ZEITGEIST: THE MOVIE

clear from many of his characteristics and adventures, not the least of which is his status as an
incarnation of the god Vishnu. In this regard, Lalta Prasad Pandey remarks that Vishnu‘s solar nature is
―‗beyond doubt‘ and that the Vedas concur that Vishnu was a sun god.‖ 140 Says Pandey: ―Vishnu,
described in the Rgveda, is another solar deity.‖ 141
In the Bhagavad Gita, verse 10.21, Krishna states:
I am Vishnu striding among sun gods, the radiant sun among lights... 142
Surya in chariot driven by Aruna
Krishna in chariot driven by Arjuna
Just as Jesus was considered an incarnation of God himself, so was Krishna the incarnation of Vishnu in
a miraculous conception. In another sacred Indian text called the Vishnu Purana (5.1-3) we read:
…the supporter of the earth, Vishnu, would be the eighth child of Devakí…
No person could bear to gaze upon Devaki, from the light that invested her, and those who
contemplated her radiance felt their minds disturbed. The gods, invisible to mortals, celebrated
her praises continually from the time that Vishnu was contained in her person.... Thus eulogized
by the gods, Devaki bore, in her womb, the lotus-eyed (deity), the protector of the world.... 143
Born of a Virgin: Like Krishna, who is essentially a solar deity and not a ―real person,‖ so too is his
mother, Devaki, a mythical figure. Although the story becomes very complicated and far from its roots in
later retellings, the germ of the Krishna-Devaki myth can apparently be found in the Rig Veda, in which
the Dawn goddess gives birth to the rising Sun. 144 This miraculous conception of a god incarnating
himself through a ―mortal‖ woman obviously compares to the gospel tale of Jesus‘s nativity.
Even though it is accepted that Krishna was another form of the Divine Vishnu, it is nevertheless argued
that because Devaki had other children prior to the birth of Krishna, she was not ―a virgin.‖ Yet, in
mythology the perpetual virgin is a common motif, regardless of how many children the female is said to
have given birth to. As Carpenter points out:
There is hardly a god whose worship as a benefactor of mankind attained popularity in any of the
four continents...who was not reported to have been born from a virgin, or at least from a mother
who owned the child not to any earthly father. 145
140
Pandey, 17; Acharya, SOG, 183.
141
Pandey, 16.
142
Stoler Miller, 94.
143
Wilson, 264, 268.
144
Acharya, SOG, 222.
145
Carpenter, 156.