer. th in ke r. knower and fructuary" in us,"'" and that '\vhoever sees, it is by his ray that he sees" , 100 who (i'kJvaku) looks f o rth in all be in gs . is the same a 'i to say that " th e Lord is the only transmigrator", IO I an d it follows inevitably that by the very act
"Mund.Up .III.I .1-3.

to ask, with respect la t h is ahsolutely u n con d iti onal liberty, What is fre e no,," and noWCI'C f from th e limitations that arc prcSlIpposed by the very notion of individuality (aham ca mama ca, "I and mine"; karta 'ham iti, " 'J' am a doe r") ?'" Freedom is from one 's self, this "I", an d its affections. He only is free frOIJJ
Man which is in heaven. "The figure of the landleech in BUJVA.3 doe not imply the ascended up to hcavcn, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of (the)

Thus he is appare ntly suhmitted to our ignorance and $uffcf:'l for oursi o\. Who th e n can be liberated 'lOd by whom and from what ; It would be better

subjected.

us with con;ciousnc" "he (ctters him""l! lie a bird in with which he endows nd is subject to th e eVIl, Death,lfn--or stems to be mu,\ fettered and t" n a the e
t

THEOWGYAND AUTOLOGY

21

vehic le, while the nature of this life is dctennined by the prope rties of the seed irselll

passi ng over from onc body to another of an ind ivi dual ljIe other than that of the: un iversal Spirit but only of a "part as it were" of th,is Spirit "'Tapped up in the activitie that occasio n the prolonga tion of becoming (Sankariicarya, Brah mii Sutra II.3.43,
111. l. 1 ). In other words, life is re newe d by the li\ng Spirit of which the seed is (BU.III.9.28, K;tus.Up.IIl.3 and "milarly SL Thomas Aquinas, Sum. T",I. 1I1.32. 1 I )

thi

inJUB.IIl. I 4.10, M.1.265/6, and Aristolle, Physica ll.2-anlhrofx>sgar ( Man is be gotten by man and by the sun as well ) as righLly understood bySt. ThomasAquinas, Sum. TheoL I.1 15.3ad 2, and Dante, Demon rchiJ IX, cf. S1. Bonavemura, 0" the Reduction o f Art to Thtolo{f)'. 20 [Wicksteed an I
Accordingly,
anthropon gl'11 na helios
as

that we in herit from our ancestors is a character; the Sun is our real Father.

and so a s Blake expresses it, "Man is born like a ga.rde n, ready planted and mm." All

grasped the

Coruford's remarks in

'.I6 J ames 3.6. See also Sennon on Fire in Vinaya Pitaka; Ph ilo, Somn.l1.44-kuklan hai trochon ananghis aklrutetou a circle t and hoop of endless necessity; distinguished

'1Paraduo, XIII.ll.I2-"il punto dello stein al CUI la prim.a rota un dinlorno".

=

wBU.U.5.15, IV.4.22; Kaus.Up.II1.8. etc,; similarly Plot inus, Enmads, vr.5.5.

gIven

from the chain of Nature 's activities; and

[0

"MU.II.n, VII.Il.S. See my "Spiritual Authority and T""p.,aIPower . . . '. , 1 942-ed n . , p. 74 -the dhtinction of satya from anrta.
\I1IJ, UB.1.28.8, and similarly for Ihe other powers of the soul. IUISankaradrya on Brahmii Sutra 1 . 1 .5, salyam neivariid an)'a/; samsiiri: this very
wAA.III.2.4: BU.IlI.B. I l , IV.5. 1 5 . etc.

And Boeh mc Dr incarnatione V erbi 11.10.4 "'Wheel of Nature". "MC .111.2; BGXIIL21.

Tamas.

heirnwn ton Usphuseos, pragmaton = Jumniskos

impo rtan t affinnation L amply .<,upponed by e arl ie r texts, e.g. RV.Vl IL43.9 , X.72.9; AV.X.8.13: BU.III.7.23. 1II.8. 1 1 , IV.3.37,38; Svet.Up.II.1n, IV. t l ; MU.V.2, elC . See a'so my, "On the One and Only Transmigranl" in JAOS, Supplement No, 3. Apr.:June 1944. There is no individual tr.msmigrant essence. er. J ohn 111.13 "No man hath

. , ' -3km correspon ds Greek oiisis mr .5 U IS = doxa (Phaednl.s 92A, 244C ) . For Philo, thiS cel d -J : .5 3 ) to untaught ignorance" (1.93); the mind that says "l plant'" i... impious ( 1 tJr PIU nothing $0 shameful as la 78) . suppose that J exert Ill)' mind or my.'icmc" (I. COUp les oiima with tUjJ/lUs (lL39D ) . h is from the same point of,iew that Sf. m Aqui nas says that "In so f a r as ITI t;n arc sinners the), do not exist at all" (Su . _ the ad 4 ) ; and in accordance with the "lxiom Ens t't bonum cOll\'enUncur ( J.nd : Jl onbe m , .. do . g 0f a thing is itse lf a good ),- that sat and a.wl are not ani)' "be mg e r, . . ve belng butaIso "good ,. fIla,t XIII , ... "I ) . I'" <md "("\'iI " (e.. m d BC., m MU,IIl.l , done C ' S ltOt more or Iess than cO'Tcctly is ":uni.s' and sho ul d ani)' be regarded;\!I a t \In is illh e ilt a ll . For . , IS 0"er-mtl dolle examp Ic "W1un in (ht' laud fal ls sh ort IS not-Ialldecl . WIla I iluded J!t no t .. . .. . , Whal ls exactly lauded is ,tctu',\Hy hmded (jB.I. 356) . TIton 1,\:'h at !\ act . ' "not 3 . fight" nl l gIH as well not . have bee n do ne at all. and is slned), spe aklIl nouoll ( (lk'Ham. "lint I .. . n rhl: d ura ....\'( ;lrt'" ' S I;u ) that , I cmph;Ns 1 ollS s ll"ClIlt'llci [he underlie of a ..Corre , " "( -l" (h,ll of C 1nilI rcmI" I P('l J f) nn a n c e of rites or other actions. 'rIIt:' ,. hilt. ' tIl e 3.lH 1 ,C!' at ail. . h ors . e ' 0 , W Ij;ltc\,cr IS dant: alni.<;s . ;md thl'rl'fQre nOl rea1I}' "(Ion ,r I rTl:t" \Vh illever ' Ce. l U i \ ilctl taI1)' do e I nel ., ne , Cod , '.J ll t as in aurOMl cxpc . 'lIe 'l,thor , a ,ahle tl " \'tW , l, t;lbl' Il l.lt does not re.d not b l e t a J. ' j reOl .> stand, 1 am '"no C<l'l)t"nlcr", and the if J I mak e a reaJ , . ,, is . 15 . . , tht' t.\b (" 0" ., 1)1<', It not bv my self.15 th is m"Ul but ,J' att" 1 I1,1 made " . , I " bc' r pe(5 :'1I,t(, e n . n I I 109 on I}' an cffi' . ' t> t ( nent cause. In the same l\.'Il I dlSli n ' tOr ,.... !llll.hod fr0m tIle . ) rroIn op.r.> eleme nt a l self as promoter (Ietlray'lT .

""SB.x.4.4.1. 1"'BG. 1 I1. 27, XVIII.l7; cf.JUB.1.5.2; nU. II 1. 7.23; MU.V1.30, <le. Simila rlv S.Il. 252; Udana 70, elL To the conce it " 'I' am" (asmi'1J"ulna) and " 'I' do (karlii 'h(l m

the Loeb Library Physics, p. l 26. shows that the), have no! doctrine itself].

fl1

I.2?,2

TI1;:((IL

22

HIND\JISM AND BlJDDHlSM "'f reed in

THEOLOYKND AUTOLOGY

\'inu,,-'s and vins .md .\\1 (l t'ir fat .ll ronsl'quel1<:I.s w h o IH:vcr became a nyon e; , ht' only wn bt.' tnt' who I S HO longer anyone; impossible to be freed from
dOl's nr thinks .\11{\ \\'ho .U1swers 1'hyse1f',

llllt'st'lf and also lo remain oneself. Thl.' liberatioll fro m good and evil t h a t

sCl:lUed impossihle .'lltI is imposiblc for the man whom Wc de tln e by what he e who f c ttcrt.' d himself Illllst free h imse l f, and that can only . done hyvcntymg the assurance, 'That art thou." It is as much for us to liberate

this life" (fivanmu/tta) "dlc no morc" (na punannri)fJ.lt).lJ'l 'lhe naught Comprehensor of that Contemplative, agclc", undying Self, in whom "m c d whaL'ioever is wanting and who wiultcth nothing, has no fear of ath .
lh c sun puts it, "a dead man walking"',H Such a one no longer loves him sc lves or others, but is the Self in him5clf and in them . Death to one's sel f is death to "oth en/'; and if the "dead man" seems to be "unselfish" , thiswillnot be th e result ofaltruistic motives, but accidentally,
Having died already, he i!i,
'i L t

LO t he flucstion -I ' "Who is that?" " "It's me" IS . pos" 'iible onl)'who can ans''''t'ral lhc Suncioor to Ihe question 'W ho nt t h o u?"

!\!

hi\ by knowi ng who wc arc as for him 10 liberate himself hy knowing Who
\;ctinL Hence ,llo the praycl',

he ls;loand that iswhy in the Sacrifice the s"lcrifIccridcn tifics h imsdfwilh the

significance of the critical question " In whoJe departure, when I go h e n ce , shall I be departing?", I" i .e. in myself, or "he r imm o r tal Self " and "Le a de r" . we

"H'7w( thou art. thus may I

bc",wo and the eternal

1 the right ClnSWt'rs have been verifi ed, if one has found the Self, and having

dOlH' all that there is to be done (I,!tak!t),a) , wi thaut any resid u e of pote ll tiality

cannot b e too much emphasized that freedom an d immo rtal i ty l l ! can he, 110t . somuch "rc'lcll",I" ''' I'ISecI " ,.L ' Il llcrc and now as 111 any hereafter. One 'i\\e l., as " rea

(k rt)'ii, BG.lII . 1 7 ) , U" the last end of our life has bee n presen <I)' a ttai ned . 1 1<> I t

the freedom of thosewho havc fulfillcd the condition required ofhis disciples by Christ, to hate father and mother and l i k ewise theif own "life'" in the world.1 ltlWe cannot say What the freeman (muk/a) is, butontywhathc isnot,
t he r But this can be said that tho se who have not known themselves arc nei victims these of " destruction e I..h " e r is g at now n or ever shall be free, and that of th e i r own sensations .II!'The B rahmaQical aUlology is no more pessimistic

St. Paul expresses it, "no longer under the Jaw". This is the su p e rh u man imparLit1lity of those who have found their Self, Wfhe same am I in all beings, of whom there is n onc I love and none I hale";ll7

and because he is literally un-self-ish. Liberated from himself, from all statm, j ,1 1 r, likc thcSpiril 'i, he has become a Movcr-at-wil l (kiimiiron all duties, all righL enrnll) , 1 16 and as vaSmn thfl a ()' will" it as (V ayu. iitmii deviiniim) that "moveth

Trasllmanar significarjJt'Tverba non si poria! ("he has gone beyond human limits thr oug h the '-'lord and not by action ").

MU.lII.:, elc. ) . The operation is mechanical and servile; the operator being on l y fre c
. . tothecXlcnt dliH hiowTl \H " I I "1!\01{ ' 1 entifi led WIth th e patron ' sthathe becomesllls owll " employe r.. (J'Ulmyztr}. " M)' SCf\;ce is perfec t free dom .. UB 1l1.J4, etc. a . my "The 'E' al D e lp h i ", D JReligion, Nov. 194J.

than optimistic, but only more authoritative than any other science ofwhich

:::t
I

..

1 U7Pra.\.Up,\1,3; cf. answers in

OO'fS.l5.7.6.

For ramommg Self by self ", scc

KB.VllI.3.

Revi".w
=

evil. BU

CU.IlL l4A and Kaus Up 1 1. 1 4 . 'CU; V lII 12 ' I ' ,MU.1I1.2, V1 .7 . F or the h'gemOn l eade r , seeAA.Il.6and RV.V. 50. ! . 100

krt)
.

;,.

111/\mrtalh !(J i!>li ! eral l" ' , not dymg . rc con cc a mecl doc
>

""M1l .5' SA1l . "4' MU.VI.30, cf.TS.I.8.1 . Krt)akrta. "all in act" corresponds to Pali ' kata fflkammymn 111 the wdl known "Arh at fonllla "
_' H

rt (AV.IV.28.6, X.2.23) is cvil-doer, where krt 'a, potentialIty is i n it.se lf )

dying". th at of man's longe\'hy, that of the God's ae\;temity, an d that of God's being without duration (On "aeviternity" cf. Se. Thomas A<FJin.;t, Sum T/Jrol. 1.10.5). the The Indian texts lend thcm se h'cs to no illmiom: all th i ng$ under the Sun arc in power of Death (5B.II.3.3.7 ) ; a nd in so far a$ he dcsccnd\ itUo th e world, the deity h imself is a "dying God"; th ere is no possibilit), ofnc\'erdring in the bodr (SH.II.2 2.14,

XA.3.9;J UB. lII.38. 1 0, etc.); b irth A.IV.137; SOl. 742).

and death arc inseparably conncctcd (BG.II.27;

. an d So far a 'i born beings, whether Gods or men !> not , im p1yanewrIastillg dura tion hutthe "whole onife" i.e. "not ' cly' _Ig " _ Pl'clll, l\m:ly (SBJX.5.1 . 1O; PB. XXll . 1 2. , etc.). Thus the who l e of lI'lan' life . ( a)US _ aeon} 1:'0 a hu n timi )' ears (R\'.1 .89.9 , 11.27.10; AA.1.2.2 etc.); that of t h e (.ods a I > ..t Jlousand year"s" or wh atever ' t111"' r und n u m be r is take n' to mean (SB.VIlL7, 4' 9' . X.2. 1 . 1 1 Xl ' I .6.b, \o). So w obtam th eir hc n the (.od". who we re originally "mon-d" . ... . unmo rtahty" (RV V 3 4 X " .63. 4; S 'B. , Xl-2-3-6, etc} tht'i i to be ta ke n onlv relativelY; It . . . ' on Iy mcans that as com pare d Wit . h m orta.l men, their life is lon g er ( SB.Vl l.:t I . 10, " Sanka raca - . r)';,\ on .Brahmii '). J " 'Sillm J. .. W(1 1 I, ", bcing "un I)OrIl , C1C. ) . God alone a.
_ .

It may b e observed that Ck ntlwruuia has "imilar values; for [he "m onal Im, mortality", cf. Plato, S)'mjJoll'Ofl 2070-2088, and l lenllc!>, Lib.XI.1 .4aand AuL Il IAOb I 1ISB.II.3.3.9; BU.I.5.2, etc" Luke 20, 6,Joh n 1 1 .26.
Chuang Tw, Ch. 2-"hlll"icf m}'"clf", a nd A "grlUl Siln'ru.

"'AV.X.S.44. cc. AA.IIl.2.4. Sec .115:0 Hi Mtlth1U lWl, VI. 723f. Abo attributed to AlathTWwiis--MDic before ye di e". "'RV. IX. I \ :l.9; .IUIl.1I 1.28.3; SA.VII.22; B\J . 1 I . 1 . I 7. 18; CU.\'l I I . ,.4, VI U . 1 .fi (cUU.72 ) ; TaitLUpJII.IO.5 (likcJohrt X.9). I IIRV.IX.RH.: , X . I tiH.4: cL John IlI.H; Gy!figifl1l1'ng, lB. 117BG,IX.29. IIL\lkc XIV. 26, d. MU,Vl,2H "'I t o sonand wifeandf amil),he be attach ed, for such

r.S.7, or "1>om only as It .....ere" , t ' . IInmortaI a hQlutclr; Agni, viilJa)'w = pur momm. (tCrnaI fi re' " i InmortOlI anliJllg'it ' ' ",lone mortab . God amongst god '; (RV.IV.2. 1 : 5B.II .2.2.8, Ic . ) . 1 1 ' . e I!> tuncin!> l1I(: . h we, . ,- ( an Cl (l) nature IS that or the "now" without d ur.tt ion , ofw ' '1 10 C.U\ .... o n ly tJunk 11\ t erlllS 0f past and l O' GlflI ,lIld future ( M fltmn blwV'jam) , have 1'101 1hlVC . 'r. I (,ko . expenel\ce From I ' . 11 I . ' Hill a t ungs I)roc('cd ' and III h l ln all aI"(' lITl11tC( bJ "not IQVanta) at last (AA.! 1 .3. 8, CIC.), There f o rs e d o r arc, i n other word!\, three
. > _ ,

itaram . . . /l Itl'limr, Mdster a one, no, never at all"; Sn.60--puttmh m Iliifrtm/,i/fJTiHn ((1 "u Eckhart , "A" IOllg as thou Mill k nowc \t who thv father and [h)' motller llal' hl't'1l in : lime, th ou <lU !l o t clt-;\d with the real death' (l'feiffcr, p. 462), C L no te 43 from ' Buddh ism ' \('(-tillli.

hacdo 6R A. Ph il oophc r, ('!icapesfrom what he hitted , lI,unel)', soma. the body [ha t"d,hlrnlo:: thc body by which l11n' hac! been deceived].

24

HlNnUlSM AND BUD\))USM

tht trut h d t."s not <I ' pt'n d 011 ollr wis lws . It is 1 1 0 morc pessi m i sti t c to o r o ni t.'t.: g ll' t h,n ",hall'n'r is al ien to Self is a distress, th an it is opthnistic to recogn ize th.u W hL'h' tlw n. is IlO "other" the re is literally not h in g to be

ft"Mcd , \'.,.'\) That

THE WAY OF WORKS

The Sacrifice rc fl c c L .. the Myth; b ut like all reflcniom, im'ert'> it. \Vhat had toget her from th is body, the first is bor n of Woman, and the .econd from the

CMU\ot trust mysdf ",-hut how implicitly my Self ! an d "I fo rgot myself ". \\l1<\t h a... '\ bee n callcd (he "nalUral opti m ism " of the Up an ish ads is th e i r afl1nnuion that our consciousness of be ng, although i nval id a.s an awareness i of bt 'in g s()..andso, is valid absolutely, and their do c tri ne that the Gn os is of the Imm.ment

our Outer Man is "anothlr" appears in lht, expression: "[

the wo rds ofSt. Patl, Vivo llutem, jam I . . :. GaL 2.20.)

would be unscientific to deny

That ulis is so, or that uHe is" a all, cannot be demon su-atcd i n the class roo m , wherc only quantitativc tangi bles are dealt with. At the sanle time, it

Deitv, our Inner Man, can be real ised now. "That arlthou". ln lion ego. (I', . . nevertheless I l ive ; yet no t

been a p roc ess of generation and divi!'olon becomes now onc of regeneration and com posi t io n , l:.! Of th e tWO "selves" that dwell toget her in and depart another than he was; and until he has thus been reborn he has but the onc,

sacrificial Fire,

"ill c onsen t to fol low ie and it is precisely at this point that we must turn fro m
can be verified; in oth er words from
to the consideration of the active or sacrificial l ife .

proof is possible. In the present ca<;e th ere is a Wayl21 prescribed for those who

a presupposition

for which an experimental

the first pr i nciple s to the operation through which, rather th an bywhi c h , t hey

the c on sideration of the co n te mpla tive

so he pro cl aim s that "T hey shall flourish who will build me up again (punar
sacrificer even today flourish b o th here and hcrcaftcr,mThc sacrificer, in his edific ati on of the Fire (-al ta r) Itll "with his wh ole mind. his whole self " l'!" _ together" his
''Th is

mortal "self "Y.!JTo sacrifice is LO be bo rn, and it can be said, "A" yel unborn, forsoo th , is the man who does not sacrifice",iUAgain, when the Progenitor, ondly (pret}ii, sneha vasena ) inhabil his Ollr Fathe r, "has expresse d a nd f ch i ldren , he cannot come t ogeth er again (jnmar sambhtl.) from them"12 and
l a ) \!/; hence"; th e Cods built h im up, and they flourished, and so doe:>. the

of wh i ch

divine womb the man's ced i to be born again

as

Fire knows that he has come to give himself

and

m erely a brute were he to hold that "He is onc, and I another". l ll

(in the beginning) .11It is, in fact, often spoken of si mply as "Work" (kanna) ,

The Sacri fic e is som et h ing to be done ; "We must do what rhe gods did rot'

(samdhii smhskr) at one and the same time the dismembered dcitf oWn separated natllre: for h e would be under a great delu!iion and

lO

me " , 'II-is "puttin

punaridam hU)'Clte

'''BU.lV.4.14; CU.VIl.1.6. VII.BA, etc. UIlBU.1.4.2.

further-

mOn Way or Via see Ennt!adsVI and also note 66, On the pursuance ora Way, see
Pluu 4nu 253A-ichneuonte1 de par heaulOn

fRr./igi011, VIJ ...32f. Mi n d ", Rn;;('w o

'SB.Vl.1.2.16-21.

It' .!'sankarftdirya, ,Sataiioki 22-huyalt" svaprabodlat V &.fva", br ahmal'J),a bodh, }agati bm/wltJ-- "\"hen the e1f h rcaii!;.cd, the 1Ini"rsc is acnfit'd mlo . Bnihma1); and whell t he Self . 1$ Il ot rcaiL.'Icd, t1m. Bralllll<lI,I IS agam s;lcnfit"cd mlo the unive rseH For Bil111 of the $aClilicc, see .1UB.JJLl4.8; KB.XV.3; and Dnlimm of the Sacrifice, cf. TS,VlA.2, } ; RV. X.90. 1 1 - 1 2 ; PuUing tIJgrlhrrag,ull, AB.UB. lt3JB.L 17: SB,VII.2, 1 ,6 with VU.3, 1 . 12; BU.ll. l . l l ; Sn.160 ;Uld innumerable texts '" differentiating th two ...cl"e. The do Clri ne that tlH:rc art' two III us I, Uluvcrsai, . One's Right n a i t s i r iUld h C Beingin 40n Chince a: Platonic, Islamic, notably Indian, "'KJl.XV.3;J U D.1Il.14.8; SB.l.604.21. lll.9.4.23;John 3.3-7. 1!YfS.V.5., 1 . cf. 5B.1.6,3, 35-6; Sankaracarya. Brnhmii. Slllm 11.3.46" I'l7TS.V,5,2, 1 . The whole ncatlOIl panicipalt'\ in fht" b{'lldit5 of Ihe S;u:rifice

uporQU.si= They prosper, following the $cc:ntoftheir own accord, in orde r to disc ove

de km helnn /0 panton am/on :::< to track Out and choose rhe chief go od ; (which ,"\"'llcn ;l lilt") , man has found, he should take up his abode with i t du ring tlw remainder ofhb Ph,ILl.lUl 320, 44D.-dei dJalhinulkmai == we must hunt down that which wC ;U'C

the nature of their own god.

a7U'Urish.ein tin tou sphelerou. luOU phwill

Ennult1snI.8.1 1/c"no5 to agathou = trace ofthe good. Plato, Lnws728D-ichn

l'uja l

SB. I .5.2.4; CU.V.24.S. ''''SB.X.2.4.R. 1'15B.111.8. 1.2. elC.

punuing.
PlaLO,
must

RumI, MaMnatui 11.160.

show me lhe W.1y ' .

RrjJubllc 1328--", , .

lhc

like huntsmen, wc hollld . . . look s h arp . . . . bu t y(l is dark and pe rplexing; still we must pll.d1 o n . . ....ood

llnri IIncl:\ 1\Ij {{' lalet g(,llllg(,lI dal ust numl. cln augdm'blc (Pkiff('r 1 69 ) "On(' whll l(>vn God 'lShisGod and wor,hip God ashhGod. and lets God have his war (will) h'ilh hun. \Uch a one is an angelic mau." 1Y.l58.Vn.2. 1.4, etc,

:l(!nchC"

1'I0158JI.4 . 1 . 1 1 . IX.5. 1 . 5:, 1 ' 8U . IA , 10, [V5.7, Co[ M<i'(('r Eckhart, wWer got minnet fUr !inen gOt
betel Cli!" "'llwn got
, .

unde got

26

HINDUISM AND 8UDDHISM

l'hllsjuSl as ill t", ltin

optrare ;: sarra facere:t: hieropoiei1l (to make sacred) , so in

011

India, where the em.phasis

things, a.ndonl\' to do Ilothing, or what being done amiss amO ll n L 'i to nothing
other profeSSional work wil l be appucn t i f \vc remember t h a t it is only when

action is so .st ron g , t o do wel l is to do sacred

(akrta11l) is idh.' .mrl profane. I'" How sU'iclly anal ogo us the operation is to any

prit.'SIS operate on behalf of others that they are to be remunerated an d that

inordinateYH The King other sacritict.'rs.L\.
as

in the hym n . "If th ou lo\'cst me" .ltJI It ha" often hecn poi n ted out that the Sacrifi ce was thought or as a commerce betwcen gods and men:'Y'but not o ften re al i sed that by in trodllcing into traditional concepti ons of trade,
notions derived from our own in ternecine commerciai lfansactions, we have
alsified our underst"l.nding of the origin al sense of such a commerce, which f
'1 ki ng . The sacrificer knows that for whatever he give.') he \l,ill competi lions in L receive fu l l measurc in return; or rather, fuller measure, for whereas his O\m

as

also the devotion or love ,ha, all liberality presupposes; and so tha t in as much o n e "gives God his share ( bhiigam), i.e. sac rifices , one is hi bhakta'"'. J i'Thu.')

THE WAY Of WORKS

27

",hcll nu.'n s,lcr i ti c e together on their own behalf a reception of gifts is

supreme Patron of the Sacrifice on behalf of the

kingdom , represcn l " t he sacrificer in d i vin is, and is h im se lf

the lype

of all

was actually mo re of the

/ Jotiatslt type, a com pe tition in gi\i ng,

than like our

upon the "origin of bhakli", as if devotion had at some given moment been a
n ew idea and thenceforth a fashionable one. It wou ld have been simpler obselVe that the word

Onc of the strangt'st controversies in the h isto ry of Orientalisnl turned

bhakti means primarily a given share,l"h a nd there fo re noliivoa means both

to

treasury is limited, the other p arty's is incxhaustible.I-4ll"Hc is the Imperishable (-syllable, AUln ) , for hc pours forth to all these bei ngs, and because th e re is
and that depends on how much of "oursel\'es" wc have given up. Feudal none can pour forth heyond him".Il God gives a. <; much a l) we can take of hi m,

133"Among the Tarahumares of MexicQ the word

and "to dancc"<-Jane Harrison , Ancie1lt Art and RitlUl 1918, p. 3 1 .

"to work"

glcich arbeiten" trans: "Danemg is for thcm to workn i n Da ursjmmg der Religion

Rcgarding the Tar.lhumara Indians, Preuss writes, 'Tan zcn ist ih nen dahcr . . . -

Kurut, Globus 87, 1905, p. 336. Sce also Emst Ca. 'isirer, Language and 1\1ylll. 1946. p. 40.

much as the .iacrificers obtain the Self as !.h eir re\\'ard [hat thcy go to h eaven (iilma
KB.XV.l 1b.e sattr a has the Self as Dakina ( from dak.a)'ati, 'e m powers' ) . . . 'Here le t me t.1.ke my Self as dai1:l(j for fair f ame, for the world of he ave n , for Immortality'".

daksina,;wai sa/trom, afmnnam t'llfl nitvci mllargarit loham ),anti, TS.\1IA.9.1, d.PB.IV.9.19).

1TS.Vll.2.1O.2. At such a "seance " the Self (Spirit) is the guerdon and it is in as

umi

share".

17BU.VI.3.1-(ebh)'oham Miigadhe)'am juhomi = "to all those gods . . . I offer their

SB.II.3. 1 . 1 9--- ta.smiid devali sa1ll; . . . (other beings) anviihhaktah. Thereby the gods are allowed to share in the sacrifice \\ith other part icipan ts. PB.VI. 7-bhagadlle;cna . . . on wi nn ing favour of the gods . . . vac complains 01
being abhc1ga. gods by that sacrifice . . . he acqu ires a share among them; an d having acqlllrcd ashan

trans.: "We have bestowed . . . let us obtain to.

R V.I1 .5.7-aram vallema rarimii va)'aJn; saying sambhajtma . . . dademnhi. Griffith's

1:'.II5B.I.9.3.8--" . . . He who sacrifi ce.') assuredly gratifies the gods- In gr.uifying the

UJIL 17 A where the whole of life is sacrific ially interpre te d-. SB.lX.5.2.12-16 condemn s sacrificial operation for others, than oneself. Otherwisc di1)ii is due to priesL <; because in the sa crific e [hey as spiriLUal fathers, make the sacrificer to be born aga i n of the di\'inc womb.
that we may be umted to God in holy as. '\ociation".
=

among them, he goes to the m ".

St. 1110mas Aq uinas.

Plato, Ellth)"phro 14D-"Pictyis a scie nce ofilsking and giving? . . . an aJ1 which gods

SUP/I. 95.1

2-Lo\'e is the cause of all giving".

Sl. Augu stin e, De Civitas Dri X<V1 . A {nlC sacrifice is every work which brings about
lv'Demand to the Ch ristian man}s before condemnation: Fac pro salute lmperatoris

and men have of doing business wi th onc another?" Rumi, MalhnawiVI. 88"Trade with God".
1 40B

"'1"5.1.8.4.1 : AV.lII. 1 5.5.6.

may mean-"Make th is sacrifice in memory of me".

"Make !!oacrifice for the Emperor'5wellbcing", an d Hoc J anta in m.eam commenwmtionem,

on eself, implies love (as in Mir.i Bai's lines on p. 28). For bhaJrti as "participation", refer Bcuy Hcimann. F auts o f Indran London, 1964, p. 86.
A V.20. " paU5 is" ( see JAO S XV, Proceedings, p. v)

lWfhe bhakta is one who gi\'es

his sh are to another , which giving. especially of

to be fe d) is ncadysynoIlYlllollSwith sev. llpaciir, '''"aprll o ( = to attend ou); andimplie:s a se rvice or attendance upon an}' worth), recipient, human or dhlHl'. In the older
an d is t hc lTfor called Uhaga or Bhag-avi\l, "Dispcnser", that whidl is given being a "partiCipation" or "dispensation" ( l /lfigmn) . But ;:\l rcad in RVYJII.IOOJ, Indra is
1... E\'l'll !t. .. 1.crifice involves the giving of the (hotJ4o dattabhiiKfl m) are to be his b}mlcf<l hare (bJuIWl1n) t ha t i.. dill' to the reCipien t, ,\lid i If} thi semc iI dC\'Olioll, ultima tely of the sacrific(', hllllsdf. the cit-votce: th is i mp1ie \ IIw(". be(alac low is the ("au.'>( of all J.mlalcd by "participation"' in giving, but il remain ... that bhakti (,ut bt' more li terally tr . is /m1n(l. .!o01 e context... ;\1\(1 hy "<I(\'otIOIl" in otitt" -\, than by "Iovc", for which till' ....ord

j, the wO[ in hlwkti, et c. , and in bhil4u (the religious mndicant whu expects ha

contexts it is u.sually the De ity who participates such Ooom as life or light

10 Udll'N,

Though/'

. .md tlus 1\ the n.ltlU-;l! rcl,llI on of Iht, Regnul Il to the Sacerdotium; Hlrl in RV.X.51.R I h os(' whom Agni ("alls upon to "give nil' my share " estly Agni's manif

b/wi1.ta,

skanda)liga, bhaktvii devam (Sbndakumura) visarjayet. Note: bhaluj to consume, and bhiks desiderative of bhoj = to share, distri b ute , apportio n ; Greek phagri n = to eat. devour; Latin f agus ::= beech tfee, book. For;'l fulle r treatment of the concept of bllOhli as sacrifice , see . pjrilU(Jll\utlwri') ' and Tnll/mmf Power , . . note 75 in the edition of 1993. Yet other sourccs Lituf1:, riml llomilt'l a fNaTloi XXI, p. 55---"The \ilver ofl-!is word Hc ha... pla ced m th e ir hamh hy way of inducement . that they may trade wilh each (and gain) pm . session!> ofthc sp iri tua l l ik" And RfJ1Ili, Shams-i-Talrri: Ode 45. 1 1 -"\Vhere is the fortunate me rchan t wh()Sc de'it itlyJupiter controh., that 1 (God) may eagerly trade with him and buy his ware",)" SI. MatthLw. V.1 2-Rejoice for gre at is your reward in heaven.

never poured oul.

141 AAII.2.2. "lie''', tite hnmaf}l'11I Urealh (pri i.1:w), V; imade\\, Indra. nu' po in t is Ih;\l the lranscc nd('nt;ll S}'lIablt (tlR.I(IH1 '" AUUl) is lh e source ofall HUt'red soulld (cf. a),-pounng f orth but CUJ I.23.3: BG.X.25), iuelf remaining inexhaustible (aA,lar

HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM

loyalties rather than business obligations are imp l ied word s of the hyln -rh0\1 art OUrs .lnd we ar t thine"; "Let us, 0 Vanll.1<l. be thine own d earl belov('d" and ''Thine may wc be fo r thee to gi\'e us trcasurc", 14'!The se arc Lh
rl'l.llions of thanc to earl and vassal to overlord, not of moneychan lwmns
<l,'\

languagt' of commerce sunives even III such la lc and profoundly devoti on l a

t1r l. B:l.i's

gers. The

p u rpo se , of which the acts ar e only the !) -ym bols , is to be realid, It h explicit that "neither by action nor by sacrifices

whole op era tio n . 1 +1 But more thall the mere acts is req ui red if their uJtimate

THE WAY OF WORKS

l\.'\"h haw 1 bought. TIlt' price he asked, I gave.

Some Cl)', ''Tis great", and others j eer . I gave in full, \\'cighed to the utmost grain, My love, my life, my sou l , my all.'''
..

'Tis small"

aloud and visibly, but also "intellectually" ( manas6) ,H7Le. silcntlyandim'i!>ibly. within yo u . In other words, the practise is only the external suppOrt and demonstration of t he th eo ry. The distinction is drawn accordingl)' bcno."een the true sel fRmc rifi ccr (sadyiiji., satiscul, atmayafi) and the one who is merely prese n t at a sacrifice

th e same time rep ea tcd l y affi rm ed that the Sanificc is perform ed , not merely

hannaa naSad-- na yaJnai) ,w> whom to kno..... i!> our highest good;J.tti and

can

He be reached"

(nakitam
at

Hwe also re me mber, what ,..ill shortly appear, that the sacrificial life is the
have been done 100'ingly,

acth'c life , itwill be seen that the connection ofaction ,\rith devotion is implici t

in the \'ery concept of ope ra tio n ; and that what eve r is don e p erfe c tly must understood (erlebt) ifitis to be c om pl e tely effective. The merely p hysical acts
The Sacrifice, like the words of t he l iturgy indispensable to it, must be

a nd whatever ill done, done

c arele ssly,

may, l ike any other labou r , secure te mp oral advantages. Its uninterrupted celebratio n maintains, in fact, the endless "stream of wealth" (vasor dhiirii)

stream in to another, or from one refuge to another, heavenworld" . 1 52

but "the Comprehensor passes on from one duty to another, a.<; from one
w

(without ac tual ly performing any rite) . puts t oge ther again the dismembered deity, whole and co mp lete "; I .1'I it is by gnosis and not by works that thal world is attajnable.loNor c an it be overlooked that the rite, in which the sacrificer's last end is p re figured , is an exercise in dying, and therefore a da n ge rous undertakingl51 in which the sacrificer might actually lose his life prematurely; obtain his weal, the

Com p re h e nso r th ereof periorms the good work, or is simply a Co mprehensor

(cu:vaylij"i) .I-48 It is

even stated in so many words that "Whoever, being a

(saltrasad) and cxpeclS the deicy to do all the real work

that falls from heaven as the fertilising rain, passes through plants and ood, and is returned to h eave n in the smoke of the animals, becomes our f
Burnt-{)ffering; that rain and this smoke are the wedd in g gifts in the sacred

shall o n ly consider that most significant part of the Burn t-offering (agnihotTa) in which the Soma oblation is poured into the Fire as into God's moUth. \\o11at
vario us plan ts and mixed with milk and honey and filtered,and corresponding

We c a nn o t describe in detail the "wilds and realms" of the Sacrifice, and

marriage of Sky and Earth, Sacerdotium and Reg num , that is implied by the

is Soma? EXDtcrically, an i n toX;C<lling drink, extracted from thcjuicy parL <; of

O. Plato, Phardo, 62B,D.

'''RV.VIII.92.32, V1II.54.8; V.85.S and VII.I9.7. Indra; RV.I I . I I . l ; M.II.1.4.J8.

of the Psyche' s very nature that we have the constant yoking of Eros with the Psyches in the pictures and the myths' (Ennead.s 6..6.9L and let us also bear in mind the for the immediate imbraces of their Love ". Other definitions of Bhakti:

"A:;. for Krishna and the Gopis, let me say 'with PlotinllS th at "it is because Love is

of the Puritan Platonisr Peter StCITY that thc Lord Jesus h ath his concubines, his

saying

Queenes, his Virgines . . . Sainu unmarried to any Forme. who keep themselves single

to the m ead or win e or blood of other traditions. Thisjuice, however, is not icselfSoma u n til "by m ean s of the p ries t, the initiation and the formulae", and "'by f aith" i t has beenmade to be Soma, transubstantiaIl}';I-\and hotlgh men f ancy when they crush the plant that they are drinking ofvcry Soma, of him the Brahm aI)a5 understand by 'Soma' none tastes who dwells on earth".l The plan 0; m ad e use of are not th e real Soma p1ant, which grows in the rocks and m ou n ta in s (gin', aiman, adn) . in which it is embodiedY'"
BG.II I . l O.f., etc. Wedding gifts, PB.VII.IO; AB.IV,27;JB. l . 145; 58.1.8.3.12, etc. l iRV.VIIL70.3; AA.1l1.2.6; SB.X.5.4. 16 and AB. Keith ill AA., p. 257. note 10. 146AA.II.2.3; K.llIs. Up.III.l. 147RV.passim; cf. TS.I I.S . 1 1 .4-5; BU. IV.4. 1 9; KB. XA \'1.6. 1SB.XI.2.6. 1 3 . 1 4; SB.VIll.6. L 1 0; MU.VI.9. See aJs.o my "Atmayajf la" in HJAS. 6, 1942. Iw5B.X.4.3.24, etc. 151JSB. X.5.4.16; an echo of R V.VIII. 70.3. 1ISn.IX. l . l .32R$--d escent after ascent. mSB.XII.2.3.12. '" AB.VID I ; Sn.IIlA.3.13. Xn.7.3. 1 1 .
'RV. X.8.34.

IHVa50r

dlulT(', TS.VA.8. 1 . V.7.3.2; SB.IX.3.2.3; AAJLI.2, Hl.l.2; 1U.VI.37;

By Sankaracarya in Vivekac"udumat-32, 33 svasvarfJpanusandhanam or roatTlUl tattvii71wandhunam. By Narada, Bhoklisutra.s-2 sa tvasmin para1TUlprnnan -tpa. By S;:lndilra, Siiitdil)'abhaJctisutT(l siiparamiinUTahtiT ware. "Commerce" became a
namr dl )mbol of the intentions of man with God just be ca use "commerce" h ad originally been "une pratique pcrfectionnce de I'exchanges des cadeaux".-(W.C Hardy: Cart !Us Ius Marquist' s, 1938)-a hard mouthful trade is S)11OnrmOus with exploitationt

for us to swallow, for who m

Roman Breviaryadfm: at the end: that at onc and the same time it may suppo rt our lIlortal lifc and obtain for us everlasting ha ppi ne5s.
.. .

. . cherishing one another. ye shall gain the highest good".

The archet)pe of human-divine commerce is prescribed by the BCJU . l 0 ... 1 1 -

"'RV.VAS A; SB.IIl.4.3.13; 5nXn.3.2.12; RVJX. I I , I l l ; RV. VIllAS.'.

'nJEWAYOFWORKS \O HINDUISM AND IIU DDHISM

l'h(' "!Mdlk.uilHl" or st aying of King Soma, lhl' (;od, i s rig h tly called th e s.upn'l\\t Uhl.Hion. Yet it is not Soma him se lf, "but o n ly his evil" that is

kiUed:t!\Oit is, acm.\lly

o Ilowl'd in coronalioll ri t es tha t Som.\ i puritil,.d;''I} an d this is a p<ttll'rn f

(rU}(l....-'-J),d) .md (\csnipliYl' of the so u l 's preparation for her own autonom y (n){lnl)) . For it must never bt' fo rgotten that "Soma was the Dr;:Jgon" and is sat ri tidaU" cxtrattcd from the Dragon's body just as the l iving sap (rasa) is eXlr.u:tcd from a decortic.ltcd tree. It is in agreement with the ru le that the "Sunarl' Sl'rpt'nl "''' that h;wc cast and abandoned thcirdl'ad rep t ili a n skins'Sll thatSoma's prorcss.ioll is described: "Evell as rhcScq)Clllfrom his in vctc r atcd skin,so (from tht., bruised shoots) streams the go ld en Som a jc l , like a sportive stt. ' cd".I'>'I InjHst t he salnc way th e procession and liberation of our ilnmortal " ps)'chophysical shea th s (kosa; Gk. eTl liwnala :::: garments) is a Self from iL
from

in

p n. p .\l"lio n for his l'nthrol1elUcnt an d sovereignty

is, and is emptied ou t of himse lf,''' becoming a vxl Wh his and what he he return, [() him\e1f, from uished relin q s the rite i the rcal ll) th e unreaJ, rCll1f1l 1 og h t .\ay.'l " Now I Bu t al th o ug h I I I th us am who I am", tht y; s tatement shows that he knws tha t th is i, not really, but onl y trUC, H e h as been born agam of th e Silentice, and i l not really deee' Y , ' I ' . , "I',' hC' '15 no 1onger really an yone ; the w lVed, " Havm g s lal l l l i S own I) r,lgoIl ork h been done, once and for all; h e h ,cs com e to the th e World , "wh er e H eaven a nd Earth em brace", and may thereafter "work" I "p l ay" as he will; it is to him thal thc word\ are spoken, Lo tuopzacerWJ7I1l; per dum-- /Jer ch 'iD le wlna le rorono e mitrio. 'bI!

tempor..,. ';? pr'::;'

y

cnd of the road and end :

sh \k.ing off of bodiesl\tiO or as one draws a reed f rom its sheath, or an arrow serpent casl\ its skill, so We can now more ea.sily understand the identification of Soma juice with

Wc w ho we rc at war with oursel ves are now re int gra red and self-coffijXlse ' e d ,,:med (dan/a) il"c1 pacified (Santa) , and where lhere the rebel has becn t. had bee ll a conflIct of Wills there IS nm\' unanIlTIlty.!VJWe can only vcry b i fl re allude la an o th e r and vcry s igni fi can t aspect of th e

it'i qlli\'cr

thc \\'atcr of Lifc, that of our com po.sitc elemental soul (bhutiJlmall} with the Soma shool " fro m which lhe re g al elixir is lo be extracted,w:! and how and by \hmanas mean hy Soma" is consumed in Ollr he ar ts wh om '\vhat the Br. now offer lO their Overlord.1h4Thc sacrificer makes Burnt-offering ofwha[ b
It is only in Yama'!iI re \hn . in the othcn\'orld, thi rd heaven, that Soma himself c an be partaken of', nevertheless the sa c rifice!', ri tually and analogica lly "(h'inkc th of Soma in symposium ....'ith the Cods " ( ,w(lhmni uiam dnJai/J j01Twm f)ibatl) , and Gm say M\\,C h ave drunk Sorll<l, we havc be come immortal. we have seen th e Ligh t. wc h ave f ound the Gods; what Gm the enmity, what the treach ery of a mortal do unto us, 0 thou

to find iL., mark, or as a snake skiu is s1oughcd; "even does onc cast off all his CVil", lhl

as

the

(hrtsU).lb.i I t is the lifebloo d of the d raconian soul t ha t its harnessed

powers

Immortal'?

" " S8.1Il,9A.I7 , I8, 11SB.IIl.3,2.6. 'PBXXV,I5,4, '''RV.IJl86A4, "''fS,VlL4,9; PBW,9,19-22; JUB.LI53,[, 1IL3 0,2; CU,VlIL l 3 , CL BUJI L7, 3 ,[ , CU.VlII.12.1. Attainment of immortality in the body is impossible (5B.)(.4. 3. 9; J UB.III.38.1 0, etc.). Cr. PluU'do, 67C "Katharsis ( suddha Itaraa) is the separation of
th e soul

TS.1.7 .10; TS.111.2.5-"We have drunk the Soma, we have become immortal . . . TS.ll .5.55-jadhamiidam droa.i1 somam pibati sce picture f Sum e rian Seals, o The Eucharistic character of th e ritual is obvious. er. AB.I.22 " May wc eat of thee,

of

""SBJIL8.L2; TS,L75 , 2, As it wa, in th e beginning, RVX90,5; SBJIL9J.2, lIofThe Gods are true, or real (satyam). men false or unreal am a , ( !1 m) AB. 1 .6. ' 58.1] .1.4, IIl.9,4. ] , etc. [llnj,,'ers.1l.'iare real, particulars unreal]. Thejnjtiaed uCrifice; has fal le n away from this world and is tcmporarily a God, Agni or IndI A (S8JII . 3..3.10; SB .VI.4.4. 1 0 with {tarn agni, and saiJam ::: deu:;, agni stll. nding for both), TS,V. 1.6.7 u jam veli ]tarn, asau sat yarn. a. Heres 84-the pricst h Moo t a man while he is in tht Holy of Holies. If no provision were made for the sacrificer's relUm co Ihe world of mcn , h e would be l iable to die prematurely (TSJ.7.6. 6, etc.). TIle redesce:n t u t he refore provided fo r (TSV:L3, I OA; PB.x\IL 10.1 0;ABJV,2I);and il is in relutnin g t 10 h e huma n world of unreality or f a lse hood .md becoming th ,i s man so-and,so once " m ore (hat he says Now I am Who I am" (aham)'a t'vawu'so 'STIff; SB.l.9.!J.2:3;AB.V1L24; .III 5 . 2 ,26); a tragic confession thar hc is once again conscious ofa more limIted, S eve n a bodi ly and earthly lifc" ( Macdonald, Phantcu(tj, 1858, p. 317). For rhcrc ca.n be no re t J UnJcntlWlng, g a er sorrow than to reflect that we still are what we are (Cloud o
=

Sacrifice that has been m ade by p oi n ti n g out that lhe reconciliation of conflicting powers [or whi ch

Ch, 44),

GO? Channa " and Math. XXVI.2&--M . , ' Take, eat; this L.. my body",

j(>ISB.1I.5.2A7; BU.lV .4.7 , an d passim. IUIU .ln.3f. 'MRV.I,16B.3, 1 . 1 79.5, cL RV.X. I 07 9 ( (lnlflJ:t/wyam) . jt>4Cf, P\u\o, LA.n.S!), IO pour our as a libation th e blood of t h e soul and t o o ffer as inceno; the whole Inin(l (0 Cod OUT Saviour an d Benefactor". flmnariJuil1l- "To JIleet .....ith Me and bdlOld My beauty h ",'hat I give in return for the hlood af My
Love rs" (sce BSOS.V. 914) .

from th e body, .:Is far a. Ihac is possible",

==

I f JB .VI.7, jitiiJmanah praiontas'j'a pMmnii(lii S(lmiiJ'ir1},-"The Suprme Sdf of t .l[{r has , ee? tnd d the l_ lvj llalself is 'composed' (JamahiJa.h "" Ill mmadJu ) when he Conq\lCte UlelUs. Santl' lheq gin 'I 11 0 , Itera J' IS ' d y ' ac if " and padficd.... Observc thilt to "p . ' . " , ' In s(lmayUr, pecc" . also t I presen , IS n o t for any sdfthat will no( clie. [Ile root, wm, S . . tIle ' " "SS ', , . nlua I (RV, V. . bu t c1 I('r" who "l]uj(t'i" lhe ;lcnhnaI \ .Icu, m m the "x(cmal S ' B Il l R 3 4 lh fire: of VanuM' wra the ) " t " d ( ' I .lalntJ)'O ol1Cl1chts e te.); [he sacrificer . d " " (T' "J I1C Ill 1'1 uaI ' S S V I 6; ' p'lc ScJf ()},II ' ' ilies t B.lX.} . <l it is thc: llIgfur .... l ) , within )'O\1 ' d It' ' d [0 .elf lI have . e!r , Illm , must with I . ' (l n ches its fire . \Vhocvcr wO\l ld be :l( peace - ' , atJu . ttllruJ 111l1setf C . aju/ gam fJan n'(l lltllwam .Ia 11 . 1. DhanllilaJmd-t lO-rkmiJ ((/jf' . . i, IIQ upl ' b' attIe ' S t hI ho Will w He n. , ' " , ' iinm a l'atl I ) m . . n t'tlfJ dMI(J a (ps , " . bhm ' lmjuam Jrm'fl/fl h, P. 364 on yc I 10 tn ac.I . . J '1' I l1 ,l . ' v,na) . Cl K.1shpa lY'Jlhad) is t ht' tnIe con qu crof (,. ji h'.l(1 AS VI .389, 19...2 ( "On Peace"), . itl'flllhilc, 556E. Gonri ' , Timanu 47D; and HJ . ('> aJ 482C' '

I hllDa.n t c, PurgaJorio, XXVlI 1 3 I . 1 42MThou hase o'ercome dIe s(eccr ":JY, ' e orne the straiter. . . . -I inve st thee (hen \Yid, crowu and mllTe, O\'Crelgrl 0 er O rc
thyself It

"'1'SJL5A,5 ,

ShaTlUiT abriz., p. 233-'"There is no crim e Worse than thy being".

'

'\.. ,

'

"

IllNlllllSM ANI) BUDDIIISM

\hu\ 'l;,l\\e of "k.illing" \ Dr;.\gon ; and tht: Dragonslayer's bol t

the Sacrifice co n tinually provide. is also tho i r marriage. There are m ore way.

(ll(jra) hein g ill [.\et .\ :-ih.\ft \.l f l ight . ,md "light lhl' prog t'llitive p owe r ", i L'i sig n ifi c a ti on is ntH only milil.lry, \)\n i\1so phal1ic. F!lh bthc balll of love thal has been wo n wh en
the Dragon "(,'xpircs". SOllla as Dragoll is idlntifit'cl wi t h the Moon; as E l i x ir the Moon becomes the food ofth<.' Sun, by whoJ11 she is swal lowed U p l71 on the nights e.llc, 'r's name and not its own "; 1 7 in other words. i ngestio n im p l ies assi milation. m.m, which
I

, an ince'sant operation lumtinuity This conception o f the Sacrifice a of man's duty finds iL, com pletion in a >tne, of tt:Xtl in sum Tau) and the which each and every function of the active life, d(Mn to our very breau,ing.

THE WAY Of WORKS

of tht'ir c oh abi t.l tlO n (amiillllJ)'a) and ",,,hat is eaten is called by the turns in eye to eye, in ear to ear; so does the soul in Cod turn into

vocation, determined by one's own nature

Works " (Iwnlla marga) of the Bh agavad

In 1cistt'f Eckhan's wo rds , "There the soul unites with God, as foo d with God"; for '\" hat abso rbs mc, that I am, rather than mine own se l f ". 1 71JUSl as

the Sun swallow s up the Da\\'n, or de\'ours the Moon, visibly and outwardly,

)'0\\ when the solar and lunar Pcrson of the right and left eyes, Eras and Psvche Death and t he Ladv, enter into the cave of (he heart and are united thre, ust

daily and monthly, sllch is the "divine marriage" that is consummated wi t h i n

Gita, where to fulfil one', own (wai<arma, wabhilvalm. WMau/Qu prallein, kala tJhwin= to attend to his own prac ti ce, ac cording to nature). with self-referent motives, is ule way of perfecti on (,'Mhl). We have come fu ll circle, notin an "evolution ofsought" but in our own undcn:.tanding,from the position that the perfect ce le brati on of rites is o u r talikr to the position that th e per fec t performance of our ta,ks, whatever they may be, js itlelf the do in g specifically sacred things only on partic ular occasions, bUlOfsacrificing

eating, drinking and da l liance is sacramcntally in te rpre ted

nothing b u t the final catharsis. ,.) And that is, fi nal ly, the f amollS

and death i.! "Way of

celebration of the rite. Sacrifice, thus u nderstood, is no longer a matter of

their "supreme beflutitude".IH In th at rapt synthesis (samiidhl) th e Self has

as

a man and wman are united in human wedlock, and that is

recovered its primordial condition, "as of a man and a woman closely elll

ouL

braced",J7and Wilholll awareness of any distinction ofa within from a with lib "That Self art tho u. "

We say "natu rally " advise dly, intend i ng to imply that whatever is done awareness, but that whatever is done unn aturally is essentially and irrevocably profane.

whatever is done naturally, by a red ucti on of all acti,itie, to their principles.

(ma/dng sacred)

al l we do and all we arc; a matter of the 5anctification of

n atu ral ly may be either sacred Of profane according to our own degree of

No wonder. then, that we find it said that "If one sacrifices, knowing no t

oblation in the ash es ";1I1 that this is n o t a rite to be perfo rmed on ly a t fix ed of the soul incessanuy build up his Fire even while he is asleep.!""}
I '/IICf. RV.l.32.5 vojrnJo= B.l1.5 virya
as

this interior

Burntffering, it is as ifhe pushed aside the brands an d made

seasons, but on every one of the thirty six thousand days of onc's whole l ife

ora hundred ycars;17l1and that for the Comprehcnsor of t h is . all the powers
in Manu 1.8 viryam/bi jam aviisdat, and in

the se me ofRV.X.95.4 snathlla vmtasena. On the fitff' /xJi5er, Disenchantment by a Kiss, see W.H. Schofield, Sludi.s an the Libealls Desconus, 1895, 199fT., and my ''The Loathly X4 [Coomaraswamy. 1: Selected Papers, Bolingen, PUP, 1977, Bride ", SpIculum X.

pp. 3 3-70]. See also Kratislaw, Sixt)" Folk Tales, p. 305 . 1715B.1.64.19 grasilvii.
17"lSB.X.6.2.1.

17""'1)tate\'er is received into anything is therein after the mode of the rcc ip ie nt " Sl. Thomas Aquinas, Supp. 921. Meistcr Eckhart, Evans'trans.I.287,380. Our hi ghest good is thus to be devoured by "Noster DClIs ignis consumens". Cf. Specul!4m, XI, 19:6,

which this lo\'e, b grappled to thy sout". His ki.s, who is both Love and Death, \waken.!i
us to becoming

pp_ 332, 333 and. furthef, Dante, Paradlla XXVI.S I , "How many are the fangs, with
1940. '''5S')(.5.2.1 1 ,12. mSB.lA.3. '''SU.IV.3.2L

here, and his love-bite to being there. Cr. my "Sun kiss" in JAOS.60,

27 in pnlic of Vis\'akamlan. 1'SB.X.5.3,3; AAll .3.8. '''SnXS.3.12.

2 , mSA.X: er. 5s.II.2.4.7.8: i.L77: eU.v.24; 58.1.5.2.4, 1I.3.1.20 and Niru!<ta 1 0. 6

)' o na 0' U!l JI oun Visvaka nnan throug

U1dude all

THE SOCIM. ORDER

35

THE SOCIAL ORDER

Ethics, whe th er as prudence or as art, is no th ing but the scien tific applicat ion of doctrinal norms to contingent problems; right doing or making are mall(, 'rs tllH onlvofthcwill, hut primariiyofconscicnce o r awareness, a choice being only pO& \lblt ' as between obedience or rebellion. Actions, in o th er words, arc in ord er or in ord i na te in precisely the same way that iconography may bC' correct or incorrect, f o rmal or infonnal.!l1I Err or is ililure to h i t the

Where there is agree ment as to the natu re ofma n'!> lt tnd, and that the Way by which tbe present and the paramount ends of life can be re aJhed " that of sacrificial operation, it is evident that the form of v..dety will be ' of the Sacri fi ce ; and that order determined by the requirement (yalhiiniuzlii ) and i m pa r tia li ty (samatiTsli) will mean tha, everyman shall be enable d to become , and by no misdirection preve n ted from becoming, what he has jr i n him to be come. We have seen thatitis to th ose who maintain the Sacri fi ce that the promise is made that th ey shall flourish. Now the Sacri fice, performed
iivakannan ), as imitated here demands a in d ivin i s by the Allworkcr ( V (viSva kannii. 1J.l) ,IH for example, those of musk, architecture, carpentry, husbandry and that of warfare to protect the opera

mark, .md is 10 be ex pected in all who act instinctively, lO please themselves.

Skill (k atjal Ja = Gr.

coope ration of all the ar ts

n eed in g em phas i s only bec ause it has now been gen era l ly overlooked that

Jophia) . is virtue. whether in doing or in m.aking: a matter

as

th ere can be artisti c

well

as

moral sin. "Yoga is skill in works.

"11l:!

lion. The politics of the heavenly, social and individual communities are gover ned by one and the same law. The pattern of the heavenly po li tics is state and that of the man who governs himself. In revealed i n scripture and reflected in the consti tuti on of the autonomous of sacerdotal, royal and administrative powers, and a fourth class consi sting

DhannaS;itra.s. An and prudence arc both equally fact of their application to j ach/nlia and agibilw. The fact that t here is an application to contingent problems introduces an clement of contingency into the laws them selves, which are not identical for all castes nor in all ages. In this sense, the tradition is ad ap tab le to changing conditions always, provided that the solutions are derived directly from the
sciences, difTering from pure metap hysics only in the

action are pre!\cribed i n the

utI n f act, just as the Conns of images arc prescribed in the SilpaS3.stras, so those of

this man , in whom the sacramental life is complete, there is a hierarchy

of the physical organs of se nse and action, that handle the raw material or

which is impossible if divided against itself, that the sacerdotal, royal and workers in raw materials their "servan ts". I t is i n precisely the same way that of the Sacrifice".184 In the sacramental order there is a need and a place for
uni things to their 11nitary principle, and thus what is expenence m bemg. , ai "nn'stic m ro ers dill' I bm it must be dearly realise t lat Juga d f . . . ' n,e penected )'ngi can pass not a paSSl\'e, but an acUve and con tro11 cd procedure.
from one state of being . - D admirably stated in P lato , Repubbc 5 / 1 f., collecting h imself in med itat ion .

"food" to be prepared f or all; and it is cle ar that if the organism is to flourish,

administrative powers, in their order of rank, must be the "masters", and the the functional hierarchy of the realm is dete rm i ned by the requircmenl of

first principle!., which never change. In other words, while there can be a modification

of laws onlv tho!>e laws that can be reduced to the Eternal Law can ever be called correct. Th<."re is, in the same way, necessarily and rightly, an application of pu re metaphysics to the variety of religions that correspon d to the variety ofhuman needs, each of which religi ons . will be "the tnll.' re ligion " to the extent th a t it refl ec ts th eternal principles. In saying this wc dis t in gu ish between metaphysics and " philosophy and are not sugge sting that any systematic Or natural philosophy can presume (0 te validity of the theology that Aristotle ranks above all other sciences (MetaphYSICS, 1.2.12f. . \1.1.10f.).
I works", BC.VI.2. Smhll)'rua is renumeration or consignment of works to the lJ: rea nor author. In other words , ),oga does not mean doing less or more than c no ug.h . g o doing nothing at all , but doing withou t attachment to the f nt it of\\>'orks, takll n J1l thought for the morro..... . "He secs indeed . who sees inaction in action, and acti O inaction", BG.IV.18 and passim). This is the Chmese doctrine of wet unt wei. . on IS co nn ecU th' Yoga is lite rally and etymologically Cl "yokin g", as of horses; an d III .. of the e k "hors s d it will not he overloo ed t hat in I ndia , a.'i in Greek psychology, the tll ay or that , for O bodily vehicle are the sensitive powers by Which i t is drawn this w !\I%" Yoga kannasu. kau5awm", BG.n.50; also "Y oga is the resignation (samny

the Sacrifice on which its p r osperity depends. The castes are literally "born

sometimescaJled "ysti1

n";

a) 0 f

' cxan'l,ie , the Buddha, f.I._4 11" IS 101' to anotIler at \\'1 . . ' . .One r 0f H 'ust what rim UllpIICS IS 10ga, andJ ti i t c ra p a Hindu extent (0 s i Everv some _ . ._1 . lomrntJ1

"

sui tablc p hysical exercises, ;llld m US t

0f . \Vhcn, howevcr, it becomes a qllc.'ltlon . . . mte nt i , on IS to scale tht! uttermost 1 !e lgI 1t.'I, t hc
.

or evil, or Inner

they are yoked by

" ;lOci As a ptn:sica\ and mental diKipline, Y oga is . Contemplation, dhdrana, dltyan , " In . sa miidhi corrcliponding to Chrilitian considnQtlO, (ontnnplntlOand e;r:ce.sStU M sepaJ<lted of n reductio the im lies yoga significance, total and p its consummation horse"(RV.V.46 , 1 ) .

the driver to W 10 r o lllc Jl reins. The individuality is the team. the Inner Cont ' I g Man the rider. The ego or man then . Kyokes himse lf like .m underst.lfH
to its ultimate goal if the horses arc controlled by

the

l;:,boralion of all the arts. Scc note 180. _ A.1M H0cart, LM Qutes. Pari5. 1 939. ! 1T hc best discllss i on of lhl!> will be found UI

out the _( 'Ir undf' " .tken ,",,'ith , be soue 's. . " mental exercises; nor can any of these cxelClse tlnt . step5 , b)' whICh the \-agr . fi Irst 1 ofIhe IUfe . ' n,! guidance of a master. Some t< , I ea 0I t le ...mpt he'lw cd ift cmin be '11 . 1 0" '""{ o , r l n s tream of thought IS arrcstcd:.m(1 b rOll.l{i I t tIIl dcrco en p . . I)("riod even ;l$ t so lonlo {" what ' lor 15 ma de to think ofsonw one t1 l. ing, no Ilnllcf ' lileIH, Ihat even thiS b;lfTJ.S$ , HI c , perh.1ps seconds; it w il l be found with smprise , and cannot bc done without much practice. ' sacrifice demands lht col" !H'SB.IX.!l , 1 .42 III lht anw ".ay that the Chn.tI'lIl

elore . 0f breathmg b control and awareness of the wholc: procc.s

by J.cutlOner musI be p"pared prcc m : l d c ;l b ' ) l t .. .. .... P cu a d . 11>' have 'lcqUlre cspecm :

.u o" , and t he econtempI.1 " more 1'ntenslV .

'

' SlwnOIfln CIS

9.

autos Qulo Oph,u

1It" p,oceeds to .in)

HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM

\\\)rk ls Sarritict" , than the faet thalll ncier t h c-se conditions, and remote as th is may be from our St'cui.lr ways of th In ki n g . every function, from that of the pr iest and the king down to th at of the potter and scavenger, is li tera ll y a
pri esth ood and t'\'cry operation a ministerial rite. In each of these spheres,

all men'swork: and there isnomoresignificant consequcnce of the principle,

moreove r, we meet with "professional e t h i cs ". The caste system d iffe rs from
that it presu pposes differences in kinds of responsibility but not in degrees of respo nsibility; and it is j ust bec ause an organis a ti on

the industrial "division of labor", \vith its "fractioning of human faculty", in

this, with its mutual loyalties and duties, is absolutely incompatible with our competitive in dusu"ialism , that th e monarchic, feudal and caste system is aJv.-ays painted in suc h dark colours by the sociologist, whose thinking is determi ned more by his actual environment than i t is by first principles. 1 1I3

of functions such

s ( s i nce this can be remedied '-'adopti for w an t of descendanL end , not . , , ' , "J Oil) vocatIOn and tradluon IS abandoned, In the 5a11) famIly he ever t but when confUSIOn o f casteS IS the dea th of a society, nothing bu t a fll , > way a to tal h e re a man can change his profession at will, as th o ugh it w g mainin re altogether m d epen de n t of hIS own nature, Ius, in fact, th been so mcthlllg societies are murdered a nd their culture destroyed by COn ta that tradi tio nal u. \ et with i n d ustrial and p ro leta ri a n civilisations, The orthodox Eastern estifll a I<: lted in :vIathew Arnold's words: of Western civilisation can be fairly s

THE SOCW. ORDER

as

The East bow'd low before the West In patient, deep disdain. It must be remembered, however that contram of this kind can be draWn only as be twee n the still orthodox East and the modern West, and wou ld not have held good in the thirteenth ce ntu ry.
,

a deduction from

fol lows from the doctrine of progenitive rebirth: every man's son is by nativity ualified and predestined to assume his fa th er ' s "character" and take his

That capacities and corresponding vocations are hereditary necessarily

and finally confi rm e d in

place in the world; it is for th is that he is in itia ted in to h i s fa the r' s profession
should the fath e r survive, the son b ecom es the head of the famiIvYw In

it by the dea th bed rites of transmission , after which,

society to realise his own

at the Sam e time for a com m on prosperity an d to en able

The social order is designa ted, by i Ls i n tegra ti on of functions, to prOlide

replacing his father, the son frees him from the fu nctional responsib i l ity that

he bore in this life, at t he same time th at a continuation of the sac rificial sen;ces is provid ed for.IHi And by the same token, the family line comes to an

e mbodied in the Code of Manu, and cognate law books of the Hindlls. have achieved fe ctly harmonious industrial economy. deeply rooted in the popular conviction of its divine character. and protected, through e\'e ry political and commercial vicis!'Oitude. hood . Such an ideal social order we sh oul d have held Impossible of re al isat io n , bm civilization of antiquity over the secular,joyless, inane, and self -destructive m odem civilization of th e West." responsibility to society in this respect, wh ich must be a loss of the conceptofvocation.
rate

l!'Sir George Birdwood remarks in h is

Sva,

1915, pp. 83-4: "The enactments

this consummation from before the foundations of Athens and Rome . . . we trace there the bright outlines of a self-contained, self-depen d e n t. symmetrical. and pe r

by the absolute power and marvellous v.lsdom and tact of the BrahmaIJical priest th at it continues to exin, and to afford us, in the yet living results ofiL daily operation in India, a proof of the superiority, in so many unsuspected ways, of the hieratic

For if there is no liberation by works, it is e vi dent that the practical part of the social order, however faithfully fu lfi lled , can no 1II0re than any other ri te , or than the affirmative theology, be regarded as anyth ing more than a ll1ans o a n end b eyo n d itself. There a lways remains a lalit step. in which the mual IS aba ndoned and the rel ative truths of th eol ogy denied, As it was by the so it must kn owledge of good and evil that man felI frolll hi;first high estate, be f that he m ust be rom ti,e know ledge of go od and .,,1, from t he 1II0r,,1 law, Iasts [e to del ivered at last. However far onc mav have gon e, there remai ns a ' SOCie ty be taken, invo lvi ng a disso lu tio n of all fonner values. A ch urc h or es not (rel igion or tdo CUlture)-th c Hindu would make no distincuon-tha
The lasmiit ' , 5 00".\ ring. o rship of the gods mean . P "[UUl re w . frrrlJottara droayfl)ya ' te and InIlCfaan e f ' ' Cas .. CC 1 se[,,\ . ' f e n e 0 vocations pro\'idcs for the conunlllty 0 d1\1 vo . ' . bornC,llIon is ' one I , , h Crtd ' . k (0 which It ar\,; onc should (10 ( rt'llllqUlsh tIl(, hor , qha 4-"Bu( thr ' JatnJe j ' . IdS t .
;::;

that a man is considered to be a Hindu in good sL wding, not by what he believes but by w h at he does; or in other words, by his "skill" in well domg under the law.

identified with the "law" and distinguished from the "spirit", Hindu religion

perfection . In the sense that 'religion"

e,'ery member of is to be

is strictly speaking an obedience; and that this is so appears clearly in th e f act

1!!f'One reason for the current decline of birth

is the loss of a

sense

of

metier, ministerium. Each responsibility implies the other. or thus arc the.<ie IlI7AAIIA.5; AiLUp .IV.4--For the pcrpclUation of these worlds; f

worlds perpetuated . That}s his being bom again. This self ofh i is put in hh piacefor the doing of holy works [SB.X.4.3.9, 1.9.3,21, VIII.6 . 1 .10; BU.LS.171. Th a t other Self

dhmma1J.(jj pari RV. IX.97.30 pllu(na) putra1J. hratubh,r (Sayal;m-karmablur) ya!iina '" as a ather 's welf are. Similarly SB.I.R 1 1 lion perseve ri ng in sacrific ial rites secure" his f
,

ofhh, havingdonc what there was to be do ne . and reached his age dcpart.<; (from this .i.]VB.III.9.6; :-'1 U.V1.30 RV.Vl. 70.3 pmpmitihlliT.i(i'yat world ) . Dlat is his third birth." C

d I th he fabri c of tht' worl d Ptayet . 1;J rrJi1 ' FrolIl t1 l e S:ll11c 73[. , "Con cernillgU 'd' t'f'\ .lnl\ poinl <)[view in Plato, LaIl's 7 . ili!L d . g r . ft' bY J O\1 Jtl , . eC('('eel t 11.1t I w(' sho uld adhnt' !O the evcr-productlve lIalll of G ' Idrc lt .s h I I ItaHl " " lg bduJld u s ( ()cl tI 01 11- OW d Il !Ht',HI' ,\i1r! Il,i" we do by al\'o"a}'S L " , chi! ch ' , I,1 e f n" S ' " p 147- e 1'('"1 'l i ' . , I I PpOr t('d by Si r Pctl'{" Rt'llou{ in his R,lig:ioll olttO/Jf im ilarly, , ..: ' n 111 rny I' . ( (Ifflly hOll\t'. , S d . I I It 11<1/11 B alive lfIg e kt'(' ('vcr , p cw'r I palO r.J() for .le P I 1d 1 . .H I l o " I 7, Dan te ' . ,3 1 Ta.,.l{ll , BV 1 3 " . 1 6 1 . VII (no rc'" prr,)ottaTf; dn!(ll'fllniJ et SB ' , :I . 199. l c rcnce given ) ; A.sch.Cho. 256f.; Ph il o, Dl'C .on/ 96 an d Dt Die
, . <

Will

l w /Cl , . r nn.l1fl " 11a lyaj,.r, B(;.XVlII.48 , Suppor td by E J . (t' I their I}} 1tH<u c aft "is11(' nt t' handiwork of thei r II An

IIINl'll1ISM ANI) l\l lDl)l llSM

provide a way of escape from its own regimen, and will not l e t it, people go, lS deftJ.ting its ow n ul ti m ;\ lt' p u rpose , IKH

It is predse\}' for this last Slep that provision is made in the last o f what are called the "Four Stages" (asmma.s) onife. ""The term itself implics that eVe ry m.an is a pil gri m (sram.ua, ,\skctes) , Whose only motto i s to "keep on g o i n g " (car;.uva). The first of th ese stages is that of student-disciplcship; tlle se co n ci that of marriage and occupational activity, with all it"i responsibilities and tights: tlw third is onc of reU'cat and comp ar ativ poverty; the fourth Cl condition of to tal renunciation (.wnll)'iisa) . IV() l t wi ll b e seen that whereas in

a secular society

,-

a man looks forward to an old ag e of co m fo r t and economic indep endcnce, in this sacramental or der (consignment) he looks fonvard to hec om i ng inde penden t of e co nomi cs and i nd i fferen t to comf ort and discomfort. I recall the figure of one of the most magnificent tnen: having been a hou seh ol der of alm ost fabulous wealth, he was now at the age of seventy-cight in the third stage, living alone in a log cabin and doing h is own cookin g and wash ing with his own h a Ilds the only two ga rme n ts he posses.."lcd. In (\"0 years more he wo uld have abandoned all th is sem i-luxury to become a rel igi ous mendicant, without any possessions whatever but a loin clo th an d a be ggin g bowl in wh ic h to receive scraps of food freely g ive n by others still in the second stage of life. This fourth stage oflife may also be entered upon at any time, if and o nly if, a man be ripe for it and th e call he irres istibl e . Those who thus <lbandon the household life and ado pt the homeless are variously known as renou n cer s , wanderers or marksmen (sannyasi; pravr ogi s. It faka, siidhu) '" and as Y a

' affirmation of ul ti m a te values , affects all values 1" However belo ng, by i t w t rhis wayoflife for many may be the preten de rs and shirkers ho may adop that think of the four we if remains still t i reasons, inadequate of a variety super-social and the society, Hindu of thc g n i t n essence s e e r p e r caste s as 1fily relinquishes all anonymous life of the trul y poor man, who volunL These are th ose that quintessence. its s t n se r p e r rights, all and obligations
have denied thcmselves and left all, to "follow Me". The mal:jng of this highest election is open to all, regardl ess of social status. In this order of nobodi es, n o one will ask

'o s even today that men of the highest rank, achievement and wealth thi.; way; rhil il the ir lives" (rmyad vrltmn u!)fum,;,)an, BC.rVS I ) in the worl d, for their funeral rite, are performed wheo rhey li terall y a dying to to ,uPJ>Ol'" me and take to t he open air. It would be a great mi.;take l eave ho a change reflect i t m n e t rather ni they e ; l uch p a way any in arc . dt such acts LIl ' . ceedmg e o r p the of the in led imitation been lif e haVing activ of mind; the by an imitation of the Deus absconditus. deity is nOW balanced presence of these m en in a society to which they no longer

THE SOCIAl. ORDER

:;:'gc

The mere

"Who, Of what were you in the world? The Hindu of any caste, or even a barbarian, can become a Nobody. Bl essed is the man on whose tomb can b e written, Hiejacet nemo (= here lies no-one).
only the psycho-physical ve hicle remains attached until the end comes. Death in samadhi changes nothing essentiaL lY' Of their condition th ere afte r litue
These are already liberated from the chain offale o r necessity, to which

4
.

IOn Law and Liberty cf. Sl. Augustin e. De spiritu et littera. It i s by the Sp iritual Powenhat the Temporal power is freed from its bondage ( .. . . . verily by the h oly pm'ler

Brahman , he [ Brhaspati) frees him [Indral from the bond thatfetters him ". TS .IlA.1 3)
CL AB.VU.13.

'II'JMU.IVA. See also SaIikar :lcaryd., I3rahmii Sutra, SBE. Vo! . XXXVIII . Ind ex. "Stages of life ( ciSrmna)". The first three lead co heaven ly states of being. only the fourth, which may be entered upon at any tim e, to an absolute immor\l ity in Gd.
s.v.

:Vhat shape a nd eating what food he will ;j uS l as in John , the saved 'shall go In and Out, and find pasture" ( John 1O.9)."'Theseexpressionsareconsislent Wtth the doctr ine of "distinc tio n W i lholll difference " (MedaMeda) supposedly

It IS expl rC . l t that "Never have I not been, or hast thou not been, or ever shall not be" '94 We are told that the perfected self becomes a ray of the Sun, and a mover-at-will (kamac;jrin Cli.V11.2S.2) up and down theseworlds, assuming

t onlyis the annihilation of anything real a metaphysical impOSSibility, but

or more can be said than that they arc . They are certainly not annihilated, f

On the fourth asmma cf. Plato, "But with the advance of age, when the soul beglns ), to attain maturity . . . they should do nothing bu t (consider all time a nd all bein el e unless as a bywork, if they are to lead a ble ssed life and when they finish crown th

ssenc : tahma Su

pccuhar to Hindu "theis m " but presupposed by the doctrine of thc single an d dual nature and by many Vedanuc texts, including those of the

tra, not refuted by Salikaracarya himself."" Thc doctrine itself

they have led (here) with a corn:sponding lot lhere . . . when they reach , . they .....ill be born again" (Republic, 498C, D with 486 A) . With a " mort ifi e h whIch , ) 7 64,.6 a true philoophy is an an: m01"idi, an of dying, vid,hamllkti ( PJlfvdo, 6 1 . . lll see , ._, 11 - Iung ' 1e (IIstmguls 'I'l "Vt)'aj, t)'aga -=: fo rsaking from .saTnnyas(F re mqu l... h g' 0 IL.'S ' O, I V. the several implications of larimyasa and kanna in BG.V. l2, 111. 30, VL2, IJI.27, V.B, IX.27. V.13. Hn ts, . ' lIa ' . chn "'For refcrcnces to frravrj-= ex.lle, to renounce all worIdly a - to go tnto to enter on the fo urth tage in life , see BU .IVA.22, IV.5.2. [ rhe On vra j, to be banihed, etc., cf. Philo, Rarm. 1 17-"oot the disc redite d n lgt,l l 0 ay cll 111wl l nt l e outcast, but a flight of one banished from eVil lo salvation. a banishm be trUly held to be better than a recaW. er. Ph ilo , D Abr. and DI! Migr.

[lat I: Il

''''Ill Csed is the kingdom wherein dwells one of them: in an instant dlcywil1 do tn . Ol e l!.l!llll1g g d . Evans 'Iel,Stt'1 . EC kl ' ever done " (I) oo Ih,m all the o1l1w.ud acttons tra, . ". I . 10" ) . -,n d .L WI -1' 1}t" S ,cepmg". cf. .is he also says whilc olher people watch, Uley ne.n 6 ... , . those wh om we call "1 ISc 1e,s " are the "true pilots" (Plato, &jmhlu 489f. and why Blldclha was a herm " H) IU:\E n ' l\ d V a s I .7.14 "Nolhing from I iH' realm of real being shall pass away", 1" i Il G. t 1 . 1 2. l 'lRV 1 1

lart,

M.:2

r..tUll d. \)

7 IIl(jBrJI.4;

1 3 .9; J U IUIL28.3; SkVII.22; BV.n.US; CV.VlI.25.2. TaiLUp.IJI. I O.5; Pi..,!.. Sophi:l II.I9Ib.
l.ura

n.3.43f. Dots GUpt41,

Indlafl PIII/o.sophy, 11.42f. Abo En1l(ads VI.6.7.

Vlll. t.5-6;

40

HINDUISM AND BllDDHlSM me.,n t

corresponds exactly to wh'\1 i.

C()nfused",

arayoflight to its sourn', which is also that of the rad i u s ora circle to i tlj: centre. 1f\\'t, think of such a ray or radius as having "gone in" t hrou gh lhe cc n U'c to

IIm, Ihat can be we can best underSland hy the a nal ogy of the relation of

by M e i ster Eckhart's "fused bu t n ol

n" ,,1\)(';1 Iislener , lh ink e lIIlspoke . r, see r ' tha t l nten or PerMJIl peaker, of cr, w 41 or all nc" kno di'>(tJ Illgs "n 'lI}i ,',," "T hat art th ou "'" (CC n e a k , s , ' VI ,8, I!o u ld SeIf )r 7) ' kn o"'!hat an 'fld ,f')r<.

an untiimellsiollt'd and extra-cosmic infinity, no th i ng whatever can be sai d of it; if we think ofit as at the cenu'e, it is, but in identity with the centre and ind.istinguishable from it, and o nly whell it goes "o u t " does it have an apparent position and identity. There is t he n a "desce n t" of Light of LiglltS 'IS a light, bUt not as "anothcr" lighl. Such a "des cen t " as that nations

< '>

my

Krishn a or Rama differs essentially from the fata lly detcrnlincd incar of mortal natures th at have forgotten Who they arc; it is, i nd ee d , their need that now d ete rm ines the descent, and not any lack on his part
who descends. Such a "descent" is of one "whose joy is only in h i Inse lf " , 1 and is not "seriously" involved in the forms h e active necessity, but only in "span" (k"dii, lilii)
98

(avataraa) \\.I7ofLhc

assumes, not by any co I'" Our immortal S el f is "like the dewdrop on the lotus leaf ',,:!(H) tangent, but not adherent. "U l tim ate , unheard, unreached, un thought , unbowed, unseen, undiscriminated and

cave" of those who have made the "ste ep ascent" corresponds to the Sacrificer's rc descent for which ref erences are given in note 166 (Hindtlism ) . predo minating

19'1Avataraa

KnJiibas,'s as

in

Republic 519D an d John 111.13. The "re tunl to tile

other ways or by other verbs such as aVaRram or avast/ul, prati-i, (praty-) avaruh. The earliest refert' nce to Vishnu's "descem" may be TS.L7.6. 1 , 2-jrnnar immn lokam pratyavarohu. U. SB .XL2 . 3.3 where Brahma imtin lokiin . . . prat)'avait. I n view of the later recognition that the Buddha was an avatara, Cf. J .1.50 where the Buddha

AVl1tr vanes i n meaning from "come over" t o "overcome", t h e la tt er meaning in the earlier tex15. TIle meaning "descend" is often expressed in

descends ( OmJha '" avaroha) from the Tusita heaven to lake birth, lhe illustl'ation of this even t at B harhut inscribed f'hagavo okiimti (=avaJmimali) , and DhA,Il1.226 he desce nds (otaritva = avatirtva) from heave n at Sankassa. Cf. \Vi n d isch , ....here .
Buddha 's Gebtt rt, 31f.

"'AA.1 I I.2. 4, cr. AV,X,8,44; jUB,III , 1 4,3; GV,IV, L 1 1 . \' 8, 7f ' ; KaU!,Vp.l: etc, 2, 1.5,6 ' 2Il'lSA.XIII; and the previous no[C. Othcl references ) on " e the me' ' RV X " S 'B , IX, 2,3,2 ' 7 ; PI 11 'I0, F 1 2 1 2 S " 'ug. om .. I,248; Diez,L. 8,17,18(? ) ,7,6;
'n, and done, and thought, "AIJ you have bcen, and SCl Not YOll, but I . h.wc seen and becn and \\Tought . . .

D.1I.108 Buddha says: ,ada bodhisatto tusita-kiiya cavitvii sato sampa jiino (cf. JUS) miitu hucchirn ohkamali . . . matu IwccMnnii nikkhamati. For lhe idea of a "descent" otherwise phrased, see JUBJIL28.4: .5B.1.9.3. 1 0 and BG.IV.5f. Cr. Clntuntin HomJlil'J 111.20 "He alone has it (the spirit of Christ) Who has
changed his forms and his names from the beginning of i he world and so reapp eared again and again in the world".

1'III" Ck solo t'SSo a sipiau" , Dante, PurgatorioXXVII1.91 . Which Itself alone is pleaS ing to ILSclf. IY'JSee note 76 and "Play and Scriousne5" in J ournal o f Philo.m/)h}' XXXlX.5S0-2, Nityo.and liill, the comtantand the variable , are Being an d Becoming, in Eternity and Time.-Enneadll IV.8.5. ""CU,IV,14,3; MU ,1l1.2: Sn,71, 213, 547 (like KU,V,l l ) , 812, 845; A,Il,39 ,

Arrival but Myself at my own Door Come. you lost Atoms, to you r Centre draw Rays that Iww w'lIldl'f(d i n to Darkness wide,
Rctul11. and back into your Sun subside."

Was hut

Pilgrim, Pilgrilllage and Road

Mrdf toward Myself: and ),Olll

. .

onnally and externally , . . but . . , is rt' ' I liv(", yet not I ' Caid l.20. "I It- C'xis t. f Jl a ' non-(Xistellr a. an individual agen t and onl)' 'perslsb in \;rtll(, oCUle Oni ne lif e e ncfRYwhicll COII'ttitl ltc' hi whol( I)('illg. "-Nicholson 'Comm(" ntaryon th M lhn 1.12 8, I Il,3h7(), e

Man!iqu '-Tair (tt, Fitlgerald),

B U D D HISM

INTRODCCTION
one studies Buddhism, the more i t .see(Jl5

The more

ound our study, from the Bnlhm al). ism i n which it origi na ted; the more prof
to

Sll perficiaIIy

diHer

sixth century B.C. Beyon d this there are only broad distinctions ofemphasis.
Way is to be followed and the do ctri ne understood. The tcachingis addres.sed monastic Wanderers (pravrii jaka) who have already entered on the Path; others of whom are al re ad y perfected Arhats, and become in their e ithe r to Br a h m ans who are [ordl\\'ith converted, or to the congregation of

ing distinction l i es in the fact that Buddhist doctrine is propounded by an

apparently historical f ounder, understood to have lived and taught In the

to say i n what respects, if any, Buddhism is really unorth odox . The ouutand

rom BrahrnaJ).ism, or the more difficult i t becomes to d isLin gui h Buddhhm f

It is taken almost for granted that one must have abandoned the world if the

teach ers of o t h er d isc ipl es. There is an ethical teaching for lamen also, ....ith inj un ction s and prohibitions as t o what onc should or should not do,l but
caste system. The repeated d isti nction of the "true Brahman" from the mere Brahm3I).ical books. n a m i n g that cap. be descr ib ed
as

turn the

a "social reform" or as a protest against the

BrahmaJ). by birth is one t h at had already been drawn again and again in the e tymo logi cal sense of th e word: it is nal to CSL. 1.blish a nc\\ ' order but to res tore If we can sp ea k of the Buddha as a reformer at all i t is only in the strictly

an

teaching is Ualljust so and infalIible",j this is because he has fully penetrated

ol de r form that me Buddha descended f rom heaven.1 Although his

f rom good and evil both (see notes 105, 106 (Buddhism)) is quite another matter; the doi ng of good and avoidance of e \'il arc indispensible to \\'Ol)f aring. TIle view that
efficacy of past acts or (2) by mak ing God (is.mro) responsible or (3) by a denial of causality and post u la tion of chance; ignorante is the root ofall cvil, and it is upon wh at we do now that our welfare depen ds (A.I, 1 7:H, ) . Man IS helpless on/yto the extent that he sees Selfin what i.'i nor-5elf; to the extent that he frees himsdffrom the n o tion "Ibis he identifies himseIfwith is I", his actions will he good and lIot cvil; while for so long a. soul*and-body ( .wlIi7jj j(lna-k(IJa) his actions will be "self ish. " tConfudus An(dt"c/"A gen tlem an does not invcnt, but Ir,lnsmit.. Philo, Spec. IV.49-"No prOIWU!ln'lTll"nt of a prophet is e\'er his own". !lD.IlI . 1 35 lath 'cva hol; nlJ a,;;wrh(l:, A.II.2:; D.lll.l.33; Sfl.S57 yathii. vik/i (aJho. Itan. (Cf. RV.IV.33.6 satyam "cur naTa roll. h i cakmM; IH'nce Sn.430, hiv. 122. (aIJuit'l"idin. In

two words net/a refer

H JAS.IV.1939, p . 1 1 9 . That the Goa l (as ill Br:.i1lfIIiU).icaJ doctrine)

[0

I Vinaya, 1.235 and passim; D.1.52, 68f.; S.IIJ.208; AI.62 (Gradual Sayings, p. 57, where Woodward's Footnote 2 is completely mistaken) . The Buddha teaches that there is an ought-to-hc--done (kinl'a) Uld an ought-not-to-be-done (akinya) ; these

"the doctrine of I\. 'nna (retribution) and ils opposite". a_

I S one ofliberation

there is no-ought-to-bc-donc (ll-kin)'a), however argu ed, is h ere tical: responsibility cannot be evaded either ( I ) by the argument of a f atal deremlin3tion by the- causal

46

HINDUISM AND IIUDDIIISM

INTRO[)(JCl10N

47

tht' :lt'nlJ.\ Law {(l/((l/lka tllwntw) I and

1)1 t.uth , ht" desrribl's \S
"

" plulnsoph), of his own", thought out hy himsdf.h No trlle p h i los oph e r ever I..'.uut' lo desttoy, hu t ollly to fulfil tile Lm.', " 1 han' st.'en", the Buddha says, "thc ,melt'lll \Vay. tIu.- Old Rn.ld lh;!! w,ts tal'll hy the fo rme rly AllAwakcncd, an d that 1\ till' p.llh I follow";7and sin ce he elsewhere praises the Bnlhlllill)S of old who n,'mt'mht'lTd th e Ancicllt 'Way that l eads to Bralllna,H there can be no douht th.\l tht" Buddha is allu(ling to "the andcIlI narro\\' p a t h that stretches
f;,lf ;'lW\)'. wlwrcby the contemplativcs, knowcrs ofBrahma, ascend, set free" tht'm in thc earliest Upani:;;had."

pCl'sonally verified all th i ng s i n h e ave n "lit- Inresy t he view that he is te ac h i ng a

although there are exc ep ti ons-have fallen from the grace> that pertained tfJ connection with the fact that Buddha is born in an age when the royaJ caste is marc than the priestly caste in honour, that we can best undentand tht of "f orest" origin, are not opp osed re aso n of the p ro m u l galio n ofthe U pan i, . h ad s and Bddhism at one and the their pure and sel fl e ss
ancelOrs. J'J

On the other hand i t is cxprcssly stated that 'he Br.hm"I}' (J! tfJday It is from th is

point of view,

and in

same time. These two cl osely related and concordant bodiesofdoctrine, both

(vuntlktiih) , menliOllt'd i n \'l'I"CS that were already old when Y jnavalkya cites

The intention is c learly to re:)tore the truths of an ancien t doctrine. -,"at that occupied with the o utwa rd f o rms of the rituaPl and perhaps too much concerned ever been in ter rup ted , but that the B rahm aI).s at counand in the world , pre the continuity of transmission in the li ne age s of the forest hermitages had

to on e another, but to a common enemy.

tht\ !'Il'me ath(iKal(J can be appl ie d to Budd ha , Dhamma and Sailgh a, Sn.236-8

S.1I1, 1 1 6L cannot !'lay holi, n(l "oli, Iwli Ul 1lfl /Iuli, 1I('Va Iwti na na Iwt;,
applic,tion

(HJliuiiU1uko) and tim el ess (aRa.liho) . passim. It I"ollow.. that the same applics 10 the Huddha himse lf, who identifies himself with the Dhamllla. cr. E /)istlr 10 Dwgncl'u V.2. "DJ 150 wyl1n abhii1i1a. larchlhatvii; D.ll1.135 sabbam . . . abhisambuddham:, Dh.353
sabbavidu 'ham (u111i.
Lion's ro,lr" and having rerountcd his supernatural powers, co n t i nu es: "Now if hE/)istir to Diognehu

'The Dhamma taugh t by the Buddha, beautiful from first to last, is both ofpresent

birth" ( lnahmabandhu) than Br.h m."s in the sense of the Upanishads and
Buddhism, "knower of Brah ma " (brahmllvit) .1 2There can be little doubt that

for

th e ir cmolumenl <;j , had now become rather

"Brahmans bv

the profound doctrine of the Se/fhad hitherto been taught onlnn puplllary implies "sitting close to" a te ache r) and on the other hand in the fact that the co ndi ti o ns would be that those to whom the Buddha so often refers
as

succession (guruparamparii) to qualified disciples; there is plenty of e,idence for this on the one hand in the Upanishads themselvesl1 (the word itself Buddha often speaks of "holdi ng nothing back". The net resul t of these the

V.3. (Apostol ic Fathers, 359) M.L68f., t hc Buddha "roars th e

anyon e says ofm(', Gotama the Pilgrim, kIlowerand seer as aforesaid , that mycmincllt

"uninstructed m u l ti t u de " must have entertained thosemisraken "soul theories"

Ary.m gnmi an d insight have no lI u pe rhu llla n quality, and that I teac h a Law that has bt' ('1l bcat('n out by re,,oning (tllkJlll-/)(myijJwlam) e x p c r im en tally thought out and
sdf-cxprell!ocd (lllyam-patibhtillmn) , if he will not recant, not repent ( citla1n pa ja/wli '"

and beliefs in the re incarn ation of a "personality" against which the Buddha
f ulminates u nti rin gly . 1-f
I t m aywel l be, too, that kings themselves,opposing-their arrogant power

i'i a priori (f)(ljtil1i ili), n ot inductive. D.I.45,79-to come to know truly] . "These profound tru th.. ()'f dlwmma gambMnj) which the Buddha teaches are i n acc essib le to r a!>on ing

ml'tanonn) and abandon this view, he f alls i nto hell". {D.1.1 6.22 Buddha's Kn owl e dge

(o/lli1.hilv(Jwni), he has \'cdf1t"d them byhis own super-knowledge" (D.I.22); d. KU.lLIJ it i:<o nol hy rl'a. 'ioni ng that that id ea can be re ac hed" ( 1I04"a tarkcT)a matiT
ii/,allryii). Mi1.217f. expl ilin 5 that it is an ancient Way that had been lo st that the Buddha opens up aga in ". The reference i3 to the brahmacariy .l, "walking wit h God" (=- tht'O.'iunof,o,.zn, PIICU'lino 248C; Ph ilo MigT. 1 3 1 , 1 26) ofRV.X.109.5,AV., Br.'ihma'(las, ..im" U panisads and Pali tex..." pa. The "Lion', roar" b origi nally Brhaspati's, RV.X.67.9, i.e . Agni's. A lso RV.I.65.5 "awakened at the dawn , h t n.!>(oI'lS hy hi!. opcration s consciousness to men". And
M . I A'21-allHMY(lVl'mok}wm. Elema} Delivcrance.

he "takes for granted" ( "Rdations between Early Buddhism and Br.ihmaJ,lism", IHQ., X,l934, p. 282). In view of the cun'cnt Impression that Ihe Buddha came to destroy, not to fulfil an older Law, we have emphasized throughout t h e ullinlenup ted continuity of
BrahmaQical and Buddhist docoine (e.g, in nOle 159 (Buddhism ; Buddhistdoctrine

critic ofBr.'ihmaQism on ly in extemal matters; the "internal system ofspiritual values"

is a bl i nd ,met fCltcn'(\ wi ll. Aho NIChmnfflian Ethics IX.B.? 'RV.X.l:Hl.7 /Junlr,!a,h Imnlliam anucirS)(J. SJI.I 0(j Illm'i w11l "wggam pwihla1ijruam . . . anugauhim. StO/xln lIt'T1nrh((l IlB-. , the ro,\ d to tnuh which our ancestors travelle d". See " a\!'.o P;.mntnidcs "Road of thc Daimon"; P hUQ-"thc roads of heave n an'! happy ; Pllludnu '247, l'lato Rr/,. nk,Vlt. KS.IV. 1 1 7: 11\ ItflVu{t(lIUJ ':!H,2C) tilo<,{' who follow th is (ancit'nt) Way laughl by t h e lluddh;.u ,trt' (';\Ikd Llhatlfl;I'. nut, Sn. 2B431) says--"now that the Br.thmal)" h.l,e lo ng Iwgkn!d 11lt'Jr .. ndt'tH Law, tlw Buddha pre ac h e s il ap;ainn. it " BL1.lV ..tB, RV.lV. HU . As M rs. Rhys David!1o hils ;lhlO pOintcd out, the Bud dha is
<

S,lint 'Ilwl Il:l:'t 1,26.1. The will jo., fl cc in !'io far a. it obeys Rea. c;on, i.c. what onc thinks

is original (yoni-so 71Ul7Ulsiharo) indeed, bu t certain ly not novel. IOSn. 284r. (er. RV.X.71.9); D.lII.Bl, 82 and 94f.: exceptions, 5.11.13; 5n.1082. l ISee SB.IX.5.2.1 2 , 1 3 for the condemnation of pro fessi ona l sacrifices. ISO asserted Sn. 284f tha t Br.iitmaI,lS nowadays do nO[ followpuriinmn briihmar:iiMn
.

brahmanadhamma.

Upa nlads were actua lly "publisIH.d"; ilndJust il5 the Buddha hold n othing back". :<od we arc lOld that "nothing wh.Ht'Vcrw;\s omitted in what w.ts told to Satyakama, a man who cannot P" O\'!' hb. ancestl)', but IS called a Bnihm,uJ because orhis truth speaking (CU.IV. 4.9). Th ere is no more ecn'cy, .me! now who{'vcr is a Comprehemor can

BE.g. MU .VI.29 "Th is deepest mystery' . . . ; BU.VUU 2; BG.rv.S, XVIIl.67. Yet the

properly h<.' calit'c1 a Br;lh11lal,1

sequence of gnosis.

L'S.II,5R Buddha's knowkdgc (1/" origin and l 'nd of)lmimaranau is identical with that of former and fut ure wma7las and brahmans and thiS is antJd)'t' iUinam, the

(SB. XIJ.tl. L 4 1 )

tIlNDUISM AND BllllDIIISM

1"1l(ODl:CTIO

\0 ucer<\ol.ll f ontTO\' ha( reast'd to choose their Br.dun;:\I,l mi nisters wisely. I'> , For th"t Sltll"tlon I n dr" hnnscll, kmg of Ihe Go ds , "blinded by h is own might"

al\d nw..hd hy tht' A.""ura. 'i, provide s the archetype i1l divin isY' On th e other hand. for the "aw.tkt.ning:" of a royalty in t h e Buddha's case wc have li kewise

in Indra tht paradign1; for bt'ing admOltished by the sp i ri tual adviser towhom

hl\ alle gi an c e i s du e , lndra "awakens himsel f " (buddhv(l riitmiinam) ,1 7 and

praises hm)s{'If. the awakened Self,lll in l auds in which

=

Wc find the wo r ds , which the Buddha might have used, "Never atany time am I su b j e ct to Death"

( mrt)'tl mara) .l'l lt ,,{ill not be overloo ked, too, that the Vcdic Indra is more than On((' referred to as Arhat. And if i l seems strange th a t the true doctrine

should have heen taught, 111 Ih Buddha' s case, by a me mhe r of the royal caste, it is only the same situation that we sometimes meet with in the L!pan ishads themselves.:.!o \Vas not Krishna also of royal blood, and yet a sp i ritual teacher? \,\rhat all this amounL " to is this, that when the salt of the within that it 'i l i fe \\'ill he renewed.
"establ ished

stic i nstitutions and their OWn view ofwh a t of mona. th ' B uddh a Qugh'toh ' . . . '" a'e fact surpnslng that such a body of doc trine "-\ the Buddh said. I t is III i>! ' lth s h it " profoun dly ot e r-worl d lv and even an ti-social emp has!>, ' and in the " ' words hard to be undemood Buddha s own bv vou wl10 art' Qf d' , tfferent . lites, other al legi an ce arId views, ano ther toI erance, Other ta 0 ther trauung " i : .. , ' 'i popuIar"a'iilIsin the modemW canh ave heco meeven a esternenVU' - onmenr .. . We should have s up posed ,hat modern minds would ha\e ' foun d ID . . . s acceptance of life as a Wh ole , Brahman ISm, w i tI1 It a more cong enial . . phI los op hy. We can only suppose that BuddhI Sm has been so much ad m lf ed " c mainly lor w h at I t IS not. A \\'ell known modem \'ITIter on the sub'ect h remar ked that "B uddhism in its p urity ignored the exi ste ce n of aGod ' , as It ls te n c e of a souI ; It was n ot so much a religion as a code deOle . d lIle e X ' of
I _

ethics"." We can understand the appeal of

this on

the one hand to the

church" has

lost its savour,

it is rathe r from wi thout than from

are preserved ran into two classes, those of the Narrow Way ( H i n ayana) and

th ose of the Broad Way (Mahayan a) . It is wi th the f ormer, and on the wh ole
Sanskrit. The PaH li te ratu re ranges in date from

The sc r ip tu re s in wh i c h the traditions of the Buddha's life and teachings

inifred Ste ph e ns, u f Indian Buddhism, 1911, p. i. Similarly MY gends o Bhattacharya maintains that the Buddha taught that there is no Self, or Atman
Buddhism repudiated all such theories"

"D.IIIAO, cL 5. 1 . 1 36, D . 1 . I 2, M.I.l67_

older texts lhat we shall be chiefly c on c e rn e d . The books p er tai ning to the

soul . . . is described in the Vpanisads as a small creature in shape like a ma n . . .

(Culiural Heritage o f India, p.

259). Even in 1925 a Buddh ist scholar could ....me '"The

"Narrow Way" are co mp osed in Pali, a l i te ra ry dialect closely r e late d to

to the sixth century A.D. The Canon consisl li of what are called the 'vrhree Baskets", respectively of monac;;tic regimen (Vinaya) , Discourse (Stllra) and Abstract Doctrine (Abhidhamma) We shall be chiefly concerned with the
_

about the third century B.C.

Few scholars would write in this manner toda\', but ridiculous as mch sta{emenli mav appear, (and it is as m uch an ignorance ofCtlristian doctri ne J..<, ie is of8r.lhmaJ;li.s
that is involved), they st i l l snrviw in all popular accounts of Buddhism.

reasonable to say that Christianity is materialistic because it speaks ofan Winner man,

(PTS Dictionary, s.v. auan). h would be a'

--

... ses of the "Discourse" literature in which are prese rved what are taken five cla. to he the Buddha's actual \... . onls. Of the extra-canonical lite rature the most
important of the early books are the Milindapailha and the Visudclhimagga.

The greatJataka books, largely composed of ancient mythological materials recast in a popular form and retold as stories of the former births, is relatively

late , hut vcry instructive both for the Buddhist po in t of view and as a detai l ed p i cture of life in ancient I nd ia. All these books arc prOVided with elaborate

commentaries in what now would be called the "schola .. tic" manner. We sh all

take this literature as it stands; forwe have no faith in the emendation of texts by modem scholars whose critical methods are mainly based on their dislike "Cl. SB.IV.\ ' 4.5.
" SD.VlI.54. "BD.VlI.'7.

'the W akc ' , and hc i<"

IFrom the waking and :r.leeping dream of thi" world the word ' B u ddh a ' i lit erally
in fat.- t, like Agnl. 'awakened

Vrtr;.\Na lllucl; cr. my Somc Sources of Buddhi.<;t Iconography", in n. c. Lmv I, pp. 47 1 ..8 , on thc.- Miirndharyana. 1IJBlJ.VI.2.8; CU.V.3--l 1;

Refer BG.1I,69 on ':<olccp and w;lking' \\'Ith 5.1.107 ;mdj . I . 6 1 . l" RV,X.48.[). '111c Buddha l!i. In(imbhl/Jliu, Sn. 5 7 1 , etc., as lndr d b t he conqueror of

at dawn'

(RV.1.65.5 /lsf1T/nulh).

tlnugtt narrow sense of the word (onc m igh t say, in accordance with the ollllJland, 1 y, 'a meal "u S \\Tltcr our t a seips 4!) but Lilis is not wh um ( deny himself ) , Ma rk . VIIL3 I tha t the S Ut,(, 1,1 sw to or arc understood by ' , . . me.m . their n," ad er to a\'; wha t tIIe), IS s ln . d's. And {1 lJ.t ,n. denle ' . d the immortal unbom and Suprem - If 0f tI e Uln e Se . '. I cary I c ' 'ril and nowhere ruorc Pal pahiyfalse. . S e'f or S i Forhe frequcntly speak s oftlm ., cl p " H dva nd f ' eXt 11 1118 bo ' i\'Sd than . , 11 not t a m th c repe ated formula ,w tnl' so aUa, ' J Il I of . 1 the ....ords _I lt " W t o 1lcrtt the . S nlel i . . . otlsrtess, .1 com ponen ts of em p . ri cal consn i IS wi th l i! ea nr u , . ' , . , '\'e d cJl\'sonut IJllIg Sankara-c '' ' ' - al1'a :'C " are peculiarly app osi te , \\ lent ed by MTh. <J '1" )' a. rem ark ref crc ncc t o somethin g re al " ( N'/f, ndiin Bmhmu Su1ra 11 .. ..... ' ' ,s in uestiom of q phas Rhys Davtds, lOr llunost efll I" . "so, in the:- Sut!a.

"denied a God, it denied the So ul , it de nied Etemit(! Scherbatsky's Th de llaIld to Doe/Ti ne o !thl' Buddlw ( 8S05, VI.867f.) prO\ides a good cririque ofKeith's . age , 1Il Im us barbaro a in "lay aside OUr g n l ai v e r p i md reason natura l desire to f BuddhL>.t philosophy, p. 29. .
Buddhism
' -soll,"or -self ' ofa -" It IS ' Or course , true thatthe Buddha deme . d tlleeX I:i1enct

Th. 5cherbatsky-Buddhist Log.r 1.1932, p. 2.

" IIi dle

pratliomn) .

Kaus.Up.lV.9 (where the situation is

Volume

ca lle d 'abnonnal" ,

ded that ..ml' .'I(muniipanlto allii"] is pOSitive. ' It \\.,l.S . ontll IHt[ en od.. . (' n thi , t It IS God" ored at k'l o delly t his Self! An d so to "ignonng G "ign t . tc.-r E( khar s , . uddh ' or llil1l 'l... m t'lst ic ") , onc might as well ;\rguc. tha ' t Mels God is nol like God. " . .. h .l } .. . In . d" ( lyl ! 510 rJlh . d , 1 1, daz Is l e , b de , ' . Ft II ' OIC' ge idl, w .an to tg I l It I II ' HI' OSSlu ., , C for !h e two to !w rh(' same. )
_

'this OIlC' , is used person al idCl Hity" (MiT/m-Allth% gzt'J, I, p. 7, note . ' > auk (sli,. . Socrate s, t0 . . . sOma ..! Bu t Oh 2), Nu 71U ,If than . .'10 alta IS no more '\ dt.'llIal of t hc 5(' l'of.m e " h f 0 '.\1 ,t'UJ, ha un t! IS < ;l C %5) , . .'roIJIHo=: lhe body is not the Illan ( A 1WJ(IIll!. but for the t1it: Budd ha,

A IV 1"72 .

not for

50

I I I:\ D \ ' ISI.\"'D IIUDDHISM

INTRODUcnON

rationalis.t and on the other Hl lht' sl' 111i mclltalisl. Unfortunately for

mt'nlS ,\rt' untrtu', three slatt

these, all in which they are meant. It is with "nother Bu dd hism than this that we are in sym pathy and are able to agrt"t"; and that is lilt' Buddhism or the h,'XLIi as they stan d . Of th t texts of the Broad \\'ay, composed ill Sanskrit, few i f any antedate the beginning of th e Christian era. Amongst the most important of them are the l.lh.\\'astu. the Lalita Vistara, the Divyavadana and the Saddharma PllI,HJarik.l.. The two main forms of Buddhism to which wc have referred are ten spoken of, rather loosely as respe ctively Southern and Northern. It is of the Southern school that now survives in Ceyl on , Burma an d SiaIn. The two schools originally flourished together in Burma, Siam, Cambodia, Java and Bali, si de by side with a Hinduism with which they often comb in ed . Buddhism of the 1'>:orthemschool passed over into Tibet, China andJapan, through the work of Indian teachers and native disciples who made translations from Sanskrit. In those days it wa."i not considered that the mere knowledge of languages sufficed to make a man a "translator" i n any se ri ou s sense of the at It'asl ill
tlll' st,.' nse
, ,

common from the beginning that any exposition of either mUM uJJd like an exposition of the other. That is why a fusion of Hindul,m and Buddhi!m takes place in the Indian Middle Ages and why Buddhism c<"",d to exist a; a separate doctrine in India proper. IfBuddhism rather than HindUism could migrate to and survive elsewhere, this is ma inly becau< while Hinduism fulfils itself in both the active and contemplative lives Buddhism i.s chiefly co n cerned with the life of contemplation and can for that reason be the more easily taug ht as a Way of escape from the formal honds of any social order.
,

51

word; no one would have undertaken to translate a text who had not studied

it for long years at the feet of a traditional and authoritative exponent orits

teachings, and much less ,..'ouId any one have thought himself qu alified to translate a book in the teachings of which he did not believe. Few indeed are the translations of Indian books into European languages that can yet come up to the standards set for themselves by the Tibet. ' lI1 and Chinese Buddhists.25 It may be obsen'ed that while Brahmal) ism was at one time widely d i ffused in the "Greater India" of South East Asia, it never crossed the northern frontiers of India proper; Brahmal).ism was not, like Buddhism, what might <;ionaryfaim. Indian culwre reached and profoundly influenced be called amis.. the Far East through Buddhism, which sometimes fused with and sometimes existed side by side with Taoism Confucianism and Shin to. The greatest influence wa"i exerted by the contemplative forms of Buddhism; what had been Dhyana in India became Cha'n in China and Zen inJapan.HWe cann ot, unfortunately, describe these forms of Buddhism here, but must affirm that although they often differ greatly in emphasis and detail from the Narrow
,

Way, they represent anything butadegeneration ofBuddhism; the Buddhisms <;t are calculated to evoke our deepest sympathies, of Tibet and e Far Ea. equally by their profundity of their doctrines and the poignant beauty of me literature and art in which these teachings are communicated. We have only to add that Buddhism had died OUt in India proper by the end of the twelfth
century.

Sar'lkaracarya, the leading exponent of the Vedanta as a system, has often been called aPracchannabauddha, "concealed Buddhist". The term Vedanta ("End of the Vedas" in the sense that the New Testament might be called the "conclusion and fulfilment" of the Old) occurs, however, already in the Upanishads; and the fact is that Vedanta and Buddhism have so much in
"See Marco PaUis, Peaks and Lamas, 1939, pp. uSee the various books of D.T.

Suzuki.

79-81; cd. 1974, pp. 72-4.

I'OSTQRAUf.H 1T" ijj : Of PAll A: meW1 SlUDlES i c. , ,cf :...r ly ("If KtIJ111: ..I)
/\av. 9. Gower Snetll

THE MYTH
In asking, what is Buddhism, we must begin, as before, with the Myth. This has now bt conlt" the Foun nt.r ' s life of some eight y years, into which period the
whoit' epic o f the victory over death has now been condensed. But if we o; mythical and miraculous subtract from the pseudo-historical narrative all i t f eatures, the residual nucleus of historically plausible fac t will be very small indeed: and all Lhat wc ca n say is that while there may have lived an individual personality is completely overshadowed, as he must have wished i t should be,' -' by the eternal substance teacher who g.wc the ancient wisdom it. "> pccularly "Buddhist" colou ring , his himself. In othCf \\'ords, "the Buddha is only anthropomorphic, n o t a man ",26 It is trUe that a ma jority of modern scholars, cuhemerisl by tcmperamcn t and training, suppose that this was not Man, but a man, subsequently deified; we take the contrary view, implied by the teXL 'i, that the Buddha is a solar deity descended f rom heaven to save both men and Gods from all the ill that is denoted by the word "mortality", the view that his birth and awakening are coeval with limeY Before proceeding to the narrative we must explain how a distinction is

THE MYfH

virtually Buddhas, bu t are vowed never actually to enter i n to their Buddhahc )("x1 Previous to his last hirth on c an h the Bodhisattva is resident in the Tta heaven; and t h ere being urged by the G ods to rclea.\e the uni\,t:f from it!
until the last blade of gra'iS has been fi rst redeem ed.

either a priestly or the royal c aslC, whichever is predom i nan t at the time; and the royal caste being predominant then, he choosesto be bornoOh.ha. Moiya. KapilavaslU in the Middle Country; and that is to say, '....hatew.'T else it may

sorr ows , h e considers and decides upo n the time and pIan: of his birth and

the family and mother of whom he will be born. A Buddha mmt be born of the queen of king Suddhociana of t he Sa kya clan, at his capital ciry of

(akiilika dhanna)

with which he identified

wo rld , it is both

spiritual sense, for while it is tr ue that the Buddha's kingdom was not of this
as

descending from the skies to en ter her womb. The king s interpreters of dreams explain th at she has con ceived a son who may be cither a Cn ivcrsal

the form of "Ma ha Maya's dream " in which she sees aglorioWiwhite ele ph ant

mean, i n the "Middle COUntry" of the Ganges Valley. The Annu nc iation takes

'

Emperor or a Buddha. Both of these possibilities are actually realised in the Teacher and
as

Lord of the univcrsc that he "turns the

wheel".

JIIIIIIIiiiIrI "

.......,.

made bem"ecn the epithet Bodhisattva and Buddha. The Bodhisattva is an "awakening being", or one of "wakeful nature"; the Buddha is "awake" or "!be Wake". The Bodhisattva is, dogmatically, an originally mortal being, Buddha", is thus himselfa Bodhisattva until the momcntofhis "all-awakening". that Gautama Siddhartha was the seventh in such a series of prophetic incarnations, and that he will be f ollowed by Maitreya, now heaven . There are other Bodhisattvas, notably AvalokiteSvara, who arc note 6 (Buddhism ) .
Z"Dh. 74 mam'tva kala . . . iti btilassa sait.kappo, ''' I did it', an infantile i!iea", cf.
a

qualifying b y the making-become of transcendental virtues and insights for the "'total awakening" of a Buddha. Gautama Siddhartha, the "historical

........,.

his, f urthermore a. <isumed that a Buddha is born in every successive aeon, and Bodh isattva i n

c onna tu ral ones", amongst wh om are the Bodhisam'a 'sfulurc wi f e, his horse, and the disciple Ananda. These thin5 t.\ke place, not uniquely, but nomla.Jly", that is to say that such is the course of tWllts whene\'er a Buddh,l is born. Maha May;i's dormition takes place a week after the child b bum, and her
!It])om M. Britt, o.s.b., cd. TI,,' /fpnllJ o ft'" 8m1iary and Misstd, N.V. 1936:

the Four Quarters. He steps down onto the ground, takes seven trides, and proclaims himself the Foremost in the World". The whole un iverse is transfigured and re j o ices in light. On the same day are born the "seven

case it is interesting that the story W>l..'i, l.trc ;\dy knO\\ll to Hicronymw, who mentions itin a discussion of Virginity and in co n nectio n with the miraculous births of Plato and Christ "'I Thc child is recciycd by the Guardian Deities of

side. It is not exp l ici t , but can be presumed that the birth was "virgin"; in

Stand i n g thus, she gives pai n less birth to the child. The child is born lfo,rn ,nen

to support herselfby the branch ofa tree, which bends down of its own accord.

Maya sets out to visit her parent<; at Ocvahrada; on h e r way she pauses at the Lumbini Park, and feeling that her time hiLe; come, she stretches out her hand

The child is visible i n the mother's womb.Whcn the time comes, fah.,

"

%f>K.em, Afanualv /lndian Buddhum. p . 65. Cf. A.II.38.39 wh ere the Buddha says th at he has detroyed all the causes by wh ich he might become a God or a man, etc., and being uncontaminated by [he worl d , ef. 5n.558 (abhI11iuyam . . . tamui buddho'smi =

Ventris obtuso recubans cubili.

"1'he re fore 1 am Bu ddha") .

'ho cannot understand the Buddha'5 claim to h ave been the teacher of countless Bodhisattvas in bygone aeom. In jU:it lhe same way AIjuna is bewilde red by Krishna's e ternal birth (BG.IV.4), and the Jew!> could not understand the saying of Christ.
e im .IX. 1 2 . 1 'The Son of God is older than all than his birth of Mar)' in th nc.h"! Cr. S tion" Shl'hard 0/ Hmnas. tn Si.m.V.6.5, 'The Holy Spirit' is identified with s cre a hi to Agni. Christ, as prk,pJ is equated

f'ISaddharma Put;u!ariha, XV. I , in reply to the bewildcnnent of his audience,

goddes.

V tm Aegyptisclu.n Ku,ut, 1930, Abh. 7 1 , TIlt' New Sun vi si ble in lht" ....omb . orthe Skr

Senscras Regem thalamo mant>ntt'll\ "Still reslinR' in the concealed abodt of the "'o Ulb, Thou (St. John) didst perceive thy Klng reposing ill I lis chamber".

'

In its Christian context tin: motive is probably of ES)'}ltian origin. a. H. Schaefer.

"before Abra.ham W<l5, I am", i.e. "whose birth oft-.lary ghostlywas mo re plea.';ing to him

See aboJ. l . 5 1 ; M. Willdisch. 'fiLUm adv,joviTJianmll, 1.42.

Buddho'$ G<Tbm1 1 16f.

!l4

HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM

THEMYrH

55

siSler Praj:lpati. and co-wife of Suddhodana. takes her place. The child i., takt..n back to K;.\pilavastu , an d shown to the fat h e r ; h e is re cogn i z ed and Emperor or Buddha. at the age of thirty five. The child is presented in the
y

worsh i pped by tht. , Br\hll1;u.l soot hsaye rs, who announce that he will be

Agni. of our former lecture. an d the type of the sacrificer in divin;,) ,,",sum" s e of a g"""rcuUer and offers to the Bodhisattva the eight bundles of th e hap
the grass that arc used in sacrificial rhua!. The Bodhisattva circumam bulates di y s n g f c i ta n a fi n a l l world about . a n g East finds t h a t the circles of the nd tree

temp l e , where the tu telar deity of the SakYa.. ., bows down to h i m . Suddhodana, des i rin g that h isso n may be an Emperor and not a Buddha, and le ar n in g that
existe n ce of suffering and death. The fi rst miracle takes place on a day When

he will abandon the world only after he has Seen an old man. a sic k man, a corps an d ol monk, brings him tip in lu xuri ous seclusion, ignorant of the very
the king, in accordance with custom, is taking part in the First Ploughing of t he year; the child is l aid in the sh adow of a tree, which do es not move

oot of the Tree of mor tality. It is there at lhe navel of the e anh . and al the f Life. that all former B uddhas h ave awake n ed. "
tou c h es the Earth. calling her to witness to the virtues by right of whIch he takes it ; and she ap p ears and gives witness. Mara, a.o;sisted by h s demon army.
burni ng sand and ashes; bUlall his weapons fall harmleSSly at the Badhisam'a"s f eel. now assault.'I the Bodhisanva Now Mara appears agai n and lays claim

him stand fast. He spread s the strew, and th ere rises up a throne or altar at th e foot of t h e tree; he takes his seat thereon, determined never to rbe agaln until h e has attained the knowledge of the cau,"uon and cure of the eVlI of

la the throne. The Bodhisattva

alth ough the shadows of other trees move naturally with th e sun; in othe r
facility. At th e age of sixteen , by victory in an archery contest, in which his arrow pierces seven trees. he obtains his cousin YaSodhara as wif e ; she becomes the mother of a boy, Rahula. In the meantime, on four successive days, while driving through the city to the pleasure park . the Bodhisattva has seen the four signs; for although all such signs have been banned fro m the cityby royal edict, the Gods assu m e the

words, thesuu rcmains o\'crhead. Thechild atschool learnswith su pernatural

alone. but for the powers of the sa ul. his retainers; now Mara gives up the contest and the Gods return. throug h all the stages of realisation until at dawn . lla\i n g perfectly grasped

At the first sight of Mara the Gods have f1ed, leaving lhe Bodhilta all

'w'itll

fire and darknes.r.;, and with showers of

forms of the o ld man, sick man, co rpse and monk, and the Prince is made acquai nted with age, i lln ess, death and the serenity of a man wh o has risen
way of escape from sub j ec tion to this mo rtal i ty . The fat h er cannot dissuade him, but ke eps the palace gates closed. That n igh t the Bodhisattva takes silent leave of hiswife and child ana cal l ing for his horse, departs by the palace gate, miraculously opened for him by the Gods; he is accompanied only by his \', ill return; failing in this temptation, he follows the Bodh isat tva , to find another opportunity. Reaching the deep forests, the Badhisattva cuts off h is royal turban and long hair, unbecoming a pilgrim, and these are elevated

I t is now nightfall. In the course of the night the Badhiutva pa"es

"

above these vicissitudes of existen c e . He goes to his father and announces his

intention o f leaving the world and becoming a monk, in order ta find ou t the

The Buddha breaks into his famous song afvictory:

Seek i ng the builder of the house
vonc.\"

joices. awaken ed , and is a Buddha. The whole u niverse is rransfigured and re

the cycle of

Causal Orig ina tion " (pratitJa ,amutpada)

he becomes wholly

1 have run my course in the Householder, art seen!

charioteer (manas). Now Mara, Death, the Evil, offers him the e mpir e of the whole world ifhc

I I I i s re p eat ed birth after bi rtll!

Of co un tl ess births. never escap ing the h ob ble (of death) ;

Never a gain shalt thou build me a house All of t hy rigging is broke n. The peak of tile roo f is shattered:"

by the Gad and enshrined in heaven. They provide him with a p il grim ' s garment. He sends his charioteer back to the ci ty wi th his horse; the latter di es of a broken heart. The Bodhisattva now studies with BrahmaJ). teachers and practises extreme mortifications. He fin ds five disciples, all of whom leave h i m when he jata, the da ughte r of aban d on s these ineffectual fastings. In the meantime Su

farm er, who has been making offerings to the spirit of a banyan tree, noW brings h er gift of milkrice, into which the Gods have infused ambrosia; she finds the Bodh isatrva seated beneath the tree, and gives him the rice in a golden bowl . and a golden ewer of Water. She receives h is blessings. He Ulcn t o to the river to bathe, after o hich he eats the food, wh i ch is to las g es d wn the bOWl mto the riVer, and fro m th e sign ificant weeks. He cast" im r seven fo h fac t it float s upstream lear ns that he will succeed th a t very day. He returnS to the Tre e of the Awakenlng. At the same lime lndra (lh e D ragon slayer, with
a

and

The BUddh a rem ains for seven weeks within the circle of tlle Tree of the Awaenin , g enjOYi ng the gladncs. 1) of rcil'<lsc, Of th c cvents ofthcs(-'wecks two ' . are f> an [ltio e cm f> r fi t. n by t he daugh[(,'fs ofM.ira, who atlempl to t th t p w' . 19l1lfic III by th e ir ch arms wha t th eir f. l rhcr could not gain by his pO\cr: and dly th h esit<t ti. n .to [(,Je ; hc in fTItio the o h t I of th e , tll be lIsw . ll not be understood .1JId that u Law. th lllkl ng t llat I t wi

Its aggregations passed aw ay. Mind ha l) rea ched the destruction of cravings.

Buddha hcsi[;.lles (PUt

. n \ItI (II la l I w. "n pU'ac hi ng 10 BreI hr('11A" . id ' ' JllJmam tI/(lInfJ(WI Nu'w)'(J I I 'u pur aUhflbhl muknv nH I. '1 .

I,ovam'HfI"lT.la;JlIIlla C.oeli" in l Aimo:cu 1 1 . 1939 (1941). S o

1I

a!niz X XXrv.3 "Or i. il Thou who Jnalt("1 a ruin f ("\'('ry homr I build?" nts',T

1938 i.'i <\ : ch nir,tll1y_ Scc my "Spnbolim oftht" Dome" (Pang) in IHQ.XlV, (.

56

IIINDUISM AND BUDDHISM

THEMYllI

57

world is lost" , and led hy Brahma pe rsu ad e the Buddha that some are r i pe for <; ou t for Benares and there in understanding. The Buddha, acc o rd i ng ly, scL the "'First Preaching" sets the \Vheel of the Law in motion, and in the second o [ a11 physical and mental o peratio n s h e dismisses the po p u l a r
."is a

tht" occasion of needless anguish la himself; the Gods e xclaim

at this,

"The

Brahma(l i cal Aranyakain which, as remarked byKeilh, "the lntrrnaJAgniholra is minll lely described as a Ti m e wi ll n o t per mit us

We perceive that the Buddha is here simply carryi ng on Iht I(achingo( the

preaches that then' is no individual constant underlying the fo rms of our consciol1sness. in o th(. ' n,, "o rd s. in the doctrine ofthe unsclf-ish- ness (aniitmya) crude delusion and the root of all cvil. By these sermons he co n verts the go sum Cogilo er

life. He gradually builds lip a large following of monastic wOlndcrer hke

substitute for the [ormal .';"lcrificc". I'. to rdate i n dCk 1il the later events of the Buddha 's
10

himself; somewhat against his will women were also allowed

be ordained

o rmerly deserted him; and there are now five Arh at five d iscipl es who had f <i, that s to Soa)' fi\'e "despirated" (nimtita) beings

as nuns; and by the end of his l i fe there had developed an orgamsed bod), of monks and nuns, many of whom livcd in mona. tcries or nunnenes, which

and finds on the way a party of thirty young men picnicking, with their wives. stolen their belongings and run away. All the young men ask the Buddha

One of them had no wife , and had brou gh t a woman with h i m , who hadjust

From Benares the Buddha\\o'cnton to U ruvcla, near the modern Bodhgay.i,

in

the world.

assembl i es ofmonks o r to aud ie nces ofBr;i.hmans, in disputations wilh whom while there will be those who arc still addicted to mundane ways of thinking World pass away", there will be others, Gilrn and self-possessed, who will been born contains within tself the inherent necessit), of(iJssolution: "Those
'Wh a t good will it do you to see this mclean body? He who secs the lAw sees

spen t i n the care of the monastic com mu nity , and in preaching, either to
he is i nvariably successful; he also perform s many miracles. At la.<;t he

had been donated to the community by pious laymen. The Buddha's l if e was

whether he has seen such a ""man. The Buddha replies, "What now, young men, do you think? \Vhich were the better for you, to go tracking the woman,
Or to go

to se e k the Self, an d arc converted. Here for the first time we meet wi th the

track i ng the Self ?" ( iilmiinam gavis) .':!They reply that it were better

Buddha's doctrine of a real SelL At L1ruvela he reaches the hennitage of a may hun him . The Bud dh a thin ks nOl, and retires for the night, seating himself cross-legged and vigilant. The Dragon is infuriated. The Buddha will not d estroy it, but will overcome it; assuming his own fiery fo rm, and bec om i ng a "human Dragon", he fight 'i fire with fire, and in the morning appears with the tamed Dragon in his alms-bowl.: n Upon another day the fire offerings (agnihotra) a nd become disciples of the Buddha. In this connection

reflect that all componenl th ings arc im permanent, and that whatever has

and will weep and roll in anguish , crying out-1'oo soon will the F.. e in the

'i, he rcmindshim that announces his i l11mi nc n t de ath. When Ananda proteSL

community of BrahmaQ.ical Fireworshippers, md wishes to s pe n rl th e night in their fire temple. Thcywarn hiril t h at it is the haunt ofa fierce Dr agon that

will honour m y memory truly, who live in accordance with the Way I ha\'e taught". When a be li ever comes to \'i si t him. before he dies, the Buddha says, me, he who sees me, sees the Law ( dhamw) ... .'10. In announCing hiS f o rthcoming

decease, the Buddha leaves this message, "Be such a 'i haye the Self (atman) as your lam p, Self as only refuge, the L 1. w as lamp and only refuge ",1i
1908, p. xi. One must i1!'iSlUne that it is i n ignor.lIlct" of the BrnhmanicaI htt'rature th,u Mrs. Rhys Davi ds finds something novel In the Buddha's In tt'llI .1i :\gnihOlr.t { (;o/(I"l1J tm Man, p. 97), a. My Afma)"ajna . . . (1977), p. 129; and. Good (' \Ough ER-An juriarJB, 1940, p . 1 12, on old and nCln.lcnfice\. In jll\t tlwsJm(' ,\';lY Introduction to Ph ilo rrltr/, Ch It, (" p. p. !):i) LIII (h(m., Ihl' jMan Pnj I.B. H0l"11Cr (Ea rl)' Buddhist Throry o hi sto ry of word arahat at .TC;H lenth witholll mentioning that 11\ R\',X ti:i 4. \:e ,I[t' told that the God (who, in Iht'i!" plllar.llity, h,ut Ilcnr ht'('n tho\Jht ()I ,I onI\I.IU)" i mmon"ll) "hv their worth (a rl/(l!ii) ;\fI.IIllcd tht"l/" I mlllonaluy! And UI t ht' '.;IIIH' "ly the PTS Pah Dictionary knowof tJmh(m/bt'fon< BlIddhiml(lIlI} i1\;1Il 1]()l1orl.tl( title 'd;u i\ 1l t'I'('r ofhigh officials". Buddhist exegeis by st"holan who do not know Id/" Vt
"S.Ill . 1 2 0 .

11
.

worsh i ppe rs are unable to spl i t their wood, or light or extinguish their fires until the Buddh a permits it. In the end th e Brahmar;t5 ahandon their Burnl we must cite the instance of another Brah maI). fire-worshipper, to whom in the course of their dialogue the Buddha says, I pil e no wood for fires or altars; I kindle a flame with in me,-

SSCf. Keith, Siii1khaya na ArDyakD.

My heart the hearth, the flame the dompted self." ttvin.1.23 (Mahavagga I . 1 4 ) . Cf. Vis.393 riijiinam. gavejjtum Iltliihu altannm?
. jOnvrl(lvWl.h.

CV.VII I.7.1 ya iitmii .

qu it e reliable.

Visuddhi Magga 3g3-mutnl;lig. Buddha makes i K.lppina mumble. King Mah; Queen Anoga says MPerhaps Lord, you have 'icen the king?" He said "\Vhich is he Iter, to seek the king or to seek the Self?"

(J(jm pana VD rti jiinam gavittlm tlaram u dah u attiinam It) . Queen answer attiinmnti; accordingly he dhammam tU-srli. Cr. Also Mahiil!agga 1.23.

Coomaraswamy 2: &lLded Pa/Jt"rl, 1977.

Dragon R.a rapala, Vis. 399f.

!HS.1.169. See also

!!IVin.1.25 (Mahavagga U 5 ) . er. the similar SlOry of Mogallana'$ conflict with t1w

my

"Atmayajiia: Self-Sacrificc" in HJAS.v L 1 9'12: rpt. In

pii dhm" IIlmn Cf. , Jhamma-r:fi 7D.lJ.lO I a lla.dj/ui t,;haralJUI Jta-jmti , . . _ 23 . nn Irtbhadh, uiJ!ParnuUa:, Dh.I"h. /oh('(l.irtmra .. llmllwJ W'''7Ia ,I; n Sn. 501 " n11 ( I-I Joo( I JatJlra" , III Jlllfvl" {lipa m aI/m ID (di/xI Ulalld). nu' onn f S a J" -Jdh ' pru ,,/mm IIfl KaT.'l'jj a/ha . t t l S. I JL14:i) t'rl JOIIIS what r l adm on i t ion "M.l kt' thl' Sdfyour f('f t (' (k(Hry)"tl j(J arltll r f O, (lIfi(rtm 'IV \ t.' \ K the Sclf ln}" rd_ made l have' I y'" . \:ho . e n o d ha f the Buddh a him,C'l . ()(llhoII(U/t, dol" hc ) t o. It"ildt{. ;l\IU ind('('d. t(IIM A-an , f0r lara"am tltla no.lJ . I I . 1 "(11 .:. . . ' . "' , lalhal \ofl("llllla(It: tIle I""'1'0f II 1(' t'pullt'{ 1 .llh,lg;\u ... ,,tll("h , c 'I' 71 , ' . . . Sn IJ,), I1L A.II.23, ' L . .I ....) p,11 . 11: .) .\\"" " I 10 .,\I.t " lex U p{)n( , i11'1I t I1(' wndled r r ("o r . . Ill' " n lamp nU', BlldcUII..t .. II 0f Ol Iamp (a1rn.a -IIJfvnt.a , S .lf-'11 Ichne..s, 'I Lf b} 1 IU' I 1& I ,
,

by mean5

of hl.\ own

IIINIlUISM ANll BUllllHISM He explauu that wh a t thl\ Ill c an \ III practice is a life of inc<."\..\anr rec:ollco.rdnC'\ . , (lmrft) . Tht Buddhl"ll ('m phil-'li\ on mindfulnes can hardly
be ("xolggcrated; I lo th ing

which

.. ddllx-r.llc \111

lw done Ilbscnlmindcdly; or wi th rc!'pcCl t on (ould \Ay "l did not mean lodo i l"; an i nadvertent sin is worse than
1\ to
....

or a..\ Plato cxprt'\.. \e\ it , "00 nmhlllg: hut in ac co rd anc e wit h the l ea d i n g of the

That mean", lh;\{ onc mllslnot .,imply "behavc", instinctively;

Immanent Pri nc ip le , n othing against me common Law that rules the whole body, nc\'('"r yielding to the pulh of the affections , whether for good or evi l; and ttu:!. j,\ w hat 'Selfma. .,tl."ry' mcan s ". Yl At the amc time it must not he o\'crlooked that behind thi_'i ethjcal appJkauon of mJndfulne. S5 to co n d u c t there lic"i a metaphysical doctr in e; for Buddhism, like the Upani!o.hacis, regard"i all recognition not a'i an acq u is ition of new fact.. but a.o, the recovery of a latent and ultima tely unlimited omniscience; as 1Il the P l atonic doctrine, where alI lcaching: and e x peri en ce arc to be th ough t of si m ply as reminders
of what wa... \ already known but had been f orgotten.40 lhe\C t''"'O 'io uL'i or IoC!VC'" the irnmortal l'i our "real Sclr. This distinction of an
\l

of God is fo r none but the thoroughly dead", "The says that "The kin gdo m word of God ex tencLs to the sundenng of lOul from spint":"and n mlght "ell
have been said by the Wake that

that the ""rd, dniLga/ "' prum (-let hilll dmy delu de ourselves by supposing ethically (which would be 10 ,u"'utu'" meam for taken to be are himself) what thev mean is unde rstood bv St Bemard when he sa" that one e nds)' . de flreTe a se tota, a snnetipsa liqIUS (n? (= one must toral1- aba.ndon t gh ou
I ' ,

TIlE 'oIYlll

one self, like a c andle that hums ttSelf up.) and by leis"'r Eckhart "hen he

his own sou l " (kai ou muei-tin maulou pJuchin - he "ha does not hate-his

come and find me unannihilate, and I be siez'd and gil'n LOto the hands of my oy,n sclfhood'"'Y

own

soul)." "The soul

";\0 man (an be my di.scipl e but and ifhe ha'" itself to death "-"Le5t the Last Judgmen t

must put

Plato, ilgain, continually reminds

that there arc two i n us, a n d th a t of

i mmor tal pirit from the mortal sour, which we have already recognized in Brahmani'im, i!o. in faC l lhe fundamental doctrine of the Philosophia Pcrcnnis wherever we find it. The spirit returns to God wh o gave it wh e n the d ust returm to the d us t . Gnolhi seaulon (= Know thyself ) ; Si i1f71ora le, egTf?dere (= If
you arc ignorant of yourself, begone) . ,,\Vhither I go, ye cannot follow m e

now .

. .

If any man would follow me, let h i m deny himself "." We

m ust not

dip(parn.r.nfl),
\ u(

dhrna-mchnc...., unborn, 'itcadfast, clean of all other perce ive.. the Br hnc.., then knowing God he i l ibe rated from all ills". The Spirit ( alm an ) is ou r light whr:n all other lighL 'i have gone out (BU.IV.3.6). "'On 1nl; ( tmrtJ) a'i '"watch ing onc!; !ltep ", "di..,crction " , cf. 1. CoL I0.3 1 . Cf.D.1.70, SBBJIl.233, rlc:. Thu!. an inacivcn en l sin i.. worse than a del ibe rate sin (MiI.84, cf,15B), BUlliu Ih BrahmaQicaJ smrti (lJ7UlTa abo h35 the meaning "love"') , the B udd hist whmcam mort: than this mere he(:dfuinc\.., tll(" padtUfliiiiam o fJ V1.252. Rc collc ctiiI is pr<tcti!aed with a view to omniscience or \upcr-gnmis (abhi,iiill, /J(Jjii llan tl, prmTU"tJw(l, ?nmQia f Of(thouht. l orc"ight , etc.) The fu llc'it account is given in Vis.4 07f. I n 5 of !viII. 77-9, thi .. i.. a malter either of intuitive, pontaneoWi and unaided :'Iupcr..gnO'li . ocGI.\joned (ha!llmiha - "rtrima); In the hl.UCr Gle we are merely re m inded byextern;1 liKmofwhat we already know pott-n tially. (' ...nmpOlring this with Pr.L'i. U p.IV.5; CU VU. 1 J. VIJ.26.1 and MU.VI.7 (,'The Self know .. ewr)'thing"), .1Ild lak ing account of the epithet Jatav("da\ Polli ;ritlHflHl, it appear.. th,u the I nd ian doc trine of Me fnO . coincide!l with the PlatoniC doc U-jllt' il l MCIIU 81 ( uullhi!.i.I _ llIlWIWi.lij, i.e. karl lll l g:
= =.

recollection).

o i"PlalfJ--Mrn(J. H I ,H2; Ivl Juhfir .nlA,B,GO'iB; 1.(IUH 9 59B ; Plwnlo wm, ete. Set: ab my /VmllntuJ1I, /ndirm mui PlfJtmu:r",JAOS. Supplement No.3, 1944 and ComnaYfJ.iTlJamy 2: S"vrtm Paj,,"n',I'rin. Univ. Pn\'I, 117 7. pp. 49.. 65, u John XlIl.:{h; Mark VIlI.34. 'DlOor,C who do follow him have "forsaken a ir'. and th'I"
M

"JLaW! 644, 645.

"1Epistle of Paul to rhe Hebrews (N.T. ), r\,. 12. "'Luke XIV.26. "Who haleth not [atha and mother, and wife and dllldrcn, and bre thren and sisters", cf, MU.VI.28 "I[to wife and family he be atL1ched, for such a a ,kmgwife and c-hild, motha and m n, no , never at all", and Sn . 60 "Alon e I [are. fors.. fathe r ", Cf, nole 1 1 8 111 'Hinduism' section. u Meisler Eckhart and Wi l l iam Slake. U. Behmen. Sa Pu,ula ThtowphutJ.. \1UO l If it Wll ! 'Thus Wc :"cc ho..... a life peri!iiu.'s . . . namely. when it 111 be its 0\\11 ord ot ... Q, Mauh.XV.25; . n give ito;clf up to de,uh, then J I ca nnot obtain an)' other ....orld uJng to Ade of ndllife \\-lthout ce, ,iu a higher gr 67 , f.lR. "No nC'HUre c.m att. Phd(). e XlSl" (Sl. Thotn.n Aqu;l\a., Sum. ThroL 1.63.3). a. $chiller, -In error only there i.s hfe n k a d nO wledge mu t he death ; and what ha been said above' OIl NIf\'aIJJ;U a being l d Qfliving, i t '''h.lll lic;O; bel'ond 'tuch dt ;tth s cannot bcdefined n t'"m ofourkin finl-shl'd. Da n te_ '. To tIt' L )I1Ilnl' Com.f' Xl\'2' dy, . ,J. . Pamdl5t' ,
. . >

naturally includes "thcmsel'n!I".

\Vh0$0 larnelll, t hat We must doff Ihi!> garb . (lf fr. 'lil l TI orlaI It)', ' thenceforth to live
g

I1li mo r a t 11 '! a Ilove; ht, ha III not \cen The e ' er. w ct refre5hin of tlJ;lt he;\\'t>n ly ho\'t

THE DOC:fRlSE

THE DOCTRINE
"Were it not better if ye sought the plural ycrh with iL 'i sin gu l ar ojecL is precise. It

In the Buddha's question cited above,

Self ?" the conU"ast of tlw is One that the m.un' an' to find. Let liS consider some of the lIlany other Buddhist contexts in ... hich our seIves, respectively composite and mo r tal and single and itnmortal, arc contrasted. The question is asked.jusl a.s it h ad been in the Br\hm'll)ica.l books, "By which self (ke1Ja dtmallii) ""does one attain the Brahma-world?" The anS\'lcr is given in another passage, where the usu al formula descriptive of the Arhat's attainment concludes '\..;th the Selflhal is Brahma-become" ( brahma-bhlltrllo iitma ni i) ;justas in the Upanishad "It is a o;;. Brahma that he returns lO Brahma". .tf>From that world there is no returning (pu"ari"wartalla) by an)' necessity of reb ir t h .-n Other passages distinguish the GreatSelf ( malUitman) from the little self (alpatman) or Fair Self (/uzl yalJatman)
obvious answers impl ied are Yakkha as in Sn. 875 and brahma-bhu.trna attanii tSn. 508 Ko sujjhati mucco.ti bajjhati ca? hen 'aUanii gacchati brahmalnkaw The
as

j' ' ts goaI . "'''[ h Self iI th cl f hcscl , an cl I ' n t e saying "For onrwho h ' " Lor o t , ' . , a_ all.an e "! il we r S If e c o g niz a n c e the doclnne of th e C . , It: d , '-htre is not dearer th that the Self alone is trUly. dear'''' the Hermetic "love thy that A m<ln, out of dJarlty, ough t to and t e Christian doctnne love h " than he loves any other person"," i.e. that Stlf for whose "k tmself mOre
' le

" the former is from foul (pfifJiitmfw);

the latter's ju dge '" "Cl

6}

s;',hads

hi mself.

Sf.

>q e hl'tn USt den y

Br.lh m,l ill t he Brahm;l-world is a great achievement, but not the I , al ftp ;), , ' fi HlaI exit ( u ttarakarali)'am, uttari7ll nUS(Jraalll ), a de-spirauon free f rom all [aC( onofex _ Isten ce -dl ,St'sa-n l ' b b anam) ' attainable hra a n u p a Br.1hma ( e v e time in n In the B I ca I rtla,world T1.. . . . . 'ne " I.'> (Ile aUalllmt'nl ' of I h i bt " only conciltlon superior to tI liS ' . \. n ( 1 1lerc a d , now than post mo r t e l r l t l ('r l l (UI.l95, <JiVall lTwktl) , 0.1.156

,; \. \:'.76 .. 7; er BC V .3, 33 .....hereJanaka. U1tonncd about th e bt:JlillC Brahma-world, dem ands "

ation"). for my liber

. mana . . . -amrta1 samabhavat. BU.IVA.6 ln-aJlmaivasan brahmiipyeti (,\rith Satlkar J.G lIyas comment that i1 is only of the Par.unatma that bondage and liberation can be predicated) are essentially the sam e ; Sn. continues Bhaga\"<\ hi me sa kh i brahm '<ilia digho. ' I " no "my self ".
as

iiinam brahma; sa dena A.II.21 1: the Brah maI). ical answers, A A .1I.6 praj1

pmjrll':Tl.ai

in

These texts make it evident that in the commo n equa tio n brahmlJhhf ltO ", budd ' hO, 1! "Brahma- IJcconle ", bUl "8rahma-becom " l Ila! mUSl be underlood: the _ Bodlusatta. h ad bet: n already a Brah ma, and Iaha Bnlhma, in fornlcr 1i\'(. - V (A I .B 8) but for al l that was not YCI a Buddha, er. t r. \'1 .22 wh ere it is a ql lc-Iion transcen d i ng the audible Brahmtt and of Mgoing home" to the supreme . inaudible Brahma in whom (or which ) all i n dividual cha ra({l'ritio (frr1hll.Jh( mmrllJ h) are

more than Ih at,

15

no

of

not Self; Self = not '!'. Dh 62 pcrhaps "there IS no self of SC\f meaning is as Sonsare not "mine" so Sc1fhas
=

in BG.X\1II.54 brahma-bhiitah prasa nn iitmii.

merged, as i n Sn. 1 074-6 wh ere the I uni, freed from name and aspect. "goes home and ofsuch t here is nothing that can be said because all indinduaJ char.lC!crnticshave
4J;For references on mahat, alpa. see: BG.XVI.9 nll!,iilmiinoalpabuddhayah. X "\lfI.22 at(zttvarlhalladalparit; CU.VII.23.1 niil/N ruk/lIlmmti, VIl.24.1 ),alra , . . -anJadviJllntiti ladalpmn . . . trmmarlJf lm; KU.1. 26 ifl1'llmiJ jil1itmnalpamn.Ja; also in Plato, &publir519

been co n fused (sabbelU dlwmmtsu sami{ha/) , i.c. as whe n riven rC;lch tht' sea, A.IV. 198.

as ,,\Vhereh)'?". In the same way the PTS Dictionary carefully omits the positive

references s.v. allii and ignores mdkattll . Mrs. Rhys Davids has discussed ma hattii. ::::: 1f'A.lI.2 1 1 brah ma-bhulena dttanri uiharati; like BU.lV.4.6 brahmaiva san brah rniip')'el
a.<'

It lS characteristic of Lord Chahner's attenuations that he ren ders ken 'attana only

mahatma (e.g. Rroit"W o f &llg1un \1.22f. ) , but ignores the nature of the mahima7J (majesty) on wll lch the epi the t depends.
and BG.X\lIl.54 lmzh ma bh i lfal) BG.V.24 bmhma-niroii.1}a. a. Sn. 508 bhagavii hI
me

lakkhi brahmaJJa diHho; sakkJri

auditor in centuries B.e. could ha\'c snppmed that a refere nce to Brahma was meant.

in BC'.I1I.4.2 siid-aparohi idbrahma. No I ndian

U. Sn. 479 bmhmii hi SaAAhl, 934 sakkhi rih(Jrnma; A. I. 149 saMhi flUti; Mund Up. 111.2.9 sayo ha brahmaveda , . , Inahmana bhfJvati; AA.ll.6 pra)il.ntiitmanir, 5.1.197 lIrahmabh,,(a
in connection with arahat fomlUla [LB. Homer in letter to ARC d , IR- l l-'45: "As to Sn. 508 one translator ( Chulm crs) must have got Brahm;l. from the IYfS ed i ti on ofthc Commentary. If yoU

sec

Br-ihm". Homer continues in her letter of 2&.11-'45 : "1 certainly agree vmh yoll n abollt DiaUIl.78. Surel)' such tcrms -;a. -nimitta, -diiyada, aLso -bhfila, in connecuo
JllIna mean Brahma BrahrniUJhittma altana viharati with br

Wovrn ClIdnlUi,

as 1 hope you will. you will find t he translator (KM. l larc) has

Brahma-bccomc".

n at A.II.206 must mea

_ 47'A.J2.91 (cfJI.21 ) _ " S.1.7!) n ' . - p,) ttak(lmo'udii llo , I"V a h e Selfi ) h ; aW, ' a / a m m altmlll kll(l(f , : ..n r Of eX lalll whcn l atta a '. P -' d d mnia ma}/llltam ablijhkhmllw t(iSJ,71, 72, like BG,\ b I IV q7 Ilftii hi pllffJmD ) 1 ear (pi-.! cr han HJ / , - l;lll' 'JO \. h "dfi 11 11 not dt';u' ((lP/ll),O) to self, On tIit' ot h Il, t e the I ' all( . P'yo, " y fIleanl . naril _ d' 1 n.U l too fond of hum elf " l\ what I or III

. ' KU IlI I I ; . . 12' 111" {lttano gall (Cf, BU. [V, 3 . l, Bul ltI 5a\'ltr . 1 MU ,V! . 7 . rluh' \;z. ," d vllllO t'Va.lya " , atmano tmn n<'la m'111akJ,\'nlr ' RV.\- 30 ' S IV I)50Jllwm . . -tJiIl.l no, Dh . 62 alia III at/ana n 'a t/hi ; "In eI[ there's naughl ofSclf". , , If Ihe . er S lIot ITn 5c , ' , , .ill ,82, 83 )'ad (Hlatrii , , . na w 50 (ltt(;. \\1Ial lS not-Self. urlt . 'V I[ 7 -f )'(I) 'H III 1 ' ' . refe rents arc . ( a nti In. revcrs<.d; the Se f (atmoTl) i seJfles ing
"D I1. 1 6 0 alto h i atlano ntithl1; 380 oltii
. . , .,

10 jJS7ulwycm. Rejmbhr 524 C int e lligi ble and \;siblc, Manu 1!lA.I.57, 58, 87 (atlapi aUaTram up(wadatl) , 149, 249; A.V.S8; Sn. 778, 913: and of l Cdue the XI. 230; lvpuhlic 440 B; I 1", ofll1",} Cor. 4.4. This is the "Ayenbytc

the pett), soul .

C;'

nO retum".

irt.-I

, s Sons are ,not "mine", so Sdfht\ no "m(self,

" BU.1.4.8, [H [V,5 , .

:::: not-Self; Self ::: not-'I', D h ,62 pt' rhaps (ht're IS no Self of

self M!, but "

mean

CV.IV.15':; Imam maniivamavarlam niivarlant CU .YlIl. l S . 1 Brn" masiitk(Jr. ea There is, however, a distinc tion of sal\';.\(ion from perfectio n: to have becom

5 HDA.I.31 lato &mhma-lokii!)(l!l.5(lndh:-vasma na iivauanadhammo, expanding D.I . 1 ! tl. aniivcdtulhmnmo; as in BU.Vl.2.15 tt' um bmhmalolu.pJ . . vasantl, tt'ii m na pu na rm.."

k (0 wor lif"fllle I I' t duty .1 I , l in 66 (tn 'IIl' ' " IV.6 8. "s I'(C" ' , 1 . 111 0)11, " 6.4' , ef' Did ' cndtnrI Hrahnl;i. 1 ' .\.\ Aqllm:ts, Slim. Tlu'ol 11 11 , .. OU t Il . mJJ.fa n)'lI 1 r '--' ' iS OWl l :o.a1 \'3110 V'Uh , a\\lrn 1\). AV.UO an d \\'llh p (F.t W od",, I ' _ a) . bodv, nOW 1 In hi" tr;II1\I,111011 of AlIf[UUQra JVJUJ)' ' , WIth ollt" cr. Pla tn 11.... ned , l..lJim 903D, j oi "Soul, hCI O!<i: con

, o .1 f

--

62

IIlNDUISM AND BUDDHISM

THE DOCTRINE

ll\ llll" L\r\hm alic al doctrine, our immortal, impassible, beatific inner Self and Person, ont." ,\I1d tllt.' S.Ul\t.' in ,\ll lwings, is the immanent Brahllla God "That" is: but nothing else that is trUe can be said ofit: "Tholl canst not know himsdf dol'S not know wJw/ he is, becal1c ht is not any what/'\'Thc Buddhist
doctrine procee ds in th e s.uneway. hy<'limination. Our own c ons ti tu t i on and
tilt' m.\kt'r-lo-know what is known. who IS your Sclfin all things".lI\Just as God

,",'llhin ),O'll.\I' I it- dOl'S no t COlllt' frol11 illl)'\".,hcre no r beco me anY )l1c."i7

falsely tcll us that w hat appears to be, a ctu ally is".'"The old Br'hmaical (and Platonic) symbol of the chariot is made use of; the chariot, with all its before its parts were put together, and will be none when they fall to pieces;
give n for con veni enc e to a cer ta i n continuum of pl.'rceptiom, there is no "char iot " apart from it 'i paw;; "c hario t" is nothing but a name,

onc person, nOr is on e person . . . Our sense\ through ignorance of real ity,

Gods, now and herl'aftcr.Justasit iscxprcsscd by Pl u Larcb , "ohodyremain5

and all this applies to all be i n g!') , or rather bccom ings , whether of men or

renewcd;li there is neither selfnor anything of the nature of \Clfin the world;

63

that of the world is r{"pca tl dly analysed. and as each onc of the five physi cal
is not m.)'self"

many folk" jekn tify "tIH'mselvC,.'s" is l i st ed , the pron oun cem e n t follows, "'J1wt
men tali ties who id en tifY themselves \\th their accidents, the Buddha would have i nclude d Descancs, with his Cogilo ngo .wm.lil

and mt. 'm.ll f actors of the transient p erson a li ty with which the "un t au gh t

appu rten an c es ,

corresponds to what we call our self; there

wa s

no chariot

( 'W lIU so (itmii) .''You wi l l ohscn:c that amongsl lhcsc childish

be ta.ken to be an en tity

j ust like the ch a rio t, "confections". The Comprehensor has seen things

w e call our "consciousness" i s nothing but of t h e b o dy . h

from day to day and is just as much causally d et e rm .i n ed

There is, in 1:\(t, no 1l1Orc an individual than there is

a

pr o cess ; its c on te n t changes

as

a world soul. What

is the co n te nt

Ou r

pe r so n al i ty is cons t a n tly being d e st roy ed and

1 come? " , 'Whither am I goi n g? "!'" If the Arhat is expressly pe rmitted still to say "I", this is o n ly for conveni en ce ; he has long since o utgrown all bcliefin
a person a li ty of his own.ti/; But none of all this means, nor is it anywhere d that 'Thcre is no Sclf " . 'i70n rhe contrary, lhere arc passages in which when l isted , wc find, n ot the usua l formula of ne gation , 'That is not my Se lf n, but the five constituents o f our evanescent and unreal "existence" havc been

ig noramus to <\''ik slIc h q lIc stion s as "Am I?", "\\1Iat was I once?", ""''hence did

distinguished h im self from all of them; it is no t for hi m, but only for an

they have become" (yathii bhiila m) , causally arising and disappeari ng, and has

bur muse noc (sallva) ; and in the same way with ourselveswho are,
"as

another undergocs all sorts of changes . . . ". August ine , Sermons CCXLU\.3--0n 'the mut..abilityofsoul antlbody'.and-' bcliefin soul more dangerous than bdicfin body'. . BG.\'l.29
sarvabhullll th am iitmii 7lam,

1
..

sawt'.SSllm bhuliiniimadhjPali; BU .Il1.5.1 brahma, )'0 iitmii sarvii ntamll; MU .V.l vifuiilmii;

'''''RV.I.I IS.l (itmii;agolasla.ftJl1l}U.sC.l; SB.X.4.2.27 James;ambhuliiniim (it mii; BU.II.5. 15

BG.VII..9 jivanU7h sarvaM.Il; Manu 1.54 _anJabhfitiitmii, etc. Th is doctrine: of onc "Soul" or "Self " behind what appear to be our many dilTe:rent souls or sd\'es can be recognized in Plato (notably Mnw 8 1 , describing the univcral l)lrth and comcquent omniscience of the "Immortal Soul", cl'. note 38 (Buddhism ) ) , Plotinus (notably E1!neadsIV.9 p;L<isim , on the "reduction of all souls to onc") and Hennes (notably Lih.V.l O.A "bodiless and having many bodies, or rather present in all bodi(,:.M, cf. KU.II . 22 asa rira m .fari,..ell; KU.V. 1 2 laroabhii.ta ntarritma, "the essence of all beings"). I t sUf\-;ves i n Diony:.ius. "Being that pervades all lhings at onc e though not affected by them" (De div. n011dl. 1 0 ) . ,.7KU.U .lS nii)'am kutaicin n a babhuva ka.icit; Ktj . II .2 5 h a ittlul veda )'atra saJP KV .VI.l3 asli ill' ('VU , . . . Cf. Mil.73 bh ag(wii atthi . . nasahkii . . . nidasselum idha va idha; and S5..nkaracarya (on BU.I I l .3 ) muktm),a en. na galilJ kvacil.
'BU.III.4.2; Cf.II.4.14, lV.5.15; AA. 1II.2.4.

the pos i tive injunction, "Ta ke refuge in the Self ";6IIjust the Buddha also says
that he himself has done.I1

The empirical pe rsona l iTY of (his man, So--and-so, being merely a process, and he born .ath e _ . it is not "my" consciousness or pers on ality that can !iu1vc.d should ajk we : tlus lS sness consciou e s o aga in .70 It is improper to ay,k "Wh
ssa ca annat!roa upajjati miiiam r'S.l1.95, viii 1iiinam . . . ratli\'ii ca divassa
>

of an anyone anywhere. nor is there anywhere aught of mine"; similarly M.lI .263, 264; Sn. 950, 951; P lotiulIs. Enneads VI.9 . 1 O "Bm this m,Ul h <" now become another, and is neither himself nor his own". Cf. my "AkimcafllU: Self Naughting in Nnu /nclion Antiquary', 1940 and in 2 : Sclutd Papt'Tl, 1 9 77, pp. Ss.. l OG. . Also in Thr Cloud of Unknowing, Ch. 68 "Let be this everywhere and Ihis aug h t III comparison of this nowhere and Ihi!'! nau ght". filJf in S.U1. 105 where upiidij),u (amiti i e quated 10 cogito ergo sum, but rilpam, vedanam, lanii ii nmll, lanhJuj,-, ;tnd viiiT1iinom are lJ.nicw, how the n 'a.mi? II'IS. lL 13 . II 1.l 65, etc., ann icctw dukkhau anllltii, SJII.41, et c., like BU.l1IA.2
.. S1. Augustine says (Smno CCXLI.2.2), body and soul alike are mutable. and A. those who recognize d that this is o went in search of That which is unchanging .
Dlon)'adiirlmn.

YlErivgena. r,oA.J l. l 77 "I am n aught

. .'. . 1 . 1 2 , VI. 6. i, and EpKhanno ' 1\'. Cf Enntlllu also note 70 (BuddlllSIIl ) .rl lma vl)Mno, note I . pJS2, 1920, hJ, Philosap Cr. 2 ( Diels) in John Bllrnet : Earl)' Gm);. ,U1 Ph(Ufia 78C. fitPlularch, Momlia 392D, based on Plato, Sympruwm 2070, E icatloll. tnonif and d metho br !ll wido Bumet, p . 152 , cile the Fin/ stcp in ath ' l1. anel Eckhan tikt""'ise t"quatsdc ' 1 1 dt,';lt Euthydemm 284D equ;nes change WIt " and change. " , . vf]eeung mstallt , '1yreborn in cVer ": er. llll!' "life of experiencc whICh 11\ UlomeTltan . 2.346 on lVltgi of .J.hy 'J !' v . Iht PhilOl' ifS It! 'IIId' . S ' and Bowman's "SpcciOll p n-s ent " III I. It .. not the 11lb5fmuf' that undml(J1/IlJ . nce, In this life we are Ihe iltb]rct of experie allsm' r.tting, ifa$ . tr "fUr. ' . of h' di\nplc does not Ihnk " h . Ig " MS.II.26, 27. Tht: tnlighttnt'd ul . 0f mediate causes III ;t(cordance n io t ra e p o but only recognizes Ihe incc\I\,11lt which contingent I)ers(lnalille ;tril' and {"{",L\e. - atlUuau. "" " r ,I.. but a
_

nitU hatl. Sec

&nno. CCXLI 3.3

. both mUL. than of soul a.\ scif. 117S.1I.94. Bellel' to t h ink of led)'(l
MSJ. 1 4 , D.UW . Buddlllsm IIIIS .III.l43 . StC (Synthriu, p, l l !l) 11110.11 .120. Sec note 3 7 (Buddhi'llI) 71lM.I.25{; (Sali' hc rsy ) .

. I ttJbhot U!lC\ "tlllPO.'

, n ..., ermS (Onvcme

"lble. a, Augustine

n)[c :\7 (Bllddlll.m) ,

1 1 I l\UI1 AND l\UDl)I IIM

only. "How did this ronriow"IH.SS arist".i1 TI1(' old answer is givcn,1:! ''The body is n ot 'mine', bUl \l\

cfh'([ uf past wurks" . 7'1 Thcrc is no "essencc " t h a t passes oVC'r fro Ill. onl' h ab i ta tion to ano th er ; as onc name is lit from another, so lift., is tr.Ulsm il led , hu t IlOl ;t l i ft' , not "my" IifC.7 Beings arc the heir of ..\c.. L ,,7 hUl ll (\ntlOt he sa id l'xactly thal "I" n ow rctp t h e rewards of w h al "I" did in af orlller habitation. There is causal con tin u i ty, but 110 onc conscious ness (vijliaIll) . no es.'i;t'UCC (sattl'a) that now cxpcricncC's the fruiL... of good a n d evil othcrnC's.", (mlUuyam) ", to experi e n ce i n t he fu ture the consequences of wh a t
to mother.n nS.II.13 , 11.61, etc . 4... lL1.3 "M;;tn is \ product ofworks", Le. of t h in gs tholt havc been d one up to th at i"tA. m ome n t at wh ich we spc<lk (kanna-krtam ayamputuJah). U. BU.IlI.2. l 3 " . , . it is Karma
a. A.llI.70 and A.V.8S for kammadiiyiido, etc. & per M.1.483 h ouse h olders art: Jlot Kanna: MCllaque ctre n'agit quc sclon G ren icr U1 C/zolse

V.dama and Buddhism arc in complete agreeme n t that notlt er? Thus the migration, there are no individual trammigranl'!. All that trans is :h ilc lhere operatioll of causes the ! and 50 much the worsc for u,\ ifwe 'let in thy we scC is "Self ". W e can find tile .)amc thing In Chri.stianity, ncci IICXUSQUr i r ll l t c c fa wl lvd 'Who did sin this man {}f hb parenl'l, that he was born asked, it is wh ef , n swe r is made th at -:-ieither hath this man the remarkable a which to d?" blin
sinn ed, nor his parenLs: but tha t the works of God m ight be made manifest in him"." I n other words, the bl'ndne &1 has -arisen" by the operation of those would have been deprived of the perfec ti on of causal i ty. The Buddha", purpose is to save l15 from all! selves and their mortality. He would go on to say that our sub jection to such fatal accidents as blindne" is a pa rt and parcel of our identification of "consciollSl1rSS" with "Sclf ". -that is not my Self "; and the Parable of the Raft applies
as iLl

THE DOc:rRlNE

65

3Ctltm.s. \\\(\ th.\\ .h>n rv(HrS .\\1d rcincarnatl...' s (w.lldhiivllti smiuumtl) wit hout is now taking place.7bConsciousncs.s, indeed is never the same f rom onc day

mediate causes ofwhich God is the Fim Cause and without which the .wld

How,

then. could "it" survive and pass over frail)' onc life to

alone that remains to reincarnate". See also notes 101 (Hinduism) . and 64, 1 42 (Buddhism ) . \;l\'t'd but go to heaven; the ;ivika is s,;wcd hy bdid in Iwnna.

altog e th e r rnisunderstand the value an d importance of "'consciOllSntss"

We

consciousness
'':John IX.23.

to e thi cal procedure; like the raft, wnsciousnc is a

the series or order of second caus, and Iie$ in these

much to

J.

(Nowelle

Ency cl oped ic Phllmophic\ue, p. 1 1 6).

"a

...

mais il faccoune (eHe naturc par chacun de ccs actes" "eac h pe rson on ly acl!l in accord \\;th h is own nalUre but he modifies this nature with each of h is acts." nS.ll.64; S.1.38 Satto lamsiiram iiptidi, kammllm asya pariiyanatTL Cf.

proprc nalU rc ,

with the Vedanttc the Lord is the only tr J.mmigrant" and with HCl1lc1eit us, for whom the flux i on ly of the fontal al d inflowing fire, pur aeiuiDon (everJivilg fire) Agn i, VllV(J),US. Not th ere forc in disagreement with Plato et aL, who c:ertaillly Jd not re jecthe "nwx, b,lt prtsumcs a Beingfrom which all beco m ing proceeds, a B cmg that is not i tse lf a "lh ing'" but from which all MIhings" incessantly flow. . M.I. 1 1 5 yaii-iuzbva bhjkhav bhlklt/zu bo./zlllum anivitnkJuti aTlllvicareti la/ha taihii naJi llOti cettuo. 7M.I.390; S.n.64; A.V.SS " My nature is of work! (ltammassako'mhl) , works I inherit,
=

"Change and decay in all arollnd I see: 0 nlOU who changest not, a bi de with Mc . ';tMil. 71/2. That nothing but t h e "fire " of life i, tra m m i tted is in perfect agreem e n t

huag Tlll-:

Bllddha " kn ows whateve r is CO be known, as it has been and "111 be , Sn. 558, etc., cf. Pr.ts.Up.IV.5) who does n ot go\'cm directly but through these causes, "ilh ....I . uch he Timacus, 28:\-Cf. Sl. Augus ti nc, QQ LXXXIIl.qu.24; Timaeus 28a. As a mother hi pregnant with u nho rn orrpring, s.o i!- the world it.\e1f",;th thecilmcsofunbom Ihings

cause s themselves and not in God (except Providentially, i.e. in the 5amewayth-:.t tht
never interferes (51. ThoIllasA9uina.. , Sum. Thtol., 1.223. Ll03.7 ad 2, 1. 1 1 6.2, 4 etc. ) .

'19FoTtunc is

nothing but

"Nothing happens in the world by ch ance". Levcippus Aehod.25,4 (in Burnet) .

I am born of works. Ihe kinsman of ....orks, one to whom works revert; whatcver work, . or fai r or foul , 1 do, I h.lll inherit" . The last must not, o f course, be take n lO mea n that "I" an "I" really incarnates, but onl y that a fu ture "I" will inherit an d perceive,just as do, iu own cau sal ly dctemlined nature, Cf. note 65 (Buddhism ) .

the notion of the pa....ing of the ego from one embodiment to an o t her" . Takakusu, PlulD5o/Jhy Eeut (1.,ul m"sl, 1 944, pp. 78-9. 111C idea is not that a so111 l ivCS . after the death of the hody and m o....e)'. into another hody. Samsara mC'Ul the CTf';<\tlOO of a neW life by the influence of the actio m of the former living being". P t!l{JVlltthu IV.3 PCla confe ..ses fa lse doctrine held as a man, viz<o that "just as he who r leaves onc village fUlds h is way into another, even ,"0 doe.. tlH living being ente a no th e r body", Cr. Mil.72" . . . Cf. 7hM.I.256f.: MI1.72 Tl 'o.ltlti leon satto 'jo .mamha hay" annam hayam StJMamatl.
_ _ _ _ _ _

T.W. Rl", Da\1d,. Di"L 1143, SBE XXXV1 . 1 42. Mil. 4 8 B.C. Law, Conup" of Buddhmn, 1)',7, p. 45-lt goes withoUl s\ying that the B u ddh i.. t thinker repud iates

to become so. It is th e grasp of the vcry fact that ....ft'n art' mechanisnu, ("JlIsallr d te e nn i ncd (as s[;\lcd in t h e repeated fannula, "This bt'ingso, that arises; ornot bemg so , d oe not arisc")thc \'cryground of "scientific Jl\;3.tcriatlsm-{ha[ points out the Way ofescape; all ou r trouble arise. from the fact that like: BocdullS we have forgottcn Who wc \re tt, and ignoran tly sce OUI' SeIfinwhati.s-not-our-Self (ana/tam aUanam), but only a proces s. Furthe r Refe rences: Plato, TimMllS 2Baj Aristotle, Mf'!fl/Jhrir.{ V1.3.1 ( 1 027 a)..-"WiII A be or lIot? I t <ill if B happen s: , o[h eise nor. And B w\l l happ en if C dot'S. h i dear that I II (hh way, as time is On C ttnuously !'IlIbtracted from ,1 Iimill'o pt'riod, we shall come to {he prcent". Renn e r, Pl)'dlOlo1fia (p. 2 45), wi ll ;0 Iri'l'h"iII-bolh pauh'e reactions in U; wilt ;,. want, S1 . Tholl1il1l Aquin'ls I.2b.l and IU 1 .2.7-'''The will is frcc insofar iIJ it o I'eas n " o _n u t Wht:n wc "c!o wlM t we like" J.20. I --<iitinction of It'fll from wan tmg; . IIcr uitive aPI l H' It(' ( pa",slons). . . . " fJb,i:. XlII-"Whmo h:;\\h not rcaped free wtll, no WIll hath he . SJlflt1l.H_T Phi lo, Con! 94. ,""1\... "consdom" w are alwa "consciou sllbjecu r.l!IH'r rh;}n sub5(.an(ethat
7

(St AUgul;tine, De sjJir,tl lil., 52). TIw Buddha ciearl),dcmon.\trJtes th3t we can neither be as n or when wc will, and afe not free (S.III.66, 67), though {herelS3. W;\y" (Dl156)

(Df!Trin.III .9,-both sta(cmcnt. e n dorsed bySL ThomasAquillils). Why'hC'n should miserabl e men Ven ture to pride themselves on their frccI,.ill bc.:Core they are )ct free? -

110le 6: ( Budcihi!irn).

77s.U.9!;, cf.

notes

63, &4 (Uuddhism).

wh1l:1)

u"

I"I ",

"-

ro,,"--,ro'

66
valuJ..b k tool . a m ean s o f op cr>H i o l l , hm like lhl' ra ft not to he h eld on lowhcn tht" work has bt'en done .H1 l f t hi s ala rms

he thought ih.\! tht' pt';'\C\' ofNirv.l.na imp lie d a destruction of som eth in g n'a!

liS, as Aristha wa.s frightened because

THE DOCTRINE In this chain of causes, to understand which is to have come Awake,

67

in himse1f," "'t' must n ot o\'erlook t h a t what we arc asked to slIbstillltc for our consciousness of things plc.u;lIlt and ull pleasant-or ralher, sub jection to feelings of pleasure and pain-is not a simple unconsciousness but a SUpt'ITonsl"iousness, nOIlt' th e less real and beatific because it cannot he

emphasised that nothing whalc\'(T happens by chance but only in a regular does not bccomc".tl4To have verified this i!i to have found (he Way. For in "all and when Wt know th e cause, we can apply the cure . The appli cated is Mated in the cydc of ca u sal origination" mastered on the nigh t of the Grea t to the process of exislence an d unavoidable by any individual; individuaJity bu[ only a sequence of reactions in which '\vc", who havc no power to be either as or when we will. are fatally involved; individuality is motivated by and is "consciousness"; consciousncss is llot a being, but a pwion, noean activity th in gs lhat spring from a cause" are included "old age, sickness, and deaLb"; se quencc-"T h at being prescnt, thi becomes; th at not heing present, this

it IS

an .dysed in t he terms of consciolls th ough t . At the same lime wc ought,

perhaps. theology is (allcd the "di\,II1<' manner of knowing , not by means of any ob jects ex te rn al to the knower", is by no Illeans to be equated with t h e _wbconsciousness of modern psychology, with res pec t to which it has been VCIY truly said that while "ninetcenth cenLUry materialism closed the mind of man to what is
to

point out that this superconsciousness,or what in Christian

Awakening. All the ills that flt:sh is heir to are inseparable from and escmial

abovc him, twentieth centlll)' psychology open it to what is below him".

ject to corruption and dea t h . I t is this Our conscious "life" is a process, sub 1.1 1y. It will be life that must be ' flTTPsted' ( TlirodllO) if we are LO l i ve i m mor L.

perpetuated bywa n tin g; and the ca use ofall wanting is "ignorancc" (avidJll) , for we "ignore" that the objccl of our desire can neVer be posses.sed in any
real sense of th e word, ignore thal evcn ,....hcn we have got what we want, we

useless to deal with symptoms; it is the cause or occasion (hetu, nidii71a) that mUst be sought if we are to f md the "rnedccine" that the Buddha sought and
realisation that "perso nali ty"

found. I t is the understanding of things "as become" ( Yat/ul bhflta1ll) , and the

(atmabhiiva) is one of these things,

that l iherat es

as they really are (yalhii bhftlam) , and the consequcnt attribution ofsuhstantiality to what is merely phe nom enal; the seeing of Self in whal is n(lt-Sde In making ignorance the root of all c\'il, Buddhism COIlCur wilh all of the traditional "igno rance " wi t h what we mean by "illiteracy"; 50 far f rom
trad i tional doctrine.I.But we must guard Otll'seiws from supposing that :1I1 ignorance of any partic ular th i ng is meant, and especially against a confllI(JlI

still ",\-'ant" to keep i t and arc still "in want". The ignorance meant b of things

man from himself. The gist of the Buddhist gospel is resumed in the often and triumphant repeated words, rom a cause, Of all things that spr ing f And their suppression, too, The Great Pilgrim has declared.
JlIM.I.261 ni1lharGl)atthaya na gahat.tattlW.yCJ. Cf . note 106 ( Bud d h ism) . p;:fAxiochus feared "unconsciousness" wjlh such a state (Cf. Axiochus 370, 22601);
'

. __

this, our empirical knowledge offaces is an essential part of the very ignora nce

The c ause has been told by him ihus-come";

knowledge of useful facts; what it demands is thatwc should recognize in are called ''facts' and "laws of scien ce ", nm absolute truths but statements

that makes desire possible. And no less must another misunderstanding be avoided; we must not suppose that the tradi tion al wisdom is opposed (0

Maitre)i was be n iterc d by the words of'\ajilil\'alkY'HlQ pretya sanjilii 'sti (BU . 1 1 . 4 . 1 2 ) , Cf. S.II1.105--Y atnaka's heresy that ' liberated' meant 'annihilated', but diUh 'eva.
dhamma, tathiiga!a, is not sacea/a thethatl)
tnor\cm.

more 'iO post

being a

S.H.1 1 6f.-nchhu 'IOti nor nllhott nor any co mbi na tion of these. M.l.137, 140 "Na ugh tily, \'ainly, f;:t!\ely, and against Ihe fact .un I charged with
not oh"'hat realJy is") and (2) leader forth, guide, as in .I.38{j similarly S.II I. 1 I Or. Cc. BUJV5. 1 (Mailrcyi's fea.); KU.I.20-2 (even the Gods had doubt of this, Is, Or is not", after passing over); CU.VIlI.5.3, VI1 I .9. 1 . Yel it wou ld be improper to sly C\'n of a Buddha after dea th that 'He know not, he secs not'" (D.ll.68), His natllre ca n n ot be exprcsed byany antithe!>isor combination oflhc terms "Is" or "Is n ot ". He "is ", bu
. nowhcrc--canno l not in any "placc" (lil. 73). Also, like ,\ligt'. 183 He ..sho....s be poi nl c d out". AdnJaos (not shown) co nesponds to A.A.lII.2.4 aniidi.\ta1.

a nd is

uniino n ow, how m Uch anupalabhi)"

MS.III. 162.164. etc. "Ignorance" is f a ilure from Self.

Pl;.\lO,

74.

IIotM,II.32; S.II.28 and passim. Cf. Arislotle, fctapbpics V1.3.2 Philo, Aet. 28, 35,

what reaUv

mis leade r and a teacill'r of thc CUlling off, dest ruction and non-cm it}' of is" (wtomta.na= toantos on= real being); there is hc.c a play on the dOllble meaning f the w ord 'f}na,.iJra, ( 1 ) leader-away. de lroyer (c. g. of the Ego-he.esy, but

M1Rent: GucnOTl, "L'Errcurdu p!lychologi\mc", Etudr... Tmditwnt'lkl, 43, 1 938. 'Th e:! most cvil type of man is he who. in his waking hours, has the 'luailtics we fOll nd in h is dream state". (Plato, RqJU b/u, 567B).

I\('Philu, Eh. 1 60 , igllaitJ (ignQr.lIlCl) is Ihe (';luse ofall sin. AJV. 195, Dh. 243, avtjjo M.l.263, S. I I I . 1 7 1 atJljjii. t'iuii ddined; 5.1V.256 oVlpii deflncd as of origin, ccsation ;md wav 10 arrest (1Ilkhlla. With 0,1.70 OIl the inf;lIuation that results ' f rom the indl1lgIIl'e of \'iioll and mher s , enscs, cL Pb(o, Prutago((Jl, .3560. It i the \tr.tf, 357E 1'0 be ower of appearance (/u jJh(litlmnnwfI =- FaH nipal that le.lds tu ;L p ovcrcU!IlC by pleasu re is ignot,ltIct" in the hig-hest degn'c", j58C 111i5 icldlllg to onel'clf is just 'igllomnc(:' iUuJjUSI as urely i UlaMery of oneself '\"tSdOn!'M (sup/ua Pali IW_W/fllii, /wilwuj); the Illcdkinc [01 ignor.lllce bt"J1lg MlulUwlcdge" (tputt11l) l! . Crit/rH 1 068. Simil;lIly I h:rJlH ' 1.lb. X.H,9. 'The voice ol the o\ll I S ignor.Ulce, it<;\'jrtllt" knowledg(", Lib. XII1.7H \\'hcrl' i gliorance i\ tilt" fint Qf tlw "twd\'e toollents of matter" (as in tlw Bluldlmt Chain nfC.IU(, cf. Hartmann mJAOS. GO, 1940, 356-60). and Llb. 1 . 18. "The C;;Ul.sc of Chilth is dt'ire, implying tht' choice betwcen opposite5.

mce, its virtue is KnowIcdge-(Hermes Lib,X.8, 9). Ignorance is the f igno ailurt' to distingllisil hody-alldn)llsciollSnes, elf from Self.

Apology 29 B to gar Og:tl(H' in

ignor ance; lAws 689 nle \;ce of the Soul is

(0

distinguish bod)'-alld-consdowness

pamm Inn/am; cL

68

'\tistical probbilit)'. The pursu i t ofsrlclltitk knowledge docs not necessarily t..
u nph'

HI\;I)\ 'IS1 \:'\ll lH 'Dm IISI

\\t" PUfSUt l;..nlmkdgt" for its own S.lke,

ing "ignoranlly".i In BrJ.hmlI)ktl term!!, "ignorance" is of who we i'll'C; in

.m " lg no t' .uKt ":

it is onl\' whcll t h l' motive is a curiosity, only whe n

or

art for an' s sa kt' . that wC' are behav

Le. quenched,<f.! when the mind ha... been curbed, one attains to the "peau of Nirval)a", d espi ra lion in God".'.13 In the same way Buddhism tr{:W!s the
e for want of fuel;" it is by ceasing going out of th e fire or light of l if

THE DOCTRINE

Buddhisl lan.g\l\gt' , ofwhal we art:" not; anrl th cse arc o n ly two \\'<1)'s of sayi n g

tht' S<.\llH,
are nOL

thing . wha t \H' rt'llly arc be i ng de fi n abl e o nly in terms of what wc

our fires that th e peace is rcac h ed , of which i t is well said in another tradition
to

feed

I t is onl)' by mak.ing steppi ng stones of our dead selves, u ll t i l wc reali se at last that there is literally no th ing with which we can identify our Self, th at
' cm t. W

be and pass i ng away an d immcdiate rehirth, likc a flame that go(""s on burning

and is not the same nor yet an othe r flame; and in the Silme way with rebirth

that "i t pa'<;'st" t h lI11dcrst;mding"; our present life is a con ti nu i ty of coming to

Ch rb ti an tenus is called "selfnauglllillg", an ex pressi on based 011 Ch rist ' s

bt"colllt' Wh.11

wc ;\n' . ...\nd hence lhe Buddhist em p ha s is

on what in

den<gat stipsum.

very Persons, God-become

them; excised the thought ' I am ' ; unm ovi ng, un o rigi n ated. u n con tam in ated , \Vake; un shake n in whatcvl.'r pl i gh t, rel eased fr om fu rth e r

"Beho l d the Arh.ts beatitude! No wanting can be fo un d i n

go. out nk th\s \';\\\\P" whkh, once out, "cann ot pass on its flamc".\l!) irva.l)a
is a kind of death, bUl like cYc q' de alh a reh irth to something other than what of a despirationY7 We say "a kind ofdeath" be cause the word niroalacan be used ofstill living things. The B od h isatcva is "despirated" when he becomes the Buddha. Even
Jari1linJ(11(1 me rely adds the valuc "complcte" to the notion had been . Pari ill I

af[cr dcath , i t i s l i ke th e l ig h ti ng o f OIlC:" Oamefrom another; notlling concrete passes over, there is continuity, but not sl.uuenes.s:1" But "the contcmplatives

( bmhmabhutii) , great heroes,

nat ural sons of the

bhava) ,

on ground of dompted-sclf the), stand, they in the world have

bec om i ng (punar

won thei r battle; they roar the '[jon's roar'; inco m p ar abl e are the Wake"
"Buddha" is used in the plu ral , and applied to all who have reached their goal. "Persons" triump hant here and no'\:; nor ",;ll it he overlooked that thc ep i t h et

more significant, wc find th at each of the stages completed in the training of

(buddJuih);'..". Th ere is no q uestion here of a post monem delivcrance, but of

Of such
"despi rat cd " (niroiita) , Th e word

a royal steed is c a ll ed a Parinirvana.(' The Buddha uses the word chiefly in connection with the "q ue nc hin g'; of the fires of passion, fault and dcluion is a presen t (sll1hd:0{ikam) expericnce in two ways, ethical in as much it\ II im pl ies the eradication of passio n and fault, and eternal, i.e. me taphysi cal , III
of view it involves an unselfishness, but on the one hand in practise, on the

(riiga, dDa and moha) . But there is a distinction involved here; the despiration
(nt1idJ(i); from both point\

ird.I a, "desp ira tion " , which plays so larg e a part in our c on cep tio n of
Buddh i sm, where it is o ne of the most i mportan t of th e many terms that are the referents to "man' s last end", demands some fu rther explanation. The
as

it is often said t hat they arc

.. '11

verb nim is, li leral ly, to "bl ow out", not u'ansitivcly, b u t verb

draw, i .e. "draw breath".INThe older texts em ploy the nearly synon ymous

a fire ceases to

other in theory.'IThlls while the d eno tati on is that of the Greek nposbmnumi resum e d in the on c English word "finis h "; the finished product is no longer (be still, go out, be quen ch e d, ofwind, fire or passion) , the connot.'"uion is lhat
tdnltao (to be perfected, to die).AlI these meanings can

that it is a liberation from delusion, or igno rance

is into the Gale that i t expires";\l' dep rived o f fuel, the fire of l i fe is "paci fied ",

udvii, lO "blow out" or "go oUt";'j!J when the

Fire blows out

(udviiyatl)

of G re ek teu?()and

it

a sage (sapiens) who "''as ignora nt of either the beginning of knowledge or the e nd of appetition, and who therefore know not from what h e was start ing or at what he ought

7Cicero Acadrouco 1 1 .29 where Antioch us (academician) says , "no man could be

in the making. no lo nger becoming what it ought to b{; in the same way the finish ed being, the perfected man has done wi th all becoming; the final
'JlIBC.VI.15: BG.II. 72 bTllh ma-niroiilQm rl"Chati. !IiM.1.487, etc., and as in MU.\'I .34, 1. Cr. Rumi Malhnarvi 1.3705. 'J.Mil 40, 47, 71 .72. '.I"Sn. 135 11ihhanti dhirti 'ya/hii yam pad/po (deictlc). Cr. TII.2.116: Sn. 19 vivata I/u,i, niblmio gin;' "Man, like a ligl\! in the night, i kindled and put OU( (HerndeilU!, Fr.
,.Up.IlI.9; MU.V1.34. "'P",-

to arnve".

Xenophon , The Mrowrabilia of Socrates 1.6.10 "t!gO th nomiulii to men dei..sthai Iheion rinai, to d'hQs tlachiston nzgutala Iou theiou" = I th in k in the first pl ace that it is necessary

to be godhke, but
S.I!J.83. 84.

at any rate to be as near as poss ible

to the divine.

LXXVII).

!l'Jln ABJIl.4 Agni, When he Mdraws and hums " (pravan dahatl) is identified with Voiyu . ln KBVU.9 1he Breaths MblO\o,' ' (van tl) in various directions, but "do no t blow

Hva ) . InJUB.rv.12.6 "Agni. becoming the Breath, shines" (prii(J bh i out" ( na mruanlt to ag;nir cfipyate). I n RV.X. 129.2 anid avatam, "not blowi ng" is very near in meaning , tmgri5li'/ l c n niruiitam (iinid avalam corresponding, to Meisle.r E.ckhart's, gegei!trt ll "equallyspirated, despirated"). CL nU.III.8.8 avciyu . . . aprafltL 111eword n jr(lii{J does not occur in the Briihmal).lcal litcrature be fore BhagtJvad Gila. 9I'TS.I1.2.4.7 udvii)d, "if the fire gocs outM; KBVII.2 udviite 'nagnau "in what is not

\I"M.I.446. ''A.L 156 1 n the scricl> mgo. dmo and molw, moho (delusion) can be replaa'd by iL\ 17) and it \\'ill be the more readil), s("cn jj(i, ignorance (e.g:. !litfl,ltoktt. : equiv-.dcnt wi . that freedom from riigoand doso;'.., amoral virtue. and frcl;'doll] from moho "" Qvt.Jiti an
any re.!>idue (If f.ICIOU of ("xiSlco n . This, aho, mar the di{UlClioll of Nibbana from Parinibb.lna, so far 01.0; [his can be- r("ally madt,

"'S. V.282 (akhncano pandito hi{ltZliivli)

t" i

/ok" pannibbUra.

intellcctual virtue. lll;U, In nearly the same w,')' !tivut(aka fI, .'i9 ditingl.lishe$ between the 'O Nlbb. ( 1 ) prese nt, with \omc rCldlle of Ihe Ja("{ors of ("Xi5ft'H[t. ald (2) ullimate. \O.'ithoul

fire, but gone OUl". .. wind 'J1CU.rv.3,1 yada..agnirudvayati vayUrM vOJrjd'. I n having thus "gone to the (he rare has "gone home" UUB.lII.L17). CL note 166 (Buddhism).

70

dlohl lion \)1" thl ' body ca nnot ;dlC'('l h i m , however affecting it may be to \)then. thc\\\!K'\\'c imperfect, unfinished. Nirv.ll)a is a final c n d , and like
Br.\hm.\ . \ m.nterabOUlwhkh
an.'

HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM

r e ferenc e to the avoidance

bear m ali ce ,

In oth e r words, the \\lay involves o n the on. e hand a pr.tctical and on the other a c on tem pl ative d iscip li ne , The c o ntem pl at ive corresponds to the ath l ete . who dot'S not co nt es t for th e prize lInles he is already "in t rai ni ng",
\\"}wn tIlt' Indians speak oftbl' Comprchcnsor

Mill on

nrt'Y

Ill)

fll rtherql lcstions can be asked by those who

view that he teaches an anni h ila tion orclltlingoff ofanyth i ng but wrrow. Tht'

has particul of hCft'SlcS uch as th e belief in ..soul ...., the \l. t ha t causal determi nation cancels moral responsibili ty, the view that there i!i "no o t h er \....orld", the \'icw that the Buddha ha. tau g ht a novel doctrine , th
and ( 1 0 )
to entertain no f a lse views. The last foreg o in g five or ten rules are

TIlE Dor;TRIE

they do not mc,lll by this merely one ,."ho grasps the logical significance o f a

given proposition ; they m ean one who has 'verified" itin his own pe rso n, and
is ,,hat he knO\\'s; for so l on g as we know onlyofour immortal Self, we are st il l in the re;tlm of ignorance; Wc only re ally

( ("(Ja7nl1il)

of trai nin g " of the m on astic rule; the first five of Lhese arc the same as the five
a tt e n d m usi cal a nd th ea trical perfo rm a nces , (8) la refrain from lhe ungu ents and ornamenl'i, (9) already lis ted , to whic h arc added

o r a give l l doctrine,

accept gold or silver.ua

(6) not to eat at irregu lar hours, (i) nol to use Of not to slee p on luxurious beds, and ( 10) not to

to be distlJlguished from the five or ten "bases

know it

w he n wc become it; we

Before wc retllrn to the Doctrine wc must carefully guard ourselves from m us t not, for example, suppose that because the means arc pa rtly ethical,

cannot real ly know it wi tho l 1l be i ng it. There are ways o fl ife dispositive to sllch consider the n atu re of th e " mere morality", or a realisation, and other ways that must prevent it. Let us, therefore, pause to apart from wh i c h th e co n te mplat ive life would be impossihle. What we should
as

thinking that the Buddha attaches an absolute value 10 moral conduct. We

i t is now called, "E th i cs " ,

Nirval.1a is therefore an (,lhic;ti state. So far from this, lln-self -ishncss, from the Indian poin t of "ie w is an amoral state, in which no q uestion of"altruism .. can presen t itself, l i be ra tion being as much from the notion of "o thers" a. it is
from the notion of "self ";Io"'and not in any sense a psychological stme, bur a

..,...,..

call a "practical holiness" is called alike in the old Indian books an d in Buddhism a present and t i meless "Walking \vith God" ( brahmacarya) .IUI B li t there is also a c lear distinction of the Meoming

concern e d .

(llrtha) ,

and il is with the latter that wc arc for th e mom e n t

Doc trin e ( dhmwa)

from iL<; practical

l ibe rat ion from all that is i mpl ied by the "psyche" in the word "psychology".
attachment both to good and cvil;oncwhois ciean, to whom nodusl au'1Chl's, "I call hill1 a B nih maIl i.l indcedH, the Buddha says, "WllO h;l' pas.'ied beyond means of which on e crosses the river of li fe, he asks\'crypoinredly '\....hat does
or

givc hi m instruction both in Ethics Ellli cs is a matter of liberali ty

the Sacerdotium, we fmd a Budd hi st king who requcsL .. the Bod hisattva to

In agreemen t with the old Indian th e ory of the relation of the Rcgnunl to

this. context will enable us to gr ap the

in detail , the king is to provid e for all his suljecL '"

(diina)

( m1ha)

and of com man dm en ts

Doctrine ( dhnnfla) , 1 (J:! a nd distinction very dearl y. \V find that

a nd in

a-pathetic". w' In the we ll known Parable oCthe Raft (of ethical procedure) by

a man do w i t h tht. bo a t when he has reac he d the ot her side of the liver? Does

(Sila) . Morc
to

whole of,,,,'hat is here called the Do ctrin e is st:l.tcd in the f o rm of the "ch a riot simile", of which more later.

honourable provision for both men and an im als wh e n su p e ra n n u a ted and no longer able to do wha t they did in their pri me . On the other hand , the The terms "conllnandmcnL<;'" dem ands a f u r the r analysis. Thc.'!c naIes of wh at is sometimes styled "mere morality"-" mere H bec a use alth otlgh indispcnsablc-ifwe afC to reach m an ' s last cnd. morality is not in i LSclf an

needs, a nd

make

val ues, and of how to be " right without being ll'i U diirw iO.

wh at are folly and wisdom, good and evil, and of how to be rid uf hQth these

IS something more than an infantile innocence; there must he knowledge 0C

c can)' it about on his back,

doe s he leave it 011 th e shore?"!lJh Perf ectiOIl

righteous", "moral amorally

"

IIt,PTS. PIi Die., s.v.silti.

cnd, but on ly a means--are no t quite rigidly fixed; in general, t h e refe reIlc e '\". As fivc , th esc arc ( I ) not to kill, (2) no t is to the "fi\'c" or "len virtuous habit ollow t he lllst'i of t he flesh, (4) to re fra i n from lying, a d to st eal , (3) not to f "i. These arc essential p rd i m i n an es (5) to refrai n from the use of intoxicant

o :

as are th ose wh o are subjcct to I ht'lI own passinnsor !i.)1u-pathiscwilh (how ofother' Note kllnl(i. 'pity' does not imp ly s}1I1-/mthy.
G . I I 50 ( ; I ,\U, . Up.1I1.8; KU.II.14; M III1(Llip.III.I.3; MU.Y118. etc.; M.ilter Eckh.t1. . P;\s1tim. Si ln i l;,rly St.
h

I 'Y'Dh.

4 1 2; cr. SII. %3, MiJ.3f1:bnd I}('xt Note. Apa.(hc[ic", i ('" Muot palhologiral"',

In greater del;ail M.L 1 i9, ISO ,md in A l l

f or any spi ri t ual dc\'(.'lopmcnt, and arc expected of all laymen. The set of ten r om our of the five, and (5) to avoid slander, (6) to re frain f in cl ud es the fi rst f abusive speech. (7) 1"'5n 567

MI 1 . . 15; l ike the raft, nht is to 1)(' abandoned, and .1 fortiori Wroll(. "' necd lu nh " r raft.," (SI1. 2 1 ) . Cf. Ilh :19. 21>7. -112: SI1. 4. 547; M.II.26. 27: TB.III.12.9.8' ' )f' AUgU\li nc, DrS/J1r

to avoid frivolous converse, (8) not to covet, (9)

no t

(0

. BC'.II1.t1 ( lk"ahma). Cf. .JO\mc 111.6. IOOM.I.304; SJJL18. Cf

tributive aspect.

IITIJ .Vt.251/2. Dhannn i.s MLa.....

btaJllnIlmn)'mil lamd,1r'llhm1i tJkfilikmn. Cr. AV. XI.5; CU.VlII.5.

l of :-':alllrc", rondllannlf i!l !(\W of Natllf( in it .. cl :;-

. . 4. 1 2 .l l Id hdolly Ulfnio r tU Imilljii, /,Tflpill) h a \"('1)' mt'flll lfll."'an of cro\.ing: ov I. <' , hlu 11 fit 1 IIllg In hold 011 to Iheft'aftt'r (M.I.2 60, \t'(' !lOIt' 8 1 (Ruddhi\mj ) ' "c . ..on 'C10u ..n( . k ' .. ' .. I . 0);accordingl', Isa I l1 dol Igno rancc' , C('OiMl1gatoUr(Ieal Il (BU .IV... Qt,jtl

UlI('llf\ ;\rri\'.l l wh t'n Ilt' ha,\ iliTi\'l'r!"; t. AUj{li,[ill(" ..!t!" Eckhart. J{ . Contrfl 11ff111. IIl.2: M,j . ' I Cl n.\\ t I IC -"ca and wanl ;, hi p , th at pilrt an<1 parteI 0f ....alltmg . . to be o\,e (' ,\ 1 1<\ h;will . adt 1 do Ilo( .....m l a l11P (' , 4 ) . 111 the '>am' Wo ' j.":nl/j'n t o th ' olhl'n ( x an II. I Q I) rhl" (h ' . . . . '
(

,. I.,t.,

IG. "L(" him no longcrmclhl' Law a a mcall

IS

U.U

( I 1I111 natmg

.-. comnomnt""'\ ( Imwrwam

' , . S I ll . 1'0 :: Jlm"a, ,

'

1 4" " '" Imll1'lD<

ytryq ntrt)'Um. tirtllo.

vldya)'ii'm rtam a.in ulr (isa.Vp. l l ; MU.VII.9).

...

72

vinuc\, but \l rtu e as a whole would be her life . . ... , Evans trans. Val. I , p. 3i4)
\:\

( 5iiallat no ca iilamll)ah, :\1.11.'27; Eckhan-". . . she wo uld n o t m ere ly p ract i se

For the Arhat, haVing dOIW all tha t was to be done" (krla-karall)'am), th t 'Tl' no t h m g more that should he dont (BC.I1L 1 7 kiiTJflm nu vir/),ute) , an d
haVe:" no longer any meaning where there is no longer" an ything that ought or ough t nut to be done. For there in de ed , a s Meis le r Eckhan says of the
c

HINDUISM A. 'lD I\UDDHISM

TIlE DOCTJUNE the Buddha is cal led "Great Per'<,"" an d .. !o,! Gods in the oldest Brahmal)ical

ju nc tions and prohi bitio ns theref ore no possibility of me rit or dem e ri t ; i n

Natura na turans, our "!\'Iothcr :\'ature" l l Or if wl' conSider the rflJraculous life, we shal l find that almost ('ref) de u l, from th e free ch oice of the time and

by n o means tells us that he IS "J man " , SInce these are epithel of me hlghct

books.

Maya is nor a wom;m ' s name, bur

Man" (maM PUnJj(j, .rtamoJ

75

l h pl ace of bi rt h I to the lateral birth itself \17 and the

Kin gdom of
Law",l'! hut

laking

of the Seven

(' ..d .o , "neither "ice nor virtue ever entered it"; just as i n the and a "Doer of what h<. wil l "; if we find that he

Up .lIlishad, where neither vice nor vinue can pass over the Bridg e of Immoftalit), .lU7The Arha t is "no longer under the Law"; he is "n ot under the
' l ...fo\'er-atwill ..

which he IS not respon si ble . Only the Patripassian and Monophysite can offer
any ob jection to the pOinL 'i of vi ew.

aCL u nsel fi shly in our c th ic al ...cnse of the word, that is our interpretation, for Itmust allio be cl early reali!icd that it will be convenient at this point to ask,

seems to be addres e d as Indra (/nmndado $a.Uo) ; b ut elsewhere, e.g. So. 1069 ilnd when h is di sci ples are called sakr.l-pllttiyo, "sons ofthe Sakyan", the referen(el to the

the B uddha himself that overco mes Mara. In other\>o'Ords. the Buddha is (::ompar.1b!r to that Agm who is "both Agni and Indra, bmhma and halw". In U 386 lht' Buddha

Sakya clan , whose name like Indra's implies a "being able".

" Who is. the \\'akc?"HfJ For the answer to this question will tell us as much as oo tste ps to the e n d , and can can be told of those who have fol lowcd in his f be spoken of as "Wo rld-ende rs " (lokantagu). Who is the Great Person, the Kinsman of the Sun, the Eye in the \Vorld, I l fl the descendant of Angi rasa , the God of Gods, who says of hi mself that he is neither a God, nor a Ge n i us
nor a man, bUt a Buddha, onc in whom al l the co n di tio n s that determ ine

115 Miiyii ( the "means" of all creation, divine or human, o'r Man"by which an}thing is made) , is " magic " in the sense ofBchmen, Sl'xPuncta M ysticQ. V.U.-(1'he Mother . of etern i ty; the original state ofNa lure; the formati\epo....erin .. isdom, UU: theetema\v powe r of imagination, a mother in all three worlds; of use (Q [he children of God's kingdo m . and to the sorcerers fo r the de\il\ kingdom; for the undeT\tanding can make of it what it pleases").
Maya for Sankaracarya-the greatest exponent of mtiyiivMtr-is "the Unrc\'eaied, the Power (Saktl) of the Lord , the beginningless Unknowable (awfJii), infe rable br actibilia) ["Man therefore knoW' the wise in rel atio n to what<an-be-made (kiirya l

pa rtic ular modes of existence have been destroyed. I I I 'Wh a t are these ArhaL 'i, who like the Vedic immortals, have Won to being what they are by their

"dignity"? The question can be approached from many different angles. In the first pl ace , the Buddha's names and epit hets are suggestive; i n the Vedas , for exa mple, lhe first and most of Aflgirascs are Agni and Indra,l12 to whom also the design ation of "Arhat" is oftene s t applied. Agni is, like the Buddha, "awakened at dawn"'

all thi s moving-world is brought to birth . . " and by whom '\re both Bondage and Liberatio n effected".- VivOrachudiimani 108, 569. In such c on texts as th is the gerundive ('JlIIti.Wi, S)110n)U10uswith Power", cannot b simply "Ignorance" but is much rather "mystery" or "opinion " as oppo\cd t tl/dya,
lects, '\vhat can be known" : ouidyii is a Potentialit), that can onl)'be known by ltr.d , , I 1I11' 111o(Ok all tha.t is mayiima. V<J. May.l is the Nalu re fGod. Maya, in other word and mother of all l ivi ng. Other parall els: Metis, the lIIoth("r of Athena; Sophl.l, Kausalya the morherofR..-lma; as Maia W,lS the mothcrofHcnnes, Hciod, Tluvg_ 93S). by

not, or h is a ppetites

,\11I.5:?J thilt bywhlrh Their firsl afft'ctions"-Dante, Purgatory

= p

jI

(bodhinmanas) . I \' and when ovcrcome by p ri de in his ov.m strength he

(arbudh) :

I ndra is u rged to he

"

of waking m i nd"

actually "awakens" himselfwhen reproached by h is spiritual alter-ego.l 14That

1!t1CU,V11l.4.1, ele. Mei!.ter Ec:khart, "'There neither vice nor virtue ever entered lI"Galatians V.1 B. 1 '11t will be seen that this is, strictly speaking, a n improper question; a Budd ha is

in".

!lace, 1'S.11.9.3. 11.3,8.1,2. The expression "Eye in the World " atnOunL to an h equa tion of t e Buddha with Agni and the Sun.

o longer anyone.

t\-'as Of whom else could the Buddha ha\'c been bom? That the mother. of Bodhi!>iu de , .i to lar hi " loves die young is really because as Hc racJ eitus says (Fr.X). "Nature anl, ll1isl('d, i \' 'H,was, m Pt, a e shes " just as Urvai, moth r of "v ni am urll P:'ipaU taktng hCT platc (nc.; , SaI'a1))'11 vanishe d from Vi\,asvan: f.,f5va . s jl' two ' 11 . 1 9, 20) a s SaranyO's laUa!7lii lOokhcl'.'o.TIll'(tcmaI Avarar.l IIOU, ,ndct'd' .llWH'1 . ' M " a . abv nan -Nin . . my so a I ee S I m Othe rs "' eternal and temporal saccrd otal ;UltJ .J rap . ' lla, (nl1m nndc' I IT ' - ' ' t Iun or aoy JRAS, 1938. Maya, being the M.,rt" bv an thmg!t w!uch ' ' knowI t'uge, . ', '1[1d nn!{lnl measured out"), and "art" ha\;ngbccllonglll<l 11 ra llIystCT10II s,

Arus (Agni) hy

\:

Bodhin-manas suggesL the ..imi\a\es. buddhl, BUddha. Buddlmt bod/lln ltd. Mit. 75 a. !I B D.\1L57 la (lndra) buddJlVii iitmrin am. RVV.30.2 mdram nam bubudhanii ainna.
the
y

l 1 1A.II.37. 1 I1RV.L3 1 . l (Agni), I . l :\0.3 (Indra). \IRV.V.7G.5 (in order lhat he may OVercome Vrtra).

Ke, . . ' tifi . . ""IY lhatar[,M - amc acqutres ') 11 l t ht. s ... ' I\" j l' (cS, IU Us o the r and pe10r .ltlvc ScnSl bV;Irl (art'/rx) , J , ' t" . 1 to I IIt ' maker ' cS,enU,t C'out, Cunnmg and Icight, ;:Ire nOl onh' \1(l\1C\ mckel) . It I . , . '. (f,lblty . ) , craftult'" bUt can also ' . , gll lk and , Im p ly 'lTt fulness ::Irtifio.lilt)' " (mm(l 11ItHWnmn, VI)'1I ' . ' the bad se nst: , for exalll k t h IS a gIarnoU r at MComciomnt"S5 . p rt"ndr our "wi.se as IS. 479 , V ycnf l could still S.IlI. 142), while on tlu otlll' r h;uuI 11' ". Cf. B<lty crpcnts dy h) by ' . a. ,erp . e nts " (Mat RVVL52 15, fl/ulnaY(I,
. . _ __ .

'

ConU1l.t RV.VIIL70.3 nohi,dlH1I kannaHi ntLial . . . na yajiimlJ. ThcJ;:itaka tail'.. include m a ny oftlc Budd ha's bmh s as Sakka ( I ndra) I : Nik a .l<i- S,lkJul ac l"' ;l the Hudd ha prOlcctOl',JUst as I ndra acu for Agn i: bUl lt IS

ornH' r

Heinl an ll , Mtiyii in Int/ian and lVnltTTl Plu/moph)'. pp. 49L . t'jHUt, vd l!f'ef U 1.1-49, Ahatt' ;a-icuv, hk ro R JII. 28.4 , yadi briihmnQQ-Iru/' yadl J briiJnnana,klH I, RV.rv. l H.2 ( I ndr.t) parillflf nirgrll'lA IJr, . BC.J 25 (8u (0.11.1 3 ' he Buddha ,md , both Agn . _ i (RV.VI. l tU\5 Kflrhhf' miitu(l-vld/(lyuftHwM n. draw be Id l tO t:I . . ' itucch Igata l ' j IIlY other P;Ir.111 m pauall) are vlSlbJr Hl tilt' wmuI l. M'

th.X.16,

cf.

So toO ddha) partual ut(J/..

74

'Strl ' des, '" an d (. . rom the Gomg Forth 10 the Great Awakening on the s u-ewn altar at the foot of the World-U'ee at the Navel of the E arth , and from the
def.\t ofthe Dragon s to the miraculous kindling of the sacrificial firewood , I PI

HINDUISM ANll BUDDHISM

hI.' tX.1Clly p\r.\lklt..d-;\Ild ill saying- " cxac tly " wc incan jllst l ha t-in the \\-d ic mytho!ob ')' o f Ag ni and lndra, pr ie:;.t and king indillini,. For e xam ple, .tnd tlll' singlt ins tan ce must suilicc, i f the Vedic Drag on iighL ') with fire an d
can Buddhist tt 'xts still refer LO as "Holdfast"; if the Vedie Dragollslayer is deserted alone , and can only eaU upon his own powers to assist him.IIn saying this wc con q ues t, but only to point out that this is a vcry old sto ry , onc that has always new onc. but dcrivcd immediately from Lhc Vcdic u"ad i tio n , where th e same story is told, and where it has the same significance.11 That the perfected possess the power of motion and manifestation a t will pasture"; 12and such powers are n atu r al ly prope r to th ose who , be ing "jo i ne d Brahma I)ical scriptures, and often in nea rly the sam e words. In an often reculTing context the Buddha describes the four stages is fami l iar in Christian teaching. where they "shall pass in and out and find. by the Gods and must rely u po n his own resources, so is the Bodhisattva

practitioner can pass from onc

co mp osu re or syn th esis (.wmi u/JII)

smoke, \) and also with women fOf,,, 'capons, IZI so does M,ira, Death. w ho m the

o m n i po t(,H t ; t h e Buddha, describing hili own attainment, can remember bi. births", in every detail; and descri bing his powers (rdd/il) , he says that "I, brethren, can realise (pmt)'rllwMfJ) w h atever countless powers J will; being
; L

to whidl they lead, then in th state of unifiGtlion (dw 'vadh i-bJu lva) the liberated Arhat is at on ce omniscient and

all these stations of contcmplation (dhyiina) hav e bcen so ma. \ tcred that the
lO another al wi ll , and simiJarlrcommand the

TIlE DOGfRJNE

75

"fonn el habitations"

(jJuroa-lIivf ua), or

wC sho uld be apt to say, "'pan

left

do not mean to den' thal the Buddha's defeat of Mara is an al lego ry of sclf and eycr)'whcre bee n told; and that i n it'" Buddhist se t ti n g the story is n ot a

the ear th or emerge from it as though it were wate r; I can walk on the water as if it were soli d canh; I H I call m ove through the air like a bird; I c.an toucb
iddhisofthc Iddhi-pada, "Footi ng of Power", are supcr-n onnal r.uhcr than abnonnal. We c an not lake up h ere at any le ngt h the apparent difficuhyprecllted hythe fact that

many, I hc(:ome one, and having been many become also onc;l :n- !>t"cn or

unseen, I can pa.s through a wall or a mOllnlain asifil were air; I can !i.ink illlo

itldhis are also atlriblUeci to the Buddh'lS Advenmry (Mara, Namuc!, Ahi8;ig3)'

unto the Lord, are one spirit . . 2, The l i ke i s re pea ted ly enunciated in the

"ant"l")

except to poi n t

out that "Death is also

(dhyima) of paths of power ( rddhipiida) th at arc the equ ivalent of the "Aryan Path" and are means to Omniscience, Full Awakening and Nirvfu:1,a.12b When

of contemplation

rather inlellectual virtues. (Cr. Prat)"iiJuira ill Sankaracal1'a',\ APtH{)JuhlinllbhIlII-103, 1 2 1 . ) 'nil' Buddha's powers are grea tcr than Ihc Advenary\ bccau.\c hiS range is
greater; he koow the Brnhrnaloka af., well as the world. up to the Br.lhmalo ka (Le.

piritual a .

(in the samt' sense that Satan remains an be ing and the "powers" arc no t in thcm5c1\'e !nOr.I], but much

11RRV.X.8.4 (Agoi) sajJta dlldh(5ejuuliini.. X.122.3 (Agni) sapta dhafniinipariya ll;J.I.53 (Bodhisalt\-a) solta-j;ada-vitihiirnw agamasi II"TS.U,S.8.3; cf. I Kings 18.38. ''''R V.l.32.13.
"'RV.V.30.9, X.27.IO.

Namuci is called a "royal scrpent- (sa rpmiija) , S.L 106. S.B.XI . 1 . 5 . 7

sin, Vrtra. whi ch

a kkha. I:.aRV.VlIL96.7; AB.III .20; So. 425f Namuci = M:ira = Papima = dummano Y

".

. , he thus slap

work: . . , ". SB.XIl,7.3.4 ". , . Namuc i is evil: havin g thu:;, indeed. !Iolain that evil, his hateful enemy. Indra wrest from him his e ne rgy . or vit. "l power". I::.'a. RV. lI I .5 L 3 where Indra, cbewhere U[1m-hlln, e tc is abhimiiti-han, similarly RV.lX.65.15 and pas.. im. Abhimati ( abhimima, MU.VI.28, i.e. asmi-mn71a) , t he Ego notion. is already the Enemy, the Dragon to be overcome. Ref ere n ces fl'OI11 t he
. =:

e\'er keeps

him from wdl-bcing, from virtue, and from the good

RgVeda :

111.53.8; III .61.7..s and V.63.4 itra-Vanll)a; V.2.1 Agni's; V,3 1 . 7 1 ndra's; V.4(U3,B Svarbh; Ulu's; JII.20.3Agni; VI . I B.9 V[lr a'si VI.20A Susn a'; VI.22.9; VIA4.22 Mayah of Soma X.54.4 lndfa's ....'<ifS '" 171(1)'11; X,53.9 TlitL_I fii miiyii vet, . . . 111]0hn X.g, 14; Purgatory XXV11. 1 3 1 . Cr. SA.VII.22; Taitt.Up.III.I0.5.

under the Sun), while -Dcath\" ,)Ower t'xtends only up to the Brahlllaloka alld not beyond th e Sun. ( The Gnsprl o f .'in Rmnakrijlmll, 194-1, p. 26.) On levi tation and idd/iis generally, sec S.V.2S2f.. 282, 283. The prerequi.o;iteJ for . jJrtlllluilla-.lOnlduimsamai ujjjglllam. S.V. 252, 291such powers are chantla-sa"uidluwhere iddhi j)(ida tends, cOlldllCC to "ncither shmc", but to ni'blii llll.A,IV.33:1 opposile of tJhFl as abo\'e is inertia, thinking mr kli)'.! gamku aJw.mmfliiiio, and il\t rdorc I)'ing down, not em ploying heroic e(fon of will. Vis. 144--bccaue of lfblllj'lipill, l,lh,hia iikil.r ftl1lg/ul lUll/a NHWuilJa /llJfl (callali\'e). Dh. A IV. 1 1 8 Vakkal i's bala\'lpit i enables lum to Or th rough (he <lir. JII. 1 l 1 mentions the same came fOl walking-oll watcr.TIle HOlllenc hero disappean by being clothed wi t h air. Scc aho TiuUll"llS 42C; Vis. 143-4 and Dh A.IV. I IBf. ;:: Curtaha remit ofpiti, delight, transport, Svtl)'mn '" (l[!llmll11'1. 17Timat'us 6HD--To be <tbk- to blend man)' into olle and again dissolve Qllt: iIHo many is God's power alonc. 12i1For thc ea rlie l" history 0[1(\11;lt10n and such powers see W. N. Brmnl, n'i1lki"gon Ihe Water, r:hicago, 1928, pp, I3-IB. nli is priUli\til)' the power of ,he Spirit (C(lIe!i. 1.2). It is I}Vic,dlr of the tlIl.eCIl (;.11(' (\"\}'ll) of tI\l' Spilll thal I1O Iioll oil will L \ prcciicalt'd (RV.X.168A ijt,1If1 llnJiin(im-,l'(Jtlui 11(Um;1 mmt"'/)(J ni/lflr[I t(umm). In AV.X.7.:lH tilt' primal Y ilkiI (flrahIllOl) 'Irid('\- upon till' ridge of Ill(" \("a; .lI1d so.
accordillgly, tll( llralllll;u-;ui, ih.XI,5.2h, for E\'l:"n

overcome by Indu (Tva.r \';.lda ) ; VII.98.5 ove rcom e by I nd ra in IIsing Soma;

m(]\'. .1t will,

1;if'S.Il.212 f., V.254f.. A.I.170. 1.254f., etc. fddlll (Skr. rddhi, from pUll!. to prosper, rmplJ'nlJaChsm) L'wirtlie, power (in the sense of Ma rk V.30 du. namk= power ) . art ( e.g. skill ofa hunter. M.I.152), laient or gif[, The

]tI Cor.6 17.

dUI/O/m) i t ht' V(" ), worri and ('wl\n' of !la- Sou)" (d. Phart/nH 245). 'Illi .. is lI1.:t all nth,l' fomH or 1 I':'t.llion, ' Ill alfl.r of ligMO(". ThllS III S.l.! the Buddha " no...scd Ihe Iluod ollly when I did not SIlpporl Illrdf or make .111)' eflon

move ;It will who b ;l COlUprt'ht lI<l1

()

.lIIlnll!-tst 01][ ht'inj.l:\ ("an ht" (the bmJ"nab!t ulrJ) cJl,\I]Rt' hiS fonn itlld

sl.lllch IIpon 1111' nowinR \11 (;1 111' at will" (AV 111. 13,1, TS.\'.6.1 .3). Selfmotion (/0(11110

!lu,t c'of H (S"-VIl.22);

as Bmhmac;lll fhan!ow hi, forJlland

"'Jlle Om' God (Jndr .a)

, 78
H1NDlIISM AND IlUDDHISM

w ill b\., lllul'h mt.n useful to ask wh at "seven-league bOOl'i" and "tarn c aps " lllt".m , than to po int out that they cannOt be bought in dcparun en t stores. In the fi rst p\.\rt', Wt' obst'IYt' th a t in tht' RrlhmilJ.lical co n tex ts , om n isc ien c e, panh.:ularly of bi rt hs , is pred i cated ofAg n i (fn/tIlIerlas) , the "Eye ill t he \Vorld ", and of the "all-seeing" Sun, the "Eye of the Gods ", and for t h e very good fl', lson th.u tlws(" CO Il sub stan ti al pr i n ci pl es afe the catalytic powers apart from ,,-hieh no binh could he; and further, that the power of motion at will, or what is the sam e th in g , motion wi t hou t lo como tio n , is pr ed icated in t h e Brah mali cal books of t h e Spi rit or Cni\'crsal Self ( cltman) o n the on c hand, and ofliberated be ings , knowers oflhe Selfand assimilated to the Self, on the oth er. Once we have understood that the Spirit, u n iversal solar Self and Person, is a. timeles.s omnipresence, it will be rc.(ognizcd that the Spirit, by hypothesis, is naturally possessed of all the powers that have been described; the Spirit is the "knower of all births" in saecula saeculonlm p recisely because it is "where evcr)'\'1here and cvcrywhcll arc focus.. ...ed" and is present u ndivid ed as well in all pa. ...t as in all future b ec omin gs m and by th e same to ke n , we find it spo ke n of also as "Providence (jJrajii.ii) or as "Co m. pe n di ous Providence" (pmjiliina-ghalla) for th e veI)' good reason that its knowledge of "even ts" isnot <; themselves, b u t the events derived from it "! knowledge der ived from the e\'e n t of itself. In all the Brahm.u)ical hooks the powers that have been describ ed are the Lord's: if the C ..omprehensor can change his form and move at wil l . it is "{"\'en as Brah ma can change his form and move at w i ll ; l:'I ,i it is the Spirit, ultimately solar Self (r"itmall) that itself not mO\;ng yet our runs others,l:\7 All these things are powers ofthc Spirit and of those who arc "in the spiri t" and ifby far the greates t of all these mi racles is that of the rcaching, (hat is s i m ply to say with SL Ambrose that "'All that is true, bywhomsoever it has been said, is from the Holy Ghost"YII If the "signs and wonders" arc l ightly dismissed. it is not hecause th ey are unreal, but because it is an evil and adu l te rou s
generation that asketh for a sign. now; neither Gods nor men

; d it tracked.141 Even here and now the Buddha canno t be taken hold of, m can n ot b e ai d o f this Supcrnal Person (parama1J!1nLJ{J) after the divoIulif)n of the body and psychic com p le x that he becomes or doe.s not become, nor can both these th ings be affirmed ordcnicd of him; all that can be said is Wolt "he is"; to a.o;k wh a t or where he is wou ld be futile.H2 "He who ts the La'o\'

TilE DOCTRINE

79

of which he is the immanent mover. And [hilt b all j us t

not in human form, but by such symbols tl') that of the '''\Vbec! of the
as

(dharma) sccsmc";l j and thatiswhyin the eari }'iconographyhc brcprescnted,

Law",

knows where he is? 14S_thc i nte ri or Self th at is uncont. 'lminated,! o thc 5uprcme Self ofwhich nothing tr e can be said (neti, 7iett) and that cannot be grasped u except by the thought "It is". It is assuredly with reference to that in effable pr inci p le that the Buddha says that 'Thercisan unborn, unbc(ome, unmade, in co mpos ite , and were it not for that unborn, unbecome, unmade, in composite. no way could be shown of escape from birtll, becoming, making, compo sition"147 and we do not see what that "unborn" can be hut "That" inan i mate (aniitrnya) Spirit (iitma1J) were it not for whose invisible being (sat) the re could be no l ife anywhcre.1-ll< Thc Buddha flatly denies that he ever taught th e cessation or anni hilation of an essence; all thilt he teaches is the putting of a $top to SOITOW.149 In a famous passage ofthc !vlilinda Questions the old S}mool ohhe chariot is used by Nagasena to break down the King's belief ill the reali lY of hi,
l-lI Dh. 179 (tarn bllddhaman(JlltagtJmram apatiom, Anlapadma1U'.fsal/uz);}jkeBrahma. '. U.III.B.B. Mund V p.I .2.6 DcvasJUB.III.35.7 ( no . . . padam lll pm/ma ha vai "'mar

and cannot be tracked,

ahma that hasno pcrsonalorfamilynamcl404 Brahm al.1ic<li books, where it i Br

it was in the

the Spirit ((ltman)

tha t never became anyone-\\'ho

1
.

OWIlI

The Buddha describes himself as unknowable (ananuved)'a) even here and can see him; those who see him in any form or think of him in words do not see him at all. ny ,,[ am neither priest nor prince nor husbandman nor anyone at all; 1 wander in the world a learned Nobody, u n c omami nate by human qual ities (o/ilryamiina . . . -miinavehh)'flh); usel ess to ask my family name (gotra)".IWHe leaves no trace by which he can be
'''AV.X.8.I, 12; KU.IV.13; P","Up.IV.5, etc.
I"JMJ.J40. 141. TIlt! Buddha is ananfltlejjo, "past finding out", SIm i larly oh cr AnthaL .. are traceless (var!oln tWlln n'atllli / min ipiiniiya) . 5.1.23; Va)racc/zedllw \}utra; cf. S.IIl.IIIf.. and He rmcs Lib. XlI1.3. ISt. Ambrosco, glms on I Cor. 12.3. 13C1SA.VII.22. "'BV.IV.3.I2; l'a.Up.4; [U.II.2.

which

"Give up identification with your f amily. )'our clan, your namc, and slallon i n l c

14"5n, 455, 456, 648.

are associated with ),OUT Jiving body-". Sankaroic3rya,

. V ivdtachuJa71UJ.nI.

29

mflln jJ(l!;latl Tnom Jxwatl. I I I 1 20 1'0 Ho dham d.3055-{j5. B.IILl4 , ;R(lIni, M thnaw HtS,U .iu.8.R; Mund Up.I. LG;.IU , n the B hc.r here nor there..; I ''' U .n. 1 8, 25; cf. Mil. i:l. the Buddh,l "I S , but Il(,l K P(Jl1mbWmn at life. n d(igllal('d. or death l hereafter; Jw ht" ' can abo(I}" .1I onto Dlnmm , _L '11hagan u. /tom an " , 'lIllwinn('r hl'{'omC\ ' stI"C at kast . II IC ('le. , 11 .. .. . MU.I J; I KU.V. ,j 9. 'f('BV .IV...... ;) , .VIII.1 3 . ' CU 141Udana SO 93' los/t' . ' .Jr.fIlW!hnna/U1os le 7 (Buddhi.\i11). Phatdrw247C--achrUlfIll f 7 ' n . VpJ I . ;c . o . . 14""f'litt lOl1flIess, IIltanglblc essence , , , mlsw , . mo,'v Iht'oli nM =0 colourless and ' ajJ/uJ. ,.al (In . . (mMlttos '" not shown) . . . '1 I onl), 10 Ill/Il(I m. cf. D.ILfi8 ami passi 0, vlsl'<I.I. 1 37-4

as1mn Y llld llghllless. then into and expencnccs the sen.';c o(blBS. -dClIIal' . ." d ('ntcrs ka)',. soma .. m ort' workablt lighter, ' and mote r-.Hilanl . . and at .1', I)odr . , , bcCOIlWS the Tat haga ,. . . 'I'S hody casd)' (appa kamrna) mc.\ lip [rom the ear. ul l1ltO the , .11hag'I( such tun c ( Ile T :.I.1L hliotl) aJi sorts of iatulu. , (pauanu cnjoys . Ih("11 gardwtll d . ( (Jbhi u air aneI h c
_ " '

B (apa ,as;, na hi Paa,YlW, Siink.uIldrya ntlnl'l). ),uT aT/vI't;) ; Gay<ltri, BU.V.H.? mri . ootlcss (ophldlan) the ongmally and ulumateJy f with do o t has s h i t All t). iilmava a.o. Way the far Ihe to prd so k r up ma on1r vt'stigia whose nature of the 139 (BuddlllSnt). note a. Coeli. anua J or 5 d u abbhl.Ymruino. .r.S.V.282f.on 4 .II i.1 16f, 1 1 8 talbijgatoanJlpal . \a mpi rittl'lamiidakatl (S}l1thcs12cS bodr III mmd) at/am Pi jlf aJh, .e T smflll) 6ato kii.

Godh ead,

iddhjofteTal?5.ga1a.

lU

80

H1NIJUISM AND BUDDHISM

"personali ty" '" We need hardly say that throughout the Brahmanical and Buddhist litt"rature (as also in Plato and Philo) I!lt the "chariot" stan ds for th e
psy<,'h()-physic;\l vehicle, or in which-according to ollr knowledge of "who we .ue "-we live and move.1 :!Thc steeds arc the senses, the reins their conuols, the mind the coachman, and the Spirit or real Self ( iitmall) the charioteer ( rathi) .1i.C. passenger and mlr'ner, who alone knows the vehicle's destination; if the horses are allowed to run away with the mind, the vehicle and guided by the mind in accordance
lS ''' 'hich

just

will go .1.. OI\tray; bm if they arc curbed

Lawl!lll and calls himself the bes t of charioteers",I one who tame\ men,

Buddha identifies himself-that Self that he calls his ref uge)i-with this

and what he is, namely one that "has ncver become anyonc ". The E ternal Law (dhanna) is, in fact, the c hari O leer; I 3 and while "the king's chariots age, and
50

said, "'I live, yet not 'I', but the Law in me", And if we take into consideration Other Pali text.. wc shall find that a charioteer is taken for gran ted, and who
t he body ages, the Eternal Law of existenc es does not agc"YoIi The
as

THE IlOCTRJNE

8J

\\ ith i l 'i knowledge of the Self, the latten"ill reach home. In our Buddhist text itis strongly cmpha.sizcd that all that composes the chariot and tcam, or body and-soul, is devoid of any essential substance; "chariot" and "se lf " are only the conventional names of ron.stnlrled (constituted) aggregates, and do not import ('xislenccs independent of o r distinguishable from the factors of which they are composed; andjust as one confection is called a "chariot" for convenience, so ought the human personality convenience. And just as the repeated expression 'lhat is not my Self" has so often been misinterpreted to mean "There is no Self " so the dcsu'uctivc analysis of the \'ehicular personality has been held to mean that there is no Person! It is complained that "the charioteer is left out".154 Actually. however, nothing is said f oror against the i mperceptible presence in the composite vehicle of an eternal substance distinct from it and onc and the same in all such vehicles. Nagasena, who refuses to be regarded as a "somebody" and maintains that "Nagasena" is nothing but a name for the inconstant aggregate of the psycho-physical phenomenon, could surely have ]lEg. Laws 898 Df., PhOLdrus 246E-256D, er. note 1 5 3 (Buddhism) . IS2"As which " if we identif)' ourselves with the " person al ity"; "in which" if We recognize ou r Self as the Inner Person.
l"TIte charioteer is eiLher Agni (RV.X.S l.6; AV.lIl.21.3).
OT the

XXI. 133--M the notion of astatic, immutable being ought to be undentood rather

W.M, Urban. The lnlelligibk W orld, 1929, p. 231-Men feel that what cannot be p ut in tcnns of time is meaningless .. . . , ; [BUll W.H. Shel don , in Modem Sdwa/mdn as signifying a process so inlensely vivacious, in terms oftimes so cxtremel)'Swifl, as to

1 S '5 .1.33 dhammij}iam sarathim brUmi. a. Jataka No. 457. dhammo no jaram updt; Sn. 1 1 39 dhammam . . . sanditthlkam aJuiluwf7L

to

be called a "self " only for

"Plus la vie dll moi s'identifie avec la vie d u non-moi, plus on vii intensemont" Abdul Hadi, "L'lmmortalite en Islam", V oiled'bis, January 1934.

comprise beginning and end at one stroke". No individual can sec: all at ana.

Still waters run deep. IIS6D.I1.120 hatam mt! saTa1}am atta no. 15'1St. Th om as . Sum. TheoL 1 . 1 1 .91 Filius Dei . . . est I/Ma la aetmta " the son of God is that ctem al lovc ". l'o!IS.lII.120 yo kha dhammam patsoJi so mam passati, yo mam panati so d/unnmam passati; 50 So, 934 sakkhi dhammam . . . adtuti. Similarly D.III.B4 Bhagat1ato'mhi dhamm a jo . . . DhammaJul)'o itl pi lnahmaJui)'o ili Pi, dhamma Milta III pI, S.II. 221
=

.. II1II

..,

l"'MiL2&<!; 5,1.135; Vis.5934,

ah mabh ii tnt a alta na; S.III.B3 bmhmabhil.tii . . . buddhli TIlcrc can lathiigalo: A.II.211 br . of the e quati ons dhamma = brahma '" buddha ::: ottti: as In be no doubt whatever tmn. idam amrtal11 !dam brahma IMrfI sartJatn. In , . a)'am l dharma1 . 5 ii U am a . 1 BU. . y alent of bmhma, atman. A Buddha , 364, ( 1 1, 25 . 2 ) dhamma is clearly the equh
Dh. 1 69

Bhagavalo 'mhiputto . . . dhamma jo; S.IV.94 dhammahhuto brah mabhuta

. . dhammaJami

,.._

Brahma, Atman, Sun ) , the Breath to which "no name can be given" (AA.II.3.8) , or the Spiritual Self (Alman, KV.III.3;J.V.252) or Dhamma (S.I.33). The skilled cha riotee r (sUlarathl) guides his horses where he \'till (RV.\'I. 75.6) ,-just as we might now speak of the skilled driver of a motorcar or aeroplane as roa ming where he likes. So Boethius, De Consolalione Philosophiae, rv.l
Where the great King his sceptre holds. and the World's reins cloth guide aright, And, firm in his swift chariot, doth everything in order set.

Breath

(prd'1)a :::

' So, 1 1 39) , 'denl u y of n and (itman. a Sa"'. IV,5 for the I . Cf. Saivo SidJhont }anatl, passamjHWah, caJcMuMuto, nanabhiikJ, dhamm m jiina ii g av h a ahhit.to, M.I.) 1 1 B
. owing, Seer ofseeing. is become rht' Eye, Ixocome the Knowerofkn the "Budcll la IS . ma, Brah mabecome..,. Thal Buddha IS Dham idt'ntIiled wuh the me . o bec , GnOSIS . by )aJchha. Sec Ja of the Jitg\'cda and the Upanisads. "Th at , , . a I so ]In Illied cl Bra I1rn<i, IS cl cd, th( 01lamma /Ca ' t (;(DCht7I (dminctlon, exc ellence 11l 'l IJfCa .1 ) h
brah maMu to,

. e (enns denote, and by (he same token "not anY or any of thes , wha{ . is wI la tever all ' Irvart Oh . 421 , So. 1063), and "without analogy (YIUSD n'alth, IIhnma r ... _ ,. , (c lI\uncano,

...t of good and vicious horses (the senses) in KUJII.6, Oh. 91 an The contra. d Svet.Up.l1.9. cf. RV. K44.7 par.lll cls Phaedms 248E. IMMrs. Rhy5 David . Mill71da Qtll'Stiom, 1930, p. 33, [It must be remembered ilia t Mrs. Rhys Davids was a piri{llalisL In ;loswer 10 her words on the Iit tl page Sakya might be C ited VIs. 594 "ll1erc are Godsand men who delight in becommg. \\The n t h ey a.rc taught the Law for the cessation ofbeeoming. their mind does no t respond "1 ,

Hie regum sceptrUrn dominus tenel/Orbisque habenas temperat/Et volucretn currum stabilis rcgit/Rcrum conm;us arbiter.

...

of

, I t e Bll ( . . . ' "" 1<1I1('l1t, et("rna I, uncreated. not as Intern whle 1 . ht' Uill\'CU(', 1111I1 -rreted by ! .r oflawof l . " ( I'TS. PaI. " I DICllO the ore e nlcd ordccrce(I b)' I11111 nary,,('e in\'c Oh' anllna ) . I lJluch IC \ . am , t'ltatall ' u.'r .nl.ml aJlimm ha m uttO'l1UJriI samlhin !n ' hilo on y, o r n... ,aram., /ha m tlh(lm m <I --,- l <)n RV X , ' butli d . 2 3 Jnl)'{J 1 "'5 n. 83 }Ulrm nu<m, 9 "'''.J, 8, . e Kh [he r th(' . DV X 1 9 on 19 o - . 34.8; an d the . RV" I 1 2-7, X f amlil . e [)lw 11l t11ilS iilm "" '" dJuimuu-4Jonuryo ' d!i. Satpdh . ! 0f Go" . . y iilmti am o m . . ,d a am In-oh a of BU.ItS. 1 ! . 'DI BU world. G e: ' e d i.5t Ha ' p dh rl(Jmny(/1 p'J.n . ' ratio) i.\ rhe ('Iern;ll D harrna ofB U.1.5, 23 { "hi m V '" '". mM. wp, yu, r dna' .. ' ( I "core 1.5 . nOI h' . .md BU. I , 4 14 109 yond this J)h amrna no ir LaW"); la\\. e l . ' thl$ () made tl one, indt'ed, there is no other-. "The TnJlh i the G d BM ir1tth", 511.
. .

..

....

.....

----------------------------... - -
84
HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM Akaliko Dh,lImn o , is always and e\'cr}'wherc cam'iSlent with itself. These ci(ations arc
not

fth Hindu Doctnne.s, 1 94 5 , p. 58) ; we do not suggest that borrowings of doctrines Study Q
a.

made as

or S)lnboh have been made ineilherdireclion, northal there has been an independent

contribution to litt'l'U), hi!>tofY (cf. Rcne Guenon, Introduction to the

INDEX

origination of similar idCots, btu that there is a common inheritance from a time long

antedating our texU, of what SL Augustine calls the "wisdom that was not made, but

essions IX.I 0 ) . As Lord " it halh ever been, and so shall ever be" ( Conf is at this present, a.
Chalmen. truly )'S of the par allels between Christianity and Buddhism, "there is here that" (Buddha', Y,achinl!'. HOS.37, 1932. p. The fo11o....1.ng abbrevaitions are employed:

Aditya 1 4

no question ofonccreed borrowing from the other; the relationship goes deeper than

Smwlltii; TB., PB., SB., AB. . KB.. jB.,]UB .. the Briihmil1;tas, respectively the Taittiriya, A, SA. , pon;"ad; AA T ya,ja!mini),o U aimini Paiicavimia, Sa/apo/ha, Ailorry'o, Kml!ltaki, j the Ara)'akas, respectively the AUaTt')'a, Taittin)'aand Siiizkhii),antr., BV., CV TU., A lt., pani.$ads, re5pectively the Brhadiirayaha, Chiind0liYa, KU MU., PraS.,Mu1).q.., H.'i., the U Taiitiriya, Aitartya, Ka!ha, Maitri, Prruna, Mu7J4,aJca and lSaviisya:, BD., Brhad DJalii; BC., Bhagavad Gitii; Vin., Vinaya PI'a:, A M., S., the Nikiiyas. respectively the iUisi11 Dh., A.ngultara, Majjhima and Sam)'lltta; Sn. , Sutta Nipiiltr., DA., Sumangala V Dhammapadtr, Dh.A., Dhammapada Auhaltathii; Itiv Itivuttaka; Vis., Visuddhi Magg, .s;jAOS., /Asiatic Studip Mil., Milinda Paiiha; BC., Buddhacarila:, HJAS. . HoroordJournal 0 f the Ammcan Orimtal Societ) NlA., New Indian Antiquary; IHQ., Indian Journal o /the Buddhi<t;, HOS., Haruard Orienlal srn... Hi<t<>ricaJ Qua!Url y. SBB . . Sacred Boo'" o
. . . . .

RV. ,

eda lk Vtda Samhita. TS, TajUiriya Smhhitii (Black Yajur Vcda); A.V., Atharva V

xx).

Agnendrau 82

advaita 1 2

Bodhidhanna 82, 83

Agni 5 ,

7, 13,

82 agni"ol,. 29, 30. 32, 56

agre 6

14,

15, 16, 55, 72. 74, 78,

Bodhisall\a 52, 53, 54, 55, 69

bodhirvmanw 72

akrtam 26 patman 60 al iinanda 17

Ananda 53, 57

Brahmii Sutra 39 brahTM-bhuta 68, 75n128 brah'TUlatrau 15 bmhmnbandhu 47

bmhmac(}'T),a 70 Brah mana, 5, 1 1 , 30, 45 Brahmans 45, 46, 47, 48, 54. 56, 71 llmhmavil 47 Buddha 45 , 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, 56, 57, 8 1 , 82; early life of 53-5; and the Wheel of [he Law 55, 56, 79
buddhVG

Brahma 13, 14, 1 6

Angira<;a 72

ananuvedya 78 ananyam 64 anatmya 18. 79 anua 20 antaria 15,

63.65, 69, 71, 73, 74, 76,77, 7B, 79,

UII!ha jagrala prapya va,an nibodhala (KU.m.14)

Ye mUa u pabbujjalha (lti"., p. 41)

apara 1 2

17

Tree of the AlVakening 55; and the

aitl7f./inam 48

Aristha 66 Azjuna 5

Ihayaka57 arha1)a 18 Arhats 1 8, 45. 56, 60, 63, 68, 72, 75,82

caJcrn 20
caste system 36 Cha'n 50, $" auo Dhyana
Chri.stianity 65 drina 70 Christ 23, 53, 68, 77,82 caralva 38

Amold, Mathew 37

tiSramas 38
asli 1 2 Asura.<; 48

Confucianism 50. 823

iitmabhiiva 66 alman 12, 57, 78. 79. 80, 82

Aum 1 4, 27

amo)ogy, Brahmal).ical 23-4 AvalokileSvara 52, Sd auo Bodhisattva

Death 7,8, 1 1 , 21. 23, 39, 48, 54, 74 \1Clhn 1 0- 1 1

avatamn40

QVl'syalljiiviiJUJyali 1 4

avidya 1 1 . 67, 69

hhiiga m 27

Bhagavad Gita 4-5, 33

bJWJrt(1 '2 7 Mnkt, 26- 7 Molflr 20

b}, ut(lml(i l A
l'(lJ 1 8 hhilti

bhava (Mm 20

duality 14

Dh}lIla M, 74, 75, 76 Dl\y.l\';.ld;illa 50

Dccat1es 62 dt1Joyana 15 dhanna 3n3. 57, 70, 79, 81; a.\ahAa 46, 52
dhl)'a/Ilmha 1 4

Dei},. Immanent 24; Immortal 18; iL'I a

darianas 4:

dtinta j l

dvadibMva 12

bhi'diUman 18, 20. SO

E(khan, M("ister 16. 2, -40, 59, 72.

83n168

82

H1NIlUISM , \NIl IIUll D I I ISM

Ihtltl:J,h they were hOr5es.i'1I' Anti 1I1l.llly h'(' l i l l d .1 dt"I;liln\ a na lysis of t h e "rh.uiot" ('onduding: willI lh(' sf.:H('H(('IH rhal llw I'ider i .\ Ill<' SdI' ({tlllrtlf) , in
,

.ll moM It\(, \'('(")' ,,"'outs o f tilt" I I p .m b hads y ' T h e sLalt'IlH.'1l1 of a Bllddhbl
('On-t 'ft

t O lHtlWI\LHOr, I h.lt lhl' B ud dha is tht Spiritual Sel f ((ltma71) is assu red ly
\Vc.' twill-ye that c. ' l\ough has
Lhl

Th;u "Crc;\t PCI son" ( "" dut/"lIloN) is t h l" cha riot<"tT i l l a l l hdng-s.
IlO'"

doulll that the.' "Buddha" and "Great Person" , "A.rhal", "Brahma-bt:come"

,lnd "Cod of (od," or tilt" P.lli t('Xls is hi mself the Spirit

n.fC'l
to

heen silici to :-.hO\-\' heyond a l l Y possibk

M;\ll o f .lll hl' illgs, ,\lid th.u ht' b "Tha I {)IH.''' who makts hill lSl'lf l I I a l l i J o l d i l l whom all hdngs again "become ( )I \e " t h a t the BlHlrlha i s HI a l l lll a , I ) r;ia 1 );ltl , t h e FirM Principle; a nd
to

(iitmulI)

.1 I1 d

Inner

(tit'" Light of Light.., Fire or Sun, or hy ....hatcver . other name the oldcJ books
.1Ild dI..Tds .\I (. d l..'(:rib(d, it b t he d oi n gs oflkahma as Ani a l l d I l lrlra that arc utold, Ag n i 'lIl<l lndr.1 arc the Priest ,lilt! King in 1l' ;l!icd, fo r althollh his king-dolll is iI . onc two pos. \ih i l itit-s that the Bucldlm is born, and these show that in so far as the Buddha's " life

"

('(IU<llly n:rtain l h .l t 1\1..' .ls(:akr ,I\';\I lin is ho t h pril..st ;lIHI king i n till' same se n Se

divilli.\, ; l I ld it is with these two p oss ih ili t i es that are sense n o t of Litis world, it is

trou hle, I ha l l Glt}JlOI liwJ it"' 11f)(1 1 III ' 11 1 'l r ll l :\ relJIi C( " ' 1 , "Vi our wl.'1h Jsgran f he.' Con fucia ll llJl<i e)"Mo od trd-, ' aod ( Ic ,p.1I,{(: d .I n pcace 1f,4 . . It IS ahug-eth er cOll tr.u to Blld l' dl I i -t, as lt H l to Vcdantrc doct '" '' nne to th' In k 01 ou rselves .IS wanderers in . the bUtIl de t ' l n d I rm o t he orld '') flow w f ( .\ _ ' s immortal Self' i a n) t i ng (.mhsara) , uOur , ,1 \urv , lVlng pCf\ onah ' Illall So-an v" JI"; It t.'\ no! I IWi d-so (har g()(" ,-; hOlll e find i\ I . . . <m tovlCW the prod ,lI/'hu t 1 , ,lgai _ _ . , Se' II' t I I,ll J C( .0 1 1eeL') " . . ll elf; and that havjll g l)eCn . . many 15 now agam , onc and lIlscrutable, /)nl,\ ab.wmrlilus, "No man hath a 'icendcd up to h eaven but ' he ' that caltw down from he ave n and thcref ore "If' any man wou l d follow me ' . . Ict h l l CIIY h l lll,,:lf ' . 11,7 h c killgdolI1 of God is for \one but the thoroughl : dead .11 Tht: rl"ailsauOI1 of Nav;-mab the "FlightoftheAlone t0 the AIone ", ". "T' IS t I le V01 ' d th a t passelh to the Void"yn
, ,

'fIfF. U()(TRINE

"

...

"

lh.lt Christ is "both priest and king". We arc forced by the logk of the criptUft's l h\ tlwms( 'lves to say t h a t Agnendrau, Buddha, Krishna, Moses lIod ChriM all' names of onc and lhe same "descent" whosc birth is eternal; to n'(,( ll\in- that ;. 1 1 srriIHlI rl' wltl\( I\lt ('xC('ptillll n ' (I" ires of liS ill p osi t ive ternlS to know our Self and by lht" ill1lt wkell to know what-i-n()l-olll"-Sc lf but mistakenly cal led an excision from o\lrronciowmess-ofbcinK, every false iden tification of our being With wb ,H-we-an."-not, but think all i psycho-phy))ical, bodily;md mental accidenL ': to have i den ti fi ed Oll! Sdf C;l/l he Iibnated_ It i.'1; rda{cd Ih.lt

TIH foregoing !lotn a l l d refcrcncc\ arc far from exham tive . Ther arc intended

NOTE

a "sclf "; and that the Way to b eco me what-we-arc demands

To h;l\'C "comc d e a n

"

( i w/tlllll, Iwt!/(/rfu) is to have

"'(' <In'

wht'Jl w(" S'I}' "J I h i J l k " or "I do",

ditil lKtlbhnl

0111

St,lffrolll

with any of these is the worst possible sort of pathetic fallacy and the whole cau."iC of "our" MtiTnings and mo rt al i tv. from which no o ne who still is a nyo ne
a

eighth Bllddhi\t IMlriarch. BI.dhuthanna, 'to pacif y his soul". The Pa l ri arc h f('lort(:ri, "Produce It, and 1 wIll pad!)' il", The Cunfucian replied "Thal is my M,U.2{J6..7: \Vhat Buddha lcadH"

C Jllftlcian schoial- h( sough( I ll(' twen ty

tim e is loming wlwl I a SUllIma of th e 1'1Ii10\opllla P(ft'nm.\ will h.l\'c to be wrincn, eS5c by im panially IM\ed 011 al l orthudox \Olil"Cl"S whatt'\'Ir. fl lis hope cxp w 1115: A uh ry P r e N, \VJllI;:lIJ by l/!t'".mf; ( ;(J{ I maraswalllY \\';\\ lllllilled in '1,lmirahle h III 197L-E d.] d e \ l. bl u p om, / m.ll Trt'lHlH 1T(lIJitJtJII j l f . ) . " d s have been Cited (I) lOor c rlo bng Some not abl e Platonic and Chnti<ln par,dld . Indian , certam of g tllc-u'lin ' t tl Ie 'xt , l;:ll con e I.UIII I" Oul m orc clearly, because Itl more " ' . ' oph iot Perenl\l, S.Ula('lIl;:l Dharmil, doc[! im's and (2) to elllpll<lizc Ihat Ihe Pll llo.\

cxpllined ill the lectures as del ivered, and tu enable t he scholar \0 f 1 )1Io\\' 111' omc of t he sources. III the lectures, Pali words arc given ill lh cir Samknl f(mm, but III Ihe NO I ('s thc Pali is <JllOtcd as such . I h;l\'(' t.tken p:lins to collate the Buddhhl and Brahmanical \()lInT I h rough out : it migh t ha\'(' hlcn even beller to trcat the wl lllle \ulje("( as Oil!", m aking no &Iincli()n of Buddhism from Br.lhmanistn. Indeed. the

aSi\l the reader to bu ild IIpa mealllllg con lent for w :vcral lcnm that could !lot he hilly

[0

_
jJ ..-

"

Vl.49

Brahman" l saJrIl1,atii)'rl tnaJ{gfl ( \(I/HI)a -- Whfl+flya); A.: J.90 }UllJ( j I(H(/uj)(J, M a nw n rli
alr/l(H/(UlI(l wJIfI)'rfln], and (. an I t:

..

Cf B(.XVIII,:J4 blah11H1-Milla /lTtutl1lntitrmi '("'\Tin .I.:i[" A,Un, ILl5.!J.

Ihlj.VL2!" J2 hu'ju It' mlha rallw l1Vl1u

{,Ttl limfJ (ORa m /lrtJ}fHl(jtrll, ;\!'o being OIlC Who was "born th ere and had always 1ivcd there". athi vti (amlhi; S.lV.292

u \(. h beC;luse he C'\Il say In(lluntl Ulm m/wm

mt/w

i brahmu1Jam "tht., way

to

fe llowship wilh
,

l}(lIIlfiIlWI fluhi. vimuklflb

. .

ctilumt1hdbhiJliha\w hil.)(/uu rulJlivtlwtuJm; I lk( KU ,111.:\ fllmii,w/;I mlhltlO);l mtlllh l i(lrilfllll

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INDEX

EthiC> 4, 36, 49, 70

Fife 8, 14. 2r l, 32. 82
gurupammparti 47 lll'ft'dity 4

Nagasena 79. 80

l1i""l W 1 2
11 i

INDEX
sanny&a 38 itinta 3 1 sarua jniilla 1 8 sallva 63, 64

Nir"al)' 66, 69, 70, 7 1 , 74, S3

niroiila 56, 68

mlllktii1llmkta 1 2

rod110 ()(;

Shinto 50 siddh i 33 Siva 13

iik> 70

vtJ } ra 32
VaruQ<l 16, 28 Vedic doctrine S, 5, 72, 74 vayu 1 4 Vcdanla doclrine 50, 65, 83

V(Jr 1 4

Um.I)<lna Buddhism 48 l1t..ll'(JJtU 20

Orlentalism. history of 26 Pali literature 48, 8 1 , 82

piil)( ltman 6 1 para 1 2 Ph ilo ophi a Perennis 4, 58, 83 Plato 53, 58, 77, 80

Indra 5,
ua20

immortality 22 75nl 28, 82

1(), 13, 16, 48, 54, 72, 74,

Parinirv.'ir;ta 69

il,hiisa 6, sr.e also Myth

jijlakas 48
jivanmulcta 23

pra jniina 18, 78 prah'hiirya 77

Praj.lpati

Plutarch 63

Soma 7, 1 1 , 29, 30, 32 sramalJa 38

smrfi 58

Vishnll 14

vijiltln a 64

visi#advaita 12
Visuddilimagga 48

13

TaOIsm 50 Transmigration 4, 65 udva yali 68 Vpanisads 5, 24, 46, 47, 48, 50, 58, 60, 61. 72, 82

lamniitrti 14

stJaprakiiSatvllm

sun 16, 23

iruti 6,

Jee also Revelation

viivakarman 35
vyaktiiU)akta 12
SU OUO Sacrifice

14

}'ajila 12,

yathiirthatii 35 Yoga 34 Y ogis 38

)'athii bhiJlal1l 63, 66. 67

Yo yiiavall;r,t 46

kaJJiiliilmlJn 60
kamQCl1ti 2 3 lcann(J 3, 1 8 , 20, 25

ktlWtak> 12

progenitive rebirth, doctrine of 36 p na bhava 68 punariivartana 60

Imlllrillk ij n 45

prat)'a7lUbhu 75

Kei th . A.B. 57 'ilooa 1 1

!"'Ia 17, 40 krtakrt)'u 22

p1lroa-nivasa 75 Rama 40 raJa 30

Krishna 5, 40, 48, 82

lr..,aia.Sciik.wm 12

ur

Zen 50, su also Dhyana

rrJdhi 75, 77

labour, division of 36 Lilita Vistara 50

fila 1 7 , 40 iolcantagu 72
Maha

reincarnation 3-4 Revelation 6 Rigveda 4

Rudra 1 4 iabdiiiabda 12 Sacrifice 7, 1 1 . 12, 22, 25, 26, 27, 2B, 29, 3 1 . 32, 33, 35, 36 Saddharrna PU1)<.lari ka 50 ladasal20

rddh1pada 74

mahiilman 60

Mahayana Buddhism 48

.... .lS1U 50

mamu 1 4
manomaya ktiya 76

mart),rimart)' fl 12
lWi}'a 3
Mir .l Bai 28 Milfa 16 Moses 82 muA/a 25

Mil indapa lh a 48, 79

Myth 6, 1 2 , 25, 52

miirtarnilrltl 12

lagua 12

JaJraliikiila 1 2 samii(lh,32, 39, 75. 76 s amadrJ i 35

samd!)jkam 69 swikolpfl 1 4 Sankara 16

'sam,Him 20,

83

Sailkaradrya 39. 50