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(pure being), chit (pure awareness) and ananda (pure bliss), idealizes the aesthetic as intuition of such ultimacy. Believing that perfect quiescence, with all desires stilled, all distinctions vanquished, and all movement ceased, alone is perfectly enjoyed, Vedantists depict demergence into imperfect (illusory) being through successive levels of consciousness, self-consciousness, mind (with imagination), sensations, the sense organs, objects sensed, and real things (as well as hallucinations and erroneously inferred real things). Art objects, as real things, belong to almost the lowest order of illusory beings. They appeal to the senses, and so long as attention fastens upon the sensuous arts, it is distracted and disunited from the truly aesthetic. Consequently, orthodox theorists experienced some difficulty in reconciling the arts, especially music, as in any way contributory to attaining the ultimate aesthetic goal. However, Hindu thought eventually added a "fifth Veda" (including theory of drama, Natyaveda, of music, Sangitaveda, and of architecture, Vasuveda) revealing how mastery of these arts may be used to advance one toward the ultimate goal. Dramatic enactment of sacred stories symbolizing divine processes may draw the observer from daily cares to holier ideas and moods. An actor may lose self-consciousness by identifying himself with the cosmic deity he portrays. Temple architecture preserves these stories in stone, and songs preserve them in memories. But even merely instrumental music, which demands extreme concentration by the musician and entices the listener away from more mundane affairs, may serve as a kind of yoga. Although Hindu philosophers, reluctant to admit still another competitor to their Way of Knowledge (Gnana Yoga), may regard this "fifth Veda" as a "soft way" suited to the lesser capacities of the masses, a rationale can be established which justifies the artist as a proponent of ultimacy. Only when the general is wedded to the specific, as in art, can the general be comprehended by ordinary men. Hence, art in some form or other is necessary for religious instruction.
ARCHIE J. BAHM
Risking presumptuous familiarity in an aside, I illustrate the foregoing by recalling thoughts entertained while enjoying a performance by Sitarist Ravi Shankar in Albuquerque on December 5, 1964. Part of the significance of Hindu sacred music can be found in its inducement to silence, within which transcendental ecstasy may be experienced. The significance of silence is seldom understood by Western audiences (though Hindu artists performing in the United States often cater to Western preferences for vivacity and virtuosity instead of quiescent sanctity). For example, deceleration of rhythm and decreasing loudness of sounds at the end of a performance may not merely fade into silence but be projected as if into a profounder silence by continued plucking motions for visual appearance after actual plucking has ceased. Western anxiety cannot restrain itself from breaking (rudely) into applause; but the longer the pause before applause, the greater the quiescent effect, the achievement of the artist, and the appreciation by the audience. Another significant part of Hindu music is the drone, accomplished variously by the Tampura, Tabla and Harmonium, for example. Establishment of an underlying, invariant rhythm conditions. the spirit to remain unmoved by distractions while following the Sitar music or song. The more stable and prolonged the mood, the more it resembles or embodies the stability and eternality idealized as ultimate reality.
As I continue my aside even more presumptuously, allow me to wonder why Hindu musicians do not still further exploit musical potentialities for inducing silence. Deliberate deceleration of rhythm, a technique commonly employed by Hatha Yogins, using breathing practices to induce evacuations of consciousness, may be repeated continuously. Just as a yogin may prolong each successive breath cycle by the length of an additional heartbeat, so a musician may both decelerate his rhythm more slowly and extend the period of silence a moment longer in each of a successive series of movements toward quiescence until the listener's spirit tends toward expecting per
