Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions Part 76

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 _G.o.d_.[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 _G.o.d_.[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 l.u.s.ter, so beheld he the glories of the universe collected in the one person of the G.o.d of G.o.ds."[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 s.h.i.+ne 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 n.o.bly 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 n.o.bly 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 a.s.sume the form of a man."[283:11]

38. Jesus is the very Supreme Jehovah, though it be a _mystery_ how the Supreme should a.s.sume the form of a man, for "Great is the mystery of G.o.dliness."[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 G.o.d by deep abstraction, abandon his possessions and his hopes, betake himself to some secluded spot, and fix his heart and thoughts on G.o.d 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 G.o.d"[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 h.e.l.l 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 wors.h.i.+p 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 s.h.i.+ne, for know that all the l.u.s.tre 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 s.h.i.+ne in it; for the glory of G.o.d did lighten it."[284:16]

Many other remarkable pa.s.sages 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 t.i.tles of "Saviour," "Redeemer," "Preserver,"

"Comforter," "Mediator," &c. He was called "The Resurrection and the Life," "The Lord of Lords," "The Great G.o.d," "The Holy One," "The Good Shepherd," &c. All of which are t.i.tles applied to Christ Jesus.

Justice, humanity, good faith, compa.s.sion, 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 wors.h.i.+p of the crucified G.o.d in India, consoles himself by saying: "That which P.

Ca.s.sia.n.u.s 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.