He managed to escape just in time. Of course he played the role of being crucified, for the masses, and when the masses went home, he also went home. I don’t mean he went to God. Please don’t misunderstand; he really went to his home.

The cave which is still shown to Christians, where Jesus’ body was kept, is all nonsense. Yes, it was there for a few hours, perhaps a night at the most, but he was still alive. This is proved by the Bible itself. It says that a soldier pierced Jesus’ side with a spear after they thought he was dead, but blood came out. Blood never comes out of a dead man. The moment a man dies his blood starts disintegrating. If the Bible had said only water had come out then I would have believed that they were writing truly, but it would have looked so stupid to write that water came out of his body. In fact Jesus never died in Jerusalem. He died in Pahalgam, which at least as far as the meaning of the word is concerned means exactly the same as the name of my village.

Pahalgam is one of the most beautiful places in the world. That is where Jesus died, and he died at the age of one hundred and twelve. But he got so fed up with his own people that he simply spread the story that he had died on the cross.

Of course he was crucified – but you have to understand that the Jewish way of crucifixion was not the American way. It was not sitting in a chair, and with just a push of a button you were no more; not even time to say, “God forgive these people who are pushing the button, they don’t know what they are doing.” They know what they are doing! They are pushing the button! And you don’t know what they are doing!

Jesus would not have had any time if he had been crucified in the scientific way. No, it is a very crude way that the Jews followed. Naturally, it sometimes even took twenty-four hours or more to die. There have been cases of people having survived for three days on the cross, the Jewish cross I mean, because they simply nailed the man by his hands and his feet.

The blood has the capacity to clot; it flows for a while, then it clots. The man is, of course, in immense pain, in fact he prays to God, “Please let it be finished.” Perhaps that is what Jesus was saying when he said, “They don’t know what they are doing. Why have you forsaken me?” But the pain must have been too much, for he finally said, “Let thy will be done.”

I don’t think that he died on the cross. No, I should not say that “I don’t think…” I know that he didn’t die on the cross. He had said, “Let thy will be done,” that’s his freedom. He could say anything he wanted to say. In fact, the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, had fallen in love with the man. Who would not? It is irresistible if you have eyes.