The Bhagavadgîtâ, with the Sanatsugâtîya and the Anugîtâ — SBE Vol. 8 (trans. K. T. Telang, 1882)
The translator’s English as printed (K. T. Telang). The original-language text is not held; names are romanised as the translator printed them.
There are a few other points which arise upon the contents of the Anugita, but which are not, in the present condition of our knowledge, capable of affording any certain guidance in our present investigation. Thus we have the story of Dharma appearing before king Ganaka disguised as a Brâhmaṇa. I am not aware of any case of such disguises occurring in any of the Upanishads, although there are numerous parallel instances throughout the Purânik literature. It is, however, difficult to draw any definite chronological inference from this fact. There is further the reference to the attack of Râhu on the sun. It is difficult, in the present state of our knowledge, to say for certain, when the theory of eclipses there implied was prevalent. In the Khândogyaupanishad * we have the emancipated self compared to the moon escaped from the mouth of Rahu. And a text of the Rig-veda, quoted by Mr. Yagñesvara Sâstrin in his Aryavidyâsudhâkara *, speaks of the.demon Rähu attacking the sun with darkness. Here again we have another matter of some interest; but I cannot see that any safe deduction can be derived from it, without a more ample knowledge of other relevant matters than is at present accessible. Take again the references to certain practices which look very much like the practices of the Gainas of the present day. Is the Anugita, then, earlier or later than the rise of the Gaina system? It is not safe, I think, to found an answer to this question upon the very narrow basis afforded by the Sa ass > IN Ge ce eS eS ee ee passage referred to. But it may be observed, that the precepts laid down in the passage in question are laid down as precepts for orthodox Hindus, and not as the doctrines of a heretical sect. They are also very general, and not so minute as those which the Gainas of the present day observe as binding upon them. If, therefore, any conclusion is to be drawn from these precepts, it must be that the Anugita must have been composed prior to the rise of Gainism ; and that Gainism must have appropriated and developed this doctrine which it obtained from the current Brahmanism!}. If this is so, the Anugîtâ must be a very ancient work indeed. It is not, however, necessary to further work out this line of argument, having regard to the opinions recently expressed by Mr. Thomas ?, rehabilitating the views enunciated long ago by Colebrooke and others. If those views are correct, and if Gainism was a dominant system in this country prior even to the time of Gautama Buddha, and if, further, we are right in the suggestion—for it is no more, it must be remembered—that the Anugita dates from a period prior to the rise of Gainism, then it would seem to follow that the Anugita belongs to some period prior to the sixth century B.c. All this, however, is at present very hypothetical, and we draw attention to it only that the question may be hereafter considered when fuller materials for expressing a final judgment upon it become accessible. Meanwhile, having regard to the views above alluded to as so elaborately put forward by Mr. Thomas, it is possible for us still to hold that, in the present state of our knowledge, the third or fourth century B.C. is not too early a date to assign to the Anugîtâ, even on the assumption that the precepts contained in that work regarding the care to be taken of worms and insects were borrowed by it from the Gaina system. With this negative result, we must for the present rest contented.
? And see, too, Kalidasa Kumara V, st. 84. 2 P1622. ° P. 26, In KaAlidasa’s Raghuvaṃsa the true explanation of eclipses is alluded to. See Canto XIV, 40.
There are a few other points that arise from the contents of the Anugita but that, given the present state of our knowledge, cannot offer any certain guidance in our investigation. One is the story of Dharma appearing before king Janaka disguised as a Brâhmaṇa. I know of no comparable disguise in any of the Upanishads, though parallel instances are numerous throughout the Purânik literature. It is, however, difficult to draw any definite chronological inference from this fact. There is also the reference to the attack of Râhu on the sun. Given the present state of our knowledge, it is difficult to say with confidence when the theory of eclipses implied by that passage was current. In the Khândogyaupanishad* the emancipated self is compared to the moon that has escaped from the mouth of Rahu. And a text of the Rig-veda, quoted by Mr. Yajñesvara Sâstrin in his Aryavidyâsudhâkara*, speaks of the demon Rähu attacking the sun with darkness. Here again is a matter of some interest, but I cannot see that any safe deduction can be drawn from it without a fuller knowledge of other relevant matters than is at present available. Consider too the references to certain practices that closely resemble those of the Jainas of the present day. Is the Anugita, then, earlier or later than the rise of the Jaina system? It is not safe, I think, to base an answer to that question on the very narrow foundation afforded by the passage in question. It may be noted, however, that the precepts laid down in that passage are laid down as precepts for orthodox Hindus, not as the doctrines of a heretical sect. They are also very general, and not nearly as detailed as those which the Jainas of the present day observe as binding upon them. If any conclusion is to be drawn from these precepts, it must therefore be that the Anugita was composed before the rise of Jainism, and that Jainism appropriated and developed this doctrine from current Brahmanism. If that is so, the Anugîtâ must be a very ancient work indeed. It is not, however, necessary to pursue this line of argument further, in view of the opinions recently expressed by Mr. Thomas², which rehabilitate the views put forward long ago by Colebrooke and others. If those views are correct, and if Jainism was a dominant system in this country even before the time of Gautama Buddha, and if we are further right in the suggestion—and it must be remembered that it is no more than a suggestion—that the Anugita dates from a period before the rise of Jainism, then it would seem to follow that the Anugita belongs to some period before the sixth century B.C. All this is, however, highly hypothetical at present, and we draw attention to it only so that the question may be considered at a later stage, when fuller materials for arriving at a final judgment become available. In the meantime, bearing in mind the views so elaborately advanced by Mr. Thomas, we can still maintain that, in the present state of our knowledge, the third or fourth century B.C. is not too early a date to assign to the Anugîtâ, even on the assumption that the precepts it contains regarding the care to be taken of worms and insects were borrowed from the Jaina system. With this negative result, we must for the present rest content.
? And see, too, Kalidasa Kumara V, st. 84. 2 P1622. ° P. 26, In Kalidasa's Raghuvaṃsa the true explanation of eclipses is alluded to. See Canto XIV, 40.