Jesus: Krishna's Son!!!

By Nandagopal Jivana das (Narender Nolakha)

Recently, one of my classmates asked me that, 'You, Hare Krishnas respect Krsna and Rama that is understandable, you respect your Founder, your Guru that is also understandable but I don't understand that being a Hindu why you respect Jesus Christ so much? He was a Christian and preached against Hindu Philosophy.'
I first told him that there is no such word like Hindu ever mentioned anywhere in the Vedic (otherwise called "HINDU") Sastras. And then I told him that we should never doubt the divinity of Jesus Christ. Srila Prabhupada recognized Lord Jesus Christ as "the son of God, Krsna, His representative." Srila Prabhupada further said that because Jesus was preaching the message of Godhead, he is our Guru…our spiritual master. Jesus was preaching Krishna's or God's Message according to time, place and circumstances. He was a Saktya-avesh Avatara i.e. a living entity especially empowered by Lord.

Once a Christian Father asked Srila Prabhupada that if he has seen Jesus in Vaikuntha? Prabhupada replied with a heavy tone that 'YES, I have. When you'll come there, I'll fix a meeting with him for you….!!!!'

His Teachings
Jesus preached in a way that can also be compared to the sayings of Krishna. For example, In Bhagavad-Gita (7.6-7) Krishna said, "I am the cause of the whole universe, through Me it is created and dissolved; all things are dependent on Me as pearls are strung on a thread." Jesus said, "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."(John 1.3) Krishna had said (BG 4.7), "For the establishment of righteousness I am born from time to time." This compares to Jesus in John 18.37, wherein he says, "Thou sayest that I am a King, to this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice." These and many other comparisons can be made.
Jesus preached the Vedic teachings but being an Acharya, he molded them according to the time, place and circumstances. By studying the teachings that are ascribed to Jesus, we can easily recognize that the essence of what Jesus taught was an elementary level of the Vedic Process of Bhakti-yoga and Karma-yoga. Both of these systems are much more deeply developed and elaborated in the Vedic Texts, and more fully explained in the Vedic Texts, and more fully explained by many of India's Acharyas.

Bhakti means devotion and surrender to God. As stated in Matthew (22.36-40):
"Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law? He answered, Love the Lord thy God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. That is the greatest commandment. It comes first. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. Everything in the law and the prophets hangs on these two commandments." These two rules are the heart of the processes of Bhakti-yoga & Karma-yoga.

In this way, Jesus taught people the most basic portions of God's law and gave the most simple commandments, such as "Thou shalt not kill," and "Thou shalt not steal," and so on. This is the sign of the kind of people Jesus was dealing with. They were very primitive and had to be taught the most basic of spiritual knowledge. Obviously, one cannot comprehend advanced spiritual topics if he or she does not have any understanding of simple moral values. Therefore, Jesus was very limited in what he could teach the people of that era. As Jesus said, (St, John 16.12-13, 25):"I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he'll guide you into the truth: for he shall not speak of himself: but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak: and he'll show you things to come . . . These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall show you plainly the Father."
Thus, Jesus could not reveal the whole truth to the people of that era, but promised that there would be a time when the whole truth would be open to everyone. But whether the people accept it or not is another thing.

So, Prabhus any guesses what time in future is Jesus is talking about when the whole truth will be open to everyone??

Of course, it's not clear but as a follower of Srila Prabhupada, we take it as a hint for the appearance of Srila Prabhupada who would open the eyes of the millions of people which were closed due to darkness. He would take the torch of Knowledge and tell the truth to everyone…as Jesus is saying he would say what God tells him to say.

Srila Prabhupada's appearance predicted in the Holy Bible..!!!??
Why so??

Because we all are sons of same god, Krishna (or Vishnu)….it is He who speaks either directly or through his bonafide representatives in different languages and different places and in different scriptures. Whether we call him Allah or Yahweh or Visnu or Rama or Krsna or Buddha, He is same personality. And there are many correlations between descriptions of Yahweh in the Bible and Visnu in the Vedic literature. Few of them are as follows:
· Yahweh's voice is described to be like thunder (Job 40.9); Visnu has a voice like thunder (SB 4.30.7).
· Yahweh is described as having a rod (club) and a staff (Psalms 23.4, or 89.32); and it is well-known that Visnu, depending upon which expansions He manifests, has a club (SB 6.4.39) and a trident (4.30.7).
· A fire is sent by Yahweh to burn up His enemies (Psalms 97.3, or 50.3; also see Deut. 9.3); the chakra of Visnu is as destructive as the fire of devastation and burns His enemies to ashes (SB 6.8.23).
· Yahweh, at times, carries a shield (Deut. 33.29; Psalms 84.11); so does Visnu (SB 6.4.39).
· Yahweh rides upon a cherub (means Garuda in Jewish Encyclopedia) and Visnu also rides on Garudaji…Both concepts of God include bird-like carriers!!

The comparisons are endless…The central point to understand is that when we talk of Krsna, or Visnu, or Yahweh, we talk of the same Supreme Lord. In this way, we can see that the essence of Christianity is the basic teachings of the Vedic Philosophy.

Was Jesus Killed or Crucified???
Srila Bhaktisiddantha Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada used to say that Lord Jesus was a Vaisnava. And we can find the two most important qualities of Vaisnava in him (of course he had all the twenty six) i.e. titiksa (tolerance) and karuna (compassion. He was so tolerant that even while he was being crucified, he didn't condemn anyone. And he was so compassionate that he prayed to God to forgive the very persons who were trying to kill him. As Christ was being crucified he prayed, "Father, forgive them. They know not what they are doing."
Srila Prabhupada explains that no body could actually kill Jesus. He writes that as Jesus was the son of God and Krishna is God, so he was Krishna's son. But because they were thinking that he could be killed that's why they committed a great offence.

Thakura Bhaktivinode writes:

"He reasons ill who tells that Vaisnavas die

When thou art living still in sound!

The Vaisnavas die to live, and living,

try to spread the holy name around!"

Recently a book named "The Jesus Papers" was released in London a famous writer Michael Baigent. The book says that there is evidence that Christ survived the crucifixion and that his death was faked as a cover to allow him to escape his enemies. Pontius Pilate, the Roman procurator of Judaea who sentenced him to death, is said to have aided and abetted the mock execution because Jesus had told the Jews to pay their taxes. Writer Baigent says, "I think the crucifixion was set up to remove a particular political problem which both Pilate and Jesus found themselves in."
He argues that Pilate needed to appease the mob which was calling for Jesus's death. Baigent added: "All that Rome required was taxes were paid. Because Jesus had urged his followers to pay their taxes, Pilate had an incentive to let him live.… Suddenly he couldn't execute this man but he had to get him out of the way because he wanted peace in Judaea."

Buried in the text of the original Greek Bible, Baigent says, is an important clue. When Joseph of Arimathea goes to Pilate and asks for Jesus's body to take it down from the cross, he asks for the "soma" of Jesus meaning the living body, rather than "ptoma" meaning corpse. After recuperating, Jesus and his wife traveled to the Upper Egypt and taught mystical lore. Later they traveled the whole world.Baigent also claims he has discovered information about a mysterious document that purports to provide evidence that Jesus was alive in AD45, more than a decade after the accepted date for the crime. It was seen by Alfred Lilley, canon at Hereford Cathedral, at a church in Paris in the 1890s but later vanished. Baigent believes it now rests in the Vatican.

There is evidence, however, as more facts are being uncovered, that contends that Jesus may have been nailed to the cross but did not die on it. After having been taken from the cross, he later recovered from the ordeal rather than rose from the dead. The shroud of Turin, if it is authentic (which has been a great debate by itself), seems to provide some evidence that Jesus was not dead when taken from the cross since his body was still bleeding while wrapped in the cloth. Even if Christ did appear to die on the cross, being a yogic master, he could have put himself into trance to be revived later. This goes on even today with yogis in India or fakirs in Egypt who can appear to die, be buried for hours, days, months, or sometimes years, and then be uncovered and resurrected from their apparent death.Even the Holy Koran (4.157-158) in the sura "An-Nisa" or "The Women" states:

"That they said, 'We killed Jesus Christ, the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah.'But they killed him not, nor crucified him. Only a likeness of that was shown to them. And those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof. They have no knowledge thereof but only conjecture to follow. They kill him not for sure. But Allah took him up unto himself. Allah is Mighty, Wise."

Some of the early Christian sects did not believe that Christ was killed on the Cross. The Gospel of St. Peter states that Barabas was crucified instead of Jesus. The Basilidans believed that someone else was substituted for Christ. There is also evidence that after the crucifixion Jesus traveled through Turkey, Persia, and then India.

Furthermore, the Maha Bhavishya Purana, dating back to more than 3000 B.C. and compiled by Srila Vyasadeva, a literary incarnation of God, also described the future coming of Jesus and his activities. The Purana tells how Jesus would visit the Himalayas and do penance to acquire spiritual maturity under the guidance of the sages and siddha-yogis of India. As the name suggests, the Purana besides describing the future events of Kali-Yuga, also predicted that Jesus would be born of an unmarried woman (a virgin), Kumari (Mari or Mary) Garbha Sambhava, and would first go to India when he was 13 years old and visit many Holy places. This was his spiritual training in a time of his life of which the gospels are totally ignorant.

Hare Krishna!

Vyasa Puja Report from Delhi, India

By Madhava Kanta das

57th Vyas Puja of His Divine Grace Jayapataka Swami Maharaja Celebrated in Delhi Temple on 9th April 2006: Today Vyasa puja was celebrated at Delhi Temple by the disciples of HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaja and by all the devotees of ISKCON Delhi Temple with great enthusiasm. In the morning after Srila Prabhupada’s Guru Puja all the devotees thronged at the main temple to hear the lectures of HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaja delivered through the video projector. The temple hall was filled with devotees who heard the lectures in rapt attention. By 8.30 am the disciples of HH Jayapataka Swami completed the decoration of the Program Hall with flowers and ribbon to celebrate the Vyas Puja. Kirtan was going on with full gusto and hall was filled with ecstatic devotees. Senior devotee H.G. Venu Krishna Das lead the program with his typical humble manner. It was H.G. Jitamitra Das a senior devotee of the temple who read out the biographical accounts of Guru Maharaja. Everybody listened to Guru Maharaja’s biographical account in spellbound attention. He revealed how Guru Maharaja is doing exceptional service for spreading Namhatta and Bhakti Vriksha Program all over the world.
Vice president of the temple H.G. Vrajendra Nandan Das also offered his obeisance to Guru Maharaja by glorifying his activities that Guru Maharaja has been doing over the years. He said, “ It is only H.H. Jayapataka Maharaja whose disciples are to be found in every ISKCON temple all over the world. He is also expert in several languages and of late he is delivering lectures even in Hindi. This is his greatness to endeavor to learn several languages so as to spread the Krishna Consciousness in local languages.”

Tempe President H.G. Mohan Rupa Prabhu said, “The greatest quality of Maharaja is his humbleness. Every year Jayapataka Swami Maharaja leads the Navadvip Parikrama Mandal with thousands of devotees and the numbers of devotees are increasing in geometric proportion. Maharaja is so caring that he even gets up at 2 am in the morning and takes stock if the devotees have any inconveniences on the way. Due to Maharaja’s humbleness many devotee from Delhi who visit Mayapur makes it point to inquire whether Maharaja is in Mayapur or not. If Maharaja is there he/She straightly goes to meet Maharaja”.
H.G. Yadu Kuleshwar Das another vice president of the temple also offered his obeisance through rich vocabulary, “Jayapataka Swami Maharaja is so fortunate that he got the maximum blessings form Srila Prabhupada and Panchatattva. Maharaja is very expert in swimming, and sometime His Holiness helps devotees to save from drowning in Ganges, and similarly His Holiness is helping people from getting drown in this Samsar Sagar - the material ocean.”
Another devotee H.G. Dina Nayak Das said, “Guru Maharaja has the special mercy of Panchatattva and he always remains in Gaura Leela. He is the main soldier in Srila Prabhupada army to lead Lord Caitanya’s movement”.
All the senior devotees and disciples of Guru maharaj’s spoke one by one in succession glorifying his great activities all over the world. Wished their heartiest congratulations on the Vyas Puja to Guru Maharaja After that Prasadam was offered to Guru Maharaja. And then all the assembled devotees offered Pushpanjali. Madhava kanta Das performed the Vyas Puja and offered Maha arati amidst enchanting Kirtan and reverberating sound of Mridanga and cymbals. Ecstatic guru puja kirtan was lead by H.G. Kalrupi prabhu. All the devotees present began to dance in ecstatic mood. As kirtan came to an end all the devotees took a variety of Ekadashi Prasadam arranged on the occasion. All the devotees took prasadam glorifying Guru Maharaja’s great qualities. We had big ekadasi cake for Guru Maharaja. Around 350 devotees attended the Vyas Puja festival, including 25 initiated disciples of Guru Maharaja. Glorification was continued till 12.30 while Prasadam distribution was going on other side. All the disciples got opportunity to present their homage to beloved Guru Maharaja. It was a Vyas Puja of great celebration. We pray to Krishna “may this vyas puja day come every day in our life”.

Tomorrow Disciples of Guru Maharaja are going to arrange a big feast for everybody.

[Report and Photo by Panchatattva Prema Das (Pranab Saikia – Journalist)
Madhava Kanta das (Mrinal Kanti Das – Servant of Guru Maharaja)]

Sri Rama Navami Celebrated

By Nandagopal Jivana das

Sri Rama Navami, Appearance day of Lord Sri Ramachandra was celebrated at ISKCON New Delhi, Sri Sri Radha Parthasarathi Mandir on 7th April, Friday. Atleast 5,000 people visited the temple to receive the blessings of the All Merciful Lord on his special day. The Lord was dressed in all new dark yellow dress with blue color peacocks made on it. All the three altars—Sri Sri Radha Parthasarathi, Sri Sri Sita Rama Lakshmana Hanuman, Sri Sri Gaura Nitai were fully decorated with varieties of flowers and fruits. Temple Hall was also Full of Flowers. And, of course, Prabhupada was there to guide us to celebrate it with all our heart and soul. He was sitting, as usual, on his Vyasa-asana which was also decorated by flowers for the occasion, just next to the entrance of temple hall watching everything and everyone as we celebrated this great day.

Celebrities including Ambika Soni (Tourism Minister), Krishna Tirtha (M.P., Karol Bagh), Environment Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Amar Ujjval Singh, Meera Goyal (Mayor, South Delhi), His Excellency B.L. Joshi (Lieutenant Governor of Delhi), R.P. Singh (MCD Councilor) and Many More visited the temple to receive the blessings of the Lord.
From past 9 days, celebrations were going on. From 30th march to 5th April, H.G. Vrajendra Nandan Prabhu spoke “Sri Rama Katha” from his lotus mouth in the temple auditorium. This Ram Katha was attended by around 400 people everyday. On 6th, discourses were given at regular intervals on the life of Sri Rama and Kirtan was going on throughout the day for the pleasure of the Lord. In the evening, Rama-Lila was performed in the Pandal which was attended by more than 2,000 people. And at last but, hold on, not the least, the most auspicious day arrived i.e. 7th April, 2006, the appearance day of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Rama.
In today’s world we find nothing but miseries, ranging from bodily diseases to mental problems to wars between nations, communities, friends, relatives, etc. to uncountable natural disasters. Is there any solution to all these pains??
The Rama Navami celebrations and festivities is meant to bring about peace and happiness in our lives, by giving us a chance to think of, talk of, and remember the pastimes of the Lord. Since He is the only owner and enjoyer of everything and above all He is the well-wishing friend of everyone, then where is the question of unhappiness, disturbance, and misery? Only by surrendering to him can we become free from unhappiness and misery.
The festival of Rama Navami gives us a chance to bring the Lord to the center of our lives and help us in developing love for him, and hence provide us with a path by which we can go back home, back to Godhead.
We were also very fortunate that H.H. Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaja was present at the celebrations and we took this great opportunity of receiving his blessings as well. In the Morning, Maharaja Ji gave a discourse on Srimad Bhagavatam describing the Glories of Rama-Rajya, which we all are dreaming for. Even, Mahatma Gandhi dreamed that he would one day see Rama- Rajya in India. Maharaja explained how all bodily & mental sufferings, diseases, old age, lamentation, distress, fear & fatigue were completely absent during Lord Ram’s Kingdom. There was even no death for those who did not want it.
Rama Rajya was immensely popular& beneficial, and the spreading of Hare Krishna Movement can immediately introduce a similar situation even in this Kaliyuga.

After this, there was a Maha- Abhishek of Sri Sri Sita Ram Lakshmana, with the Vedic hymns like Rama Raksha Stotra, Rama Shahasra Naam; Sri Brahma Samhita was being chanted in the background, which lasted for around one hour or so. During the Abhishek, H.G. Mohan Rupa Prabhu was doing ecstatic Kirtan all the time, all the time for around one hour inspite of his ill-health. Maharaja Ji was present in the Sita-Rama Alter. Then, Lord was offered 56 bhog, fifty-six different types of Eatables along with a huge cake.
After this, it was time for feasting after the half day fasting at around 1 pm. ISKCON’s World Famous Love Feast was distributed to all the visitors and guests. “Steamy Hot Puris along with subzi, khichadi, halwa, sweets and thandai.”—The Menu may be commonplace but flavor was not, claims the Sood Family who were present in the celebrations from the morning.
Another Visitor, Mrs. Aggarwal says: “There is something special, something divine in the bhandara food. It’s as though Lord Rama himself blessed it. You’ll never get the same taste at home.”
And it was true that Lord Rama had personally ate that food and have blessed it for us, the fallen souls, for it was not an ordinary bhandara but it was Lord’s Prasada i.e. His remnants, His mercy in form of food. More than 1,000 tasted that something divine by having their own plates full of Prasadam. It’s astonishing that so many people attended the ceremony inspite of it being a working day.
In the evening, H.H. Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaja continued his morning discourse, in the pandal, on the glories of Rama-Rajya and how we can have it in this age of quarrel and hypocrisy. More than 2.000 people attended it which was followed by an ecstatic kirtan and a full- dinner Prasadam for all the guests. Maharaja ji very humbly requested all those who were present at the programme to take to the process of Devotional Service of the Supreme lord.
Anukaran Singh, a Sikh, who attended the lecture was more happy then anyone else. The reason he said was that he liked Maharaja Ji’s lecture very much and was very much inspired by him. He said that “Maharaja just speaks like Guru Nanak,” as Guru Nanak, he added, advises us in Granth Sahib to always chant the holy names of Rama, Maharaja also always stress on the same point. I think Guru Nanak himself is speaking from Maharaja Ji’s Lotus Mouth.
“Guru Nanak advises us, ‘Having heard the name of Lord Rama, we have become absorbed with love of God…The Name of Rama pleases the chanter’s mind, and he achieves supreme happiness. He for whom the chanting of the name of Rama is a constant companion, even when leaving this world he never goes to the world of Yamaraja. O brother, I meditate on Lord Rama.’”
(Raga Asa IV, Ghar I, Chant II, IX.1, 2.3)
So, I take this opportunity to thank all the devotees for their dedicated service for the success of the festival. I am sure that whosoever has contributed even a little, would definitely get the special blessings of Sri Sri Sita Rama Lakshmana Hanumanji.

Wishing you all once again a very very Happy Rama Navami.