Bhagavadgita -Radhakrishnan 3

The Bhagavadgita -S. Radhakrishnan

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 2. Date and Text The Bhagavadgita is later than the great movement represented by the early Upanisads and earlier than the period of the development of the philosophic systems and their formulation in sutras. From its archaic constructions and internal references, we may infer that it is definitely a work of the pre-Christian era. Its date may be assigned to the fifth century B.C., though the text may have received manyalterations in subsequent times. We do not know the name of the author of the Gita.Almost all the books belonging to the early literature of India are anonymous. The authorship of the Gita is attributed to Vyasa, the legendary compiler of the Mahabharata. The eighteen chapters of the Gita form Chapters XXIII to XLof the Bhismaparvan of the Mahabharata. It is argued that the teacher, Krsna, could not have recited the seven hundred verses to Arjuna on the battlefield. He must have said a few pointed things which were laterelaborated by the narrator into an extensive work. According to Garbe, the Bhagavadgita was originally a Samkhya-yogatreatise with which the Krona-Vasudeva cult got mixed upand in the third century B.C. it became adjusted to the Vedic tradition by the identification of Krsna with Visnu.The original work arose about 200 B.C. and it was worked into its present form by some follower of the Vedanta inthe second century A.D. Garbe's theory is generally rejected. Hopkins regards the work as "at present a Krsnaite version of an older Visnuite poem and this in turn was at first an sectarian work, perhaps a late Upaniad." Holtzmann looks upon the Gita p s a Visnuite remodelling of a pan-theistic poem. Keith believes that it was originally an Upanisad of the 'vetagvatara type but was later adapted to the cult of Krsna. Barnett thinks that different streams of tradition became confused in the mind of the author. Rudolf Otto affirms that the original Gitd was "a splendid epic fragment and did not include any doctrinal literature." It was Krsna's intention "not to proclaim any transcendent dogma of salvation but to render him (Arjuna) willing to undertake the special service of the Almighty will of the God vvho decides the fate of battles. Otto believes that the doctrinal treatises are interpolated. In this he is in agreement with Jacobi who also holds that the original nucleus was elaborated by the scholiasts-into its present form.