CnAP. II.] HINDOO MORAL SYSTEM. 63
vicious man sinks to regions lower and lower, while a man free from vice a.d. — reaches heaven." In a similar spirit the superiority of moral obligations to ritual observances is thus declared — "A wise man should constantly discharge all the moral duties, though he perform not constantly the ceremonies of reli- gion ; since he falls low if, while he performs ceremonial acts only, he discharge not his moral duties.'" And again, " To a man contaminated by sensuality, neither the Vedas, nor liberality, nor sacrifices, nor strict observances, nor pious austerities, ever procure felicity."
It ought also to be observed, that the morality inculcated is not that which Remaikai>;e
inculcation
consists merely in outward act, but that which has its seat in the heart, and of internal controls its secret purposes. Accordingly, it is forbidden to " injure another in the passive deed or in thought;" and in several passages some approach is made to a cele- brated declaration in the " Sermon on the Mount," by stigmatizing lascivious looks and thoughts as a species of adultery. A still more marked resemblance to the morality of the New Testament is observable in the homage paid to what are called the passive virtues. One of those specially recommended is " returning good for evil ; " and in describing the course which a Brahmin ought to follow in the last stage of his appointed discipline, it is said, " Let him not wish for death ; let him not wish for life ; let him expect his appointed time, as a kind servant expects his wages ; let him utter words purified by truth ; let him by all means keep his heart purified." Again, " Let him bear a reproachful speech with patience ; let him speak reproachfully to no man ; let him not, on account of this frail and feverish body, engage in hostility with any one living. With an angry man let him not in his turn be angry ; abused, let him speak mildly. Delighted with meditating on the supreme Spirit, sitting fixed in such meditation, without needing anything earthly, without one sensual desire, with- out any companion but his own soul, let him live in this world seeking the bliss of the next."
From the pure and elevated tone pervading these quotations, it might be Hindoo supposed that Hindooism demands from all its votaries a strict observance of moral precepts, and confers its highest future rewards, without distinction of persons, on those who make the greatest progress in true piety and virtue. The rule actually followed is very different. In the lives of the favourite deities, licentiousness prevails to such an extent as to counteract, by its example, the practical efifect of any precepts opposed to it ; and hence, while morality is in a great measure discarded, a substitute for it has been found in mummeries and austerities which, though dignified with the name of devotion, are merely mechanical, inasmuch as the performance of them does not require any act of the understanding or call forth any emotion of the heart. This so-called devo- tion is thus eulogized — "All the bliss of deities and of men is declared by sages who discern the sense of the Veda, to have in devotion its cause, in devotion its
continuance, and in devotion its fulness." " Perfect health or unfailing medi-
