160 REV. RICHARD COLLINS, M.A. 
the Sankhya, the Yoga, the Vedanta, and the Buddhist 
systems. Whether these systems had already been formulated 
—as in the Siitras, for instance, of Patanjali—it is difficult to 
say; but the terms are used as denoting distinct methods of 
teaching. Thus Krishna says, in chapter ii. of the Gita, “ In 
the world there is a two-fold path—that of the Sankhyas, by 
devotion in the shape of true knowledge; and that of the 
Yogins, by devotion in the shape of action.” It is debatable 
here whether he refers to the Sankhya and the Yoga, as ex- 
plained in the written Sittras, or only to the principles so 
called, which were afterwards systematised. But this is a 
subject to which I shall revert. Certain it is that the writer 
of the Bhagavad-Gita exhibits an eclectic philosophy. ‘This 
would be natural at a time when the doctrines of the several 
schools of metaphysical thought were widely discussed, as no 
doubt they were in the early centuries of the Christian era. 
The motive principle was ‘“‘ emancipation.” How were the 
evils and miseries of life to be met? ‘To solve this great 
question, body and soul were studied, alike by Yogins, 
Vedantists, and Buddhists, both in their moral and physical 
aspects, together with their environments. ‘The writer of the © 
“ Bhagavad-Gitaé” culls what he approves from teachings which 
are to be found, as I have said, in all these philosophical 
systems, but with the evident object of adding a new doctrine 
of his own. It is this new doctrine which has for us a special 
interest. It is not only that the “senses must be under 
control,” that man must be “ self-restrained,” that there must 
be no “attachment,” that “desire”? must perish, that ‘self 
must be subjugated,” that the devotee should constantly 
devote himself to ‘abstraction,’ “in a secret place, alone 
.... fixing his seat firmly in a clean place, not too high 
nor too low .. . . fixing his mind exclusively on one 
point . . . . holding his body, head, and neck even and 
unmoved, steady, looking at the tip of his own nose, and 
not looking about in all directions, with a tranquil self, 
devoid of fear” (all of which is in accordance with Patanjali’s 
system), in order the better to attain to complete union with 
the Supreme Being; but it is in order to concentrate his 
mind on Krishna himself, ‘‘ regarding him as the final 
goal.” 
5. Here,then, Krishna, who is introduced in the Mahabharata 
as a relation of the Pandavas and Kauravas, claims to be the 
Supreme—in other words the Supreme is described as incar- 
nate in the person of the man Krishna. I believe 1 am correct 
in saying that this is the first time that the distinct idea of 
incarnation is to be found in the Hindu writings. On this idea, 
