Visnuism and Sivaism by J. Gonda (review)

524 BOOK REVIEWS divine truth does not mean that they have nothing to learn from men of other faiths." Those of us who have had the privilege, of participating in such conversations have often found ourselves humbled and challenged by the evidence we have seen of true devotion, of unflinching loyalty to the truth as they see it among the adherents of other religions. It is this spirit which permeates the book and makes it a lasting contribution to the personal dialogue between religions. Comparisons with other religions and the numerous references to scholarly works make the book a mine of valuable information. Its crisp and beautiful language supplemented by an abundance of quotations-a sample of which is given above-make reading it a delight. Centre of Advanced Study in Philosophy Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. MELVYN REBEIRO Vi.muism and Sivaism. By J. GoNDA. London: The Athlone Press, 1970. Pp. ~~8. J. Gonda is a well-known scholar of Hinduism and has more than a dozen scholarly books on the subject to his credit. The awesome scholarship is apparent from the fact that the book under review is 14~ pages of text and 86 pages of notes and references. The book is the outcome of the Jordan lectures given by the author in the University of London in 1969. The general theme of the Jordan lectures endowed by Rev. Louis H. Jordan and dating back to 1951 is Comparative Religion. J. Gonda introduces a new style in comparative religion. Generally, comparison of religions is between two distinct religions . But Vishnuism and Sivaism are not two religions but rather two distinct traditions within Hinduism; nor are they mutually exclusive. In the comparative discussion of these two religious traditions there is throughout the book an implicit third member of comparison, the religious tradition of the West, with which the readers in the West are familiar. This religious tradition seems to be taken as a norm for religious evaluation . This third member of comparison is never explicitly mentioned, but its presence throughout is strongly felt. The very order of topics bears this out. Dr. J. Gonda has his data very clear and well documented. He starts from the historian's point of view and traces in the first two chapters the emergence and slow evolution of the two central deities, Vishnu and BOOK REVIEWS 5fl5 Rudra-Siva, from the Veda through the great epic Mahabharata. Both were minor divinities who in the course of time absorbed the functions of several other gods and finally came to be regarded as aspects of or even identical with the absolute Divinity: "Both Vh;n:,m and Siva are in the epics, ambiguous figures, being on the one hand deities with heroic traits of character and, on the other, rising to supramundane dignity, representing or tending to represent the Supreme Being." (p. 1~) Then the book examines the theological groundwork of the two traditions . J. Gonda's main conclusion is that they are substantially the same in spite of divergence in details. The reason is that both of them are rooted in the same earlier stage " in which the germs which had lain in the preceding centuries and from which the various philosophical views or metaphysical doctrines of the future generations were to develop." (p. 18) Certain basic ideas remain constant in both traditions down the centuries: (1) the ultimate goal of all religious quest was to show a way of liberation from suffering, ignorance and death; (~) there is a definite parallelism between the microcosm and the macrocosm, between the individual and the universe; (3) there is a constant endeavor to establish the existence of a Supreme Being as the ground and self of all beings; (4) there is a general tendency "to father religious, philosophical or sociological doctrine upon superhuman authorities " like Krishna, Vishnu, and Siva. These deities are often conceived as savior gods who grant final emancipation to their devotees. But what made these religious traditions really distinct is bhakti or devotion centered on a personal god. This devotional movement appears at a certain stage in the history of Hinduism and is clearly expressed in books like the Bhagavad Gita and the Svetwvatara...