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A History of Indian Philosophy Volume 2

by Surendranath Dasgupta | 1932 | 241,887 words | ISBN-13: 9788120804081

This page describes the philosophy of bhagavata and the bhagavad-gita: a concept having historical value dating from ancient India. This is the twelfth part in the series called the “the philosophy of the bhagavad-gita�, originally composed by Surendranath Dasgupta in the early 20th century.

Go directly to: Footnotes.

Part 12 - 岵ٲ and the Bhagavad-gita

The Ѳ-ٲ (xii. 348) associates the Bhagavad-ī with the doctrines of the Ekānti-ղṣṇ. It is said there that the God Hari (󲹲 Hari) always blesses those that are devoted to God without any idea of gain (Գپ) and accepts their adorations, offered in accordance with proper rites (vidhi-prayukta)[1]. This Գٲ religion (Գٲ-dharma) is dear to ⲹṇa, and those who adhere to it attain to Hari, as Nīlakaṇtha, the commentator on the Ѳ-ٲ , points out, without passing through the three stages of Aniruddha, Pradyumna and Samkarṣaṇa. The Գپ faith leads to much higher goals than the paths of those that know the Vedas and lead the lives of ascetics. The principles of this Գپ faith were enunciated by the Bhagavat himself in the battle of the ṇḍ and the Kurus, when Arjuna felt disinclined to fight. This faith can be traced originally to the -veda. It is said that, when ⲹṇa created , he gave him this ٱٲ faith, and from that time forth, as the Ѳ-ٲ states, there has been a host of persons who were instructed in this faith and followed it. It was at a much later stage briefly described in the Hari-ī [2]. This faith is very obscure and very difficult to be practised, and its chief feature is cessation from all kinds of injury.

In some places it is said to recognize one ū: in other places two, and in others three, ūs are mentioned. Hari, however, is the final and absolute reality; he is both the agent, the action and the cause, as well as the absolute beyond action (1 ). There are, how ever, but few Գپs in the world: had the world been filled with Գپs , who never injured anyone, were always engaged in doing good to others and attained self-knowledge, then the golden age, ṛt yuga , would have come again. This Գٲ religion is a faith parallel to that of the ṃkⲹ-yoga, and the devotee who follows it attains ⲹṇa as his ultimate state of liberation. From this description in the Mahāٲ it seems that the doctrine of the ī was believed to be the Գپ doctrine originally taught by ⲹṇa to , and others long before the recital of the ī by ṛṣṇa in the Ѳ-ٲ battle. It is further known that it had at least four or five different schools or variant forms, viz. eka-ū, dvi-ū, tri-ū, catur and Գٲ, and that it was known as the Sātvata religion.

峾ܲ峦ⲹ in his Ā-峾ṇy tries to combat a number of views in which the 岵ٲ were regarded as being inferior to Brahmins, not being allowed to sit and dine with them. The ٱٲ, again, are counted by Manu as a low-caste people, born from outcast ղśⲹ and not entitled to the holy thread[3]. The ٱٲ were, of course, regarded as the same as 岵ٲ, and their chief duties consisted in worshipping for their living in վṣṇ temples by the order of the king[4]. They also repaired or constructed temples and images for their living, and were therefore regarded as outcasts. That the 岵ٲ did in later times worship images and build images and temples is also evident from the fact that most of the available ʲñ-ٰ works are full of details about image-building and image-worship. The ī (ix. 26) also speaks of adoration with water, flowers and leaves, which undoubtedly refers to image-worship. Samkarṣaṇa, as the brother or companion of ṛṣṇa, is mentioned in ʲٲñᲹ’s Ѳ-bhāṣya (11. 2. 24) in a verse quoted by him, and in 11. 2. 34 he seems to quote another passage, in which it is related that different kinds of musical instruments were played in the temple of Dhana-pati, and ś, meaning , Samkarṣaṇa and ṛṣṇa[5].

As 峾ܲԲ points out, the opponents of the 岵ٲ school urge that, since the ordinary Brahminic initiation is not deemed a sufficient qualification for undertaking the worship of վṣṇ, and since special and peculiar forms of initiation and ceremonial performances are necessary, it is clear that the 岵ٲ forms of worship are not Vedic in their origin.

The fourteen Hindu sciences, viz.

do not refer to the ʲñ scriptures as being counted in their number.

So the 岵ٲ or the ʲñ-ٰ scriptures are of non-Vedic origin. But 峾ܲԲ contends that, since ⲹṇa is the supreme god, the 岵ٲ literature, which deals with his worship, must be regarded as having the same sources as the Vedas; the 岵ٲ also have the same kind of outer dress as the Brahmins and the same kinds of lineage. He further contends that, though ٱٲ means an outcast, yet ٱٲ is a different word from ٱٲ, which means a devotee of վṣṇ.

Moreover, not all 岵ٲ take to professional priestly duties and the worshipping of images for their livelihood; for there are many who worship the images through pure devotion. It is very easy to see that the above defence of the 岵ٲ, as put forward by one of their best advocates, 峾ܲ峦ⲹ, is very tame and tends to suggest very strongly that the 岵ٲ sect was non-Vedic in its origin and that image-worship, image-making, image-repaṃng and temple-building had their origin in that particular sect. Yet throughout the entire scriptures of the ʲñ-ٰ school there is the universal and uncontested tradition that it is based on the Vedas. But its difference from the Vedic path is well known. 峾ܲԲ himself refers to a passage (Ā-峾ṇy , p. 51) where it is said that Śṇḍⲹ, not being able to find his desired end (ܰṣārٳ) in all the four Vedas, produced this scripture.

The ī itself often describes the selfish aims of sacrifices, and ṛṣṇa urges Arjuna to rise above the level of the Vedas. It seems, therefore, that the real connection of the ʲñ-ٰ literature is to be found in the fact that it originated from ܻ𱹲 or վṣṇ, who is the supreme God from whom the Vedas themselves were produced. Thus the Īś-ṃh (1. 24-26) explains the matter, and states that the 岵ٲ literature is the great root of the Veda tree, and the Vedas themselves are but trunks of it, and the followers of Yoga are but its branches. Its main purpose is to propound the superiority of ܻ𱹲, who is the root of the universe and identical with the Vedas[6].

The affinity of this school of thought to the 貹Ծṣa school becomes apparent when it is considered that ܻ𱹲 was regarded in this system as the highest Brahman[7]. The three other ñ󲹲 were but subordinate manifestations of him, after the analogy of ñ, , ś and taijasa in monistic ձԳٲ. Pataṅjali’s Ѳ-bhāṣya does not seem to know of the four ñ󲹲, as it mentions only ܻ𱹲 and Samkarṣaṇa; and the ī knows only ܻ𱹲. It seems, therefore, that the ū doctrine did not exist at the time of the ī and that it evolved gradually in later times. It is seen from a passage of the Mahāٲ , already referred to, that there were different variations of the doctrine and that some accepted one ū , others two, others three and others four.

It is very improbable that, if the ū doctrine was known at the time of the ī , it should not have been mentioned therein. For the ī was in all probability the earliest work of the Գپ school of the 岵ٲ[8]. It is also interesting in this connection to note that the name ⲹṇa is never mentioned in the ī , and ܻ𱹲 is only identified with վṣṇ, the chief of the 徱ٲⲹ.

Thus Sir R. G. Bhandarkar says,

“It will be seen that the date of the Bhagavad-ī, which contains no mention of the ūs or personified forms, is much earlier than those of the inscriptions, the Niddesa and ʲٲñᲹ, i.e. it was composed not later than the beginning of the fourth century before the Christian era; how much earlier it is difficult to say. At the time when the ī was conceived and composed the identification of ܻ𱹲 with ⲹṇa had not yet taken place, nor had the fact of his being an incarnation of վṣṇ come to be acknowledged, as appears from the work itself....

վṣṇ is alluded to as the chief of the Ādityas and not as the supreme being, and ܻ𱹲 was վṣṇ in this sense, as mentioned in chapter X, because the best thing of a group or class is represented to be his ūپ or special manifestation[9].�

The date of the ī has been the subject of long discussions among scholars, and it is inconvenient for our present purposes to enter into an elaborate controversy. One of the most extreme views on the subject is that of Dr Lorinser, who holds that it was composed after Buddha, and several centuries after the commencement of the Christian era, under the influence of the New Testament. Mr Telang in the introduction to his translation of the Bhagavad-ī points out—as has been shown above—that the Bhagavad-ī does not know anything that is peculiarly Buddhistic. Attempt has also been made to prove that the ī not only does not know anything Buddhistic, but that it also knows neither the accepted ṃkⲹ philosophy nor the Yoga of ʲٲñᲹ’s Yoga-ūٰ. This, together with some other secondary considerations noted above, such as the non-identification of ܻ𱹲 with ⲹṇa and the non-appearance of the ū doctrine, seems to be a very strong reason for holding the ī to be in its general structure pre-Buddhistic. The looseness of its composition, however, always made it easy to interpolate occasional verses. Since there is no other consideration which might lead us to think that the ī was written after the Brahma-ūٰs , the verse Brahma-ūٰ-padaiś caiva hetumadbhir viniścitai� has to be either treated as an interpolation or interpreted differently. Śṅk also thought that the Brahma-ūٰ referred to the ī as an old sacred writing (ṛt), and this tallies with our other considerations regarding the antiquity of the ī.

The view of Dr Lorinser, that the Bhagavad-ī must have borrowed at least some of its materials from Christianity, has been pretty successfully refuted by Mr Telang in the introduction to his translation, and it therefore need not be here again combated. Dr Ray Chaudhury also has discussed the problem of the relation of Bhāgavatism to Christianity, and in the discussion nothing has come out which can definitely make it seem probable that the 岵ٲ cult was indebted to Christianity at any stage of its development; the possibility of the ī being indebted to Christianity may be held to be a mere fancy. It is not necessary here to enter into any long discussion in refuting Garbe’s view that the ī was originally a work on ṃkⲹ lines (written in the first half of the second century B.C.), which was revised on Vedāntic lines and brought to its present form in the second century A.D.; for I suppose it has been amply proved that, in the light of the uncontradicted tradition of the Ѳ-ٲ and the ʲñ-ٰ literature, the ī is to be regarded as a work of the 岵ٲ school, and an internal analysis of the work also shows that the ī is neither an ordinary ṃkⲹ nor a ձԳٲ work, but represents some older system wherein the views of an earlier school of ṃkⲹ are mixed up with Vedāntic ideas different from the ձԳٲ as interpreted by Śṅk. The arbitrary and dogmatic assertion of Garbe, that he could clearly separate the original part of the ī from the later additions, need not, to my mind, be taken seriously.

The antiquity of the 岵ٲ religion is. as pointed out by Tilak, acknowledged by Senart (The Indian Interpreter, October 1909 and January 1910) and Bühler (Indian Antiquary, 1894), and the latter says,

“The ancient 岵ٲ, Sātvata or ʲñ-ٰ sect, devoted to the worship of ⲹṇa and his deified teacher ṛṣṇa ٱ𱹲ī-putra, dates from a period long anterior to the rise of the Jainas in the eighth century B.C.�

And assuredly the ī is the earliest available literature of this school. As regards external evidence, it may be pointed out that the ī is alluded to not only by and ṇa, but also by in his play ṇa-[10]. Tilak also refers to an article by T. G. Kale in the Vedic Magazine , vii. pp..528-532, where he points out that the ǻⲹԲ-ṛhⲹ-śṣa-ūٰ, 11. 22. 9, quotes the ī, ix. 26, and the ǻⲹԲ-ʾ�-medha-ūٰ, at the beginning of the third śԲ, quotes another passage of the ī[11].

Incidentally it may also be mentioned that the style of the ī is very archaic; it is itself called an 貹Ծṣa, and there are many passages in it which are found

  • in the īśa (īśa, 5, cf. the Bhagavad-ī, xm. 15 and vi. 29),
  • ѳṇḍ첹 (ѳṇḍ. 11. 1. 2, cf. the ī , xm. 15),
  • ٳ󲹰첹 (11. 15, 11. 18 and 19 and 11. 7, cf. the ī, viii. 11; 11. 20 and 29)
  • and other 貹Ծṣas.

We are thus led to assign to the ī a very early date, and, since there is no definite evidence to show that it was post-Buddhistic, and since also the ī does not contain the slightest reference to anything Buddhistic, I venture to suggest that it is pre-Buddhistic, however unfashionable such a view may appear. An examination of the ī from the point of view of language also shows that it is archaic and largely un-Pāṇinean.

Thus from the root yudh we have yudhya (viii. 7) for yudhyasva; yat, which is ٳԱ-pada in Pāṇinean Sanskrit, is used in parasmai-pada also, as in vi. 36, vii. 3, ix. 14 and xv. 11; ram is also used in parasmai-pada in x. 9.

The roots ṅk�, vraj, ś and ñ are used in Pāṇinean Sanskrit in parasmai-pada, but in the ī they are all used in ٳԱ-pada as well�

  • ṅk� in 1. 31,
  • vraj in 11. 54,
  • ś in xxiii. 55
  • and ñ in vi. 19 and xiv. 23.

Again, the verb ud-vij, which is generally used in ٳԱ-pada, is used in parasmai-pada in v. 20; Ծṣy is used in xii. 8 for nivatsyasi, mā śܳ� for mā śocī� in xvi. 5; and the usage of ṣy󱹲 in 111. 10 is quite ungrammatical.

So ⲹ� ṃy峾 in x. 29 should be ⲹ� saṃyacchatām, he sakheti in xi. 41 is an instance of wrong sandhi, priyāyārhasi in xi. 44 is used for priyāyā� arhasi, senānīnām in x. 24 is used for Բ峾[12].

These linguistic irregularities, though they may not themselves be regarded as determining anything definitely, may yet be regarded as contributory evidence in favour of the high antiquity of the ī. The ī may have been a work of the 岵ٲ school written long before the composition of the Ѳ-ٲ, and may have been written on the basis of the Bhārata legend, on which the Ѳ-ٲ was based. It is not improbable that the ī, which summarized the older teachings of the 岵ٲ school, was incorporated into the Ѳ-ٲ, during one of its revisions, by reason of the sacredness that it had attained at the time.

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

Ekāntino niṣkāma-bhaktā�,
      Nīlakantha’s commentary on the Ѳ-ٲ, xii. 348. 3.

[2]:

kaihito hari-īsu samāsa-vidhi-kalpita�, Hari-ī. 53. The traditional teaching of the ī doctrines is represented as ancient in the ī itself (iv. 1-3), where it is said that Bhagavān declared it to Vivasvān, and he related it to Manu, and Manu to Iksvāku, and so on, until after a long time it was lost; it was again revived by ṛṣṇa in the form of the Bhagavad-ī. In the Ѳ-ٲ, xii. 348, it is said that Sanatkumāra learned this doctrine from Nārāyana, from him Prajāpati, from him Raibhya and from him Kuksi. It was then lost. Then again learned it from Nārāyana, and from him the Barhisada sages learned it, and from them Jyestha. Then again it was lost; then again learned it from Nārāyana, and from him Daksa learned it, and from him Vivasvān, and from Vivasvān Manu, and from Manu Iksvāku. Thus the tradition of the Bhagavadī, as given in the poem itself, tallies with the Ѳ-ٲ account.

[3]:

vaiśyāt tu jāyate vrātyāt sudharmācārya eva ca
kārūṣaś ca vijanmā ca maitra� saśvata eva ca.
      Agama-峾ṇy
, p. 8.

[4]:

pañcama� sātvato nāma Viṣṇor āyatanā� hi sa
pūjaye� ājñayā rājñā� sa tu bhāgavata� smṛta�.
      Ibid.

[5]:

Saṅkarṣaṇa-dvitīyasya bala� ṛṣṇasya ardḥitam.
      Ѳ-bhāṣya
, II. 2. 27.

mṛdaṅga-śaṅkha-paṇavā� pṛthañ nadanti saṃsadi
prāsāde dhana-pati-rāma-keśavānām.
      Ibid.
11. 2. 34.

[6]:

mahato veda-rṛkṣasya mulā-bhuto mahān aya�
skandha-bhūtā ṛg-ādyās te śākhā-bhūtāś ca yogina�
jagan-mūlasya vedasya ܻ𱹲sya mukhyata�
praiipādakatā siddhā mūla-vedākhyatā dvijā�.
      Īś-ṃh,
1. 24-26.

[7]:

yasmāt samyak para� brahma Vāsudevākhyam avyayam
asmād avāpyote śāstrāj jñāna-pūrveṇa karmaṇ�.
      Pauṣkarāgama,
as quoted in 峾ԳᲹ-ṣy, 11. 2. 42.

The Chāndogya 貹Ծṣa (vii. 1. 2) refers also to the study of ⲹԲ, as in the passage vāko-vākyam ⲹԲ� ; ⲹԲ is also described as being itself a Veda in Śrīpraśna-ṃh, 11. 38, 39:

vedam ⲹԲ� nāma vedānām śirasi sthitam
tad-arthakam pañca-rāiram mokṣa-da� tat-kriyāvatām
yasminn eko mokṣa-mārgo vede prokta� sanātana�
mad-ārāḍhana-rūpeṇa tasmād ⲹԲm bhavet.

See also the article “The ʲñ-ٰs or 岵ٲ-śāstra,� by Govindācārya Svāmin, J.R.A.S. 1911.

[8]:

That the Գپ faith is the same as the Sātvata or the ʲñ-ٰ faith is evident from the following quotation from the 峾-ٲԳٰ, iv. 2. 88:

sūris suhṛd bhāgavatas ٱٲ� pañca-kāla-vit
ekāntikas tan-mayaś ca pañca-rātrika ity api.

This faith is also called 屹Բ, or the path of the One, as is seen from the following passage from the Īś-ṃh, 1. 18:

mokṣāyanāya vai panthā etad-anyo na vidyate
tasmād ⲹԲ� nāma pravadanti manīṣiṇa�.

[9]:

Vaiṣṇavism and Śaivism, p. 13.

[10]:

Tilak quotes this passage on page 574 of his Bhagava�-ī-rahasya (Bengali translation of his Marathi work) as follows:

hato ’pi labḥate svarga� jitvā tu labḥate yaia�
ubhe baḥumate loke nāsti niṣphalatā raṇe,

which repeats the first two lines of the ī, 11.37.

[11]:

Bodḥāyana-Gṛhya-śṣa-ūٰ:

tad āha 󲹲,
patram puṣpam phala� toya� yo me bhaktyā prayacchati
tad aham bhakty-upahṛtam aśnārni prayatātmana�.

Also ǻⲹԲ-ʾ�-medha-ūٰ:

yatasya vai numuṣyasya dhruvam maraṇam
iti vijānīyāt tasmāj jāte na prahṛṣyen mrte ca na viṣīdeta.

Compare the ī, jātasya hi dhruvo mṛtyu�, etc.

N.B. Ṭhese references are all taken from Tilak’s Bhagavad-ī-rahasya pp. 574, etc.

[12]:

For enumeration of more errors of this character see Mr V. K. Rajwade’s article in the Bhandarkar commemoration volume, from which these have been collected.

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