Reading section 18

1. Obscurity (तमस्), 2. Illusion(मोह), 3. Extreme illusion(महामोहः), 4. Gloom (तमिस्र), 5. Utter gloom (अन्ध तमसः).

[Sidenote: 1. The six letters of Hexads or sextuples.]

The sextuples of _Om_ are composed of _a_, _u_, _o_, _m_, the _Vindu_, cypher, and the _náda_; and according to another account, the _Ardha mátrá_ of Om is the fourth and the _Vindu_ and _náda_ the fifth and sixth _aksharas_. (Weber’s Ráma Tapaníya p. p. 292, & 312. Cowell’s Maitrí Up. p. 271).

[Sidenote: 2. The 6 Organs.]

The five organs of sense; _viz_ the nose, tongue, the eye, ear, skin and the mind. (Gotama Sutra I. 1, 12). But according to others the mind is not reckoned an organ.

[Sidenote: 3. Other Sextuples]

The six seasons (षडृतवः), the six flavours (षड्रसाः), the six musical modes (षड्रागः), the six Vedángas; but I never met a passage of their being preceded by _Om_.

[Sidenote: 1. The Heptads or Septuples.]

The Septuples are formed by a, u, o, m, _Vindu_, _náda_ and _Sánta_ or ultimate silence, and these are used to symbolise the pantheistic form of the god Viráj, in the following description of him given by Sankara.

[Sidenote: 2. The 7 Parts of Viráj Body.]

“His head—the heavens; his eye—the sun; his breath—the wind; his center—the ether; his urine—the water; his feet—the earth; his mouth the fire.” Anquetil gives the five senses, the mind and intellect as his seven members. (Weber’s Indian Studien. Vol. II. p. 107).

[Sidenote: 3. The Other Heptads.]

According to other accounts there is a sevenfold septuples included in the figure Om comprising the Universe. The first _trisaptaka_ or triplex septuple comprises the seven spheres of heaven, the seven pátálas or infernal regions, and the seven _Bhuvanas_ of earth. The second _trisapta_ consists of the _sapta dwípas_ or seven continents of the earth, the seven oceans, and the seven planets; and lastly the _sapta swara_ or the seven notes emitted by the planetary motions.

[Sidenote: The Octads or octuples.]

The octuples consist of the aforesaid seven parts and the _sákti_ or word _namo_ added to them at the end, and are used as symbols of Viráj for the five vital airs, or the five organs of action and those of intellect _i. e._ the mind, intellect and self consciousness or _chítta_.

[Sidenote: The Nonads.]

These are nine cavities of the body नबद्वारगृह the abode of Brahma.

[Sidenote: The _Decads_.]

These are the ten internal and external organs (पञ्चकर्म्मेन्द्रिय and पञ्चबुद्धीन्द्रिय) of the body—the seats of Brahma.

XIV. PHILOSOPHY OF THE NUMERICAL GROUPS CONTAINED UNDER THE MYSTIC SYLLABLE OM.

[Sidenote: 1. Inquiry into the numerical groups.]

After the lengthy account we have given of the various classes of words contained under the different numbers and divisions and subdivisions of the mysterious letter _Om_, it must be asked by the inquisitive reader, what do these clusters of concrete and abstract terms which are numerically jumbled together under the unintelligible character _Om_ serve to mean, and of what use are they to the contemplative Yogi in his meditation on the attributes of his Maker by that symbol?

[Sidenote: 2 (_a_). Enlargement of the understanding.]

In answer to this query we are bound to repeat the definition of yoga, that it is the process of joining the ideas in the mind, and practicing the limited powers of the understanding to rise by degrees from their grasping the ideas of unities or single objects at a time, to the comprehension of dualities and pluralities for the enlargement of the intellect, till at last the mind is fraught with a clear and distinct idea of every thing in the universe comprised under the several groups or generalizations of particulars.

[Sidenote: 2 (_b_). Their Pantheistic view.]

And also as we have more than once mentioned in the preceding articles, that God is _aham bahushyám_—one in many, _to on to pan_ of the Greeks, or the _unity_ divided into and containing an _Infinity_ of parts; so His symbol the holy Om is one circle and emblem of infinity, which for the sake of our conception and convenience is viewed in its Finite parts of monads &c., and their ever increasing multiples by all other numbers. But the monad like the prime number one whether multiplied or divided by any number in arithmetic, remains still the same simple one. Thus (1 × 2 = 2 × 1); (and 1/2 = 1 ÷ 2, or 1/2 = 1 × 1/2). This is the root of the pantheistic doctrine of the Vedánta. सर्ब्बं खल्विदं ब्रह्म This One is all: and the whole being taken from the whole the remainder is whole. पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेबाबशिष्यते ।

[Sidenote: 3. The Numerical Philosophy.]

It was the oldest _Sánkhya_ or numerical school of philosophy in India, like the ancient Ionian school of Greece, that first made a classification of all objects in nature under certain co-ordinate groups for our contemplation of them under those classes; which its later development of the _yoga_ system has converted to the objects of our meditation as same with or pervaded by the Deity; or in other words, has recommended the meditation of nature’s God in nature itself as in Natural Theology. It was the Tantra worship of later ages that divided the symbol of unity and infinity of the divine _om_ into a decad of parts, as it is the custom of mathematicians to divide the great circle of infinity into 360 degrees, though it might be divided into an infinity of parts.

[Sidenote: 4. The Sánkhya and Pythagorean.]

The Sánkhya system of evolution which is closely allied to that of the Darwinian, views the monad as the elementary _protozoa_, which combined with other monads make up the duads, triads &c. we have mentioned before, and all which are resolvable to the primary monad. Om is always ‘one’ thing; nothing can destroy that numerical existence, combine the thing in every possible variety of ways, and it still remains ‘_one_.’ It cannot be less than _one_, it cannot be more. As (2 = 1 + 1 = II & 3 = 1 + 1 + 1 = III). Resolve it into its minutest particles, and each particle is _one_. As (½, ⅓, ¼ &c.). One is the only absolute number; all others are but relations to it. The Infinite therefore must be one, and if you take infinity and the infinitesimals from the infinite, there remains also the same infinity; according to the Vedánta paradox पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदुच्यते । and all modes of existence are but finite aspects of the Infinite.

[Sidenote: 5. Different aspects of the soul.]

The soul being a self moved monad, is one, whether it connects itself with two or with three; in other words the essence remains the same whatever its manifestations may be. The one soul may have two aspects, Intelligence and Passion, as in brutes; or it may have three aspects, as in man &c. For more of this see Lewes’ History of Philosophy (Vol. I p. 33 and p. 34).

[Sidenote: 6. Query concerning Nature Worship.]

There rises another question of some importance in this place as, what has the Yogi or worshipper of God to do with the objects presented to him in the different groups under the partitions of _Om_, when his business is solely to meditate on the nature and attributes of the Deity?

[Sidenote: 7. Spiritual Worship.]

To this it may be answered that, the Hindu Yogi or meditative sage is enjoined to meditate on the Supreme Spirit in Spirit, “_átmá átmanyeva chintayet_”. (आत्मा आत्मन्येबचिन्तयेत्). He does not adore any visible object, but contemplates his creator with all his attributes as displayed in creation, which he sums up abstractedly in his own spirit and mind. There can be no contemplation of the inscrutable and incomprehensible nature of God apart from the light we derive from the abstract meditation of all sensible and intellectual natures. “Observe every thing in thyself and so shalt thou behold the Supreme.” सर्ब्बमात्मगतं पश्यतेनात्मानं परिपश्यसि ।

[Sidenote: 8. Self knowledge. What?]

The old rule of self knowledge आत्मतत्त्व or know thyself आत्मानं जानीहि, which was believed to constitute highest wisdom, and which has given rise to different interpretations in various schools of philosophy, does not mean the knowledge of one’s state and nature to be sufficient for him; but that of his soul which makes him truly great. The wise Socrates looked inwards, and there discovered the moral and psychological truths the world has derived from him. His pupil the divine Plato looked within him, and there found the eternal ideas of which sense awakened reminiscence.

[Sidenote: 9. Knowledge of the Soul.]

The Hindu Yogi too looks inward and views within the circle of his cranium symbolized as _Om_, his soul seated as a ray and figure of the Divinity, and encompassed by the abstract ideas of all things whose impressions he has received by sense and mind. He then learns to distinguish by his discriminative power called the _átmánátma viveka_, (आत्मानात्मविवेक) the soul of the Universe from all the representations which it presents to his mind.

[Sidenote: 10. Of one in Many.]

The Platonic system had also a sort of classification in which the search for One in Many and Many in One, together with the detection of the One in the Many was the constant aim, consult for further information on this head in Lewes’ History of Philosophy. (Vol. 1. p. 237 and p. 405).

XV. THE UNITARIAN FORMULA ॐ तत् सत् ONE THAT IS.

[Sidenote: 1. Om the one.]

From all our investigation into the origin, rise, and extent of meaning of the word _Om_ in its orthography, etymology and theology, it is evident that the Indo-Aryan mind was early infused with the idea of an absolute _Om_ corresponding with the Greek _On_ and _ôn_, and _En_ and also _Aeon_ of the Gnostics, Latin _Ens_, _Unum_ and Entity, Romance _On_ and _un_, and _one_ in English, whose unity was the source of all diversity in the plurality of creation, agreeably to the text _aham bahu Syám_ = _Ego multus sim_ of the Sruti.

[Sidenote: 2. The Universal soul, = Vìswátman.]

It was at first known as _one_ and then as the _self_ or soul by the silent and innate intuition of the intellect, as it is declared in the Mandukya Upanishad II. 2, 5. तमेबैकंजानथआत्मानमन्यावाचो, बिमुञ्चथअमृतस्यैब सेतुः । मण्डूकं २ । २१५ ।

Max Müller says (A. S. Lit. p. 23 and p. 322): “The Átman was next conceived as the Spirit = air, _átmá_ and _anime_.” “That one breathed breathless by itself: other than it nothing since has been.” Thus says the Sruti (Müller p. 560). “This one Átman (atmos) fills, animates and pervades the whole”; as the poet sings “spreads unspent” throughout the infinity of worlds:

“Which are but parts of one undivided whole whose body nature is, and God the soul.” (Pope).

एकमेवाद्वितीयं ब्रह्म । रूपं रूपं प्रतिरूपं विभाति ॥

[Sidenote: 3. Called as _Tat_ = that]

The inherent one of all ones “_to on ontwn_,” the unit of unities, the Ens of entities, the soul of the world “Viswátman” was yet without a name, nor did they know how to call him, than by the designation of _tat_ = “that,” which they say is expressive of the idea of Brahma तदिति ब्रह्मणोऽभिधानमुदाहृतं । Because says Váchaspati, the nature of the one _Om_, was unknown even to the learned बिदुषां परोक्षत्वाच्च तच्छब्दो ब्रह्मणो नाम; and therefore it was specified by the demonstrative pronoun _that_ “_tat_,” which sometimes preceded the एक as तदेकं &c. (Greek _to on_). The necessity of pronouncing _Om_ with _tat sat_ in the beginning of every Vedic rite, is strictly enjoined in Bhágavad-Gítá. ॐ तत्सदिति निर्द्देशो ब्रह्मनस्त्रिविधः स्मृतः । ब्राह्मणश्चैब बेदाश्च यज्ञाश्चबिहिताः पुरा । बैदिके कर्म्मणि तेषां प्रथमतो निर्द्देशः । इति तां बाचस्पतिः ।

[Sidenote: 4. The Impersonal and Personal God.]

The word “_tat_” in the neuter gender, was used for the one self, which as an element or material cause, had evolved all things out of its immaterial essence, and expressed an impersonal God, which the creed of the early philosophers had established in the Vedas. It was at a much later period that the belief of a personal God, is said to have been introduced by the sage Sándilya in the Ch’hándogya and Swetásvatara Upanishads, where the self आत्मा is used in the masculine gender, and the masculine pronoun _Sa_ and _tam_ (Greek “_ho and ton_,” Lat “_is_”), was substituted for _tat_ (Greek _to_ Lat _id_) in the subjective _mantra_ सोऽहं हंस; but in the objective mantra it is neuter as तत्त्वमसि ।

[Sidenote: 5. Of the Bráhma Somája]

The Bráhma Samáj has preserved both the formula of the Impersonal God (ॐ तत् सत्) as their motto, as well as addressed their prayers to the personal God by use of the masculine pronoun _sa_ and _tam_ instead of _tat_. Thus in the opening hymn of Ram Mohun Roy’s Prayer Book तमेकं शरण्यं तमेकं बरेण्यं तमेकं जगत् कारणं विश्वरूपं । तमेकं जगत् कर्त्तृपातृ प्रहर्तृ तमेकं विश्वरूपं निर्बिकल्पं भजामि । So in Devendra Natha Thákur’s hymn तमेकं स्मरामो तमेकंभजामो । This is in accordance to the creed of all civilized nations to apply the masculine pronoun to the Deity. The Koran has “ho=he” in its formulas of “_Ho’lahad_” “_Ho’lghani_” _&c._, and so also the _ho_ of the Bible. _Tat_ like _On_ is sometimes used alone and by itself for God, at the opening of books and chapters, and upon the tops of pages with the Sat following it as तत् सत्.

[Sidenote: 6. Ditto in the Feminine Gender.]

But those who have heard the preachings of Keshub Chandra Sen, may well remember his exclamations as तुमि पिता तुमि माता, तुमि पुरुष तुमि प्रकृति, in imitation of the Roman idolatrous philosopher’s acclamation to God, “tu pater, tu mater, tu mas, tu femme” &c., in Cudworth’s Intellectual System. There is no masculine or feminine representative of the pronoun _tat_ or any other pronoun in the vernaculars, where they are all of the common gender, hence तिनि, उनि, ओ, से &c., used for _tat_ by the Heathen Hindus, are applied alike to their gods and goddesses, while the Sanskrit _sah_ = ho in Greek, Arabic and Hebrew designates the masculine Deity only. Mahommed says in the Koran, “ye are ashamed of your female children, but not of assigning female attributes to the Deity.”

[Sidenote: 7. Ditto in the Neuter Gender.]

The following passages will serve to show the early creed of the impersonal God, from the application of the neuter pronoun _tat_ to him in the Mándukya Upanishad. (11. 2)