Người hành khách trên bầu trời ở phương Đông: ai gợi nhớ Iliya trong Hindu, Phật giáo và Shinto

Người tiên tri Iliya là một hình tượng độc đáo ngay cả trong các tôn giáo Avrahamic. Ông không chết mà được nâng lên trời bằng xe ngựa lửa; ông rơi lửa từ trời xuống và khóa trời lại trong ba năm rưỡi; ông dũng cảm tố cáo các vua và hồi sinh những người đã chết. Nhưng nếu chúng ta nhìn vào ông qua góc nhìn của các tôn giáo phương Đông? Thì ra rằng, ở đó cũng có những nhân vật nhớ lại Iliya — cả về chức năng, tính cách, và thậm chí là về số phận. Tất nhiên, không có bản sao trực tiếp: mỗi nền văn hóa đã đúc kết archetyp vào các hình thức truyền thống của mình. Nhưng khi nhìn càng kỹ, mẫu hình chung lại càng rõ ràng hơn — một vị Thần sấm, một nhà thông minh lưu lạc, một người yêu真理 không sợ thách thức cả gods và con người.

Hindu: Indra — vị vua gods, thần sấm và vua trời

Trong thần thoại Ved, Indra chiếm một vị trí rất nhớ lại vị trí của Iliya trong đức tin dân gian Kitô giáo. Indra là vị vua gods, thần sấm và thần bão, và là chủ rains và phong phú. Vũ khí chính của ông là vаджra, một sấm đánh được đúc từ xương nhà thông minh Dadhici. Bằng vаджra này, ông đánh bại các ác ma Asura, bẻ nứt đám mây và rơi nước xuống đất. Ông giống như Iliya trong tiên tri, mà theo truyền thuyết dân gian, «chạy trên xe ngựa trên trời và phóng tên lửa lửa».

Giống nhau không dừng lại ở việc phóng sấm. Indra, như Iliya, là một vị thần chiến binh, là người bảo vệ cho tầng lớp chiến binh. Ông chiến đấu với Vritra, con rắn giữ nước, và giải phóng các con sông — chính xác như Iliya làm mưa trên đất khô cằn. Cả hai đều liên quan đến hạn hán và mưa: Indra có thể gây hạn hán nếu ông nổi giận và rơi một cơn mưa cứu rỗi nếu ông được an ủi. Cả hai đều là những người cai trị nguy hiểm và đồng thời nhân từ của các yếu tố thiên nhiên trên trời.

But there is also an important difference. Indra is a god, Iliya is a man taken to heaven. Indra is sometimes portrayed as a jealous and even cowardly ruler who is afraid of losing his throne. Iliya, on the other hand, is an ascetic ascetic who does not seek power but serves the One God. However, in the archetype of the \"thunderbolt-giving rain god, smiting lightning,\" these two figures almost perfectly match.

Interestingly, researchers have also drawn more subtle parallels. In Sanskrit, the word \"parjanya\" means \"thundercloud\" and is one of Indra's epithets. From this root, the name of the Slavic Perun is derived. And as we know, in the consciousness of the people, Perun almost completely merged with Iliya the prophet. So the chain of Indra - Perun - Iliya turns out not to be just an intellectual structure, but a real cultural bridge between the Indo-European peoples.

Buddhism: Boddhisattva, người lưu lạc và \"giáo sư vô hình\"

With Buddhism, it is more complex. Here there is no direct analog of Iliya — neither by name nor by biography. However, in the Buddhist tradition, there are a whole layer of characters and concepts that wonderfully intersect with the image of the Old Testament prophet.

Firstly, this is the archetype of the boddhisattva — beings who have achieved enlightenment but have refused final Nirvana for the salvation of all living beings. Boddhisattva wander the world, taking different forms, appearing where help is needed, and guiding people on the path of truth in an unseen way. He resembles Iliya, who, according to Jewish and Islamic tradition, did not die but continues to be present in the world invisibly, appearing to the righteous in difficult moments.

Moreover, there is even a book \"Elijah the Bodhisattva\" where the author examines the story of the prophet through the Buddhist lens. In this reading, the external events of Iliya's life — fighting with King Ahab, the sacrifice on Carmel, fleeing into the desert — are interpreted as metaphors of internal spiritual states, as a labyrinthine journey to enlightenment. Iliya appears as a man who goes from being a national prophet to realizing God as the universal foundation of existence.

There are also \"eternal\" figures in Tibetan Buddhism called mahasiddhas — great yogis who, after achieving perfection, do not leave the world but remain in it to help students. They can appear in different forms, their bodies are not subject to normal aging, and they keep secret knowledge. Here we see the same archetype as in the story of Iliya: a person who has overcome death, become an \"invisible teacher\" and wandering patron of those who seek.

Finally, we must also mention the purely linguistic parallel: some esoteric writers note that the root of the name \"Iliya\" in the ancient Hebrew and Coptic languages is associated with the concept of \"buddhi\" — the highest reason, intuition, enlightened consciousness. Of course, this is more a play of words than a scientific comparison, but it shows how deeply the image of the prophet can resonate with Eastern spiritual categories.

Shinto: Raidzin — god sấm, trống đánh vào đám mây

In Shinto, there is no direct equivalent of Iliya the prophet, but there is a deity that, in every detail, matches his \"popular\" form — god of thunder and lightning. This is Raidzin (雷神), god of thunder, lightning, and storm.

Raidzin is depicted as a fierce, muscular creature with an intimidating face, standing on a cloud and beating drums to create thunder. On the drums are painted symbols of tomoe, reminiscent of lightning spirals. When Raidzin beats the drums, thunder resounds, and when he hits particularly hard, lightning flashes. This is almost an exact match with the folk beliefs about Iliya the prophet, who \"rides a carriage through the sky\" and \"shooting fiery arrows.\"

But there is also a very important additional function of Raidzin. According to ancient beliefs, lightning fertilizes crops, so Raidzin is also considered a god of agriculture to whom farmers pray for a good harvest. This directly resonates with the Russian peasant veneration of Iliya as the \"breadkeeper,\" who sends rain on fields and protects crops from hail.

Besides, in Japanese syncretism, Raidzin often appears in pairs with Fudzin — god of wind. In the Buddhist version, these two were originally evil demons who opposed the Buddha but later were tamed and became his protectors. Here we can draw a parallel with Iliya, who is also believed to fight evil — lightning, according to beliefs, strikes devils and demons hiding in trees or rocks.

Confucianism and Taoism: nhà giáo dục thông minh và người bất tử

Confucianism, unlike Shinto or Hindu, does not know thunder gods and does not venerate prophets in the Avraamic sense. However, here too, we can find characters that perform a similar social and spiritual function.

In particular, this is Confucius himself. He, like Iliya, lived in an era of deep moral decline and political chaos. He traveled through the states of ancient China, trying to guide leaders on the path of truth, denounced injustice and corruption, and was often ignored or even in danger. In this he resembles Iliya, who also challenged the unrighteous king Ahab and his entourage. The difference is that Confucius relied on moral teachings and rituals, while Iliya called to fire from the sky; Confucius called to the power of personal example.

In Taoism, which is often considered the \"Eastern counterpart\" to biblical mysticism, there are figures of immortal Xian — people who have achieved perfection and left the world ordinary death. They wander the earth, help the worthy, punish the evil, and keep secret knowledge. This is very close to the image of Iliya, who, according to tradition, did not die but was taken to heaven alive, and who, according to Jewish and Islamic traditions, continues to appear to the righteous.

In particular, the Taoist figure of Laozi — the legendary founder of Taoism — is very interesting. According to legend, he also left the world in an extraordinary way: traveled west on a black bull and disappeared into thin air. His teachings on \"Dao\" — the Path that is higher than all gods — remind us of the One God to whom Iliya served, rejecting the worship of Baal. In esoteric literature, the name of Iliya is even put in the same category as the names of Pythagoras and Laozi as symbols of ancient wisdom.

Điểm chung: archetyp người hành khách lửa

Then what unites all these images — Indra, Raidzin, boddhisattva, Xian? And why are they all so similar to Iliya the prophet?

The answer, perhaps, lies in the deep structures of human consciousness. The archetype of the \"fiery wanderer\" — a being that stands between heaven and earth, rules the elements, fights evil and does not submit to the laws of normal death — is encountered in the most different peoples. It expresses the eternal human need for an intermediary: someone who can reach gods and convey their will to people.

Iliya is both a thunder god (like Indra and Raidzin), a warrior (like Indra), a wandering teacher (like boddhisattva or Confucius), and an immortal (like the Taoist Xian). In each of these forms, he finds an echo in Eastern religions, although none of them reproduce his image completely. This is evidence of his universality: Iliya is so deeply rooted in the archetypal soil that his \"relatives\" are found in the most different parts of the world — from Vedic hymns to Japanese thunder gods.

Of course, any comparison is conditional. Indra is a god, Iliya is a prophet. Raidzin is a natural spirit, and Iliya is a historical figure. Boddhisattva strives for enlightenment, and Iliya is for the fulfillment of God's will. But this is the value of comparative religious studies: it shows how the same spiritual impulse is clothed in different cultural clothing, while preserving its recognizable essence.

As accurately stated in one study, the figure of Iliya \"plays both conflicting and unifying roles in different cultures\". In Avraamic traditions, he is a prophet and a fighter for faith. In the East, he finds his reflection in thunder gods, immortal teachers, and boddhisattvas. And this makes him not just an Old Testament righteous person, but a truly universal symbol — an eternal wanderer between heaven and earth, who is recognized in any corner of the world, just listen to the rumble of thunder.

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