| "Gloom existed first." Those of you who have ever | | | | basis of Schopenhauer's system of philosophy. It is |
| been in India or any tropical country, and have seen the | | | | here we first hear of it. |
| bursting of the monsoon, will understand the majesty | | | | "Now first arose desire, the primal seed of mind. |
| of these words. I remember three poets' attempts to | | | | Sages, searching in their hearts by wisdom, found the |
| picture this. Milton says, "No light, but rather darkness | | | | bond, |
| visible." Kalidasa says, "Darkness which can be | | | | Between existence and non - existence." |
| penetrated with a needle," but none comes near this | | | | It is a very peculiar expression; the poet ends by |
| Vedic description, "Gloom hidden in gloom." Everything | | | | saying that "perhaps He even does not know." We |
| is parching and sizzling, the whole creation seems to | | | | find in this hymn, apart from its poetical merits, that this |
| be burning away, and for days it has been so, when | | | | questioning about the universe has assumed quite |
| one afternoon there is in one corner of the horizon a | | | | definite proportions, and that the minds of these sages |
| speck of cloud, and in less than half an hour it has | | | | must have advanced to such a state, when all sorts |
| extended unto the whole earth, until, as it were, it is | | | | of common answers would not satisfy them. We find |
| covered with cloud, cloud over cloud, and then it bursts | | | | that they were not even satisfied with this Governor |
| into a tremendous deluge of rain. | | | | above. There are various other hymns where the |
| The cause of creation was described as will. That | | | | same idea comes in, about how this all came, and just |
| which existed at first became changed into will, and | | | | as we have seen, when they were trying to find a |
| this will began to manifest itself as desire. This also we | | | | Governor of the universe, a Personal God, they were |
| ought to remember, because we find that this idea of | | | | taking up one Deva after another, raising him up to that |
| desire is said to be the cause of all we have. This idea | | | | position, so now we shall find that in various hymns |
| of will has been the corner - stone of both the | | | | one or other idea is taken up, and expanded infinitely |
| Buddhist and the Vedantic system, and later on, has | | | | and made responsible for everything in the universe. |
| penetrated into German philosophy and forms the | | | | |