ruler of everyone, Na ̄ra ̄yan.a himself being the ordainer of the universe and the
creator. Much of the first six chapters of the text presents the doctrine of the
inaccessibility of the supreme deity through the story of Na ̄rada’s journey to a
mysterious white continent, s ́vetadvı ̄pa, inhabited by white beings who worship
Na ̄ra ̄yan.a, who is invisible to all except his exclusive devotees. The worshippers
are called by various names, Bha ̄gavata, Sa ̄tvata, Eka ̄ntin, and Pa ̄ñcara ̄tra (the
variety no doubt indicating the existence of differing groups, the Bha ̄gavatas
no doubt being the worshippers of Kr.s.n.a as bhagavat, the lord), and overall
the impression is of several originally separate trends that are in the process
of merging.
Doctrinally too the Na ̄ra ̄yan.ı ̄yashows a blend of Upanis.adic monism, dualistic
elements similar to Sa ̄m.khya and Yoga, and Bra ̄hmanical ritualism, with the
devotional worship of a personal deity – through a synthesis of several separate
passages – and assigning a higher value to ritual and asceticism than in the com-
parable synthesis presented in the slightly earlier Bhagavadgı ̄ta ̄. Virtually every
mention of the term Pa ̄ñcara ̄tra occurs within the Na ̄ra ̄yan.ı ̄ya, which is also the
only part of the Maha ̄bha ̄rata where the theory of the vyu ̄has, the divine expan-
sions, is presented in detail. This represents an adaptation of the story of Kr.s.n.a
and his relatives to a cosmogonic perspective. Beneath Vis.n.u-Na ̄ra ̄yan.a, the
immutable ultimate deity, are the four vyu ̄has, who take charge of creation:
Va ̄sudeva, presented as superior to the other three, gives rise to Sam.kars.an.a,
from whom emanates Pradyumna (who, however, in the Ya ̄dava lineage is
Kr.s.n.a’s son), who in turn fathers Aniruddha. After this the gross creation com-
mences through the agency of Brahma ̄, but all activity belongs to the four divine
forms, who are also assimilated to the tattvas, constituent principles of Sa ̄m.khya.
This theory seems to have evolved around the first to second century cecon-
currently with the avata ̄ra theory, which in the long run becomes more popular.
Although the developed Pa ̄ñcara ̄tra system is mainly concerned with ritual
practice, there is surprisingly little about this aspect in the Maha ̄bha ̄rata.
Sa ̄m.khya and Yoga
These two long books of the Maha ̄bha ̄rata in which Bhı ̄s.ma propounds his advice
to Yudhis.t.hira contain a substantial amount of teaching which can broadly
be called philosophical, of which the largest part is related to the later Sa ̄m.khya
and Yoga systems, but there are also passages relating to a number of other
approaches; these are mostly to be found in the third section of the S ́a ̄ntiparvan,
called the Moks.adharmaparvan (12.168–353). In addition, there are similar
passages elsewhere in the Maha ̄bha ̄rata, most obviously the Bhagavadgı ̄ta ̄, but
also the recapitulation of it which Kr.s.n.a delivers to Arjuna after the battle
(theAnugı ̄ta ̄, 14.16–50), an early such passage attributed to the mythical sage
Sanatsuja ̄ta (the Sanatsuja ̄tı ̄ya, 5.43–5) and a few others. In contrast, neither
Sa ̄m.khya nor Yoga occur in the Ra ̄ma ̄yan.a. While in the Maha ̄bha ̄rata the concept
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