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GNOSTIC INVASION

Even though we see the vestiges of early Christianity in Hinduism, the current Hinduism is far from Christianity.  The Way evolved in a direction that is totally distinct from its counter parts in the rest of the world.  We need to find out the cause and forces that led to this.

The palm leaf documents of Kerala tradition indicates a mass persecution of Christians that occurred in all of inner India resulting in a mass exodus of Christians into Kerala – Malabar Coast  in the Southern most tip of the Indian continent, where they obtained asylum.

The palm leaves quotes as follows in one place: then in AD 293  “72 families of Christians of Vellala origin from Kavery Poopatanam of Puhur District on the River Kaveri arrived  in Kollam (Quilon) in Kerala as refugees fleeing from the persecution”. 

Puhur was an International Port famous for trading in beads and pearls and the Christians took the sea route to the Pepper Port of Muziris in Kerala.

The next reference to this sequel in the palm leaf documents will give some insight into what transpired

“One Maniccavachagar followed them in AD 315 and converted them into Hinduism.”  The Manicavachagar mentioned here is not the poet Manicavachagar who lived  in the twelfth century AD.

This should give us some insight into the nature of the persecution. 

Obviously something happened in the third century AD which made the Christian churches into Gnostic churches. The difference between Historic Christianity and Hinduism is simply the missing Historical Jesus. All through history in every nation, attempts have been made to assimilate all religions into one without a historic objective incarnation.

This is usually known under the head “Gnosticism”.  Since Gnosticism is not a simple unified doctrinal system,(it is everything and anything ) it will be difficult to describe.  In the modern terminology, it is what we call New Age Movement.  It is a new name. Then it had been known before as Theosophy, Bahai and Hinduism.  New names are given and the potion is served in new cups.

Gnosticism started long before Christianity in the Middle Eastern History.  The sack of Babylon by the Persian Emperor Cyrus the Great in 539 B.C. ended the Exile of the people of Israel. Cyrus aided the Jews to return and to rebuild,   This mixing up of two religions developed into Gnosticism.  The basic characteristics can be stated as follows: 

• Novel beliefs about Gods.  (Denying the Lord)
• Development of myths. (Fables and fantasies)
• Tolerance of different religious beliefs within and outside of Gnosticism. (All religions are the same)

·        A belief that salvation is achieved through knowledge. (Self realization – I am God, only I don’t know it now)

It is not difficult to see that what destroyed the Early Indian Catholic Church (Hindu Sanadhana Dharma) was the introduction of Gnosticism.  Today if we want to define Gnosticism we just have to look at Hinduism.  

The Gnostic attempt to take over Christianity is nothing new.  It was present soon after the Pentecost. Acts of Aposltes 8 gives a glimpse of the Gnostic Saint Simon Magnus trying to trick Peter.  In the ministry of Paul in the isle of Cyprus the opposition was Elymas the magician  (Act 13) and Paul warns of Gnostic teachers within the church to Timothy by the names Hymenaus and Alexander.  Thus Jude writing his letter warns of their infiltration process  (Jud 1:3-4)  “Beloved, while I was giving all diligence to write unto you of our common salvation, I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in privily, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

Persian Origins of Pallava Kingdom

Recent historical, anthropological, and linguistic evidence indicates that the Pallavas  who ruled Dravidian Chera area were of Parthian origin and the name Pallava is just a variant of a well known Sanskrit Pahlava.  The Pahluvas were the peoples who spoke Pehlvi, a language of Persia. The Pallavas came to  India sometime during second  century BC and settled in south-western and southern India. The Markendeya Purana and Brhat Samhita  mentions Pahlava and Kamboja settlements. The earliest known coinage in lead issued by the then Pallavs could be dated between 3rd and 4th century AD. The must have come as merchants just as the later colonisers.  They became powerful and became Kings only by the third century AD.  They had their capital near Kanchipuram. During the 5th century, the Pallavas expanded very fast.   At the end of 500 AD, the territory came into the possession of Simha Vishnu, and he became the founder of the Pallava dynasty.  This gave impetus to the syncretism of Persian and Indian religions absorbing Christianity along with it.

Savism and Vaishnavism were the major religious denominations of the Pallavas. The Early Pallavas claimed to be Brahmins of Bharadwaja gotra and were evidently Vaishnavites. Later they became Saivites.   They in fact built large number of temples during their period – among them are the Shore Temples and Chariots of Mahabalipuram shores. These are probably some of the oldest Hindu temples of India   Vaishnavism was more popular in the North while Saivism became popular in the South.  Kanchipuram became the center of Persian trade, Gnosticism and of “Hinduism”.  Their Dynasty lasted till the Ninth century AD.  Hinduism started with the Pal lavas.

 Mani (A.D. 215-276 )

The major force in Gnostic take over came through Manichean. Mani   was born in  Mardinu in Babylonia.  His father was a Mandaen.   This is the only surviving Gnostic religion in Syria  now with no more than 20,000 adherents, living in southern Iraq and southwestern Iran. Their main city is Nasiriyya. They are often called the Christians of Saint John . Mandaen in  Aramaic stand for  'knowledge', i.e. Greek 'gnosis'. The Babylonian ports of his homeland were "gates to India and other areas further east"

To the Buddhists Mani became Buddha and to the Christians  Mani became the Apostle of Jesus and the Paraclete whom Jesus Promised.   For many years Mani traveled abroad, founding Manichean communities in Turkestan and India.  Then he returned to Syria and did send his father and his disciples (one of the names of Mani's disciple was Thomas) into India to continue his ministry.  His ministry was centered in Kanchi area

In due course he was elevated to the status of another Son of Siva along with Ganapathi (the Lord of Hosts who has the face of an elephant) as  the Bala Subra Manian.  (Bala means young or child, Subra refers to the emanation of light m the dazzling white) 

The Malabar literature refers to him as Magician Manicka Vachagar.  Even in the New Testament Gnostics were referred to as Magicians. (Simon Magnus and Elymas were called Magicians)

SubraManyam  is represented with a Pea cock since the magicians are said to have the ability to fly like a peacock.  (Simon Magnus is said to have died in one of those flights)   

The single most important event during this period in Indian history was the migration of new groups of Aryans from Syria and infiltration of their Gnostic theology.  Large number of Syrians were displaced from Persia when the religious persecution took place against the Christians and the Gnostics by Zoroastrians.  Some of them were rich merchants

They were received with dignity by the Indian people.  Among them was the Thomas of Canaa who came to Malabar Coast.  His descendants form the Kananaya Christian Community.      South India became the center of communication between Syria and India. This will explain how all of a sudden the Brahminic dominance came into Malabar. Most of the Namboodiri Brahmins trace their origin from this period.  Some of the villages where these people lived in Kerala were called Mani-gramakar (meaning “The Village of Mani people” . Mani literally means Pearl.  So some interprets that  they were Pearl dealers.)  Near Kanchipuram we still have a village called after Mani which dates back from the third century AD;  the period when Syrian immigration was at its peak and also the time when Gnosticism took root in India.

Thomas Christianity syncretized with Vedic deity of Sun gave rise to Vaishnavism.  Manichaenism coming from Persia made it easy to associate Christ with Sun (Son).  Most Churches even today faces towards the east to bring in the glorious sunlight through stained glass windows of multicolors.  In the earliest Aryan texts we find Vishnu already rising to the status of the supreme Aryan god.   Thus Vaishnavism is the major religion of the North India where the Aryans who came as conquerors lived.

In the South the Persians fleeing under persecution received warm reception.    But Saivites  retained their control in the South.  There had been constant battle for supremacy between these two groups one ridiculing the other with obscene and ridiculous stories.  The south Indians were depicted as Asuras (a-suras, non-gods demigods - rakshasas – evil beings- slaves) and the North Indian Aryans were considered as  Suras (gods – superior conquerors)  The conflict of Siva with Vishnu assumed deadly proportions. Saiva texts ridiculed Vishnu and Vaishnava texts ridiculed Siva. We know that the Saivites and Vaishnavites persecuted each other whenever they were in power.  Most people see this as an attempt for Brahminic domination.

Gnostic Christians – the first enemy of Apostolic Christian Churches came along with the trade to India after the 2nd century. As they became dominant the influence of Persian Gnosticism became widespread that it swallowed almost all other religions then in existence in India and changed it to what we today call as Hinduism.(the name came very recently).  Since the Thomas Churches of Inner India (i.e. except Malabar/Kerala Churches) did not have the contact with other churches outside of India, they succumbed to the heresy and became the Gnostic Universal Religion the beginning of the Hinduism. The Christians who disagreed and who put up a vigorous fight against the heresy, were finally forced to flee to Kerala where there was a safe refuge until eighth century.  Those of the Northern India fled to the Middle East where the Eastern Churches welcomed them. Some of these came back to India during the Persian Immigration under Bishop David in AD 340.

GNOSTICISM

It will not be possible even to touch the hem of Gnosticism because it is vast and varied.  Here I attempt to give some limited explanation that may be relevant to Hinduism as a Gnostic religion.

If we define Gnosticism as a mystical religion then it is "as old as humanity itself." It is in this sense Hinduism can claim its ancient heritage from millions of years.  Modern Christian Gnostics date their origin from Simon Magus.  Gnosticism is an attempt to syncretize all religions and we can find them in all religions.  

There were two major groups  of Gnosticism: the Syrian Cult and the Alexandrian Cult. The Syrian Cult was led by Simon Magus, who combined Christianity with Egyptian, Chaldean and Persian religions. The Alexandrian group was led by Basilides. 

But the greatest force in Gnosticism as far as India was concerned was Manichean the Aryan  (216-277) who is said to have  founded his alternative Christian Church.

 "Mani traveled into what is now western China and as far south as India to spread his gospel. Although he had been held in high regard at the Persian court, by the time he returned home around AD 270, the royal milieu had changed. The priestly caste of the ancient Persian religion Zoroastrianism resented Mani's presence and succeeded in exerting considerable political pressure on the new king, Bharam I, to get rid of him. Mani was imprisoned, and in AD 276, he was crucified and his corpse flayed."
      - Ancient Wisdom and Secret Sects

The Gnosis

Gnosis means knowledge.  The basis tenet is the man is bound by cycle of birth and death until he realizes himself as god.  This is called Self Realization in Modern Hinduism. 

Some of the basic beliefs of Gnosticism are as follows:
The 'self,' the 'I' of the gnostic, his 'spirit' or soul, is unalterably divine.
This 'I,' however, has fallen into this world, has been imprisoned and anaesthetized by it, and cannot free itself from it.
Only a divine 'call' from the world of light loosens the bonds of captivity.
But only at the end of the world does the divine element in a man return again to its home.

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