Similarities between Krishna & Christ

Before the birth of Krishna, the evil tyrant Kamsa, who had imprisoned his own father to ascend the throne, was warned that a child born to his sister Devaki would end his rule & life. So he imprisoned her & her husband & killed all their babies as soon as they were born. But when Krishna was born, due to supernatural events, he escaped & later the prophecy came true.

According to the Gospel according to St. Mathew, (2:16-18), King Herod of Jerusalem also had a premonition about the new King of Jews who would be born. When the Magi realised the birth of Christ, they went to King Herod himself to enquire about it & were directed by Herod to inform him on their way back. But after viewing the Infant, they were warned not to inform Herod in a dream. When Herod realised he had been cheated by the Magi, he calculated that it was not more than 2 years since the Infant was born. As unlike Kamsa, Herod did not know the parents of his usurper, he ordered all infants under 2 years in his realm to be killed. But the Infant with his parents had escaped. But before the advent of both Krishna & Christ, there were scenes of infanticide.

The dalliance of Krishna with the milkmaids of Brindavan obviously has to be taken metaphorically as otherwise he would be just a womaniser & not divine (though Jayadeva has been explicit in depicting it as romantic in his "Gita Govinda.") In fiction, Dan Brown outrageously suggests Christ married Magdalene & had children, similar reasons suggest, if so Christ would not be divine. But the Catholic Nuns are known as "The Brides of Christ" & the day they join the order, dressed like brides, is the "wedding day" with the Divine, paralleling the milkmaids spiritual union with Krishna. In fact when they join the convent, a token "dowry" also has to be paid by their fathers to the convent, to be returned if the Sisters leave the order for any reason.

Krishna also had a painful death, being pierced by the arrow of a hunter, Christ being crucified later.