DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.641#0177
lfO THE HINDOO MYTHOLOGY.
CHAP. III.
OF FUTURE HAPPINESS,
1 HE shastrus teach that there are four kinds of happiness
after death : 1. That possessed in the heavens of the gods";
—2. That when the person is deified;—3. That which arises
from dwelling in the presence of the gods";—and, 4. In
absorptiony. In the three first, the person is subject to
future birth, but not in the last. The three first are obtained
by works ; the last by divine wisdom.
The descriptions which the pooranus give of the heavens
of the gods are truly in the eastern style: all things, even
the beds of the gods, are made of gold and precious stones.
All the pleasures of these heavens are exactly what we
should expect in a system formed by uninspired and unre-
" The Miemangsii writers have decided, that there is no separate place
of future happiness : that whether a person enjoy happiness, or endure
misery, the whole is confined to the present life. The pooranus, on the
other hand, declare, that there are many places of happiness and misery,
and that persons go to these places after death.
* All raised to heaven are not permitted to approach the god in whose
heaven they reside. This privilege belongs only to favourites.
* The vtdantu shastrus teach, that wherever a person possessing divine
wisdom dies, he is immediately received into the divine nature, as air,
escaping from a vessel when broken, immediately mixes with the sur-
rounding air. The pooranus, however, teach, that the soul of such a
person ascends to God inhabiting a certain place, and is there absorbed
into the divine nature.
CHAP. III.
OF FUTURE HAPPINESS,
1 HE shastrus teach that there are four kinds of happiness
after death : 1. That possessed in the heavens of the gods";
—2. That when the person is deified;—3. That which arises
from dwelling in the presence of the gods";—and, 4. In
absorptiony. In the three first, the person is subject to
future birth, but not in the last. The three first are obtained
by works ; the last by divine wisdom.
The descriptions which the pooranus give of the heavens
of the gods are truly in the eastern style: all things, even
the beds of the gods, are made of gold and precious stones.
All the pleasures of these heavens are exactly what we
should expect in a system formed by uninspired and unre-
" The Miemangsii writers have decided, that there is no separate place
of future happiness : that whether a person enjoy happiness, or endure
misery, the whole is confined to the present life. The pooranus, on the
other hand, declare, that there are many places of happiness and misery,
and that persons go to these places after death.
* All raised to heaven are not permitted to approach the god in whose
heaven they reside. This privilege belongs only to favourites.
* The vtdantu shastrus teach, that wherever a person possessing divine
wisdom dies, he is immediately received into the divine nature, as air,
escaping from a vessel when broken, immediately mixes with the sur-
rounding air. The pooranus, however, teach, that the soul of such a
person ascends to God inhabiting a certain place, and is there absorbed
into the divine nature.