invisible form; omnipresent, incomprehensible, standing on high, fixed and immovable, with subdued passions and understandings, the same in all things, shall come unto me. Those whose minds are attached to my invisible nature have the greater labor to encounter; because an invisible path is difficult to be found by corporeal beings. They also who, preferring me, leave all works for me, and free from the worship of all others, contemplate and serve me alone, I presently raise them up from the ocean of this region of mortality whose minds are thus attached to me. Place then thy heart on me, and penetrate me with thy understanding, and thou shalt, without doubt, enter hereafter into me. But if thou shouldst be unable at once, steadfastly to fix thy mind on me, endeavor to find me by means of constant practice. If after practice thou art still unable, follow me in my works supreme; for by performing works for me thou shalt obtain perfection. But shouldst thou find thyself unequal to this task, put thy trust in me alone, be of humble spirit, and forsake the fruit of every action. Knowlege is better than practice, meditation is distinguished from knowlege, forsaking the fruit of action from meditation; for happiness hereafter is derived from such forsaking.”

Thus, altho Kreeshna rates knowlege and meditation at such high value, he makes future happiness to depend on forsaking the fruits of action; or in other words, as Emerson well remarked to a beautiful friend of mine, he shows that 'Heaven itself is a decoy from the divine life.' Kreeshna continues: He my servant is dear unto me, who is free from enmity, the friend of all nature, merciful, exempt from pride and selfishness, the same in pain and pleasure, patient of wrongs, contented, constantly devout, of subdued passions and firm resolves, and whose mind and understanding are fixed on me alone. He also is my beloved of whom mankind are not afraid, and who of mankind is not afraid; who is free from the influence of joy, impatience, and the dread of harm. He, my servant, is dear to

me who is unexpecting, just and pure, impartial, free from distraction of mind, and who hath forsaken every enterprize. He also is worthy of my love who neither rejoiceth nor findeth fault; who neither lamenteth nor coveteth, and being my servant, hath forsaken both good and evil fortune."

The thirteenth Lecture is devoted to 'An explanation of the terms Kshetra, and Kshetra Gna.' The Kshetra is "body, which is made up of the five elements, Ahankar (self-consciousness), Boodhee (understanding), Avyaktam (invisible spirit), the eleven Eendreeya (organs), and the five Eendree-ya-gochar (faculties of the five senses); with Eecha and Dwesha (love and hatred), Sookh and Dookh (pleasure and pain), Chetana (sensibility), and Dhreetee (firmness)."

Gnan, ken or wisdom, is defined as "freedom from self-esteem, hypocrisy, and injury; patience, rectitude, respect for masters and teachers, chastity, steadiness, self-constraint, disaffection from the object of the senses, a constant study of the superior spirit," etc.

Agnan, or ignorance, is the reverse of this. Gneya, is the object of wisdom, viz. Brahm, who can neither be called Sat (Ens) nor Asat (non Ens). It is all hands and feet; it is all faces, heads and eyes, and all ear; it sitteth in the midst of the world possessing the vast whole. Itself exempt from every organ, it

is the reflected light of every faculty of the organs. Unattached, it containeth all things; and without quality it partaketh of every quality. It is the inside and the outside, and it is the moveable and immovable of all nature. From the minuteness of its parts it is inconceivable. It standeth at a distance, yet it is present. It is undivided, yet in all things it standeth divided. It is the ruler of all things; it is that which now destroyeth and now produceth. It is the light of lights, and it is declared to be free from darkness. It is wisdom, that which is the object of wisdom, and that which is to be obtained by wisdom; and it presideth in every breast."

Then follow further metaphysical definitions. "Learn," says Kreeshna, “that both Prakreetee and Pooroosh are without beginning. Know also that the various component parts of matter and their qualities are coexistent with Prakreetee. Prakreetee is that principle which operateth in the agency of the instrumental cause of action.

"Pooroosh is that Hetoo, or principle, which operateth in the sensations of pain and pleasure. The Pooroosh resideth in the Prakreetee, and partaketh of those qualities which proceed from the Prakreetee. The consequences arising from those qualities are the cause which operateth in the birth of the Pooroosh," and determines whether it shall be in a good or evil body. Pooroosh is that superior being who is called Mah-eswar, the great God, the most high spirit, who in this body is the observer, the director, the protector, the partaker.

"He who conceiveth the Pooroosh and the Prakreetee, together with the Goon, to be even as I have described them, whatever mode of life he may lead, he is not again subject to mortal birth.-Some men by meditation, behold, with the mind, the spirit within themselves; others according to the discipline of the Sankya (contemplative doctrines), and the discipline which is called Karma-yog (practical doctrines); others, again, who are not acquainted with this, but have heard it from others, attend to it. But even these, who act from the report of others, pass beyond the gulf of death.

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'Know, O chief of the race of Bharat, that every thing in nature, whether animate or inanimate, is produced from the union of Kshetra, Kshetra-gna, matter and spirit. He who beholdeth the supreme being alike in all things, whilst corrupting, itself uncorrupting; and conceiving that God in all things is the same, doth not of himself injure his own soul, goeth the journey of immortality. He who beholdeth all his actions performed by Prakreetee, nature, at the same time perceiveth that the Atma, or soul, is inactive in them. When he beholdeth all the different species in nature, comprehended in one alone, and so from it spread forth into their vast variety, he then conceiveth Brahm, the Supreme Being. supreme spirit and incorruptible being, even when it is in the body, neither acteth, nor is it affected, because its nature is without beginning and without quality. As the all moving Akas, or ether, from the minuteness of its parts, passeth every where unaffected, even so the omnipresent spirit remaineth in the body, unaffec

This

P That is, the influence of the three Goon not only determines the future birth of the soul, but into what rank of beings it shall transmigrate; for to transmigrate it is doomed, until it hath attained a degree of wisdom more powerful than the influence of those three qualities.

ted. As a single sun illuminateth the whole world, even so doth the spirit enlighten every body. They who with the eye of wisdom, perceive the body and the spirit to be thus distinct, and that there is a final release from the animal nature, go to the Supreme."

The fourteenth Lecture, 'On the three Goon, or qualities,' opens thus: Kreeshna. "I will now reveal unto thee a most sublime knowlege, superior to all others, which having learned, all the Moonees passed from it to supreme perfection. They take sanctuary under this wisdom, and being arrived at virtue is similar to my own, they are not disturbed on the day of the confusion of all things, nor born again on their renovation.

“There are three Goon or qualities, arising from Prakreetee or nature: Satwa, truth; Raja, passion; and Tama, darkness: and each of them confineth the incorruptible spirit in the body. The Satwa Goon, because of its purity, is clear and free from defect, and entwineth the soul with sweet and pleasant consequences, and the fruit of wisdom. The Raja Goon, is of a passionate nature, arising from the effects of worldly thirst; and imprisoneth the soul with the consequences produced from action. The Tama Goon is the offspring of ignorance, and the confounder of all the faculties of the mind, and it imprisoneth the soul with intoxication, sloth, and idleness. The Satwa Goon prevaileth in felicity; the Raja in action; and the Tama having possessed the soul, prevaileth in intoxication. When the Tama and the Raja have been overcome, then the Satwa appeareth; when the Raja and Satwa, the Tama; aud when the Tama and the Satwa, the Raja. When Gnan, or wisdom, shall become evident in this body at all its gates, then shall it be known that the Satwa Goon is prevalent within. The love of gain, industry, and the commencement of works, intemperance, and inordinate desire, are produced from the prevailing of the Raja Goon; whilst the tokens of the Tama Goon, are gloominess, idleness, sottishness, and distraction of thought.

"When he who beholdeth, perceiveth no other agent than these qualities, and discovereth that there is a being superior to them, he at length findeth my nature; and when the soul hath surpassed these three qualities, which are coexistent with the body, it is delivered from birth and death, old age and pain, and drinketh of the water of immortality.

The fifteenth Lecture is devoted to an exposition of the Pooroosh-ottama. "There are two kinds of Pooroosh in the world, the one corruptible, the other incorruptible. The corruptible Pooroosh is the body of all things in nature; the incorruptible is called Koothasta, or he who standeth on the pinnacle"-the divine essence, which according to the opinion of some of their Philosophers, is without quality, and sitteth aloof, inactive. "There is another Pooroosh most high, the Paramata, or supreme soul, who inhabiteth the three regions of the world, even the incorruptible Eeswar."

Thus Kreeshna absorbs all the mystic names and deities of India in his own person, that he may establish himself, and the divine religion he taught, over all others.

The sixteenth Lecture, 'On Good and Evil Destiny,' is perhaps the finest of all. From the previous chapter on the inhering Goon which govern mankind, the reader will be prepared to meet with the idea of destiny in the revelations of this old religion. Indeed, it would be difficult to find any other solution for our various mental and moral phenomena. An inscrutable fatality seems to preside at the birth of each mortal, and by the peculiarity of the mind and temperament with which it endows him, to chalk out for him the path he must go. How, otherwise, can we account for the fact that some men, in spite of their learning and culture, never attain to any insight of divine things, have no knowlege of the Pooroosh-ottama, but are imprisoned all their days in the bonds of materiality, and make the animal gratifications of the moment, the end and aim of their existence? Or how can we explain the fact that some men from their birth upwards, or at all events from the first dawning of consciousness, are impressed with the unspeakable significance and mystery of life, and drawn away to those high and sublime studies which light the soul to a communion with its maker? We gain nothing by adopting the Christian notions of 'election' and 'free-grace' in this matter; for these mean absolutely the same thing as destiny. Neither is that profounder idea which lurks behind the idea of destiny, and includes the final or motive cause in this choice of 'one vessel to honor, and another to dishonor,' at all made clear in either case; altho the fact remains. Let us hear, therefore, what Kreeshna has to say about the good and evil destiny.

"The man who is born with divine destiny, is endued with the following qualities: exemption from fear, a purity of heart, a constant attention to the discipline of the understanding; charity, self restraint, religion, study, penance, rectitude, freedom from wrong doing, veracity, freedom from anger, resignation, temperance, freedom from slander, universal compassion, exemption from the desire of slaughter, mildness, modesty, discretion, dignity, patience, fortitude, chastity, unrevengefulness, and a freedom from vain glory: whilst those who come into life under the influence of the evil destiny are distinguished by hypocrisy, pride, presumption, anger, harshness of speech, and ignorance. The divine destiny is for Moksh, or eternal absorption in the divine nature; and the evil destiny confineth the soul to mortal birth. ...

"Those who are born under the influence of the evil destiny know not what it is to proceed in virtue, or recede from vice; nor is purity, veracity, or the practice of morality to be found in them. They say the world is without beginning, and without end, and without an Eeswar, all things being conceived by the junction of the sexes; and that love is the only cause. These lost souls, and men of little understandings, having fixed on this vision, are born of dreadful and inhuman deeds for the destruction of the world. They trust to their carnal appetites, which are hard to be satisfied; are hypocrites, and overwhelmed with madness and intoxication. Because of their folly they adopt false doctrines, and continue to live the life of impurity. They abide by their inconceivable opinions, even unto the day of confusion, and determine within their own minds that the gratification of the sensual appetites is the supreme good. Fast bound by the hundred cords of hope, and placing all their trust in lust and anger, they seek by injustice the accumulation of wealth, for the gratification of their inordinate

desire. 'This, to day, hath been acquired by me, I shall obtain this object of my heart. This wealth I have, and this shall I have also. This foe have I already slain, and others will I forthwith vanquish. I am Eeswar, and I enjoy.

I am consummate, I am powerful, and I am happy; I am rich, and I am endued with precedence amongst men; and where is there another like unto me? I will make presents at the feasts, and be merry ?' In this manner do these ignorant men talk, whose minds are thus gone astray. Confounded with various thoughts and designs, they are entangled in the net of folly; and being firmly attached to the gratification of their lusts, they sink at length into the Nark of impurity. Being self conceited, stubborn, and ever in pursuit of wealth and pride, they worship with the name of worship and hypocrisy, and not according to divine ordination; and placing all their trust in pride, power, ostentation, lust, and anger, they are overwhelmed with calumny and detraction, and hate me in themselves and others: Wherefore I cast down upon the earth those furious abject wretches, those evil beings who thus despise me, into the wombs of evil spirits and unclean beasts. Being doomed to the womb of Asoors from birth to birth, at length not finding me, they go into the most infernal regions. There are these three passages to Nark-lust, anger, avarice, which are the destroyers of the soul; wherefore a man should avoid them; for being freed from these gates of sin, which arise from the influence of the Tama Goon, he advanceth his own happiness; and at length he goeth the journey of the Most High."

"The faith of

The seventeenth Lecture is on the Three species of Faith.' mortals is of three kinds, and is produced from the constitution. It is denominated after the three Goon, Satwakee, Rajasee, or Tamasee. Hear what these are. The faith of every one is a copy of that which is produced from the Satwa goon. The mortal Pooroosh being formed with faith, of whatever nature he may be, with that kind of faith is he endued. Those who are of the disposition which ariseth from the Satwa goon worship the Dews; those of the Raja goon, the Yakshas and the Rakshas; and those of the Tama goon worship the departed spirits and the tribe of Bhoots. These men, who perform severe mortifications of the flesh not authorized by the Sastra, are possessed of hypocrisy and pride, and overwhelmed with lust, passion, and tyrannic strength. Those fools torment the spirit that is in the body, and myself also, who am in them.

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"That worship which is directed by divine precept, and performed without the desire of reward, as necessary to be done, and with an attentive mind, is of the Satwa Goon.

"The worship performed with a view to the fruit, and with hypocrisy, is of the Tama Goon.

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The worship performed without regard to the precepts of the law, without the distribution of bread, without the usual invocations, without gifts to the Brahmins at the conclusion, and without faith, is of the Raja Goon.

'Respect to the Dews, to Brahmins, masters and learned men; chastity, rectitude, the worship of the Deity, and a freedom from injury, are called bodily zeal.

a Two species of good and evil Genii, of whom Veettesa, god of riches, is chief.