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11. TRIMURTHY
Rig Veda, X, contains the Purusha-sukta. Purusha is at once supreme being, the cosmos, and as such he is sacrificed primordially as the very act of creation. brihadaranyaka 1:3, 27 Rigveda X:121:1 Ithareyopanishad 1:13 Rigveda X:90:2 Rigveda X:90:7 Yajurveda XXXI:18 Rigveda X:90:16 In short all these quotes mention about the first born son of God who is known as the Prajapathy. It mentions the nature of His birth, i.e through the Holy Spirit and not through a woman. Also that He was sacrificed being tied to a wooden post by the gods and kings along with the seers, refers to the people and kings of the earth. It mentions that the sacrifice is the only way of redemption and liberation of humankind.
If there is any evidence that shows the direct borrowing from Christianity by Hinduism is the concept of Trinity and Monotheism. The basis of Trinity is the idea of three in one which is essentially of Hebrew origin. The Hebrew mysticism found in the Old Testament was finally codified in the late medeaval period by Kabballah writers. The essence of these are in the Old Testament revelation on the nature of God as revealed through ages - from Abraham to Moses and through later prophets.
Jews were in India as early as the 800 BC The largest Jewish community of Indian Jews is that of the Bene Israel who lived in west Maharashtra in the Konkan coast. The Bene Israel believes that their ancestors arrived in India before the destruction of the second temple. The next biggest number of Jews are the Cochin Jews who claim their heritage from King Solomon's period. It is to the Cochin Jews, St.Thomas came first. Apparently, they made little impact on Hinduism. Even the strong Monism of the Jews did not make any inroad into India.
Now it is not difficult to show that the teachings of Trinity as Three Persons in One Godhead in Hinduism as it was originally perceived is identical with the Christian thought. To make it easy to grasp and present them graphically I will use the Kabalistic Tree of Life approach.
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