And it can be shown that the picture of God as the fierce and the terrible is not altogether an unchristian idea.

* 'Siva' is derived from 'Vasi' which occurs in Katha-Up. see Lalita Sahasranama Commentary under 'Siva.'

The following paras, we cull from a book called "The Woodlands in Europe" intended for Christian readers; and we could not produce better arguments for the truth of our conception of the Supreme Siva, the Destroyer and the Creator and the Preserver (vide p. 6, Sivajnanabotham, English Edition).

"And how about the dead leaves which season after season, strew the ground beneath the trees? Is their work done because, when their bright summer life is over, they lie softly down to rest under the wintry boughs? Is it only death, and nothing beyond? Nay; if it is death, it is death giving place to life. Let us call it rather change, progress, transformation. It must be progress, when the last year's leaves make the soil for the next year's flowers, and in so doing serve a set purpose and fulfil a given mission. It must be transformation, when one thing passes into another, and instead of being annihilated, begins life again in a new shape and form.

"It is interesting to remember that the same snow which weighs down and breaks those fir branches is the nursing mother of the flowers. Softly it comes down upon the tiny seeds and the tender buds and covers them up lovingly, so that from all the stern rigour of the world without, they are safely sheltered. Thus they are getting forward, as it were, and life is already swelling within them; so that when the sun shines and the snow melts, they are ready to burst forth with a rapidity which seems almost miraculous.

"It is not the only force gifted with both preserving and destroying power, according to the aspect in which we view it. The fire refines and purifies, but it also destroys; and the same water which rushes down in the cataract with such overwhelming power, falls in the gentlest of drops upon the thirsty flower cup and fills the hollow of the leaf with just the quantity of dew which it needs for its refreshment and sustenance. And in those higher things of which nature is but the type and shadow, the same grand truth holds good; and from our Bibles we learn that the consuming fire and the love that passeth knowledge are but different sides of the same God: - Just and yet merciful; that will by no means clear the guilty, yet showing mercy unto thousands."

Badarayana also touches upon this subject in I., iii., 40 and we quote below the Purvapaksha and Siddhhanta views on this question from the commentary of Srikantha.

"Because of trembling (I, iii, 40). In the Katha-Vallis, in the section treating of the thumb-sized Purusha, it is said as follows:

'Whatever there is, the whole world when gone forth (from the Brahman) trembles in the breath ; (it is) a great terror, the thunderbolt uplifted; those who know it become immmortal.' (cit. 6, 2).

Here a doubt arises as to whether the cause of trembling is the Paramesvara or some other being.

(Purvapaksha): - Here the Sruti speaks of the trembling of the whole universe by fear caused by the entity denoted by the word "breath." It is not right to say that the Paramesvara, who is so sweet natured as to afford refuge to the whole universe and who is supremely gracious, is the cause of the trembling of the whole universe. Therefore, as the word thunderbolt' occurs here, it is the thunderbolt that is the cause of trembling. Or it is the vital air which is the cause of the trembling, because the word 'breath' occurs here. Since the vital air causes the motion of the body, this whole world which is the body as it were, moves on account of the vital air. Then we can explain the passage "whatever there is, the whole world, when gone forth (from the Brahman) trembles in the breath." Then we can also explain the statement that "it is a great terror, the thunderbolt uplifted," inasmuch as like lightning, cloud and rain, the thunderbolt which is the source of great terror is produced by action of the air itself.

It is also possible to attain immortality by a knowledge of the air as the following Sruti says:

"Air is everything itself and the air is all things together; he who knows this conquers death" (Bri. Up. 5-3-2).

(Siddhanta): - As against the foregoing, we say that ParameSvara himself is the cause of the trembling. It is possible that, as the Ruler, Paramesvara is the cause of trembling of the whole universe and by the fear of His command all of us abstain from prohibited actions and engage in the prescribed duties; and it is by the fear of His command that Vayu and others perform their respective duties, as may be learned from such passages as the following: -

"By fear of Him, Vayu (the wind) blows." (Tait. Up. 2-8).

Though gracious in appearance, Paramesvara becomes awful as the Ruler of all. Hence the Sruti.

' Hence the King's face has to be awful!' (Tait. Bra 3-8-23).

"Wherefore as the Master, Isvara Himself is the cause of the trembling of the whole universe."

Before we enter into the discussion of the philosophic import of this Upanishat, we have to note the great difficulty felt nearly by all European scholars who are brought up solely in the school of Sankara in interpreting this Upanishat, a difficulty which has equally been felt with regard to the Philosophy of the Gita. Different scholars have taken it as expounding variously Sankhya and Yoga, Bhakti and Vedanta, Dualism and non-Dualism; and Professor Max Muller agrees with Mr. Gough in taking it as fully expounding the Indian idealism school of Vedanta. Professors Garbe and Mac-donnell characterise the philosophy as eclectic. Says the latter, (p. 405, History of Sanskrit Literature): "Of the eclectic movement combining Sankhya, Yoga and Vedanta doctrines, the oldest literary representative is the Svetasvatara upanishat. More famous is the Bhaga vad Gita.*"