god or sage mentioned in the Hindu mythology.[1] Some castes trace their origin from some well-recognized dominant Hindu caste. If a caste occupies a low position there is a story current in that caste, explaining what high caste they once belonged to, and what actions or calamities caused their downfall. The story may give some historical causes or some mythical causes ; by the latter I mean causes which attribute their downfall to the anger of some god.
Besides these various ties, there is another intended to unite together not only all Hindu castes but the entire world. That tie is the Hindu philosophy itself, which is quite cosmopolitan in its nature. It is the expectation of the writer that the principles of this philosophy, though now dormant on account of the political insignificance of the Hindus, will ultimately triumph and will bring the entire world together. Those cosmopolitan principles of philosophy are these—
The most important feature of the Hindu cosmopolitanism is the pantheistic theology. When I say pantheistic I should not be understood to say that the Hindus are not monotheists. In fact Hindu philosophy teaches monotheism in the most uncompromising manner. Some European writers have contrasted pantheism and monotheism, but in my opinion monotheism and pantheism should be regarded as synonyms, and pantheism is the only possible form of any consistent monotheism. The Hindu pantheistic creed is this—
- ↑ I have used the word mythology because it is used by the earlier European writers. According to the Hindu notion the stories which are called mythology by Europeans are nothing short of history. The Sanskrit words are Itihasa and Purana, i.e., history and antiquity.
