P. N. Oak - Revisionist Theories

Revisionist Theories

Intent on rectifying what he believes to be "biased and distorted versions of India's history produced by the invaders and colonizers", Oak has written several books and articles on Indian history and founded an "Institute for Rewriting Indian History" in 1964. According to Oak, modern secular and Marxist historians have fabricated "idealized versions" of India's past and drained it of its "Vedic context and content". Srinivas Aravamudan noted that Oak's work typically resorts to "deep punning" – associating Sanskrit sound-alikes with non-Sanskrit religious terms such as Vatican=vatika "hermitage", Christianity=Krishna-netti or Chrisn-nity "ethics of Krishna or the way of Krishna" Islam=ishalayam "temple of God", Abraham as an aberration of brahma, and George as an aberration of Garg. Based on this, Oak claims that both Christianity and Islam allegedly originated as distortions of "Vedic" beliefs. Srinivas Aravamudan concludes that via "deep punning" Oak is "creative in proliferating these delusional etymologies."

He thus alleges, via supposed "inscriptions in a dish" that the consensus shows Oak likely fabricated himself and which there exists no evidence for, that the Kaaba in Mecca was originally a shrine to Shiva and that the Papacy was "a Vedic priesthood" until Constantine the Great killed the "Vedic Pope" and replaced him with the head of the hitherto unimportant Christian sect. Oak and his followers also claim that between the ages of 13 and 30 Jesus went to India to learn from Vedic and Hindu sages about the "way of Krishna." Oak and his followers state Jesus taught Krishna-netti (the ethics or the way of Krishna) and that this original teaching was then later corrupted and became the religion of Christianity that again deviated from its alleged "Vedic roots".

Oak's claims, e.g. that Christianity and Islam are both derivatives of Hinduism, or that the Catholic Vatican, Kaaba, Westminster Abbey and the Taj Mahal were once Hindu temples to Shiva, and their reception in Indian popular culture have been noted by observers of contemporary Indian society, who variously characterized Oak as a "mythistorian" or more directly as a "crackpot". In addition to this Oak again asserted that the Vatican was allegedly originally a Vedic creation called Vatika and that the Papacy was also originally a Vedic Priesthood.