Mr. Colebrooke on the PJiilosophy of the Hindus. 27 



and fire ; the other consisting of the two more subtile, air and ether ; it is 

 said, ' next then his name is propounded,' " neither so nor so ; for tliere is 

 none other but he, and he is the supreme." Here the finite forms premised 

 are denied ; for his existence as the supreme being is repeatedly affirmed in 

 this and in other passages.* 



* He is imperceptible ; yet during devout meditation is, as it were, 

 apprehended by perception and inference, through revelation and authentic 

 recollections.t 



' Like the sun and other luminaries, seemingly multiplied by reflection 

 though really single, and like ether (space) apparently subdivided in 

 vessels containing it within limits, the (supreme) light is without dif- 

 ference or distinction of particulars, for he is repeatedly declared so to 

 be.t Therefore is one, who knows the truth, identified with the infinite 

 being ; for so revelation indicates. But since both are affirmed, the 

 relation is as that of the coiled serpent fancied to be a hoop ; or as that of 

 light and the luminary from which it proceeds, for both are luminous.§ 



' There is none other but he, notwithstanding the apparent import of 

 divers texts, which seem to imply differences, various relations, and aliquot 

 parts. He is ubiquitary and eternal ; for he is pronounced to be greater 

 than etherial space, which is infinite.il 



' The fruit or recompense of works is from him, for that is congruous ; 

 and so it is expressly affirmed in the vedas. Jaimini alleges virtue or moral 

 merit; but the author of the sutras (Badarayana vyasa) maintains the 

 former, because the supreme being is hi the vedas termed the cause of 

 virtue and of vice, as of every thing else.'^ 



The two last chapters of the third lecture relate chiefly to devout exer. 

 cises and pious meditation, the practice of which is inculcated as proper 

 and requisite to prepare the soul and mind for the reception of divine 

 knowledge, and to promote its attainment. I pass rapidly over this 

 copious part** of the text, for the same reason for which I restricted myself 

 to a very brief notice of the Yoga or theistical Sdnc'hya of Patanjali ; 

 because religious observances are more concerned than philosophy with the 



• Br. Sulr. 3. 2. § 6. (S. 22.) + Ibid. S. 23-24. % Ibid. S. 25. 



§ Ibid. S. 2G-30. II Ibid. § 7. ijl Ibid. § 8. 



•• The third chapter contains thirty-six sections, comprising sixty-six aphorisms; the fourth 

 includes eigliteen, comprehending fifty-two sutras; and the subject is pursued in the eight first 

 gectione of the fourtli lecture. 



E 2 



