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APPENDIX.
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Great as this reform undoubtedly was, it nevertheless failed to hit the mark; for the departure of the family
to emphasize the nature of life, for in the condition of bondage (described as the seasonal impurity of Draupadi) the soul is always enwrapped within interminable layers of matter, so that it is impossible to catch a glimpse of its naked glory by any means,
The Japanese legend of Lady Kagoiya furnishes another beautiful impersonation of life. Her five lovers represent the five senses, all of which only play her false, by endeavouring to palm off on her base and worthless substitutes for the real articles she asks them for, and the Mikado is the physical personality whom she jilts to return to the Kingdom of Moon (Pitri-lôka, the regions of the pitris or mapes) with the moon-folk.
Draupadi must, however, be distinguished from Indra who is another impersonation of life, soul or spirit. The difference between the two personifications lies in the fact that, while Draupadi represents life in its relation to the senses, Indra does so in a very much wider sense. The character of Indra, it taken as an historical figure, or a living deity, is sufficient to excite the intensest feeling of disgust for the Hindu notions of morality, civilisation and divinity, for he not only commits adultery with the wife of his preceptor, Gautama, but is also made handsomer by the Grandsire (Brahma), who, far from punishing the seducer, actually turns the ugly marks of sin on his body into so many eyes at his merest prayer. The true significance of the legend, however, has nothing to do with history, and reveals a tremendous amount of insight into the nature of spirit, and an unrivalled capacity for the employment of poetical metaphor in its author. To appreciate the full force of the metaphoricallanguage used in this highly interesting impersonation, it is necessary to bear in mind the Hindu conception of the origin of the world from the standpoint of the Sânkhyan philosophy, which, postulating the eternal existence of spirit and matter, proceeds to explain the building up of the universe from their conjunction. We are here, however, not concerned with the evolution of the universe, as described by the Sankhyan philosophers, but only with the differentiation of Purusha (spirit) into jivas, which is thus described in the Yoga Vashishtha, a work of great authority in Hinduism :
"Like a brahmin who, after giving up his noble status, degrades
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