| THIS EXPOSITION
of Hinduism is intended for the lay reader, for the reader who either does not belong to
India or who, though born in India, has not sufficient scholarship or time to go to the
source-books and study them. In places it may seem as if we strayed into irrelevant hypo
thesis and mysticism. Even if we are interested in
nothing but social welfare, we should remember that conscience must be rooted deeply in
life itself so that it may shape our innermost thoughts and automatically produce right
conduct. Right conduct cannot float in the air, but requires a conviction and faith to
support it. It may in some cases seem so to be able to float-but it is really supported by
tradition and family upbringing.
It is really the momentum of the past that creates the
illusion of spontaneous motion. We may delude ourselves into thinking that it can thus go
on for ever unsupported by any creed or faith, but after the momentum is exhausted
we shall find that without a fresh motive rooted in living faith, the obligation of right
conduct peters out. A spiritual foundation is necessary for right conduct. |
