Ridpath's history of the world; being an account of the ethnic origin, primitive estate, early migrations, social conditions and present promise of the principal families of men .. . philosophers to de-note the sum of all nature, thegerm of everything that is, the onething that embraces idea is especially difficult tograsp. The incisive intellect of theWestern nations, requiring cleardefinition in everything, does notreadily apprehend the meaning of thisbrahma, and when we attempt to clear ourunderstandings by an examination of theVedic commentaries, such as the Upani-shads, we
Ridpath's history of the world; being an account of the ethnic origin, primitive estate, early migrations, social conditions and present promise of the principal families of men .. . philosophers to de-note the sum of all nature, thegerm of everything that is, the onething that embraces idea is especially difficult tograsp. The incisive intellect of theWestern nations, requiring cleardefinition in everything, does notreadily apprehend the meaning of thisbrahma, and when we attempt to clear ourunderstandings by an examination of theVedic commentaries, such as the Upani-shads, we are generally confused ratherthan enlightened. The book known asthe Kena-Upanishad says of this imper-sonal brahma: Eye, tongue, mindcan not reach it; we comprehend it not,we can not teach it to anyone; it is otherthan all that is known and all that is un-known. The speculations of the Brahmans rela-tive to the meaning of the term would,in their turn, demand volumes of expli-cation. They have a mys- speculations terioUS Syllable, 6m. which ^refinementsJ respecting the contains a peculiar trinity om- of sounds, and by this they symbolize the brahma. This inexplicable explana-. KAMI-RAIT. tion is in its turn made the subject ofcommentary, and the Mandukya-Upan-ishad is wholly devoted to explanationsof the sense of 6m. As illustrative ofthe abstruse and involved ideas afterwhich the authors seem to struggle, thefollowing paragraph is quoted: 6m isimmortal. Its unfolding is this universe ;is all that was, is, and shall be. Indeed,all is the word 6m; and if there is any-thing outside of these three manifesta-tions, it is also 6m. For this all is 664 GREAT RACES OF MANKIND. Brahma; this soul is Brahma. Thissoul has four existences. Having once developed the notion ofthis neuter brahma, as an expression forthe sum of all nature, the concept soonbecame the end of the religious is to say that while the originalsystem was active in its character, the ! its present form
Size: 1352px × 1848px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksub, booksubjectworldhistory
