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550 The Philosophy of the Bhagavad-gitā [CH. Mr Telang in the introduction to his translation, and it therefore need not be here again combated. Dr Ray Chaudhury also has discussed the problem of the relation of Bhāgavatism to Christianity, and in the discussion nothing has come out which can definitely make it seem probable that the Bhāgavata cult was indebted to Christianity at any stage of its development; the possibility of the Gitā being indebted to Christianity may be held to be a mere fancy. It is not necessary here to enter into any long discussion in refuting Garbe's view that the Gītā was originally a work on Sāmkhya lines (written in the first half of the second century B.c.), which was revised on Vedāntic lines and brought to its present form in the second century A.D.; for I suppose it has been amply proved that, in the light of the uncontradicted tradition of the Mahā-bhārata and the Pañca-rātra literature, the Gītā is to be regarded as a work of the Bhāgavata school, and an internal analysis of the work also shows that the Gītā is neither an ordinary Sāmkhya nor a Vedānta work, but represents some older system wherein the views of an earlier school of Sāmkhya are mixed up with Vedāntic ideas different from the Vedānta as interpreted by Sankara. The arbitrary and dogmatic assertion of Garbe, that he could clearly separate the original part of the Gitā from the later additions, need not, to my mind, be taken seriously. The antiquity of the Bhāgavata religion is, as pointed out by Tilak, acknowledged by Senart (The Indian Interpreter, October 1909 and January 1910) and Bühler (Indian Antiquary, 1894), and the latter says, “The ancient Bhāgavata, Sātvata or Pañca-rātra sect, devoted to the worship of Nārāyana and his deified teacher Krsna Devaki-putra, dates from a period long anterior to the rise of the Jainas in the eighth century B.c.” And assuredly the Gitā is the earliest available literature of this school. As regards external evidence, it may be pointed out that the Gītā is alluded to not only by Kālidāsa and Bāņa, but also by Bhāsa in his play Karna-bhāral. Tilak also refers to an article by T. G. Kale in the Vedic Magazine, VII. pp. 528–532, where he points out that the Bodhāyana-Gyhya-seșa-sūtra, 11. 22. 9, quotes the Gītā, ix. 26,
1 Tilak quotes this passage on page 574 of his Bhagavad-gitā-rahasya (Bengali translation of his Marathi work) as follows:
hato 'pi labhate svargam jitva tu labhate yasah
ubhe bahumate loke nästi nisphalatā rane, which repeats the first two lines of the Gitā, 11. 37.
