The Evolution of Hindu Ethical Ideals (An Old and Rare Book)

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Hindus call their religion Sanatana Dharma which literally means "Eternal Law". The name should in no wise suggest that the ethical ideals connected with this religion are eternal in the sense of being fixed, static, unchanging substances. To the contrary, Hindu ethics, like the river Ganges, has been in a state of ceaseless flow down the ages, constantly changing its course and currents relative to the hard, intervening realities of Indian history. All of its fundamental presuppositions karman, samsara, dharma-have evolved from streams of thought originating in earliest times. These elements have survived to the present day, not inspite of change, but because of change. Thus, under the rubric of eternal, universal law, Hindu ethics combines continuity with dynamic diversity.

The merit of viewing Hindu ethics as a process is that with the aid of historical tools we can evaluate later moral developments by judging them in relation to the original intentions of their sources. Many exciting discoveries are made. We find, for instance, that while jati (caste) is a tributary of varna (class), it has so widely meandered from the psychological insights of the original social scheme as to become something entirely different.

The evolutionary character of Hindu ethics also gives it a contemporary relevance. Being open to change, its principles can be adapted to contemporary ethical situations. In the Critical Resume I have tried to show, for example, how Hinduism's reverential attitude toward Nature can provide modern technological societies with guidelines for an ethics of ecology.

Our study will follow the evolution of Hindu ethics through three main periods covering more than 2,500 years.