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worship of any form of S'iva as the title may at first sight
imply. The chief object of the hymn is, as stated in the
Vártika, to expound briefly the nature of the Atman-the
highest self of man as of all other beings, its relation to the
Universe, the means by which it may be realised, and the
final bliss resulting from this realisation. In meditating
upon the truths embodied in this short hymn with a view to
their complete realisation, the devotee has to bear in mind
the fact that the A'tman is Parameśvara, the Supreme Lord
Himself, and to look upon his Guru, the spiritual teacher,
as the embodiment of the Supreme Lord. The problems to
which the hymn is intended to offer solutions are stated in the
initial verses of the Vártika and at the commencement of the
several sections thereof. They comprise the main heads of the
subject-matter of the Brahma-sútras and are arranged in a
similar order.
upon
Though the hymn discovers no mark of preference on
the part of its author for the S'aiva religion in general or any
particular form of it, the author of the Vártika cannot be
said to have been completely free from the influence of the
S'aiva cult. He invokes S'aivic gods and goddesses at the
commencement of his work and draws
S'aiva-A'gamas,
or similar works dedicated to the S'aiva cult, for the classifi-
cation and nomenclature of the principles constituting human
nature and the cosmos. The details connected with the
mystic practices recommended in the work may also for the
most part be traced to the same source. In fact, S'aivic
theosophy and mysticism appears to have been the form of
religion most acceptable to the Vedic commentators and
Mímámsic writers of this period. But the metaphysics that
forms the chief feature of the Vártika is purely Vedántic and
closely follows the doctrine of Sankaráchárya, whose great
service to the cause of orthodox Hinduism consisted in the
reconciliation he effected of the several warring religious
systems of his day by supplying them with a common meta-
imply. The chief object of the hymn is, as stated in the
Vártika, to expound briefly the nature of the Atman-the
highest self of man as of all other beings, its relation to the
Universe, the means by which it may be realised, and the
final bliss resulting from this realisation. In meditating
upon the truths embodied in this short hymn with a view to
their complete realisation, the devotee has to bear in mind
the fact that the A'tman is Parameśvara, the Supreme Lord
Himself, and to look upon his Guru, the spiritual teacher,
as the embodiment of the Supreme Lord. The problems to
which the hymn is intended to offer solutions are stated in the
initial verses of the Vártika and at the commencement of the
several sections thereof. They comprise the main heads of the
subject-matter of the Brahma-sútras and are arranged in a
similar order.
upon
Though the hymn discovers no mark of preference on
the part of its author for the S'aiva religion in general or any
particular form of it, the author of the Vártika cannot be
said to have been completely free from the influence of the
S'aiva cult. He invokes S'aivic gods and goddesses at the
commencement of his work and draws
S'aiva-A'gamas,
or similar works dedicated to the S'aiva cult, for the classifi-
cation and nomenclature of the principles constituting human
nature and the cosmos. The details connected with the
mystic practices recommended in the work may also for the
most part be traced to the same source. In fact, S'aivic
theosophy and mysticism appears to have been the form of
religion most acceptable to the Vedic commentators and
Mímámsic writers of this period. But the metaphysics that
forms the chief feature of the Vártika is purely Vedántic and
closely follows the doctrine of Sankaráchárya, whose great
service to the cause of orthodox Hinduism consisted in the
reconciliation he effected of the several warring religious
systems of his day by supplying them with a common meta-