DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0060
48 Mythological Brahmanism.
it may be noted that Siva has two sons, Ganesa, lord of the
demon hosts, and Subrahmanya (also called Skanda and
Karttikeya), general of the celestial armies, whereas Vishnu
has no sons except in his human incarnations1.
But it would be a great mistake to suppose that many
deities and divine manifestations are generally worshipped.
The gods of the Hindu Pantheon to whom temples are reared
and prayers offered are not numerous. Forms of Vishnu,
Siva, and their consorts, with the two sons of Siva (Ganesa
and Subrahmanya), and Hanuman are the chief temple-
deities of India. But there are an infinite number of divine
and semi-divine beings, good and evil demons, every one of
which is held in veneration or dread, and every one of which,
from the highest to the lowest, is, like all the others, subject to
the universal law of re-absorption into the one divine universal
Essence (Brahma). Indeed, at the end of vast periods, called
days of Brahma, each lasting for 4,320,000,000 human years,
the whole universe is so re-absorbed, and after remaining
dormant for equally long periods, is again evolved.
Here, then, lies the motive for that self-knowledge and
self-discipline, which, on the theory of universal identity of
being, would at first view appear useless and absurd. Though
every man is really God (Brahma), yet God, as if for His own
diversion, ignores Himself and submits to the influence of
an illusory creative force. Under that influence He permits
the unity of his nature to be partitioned into an infinite
number of individual personal souls. And no such soul can
recover the condition of identity with the Supreme Soul
except by raising itself, through a process of self-knowledge
and self-discipline, to a state of complete apathy (vairagya) and
cessation from action. In fact, a condition of entire mental
vacuity (citta-vritti-nirodha) or trance (samadhi) is of all states
1 Nor were Vishnu's incarnations prolific. The only one represented
as having children is the Rama of the Ramayana, whose twin sons were
Kusa and Lava, born when Slta had been banished to the hermitage.
it may be noted that Siva has two sons, Ganesa, lord of the
demon hosts, and Subrahmanya (also called Skanda and
Karttikeya), general of the celestial armies, whereas Vishnu
has no sons except in his human incarnations1.
But it would be a great mistake to suppose that many
deities and divine manifestations are generally worshipped.
The gods of the Hindu Pantheon to whom temples are reared
and prayers offered are not numerous. Forms of Vishnu,
Siva, and their consorts, with the two sons of Siva (Ganesa
and Subrahmanya), and Hanuman are the chief temple-
deities of India. But there are an infinite number of divine
and semi-divine beings, good and evil demons, every one of
which is held in veneration or dread, and every one of which,
from the highest to the lowest, is, like all the others, subject to
the universal law of re-absorption into the one divine universal
Essence (Brahma). Indeed, at the end of vast periods, called
days of Brahma, each lasting for 4,320,000,000 human years,
the whole universe is so re-absorbed, and after remaining
dormant for equally long periods, is again evolved.
Here, then, lies the motive for that self-knowledge and
self-discipline, which, on the theory of universal identity of
being, would at first view appear useless and absurd. Though
every man is really God (Brahma), yet God, as if for His own
diversion, ignores Himself and submits to the influence of
an illusory creative force. Under that influence He permits
the unity of his nature to be partitioned into an infinite
number of individual personal souls. And no such soul can
recover the condition of identity with the Supreme Soul
except by raising itself, through a process of self-knowledge
and self-discipline, to a state of complete apathy (vairagya) and
cessation from action. In fact, a condition of entire mental
vacuity (citta-vritti-nirodha) or trance (samadhi) is of all states
1 Nor were Vishnu's incarnations prolific. The only one represented
as having children is the Rama of the Ramayana, whose twin sons were
Kusa and Lava, born when Slta had been banished to the hermitage.