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vol. title: Vol Four of The Theosophical Society of The Arya Samaj of Arya-wart vol. period: Sept 1878 – Sept 1879 pages in vol.: 350 |
< Religion in India (continued from page 8-227) >
ature, which is being strengthened more and more every day. As Mr. Keene observes, Rammohun Roy bestirred himself to revive among his countrymen the old simplicity of creed and worship as inculcated in the Vedas. If this be true, as doubtless it is, what grounds had Miss Martineau to believe that the Raja was a Christian. Mr. Keene himself is of opinion that he attempted to reconcile Vedism with Christianity. But we are inclined to think that Rammohun Roy wished to give the doctrines of Christ a fair trial—like every true reformer he wished to reject nothing that was not previously proved to be uncongenial. He made the trial. The result is before the world. Even Miss Martineau admits that he was disgusted with the actions of the believers in the Christian faith. It is very likely that he did not understand the full spirit of the Vedas;—he was not, then, possessed of those recent researches which have so materially elucidated the occult side, so to say, of the Vedas. The Vedic philosophy was too abstruse even for a mind like his; the age in which he lived had not yet passed to that transition of thought, when men calmly analysed even the Deity without the horror of blasphemy before them, and when the human being began to be accredited with powers which formerly were attributed to the Supreme Being and his angels, or to Satan and his devils. Raja Rammohun Roy could not perceive the existence or even mention of the existence of such powers in the Vedas, for such a thing had escaped his conception, or to speak more plainly, he was not prepared to find it there. Thus he failed to perceive those very things, which keep the Vedas distinct from all other religious writings, with the exception, perhaps, of the sacred teachings of Zoroaster.
The Vedas being misunderstood or not understood at all, and Christianity failing to satisfy the Hindoo intellect, the educated and more advanced thinkers of India attempted to find a faith which should demand no sacrifice from their conscience. The transition to Brahmoism was but a natural step. But early Brahmoism was not contaminated with those influences which a later contact with Christianity has exerted on it in such a vitiating manner as to derange the intellect of that remarkable man, the once all-powerful Keshub Chunder Sen. Early Brahmoism contained much that was likewise to be found in the Vedas. But whereas the whole truth shone with full lustre in the latter, but a part burned with a faint glimmer in Brahmoism. Take for instance the idea of God as it existed in the mind of Raja Rammohun Roy and compare it with that inculcated in the Vedas:—“The Being all excellent and imperishable, who is shadowless, bodiless, pure and undying. He is susceptible of no physical use, subject to no organ of action, invisible, indefinable, indescribable beyond the world”. This, evidently, is not the God of the Christians; but it is not much like the God of the Vedas. There is evidently a little confusion in the definition. There is a conflict between the wish to assign certain attributes to the Deity and the knowledge that to do so would make God a mere gigantic man. Rammohun Roy, it is plain, misunderstood the Vedic definition of God, misunderstood the words—Nirgyon, Nirantar, Nirakar.
Mr. Keene has the fairness to do justice to the great virtues of Budha. He observes:—“He preached a gospel of pure living and without hope of recompense in a future state.” We are at a loss to comprehend the meaning of the latter part of the sentence. Budha was too great a thinker and too genuine a reformer to deceive his followers by the hollow promises which Jesus and Mahomet held out so abundantly. Budha was incapable of such deceit. The pleasures of heaven or the tortures of hell could not for a moment find room in his philosophy. But Budha, for all that, did know of a future state for man and the re-compense he was to expect there. And what, thought he, could be a higher recompense for man in a future state than to be absorbed in the Deity, to be absorbed in the Divine Soul of the Universe, to enjoy eternal happiness without the human means of enjoyment. The human soul was, according to him, a taper lighted at the great torch, the Soul of the Universe; death restored it to the parent fountain of light. This system is certainly better and more consistant than either planned by Christianity or Mahometanism. It is certainly better than that which would make us sit at the feet of God, our Lord, and listen for ever to the symphony of Cherubim and Seraphim and eat continually of manna and drink of nectar. Monotony would make even a heaven wearisome.
Mr. Keene indulges in a scoff at Pundit Dayanund Saraswati, Swami; nor does he think better of the Theosophical Society. Mr. Keene thinks that the church of the Swami (the Arya Samaj) will probably end by merging in one of the forms of Vaishnavism of which Dya-Nund himself will be the Avatar. Fine writing, this, Mr. Keene! But we should not expect better things from him, for he has evidently failed to perceive the vastness of the work which the Swami has been pushing on. Mr. Keene thinks that the educated classes of India will at no distant date become the followers of Herbert Spencer. But does he know that they are appreciating the work of the Swami and are flocking round him in large numbers. Does he know that the Theosophical Society has managed to secure in the course of three years forty five thousand fellows? Does he know that the aims of both are the same? The future of India is not so gloomy. The Vedas, as they were the first to be recognised as perfect writings as all things born of human conception could be, will not be the last to be recognised so still by the Hindoos, who are beginning to find them much more precious than any writings of Herbert Spencer or any other modern philosopher.