be ever unsatisfactory; for the reasoning faculty which leads men to certainty in things within its reach, produces no effect on questions beyond its comprehension. I do no more than assert, that, if correct reasoning, and the dictates of common sense, induce the belief of a wise, uncreated Being, who is the supporter and ruler of the boundless universe, we should also consider him the most powerful and supreme existence,-far surpassing our powers of comprehension or description! And, although men of uncultivated minds, and even some learned individuals, (but in this one point blinded by prejudice,) readily choose, as the object of their adoration, any thing which they can always see, and which they pretend to feel; the absurdity of such conduct is not thereby in the least degree diminished.

My constant reflections on the inconvenient, or rather injurious rites, introduced by the peculiar practice of Hindoo idolatry, which, more than any other pagan worship, destroys the texture of society, together with compassion for my countrymen, have compelled me to use every possible effort to awaken them from their dream of error: and by making them acquainted with their scriptures, enable them to contemplate with true devotion the unity and omnipresence of Nature's God.

By taking the path which conscience and sincerity direct, I, born a Brahmun, have exposed myself to the complainings and reproaches, even of some of my relations, whose prejudices are strong, and whose temporal advantage depends upon the present system. But these, however accumulated, I can tranquilly bear, trusting that a day will arrive when my humble endeavours will be viewed with justice-perhaps acknowledged with gratitude. At any rate, whatever men may say, I cannot be deprived of this consolation: my motives are acceptable to that Being who beholds in secret and compensates openly!

ABRIDGMENT

OF

THE VEDANT.

THE illustrious Byas,* in his celebrated work, the Vedant, insinuates in the first text, that it is absolutely necessary for mankind to acquire knowledge respecting the Supreme Being, who is the subject of discourse in all the Veds, and the Vedant, as well as in the other Systems of Theology. But he found, from the following passages of the Veds, that this inquiry is limited to very narrow bounds, viz. "The Supreme Being is "not comprehensible by vision, or by any other of the organs "of sense; nor can he be conceived by means of devotion, or "virtuous practices !" "He sees every thing, though never "seen; hears every thing, though never directly heard of! He "is neither short, nor is he long ; inaccessible to the reasoning "faculty; not to be compassed by description; boyond the "limits of the explanation of the Ved, or of human conception!"§ Byas, also, from the result of various arguments coinciding with the Ved, found that the accurate and positive knowledge of the Supreme Being is not within the boundary of comprehension; i. e. that what, and how, the Supreme Being is, cannot be definitely ascertained. He has therefore, in the second text, ́explained the Supreme Being by his effects and works, without attempting to define his essence; in like manner as we, not knowing the real nature of the sun, explain him to be the cause

The greatest of the Indian theologists, philosophers, and poets, was begotton by the celebrated Purasur and Sutyubutee. Byas collected and divided the Veds into certain books and chapters, he is therefore commonly called Vedu Byas. The word Byas is composed of the preposition bi and the verb uss to divide.

† Munduc.

Brih'darunnuc.

§ Cuthubulli.

of the succession of days and epochs. "He by whom the birth, existence, and annihilation of the world is regulated, is the "Supreme Being!" We see the multifarious, wonderful universe, as well as the birth, existence, and annihilation, of its different parts; hence, we naturally infer the existence of a - being who regulates the whole, and call him the Supreme: in the same manner as from the sight of a pot, we conclude the existence of its artificer. The Ved, in like manner, declares the Supreme Being thus: "He from whom the universal world "proceeds, who is the Lord of the Universe, and whose work "is the universe, is the Supreme Being!"*

The Ved is not supposed to be an eternal Being, though sometimes dignified with such an epithet; because its being created by the Supreme Being is declared in the same Ved thus: "All the texts and parts of the Ved were created:" and also in the third text of the Vedant, God is declared to be the cause of all the Veds.

The void Space is not conceived to be the independent cause of the world, notwithstanding the following declaration of the Ved, "The world proceeds from the void space;"† for the Ved again declares, "By the Supreme Being the void space was "produced." And the Vedant‡ says: "As the Supreme Being "is evidently declared in the Ved to be the cause of the void 'Space, Air, and Fire, neither of them can be supposed to be "the independent cause of the universe."

Neither is Air allowed to be the Lord of the Universe, although the Ved says in one instance, "In Air every existing "creature is absorbed;" for the Ved again affirms, that "Breath, "the intellectual power, all the internal and external senses, the "void Space, Air, Light, Water, and the extensive Earth, pro"ceeded from the Supreme Being!" The Vedant§ also says: "God is meant by the following text of the Ved, as a Being

• Taittureeu.

Fourteenth text, 4th sec. 1st chap.

+ Chhandoggu.

§ 8th, 3d, 1st.

"That

"more extensive than all the extension of Space;" viz. "breath is greater than the extension of Space in all directions," as it occurs in the Ved, after the discourse concerning common breath is concluded.

Light, of whatever description, is not inferred to be the Lord of the Universe, from the following assertion of the Ved: "The pure Light of all Lights is the Lord of all creatures;" for the Ved again declares,* that "The sun and all others imitate God, "and borrow their light from him;" and the same declaration is found in the Vedant.†

Neither can Nature be construed by the following texts of the Ved, to be the independent cause of the world: viz. "Man "having known that Nature which is an eternal being, without a "beginning or an end, is delivered from the grasp of death!" and, "Nature operates herself!" because the Ved affirms that "No being is superior or equal to God !" and the Ved commands, "Know God alone !"§ and the Vedant || thus declares : "Nature is not the Creator of the world, not being represent"ed so by the Ved," for it expressly says, "God has by his sight "created the Universe." Nature is an insensible Being, she is, therefore, void of sight or intention, and consequently unable to create the regular world.T

Atoms are not supposed to be the cause of the world, notwithstanding the following declaration : "This (Creator) is the "most minute Being." Because an atom is an insensible particle, and from the above authority it is proved, that no Being void of understanding can be the author of a system so skilfully arranged.

The Soul cannot be inferred from the following texts to be the Lord of the Universe, nor the independent Ruler of the intellectual powers; viz. "The Soul being joined to the resplen"dent Being, enjoys by itself," "God and the Soul enter "the small void space of the heart;" because the Ved declares

• Moonduc.

§ Moonduc.

† 22nd, 3rd, 1st.
5th, 1st, 1st.

* Cuthu. | Cuthu.