Previously we were trying to discuss how 18 years in the life of Jesus Christ are missing in a mysterious manner. Many people have different theories on where Jesus could have spent these 18 years. Now we will discuss how and why some experts believe that Jesus spent these 18 years of his life in India learning about Vedas and Yoga.

The Missing Years

Some also try to connect these years of Jesus with other Asian countries. Many feel these theories are actually baseless. We will try to discuss all the theories in this article. We are not trying to give an opinion here we are just putting forward all the ideas and it is up to the readers to decide what they feel is correct in this perspective. It will be interesting though to understand why these concepts actually came up.

The Background

Let us first come to why these thoughts came up. Jesus taught religion in a very different manner that was not the way it was taught at that time in that region. He said that God is one and God is present in everything which is a concept that the Hindus used to teach. Some people do not agree with this and they say that Jesus taught this from the Jewish Old Testament itself. In the testament there was a mention in mark 12:29 about the monotheistic God of Judaism.

Was it Israel?

If we look at evidence there is perhaps nothing we can find to support the idea that Jesus spend some years of his life in India. Some also claim that he actually went to Israel and learned from the gurus there. Some say that there is no mention that 18 years in the life of Jesus are actually missing. They say that Jesus did spend these 18 years in his hometown itself. Luke 2:52 does summarise that since 12 years of age Jesus kept increasing his knowledge about religion and he said in Palestine. His knowledge was in favour of man and God.

Some say that Jesus was both God and human at the same time. He knew everything and he was very wise. His wisdom grew from the divine perspective. He lived the life of a common man and he learnt the same things that the other boys were learning but he added a different level of maturity and divinity to all that he learnt. He studied the old testaments and he also learnt form the wisdom of the elders.

Jesus was the son of a carpenter and in those days it was natural that the son would learn the business of the father. Joseph taught Jesus all about carpentry and if you look at the teachings of Jesus you will notice that there is some mention in there about carpentry too. For example in (Matthew 7:24-27) Jesus teaches that a house should be built on solid rocks and not on sand.

The Opposing Viewpoints

There are many who are of the strong opinion that Jesus never came to India. In that time ancient India had a lot of literature being written. There was no mention anywhere about the coming of Jesus to India so we cannot but consider that this concept was more of a hoax. There could have been some scripture, some text or something to support this.

In Luke 4:16 there is a strong text that completely refutes the idea that Jesus could have come to India. In the very beginning of the three years ministry Jesus had come to Nazareth. He entered the synagogue on Sabbath here. If Jesus was in India he should have been visiting temples. This text clearly indicates that Jesus was in Nazareth.

Jesus was very well informed about religion and he taught religion in a total different perspective. He wanted people to feel happy about religion and use it to spread love and peace. When he finished reading in the occasion that we have mentioned above everyone started to talk about this new young man who could speak so well on religion. They wanted to know who he was and from where he came. (Luke 4:22) Does mention clearly that all those who heard him could say that he was the “son of Joseph” and thus he was a local resident and not someone who came from a distant land to preach about religion.

Then where and what was He doing?

Jesus was the son of a carpenter and he was not from a very well educated family. It was quite unexpected that he could be so well versed with religion and he could go so deep into the religious texts. This was the point that makes people believe that Jesus must have spent a good number of years away from his home and learning about religion. He was thirty and not even married which was not the normal trend at that time. By thirty most people would have a few kids at that time.

Apart from the points that we have discussed so far there have been more instances to prove that how Jesus taught religion from the Old Testament itself and there was no influence in his teaching from any other sources. Just that he look at the Old Testament and whatever was written in it from a different point of view that was not looked into by anybody before him.

In Matthew 5:18 Jesus clearly mentions that one must stay away from false Gods and false religious systems. This could might as well include other religious believes including Hinduism.

Jesus would often talk about the creation being different from the creator. This is again a concept that is clearly mentioned in the Old Testament. If you look at Hinduism the concept is quite different and the belief is I pantheism which talks about redemption and not about enlightenment.

When you look at the teaching of Jesus you will realize that he was basically teaching what was mentioned in the Old Testament and he was not teaching something that came from some other source. He did live in his hometown and learnt what the other boys were learning. He was a normal man who had a godlike nature in him that attracted people to him. He was gaining popularity because he was not like the others who were teaching religion. His popularity was becoming a threat to many and as a result he was assassinated.

He was a person who could inspire masses an ability that only few human beings have. There is no proof of any nature to support the claim that he had come to India and he learnt the Vedas. Unless there is a strong proof to claim this it will only remain as an imagination of human mind.

Hinduism actually did not inspire Jesus he was inspired by all that he had learned and seen around him all his life and this is the fact that we must accept. There are many similarities between what he taught and Hinduism there is no way we can deny that. However, there are some fundamental differences too between the teachings of Jesus and what Hinduism stands for.

Editor’s Note: the view points expressed are solely of the writer and Metaphysics Knowledge does not endorse or refute any such theories or claims. We mainly aim to present the readers with different perspectives in a sane manner and it is upto the faith, belief and knowledge of the individual people to see it from their own perspective.

Having said that, each Saint and Sage whether from the East or West taught true wisdom albeit in different ways and forms and needs to be respected and we should follow their teachings rather than worrying too much where they got that wisdom, then only religion will serve a more useful purpose