Protestant Missionaries and the Study of the Bhaeavad Gītā

Abstract

Early Protestant missionaries characteristically deplored the "immoral", youthful-trickster character of Krishna (as pictured in the Puranas, but not in the Bhagavad Gita itself), and the teaching of the Gita as "quietist". Following a Krishna renaissance in India of the 1880s some missionaries, such as J N Farquhar, were more sympathetic. Since the Gandhian period, Protestant missionary study of the Gita has been half-hearted at best. Although admittedly only one case among many, reactions to the Gita reflect attitudes toward Hindu religion and culture as a whole.