Krishna Christ?

Krishna Christ?

          Reading the Bhagavad Gita through Christian eyes is an interesting experience. For two religions that seemingly have many differences, the essential tenets of the Gita seem remarkably similar to Christianity.

         There are, of course, obvious differences. The idea of reincarnation is the one that most obviously sticks out. Many could argue that Krishna’s insistence that Arjuna go to war could also be against the basic tenets of Christianity. However, war and violence pervade the Old Testament, and many wars have been fought by Christians who believed that the Bible justified their actions. Specific instructions from God, as in the case of Abraham, have been far stranger than fighting a war against ones kinsmen.

         Krishna advocates a love of every living thing because of the recognition that each living thing is connected to the greater spirit, something that sounds a lot like the Christian idea of loving living things because they are God’s creation (End of Chapter XIII). Krishna’s discussion of meditation makes it sound very similar to forms of Christian prayer. Even Krishna’s revelation to Arjuna(Chapter XI) is reminiscent of God’s revelation to Moses, and, perhaps if we stretch, Jesus’ revelations to the apostles.

         Perhaps the most interesting parallel is the fact that each religion essentially ends up with the same moral system and instructions for how a person should act. In Christianity, we love God and thus are led to love each other. Our love of God is what motivates us to act justly. In Krishna’s moral system the idea is essentially the same. We are to meditate upon Krishna and allow that to guide our actions.

         At the beginning of Chapter XVI, Krishna offers a list of characteristics necessary for leading one to eternal life. Piety, humbleness, truthfulness, slowness to wrath, charity, tenderness towards all that suffer, a contended heart, patience, fortitude, purity, an unvengeful spirit are all listed. All of these are characteristics also sought by Christianity.

         If Christians are unintentionally following the way of Krishna, what does this mean if Krishna’s religion is correct and ours isn’t? In Christianity, acceptance of Jesus as God’s son is a necessary tenet of gaining eternal life, however with Krishna’s view of incarnation, Christians may be sitting in a relatively good position.

         Although Krishna does say that those who pray to other gods will “fall back to earth”(Chapter IX), it also seems that living the Christian way of life may prepare us for a better position to start from in our next life. We already have the way of living down, and thus once we focus our sights on Krishna we will be set for eternal life. In all honesty, we might have the right way to go about it, because in Christianity we only get one chance. If this way doesn’t succeed, at least Krishna will put us in a better situation next time around to gain eternal life, but if Christianity and the Christian God are correct, then we have nothing to worry about.

Approximately 470 words