ARE EXTRA-BIBLICAL PICTURE OF JESUS (SAYINGS/AGRAPHA, MIRACLES, AND LIFE EVENT) USEFUL AND TRUSTWORTHY IN EVANGELISM?

EPISODE 2

The Prajapati

Once I got an information about a preacher named Acharya Vikas Massey from Jaipur. I went through his testimony[i] and his sermons.[ii] How fascinatedly he quotes from Indian philosophies and literature and ends the stretching thread to need of Jesus in his every sermon. His sermon made such a great impression that people were convinced that even Indian literature and philosophy points to need of Christ.

Let me be careful not to imply any personal attack on him. I personally admit his sermons are great. I have no right to give anyone a tag with heretical preacher, cult or something of such nature. However, the use of Hindu scriptures does have some vulnerability for Christian circle when we try to offer the water of life. Even Sadhu Sundar Singh has not evangelized in such a way.

Let us briefly examine the claims of allusion to Christ in Vedas. Out of many such resources[iii] I have selected:

https://interestingfactsfromjack.blogspot.com/2010/12/jesus-was-mentioned-in-vedas.html

1. When Christ was born in Palestine it was informed the wise men of the east, the non-Jewish world. Not only at His birth even before that, the plan of salvation through the sacrificial death of Christ was revealed in the ancient Vedas, the Hindu religious books. When the ancient sages wrote about the sacrifice of Prajapati (God), quite unknowingly they were portraying the Lord Jesus Christ as the way of salvation,

2. The literal meaning of the word Prajapati is the Lord of all creation. He is the Creator. Therefore, the Prajapati’s Sacrifice means the Sacrifice of God Himself. There are several verses in the Vedas in connection with this,

3. Tandyamaha Brahmana in its second part, chapter 7:

“Prajapatirddevebhyam

Atmanam yajnam krtva prayacchat”

(Having done a self-sacrifice, Prajapati, the Lord of all creation, offered Himself for gods.)

This concept of self-sacrifice is very significant. Normally, God is supposed to receive sacrifices and offerings; but here the victim of sacrifice is God Himself.

4. The meaning of the word ‘Prajapati’ (the Lord of all creation) is fulfilled only in Jesus.

According to the Holy Bible, Jesus Christ is the creator of the world: “All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (John 1: 3). About Him it is also written: “Thou Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Thy hands” (Hebrews 1: 10). Jesus is the real Prajapati – the Lord of all creation.

5. According to the Vedas, Prajapati is called Purusa, the Man of perfection. (Purusasukta, Rig Veda 10: 90: 1-16). Christ refers to Himself ‘Son of Man” (Matt.20:28).

6. The definitions of ‘Purusa’ in Vedic literature are meaningful only when they applied to Jesus.

i. Definition 1 is quoted from ‘Yajur Veda’ 32:4: “Purvoh jatah Purusah” which means one who is born in the beginning. Well, Jesus has no beginning. He is eternal. Still Jesus is called the first born in the Bible: “He is the image of invisible God, the first born of all creation” (Colossians 2: 15).

ii. Definition 2 “Purnatvad Purusah” means the One who is perfection is Purusah is also fulfilled in Jesus. When all men of the world are imperfect beings, Jesus Christ, the Son of Man is the one and the only perfect Man in this world.

iii. Definition 3: “Sa yat purvo asmat sarvasmat sarvan papmana ausat tasmat Purusah (He who burns out sin before all is Purusa” (Brhadaranykoponisad 1.4.1). The Chandogyopanisad 1.6. 6-7 says: This man is above all sin and one who worships Him and follows Him also raise himself above sins.”

7. Jesus Christ came to this world to save sinners from their sins. At the same time, He was above from sins. He is the one and the only sinless Man in this world. According to the Vedas the victim of the Purusa-Prajapati’s sacrifice should be blameless. It is completely fulfilled in Jesus.

8. Purusa-Prajapati’s sacrifice should be blameless. It is completely fulfilled in Jesus.

9. The Sacrificial Man should be closely tied to the sacrificial pillar (Sathapathabrahmana 3.7.3.1). Christ was closely nailed to the cross, the sacrificial pillar.

10. The blood of the Sacrificial Man should be shed, according to the Vedas. Fulfilled in Jesus’ crucifixion.

11. The Sacrificial Man should return to life after the sacrifice. (Brhadaranykopanisad 3.9.28.4,5). Fulfilled in Jesus’ resurrection

Another short reference is from https://peace-of-mind.net/hinduism.htm:

Rig Veda contains reference to Jesus.

In the oldest ‘Hindu’ scripture, Rig Veda, for example, there is evidence of the promised "Prajapathi", the God who will once come in bodily form, be born to a virgin, be called the Lamb of God, die with unbroken bones for the sins of man on a wood, be resurrected from the dead and will be giving his own flesh to be eaten by people. If any Hindu compares this promised Saviour in the ancient vedic scriptures and early poems of the famous Indian saints and philosophers with the Jesus Christ of the Bible, he will be amazed without having any doubts about the compelling evidence. "Jesus is the Prajapathi", the Sanskrit name for the promised God in human body who died for the sins of mankind to redeem sinners.

Fascinating! Isn’t it? It’s a kind of great joy for believers unless they percolate their exploration deep onto reality!

Now let us change some direction of our flight in this topic. We cannot totally rely on such alleged description from the Vedas alone. First, Christ is not explicitly mentioned as the only way to heaven in the Vedas. Second, the Vedas mention the deity, Prajapati, who, according to some Christians, is an allusion to the Lord Jesus Christ.[iv]

Few views on Prajapati identification:

1. From https://www.antaryami.com/hinduism/who-is-prajapati-in-hinduism/:

Ø He first appears in the Rig Vedas as an individual God, yet most Hindus today recognize Prajapati as a group of deities. Furthermore, the Rig Vedas depict Prajapati as one of the most important gods.

Ø However, in later texts, Prajapati disappears and is replaced with the Brahma

Ø According to ancient myths, Prajapati was emerged from the primal waters and produced the Universe and all sentient beings. In one myth he is described as becoming an ascetic before producing the Universe. However, Prajapati is first mentioned in Rig Veda 10 verse 121 where it describes him emerging from the “golden germ.” This is a direct correlation with Brahma who emerges from the golden egg.

Ø In later Sanskrit texts, Prajapati is described as a group of people, rather than the individual God he is depicted as in earlier legends. Essentially, Prajapati is a collective for a group of deities – gods that were born from the mind of Brahma.

Ø they are both associated with the laws of nature, which is the essence that forms in accordance with cosmic laws. Prajapati is actually described as ‘the life force’ which later became known as prana.

Ø But in the early legends, Prajapati was also responsible for upholding the moral principles of dharma – the need to do the right thing.

Ø In Hindu mythology, Brahma is described as the Universal Mind. And given the comparisons between the two gods, Prajapati is also symbolic of the Universal Mind.

Ø Although Prajapati is generally known today as “the god of the people,” a more accurate description would be God in man. He represents a state of higher-consciousness that is innate within each of us if we choose to search for it through the act of self-realization.

Ø Prajapati is also associated with sacrifice and is honored in Hindu rituals as the god of fire.

Ø Prajapati is noted as a Supreme God, thus he can be identified as representing higher consciousness. But he is also associated with animals which represents the lower consciousness of man – because we are by nature animals. It is only our ability to attain higher states of consciousness that human beings are superior to animals.

Also consider this: We therefore have choices to make; to follow the path of our divine consciousness and become like gods, or stay rooted in ignorance and slavery like cattle.

Like all Hindu Gods, Prajapati is an aspect of ourselves. He is our conscious thoughts that evolve to become reality. And the thoughts you choose to act upon come from either your higher consciousness, or your lower consciousness. So, pay attention to your actions.

So, is this a Biblical worldview?

2. From https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Prajapati:

Ø He is the Hindu god of animals and protector of the male sex organ,

Ø Prajapati is conceived of as a creator of the universe in early Vedic texts such as the Brahmanas,

Ø In the post-Vedic period, as Hindu religion became more internalized, Prajapati largely fell out of currency. Eventually, the mythology surrounding Prajapati was absorbed into that of other Hindu creation gods, specifically Brahma, Shiva, and the Prajpatis,

Ø Like Time (Kala), Prajapati was more accurately thought of as the source of all being, the embodiment of a creative principle rather than an anthropomorphic creator,

Ø As the lord of creatures, Prajapati was thought of as keeper and caregiver not only of humans but also of animals. Prajapati's connection with animals was evident by way of the numerous species that were connected to him in both written and visual depictions,

Ø Prajapati was also thought to hold jurisdiction over human and animal reproduction. Prajapati is among the deities evoked at Hindu wedding ceremonies.

Ø Due to his status as a supreme creator god, Prajapati becomes connected with a number of other important gods in the Vedic pantheon,

Ø In Rig Veda 10.90, Purusha is credited with an immense act of self-sacrifice that brought the world into being. Like Purusha, Prajapati is also said to have sacrificed himself, resulting in the various divisions of empirical reality. Most importantly, his constituents became brahman, the sacred verbal power that was thought to mitigate the cleavage between human beings and the divine, and consequently became the lynchpin of all Vedic sacrifice,

Ø Prajapati gained his initial significance in the sacrificial drama. The Vedas insisted humans must repeat this original primordial sacrificial event regularly in order to renew all aspects of space and time that Prajapati had originally put into place by way of his self-immolation.

3. Page 325/529 of a book ‘The Encyclopedia of world religions’ revised edition, 2007 published by Ellwood and Alles has mentioned:

The creation story tells us that the world and the Creator of the world are not to be confused. The world is to be honored because it was made by God, but it is not the same as God. We humans can have a deep relationship of love, service, and obedience to God, but we must not say that we are God. All these very important ideas, central to Judaism and Christianity, are embedded in the creation myth.

Compare that account with one from the VEDAS of India, which tells us that the world is a sacrifice made by Prajapati, a Creator God who made the world by dividing up his body so that his bones became the mountains, his blood the rivers, and so forth. Here is conveyed something told in much more philosophical language in later HINDUISM, that God is not a Creator separate from the world, but the word is God, God in disguise, God playing hide-and-seek with himself, and to know God we do not look outside of the world, but into the depths of the world, into our own innermost nature.

Having examine attributes of the Prajapati, none of these descriptions align closer to Biblical Jesus. The bitter truth is there is no Christ prophesized in the Vedas.[v] According to the Vedas, Prajapati presides over life and procreation. But Prajapati is not the only deity mentioned in the Vedas. In addition to Prajapati, the Vedas speak about other deities as well.[vi] In later literature, Prajapati is identified with the creator god Brahma, but the term also connotes many different gods, depending on the Hindu text, ranging from being the creator god to being same as one of the following: Viswakarma, Agni, Indra, Daksha and many others, reflecting the diverse Hindu cosmology.[vii]

https://haindavakeralam.com/christian-missionary-frauds-hk9554 has done an attempt to expose Christian missionaries’ fraud. They proclaim: In Vedic literatures, the word yagya is not similar to the meaning of sacrifice as being followed by Christians and Muslims (for them sacrifice means killing of men or animals as an offering to God!). Vedas totally prohibits killing of any creatures for any purpose including food needs also. The Prajapathi mentioned in Vedas do not have any resemblance with the man God Jesus! Here again, a question arises if Vedic people were truly vegetarian? Rig Veda 5: 29: 7-8 7. As friend to aid a friend, Agni dressed quickly three hundred buffaloes, even as he willed it. And Indra, from man's gift, for Vṛtra's slaughter, drank ofr at once three lakes of pressed-out Soma. 8. When thou three hundred buffaloes' flesh hadst eaten, and drunk, as Maghavan, three lakes of Soma, all the Gods raised as ’twere a shout of triumph to Indra praise because he slew the Dragon. When the God of the Bible allowed human beings to have non vegetarian, deities of Vedic times were apparently flesh eaters.[viii] This additional information has been added here for their false claim.

Another fact to be noticed is that Prajapati is not just one God in the Vedas. Unlike the Bible, Vedas is attributed by polytheism and animism worldviews. Different natural forces are given godly positions and personifications. Prajapati is hence one among many deities in the Vedas. Therefore, the parallel between Jesus and Prajapati seems quite weak.

The Prajapati of the Vedas and the Christ of the Bible contradict each other. Studies have exposed the dissimilarities between the Prajapati and the Christ of the Bible.[ix]^{,[x], [xi]} As per the analytical claims, the root of Prajapati is believed to trace back to Nimrod, a leader of rebellion at Babel incident, who was worshipped as Pashupati in Harappan civilization as there was evolution of Nimrod worship and later called as Purusha Prajapati by Aryans. The Prajapati is actually considered to be none other than Nimrod himself.

As T.S. Balan puts, “If we can borrow the other god's names and use it to address Jesus, it will lead us to great dangers. For example, the word BAAL means, LORD. Who is the Lord? We know that it is our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Can we preach: "Believe in Baal and you will be saved". It means nothing but "Believe in the Lord and you will be saved". The prayer, "O, Baal, hear us" (I Ki-18:26) means '0, Lord, hear us", but the Lord did not hear them. It proves that we cannot give Jesus the names of the other gods, though the meaning is good. So, it is blasphemy to call our Lord, Jesus Christ, Prajapati or Baal or anything like that. The god of the Vedas, who was killed for taking his own daughter as wife, has nothing to do with the God of the Bible and Jesus Christ does not need his name.”[xii]

It has also been claimed that the entire Prajapati-Christ fraud came into existence mainly through the publication of the fraudulent writings of Adhyksha Anubhavandand.[xiii] In the nineties the Prajapati Movement has become an unbelievably large and profitable "industry". At the time of this writing Mr. Koshy Abraham has 50 publications, Padinjarekara has half a dozen, and many small-time Prajapati writers have publications of their own. More than 50,000 copies of Arvindaksha Menon's Malayalam book have been published in less than 24 months. Perhaps NO other Malayalam book has ever attained this record. Then there are hundreds of thousands of cassette tapes circulating in the Name of Menon and a certain Titus Karthikappally. Six famous shlokas from the Sama Veda that many Christians use is said to have been taken from a tract ‘Who is Real Prajapati’ published in Malayalam. It has been said by researcher that those shlokas never existed in the Sama Veda.[xiv]

In addition, the tract entitled ‘Sacrifice’ written by the same author Anubhavandand has also been accused to be a fraud. Mr. Koshy Abraham says, “We should not give much importance to these erroneous statements. It would be sufficient to acknowledge that these people (who cheated the public) did so with a pure aim. It is true that this evangelist (who cheated the public) did so purely because he wanted to create a wave for Christ among Indians.”[xv]

From https://silo.tips/download/nine-signs-of-christ-in-rigveda:

The Nine-Point Prajapati proponents have been stating their case for almost seven decades now. They have been using all the available media to convince people that this Nine-Point sacrifice is there in the Rigveda. In fact the Nine-Point Sacrifice of the Prajapati has even become a Shibboleth for many Christians. However, when asked to prove their point, neither the 160 page book of Padinjarekara, nor its 201 page brother birthed by Mr. Koshy Abraham has been able to produce even a single point. These quotations simply DO NOT exist in the Rigveda. They are a FORGERY and FRAUD. As repeatedly said in this book, the Prajapati Theology stands upon pillars of deception, bound together by the cement of false interpretation.

In summary, the Prajapati-Christ story is a big myth. It has been perpetrated by Christians for the last 100 years only because listeners never asked whether these things are so. Here are a few observations that everyone must keep in mind

ü Christians implicitly trust when someone makes a truth-claim

ü As a result, the Christian community trusted the false claim made by many in the name of Prajapati-Christ-Vedas

ü Numerous modern writers took this falsehood and developed it further. This includes people like Dr. Joseph Padinjarekkara, Dr. Koshy Abraham, Arvindaksha Menon, Sadhu Chellappa, Acharya Daya Prakash

ü Not a single one of them has been able to show from Vedas the quotations that they use

ü Many of the references that they have given have turned out to be non-existent, which is deception.

ü It is high time for Christians to reject the Prajapti-Vedas-Christ myth and lie

However, the case of Prajapati is also discussed in Evidence that demands Verdict by Josh McDowell: Whereas the Vedic Prajapati is a mythical symbol, which has been applied to several figures, Jesus of Nazareth is an historic person. ‘Jesus is the true Prajapati,’ he said, ‘the true Saviour of the world.’ Late Sir Ravi Zacharias[xvi]^{, [xvii]} that ends up to sacrifice necessary for humanity. Rev. Dr. Balkrishna Sharma, Principal of Nepal Theological College and has Master degree in Hinduism, suggests that one has to analyze such alleged shlokas in light of their contemporary and valid hermeneutics and context, date of the scripture, contemporary environment and background. Otherwise, there arises a big question whether to declare those scripture as Divinely Inspired and include within canonical books of the Bible. He also added that, if such shlokas really exist then those are merely natural aspiration of human beings since they are created in God’s image.[xviii] There are people from Hindu background who encounters the Prajapati draws a deeper conclusion that Jesus is the true Prajapati. Even if such shlokas or parallels exist (let’s take an assumption), it is wiser to conclude that Jesus indeed fulfils the sacrifice rather than declaring it as His prophecy or allusion. A better way of understanding is that humans are created in God’s image and has some traces or ideas about God’s plan. Therefore, some sort of parallel can be seen in such scripture which should not be considered astonishing. When Hindus are told Jesus is there in their holy books, just read and believe their own holy books, we are indeed digging our own grave and allegedly conveying their scriptures are also inspired.

On other side, there is also an understanding of contextualization since Christianity can be translated both linguistically and culturally in any social framework so that the people can understand the message in their own context. Simply to put, both Jesus and Paul did contextualization during their mission. Paul used pagan philosophers to contextualize and help people to understand gospel. Sadhu Sundar Singh has said to offer water of life in Indian cup. Even if Vedas have such shlokas, one can begin with common ground to start up conversation is what some Christians also believe. They believe that such striking similarities can open a door for positive dialogue. They hold the position that the best way is to show inner cry for a need of Savior revealed in Vedic scriptures and end the thread to Christ as fulfilment. Since they also focus on sacrifice for moksha, Christians believe that we can make a bridge to enable them to reach Christ. Finally, God’s fingerprints in world religions can be a sort of General Revelation. God doesn’t want anyone to be condemned. Hence, it is also a possibility of such astonishing allusions can be seen in the scriptures. And we can carefully move ahead contextualizing and leading people to Christ.[xix]

Keeping my final insight, the root of Prajapati can be a pagan and his identification with different names, legendary tales, etc. can be true. Whatsoever may be the case, either fingerprint of God or fraud, it is wise not to use Prajapati intensively as a basis to draw people towards Jesus of the Bible. Plus, it is not even necessary for us to have headache on Prajapati since the Old Testament and New Testament themselves are sufficient for us to present real Christ. He may or may not be Jesus, it should not be our concern. Otherwise, the authenticity of the Bible suffers a big question mark and we will be charged as biased followers who just select only aligning shlokas to preach Christ.