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Search - Oriental Religions - Vol II

Oriental Religions Vol II
Author: Samuel Johnson

ORIENTAL RELIGIONS AND THEIR RELATION TO UNIVERSAL RELIGION BY SAMUEL JOHNSON INDIA IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. II. LONDON TRUBNER CO., LUDGATE HILL 1879 All rights reserved CONTENTS OF VOL. II. INDIA. IL RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY. Continued. Page III. THE BHAGAVAD-GITA 3 IV. PIETY AND MORALITY OF PANTHEISM . 33 V. INCARNATION 75 VI. TRANSMIGRATION 105 VII. ... more »RELIGIOUS UNIVERSALITY 147 III. BUDDHISM. I. SPECULATIVE PRINCIPLES 171 II. NiRvANA 211 III. ETHICS AND HUMANITIES 231 IV. THE HOUR AND THE MAN 275 V. AFTER-LIFE IN INDIA 303 VI. BUDDHIST CIVILIZATION 327 VII. ECCLESIASTICISM 361 II. RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY. Continued. in. THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. date of the Bhagavadgita, or Divine Lay, the most important episode of the Ma-TheDivine h ibh rata, although uncertain, cannot be far Lay distant on either side from the beginning of the Chris tian era. 1 It embodies, in the form of dialogue, a revelation by Krishna, as incarnation of the Supreme, to the hero Arjuna, on the field of Kuru and the armies of two opposing dynasties, about to join brittle, are drawn up in silence to await the close of this transcendental communion between the man and the god. Its initial motive is to remove the scruples of the prince against destroying human life, which have paralyzed his power to fulfil the duties of a soldier and a ruler. To this end it celebrates the sovereignty of the soul over the body, its eternal essence, which death cannot harm, and the fulfilment of personal duty as the way of life and the path of glory. The use of such arguments to reconcile men to the sternest obligations involved in a state of war is itself an im pressive illustration of the power of ideal interests. It contrasts favorably with the use of arguments from immortality to justify the destruction of the heretics body in order to save his soul from eternal woe, or to Thomsons trannl., 7 nm, p. cxiv. Lassens Prefect, p. xxxvi. 4 RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY. make the threat of future punishment more appalling. 1 The meditations of Arjuna before a Hindu epic battle contrast in many ways with the prayers of Cromwells soldiers before a real English one. They are, how ever, alike in the recognition of ideal relations in the sternest actual work. But this is incidental to the great purpose of tht poem, which covers the whole ground of theology, philosophy, and ethics. It is the final flower of Hindu intellect and piety the summary reconciliation and poetic fusion of the best elements that preceded it in the mystical, rationalistic, and practical schools. It is better known to modern scholars than any other production of Oriental genius having been again and again edited with rare critical industry, re sulting in the statement of Schlegel, based on diligent comparison of a great number of manuscripts, that the differences between these are almost impercep tible while Lassen, after a still more extended use of materials, adds but fifteen slight emendations. 9 The disagreement among translators and critics on here and there a passage 3 interferes in no degree with our sense of possessing an accurate transcript of this, the most important of all records of Eastern faith, into the languages of the West. 4 And the en thusiasm of its European students almost rivals that veneration which in India has assigned it a place not inferior in dignity and authority to the Vedas themselves. 6 Wilhelm von Humboldt celebrates it as the most 1 See Matt. xit. 32 xxv. 41. Lasst, p. xxxiv. See especially Wilsons criticisms on Lessen and Schlegel Essays cm SanJks. Litera- PV, vol. Hi.. The translations consulted in the present chapter are Scblegels Latin version, edited by Lassen 1846, and the English version of Wilkina 1785 and Thomson 1855. LaKt t p. xxvii. THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. 5 beautiful, perhaps properly the only true, philosophical song, that exists in any known tongue. Lassen shrinks from attempting to recommend it, lest he should imply that it has need of any praise of his...

ISBN-13: 9781406742572
ISBN-10: 1406742570
Publication Date: 3/15/2007
Pages: 472
Rating:

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Publisher: Northup Press
Book Type: Paperback
Members Wishing: 0
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