ers of Siva had already preached
this for their own church in the Svetasvatara Upanishad. Besides
treating without much consistency or method of many incidental
questions of religious theory and practice, Krishna reveals himself
for a few instants to Arjuna in his form as Viraj, the universal being
in which all beings are comprehended and consumed. Finally Arjuna is
comforted, and laying the burden of all his works upon Krishna, he
prepares in quiet faith for the coming day of battle.

There are four main points to notice in this teaching. (1) The Supreme
God, superior to Brahma, he who rules by grace and comprehends in his
universal person the whole of existence, is Vishnu, or Hari,
represented on earth for the time being by Krishna Vasudeva. The
author makes no attempt to reconcile the fatalism implied in the old
theory of _karma-samsara_ with his new doctrine of special and general
grace: he allows the two principles to stand side by side, and leaves
for future generations of theologians the delicate task of harmonising
them. (2) Three roads to salvation are recognised in principle, the
intellectual gnosis of the old Upanishads and the Samkhya, the "way of
works" or performance of necessary social duties in a spirit of
perfect surrender to God, and the "way of devotion," continuous loving
worship and contemplation of God. In practice the first method is
ignored as being too severe for average men; the second and third are
recommended, as being suitable for all classes. (3) The way of
salvation is thus thrown open directly to men and women of all castes
and conditions. The Bhagavad-gita fully approves of the orthodox
division of society into castes; but by its doctrine that the
performance of caste-duties in a spirit of sacrifice leads to
salvation it makes caste an avenue to salvation, not a barrier. (4)
The Bhagavad-gita has nothing to say for the animal-sacrifices of the
Brahmans. It recognises only offerings of flowers, fruits, and the
like. The doctrine of _ahimsa_, "thou shalt do no hurt," was making
much headway at the time, and the wholesale animal-sacrifices of the
Brahmans roused general disgust, of which the Buddhists and Jains
took advantage for the propagation of their teachings.

I have previously spoken of the solitary passage in the Chhandogya
Upanishad in which Krishna's name is mentioned, as receiving the
teachings of Ghora Angirasa, and it will now be fitting to see how far
these teachings are ref