ed Him with the dark robe of
mysticism and pushed Him into a far off realm beyond human ken.

So that the only intimations which man has of Him are confessedly false
projection of ignorance. For all practical purposes this hypothetical
deity--for the very existence of Brahm is only assumed as a working
hypothesis by the theosophist--is a nonentity to the worshipper. How can a
being lend itself to a devout soul in worship when it is rigidly devoid of
every quality that can inspire or attract the soul? This very fact has led
the ordinary Hindu to seek and develop something else as an object of his
devotion. Hence the polytheism of Brahmanism. Let it not be supposed that
there is any antagonism between their pantheism and their polytheism. One
is the natural offspring of the other. The numberless gods which today are
supposed to preside over the destiny of the people, are but emanations,
the so-called "play" of Brahm. Properly speaking they are neither supreme
nor possessed of truly divine attributes. Even the Hindu Triad--Brahma
(masculine gender), Vishnu and Siva--are but manifestations of the delight
of the eternal Soul to invest itself with qualities (_guna_). These three
gods are no more real existences than are the myriad other children of
illusion (_maya_) and ignorance (_avidya_) which constitute the universe.
And as they had their existence, so will they find their dissolution, in
the fiat of the Supreme Soul. India finds polytheism no more satisfying
than it does pantheism. There is no more assurance of comfort in
worshipping 330,000,000 gods, whose multitude not only bewilders but also
carries in itself refutation to the claim of any one to be supreme, than
there is in the yearning after an absolute, ineffable Being which cruelly
evades human thought and definition. It is no wonder therefore that the
growth of the Hindu pantheon is constant, and both follows, and bears
testimony to, the craving of the human soul for a God who can satisfy its
wants and realize its deepest longings.

(_c_) Their theories of the universe are also divergent. According to the
Bible the outer world is the creation, by God, out of nothing. To the
Brahman of all times the idea of pure creation has seemed absurd. _Ex
nihilo nihil fit_ is an axiom of all their philosophies. Whether it be the
Vedantin who tells us that the material universe is the result of Brahm
invested with illusion, or the Sankya philosopher who attributes it to
_prakr