DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.641#0312
THE HINDOO MYTHOLOGY. 305
without end, some being, who is from everlasting, must be
sought; or you must fix on some one having this property,
and then he shall become God. [Hearing this, the unbe-
liever remained silent, and the Noiyayikti continued :] God,
laying hold of religion and irreligion2, created the world;
seeing happiness and misery in the world, we form this
opinion. If there be neither heaven nor hell, why do you
go to the temples to worship; and why sweep the road, lest
you should injure living creatures ? If there be nothing to
be desired or feared, there can be neither desire nor fear:
yet we see, that desire and fear have great power over men;
therefore we conclude, that in the future state there is a
heaven and a hell. You must also admit, that the soul at
death assumes another body, in order to partake of the joys
or sorrows of this future state, since the animal soul with-
out a body is incapable of suffering; for the same reason it
must also be admitted, that the soul migrates through va-
rious bodies. Further, what is thus made evident by
inference, is agreeable to the divine writings, and to all
that has been written by those whose opinions agree with
the ve"dus : the truth of the shastrtis is confirmed by the
correctness of their astronomical calculations. [The
Bouddhu, involved in incorrect judgement, and ignorance
of God, was overcome, and] the Noiyayikii thus triumphed:
' The existence of God is proved ! He is lord of all;—he
presides over the work of creation, preservation, and destruc-
tion ; he is everlasting;—he is all wise;—he is the author
of salvation.—Through his compassion, these proofs of his
existence and authority have been established.'
x That is, attaching to human existence vice and pain, virtue and hap-
piness.
K r 2
without end, some being, who is from everlasting, must be
sought; or you must fix on some one having this property,
and then he shall become God. [Hearing this, the unbe-
liever remained silent, and the Noiyayikti continued :] God,
laying hold of religion and irreligion2, created the world;
seeing happiness and misery in the world, we form this
opinion. If there be neither heaven nor hell, why do you
go to the temples to worship; and why sweep the road, lest
you should injure living creatures ? If there be nothing to
be desired or feared, there can be neither desire nor fear:
yet we see, that desire and fear have great power over men;
therefore we conclude, that in the future state there is a
heaven and a hell. You must also admit, that the soul at
death assumes another body, in order to partake of the joys
or sorrows of this future state, since the animal soul with-
out a body is incapable of suffering; for the same reason it
must also be admitted, that the soul migrates through va-
rious bodies. Further, what is thus made evident by
inference, is agreeable to the divine writings, and to all
that has been written by those whose opinions agree with
the ve"dus : the truth of the shastrtis is confirmed by the
correctness of their astronomical calculations. [The
Bouddhu, involved in incorrect judgement, and ignorance
of God, was overcome, and] the Noiyayikii thus triumphed:
' The existence of God is proved ! He is lord of all;—he
presides over the work of creation, preservation, and destruc-
tion ; he is everlasting;—he is all wise;—he is the author
of salvation.—Through his compassion, these proofs of his
existence and authority have been established.'
x That is, attaching to human existence vice and pain, virtue and hap-
piness.
K r 2