A Constructive Survey of Upanishadic Philosophy c7.18

c7.18

12. We must not forget, however, to discuss the merits of a question which has assumed some importance at the hands of certain modern interpreters of the Bhagavadgītā and the Upanishads, especially because it seems to us that these interpreters have raised a dust and complain that they cannot see. In the Chhāndogya, there is the mention of a Kṛiṣhṇa who was the son of Devakī, and these interpreters feel no difficulty in facilely identifying him with Kṛiṣhṇa, the son of Devakī, who was the divine hero of the Mahābhārata. We shall see how futile such an identification is. But before we go on to this discussion, we must state first the meaning of the passage where the name of Kṛiṣhṇa, the son of Devakī, occurs. In the third chapter of Chhāndogya, there is a passage which stands by itself, the purport of which is to liken a man to a sacrificer and thus institute a comparison between the human life and the sacrificer’s life. What happens in the case of the life of a sacrificer? When he undertakes to perform a sacrifice, he is first disallowed to take food, or to drink water, or in any way to enjoy. This constitutes his Dīkṣhā. Then, secondly, there are certain ceremonies called the Upasadas in that sacrifice, in which he is allowed to eat and drink and enjoy himself. Thirdly, when such a sacrificer wishes to laugh, and eat and practise sexual intercourse even while the sacrifice is going on, he is allowed to do so if he just sings the hymns of praise called the Stutaśastras. Fourthly, he must give certain Dakiṇās or gifts to the sacrificial priests in honour of the sacrifice that he is performing. Fifthly, he pours out the Soma libation which is equivalent to a new birth of the sacrificer. Finally, the sacrificer takes the Avabhṛitha bath at the end of the sacrificial ceremony which puts an end to the sacrifice. These are the stages through which a sacrificer’s life passes. Now we are told in the passage which we are discussing that Ghora Āṅgirasa, the reputed teacher of Kṛiṣhṇa who was the son of Devakī, institutes a comparison between the life of a sacrificer and the life of a man in general. At the initial stage of a man’s life, he has to serve merely as an apprentice, and cannot eat and drink and enjoy on certain occasions. Secondly, another stage opens before him, namely, when he can eat and drink and enjoy himself. Thirdly, when he grows a little older, he can laugh and eat and practise sexual intercourse. Fourthly, the price which he has to pay for leading a holy life is that he should cultivate the virtues, namely, penance, liberality, straightforwardness, harmlessness, and truthfulness. Fifthly, when he has procreated, we may say he is born again in his child. The final act of the human drama takes place when death lets down the curtain, and the man is on the point of departing from his life. At such a critical time, says Ghora Āṅgirasa to Kṛiṣhṇa—and we are told that when this knowledge was imparted to Kṛiṣhṇa he never thirsted again for further knowledge—man must take refuge in these three thoughts : Thou art the indestructible ; Thou art the unchangeable ; Thou art the very edge of life (S. 17). From this passage a number of modern critics have argued that the Kṛiṣhṇa, the son of Devakī, who is mentioned in this passage, must be regarded as identical with Kṛiṣhṇa, the son of Vasudeva, who, as we have pointed out, is the divine hero of the Mahābhārata. Mr.