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Vedas as already in existence, and cite numerous passages from them, at almost every page." The various Hindoo sects all profess to find authority for their doctrines in these Sacred Oracles; but the Vedas themselves give no indications of separation into sects. They do not even allude to the great sects of Siva, and of the two incarnations of Vishnu, called Rama and Crishna, though Hindoo monuments prove them to be of extreme antiquity.

The manuscripts of the Vedas made forty-two volumes, folio. On account of their great bulk, the obsolete expres sions, and the metaphorical obscurity of style, they were condensed and arranged in their present form, by a learned Bramin. This collection is called the Vedanta, or Substance of the Vedas, and is generally received as of equal authority with the original. There is no certain evidence when this compilation was made; but Oriental scholars agree that it must have been more than two thousand years ago. The work is attributed to Vyasa, which is a common term applied to all compilers. Heeren says:"Vyasa had numerous disciples, who instructed others in their turn. At last, the variations in the manner of reading and reciting the text are said to have given rise to no less than one thousand one hundred different schools. These alterations would, for the most part, only concern outward forms of pronunciation; and they must have been made many centuries ago; for the numerous quotations in the oldest writings agree with the modern copies of the Vedas."

Nothing can exceed the reverence paid to these Sacred Writings. It is not allowable to bring them into contact with animal substances, such as leather or woollen. He who uses them must first perform prescribed ablutions and other religious ceremonies. It is deemed sacrilege to read them in the presence of a wicked man, or within the sound of whipping, or in a place through which a corpse is carried. Bramins alone may study or explain them; and they have always had it in their power to communicate to other castes as much, or as little, as they pleased. The

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next caste, comprising princes and nobles, are allowed to hear them expounded, and even to read portions, under the superintendence of Bramins. The third caste, of merchants, who are generally correct grammarians, and often good poets, are permitted to hear only such parts as relate to medicine. The lower castes are rigorously excluded from all knowledge of them. The Code of Menu ordains: "If a Soodra reads the Vedas to either of the three other castes, or if he listens to them, heated oil, wax, and melted tin shall be poured into his ears, and the orifice stopped up; and if he learns the Vedas by heart, he shall be put to death." But "the Bramin, who knows all the Vedas by heart, and recites them three times with devotion, will be delivered from all sin. He would incur no punishment, though he had eaten food from the most unclean hands, or even if he had killed the inhabitants of three worlds." Devout men, who have thus read and recited the Vedas, are called "twice born," in allusion to a new spiritual birth, in addition to their natural birth.

Inherent sacredness and supernatural power are ascribed to the identical Sanscrit words, and it is considered sacrilege to make the slightest alteration in the arrangement of the sentences. Hence, the Bramins have evinced an almost insurmountable reluctance to have them translated into foreign languages. Probably no one of them would have dared to show the manuscripts for such a purpose, had it not been for their hopeless conviction that everything is going to predestined destruction in this present Cali Yug, and therefore it matters little what is done with anything this perishable world contains. But though this view has reconciled some to imparting a knowledge of their religion to foreigners, the stricter sort have always regarded translations of their Sacred Books with mingled feelings of terror and sadness.

The Vedas are collections of detached pieces, by different authors, whose names are therein cited. They purport to be the utterance of certain very ancient and celebrated saints, called Rishis, who received them directly from Di

vine Beings. Some of these authors were Bramins, and some were royal personages, who had attained to complete sanctity. They are represented as holy anchorites in the forest, a circumstance which indicates the extreme antiquity of that mode of life in India. Heeren says: "The worship prescribed concerns a religious system, which, according to the unanimous opinion of all who have studied the subject, has for its foundation the belief in One God. This Divinity, however, was manifested in the grand phenomena of Nature, which were themselves separately invoked as deities. In this sense, we might consider it a kind of natural religion, but it is interwoven with a tissue of refined speculations on the infinite, on the origin of things, the emanation of beings, and their absorption into the Godhead; and this constitutes their peculiarity." The names of Vishnu and Siva are only mentioned two or three times; but the "One Immutable Being" is mentioned much more frequently. The prayers are mostly addressed to Sun, Moon, Fire, Air, Water, and other forces of Nature, whose presiding Spirits are supposed to be subordi nate agents of the Supreme, and different manifestations of his being. The Vedas contain civil laws, moral precepts, treatises on medicine, astronomy, astrology, and divination, dialogues concerning God and the soul, and a prescribed ritual for external worship. Each Veda is divided into two parts. The first part, called the Sanhita, contains hymns, prayers, invocations, rules concerning sacrifices to be offered to Spirits of the Planets and of the Elements, and to the souls of departed ancestors; and various other things connected with the ceremonials of religion. The second portion is called the Upanishad, which signifies The Knowledge of God, or the Science of God. These portions contain moral precepts, and dialogues between the Rishis and the Deities, concerning the existence of God, the origin and destiny of the soul, and other kindred topics. They teach the existence of One Invisible Being, and urge subjugation of the senses, and devout contemplation, as the means of obtaining from above intuitive perceptions, which they call

"science," by whose divine agency the human soul is brought into perfect and blessed union with the Supreme One.

In the first two Vedas, there is but a small proportion of this spiritual teaching. The third comprises the most detailed and abstract researches of that description; and even in the fourth, which is not so highly esteemed by European scholars, they occupy more than half the whole book. The Sanhita, or Liturgy, of the first and second Vedas, contains hymns and prayers to be recited at sacrifices, festivals, the consecration of Bramins, the inauguration of kings, and other public ceremonies. Some of them are said to be composed by the ancient Rishis, others are ascribed to various Deities. The hymns of the third Veda are exclusively intended for chanting. The fourth contains more than seven hundred and sixty hymns and prayers. A large proportion are forms of imprecation, for the punishment of the wicked and the destruction of enemics. There are also numerous invocations to the Spirit of the Sun, of the Air, of Water, and of other forces of Nature, to procure rain and good harvests, or to avert sickness and calamity.

The following extracts will serve to give some idea of the more spiritual portions of the Vedas. Where the word science occurs, it must be remembered that the writers intended thereby to express perceptions of divine truth, obtained by immediate revelations from God to the soul.

"Any place where the mind of man can be undisturbed, is suitable for the worship of the Supreme Being."

"The vulgar look for their gods in water; the ignorant think they reside in wood, bricks, and stones; men of more extended knowledge seek them in celestial orbs; but wise men worship the Universal Soul."

"There is One living and true God; everlasting, without parts or passion; of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the Maker and Preserver of all things."

"What and how the Supreme Being is, cannot be ascer tained. We can only describe him by his effects and

works. In like manner as we, not knowing the real nature of the sun, explain him to be the cause of the succession of days and epochs."

"That Spirit, who is distinct from Matter, and from all beings contained in Matter, is not various. He is One, and he is beyond description; whose glory is so great, there can be no image of him. He is the incomprehensible Spirit, who illuminates all, and delights all; from whom all proceed, by whom they live after they are born, and to whom all must return. Nothing but the Supreme Being should be adored by a wise man."

"He overspreads all creatures. He is merely Spirit, without the form either of a minute body, or an extended one, which is liable to impression or organization. He is the ruler of the intellect, self-existent, pure, perfect, omniscient, and omnipresent. He has from all eternity been assigning to all creatures their respective purposes. No vision can approach him, no language describe him, no intellectual power can comprehend him."

"Heaven is his head, the sun and moon are his eyes, the earth is his feet, space is his ears, air is his breath, the Vedas are his speech, and the visible creation is his intellect; for he is The Soul of the Universe."

"He by whom the birth, the existence, and the annihilation of the world are regulated is The Supreme Soul. The sun and all the luminaries borrow their light from him."

"As a thousand rays emanate from one flame, thus do all souls emanate from The One Eternal Soul, and return to him."

"As the web proceeds from the spider and is absorbed again by her, as vegetables proceed from the earth, as hair and nails grow from animate beings, so is the universe evolved from the One Eternal Supreme Soul."

"The Supreme Soul dwells in the form of four-footed animals, and in another place he is full of glory. He lives in the form of the slave, he is smaller than the grain of barley. He is the smallest of the small, and the greatest of the great; yet he is neither small nor great."

VOL. I.-4

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