,the ,wisdom of the ,east ,series       
,,edited ,,by                           
,l4 ,,cranmer-,,byng                    
,dr4 ,s4 ,a4 ,,kapadia                  
,,wisdom ,,of ,,the ,,east              
,,hindu ,,gods ,,and                    
,,heroes                                
,,studies ,,in ,,the ,,history ,,of     
,,the ,,religion ,,of ,,india           
,,by                      ,,lionel ,d4  
,,barnett1 ,m4,a41 ,,litt         99    
99       99       99       99           
,,preface   ,the following pages are    
taken from the ,forlong ,bequest        
lectures which ,i delivered in ,march   
last at the ,school of ,oriental        
,studies4 ,owing to exigencies of space1
 much of what ,i then said has been     
omitted here1 especially with regard to 
the worship of ,siva2 but enough remains
 to make clear my general view1 which is
 that the religion of the ,aryans of    
,india was essentially a worship of     
spirits--sometimes spirits of real      
persons1 sometimes imaginary            

spirits--and that1 although in early    
days it provisionally found room for    
personifications of natural forces1 it  
could not digest them into ,great ,gods1
 and therefore they have either         
disappeared or1 if surviving1 remain as 
mere ,struldbrugs4 ,thus ,i am a heretic
 in relation to both the ,solar ,theory 
and the ,vegetation ,theory1 as everyone
 must be who takes the trouble to study 
,hindu nature without prejudice4  ,l4   
,d4 ,b4  ,may #bi1 #aibb4         99    
99       99       99       99           
,,contents   ,i4 ,,the ,,vedic ,,age3   
,popular ,religion1 p4 #i--,rig-veda and
 priestly religion1 p4                  
#aa--;,dyaus-,zeus1 p4 #ad--,ushas1 p4  
#ah--,surya1 p4 #ai--,savita1 p4        
#ai--,mitra and ,varuna1 p4 #ai--;,agni1
 p4 #bb--,soma1 p4 #bc--;,indra1 p4     
#be--,the ,asvins1 p4 #ce--,vishnu1 p4  
#cg--,rudra-,siva1 p4 #db--,summary1 p4 
#db4   ,,ii4 ,,the ,,age ,,of ,,the     
,,brahmanas3  ,growth of ,brahman       
influence in expanding ,aryan society1  

p4 #de--,system of priestly doctrine3   
theory of ,sacrifice and mechanical     
control of nature thereby1 p4 #dh--;,its
 antinomianism3 partly corrected by the 
growing cult of ,rudra-,siva1 p4        
#ec--,the ,upanishads3 their relation to
 the ,brahmanas1 p4 #ei--;,brahma the   
,absolute1 p4 #fj--,karma-,samsara1 p4  
#fc--,results3 ,saiva ,theism1 p4       
#fe--,krishna3 early history and        
legends1 p4 #ff--,teachings1 p4 #fh4    
,,iii4 ,,the ,,epics1 ,,and ,,later3    
,i4 ,the ,great ,war and the ,pandavas1 
p4 #gj--,vishnu-,krishna1 p4            
#gd--,narayana1 p4 #gf--;,bhagavad-gita 
and ,narayaniya1 p4 #gg--;,growth of    
church of ,vishnu-,krishna1 p4          
#gi--,worship of ,pandavas1 p4 #ib--,new
 erotic and romantic ,krishnaism1 p4    
#id4  ,,ii4 ,rama3 legend of ,rama and  
constitution of ,ramayana1 p4 #ih4      
,,iii4 ,some later ,preachers1 p4       
#ajc--,religions of ,vishnu-,krishna and
 ,siva in ,southern ,india1 p4          
#ajc--,samkara ,acharya1 p4             

#aje--,ramanuja1 p4 #ajg--,nimbarka1    
,madhva1 ,vallabha1 p4                  
#ajh--;,jnanadeva1 p4 #aji--,nama-deva1 
p4 #aji--,tukaram1 p4 #aji--,ramananda1 
p4 #aaj--,tulsi ,das1 p4 #aaj--,kabir1  
p4 #aaj--,nanak1 p4 #aaj--;,chaitanya1  
p4 #aaj4  ,,iv4 ,brahma and the         
,trimurti1 p4 #aaa--;,dattatreya1 p4    
#aad4  ,v4 ,two ,modern ,instances1 p4  
#aaf4   ,,conclusion4         99        
99       99       99       99           
,,editorial ,,note   ,the object of the 
,editors of this series is a very       
definite one4 ,they desire above all    
things that1 in their humble way1 these 
books shall be the ambassadors of       
goodwill and understanding between ,east
 and ,west--the old world of ,thought   
and the new of ,action4 ,in this        
endeavour1 and in their own sphere1 they
 are but followers of the highest       
example in the land4 ,they are confident
 that a deeper knowledge of the great   
ideals and lofty philosophy of ,oriental
 thought may help to a revival of that  

true spirit of ,charity which neither   
despises nor fears the nations of       
another creed and colour4  ,l4          
,,cranmer-,,byng4  ,s4 ,a4 ,,kapadia4   
,,northbrook ,,society1  #ba ,,cromwell 
,,road1  ,,kensington1 ,s4 ,w4          
99       99       99       99       99  
,,hindu ,,gods ,,and ,,heroes  ,,chapter
 ,i  ,,the ,,vedic ,,age   ,let us      
imagine we are in a village of an ,aryan
 tribe in the ,eastern ,panjab something
 more than thirty centuries ago4 ,it is 
made up of a few large huts1 round which
 cluster smaller ones1 all of them      
rudely built1 mostly of bamboo2 in the  
other larger ones dwell the heads of    
families1 while the smaller ones shelter
 their kinsfolk and followers1 for this 
is a patriarchal world1 and the         
housefather gives the law to his        
household4 ,the people are mostly a     
comely folk1 tall and clean-limbed1 and 
rather fair of skin1 with well-cut      
features and straight noses2 but among  
them are not a few squat and ugly men   

and women1 flat-nosed and nearly black  
in colour1 who were once the free       
dwellers in this land1 and now have     
become slaves or serfs to their ,aryan  
conquerors4 ,around the village are     
fields where bullocks are dragging rough
 ploughs2 and beyond these are woods and
 moors in which lurk wild men1 and      
beyond these are the lands of other     
,aryan tribes4 ,life in the village is  
simple and rude1 but not uneventful1 for
 the village is part of a tribe1 and    
tribes are constantly fighting with one 
another1 as well as with the            
dark-skinned men who often try to drive 
back the ,aryans1 sometimes in small    
forays and sometimes in massed hordes4  
,but the world in which the village is  
interested is a small one1 and hardly   
extends beyond the bounds of the land   
where its tribe dwells4 ,it knows       
something of the land of the ,five      
,rivers1 in one corner of which it      
lives1 and something even of the lands  
to the north of it1 and to the west as  

far as the mountains and deserts1 where 
live men of its own kind and tongue2 but
 beyond these limits it has no          
knowledge4 ,only a few bold spirits have
 travelled eastward across the high     
slope that divides the land of the ,five
 ,rivers from the strange and mysterious
 countries around the great rivers      
,ganga and ,yamuna1 the unknown land of 
deep forests and swarming dark-skinned  
men4  ,in the matter of religion these  
,aryans care a good deal about charms   
and spells1 black and white magic1 for  
preventing or curing all kinds of       
diseases or mishaps1 for winning success
 in love and war and trade and          
husbandry1 for bringing harm upon       
enemies or rivals--charms which a few   
centuries later will be dressed up in   
,rigvedic style1 stuffed out with       
imitations of ,rigvedic hymns1 and      
published under the name of ,atharva    
veda1 the lore of the ,atharvans1 by    
wizards who claim to belong to the old  
priestly clans of ,atharvan and         

,angiras4 ,but we have not yet come so  
far1 and as yet all that these people   
can tell us is a great deal about their 
black and white magic1 in which they are
 hugely interested1 and a fair amount   
about certain valiant men of olden times
 who are now worshipped by them as      
helpful spirits1 and a little about some
 vague spirits who are in the sun and   
the air and the fire and other places1  
and are very high and great1 but are not
 interesting at all4  ,this popular     
religion seems to be a hopeless one1    
without ideals and symbols of love and  
hope4 ,is there nothing better to be    
found in this place8 ,yes1 there is a   
priestly religion also2 and if we would 
know something about it we must listen  
to the chanting of the priests1 the     
brahmans or men of the holy spirit1 as  
they are called1 who are holding a      
sacrifice now on behalf of the rich lord
 who lives in the largest house in the  
village--a service for which they expect
 to be paid with a handsome fee of oxen 

and gold4 ,they are priests by heredity1
 wise in the knowledge of the ways of   
the gods2 some of them understand how to
 compose riks1 or hymns1 in the fine    
speech dear to their order1 hymns which 
are almost sure to win the gods' favour1
 and all of them know how the sacrifices
 shall be performed with perfect        
exactness so that no slip or            
imperfection may mar their efficacy4    
,their psalms are called ,rig-veda1 lore
 of the verses1 and they set themselves 
to find grace in the ears of the many   
gods whom these priests worship1        
sometimes by open praise and sometimes  
by riddling description of the exploits 
and nature of the gods4 ,often they are 
very fine2 but always they are the work 
of priests1 artists in ritual4 ,and if  
you look heedfully into it you will also
 mark that these priests are inclined to
 think that the act of sacrifice1 the   
offering of1 say1 certain oblations in a
 particular manner with particular words
 accompanying them1 is in itself potent1

 quite apart from the psalms which they 
sing over it1 that it has a magic power 
of its own over the machinery of        
nature4#a ,really this is no new idea of
 our ,vedic priests2 ten thousand years 
before them their remote forefathers    
believed it and acted upon it1 and if   
for example they wanted rain they would 
sprinkle drops of water and utter magic 
words4 ,our ,vedic priests have now a   
different kind of symbols1 but all the  
same they still have the notion that    
ceremony1 rita as they call it1 has a   
magic potency of its own4 ,let us mark  
this well1 for we shall see much issuing
 from it4  ,footnote #a3 ,cf4 e4g4 ,,rv4
 ,,iii4 xxxii4 #ab4  ,who are the gods  
to whom these priests offer their       
prayers and psalms8 ,they are many1 and 
of various kinds4 ,most of them are     
taken from the religion of the people1  
and dressed in new garb according to the
 imagination of the priest2 and a few   
are priestly inventions altogether4     
,there is ,dyaush-pita1 the ,sky-father1

 with ,prithivi ,mata1 the              
,earth-mother2 there are ,vayu the      
,wind-spirit1 ,parjanya the ,rain-god1  
,surya the ,sun-god1 and other spirits  
of the sky such as ,savita2 there is the
 ,dawn-goddess1 ,ushas4 ,all these are  
or were originally deified powers of    
nature3 the people1 though their        
imagination created them1 have never    
felt any deep interest in them1 and the 
priests who have taken them into their  
charge1 though they treat them very     
courteously and sing to them elegant    
hymns full of figures of speech1 have   
not been able to cover them with the    
flesh and blood of living personality4  
,then we have ,agni the ,fire-god1 and  
,soma the spirit of the intoxicating    
juice of the soma-plant1 which is used  
to inspire the pious to drunken raptures
 in certain ceremonies2 both of these   
have acquired a peculiar importance     
through their association with priestly 
worship1 especially ,agni1 because he1  
as bearing to the gods the sacrifices   

cast into his flames1 has become the    
ideal ,priest and divine ,paraclete of  
,heaven4 ,nevertheless all this hieratic
 importance has not made them gods in   
the deeper sense1 reigning in the hearts
 of men4 ,then we find powers of        
doubtful origin1 ,mitra and ,varuna and 
,vishnu and ,rudra1 and figures of      
heroic legend1 like the warrior ,indra  
and the twin charioteers called ,asvinaa
 and ,nasatya4 ,all these1 with many    
others1 have their worship in the       
,rig-veda3 the priests sing their       
praises lustily1 and often speak now of 
one deity1 now of another1 as being the 
highest divinity1 without the least     
consistency4  ,some savage races believe
 in a highest god or first divine ,being
 in whom they feel little personal      
interest4 ,they seldom speak of him1 and
 hardly ever worship him4 ,so it seems  
to be with ,dyaush-pita4 ,the priests   
speak of him and to him1 but only in    
connexion with other gods2 he has not a 
single whole hymn in his honour1 and the

 only definite attribute that attaches  
to him is that of fatherhood4 ,yet he   
has become a great god among other races
 akin in speech to the ,aryans of       
,india3 ,dyaush-pita is phonetically the
 same as the ,greek ,greek3 ,zeus pater 
and the ,latin ,iuppiter4 ,how comes it 
then that he is not1 and apparently     
never was1 a god in the true sense among
 the ,indian ,aryans8 ,because1 ,i      
think1 his name has always betrayed him4
 ,to call a deity ,sky-father is to     
label him as a mere abstraction4 ,no    
mystery1 no possibility of human        
personality1 can gather round those two 
plain prose words4 ,so long as a deity  
is known by the name of the physical    
agency that he represents1 so long will 
he be unable to grow into a personal    
,god in ,india4 ,the priests may sing   
vociferous psalms to ,vayu the          
,wind-spirit and ,surya the ,sun-spirit1
 and even to their beloved ,agni the    
,fire-god2 but sing as much as they     
will1 they never can make the people in 

general take them to their hearts4      
,observe what a different history is    
that of ,zeus among the ,greeks--,zeus1 
,father of ,gods and ,men1 the ideal of 
kingly majesty and wisdom and goodness4 
,the reason is patent4 ,ages and ages   
before the days when the ,homeric poets 
sang1 the ,greeks had forgotten that    
,zeus originally meant sky3 it had      
become to them a personal name of a     
great spiritual power1 which they were  
free to invest with the noblest ideal of
 personality4 ,but very likely there is 
also another reason3 ,i believe that the
 ,olympian ,zeus1 as modelled by ,homer 
and accepted by following generations1  
was not the original ,greek3 ,zeus pater
 at all1 but a usurper who had robbed   
the old ,sky-father of his throne and of
 his title as well1 that he was at the  
outset a hero-king who some time after  
his death was raised to the seat and    
dignity of the old ,sky-father and      
received likewise his name4 ,this theory
 explains the old hero-sagas which are  

connected with ,zeus and the strange    
fact that the ,cretans pointed to a spot
 in their island where they believed    
,zeus was buried4 ,it explains why      
legends persistently averred that ,zeus 
expelled his father ,kronos from the    
throne and suppressed the ,titan        
dynasty3 on my view1 ,kronos was the    
original ,father ,zeus1 and his name of 
,zeus and rank as chief god were        
appropriated by a deified hero4 ,how    
natural such a process was in those days
 may be seen from the liturgy of ,unas  
on the pyramids at ,sakkarah in         
,egypt4#b ,here ,unas is described as   
rising in heaven after his death as a   
supreme god1 devouring his fathers and  
mothers1 slaughtering the gods1 eating  
their magical powers1 and swallowing    
their spirit-souls1 so that he thus     
becomes the first-born of the first-born
 gods1 omniscient1 omnipotent1 and      
eternal1 identified with the ,osiris1   
the highest god4 ,now this ,unas was a  
real historical man2 he was the last    

king of the ,fifth ,dynasty1 and was    
deified after death1 just like any other
 king of ,egypt4 ,the early ,egyptians1 
like many savage tribes1 regarded all   
their kings as gods on earth and paid   
them formal worship after their death2  
the later ,egyptians1 going a step      
further1 worshipped them even in their  
lifetime as embodiments of the gods4#c  
,what is said in the liturgy for the    
deification of ,unas is much the same as
 was said of other kings4 ,the dead king
 in early ,egypt becomes a god1 even the
 greatest of the gods1 and he assumes   
the name of that god#d2 he overcomes the
 other gods by brute force1 he kills and
 devours them4 ,this is very like what  
,i think was the case with ,zeus2 the   
main difference is that in ,egypt the   
character of the deified king was merged
 in that of the old god1 and men        
continued to regard the latter in       
exactly the same light as before2 but   
among the forefathers of the ,greeks the
 reverse happened in at least one case1 

that of ,zeus1 where the character of a 
hero who had peculiarly fascinated      
popular imagination partly eclipsed that
 of the old god whose name and rank he  
usurped4 ,the reason for this1 ,i       
suppose1 is that even the early         
,egyptians had already a conservative   
religion with fixed traditions and a    
priesthood that forgot nothing1#e       
whereas among the forefathers of the    
,greeks1 who were wandering savages1    
social order and religion were in a very
 fluid state4 ,however that may be1 a   
deified hero might oust an older god and
 reign under his name2 and this theory  
explains many difficulties in the       
legends of ,zeus4  ,footnote #b3 ,sir   
,e4 ,a4 ,w4 ,budge1 ,literature of the  
,ancient ,egyptians1 p4 #ba ff41 and    
,gods of the ,egyptians1 i1 pp4 #cb f41 
#dc4  ,footnote #c3 ,erman1 ,handbook of
 ,egyptian ,religion1 p4 #cg f4         
,footnote #d3 ,budge1 ,lit4 of the      
,egyptians1 p4 #ba2 ,erman1 ut supra1 p4
 #cg f4  ,footnote #e3 ,it is even      

possible that in one case1 that of      
,osiris1 a hero in ,egypt may have      
eclipsed by his personality the god whom
 he ousted4 ,see ,sir ,j4 ,w4 ,frazer's 
,adonis1 ,attis1 ,osiris1 ii1 p4 #bjj1  
and ,sir ,w4 ,ridgeway's ,dramas and    
,dramatic ,dances1 etc41 p4 #id ff4  ,as
 to the ,roman ,iuppiter1 ,i need not   
say much about him4 ,like all the       
genuine gods of ,latium1 he never was   
much more than an abstraction until the 
,greeks came with their literature and  
dressed him in the wardrobe of their    
,zeus4  ,coming now to ,ushas1 the ,lady
 of the ,dawn1 and looking at her name  
from the standpoint of comparative      
philosophy1 we see that the word ushas  
is closely connected with the ,greek    
,greek3 heos and the ,latin aurora4 ,but
 when we read the literature1 we are    
astonished to find that while the ,greek
 ,dawn-lady has remained almost always a
 mere abstraction1 the ,indian spirit is
 a lovely1 living woman instinct with   
the richest sensuous charms of the      

,east4 ,some twenty hymns are addressed 
to her1 and for the most part they are  
alive with real poetry1 with a sense of 
beauty and gladness and sometimes withal
 an under-note of sadness for the brief 
joys of life4 ,but when we look         
carefully into it we notice a curious   
thing3 all this hymn-singing to ,ushas  
is purely literary and artistic1 and    
there is practically no religion at all 
at the back of it4 ,a few stories are   
told of her1 but they seem to convince  
no one1 and she certainly has no ritual 
worship apart from these hymns1 which   
are really poetical essays more than    
anything else4 ,the priestly poets are  
thrilled with sincere emotion at the    
sight of the dawn1 and are inspired by  
it to stately and lively descriptions of
 its beauties and to touching           
reflections upon the passing of time and
 mortal life2 but in this scene ,ushas  
herself is hardly more than a model from
 an artist's studio1 in a very ,bohemian
 quarter4 ,more than once on account of 

her free display of her charms she is   
compared to a dancing girl1 or even a   
common harlot6 ,here the imagination is 
at work which in course of time will    
populate the ,hindu ,paradise with a    
celestial corps de ballet1 the fair and 
frail ,apsarasas4 ,our ,vedic ,ushas is 
a forerunner of that gay company4 ,a    
charming person1 indeed2 but certainly  
no genuine goddess4  ,as his name shows1
 ,surya is the spirit of the sun4 ,we   
hear a good deal about him in the       
,rig-veda1 but the whole of it is merely
 description of the power of the sun in 
the order of nature1 partly allegorical1
 and partly literal4 ,he is only a      
nature-power1 not a personal god4 ,the  
case is not quite so clear with ,savita1
 whose name seems to mean literally     
stimulator1 one who stirs up4 ,on the   
whole it seems most likely that he      
represents the sun1 as the vivifying    
power in nature1 though some#f think    
that he was originally an abstraction of
 the vivifying forces in the world and  

later became connected with the sun4    
,however this may be1 ,savita is and    
remains an impersonal spirit with no    
human element in his character4         
,footnote #f3 ,see ,oldenberg1 ,religion
 des ,veda1 p4 #fd f4  ,still more      
perplexing are the two deities ,mitra   
and ,varuna1 who are very often         
associated with one another1 and        
apparently are related4 ,mitra certainly
 is an old god3 if we go over the       
mountains to the west and north-west of 
the country of our ,indian ,aryans1 we  
shall find their kinsmen in ,persia and 
,bactria worshipping him as a power that
 maintains the laws of righteousness and
 guards the sanctity of oaths and       
engagements1 who by means of his        
watchmen keeps mankind under his        
observation and with his terrible       
weapons crushes evil powers4 ,the       
,indian ,aryans tell almost exactly the 
same tale of their ,mitra and his       
companion ,varuna1 who perhaps is simply
 a doublet of ,mitra with a different   

name1 which perhaps is due to a variety 
of worship4 ,but they have more to say  
of ,varuna than of ,mitra4 ,in ,varuna  
we have the highest ideal of            
spirituality that ,hindu religion will  
reach for many centuries4 ,not only is  
he described as supreme controller of   
the order of nature--that is an         
attribute which these priestly poets    
ascribe with generous inconsistency to  
many others of their deities--but he is 
likewise the omniscient guardian of the 
moral law and the rule of religion1     
sternly punishing sin and falsehood with
 his dreaded noose1 but showing mercy to
 the penitent and graciously communing  
with the sage who has found favour in   
his eyes4  ,but ,mitra and ,varuna will 
not enjoy this exalted rank for long4   
,soon the priests will declare that     
,mitra rules over the day and ,varuna   
over the night 7,,ts4 ,,ii4 i4 #g1 #d2  
,,vi4 iv4 #h1 #c71 and then ,varuna will
 begin to sink in honour4 ,the noose of 
,varuna will come to mean merely the    

disease of dropsy4 ,his connection with 
the darkness of the night will cause men
 to think of him with fear2 and in their
 dread they will forget his ancient     
attributes of universal righteousness1  
justice1 and mercy1 and remember him    
chiefly as an avenger of guilt4 ,they   
will banish him to the distant seas1    
whose rivers he now guides over the     
earth in his gracious government of     
nature2 and there he will dwell in exile
 for ever1 remembered only to be feared4
 ,and ,mitra will become merely another 
name for the sun4  ,what is the origin  
of this singular couple8 ,and why are   
they destined to this fall8 ,neither of 
these questions can be answered by      
anything but conjectures4 ,there is no  
evidence either from ,indian or from    
,iranian religion that ,mitra or his    
double ,varuna grew out of the worship  
of the sun or the sky1 although in their
 worship they were sometimes connected  
with the sun and the sky4 ,however far  
backwards we look1 we still find them   

essentially spirits of natural order and
 moral law1 gods in the higher sense of 
the word4 ,but their character1 and     
especially the character of ,varuna1 it 
seems to me1 is rather too high to      
survive the competition of rival cults1 
such as that of the popular hero ,indra 
and the priests' darling ,agni1 which   
tend to engross the interest of         
worshippers lay and cleric1 and to blunt
 their relish for more spiritual ideals4
 ,so ,mitra and ,varuna become stunted  
in their growth2 and at last comes the  
fatal time when they are identified with
 the sky by day and night4 ,this is the 
final blow4 ,no deity that is plainly   
limited to any one phase or form of     
nature in ,india can be or become a     
great god2 and speedily all their real  
divinity fades away from ,mitra and     
,varuna1 and they shrivel into          
insignificance4  ,next we turn to a     
spirit of a very different sort1 the    
,fire-god1 ,agni4 ,the word agni is     
identical with the ,latin ignis2 it     

means fire1 and nothing else but fire1  
and this fact is quite sufficient to    
prevent ,agni from becoming a great god4
 ,the priests indeed do their best1 by  
fertile fancy and endless repetition of 
his praises1 to lift him to that rank2  
but even they cannot do it4 ,from the   
days of the earliest generations of men 
,fire was a spirit2 and the household   
fire1 which cooks the food of the family
 and receives its simple oblations of   
clarified butter1 is a kindly genius of 
the home4 ,but with all his usefulness  
and elfish mystery ,fire simply remains 
fire1 and there's an end of it1 for the 
ordinary man4 ,but the priests will not 
have it so4 ,the chief concern of their 
lives is with sacrifice1 and their      
deepest interest is in the spirit of the
 sacrificial fire4 ,all the riches of   
their imagination and their vocabulary  
are lavished upon him1 his forms and his
 activities4 ,they have devoted to him  
about #bjj hymns and many occasional    
verses1 in which they dwell with        

constant delight and ingenious metaphor 
upon his splendour1 his power1 his birth
 from wood1 from the two firesticks1    
from trees of the forest1 from stones1  
or as lightning from the clouds1 his    
kinship with the sun1 his dwelling in   
three abodes 7viz4 as a rule on earth1  
in the clouds as lightning1 and in the  
upper heavens as the sun71 his place in 
the homes of men as a holy guest1 a     
friend and a kinsman1 his protection of 
worshippers against evil spirits and    
malignant sorcerers1 and especially his 
function of conveying the oblation      
poured into his flames up to the gods4  
,thus they are led to represent him as  
the divine ,priest1 the ideal           
hierophant1 in whom are united the      
functions of the three chief classes of 
,rigvedic sacrificial priests1 the hota1
 adhvaryu1 and brahman1 and hence as an 
all-knowing sage and seer4 ,if infinite 
zeal and ingenuity in singing ,agni's   
praises and glorifying his activities   
can avail to raise him to the rank of a 

great god1 we may expect to find him    
very near the top4 ,but it is not to be4
 ,the priests cannot convince the plain 
man of ,agni's super-godhead1 and soon  
they will fail to convince even         
themselves4 ,the time will shortly come 
when they will regard all these gods as 
little more than puppets whose strings  
are pulled by the mysterious spirit of  
the sacrifice4  ,the priests have       
another pet deity1 ,soma4 ,for the      
sacred rites include the pressing and   
drinking of the fermented yellow juice  
of the soma-plant1 an acid draught with 
intoxicating powers1 which when mixed   
with milk and drunk in the priestly     
rites inspires religious ecstasy4 ,this 
drinking of the soma-juice is already an
 ancient and important feature in the   
worship of our ,aryans1 as it is also   
among their kinsmen in ,iran2 so it is  
no wonder that the spirit of the sacred 
plant has been made by the priests into 
an important deity and celebrated with  
endless abundance of praise and prayer4 

,as with ,agni1 ,soma's appearance and  
properties are described with           
inexhaustible wealth of epithets and    
metaphors4 ,the poets love to dwell on  
the mystic powers of this wonderful     
potion1 which can heal sickness of soul 
and body and inspire gods and men to    
mighty deeds and holy ecstasy4 ,most    
often they tell how the god ,indra drank
 huge potions of it to strengthen       
himself for his great fight with the    
dragon ,vritra4 ,most of this worship is
 of priestly invention2 voluminous as   
its rhetoric is1 it makes no great      
impression on the laity1 nor perhaps on 
the clergy either4 ,some of the more    
ingenious of the priests are already    
beginning to trace an affinity between  
,soma and the moon4 ,the yellow         
soma-stalks swell in the water of the   
pressing-vat1 as the yellow moon waxes  
in the sky2 the soma has a magical power
 of stimulation1 and the moon sends     
forth a mystic liquid influence over the
 vegetation of the earth1 and especially

 over magic plants2 the soma is an      
ambrosia drunk by gods and heroes to    
inspire them to mighty deeds1 and the   
moon is a bowl of ambrosia which is     
periodically drunk by the gods and      
therefore wanes month by month4 ,the    
next step will soon be taken1 and the   
priests will say that ,soma is the moon2
 and literature will then obediently    
accept this statement1 and1 gradually   
forgetting nearly everything that ,soma 
meant to the ,rigvedic priests1 will use
 the name ,soma merely as a secondary   
name for ,chandra1 the moon and its god4
 ,a very illuminating process1 which    
shows how a god may utterly change his  
nature4 ,now we turn to the hero-gods4  
,indra and the ,asvina at the beginning 
came to be worshipped because they were 
heroes1 men who were supposed to have   
wrought marvellously noble and valiant  
deeds in dim far-off days1 saviours of  
the afflicted1 champions of the right1  
and who for this reason were worshipped 
after death1 perhaps even before death1 

as divine beings1 and gradually became  
associated in their legends and the     
forms of their worship with all kinds of
 other gods4 ,times change1 gods grow   
old and fade away1 but the remembrance  
of great deeds lives on in strange wild 
legends1 which1 however much they may   
borrow from other worships and however  
much they may be obscured by the phantom
 lights of false fancy1 still throw a   
glimmer of true light back through the  
darkness of the ages into an            
immeasurably distant past4  ,indra is a 
mighty giant1 tawny of hair and beard   
and tawny of aspect4 ,the poets tell us 
that he bears up or stretches out earth 
and sky1 even that he has created heaven
 and earth4 ,he is a monarch supreme    
among the gods1 the lord of all beings1 
immeasurable and irresistible of power4 
,he rides in a golden chariot drawn by  
two tawny horses1 or many horses1 even  
as many as eleven hundred1 and he bears 
as his chief weapon the vajra1 or       
thunderbolt1 sometimes also a bow with  

arrows1 a hook1 or a net4 ,of all       
drinkers of soma he is the lustiest2 he 
swills many lakes of it1 and he eats    
mightily of the flesh of bulls and      
buffaloes4 ,to his worshippers he gives 
abundance of wealth and happiness1 and  
he leads them to victory over hostile   
tribes of ,aryans and the still more    
dreaded hordes of dark-skins1 the ,dasas
 and ,dasyus4 ,he guided the princes    
,yadu and ,turvasa across the rivers1 he
 aided ,divodasa ,atithigva to discomfit
 the dark-skinned ,sambara1 he gave to  
,divodasa's son ,sudas the victory over 
the armies of the ten allied kings      
beside the river ,parushni4 ,many are   
the names of the devils and demons that 
have fallen before him2 but most        
glorious of all his deeds is the        
conquest of ,vritra1 the dragon dwelling
 in a mountain fastness amidst the      
waters1 where ,indra1 accompanied by the
 troop of ,maruts1 or storm-gods1 slew  
the monster with his bolt and set free  
the waters1 or recovered the hidden     

kine4 ,our poets sing endless variations
 on this theme1 and sometimes speak of  
,indra repeating the exploit for the    
benefit of his worshippers1 which is as 
much as to say that they1 or at least   
some of them1 think it an allegory4  ,in
 all this maze of savage fancy and      
priestly invention and wild exaggeration
 there are some points that stand out   
clearly4 ,indra is a god of the people1 
particularly of the fighting man1 a     
glorified type of the fair-haired1      
hard-fighting1 hard-drinking forefathers
 of the ,indian ,aryans and their       
distant cousins the ,hellenes2 and      
therefore he is the champion of their   
armies in battles4 ,he is not a fiction 
of hieratic imagination1 whom priests   
regale with hyperbolic flattery         
qualified only by the lukewarmness of   
their belief in their own words4 ,he is 
a living personality in the faith of the
 people2 the priests only invent words  
to express the people's faith1 and      
perhaps add to the old legends some     

riddling fancies of their own4 ,many    
times they tell us that after conquering
 ,vritra and setting free the waters or 
the kine ,indra created the light1 the  
dawn1 or the sun2 or they say that he   
produced them without mentioning any    
fight with ,vritra2 sometimes they speak
 of him as setting free the kine of the 
,morning1 which means that they         
understood the cows to signify the light
 of morning1 and it would seem also that
 they thought that the waters mentioned 
in the story signified the rain4 ,but   
why do they speak of these acts as      
heroic deeds1 exploits of a mighty      
warrior1 in the same tone and with the  
same epic fire as when they sing of     
,indra's battles in times near to their 
own1 real battles in which their own    
forefathers1 strong in their faith in   
the god1 shattered the armies of hostile
 ,aryan tribes or the fortresses of     
dark-skinned natives8 ,the personality  
of ,indra and the spirit in which his   
deeds are recounted remind us of        

hero-sagas2 the allegories which the    
poets read into them are on the other   
hand quite in the style of the priest4  
,how can we explain the presence of     
these two voices8 ,besides1 why should  
the setting free of the rain or the     
daylight be a peculiarly heroic         
attribute of ,indra8 ,other gods are    
said to do the same things as part of   
their regular duties3 ,parjanya1 ,mitra 
and ,varuna1 ,dyaus1 dispense the rain1 
others the light4  ,the explanation is  
simple4 ,indra1 it seems to me1 is a god
 of just the same sort as ,zeus1 whose  
nature and history ,i have already      
explained according to my lights4 ,in   
the far-away past ,indra was simply a   
hero3 very likely he was once a         
chieftain on earth4 ,the story of his   
great deeds so fascinated the           
imagination of men that they worshipped 
his memory and at last raised him to the
 rank of a chief god4 ,now they had     
previously worshipped two very high     
gods2 one of these was ,dyaush-pita1 the

 ,sky-father1 of whom ,i have spoken    
before1 and another was ,tvashta1 the   
,all-creator4 ,so some of them1 as the  
,rig-veda proves1 declared that ,dyaus  
was the father of ,indra1 and others    
appear to have given this honour to     
,tvashta1 while others regarded ,tvashta
 as ,indra's grandfather2 and some even 
said that in order to obtain the soma to
 inspire him to divine deeds ,indra     
killed his father1 which of course is   
just an imaginative way of saying that  
,indra was made into a god and          
worshipped in place of the elder god4   
,the puzzle now is solved4 ,indra has   
remained down to the time of the        
,rig-veda true to his early nature1 an  
epic hero and typical warrior2 but he   
has also borrowed from the old          
,sky-father the chief attributes of a   
sky-spirit1 especially the giving of    
rain and the making of light1 which the 
priests of the ,rig-veda riddlingly     
describe as setting free the waters and 
the cows4 ,he bears the thunderbolt1 as 

does also ,zeus2 like ,zeus1 he has got 
it from the ,sky-father1 who had        
likewise a thunderbolt1 according to    
some ,rigvedic poets1 though others say 
it was forged for him by ,tvashta1 his  
other father4 ,i even venture to think  
that there is a kernel of heroic legend 
in the story of the slaying of ,vritra2 
that at bottom it is a tale relating how
 ,indra with a band of brave fellows    
stormed a mountain hold surrounded by   
water in which dwelt a wicked chieftain 
who had carried away the cattle of his  
people1 and that when ,indra had risen  
to the rank of a great god of the sky   
men added to this plain tale much       
mythical decoration appropriate to his  
new quality1 turning the comrades of    
,indra into the storm-gods and          
interpreting the waters and cows to mean
 rain and daylight4 ,since most of us   
are agreed that stories such as that of 
,indra defeating ,sambara for the       
benefit of ,divodasa refer to real      
events1 it seems unnatural to suppose   

that the ,vritra-legend is a purely     
imaginary myth4 ,we can thus explain why
 the ideas of ,indra setting free the   
rain and the light fit in so awkwardly  
with the heroic element in the legend3  
for they are merely secondary           
attributes1 borrowed from the myths of  
other gods and mechanically attached to 
,indra on his elevation in the pantheon4
 ,but we can explain much more4 ,there  
is a regular cycle of hero-saga         
connected with ,indra which is visible  
or half-visible at the back of some of  
the ,vedic hymns and of the priestly    
literature which is destined to follow  
them4  ,the truth is that the priests of
 the ,rig-veda on the whole have not    
quite made up their minds about ,indra's
 merits1 and we shall find them a few   
generations hence equally uncertain4    
,they praise his heroic deeds lustily   
and admire his power immensely2 but they
 are keenly aware that he is a god with 
a past1 and sometimes they dwell on     
that4 ,their favourite method is to     

relate some of his former questionable  
deeds in the form of a reproach1 and    
then to turn the story to his credit in 
some way or another2 but as time goes on
 and the priests think less and less of 
most of their gods1 ,indra's character  
will steadily sink1 and in the end we   
shall find him playing a subordinate    
part1 a debauched king in a sensuous    
paradise1 popularly worshipped as a     
giver of rain4 ,but this is to          
anticipate4 ,as yet ,indra is to the    
,rigvedic priests a very great god2 but 
how did he become so8 ,if we read       
carefully the hymn ,,rv4 ,,iv4 xviii4#g 
we see at the back of it a story        
somewhat like this4 ,before he was born1
 ,tvashta1 ,indra's grandfather1 knew   
that ,indra would dispossess him of his 
sovereignty over the gods1 and therefore
 did his best to prevent his birth 7cf4 
,,rv4 ,,iii4 xlviii472 but the baby     
,indra would not be denied1 and he      
forced his way into the light of day    
through the side of his mother ,aditi1  

who seems to be the same as ,mother     
,earth 7cf4 ,ved4 ,stud41 ii1 p4 #hf71  
killed his father1 and drank ,tvashta's 
soma1 by which he obtained divine       
powers4 ,in v4 #ab of this hymn ,indra  
excuses himself by saying that he was in
 great straits1 and that then the soma  
was brought to him by an eagle4 ,what   
these straits were is indicated in      
another hymn 7,,iv4 xxvii471 which tells
 us that he was imprisoned1 and escaped 
on the back of the eagle1 which he      
compelled to carry him2 the watchman    
,krisanu shot an arrow at the bird1 but 
it passed harmlessly through its        
feathers4 ,evidently in the story ,indra
 had a hard struggle with rival gods4   
,one poet says 7,,rv4 ,,iv4 xxx4 #c73   
,not even all the gods1 ,o ,indra1      
defeated thee1 when thou didst lengthen 
days into nights1 which apparently      
refers also to some miracle like that   
ascribed to ,joshua4 ,another tradition 
7,,ms4 ,i4 vi4 #ab7 relates that while  
,indra and his brother ,vivasvan were   

still unborn they declared their resolve
 to oust the ,adityas1 the elder sons of
 their mother ,aditi2 so the ,adityas   
tried to kill them when born1 and       
actually slew ,vivasvan1 but ,indra     
escaped4 ,another version 7,,ts4 ,,ii4  
iv4 #ac7 says that the gods1 being      
afraid of ,indra1 bound him with fetters
 before he was born2 and at the same    
time ,indra is identified with the      
,rajanya1 or warrior class1 as its type 
and representative4#h ,this last point  
is immensely important1 for it really   
clinches the matter4 ,not once1 but     
repeatedly1 the priestly literature of  
the generations that will follow        
immediately after that of the ,rig-veda 
will be found to treat ,indra as the    
type of the warrior order4#i ,they will 
describe an imaginary                   
coronation-ceremony of ,indra1 ending   
with these words3 ,anointed with this   
great anointment ,indra won all         
victories1 found all the worlds1        
attained the superiority1 pre-eminence1 

and supremacy over all the gods1 and    
having won the overlordship1 the        
paramount rule1 the self rule1 the      
sovereignty1 the supreme authority1 the 
kingship1 the great kingship1 the       
suzerainty in this world1 self-existing1
 self-ruling1 immortal1 in yonder world 
of heaven1 having attained all desires  
he became immortal4#aj ,thus we see that
 amidst the maze of obscure legends     
about ,indra there are three points     
which stand out with perfect clearness4 
,they are1 firstly1 that ,indra was a   
usurper2 secondly1 that the older gods  
fought hard but vainly to keep him from 
supreme divinity1 and that in his       
struggle he killed his father2 and      
thirdly1 that he was identified with the
 warrior class1 as opposed to the       
priestly order1 or ,brahmans4 ,this     
antagonism to the ,brahmans is brought  
out very clearly in some versions of the
 tales of his exploits4 ,more than once 
the poets of the ,rig-veda hint that his
 slaying of ,vritra involved some guilt1

 the guilt of brahma-hatya1 or slaughter
 of a being in whom the brahma1 or holy 
spirit1 was embodied#aa2 and this is    
explained clearly in a priestly tale    
7,,ts4 ,,ii4 v4 #b1 #a ff42 cf4 ,,sb4   
,i4 i4 #c1 #d1 vi4 #c1 #h71 according to
 which ,indra from jealousy killed      
,tvashta's son ,visvarupa1 who was      
chaplain of the gods1 and thus he       
incurred the guilt of brahma-hatya4     
,then ,tvashta held a soma-sacrifice2   
,indra1 being excluded from it1 broke up
 the ceremony and himself drank the     
soma4 ,the soma that was left over      
,tvashta cast into one of the sacred    
fires and produced thereby from it the  
giant ,vritra1 by whom the whole        
universe1 including ,agni and ,soma1 was
 enveloped 7cf4 the later version in    
,mahabharata1 ,v4 viii4 f474 ,by slaying
 him ,indra again became guilty of      
brahma-hatya2 and some ,rigvedic poets  
hint that it was the consciousness of   
this sin which made him flee away after 
the deed was done4  ,footnote #g3 ,i    

follow in the interpretation of this    
hymn ,e4 ,sieg1 ,die ,sagenstoffe des   
,rgveda1 i4 p4 #gf ff4 ,cf4 on the      
subject ,ved4 ,stud41 i4 p4 #baa1 ii4   
pp4 #db-ed4 ,charpentier1 ,die          
,suparnasage1 takes a somewhat different
 view of ,,rv4 ,,iv4 xxvi4-xxvii41      
which1 however1 does not convince me2 ,i
 rather suspect that ,,rv4 ,,iv4 xxvi4  
#a and #d1 with their mention of ,manu1 
to whom the soma was brought1 are echoes
 of an ancient and true tradition that  
,indra was once a mortal4  ,footnote #h3
 ,the other legend in ,,ms4 ,,ii4 i4    
#ab1 that ,aditi bound the unborn ,indra
 with an iron fetter1 with which he was 
born1 and of which he was able to rid   
himself by means of a sacrifice1 is     
probably later4  ,footnote #i3 ,e4g4    
,,ab4 ,,vii4 xxxi41 ,,viii4 xii4 ,cf4   
,,ba4 ,up4 ,i4 iv4 #aa-ac4  ,footnote   
#aj3 ,,ab4 ,,viii4 xiv4 7,keith's       
translation74  ,footnote #aa3 ,cf4      
,sayana on ,,rv4 ,i4 xciii4 #e4  ,these 
bits of saga prove1 as effectually as is

 possible in a case like this1 that     
,indra was originally a warrior-king or 
chieftain who was deified1 perhaps by   
the priestly tribe of the ,angirasas1   
who claim in some of the hymns to have  
aided him in his fight with ,vritra1 and
 that he thus rose to the first rank in 
the pantheon1 gathering round himself a 
great cycle of heroic legend based upon 
those traditions1 and only secondarily  
and by artificial invention becoming    
associated with the control of the rain 
and the daylight4  ,the name ,asvina    
means ,the ,two ,horsemen2 what their   
other name1 ,nasatya1 signifies nobody  
has satisfactorily explained4 ,but even 
with the name ,asvina there is a        
difficulty4 ,they are described usually 
as riding together in a chariot which is
 sometimes said to be drawn by horses1  
and this would suit their name2 but more
 often the poets say that their chariot 
is drawn by birds1 such as eagles or    
swans1 and sometimes even by a buffalo  
or buffaloes1 or by an ass4 ,i do not   

see how we can escape from this         
difficulty except by supposing that     
popular imagination in regard to this   
matter varied from very early times1 but
 preferred to think of them as having   
horses4 ,at any rate they are very      
ancient gods1 for the people of ,iran   
also have traditions about them1 and in 
the far-away land of the ,mitanni1 in   
the north of ,mesopotamia1 they are     
invoked together with ,indra1 ,mitra1   
and ,varuna to sanction treaties4 ,in   
,india the ,aryans keep them very busy1 
for they are more than anything else    
gods of help4 ,thrice every day and     
thrice every night they sally forth on  
their patrols through earth and heaven1 
in order to aid the distressed#ab3 and  
the poets tell us the names of many     
persons whom they have relieved1 such as
 old ,chyavana1 whom they restored to   
youth and love1 ,bhujyu1 whom they      
rescued from drowning in the ocean1     
,atri1 whom they saved from a fiery pit1
 ,vispala1 to whom when her leg had been

 cut off they gave one of iron1 and     
,ghosha1 to whom they brought a husband4
 ,many other helpful acts are ascribed  
to them1 and it is very likely that at  
least some of these stories are more or 
less true4 ,another legend relates that 
they jointly wedded ,surya1 the daughter
 of the ,sun-god1 who chose them from   
amongst the other gods4#ac  ,footnote   
#ab3 ,cf4 ,ved4 ,studien1 ii4 p4 #ca1   
,,rv4 ,i4 xxxiv4 #b4  ,footnote #ac3    
,cf4 ,ved4 ,studien1 i4 p4 #ad ff4      
,amidst the medley of saga and facts and
 poetical imagination which surrounds   
the ,asvina1 can we see the outlines of 
their original character8 ,it is hard to
 say3 opinions must differ4 ,the ,aryans
 of ,india are inclined to say that they
 are simply divine kings active in good 
works2 but the priests are perhaps      
beginning to fancy that they may be     
embodiments of powers of nature--they   
are not sure which--and in course of    
time they will have various theories1   
partly connected with their rituals4    

,but really all that is certain in the  
,vedic age about the ,asvins is that    
they are an ancient pair of saviour-gods
 who ride about in a chariot and render 
constant services to mankind4 ,we are   
tempted however to see a likeness       
between them and the ,greek3 ,dios koro 
of the distant ,hellenes1 the heroes    
,kastor and ,polydeukes1 ,castor and    
,pollux1 the twin ,horsemen who are     
saviours of afflicted mankind by land   
and sea4 ,there are difficulties in the 
way of this theory2 but they are not    
unsurmountable1 and ,i believe that the 
,asvina of ,india have the same origin  
as the ,twin ,horsemen of ,greece4 ,at  
any rate both the pairs are hero-gods1  
whose divinity has been created by      
mankind's need for help and admiration  
for valour4 ,whether there was any human
 history at the back of this process we 
cannot say4  ,now we may leave the      
heroes and consider a god of a very     
different kind1 ,vishnu4  ,the ,rig-veda
 has not very much to say about ,vishnu1

 and what it says is puzzling4 ,the     
poets figure him as a beneficent young  
giant1 of unknown parentage1 with two   
characteristic attributes3 the first of 
these is his three mystic strides1 the  
second his close association with       
,indra4 ,very often they refer to these 
three strides1 sometimes using the verb 
vi-kram1 to step out1 sometimes the     
adjectives uru-krama1 widely-stepping1  
and uru-gaya1 wide-going4 ,the three    
steps carry ,vishnu across the three    
divisions of the universe1 in the       
highest of which is his home1 which     
apparently he shares with ,indra 7,,rv4 
,i4 xxxii4 #bj1 cliv4 #e-f1 ,,iii4 lv4  
#aj2 cf4 ,,ab4 ,i4 i41 etc474 ,some of  
them are beginning to imagine that these
 steps symbolise the passage of the sun 
through the three divisions of the      
world1 the earth1 sky1 and upper heaven2
 certainly this idea will be held by    
many later scholars1 though a few will  
maintain that it denotes the sun at its 
rising1 at midday1 and at its setting4  

,before long we shall find some priests 
harping on the same notion in another   
form1 saying that ,vishnu's head was cut
 off by accident and became the sun2 and
 later on we shall see ,vishnu bearing  
as one of his weapons a chakra1 or      
discus1 which looks like a figure of the
 sun4 ,but really all this is an        
afterthought3 in the ,veda1 and the     
priestly literature that follows        
directly upon the ,veda1 ,vishnu is not 
the sun4 ,nor do we learn what he is    
very readily from his second leading    
attribute in the ,rig-veda1 his         
association with ,indra4 ,yet it is a   
very clearly marked trait in his        
character4 ,not only do the poets often 
couple the two gods in prayer and       
praise1 but they often tell us that the 
one performed his characteristic deeds  
by the help of the other4 ,they say that
 ,vishnu made his three strides by the  
power of ,indra 7,,viii4 xii4 #bg71 or  
for the sake of ,indra 7,val4 iv4 #c71  
and even that ,indra strode along with  

,vishnu 7,,vi4 lxix4 #e1 ,,vii4 xcix4   
#f71 and on the other hand they tell us 
often that it was by the aid of ,vishnu 
that ,indra overcame ,vritra and other  
malignant foes4 ,friend ,vishnu1 stride 
out lustily1 cries ,indra before he can 
strike down ,vritra 7,,iv4 xviii4       
#aa74ad ,the answer to this riddle ,i   
find in the ,brahmanas1 the priestly    
literature which is about to follow     
immediately after the ,veda4 ,in plain  
unequivocal words the ,brahmanas tell us
 again and again that ,vishnu is the    
sacrifice4#ae ,evidently when they      
repeat this they are repeating an old   
hieratic tradition2 and it is one which 
perfectly explains the facts of the     
case4 ,vishnu1 ,i conceive1 was         
originally nothing more or less than the
 embodied spirit of the sacrificial     
rites4 ,his name seems to be derived    
from the root vish1 meaning stimulation 
or inspiration2 and this is exactly what
 the sacrifice is supposed in priestly  
theory to do4 ,the sacrifice1           

accompanied by prayer and praise1 is    
imagined to have a magic power of its   
own1 by which the gods worshipped in it 
are strengthened to perform their divine
 functions4 ,one poet says to ,indra3   
,when thy two wandering ,bays thou      
dravest hither1 thy praiser laid within 
thine arms the thunder 7,,rv4 ,i4 lxiii4
 #b72 and still more boldly another     
says3 ,sacrifice1 ,indra1 made thee wax 
so mighty 444 worship helped thy bolt   
when slaying the dragon 7,,iii4 xxxii4  
#ab74 ,so it would be very natural for  
the priests to conceive this spirit of  
the sacrificial rites as a personal     
deity2 and this deity1 the ,brahmanas   
assure us1 is ,vishnu4 ,then the idea of
 the three strides and the association  
with ,indra would easily grow up in the 
priestly imagination4 ,the inspiring    
power of the sacrifice is supposed to   
pervade the three realms of the         
universe1 earth1 sky1 and upper heavens2
 this idea is expressed in the common   
ritual formula bhur bhuvas svah1 and is 

symbolised by three steps taken by the  
priest in certain ceremonies1 which are 
translated into the language of myth as 
the three strides of ,vishnu4#af        
,observe that in the ,rig-veda the upper
 heaven is not the dwelling-place of    
,vishnu only2 ,agni the ,fire-god1      
,indra and ,soma have their home in it  
also 7,,rv4 ,i4 cliv4 #f1 ,,iv4 xxvi4   
#f1 xxvii4 #c-d1 ,v4 iii4 #c1 ,,viii4   
lxxxix4 #h1 ,,ix4 lxiii4 #bg1 lxvi4 #cj1
 lxviii4 #f1 lxxvii4 #b1 lxxxvi4 #bd1   
,x4 i4 #c1 xi4 #d1 xcix4 #h1 cxliv4 #d74
 ,later1 however1 when their            
adventitious divinity begins to fade    
away from ,agni and ,soma1 and ,indra is
 allotted a special paradise of his own1
 this highest step will be regarded as  
peculiar to ,vishnu1 ,vishnoh paramam   
padam4  ,footnote #ad3 ,a later and     
distorted version of this myth appears  
in ,,ab4 ,,vi4 xv4  ,footnote #ae3 ,e4g4
 ,,ms4 #a4 iv4 #ad1 ,,sb4 ,i4 i4 #a1 #b1
 #ac1 ,,tb4 ,i4 ii4 #e1 #a1 ,,ab4 ,i4   
xv41 ,,kb4 ,,iv4 ii41 ,,xviii4 viii41   

xiv4  ,footnote #af3 ,,sb4 ,i4 ix4 #c1  
#h-aa4 ,cf4 the three steps of the      
,amesha-spentas from the earth to the   
sun1 imitated in the ,avestic ritual    
7,avesta1 transl4 ,darmesteter1 ,i4     
#dja74  ,as soon as this spirit of      
sacrifice was thus personified1 he at   
once attached himself to ,indra2 for    
,indra is pre-eminently the god of      
action1 and for his activities he needs 
to be stimulated by sacrifice and       
praise4 ,as the priests will tell us in 
plain unvarnished words1 he to whom the 
,sacrifice comes as portion slays ,indra
 7,,ab4 ,i4 iv474 ,therefore we are told
 that ,vishnu aids ,indra in his heroic 
exploits1 that ,vishnu takes his strides
 and presses ,soma in order that ,indra 
may be strengthened for his tasks4 ,now 
we can see the full meaning of ,indra's 
cry before striking ,vritra1 ,friend    
,vishnu1 stride out lustily62 for until 
the sacrifice has put forth its mystic  
energy the god cannot strike his blow4  
,we are told also that ,vishnu cooks    

buffaloes and boils milk for ,indra1#ag 
for buffaloes were no doubt anciently   
offered to ,indra4 ,the vivid reality of
 ,indra's character has clothed ,vishnu 
with some of its own flesh and blood2   
originally a priestly abstraction1 he   
has become through association with     
,indra a living being1 a real god4 ,the 
blood which has thus been poured into   
his veins will enable him to live       
through a critical period of his life1  
until by combination with another deity 
he will rise to new and supreme         
sovereignty4 ,but of that more anon4    
,meanwhile let us note the significance 
of this union of ,vishnu and ,indra in  
the ,veda4 ,vishnu1 the spirit of       
,sacrifice1 is in a sense representative
 of the ,brahman priesthood1 and ,indra1
 as ,i have shown1 is commonly regarded 
as typical of the warrior order4 ,in the
 ,rig-veda ,indra is powerless without  
,vishnu's mystic service1 and ,vishnu   
labours to aid ,indra in his heroic     
works for the welfare of men and gods4  

,surely this is an allegory1 though the 
priests may so far be only dimly        
conscious of its full meaning--an       
allegory bodying forth the priestly     
ideal of the reign of righteousness1 in 
which the ,king is strong by the mystic 
power of the ,priest1 and the ,priest   
lives for the service of the ,king4     
,footnote #ag3 ,,rv4 ,,vi4 xvii4 #aa1   
,,viii4 lxvi4 #aj2 the myth in ,,rv4 ,i4
 lxi4 #g1 ,,viii4 lxvi4 #aj1 and ,,ts4  
,,vi4 ii4 #d1 #b-c is expanded from this
 original idea4 ,cf4 ,macdonell1 ,vedic 
,myth41 p4 #da4  ,there is another god  
who is destined to become in future ages
 ,vishnu's chief rival--,rudra1 ,the    
,tawny1 or ,siva1 ,the ,gracious4 ,he   
belongs to the realm of popular         
superstition1 a spiteful demon ever     
ready to smite men and cattle with      
disease1 but likewise dispensing healing
 balms and medicines to those that win  
his favour4 ,the ,rigvedic priests as   
yet do not take much interest in him1   
and for the most part they leave him to 

their somewhat despised kinsmen the     
,atharvans1 who do a thriving trade in  
hymns and spells to secure the common   
folk against his wrath4  ,there are many
 more gods1 godlings1 and spirits in the
 ,vedic religion2 but we must pass over 
them4 ,we have seen enough1 ,i hope1 to 
give us a fair idea of the nature and   
value of that religion in general4 ,what
 then is its value8  ,the ,rigveda is   
essentially a priestly book2 but it is  
not entirely a priestly book4 ,much of  
the thought to which it gives utterance 
is popular in origin and sentiment1 and 
is by no means of the lowest order4 ,on 
this groundwork the priests have built  
up a system of hieratic thought and     
ritual of their own1 in which there is  
much that deserves a certain respect4   
,there is a good deal of fine poetry in 
it4 ,there is also in it some idea of a 
law of righteousness3 in spite of much  
wild and unmoral myth and fancy1 its    
gods for the most part are not          
capricious demons but spirits who act in

 accordance with established laws1      
majestic and wise beings in whom are    
embodied the highest ideals to which men
 have risen as yet4 ,moreover1 the      
priests in the later books have given us
 some mystic hymns containing vigorous  
and pregnant speculations on the deepest
 questions of existence1 speculations   
which are indeed fanciful and           
unscientific1 but which nevertheless    
have in them the germs of the powerful  
idealism that is destined to arise in   
centuries to come4 ,on the other hand1  
the priests have cast their system in   
the mould of ritualism4 ,ritual1        
ceremony1 sacrifice1 professional       
benefit--these are their predominant    
interests4 ,the priestly ceremonies are 
conceived to possess a magical power of 
their own2 and the fixed laws of ritual 
by which these ceremonies are regulated 
tend to eclipse1 and finally even to    
swallow up1 the laws of moral           
righteousness under which the gods live4
 ,a few generations more1 and the       

priesthood will frankly announce its    
ritual to be the supreme law of the     
universe4 ,meanwhile they are becoming  
more and more indifferent to the        
personalities of the gods1 when they    
have preserved any2 they are quite ready
 to ascribe attributes of one deity to  
another1 even attributes of nominal     
supremacy1 with unscrupulous            
inconsistency and dubious sincerity2 for
 the personalities of the different gods
 are beginning to fade away in their    
eyes1 and in their mind is arising the  
conception of a single universal        
,godhead4     ,,chapter ,,ii  ,,the     
,,age ,,of ,,the ,,brahmanas ,,and      
,,upanishads   ,centuries have passed   
since the hymns of the ,rig-veda were   
composed4 ,the ,aryans have now crossed 
the fateful ridge on the east of their  
former settlements1 and have spread     
themselves over the lands of ,northern  
,hindostan around the upper basins of   
the ,ganges and ,jamna1 reaching        
eastward as far as ,bihar and southward 

down to the ,vindhya ,mountains1 and in 
the course of their growth they have    
absorbed not a little of the blood of   
the dark-skinned natives4 ,the old      
organisation of society by tribes has   
come to an end1 though the names of many
 ancient tribes are still heard2 the    
,aryans are now divided laterally by the
 principle of what we call caste1 which 
is based upon a combination of religious
 and professional distinctions1 and     
vertically by the rule of kings1 while a
 few oligarchic governments still       
survive to remind them of ,vedic days4  
,in these kingdoms the old tribes are   
beginning to be fused together2 from    
these combinations new ,states are      
arising1 warring with one another1      
constantly waxing and waning4 ,society  
is ruled politically by kings1          
spiritually by ,brahmans4 ,with the rise
 of the kingdom an ,established ,church 
has come into existence1 and the        
,brahman priesthood works out its       
principles to the bitterest end of      

logic4  ,the ,brahmans are now1 more    
than they ever were before1 a close     
corporation of race1 religion1 and      
profession1 a religious fraternity in   
the strict sense of the words4 ,while   
other classes of the ,aryans have mixed 
their blood to a greater or less degree 
with that of the natives1 the ,brahmans 
have preserved much of the pure ,aryan  
strain4 ,they1 moreover1 have maintained
 the knowledge of the ancient ,vedic    
language in which the sacred hymns of   
their forefathers were composed1 of the 
traditions associated with them1 and of 
the priestly lore of ,vedic ritual4     
,proud of this heritage and resolved to 
maintain it undiminished1 they have     
knitted themselves into a close         
spiritual and intellectual aristocracy1 
which stands fast like a lighthouse     
amidst the darkness and storms of       
political changes4 ,they employ all the 
arts of the priest1 the thinker1 the    
statesman1 and even the magician to     
preserve their primacy2 and around them 

the manifold variety of the other       
castes1 in all their divisions and      
subdivisions1 groups itself to make up  
the multi-coloured web of ,indian life4 
,in course of time this priesthood will 
spread out octopus-like tentacles over  
the whole of ,india4 ,becoming all      
things to all men1 it will find a place 
in its pantheon for all gods and all    
ideas1 baptising them by orthodox names 
or justifying them by ingenious         
fictions4 ,it will send forth apostles  
and colonies even to the furthermost    
regions of the distant ,south1 which1   
alien in blood and in tradition1 will   
nevertheless accept them and surrender  
its best intellect to their control4 ,it
 will even admit into the lower ranks of
 its own body men of foreign birth by   
means of legal fictions1 in order to    
maintain its control of religion4       
,though itself splitting up into scores 
of divisions varying in purity of blood 
and tradition1 it will still as a whole 
maintain its position as against all    

other classes of society4 ,that the     
,brahman is the ,deity on earth1 and    
other classes shall accept this dogma   
and agree to take their rank in         
accordance with it1 will become the     
principle holding together a vast       
agglomeration of utterly diverse        
elements within the elastic bounds of   
,catholic ,brahmanism4  ,but as yet this
 condition of things has not arrived4   
,the ,brahmans are still comparatively  
pure in blood and homogeneous in        
doctrine1 and they have as yet sent     
forth no colonies south of the ,vindhya4
 ,they are established in the lands of  
the ,ganges and ,jamna as far to the    
east as ,benares1 and they look with    
some contempt on their kinsmen in the   
western country that they have left     
behind4 ,they are busily employed in    
working out to logical conclusions the  
ideas and principles of their ,rigvedic 
forefathers4 ,they have now three       
,vedas2 for to the old ,rig-veda they   
have added a ,yajur-veda for the use of 

the sacrificant orders of priests and a 
,sama-veda or hymnal containing         
,rigvedic hymns arranged for the        
chanting of choristers4 ,the result of  
these labours is that they have created 
a vast and intricate system of          
sacrificial ritual1 perhaps the most    
colossal of its kind that the world has 
ever seen or ever will see4 ,what is    
still more remarkable1 the logical      
result of this immense development of   
ritualism is that the priesthood in     
theory is practically atheistic1 while  
on the other hand a certain number of   
its members have arrived at a philosophy
 of complete idealism which is beginning
 to turn its back upon ritualism4  ,the 
atheist is not so much the man who      
denies the existence of any god as the  
man to whom ,god is not ,god1 who looks 
upon the ,deity as subordinate to powers
 void of holiness and nobility1 the man 
who will not see in ,god the highest    
force in the world of nature and in the 
realm of the spirit4 ,in this sense the 

,brahmans are thorough atheists4        
,according to them1 the universe with   
all that is in it--gods1 men1 and lower 
things--is created and governed by an   
iron law of soulless natural necessity4 
,it has arisen by emanation from a      
cosmic ,principle1 ,prajapati1 the ,lord
 of ,creatures1 an impersonal being who 
shows no trace of moral purpose in his  
activity4 ,prajapati himself is not     
absolutely the first in the course of   
nature4 ,the ,brahmanas1 the priestly   
books composed in this period to expound
 the rules and mystic significance of   
the ,brahmanic ceremonies1 give us      
varying accounts of his origin1 some of 
them saying that he arose through one or
 more intermediate stages from          
non-existence 7,,tb4 ,,ii4 ii4 #i1      
#a-aj1 ,,sb4 ,,vi4 i4 #a1 #a-e71 others 
deriving him indirectly from the        
primitive waters 7,,sb4 ,,xi4 i4 #f1    
#a71 others tracing his origin back to  
the still more impersonal and abstract  
,brahma 7,samav4 ,b4 ,i4 #a-c1 ,gop4 ,b4

 ,i4 i4 #d74 ,all these are attempts to 
express in the form of myth the idea of 
an impersonal ,principle of ,creation as
 arising from a still more abstract     
first principle4 ,we have seen the poets
 of the ,rig-veda gradually moving      
towards the idea of a unity of godhead2 
in ,prajapati this goal is attained1 but
 unfortunately it is attained by        
sacrificing almost all that is truly    
divine in godhead4 ,the conception of   
,prajapati that we find in the          
,brahmanas is also expressed in some of 
the latest hymns of the ,rig-veda4      
,among these is the famous              
,purusha-sukta 7,,rv4 ,x4 #ij71 which   
throws a peculiar light on the character
 of ,prajapati4 ,it is in praise of a   
primitive ,purusha or ,man1 who is1 of  
course1 the same as ,prajapati2 in some 
mysterious manner this ,purusha is      
sacrificed1 and from the various parts  
of his body arise the various parts of  
the world4 ,the idea conveyed by this is
 that the universe came into existence  

by the operation of the mystic laws     
revealed in the ,brahmanic rituals1 and 
is maintained in its natural order by   
the same means4 ,the ,brahmanas do not  
indeed often assert on their own        
authority that ,prajapati was himself   
sacrificed in order to produce the      
world1 and in fact they usually give    
other accounts of the creation2 but as  
their authors live in a rarefied        
atmosphere of mystical allegory in which
 fact and fancy are completely confused 
with one another and consistency ceases 
to have any meaning1 none of them would 
have difficulty in accepting the        
,rigvedic statement that he was         
sacrificed4 ,hence they tell us on the  
one hand that ,prajapati has created the
 world from a blind will for generation 
or increase1 producing from each of his 
limbs some class of beings corresponding
 to it 7e4g4 ,,ms4 ,,iv4 vi4 #c71 or    
copulating with the earth1 atmosphere1  
sky1 and speech 7,,sb4 ,,vi4 i4 #b1 #a71
 or that he brought it into existence   

indirectly by entering with the ,triple 
,science or mystic lore of the three    
,vedas into the primeval waters and     
thence forming an egg from which was    
hatched the personal ,demiurge ,brahma1 
who actually created the world 7,,sb4   
,,vi4 i4 #a1 #aj72 and on the other hand
 they relate that he created sacrifice  
and performed it1 making of himself a   
victim in order that the gods1 his      
offspring1 might perform the rites for  
their own benefit1 forming an image of  
himself to be the sacrifice1 by which he
 redeemed himself from the gods 7,,sb4  
,,xi4 i4 #h1 #b-d2 cf4 ,,ab4 ,,vii4 #ai1
 ,,kb4 ,,xiii4 #a1 ,,sb4 ,,iii4 ii4 #a1 
#aa71 and that after creation he        
ascended to heaven 7,,sb4 ,x4 ii4 #b1   
#a74 ,the thought that lies underneath  
these bewildering flights of fancy is   
one of mystic pantheism3 all created    
existence has arisen by emanation from  
the one ,creative ,principle1           
,prajapati1 and in essence is one with  
,prajapati2 ,prajapati is an impersonal 

being1 a creative force1 in which are   
embodied the laws of ,brahmanic ritual1 
which acts only in these laws1 and which
 is above the moral influences that     
affect humanity2 and the whole of       
created nature1 animate and inanimate1  
is controlled in every process of its   
being by these laws1 and by the priest  
who possesses the knowledge of them4    
,thus there lies a profound significance
 in the title of gods on earth which the
 ,brahmans have assumed4  ,when we speak
 of sacrifice in ,india1 we must clear  
our minds of the ideas which we have    
formed from reading the ,bible4 ,the    
,mosaic conception of sacrifice was that
 of a religious ceremony denoting a     
moral relation between a personal ,god  
and ,his worshippers3 in the            
sin-offerings and trespass-offerings was
 symbolised a reconciliation between man
 and his ,god who was angered by man's  
conscious or unconscious breach of the  
laws which had been imposed upon him for
 his spiritual welfare1 while           

meat-offerings and peace-offerings      
typified the worshipper's sense of      
gratitude for the ,divine love and      
wisdom that guarded him4 ,of such       
relations there is to be found in the   
,brahmanas no trace4 ,if we may use a   
modern figure of speech1 they conceive  
the universe of gods1 men1 and lower    
creatures as a single immense electric  
battery1 and the sacrifice as a process 
of charging this battery with ever fresh
 electricity4 ,the sacrifice is a       
process1 at once material and mystic1   
which preserves the order of nature as  
established by the prototypic sacrifice 
performed by ,prajapati4 ,the gods      
became divine and immortal through      
sacrifice 7,,ts4 ,,vi4 iii4 #d1 #g1     
,,vi4 iii4 #aj1 #b1 ,,vii4 iv4 #b1 #a1  
,,sb4 ,i4 vi4 #b1 #a1 ,,ms4 ,,iii4 ix4  
#d1 ,,ab4 ,,vi4 i4 #a1 etc472 and they  
live on the gifts of earth1 as mankind  
lives on the gifts of heaven 7,,ts4     
,,iii4 ii4 #i1 #g1 ,,sb4 ,i4 ii4 #e1    
#bd74 ,the sacrifice is thus the        

life-principle1 the soul1 of all gods   
and all beings 7,,sb4 ,,viii4 vi4 #a1   
#aj1 ,,ix4 iii4 #b1 #g1 ,,xiv4 iii4 #b1 
#a72 or1 what amounts to the same thing1
 the ,triple ,science or the knowledge  
of the ceremonies of the ,three ,vedas  
is their essence 7,,sb4 ,x4 iv4 #b1     
#ba74 ,as ,prajapati created the        
primeval sacrifice1 and as the gods by  
following this rule obtained their      
divinity1 so man should seek to follow  
their example and by means of sacrifice 
rise to godhead and immortality4 ,as one
 ,brahmana puts it1 the sacrifice leads 
the way to heaven2 it is followed by the
 dakshina1 or fee paid by the sacrificer
 to the sacrificant priests1 which of   
course materially strengthens the       
efficacy of the sacrifice2 and third    
comes the sacrificer1 holding fast to   
the dakshina4 ,this ascent of heaven is 
symbolised in the ceremony called       
durohana1 or hard mounting 7,,ab4 ,,iv4 
#bj1 #ba1 ,,kb4 ,,xxv4 #g71 and it is   
ensured by the rite of diksha1 or       

consecration1 in which the sacrificer is
 symbolically represented as passing    
through a new conception1 gestation1 and
 birth1 by which he is supposed to      
obtain two bodies4 ,one of these bodies 
is immortal and spiritual2 the other is 
mortal and material1 and is assigned as 
a victim to all the gods4 ,he then      
ransoms his material body from the      
obligation of being sacrificed1 as did  
,prajapati1 and thus ranks literally as 
a god on earth1 with the certainty of   
becoming in due course a god in heaven4 
,when the student on reading the        
,brahmanas finds them full of           
interminable ceremonial rules with      
equally interminable commentaries       
interpreting them by wildest analogies  
as symbolical of details of myths or of 
laws of nature and hence as conferring  
mystic powers1 besides all kinds of     
myths1 some forcibly dragged into the   
interpretation of the ritual because of 
some imaginary point of resemblance1    
others invented or recast on purpose to 

justify some detail of ceremony1 and    
when moreover he observes that many of  
these myths and some of the rites are   
brutally and filthily obscene1 and that 
hardly any of them show the least moral 
feeling1 he may be excused for thinking 
the ,brahmanas to be the work of madmen4
 ,but there is some method in their     
madness4 ,however strangely they may    
express them1 they have definite and    
strictly logical ideas about the        
sacrificial ritual and its cosmic       
function4 ,it is more difficult to      
defend them against the charge of want  
of morality4 ,it must be admitted that  
their supreme ,being1 ,prajapati1 is in 
the main lines of his character utterly 
impersonal1 and where incidentally he   
shows any human feelings they are as a  
rule far from creditable to him4 ,he    
created the universe from mechanical    
instinct or blind desire1 and committed 
or tried to commit incest with his      
daughter 7the accounts are various74 ,he
 has begotten both the gods and the     

demons1 devas and asuras1 who are       
constantly at war with one another4 ,the
 gods1 who are embodiments of truth     
7that is to say1 correct knowledge of   
the law of ritual71 have been often in  
great danger of being overwhelmed by the
 demons1 who embody untruth1 and they   
have been saved by ,prajapati2 but he   
has done this not from any sense of     
right1 but merely from blind will or    
favour1 for he can hardly distinguish   
one party from the other4 ,the gods     
themselves1 in spite of being of truth1 
are sadly frail4 ,dozens of myths charge
 them with falsehood1 hatred1 lust1     
greed1 and jealousy1 and only the stress
 of the danger threatening them from    
their adversaries the demons has induced
 them to organise themselves into an    
ordered kingdom under the sovereignty of
 ,indra1 who has been anointed by       
,prajapati4 ,true1 many of the offensive
 features in this mythology and ritual  
are survivals from a very ancient past1 
a pre-historic time in which morals were

 conspicuously absent from religion2 the
 priesthood has forgotten very little1  
and as a rule has only added new rituals
 and new interpretations to this legacy 
from the days of old4 ,nevertheless it  
must be confessed that there is a tone  
of ritualistic professionalism in the   
,brahmanas that is unpleasing2 the      
priesthood are consciously superior to  
nature1 ,god1 and morals by virtue of   
their ,triple ,science1 and they        
constantly emphasise this claim4 ,it is 
difficult for us to realise that these  
are the same men who have created the   
,brahmanic culture of ,india1 which1    
however we may criticise it from the    
,western point of view1 is essentially a
 gentle life1 a field in which moral    
feeling and intellectual effort have    
born abundance of goodly fruit4 ,yet if 
we look more closely we shall see that  
even these ritualists1 besotted as they 
may seem to be with their orgies of     
priestcraft1 are not wholly untouched by
 the better spirit of their race4       

,extremes of sanctity1 whether it be    
ritualistic or anti-ritualistic         
sanctity1 always tend in ,india--and in 
other countries as well--to produce     
supermen4 ,and if our priesthood in the 
,brahmanas feel themselves in the pride 
of spiritual power lifted above the     
rules of moral law1 they are not in     
practice indifferent to it4 ,their lives
 are for the most part gentle and good4 
,though truth in the ,brahmanas usually 
means only accordance with the ritual   
and mystic teachings of the ,triple     
,science1 it sometimes signifies even   
there veracity and honesty also4        
,truthfulness in speech is the hall-mark
 of the ,brahman1 says ,haridrumata     
,gautama to ,satyakama ,jabala 7,chhand4
 ,up4 ,,iv4 iv4 #e72 and even in the    
,brahmanas a lie is sometimes a sin4 ,if
 conservatism compels the priests to    
keep obscene old practices in their     
rituals1 they are not always satisfied  
with them1 and voices begin to be heard 
pleading that these rites are really    

obsolete4 ,in short1 a moral sense is   
beginning to arise among them4  ,now the
 moral law1 in order that it may be     
feared1 needs to be embodied in the     
personality of a god4 ,most of their    
gods inspire no fear at all in the souls
 of the ,brahmans2 but there is one of  
whom they have a dread1 which is all the
 greater for being illogical4 ,prajapati
 is a vast impersonality1 too remote and
 abstract to inspire the soul with      
either fear or love4 ,the other         
gods--,indra1 ,agni1 ,soma1 ,varuna1    
,vishnu1 and the rest--are his          
offspring1 and are moved like puppets by
 the machinery of the ritual of         
sacrifice created by him4 ,however much 
they may seem to differ one from another
 in their attributes and personalities1 
they are in essence one and negligible  
in the eyes of the master of the ritual 
lore4 ,in the beginning1 say the        
,brahmanas1 all the gods 7except        
,prajapati1 of course7 were alike1 and  
all were mortal2 then they performed    

sacrifices and thereby became immortal1 
each with his peculiar attributes of    
divinity4#ah ,thus at bottom they are   
all the same thing1 merely phases of the
 universal godhead1 waves stirred up by 
the current of the cosmic sacrifice4    
,they have no terrors for the           
priesthood4 ,but there is one deity who 
obstinately refuses to accommodate      
himself to this convenient point of     
view1 and that is ,rudra1 or ,siva4 ,by 
rights and logically he ought to fall   
into rank with the rest of the gods2 but
 there is a crossgrained element in his 
nature which keeps him out4 ,as we have 
seen1 he comes from a different source3 
in origin he was a demon1 a power of    
terror1 whose realm of worship lay apart
 from that of the gods of higher class1 
and now1 although it has extended into  
the domains of orthodox religion1 an    
atmosphere of dread still broods over   
it4#ai ,rudra wields all his ancient    
terrors over a much widened area4 ,the  
priests have assigned him a regular     

place in their liturgies1 and fully     
recognise him in his several phases as  
,bhava1 ,sarva1 ,ugra1 ,maha-deva or the
 ,great ,god1 ,rudra1 ,isana or the     
,lord1 and ,asani or the ,thunderbolt   
7,,kb4 ,,vi4 #b-i74 ,armed with his     
terrors1 he is fit to be employed in the
 service of conscience4 ,hence a myth   
has arisen that in order to punish      
,prajapati for his incest with his      
daughter the gods created ,bhuta-pati   
7who is ,pasu-pati or ,rudra under a new
 name71 who stabbed him4 ,the rest of   
the myth is as immaterial to our purpose
 as it is unsavoury2 what is important  
is that the conscience of the ,brahmans 
was beginning to feel slight qualms at  
the uncleanness of some of their old    
myths and to look towards ,rudra as in  
some degree an avenger of sin4 ,in this 
is implied an immense moral advance4    
,henceforth there will be a gradual     
ennoblement of one of the phases of the 
god's character4 ,many of the best minds
 among the ,brahmans will find their    

imaginations stirred and their          
consciences moved by contemplation of   
him4 ,to them he will be no more a mere 
demon of the mountain and the wild4 ,his
 destructive wrath they will interpret  
as symbolising the everlasting process  
of death-in-life which is the keynote of
 nature2 in his wild dances they will   
see imaged forth the everlasting throb  
of cosmic existence2 to his terrors they
 will find a reverse of infinite love   
and grace4 ,the horrors of ,rudra the   
deadly are the mantle of ,siva the      
gracious4 ,thus1 while the god's        
character in its lower phases remains   
the same as before1 claiming the worship
 of the basest classes of mankind1 and  
nowise rising to a higher level1 it     
develops powerfully and fruitfully in   
one aspect which attracts grave and     
earnest imaginations4 ,the ,muni1 the   
contemplative ascetic1 penetrates in    
meditation through the terrors of       
,siva's outward form to the god's inward
 love and wisdom1 and beholds in him his

 own divine prototype4 ,and so ,siva    
comes to be figured in this nobler      
aspect as the divine ,muni1 the supreme 
saint and sage4  ,footnote #ah3 ,for the
 original mortality of the gods see     
,,ts4 ,,vii4 iv4 #b1 #a1 ,,sb4 ,x4 iv4  
#cc f41 ,,xi4 i4 #b1 #ab1 ii4 #c1 #f2   
for their primitive non-differentiation1
 ,,ts4 ,,vi4 vi4 #h1 #b1 ,,sb4 ,,iv4 v4 
#d1 #a-d4  ,footnote #ai3 ,cf4 e4g4     
,,kb4 ,,iii4 #d  #f1 ,,vi4 #b-i1 and    
,ap4 ,,ss4 ,,vi4 xiv4 #aa-ac4  ,while   
the worship of ,siva is slowly making   
its way into the heart of ,brahmanic    
ritualism1 another movement is at work  
which is gradually drawing many of the  
keenest intellects among the ,brahmans  
away from the study of ritual towards an
 idealistic philosophy which views all  
ritual with indifference4 ,its          
literature is the ,upanishads4  ,the    
passing of the ,rigvedic age has left to
 the ,brahmans a doctrinal legacy1 which
 may be thus restated3 a single divine  
principle through a prototypic sacrifice

 has given birth to the universe1 and   
all the processes of cosmic nature are  
controlled by sacrifices founded upon   
that primeval sacrifice4 ,in short1 the 
ritual symbolises and in a sense        
actually is the whole cosmic process4   
,the ritual implies both the knowledge  
of the law of sacrifice and the proper  
practice of that law1 both understanding
 and works4 ,this is the standpoint of  
the orthodox ritualist4 ,but there has  
also arisen a new school among the      
,brahmans1 that of the ,aupanishadas1   
which has laid down for its first       
doctrine that works are for the sake of 
understanding1 that the practice of     
ritual is of value only as a help to the
 mystic knowledge of the ,all4 ,but here
 they have not halted2 they have gone a 
further step1 and declared that         
knowledge once attained1 works become   
needless4 ,some even venture to hint    
that perhaps the highest knowledge is   
not to be reached through works at all4 
,and the knowledge that the             

,aupanishadas seek is of ,brahma1 and is
 ,brahma4  ,the word brahma is a neuter 
noun1 and in the ,rig-veda it means     
something that can only be fully        
translated by a long circumlocution4 ,it
 may be rendered as the power of ritual 
devotion2 that is to say1 it denotes the
 mystic or magic force which is put     
forth by the poet-priest of the         
,rig-veda when he performs the rites of 
sacrifice with appropriate chanting of  
hymns--in short1 ritual magic4 ,this    
mystic force the ,rigvedic poets have   
represented in personal form as the god 
,brihaspati1 in much the same way as    
they embodied the spirit of the         
sacrifice in ,vishnu4 ,their successors1
 the orthodox ritualists of the         
,brahmanas1 have not made much use of   
this term2 but sometimes they speak of  
,brahma as an abstract first principle1 
the highest and ultimate source of all  
being1 even of ,prajapati 7,samav4 ,b4  
,i4 #a1 ,gop4 ,b4 ,i4 i4 #d72 and when  
they speak of ,brahma they think of him 

not as a power connected with religious 
ceremony but as a supremely transcendent
 and absolutely unqualified and         
impersonal ,first ,existence4 ,but the  
school of the ,aupanishadas has gone    
further4 ,seeking through works mystic  
knowledge as the highest reality1 they  
see in ,brahma the perfect knowledge4   
,to them the absolute ,first ,existence 
is also transcendently full and         
unqualified ,thought4 ,as knowledge is  
power1 the perfect ,power is perfect    
,knowledge4  ,brahma then is absolute   
knowledge2 and all that exists is really
 ,brahma1 one and indivisible in        
essence1 but presenting itself          
illusively to the finite consciousness  
as a world of plurality1 of most        
manifold subjects and objects of        
thought4 ,the highest wisdom1 the       
greatest of all secrets1 is to know this
 truth1 to realise with full            
consciousness that there exists only the
 ,one1 ,brahma1 the infinite ,idea2 and 
the sage of the ,upanishads is he who   

has attained this knowledge1            
understanding that he himself1 as       
individual subject of thought1 is really
 identical with the universal ,brahma4  
,he has realised that he is one with the
 ,infinite ,thought1 he has raised      
himself to the mystic heights of        
transcendental ,being and ,knowledge1   
immeasurably far above nature and the   
gods4 ,he knows all things at their     
fountain-head1 and life can nevermore   
bring harm to him2 in his knowledge he  
has salvation1 and death will lead him  
to complete union with ,brahma4  ,the   
,aupanishadas have thus advanced from   
the pantheism of the orthodox ritualists
 to a transcendental idealism4 ,the     
process has been gradual4 ,it was only  
by degrees that they reached the idea of
 salvation in knowledge1 the knowledge  
that is union with ,brahma2 and it was  
likewise only through slow stages that  
they were able to conceive of ,brahma in
 itself4 ,many passages in the          
,upanishads are full of struggles to    

represent ,brahma by symbols or forms   
perceptible to the sense1 such as ether1
 breath1 the sun1 etc4 ,priests         
endeavoured to advance through ritual   
works to the ideas which these works are
 supposed to symbolise3 the ritual is   
the training-ground for the higher      
knowledge1 the leading-strings for      
infant philosophy4 ,gradually men become
 capable of thinking without the help of
 these symbols3 philosophy grows to     
manhood1 and looks with a certain       
contempt upon those supports of its     
infancy4  ,the nature of ,brahma as     
conceived in the ,upanishads is a       
subject on which endless controversies  
have raged1 and we need not add to them4
 ,besides1 the ,upanishads themselves   
are not strictly consistent on this     
point1 or on others1 for that matter2   
for they are not a single homogeneous   
system of philosophy1 but a number of   
speculations1 from often varying        
standpoints1 and they are frequently    
inconsistent4 ,but there are some ideas 

which are more or less present in all of
 them4 ,they regard ,brahma as absolute 
and infinite ,thought and ,being at     
once1 and as such it is one with the    
consciousness1 soul or self1 of the     
individual when the latter rids himself 
of the illusion of a manifold universe  
and realises his unity with ,brahma4    
,moreover1 ,brahma is bliss--the joy of 
wholly perfect and self-satisfied       
thought and being4 ,since ,brahma as    
universal ,soul is really identical with
 each individual soul or atma1 and vice 
versa1 it follows that each individual  
soul contains within itself1 qua        
,brahma1 the whole of existence1 nature1
 gods1 mankind1 and all other beings2 it
 creates them all1 and all depend upon  
it4 ,our ,aupanishadas are thoroughgoing
 idealists4  ,another new idea also     
appears for the first time in the early 
,upanishads1 and one that henceforth    
will wield enormous influence in all    
,indian thought4 ,this is the theory of 
karma and samsara1 rebirth of the soul  

in accordance with the nature of its    
previous works4 ,before the ,upanishads 
we find no evidence of this doctrine3   
the nearest approach to it is in some   
passages of the ,brahmanas which speak  
of sinful men dying again in the next   
world as a punishment for their guilt4  
,but in the ,upanishads the doctrine    
appears full-fledged1 and it is fraught 
with consequences of immense importance4
 ,samsara means literally a wandering to
 and fro1 that is1 the cycle of births  
through which each soul must            
everlastingly pass from infinite time1  
and ,karma means the acts of each soul4 
,each work or act performed by a living 
being is of a certain degree of         
righteousness or unrighteousness1 and it
 is requited by a future experience of  
corresponding pleasure or pain4 ,so     
every birth and ultimately every        
experience of a soul is determined by   
the righteousness of its previous acts2 
and there is no release for the soul    
from this endless chain of causes and   

effects unless it can find some         
supernatural way of deliverance4 ,the   
,aupanishadas point to what they believe
 to be the only way3 it is the          
,brahma-knowledge of the enlightened    
sage1 which releases his soul from the  
chain of natural causation and raises   
him to everlasting union with ,brahma4  
,the teaching of the ,upanishads has had
 two very different practical results4  
,on the one hand1 it has moved many     
earnest thinkers to cast off the ties of
 the world and to wander about as       
homeless beggars1 living on alms and    
meditating and discoursing upon the     
teachings of the ,upanishads1 while they
 await the coming of death to release   
their souls from the prison of the flesh
 and bring it to complete and eternal   
union with ,brahma4 ,these wandering    
ascetics--sannyasis1 bhikshus1 or       
parivrajakas they are called--form a    
class by themselves1 which is destined  
to have an immense influence in moulding
 the future thought of ,india4 ,the     

teaching of ,brahmanism is beginning to 
recognise them1 too4 ,it has already    
divided the life of the orthodox man    
into three stages1 or asramas1          
studentship1 the condition of the       
married householder1 and thirdly the    
life of the hermit1 or vanaprastha1 to  
which the householder should retire     
after he has left a son to maintain his 
household2 and now it is beginning to   
add to these as fourth stage the life of
 the homeless ascetic awaiting death and
 release4 ,but this arrangement is for  
the most part a fiction1 devised in     
order to keep the beggar-philosophers   
within the scheme of ,brahmanic life2 in
 reality they themselves recognise no   
such law4  ,the other current among the 
,aupanishadas is flowing in a very      
different direction4 ,we have seen how  
the worship of ,rudra-,siva has grown   
since the old ,rigvedic days1 and how   
some souls have been able to see amidst 
the terrors of the god a power of love  
and wisdom that satisfies their deepest 

hopes and longings1 as none of the      
orthodox rituals can do4 ,a new feeling1
 the spirit of religious devotion1      
bhakti as it is called1 is arising among
 them4 ,to them--and they number many   
,brahmans as well as men of other       
orders--,siva has thus become the       
highest object of worship1 ,isvara or   
the ,lord2 and having thus enthroned him
 as supreme in their hearts1 they are   
endeavouring to find for him a          
corresponding place in their intellects4
 ,to this end they claim that ,siva as  
,isvara is the highest of all forms of  
existence2 and this doctrine is growing 
and finding much favour4 ,among the     
,aupanishadas there are many who        
reconcile it with the teaching of the   
,upanishads by identifying ,siva with   
,brahma4 ,thus a new light begins to    
flicker here and there in the           
,upanishads as the conception of ,siva1 
a personal god wielding free grace1     
colours the pale whiteness of the       
impersonal ,brahma2 and at last in the  

,svetasvatara1 which though rather late 
in date is not the least important of   
the ,upanishads1 this theistic movement 
boldly proclaims itself3 the supreme    
,brahma1 identified with ,siva1 is      
definitely contrasted with the          
individual soul as divine to human1     
giver of grace to receiver of grace4    
,later ,upanishads will take up this    
strain1 in honour of ,siva and other    
gods1 and finally they will end as mere 
tracts of this or that theistic church4 
,yet another current is now beginning to
 stir men's minds1 and it is one that is
 also destined to a great future4 ,it   
starts from ,krishna4  ,the teaching of 
the ,upanishads1 that all being is the  
,one ,brahma and that ,brahma is the    
same as the individual soul1 has busied 
many men1 not only ,brahmans but also   
,kshatriyas1 noblemen of the warrior    
order4 ,some even say that it arose     
among the ,kshatriyas2 and at any rate  
it is likely that they1 being less      
obsessed with the forms of ritual than  

the ,brahmans and therefore able to     
think more directly and clearly1 have   
helped the ,brahmans in their           
discussions to clear their minds of     
ritual symbolism1 and to realise more   
definitely the philosophic ideas which  
hitherto they had seen only dimly       
typified in their ceremonies4  ,krishna 
was one of these ,kshatriyas4 ,he       
belonged to the ,satvata or ,vrishni    
tribe1 living in or near the ancient    
city of ,mathura4 ,sometimes in early   
writings he is styled ,krishna          
,devakiputra1 ,krishna ,devaki's son1   
because his mother's name was ,devaki2  
sometimes again he is called ,krishna   
,vasudeva1 or simply ,vasudeva1 which is
 a patronymic said to be derived from   
the name of his father ,vasudeva4 ,in   
later times we shall find a whole cycle 
of legend gathering round him1 in which 
doubtless there is a kernel of fact4    
,omitting the miraculous elements in    
these tales1 we may say that the outline
 of the ,krishna-legend is as follows3  

,krishna's father ,vasudeva and his     
mother ,devaki were grievously wronged  
by ,devaki's cousin ,kamsa1 who usurped 
the royal power in ,mathura and         
endeavoured to slay ,krishna in his     
infancy2 but the child escaped1 and on  
growing to manhood killed ,kamsa4 ,but  
,kamsa had made alliance with           
,jarasandha king of ,magadha1 who now   
threatened ,krishna2 so ,krishna        
prudently retired from ,mathura and led 
a colony of his tribesmen to ,dvaraka1  
on the western coast in ,kathiawar1     
where he founded a new ,state4 ,there   
seems to be no valid reason for doubting
 these statements4 ,sober history does  
not reject a tale because it is         
embroidered with myth and fiction4  ,now
 this man ,krishna in the midst of his  
stirring life of war and government     
found time and taste also for the things
 that are of the spirit4 ,he talked with
 men learned in the ,upanishads about   
,brahma and the soul and the worship of 
,god2 and apparently he set up a little 

,established ,church of his own1 in     
which was combined something of the     
idealism of the ,upanishads with the    
worship of a supreme ,god of grace and  
perhaps too a kind of religious         
discipline1 about which we shall say    
more later on4 ,it must be confessed    
that we know sadly little about his     
actual doctrine from first hand4 ,all   
that we hear about it is a short chapter
 in the ,chhandogya ,upanishad 7iii4    
#ag71 where the ,brahman ,ghora         
,angirasa gives a sermon to ,krishna1 in
 which he compares the phases of human  
life to stages in the diksha or ceremony
 of consecration1 and the moral virtues 
that should accompany them to the       
dakshina or honorarium paid to the      
officiating priests1 and he concludes by
 exhorting his hearer to realise that   
the ,brahma is imperishable1 unfailing1 
and spiritual1 and quoting two verses   
from the ,rig-veda speaking of the ,sun 
as typifying the supreme bliss to which 
the enlightened soul arises4 ,this does 

not tell us very much1 and moreover we  
should remember that here our author1   
being an ,aupanishada1 is more          
interested in what ,ghora preached to   
,krishna than in what ,krishna accepted 
from ,ghora's teaching4 ,but we shall   
find centuries later in the             
,bhagavad-gita1 the greatest textbook of
 the religion of ,krishna1 some distant 
echoes of this paragraph of the         
,chhandogya4  ,the beginnings of the    
religion of ,krishna are thus very      
uncertain4 ,but as we travel down the   
ages we find it growing and spreading4  
,we see ,krishna himself regarded as a  
half-divine hero and teacher1 and       
worshipped under the name of ,bhagavan1 
the ,lord1 in association with other    
half-divine heroes4 ,we see him becoming
 identified with old gods1 and finally  
rising to the rank of the ,supreme      
,deity whose worship he had himself     
taught in his lifetime1 the ,brahma of  
the philosophers and the ,most ,high    
,god of the theists4 ,as has happened   

many a time1 the teacher has become the 
,god of his ,church4     ,,chapter ,,iii
  ,,the ,,epics1 ,,and ,,later  ,i4     
,,vishnu-,,krishna   ,we now enter upon 
an age in which the old gods1 ,indra and
 ,brahma1 retire to the background1     
while ,vishnu and ,siva stand in the    
forefront of the stage4  ,the ,hindus   
are of the same opinion as the ,latin   
poet3 ferrea nunc aetas agitur4 ,we are 
now living in an ,iron ,age1 according  
to them2 and it began in the year #cajb 
,b4,c41 shortly after the great war     
described in the ,mahabharata4 ,the date
 #cajb1 ,i need hardly remark1 is of no 
historical value1 being based merely    
upon the theories of comparatively late 
astronomers2 but the statement as a     
whole is important4 ,the ,great ,war    
marks an epoch4 ,it came at the end of  
what may be called the pre-historic     
period1 and was followed by a new age4  
,to be strictly correct1 we must say    
that the age which followed the ,great  
,war was not new in the sense that it   

introduced any startling novelties that 
had been unknown previously2 but it was 
new in the sense that after the ,great  
,war ,india speedily became the ,india  
that we know from historical records4 ,a
 certain fusion of different races1     
cultures1 and ideals had to take place  
in order that the peculiar civilisation 
of ,india might unfold itself2 and this 
fusion was accomplished about the time  
of the ,great ,war1 and partly no doubt 
by means of the ,great ,war1 some ten   
centuries before the ,christian era4    
,the story of the ,great ,war is told   
with a wild profusion of mythical and   
legendary colouring in the ,mahabharata1
 an epic the name of which means        
literally ,the ,great ,tale of the      
,bharata ,clan4 ,it relates how the     
blind old ,king ,dhritarashtra of       
,hastinapura had a hundred sons1 known  
as the ,kuru or ,kaurava princes1 the   
eldest of whom was ,duryodhana1 and     
,dhritarashtra's brother ,pandu had five
 sons1 the ,pandava brethren2 how the   

,pandavas were ousted by the ,kauravas  
from the kingdom1 the eldest ,pandava   
prince ,yudhishthira having been induced
 to stake the fortunes of himself and   
his brethren on a game of dice1 in which
 he was defeated2 how the five          
,pandavas1 with their common wife       
,draupadi 7observe this curious and ugly
 feature of polyandry1 which is quite   
opposed to standard ,hindu morals1 but  
is by no means unparalleled in early    
,indian literature#bj7 retired into     
exile for thirteen years1 and then came 
back with a great army of allies1 and   
after fierce and bloody battles with the
 ,kauravas and their supporters in the  
plain of ,kurukshetra at last gained the
 victory1 slew the ,kauravas1 and       
established ,yudhishthira as king in    
,hastinapura4 ,among the ,pandavas the  
leading part is played by the eldest1   
,yudhishthira1 and the third1 ,arjuna2  
of the others1 ,bhima1 the second1 is a 
,hercules notable only for his strength1
 courage1 and fidelity1 while the twins 

,nakula and ,sahadeva are colourless    
figures4 ,krishna plays an important    
part in the story2 for on the return of 
the ,pandavas to fight the ,kauravas he 
accompanies ,arjuna as his charioteer1  
and on the eve of the first battle      
delivers to him a discourse on his      
religion1 the ,bhagavad-gita1 or ,lord's
 ,song1 which has become one of the most
 famous and powerful of all the sacred  
books of ,india4  ,footnote #bj3 ,see   
,h4 ,raychaudhuri1 ,materials for the   
,study of the ,early ,history of the    
,vaishnava ,sect1 p4 #bg4  ,now if the  
,mahabharata were as homogeneous even as
 the ,iliad and ,odyssey1 which give us 
a fairly consistent and truthful picture
 of a single age1 we should be in a very
 happy position4 ,unfortunately this is 
not the case4 ,our epic began as a      
,bharata1 or ,tale of the ,bharata      
,clan1 probably of very moderate bulk1  
not later than #fjj ,b4,c41 and perhaps 
considerably earlier2 and from that time
 onward it went on growing bigger and   

bigger for over a thousand years1 as    
editors stuffed in new episodes and     
still longer discourses on nearly all   
the religious and philosophic doctrines 
admitted within the four walls of       
,hinduism1 until it grew to its present 
immense bulk1 which it claims to amount 
to #ajj1jjj verses4 ,thus it pictures   
the thought not of one century but of   
more than ten1 and we cannot feel sure  
of the date of any particular statement 
in it4 ,nevertheless we can distinguish 
in a general way between the old        
skeleton of the story1 in which the     
theme is treated in simple epic fashion1
 society is far freer than in later days
 and no one objects to eating beef1 from
 the additional matter1 in which the    
tale is recast in a far more grandiose  
vein and is padded out with enormous    
quantities of moral1 religious1 and     
philosophic sermons4 ,the religion too  
is different in the different parts4 ,in
 the older portions the gods who are    
most popular are ,indra1 ,agni1 and     

,brahma--not the neuter abstract        
,brahma1 but the masculine ,brahma1 the 
,demiurge1 who corresponds more or less 
to ,prajapati of the ,brahmanas and is  
represented in classical art as a       
four-headed old man reciting the        
,vedas--and ,krishna seems to figure    
only as a hero or at best as a demigod2 
but the later parts with fine           
impartiality claim the supremacy of     
heaven variously for ,siva1 ,brahma1 and
 ,vishnu2 and ,vishnu1 as we have seen1 
is sometimes identified with ,krishna1  
notably in the chapters known as the    
,bhagavad-gita4  ,the gods have changed 
somewhat since earlier days4 ,indra has 
settled down in the constitutional      
monarchy of ,paradise assigned to him by
 the ,brahmanas2 he now figures as the  
prototype of earthly kings1 leading the 
armies of the gods to war against the   
demons when occasion requires1 and      
passing the leisure of peace in the     
enjoyment of celestial dissipation4 ,his
 morals have not improved3 he is a      

debonair debauchee4 ,brahma the         
,creator1 a more popular version of     
,prajapati1 is still too impersonal to  
have much hold on the popular           
imagination2 the same is the case with  
,agni the ,fire-god4 ,plainly there was 
a vacancy for a supreme deity whose     
character was powerful enough to move   
men's souls1 either through awe or love2
 and for this vacancy there were two    
strong candidates1 ,vishnu and ,siva1   
who in course of time succeeded to the  
post and divided the supremacy between  
them4  ,vishnu has altered immensely    
since last we met him4 ,first1 after an 
extraordinary change in his own         
character1 he has been identified with  
,narayana1 and then both of them have   
been equated with ,krishna4 ,the        
development is so portentous that it    
calls for a little study4  ,we have seen
 that in the ,vedas ,vishnu appears to  
be1 and in the ,brahmanas certainly is1 
the embodied ,spirit of the ,sacrifice1 
and that ritual mysticism has invented  

for him a supreme home in the highest   
heaven4 ,but in the ,epics he has       
developed into a radiant and gracious   
figure of ideal divinity1 an almighty   
saviour with a long record of holy works
 for the salvation of mankind1 a god who
 delights in moral goodness as well as  
in ritual propriety1 and who from time  
to time incarnates himself in human or  
animal form so as to maintain the order 
of righteousness4 ,symbolism has further
 endowed him with a consort1 the goddess
 ,sri or ,lakshmi1 typifying fortune2   
sometimes also he is represented with   
another wife1 the ,earth-goddess4 ,the  
divine hawk or kite ,garuda1 who seems  
to have been originally the same as the 
eagle who in the ,rigvedic legend       
carried off the soma for ,indra1 has    
been pressed into his service2 he now   
rides on ,garuda1 and bears his figure  
upon his banner4 ,i have already        
suggested a possible explanation of this
 evolution 7above1 p4 #da73 owing to his
 close association with ,indra1 the most

 truly popular of ,rigvedic deities1 the
 laic imagination transfused some of the
 live blood of ,indra into the veins of 
the priestly abstraction ,vishnu4 ,to   
the plain man ,indra was very real2 and 
as he frequently heard tales of ,indra  
being aided in his exploits by ,vishnu1 
he came to regard ,vishnu as a very     
present helper in trouble4 ,the friend  
of ,indra became the friend of mankind4 
,the post of ,indra had already been    
fixed for him by the theologians2 but   
the functions of ,vishnu1 outside the   
rituals1 were still somewhat vaguely    
defined1 and were capable of            
considerable expansion4 ,here was a     
great opportunity for those souls who   
were seeking for a supreme god of grace1
 and were not satisfied to find him in  
,siva2 and they made full use of it1 and
 wholly transformed the personality of  
,vishnu4  ,one of the stages in this    
transformation was the absorption of    
,narayana in ,vishnu4 ,narayana was     
originally a god of a different kind4   

,the earliest reference to him is in a  
,brahmana which calls him ,purusha      
,narayana1 which means that it regards  
him as being the same as the ,universal 
,spirit which creates from itself the   
cosmos2 it relates that ,purusha        
,narayana pervaded the whole of nature  
7,,sb4 ,,xii4 iii4 #d1 #a71 and that he 
made himself omnipresent and supreme    
over all beings by performing a         
pancha-ratra sattra1 or series of       
sacrifices lasting over five days 7ib4  
,,xiii4 vi4 #a1 #a74 ,somewhat later we 
find prayers addressed to ,narayana1    
,vasudeva1 and ,vishnu as three phases  
of the same god 7,taitt4 ,aran4 ,x4 i4  
#f74 ,but was ,narayana in origin merely
 a variety of the ,vedic ,purusha or our
 old acquaintance ,prajapati8 ,his name 
must give us pause4 ,the most simple    
explanation of it is that it is a family
 name3 as ,karshnayana means a member of
 the ,krishna-family and ,ranayana a man
 belonging to the family of ,rana1 so   
,narayana would naturally denote a      

person of the family of ,nara4 ,but     
,nara itself signifies a man3 is the    
etymology therefore reduced to          
absurdity8 ,not at all3 ,nara is also   
used as a proper name1 as we shall      
see4#ba ,probably the name really means 
what naturally it would seem to mean1 a 
man of the ,nara family2 that ,narayana 
was originally a divine or deified      
saint1 a rishi1 as the ,hindus would    
call him2 and that somehow he became    
identified with ,vishnu and the         
,universal ,spirit4  ,footnote #ba3 ,it 
must be admitted that ancient writers   
give different etymologies of the name3 
thus1 a poet in the ,mahabharata 7,,iii4
 clxxxix4 #c7 derives it from narah1    
waters1 and ayanam1 going1 understanding
 it to mean one who has the waters for  
his resting-place2 ,manu 7,i4 #aj1 with 
,medhatithi's commentary71 accepting the
 same etymology1 interprets it as the   
dwelling-place of all the ,naras2 and in
 the ,mahabharata ,,xii4 cccxli4 #ci1 it
 is also explained as the dwelling-place

 of mankind4 ,but these interpretations 
are plainly artificial concoctions4     
,this theory really is not by any means 
as wild as at first sight it may seem to
 be4 ,divine saints are sometimes       
mentioned in the ,rig-veda and          
,brahmanas as being the creators of the 
universe#bb2 and they appear again and  
again in legend as equals of the gods1  
attaining divine powers by their mystic 
insight into the sacrificial lore4 ,but 
there is more direct evidence than this4
  ,footnote #bb3 ,,rv4 ,x4 cxxix4 #e1   
,,sb4 ,,vi4 i4 #a1 #a-e4 ,cf4           
,charpentier1 ,suparnasage1 p4 #chg4    
,in the ,mahabharata there are          
incorporated two documents of first-rate
 importance for the doctrines of the    
churches that worshipped ,vishnu4 ,one  
of these is the ,bhagavad-gita1 or      
,lord's ,song 7,,vi4 xxv4-xlii472 the   
other is the ,narayaniya1 or ,account of
 ,narayana 7,,xii4 cccxxxvi4-cccliii474 
,their teachings are not the same in    
details1 though on most main points they

 agree2 for they belong to different    
sections of the one religious body4     
,leaving aside the ,bhagavad-gita for   
the moment1 we note that the ,narayaniya
 relates a story that there were born   
four sons of ,dharma1 or ,righteousness1
 viz4 ,nara1 ,narayana1 ,hari or        
,vishnu1 and ,krishna4 ,in other places 
7,i4 ccxxx4 #ah1 ,,iii4 xii4 #de1 xlvii4
 #aj1 ,v4 xlviii4 #ae1 etc47 we are     
plainly told that ,nara is a previous   
incarnation of ,arjuna the ,pandava     
prince1 and ,narayana is1 of course1 the
 supreme ,deity1 who in the time of     
,arjuna was born on earth as ,krishna   
,vasudeva1 and that in his earlier birth
 ,nara and ,narayana were both ascetic  
saints4 ,this tradition is very         
important1 for it enables us to see     
something of the early character of     
,narayana4 ,he was an ancient saint of  
legend1 who was connected with a hero   
,nara1 just as ,krishna was associated  
with ,arjuna2 and the atmosphere of     
saintliness clings to him obstinately4  

,tradition alleges that he was the      
rishi1 or inspired seer1 who composed   
the ,purusha-sukta of the ,rig-veda 7,x4
 #ij71 and represents him by choice as  
lying in a yoga-nidra1 or mystic sleep1 
upon the body of the giant serpent      
,sesha in the midst of the ,ocean of    
,milk4 ,thus the worship of ,vishnu1    
like the worship of ,siva1 has owed much
 to the influence of live yogis         
idealised as divine saints2 though it   
must be admitted that the yogis of the  
,vaishnava orders have usually been more
 agreeable and less ambiguous than those
 of the ,saiva community4  ,we must     
briefly consider now the religious      
teachings of the ,bhagavad-gita and the 
,narayaniya1 and then turn to the       
inscriptions and contemporary literature
 to see whether we can find any         
sidelights in them4 ,we begin with the  
,bhagavad-gita1 or ,the ,lord's ,song4  
,the ,bhagavad-gita purports to be a    
dialogue between the ,pandava prince    
,arjuna and ,krishna1 who was serving   

him as his charioteer1 on the eve of the
 great battle4 ,in order to invent a    
leading motive for his teaching1 the    
poet represents ,arjuna as suddenly     
stricken with overwhelming remorse at   
the prospect of the fratricidal strife  
which he is about to begin4 ,i will not 
fight1 he cries in anguish4 ,then       
,krishna begins a long series of        
arguments to stimulate him for the      
coming battle4 ,he points out1 with     
quotations from the ,upanishads1 that   
killing men in battle does not destroy  
their souls2 for the soul is            
indestructible1 migrating from body to  
body according to its own deserts4 ,the 
duty of the man born in the             
,warrior-caste is to fight2 fighting is 
his caste-duty1 his dharma1 and as such 
it can entail upon him no guilt if it be
 performed in the right spirit4 ,but how
 is this to be done8 ,the answer is the 
leading motive of ,krishna's teaching4  
,for the maintenance of the world it is 
necessary that men should do the works  

of their respective castes1 and these   
works do not operate as karma to the    
detriment of the future life of their   
souls if they perform them not from     
selfish motives but as offerings made in
 perfect unselfishness to the ,lord4    
,this is the doctrine of ,karma-yoga1   
discipline of works1 which is declared  
to lead the soul of the worshipper to   
salvation in the ,lord as effectually as
 the ancient intellectualism preached in
 the ,upanishads and the ,samkhya       
philosophy4 ,but there is also a third  
way to salvation1 the way through loving
 devotion1 or bhakti1 which is as       
efficacious as either of the other two2 
the worshippers of ,siva had already    
preached this for their own church in   
the ,svetasvatara ,upanishad4 ,besides  
treating without much consistency or    
method of many incidental questions of  
religious theory and practice1 ,krishna 
reveals himself for a few instants to   
,arjuna in his form as ,viraj1 the      
universal being in which all beings are 

comprehended and consumed4 ,finally     
,arjuna is comforted1 and laying the    
burden of all his works upon ,krishna1  
he prepares in quiet faith for the      
coming day of battle4  ,there are four  
main points to notice in this teaching4 
7#a7 ,the ,supreme ,god1 superior to    
,brahma1 he who rules by grace and      
comprehends in his universal person the 
whole of existence1 is ,vishnu1 or      
,hari1 represented on earth for the time
 being by ,krishna ,vasudeva4 ,the      
author makes no attempt to reconcile the
 fatalism implied in the old theory of  
karma-samsara with his new doctrine of  
special and general grace3 he allows the
 two principles to stand side by side1  
and leaves for future generations of    
theologians the delicate task of        
harmonising them4 7#b7 ,three roads to  
salvation are recognised in principle1  
the intellectual gnosis of the old      
,upanishads and the ,samkhya1 the way of
 works or performance of necessary      
social duties in a spirit of perfect    

surrender to ,god1 and the way of       
devotion1 continuous loving worship and 
contemplation of ,god4 ,in practice the 
first method is ignored as being too    
severe for average men2 the second and  
third are recommended1 as being suitable
 for all classes4 7#c7 ,the way of      
salvation is thus thrown open directly  
to men and women of all castes and      
conditions4 ,the ,bhagavad-gita fully   
approves of the orthodox division of    
society into castes2 but by its doctrine
 that the performance of caste-duties in
 a spirit of sacrifice leads to         
salvation it makes caste an avenue to   
salvation1 not a barrier4 7#d7 ,the     
,bhagavad-gita has nothing to say for   
the animal-sacrifices of the ,brahmans4 
,it recognises only offerings of        
flowers1 fruits1 and the like4 ,the     
doctrine of ahimsa1 thou shalt do no    
hurt1 was making much headway at the    
time1 and the wholesale                 
animal-sacrifices of the ,brahmans      
roused general disgust1 of which the    

,buddhists and ,jains took advantage for
 the propagation of their teachings4  ,i
 have previously spoken of the solitary 
passage in the ,chhandogya ,upanishad in
 which ,krishna's name is mentioned1 as 
receiving the teachings of ,ghora       
,angirasa1 and it will now be fitting to
 see how far these teachings are        
reflected in the ,bhagavad-gita4 ,ghora 
compares the functions of life to the   
ceremonies of the diksha 7see above1    
p4#fh73 and this is at bottom the same  
idea as the doctrine of karma-yoga      
preached again and again in the         
,bhagavad-gita4 ,whatever be thy work1  
thine eating1 thy sacrifice1 thy gift1  
thy mortification1 make of it an        
offering to me1 says ,krishna 7,,ix4    
#bg72 all life should be regarded as a  
sacrifice freely offered4 ,then ,ghora  
continues3 ,in the hour of death one    
should take refuge in these three       
thoughts3 ',thou art the                
,indestructible1 ,thou art the          
,unfailing1 ,thou art instinct with     

,spirit4' ,on this there are these two  
verses of the ,rig-veda3      ,thus     
upward from the primal seed     ,from   
out the darkness all around     ,we1    
looking on the higher light1     ,yea1  
looking on the higher heaven1     ,have 
come to ,surya1 god midst gods1     ,to 
him that is the highest light1 the      
highest light4  ,in the ,bhagavad-gita  
7,,iv4 #a ff47 ,krishna announces that  
he preached his doctrine to ,vivasvan   
the ,sun-god1 who passed it on to his   
son the patriarch ,manu2 elsewhere in   
the ,mahabharata 7,,xii4 cccv4 #ai7 the 
,satvata teaching is said to have been  
announced by the ,sun4 ,ghora in his    
list of moral virtues enumerates        
mortification1 charity1 uprightness1    
harmlessness1 truthfulness2 exactly the 
same attributes1 with a few more1 are   
said in the ,bhagavad-gita to           
characterise the man who is born to the 
gods' estate 7,,xvi4 #a-c74 ,ghora's    
exhortation to think of the nature of   
the ,supreme in the hour of death is    

balanced by ,krishna's words3 ,he who at
 his last hour1 when he casts off the   
body1 goes hence remembering me1 goes   
assuredly into my being 7,,viii4 #e2 cf4
 #aj74 ,these parallels are indeed not  
very close2 but collectively they are   
significant1 and when we bear in mind   
that the author of the ,bhagavad-gita is
 eager to associate his doctrine with   
those of the ,upanishads1 and thus to   
make it a new and catholic ,upanishad   
for all classes1 we are led to conclude 
that its fundamental ideas1             
sanctification of works 7karma-yoga71   
worship of a ,supreme ,god of ,grace    
7bhakti7 by all classes1 and rejection  
of animal sacrifices 7ahimsa7 arose     
among the orthodox ,kshatriyas1 who     
found means to persuade their ,brahmanic
 preceptors to bring it into connection 
with their ,upanishads and embellish it 
with appropriate texts from those       
sources4 ,very likely ,krishna          
,vasudeva1 if not the first inventor of 
these doctrines1 was their most vigorous

 propagator4  ,now what are the         
teachings of the ,narayaniya8 ,it       
appears to contain two accounts4 ,in the
 first we have the story of king ,vasu  
,uparichara1 who is said to have        
worshipped the ,supreme ,god ,hari      
7,vishnu7 in devotion without any       
animal-sacrifices1 in accordance with   
doctrines ascribed to the ,aranyakas1   
i4e4 the later sections of the          
,brahmanas1 including the older         
,upanishads4 ,this fully agrees with the
 standpoint of the ,bhagavad-gita4 ,the 
second account gives the story of a     
visit paid by the divine saint ,narada  
to a mysterious ,white ,island1         
,sveta-dvipa1 inhabited by holy         
worshippers of ,god who are1 strangely  
enough1 described as having heads shaped
 like umbrellas and feet like           
lotus-leaves and as making a sound like 
that of thunder-clouds#bc2 they are     
radiant like the moon1 have no physical 
senses1 eat nothing1 and concentrate    
their whole soul on rapturous adoration 

of the spirit of ,god1 which shines     
there in dazzling brightness to the eye 
of perfect faith4 ,narayana there       
reveals himself to ,narada1 and sets    
forth to him the doctrine of ,vasudeva4 
,according to this1 ,narayana has four  
forms1 called murtis or vyuhas4 ,the    
first of these is ,vasudeva1 who is the 
highest soul and creator and inwardly   
controls all individual souls4 ,from him
 arose ,samkarshana1 who corresponds to 
the individual soul2 from ,samkarshana  
issued ,pradyumna1 to whom corresponds  
the organ of mind1 and from ,pradyumna  
came forth ,aniruddha1 representing the 
element of self-consciousness4 ,observe 
in passing that these are all names of  
heroes of legend3 ,samkarshana is       
,vasudeva's brother ,bala-rama1         
,pradyumna was the son and ,aniruddha   
the grandson of ,vasudeva4 ,narayana    
then goes on to speak of the creation of
 all things from himself and their      
dissolution into himself1 and of his    
incarnations in the form of the ,boar   

who lifted up on his tusk the earth when
 submerged under the ocean1 ,narasimha  
the ,man-lion who destroyed the tyrant  
,hiranya-kasipu1 the ,dwarf who         
overthrew ,bali1 ,rama ,bhargava who    
destroyed the ,kshatriyas1 ,rama        
,dasarathi1 of whom we shall have       
something to say later4 ,krishna        
,vasudeva the slayer of ,kamsa of       
,mathura1 the ,tortoise1 the ,fish1 and 
,kalki4 ,then follow some further       
details1 among them a statement that    
this doctrine was revealed to ,arjuna at
 the beginning of the ,great ,war--a    
clear reference to the                  
,bhagavad-gita--that at the beginning of
 every age it was promulgated by        
,narayana1 that it requires activity in 
pious works1 that at the commencement of
 the present age it passed from him to  
,brahma1 from him to ,vivasvan the      
,sun-god1 from him to the patriarch     
,manu1 etc41 that it does not allow the 
sacrifice of animals1 and that for      
salvation the co-operative grace of     

,narayana is necessary4 ,most of this   
doctrine is already in the              
,bhagavad-gita2 what is not found in the
 latter is the account of the mysterious
 ,white ,island1 the theory of vyuhas or
 emanations1 which represents ,vasudeva 
as issuing from ,narayana and so forth1 
and the details of ,narayana's          
incarnations4 ,it is therefore a        
distinct textbook of the ,satvata or    
,pancharatra church1 not much later than
 the ,bhagavad-gita4 ,according to it1  
the ,supreme ,being is ,narayana1 the   
,almighty ,god who reveals himself as   
highest teacher and saintly sage1 whose 
legendary performance of a five-days'   
sacrifice 7above1 p4 #gf7 has gained for
 his doctrine the title of ,pancharatra4
 ,next in order of divinity is ,krishna 
,vasudeva1 whose tribal name of ,satvata
 has furnished the other name of this   
church2 then follow in due order        
,samkarshana1 ,pradyumna1 and           
,aniruddha1 all of his family2 and with 
,vasudeva is closely associated the epic

 hero ,arjuna1 a prototype for this     
mortal pair being discovered in the     
legendary ,nara and ,narayana4          
,footnote #bc3 ,it is obvious that this 
island lies in a latitude somewhere     
between that of ,lilliput and           
,brobdingnag1 and that the professors   
who have endeavoured to locate it on the
 map of ,asia have wasted their time4   
,comparing then the ,bhagavad-gita with 
the ,narayaniya1 we see that in all     
essentials they agree1 but in two points
 they differ4 ,both preach a doctrine of
 activity in pious works1 pravritti1 in 
conscious opposition to the inactivity  
of the ,aupanishadas and ,samkhyas2 but 
the ,narayaniya does not dwell much on  
this topic1 and limits activity to      
strictly religious duties1 while the    
,bhagavad-gita develops the idea so as  
to include everything1 thus sketching   
out a bold system for the sanctification
 of all sides of life1 which enables it 
to open the door of salvation directly  
to all classes of mankind4 ,secondly1   

the ,bhagavad-gita says nothing about   
the theory of emanations or vyuhas in   
connection with ,vasudeva2 probably its 
author knew the legends of ,samkarshana1
 ,pradyumna1 and ,aniruddha1 but he     
apparently did not know or at least did 
not accept the view that these persons  
were related as successive emanations   
from ,vasudeva4 ,we must therefore look 
round for sidelights which may clear up 
the obscurities in the history of this  
church4  ,our first sidelight glimmers  
in the famous grammar of ,panini1 who   
probably lived in the fifth century     
,b4,c41 or perhaps early in the fourth  
century4 ,panini informs us 7,,iv4 iii4 
#ih7 that from the names of ,vasudeva   
and ,arjuna the derivative nouns        
,vasudevaka and ,arjunaka are formed to 
denote persons who worship respectively 
,vasudeva and ,arjuna4 ,plainly then in 
the fifth century ,krishna ,vasudeva and
 ,arjuna were worshipped by some1       
probably in the same connection as is   
shown in the ,mahabharata4 ,perhaps     

,vasudeva had not yet been raised to the
 rank of the ,almighty2 it is more      
likely that he was still a deified hero 
and teacher1 and ,arjuna his noblest    
disciple4 ,but both of them were        
receiving divine honours2 they had been 
men1 and were now gods1 with bands of   
adorers4  ,our next evidence is an      
inscription found not long ago on the   
base of a stone column at ,besnagar near
 ,bhilsa1 in the south of ,gwalior      
,state1#bd and must have been engraved  
soon after #bjj ,b4,c4 ,it reads as     
follows3 ,this ,garuda-column of        
,vasudeva the god of gods was erected   
here by ,heliodorus1 a worshipper of the
 ,lord bhagavata1 the son of ,diya      
,greek ,dion and an inhabitant of       
,taxila1 who came as ambassador of the  
,greeks from the ,great ,king           
,amtalikita ,greek ,antialcidas to ,king
 ,kasiputra ,bhagabhadra the ,saviour1  
who was flourishing in the fourteenth   
year of his reign2 and below this are   
two lines in some kind of verse1 which  

announce that three immortal steps 444  
when practised lead to                  
heaven--self-control1 charity1 and      
diligence4 ,here1 then1 in the centre of
 a thriving kingdom probably forming    
part of the ,sunga empire1 ,vasudeva is 
worshipped not as a minor hero or       
teacher1 but as the god of gods1        
deva-deva2 and he is worshipped by the  
,greek ,heliodorus1 visiting the place  
as an ambassador from ,antialcidas1 a   
,hellenic king of the lineage of        
,eucratides1 who was reigning in the    
,north-,west of ,india4 ,doubtless the  
act of ,heliodorus was a diplomatic     
courtesy1 in order to please ,king      
,kasiputra ,bhagabhadra4 ,but observe   
the nature of his act4 ,he caused to be 
erected a ,garuda-column1 that is1 a    
pillar engraved with the figure of      
,garuda1 the sacred bird of ,vishnu2 and
 he added a verse about three immortal  
steps 7trini amutapadani71 as leading to
 heaven1 which sounds suspiciously like 
an attempt to moralise the old mythical 

feature of the three ,steps of ,vishnu4 
,plainly ,vasudeva had now risen in this
 part of the country from being the     
teacher of a church of ,vishnu-,narayana
 to the rank of its chief god1 with     
which he had become fully identified4   
,footnote #bd3 ,see ,rapson1 ,ancient   
,india1 p4 #aef ff41 ,cambridge ,hist4  
,india1 i1 pp4 #eba1 #eeh1 #fbe1 ,h4    
,ray ,chaudhuri1 ,materials for the     
,study of the ,early ,history of the    
,vaishnava ,sect1 p4 #ei1 and           
,ramaprasad ,chanda1 ,archaeology and   
,vaishnava ,tradition in ,memoirs of the
 ,archaeological ,survey of ,india1 ,no4
 #e1 p4 #aea ff41 etc4  ,another        
inscription1 a few years later in date1 
has been found in ,besnagar4 ,it is a   
mere fragment1 but it supplements the   
other2 for it states that a certain     
bhagavata1 or worshipper of the ,lord1  
named ,gotama-puta 7,gautama-putra in   
,sanskrit7 erected a ,garuda-column for 
the ,lord's temple in the twelfth year  
from the coronation of ,king ,bhagavata4

 ,this king is perhaps the same as the  
person of that name who appears in some 
genealogical lists as the last but one  
of the ,sunga ,kings4#be  ,footnote #be3
 ,see ,r4 ,chanda1 ut supra1 p4 #aeb f4 
,next in date is an inscription on a    
stone slab found at ,ghasundi1 about    
four miles north-east of ,nagari1 in    
,udaipur ,state4 ,it was engraved about 
#aej ,b4,c41 and records that a certain 
bhagavata1 or worshipper of the ,lord1  
named ,gajayana1 son of ,parasari1      
caused to be erected in the             
,narayana-vata1 or park of ,narayana1 a 
stone chapel for the worship of the     
,lords ,samkarshana and ,vasudeva4#bf   
,here their worship is associated with  
that of ,narayana4  ,footnote #bf3 ,it  
is noteworthy that ,samkarshana is here 
mentioned first1 as is also the case in 
the ,nanaghat inscription of about #ajj 
,b4,c41 which mentions them as          
descendants of the ,moon in a list of   
various deities4 ,this order may        
possibly be due to the fact that in     

ancient legend ,samkarshana1 or         
,bala-bhadra1 is the elder brother of   
,krishna ,vasudeva1 and it does not     
entitle us to draw the inference that he
 ever received equal honour with        
,vasudeva4 ,special devotees of         
,samkarshana are mentioned in the       
,kautiliya1 the famous treatise on      
polity ascribed to ,chanakya1 the       
minister of ,chandra-gupta ,maurya1 who 
came to the throne about #cbj ,b4,c4    
7,engl4 transl4 #ast edn41 p4 #dhe74 ,i 
suspect that in its present form the    
,kautiliya is considerably later than   
#cbj ,b4,c42 but in any case the        
existence of special votaries of        
,samkarshana is no proof that he ever   
ranked as equal to ,vasudeva1 just as   
the presence of special worshippers of  
,arjuna is no proof that ,arjuna was    
ever considered a peer of ,vasudeva4 ,on
 the ,ghasundi inscription see ,r4      
,chanda1 ut supra1 p4 #afc ff41 etc42   
for the ,nanaghat inscription1 ibidem   
and ,memoirs of the ,arch4 ,survey of   

,india1 ,no4 #a1 with ,h4               
,raychaudhuri's ,materials1 etc41 p4 #fh
 ff4  ,passing over an inscription at   
,mathura which records the building of a
 part of a sanctuary to the ,lord       
,vasudeva about #ae ,b4,c4 by the great 
,satrap ,sodasa1#bg we note that the    
grammarian ,patanjali1 who wrote his    
commentary the ,mahabhashya upon        
,panini's grammar about #aej ,b4,c41 has
 something to say about ,krishna        
,vasudeva1 whom he recognises as a      
divine being 7on ,,iv4 iii4 #ih74 ,he   
quotes some verses referring to him4    
,the first 7on ,,ii4 ii4 #bc7 is to the 
following effect3 ,may the might of     
,krishna accompanied by ,samkarshana    
increase6 ,another 7on ,,vi4 iii4 #f7   
speaks of ,janardana with himself as    
fourth1 that is to say1 ,krishna with   
three companions3 the three may be      
,samkarshana1 ,pradyumna1 and           
,aniruddha1 or they may not4 ,another   
verse 7on ,,ii4 ii4 #cd7 speaks of      
musical instruments being played at     

meetings in the temples of ,rama and    
,kesava4 ,rama is ,bala-rama or         
,bala-bhadra1 who is the same as        
,samkarshana1 and ,kesava is a title of 
,krishna1 which was applied also to     
,vishnu or ,narayana according to the   
,bodhayana-dharma-sutra1 which may be   
assigned to the second century ,b4,c4   
,the ,ovavai1 or ,aupapatika-sutra1 a   
,jain scripture which may perhaps belong
 to the same period1 mentions 7,sec4    
#gf7 ,kanha-parivvaya1 wandering friars 
who worshipped ,krishna4 ,thus          
literature as well as inscriptions shows
 that ,krishna ,vasudeva and his brother
 ,samkarshana were in many places       
worshipped as saints of a church of     
,vishnu-,narayana about #aej ,b4,c41 and
 that in some parts ,vasudeva was       
recognised as the ,almighty himself     
about #bjj ,b4,c4  ,footnote #bg3 ,r4   
,chanda1 ut supra1 p4 #afi f4  ,in      
another passage 7on ,,iii4 i1 #bf7      
,patanjali describes dramatic and       
mimetic performances representing the   

killing of ,kamsa by ,vasudeva4         
,altogether his references show that the
 legend and worship of ,vasudeva bulked 
largely in the popular mind at this time
 in ,india north of the ,vindhya        
mountains4 ,vasudeva was adored as the  
great teacher and hero-king1 in whom the
 gods ,vishnu and ,narayana were        
incarnated2 and he was associated with  
two great cycles of legend1 the one that
 related his birth at ,mathura1 his     
victory over the tyrant ,kamsa1 his     
establishment of the colony at ,dvaraka1
 and his adventures until his death and 
translation to heaven1 and the other    
telling of his share in the ,great ,war 
as ally of the five ,pandava brethren4  
,both cycles represented him as         
supported by princely heroes4 ,the      
,mathura-,dvaraka legend gave him his   
brother ,bala-bhadra or ,samkarshana1   
his son ,pradyumna1 and his grandson    
,aniruddha1 whom theologians about the  
beginning of the ,christian era fitted  
into their philosophical schemes by     

representing them as successive         
emanations from him2 and the            
,mahabharata furnished him with the     
,pandavas1 whose heroic tale soon       
created for them a worship everywhere4  
,as we have seen1 there were adorers of 
,arjuna already in the fifth century    
,b4,c42 and in the first century ,b4,c4 
there seems to be evidence for a worship
 of all the five together with          
,vasudeva1 for an inscription has been  
found at ,mora which apparently mentions
 a son of the great ,satrap ,rajuvula1  
probably the well-known ,satrap ,sodasa1
 and an image of the ,lord ,vrishni1    
probably ,vasudeva1 and of the ,five    
,warriors4#bh ,already the poets of the 
,mahabharata have taken the first step  
towards the deification of the ,pandavas
 by finding divine fathers for each of  
them1 making ,yudhishthira the son of   
,dharma or ,yama1 the god of the nether 
world1 ,arjuna son of ,indra1 ,bhima son
 of ,vayu the ,wind-god1 and ,nakula and
 ,sahadeva offspring of the ,asvins4    

,hundreds of caverns throughout ,india  
are declared by popular legend to have  
been their dwellings during their       
wanderings2 and a noble monument to     
their memory has been raised by one of  
the great ,pallava kings of ,conjevaram 
who in the seventh century ,a4,d4 carved
 out of the solid rock on the seashore  
at ,mamallapuram the fine chapels that  
bear their names4 ,doubtless all these  
heroes from both cycles were once       
worshipped in the usual manner1 with    
offerings of food1 incense1 lights1     
flowers1 etc41 and singing of hymns on  
their exploits--chiefly in connection   
with ,vasudeva2 but all this worship is 
now utterly forgotten1 except where     
echoes of it linger in popular legend4  
,footnote #bh3 ,r4 ,chandra1 ut supra1  
p4 #afe f4  ,our survey of the religion 
of ,vasudeva has brought us down to a   
date which cannot indeed be exactly     
fixed1 but which may be placed          
approximately in the second century of  
our era4 ,this religion1 as we have     

seen1 arose and grew great in the       
fertile soil of the spiritual needs and 
experiences of ,india4 ,it began by     
moulding a personal ,god out of ancient 
figures of myth and legend1 and it      
surrounded him with a hierarchy of godly
 heroes4 ,though its doctrines were     
often philosophically incongruous and   
incoherent1 its foundation was a true   
religious feeling2 it gave scope to the 
mystic raptures of the ascetic and the  
simple righteousness of the laic2 and it
 claimed for its heroes1 ,vasudeva and  
his kindred and his friends the ,pandava
 brethren1 a grave and dignified        
hero-worship4 ,in short1 it is a serious
 ,indian religion with an epic setting4 
,and now suddenly and most unexpectedly 
an utterly new spirit begins to breathe 
in it4 ,to the old teachings and legends
 are added new ones of a wholly         
different cast4 ,the old epic spirit of 
grave and manly chivalry and godly      
wisdom is overshadowed by a new         
passion--adoration of tender babyhood   

and wanton childhood1 amorous ecstasies1
 a hectic fire of erotic romance4  ,of  
this new spirit there is no trace in the
 epic1 except in one or two late        
interpolations4 ,but the ,hari-vamsa1   
which was added as an appendix to the   
,mahabharata not very long before the   
fourth century ,a4,d41 is already       
instinct with it4 ,it adds to the epic  
story of ,krishna a fluent verse account
 of his miraculous preservation from    
,kamsa at his birth1 his childhood among
 the herdsmen and herdswomen of ,vraja  
7the ,doab near ,mathura7 with its      
marvellous freaks and wonderful         
exploits1 his amorous sports with the   
herdswomen1 in fact all the sensuous    
emotionalism on which the later church  
of ,krishna has ever since battened4    
,about the same time appeared the       
,vishnu-purana1 which includes most of  
the same matter as the ,hari-vamsa2 and 
some centuries later1 probably about the
 tenth century1 there was written a     
still more remarkable book1 the         

,bhagavata-purana1 of which a great part
 is taken up with the romance of        
,krishna's babyhood and childhood1 and  
especially his amorous sports4 ,in the  
,bhagavata the later worship of ,krishna
 found its classic expression4 ,in the  
,hari-vamsa and ,vishnu-purana religious
 emotion is still held under a certain  
restraint2 but in the ,bhagavata it has 
broken loose and runs riot4 ,it is a    
romance of ecstatic love for ,krishna1  
who is no longer1 as in the             
,vishnu-purana1 the incarnation of a    
portion of the ,supreme ,vishnu1 but    
very ,god become man1 wholly and utterly
 divine in his humanity4 ,it dwells in a
 rapture of tenderness upon the         
,god-babe1 and upon the wanton play of  
the lovely child who is delightful in   
his naughtiness and marvellous in his   
occasional displays of superhuman power2
 it figures him as an ideal of boyish   
beauty1 decked with jewels and crested  
with peacock's feathers1 wandering      
through the flowering forests of ,vraja1

 dancing and playing on his flute       
melodies that fill the souls of all that
 hear them with an irresistible passion 
of love and delight2 it revels in tales 
of how the precocious boy made wanton   
sport with the herdswomen of ,vraja1 and
 how the magic of his fluting drew them 
to the dance in which they were united  
to him in a rapture of love4 ,the book  
thrills with amorous1 sensuous ecstasy2 
the thought of ,krishna stirs the       
worshipper to a passion of love in which
 tears gush forth in the midst of       
laughter1 the speech halts1 and often   
the senses fail and leave him in long   
trances4 ,erotic emotionalism can go no 
further4  ,where did this new spirit    
come from8 ,some have laboured to prove 
that it had its source in ,christianity2
 others have argued that it was         
,christianity that was the debtor to    
,india in this respect4 ,both theories  
are in the main impossible4 ,this cult  
of the child ,krishna arose in ,india1  
and1 with the possible exception of a   

few obscure tales1 it never spread      
outside the circle of ,indian religion4 
,but how and where did it arise8 ,that  
is a question hard to answer2 there is  
no direct evidence1 and we can only     
balance probabilities4 ,now what are the
 probabilities8  ,the worship of        
,krishna as a babe1 a boy1 and a young  
man among the herdsfolk of ,vraja seems 
to have no relation with the older form 
of the religion as set forth in the epic
 textbooks4 ,it is a new element1       
imported from without4 ,the most natural
 conclusion then is that it came from   
the people who are described in it1 some
 tribe that pastured their herds in the 
woodlands near ,mathura4 ,perhaps these 
herdsfolk were ,abhiras1 ancestors of   
the modern ,ahir tribes4 ,if so1 it     
would be natural that their cult should 
attract attention2 for sometimes        
,abhiras counted for something in       
society1 and we even find a short-lived 
dynasty of ,abhira kings reigning in    
,nasik in the third century ,a4,d4#bi   

,be this as it may1 it seems very likely
 that some pastoral tribe had a cult of 
a divine child blue or black of hue1 and
 perhaps actually called by them        
,krishna or ,kanha1 ,black-man 7observe 
that henceforth ,krishna is regularly   
represented with a blue skin71 a cult in
 which gross rustic fantasy had free    
play2 that it came in some circles to be
 linked on to the epic cycle of ,krishna
 ,vasudeva2 and that some ,bhagavatas1  
seeing in it latent possibilities1 gave 
it polished literary expression and     
thereby established it as a part of the 
,vasudeva legend4 ,it quickly seized    
upon the popular imagination and spread 
like wild-fire over ,india4 ,for it     
satisfied many needs4 ,the tenderness of
 the father and still more of the mother
 for the little babe1 their delight in  
the sports of childhood1 the amorist's  
pleasure in erotic adventure1 and1 not  
by any means least1 the joy in the      
romantic scenery of the haunted         
woodlands--all these instincts found    

full play in it1 and were sanctified by 
religion4  ,footnote #bi3 ,rapson1      
,catal4 of the ,coins of the ,andhra    
,dynasty1 etc41 pp4 xliv1 lxii1 lxix1   
cxxxiii-cxxxvi1 clxii2 ,indian ,antiq41 
xlvii1 p4 #he1 etc4   ,,ii4 ,,rama      
,rama is the hero of the ,ramayana1 the 
great epic ascribed to ,valmiki1 a poet 
who in course of time has passed from   
the realm of history into that of myth1 
like many other ,hindus4 ,the poem1 as  
it has come down to us1 contains seven  
books1 which relate the following tale4 
,dasa-ratha1 ,king of ,ayodhya 7now     
,ajodhya1 near ,faizabad71 of the       
dynasty which claimed descent from the  
,sun-god1 had no son1 and therefore held
 the great ,asva-medha1 or              
horse-sacrifice1 as a result of which he
 obtained four sons1 ,rama by his queen 
,kausalya1 ,bharata by ,kaikeyi1 and    
,lakshmana and ,satrughna by ,sumitra4  
,rama1 the eldest1 was also pre-eminent 
for strength1 bravery1 and noble        
qualities of soul4 ,visiting in his     

early youth the court of ,janaka1 king  
of ,videha1 ,rama was able to shoot an  
arrow from ,janaka's bow1 which no other
 man could bend1 and as a reward he     
received as wife the princess ,sita1    
whom ,janaka had found in a furrow of   
his fields and brought up as his own    
daughter4 ,so far the first book1 or    
,bala-kanda4 ,the second book1 or       
,ayodhya-kanda1 relates how ,queen      
,kaikeyi induced ,dasa-ratha1 sorely    
against his will1 to banish ,rama to the
 forests in order that her son ,bharata 
might succeed to the throne2 and the    
,aranya-kanda then describes how ,rama1 
accompanied by his wife ,sita and his   
faithful brother ,lakshmana1 dwelt in   
the forest for a time1 until the demon  
,king ,ravana of ,lanka1 by means of a  
trick1 carried off ,sita to his city4   
,the ,kishkindha-kanda tells of ,rama's 
pursuit of ,ravana and his coming to    
,kishkindha1 the city of ,sugriva1 the  
king of the apes1 who joined him as an  
ally in his expedition2 and the         

,sundara-kanda describes the march of   
their armies to ,lanka1 which is        
identified with ,ceylon1 and their      
crossing over the straits4 ,then comes  
the ,yuddha-kanda1 which narrates the   
war with ,ravana1 his death in battle1  
the restoration of ,sita1 the return of 
,rama and ,sita to ,ayodhya1 and the    
crowning of ,rama in place of           
,dasa-ratha1 who had died of grief      
during his exile4 ,finally comes the    
,uttara-kanda1 which relates that ,rama1
 hearing some of the people of ,ayodhya 
spitefully casting aspersions on the    
virtue of ,sita during her imprisonment 
in the palace of ,ravana1 gave way to   
foolish jealousy and banished her to the
 hermitage of ,valmiki1 where she gave  
birth to twin sons1 ,kusa and ,lava2    
when these boys had grown up1 ,valmiki  
taught them the ,ramayana and sent them 
to sing it at the court of ,rama1 who on
 hearing it sent for ,sita1 who came to 
him accompanied by ,valmiki1 who assured
 him of her purity2 and then ,sita swore

 to it on oath1 calling upon her mother 
the ,earth-goddess to bear witness2 and 
the ,earth-goddess received her back    
into her bosom1 leaving ,rama bereaved1 
until after many days he was translated 
to heaven4  ,such is the tale of ,rama  
as told in the ,valmiki-ramayana--a     
clean1 wholesome story of chivalry1     
love1 and adventure4 ,but clearly the   
,valmiki-ramayana is not the work of a  
single hand4 ,we can trace in it at     
least two strata4 ,books ,,ii4-,,vi4    
contain the older stratum2 the rest is  
the addition of a later poet or series  
of poets1 who have also inserted some   
padding into the earlier books4 ,this   
older stratum1 the nucleus of the epic1 
gives us a picture of heroic society in 
,india at a very early date1 probably   
not very long after the age of the      
,upanishads2 perhaps we shall not be far
 wrong if we say it was composed some   
time before the fourth century ,b4,c4   
,in it ,rama is simply a hero1          
miraculous in strength and goodness1 but

 nevertheless wholly human2 but in the  
later stratum--,books ,i4 and ,,vii4 and
 the occasional insertions in the other 
books--conditions are changed1 and ,rama
 appears as a god on earth1 a partial   
incarnation of ,vishnu1 exactly as in   
the ,bhagavad-gita and other later parts
 of the ,mahabharata the hero ,krishna  
has become an incarnation of ,vishnu    
also4 ,the parallel may even be traced  
further4 ,krishna stands to ,arjuna in  
very much the same relation as ,rama to 
his brother ,lakshmana--a greater and a 
lesser hero1 growing into an incarnate  
god and his chief follower4 ,this is    
thoroughly in harmony with ,hindu ideas1
 which regularly conceive the teacher as
 accompanied by his disciple and abhor  
the notion of a voice crying in the     
wilderness2 indeed we may almost venture
 to suspect that this symmetry in the   
epics is not altogether uninfluenced by 
this ideal4 ,this1 however1 is a detail3
 the main point to observe is that ,rama
 was originally a local hero of the     

,solar dynasty1 a legendary king of     
,ayodhya1 and as the ,puranas give him a
 full pedigree1 there is no good reason 
to doubt that he really existed once    
upon a time4 ,but the story with which  
he is associated in the ,ramayana is    
puzzling4 ,is it a pure romance8 ,or is 
it a glorified version of some real     
adventures8 ,or can it be an old tale1  
perhaps dating from the early dawn of   
human history1 readapted and fitted on  
to the person of an historical ,rama8   
,the first of these hypotheses seems    
unlikely1 though by no means impossible4
 ,the second suggestion has found much  
favour4 ,many have believed that the    
story of the expedition of ,rama and his
 army of apes to ,lanka represents a    
movement of the ,aryan invaders from the
 ,north towards the ,south2 and this is 
supported to some extent by ,indian     
tradition1 which has located most of the
 places mentioned in the ,ramayana1 and 
in particular has identified ,lanka with
 ,ceylon4 ,in support of this one may   

point to the ,iliad of ,homer1 which has
 a somewhat similar theme1 the rape and 
recovery of ,helen by the armies of the 
,achaeans1 the basis of which is the    
historical fact of an expedition against
 ,troy and the destruction of that city4
 ,but there are serious difficulties in 
the way of accepting this analogy1 the  
most serious of all being the           
indubitable fact that there is not a    
tittle of evidence to show that such an 
expedition was ever made by the ,aryans4
 ,true1 there were waves of emigration  
from ,aryan centres southward in early  
times2 but those that travelled as far  
as ,ceylon went by sea1 either from the 
coasts of ,bengal or ,orissa or ,bombay4
 ,besides1 the expedition of ,rama is   
obviously fabulous1 for his army was    
composed not of ,aryans but of apes4    
,all things considered1 there seems to  
be most plausibility in the third       
hypothesis#cj4 ,certainly ,rama was a   
local hero of ,ayodhya1 and probably he 
was once a real king2 so it is likely   

enough that an old saga 7or sagas7      
attached itself early to his memory4    
,and as his fame spread abroad1         
principally on the wings of ,valmiki's  
poem1 the honours of semi-divinity began
 to be paid to him in many places beyond
 his native land1 and about the         
beginning of our era he was recognised  
as an incarnation of ,vishnu sent to    
establish a reign of righteousness in   
the world4 ,in ,southern ,india this    
cult of ,rama1 like that of ,krishna1   
has for the most part remained          
subordinate to the worship of ,vishnu1  
though the ,vaishnava church there has  
from early times recognised the divinity
 of both of them as embodiments of the  
,almighty4 ,but its great home is the   
,north1 where millions worship ,rama    
with passionate and all-absorbing love4 
,footnote #cj3 ,i regret that ,i cannot 
accept the ingenious hypothesis lately  
put forward by ,rai ,saheb              
,dineshchandra ,sen in his ,bengali     
,ramayanas4 ,the story of the           

,dasaratha-jataka seems to me to be a   
garbled and bowdlerised snippet cut off 
from a possibly pre-,valmikian version  
of the old ,rama-saga2 the rest of the  
theory appears to be quite mistaken4    
,,iii4 ,,some ,,later ,,preachers  ,with
 all its attractions and success1 the   
new ,krishnaism did not everywhere      
overgrow the older stock upon which it  
had been engrafted4 ,there were many    
places in which the early worship of    
,vishnu and ,vasudeva remained almost   
unchanged4 ,the new legends of          
,krishna's childhood might indeed be    
accepted in these centres of            
conservatism1 but they made little      
difference in the spirit and form of the
 worship1 which continued to follow the 
ancient order4 ,in some of them the     
,bhagavad-gita1 ,narayaniya1 and other  
epic doctrinals still remained the      
standard texts1 which theologians       
connected with the ancient ,upanishads  
and the ,brahma-sutra summarising the   
latter2 in other centres there arose1   

beginning perhaps about the seventh     
century ,a4,d41 a series of ,samhitas1  
or manuals of doctrine and practice for 
the ,pancharatra#ca sect1 which1 though 
in essentials agreeing with the         
,narayaniya1 taught a different theory  
of cosmogony and introduced the worship 
of the goddess ,sri or ,lakshmi1 the    
consort of ,vishnu1 as the agency or    
energy through which the ,supreme ,being
 becomes active in finite existence2 and
 in yet other places other texts were   
followed1 such as those of the          
,vaikhanasa school4 ,this worship of    
,vishnu-,vasudeva on the ancient lines  
was peculiarly vigorous among the       
representatives of ,aryan culture in the
 ,south1 who had introduced the cults of
 ,vishnu and ,siva with the rest of the 
,aryan pantheon into the midst of       
,dravidian animism4 ,hinduism1          
transplanted into the ,dravidian area1  
has there remained more conservative    
than anywhere else1 and has clung firmly
 to its ancient traditions4 ,there is   

nothing of ,dravidian origin in the     
,south ,indian worship of ,vishnu and   
,siva2 they are entirely ,aryan         
importations4 ,but they have become     
thoroughly assimilated in their southern
 home1 and each of them has produced a  
huge mass of fine devotional literature 
in the vernaculars4 ,in the ,tamil      
country the church of ,vishnu boasts of 
the ,nal-ayira-prabandham1 a collection 
of ,tamil psalms numbering about #d1jjj 
stanzas composed by twelve poets called 
,alvars1 which were collected about     
#ajjj ,a4,d42 and the worship of ',siva 
is equally well expressed in the        
,tiru-murai1 compiled about the twelfth 
century1 of which one section1 the      
,devaram1 was put together about the    
same time as the ,nal-ayira-prabandham4 
,both the ,tiru-murai and the           
,nal-ayira-prabandham breathe the same  
spirit of ecstatic devotion as the      
,bhagavata-purana2 they are the         
utterances of wandering votaries who    
travelled from temple to temple and     

poured forth the passionate raptures of 
their souls in lyrical praise of their  
deities4 ,through these three main      
channels the stream of devotion spread  
far and wide through the land4 ,like    
most currents of what we call           
revivalism1 it usually had an erotic    
side2 and the larger temples frequently 
have attached to them female staffs of  
attendant votaries and corps de ballet  
of very easy virtue4 ,but this aspect   
was far more marked in neo-,krishnaism1 
which often tends to intense pruriency1 
than in the other two cults4 ,the       
,alvars pay little regard to the legends
 of ,krishna1 and concentrate their     
energies upon the worship of ,vishnu as 
he is represented in the great temples  
of ,srirangam1 ,conjevaram1 ,tirupati1  
and similar sanctuaries4  ,footnote #ca3
 ,on this name see above1 p4 #hf4       
,about the beginning of the ninth       
century the peaceful course of          
,vaishnava religion was rudely disturbed
 by the preaching of ,samkara ,acharya4 

,samkara1 one of the greatest intellects
 that ,india has ever produced1 was a   
,brahman of ,malabar1 and was born about
 the year #ghh4 ,taking his stand upon  
the ,upanishads1 ,brahma-sutra1 and     
,bhagavad-gita1 upon which he wrote     
commentaries1 he interpreted them as    
teaching the doctrine of ,advaita1      
thorough monistic idealism1 teaching    
that the universal ,soul1 ,brahma1 is   
absolutely identical with the individual
 ,soul1 the atma or ,self1 that all     
being is only one1 that salvation       
consists in the identification of these 
two1 and is attained by knowledge1 the  
intuition of their identity1 and that   
the phenomenal universe or manifold of  
experience is simply an illusion 7maya7 
conjured up in ,brahma by his congenital
 nature1 but really alien to him--in    
fact1 a kind of disease in ,brahma4     
,this was not new3 it had been taught by
 some ancient schools of ,aupanishadas1 
and was very like the doctrine of some  
of the ,buddhist idealists2 but the     

vigour and skill with which ,samkara    
propagated his doctrines threatened ruin
 to orthodox ,vaishnava theologians1 and
 roused them to counter-campaigns4      
,among the ,vaishnava ,brahmans of the  
,south who won laurels in this field was
 ,yamunacharya1 who lived about #ajej1  
and was the grandson of ,natha ,muni1   
who collected the hymns of the ,alvars  
in the ,nal-ayira-prabandham and founded
 the great school of ,vaishnava theology
 at ,srirangam4 ,in opposition to       
,samkara's monism1 ,yamunacharya        
propounded the doctrine of his school1  
the so-called ,visishtadvaita1 which was
 preached with still greater skill and  
success by his famous successor         
,ramanuja1 who died in #aacg4           
,ramanuja's greatest works are his      
commentaries on the ,brahma-sutra and   
,bhagavad-gita4 ,in them he expounds    
with great ability the principles of his
 school1 namely1 that ,god1 sentient    
beings or souls1 and insentient matter  
form three essentially distinct classes 

of being2 that ,god1 who is the same as 
,brahma1 ,vishnu1 ,narayana1 or         
,krishna1 is omnipotent1 omnipresent1   
and possessed of all good qualities2    
that matter forms the body of souls1 and
 souls form the body of ,god2 that the  
soul attains salvation as a result of   
devout and loving meditation upon ,god1 
worship of him1 and study of the        
scriptures2 and that salvation consists 
in eternal union of the soul with ,god1 
but not in identity with him1 as        
,samkara taught4 ,the scriptures on     
which ,ramanuja took his stand were     
mainly the ,upanishads1 ,brahma-sutra1  
and ,bhagavad-gita2 but he also         
acknowledged as authoritative the       
,pancharatra ,samhitas1 in spite of     
their divergences in details of         
doctrine1 and it is from them that his  
church has derived the worship of ,sri  
or ,lakshmi as consort of ,vishnu1 which
 is a very marked feature of their      
community and has gained for them the   
title of ,sri-vaishnavas4 ,but ,ramanuja

 was much more than a scholar and a     
writer of books2 he was also a man of   
action1 a practical mystic4 ,like       
,samkara1 he organised a body of        
sannyasis or ascetic votaries1 into     
which1 however1 he admitted only        
,brahmans1 whereas ,samkara opened some 
of the sections of his devotees to      
non-,brahmans2 but on the other hand he 
was far more liberal than ,samkara in   
the choice of his congregations1 for he 
endeavoured to bring men of the lowest  
castes1 ,sudras and even ,pariahs1      
within the influence of his church1     
though he kept up the social barrier    
between them and the higher castes1 and 
he firmly upheld the principle of the   
,bhagavad-gita that it is by the        
performance of religious and social     
duties of caste1 and not by knowledge   
alone1 that salvation is most surely to 
be won4 ,he established schools and     
monasteries1 reorganised the worship of 
the temples1 usually in accordance with 
the ,pancharatra rules1 and thus placed 

his church in a position of such        
strength in ,southern ,india that its   
only serious rival is the church of     
,siva4  ,nimbarka1 who probably         
flourished about the first half of the  
twelfth century1 preached for the cult  
of ,krishna a doctrine combining monism 
with dualism1 which is followed by a    
small sect in ,northern ,india4         
,ananda-tirtha or ,madhva1 in the first 
three quarters of the thirteenth        
century1 propounded for the same church 
a theory of thorough dualism1 which has 
found many admirers1 chiefly in the     
,dekkan4 ,vallabhacharya1 born in #adgi1
 founded a school of                    
,krishna-worshippers which claims a pure
 monism without the aid of the theory of
 maya1 or illusion1 which is a          
characteristic of ,samkara's monism4    
,this community has become very         
influential1 chiefly in ,bombay         
,presidency2 but in recent times it has 
been under a cloud owing to the scandals
 arising from a tendency to practise    

immoral orgies and from the claims of   
its priesthood1 as representing the god1
 to enjoy the persons and property of   
their congregations4  ,besides these and
 other schools which were founded on a  
basis of ,sanskrit scholastic           
philosophy1 there have been many popular
 religious movements1 which from the    
first appealed directly to the heart of 
the people in their own tongues4  ,the  
first place in which we see this current
 in movement is the ,maratha country4   
,here1 about #abij1 ,jnanesvara or      
,jnanadeva1 popularly known as ,jnanoba1
 composed his ,jnanesvari1 a paraphrase 
of the ,bhagavad-gita in about #aj1jjj  
,marathi verses1 as well as a number of 
hymns to ,krishna and a poem on the     
worship of ,siva4 ,to the same period   
belonged ,namadeva1 who was born at     
,pandharpur1 according to some in #abgj 
and according to others about a century 
later4 ,then came ,ekanatha1 who is said
 to have died in #afjh1 and composed    
some hymns and ,marathi                 

verse-translations from the ,bhagavata4 
,the greatest of all was ,tukaram1 who  
was born about #afjh4cb ,in the verses  
of these poets the worship of ,krishna  
is raised to a level of high            
spirituality4 ,ramananda1 who apparently
 lived between #adjj and #adgj and was  
somehow connected with the school of    
,ramanuja1 preached salvation through   
,rama to all castes and classes of      
,northern ,india1 with immense and      
enduring success4 ,to his spiritual     
lineage belongs ,tulsi ,das             
7#aecb-afbc71 whose                     
,rama-charita-manasa1 a poem in ,eastern
 ,hindi on the story of ,valmiki's      
,ramayana1 has become the ,bible of the 
,north4 ,the same influences are visible
 in the poems of ,kabir1 a ,moslem by   
birth1 who combined ,hindu and          
,muhammadan doctrines into an eclectic  
monotheism1 and is worshipped as an     
incarnation of ,god by his sect4 ,he    
died in #aeah4 ,a kindred spirit was    
,nanak1 the founder of the ,sikh church 

7#adfi-aech74cc  ,footnote #cb3 ,the    
student may refer to ,sir ,r4 ,g4       
,bhandarkar's ,vaisnavas and ,saivas 7in
 ,buehler's ,grundriss1 p4 #gd ff417 ,j4
 ,n4 ,farquhar's ,outline of the ,relig4
 ,liter4 of ,india1 p4 #bcd f41 #bih    
ff41 and my ,heart of ,india1 p4 #fj    
ff41 for some details on these poets4   
,footnote #cc3 ,see ,farquhar1 ut supra1
 p4 #cbc ff42 ,heart of ,india1 p4 #di  
f41 etc4  ,by the side of these upward  
movements there have been many which    
have remained on the older level of the 
,bhagavata4 ,the most important is that 
of ,visvambhara ,misra1 who is better   
known by his titles of ,chaitanya and   
,gauranga 7#adhe-aecc72 he carried on a 
revival of volcanic intensity in ,bengal
 and ,orissa1 and the church founded by 
him is still powerful1 and worships him 
as an incarnation of ,krishna4   ,,iv4  
,,brahma ,,and ,,the ,,trimurti         
,brahma1 the ,creator1 a masculine noun1
 must be carefully distinguished from   
the neuter ,brahma1 the abstract ,first 

,being4 ,the latter comes first in the  
scale of existence1 while the former    
appears at some distance further on as  
the creator of the material world 7see  
above1 p4 #fj f474 ,in modern days      
,brahma has been completely eclipsed by 
,vishnu and ,siva and even by some minor
 deities1 and has now only four temples 
dedicated to his exclusive worship4#cd  
,but there was a time when he was a     
great god4 ,in the older parts of the   
,mahabharata and ,ramayana he figures as
 one of the greater deities1 perhaps the
 greatest4 ,but in the later portions of
 the epic he has shrunk into comparative
 insignificance as compared to ,vishnu  
and ,siva1 and especially to ,vishnu4   
,this change faithfully reflects        
historical facts4 ,during the last four 
or five centuries of the millennium     
which ended with the ,christian era the 
orthodox ,vedic religion of the         
,brahmans had steadily lost ground1 and 
the sects worshipping ,vishnu and ,siva 
had correspondingly grown in power and  

finally had come to be recognised as    
themselves orthodox4 ,brahma1 as his    
name implies1 is the ideal ,brahman     
sage1 and typifies ,vedic orthodoxy4 ,he
 is represented as everlastingly        
chanting the four ,vedas from his four  
mouths 7for he has four heads71 and he  
bears the water-pot and rosary of       
eleocarpus berries1 the symbols of the  
,brahman ascetic4 ,but ,vedic orthodoxy 
had to make way for more fascinating    
cults1 and the ,vedic ,brahman typified 
in the god ,brahma sank into comparative
 unimportance beside the sectarian      
ascetics4 ,still the old god1 though    
shorn of much of his glory1 was by no   
means driven from the field4 ,the new   
churches looked with reverence upon his 
,vedas1 and often claimed them as divine
 authority for their doctrines2 and     
though each of them asserted that its   
particular god1 ,siva or ,vishnu1 was   
the ,supreme ,being1 and ultimately the 
only being1 both of them allowed ,brahma
 to retain his old office of creator1 it

 being of course understood that he held
 it as a subordinate of the ,supreme1   
,siva or ,vishnu as the case might be4  
,meanwhile1 at any rate between the     
third and the sixth centuries1 there    
existed a small fraternity who regarded 
,brahma as the ,supreme1 and therefore  
as identical with the abstract ,brahma2 
but although they have left a record of 
their doctrines in the                  
,markandeya-purana and the              
,padma-purana1 they have had little     
influence on ,indian religion in        
general4  ,footnote #cd3 ,those are at  
,pushkar in ,rajputana1 ,dudahi in      
,bundelkhand1 ,khed ,brahma in ,idar    
,state1 and ,kodakkal in ,malabar4  ,a  
love of system--unfortunately not always
 effectual--is a notable feature of the 
,hindu mind in dealing with most        
subjects1 from grammar to ,ars ,amoris2 
and this instinct inspired some unknown 
theologian with the idea of harmonising 
the three gods into a unity by          
representing in one compound form or    

,trimurti ,brahma as creator1 ,vishnu as
 the sustaining power in the universe1  
and ,siva as the force of dissolution   
which periodically brings the cosmos to 
an end and necessitates in due course   
new cycles of being4#ce ,this ingenious 
plan has the advantage that it is       
without prejudice to the religion of any
 of the gods concerned1 for all the     
three members of this trinity are       
subordinate to the ,supreme ,being1 or  
,param ,brahma1 whom the ,vaishnavas    
identify with ,vishnu in his highest    
phase1 ,para-,vasudeva1 and distinguish 
from his lower phase1 the ,vishnu of    
this compound1 while the ,saivas draw a 
corresponding distinction between       
,parama-,siva1 the god in his           
transcendent nature1 and the ,siva who  
figures in the ,trimurti4 ,so the most  
orthodox ,vaishnava and the most bigoted
 ,saiva can adore this three-headed     
image of the ,trimurti side by side with
 easy consciences4  ,footnote #ce3 ,this
 idea in germ is already suggested in   

,maitr4 ,upan41 ,,iv4 #e f41 and ,v4 #b4
  ,this idea of the three gods in one1  
though it is embodied in some important 
works of sculpture such as the famous   
,trimurti in the ,caves of ,elephanta1  
has not had much practical effect upon  
,hindu religion4 ,but it has given birth
 to at any rate one interesting little  
sect1 the worshippers of ,dattatreya1   
who are to be found mainly in the       
,maratha country4 ,the legend of the    
saint ,dattatreya1 which is already     
found in the ,mahabharata and ,puranas  
and is repeated with some modifications 
and amplifications in modern works of   
the sect1#cf relates that when the holy 
,rishi ,atri subjected himself to       
terrific austerities in order to obtain 
worthy progeny1 the gods ,brahma1       
,vishnu1 and ,siva visited him and      
promised him the desired boon2          
accordingly his wife ,anasuya gave birth
 to three sons1 of whom the first was   
the ,moon1 an incarnation of ,brahma1   
the second ,dattatreya1 an incarnation  

of ,vishnu1 and the third the holy but  
irascible saint ,durvasas1 representing 
,siva4 ,dattatreya dwelt in a hermitage 
in the ,dekkan3 he indulged in marriage 
and wine-drinking1 which however were   
not detrimental to his miraculous       
sanctity and wisdom1 and he became      
famous as a benefactor to humanity4 ,he 
is said to have lived in the time of    
,kartavirya ,arjuna1 the ,haihaya king1 
and to have counselled the latter to    
remain on his throne when he wished to  
resign it4 ,in older works of plastic   
art he is sometimes represented by the  
simple expedient of placing the three   
gods side by side1 sometimes by figuring
 him as ,vishnu in the guise of a ,yogi 
with some of the attributes of the other
 two2 but in modern times he usually    
appears as a single figure with three   
heads1 one for each of the great gods1  
and four or six arms bearing their      
several attributes 7usually the rosary  
and water-pot of ,brahma1 the conch and 
discus of ,vishnu1 and the trident and  

drum of ,siva71 while he is accompanied 
by four dogs of different colours1      
supposed to represent the four ,vedas1  
and a bull4#cg ,observe that in all     
these types ,dattatreya is conceived as 
an embodiment of the three gods1 which  
is comparatively a later idea1 for in   
the oldest version of the legend he was 
simply an incarnation of ,vishnu2 but as
 ,vishnu was regarded not only as a     
member of the ,trinity but also the     
,supreme ,being over and above it1      
,dattatreya as his representative has   
come to include in his personality the  
nature of all the trio4 ,there is1      
moreover1 something curious in his      
character4 ,his love of wine and woman  
is a singular trait1 and is quite       
incompatible with the nature of an ideal
 saint4 ,it smells of reality1 and      
strongly suggests that he was not a     
figment of the religious imagination but
 an actual man2 and this is supported by
 the tradition of his association with  
,kartavirya ,arjuna1 who1 in spite of   

all the mythical tales that are related 
of him1 really seems to have been a king
 of flesh and blood4 ,thus we may       
venture to see in him yet another       
example of the metamorphosis so common  
in ,india from a saint to an incarnation
 of the god worshipped by him4          
,footnote #cf3 ,see ,vasudevananda      
,sarasvati's ,datta-purana and ,ganesa  
,narayana ,karve's ,dattatreya-sarvasva4
  ,footnote #cg3 ,on these figures see  
,gopinatha ,rau1 ,elements of ,hindu    
,iconography1 i4 p4 #beb ff4 ,the dogs  
seem to be connected with the ,vedic    
,sarama1 on whom see ,charpentier1 ,die 
,suparnasage1 p4 #ia4   ,v4 ,,two       
,,modern ,,instances  ,in ,northern     
,india1 and especially in ,bengal1 you  
will often find ,hindus worshipping a   
god whom they call ,satya-narayana and  
believe to be an embodiment of ,vishnu  
himself4 ,the observance of this ritual 
is believed to bring wealth and all     
kinds of good fortune2 a ,sanskrit      
sacred legend in illustration of this   

belief has been created1 and you may buy
 badly lithographed copies of it in most
 of the bazaars if you like1 besides    
which you will find elegant accounts of 
the god's career on earth written by    
quite a number of distinguished ,bengali
 poets of the last three centuries4 ,but
 curiously enough this god1 though quite
 real1 was not a ,hindu at all2 he was a
 ,bengali ,moslem1 a fakir1 and the     
,muhammadans of ,bengal1 among whom he  
is known as ,satya ,pir1 have their own 
versions of his career1 which seem to be
 much nearer the truth than those of the
 ,hindus4 ,in their stories he figures  
simply as a saint1 who busied himself in
 performing miracles for the benefit of 
pious ,moslems in distress2 and as one  
legend says that he was the son of a    
daughter of ,h4usain ,shah1 the ,emperor
 of ,gaur1 and another brings him into  
contact with ,man ,singh1 it is evident 
that tradition ascribed him to the      
sixteenth century1 which is probably    
quite near enough to the truth4#ch      

,footnote #ch3 ,see ,dineshchandra ,sen1
 ,folk-literature of ,bengal1 p4 #ii ff4
  ,the next instance belongs to the     
twentieth century4 ,a few years ago     
there died in the village of ,eral1 in  
,tinnevelly ,district1 a local gentleman
 of the ,shanar caste named ,arunachala 
,nadar4 ,there was nothing remarkable   
about his career3 he had lived a highly 
respectable life1 scrupulously fulfilled
 his religious duties1 and served with  
credit as chairman of the municipal     
board in his native village4 ,if he had 
done something prodigiously wicked1 one 
might have expected him to become a     
local god at once1 in accordance with   
,dravidian precedent2 but he being what 
he was1 his post-mortem career is rather
 curious4 ,for a legend gradually arose 
that his kindly spirit haunted a certain
 place1 and little by little it has     
grown until now there is a regular      
worship of him in ,eral1 and pilgrims   
travel thither to receive his blessings1
 stimulated by a lively literary        

propaganda4 ,he is worshipped under the 
name of ,the ,chairman ,god1 in         
affectionate memory of his municipal    
career1 and as ,jagadisa1 or ,lord of   
the ,universe1 a phase of the god ,siva4
     ,,conclusion   ,can we trace any   
uniform principle running through the   
bewildering variety of changes that we  
have observed8  ,consider the changes   
through which ,vishnu has passed4 ,at   
the beginning a spirit of vaguely       
defined personality1 he appears         
successively as a saviour-god1 as the   
mystic saint ,narayana1 as the epic     
warriors ,krishna and ,rama1 as a wanton
 blue-skinned herd-boy fluting and      
dancing amidst a crowd of wildly amorous
 women1 and as the noble ideal of ,god  
preached by the great ,maratha and      
,ramanandi votaries1 not to mention the 
many other incarnations that have       
delighted the ,hindu imagination4 ,what 
does all this mean8 ,it means that the  
history of a god is mainly moulded by   
two great factors1 the growth of the    

people's spiritual experience and the   
character of its religious teachers4 ,as
 the stream of history rolls on1 it     
fills men's souls with deeper and wider 
understanding of life4 ,old conceptions 
are pondered upon1 explored1 tested1    
sometimes rejected1 sometimes accepted  
with a new and profounder content1 and  
thus enlarged they are applied to the   
old ideals of godhead4 ,when ,indian    
society had organised itself out of     
tribal chaos and settled down under an  
established monarchical government1 it  
made ,indra the king of the gods1 ruling
 with the same forms and under the same 
conditions as a human sovereign4 ,when  
men of finer cast realised that the     
kingdom of the spirit is higher than    
earthly royalty1 they turned away from  
,indra and set their souls upon greater 
conceptions1 ideals of vaster spiritual 
forces1 mystic infinitudes4 ,attracted  
thus to worships such as those of ,siva 
and ,vishnu1 they filled them with their
 own visions and imparted to these gods 

the ideals of their own strivings1      
making them into ,yogisvaras1 ,supreme  
,mystics4 ,and so the sequence of change
 has gone on through the generations4   
,most potently it has been effected by  
the characters of the preachers and     
teachers of religion4 ,almost every     
teacher who has a personality of his    
own1 whose soul contains thoughts other 
than those of the common sort1 stamps   
something of his own type upon the ideal
 of his god which he imparts to his     
followers1 and which may thereby come to
 be authoritatively recognised as a     
canonical character of the god4 ,india  
is peculiarly liable to this            
transference of personality from the    
guru to the god whom the guru preaches1 
because from immemorial times ,india has
 regarded the guru as representative of 
the god1 and often deifies him as a     
permanent phase of the deity4 ,saivas   
declare that in the guru who teaches the
 way of salvation ,siva himself is      
manifested3 ,vaishnavas tell the same   

tale1 and find a short road to salvation
 by surrendering their souls to him4 ,we
 have seen cases of apotheosis of the   
guru in modern and medieval times2      
reasoning from the known to the unknown1
 we may be sure that it took place no   
less regularly in ancient ages1 and     
brought about most of the surprising    
changes in the character of gods which  
we have noticed4 ,sometimes the gurus   
have only preached some new features in 
the characters of their gods2 sometimes1
 as is the ,hindu fashion1 they have    
also exhibited in their own persons1    
their dress and equipment1 their        
original ideas of divinity1 as1 for     
example1 ,lakulisa with his club2 and   
their sanctity and apotheosis have      
ratified their innovations in theology  
and iconology1 which have spread abroad 
as their congregations have grown4 ,thus
 the gurus and their congregations have 
made the history of their deities1      
recasting the gods ever anew in the     
mould of man's hopes and strivings and  

ideals4 ,there is much truth in the     
saying of the ,brahmanas3 ,in the       
beginning the gods were mortal4         
99       99       99       99       99