Page:The Religion of the Veda.djvu/71

 i The Veda 55 time the Upanishads were yet unknown in Europe. Notwithstanding its double disguise, first the Persian, and next the Latin, Anquetil's Latin ren- dering proved to be the medium through which Schopenhauer became acquainted with the thought of the Upanishads. As is well known, Schopen- hauer, who is the father of Western pessimism, was powerfully impregnated with their pantheistic, or, more precisely, monistic philosophy. His own sys- tem is really based upon conceptions that coincide in one way or another with the more detached teachings of the Upanishads. Schopenhauer used to have the Oupnekhat lie open upon his table, and was in the habit, before going to bed, of performing his devotions from its pages. His own estimate of the character of the Oupnekhat is preserved to us in the following statement: "Next to the original it is the most rewardful reading possible in the world. It has been the solace of my life; it will be the solace of my death." Schopenhauer himself tells us the reason for his faith in the Upanishads. The fundamental thought of the Upanishads, he says, is what has at all times called forth the scoffing of fools and the unceasing meditation of the wise, namely, the doctrine of unity; the doctrine that all plurality is only apparent; that in all individuals of this world, in whatsoever endless number they