A Short History of Indian Literature

8/13/2019 A Short History of Indian Literature

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Short Hi s tory of Indian Li te ra tu re 27

mortally wounded by his cousin Bhma, and

Pndu's sons were left unchallenged victorson the field.1

V

THE ORIGIN OF THE MAH-BHRAT

OLD popular songs are afloat in every countrylong before critic or scholar fix their literaryform. Has the Mah-Bharata sprung fromthe genius of a single poet, or was it commonnational propertya careless bunch of flowersthat grew wild in the country ? The questionappeals to personal taste rather than learnedargument.

Love of poetry and music is universal.1 Final a and n are occasionally omitted in themodern use of Greek and Latin names, Helen takingthe place of Helena, Plato of Platon, and so on. Wehave followed the classical precedent with regard toseveral Sanskrit words.

Thus Arjun and Duryodhan stand for Arjuna andDuryodhana, raja (king) for rjan, karma (character)for karman. Brahma (God) and tma (soul) are shortfor Brahman and tman; yogi (saint), swdmi (religiousteacher), and gnni (philosopher) for yogin, swmin, andgnnin.


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The whole of Nature, in spite of discordant

notes, vibrates in sweet harmony, and strikesa sympathetic chord in the human breast.From time immemorial, the Aryan nationshave cultivated sympathy with all createdlife, and that is why the gift of the seer andpoet has been so abundantly bestowed uponthe race. The forefathers of the Hindus wereaglow with a joyous sense of the boundlesssoul in Nature, and their own soul thrilledin response, and burst out in Vedic song.They felt the divine (deva) element in the

twinkling star and foaming torrent, in themoaning winds and whispering leaves. Andthe devas became the strength and defenceof their simple fervent hearts. And aftersmiting and putting to confusion the loud-yelling barbarians who knew of no sacrificeto the bright gods, the victorious warrior-poets of Ancient India gave praise and thanksto the Devas, and sang the mighty deedswhich the gods, through them, had wrought.1

1 As veda has sprung from the root vid (=seer, sage),

so deva from div ( = shining, bright). Latin "dies,"short for dives, is the "bright" side of time, the daytime, and the luminaries "shining" in the firmamentwere named DEVAS in Sanskrit But behind thebrilliant galaxy of the Asiatic skies and the gayimagery of a profuse nature, the old Aryan thinkers


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Itihsas or national legends narrating the

heroic feats of the Dasyu War must havebeen current in the Punjab during the VedicAge, and similar poetry was cultivated at therefined Gangetic courts where minstrels heldan honoured place. Koyal feast and sacredrite were graced by their presence. Theyknew the ancient ballads by heart, and werefamiliar with the genealogy of noble families.The rhapsodist preluded and accompaniedhis recital on the vna or lute. The spellbound audience would fondly repeat the

remembered verses unt i l h i l l and valley wereringing wi th the beauty of the song. At alater time, the scattered lays of the itinerant

felt a divine powerthe everlasting source of earthlygrandeur and splendour. The rishis of India knew longbefore Plato that even the fairest landscape and thesaintliest life are but imperfect images of what is trueand perfect. They had fully realised what St Johnrealised ages after them, that the radiance of ahillumined soul, like the sunshine which dances on thegold-tinged ripples of the mountain-girt lake, is at besta broken light reflecting the brighter light of Heaven

which shines on the darkness of created life. Whatwonder, then, that the Aryans called eternal thingsbright and shiningdeva> in Sanskrit, and divine inEnglish ? The French word for God Dieuis derivedfrom Latin deus or dius, originally divus, i.e., theshining one.


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gleemen were picked up by learned pundits,and skilfully woven into a running series ofpoetic narrative. Such a collection of poetryrelating to the Bharata War appears to be theMaM-Bharata, and it was probably arrangedin its present form by various vyasas orcompilers. Popular fancy soon ascribed thecluster of national songs to an individualpoet Vyasa, just as Bishop Percy's name isassociated with his collection of old Englishballads. The Mah-Bhrata could hardly

have been the outcome of one mind. Evenexternal evidence points to a group of poets.If the Paradise Lost and the NibelungLied were placed by the side of the neidand Iliad, their combined length would fall

short of the Mah-Bhrata.It was only natural that, after the Great War,the Kurus or Bhratas should have patronisedthe joyous troubadours who perpetuated theglorious memory of their ancestors representedin the epic as the Pndava brothers. Poetryseems to have enjoyed a high reputationamong the Kuru clans, for Hindu minstrelsand actors are called bhratas or bhats untothis day.


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V I

THE RMYANA POEM

BUT it was not only the stirring episodes ofthe Mah-Bhrata which the bards recited;the Rmyana has gained even greater popularity among the masses of India. Thename means Rama's Adventures, and theauthor is Vlmiki. The geographical rangeof the poem extends as far south as theDekhan and the isle of Ceylon; hero andheroine are natives of countries which werecolonised by the eastward-pressing Hinduslong after Kuru and Panchla Land. Onthese grounds, the romantic Rmyana isgenerally referred to a later date than themartial Mah-Bharata. The Rmyana hasbeen the inexhaustible source of the Hindutheatre for more than a thousand years.

We again summarise the contents.The Videhas of Tirhut and the Koshalasof Oudh were friendly neighbours. Sta, aVideha Princess, married Rama, the eldestKoshala Prince. The joys and sorrows of


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their wedded life are the centre round which

the story of the Rmyana gathers. In anunguarded moment, Rama's father promisedone of his Queens to banish the youth forfourteen years, and secure to her own son,Bharata, the royal succession.

Rama was a dutiful son, and left KoshalaLand

" Farewell then, my country, farewell for the present!In forests of south shall my footsteps now roam,On Nilgiri Mountains where yogis omniscientHave taken their shram, their heavenly home."

His brother Lakshman and young Sta sharedhis exile in Dandaka Forest situated betweenthe Vindhya Woods and the River Godavery.Rama, devout by nature and chastened bymisfortune, frequently paid visits to thevnaprasthas or forest sages. They wereold men as a rule, ever ready to help andadvise, and led a contemplative life in aquiet shrama (hermitage) near some villagewhere they could cultivate their flower bedsand remain undisturbed in prayer and

meditation. St Agastya was so favourablyimpressed with Rma's earnestness that thesage gave him a magic arrow as a help indanger to come. A l l the elements had contributed to the never-failing weapon. The


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wind had given swiftness of motion, the sun

red heat to its point, and ether made it all-pervasive.Soon after Rama's departure the old King

died of grief and shame, and young Bharatasucceeded to the Crown. Being conscientious and nobler-minded than his schemingmother, the new ruler's first act was to setout with a cavalcade and recall the rightfulKing.

Chitrakuta, Rama's forest abode before hecrossed the Vindhyas, is a lonely mountain

peak in Bundelkhund. The wild beauty ofthe spot has long been consecrated into acity of temples and shrines. The picturesqueheights were then swarming with monkeys,as the legend narrates, and covered with aprofusion of tropical growth. Now they are

adorned with architecture and sculpturerepresenting favourite scenes from theRmayana.

Rama's answer to Bharata was that hislamented father's death did not cancel thegiven promise. He meant to stand by hisparent's word and abide the allotted timeof banishment, When Bharata reluctantlydeparted, the saintly Prince gently admonished him not to feel angry with his royal

c


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mother, but ever treat her with filial respectand tenderness.

" True is Rama, great of soul,Bountiful is he and modest, every sense does he control,Gentle, brave,all creatures love him; keeping in the

righteous way,Numbered with the holy hermits, pure and virtuous as

they."The aboriginal tribes of Lanka or Ceylon

are the Rkshasas of the poem. Their K i n gwas Havana, who represents all that is eviland self-indulgent in man, while gentle Ramaembodies the spirit of self-sacrifice. Rvanawas a monster in shape, and a brute in sentiment. He and his friend Mrcha had beenascetics in their youth, and attained to psychicpowers. They could change their bodies atw i l l and mimic human voices. Rvana's sisterhad met Rama in his solitary wanderings, andbecome love-smitten wi th the handsome Prince.When Rama rejected her advances, the honeyon her lips turned to poison in her heart, andall her thoughts were bent on revenge. She

went back to her brother and dwelt on Sita'scharms so artfully that Rvana became inflamed with carnal passion, and swore that hewould tear the young wife from Rama's lovingarms into his foul embraces. He ordered


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his aerial car, and drove with Mrcha to

Dandaka Forest.Very poetical is Vlmki's description ofthe enchanted car which, like the famousshield of Achilles, was of divine workmanship

" Thereon with wondrous art designed

Were blue-green birds of varied kind,And many a sculptured serpent rolledHis twisted coil in burnished gold.And steeds were there of noblest form,With flying feet as fleet as storm.And elephants with deftest skillStood sculptured by a silver rill,Each bearing on his trunk a wreathOf lilies from the flood beneath.There Lakshmi, Beauty's heavenly Queen,Wrought by the artist's skill, was seenBeside a flower-clad pool to stand,Holding a lotus in her hand."

Rma, his brother, and Sita were enjoyingthe cool of the evening when they saw agraceful fawn l ight ly skipping by. I ts sun-litcoat shone like liquid gold, and Sta expresseda wish to have the pretty creature. Kama,

not slow where his wife's wishes were concerned, ran after the deer to catch i t . Thecunning Mrcha who had transformed himselfinto a deer did not allow himself to be caught,but kept close enough to his pursuer to tempt


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him ever farther away from Sta. At last,

Rma felt impatient and sent an arrow afterthe wi ly fawn. Mrcha uttered a loud cry inRama's voice, and Sta, startled by the well-known sound, hurried Lakshman off to herhusband's assistance. And now she was leftalone in her anguish, and all Nature lookedterrified to her alarmed mind. A mist, of asudden, veiled the sun, and the merry birdshad stopped their song. The flowers beganto tremble, and drooped their perfumed heads.A heavy depression lay on Sita's limbs. She

uplifted her eyes and beheld a holy friar cladlike the forest trees in sombre dress of bastand bark as Hindu ascetics used to wear.Her whole frame shook wi th fear. Rvanafor he was under the friar's cloakhad notime to lose as Rama might be back at anymoment. Wi th the brute force of a tiger heseized his prey and speedily returned to hispalace at Lanka.

Rama, in his distress, wandered about thewoods to find his Sta. When he learned that

she was imprisoned in the Rakshasa city, hehastened down to the south coast. One ofthe rude forest tribes whom the poet hascaricatured as monkeys would not let himpass, but Rama forced his way and,,by some


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brave and generous act, even gained the

friendship of the uncouth foresters. Anarmy of monkeys volunteered to marchagainst the ravisher. The Hindus of theEpic Age do not seem to have known theart of shipbuilding and navigation. TheRmyana has no catalogue of ships like theIliad, but relates how troops of monkeys,after reaching the seashore, flew northward,and brought back huge pieces of rock whichthey had torn off the Himalayas. Crags andtrees were dropped in the Ceylonese Channel

and the hoary ocean god himself joined themto a commodious bridge. The celestial hostlooked on in astonishment, and raised theanthem on h igh" As long as heaven andearth endure, this bridge shall endure andspeak of Rama's fame ! "l And now the armycrossed and besieged the city of Lanka. TheRkshasa forces poured out of the city gates,one stout detachment after the other, but thebrave monkeys held their own. Seven daysthey fought wi th varying success. At last,

Rvana made a sally and, with raised battleaxe, rushed against Rama. But before the1 The rocky islets scattered between Ceylon and the

Indian continent are still known as Rma's Bridgeamong the natives. The English call it Adam's Bridge.


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deadly blow could fall, Agastya's magic arrow

flashed from Rama's bow and kil led thedemon-king.Sita was free, but her trials were not yet

ended. Rama thought her puri ty must besullied by Rvana's contact. The test ofguilt or innocence by ordeal is not unknownin the history of Europe. The glow ofWalter Scott's genius revives the disusedcustom in our fancy when once more wedelight in the eternal youth of the FairMaid of Perth. But the usage was not

restricted to Old England; it also prevailedin Ancient India. Saddened and offendedwith Rama's misgivings, Sta had a funeralpyre erected, and leaped into the greedyflame; but Agni, the god of fire, restoredthe stainless wife unhurt to the overjoyedhusband.

" I n his tears the contrite Rama clasped her in a softembrace,

And the fond forgiving Sta in his bosom hid herface."

The happy pair, and Lakshman, quittedCeylon and, after an absence of fourteenyears, returned to Ayodhya, the Koshalacapital, where Bharata handed the royal


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insignia to Rma, and paid him all honours

due to a king.1Rama is the ideal knight of India. Millionsof hero - worshippers feel inspired by therecords of his saintliness and chivalrythevery qualities which make King Arthur theidol of romantic hearts. Rama receivesdivine honours from the Hindus. Theypray to his spirit, and believe that he dwellswith the blessed gods in Heaven.

" The knight's bones are dust,His good sword is rust,His spirit is with the saints 1 trust!"

V I I

BRAHMANAS AND UPANISHADS

A NEW age had grown up that knew nothingof the old life in the Punjab. Many Vedicpassages were no longer understood, the

1 The district of Ayodhys, is now called Oudh.Bharata, whose mother came from the Punjab, andwas perhaps a Bharata Princess, must not be confusedwith his namesake, the tribal father of the Kuruclans.


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very language of the hymns was antiquated.

Interpretations became necessary, and were,together with the text, handed down fromgeneration to generation. The versionsrapidly increased in number, and varied indifferent families. The Brahmins, intent onthe dign ity of their time-hallowed inst itut ion,brought harmony into the discrepancies, andthus a large literature sprung up called theBrhmanas. They are books dealing wi thsacrificial details, and supporting the established dogma on the authority of the Vedas.

The form of worship was rigidly fixed. Greatcare was taken to preserve the purity of theVedic text . Minute attention was paid tophonetics and accidence. The officiatingpriest had it in his power to pronounce anelaborate sacrifice null and void if, duringprayers, a single accent was put on the wrongsyllable. Travelling scholars gathered roundreputed teachers whose schools became thecentres of intellectual life. Not only questionsof grammar and ritual were discussed, but

speculation took a bolder flight and enquiredinto the relationship between God and thesoul. There must have been a stirringactivity in the universities and at the royalcourts of ancient Hindustan, The King of


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Benares, and Janaka of Videha, the father of

Princess Stta, are frequently mentioned in theliterature of the time as prominent leaders ofthought. Janaka, in his old age, renouncedthe glories of the throne, and became avanaprastha. Thus he anticipated anotherroyal sage, even greater than himselfPrinceGotama, the founder of Buddhism.

The theological speculation of the age isembedded in the Upanishads, which are reallyappendices to the Brhmanas. As the NewTestament dispenses with the Jewish ritual,

yet is part of the same Bible which containsthe Mosaic law books, even so are theUpanishads reckoned among the canonicalbooks of the Veda, although they reject theBrahminic rites as useless. Upanishad meansa forest gatheringdisciples "sitting near"their teacher engaged in religious converse.The Upanishads are not a coherent system ofphilosophy like that of Spinoza, or Berkeley,or Kant, but may be more appropriatelycompared to the Gospel of St John and

other scriptural theosophy.1

They are full1 The ancients meant by theosophy, intuitive wisdom

which shines in pure and selfless hearts. But themodern teachings which are labelled theosophical,though they have appropriated the venerable name and


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of poetry and fanciful narrative, loose inthought and, every now and again, sparklingwi th flashes of philosophic light. The Vedicgods are ignored, and the idea of DivineImmanence takes their place.

" He who dwelling on earth is other thanthe earth, whom the earth knoweth not,whose body is the earth, who is unattachedand, therefore, has power over the earth,that is God, 0 Uddalaka! that is thysoul."1

In the age of the Brhmanas, it was

customary for Aryan boys to live with atutor, generally a priest, for a number ofyears, in order to study the Veda under hisdirection. The relation between teacher andpupil was a sacred bond; tuition meanttutelage and adoption in those days. Thepreceptor loved and fostered his nursling-boy who, in his turn, might become a beacon-

the occult phraseology which has gathered round it,have caught little of the hidden spirit, the soul's truestand hest. Far sounder is the teaching supplied by-

Master Eckhart (A.D. 1300), and Jacob Boehme (1600),two German theosophists ; but what is the pale light oftheir veiled utterances compared to the vivid realisationand fearless language of the golden Upanishads ?

1 Brihad ranyaka, i.e., Great Jungle Upanishad I I I . ,7. 3.


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light of knowledge, and transmit the science

of the age to his own foster-children.1

Satykama was the child of a poor servant-girl, and when the guru (teacher) who wasto instruct him enquired for his family name,the truthful boy answered : " I do not know,sir, of what gotra (family) I am. I askedmother, and she said : ' In my youth whenI moved about much as a servant I conceived thee. I cannot tell of what gotrathou art."'

" Surely, you must be of noble b i r t h ! "

exclaimed the guru. " Only a noble soul canbe so open and frank of speech. Stay withme, I will teach you the Veda, for youhave not turned aside from the truth."

And the young student was told to bringfuel to the sacrificial hearth; this was anold Indian rite symbolical of the performer's

1 The foster-parent had a life-long claim on theaffection as well as worldly possessions of his adoptedpupils and sometimes future heirs. " In default ofkindred," says an old Indian law tract, " the preceptor

inherits, and failing him the disciple." Literary fosterage was well known in Pagan Ireland where theDruids acted as the guardians of national education.Miss Hull, in a charming volume entitled PAGANIRELAND (David Nutt, London, 1904), dwells on theGaelic custom, pp. 128-131.


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fitness for brahmacharya (religious instruc

tion).1 He had to tend his guru's herds,even as Moses when he was young tended

the flock of Jethro, the priest of Midian.Satyakma was faithful to his duty, andgrew in wisdom. A l l creatures loved andtrusted him, he was so gentle and tenderhearted. Not even the shy gazelles andt imid deer fled when he passed. W i l d swans,the raja-hansas, with milk-white bodies andpurple beaks, fluttered tamely about him inthe gloaming. At night fall, after penning

the cows, he would muse and meditate bythe flitting shadows of a blazing fire, orbreak the stillness of the lonely hours withsweet Vedic chants. And in the splendourof the falling stars he saw so many devasdescending the sparkling ladder between skyand earth, and out of the burning logsangelic voices spoke, and revealed unto himthe infinite nature of Brahma. WhenSatyakama returned to the village, the lightof heaven shone in his honest face, and the

guru said: " M y gentle friend, you shine1 BrahmacAarya literary means a course of brahma

or divinity. Brahmachrins are religions studentswhose delight is the Vedic law. Subsequently, theidea of celibacy was associated with the term.


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like one who knows Brahma (God). Whohas taught you the t ruth ?" " Not m a n 'was the brief reply. And God's t ru thwhich Satyakama had learned in lovingconverse with Nature was that the wholeearth, the ocean below, and the skies above,sun and fire, the rushing winds and thebreath of man, planets and moons, and thevoice of the heart, aye, all is divine.1

Mantras, Brhmanas, and Upanishads complete the Veda, and are the Hindu booksof revelation. The idea is that creation is

eternal: the universe proceeds from Godand, after a time, is withdrawn into Him.Between each dissolution and the subsequentrenewal of the world, the Veda lies coiledup in the Creator's mind; all things shall

1

From the ChMndogya, one of the oldest and finestUpanishads. The simple story is composed in homelySanskrit, and is so thoroughly Aryan in spirit thatsome passages awaken classical reminiscences in anoccidental mind, while others almost read as if theywere written in some old English or German dialect.Says the poor mtar (mater) to her boy :

na aham veda tta yad gotras twam asinot I wit (know), sonnie, of what gotra thou art.

"No" is na in Anglo-Saxon, " I " is ih in OldGerman; na ih wit sounds like a clipping of na ahamveda. Tta, in colloquial Sanskrit, is an endearingterm as dadda is in English.


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pass away, but the Veda is everlasting. The

sacred words are the eternal type of things,and the infinite display of created forms isbut a reflection of Divine Thought becomemanifest in the Veda.1

V I I I

SUTRA LITERATURET H E Brhmanas increased so much in volumethat their contents were in danger of beinglost. We must bear in mind that no handytext-books circulated in that early age, butall learning was imparted by word of mouth,and had to be committed to memory, line byline, and chapter by chapter. Abridgmentsof the diffuse Brhmanas were much needed,and the want was supplied in the form of

stras or manuals prepared for the use ofstudents. The sutras gradually replaced the1 The Vedic Hymns are often spoken of as Vedas or

Mantras, but Veda, in the singular, is a more generalterm, and includes the Brhmanas and Upanishads.


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Brahmanas in the religious education of

the country. They are called S M R I T I orRemembrance, because tradition preservedthem in the memory of man.1

The shrauta sutras are condensed treatiseson sacrificial observances. SHEUTI is Revelation, and shrauta means " relating to shruti."2

1 When Buddhism first arose in India, the Stras intheir present form were yet in the making. But in thisbook they are placed before the chapter on Buddha,after the Brhmanas, because the Sutras have grown outof Brahminic rites and precepts.

2 As Kaurava is derived from Kurxi, so shrauta, fromshruti. The Veda (hymns, ritual and Upanishads) isaccepted by orthodox Hindus as shruti, while the twoepics and the stras, even the shrauta stras, are lookedupon as smriti. The Aryan root shru means "hearing,"and shruti is the whole body of Vedic knowledgeexpounded by the gurus, and " heard " by their disciples.Subsequently, the Brahmins interpreted the word asthe inner monitorthe divine voice which the rishis"heard" in an exalted state of illumination.

Shru has not only taken root in the mental soil ofIndia, but also among the Western Aryans who clippedthe old root as usual. The Teutonic nations shortenedshru to hru t the Slavs to sru or sr\ and the Romans to

cru or cr. But none of them could pronounce the letterr distinctly, and they helped themselves out of thedifficulty by changing r to /. Parallel cases are notwanting in other languages. The Chinese, for instance,have no r in their alphabet, and invariably give it an1-sound whenever they come across the objectionable


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One shrauta rite was observed after the

marr iage ceremony in th e new home. T w osticks of sandalwood were smartly rubbedone against the other, and the fire in the

letter in foreign words imported from Eu/ope andAme/ica.

Thus, skru underwent a second change in Europe, andbecame hlu in England, si in Russia, and cl in Italy,all three expressing the idea of "hearing."

Hlust was the name given by the Anglo-Saxons tothe organ of hearing, the ear; A/wstan or, in its modernform, listen literally means to "give ear." The oldspelling of loud was hluA, i.e., "heard" all over the

place, noisy. C/amorous has different initials becauseit is of Latin descent.A client is a man who comes to " hear " what his legal

adviser has to say, and when we speak of the "glorious "reign of a "celebrated" king, we use two words which,in old Latin, were c/oriosus and c/ebratus, and bothmeant "much heard of." The Sanskrit for "glory"is sAravas, and its Russian and Polish equivalent, as wemight expect, is .slava, while slovo signifies speech,i.e., the spoken word which is " heard." Slavonic is thenational "speech" of the slavs or "speakers." TheirGerman neighbours who could not speak Slavonic,were nicknamed dummies (NIEMIEZ in Polish). Somescholars interpret Slav as "glorious." But the Slavsare little given to national vainglory, and it is notlikely that they should ever have styled themselves LANATION GLORIEUSE. Slava came to mean "glory" inRussian, just as rya came to mean "noble" inSanskrit, long after the two names Slav and Aryan


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hearth was lighted with the spark produced.

Bride and bridegroom would sit up togetherpart of the night, say their prayers by thefireside, and endeavour to realise the divinespark in the earthly flame. The rite wascalled Agni-dhana.1

Most private ceremonies such as marriage,child-birth, or the burial of the dead, arebriefly commemorated in the grihya stras.Grihya is the adjective "domestic." Aspecial Day of the Dead, like the FETE DESMORTS in France, was set apart and heldsacred. As we lay floral wreaths on thegraves of our beloved, so the ancient Hindusoffered shraddha or oblations to their dearones who had passed away.2 Some grihyastras are short family prayers, others havereference to the celebrations of the new

moon, harvest festival, and different holidaysthroughout the year.1 Literally "keeping up the fire." Sanskrit agni

(the agile flame) is the same word as Latin ignis; toignite means to set on "fire."

2 We have seen in a previous note that the Sanskritletters shr correspond to cr in Latin. The Apostles'Creed begins with Credo, i.e.> I believe, and shrddhais a "believer in the Veda." Offerings to the deadbeing in accordance with the Vedic creed were alsocalled shrddha.

D


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Shrauta and grihya rites constituted the

holy sacraments. Being the same all overIndia they helped to strengthen the bond offellow-feeling, and to unite the Hindu peoplefrom the Punjab to Cape Comorin, and fromBombay to Calcutta.

A nation is made up of families, and a codeof civic duties is the natural outcome of thedai ly round of home duties. Law in Indiaas in every other country has grown out ofdomestic customs. Grihya stras gave riseto dharma stras or law compendiums. It

may interest the reader to know that marriagewithin at least four degrees of descent wasprohibited in Ancient India, so that even theline of cousins' children had no legal titleto be joined in holy matr imony. But noobjection was raised to a Hindu marrying hiswife's sister, even as the Jewish patriarch didnot offend the Mosaic law because he weddedLeah and Eachel, the two daughters of Laban.Child-marriages and the burning of widows(suttee) were not sanctioned by the dharma

stras, but are a graft of later growth.1

1 Compulsory suttee was unknown in the Vedic age,although there may have been devoted Hindu wiveswho scorned to survive their wedded lord, and chosevoluntary death, which they believed would give theminseparable union with the beloved.


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The Upanishads were likewise arranged ina systematic form. Such theological manualswere called Brahma stras because theyenquire into the nature of Brahma or God.Little intelligible by themselves, on accountof their brevity, they proved useful as

summaries indicating the thread of theteacher's arguments.1 Many were the Brahmastras composed by the learned, but none saveBdarayan's are extant. They are abrupt andenigmatical like a table of contents, or a

1

Sutra, literally, thread of an argument, bears thesame etymological relation to suture (sewing) as text totexture (weaving). The German word for text-book isleit-faden, i.e., the "leading thread" or first principleswoven into a fabric of connected thought. The loomand the spinning-wheel, without which no primitivehousehold was complete, are fossilised both in extinctand living metaphor. In Merry Old England, the glee-men or "weavers of song" wove a charm of poetryround tribal feuds and cattle raids, and professionalstory-tellers in highly-coloured language spun never-ending yarns in the ale-house or on the village-green.The young /dlows at home had the care of the family

fee or cattle, whilst their unmarried sisters were busy inthe house as spwsters and sempstresses. In those dayswhen matrimony and motherhood were looked upon aswoman's most sacred duty to the race, the spinster wasbut rarely an old maid. But the age in which theAnglo-Saxon sempstress lived is comparatively modern


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abounds in homely similes to illustrate themeaning of ahankra whence all egoismsprings, and of gnna, without which therecan be no salvation. The air in an invertedcup is shut off from the surrounding atmosphere, but once remove the cup, and alldistinction ceases. One element remains,boundless and undivided. Ahankara is likethe cup, and those who make a constanteffort to deny themselves, to break the shellof their hardened nature, succeed in the endin getting r id of the illusory self. No sooner

is the mainspring of selfishness destroyed thantma (the individual soul) is set free, and oncemore mingles with Brahma (the universalsoul) who is all in all.

As rays issuing from the sun are notdifferent from the sun, as billows rising onthe sea are the same as the sea, as sparksflying from the fire are nothing but fire, the soul coming from God is God. God isLove, and love alone is the true nature ofthe soul.

Vedanta means End of the Veda, its finallesson. What is taught in that last lesson isdiscrimination between soul and personality,which is like a veil over the soul. This veilof Nature which conceals the True is called


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mya in the language of Vednta, An

exuberance of poetry has grown round theword mya which is feminine gender inSanskrit, while tma is masculine. Mayais a charm-weaver, the arch-mage of thecosmos; her fairy wand conjures up thetransient glories of this earth the play-ground of our senses. She is the World-Mother who gives birth and individuality tothe whole creation. Individual life, with itApril tears and laughter, travels over anuncertain sea from the dawn of childhood

to the last long sleep, but the soul isunbegotten and immortal. Maya displaysher seductive charms in order to captivatetma, whose native air is freedom. If heyields to her witchery and becomes a slaveto nature, a world of delusions and vanitiesemerges from Mya's womb. The Indiannotion of mya comes very near the Christianconception of original sin. We are all bornin mya, and the shadows of inbred evilhover around us until the light of gnnascatters them, and points the way fromnature unto grace.1

1 mya = matter. The mother provides a body forher babes; she cuts out their physical material, so tospeak; hence she is called mater in Latin W O ^ J


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Atheism is defined by the Vedantic doctors

as unbelief in the divinity of the soul, butknowledge has saving power: when God isknown, the heart is at rest, and the wearyround of sansra (transmigration) ends ineternal peace. Shankara declares that arighteous life and meritorious acts, thoughpromoting godliness and preparing the heartfor moksha (freedom), cannot directly save ;the soul has yet to learn that it always hasbeen, is now, and ever shall be divine, andnothing but divine.

However strange the doctrine that the soulis one with God may appear to us, there canbe no doubt that Vednta has been a blessingand a source of strength to untold numbers ofHindus who, without that guiding star, mighthave suffered moral shipwreck, tossed aboutas they have been in the contending waves ofreligious strife which has agitated India forseveral thousand years. Vednta seems to usa practical creed which, if taken in earnest,cannot but enrich and ennoble life, in the

means literally "measurable." The idea of measuringis at the root of matter as well as mind (rnanas inSanskrit). Mind is the faculty of measuring, weighing,

judging things. The Vedic hymns are called Mantrapoetry because they are composed in a sacred metre ormeasure.


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most exalted station as well as in the

humblest position. Yet we cannot altogetheragree with the band of enthusiasts who, atpresent, make propaganda for Vednta inthe West. We have a strong feeling thatVednta will never take the place of Christianprinciple. Such endeavours are creditablebecause they mean well, but must of necessityfail, for the simple reason that they entirelyignore religious evolution. They can haveno more success than a possible attempt toreplace the English by the Italian language

because of its softer sound to some ears;the tongue of Dante could never be natural,but at best artificial growth in the drawing-rooms of New York and London.

Again, the intr insic merits of Vednta are allto be found in Christianity if people will onlytake the trouble to search the Scriptures andtheir own hearts. The star of Bethlehem isbut a humble flower in the garden of the soul,but like the shamefaced violet, is rich inhidden beauty. The weight of religion lies

not altogether in philosophic depth, but evenmore in a pure and simple faith which canbe made a practical standard in the manifoldrelations of every-day life. Such a faith, webelieve, is Christianity. Yet these reflections


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taxed without being politically represented.The Roman Empire was held together bycoercive laws and military force, and forthis very reason tottered and fell fifteenhundred years ago. But the English idealof Empire, far loftier and truer, is extensionof local self-government and Imperial Federation. Great Britain has no desire to rule acrowd of slaves in her vast dominions beyondthe seas, but rather looks forward to that" diviner day " when all her sons, independent

of race and colour, shall be free members ofthe Empire, taking an adequate share of itsresponsibilities and, at the same time, helpingto make their own national laws.

A larger proportion of native gentlemen

in the Indian Army as well as Civil Service,and a good secular education provided forthe masses, together with a living faith inVednta, are the best means we can thinkof for securing the future welfare of the

people of India.


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X

BUDDHISM

H I N D U rule spread from the Ganges acrossthe Vindhyas; what the sword could notconquer was aryanised by the power ofthe mind. Malva, in Central India, andMagadha, in the district of modern Patna,became flourishing kingdoms, although theydid not rise to prominence for a long time

to come. The priestly caste predominateduntil the bracing air of free religious enquirythreatened its very existence. The rationalistic age of India, as it has been called, ischaracterised by the rise of two greatreform movementsVedanta and Buddhism.Vedanta is orthodox and accepts the VedicWord, but no longer in a literal sense. Theinterpretation of Scripture by the Vedntictheologians is extremely bold and independent.1 Buddhism, on the other hand, is

1

St Paul interpreted the rites and precepts of theOld Testament as freely as Shankara would have doneif he had been a Christian. In the Epistle to theRomans (ii. 29), the Apostle defines circumcision not asa mere surgical operation on the skin, but as a divineoperation in the heart. Again, in the First Epistle to


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Gotama Buddha was born in Kapilavastu,a few days' caravan journey from Benares.His father governed one of the aristocraticrepublics in the ancient land of Oudh. ThePrinceif that title may be applied to aRajput or son of a ruling nobleshowedearly signs of an introspective mind. Forhours he would muse alone, while his playfellows enjoyed the healthy exercise of outdoor games. And the boy's heart was heavywhen he contemplated the beauty of Naturebudding out in all these lovely shapes, but

only meant to sink into an early grave.Whatever comes to life, he would reason, isdoomed to change and decay. The bloom ofyouth will bleach into the snow of old age.Life lasts but a while, and is full of care andsorrow. Child-bed and death-bed are attendedby suffering. Gratification of personal desiresis bound up with pain, and each struggle ofthe individual to assert himself is but a cupof bitterness. The keenest joys are tingedwi th sadness. Ah , to be r id of life which

is the cause of all this grief and anguish!Suicide is of no avail, it does not touch theroot of the evil . Cut the full-blown roses,the bush is not dead, a mass of blossoms wi l lburst forth again. Craving for life is the


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root of life. To harbour no more delight in

created things, to renounce all attachment toform and sensethat, indeed, might destroythe material out of which the individual isbuilt up, and bring everlasting rest.

Moving on similar lines of thought, youngGotama easily persuaded himself to turn arecluse. One night, he parted from hisbeloved wife and new-born babe. He wasunder thirty years of age when he left hisfather's palace secretly. Not a ruler of menhe wished to be, but their teacher, lover, friend.

"Full of hindrances is the household life,a path defiled by passion. Free as the airis the life of him who has renounced allworldly desires. How difficult it is for aman who dwells at home to live the higherlife in all its fulness, purity, and brightperfection! Let me then cut off my hairand beard, let me wear orange - colouredrobes, and go forth from the household lifeto the homeless state."*

The Prince first went to study theology

under the Brahmins. But the r igid dogma1 The quotations in this chapter are selected from a

translation by Professor Rhys Davids, but his wordshave, now and again, been altered so as to fit into theframe of our narrative.


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which they taught impeded his soaring spirit.He scorned Vedic or any other authority.Personal experience was his only court ofappeal in matters of religion. An d thesacrificial rites repelled his gentle heart.He felt keenly for the suflfering animals thatwere slaughtered for use on the altar. Howcan good come out of evil ? Gotama askedhimself. When the schools of theology failedto clear up his difficulties he looked out forother means of knowledge. It so happenedthat he saw five anchorites engaged in

yoga, i.e., methodical restraint of the mindand senses. The Prince gladly joined theircompany, and only after six years of earnestapplication he abandoned all ascetic practicesas ultimately ineffectual. He found out thatneither bodily torture nor mental abstractioncan give freedom to the soul.

One day, we read, the Prince was sittingunder a bo-tree, " i n that devout meditationof the heart which springs from within,"when suddenly a flood of light rushed into

his soul, and the truth was revealed to theBuddha.1 His doubts melted away like1 The founders both of Buddhism and Christianity

are best known by Aryan names. Buddha means"illumined" in Sanskrit, and Christ "anointed" or


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f leet ing clouds i n the summer sun, and

Gotama realised that pity for all createdlife, love for love's sake, is true salvationfrom misery and sin.

" A man who is k i n d , f u l l of love, andpure in heart , master of himselfheO Vsettha, is near the blessed Nirvna."

Nirvana is regarded as a spiritual statewhere all thought of personality is exti ngu ished . E v e r y t h i n g in the way of self-denial tends towards it, while selfishnessleads far the r away f rom Ni rvana . As th ecountless ages of t he past hav e c o n t r i b u t e dto w ha t we are now, so t he dest inies of thefu tu re lie in the hands of th e l i v i n g .1 Aconsecrated in Greek. The word Buddha expresses aspiritual state rather than the historical personage whoattained unto it, just as the Christ represents thespirit of consecration to the service of humanity. TheBuddha is an eternal principle which was exemplifiedin Gotama to perfection.

1 The same thought holds good collectively andindividually. A man's "character" is shaped by thesum-total of his "doings" in the past; hence bothwords are rendered in Sanskrit by Karma, from kar(to do).

" Our deeds still travel with us from afar,And what we have been makes us what we are."

Personal habits and conduct, both good and evilfortune, and the fate in store for usall these ideasare expressed by the word Karma.


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Buddhist does not look forward to the joys

of a local heaven where he shall meet hisfriends in person. The meeting, in hisopinion, takes place even now, and heaccounts for the strong likes and dislikeswhich total strangers are often seen to taketo one another by personal association inprevious bodies. The ideal of Buddhists isthe Impersonal, and their hope rests on thebelief that self-sacrifice and sympathy withthe rational as well as the dumb creationcannot die, that every loving thought and

act of kindness will live on as an ennobliand cleansing impulse in the generations tocome.

" We can make our love sublime,And departing leave behind usFootprints in the sands of time.

" Footprints that perhaps anotherSailing o'er life's solemn main,A forlorn and shipwrecked brotherSeeing shall take heart again."

On his way to Benares, the Buddha met

the five yogis or ascetics with whom he hadlived so long." When they saw him from a distance, one

said to another : ' Friend, here comes Gotama.He has turned aside again from the sparing


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use of the necessaries of life, and has re

covered roundness of form, acuteness ofsense, and beauty of complexion. Let us payhim no reverence, but as he is, after all, of agood family, he deserves the honour of a seat.Let us simply prepare a seat for him/

" Then the Buddha, by the power that hehad of knowing what was passing in theminds of all men, knew their thoughts. Andconcentrating that feeling of his love whichwas able to pervade the four quarters of theearth, he directed it specially towards them.

And as he came nearer and nearer, theywere unable to adhere to their resolve, andrising from their seats, they bowed low andpaid reverence to the Buddha."

For nearly fifty years, the saint wanderedthrough the valley of the Ganges, staff andalmsbowl in hand, begging his bread fromvillage to village. He comforted, and helped,and preached to the people, no respecter ofcaste, and the people loved him for his sweetness and humili ty. A small band of earnest

followers were the first members of theSangha or Buddhist Order which is nowthe leading church in Burma, Siam, and theFar East.

The new doctrine did not only appeal to


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the easily-aroused masses, but also to the

higher castes. Kshatriyas and Kings wereamong the Buddha's converts. VenerableBrahmins embraced and enthusiasticallydefended the reformed faith. Says the oldpriest Pingiya:

" Well , I praise that beautiful voice, thevoice of him who is without stain andfolly, who has left self-righteousness farbehind.

" The darkness-dispelling Buddha, the all-seeing who knows all hearts : he has come

nigh even unto me." And as a b i rd would pass by the dense jungle and take up his abode in the fruitfulforest, even so I, leaving the men of narrowviews, am like a swan that has gained thebroad waters.

" Those who before explained to me theteaching of Gotama, only added to my doubts.There is but one, Gotama of great understanding, Gotama of great wisdom who hastaught me the truth."

His friend rejoins, " Canst thou then stayaway from him even for a moment, 0Pingiya ?" and the old man answers :

"Not even for a moment do I stay awayfrom him, 0 Brahmin. I see him with m


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mind's eye all day long. In reverencing him

do I spend the night; therefore, methinks,he cannot be far from me."Belief and joy incline me to Gotama's

doctrine; whichsoever way the saint goeth,that selfsame way my heart will turn.

" I am worn out and old and feeble. It istrue my body cannot go. But in thought Ialways go there, for my heart, 0 Brahmin, is

joined to him."And lo! a golden light played round

Pingiya's silver hair, and the Buddha

appeared to him in a vision and said :" As the faith of Vakkhali became set freefrom doubt, even so shall thy faith grow clear,0 Pingiyathou shalt reach the haven ofrest."

Buddhism has gained a hold over a thirdof mankind because of its moral beauty.Over and over again, a clean heart and goodconduct are enjoined, and when Vsetthaasks wherein a man's goodness consists, theBuddha replies:

"Herein, 0 Vasettha, that putting awaythe murder of that which lives, he abstainsfrom destroying life. Cudgel and sword helays aside, and full of modesty and pity heis compassionate and kind to all creatures


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70 Short Hi st or y of Indian Li te ra ture

that have life. This is the k ind of goodnesswhich he has."Putting away the theft of that which isnot his, he abstains from anything not hisdue. He takes only what is his due, therewith is he content, and he passes his lifein honesty. This is the k ind of goodnesswhich he has.

" Put t ing away slander and ly ing , heabstains from calumny. What he hears herehe repeats not elsewhere, to raise a quarrelagainst the people here; what he hears else

where he repeats not here to raise a quarrelagainat the people there. Thus he lives, abinder-together of those who are divided, anencourager of those who are friends, a peacemaker, a lover of peace, a speaker of wordsthat make for peace.

" Putting away bitterness of speech, he abstains from harsh language. Whatever wordis kindly, pleasant to the ear, loving, reachingthe heartsuch are the words he speaks.

"Putting away foolish talk, he abstains

from vain conversation. In season does hespeak, he speaks fact, he utters good doctrine.He speaks that which redounds to profit,which is well-grounded, and full of wisdoThis is the kind of goodness which he has."


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Such was the teaching that " gladdenedand aroused the heart of Ambapli, thecourtesan. And when she heard that Buddhahad arrived at her village, and was stayingin her mango grove, she ordered magnificentcarriages to be made ready, and drove withher waiting-women to the grove. And shepaid homage to the Buddha, and respectfullyinvited him and the brethren to partake ofsome refreshment at her house on the following day. And Buddha, by silence, gave hisconsent.

" And he robed himself early in the morning, and went with the brethren to herdwelling-house. And she set sweet rice andcakes before her guests, and waited on themin person.

" When the meal was over, Ambapali, thecourtesan, had a stool brought, and sat downby Buddha's side, and addressed him in thesewords :

" * Lord, I present this building to theorder of mendicants of which the Buddha

is the head/" The gift was accepted, and after instructing and gladdening her heart with religiousdiscourse, Buddha rose from his seat anddeparted thence/'


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Vihras or Buddhist monasteries were, as a

rule, not buildings, but caves dug into therock. Mr Fergusson tells us that one ofthe Ajanta caves in Central India contains"sixteen cells for the accommodation ofmonks; there is a large assembly hall in thecentre, a veranda in front, and a sanctuaryin the back. Roof and pillars are ornamentedwith arabesque designs, and fresco paintingscover the walls entirely." Large numbers ofviMras have been found east of Benares, inmodern Behar, i.e., the vihdr or monastic

country. The toranas or archways leadinginto the caves were frequently embellishedwith fine sculpture. Sacred history providedthe artist wi th ample material. But thehumour and pathos of life were too preciousand real to be neglected by Buddhist genius.Dying soldiers amidst the rage of battle;triumphal entries with captured elephantsand prisoners of war; pompous musicians ina scene of frolic, and light-stepped dancing-girls, their loose hair intertwined with lotuses

and roses; drinking and gambling groups incity taverns; rustic swains making love tocoy shepherdesses, and the hundred touchesof humanity that never grow old as longas the heart is young, have found faithful


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expression in the chiselled stone. But the

wild fancies of Hindu art cannot compare withthe perfect proportions of Greek sculpture,because decorative art, according to the samewriter, was at all times restricted to the lowercastes, while the intellectual classes of India,even to-day, look down upon manual labourwith disdain.

When Buddha felt that his end was near,he called his disciples, and exhorted them tokeep the dhamma or good law.

" Be earnest, brethren, holy, fu l l of thought.

Be steadfast in resolve, keep watch over yourhearts; he that wearies not, but holds fast totruth and law, shall cross the river of life,shall make an end of grief."

And Ananda went aside and wept.If the criterion of religion is faith in

personal god, a Buddhist must be pronouncedan atheist. But we believe that a righteouslife is lived, not merely because of hope forheaven and fear of hell, but chiefly becausegoodness and truth lie deep in every human

breast. Can we do better than think of Godas inf inite love and goodness? Buddhisminculcates moral earnestness on the groundthat eternal love and wisdom cannot beclearly seen beneath the troubled waters, but


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are pellucid when the lake of the mind isruffled and agitated no longer by the stormsof passion and vanity.

" When the sage, by earnestness, has drivenvanity far away, the terraced heights ofwisdom doth he climb, and free from care,looks down upon the care-worn crowd, as hewho stands upon a mountain top looks downserene on toilers in the plain."

X I

THE INSTITUTES OF MANU

IN the literature of Germany, heroic poetrywas followed by Catholic theology, but nosooner did Luther restore Christian worshipto purer and simpler forms, than the finesystems of the Dominican monks were for

gotten, and popular sentiment was carriedaway by the smoother current of poeticalteaching. The homely morality of HansSachs, the cobbler of Nuremberg, whosesongs are sweet and fresh as the flowers in


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the field after a spring shower, was greeted

with enthusiasm in every German home.1

Similarly, the Hindus got tired of thecompact stras which were so hard to understand, and the rules and precepts, that areknown as the Institutes of Manu, found acordial welcome in India after Buddha'sreformation. They are not a guide forlawyers such as may be seen in a solicitor'soffice, but moral and legal obligations happilyblended and written in easy verse. In theoriginal texts, Manu depicted life as he saw

it, or wished to see it, on the shores of theGanges, some hundred years before Christ.The revised version, in which his code hasbeen preserved, is of a much later date, andbelongs to the time when the Buddhistsupremacy was passing away. But theordinances themselves are based on ancientusages which prevailed in the earliest Hindusettlements.

The Vedic household did not consist ofparents and children only, but was a large

family gathering, governed by patriarchallaws. Uncles and nephews, cousins andother kin, lodged under the same hospitable

1 Sachs (pronounce zax) was quite a young manwhen Luther began to translate the Bible into German.


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roof. They had a jo in t - interest in the

heritage, and worshipped the same tutelarygods, the trusted guardians of the hearthand plough. Impl ic i t obedience to thedampati or domestic chief drew the bondsof blood s t i l l closer. In the wars of paganEngland, the boar-crested helmet of thedampati glittered amidst the ashen shaftsand linden shields of his loving kinsmen.The Saxon as well as the Vedic host marchedinto battle, drawn up in families and clans.1Within the shelter of the clan all men were

freemen because they shared all things incommon. But the spir it of clannish independence was narrow and full of jealousy.Freedom could not burst into wider bounds,and rest securely on the nation's w i l l , underthe paternal government of the Hindu dampati. At his death, the eldest son succeededto the management of the estate, and thesupreme control of the joint-household. Ifthe younger brothers chose to separate, andset up house for themselves, they were

welcome to do so, and Manu gives full1 The suffix "ing" is characteristic of English clan

names, e.g., the Readings who settled in Berkshire, orthe Farings who planted their freeholds on the (hums ofFsunngdon.


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directions as to the fair partition of the

patrimony.1

A cluster of Indian homesteads in the samevicinity was called a vish or village ; the headof the village community being the vishpati(dis tr ic t elder). Again, a group of villageswas under the jurisdiction of a raja orchieftain who directed the public affairs.2

1 The first-born heir, however, took the lion's share;he was lord of the manor. The old English aristocracyentailed the broad lands which they owned by right ofconquest. It was a precautionary measure lest thefamily property, at any time, by bequest or sale, mightpass into other hands. The co-heirs had to contentthemselves with the tenure of a farm held of their eldestbrother. Some became so impoverished that they couldnot even afford to keep a servant, but grazed andmilked their few cows themselves. The people, halfin scorn and half in pity, called such ill-providedgentlemen bachelor^ i.e., cowmen, from the Frenchword vache (cow). The name was then transferredto poor fellows who cannot afford to marry. But thenational household of old had small accommodation forcelibates. Husbandmen were expected to be husbands,and raise a son and heir. In Ancient India, no un

married man, unless he was a yogi who had renouncedthe world, was much thought of either in society or inthe Senate. Of course, it was quite out of the questionthat a bachelor could be a dampatithe patron andprotector of a home. Dampati = pater of a family.

2 Rja= Latin rex, i.e., director.


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The revenue of the raja was derived froma substantial tithe which the vaishyas orvillagers allowed him on the produce oftheir land, and the sales of merchandiseand cattle. The law book lays downminutely the various regal functions. Ona whole, they coincide with those of thehousefather, but on a larger scale. Thechieftain and dampati were both absoluterulers in their respective domains. Theparent's authority at home expanded intothe autocracy of the throne. The argument

could easily be pushed further, since inevery constitutional monarchy despots andautocrats have been the forerunners of representative forms of government. Thereis not a single aspect of national life withouta domestic subsoil. Townships have grownout of homesteads, and kingship is but anextension of kinship.1

1 The very words king and queen once meant fatherand mother. The idea embedded in the word pateris potent, paternity or fatherhood being the expression

of manly vigour and sexual strength. Potentate isanother derivative of potent, i.e., pati in Sanskrit.Pati has become quite an international term. InHindustan, landed proprietors are called kshetrapatis.In Iran, ksk#trap&ti was shortened to satrap, and cameto mean Governor of a province. The kshetrapatis of


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On the modern family tree, the sapling-branches no sooner ripen into manhood andwomanhood than, as a rule, they are cutoff and transplanted to a new home. Butaffinity of blood had a firmer grip on theprimitive household, although hatred andrevenge often bred civil strife if a divisiondid occur.1 In the Indo-European homeland,

India organised themselves into a Land Defence orKshatriya League, and the ruling kshatriya, of Persiais the Shah. The Ottoman Provinces are governed byTurkish Pashas, i.e., Pati-Shahs; the Sultan himself isstyled Padishah or Lord-Governor. Again, despot isconnected with d&mpati, the parent-ruler of the Hinduhome. The dampati of the Capulet household, indeed,dealt more like a despot than a father with Lady Juliet.

Each Saxon settlement was fenced with a ton orhedge; the word is still used in Germany where zaundenotes a fence. The neatly-tonned domiciles of theHarlings and Watlings grew into the townships ofHarlingfott and Watlingfcw. The homestead of theBillings became the hamlet of Billingham, and the citiesof Nottingham and Birmingham, no doubt, are similardevelopments of joint-family estates.

1 In the days gone by, kinship embraced the father's

side only, and a clansman looked on his wife's relationsas outsiders rather than kinsfolk. The Aryan bride,after leaving her parents and the old home, did notreside with her husband in a house of their own, butthey dwelled together with his people in the familyestablishment where he was bred and born.


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it was quite a common occurrence that strife

between two herdsmen plunged a whole clanin bloodshed and vendetta. The Kauravasand Pandavas, two mighty scions of onelofty stem, did not scruple to shed eachother's blood at Kurukshetra. Their forbears came from the Punjab where a confederacy with nine other patrician housesgave them a leading position. But the tenallies were defeated in a decisive battle byKing Rma's gallant sires who won immortalfame in Vedic warfare and sacred minstrelsy.

In the Epic Age, the heroic Kurus, thenresident in the Gangetic Valley, had longrecovered their national prestige. ThePanchalas, five noble off-shoots of an ancientseed, were their rivals and neighbours onthe south-eastern border.1 The Kurus, aftergaining a victory over them, fraternised,and even formed a new league with thevanquished foe. The united warbands ofthe Kuru-Panchlas swept the once-victoriousKoshalas down the great river into the land

of Oudh where fresh laurels awaited theglorious race of Rma. The friendship ofthe Kurus and Panchlas was strengthened

1 Panchlas means the Five Boroughs if the name iscorrectly derived from pancha, the Sanskrit word for five.


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by intermarriage between their royal houses.

Prince Arjun wedded Lady Draupadi, whokept house for the five brothers in theJungle. Pndu's and Dhritarshtra's hostilesons represent powerful tribal families,organised like the vast pastoral householdsof early Israel, but more stationary, lessnomadic.1

Manu enumerates, at great length, howthe daily life of the Sovereign is to bespent, and what principles should govern hisactions. Never to recede from combat, to

protect his subjects, and pay due honourto the priestly caste, is the highest dutyof a king. He should act as a father tohis people, and they should love and cherishhim, and never treat him lightly. For aking is not an ordinary mortal, proceeds the

code, but a powerful divinity who appearsin a human shape.2 In his valour dwells1 Joint-households of lesser dimensions, and without

a common ancestry, were the Montagues and Capuletsof medival Verona. The fatal loins of these twohereditary foes gave life to a pair of star-crossed loverswho, with their tragic death, buried the unhappyfamily feud.

2 The same idea prevailed among the Anglo-Saxons.Their early kings claimed divine descent from Wodan,chief god of the Teutons.

F


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conquest, and death in his wrath. It is by

royal favour that abundance spreads herwings. Knowing that law is grounded onimmemorial custom, let the raja preserveevery good usage which is well established.In the administration of justice, he is to beassisted by a court of learned Brahmins, whomust have a thorough knowledge of thecivil and penal statutes, and loyally upholdthe national institutions which the godsordained.1

The whole body of unwritten tradition

was codified, in divers places and sundrydigests, by the Brahmin-jurists who madethe new enactments subservient, in the firstplace, to sacerdotal interests. Thus, variousschools of law sprung up, all propoundingtheir own principles of jurisprudence. Thepriest-judges who wove the texture of theirlearning round Manu's venerable name werefinal winners in the legal contest, and leftall rival teachers far behind. Unto thepresent day, Hindu lawyers acknowledge

Manu as their foremost authority. This raresuccess was largely due to the excellence1 The Gaelic conception of the duties of a righ or

chieftain, and the Indian notion of an ideal rj wereequally lofty. See PAGAN IEBLAND, pp. 46-50,


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of the code, but no less to its staunch con

servatism. The ordinances of Manu embodythe customary laws which had been handeddown from Vedic antiquity, and at the sametime reflect the social life of later dayswhich too have long passed into history.1

The conditions of society are oftenmeasured by the position that woman holdsin i t . Hindu matrons seem to have enjoyedmuch respect and domestic influence atManu's time.2 The seclusion of women inzenanas is no Hindu custom at all, but was

introduced in India after the MohammedanConquest, about the time when the Planta-genets rose to power in England. Slavetrade was known among the ancient Hindusquite as much as among the classical nationsof Europe. Manu states that money-lenderswere entitled to charge fifteen per cent.

1 Manxx was not an individual lawgiver like Moses,but the name is symbolical and signifies mind (inarmsin Sanskrit, mens in Latin). Kational creatures arecalled men and vromen because of their mental capaci

ties ; the dumb brutes cannot reason. Law and orderare the offspring of the human mind, hence Manuis regarded by the Hindus as the father of Indianlaw, and the progenitor of mankind.

2 "Where woman is honoured there is joy in heaven,where she is despised religious acts become fruitless"


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annual interest on secured loans, and that

slave-girls passed as security.1But we are not so much concerned with

actual law as with national ideals, and it willbe more apposite to say something aboutManu's ethical code.

Manu praises humility as the great teacherin life-

"From poison thou may'st take the food of life,The purest gold from lumps of impure earth,Examples of good conduct from a child,Something from allfrom men of low degreeLessons of wisdom if thou humble be."

It is better for the heart to be reviled thanexalted"Shrink thou from worldly honour as from poison,

Seek rather scorn; the scorned may sleep in peace,In peace awake; the scorner perishes."

F a i t h in God is an efficient ta l i sman againsts in

"He who with faith unshaken sees himselfAnd all things in the Universal SoulCannot apply his mind to wickedness."

1 The price of a slave-woman was fixed by law atso many cows or head of horned cattle. Similar conditions existed in Ancient Ireland; the Gaelic wore"cumal" denoting either a female slave or threemilch-cows.


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Future suffering for vice and folly is held up

by the lawgiver as an incentive to a virtuouslife" Those who repeat their vicious acts are doomed

To misery increasing more and moreIn forms becoming more and more debased.

"Just in proportion as immortal soulAddicts itself to sensuality,In that degree the senses shall becomeIntensely keen in future wanderings." 1

X I I

LATER PHASES OF BUDDHISM

T H E Emperor Ashoka, who was a grandson ofChandragupta, had edicts engraven on rocksand pillars al l over India. Numerous inscriptions have been discovered which form avaluable chronicle of the time. They givean account of Ashoka's conquest of Bengal;of Buddhist mission stations established inEgypt, Syria, and Greece; of hospitals andmedical aid provided for man and beast.

1 The above translations are by Sir Monier-Williams.


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One stone has a sermon on the beauty ofholiness, another declares that religion isnot dogma, but mercy, charity, and truth.Tolerance to all sects, kindness to animals,and other moral precepts are enjoined onthese venerable monuments of more than twothousand years' standing. But Ashoka was apowerful ruler as well as an earnest Buddhist.He consolidated and enlarged his grandfather'sempire until it reached from the Bay of Bengalto the Hindu Kush Mountains ; even some ofthe Dekhan tribes acknowledged his over-

lordship.India was then, as it is now, a conglomeration of races, and counted far more foreignersthan Hindus. Ashoka's religious zeal andripe statesmanship helped to establish a creedwhich, at no time, made the slightest distinction between Aryan and barbarian. Thetendency of Buddhism to fall in with popularnotions did the rest. But it was a fatalpolicy to court the illiterate masses and adaptthe ceremonial to their craving for outward

show. The politic condescension was dearlypaid for in the end when the indulgedpopulace dragged religion down into idlepomp and image worship.

We have a graphic description of a Buddhist


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festival from the pen of a Chinese pilgrim

who visited India in the seventh century ofour era. The downfall of llaga31ia had longbeen followed by the ascendency of Kanouj,once the classical ground of the Kurus andPanchalas. When Hiouen Thsangthat isthe name of the distinguished travellerarrived at the Court of Kanouj, King Harshawas celebrating the consecration of an imageof Buddha. The Raja had wi th him his friendand ally of Assam, and twenty feudal Princesof Hindustan were also present to take part

in the ceremony. The ever-increasing numberof sightseers found accommodation on hugestands and under spreading trees which linedthe processional route. Striped canvasmarquees were gaily decked with wavingflags and silken banners, and coloured lampswere disposed about the music kiosks to be litup at nightfal l. Kashmir carpets into whichfantastic designs of birds and plants had beenskil fully worked, were spread all the way fromthe royal palace to a shrine where relics of

the Buddha and of canonised saints were deposited. Blowers of bugle-horns and beatersof cymbals opened the cortege. Next camethe state coaches, old-fashioned and quaintlyornamented with gilt figures of Hindu gods.


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The Court officials who occupied them were

attired in finest Benares muslin and shimmering brocade, their turbans and sword handlesbeing studded with jewels. A train of youthful pages clad in silver-stitched garments boredainty cups and lavers for holy use. Cagedlions and panthers excited wild cries of admiration from the gazing crowd. Singing-birdsof bright plumage were perched on flower-woven chains, and outlandish slaves in dazzlingwhite and flaming purple carried the graceful curves at equal distances. Tender-aged

bayaderes, with jingling tambourines andchiming anklets, moved their supple limbs toa soft, l ight tune. A detachment of theEoyal Bodyguard escorted a richly-caparisonedelephant; its saddle-cloth was fringed withsilver bells, and embroidered with mysticsigns. On the animal's back reposed, on alovely lotus throne, a golden image of Buddha,the object of the celebration. The posture ofthe figure was cross-legged, in yogi fashion,and the sacred head was crowned with a

diadem of flashing sapphires and chasteemeraldsemblem of a celestial aureole. Fouracolytes held over it a canopy of roses andlong-stalked water-lilies, and four otherssprinkled fragrant essences, and scattered


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fresh-cut blossoms. Close behind followed the

royal chariot drawn by six fiery steeds, thepostillions wearing scarlet livery.King Harsha and the Raja of Assam were

covered with a blaze of diamonds, and asthey passed, the people cheered lustily. Fivehundred picked elephants arrayed in gaudytrappings were led by grooms, and a squadronformed of the noblest kshatriyas closed theprocession.

When all came to a standstill, the musicceased playing, and a hush ran through the

expectant mult itude. A you th holding agolden salver in his hand approached theMaha-Raja, and, on bended knee, presented acostly vessel filled with water from the sacredRiver Ganges. A dais erected for the Emperor-King had been decorated with beautiful palmsand tasteful draperies, and darbha (sacrificialgrass) was strewn on the carpeted floor. ThePriest-Cardinal, making a low obeisance, thenhanded His Majesty the effigy of Buddha.The monarch reverentially kissed the image of

his Lord, bathed it in the holy water, andplaced choice flowers and luscious fruit beforeit, while the Court chaplains, in their flowingyellow robes, moved round in measured step,swinging sweet incense and chanting holy


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mantras. And the vast assemblage joined inworship according to Buddhist rites.When divine service was over, the populacedispersed to spend the rest of the day inmir th and revelry. K i n g Harsha gave asplendid banquet to which he invited allecclesiastical dignitaries of KanoujbothBuddhists and Brahmins. Learned discussions closed the day.1

Such gorgeous pageants as the one we havedescribed, are sure to appeal to every senseand emotion, and have probably made more

converts to Buddhism than all its ethics andmetaphysics. We are not without a parallelin Europe. An Ital ian inn - keeper, or aSpanish peasant-girl will, as a rule, feel moreattracted to Christianity by the jests andcarousals of the carnival, choral processions,

1 To make our point clear we have taken the libertyto paraphrase and intermingle the interesting accountsof Indian life given by Megasthenes and Hiouen Thsang,although the two distinguished writers are separated bythe interval of a thousand years. It was in the days ofthe early Sangha that Megasthenes was Greek Ambassador at Chandragupta's Court in Patna, then the verycentre of Buddhist activity, while Hiouen Thsang, alearned friar from the Far East, paid a visit to the HolyLand of Buddhism at the time of its decadence on nativesoil.


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and miracle-working relics, than by the

Sermon on the Mount or the Epistles ofSt Paul. Buddha repudiated all spectacularscenes in the service of religion. His reformation was a bold attempt to disentangle thespirit of self-sacrifice from complicated ritesand sacrificial offerings made to imaginarygods. But the church which was raised inhis holy name counts many followers whoalmost make a god of the great reformerhimself, and the Buddhist ritual prescribedby the ecclesiastical government of the

Lamas for the faithful observance of theTibetans, eclipses even the dictatorial tone ofthe Brahminic hierarchy. Confession of sins,though not practised by the laity, was knownto the brethren of the early Sangha. But theBuddhist monks do not now go to confession.A contrite heart, they reason, is the best confessional, and the small voice of the conscienceis a never-failing monitor if repentance besincere. The argument seems sound enough.Self-abasement is a wholesome corrective, and

father-confessors, no doubt, are honourableand saintly men, but implicit reliance on theircounsel and directions means dependence onhuman authority, which is but shifting sand,and in many cases implies fear of disregarding


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i t . Dependence and fear, however, unless

God be their object, are incompatible withliberty of conscience, sweetest of gifts divine.Is it not the innate spirit of fearlessness, andthe long national struggle for free institutionsthat have raised the Anglo-Saxon race tothe first civilising power on earth, mother ofprosperous commonwealths ? and is it notthe same love of independent search aftertruth which has made Germany a nurseryof philosophy and science, the educationalcentre of the world? For similar reasons,

the Vedanta school of religion has matureddeeper thinkers and riper thoughts thanBuddhism.1

Orthodox Hindus, living in the midst ofthe elaborate ceremonial and the never-endingholidays of the Buddhists, imperceptibly

1 The members of the Sangha look upon the established Order as their refuge and strength, but theteachings of Vedanta advocate universal brotherhoodrather than an organised fellowship. The fruits of thespirit, such is the Vedantic point of view, cannot be

forced by rules and regulations, but grow out of gnana(self-realisation). The atma-knower who knows himselfin all things, and all things in himself, has no need ofa communal life or common forms of worship in orderto commune with brother-souls, and help them on. tomoksha (salvation).


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adopted these popular features, one after

the other; they could not help doing so,no more than an Englishman who resides inParis can help falling in with French waysand manners. Five hundred years afterChrist, the religion of the Brahmins orHinduism, as it came to be called, was astrange mixture of the old Vedic faith andBuddhist forms of worship. The Vedic clansmen had never sacrificed in public, but onlyprivately, when the heart prompted them, ontheir domestic altars.

As Hinduism developed and became predominant at last, magnificent places of publicworship sprung up everywhere, and quiteequalled those of the Buddhists in splendour.Numbers of Hindu pagodas were built inthe eastern counties, especially in Orissa,between A.D. 500 and 700, and the giganticcaves of Ellora, north-east of Bombay, weretransformed into temples during the twosubsequent centuries. But Vedic India knewneither temples nor idolatry. The old Aryas

hymned the pure elements, earth and sunand water, the ever-lasting works whichproclaim the might of the Creator. Whatthe earth produced and the sun made grow,more particularly wheat and barley, was


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eagerly cultivated; tillage and irrigationwere believed to please the Devas, whileit was thought an act of desecration topollute the rivers, or the produce of thegarden and the field. But modern Hinduism dethroned the Vedic pantheon, putnew deities in its place, and made imagesof them. Pilgrimages to shrines and relicworship came in vogue among orthodoxHindus even more than among the Buddhists.Statuettes of gods were carried at gorgeousprocessions, which very soon outshone the

pageantry of the rival faith.At last, Buddhism was superseded byHinduism, and had to go. In the fifthcentury, A.D., popular sentiment began toturn the scale in favour of Hinduism, and inthe eleventh, the Rajputs were masters ofIndia . They crushed Buddhism and spreadHinduism wherever they went. Viharas werepulled down, rare manuscripts ruthlesslyburned, monks were driven out of the land,and Buddhist chapels converted into Hindu

sanctuaries. The brave but cruel Rajputswere vanquished in their turn by Mohammedan invaders, though only after a long andfierce struggle. The Moslems, hating everyreligion which was not Islam, demolished all


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temples and idols that lay in their way.

Hinduism tottered to its very foundations,and Buddhism in India received its deathblow. Some hundred years after the migration of Christianity from Syria to the variouscountries of Europe, Buddhism too left India,and struck root in other lands, north andsouth and east, and became the light of Asia,even as Christianity has become the light ofthe world.1

X I I I

THE HUNS AND THE RISE OF UJAIN

W H E N modern Europe first formed itself intonations, the extensive prairies in the south ofRussia, once the seats of Scythian tribes, wereoverrun by the Huns. They were migratoryhordes living chiefly on rapine and plunder.About the fourth century, A.B., the Hunscrossed the River Volga and proceede

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A Short History of Indian Literature