By S Swaminathan
Annam (Manna=food) ,Kinnara (Kinnor=musical instrument/celestial musician), Mandrake( Mantra Korai), Om (Amen), Mass (namaz=namaskaram),Adam and Eve (Atma and Jeevatma), Tukum (Sukam=parrot),Kapi (ape=monkey), Ibha (elephant), Abraham (Ibrahim=Abi Raman) , Nava (Nova=new) are some of the Sanskrit words in The Bible, the holy book of Christians.
There are lot of striking similarities between Hindu and Christian scriptures. They cannot be discounted as coincidences because such similarities are too many. There is good evidence to show that they are borrowed from other sources.
1.The Bible begins with a story from the Upanishads. It is the story of two birds eating the fruits, but instead of two birds the Bible says Adam and Eve.
The very name betrays its Hindu origin of the story. In the Upanishads the two birds are the symbolic representation of Athma (athma=Adam) and the Jeevatma (Jeev-Eve). Any Student of linguistics can easily recognise the transformation of Athma into Adam and Jeeva into Eve. This Parallel has been pointed out by Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswathy, Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam 60 years ago (I have already written it in my post “Three Apples That Changed the World”)
2)The Bible says Eve was created from Adam’s left rib. This is once again the Hindu story of Uma/ Parvathy forming the left part of Shiva. Nowadays we call our wife as the other half. It is very interesting to note that this expression has come from the Vedas. Kalidas and other Sanskrit poets also use this expression freely. Hindus still worship as Ardha Nareeswara (Half Woman +Eswara).
3.The expressions found in the Bible such as ‘Honey and Milk’ are used by the Sanskrit and Tamil poets hundreds of times in their 2000 years old Sangam literature and Sanskrit literature.
The Upanishadic phrases ‘the blind leading the blind’,‘ He or She lived as many days as the number of sands on the river/sea bank’ etc, are found in the Bible. The Saiva Siddhanta principle of Pasu, Pati, Pasam (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and the Adwaita principle are also found in the Bible. Jesus Teaches ‘DWAITA’ first. Then he teaches Adwaita by saying I and Lord are one. Swami Vivekananda has also pointed out this in his talks.
4.Kinnar: Kinnaras are celestial musicians according to Sanskrit literature. The Bible mentions Kinnor 47 times to mention a stringed musical instrument. Even today the Malayalees in south India use this word for musical instruments which is a pure Sanskrit word. It is similar to Greek lyre. Sometimes called David’s Harp, the Kinnor is not a true harp. The word David’s harp sounds like Dravidian Harp. Sangam Tamil literature is of full of praise for the Yaz (lyre or harp). Dravida meant South India in those days.
5.Ramayana in the Bible: Lord Rama’s name is mentioned in the Bible a number of times and the most important of these is the core story of Ramayana found in Genesis. Only a few lines are given to this story. (Genesis 18- The Story of Abraham and Sarah).
A Tamil leaflet detailing the facts in a lengthy article was published in Sankara Krupa, a magazine brought out by Sringeri Shnkaracharya Mutt.
Ram, Ramah, Ramiah, Rameses, Abraham, Abiram, Ahiram, Amram, Adoram, Adoniram, Hiram, Horam, Huram, Hadoram, Jehoram, Joram, Malchiram- are used in at least 21 places.
Beside this there are many towns with the name of Ram in Madagascar Island and in and around Middle East. (Please see my article Madagascar-India link via Indonesia).
Abraham and Ibrahim are one and the same name. Abba in Hebrew means father. Even today we name our sons Rama-Iyah or Rama-Appa (father). But in Hebrew language the suffix Appa-father- will come only as a prefix. That is how they get the names Abba+ram=Abraham. (PLEASE SEE NO 10 FOR OTHER INTERPRETATION OF ‘ABRAHAM’)
Cuneiform inscriptions giving the names of Tushrata/Dasaratha and Pratardhana were found in Syria and they are dated as 1500 BC. No part of Bible was written before this date. The oldest part of the Bible was written in 900 BC according to Hutchinson Encyclopedia.
Egyptian Kings with Ram’s name
Egyptian Kings also bear the name of Rama and we find at least 17 kings with Rameses as their names. It can be interpreted as Rama Seshan (Vishnu) or Ramesan (Shiva). All those kings have snakes on their heads like Lord Shiva. Rama’s story was so popular that even Buddhists used Dasaratha Jataka as one of their stories. To reciprocate their good gestures, Hindus gave avatar status to the Buddha. THUS BUDDHA WAS ONE OF THE TEN AVATARS OF VISHNU ACCORDING TO GITA GOWINDA OF JAYADEVA.
6.Teak wood, ivory and birds are mentioned in the Bible with Sanskrit and Tamil words. The names of all the articles brought back by Solomon’s fleet are pure Sanskrit words. The names are Sen-habim or teeth of elephant, Kophim or apes and Tukum or parrots. The equivalent Sanskrit words are Ibha (elephant), Kapi (Ape/monkey) and Sukam (parrot) with the mere addition of Hebrew plural termination.
7.The oral tradition in Kashmir says that the Biblical king Solomon visited Kashmir. Jesus Christ was said to have spent his last days in Kashmir after resurrection. Some scholars have even pointed out that Jesus spent 20 years in the Himalayas. The Bible did not say where he was between age 13 and 33. The present Bible was redacted in 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] century AD in Constantinople and lot of different versions were burnt at that time. Like Hindu Puranas they had various versions of the Bible. To avoid confusion they were burnt by the king Constantine.
There is a grave in Kashmir, which is considered Jesus’ grave. The epitaph on the grave says, “The messenger of peace rests here”. Several scholars have pointed out the similarity between the parables of the Upanishads and Christ.
8.Vibhuthi (Holy Ash) which is used by the Saivaite Hindus everyday was used by the Christ. Ash Wednesday is the celebration of the holy ash. Ash is mentioned in the Old Testament as well.
9.Jesus fasted for 40 days in the desert at the beginning of his ministry.
Even today 40 day fasting period leading up to Easter was followed by orthodox Christians. This 40 day period is called a Mandalam in Hindu scriptures. Even today millions of Hindus visiting Sabarimalai in Kerala and Murugan temples in Tamilnadu (Skantha Shasti) follow this custom.
10. Following words are used by Hindus, Christians and Moslems which have nearly the same meaning:
Hindus : Namaskar- Om- Brahma
Christians : Mass- Amen- A braham
Moslems : Namaz- Amin- I brahim
All the first three words mean “worship”. All the important Veda Mantras like Gayathri pray for many instead of a single man. This shows that group prayer evolved in India, which is followed by others.
The Christian interjection Amen and The Hindu interjection Om mean the same thing viz. ‘It is so’ or ‘So be it’ or Yea’ or Verily’ or ‘Truly’. The only difference between the two is whereas the Christian Amen is pronounced at the end of the prayer, the Hindu Om is usually pronounced at the beginning of a prayer.
11.We come across Image worship in the Old Testament which is very common among Hindus. Only Moses put an end to this practice.
12. ‘NAVA’ IN SANSKRIT MEANS ‘NEW’
The story of the Great Floods (deluge) is found in all the ancient cultures and the very word ‘NOVA’ is itself a Sanskrit name meaning ‘New’. The flood story is the first of the 10 avatars of Vishnu. According to Hindu mythology a NEW (nova) Manu comes to power after every deluge.
13.The word rutham (Rig veda) meaning Truth, Right, Order and law gave the Biblical name RUTH and the English words Right, Rhythm and Truth. Moses, Abel and several other Biblical names can be traced to their Sanskrit roots:
Yadu-Yada, Jew-Juda. (YADAVAS=YUDA= JEWS). Yayathi-jayathi (Jewish Rabbi’s name).
14.Swami Vivekananda in his conversations with the disciples told them about his strange dream about the Chirst. One day when Swamiji’s ship was nearing the Crete Island he dreamt of a saint who came in the guise of a Buddhist monk. He called himself Thera Buddha and told Swamiji that there was no Chirst but people called himself the Christ. Swamiji did not pursue this matter for obvious reasons. (For more details see Vivekanandar Sambashanikal (Tamil) published by Ramakrishna Mutt, Madras.)
15.Like Sermon on the Mount and the Buddhist Dhammapada, the Hindu scriptures also teach men to return good for evil. This is what said to have uttered by Vidura, the wise man of Mahabharata in the Vidura Neethi.
Thiruvalluvar, the great Tamil saint in his Thirukkural says:
‘The best way to punish those who harm you is to make them feel ashamed by doing them good and thinking no more of it’ (couplet 314).
16.Washing the feet: When Dharma alias Yudhistra performed the Rajasuya Yagna he allocated the tasks to different people. Krishna chose the work of washing the feet of the worthy Brahmins. One but cannot recall to mind an identical incident in the Life of Jesus, who when he ate the Passover meal with his 12 disciples went round washing their feet. This custom of washing the feet existed in Ancient India even today when great men like Sankaracharyas visit any one, it is done.
(in the next part we will see manna (annam) that fell from the heaven, Mandrake (Mantra Korai, a root with magical properties like Ginseng).
To be Continued………..
