Krsna or Christ—
The Name Is the Same

It is 1974. Near ISKCON’s center in Frankfurt am Main, West Germany,
Srila Prabhupdda and several of his disciples take a morning walk with Father
Emmanuel Jungclaussen, a Benedictine monk from Niederalteich Monastery.
Noticing that Srila Prabhupdda is carrying meditation beads similar to the ro-
sary, Father Emmanuel explains that he also chants a constant prayer: “Lord
Jesus Christ, be merciful unto us.” The following conversation ensues:

Srila Prabhupada: What is the meaning of the word Christ?

Father Emmanuel: Christ comes from the Greek word Christos, meaning
‘*the anointed one.”’

Srila Prabhupada: Christos is the Greek version of the word Krsna.
Father Emmanuel: This is very interesting.

Srila Prabhupada: When an Indian person calls on Krsna, he often says,
“*Krsta.’” Krsta is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘“‘attraction.’’ So when we ad-
dress God as ‘‘Christ,”’ ‘‘Krsta,”’ or ‘‘Krsna,’’ we indicate the same all-
attractive Supreme Personality of Godhead. When Jesus said, ‘‘Our
Father, who art in heaven, sanctified be Thy name,”’ that name of God
was ‘‘Krsta’’ or ‘‘Krsna.”’ Do you agree?

Father Emmanuel: I think Jesus, as the son of God, has revealed to us
the actual name of God: Christ. We can call God ‘‘Father,”’ but if we
want to address Him by His actual name, we have to say ‘‘Christ.”’
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. ‘‘Christ’’ is another way of saying Krsta, and
“*Krsta’’ is another way of pronouncing Krsna, the name of God. Jesus
said that one should glorify the name of God, but yesterday I heard one
theologian say that God has no name—that we can call Him only
‘Father.’ A son may call his father ‘‘Father,’’ but the father also has a
specific name. Similarly, ‘“God’’ is the general name of the Supreme Per-
sonality of Godhead, whose specific name is Krsna. Therefore whether
you call God ‘‘Christ,’’ ‘‘Krsta,”’ or ‘‘Krsna,”’ ultimately you are ad-
dressing the same Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Father Emmanuel: Yes, if we speak of God’s actual name, then we must
say, ‘‘Christos.”’ In our religion, we have the Trinity: the Father, Son,

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