Bhagwat Sect and Christianity

The Bhagawata sect in Hinduism exclusively worships Bhagwan i.e. Shri Krishna. I think the word Bhagwan means the one who posses all the virtues of Bhag. In the second stanza of third chapter of Bhagwad Gita, the definition of Bhag encompasses the virtues of Dharma, Aishwarya, Yash, Sampatti, Dnyan (knowledge) and Vairagya (Asceticism)

For some western philosophers, such a unquestioned devotion (Bhakti) towards Shri Krishna looks quite similar to the devotion towards Jesus Christ. And, it is true to the certain extent. But when they (western philosophers) concluded that Bhagwat sect derived its inspiration from earliest Christianity, their effort seems kind of outlandish. The reason behind this conclusion is that they think concept of monotheistic Bhakti does not appear in any of the Indian philosophy prior to the birth of Jesus Christ.

But the incidence that is usually cited as a support to the argument of Christianity influencing Bhagwat Sect goes like this -: In the Narayaniya section, Narada Muni is said to have visited Sveta-dvipa which literally means white island and the residents of this island are described as monotheistic. So, the scholars of 19^th and early 20^th century started arguing that some Brahmins of India actually visited the area of Asia minor in or around 1^st century A.D. And, they came across the devotional monotheistic faith of Christianity which looked attractive to them. They tried to incorporate Jesus Christ as incarnation of Vishnu, similar to the something they did with Buddha. For some reason, Jesus Christ wasn’t included into the incarnations but this effort left indelible mark on those Brahmins and Bhagwatiya sect emerged from this adventure to Sveta-dvipa.

I am not sure if such theories emerged from the extreme euro-centrism or genuine confusion in interpreting the Sanskrit but as it turns out that the monotheism Bhagwat sect has nothing to do with earliest Christianity. The Bhakti yoga i.e. supreme devotion to certain god is an integral part of Indian philosophy since Rig-Veda. There are number of hymns in Rig-Veda that talks about unequivocal longing and Bhakti towards supreme energy, something akin to the monotheistic faith.

Furthering the counter argument, according to Radhakrishnan, Christianity reached India only in second or third century after Christ. Even if we believe that St. Thomas came to the Kerala, even then Christianity reached at least 50 to 60 years after Christ. Also Panini refers to Vasudev i.e. Shri Krishna and Panini lived at least seven centuries before Christ. Similarly, Chandogya Upanishad talks about Narada Muni learning Ekayana religion. Buddhism and Jain school of thoughts also talks about Bhakti. And, Jain Tirathankars lived at least eight centuries before Christ. Thus the Bhakti concept similar to the monotheism not only predates Christianity but the Bhagwat sect also existed way before Jesus Christ.

About the Sveta-Dvipa referred : It’s probably the region north of Mount Meru.