Mr. H. T. CoLEBROOh-E on the Philosophy of the Hindus. 37 



The promptest mode of attaining beatitude, through absorbed contempla- 

 tion, is devotion to God ; consisting in repeated muttering of his mystical 

 name, the syllable om, at the same time meditating its signification. It is 

 this which const^utes efficacious devotion, whereby the deity, propitiated, 

 confers on the votary the boon that is sought ; precluding all impediments ; 

 and effecting the attainment of an inward sentiment, that prepares the soul 

 for liberation. 



" God, Iswara, the supreme ruler," according to Patanjali,* " is a soul 

 or spirit, distinct from other souls ; unaffected by the ills with which they 

 are beset ; unconcerned with good or bad deeds and their consequences, 

 and with fancies or passing thoughts. In him is the utmost omniscience. 

 He is the instructor of the earliest beings that have a beginning, (the deities 

 of mythology) ; himself infinite, unlimited by time." 



Capila, on the other hand, denies an Iswara, ruler of the world by volition : 

 alleging that there is no proof of God's existence, unperceived by the senses, 

 not inferred from reasoning, nor yet revealed.f He acknowledges indeed a 

 being issuing from nature, who is intelligence absolute ; source of all indi- 

 vidual intelligences ; and origin of other existences successively evolved and 

 developed. He expressly affirms, " that the truth of such an Iswara is 

 demonstrated :"% the creator of worlds, in such sense of creation: for " the 

 existence of effects," he says, " is dependent upon consciousness, not upon 

 Iswara ;" and " all else is from the great principle, intellect."§ Yet that 

 being is finite ; having a beginning and an end ; dating from the grand 

 development of the universe, to terminate with the consummation of all 

 things. But an infinite being, creator and guide of the universe by volition, 

 Capila positively disavows.il " Detached from nature, unaffected therefore 

 by consciousness, and the rest of nature's trammels, he could have no in- 

 ducement to creation ; fettered by nature, he could not be capable of 

 creation. Guidance requires proximity, as the iron is attracted by the 

 magnet ; and in like manner, it is by proximity that living souls goveni 

 individual bodies, enlightened by animation as hot iron is by heat" 



Passages of admitted authority, in which God is named, relate, according 

 to Capila and his followers, either to a liberated soul, or to a mythological 



* Yoga sdstra 1. 23—24 and 26—29. 



t Cup. 1.91— 98; 3.52—55; 5.2—12; and 6. 04-78. 



% Cap. 3. 55. J Cap. 6. 65 and 66. || Cap. 1. 



