Hindu appropriation of Jesus Christ

 

 

 

 

 

“Both Christ and Krishna were known to be threatened by the local ruler

when they were young. Both have very similar stories …”.

 

 

 

 

 

The author of the following post (2011) imagines that Jesus Christ was derived from Krishna: http://www.hinduisminfo.com/2011/02/christ-krishna-christianity-hinduism.html

 

Is Jesus Christ derived from Lord Krishna?

 

Have you every noticed the amazingly coincidental similarity between these two names - Jesus Christ and Lord Krishna - and asked yourselves, why the names of two major religious figures in two major religious are exactly [sic] the same? Have you [ever] looked at the evolution of religions and wondered if it's possible that Christianity is actually derived from Hinduism (partly the story of Lord Krishna)?

Well, you're not the only one! Many leading experts believe that not only the name Jesus Christ is a derivative of Lord Krishna, but also, the religion of Christianity might be partially and fully derived from Hinduism! [sic, or vice versa]

 

Once we start comparing Christianity and the teachings of Christ with the life and teaching of Lord Krishna (and Hinduism in general), we immediately start seeing glaring similarities in the two. It would be naive to assume that these similarities are purely coincidental/circumstantial and that Christianity evolved all by itself to have the name of [its] main deity to be exactly the same as one of the Trinity in Hinduism, among other obvious similarities!

 

Let's analyze some of these similarities -

 

….

Krishna means "of darker color" and Christ means "covered in dark/olive oil" - Now, this one is obviously almost exactly the same and makes even the most skeptic Christians wonder how can even the names have exactly the same meaning! Some Christian skeptics have gone on to claim that Christ doesn't mean dark and rather, it means "anointed", which is a valid point because "anointed" indeed is one of the old translations of the word "Christ". But then we ask the simple question: How would an "anointed" person look like? Would he look somewhat discolored? Would he look darker? The answer to these questions is a resounding yes! Just think about it for a second, if I cover myself with any anointments, would the color of my skin change to darker? Yes, it would. If someone is still skeptic, we went deeper into the Hebrew language and found that the word "Chrism" actually refers to anointment by Olive oil! A person covered with olive oil will certainly look darker and can be thought of as "of darker color" or in other words - "Krishna"! The similarity in both the name Krishna and Christ but also the very meaning of the names - "Dark color" and "Covered with dark (Olive) oil" - are uncanny and can't be refuted. It's not hard to surmise that the early Christians were aware of the name "Krishna" and it's meaning and significance and they modeled the name "Christ" exactly after "Krishna" both in the meaning and the intent.

 

Both Christ and Krishna were known to be threatened by the local ruler when they were young. Both have very similar stories - In Krishna's case, it was Kansa (also known as Kamsa) who wanted to kill him. He tried to imprison Krishna's parents but they were able to flee and survive in time. Surprisingly, Jesus Christ has a very similar story as well in which the evil king Herod actually issued a royal decree to warrant Christ's death. Further, Kansa killed all offsprings of Devaki trying to ensure that Lord Krishna would also die as one of the children; this same story also shows up in Bible as the story of the Massacre of Innocents in Matthew where King Herod ordered that all young children in Bethlehem be killed to ensure Jesus' death. Also, just as in the case of Lord Krishna, Christ's parents (Mary and Joseph) survived in a very similar fashion. Lord Krishna grew up in Vrindavan hidden away from Kansa while Jesus grew up in Egypt in hiding from Herod. Since the stories are so surprisingly similar, it's not difficult to see why the Christian version might be derived from then existing Hindu version.

 

Both Christ and Krishna were divine beings / "sons of God" walking on the earth as mortals - This one is obvious but extremely important because of the fact that Christ is not depicted as an angel or a jinni or some other supernatural creature in the Bible! Instead, Christ is considered the Son of God Himself! This is intriguing because Christian myths are full of all manners of supernatural/divine creatures sent by God to earth for various purposes; but why ONLY Christ is the son of God? Why are not all the angels also sons of God? The answer becomes obvious when we draw parallels with Hinduism: Lord Krishna is an Avatar of Lord Vishnu. This is why He is not same as minor gods, pretas and other creatures. Lord Krishna is a conscious manifestation of God Himself. Now if Christ were to come from Krishna, it's logical to assume that the early Christians took the Hindu story of Lord Krishna and transformed it into their own versions/interpretations, but the main details like being Son/Avatar of God stayed the same.

 

Both Christ and Krishna clearly state that the only way to salvation is through them - Lord Krishna, in Bhagwat Geeta, states that Moksha is attained by those who completely surrender to Him and Him alone. Those who do not surrender to Lord Krishna and rather worship false gods will not attain Moksha/Salvation/Nirvana. In Bible, Jesus Christ again asserts, in exactly the same fashion, that the only real way of attaining salvation is by accepting Jesus as your lord and savior! Please also note that this is a somewhat unique case because it doesn't apply to other Abrahamic religions. For example, Mohammed, in Islamic traditions, doesn't claim that salvation can be attained only by accepting Mohammed as our lord and savior. Only Jesus claims, exactly the same as Lord Krishna does, that we must accept Him as the lord and savior to attain true salvation. The similarities are again obvious!

 

Similarities between Christ's Cross and Lord Krishna's Maharoopa/Vishwaroopa - Now this one would require at least one full book to fully analyze as the philosophical and religious implications of both are truly immense. I'll probably cover it more completely in later articles but here let me briefly mention that the Cross signifies Christ's willingness to accept all the sins/pains in the world. In other words, Cross implies that the results of all the actions of humans in the world go to the Christ. This is exactly the same as what Lord Krishna implies in the Maharoopa when he says that all results of all actions of all beings go to him. This is just one similarity between the Cross and Maharoopa, but the readers would certainly see more as they look deeper.

 

So we see that the similarities between Jesus Christ and Lord Krishna, and consequently Christianity and Hinduism, are unmistakable from linguistics, philosophical, religious, historical and mythical perspectives! There are hundreds of more similarities that clearly prove that Christianity is simply a distorted or perhaps a misinterpreted version of a facet of Hinduism! ....

 

 

At this site: https://www.facebook.com/notes/swayam-vichar-kijiye-learn-from-shri-krishna/25-similarities-between-lord-krishna-and-jesus-christ/1766277270263179/ we get:

 

25 Similarities between Lord Krishna and Jesus Christ

 

1. Similarities in their names —

 

'Christ' and 'Krishna' – similar pronunciation.

 

Krishna means "of darker color" and Christ means "covered in dark/olive oil"

 

2. Both were called Savior, and the second person of the Trinity —

 

Hindus believe that Krishna is the 8th incarnate of Lord Vishnu – the protector and the second personality of the Hindu Trinity of deities. Most Christians believe that Christ (Jesus) is the Son of God, the second personality in the Trinity.

 

3. Both were sent from heaven to earth in the form of a man —

 

Both were god-men: being considered both human and divine.

 

4. They were divinely conceived. Krishna's and Jesus' mothers were holy virgins —

 

The virginal state of Devaki is a matter of debate. The divine Vishnu (one of the three deities in the Hindu Trinity) himself descended into the womb of Devaki and was born as her son Krishna.

 

The virginal state of Mary when she conceived Jesus is also a matter of debate. The Holy Spirit (one of the three persons in the Christian Holy Trinity) was responsible for Mary’s pregnancy. 

 

5. Both were born at unusual places —

 

Krishna was born in a prison cell. Christ was also born in a cave, although some say a manger in a barn. 

 

6. Both appeared at a critical time when their respective countries were in a torpid (asleep) state.

 

7. Rays of light illuminated the area after they had taken birth.

 

8. Angels in both cases issued a warning.

 

9. Both Christ and Krishna were known to be threatened by the local ruler when they were young —

 

Kansa wanted to kill Krishna. For this purpose, he sent demons and animals. Jesus Christ has a very similar story as well in which the evil king Herod actually issued a royal decree to warrant Christ's death.

 

10. Innocent children were killed to ensure that Lord would also die — Kansa killed all offsprings of Devaki trying to ensure that Lord Krishna would also die as one of the children; this same story also shows up in Bible as the story of the Massacre of Innocents in Matthew where King Herod ordered that all young children in Bethlehem be killed to ensure Jesus' death. 

 

11. Similarity in places where their parents stayed —

 

Krishna's parents stayed in Mathura. Mary and Joseph stayed in Muturea; (similar names again)

 

12. Both Krishna and Jesus Christ were of royal descent but lived their childhood as an ordinary boy —

 

Krishna was a cowherd. Christ is often depicted as a shepherd.

 

 

13. Both grew somewhere else hiding from ruler —

 

Lord Krishna grew up in Vrindavan hidden away from Kansa, while Jesus grew up in Egypt in hiding from Herod.

 

14. Their foster-parents had to go to pay taxes —

 

Krishna's foster-father Nanda had to journey to Mathura to pay his taxes, just as Jesus foster-father Joseph is recorded in the Gospel of Luke as having to go to Bethlehem to pay taxes.

 

15. Krishna was Mischevious Boy. Similar to Jesus leaving his parents to go the temple.

 

16. Connection with mountain —

 

Krishna is reported as having uprooted a small mountain.Jesus is recorded as saying: "if you had faith as a mustard seed you would say to the mountain uproot yourself and be cast into the ocean".

 

17. Connection with huge Giant Serpent —

 

One day, wrestling and playing by the river, children saw that the Yamuna river was poisoned, so Krishna jumped in to kill the Giant Serpent that was poisoning the river. He danced on the serpents head and set if free, cleaning up the river making the river Holy once again.

 

Similar to this story, Yahweh slayed Leviathan. (The prophet called Leviathan a serpent that has many Heads, a sea-creature, a hideous demonic creature who is apparently under the direct leadership of Satan himself) Jesus gone into the river to be Baptized (Baptism is a sort of rebirth, cleansing, new beginning).

 

“In that day Jehovah with His great and fierce and strong sword shall punish the sea-monster, the darting serpent, the sea-monster, that twisting serpent; and He shall kill the monster in the sea.” Isaiah 27:1 

 

18. Both performed many miracles, including the healing of disease —

 

19. They were both considered omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful), and omnipresent (everpresent).

 

20. The missions of Krishna and Jesus were the same — the salvation of humanity.

 

21. “Sermon on the Mount” ….

 

…. December is also the time of year when the celebration takes place of Lord Krishna speaking the Bhagavad-gita at Kuruksetra (Gita Jayanti). This could mean that Christ’s “Sermon on the Mount” is none other than a similarity to Krishna’s sermon (lecture) delivered to Arjuna while Krishna was mounted (riding) on His chariot. The Bhagavad-gita is a sermon, given 5,000 years ago, that provides indispensable spiritual guidance to all people, which is also said about Christ’s sermon, said to have taken place on the Mount of Olives. 

 

22. Similarity in teachings —

 

• We also learn in the Bhagavad-Gita that total devotion to Krishna will allow man to achieve eternal life and never know death again. In the New Testament we learn that Christ is the the only way. '...that whosoever believeth in Christ should not perish, but have everlasting life.'

 

• In Bhagavad-gita (7.6-7) Krishna said, “I am the cause of the whole universe, through Me it is created and dissolved, all things are dependant on Me as pearls are strung on a thread.” Jesus said, “Of Him and through Him, and unto Him, are all things. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.” (John 1.3)

 

• Krishna had said (Bg.4.7), “For the establishment of righteousness I am born from time to time.” This compares to Jesus in John 18:37, wherein he says, “Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.”

 

23. Both selected disciples to spread his teachings.

 

24. Both died of wounds caused by sharp weapons : Krishna by an arrow and Christ by nails —

 

At the time when Krishna left this planet, His foot was pierced with an arrow, while Jesus’ side was pierced with a spear.

 

25. Both are said to be incarnate again in scriptures —

 

There is a description of many ominous signs that are to signify the second coming of Christ. There are even more symptoms of the terrible age of Kali (Kalyug - that we are going through) that indicates the time before the coming of Krishna’s (Lord Vishnu’s) next incarnation as Kalki - that are disclosed in the Vedas.

 

 

Many more comparisons could be given.