History of India/Volume 1/Chapter 16

by Romesh Chunder Dutt

CHAPTER XVI

THE RELIGIOUS DOCTRINES OF THE UPANISHADS

FROM the ritual and legends of the Brahmanas the mind of India passed to the more vigorous speculations of the Upanishads. Some impatience appears to have been felt with the elaborate but unmeaning rites, the dogmatic but childish explanations, and the mystic but grotesque reasoning which fill the voluminous Brahmanas; and thinking men asked themselves if this was all that religion could teach. While still conforming to the rites laid down in the older texts, they began to speculate on the destination of the Soul and on the nature of the Supreme Being, and even after the lapse of nearly three thousand years, we must marvel still at the vigour, the earnestness, and the philosophy which characterize the Upanishads, whose most important doctrines are the universal soul, creation, transmigration, and final beatitude.

We begin with the doctrine of a universal soul, an all-pervading Breath, which is the keystone of the philosophy and thought of the Upanishads. This idea is somewhat different from monotheism as it is now understood, for monotheism generally recognizes a Creator as distinct from his creation, but the monotheism of the Upanishads, which has been the monotheism of the Hindu religion ever since, recognizes God as the Universal Being: all things else have emanated from him, are a part of him, and will mingle in him, so as to have no separate existence. This is the great idea which is taught in the Upanishads in a hundred similes, stories, and legends, that impart to them their unique value in the literature of the world. In this spirit the Chhandogya Upanishad declares:—

"All this is Brahma (the Universal Being). Let a man meditate on the visible world as beginning, ending, and breathing in Brahma.

"His body is spirit, his form is light, his thoughts are true, his nature is like ether (omnipresent and invisible), from him all works, all desires, all sweet odours and tastes proceed; he it is who embraces all this, who never speaks and is never surprised.

"He is my self within the heart, smaller than a corn of rice, smaller than a corn of barley, smaller than a mustard seed, smaller than a canary seed or the kernel of a canary seed. He also is my self within the heart, greater than the earth, greater than the sky, greater than heaven, greater than all these worlds.

"He from whom all works, all desires, all sweet odours and tastes proceed, who embraces all this, who never speaks and is never surprised, he—my self within the heart—is that Brahma, When I shall have departed from hence, I shall obtain him."

Such is the sublime language in which the ancient Hindus expressed their sublime conception of the minute but all-pervading and Universal Being whom they called Brahma, or God.

In the same Upanishad is told the beautiful story of Svetaketu, who stayed with his teacher from his twelfth year to his twenty-fourth, and then returned home, "having then studied all the Vedas, conceited, considering himself well read, and stern." But he had yet things to learn which were not ordinarily taught in the schools of the age, and his father Uddalaka Aruneya taught Til the true nature of the Universal Being in such similes as these:—

"As the bees, my son, make honey by collecting the juices of distant trees, and reduce the juice into one form; and as these juices have no discrimination, so that they might say, 'I am the juice of this tree or that,' in the same manner, my son, all these creatures, when they have become merged in the True, know not that they are merged in the True.

"These rivers, my son, run, the eastern (like the Ganges) towards the east, the western (like the Indus) towards the west. They go from sea to sea (i.e. the clouds lift up the water from the sea to the sky and send it back as rain to the sea). They become indeed sea. And as those rivers, when they are in the sea, do not know, 'I am this or that river,' in the same manner, my son, all these creatures, proceeding from the True, know not that they have proceeded from the True.

"'Place this salt in water and then wait on me in the morning.'

"The son did as he was commanded. The father said to him: 'Bring me the salt which you placed in the water last night.' The son, having looked for it, found it not, for, of course, it was dissolved.

"The father said: 'Taste it from the surface of the water. How is it?' The son replied: 'It is salt.' 'Taste it from the middle. How is it?' The son replied: 'It is salt.' 'Taste it from the bottom. How is it?' The son replied: 'It is salt.' The father said: 'Throw it away and then wait on me.'

"The son waited on the father, and the father explained to his son that the Universal Being, though invisible, dwells in us, as the salt is in the water."

These extracts from the Chhandogya bring home to us the Hindu idea of a Universal Being. We will now quote one or two passages from the Kena and the Isa Upanishads:—

"At whose wish does the mind, sent forth, proceed on its errand?" asks the pupil. "At whose command does the first breath go forth? At whose wish do we utter this speech? What god directs the eye or the ear?"

The teacher replies: "It is the ear of the ear, the mind of the mind, the speech of the speech, the breath of the breath, and the eye of the eye.

"That which is not expressed by speech, and by which speech is expressed; that which does not think by mind, and by which mind is thought; that which does not see by the eye, and by which one sees; that which does not hear by the ear, and by which the ear is heard; that which does not breathe by breath, and by which breath is drawn—that alone know as Brahma—not that which people here adore."

And the joy of him who has comprehended, however feebly, the incomprehensible God, has been well described:—

"He who beholds all beings in the Self, and Self in all beings, he never turns away from it.

"When, to a man who understands, the Self has become all things, what sorrow, what trouble can there be to him who once beheld that unity?

"He, the Self, encircled all, bright, incorporeal, scatheless, without muscles, pure, untouched by evil, a seer, wise, omnipresent, self-existent, he disposed all things aright for eternal years."

Lastly, in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad we are told that all gods are the manifestation of Self, or Purusha, "for he is all gods"; and likewise that he exists in all men, in the Brahman, the Kshatriya, the Vaisya, and the Sudra.

Our extracts on this subject have been somewhat lengthy, but the reader will not regret it. For the doctrine of a Universal Soul is the very keystone of the Hindu religion, and it is necessary to know how this idea was first developed in India in the Upanishads. We will now pass on to another important teaching, the doctrine of creation.

The creation of the world was still a mystery to those early thinkers, and the attempts to solve it were necessarily fanciful. A few passages may be quoted:—

"In the beginning the universe was non-existent. It became existent as it grew. It turned into an egg.

AN INDIAN SCENE.

The egg lay for the time of a year. The egg broke open. The two halves were one of silver, the other of gold.

"The silver one became this earth, the golden one the sky, the thick membrane (of the white) the mountains, the thin membrane (of the yolk) the mist with the clouds, the small veins the rivers, the fluid the sea.

"And what was born from it was Aditya, the Sun. When he was born shouts of joy arose, and all beings arose, and all things which they desired."

A different account is given in the same Chhandogya Upanishad, where we are told that "in the beginning there was that only, which is, One only, without a second." And that sent forth fire, and fire sent forth water, and the water sent forth the earth.

The Aitareya Aranyaka describes how Prana, the Universal Breath, created the world, and then discusses the question of the material cause out of which the world was created. As in the Rig-Veda, and as in the Biblical account of creation, water is said to be the first material cause.

"Was it water really? Was it water? Yes, all this was water indeed. The water was the root, the world was the shoot. He (the person) is the father, they (earth, fire, and other elements) are the sons." And elsewhere in the same Upanishad the following account of Creation is given:—

"Verily in the beginning all this was Self one only. There was nothing else whatsoever." And that Self sent forth the water (above the heaven), the lights which are the sky, the mortal which is the earth, and the waters under the earth. He then formed the Purusha, and the universe was produced from the Purusha.

Some of these extracts clearly recognize an original Creator—the Breath or the Soul or the Self—and also a material cause, water or fire. We shall see hereafter how this doctrine of a Primal Soul and Primal Matter is developed in later Hindu Philosophy. We must now turn to the most important doctrine of the transmigration of souls. It is to the Hindus what the doctrine of Resurrection is to Christians. And while the Christians believe that our souls will live in another sphere after death, the Hindus believe that our souls have lived in other spheres before, and will live again in other spheres after death.

The central idea is that which has been adopted as the cardinal principle of the Hindu religion, that good acts lead to their rewards in future existences, but only true knowledge leads to union with the Universal Spirit. "As here on earth whatever has been acquired by exertion perishes, so perishes whatever is acquired for the next world by sacrifices and other good actions performed on earth. Those who depart from hence without having discovered the Self and those true desires, for them there is no freedom in all the worlds."

The doctrine of transmigration of souls is explained as follows in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:—

"As a caterpillar, after having reached the end of a blade of grass, and after having made another approach to another blade, draws itself together towards it, thus does the Self, after having thrown off this body and dispelled all ignorance, and after making another approach to another body, draw itself together towards it.

"And as a goldsmith, taking a piece of gold, turns it into another newer and more beautiful shape, so does the Self, after having thrown off this body and dispelled

GOLD WIRE - DRAWERS.

all ignorance, make unto himself another newer and more beautiful shape, whether it be like the Fathers, or like the Gandharvas, or like the Devas, or like Prajapati, or like Brahma, or like other beings.

"So much for the man who desires. But as to the man who does not desire; who, not desiring, free from desires, is satisfied in his desires, or desires the Self only, his vital spirits do not depart elsewhere; being Brahma, he goes to Brahma.

"And as the slough of a snake lies on an ant-hill, dead and cast away, thus lies the body; but that disembodied immortal spirit is Brahma only, is only light."

And this brings us to the doctrine of final beatitude and salvation. There is nothing more sublime in the literature of the ancient Hindus than the passages in which they fervently recorded their hope and faith that the disembodied soul, purified from all stains and all sins, will at last be received in the Universal Soul, even as light mingles with light. We quote another passage from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:—

"He, therefore, that knows, after having become quiet, subdued, satisfied, patient, and collected, sees self in Self, sees all in Self. Evil does not overcome him, he overcomes all evil. Evil does not burn him, he burns all evil. Free from evil, free from spots, free from doubt, he becomes a true Brahman—enters the Brahma world."

It was this doctrine of final beatitude which Death explained to Nachiketas in that beautiful idyl of an Upanishad called Katha, and our chapter may find a fitting close in an extract from that beautiful creation of fancy and of piety.

Nachiketas was given by his father unto Death and entered the abode of Yama Vaivasvata, whom he asked for three boons, the last of which was this:—

"There is that doubt, when a man is dead; some saying, he is; others, he is not. This I should like to know, taught by thee; this is the third of my boons."

But Death was unwilling to reveal his secrets, and told Nachiketas to ask for other boons.

"Choose sons and grandsons who shall live a hundred years, herds of cattle, elephants, gold, horses. Choose the wide abode of the earth, and live thyself as many harvests as thou desirest.

"If thou canst think of any boon equal to that, choose wealth and long life. Be king, Nachiketas, on the whole earth. I make thee the enjoyer of all desires.

"Whatever desires are difficult to attain among mortals, ask for them, anything to thy wish; these fair maidens with their chariots and musical instruments—such indeed are not to be obtained by men; be waited on by them whom I give thee, but ask not me about dying."

Nachiketas said: "These things last till to-morrow, O Death, for they wear out this vigour of all the senses. Even the whole of life is short. Keep thou thy horses, keep dance and song for thyself."

Pressed by the pious inquirer, Death at last revealed the great secret, which is the principle of the Upanishads and the principle of the Hindu religion:—

"The sage who, by means of meditation on himself, recognizes the Ancient, who is difficult to be seen, who has entered into the dark, who has hidden in the cave, who dwells in the abyss, as God—he indeed leaves joy and sorrow far behind.

"A mortal who has heard this and embraced it, who has separated from it all qualities, and has thus reached the subtle Being, rejoices because he has obtained what is a cause for rejoicing. The house of Brahma is open. I believe, Nachiketas!"

BRAHMA.

Who can, even in the present day, peruse these pious inquiries and fervent thoughts of a long-buried past, without feeling a new emotion in his heart, without seeing a new light before his eyes? The mysteries of the unknown future will never be solved by human intellect or by human science; but the first recorded attempts of India to solve them in a pious, fervent, philosophical spirit will ever have an abiding interest for every patriotic Hindu and for every thoughtful man.

By no other has this truth been recognized more fully or felt more deeply than by Schopenhauer when he wrote: "From every sentence deep, original, and sub-lime thoughts arise, and the whole is pervaded by a high and holy and earnest spirit. Indian air surrounds us, and original thoughts of kindred spirits. In the whole world there is no study so beneficial and so elevating as that of the Upanishads. It has been the solace of my life; it will be the solace of my death."