Page:An Essay On Hinduism.pdf/175

same we cannot adopt any rational and systematic measures. That it is necessary to change Hindu society is something that may well be granted, but the question before us is what to conserve and what to destroy from the old and what new things we have to add. In order to undertake this eclecticism, what we have to do is to make some forecast regarding the future of the world's civilization, by examining its tendencies, and also to determine the possibilities of changing the world's civilization on desirable lines.

There is one idea which may pass uncontested, and that is making the entire world into a single community. The history of the world, whether of its politics or of its economics, or of its social intercourse, or of sciences and arts, will give enough evidence to show that a tendency towards this has been growing up since immemorial times. Formations of larger political bodies, extinctions of the unfit, formations of larger social units on the basis of sampradāya or religion, spread of superior civilizations have been contributing towards this end.

Thus, the chief work to be done for the reform of Hinduism is to create a society perfectly integrated, with a view that it may find a fit place in the cosmopolitan system.

One trait of human nature should not be forgotten, either in interpreting the past or in planning the future. We have often seen that those who aim at less achieve more. The feeling which Mohamedanism and Christianity have inspired is the feeling of brotherhood and equality of those who belonged to their creed. These two religions have to a large extent succeeded in their attempt. The philosophy which Hindus produced and disseminated was, in fact, far more liberal. Vedanta, for example, does not stop short