On the Literature of the Hindus

from the Sanscrit, communicated by Goverdhan Caul, with a short Commentary.

THE TEXT.

There are eighteen Vidya's, or parts of true Knowledge, and some branches of Knowledge falsely so called; of both which a short account shall here be exhibited.

The first four are the immortal Véda's evidently revealed by God; which are entitled, in one compound word, Rigyajuhsámát'harva, or, in separate words, Rich, Yajush, Sáman, and At'harvan: the Rigvéda consists of five sections; the Yajurvéda, of eighty-six; the Sámavéda, of a thousand; and the At'harvavéda, of nine; with eleven hundred s'ác'ha's, or Branches, in various divisions and subdivisions. The Véda's in truth are infinite; but were reduced by Vyaˊsa to this number and order: the principal part of them is that, which explains the Duties of Man in a methodical arrangement; and in the fourth is a system of divine ordinances.

From these are deduced the four Upavédas, namely, Ayush, Gándharva, Dhanush, and St'hápatya; the first of which, or Ayurvéda, was delivered to mankind by Braˊhmaˊ, Indra, Dhanwantari, and five other Deities; and comprizes the theory of Disorders and Medicines, with the practical methods of curing Diseases. The second, or Musick, was invented and explained by Bharata: it is chiefly useful in raising the mind by devotion to the felicity of the Divine nature. The third Upavéda was composed by Viswamitra on the fabrication and use of arms and implements handled in war by the tribe of Cshatriya's. Visˊwacarman revealed the fourth in various treatises on sixty-four Mechanical Arts, for the improvement of such as exercise them.

Six Anga's, or Bodies of Learning, are also derived from the same source: their names are, Sicshà, Calpa, Vyácarana, Ch'handas, Jyótish, and Niructi. The first was written by Paˊnini, an inspired Saint, on the pronunciation of vocal sounds; the second contains a detail of religious acts and ceremonies from the first to the last; and from the branches of these works a variety of rules have been framed by Aˊsˊwalaˊyana, and others: the third, or the Grammar, entitled Páńiníya, consisting of eight lectures or chapters, (Vriddhirádaij, and so forth) was the production of three Rishi's, or holy men, and teaches the proper discriminations of words in construction; but other less abstruse Grammars, compiled merely for popular use, are not considered as Anga's: the fourth, or Prosody, was taught by a Muni, named Pingala, and treats of charms and incantations in verses aptly framed and variously measured; such as the Gáyatri, and a thousand others. Astronomy is the fifth of the Védánga's, as it was delivered by Suˊrya, and other divine persons: it is necessary in calculations of time. The sixth, or Niructi, was composed by Yaˊsca (so is the manuscript; but, perhaps, it should be Vyaˊsa) on the signification of difficult words and phrases in the Véda's.

Lastly, there are four Upánga's, called Purána, Nyáya, Mímánsà, and Dherma sástra. Eighteen Purána's, that of Brahma, and the rest, were composed by Vyaˊsa for the instruction and entertainment of mankind in general. Nyáya is derived from the root ní, to acquire or apprehend; and, in this sense, the books on apprehension, reasoning, and judgement, are called Nyáya: the principal of these are the work of Gautama in five chapters, and that of Canaˊda in ten; both teaching the meaning of sacred texts, the difference between just and unjust, right and wrong, and the principles of knowledge, all arranged under twenty-three heads. Mímánsà is also two-fold; both showing what acts are pure or impure, what objects are to be desired or avoided, and by what means the soul may ascend to the First Principle: the former, or Carma Mímánsà, comprized in twelve chapters, was written by Jaimini, and discusses questions of moral Duties and Law; next follows the Upásaná Cánda in four lectures, (Sancarshana and the rest), containing a survey of Religious Duties; to which part belong the rules of Saˊndilya, and others, on devotion and duty to God. Such are the contents of the Púrva, or former, Mímánsà. The Uttara, or latter, abounding in questions on the Divine Nature and other sublime speculations, was composed by Vyaˊsa, in four chapters and sixteen sections: it may be considered as the brain and spring of all the Anga's; it exposes the heretical opinions of Raˊmaˊnuja, Maˊdhwa, Vallabha, and other Sophists; and, in a manner suited to the comprehension of adepts, it treats on the true nature of Ganeˊsa, Bhaˊscara, or the Sun, Niˊlacanta, Lacshmiˊ, and other forms of One Divine Being. A similar work was written by sˊriˊ sˊancara, demonstrating the Supreme Power, Goodness, and Eternity of God.

The Body of Law, called Smrīti, consists of eighteen books, each divided under three general heads, the duties of religion, the administration of justice, and the punishment or expiation of crimes: they were delivered, for the instruction of the human species, by Menu, and other sacred personages.

As to Ethicks, the Véda's contain all that relates to the duties of Kings; the Purána's, what belongs to the relation of husband and wife; and the duties of friendship and society (which complete the triple division) are taught succinctly in both: this double division of Anga's and Upánga's may be considered as denoting the double benefit arising from them in theory and practice.

The Bhárata and Rámáyana, which are both Epick Poems, comprize the most valuable part of ancient History.

For the information of the lower classes in religious knowledge, the Pásúpata, the Pancharátra, and other works, fit for nightly meditation, were composed by Siva, and others, in an hundred and ninety-two parts on different subjects.

What follow are not really divine, but contain infinite contradictions. Sánc'hya is twofold, that with Isˊwara and that without Isˊwara: the former is entitled Pátanjala in one chapter of four sections, and is useful in removing doubts by pious contemplation; the second, or Cápila, is in six chapters on the production of all things by the union of Praˊcriti, or Nature, and Purusha, or the First Male: it comprizes also, in eight parts, rules for devotion, thoughts on the invisible power, and other topicks. Both these works contain a studied and accurate enumeration of natural bodies and their principles; whence this philosophy is named Sánc'hya. Others hold, that it was so called from its reckoning three sorts of pain.

The Mímánsà, therefore, is in two parts; the Nyáya, in two; and the Sánc'hya, in two; and these six Schools comprehend all the doctrine of the Theists.

Last of all appears a work written by Buddha; and there are also six Atheistical systems of Philosophy, entitled Yógáchára, Saudhánta, Vaibháshica, Mádhyamica, Digambara, and Chárvác; all full of indeterminate phrases, errors in sense, confusion between distinct qualities, incomprehensible notions, opinions not duly weighed, tenets destructive of natural equality, containing a jumble of Atheism and Ethicks; distributed, like our Orthodox books, into a number of sections, which omit what ought to be expressed, and express what ought to be omitted; abounding in false propositions, idle propositions, impertinent propositions: some assert, that the heterodox Schools have no Upánga's; others, that they have six Angás, and as many Sánga's, or Bodies and other Appendices.

Such is the analysis of universal knowledge, Practical and Speculative.

THE COMMENTARY.

This first Chapter of a rare Sanscrit Book, entitled Vidyádersa, or a View of Learning, is written in so close and concise a style, that some parts of it are very obscure, and the whole requires an explanation. From the beginning of it we learn, that the Véda's are considered bythe Hindus as the fountain of all knowledge human and divine; whence the verses of them are said in the Gítà to be the leaves of that holy tree, to which the Almighty Himself is compared:

“The wise have called the Incorruptible One an Aśwatt'ha with its roots above and its branches below; the leaves of which are the sacred measures: he, who knows this tree, knows the Véda's.”

All the Pandits insist, that Aśwatt'ha means the Pippala, or Religious Fig-tree with heart-shaped pointed and tremulous leaves; but the comparison of heavenly knowledge, descending and taking root on earth, to the Vata, or great Indian Fig-tree, which has most conspicuously its roots on high, or at least has radicating branches, would have been far more exact and striking.

The Véda's consist of three Cáńdá's, or General Heads; namely, Carma, Jñyána, Upásanà, or Works, Faith, and Worship; to the first of which the Author of the Vidyádersa wisely gives the preference, as Menu himself prefers universal benevolence to the ceremonies of religion:

that is: “By silent adoration undoubtedly a Bráhman attains holiness; but every benevolent man, whether he perform or omit that ceremony, is justly styled a Bráhman”. This triple division of the Véda's may seem at first to throw light on a very obscure line in the Gítà:

or, “The Véda's are attended with three qualities: be not thou a man of three qualities, O Arjuna”.

But several Pandits are of opinion, that the phrase must relate to the three guna's, or qualities of the mind, that of excellence, that of passion, and that of darkness; from the last of which a Hero should be wholly exempt, though examples of it occur in the Véda's, where animals are ordered to be sacrificed, and where horrid incantations are inserted for the destruction of enemies.

It is extremely singular, as Mr. Wilkins has already observed, that, notwithstanding the fable of Brahmaˊ's four mouths, each of which uttered a Véda, yet most ancient writers mention only three Véda's, in order as they occur in the compound word Rigyajuhsáma; whence it is inferred, that the At'harvan was written or collected after the three first; and the two following arguments, which are entirely new, will strongly confirm this inference. In the eleventh book of Menu, a work ascribed to the first age of mankind, and certainly of high antiquity, the At'harvan is mentioned by name, and styled the Véda of Véda's; a phrase, which countenances the notion of Daˊraˊ Shecuˊh, who asserts, in the preface to his Upanishat, that “the three first Védas are named separately, because the At'harvan is a corollary from them all, and contains the quintessence of them.” But this verse of Menu, which occurs in a modern copy of the work brought from Bánáras, and which would support the antiquity and excellence of the fourth Véda, is entirely omitted in the best copies, and particularly in a very fine one written at Gayá, where it was accurately collated by a learned Bráhman; so that, as Menu himself in other places names only three Véda's, we must believe this line to be an interpolation by some admirer of the At'harvan; and such an artifice overthrows the very doctrine, which it was intended to sustain.

The next argument is yet stronger, since it arises from internal evidence; and of this we are now enabled to judge by the noble zeal of Colonel Polier in collecting Indian curiosities; which has been so judiciously applied and so happily exerted, that he now possesses a complete copy of the four Védas in eleven large volumes.

On a cursory inspection of those books it appears, that even a learner of Sanscrit may read a considerable part of the At'harvavéda without a dictionary; but that the style of the other three is so obsolete, as to seem almost a different dialect: when we are informed, therefore, that few Bráhmans at Bánáras can understand any part of the Véda's, we must presume, that none are meant, but the Rich, Yajush, and Sáman, with an exception of the At'harvan, the language of which is comparatively modern; as the learned will perceive from the following specimen:

“and through piety, thither may fire raise me! May fire receive my sacrifices! Mysterious praise to fire! May air waft me thither! May air increase my spirits! Mysterious praise to air! May the Sun draw me thither! May the sun enlighten my eye! Mysterious praise to the sun! May the Moon bear me thither! May the moon receive my mind! Mysterious praise to the moon! May the plant Sóma lead me thither! May Sóma bestow on me its hallowed milk! Mysterious praise to Sóma! May Indra, or the firmament, carry me thither! May Indra give me strength! Mysterious praise to Indra! May water bear me thither! May water bring me the stream of immortality! Mysterious praise to the waters! Where they, who know the Great One, go, through holy rites and through piety, thither may Brahmaˊ conduct me! May Brahmaˊ lead me to the Great One! Mysterious praise to Brahmaˊ!”

Several other passages might have been cited from the first book of the At'harvan, particularly a tremendous incantation with consecrated grass, called Darbbha, and a sublime Hymn to Cála, or time; but a single passage will suffice to show the style and language of this extraordinary work. It would not be so easy to produce a genuine extract from the other Véda's: indeed, in a book, entitled Sivavédánta, written in Sanscrit, but in Cáshmirian letters, a stanza from the Yajurvéda is introduced; which deserves for its sublimity to be quoted here; though the regular cadence of the verses, and the polished elegance of the language, cannot but induce a suspicion, that it is a more modern paraphrase of some text in the ancient Scripture:

“nings flash not in that place; how should even fire blaze there? God irradiates all this bright substance; and by its effulgence the universe is enlightened.”

After all, the books on divine Knowledge, called Véda, or what is known, and Sruti, or what has been heard, from revelation, are still supposed to be very numerous; and the four here mentioned are thought to have been selected, as containing all the information necessary for man. Mohsani Faˊniˊ, the very candid and ingenious author of the Dabistàn, describes in his first chapter a race of old Persian sages, who appear from the whole of his account to have been Hindus; and we cannot doubt, that the book of Mahaˊbaˊd, or Menu, which was written, he says, in a celestial dialect, means the Véda; so that, as Zeraˊtusht was only a reformer, we find in India the true source of the ancient Persian religion. To this head belong the numerous Tantra, Mantra, Agama, and Nigama, Sástra's, which consist of incantations and other texts of the Vedas, with remarks on the occasions, on which they may be successfully applied. It must not be omitted, that the Commentaries on the Hindu Scriptures, among which that of Vasishtha seems to be reputed the most excellent, are innumerable; but, while we have access to the fountains, we need not waste our time in tracing the rivulets.

From the Védas are immediately deduced the practical arts of Chirurgery and Medicine, Musick and Dancing, Archery, which comprizes the whole art of war, and Architecture, under which the system of Mechanical arts is included. According to the Pandits, who instructed Abu'lfazl, each of the four Scriptures gave rise to one of the Upavéda's, or Sub-scriptures, in the order in which they have been mentioned; but this exactness of analogy seems to savour of refinement.

Infinite advantage may be derived by Europeans from the various Medical books in Sanscrit, which contain the names and descriptions of Indian plants and minerals, with their uses, discovered by experience, in curing disorders: there is a vast collection of them from the Cheraca, which is considered as a work of Siva, to the Róganirúpana and the Nidána, which are comparatively modern. A number of books, in prose and verse, have been written on Musick, with specimens of Hindu airs in a very elegant notation; but the Silpa śástra, or Body of Treatises on Mechanical arts, is believed to be lost.

Next in order to these are the six Védánga's, three of which belong to Grammar; one relates to religious ceremonies; a fifth to the whole compass of Mathematicks, in which the author of Líláwatí was esteemed the most skilful man of his time; and the sixth, to the explanation of obscure words or phrases in the Védas. The grammatical work of Paˊnini, a writer supposed to have been inspired, is entitled Siddhánta Caumudi, and is so abstruse, as to require the lucubrations of many years, before it can be perfectly understood. When Cáśinát'ha Serman, who attended Mr. Wilkins, was asked what he thought of the Páńiníya, he answered very expressively, that “it was a forest”; but, since Grammar is only an instrument, not the end, of true knowledge, there can be little occasion to travel over so rough and gloomy a path; which contains, however, probably some acute speculations in Metaphysicks. The Sanscrit Prosody is easy and beautiful: the learned will find in it almost all the measures of the Greeks; and it is remarkable, that the language of the Bráhmans runs very naturally into Sapphicks, Alcaicks, and Iambicks. Astronomical works in this language are exceedingly numerous: seventy-nine of them are specified in one list; and, if they contain the names of the principal stars visible in India, with observations on their positions in different ages, what discoveries may be made in Science, and what certainty attained in ancient Chronology?

Subordinate to these Anga's (though the reason of the arrangement is not obvious) are the series of Sacred Poems, the Body of Law, and the six Philosophical śastrás; which the author of our text reduces to two, each consisting of two parts, and rejects a third, in two parts also, as not perfectly orthodox, that is, not strictly conformable to his own principles.

The first Indian Poet was Vaˊlmiˊci, author of the Rámáyana, a complete Epick Poem on one continued, interesting, and heroick, action; and the next in celebrity, if it be not superior in reputation for holiness, was the Mahábhárata of Vyaˊsa: to him are ascribed the sacred Purána's, which are called, for their excellence, the Eighteen, and which have the following titles: Brahme, or the Great One, Pedma, or the Lotos, Braˊhmaˊndˊa, or the Mundane Egg, and Agni, or Fire, (these four relate to the Creation) Vishnu, or the Pervader, Garudˊa for his Eagle, the Transformations of Brahma, Siva, Linga, Naˊreda, son of Brahmaˊ, Scanda son of Siva, Marcandeˊya, or the Immortal Man, and Bhawishya, or the Prediction of Futurity (these nine belong to the attributes and powers of the Deity) and four others, Matsya, Varaˊha, Cuˊrma, Vaˊmena, or as many incarnations of the Great One in his character of Preserver; all containing ancient traditions embellished by poetry or disguised by fable: the eighteenth is the Bhaˊgawata, or Life of Crishna, with which the same Poet is by some imagined to have crowned the whole series; though others, with more reason, assign them different composers.

The system of Hindu Law, besides the fine work, called Menusmriti, or “what is remembered from Menu,” that of Yaˊjnyawalcya, and those of sixteen other Muni's, with Commentaries on them all, consists of many tracts in high estimation, among which those current in Bengal are an excellent treatise on Inheritances by Jiˊmuˊta Vaˊhana, and a complete Digest, in twenty-seven volumes, compiled a few centuries ago by Raghunandan, the Tribonian of India, whose work is the grand repository of all that can be known on a subject so curious in itself, and so interesting to the British Government.

Of the Philosophical Schools it will be sufficient here to remark, that the first Nyáya seems analogous to the Peripatetick, the second, sometimes called Vaiśéshica, to the Ionick, the two Mimánsá's, of which the second is often distinguished by the name of Védánta, to the Platonick, the first Sánc'hya to the Italick, and the second, or Pátanjala, to the Stoick, Philosophy; so that Gautamaˊ corresponds with Aristotle; Canaˊda, with Thales; Jaimini with Socrates; Vyaˊsa with Plato; Capila with Pythagoras; and Patanjali with Zeno: but an accurate comparison between the Grecian and Indian Schools would require a considerable volume. The original works of those Philosophers are very succinct; but, like all the other Sástras, they are explained, or obscured, by the Upadersana or Commentaries without end: one of the finest compositions on the Philosophy of the Védánta is entitled Yóga Vásisht'ha, and contains the instructions of the great Vasishtha to his pupil, Raˊma, king of Ayódhyà.

It results from this analysis of Hindu Literature, that the Véda, Upavéda, Védánga, Purána, Dherma, and Derśana are the Six great Sástras, in which all knowledge, divine and human, is supposed to be comprehended; and here we must not forget, that the word Sástra, derived from a root signifying to ordain, means generally an Ordinance, and particularly a Sacred Ordinance delivered by inspiration: properly, therefore, this word is applied only to sacred literature, of which the text exhibits an accurate sketch.

The Súdra's, or fourth class of Hindus, are not permitted to study the six proper Sástra's before enumerated; but an ample field remains for them in the study of profane literature, comprized in a multitude of popular books, which correspond with the several Sástra's, and abound with beauties of every kind. All the tracts on Medicine must, indeed, be studied by the Vaidya's, or those, who are born Physicians; and they have often more learning, with far less pride, than any of the Bráhmans: they are usually Poets, Grammarians, Rhetoricians, Moralists; and may be esteemed in general the most virtuous and amiable of the Hindus. Instead of the Véda's they study the Rájaníti, or Instruction of Princes, and instead of Law, the Nítisástra, or general system of Ethicks: their Sahitia, or Cávya Sástra consists of innumerable poems, written chiefly by the Medical tribe, and supplying the place of the Purána's, since they contain all the stories of the Rámáyana, Bhárata, and Bhágawata: they have access to many treatises of Alancára, or Rhetorick, with a variety of works in modulated prose; to Upác'hyána, or Civil History, called also Rájatarangini; to the Nátaca, which answers to the Gándharvavéda, consisting of regular Dramatick pieces in Sanscrit and Prácrit: besides which they commonly get by heart some entire Dictionary and Grammar. The best Lexicon or Vocabulary was composed in verse, for the assistance of the memory, by the illustrious Amarasinha; but there are seventeen others in great repute: the best Grammar is the Mugdhabódha, or the Beauty of Knowledge, written by a Góswámi, named Voˊpadeˊva, and comprehending, in two hundred short pages, all that a learner of the language can have occasion to know. To the Cósha's, or dictionaries, are usually annexed very ample Tícá's, or Etymological Commentaries.

We need say no more of the heterodox writings, than that those on the religion and philosophy of Buddha seem to be connected with some of the most curious parts of Asiatick History, and contain, perhaps, all that could be found in the Páli, or sacred language of the Eastern Indian peninsula. It is asserted in Bengal, that Amarasinha himself was a Bauddha; but he seems to have been a theist of tolerant principles, and, like Abu'lfazl, desirous of reconciling the different religions of India.

Wherever we direct our attention to Hindu Literature, the notion of infinity presents itself; and the longest life would not be sufficient for the perusal of near five hundred thousand stanzas in the Purána's, with a million more perhaps in the other works before mentioned: we may, however, select the best from each Sástra, and gather the fruits of science, without loading ourselves with the leaves and branches; while we have the pleasure to find, that the learned Hindus, encouraged by the mildness of our government and manners, are at least as eager to communicate their knowledge of all kinds, as we can be to receive it. Since Europeans are indebted to the Dutch for almost all they know of Arabick, and to the French for all they know of Chinese, let them now receive from our nation the first accurate knowledge of Sanscrit, and of the valuable works composed in it; but, if they wish to form a correct idea of Indian religion and literature, let them begin with forgetting all that has been written on the subject, by ancients or moderns, before the publication of the Gítà.