DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0048
36 Philosophical Brahmanism.
ordinary philosophic thought; but they show how great is
the difference between the Pantheism of India and that of
Europe. A Vedantist believes in one impersonal Spirit, who,
by association with Illusion, becomes one Supreme personal
God (Paramesvara). And it is this personal God who, when
he engages in the creation, preservation, and dissolution of the
Universe, is held to be dominated by one or other of the three
Qualities (Gunas) which are the supposed constituents of his
causal body, identified, as it is, with Ignorance1. These three
Qualities or conditions are the same as those which in the San-
khyan system are the constituents of Prakriti— namely,
Activity, Goodness, and Indifference (Rajas, Sattva, Tamas)2.
They are those which in the later doctrine of the Puranas are
held to separate the one Supreme personal God into the
three divine personalities of Brahma (nom. case), Vishnu, and
Rudra-Siva, each accompanied by his own consort8.
Dominated by Activity (Rajas), the Supreme Being is
Brahma, the Creator;, by Goodness (Sattva), he is Vishnu,
the Preserver; by Indifference (Tamas), he is Rudra, the
Dissolver.
Pure Vedantism, then, is not only a belief in one un-
conscious, impersonal Spirit made up of three essences. It
is a belief that a kind of threefold trinity—to wit, three
spiritual essences, three corporeal envelopes, and three do-
minating qualities—together constitute one personal God, as
well as every human personality.
1 In other words, the Karana-sarfra—consisting of Ignorance, and
therefore made up of the three Gunas—is the illusory corporeal disguise
(upadhi) or investing envelope or triple bond of the impersonal Spirit
Brahma, by which it becomes the personal God Paramesvara, who is
thence called Saguna (associated with the Gunas). In its impersonal
state the Spirit is Nirguna.
■ Sometimes regarded as equivalent to Passion or Pain, Purity or
Happiness, and Apathy or Igrforance.
3 In the later mythology the expression Sakti is substituted for Maya,
Prakriti, and Ajfiana, as representing the wife of the personal God.
ordinary philosophic thought; but they show how great is
the difference between the Pantheism of India and that of
Europe. A Vedantist believes in one impersonal Spirit, who,
by association with Illusion, becomes one Supreme personal
God (Paramesvara). And it is this personal God who, when
he engages in the creation, preservation, and dissolution of the
Universe, is held to be dominated by one or other of the three
Qualities (Gunas) which are the supposed constituents of his
causal body, identified, as it is, with Ignorance1. These three
Qualities or conditions are the same as those which in the San-
khyan system are the constituents of Prakriti— namely,
Activity, Goodness, and Indifference (Rajas, Sattva, Tamas)2.
They are those which in the later doctrine of the Puranas are
held to separate the one Supreme personal God into the
three divine personalities of Brahma (nom. case), Vishnu, and
Rudra-Siva, each accompanied by his own consort8.
Dominated by Activity (Rajas), the Supreme Being is
Brahma, the Creator;, by Goodness (Sattva), he is Vishnu,
the Preserver; by Indifference (Tamas), he is Rudra, the
Dissolver.
Pure Vedantism, then, is not only a belief in one un-
conscious, impersonal Spirit made up of three essences. It
is a belief that a kind of threefold trinity—to wit, three
spiritual essences, three corporeal envelopes, and three do-
minating qualities—together constitute one personal God, as
well as every human personality.
1 In other words, the Karana-sarfra—consisting of Ignorance, and
therefore made up of the three Gunas—is the illusory corporeal disguise
(upadhi) or investing envelope or triple bond of the impersonal Spirit
Brahma, by which it becomes the personal God Paramesvara, who is
thence called Saguna (associated with the Gunas). In its impersonal
state the Spirit is Nirguna.
■ Sometimes regarded as equivalent to Passion or Pain, Purity or
Happiness, and Apathy or Igrforance.
3 In the later mythology the expression Sakti is substituted for Maya,
Prakriti, and Ajfiana, as representing the wife of the personal God.