his relation to the Divine Being and the universe. Again a better and truer conception of the nature and position of the Teacher or of the Divine Being gives a better shape to the idea of the Divinity and makes devotion more and more definite and intense. Thus acting and reacting upon each other, knowledge and devotion attain perfection till they unite into one in Atman,--a unity which is beyond the power of all words to express and beyond the power of all thought to conceive.

12. It has been seen that, as a first step to the ultimate goal man should have a fair intellectual conception of himself and the universe around, as also of his relation to the universe and other beings therein. Evidently man is destined to ascend some day to the level of the Omniscient Lord, since, in every man who has risen above the mere animal life of sensation and reached a certain stage of intellectual development, there is an inherent desire to look at the nature around and try to find the mutual relations of things therein and his own place among them. Curiously enough, at every stage of the enquiry he finds something yet to know and eagerly looks for some guidance, come whence it may. Sometimes the requisite help comes in the form of a suggestion from within, taking the shape of a hypothesis, for which there seems to be no sufficient foundation in the former experience. More rarely, and at long intervals, it comes to him

in the form of a revelation, as the voice of a teacher preaching transcendental truths which are somewhat above his immediate comprehension, and which clearly to understand he has to intensely strain all his intellectual powers. In trying to grasp the truth, he gets a more comprehensive view of the universe. Such is the gradual, slow but sure, growth of intellect stimulated at every step by doubts and failures which are in their turn followed by slight but encouraging glimpses of truth. This gradual progress has been going on for ages, and traces of the long course of enquiry is left in the history of every nation. The Indian literature now extant bears ample testimony to the assiduity with which the intellectual enquiry has been carried on under varying conditions. The systems of philosophy to which the Indian mind has given birth range from the ultra-materialistic system of a Charvaka to the most sublime ultraspiritual system of the Vedanta. It must, however, be borne in mind that all these apparently most divergent systems of thought are necessary steps through which the intellect of man must pass and has passed, marking as they do the various stages of man's intellectual development. The various systems have bee intended as the training ground for the varying intellects of man, one system leading to another, each man honestly taking to that system of thought which appeals to