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FRAGMENTS OF A PRISONERS DIARY
to him by God, is the only practical application of the basic principle of Hindu philosophy, that “atmajnan" (knowledge of one's own self) is the highest ideal of human life.
It would, of course, be amazing impudence on the part of a poor illiterate cat to sermonise those who are superior to her, at least in the biological sense. I might be tempted to commit the act of insolence, if I allowed myself to be influenced by, for example, Bergson's interpretation of organic evolution. In his opinion, human organism is not to be regarded as the highest product of the process of natural selection; on the contrary, he holds, it is indeed a deteriorated biological form. To drive his point home. the venerable dean of contemporary philosophy points out how unfavourably human organism compares, for example, with the elephantine or apine.
I don't see any valid reason why the tiger, not to mention the lion, should not be added to the list of animals that can claim superiority to man, on such high an authority. And the obviously unchallengeable right of the tiger is shared also by his aunt, which distinction belongs to the cat. Thus, if I chose to, I could justifiably lecture man. The superiority of the wisdom of the elders is traditionally admitted by the Indian social and domestic ethics. As a matter of fact, I am rather young, a little over a year old at this writing. But,
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