23. Sree Krishna, Muralidhur Roy. An account, in English prose, of the life and character of Krishna.
24. Srimadbhagavadgītā, Bhudhur Chattopadhaya, 4th edition. The text in the Bengali character, with a Bengali commentary.
1903
25. A most elaborate edition of the Gītā, edited by Damudar Mukerji, is being published in parts.
26. A Bengali verse translation of the Gītā by Satyendra Nath Tagore is appearing in Bhārati.
This revival of interest in Krishna and his worship is clearly part of the great national movement which has been so potent in Bengal, religiously, socially and politically, these last twenty years. This period has witnessed the appearance of the whole Neo-Hindu movement, with its literature, lectures, societies and missionary propaganda, the rise of the Indian National Congress and of the social reform movement, the advance of native journalism to its present extraordinary influence, and the establishment of the native unaided colleges, which have so seriously changed the balance of influence in Higher Education. Neo-Krishnaism, then, is one result of the operation of that potent spirit whereby India has become conscious of her unity, and her sons have been roused to a vigorous defence of all that they have inherited from the past. This rise of the national spirit, though it may be troublesome in small matters to the rulers of India, is undoubtedly the last and greatest justification of English rule; and, while, with its exaggerations and insincerities and follies, it cannot fail to provoke criticism,[[282]] yet its power to awake self-reliance, self-respect and the passion for freedom ought to win for it the approval and the encouragement of all good men.
There can be no doubt that among the influences which have produced Neo-Hinduism, Christianity is one of the most potent, if not the chief. This is peculiarly evident in the case of the Neo-Krishna literature we are discussing. In 1899 the Bengal Librarian wrote, “There is no denying the fact that all this revolution in the religious belief of the educated Hindu has been brought about as much by the dissemination of Christian thought by Missionaries as by the study of Hindu scriptures; for Christian influence is plainly detectable in many of the Hindu publications of the year.” But beyond this general influence, which cannot fail to be noticed by anyone who will take the trouble to read the volumes, it is, we believe, perfectly plain that the very ideas which have given birth to the literature are the result of Christian influence. A distinct taste for such books as the Gospels has sprung up; and men have come to feel the need of a perfect character, such as Christ’s is, for daily contemplation and imitation. The Neo-Krishna movement endeavours to supply these needs from within Hinduism, offering the Gītā instead of the Gospels, and Krishna instead of Christ.[[283]]
Nobin Ch. Sen seems to have been the first to conceive the idea of a modern rendering of the character of Krishna; for he laid the project before some of his friends in 1882.[[284]] His famous epic trilogy, Raivatak, Kurukshetra and Prabhās, are the result of this pregnant thought. But, while he and Shishir Kumar Ghose have done a great deal to popularize the movement, there can be no doubt that Bunkim Ch. Chatterji’s Krishnacharitra has been by far the most influential volume in the whole of this literature. Gaur Gavinda Ray’s work, Srikrishner Jivana O Dharma, is a piece of excellent characterization, and has won the high regard of many thoughtful men.
The books on our list fall into two classes, Historical and Traditional. In the Historical class there are only two volumes, Tattvabhusan’s Hindu Theism, and the Young Men’s Gītā. These two frankly acknowledge that the Gītā is a late book. In the Young Men’s Gītā[[285]] its date is said to be a century or two before, or a century or two after, the Christian era; while in Hindu Theism[[286]] the Gītā is regarded as the point of transition from the old Vedānta to the religion of the Purānas. The standpoint of these two books is thus thoroughly historical, but it necessarily implies the abandonment of the divinity of Krishna.
All the rest of the books on the list fall into the second class; for they hold the traditional position about Krishna. Most of them make no attempt at criticism of the sources, but treat the Mahābhārata, the Gītā, the Harivansa and the Purānas as all historical and all equally trustworthy. A few of the authors, however, state plainly their own critical conclusions, and two or three enter into some discussion of the main problems. These attempts at criticism are the most pitiable parts of the whole literature. The talented author of Srikrishner Jivana O Dharma, by far too sincere and candid to ignore the Puranic elements in the sources, frankly confesses their presence; yet, believing these books to be genuine representatives of the age of Kurukshetra, he is driven to the extraordinary conclusion that the Vedic, the Vedantic, and the Puranic ages were contemporaneous.[[287]] The late Bulloram Mullick, in discussing the eighteen Purānas, goes so far as to say, “Whatever may be the views of European savants, there is indubitable proof that some of these Purānas existed in the eleventh or twelfth century before Christ.”[[288]] Even Bunkim Chundra Chatterji himself not only unhesitatingly adopts Goldstücker’s rash guess, that Pānini’s grammar was written before the Brāhmanas and the Upanishads, but on the basis of that unwise conjecture, pushes back Pānini’s date to the tenth or eleventh century B. C.,[[289]] i.e., four or five centuries earlier than the pre-Buddhistic date which Goldstücker[[290]] wished to establish. Dhirendra Nath Pal, seeing that Bunkim Babu found it so easy to leap over a few centuries, goes a little further and suggests the twelfth or thirteenth.[[291]] But, indeed, without some such strange perversion of history, it is impossible to construct an argument for the authenticity of the Gītā and the historicity of the Mahābhārata that shall have even the semblance of reason.