Did Jesus Live In India?

From time to time, there has been this idea being marketed that Jesus lived in India. The Bible explicitly mentions  Jesus before 12 and after 30. There is no explicit mention of what happened in between. This has led some people to claim that during the 'silent years of Jesus', he came to India. There has even been claims that say Jesus was buried in India. Could it be true that Jesus would have spent some of those 18 years in the Himalayas studying under a Vedic guru?  Does the Bible give evidences that point to the contrary? Well,  I think there are evidences that suggest that Jesus never lived in India.

 

First point. In his 30s, as recorded by Luke, when Jesus began to do his ministry, he had his own critics. On one occasion, in his hometown i.e Nazareth, the village he grew up, when he began to teach, he faced his critics. The critics said, 'Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son...' This suggests that the people of Nazareth knew him as a carpenter. Had Jesus done such work just once or twice, he would not be known as a carpenter. It is plausible to say that because of his consistent engagement with this work, he was known that way. He was not known as a fisherman or a tax collector because he did not do that kind of job. Carpentry would have been his 'profession' just as fishing was Peter's. But someone at 15 would not be a 'carpenter', at 15 one would be just an amateur. It is reasonable to suppose that one could become a fisherman or a carpenter only when one has attained at least 18 and then continued engaging with the work for years. From 18-20 to 28-30 did Jesus engage himself as a carpenter for which he then came to be known as a carpenter? Possibly!

 

Second point. In his teaching ministry that he started around 30, he used lot of parables. The parables he told suggest that Jesus knew the 'ways of life' of the people there. If Jesus had lived in Siberia, he would have used parables from such region. One could make that out from reading the parables. Parables of the lost sheep, vineyard, fishing net, mustard seed etc. suggest that he grew up in Israel, not just in his early years when he would be too young to learn much but also in his adult years. Moreover, his conversation with the religious leaders and his teaching suggest that he was very much well-versed in the Old Testament. Only a person who continuously received teaching even well onto adult years would have knowledge of such sort. For example, when one reads Buddha's discourse it is not very difficult to know that such thought would have come about only after years of learning and meditation. Just a year or two of learning would not produce such insight. Similarly, to have such insight and understanding, Jesus would have immersed in so many years of studying the Old Testament. And that is possible only if he lived and grew up there in Israel.

 

Third point. In ancient India, there emerged two figures, Gotama Buddha and Mahavira, who came out Vedic Hinduism. These two moved away from Vedic theology, but their teaching has traces of Vedic theology. Even if they tried to move away, they were successful only up to certain extent. Had Jesus received heavy dose of Vedic teaching in the Himalayas, it is quite possible that we find traces of Vedic theology in Jesus' teaching. But this is not so. Instead it is the Old Testament background that we find all over in Jesus teaching, and complete absence of Vedic theology. Had Jesus been heavily influenced by Vedic theology, even if he wanted to get away, like that of Gotama and Mahavira, it would still be visible in his teaching. The absence of Vedic theology suggests that Jesus never came to the Himalayas/India.

 

Is There Life After Death?

We all have near and dear ones who have left this world for good. There is none who is spared. But the more sobering fact is that we all would face death someday. None will be spared again. Rich or poor, young or old, every one will face death. Death is the greatest leveller, they say! My father-in-law passed away few days back after battling cancer for over a year. Of all the people I have known, I would remember him – Nank Kishore Sanghi – as the one person who has the purest heart. (Infants do have pure hearts, but I am not taking them into consideration now.) He was a hard working scientist and an honest person! The ethical excellence he strives for, in thought and in deed, was marvellous. There might have been such people or better people in the past, and there may be still be such people or better people around. But I do not know anyone who is like my father-in-law. He does not claim perfection. But verbally and through action, he teaches those around him to strive and strive and strive for moral excellence.

If there is one person who could earn salvation by good work, he would qualify to be one of those individuals. But he would say that his good work is not sufficient to earn him salvation. Salvation is only for those who are morally perfect or for those who are forgiven. And he thought that he is not morally perfect. He thought so because moral perfection is just too high a standard for a human to achieve. He has weaknesses and shortcomings and therefore he is far from being morally perfect. And so the only way to get salvation is by way of forgiveness; by being pronounced 'not guilty' or 'not blameworthy'. And he believes that only through Jesus Christ could he receive forgiveness. He arrived at this conclusion after years of inquiring how one's own iniquities could be cleansed. Being born into a family that knew not Christ even in remotest sense, it was a long journey. Yet at certain point in his adult life, he arrived at a conclusion that apart from Christ there is no forgiveness of sins .

Jesus Christ was put to death on the cross by the Roman authority while he was in his 30s. His disciples claimed that on the third day after being put to death, he came back to life. They claimed that they have seen the resurrected Jesus Christ, touched him, ate with him and been with him. They claimed that Jesus has conquered death. He is resurrected from the death, they say. But the fact that he would come back to life after being killed have been told in advance by Jesus himself to the disciples. The disciples found it hard to believe until it really occurred. The entire Christian community all over the world that is there yesterday and today and will be there tomorrow hangs on this story – Jesus is risen. The implication is that if Jesus is truly risen, life does not end with this physical death. And based on the words that he had said, there is also the hope for life beyond this three dimensional world for all those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and God; that this death is not the end of the story.

My own father is no more. Yet there is the hope that I will see him again along with my father-in-law in future. This hope is based on the historical claim that Jesus Christ is risen from the death. Whether the historical claim and therefore the hope is based on historical evidence or not is open to critical examination. On my part I have applied academic rigour and intellectual honesty to examine the claim, and I have found the case to be very convincing. Christianity is a religion that can be rendered meaningless, if this claim can be proved to be wrong. But if one examines the case and found it convincing, it could be life-transforming. Whether to critically examine the claim or to dismiss it as fiction without examination, God has left the choice open! 

Is Cheating in Exam Good?

From High School till College, it has been known that cheating in exam is a worldwide practice. From United States to Netherland to India, it is there. Even in India it is there in Delhi, in Bihar and in Manipur. But using unfair means is unfair, wherever it is. Cheating is cheating, East or West. The individual student, parents and the concerned authority must all acknowledge that cheating in exam is wrong. To be declared pass is to acknowledge that a student has possessed the requisite knowledge required of a person at such a stage of learning. But clearing an examination by cheating and copying betray the degree the person possesses. A student who clears the exam by cheating deceives himself or herself, cheats the authority and the society at large.

If one has decided not to cheat, yet must pass the exam then the only option is to work hard. I have heard wise parents say, 'pass' or 'failed' is a different matter, but as a student hard work is a must. If you work hard and you failed, the problem is not yours. But if you refused to work hard now, and you failed later, the problem is yours. A child needs to be reassured that if he or she fails to do well in studies despite hard work, the parents will be there to understand the matter and stand with him or her. A hard working child need not fear the parents or the future. Fear of the parents, rejection by the society or a bleak future is one factor that gives rise to cheating in exam. Just as a child needs reassurance, he or she also has to be taught to be responsible for failure that may arise due to his or her laziness. To do away cheating in exam in a community responsible parenting is a must.

As one goes up the academic ladder, it gets more embarrassing to be corrected for the mistakes which one should not have made in the first place. Grammar, arithmetic, basic science etc. are all taught in High School. This is about laying the foundation in order to prepare the student for higher learning in various disciplines later. If a person is cheating at this level, he or she will struggle at the Bachelors. If he or she is cheating at the Bachelors level, the same person will struggle at the Masters level or even when one has got a job with the Bachelor's degree. At that stage, because of the learning you are supposed to possess at 15, but then refused to do so when you are young, life is difficult when you act stupid. However, if one has learned what must be learned at a younger age, one need not face embarrassing moments later.

It is always better to learn what is to be learned at that stage. Going back in time is not easy. As age catches up, different responsibilities emerge. Eyes refuse to cooperate; back refuses to support for long and the mind no longer remains fertile as it used to be. One of the first things that I decided when I came to faith in Jesus Christ as a student in 2000 was that I shall not cheat in exam any more. Over the years I have realised that academically this has been much more productive than I could have possibly imagined when such a decision was made. Certain people may try to justify cheating saying that it is better to cheat than to lose a year. But besides being legally and morally wrong, imagine a situation where a person makes such a justification at every stage of his or her life. Or worse, imagine a significant number of people use such justification for cheating! A whole bunch of generation will emerge with a flawed character. This is not good for the person and also for the larger society. Given such an adverse prospect for all, cheating in exam should be put to an end right away– by the individual candidate, the parents and the teachers.

(This article appears on the Hornbill Express on 2nd March 2015)