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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1® <The adoration of the invisible Supreme Being is exclusively prescribed by the Upanishads or the principal parts of the Vedas and also by the Vedant.’ Rammohun Roy, Translation of the Kena-upanishad, Calcutta, 1816, p. 6. M. M., History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 320. lxiv UPANISHADS. last pilgrimage to Juggernaut, where she died, that ‘he was right, but that she was a weak woman, and grown too old to give up the observances which were a comfort to her.’ It was not therefore from any regard of their antiquity or their sacred character that Rammohun Roy clung to the Upanishads, that he translated them into Bengali, Hindi, and English, and published them at his own expense. It was because he recognised in them seeds of eternal truth, and was bold enough to distinguish between what was essential in them and what was not,—a distinction, as he often remarked with great perplexity, which Christian teachers seemed either unable or unwilling to make}. The death of that really great and good man during his stay in England in 1833, was one of the severest blows that have fallen on the prospects of India. But his work has not been in vain, Like a tree whose first shoot has been killed by one winter frost, it has broken out again in a number of new and more vigorous shoots, for whatever the outward differences may be between the Adi Brahmo Sam§j of Debendranath Tagore, or the Brahmo Samaj of India of _Keshub Chunder Sen, or the Sadharan Brahmo Sam§j, the common root of them all is the work done, once for all, by Rammohun Roy, That work may have disappeared from sight for a time, and its present manifestations may seem to many observers who are too near, not very promising. But in one form or another, under one name or another, I feel convinced that work will live. ‘In India,’ Schopenhauer writes, ‘ our religion will now and never strike root: the primitive wisdom of the human race will never be pushed aside there by the events of Galilee. On the contrary, Indian wisdom will flow back upon Europe, and produce a thorough change in our knowing and thinking.’ Here, again, the great philosopher seems to me to have allowed himself to be carried away too far by his enthusiasm for the less known. He is blind for the dark sides of the Upanishads, and he wilfully shuts his eyes against the bright rays of eternal truth in the Gospels, which even 1 Last Days, p. 11. INTRODUCTION. lxv Rammohun Roy was quick enough to perceive behind the mists and clouds of tradition that gather so quickly round the sunrise of every religion. POSITION OF THE UPANISHADS IN VEDIC LITERATURE.
211. INTRODUCTION. lxv Rammohun Roy was quick enough to perceive behind the mists and clouds of tradition that gather so quickly round the sunrise of every religion. POSITION OF THE UPANISHADS IN VEDIC LITERATURE. If now we ask what has been thought of the Upanishads by Sanskrit scholars or by Oriental scholars in general, it must be confessed that hitherto they have not received at their hands that treatment which in the eyes of philosophers and theologians they seem so fully to deserve. When the first enthusiasm for such works as Sakuntala and Gita-Govinda had somewhat subsided, and Sanskrit scholars had recognised that a truly scholarlike study of Indian literature must begin with the beginning, the exclusively historical interest prevailed to so large an extent that the hymns of the Veda, the Brahmavas, and the Sftras absorbed all interest, while the Upanishads were put aside for a time as of doubtful antiquity, and therefore of minor importance. My real love for Sanskrit literature was first kindled by the Upanishads. It was in the year 1844, when attending Schelling’s lectures at Berlin, that my attention was drawn to those ancient theosophic treatises, and I still possess my collations of the Sanskrit MSS. which had then just arrived at Berlin, the Chambers collection, and my copies of commentaries, and commentaries on commentaries, which I made at that time. Some of my translations which I left with Schelling, I have never been able to recover, though to judge from others which I still possess, the loss of them is of small consequence. Soon after leaving Berlin, when continuing my Sanskrit studies at Paris under Burnouf, I put aside the Upanishads, convinced that for a true appreciation of them it was necessary to study, first of all, the earlier periods of Vedic literature, as represented by the hymns and the Brahmamas of the Vedas. In returning, after more than thirty years, to these favourite studies, I find that my interest in them, though it has changed in character, has by no means diminished. [3] e Ixvi UPANISHADS,
3In returning, after more than thirty years, to these favourite studies, I find that my interest in them, though it has changed in character, has by no means diminished. [3] e Ixvi UPANISHADS, It is true, no doubt, that the stratum of literature which contains the Upanishads is later than the Samhit4s, and later than the Brahmamas, but the first germs of Upanishad doctrines go back at least as far as the Mantra period, which provisionally has been fixed between 1000 and 800 B.C. Conceptions corresponding to the general teaching of the Upanishads occur in certain hymns of the Rig-veda-samhita, they must have existed therefore before that collection was finally closed. One hymn in the Samhita of the Rig-veda (I, 191) was designated by K4tydyana, the author of the Sarvanukramazika, as an Upanishad. Here, however, upanishad means rather a secret charm than a philosophical doctrine. Verses of the hymns have often been incorporated in the Upanishads, and among the Oupnekhats translated into Persian by Dara Shukoh we actually find the Purusha-sdkta, the goth hymn of the tenth book of the Rig-veda}, forming the greater portion of the Bark’heh Soukt. In the Samhita of the Yagur-veda, however, in the Vagasaneyisakha, we meet with a real Upanishad, the famous ts& or fsAvAsya-upanishad, while the Sivasamkalpa, too, forms part of its thirty-fourth book *. In the Brahmamas several U panishads occur, even in portions which are not classed as Aranyakas, as, for instance, the well-known Kena or Talavakéra-upanishad. The recognised place, however, for the ancient Upanishads is in the Arazyakas, or forest-books, which, as a rule, form an appendix to the Brahmazas, but are sometimes included also under the general name of Brahmava. Brahmaza, in fact, meaning originally the sayings of Brahmans, whether in the general sense of priests, or in the more special of Brahman-priest, is a name applicable not only to the books, properly so called, but to all old prose traditions, whether contained in the Samhitas, such as the Taittirtya-sas#hit4, the Brahmazas, the Aranyakas, the Upanishads, and even, in certain cases, in the Sitras. We shall see in the introduction to the Aitareya-A4ravyaka, that that Aramyaka is in the beginning ' See Weber, Indische Studien, IX, p. 1 seq. 3 See M. M., History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 317. INTRODUCTION. Ixvii
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1® <The adoration of the invisible Supreme Being is exclusively prescribed by the Upanishads or the principal parts of the Vedas and also by the Vedant.’ Rammohun Roy, Translation of the Kena-upanishad, Calcutta, 1816, p. 6. M. M., History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 320. lxiv UPANISHADS. last pilgrimage to Juggernaut, where she died, that ‘he was right, but that she was a weak woman, and grown too old to give up the observances which were a comfort to her.’ It was not therefore from any regard of their antiquity or their sacred character that Rammohun Roy clung to the Upanishads, that he translated them into Bengali, Hindi, and English, and published them at his own expense. It was because he recognised in them seeds of eternal truth, and was bold enough to distinguish between what was essential in them and what was not,—a distinction, as he often remarked with great perplexity, which Christian teachers seemed either unable or unwilling to make}. The death of that really great and good man during his stay in England in 1833, was one of the severest blows that have fallen on the prospects of India. But his work has not been in vain, Like a tree whose first shoot has been killed by one winter frost, it has broken out again in a number of new and more vigorous shoots, for whatever the outward differences may be between the Adi Brahmo Sam§j of Debendranath Tagore, or the Brahmo Samaj of India of _Keshub Chunder Sen, or the Sadharan Brahmo Sam§j, the common root of them all is the work done, once for all, by Rammohun Roy, That work may have disappeared from sight for a time, and its present manifestations may seem to many observers who are too near, not very promising. But in one form or another, under one name or another, I feel convinced that work will live. ‘In India,’ Schopenhauer writes, ‘ our religion will now and never strike root: the primitive wisdom of the human race will never be pushed aside there by the events of Galilee. On the contrary, Indian wisdom will flow back upon Europe, and produce a thorough change in our knowing and thinking.’ Here, again, the great philosopher seems to me to have allowed himself to be carried away too far by his enthusiasm for the less known. He is blind for the dark sides of the Upanishads, and he wilfully shuts his eyes against the bright rays of eternal truth in the Gospels, which even 1 Last Days, p. 11. INTRODUCTION. lxv Rammohun Roy was quick enough to perceive behind the mists and clouds of tradition that gather so quickly round the sunrise of every religion. POSITION OF THE UPANISHADS IN VEDIC LITERATURE.
211. INTRODUCTION. lxv Rammohun Roy was quick enough to perceive behind the mists and clouds of tradition that gather so quickly round the sunrise of every religion. POSITION OF THE UPANISHADS IN VEDIC LITERATURE. If now we ask what has been thought of the Upanishads by Sanskrit scholars or by Oriental scholars in general, it must be confessed that hitherto they have not received at their hands that treatment which in the eyes of philosophers and theologians they seem so fully to deserve. When the first enthusiasm for such works as Sakuntala and Gita-Govinda had somewhat subsided, and Sanskrit scholars had recognised that a truly scholarlike study of Indian literature must begin with the beginning, the exclusively historical interest prevailed to so large an extent that the hymns of the Veda, the Brahmavas, and the Sftras absorbed all interest, while the Upanishads were put aside for a time as of doubtful antiquity, and therefore of minor importance. My real love for Sanskrit literature was first kindled by the Upanishads. It was in the year 1844, when attending Schelling’s lectures at Berlin, that my attention was drawn to those ancient theosophic treatises, and I still possess my collations of the Sanskrit MSS. which had then just arrived at Berlin, the Chambers collection, and my copies of commentaries, and commentaries on commentaries, which I made at that time. Some of my translations which I left with Schelling, I have never been able to recover, though to judge from others which I still possess, the loss of them is of small consequence. Soon after leaving Berlin, when continuing my Sanskrit studies at Paris under Burnouf, I put aside the Upanishads, convinced that for a true appreciation of them it was necessary to study, first of all, the earlier periods of Vedic literature, as represented by the hymns and the Brahmamas of the Vedas. In returning, after more than thirty years, to these favourite studies, I find that my interest in them, though it has changed in character, has by no means diminished. [3] e Ixvi UPANISHADS,
3In returning, after more than thirty years, to these favourite studies, I find that my interest in them, though it has changed in character, has by no means diminished. [3] e Ixvi UPANISHADS, It is true, no doubt, that the stratum of literature which contains the Upanishads is later than the Samhit4s, and later than the Brahmamas, but the first germs of Upanishad doctrines go back at least as far as the Mantra period, which provisionally has been fixed between 1000 and 800 B.C. Conceptions corresponding to the general teaching of the Upanishads occur in certain hymns of the Rig-veda-samhita, they must have existed therefore before that collection was finally closed. One hymn in the Samhita of the Rig-veda (I, 191) was designated by K4tydyana, the author of the Sarvanukramazika, as an Upanishad. Here, however, upanishad means rather a secret charm than a philosophical doctrine. Verses of the hymns have often been incorporated in the Upanishads, and among the Oupnekhats translated into Persian by Dara Shukoh we actually find the Purusha-sdkta, the goth hymn of the tenth book of the Rig-veda}, forming the greater portion of the Bark’heh Soukt. In the Samhita of the Yagur-veda, however, in the Vagasaneyisakha, we meet with a real Upanishad, the famous ts& or fsAvAsya-upanishad, while the Sivasamkalpa, too, forms part of its thirty-fourth book *. In the Brahmamas several U panishads occur, even in portions which are not classed as Aranyakas, as, for instance, the well-known Kena or Talavakéra-upanishad. The recognised place, however, for the ancient Upanishads is in the Arazyakas, or forest-books, which, as a rule, form an appendix to the Brahmazas, but are sometimes included also under the general name of Brahmava. Brahmaza, in fact, meaning originally the sayings of Brahmans, whether in the general sense of priests, or in the more special of Brahman-priest, is a name applicable not only to the books, properly so called, but to all old prose traditions, whether contained in the Samhitas, such as the Taittirtya-sas#hit4, the Brahmazas, the Aranyakas, the Upanishads, and even, in certain cases, in the Sitras. We shall see in the introduction to the Aitareya-A4ravyaka, that that Aramyaka is in the beginning ' See Weber, Indische Studien, IX, p. 1 seq. 3 See M. M., History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 317. INTRODUCTION. Ixvii
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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