Jesus and Krishna: Incarnations of the Divine

Jesus and Krishna are each, in their respective faiths of Christianity and Hinduism, an incarnation of a divine being. Jesus, as portrayed in the Gospel according to Matthew and Krishna, as portrayed in the Bhagavad-Gita have many similarities as well as many differences. Jesus and Krishna are considered to embody the divine in different ways. They each have particular missions to the world. Each divine being requires different virtues and practices of his devotees, and each has a different view of life after death. Even with all of these differences, Jesus and Krishna are alike in many ways and their messages contain some very similar ideas when they are looked at a little closer.

In the Gospel According to Matthew, Jesus is portrayed as G-d’s genealogical son. Matthew 1:1-17 shows the “genealogy of Jesus the Messiah,” (Matthew 1:1). It goes on to describe the way in which Jesus was conceived and born to Mary, who was at the time engaged to Joseph. When Mary became pregnant, Joseph, planning to dismiss her because of the perceived infidelity, had a dream in which an angel appeared to him and explained that the child was from the Holy Spirit: “‘âÂ?¦for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins,'” (Matthew 1:21). This reveals that according to this gospel, Jesus is considered to be the genealogical son of G-d. Another interesting aspect of Jesus in the Gospel according to Matthew is that Jesus never says that he is G-d’s genealogical son or that he is the Messiah. Even when being questioned and beaten by the High Priest before he is sentenced to death, when asked if he is the son of G-d, Jesus responds, “You have said so,” (Matthew 26:64). He, himself, never confirms that he is the Messiah or that he is the son of G-d.

In contrast to Jesus’ embodiment of the divine, Krishna embodies divinity in a different way. Krishna is considered to be an incarnation of the G-d Vishnu, the preserver and second in the major trinity of Hindu Gods (Brahma, the creator, Vishnu, the preserver, and Shiva, the destroyer), just like Jesus is second in the trinity that makes up G-d in the Christian view (The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost). The Bhagavad-Gita does not tell how Krishna came to be. There are no stories here of his birth or of his death. Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita states that, “I come into being through my own magic. Whenever sacred duty decays and chaos prevails, then, I create myself,” (Bhagavad-Gita, 4:6-7). Krishna is not considered to be the son of G-d. He is G-d. He is a personification of Brahman, the ultimate truth and reality of the universe, from which everything stems: “I am the seed of all creatures; nothing animate or inanimate could exist without me” (Bhagavad-Gita, 10:39). Instead of keeping quiet about who is supposed to be, he is clear about this when he reveals himself to Arjuna, who he advises throughout the Bhagavad-Gita.

Jesus’ mission in the Gospel According to Matthew is not to the entire world. He states this when he at first refuses to heal the daughter of a Canaanite woman: “He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel,'” (Matthew 15:24). This shows that originally, Jesus’ message and mission was only to the Israelites. Because of the woman’s great faith, he heals her daughter and thus shows that even those who were not Israelites could benefit from having great faith. Jesus states in his Sermon on the Mount that he has come to turn the order of the world upside down, when those who are blessed are the poor, the meek, the persecuted, and all those who seem to be in the lowest ranks of society (Matthew 5: 3-11).

Krishna, instead, has a mission to the world, because he comes whenever duty or dharma deteriorates in order to restore it. In this way, Krishna is coming to keep the world’s order the way it is, not to turn it upside down like Jesus had said. Krishna’s main mission in the Bhagavad-Gita is to explain that although one may perceive themselves and others as being transient because of death, the soul, or atman never dies; it simply reincarnates itself until it becomes free from its karma and is able to reach nirvana. The purpose of this is to explain to Arjuna that he must fight a battle against his friends and family because his duty is to be a warrior. In order to do this, he must rid himself of the illusion that he would be killing these people, and the illusion (maya) of transient things in the material world. He must realize that he cannot kill them because they will never die: “Never have I existed, nor you, nor these kings; and never in the future shall we cease to exist,” (Bhagavad-Gita, 2:12). This is mirrored slightly by Jesus when he states, “‘whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me'” (Matthew 10:37). Arjuna must keep in mind that his friends and family fighting against him are part of Brahman and will not die, and so he must fulfill his dharma. Jesus’ followers must realize that devotion to him supersedes devotion to loved ones in a similar way.

In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus requires certain practices of his devotees. Here, the only route to salvation is through Jesus. He describes that one who is angry is liable to judgment just as one who has committed murder, that one commits adultery “in his heart” simply by lusting after a woman, that one should divorce only on the “grounds of unchastity,” that one should not swear by G-d or by Heaven or anything else made by G-d, that one should love his enemies and give to the poor in secret, and that one should pray in private and store up treasures in heaven rather than treasures on the earth (Matthew 5-6:21-43, 1-21).

Krishna, on the other hand tells of many paths to salvation, through various disciplines, or types of yoga. Krishna states that the main virtue of his devotees is to realize that Atman is Brahman, or that each soul is G-d. One must not become attached to things in the material world, and one must perform his duties without an attachment to the result. There are three things that Krishna states should not be relinquished: “Action in sacrifice, charity, and penance is to be performed, not relinquished,” but they must be performed because of duty, not because of any attachment to the results of these actions (Bhagavad-Gita, 18:5). This is similar to Jesus’ statements about prayer and charity because one must do them in private, because it is their duty, without making a spectacle like a hypocrite would do in order to be rewarded through the praise of others.

A final difference between Jesus and Krishna is their descriptions, and the beliefs of these two religions on the concept of life after death. Jesus speaks of the righteous becoming “exalted to heaven” if they follow his path and if they life their life in accordance with his teachings (Matthew 11:23). He later speaks about the fate on an unclean spirit:

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but it finds none. Then it says ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ When it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So will it be also with this evil generation” (Matthew 12:43-45).

Here, Jesus describes the state in which evil souls are believed to remain for eternity. He also speaks of a hell, where those souls who give in to the temptation of sin will end up: “it is better [for you] to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell of fire” (Matthew 18:9).

Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita, tells of a different belief in life after death. He speaks of the cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth, or samsara, where a soul that does not achieve moksha, release from this cycle, and nirvana, will continue in this cycle until it does reach this state: “Death is certain for anyone born, and birth is certain for the dead,” (Bhagavad-Gita, 2:27). Once one understands the ultimate truth, that material objects are illusions and that everyone is part of Brahman, the soul then merges with Brahman and achieves nirvana: “Reaching me, men of great spirit do not undergo rebirth, the ephemeral realm of suffering; they attain absolute perfection” (Bhagavad-Gita, 8:15). In this view, there is no place called hell where unrighteous souls go; instead souls who do not achieve this enlightenment will be reborn until they do. In India, this belief reinforces the caste system. The souls that do not achieve enlightenment are then reincarnated into different castes according to their karma. If they have more good karma, they will be reborn into a higher caste, while if they have more bad karma, they will be reincarnated in a lower caste. This cycle of samsara is said to go on until the soul reaches enlightenment and achieves nirvana.

Even with all of these differences between Jesus in the Gospel according to Matthew and Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita, these two characters do have many things in common. Because Jesus is said to be the son of G-d, many believers in Hinduism and in the Hare Krishna movement believe that Jesus was a representative of Krishna:

“Sometimes Sri Krsna descends Himself, and sometimes He sends His representative. The major religions of the world-Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Moslem-believe in some supreme authority or personality coming down from the kingdom of G-d. In the Christian religion, Jesus Christ claimed to be the son of G-d and to be coming from the kingdom of G-d to reclaim conditioned souls. As followers of the Bhagavad-Gita, we admit this claim to be true. So basically there is no difference of opinion. In details there may be differences due to differences in culture, climate, and people, but the basic principle remains the same-that is G-d or His representatives come to reclaim conditioned souls.” (Prabhupada, 30).

Although the times were different, the cultures were different and the people were different, the basic message of goodness, charity, prayer, and humility comes through and is shared not only by these two religions, but by practically every religion in the world.