And when we come to the Hindu religion, it is most wonderful to see what religion has appealed to Hindus: a religion that can be taught to children, and which children can be most interested in, a religion which could be taught to the souls who lived ten thousand years ago and which they could enjoy at the same time. It is the pitch of the religion that is so vast that it can fit in-with men of every stage of evolution. There are Sudras, workmen: it fits in very well with their conception. And then there are Kshatriyas, the warriors and the brave and courageous ones: it fits in very well with their idea.
There are Vaisyas, who are head to foot in business: it fits in very well with their intelligence. And there are Brahmans, so deep in thinking and such meditative people: the religion fits in very well with their conception. It is just like a piano made of one thousand octaves: you can go as low as you can, and you can go as high as you can. In the temple of the Hindus, Krishna’s statue is put in the cradle, women are singing. That is the service. Men come and join their palms in respect; from the pariah to the Brahman, everyone takes part in that worship.
Therefore naturally it gives those who wish to criticize the Brahman religion a scope to make it as savage as possible, and also it gives a scope to those who appreciate it and see in it a religion that can be as refined as possible. There is philosophy there, there is drama, there is ethics, there is art, there is music, there is beauty. Nothing that is good and beautiful and nothing that is valuable and worthwhile is left out from the religion. If you ask a Hindu, an intelligent Hindu, ”If we let you have your religion and give you no literature, no art, no science, no social life, will you be satisfied?” He will say, ”Certainly, because in the religion there is everything–there is art, there is literature, there is philosophy, there is wisdom, there is play, there is thought, there is meditation—everything.”
And when we come to the Zoroastrian religion, it is a religion of purity, purity by affirmations, and it is a religion which shows how to make a God for oneself first, which is the first step in the path of God. The scripture of Zarathustra always says, ”These beautiful flowers, where have they come from? Is it not that You have made the delicious fruits, the sweet fruits, where do they come from? Have they not been made by You? This running water, where does it come from? Is it not from the same source? Where does it go? It goes to You.”
By taking every action of life that comes through the plant, through the water, through the sun, through the wind, everything that one looks at and marvels at in nature, Zarathustra teaches one to think of that marvel connected with God, and in this way one can make God living. The whole scripture of Zarathustra is connected with it. If one goes through the affirmations of Zarathustra, it means that one wishes to make God living, to see His manifestation with open eyes, to have communication with God Himself through nature; it is a wonderful thing.
