Jesus in the Vedas

I recently read the story of a former orthodox Hindu Brahmin priest, Aravindaksha Menon, who converted to Catholicism. You can read it here. It’s really quite interesting how he made this journey of faith mainly by studying his own holy scriptures!

The Vedas are considered the official religious books of Hinduism; there are four of them: Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, and Adhara Veda. The other Hindu books – including the Ramayana, Mahabharatha and Bhagavath Gita – are simply epics or stories.

There is mention of only one God in the Rigveda. He is the creator of this universe; He is omnipresent; He is formless and bodiless. Nobody should make an idol of Him and worship the idol; it is worthless and useless.

As there are seventy three books in the (Catholic) bible, there are ten books (or mandalams) in the Rigveda. In the first to the ninth mandalam, it is clearly stated in several places who is the real God, who is man, why man should worship God and how he should worship Him. In the tenth mandalam there is mention about the first-born and only son of God, Prajapathy. ‘Praja’ means man, and ‘pathy’ means saviour.

Prajapathy comes to this world at the appropriate time. He travels around advising mankind, telling him what is sin and what is not sin, how he should live and how he should not. To those people who accept him and obey his commands, he offers help in this life and salvation after they die. At the end of his ministry, Prajapathy dies in a very similar way to Jesus - tied on a wooden cross. His death is both redemptive and sacrificial; it is described in verse 7 of chapter 90 of the 10th book of the Rigveda: “At the time of sacrifice, the son of God will be tightly tied to a wooden sacrificial post using iron nails by hands and legs, he will bleed to death and on the third day he will regain his life in a resurrection.”

There are other verses in the Rigveda that have striking similarities with passages in the bible.


Rig Veda X: 121:1

“Hiranyagarbha: samavarthaagre
Bhuuthasya jaatha: pathireka aaseeth
Sadaadhaara Prudhwivim dyaamuthemam
Kasmai devaaya havisha vidhemam.”

This translates to:

“In the beginning, God and his supreme spirit alone existed. From the supreme Spirit of the God proceeded Hiranya Garbha, alias Prajapathy, the first born of the God in the form of light. As soon as he was born, he became the saviour of all the worlds.”

This is similar to John 1:1-14: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.”


Rig Veda X:90:2

“Purusha evedam sarvam
Yadbhutham yachabhavyam
Uthaamruthathwasya esaana
Ya daannenathirohathi”

This translates to:

“This man, the first-born of God is all that was, all that is and all that will be. And he comes to this world to give recompense to everybody as per his deeds.”

This compares favourably with:

"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." (Revelation 1:8)
“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done.” (Revelation 22:12)


Rigveda X:90:7

“Tham yajnam barhishi proukshan
Purusham jaathamagratha
Thena deva ayajantha
Sadhya rushayaschaye”

This translates to:

“This man, the first born of the God, was tied to a wooden sacrificial post and the gods and the Kings along the Seers performed the sacrifice.”

All the four gospels say Jesus was crucified on a wooden cross by the rulers (Herod and Pilate) and the seers (Annas and Caiphas).


Rig Veda X:90:16

“Thamevam Vidwanamruthaiha bhavathy
Nanya pandha ayanaya vidyathe”

This translates to:

“This (sacrifice) is the only way of redemption and liberation of mankind. Those who meditate and attain this man, believe in heart and chant with the lips, get liberated in this world itself and there is no other way of salvation.”

This is similar to:

“If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)


No coincidence

The uncanny similarities between Prajapathy in the Vedas and Jesus seem more than coincidental to me. It seems that Prajapthy refers to the person of Jesus. How this is so is a bit of a mystery to me, but a Brahmin guru whom Aravindaksha Menon consulted gave this explanation:

"Every ancient scripture was one and the same. Hindus, Christians and Islam were all categorized later, all man made. The word of God was one, because God is only one."