"5. Of these two spirits choose ye one, either the lying, the worker of Evil, or the true holiest spirit. Whoso chooses the first chooses the hardest fate; whoso the last, honours Ahuramazda in faith and in truth by his deeds.
"6. Ye cannot serve both of these two. An evil spirit whom we will destroy surprises those who deliberate, saying, Choose the Evil Mind! Then do those spirits gather in troops to attack the two lives of which the prophets prophesy.
"7. And to this earthly life came Armaiti with earthly power to help the truth, and the good disposition: she, the Eternal, created the material world, but the Spirit is with thee, O Wise One! the first of creations in time.
"8. When any evil falls upon the spirit, thou, O Wise One, givest temporal possessions and a good disposition; but him whose promises are lies, and not truth, thou punishest."
Around the hymns of the Avesta gradually grew a theology and a mythology which were destined to exert a powerful influence on the world. These are contained in the Bundehesch. [14] Anterior to all things and all beings was Zeruane-Akrene ("Boundless Time"), so exalted that he can only be worshipped in silence. From him emanated two Ferouers, spiritual types, which took form in two beings, Ormuzd and Ahriman. These were equally pure; but Ahriman became jealous of his first-born brother, Ormuzd. To punish Ahriman for his evil feeling, the Supreme Being condemned him to 12,000 years" imprisonment in an empire of rayless Darkness. During that period must rage the conflict between Light and Darkness, Good and Evil. As Ormuzd had his pre-existing type or Ferouer, so by a similar power--much the same as the Platonic Logos or Word--he created the pure or spiritual world, by means of which the empire of Ahriman should be overthrown. On the earth (still spiritual) he raised the exceeding high mountain Albordj, Elburz (snow mountain), [15] on whose summit he fixed his throne; whence he stretched the bridge Chinevat, which, pa.s.sing directly over Duzhak, the abyss of Ahriman (or h.e.l.l), reaches to the portal of Gorodman, or heaven. All this was but a Ferouer world--a prototype of the material world. In antic.i.p.ation of its incorporation in a material creation, Ormuzd (by emanations) created in his own image six Amshaspands, or agents, of both s.e.xes, to be models of perfection to lower spirits--and to mankind, when they should be created--and offer up their prayers to himself. The second series of emanations were the Izeds, benevolent genii and guardians of the world, twenty-eight in number, of whom the chief is Mithras, the Mediator. The third series of emanations were the innumerable Ferouers of things and men--for each must have its soul, which shall purify them in the day of resurrection. In antagonism to all these, Ahriman produced an exactly similar host of dark and evil powers. These Devas rise, rank on rank, to their Arch-Devs--each of whom is chained to his planet--and their head is Ash-Mogh, the "two-footed serpent of lies," who seems to correspond to Mithras, the divine Mediator.
After a reign of 3000 years Ormuzd entered on the work of realising his spiritual emanations in a material universe. He formed the sun as commander-in-chief, the moon as his lieutenant, the planets as captains of a great host--the stars--who were soldiers in his war against Ahriman. The dog Sirius he set to watch at the bridge Chinevat (the Milky Way), lest thereby Ahriman should scale the heavens. Ormuzd then created earth and water, which Ahriman did not try to prevent, knowing that darkness was inherent in these. But he struck a blow when life was produced. This was in form of a Bull, and Ahriman entered it and it perished; but on its destruction there came out of its left shoulder the seed of all clean and gentle animals, and, out of its right shoulder--Man.
Ahriman had matched every creation thus far; but to make man was beyond his power, and he had no recourse but to destroy him. However, when the original man was destroyed, there sprang from his body a tree which bore the first human pair, whom Ahriman, however, corrupted in the manner elsewhere described.
It is a very notable characteristic of this Iranian theology, that although the forces of good and evil are co-extensive and formally balanced, in potency they are not quite equal. The balance of force is just a little on the side of the Good Spirit. And this advantage appears in man. Zoroaster said, "No earthly man with a hundredfold strength does so much evil as Mithra with heavenly strength does good;"
and this thought reappears in the Parsi belief that the one part of paradisiac purity, which man retained after his fall, balances the ninety-nine parts won by Ahriman, and in the end will redeem him. For this one divine ray preserved enables him to receive and obey the Avesta, and to climb to heaven by the stairway of three vast steps--pure thought, pure word, pure deed. The optimistic essence of the mythology is further shown in the belief that every destructive effort of Ahriman resulted in a larger benefit than Ormuzd had created. The Bull (Life) destroyed, man and animal sprang into being; the man destroyed, man and woman appeared. And so on to the end. In the last quarter of the 12,000 years for which Ahriman was condemned, he rises to greater power even than Ormuzd, and finally he will, by a fiery comet, set the visible universe in conflagration; but while this scheme is waxing to consummation Ormuzd will send his holy Prophet Sosioch, who will convert mankind to the true law, [16]
so that when Ahriman"s comet consumes the earth he will really be purifying it. Through the vast stream of melted metals and minerals the righteous shall pa.s.s, and to them it will be as a bath of warm milk: the wicked in attempting to pa.s.s shall be swept into the abyss of Duzhak; having then suffered three days and nights, they shall be raised by Ormuzd refined and purified. Duzhak itself shall be purified by this fire, and last of all Ahriman himself shall ascend to his original purity and happiness. Then from the ashes of the former world shall bloom a paradise that shall remain for ever.
In this system it is notable that we find the monster serpent of vedic mythology, Ahi, transformed into an infernal region, Duzhak. The dragon, being a type of physical suffering, pa.s.ses away in Iranian as in the later Semitic mythology before the new form, which represents the stings of conscience though it may be beneath external pleasure. In this respect, therefore, Ahriman fulfils the definition of a devil already given. In the Avesta he fulfils also another condition essential to a devil, the love of evil in and for itself. But in the later theology it will be observed that evil in Ahriman is not organic. The war being over and its fury past, the hostile chief is seen not so black as he had been painted; the belief obtains that he does not actually love darkness and evil. He was thrust into them as a punishment for his jealousy, pride, and destructive ambition. And because that dark kingdom was a punishment--therefore not congenial--it was at length (the danger past) held to be disciplinary. Growing faith in the real supremacy of Good discovers the immoral G.o.d to be an exaggerated anthropomorphic egoist; this divine devil is a self-centred potentate who had attempted to subordinate moral law and human welfare to his personal ascendancy. His fate having sealed the sentence on all ambitions of that character, humanity is able to pardon the individual offender, and find a hope that Ahriman, having learned that no real satisfaction for a divine nature can be found in mere power detached from rect.i.tude, will join in the harmony of love and loyalty at last.
CHAPTER IV.
VISWaMITRA: THE THEOCRATIC DEVIL.
Priestcraft and Pessimism--An Aryan Tetzel and his Luther--Brahman Frogs--Evolution of the sacerdotal Saint--Viswamitra the Accuser of Virtue--The Tamil Pa.s.sion-play "Harischandra"--Ordeal of Goblins--The Martyr of Truth--Virtue triumphant over ceremonial "merits"--Harischandra and Job.
Priestcraft in government means pessimism in the creed and despair in the heart. Under sacerdotal rule in India it seemed paradise enough to leave the world, and the only h.e.l.l dreaded was a return to it. "The twice-born man," says Manu, "who shall without intermission have pa.s.sed the time of his studentship, shall ascend after death to the most exalted of regions, and no more spring to birth again in this lower world." Some clause was necessary to keep the twice-born man from suicide. Buddha invented a plan of suicide-in-life combined with annihilation of the G.o.ds, which was driven out of India because it put into the minds of the people the philosophy of the schools. Thought could only be trusted among cla.s.ses interested to conceal it.
The power and authority of a priesthood can only be maintained on the doctrine that man is "saved" by the deeds of a ceremonial law; any general belief that morality is more acceptable to G.o.ds than ceremonies must be fatal to those occult and fict.i.tious virtues which hedge about every pious impostor. Sacerdotal power in India depended on superst.i.tions carefully fostered concerning the mystical properties of a stimulating juice (soma), litanies, invocations, and benedictions by priests; upon sacrifices to the G.o.ds, including their priests, austerities, penances, pilgrimages, and the like; one characteristic running through all the performances--their utter worthlessness to any being in the universe except the priest. An artificial system of this kind has to create its own materials, and evoke forces of evolution from many regions of nature. It is a process requiring much more than the wisdom of the serpent and more than its harmfulness; and there is a bit of nature"s irony in the fact that when the Brahman Rishi gained supremacy, the Cobra was also worshipped as belonging to precisely the same caste and sanct.i.ty.
There are traces of long and fierce struggles preceding this consummation. Even in the Vedic age--in the very dawn of religious history--Tetzel appears with his indulgences and Luther confronts him. The names they bore in ancient India were Viswamitra and Vasishtha. Both of these were among the seven powerful Rishis who made the hierarchy of India in the earliest age known to us. Both were composers of some of the chief hymns of the Vedas, and their respective hymns bear the stamp of the sacerdotal and the anti-sacerdotal parties which contended before the priestly sway had reached its complete triumph. Viswamitra was champion of the high priestly party and its political pretensions. In the Rig-Veda there are forty hymns ascribed to him and his family, nearly all of which celebrate the divine virtues of Soma-juice and the Soma-sacrifice. As the exaltation of the priestly caste in Israel was connected with a miracle, in which the Jordan stopped flowing till the ark had been carried over, so the rivers Sutledge and Reyah were said to have rested from their course when Viswamitra wished to cross them in seeking the Soma. This Rishi became identified in the Hindu mind for all time with political priestcraft. On the other hand, Vasishtha became equally famous for his hostility to that power, as well as for his profoundly religious character,--the finest hymns of the Vedas, as to moral feeling, being those that bear his name. The anti-sacerdotal spirit of Vasishtha is especially revealed in a strange satirical hymn in which he ridicules the ceremonial Brahmans under the guise of a panegyric on frogs. In this composition occur such verses as these:--
"Like Brahmans at the Soma-sacrifice of Atiratra, sitting round a full pond and talking, you, O frogs, celebrate this day of the year when the rainy season begins.
"These Brahmans, with their Soma, have had their say, performing the annual rite. These Adhwaryus, sweating while they carry the hot pots, pop out like hermits.
"They have always observed the order of the G.o.ds as they are to be worshipped in the twelvemonth; these men do not neglect their season....
"Cow-noise gave, Goat-noise gave, the Brown gave, and the Green gave us treasures. The frogs, who give us hundreds of cows, lengthened our life in the rich autumn." [17]
Viswamitra and Vasishtha appear to have been powerful rivals in seeking the confidence of King Sudas, and from their varying fortunes came the tremendous feud between them which plays so large a part in the traditions of India. The men were both priests, as are both ritualists and broad-churchmen in the present day. They were borne on the stream of mythologic evolution to representative regions very different from any they could have contemplated. Vasishtha, enn.o.bled by the moral sentiment of ages, appears as the genius of truth and justice, maintaining these as of more "merit" than any ceremonial perfections. The Brahmans, whom he once ridiculed, were glad enough in the end to make him their patron saint, though they did not equally honour his principles. On the other hand, Viswamitra became the type of that immoral divinity which received its Iranian anathema in Ahriman. The murder he commits is nothing in a personage whose Soma-celebrations have raised him so high above the trivialities of morality.
It is easy to see what must be the further development of such a type as Viswamitra when he shall have pa.s.sed from the guarded pages of puranic tradition to the terrible simplicities of folklore. The saint whose majesty is built on "merits," which have no relation to what the humble deem virtues, naturally holds such virtues in cynical contempt; naturally also he is indignant if any one dares to suggest that the height he has reached by costly and prolonged observances may be attained by poor and common people through the practice of virtue. The next step is equally necessary. Since it is hard to argue down the facts of human nature, Vasishtha is pretty sure to have a strong, if sometimes silent, support for his heretical theory of a priesthood representing virtue; consequently Viswamitra will be reduced at length to deny the existence of virtue, and will become the Accuser of those to whom virtues are attributed. Finally, from the Accuser to the Tempter the transition is inevitable. The public Accuser must try and make good his case, and if the facts do not support it, he must create other facts which will, or else bear the last brand of his tribe--Slanderer.
Leaving out of sight all historical or probable facts concerning Viswamitra and Vasishtha, but remembering the spirit of them, let us read the great Pa.s.sion-play of the East, in which their respective parts are performed again as intervening ages have interpreted them. The hero of this drama is an ancient king named Harischandra, who, being childless, and consequently unable to gain immortality, promised the G.o.d Varuna to sacrifice to him a son if one were granted him. The son having been born, the father beseeches Varuna for respite, which is granted again and again, but stands firmly by his promise, although it is finally commuted. The repulsive features of the ancient legend are eliminated in the drama, the promise now being for a vast sum of money which the king cannot pay, but which Viswamitra would tempt him to escape by a technical fiction. Sir Mutu c.u.mara Swamy, whose translation I follow, presents many evidences of the near relation in which this drama stands to the religious faith of the people in Southern India and parts of Ceylon, where its representation never fails to draw vast crowds from every part of the district in which it may occur, the impression made by it being most profound. [18]
We are first introduced to Harischandra, King of Aydiah (Oude), in his palace, surrounded by every splendour, and by the devotion of his prosperous people. His first word is an ascription to the "G.o.d of G.o.ds." His ministers come forward and recount the wealth and welfare of the nation. The first Act witnesses the marriage of Harischandra with the beautiful princess Chandravati, and it closes with the birth of a son.
The second Act brings us into the presence of Indra in the Abode of the G.o.ds. The Chief enters the Audience Hall of his palace, where an a.s.sembly of deities and sages has awaited him. These sages are holy men who have acquired supernatural power by their tremendous austerities; and of these the most august is Viswamitra. By the magnitude and extent of his austerities he has gained a power beyond even that of the Triad, and can reduce the worlds to cinders. All the G.o.ds court his favour. As the Council proceeds, Indra addresses the sages--"Holy men! as gifted with supernatural attributes, you roam the universe with marvellous speed, there is no place unknown to you. I am curious to learn who, in the present times, is the most virtuous sovereign on the earth below. What chief of mortals is there who has never told a lie--who has never swerved from the course of justice?" Vasishtha, a powerful sage and family-priest of Harischandra, declares that his royal disciple is such a man. But the more powerful Viswamitra denounces Harischandra as cruel and a liar. The quarrel between the two Rishis waxes fierce, until Indra puts a stop to it by deciding that an experiment shall be made on Harischandra. Vasishtha agrees that if his disciple can be shown to have told a lie, or can be made to tell one, the fruit of his life-long austerities, and all the power so gained, shall be added to Viswamitra; while the latter must present his opponent with half of his "merits" if Harischandra be not made to swerve from the truth. Viswamitra is to employ any means whatever, neither Indra or any other interfering.
Viswamitra sets about his task of trying and tempting Harischandra by informing that king that, in order to perform a sacrifice of special importance, he has need of a mound of gold as high as a missile slung by a man standing on an elephant"s back. With the demand of so sacred a being Harischandra has no hesitation in complying, and is about to deliver the gold when Viswamitra requests him to be custodian of the money for a time, but perform the customary ceremony of transfer. Holding Harischandra"s written promise to deliver the gold whensoever demanded, Viswamitra retires with compliments. Then wild beasts ravage Harischandra"s territory; these being expelled, a demon boar is sent, but is vanquished by the monarch. Viswamitra then sends unchaste dancing-girls to tempt Harischandra; and when he has ordered their removal, Viswamitra returns with them, and, feigning rage, accuses him of slaying innocent beasts and of cruelty to the girls. He declares that unless Harischandra yields to the Pariah damsels, he himself shall be reduced to a Pariah slave. Harischandra offers all his kingdom and possessions if the demand is withdrawn, absolutely refusing to swerve from his virtue. This Viswamitra accepts, is proclaimed sovereign of Aydiah, and the king goes forth a beggar with his wife and child. But now, as these are departing, Viswamitra demands that mound of gold which was to be paid when called for. In vain Harischandra pleads that he has already delivered up all he possesses, the gold included; the last concession is declared to have nothing to do with the first. Yet Viswamitra says he will be charitable; if Harischandra will simply declare that he never pledged the gold, or, having done so, does not feel bound to pay it, he will cancel that debt. "Such a declaration I can never make,"
replies Harischandra. "I owe thee the gold, and pay it I shall. Let a messenger accompany me and leave me not till I have given him thy due."
From this time the efforts of Viswamitra are directed to induce Harischandra to declare the money not due. Amid his heartbroken people--who cry, "Where are the G.o.ds? Can they tolerate this?"--he who was just now the greatest and happiest monarch in the world goes forth on the highway a wanderer with his Chandravati and their son Devarata dressed in coa.r.s.est garments. His last royal deed is to set the crown on his tempter"s head. The people and officers follow, and beg his permission to slay Viswamitra, but he rebukes them, and counsels submission. Viswamitra orders a messenger, Nakshatra, to accompany the three wretched ones, and inflict the severest sufferings on them until the gold is paid, and amid each ordeal to offer Harischandra all his former wealth and happiness if he will utter a falsehood.
They come to a desert whose sands are so hot that the wife faints. Harischandra bears his son in his arms, but in addition is compelled to bear Nakshatra (the Brahman and tormentor) on his shoulders. They so pa.s.s amid snakes and scorpions, and receive terrible stings; they pa.s.s through storm and flood, and yet vainly does Nakshatra suggest the desired falsehood.
Then follows the ordeal of Demons, which gives an interesting insight into Tamil Demonology. One of the company exclaims--"How frightful they look! Who can face them? They come in battalions, young and old, small and great--all welcome us. They disport themselves with a wild dance; flames shoot from their mouths; their feet touch not the earth; they move in the air. Observe you the bleeding corpses of human beings in their hands. They crunch them and feed on the flesh. The place is one ma.s.s of gore and filth. Wolves and hyaenas bark at them; jackals and dogs follow them. They are near. May Siva protect us!"
Nakshatra. How dreadful! Harischandra, what is this? Look! evil demons stare at me--I tremble for my life. Protect me now, and I ask you no more for the gold.
Harischandra. Have no fear, Nakshatra. Come, place thyself in the midst of us.
Chief of the Goblins. Men! little men! human vermin! intrude ye thus into my presence? Know that, save only the Brahman standing in the midst of you, you are all my prey to-night.
Harischandra. Goblin! certainly thou art not an evil-doer, for thou hast excepted this holy Brahman. As for ourselves, we know that the bodies which begin to exist upon earth must also cease to exist on it. What matters it when death comes? If he spares us now he reserves us only for another season. Good, kind demon! destroy us then together; here we await our doom.
Nakshatra. Harischandra! before you thus desert me, make the goblin promise you that he will not hurt me.
Harischandra. Thou hast no cause for alarm; thou art safe.
Chief of the Goblins. Listen! I find that all four of you are very thin; it is not worth my while to kill you. On examining closely, I perceive that the young Brahman is plump and fat as a wild boar. Give him up to me--I want not the rest.
Nakshatra. O G.o.ds! O Harischandra! you are a great monarch! Have mercy on me! Save me, save me! I will never trouble you for the gold, but treat you considerately hereafter.
Harischandra. Sir, thy life is safe, stand still.
Nakshatra. Allow me, sirs, to come closer to you, and to hold you by the hand (He grasps their hands.)
Harischandra. King of the Goblins! I address thee in all sincerity; thou wilt confer on us a great favour indeed by despatching us speedily to the Judgment Hall of the G.o.d of Death. The Brahman must not be touched; devour us.
The Goblin (grinding his teeth in great fury). What! dare you disobey me? Will you not deliver the Brahman?
Harischandra. No, we cannot. We alone are thy victims.
[Day breaks, and the goblins disappear.]
Having thus withstood all temptation to harm his enemy, or to break a promise he had given to treat him kindly, Harischandra is again pressed for the gold or the lie, and, still holding out, an ordeal of fire follows. Trusting the G.o.d of Fire will cease to afflict if one is sacrificed, Harischandra prepares to enter the conflagration first, and a pathetic contention occurs between him and his wife and son as to which shall be sacrificed. In the end Harischandra rushes in, but does not perish.
Harischandra is hoping to reach the temple of Vis Wanath [19] at Kasi and invoke his aid to pay the gold. To the temple he comes only to plead in vain, and Nakshatra tortures him with instruments. Finally Harischandra, his wife and child, are sold as slaves to pay the debt. But Viswamitra, invisibly present, only redoubles his persecutions. Harischandra is subjected to the peculiar degradation of having to burn dead bodies in a cemetery. Chandravati and her son are subjected to cruelties. The boy is one day sent to the forest, is bitten by a snake, and dies. Chandravati goes out in the night to find the body. She repairs with it to the cemetery. In the darkness she does not recognise her husband, the burner of the bodies, nor he his wife. He has strictly promised his master that every fee shall be paid, and reproaches the woman for coming in the darkness to avoid payment. Chandravati offers in payment a sacred chain which Siva had thrown round her neck at birth, invisible to all but a perfect man. Harischandra alone has ever seen it, and now recognises his wife. But even now he will not perform the last rites over his dead child unless the fee can be obtained as promised. Chandravati goes out into the city to beg the money, leaving Harischandra seated beside the dead body of Devarata. In the street she stumbles over the corpse of another child, and takes it up; it proves to be the infant Prince, who has been murdered. Chandravati--arrested and dragged before the king--in a state of frenzy declares she has killed the child. She is condemned to death, and her husband must be her executioner. But the last scene must be quoted nearly in full.
Verakvoo (Harischandra"s master, leading on Chandravati). Slave! this woman has been sentenced by our king to be executed without delay. Draw your sword and cut her head off. (Exit.)