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The king feels troubled at being asked to teach a Brâhman, but says, "Since you have so inquired, and inasmuch as no Brâhman ever knew it before, the Kshatriyas alone have the right of imparting instruction on this subject;" and then he consents to communicate that which he knows. The most remarkable part of this instruction is transmigration. "He whose conduct is good quickly attains to some good existence, such as that of a Brâhman, or Kshatriya, or a Vaisya, he who is viciously disposed soon assumes the form of some inferior creature, such as that of a dog, a hog, or a Chandâla."

In this discourse occurs a description of the universal soul, often quoted :

"Verily, of that all-persuading soul, the heaven is the head, the sun is the eye, the wind is the breath, the sky is the trunk, the moon is the fundament, and the earth is the feet. The altar is his breast, the sacrificial grass his hair, the Gârhapatya fire his heart, the Anvâhâryapachana fire his mind, and the Ahavanîya fire his face."

The sixth chapter tells us of Swetaketu, son of Aruni. To him, his father said, "O Swetaketu, go and abide as a Brahmachârin in the house of a tutor, for verily, child, none of our race has neglected the Vedas and thereby brought disgrace on himself." After twelve years the youth returns, being then in the twentyfourth year of his age. But his father finds him a vain-minded youth, confident of his knowledge of the Vedas, and proud, and says to him, "Have you inquired of your tutor about that which makes the unheard-of heard, the unconsidered considered, and the unsettled settled?" He then proceeds to show that all existence is one. In the course of his explanation he uses some striking illustrations, as

"Bring me a fruit of the Nyagrodha tree (the banyan, the largest known tree). Break it; what do you perceive? Some very small

seeds. Break one; what do you perceive in it? My child, where you perceive nothing, there dwells

Nothing, my Lord. a mighty Nyagrodha."

Taste a little from
How is it?"-"It

And again: "Dissolve this salt in water. the top, from the middle, from the bottom. is saltish," replied the son. To him said his father: "Such is the case with truth; though you perceive it not, it pervades this body. That particle which is the soul of all this is truth."1

The seventh chapter relates that "Nârada repaired to Sanatkumâra for instruction. He was required to say how much he already knew. The list is formidable; including four Vedas, and the Itihasas and Purânas, the rites of the Pitris, arithmetic, knowledge of the stars, the science of serpents, &c." But he adds, "I only know the words or mantras, not the spirit (thereof). I have heard that the worldly-afflicted can find relief through men like your lordship." The reply is, "All that you have learnt is name."

A discourse is then given on speech, which is greater than name; on mind, which is greater than specch; on will, which is greater than mind;-shewing that these and other powers are Brahma.

As we shall have occasion to touch again upon these metaphysical distinctions, when discussing the systems of philosophy, we will only allude here to the praise given to quietude.

"He who has reverence acquires faith; the reverent alone possesses faith.

"He who can control his passions possesses reverence. The man of rampant passions can never have reverence. The quiet alone can have

reverence.

"That quietude, O Lord, said Nârada, is sought by me."5

1 Page 114.

2 In this chapter Gandhâra is referred to as a province, and ordeal by fire is mentioned.

3 Muir, Orig. Sanskrit T., vol. iii.

pp. 186, 187, has also translated this passage.

Chhandogya Upanishad, translated by Rajendralala Mitra, p. 118.

Ibid, p. 128.

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The conclusion is, the man who knoweth this confronts not death nor disease,1 nor doth he meet with pain and suffering. "Thus did Sanatkumâra explain what is beyond darkness. Hence is this portion of the Upanishad called his section',—hence is it called his section."1

'Page 131.

CHAPTER VIII.

INTRODUCTION TO HINDU PHILOSOPHY.

HINDU philosophy is not precisely the same as what we understand by European philosophy. It does not search for abstract truth, but rather by a mingling of philosophic, mystical, and religious speculation seeks to solve the deep mysteries of existence. Indulgence in such speculation is one of the oldest and strongest characteristics of the Hindu mind. Even in the hymns of the Rig-Veda we meet with the beginnings of this philosophic thought. The ancient Rishis ask searching questions concerning the origin of the world and the nature of man. "Viswakarman," they say, "produced the earth and disclosed the sky." And Viswakarman is "One who dwells beyond the abode of the seven Rishis;" whilst, further, Purusha created the seven Rishis, and the seven Rishis created the world. Dwelling "beyond the abode of the seven Rishis," was therefore an indication of eternal, uncreated existence.

Another name used in the hymns to indicate the One Eternal, is Brihaspati; and on the Eternal, whether called Viswakarman, Brihaspati, Brahman, Atman, or Paramâtman, the ancient Hindu. poets and philosophers ever fix their earnest gaze. This One Eternal they felt to be the Universal Soul; and the soul of man,

although apparently separate, they felt to be, in reality, the same -the Universal Soul. The distinction upon which they chiefly dwell, is the calm tranquillity and rest of the Universal Soul as contrasted with the restless, changeable condition of the individual soul.

And although man's individual soul is distinct from Brahma, it is only by the presence of Brahma within him that man sees, hears, smells, speaks. When Brahma departs, all departs.

Knowledge of one's self, knowledge of the sixty-four sciences, and so forth, lead on to knowledge of Brahma.

"From the unreal lead me to the real, from darkness lead me to light, from death lead me to immortality," are the words of one of their prayers.

A continual effort is made to understand the relation of man's nature to God's nature.

"Higher than the senses are their objects, higher than their objects is the mind;" but the highest is the Great Soul, and to become merged in the Great Soul, is presented as the goal attained by him who is wise and pure: he who attains "this goal is not born again."

This important doctrine, that the Supreme Soul is the only reality, and that the world has no claim to notice, except in so far as it emanated from this "reality," is, Professor Goldstücker considers, clearly laid down in the Upanishads; and indeed, he finds in these works the germs of all the "philosophies." First, man distinguished the eternal from the perishable; and next, he perceived within himself a germ of the Eternal. This discovery, says Professor Max Müller, "was an epoch in the history of the human mind, and the name of the discoverer has not been forgotten. It was Sândilya who declared that the Self within the heart was Brahma."

The idea of an imperishable base, from which that which is