The True Identity of Jesus Revealed:
Avatar of Aadhi Maha Shasta, the Protector of Created
Beings
Shiva, Mohini (Vishnu as a Woman) and Aadhi Maha
Shasta as an infant (public domain)[i]
As this is at
least the second most important issue I have determined to address in this treatise,
I decided I ought pen (er, type) a more complete and pleasantly penned
composition than my previous published writings addressing this issue, detailing
why I have become convinced of such a paradigm shattering theory. So here I present to you seekers of truth a
more detailed telling of why I have come to believe that Jesus Christ, more
properly known as Jeshua ben Joseph, was in fact an Avatar (embodiment of the
Divine) of Deva (God) Shasta, also anciently known as Ayyanar or Ayyappanar, as
Lakshmanapranadata, Cattan, Ayyappa, Manikandan, Karuppan, Veeran, Kathavarayan
and by other names/Avatars, some likely not recorded in any scripture nor any
extant myth, anciently born as the Son of Mahadeva (Great God) Shiva and Deva Vishnu
as Mohini (Female Form of Vishnu) after the “churning of the sea of milk,”
according to the Brahmanda Purana, and is
referred to in the Puranas as anciently teaching “a galaxy of gods.”[ii]
Though I do intend to back up this
rather astounding assertion, that Jesus who is called Christ was an incarnation
of Aadhi Maha Shasta, very anciently synonymous to Buddha and known in south
India as Ayyanar or Ayyanappan and later, according to academy accepted datings
of the extant evidences, writ and inscribed, as Ayyappa or Manikandan, the Son
of God Shiva and Goddess Mohini (God Vishnu when He was temporarily a She),
with a fair amount of academy-acceptable evidence utilizing the tools offered
by the disciplines of history and anthropology and religious studies, the claim
that someone's soul reincarnated as another particular individual cannot, at
least with the current tools and technologies proffered by the sciences, be
other than a “faith” proposition. Though
in the previous chapter I approached the issue at hand with only the weight of
solid evidences that fit within the bounds of the academy-approved methods of
the study of religion, history, anthropology and critical theory, obviously I
must take a somewhat different tack in this chapter, as I am claiming more than
similarities of words, names or mythemes and correlations of well enough dated
events or other well-documented facts and analogous artifacts.
I am supposing a transmigrational reality in this portion of this work,
something that must be acknowledged as speculation into “the mystical,” and not
as an inquiry strictly suited to the social sciences nor to the hard sciences
at this juncture, as with current methods and technologies one cannot determine
aught of the paths of disembodied souls, alas.
Though there are many historically veritable evidences indicating that
Jesus did venture to the lands where Vishnu and Shiva were worshipped, and
where Ayyanar, also known as Cattan and Aadhi Maha Shasta was almost certainly
known, and where Shasta was very anciently considered synonymous with Buddha (4th
century BCE),[iii] both
before and after His ministry in Palestine, and indeed many analogies and odd
coincidences between the respective mythologies of Jesus and Shasta, to suppose
two separate mythical/historical individuals to be the same soul reincarnated
cannot be other than a statement of “religious faith.” That acknowledged, the following are some of
the evidences, both academically acceptable (if in some cases controversial)
and well enough documented historical evidences, likenesses and analogous
mythemes as well as experiential/“spiritual” clues or revelations granted that
have convinced me that Jeshua ben Joseph, aka “Jesus Christ,” was an
incarnation of Aadhi Maha Shasta/Ayyanar, also known as Ayyappa and Manikandan,
and as Hari-Hara Putra or Hari-Hara Tanaya (putra and tanaya both mean “son of”),
the Only Begotten Son of God Hari-Hara, God Vishnu and God Shiva, anciently
born to Shiva and Mohini (Vishnu as a fertile Transsexual, Mohini means
“Goddess Enchantress”) after the “churning of the Sea of Milk,” according to
Hindu mythology.
It has been well enough noted and
touted that there are many uncanny similarities between the Persons of Krishna
and Christ. A Quaker named Kersey Graves
(1813-1883) compiled a list of some 346 elements in common between Krishna's
story and Christ's story.[iv] Indeed, none can reasonably deny that some of
the analogies are quite convincing, not the least of which is the phonetic
similarity of the names, as analogous names can indicate either an historical
connection else at least an esoteric resonance.
Nonetheless, to me something never seemed quite right with that attempt
to identify those two purported Godmen as the same Person. Though I believed that these connections were
not without merit in some guise or other, I somehow similarly had a sense they
were NOT the same Dude. For one, Krishna
is not the “Son of God,” as according to Hinduism He is God Himself—or in the
case of Mohini, Herself.
Only fairly recently in my own
spiritual pilgrimage did I come across accounts of the Deva known as Ayyanar,
Aadhi Maha Shasta, Lakshmanapranadata and Ayyappa, among other appellations,
the Son of Shiva and Krishna/Vishnu as Mohini when Vishnu did manifest as a
Goddess. Shasta is the Only Begotten Son
of God the Destroyer and God the Maintainer when the latter was a fertile
transsexual! Almost immediately something in my intuition else rational
faculties told me that Shasta, the Protector of Created Beings, more anciently
known (according to the extant historical and archaeological evidences) as
Shasta or Ayyanar or Catan, recorded on a “hero stone” in Tamil Nadu with the
inscription, "Ayyanappan; a shrine to Cattan" (3rd Century
CE), was a very likely candidate for the abiding identity of the person/Person
called Jeshua ben Joseph, aka Jesus Christ.
I believe that the Divine does take form amongst many ifn’t most ifn’t
all peoples, that “They are among us” is true, oft enough born as our children,
as “human,” and that often enough veritable Avatars of the ancient Devas and
Devis, Gods and Goddesses, go scarce noticed as they complete their dharma
among whatever people in whatever part of the world, as these Avatars and other
celestial beings do their part in the “keeping things together,” as do so many
lesser touted players living lives of whatever fame or obscurity as they do
their dharma, too. The beliefs of the
Celts and other European “pagans” included the understanding that the gods
sometimes take birth among the people, as the Hindus believe of “Avatars.”
At a regional Rainbow Gathering[v] (a
rendezvous of hippies in the forest) in Colorado in September of 2001, I was
having a conversation with some random hippies in the meadow about Hinduism and
Christianity, and one of those tie-dye clad kids randomly claimed that Jesus
was the Son of Shiva and Vishnu. I
immediately objected, noting that Shiva and Vishnu are both Male. I then asked said hippy in the meadow where
he had heard the idea that he had posited, to which he replied, “You told
us.” I was rather puzzled by his
response, but assumed dude was just trippin'.
Shortly thereafter we received word from “Babylon” that the World Trade
Center Towers had been destroyed. A kid
in cut-off denim overalls came bounding up the hill from towards the parking area
yelling as he was running and skipping through the forest towards Main Meadow,
“They blew up the Towers!! They blew up
the Two Towers!!”
A couple of years later I was
visiting Mount Shasta in California with Meghan, a girlfriend who I met at a
party at a polyamorous intentional community in Santa Fe, New Mexico called
“The Island,” and who had been traveling with me in “The Beast Mama,” my
4-wheel drive truck with camper atop and dreamy-eyed orange sunshine face
painted on the passenger door, since shortly thereafter. We were talking about the purported
sacredness of the grand mountain filling the horizon to the east and Meghan
exclaimed, “It's Jesus Mountain.” I
asked her where she had heard such, as Meghan was not a Christian and was more
into theories about Nibiru and the Anunnaki from Sumerian mythology than any
conventional religious stuff. Like the
hippy kid at the Rainbow Gathering, Meghan claimed I had given her said
information, though I could not imagine when or why I would have made such a
claim, and for whatever reason I did not pursue the question to ask her when or
how it was I had said such a thing.
Meghan was rather into “dream work,” so I suppose I may have conveyed
that information to her in a dream, i.e., that Jesus and Shasta are the same
Dude, else perhaps by some other occulted means.
Considering the significant place positings about Jesus and Aadhi Maha
Shasta, born as the Son of Shiva and Vishnu as Mohini, have become since those
days, since I discovered that Shiva and Vishnu did indeed have a Son together
when Vishnu was temporarily a Female, I have to wonder how such seeming
prescient(?) information came to said hippy in the meadow and to my erstwhile
girlfriend Meghan. Regardless, these
strange synchronicities have only further convinced me that I am correct in my
assessment of who Jesus who is called Christ really was: the “Only Begotten Son” of God Shiva and God
Vishnu (as Mohini), the only Son of Deva Hari-Hara, Hari-Hara Putra (putra mean
“son of” the preceding name), Aadhi Maha Shasta. The Sanskrit name or term Shasta means
“the one who rules or preaches.”
Shasta (IAST Śāstā) is a Hindu deity, venerated with Shiva
and Vishnu. Shasta is a generic Sanskrit term for a ruler, i.e. the one who
rules/preaches . . . He is identified with many deities like Aiyanar, Ayyappa
and Revantha. He is also called as Brahma Shastha, preacher of Pranav am.[vi]
Jesus’s name to the Muslims, and according to the purported Hindu and
Buddhist accounts of His visits to India and the Himalayas, is/was “Isa.” In Sanskrit Isa means “Lord,” among
other similar derivations, and is almost certainly the original linguistic root
of the Hebrew “Jeshua,” as well as to the Arabic Isa, as Jesus is called “Isa” by
Muslims to this day.
Sanskrit Īśa (ईश).
—a. [īś-ka] 1) Owning, possessing,
sharing, master or lord of; see below.
2) One who is completely master of anything. 3) Capable of (with gen.) 4) Powerful,
supreme. -śaḥ 1 A lord, master
… 2) A husband. 3) A Rudra. 4) The number 11 (derived from the eleven Rudras). 5)
Name of Śiva … 6) The Supreme god (parameśvara … -śā 1 Supremacy,
power, dominion, greatness … 2) A servant of Śiva.[vii]
Consider as you continue, especially if you are reading this from a
Christian perspective, Jesus is touted to have said to his/His disciples, “I
have sheep in other pastures.” Indeed,
Shasta/Ayyappa/Ayyanar is one of the most popular Devas in many parts of India
and other Hindu lands, and as Shasta has been noted since before the time of
Christ, according to the Ramayana’s account of Lord Rama’s meeting Shasta, and by
my reckoning is almost certainly namesake to Mount Shasta and the Shasta
Indians of California. According to the written
records Shasta was known as early as when Buddhism entered South India in the 3rd
century BCE, as Ayyanar not unlikely for thousands of years amongst the South
Indian peoples,[viii] and
as Shasta in the Ramayana, many thousands of years BCE, despite “Western”
scholarship claiming a later date for the inception of said deity as they often
do with Hindu Gods and scriptures and sources generally.
As per Ramayana, during the time of Lord Rama’s exile, he
went to the present place of Sabari Mala, and there he met Mata Sabari, who had
offered fruits as food items to Rama. After some time, when Rama was passing
through the Sabari Mala forest, there he saw a divine person doing meditation.
On seeing him, Lord Rama had enquired. The divine person had said that he is
Shasta, and then, both of them were discussed about spiritual matters, and
after some time, Lord Rama had left that place.[ix]
The Makaravilakku celebration is an annual event that draws a
half-million devotees of Shasta/Ayyappa to Sabarimala, Kerala, India to
commemorate the meeting of Lord Rama with Shasta.[x] Also of note in this telling from the
Ramayana, an account that unequivocally predates Christianity and even Judaism,
the ashram Rama visited was the ashram of Mata Sabari, a female guru, ignoring
all the other ashrams in the area. Even
anciently in Hinduism, women held a revered and sacred place, with some saintly
women serving as Gurus to many even in very ancient India. I might also note, Manikandan, an Avatar of
Aadhi Maha Shasta who lived about a thousand years ago, had a close friend who
was a Muslim named Vavar. The Vavar
Mosque is part of the Hindu pilgrimage circuit to Sabarimala, whereupon the
Hindu pilgrims circumambulate the Vavar Mosque, even whilst Muslims are praying
in the mosque. This is very analogous to
Jesus/Isa being revered by Muslims, if not as an Avatar but as a Prophet.
Manikandan, an incarnation of Lord Ayyappa, rediscovered
the temple in the 12th century. Manikandan was a prince of the Pandalam
dynasty. He was found by the king on the bank of a river.
Just because there are not physical evidences of devotion to a Deva or
Devi previous to the given academy-acknowledged textual or iconographic
reference does not mean that an oral tradition of hymns and mantra and puja
(ritual devotion) did not precede the written evidence thereof, perhaps by
thousands of years, nor does such mean that said Being didn’t exist previous to
or otherwise outside of the extant historical records. Even Max Muller, who lambasted Hinduism
generally and posited a very recent date for the advent of the Vedas early in
his career, very much in line with the Abrahamic program’s attempt to discredit
a “rival religion,” late in his life praised the Vedas whether they were
relatively recent in origin or many thousands of years ancient.
Scholarly understanding of Hinduism as a systematic
religion is likewise shaped by endeavors to construct a uniform, coherent
system of beliefs and religious practices. However, the Hinduism of the
scriptures is different from the vernacular forms of the religion that are
expressed, practiced, and narrated by ordinary people, the majority of whom
live in the countryside.[xi]
Assuming that Avatars do sometimes live among the people of this world,
and not necessarily living lives of particular renown and perhaps not even
known by “their own people” as Divine or particularly special, it should not be
especially surprising that Jesus “had sheep in other pastures” and lived lives
and accomplished feats that were recorded by other peoples. It would also stand to reason that said
Person would be at least somewhere acknowledged by the most ancient and abiding
religious tradition in the world, i.e., “Hinduism," or more properly “sanAtana
dharma.”
It is more than noteworthy that some Christians have posited that Jesus
may have been a reincarnation of the prophet Elisha, as Jesus did clearly claim
that John the Baptist was a reincarnation of Elisha’s teacher Elijah, who is
claimed by Hebrews as the greatest of the prophets. Belief in reincarnation was almost certainly
extant among Hebrews at the time of Christ, as such beliefs were later
explicated in Kabbala (Jewish mysticism), and if Jesus spent time in India
previous to His ministry in Palestine He had certainly been exposed to the
concept.
10 The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of
the law say that Elijah must come first?” 11 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah
comes and will restore all things. 12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come,
and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In
the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the
disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.
(Matthew 17:10-13 New International Version)
As Elijah left the world after he and Elisha crossed the Jordan River,
and thereupon granting a “double portion” of his spirit to Elisha at Elisha’s
request, John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Jordan River, transferring to
Jesus John’s place in that lineage.[xii] It would not be outside that sequence of
probable reincarnational possibilities, then, to posit that if Jesus was a
reincarnation of Elisha, that the same Person was also adored by “sheep in
other pastures” as Aiyanar, Cattan and Shasta, that all these incarnations were
Avatars of Aadhi Maha Shasta, anciently born as the Son of Shiva and Vishnu
when Vishnu meditated on the Divine Feminine to be enabled to manifest as a
(fertile) transsexual named Mohini. Vishnu is paramatma, and thus the Soul
of Atman, the “Spirit of God” abiding in everyone. The Gospel of the Hebrews (early 2nd
century, CE) touts that the “Holy Spirit” was Jesus’s “Divine Mother,” very
much analogous to Mohini as the Goddess Mother who gave birth to Shasta.
To reiterate and enunciate, the New Testament
record acknowledges that Jesus may well have lived other lifetimes before being
Jeshua ben Joseph, as some have noted the implied reincarnation of the greatest
of the Old Testament prophets, Elijah, as John the Baptist, and some have even
gone so far as to posit Jesus as a reincarnation of Elijah’s disciple Elisha,
who was granted a “double-portion” of Elijah’s spirit.[xiii] Elisha, like Jesus and like Aadhi Maha Shasta
as Lakshmanapranadata and as Manikandan, raised someone from the dead and
healed people. Elisha and Jesus were
both touted to have evinced the siddhi (power of mind and matter) of
multiplying food,[xiv]
as was likewise demonstrated by Neem Karoli Baba (a purported Avatar of Hindu
God Hanuman) in recent times, as mentioned in the preface.
Assuming Jesus was a reincarnation of Elisha
(El-Isa, evocative of the name Jesus was purportedly called in India and Tibet
during His “missing years” and by Muslims generally, Isa, Sanskrit for “Lord”),
it would not be outrageous to claim that this same person/Person was an Avatar
of Aadhi Maha Shasta, who as Lakshmanapranadata (“He who restored Lakshman’s
life,” a name attributed to Shasta and also to Hanuman) raised Lakshman from
the dead thousands of years before, as recounted in the Ramayana, then lived as
Ayyappa/Manikandan, who healed His guru’s deaf and blind son by laying His
hands upon him. Indeed, the pieces fit
quite well in such an understanding of who Jesus really was, an Avatar of
Shasta, revered by both Hindus and Buddhists.
|
Elisha |
Jesus |
Shasta/Ayyanar/Ayyappa |
|
-Elijah gave
Elisha his mantle as prophet and a double portion of his spirit on the banks
of the Jordan River.[xv] -Raised
Shunammite woman’s son from the dead.[xvi] -Healed
Naaman the Syrian from leprosy.[xvii] |
-John the
Baptist baptized Jesus and thus handing over his mantle to Jesus in the
Jordan River. -Raised
Lazarus from the dead. -Healed
lepers and the blind. |
-Was left by
Shiva and Vishnu to be found by King Rajashekhara on the banks of the Pampa
River. -Raised
Laksmana from the dead during the Ramayana war. -Healed His
guru’s deaf and blind son. |
Again, this chapter is mostly meant as mystical positings and not
necessarily as something might be proven according to the standards of the
social sciences or the academy generally, though certain evidences considered
acceptable by those disciplines of inquiry might well be employed to offer
strong suggestions that these positings are more than mere fancy. A fair number of reasonably trustworthy and
well enough verified sources say that Jesus spent time learning and teaching in
India, Tibet and Nepal and elsewhere during His “missing years," certainly
a paradigm-altering factor if true. Some
Muslim scholars have called Jesus “the King of Travelers,”[xviii]
obviously indicating they believe He visited many places not recorded in the
New Testament.
The name on a tomb in Srinagar, Kashmir, dating to the second century,
“Yusa Asaph” (Yusa is the Persian pronunciation of “Isa”) is at least evocative
of the name Ayyappa, indicating He had perhaps figured out His abiding identity
by the time He retired to Kashmir, before finally leaving His life lived as
Jeshua/Isa/Yusa Asaph, around 100 years after His crucifixion according to some
tellings. There are a set of footprints
embedded in stone outside of the shrine said to belong to this teacher who came
from the west that clearly show the scars of crucifixion, indicating Jesus may
well have gone to India after His crucifixion and resurrection as well as
during “the missing years,” and at some level tying the stories of
Jeshua/Jesus/Isa/Yusa Asaph to Sastha/Ayyanappan /Manikandan and the ancient
traditions of sanAtana dharma, the religion of Jesus’s ancient ancestors
before Abraham. Fida Hussnain notes that
the direction of the burial of Yuza Asaph is in an east-west direction, thus
indicating the person buried there was not Muslim, and was very likely Jewish.[xix]
The Bhavishya Purana, one of the 18 Principle Upanishads
(of uncertain dating), part of which is understood as a book of prophecies,
purportedly contains a prophecy about Jesus coming to India. According to Stephen Knapp, this text
describes the future appearance of Isha putra, the son
(putra) of God (Isha)(Jesus Christ), born of an unmarried woman named Kumari
(Mary) Garbha Sambhava. He would visit India at the age of thirteen and go to
the Himalayan Mountains and do tapas or penance to acquire spiritual maturity
under the guidance of rishis and siddha-yogis before going back to Palestine to
preach to his people. So, if Jesus was trained by the sages of India, this
would explain why he was able to perform various miracles (siddhas).[xxi]
Though this is somewhat contested in
terms of the antiquity of the prophecy, as European and American critics are
quite loathe to accept the Hindus datings of their own scriptures, it
nonetheless adds to the evidences that indicate Jesus may well have travelled
to India and Tibet. Another account in
the Bhavishya Purana tells of Yuza Asaph meeting with Emperor
Shalivahana (1st century CE) in the Himalayas. It is indeed difficult to determine whether
this was indeed a prophecy, i.e., was from before the time of Jesus, or was a
later rendering describing an actual historical encounter, else was a
fabrication as some critics have contended.
Nonetheless, this evidence, along with so many more traces, indicate a
likelihood that Jesus did indeed spend time in India during His “missing
years.” Below is the passage in question
from the Bhavishya Purana, from Stephen Knapp’s “Jesus Predicted in the Vedic
Literature?”
Once upon a time the subduer
of the Sakas went towards Himatunga and in the middle of the Huna country
(Hunadesh – the area near Manasa Sarovara or Kailash mountain in Western
Tibet), the powerful king saw an auspicious man who was living on a mountain. The
man’s complexion was golden and his clothes were white.
The king asked, ‘Who are you
sir?’ ‘You should know that I am Isha Putra, the Son of God’, he replied
blissfully, and ‘am born of a virgin.’
‘I am the expounder of the
religion of the mlecchas and I strictly adhere to the Absolute Truth.’ Hearing
this the king enquired, ‘What are the religious principles according to your
opinion?’
Hearing this questions of
Shalivahana, Isha putra said, ‘O king, when the destruction of the truth
occurred, I, Masiha the prophet, came to this country of degraded people where
there are no rules and regulations. Finding that fearful irreligious condition
of the barbarians spreading from Mleccha-Desha, I have taken to prophethood’.
Please hear, Oh king, which
religious principles I have established among the mlecchas. The living entity
is subject to good and bad contaminations. The mind should be purified by
taking recourse of proper conduct and performance of japa [meditation on the
chanting of the holy names of God]. By chanting the holy names one attains the
highest purity. Just as the immovable sun attracts, from all directions, the
elements of all living beings, the Lord of the Surya Mandala [solar planet],
who is fixed and all-attractive, and attracts the hearts of all living
creatures. Thus by following rules, speaking truthful words, by mental harmony
and by meditation, Oh descendant of Manu, one should worship that immovable
Lord’.
Having placed the eternally
pure and auspicious form of the Supreme Lord in my heart, O protector of the
earth planet, I preached these principles through the mlecchas’ own faith and
thus my name became ‘isha-masiha’ (Jesus the Messiah).
After hearing these words and
paying obeisances to that person who is worshiped by the wicked, the king
humbly requested him to stay there in the dreadful land of mlecchas.”
King Shalivahana, after leaving his kingdom performed an
asvamedha yajna and after ruling for sixty years, went to heaven. Now please
hear what happened when the king went to (the heavenly region of) svargaloka. (Bhavishya
Purana, Chaturyuga Khanda Dvitiyadhyayah 19.22-32)[xxii]
During my undergraduate studies I
was for a time a Southern Baptist preacher. Though to many, this might
not seem a good starting place for a seeker of truth, as said group is known to
be rather narrowly dogmatic, it was in fact somewhat due to clues proffered by
the mostly Southern Baptist professors at Oklahoma Baptist University that I
began to question the dogmas of that faith and to open my mind to many ideas
outside the bounds of Southern Baptist beliefs, and outside the paradigm of American
society generally. It was well-educated
Christians who were in fact those who had inadvertently led me to experiment
with a Bohemian lifestyle and to take a Kierkegaardian “leap of faith” into
unhindered self- (and Self-) discovery.
Years later, after I was introduced to and embraced the teachings
of sanAtana dharma, I still felt that somehow Jesus was a
legitimate expression of “God" and one who well enough presented and
practiced the teachings of eternity (quite literally, “sanAtana dharma”).
Aadhi Maha Shasta was the Person I was eventually drawn to that seemed to
present a likely connection between those first religious impulses and
practices I was exposed to (other than devotion to and adoration of Nature, the
mountains, wilderness and women) and the abiding truth I found so succinctly
and abidingly expressed as sanAtana dharma/“Hinduism.”
Shasta is indeed a unique Son of
God, as the Christian title, “the only begotten Son of God,” does tout of
Jeshua. Vishnu (God the Maintainer, known as Krishna in His most popular
form, when He makes love to 10,000 milkmaids just as each wished to be made
love to, all at the same time...) this one time did manifest on earth as a
Woman by meditating intensely upon Shakti, the Divine Feminine, the Goddess, in
order to deal with a particular menace, a dangerous demon named Bhasmasura. After Vishnu as Mohini had defeated
Bhasmasura and returned to His normal Male form, Shiva asked Him to show
Himself again as Mohini, His Female form.
Well, as Shiva is the essence of male virility, He ends up desiring the
lovely and seductive Mohini—Who is actually Shiva’s Consort Parvati’s Brother
under normal circumstances! They end up hooking up and Shiva impregnated
Mohini (Vishnu) with an Avatar of Aadhi Maha Shasta, the Protector of Created
Beings. This certainly seems to fulfill the “only 'begotten' Son”
scenario proffered by the Christian religion, and in fact does fit rather well
with the “Father, Son and Holy Spirit” trinity of Christianity, as Jesus's
Divine Mother, Vishnu as Mohini, is Paramatma, the Soul of Atman,
God's “Spirit” extant in all beings. Shasta does have Divine Brothers and
Sisters, though none of Them were given birth to by Vishnu, God the Maintainer,
as a Divine Transsexual!
I mean, if your Divine Mom is
generally a Dude, and One who exists in everyone's heart, how might you refer
to Her/Him? As Vishnu is the paramatma,
the aspect of God which dwells in everyone as Atman, God indwelling,
then how would Jesus refer to this Being to people not directly exposed to the
teachings of Abraham's forefathers, if not as “the Holy Spirit?” The non-canonical Gospel of the Hebrews,
which dates to as early as the Gospels that did make it into the Bible, designates
the Holy Spirit as Jesus’s “Divine Mother,”[xxiii]
matching quite succinctly my assertion that the “Holy Spirit” is indeed
Mohini/Vishnu as paramatma. This
little clue, by the way, seems very likely to likewise help explain the rather
confused misogynistic tendencies of Christians that certainly exist—despite the
New Testament statement that “there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free,
neither man nor woman, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Likely most responsible for the misogyny promoted by the Abrahamic
religions, however, is the lack of any significant mention of the Feminine
Divine, conspicuously absent in all three, with the exception of the
non-canonical (not included in “The Bible”) Gospel of the Hebrews,
and perhaps a few other scarce and apocryphal sources, else the metaphor of God
wishing to gather his children “as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings”
(Luke 13:34 NIV). I might also note, the
metaphor of a hen gathering her chicks nicely corresponds to the identification
of the Hebrew Yahweh with Lord Yama, as in the Vedas Lord Yama “is called a
king or . . . `" the gatherer of men"', and presides over the
departed fathers in heaven [the Pitṛloka/Father’s realm] . . .”[xxiv]
This theory about the true identity of Jesus Christ touches upon a very
“modern” issue, with transsexual mothers/fathers being a very current topic in
the global discourse of the 2020s—yet another reason I am anxious to have this
book available to the public as soon as I might. Indeed, if Jesus was an Avatar of Aadhi Maha
Shasta, called Ayyappa in the Brahmanda Purana, Only Begotten Son of
Shiva and Vishnu when Vishnu was a Divine Transsexual named Mohini, “the narrow
path” suddenly becomes rather broader and indeed more inclusive.
Thus and to reiterate, assuming my identification of said Persons as the
same Being is legitimate, Jesus's (Shasta’s) real Mom/Divine Mother (again,
Mary was a surrogate mom) is generally a Fellow, a Dude Who many millions of
Gopis (“milkmaids”), both female and male, religiously-sexually desire, and is
the Person to whom Jesus was referring when He talked about “the Holy
Spirit”—i.e., Vishnu in His role as paramatma. Though I do not believe that Jesus was
necessarily overtly aware of His true identity as Avatar of Shasta throughout
the entire course of His life, I am supposing that at some level He understood
the role He was playing in the Grand lila of this Age. Again, the name He purportedly took in
Kashmir after the resurrection, the name on a tomb in Srinagar that is attended
to and revered to this day, is “Yusa Asaph.”
“Yusa” is the Persian rendering of “Jesus”/Jeshua/Isa (and again, Isa,
Sanskrit for Lord, was the name Jesus was purportedly called during His earlier
“missing years,” a name or title that is indeed the ancient linguistic root to
“Jesus,” Jeshua” and “Joshua”), and “Asaph” is rather phonetically close to “Ayyappa,”
and thus might indicates He had figured out who He really was by that point,
and who He would be in His next incarnation.
Even if the name Jeshua took in Kashmir preceded the name Ayyappa in the
historical record does not mean they were not incarnations of the same Person,
as the understanding of Aadhi Maha Shasta as “The Protector of Created Beings”
would indicate His presence is not limited to any particular Avatar. There are in fact eight acknowledged primary Avatars
of Shasta:
The Ashta-Shasta (eight Shastas)
are Aadhi Maha Shasta, Dharma Shasta (Ayyappan), Gnana
Shasta, Kalyana Varadha Shasta, Sammohana Shasta, Santhana
Prapti Shasta, Veda Shasta and Veera Shasta.” Aadhi Maha Shasta is the Prime form of
Shasta, as adhi means “as a prefix to verbs and nouns, expresses above,
over and above,”[xxv]
“Maha” means “great” (and is in fact anciently related to if not direct
progenitor of the English “much” and prefix “mega-”). Though certainly not admissible as academic
evidence, the pronunciation of “Aadhi” is evocative of “A.D.” denoting the
supposed birth date of Jesus, perhaps yet another esoteric clue that might hint
that Jeshua was indeed an Avatar of Aadhi Maha Shasta. It seems likely thus that Jesus came to
better understand His proper role in this Grand lila, the Play of the
Gauri Yuga (Golden Age) of the Kali Yuga (Dark Age), after having died and having
risen from the dead.
Unlike most who tout that Jesus retired in Kashmir after having been
crucified, I have no problem with a literal resurrection from the dead, by the
way, for one as I've had personal experiences that indicate death is by no
means unconquerable, and indeed there seem very likely many possible paths
after departing a body, including returning to the
same form, with or without the fatal wounds.
Consider, if reincarnation is veritable (as so many traditions do
claim), this is in fact the afterlife to your past lives lived! Welcome to eternity!!
I might also note, there are traditions in Kashmir that claim the tomb of
Moses is on a mountain in Kashmir, as several biblical place names associated
with Moses’s resting place are found around Srinagar, Kashmir, where Yusa
Asaph’s tomb is located.[xxvi] So many evidences do point to sanAtana
dharma as the religion of Abraham’s forefathers, and do show those
religions’ stories as not so separate, “West and East,” as most suppose. If Judaism and the Abrahamic religions
generally do issue from “Hinduism,” if as critical responses, then Jesus, if a
part of this more grand and more ancient story, most succinctly fits as the
Person of Aadhi Maha Shasta on the grand roster, the cast list of Bigtime
Players in this movie, in the Grand lila of this age.
Another Christian understanding of Jesus is that He was “the Word,” as
their scripture says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
Shasta (as well as His half-brother Kartikeya) is very much associated
with ॐ (AUM), the
Primal sound, which is certainly the origin of the Judeo-Christian “Amen” and
Muslim “Amin,” another clear resonance between Shasta and Jesus, between sanAtana
dharma and Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Yet another rather profound similarity is found in one of the most
prominent stories about Shasta: as
Manikandan, it is touted that He healed a deaf and blind boy, a similar miracle
to those attributed to Jesus Christ!
Upon completing his princely
training and studies when he offered 'gurudakshina' or fee to his guru,
the master aware of his divine power asked him for a blessing of sight and
speech for his blind and dumb son. Manikantan placed his hand on the boy and
the miracle happened.[xxvii]
Note the “laying on of hands” of
Manikandan to heal the deaf and blind boy, very like the siddhi (“supernatural
power”) evinced when Jesus laid His hands on the ailing to heal them. Raising the dead is another miracle
attributed to Shasta, as His name Lakshmanapranadata, which means Reviver of
Lakshmana's Life, clearly indicates. As
Lakshman was Lord Rama’s brother, and Rama lived previous to Krishna, previous
to at least 3000 BCE, Aadhi Maha Shasta must have been active thousands of
years before extant records tell of His incarnation as Ayyappa, and indeed well
before Jeshua ben Joseph lived in Palestine.
Indeed, these many indications incline me to believe that the two
mythological figures are the same Person, as they have such attributes in
common. The many touted similarities
between Krishna and Christ are well explained by the aforementioned theory as
well, as perhaps “the Son” Shasta was endeavoring to fill the roles of Krishna,
who was the Divine Mother of Jesus as Mohini, and who also lived as the Buddha,
in His/Her apparent absence. Again,
Shiva is “the Father.”
The miracles associated with Aadhi
Maha Shasta in His various incarnations are not the normative feats attributed
to Devas in Hindu mythology. Though
various expressions of the Divine do on occasion heal people or revive them
from the dead in the myths of Hinduism, these are exceptional
cases. That Shasta’s most touted acts
are so analogous to those miracles attributed to Jesus Christ is uncanny, and
strongly reifies the potential of a coidentity of these two “Sons of
God." Consider likewise the “Wise
men from the East,” the “magi” that are said to have followed a star to find
the baby Jesus.
Sanskrit 1) Maga (मग):—m.
a magian, a priest of the sun, [Varāha-mihira; Bhaviṣya-purāṇa, khaṇḍa 1 &
2: bhaviṣya-purāṇa & bhaviṣyottara-purāṇa]
2) [plural] Name of a country in Śākadvīpa [one of this
world’s “seven islands,” “sapta-dvipa”] inhabited chiefly by Brāhmans
Indian History and Geography
Maga or Maka: We can accurately identify the area of the
Indo-Greek King Maga or Maka because the area of western Bactria, western
Tajikistan, eastern Tukmenistan and eastern Uzbekistan was well-known as the
country of Maka. Most probably, the first Indo-Greek King of this area had a
title of Soter Megas (ΣΩΤΗΡ ΜΕΓΑΣ) which is evident from the numismatic
evidence. The descendants of Indo-Greek King Soter Megas also had the same
title. Therefore, they were generally referred to as Maga or Maka kings. Gradually,
the country of Maga kings also came be known as Maga. Since Zoroaster was born
in this Maka kingdom, Zoroastrianism also came to be known as Maghism.
Maga.—(EI 9; BL), the same as Śākadvīpīya; a community of
Brāhmaṇas; name of the members of the Persian priestly community (Magi) settled
in India and absorbed in the Brāh-maṇa class.[xxviii]
Tamil makA 1. great, high, exalted, dignified, noble,
honourable; 2. immense, prodigious, stupendous, monstrous, extreme; 3.
superior, paramount, superlative; 4. intense[xxix]
Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva behind Shiva’s Sons Ganesha, Shasta,
and Kartikeya (public domain)[xxx]
Traditionally though not Biblically presented as three in number, the
story of the “Three Wisemen” is at least evocative of the Trimurti of Brahma,
Vishnu and Shiva, and possibly indicating that “the magi” were “Hindu”
sages. If these wisemen were, as is generally
touted, Zoroastrian, their appearance for Jeshua’s nativity is nonetheless indicative
of the “interfaith” nature of Shasta’s mission when He lived as Jeshua of
Galilee.
Indubitably a seminal consideration
along this line of reasoning is the “missing years of Jesus” (age 13-28). Many sources indicate that Jesus went away to
the East to learn from the brahmins and then from the Buddhists (once He had a
break with the ritualistically and caste-bound brahmins) before returning to
Palestine to deliver His message to the Israelites.[xxxi] His issues with the legalistically bound
brahmins, as told in the purported ancient Buddhist accounts, are very clearly
reflected in His issues with the Pharisees and Sadducees when he returned to
Palestine, who were essentially the high-caste Hebrews. According to Hindu tradition, the Buddha was
the Ninth Avatar of Vishnu, so it makes sense that an Avatar of Vishnu's Son
would be drawn from brahmin Hinduism and its “Pharisaical” rules to hanging out
with Buddhists, who follow the teachings of Jeshua's Divine Mother when She
was, as generally is, a He, as according to some Hindus Vishnu did live as the
Buddha after living as A/The Black Dude (Krishna translates from Sanskrit as
“black”). To Buddhists and some Hindus,
Shasta is considered, in some guise, to be the Buddha, or an emanation,
expression or synonym thereof.
Though I have decided I will not
delve too deeply into the many and controversial evidences that indicate Jesus
traveled to India and Tibet during His “missing years,” and that He returned to
live in Kashmir after the crucifixion and was buried in a tomb in Srinagar,
suffice it to say there are many ancient accounts from Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan,
Chinese, Arabic and other languages telling that Jesus did spend significant
time in India and lands thereabout.[xxxii] The Gospel of the Hebrews (early 2nd
century CE) claims that Jesus traveled to Assyria and Mesopotamia on the trade
routes to India, [xxxiii] as
well as touting the “Holy Spirit” as Jesus’s “Divine Mother.” I will include a
number of the best and most touted titles and sources available that offer
these arguments and evidences of Jesus’s journeys to India in an appendix at
the end of the book as well as in the footnotes and bibliography. In the meantime, I will attempt to offer a
fairly short synopsis of what these traditions of “Jesus in India” do
assert.
According to various sources, some
of which can be at least indirectly dated to around the second century CE, a
teacher named Yusa Asaph who came from a faraway land was placed in a tomb in
Srinagar, Kashmir, and memorialized by impressions of His footprints carved in
stone which do clearly show the anatomically correct scars of crucifixion.[xxxiv] It is also touted by many in Kashmir that
Moses’s tomb is to be found there, and indeed many of the place names related
to the place Moses went after departing Canaan are found in Kashmir,[xxxv]
a place that has been a home to many Hebrews since long before the time of
Jesus, i.e., after the second Babylonian captivity of the Jews (the “Lost
Tribes of Israel”), and to many more after the Romans sacked Jerusalem. According to numerous if obscure sources (including
some, since originally made known to Europe, “disappeared” sources), Jeshua's
Jain, Hindu and Buddhist teachers and disciples during His earlier missing
years knew the wandering mystic as Isa, which means “Lord” in Sanskrit, and
likely more than coincidentally, the latter part of His later Persian name,
Yusa Asaph, is phonetically quite close to Ayyappa.[xxxvi]
Interestingly, though I would not necessarily contend indicative
of authorship, the Isa Upanishad is supposed by some scholars to have
been composed sometime around the 1st century, possibly coinciding
with Jesus's purported “lost years” time spent in India as “Isa.” Indubitably, the Isa Upanishad is VERY
close to the teachings of Jesus as recorded in the New Testament, likely closer
than any other purportedly parallel set of teachings, save for perhaps some of
the other Upanishads. Two versions of
the final verse of the Isa Upanishad, wherein (Yahva) Agni is invoked:
18 O God
Agni, lead us on to prosperity by a good path, judging all our deeds. Take away
ugly sin from us. We shall say many prayers unto thee. (Isa Upanishad v.18)[xxxvii]
18.
Agni, lead us on to wealth (beatitude) by a good path, thou, O God, who knowest
all things! Keep far from us crooked
evil, and we shall offer thee the fullest praise! (Rv. I, 189, 1.)[xxxviii]
(Isa Upanishad v.18)
And a strikingly parallel passage from the conclusion of
“The Lord’s Prayer” from the Book of Matthew:
“And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, forever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:13 KJV)
20 Nachiketa said: There is this doubt
about a man when he is dead: Some say that he exists; others, that he does not.
This I should like to know, taught by you. This is the third of my boons.
21 Yama said: On this subject even the
gods formerly had their doubts. It is not easy to
understand: the nature of Atman is
subtle. Choose another boon, O Nachiketa! Do not
press me. Release me from that boon.
22 Nachiketa said: O Death, even the
gods have their doubts about this subject; and you have declared it to be not
easy to understand. But another teacher like you cannot be found and surely no
other boon is comparable to this.
24
If you deem any other boon equal to that, choose it; choose wealth and a long
life. Be the king, O Nachiketa, of the wide earth. I will make you the enjoyer
of all desires.
25
Whatever desires are difficult to satisfy in this world of mortals, choose them
as you wish: these fair maidens, with their chariots and musical instruments −
men cannot obtain them. I give them to you and they shall wait upon you. But do
not ask me about death.
26 Nachiketa said: But, O Death, these
endure only till tomorrow. Furthermore, they exhaust the vigour of all the
sense organs. Even the longest life is short indeed. Keep your horses, dances
and songs for yourself.
27 Wealth can never make a man happy.
Moreover, since I have beheld you, I shall certainly obtain wealth; I shall
also live as long as you rule. Therefore no boon will be accepted by me but the
one that I have asked.
28 Who among decaying mortals here
below, having approached the undecaying immortals and coming to know that his
higher needs may be fulfilled by them, would exult in a life over long, after
he had pondered on the pleasures arising from beauty and song?
29 Tell me, O Death, of that Great
Hereafter about which a man has his doubts.
(Katha Upanishad 1.20-29)[xxxix]
Upon
listening to the previous dialogue via an audiobook version, it occurred to me
how much the exchange reminded me of the story of the temptation of Christ in
the wilderness. Knowing what I now know
regarding Jesus’s likely sojourn in India, it seems almost certain that
Jeshua/Isa heard and not unlikely memorized this story in the original
Sanskrit. The substance of the “three
temptations of Christ,” hunger, fear of death, and desire for worldly power and
pleasure, are all present in the dialogue between Nachiketa and Yama. Regarding hunger and fear of death, asking
for his second boon, Nachiketa says,
12 In the
Heavenly World there is no fear whatsoever. You, O Death, are not there and no
one is afraid of old age. Leaving behind both hunger and thirst and out of the
reach of sorrow, all rejoice in Heaven.[xl]
And regarding
the temptation of worldly power and pleasure,
23 Yama said: Choose sons and
grandsons who shall live a hundred years; choose elephants, horses, herds of
cattle and gold. Choose a vast domain on earth; live here as many years as you
desire.
24 If you deem any other boon
equal to that, choose it; choose wealth and a long life. Be the king, O
Nachiketa, of the wide earth. I will make you the enjoyer of all desires.
25 Whatever desires are difficult to satisfy in this world
of mortals, choose them as you wish: these fair maidens, with their chariots
and musical instruments − men cannot obtain them. I give them to you and they
shall wait upon you. But do not ask me about death.[xli]
and relating to
these same fears and desires, from the Book of Matthew, chapter 4 (NIV),
Hunger . . .
3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of
God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Death . . .
6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself
down. For it is written: “’He will command his angels concerning you, and they
will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against
a stone.’”
Desire for pleasure and power .
. .
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and
showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will
give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
The parallels between these two narratives are rather uncanny. And thus it seems almost certain that Jesus
did spend time in India, and that He indeed incorporated the tale of Nachiketa
from the Katha Upanishad into His rendering of His fast/vision quest as a
series of “temptations,” as the same basic fears and desires are dealt with in
both narratives in pretty much the same order.
In the “temptation of Christ” version, it is “the Devil” that takes the
place of Deva Yama, the Lord of Death and Hell (who was, as much noted,
rendered, along with his priest and friend Yahva Agni, as “Yahweh” by the
Hebrews, from the Sanskrit yahva), and Jesus’s role would correspond to
Nachiketa’s in the telling in the introduction of the Katha Upanishad. Steeped in the Upanishads when in India, as
said sacred scriptures or songs were current and rather the hot thing in the
religious discourse of India in the 1st century of the Common Era, Jesus
certainly employed some of the metaphors and allegories He learned in India to
deliver His teachings to His Jewish followers in Palestine, translated and
modified to fit a Hebrew context and Hebrew mythology. Indeed, it seems likely Jesus/Isa thus
rendered whatever visions he/He experienced fasting in the wilderness in terms
of that ancient story of Nachiketa meeting Lord Yama, rendered in a way that
would be relevant to people with a Hebrew background. George Wolfe similarly recognized parallels
between the three temptations of Jesus and the Katha Upanishad in his treatise,
and also notes parallels between the Katha Upanishad and the Jesus’s story of
the prodigal son, further indicating the Katha Upanishad had very much
influenced Jesus’s teachings.[xlii]
At least a few of Jesus’s other more touted sayings are likewise very
close to other verses from the Katha Upanishad.
For example, the Katha Upanishad does tout, “Abiding in the midst of
ignorance, thinking themselves wise and learned, fools go aimlessly hither and
thither, like blind led by the blind” (Katha Upanishad 2.5), and as Jesus put
it, “He replied, 'Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be
pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they
are blind guides. If the blind lead the
blind, both will fall into a pit’” (Matthew 15:13 NIV). The Katha Upanishad warns, “Arise! Awake!
Approach the great and learn. Like the sharp edge of a razor is that path, so
the wise say-hard to tread and difficult to cross” (Katha Upanishad 3.14). This metaphor is very likely referring to the
“razor’s edge” paths in the high mountains, narrow ridges used as pathways
across treacherous mountain terrain in the Himalayas, where one misstep on
either side of the pathway may lead to a fall of a thousand feet or more. And as Jesus phrased it, “But small is the
gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew
7:14). In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna
acknowledges of Himself, "...I am the origin of the whole world and also
its dissolution...l am the beginning, the middle, and the end of all
things" (Bhagavad Gita, 7.6, Bhagavad Gita 10.20). In the New Testament Jesus touts, "I am
the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the
end." (Revelation 22:13).[xliii] George Wolfe in his Parallel Teachings in
Hinduism and Christianity touts in summation,
This examination of scriptural writings reveals that many
teachings present in canonical Christian scriptures are also found in the
Upanishads. In the context of the gospels, many of these teachings represent
pivotal ideas in the emergence of
Christianity from Judaism. Some of these ideas are
expressed using images found in the Upanishads, several of which are noticeably
absent from the Hebrew scriptures that are part of the Christian canon.[xliv]
One of the most significant parallels indicating Jesus likely had access
to the teachings of Hinduism is His take on “the Holy Spirit.” The Hebrews do have a concept of “the Spirit
of God,” and even “the Holy Spirit,” Ruach Hakodesh, literally “Spirit
the Holy,” but the understanding that “the Holy Spirit” is indwelling is absent
in Judaism, so Jesus must have come to that understanding from some other
source. As previously noted, the
Upanishads tout that Atman is the expression of brahman/purusha/the
Universal Divine that abides as a flame in everyone’s heart, the “Spirit of
God” present in every being’s heart. “The
thumb-sized Purusha in Hinduism symbolizes the internal self (atman) residing
in the heart of beings and represents a supreme consciousness that, though
small, embodies spiritual essence beyond physical limitations.”[xlv] Thus Jesus’s “Holy Spirit” is much more like
Atman than like the Hebrew Ruach Hakodesh.
Hebrew ruach means “spirit” in a general sense, not
necessarily referring to “god’s spirit” nor even necessarily a good spirit, and
might possibly be related to Sanskrit rohaka m. “a kind of spirit.”
12 The Purusha, of the size of
a thumb, dwells in the body. He is the Lord of the past and the future. After
knowing Him, one does not conceal oneself any more. This, verily, is That. 13 The Purusha, of the size of a thumb, is
like a flame without smoke. The Lord of the past and the future, He is the same
today and tomorrow. This, verily, is That. (Katha Upanishad 2.1.12-13)[xlvi]
“The Kingdom of God within” is
another metaphor that is found in both the sayings of Jesus in the New
Testament and also succinctly in the Upanishads. As expounded by George Wolfe in his treatise Parallel
Teachings in Hinduism and Christianity,
In Hinduism, Atman is the spirit dwelling within man. It
is often designated by the term "Self." It is through
enlightenment that Atman is realized to be Brahman.
Some Hindu sages also refer to Atman as God within.
(Prabhavananda 1948:v).
In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad it says: "now if a
man depart this life without knowing the kingdom of the Self, he, because of
that ignorance, does not enjoy the bliss of liberation. He dies without
reaching the goal...Wherefore let him know the kingdom of the Self, and
that alone" (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad).
"The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be
observed; nor will they say,
'Lo, here it is!' or 'There!' for behold, the Kingdom
of God is within you"
(Luke 17:20, 21) [emphases added] [xlvii]
The similarity of these sayings and narratives from the Upanishads and
the Gospels make it appear very likely that Jesus had an intimate familiarity
with the Upanishads, thus providing further evidence that Jesus likely spent
time in India during His “missing years.”
Many other connecting factors wait to be unraveled with this
identification of Jesus as an Avatar of Shasta in mind, factors which give clue
to the history and dance and pilgrimage of peoples and the play of the gods and
of God and Goddess throughout history and eternity. Again, Buddhists tout Shasta as an
incarnation of the Buddha, or as an emanation, expression or synonym thereof.
And to reify that Jesus Christ was indeed and in truth an Avatar of Aadhi
Maha Shasta, the appearance of a never-before-seen star is associated with His
apparition:
Every year, millions converge
upon Sabarimala irrespective of caste or creed, with garlands and irumudis,
chant paeans to Lord Ayyappa, bathe in holy river Pampa, climb up the eighteen
stairs, hoping to catch a glimpse of Lord Ayyappa, the Dharmasastha.
The Jewel Casket is carried on head from the ancestral residence of the royal
family of Pandalam to the Shrine on the day. A Garuda, the Brahaman kite,
follows this ornaments-carrying procession, hovering about in the sky, After
these ornaments are worn on the Lord the bird circles the temple in the sky
three times and disappears. Excited by this sight the devotees begin to chant
"Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa". A Star never seen before in the sky
[emphasis added] appears on the day of Makarajyothi day before the sighting of
the Jyoti. A Jyoti is seen for a little time on the hilltop showing the
presence of Swami Ayyappan gracing his devotees."[xlviii]
This
festival and the “never-before-seen star” portending the arrival of
Dharma Shasta clearly presents the same basic mytheme as the star telling of
Jesus Christ's birth. Pilgrims on this
pilgrimage are to treat everyone else on that path the same, as if they are
Ayyappa Himself (Love your neighbor as your Self/Atman), irrespective of
caste, displaying the same eschewal of the caste system as Jesus did when
amongst the Hebrews, thus evoking the ire of the high caste Hebrews, the
Pharisees and the Sadducees, just as He had angered the brahmins in Jagannath
during His “missing years.” This is also
not unlike the message Jesus offered in “The Parable of the Sheep and the
Goats,” wherein Jesus claims that “Whatever you do unto the least of these, you
do unto me,” and “Whatever you don’t do to the least of these, you don’t do to
me,” regarding helping the needy, indicating a parallel relationship to the
pilgrims on the path to Sabarimala vowing to treat all the other pilgrims as if
they are Lord Ayyappa Himself. Every
direction I have looked and explored, evidences and clues abound that indicate
Jesus was an Avatar of Aadhi Maha Shasta, indeed at least indirectly namesake
to Mount Shasta in California, as the Shasta Native American Indians were
Shaivites, devotees of Shiva and Vishnu/Mohini’s Son Shasta.
Another quite
interesting Person that I just came across whilst in the final stages of
preparing this chapter is Devi Mariamman, which translates as Goddess “Mother
Mary.” She is a rain Goddess and an
Avatar of Parvati, Shiva's Consort. She
has the power to give or remove life threatening illnesses and is one of the
three main deities at the Val-Morin Subramanya Ayyappa Mariamman Temple just
north of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I
haven't been able to find any further evidence or particular mythic accounts of
Ayyappa/Shasta's connection to “Mother Mary” Mariamman beyond the facts that
they share a temple in Canada and are both popular in south India, and that
Mariamman is involved in removing life threatening illnesses, but the
coincidences or correspondence is at least interesting.
In
regard to the idea that the Abrahamic religions are presented as if each is
gazing upon one of three Faces of Trimurti, it seems that Christianity is
looking at the Maintainer, Krishna, in terms of that religion's Abrahman-ic
response to the anciently devised order of brahman. Though Jesus was not, by my interpretation,
an Avatar of Krishna, but was in fact an Avatar of Hari-Hara Putra, of Aadhi
Maha Shasta, who was Krishna's Son when Krishna was temporarily a Goddess,
Jesus seems to have very much favored Vishnu/Buddha dharma and Vedanta (i.e.,
the teachings of the Upanishads).
Apparently having been shunned and plotted against by the brahmins who
he spent time with in Jagannath, India, largely due to Him teaching the low
caste people there, Isa made his way to Varanasi, then to Nepal and Tibet to
study with the Buddhists, devotees of the Ninth Avatar of Vishnu by the
tellings of most Hindus.[xlix]
According to
some schools of Hinduism, Gautama Buddha was an Avatar of Vishnu after Vishnu
had lived as Krishna. Thus Jesus’s “Holy
Spirit,” i.e., Vishnu as paramatma, had lived as the Buddha and was
Jesus’s Divine Mother Mohini, according to this reading. Again, the Buddhists revere Sastha as
synonymous to the Buddha, whereas Hindus figure Aadhi Maha Shasta as identical
to the South Indian God Ayyanar and as the monk called Shasta who Rama met in
the Sabarimala forest. I would posit Shasta
then manifested as Jeshua/Jesus and as Ayyappa/Manikandan, whose life lived as
the son of King Rajashekhara was after the time of
Jesus (9th century CE), as seemingly Vishnu/Mohini and Shiva’s Only
Son together has lived many lives as various Avatars in fulfilling His dharma
as the Protector of Created Beings.
Shiva and Vishnu are not bound by time and space, and thus seemingly did
convey Ayyappa to King Rajashekhara millennia after His birth, other
incarnations of the Eight Shastas in the interim notwithstanding. Recall the earlier telling of King Kakudmi
and his daughter Revati experiencing time travel. Indeed, as time itself is not linear,
certainly the tales of those who are beyond time and space might not always
transpire so as to be read chronologically.
Jesus's
aversion to the “legalism” of the brahmins was mirrored in the Gospels by His
criticism of the legalism and hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Sadducees, who He
certainly saw as analogous to the very much ritually and caste-bound brahmins. Along those lines it seems as if Jesus, known
as Isa whilst in Jagannath, Rajagriha, Varanasi, Nepal and Tibet during His
“missing years,”[l] more
identified with the teachings of the Buddha, most recent of the Dashavatar (the
Ten Avatars of Vishnu), than with those of the orthodox brahmins, though He
certainly seems to have been very influenced by the Upanishads, and according
to at least one account, took a Hindu guru named Rudraka while abiding in
Varanasi.[li] As noted, according to Buddhists Sastha was
an emanation/expression of the Buddha.
The coidentification of Devas and their children and other related Devas
is sometimes noted of Hinduism, as Kartikeya and Hanuman are both at times
understood as Avatars or at least Emanations of Shiva.
Though often
invoking God the Father, Who in this interpretation is Shiva, Jesus who is
called Christ seems rather more like the Person of Krishna/Vishnu, God the
Maintainer, in many respects, and may have at times been conflated with Vishnu,
as Kartikeya with Shiva. As the Face of
Vishnu does sit between the Faces of the Creator and the Destroyer in the
Trimurti, so Christianity resides between Judaism and Islam, as Jesus betwixt
Abraham/Moses and Mohammad, between the first and last of the Abrahamic religions
chronologically, if not symbolically. As
Vishnu's face resides between the faces of Brahma and Shiva in the Trimurti,
the Maintainer between the Creator and the Destroyer, Jesus/Shastha is indeed
“the man in the middle” betwixt Abraham/Moses and Mohammad, gazing at the
Maintainer Krishna (who was Shasta’s Mother Mohini) between the faces of Brahma
and Shiva.
I
have no doubt there are more analogies and historical evidences implying
connections between Shasta/Ayyanar/Ayyappa and Jeshua ben Joseph, aka “Jesus
Christ,” as well as more evidences that Jesus spent time in India. This former Southern Baptist preacher is
already quite convinced that Jesus was an Avatar of Hindu/Buddhist Aadhi Maha
Shasta, the “Only Begotten Son” of Shiva and Vishnu when Vishnu was temporarily
a Female, a fertile Transsexual, by having intensely meditated upon the Divine
Feminine Shakti, and I must say I am rather quite relieved that this discovery
might and ought open Christianity to beyond the sad ailment of exclusivism in
any number of respects, and to an honest kinship and genuine unity with the
rest of the world and with eternity, Nature and “God,” that Christians might
truly learn what it means to “Love thy neighbor as thy Self.”
ॐ Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa
AUM Teacher Refuge in Ayyappa
[i] “Shiva, Mohini (Vishnu as a Woman) and Ayyappa,”
Karma-Dharma-Bhutadaya, May 10, 2017,
http://karma-dharma-bhutadaya.blogspot.com/2017/05/.
[ii] “Shasta (deity),” Wikipedia, last edited July 11,
2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shasta_(deity).
[iii] Ajit Kumar, “Icons of Shasta, Buddha and Ayyappa:
Paradigms of Paradoxical Identifications and Sectarian Associations,” Heritage:
Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 7: 2019, Heritage
University of Kerala, p. 233, accessed July 11, 2022, https://www.academia.edu/41750088/Icons_of_Shasta_Buddha_and_
Ayyappa_Paradigms_of_Paradoxical _Identifications_and_Sectarian_Associations.
[iv] See Kersey Graves, 346 Striking Analogies Between
Christ and Krishna (Whitefish, Montana:
Kessinger Legacy Reprints. Kessinger Publishing, 2010).
[v] “Welcome Home!”
The unofficial Rainbow Family Web Site.
The Rainbow Family of Living Light.
Accessed October 14, 2020.
https://www.welcomehome.org/.
[vi] “Shasta (deity),” Wikipedia, last edited December 10,
2021, accessed June 25, 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shasta_(deity)#:~:text=Shasta%20is%20a%20generic%20Sanskrit,like%20Aiyanar%2C%20Ayyappa%20and%20Revantha.
[vii] Wisdom Library Search the
Database: Glossary, Wisdom Library Peace-Love-Dharma, s.v. “isha,” accessed
October 21, 2023, https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/isha.
[viii] “Shrines for Sastha, in eight forms,” The Hindu
History and Culture, December 5, 2013,
https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/shrines-for-sastha-in-eight-forms/article5425348.ece?fbclid=IwAR2Zs01FRBIzOo3SzmB8aGgcOOoa6K7o2uX9Jgxl0FEeL7gwt6J-dXGymGw.
[ix] Naveen Sanagala, “Sri Dharma Shasta,” Hindupad,
accessed February 21, 2024, https://hindupad.com/dharma-shasta/.
[x] “What you might want to know about Sabarimala,” The
Economic Times, October 18, 2018,
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/et-explains/what-you-might-want-to-know-about-sabarimala/articleshow/66273712.cms?from=mdr
[xi] Ulo Valk and S. Lourdusamy, "Village deities of
Tamil Nadu in myths and legends: the Narrated Experience," Asian Folklore
Studies 66, no. 1-2 (2007): 179+. Gale Academic OneFile, accessed February 22,
2024,
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A172555459/AONE?u=anon~99bd3c8&sid=googleScholar&xid=16b1424e.
[xii] Adrian Russell, “If John was Elijah is Jesus Elisha?”
GoThereFor, St Matthias Press Ltd, May 27, 2014,
https://gotherefor.com/offer.php?intid=28549&changestore=true.
[xiii] Ibid.
[xiv] Ibid.
[xv] Ibid.
[xvi] Ibid.
[xvii] Ibid.
[xviii] Prasad Yashendra, “The
Rozabal Shrine of Srinagar” posted as “Jesus in Kashmir (Documentary by Indian
Govt),” YouTube, Arnel Reyes, October
2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd_lrI1aiww&t=3s.
[xix] Fida Hassnain, A
Search for the Historical Jesus (Bath: Gateway Books, 1994), pp.224-6.
[xx] “Rozabal, Srinagar, Kashmir: Is this the tomb of Jesus Christ?,” A
Spiritual Quest…, accessed February 18, 2024,
permissions granted February 18, 2024, https://www.mukti4u2.dk/Jesus_Rozabal_Srinagar.htm. Many thanks to Bodil Poulsen for granting me
rights to reproduce this image.
[xxi] Stephen Knapp,
“Jesus Predicted in the Vedic Literature?” StephenKnapp.com, accessed October
21, 2022,
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/jesus_predicted_in_the_vedic_literature.htm.
[xxii] Ibid.
[xxiii] “Gospel of the Hebrews,” Wikipedia, accessed July 16,
2022, last edited July 14, 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_the_Hebrews.
[xxiv] Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon (from
Monier-Williams' 'Sanskrit-English Dictionary'), s.v. “yama,” accessed November
10, 2022 https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/csl-santam/php/index.html.
[xxv] Wisdom Library Search the Database: Glossary, Wisdom
Library Peace-Love-Dharma, s.v. “Adhi,” accessed October 21, 2023,
https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/adhi.
[xxvi] Hassnain, 5-7.
[xxvii] Sri Nagaroo, “Lord Ayyappa.” AUM Sri Nagaroo. 2020
AUM. April 26, 2013, http://srinagaroo.blogspot.com/2013/04/lord-ayyappa.html.
[xxviii] Wisdom Library Search the Database: Glossary, Wisdom
Library Peace-Love-Dharma, s.v. “maga,” accessed October 21, 2023,
https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/maga.
[xxix] Wisdom Library Search the Database: Glossary, Wisdom
Library Peace-Love-Dharma, s.v. “maga,” last updated June 19, 2025, accessed
September 2, 2025, https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/maga.
[xxx] Jade Green, “Ayyappa, Muruna and Ganesha,” digital
image, Tumblr,
https://www.tumblr.com/hinducosmos/56593394100/ayyappan-murugan-and-ganesha
[xxxi] For one of the most comprehensive survey of evidences
that indicate Jesus lived in India, and finally died there, see Fida Hassnain,
A Search for the Historical Jesus (Bath: Gateway Books, 1994).
[xxxiii] Hassnain, p. 61.
[xxxv] Hassnain, pp. 6-7.
[xxxvi] Ibid.
[xxxvii] “Ishavasya Upanishad with Shankara’s Commentary:
Verse 9-18 - The simultaneous practice of Karma and Upāsanā,” Wisdom Library
Search the Database: Glossary, Wisdom Library Peace-Love-Dharma, accessed
November 2, 2025, https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/ishavasya-upanishad-shankara-bhashya/d/doc143816.html.
[xxxviii] “Vajasaneyi Samhita Upanishad or Isa Upanishad,”
translated by Max Müller, Hindu Website, accessed November 2, 2025,
https://www.hinduwebsite.com/sacredscripts/hinduism/upanishads/vagasaneyi.asp.
[xxxix] Katha Upanishad, translated by Swami
Nikhilananda, Arsha Bodha Center, accessed November 10, 2022,
https://arshabodha.org/wp-content/uploads/abc/teachings/Kathopanishad/kathaTrans1.pdf.
[xl] Ibid.
[xli] Ibid.
[xlii] George Wolfe, Parallel
Teachings in Hinduism and Christianity (Austin Texas: JOMAR Press,
1995), accessed via The Cardinal
Scholar,
https://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/5b8c4540-ca69-48f6-acdb-909b49ea14df/content#:~:text=Jesus%20said%20%22...do,III:36%2C37).
[xliii] Ibid.
[xliv] Ibid.
[xlv] “Significance of Purusha of the size of a thumb,”
Wisdom Library Search the Database: Glossary, Wisdom Library Peace-Love-Dharma,
last updated 24 September 24, 2024, accessed August 10, 2025,
https://www.wisdomlib.org/concept/purusha-of-the-size-of-a-thumb.
[xlvi] Ambaa Choate, “Reading the Upanishads: Katha Part
Ten,” The White Hindu, Patheos,
last
updated March 13, 2015, accessed August 10, 2025,
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/whitehindu/2014/08/reading-the-upanishads-katha-part-ten/.
[xlvii] George Wolfe, Parallel Teachings in Hinduism and
Christianity, pp.5-6.
[xlviii] “Birth & History of Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa,”
sabarimalaayyappan.com, SpicyKerala, accessed September 16, 2020,
http://www.sabarimalaayyappan.com/lordayyappan.htm.
[xlix] Fida Hassnain, A Search For The Historical Jesus,
pp. 63-67.
[l] Ibid.
[li] Prasad Yashendra, “The Rozabal Shrine of Srinagar.”
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