Page:The World's Parliament of Religions Vol 1.djvu/351

Rh desire to lay before you the true spirit of these ordinances, which I am afraid might escape the dry outline I am here presenting. All Samskâras have an intrinsic merit in them, and I for one believe them all to be conceived in the best spirit of physical, social, moral, mental, and spiritual welfare. The Samskâras have almost all undergone various modifications and several have gone entirely out of use.

We have not spoken of Yajna—sacrifice—the subject of the S'ranta-Sutras. All Samskâras are so many smaller Yajnas, the larger Vedic ones such as As'vamedha and Rajaswya, and Soma, and Prâydpatya and Vâjapeya, being reserved for special occasions. But this one idea of sacrifice has been worked into such noble ideals by the ancient Âryans, that sacrifice in the true sense of the word has come to be identified with the highest bliss attainable by man. The whole universe is symbolized, as one sacrifice, and indeed the thoughts and actions of one who has realized the All are represented as one continuous sacrifice of Juâna to Juâna. But we cannot go further into this interesting subject.

It would follow then, from this brief summary of the sutra-period that the following have been added on to the meaning of "Hinduism."

(1) The being in a varna and az'rama.

(2) The observance of the samskâras.

(3) The being bound by the Hindu law of succession.

III. We arrive thus in natural succession to the third period of Âryan religion, the Dars'anas, which enlarge upon the central idea of â tman, or Brahman, enunciated in the Vedas and developed in the Upanishadas. It is interesting to attend to the Chârvâkas, the materialists of Indian philosophy, and to the Jainas and the Buddhas, who, though opposed to the Chârvâkas, are anti-Brâhmanical, in that they do not recognize the authority of the Vedas and preach an independent gospel of love and mercy. These schisms, however, had an indifferent effect in imparting fresh activity to the rationalistic spirit of the Âryan sages, lying dormant under the growing incumbrances of the ritualism of the Sutras.

The central idea of the All as we found it in the Vedas is further developed in the Upanishadas. In the Sutra period several Sutra-works were composed setting forth in a systematic manner the main teaching of the Upanishads. Several works came to be written in imitation of these subjects closely connected with the main issues of philosophy and metaphysics. This spirit of philosophic activity gave rise to the six well-known Dars'anas, or schools of philosophy. Here again it is necessary to enter the caution that the Dars'anas do not historically belong to this period, for notwithstanding this, their place in the general development of thought and the teachings they embody are as old as the Veda or even older.

The six Dars'anas are Nyâya, Vais'eshika, Sânkhya, Yoga, Mimânsâ, and Vedânta, more conveniently grouped as the two Nyâyas, the two Sânkhyas and the two Mimânsâs. Each of these must require at least a volume