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SPECIFIC SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE LIVES OF JESUS AND KRISHNA

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Correspondences between events in Jesus' and Krishna's life:

Author Kersey Graves (1813-1883), a Quaker from Indiana, compared Yeshua's and

Krishna's life. He found 346 elements in common within Christiana and Hindu

writings. 1 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. Still, he did report some important events :

#6 & 45: Yeshua and Krishna were called both a God and the Son of God.

7: Both was sent from heaven to earth in the form of a man.

8 & 46: Both were called Savior, 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.

Errors in Grave's book:

Due either to carelessness, or the primitive nature of religious history in the

late 19th century, it appears that Graves made some errors in his book:

He stated that both Krishna and Yeshua were born on December 25. Actually,

Krishna is traditionally believed to have been born during August. The festival

Janmashtami is held in honor of this birth. The birth day of Jesus is unknown,

but is believed by many to have also been about August. December 25th was

chosen for Christmas because of a pre-existent Pagan Roman holiday, Saturnalia.

December 25th was also recognized in ancient times as the birth day of various

other god-men such as Attis and Mithra.

Graves reported that Jesus' and Krishna's mothers were holy virgins, who had

similar names: Miriam (Mary) and Maia. Krishna's mother may have been called

Maia, but only because this is the Hindi word for "mother." His mother's name

was Devaki; his foster mother's mane was Yashoda.

The virginal state of Devaki is a matter of debate. One tradition states that

Krishna was her eighth child. Another states that it was a virgin birth: "In

the context of myth and religion, the virgin birth is applied to any miraculous

conception and birth. In this sense, whether the mother is technically a virgin

is of secondary importance to the fact that she conceives and gives birth by

some means other than the ordinary....the divine Vishnu himself descended into

the womb of Devaki and was born as her son Krishna." 11

Points of similarity found by other writers:

In addition, there are other points of similarity between Krishna and Yeshua:

"The object of Krishna's birth was to bring about a victory of good over evil." 2

Krishna "came onto earth to cleanse the sins of the human beings." 2

"Krishna was born while his foster-father Nanda was in the city to pay his tax

to the king." 3 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."

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. 4

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. 10

"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." 10 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. 10

Were Krishna and Yeshua both crucified and later risen 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." 5 But:

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..." 6

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." 7

There are other references to Krishna being crucified, and being shown with

holes in his feet, hands and side. 5

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)

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This essay continues below.

Correspondences between beliefs in Hinduism and Christianity:

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 Savior.

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 forms a part of both religions.

The act of being born again is present in both religions.

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, that was denied by the local head of the party. 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 religion can

lead their members to god. 8

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." 9

Related essays on this web site:

Do part of the gospels come from Pagan mythology?

Search for the historical Jesus -- WWJL (What Was Jesus Like?)

References:

Kersey Graves, "The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors," Adventures Unlimited

Press, Chapter 32, Page 279. (1875; Reprinted 2001). Read reviews or order this

book safely from Amazon.com online book store. "Festivals: Krishna Janmashtami,"

at: http://www.andhratoday.com/festival/janmasht.htm "Pagan origins of the

Christ myth: Pagan Christs: Krishna," at:

http://home.earthlink.net/~pgwhacker/ChristianOrigins/PaganChrists_Other.html

Fred Nojd, "Jesus - By No Means Unique," at:

http://members.attcanada.ca/~fnojd/jesus.html Acharya S, "Suns of God: Krishna,

Buddha and Christ Unveiled," at: http://www.truthbeknown.com/kcrucified.htm

Jacolliot, "The Bible in India," Sun Publ. Co., (1992). Read reviews or order

this book safely from Amazon.com online book store. M. Guigniaut, "Religion de

l'AntiquitéShiva vs. Jesus: Hindus Burn Homes of Christians," New York

Times, 1999-MAR-23, at: http://www.churchstate.org/n990323.html "Water in

Religion," The Water Page, at: http://www.thewaterpage.com/religion.htm Jocelyn

Rhys, "The Virgin Birth Doctrine: Details of the two Gospel stories," (1922) at:

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/6868/sh02006.html Thomas Boslooper, "The

Virgin Birth," S.C.M. Press, (1962), Pages 148 & 149. Cited in: "The Virgin

Birth of Christ," at: http://www.athmaprakashini.com/virginbirth.htm

Other essays dealing with the parallels between Jesus and Krishna:

"Examining the Crucifixion of Jesus and parallels to crucified sun-G-ds #3," at:

http://paganizingfaithofyeshua.netfirms.com/crucified_gods_no_3.htm

"Pagan Christs," at: http://home.earthlink.net/~pgwhacker/ChristianOrigins/PaganChrists.html

"Jesus Christ and Bhagavan Krishna: Original Christianity as taught by Jesus and

Original Yoga as taught by Krishna; both are for the upliftment of mankind," at:

http://ompage.net/ChristKrishna/christkrishna.htm

Stephen Eck, "Hare Jesus: Christianity's Hindu Heritage," Skeptical Review,

1994, #3. Online at:

http://www.infidels.org/library/magazines/tsr/1994/3/3hare94.html

"Krishna and Jesus: Will The Real Savior Please Stand Up?," at:

http://www.atheistalliance.org/library/krishna_and_jesus.html

Prithu das Adhikary, "Jesus and Krishna," at: http://www.omjesus.com/

Fred Nojd, "Jesus - By No Means Unique," at: http://members.attcanada.ca/~fnojd/jesus.html

Site navigation:

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2001 to 2003 incl., by Ontario Consultants on Religious

ToleranceOriginally written: 2001-DEC-24Latest update: 2003-DEC-30Author: B.A.

Robinson

 

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LINKAGES BETWEEN TWO GOD-MEN SAVIORS:

CHRIST AND KRISHNA

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Views about the linkage between Krishna and Christ:

Many early Christian theologians noted the extreme similarity between

Christianity and Pagan religions such as Hinduism, Mithraism, etc.

Eusebius of Caesarea (circa 283-371 CE) wrote: "The religion of Jesus Christ is

neither new nor strange." 1

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." 2

Some early Christian leaders attributed the similarities to a trick of Satan.

They felt that Satan had created many crucified saviors, born of virgins,

before Jesus in order to discredit Christianity's uniqueness. Others attribute

the simlarities to coincidence.

Conservative Christians generally believe in the inerrancy of the Bible. Thus,

the Gospel of John is absolutely accurate when it presents Jesus Christ as a

supernatural being, the Son of God, who was present at the creation of the

universe, is the savior of humanity, and who came to earth so that believers

"might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10

KJV). Any similarity to legends about Krishna are either forgeries, or

coincidences. There was no incorporation into the Christian Gospels of Pagan

legends about the life of Krishna. The points of similarities must have

resulted from other influences. There is no Krishna-Christ linkage; the topic

is ridiculous; it is not even worth investigating.

Some skeptics have suggested that Yeshua of Nazareth (a.k.a. Jesus Christ by

most Christians) and Krishna, the second person of the Hindu trinity, are the

same person. It is rather obvious that that they are not. Jesus appears to have

been born in Palestine during the last decade BCE, whereas Krishna is dated many

millennia earlier, in India.

Some liberal religious historians have raised the possibility that stories of

Jesus' birth, ministry, execution, and resurrection were copied, at least in

part, from Krishna's life.

Many liberal Christians feel that a Hindu source for many of the events in

Jesus' life is a topic is worth studying. Many Pagan religious belief systems,

including Hinduism, permeated the Mediterranean region in the 1st century CE.

There were various male heroes within Egyptian, Greek, Indian, Roman and other

Pagan pantheons of Gods, whose role was to be saviors to humanity -- much like

Jesus. In order to compete with those religions, Christianity would have had to

describe Jesus in terms that matched or surpassed the Pagan legends. The authors

of the gospels may well have picked up themes from other sources and added them

to their writings in order to make Christianity more credible to a Pagan world.

By isolating and removing such foreign material, we might be able to get a

clearer picture of what Jesus taught and how he lived.

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:

A very human, itinerant, Jewish, rabbi-healer.

A teacher who largely followed the teachings of Hillel, a liberal Jewish rabbi

from the 1st century BCE.

A 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 Yeshua's 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 abandoned.

Beliefs about Jesus:

A few skeptics claim that Yeshua of Nazareth was a purely mythical character.

Some others believe that he was a real individual who lived in perhaps the 2nd

or 3rd century BCE. But there is a near consensus that Yeshua of Nazareth was

born in Palestine circa 4 to 7 BCE.

Beliefs about his nature and role differ:

Most Christians believe that he is the Son of God, the second personality in the

Trinity. He spent a relatively short period preaching and healing (one year

mainly in the Galilee according to the synoptic gospels; three years mainly in

Judah according to the Gospel of John). He was executed, resurrected and

ascended into heaven. Conservative Christians believe that the normal

destination for human beings is eternal punishment in Hell; only a relatively

small percentage of people who trust Jesus as Lord and Savior will escape this

fate.

Muslims believe that Jesus was one of the greatest of prophets. He was neither

crucified nor resurrected; he died at an advanced age. They regard God as being

single and indivisible, not a Trinity of personalities.

Jewish Christians circa 30 CE appear to have believed that he was a Jewish

reformer, teacher, prophet, and native healer, but not a deity.

In the early Christian movement, Gnostic Christians believed that Jesus was a

spirit being, who only appeared to be a person in the flesh.

About Krishna (a.k.a. Chrishna):

Krishna was born, lived and died at least 14 centuries before Yeshua. Estimates

of his birth date vary. Some are 1477, 3112, 3600, 5150, and 5771 BCE. 3,4

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."

5 Lord Krishna was just such an incarnation. "Krishna is 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 also 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' ." 6

* The writer appears to be in error. Most Hindu sources list Krishna as the

eighth incarnation of Vishnu; the ninth was Buddha.]

He is 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." 7

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This essay continues below.

Are Jesus and Krishna the same individual?

For reasons noted above in the Overview, that is impossible. But 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. 8,9

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:

'I am the beginning, the middle, and the end' (BG 10:20 vs. Rev. 1:8 ).

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 .

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:

'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 ).

 

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 ).

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 ).

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." 10

The author Kersey Graves wrote a book in 1875 which lists 346 "striking

analogies between Christ and Chrishna." 11 A selection of the precise matches

between Yeshua's and Krishna's life is listed in a separate essay.

Related essays on this web site:

Do part of the gospels come from Pagan mythology?

Search for the historical Jesus -- WWJL (What Was Jesus Like?)

References:

Eusebius of Caesarea, "Church History, Book IV. Exact original citation unknown. Copied from:

Kersey Graves, "The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors," Adventures Unlimited

Press, Chapter 32, Page 280. (1875; Reprinted 2001). Read reviews or order this

book safely from Amazon.com online book store.

Padmakar Vishnu Vartak, "The Scientific Dating of the Mahabharat War..." posted

at: http://www.hindunet.org/alt_hindu/ Op Cit., Kersey Graves, Chapter 32, Page

279. "Childhood -- Miracle in Mathura," The Illustrated Story of Krishna, at:

http://www.angelfire.com/ms/krishnapage/bk101.html "Happy Birthday Krishna,"

at: http://hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/aa082000a.htm "The Exploits of

Krishna," at: http://hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/extra/bl-krishna.htm

Jocelyn Rhys, "Shaken Creeds," Part II -- The Virgin Birth Story," (1922) at:

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/6868/sh02006.html "Jesus -- a Ray of

Vishnu: Are Jesus and Krishna one?" at:

http://www.iskcon.net/oregon/jesus/jesuskrishnaone.htm Stephen Van Eck, "Hare

Jesus: Christianity's Hindu Heritage," at:

http://www.infidels.org/library/magazines/tsr/1994/3/3hare94.html Op Cit,

Kersey Graves, Chapter 32, Page 279.

Other essays dealing with the parallels between Jesus and Krishna:

"Examining the Crucifixion of Jesus and parallels to crucified sun-G-ds #3," at:

http://paganizingfaithofyeshua.netfirms.com/crucified_gods_no_3.htm

"Pagan Christs," at: http://home.earthlink.net/~pgwhacker/ChristianOrigins/PaganChrists.html

"Jesus Christ and Bhagavan Krishna: Original Christianity as taught by Jesus and

Original Yoga as taught by Krishna; both are for the upliftment of mankind," at:

http://ompage.net/ChristKrishna/christkrishna.htm

Stephen Eck, "Hare Jesus: Christianity's Hindu Heritage," Skeptical Review,

1994, #3. Online at:

http://www.infidels.org/library/magazines/tsr/1994/3/3hare94.html

"Krishna and Jesus: Will The Real Savior Please Stand Up?," at:

http://www.atheistalliance.org/library/krishna_and_jesus.html

Prithu das Adhikary, "Jesus and Krishna," at: http://www.omjesus.com/

Fred Nojd, "Jesus - By No Means Unique," at: http://members.attcanada.ca/~fnojd/jesus.html

Site navigation:

Home page > Christianity > Christian personalities > Jesus > Pagan link > here

or: Home page > Hinduism > here

2001 & 2003 by Ontario Consultants on Religious ToleranceOriginally

written: 2001-DEC-24Latest update: 2003-JUN-13Author: B.A. Robinson

 

Go to the previous page, or to the Jesus-Pagan link menu, or to the Hinduism menu, or choose:

>