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Editor's Note been translated from the Pali. Notovitch says that he himself later grouped the verses “in accordance with the requirements of the narrative." As published by Notovitch, the work consists of 244 short paragraphs, arranged in fourteen chapters.
Himis, the Tibetan monastery, was along the silk route, when Ladakh was formerly part of Tibet and before India became a nation, and to this day, monks who live here claim that “Issa" was a former student
Virchand Gandhi notes that The “Life of Issa" begins with an account of Israel, its deliverance by Moses, its neglect of religion, and its conquest by the Romans. At the age of thirteen the divine youth, rather than take a wife, leaves his home to wander with a caravan of merchants to India (Sindh), to study the laws of the great Buddhas.
Issa, writes Virchand Gandhi, is welcomed by the Jains, but he leaves them to spend six years among the Brahmins, at Jaggannth Puri of Orissa, Benares, and other places, studying the Vedas and teachings of all castes alike. The Brahmins oppose him and he denounces them and their sacred books, especially condemning caste and idolatory. When they plan to put him to death, he flees to the Buddhists, and spends six years among them, learning Pali and mastering their religious texts. He goes among the pagans, warning them against idolatry and teaching high morality. Then he visits Persia and preaches the Zoroastrians.
At twenty-nine, Issa returns to his country and begins to preach. He visits Jerusalem, where Pilate is apprehensive about Chim. The Jewish leaders, however, are also apprehensive about his teachings, yet he continues preaching for three years. He is finally arrested and put to death for blasphemy, for claiming to be the son of God. His followers are persecuted, but his disciples carry his message throught the world.
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