History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c25.27

v2.c25.27

It has been already stated at p. 8 that the goals of existence were deemed to be four, viz. dharma, artha, kāma and mokṣa. The highest goal was mokṣa. All ancient Indian philosophy (whether Vedānta, Sāṁkhya or Nyāya) held that liberation from the never-ending cycle of births and deaths, and escape from the three kinds of *duḥkha* were the highest good. The *summum bonum* consisted in non-return (anāvṛttiḥ) to the world of pleasures and sorrows. The Chān. Up.¹⁰⁰⁵ VIII. 15. 1 winds up with the words 'and he does not return'. The Bṛ. Up. VI. 2. 15, Praśna Up. I. 10 and others say the same. This supreme goal had fascinated all noble minds in whatever sphere of life they might have been working. The greatest poet and dramatist of classical Sanskrit ends his most famous drama (the Śākuntala) with the prayer 'may self-existent God Śiva destroy for me rebirth'.¹⁰⁰⁶ This state of liberation or release is variously called mokṣa or mukti, amṛtatva, niḥśreyasa, kaivalya (by the Sāṁkhyas) or apavarga (Nyāyasūtra I. 1. 2). For attaining this state man must know and realize that there is only one Reality underlying all existence (and no plurality) and become disgusted with the passions and temptations of the world i. e. he must have *nirveda* and *vairāgya* (as stated in the Bṛ. Up. III. 5. 1 or Muṇḍaka I. 2. 12). Merely reading from the books that desirelessness is necessary for release and immediately giving up the world would not serve the purpose. The man would be hankering, as the Bhagavadgītā says, after pleasures he has renounced. Therefore the ancient Indian writers devised according to their lights a scheme which is embodied in the theory and practice of the āśramas. In brahmacarya the individual goes through the discipline of the will and the emotions, makes himself acquainted with the literary treasures of the past and learns obedience, respect, plain living and high thinking. Then he marries, becomes a householder, tastes the pleasures of the world, enjoys life, has sons, discharges his duties to his children, to his friends, relatives and neighbours and becomes a useful, industrious and worthy citizen, the founder of a family. It is supposed that by the time he is fifty years or so he has become convinced of the futility of human appetites and the pleasures of the world and is, therefore, called upon to resort to a forest life for pondering over the great problem of the life hereafter and to accustom himself to self-abnegation, austerities and a harmless life. This would lead on to the last stage, viz. saṁnyāsa. He may succeed in this very life in realizing the supreme goal of mokṣa or he may have to continue to rise in spiritual height until after several births and deaths the goal is in view. The theory of varṇa dealt with man as a member of the Aryan society and laid down what his rights, functions, privileges, responsibilities and duties were as a member of that society. It was addressed to man in the mass. The theory of āśramas addressed itself to the individual. It tells him what his spiritual goal is, how he is to order his life and what preparations are required to attain that goal. The theory of āśramas was truly a sublime conception and if owing to the exigencies of the times, the conflicts of interests and distractions of life, the scheme could not even in ancient times be carried out fully by every individual and seems to have failed in modern times, the fault does not lie with the originators of this conception. Deussen was constrained to say (in E. R. E. under āśrama) 'how far the practice corresponded to this theory given in Manu and other law books, we do not know; but we are free to confess that in our opinion the whole history of mankind has not much that equals the grandeur of this thought' and again in 'The Philosophy of the Upaniṣads' (tr. by Geden, 1906) p. 367 'the entire history of mankind does not produce much that approaches in grandeur to this thought'.