DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0038
26 Philosophical Brahmanism.
fetter itself with actions and their inevitable results, the
consequences could only be borne by itself in its passage
through numberless births. Nor could there be any final
emancipation from a continued succession of corporeal ex-
istences, till action ceased and the consciousness of identity
with the one universal Spirit returned. The result of this
introspective process was the excogitation of the Upanishads
or hidden spiritual doctrine of the Veda.
The Upanishads are the special bible of this phase of
Brahmanism. Many treatises so called were added to the
Mantra and Brahmana portion of the Veda (such as the Isa,
Chandogya, Katha, Mundaka, and Brihad-aranyaka Upani-
shads). The aphorisms (sutras) of the three systems of philo-
sophy with their three branches (that is, the Nyaya with
Vaiseshika; Sarikhya with Yoga; Vedanta with Mlmansa)
were founded on these writings.
They were compositions which expressed the desire of the
personal soul or spirit {jiva or jivatmaii) for deliverance from
a long series of separate existences and from liability to pass
through an infinite variety of bodies—gods, men, animals,
plants, stones—and its longing for final union with the Su-
preme Soul or Spirit of the Universe (Atman, afterwards called
Brahman). And here it may be noted that Philosophical Brah-
manism was not philosophy in the European sense of the
word. It was no mere search for truth, for truth's sake. It
was rather a form of mystical religious speculation. Nor
was it an expression of the soul's desire to be released from
the burden of sin. It was rather an inquiry into the best
method of escape from the troubles of life, and of deliver-
ance from the necessity of transmigration; the dread of
continued metempsychosis being the one haunting thought
which colours the whole texture of Indian philosophy. If
an Indian metaphysician sets himself to inquire into the
nature of spirit and matter, and their relation to each other,
his investigations are sure to be conducted with the sole
fetter itself with actions and their inevitable results, the
consequences could only be borne by itself in its passage
through numberless births. Nor could there be any final
emancipation from a continued succession of corporeal ex-
istences, till action ceased and the consciousness of identity
with the one universal Spirit returned. The result of this
introspective process was the excogitation of the Upanishads
or hidden spiritual doctrine of the Veda.
The Upanishads are the special bible of this phase of
Brahmanism. Many treatises so called were added to the
Mantra and Brahmana portion of the Veda (such as the Isa,
Chandogya, Katha, Mundaka, and Brihad-aranyaka Upani-
shads). The aphorisms (sutras) of the three systems of philo-
sophy with their three branches (that is, the Nyaya with
Vaiseshika; Sarikhya with Yoga; Vedanta with Mlmansa)
were founded on these writings.
They were compositions which expressed the desire of the
personal soul or spirit {jiva or jivatmaii) for deliverance from
a long series of separate existences and from liability to pass
through an infinite variety of bodies—gods, men, animals,
plants, stones—and its longing for final union with the Su-
preme Soul or Spirit of the Universe (Atman, afterwards called
Brahman). And here it may be noted that Philosophical Brah-
manism was not philosophy in the European sense of the
word. It was no mere search for truth, for truth's sake. It
was rather a form of mystical religious speculation. Nor
was it an expression of the soul's desire to be released from
the burden of sin. It was rather an inquiry into the best
method of escape from the troubles of life, and of deliver-
ance from the necessity of transmigration; the dread of
continued metempsychosis being the one haunting thought
which colours the whole texture of Indian philosophy. If
an Indian metaphysician sets himself to inquire into the
nature of spirit and matter, and their relation to each other,
his investigations are sure to be conducted with the sole