Whether the author of the “Bhagavatgita” borrowed ideas from Christianity or not, this, at least, is certain, that Krishna-worship is a comparatively new phase of Hinduism; that its doctrine of salvation or final emancipation by _faith_ is also comparatively new; and that the tendency of this doctrine of _faith_, as taught in the “Gita,” is to wean men from rites and ceremonies, and to discourage them from the practice of _Yoga_. But since it seems to be a characteristic of each successive stage of Hinduism to keep on amicable terms with those that have preceded it, the “Gita” endeavours to lead men to more doctrine of _faith_ in Krishna, without more disparagement of orthodox ideas and practices than appeared absolutely necessary for the object in view--hence the qualified approval of Vedic rites and of Yogaism which we find in this treatise. Of the “Bhagavatgita,” which has been extolled as a complete system of Indian _religious philosophy_, this brief note will, I believe, give a sufficient idea.[119] It is, as regards Hinduism, an eclectic system upon which has been grafted a new principle, the doctrine of salvation by faith, which may or may not be of foreign origin. Its lofty ideas and transcendental philosophy appeal with subtle force to the higher feelings of the thoughtful Hindu. I have known a clever young student of the “Gita” so powerfully affected by its teaching as to lose mental balance to the extent of believing himself to be Arjuna. When this hallucination passed away his one burning desire was to retire from the world in order to live the life of the Rishis of old. For my own part I leave this highest attainment of Indian religious philosophy with mingled feelings of admiration and sadness. In every nation men have allowed their speculative imaginations to play around the great mystery of the Universe. The author of the “Gita” has dreamed his dream as well as the others; and, like Plato[120] and the rest, has presented as a solution of the grand problem of existence his own fancies and his own guess-work. And these dreams, fancies and guesses--labelled _theology_ or _philosophy_ as the case may be--have been accepted as eternal verities and passed down from generation to generation, only to be superseded, in their turn, by other equally substantial fancies, equally irrefragable verities. In leaving the “Gita,” however, let us at least admit that the Indian poet’s dream was not deficient in nobility of sentiment and grandeur of conception. APPENDIX II +THE CHURNING OF THE OCEAN+