Is Jesus Christ the same as Krishna?
The Christ-Krishna connection pops finds its way into many spiritual conversations. It is a way of communicating that we are all on the same journey, and looking for the same thing. Both are said to be sons of God divinely conceived, both had prophesied births, both were born in unique circumstances, with Christ in a manger and Krishna in a jail cell, both escaped death from evil forces as infants, both entered into worlds filled with social upheavals, both were pierced with sharp weapons—Christ with nails and a spear and Krishna with an arrow, and both taught love and peace. How do the two really match up?
Christianity teaches that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man in one person (John 1:1-3, 14), whereas Hinduism teaches Krishna is an avatar and one of many incarnations of Vishnu, thus Krishna says, “Manifold the renewals of my birth have been.”1 They teach Brahman decided to enter into the world as the eighth child of DChristianity teaches Jesus Christ was born of a virgin named Mary (Matt. 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38), whereas Hinduism teaches that Brahman decided to enter into the world as the eighth child of Devaki. Krishna, moreover, has six brothers who are really demonic incarnations of a demon named Hiranyakasipu, another brother who is also an incarnation of Brahman.2 Christianity teaches that Jesus was crucified, according to the Scriptures, buried, but rose again the third day, and was seen by many witnesses (1 Cor. 15:3-11), whereas Hinduism teaches that Krishna was “united himself with his own pure, spiritual, inexhaustible, inconceivable, unborn, undecaying, imperishable, and universal spirit,” as the result of being accidently shot by an arrow by a hunter named Jara, who mistook him for a deer.3
What really distinguishes Christ from Krishna—which cannot be ignored—is the essence of spiritual figurehead’s message. Christianity teaches that God created the universe and man in His own image both male and female. God appointed man to have dominion over all creation, but man sinned and fell into sin and death. Not even the creation was spared from the fall. God, however, worked throughout history to save man from sin. All of history culminates in the incarnation of the Son, the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection, which is the center of all history, wherein God provides a way for man to be saved from sin by grace through faith, and offers hope that one day man can have victory over death in the resurrection at the end of the age. God is also in the process of bringing about a new heaven and new earth, and a New Jerusalem for the righteous. Paradise lost will be Paradise restored.
Hinduism, on the other hand, teaches that the universe is an illusion, that there is one ultimate reality or Brahman, and that all things perceived (angels, demons, animals, plants, humans, etc.) are in reality extensions of the one ultimate reality. Avatars can be humans like Krishna or animals, but their message is for people to realize the world is an illusion, and the ultimate reality is Brahman. Unless one comes to know ultimate reality, they shall remain in the cycle of birth, death, and reincarnation, with karmic law determining circumstances in the next life. It is through one’s own efforts in mastering Hindu spirituality through things like Transcendental Meditation and yoga that one can attain truth, erase karmic debt, and ultimately attain Nirvana.
We live in a world that wants to avoid antithesis like truth and lie, right and wrong, good and evil. Instead, emphasis is placed upon the similar, while dissimilarity is ignored. So it is more about what makes the world one, than what makes the world diverse. This is certainly attractive, since it avoids uncomfortable polarities and divisions, especially if you are dealing in a global dynamic with people, who are as diverse as diverse can be. Yet, antithesis cannot be abandoned for those looking for something real. We might find some parallels between Krishna and Christ, but the differences really matter. If all things are one, antithesis between truth and error, right and wrong, good and evil, love and hate, justice and injustice really do not exists. All things would be Brahman and the differences an illusion. Why coexist at all? There is, however, another way.
1. Bahgavadgita, 4, translated by Sir Edwin Arnold (Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1993), 20.
2. The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition, translated by H. H. Wilson (London, John Murray, 1840), 492-499. (http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp118.htm).
3. Ibid., 612.(http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp154.htm).
Christianity teaches that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man in one person (John 1:1-3, 14), whereas Hinduism teaches Krishna is an avatar and one of many incarnations of Vishnu, thus Krishna says, “Manifold the renewals of my birth have been.”1 They teach Brahman decided to enter into the world as the eighth child of DChristianity teaches Jesus Christ was born of a virgin named Mary (Matt. 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38), whereas Hinduism teaches that Brahman decided to enter into the world as the eighth child of Devaki. Krishna, moreover, has six brothers who are really demonic incarnations of a demon named Hiranyakasipu, another brother who is also an incarnation of Brahman.2 Christianity teaches that Jesus was crucified, according to the Scriptures, buried, but rose again the third day, and was seen by many witnesses (1 Cor. 15:3-11), whereas Hinduism teaches that Krishna was “united himself with his own pure, spiritual, inexhaustible, inconceivable, unborn, undecaying, imperishable, and universal spirit,” as the result of being accidently shot by an arrow by a hunter named Jara, who mistook him for a deer.3
What really distinguishes Christ from Krishna—which cannot be ignored—is the essence of spiritual figurehead’s message. Christianity teaches that God created the universe and man in His own image both male and female. God appointed man to have dominion over all creation, but man sinned and fell into sin and death. Not even the creation was spared from the fall. God, however, worked throughout history to save man from sin. All of history culminates in the incarnation of the Son, the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection, which is the center of all history, wherein God provides a way for man to be saved from sin by grace through faith, and offers hope that one day man can have victory over death in the resurrection at the end of the age. God is also in the process of bringing about a new heaven and new earth, and a New Jerusalem for the righteous. Paradise lost will be Paradise restored.
Hinduism, on the other hand, teaches that the universe is an illusion, that there is one ultimate reality or Brahman, and that all things perceived (angels, demons, animals, plants, humans, etc.) are in reality extensions of the one ultimate reality. Avatars can be humans like Krishna or animals, but their message is for people to realize the world is an illusion, and the ultimate reality is Brahman. Unless one comes to know ultimate reality, they shall remain in the cycle of birth, death, and reincarnation, with karmic law determining circumstances in the next life. It is through one’s own efforts in mastering Hindu spirituality through things like Transcendental Meditation and yoga that one can attain truth, erase karmic debt, and ultimately attain Nirvana.
We live in a world that wants to avoid antithesis like truth and lie, right and wrong, good and evil. Instead, emphasis is placed upon the similar, while dissimilarity is ignored. So it is more about what makes the world one, than what makes the world diverse. This is certainly attractive, since it avoids uncomfortable polarities and divisions, especially if you are dealing in a global dynamic with people, who are as diverse as diverse can be. Yet, antithesis cannot be abandoned for those looking for something real. We might find some parallels between Krishna and Christ, but the differences really matter. If all things are one, antithesis between truth and error, right and wrong, good and evil, love and hate, justice and injustice really do not exists. All things would be Brahman and the differences an illusion. Why coexist at all? There is, however, another way.
1. Bahgavadgita, 4, translated by Sir Edwin Arnold (Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1993), 20.
2. The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition, translated by H. H. Wilson (London, John Murray, 1840), 492-499. (http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp118.htm).
3. Ibid., 612.(http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp154.htm).
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