Early Buddhism and the Bhagavadgita

by Kashi Nath Upadhaya

This is a critical and philosophical analysis and assessment of the teachings of Buddha as Found in the Early Stratum of the Pali Canon and those of Lord Krsna as embodied in the Bhagvadgita. It is the first time that the foundational works of the two most important traditions of Indian thought have been brought together for comparative treatment. The Widely prevalent opinion among scholars that Hindu thought did not have any significant contact with Pali Buddhism, might perhaps be one of the reasons why no attempt has previously been made to undertake a comparative study of Bhagwadgita and early Buddhism. The author covers the whole field of epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics in detail and depth, and bases his conclusions throughout on the original texts, making careful examinations of, and paying due attention, to the commentatiorialexegeses and scholarly interpretations.

567 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Abhishek Dutt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is very well researched by the author, his intellect is amazing and I enjoyed reading it. The only objectionable thing about it is that Early Buddhism was not influenced by the Upanisads as stated by the author, recently there have been numerous researches already made that either Upanisadic movements arose after the Buddha passed away or they were not known to him or his disciples, this was evident by the fact that the concept of "Atman" or "Brahman" is completely absent in the entire Tipitaka.

[Manjunath Mathihalli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thorough research, critical analysis and compelling arguments to present the findings and conclusions.