ক্ষৰিক ›ፃልሕ The world is filled with innumerable volumes all devoted to this end, which for the most part tend rather to bewilder the understanding with a mass of heterogeneous opinions, dogmas, and paradoxes, than direct the inquirer by a straight line to the object of his inquiry. The first part of the question, “what is God,” is answered by a statement of numberless attributes which are either affirmatively or negatively predicated of God, upon which systems on systems have been built by the accumulated labour of ages, in this most abstrusc research, and the religious and philo. gophical world is full of doctrines which at the best are but indirect tuethods of arriving nt just notions respecting the existence of the Beity and that of a variety of qualities and properties attributed to him. But what is the Essence of God which is the subject of the second query, is a point far transcendental and supernatural for human inderstonding to arrive at. The inscrutall. sub.fiance, and essence of the Infinite Deity, has over baffled the piercing and scrutinising eye of philosophy and the wisdom of sages u coming to a determinate conclusion, The nature of divine essenee is ever hidden from hulman wisdown in imp, met able bscurity and it is perhaps uover given to the route poss of any created being however Argus-eyed he may be, to penetrate the ihick mist guarding the ineffable glory of God. It is says Sudi so glary (to translate Sadi's expreshion by an obsolete but expressive English word) as even to dazzle the sight of the bright cherubs and seraph9 that encircle his .holy throne and so mysterious as to baffie all human research. I)ivinity, says Hafiz, is a riddle never to be unravelled by any body. The present Chief Minister of the Brahmo Somaj, after his college days, attempted for a long time to arrive at a right idea of the true nature of God, so as to be able to adopt it for the object of his meditations. He was amazed and discouraged at the mass of conflicting opinions and systems which in no way assisted him in arriving direct to the truth. He consequently avoided the accumulated pile of ancient research and the intricate labyrinths of modern metaphysics, and took a straight forward way of his own, by the AN INQUIRy INTO THE NATURE OF God' SS)○ following series of questions and answers which he proposed to himsels, as a student of Vedanta, ir his enquiry tato the nature and 688, once of God. 海轨 To say according to the Upanishads, “God , is neither this nor that,” hocessarily lends to the query “then what can l te be”? “Indecribable and incomprehensible, “replies the Vedanta.” How then conceive or adore Him”? asks the inquirer. “Meditate on Him in thy own self,” answers the Sastra. "But meditate on what, and what is self"? “It is what it is,” says the Vedant and there stops. The Nyaya sets out with its usual confidence to supply a solution, which the older system was not able to do, and sitte‘s, as the Koumánjali does “Whatever is adored by any one in tho form of God. is his true entity. since he is all in all,” and thereby ivols in puerto um universal pantheism, and its consequent idolatry, which the Vedanta coldly disappi oves, saying. " None et tlirse períshalbles eau bl' the imperis|ra|le ” “ i bod i, eternity and etermity's self.” “But, where does i. Etel tal 13eing abilo .” o r: leav n” replies the oth, r. Why theit do you adore hiin on earth is ice should reinait, tuiescent in one place. No the " ; ; , , “Inspossible Pays the inquirer, this polything stys other, :دان overywhere however eterual van be omnipr, seuf.” Bu. “ Bu {, what is a spirit, only a breath, an air, which cannot be every where,” No, is is a soul... a power which pervatles all infinity. But is the Divine Essence coutained in infinity or is st cause God is a spirit” replies the Sast:a. its container. No, it is neither the one nor the other, but both, and the same thing. It is lnfinity's self and the selfsame infinity. Infinity is the vely essence of God, whose nvtiire is composed of an infinitudo of power duration, wisdom, and all other perfections. Let us now consider how far this discovery of Divine nature, the Infinity of the Deity, is justified by reason and revelation to lead the inquirer to his belief in the God-Head, and to make him prefer it to all other forms of religion. The idea of the Infinity of God, thus revealed to the inquirer by the light of in tuition, from man's innate sense of the perfect nature of God decply implanted in his mental constitution, is found on examination to bo conformable both to the dictates of natu rul as well as revealed religion, the two sources
