Christ Crishna And Christ Jesus Compared

Believing and affirming, that the mythological portion of the history

of Jesus of Nazareth, contained in the books forming the Canon of the

New Testament, is nothing more or less than a copy of the mythological

histories of the Hindoo Saviour Crishna, and the Buddhist Saviour

Buddha,[278:1] with a mixture of mythology borrowed from the Persians

and other nations, we shall in this and the chapter following, compare

the istories of these Christs, side by side with that of Christ

Jesus, the Christian Saviour.



In comparing the history of Crishna with that of Jesus, we have the

following remarkable parallels:



1. "Crishna was born of a chaste virgin, called Devaki, who was selected

by the Lord for this purpose on account of her purity."[278:2]



1. Jesus was born of a chaste virgin, called Mary, who was

selected by the Lord for this purpose, on account of her

purity.[278:3]



2. A chorus of Devatas celebrated with song the praise of Devaki,

exclaiming: "In the delivery of this favored woman all nature shall have

cause to exult."[278:4]



2. The angel of the Lord saluted Mary, and said: "Hail Mary!

the Lord is with you, you are blessed above all women, . . .

for thou hast found favor with the Lord."[278:5]



3. The birth of Crishna was announced in the heavens by his

star.[278:6]



3. The birth of Jesus was announced in the heavens by his

star.[278:7]



4. On the morn of Crishna's birth, "the quarters of the horizon were

irradiate with joy, as if moonlight was diffused over the whole earth;"

"the spirits and nymphs of heaven danced and sang," and "the clouds

emitted low pleasing sounds."[279:1]



4. When Jesus was born, the angels of heaven sang with joy,

and from the clouds there came pleasing sounds.[279:2]



5. Crishna, though royally descended, was actually born in a state the

most abject and humiliating, having been brought into the world in a

cave.[279:3]



5. "The birth of Jesus, the King of Israel, took place under

circumstances of extreme indigence; and the place of his

nativity, according to the united voice of the ancients, and

of oriental travelers, was in a cave."[279:4]



6. "The moment Crishna was born, the whole cave was splendidly

illuminated, and the countenances of his father and his mother emitted

rays of glory."[279:5]



6. The moment Jesus was born, "there was a great light in the

cave, so that the eyes of Joseph and the midwife could not

bear it.[279:6]"



7. "Soon after Crishna's mother was delivered of him, and while she was

weeping over him and lamenting his unhappy destiny, the compassionate

infant assumed the power of speech, and soothed and comforted his

afflicted parent."[279:7]



7. "Jesus spake even when he was in his cradle, and said to

his mother: 'Mary, I am Jesus, the Son of God, that Word

which thou didst bring forth according to the declaration of

the Angel Gabriel unto thee, and my Father hath sent me for

the salvation of the world.'"[279:8]



8. The divine child--Crishna--was recognized, and adored by cowherds,

who prostrated themselves before the heaven-born child.[279:9]



8. The divine child--Jesus--was recognized, and adored by

shepherds, who prostrated themselves before the heaven-born

child.[279:10]



9. Crishna was received with divine honors, and presented with gifts of

sandal-wood and perfumes.[279:11]



9. Jesus was received with divine honors, and presented with

gifts of frankincense and myrrh.[279:12]



10. "Soon after the birth of Crishna, the holy Indian prophet Nared,

hearing of the fame of the infant Crishna, pays him a visit at Gokul,

examines the stars, and declares him to be of celestial

descent."[279:13]



10. "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, behold,

there came wise men from the East, saying: Where is he that is

born King of the Jews, for we have seen his star in the East

and have come to worship him."[279:14]



11. Crishna was born at a time when Nanda--his foster-father--was away

from home, having come to the city to pay his tax or yearly tribute, to

the king.[279:15]



11. Jesus was born at a time when Joseph--his

foster-father--was away from home, having come to the city to

pay his tax or tribute to the governor.[279:16]



12. Crishna, although born in a state the most abject and humiliating,

was of royal descent.[280:1]



12. Jesus, although born in a state the most abject and

humiliating, was of royal descent.[280:2]



13. Crishna's father was warned by a "heavenly voice," to "fly with the

child to Gacool, across the river Jumna," as the reigning monarch sought

his life.[280:3]



13. Jesus' father was warned "in a dream" to "take the young

child and his mother, and flee into Egypt," as the reigning

monarch sought his life.[280:4]



14. The ruler of the country in which Crishna was born, having been

informed of the birth of the divine child, sought to destroy him. For

this purpose, he ordered "the massacre in all his states, of all the

children of the male sex, born during the night of the birth of

Crishna."[280:5]



14. The ruler of the country in which Jesus was born, having

been informed of the birth of the divine child, sought to

destroy him. For this purpose, he ordered "all the children

that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof," to be

slain.[280:6]



15. "Mathura (pronounced Mattra), was the city in which Crishna was

born, where his most extraordinary miracles were performed, and which

continues at this day the place where his name and Avatar are held in

the most sacred veneration of any province in Hindostan."[280:7]



15. Matarea, near Hermopolis, in Egypt, is said to have been

the place where Jesus resided during his absence from the land

of Judea. At this place he is reported to have wrought many

miracles.[280:8]



16. Crishna was preceded by Rama, who was born a short time before

him, and whose life was sought by Kansa, the ruling monarch, at the time

he attempted to destroy the infant Crishna.[280:9]



16. Jesus was preceded by John the "divine herald," who was

born a short time before him, and whose life was sought by

Herod, the ruling monarch, at the time he attempted to destroy

the infant Jesus.[280:10]



17. Crishna, being brought up among shepherds, wanted the advantage of a

preceptor to teach him the sciences. Afterwards, when he went to

Mathura, a tutor, profoundly learned, was obtained for him; but, in a

very short time, he became such a scholar as utterly to astonish and

perplex his master with a variety of the most intricate questions in

Sanscrit science.[280:11]



17. Jesus was sent to Zaccheus the schoolmaster, who wrote out

an alphabet for him, and bade him say Aleph. "Then the Lord

Jesus said to him, Tell me first the meaning of the letter

Aleph, and then I will pronounce Beth, and when the master

threatened to whip him, the Lord Jesus explained to him the

meaning of the letters Aleph and Beth; also which where the

straight figures of the letters, which the oblique, and what

letters had double figures; which had points, and which had

none; why one letter went before another; and many other

things he began to tell him and explain, of which the master

himself had never heard, nor read in any book."[281:1]



18. "At a certain time, Crishna, taking a walk with the other cowherds,

they chose him their King, and every one had his place assigned him

under the new King."[281:2]



18. "In the month Adar, Jesus gathered together the boys, and

ranked them as though he had been a KING. . . . And if any one

happened to pass by, they took him by force, and said, Come

hither, and worship the King."[281:3]



19. Some of Crishna's play-fellows were stung by a serpent, and he,

filled with compassion at their untimely fate, "and casting upon them an

eye of divine mercy, they immediately rose," and were restored.[281:4]



19. When Jesus was at play, a boy was stung by a serpent, "and

he (Jesus) touched the boy with his hand," and he was restored

to his former health.[281:5]



20. Crishna's companions, with some calves, were stolen, and hid in a

cave, whereupon Crishna, "by his power, created other calves and boys,

in all things, perfect resemblances of the others."[281:6]



20. Jesus' companions, who had hid themselves in a furnace,

were turned into kids, whereupon Jesus said: "Come hither, O

boys, that we may go and play; and immediately the kids were

changed into the shape of boys."[281:7]



21. "One of the first miracles performed by Crishna, when mature, was

the curing of a leper."[281:8]



21. One of the first miracles performed by Jesus, when mature,

was the curing of a leper.[281:9]



22. A poor cripple, or lame woman, came, with "a vessel filled with

spices, sweet-scented oils, sandal-wood, saffron, civet, and other

perfumes, and made a certain sign on his (Crishna's) forehead, casting

the rest upon his head."[281:10]



22. "Now, when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the

leper, there came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of

very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat

at meat."[281:11]



23. Crishna was crucified, and he is represented with arms extended,

hanging on a cross.[281:12]



23. Jesus was crucified, and he is represented with arms

extended, hanging on a cross.



24. At the time of the death of Crishna, there came calamities and bad

omens of every kind. A black circle surrounded the moon, and the sun was

darkened at noon-day; the sky rained fire and ashes; flames burned dusky

and livid; demons committed depredations on earth; at sunrise and

sunset, thousands of figures were seen skirmishing in the air; spirits

were to be seen on all sides.[282:1]



24. At the time of the death of Jesus, there came calamities

of many kinds. The veil of the temple was rent in twain from

the top to the bottom, the sun was darkened from the sixth to

the ninth hour, and the graves were opened, and many bodies of

the saints which slept arose and came out of their

graves.[282:2]



25. Crishna was pierced with an arrow.[282:3]



25. Jesus was pierced with a spear.[282:4]



26. Crishna said to the hunter who shot him: "Go, hunter, through my

favor, to heaven, the abode of the gods."[282:5]



26. Jesus said to one of the malefactors who was crucified

with him: "Verily I say unto thee, this day shalt thou be with

me in paradise."[282:6]



27. Crishna descended into hell.[282:7]



27. Jesus descended into hell.[282:8]



28. Crishna, after being put to death, rose again from the dead.[282:9]



28. Jesus, after being put to death, rose again from the

dead.[282:10]



29. Crishna ascended bodily into heaven, and many persons witnessed his

ascent.[282:11]



29. Jesus ascended bodily into heaven, and many persons

witnessed his ascent.[282:12]



30. Crishna is to come again on earth in the latter days. He will appear

among mortals as an armed warrior, riding a white horse. At his approach

the sun and moon will be darkened, the earth will tremble, and the stars

fall from the firmament.[282:13]



30. Jesus is to come again on earth in the latter days. He

will appear among mortals as an armed warrior, riding a white

horse. At his approach, the sun and moon will be darkened, the

earth will tremble, and the stars fall from the

firmament.[282:14]



31. Crishna is to be judge of the dead at the last day.[282:15]



31. Jesus is to be judge of the dead at the last day.[282:16]



32. Crishna is the creator of all things visible and invisible; "all

this universe came into being through him, the eternal maker."[282:17]



32. Jesus is the creator of all things visible and invisible;

"all this universe came into being through him, the eternal

maker."[282:18]



33. Crishna is Alpha and Omega, "the beginning, the middle, and the end

of all things."[282:19]



33. Jesus is Alpha and Omega, the beginning, the middle, and

the end of all things.[282:20]



34. Crishna, when on earth, was in constant strife against the evil

spirit.[282:21] He surmounts extraordinary dangers, strews his way with

miracles, raising the dead, healing the sick, restoring the maimed, the

deaf and the blind, everywhere supporting the weak against the strong,

the oppressed against the powerful. The people crowded his way, and

adored him as a God.[283:1]



34. Jesus, when on earth, was in constant strife against the

evil spirit.[282:22] He surmounts extraordinary dangers,

strews his way with miracles, raising the dead, healing the

sick, restoring the maimed, the deaf and the blind,

everywhere supporting the weak against the strong, the

oppressed against the powerful. The people crowded his way and

adored him as a God.[283:2]



35. Crishna had a beloved disciple--Arjuna.[283:3]



35. Jesus had a beloved disciple--John.[283:4]



36. Crishna was transfigured before his disciple Arjuna. "All in an

instant, with a thousand suns, blazing with dazzling luster, so beheld

he the glories of the universe collected in the one person of the God of

Gods."[283:5]



Arjuna bows his head at this vision, and folding his hands in reverence,

says:



"Now that I see thee as thou really art, I thrill with terror! Mercy!

Lord of Lords, once more display to me thy human form, thou habitation

of the universe."[283:6]



36. "And after six days, Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John

his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart,

and was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as

the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. . . While he

yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and

behold, a voice out of the cloud, which said: &c." "And when

the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces, and were

sore afraid."[283:7]



37. Crishna was "the meekest and best tempered of beings." "He preached

very nobly indeed, and sublimely." "He was pure and chaste in

reality,"[283:8] and, as a lesson of humility, "he even condescended to

wash the feet of the Brahmins."[283:9]



37. Jesus was the meekest and best tempered of beings. He

preached very nobly indeed, and sublimely. He was pure and

chaste, and he even condescended to wash the feet of his

disciples, to whom he taught a lesson of humility.[283:10]



38. "Crishna is the very Supreme Brahma, though it be a mystery how

the Supreme should assume the form of a man."[283:11]



38. Jesus is the very Supreme Jehovah, though it be a

mystery how the Supreme should assume the form of a man, for

"Great is the mystery of Godliness."[283:12]



39. Crishna is the second person in the Hindoo Trinity.[283:13]



39. Jesus is the second person in the Christian

Trinity.[283:14]



40. Crishna said: "Let him if seeking God by deep abstraction, abandon

his possessions and his hopes, betake himself to some secluded spot, and

fix his heart and thoughts on God alone."[284:1]



40. Jesus said: "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy

closet, and when then hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father,

which is in secret."[284:2]



41. Crishna said: "Whate'er thou dost perform, whate'er thou eatest,

whate'er thou givest to the poor, whate'er thou offerest in sacrifice,

whate'er thou doest as an act of holy presence, do all as if to me, O

Arjuna. I am the great Sage, without beginning; I am the Ruler and the

All-sustainer."[284:3]



41. Jesus said: "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or

whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God"[284:4] who is

the great Sage, without beginning; the Ruler and the

All-sustainer.



42. Crishna said: "I am the cause of the whole universe; through me it

is created and dissolved; on me all things within it hang and suspend,

like pearls upon a string."[284:5]



42. "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."[284:6]



43. Crishna said: "I am the light in the Sun and Moon, far, far beyond

the darkness. I am the brilliancy in flame, the radiance in all that's

radiant, and the light of lights."[284:7]



43. "Then spoke Jesus again unto them, saying: I am the light

of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness,

but shall have the light of life."[284:8]



44. Crishna said: "I am the sustainer of the world, its friend and Lord.

I am its way and refuge."[284:9]



44. "Jesus said unto them, I am the way, the truth, and the

life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me."[284:10]



45. Crishna said: "I am the Goodness of the good; I am Beginning,

Middle, End, Eternal Time, the Birth, the Death of all."[284:11]



45. "I am the first and the last; and have the keys of hell

and of death."[284:12]



46. Crishna said: "Then be not sorrowful, from all thy sins I will

deliver thee. Think thou on me, have faith in me, adore and worship me,

and join thyself in meditation to me; thus shalt thou come to me, O

Arjuna; thus shalt thou rise to my supreme abode, where neither sun nor

moon hath need to shine, for know that all the lustre they possess is

mine."[284:13]



46. Jesus said: "Be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven

thee."[284:14] "My son, give me thine heart."[284:15] "The

city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in

it; for the glory of God did lighten it."[284:16]



Many other remarkable passages might be adduced from the Bhagavad-gita,

the following of which may be noted:[284:17]



"He who has brought his members under subjection, but sits

with foolish minds thinking in his heart of sensual things, is

called a hypocrite." (Compare Matt. v. 28.)



"Many are my births that are past; many are thine too, O

Arjuna. I know them all, but thou knowest them not." (Comp.

John, viii. 14.)



"For the establishment of righteousness am I born from time to

time." (Comp. John, xviii. 37; I. John, iii. 3.)



"I am dearer to the wise than all possessions, and he is

dearer to me." (Comp. Luke, xiv. 33; John, xiv. 21.)



"The ignorant, the unbeliever, and he of a doubting mind

perish utterly." (Comp. Mark, xvi. 16.)



"Deluded men despise me when I take human form." (Comp. John,

i. 10.)



Crishna had the titles of "Saviour," "Redeemer," "Preserver,"

"Comforter," "Mediator," &c. He was called "The Resurrection and the

Life," "The Lord of Lords," "The Great God," "The Holy One," "The Good

Shepherd," &c. All of which are titles applied to Christ Jesus.



Justice, humanity, good faith, compassion, disinterestedness, in fact,

all the virtues, are said[285:1] to have been taught by Crishna, both by

precept and example.



The Christian missionary Georgius, who found the worship of the

crucified God in India, consoles himself by saying: "That which P.

Cassianus Maceratentis had told me before, I find to have been observed

more fully in French by the Living De Guignes, a most learned man; i.

e., that Crishna is the very name corrupted of Christ the

Saviour."[285:2] Many others have since made a similar statement, but

unfortunately for them, the name Crishna has nothing whatever to do

with "Christ the Saviour." It is a purely Sanscrit word, and means "the

dark god" or "the black god."[285:3] The word Christ (which is not

a name, but a title), as we have already seen, is a Greek word, and

means "the Anointed," or "the Messiah." The fact is, the history of

Christ Crishna is older than that of Christ Jesus.



Statues of Crishna are to be found in the very oldest cave temples

throughout India, and it has been satisfactorily proved, on the

authority of a passage of Arrian, that the worship of Crishna was

practiced in the time of Alexander the Great at what still remains one

of the most famous temples of India, the temple of Mathura, on the Jumna

river,[285:4] which shows that he was considered a god at that

time.[286:1] We have already seen that, according to Prof. Monier

Williams, he was deified about the fourth century B. C.



Rev. J. P. Lundy says:



"If we may believe so good an authority as Edward Moor (author

of Moor's "Hindu Pantheon," and "Oriental Fragments"), both

the name of Crishna, and the general outline of his history,

were long anterior to the birth of our Saviour, as very

certain things, and probably extended to the time of Homer,

nearly nine hundred years before Christ, or more than a

hundred years before Isaiah lived and prophesied."[286:2]



In the Sanscrit Dictionary, compiled more than two thousand years ago,

we have the whole story of Crishna, the incarnate deity, born of a

virgin, and miraculously escaping in his infancy from Kansa, the

reigning monarch of the country.[286:3]



The Rev. J. B. S. Carwithen, known as one of the "Brampton Lecturers,"

says:



"Both the name of Crishna and the general outline of his story

are long anterior to the birth of our Saviour; and this we

know, not on the presumed antiquity of the Hindoo records

alone. Both Arrian and Strabo assert that the god Crishna was

anciently worshiped at Mathura, on the river Jumna, where he

is worshiped at this day. But the emblems and attributes

essential to this deity are also transplanted into the

mythology of the West."[286:4]



On the walls of the most ancient Hindoo temples, are sculptured

representations of the flight of Vasudeva and the infant Saviour

Crishna, from King Kansa, who sought to destroy him. The story of the

slaughtered infants is also the subject of an immense sculpture in the

cave temple of Elephanta. A person with a drawn sword is represented

surrounded by slaughtered infant boys, while men and women are

supplicating for their children. The date of this sculpture is lost in

the most remote antiquity.[286:5]



The flat roof of this cavern-temple, and that of Ellora, and every

other circumstance connected with them, prove that their origin must be

referred to a very remote epoch. The ancient temples can easily be

distinguished from the more modern ones--such as those of Solsette--by

the shape of the roof. The ancient are flat, while the more modern are

arched.[286:6]



The Bhagavad gita, which contains so many sentiments akin to

Christianity, and which was not written until about the first or second

century,[287:1] has led many Christian scholars to believe, and

attempt to prove, that they have been borrowed from the New Testament,

but unfortunately for them, their premises are untenable. Prof. Monier

Williams, the accepted authority on Hindooism, and a thorough

Christian, writing for the "Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge,"

knowing that he could not very well overlook this subject in speaking of

the Bhagavad-gita, says:



"To any one who has followed me in tracing the outline of this

remarkable philosophical dialogue, and has noted the numerous

parallels it offers to passages in our Sacred Scriptures, it

may seem strange that I hesitate to concur to any theory which

explains these coincidences by supposing that the author had

access to the New Testament, or that he derived some of his

ideas from the first propagaters of Christianity. Surely it

will be conceded that the probability of contact and

interaction between Gentile systems and the Christian religion

of the first two centuries of our era must have been greater

in Italy than in India. Yet, if we take the writings and

sayings of those great Roman philosophers, Seneca, Epictetus,

and Marcus Aurelius, we shall find them full of resemblances

to passages in our Scriptures, while their appears to be no

ground whatever for supposing that these eminent Pagan writers

and thinkers derived any of their ideas from either Jewish or

Christian sources. In fact, the Rev. F. W. Farrar, in his

interesting and valuable work 'Seekers after God,' has clearly

shown that 'to say that Pagan morality kindled its faded taper

at the Gospel light, whether furtively or unconsciously, that

it dissembled the obligation and made a boast of the splendor,

as if it were originally her own, is to make an assertion

wholly untenable.' He points out that the attempts of the

Christian Fathers to make out Pythagoras a debtor to Hebraic

wisdom, Plato an 'Atticizing Moses,' Aristotle a picker-up of

ethics from a Jew, Seneca a correspondent of St. Paul, were

due 'in some cases to ignorance, in some to a want of perfect

honesty in controversial dealing.'[287:2]



"His arguments would be even more conclusive if applied to

the Bhagavad-gita, the author of which was probably

contemporaneous with Seneca.[287:3] It must, indeed, be

admitted that the flames of true light which emerge from the

mists of pantheism in the writings of Indian philosophers,

must spring from the same source of light as the Gospel

itself; but it may reasonably be questioned whether there

could have been any actual contact of the Hindoo systems with

Christianity without a more satisfactory result in the

modification of pantheistic and anti-Christian ideas."[288:1]



Again he says:



"It should not be forgotten that although the nations of

Europe have changed their religions during the past eighteen

centuries, the Hindu has not done so, except very partially.

Islam converted a certain number by force of arms in the

eighth and following centuries, and Christian truth is at last

slowly creeping onwards and winning its way by its own

inherent energy in the nineteenth; but the religious creeds,

rites, customs, and habits of thought of the Hindus generally,

have altered little since the days of Manu, five hundred years

B. C."[288:2]



These words are conclusive; comments, therefore, are unnecessary.



Geo. W. Cox, in his "Aryan Mythology," speaking on this subject says:



"It is true that these myths have been crystallized around the

name of Crishna in ages subsequent to the period during which

the earliest vedic literature came into existence; but the

myths themselves are found in this older literature associated

with other gods, and not always only in germ. There is no

more room for inferring foreign influence in the growth of any

of these myths than, as Bunsen rightly insists, there is room

for tracing Christian influence in the earlier epical

literature of the Teutonic tribes. Practically the myths of

Crishna seems to have been fully developed in the days of

Megasthenes (fourth century B. C.) who identifies him with the

Greek Hercules."[288:3]



It should be remembered, in connection with this, that Dr. Parkhurst and

others have considered Hercules a type of Christ Jesus.



In the ancient epics Crishna is made to say:



"I am Vishnu, Brahma, Indra, and the source as well as the

destruction of things, the creator and the annihilator of the

whole aggregate of existences. While all men live in

unrighteousness, I, the unfailing, build up the bulwark of

righteousness, as the ages pass away."[288:4]



These words are almost identical with what we find in the

Bhagavad-gita. In the Maha-bharata, Vishnu is associated or

identified with Crishna, just as he is in the Bhagavad-gita and

Vishnu Purana, showing, in the words of Prof. Williams, that: the

Puranas, although of a comparatively modern date, are nevertheless

composed of matter to be found in the two great epic poems the

Ramayana and the Maha-bharata.[288:5]





FOOTNOTES:



[278:1] It is also very evident that the history of Crishna--or that

part of it at least which has a religious aspect--is taken from that

of Buddha. Crishna, in the ancient epic poems, is simply a great hero,

and it is not until about the fourth century B. C., that he is deified

and declared to be an incarnation of Vishnu, or Vishnu himself in human

form. (See Monier Williams' Hinduism, pp. 102, 103.)



"If it be urged that the attribution to Crishna of qualities or powers

belonging to the other deities is a mere device by which his devotees

sought to supersede the more ancient gods, the answer must be that

nothing is done in his case which has not been done in the case of

almost every other member of the great company of the gods, and that

the systematic adoption of this method is itself conclusive proof of the

looseness and flexibility of the materials of which the cumbrous

mythology of the Hindu epic poems is composed." (Cox: Aryan Mythology,

vol. ii. p. 130.) These words apply very forcibly to the history of

Christ Jesus. He being attributed with qualities and powers belonging to

the deities of the heathen is a mere device by which his devotees

sought to supersede the more ancient gods.



[278:2] See ch. xii.



[278:3] See The Gospel of Mary, Apoc., ch. vii.



[278:4] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 329.



[278:5] Mary, Apoc., vii. Luke, i. 28-30.



[278:6] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. pp. 317 and 336.



[278:7] Matt. ii. 2.



[279:1] Vishnu Purana, p. 502.



[279:2] Luke, ii. 13.



[279:3] See ch. xvi.



[279:4] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 311. See also, chap. xvi.



[279:5] See ch. xvi.



[279:6] Protevangelion, Apoc., chs. xii. and xiii.



[279:7] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. 311.



[279:8] Infancy, Apoc., ch. i. 2, 3.



[279:9] See ch. xv.



[279:10] Luke, ii. 8-10.



[279:11] See Oriental Religions, p. 500, and Inman's Ancient Faiths,

vol. ii. p. 353.



[279:12] Matt. ii. 2.



[279:13] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 317.



[279:14] Matt., ii. 1, 2.



[279:15] Vishnu Purana, bk. v. ch. iii.



[279:16] Luke, ii. 1-17.



[280:1] Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p. 259. Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p.

310.



[280:2] See the Genealogies in Matt. and Luke.



[280:3] See ch. xviii.



[280:4] Matt. ii. 13.



[280:5] See ch. xviii.



[280:6] Matt. ii. 16.



[280:7] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 317. Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p.

259.



[280:8] Introduc. to Infancy, Apoc. Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p.

130. Savary: Travels in Egypt, vol. i. p. 126, in Hist. Hindostan, vol.

ii. p. 318.



[280:9] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 316.



[280:10] "Elizabeth, hearing that her son John was about to be searched

for (by Herod), took him and went up into the mountains, and looked

around for a place to hide him. . . . But Herod made search after John,

and sent servants to Zacharias," &c. (Protevangelion, Apoc. ch. xvi.)



[280:11] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 321.



[281:1] Infancy, Apoc., ch. xx. 1-8.



[281:2] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 321.



[281:3] Infancy, Apoc., ch. xviii. 1-3.



[281:4] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 343.



[281:5] Infancy, Apoc., ch. xviii.



[281:6] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 340. Aryan Mytho., vol. ii. p. 136.



[281:7] Infancy, Apoc., ch. xvii.



[281:8] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 319, and ch. xxvii. this work.



[281:9] Matthew, viii. 2.



[281:10] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 320.



[281:11] Matt. xxvi. 6-7.



[281:12] See ch. xx.



[282:1] Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 71.



[282:2] Matt. xxii. Luke, xxviii.



[282:3] See ch. xx.



[282:4] John, xix. 34.



[282:5] See Vishnu Purana, p. 612.



[282:6] Luke, xxiii. 43.



[282:7] See ch. xxii.



[282:8] See Ibid.



[282:9] See ch. xxiii.



[282:10] Matt. xxviii.



[282:11] See ch. xxiii.



[282:12] See Acts, i. 9-11.



[282:13] See ch. xxiv.



[282:14] See passages quoted in ch. xxiv.



[282:15] See Oriental Religions, p. 504.



[282:16] Matt. xxiv. 31. Rom. xiv. 10.



[282:17] See ch. xxvi.



[282:18] John, i. 3. I. Cor. viii. 6. Eph. iii. 9.



[282:19] See Geeta, lec. x. p. 85.



[282:20] Rev. i. 8, 11; xxii. 13; xxi. 6.



[282:21] He is described as a superhuman organ of light, to whom the

superhuman organ of darkness, the evil serpent, was opposed. He is

represented "bruising the head of the serpent," and standing upon him.

(See illustrations in vol. i. Asiatic Researches; vol. ii. Higgins'

Anacalypsis; Calmet's Fragments, and other works illustrating Hindoo

Mythology.)



[282:22] Jesus, "the Sun of Righteousness," is also described as a

superhuman organ of light, opposed by Satan, "the old serpent." He is

claimed to have been the seed of the woman who should "bruise the head

of the serpent." (Genesis, iii. 15.)



[283:1] See ch. xxvii.



[283:2] According to the New Testament.



[283:3] See Bhagavat Geeta.



[283:4] John, xiii. 23.



[283:5] Williams' Hinduism, p. 215.



[283:6] Ibid. p. 216.



[283:7] Matt. xvii. 1-6.



[283:8] "He was pure and chaste in reality," although represented as

sporting amorously, when a youth, with cowherdesses. According to the

pure Vaishnava faith, however, Crishna's love for the Gopis, and

especially for his favorite Radha, is to be explained allegorically, as

symbolizing the longing of the human soul for the Supreme. (Prof. Monier

Williams: Hinduism, p. 144.) Just as the amorous "Song of Solomon" is

said to be allegorical, and to mean "Christ's love for his church."



[283:9] See Indian Antiquities, iii. 46, and Asiatic Researches, vol. i.

p. 273.



[283:10] John, xiii.



[283:11] Vishnu Purana, p. 492, note 3.



[283:12] I. Timothy, iii. 16.



[283:13] Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. Crishna is Vishnu in human form. "A

more personal, and, so to speak, human god than Siva was needed for

the mass of the people--a god who could satisfy the yearnings of the

human heart for religion of faith (bhakti)--a god who could sympathize

with, and condescend to human wants and necessities. Such a god was

found in the second member of the Tri-murti. It was as Vishnu that the

Supreme Being was supposed to exhibit his sympathy with human trials,

and his love for the human race.



"If Siva is the great god of the Hindu Pantheon, to whom adoration is

due from all indiscriminately, Vishnu is certainly its most popular

deity. He is the god selected by far the greater number of individuals

as their Saviour, protector and friend, who rescues them from the power

of evil, interests himself in their welfare, and finally admits them to

his heaven. But it is not so much Vishnu in his own person as Vishnu

in his incarnations, that effects all this for his votaries." (Prof.

Monier Williams: Hinduism, p. 100.)



[283:14] Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Jesus is the Son in human form.



[284:1] Williams' Hinduism, p. 211.



[284:2] Matt. vi. 6.



[284:3] Williams' Hinduism, p. 212.



[284:4] I. Cor. x. 31.



[284:5] Williams' Hinduism, p. 213.



[284:6] John, i. 3.



[284:7] Williams' Hinduism, p. 213.



[284:8] John, viii. 12.



[284:9] Williams' Hinduism, p. 213.



[284:10] John, xiv. 6.



[284:11] Williams' Hinduism, p. 213.



[284:12] Rev. i. 17, 18.



[284:13] Williams' Hinduism, p. 214.



[284:14] Matt. ix. 2.



[284:15] Prov. xxiii. 26.



[284:16] Rev. xxi. 23.



[284:17] Quoted from Williams' Hinduism, pp. 217-219.



[285:1] It is said in the Hindoo sacred books that Crishna was a

religious teacher, but, as we have previously remarked, this is a later

addition to his legendary history. In the ancient epic poems he is

simply a great hero and warrior. The portion pertaining to his religious

career, is evidently a copy of the history of Buddha.



[285:2] "Est Crishna (quod ut mihi pridem indicaverat P. Cassianus

Maceratentis, sic nunc uberius in Galliis observatum intelligo avivo

litteratissimo De Guignes) nomen ipsum corruptum Christi Servatoris."



[285:3] See Williams' Hinduism, and Maurice: Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii.

p. 269.



[285:4] See Celtic Druids, pp. 256, 257.



[286:1] "Alexander the Great made his expedition to the banks of the

Indus about 327 B. C., and to this invasion is due the first trustworthy

information obtained by Europeans concerning the north-westerly portion

of India and the region of the five rivers, down which the Grecian

troops were conducted in ships by Nearchus. Megasthenes, who was the

ambassador of Seleukos Nikator (Alexander's successor, and ruler over

the whole region between the Euphrates and India, B. C. 312), at the

court of Candra-gupa (Sandrokottus), in Pataliputra (Patna), during a

long sojourn in that city collected further information, of which

Strabo, Pliny, Arrian, and others availed themselves." (Williams'

Hinduism, p. 4.)



[286:2] Monumental Christianity, p. 151. See also, Asiatic Researches,

i. 273.



[286:3] See Asiatic Researches, vol. i. pp. 259-273.



[286:4] Quoted in Monumental Christianity, pp. 151, 152.



[286:5] See chapter xviii.



[286:6] See Prichard's Egyptian Mythology, p. 112.



[287:1] In speaking of the antiquity of the Bhagavad-gita, Prof.

Monier Williams says: "The author was probably a Brahman and nominally a

Vishnava, but really a philosopher whose mind was cast in a broad and

comprehensive mould. He is supposed to have lived in India during the

first and second century of our era. Some consider that he lived as late

as the third century, and some place him even later, but with these I

cannot agree." (Indian Wisdom, p. 137.)



[287:2] In order that the resemblances to Christian Scripture in the

writings of Roman philosophers may be compared, Prof. Williams refers

the reader to "Seekers after God," by the Rev. F. W. Farrar, and Dr.

Ramage's "Beautiful Thoughts." The same sentiments are to be found in

Mann, which, says Prof. Williams, "few will place later than the fifth

century B. C." The Mahabhrata, written many centuries B. C., contains

numerous parallels to New Testament sayings. (See our chapter on

"Paganism in Christianity.")



[287:3] Seneca, the celebrated Roman philosopher, was born at Cordoba,

in Spain, a few years B. C. When a child, he was brought by his father

to Rome, where he was initiated in the study of eloquence.



[288:1] Indian Wisdom, pp. 153, 154. Similar sentiments are expressed in

his Hinduism, pp. 218-220.



[288:2] Indian Wisdom, p. iv.



[288:3] Cox: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. pp. 137, 138.



[288:4] Ibid. p. 131.



[288:5] Williams' Hinduism, pp. 119-110. It was from these sources that

the doctrine of incarnation was first evolved by the Brahman. They

were written many centuries B. C. (See Ibid.)