Parallels between Jesus and Krishna
Many early Christian theologians noted the extreme similarity between Christianity and Pagan religions such as Hinduism, Mithraism, etc.
1. Eusebius of Caesarea (circa 283-371 CE) wrote: "The religion of Jesus Christ is neither new nor strange."
2. St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430 CE) wrote: "This, in our day, is the Christian religion, not as having been unknown in former times, but as having recently received that name."
If a strong Krishna - Christ link exists, what is left of Christianity?
If one were to delete from the Gospels the events in Jesus' life that seem to originate in Krishna's story, one would end up with a story of:
1. A very human, itinerant, Jewish, rabbi-healer.
2. A teacher who largely followed the teachings of Hillel, a liberal Jewish rabbi from the 1st century BCE.
3. An observant Jew who had a special relationship with God, a kinship so close that Jesus referred to God by the familiar term "Abba."
This is very close to the image of Jesus found by many liberal theologians, in their quest for the historical Jesus.
If the events in Jesus' life that appear to come from Krishna were eliminated as invalid, then most of the key Christian beliefs about Jesus would have to be abandoned: his virgin birth, incarnation, sinless life, crucifixion, descent into Hell, resurrection, ascension to heaven. Criteria for salvation, belief in the Trinity, the inerrancy of the Bible, the inspiration of the Bible, etc. would also have to be rejected.
About Krishna (a.k.a. K(C)hrishna)
Krishna was born, lived and died at least 14 centuries before Jesus (Yeshua). Estimates of his birth date vary. Some are 1477, 3112, 3600, 5150, and 5771 BCE.
Hindus believe that whenever profound evil spreads widely throughout the earth, the Supreme Being comes to earth in the form of a human person "in order to uproot vice and to establish virtue so that the earth may get rid of sinners." Lord Krishna was just such an incarnation. "Krishna is the eight [Buddha was the ninth] and the complete incarnate of Vishnu, the Godhead of the Hindu Trinity of deities. Of all the Vishnu avatars, he is the most popular, and perhaps of all Hindu gods the one closest to the heart of the masses...Krishna was dark and extremely handsome. The word Krishna literally means 'black', and black connotes mysteriousness... Whether he was a human being or a God-incarnate, there is no gainsaying the fact that he has been ruling the hearts of millions for over three millennia. In the words of Swami Harshananda, 'If a person can affect such a profound impact on the Hindu race affecting its psyche and ethos and all aspects of its life for centuries, he is no less than God'."
He, believed to have died at the advanced age of 125. "In his final days on earth, he taught spiritual wisdom to Uddhava, his friend and disciple, and ascended to his abode after casting off his body, which was shot at by a hunter named Jara."
Similarities
Many individuals raise the possibility that the Gospels' description of Jesus' life was derived, at least in part, from Krishna's life story, and from the myths of other god-men.
Stephen Van Eck writes: "Then there is the Hindu epic, the Bhagavad-Gita, a story of the second person of the Hindu Trinity, who took human form as Krishna. Some have considered him a model for the Christ, and it's hard to argue against that when he says things like:
1. 'I am the beginning, the middle, and the end' (BG 10:20 vs. Rev. 1:8).
2. His advent was heralded by a pious old man named Asita, who could die happy knowing of his arrival, a story paralleling that of Simeon in Luke 2:25.
3. Krishna's mission was to give directions to 'the kingdom of God' (BG 2:72), and he warned of 'stumbling blocks' along the way (BG 3:34; 1 Cor. 1:23 ; Rev. 2:14).
The essential thrust of Krishna's sayings, uttered to a beloved disciple, sometimes seems to coincide with Jesus or the Bible. Compare:
1. 'those who are wise lament neither for the living nor the dead' (BG 2:11) with the sense of Jesus' advice to 'let the dead bury their own dead' (Matt. 8:22).
2. Krishna's saying, 'I envy no man, nor am I partial to anyone; I am equal to all' (BG 9:29) is a lot like the idea that God is no respecter of persons (Rom. 2:11 ; see also Matt. 6:45).
3. And 'one who is equal to friends and enemies... is very dear to me' (BG 12:18) is reminiscent of 'love your enemies' (Matt. 6:44).
4. Krishna also said that 'by human calculation, a thousand ages taken together is the duration of Brahma's one day' (BG 8:17), which is very similar to 2 Peter 3:8."
The author Kersey Graves wrote a book in 1875 which lists 346 "striking analogies between Christ and Chrishna." A selection of the precise matches between Yeshua's and Krishna's life is listed in a separate essay.
Correspondences between events in Jesus and Krishna's life
Author Kersey Graves (1813-1883), a Quaker from Indiana, compared Jesus’ (Yeshua) and Krishna's life. He found what he believed were 346 elements in common within Christiana and Hindu writings. That appears to be overwhelming evidence that incidents in Jesus' life were copied from Krishna's. However, many of Graves' points of similarity are a real stretch.
I have included only the ones that are clear and undisputed. However, he did report some amazing coincidences:
- # 6 & 45: Yeshua and Krishna were called both a God and the Son of God.
- # 7: Both were sent from heaven to earth in the form of a man.
- # 8 & 46: Both were called Saviour, and the second person of the Trinity.
- # 13, 15, 16 & 23: His adoptive human father was a carpenter.
- # 18: A spirit or ghost was their actual father.
- # 21: Krishna and Jesus were of royal descent.
- # 27 & 28: Both were visited at birth by wise men and shepherds, guided by a star.
- # 30 to 34: Angels in both cases issued a warning that the local dictator planned to kill the baby and had issued a decree for his assassination. The parents fled. Mary and Joseph stayed in Muturea; Krishna's parents stayed in Mathura.
- # 41 & 42: Both Yeshua and Krishna withdrew to the wilderness as adults, and fasted.
- # 56: Both were identified as "the seed of the woman bruising the serpent's head."
- # 58: Jesus was called "the lion of the tribe of Judah." Krishna was called "the lion of the tribe of Saki."
- # 60: Both claimed: "I am the Resurrection."
- # 64: Both referred to themselves having existed before their birth on earth.
- # 66: Both were "without sin."
- # 72: Both were god-men: being considered both human and divine.
- # 76, 77, & 78: They were both considered omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent.
- # 83, 84, & 85: Both performed many miracles, including the healing of disease. One of the first miracles that both performed was to make a leper whole. Each cured "all manner of diseases."
- # 86 & 87: Both cast out indwelling demons, and raised the dead.
- # 101: Both selected disciples to spread his teachings.
- # 109 to 112: Both were meek, and merciful. Both were criticized for associating with sinners.
- # 115: Both encountered a Gentile woman at a well.
- # 121 to 127: Both celebrated a last supper. Both forgave his enemies.
- # 128 to 131: Both descended into Hell, and were resurrected. Many people witnessed their ascensions into heaven.
Points of similarity found by other writers
In addition, there are other points of similarity between Krishna and Jesus (Yeshua):
» "The object of Krishna's birth was to bring about a victory of good over evil."
» Krishna "came onto earth to cleanse the sins of the human beings."
» "Krishna was born while his foster-father Nanda was in the city to pay his tax to the king." Yeshua was born while his foster-father, Joseph, was in the city to be enumerated in a census so that "all the world could be taxed."
» 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.
» 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," Krishna is reported as having uprooted a small mountain.
» "The story about the birth of Elizabeth's son John (the Baptist), cousin of Jesus, corresponds with the story in the Krishna myth about the birth of the child of Nanda and his wife Yasoda." Nanda was the foster-father of Krishna.
» The Greek God Dionysos, Jesus and Krishna were all said to have been placed in a manger basket after birth.
Were Krishna and Jesus, both crucified and later raised to heaven?
In addition to the above points of correspondence between Yeshua and Krishna, there may be one more similarity: they may have both been crucified. In his book, Graves stated flatly that both Yeshua and Krishna were crucified between two thieves, at the age of about 30 to 36 by "wicked hands." However, this may have been “wishful thinking”.
The "common, orthodox depiction of Krishna's death relates that he was shot in the foot with an arrow while under a tree." But:
1. The author Jacolliot, referring to the "Bagaveda-Gita and Brahminical traditions," states that the body of Krishna: "was suspended to the branches of a tree by his murderer, that it might become the prey of the vultures...[Later] the mortal frame of the Redeemer had disappeared--no doubt it had regained the celestial abodes..."
2. M. Guigniaut's Religion de l'Antiquité, which states: "The death of Crishna is very differently related. One remarkable and convincing tradition makes him perish on a tree, to which he was nailed by the stroke of an arrow."
3. There are other references to Krishna being crucified, and being shown with holes in his feet, hands and side.
In the Christian Scriptures (New Testament) Yeshua's crucifixion on a cross or stake is often referred to as being "hung on a tree:"
» Acts 5:30: "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus...hanging him on a tree.
» Acts 10:39: "...hanging him on a tree."
» Acts 13:29: "...they took him down from the tree..."
» Galatians 3:13: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree."
» 1 Peter 2:24: "...who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree..." (All ASV)
Correspondences between Hinduism and some Christian groups
Many Christianity branches share the following beliefs with Hinduism:
» A future reward in heaven or punishment in Hell
» Hinduism and Catholicism share the concept of Purgatory
» A day of judgment
» A general resurrection
» The need for repentance for sin
» Salvation requires faith in the Saviour
» A belief in angels and of evil spirits
» A belief that disease and sickness is caused by evil spirits
» A past war in heaven between good and bad angels
» Free will
» God is considered the "Word of Logos."
» Their religious texts talk of "the blind leading the blind," "a new heaven and a new earth, "living water," "all scripture is given by inspiration of God," "all scripture is profitable for doctrine," "to die is great gain," etc.
» Fasting
» Being born again
Other points of similarity between Hinduism and Christianity:
Symbols: The trident, traditionally carried by the Hindu God-Goddess Shiva, is somewhat similar to the Christian cross. Adding a vertical horn at both ends of the horizontal bar of a cross will convert it into a trident with three prongs. This actually was done to a Christian cross, erected by a Baptist community of 1,200 in Ranalia, India. For decades, the Baptists had annually whitewashed a cross symbol on a large rock in a hill above the town. In early 1999, someone added two horns, turning the cross into a trident. When the smoke cleared (literally) more than 150 mud huts owned by, Christians had been gutted by arson. Some named the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party as perpetrators. However, the local head of the party denied that. This is a very unusual event, because Hindus in India are known for their unusually high level of religious tolerance. Many Hindus believe that all religions can lead their members to God
The role of water: Most Christians baptize either mature members or infants in the congregation. Sometime this is done by total immersion in water; sometimes by sprinkling water over the individual's head. In the Roman Catholic Church, baptism is a sacrament that washes away the person's original sin. Immersion in water by Hindus is also an important ritual. "Water in Hinduism has a special place because it is believed to have spiritually cleansing powers...In the sacred water distinctions of caste are supposed to count for nothing, as all sins fall away...Every temple has a pond near it and devotees are supposed to take a bath before entering the temple."
