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24
BHAGAVADGIT.
Åpastamba assigns to them. The fact is further noteworthy, that in the Gità each caste has its own entirely distinct set of duties. There is no overlapping, so to say. And that is a circumstance indicating a very early stage in the development of the institution! Besides, as already indicated, the duties laid down by Apastamba and Manu as common to Kshatriyas and Vaisyas are the very duties which make those castes dependent to a very great extent on the Brahmanas. Lastly, it is not altogether unworthy of note, that in the elaborate specification of the best of every species which we find in chapter X, the Brahmana is not mentioned as the best of the castes, thcre is nothing to indicate the notion contained in the well-known later verse, 'The Brâhmana is the head of the castcs. On the contrary, the ruler of men is specified as the highest among men", indicating, perhaps, a state of society such as that described at the beginning of the extract from Professor Tielc's work quoted above.
We come now to another point. What is the position of the Gità in regard to the great reform of Sakya Muni? The question is one of much interest, having regard particularly to the remarkable coincidences between Buddhistic doctrines and the doctrines of the Gîtà to which we have drawn attention in the foot-notcs to our translation. But the materials for deciding the question are unhappily not forthcoming. Professor Wilson, indeed, thought that there was an allusion to Buddhism in the Gita? But his idea was based on a confusion betwcen the Buddhists and the Karvakas or materialists". Failing that allusion, we have nothing very tangible but the unsatisfactory.negative argument' based on mere non-mention of Buddhism in the Gîta. That argument is not quite satisfactory to my own mind, although, as I have elsewhere pointed out', some of
"Cr. Suita Xipta, p. 32; and also Mr. Davids' note on that passage in his Buddhism, p. 131. 'P. 89 infra.
" Essays on Sanskrit Literature, vol. iii, p. 150. • Sec oar remarks on this point in the Introductory Essay to our Gità in vers, p. li seq.
Introduction to Gita in English verse, p. v seq.
Digitized by Google
| SR No. | 007671 |
| Book Title | Zend Avesta Part 01 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | James Darmesteter |
| Publisher | Oxford |
| Publication Year | 1895 |
| Total Pages | 2695 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 49 MB |