India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c11.s1.10

c11.s1.10

*VĀSUDEVA-CULT.* Pāṇini's reference to Vāsudeva as the object of *bhakti* throws light on the antiquity of the *bhakti* cult. Kaiyaṭa describes Vāsudeva as *paramātma-devatā-viśesha*. Keith accepts the accuracy of this identification and considers the remark of Patañjali, *viz. samjñā chaishā tatrabhavataḥ*, to be 'the most satisfactory proof of the identity of Vāsudeva with Vishṇu, for except through such identification no one could dream of putting Vāsudeva on the same plane as Ka' (*J.R.A.S.*, 1908, p. 848). Patañjali's reference to the staging of *Bali-bandhana*, Vishṇu's famous exploit, and the slaying of Kaṁsa, Kṛishṇa's great deed, were regarded by Weber himself as hinting at the early belief in the existence of Kṛishṇa-Vāsudeva and his identification with Vishṇu (*ib.* p.