Bhagavata Condensed in the Poetʼs Own Words /7

RYof knowledge, educated people still listen
with delight to these stories, it is because
even they have not outgrown the credulity
of childhood. What appeals to the
childhood of the human race appeals
even to grown-up individuals in civilised
societies. Bernard Shaw has remarked
that there is evidence for a law of con-
servation of credulity. OF CULTURE
 
संस्कृति मंत्र
 
GOVERNur appetite for
the marvellous still persists in the hidden
recesses of the mind. Stories of miracles
are to be found in the Bible and in the
literature of most religions. It is these
defects which first strike the superficial
observer who is unable to separate the
pearls of truth and wisdom from the
shells in which they are imbedded.
MENT OF
 
SL
 
A
 
ofacaulay made fun of the history and
geography of the Hindus, "of history
abounding with knowledgeings thirty feet high
and reigns thirty thousand years long, educated people still listen
with delight to these stories, it is because
even they have not outgrown the credulity
of childhood. What appeals to the
childhood of the human race appeals
even to grown-up individuals in civilised
societies. Bernard Shaw has remarked
that there is evidence for a law of con-
servation of credulity. Our appetite for
the marvellous still persists in the hidden
recesses of the mind. Stories of miracles
are to be found in the Bible and in the
literature of most religions. It is these
defects which first strike the superficial
observer who is unable to separate the
pearls of truth and wisdom from the
shells in which they are imbedded.
Macaulay made fun of the history and
geography of the Hindus, "of history
abounding with kings thirty feet high
and reigns thirty thousand years long,
and geography made up of seas of treacle

and geography made up of seas of treacle
and seas of butter". But no educated

Hindu takes these descriptions for history

or geography.
 
FOREWOR
 
D
 
Dismissing these stories as intended for
ismissing these stories as intended for
the entertainment of undeveloped minds,

we find in the Bhagavata the highest
truths of religion and philosophy and the

truths of religion and philosophy and the
highest principles of ethics expounded in

appropriate language. The lilt of the

verse in the Bhagavata has a peculiar

charm of its own; it varies with the