the manger, and that shepherds and shepherdesses stood around him. A fiery meteor also appeared at his birth,1 and Kansa, the king of the country, was informed by the prophet Nārada that this child would kill him and overthrow his kingdom, and in consequence he ordered all the male children of the country to be put to death. Prof. Weber refers also to the wonderful deeds of the child, the healing virtue of the water in which he was washed, to the account given in the Jaimini Bhārata of his raising to life the dead son of Duhsālā, of the cure of Kubjā and of her pouring a vessel of ointment over him, of the power of his look to take away sin, and other statements of the same kind as being of Christian origin. He also maintains that "the later exclusively monotheistic direction of the Indian sects, who honour a personal god, pray for his grace, and believe in him, has been influenced by the acquaintance which the Indians had with the corresponding doctrines of Christianity."2 The assumption that in all these respects the Christian writers borrowed from the Krishna legend and Hindu religious works does not need a reply. There is no ground whatever for such an assertion or supposition. The writers of the Christian Gospels certainly knew nothing of Hindu myths or the Krishna legend. We cannot attain to perfect certainty on the questions which have been here discussed, but all the evidence we have is in favour of the following propositions: (1) That some Hindu writings were affected, after the second or third century A.C., by the Christian faith and ritual; (2) that the doctrines of the Christian faith had been preached and Christian communities formed in India during those centuries; and (3) that the Bhagavad Gītā cannot probably be referred to an earlier period than the third century A.C. From a long study of the work, I infer that its author lived at or near the time of Kālidāsa, who is supposed by Professor Lassen to have * Calcutta Review, January 1876. 1 Asiat. Res. v. 276. lived about the middle of the third century after Christ. Formerly he was assigned to the first half of the century before Christ, but this opinion is not now generally maintained. We require more evidence on the subject than we have at present before the question can be finally answered. We must say with Professor Weber on this subject, as well as on our author's acquaintance with Christian doctrines, "the question is still sub judice." The line down to Santanu has many omissions. The full line is given in Professor Dowson's "Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology," s.v. Chandra-vanśa. Bhishma was a son of Santanu by a former wife, the goddess Ganga, whence he is sometimes called Gangeya. Another name, Sātanava, is from his father, Santanu. 1 They are usually numbered as seven, and are represented by the seven stars of the Great Bear (Ursa Major). The hymns of the Vedas were revealed to them. 2 Son of the Manu Vaivasvat, who was the son of Vivaswat, the Sun. Founder of the Solar dynasty. 3 A celestial nymph mentioned in the Rig-Veda. The loves of Purūravas and Urvasi are the subject of the Vikramorvasi, a drama by Kāli. dāsa. From Yadu, Krishna is called Yadava, as being a descendant. 5 The heroine of Kālidāsa's drama of that name. 6 From him India is sometimes called Bharata-varsha, the kingdom of Bharata. 7 Vyasa was the son of Satyavati, but not of Śāntanu. His father was the sage Parāśara: he was therefore the half-brother of Vichitravirya. 8 Karna was the son of Kunti, also called Pritha, by Surya, the Sun, before her marriage with Pandu. 9 Arjuna visited Krishņa at Dwarakā, and there he married Subhadrā, the sister of Krishna. Abhimanyu was her son from this marriage. He was killed in the great contest of the rival princes, but the kingdom of Hastinapura descended to his son Parikshit. The city of Hastinapura was about fifty-seven miles N.E. of Delhi, on the banks of an old bed of the Ganges. It is now in ruins. III. COLLATION OF Two MSS. IN MY POSSESSION WITH THE BONN EDITION OF THE BHAGAVAD GITĀ, AND THE READINGS OF OTHER EDITIONS AND MSS. The MS. marked a is a well-written copy, with gold borders on each page, and seventeen miniature paintings illustrating the work. It is dated Samvat, 1869 (A.D. 1812). The other MS., marked b, is a small copy, 5 in. by 3, evidently intended for popular use. It is dated Samvat, 1811 (A.D. 1754). Calc. B.G., Calcutta ed. of Bhagavad Gita; Calc. M., Calcutta ed. of Mahabharata; P.C., Paris Codex; L.C., London do. |