We bow to thee, in the nature of Brahma uncreated, undecaying ( avyaya ), who art in our bodies and in all other bodies , and in all living creatures , and beside whom nothing exists.
We glorify that Vasudeva, the lord of all, who is without soil, the seed of all things, exempt from dissolution, unborn, eternal; being in essence Paramapadatmavat (beyond the condition of spirit) and in essence and substance ( rupa ), the whole of this (Universe)." (Book III., ch.
xvii., Vish.
Purana.
) The above is quoted as an illustration of the vast field offered by the Puranas to adverse and erroneous criticism, by every European bigot who forms an estimate of an alien religion on mere external evidence.
Any man accustomed to subject what he reads to thoughtful analysis, will see at a glance the incongruity of addressing the accepted "Unknowable," the formless, and attributeless A BSOLUTE, such as the Vedantins define B RAHMA, as being "one with the serpent-race, double-tongued, cruel and insatiable," thus associating the abstract with the concrete, and bestowing adjectives on that which is freed from any limitations, and conditionless.
Even Dr.
Wilson, who, after living surrounded by Brahmins and Pundits in India for so many years, ought to have known better -- even that scholar lost no opportunity to criticize the Hindu Scriptures on this account.
Thus, he exclaims: --* "The Puranas constantly teach incompatible doctrines!
According to this passage, the Supreme being is not the inert cause of creation only, but exercises the functions of an active providence.
The Commentator quotes a text of the Veda in support of this view: 'Universal Soul entering into men, governs their conduct.' Incongruities, however, are as frequent in the Vedas as in the Puranas.
.
.
.
." Less frequent, in sober truth, than in the Mosaic Bible.
But prejudice is great in the hearts of our Orientalists -- especially in those of "reverend" scholars.
U NIVERSAL S OUL is not the inert Cause of Creation or (Para) Brahma, but simply that which we call the sixth principle of intellectual Kosmos, on the manifested plane of being.
It is Mahat, or Mahabuddhi , the great Soul, the vehicle of Spirit, the first primeval reflection of the formless C AUSE, and that which is even beyond S PIRIT.
[[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * In Book I., chap.
xvii., narrating the story of Prahlada -- the Son of Hiranyakasipu, the Puranic Satan , the great enemy of Vishnu, and the King of the three worlds -- into whose heart Vishnu entered.
[[Vol.
1, Page]] 421 THE DECEPTION OF THE GODS.
So much for Professor Wilson's uncalled-for fling.
As for the apparently incongruous appeal to Vishnu by the defeated gods, the explanation is there, in the text of Vishnu Purana, if Orientalists would only notice it.* There is Vishnu, as Brahma, and Vishnu in his two aspects , philosophy teaches.
There is but one Brahma, "essentially prakriti and Spirit ," &c.
Therefore, it is not Vishnu -- "the inert cause of creation" -- which exercised the functions of an active Providence, but the Universal Soul, that which E.
Levi calls Astral Light in its material aspect.
And this "Soul" is, in its dual aspect of spirit and matter, the true anthropomorphic God of the Theists; as this God is a personification of that Universal Creative Agent, pure and impure both, owing to its manifested condition and differentiation in this Mayavic World -- God and Devil -- truly.
But Dr.
Wilson failed to see how Vishnu, in this character, closely resembles the Lord God of Israel, "especially in his policy of deception, temptation, and cunning." In the Vishnu Purana this is made as plain as can be.
For it is said there, that "at the conclusion of their prayers ( stotra ) the gods beheld the Sovereign Deity Hari (Vishnu) armed with the conch, the discus, and the mace, riding on Garuda.
." Now "Garuda" is the manvantaric cycle , as will be shown in its place.
Vishnu, therefore, is the deity in space and time ; the peculiar God of the Vaishnavas (a tribal or racial God , as they are called in esoteric philosophy): i.e.
, one of the many Dhyanis or Gods, or Elohim, one of whom was generally chosen for some special reasons by a nation or a tribe, and thus became gradually a "God above all Gods" (2 Chronicles ii.
5,) the "highest God" as Jehovah, Osiris, Bel, or any other of the Seven Regents.
"The tree is known by its fruit," -- the nature of a God by his actions.
The latter, we have either to judge by the dead-letter narratives, or to accept allegorically.
If we compare the two -- Vishnu, as the defender and champion of the defeated gods; and Jehovah, the defender and champion of the "chosen" people, so called by antiphrasis, no doubt, as it is the Jews who had chosen that "jealous" God -- we shall find that both use deceit and cunning.
They do so on the principle of "the end justifying the means," in order to have the best of their [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * This ignorance is truly and beautifully expressed in the praise of the Yogins to Brahma, "the upholder of the earth" (in Book I., chap.
iv.
of V.
P.), when they say, "Those who have not practised devotion conceive erroneously of the nature of the world.
The ignorant who do not perceive that this Universe is of the nature of wisdom, and judge of it as an object of perception only, are lost in the ocean of spiritual ignorance.
But they who know true wisdom, and whose minds are pure, behold this whole world as one with divine knowledge , as one with thee, O God!
Be favourable, O universal Spirit!" [[Vol.
1, Page]] 422 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
respective opponents and foes -- the demons.
Thus while (according to the Kabalists) Jehovah assumes the shape of the tempting Serpent in the Garden of Eden; sends Satan with a special mission to tempt Job; and harasses and wearies Pharaoh with Sarai, Abraham's wife, and " hardens " his heart against Moses, lest there should be no opportunity for plaguing his victims "with great plagues" ( Genesis xii., Exodus ) -- Vishnu is made in his Purana to resort to a trick no less unworthy of any respectable god.
"Have compassion upon us, O Lord, and protect us, who have come to thee for succour from the Daityas (demons)!" pray the defeated Gods.
Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.
The passage explicitly critiques anthropomorphism, calling the personal gods 'the true anthropomorphic God of the Theists' and contrasting this with the attributeless Absolute.
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
The passage explicitly defines the Absolute as 'the Unknowable, the formless, and attributeless ABSOLUTE' and criticizes those who 'bestow adjectives on that which is freed from any limitations.'
The universal fluid or medium of occult philosophy — Lévi's Great Magical Agent — that transmits will, thought, and magical influence between minds and matter, and preserves the impress of all forms and actions as a book of consciences; cognate with akasha and the anima mundi. Distinct from cosmic_sympathy (a doctrine of hidden affinity) in being a substantival medium that can be charged, directed, and abused.
The passage explicitly identifies the Universal Soul with 'E. Levi calls Astral Light in its material aspect,' making this concept a central identification in the argument.
The path of loving devotion and self-surrender to a personal deity as itself sufficient means of liberation — the Gita's 'to those constantly devoted, I come forward as their deliverer,' Kabir's and the Sant poets' love-religion, the devotional stream that parallels Sufi love-mysticism. Distinct from mystical_union (the resulting state), fana_annihilation (the ego's unmaking at the path's end), ladder_of_love (eros staged toward Beauty), and prayer (the practice of address): bhakti names devotion as the soteriological road itself.
The quoted Puranic text includes devotional address ('We bow to thee,' 'We glorify that Vasudeva') representing the path of loving devotion to a personal deity.
A secondary creator deity—often ignorant or malevolent—responsible for fashioning the material world, distinct from the supreme transcendent God.
The passage distinguishes the supreme transcendent 'inert cause' (Para Brahma) from the active personal gods (Vishnu, Jehovah) who exercise providential functions, describing them as 'tribal or racial Gods' — a structure parallel to the demiurge as secondary creator distinct from the supreme God.
The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.
The 'Unknowable' and 'formless, attributeless ABSOLUTE' are presented as radically beyond ordinary knowledge or perception, accessible only through esoteric understanding.
The doctrine that the divine is present within all things and the universe itself, pervading creation rather than remaining solely transcendent above it. Distinct from unity_of_being (the general claim that all existence is one substance, agnostic about whether that substance indwells its parts) and from kingdom_within (the divine present specifically IN THE INDIVIDUAL human, accessible without mediation) — divine_immanence is the general pervading-presence claim applied to all of creation, not a human-specific indwelling.
The quoted text states the divine is 'in our bodies and in all other bodies, and in all living creatures,' and the passage describes the Universal Soul as pervading the manifested plane.
A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.
The passage describes a clear cascade from the formless CAUSE through Spirit to the Universal Soul (Mahat/Mahabuddhi) to the manifested plane of being, each level a reflection or vehicle of the one above.
Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.
The passage argues that the Puranas contain esoteric meanings ('the explanation is there, in the text of Vishnu Purana, if Orientalists would only notice it') that are obscured from external or superficial reading.
The doctrine that the cosmos unfolds as a structured descent of spirit into matter — a directional process traced stage by stage from an unconditioned principle down through successive planes to full materialization — complemented by its own eventual return ('evolution'). Distinct from emanation_hierarchy (the static structure of the resulting levels of the cascade) and cosmogony (a single originating event rather than an ongoing staged process) in naming the directional cosmic PROCESS of descent itself, paired with its own complementary ascent.
The passage traces a staged descent from the formless CAUSE through Spirit to the Universal Soul to the manifested plane, describing a directional process of spirit descending into matter.
The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.
The Universal Soul (Mahat) is described as 'the vehicle of Spirit, the first primeval reflection of the formless CAUSE,' mediating between the transcendent source and the manifested world.
The Hermetic doctrine that apparent opposites are identical in nature but differ in degree — two extremes of the same scale (hot/cold, love/hate) — such that one pole can be shifted toward its opposite by a change of degree ('mental transmutation'). Distinct from opposites_transcended (a completion-state marking the path's end, not this doctrine's active technique) and magical_equilibrium (balance held BETWEEN two forces, not identity-by-degree of what looks like two forces).
The passage presents 'God and Devil' as dual aspects of the same Universal Creative Agent, 'pure and impure both, owing to its manifested condition and differentiation,' illustrating identity-in-opposites.
The doctrine that reality has two registers — an Absolute truth as the divine or ultimate mind knows it, and a Relative truth as finite human reason perceives and must act on — with both held as legitimate on their own plane rather than the second being simply an error to correct. Distinct from apophatic_theology (a claim about how the divine may be described, by negation) and unity_of_being (a claim that being is ultimately one) in being a claim about two coexisting registers of truth-claim itself.
The passage distinguishes between the esoteric (inner) meaning of the Puranic texts and the exoteric (outer) meaning that Orientalists perceive, holding both as operating on different planes of understanding.
The trickster archetype: a boundary-breaking figure — Loki, Unktomee the Spider, the Cherokee Rabbit, Hermes — whose deception, cunning, and rule-violation drive mythic change, often doubling as culture hero; sacred disorder as an engine of the cosmos.
The passage explicitly compares the 'policy of deception, temptation, and cunning' of both Vishnu and Jehovah, presenting divine trickery as a shared cosmic principle used against demons and foes.