The ''Ezourvedam'' is a forgery "consisting of certain 'Vedic' materials translated by

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

with the intention of isolating elements most in harmony with Christianity." Rather than an original Sanskrit work, the ''Ezourvedam'' turned out to be a French text, written by French Jesuits, and meant to be translated into Sanskrit.

History and authorship

A manuscript called ''Ezourvedam'' was given to

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...

in 1760 by Louis-Laurent de Féderbe, Chevalier de Maudave. The text was in French, and said to be a French translation of a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

original. Voltaire was enthusiastic about the work, had it copied, and brought it to the attention of others. It was first published in 1778 (Voltaire died that same year). The genuineness of the Ezourvedam was first questioned in 1782; these doubts were confirmed in 1822. Rather than an original Sanskrit work, the ''Ezourvedam'' turned out to be a French text, written by French Jesuits, and meant to be translated into Sanskrit.

Title

The name ''Ezourvedam'' was sometimes taken to be a corruption of

Yajurveda The ''Yajurveda'' ( sa, यजुर्वेद, ', from ' meaning "worship", and ''veda'' meaning "knowledge") is the Veda primarily of prose mantras for worship rituals.Michael Witzel (2003), "Vedas and Upaniṣads", in ''The Blackwell C ...

, but the Ezourvedam has nothing in common with the Yajurveda. The ''Ezourvedam'' itself refers to the Yajurveda as ''Zozu-vedam''. "Ezour" is the

sandhi Sandhi ( sa, सन्धि ' , "joining") is a cover term for a wide variety of sound changes that occur at morpheme or word boundaries. Examples include fusion of sounds across word boundaries and the alteration of one sound depending on near ...

-form of "Ezous-", that is, "Jezus", based on the Latin pronunciation used by the Jesuits. The name "Ezourvedam" means something like "Gospel of Jesus".

Content

''Ezourvedam'' is a French text in the form of a dialogue between two

Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

sages, one monotheist and one polytheist, they conclude the monotheism of 'pristine Hinduism' points to

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

truth and

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

is monotheism masquerading as polytheism concealing monotheism.

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History and authorship

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Content

See also

References

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Further reading