1]

[Sidenote: Indian philosophy a sad failure.]
And now to take a brief review of the whole subject. The Hindu sages
were men of acute and patient thought; but their attempt to solve the
problem of the divine and human natures, of human destiny and duty, has
ended in total failure. Each system baseless, and all mutually
conflicting; systems cold and cheerless, that frown on love and virtuous
exertion, and speak of annihilation or its equivalent, absorption, as
our highest hope: such is the poor result of infinite speculation. "The
world by wisdom knew not God." O, that India would learn the much-needed
lesson of humility which the experience of ages ought to teach her!

[Sidenote: Sacerdotalism.
The tyranny of sacerdotalism.]
While speculation was thus busy Sacerdotalism was also continually
extending its influence. The Brahman, the man of prayer, had made
himself indispensable in all sacred rites. He alone--as we have
seen--knew the holy text; he alone could rightly pronounce the words of
awful mystery and power on which depended all weal or woe. On all
religions occasions the priest must be called in, and, on all occasions,
implicitly obeyed. For a considerable time the princes straggled against
the encroachments of the priests; but in the end they were completely
vanquished. Never was sacerdotal tyranny more absolute; the proudest
pope in mediaeval times never lorded it over Western Christendom with
such unrelenting rigor as the Brahmans exercised over both princes and
people. The feeling of the priests is expressed in a well-known stanza:

"All the world is subject to the gods; the gods are subject to the
holy texts; the holy texts are subject to the Brahman; therefore
the Brahman is my god."

Yes, the sacred man could breathe the spell which made earth and hell
and heaven itself to tremble. He therefore logically called himself an
earthly god. Indeed, the Brahman is always logical. He draws conclusions
from premises with iron rigor of reasoning; and with side-issues he has
nothing to do. He stands upon his rights. Woe to the being--god or
man--who comes in conflict with him!

[Sidenote: Ritual becomes extravagant.]
The priests naturally multiplied religious ceremonies, and made ritual
the soul of worship. Sacrifice especially assumed still more and more
exaggerated forms--becoming more protracted, more expensive, more
bloody. A hecatomb of victims was but a small offering. More and more
awful