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Art. XIX.—The Vaishṇava Religion, with special reference to the Śikshā-patrī of the modern sect called Svāmi-Nārāyaṇa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

Monier Williams
Monier Williams
Affiliation:
Boden Professor of Sanskṛit, and Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford
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Extract

It is a remarkable circumstance that the Queen of Great Britain rules over two hundred millions of people, who though deeply religious, possess a religion which cannot be designated by any one name. Most of the religions of the world, as, for example, Christianity, Muhammadanism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, are called by the names of their founders, though without the sanction of the founders themselves.

Type
Original Communications
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 14 , Issue 3 , July 1882 , pp. 289 - 316
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1882

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References

page 291 note 1 The Kāraṇa-śarīra is not only identified with Ignorance (Ajnāna or Avidyā), but also with Illusion (Māyā). Both Ignorance and Illusion are the sole cause of the separation of the personal God and the personal human Soul from the Universal Soul. In the same way they are the cause of every existing thing.

page 292 note 1 See the Māṇḍūkya Upanishad.

page 293 note 1 In other words, the Kāraṇa-śarīra, or illusory corporeal disguise (upādhi) of the impersonal Spirit Brahmă, consists of Ignorance, and is bound by the three Guṇas. By reason of this investing envelope and triple bond it becomes the personal God Parameśvara, who is thence called Saguṇa (associated with the Guṇas). In its impersonal state the Spirit is nirguṇa.

page 293 note 2 Sometimes regarded as equivalent to Passion or Pain, Purity or Happiness, and Apathy or Ignorance.

page 293 note 3 In the later mythology the expression S'akti is substituted for Māyā, for Prakṛiti, and for Ajnāna, and represents the wife of the personal God.

page 293 note 4 Such orthodox holders of the true Brāhmanical doctrine are regarded as followers of S'ankara and called Smārtas.

page 294 note 1 S'iva is the great ascetic (the counterpart of Buddha), the great philosopher who became incarnate in S'ankarāćārya, and the revealer of Grammar to Pāṇini.

page 297 note 1 How is it that we have two or three scientific prose translations of the Bhagavad-gītā, while we have none of the Bhāgavata-Purāṇa, nor of the two Rāmāyaṇas, and, still more strangely, none of the Saṃhitās of the Vedas? Another translation of the Bhagavad-gītā has just been published as one of the series of “Sacred Books of the East.” With it are printed two episodes (with an index as full as a concordance), which occupy much space, but are scarcely entitled to be called “Sacred Books.” It is a pity that the utility of these translations (good as some of them are) is seriously impaired by the un-English system of transliteration adopted.

page 297 note 2 S'aivas, on the other hand, worship symbols and monstrous shapes like those of Gaṇeśa and Kālī.

page 298 note 1 This is because there are 108 chief names given to Kṛishṇa as the Supreme Being.

page 300 note 1 Quoted by MrGrowse, , C.S., in his interesting Memior of Mathurā, p. 182.Google Scholar

page 303 note 1 The central shrine is shaped to represent the form of the sacred syllable Om.

page 306 note 1 This was his theory, but among his numerous followers of the present day the doctrine of equality does not overcome caste-feeling and caste-observances, except during religious services. The food presented to the idol of Jagannāth is distributed to all castes alike, and eaten by all indiscriminately at the annual festival.

page 306 note 2 These correspond to the Zikr and religious dancing of the Muhammadan dervishes. For even cold Islam has its devotees who aim at religious ecstasy and resort to expedients very similar to those of the C'aitanyas.

page 307 note 1 I believe the full title is Mahārājādhirāja.

page 309 note 1 The profligacy of the Mahārājas was exposed in the celebrated trial of the Mahārāja libel case, which came before the Supreme Court of Bombay, on the 26th of January, 1862. The evidence given, and the judgment of the judges, have acted as some check on the licentious practices of the sect.

page 309 note 2 It ought to be mentioned, however, that Dayānanda Saraswatī Svāmī, who is the leader of a new Theistic sect, called the Ārya-Samāj, at Bombay, has written two treatises in Sanskrit and Gujarātī to show that Svāmi-Nārāyaṇa's teaching is quite as objectionable in its tendency as that of Vallabhāćārya.

page 311 note 1 Sādhu is a general term for a man who has given up the world for the practice of religion. The title Sannyāsī—propsrly applicable only to Brahmaus—is usually confined to S'aiva ascetics.

page 312 note 1 According to the Prem-sāgar, it was on the night of the full moon of this month that Kṛishṇa first danced with the Gopīs the circular dance called Rāsa-Maṇḍala.

page 312 note 2 Almost all grown-up males in India have stentorian voices, and are in the habit of talking loud, even in ordinary conversation. This is amusingly illustrated at railway stations, where the native passengers collect in crowds long before the arrival of the trains. It is equally common at religious gatherings, and no idea of irreverence seems to be connected with the practice of shouting to each other on such occasions.