The Development of Hindu Philosophy. —The next stage of Hinduism is the develop ment of philosophic thought. At about this time the Aryan Hindus had consolidated their conquests, and had time to devote to specula tion. The fundamental thought that union with the Divine is the summum bonum of all ex istence underlies all developments of the re ligion. In the very early periods, hymns were the means. In the Epic period, the doc trine was prevalent that the union of the human with the divine soul of existence was aided and expedited by penances of various kinds, collectively known as Yoga. In the next pe riod, special stress was laid on sacrificial offer ings, especially household rites with elaborate ceremonies. Doubt arose in the minds of many as regards the utility of penances or sacrifices. Just as the original hymmnakers of the Vedas speculated on existence in the Upanishad, so the later Hindus began to speculate on exist ence. At first, there was confusion of thought, because the existence of a universal spirit was not considered incompatible with the doctrine of a personal creator. Having devoted all their time and attention to sacrificial rites, they had failed to bring about a distinct formula of faith. The general drift of thought be came pantheistic, although the ancient forms of belief still largely entered into it. Systems of philosophy grew up in the attempt to solve questions of the origin and destiny of man, and his relation to the Supreme Being. The six well-known schools of philosphy are known as the Nyaya, Vaisesbika, Sankhya, Yoga, Mimamsa and Vedanta. They all agree in that their object was to prescribe rules by which man may be delivered from the bondage of ignorance, and be absorbed in the all-pervading divine soul. Their doctrine of the soul as something eternal and inextinguishable, distinct from mind, senses and body, yet sharing in the merits and demerits of good and bad deeds, the latter of which are caused by ignorance of what is best and highest, is identical. They agree so far as to how ignorance can be gradu ally eliminated and right apprehension acquired; to this end scriptures must be studied and clear ness of mind and heart secured by sacrifices, almsgiving, pilgrimages and prayer. There was no question as regards what is best from an ethical point of view. There has also been no question as to the necessity for the attainment of the Divine. The point of conflict was mainly as regards speculative thought. These systems of philosophy were restricted in their scope, because they all acknowledge that the Veda was the fountain head of all knowledge, and an authority which cannot be questioned. On the other hand, they had a very wide lati tude, because it was ever possible to quote some passage or other in the Veda to support any statement. The final result of the develop ment of speculative thought was the enthrone ment of Brahman, as the be-all and end-all. The idea of a personal deity lost all force and the Great Abstract was the good of all exist ence, and all existence was in it. The Vedanta philosophy was the culmination of the specula tive thought of the Hinduism. See VEDANTA.
Although the new dogma satisfied the aspirations of the most developed speculative minds, the votaries of the religion as a whole could neither comprehend nor take interest in it; an abstract, colorless superentity like Brahman awoke no sympathies in the hearts of those who can have no conception of God except as a personal entity. Even when the primitive symbolic worship of nature as seen in the Hymns of the Vedas had not been touched by philosophic speculation, the mass of the people were drifting away toward the worship of gods of flesh and blood. Different localities became attached to the worship of a particular deity with special attributes. The thoughts and ob
servances of the original inhabitants of the country had also had some influence on the Aryan settlers. The priesthood was loath to give away to the superstitions and deity wor ship of the common people, and would gladly have raised them to its own level if it could. Attempts made in that direction signally failed. The only way open was for the priesthood to recognize and incorporate into their system some of the most prominent objects of popular devotion, and thereby to establish a kind of catholic creed for the whole community sub ject to the Brahminical law. The pantheistic thought that had already been highly developed also helped toward that end in view. Siva or Mahadeva and Vishnu were the two popular deities at the time, and they were admitted into the folds of the higher Hindu thought. This was only the beginning. A whole host of gods and goddesses then claimed recognition. Every small community had its local deity, and to re fuse recognition would have meant the straying away of that community from the Hindu faith. The Brahmins settled the vexed question with out, in any sense, giving up their own Vedantic faith. As the Brahman was in all, and all was Brahman, what was there to prevent any ob ject being identified with it, so long as there can be no other? What was, after all, in a name? Why should not the Brahman be called Vishnu, Rudra, Siva or Mahadeva? Life was meaningless without symbolism; and the local deities were only symbols. The populace, how ever, did not take the position; that the Brah mins proposed to remedy by gradual education.
The result was that a whole pantheon of gods was created. Imagination was let loose and had a riotous play. Gods and goddesses by the galore peopled the firmament, although however only a handful found deification in the sense that they became objects of worship. New worlds were created, and Indra was made the ruler of 330,000,000 divinities. The trinity of Hinduism came into being in Brahma, the creator, Vishnu, the preserver, and Siva, the destroyer. The cosmogony of the world be came extraordinarily interesting. The universe, before undiscerned, was made known by the sole, self-existent Brahman. The latter willed to produce from his own substance various lives, which were dormant in, and part of, him, created the waters by meditation. Out of the ultra-universal deluge was created Brahma, the creator of all things. Brahma, or the creator worship, did not last, because there were no votaries, and the idea was an innova tion made to fit in with an artificial cosmogony. With Vishnu and Siva, however, it was differ ent. The old conception of Vishnu as that of kindly protector appealed to the masses. He has been represented as undergoing, for the benefit of mankind, a number of avataras, or incarnations. The object for which Vishnu assumes a human form is always to deliver the people from the oppression of some wicked prince or influence, or when the world is over whelmed in vice and has to be restored to virtue or Dharma. Siva is the destroyer, also known as Rudra, the god of the roaring storm, usually portrayed, in accordance with the ele ment he represents, as a fierce and destructive deity. But he is worshipped, because he is held to symbolize the destruction of sin and the unrealities and illusions of worldly existence, thus leading the soul to its goal. To give even a cursory idea of the various deities in the Hindu pantheon would take volumes. The basis of the pantheon is the Puranas, of which the most noted are 18. Besides the Puranas, there are commentaries and works which exalt the particular deities of noted votaries. All the deities, however, are either the incarna tions or attributes of Vishnu or Siva.