Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

PHILOSOPHY

PHILOSOPHY

Within it first arose desire, the primal germ of mind, Which nothing with existence links, as sages searching find. The kindling ray that shot across the dark and drear abyss— Was it beneath? Or high aloft? What bard can answer this? There fecundating powers were found, and mighty forces strove — A self-supporting mass beneath, and energy above. Who knows, who ever told, from whence this vast creation rose? No gods had then been bom — who then can e'er the truth disclose? Whence sprang this world and whether framed by hand divine or no— Its Lord in heaven alone can tell, if even he can show.

It is said that religion without philosophy is blind and philoso- phy without religion is barren. In India the close connection that exists between philosophy and religion has saved religion from becoming blind and philosophy from going barren. In the West intellectualism and rationalism led to repudiation of religion. Phi- losophy in India began with a quest after the highest truth—truth not as mere objective certitude but as one which was closely linked with the development of the human personality for the attainment of absolute freedom from all bondage and the bliss that results from it. Man's supreme end was regarded as moksha, salvation, freedom from the cycle of rebirth. This was the common concern of both philoso- phy and religion. It is the quest for moksha that has kept Indian philosophy and religion together. The schools of Indian philosophy have sprung from three origi- nal sources — the Brahmanical or Hindu system is based on the Atman doctine of the Upanishads-, the Buddhist system is based on the denial of Atman while accepting the doctrine of Karma and rebirth. The Jaina system is un-Brahmanical, in that it accepted a changing Atman and even ascribed different sizes to it, and un-Buddhistic in that it accepted Atman as a permanent entity. Buddhism and Jainism do not recognise the authority of the Vedas. But, in fact, the roots of philosophic thought may be discerned in the Vedic hymns. The conception of a plurality of gods did not satisfy the Vedic rishis who began asking questions like "To what God shall we offer our oblation?" and "Who saw the first born?" There are attempts at monotheism in the hymns by bringing together the various gods under one conception. Prayers are offered not only separately to the different deities but all of them together as visve- devas (all gods). Certain characteristics of the gods like creation and lordship over the creatures are abstracted and endowed With divinity. Thus arose the conceptions of Vishvakarman (Maker of the World) and Prajapathi (Lord of Beings). In one hymn the Rig Veda declares that the great divinity of the gods is one : Mahatdevanam asuratvam ekam. Another famous passage reads : What is but one Reality, sages call it by different names and as Agni, Yama and Matarishvam. This Vedic seer who composed the "Hymn of Creation" in the Rig Veda succeeded in rising to the rarefied heights where there is no duality whatsoever:

Translation by J. Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts

This poem contains the essence of Upanishadic monism, Ve- dantic non-dualism. The Ultimate Reality is not named. It is not identified with any of the gods. "No gods had then been born." It is referred to as "That One". There is nothing other than it and it is self-sustaining. Philosophical speculation in ancient India can be traced to the Upanishads which followed the Vedas and were composed between the 8th and 6th centuries B.C. The word Upanishad means "sitting down near" (Upa-near; ni-down; shad- to sit), sitting down at the feet of a teacher to receive spiritual instruction. The literature of the Upanishads developed among the ascetics, forest hermits, who began asking fundamental questions regarding the origin of the universe, the nature of the soul and other problems. One hundred and eight Upanishads have been preserved. The earliest, the Brihadaranyaka, dates from 800 B.C. The other prin- cipal Upanishads are the Isha Upanishad, Mandukya Upanishad, Mundaka Upanishad, Chandogya Upanishad, Katha Upanishad, Kaushitaki Upanishad, Taittiriya Upanishad and Shvetashvatara Upanishad. The earlier Upanishads, like the Brihadranyaka and the Chandogya, are in prose and consist of a series of short expositions of the new doctrines, often in the form of question and answer. Later Upanishads, like the Katha and Shvetashvatara, are in verse. They are the outburst of the joy and emotion of intuitive experience and the quest for the ultimate truth. Each Upanishad is attached to one of the four Vedic Samhitas. The Upanishads represent the final stage in the development of Vedic religious thought. They are thus the end of the Vedas (Vedanta).

Then there was neither Aught nor Nought, no air or sky beyond. What covered all? Where rested all? In watery gulf profound? Nor death was there, nor deathlessness, nor change of night and day. That one breathed calmly, self-sustained nought else beyond it lay. Gloom hid in gloom existed first — one sea, eluding view. That one, a void in chaos wrapt, By inward fervour grew.