irmness art thou'; in regard to which are these two verses
in the Rig-Veda:[83] 'till they see the light of the old seed which is
kindled in the sky,' and 'perceiving above the darkness the higher
light, the sun, god among gods, we come to the highest light.'"
Krishna thus learned the abolition of sacrifice, and the worship of
the sun, the highest light (Vishnu), as true being--for this is the
meaning of the philosophical passage taken with its context. Kings and
priests discuss philosophy together in this period,[84] and it would
conform to later tradition to see in the pupil the son of a king. It
is, moreover, significant that the priest, Ghora [=A]ngirasa, is named
specially as priest of the sun-god elsewhere (K[=a]ush. Br. 30. 6), as
well as that Krishna [=A]ngirasa is also the name of a teacher. It is
said in this same Upanishad (3. 1. 1) that the sun is the honey,
delight, of the gods; and this chapter is a meditation on the sun,[85]
of which the dark (_k[r.][s.][n.]a_) form is that which comes from the
Itih[=a]sas and Pur[=a]nas, the fore-runners of the epic (3. 4. 3).
This is taught as a _brahma-upanishad_, a teaching of the absolute,
and it is interesting to see that it is handed down through Brahm[=a],
Praj[=a]pati, and Manu, exactly as Krishna says in the Divine Song
that his own doctrine has been promulgated; while (it is said further)
for him that knows the doctrine 'there is day,' his sun never sets (3.
11. 3-4). It is a doctrine to be communicated only to the eldest son
or a good student, and to no one else (_ib. 5), i.e_., it was new,
esoteric, and of vital importance. Here, too, one finds
Sanatkum[=a]ra, the 'ever young,' as Skanda,[86] yet as an earthly
student also (7. 1; 26. 2), just like Krishna.

It cannot be imagined, however, that the cult of the Gangetic Krishna
originated with that vague personage whose pupilage is described in
the Upanishad. But this account may still be connected with the epic
Krishna. The epic describes the overthrow of an old Brahmanic Aryan
race at the hands of the P[=a]ndavas, an unknown folk, whose king's
polyandrous marriage (his wife is the spouse of his four brothers as
well as of himself) is an historical trait, connecting the tribe
closely with the polyandrous wild tribes located north of the Ganges.
This tribe attacked the stronghold of Brahmanism in the holy land
about the present Delhi; and their patron god is the Gangetic Krishna.
In the course of the narrative