Jesus In India — Page 109
CHAPTER FOUR 99 even the long story of the Temptation of the Buddha was appro- priated by him. This, however, is an error on the part of the Aryas and their dishonesty. It is quite untrue that Jesus, the Messiah, came to India before the event of the cross, and indeed no need had arisen to undertake such a journey at that time. The need for it arose only after the Jews of Judea had rejected Jesus, the Messiah, and in their own thinking, had crucified him. Jesus, the Messiah, had, however, been saved by a subtle divine intervention. It was then that he felt he had done his duty in conveying the message to the Jews of that country, and that they did not deserve further compassion; their hearts having become so hardened due to their evil actions that they were no longer deemed worthy of accepting the truth. Then, on being informed by God Almighty that the ten tribes of the Jews had migrated towards India, Jesus, the Messiah, set out for those regions. As some of the Jews had accepted Buddhism, there was no alternative for this true prophet but to turn his attention to the followers of Buddhism. As the Buddhist priests of that country were waiting for the 'Messiah Buddha' to appear, they hailed Jesus, the Messiah, as the Buddha consider- ing all the signs like his titles, his moral teachings like 'love thine enemy, and 'do not resist evil, and the Buddha's prophecy about fair skin. It is also possible that some of the titles and teachings and facts of the life of Jesus, the Messiah, may, consciously or unconsciously, have at that time been ascribed to the Buddha; for the early Indians never had any scruples about recording history objectively. And the events of Buddha's life had not been recorded till the time of Jesus, the Messiah. Buddhist priests, therefore, had ample room to ascribe to the Buddha anything they wished. It is quite likely, therefore, that when they came to know of the facts of