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SEPTEMBER, 1893.]
thought in India. Although this (Sankara's) form of doctrine has, ever since Sankara's time, been the one most generally accepted by Brahmanic students of philosophy, it has never had any wide-reaching influence on the masses of India. It is too little in sympathy with the wants of the human heart, which, after all, are not so very different in India from what they are elsewhere. Comparatively few, even in India, are those who rejoice in the idea of a universal non-personal essence in which their own individuality is to be merged and lost for ever, who think it is sweet "to be. wrecked on the ocean of the Infinite." The only forms of Vêdântic philosophy which are and can at any time have been really popular, are those in which the Brahman of the Upanishads has somehow transformed itself into a being, between which and the devotee there can exist a personal relation, love and faith on the part of man, justice tempered by mercy on the part of divinity. The only religious books of wide-spread influence, are such as the Ramayan of Tal'si Dâs, which lay no stress on the distinction between an absolute Brahman inaccessible to all human wants and sympathies, and a shadowy Lord whose very conception depends on the illusory principle of mayá, but love to dwell on the delights of devotion to one all-wise and merciful. ruler, who is able and willing to lend a gracious ear to the supplication of the worshipper.'
NOTES ON TUL'SI DAS.
229
With these introductory remarks I submit the following analysis of the fifth, or karma, sarga of the Sat-sai.
The commentator Baij'nath's preface to this part is not uninteresting and must first be quoted. The subject matter of this part is an account of the doctrine of actions (karmasiddhanta-varṇana). Now this karma is the primal cause (ádi-kárana) of all things. This karma may be good or evil (subhásubha). It is, as it were, the wings of the bird-like soul (jiva-rupapakshi), wings by the support (ádhára) of which the soul continually makes progress (gati). Moreover, good and evil karmas ever emanate naturally from the soul,-good, such as giving water to the thirsty, gifts to the hungry, setting on the right path those who have gone astray, leading the heat-oppressed to shade, and the like,-evil,-but they are countless. Or again; everything doable (yávat kartavyatá) is karma, as for example, calmness, self-command, patience, trust. The six kinds of religious meditation, freedom from passion, desire for salvation, and other means of obtaining perfect knowledge are all examples of karma. Or again; hearing the Scriptures, chanting hymns, prayer and adoration, faith, these are all karmas Or again; no karma which may be done contrary to a man's position in life or caste can be considered a good one. Thus, the branches of the tree of karma extend to hell (naraka), to the lower heaven (svarga), and to the abode of supreme bliss (mukti-dhúman), and are (the soul's) one support. Wherever the soul may go, if it do karma with a selfish object (savásika karma) (e. g., to obtain salvation), it must remain dependent upon karma alone, which thus becomes its fetter; but if it does karma with no selfish object (nirvásika karma), that is merely in order to please the Lord, then karma is no longer a fetter; it gives faith and salvation, nay, it is an agent (kartri) of both. For example, Prithu when he sacrificed, had no selfish object, and became endowed with faith to the Lord, but through performing a sacrifice with a selfish object Daksha fell a victim to calamities. So Dhruva performed unselfish austerities, and obtained faith, but Râvana per formed selfish austerities and wrought his own destruction. Ambarisha obtained faith through his unselfish sacrifice. Other examples of karma are, unselfish justice, as in Yudhishthira, and, selfish (karma), Jarasandha. Thus a man who relies on selfish karma attains only to the lower heaven (svarga), and having thus exhausted his merits must again be born in the world of mortals. Hence, in order to attain to faith in the Lord, a man should only perform good karmas. This ocean of the doctrine of karma is fathomless and illimitable, but with the aid of a spiritual teacher, one crosses it as in a boat.' End of Preface.
Text. Consider thy body as worthy of honour, for the Lord himself once took the human
The fifth sarga is devoted to the doctrine (siddhanta) of karma, and the sixth to the doctrine of jñana. There is no reference here to the karma-kanda (parva-mímámsá) and the jñana-kanda (uttara-mimams) of the Védântists.
