ace in this
mythical geography) is no doubt the early connection of the Pancaratra
with Kashmir and north-western India.[1099] The facts that some
Puranas people the regions near Svetadvipa with Iranian
sun-worshippers[1100] and that some details of the Pancaratra (though
not the system as a whole) show a resemblance to Zoroastrianism
suggest interesting hypotheses as to origin of this form of Vishnuism,
but more facts are needed to confirm them. Chronology gives us little
help, for though the Mahabharata was substantially complete in the
fourth century, it cannot be denied that additions may have been made
to it later and that the story of Svetadvipa may be one of them.
There were Nestorian Bishops at Merv and Herat in the fifth century,
but there appears to be no evidence that Christianity reached
Transoxiana before the fall of the Sassanids in the first half of the
seventh century.

Thus there is little reason to regard Christianity as an important
factor in the evolution of Hinduism, because (_a_) there is no
evidence that it appeared in an influential form before the sixteenth
century and (_b_) there is strong evidence that most of the doctrines
and practices resembling Christianity have an Indian origin. On the
other hand abundant instances show that the Hindus had no objection to
borrowing from a foreign religion anything great or small which took
their fancy. But the interesting point is that the principal Christian
doctrines were either indigenous in India--such as _bhakti_ and
_avataras_--or repugnant to the vast majority of Hindus, such as the
crucifixion and atonement. I do not think that Nestorianism had any
appreciable effect on the history of religious thought in southern
India. Hellenic and Zoroastrian ideas undoubtedly entered
north-western India, but, though Christian ideas may have come with
them, few of the instances cited seem even probable except some
details in the life of Krishna which affect neither the legend as a
whole nor the doctrines associated with it. Some later sects, such as
the Kabirpanthis, show remarkable resemblances to Christianity, but
then the teaching of Kabir was admittedly a blend of Hinduism and
Islam, and since Islam accepted many Christian doctrines, it remains
to be proved that any further explanation is needed. Barth observed
that criticism is generally on the look out for the least trace of
Christian influence on Hinduism but does not pay sufficient attention
to the ex