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Indian Philosophy v1.c8.s13: VI Ethics

Indian Philosophy v1.c8.s13

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VI Ethics

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In fairness to the religion of the Brāhmaṇas, it is to be said that we find frequent traces in them of high moral sense and exalted sentiment. The conception of man’s duty first arises here. Man is said to owe some debts or duties to gods, men and animals. The duties are distinguished into (1) those to the gods, (2) those to seers, (3) those to manes, (4) those to men, (5) and those to the lower creation. He who discharges them all is the good man. No man can touch his daily meal without offering parts of it to gods, fathers, men and animals, and saying his daily prayers. This is the way to live in harmony with the world around him. Life is a round of duties and responsibilities. The conception is certainly high and noble whatever the actual filling of the ideal may be. Unselfishness can be practised in all our acts. In the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, the sacrifice of all things, *sarvamedha*, is taught as a means to the attainment of spiritual freedom.¹ Godliness is of course the first duty. It does not consist in the mechanical performance of fixed ritual. It consists in praise and good works. Godliness means trying to be divine as much as possible. Truth-speaking is an essential part of godliness. It is a religious and moral duty. Agni is the lord of vows and Vāk the lord of speech. Both will be displeased if truthfulness is not observed.² We notice already the symbolical interpretation of sacrifices. There are passages which point to the essential futility of works. "Yonder world cannot be obtained by sacrificial gifts or by asceticism by the man who does not know this. That state belongs only to him who has this knowledge."³ Adultery is condemned as a sin against the gods, especially Varuṇa. In all cases of evil-doing, confession is supposed to make the guilt less.⁴ Asceticism is also held up as a worthy ideal, for the gods are supposed to have obtained divine rank by austerity.¹

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¹ xiii. 7. I. I.

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² "One law the gods observe—Truth." Śat. Brāh., i. I. I. 4. ; see also i. I. I. 5; iii. 3. 2. 2, and iii. 4. 2. 8, and ii. 2. 2. 19.

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³ Śat. Brāh., x. 5. 4. 15.

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⁴ Śat. Brāh., ii. 5. 2. 20.

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¹ Tait. Brāh., iii. 12. 3.

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The āśrama dharma was introduced or more correctly formulated in this age.² The Vedic Aryan's life has the four stages or āśramas, as they are called, of (1) Brahmacārin or student, when he is expected to study one or more Vedas; (2) the Gṛhastha or the householder, when he has to fulfil the duties mentioned in the scriptures, social and sacrificial; (3) the Vānaprastha or the hermit, when the devotee spends his time in fasting and penance; and (4) the Sannyāsin or the ascetic, who has no fixed abode. He is without any possessions or property and longs for union with God. The four parts of the Veda, the hymns, the Brāhmaṇas, the Āraṇyakas and the Upaniṣads answer to the four stages of the Vedic Aryan's life.³ Beneath the formalism of ceremonial worship there was at work a spirit of true religion and morality, from which the heart of man obtained satisfaction. It is this ethical basis which has helped the Brāhmanical religion with all its weaknesses to endure so long. Side by side with its insistence on the outer, there was also the emphasis on inner purity. Truth, godliness, honour to parents, kindness to animals, love of man, abstinence from theft, murder and adultery, were inculcated as the essentials of a good life.

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² The word āśrama, derived from a root meaning "to toil," shows that the Indians realised that suffering was incidental to all progress.

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³ The account of these stages varies with the authorities. See Bṛh., Up., iii. 5. 1; Āpastamba Sūtras, ii. 9. 21. 1; Gautama Sūtras, iii. 2; Bodhāyana, ii. 6. 11. 12; Manu., v. 137, vi. 87; Vasiṣṭha, vii. 2.

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The institution of caste is not the invention of an unscrupulous priesthood, but a natural evolution conditioned by the times. It was consolidated in the period of the Brāhmaṇas. The Puruṣa Sūkta, though a part of the Ṛg-Veda, really belongs to the age of the Brāhmaṇas. It is clear that there were then inter-marriages between the Aryans and the Dasyus.⁴ To avoid too much confusion of blood, an appeal was made to the pride of the Aryans. What was originally a social institution became a religious one. A divine sanction was given to it, and the laws of caste became immutable. The flexibility of the original class system gave way to the rigidity of the caste. In the early Vedic period the priests formed a separate profession, but not a separate caste. Any Aryan could become a priest, and the priestly class was not necessarily superior to the warrior or the trading classes. Sometimes they were even treated with contempt.¹ But now the exclusiveness born of pride becomes the basis of caste. It tended to suppress free thought and retarded the progress of speculation. The moral standard sank. The individual who transgressed the rules of caste was a rebel and an outcaste. The Śūdras were excluded from the highest religion. Mutual contempt increased. "These are the words of Kṣatriya," is a typical Brāhmin way of characterising the words of an opponent.²

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⁴ A V., v. 17. 8.

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¹ See R.V., vii. 103. 1. 7 and 8; x. 88. 19.

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² Śat. Brāh., viii. I. 4. 10.

Cites (11)