8 SIR M. MONIER WILLIAMS ON THE MONISM, PANTHEISM, AND 
This Spirit, however, is not one, as in the Vedanta; but is 
multitudinous, each human spirit existing of itself as an in- 
dependent eternal entity. 
Neither the Producer nor a Spirit, however, can create by 
~ itself. 
The external world Gncluding the human frame, conscious- 
ness, feeling, individuality, and mind) is evolved out of the 
eternal creative germ, Prakriti, and yet only so evolved when 
an individual eternal spirit is associated with it. 
It is abundantly clear, therefore, that the only distinction 
between the so-called Unity-theory of the Vedanta and the 
Duality of the Sankhya system seems to be that the germ of 
the material world has an ¢lusory existence from all eternity 
in the one system, and a real eternal existence in the other. 
And if this be so, I think I am justified in asserting that 
a kind of dualistic woof everywhere underlies the monistic 
and pantheistic warp of Indian philosophy. 
I may add that such an assertion is borne out by ocular 
observation, for it is certain that the idolatrous worship of 
the Linga and Yoni*—united in one image and symbolizing 
the mysterious union of the two creative principles—meets 
the eye of observant travellers in every part of India. 
And this is not all—the student of Indian philosophical 
thought, who has been brought into actual contact with the 
religious life and usages of the inhabitants of India in 
their own country, will observe in every village, and 
almost in every nook and corner of the land, illustrations of 
the remarkable fact that the Monism and Pantheism of the 
Vedanta are compatible with all varieties of religious belief— 
now with Theism—now with Deism—now with Dualism— 
now with Triadism—-that is, with the worship of the Indian 
Triad (wrongly called the Indian Trinity), Brahma, Vishnu, and 
Siva, the three gods who, with their wives, preside over 
creation, preservation, and dissolution respectively—and 
now with all the polytheism, polydemonism, animism, and 
fetishism associated with these three chief deities of the Hindt 
Pantheon. 
Time will not admit of my going into this important sub- 
ject at any greater length; it will be sufficient for me to 
state that a Hindi finds no difficulty in attributing either 
* Only students of Indian religions are likely to know that these symbols 
represent the phallic emblem (linga) and the emblem of the opposite sex 
(yoni) united. Similarly, Siva has an Ardha-nari form. 
