Bromhu, the everlasting, the ever-living, is one; he is the first cause; but the world, which is his work, is finite, inanimate, and divisible. The being who is always the same, is the unchangeable Brumhŭ, and in this form there is none else. That which sometimes exists, and at other times is not, and assumes various shapes, is finite : in this definition is included all created objects. Devotedness to God is intended to exalt the character, and to promote real happiness. If in ardent attachment to present things there be some happiness, still, through their subjection to change, it terminates in real sorrow, for as affection produces pleasure, so separation produces pain; but devotion secures uninterrupted happiness. On this account, divine sages, who could distinguish between substance and shadow, have sought pleasure in God. Those learned men who declare that permanent happiness is to be enjoy-. ed in the heavens of the gods, have erred, for we see, that the happiness which is bestowed in this world as the fruit of labour is inconstant; whatever is the fruit of actions, is not permanent, but changeable; therefore the wise, and those who desire emancipation, despise it.

Hearing the doctrines of the védantă philosophy; obtaining, by inference, clear ideas of their meaning, and fixing the mind on that which is thus acquired: these three acquisitions, added to a knowledge of the rules to be observed by a student, and that power over the mind by which a person is enabled to reject every other study, is called sumů. Dămă is that by which the organs and faculties are kept in subjection. If, however, amidst the constant performance of sămă and důmŭ, the desire after gratification should by any means arise in the mind, then that by which this desire is crushed, is called oopărătee;* and the renunciation of the world, by a sŭnyasee who walks according to the védă, is called by the same name.

Those learned men who wrote the comments on the védantă before the time of Shunkŭrů-acharyŭ, taught, that in seeking emancipation, it was improper to renounce religious ceremonies, but that the desire of reward ought to be forsaken; that works should be performed to obtain divine wisdom, which, being acquired, would lead to

* Disgust.
Tt

emancipation; that works were not to be rejected, but practised without being considered as a bargain, for the performance of which a person should obtain such and such benefits; that therefore works, and the undivided desire of emancipation, were to be attended to; which is illustrated in the following comparison: Two persons being on a journey, one of them loses his horses, and the other his carriage: the first is in the greatest perplexity, and the other, though he can accomplish his journey on horseback, contemplates the fatigue with dissatisfaction. After remaining for

some time in great suspense, they at length agree to unite what is left to each, and thus with ease accomplish their journey. The first, is he who depends on works, and the latter, he who depends on wisdom. From hence it will be manifest, that to obtain emancipation, works and divine wisdom must be united. Formerly this was the doctrine of the védantă, but Shănkůră-acharyŭ, in a comment on the Bhăgăvătgeeta, has, by many proofs, shewn, that this is an error; that works are wholly excluded, and that knowledge alone, realizing every thing as Brămhă, procures liberation.

Cold and heat, happiness and misery, honour and dishonour, profit and loss, victory and defeat, &c. are termed dwundă. Indifference to all these changes is stiled titiksha. This indifference, together with a subdued mind, is called sumadhee. Implicit belief in the words of a religious guide, and of the védantă, is termed shrůddha. This anxious wish, When shall I be delivered from this world, and obtain God?' is called moomookshootwů. The person who possesses these qualities, and who, in discharging the business of life, and in practising the duties of the védů, is not deceived, possesses the fruits of the védantů; that is, he is ŭdhikaree.—Here ends the first part of the Védantă, called Udhikarēë.

The next part is called Vishuyu, throughout which this idea is inculcated, that the whole meaning of the védantă is comprised in this, that Brumhŭ and individuated spirit are one. That which, pervading all the members of the body, is the cause of life or motion, is called individuated spirit (jeevă); that which pervades the whole universe, and gives life or motion to all, is Brümhů. Therefore, that which pervades the members of the body, and that which pervades the universe, imparting motion

to all-are one. The vacuum between the separate trees in a forest, and universal space, is of the same nature; they are both pure ether; and so Brămhŭ and indiviThat wisdom by which a person duated spirits are one; they are both pure life. realizes that individuated spirit and Brumhŭ are one, is called tŭttwŭ-gnană, or the knowledge of realities.

Brimhů, the governor, or director of all things, is ever-living, unchangeable, and one; this inanimate, diversified, and changeable world, is his work. Governors are living persons; the dead cannot sustain this office; every species of matter is without life; that which is created cannot possess life. This comparison is drawn from secular concerns: and thus, according to the védă, all life is the creator, or Brămhă; the world is inanimate matter. All material bodies, and the organs, are inanimate; the appearance of life in inanimate things arises from their nearness to spirit: in this manner, the chariot moves because of the presence of the charioteer. That through the presence of which bodies and their members are put in motion, is called spirit. He is the first cause; the ever-living; the excellent God, besides whom there is none else. Therefore, in all the shastrus he is called Vishwatmŭ; the This is the meaning meaning of which is, that he is the soul of all creatures.*

of the whole of the védantů. Wherefore all [spirits] are one, not two; and the distinctions of 1, thou, he, are all artificial, existing only for present purposes, and through pride, (ŭvidyă). Though a man should perform millions of ceremonies, this ǎvidyŭ can never be destroyed but by the knowledge of spirit, that is, by Brămhugnanň.t This vidyŭ is necessary to the present state only: divine knowledge secures emancipation.-That jeevŭ and Brumho are one is, therefore, the substance of the second part of the védantů.

"Thales admitted the ancient doctrine concerning God, as the animating principle or soul of the world." Enfield, page 143. "The mind of man, according to the stoics, is a spark of that divine fire which is the soul of the world." Ibid, prge 341.

+ Krishnŭ, in the Bhŭgŭvŭt-gēēta, thus describes the efficacy of the principle of abstraction: "If one whose ways are ever so evil serve me alone, he is as respectable as the just man. Those even who may be of the womb of sin; women; the tribes of vojsbyй and shōōdrů, shall go the supreme journey, if they take sanctuary with me."

The third part is called sumbůndhă;* and teaches, that the védantă contains the knowledge of Brumhu, and that by the védantů the knowledge of Brumhŭ may be obtained.

The fourth part, called průyojůně, imports, that this part of the védantă was written to destroy completely that illusion by which this body and this organized world were formed, and to point out the means of obtaining [re-union to] the ever-blessed Brumhů. This is called liberation. A person, vexed with the necessity of transmigrations,† with anger, envy, lust, wrath, sorrow, worldly intoxication, pride, &c. takes some flowers, fruits, &c. to an initiating priest, who understands the védantă, and The guide, has obtained the knowledge of spirit, and requests his instructions. by endeavouring to excite in his mind a contempt of the world, leads him to the knowledge of Brůmhů.

Worldly attachment is thus illustrated: a person observes a string on the ground, and imagines it to be a snake: his fears are excited as much as though it were in reality a snake, and yet he is wholly under the power of error: so the hopes, fears, desires, pride, sorrow, &c. of the man who is under the influence of worldly attachment, are excited by that which has no substance; and he is therefore placed among the ignorant. But the wise, the everlasting, the blessed Brimhũ, is unchangeable, and has no equal. All things past, present, and to come; of every class and description, whether in the earth, or in the air, are Brumhu, who is the cause of all things, as well as the things themselves. If it be not admitted, that

he is both the potter and the clay, it will follow, that for clay (inanimate matter) he was beholden to another.

Molasses deposited in a

The meaning of the word Brumhu is, the Ever Great. quantity of rice diffuses its sweetness through the whole : so Brùmhũ, by diffusing through them his own happiness, makes all souls happy; hence, in all the shastrus he * Union. The Pythagoreans taught, that "the soul of man consists of two parts; the sensitive, produced from the first principles with the elements; and the rational, a demon sprung from the divine soul of the world, and sent down into the body as a punishment for its crimes in a former state, to remain there till it is sufficiently purified to return to God. In the course of the transmigration to which human souls are liable, they may inhabit not only different human bodies, but the body of any animal of plant. All nature is subject to the immutable and eternal law of necessity."-Enfield, page 406.

is called the Ever-Blessed. Wherefore the ever-blessed, the everlasting, the incomThat which is without wisdom and without life,

parable Brůmhů―he is entity.

is called übŭstoo [non-entity].

We cannot call illusion entity, for as soon as a person obtains discriminating wisdom, illusion is destroyed; nor can it be called non-entity, for the universe which is an effect of this illusion, is an object of sight: we cannot therefore say whether This illusiit is entity or non-entity; it is something which cannot be described. on resembles the temporary blindness under which the owl and other creatures labour, so that they can see nothing after the sun has arisen. This blindness cannot be called real, nor can it be unreal, for to these creatures it is real, and [during the day] constant blindness. In the same manner, illusion does not belong to the wise; but it constantly belongs to him, who, owl-like, is destitute of discriminating wisdom. This illusion is identified with the sŭtwů, růjŭ and tůmŭ goonus: it is not merely the absence of wisdom; but, as being opposed to the true knowledge of Brůmhu, is called ǎgnană. The whole mass of this illusion is one; individuated, it assumes different shapes; and in this respect resembles the trees in a forest, and single trees. The mass of illusion forms the inconceivable and unspeakable energy of God, which is the cause of all things. Individuated, this illusion forms the energy of individuals. God and individuated souls are life. Property and its possessor are not equivalent terms: therefore wisdom is not the energy of spirit, since wisdom and spirit are the same; but illusion forms its energy. Light is not the energy of spirit, since light and spirit are the same; but darkness forms its energy; not that darkness which arises from the absence of light, but that which surrounds. a person in a profound sleep.

We call the mass of illusion, which equally contains the three goonŭs, and in which the sǎtwo goonů prevails, excellent, because it is the cause of all things. This mass of illusion takes refuge in the ever-living, or the ever-blessed Brămhu, who is called, in the védă and all the shastrus, the all-wise, the sovereign of all, the disposer and the director of all; the accomplisher of all his desires, of all he appoints; he assumes the forms of his works; and is known as the cause of all; he knows, and, as the charioteer directs the chariot, directs the hearts of all. This mass of illusion