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APPENDIX.
215
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The sacrificial text still forms part of the
find an easy solution in their metaphysical origin; for with the numerous functions of life being in a manner interdependent on one another, it mustat times happen that the mythological rendering of the metaphysical conceptions of their origin should present features of incongruity in their relationship which to an uninitiated mind appear to be irreconcilable and therefore false. Some of the 'gods," it will be observed, are said to be the fathers of their own parents, while some are co-eval with their progenitors. Such accounts, though highly misleading in their nature, are not peculiar to Hinduism alone; they are to be found in all systems of mythology and mysticism, e.g., the dogma of the co-existence of the 'Father' and the 'Son' in the Christian creed. Their explanation is simple and easy when the metaphysical origin of their conceptions is known, but tortuous and misleading otherwise. He who would solve the mystery of the celestial kingdom and the heirarchy of gods, should, first of all, procure the lubricant of nayavada (the philosophy of standpoints) without which the key of intellectualism does not turn in the rusty mythological locks that have remained unopened for ages. He should then make a bundle of his personal beliefs and private prejudices, and throw it away from him before entering the adytum of the powers' that control the destinies of all living. Thus alone would he discover the truth as it exists in and for itself, and avoid falling a victim to error and pre. judiced belief. The intelligent reader would now find that the soul personified as Indra in its aspect of the enjoyer of matter through the indriyas (senses), is the progeny of Dyaus and Prithivi (Spirit and Matter) from the point of view of evolution, and yet the source of his own parents' when taken in the sense of the Absolute which monism endeavours to posit as the only existence in the universe. That these conceptions are not quite scientific does not detract from the merit of the explanation, since we are merely concerned in unravelling the mystery of mythology, not in proving it to be scientific aganist facts. As a general rule it will be found that the element of contradiction and incongruity in the mythologies is a sure index to a mixing up, in a manner unwarranted by strict metaphysics, of the results obtained from different standpoints. It is, therefore, safe to say that whatever is found to be irreconcilable to reason and
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