Digital Rare Book:
The Hindu Dharma
By Sarvepallii Radhakrishnan
Published by International Journal of Ethics - 1922

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Book Extract:
The Hindu thinkers are conscious of the great gulf that separates the actual nature of man which is bad from the ideal which seems to be well-nigh impossible. The consciousness of the great distance between the actual and the ideal does not tempt them to distort the ideal itself. It would be a blasphemy against the spirit in us that shall not be forgiven. They therefore attempt to develop the infinitely precious ideal from out of the apparently refractory stuff of life. The nature of man and his habits of judgment change rather slowly. We must have patience in the striving after perfection. The law of Karma tells us that millions of lives are consumed before one perfect life is produced. For thought to reach the highest plane we must plan, toil and agonize a lot. For our heart to pulse with joy, countless hearts must be burned out by suffering. Many strivings and sacrifices are needed to generate a holy character. Most men climb up the ladder to the spiritual heights only rung by rung. Few can fly from the bottom to the top at one bound. The varnasrama dharma or the discipline of the classes and stages of life is the Hindu's device for the gradual improvement of human nature. It is intended to make all the Lord's people prophets. Its principles are those of a kingdom of spirit, not a civil commonwealth, of a universal institution, not a national organization. If morality is that which conscience imposes, and law that which state commands, the dharma is neither the one nor the other. It is the tradition sustained by the conviction of countless generations of men, which helps to build the soul of truth in us. It corresponds to the Sittlichkeit of the Germans and is independent of both the individual conscience and the-laws of the state. That is why dynastic feuds and imperialist aggressions have not touched the life of India which has continued the same for nearly fifty centuries. Successive storms of conquest have passed over the changeless millions as wind over reeds.