t respected Hebrews would fain have had him for a son-in-law,
just as even nowadays the Israelites are very desirous of the honor of
marrying their daughters to the sons of Rabbis or scholars. But the
meditative youth, whose mind was far above anything corporeal, and
possessed by the thirst for knowledge, stealthily left his home and
joined the caravans going to India.

It stands to reason that Jesus Christ should have thought, primarily, of
going to India, first, because at that epoch Egypt formed part of the
Roman possessions; secondly, and principally, because a very active
commercial exchange with India had made common report in Judea of the
majestic character and unsurpassed richness of the arts and sciences in
this marvellous country, to which even now the aspirations of all
civilized peoples are directed.

Here the Evangelists once more lose the thread of the terrestrial life
of Jesus. Luke says he "was in the deserts till the day of his shewing
unto Israel" (Luke 1, 80), which clearly demonstrates that nobody knew
where the holy youth was until his sudden reappearance sixteen years
later.

Arrived in India, this land of marvels, Jesus began to frequent the
temples of the Djainites.

There exists until today, on the peninsula of Hindustan, a sectarian
cult under the name of Djainism. It forms a kind of connecting link
between Buddhism and Brahminism, and preaches the destruction of all
other beliefs, which, it declares, are corroded by falsehood. It dates
from the seventh century before Jesus Christ and its name is derived
from the word "djain" (conqueror), which was assumed by its founders as
expressive of its destined triumph over its rivals.

In sympathetic admiration for the spirit of the young man, the Djainites
asked him to stay with them; but Jesus left them to settle in
Djagguernat, where he devoted himself to the study of treatises on
religion, philosophy, etc. Djagguernat is one of the chief sacred cities
of Brahmins, and, at the time of Christ, was of great religious
importance. According to tradition, the ashes of the illustrious
Brahmin, Krishna, who lived in 1580 B.C., are preserved there, in the
hollow of a tree, near a magnificent temple, to which thousands make
pilgrimage every year. Krishna collected and put in order the Vedas,
which he divided into four books--Richt, Jagour, Saman and Artafan;--in
commemoration of which great work he received the name of Vyasa (he who
collected and divide