Krishna

T

timor

New Member
Anyone have any knowledge about the Hindu god Krishna? Apparently, he was worshipped 1500 or so years before Christ, and the story of his life that is told (and was told then) VERY closely resembles Christ's..here are just a few to get yourself intrigued to go google...

-born of a virgin
-carpenter father
-died for people's sins
-crucified between two theives

I know that a couple gods, egyptian, greek, hindu, etc have parallels to Christianity...can anyone more knowledgable in this area perhaps shed some light? Personally, this is upsetting, because I just cannot seem to reconcile these parallels...whether or not the people these stories are told of ever lived, the very fact that their stories so closely resembled the life we believe Jesus to have lived is unsettling

I look forward to your input!
 
Parallels? Maybe
But Krishna = Christ? Other than the coincidences, and the name sounding slightly alike, I'd say no. Christ = Christ. Krishna != Christ

(For those that don't have ANY programming experience, != means not equal to in many languages, like Java, C, C++, etc.)
 
I'm not saying that Krishna is/was Christ. I'm saying that it appears as if the life of Christ as we know it may have been copied from a myth 1500 years younger, which is why I want reconciliation. The main point I'm trying to get at - is Christ a copy of another (or many other) god(s)?

I certainly do not believe that, but I would sleep much better seeing these parallels reconciled.
 
Christianity has roots from ancient Judism which prophesies Christ's coming. Now is there any historical proof for krishna? Christ is documented in other places besides the Bible
 
Ok, Here's what I'm going to do, first I'm going to post a bit of INformation about Krishna, then I'm going to comment on this information an how it relates to various myths and to Christ.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]The eighth and principal Avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, the preserver, the eighth child of Vasu-deva and Devaki, the principle expounder of Vedantism. Crowley considered him to be a human being, a Magus of A:. A:., whose Word has survived as INRI. This formula expresses the secret workings of harmonious change within Nature. In this capacity, Crowley identified Krishna with a complex of other mythic figures, especially Dionysus, Osiris, Baldur, Adonis, Attis, Marsyas and Jesus Christ. The word of Krishna as a Magus of Ind was AUM, the Word of Dionysus as a Magus of Hellas was IAO. See Chapter 71 of Liber Aleph and Chapter 7 of The Book of Lies. The name Krishna means "the Dark One," and he is usually depicted with dark blue skin, and playing a flute.

According to the legend, Kansa, the cruel king of the Yâdavas at Mathura (near Âgra), usurper of his own father's throne, heard a voice one day which predicted that a child of his sister Devaki would destroy him. In his terror, he went to Devaki and killed the six of her newborn children that he could find. The seventh, Balarâma, though conceived by Devaki, had been, by the grace of the gods, borne by her sister. The eighth, Krishna, born on the vernal equinox, had been smuggled out of Mathura along with his brother Balarâma and switched with the child of a peasant. Kansa noticed that two of Devaki's children were missing, and ordered the massacre of every strong-looking male child in the city.

While Kansa massacred the children of Mathura, the infant Krishna lay safely the stable of Nanden, surrounded by cowherds. Brahmâ, Shiva and the other gods visited him to pay him tribute, showering him with flowers. Marked by the gods with a Srivatsa (looped cross) on his breast, Krishna grew up in safety in the country, sporting with milkmaids, playing his flute, disputing with holy men, and engaging in various heroics and pranks. The Hindu "Song of Songs," the Gîtâ Govinda, contains a type of erotic mysticism couched in the stories of Krishna and the milkmaids.

Kansa, having finally discovered the ruse, determined to lure the two youths to the city, there to capture and slay them. He announced a great tournament, to which all the country folk were invited. The brothers and their fellow cow-herds accepted the invitation and went to Mathura. Krishna, being divine, easily bested all of Kansa's champions and eluded all of Kansa's traps. Finally, he leapt up to the dais on which Kansa sat, dragged him down by the hair and killed him.

Krishna assumed his rightful place as ruler of Mathura, then descended into the city of the dead to recover his six slain brothers. With a sudden blast on his conch shell, he so frightened Yama, the lord of death, that he was able to escape with his brothers.

He later became involved in the Mahâbhârata, the great war between the Kurus and the Pândavas, serving as the charioteer of Arjuna, "the Bright One." At the commencement of the fighting, Arjuna faltered, and told Krishna that he was unable to strike against his beloved brothers the Kurus. Krishna revealed to him the necessity for a warrior to fight, and to abandon personal considerations in the accomplishment of his Dharma (destiny, or true will). Krishna's exposition to Arjuna is set forth in the Bhagavad Gîtâ, or "Song of God," which is included in the Liber E and A:. A:. Section 1 reading lists. In 1885, Sir Edward Arnold, author of The Light of Asia, produced an English poetic version of the Bhagavad Gîtâ called "The Song Celestial," which is included in Section 2 of the A:. A:. reading list. The Bhagavad Gîtâ is one chapter of a larger work, the Mahâbhârata, the complete history of the Great War. The Mahâbhârata is one of the great classics of Hinduism, as well as of human history, and deserves the attention of every Thelemite.

After the great war, Krishna returned to Mathura and eventually died. Seated cross-legged in the forest, he was wounded in his single vulnerable place, his left heel, by an arrow shot by the hunter Jarâ (which means "cold" or "old age"), who had mistaken Krishna for a deer. Krishna pronounced his forgiveness of Jarâ, saying he "knew not what he did," and sent him to heaven in his own chariot before he died himself.

Having died in the far West of India, Krishna's bones were carried at the command of Vishnu to Puri, in the far East of India. Here his bones were enshrined, and his worship under the name Jaganath ("Lord of the World," the origin of our word Juggernaut) was instituted.
Click to expand...

Well looking at a glance at this story you definitely see parrallels to the Christ story.  Yet a parrallel is not the same as a similiarity.    First for the story of Krishna, there are no good (from an archelogical standpoint) accounts of Krishna's life.  We have various books, which we believe can be traced back 1500 years before Christ, yet if you look closer at the story, there are no claims by Krishna that he was God.  There are no true miracles.  Most importantly there is NO sacrificial death and reserruction. (also notice that his 'vunerable' spot just happens to be his Achille's heal).

So to describe his life in a nutshell
1) born of the sister of the woman who conceived him (and there is no claim to virgin birth, for all we know this sister was quite promiscous).  While Christ grew up the son of a carpenter, Krishna was the son of a princess, being raised by peasants.
2) Grow up 'sporting with milkmaids and playing the flute'  Sexual activity in Hindu cultures is different than in Christian cultures.  It's more open, and more accepted outside the restrictions that God requires of us to hold ourselves to. So his 'sporting' while not a Christian accepted value, would have been culturally acceptable for him.
3) To capture him, his uncle held a tournament (this sounds like the story of Robin Hood), which Krishna won, then killed his uncle an took his thrown.
4) fought in a war (which according to Hindism, is where he defeated the demon that he had left his form as Vishnu to conquer)
5) killed by an arrow

now let's look at Christ's life
1) Born of a virgin, with His Davidic heritage able to be traced back both through his mother's (for a literal Davidic bloodline) and through Joseph (for a legal Davidic bloodline)
2) Raised according to Jewish traditions with the laws/sacrifices/rituals that accompany that
3)Began his teaching/ministry career with a direct confirmation from God that He was God's son, and His first miracle happened shortly afterwards.  He spent the next 3.5 years teaching, healing, and doing other various miracles.  Was captured, tortured and crucified.  While some say that He wasn't on the cross long enough to actually die, that's not entirely true, due to the toture He had already been through, His body could have expired that quickly, plus it was already evidenced by the seperation of blood and water during His peirced side.
5) AFter 3 days of death (a number used to help convince Jews, esp. considering their thoughts on death and the soul) came back to life, and was seen by hundreds.  Ascended to Heaven an now is alive at the right hand of the Father.


Anyways my point, the parrallels are there.  Yet in the stories of Krishna, they are just stories.  Spiritual tellings, of Vishnu's concern for the balance of good and evil.  For when you get down to it, that's what Krishna was around for.  He came here to destroy a demon to right the balance of good and evil on this earth (as he had done during his other various avatars on earth)  Yet Christ came, was seen, we have 4 seperate accounts of His life, and most importantly His mission was to bring us closer to God.  He didn't come here to bring a balance, He came here to fulfill the law, and bring us salvation through grace.
 
Amen! Thanks for the explanation. I personally knew nothing regarding Krishna.

Hey Kidan! I've missed ya. Glad you found the new domain name. Haven't seen you playing JO in awhile.
 
s^2--I've found the site for awhile, there was just nothing I wanted to post in this section, though I have been posting elsewhere. as for JK2, whenever I check the servers there are only bots on so I go play CS, plus I just recently got ST: Bridge Commander, so i've been playing that.

Timor--glad to be of assistance, plus I like fulfilling the 'hunches' folks have of me..
biggrin.gif
 
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