2023-08-17 01:53:31 by ambuda-bot
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OF CULTURE
GOVERNMENT
FOREWORD
SL
depicted in the Puranas or, for the matter
of that, any work of past history, is that
they reflect the conditions of the society
in which the authors lived and the
beliefs and ethical standards current at
the time.
The scale of ethical and religious values
is no doubt liable to change in course of
time, but the development of morality
and religion had attained such a height
in ancient India that it is doubtful
whether humanity has made any great
progress in these spheres.
the
It is often popularly supposed that
idolatry is favoured or enjoined by the
Hindu religion. While Hinduism permits
the worship of idols, it is only a conces-
sion to the ignorant who are incapable of
rising to abstract conceptions and the
higher forms of religious belief. It is
recognised and allowed only as
lowest rung of the devotional ladder. But
when the mind is educated and becomes
capable of concentration, abstraction and
meditation, the worshipper is gradually
led on to the highest truths of religion.
The Bhagavata recognises the principle
of relativity and its spiritual prescriptions
are adjusted to the different stages of
individual development.
I have already referred to the tendency
of our moralists and religious teachers to
emphasise the value of the particular
GOVERNMENT
FOREWORD
SL
depicted in the Puranas or, for the matter
of that, any work of past history, is that
they reflect the conditions of the society
in which the authors lived and the
beliefs and ethical standards current at
the time.
The scale of ethical and religious values
is no doubt liable to change in course of
time, but the development of morality
and religion had attained such a height
in ancient India that it is doubtful
whether humanity has made any great
progress in these spheres.
the
It is often popularly supposed that
idolatry is favoured or enjoined by the
Hindu religion. While Hinduism permits
the worship of idols, it is only a conces-
sion to the ignorant who are incapable of
rising to abstract conceptions and the
higher forms of religious belief. It is
recognised and allowed only as
lowest rung of the devotional ladder. But
when the mind is educated and becomes
capable of concentration, abstraction and
meditation, the worshipper is gradually
led on to the highest truths of religion.
The Bhagavata recognises the principle
of relativity and its spiritual prescriptions
are adjusted to the different stages of
individual development.
I have already referred to the tendency
of our moralists and religious teachers to
emphasise the value of the particular