Yoshada and Jesus

Yashoda and Jesus

 

According to  Hindu myth,  Krishna was born to Devaki. He was conceived without sexual union, by "divine mental transmission" from the mind of  his father Vasudeva and into the womb of Devaki.  The couple's first six children were killed by Devaki's brother King Kansa because prophecy foretold that one of the children would kill him. Before the birth of Krishna,  Kansa locked Devaki and Vasudeva in prison. Krishna was born in prison and secretely taken to foster mother Yashoda for protection. Yashoda is often portrayed as his mother.

Lets look at this.  Krishna was born without sexual union.  A King wanted to kill him.  These are parallels with the story of Jesus.  Even the unusual birth places, a prison and a manger have similarity.  Hinduism is older than Christianity.

Joseph Campbell studied and wrote about comparative mythology.  He found similarities between creation and salvation myths all over the world, in many different cultures with different religions.

Here is what Wikipedia says about Campbell:

As a strong believer in the unity of human consciousness and its poetic expression through mythology, through the monomyth concept, Campbell expressed the idea that the whole of the human race could be seen as reciting a single story of great spiritual importance

 

Its ultimate meaning relates to humanity's search for the same basic, unknown force from which everything came, within which everything currently exists, and into which everything will return and is considered to be "unknowable" because it existed before words and knowledge. 

Myth fulfills basic human needs, the needs based on the human condition of not knowing. In the words of Gauguin, the not knowing, the source of deep insecurity, are derived from these mysterious questions,  "Where do we come from?  What are we?  Where are we going?"

In my recent art work I have been mashing up, mixing up, different religious stories.  I have switched the characters around.  Mary is holding Krishna and Yashoda is holding Jesus. 

Here is Reggae musician Bob Marleys take on this subject:

One Love, One Heart
Let's get together and feel all right
As it was in the beginning (One Love)
So shall it be in the end (One Heart)
Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right   

Gauguin's oil painting,  "Where Do We Come From?  What Are We?  Where Are We Going?"

Peace, Love and Art,

 Janet