Page:The Religion of the Veda.djvu/243

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The Beginnings of Hmdu Theosophy 227

Yajnavalkya’s brilliant exposition of theostphy by repeated gifts of a thousand cowsmwe may wonder who counted them, and what Yajnavalltya did with themmKing Ajatacatru of BCHELI'CS, real intellectual as he is, will not allow admiring Brahmans to starve.

I think that a saying of the modern sage and pious ascetic, the I’aramahansa Ramaltrishna,1 throws essentially the right light upon the exceptional character of the thcosoPhic exploits of kings: “ Men always quote the example of the King Janaka, as that of a man who lived in the world and yet attained perfection. But throughout the whole history of mankind there is only this solitary example. His We may

1

case was not the rule but the exception.’ tone down this statement, and apply it to the present question as follows: Not all Brahmans were intellec- tually or morally sound, but some Brahmans were at all times, as they were in the days of gankara and Kumarila, the intellectual leaders of India; brilliant helpers from the other castes, more especially the Royal caste,” lent occasional aid, and this aid justly compelled acknowledgment and admiration.

I am now come at last to the “how” of Hindu higher thought, that is, my task is now to show how the main or essential thoughts of Hindu theosophy

1 See. Max Muller, Ramakrishna, His Life and Sayings, p. 127. 9 See above. p. 21:9.