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The Philosophy of the Upanishads c10.s2.t4: 4. Brahman as Providence

The Philosophy of the Upanishads c10.s2.t4

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4. Brahman as Providence

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While the control of the universe may be ascribed to an impersonal principle (acting as *antaryâmin*, "inner guide"), Providence implies a personal God. In harmony with this in the ancient Upanishads we see a belief in Providence, like theism, make its appearance only here and there as a poetical form of representation. It is only in the later Upanishads that with the personification of the âtman belief in a divine providence also acquires a firmer consistency. The conception of Ait. 1. 2 is mythical throughout, describing how the deities, (*i.e.* the organs of sense and the corresponding nature gods), produced by the âtman from the purusha, plunge into the ocean, suffer hunger and thirst, and then receive from the âtman mankind allotted to them as a domicile, in which they may enjoy food, which they are then however compelled to share with the demoniac powers of hunger and thirst. The "well-being" also (*i.e.* probably "adaptability") which in Taitt. 2. 7 is declared to be the essence of the universe, and (by means of a play on the words *sukṛita* and *svakṛita*) is deduced from the fact that the universe is only a self-manifestation of the Brahman who is essentially bliss, can only be regarded as the first germ of a belief in a providence that guides to ends. Such a providence appears more clearly as early as Kâṭh. 5. 13 :—

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He who as the eternal creates the temporal,
Himself pure bliss, as spirit creates the spirits, as one the many,
He who, the wise, sees them dwell in himself,
He alone and no other has eternal peace.

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The concession which the first half of this verse makes to theism is retracted in the second half, and it is characteristic that in the reproduction of this verse in S'vet. 6. 13 the second half is altered in a theistic sense :—

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He who by examination (*sânkhyam*) and devotion (*yoga*)
Knows this primeval one as god, is freed from all fetters.¹

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¹ According to some, the author here, as a foundation for his theism appeals to the atheistic Sânkhya system !

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A significant advance in the direction of theism and belief in providence is found in the thought which is repeated from Kâṭh. 5. 13 in Îs'â 8, where it is said (word for word) :—" The wise, thoughtful, all-comprehending, self-existent one has assigned ends *yâthâtathyato* for all time." The word *yâthâtathyato*, interpolated later as the metre shows, gives evidence of a further advance upon the original verse; "in proportion to the quality," *i.e.* according to (*yathâ*) the works of the individual soul, so (*tathâ*) has the wise thoughtful one (*kavir manîshî*) determined beforehand the ends (the fruit of actions, the doing and suffering of each soul). This is already, unless we have read too much into the verse, the part which îs'vara plays in the later Vedânta. The works of the soul are the seed-corn, which in close correspondence with its quality is made to grow by god as the rain ; just as by the seed the plant, so by the works of the earlier existence the future life is determined both as regards its doing and its suffering. A clear distinction between these two is not to be found even in the later Vedânta. In general this later Vedânta standpoint is anticipated by the S'vetâs'vatara Upanishad, which in harmony with its theistic colouring depicts the âtman as “the overseer of actions,”¹ “the only free one, who multiplies the one seed of many who are by nature free from actions,”² who apportions to each his qualities,³ who executes justice, restrains the evil, allots good fortune,⁴ “who, himself colourless, but endowed abundantly with powers, assigns the numerous colours to appointed ends,”⁵ who brings to maturity the actions of the soul:—

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¹ S'vet. 6. 11.

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² S'vet. 6. 12 ; in reality the soul is actionless like the âtman, which it is.

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³ S'vet. 6. 4.

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⁴ S'vet. 6. 6.

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⁵ S'vet. 4. 1.

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When every birth comes to maturity with his being,
Whatever is to ripen, he makes it all to grow;
He as one, guides here all and each,
Apportioning to each his peculiar gifts.⁶

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⁶ S'vet. 5. 5.

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It is moreover characteristic of this Upanishad (which we compared above to a *codex palimpsestus*), that the ancient Upanishad thought ever and anon makes itself apparent through this elaborate theistic doctrine of recompense; by virtue of which it is God Himself who fetters Himself as soul to continually new forms corresponding to the actions that have been committed:—

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As soul he chooses many forms both gross
And subtle, corresponding to his virtue;
And that which bound him by the power of his work and of himself
To this, binds him also to another.⁷

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⁷ S'vet. 5. 12.

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We see therefore the thinkers of the Upanishads, after they have wandered in obedience to the empirical determination of their intellect, into realistic modes of representation, constantly returning to the original idealism.

Cites (5)