Page:The World's Parliament of Religions Vol 1.djvu/359

 Somaj, which has drawn itself still further away from Hinduism by renouncing the institutions of Varnas and the established law of marriage, etc.

The society which next calls your attention is the Aryasamaja of Swami Dayananda. This society subscribes to the teaching of the Nyaya-Darsana and professes to revive the religion of the Sutras in all social rites and observances. This Samaja claims to have found out the true religion of the Aryas, and it is of course within the pale of Hinduism, though the merit of their claim yet remains to be seen.

The third influence at work is that of the Theosophical Society. It is pledged to a religion contained in the Upanishads of India, in the Book of the Dead of Egypt, in the teachings of Confucius and Lao, Tse in China, and of Buddha and Zoroaster in Thibet and Persia, in the Kabala of the Jews, and in the Sufism of the Mohammedans; and it appears to be full of principles contained in the Advaita and Yoga philosophies. It can not. be gainsaid that this society has created much interest in religious studies all over India, and has set earnest students to studying their ancient books with better lights and fresher spirits than before. Time alone can test the outcome of this or any other movement.

The term Hinduism then has nothing to add to its meaning from this period to the Samajas. The Brahmo Somaj widely differs from Hinduism and the Aryasamaja or Theosophlical Society does not profess anything new.

To sum up, then, Hinduism may in general be understood to connote the following principal attributes: (1.) Belief in the existence of a spiritual principle in nature and in the principle of reincarnation. (2.) Observance of a complete tolerance and of the Samskaras, being in one of the Varnas and Asramas, and being bound by the Hindu law. This is the general meaning of the term, but in its particular bearing it implies: (3.) Belonging to one of the Daranas, Sampradayas, or Panthas or to one of the anti-Brahmanical schisms.

Having ascertained the general and particular scope and meaning of Hinduism, I would ask you, gentlemen of this august parliament, whether here is not in Hinduism material sufficient to allow of its being brought in contact with the other great religions of the world by subsuming them all under one common genius?In other words, is it not possible to enunciate a few principles of universal religion which every man who professes to be religious must accept, apart from his being a Hindu or a Buddhist, a Mohammedan or a Pharsee, a Christian or a Jew?If religion is not wholly that something which satisfies the cravings of the emotional nature of man, but is that rational demonstration of the cosmos, which shows at once the why and wherefore of existence, provides the eternal and all-embracing foundation of