ffort
to graft the materialistic conceptions of the Sankya upon the Vedanta,
which is in nothing more emphatic than in denying the existence of all
that is phenomenal and material.

Krishna gave to Arjuna, at the latter's request, a vision of his true
Self separate from, and infinitely higher than, the humble and
illusive garb of his incarnation. And it was to him "as if in the
heavens the lustre of a thousand suns burst forth all at once." And
what a vision! Gazing upon it, Arjuna exclaims, "O God! I see within
your body the gods, as also all the groups of various being; and the
lord Brahm seated on his lotus seat, and all the sages and celestial
snakes. I see you, who are of countless forms, possessed of many arms,
stomachs, mouths, and eyes on all sides. And, O Lord of the Universe,
O you of all forms! I do not see your end, middle, or beginning.... I
believe you to be the eternal being. I see you void of beginning,
middle, or end--of infinite power, of unnumbered arms, and having the
sun and the moon for eyes, and having a mouth like a blazing fire and
heating the universe with your radiance. For this space between heaven
and earth and all the quarters are pervaded by you alone. Looking at
this wonderful and terrible form of yours, O high-souled one! the
three worlds are affrighted. For here these groups of gods are
entering into you.... Our principal warriors, also, are rapidly
entering your mouths, fearful and horrific by reason of your jaws. And
some with their heads smashed are seen stuck in the spaces between the
teeth. As the many rapid currents of a river's waters run toward the
sea alone, so do the heroes of this human world enter your mouths
blazing all around. As butterflies, with increased velocity, enter a
blazing fire to their destruction, so too do these people enter your
mouths with increased velocity, only to their destruction. Swallowing
all these people, you are licking them over and over again from all
sides with your blazing mouths!"

Here we verily have a fine combination of the sublime and the
ridiculous! The Apostle of Jesus was given to witness a vision of
heavenly things such as could not be uttered. This disciple of Krishna
does not hesitate to paint in such glowing terms a vision of the
divine, that, to all but a Hindu, the picture seems not only
incongruous but highly absurd and disgusting. One can hardly imagine
that any mortal, to whom a vision of the divine being had been
granted, c