The Pilgrim

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

The Christian Society for the Study of Hinduism

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

President: Bishop CLEMENT D. ROCKEY, Lucknow.

Vice-Presidents: The BISHOP of LUCKNOW, Allahabad Dr. A.J. APPASAMY, M.A., Ph.D., Palamcottah. Rev. C.S. THOBURN, M.A., Jabalpur. Rev. G.H.C. ANGUS, M.A., Serampore College.

Secretary: Dr. J.E. McELDOWNEY, Leonard Theological College, Jabalpur

Treasurer: Dr. C.H. HAZLETT, A. P. Mission, Mainpuri, U.P.

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

Committee: Mrs. W. STANLEY GOULD, Ewing Christian College, Allahabad Prof. V.E. DUTT, M.A., B.D., Serampore Mr. PAUL DAS, B.A., N.I.C. Tract and Book Society, Allahabad Rev. J.S. MOON, M.A., Ramkatora, Benares

Editorial Board: Bishop Clement D. Rockey, Lucknow Dr. J.E. McELDOWNEY, Leonard Theological College, Jabalpur Rev. G.H.C. Angus, Principal, Serampore College Rev. R.C. Das, United City Mission, Benares Rev. J.S. MOON, United City Mission, Benares (Editor)

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) an Institute of Hinduism stressing its popular aspects
2. Publish The Pilgrim, a quarterly bulletin, bearing on Hinduism, its relation To Christianity and work among Hindus and
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, A.P. Mission, Mainpuri, U.P.

Every member will receive The Pilgrim free.

The Fountains of Hinduism¹

(C. 500-800 B. C.)

BY THE LATE DR. J.N. FARQUHAR

The Indo-Europeans were not a race but a group of white peoples, who, through living together, developed a common culture which can be partially restored. Place and date are both unknown; but their language, civilisation and religion are in a measure known. The group broke up and gradually dispersed in the third millennium B.C.

One of those peoples, the Aryans, moved eastward through Asia Minor. A section of this people settled about 2000 B.C. at Bogbaz Koi, near the now Turkish capital: a local inscription of later date contains the names of four Aryan gods, which are also found still later in Persia and India. The rest of the Aryans went on; for they can be traced in Babylonia and farther east. They finally broke into two groups: one seized Persia, the other the Punjab, the most north-westerly province of India. Scholars believe the date of these latter settlements was about 1500 B.C.

The Aryans in Persia formed Persian culture. Their greatest man, Zoroaster, created Zoroastrianism, possibly in the sixth century B.C., probably rather earlier. He left hymns called Gathas, which appear in the Avesta, the sacred book of Zoroastrianism.

The Aryans in the Punjab formed the Rigveda, a collection of a thousand hymns which were recited or sung while the sacrifices were being offered by the priests. This famous collection, the language of which is very similar to the language of the Gathas, is our only evidence for the conquest of the Punjab and the life of the Aryans there.

When the Aryan invaders seized the lands of the Punjab, they probably found the conquest comparatively easy; for they had armour and weapons of metal, while the people of the land were still in the Stone Age. The Aryans reduced masses of these neolithic people to serfdom: the word used in the Rigveda for serf is dasyu. These aboriginal people are described as ‘black’ and ‘noseless’. It is clear that some of these were of the Dravidian race, for those features suggest the appearance of Dravidians, and they spoke a language closely allied to the Dravidian tongues now spoken in certain sections of north and south India. The proof of the truth of this statement is found in the fact that, in the language of the Rigveda, Dravidian consonantal sounds occur which are quite alien to the original Aryan speech. The invaders acquired these new consonants in learning to talk to their Dravidian serfs.

The Aryans, as we have already seen, probably entered the Punjab about 1500 B.C., and they lived there quite a long time before they made attempts to conquer fresh territory to the east. The date usually given for the advance is about 800 B.C. but that also is but a guess at the truth. In any case, they lived a settled life in the Punjab with their serfs for centuries. The serfs, living in daily touch with their masters, learned much from them and made considerable progress; while the Rigveda gives us some idea of the progress made by the Aryans.

In the most important of all the elements of culture, namely religion, the mutual influence must have been slight; for the Aryans, on the one hand, excluded their serfs absolutely from Aryan religion, and, on the other, regarded the Dravidian cult with extreme contempt. In the hymns they speak of the Dravidians as ‘prayerless’, ‘riteless’, ‘sacrificeless’, ‘lawless’ and as ‘deva-haters’, the devas being the Aryan gods. The one positive religious phrase applied to them is ‘phallus-worshippers’ and that is full of contempt. Thus, during the centuries spent in the Punjab, the influence exerted by Dravidian on Aryan religion was distinctly small.

The Aryan people were already divided into three groups according to social standing, thus -

1. Brahmans: Priests
2. Kebatriyas: Nobles.
3. Vaisyas: Commoners

These were classes rather than castes; for there seems to have been originally, no law against intermarriage; although, doubtless, most marriages took place within the class. It is very noticeable that the Priest stood highest in the social scale: here surely we have an indication of how the Aryans felt about religion. To this day the Brahman caste is the summit of Hindu society.

The Aryan religion was a polytheism; but, if we wish to see the fact in its real relationships, we must realise that, in the middle of the second millennium B.C., all the nations of men were still polytheists. Ikbuaton, the Egyptian King, who seems to have been the first man to attempt to found a monotheism, is dated approximately 1380 B. C., and Moses lived at a still later date. Thus, like every other race of their time, the Aryans were polytheists. The mass of their gods were nature divinities.

We give here in a table the names of the most noticeable of their gods, set out as the people were accustomed to thinking of them, in three groups, according as they were active on earth, in the regions of the air, or in the bright heaven above: -

_Lower gods_: _Agni_, fire; _Soma_, the drink of the gods.

_Middle god_: _Indra_, regent of the sky; the _Maruls_ and
    _Rudra_, storm gods; _Vayu_, the wind;

_Upper gods_: _Dyaus_, the bright heaven; _Vishnu_, _Surya_,
    _Savitri_, sun-gods; the _Asvins_, twin horsemen;
    _Ushas_, the dawn goddess; _Aditi_, mother of
    Varuna; _Mitra_, _Aryan_, the loftiest of the gods,
    divinities of the light.

Indra is the most prominent of all the gods: more than one fourth of the hymns of the Rigveda were composed in his honour. He comes flashing down to earth to attend a great sacrifice, listens to the hymns chanted or recited in his honour; eats heartily of the sacrificial flesh and drinks great drafts of Soma. Roused and strengthened, by Soma and much flesh, he rushes to attack, with thunderbolt and lightening-flash, the evil demons which lock up the waters in their cloud-castles and swiftly overwhelms them. The fertilising waters rush down on the earth amid wild thunder-clap and brilliant lightening flash; and all men praise Indra with thankful hearts. We quote two stanzas in his honour. The first praises his power to help men in battle: -

    Indra, bestow on us the power heroic.
    Skilled and exceeding strong, that wins the booty:
    Wherewith, by thy assistance, we may conquer
    Our foes in battle, be they kin or stranger.

The second prays for his help against pledge-breakers -

    Those men of evil ways who break agreements,
    And injure Varuna, Aryaman and Mitra: -
    Against such enemies, puissant Indra,
    Sharpen thy heavy, strong and ruddy weapon.

²

Prajapati, “Lord of Creatures”, is conceived as the source of all animal life and its protector. One hymn in his honour comes very near monotheism indeed.

    He who gives breath and strength, be whose commandment
    All beings follow; yea the gods acknowledge;
    Whose shadow immortality and death is -
    Who is the god to worship, with oblation?

    He who through greatness hath become sole monarch
    Of all the moving world that breathes and slumbers;
    Who rule over quadrupeds and bipeds -
    Who is the god to worship with oblation?

³

Soma is the divine drink which gods and men love, deified because of its wonderful powers. It was made from the juice of a plant which is now unknown.

The Asvins are the twin horsemen whom we know as Castor and Pollux. In Aryan thought they were connected with the dawn and twilight.

Ushas, the dawn, identical with the Greek Eos, is a lovely maiden, the most beautiful figure in the Pantheon. She is described in the following lines: -

    Leader of graciousness, shining brightly.
    Is being the one that bath unclosed the portals.
    She is stirring up the world hath looked on riches;
    Dawn bath awakened very living creature.

    From days eternal hate Dawn shone, the goddess,
    And shows today this lustre, she is wealthy;
    So shall the shine in days to come immortal.
    She moves on, self-determined, underlying.

⁴

Varuna is the noblest of the gods of the Rigveda. He upholds Heaven and Earth, and he is the supporter of all beings: but his greatest glory is this, that he sways all the powers of rita, i.e., divine law both physical and moral. He is thus the ethical god of those early days. He is actually the same divinity as Ahura Masda, the one God of Zoroastrianism. Varuna’s name remains among the Hindu gods today, but he receives very, little attention. The idea of rita was early lost, merged in later thought. He is the god of forgiveness, as in the following lines: -

    Against a friend, companion or a brother,
    A fellow tribesman, or against a stranger,
    Whatever trespass we have perpetrated
    Do thou, O Varuna, from that release E8.
    If we, like those that play at dice, have cheated,
    Have really sinned, or done amiss unwitting,
    Cast all these sing away, as from us loosened;
    So may we, Varuna, be thine own beloved.

⁵

Mitra is a god connected with light. He is identical with Mithra, the god of the post-Christian Persian mystery religion known as Mithraism. He is frequently praised along with Varuna. We quote four verses written in his praise.

    Mitra the god uphold the folk,
    His favour bringeth sample gain,
    His wealth conspicuous renown.

    The fair-famed Mitra is the one,
    Who by his might excels the sky,
    And by his lofty fame the earth.

    To Mitra, mighty one to help,
    Ihe peoples five submit themselves,
    It is he supporteth all the gods.

    Amongst gods and mortals, for the man
    Who spreads the straw, hath Mitra made
    Provision by his will and law.

⁶

There are then four of the gods which we must note, because they are found in the Hindu Pantheon today, and two of them are the greatest of the Hindu gods. Rudra, the roarer, the storm god, is now known by a milder name, Siva, the ‘kindly’ or ‘propitious’ one. He and Vishnu (originally a sun god) have long been the greatest gods of the Hindus; Surya, the ‘sun’ and Agni, ‘fire’, have been continuously worshipped since the earliest days, but neither is now prominent. We give here a few verses in honour of Agni, from the first hymn of the Rigveda -

    Agni, I praise, domestic priest.
    God, minister of sacrifice,
    The Hotri, giver best of gifts.

    Agni is worthy to be praised,
    By former Rishis and by new;
    Maybe the divas bitter bring.

    Thou who art king of sacred rites,
    Guardian of rita shining one,
    Increasing in thine own abode.

    As is a father to a son,
    Agni, be easy of access;
    Stay with us for prosperity.

⁷

The Vedic pantheon is probably the most interesting, group of gods belonging to the ancient world, These divinities, it is true, have not the grace and charm of the Greek gods; but, in the Rigveda, we catch sight of them at an earlier period of development. Nearly all these divine beings are deified natural phenomena; and the charm of their presentation in the hymns arises from their ambiguous position. They are still identified with, sun, moon, dawn, the twilight, the glowing sky, the thunder peal, the lightening flash, the dark rain cloud; yet, each is regarded as a divinity of human form, who lives in a glorious heavenly home, and comes flying down to earth in his aerial car⁸ to hear the praises chanted by the priests and to enjoy the sacrifices.

The worship of the Aryans, as it appears in the Rigveda, is of a very early type, and yet is rich and varied.

They used no images or symbols for their gods; probably because they were all, or almost all, visible. Each is a natural object or a natural phenomenon; so that in many cases the worshipper could actually see the god while he worshipped. This was true of Fire, Dawn, the Morning Star, Heaven, Sun, Rain-cloud, Thunderstorm, Mountain and River. Thus, no image or symbol was necessary.

Another very noteworthy feature of the religion of the Aryans is this, that in the beginning there was very little public worship. Every rite was the act of an individual householder; and, in the first instance, at least, it benefited only the man and his family. Even when a king held a very great sacrifice, it was his own undertaking and not a public act of worship. If, however, through the sacrifice, he won a great victory, then the benefit of the act of worship might have great results for his people.

Thus, all the chief rites of the religion consisted of sacrifices made to groups of gods or to individual deities by householders. When a man married, he established in his house, or in a shed near it, a fire, for use in these religious observances, and it was never allowed to go out. The householder, on most occasions, made the offerings himself. In his absence, his wife could act for him. He could, however, if he wished to-do so, hire a Brahman to make all the offerings and sacrifices for him. It is important to note that, in those early days, the married Aryan had the full right to act as priest for himself and his family.

The family rites obligatory on every Aryan householder were as follows.

1. .

   1. An offering every night to Agni, ‘fire’ and Prajapati, ‘Lord of Creatures’
   2. An offering every morning to Surya, ‘sun’ and Prajapati, ‘Lord of Creatures’

2. The five great daily offerings

   1. The Devayajna, an offering to the gods made in the fire in the morning and the evening meal.
   2. The Bhutayajna, to the spirits.
   3. Pitriyajna, to ‘the fathers’ i.e., the ancestors of the family.
   4. The _Brahmayajna: repetition of a portion of the veda.
   5. The Manusyayajna: an offering to men, i.e., the feeding of Brahmans, guests and beggars.

3. Offerings at the New Moon and the Full Moon,

4. A New Year Festival.

5. Occasional offerings connected with agriculture, the building of a house, etc.

Besides these offerings to the god, a religious ceremony, held in the house, hallowed each important event in the life of the family or the individual. The chief of these were -

1. Birth.
2. Name-giving.
3. Taking the child out.
4. Food-giving.
5. Tonsure.
6. Hair-cutting.
7. Initiation (school age).
8. Home-coming (from school).
9. Marriage.
10. Funeral.

There were also ceremonies held for the commemoration of the Pitris ‘fathers’, i.e., the ancestors of the family; and they really amounted to worship.

Ancestor-worship, indeed, is one of the oldest elements in the religion, having been an important part of the early Aryan religion. The modern educated Hindu usually regards the rite as a memorial service rather than an act of worship; but the men of Rigveda thought otherwise. To them ‘the fathers’, as they called them, were powerful spirits, as may be seen from the following stanzas: -

    Far who sit on sacred grass, come, help us;
    These offering have we made to you enjoy them.
    So come to us with your most wholesome succour,
    And grant us health and welfare without blemish.

    Ye Agni-tasted Fathers, come ye nigh to us,
    Sit each upon his seat, ye that good guidance give.
    Eat the oblations that are proffered on the grass,
    And then grant wealth to us and hosts of hero sons.

— Rigveda XXV, 4 and 11.

This ritual is meant primarily to honour and hallow the memory of the dead in the family; but, since the rites were similar to rites made to the gods, the idea gradually arose that the Fathers also wielded great powers: they tended to become divinities. A good deal of the family ritual and also of the ritual for the departed survives in the Hinduism of today.

The Aryans practiced both burial and burning of the dead; but burning was perhaps rather more favoured than burial. To-day burning is the rule for all Hindus, except very young children and ascetics, who are usually buried.

Besides these obligatory domestic rites, the priests had created a series of greater sacrifices of variant type, each of which was potent to bring large blessing or reward to the sacrificer. These elaborate rites could not be carried out by the householder himself: priests alone were competent for the task. They were also costly; for, instead of one domestic fire, three special fires had to be used; the services of a number of skilled priests and their assistants could be secured only by the payment of large fees; and all the materials of sacrifice had also to be paid for. These greater sacrifices were called Srauta, i.e., ‘Revealed’ rites.

The most noteworthy of these rites were the Soma sacrifice, which was very elaborate, the animal sacrifice, the Royal Consecration rite, the Horse sacrifice.

As we have already seen, the Vedic gods were conceived as heavenly beings, were held in great veneration, and were honoured with a very dignified ritual, yet Vedic worship, was shot through and through with magic ideas and was supplemented by the practice of magic. In this the Vedic religion was like most of the religions of the ancient world. Since the government of the unseen world is not conceived as under the rule of one God, but as parcelled out among uncounted myriads of powerful spirits, men were sure that there were many malevolent, activities which had to be countered by magic. This idea had arisen in the religion of the Aryans; and we therefore hear in the Rigveda of many magic rites being practised not only by the people but also by the priests.

Two very striking intellectual achievements stand to the credit of the Aryan priesthood during this period.

The first of these is the education of the priests. There were three distinct strands in Vedic ritual, and an order of priests corresponded to each of these types of ritual duty. Hence, in order to secure perfect accuracy and decorum, three types of schools had been created, one for each order of priests. The three types were -

Each school, in training one type of priest, gradually created well-arranged collection of liturgical material, which its fledgling priests committed to memory (there was no writing in those days) with extreme care and accuracy. The teacher-priest uttered a sentence or phrase, and his pupils repeated it after him until it was engraved in perfect form on their memories. Thus, each became a walking book, carrying in his head all the duties and all the utterances which he needed for his work at the sacrifices.

These schools and their methods were gradually developed in course of time; and the full result was that from them arose a striking educational system in ancient India, a system without which neither the great capacity of the best Indians nor their rich and varied literature could have ever come into existence.

The second of the two achievements of the early priesthood was _the creation of the Rigveda. The Hotris, or priests of the first order, had to use many hymns of praise in their priestly work; and they gradually selected the best hymns and arranged them in groups according to authorship. In this form the whole mass was committed to memory by young priests of the hotri order. Scholars agree that the collection of over 1000 hymns was already complete about 800 B.C. The text was thus handed down in human memories, with almost faultless accuracy for twenty centuries at least.

There are a few hymns in the Rigveda which form the fountain-bead of Indian philosophy; and, in Professor Keith’s judgement, they contain many traces of the essential character of the philosophy of India. Those poems strike the reader as extraordinarily fresh and natural, yet they are far from shallow or trivial. Here we meet the search for the unity of all things, but also the confession that the sources cannot be known: -

    The gods were born after this world's creation:
    Then who can know from whence it has arisen?

⁹

Thus, the bold inquiring genius of India was already abroad in those early days; and those questions of the dawn stirred many minds during the following centuries.

What then was the character of the religion of the Dravidians who were the serfs of the Aryan people? The epithets applied to them in the Rigveda are all negative except one, viz. - ‘phallus-worshippers.’ Hence, we realise that they worshipped a god whom they represented by a ‘phallus’, doubtless a very roughly shaped pillar of stone or post of wood, set up in the ground. Now the Dravidians of S. India to this day are deeply, devoted to phallus-worship, and the god represented by that, symbol is called Siva, the kindly, god or Mahadeva, the great god.

The other epithets applied to them by their Aryan masters are ‘prayerless’, ‘riteless’, ‘sacrificeless’, ‘lawless’. From these we may readily realise, that, unlike the calm, regulated reverent worship of the Aryan gods by trained priests, the cult of their serfs was irregular, noisy, full of excitement and terror. It is very noticeable that the village worship of the Dravidians of S. India today is precisely of this type. The people are eager to worship, but they are full of fear of evil spirits, who are believed to be present in large numbers, attracted by the sacrifices and eager to share in them. Hence, noise, excitement and terror accompany the rites everywhere.¹⁰

The religions could scarcely be more signally, distinguished, and the idea of any coalescence of the dignified Aryan cult with the gross worship of the Dravidian serf must have seemed absolutely unthinkable in those early days. Yet, as we shall see, Hinduism arose in the long run from the marriage of Aryan thought and practice with Dravidian worship.

The Guru in Hinduism

By J. RUSSELL, M.A.; B.D. (TRIVANDRUM)

Introduction

In the attempt to interpret Christianity in the thought forms familiar to India there is a danger of confusing Christian ideas with ideas foreign to the Gospel faith. This is particularly so in the use of words which have definite technical significance in the Hindu religion. So when we adopt Indian religious terms there is the need for the emptying of certain of the Hindu connotations and refilling them with Christian meaning.

The present essay is an attempt to study the significance of the Guru-idea in Hindu thought. The title Guru has been attributed to Christ by many Indian and Western Christians. After studying the conception of Guru in Hinduism some scholars have said that Christ alone fulfils the qualities needed of a true Guru. To others Christ is Guru in the same sense as some of the Hindu saints are Gurus to their devotees and the Christian faith has to be reinterpreted in terms of Guru-sishya relations.

The word Guru does not always convey the same meaning to all. The word itself is variously interpreted. One interpretation gives the meaning “the Venerable.” Another gives it the significance of one who enlightens (Gu = darkness, Ru = dispeller). To one the Guru is an ideal teacher, to another he is a superhuman mediator, and to another he is a self realised soul and is the goal of human existence.

In the life of the common religious Hindu the idea of the Guru has great influence. During the prata-smarana or morning worship and before Vedaprayana he repeats slokas in praise of the Guru.

One such sloka is the Gita Stotram:

    Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu
    Guru Devo Maheswara
    Guru sakshath parabrahma
    Tasmai Sri Gurevannamaha.

In this sloka God Himself is the supreme Guru who is invoked for help in the understanding of scriptures. This is taken to mean either that God is the real Guru or that the Guru is God.

So the idea of Guru is not a simple one which conveys one definite meaning. There are many elements in the Guru-idea which can be of value in interpreting Christ. There are other elements which are incompatible with the Christian understanding of God and man.

The Teacher-Guru

The Guru in Hinduism is primarily a religious teacher. The title is applied in a general sense to all spiritual teachers. There has been no marked distinction between spiritual and secular instruction. Receiving instruction in any branch of knowledge has been considered as a religious act by the orthodox Hindu. So it is observed that the utmost reverence is paid to all teachers.

I. However under the broad title of Guru, different periods in the history of India have given different names to teachers of different branches of knowledge. According to Manu a Guru is a Brahmin who performs the samskara ceremonies on conception etc., according to rule and who feeds the child with rice i.e., who performs the annaprasanam. Sometimes the title is used distinctively for a teacher of mimansa. According to Yajna-Valkya a Guru is one who imparts the Vedas. Manu uses another word acharya for one who having invested his pupil with the sacred thread afterwards instructs him in the whole Veda and the Upanishads, with the rules of the Ceremonial (Sakalpam, i.e., probably according to the Kalpa sutra). One who makes his livelihood by giving instruction only in part of the Vedas is called an Upadhyaya or a sub-teacher.

In a certain period different grades of religious teachers were recognised. For example, there were Acharyas Srotriyas, Mahasrotriyas, Kulaguru, Sramana, Tapasa and Vatarasana. There were also Munis or forest-dwellers who were considered as teachers of the highest order.

In another period the teachers were classified as Acharyas, Gurus, Upadhyayas, and Sikshakas. In this classification the Acharyas were the teachers of the highest grade. They took no fee and did the teaching for its own sake. The Gurus also imparted knowledge gratis, but paid special attention to moral development. The Upadhyaya took fees and imparted instruction only in some particular subject. Sikshaka on the other hand gave instruction in certain arts like dancing. In the period after 7th century A.D. we find another class of teachers called the diksha Guru who was the tantric teacher of esoteric doctrine. In all the different sects of Hinduism the religious preceptor has a prominent place and is held in very high esteem.

2. Now as in all other religions, in the earliest stages of Hinduism too, the teacher and the priest could not be clearly distinguished. It would not be futile or mistaken to trace back the Hindu Guru, to the Vedic priest. In the Vedic religion sacrifice occupied a central place in religious practice and in the sacrifice the ritual was of primary importance. So the necessity arose at least for certain individuals to get proper training in the technique of the sacrifice. With the institution of the four castes it was necessary for all the male members of the Brahmin caste to learn the priestly ritual and the hymns. The importance of learning under a recognised teacher grew with the development of religious thought. In the period of the Brahmanas the ritual of the sacrifice was more important than the object of worship, and the performance of the ritual, the chanting of the hymns etc., had to be done with the utmost care. Even a small slip in the pronunciation of a word was considered sufficient to spoil the whole effect of the sacrifice. This necessitated the study of the Vedic hymns under an efficient priest. Apart from the ritualistic need for learning the Vedas the thought was further developed that even the knowledge of the Vedas was highly efficacious. So in the period of the Upanishads great emphasis is laid on the knowledge of the Vedas and the need for a spiritual preceptor is almost fully established.

3. In the Upanishads there is definite reference to an education system which had grown out of the Vedic culture, and in this system the religious preceptor occupies a unique place. The educational system is definitely based on the four Agramas and the Varnas. Every male member of the three high castes are expected to learn the Vedas and the respective Vidyas pertaining to each caste. As soon as a boy is old enough to learn under a guru he is initiated into the Brahmachari state by a guru and the boy is to live in the guru’s own house. The gurus were in loco-parentis to the disciples dwelling with them, for the period of learning. To each pupil the guru imparted the knowledge for which he was fit. Some pupils however remained with the guru for life. Many distinguished gurus are referred to in the Hindu scriptures, to whom pupils from all over the country came for knowledge of the Vedas.

4. In the early stages of boyhood the father and mother may impart knowledge to the boy. There are references in the Hindu scriptures where one’s parents are described as the primary imparters of sacred knowledge to a child. But whatever be the emphasis on this it is often repeated that false notions would cease only when instruction is imparted by a teacher.

A study of the Upanishads and other Hindu scriptures makes it clear that the presence of a religious teacher had very early in history become the recognised background of Indian thought. The dramatic setting of the Upanishads is an illustration of this fact. It is constituted by the searching for a teacher and then unbounded devotion and minute practical service to the guru. For example in Chand. UP. the 7th prapathaka is introduced by Narada coming to Sanadkumara and making the request “Teach me, Sir.” A large part of the Upanishads scriptures is presented in the setting of conversation between the guru and his pupils. In one form or other the request “Do tell me, Sir” is found quite often.

Again it has been suggested by more than one scholar that the fundamental meaning of Upanishad seems to be derived from the root ‘sad’ - to sit, and upa -near, with the prefix ni having an adverbial and intensive significance; i.e., sitting very near to a teacher. Even apart from the setting or the significance of the title it is explicitly stated in many of the Upanishads that instruction under a qualified teacher is very essential.¹¹

V. The scriptures make it obvious that any man cannot become a guru. Various qualifications are prescribed in the different scriptures.

1. The very function of the guru makes it necessary that he should have an expert knowledge of the Vedas. According to the Vedanta Sara the guru should be deeply learned in the Vedanta and know by heart the 18 puranas and the 64 kalais.
2. Besides having the knowledge of the scriptures he must be a man of sympathy and charity, possessing cheerful, lively and engaging manners.
3. He must also lead a pure and blameless life, orderly in habits, regular in routine, gifted with a sense of proportion and having a courage born of conviction.
4. He should have magnetic personality capable of enforcing discipline.
5. Another rule of life prescribed for the guru is simplicity. The guru is expected to live by begging and wear the saffron cloth.
6. It is also found that a guru was more honoured if he belonged to a family of Vedic teachers; for example, a srotriya guru is described as one whose ancestors had been Vedic teachers at least for three generations.
7. Besides these qualities later Saivite thought prescribed another quality namely clearness of thought and speech, and power of consistency.¹²

6. When a guru is expected to have these qualifications it is also to be noted that he is not without his privileges. All descriptions of the guru show that his place in society was a very enviable one. The pupils were expected to show the highest devotion to the guru. According to Prasastapada’s classification of a man’s duties the brahmacharin’s duty to his guru has an important place. The Brahmacharin is to serve and attend to the comforts of the guru. The characteristic mark of such gurususrusha is the Indtrana sharana i.e., collecting of fuel for the guru.

It is a token of discipleship and quite often in the Upanishads as well as in other scriptures we come across people approaching a sage with fuel in hand. Again the pupil has to beg alms for the Guru, tend the Guru’s cattle and see to the general care-taking of the teacher’s household affairs. The ordinances of Manu have laid down rules regarding the respect to be paid to a guru. The pupil is to prostrate before the guru grasping with clasped hands the two feet of the guru. Even the guru’s near kinsmen are to be respected. The scriptures also authorise the gurus to receive gifts from the pupils.

The sishya or the pupil was so attached to the guru that he was prepared to do anything for the guru. The great epics abound with stories of ideal Guru-sishya relationship. We have for example the story of Aruni, who failing to stop the inrush of waters into his teacher’s field laid himself down at the breach of the dike until he was discovered by the teacher.

7. The religious teacher thus described with special qualifications and privileges worthy of the greatest respect from the pupil was not given any attributes of divinity to begin with. His value consisted only in the sacred function of imparting divine knowledge. The early gurus did not even claim to know all things. In the Upanishads we have the story of Pippalada answering the six inquirers that came to him. “If we know we will tell you all.” In another place it is pointed out that the guru ought to answer only if “he had the knowledge indeed.”

Further the ancient accounts of gurus bear ample witness to the humanity and finiteness of the guru. They vied with each other in their capacity to attract the student population. In some works on grammar we come across instances of differential attitude of gurus towards pupils. There are also instances of rupture of the relationship between guru and pupil due to the faults of temper on the part of the guru. In one place Manu says that the Guru’s teaching forms only a fourth of a person’s knowledge.

This idea of the guru as a religious teacher, as one who only imparts spiritual knowledge and dispels one’s ignorance has always existed in Hindu thought. It is this thought also which is most prominent in the Sikh conception of the guru. For the Arya-Samajista to day the term ‘Guru’ includes father and mother and all through whose instrumentality the mind is grounded in truth and weaned from falsehood. But in Hindu thought the teacher-Guru idea has been far superseded by the God-Guru conception.

The God-Guru

1. Though the idea of the guru as essentially human has always remained in Hinduism; an important factor came into the idea and has ever since had great influence in Indian thought through the development of the Upanishadic Brahman Atman identification. With the coming to prominence of this idea salvation was understood as extricating oneself from the maya illusion by realising the significance of “tat vm asi”. Corresponding to this the function of the spiritual teacher came to be helping the pupil or disciple to realise that his self is identical with the Ultimate Self. This was the beginning of a process of gradual apotheosis of the Guru.

2. First there is the idea that the spiritual teacher besides being learned in the scriptures should be “established on Brahman”. Again we read that he who knows Brahman becomes brahman. Because of this belief the devotion to the Brahman and devotion to the Guru become almost synonymous and so personal authority of the guru becomes enhanced. In the Shvetashvatara the devotion to Guru ought to be of the same quality as devotion to God. But still it is nowhere explicitly stated in the Principal Upanishads that the Guru is identical with the deity.

3. In the Yoga Upanishads, however, which were of a much later period, the importance of the Guru is further enhanced owing to the influence of the Yoga thought. Here the Guru is defined as one who knows Yoga, takes his stand on Yoga, who has his being always in Yoga and who especially knows the purusha. In the treatises on Hamsa Vidya the Guru is described as the path leading to the Hamsa. In Khechari Vidya also the Guru’s position is a highly exalted one. Apart from one’s association with gurus or siddhas there was no hope of emancipation.

   Further, in the Yoga Upanishads the Guru is explicitly equated with the transcendent Brahman. The Guru is the supreme goal, the ultimate limit of transcendent wisdom. The Sage Rhbu explains to the muni Nidagha that the furthest limit of all thought is the guru. It is also stated that “the Guru is Brahman, Guru is Vishnu, Guru is always the Lord Acyuta; greater, than the guru there is no one, there is no difference between the Guru and Iswara.” Consequently, very rigorous rules for devotion to the guru are laid down. Whatever is the mandate of the guru the disciple should carry out with pleasure.

   Thus, in the period of the Yoga Upanishads we see the development of a class of gurus who are in the process of being deified because of their mystic knowledge of the Yoga.

4. The powers of the Guru are set forth, with even greater extravagance in the Tantras which probably form one of the latest group of Hindu writings. According to these the power of the guru is almost infinite. The very word guru is given a mysterious interpretation. The ‘g’ is explained as the cause of friction, ‘ru’ as that which destroys sin, and ‘u’ as Siva Himself. Even the pronouncing of the word guru is supposed to have infinite mystical value. The articulation of ‘g’ annihilates sin, ‘u’ removes sins of this birth and ‘ru’ the sins of a thousand births. Through such mystic interpretation of the word ‘guru’ the preceptor assumes an infallible divinity.

5. This trend towards the deification of the Guru can be further traced in the different sects in Hinduism.

   1. In all the Vaishnava sects the Guru has a central place in the religious life. One of the Vishnuite samhitas reads “The Guru is parabrahman himself.”. Ramanuja is supposed to have said “The Guru is even greater than God.”

   2. The Guru occupies even a greater place in Saivite Hinduism, especially in Tamil Saivism. The Guru is identified with Siva. He is God become man. Siva is considered as the supreme Guru and the source of all knowledge. So any person who imparts knowledge of Siva is equated with the supreme Guru. So in Thayumanavar’s writings we read, “Uma’s beloved is God and Guru.” The Guru is preceptor, master, and embodied God. Siva lives in him, speaks to disciples through him, blesses with his hands.

This God-Guru idea is in many respects peculiar to Saivism and is distinct from the Upanishadic view of the Guru. The root of the idea may be found in certain Upanishadic passages. But in the Upanishads we never come across the idea of God becoming manifest as a Guru. In the Upanishads the idea is more of man realising himself to be Brahman and thus becoming a Guru-God. In Tamil Saivism, on the other hand, Siva appears as a Guru, as man subjecting Himself to human limitations of name, rank, hunger, sleep etc. In the one the prominent idea is monistic, in the other it is theistic. But the practical influence of both is the same; man is deified and worshipped as God.

Notes

1. In November last year Mr. Das was invited by the Leonard Theological College, Jabalpur, to deliver a series of lectures (4 a day) for a week to their student numbering about fifty including a few ladies. The course consisted of subjects such as the Caste System, Idolatry, gods and goddesses, Sadhus and Sanyasis, Karma and Rebirth, Holy Waters, Pilgrimage, Ahimsa, Incarnations, Srikrishna, etc. The students were receptive and inquiring. Besides formal lectures occasions were taken for spiritual meeting, interview, discussions, testimonies, picnics, excursions to temples in the city and suburbs, as well as a visit to the famous marble rocks. There was happy and joyous fellowship all round. “One feels grateful for an institution like Leonard’s.”

2. Mr. Ashananda Nag of Calcutta who has in the past two years lectured to the Benares Institute on the Gita and the Vedas was invited by the Benares Hindu University to give a series of extension lectures on the Gita in the month of March this year. Mr. Nag spoke to a select group of students and professors. All the chairmen who presided on the different days said that they heard new points of view which must be critically considered. Mr. Nag was very acceptably and appreciatively heard. Some expenses were paid by the university. Probably this is the first place and time that a Hindu educational centre heard lectures on its own scriptures from a Christian critic and apologist. This movement, if encouraged and carefully handled might turn out to be very significant and fruitful for Christian thought in India.

3. Dr. McEldowney of Leonard’s, Jabalpur, our new Secretary of the Christian Society for the study of Hinduism, is to be sincerely congratulated on the very successful course of study that he arranged for in Landour this summer about the end of May. Two teachers between them - Rev. A.C. Chakravarty and R.C. Das gave in 4 series 16 lectures to a keen group of missionaries. Mr. Chakravarty spoke on Bhakti, its psychology and philosophy - discussing the current belief that all religions move in the same directions, following different approaches. Mr. Das spoke on (1) Aspects of Hindu Orthodoxy such as Caste, Idolatry etc. (2) Present day tendencies in Hinduism, dealing with topic like Revival of Popular Hinduism, Syncretism, Nationalism, Movement to Theism, social and religious reform, missionary spirit and activity, social service

3. Ultimate conflicts of Hinduism and Christianity, Uniqueness of Christianity. In addition to these Mr. Chakravarty gave an address to the Woodstock school and Mr. Das gave three addresses to the Language School. Bishop Badley presided over the main sessions at the Community Centre. Altogether it was a most profitable study stimulating both to the staff and students and the occasion provided opportunities for spiritual and mental fellowship and for forming new friendships and renewing of old ones. The credit goes to the chairman, and others who co-operated the two hostesses Mrs. Rockey and Mrs. Gould and the Registrar Rev. S.T. Moyer and particularly to Dr. McEldowney.

4. On the way back from Mussoorie I halted at Haridwar for a week as is my habit every year. I had met before this at Rajpur near the sulphur springs (Sahasradhara) a middle-aged keen Christian man from the south Premanand - speaking Tamil. Telegu, English and broken Hindi. He had been travelling up and down, to and fro, in and near the Himalayas observing things and witnessing whenever possible. I took to him very naturally. We lived together in the small Ashram of a rather active Hindu order of monks. His Sadhu’s robe and my Bengali antecedents made me acceptable. We roamed about and visited almost every temple, Ashram, Mutt, Dharamshala, Akhara etc. in Kankhal, Harkipairi, Rishikesh, Lachmanjhula and the bank of the Ganges, the temples of Kali and Manasa on the outlying hills. Altogether I met fifteen of the enquirers whom I knew in Benares sometime or other of all races and languages - mostly men who have given up the world - one or two family men including a retired judge of the Madras High Court and an Engineer of Hyderabad. Some of these men still had the Bible and used it. The thing that attracted them to Haridwar and kept them and hundreds of other Sanyasis there, was the solitude of the Himalayas, the beauty and health of the place and the spiritual atmosphere they enjoy there. We met scores of pilgrims going up and down Badrinath and Kedarnath way. It was a rare privilege and real pleasure to be able to talk to many of these and exchange our spiritual experiences. Premanand’s Sadhu life and manner helped me at every step and out of one or two difficult situations. I did not have this time much literature except few English gospels and New Testaments which were all very suitably distributed. There is a Christian Mission (Reformed Presbyterian) occupying a small place outside the town proper near the Railway Station. As formal preaching of non-Hindu religions and even of modern Hindu sects like Arya Samaj is prohibited this mission has never touched the real religious population in the town. We can touch them only by personal visit and friendship and informal conversations and testimonies-a method to which I have seen no hostility shown. The late Father Frank acquired a property desiring to found here a Christian Ashram, but he died before his dream was realised. A new approach must be applied to a centre of such importance and of so much religious reality totally unaffected yet by Christian life. Yearly visits like this make me feel that Haridwar is an outlying station of the United Mission of Benares. But more systematic work done by suitable workers is the need of the place.

Benares. R.C. DAS

“The Christian Minister in India” ¹³

Many of our readers will already be familiar with the recommendations of this important study of what is doubtless the most urgent problem of the Church in India. The following extract on p. 208 bears on the work of the C.S.S.H.: -

“There has been no corresponding development of organised facilities for the study of other Indian religions (other than Islam) and this is a serious deficiency in the equipment of the Church. Hindu thought, in particular, has begun in recent years to grapple more earnestly and more competently with its Christian rival, while at the same time the extent and quality of Christian research and writing on the Hindu religion has declined. There is an imperative need for the scholarly study of Hinduism and other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism, and for the training of Christian theologians and writers in methods of research in this field. (There follows a tribute to the work of the C.S.S.H. and The Pilgrim.) There is however an urgent need for the organisation of fuller facilities for the serious study of Hinduism and other religions, on lines similar to those developed in the Henry Martyn School of Islamic Studies.”

The Report goes on to suggest the organisation of such a school in close association with an existing Christian Institution (e.g., a theological or arts college). This is a matter which will have to be debated, but all will welcome the plea for fuller facilities.

The Report (p. 209) also stresses the need for basic research on the theological terms in use in every language area. We shall look forward to the publishing of the Rev. R.M. Clark’s dissertation, “Christological categories in the Indian Church as compared with those of the Early Church.”

A greater part of the writing in this journal must necessarily consist of a study of terms. (Dr. Appasamy’s contribution here is obvious). This is not just a linguistic matter. A. N. Whitehead has asserted that philosophy is the study of abstractions with a view to their renewal so that they may be truly living and “current”. Whitehead uses the word abstraction in order to warn us of the pitfalls in all language. The most magic of words fails to express the whole - it is an abstraction from the whole and something (probably a vital something) has been of necessity omitted.

Here is the basis for charity and patience in the mission enterprise, the recognition that our dearest words may be so easily misunderstood. In India the dynamic-prophetic Jewish-Christian words have to find acceptance in a more static mystical medium. And indeed we perhaps here come to the heart of the conflict. The Jewish-Christian terms are like the stones of an arch without keystone - an arch which will collapse - until we speak of the Word made flesh. The Hindu terms are independent of such a historical tie.

As the Church strives to make articulate its Gospel, its life cannot but be enriched.

Benares Institute of Hinduism

Preliminary Notice

For the next course of study, work will start on October 5th and continue till November 9tb. Besides the regular Christian staff, local scholars of repute will give lectures. Subjects such as the History of Hindu thought, the Bhakti Movement, aspects of popular, living, and orthodox Hinduism etc. will be dealt with.

Guided excursions to important cultural and religious centres will be arranged.

Expenses: (1) Tuition Fee - Rs. 6/- for every Rs. 100/- (or part) of salary for the whole or part of the course. (2) Hospitality - Rs. 2/- daily: Indian style and Rs. 3/- daily European style (inclusive charge). For those staying for a month Rs. 50/- Indian style. The undersigned will be glad to receive definite registrations and answer further enquiries.

United City Mission Ramkatora, Benares Cantonment

R.C. DAS (Convener)

Edited and published by Rev. J.S. Moon, Benares

Printed by Anglo-Oriental Press, Jangambari, Benares