With the same minute exactness, regulations are laid down for the Brahman as to the mode and position in which he is to take the permitted kinds of food; with what parts of the hand or finger he is to perform his ablutions, how he is to demean himself on all the occasions of life, when travelling, etc., in order to preserve his purity and sanctity. With equal detail we are told how the Brahman is to perform the natural requirements of the body, and the purifications thereby rendered necessary.[211] The least neglect in the fulfilment of these endless duties, which it was impossible to keep in view at once, and more impossible still to bear in mind at every moment, even with the most devoted attention, might bring on centuries of punishment and endless regenerations, unless it was expiated.
The prescripts of the Brahmans have been thoroughly carried out, and even the other orders to this time fulfil their daily duties. The Brahman utters his morning prayer, bathes in the stream, the fountain, the pool, or in his house, performs the invocations to the gods, spirits, and ancestors, and then with his wife and child, who also have bathed, offers prayers and gifts to the protecting deities of the house.[212] Among wealthy families of the Kshatriyas and Vaiçyas the morning prayers after the bath are performed under the guidance of the priest of the house. No one eats the morning meal till the grains of rice have been scattered for the Maruts, the gods of water and trees, and the special deity of the house. No Hindoo proceeds to his work till he has purified himself and performed his devotions. The Brahman does not open his book, neither smith nor carpenter takes in hand his tool, till he has uttered prayers. They neither stand up nor sit down, nor leave the room, nor sneeze, nor vomit, without the prescribed formula.
Thus the new doctrine of the Brahmans removed the old gods and sacrifices, and gave to the old customs of purification a further extension, and in part a new meaning, inasmuch as it developed them into a wide system of expiation; but the change wrought in the sphere of morals was far more radical. The moral law of the Brahmans is distinctly in opposition to the requirements of the old time. War and heroism are no longer the highest aim of life, but patience, obedience, sanctification. As all animals have their origin from Brahman, and to each, at creation, is allotted a special mission, as Brahman is this order of the world, it is man's task to adapt himself obediently to this arrangement of gods, and fulfil the duties laid upon him at birth. At the same time, no one is to disturb another in the fulfilment of his duties. He must injure neither man nor beast; he must spare even the plants and trees. No one must go beyond the limits allotted to him, but lead a quiet and peaceful life within them. Without ceasing, the Çudras must serve the three higher orders; the Vaiçyas must till the field, and tend the herds, and carry on trade, and bestow gifts; the Kshatriyas must protect the people, give alms, and sacrifice; the Brahman must read the Veda, and teach it, offer sacrifice for himself and others, and receive gifts, if poor. It is the duty of each of the lower orders to reverence the higher; the Vaiçyas and Kshatriyas must bow before the Brahmans, and heap gifts upon them.[213]
In opposition to the Çudras, who, as we saw, ranged with beasts (p. 142), Brahmans, Kshatriyas, and Vaiçyas were united by community of blood and common superiority of caste. The three upper orders are distinguished from the Çudras as the "Dvijas," the twice-born, in the phrase of the Brahmans. This second birth is performed by investiture with the holy girdle. In old times this ceremony was no doubt the symbol of the reception of boys and youths into the union of the family; at present the girdle is not only the distinguishing sign of the three upper orders, but from the Brahman point of view the pledge of higher illumination. It is put on with solemn consecration, accompanied by the most sacred prayer, and the second, higher birth consists in the mystical operation of this ceremony. But the upper orders were not merely united by origin, by superiority in rank, and this symbol of superiority; the Dvijas alone had access to the worship, the sacrifice, and the Veda.
The care of the doctrine and worship belongs especially to the Brahmans. They have not only to attend to a special, higher purity; they must above all things acquire a knowledge of the positive basis of doctrine and worship, of revelation. For in the teaching of the Brahmans the Veda was revealed: the hymns and prayers in it are created and given by the gods; they are the divine word.[214] The study of the Veda is the first and foremost duty of the Brahman. He must never omit to read the book at the appointed day, at the appointed hour. He is not old, we are told in the book of the law, whose hair is gray, but he who when young has studied the holy scriptures will be regarded by the gods as full of years and honour. The Brahman who does not study the Veda is like an elephant of wood, or a deer of leather. Hence among the Brahmans those who are learned in the scriptures take the first rank. The book of the law ordains that every young Brahman must be attached as a pupil to a learned Brahman. This "spiritual father" he is to love and reverence above all beside, above his natural father, "for the spiritual birth is not for this world only but for the next." The strictest ceremonial of reverence and respect for the teacher, the careful observance of these duties, and the accurate knowledge of the Veda, is intended to train the young Brahmans to become worthy representatives of their order. A peculiar garb and special reserve are prescribed for the novice. He must first learn the rules for purity, for keeping up the sacred fire, and then the religious duties of morning, mid-day, and evening. After this begin the readings in the Veda. Before each reading the pupil must purify himself with water, rub his hands with kuça-grass, and then perform obeisance to the holy text. Next he prostrates himself before his tutor, and touches his feet with his hands. Clad in a pure garment, with kuça-grass in his hands, he then sits down on kuça-grass with his face to the east. Before beginning to read he draws in his breath three times, and then pronounces the mysterious name of Brahman, Om. The lesson then begins. Even the wife of his teacher must be saluted by the pupil on his knees; and these customs are still to a great extent preserved in the schools of the Brahmans.[215] The time of instruction begins immediately after the ceremony of investing with the sacred girdle; it must continue nine, eighteen, or thirty-six years, in each case until the pupil knows the Veda by heart. Then he may take a wife, and set up his house.[216] Not only the young Brahmans—though the main object was to educate them as representatives and teachers of the new doctrine—were expected to go through the period of instruction and the school of the learned Brahmans; even the sons of the Kshatriyas and Vaiçyas were instructed in the religious duties and the Veda: in fact religious instruction was to include all the Dvijas. Every young Dvija must become a pupil of a Brahman (Brahmacharin) after being invested with the girdle. But the Brahmans alone enjoyed the privilege of teaching and interpreting the Veda. Without this interpretation it was probable that a result would be attained the opposite of that which this general instruction and catechising of every Dvija was intended to effect: the pupils would have quickly learnt other things from the hymns of the Veda besides the tenets of the Brahmans.
No doubt the pious performance of the daily customs, the offering of sacrifice, the observance of the rules of purity, the voluntary performance of expiations and penalties, the practice of duties imposed on every caste and every being by the order of the universe, a respect for the obligations and life of fellow-men, the peaceful conduct, the regard for plants and animals, the eager study of the Veda,—the "holiness of works" might lead a man into the heaven of Indra and the gods, while the opposite conduct would plunge him into hell. But the merit of works no less than the punishment of sins was exhausted in time: it was no protection against new regenerations; it could indeed shorten the process through which the soul must pass in order to attain complete purity, but it did not cancel regeneration. That was only excluded by attaining perfect purity and holiness, for then the process of purification was complete, and with the return to Brahman, its divine source, the existence of the soul ended. To bring about this return is of all duties the highest; it is above the sanctity of works. Brahman was an incorporeal, immaterial being. When changed into the world, Brahman becomes ever more adulterated, dark, and impure, in these successive emanations; it descends from the pure sanctity of itself, of its undisturbed being. In this state of removal and alienation, the world and mankind do not correspond to their origin, the nature of Brahman, and in this condition man cannot return to Brahman. The better side of men, the immaterial side closely akin to Brahman, the divine elements, must become the ruling power; the impurity of matter, of the sensual world, and the body must be done away. The rules of purification only removed the grosser forms of defilement. The more that men succeeded in doing away with the whole impurity of nature, the shorter was the path of the soul after death to Brahman. It is, therefore, a universal requirement of the Brahmanic system—a requirement laid upon all, but more especially on the Brahmans—that the soul is not to be over-grown, bound, and imprisoned by the body, the mind by the senses. The sensual needs must be held in restraint; no great space must be allowed to them. Men must be on their guard against the charms of sense; sensual excesses are not to be indulged; to be lord of the senses is the chief commandment. Even the affections and passions, which, in the opinion of the Brahmans, sprang from the charm of the senses, must be held in check. Every man must preserve a quiet calm, and dominion over his passions, and the impressions which come from without and stir the senses. But as it is the mission of every creature to return to his divine origin, as no living being can find rest till it is purified for this return, as Brahman is pure spirit—spirit, that is, and not nature—it follows that no one can enter into Brahman who has not been able entirely to free his soul from sensuality, to get rid utterly of his body, and transform himself entirely into pure soul. From this point of view all relations to the sensual world must appear as fetters of the spirit, and the body as the prison of the soul.
The Brahmans did not hesitate to draw these last conclusions from their doctrine of Brahman. "This habitation of men," they said, "of which the framework is the bones, the bands the muscles; this vessel filled with flesh and blood, and covered with skin; this impure dwelling, which contains its own defilement, and is subject to age, sickness, and trouble, to sorrows of every kind, and passions; this habitation, destined to decay, must be abandoned with joy by him who assumes it." But the main point was not to await with calmness and yearning the breaking of these fetters of the soul, it was the manner in which they were broken in order that the soul might go forth free to Brahman, to eternal rest, to union with the highest spirit. For this it was necessary, when a man had learned to live obediently, and to govern his senses and passions, to put aside the world altogether, and direct the eye to heaven alone. This duty is completed when the Brahman, the Dvija, leaves house and home, in order to become an eremite in the forest (Vanaprastha). He clothes himself in a garment of bark, or in the skin of the black gazelle; his bed must be the earth; he lives on fruits which have fallen from the trees, or on the roots found in the forest, and on water, which he previously pours through a woollen cloth, in order to avoid killing the little insects which may happen to be in the water. He performs the service of the sacred fire, and the five daily offerings; bathes three times each day, reads the Veda, and devotes himself to the contemplation of the highest being. By this means he will purify his body, increase his knowledge, and bring his spirit nearer to perfection. His hair, beard, and nails must be allowed to grow; he must fast frequently, live aloof from all desires, and be complete master of his sensual impulses; he must not allow himself to be disturbed in any way by the world, or by any accident which overtakes him. From this condition he will advance still further towards perfection, if he proceeds to reduce his body by mortification. He should roll on the ground; or stand all day long on his toes, or be continually getting up and sitting down. By degrees the eremite ought to increase the severity of these penances. In the cold season of the year he should always wear a wet garment; in the rainy season he should expose himself naked to the tempest of rain. In the warm season he must sit between four fires in the hot rays of the sun.[217] By the eagerness and fervour of devotion which leads the ascetic to these self-tortures, and enables him to endure them, by these mortifications (tapas, i. e. heat) he must show that the pain of the body cannot trouble the soul, that nothing which befalls the one can influence the other, that he is liberated from his body.
When the eremite had reduced his body by mortifications gradually increasing in severity, and attained complete mastery of the soul over the flesh, he enters into the last stage, that of the Sannyasin, who attempts by thought to be absorbed into the world-soul, to die while yet alive in the body, by completing his return to Brahman. For this stage the regulation is that the penitent is to wish for nothing, and expect nothing, to observe silence, to live absolutely alone, in ceaseless repose, in the society of his own soul. He must think of the misery of the body, the migrations of the soul, which result from sin, and the existence of the world-soul in the highest and lowest things; he must suppress all qualities in himself which are opposed to the divine nature of Brahman, and think of Brahman only. Brahman must be contemplated in "the slumber of the most inward meditation, as being finer than an atom, and more brilliant than gold!" By thus plunging in the deepest reflection the penitent will succeed in carrying back his soul to its original source: he will attain to union with Brahman, and will himself become Brahman, from which he has emanated.[218]
With such consistency did the Brahmans develop their system; such was the ideal which they put before the Indians of the holy life, leading to union with Brahman. When the Dvija had set up his house, and married and begot a son, when he had fulfilled his duties as Grihastha (house master), when he was old and saw "the posterity of his posterity," he must go into the forest—so the law of the priests bade,—in order to become a Vanaprastha and Sannyasin. Indeed the importance which the system ascribed to the spiritual as opposed to the sensual, to super-sensual holiness as opposed to the unholy world of sense, even led them to declare marriage and the family as unnecessary, disturbing, and unholy; and with strict consistency they gave command to repair to the forest at once, and forswear the world from the first. Even in the law-book of the priests this was permitted; but as an exception. The Brahmacharin could, when he had finished his long period of instruction, go at once into the forest as an eremite and penitent.[219] The large majority neither could nor did observe such commands, but, so far as we can see, the number of penitents was not inconsiderable soon after 600 B.C.—and the ordinary people recognised the peculiar merit of those who went into the forest. They looked on the penitents with respect. And even to this day it is observed, that in the later years of life, when the time approaches for receiving the reward or punishment of their deeds, the Hindoos devote themselves with redoubled eagerness to their religious duties.
The Ramayana describes the abodes in the forest and the life of the penitents. There are some who live constantly in the open air; others who dwell on the tops of the mountains; others who sleep on the places of sacrifice, or on the naked earth, or who do not sleep at all; some only eat during one month in the year; others eat rice with the husks; others feed only on uncooked nutriment, leaves, or water; others do not eat at all, but live on the air and the beams of the sun and the moon. Some constantly repeat the name of the same deity; others read the Vedas without ceasing; the greater part wear clothes of bark; others wear wet garments perpetually; other stand up to the neck in water; others have fire on every side and the sun overhead; others stand perpetually on one leg; others on the tips of their great toes; others on their heads; others hang by their heels on the branches of trees.[220] When this passage of the Ramayana was composed or altered, the practices of the ascetics had already gone beyond the rules prescribed in the book of the law.