The Pilgrim

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

Editor: P. Chenchiah

To Our Readers

Apart from members who are on the rolls, this, paper is sent to (1) those whose names may have been inadvertently omitted in the list of members, (2) those who were subscribers in the earlier years and who for some reason or another did not renew their membership, (3) those who are interested in the Society but have not joined so far, (4) Hindu friends who are interested in the Study of Hinduism and Christianity. If you come under any of these heads, and desire to become a member may I request you to drop me a card expressing your desire to receive the paper and I will place your name in the mail list and send the Magazine regularly. Correct names, designation and address in capital letters will greatly help You may ask me to stop sending the paper if you do not want it. The year counts from the month we send the ‘Pilgrim’. Thanking you for your co-operation.

The Editor

Requests

1. Before you tear the cover please examine the address carefully and see if the name, designation address is correctly given - if not please send the corrections.
2. If you do not receive the paper in time please report. The paper will be issued on the twentieth of March, June, September, December. It must be in your hands by the end of the month in India.
3. Treasurer reports that one member has sent by M.O. his subscription of Rs. 5, but the name was not noted. If any member has paid, but has not received the paper, please let me know.
4. Editor requests those who have been members of the association in the past but whose names were omitted from the list and therefore did not get the ‘Pilgrim’, inform the Editor of the same.

Copy of His Excellency’s Private Letter to the Editor, Dated 12-6-49

(Printed with permission)

MY DEAR CHENCHIAH,

It gave me great pleasure to go through the issue of “Pilgrim” that was kindly sent to me. I had not known that there was a Christian Society for the study of Hinduism. I was delighted at the deeply sympathetic and understanding approach that I saw throughout the pages of this little unassuming journal. It is a very good line of work that this represents, pregnant with great fruit. Greatest pleasure of all was that you are the editor of this journal.

All peoples have lived for untold centuries, and have gone through much the same experiences, joys and griefs, hopes and aspirations. Emotions and talents too are much the same among all people. And surely God is equally bountiful with His grace to all His children. It is stupid therefore to be presumptuous or to look down on any religion to which any people are devoted. We should approach all religions with equal reverence and humility as a botanist approaches all flowers and plants. What we discarded at first in a hurry often proves on later thought and greater experience to contain much wisdom and truth. My best wishes to your Society for the study of Hinduism. But study does not usually bring in much light. The “Indian” Christian who is soaked in Hindu thought and practices and is daily saturated afresh with Hinduism all round can understand Hinduism as no other Christian can. His contribution to Christianity can be great. I always thought and maintain whenever I talk on the subject that the Indian Christian Woman is, the best type of Jesus’s followers.

Yours sincerely,

C. RAJAGOPALACHARI.

Editorial Notes

1. His Excellency C. Rajagopalachari’s Letter

We are grateful to His Excellency the Governor-General for the letter of appreciation he has sent. The Christian Society for the study of Hinduism will be greatly encouraged by the goodwill expressed by His Excellency, and the ‘Pilgrim’ its official organ is gratified that a magazine with its aims and objectives fills a need both from the side of Christianity and Hinduism. His Excellency’s views may be taken as representative of modern educated Hindu community.

It is a happy augury for the future of our country that those who have the reins of Government in their hands feel the importance of religion for our national progress and are endeavouring their best to promote a brotherhood of religions which makes it practicable to bring the inspirations of religions to bear on the deeper aspects of national life. Sri Rajagopalachari always promoted by his effort and example the fellowship of religions. We take this opportunity to point out that in His Excellency the Governor of Madras and his partner we have high placed officials who have stimulated and promoted interreligious spirit of brotherhood by presiding over Christian, Hindu and Muslim functions that bring them all together.

Free India, traditionally religious, needs the ministrations of faiths at the highest level. Religion alone can create the spirit of nishkamya and self-forgetting love - so much needed for nation building. We hope the dark age of religious jihads, wars, hostilities and rivalries are gone forever. India needs power to live the higher life. It is up to every religion to offer its services to the nation. This magazine shall endeavour to the best of its ability

1. To interpret Christianity To the Hindu and Hinduism To the Christian at the highest level of inspiration remembering that the best way of transmitting Christ can only be through love and the power of the Holy Spirit,
2. To promote the spirit of mutual appreciation between religions so that the riches God has given through Christ and Hinduism may be our common heritage,
3. To inspire co-operative effort of religions for the good of the country that the love and salvation Christ has brought may be transmitted in an atmosphere of goodwill, respect and love.

2. Sri Madhwa’s Dwaitam

We publish in this issue an article by Mr. V.S. Narasimhachariar on Madhwa mata. It takes the form of a commentary on the creed of Madhwa - formulated by an anonymous author. We thought it best that the reader should have a broad view of Madwaism at one reading and that is the reason why we publish the whole article in a single issue instead of in parts, although the article takes practically the whole of the issue.

Western scholarship has largely devoted itself to archaic Hinduism - i.e., religion of Sanhitas. The interest Upanishads and in advaita of Sankara was of a much later date. The vast field of the theistic Hinduism has not drawn the attention of Western research schools. Carpenter and Macnicol are the two names that occur to one’s mind, but anything like a systematic and critical study has yet to take place. We see no excuse for the missionary lack of interest in the study of Hindu theism. In South India every Hindu is either a Vaishnavite, Madhwa or Saivite. The number of pure advaitins was always limited. Madhwa’s dualism has spread all over North India through Chaitanya and Vallabha forming the living environment of Christianity in vast tracts of India. Theology of Madhwa has very close resemblance to orthodox Christian theology and for this reason, if for no other, the Indian Christian should study Vaishnavism and Dwaitism - which is a branch of Vaishnavism.

Sri Madhwa accorded (1) a high place to scriptures as authority, (2) believed in the dualism of God and man, (3) stressed the transcendence of God, (4) emphasised grace as the instrument of salvation, (5) advocated Bhakti in Avataras, (6) believed that Man has the image of God in him. In all these respects Madhwa’s dwaitism comes very close to Christianity.

Sri Madhwa strikes original notes often. While holding that on matters beyond our experience through senses, sruti should be regarded as absolute authority, he grants that on matters within our experience-where scriptures are contradictory - and a choice has to be made one should choose the alternative which conforms to experience. This constitutes a distinct advance over the orthodox Christian position.

Sri Madhwa says that man was created in the image of God (prati bimba) and this image is obscured by Karma. As each man has a differing image of God, salvation in the shape of eternal happiness is attained when man recovers his pristine image of God in himself. Here we have an interesting doctrine of restoration associated with the original image - while in Christian doctrine the restoration is to an original relation to God - destroyed by sin. This doctrine works out an identity which does not destroy duality between God and man and human personality and deserves the attention of Indian theologians.

Mr. Narasimhachariar belongs to the liberal Madhwa School and has nothing of Sectarian separatism in him. He puts religion to the test of meeting personal and national problems. He makes a practical approach to Madhwaism and eschews the dogmatic way. We think we are right in saying that he holds that all religions should be restated in the light of later and present experience.

3. III VEERASAIVISM

Another religion which has not been dealt with either by Western or Eastern scholars - Veerasaivism - deserves the study of the readers of ‘The Pilgrim’. This religion has prevailed largely in the Kanarese country - Ceded Districts of this Presidency - and Dharwar district in Bombay Presidency. We draw the attention of the readers to the review of a book on Veerasaiva philosophy and mysticism in this issue.

Madhwa’s Dwaitam or Pluralistic Realism

It is proposed in this article to give a brief outline of the pluralistic realism as expounded by Sri Madhwacharya and the sources of knowledge on which they are based.

These tenets are summarily given in the following verse:

    Sriman Madhwa mate Harih Paratarah Satyam Jagat tatwato
    Bhedo Jivaganaa Hareranucheraa Neechochya bhavamgatah!
    Muktir Naija sukhanubhutir ayala Bhaktascha Tatsadhanam
    Hyakshadi Tritayam Pramanam akhilamnayaikavedyo Harih

“In Sri Madhwa’s philosophy Hari is supreme, the world is real, difference is true, the individual souls are dependent on God, having superior and inferior gradation. Release is enjoyment of bliss inherent in the soul. Pure devotion is the means thereof. The three beginning with perception are the sources of knowledge or measures of proof and Hari is knowable through (the entire body of) Vedas alone”.

So the main tenets are:

1. The supreme God is Hari.

2. The souls are dependent upon God.

3. They are divided into gradations of superiority and inferiority.

4. The universe is real.

5. The five differences, viz.

   1. Between God and souls.
   2. Between soul and soul.
   3. Between God and the Universe.
   4. Between the soul and the jada (i.e.) the inanimate.
   5. Between jade and jade are true.
   6. Mukti or release is enjoyment of the inherent bliss of the soul.
   7. Pure bhakti or devotion is the means of getting the release.
   8. Hari is to be known only by study of entire body of the Vedas.

He establishes the above tenets by the aid of the three sources of knowledge or Pramanas as they are called, viz: -

1. Pratyaksha or perception,
2. Anumana or Inference, or reasoning,
3. Shruti or the revealed Word.

The probative value of these pramanas are different according as the subject to be proved is spiritual or material. In matters such as 1, 2, 6, 7 and 8, above which are purely spiritual, sruti is the supreme pramana. Pratyaksha is unable to give any knowledge, such matters being beyond senses. Anumana or reasoning being capable of supporting any conclusion with equal force is not a correct instrument to lead to definite knowledge of such matters. Therefore, the revealed Word is the only source of knowledge in these matters. But where sruti is not clear or contradicts itself, that statement of the sruti which accords with Pratyaksha or Anumana should be given priority after an attempt to reconcile the contradictory statements fails.

But in secular matters which are susceptible to senses, perception is supreme and Anumana next and the Vedic pramana is of inferior weight and comes in only as the last and are of value only if they support the conclusion arrived at by the other two pramanas. If the sruti is opposed to them in secular matters it must be rejected.

But Prathyaskha is defined by Madhwa as “relationship between sense organs and objects unaffected by defects”. The defects are the natural limitation of the ambit of sense organs, any structural or functional disability of a sense organ, essential or congenital, obscurity of the object due to too much proximity, distance, etc., or defects of nervous mechanism. Madhwa says perception free from such, defects and functioning under normal conditions is an adequate or sufficient source of knowledge of things as they are.

The Agama Pramana includes the four Vedas, Pancharathra, Maha Bharatha, Mula Ramayana, Brahma-sutras. Whatever else is not conflicting with these is also authority and whatever is conflicting with these is under no circumstances authority. According to Madhwa all portions of Vedas, whether Karmakanda like Brahmanas and hymns and aranyaka or Gnanakanda like Upanishads are of equal value, while other Acharyas take only Upanishads as authority.

The Vedas are taken to be of self-sufficient authority, i.e., their validity is not in need of any guarantee other than the texts themselves. They are held to be “Apourusheya” i.e., not attributable to the authorship of man, or God. Positing of any known authorship to them makes their validity depend upon the veracity of their authors of which there is no guarantee. And if the authorship is ascribed to God, then a vicious circle is created, viz., the texts proclaim the nature of God and God is proclaimed to be their author. That sruti is self-valid as a pramana is a postulate of all schools of vedantic thought.

1. Hari, supreme God and knowable only through the entire body of Vedas.

As already stated the nature of the supreme God cannot be understood by Prathyasha or Anumana. Agama is the only source of knowledge. Brahma-sutras say that the source of knowledge of the Brahman is scripture and as Katha Upanishad says “all the Vedas speak only of Him”. He therefore comes to the conclusion on these and other authorities that God is knowable only through the entire body of Vedas. He also cites Vedic authority to show that the supreme God is Hari or Vishnu. He says “nowhere in the scriptures relating to Vishnu or in the Vedas is mentioned anyone being superior to Hari. Even in some of the other sacred books Vishnu is declared as supreme”.

Brahina-sutras define Brahman as “that from which the origin, protection, destruction and orderly disposition release, etc., of the universe takes place”. Therefore, Madhwa says that the supreme. God is the ultimate and universal cause of the universe. According to him God is not the material cause of the universe but only the efficient cause, because a non-intelligent entity which God is reduced to in case he is held to be material cause, cannot be an ultimate cause. God creates the world not out of nothing but out of non-intelligent prakrit or primal undifferentiated matter. Again the supreme God is present everywhere being immanent, in every part of the universe and beyond. He is smaller than the smallest particle and mightier than the mightiest. He directs every activity of the universe however great or trivial. In other words He is eternal, immanent, transcendental, omniscient.

Sri Madhwa does not admit the distinction between Nirguna and Saguna Brahman, i.e., the absolute and personal God. There is no such thing as the absolute Brahmasutras according to him nowhere make any such distinction.

According to Madhwa the supreme God has a body and limbs and is embodiment of infinite number of perfect attributes free from all faults. His body is the essence of existence, intelligence and bliss - Satchitananda Swarupaba. He is Ichha, Gnana, and Kriya (will, knowledge and action.) There is no distinction between Him and His attributes nor between Himself and His limbs and He can use any limb or sense for any purpose. There is also no difference between any of His incarnations.

Madhwa supports with quotations from authoritative sources all the statements he has made above with regard to the nature of God.

2. Individual souls are dependent on God and having inferior and superior gradation

The sruti says that the soul is the “Abhasa” or reflection of the infinite forms of the Lord and also that the Lord has got infinite forms and with regard to them there are infinite reflections, the souls.

From the fact that the souls are reflections of the forms of the supreme Being, the following propositions follow:

1. That the souls are different from God,
2. That They are eternal,
3. There is similarity between the two,
4. They are entirely dependent on God,
5. That they are infinite and different among themselves.

Sri Madhwa maintains that the definition of Brahman given in the Brahma-sutras as the author of eightfold determination of the vicissitudes of cosmos and its constituents itself establishes the difference between the soul and the supreme Lord. He relies on several texts which support his view. He also relies on the experience that human beings, however intelligent or clever, never claim to be the authors of cosmic determinations and possessors of the qualities of omniscience omnipresence of God, thus adding the support of prathyaksha to agama pramana. No doubt he concedes there are some passages in the sacred texts proclaiming the identity between soul and God. But he relies on the rule of interpretation that between conflicting sacred texts preference must be given to those that are supported by the facts of life and corroborated by the evidence of the other pramanas or sources of knowledge. He also interprets those passages as supporting his view of difference between God and soul.

There are differences among the souls, the several units of reflection. This difference among souls shown by sacred texts is also borne out by experience: each individual’s experience has a uniqueness which is his own. The pleasure and pain, ambitions and disappointments of one individual are his own and incapable of transference to others. Each individual is an independent centre of experience. According to him this unique experience of each individual, i.e., his anusandhana and the persisting personal identity of each individual i.e., “swarupa aka” is evidence of the inherent and essential difference among individuals.

Since as a reflection the soul exists all along with the supreme Being and since the latter is eternal so is the former.

There are scriptural authorities relied on by Sri Madhwa

The similarity between God and the soul as reflection is only limited in the sense that both God and soul are in essence “sat” existence and “chit” intelligence. The soul is also in essence existence, intelligence and wisdom.

The souls are entirely dependent on God. They derive their light, energy and all from God. The dependent state is also clear from the experience of the soul that it has very little power.

But it cannot be said that the soul has absolutely no freedom of will or choice. Subject to the laws of God, the souls are free to choose good or bad means and ends, do good or bad karma. The freedom and the dependence enjoyed by the souls, is comparable to a carpenter who is a free agent as regards the details of the work but has to work under the orders of his employer.

Sri Madhwa relies upon scripture for his view that the souls are atomic and the abode of the soul is the heart.

Although the soul is situated in a particular place in the heart, it pervades the whole body by means of its quality of intelligence as a drop of sandal-wood ointment coming in contact with particular parts of the body, extends all over the body.

3. Gradation of Souls.

According to Sri Madhwa there are as deduced from Vedic authorities infinite gradations among the souls in regard to their powers, attributes, capacities of knowledge and of enjoying the bliss of God. He says “Emperors, human-Gandarvas, Deva-Gandarvas, the ordinary Pithrus and Chitra Pithrus, Ajanaja Devas (Devas by birth), Karma Devas (Devas by merit) Daksha, Indra, Rudra, Saraswathi and Vayu - each excel in merit the one next preceding by hundred counts. Vayu and Brahma are equal, Rudra and Sesha are similarly equals. There is none equal to Vayu even among the released souls. Lakshmi excels Vayu in qualities thousand-fold. Vishnu excels Her by infinite qualities. There is none even equal to Him.”

These souls are not non-intelligent matter but denote hierarchy of intelligences presiding over the various functions in cosmos both macrocosmic and microcosmic.

Vayu is the chief among souls. He is the presiding deity of jeevas and dwells in and pervades every other soul in the Universe from Rudra down to the lowest jeeva. He is, in essence, pure strength and wisdom and is the support and activity of the world. Souls cannot approach God who dwells inside Prana, who pervades them except through Him, He is the intermediary between souls and God. He shows Hari to those eligible for release at the proper time through spiritual perception. He gives knowledge of Hari and sitting in the hearts of Bhaktas gives advice.

It may be mentioned the gradation extends from the lowest class of human beings down to Kali each steeped in more misery than the one preceding.

Classification of Souls

Sri Madhwa classifies all human souls into three divisions according to their inherent qualities. According to him, there is something inherent in the constitution of the soul which determines the direction of its activities towards good, bad or mixed acts or Karma and its final destiny, viz., eternal release or eternal hell or recurring cycle of deaths and births in this world after enjoying heaven or hell according to its preponderant Karma.

No doubt there is the doctrine of Karma according to which the souls get the fruits of their actions. But according to Madhwa this law of Karma is not adequate to explain the tendencies of souls towards good, bad and mixed actions, some always incline to good actions, some towards bad actions, towards good actions sometimes, and bad actions sometimes. This difference in the tendency towards Karma must be due to the inherent nature of the souls unaffected by the influence of Karma and warrants the division of souls into three classes. This reasoning according to Madhwa supports him in addition to the scriptural truths.

4. The Universe is Real.

Sri Madhwa shows that all the Pramanas establish that the world is real. As already stated sense organs operating under normal conditions and bereft of defects give correct information as to the existence aspect of the objects as they are. Of course distance, disease, exceeding of the natural ambit of the organs are vitiating circumstances, but these are only exceptions which prove the rule. In the absence of such circumstances sense knowledge is its own standard. It may be that accurate and well-informed sense knowledge such as obtained by scientific instruments modifies or corrects inaccurate or ill-informed sense knowledge. But even in such a case, the ultimate resort is only sense perception. So also in the case of illusions of perception which are dispelled by correct cognition. It is a fact that in the experience of mankind based on perception the existence aspect of the universe is persistently real. Moreover, according to Madhwa, knowledge is basic and foundational which necessarily involves and implies an object of such knowledge which is also basic and foundational and the distinction between basic knowledge and its object is bound to be perceived. So according to him all the three viz., knowledge, its object and the relation between the two is real.

The view that the world is not real is based upon the argument that the sense organs convey false ideas of external objects normally. It is an argument which involves that nature or God or whatever endowed human beings. With sense organs did so not in order that they by getting a realistic view of objects as they are, may adjust themselves to their surroundings but with a view to deceive them by presenting false impressions of the external objects. He also relies on sruti in support of the reality of the universe. Thus, he comes to the conclusion on the basis of all the pramanas that the universe is real.

5. Five Differences are Real.

According to Sri Madhwa there are five differences:

1. Difference between God and soul.
2. Difference between soul and soul.
3. Difference between God and the world
4. Difference between soul and ‘jada’ or inanimate thing.
5. Difference between ‘jada’ and ‘jada’

The first two differences have already been dealt with. As regards the third difference it has already been shown that God is creator, sustainer, etc., of the world and that He is the efficient cause of the universe while Prakrithi is the material cause. The person who creates a thing cannot be identical with the thing created. He must be different from it. So the universe is different from God.

The doctrine that God and universe are identical is based upon the view that the world is illusory. God being the one reality or on the theory that God Himself appears as the world owing to some limiting condition called “Upadhi”. Both these views, Sri Madhwa says are not tenable because illusion always implies the existence of two realities: (1) the thing mistaken and (2) the other, the thing which by its similarity causes the mistake. Thus, the illusion theory cuts at the root of the single reality of God. The other view based on “Upadhi” implies that Upadhi is either real or not real. If it is real there will be two realities viz., the Absolute and the Upadhi. If on the other hand the “Upadhi” is not real then it cannot be capable of producing any result such as making one appear as many.

Therefore, relying upon the above arguments, interalia, Madhwa comes to the conclusion that the difference between the God and the Universe is real.

As regards differences (4) and (5) Madhwa’s argument is this. Difference is “Dharmi swarupa” i.e., is an essential and fundamental form of the objects themselves. The individuality and the difference among the objects are grasped in one and some act of perception. Awareness involves difference. To be conscious of an object, is to perceive difference. The “Sakshi” or the awareness of the “I” involves an immediate and direct awareness of countless other “I’s” as different from Itself.

Reality and difference are co-existing and one cannot be perceived without the other. Therefore, Madhwa holds that the difference between the soul and jade and that between jada and jada is real.

6. Mukthi or Release.

Mukthi is enjoyment by the soul of its inherent bliss Naija Sukhanu Bhutihi. The soul is of the essence of existence, intelligence and bliss as already shown. By the will of God it is embodied in Prakrithi the primal and undifferentiated matter, which is non-intelligent and ever changeful and the soul’s essential nature is clouded by Prakrithi. Since the soul is essentially Ananda or bliss it is always in search of happiness outside, in ignorance of its own nature engendered by contact with Prakrithi. In that search it does acts which are good, bad or indifferent and gets further enmeshed in Karma. It must be remembered as already stated that subject to the laws of God, the souls are free to choose good or bad means and ends, do good or bad Karmas and are responsible for these acts. Thus, Karma goes on accumulating from life to life except for the small portion of good karma worked out by enjoyment in heaven and a small portion of bad karma by suffering in hells of various kinds and is called. “Sanchitha Karma”.

Since there is no end to Karma there will be no end ordinarily to the cycle of births and deaths and the bondage of Prakritni.

After being buffeted between birth and death and suffering sorrow and pain in successive lives, and perceiving the apparent inequalities obtaining in the world in the course of his many lives, there comes a time when man begins to think of final release and feeling helpless calls on His mercy for redemption and obtains: through His grace a vision of God.

On attainment of the sight of God the past accumulated karma called “sanchitha” is destroyed and “Agami Karma” (the future ones) does not cling. Only “Prarabdha Karma” i.e., karma that has begun to bear fruit will have to be gone through. And soon after its exhaustion which may be in the same life or after several lives, the man dies and enters the abode of God and the cycle of birth and death ceases.

Minute details as to the various lokas or worlds the souls who had God-vision go to and sojourn until the end of Maha kalpa or the life period of Brahma and then how they enter finally “Vaikunta” the abode of Sri Hari - the Supreme God - are described in sacred books.

It is thus seen that the soul which has fallen by contact with prakrit, from its nature of pristine bliss and knowledge, struggles through many lives to regain its original blissful nature or “paradise lost”, and finally succeeds in doing so and enters into its life of complete unalloyed bliss. This entry into life of bliss freed from the bondage of prakrithi resulting in cycles of birth and death is what is called mukti or release.

According to Sri Madhwa the mukti state has both negative and positive aspect. It is not merely absence of all pain, but also enjoyment of inherent bliss. The souls do not lose their individuality. The difference between soul and soul continues as before. The released are without any other ruler than the higher released souls and the Lord. There is no necessity to make any effort to obtain the bliss on the part of the released. He obtains all his wishes excepting the power of creating etc. of the world. The released enjoys the bliss either through his essential body of intelligence or of non-intelligent matter “Suddha satva” which it may assume at will or through the limbs of God.

Perfect harmony and peace reigns and there is no conflict of wills or interests among the souls. They know what the will and pleasure of God is and regulate their activities in conformity with it. Their state of blessedness is the same unchanging one throughout, eternity. The Muktas may also be allotted by the Lord some work of a cosmic character: such as maintenance of “Richas” (cosmic physical laws) or “Yajus” (cosmic Astral laws) and some of the Devas who had attained Moksa in past kalpas even come out of the primeval Purusha in the beginning of this creation (kalpa) to co-operate with Him.

There are four kinds of mukti which the souls attain according to their worth:

1. “Salokya” i.e., dwelling in the same region as God.
2. “Samepya” i.e., dwelling in close proximity with God.
3. “Sarupya” i.e., having similar form as God and,
4. “Sayujya” i.e., having the privilege of enjoying bliss by, in and through the divine limbs themselves.

There is no returning to the cycle of birth and death of released.

Sadhana or the Technique

In order to obtain the state of mukti a vision of supreme God is necessary; so say the sastras. This vision must be what is called “Apareksha Bimba Darsana” i.e., non-sensual vision of that particular form of the Lord of which the individual soul is the image, seated in the heart. Seeing an Avathara or incarnation of the God during one of his incarnations is not enough, nor the mental image produced during meditation. The contemplation of the mental image is like the contemplation of Brahman in image. The highest Lord is to be seen only by Aparoksha knowledge.

Aparoksha is a technical term for the perception of God with the spiritual eye or “insight”. Aparoksha vision of God not in a vehicular form but God Himself directly choosing to become the object of direct spiritual perception. In Aparoksha God presents that form “Bimba” which is the original of the reflection of the particular soul having the vision. And this vision is called “Bimba Aparoksha”.

The final release does not arise from the ordinary perception of any form of Brahman other than that which he is required to contemplate by the preceptor, who will choose the form for which he is eligible.

It may be stated that according to Sri Madhwa, God-vision is possible to man provided conditions necessary for it are present.

Grace of God

The God-vision is obtained only by the grace of God. This grace depends entirely upon the will of the Lord.

    Nayam Atma pravachana
        labhyo na medhya na
    Bahuna Srutena
        Yem evaisha vrunute tena
    labhya stasyaisha atma
        Vivrumute nunum swam

— Katha Upanishad valli. II Mantra 2.

The Atma cannot be reached by constant teaching or by sharp intelligence or by deep learning. He whom alone He elects, to him the gracious Lord discovers his pure self.

But the person upon whom the grace of God has to descend must be eligible and qualified to receive it. He must possess good moral conduct and “Vairagya”. He must also have a knowledge of the supreme God by studying the Vedas and approved Puranas and full devotion or Bhakti towards God, born of the knowledge of God so obtained. Armed with these, he must worship the God and meditate upon Him contemplating His greatness and perfection of His qualities. He must also have the guidance of a competent Guru or preceptor.

He must have control of the senses and mind such as forbearance, fortitude, non-injury, equanimity, truthfulness, straightforwardness, adeptness in the discharge of one’s duties, softness, sense of shame in doing what ought not to be done, absence of fickleness, non-wretchedness, contentment, sweet speech, not hurting anybody, freedom from envy, humility, affection to all sentient beings. He must also have vairagya, i.e., sense of non-attachment to worldly things, and doing one’s duty without caring for its result.

The knowledge of the real nature of Brahman can be obtained only from the study of scriptures and from that knowledge real bhakti or devotion to God arises.

Bhakti or devotion is defined by Sri Madhwa as intense affection towards the Lord surpassing everything else, with the knowledge of His greatness. Madhwa says that it is only worship of the Lord with knowledge of His great qualities and bhakti that attracts the grace of the Lord for “Aparoksha”.

The characteristics of bhakti are stated to be listening to the stories of Vishnu praising, remembering, shampooing His feet, worship, praying, service to Vishnu, companionship, offering one’s soul in utter surrender to God.

Sri Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna what he should do as a Bhakta. He says:

    Whatever is offered
    to me by a devotee who is self-controlled, be it a leaf, flower,
    fruit or water with bhakti - whatever is lovingly dedicated
    to me in the purity of heart, I do accept.

— Gita 9:2c

    Whatever you do, eat, give as oblation, give the tapas
    you do, do that as dedicated to Me.

— Gita 9:27

    Fix thy heart on Me, be My bhakta, be my worshipper
    and bow before Me. Mind thus devoted and giving thyself
    up to Me, thou shalt gain myself 

— Gita 9:34

    Renouncing all Dharmas; hold Me as thy sole refuge.
    I will deliver thee from all sins. Grieve not.

— Gita 18:66

Worship and Meditation

With keen bhakti based on knowledge of the real nature of Brahman one should worship and meditate on Him.

The following rules of meditation are taken from Brahma-sutras:

The meditation is the uninterrupted course of conscious states and since it is possible only in complete wakeful state, it must be done sitting and not walking or standing. Then the body will be at rest and therefore the mind also will be at rest. The body, head and neck should be held erect and motionless. The eyes must be kept to the tip of the nose and the mind must be kept firm controlled from straying in various directions. The mind must be kept firm, and the senses must be drawn from outside objects. To practise meditation only such place, such time, and such condition must be resorted to and such comforts sought which are favourable to securing serenity of mind. It is to be practised till release is obtained.

The meditation should always be thus “Brahman is the form of truth, wisdom, and bliss and the Lord”. Sri Madhwa says “Always the contemplation should be - Vishnu is my Master”.

In the early stages when the mind cannot be fixed in meditation, the aspirant may make use of a symbol or image to represent God. The image is allowed in the worship of the supreme Being only as a reminder of the infinite and should not be confounded with the Lord Himself. Sri Madhwa says the image should not be identified with Brahman, but only Brahman is to be contemplated as present in the image as “Antaryami” or immanent.

When the seeker after Brahman has progressed enough he should seek a preceptor who is “inspired and dwells constantly in the Eternal”.

According to Sri Madhwa the release can be obtained only by perception of the particular form of God for which seeker is eligible. The Guru or the preceptor by his grace instructs him as to the particular form of Brahman which he is to contemplate to obtain release. The Guru must therefore be viewed with bhakti and honoured.

As a result of vairagya, knowledge, bhakti and the Guru’s teaching carefully followed the grace of God descends upon him giving “Aparoksha Bimba” vision. Then:

    Bhidyase hridaya grandhi
    Schidsyante sara samsaya
    Kshiyante chasya karmani
    Tasmin dhrishte paravane.

The knot of the heart bursts as under, all doubts get exploded, karma perish, when the supreme Lord is seen face to face.

God-vision may occur in the very life in which the means are completely accomplished or in one or more successive lives according as the obstruction of the “Prarabdha Karma” is worked out in that life or successive lives. But usually as Bhagavad Gita says “After the end of many lives the wise attains to Me.” (Bhag. Gita 7:19)

Reviews

The Veerasaiva Philosophy and Mysticism

[By Shri Kumaraswamiji, B.A., Navakalyan Mutt, Dharwar - introduction by Rev. Dr. J.H. Holmes - foreword by Paul Brunton, Ph.D. - published by V.R. Koppal, M.A., B.T., at Navakalyan Mutt, Bhusepeti, Dharwar. Price Rs. 5.]

Whosoever observes the religious thought in contemporary India will find two currents moving in opposite directions amidst much, formless agitation. One current represents the modern mind formed under the intellectual forces of Western philosophy and science endeavouring to construct old faiths in terms of new illuminations imparted by the time-spirit-the other standing by ancient faiths weighs and judges the modern mind by ancient standards and norms and seeks to reconstruct the mind of the modern Indian after old religious patterns and figures. The former makes ancient religions look strange, and we miss in them the tone, feel and atmosphere of orthodox scriptures. God and religion retain the form but change the features, speak old truths in new language - so much so that the old Hindu has difficulty in recognising his own faith in the picture of the modern artists. The latter bring modern philosophy and science under the judgement of ancient wisdom, bid the Hindu walk backwards into bygone centuries - seek to change him so much that he fails to recognise himself in the paintings of the old artists. The former set of writers - challenge Gods with new life - while latter - challenge new life with old Gods. Both these phenomena are inevitable. In Western Christianity they represent rebellion, reform and reinterpretation in three clear streams of thought. In India the modern intellect that casts ancient faith into new moulds pretends that it merely expounds orthodoxy/ The orthodoxy representing the old mind pretends it does not see new changes.

Of the former school - that which approaches ancient faith - in this case - Lingayatism or Veerasaivism - with modern mental equipment, the author Shri Kumaraswamiji and his book ‘Veerasaiva philosophy and mysticism are able and conspicuous examples’. His name has not yet become familiar among Indian philosophers. Many with not even half his learning and maturity - are well known. If this review does little else than draw attention to a new noteworthy Indian thinker it should serve its purpose. The author has a wide knowledge of modern philosophy, Christian mystics and modern scientific theories and speculations and speaks of Alexander, Bergsen and Einstein with knowledge of their philosophies. He does not merely carry and parade his learning. He has reflected over them and what is rare in Indian writers, brings out rich fruit of deep thought and meditation. He has the happy knack of summing up the pith and point of a whole system in a telling phrase or sentence, as when he says that Advaita conceives universe as pure subject without an object.

How does Kumaraswamiji - approaching Veerasaivism with a mind trained in modern philosophic thought - reconstruct it. The very titles of the chapters - The Veerasaiva in Veerasaivism - Divine Mensura - are significant of his line of approach. Virasaivism as a reconstruct of Kumaraswamiji’s modern intellect stands thus. The scriptures of Veerasaivism are vachanasastra - the mystic experiences cast into brisk, brilliant aphorisms. Basavanna, Akkamahadevi, Allama Prabhu are the great mystics of the faith. The differentia of lingayatism lies in the conception of reality as containing dynamics in its constitution. Ishta-linga and sarvanga linga are symbols of free repose enjoyed in the transparent light and intrepid activity. There are three tatvas, (1) the supreme being, (2) subjective souls, (3) the objective world. The author gives the message of Veerasaivism in the following words. ‘The world is the field of battle and man must become a warrior - its significance lies in its intense and more pronounced note of heroism’. We are told at page 149 that to create a race of divine heroes is the one end and aim of Veerasaivism. The yoga is a staircase of levels which the soul mounts up till it reaches Mukti - and these stages are Bhakta stala, Mahesha stala, prasadi stala - pranalinga stala, sharana stala, Aikya stala. Aika is freedom - Moksa. The quintessence of Lingayatism is lingangasamarasya - the integral association of God and soul, the technique of which is shatsthala, sopana.

The aim of the author is to show that behind Eastern and Western religions there lies a theosophy - a common wisdom-agreeing with and synthesising various aspects of religious experience. The terminology and technique are what we are familiar with in almost all the fields of Hinduism. We thought as we read the book that in Veerasaivism, Hinduism has caught the evolutionary note. This impression is largely due to the art of the author. In our opinion neither Western nor Eastern religious mind - really did conceive evolution as an explanation of life. Here and there the part motion plays in the makeup of reality may have been vaguely grasped but not of creative evolution. For lack of heredity Hinduism was driven to a complicated hypothesis of Karma and for lack of evolution Hinduism had to construct reality and God as static not dynamic. Shatsthalas themselves show that the march of life consists in ascending steps and not in re-fashioning of life by the emergence of a new one is vital.

We recognise in the author’s reconstruction a sincere desire to make Veerasaivism relevant to modern thought. Such a task is necessary, and we are glad that it is undertaken by a writer qualified by wide reading and deep reflection for the task of reconstruction. We suggest that the author may consider the advisability of producing a primer of Lingayatism in English explaining it not to the household of faith but to those outside who are anxious to know what it means and how it differs from the general pattern of Hinduism. We heartily commend this book to our readers.

Bhagavad Gita With English Translation and a Commentary Purushartha Bodhini

[By Pandit Shripad Damodar Satwalekar, Gita Alankar, President, Swadhyaya Mandal - translated by Prof. Vaman Narayan Godbole, M.A., Professor of Philosophy, Rajaram College, Kolhapur, Swadhyaya Mandal, Aunch (District Sajara) Price Rs. 4]

Swadhyaya Mandal of Aundh has done solid work in Vedic research and its publications on Vedas have drawn wide attention in the press. Any book from this source deserves respect and careful study.

So many books are being published on Gita which repeat themselves superfluously that one may well ask every publication to justify itself. The research in Gita - its date, structure, message-is yet in an infant stage, and it will be wisdom as well as economy of labour to chalk out a scheme of investigation (which we hope to publish one of these days) and turn enquiry into channels demanded by such a scheme. The justification for the present book may be set out in the terms of the preface. “In this commentary I have shown how the theorems of ancient works like the Vedas and Upanishads have been dealt with in the Gita in a new manner. The other commentators have not performed this task, and it is the principal purpose of this commentary to show these parallelisms and this is also its speciality”. Western scholars have tried to trace verses in Gita to Katha and other Upanishads. Pandit Satwaleker has carried this process of tracing them further up. As the present volume deals only with the first three chapters of the Gita we have to wait till the commentary is complete to assess the gains of this research. There can be no doubt as to the necessity from a critical standpoint of tracing the concepts of Gita backwards and forwards. Since Swadhyaya Mandal has been carrying on Vedic research they are particularly well qualified to examine texts of Gita from Sanhitas.

Another conspicuous feature of the commentary is an examination of the light which Mahabharata itself throws on Gita. There has been a strong tendency among recent commentators to detach Gita from Mahabharata and interpret it as a self-sufficient gospel. This detachment from traditional context has resulted in landing the Gita, and exhibiting it as a phenomenon without any connection with contemporary thought. The author has referred to Mahabharata wherever possible for elucidation and the effect has been very illuminating with regard to one question so far not tackled by any modern scholars - whence did Arjuna get his philosophy of life which stands as a foil to Sri Krishna’s teaching? Sanjayya was sent to Pandavas to wean them from the fratricidal war. Arjuna seems to have been largely converted to Sanjayya’s views. The sermons of Sanjayya are narrated in Udyogaparva - Sanjayayana. The book under review has justified its existence and usefulness by this one reference alone. It now seems to be clear that Arjuna’s attitude was not due to individual reluctance but was based on a wider philosophy of life. The question still remains from where did Sanjayya get his ideas? Nevertheless, the reference offers the clue for an unsolved problem and stresses the utility of studying Gita in the larger background of Mahabharata.

The volume under review covers first three chapters. Others are to follow. From the standpoint of orthodox exposition, the commentaries are full and elaborate and wherever necessary bring out the meaning and background of verse satisfactorily. What contributions it makes to Gita scholarship can only be determined after the completion of book. We suggest that Vedic and Upanishad and Mahabharata references to be given at the beginning of the commentary and next to the text. That will be useful to scholars. As it is, they are spread over in the commentary. The analysis of chapters is useful. Excursus dealing with what is new in Gita - the doctrine of equanimity, the philosophy of Arjuna and Sanjayya with its sources - Sankhya texts in Gita will be useful. The central message of Gita, detached from the portions where the message is sought to be reconciled with other schools of thought, thrown into relief and expanded with the texts in Gita itself, will be helpful. The student of Gita, especially of the orthodox type, will find the book a helpful addition to his library on Hinduism. We look forward to the future parts of the commentary with interest.

Aspects of Vedanta

[By P.N. Srinivasachari, M.A., retired Principal and Professor of Philosophy, Pachayappa’s College, Madras. Sri Krishna Library, Chitrakolam Street, Mylapore, Madras. Price Rs. 3].

In recent years Mr. Srinivasachari has felt the vocation to bring to English reading public, Hindu and non-Hindu, the wealth and wisdom which Vishishtadvaita has contributed to Hinduism. Along with this onerous task he has combined the mission to reconcile the three schools of Vedanta - those of Sankara, Ramanuja and Madhwa. For this he was eminently qualified both by his philosophic study and rich personal experience. From his retreat near Chitrakolam he views life with the equanimity advocated in Gita and the results of his reflection are of great help to those who seek to find their way in the labyrinth of modern life.

Within the short compass of one hundred and odd pages, the author gives a survey of the origin and growth of several branches of Adwaitic thought. Concise and precise, packed with information, as an egg is full of meat, the book needs careful and attentive study to get the best out of it.

Mr. Srinivasachari classifies Adwaitic schools under three heads:

1. Pure Advaita with its essentially logical and psychological method and the doctrines of Ajatavada, (non-being is not), Drik-Drishtivada, Ekajivavada (singularity), Avastatraya, three states of consciousness - propounded in Mandukya karina of Gaudapada, Sankara’s works, Mandana Misra’s ‘Brahma Siddhi’, and in yogavasishta.

2. Practical adwaita - the cosmological approach - Brahma vicar as distinguished from Atmavichara with the doctrines of avidya and maya, bimba - pratibimba, Avicehedavada (limitation), Vivarna (as against parinama) - making room for sadhanas expounded by Padmapada, Vachaspati Misra, Sri Harsa and Chiutsukha.

3. Practical adwaita - ethical path stressing the doctrines of degrees of truth and progression in knowledge - vyavaharica reality - performance of dharma - taught by Appaya Dikshitar in recent times Kokileswara Sastri, Sri Ramakrishna. The classification shows the way he tries to reconcile advaitic claims with actual experience and tries to remove the reproach that advaita does override the factual difficulties of religious life by using the mesmeric passes of psychology and sruti. Mr. Srinivasacharya has succeeded even where the necessities of condensation were great in bringing out clearly the outlook, methodology, the great expounders, the crucial ideas of the pure, practical religious schools of respective advaitisms and has given to the future student a reliable chart for guidance. The chapter on the final estimate could with profit have been more elaborate. The conclusion arrived is stated as follows in the synthetic understanding of practical advaita and visishta-dwaita in its Saivite and Vaishnavite aspects satisfies the highest logical, ethical and aesthetic ideals of truth, goodness, beauty, meets the demands of vedantic universalism and inter-vedantic understanding which is so essential to the consolidation of Hinduism as harmony of religion.

This conclusion has been assailed by a well-known critic of Madras as toning down the sharp contrasts that have developed within Upanishads vedanta. This criticism stands true to the extent that it would be difficult to fit in Madhwa’s dwaitism into the synthesis, and we find no serious attempt made to do so by the author. We do not see however why the attempt at synthesis should not be welcomed. The historic development of sects favours the method of over-emphasis of a characteristic feature. The movement has been from thesis to antithesis and therefore a synthesis from time to time may be in the interests of truth. The author’s sojourn among adtwaitin teachers and gurus before his final initiation into visishtadwaita has qualified him to attempt the synthesis at the level of experience. What we need today is a review of sectarian positions, without sectarian bias, amidst the challenges and demands of the present-day religious world and science. Such a synthesis should not be of Hindu sects only but also of sects of similar features in all religions. It should be remembered there has been an advaitic Christianity and neo-platonic theology and Sufi Islam. The crux of the problem seems to be the conception of unity where conscious entities are concerned. Both Christian and Muslim and Western advaitisms may help by pointing to a larger variety of concepts of unity than we can extract from Vedanta. But this topic cannot be dealt with in the limits of a review. We hope to revert to it when dealing with advaitisms on a future occasion. Madhwaism by stressing on the experience of separation may point to a new line of development in our conception of Ekam which is advaitic and not monistic. I feel the modern adtwaitin who neglects Madhwa stands in peril of losing the possibility of gaining a new and rich concept of Ekam which contains variety within it.

Ever since Kuppusami Sastri threw a hand grenade into the company of imperturbable advaitins, the feeling was growing that advaitisms was not immune to the vicissitudes of birth, growth and compromise. Sastriar courageously called it “compromise”. A philosophy that runs counter to testimony of senses and asserts that the objective world is an illusion can only gain a footing in the practical world by compromise. One need not shy at the word as the author does. Mr. Srinivasachari would prefer to call the various schools of Advaita as synthesis. We do not see much gain in overlooking the obvious. As a matter of fact Adwaitism succeeded in India and gained a great privilege not so much by radically reshaping religious life under the stern demands of its own postulates but by managing to be the background of the diverse faiths without disturbing them. Its alliance with theism of temple type strikes one in this connection. Since at least Madwaism does not easily lend itself to synthesis - Vedanta as synthesis of three schools may not be tenable unless we attempt a radical recasting of the concept of ‘Ekam’. We cannot afford to have more than one sruti - perfect and unalterable, immutable thought systems. We cannot raise every sectarian creed into the perfection of a sruti. Advaita is after all an interpretation of Vedanta - which itself was admitted into original sruti by the vigour of the illumination of Upanishads period. Advaita - as an inescapable element in the religious consciousness of all religions - the sense of union with a personality - needs constant restatement in the light of later religions and religious experiences - in the development of yoga-especially recent psychological knowledge of abnormal personality. The concept of ‘oneness’ and maya need restatement. Unconscious personality need not be impersonality. The qualification or description of Ekam as sat, chit, ananda yields itself to a number of divergent experiential variations which have all to be gathered before a satisfactory theory in relation to personality-as the crux of Advaita can be satisfactorily formulated. The Christian concept of Trinity interpreted in psychological terms may throw some light. One way of stating Sankara and Ramanuja and Madhwa together is by the doctrine of personality which permits mutual, in-ness - occurring, both in Gita and St. John - ‘Christ in you and you in Christ’.

‘He who sees me everywhere and sees everything in me’. Gita 6:30. ‘He who sees himself in all beings and all beings in Himself’ 6:29. To the adventurous Vedantist here we have a new trail.

We have been led to dilate more than we intended by reason of the excellence of Mr. Srinivasachari’s book. It is not a book for all and sundry. It presupposes more than an elementary knowledge of Advaita. It has a broader outlook than orthodox treatment of Advaita. Those who can appreciate philosophic reconstruction and have an aptitude for the fascinating if not always acceptable, world of thought which all absolute philosophers, ancient and modern conjure up, those who can follow the subtle course of vivarna adhyasa, and parinama - in all their involutions would delight to read this book. We recommend this book to all those who need strong meat and have outgrown the stage of the feeding bottle in religion.

A Unique Gathering

The Tenth Conference - Retreat under the auspices of the North India Fellowship of Christian. (1) Ashrams (2). Sadhus, Sanyasis and independent evangelists was held at the premises of the Duff Church, 127, Maniktala Street, Calcutta, for a full week from the 23rd to the 30th April 1949.

The Conference was called jointly by the Rev. R.C. Das, M.A., Khristpanthi. Ashram, Banaras (Convener) and the Rev. P.K. Adhicary, B.A., Minister-in-charge of Duff Church (Local Organiser). Prof. M.L. Sircar, M.A., Vice-Principal of the Scottish Church College was the Chairman.

Among those present eight were unattached workers, three Ashram Leaders, and several Sadhus and Sanyasis. Places represented were:-Banaras, Orissa, East Pakistan, Siliguri (Darjeeling); Birbhum, Kharagpur and many centres in and around Calcutta.

Aims and Objects

The purpose of the Conference was:

1. To deepen fellowship in prayer and in study of God’s word.
2. To encourage by word and example new experiments and venture of faith in Christian living and witness.
3. To think out the lines on which the Church of Christ in free India should be built and developed.
4. To guide and unify independent movements of activity and thought in the Church.

Findings, Conclusions and Reflections

1. Resolved that: (a) a Sahitya Sangh (Literature Association) to be inaugurated; (b) a Committee consisting of Prof. M.L. Sircar (Chairman), Rev. M.K. Patra, Rev. P.K. Adhicary, Rev. R.C. Das and Rev. T.C. Sircar (Secretary) be appointed to call together a group of authors and artists and a few leaders at Calcutta in the next winter season in co-operation, if possible; with the B. Christian Council and Tract Society.

2. The Ecumenical Church and the Indian Heritage: The Church of Christ in India, while open to wide and free fellowship on the spiritual plane with the Church universal, must quickly relate itself to the spiritual and cultural heritage of India and shed its dependence on financial and administrative assistance from foreign countries.

3. The building up of the Indian Church:

1. This function, natural and from within and therefore necessarily slow, must be the work of the Indian leaders from the Indian side without inspiration or hurry from the West. While learning from the tradition of the Ecumenical Church, the Church of Christ in India must have the privilege of creating out of its own experience new tradition.
2. The Church of Christ in India claims its essential independence-freedom in expression of its entire life in indigenous terms and forms. If this becomes incompatible (as it has so far) with the receipt of foreign finance and personal service-the latter must go.
3. The principle of unity in diversity and diversity in unity must rule in all work of Church union and development.

4. Ashrams and Sadhus:

1. These Indian ideals and institutions should: be carefully studied in their Indian context and then applied and used for Christian purposes with judgement. Their deep and ancient Indian meaning must be understood and appropriated with discrimination.
2. The Sadhu and the Ashram will also play a great role in the making and training of the prophet and the thinker for the propagation of the gospel. The-present-day seminaries assume truths, and discuss them from a rational standpoint in order to profess and preach them to others whereas in the Ashrams devotees and seekers will be expected collectively to verify and experiment upon truths with a view to appropriation by mind, heart and will and expression through total life.
3. In the Christian Ashrams and through Christian Sanyasis a vital relationship (as distinct from a theoretical understanding) will have to be established between the life of the Church and the heritage of India through Sadhana (discipline) and Darshan or Anubhab (realisation) under the direction of the living Christ-the Holy Spirit.

R.C. DAS, Convener. 129, DASASUMEDH, BANARAS

Printed by PENN THOMPSON AND CO., Vepery, Madras

Announcements - Continued

We are pressed for space. We are allowed 30 pages. A quarterly to be satisfactory should have at least 50 pages. We had to cut some of the reviews, some of the articles this time for want of space. We need 500 subscribers to increase the number of pages to 50. The Readers can help by writing to the treasurer and the editor to place their names on the list and by making ‘The Pilgrim’ known to friends in India and abroad. We hope that with the co-operation of the readers to be able to announce by March 1950 - that the number of subscribers, i.e., 500 are enrolled.

P. CHENCHIAH, Editor

Our Contributors

Madhwa’s Dwaitam - by Mr. V.S. Narasimhachari, B.A., B.Litt., prominent Advocate, High Court, Madras; has been studying Madhwa’s Dwaitism in the originals and commentaries. Himself a Madhwa has touch with Madhwaism in its practical aspects and institutions.

Reviews by the Editor

In the December issue we hope to publish ‘Co-operation among religions’, ‘Brihta Rahita Taraka Yoga’, ‘Does Gita refer to Antijas?’ among other articles.

We acknowledge the receipt of Sivagnana Botham by the late Rev. Gordon Mathews, M.A., B.Litt.

Objects and Aims

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 Banaras (and if possible in South Indian centres) an 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 and
3. To encourage the organisation of a permanent School of Hinduism.

Every member will receive THE PILGRIM free

Membership fee Rs. 4 per year

Institute of Hinduism

Calcutta - September 26 to October 8 (inclusive)

Place - THOBURN CHURCH, DHARMATALLA, Lecturer Rev. Pierre Fallon.

1. Gaudinya Vaishnavism
2. Sankara Advaita - R.C. Das
3. Aspects of Orthodox and Popular Hinduism
4. Christian Strategy
5. Modern Religious Movements

Also Lectures by Hindu Scholars - Registration and tuition fees Rs. 5 for Rs. 100 income; casual visitors one rupee a day. Open to Teachers, Pastors, Missionaries, Theological students.

For further information, apply to the Convener:

R.C. DAS, Khristpanthi Ashram, 129, Dashashwamedh, Banaras.

Note

1. Subscription for membership to Christian Society for the Siway of Hinduism, Rs 4 per annum.

2. Subscriptions and Applications for membership and donations should be sent to the treasurer:

Dr. C.S. Thoburn,
Leonard Theological College,
Jabalpur

THE PILGRIM is sent free to members of the Society. Complaints as to non receipt, corrections or change of address and communications about the paper and literary contributions should be sent to:

P. Chenchiah, M.L.
Advocate,
Editor ‘The Pilgrim’,
28, Halls Road,
Egmore, Madras