The History of Buddhist Thought c24.7

c24.7

¹ Krishna worship and the *Bhagavadgītā* may be much older than this. The poem is placed before the rise of Buddhism by Professor Belvalkar (*Shree Gopal Basu Mallik Lectures*, 1925) and Professor Dasgupta (*Hist. Ind. Philos.*, ii, 549). There is nothing in the history of Buddhism to disprove this. The poem arose in the west of India, and may well have existed there for a long time before coming into contact with Buddhism. Krishna is not mentioned in the Pāli suttas. In one of the latest books there are two references to the worship of Vāsudeva (*Mahānidd.*, i, 89, 92), but we do not know if this god was then identified with Krishna. The story of Krishna (with no reference to his divine character) occurs in *Jāt.*, 454. There is no reason why his character as a god should have been suppressed if it had been known, for the Buddhists were fond of making the Hindu gods supporters of Buddhism. Both Krishna and Śiva are found in later Buddhist works. Cf. R. G. Bhandarkar, *Vaiṣṇavism*; V. G. Bhat, *The Bhagavadgītā, a study*.