DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.635#0024
BRAHMAN AS AND UPANISHADS n
attributed to a time shortly after the offshoots from the
first Aryan settlement of the Punjab began to spread
to the Ganges valley. They form the basis of the
later schools of Indian philosophy. Though deeply
tinged with Oriental mysticism, they, unlike the Brah-
manas, are almost free from ritualism and sectarian
spirit; they are chiefly devoted to discussions as to the
nature and means of realizing a knowledge of Brah-
man, the Universal Soul and Cause of all things.
The Brahmanas and Upanishads, in fact, seem to
represent two different currents of thought, which can
be traced throughout the whole development of Hin-
duism. The one, the exclusiveness and pedantry of
the narrow-minded priest, always concerned with the
interests of priestcraft; the other, the true religious
feelings of the people, interpreted by their most earnest
thinkers.
The ethical stand-point of the Aryan race, as put
forward in the Upanishads some three thousand years
ago, can hardly be surpassed in the present day:—
" Having taught him the Vedas, a teacher exhorts
his pupils thus: 'Speak the truth. Practise virtue.
Do not neglect the study of the Vedas. Having paid
the honorarium to your preceptor {i.e. having returned
home at the close of your studies), do not cut off the
line of children {i.e. marry and bring up a family).
Do not swerve from the truth. Do not swerve from
virtue. Do not swerve from the good. Do not be
indifferent to the attainment of greatness. Do not
neglect your duties to the gods and to your parents.
Honour your mother as a deity. Honour your father
as a deity. Honour your guest as a deity. Do those
deeds which are commendable, and not those that are
attributed to a time shortly after the offshoots from the
first Aryan settlement of the Punjab began to spread
to the Ganges valley. They form the basis of the
later schools of Indian philosophy. Though deeply
tinged with Oriental mysticism, they, unlike the Brah-
manas, are almost free from ritualism and sectarian
spirit; they are chiefly devoted to discussions as to the
nature and means of realizing a knowledge of Brah-
man, the Universal Soul and Cause of all things.
The Brahmanas and Upanishads, in fact, seem to
represent two different currents of thought, which can
be traced throughout the whole development of Hin-
duism. The one, the exclusiveness and pedantry of
the narrow-minded priest, always concerned with the
interests of priestcraft; the other, the true religious
feelings of the people, interpreted by their most earnest
thinkers.
The ethical stand-point of the Aryan race, as put
forward in the Upanishads some three thousand years
ago, can hardly be surpassed in the present day:—
" Having taught him the Vedas, a teacher exhorts
his pupils thus: 'Speak the truth. Practise virtue.
Do not neglect the study of the Vedas. Having paid
the honorarium to your preceptor {i.e. having returned
home at the close of your studies), do not cut off the
line of children {i.e. marry and bring up a family).
Do not swerve from the truth. Do not swerve from
virtue. Do not swerve from the good. Do not be
indifferent to the attainment of greatness. Do not
neglect your duties to the gods and to your parents.
Honour your mother as a deity. Honour your father
as a deity. Honour your guest as a deity. Do those
deeds which are commendable, and not those that are