The Pilgrim

The Quarterly Bulletin of the Christian Society for the Study of Hinduism

Editor: Rev. A.J. Appasamy, M. A, (Harvard) Ph.D. (Oxon.)

MANORAMA, PALAMCOTTAH

The Christian Society for the Study of Hinduism

Patrons: The Metropolitan of India, Calcutta Bishop BRENTON T. BADLEY, Delhi.

President: Bishop CLEMENT D. ROCKEY, Delhi.

Vice-Presidents: The Bishop or LUCKNOW, Allahabad Dr. A.J. APPASAMY, M.A., Ph.D., Palamcottah. Rev. O.L. DAVIS, M.A., Jabalpur Rev. G.H.C. ANGUS, M.A., Serampore.

Secretary: Mrs. W. STANLEY GOULD, Ewing Christian College, Allahabad

Treasure: Dr. C.H. HAZLETT, Holland Hall, Allahabad

Convener, Benares Institute: Rev. R.C. DAS, Benares United City Mission, Ramkatora, Benares Cantonment.

Committee: Rev. H.C. BALASUNDRAM, Allahabad Rev. M.P. DAVID, Raipur Prof. V.E. DUTT, M.A., Serampore Rev. PAUL DAS, B.A., Benares

The objects of the Christian Society for the Study of Hinduism are,

1. To create and maintain adequate interest in the study of Hinduism by Christians
2. To carry on the study in a sympathetic, constructive and critical way for the purpose of effective evangelism and
3. To achieve the above objects in co-operation with Church and Mission bodies.

The activities of the Society are,

1. To conduct in Benares (and if possible in a South Indian centre) Institute of Hinduism stressing its popular aspects
2. To publish The Pilgrim, a quarterly bulletin, bearing: on Hinduism, its relation To Christianity and work among Hindus
3. To encourage the organisation of a permanent School of Hinduism.

The minimum annual subscription is Rs. 2/-. Membership fees and gifts may be sent to the treasurer, Dr. C.H. Hazlett, Holland Hall, Allahabad.

Every member will receive The Pilgrim free.

Religious Experience in India

BY THE EDITOR

We in India are particularly interested in the growth of a Christian Theology suited to the character of our people. There is a large volume of religious experience in India which has an important bearing on the development of an Indian Theology. We need to realise that as Indians sincerely and eagerly striving to understand the nature of God as He has disclosed Himself in the past in human history and especially in the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and as He reveals Himself today in our hours of prayer and meditation, of service and sacrifice, we must take full account of the experience of those who in India in the past have sought and found God.

There have been some splendid examples of Christian life and service in India. Pandita Ramabai, a woman of remarkable gifts, who came from a Brahman home with its wealth of Hindu culture, became a devoted follower of Jesus Christ and carried on a great work among the widows of India, being herself one of them and having passed through much suffering on that account. In a document of first-hand importance entitled, A Testimony, she has left on record her personal religious experience both before and after she became a Christian. N.V. Tilak was another distinguished Christian whom India has produced. His beautiful Marathi hymns, some of which have been translated into English, give us some idea of his rich and deep Christian experience: I understand that a voluminous autobiography of his widow has now been translated into English and is awaiting publication. This may shed considerable light on the poet’s inner religious life. Perhaps the most significant figure who has emerged so far in the Indian Church is Sadhu Sunder Singh, Fortunately for us there is considerable material describing his spiritual experience. He was a tireless preacher and many of his addresses with their intimate personal testimony have been published in various languages. He wrote some devotional books in English which are easily available. In addition to these public addresses and writings, he spoke about his inner experiences to his friends, and they have been reported in print with his permission. There have been other Christians in India, some of them known to fame and others not so widely reputed, whose spiritual experience is on record. It is essential that all such first-hand documents of religious experience attained when closely following Christ should be studied and their significance understood by those who seek after a Christian Theology designed to meet the aspirations and problems of India.

The Experience of Hindu Saints

Though there have been many lives of Hindu saints, historical accounts of their experience are not available. In many of the languages of India collections of the lives of saints are found. Good examples are furnished by Mahipathi’s Bhaktavijaya and Bhaktalilamrit in Marathi, both of which have been translated into English by Dr. J.E. Abbott and his friends. A similar collection exists in Tamil under the title of Periyapuranam. The main difficulty with these biographies is the enormous importance which they attach to the miracles which the saints are believed to have wrought. I had occasion sometime ago to hear some of these stories narrated to me by a devout Hindu, who had often given addresses in public about them. He came to see me day after day and told me some of the stories in Periyapuranam. I had already read them in books and was anxious to find out what aspects he emphasised. I was struck by the fact that he always stressed the supernatural element in the lives of the saints. I understood how preaching to popular audiences he would have found these stories greatly appealing. In what he said there was very little of the religious experience of the men and women whom he described. Their spiritual aspirations, their struggles, difficulties and temptations, their failures and successes - these found but small place in his addresses. The miracles which were attributed to them were told with vivid and interesting detail, and it was easy to see how they would have caught the popular imagination. The student of religious experience will have to make a study of such lives of the Hindu saints as are extant in the vernaculars with much critical discrimination. It is not necessary to dismiss all miracles as untrustworthy. Modern thought is coming round to the conclusion that men of advanced spirituality are quite capable of spiritual healing and telepathy. While no doubt many of the gifted sons of India did perform miracles, it looks as if the credulity of their followers were responsible for a great many more miracles than those which actually occurred. In any case the inner struggles and temptations, the failures and triumphs of the saints are of far greater importance to us than any extraordinary happenings which may be associated with their careers. Two books have appeared in India in recent years which the student of religious experience cannot but esteem highly. The Autobiography of Maharishi Devendranath Tagore is a book of great importance and gives many valuable glimpses of a really devout life. Gandhijii’s My Experiments with Truth is an extraordinarily candid and stimulating account of the motives which have actuated him, the ideals he has followed, the failures he has experienced and the victories he has won.

The hymns of the saints, of which there is an abundance in India, are really significant transcripts of reality. If we can eliminate the frequent references to the mythological exploits of the gods, we shall find in these hymns authentic accounts of what the giants thought, felt and did. Many of them were not written for publication. Some were poured out on the spur of the moment. They put on record the ecstasies and griefs of the writers A careful study of these hymns will enable us to have an accurate idea of the religious experience through which the devotees passed Professor R.D. Ranade of Allahabad University has written a book entitled Indian Mysticism: Mysticism in Maharashtra, in which he describes at length the spiritual experiences of the Maratha saints as they are found in their religious poetry. Accounts of the lives of the Hindu saints in the other vernacular areas of India need to be written along the same historical and scientific lines.

The metaphysical systems of India shed much light, though indirectly, on the religious experience of the thinkers who expounded them. Recently a friend said to me, ‘A metaphysical system is a more trustworthy guide to Reality than the hymns of a poet’. His meaning was that religious poetry is dictated too much by feeling and that, therefore, it cannot be expected to help us as much as a rational account of Reality such as can be found in a philosophical system. In other words, he thought that reason is a safer and more reliable guide to follow than feeling. It is not possible within the limits of this paper to discuss this point, but it is interesting to remember that even some of the metaphysical systems owe much by way of inspiration to the simple, spontaneous, fervent outpouring of devotion such as is found in hymns. An excellent example is furnished in India by Ramanuja about whom tradition asserts definitely that he was steeped in the hymns of the Tamil Alvar saints and that his Visishta Advaita is an endeavour at several points to develop the seeds of thought found in these hymns. While the metaphysical systems of India are elaborate with subtle, clever and logical arguments, they have arisen primarily to meet certain deep religious needs. Anyone who seeks to understand the nature and value of religious experience in India must find out the core of spirituality around which the philosophical schools have built their rational systems.

It may, however, be asked what exactly is the value of the experience of the Hindu saints to the Christian thinker. Three points may be borne in mind about this matter.

1. We cannot but accept that there has been in India the thirst for God, the realisation of God’s Presence an occasionally the experience of the forgiveness of sin. These experiences, which take place in the sanctum of the soul and which are only revealed to the outside world by the devotee’s own words; must be considered carefully, and their value must be assessed. I, for one, cannot believe that such profound devotion to God, conviction of the utterly degraded nature of the devotee, sense; of the need, for complete surrender, radiant joy in God’s Presence which are found abundantly in Hindu religious literature can be achieved by human effort; they can only be regarded as God-given. Man is too weak and sinful a creature to pass through such exalted experiences without Divine grace to help him.
2. The experiences of which we have spoken relate to the inner life of the saints. We must now apply to their outer life the test of character: ‘By their fruits ye shall know them’. If men who claim such experiences are truthful in their dealings, loving towards others, clean in their sex-life and ready for the utmost sacrifice for God, we cannot but say that their religious experience is genuine. It is quite certain that there have been thousands of people in India who have fulfilled the most exacting tests of character to which they have been subjected.
3. Whatever in the religious experience of India is in harmony with the mind of Christ is ours. There is, of course, a great deal in India which fails to come up to the Christian norm. Take, for instance, idolatry which many Hindus practise and defend. Once I witnessed in a friend’s house the consecration of an idol. He was a great scholar and had a large library. It was his desire to instal an idol in his library. He had invited several hundreds of his friends and followers to witness the ceremony, which he himself performed. I was struck by the unusual glow on his face as he was engaged in the ceremony. I had never seen that glow in him before. This transformation of his face was a revelation to me. It was a clear index of the fact that the ceremony which he performed was quite real to him. And yet that religious experience cannot be accepted by Christians, for idolatry is entirely opposed to the mind of Christ who has taught us that God is Spirit and that those who worship Him must do so in spirit and in truth. There are other aspects of the religious experience of India which we cannot accept such as complete submission to the law of Karma, self-centredness in religion and the consequent failure to work out one’s love for God in acts of service and kindness. While it is quite necessary to realise that as Christians we cannot have any sympathy with such phases of Hinduism, we must agree that there is a great deal of real value in the religious life of India. An interesting controversy, which took place some years ago in St. Mary’s Church, Calcutta, may be recalled here. Father Chakravarty, who was at that time the priest in charge of that parish, compiled a hymn book in which about ninety hymns were taken from Rabindranath Tagore’s writings. Many people in the congregation strongly objected to the inclusion of hymns by a non-Christian in a book meant to be used in the worship of the Church. The Metropolitan, who was also in charge of that diocese; felt that the parish priest was endeavouring to link up some of the best elements in the spiritual life of India with Christian thought and experience and gave him all the support he could.

Fellowship With God-the Characteristic Religious Experience of India

We may now pass on to consider the characteristic feature of the religious experience of India. Without going into details, we may say at once that the distinctive type of religious experience in India is that which stresses a close relationship with God as the fundamental business of religion. This is true whether we consider such Christian experience as has already occurred in India or the many varieties of Hindu religious experience. Sadhu Sundar Singh showed clearly how much communion with Christ meant to him. In his public addresses he constantly spoke of prayer, which was the breath of his life. In the intimacy of private conversation he revealed how often he lived in heaven on earth, tasting the jogs of fellowship with the living Christ His experience of fellowship with the living Christ and the profound consequences which flowed from it into his outer life of service and sacrifice placed him in line with the mystics of the Christian Church.

It is not necessary to dwell at length on the point that mystical experience has a great appeal to the Hindu. Recently in the course of a business conversation a Hindu friend said to me, ‘With all this work there is so little time for communion with one’s Maker’. Often a casual saying reveals the outlook of a man even more effectively than a studied utterance. This remark is quite characteristic of Hinduism, as it points to the supreme importance of communion with God. We lost recently a great Hindu religious teacher, Rabindranath Tagore. It was his wish that in his memorial service the following poem should be sung:

    In front lies the ocean of peace.
    Launch the boat, Helmsman.
    You will be the comrade ever,
    Take O take him in your lap.
    In the path of the Infinite
    will shine the Dhruva-tara.
    Giver of freedom, your forgiveness, your mercy
    will be wealth inexhaustible
    In the eternal journey.
    May the mortal bonds perish,
    May the vast universe take him in its arms,
    And may he know in his fearless heart
    The Great Unknown.

¹

Here God is characteristically spoken of as the eternal comrade who pilots the soul through the ocean of peace.

Perhaps it is necessary to point out here that all types of religious experience have not so emphasised the value of communion with God. With many millions of Christians religion is primarily the way to character. They worship God in order that they may be free from the burden of sin, know the joy of forgiveness and lead a victorious life. In modern days religion has become for large numbers of Christians the most vital factor in the reconstruction of Society. The present condition of the world is markedly evil. Human society is rotten to the core. A new world order must be established in which love, justice and truth prevail, not merely in personal relationships but also in national and international relationships, For Christians with whom intellectual questions are of compelling urgency religion often means the holding of correct beliefs. Prayer, meditation and Bible study are faithfully practised in order that such beliefs may be reached. There are others with whom the institutional element is of primary significance. With such people loyalty to the Church, her orders, her creeds and her sacraments belongs to the essence of Christianity. What may be regarded as the mystical approach to religion stands out clearly from these other types. While it is quite true that there are people who often combine in their experience more than one of these types, the mystical pattern may well be regarded as having its own distinctive character and value. The man who follows mystical religion regards his contact with God in and by itself as the highest goal attainable. This contact with God takes two main forms - with some it is the experience of fellowship with a personal God and with others it is the experience of being merged in the Absolute. Both these types are found in India. The Christian thinker realises that the experience of union with the Divine in which the human personality is completely lost goes against the entire background and the essential character of Christianity. All attempts in India, on the other hand, to attain a sense of personal friendship with the Eternal God are close to the heart of the Christian faith. Such a type of religion is found in the Gospel of St. John and in the Epistles of St. Paul and has been developed extensively in later ages by the Christian mystics. The Christian theologian in India would do well to draw out the mystical element in the Christian religion and link it up with the highest aspirations and traditions of religion in India.

Christian Theology in India

We may now close with a brief reference to the bearing of all this on the growth of Christian Theology in India. If the experience of communion with God is accepted as the distinctive character of the religion of India, it is obvious that in the development of Christian Theology in this country such experience must find the first place. All Christian doctrine will be studied from this point of view. Is God personal or impersonal? No communion with God is possible if He is an impersonal being. Is God transcendent? In what sense is communion with a transcendent God possible? Is God immanent? While the soul of India is strongly attracted to the doctrine of Immanence, the limitations of this belief must be clearly pointed out. There can be no personal communion with an energy or force immanent in the realm of nature. The realisation of the God who dwells in the heart of the devotee must not blur the need for persistent and sincere ethical striving. It is wrong to maintain that all the deeds of a faithful devotee are the work of God; such a doctrine does not accord with the teaching of the Gospel which attaches the greatest importance and value to human personality. Sin is primarily a barrier to man’s fellowship with God; Christian teaching about the immediate responsibility of the sinner for his evil doing, his need for throwing himself completely on Divine grace and the sense of the joyous experience of forgiveness stands out clearly against the Hindu doctrine of Karma. A man has no control over the Karma of his past for which he is punished or rewarded; such a doctrine is devoid of the sense of moral responsibility. The consequences of Karma are regarded by the Hindu as rigidly working themselves out. This doctrine again is in complete variance with the Christian belief in a God who fully forgives the penitent sinner. A personal relationship of love is not really possible with a God who rules the world by an inflexible system of Karma and rebirth. The purpose of the Incarnation is to bring God close to us and to make Him real to us. On the Cross the love of God is made manifest beyond all doubt and with a power unparalleled in any other revelation of His. Fellowship with God is of various types. These would have to be studied carefully and their kinship with essential Christian teaching investigated. The nature of prayer would receive a new emphasis. Prayer is not primarily petition or intercession but communion with God. While there is room in Christian prayer for petition and certainly for intercession, in which unselfish love finds its highest expression, the experience of fellowship with God for its own sake is of fundamental value. The doctrine of the Church as the mystical Body of Christ, bringing all Christians into close and enduring fellowship with Christ and with each other, will be taught. The practical consequences in human life of communion with God in personal purity and in unselfish service would have to be pointed out. These results relate not merely to individual duties but also our duties to Society in the national and international spheres. The future life is a life of fellowship with God. While, of course, Christian theologians the world over deal with these problems, thinkers in India would make their special contribution by the way in which they work them out in connection with the highest achievements of the Indian spirit.

Such questions as these are not new to the Christian religion. The New Testament, which is the source of all of our Christian Theology, deals with these and many other matters. Christian thinkers in various countries and in all ages have differed in the way in which they have emphasised the diverse elements in the New Testament. The Christian thinker in India will be drawn to study the inner life of Jesus even more than His outer life, though he will acknowledge that the materials for such study are meagre and that there is a real danger of the effort to understand the inner life of Jesus becoming more or less speculation not closely related to fact. The Gospel of St. John has already begun to attract many thoughtful minds in India. This Gospel has been in the West, especially in modern times, the battleground of many historical and literary theories. In the din and glamour of criticism the essential spiritual character of the Gospel has been neglected. It is probable that as the years go by India will bring her distinctive contribution to the understanding of this Gospel St. Paul’s doctrine of the indwelling Christ has often been ignored in the West and his legalistic conceptions of salvation have been brought to the front. The Christian thinker in India will study with real care the experience behind St. Paul’s many references to being ‘in Christ’. Thus, the New Testament will be used in a fresh way for answering the problems which thinkers in India have time and again faced. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is of universal validity: The Christian thinker in India will approach it from the background of his own national heritage, and he will find in it new aspects of truth, love and joy, which will help him supremely and which may also help Christians in other parts of the world, to become more earnest and faithful followers of Christ.

Neo-Hinduism

BY C.S. PAUL, M.A.

(Mr. C.S. Paul, who teaches Philosophy in the Andhra Christian College, Guntur, has kindly contributed to The Pilgrim this article expounding the essentials of Neo-Hinduism. He informs me that he is sending to the N. C.C. Review a criticism of Neo-Hinduism. Both the articles may be read together by those who desire to understand and evaluate the modern tendencies in Hinduism. Editor, The Pilgrim.)

In one sense there is nothing new in Neo-Hinduism but the new emphasis on old things. By the term Neo-Hinduism, we mean such new interpretations as have been given to the teachings in higher philosophical Hinduism by its modern exponents like Swami Vivekananda and. Sir Badhakrishnan. They have not sought to invent anything new, for it is assumed that Hinduism is self-sufficient and adequate to meet the spiritual needs not only of Indians but also of all people in all ages. Higher Hinduism, it is claimed, is eternally old and eternally young, for, the Vedanta, the crown of Indian philosophic wisdom, lays bare the inner truth about God, man and the world in such a way that age cannot wear it out, nor time make it obsolete. It is Sanatana Dharma - Eternal Truth - equally applicable to all times and conditions. Since eternity is the essence of time, it finds its true significance in eternity. Things in time are to be interpreted in terms of the Eternal Truth. Hence, the distinction between the Real and the Unreal in the realm of existence, Brahman and Maya, Paramartha and Vyavaharika on the planes of experience, and between Jnana and Vijnana in the modes of knowing. Hitherto it seemingly took a defensive attitude, but Neo-Hinduism appears on the scene today, not as a religion among religions but as the religion of mankind, with a message of healing and good cheer to a suffering, tormented, frustrated, war-worn world. That, at any rate, is the claim of Sir S. Radbakrishnan.

In this new exposition, he is only carrying forward the tendency started by Swami Vivekananda, in the beginning of this century, in the Parliament of Religions that met at Chicago. As the exponent of Advaita Vedanta, Swami Vivekananda said that the root cause of the tension and confusion in the world is its preoccupation and exclusive concern with the unreal world of ordinary experience. The Vivakarika world is the realm of claim, of tension between irreconcilable opposites and the solution for all such antinomies lies in transcending this unreal world and its experiences. Addressing a group of Social Reformers of the Ramakrishna Mission in Madras he said that he was also a Reformer, but of a root and branch kind. Social Reform of the kind attempted by them, he compared to the attempt to straighten out a dog’s tail - an unending and impossible process, which solves some problems only to be confronted by many more. The world-problems are comparable to a hydra-headed monster, which, as we cut off one head, grows a hundred more in its place. Why then fritter away energy over a task that is impossible of solution on the plane of the Unreal? Yet we need not despair, says Vivekananda, for there is a solution in terms of the Real, which is final and certain. Ascend, he says, from the Vivakarika to the Paramartha plane of experience. The chief defect of the Vivakarika plane is the dualistic thinking involved in it. The false thinking attributed to Vijnana or intellection contains the dualism between the knower and the known. God and man, while all the time the truth, according to the Advaita, is that the world is unreal, Brahman is real, and the soul is identical with the Brahman. This self - realisation or Mukti can come only if we go beyond intellection to that integral knowing called Jnana. The realm of thought and action are to be transcended in this process of self-realisation. Actions good and bad are also to be transcended, for the Real is beyond good and bad and as Spirit it is eternally perfect, being, neither the actor nor the enjoyer of Karmic consequences. It is the empirical self-Vijnana maya Kosa - that acts and migrates. Vivekananda, however, concedes that evil is the outer coating, the good is the inner coating of the soul, though both are coatings only. This shows that the Advaita does not teach moral indifference, but advocates the choice of the good and the eschewing of the bad. All the same, there comes a stage in the development when action as such is to be transcended. Sir S. Radhakrishnan, in the main, agrees with everything said by Swami Vivekananda. What things in addition he says, we will see next.

Sir S. Radhakrishnan brings to the interpretation of the Vedanta an acute mind a gift of clear exposition and an extraordinary thoroughness in the knowledge of philosophic systems, Indian and Western. He had been setting forth from time to time, through his lectures and writings, his views on the message of the Vedanta to the modern world. It was, however, his Spalding professorship, that gave him his opportunity to express his thoughts in a comprehensive form. They are available to us in his latest book, Eastern Religions and Western Thought.

In this book Sir S. Radhakrishnan looks out at the world and finds everything out of joint. To him, it is a work of the intellect without a spiritual direction; a body without a vivifying soul; a scientific civilisation, mechanically perfect, but without a religion to galvanise its parts and integrate them into a whole. This world-crisis does not fill him with fear and despair, but with hope. That hope he finds in the ‘unborn soul’ for which the stage is set and where all the ingredients for the new synthesis are present. That ‘unborn soul’ he finds in Mysticism and India is the home of that Mysticism.

It will be evident from what has been said above that, while offering Mysticism as the new integrator, he does not despise the achievements of the intellect and the sciences. There is an element of good in all things, if only we could find the true centre round which to gather them together for the realisation of man’s ultimate purpose. He thus sounds a note, right at the outset, which is slightly different from that of Swami Vivekananda, a thorough-going Advaitin, who did not attach even this much importance to the work of the intellect.

A further diagnosis of the world-malady shows Sir S. Radhakrishnan that the world is suffering from bhaya and himsa, fear and cruelty. The remedy for such a disease he finds in the religion of abhaya and ahimsa, freedom from fear and cruelty. That religion is Mysticism. The salvation of the world, he says, is to be found not in the choice between the organised religions, but in the regaining of the deeper implication in all religions, an implication that transcends the cramping limitations of real and organisational forms. That religion behind and above the religion is Mysticism.

Let us trace the further implications of Mysticism in Radhakrishnan’s own words. ‘Mysticism’, he says, ‘is transforming experience rather than a notion of God’. ‘It subordinates beliefs and conduct, rites and ceremonies authority and dogma to the art of self-discovery and contact with the Divine’. ‘We are saved not by creed, but Jnana or spiritual wisdom’. ‘To be spiritual is not to reject reason but to go beyond it’. ‘Spirituality is the core of religion and Mysticism emphasises this side of religion’. ‘In Mysticism God is not a logical concept or the conclusion of a syllogism but a real presence, the ground and possibility of all knowledge and values’. Mysticism is an ‘open religion’ - real religions are ‘closed religions’. ‘Brahman’, in Indian Mysticism, ‘is the principle of search and the object sought’. Elsewhere, he says that Mysticism is the religion of man but of man in his deeper and truer nature. Hence, it is the bigger Humanism.

Since what he has said so far about Mysticism is very largely from the teaching of the Vedanta, he may be rightly asked to interpret the doctrine of Maya in the light of the statements made above. ‘Maya’, he says, ‘does not mean that the world is unreal, but that it is phenomenal, a relative reality and not the Ultimate Reality’. He says further, ‘Maya suggests the supremely restful character of the Supreme’ and ‘Maya does not ask us to treat the world as an illusion and be indifferent to social welfare’. ‘Maya only warns us against treating the relative values as the absolute value’. That is the bane of the world. In the course of Indian Philosophy, we come across many different usages of the word Maya and there is as much warrant for the specific sense in which Sir S. Radhakrishnan has used it as for any other. In every case it cannot be equated with illusion or a wholly unreal thing.

When the Vedanta is referred to as Pantheism, Radhakrishnan says that it is so not in any lower sense but in a higher spiritual sense. ‘Pantheism’, he says, ‘brings out Brahman’s ceaseless self-expression or creative activity’. Read in relation to his explanation of Maya it means that Sir S. Radhakrishnan does not advocate a Mysticism of absolute identity but one in which some recognition of the relative reality of man and his moral values is conceded. Hence, when Indian Mysticism is described as a ‘world and life negating’ religion, he is provoked and vigorously retorts by saying that it is too simple a phrase and therefore, a false reading of the true implication of Indian Mysticism. A religion worthy of the name must negate the world and life on a lower plane to affirm life on a higher plane and that is what Indian Mysticism does, says Sir S. Radhakrishnan.

He further points out that Indian Mysticism not only suggests the goal but has also worked out with a characteristic thoroughness, the technique for realising that goal. That technique is found in the well-known system of Yoga with its eight steps of Yama, Nyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi.

Speaking about the relation between Mysticism and the Hindu social structure, he says that the whole social philosophy of the Hindu is intended to develop each individual according to his own capacity and temperament and that gradually, stage by stage. He explains this in the section on the four Purusharthas, the four Ashramas and the four Varnas. The whole arrangement aims at fulfilment and harmony.

For these and other reasons, fully discussed in his book, he is opposed to conversion from one religion to another, especially when that other religion is foreign to the land. He believes in each person developing according to the ethos of his own people. Hinduism which is a religion not of conversion but of comprehension, he says, believes in the principle of ‘live and let live’. He also condemns the rivalry among religions.

Sir Ganga Ram and Hindu Social Reform

Harvest from the Desert by B.P.L. Bedi (Sir Ganga Ram Trust. Society, Lahore, Rs. 3/8) gives an exceptionally interesting account of what a Hindu social worker has done in recent years. It sketches the life of Sir Ganga Ram, who devoted his enormous earnings to build up in the city of Lahore a vast edifice of social work.

Ganga Ram’s life was colourful from start to finish and his biographer makes the most of the unusual circumstances connected with it. Ganga Ram’s parents fled from Muzzafarnagar in the United Provinces when it became a dangerous place to live in immediately after the fall of the Moghul Empire. They settled down at Mangatanwala Gurdwara, about forty miles from Lahore. The father was a Sub-Inspector of Police and how he came to live in the Gurdwara is told in the book.

Not far from the Police Station, flowed the Deg Nala in its winding bed, and on its banks stood an old shrine. In seclusion there lived a Sadhu, as monolithic in his calm as he was monosyllabic in his speech. He had lived in that place for long years. He had seen people come and go from the lowly untouchable to the great Maharajah, with as little attention as he had witnessed the rise and fall of the Sikh kingdom, and with as much detachment as he had seen the Durrani hordes ride by, undisturbed and unmoved.

The young Police officer secretly began to cherish the idea of living near this old man. But the recluse maintained a forbidding reserve, and he did not dare to suggest it. So he began to visit the Sadhu, sitting quietly near him and not speaking. Day after day he came and went away again without a word, as though the cool sound of running water and the mere presence of the holy man were enough for him. Meantime, his temporary stay at the Police station was coming to an end, and he was feeling apprehensive because no suitable house had been found. At last, one day, much to his delight, the Sadhu spoke to him gently: ‘Is there anything, my son, you want to say?’

‘Nothing Babaji’, said Daulat Ram, ‘except that I want to live in the shadow of your feet’.

‘This is the abode of Sadhus’, the Baba said, ‘and for ages past it has been so. Families cannot enter the four walls of this shrine: no worldly sorrows and worldly joys disturb this home of peace’.

The ripened wisdom of the ages seemed to speak with a tongue as old as the withered roots of the Pipal tree, under which the Sadhu and his devotee sat.

The old man looked up and continued: ’Since Mitra Singh, centuries ago, planted these trees, and Master Singh dug this tank, and built this house, it has been the tradition of the spot that it should be far from the inroads of secular life. Even when Ranjit Singh, the great Maharajah, settled lands on this shrine, we accepted them with great reluctance, making it clear that this place should not be turned into a rest house, and he gave us his promise. Why not then leave as in peace?

Daulat Ram, deeply moved by what he had heard, caught hold of the Sadhu’s feet and said, ’Master of Masters! I do not want to live here just because I want to have a roof over my head, but because I want to serve you. My story is the story of a man who has waded through the river of life, to reach its fountain-bead of inner peace and harmony, and I feel I can move towards the source at your feet. Give me a chance, and you will find me worthy of it.

Babu Bishan Singh looked meditatively into space, for what seemed to be an interminable time. Then, as though acting in a mood of inspiration, he nodded assent. Daulat Ram had won the second battle of his life, and the very next day he moved with his wife into a corner room in the courtyard. The liking of the Sadhu for his new friends grew into a deep spiritual communion that quiet unspoken understanding where silence conveys more than words.

Months prolonged themselves into years, and Daulat Ram lived in mental harmony and spiritual contentment’ (pp. 7-10.)

It was here that Ganga Ram was born in the year 1851. He inherited the deeply religious instinct and faith of his parents. Daulat Ram, the father, captured some dacoits and when he refused to release them, his life and the lives of his wife and little child were threatened. He fled again with his family to Amritsar where he eked out a meagre living as a Persian copyist. Ganga Ram went to school and by dint of his ability and industry rose in course of time to be an Engineer. He held many interesting appointments. When Lord Curzon held the Durbar at Delhi, he chose Ganga Ram as the Engineer in charge of the arrangements. The book tells of the efficient help which Ganga Ram gave to add to the pomp and pageantry of the Durbar.

On his retirement from Government service in his fifty-second year, he took to large-scale farming and undertook a huge project of irrigation with up-to-date machines His first farm at Gangapur of 2500 acres of wasteland became highly prosperous. This initial success led to many other enterprises of which the last and greatest was the irrigation of 80,000 acres of barren land in the Montgomery District and their transformation into smiling wheat fields. These undertakings brought him huge profits, which he devoted to social work. As Sir Malcolm Hailey said of him, he won like a hero and spent like a saint.

Readers of The Pilgrim will be interested in an account of the many lines of social work in which he was engaged His first important social service was among Hindu widows. Let him tell about this in his own words. ’The first thing that attracted my attention was the sad plight of Hindu widows: and, when I studied the Census Report of 1911, I was very much moved by the startling figures in it. They showed that in the whole of India there were twenty-six million widows, of whom no less than twenty-one millions were Hindus, and most of the latter child-widows. In no other country of the world is there even such a phrase as child-widows. Yet in India, taking the Hindu girls, one in seventy-two are married under five years, one in ten under ten years, two in five below fifteen and one in ten below twenty.

There are two and a half million wives under ten and six millions under fifteen. The existence of child widows can be traced to two causes - first, the custom of child marriage which creates a large percentage of child widows. Much of this evil could be remedied if there were no contributory cause, namely, popular prejudice against remarrying widows, but unfortunately such a prejudice does exist causing widespread misery. If some legislation forbidding child marriage under the age of fifteen could be enacted, three lakhs of widows in Hindu society would be saved their miserable lot. Moved by these appalling figures, I made up my mind to do what I could within my humble means to eradicate this evil, and started a Widow Re-marriage Association in the Punjab in December 1914. (pp. 206-207.)

The Association which he started was able in course of time to arrange more than one widow remarriage per day in the year, the ideal for which he strove. During a period of eighteen years 39,460 marriages took place - an impressive total. Each such marriage gave him real joy.

Pandit Malavya says of him: ‘His heart actually melted at the thought of the widows’ sufferings. He was a strong-minded man, but I saw him more than once full of tears when talking of the sufferings of girls exposed to the responsibilities of a married life and maternity at a tender age, and of widows who are the victims of early marriage. He was urging me for some time past to prohibit marriage of girls below the age of twelve years at least’. (pp. 193-194)

Ganga Ram soon realised that many widows were unwilling to marry again for sentimental reasons or because they had children. It was also impossible to get husbands for most widows over twenty. For their benefit he started a Widow’s Home which trained them as teachers or taught them various cottage industries:

There were widows who were too simple and illiterate to profit by teachers’ training or technical education. A young man died leaving behind his helpless widow and his widowed mother. He was the only bread winner of the family. A member of his staff suggested that he should help them. Ganga Ram asked “What sort of help?”

“Give them forty or fifty rupees” was the reply.

“And how long will that last?” was his retort. The man did not reply, and before them both was the black future of two lonely and unprotected women. “Can they use a Sewing Machine?” Ganga Ram said. The man promised to find out. The next day he was told that both could use a machine. He immediately ordered a new machine to be sent to them. He continued to take an interest in the two widows and was extremely happy to learn after about two months that they were making from rupees fifty to rupees sixty a month. This led him to found the Lady Maynard Industrial School for Hindu and Sikh women and girls, which is situated in the Joure Mori, Lahore City, in February 1924. (pp. 223-224)

Whenever he was particularly prosperous he attributed his good fortune to the prayers of the widows for him.

He realised the dire needs of unemployed students and helped to start the Sir Ganga Ram Business Bureau and Library and the Hailey College of Commerce. Once he wrote to a friend about an unemployed man: ‘Just see what things are coming to. This man, having taken an M.A. in mathematics is now struggling for a crumb of bread. If you can do anything for him, just do it for humanity’s sake’. (p. 232).

His last philanthropic institution was an Asylum for the aged. ’Ganga Ram was now seventy-six, and he had given away more than three million rupees, but, in his own mind, his charities were not complete until, in April 1927, he opened the Hindu Apahaj Ashram. When he had given the blessing of food and shelter to the servant Kalu in his old age, he had realised that he was only a representative of a class-the class of men and women who find themselves left stranded by life as they grow old and infirm, who have no home to which they can go, and nobody to look to or to provide their daily food.

His own home, Ganga Niwas, so dear to him, meant nothing to him if he could not feel that, others too had the boon of a friendly roof, somewhere to rest their tired head after a day’s work well done. It was in this way that he conceived the idea of an Ashram for the old and the infirm. To this project he gave deep thought and personal care, and ultimately decided on a site on the Ravi Road. Two acres of land were bought, and an Ashram was constructed at a cost of Rs. 1,50,000. Here all who were destitute could get shelter, food, and clothing, and the doors were shut to nobody save those who were professional beggars or who had some infectious disease. Some invalid children were also admitted to the Ashram, and a special Matron was employed to look after them.

Well-fed and decently clothed, the inmates pass, their last days in peace and contentment in this Ashram, which is situated next to the Widows Ashram, the institution nearest to his heart. There they can read and listen to the music that is provided for them, there they can pray and talk and rest in peace, unconcerned for their bread.

For those who are ill medical attention is provided and doctors from the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital visit them regularly.’ (pp. 240-241).

In his seventy-sixth year Sir Ganga Ram died in London where he had gone to serve on the Agricultural Commission of which Lord Linlithgow was the Chairman. The stress and strain of hard work in his old age in a difficult climate had proved too much for him.

This biography reads like a romance and shows clearly what an Indian with vision, energy and enterprise could achieve when given the chance.

A.J.A.

The Gita Teaching on Krishna as Avatara

BY J.N. RAWSON, M.A.

The main difficulty about Krishna is that the different lines of tradition are so discrepant. There is

1. The teacher (or pupil) Krishna of Chandogya vii. 17.
2. The warrior - statesman Krishna of the early Mahabharata.
3. The Vasudeva of the Bhagavata faith, who would seem from the Besnagar inscription to have been mainly regarded as a sun-deity.
4. The cow-herd Krishna of the Puranas.

The latter is obviously late and unhistorical and does not enter into the Gita picture, which seems to take the Krishna of (1) and put him into the setting of (2). The difficulty is that we know really nothing about (1) except that a certain Krishna Devakiputra was a pupil of Ghora Angirasa who taught him certain doctrines which are reproduced in the Gita. With regard to (2) the picture given in the Epic is that of a wily Ulysses, who, though not without human greatness, is much less worthy morally than Arjuna or Yudhisthira to rank as a divine incarnation. The Gita picture, it is true, is devoid of these blemishes, because it says nothing at all about the supposedly historic Krishna except that he was Arjuna’s charioteer. But it puts him into a certain historic setting, and unless we accept the picture given in the Epic we really know nothing about him.

Professor D.S. Sarma has an interesting and curious passage in the introduction to his Bhagavadgita (pp. 16, 17), concerning Krishna as Avatar. “Krishna, the Avatar of the Mahabharata, was conceived to be both a man of action and a religious teacher. Possibly we have here a confluence of two streams of tradition, one descending from Krishna the Kshatriya prince of Mathura, and the other from Krishna, the disciple of Ghora Angirasa, mentioned in the Chandogya Upanishad, who taught that man’s life is the true sacrifice, a doctrine which is so well amplified in the tenth chapter of the Gita. However that may be, the artists who wrought at the figure of the Avatar in the Mahabharata, undertook too great a task and were only partially successful. Either the historical matter was too stubborn for them or they could not rise to the spiritual heights necessary for so great a conception. The different portraits of Krishna in the Epic remind one of the different figures of Buddha in the frescoes of Ajanta, for these great works of art, like the Mahabharata, are not by a single hand. Nor do they belong to a single age. The anonymous artists of different: epochs, though working on a common tradition, - achieved different measures of success. The different figures of the Buddha only reveal the minds of different ages and the skill of the various artists. They do not affect the teaching or character of the Blessed One. So it is with the portraiture of Bhagavan in the Mahabharata. What He was in history we can only guess, by the reflection we see of him in Epic and Purana, in song and legend. That He was an Avatar is established beyond a doubt by His sublime teaching which is treasured for us in the Gita.”

Here quite clearly Sarma admits that the Krishna of the Mahabharata is a composite imagined figure with possibly a historical basis. Further, the admitted defects in the picture are probably due to the fact that the historic elements in the tradition pointed to a Krishna who was not divine. Nevertheless, he says, “That He is an Avatar is established beyond a doubt by His sublime teaching in the Gita”. He might, of course, mean that just as the sublimity of the figure portrayed in the Gospels, apart from any external evidence, itself witnesses to the historicity of Christ, since no imagination could invent it, so with the figure of Krishna in the Gita. But apart from the fact that the Gita is put into the mouth of the warrior friend of Arjuna, there is no history or biography or personal portraiture in the Gita. And if we are to judge from the teaching alone we are confronted with the fact that though we have new emphases in the doctrines of nishkama-karma and bhakti-yoga, the teaching as a whole is by no means original, being very dependent for example upon the verse Upanishads, particularly the Katha and Svetasvatara/

Some light, however, may be thrown on it by another statement in Sarma’s Primer of Hinduism, (p. 15). “The Hindu scriptures deal with ideal truth and not historical truth, Their validity does not depend on any historical fact. This is very well illustrated in the accounts we have in the Puranas of the various Avatars. For these are intended to give only an imaginative representation of God’s help rendered to man at different stages of his life-evolution.” This makes it clear that Sarma does not use the word Avatar in the sense in which Christians use “Incarnation” (nor yet in the sense in which it is used in Popular Hinduism.)

Parama Samhita

Parama Samhita has been published now in the Gaekwad’s Oriental Service under the general editorship of Dr. V. Bhattacharya. This is an excellent-piece of work. Well-printed and well-bound, and worthy of the series to which it belongs. (Copies can be had from Messrs. Taraporevala & Sons, Kitab Mahal, Bombay, Price Rs. 8/-) Dr. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, for some years Professor of History in the University of Madras, is responsible for editing the Sanskrit text with an English translation and an Introduction. His name guarantees the accuracy of the text, the exactness of the translation and the value of the Introduction. We believe this is the first time this Sanskrit text has been published; it fills an important gap.

Parama Samhita is one of the earliest texts of the Bhakti religion of India. In his Introduction Dr. Krishnaswamy Aiyangar maintains that the book was written probably in the third or second century B.C. The teaching of this ancient Sanskrit text has entered into the religious literature and philosophy of India through the Bhagavad Gita, the hymns of the Tamil Alvars, the systems of Ramanuja and of others like Ramananda and Kabir who were influenced by him. While the Introduction is a careful piece of work giving exact historical reasons for the date assigned to the book, it is a pity there is no attempt to set forth the doctrinal developments in the Parama Samhita and the place which they occupy in the growth of the religious philosophy of India. There is a Sanskrit index, but the English translation has no index; also there is no table of contents for the English translation.

The value of Parama Samhita lies in the fact that as early as the third or second century B. C. belief in a personal God and the need for worshipping Him are so extensively set forth. The greater part of this book is concerned with worship, both private and public. Precise instructions are laid down for carrying on meditation, constructing temples, consecrating and installing idols, collecting the articles prescribed for worship, uttering the ordained mantras and performing the ceremonies appointed for daily worship as well as for special occasions. The regulations about public worship contained in this book are followed strictly to this day in the Vaishnavaite temples of South India, Students of Hinduism who wish to understand the principles underlying Hindu worship, especially as it is carried on in temples, will find this book quite valuable.

The definition of Bhakti given in this early text needs to be noted. ’Meditation with love is what is taken to be Bhakti. Worship offered without loving devotion is as good as not offered. Loving devotion is regarded as consisting of eight integral parts, the more so devotion to Vishnu, by attaining to which (Vishnubhalti) one gains the supreme Siddhi (emancipation) quickly.

1. The daily worship of God;
2. The preservation of The rule of The community;
3. The love of the devotees of Vishnu;
4. Great zeal for worship of Vishnu;
5. Effort at the performance of worship by oneself;
6. Eagerness to hear stories relating to Vishnu;
7. Absence of desire to do hurt to others; and
8. Not living by means of Vishnu-worship.

These make up the eight features of Bhakti as seen in man’. (Page 35) Those who are inclined to regard Bhakti religion as a late development in India must reckon with Parama Samhita.

No Christian will, however, accept the reason for image worship which the book gives:

    I shall expound to you in what manner to render
    worship to the God of Gods.

    He is to be worshipped only in visible form; except in
    such form worship ought not to be conducted. His forms,
    thus made for worship, are for the good of all.

    Hence, men attain the highest ends, by making images
    of Him in the form of man, and worshipping Him with the
    utmost devotion.

    If the Lord of Gods is not set up in definite form, neither
    worship, nor contemplation, nor even prayer is possible for
    men; so let those worship. Him embodied in definite shape

— Page 20

This book raises a very important problem. The growth of the Bhakti movement in India has taken place in close association with image worship. Most of the Bhakti saints have worshipped the images in the Hindu temples. Some of them have lived in the precincts of the temples and have spent much time in the service of idols. Many of the beautiful Bhakti hymns are in praise of the deities represented by the images. They contain many references to the miracles and wonders believed to be wrought by the local gods. The philosophical systems of Bhakti take idol worship for granted. The problem for the Christian student is to find out what importance may be attached to the Bhakti experience which has grown out of image worship.

On a question of this nature the light which is shed by the modern historical and literary criticism of the Bible is very helpful. Thanks to the patient research and industry of modern scholars, we have come to realise that the growth of the Old Testament religion was constantly impeded by lapses into idolatry. In spite of the frequent exhortations of the prophets, the children of Israel continually succumbed to the idolatrous practices and beliefs of the people in whose midst they lived. Gradually they were weaned away from idolatry. This spiritual education of the children of Israel was a long and painful one. Again and again they had to be brought back to the worship of the one true God in spirit and in truth by the great prophets who received the revelation of God and sought to make the people give up idolatry. In course of time the children of Israel became entirely free from the temptations to idol worship and fully aware of the nature of God as Spirit. We do not dismiss the Old Testament because the story of Israel is tainted with idol worship. On the other hand, we find much value in the slow and toilsome growth of Israel towards clearer light about the nature of God and about the method of worshipping Him. The Bhakti religion of India may be considered to belong to the spiritual level which is represented by the Old Testament. The faith and devotion and love which have been lavished on idols must be directed towards the one true God, especially as we know Him through His Incarnation in Jesus Christ.

A.J. A.

An Institute of Hinduism

Benares Oct. 13th to Nov. 13th, 1942 (Fourth since 1939)

1. General Remarks. The whole session was strenuous. All were in excellent health and spirits. Besides lecturing work there were two excursions and picnics in beautiful natural surroundings, one at Varna-Ganges confluence and another at Sarnath. Two social evenings were pleasantly and usefully spent, one to meet the Christian Union and the other under the auspices of the Benares Fellowship and the Kashi Club-both interreligious groups. There were other recreations such as afternoon outdoor games and after dinner indoor games to keep mind and body fit for intensive studies. The spirit of fellowship in prayer, work and play was deep and genuine.

   For the first time in four years all students who came from outside stayed together in one compound (the Benares United City Mission). For their convenience and comfort our thanks are due to the Rev. and Mrs. S.R. Holt who specially looked after the European guests.

2. Students. There were 8 Indians and 7 non-Indians, total 15. They represented a variety of professions. Of 7 Missionaries 3 were educationists and 4 evangelists. Of the Indians one was a pastor, one a professor, one a religious instructor, 3 theological students, one university arts student and one evangelist. Of the different and distant stations represented 2 were local and 13 external, hailing from Madura (S. India), Dacca (East Bengal), Midnapore (W. Bengal), Balasore (Orissa), Singbbum (South Bihar) Jabalpur (C. P.) Jullundur City (Punjab) Allahabad and Gorakhpur (U. P.). As to nationalities and races and languages, 4 were Swedish, 3 Americans, 2 Bengalis, 1 Santhal, 1 Oriya, 2 Travancoreans, 1 Deccanese, 1 Andhra. Denominations and communions represented were 4 Lutherans, 4 Baptists, 2 Presbyterians, 3 Methodists (Episcopal), 1 Catholic (Roman) and 1 Methodist (Wesleyan),

3. Staff.

   1. Convener, Treasurer, and four regular Christian teachers assumed the responsibility of management and instruction. Prof. V.E. Dutt, M.A., B: D of Serampore College gave nine lectures on the Evolution of Hindu Thought (post-Vedic). Mr. Ashananda Nag, B. A, of Calcutta gave twelve lectures in two series-six on the Vedas and six on the Bhagavadgita. Mr. G.W. Maw of the Friends’ Council of service gave three lectures on Experiences of Pilgrimage (Badrinath, Kedarnath, Amarnath, Onkarji) illustrated by the epidiascope. Mr. R.C. Das of the Benares United City Mission gave 22 lectures on Popular Hinduism, its living and orthodox faith and practice. Apart from these regular classes there were two very instructive addresses by a missionary student (Woxblom) on the Indus Valley civilisation; as also four seminars and discussion groups. Two papers were set and most of the students did very well.

   2. In addition to the above, 11 non-Christian scholars gave 12 lectures on special aspects of the Aryan religions such as Maya, Idea of God, Position of Women, Jainism, Nationalism, Life and Teaching of Buddha, Middle Path, Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Theosophy, Arya Samaj, and Hindu Dharma.

4. Laboratory Work. Benares affords unique opportunities for the practical study of Hinduism at first hand. With the conviction that practical experience through research is more valuable than mere theoretical knowledge, 25 excursions were undertaken to different institutions, organisations, temples, mutts and art-galleries, representing different sides of Hindu life and thought.

5. Library facilities. For the convenience and benefit of the students, books for reference and sale were exhibited in the Lecture Hall specially chosen from the Libraries of the United City Mission, Buddhist Society, Ramkrishna Mission, Theosophical Society and the Hindu University.

6. Evangelistic outlook and object. With the firm conviction that this study of Hinduism is intended not as knowledge for its own sake but for fitting Christian workers more suitably and successfully to approach the Hindu with the claim of the Christian Faith, the Christian lectures dealt with their subjects accordingly and the staff of the United Mission together with their converts and helpers in their daily prayers and activities ever kept the supremacy of the Christian witness before the students and even in the midst of heavy work of study carried on preaching and gospel selling and interviews with enquirers. In this and in the two series of apologetic addresses for the Hindu public in the city church many students took active part.

7. Final remarks. Illness, but in particular travel difficulties in the early autumn, were responsible for the absence of three Christian teachers - Dr. Appasamy, Mr. Chakravarthy and Dr. Davis and the withdrawal of nearly a dozen students, both Indian and foreign, who had duly registered their names for the course. This was deeply regretted but could not be helped.

Eight of the fifteen students stayed through the whole length of the full course and a few beyond the official time. Others stopped for shorter periods but none less than a week. Two local students were accepted free of any charge and an external student on half the rates.

Considering high prices entertainment charges were quite moderate Rs. 2/8 European style and Rs. 1/- Indian style; tuition fees being Rs. 5/- to Rs 15/- according to income. Everyone expressed appreciation on this point and almost everyone said they had received and gained much more than they had expected. The finances of the Institute this year were more satisfactory than in the past, though not adequate to meet all needs.

There was good co-operation, marked industry and close devotion on the part of the students and all teachers gave their best. It is hoped that all will keep up their interest in the study and use the knowledge for the enrichment of the Church’s life and for bringing in souls to Him who is life eternal.

As Convener, I am sincerely grateful to the Christian and non-Christian teachers and lecturers for their ungrudging help and labour of love, to the students for their keen interest hard work, good discipline and co-operation, to the Benares United City Mission for their hospitality, to the Metropolitan, Bishop Badley, the National Christian Council and others for their financial support, to the Secretary Mrs. Gould and Treasurer Mr. Holt for their presence on the spot and active help, and above all to God for. His sustaining grace and constant leading. It has been decided to hold a similar institute in Benares in October 1943 and short courses Kodaikanal, Brindaban or Ajodhya.

R.C. DAS.

Ramkatora, Benares Cantonment

The Annual Meeting, 1942

The Annual Meeting of the Christian Society for the study of Hinduism was held in early November 1942, at Ramkatora, Benares. Among the fifteen present there was a wide representation of interests, responsibilities, denominational affiliations, and geographic locations.

Bishop Clement D. Rockey struck a high tone in the opening devotional by stressing the need for a knowing love and an objective spirit to further the Society in its search for a Christ-like understanding of Hinduism.

The reading and acceptance of the minutes for the June meeting was followed by an acceptance of the financial report and the construction of an adequate budget for the coming year. If the carefully thought-out plans of the Society for work and further research are to be carried forward it was realised that an increase in the membership was urgently needed.

The following office bearers were confirmed and received with gratitude as able, devoted workers for the Society’s cause:

• Bishop Clement D. Rockey of Lucknow as President,
• The Bishop of Lucknow as a Vice-President,
• Mrs. W. Stanley Gould of Allahabad as Secretary,
• Rev. F. Whittaker of Nagpur as National Christian Council representative,
• Dr. M.P. Davis of Raipur as member of the Standing Committee, and
• Dr. C.H. Hazlett of Allahabad as member of the Standing Committee.

Rev. S.R. Holt’s resignation as treasurer, due to furlough leave, was granted with regret. The Secretary was instructed to send him a hearty tribute of appreciation for the help and encouragement he has given as the former treasurer of the Society. In view of this resignation it was voted to invite Dr. C.H. Hazlett to accept this position. If he found that he was unable to do so it was proposed to ask Mr. Paul Das to carry on until Mr. Holt’s successor could be secured, failing this, to ask Mr. Das to carry on until the next Annual Meeting in the fall of 1943.

During the discussion on the future development of Institute it was decided to continue along present lines the Benares Institute for a month at the time of the Dasehra and Diwali holidays. It was noted that the secretary should send a note of appreciation to Mr. R.C. Das for his constant labour, thought, and prayerful concern which were so largely responsible for the high interest and success of this year’s Institute.

The possibility of increasing the number of refresher courses given by Mr. Das and others was discussed at length with the decision that Rev. B.F. Tiliandar of Madura be asked to approach the secretary of his mission with a view to making arrangements for one to be held under the auspices of the Missionary Union at Kodaikanal some time in April; Mr. R.C. Das attempt to arrange for a similar course to be held one year at Brindaban, that Mr. R.C. Das attempt to arrange … secretary approach the principal of the Landour Language School, the secretary for the Mussoorie Y. W. C. A., and the Chairman of the Landour Conference to discover the possibility of arranging for refresher courses under the above auspices. It was also suggested that a general newsletter be sent to the secretary of each mission to solicit their interest and support in this matter.

Rev. C.H. Loehlin of the Punjab Presbyterian Mission was asked to furnish information from time to time on the developments taking place in the organisation for the study of Sikhism and to canvas possibilities for joint efforts in the conduct of refresher courses in the Punjab.

Mr. R.C. Das wished that appreciation be recorded on behalf of the students who in a time of difficulty and uncertainty undertook long journeys to attend the 1942 Institute at Benares. He was gratified to find that a number of missionaries were able to secure leave and attend the Institute. Under able leadership this group spent many stimulating hours together in study, discussion and visitation of the historic sights of Benares. It proved a sobering as well as a refreshing and stimulating experience with rich rewards in fellowship between men and women of various backgrounds. Just in passing it is interesting to note that though the Society is only open to Christians an inquiry regarding membership was received from a non-Christian.

A review of the excellent work done by Dr. Appasamy in editing The Pilgrim, the Society’s publication, was given by Mr. Das. During the appreciative discussion that took place it was suggested that to aid in its further development news from other parts of India bearing on the work of this Society be solicited and that a small editorial board consisting of the present president, vice president Rev. G.H.C. Angus, the secretary and convener of the Institute be formed to facilitate the above recommendation.

The future possibilities of work and usefulness for this Society were vividly felt by all who participated in the Annual Meeting. It was obvious that it was meant for co-operative adventure in extending His Kingdom and that it would require the thought, consecration and support of many more members if it is to successfully develop and render mature service in this delicate but important field.

The meeting was closed with prayer by Bishop Rockey.

Respectfully submitted, SIGRID P. GOULD Secretary.

Advanced students of Hinduism will find much value and interest in The Bhagavad Gita and Modern Scholarship by S.C. Roy, M.A., London, Director of Public Instruction Assam. Luzac & Co., 7/6. This book is a comprehensive and careful review of the theories of historical and literary criticism about the Gita propounded during the last three quarters of a century by such competent scholars of the West as Max Muller, Hopkins, Barth, Wilhelm von Humboldt, Weber, Holzmann, Dahlmann, Schroder, Deussen, Garbe, Winternitz. Macnicol and others as well as by eminent Indian scholars like Bhandarkar, Bankimchandra, Telang, Tilak, Subba Rao, Vaidya and others.

The Unseen Power

(From the Foreword)

Whether there really is a God, and if so who He is and where He is, has troubled man since the beginning of the world. From time to time great saints and sages have arisen to show us the way of Truth, and, since Gandhiji is one of us and our time; he speaks in words that go deeply into our life and our ways.

Gandhijii’s greatest strength is his belief in God. He is fighting for the freedom of India because the best way to serve God is to serve His people, and India has his filial-love and affection for She is his Motherland. But his patriotism is not exclusive, for the core of his creeds and conceptions encompasses the world.

Correspondents and interviewers have time and again put him direct and difficult questions; they have asked him to furnish positive proofs of the necessity of God and His existence, and to provide belief with a basis of reason. Gandhijii admits that his belief transcends reason, and that God is grasped not by his intellect but by his heart. ‘I may live without air and water,’ he says, ‘but not without Him, You may chop off my nose, but that will not kill me. But blast my belief in God, and I am dead’.

In these extracts taken from Young India and Harijan Gandhijii answers the varied questions put to him in a simple, human way.

The book is divided into three parts. Part I deals with the Existence of God; Part II with the Meaning of Prayer, and Part III with Idol Worship, and each part is subdivided and arranged in logical sequence.

(Free India Publications, Commercial Building, The Mall, Lahore):

Printed at the Hilal Press, Tirunelveli 2-1943

The Gospel and India’s Heritage

BY A.J. Appasamy, M.A. (Harvard) Ph.D. (Oxon.)

CONTENTS

Chapters

I. Introduction II. The Inner Life of Jesus III. The Public Ministry of Jesus IV. The Teaching of Jesus on God V. The Teaching of Jesus on the Holy Spirit VI. The Teaching of Jesus on Sin VII. The Teaching of Jesus on Forgiveness VIII. The Teaching of Jesus on Fellowship with God IX. The Teaching of Jesus on Ethics X. The Teaching of Jesus on the Church XI. The Teaching of Jesus on the Future Life XII. The Death and Resurrection of Jesus XIII. Jesus the Incarnation

Appendix: - Our Sources of Information about Jesus

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Dr. N. Macnicol Writes in the British Weekly:

“This book, by a distinguished Indian Christian, is important as being an attempt to quote the author’s own account of his purpose - to study afresh the life and teaching of Jesus as they are recorded in the Gospels, and to explain them in relation to the spiritual heritage of India.”

In the early centuries of our era the young Christian Church in the Near East-and on the Mediterranean littoral found itself confronted by the civilisation and ‘wisdom’ of Greece and became, in consequence: in some measure for good or evil Graecised. A not dissimilar challenge is coming today to the young Churches in India and China as they face, in their turn, the ancient civilisations and the ‘ancient wisdom’ of these lands. In India there are now some ten millions who profess the faith of Christ, many of them men and women who share with their: non-Christian brethren and sisters the pride they feel in their cultural, inheritance. It is fitting that the thoughtful among them should apply their minds to the task of discriminating between those elements in that inheritance which can be incorporated into their new faith and may even enrich it, and those elements which must be cast away as false or degrading. That task is now being attempted and should awaken much interest in those who watch it and who realise its significance for the future of the Universal Church. This book represents one of the most ambitious efforts yet made in India to achieve this end.

Dr. A.J. Appasamy is well-equipped to undertake® this pioneering enterprise. He is the son of a notable convert from Hinduism, a layman who had an important part in building up the Church in Tinnevelly. He himself is a Doctor of Philosophy of Oxford. Here is how he describes his conception of how he should approach the task he has now taken in hand. ‘When we become the followers of Christ’, he says ‘we need not empty ourselves of all our national and cultural peculiarities, nor need we absorb Christian doctrines which are connected more, with Greek or other systems of philosophy than with the mind of Christ. An effort must be made to separate genuine Christian experience from the doctrines which the Christian theologians have expounded, and to state this same experience in terms that can easily be grasped by the Indian mind’.