ORIENTAL SERIES.

44
BHAGAVAD-GITABffAGAVATA PURANA.
of kindred and friends, appeals to Kn'shna for guidance. Thia
gives the occasion for the "
philosophical teaching. The poem
is divided into three sections, each containing six chapters, the
philosophical teaching in each being somewhat distinct/ 7
but
" undoubtedly the main design of the poem, the sentiments
expressed in which have exerted a powerful influence throughout
India for the last 1600 years, is to inculcate the doctrine of
Bhakti (faith), and to exalt the duties of caste above all other
obligations, including those of friendship and kindred." So
Arjuna is told to do his duty as a soldier without heeding the
"
slaughter of friends. In the second division of the poem the
Pantheistic doctrines of the Yedanta are more directly inculcated
than in the other sections. Krishna here, in the plainest lan-
guage, claims adoration as one with the great universal spirit
pervading and constituting the universe." The language of this
poem is exceedingly beautiful, and its tone and sentiment of a
very lofty character, so that they have a striking effect even in
the prose translation. It was one of the earliest Sanskrit works
translated into English by Wilkins but a much more perfect
translation, with an excellent introduction, has since been published
by Mr. J. Cockburn Thompson, from which much of the
above has been borrowed. There are several other translations
in French, German, &c.
BHAGAVATA PURAJVA The Pura^a "in which ample
details of duty are described, and which opens with (an extract
from) the Gayatri that in which the death of the Asura Vn'tra
is told, and in which the mortals and immortals of the Saraswata
Kalpa, with the events that then happened to them in the
world, are related, that is celebrated as the Bhagavata, and
consists of 18,000 verses." Such is the Hindu description of
this work.
" The "
Bhagavata," says "Wilson, is a work of great
celebrity in India, and exercises a more direct and powerful
influence upon the opinions and feelings of the people than
perhaps any other of the Puranas. It is placed
lifth in all the
lists, but the Padrna ranks it as the eighteenth, as the extracted
substance of all the rest. According to the usual specification,
it consists of 18,000 slokas, distributed amongst 332 chapters,
divided into twelve skandhas or books. It is named Bhagavata
from its being dedicated to the glorification of Bhagavata or
Vishnu." The most popular and characteristic part of this