The history of the bible : the puranam of the middle-east.
Why should the bible be considered a puranam?
The Bible is similar in structure to the Puranas.
The Pancha Lakshanas of a Purana as defined by Amarasimha , are
- Sarga – Creation
- PratiSarga – Dissolution and Re Creation
- Vamsa – Dynasties
- Manvantaras
- Vamsanucharita – histories
Geography may also be included. Thus the Bible approaches a Purana in definition very closely. (It is wrongly claimed by some to be a Veda. It cannot be claimed either as “A” Veda or as “The” Veda.)
However it differs in that it deals with the history, legends and philosophies of the middle-east and instead of India.
Is the bible written in sanskrit?
No, the bible is not written in sanskrit. In this aspect it differs from most of the Indian Puranas.
Just like the puranas, the bible was also passed down via oral tradition initially.
The Old Testament is also called the Tanakh or written Torah or the Hebrew bible since it is written/remembered in Hebrew which was/is the language of the Jews. Parts of the bible are in an old middle-eastern language called called Aramaic. (Not the Ethiopian Ahramic.) Religious jews believe that the old testament was given to Moses by God on a mountain called Mt. Sinai. Some orthodox Christians believe that Mt. Sinai is in Egypt but there are alternate locations proposed also.
This oral version is understood to be around 1400 BCE. Around 500 BCE, the Hebrew manuscripts were written. It is thought that these were translated to Greek in 200 BCE.
The New Testament is written/remembered in a form of Greek called the Koline greek which was popular around the time of Alexander. It is believed the entire Greek new testament was in manuscript form by 1st century AD (CE).
The Roman empire popularised Christianity and the first Latin translation of the bible was called the Vulgate. This is believed to be around 400 AD and contains 80 books. (39 old testament + 14 apocrypha + 27 new testament).
Around 1000 CE, the Anglo-Saxon (proto-English) version of the Bible was written. Around 1600 CE, you have the first English Bible.
Who were the Hebrews descended from?
The Hebrews regard Abraham as their forefather, who himself was descended from Shem, the son of Noah. Noah had two other sons too. Prior to Moses, ‘who received the word of God and the ten commandments on tablets’ on Mt. Sinai, Abraham, Noah.. Adam and possibly others directly interacted with God.
The Bible records that Noah was descended from Adam and that he lived for about a 1000 years. Other extremely long lived people are mentioned in the bible too as they are in the puranas.
The link between Adam and Kardama as per the Bhavishya Puranam
The Bhavishya Purana records that Adama and Havyavati (Adam and Eve) were banished from Rishi Vishnu Kardama’s Asrama when they came under the influence of kali purusha, that they were banished westwards where they became mlecchas and spoke a distorted version of the deva bhasha, sanskrit.
The strange difference in accounts is this : the bible says that Adam and Eve were punished for eating from the tree of knowledge and that it was a sin.
But Indian Philosophy holds that gnyana (knowledge) is the way to moksha (salvation). For Indians ignorance is to be destroyed for Adam and Eve knowledge was to be avoided. So unless they were after knowledge that was expressly forbidden to them (why would it be so?), this point sticks out like a sore thumb.
Speculation : What was the religion of the Hebrews prior to Judaism?
I would think they were ‘Hindus’ too. Many Jewish customs are close to brahmin traditions. There are a few other points and words of similarity. Sumer, Sumeru being one of them.
Banishing guys west was what Ancient Indians did as a habit, when they fell short on some count as the puranas tell us. (Some of Yayati’s sons were expelled westward).
Adama and Havyavati aspired to some gnyana-vruksha-phala which was not a literal fruit but some knowledge they were ineligible for and they tried to get it not from a guru etc but stealthily. So they were exiled and sent west. With their lineage denied them, they became the “first man and woman”.
“The Wandering Hebrews with their similarity in customs to stationary Brahmins, from whom they were descended, may have travelled east through Sumer to Jerusalem. The Hebrews remember coming from the east (though this was later changed in the bible to mean the west. (see link page 82))” (See : Sumeru)
Questions :
The 14 texts written in Aramaic and the 39 Hebrew texts are of interest to us.
I would like to know if the oldest parts of the bible are “chantable”, whether they are in poetry, whether authentic translations of them exist, whether they sound anything like sanskrit/prakrit/tamil/telugu-kannada. (See this link : http://www.v-a.com/bible/ancient_aramaic_audio_files.html .. to my untrained ears it sounds like arabic… not like sanskrit or kannada-telugu-tamil.. any thoughts?)
There are many characters in the puranas who kept trying to steal the vedas. Did they have anything to do with these ancestors of the mlecchas?
Related posts :
- Roman Gods and Customs
- Etymyology : Allah, Elohim, Eloah, Ila, Brahman
- Timelines of our neighbouring countries
- Pyramid texts dated to 3100 BC: Start date of Kaliyuga
- Meaning of Yehovah, Yeshua
- Hiranyaksh, Hiranyakasipu, Suvarna Sundari
- Svarga, Naraka, Paraloka
- Bhavishya Purana references Adam (Adama) as the son of Vishnu Kardama. It records a meeting of Jesus (Isa – Masiha) and Salivahana.
- Puranas and Itihasas
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