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lxviii
 
in the sutras, had identified himself with any
one school or system, it would certainly not
have been regarded as a text-book by others.
The truth is that the Sutras, like the Upanishads,
are recognised as among the common sources of
the Indian religion and are claimed as authorities
equally by all schools of religious thought.
 
In beginning his inquiry into what he calls
"the important question as to the true teaching of
the Upanishads" he says"It is evident-and the im-
pression so created is only strengthened by a more
careful investigation-that they do not constitute
Dr. Thibaut's reasons
a systematic whole."
are:-(1) Not only the different Upanishads,
but even the different sections of one and the
same Upanishad are assigned to different
teachers, and these teachers belong to different.
sections of Brahmanical society, some being also
Kshattriyas (2) The period whose mental
activity is represented in the Upanishads was a
creative one, and so the thinkers who were un-
fettered by tradition could not have propounded
a uniform doctrine. As regards the first of
these points, we have to remark that later on