________________
108
OUTLINES OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHY
for entering upon the path of karma as shown by statements like the following from Vasistha: 'Neither the Veda, nor sacrifice, nor liberality can save him whose conduct is base, who has departed from the right path.' The nature of virtues insisted upon can be gathered for instance from the following characterization by Apastamba of the religious student: 'He is gentle and serene. He exercises the highest self-control. He is modest and courageous. He has cast off all lassitude and is free from anger.' Gautama not only prescribes, in addition to religious rites, what he calls 'the virtues of the soul' (atma-guņa) or the inner ethical virtues, viz. kindness towards all, forbearance, absence of envy, purity, perseverance, cheerfulness, dignity and contentment but also places them on a higher plane than mere ceremonial.3 Karmas in the above sense are either (i) 'permitted' or 'optional' (kāmya) which aim at specific results such as the attainment of heaven, (ii) 'prohibited' (pratiṣiddha), indulgence in which will lead to sin and to its unwelcome consequences, or (iii) 'obligatory' or 'unconditional' (nitya) which comprehend the duties appropriate to the four varņas or classes of society and to what we described in the last chapter as the four asramas (p. 75). It is not necessary to enter into the details of these varieties of karma. We shall merely draw attention to one or two principles underlying this view of discipline which are of interest to us here.
The whole code of conduct presupposes the survival of the self after death and takes for granted that the present life is essentially a preparation for the coming one.4 Whatever we may think of the metaphysical basis of such a view, its disciplinary value is apparent. By emphasizing the enduring character of the self, it discountenances present indulgence 1 Dharma-sutra, vi. 2 and 6. See EI. p. 90. 2 ADS. I. iii. 17-24.
3 GDS. viii. 20-23.
'The chief subject on which the Brāhmaṇas talk is death; for this present life, they hold, is like the season passed in the womb, and death for those who have cultivated philosophy is the birth into the real, the happy life. For this reason they follow an extensive discipline to make them ready for death'-Megasthenes. See Cambridge History of India, vol. I. p. 419.
