The Positive Background of Hindu Sociology c12.s2.12

c12.s2.12

This philosophy of the sacrifice pervades not only the *Upaniṣads* but Buddhism and Jainism also in spite of the prejudice of the last two systems against sacrifice. The concept of the *Ṛiṣi* who without the help of the gods and often against their will (*sans l'aide des dieux et souvent contre leur gré*) discovers by the sole force of his intelligence the ritual or the formula which assures the success is the immediate precursor of that of the Buddhas and the Jainas who discover the way to salvation by direct intuition and spontaneous enlightenment. It is not by chance that the sacred words of the *Arhat* and the Buddha figure already in the *Brāhmaṇas*. The very dogmas which these words symbolize reside also there in germ and are already in the process of growth. It is the touch of humanism and positivism that makes the diverse Indian systems kin.