Travels in the Mogul Empire (Bernier) 6.6.5

6.6.5

I was acquainted with the Reverend Father Roa, a Jesuit, a German by birth, and missionary at Agra, who had made great proficiency in the study of Sanscrit. He assured me that the books of the Gentiles not only state that there is one God in three persons, but that the second person has been nine times embodied in flesh. He added that when he was at Chiras, on his return to Rome, a Carmelite Father in that city succeeded, with much address, in ascertaining that the following doctrines are held by the Gentiles, The second person in the Trinity has been, according to them, nine times incarnate in consequence of various evils in the world, from which he delivered mankind. The eighth incarnation was the most remarkable; for they say that the world having been enthralled by the power of giants, it was rescued by the second person, incarnated and born of a virgin at midnight, the angels singing in the air, and the skies raining flowers that whole night.