My Quest for the Fulfillment of Hinduism/Text

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My Quest for the Fulfillment of Hinduism S.P Raman

[Page 3]My Quest for the Fulfillment of Hinduism

S.P Raman

Se

BAHA’! PUBLISHING TRUST WILMETTE, ILLINOIS [Page 4]Copyright © 1969, 1974 by

the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahay of the United States

All Rights Reserved

Reprinted from WORLD ORDER, a Baha'i Magazine, 3, no. 3

(Spring 1969), 20-28, with revisions by the author.

Printed in U.S.A. [Page 5]My Quest for the Fulfillment of Hinduism

O say that we live in an age of cri sis,” wrote a Yale University historian, “is to utter a platitude. Hundreds of books, thousands of articles, speeches, sermons and lectures play endless variations on this frightening theme. . . . There is remarkable agreement that the world is sick, that ‘something went wrong’ with Western civilization at the very moment when it was about to become a world civilization. . . . However, there is little agreement about the causes of the crisis and none about the necessary cure.”? Preeminent Western minds such as Schweitzer, Toynbee, and Sorokin have diagnosed the root cause of this crisis as a spiritual sickness: modern man lacks a vital system of basic values and ethics; and earnest Christians are convinced that the only hope for spiritual rejuvenation and the reconstruction of human society lies in an individual and acollective way of life once again motivated by the ethics of the Sermon on the Mount. Yet, Western, Christian society witnesses with perplexity and dismay the shocking and phenomenal breakdown of its very elements and the impotence of its religious leaders and states This article is dedicated to the memory of my late grandfather, V. Sundaresa Iyer.

> [Page 6]men to ban war, abolish economic exploitation and racial disparity, and establish universal peace and brotherhood.

Loss of ethical values and signs of moral decay are not unique to Christian society; they are, in fact, characteristic of all existing socioreligious systems. Hindu society has, for centuries, been in a state of decrepitude and exhaustion, and no unbiased student of Hinduism will deny that ever since the fall of the Ashokan Empire it has ceased to contribute significantly to the social progress of the subcontinent. The eternal truths and universal concepts enshrined in the religion of the Vedas (the Vedanta),” with the nobility and indestructibility of the human soul and the unity of all existence as its greatest principles, and with its twin ideals of renunciation and service, lie imprisoned in the termite-eaten pages of its scriptures. They furnish an excellent pastime for erudite scholars engaged in metaphysical speculation, but are not applied to solve the enormous problems of the society. The average Hindu is convinced of the imperative need of these principles and ideals which form the very core of Sanatana Dharma (the Eternal Religion of the Vedas) and which alone, he is certain, will lead ultimately to the establishment of an everlasting and flourishing civilization. But he is utterly frustrated by the seeming impossibility of transforming his inner conviction and subjective faith into positive, cooperative action to produce a viable, progressive society. As long as this goal remains unachieved, the ideals and aspirations of Hinduism cannot be said to have been fulfilled. This is the bane and scourge of Indian society. Little wonder that, in the wake of this frustration, there has emerged, over the centuries, an increasing number of obscure cults with evasive philosophies and superstitious doctrines, intensifying the confusion of the simple and disillusioned masses.

6 [Page 7]Hinduism in Crisis

Though they did not become a way of life, the precepts of Sanatana Dharma were not entirely forgotten; and from time to time great saints and seers, like Sankara, Ramanuja, Chaitanya, and Nanak, appeared to reillumine their value and usefulness by the sublimity of their teachings and their own exemplary lives. Nevertheless, the neglect of the Vedantic principles continued, eroding the vitals of Hindu society and ultimately precipitating a social crisis.

Not until the advent, in the second half of the last century, of two of the greatest spiritual giants in the living memory of the present-day Hindus, Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda, was this crisis brought to a sharp focus. They are the Mozart and Beethoven of the eternal symphony of the Vedas, reinterpreting it once again from Dakshineswar, near Calcutta. Out of the spiritual experiences of Sri Ramakrishna came a set of teachings which constitute the finest and most authoritative exposition of the ideals of Hinduism. Romain Rolland found him to be the embodiment of the Hindu Faith, and described him as “the consummation of two thousand years of the spiritual life of three hundred million people.”* Narendranath Dutt, a young intellectual and former adherent of the progressive movement Brahmo Samaj, who under the name of Swami Vivekananda, was to become the chief “evangelist” of the gospel of Ramakrishna, was completely transformed and his inner being totally galvanized by the great spiritual power of Sri Ramakrishna. Mastering the essentials of Hinduism at the feet of Sri Ramakrishna, Vivekananda during his short span of life—thirty-nine years—in soul-stirring speeches left a dynamic message which indeed is a priceless and unique spiritual legacy.* His

7 [Page 8]teachings not only nourished the spiritually destitute of his generation, but continue to serve as a fundamental guideline for the realization of the ideal of the Universal Religion. He had a glorious vision of a completely rejuvenated India, and tirelessly searched for ways to uplift her teeming millions, victims of poverty, ignorance, and tyranny. He realized that religion was the backbone of the Indian people, and warned that if India gave up her spirituality she would surely perish. Contrary to those Western critics who held that her religion was the cause of her downfall, he rather blamed the falsehood, priestcraft, superstition, and hypocrisy that had supplanted religion. He was convinced that if her national life could somehow be organized and intensified through the channels of the Sanatana Dharma, social progress would be assured. His all-pervading concern and aspiration was to see the spirit of the Vedanta become a constructive way of life for the home, school, community, and nation. He called for full spiritual manhood on the part of every Indian; one of his most poignant remarks was that the very moment the word mileccha (untouchable) was invented by the Hindus, India’s doom was sealed. His master, Sri Ramakrishna, himself used to clean the homes of the untouchables to remove from his own mind the last trace of arrogance of the high Brahmin caste into which he was born. His strong advocacy of intermarriage between castes and sub-castes to promote unity and of a radical change in the Hindu dietary habits made him very unpopular among the orthodox. The Swami’s call for a politically independent India, freed from colonial domination and exploitation, so that it could take a rightful place in the family of nations, inspired many a Gandhi, Nehru, Tilak, and Mukherjee to dedicate their lives completely to the achievement of this end. He realized that the help of the West 8 [Page 9]ern nations with their scientific knowledge and technology was indispensable to raise the masses, and satisfy their pressing material needs, for his watchword was “Religion and metaphysics are not for empty bellies.”

At the Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 Swami Vivekananda expounded in clear and simple terms the Vedanta system of philosophy. “. . . if there is ever to be a universal religion,” so he addressed the congress assembled there, “it must be one which will have no location in place or time; which will be infinite, like the God it will preach, and whose sun will shine upon the followers of Krishna and of Christ, on saints and sinners, alike; which will not be Brahmanical or Buddhist, Christian or Mohammedan, but the sum total of all these, and still have infinite space for development; which in its catholicity will embrace in its infinite arms, and find a place for, every human being, from the lowest grovelling savage, not far removed from the brute, to the highest man, towering by the virtues of his head and heart almost above humanity, making society stand in awe of him and doubt his human nature. It will be a religion which will have no place for persecution or intolerance in its polity, which will recognize divinity in every man and woman, and whose whole scope, whose whole force, will be centered in aiding humanity to realize its own, true divine

[Page 10]nature.”> He expressed confidence that if such a religion were offered, all nations would follow it. During his travels in America he called for a cooperative effort in educating and helping the multitudes of India in establishing a society on the pattern of western democracies, but permeated by the spirit of the Vedanta, so that India could realize her spiritual destiny and contribute to world peace and brotherhood.

Thus, the message of Swami Vivekananda—to whose era we stand too close to evaluate properly and appreciate his contribution to the reconstruction and reawakening of India— was chiefly designed to set a new direction and lend a fresh impulse to the elevation of the spiritually impoverished, colonially dominated, caste-ridden society, to a new and much higher level of consciousness. This plane of consciousness is indispensable to India’s proper understanding of the eternal values of her religion as rediscovered by Sri Ramakrishna and vitally necessary for the realization of her heritage and the role she has to play in the spiritual evolution of mankind.

Today, though the long-sought political freedom has been achieved, the complexity and magnitude of the problems facing the Indian nation cannot be fathomed. Never indeed have there been such widespread and basic upheavals in the social, political, and economic spheres of human activity as those now rampant in that subcontinent. Never have there been so many varied sources of danger as those now threatening the very foundations of that society. Countless measures to correct the economic and social maladjustments that strangulate her national will and purpose have been carefully devised and meticulously executed by sincere statesmen and dedicated civil servants, and constant attempts to unify people of diverse language, creed, and caste have been painstakingly

10 [Page 11]made. And yet crisis has succeeded crisis, accelerating the rate of decline of political and social institutions designed to establish a welfare state. The unabated swelling of an already vast population, with its army of unemployed and underemployed, with its crushing burden on the inflated economy and demoralizing influence on the Government and people, has created many problems of catastrophic proportions. These in turn have thrown India into a vortex of confusion, confounding the ingenuity of not only its own economic and social planners but also those of the highly developed countries. Desperation is replacing the disappointment of the multitudes, appallingly undernourished, impotent to procure for themselves the bare necessities of life while a large portion of its national budget is spent on acquiring sophisticated armaments. Witnessing on all sides the cumulative evidences of disintegration, of turmoil and corruption at every level of life, serious-minded men and women are beginning to doubt whether the society as it is now organized can, through unaided efforts, extricate itself from the quicksand of despair into which it seems to be steadily sinking. Even if the affluent nations would all rally around and bestow their resources, purely on humanitarian grounds and with no political strings attached, one seriously wonders whether such help could be effectively canalized and immediately utilized because of the total lack of a well-coordinated and disciplined central institution with authority, power, and integrity. Little wonder if even the ardent and zealous band of workers of the Ramakrishna Mission have before their eyes only a dimmed vision of that glorious future for India which Swami Vivekananda unfolded. Sorely tried and disillusioned, the society, having lost its orientation, seems to be drifting without purpose.

In the face of such adversities, one may well

11 [Page 12]inquire if this is the Will and Purpose of the Eternal Brahman spoken of in the Upanishads, and whether He has abandoned society to its fate and sealed its doom irrevocably. Should then the time-honored, long-cherished ideals of Sanatana Dharma, the social import of the teachings of the Gita, and the Gospel of Ramakrishna be relegated to the limbo of obsolescent doctrines?

Has Hinduism Itself Failed?

In other, harsher words, has the Eternal Religion turned out to be a mere passing fancy and has Hinduism itself failed, utterly? To the sincere Hindu, these are agonizing questions indeed, raising an urgent call for a serious, rational, and candid inquiry into the meaning of Ultimate Reality in relation to human affairs; for only through such an inquiry—such a quest rather—could he aspire ever to ascertain whether Hinduism was doomed to perish or destined to be gloriously fulfilled. In my own life there came a moment when this call became too insistent to be ignored any longer—hence my quest. In this venture, which was from the outset fraught with the usual dangers of cultural and intellectual subjectivity, I was very fortunate in proceeding from the broad base of the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna.

From the Vedantic viewpoint, which emphasizes the unity of all existence, it is only sane and logical to conclude that the advantage of any part is to be reached and achieved by the advantage of the whole. And viewed objectively, in a world contracted and transformed into a single complex organism, it would be the height of narrow-mindedness to consider only the problems of a particular part of the globe or nation, however grave they might seem, or to concentrate exclusively on the spiritual and social redemption of this or that society.

12 [Page 13]The present-day crisis in India is but a foretaste for humanity of the convulsion that is latent on the face of this planet. Its inhabitants, whether they live in democracies or under dictatorships, be they capitalists or wage earners, whether Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, atheists or agnostics, white or colored, are all consciously or unconsciously involved now ina titanic upheaval.

What the world needs today is not a mere palliative or ad hoc remedy consisting of superficial adjustments, but something that cuts deeply into the social and spiritual malady and brings about a fundamental and far-reaching change, involving primarily the social and spiritual nature of man, something which no human agency will ever achieve however much it may yearn and strive for it. The futility of man in the face of worldwide convulsions and catastrophes should not be blamed on his intellect, but rather on the improper channeling of his emotions, and only a master emotion can control his emotions. Sri Ramakrishna has repeatedly emphasized that only the Cosmic Force, the transcendental aspect of which is the undifferentiated Eternal Brahman, can beneficially govern, control, and direct the emotions of human beings en masse and harness them into spiritual cultural unities. In such critical moments that have punctuated the history of man in the past, world reformers like the Buddha, Christ, and Muhammad have appeared, through whose human temples the Cosmic Force was channeled and “in whom the spiritual and moral urges and loyalties of the age were focused. They are the embodiment of its spiritual dynamics. Such a Savior, or the Avatara, unlike ordinary saints and seers, is not a static lighthouse. He, in the words of Shri Ramakrishna, is a large-sized ship capable of carrying thousands of people across the waters of life. He appears on the world scene to establish Dbarma (justice and righteousness) in the word

13 [Page 14]of Shri Krishna; and he sets in motion the wheel of Dharma, says the Lord Buddha in the first sermon. . . . The Avatara as understood in India is an epoch-maker, a spiritual dynamo from which man-making and nation-making forces emanate—to accelerate the process of the spiritual evolution of humanity. He is a world transformer and in him an idea becomes yoked to will, purpose and endeavor. He is the dominating spiritual hero of an epoch which functions as a dynamic source of a creative social process, and the sustenance and guide of an equalitarian social order.”®

We can mock and disparage everything except time. Six thousand years of written history is an open book before modern man to verify these truths and realize the true station and role of these world transformers. When confronted with their greatness even time stops short, nay, often retraces its steps.

Toward the **Tenth Avatar’’

These eternal spiritual truths, enshrined in the Gospel of Ramakrishna, indispensable lodestar in this era of conflicting and distracting ideologies, led me to the realization of the advent, in the last century, of a Universal Manifestation of the Cosmic Force in the human temple of Baha’u’llah. He is the Promised One of all ages mentioned in the holy books of all major religions, and His advent signalizes the appearance of the Universal Manifestation of Lord Vishnu as the “Tenth Avatar” (Kalki) for the Hindus and the fulfillment once again in this age of the Covenant of Sri Krishna:

In every age I come back

To deliver the holy

To destroy the sin of the sinner

To re-establish righteousness’

Through Him has been revealed the im mutable purpose and will of the undifferentiated Eternal Brahman for this age. His su 14 [Page 15]preme mission is to achieve the organic and spiritual unity of mankind in its entire body of nations, races, and peoples. An unmistakably clear admission by Tolstoy as to the pristine quality of the teachings of Baha’u’ll4h motivated me to investigate seriously the claims of Baha’u'llah and examine critically His teachings. None could be a greater doubter than I. The cautionary note of Sri Krishna in His Gita, “The deluded despise me, clad in human body, not knowing My higher nature as the Lord of All Existence,”® flashed through my mind. The focal center of my life suddenly shifted to a new but most perturbing axis, because for the first time I was reading an unmutilated version of the Will of God revealed through His latest authentic spokesman. To doubt the spirit behind the Writings, I was convinced, would be to doubt the sanity of all the prophets, saints, and seers of the past and to question the very basis of the spiritual realizations and convictions of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda. Once the human mind has been opened to the only genuine path it would be intellectually dishonest to shut one’s eyes deliberately to it. An intellectual acceptance became an inner conviction, thus ending the first and most arduous phase of the journey from head to heart. To quote an ex-Unitarian minister whose remarks echo my feelings, “ ‘If this is not of God, then there is no foundation for faith in God. I would rather be wrong with this great Faith than seemingly right with all the doubters and cavillers in the world.’ ”®

“. . . practical Advaitism,” wrote Swami Vivekananda in his letter to a Muslim gentleman, “which looks upon and behaves towards all mankind as one’s soul, is yet to be developed among the Hindus universally. . . . Therefore we are firmly persuaded that without the help of practical Islam, the theories of Vedantism, however fine and wonderful they may be, are entirely valueless to the vast mass

15 [Page 16]of mankind. We want to lead mankind to the place where there is neither the Vedas, the Bible, nor the Koran; yet this has to be done by harmonizing the Vedas, the Bible, and the Koran. . . . For our own motherland a junction of the two great systems, Hinduism and Islam—Vedantic brain and Islamic body— is the only hope. I see in my mind’s eye the future of perfect India rising out of this chaos and strife glorious and invincible, with Vedantic brain and Islamic body.”!°

This spiritual insight, prophetic vision, and keenness of intellect of Swami Vivekananda leaves none of us guessing and speculating about the method by which the masses of India will be raised, and a civilization with Vedantic ideals will be ushered in. It is evident that this synthetic harmonization of the Bible, the Vedas, and the Qur’an cannot be achieved by human institutions, no matter how liberal, conciliatory, and willing be they in their compromises to appease the conflicting loyalties of the adherents of these systems, because any “agreement” is bound to be void of the necessary spiritual force, authority, and power. This harmony is exactly

[Page 17]what the Revelation of Baha’u’llah has the power to achieve. The spirit breathed by Baha’u’llah into this world has already ushered in the Universal Religion, which, rooted in its Most Great Law of the reality of the oneness of mankind, apart from fulfilling every criterion for such a religion as propounded by Swami Vivekananda in his Chicago address, is destined, in the fullness of its time, to establish a divine civilization for the entire planet “with Vedantic brain and Islamic body.” Baha’u’llah has not merely enunciated certain basic universal spiritual principles and ideals that will inevitably lead mankind to its destined goal, but has provided the channels and perfected the means and instruments for the practical realization of these ideals.

The divinely ordained, infallible blueprint consisting of the essential features of an impeccable Administrative Order with explicit directions and authenticated safeguards from internal schisms, for raising a new world civilization out of the welter and chaos around us, has been meticulously penned by Baha'u'llah Himself in His Writings, with which, in my view, every alert world citizen should be thoroughly acquainted. They are not mere passing essays for bedtime reading, but the only refuge for this tottering civilization, and straight guidelines for unborn generations in fulfilling their spiritual destiny in the great drama of man’s evolution. Far from wishing to add to the number of existing religious systems, whose conflicting loyalties have, for many generations, disturbed the peace of mankind, the Revelation of Baha‘ullah enables everyone to obtain a clearer and fuller understanding of his own religion and its role and purpose in the spiritual evolution of mankind. The teachings are emotionally satisfying and intellectually and rationally convincing. The principles of the Administra 17 [Page 18]tive Order are unambiguous and simple, and even the least educated can understand and function effectively within the framework.

“Let there be no misgivings,” writes Shoghi Effendi, the late Guardian of the Baha’i Faith, “as to the animating purpose of the worldwide Law of Baha’u'llah. Far from aiming at the subversion of the existing foundations of society, it seeks to broaden its basis, to remold its institutions in a manner consonant with the needs of an ever-exchanging world. . . . It does not ignore, nor does it attempt to suppress, the diversity of ethnical origins, of climate, of history, of language and tradition, of thought and habit, that differentiate the peoples and nations of the world. It calls for a wider loyalty, for a larger aspiration than any that has animated the human race. It insists upon the subordination of national impulses and interests to the imperative claims of a unified world. ...

“. . . The principle of the Oneness of Mankind—the pivot round which all the teachings of Baha’u'llah revolve—is no mere outburst of ignorant emotionalism or an expression of vague and pious hope. . . . Its message is applicable not only to the individual, but concerns itself primarily with the nature of those essential relationships that must bind all the states and nations as members of one human family. . . . It implies an organic change in the structure of presentday society, a change such as the world has not yet experienced... .

“. . . It represents the consummation of human evolution. . . .”"

Achieving Organic Unity

God’s wheels grind slowly but finely and ever since the Divine Plan was unfolded by Baha'u'llah, the Universal Manifestation of God for this cycle, the affairs of all men and

18 [Page 19]women on this planet have been consciously or unconsciously molded and directed towards the achievement of the organic unity of mankind—an inevitable goal towards which the whole world is moving—a world unified in all the essential aspects of its life, its spiritual aspiration, its political machinery, its trade and finance, its script and language, and yet remaining infinite in the diversity of the national characteristics of its federated units. Mighty empires and crowns that sought to abort the Divine Plan have toppled, suffering sudden, complete, and ignominious defeat; and in the current global upheaval humanity is experiencing nothing but the birth pangs of the new world order of Baha’u’llah with concomitant tearing down of the antiquated barriers set up to block its emergence by leaders of our present-day institutions tenaciously clinging to fatuous policies based on pernicious social and political philosophies.

Baha'is all over the world who have recognized the source of the spirit behind the Revelation of Baha’u’llah are striving, out of their own volition, day and night, with undimmed vision, unperturbed by the dangers the international political, social, and economic situation may present, to execute the Master Plan, and erect the perfect framework of the Administrative Order which is destined to be the pattern for the future civilization. Wherever they toil and labor, the Baha’is have before them in clear, unequivocal, and emphatic language the laws, the regulations, the principles, the institutions, and the guidance required for prosecution and consummation of their task. An orderly worldwide community exists now on the face of the planet, in more than an embryonic form, drawn from all races, creeds, and classes, whose members are experiencing the great force of love, unity, and spirit of regeneration and reconciliation.

“Every truth,” said Schopenhauer, “passes

19 [Page 20]through three stages before it is recognized. In the first stage it is ridiculed, in the second it is opposed, and in the third stage it is regarded as self-evident.” Needless to say at what stage stands the truth behind the Revelation of Baha’w'llah in the eyes of an unbelieving world. Baha’u'llah has not asked people to follow Him blindly, but only after investigating with an unbiased mind the truth of His revelation, for every man has been endowed with the gift of understanding and with a mind that should be operated as a torch to guide him to the truth in all things.

It behooves those spiritually-minded and socially-conscious inhabitants of India, be they politicians, leaders, scientists, intellectuals, or students, and those ardent and sincere monks and workers of the Ramakrishna Mission who passionately strive for the fulfillment of the ideals of Hinduism, as envisioned by Swami Vivekananda, to delve into the Teachings of Baha'u'llah, realize the station of its Author, experience its transforming power, and embrace its salutary truth.

At the very least, the pressure of historical circumstances and the crisis in every aspect of life besetting that nation in particular and humanity in general should persuade them to have a close look at the message of Baha’u’llah, to estimate its value in the light of contemporary problems, even if they have, through apathy and complacency, ignored it at first. For to the degree that the peoples and nations of the world accept the Teachings of Baha’u’llah and work through the channels and institutions provided by Him for the unification of mankind, to that degree will they be able to reconstruct their own societies, and contribute substantially to the coming divine world civilization, which is the ideal and fulfillment of Sanatana Dharma.

20 [Page 21]Notes

1. Firuz Kazemzadeh, “Preface,” in Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day Is Come (Wilmette, IIl.: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1961), p. vii.

2. The accumulated treasures of spiritual laws discovered by various sages at different times buried along with the ritualistic hymns and theological folklore of the ancient Aryans constitute the earliest body of literature on Hindu religious thought and philosophy and are called the Vedas. The closing portions of the Vedas which contain the culminating expression of the spiritual truths of the Vedas are known as the Upanishads—also termed Vedanta, literally meaning the end and fulfillment of the Vedas.

3. Romain Rolland, Life of Ramakrishna, trans. E. F. Malcolm-Smith (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1929), p. 13.

4. Swami Vivekananda, Complete Works, Mayavati memorial ed., 8 vols. (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1955-62).

5. Swami Vivekananda, Vivekananda: The Yogas and Other Works... , ed. Swami Nikhilinanda, rev. ed. (New York: Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, 1953), pp. 192-93.

6. Swami Ranganathananda, Eternal Values for Changing Society (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1960), p. 34.

7. Srimad Bhagavad Gita 1V: 7-8.

8. Ibid., IX:11.

9. Howard Colby Ives, Portals to Freedom (Wilmette, Ill.: Baha’ Publishing Trust, 1962), p. 231.

10. Swami Vivekananda, Vivekananda, pp. 132-33.

11. Shoghi Effendi, Te World Order of Baba’u’llah (Wilmette, Ill.: Baha’s Publishing Trust, 1938), pp. 41-43.

21 [Page 22]Cover Design

The transliteration of Af is sambbati.' It is the word with which the fourteenth verse of the Isa Upanisad begins. The main purpsose of the Isa Upanisad is to teach the essential unity of God and the world, or being and becoming. It teaches that life in this world and life in the Divine Spirit are not incompatible. The fourteenth verse of the Isa Upanisad is as follows:

age a find a amq Faery ae | faa ad deal aeqearraasad I 82 II

sambhitim ca vinaSam ca yas tad vedobhayam saha

vinaSena mrtyum tirtva sambhiitya amrtam a$Snute.

He who understands the manifest and the unmanifest both together, crosses death through the unmanifest and attains life eternal through the manifest.?

1. Sambbiiti means “the manifest” or “the lord of the phenomenal world.” Robert Ernest Hume translates the word as “becoming” (The Thirteen Principal Upanishads [London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1921], p. 364).

2. The Principal Upanisads, ed. and trans. S. Radhakrishnan (London: George Allen, 1953), p. 576.

Cover design by Scott Bivans �