现代印度
本译文由人工智能辅助工具生成，可能存在不准确之处。如需查阅权威文本，请参考英文原文。
AI-translated. May contain errors. For accurate text, refer to the original English.
中文
现代印度
（译自1899年3月《启示》杂志的孟加拉文稿）
吠陀祭司们将其超凡的力量建立于对祭祀真言（Mantras）的知识之上。凭借这些真言（Mantras）的力量，天神（Devas）被召唤从其天界居所降临，接受饮食供奉，并应允亚佳曼纳斯（Yajamānas，即祭祀主持）的祈祷。因此，国王以及其臣民，在尘世生活中都仰赖这些祭司的庇护。苏摩王被祭司顶礼供奉，并借助其真言（Mantras）的力量得以兴旺。正因如此，以苏摩植物汁液为最爱供物的天神（Devas），总是对他慈悲有加，赐予他所求之愿。凭借这神圣恩宠的加持，他蔑视一切人间阻力；人类的力量在众神的力量面前又能如何？即便是国王——一切尘世权力的核心——也是其门前的恳求者。得到他慈悲的一瞥是最大的助力；他的一句祝福便是对国家的献礼，凌驾于一切之上。
有时命令国王从事充满死亡与毁灭之险事，有时以友善而明智的忠告始终站在他身旁，有时编织微妙外交治国的罗网令国王轻易落入其中——祭司频频被看到使王权完全臣服于己。尤其令人畏惧的，是知道王室先祖的名声以及国王本人及其家族的荣誉，都操于祭司之笔。他是历史学家。国王也许权势无双；在位期间建立了丰功伟业，也许对臣民展现出父兼母职的仁慈；但若祭司不被安抚，他的荣耀之阳随最后一息而永沉，他所有应当获得普世赞誉的功德与价值，便如细雨轻落大洋，消失于时间的巨大母胎之中。其他那些主持历时多年、规模浩大的祭祀者，那些举行阿湿伐美陀（Ashvamedha）等祭祀的人——那些像雨季倾盆大雨般将无数财富馈赠祭司的人——他们的名字，有赖于祭司的恩典，得以铭刻于历史的篇章。神爱者（Priyadarshi）法阿育王（Dharmāshoka）之名在祭司世界中不过是一个名字，而帕里克什特（Parikshit）之子贾纳美贾亚（Janamejaya）则在每个印度教家庭中都是家喻户晓的名字。
为了保卫国家，为了满足他本人及其庞大随从的个人享乐与奢侈，最重要的是为了向无所不能的祭司阶层提供供奉以安抚他们，使其仓廪充盈，国王持续不断地汲取其臣民的资源，犹如太阳从大地汲取水分。他特别的猎物——他的乳牛——便是吠舍（Vaishyas，即商人阶层）。
无论是在印度教国王统治下，还是在佛教统治下，我们都发现普通臣民在国家事务中没有任何发表意见的份额。诚然，由提斯提拉（Yudhishthira）在瓦拉纳瓦塔（Vāraṇāvata）时曾探访吠舍甚至首陀罗（Shudras）的居所；诚然，臣民们正在祈祷罗摩旃陀罗（Rāmachandra）登位治理阿逾陀（Ayodhyā）；不仅如此，他们甚至在批评悉多（Sītā）的行为，暗中策划导致她流放的计划；然而，作为国家认可的惯例，他们在最高政府中并无直接话语权。民众的力量在以间接而无序的方式挣扎表达，没有任何方法可循。人民尚未有对这种力量的自觉认知。他们既没有尝试将其组织为协调行动，也没有这样做的意愿；他们也完全缺乏那种能力与技能——凭借这种能力与技能，分散而不连贯的力量中心得以联合，产生不可抗拒的合力。
这是由于缺乏适当的法律吗？——不，并非如此。确实存在法律，各政府部门都有分别且明确规定的准则，从赋税征收、军队管理到司法行政、赏罚制度，每一细节都有详尽的法规。但在一切的根基处，是仙人（Rishi）的训诫——神圣权威的话语，通过受到启示的仙人所传递的上帝启示。可以说，这些法律几乎没有任何弹性。在这种情况下，人民永远不可能获得任何教育，使他们学会相互联合与团结，为了人民的共同福祉而协力实现某一目标；他们也无法获得协调的智识，以构想民众对国王从臣民处征集的财富所拥有的权利这一理念；甚至无法获得这样的教育，使他们燃起争取参与控制国家收支之代表权利的抱负。他们为何要做这样的事呢？仙人（Rishi）的启示难道不就是他们繁荣进步的保障吗？
再者，所有那些法律都存在于书中。书中成文的法律与其在现实生活中的运行之间，存在着天壤之别。数千个阿格尼瓦尔纳斯（Agnivarnas）消逝之后，才诞生一位罗摩旃陀罗（Ramachandra）！许多国王展现给我们的是旃陀罗阿育（Chandāshoka）的人生；法阿育（Dharmāshokas）则稀如凤毛麟角！像阿克巴（Akbar）这样的国王——臣民在其统治下如鱼得水——其数量远远少于像奥朗则布（Aurangzeb）这样靠吸食人民鲜血而活的国王！
即便在如由提斯提拉（Yudhishthira）、罗摩旃陀罗（Ramachandra）、法阿育（Dharmashoka）或阿克巴（Akbar）那般如神明一样仁慈的统治者治理下——在其仁政之下，人民享有安全与繁荣，受到统治者如父母般的呵护——那个始终依赖他人喂食之人的手，渐渐失去了将食物送入口中的能力。那个人的自我保护能力永远无法得到充分展现，若他在各方面始终受到他人的庇护。即便最强壮的青年，若始终像孩子般被父母呵护，也只能永远停留在孩童的状态。由于始终处于如神明一般的国王的统治之下，人民的保护与供给职责完全依赖于统治者，他们从来没有任何机会去理解自治的原则。这样的国家，在各方面完全依赖国王，从不关心为公共福祉或自我防卫而努力，逐渐丧失了内在的活力与力量。若这种依赖与庇护的状态长期持续，便会成为国家毁灭的原因，其覆灭也就近在眼前了。
当然，可以合理地得出结论：当一个国家的政府以伟大圣哲神圣智慧所启迪的典籍（Shāstras）所规定的法典为指引，这样的政府必然能带来贫富、智愚、君臣的持续福祉。然而，我们已经看到，那些法律在现实生活中的运行，在多大程度上是可能的，或者说曾经是可能的。被治者在其土地治理中的声音——这是现代西方世界的旗帜，而其最后的表达已以雷鸣般的声音回响于美国政府的宣言中，以这样的话语："这个国家人民的政府必须是由人民、为人民的福祉而运作的"——然而，不能说这一声音在古代印度完全未受到承认。希腊旅行者和其他人看到许多独立的小邦散布于这片土地上，佛教文献的许多地方也有类似的记载。而且毫无疑问，自治的萌芽至少以村庄潘恰亚特（Panchāyat，即村民议事会）的形式存在过，至今在印度许多地方仍可找到。但这颗萌芽永远停留在萌芽状态；种子虽植入土中，却从未长成大树。这种自治的理念从未超越村庄潘恰亚特制度的胚胎状态，从未在广大社会中传播开来。
在宗教团体中，在佛教寺院中的游方僧（Sannyasins）之间，我们有充分的证据表明自治曾得到充分发展。即便是现在，人们也会惊奇地发现，潘恰亚特制度的自治原则在那迦（Nāgā）游方僧中运行的力量——他们对"五人会议"政府的深重尊重，每个那迦在其所属教派内可行使的有效个人权利，他们之间组织力量与协调行动的出色运作！
随着佛教席卷大地，祭司权力开始衰落，王权则日益强盛。佛教祭司是出世的遁世者，以无家可归的苦行僧身份居住于寺院之中，不关心世俗事务。他们既没有通过诅咒或魔力箭矢的威胁来掌控并驾驭王权的意志，也没有为此而努力。即便有这种意志的残留，实现它如今也已成为不可能之事。因为佛教已撼动了一切以供奉为食的众神的宝座，将他们从天界的地位上拉了下来。成佛的境界高于诸多梵天（Brahmā）或因陀罗（Indra）的天界地位，而这些梵天与因陀罗还互相争先，在佛陀——那位神人——的足前顶礼膜拜！而这种佛的境界，每个人都有权利达到；即便在今生，它对所有人都是开放的。随着众神的地位下降，那些依托于他们的祭司的优越性自然也随之消失。
因此，那匹强大的祭祀骏马——王权——的缰绳，不再被吠陀祭司牢握于手，如今自由了，它可以依凭无羁的意志自由驰骋。这一时期，权力的中心既不在高唱娑摩赞歌（Sāma hymns）、依据《夜柔吠陀》（Yajur-Veda）举行牺牲的祭司那里；权力也不在各自统治小型独立邦国、彼此分离的刹帝利（Kshatriya）王者手中。这个时代权力的中心，在于那些统治延伸至海洋所界定的广大疆域、覆盖印度全境从一端到另一端的皇帝手中。这个时代的领袖不再是维斯瓦米特拉（Vishvāmitra）或婆须吉斯塔（Vasishtha），而是像旃陀罗笈多（Chandragupta）、法阿育（Dharmashoka）及其他皇帝。历史上从未有过如佛教时期那些统治地球的主宰者登上印度王座、将她引领至荣耀顶峰的皇帝，他们以至高无上的权威统治着她。这一时期的末尾，以拉吉普特（Rājput）势力登上历史舞台和现代印度教的兴起为标志。随着拉吉普特势力的兴起，伴随着佛教的衰落，印度帝国的王权从其至高权威中再次被分裂为千片，被众多弱小的手所把持。此时，婆罗门（Brāhminical，即祭司）势力再次成功地抬头，这次不再是作为对手，而是作为王权的辅助力量。
在这场变革中，那场从吠陀时代开始、历经世代持续到耆那（Jain）与佛教革命时期达到顶峰的祭司与王室阶层之间争夺霸权的永恒斗争，从此永远停止。如今这两种强大力量成为友好的伙伴；然而，国王昔日辉煌的刹帝利（Kshatra）武勇已不复存在，婆罗门所特有的精神光辉也已消散；双方都失去了各自昔日固有的内在力量。正如可以预期的那样，这两种力量的新联盟很快便致力于满足彼此的私利，并将其活力消耗于铲除共同的对手——尤其是当时的佛教徒——以及其他类似的勾当之上。由于沉溺于这种联盟所带来的种种恶习——如吸食大众血汗、向敌人报复、掠夺他人财产等等——他们徒劳地试图仿效古代国王的马祭（Rājasuya）及其他吠陀祭祀，却只是上演了一出可笑的闹剧。结果是，他们被庞大的谄媚随从及其谄媚奉承所束手束脚，陷入真言诵读与繁文缛礼的无尽罗网之中，很快便成了来自西方的穆斯林入侵者唾手可得的廉价猎物。
那从吠陀时代便开始与王权争夺优越性、历代延续的祭司力量；那对刹帝利（Kshatra）权力的敌视——薄伽梵（Bhagavān）室利克里希纳（Shri Krishna）凭借超人的天才，至少在他在世的一段时期内成功地制止了这种敌视。那婆罗门权力几乎在耆那（Jain）与佛教革命期间从其在印度的活动舞台上被彻底抹去，或者说也许凭借臣服于强大的对立宗教而艰难维持着微弱的立足点。自从拉吉普特势力兴起——它在米希拉（Mihira）王朝及其他王朝之下统治印度——那婆罗门权力做出了最后的努力以重拾失去的伟大；在其建立那种霸权的努力中，它将自己出卖给了新近从中亚涌来的蛮族狂潮，为了博得他们的欢心，将他们可憎的风俗习惯引入了这片土地。不仅如此，这婆罗门力量一心专注于愚弄无知蛮族的简便手段，将其新编真言（Mantras）等等所支撑的神秘仪轨带入流行；在这样做的过程中，它自身失去了昔日的智慧、昔日的活力与朝气，以及通过长期修习所获得的自身纯洁风范。于是，它将整个雅利安人的土地（Āryāvarta）变成了最堕落、最可怖、最令人憎恶的野蛮风俗的深广漩涡；而纵容这些令人厌恶的陋习与迷信所带来的不可避免的后果，是它很快失去了自身所有的内在力量与骨气，成为了弱者中最弱的。难怪它会被摧枯拉朽，在来自西方的穆斯林入侵风暴的轻轻一触之下便四分五裂！那伟大的婆罗门力量覆灭了——谁又知道，它是否还能再度崛起呢？
另一方面，在穆斯林统治之下，祭司力量的复苏完全是不可能的。先知穆罕默德本人对任何形式的祭司阶层都持坚决反对的态度，并以规章戒律为手段，尽其所能谋求这一力量的彻底消灭。在穆斯林统治下，国王本身便是最高祭司；他是宗教事务的主要引导者；而当他成为皇帝时，他抱有成为整个穆斯林世界在一切事务中最高领袖的希望。对穆斯林而言，犹太人或基督徒并不是极度厌恶的对象；他们至多不过是信仰不足之人。但印度教徒则不然。按其观点，印度教徒是崇拜偶像者，是可憎的卡菲尔（Kafir，即异教徒）；因此在今生，他们理应被屠杀；在来世，永恒的地狱正在等待着他们。穆斯林国王们对这些卡菲尔的精神向导——祭司阶层——所能给予的最大恩惠，不过是允许他们以某种方式默默度日，等待最后的时刻。有时连这也被认为是太过宽厚了！若某位国王的宗教热情稍为不寻常，便会立即为一场屠杀卡菲尔式的大型祭祀安排好一切！
一方面，王权如今集中于信奉不同宗教、持有不同风俗的国王手中。另一方面，祭司权力已被完全排挤出其作为社会管控者和立法者的有影响力的地位。《古兰经》及其法典已取代了摩奴（Manu）及其他人的法制典籍（Dharma Shāstras）。梵语让位于波斯语和阿拉伯语。梵语只能局限于被征服而遭轻视的印度教徒的纯宗教著述与宗教事务之中，自此便在被忽视的祭司手中过着朝不保夕的日子。祭司本人——婆罗门权力的遗孑——退守到只主持相对无足轻重的家族礼仪（如婚礼等）这最后的手段，而且仅限于穆斯林统治者仁慈所允许的时间与范围之内。
在吠陀时代及其相邻时期，王权因祭司权力的强力压制而无从伸展。我们已经看到，在佛教革命期间，婆罗门霸权倒塌的结果是，印度的王权达到了顶峰。在佛教衰落与穆斯林帝国建立之间的这段时期，我们看到王权如何试图通过拉吉普特人（Rajputs）在印度重振雄风，以及它如何在这一尝试中失败。在这次失败的根源处，同样可以追溯到吠陀祭司阶层试图以新生命恢复并复兴其原有（仪轨主义）黄金岁月的那些老牌努力。
将婆罗门霸权踩于脚下，穆斯林国王得以在相当程度上恢复孔雀（Maurya）、笈多（Gupta）、安得罗（Andhra）和克萨特拉帕（Kshātrapa）等王朝失去的帝国光辉。
于是，那被鸠摩利罗（Kumārila）、商羯罗（Shankara）和罗摩努阇（Rāmānuja）等圣贤试图重建、曾一度获得拉吉普特权力之剑支撑、并试图在其耆那与佛教对手的覆灭上重建其架构的祭司权力——在穆斯林统治下被永久地打入沉睡，再无觉醒。在这一时期，敌对或战争不再发生在国王与祭司之间，而是在国王与国王之间。在这一时期末尾，当印度教权力再度抬头，并通过马拉塔人（Mahrattas）与锡克人（Sikhs）在一定程度上成功振兴了印度教，我们并未发现祭司权力在这些振兴中有多少发挥的余地。相反，当锡克人将任何一个婆罗门（Brahmin）纳入其教派，起初都会强制要求他公开放弃之前的婆罗门标志，并采纳其本教公认的标志。
就这样，经过这两种力量之间旷日持久的相互作用与反作用，王权的最终胜利在印度的土地上回响了数个世纪，以信奉与这片土地的信仰完全不同的宗教的外来君主的名义宣告。然而，在这段穆斯林时期的末尾，一种全新的力量出现在历史舞台上，并在印度世界的事务中缓缓开始展示其威力。
这种力量是如此新颖，其性质与运作方式对印度人的心灵而言是如此陌生，其崛起如此难以想象，其活力如此无从抗拒，以至于尽管它至今仍掌握着最高权力，只有寥寥几个印度人明白这种力量究竟是什么。
我们谈论的是英国对印度的占领。
自远古时代起，印度广袤财富与丰饶粮仓的声名，便在许多强大的异邦国家心中燃起了征服她的渴望。事实上，她曾一次又一次地被异族所征服。那么，为何我们要说英国对印度的占领是印度人心灵所陌生的新鲜事物呢？
自远古以来，印度人见过最强大的王权在那无欲于尘世、手持灵性力量——真言（Mantras，即圣典咒语）与宗教学识的力量——以及诅咒之武器的苦行祭司的怒目之前颤抖。他们也见过臣民百姓在手持刀兵、无所不能的宗主的命令面前默默顺从，如狮前羊群。然而，一小撮吠舍（Vaishyas，即商人），尽管财富丰厚，却曾不仅在国王面前、甚至在任何王室成员面前都俯首畏缩，他们会联合起来，为了商业目的渡江越海，仅凭借其智识与财富，逐步将根深蒂固的印度教与穆斯林王朝变为傀儡；不仅如此，他们还会收买其本国统治权力的服务，并将其勇气与学识作为为自身财富涌入服务的有力工具——这对印度人来说是一幅全然陌生的景象。同样陌生的景象还有：一个强大贵族国度的子孙后代，其伟大诗人那非凡之笔所勾勒的一位傲慢贵族曾对平民百姓说："滚开，粪堆之物！你敢冒犯一位贵族？"——这些子孙后代，在不远的将来，竟会将被派往印度担任一个名叫东印度公司的商人团体的顺从仆役视为人生抱负的顶峰——这样的景象，对于印度而言，确实是前所未见的奇观！
依据萨埵（Sattva）、罗阇（Rajas）和答摩（Tamas）三种秉性（Guna）在人身上或多或少的主导程度，婆罗门（Brahmin）、刹帝利（Kshatriya）、吠舍（Vaishya）和首陀罗（Shudra）四种种姓，无处不在地存在于一切文明社会中，贯穿古今。在时间巨手的运作下，他们的数量与力量在不同时期、不同国家亦有所变化。在某些国家，某一种姓的数量优势或影响力可能凌驾于其他种姓之上；在某些时期，某一阶层可能比其他阶层更为强大。然而，从对世界历史的细心研究来看，似乎符合自然规律，婆罗门、刹帝利、吠舍和首陀罗四种种姓，在每一个社会中，依次一个接一个地轮流统治世界。
在中国人、苏美尔人、巴比伦人、埃及人、迦勒底人、雅利安人、伊朗人、犹太人、阿拉伯人当中——在所有这些古代民族中，在其历史的第一个时期，引导社会的至高权力掌握在婆罗门或祭司阶层手中。在第二个时期，统治权力是刹帝利，即或绝对君主制，或由精选人员组成的寡头制政府。在以英国为首的现代西方国家中，管控社会的权力有史以来第一次掌握在通过商业而致富的吠舍或商业团体手中。
虽然古代的特洛伊和迦太基，以及近代的威尼斯和其他类似的小型商业城邦曾极为强盛，然而，在它们当中，并没有严格意义上真正的吠舍权力的兴起。
确切地说，那些古老时代的王室家族子孙，通过雇用普通百姓及其仆从来经营贸易，独揽了那个时代的商业，并将从中获取的利润据为己有。除了这少数人之外，没有任何人被允许在国家及相关事务的治理中参与其事或发表意见。在最古老的国家如埃及，祭司权力只是在短暂的时期内享有不受干扰的霸权，之后便臣服于王权，作为王权的辅助力量而存在。在中国，由孔子天才所强化的王权，依照其绝对意志，管控并引导着祭司权力，已超过二十五个世纪；而在过去两个世纪中，无所不包的西藏喇嘛，尽管是王室家族的精神导师，也被迫在各方面臣服于中国皇帝之下度日。
在印度，王权在其他古代文明国家早已做到之后很久才成功征服了祭司权力，宣告其无羁的权威；因此，印度帝国的建立，远晚于中国帝国、埃及帝国、巴比伦帝国及其他帝国的兴起。只有在犹太人中，王权虽竭力试图确立其对祭司权力的霸权，却不得不以彻底失败告终。就连吠舍也未在犹太人那里获得统治权力。另一方面，试图从祭司权力的枷锁中解放自身的普通臣民，在基督教之类的不利宗教运动的内部动荡以及强大罗马帝国的外部压力下，被活活压死。
正如在古代，祭司权力尽管长期挣扎，最终还是被更为强大的王权所制服；同样，在现代，在新兴吠舍权力的猛烈冲击之下，许多王冠不得不亲吻大地，许多权杖永远地碎裂。只有那少数几个在某些文明国家仍被允许行使某种权力、展示其王室排场与威仪的宝座，都完全由这些吠舍团体的巨额财富——那些经营盐、油、糖和酒的商人——所供养维持，作为宏伟壮观的门面，以及作为真正的统治者——吠舍——的荣耀彰显。
那强大的新兴吠舍权力——在其命令之下，电力瞬间在两极之间传递讯息；其大道是波涛汹涌、浪高如山的广阔大洋；在其指令之下，货物以最便捷的方式从地球的一端被运送到另一端；在其号令之下，即便是最伟大的君主也为之颤抖——在那汹涌巨浪白色泡沫的浪尖上，屹立着那无往不胜的吠舍权力，英国那充满威严的王座以其全部壮丽安坐其上。
因此，英国对印度的征服，并非如我们时常被要求相信的那样，是耶稣或圣经的征服。它也不像莫卧儿人和普什图人（Pathans）对印度的征服。在主耶稣的名义、圣经、宏伟的宫殿、由象兵、战车、骑兵和步兵组成的军队震动大地的沉重脚步声、战号、军号和战鼓声，以及王座华丽的陈设背后，始终存在着英国的实质性在场——那个以工厂烟囱为战旗、以商人为军队、以世界市场为战场、以光芒四射的幸运女神本身为女皇的英国！正是由于这一原因，我曾说过，英国对印度的征服确实是前所未见的奇观。这与新兴巨大力量的碰撞将在印度带来何种新革命，以及这场革命的结果将为印度的未来储备何种新变革，都无法从其过去的历史中加以推断。
我先前已经说明，婆罗门、刹帝利、吠舍和首陀罗四种种姓依次统治着世界。在每一种种姓行使其最高权威的时期，某些行为有益于人民的福祉，而另一些则对人民有害。
祭司权力的基础建立于智识力量之上，而非武器的体力力量之上。因此，随着祭司权力的强盛，智识与文学文化大为兴盛。每个人的心灵始终渴望与超感官的灵性世界进行沟通并从中获得帮助。对大多数人类来说，进入那个世界是不可能的；只有少数几个能够对其感官器官获得完全控制、并具有萨埵（Sattva Guna）本质为主导秉性的伟大灵魂，才能够穿透物质的坚固壁障，与超感官的存在面对面相遇——唯有他们才了解那个王国的运作，从那里带来讯息，并向他人指引道路。这些伟大的灵魂便是祭司，是人类社会原初的引导者、领袖与推动者。
祭司了解众神并与他们沟通；因此他被尊为神明。他将世俗的思虑抛诸脑后，不再需要汗流浃背地谋取衣食。一切饮食中最精华的部分都应作为供奉奉献给众神；而这些众神在尘世上可见的代理者便是祭司。正是通过他们的口，供奉得以被享用。或有意或无意，社会给予祭司丰裕的闲暇，他因此得以获得沉思与高远思考的机会。故而，智慧与学识的发展首先源于祭司权力的强盛。祭司就站在两者之间——一方是可怕的雄狮——国王，另一方是惊惶失措的羊群——臣民百姓。雄狮毁灭性的跃扑被祭司手中灵性力量的控制之杖所遏制。国王那因财势与人众而骄傲自大的专制意志之火焰，可以将一切挡路之物化为灰烬；然而，唯有来自祭司的一句话——他既无财富也无人众作为依靠，其唯一的力量是他的灵性力量——才能平息那专制的王权意志，如水灭火。
随着祭司霸权的兴起，我们看到了文明的最初曙光，神性战胜动物本性的最初胜利，精神对物质的最初主宰，以及那潜藏于这个本是自然的奴仆、这具肉身之中的神圣力量的最初显现——即人的身体。祭司是最初区分精神与物质的人，最初帮助将这个世界与彼岸世界相互沟通的人，第一位从众神到人类的使者，以及连接国王与臣民的中间桥梁。普世福祉与善德的第一株幼苗，由他的灵性力量所滋养，由他对学识与智慧的献身所灌溉，由他的舍离——那是他生命的旗帜——所浇灌，甚至由他自身生命之血的流淌所滋润。因此，在每一片土地上，向他献上的都是最早、最崇高的礼拜。因此，即便是他的记忆，对我们而言也是神圣的！
然而，其中亦有种种弊害。生命成长之时，死亡的种子也同步播下。黑暗与光明，永远相伴而行。诚然，若不及时制止，某些巨大的弊害足以导致社会的覆灭。权力借助粗重物质发挥作用，人人皆有亲身体验；无论是战斧与刀剑的搏杀，还是烈火与闪电所展现的焚烧之性，其威猛的显现人人目睹，人人理解，无人置疑，其真实性也毋庸置辩。然而，当权力的储藏之所及其运作中心完全属于精神层面，当权力局限于某些特定的词语、某些特定的诵念方式、某些神秘音节的心中默诵，或其他类似的心灵运作与应用之时，光明便与阴影交织其间，潮涨潮落自然扰动原本坚定不移的信念，即便眼见为实、直接感知，有时仍对其真实发生心存疑虑。当人类内心的痛苦、恐惧、愤怒、恶意与复仇之心，舍弃人人可理解的有形武力与粗重物质手段，转而以神秘的心灵运作——如镇摄术（Stambhana）、驱散术（Uchchatana）、魅惑术（Vashikarana）与伤害术（Marana）——来达成其目的之时，一片烟雾般的混沌与晦暗，仿佛自然而然地笼罩着那些常常游走于此等朦胧神秘世界之人的心灵氛围。这样的心灵面前，不呈现任何笔直的行动之径；即便偶有浮现，心灵也将其扭曲为迂回曲折之途。凡此种种，最终的结果是虚伪不诚——那种极为狭窄的心胸局促——而最为致命的，则是由对他人卓越才能之恶意嫉妒所生的极端不宽容。
祭司（婆罗门）于是自然而然地对自己说道："我为何要将这使天神（天神，Devas）对我俯首帖耳、赋予我驾驭肉体与精神疾病之力、并使鬼魂、恶魔及其他无形精灵为我效劳的权力拱手相让？此等权力，我已以极度弃绝为代价，付出了高昂的代价方才得来。我昔日为获此能力，不惜舍弃财富、名誉、声望，乃至一切世间的安逸与幸福，我又为何要将其施与他人？"再者，这种权力完全属于精神性的。而将其秘而不宣，又有多少机会可供利用！深陷于这般境遇的旋涡，人性便不可避免地走向其必然的归宿：惯于不断自我隐藏，遂沦为极端自私与虚伪的牺牲品，最终屈服于它们所带来的毒害性后果。久而久之，这种自我隐藏的欲望所引发的反动，开始向自身反噬。几乎所有的知识与智慧，因缺乏适当的运用与传播，几近湮没无闻；而残留的那点点学识，则被认为得自某种超自然的源泉；因此，非但不去努力开拓，以独创之心探求新知，人们甚至认为，就连试图去芜存菁、改良旧有遗存，也是徒劳无益之举。就这样，祭司失去了昔日的智慧，失去了昔日自强不息的自立精神，如今仅以先祖之名自我标榜，徒劳地挣扎，试图为自己保全与其伟大祖先所享有的同等荣耀、同等特权、同等崇敬与同等至尊地位。于是，他与其他种姓之间的激烈冲突，也就在所难免了。
依照自然法则，凡有新生而更强劲的生命觉醒之处，它便试图征服并取代那老朽衰败之物。自然偏向于淘汰不适者，留存最适者。此种祭司阶级与其他阶级之间的冲突，其最终结果前文已有所论及。
祭司在其鼎盛时期曾用以追求真理、孜孜探索的那种弃绝、自制与苦行，在其衰落之际，被重新动员起来，仅仅用于积累自我满足的欲望对象，并扩大凌驾于他人之上的特权优越感。那曾经集中于自身、使他获得一切荣誉与崇拜的权力，如今已从其崇高的天上位置被拖拽至地狱的最深渊。失去了目标，漫无方向地漂泊，祭司的权力便如蜘蛛一般，缠绕在自己所织就的网中。那条历代精心锻造、本欲套在他人脚上的锁链，如今以千重枷锁紧束着自己的双足，以百般方式阻碍着自身的行动。被那遍布四方、作为净化身心之外在手段而铺设的无穷礼仪、典礼与习俗的罗网之中无尽的丝线所困——原本意在以这无数束缚的铁腕牢牢掌控社会——如今被从头到脚彻底缠绕、毫无出路的祭司权力，已在绝望中沉沉入睡！再无逃脱之道。撕破这张网，祭司的祭司身份便会被动摇至根基！每个人心中，自然而然地都植根着对进步的强烈渴望；而那些发现，只要身缚祭司制度的枷锁，此等渴望便永无实现可能者，遂撕破这张网，改投其他种姓的职业以谋生计——这些人，立即被社会剥夺了其祭司的权利。社会对那些所谓婆罗门的婆罗门身份已毫无信心——这些人不蓄婆罗门发结（Shikha），却梳起分缝，他们放弃古老的习惯与祖传的风俗，穿着半西式的服装，以混杂的方式采纳从西方输入的新风尚。再者，在印度凡英国政府引入新式教育、为财富流入开辟新渠道之地，大批婆罗门青年纷纷放弃祖传的祭司职业，转而采纳其他种姓的职业谋生致富，其结果是，祭司阶级从其久远先祖代代相传的习惯与风俗，已被吹散四方，正从大地上迅速消失。
在古吉拉特邦，婆罗门的每一个次级分支都分成两个亚支：一为仍坚守祭司职业者，另一为以其他职业为生者。只有从事祭司职业的第一亚支被称为"婆罗门"（Brahmanas）；而那些尽管血统上出自婆罗门父亲的另一亚支，前者却不与之缔结婚姻关系。例如，"纳加尔婆罗门"（Nagara Brahmana）这一名称，仅指那些靠行乞布施为生的祭司婆罗门；而"纳加尔"（Nagara）一名，则仅指那些已接受政府职务，或一直从事吠舍职业的婆罗门。然而，时至今日，如此的区分在古吉拉特似乎难以长久维持。即便是"纳加尔婆罗门"的子弟，如今也在接受英式教育，进入政府任职，或从事某种商业活动。就连旧学派中最保守的梵学家（Pandits），在生计困难的压力下，也将子弟送入英国大学的学院，或令其选择医师（Vaidyas）、书吏种姓（Kayasthas）及其他非婆罗门种姓的职业。如果世事的潮流继续沿此方向流淌，那么印度的祭司阶级究竟还能在印度的土地上存续多久，无疑是一个值得深思的严肃问题。那些将削弱祭司阶级优势地位之图谋，归咎于某一特定个人或特定团体，而非归咎于其自身者，应当明白：遵照自然法则的必然规律，婆罗门种姓正在亲手为自己修筑坟墓；而这，正是理所应当之事。凡出身高贵、享有特权的每一个种姓，以亲手筑起自身的火葬柴堆为己任，实属善举，亦是正道。权力的集中如同其扩散一样必要，甚或更为必要。血液汇聚于心脏，是生命不可或缺的条件；若不能在全身循环流通，便意味着死亡。为了社会的福祉，在某些特定时期，将全部知识与权力集中于某些特定的家族或种姓、而将其他人排除在外，实属绝对必要；然而，这种集中的权力，不过是暂时性的聚焦，终将在未来向整个社会广泛播撒。若此种扩散被阻断，则该社会的覆灭，无疑近在眼前。
另一方面，国王犹如雄狮；在他身上，既有这百兽之王的善性，也有其恶性。他那锋利的利爪，从未有片刻收敛，一旦时机来临，便毫不留情地撕裂那些以草木为食、无辜生灵的心脏，以满足他对血的渴望；然而，诗人又说，尽管自身已老迈垂暮、饥饿难忍，雄狮却从不杀害那投身于其怀中求庇护的最弱小的狐狸。若平民阶级有片刻成为国王这头雄狮纵情享乐的障碍，他们的丧钟便不可避免地被敲响；若他们谦卑地俯首听命，则可安然无虞。不仅如此，且不论古代，即便在现代，也找不到哪个国家的社会，能够充分实现个体为众人利益而自我牺牲的有效性，以及社会每一成员为全体共同福祉而同心协力、同向而行的精神。因此，国王的存在确有必要，而国王正是社会自身的创造物。他们是社会一切力量汇聚的中心，否则这些力量将零散四处，从国王这里出发，流贯于政体之中，使社会充满活力。
正如在婆罗门主导时期，最初阶段是探求知识的第一冲动之觉醒，随后是对这股尚在萌芽中的冲动予以持续而精心的培育——同样，在刹帝利（Kshatriya）主导时期，强烈的享乐追求在第一阶段已然出现，随后则涌现出各种艺术与科学的发明与发展，作为满足此等欲求的手段。身处荣耀巅峰的国王，怎能将其高贵的头颅屈就于穷人的简陋茅舍之中？抑或，其臣民的共同福祉，又如何能以令人满足的方式供应他那帝王的胃口？
其尊严在世上无可比拟，其人乃神性居于人体之庙堂——对于普通人而言，仅仅瞥一眼国王的享乐之物，便是大罪；至于想要拥有它们，更是全然无从谈起。国王的身体有别于常人，圣洁无比，不容任何污染；在某些国度，人们甚至相信它永远不受死亡的支配。王后身上也笼罩着同等的神圣光环，因此须严密防范于众人的视线之外，连太阳也不得将目光投向她的美丽！于是，富丽堂皇的宫殿取代了茅草屋宇。从天堂般倾泻而来的艺术音乐，那甜美和谐的旋律，压过了平民的嘈杂喧嚣。令人愉悦的花园、宜人的树丛、美丽的回廊、迷人的绘画、精致的雕塑、华美而昂贵的服饰，开始逐步取代那崎岖山林的自然野趣，以及朴素村民粗糙简陋的衣衫。千千万万的聪明人离开了艰辛的耕耘，将注意力转向了精致艺术这片新天地，在那里，他们可以用少力气、更轻松的方式，展现其心智更为精微的运作。村庄失去了其重要性；城市在其位置上崛起。
同样是在印度，国王们在尽情享受一段时日的世间乐趣之后，在生命的后半程不可避免地被沉重的厌世情绪所侵袭——这是极度感官放纵之后必然产生的结果；于是，厌倦了世俗的享乐之后，他们在暮年隐入幽僻的森林，在那里开始冥思生命的深奥问题。这种弃绝与深思冥想的结果，以对繁琐礼仪与典礼的强烈反感、以及对最高精神真理的极度专注为标志，而这一切，我们在奥义书（Upanishads）、薄伽梵歌（Bhagavad Gita）以及耆那教与佛教典籍中都有所体现。在这里，祭司权力与王权之间也存在着巨大的冲突。繁琐礼仪与典礼的消失，意味着对祭司职业的毁灭性打击。因此，自然而然地，在任何时代、任何国家，祭司们都磨刀霍霍，竭力保存古老的习俗与惯例；而在另一方面，诸如贾纳迦（Janaka）之类的国王，则以刹帝利的武勇与精神力量双重加持，与之对立抗衡。关于这两种势力之间的尖锐对立，前文已有详尽论述。
正如祭司忙于将一切知识与学问集中于一个共同中心，亦即其自身；国王也同样时刻致力于将一切世间权力聚焦于一个中心点，亦即其自身。当然，两者对社会均有裨益。在某一时期，两者对社会的共同福祉确实皆属必要，但那仅限于社会的幼稚阶段。然而，若当社会已越过幼稚阶段、步入朝气蓬勃的青壮时期之后，仍试图以强力为其披上幼时所适宜的衣衫，将其束缚于狭隘的范围之内，则它要么凭借自身的力量挣脱枷锁、奋力前行，要么在无力做到这一点的情况下，倒退回头，循序渐进地返回其原始未开化的状态。
国王犹如其臣民的父母，臣民则是国王的子女。臣民在各方面都应仰赖国王、无保留地服从国王；而国王则应以公正无私的原则统治他们，关注其福祉，对待他们应与对待自己的亲生子女一般情深。然而，适用于个别家庭的规则，同样适用于整个社会，因为社会不过是个别家庭的集合体而已。"当儿子年满十六岁，父亲便应以朋友与平等者的身份与他相处"——若此为准则，那么幼稚的社会，难道就永远不会到达那十六岁的年龄吗？历史的证明是：在某一时期，每一个社会都会走向成熟，此时在统治权力与平民百姓之间，必将爆发激烈的冲突。社会的生命力、其扩展与文明，皆取决于它在这场冲突中的胜负。
此类革故鼎新的变革，在印度一再上演，只不过在这片土地上，它们皆以宗教的名义得以推行——因为宗教是印度的生命，宗教是这个国家的语言，是其一切运动的象征。查尔瓦卡（Charvaka）、耆那教、佛教、商羯罗（Shankara）、罗摩怒阇（Ramanuja）、卡比尔（Kabir）、那纳克（Nanak）、柴坦尼亚（Chaitanya）、梵社（Brahmo Samaj）、圣社（Arya Samaj）——凡此种种派别及其他类似教派，宗教的浪潮在前方翻腾轰鸣、汹涌奔涌，而在其后方，则跟随着社会需求的填补与满足。若一切愿望仅凭几句毫无意义的音节便可成就，那又有谁会奋力自强、历经艰辛去努力实现自己的夙愿呢？若此等痼疾侵入任何社会体系的整个肌体，那个社会便会变得懈怠，厌于任何努力，并迅速走向衰亡。因此，查尔瓦卡学派——那些仅相信感官知觉的现实、并认为此外别无他物者——的辛辣讽刺，便有其存在的理由。试问，除了那以纯正道德与哲学真理为坚定立场的耆那革命，还有什么能拯救印度社会于那浩繁礼仪主义的沉重重负之下——那几乎榨干了印度社会生命力的、包括动物祭祀在内的种种仪式？若无佛教革命，又有什么能将苦难深重的下层阶级千万民众，从强势高种姓的暴虐压迫中解救出来？当佛教随着岁月流逝而衰落，其极度纯洁与道德的品格为同样恶劣、不洁与腐化的习俗所取代，当印度社会在各路蛮族的地狱之舞中颤抖——这些蛮族凭借佛教博大包容的普世平等精神被纳入佛教怀抱——此时，商羯罗，以及后来的罗摩怒阇，相继登上历史的舞台，竭力引导社会重返昔日荣光，并重建其失落的地位。再者，一个无可置疑的事实是：若非莫卧儿时期卡比尔、那纳克与柴坦尼亚的降世，以及我们这个时代梵社与圣社的建立，那么时至今日，伊斯兰教徒与基督教徒的数量，便将远远超过现今印度的印度教徒。
能有什么比滋养丰厚的食物，更好地构建这个由各种元素组成的肉体，以及这个发出无穷思维浪涌的心灵呢？然而，若那用以支撑身体、强健心灵的食物，不能得到适当的消化吸收，身体的自然功能不能正常运作，那么这同一件事物，便会成为一切弊害的根源。
个体的生命寓于整体的生命之中，个体的幸福寓于整体的幸福之中；脱离整体，个体的存在便不可想象——这是一条永恒的真理，是宇宙赖以建立的基石。朝着无限的整体缓缓前进，与之保持深切而强烈的同情与同一之感，随其喜而欢乐，随其苦而哀伤，这是个体唯一的职责所在。这不仅是其职责；违背这一准则即是其死亡，而遵循这一伟大真理则通向永生不死。这是自然法则，又有谁能在她那无时不在的明察秋毫的双眼前迷惑欺骗？任何人都无法愚弄社会、长久欺骗它。无论社会的表面积累了多少垃圾与泥污——然而，在那堆积之下的深处，社会的生命气息始终在跳动，伴随着宇宙大爱与无私慈悲的震颤而悸动。社会如同大地，默然承受着无休止的骚扰；然而她终有一天会觉醒，不管这一天来得多么迟缓，那觉醒的震颤之力，将把在漫长岁月的忍耐与沉默中积累起来的自私卑劣的污垢，抛掷于远处！
我们无视这崇高的真理；尽管我们为自己的愚蠢一再遭受千般苦难，却仍在荒谬的痴愚中，被我们内心的兽性所驱使，不肯相信它。我们试图欺骗他人，却千百次发现自己反被欺骗，然而仍不肯罢手！我们如此疯狂，竟幻想自己能够凌驾于自然之上！以我们短视的目光，我们认为不惜一切代价维护自我，便是生命的全部意义与终极目的。
智慧、知识、财富、人才、力量、英勇，以及自然汇聚于我们身上所赐予的一切，都只是为了在需要的时刻广泛流布与传播。我们常常忘记这一事实，在这些受托的储藏物上盖上"仅属于我"的印记，与此同时，我们便播下了自身毁灭的种子！
那汇聚了其全体臣民力量的国王，很快便忘记了那些力量之所以储存于他身上，是为了让他将其增益，并以千倍的效能归还，以便它们能扩布于整个社会、造福众生。他将一切神性归于自身，在骄傲中，如国王毗那（Vena）一般，将其他人视为应当在他面前卑躬屈膝的可怜庶民；任何对其意志的反对，无论善恶与否，对其臣民而言都是大罪。于是压迫取代了保护，吸血取代了维护。若社会积弱不振，便会无声地忍受国王的一切恶行，而自然的后果是，国王与其子民一同每况愈下，跌入最为卑下的境地，进而成为任何比自己强大的国家的猎物。若社会健康强盛，国王与臣民之间便很快爆发激烈的争斗，在其反动与激荡中，权杖与王冠被抛落；宝座与王室器物，便如博物馆回廊中保存的陈年古迹一般。
这场争斗的结果——作为其反动——便是吠舍（Vaishya）这一强大力量的登场，在其愤怒的目光下，戴冠的君王、英雄的主宰们，在宝座上颤抖如白杨树叶——穷人与王侯皆殷切追随其后，期待从他手中那宝瓶中得到黄金，然而那宝瓶如同坦塔罗斯（Tantalus）的果实，始终从人的掌握中退缩而去。
婆罗门说："学识是一切权力之中最高的权力；那学识依赖于我，我掌握着那学识，所以社会必须听从我的吩咐。"有些日子确实如此。刹帝利说："没有我的刀剑之力，婆罗门啊，你的满腹经纶又有何用？你顷刻间便会被从地球表面抹去。只有我才是至尊。"熊熊燃烧的宝剑从铮铮剑鞘中飞出——社会低首俯首，谦卑地承认了这一点。就连学问的崇拜者，也首先成了国王的崇拜者。吠舍此刻正在说："你们这些疯子！你们所称的那光辉普照之神，就在此处，在我的手中——这永恒闪耀的黄金，这无所不能的主宰。看！凭借其恩泽，我同样无所不能。婆罗门啊！即便现在，我也将凭借其恩泽，买下你全部的智慧、学识、祈祷与冥想。而伟大的国王啊！你的刀剑、武器、勇气与神威，也将借助我黄金的恩泽，很快被用于实现我所欲求的目标。你们看到那些高大宽阔的磨坊了吗？那些是我的蜂巢。看，数以百万计的蜜蜂——首陀罗（Shudras）——如何不停地为那些蜂巢采集蜂蜜。你知道是为了谁吗？为了我，这个我，我在适当的时候，将把其中的每一滴都榨取出来，供我自己使用与获利。"
正如在婆罗门与刹帝利的优势统治下，分别出现了知识的集中与文明的进步；吠舍主导的结果，则是财富的积累。吠舍的权力在于拥有那枚金币——其叮当悦耳的声音，以难以抗拒的迷惑力，作用于四个种姓的心灵。吠舍时刻忧虑婆罗门会将他从这唯一的财物中骗取，并担心刹帝利凭借其卓越的武力将其夺走。出于自我保护，吠舍作为整体因此同心一致。吠舍掌控着货币；他可以为他人使用货币而索取的高额利息，如同握着鞭子，是他强大的武器，令众人心生畏惧。凭借金钱的力量，他时刻忙于遏制王权。商人时刻警惕着，不让王权以任何方式阻碍财富的流入。然而，尽管如此，他却从未有丝毫的意愿，让权力从王族转移到首陀罗阶级手中。
商人足迹能不到达哪个国家？虽然他自身或许知识匮乏，却经营着贸易，将一个国家的学识、智慧、艺术与科学移植到另一个国家。在婆罗门与刹帝利统治时期，积聚于社会肌体内核的智慧、文明与艺术，正通过吠舍的商业动脉，向不同的市场之地传播四方。若非这股吠舍力量的兴起，谁又能在今天将世界一端的文化、学识、才能以及食物与奢侈品，搬运到另一端呢？
那些仅凭其体力劳动，婆罗门的影响、刹帝利的武勇与吠舍的财富方才成为可能的人们，他们又在哪里？那些在一切时代、一切国家都被称为"贱民"的人——那些真正构成社会之主体的人——他们的历史是什么？对于他们，仁慈的印度所规定的温和惩罚，是"割去其舌头，剁去其肉"，以及其他同类的处置，仅仅因为他们胆敢试图分享被高级种姓所垄断的知识与智慧——那些印度的"行尸走肉"与其他国家的"驮兽"——首陀罗，他们在生活中的命运又是什么？何须我专门谈论印度！且不说她的首陀罗阶级，就连她那本属获取经典知识之职责的婆罗门，如今都是外国的教授；她的刹帝利，是那统治印度的英国人；而吠舍，也是那骨子里天生便有贸易本能的英国人；如此一来，只剩下首陀罗性——驮兽性——留存于印度人自己的身上了。
此刻，一片不透明的黑暗同等地笼罩着我们所有人。如今，既无坚定的目标与志向，也无大胆进取的精神，既无内心的勇气，也无心灵的力量，既无对他人欺凌的厌恶，也无对奴役的嫌弃，既无心中的热爱、希望，也无男子气概；然而我们在印度所拥有的，只是彼此之间根深蒂固的嫉妒与强烈的对立，以不正当手段毁灭弱者的病态欲望，以及对强者如狗一般舔舐其脚趾的奴颜婢膝。如今，最高的满足感体现在财富与权力的炫耀之上，虔诚体现在自我满足之中，智慧体现在积累转瞬即逝之物之上，瑜伽（Yoga）体现在恶心可憎的魔鬼行径之中，劳作体现在对他人的奴役之中，文明体现在对外国人的卑劣模仿之中，雄辩体现在使用辱骂性的语言之中，文学的成就体现在对富人的无耻奉承，或在充斥骇人秽亵之物的传播之中！对于一个全体国民实际上已沦落至首陀罗水平的国家，何须另行专谈其特定的首陀罗阶级呢？在印度以外其他国家的首陀罗，看来已稍有觉醒，然而他们缺乏适当的教育，并且只有同阶层之人互相仇视——这是首陀罗的共同特性。即便他们在人数上远远超过其他阶级，又有何益处？那种能使十人凝聚百万之力的团结，对于首陀罗而言，尚遥不可及；因此，依照自然法则，首陀罗不可避免地始终构成臣属的种族。
然而，尚有希望。在历史宏大的进程中，婆罗门及其他高级种姓也正被降落至首陀罗的较低地位，而首陀罗则正在被提升至较高的等级。欧洲，昔日为罗马所奴役的首陀罗之地，如今已充满了刹帝利的英勇之气。就在我们眼前，强大的中国正以快速的步伐走向首陀罗化，而微不足道的日本，则如火箭般猛然跃起，正在抛去其首陀罗的性质，逐步侵夺高等种姓的权利。现代希腊与意大利向刹帝利地位的攀升，以及土耳其、西班牙及其他国家的衰落，也都值得在此加以关注。
然而，终有一天，首陀罗阶级将以其首陀罗本性崛起；也就是说，并非如现今这般，首陀罗通过获取吠舍或刹帝利的特性而变得伟大，而是将有这样一个时代到来：每个国家的首陀罗，凭借其与生俱来的首陀罗本性与习惯——并非在本质上成为吠舍或刹帝利，而是以首陀罗本色——将在每一个社会中获得绝对的最高权力。这股新兴力量破晓的第一缕曙光，已开始缓缓照耀于西方世界，思考深远者对这一新现象的最终走向，已感到困惑茫然、不知所措。社会主义、无政府主义、虚无主义及其他类似派别，是即将来临的社会革命的先锋。由于自古以来的压榨与暴政，首陀罗通常要么是卑劣的老朽，像狗一般舔舐高级阶层的脚趾；要么则如禽兽般冷酷无情。再者，他们的希望与抱负在任何时候都屡遭挫败；因此，他们缺乏坚定的目标与持之以恒的行动力。
尽管西方教育广泛传播，然而首陀罗阶级的崛起，仍有一大障碍横亘其前，那便是：种姓被认定为由程度不同的善性与恶性所决定。正是这种在古代印度盛行的品性种姓制度，将首陀罗阶级束手束脚地压制。首先，几乎没有给予首陀罗任何积累财富或获取适当知识与教育的机会；加之这一不利处境，若首陀罗阶级中一旦诞生了才能出众的人杰，社会上有影响力的高层部分便立即向其赐予荣衔，并将其纳入自己的圈子。他的财富与智慧的力量，被用于一个异己种姓的利益——他自己种姓的人却未能从其成就中获益；非但如此，高级种姓中那些无用之人，社会的渣滓与废物，则被摒弃并抛入首陀罗阶级，以充其人数。毗湿奢勒（Vasishtha）、那拉陀（Narada）、萨提亚卡玛·贾巴拉（Satyakama Jabala）、毗耶娑（Vyasa）、慈悲（Kripa）、德罗纳（Drona）、迦尔纳（Karna）以及其他出身可疑者，凭借其出众的学识或英勇而被提升至婆罗门或刹帝利的地位；然而那妓女、女仆、渔夫或车夫阶级究竟从这些提升中获益几何，尚有待考究。另一方面，从婆罗门、刹帝利或吠舍阶级沦落之人，则始终被降入首陀罗的行列。
在现代印度，无论哪个出生于首陀罗父母的人，无论是百万富翁还是博学的梵学家，都从未有权离开其自身的社会圈子；其结果是，他的财富、才智或智慧的力量，始终局限于其本种姓的范围之内，并被用于改善其本社群的处境。印度这种世袭种姓制度，由于如此这般地无法逾越自身的界限，正在缓慢而确实地促进在同一圈子内运动之人的进步。印度低级阶层的改善，将以此种方式持续推进，只要印度置于一个对待其子民不论种姓与地位的政府管辖之下。
无论社会的领导权掌握在垄断学识、控制财富，还是手握武力的人手中，其权力的源泉始终是广大的平民群众。某个统治阶级与这一源泉愈是割裂疏离，其衰弱便愈是必然。然而，造化弄人，摩耶（Maya）的运作何其奇异：那些直接或间接地、无论是通过欺骗、策略、强力，还是自愿奉献，为统治阶级供给权力的平民大众，很快便不再被统治阶级所重视。当祭司权力在历程中彻底疏离于平民大众——其权力的真正发电机——之时，它便被当时以平民力量为依托的王权所推翻；而王权自以为已完全独立，在自身与平民之间制造了巨大的鸿沟，结果只是被吠舍所摧毁，或沦为吠舍手中的傀儡——吠舍如今成功地确保了与更大范围平民群众相对更多的合作。吠舍已达到其目的；因此，他们不再屈尊仰赖平民的帮助，并尽力与他们划清界限；于是，这股权力之毁灭的种子，也在此得以播下。
尽管平民大众本身是一切权力的储藏之所，然而彼此之间制造着永恒的隔阂，他们已被剥夺了其一切应有的权利；而只要这种关系持续存在，他们便将依旧如此。
共同的危险，有时是共同的仇恨或爱，是将人们凝聚在一起的纽带。同样的法则将猛禽结成群，也将人们联合成一个整体，形成其自身的种姓或民族。对本族与本国的热烈之爱，以对他方的强烈仇恨为表现形式——如希腊对波斯、罗马对迦太基、阿拉伯人对异教徒、西班牙对摩尔人、法国对西班牙、英德两国对法国、美国对英国——无疑是促使一个民族通过团结对抗他方而超越另一个民族的主要原因之一。
自爱是自我牺牲的第一位导师。正是为了维护个体的利益，人们才首先关注整体的福祉。在本民族的利益中寓含着自身的利益；在本民族的安康中寓含着自身的安康。没有众多人的合作，大多数事业都根本无法进行——就连自我防卫也成为不可能之事。为保护这种自身利益而相互协助、携手同行的现象，在每一个民族、每一片土地上都可见到。当然，这种自身利益的外延范围，因不同的人而有所差异。对于印度人而言，能够繁衍生息，有机会以某种方式过着颠沛流离的生存，并在此之上，使高种姓的宗教追求不受任何妨碍的条件，乃是最高的利益与获得！对于现代印度而言，再也没有比这更可寻觅的希望了；这是印度生命阶梯的最后一级台阶！
印度目前的政府，有其附带的弊端，也有一些非常伟大而美好的方面。其最大的益处在于：从巴特里普特拉（Pataliputra）帝国的覆灭至今，印度从未处于如英国这般强大的政府机器的引导之下，这部机器在整片大地的纵横之间挥舞着权杖。在这吠舍统治之下，由于吠舍天性中与生俱来的刻苦进取精神，贸易的商品正从世界的一端被运往另一端；与此同时，作为其自然的延伸，不同国家的思想与观念也正在强行渗入印度的骨髓之中。在这些思想与观念中，有些对她来说确实大有裨益，有些则有害，另一些则揭示了外国人在判断什么对这个国家的居民真正有益方面的无知与无力。
然而，穿透种种善恶的厚重之中，可以看到印度未来繁荣的确切象征正在升起——那便是：作为她自身古老的民族理想与外国新引入的陌生思想两者之间，相互作用与反应的结果，她正从漫长深沉的睡眠中，缓慢而温和地觉醒。她会犯错，且由她去：这并无大碍；在我们的一切行动中，错误与失误是我们唯一的导师。只有犯错之人，才能走上真理之途。树木从不犯错，石头也不会误入歧途；动物几乎不会被看见违背自然固定的法则；然而人易于犯错，正是人成为地上之神。倘若我们从摇篮到死床的每一个举动，从拂晓起身到深夜就寝的每一个念头，皆由他人为我们详细规定，并以国王之剑的威胁来迫使我们服从那些规定的框架之内——那么，留给我们自行独立思考的空间还有什么？是什么使一个人成为天才、成为智者？难道不正是因为他思考、推理、意志吗？缺乏锻炼，深思的能力便会丧失。惰性（Tamas）盛行，心灵变得迟钝麻木，精神被降落至物质的层次。然而，即便时至今日，每一位宗教宣教者、每一位社会领袖，都急于为社会的引导制定新的法律与规章！这个国家难道还缺少规则吗？难道它还不够多吗？在规则的压迫下，整个民族正濒临覆灭——又有谁停下来理解这一切？
在专制而任意的君主制度下，被征服的种族不会受到统治权力如此深重的轻蔑。在这种专制政府下，所有臣民的权利平等，换言之，没有人有权质疑或控制统治当局。因此，种姓特权及诸如此类的余地便所剩无几。然而，当君主制受到统治种族的声音所制约，或共和制度统治着被征服的种族之时，统治者与被统治者之间便产生了巨大的距离；若那权力的绝大部分，能够全然用于被统治阶级的福祉，本可在短期内对他们大有裨益，却被政府浪费在其试图将臣属种族置于完全掌控之下的努力与举措中。正是出于这一原因，在罗马帝制之下，外邦臣民比在罗马共和国时代更为幸福。正是出于同样的原因，圣保罗——这位基督教使徒，尽管出生于被征服的犹太种族，却获得了上诉罗马皇帝凯撒（Caesar）以裁决对他所提指控的许可。或许某个个别的英国人会称我们为"土著"或称某种歧视性蔑称，并将我们视为未开化的野蛮人而加以憎恨，然而我们并不因此得失。我们自己，由于种姓的区分，彼此之间便有着远为强烈的仇恨与鄙视之情；又有谁能说，婆罗门若有某个愚蠢而昏昧的刹帝利国王站在自己一边，便不会再度"慷慨地"尝试"割去首陀罗的舌头、砍去他们的四肢"？近来在东部雅利安地区，不同种姓的人们似乎开始在相互之间培育一种团结的同情感，以期改善其当前的社会处境——在马哈拉施特拉地区，婆罗门已开始为"马拉塔"（Maratha）种族高唱颂歌——这一切，低级种姓仍无法相信是出于纯粹的无私公义。
然而，英国公众的心中正逐渐形成这样一种观念：印度帝国从其掌控中的流失，将对英国民族造成迫在眉睫的危险，并导致其毁灭。因此，无论以何种手段，英国在印度的霸权必须得到维持。他们认为，实现这一目的的方式，是在每一个印度人心中保持英国民族强大的威望与荣耀至于最高位置。观察到这种荒谬可笑而又令人痛心的情绪在英国人之间逐渐蔓延，以及他们如何稳步扩大其实践这种情绪的行动方式，实在令人忍俊不禁而又黯然神伤。在印度的英国人似乎忘记了：只要那种坚毅、那种坚忍、那种英国人赢得这个印度帝国所凭藉的强烈民族统一目标——以及那借助科学之助的常备商业天才，甚至将财富之母印度也变成英国主要集市——只要这些特质不被从其民族生活中消除，他们在印度的宝座便是牢不可撼的。只要这些品质仍内在于英国的民族性格之中，即便失去千千万万个这样的印度帝国，也将再度赢回千千万万个。然而，若这些品质之流的流淌受到阻碍，一个帝国仅凭炫耀英国的威望与荣耀便能被治理吗？因此，在英国民族身上这些卓越的性格特质仍居主导地位之时，耗费如此之多的精力与力量仅仅为了维护毫无意义的"威望"，是完全徒劳的。若那种力量被用于造福臣民百姓，那对于统治与被统治两个种族而言，无疑都将是巨大的收益。
前文已言，印度正通过与外部民族的摩擦而缓缓觉醒；这一小小觉醒的结果之一，便是在现代印度出现了某种程度的自由与独立思想。一方面，是现代西方科学，以万千太阳的光辉炫目耀眼，驾驭着由切实的力量直接作用于实物所收集的铁一般的事实之战车；另一方面，则是她古老先祖的充满希望与振奋精神的传统——那是她身处荣耀巅峰之时代的传统——由她本土与海外的伟大智者从她的历史页章中发掘出来的传统，这传统穿越无数岁月与世纪，以汲取自宇宙大爱的生命气息贯穿她的每一条血脉——揭示着无与伦比的英勇、超人的天才与至高精神性的传统，令天神为之嫉妒——这些传统以对未来的希望激励着她。一方面，彻底的物质主义、财富的充裕、巨大权力的积累以及强烈的感官追求，通过外国文学引发了巨大的震荡；另一方面，透过这一切不和谐的喧嚣，她在低沉却清晰可辨的声音中，听到了她古老诸神心碎的哭泣，直刺她的内心深处。摆在她面前的，是从西方引进的种种奇异的奢靡——天堂般的饮品、精心侍奉的美食、华丽的服饰、宏伟的宫殿、新式的交通工具、新风尚、新时尚，披挂其上的受过良好教育的女子无拘无束地来去自如——这一切正在唤起前所未有的欲望。而后，景象转换，代之以严峻的风姿出现的，是悉多（Sita）、萨维特里（Savitri）、严格的宗教誓约、斋戒、林间隐居、半裸的游方僧那蓬乱的发辫与橙色的袍服、三摩地以及对真我的探求。一方面，是以自身利益为基础的西方社会的独立精神；另一方面，是雅利安社会极度的自我牺牲。在这激烈的冲突中，印度社会被颠簸摇荡，岂足为奇？对于西方而言，目标是个体的独立，语言是谋利的教育，手段是政治；对于印度而言，目标是解脱（Moksha），语言是吠陀（Vedas），手段是弃绝。一时之间，现代印度仿佛在心中想道：我正在徒然虚耗自己的世间生活，以期那迷惑我心的未来不确定精神福祉；然而转眼之间，她又着了魔似地凝神聆听——
一方面，新印度正在说："我们应当在选择丈夫与妻子方面拥有充分的自由；因为婚姻关系涉及我们未来生命全部的幸福与痛苦，我们必须有权根据自己的自由意志来决定。"另一方面，旧印度正在训诫："婚姻不是为了感官享乐，而是为了延续种族。这是印度对婚姻的理解。通过生育子女，你正在对社会未来的善恶做出贡献，并为之承担责任。因此社会有权规定你应当与谁结婚，不应与谁结婚。在社会中存续的婚姻形式，是最有利于其福祉的；你应当为众人之善而放弃你的个人快乐之欲。"
一方面，新印度正在说："如果我们采纳西方的思想、西方的语言、西方的食物、西方的服饰与西方的举止，我们就会像西方国家一样强大而有力"；另一方面，旧印度正在说："蠢货！凭借模仿，他人的思想永远成不了自己的东西；任何未经自身努力赢得的东西，都不是你的。穿上狮皮的驴，能成为狮子吗？"
一方面，新印度正在说："西方国家所做的事情，必定是好的，否则他们怎么能变得如此伟大？"另一方面，旧印度正在说："闪电的光焰极为明亮，却只是刹那间的事；孩子们，当心，那光焰正在使你们的双眼炫目。小心！"
难道我们就没有需要向西方学习的东西了吗？难道我们就不需要为更美好的事物而奋力进取吗？我们是完美的吗？我们的社会是完全无瑕、毫无缺陷的吗？有许多东西是需要学习的，我们必须为新的、更高的事物奋斗到生命终结——奋斗是人类生命的终极目的。罗摩克里希纳（Sri Ramakrishna）曾说："只要我活着，我就继续学习。"那个再没有什么可学的人或社会，已经处于死亡的颌下。是的，我们必须从西方学习许多东西：然而，也有令人忧虑之处。
有一个理解力浅薄的年轻人，习惯于在罗摩克里希纳面前批评印度的经典（Shastras）。有一天他赞美了薄伽梵歌（Bhagavad Gita），对此罗摩克里希纳说："我想，某位欧洲梵学家一定称赞了薄伽梵歌，所以他也随声附和。"
啊，印度，这便是你可怖的危险所在。模仿西方的魔咒对你的控制愈来愈强，以至于何为善、何为恶，不再依凭理性、判断力、辨别力或经典的参照来决定。无论白人赞美或喜爱的想法与举止，都是好的；凡他们不喜欢或责难的事物，都是坏的。可悲啊！还有什么能比这更明显地证明愚蠢呢？
西方女士到处自由行走，因此这是好的；她们自行选择丈夫，因此这是进步的最高阶梯；西方人不赞成我们的服装、装饰、饮食与生活方式，因此它们一定非常糟糕；西方人谴责偶像崇拜为罪恶，那么偶像崇拜必定是最大的罪孽，毫无疑问！
西方人说，崇拜单一神灵能带来最高的精神善益，因此让我们将诸神诸女神投入恒河（Ganga）！西方人认为种姓区分令人厌恶，因此让各种不同的种姓混合为一！西方人说童婚是一切弊害的根源，因此那也肯定非常糟糕，这是确定无疑的！
我们在此并非讨论这些习俗是否值得延续或应予废除；但是，若仅仅是西方人的不赞成，便成为衡量我们习俗与风尚恶劣程度的标准，那么我们有义务对此提出强烈的抗议。
本文作者对西方社会有着相当程度的亲身经历。这种经历所形成的信念是：西方社会与印度社会之间，在各自的根本走向与目标上，存在着如此巨大的分歧，以至于任何仿照西方模式建立的印度教派，都将偏离其目标。我们对那些从未在西方社会中生活过、因而对那里男女交往的规则与禁忌完全无知的人——正是这些规则与禁忌如同防护屏障，维护着西方女性的纯洁——却放任我们社会中男女之间不受限制的随意交往者，毫无同情可言。
我也在西方观察到：较弱国家的孩子，若生于英国，便自称为英国人，而非希腊人、葡萄牙人、西班牙人等。一切皆趋附于强者。那在荣耀者身上闪耀的荣光，能以某种方式落在并反映于自己的身上——亦即，借助伟大者的光辉而发光——这是弱者唯一的渴望。当我看到穿着欧洲服装与服饰的印度人时，我心中涌起这样一个念头：也许他们觉得羞于承认自己的民族身份，以及与那些无知、贫穷、不识字、被踩踏在地的印度人的同胞情谊！在印度教徒的血液滋养下生活了过去十四个世纪的帕西人，已不再是"土著"了！在那些无种姓之人——那些自命为婆罗门并以此自我标榜者——的傲慢面前，古老的、英勇的、出身高贵的婆罗门那真正的高贵，消融于虚无！再者，如今西方人已教导我们说，那些愚昧无知、低种姓的印度千万民众，仅披着缠腰布的他们，是非雅利安人。因此，他们不再是我们的骨肉同胞了！
啊，印度！仅凭这种对他人的附和回响，仅凭这种对他人的卑劣模仿，仅凭这种对他人的依赖，这种奴性的软弱，这种卑劣可憎的残忍——你难道指望仅凭这些筹备，便能攀登文明与伟大的最高峰吗？你难道指望凭借你那令人蒙羞的怯懦，赢得只配勇敢者与英雄所有的那种自由吗？啊，印度！莫忘你女性理想是悉多（Sita）、萨维特里（Savitri）、达玛扬蒂（Damayanti）；莫忘你所崇拜的神，是那苦行者中至高的苦行者，那全然弃绝的商羯罗，乌玛（Uma）之主；莫忘你的婚姻、你的财富、你的生命，都不是为了感官享乐，都不是为了你个人的幸福；莫忘你是生而为了在母亲的祭坛上作一份祭品；莫忘你的社会秩序，不过是无限宇宙母性的映现；莫忘那低级阶层的人们——那无知的、贫穷的、不识字的人，那补鞋匠，那清道夫——是你的血与肉，是你的兄弟。你，勇敢者，要大胆，要有勇气，要以身为印度人为荣，并自豪地宣告："我是印度人，每一个印度人都是我的兄弟。"说："那无知的印度人，那贫穷困苦的印度人，那婆罗门印度人，那不可接触者（Pariah）印度人，是我的兄弟。"你，也不过是腰间缠着一块布的你，请在最高声处自豪地宣告："印度人是我的兄弟，印度人是我的生命，印度的神明与女神是我的神明。印度的社会是我幼年的摇篮，我青春的乐园，我暮年神圣的天堂，我的瓦拉纳西（Varanasi）。"说，兄弟："印度的土地是我最高的天堂，印度的福祉是我的福祉"，并日日夜夜反复祈祷："哦，高丽（Gauri）之主啊，哦，宇宙之母啊，恳求赐予我男子气概！哦，力量之母啊，夺去我的软弱，夺去我的懦弱，使我成为一个真正的人！"
注释
English
MODERN INDIA
(Translated from a Bengali contribution to the Udbodhana, March 1899)
The Vedic priests base their superior strength on the knowledge of the sacrificial Mantras. By the power of these Mantras, the Devas are made to come down from their heavenly abodes, accept the drink and food offerings, and grant the prayers of the Yajamânas. The kings as well as their subjects are, therefore, looking up to these priests for their welfare during their earthly life. Raja Soma is worshipped by the priest and is made to thrive by the power of his Mantras. As such, the Devas, whose favourite food is the juice of the Soma plant offered in oblation by the priest, are always kind to him and bestow his desired boons. Thus strengthened by divine grace, he defies all human opposition; for what can the power of mortals do against that of the gods? Even the king, the centre of all earthly power, is a supplicant at his door. A kind look from him is the greatest help; his mere blessing a tribute to the State, pre-eminent above everything else.
Now commanding the king to be engaged in affairs fraught with death and ruin, now standing by him as his fastest friend with kind and wise counsels, now spreading the net of subtle, diplomatic statesmanship in which the king is easily caught — the priest is seen, oftentimes, to make the royal power totally subservient to him. Above all, the worst fear is in the knowledge that the name and fame of the royal forefathers and of himself and his family lie at the mercy of the priest's pen. He is the historian. The king might have paramount power; attaining a great glory in his reign, he might prove himself as the father and mother in one to his subjects; but if the priest is not appeased, his sun of glory goes down with his last breath for ever; all his worth and usefulness deserving of universal approbation are lost in the great womb of time, like unto the fall of gentle dew on the ocean. Others who inaugurated the huge sacrifices lasting over many years, the performers of the Ashvamedha and so on — those who showered, like incessant rain in the rainy season, countless wealth on the priests — their names, thanks to the grace of priests, are emblazoned in the pages of history. The name of Priyadarshi Dharmâshoka, the beloved of the gods, is nothing but a name in the priestly world, while Janamejaya, son of Parikshit, is a household word in every Hindu family.
To protect the State, to meet the expenses of the personal comforts and luxuries of himself and his long retinue, and, above all, to fill to overflowing the coffers of the all-powerful priesthood for its propitiation, the king is continually draining the resources of his subjects, even as the sun sucks up moisture from the earth. His especial prey — his milch cows — are the Vaishyas.
Neither under the Hindu kings, nor under the Buddhist rule, do we find the common subject-people taking any part in expressing their voice in the affairs of the State. True, Yudhishthira visits the houses of Vaishyas and even Shudras when he is in Vâranâvata; true, the subjects are praying for the installation of Râmachandra to the regency of Ayodhyâ; nay, they are even criticising the conduct of Sitâ and secretly making plans for the bringing about of her exile: but as a recognised rule of the State they have no direct voice in the supreme government. The power of the populace is struggling to express itself in indirect and disorderly ways without any method. The people have not as yet the conscious knowledge of the existence of this power. There is neither the attempt on their part to organise it into a united action, nor have they got the will to do so; there is also a complete absence of that capacity, that skill, by means of which small and incoherent centres of force are united together, creating insuperable strength as their resultant.
Is this due to want of proper laws? — no, that is not it. There are laws, there are methods, separately and distinctly assigned for the guidance of different departments of government, there are laws laid down in the minutest detail for everything, such as the collection of revenue, the management of the army, the administration of justice, punishments and rewards. But at the root of all, is the injunction of the Rishi — the word of divine authority, the revelation of God coming through the inspired Rishi. The laws have, it can almost be said, no elasticity in them. Under the circumstances, it is never possible for the people to acquire any sort of education by which they can learn to combine among themselves and be united for the accomplishment of any object for the common good of the people, or by which they can have the concerted intellect to conceive the idea of popular right in the treasures collected by the king from his subjects, or even such education by which they can be fired with the aspiration to gain the right of representation in the control of State revenues and expenditure. Why should they do such things? Is not the inspiration of the Rishi responsible for their prosperity and progress?
Again, all those laws are in books. Between laws as codified in books and their operation in practical life, there is a world of difference. One Ramachandra is born after thousands of Agnivarnas pass away! Many kings show us the life of Chandâshoka ; Dharmâshokas are rare! The number of kings like Akbar, in whom the subjects find their life, is far less than that of kings like Aurangzeb who live on the blood of their people!
Even if the kings be of as godlike nature as that of Yudhishthira, Ramachandra, Dharmashoka, or Akbar under whose benign rule the people enjoyed safety and prosperity, and were looked after with paternal care by their rulers, the hand of him who is always fed by another gradually loses the power of taking the food to his mouth. His power of self-preservation can never become fully manifest who is always protected in every respect by another. Even the strongest youth remains but a child if he is always looked after as a child by his parents. Being always governed by kings of godlike nature, to whom is left the whole duty of protecting and providing for the people, they can never get any occasion for understanding the principles of self-government. Such a nation, being entirely dependent on the king for everything and never caring to exert itself for the common good or for self-defence, becomes gradually destitute of inherent energy and strength. If this state of dependence and protection continues long, it becomes the cause of the destruction of the nation, and its ruin is not far to seek.
Of course, it can be reasonably concluded that, when the government a country, is guided by codes of laws enjoined by Shâstras which are the outcome of knowledge inspired by the divine genius of great sages, such a government must lead to the unbroken welfare of the rich and the poor, the wise and the ignorant, the king and the subjects alike. But we have seen already how far the operation of those laws was, or may be, possible in practical life. The voice of the ruled in the government of their land — which is the watchword of the modern Western world, and of which the last expression has been echoed with a thundering voice in the Declaration of the American Government, in the words, "That the government of the people of this country must be by the people and for the good of the people" — cannot however be said to have been totally unrecognised in ancient India. The Greek travellers and others saw many independent small States scattered all over this country, and references are also found to this effect in many places of the Buddhistic literature. And there cannot be the least doubt about it that the germ of self-government was at least present in the shape of the village Panchâyat, which is still to be found in existence in many places of India. But the germ remained for ever the germ; the seed though put in the ground never grew into a tree. This idea of self-government never passed beyond the embryo state of the village Panchayat system and never spread into society at large.
In the religious communities, among Sannyasins in the Buddhist monasteries, we have ample evidence to show that self-government was fully developed. Even now, one wonders to see how the power of the Panchayat system of the principles of self-government, is working amongst the Nâgâ Sannyasins — what deep respect the "Government by the Five" commands from them, what effective individual rights each Naga can exercise within his own sect, what excellent working of the power of organisation and concerted action they have among themselves!
With the deluge which swept the land at the advent of Buddhism, the priestly power fell into decay and the royal power was in the ascendant. Buddhist priests are renouncers of the world, living in monasteries as homeless ascetics, unconcerned with secular affairs. They have neither the will nor the endeavour to bring and keep the royal power under their control through the threat of curses or magic arrows. Even if there were any remnant of such a will, its fulfilment has now become an impossibility. For Buddhism has shaken the thrones of all the oblation-eating gods and brought them down from their heavenly positions. The state of being a Buddha is superior to the heavenly positions of many a Brahmâ or an Indra, who vie with each other in offering their worship at the feet of the Buddha, the God-man! And to this Buddhahood, every man has the privilege to attain; it is open to all even in this life. From the descent of the gods, as a natural consequence, the superiority of the priests who were supported by them is gone.
Accordingly, the reins of that mighty sacrificial horse — the royal power — are no longer held in the firm grasp of the Vedic priest; and being now free, it can roam anywhere by its unbridled will. The centre of power in this period is neither with the priests chanting the Sâma hymns and performing the Yajnas according to the Yajur-Veda; nor is the power vested in the hands of Kshatriya kings separated from each other and ruling over small independent States. But the centre of power in this age is in emperors whose unobstructed sway extend over vast areas bounded by the ocean, covering the whole of India from one end to the other. The leaders of this age are no longer Vishvâmitra or Vasishtha, but emperors like Chandragupta, Dharmashoka, and others. There never were emperors who ascended the throne of India and led her to the pinnacle of her glory such as those lords of the earth who ruled over her in paramount sway during the Buddhistic period. The end of this period is characterised by the appearance of Râjput power on the scene and the rise of modern Hinduism. With the rise of Rajput power, on the decline of Buddhism, the sceptre of the Indian empire, dislodged from its paramount power, was again broken into a thousand pieces and wielded by small powerless hands. At this time, the Brâhminical (priestly) power again succeeded in raising its head, not as an adversary as before, but this time as an auxiliary to the royal supremacy.
During this revolution, that perpetual struggle for supremacy between the priestly and the royal classes, which began from the Vedic times and continued through ages till it reached its climax at the time of the Jain and Buddhist revolutions, has ceased for ever. Now these two mighty powers are friendly to each other; but neither is there any more that glorious Kshatra (warlike) velour of the kings, nor that spiritual brilliance which characterised the Brahmins; each has lost his former intrinsic strength. As might be expected, this new union of the two forces was soon engaged in the satisfaction of mutual self-interests, and became dissipated by spending its vitality on extirpating their common opponents, especially the Buddhists of the time, and on similar other deeds. Being steeped in all the vices consequent on such a union, e.g., the sucking of the blood of the masses, taking revenge on the enemy, spoliation of others' property, etc., they in vain tried to imitate the Râjasuya and other Vedic sacrifices of the ancient kings, and only made a ridiculous farce of them. The result was that they were bound hand and foot by a formidable train of sycophantic attendance and its obsequious flatteries, and being entangled in an interminable net of rites and ceremonies with flourishes of Mantras and the like, they soon became a cheap and ready prey to the Mohammeden invaders from the West.
That priestly power which began its strife for superiority with the royal power from the Vedic times and continued it down the ages, that hostility against the Kshatra power, Bhagavân Shri Krishna succeeded by his super-human genius in putting a stop to, at least for the tired being, during his earthly existence. That Brâhmanya power was almost effaced from its field of work in India during the Jain and Buddhist revolutions, or, perhaps, was holding its feeble stand by being subservient to the strong antagonistic religions. That Brahmanya power, since this appearance of Rajput power, which held sway over India under the Mihira dynasty and others, made its last effort to recover its lost greatness; and in its effort to establish that supremacy, it sold itself at the feet of the fierce hordes of barbarians newly come from Central Asia, and to win their pleasure introduced in the land their hateful manners and customs. Moreover, it, the Brahmanya; power, solely devoting itself to the easy means to dupe ignorant barbarians, brought into vogue mysterious rites and ceremonies backed by its new Mantras and the like; and in doing so, itself lost its former wisdom, its former vigour and vitality, and its own chaste habits of long acquirement. Thus it turned the whole Âryâvarta into a deep and vast whirlpool of the most vicious, the most horrible, the most abominable, barbarous customs; and as the inevitable consequence of countenancing these detestable customs and superstitions, it soon lost all its own internal strength and stamina and became the weakest of the weak. What wonder that it should be broken into a thousand pieces and fall at the mere touch of the storm of Mussulman invasions from the West! That great Brahmanya power fell — who knows, if ever to rise again?
The resuscitation of the priestly power under the Mussulman rule was, on the other hand, an utter impossibility. The Prophet Mohammed himself was dead against the priestly class in any shape and tried his best for the total destruction of this power by formulating rules and injunctions to that effect. Under the Mussulman rule, the king himself was the supreme priest; he was the chief guide in religious matters; and when he became the emperor, he cherished the hope of being the paramount leader in all matters over the whole Mussulman world. To the Mussulman, the Jews or the Christians are not objects of extreme detestation; they are, at the worst, men of little faith. But not so the Hindu. According to him, the Hindu is idolatrous, the hateful Kafir; hence in this life he deserves to be butchered; and in the next, eternal hell is in store for him. The utmost the Mussulman kings could do as a favour to the priestly class — the spiritual guides of these Kafirs — was to allow them somehow to pass their life silently and wait for the last moment. This was again sometimes considered too, much kindness! If the religious ardour of any king was a little more uncommon, there would immediately follow arrangements for a great Yajna by way of Kafir-slaughter!
On one side, the royal power is now centred in kings professing a different religion and given to different customs. On the other, the priestly power has been entirely displaced from its influential position as the controller and lawgiver of the society. The Koran and its code of laws have taken the place of the Dharma Shâstras of Manu and others. The Sanskrit language has made room for the Persian and the Arabic. The Sanskrit language has to remain confined only to the purely religious writings and religious matters of the conquered and detested Hindu, and, as such, has since been living a precarious life at the hands of the neglected priest. The priest himself, the relic of the Brahmanya power, fell back upon the last resource of conducting only the comparatively unimportant family ceremonies, such as the matrimonial etc., and that also only so long and as much as the mercy of the Mohammedan rulers permitted.
In the Vedic and the adjoining periods, the royal power could not manifest itself on account of the grinding pressure of the priestly power. We have seen how, during the Buddhistic revolution, resulting in the fall of the Brahminical supremacy, the royal power in India reached its culminating point. In the interval between the fall of the Buddhistic and the establishment of the Mohammedan empire, we have seen how the royal power was trying to raise its head through the Rajputs in India, and how it failed in its attempt. At the root of this failure, too, could be traced the same old endeavours of the Vedic priestly class to bring back and revive with a new life their original (ritualistic) days.
Crushing the Brahminical supremacy under his feet the Mussulman king was able to restore to a considerable extent the lost glories of such dynasties of emperors as the Maurya, the Gupta, the Andhra, and the Kshâtrapa.
Thus the priestly power — which sages like Kumârila, Shankara, and Râmânuja tried to re-establish, which for some time was supported by the sword of the Rajput power, and which tried to rebuild its structure on the fall of its Jain and Buddhist adversaries — was under Mohammedan rule laid to sleep for ever, knowing no awakening. In this period, the antagonism or warfare is not between kings and priests, but between kings and kings. At the end of this period, when Hindu power again raised its head, and, to some extent, was successful in regenerating Hinduism through the Mahrattas and the Sikhs, we do not find much play of the priestly power with these regenerations. On the contrary, when the Sikhs admitted any Brahmin into their sect, they, at first, compelled him publicly to give up his previous Brahminical signs and adopt the recognised signs of their own religion.
In this manner, after an age-long play of action and reaction between these two forces, the final victory of the royal power was echoed on the soil of India for several centuries, in the name of foreign monarchs professing an entirely different religion from the faith of the land. But at the end of this Mohammedan period, another entirely new power made its appearance on the arena and slowly began to assert its prowess in the affairs of the Indian world.
This power is so new, its nature and workings are so foreign to the Indian mind, its rise so inconceivable, and its vigour so insuperable that though it wields the suzerain power up till now, only a handful of Indians understand what this power is.
We are talking of the occupation of India by England.
From very ancient times, the fame of India's vast wealth and her rich granaries has enkindled in many powerful foreign nations the desire for conquering her. She has been, in fact, again and again conquered by foreign nations. Then why should we say that the occupation of India by England was something new and foreign to the Indian mind?
From time immemorial Indians have seen the mightiest royal power tremble before the frown of the ascetic priest, devoid of worldly desire, armed with spiritual strength — the power of Mantras (sacred formulas) and religious lore — and the weapon of curses. They have also seen the subject people silently obey the commands of their heroic all-powerful suzerains, backed by their arms and armies, like a flock of sheep before a lion. But that a handful of Vaishyas (traders) who, despite their great wealth, have ever crouched awe stricken not only before the king but also before any member of the royal family, would unite, cross for purposes of business rivers and seas, would, solely by virtue of their intelligence and wealth, by degrees make puppets of the long-established Hindu and Mohammedan dynasties; not only so, but that they would buy as well the services of the ruling powers of their own country and use their valour and learning as powerful instruments for the influx of their own riches — this is a spectacle entirely novel to the Indians, as also the spectacle that the descendants of the mighty nobility of a country, of which a proud lord, sketched by the extraordinary pen of its great poet, says to a common man, "Out, dunghill! darest thou brave a nobleman?" would, in no distant future, consider it the zenith of human ambition to be sent to India as obedient servants of a body of merchants, called The East India Company — such a sight was, indeed, a novelty unseen by India before!
According to the prevalence, in greater or lesser degree, of the three qualities of Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas in man, the four castes, the Brahmin, Kashatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra, are everywhere present at all times, in all civilised societies. By the mighty hand of time, their number and power also vary at different times in regard to different countries. In some countries the numerical strength or influence of one of these castes may preponderate over another; at some period, one of the classes may be more powerful than the rest. But from a careful study of the history of the world, it appears that in conformity to the law of nature the four castes, the Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra do, in every society, one after another in succession, govern the world.
Among the Chinese, the Sumerians, the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Chaldeans, the Areas, the Iranians, the Jews, the Arabs — among all these ancient nations, the supreme power of guiding society is, in the first period of their history, in the hands of the Brahmin or the priest. In the second period, the ruling power is the Kshatriya, that is, either absolute monarchy or oligarchical government by a chosen body of men. Among the modern Western nations, with England at their head, this power of controlling society has been, for the first time, in the hands of the Vaishyas or mercantile communities, made rich through the carrying on of commerce.
Though Troy and Carthage of ancient times and Venice and similar other small commercial States of comparatively modern times became highly powerful, yet, amongst them, there was not the real rising of the Vaishya power in the proper sense of the term.
Correctly speaking, the descendants of the royal family had the sole monopoly of the commerce of those old days by employing the common people and their servants under them to carry on the trade; and they appropriated to themselves the profits accruing from it. Excepting these few men, no one was allowed to take any part or voice an opinion even in the government of the country and kindred affairs. In the oldest countries like Egypt, the priestly power enjoyed unmolested supremacy only for a short period, after which it became subjugated to the royal power and lived as an auxiliary to it. In China, the royal power, centralised by the genius of Confucius, has been controlling and guiding the priestly power, in accordance with its absolute will, for more than twenty-five centuries; and during the last two centuries, the all-absorbing Lamas of Tibet, though they are the spiritual guides of the royal family, have been compelled to pass their days, being subject in every way to the Chinese Emperor.
In India, the royal power succeeded in conquering the priestly power and declaring its untrammelled authority long after the other ancient civilised nations had done so; and therefore the inauguration of the Indian Empire came about long after the Chinese, Egyptian, Babylonian, and other Empires had risen. It was only with the Jewish people that the royal power, though it tried hard to establish its supremacy over the priestly, had to meet a complete defeat in the attempt. Not even the Vaishyas attained the ruling power with the Jews. On the other hand, the common subject people, trying to free themselves from the shackles of priestcraft, were crushed to death under the internal commotion of adverse religious movements like Christianity and the external pressure of the mighty Roman Empire.
As in the ancient days the priestly power, in spite of its long-continued struggle, was subdued by the more powerful royal power, so, in modern times, before the violent blow of the newly-risen Vaishya power, many a kingly crown has to kiss the ground, many a sceptre is for ever broken to pieces. Only those few thrones which are allowed still to exercise some power in some of the civilised countries and make a display of their royal pomp and grandeur are all maintained solely by the vast hordes of wealth of these Vaishya communities — the dealers in salt, oil, sugar, and wine — and kept up as a magnificent and an imposing front, and as a means of glorification to the really governing body behind, the Vaishyas.
That mighty newly-risen Vaishya power — at whose command, electricity carries messages in an instant from one pole to another, whose highway is the vast ocean, with its mountain-high waves, at whose instance, commodities are being carried with the greatest ease from one part of the globe to another, and at whose mandate, even the greatest monarchs tremble — on the white foamy crest of that huge wave the all-conquering Vaishya power, is installed the majestic throne of England in all its grandeur.
Therefore the conquest of India by England is not a conquest by Jesus or the Bible as we are often asked to believe. Neither is it like the conquest of India by the Moguls and the Pathans. But behind the name of the Lord Jesus, the Bible, the magnificent palaces, the heavy tramp of the feet of armies consisting of elephants, chariots, cavalry, and infantry, shaking the earth, the sounds of war trumpets, bugles, and drums, and the splendid display of the royal throne, behind all these, there is always the virtual presence of England — that England whose war flag is the factory chimney, whose troops are the merchantmen, whose battlefields are the market-places of the world, and whose Empress is the shining Goddess of Fortune herself! It is on this account I have said before that it is indeed an unseen novelty, this conquest of India by England. What new revolution will be effected in India by her clash with the new giant power, and as the result of that revolution what new transformation is in store for future India, cannot be inferred from her past history.
I have stated previously that the four castes, Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra do, in succession, rule the world. During the period of supreme authority exercised by each of these castes, some acts are accomplished which conduce to the welfare of the people, while others are injurious to them.
The foundation of the priestly power rests on intellectual strength, and not on the physical strength of arms. Therefore, with the supremacy of the priestly power, there is a great prevalence of intellectual and literary culture. Every human heart is always anxious for communication with, and help from, the supersensuous spiritual world. The entrance to that world is not possible for the generality of mankind; only a few great souls who can acquire a perfect control over their sense-organs and who are possessed with a nature preponderating with the essence of Sattva Guna are able to pierce the formidable wall of matter and come face to face, as it were, with the supersensuous — it is only they who know the workings of the kingdom that bring the messages from it and show the way to others. These great souls are the priests, the primitive guides, leaders, and movers of human societies.
The priest knows the gods and communicates with them; he is therefore worshipped as a god. Leaving behind the thoughts of the world, he has no longer to devote himself to the earning of his bread by the sweat of his brow. The best and foremost parts of all food and drink are due as offerings to the gods; and of these gods, the visible proxies on earth are the priests. It is through their mouths that they partake of the offerings. Knowingly or unknowingly, society gives the priest abundant leisure, and he can therefore get the opportunity of being meditative and of thinking higher thoughts. Hence the development of wisdom and learning originates first with the supremacy of the priestly power. There stands the priest between the dreadful lion — the king — on the one hand, and the terrified flock of sheep — the subject people — on the other. The destructive leap of the lion is checked by the controlling rod of spiritual power in the hands of the priest. The flame of the despotic will of the king, maddened in the pride of his wealth and men, is able to burn into ashes everything that comes in his way; but it is only a word from the priest, who has neither wealth nor men behind him but whose sole strength is his spiritual power, that can quench the despotic royal will, as water the fire.
With the ascendancy of the priestly supremacy are seen the first advent of civilisation, the first victory of the divine nature over the animal, the first mastery of spirit over matter, and the first manifestation of the divine power which is potentially present in this very slave of nature, this lump of flesh, to wit, the human body. The priest is the first discriminator of spirit from matter, the first to help to bring this world in communion with the next, the first messenger from the gods to man, and the intervening bridge that connects the king with his subjects. The first offshoot of universal welfare and good is nursed by his spiritual power, by his devotion to learning and wisdom, by his renunciation, the watchword of his life and, watered even by the flow of his own life-blood. It is therefore that in every land it was he to whom the first and foremost worship was offered. It is therefore that even his memory is sacred to us!
There are evils as well. With the growth of life is sown simultaneously the seed of death. Darkness and light always go together. Indeed, there are great evils which, if not checked in proper time, lead to the ruin of society. The play of power through gross matter is universally experienced; everyone sees, everyone understands, the mighty manifestation of gross material force as displayed in the play of battle-axes and swords, or in the burning properties of fire and lightning. Nobody doubts these things, nor can there ever be any question about their genuineness. But where the repository of power and the centre of its play are wholly mental, where the power is confined to certain special words, to certain special modes of uttering them, to the mental repetition of certain mysterious syllables, or to other similar processes and applications of the mind, there light is mixed with shade, there the ebb and flow naturally disturb the otherwise unshaken faith, and there even when things are actually seen or directly perceived, still sometimes doubts arise as to their real occurrence. Where distress, fear, anger, malice, spirit of retaliation, and the like passions of man, leaving the palpable force of arms, leaving the gross material methods to gain the end in view which every one can understand, substitute in their stead the mysterious mental processes like Stambhana, Uchchâtana, Vashikarana, and Mârana for their fructification — there a cloud of smoky indistinctness, as it were, naturally envelops the mental atmosphere of these men who often live and move in such hazy worlds of obscure mysticism. No straight line of action presents itself before such a mind; even if it does, the mind distorts it into crookedness. The final result of all this is insincerity — that very limited narrowness of the heart — and above all, the most fatal is the extreme intolerance born of malicious envy at the superior excellence of another.
The priest naturally says to himself: "Why should I part with the power that has made the Devas subservient to me, has given me mastery over physical and mental illnesses, and has gained for me the service of ghosts, demons, and other unseen spirits? I have dearly bought this power by the price of extreme renunciation. Why should I give to others that to get which I had to give up my wealth, name, fame, in short, all my earthly comforts and happiness?" Again, that power is entirely mental. And how many opportunities are there of keeping it a perfect secret! Entangled in this wheel of circumstances, human nature becomes what it inevitably would: being used to practice constant self-concealment, it becomes a victim of extreme selfishness and hypocrisy, and at last succumbs to the poisonous consequences which they bring in their train. In time, the reaction of this very desire to concealment rebounds upon oneself. All knowledge, all wisdom is almost lost for want of proper exercise and diffusion, and what little remains is thought to have been obtained from some supernatural source; and, therefore, far from making fresh efforts to go in for originality and gain knowledge of new sciences, it is considered useless and futile to attempt even to improve the remnants of the old by cleansing them of their corruptions. Thus lost to former wisdom, the former indomitable spirit of self-reliance, the priest, now glorifying himself merely in the name of his forefathers, vainly struggles to preserve untarnished for himself the same glory, the same privilege, the same veneration, and the same supremacy as was enjoyed by his great forefathers. Consequently, his violent collision with the other castes.
According to the law of nature, wherever there is an awakening of a new and stronger life, there it tries to conquer and take the place of the old and the decaying. Nature favours the dying out of the unfit and the survival of the fittest. The final result of such conflict between the priestly and the other classes has been mentioned already.
That renunciation, self-control, and asceticism of the priest which during the period of his ascendancy were devoted to the pursuance of earnest researches of truth are on the eve of his decline employed anew and spent solely in the accumulation of objects of self-gratification and in the extension of privileged superiority over others. That power, the centralization of which in himself gave him all honour and worship, has now been dragged down from its high heavenly position to the lowest abyss of hell. Having lost sight of the goal, drifting aimless, the priestly power is entangled, like the spider, in the web spun by itself. The chain that has been forged from generation to generation with the greatest care to be put on others' feet is now tightened round its own in a thousand coils, and is thwarting its own movement in hundreds of ways. Caught in the endless thread of the net of infinite rites, ceremonies, and customs, which it spread on all sides as external means for purification of the body and the mind with a view to keeping society in the iron grasp of these innumerable bonds — the priestly power, thus hopelessly entangled from head to foot, is now asleep in despair! There is no escaping out of it now. Tear the net, and the priesthood of the priest is shaken to its foundation! There is implanted in every man, naturally, a strong desire for progress; and those who, finding that the fulfilment of this desire is an impossibility so long as one is trammelled in the shackles of priesthood, rend this net and take to the profession of other castes in order to earn money thereby — them, the society immediately dispossesses of their priestly rights. Society has no faith in the Brahminhood of the so-called Brahmins who, instead of keeping the Shikhâ, part their hair, who, giving up their ancient habits and ancestral customs, clothe themselves in semi European dress and adopt the newly introduced usages from the West in a hybrid fashion. Again, in those parts of India, wherever this new-comer, the English Government, is introducing new modes of education and opening up new channels for the coming in of wealth, there hosts of Brahmin youths are giving up their hereditary priestly profession and trying to earn their livelihood and become rich by adopting the callings of other castes, with the result that the habits and customs of the priestly class, handed down from their distant forefathers, are scattered to the winds and are fast disappearing from the land.
In Gujarat, each secondary sect of the Brahmins is divided into two subdivisions, one being those who still stick to the priestly profession, while the other lives by other professions. There only the first subdivisions, carrying on the priestly profession, are called "Brâhmanas", and though the other subdivisions are by lineage descendants from Brahmin fathers, yet the former do not link themselves in matrimonial relation with the latter. For example, by the name of "Nâgara Brâhmana" are meant only those Brahmins who are priests living on alms; and by the name "Nâgara" only are meant those Brahmins who have accepted service under the Government, or those who have been carrying on the Vaishya's profession. But it appears that such distinctions will not long continue in these days in Gujarat. Even the sons of the "Nagara Brahmanas" are nowadays getting English education, and entering into Government service, or adopting some mercantile business. Even orthodox Pandits of the old school, undergoing pecuniary difficulties, are sending their sons to the colleges of the English universities or making them choose the callings of Vaidyas, Kâyasthas, and other non-Brahmin castes. If the current of affairs goes on running in this course, then it is a question of most serious reflection, no doubt, how long more will the priestly class continue on India's soil. Those who lay the fault of attempting to bring down the supremacy of the priestly class at the door of any particular person or body of persons other than themselves ought to know that, in obedience to the inevitable law of nature, the Brahmin caste is erecting with its own hands its own sepulchre; and this is what ought to be. It is good and appropriate that every caste of high birth and privileged nobility should make it its principal duty to raise its own funeral pyre with its own hands. Accumulation of power is as necessary as its diffusion, or rather more so. The accumulation of blood in the heart is an indispensable condition for life; its non-circulation throughout the body means death. For the welfare of society, it is absolutely necessary at certain times to have all knowledge and power concentrated in certain families or castes to the exclusion of others, but that concentrated power is focussed for the time being, only to be scattered broadcast over the whole of society in future. If this diffusion be withheld, the destruction of that society is, without doubt, near at hand.
On the other side, the king is like the lion; in him are present both the good and evil propensities of the lord of beasts. Never for a moment his fierce nails are held back from tearing to pieces the heart of innocent animals, living on herbs and grass, to allay his thirst for blood when occasion arises; again, the poet says, though himself stricken with old age and dying with hunger, the lion never kills the weakest fox that throws itself in his arms for protection. If the subject classes, for a moment, stand as impediments in the way of the gratification of the senses of the royal lion, their death knell is inevitably tolled; if they humbly bow down to his commands, they are perfectly safe. Not only so. Not to speak of ancient days, even in modern times, no society can be found in any country where the effectiveness of individual self-sacrifice for the good of the many and of the oneness of purpose and endeavour actuating every member of the society for the common good of the whole have been fully realised. Hence the necessity of the kings who are the creations of the society itself. They are the centres where all the forces of society, otherwise loosely scattered about, are made to converge, and from which they start and course through the body politic and animate society.
As during the Brâhminical supremacy, at the first stage is the awakening of the first impulse for search after knowledge, and later the continual and careful fostering of the growth of that impulse still in its infancy — so, during the Kshatriya supremacy, a strong desire for pleasure pursuits has made its appearance at the first stage, and later have sprung up inventions and developments of arts and sciences as the means for its gratification. Can the king, in the height of his glory, hide his proud head within the lowly cottages of the poor? Or can the common good of his subjects ever minister to his royal appetite with satisfaction?
He whose dignity bears no comparison with anyone else on earth, he who is divinity residing in the temple of the human body — for the common man, to cast even a mere glance at his, the king's, objects of pleasure is a great sin; to think of ever possessing them is quite out of the question. The body of the king is not like the bodies of other people, it is too sacred to be polluted by any contamination; in certain countries it is even believed never to come under the sway of death. A halo of equal sacredness shines around the queen, so she is scrupulously guarded from the gaze of the common folk, not even the sun may cast a glance on her beauty! Hence the rising of magnificent palaces to take the place of thatched cottages. The sweet harmonious strain of artistic music, flowing as it were from heaven, silenced the disorderly jargon of the rabble. Delightful gardens, pleasant groves, beautiful galleries, charming paintings, exquisite sculptures, fine and costly apparel began to displace by gradual steps the natural beauties of rugged woods and the rough and coarse dress of the simple rustic. Thousands of intelligent men left the toilsome task of the ploughman and turned their attention to the new field of fine arts, where they could display the finer play of their intellect in less laborious and easier ways. Villages lost their importance; cities rose in their stead.
It was in India, again, that the kings, after having enjoyed for some time earthly pleasures to their full satisfaction, were stricken at the latter part of their lives with heavy world-weariness, as is sure to follow on extreme sense-gratification; and thus being satiated with worldly pleasures, they retired at their old age into secluded forests, and there began to contemplate the deep problems of life. The results of such renunciation and deep meditation were marked by a strong dislike for cumbrous rites and ceremonials and an extreme devotion to the highest spiritual truths which we find embodied in the Upanishads, the Gita, and the Jain and the Buddhist scriptures. Here also was a great conflict between the priestly and the royal powers. Disappearance of the elaborate rites and ceremonials meant a death-blow to the priest's profession. Therefore, naturally, at all times and in every country, the priests gird up their loins and try their best to preserve the ancient customs and usages, while on the other side stand in opposition kings like Janaka, backed by Kshatriya prowess as well as spiritual power. We have dealt at length already on this bitter antagonism between the two parties.
As the priest is busy about centralising all knowledge and learning at a common centre, to wit, himself, so the king is ever up and doing in collecting all the earthly powers and focusing them in a central point, i.e. his own self. Of course, both are beneficial to society. At one time they are both needed for the common good of society, but that is only at its infant stage. But if attempts be made, when society has passed its infant stage and reached its vigorous youthful condition, to clothe it by force with the dress which suited it in its infancy and keep it bound within narrow limits, then either it bursts the bonds by virtue of its own strength and tries to advance, or where it fails to do so, it retraces its footsteps and by slow degrees returns to its primitive uncivilised condition.
Kings are like parents to their subjects, and the subjects are the kings' children. The subjects should, in every respect, look up to the king and stick to their king with unreserved obedience, and the king should rule them with impartial justice and look to their welfare and bear the same affection towards them as he would towards his own children. But what rule applies to individual homes applies to the whole society as well, for society is only the aggregate of individual homes. "When the son attains the age of sixteen, the father ought to deal with him as his friend and equal" — if that is the rule, does not the infant society ever attain that age of sixteen? It is the evidence of history that at a certain time every society attains its manhood, when a strong conflict ensues between the ruling power and the common people. The life of the society, its expansion and civilisation, depend on its victory or defeat in this conflict.
Such changes, revolutionizing society, have been happening in India again and again, only in this country they have been effected in the name of religion, for religion is the life of India, religion is the language of this country, the symbol of all its movements. The Chârvâka, the Jain, the Buddhist, Shankara, Ramanuja, Kabir, Nânak, Chaitanya, the Brâhmo Samâj, the Arya Samaj — of all these and similar other sects, the wave of religion, foaming, thundering, surging, breaks in the front, while in the rear follows the filling-up of social wants. If all desires can be accomplished by the mere utterance of some meaningless syllables, then who will exert himself and go through difficulties to work out the fulfilment of his desires? If this malady enters into the entire body of any social system, then that society becomes slothful and indisposed to any exertion, and soon hastens to it, ruin. Hence the slashing sarcasm of the Charvakas, who believed only in the reality of sense-perceptions and nothing beyond. What could have saved Indian society from the ponderous burden of omnifarious ritualistic ceremonialism, with its animal and other sacrifices, which all but crushed the very life out of it, except the Jain revolution which took its strong stand exclusively on chaste morals and philosophical truth? Or without the Buddhist revolution what would have delivered the suffering millions of the lower classes from the violent tyrannies of the influential higher castes? When, in course of time, Buddhism declined and its extremely pure and moral character gave place to equally bad, unclean, and immoral practices, when Indian society trembled under the infernal dance of the various races of barbarians who were allowed into the Buddhistic fold by virtue of its universal all-embracing spirit of equality — then Shankara, and later Ramanuja, appeared on the scene and tried their best to bring society back to its former days of glory and re-establish its lost status. Again, it is an undoubted fact that if there had not been the advent of Kabir, Nanak, and Chaitanya in the Mohammedan period, and the establishment of the Brahmo Samaj and the Arya Samaj in our own day, then, by this time, the Mohammedans and the Christians would have far outnumbered the Hindus of the present day in India.
What better material is there than nourishing food to build up the body composed of various elements, and the mind which sends out infinite waves of thought? But if that food which goes to sustain the body and strengthen the mind is not properly assimilated, and the natural functions of the body do not work properly, then that very thing becomes the root of all evil.
The individual's life is in the life of the whole, the individual's happiness is in the happiness of the whole; apart from the whole, the individual's existence is inconceivable — this is an eternal truth and is the bed-rock on which the universe is built. To move slowly towards the infinite whole, bearing a constant feeling of intense sympathy and sameness with it, being happy with its happiness and being distressed in its affliction, is the individual's sole duty. Not only is it his duty, but in its transgression is his death, while compliance with this great truth leads to life immortal. This is the law of nature, and who can throw dust into her ever-watchful eyes? None can hoodwink society and deceive it for any length of time. However much there may have accumulated heaps of refuse and mud on the surface of society — still, at the bottom of those heaps the life-breath of society is ever to be found pulsating with the vibrations of universal love and self-denying compassion for all. Society is like the earth that patiently bears incessant molestations; but she wakes up one day, however long that may be in coming, and the force of the shaking tremors of that awakening hurls off to a distance the accumulated dirt of self-seeking meanness piled up during millions of patient and silent years!
We ignore this sublime truth; and though we suffer a thousand times for our folly, yet, in our absurd foolishness, impelled by the brute in us, we do not believe in it. We try to deceive, but a thousand times we find we are deceived ourselves, and yet we do not desist! Mad that we are, we imagine we can impose on nature' With our shortsighted vision we think ministering to the self at any cost is the be-all and end-all of life.
Wisdom, knowledge, wealth, men, strength, prowess and whatever else nature gathers and provides us with, are all only for diffusion, when the moment of need is at hand. We often forget this fact, put the stamp of "mine only" upon the entrusted deposits, and pari passu, we sow the seed of our own ruin!
The king, the centre of the forces of the aggregate of his subjects, soon forgets that those forces are only stored with him so that he may increase and give them back a thousandfold in their potency, so that they may spread over the whole community for its good. Attributing all Godship to himself, in his pride, like the king Vena he looks upon other people as wretched specimens of humanity who should grovel before him; any opposition to his will, whether good or bad, is a great sin on the part of his subjects. Hence oppression steps into the place of protection — sucking their blood in place of preservation. If the society is weak and debilitated, it silently suffers all ill-treatment at the hands of the king, and as the natural consequence, both the king and his people go down and down and fall into the most degraded state, and thus become an easy prey to any nation stronger than themselves. Where the society is healthy and strong, there soon follows a fierce contest between the king and his subjects, and, by its reaction and convulsion, are flung away the sceptre and the crown; and the throne and the royal paraphernalia become like past curiosities preserved in the museum galleries.
As the result of this contest — as its reaction — is the appearance of the mighty power of the Vaishya, before whose angry glance the crowned heads, the lords of heroes, tremble like an aspen leaf on their thrones — whom the poor as well as the prince humbly follow in vain expectation of the golden jar in his hands, that like Tantalus's fruit always recedes from the grasp.
The Brahmin said, "Learning is the power of all powers; that learning is dependent upon me, I possess that learning, so the society must follow my bidding." For some days such was the case. The Kshatriya said, "But for the power of my sword, where would you be, O Brahmin, with all your power of lore? You would in no time be wiped off the face of the earth. It is I alone that am the superior." Out flew the flaming sword from the jingling scabbard — society humbly recognised it with bended head. Even the worshipper of learning was the first to turn into the worshipper of the king. The Vaishya is saying, "You, madmen I what you call the effulgent all-pervading deity is here, in my hand, the ever-shining gold, the almighty sovereign. Behold, through its grace, I am also equally all-powerful. O Brahmin! even now, I shall buy through its grace all your wisdom, learning, prayers, and meditation. And, O great king! your sword, arms, valour, and prowess will soon be employed, through the grace of this, my gold, in carrying out my desired objects. Do you see those lofty and extensive mills? Those are my hives. See, how, swarms of millions of bees, the Shudras, are incessantly gathering honey for those hives. Do you know for whom? For me, this me, who in due course of time will squeeze out every drop of it for my own use and profit."
As during the supremacy of the Brahmin and the Kshatriya, there is a centralization of learning and advancement of civilization, so the result of the supremacy of the Vaishya is accumulation of wealth. The power of the Vaishya lies in the possession of that coin, the charm of whose clinking sound works with an irresistible fascination on the minds of the four castes. The Vaishya is always in fear lest the Brahmin swindles him out of this, his only possession, and lest the Kshatriya usurps it by virtue of his superior strength of arms. For self-preservation, the Vaishyas as a body are, therefore, of one mind. The Vaishya commands the money; the exorbitant interest that he can exact for its use by others, as with a lash in his hand, is his powerful weapon which strikes terror in the heart of all. By the power of his money, he is always busy curbing the royal power. That the royal power may not anyhow stand in the way of the inflow of his riches, the merchant is ever watchful. But, for all that, he has never the least wish that the power should pass on from the kingly to the Shudra class.
To what country does not the merchant go? Though himself ignorant, he carries on his trade and transplants the learning, wisdom, art, and science of one country to another. The wisdom, civilization, and arts that accumulated in the heart of the social body during the Brahmin and the Kshatriya supremacies are being diffused in all directions by the arteries of commerce to the different market-places of the Vaishya. But for the rising of this Vaishya power, who would have carried today the culture, learning, acquirements, and articles of food and luxury of one end of the world to the other?
And where are they through whose physical labour only are possible the influence of the Brahmin, the prowess of the Kshatriya, and the fortune of the Vaishya? What is their history, who, being the real body of society, are designated at all times in all countries as "baseborn"? — for whom kind India prescribed the mild punishments, "Cut out his tongue, chop off his flesh", and others of like nature, for such a grave offence as any attempt on their part to gain a share of the knowledge and wisdom monopolised by her higher classes — those "moving corpses" of India and the "beasts of burden" of other countries — the Shudras, what is their lot in life? What shall I say of India? Let alone her Shudra class, her Brahmins to whom belonged the acquisition of scriptural knowledge are now the foreign professors, her Kshatriyas the ruling Englishmen, and Vaishyas, too, the English in whose bone and marrow is the instinct of trade, so that, only the Shudra-ness — the-beast-of-burdenness — is now left with the Indians themselves.
A cloud of impenetrable darkness has at present equally enveloped us all. Now there is neither firmness of purpose nor boldness of enterprise, neither courage of heart nor strength of mind, neither aversion to maltreatments by others nor dislike for slavery, neither love in the heart nor hope nor manliness; but what we have in India are only deep-rooted envy and strong antipathy against one another, morbid desire to ruin by hook or by crook the weak, and to lick dog-like the feet of the strong. Now the highest satisfaction consists in the display of wealth and power, devotion in self-gratification, wisdom in the accumulation of transitory objects, Yoga in hideous diabolical practices, work in the slavery of others, civilisation in base imitation of foreign nations, eloquence in the use of abusive language, the merit of literature in extravagant flatteries of the rich or in the diffusion of ghastly obscenities! What to speak separately of the distinct Shudra class of such a land, where the whole population has virtually come down to the level of the Shudra? The Shudras of countries other than India have become, it seems, a little awake; but they are wanting in proper education and have only the mutual hatred of men of their own class — a trait common to Shudras. What avails it if they greatly outnumber the other classes? That unity, by which ten men collect the strength of a million, is yet far away from the Shudra; hence, according to the law of nature, the Shudras invariably form the subject race.
But there is hope. In the mighty course of time, the Brahmin and the other higher castes, too, are being brought down to the lower status of the Shudras, and the Shudras are being raised to higher ranks. Europe, once the land of Shudras enslaved by Rome, is now filled with Kshatriya valour. Even before our eyes, powerful China, with fast strides, is going down to Shudra-hood, while insignificant Japan, rising with the sudden start of a rocket, is throwing off her Shudra nature and is invading by degrees the rights of the higher castes. The attaining of modern Greece and Italy to Kshatriya-hood and the decline of Turkey, Spain, and other countries, also, deserve consideration here.
Yet, a time will come when there will be the rising of the Shudra class, with their Shudra-hood; that is to say, not like that as at present when the Shudras are becoming great by acquiring the characteristic qualities of the Vaishya or the Kshatriya, but a time will come when the Shudras of every country, with their inborn Shudra nature and habits — not becoming in essence Vaishya or Kshatriya, but remaining as Shudras — will gain absolute supremacy in every society. The first glow of the dawn of this new power has already begun to break slowly upon the Western world, and the thoughtful are at their wits' end to reflect upon the final issue of this fresh phenomenon. Socialism, Anarchism, Nihilism, and other like sects are the vanguard of the social revolution that is to follow. As the result of grinding pressure and tyranny, from time out of mind, the Shudras, as a rule, are either meanly senile, licking dog-like the feet of the higher class, or otherwise are as inhuman as brute beasts. Again, at all times their hopes and aspirations are baffled; hence a firmness of purpose and perseverance in action they have none.
In spite of the spread of education in the West, there is a great hindrance in the way of the rising of the Shudra class, and that is the recognition of caste as determined by the inherence of more or less good or bad qualities. By this very qualitative caste system which obtained in India in ancient days, the Shudra class was kept down, bound hand and foot. In the first place, scarcely any opportunity was given to the Shudra for the accumulation of wealth or the earning of proper knowledge and education; to add to this disadvantage, if ever a man of extraordinary parts and genius were born of the Shudra class, the influential higher sections of the society forthwith showered titular honours on him and lifted him up to their own circle. His wealth and the power of his wisdom were employed for the benefit of an alien caste — and his own caste-people reaped no benefits of his attainments; and not only so, the good-for-nothing people, the scum and refuse of the higher castes, were cast off and thrown into the Shudra class to swell their number. Vasishtha, Nârada, Satyakâma Jâbâla, Vyâsa, Kripa, Drona, Karna, and others of questionable parentage were raised to the position of a Brahmin or a Kshatriya, in virtue of their superior learning or valour; but it remains to be seen how the prostitute, maidservant, fisherman, or the charioteer class was benefited by these upliftings. Again, on the other hand, the fallen from the Brahmin, the Kshatriya, or the Vaishya class were always brought down to fill the ranks of the Shudras.
In modern India, no one born of Shudra parents, be he a millionaire or a great Pandit, has ever the right to leave his own society, with the result that the power of his wealth, intellect, or wisdom, remaining confined within his own caste limits, is being employed for the betterment of his own community. This hereditary caste system of India, being thus unable to overstep its own bounds, is slowly but surely conducing to the advancement of the people moving within the same circle. The improvement of the lower classes of India will go on, in this way, so long as India will be under a government dealing with its subjects irrespective of their caste and position.
Whether the leadership of society be in the hands of those who monopolise learning or wield the power of riches or arms, the source of its power is always the subject masses. By so much as the class in power severs itself from this source, by so much is it sure to become weak. But such is the strange irony of fate, such is the queer working of Mâyâ, that they from whom this power is directly or indirectly drawn, by fair means or foul — by deceit, stratagem, force, or by voluntary gift — they soon cease to be taken into account by the leading class. When in course of time, the priestly power totally estranged itself from the subject masses, the real dynamo of its power, it was overthrown by the then kingly power taking its stand on the strength of the subject people; again, the kingly power, judging itself to be perfectly independent, created a gaping chasm between itself and the subject people, only to be itself destroyed or become a mere puppet in the hands of the Vaishyas, who now succeeded in securing a relatively greater co-operation of the mass of the people. The Vaishyas have now gained their end; so they no longer deign to count on help from the subject people and are trying their best to dissociate themselves from them; consequently, here is being sown the seed of the destruction of this power as well.
Though themselves the reservoir of all powers, the subject masses, creating an eternal distance between one another, have been deprived of all their legitimate rights; and they will remain so as long as this sort of relation continues.
A common danger, or sometimes a common cause of hatred or love, is the bond that binds people together. By the same law that herds beasts of prey together, men also unite into a body and form a caste or a nation of their own. Zealous love for one's own people and country, showing itself in bitter hatred against another — as of Greece against Persia, or Rome against Carthage, of the Arab against the Kafir, of Spain against the Moor, of France against Spain, of England and Germany against France, and of America against England — is undoubtedly one of the main causes which lead to the advancement of one nation over another, by way of uniting itself in hostilities against another.
Self-love is the first teacher of self-renunciation. For the preservation of the individual's interest only one looks first to the well-being of the whole. In the interest of one's own nation is one's own interest; in the well-being of one's own nation is one's own well-being. Without the co-operation of the many, most words can by no means go on — even self-defence becomes an impossibility. The joining of friendly hands in mutual help for the protection of this self-interest is seen in every nation, and in every land. Of course, the circumference of this self-interest varies with different people. To multiply and to have the opportunity of somehow dragging on a precarious existence, and over and above this, the condition that the religious pursuits of the higher castes may not suffer in any way, is of the highest gain and interest for Indians! For modern India, there is no better hope conceivable; this is the last rung of the ladder of India's life!
The present government of India has certain evils attendant on it, and there are some very great and good parts in it as well. Of highest good is this, that after the fall of the Pâtaliputra Empire till now, India was never under the guidance of such a powerful machinery of government as the British, wielding the sceptre throughout the length and breadth of the land. And under this Vaishya supremacy, thanks to the strenuous enterprise natural to the Vaishya, as the objects of commerce are being brought from one end of the world to another, so at the same time, as its natural sequence, the ideas and thoughts of different countries are forcing their way into the very bone and marrow of India. Of these ideas and thoughts, some are really most beneficial to her, some are harmful, while others disclose the ignorance and inability of the foreigners to determine what is truly good for the inhabitants of this country.
But piercing through the mass of whatever good or evil there may be is seen rising the sure emblem of India's future prosperity — that as the result of the action and reaction between her own old national ideals on the one hand, and the newly-introduced strange ideals of foreign nations on the other, she is slowly and gently awakening from her long deep sleep. Mistakes she will make, let her: there is no harm in that; in all our actions, errors and mistakes are our only teachers. Who commits mistaken the path of truth is attainable by him only. Trees never make mistakes, nor do stones fall into error; animals are hardly seen to transgress the fixed laws of nature; but man is prone to err, and it is man who becomes God-on-earth. If our every movement from the nursery to the death-bed, if our every thought from rising at day-break till retirement at midnight, be prescribed and laid down for us in minutest detail by others — and if the threat of the king's sword be brought into requisition to keep us within the iron grasp of those prescribed rules — then, what remains for us to think independently for ourselves? What makes a man a genius, a sage? Isn't it because he thinks, reasons, wills? Without exercise, the power of deep thinking is lost. Tamas prevails, the mind gets dull and inert, the spirit is brought down to the level of matter. Yet, even now, every religious preacher, every social leader is anxious to frame new laws and regulations for the guidance of society! Does the country stand in want of rules? Has it not enough of them? Under the oppression of rules, the whole nation is verging on its ruin — who stops to understand this?
In the case of an absolute and arbitrary monarchy, the conquered race is not treated with so much contempt by the ruling power. Under such an absolute government, the rights of all subjects are equal, in other words, no one has any right to question or control the governing authority. So there remains very little room for special privileges of caste and the like. But where the monarchy is controlled by the voice of the ruling race, or a republican form of government rules the conquered race, there a wide distance is created between the ruling and the ruled; and the most part of that power, which, if employed solely for the well-being of the ruled classes, might have done immense good to them within a short time, is wasted by the government in its attempts and applications to keep the subject race under its entire control. Under the Roman Emperorship, foreign subjects were, for this very reason, happier than under the Republic of Rome. For this very reason, St. Paul, the Christian Apostle, though born of the conquered Jewish race, obtained permission to appeal to the Roman Emperor, Caesar, to judge of the charges laid against him Because some individual Englishman may call us "natives" or "riggers" and hate us as uncivilized savages, we do not gain or lose by that. We, on account of caste distinctions, have among ourselves far stronger feelings of hatred and scorn against one another; and who can say that the Brahmins, if they get some foolish unenlightened Kshatriya king on their side, will not graciously try again to "cut out the Shudras' tongues and chop off their limbs"? That recently in Eastern Aryavarta, the different caste-people seem to develop a feeling of united sympathy amidst themselves with a view to ameliorating their present social condition — that in the Mahratta country, the Brahmins have begun to sing paeans in praise of the "Marâthâ" race — these, the lower castes cannot yet believe to be the outcome of pure disinterestedness.
But gradually the idea is being formed in the minds of the English public that the passing away of the Indian Empire from their sway will end in imminent peril to the English nation, and be their ruin. So, by any means whatsoever, the supremacy of England must be maintained in India. The way to effect this, they think, is by keeping uppermost in the heart of every Indian the mighty prestige and glory of the British nation. It gives rise to both laughter and tears simultaneously to observe how this ludicrous and pitiful sentiment is gaining ground among the English, and how they are steadily extending their modus operandi for the carrying out of this sentiment into practice. It seems as if the Englishmen resident in India are forgetting that so long as that fortitude, that perseverance, and that intense national unity of purpose, by which Englishmen have earned this Indian Empire — and that ever wide-awake commercial genius aided by science' which has turned even India, the mother of all riches, into the principal mart of England — so long as these characteristics are not eliminated from their national life, their throne in India is unshakable. So long as these qualities are inherent in the British character, let thousands of such Indian Empires be lost, thousands will be earned again. But if the flow of the stream of those qualifier be retarded, shall an Empire be governed by the mere emblazoning of British prestige and glory? Therefore when such remarkable traits of character are still predominant in the English as a nation, it is utterly useless to spend so much energy and power for the mere preservation of meaningless "prestige". If that power were employed for the welfare of the subject-people, that, would certainly have been a great gain for both the ruling and the ruled races.
It has been said before that India is slowly awakening through her friction with the outside nations; and as the result of this little awakening, is the appearance, to a certain extent, of free and independent thought in modern India. On one side is modern Western science, dazzling the eyes with the brilliancy of myriad suns and driving in the chariot of hard and fast facts collected by the application of tangible powers direct in their incision, on the other are the hopeful and strengthening traditions of her ancient forefathers, in the days when she was at the zenith of her glory — traditions that have been brought out of the pages of her history by the great sages of her own land and outside, that run for numberless years and centuries through her every vein with the quickening of life drawn from universal love — traditions that reveal unsurpassed valour, superhuman genius, and supreme spirituality, which are the envy of the gods — these inspire her with future hopes. On one side, rank materialism, plenitude of fortune, accumulation of gigantic power, and intense sense-pursuits have, through foreign literature, caused a tremendous stir; on the other, through the confounding din of all these discordant sounds, she hears, in low yet unmistakable accents, the heart-rending cries of her ancient gods, cutting her to the quick. There lie before her various strange luxuries introduced from the West — celestial drinks, costly well-served food, splendid apparel, magnificent palaces, new modes of conveyance, new manners, new fashions dressed in which moves about the well-educated girl in shameless freedom — all these are arousing unfelt desires. Again, the scene changes, and in its place appear, with stern presence, Sitâ, Sâvitri, austere religious vows, fastings, the forest retreat, the matted locks and orange garb of the semi-naked Sannyasin, Samâdhi and the search after the Self. On one side is the independence of Western societies based on self-interest; on the other is the extreme self-sacrifice of the Aryan society. In this violent conflict, is it strange that Indian society should be tossed up and down? Of the West, the goal is individual independence, the language money-making education, the means politics; of India, the goal is Mukti, the language the Veda, the means renunciation. For a time, Modern India thinks, as it were, I am ruining this worldly life of mine in vain expectation of uncertain spiritual welfare hereafter which has spread its fascination over one; and again, lo! spellbound she listens —
On one side, new India is saying, "We should have full freedom in the selection of husband and wife; because the marriage, in which are involved the happiness and misery of all our future life, we must have the right to determine according to our own free will." On the other, old India is dictating, "Marriage is not for sense-enjoyment, but to perpetuate the race. This is the Indian conception of marriage. By the producing of children, you are contributing to, and are responsible for, the future good or evil of the society. Hence society has the right to dictate whom you shall marry and whom you shall not. That form of marriage obtains in society which is conducive most to its well-being; do you give up your desire of individual pleasure for the good of the many."
On one side, new India is saying, "If we only adopt Western ideas, Western language, Western food, Western dress, and Western manners, we shall be as strong and powerful as the Western nations"; on the other, old India is saying, "Fools! By imitation, other's ideas never become one's own; nothing, unless earned, is your own. Does the ass in the lion's skin become the lion?"
On one side, new India is saying, "What the Western nations do is surely good, otherwise how did they become so great?" On the other side, old India is saying, "The flash of lightning is intensely bright, but only for a moment; look out, boys, it is dazzling your eyes. Beware! "
Have we not then to learn anything from the West? Must we not needs try and exert ourselves for better things? Are we perfect? Is our society entirely spotless, without any flaw. There are many things to learn, he must struggle for new and higher things till we die — struggle is the end of human life. Shri Ramakrishna used to say, "As long as I live, so long do I learn." That man or that society which has nothing to learn is already in the jaws of death. Yes, learn we must many things from the West: but there are fears as well.
A certain young man of little understanding used always to blame the Hindu Shâstras before Shri Ramakrishna. One day he praised the Bhagavad-Gita, on which Shri Ramakrishna said, "Methinks, some European Pandit has praised the Gita, and so he has also followed suit."
O India, this is your terrible danger. The spell of imitating the West is getting such a strong hold upon you that what is good or what is bad is no longer decided by reason, judgment, discrimination, or reference to the Shastras. Whatever ideas, whatever manners the white men praise or like are good; whatever things they dislike or censure are bad. Alas! what can be a more tangible proof of foolishness than this?
The Western ladies move freely everywhere, therefore that is good; they choose for themselves their husbands, therefore that is the highest step of advancement; the Westerners disapprove of our dress, decorations, food, and ways of living, therefore they must be very bad; the Westerners condemn image-worship as sinful, surely then, image-worship is the greatest sin, there is no doubt of it!
The Westerners say that worshipping a single Deity is fruitful of the highest spiritual good, therefore let us throw our gods and goddesses into the river Ganga! The Westerners hold caste distinctions to be obnoxious, therefore let all the different castes be jumbled into one! The Westerners say that child-marriage is the root of all evils, therefore that is also very bad, of a certainty it is!
We are not discussing here whether these customs deserve continuance or rejection; but if the mere disapproval of the Westerners be the measure of the abominableness of our manners and customs, then it is our duty to raise our emphatic protest against it.
The present writer has, to some extent, personal experience of Western society. His conviction resulting from such experience has been that there is such a wide divergence between the Western society and the Indian as regards the primal course and goal of each, that any sect in India, framed after the Western model, will miss the aim. We have not the least sympathy with those who, never having lived in Western society and, therefore, utterly ignorant of the rules and prohibitions regarding the association of men and women that obtain there, and which act as safeguards to preserve the purity of the Western women, allow a free rein to the unrestricted intermingling of men and women in our society.
I have observed in the West also that the children of weaker nations, if born in England, give themselves out as Englishmen, instead of Greek, Portuguese, Spaniard, etc., as the case may be. All drift towards the strong. That the light of glory which shines in the glorious may anyhow fall and reflect on one's own body, i.e. to shine in the borrowed light of the great, is the one desire of the weak. When I see Indians dressed in European apparel and costumes, the thought comes to my mind, perhaps they feel ashamed to own their nationality and kinship with the ignorant, poor, illiterate, downtrodden people of India! Nourished by the blood of the Hindu for the last fourteen centuries, the Parsee is no longer a "native"! Before the arrogance of the casteless, who pretend to be and glorify themselves in being Brahmins, the true nobility of the old, heroic, high-class Brahmin melts into nothingness! Again, the Westerners have now taught us that those stupid, ignorant, low-caste millions of India, clad only in loin-cloths, are non-Aryans. They are therefore no more our kith and kin!
O India! With this mere echoing of others, with this base imitation of others, with this dependence on others this slavish weakness, this vile detestable cruelty — wouldst thou, with these provisions only, scale the highest pinnacle of civilisation and greatness? Wouldst thou attain, by means of thy disgraceful cowardice, that freedom deserved only by the brave and the heroic? O India! Forget not that the ideal of thy womanhood is Sita, Savitri, Damayanti; forget not that the God thou worshippest is the great Ascetic of ascetics, the all-renouncing Shankara, the Lord of Umâ; forget not that thy marriage, thy wealth, thy life are not for sense-pleasure, are not for thy individual personal happiness; forget not that thou art born as a sacrifice to the Mother's altar; forget not that thy social order is but the reflex of the Infinite Universal Motherhood; forget not that the lower classes, the ignorant, the poor, the illiterate, the cobbler, the sweeper, are thy flesh and blood, thy brothers. Thou brave one, be bold, take courage, be proud that thou art an Indian, and proudly proclaim, "I am an Indian, every Indian is my brother." Say, "The ignorant Indian, the poor and destitute Indian, the Brahmin Indian, the Pariah Indian, is my brother." Thou, too, clad with but a rag round thy loins proudly proclaim at the top of thy voice: "The Indian is my brother, the Indian is my life, India's gods and goddesses are my God. India's society is the cradle of my infancy, the pleasure-garden of my youth, the sacred heaven, the Varanasi of my old age." Say, brother: "The soil of India is my highest heaven, the good of India is my good," and repeat and pray day and night, "O Thou Lord of Gauri, O Thou Mother of the Universe, vouchsafe manliness unto me! O Thou Mother of Strength, take away my weakness, take away my unmanliness, and make me a Man!"
Notes
文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。