HINDUISM ABSORBS BUDDHISM

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doubtedly profoundly influenced the ethical and spiritual ideas of modern Hinduism.

Sankaracharya waged relentless war against the superstitions of the Buddhists of his time, and against the loathsome practices of some of the Hindu sects; but convinced of the futility of attempting to supersede entirely the ancient forms of popular worship by the high philosophic doctrines of the intellectual Brahmins, he effected a compromise. Buddha had established an ethical code which afforded a common meetingground for all races, classes, and sects of Hindus, but had left untouched the problems of the first Cause and the directing Power of the Universe. Sankaracharya and other Brahmin teachers provided a common metaphysical basis for all popular religious beliefs, while allowing the widest latitude for various forms of worship.

It is not to be supposed that Sankaracharya was the first to teach the pantheistic doctrines of Hinduism. The idea of the One Supreme Being manifested in the many had been clearly indicated centuries before in the Upanishads, and developed in the Vedanta school of philosophy, but Sankaracharya's preaching marks the final absorption of Buddhism into the Brahminical system, and the development of the worship of Shiva into one of the most popular cults. Shiva-worship had indeed existed long before the eighth century, and perhaps is older than Hinduism itself. One of Shiva's names, Rudra, is the name of the Vedic stormgod. Shiva is mentioned several times in the Mahâbhârata, and we learn from Hiuen Thsang that in the first half of the seventh century Shiva was already the principal deity of Benares. Nevertheless it was

Sankaracharya's teaching and philosophy which estab lished Shivaism, for the time being, as the principal sect of Hinduism.

The Buddhist monasteries continued to exist at Sarnath, and elsewhere in India, until they were finally destroyed by the Muhammadan invaders of the thirteenth century; but in the eighth century Buddhism as a separate religion was already discredited, and the Brahmins were reinstated in their position as the spiritual leaders of the people. After the establishment of Muhammadan rule the popularity of the cult of Shiva, as expounded by Sankaracharya, diminished, and many new sects successively developed in which the worship of Vishnu and the idea of a personal God became more prominent. It is, however, impossible to follow the further development of Hinduism through all the different phases which have originated, and are still creating, new sects and schools of thought. We must now pass on to a brief study of the ideas of modern Hinduism as conveyed in the worship of Shiva, the presiding deity of Benares.

It will be understood from the preceding sketch that, through the absorption of many primitive faiths. and modes of worship into the Brahminical system, there is often a very wide difference between the popular views regarding the various Hindu divinities. and the esoteric teaching of the Brahmin philosophy. The stories told in the Puranas and other later Sanskrit literature embody the wildest legends and superstitions, and attribute to Hindu gods and goddesses an abundant share of earthly passions and weaknesses. Many of these seeming fantastic stories are, however, metaphysical ideas conveyed in the form of allegory.

HINDU TRINITY

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According to the esoteric doctrine of Hinduism, first propounded in the Rig-Veda, the universe was originally Soul only, nothing else whatsoever existed, active or inactive. The origin of Creation, described in the famous hymn of the Rig-Veda (X, 129), proceeded from this Supreme Spirit, the Eternal Essence, or Brahman.

The first manifestation of this neuter Brahman-the Unknowable-when passing into a conditioned state, comparable to the passing of a human being from a state of profound sleep to a state of dreaming and then of waking, is known as Ishwara-the Self-the Lord and Cause of all things. The glory of Ishwara as Purusha, or Spirit, makes manifest Prakriti, the Essence of Matter, inherent in Brahman, but until now unmanifested. Ishwara, then, by means of his divine power, called sakti, causes Prakriti to take form. The forms of Prakriti thus evolved are the Trimurti, or Three Aspects of Ishwara-Brahmâ, who in the world of Matter performs the functions of Creator, and represents the condition of activity or motion; Vishnu, who is the Preserver, representing equilibrium and rhythm; and Shiva, who is the dissolving power. In Hindu painting and sculpture this act in the great drama of creation is represented by Ishwara, under the name of Nârâyana, floating on the waters of chaos and sleeping on the serpent Sesha, or Ananta, "the endless"-the symbol of eternity while Brahmâ, the Creator, springs from a lotus flower which is growing from Ishwara's navel.

The Trimurti, as representing Spirit-essence, have different qualities or conditions (gunas). Brahmâ represents the quality of Being; Vishnu, Thought

power; and Shiva, the quality of Bliss, the perfect beatitude of Nirvana. Purusha and Prakriti being inert by themselves, each of the Trimurti have their saktis, or divine powers, which enable them to perform their functions in the universe. In popular Hinduism the saktis are regarded as the wives of the Trimurti. The sakti of Brahmâ is deified as Saraswati, the goddess of learning and wisdom; the sakti of Vishnu is Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity; and the sakti of Shiva, Durgâ, Gaurî, or Kâlî, terrible goddesses to whom bloody sacrifices, and sometimes human victims, are offered.

The worship of Brahmâ has almost ceased as a popular religion, because his work in the universe is considered to be finished. Shiva is the presiding

deity at Benares, and all the principal temples are dedicated to him. But Shiva at Benares is Mahâdeva, the great god, or Ishwara, representing the powers of all the Trimurti; for the followers of particular cults, like that of Shiva, Vishnu, or of Kâli, generally ascribe to their special deity the exercise of all the divine. functions. It must also be noted that each one of the Trimurti, besides the two main qualities, or gunas, attributed to him, has countless sub-manifestations corresponding to the infinite subdivisions of their duties in the cosmic order. Thus there are hundreds of temples and shrines at Benares with names ending in "-eshwar" (Ishwara), such as Tarak-eshwar, Ratneshwar, Som-eshwar, &c., all of which are Shiva temples dedicated to some particular manifestation of the Supreme Ishwara. The Hindu pantheon is estimated to contain 300,000,000 deities, but the Brahminical teaching clearly explains them as indicating the infinite manifestations of the One Supreme.

MODERN HINDUISM

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It is a difficult matter for a European observer to ascertain how far the philosophical doctrines of Hinduism are comprehended by the mass of the people. On this point I do not venture to express an opinion, but only quote two very competent witnesses. Dr. Lefroy, Bishop of Lahore, in a recent sermon said: "From a long personal experience I can bear witness to the extraordinary aptitude with which they engage in discussion or speculation on the deepest philosophical and ethical questions-and that not merely in the case of the upper, or more educated classes, but not infrequently in the case of the very poorest and wholly illiterate persons as well".

Mr. Burns, who made special enquiries during the last census regarding the beliefs of the common people, says: The general result of my enquiries is that the great majority of Hindus have a firm belief in one Supreme God, called Bhagwan, Parameshwar, Ishwar, or Narain. Mr. Baillie made some enquiries, which showed that this involved a clear idea of a single personal God. I am inclined to think that this is not limited to the more intelligent, but is distinctly characteristic of Hindus as a whole." (Census Report,

1901, vol. i. part 1, p. 303.)

Shiva, in popular Hinduism, is the great white-faced Ascetic of the Himalayas, representing the life of austerity which the Brahmins point out as one of the roads to Shiva's abodes of bliss and ultimate absorption into the Absolute. He has three eyes, which are explained variously as the Trimurti, the three Vedas, and the power of seeing the past, present, and future. Two of the epithets applied to him, "the mooncrested" and "blue-throated", will be very suggestive

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