The Bible and Bhavishya Purana

The Bhavishya Purana is one of the eighteen major Hindu Puranas (histories of Hindu deities). But, the content of Bhavishya Purana is not just about history (past); it also includes prophecies about the future. In fact, the very title Bhavishya means "future"; the the title Bhavishya Purana should translate as "The History of the Future". While Hindu scholars maintain the Purana dates back to 3000 B.C. modern scholars are skeptical and consider it to be more recent since it gives particular details of Mughal emperors and modern events as well (See Vijaya Ghosh (ed), Tirtha, New Delhi: CMC Ltd., 1992). Interestingly, this seems to be the only Hindu text that incorporates some of the Biblical information directly into it. It recounts the account of Genesis as the story of the mlecchas. The Purana's narrative is a polemic against non-sanskritic languages and eulogizes Sanskrit as the purest and the mleccha (non-Vedic, barbarian, foreigner) language its corrupted form:
At that time the Kali purusha prayed to Lord Narayana along with his wife. After sometime the Lord apperared to him and said, "This age will be a good time for you. I will fulfil your desire having various kinds of forms. There is a couple named Adama and his wife Havyavati. They are born from Vishnu-kardama and will increase the generations of mlecchas. Saying this, the Lord disappeared. Having great joy the Kali purusha went to Nilacha

Vyasa said: "Now you hear the future story narrated by Suta Goswami. This is the full story of of Kali-yuga, hearing this you will become satisfied."

In the eastern side of Pradan city where there is a a big God-given forest, which is 16 square yojanas in size. The man named Adama was staying there under a Papa-Vriksha or a sinful tree and was eager to see his wife Havyavati. The Kali purusha quickly came there assuming the form of a serpent. He cheated them and they disobeyed Lord Vishnu. The husband ate the forbidden fruit of the sinful tree. They lived by eating air with the leaves called udumbara. After they had sons and all of them became mlecchas. Adama's duration of life was nine-hundred and thirty years. He offered oblations with fruits and went to heaven with his wife. His son was named Sveta-nama, and he lived nine-hundred and twelve years. Sveta-nama's son was Anuta, who rulled one-hundred years less than his father. His son Kinasa rulled as much as his grandfather. His son Malahalla ruled eight-hundred ninety five years. His son Virada rulled 160 years. His son Hamuka was devoted to Lord Vishnu, and offering oblations of fruits he achieved salvation. He ruled 365 years and went to heaven with the same body being engaged in mleccha-dharma.

Having good behavior, wisdom, qualities like a brahmana and worship of God, these things are called mleccha-dharma. The great souls have declared that the dharma of the mleccha is devotion to God, worship of fire, nonviolence, austerity and control of the senses. The son of Hamuka was Matocchila. He ruled for 970 years. His son Lomaka ruled 777 years and went to heaven. His son Nyuha (Noah) ruled for 500 years. He had three sons named Sima, Sama and Bhava. Nyuha was a devotee of Lord Vishnu.

Once the Lord appeared in his dream and said: “My dear Nyuha, please listen, there will be devastation on the seventh day. Therefore, you have to be very quick that you make a big boat and ride in it. O chief of the devotees, you will be celebrated as a great king”.

Then he made a strong boat which was 300 feet long, 50 feet wide and 30 feet high. It was beautiful and all the living entities could take shelter in it. He then himself rode in it, engaged in meditating on Lord Vishnu.

Lord Indra called the devastating cloud named Sambartaka and poured heavy rain continuously for 40 days. The whole earth, Bharat-varsa, had merged in the water and four oceans came up together. Only Visala or Badarikasrama was not submerged. There were 80,000 great transcendentalists in Visala who joined with king Nyuha and his family. All of them were saved and everything else was destroyed.

At that time all the sages praised the eternal energy of Lord Vishnu. Being pleased by the prayers of the sages, the Vishnu-maya reduced the waters of devastation. After one year gradually the earth become visible. Under the hill there is a place named Sisina and the king was situated in that place with his other people. When the water completely dried up, king Nyuha came back to his place.

Suta Goswami continued: The mleccha, king Nyuha became attached to Lord Vishnu and as a result Lord Vishnu increased his generation. Then he created a language fit for the mlecchas, unfavorable to the Vedas. He named it as brahmi-bhasha, or brahmi language, full of bad words, for increasing the degradation of Kali-yuga. The Lord who is Himself the master of intelligence gave this language to Nyuha. Nyuha named his tree sons opposite. They were known as Sima, Hama, Yakuta and also Yakuta, Sapta putra, Jumara and Majuya. The name of their countries were known as Madi, Yunana, Stuvaloma, Tasa and Tirasa.

Hama who was the second son of his father, had four sons know as Kusa, Misra, Kuja and Kanaam. Kusa had six sons - Havila, Sarva, Toragama, Savatika, NimaruhaI and Mahavala. Their sons were known as Kamala, Sinara and Uraka. And their countries names are Akvada, Bavuna and Rasana.

After telling this story Suta Goswami influenced by Yoga-nidra entered mystic slumber. He woke up after two thousand years and thereupon he said: “Now I’m going to say about the generation of Sima. Because he was the first son of his father he became the king. This mleccha king ruled over the country for 500 years. His son Arkansoda ruled for 434 years. His son Sihla ruled for 460 years. His son Iratasya ruled the same length as his father. His son Phataja ruled for 240 years. His son Rau ruled for 237 years. His son Juja ruled the same length as his father. His son Nahura ruled for 160 years, and he destroyed his many inimical kings. His son Tahara ruled the same length as his father. He had three sons: Avirama, Nahura and Harana. Thus I have explained the generation of mlecchas with the indication of their names only. The mleccha language is considered the lowest language because it bears the curse of goddess Sarasvati. Thus I have summarily narrated the rise of the mlecchas in Kali-yuga. (Bhavishya Purana at Hinduonline)
Note the names Hamuka (Enoch), Matocchila (Methuselah), Nyuha (Noah), Sima (Shem), Sama (Ham), Bhava (Japheth), parallel with Noah's geneology in the book of Genesis.

The Purana has also been quoted as citing a vision of Jesus Christ, an issue that has sparked much controversy in the modern textual criticism of the Purana.
Once upon a time the subduer of the Sakas went towards Himatunga and in the middle of the Huna country (Hunadesh - the area near Manasa Sarovara or Kailash mountain in Western Tibet), the powerful king saw an auspicious man who was living on a mountain. The man’s complexion was golden and his clothes were white. The king asked, ‘Who are you sir?’
‘You should know that I am Isha Putra, the Son of God’, he replied blissfully, and ‘am born of a virgin. I am the expounder of the religion of the mlecchas and I strictly adhere to the Absolute Truth.’
Hearing this the king enquired, ‘What are the religious principles according to your opinion?’
Hearing this questions of Shalivahana, Isha putra said, ‘O king, when the destruction of the truth occurred, I, Masiha the prophet, came to this country of degraded people where there are no rules and regulations. Finding that fearful irreligious condition of the barbarians spreading from Mleccha-Desha, I have taken to prophethood. Please hear, Oh king, which religious principles I have established among the mlecchas. The living entity is subject to good and bad contaminations. The mind should be purified by taking recourse of proper conduct and performance of japa [meditation on the chanting of the holy names of God]. By chanting the holy names one attains the highest purity. Just as the immovable sun attracts, from all directions, the elements of all living beings, the Lord of the Surya Mandala [solar planet], who is fixed and all-attractive, and attracts the hearts of all living creatures. Thus by following rules, speaking truthful words, by mental harmony and by meditation, Oh descendant of Manu, one should worship that immovable Lord. Having placed the eternally pure and auspicious form of the Supreme Lord in my heart, O protector of the earth planet, I preached these principles through the mlecchas’ own faith and thus my name became ‘isha-masiha’.
After hearing these words and paying obeisances to that person who is worshiped by the wicked, the king humbly requested him to stay there in the dreadful land of mlecchas.” (Verses 22-31 in the 19th chapter of the Chaturyuga Khanda Dvitiyadhyayah of the Bhavishya Purana as cited by Stephen Knapp)
Obviously, there are crucial discontinuities between the New Testament account of Jesus and the above cited account. Perhaps, it is also a polemic that attempts to position the Sanskrit religion above that of the mlecchas. The presence of Christianity was already in India from the 1st Century; so, one can't ignore that it could have bearing on the development of religious polemics.

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