The Golden Verses of Pythagoras — with commentary (1917)

Pythagoras considered the Universe as an animated All, whose members were the divine Intelligences, each ranked according to its perfections, in its proper sphere." He it was who first designated this All, by the Greek word Kosmos, in order to express the beauty, order, and regularity which reigned there*; the Latins translated this word by Mundus, from which has come the French word monde. It is from Unity considered as principle of the world, that the name Universe which we give to it is derived. PythagoResearch., t. vi., pp. 274-279). The Brahmans are of the same mind. One reads these wonderful words in the Bhaghavad Gita: "A great diversity of cults, similar as to substance but vaxyiag in forms, are manifested by the will of the Supreme Being. Some follow one cult, others attach themselves to another: all of these worshippers are purified from their ofiences by their particular cult. . . . God is the gift of charity, God is the offering, God is the fire upon the altar; it is God even, who makes the sacrifice, and God will be obtained by him who makes God the sole object of his labours." {Lect. iv.)

a Hi^rocl., Aur. Carm., v. i.

>> The Greek word k6<tims expresses a thing put in order, arranged according to a fixed and regular principle. Its primitive root is in the Phoenician V)H (aSsh) a principle Being, the fire. The Latin word mundus renders the Greek sense very imperfectly. It signifies exactly, that which is made neat and clean by means of water. Its nearest root is unda, and its remotest root is found in the Phoenician IIK (aSd), an emanation, a vapour, a source. One can see, according to this etjonology, that the Greeks drew the idea of order and beauty from fire, and the Latins from water.

Examinations of the Golden Verses 133

ras establishes Unity as the principle of all things and said that from this Unity sprang an infinite Duality." The essence of this Unity, and the manner in which the Duality that emanated from it was finally brought back again, were the most profound mysteries of his doctrine; the subject sacred to the faith of his disciples and the fundamental points which were forbidden them to reveal. Their explanation was never made in writing; those who appeared worthy of learning them were content to be taught them by word of mouth.* When one was forced, by the concatenation of ideas, to mention them in the books of the sect, symbols and ciphers were used, and the language of Numbers employed ; and these books, all obscure as they were, were still concealed with the greatest care; by all manner of means they were guarded against falling into profane hands." I cannot enter into the discussion of the famous symbol of Pythagoras, one and two, without exceeding very much the limits that I have set down in these examinations'*; let it suffice for me to say, that as he designated God by i, and Matter by 2, he expressed the Universe by the number 12, which results in the union of the other two. This number is formed by the multiplication of 3 by 4 : that is to say, that this philosopher conceived the Universal world as composed of three particular worlds, which, being linked one with the other by means of the four elementary modifications, were developed in twelve concentric spheres.' The ineffable Being which filled these

» Diogen. Laert., 1. viii., §25; Plutar., De Decret. philos., ii., c. 6; Sext. Empir., Adv. Math., x., § 249; Stob., Eccl. phys., p. 468.

l> Plutar., In Numa.

<^ Jambl., VitA Pythag., c. 28, 32 et 35.

d Bv, Sio. The symbol of Fo-Hi, so celebrated among the Chinese, is the same and is expressed by a whole line — i, and a broken line — 2. I shall make myself better understood upon this subject, in speaking as I intend to do upon music and upon what the ancients understood by the language of Numbers.

« VitA Pythag.; Phot., Bibl. Codex, 259.

134 The Golden Verses of Pythagoras twelve spheres without being understood by any one, was God. Pythagoras gave to It, truth for soul and light for body." The Intelligence which peopled the three worlds were, firstly, the immortal gods properly so-called ; secondly, the glorified heroes; thirdly, the terrestial demons. The immortal gods, direct emanations of the uncreated Being and manifestation of Its infinite faculties, were thus named because they could not depart from the divine life — that is, they could never fall away from their Father into oblivion, wandering in the darkness of ignorance and of impiety; whereas the souls of men, which produced, according to their degree of purity, glorified heroes and terrestrial demons, were able to depart sometimes from the divine life by voluntary drawing away from God; because the death of the intellectual essence, according to Pythagoras and imitated in this by Plato, was only ignorance and impiety.* It must be observed that in my translation I have not rendered the Greek word Sai/j.or^? by the word demons, but by that of spirits, on account of the evil meaning that Christianity has attached to it, as I explained in a preceding note.'