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Are Jesus and Krishna one? This idea often suggested to us is due to the statement taken from John: "I and my Father are one" (John 10:30). While it has already been pointed out previously that this latest of Gospels, written around AD 125, is-short of a few sentences-widely questioned by scholars due to it's exaggerated claims and Christological tendencies, the idea of Jesus being God incarnate appears much earlier, beginning with Paul's letter to the Romans (written around AD 55): "Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen" (Roman 9:5). From there then this idea begins to spread and works itself throughout the centuries, even up into our modern times. It is remarkable that already Plinius Caecilius Secundus (AD 61-114), the Proconsul of the province of Bithynia in AD 111, in his now famous letters to the Emperor Trajan on the Christians noticed that "it was their habit on a fixed day to assemble before daylight and recite a hymn to Christ as a God ("Carmen Christo qasi deo decere secum invincem"). In time therefore the Pauline concept gained enthusiastic support within the gentile Christians, heavily opposed by Ebionite Christians and other early Christian Groups-consequently branded heretics. This God-concept was further greatly elaborated on by Gregory of Nyassa (AD 335), who formulated the Trinitarian doctrine of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which emerged then as a clear and cogent answer to Arian questioning. Finally it found its ultimate dogmatic formulation in the so-called Athanasian Creed (c. AD 500), una substantia-tres personae ("one substance-three persons") which settled the Arian controversy once and for all. However if we look into the Gospels themselves-at least to the synoptic Gospels-Mark, Matthew and Luke-we find no notion of Jesus as God incarnate. Rather it says in Mark 10:8 and Luke 18:19: "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone." Scholars in general agree that Jesus himself surely never considered himself divine, God incarnate, the second person of the Trinity. Even the Gospel of John for all its Christological pronouncements says: "My Father is greater than I" ( John 14:28). Considering the statement: "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them unto babes" (Luke 10:21), babes don't have the Trinity in mind when reading the Bible. Rather the concept of Jesus being God evolved in time. It has not to do with the Jesus of History, but rather what Christians, beginning with Paul, in time came to believe about Jesus. Burton L. Mack suggests that rather than being the view of the Jesus movement or the people of Q, this idea reflects the mindset of a North Syrian Christ cult, an assumed departure from the Jesus movement-Paul being it's notable exponent. From Vedic evidence it is clear that Jesus is not Krishna. One only needs to contemplate Krishna's opulence as described in the Vedic version to come to this conclusion. Here are some examples: Nowhere in the New Testament does Jesus claim that he is omnipresent, as Krishna does: sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto-"I am in the heart of all beings" (Bhagavad-gita 15.15), "present in every atom"-andantara stha paramanu cayantara stham (Brahma Samhita 5.35), and that He can be seen as such by one with perfect vision: yo mam pasyati sarvatra sarvam ca mayi pasyati-"For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me" (Bhagavad-gita 6:30). Nor does Jesus claim that he is omnipotent- mattah
parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya as Krishna states: "There is no truth beyond Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread" (Bhagavad-gita 7.7). That he is the strength of the strong-balam balavatam caham (7.11), the intelligence of the intelligent-buddhir buddhimatam asmi (7.10), and the ability in man-tejas tejasvinam aham (7.10). Nor does Jesus says he is omniscient-vedaham samatitani vartamanani carjuna bhavisyani ca bhutani mam tu veda na kascana-"O Arjuna, I know everything that has happened in the past, all that is happening in the present, and all things that are yet to come. I also know all living entities; but Me no one knows" (Bhagavad-gita 7.26). bahuni
me vyatitani janmani tava carjuna "Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot!" (Bhagavad-gita 4.5). Further, Jesus does not proclaim himself the source of all beings-bijam mam sarva bhutanam (7.10)-"the original seed" and "the father of all"-aham bija-pradah pita (14.4). Nor
did Jesus teach that the entire creation is resting on him: aham
sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate "I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts" (Bhagavad-gita 10.8). etad-yonini
bhutani sarvanity upadharaya "Of all that is material and all that is spiritual in this world, know for certain that I am both the origin and the dissolution" (7.6). Jesus does not claim to be the supreme controller-isvarah paramah krsnah (Brahma Samhita 5.1), the cause of all physical phenomena-tapamy aham aham varsam nigrhnamy utsrjami ca-"I give heat, and I withhold and send forth the rain" (9.19), or "the cause of all causes, material and spiritual"-sarva karana karanam (Brahma Samhita 5.1). Nor does Jesus claim to be "immortality, death personified"-amrtam caiva mrtyus ca sad asac caham arjuna, or say: "both spirit and matter are in Me"-sad asac caham arjuna (9.19). Jesus does not say that material nature is under his control-mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram (Bhagavad-gita 9.1), that all innumerable living entities are his parts and parcels-yena bhutany asesani draksyasy atmany atho mayi (Bhagavad-gita 4.35), that he is the cause of all creation-yad yad vibhutimat sattvam srimad urjitam eva va, or-tat tad evavagaccha tvam mama tejo-'msa-sambhavam-know that all opulent, beautiful and glorious creations spring from but a spark of My splendor" (10.41). Nor does Jesus proclaim: "What need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe"-atha va bahunaitena kim jnatena tavarjuna vistabhyaham idam krtsnam ekamsena sthito jagat (10.42). However all this does not mean that Jesus is an ordinary being who ascended to perfection. Neither was his body sac-cit-ananda vigraha, a transcendental body of knowledge and bliss, as Krishna's (Brahma Samhita 5.1). It is quite clear from what scholars tell us that neither Jesus nor his original followers in Galilee or later Jerusalem, i.e. the members of the Jesus movement, considered Jesus "the Word (which) became flesh and lived among us," God incarnate, the second person of the Trinity, the son of man who will be coming to us in the future on the clouds: "For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man" (Matthew 24:27). However, Jesus as a perfect being, an empowered shaktyavesa avatara, an eternally perfect soul , descends, endowed with divine power, to save the fallen souls in this material world. Such a body is not subject to the same laws governing us poor fellows. A person on that level is endowed with eight mystic opulences, some of them demonstrated in the Gospels: anima
siddhi-one can go though walls or closed doors (John 20:19,26), As far as liberated souls such as Jesus, jivan mukta, free from the inebriety of the material laws, it is stated: iha
yasya harer dasye karmana manasa gira "A person acting in Krishna consciousness (or, in other words, in the service of Krishna) with his body, mind, intelligence and words is a liberated person even within the material world, even if engaged in so-called material activities." Srila Prabhupada explains: (such a devotee) "has no false ego, for he does not believe that he is this material body, or that he possesses the body. He knows that he is not this body and that this body does not belong to him. He himself belongs to Krishna, and the body too belongs to Krishna. When he applies everything produced of the body, mind, intelligence, words, life, wealth, etc.-whatever he may have within his possession-to Krishna's service, he is at once dovetailed with Krishna. He is one with Krishna and is devoid of the false ego that leads one to believe that he is the body, etc. This is the perfect stage of Krishna consciousness" (Bhagavad-gita 5.11 purport). "Such a devotee of the Lord can withstand all onslaughts of material nature, and therefore he is known as gosvami. Only such gosvamis can penetrate the mysteries of the Lord's transcendental loving relationships" (Srimad Bhagavatam 3.4.31 purport). Such a person is on the platform called vasudeva or suddha sattva, beyond material nature, one with Krishna, not in personality but in interest, in service and love, "in this world but not of it." mam
ca yo 'vyabhicarena bhakti-yogena sevate "One who always engages in the spiritual activities of unalloyed devotional service at once transcends the modes of material nature and reaches the platform of Brahman (the transcendental platform)" (Bhagavad-gita 14.26). The inconceivable state of consciousness of a liberated soul, jivan muktah, a person on the vasudeva platform, absorbed in God in his relationship to his body is described as such in Bhagavad-gita: naiva
kincit karomiti yukto manyeta tattva-vit "A person in the divine consciousness, although engaged in seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving about, sleeping and breathing, always knows within himself that he actually does nothing at all. Because while speaking, evacuating, receiving, or opening or closing his eyes, he always knows that only the material senses are engaged with their objects and that he is aloof from them" (Bhagavad-gita 5.8-9). Such devotees see in their heart of hearts in ecstatic vision-premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santah sadaiva hrdayesu vilokayanti-the eyes tinged with the salve of love syamasundaram acintya-guna-svarupam-the inconceivable transcendental form of Syamasundara, Krishna, at every given time. Such a person on the platform of prasannatma-ecstasy-sees God everywhere: yo
mam pasyati sarvatra sarvam ca mayi pasyati "For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me" (Bhagavad-gita 6.30). He is on the brahma bhuta platform, a liberated soul: brahma-bhutah
prasannatma na socati na kanksati free from lamentation-na socati-even when facing intense tribulations like crucifixion: "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children"(Luke 23:28). He
has nothing left to desire-na kanksati. Being with Krishna (in Krishna Consciousness), they are not afraid under any conditions: narayana-parah
sarve na kutascana bibhyati "Devotees solely engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narayana, never fear any condition of life. For them the heavenly planets, liberation and the hellish planets are all the same, for such devotees are interested only in the service of the Lord" (Srimad Bhagavatam 6.17.28). Nor are they subject to the law of karma or the laws of nature like ordinary human beings: mahatmanas
tu mam partha daivim prakrtim asritah "O son of Prtha, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible" (Bhagavad-gita 9.13). Nor can they be killed, under ordinary circumstances: kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranasyati "O son of Kunti, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes" (Bhagavad-gita 9.31). There is ample evidence from our scriptures that perfect souls like Prahlada Maharaja survived all kinds of tortures and atrocities by his demonic father, being thrown in the dens of lions, into the pits of snakes or from the tops of mountains. Even Bhisma, being pierced by a thousand arrows, was beyond the laws of nature and could not be killed but left his body out of his own will, only after Sri Krishna arrived. Similarly in the 15th century, neither Mira Bhai was killed when being induced with poison, nor Haridas Thakur, who, after beaten over 21 marketplaces, was considered dead, his body thrown into the Ganges. He came to back life and walked around freely as Jesus did-after crucifixion. From the Old Testament we remember the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who preferred to be thrown into the furnace rather than eating the meat of King Nebuchadnezzar, and who had kirtan in the fire and survived (Daniel 3:19-26). mare krsna rakhe ke, rakhe krsna mare ke-if Krishna protects you, no one can kill you, and if Krishna wants to kill you, no one can save you. While the circumstances of Jesus' disappearance are by no means clear, they are indeed for us less important, even irrelevant. As Srila Prabhupada pointed out: "preaching is the essence." The teachings of Jesus are the most essential part of his mission and incarnation, rather than what happened thereafter. In fact, by getting preoccupied with the death of Jesus, the empty grave and thereafter-curiously called by Theologians the 'after-Easter perspective'-the whole emphasis of Jesus' teachings-to leave things behind turn to God with heart, soul and mind-becomes clouded and is ultimately lost. Consequently, as early as 1977 Srila Prabhupada, based on Vedic evidence, discounted the concept of Jesus dying for our sins as an unauthorized shift of paradigm: from the pure and perfect teachings of Jesus to salvation from the cross (Bombay, April 2, 1977). The teachings of Jesus are universal, complete in themselves and perfectly Salvific-sanatana dharma, the eternal religion of the soul in its loving relationship to the Supreme Being, unadulterated by the falsity of bodily designation, upadhis, i.e. designations as Indian, American, Hindu, Muslim, Christian and so on-sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam tat-paratvena nirmalam hrsikena hrsikesa-sevanam bhaktir ucyate (Narada-pancaratra, quoted in Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu 1.1.2.)-the actual purpose of life. Simply by surrendering to the will of God one lives with Krishna and all karma is destroyed. sarva-dharman
parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja "Abandon all varieties of dharma and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear" (Bhagavad-gita 18.66). Hence no one has to die for our sins. Jesus taught with his personal life how to surrender to God under all conditions: "Thy will be done" (Matthew 26:42), "on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). To preach this message of love Jesus was so surrendered that he would tolerate crucifixion. I adore my spiritual master, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He understood the mind of Jesus better than generations of mundane speculators.
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