Williams, seems
to be felt by all classes of Hindoos, as indicated by the following
prayer used after the _Gayatri_ by some Vaishnavas:

"'I am sinful, I commit sin, my nature is sinful, _I am
conceived in sin_. Save me, O thou lotus-eyed Heri (Saviour),
the remover of sin.'"[184:1]

Moreover, the doctrine of _bhakti_ (_salvation by faith_) existed among
the Hindoos from the earliest times.[184:2]

Crishna, the virgin-born, "the Divine Vishnu himself,"[184:3] "he who is
without beginning, middle or end,"[184:4] being moved "to relieve the
earth of her load,"[184:5] came upon earth and redeemed man by his
_sufferings_--to _save_ him.

The accounts of the deaths of most all the virgin-born Saviours of whom
we shall speak, are conflicting. It is stated in one place that such an
one died in such a manner, and in another place we may find it stated
altogether differently. Even the accounts of the death of Jesus, as we
shall hereafter see, are conflicting; therefore, until the chapter on
"_Explanation_" is read, these myths cannot really be thoroughly
understood.

As the Rev. Geo. W. Cox remarks, in his _Aryan Mythology_, Crishna is
described, in one of his aspects, as a self-sacrificing and unselfish
hero, a being who is filled with divine wisdom and love, who offers up a
sacrifice which he alone can make.[184:6]

The _Vishnu Purana_[184:7] speaks of _Crishna_ being shot in the _foot_
with an arrow, and states that _this_ was the cause of his death. Other
accounts, however, state that he was suspended on a tree, or in other
words, _crucified_.

Mons. Guigniaut, in his "_Religion de l'Antiquite_" says:

"The death of Crishna is very differently related. One
remarkable and convincing tradition makes him perish on a
_tree_, to which he was _nailed_ by the stroke of an
arrow."[184:8]

Rev. J. P. Lundy alludes to this passage of Guigniaut's in his
"Monumental Christianity," and translates the passage "un bois fatal"
(see note below) "_a cross_." Although we do not think he is justified
in doing this, as M. Guigniaut has distinctly stated that this "bois
fatal" (which is applied to a gibbet, a cross, a scaffold, etc.) was "un
arbre" (a _tree_), yet, he is justified in doing so on other accounts,
for we find that _Crishna_ is represented _hanging on a cross_, and we
know that a _cross_ was frequently called the "accursed _tree_." It was
an ancient custom to use trees as gibbets for cru