Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-06-19
The Cradle of PHILOSOPHERS and IL e.
legiOnSs
T'fThe East. - by M,

1.-THE East" by NJ. F. Morris, ESQ.,
We sometimes Halter ourselves that we have
explored all the realms of thought and invests
gated all the domain Of philosophy, and that
outside OF Europe and America, there Is no phi
losophy worthy OF the name. But we have
been anticipated in all our speculations by the
H1nduS. There Is nothing new In the pantha.
ism of Spinoza. or in the idealism Of Berkeley
and Malebranche, or In the transcendentaliSr
OF Kant and Fichte, or In the evolutionisn Of
Darwin and Huxley and Tyndal. They were
all discussed three thousand years ago by bril-
liant 1ntellects at Agra and Benares.
The Vedas contain the first germs of the Pan.
the1st1c philosophy. Kapila elaborated 1t into
a system long before Greece emerged from its
native barbarfsm. From him PythagoraS Dor
rowed it; and he, in turn, transmitted 1t to the
Gnostics of the first centuries of the Christian
era. and they to Averroes and Spinoza.
The basis OF Buddhism, as enunctated by its
pie fdealiSn-the theory OF the nCn-eXiStence OF
matter. and that soul or spirit Is the only &C
tual existence. Bishop Berkeley, who sustained
this theory in the last century with course OF
reasoning most difficult to be answered, Is faI
behind Guatama.
Aristotle was anticipated In his system OF
logic by an intellect as acute and brilliant as
his own, the Hindu Kanada, who was also the
author OF the atomic philosophy. DemocrituS
OF Abdera, who. like his cOuntryman, Pythago-
ras, Travelled in the East, and very probably
theories of the Hindu philosopher, and from
thence introduced the atomic philosophy into
Greece, with its logical consequence the doc
trine OF evolution. From him Epicurus took up
the theory, and Lucret1us enshrinedi 1t in stat ely
verse long before it was re5uscitated by D'Hol-
bach and illustrated by Darwin.
To the educated Hindu there Is nothing ne "
In our philosophy, nor IS there much That is
He is equally familiar with the great principles
that underlie the one and the want OF princi e
that characterfZes the other. A triad or trinity
OF Godhead Is as prominent a feature of his
creed as 1t is OF the Christian. Brahma, Wish nu
and Siva-the Creator, the PreServer and tn ,
Destroyer-are, in his mythology, threefold
comprehensive First Principle; and their func-
tons In the system OF the Hindu religion,
though differing very much from those OF the
three Sacred Persons OF the Christian Trinity,
plainly eyince that the idea OF Triune GOD is
one OF the primeval traditions of our race. And
as to manifestations Of the divinity In human
forn-another primeyal tradition which finds
itS earliest expression In the promise containe
In the third chapter OF the book of Genesis of a
Redeemer to come-the HlnduS are not SatiSh d
with one Incarnation. They record twenty
four incarnatons or, as they call them, dratars
OF Vishnu, the second person of the Hindu
Triad; OF which ten are regarded as of para
Mount Importance, and are denominated the
great drdtdrS. The three first of these are con-
Jectured to have reference TO the phenomena OF
the Noachian Deluge, the fourth to the story OF
Nfmrod, and the fifth to that OF the Baoyloniau
Belus. The sixth commentaries some nota-
Die. though now unknown event In the early
IIoooiy VI iilAuuoCdll. III lNc ScVcuJi, flSnnu
became 1ncarnate In Rama, the hero Of the Ra-
mayuna; In the eighth. In Christina, the hero OF
the Mahabharata. Buddha was the ninth and
last; for the tenth Is yet to come. And ii
seems strange enough that the author OF the
Buddhistic Reformation should be regarded by
the BrahminS as an incarnation of Vishnu
While the followers OF Buddha have been driven
from Hindustan, and compelled to take refuge
In regions beyond its limits, where, however
their doctrines have succeeded in drawing tc
their profession the greater part of the Mongo.
liam race, and OF the people Of the Malaysian
Islands. The tenth avatar, it has been stated.
Is Yet TO come 1t symboliZeS the advent OF
Ntshnu riding On a white steed, and armed with
blazing scimitar, to destroy the world-a fig.
ure strongly suggestive OF the similar one In the
Apocalypse OF St John.