Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 2 — Text and Context

Elasticity and Anachronism

Eliot's central thesis in the excerpt is that Hinduism's "bottles have always proved capable of holding all the wine poured into them." He supports this with specific, traceable claims: a deity can adapt to new religious cravings while remaining unchanged, leading to anachronisms such as a figure like Jephthah listening to the Sermon on the Mount and then sacrificing his daughter. The excerpt does not provide a full argument for how this elasticity operates across the entire volume, but it establishes a pattern of juxtaposing archaic practices with evolving beliefs. Eliot notes that temple prostitution takes readers back to the cultus of Corinth and Babylon, and that widow-burning, though discontinued in the Vedic age, required British law to suppress. These observations are not presented as exhaustive but as evidence of a religion that does not judge its gods or worshippers by ordinary laws of right and wrong.

The Mask of Buddhism

Eliot describes the transition from Brahmanism to Hinduism as "masked by Buddhism." He outlines a chronological sequence: Buddhism grows at the expense of Brahmanism, becomes profoundly modified under new ideas, decays, and then the religion of the Brahmans emerges victorious—but transformed into Hinduism. The excerpt acknowledges that materials for studying the period from 400 B.C. to 400 A.D. are not scanty but do not facilitate chronological investigation. Art and architecture are mainly Buddhist until the Gupta period, and literature, though plentiful, is undated. Eliot specifically mentions the Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa as having been edited over 800 years, consisting of different strata that are difficult to separate without assuming what one wants to prove. This methodological caution is a notable feature of the excerpt, limiting the reader's expectation of a straightforward historical narrative.

Epic Poetry as Religious Vehicle

The excerpt highlights the role of epic poetry—founded on popular ballads telling stories of Rāma and the Pāṇḍavas—as distinct from canonical Brahman and Buddhist literatures. Though not essentially religious, these epics incorporated whole theological treatises without loss of narrative interest. Eliot offers a contemporary observation: a congregation in a Hindu temple listening to a recitation will often be hearing part of the Mahābhārata. This suggests that the epic tradition served as a vehicle for religious instruction, blurring the line between entertainment and doctrine. The excerpt does not detail which theological treatises are embedded or how they relate to the epic narratives, but it establishes that the practice was widespread and accepted in Indian opinion. This observation ties back to Eliot's broader theme of Hinduism's adaptability, as the epics could absorb and transmit religious ideas across centuries.

Readers should note that Eliot's method relies heavily on inference from undated literary strata and archaeological gaps. The excerpts show a scholar aware of the limitations of his sources, yet willing to draw bold comparisons between Indian and ancient Mediterranean practices. The volume does not provide a continuous narrative but rather a series of arguments supported by selected evidence. Those approaching the text should expect to encounter both detailed philological notes and sweeping cultural claims, often without clear demarcation between the two.

Some evenings, I still run my finger along Eliot’s old pages, where the archaic persists under the new. I think of Hinduism and Buddhism and how strange forms merely change their names. There is a similar patience in Pagan and Christian Creeds: Their Origin and Meaning — Reading Notes, a gentle excavation of what we thought we had buried. Both whisper that nothing holy ever truly disappears.