Materials for the Study of the Early History of the Vaishnava Sect c8.199

c8.199

On the strength of the late legends several scholars have come to the conclusion that Kṛiṣhṇa Vāsudeva was not a human being, but a popular deity whose cult being foisted upon a dummy Viṣṇu gave rise to sectarian Vaishṇavism. For example, Barth says in his *Religions of India*¹ that Kṛishṇa is “beyond all doubt, a popular divinity” and that “there is a connection between the attainment of supremacy by Viṣṇu and his identification with Kṛishṇa.” “The supremacy of the Brāhmaṇic god was the result of his fusion with the popular god.”