The Religions of India: Handbooks on the History of Religions, Volume 1, Edited by Morris JastrowHopkins, Edward Washburn
Religion
The Religions of India: Handbooks on the History of Religions, Volume 1, Edited by Morris Jastrow
Hopkins, Edward Washburn
India -- Religion
the Br[=a]hmanas occur the termini technici of the Buddhist
priesthood, notably the Çramana or ascetic monk, and the word
_buddha_, 'awakened' (_pratibudh_). The 'four orders' are those
enumerated as the householder, student, ascetic, and forest-hermit. If
one live in all four orders according to rule, and be serene, he will
come to peace, that is, salvation ([=A]pastamba, 2. 9. 21. I, 2).
According to this later legal writer, who belongs to Southern
India,[24] it is only after one has passed through all the preceding
stadia that he may give up works (sacrifice, etc.) and devote himself
to seeking the [=a]tm[=a],'wandering about, without caring for earth
or heaven, renouncing truth and falsehood, pleasure and pain' (_ib_.
10, 13). There follows this passage one significant of the opposition
between purely Upanishad-ideas and those of the law-givers:
'Acquirement of peace (salvation) depends, it is said, on knowledge;
this is opposed by the codes. If on knowledge (depended) acquirement
of peace, even here (in this world) one would escape grief' (_ib._
14-16). Further, in describing the forest-hermit's austerities (_ib._
23. 4 ff.), verses from a Pur[=a]na are cited which are virtually
Upanishadic: 'The eight and eighty thousand seers who desired
offspring (went) south on Aryaman's path, and obtained (as their
reward) graves; (but) the eight and eighty thousand who did not desire
offspring (went) north on Aryaman's path and make for themselves
immortality,' that is to say 'abandon desire for offspring; and of the
two paths (which, as the commentator observes, are mentioned in the
Ch[=a]ndogya Upanishad), that which gives immortality instead of death
(graves) will be yours.' It is admitted that such ascetics have
miraculous powers; but the law-maker emphatically protests in the
following S[=u]tra against the supposition that a rule which stands
opposed to the received rites (marriage, sacrifice, etc.) is of any
power, and asserts that for the future life an endless reward
('fruit'), called in revelation 'heavenly,' is appointed (_ib._ 8-11).
The next chapter, however, limits, as it were, this dogma, for it is
stated that immortality is the re-birth of one's self in the body of
one's son, and a verse is cited: 'Thou procreatest progeny, and that's
thy immortality, O mortal,' with other verses, which teach that sons
that attend to the Vedic rites magnify the fame and heaven of their
ancestors, who 'live in heaven until the destruction of creation'
_([=a] bh[=u]tasamptav[=a]t_, 2. 9. 24. 5), But 'according to the
Bhavishyat-Pur[=a]na' after this destruction of creation 'they exist
again in heaven as the cause of seed' (_ib._) 6. And then follows a
quotation from the Father-god: 'We live with those people who do these
(following) things: (attend to) the three Vedas, live as students,
create children, sacrifice to the Manes, do penance, make sacrifice to
the gods, practice liberality; he that extols anything else becomes
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account