Page:The Indian Antiquary Vol 2.djvu/332

 294 THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY. [October, 1873. Full of astonishment, and with hair erect, he bent his head before the god, and, folding his hands, spoke, (xi. 14.) When I see thy countenance, I know no place, I feel no joy. (xi. 25.) Then ho comforted again that astonished one, for the great spirit was merciful, (xi. 50.) The speech of Arjuna in the tenth song (si. 12) has a striking resemblance to Peter’s con¬ fession of the divinity of Christ in connection with his answer in John, vi. G8 :— Aijuna said, Thou art the highest Brahma .... all the sages call thee the eternal divine spirit, tho highest God. All that thou sayest to me I believe to be true. (x. 12-14.) And Simon Peter answered and said, ‘ Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ (Matt, xvi. 16.) Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go ? thou hast the words of eternal life. (John, vi. 68.) As unmistakable is the similarity between the apology of Aijuna for having held familiar intercourse with Krishna without knowing his divine glory, and the exclamation of Peter when he has witnessed tho miracle of the fishes. Although the words aro different, the situation is exactly the same:— “ Forgive me, O immeasurable one, for tho eager words I spoke when I thought you my friend : Ho Krishna, Jadava, my friend ; for tho honour I withheld from you.” (xi. 41, 42.) When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me ; for I am a sinful man, 0 Lord. (Luke, v. 8.) Finally there seems a certain similarity, which may be accounted for by an intentional imitation, between the conclusion of the twelfth chapter (si. 13-20) and the beginning of the Sermon on tho Mount. Tho repetition of the words “ Blessed are ” are paralleled by “ Such a one is dear to me,” and in both places there is an enumeration of virtues and perfections which men are exhorted to attain. If -we look for a moment in conclusion at the single parts of the Netv Testament of whose use there are traces in the Bhagavad-Gitx, we find that it is the Gospel of John in particular from which the composer has taken the most impor¬ tant and tho greatest majority of phrases. But he has also taken a good deal from the other three gospels, tho Acts of the Apostles, and the Revelations. Tho Epistles of St. Paul, too, with the exception of those to the Tlicssalonians and to Philemon, as well as the letters of Peter, And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and wero sore afraid. (Matt. xvii. 6.) He wist not what to answer; for they were sore afraid. (Marie ix. 6.) Conf. Mark, ix. 3. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. (Matt. xvii. 7.) John, James, and Jude, have been used. Of the Old Testament (apart from some curious coinci¬ dences with passages in the Proverbs and Psalms which scarcely justify the hypothesis of a direct borrowing), only the iBook of Wisdom was proba¬ bly known to the composer. Compare the fol¬ lowing passages :— Infinitely strong and of great power, thou com- prehendest everything. (B. G. xi. 40.) She (Eternal Wisdom) reacheth from one end to another mightily : and sweetly doth she order all things. (Book of Wisdom, viii. 1.) It is hard for those in the body to obtain the invisible way. (B. G. xii. 5.) For tho corruptible body presseth down the soul, and the earthly tabernacle weigheth down the mind that museth upon many things. (Wis¬ dom, ix. 15.) Before concluding this investigation, we must answer two objections which may be raised. My commentary has indicated that several pas¬ sages which bear a Christian stamp, and even some of those which agree in expression with passages of the New Testament, are to be found in some Upanishad, sometimes word for word, sometimes with insignificant discrepancies. As the Upanishads which are considered parts of the Vedas have a relatively high antiquity ascribed to them, and arc regarded as older than tho oldest Christian records, the supposition that those expressions and thoughts w’ere borrowed from Christianity seems to be excluded. A thorough discussion of the age of those Upa¬ nishads, and their relation to Christian doc¬ trines and ideas, would overstep the limits of these observations. I content myself with a short statement of my view of the Upani- shads in question, and their relation to Chris¬ tianity and the Bhagavad-Gita, and leave the further investigation to others. The Upanishads which arc chiefly in question are the Bvctdsva- tira-, Katha-, Murid aha- and Prama- Upanishads. All theso Upanishads, as far as their contents are concerned, stand in close connection with themselves and the Bhagavad-Gita; they have several passages in common ; they all reverence