Materials for the Study of the Early History of the Vaishnava Sect c8.312

c8.312

On the other hand, it may be said that the *Chhāndogya Upanishad* does not pretend to give a life history of Kṛiṣhṇa. Its reference to him is incidental ; and though it does not represent him as a teacher, it yet shows that he came into contact with a leader of thought, and learnt several doctrines. The *Jātaka* knows Vāsudeva Kaṇha only as a prince and a warrior, but . what more can we expect from a Buddhist work of this kind? Lastly, the ascription of the entire *Gītā* to Kṛiṣṇa may well be looked upon with suspicion, but the fact remains that when the Pāṇḍu epic was being written Kṛiṣṇa was remembered not only as a hero, but as a teacher. If Kṛiṣṇa was only a hero, if the fundamental doctrines of the *Bhāgavatas* were not taught by him, but by some unknown person, we are driven to the assumption that the ancient *Bhāgavatas* forgot or suppressed the name of the Master "from whom has flowed through the centuries until to-day the stream of Bhakti in India." In this connection it may be pointed out that though the *Gītā* as a whole is posterior to the classical Upanishads, its fundamental doctrines may really have been taught by Kṛiṣṇa Devakīputra. For it will be shown in the next lecture that some of these doctrines agree almost verbatim with those which Kṛiṣṇa learnt from his Guru Ghora Āṅgirasa.