Magism and the three last-named religions were founded or modified by holy personages, or prophets, that is, by individuals whose historical existence in more or less remote times is positively fixed; Hinduism alone acknowledges _Manu_ as an ideal or mythological person, whose laws are however derived from Brahma himself. This may perhaps be assumed as a proof of its remotest antiquity; and India, having been less disturbed by invasions, and conquered in much later times by foreign nations, preserved its institutes complete in their originality. There is scarcely a tenet to be found in any other creed which does not, at least in its germ, exist in the Hindu religion.
It is most remarkable that, although men revered as divine messengers of religion have existed, still the works containing the heaven-sent doctrine are, either not at all or not incontestably, ascribed to them; and in any case devolved upon posterity in a more or less corrupted and mutilated state; so as to entail for ever an inexhaustible subject of dispute, a heavy task for belief, and severe trial of faith. If the Vedas are the best preserved, it is to no general purpose, inasmuch as they are the least known and most obscure. These facts the author of the Dabistán has set in full light, and says,[201] as it were to tranquillise mankind with regard to the multifarious inheritance of their prophets: “The varieties and multitudes of the rules of prophets proceed only from the plurality of names; and as in names there is no mutual opposition or contradiction, the superiority in rank among them is only the predominance of a name. To this I subjoin another passage, although it occurs in connection with another subject:[202] “The time of a prophet is a universal one, having neither priority nor posteriority――neither morning nor evening:” that is, if I understand these words: As the same sun ever shines upon us, so shines the same wisdom of all times, incorruptible in its divine source.
If we take a rapid comparative view of the principal features of the five religions mentioned, we find _emanation of all beings, intellectual and material, from one great source_, to be the fundamental and characteristic dogma of Hinduism, established and developed in the most explicit and positive manner. _The division of supernatural beings in good and bad_ is adopted in the five religions, but in Magism it is of a somewhat different origin: for Ahriman and his host are not rebellious or fallen good genii; they are an original creation. _A primitive innocence and posterior corruption_ is generally believed; but by the Hindus as coming from riches and abundance, by the other nations as caused by seduction of the bad spirits. _The destruction of mankind by a deluge_ is no part of the Persian creed; it occurs in the Indian as one of the past periodical renovations of the world, which are to be followed by others, and is also admitted by the Persians, whilst the Jews, Christians, and Muhammedans believe a deluge not very ancient, as a punishment of human depravity. _Incarnations of the Deity for the benefit of mankind_, are believed only by Hindus and Christians; to the latter belongs exclusively the dogma of _a propitiatory sacrifice. Human souls, immaterial_, have pre-existence according to the Vedas and the Zand-Avesta; in the first, as parts of the Divinity; in the latter, as created in their _fervers_, or “pre-established ideals” at the beginning of the world. _Transmigration_ is taught in the sacred books of the Hindus and Persians. _The immortality of the soul, reserved to future beatitude or damnation_, is maintained generally, less positively, by the ancient Jews; the righteous are cheered by the prospect of the same heaven, the wicked threatened by the same punishments, which are held to be eternal by Christians and Muhammedans; the Hindus and Persians place the future life in a long series of purifications or _purgatories_, leading, howsoever late, finally to heaven, to which, according to the first, the most perfect only are admitted immediately after their terrestrial life, and are not to be born again, except by their own choice. _The resurrection with the same body, and the last judgment_, are among the most essential tenets of the Magi, Christians, and Muhammedans; the other world is vaguely represented among the ancient Hebrews. It is just to attribute to the Persians exclusively one of the most beautiful personifications that was ever imagined:[203] the soul of the deceased meets at the bridge of eternity an apparition either of an attractive or repulsive form; “Who art thou?” asks the uncertain spirit, and hears the answer: “I am thy life.”