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Puri Shankaracharya, Swami Nischalananda Sarswati -

This testimony represents one of the great moments in human spiritual and religious history.  It is a massive achievement, for a number of reasons.  There are four Shankaracharys.  They are the spiritual heads of Hinduism, sort of like the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.  Because of his position as Shankaracharya, as well as his profound knowledge of the Hindu religion, he commands wide respect in India, particularly in religious Hindu circles.

The Shankaracharya never grants interviews, especially to Westerners.  But when told that a team had arrived to ask questions about Jesus’ life in India, everyone was absolutely shocked that the Shankaracharya broke with tradition and agreed, without hesitation, to be interviewed.  This, in itself, appeared to be a great sign of the lasting impact that Jesus made in India.  It was as if the very name, Jesus, could not be ignored—even by the Shankaracharya.

The text of the interview is below.  The interview was conducted by Anil Kumar Urmil, Associate Producer of the film-documentary, Jesus in India. This interview is exhilaratingly revealing, and contains a couple of important firsts.  In this interview, the Shankaracharya confirms exactly what Nicholas Notovitch claimed to discover much further north, at the Hemis Gompa in Ladakh: that Jesus had studied at the Jagannath Temple, in Puri.  This is the first time that a major Hindu or Buddhist leader of India has confirmed that Jesus had studied at the Jagannath Temple.  Although five other people beside Notovitch had viewed the Jesus Scrolls at Hemis, between the years 1922 and 1974, The Shankaracharya is the first highly-placed religious leader of India, and of global Hinduism, to confirm Notovitch’s findings.

Also during the interview, the Shankaracharya totally laid to rest an objection that has been raised by those who do not believe that Jesus visited Jaganaath, as the Jesus Scrolls state that he did.  Their objection stems from the fact that most accounts of the Jagannath Temple date the construction of the temple to the year 1174 CE, over a thousand years after Jesus walked this earth. But the Shankaracharya, during the interview, states that the Jagannath Temple was first constructed in the year 483 BC.  The temple was rebuilt in the year 1174 CE.  This entire interview can be viewed in Paul Davids’ film-documentary, Jesus in India.  But we reproduce the entire interview below.

The Interview:

Shankaracharya: I am the 145th Shankaracharya.  Actually this tradition is 5000 years old, from the era of Sat Yuga.  During the rapid spread of Buddhism, this tradition was suppressed.  The first Shankaracharya was born in 506 B.C.  The JagannathTemple was established as an education center in 483 B.C

Anil Kumar Urmil: In the Christian New Testament there is hardly any mention of Jesus’ life from age 12 to 30.  When Ed Martin asked about the Missing Years in his church, he was silenced.

Shankarachara: The truth was submerged to propagate lies.  Many important religious figures have come here to study.  Jesus Christ also came here to study.

Anil Kumar Urmil: So it is true He came here to study?

Shankaracharya: Yes, Yes.

Anil Kumar Urmil: So Jesus Christ did study here for a few years?

Shankaracharya:  He studied the Achar Samhita—the Code of Conduct.  He must have met the Shankaracharya of that time.

Anil Kumar Urmil: Are there any ancient texts that have a record of this?

Shankaracharya: Our ancient records were buried some place here to protect them from invaders.  That is why they are hard to find today.  And even though we know these things, the Christians are not willing to believe it.  Jesus studied our teachings of Truthfulness, Mercy, Charity; Serving Others, Compassion, and Ethics.  The fact that Hindus made a contribution to Jesus’ learning is not accepted by some people.

Anil Kumar Urmil: It is a fact that our very ancient Hindu text, the Bhavishya Maha Purana, has an account of King Shalivahana meeting Jesus in Kashmir, India.

Shankaracharya:  Yes, that is true, but the Christians will not believe it.    Christians know Jesus was missing for many years.  Where was he?  Where was he living?  Where was he traveling?  He lived in Kashmir.  Traveled all over India.  The truth has been covered up.


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