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are, devotion, reading the Vedas, meditation on Brahmá, and various kinds of austerities for subduing the passions.

Now while, both in regard to the object to be obtained, and the manner of obtaining it, there is much that is absurd, pernicious and ridiculous, as would appear from a full exhibition of the different parts of the system, yet all its important points have corresponding points in Christian theology, to which they bear a striking analogy.

For example, take the doctrine in relation to the highest state to which man can aspire, defined by the Hindûs as union with the Supreme Brahma, and freedom from the sufferings and liabilities of transmigration, and consequently the end of probation. As this doctrine lies in the Hindû mind (as is evident from its description in their books, and the declaration of living men), it implies such a union with Deity as destroys individuality, individual consciousness, and identity; and yet many passages in their sacred scriptures, which speak of this state and manner of attaining to it, have almost their precise equivalents in the Bible and in the language of Christian writers.

The following passages are specimens:

"Of all those duties, the principal is to acquire from the Upanishads (parts, of the Vedas), a true knowledge of the one Supreme God; that is the most exalted of all sciences, because it ensures immortality." (Manu B. xii. 85.)

"They who know the Vedant, and observe its meaning well, who exercise devout meditation, and who are pure at last in Brahma-loka, are altogether delivered, and become immortal." (Vedantism by Mullens, p. 103.) "He who knows him as the knower of every thought, of every individual mind, obtains immortality" (id. p. 102). "He who completely understands this (part of the) Veda, after being free from sin, goes to Swarga, and abides there forever" (id. p. 106). "The man who becomes thoughtful, wise and ever pure, reaches the divine glory, and descends no more from it into the world" (id. p. 106). "He who knows the supreme is free from all bonds, from all miseries, and is freed from birth and death. Through meditation upon him, by the dissolu

tion of the body, he gains the third state and has the universe for his wealth" (id.-). "That soul rising from the body, having arrived at the supreme light, possesses his form." "As rivers flowing, go into the sea and lose their name and form; so the wise, freed from name and form, gain him who is supreme, perfect, and splendid. He who knows that Supreme, becomes Brahma" (id. p. 107).

The last quotation is the key for understanding the doctrine of being united to Brahma. With the exception of some passages, the language is much like some expres sions in the Christian scriptures and in Christian writers. For example: "This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only living and true God." And the numerous passages which speak of the believer "being in Christ," "being found in Christ," "putting on Christ," "being like Christ," being united to Christ, and finally, being united to him to be separated from him no more forever. Swallowed up in Christ, at death, "the spirit returns to God who gave it," and others which are sometimes heard.

But lest we give too favorable a view of Hindûism, a few passages must be given, showing how this knowledge and state are to be obtained.

"The man who keeps outward accidents from entering his mind, and his eyes fixed in contemplation between his brows; who makes his breath to pass through his nostrils; who restrains his senses, heart, and mind, intent on final emancipation; who is free from desire, fear, and anger, is emancipated." (Bhagavat Gítá., ch. 5.) "To the devotee (yogi), gold, iron, and stones are alike. The yogi plants his feet firmly on a spot that is undefiled. . . . . There he should sit with his mind fixed on one object alone in the exercise of his devotion for the purification of his soul, keeping his head, his neck, and body steady without motion, his eyes fixed on the end of his nose, looking at no other place around. This divine discipline is not to be attained by him who eateth more than enough or less than enough; neither by him who hath a habit of sleeping much, or by him who sleepeth not at all. (ch. 6.) Dnyan [wisdom] incul

cates exemption from attachments and affection for children, wife, and home, and a dislike to the society of man." (Bh. Gítá, ch. xii. quoted by Mullen's Vedanta, p. 57.)

The only remaining doctrine we shall mention, as having a resemblance among Christian doctrines, is that of the incarnation of the Deity.

The word incarnation has been taken from Christian theology. The Sanskrit word used to denote this form of divinity is "Avatára," meaning descent. But as the Supreme Deity, in his descents to earth, assumes some form, the word incarnation is not inappropriate.

The Hindû writings speak of ten principal descents of the supreme deity to earth, though in theory these descents are, in number, almost infinite. The object of these descents of the supreme deity are, in general, the preservation of good men, the punishment of wicked men, or destruction of monsters that are afflicting the human race. What was done was local and temporary in its influence, and generally unworthy of the direct interference of the Creator of the universe. And they have no resemblance to the incarnation of Christ except in the elementary idea, viz. the deity taking a created form in order to interfere with the affairs of man. This idea has, so far as I know, no place in any other theology except the Christian.

Of the ten principal avatárs of the supreme, nine are past; the tenth, the Kalki, is to come. It will come at the close of the present age, or Kali yuga. The object of that incar nation or avatar will be to destroy the enemies of religion and restore the piety and purity of preceding ages. The Kali yuga is the iron age, in which the world is growing worse and worse. Hear the Purána on this subject:

"Wealth and piety will decrease day by day, until the world will be wholly depraved. Then property alone will confer rank; wealth will be the only source of devotion; falsehood will be the only means of success in litigation, and women will be objects merely of sensual gratification; dishonesty will be the only means of subsistence; weakness will be the cause of dependence; menace and presumption

will be substituted for learning; liberality will be devotion; simple ablution will be purification; fine clothes will be dignity; earth will be venerated but for its mineral treasures (i, e. there will be no holy places); ..... the Brahmanical thread will constitute a Brahman. No man's life will exceed three and twenty years. Amidst all castes he who is the strongest will reign over a principality thus vitiated by many faults. The people, unable to bear the many burdens imposed upon them by their avaricious sovereigns, will take refuge amidst the valleys of the mountains, and will be glad to feed upon wild honey, herbs, roots, fruits, flowers, and leaves; their only covering will be the bark of trees; and they will be exposed to cold, and wind, and sun, and rain. Thus in the Kali age shall decay constantly proceed, until the human race approaches annihilation.

"When the practices taught by the Vedas and the institutes of law shall nearly have ceased, and the close of the Kali age shall be nigh, a portion of that divine being who exists in his own spiritual nature as Brahma, and who is the beginning and the end, and who comprehends all things, shall descend upon earth; he shall be born an eminent Bráhman, of Sambhala village, as Kalki. By his irresistible might he will destroy all the Mlechas (barbarians or foreigners) and thieves, and all whose minds are devoted to iniquity. He will then reestablish righteousness upon earth; and the minds of those who live at the end of the Kali age shall be awakened and shall be as pellucid as crystal. The men who are thus changed by virtue of that peculiar time, shall be as seeds of human beings, and shall give birth to a race who shall follow the laws of the Krita age, or age of purity. As it is said: When the sun and moon and the lunar asterism Tishya, and the planet Jupiter, are in one mansion, the Krita age shall return.'" 1

Another author has epitomized the work of the tenth Avatára as follows: "Seated on a white horse, the deity will descend towards the close of the Kali yuga, and will destroy the universe." 2

Vishnu Purána, pp. 482-484.

2 J. C. Thomson's translation of the Bhagavad-Gítá, p. 148.

These resemblances between the Hindû and Christian religious doctrines cannot be supposed to be the result of accident. Nor can they be attributed to the independent workings of unrestrained imagination. The points of resemblance are too numerous, and the resemblances themselves too striking, to admit of such a supposition. Some of those thoughts respecting the mode of divine existence, the moral government of the world, the future destiny of this earth, and of the race of man, evidently had a higher origin than man's imagination; they are the offspring, more or less direct, of divine revelation. And yet these thoughts, and the systems with which they are connected, are so interwoven with absurd human speculations, that they only help to form systems of error. The indications of truth which

they furnish, do not constitute a redeeming quality in those systems. To be satisfied that this is so, the candid mind has only to examine those systems in all their parts, and see their practical influence on the condition of man. It is common for infidel writers to speak of the Hindû Shastras, as having equal claims on man's consideration and obedience with the Bible. They will perhaps take some maxim of a heathen philosopher, and place it beside one of the proverbs of Solomon, an aspiration of David, or a saying of Jesus, and exclaim: "see the equality of the systems!" They will liken Vyasa, Confucius, Socrates, and Mohammed to Moses, Isaiah, and Jesus, and speak of the former as religious teachers, on an equality with the latter. We will only say in regard to this class of men, that he who will soberly compare the Hindû Shastras with the Bible, making the former equal to the latter, exhibits such a peculiarity in his moral and intellectual powers, that to attempt to change his opinions by the common modes of reasoning, would be useless.

It is admitted, that the Hindû Shastras contain some noble maxims, and inculcate, in the abstract, some correct moral principles. But these maxims and principles never exceed in purity the teachings of the Bible, and can never be adduced to weaken the claims of the Book. Nay, more, they VOL. XV. No. 60.

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