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The Striking Similarity Between the Birth and Activities of Christ and Krishna

(To watch an illustrative 6 minute slideshow video narration of this text by yours truly, click here.)

The Christmas story about the birth of Jesus Christ is famous all over the world. The gospels are telling us how Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem shortly before the birth of Christ. They were poor and suffered many hardships, culminating in having to stay and give birth in a stable. After the birth, the Holy Family had to flee to Egypt as the newborn’s life was threatened by the cruel king Herod. Afraid of the prophecy that he will lose his throne to new King of the Jews, Herod was desperately trying to kill all newborn male children under two in the village of Bethlehem.

In the case of Krishna, the King in question was not Herod but Kamsa. As the Srimad Bhagavatam says, after the wedding of Krishna’s parents, as Devaki and Vasudeva were being driven home by Devaki's brother King Kamsa, a prophetic unembodied voice announced that the 8th child of his sister would kill him. Cruel King Kamsa drew his sword to kill his own newly married sister, but his new brother-in-law Vasudeva convinced him that he would deliver all his offspring to him as they were born. Vasudeva was known for keeping his word, as were most people in those days 5000 years ago, and Kamsa refrained from his heinous deed for the time being. Later on, just to be on the safe side, Kamsa threw the couple into the dungeon for several years, and killed each child as they were born. So, just like Herod, Kamsa, too, committed the crime of infanticide. But all his plans failed because Lord Krishna appeared to Devaki and her husband Vasudeva in His four-armed form of Vishnu as Devaki’s eighth child. The inconceivable mystic potency of Krishna made all the shackles and locks on the prison doors to come open and the guards to fall asleep, allowing Vasudeva to escape from jail and bring newborn Lord Krishna to safety. Even after Krishna was taken elsewhere, Kamsa sent numerous terrible demoniac creatures to kill the child. But all of them were destroyed by Krishna one after another from the time He was an infant. God is always the supremely powerful God, even in His infant stage. Similarly, the infant Jesus was also saved from the wrath of cruel emperor Herod. Mary and Joseph were warned by means of an angel, urging them to flee with the child to Egypt.

The resemblance of the lives of Christ and Krishna doesn’t end there. Both grew up among simple people and continued to have special bonds to simple folks throughout their lives. Christ recruited his disciples from fishermen while Krishna grew up among cowherds in the small village of Vraja. During all of Krishna’s life Radha, a "gopi" or cowherd girl, was to be the woman closest to his heart. Both Christ and Kṛṣṇa were seen as embodiment of love, peace and understanding; both performed miracles of various kinds.

This book was written by my guru in 1985, who happened to be the son of a Baptist minister and the first disciple of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, who spread the science of non-sectarian universal God consciousness all over the world in the 60’s and 70’, and so is uniquely qualified to compare the two great spiritual traditions.

To purchase a new hardbound copy of this rare out of print book, click this link: Christ and Krishna : The Path of Pure Devotion | eBay You can also stream or download the entire audiobook narrated by yours truly for free by clicking here.