DRAWING A PARALLEL BETWEEN BIBLE AND VEDAS

Attempts to Draw Parallels Between Hinduism and Christianity

Krishna Mohan Banerjee ( 1813-1885 ),who got converted to Christianity in 1932,was the first protestant Christian to interpret Jesus and Christianity in terms of Vedic thought.In the 1860s his thought on the relation between Hinduism and Christianity underwent considerable changes,as he began to take a positive stance on Hinduism.The puropose of his book,The Arian Witness ( 1875) was to show the striking parallels between the Old Testament and the Vedas,and then to conclude Christianity was the logical conclusion of Vedic Hinduism.He wrote that the  fundamental principles of the Gospel were recognized and acknowledged both in theory and practice by the Aryans in India.The original home of the Aryans and Abraham was the same,namely Media.There are striking parallels between Hebrew and Sanskrit.There are parallels to the Biblical creation stories in the Vedas.The legend of the Deluge is there in the Old Testament and Sathapatha Brahmana.

The original sacrifice of the Vedas refers to the self-sacrifice of Prajapathi,which foreshadowed the Cross of Jesus Christ.In the two supplementary essays,and in the booklet,The Relation Between Christianity and Hinduism ( 1881),Banerjee further expounded the similarity between Hindu and Christian thought with respect to the understanding of Sacrifice.The two theses of Banerjee were as follows:

"That the fundamental principles of Christian doctrine in relation to the salvation of the world find a remarkable counterpart in the Vedic principles of primitive Hiduism in relation to the destruction of sin,and the redemption of the sinner by the efficacy of the Sacrifice itself a figure of Prajapathi,the Lord and Saviour of the Creation,who had given himself up as an offering to that purpose.

"That the meaning of Prajapathi an appellative,variously described as a Purusha begotten in the beginning,as Viswakarma,the creator of all,singularly coincide with the meaning of the names and offices of the historical reality,Jesus Christ,and that no other person other than Jesus of Nazareth has ever appeared in the world claiming the character and position of the self-sacrificing Prajapathi,at the same time mortal and immortal..."

Banerjee's exposition of Christ as the True Prajapathi was an attempt to establish that Christianity is not a foreign religion but rather the fulfilment of the Vedas.38 years before J N Furqahar,it was Banerjee who was one of the first proponents of 'Fulfilment Theory" or incluvism in Indian Christian theology of religions,and without any of the negative criticisms of Hinduism that can be found in Furqahar's work.

John Nicol Farquhar ( 1861 – 1929) was a Scottish educational missionary to Calcutta, and an Orientalist. He is one of the pioneers who popularised the Fulfilment theology in India that Christ is the crown of Hinduism, though, Fulfilment thesis in Bengal was built on foundation originally laid in Madras by William Miller.He authored several books on Hinduism, notably, The Crown of Hindustan, A Primer of Hinduism, Gita and Gospel, and many alike.

Some 84 years before Raimundo Panikkar,Banerjee was the first person to hint at Prajapathi as the "unknown Christ of Hinduism" -again,without any negative criticisms of Vedanta as are found in Panikkar's thesis.Finally,63 years before Kraemer proposed his theory of Discontinuity between 'revelation' and 'religions',Banerjee was expounding a theory of points of contact and continuity between Christianity and Hinduism.

Raimon Panikkar Alemany, also known as Raimundo Panikkar and Raymond Panikkar ( 1918 – 2010), was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and a proponent of Interfaith dialogue. As a scholar, he specialized in comparative religion.His father, Ramunni Panikkar, belonged to a Nair family,Karimba Menakath Allambadath,Mannarkad,Palakkad,South India. Panikkar's father was a freedom fighter during British colonial rule in India, who later escaped from Britain and married into a Catalan family.

The Dutch theologian Hendrik Kraemer (1888–1965) applied the doctrine of the theology of the Word to non-Christian religions in The Christian Message in a Non-Christian World, which had a wide impact on the overseas mission field. Since religions are cultural products and since each system of belief is organic and particular, there are, according to Kraemer, no points of contact between them and the Gospel (even Christianity as an empirical religion must be distinguished from it: its only advantage is to have been continuously under the judgment and influence of the Gospel). Kraemer’s position has come under some criticism from students of comparative religion; one of the theological problems it poses is that it seems to shut off the possibilities of dialogue between religions.

These theories from Christian theologians became an excercise in futility,because  the question remains still whether Christianity is Dvaita or Advaita.If Jesus is the son of God,and then if there is another Holy Spirit apart from the Father and Son,there comes a trinity;in Hinduism the Trinity is EKAM or indivisible.Christianity can boast of any similarity to Hinduism only if they agree that that their Trinity is EKAM.Otherwise Christianity will just be the Poorva Meemamsa,not Vedanta.Hinduism developed defeating all the Poorva Meemamdsas including Buddhism.And,Christianity came to India with colonialism,with East India Company,to conquer,after King Charles II of England recognized Christianity as its official religion.Hinduism had never been declared the official religion in India;religions with the single God,like Christianity and Marxism,have created only dictatorships the world over,whereas Hinduism stands for pluralism and democracy.

Hence there was no need for Banerjee to get converted into Christianity in the first place.

William Carey(1761-1834),known as the Father of modern missions,was the first English Baptist Missionary in India.Born into a family of weavers,at 14,his father sent him to a cobbler as apprentice.Carey,who wanted to make a different kind of shoe,gave final shape to his missionary manifesto in 1792:An Enquiry into the Obligation of Christians to use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens.He formed the Baptist Mission Society with Andrew Fuller,John Ryland and John Sutcliffe as charter members.He met Dr John Thomas a medical missionary who was in Kolkata,then in England and decided to accompany him to India.His mission didn't have the blessings of English East India Company.He had to leave the ship midway and  board a Danish ship.He reached Kolkata in 1793 november and John Thomas made him manage a Midnapore Indigo factory for six years.He then moved to the Serampore Danish colony where a second hand printing press was installed.From there he printed The Bible in 44 languages.His favorite quote in his sermons was from Isaiah,54:2-3:Expect great things from God;Attempt great things for God.

Carey's first convert was Krishna Pal ,a sudra,in 1802.Same year,Krishnapal's daughter married a Brahmin.This proved that his Church repudiated caste distinctions.With generous contribution from the  Governor General Richard Wellesley,the Serampore College was built;Carey became Bengali Professor.He had to sever his ties with the mission he founded towards the end of his life and he lived in the campus.

Krishna Mohan Banerjee (1813-1885) became a Christian two years before Carey's death.He was never under Carey's influence.He imbibed the essence of Bengal Renaissance and attempted to rethink Hindu philosophy,religion and ethics in response to the stimulus of Christian ideas.

His conversion took Bengal by storm.He lost his job and his wife for a while.

He was born in Syampur,in the house of his maternal grandfather Ramjay Vidyabhushan,who was court pundit of Santiram Singha of Jarasanko.He was the son of Jibankrishna Banerjee and Sreemoti Devi.In 1819 he joined School Society Institution of David Hare(1775-1842) which became Hare's School later.Hare was a Scottish watchmaker with no faith commitments.Banerjee attended the Hindu College (now  Presidency University) in 1831 where his English play,The Persecuted was staged.

The Persecuted or Dramatic Scenes Illustrative ofthe Present State of Hindoo Society in Calcutta was written by Krishna Mohan Banejee in the year 1831, when he was about eighteen years old. Krishna Mohan dedicated The Persecuted to “Hindoo Youths” with (in his own words) “sentiments of affection, and strong hopes oftheir appreciating those virtues and mental energies which elevate man in the estimation of a philosopher” {Preface, The Persecuted).For more than a generation, The Persecuted remained the solitary dramatic effort in English not only in Bengal, but anywhere in India.

There can be little doubt that this drama was written with a particular purpose, as Krishna Mohan himselfmade it clear both in the extended title and also in the Preface to the drama: "The author’s purpose has been to compute its excellence by measuring the effects it will produce upon the minds of the rising generation. The inconsistencies and blackness of the influential members of the Hindoo community have been depicted before their eyes. They will now clearly perceive the wiles and tricks ofthe Brahmins and thereby be able to guard themselves against them" (Preface to The Persecuted).

He became a member of Henry Louis Vivian Derozio's Young Bengal group.Derozio,poet,radical thinker and Principal of Hindu College died of cholera the year Banerjee joined the college.Banerjee attended the lectures of the Scottish missionary,Alexander Duff,who came to India in 1830.He came under Duff's sway and embraced Christianity in 1832.

At the time the play was written, Krishna Mohan was strongly under the influence of Derozio and believed in no religion at all. He had caught the atheistic and anti- religious trend ofthe day and joined the crowd ofself-styled reformers. Though he was to convert later, until this time Krishna Mohan had not yet manifested any interest in Christianity. All his efforts were directed towards bold criticism of the inconsistencies and superstitions of the Hindu religion, but he had no belief in any religion or any god whatsoever. As is recorded by Lai Behari Day in Recollections of Alexander Duff (1879), at this point of time the Christian Missionaries were as much an object, of ridicule for him and his friends as were the orthodox Hindus. In Day’s own words: “At that time I was perfectly regardless of God, and never took the trouble of thinking of Him”. 

The Persecuted is an autobiographical play, based on a real life incident in the life of Krishna Mohan, but since it was written in the “pre-Christian” phase of his life, in spite of its anti-Hindu tirades this play had no Christian agenda behind it and it should be looked in the context of the first eighteen years of Krishna Mohan’s life. Krishna Mohan Banerjee was bom in May 1813 in Calcutta. His parents were orthodox Kulin Brahmins. At the age of five, he was initiated by means of shastra rites into the life of a student. When he was eleven years old, Krishna Mohan was invested with the Brahminical sacred thread. In February 1824 he was admitted to the Hindu College and there he commenced his study of Sanskrit and English. Krishna Mohan was a diligent student and often won prizes in College competitions. He was an enthusiastic participant in college cultural functions as well. In 1828, at the age of fifteen, he lost his father, but having obtained of the Education Committee’s scholarships, he was able to continue his studies.

On the first of November 1829, he left college and was appointed assistant teacher in-David Hare’s school. He married in the same year.With conversion,Banerjee lost his job in Hare's School.His wife Bindhyobashini was forced to flee to her father's house.She joined him in later life.He converted her,his brother Kalicharan and Gnanendra Mohan Tagore,son of Prasannakumar Tagore.Gnanendra Mohan married Banerjee's daughter Kamalmani and became the first Asian to qualify as a Barrister in 1862.

The newly introduced English education had resulted in alarming and unprecedented effects on the young educated Bengali. Lai Behari Day speaks of how the young Bengali mind, released from the bondage of age-old tradition, ran wild and the Bengali intellect adopted the boldest forms of scepticism: From implicit faith in the religion of their forefathers, they rushed into blank scepticism. They became sceptical over the very existence of God. “What proof is there”, they asked, “that the national religion is not a cunningly devised fable, palmed off upon ignorant populace by an interested priesthood?” .They began to question Hindu taboos on eating forbidden food and drinking spirituous liquor, and questioned the infallibility of those who were instrumental in framing these taboos. “Why should we blindly follow the dicta of men not wiser than ourselves?”,they  asked (Day, Recollections of Alexander Duff).

The Derozians gave vent to their apathy for the so called 'decadent' Hinduism through their periodical The Parthenon, which was, however, soon discontinued by the Hindu College.authorities owing to its radical anti-Hindu propensities. The discontinuance of The Parthenon did not deter the Derozians who had come to be known as “Young Bengal”. They continued to attack orthodox Hindu society and its superstitions through the press. On 17th May 1831, The Enquirer was published under the leadership of Krishna Mohan. This journal was to serve as the mouthpiece ofthe liberals, through which they planned to carry out their anti-religious propaganda.4 In the journal, Krishna Mohan wrote violent articles on the errors of Hinduism and its leaders. The Enquirer inveighed against the corrupt tyranny of the Hindu priesthood, and the social evils of Sati, female infanticide and Kulin polygamy.

In the July 1831 issue of The Enquirer, Krishna Mohan wrote: The rage of persecution is still vehement. The bigots are up with their thunders of fulmination. The heat of the Gurum Sabha is violent.Excommunication is the cry of the fanatic. We hope perseverance will be liberal’s answer. The Gurum Sabha is high; let it ascend to the boiling point. The orthodox are in a rage; let them burst forth into a flame. Let the liberal’s voice be like that of the Roman, a Roman knows not only to act but to suffer. Blown be the trumpet of excommunication from house to house. Be some hundreds cast out of society; they will form a party, and object devoutly to be wished by us.

Krishna Mohan had become the eye-sore of the orthodox Hindus and therefore also the hero of the ultra radical anti-idolatrous section in Calcutta. His house became the resort of all the ultra radical youth. Certain less prudent and over-emotional Derozians gradually turned their self constructed liberty into license. Thus on the evening of 23rd August 1831, a Derozian group assembled in the residence of Krishna Mohan. Krishna Mohan himself was absent in this assembly. The youth took beef and wine and threw the bones in the inner courtyard of an adjoining house inhabited by an orthodox Brahmin. This act was brazen enough to provoke the Brahmin who rallied thousands of his bigoted allies to redress his humiliation at the hands of these youth. They assailed Krishna Mohan’s family to publicly disown him or face excommunication. Having no other alternative his family summoned Krishna Mohan to their presence and presented him with the alternatives of both recanting his errors by an open disavowal of his past actions, and proclaiming his beliefin the Hindu faith or to leave his ancestral home permanently and be forever deprived of all the privileges and immunities of caste. Krishna Mohan chose the latter extremity and left his home.

This odious separation from his beloved kith and kin took a heavy toll on Krishna Mohan’s health and threw him into a paroxysm of rage against those who had been instrumental in this separation. This bitterness found vehement expression in the columns of The Enquirer where he broke forth in vituperative denunciation of Hinduism: We left the home where we passed our infant days; we left our mother that nourished us in our childhood; we left our brothers with whom we associated in our earliest days; we left our sisters with whom we sympathized when we were bom.

Alexander Duff

Besides denouncing in no unmeasured terms in his journal Hindu idolatry, caste-system, Hindu mythology and its “absurdities”, together with the blazing 'immoralities pervading the ranks of Hinduism', Krishna Mohan sought to ridicule the Hindu society and religion through the play The Persecuted (1831) where Hindu orthodoxy was assailed and the hypocrisy of the Brahmin priesthood was mercilessly exposed. Krishna Mohan’s anti-caste-system sentiments found candid expression in this play.

It was about this time (1831) that Krishna Mohan’s attention was drawn to Christianity,and he became a prize catch for Alexander Duff.Missionaries were trying to catch the high caste Hindus.Duff expressed his deep sympathy for Krishna Mohan’s sufferings and asked him to examine impartially the claims of Christianity. Krishna Mohan has recorded that, "At that time I was perfectly regardless of God, and never took the trouble of thinking of Him. This ingratitude was overcome with kindness by Him, for though I never did seek after the nature and attributes of my great creator, yet, as a merciful father, He forgot me not. Though I neglected Him, yet He had compassion on me, and without my knowledge or inclination, created, so to speak, a circumstance that impelled me to seek after Him".

It was not very difficult to fill the vacuum that was created in Krishna Mohan’s life because of his excommunication. Duff ultimately influenced Krishna Mohan to embrace Christianity. Krishna Mohan was baptized on 17th October 1832. He regarded the incident as a “public recantation of all error and public embracing of the truth, the whole truth, as revealed in the Bible."

Krishna Mohan’s conversion raised a storm in Hindu society.

In 1852, Banerjee was appointed a professor of Oriental Studies at Bishop's College, Kolkata. He had studied aspects of Christianity as a student of the same college between 1836 and 1839.

Krishna Mohan’s rebel spirit continued to spur him whenever he was faced with discrimination. Thus, in the year 1847, he voiced his opinion against the domination of the church by the European missionaries, and demanded that native and European missionaries should be paid equally. When the church did not accept his demand, he refused the post at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Again, in his Arian Witness (1875), Krishna Mohan argued that the Prajapati of the Vedas is Jesus Christ.

Rev Krishna Mohan Banerjee died on 11 May 1885 in Kolkata, and was buried at Shibpur with his wife. The graveyard is currently located inside the campus of IIEST.

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Reference:

Christian Approaches to Other Faiths /edited by Paul Hedges, Alan Race

© Ramachandran