Heliodorus pillar
Template:Short description Template:Infobox artifact The Heliodorus pillar is a stone column that was erected around 113 BCE in central India<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> in Besnagar (Vidisha), Madhya Pradesh. The pillar is commonly named after Heliodorus (identified by him as a Garuda-standard), who was an ambassador of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas from Taxila, and was sent to the Indian ruler Bhagabhadra.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> A dedication written in Brahmi script was inscribed on the pillar, venerating Vāsudeva (Krishna), the Deva deva the "God of Gods" and the Supreme Deity.<ref name="ATI41">Devadeva, the "God of Gods", the Supreme Deity in Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="SW"/><ref name=RS265/><ref name="EFB5">Template:Cite book</ref> The pillar also glorifies the Indian ruler as "Bhagabhadra the savior". The pillar is a stambha which symbolizes joining earth, space and heaven, and is thought to connote the "cosmic axis" and express the cosmic totality of the Deity.<ref name="ATI41"/>
The Heliodorus pillar site is located near the confluence of two rivers, about Template:Convert northeast from Bhopal, Template:Convert from the Buddhist stupa of Sanchi, and Template:Convert from the Hindu Udayagiri site.<ref name=shawxliv>Template:Cite book</ref>
The pillar was discovered by Alexander Cunningham in 1877. Two major archaeological excavations in the 20th-century have revealed the pillar to be a part of an ancient Vāsudeva temple site.<ref name="SW"/>Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Aside from religious scriptures such as the Bhagavad Gita, the epigraphical inscriptions on the Heliodorus pillar and the Hathibada Ghosundi Inscriptions contain some of the earliest known writings of Vāsudeva-Krishna devotion and early Vaishnavism and are considered the first archeological evidence of its existence.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Bopearachchi">Osmund Bopearachchi, 2016, Emergence of Viṣṇu and Śiva Images in India: Numismatic and Sculptural Evidence</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="G. Goswami, 1956 p. 6">K. G. Goswami, A Study of Vaisnavism (Calcutta: Oriental Book Agency, 1956), p. 6</ref><ref name="EFB5"/> The pillar has been called one of the earliest surviving records of a foreign convert into Vaishnavism.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="EFB5"/> An alternative interpretation is that making dedications to foreign gods was only a logical practice for the Greeks, intended to appropriate their local power and cannot be regarded as a "conversion" to Hinduism.<ref>"Venerating Vāsudeva, as did Heliodor in the time of Antialkidas, should not be regarded as a "conversion" to Hinduism, but rather as the result for a search for the most helpful local powers, upholding own traditions in a foreign garb." in Template:Cite book</ref>
Location and surveysEdit
Survey by Alexander Cunningham in 1874–1875Edit
The pillar was first discovered by Alexander Cunningham in 1877 near the ancient city of Besnagar in neighbourhood of Vidisha in central India. Besnagar was founded near the confluence of Betwa River and Halali River (formerly, Bais River and the basis for "Bes"-nagar).Template:Sfn The fertile region was historically important because it was on the trade route between the northern Gangetic valley, the Deccan and the South Indian kingdoms of the subcontinent.Template:Sfn The Besnagar site is at the northeastern periphery of the confluence, and close to Sanchi and Udayagiri, both ancient and of significance to Buddhism and Hinduism.<ref name=shawxliv/>Template:Sfn
When Cunningham first saw it, the pillar was thickly encrusted with ritually applied red paste (vermillion). This encrusted pillar was the object of worship and ritual animal sacrifice.Template:Sfn Next to the red-colored pillar was a high soil mound, and on top of the mound a priest had built his home and surrounded it with a compound wall.Template:Sfn The locals at the time called the pillar the Khamba Baba or Kham Baba.Template:Sfn<ref name="Rawlinson">Rawlinson, H. G. (Hugh George), 1880–1957 Bactria, the history of a forgotten Empire</ref>
Cunningham, an avid British archaeologist credited with many discoveries of ancient sites on the subcontinent, saw no inscription due to the thick crust surrounding the pillar. He nevertheless sensed its historical significance from the shape and the visible features such as the crowning emblem, carved fan, rosettes, the faceted symmetry merging into a round section.Template:Sfn He also guessed there may be an inscription below the crust, and reported the pillar as, "the most curious and novel" of all his discoveries.Template:Sfn Near the standing Besnagar pillar, Cunningham found the remains of a fan-palm pinnacle, which he thought originally belonged to the pillar.<ref name="AC41">Template:Cite book</ref> Assuming that this broken part was part of the standing pillar, he sketched a composite version.<ref name="AC41"/> The fan-palm design is otherwise known to be associated to the worship of Samkarsana-Balarama, another one of the Vrishni heroes.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
A short distance away, Cunningham found a second pillar capital on the ground with an emblem in the form of a makara (mythical elephant-crocodile-fish composite).<ref name="AC41"/> He assumed, based on the shape of the bell, which he considered "of true Ashokan proportions", that this broken part was part of a lost pillar of the Ashokan period.<ref name="AC41"/>Template:Sfn Further, about a kilometer away, Cunningham found a third pillar capital of similar style, with an emblem in the form of a kalpadruma (wishing tree). Cunningham assumed this discovery too was related to the Besnagar pillar in some way.Template:Sfn The kalpa tree design is otherwise known to be associated to the goddess Sri Lakshmi.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Later research showed that the fan palm pinnacle could not fit, and the discovery of the inscription on the pillar suggested that a Garuda emblem was crowning the structure.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Second survey in 1909–1910Edit
Between 1909 and early 1910, nearly 30 years after the pillar's discovery, a small Indian and British archaeological team led by H H Lake revisited the site.<ref name="Lakep135">Template:Cite book</ref> After the thick red crust was cleaned out, they found Brahmi script inscriptions. John Marshall reported the discovered inscriptions, and to everyone's surprise, the longer inscription related to a Greek ambassador named Heliodorus of 2nd-century BCE and the deity Vāsudeva. An additional smaller inscription on the pillar listed human virtues, later identified to be from a verse of the Mahabharata.Template:Sfn<ref name=Raychaudhuri1923/><ref name=VSS>Sukthankar, Vishnu Sitaram, V. S. Sukthankar Memorial Edition, Vol. II: Analecta, Bombay: Karnatak Publishing House 1945 p.266</ref>
The pillar and the unusual inscriptions attracted two larger archaeological excavations. The first was completed between 1913 and 1915, under Bhandarkar, but left incomplete because the priest blocked efforts citing rights to his home and compound walls his ancestors had built over the mound.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref name=Bhandarkar1915/> The second excavation was completed between 1963 and 1965, under Khare, who had convinced the locals to move their religious practice to a location near a tree close by and relocating the priest's family. The archaeologists for the second excavation had full access to the Besnagar pillar site.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Third survey in 1913–1915Edit
The 1913–15 excavations, though partial, revealed that the modern era Besnagar site had experienced numerous floods that had deposited silt over the last 2,000 years.<ref name=Bhandarkar1915/> The partial dig uncovered an extensive rectangular, square and other substructure and many brick foundations aligned to the cardinal axes. More ruined parts, plates and capitals were also found. The relative alignments suggested that the Besnagar pillar was likely a part of a more extensive ancient site.<ref name=Bhandarkar1915/>Template:Sfn<ref name="SW"/>
Fourth survey in 1963–1965Edit
The 1963–65 excavations revealed that the mound under the demolished later era priest home, contained the brick foundation for a sanctum (garbhagriha) and pillared halls (mandalas) of an elliptical temple. Further excavations below the foundation revealed a different foundation of likely a more ancient temple. These ancient temple foundation, layout and structures were similar to those discovered at Chittorgarh (Rajasthan).Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn A more comprehensive excavation underneath the pillar and around the pillar led to the discovery that the pillar itself was much deeper, had a metal-stone interface, features Cunningham's early report had missed, and that secondary foundations were added over time to match the new ground level after major floods. Further, many more structures and items were discovered at the site.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The archaeologists discovered that the Heliodorus pillar itself was one of eight pillars, all aligned along the north-south axis. These discoveries confirmed that the Besnagar Heliodorus pillar was a part of a more extensive ancient temple site.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn
PillarEdit
The 1913 excavation revealed that a significant part of the Heliodorus pillar is below the platform. It sits on top of the remains of a more ancient pillar probably damaged by floods.Template:Sfn Over time, silt from various floods have deposited and a raised platform was added at some point. The pillar shaft has a base support of two placement stones held with a layer of stone-metal.Template:Sfn<ref name=Bhandarkar1915/> Above this was an untrimmed stone portion of the pillar. Above the untrimmed section is a trimmed octagonal cross-section. The original ground level was about 4.5 centimeter above the junction of the untrimmed and trimmed section.Template:Sfn Above the length with octagonal facet is the section of the pillar with sixteen facets. Above the sixteenths section is the thirty-two faceted section, beyond which is the short round pillar section all the way to the top where sat the crowning emblem (now missing).Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The pillar is about 17.7 feet above a square platform (12 feet side), and the platform itself is about 3 feet high above the ground.<ref name="Lakep135"/> The currently visible portion of the pillar's octagonal section is about 4 feet 10 inches high. The sixteenths section is fully visible and is 6 feet 2 inches high.<ref name="Lakep135"/> The thirty-twos is also fully visible and is about 11.5 inches high, while the round section is 2 feet and 2 inches high. The bell capital is about 1 feet 6 inches deep and 1 feet 8 inches wide. The abacus is a 1 feet 7 inch sided ornate square.<ref name="Lakep135"/>
The ornamental bands on the pillar are at the junctions of the octagon-sixteenths and sixteenths-thirty-seconds sections.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The lower ornamental band consists of half-rosettes, while the upper ornamental band is a festoon with birds (swag with flowers, leaves and hanging vines). Early scholars mistook it as geese (or swan), but a closer examination revealed that they are regular pigeon-like birds, not geese (nor swan).Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The upper festoon is about 6.5 inches long.<ref name="Lakep135"/> According to Donald Stadtner, the capitals found at the Heliodorus pillar site are similar, yet different in ways from the Sunga capitals found at Sanchi. The Sanchi discoveries lack the clockwise birds, the makara and the band found in Besnagar. They have elephants and lions, which are absent in Besnagar.Template:Sfn According to Julia Shaw, the elephants and lions motif is typically found with Buddhist art of this period. The two styles have differences yet informed the other, states Shaw.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The Heliodorus pillar is neither tapered nor polished like the ancient Ashokan pillars found in India.<ref name=Bhandarkar1915/>Template:Sfn It is also about half the diameter of Ashoka pillars.<ref name="Shaw 88"/> The Brahmi inscriptions are found on the octagonal surface just below the lower ornamental band of half-rosettes.Template:Sfn
The 1963–65 excavations suggest that the site had an elliptical shrine – possibly 4th to 3rd-century BCE – with a brick foundation and likely a wooden superstructure.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This was destroyed by a flood around 200 BCE. New soil was then added and the ground level raised to build a new second temple to Vāsudeva, with a wooden pillar (Garuda dhvaja) in front of the east-facing elliptical shrine.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn This too was destroyed by floods sometime in the 2nd-century BCE.Template:Sfn In late 2nd-century BCE, after some ground preparation, yet another Vāsudeva temple was rebuilt, this time with eight stone pillars aligned in the north-south cardinal axis. Only one of these eight pillars have survived: the Heliodorus pillar.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
InscriptionsEdit
There are two inscriptions on the pillar. The inscriptions have been analysed by several authors, such as E. J. Rapson,<ref name="Ancient India">Template:Cite book</ref> Sukthankar,<ref name=VSS/> Richard Salomon,<ref name=RS265>Template:Harvnb</ref> and Shane Wallace.<ref name="SW"/>
The text of the inscriptions is in the Brahmi script of the Sunga period, the language is Central-western epigraphic Prakrit, with a few Sanskritized spellings.<ref name=RS265/> The first inscription describes the private religious dedication of Heliodorus (Translations: Richard Salomon):<ref name=RS265/>
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<poem> Line 1. This Garuda-standard of Vāsudeva, the god of gods Line 2. was constructed here by Heliodora (Heliodoros), the Bhagavata, Line 3. son of Dion, a man of Takhkhasila (Taxila), Line 4. the Greek ambassador who came from the Great King Line 5. Amtalikita (Antialkidas) to King Line 6. Kasiputra Bhagabhadra, the Savior, Line 7. prospering in (his) fourteenth regnal year.Template:Sfn </poem> {{#if:|{{#if:|}}
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The second inscription on the pillar, in the same script, recites a verse from the Hindu epic Mahabharata:Template:Sfn<ref name=Raychaudhuri1923>Template:Cite journal</ref>
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<poem> Line 1. (These?) three steps to immortality, when correctly followed, Line 2. lead to heaven: control, generosity, and attention.Template:Sfn </poem>{{#if:|{{#if:|}}
— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries}}
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The identity of the King Bhagabhadra in the longer inscription is contested. Early scholars proposed that he may have been the 5th ruler of the Sunga dynasty, as described in some Puranic lists.<ref name=RS265/> However, later excavations by German archaeologists near Mathura (Sonkh) have shown that the Sunga dynasty may have ended before the Heliodorus pillar was installed.Template:Sfn Therefore, it is probable that the Bhagabhadra may have been a local ruler.Template:Sfn The virtues in the shorter inscription has been variously translated by different scholars. John Irwin, for example, translates it as "Restraint, Renunciation and Rectitude".Template:Sfn
| Translation (English) |
Transliteration (original Brahmi script) |
Inscription (Prakrit in the Brahmi script)<ref name="SW"/> |
|---|---|---|
|
<poem>This Garuda-standard of Vāsudeva, the God of Gods was erected here by the devotee Heliodoros, the son of Dion, a man of Taxila, sent by the Great Yona King Antialkidas, as ambassador to King Kasiputra Bhagabhadra, the Savior son of the princess from Varanasi, in the fourteenth year of his reign.</poem> <ref>Archaeological Survey of India, Annual report 1908-1909 p.129</ref> <poem> Three immortal precepts (footsteps)... when practiced lead to heaven: self-restraint, charity, consciousness</poem> |
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File:Heliodorus pillar Rapson rubbing inverted.jpg Heliodorus pillar rubbing (inverted colors). The text is in the Brahmi script of the Sunga period.<ref name=RS265/> For a recent photograph. |
Garuda capitalEdit
The Garuda capital of the Heliodorus pillar has not been found in the surveys, but it has been suggested that it had already been excavated by Cunningham, who was unaware of the Garuda attribution of the pillar, and that the remains of this Garuda capital were transferred to the Gwalior Museum together with the other artefacts initially discovered at the site.<ref name="MD">Template:Cite journal</ref> In particular, a statue fragment in the Gwalior Museum, composed of bird's feet holding a Naga, with the tail end resting on a portion of a vedika, may correspond to the lost Garuda capital of the Heliodorus pillar.<ref>Photograph of the supposed Garuda pedestal of Heliodorus in Gwalior Museum in: Template:Cite book, discussed in p.74</ref><ref name="MD"/><ref>"Heliodorus Pillar from Besnagar: Its Capital and Worship." Journal of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai 77–78: 32–41, 2002–2003</ref>
According to Susan L. Huntington, the Garuda capital on the Heliodorus pillar was probably similar to a portable Garuda standard illustrated on one of the nearly contemporary reliefs at Bharhut.<ref name="SLH66"/> In Bharhut, a man riding a horse is seen holding a portable pillar-standard, crowned by a bird-man creature similar to a Kinnara.<ref name="SLH66"/> The same concept of Garuda pillar may have been adopted for the Heliodorus pillar.<ref name="SLH66"/> Further, the Bharhut relief was dedicated by an individual from Vidisha, the town where the Heliodorus pillar is located, as explained in the attached dedicatory inscription, which suggests that the Garuda capital in the Bharhut relief may just be an imitation of the one on the Heliodorus pillar.<ref name="SLH66">"The rider of the horse holds a portable pillar-standard (dhvaja stambha) related to the stationary type seen since Maurya and pre-Maurya times, here probably intended as a royal insignia. It is interesting to note resemblance between this standard with its square abacus, lotus capital, and bird-man creature called a kinnara and what was probably the original concept of the Heliodorus Garuda pillar at Vidisa. Since this particular sculpture of the Bharhut vedika was dedicated by an individual from Vidisa, as indicated by an inscription, this resemblance is even more remarkable and may indicate that the Bharhut form was based specifically on the Vedika pillar, or a common prototype." in Template:Cite book</ref> The inscription in Brahmi script next to the relief of the Garuda pillar at Bharhut reads:<ref name="SLH66"/><ref name="HL26">Template:Cite book</ref>
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𑀯𑁂𑀤𑀺𑀲𑀸 𑀘𑀸𑀧𑀤𑁂𑀯𑀸𑀬𑀸 𑀭𑁂𑀯𑀢𑀺𑀫𑀺𑀢𑀪𑀸𑀭𑀺𑀬𑀸𑀬 𑀧𑀣𑀫𑀣𑀪𑁄 𑀤𑀸𑀦𑀁
Vedisā Chāpadevāyā Revatimitabhāriyāya pathamathabho dānam
"The first pillar (is) the gift of Chāpadevāyā, the wife of Revatimita, from Vedisa"{{#if:|{{#if:|}}— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries}}
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Association with other Vrishni heroesEdit
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Other sculptures and pillar capitals were found near the Heliodorus pillar, and it is thought they were dedicated to Vāsudeva's kinsmen, otherwise known as the Vrishni heroes and objects of the Bhagavata worship.<ref name="IH222">Template:Cite book</ref> These are a tala (fan-palm capital), a makara (crocodile) capital, a banyan-tree capital, and a possible statue of the goddess Lakshmi, also associated with the Bhagavat worship.<ref name="IH224">Template:Cite book</ref> Just as Garuda is associated with Vāsudesa, the fan-palm capital is generally associated with Saṃkarṣaṇa, and the makara is associated with Pradyumna.<ref name="VVG81">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="CRA24">Template:Cite book</ref> The banyan-tree capital with ashtanidhis is associated with Lakshmi.<ref name="IH224"/>
The presence of these pillar capitals, found near the Heliodorus pillar, suggests that the Bhagavata worship, although centered around the figures of Vāsudeva and Saṃkarṣaṇa, may also have involved the worship of other Vrishni deities, such as Pradyumna, son of Vāsudeva.<ref name="CRA24"/> For example, there may have been a Pradyumna temple at Besnagar, or at least the Pradyumna pillar with its Makara emblem may have been incorporated into the Vāsudeva shrine.<ref name="CRA24"/> In effect, the findings surrounding the Heliodorus pillar suggest the worship of a trio of the Vrishni heroes in this time and area, composed of the three deities Vāsudesa, Saṃkarṣaṇa and Pradyumna.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Excavations suggests that these various pillars with their symbolic capitals were standing in line at the site, and that the Heliodorus pillar was just one of them, standing at the northern end of the line.<ref name="MD1137">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Although the pillars are aniconic, it is probable that now lost sculptures representing the deities, broadly similar to the depictions on Vāsudeva and Samkarshana on the coins of Agathocles of Bactria (190–180 BCE), were located in adjoining shrines.<ref name="Routledge"/> An inscription on an octagonal pillar found in nearby Besnagar does mention a "Garudadvaja" installed in a Temple of Vasudeva (Vasudeva prasadauttama) by a Gautamiputra Bhagavata, suggesting that there may have been two Garuda pillars, just as there were two fan-palm pillars, in front the Vāsudeva Temple.<ref name="MD1137"/>
- Besnagar fan-palm capital.jpg
The fan-palm capital, found next to the Heliodorus pillar, is associated with Saṃkarṣaṇa.<ref name="VVG81"/><ref name="CRA24"/>
- Besnagar Makara pillar capital.jpg
CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Mittal Publications"/>
- Besnagar Kalpadruma 2nd century BCE.jpg
A pillar capital shaped as a Kalpadruma tree, also found nearby at Besnagar, probably associated with Lakshmi.<ref name="IH222"/><ref name="VVG81"/> Indian Museum, Kolkata.<ref name="Mittal Publications"/>
- Besnagar Yakshini.jpg
Possible statue of the goddess Lakshmi, also associated with the Bhagavat worship.<ref name="IH224"/>Template:Failed verification
Association with GarudaEdit
The sun bird Garuda is the traditional vehicle of Vāsudeva.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In the Mahabharata (probably compiled between the 3rd century BCE and the 3rd century CE),<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Garuda appears as the vehicle of Vishnu.<ref>Mahabharata I ,33, 16–17 Template:Cite book</ref>
However, the understanding of Vāsudeva as an emanation of Vishnu probably appeared much later, as there is nothing to suggest it in the early evidence: the worship of Vāsudeva between the 4th century BCE and the 2nd century BCE was a warrior-hero worship, after which the progressive amalgamation with Vishnu and Narayana would follow, developing during the Kushan period and culminating during the Gupta period.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Slightly later, the Nagari inscription also shows the association of the Hindu deity Narayana with Bhagavatism.<ref name="IH224"/> Vishnu would much later become prominent in this construct, so that by the middle of the 5th century CE, during the Gupta period, the term Vaishnava would replace the term Bhagavata to describe the followers of this worship, and Vishnu would now be more popular than Vāsudeva.<ref name="IH224"/>
TempleEdit
In 1910, an archaeological team led by H H Lake revisited the Heliodorus pillar site and nearby mounds. They found the Brahmi inscriptions on the pillar, and noticed several mistakes in the early Cunningham report.<ref name="Lakep135"/> They also found many other broken wall pieces, pillar sections and broken statues in different mounds along the river, within a kilometer from the pillar. Lake speculated these to be variously related to Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism.<ref name="Lakep140">Template:Cite book</ref> Near the Heliodorus pillar site, his team discovered Sapta-Matrikas (seven mothers of the Shaktism tradition of Hinduism), dating to the 5th–6th century CE.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> These discoveries suggest that Besnagar was probably an important ancient temples and pilgrimage site.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Template:Multiple image The 1963–65 excavations revealed that the Heliodorus pillar was a part of an ancient temple site. The archaeologists found an ancient elliptical foundation, extensive floor and plinth produced from burnt bricks. Further, the foundations for all the major components of a Hindu temple – garbhagriha (sanctum), pradakshinapatha (circumambulation passage), antarala (antechamber next to sanctum) and mandapa (gathering hall) – were found.Template:Sfn These sections had a thick support base for their walls. These core temple remains cover an area of 30 x 30 m with 2.40 m.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The sections had post-holes, which likely contained the wooden pillars for the temple superstructure above. In the soil were iron nails that likely held together the wooden pillars.Template:Sfn According to Khare, the superstructure of the temple was likely made of wood, mud and other perishable materials.Template:Sfn
The sub-surface structure discovered was nearly identical to the ancient temple complex discovered in Nagari (Chittorgarh, Rajasthan) – about 500 kilometers to the west of Vidisha, and the Nagari temple too has been dated to the second half of the 1st-millennium BCE. The archaeological discoveries about Vāsudeva Krishna at the Mathura site – about 500 kilometers to the north, states Khare, confirm that Garuda, Makara found at this site, palm-leaf motifs were related to early Vaishnavism. The Heliodorus pillar was a part of an ancient Vaishnava temple.Template:Sfn According to Susan Mishra and Himanshu Ray, the Heliodorus pillar Besnagar site (2nd century BCE) and the Nagari site (1st century BCE) are perhaps the "earliest Hindu temples" that archaeologists have discovered.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Archaeological characteristics and significanceEdit
The Heliodorus pillar, being dated rather precisely to the period of the reign of Antialkidas (approximately 115–80 BCE), is an essential marker of the evolution of Indian art during the Sunga period. It is, following the Pillars of Ashoka, the next pillar to be associated clearly with a datable inscription.<ref name="Shaw 88"/> The motifs on the pillar are key in dating some of the architectural elements of the nearby Buddhist complex of Sanchi. For example, the reliefs of Stupa No.2 in Sanchi are dated to the last quarter of the 2nd century BCE due to their similarity with architectural motifs on the Heliodorus pillar as well as similarities of the paleography of the inscriptions.<ref name="Shaw 88">Buddhist Landscapes in Central India, Julia Shaw, 2013 p.88ff</ref> A remaining fragment of the Garuda capital is located at the Gujari Mahal Museum in Gwalior.<ref name=BLCI>Buddhist Landscapes in Central India, Julia Shaw, 2013 p.89</ref>
Nature and evolution of VāsudevaEdit
Vāsudeva refers to "Krishna, son of Vasudeva", "Vāsudeva" in the lengthened form being a vṛddhi-derivative of the short form Vasudeva, a type of formation very common in Sanskrit signifying "of, belonging to, descended from".<ref name="Fortson116">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> The worship of Vāsudeva may have evolved from the worship of a historical figure belonging to the Vrishni clan in the region of Mathura.<ref name="USHA"/> He is also known as a member of the five "Vrishni heroes".<ref name="USHA"/> According to Upinder Singh "Vāsudeva-Krishna was the Indian God bearing the closest resemblance to the Greek God Herakles".<ref name="USHA">Template:Cite book</ref> He was also depicted on the coinage of Agathocles of Bactria Template:Circa, which shows that he was already widely considered as a deity by that time, and probably as early as the 4th century according to literary evidence.<ref name="USHA"/> In the Heliodorus pillar, Vāsudeva-Krishna was worshipped as the "God of Gods", the Supreme Deity.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> At one point Vāsudeva-Krishna came to be associated to the God Narayana-Vishnu.<ref name="Early Vaiṣṇava Imagery: Caturvyūha">Template:Cite journal</ref> Epigraphically, this association is confirmed by the Hathibada Ghosundi Inscriptions of the 1st century BCE.<ref name="DS51">Template:Cite journal</ref> It is thought that "by the beginning of the Christian era, the worship of Vasudeva, Vishnu and Narayana amalgamated".Template:Citation needed As a third step, Vāsudeva-Krishna was incorporated into the Chatur-vyūha concept of successive emanations of the God Vishnu.<ref name="Early Vaiṣṇava Imagery: Caturvyūha"/> By the 2nd century CE, the "avatara concept was in its infancy", and the depiction of Vishnu with his four emanations (the Chatur-vyūha) starts to become visible in art at the end of the Kushan period.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Based on Helliodorus pillar evidence it has been suggested that Heliodorus is one of the earliest Westerners on record to convert to Vaishnavism whose evidence has survived.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> But some scholars, most notably A. L. Basham<ref>A. L. Basham, The Wonder That Was India, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Taplinger Pub. Co., 1967), p. 60.</ref> and Thomas Hopkins, are of the opinion that Heliodorus was not the earliest Greek to convert to Bhagavata Krishnaism. Hopkins, chairman of the department of religious studies at Franklin and Marshall College, has said, "Heliodorus was presumably not the earliest Greek who was converted to Vaishnava devotional practices although he might have been the one to erect a column that is still extant. Certainly there were numerous others including the king who sent him as an ambassador."<ref>Steven J. Gelberg, ed.. Hare Krsna Hare Krsna (New York: Grove Press, Inc., 1983), p. 117</ref> Professor Kunja Govinda Goswami of Calcutta University concludes that Heliodorus "was well acquainted with the texts dealing with the Bhagavata religion."<ref name="G. Goswami, 1956 p. 6"/>
According to Indologist Edwin F. Bryant, Heliodorus converted to the Krishna religion during this period. This is evident from the column dedicated to Garuda, Vishnu's eagle carrier, which features an inscription where Heliodorus identifies himself as a devotee of Vasudeva Krishna. The fact that a prominent foreign envoy embraced the Krishna tradition in the first century BCE suggests that the tradition had established firm roots by then. Moreover, there are several other inscriptions prior to the Common Era, created by Indian sponsors of the Vasudeva Krishna tradition.<ref name="EFB5" />
Alternatively, the dedication made by Heliodorus to Vāsudeva as supreme deity may simply have been a diplomatic gesture.<ref>"Whether as a diplomatic gesture or as a result of personal conviction, Heliodorus declared himself a Bhagavata, which by then evidently meant acknowledgement of Vasudeva as supreme deity; and the pillar which he dedicated to the god" in Template:Cite book</ref><ref>"Even if the claim of the Brahmi inscription on the monument be interpreted more as an act of diplomacy than as real devotion to the god Vāsudeva..." Template:Cite journal</ref> This may also have been an instance of a typically Greek religious practice: according to Harry Falk, it was a logical and normal practice for Greeks to make dedications to foreign gods, as they were just interested in appropriating their power, and this natural Greek behaviour cannot be construed as a "conversion to Hinduism".<ref>"Venerating Vāsudeva, as did Heliodor in the time of Antialkidas, should not be regarded as a "conversion" to Hinduism, but rather as the result of a search for the most helpful local powers, upholding own traditions in a foreign garb."in Template:Cite book</ref>
Alternative interpretationEdit
According to Allan Dahlquist, an alternative interpretation of the inscription is possible. Shakyamuni Buddha too was called a Bhagavan, and Heliodorus originated from Taxila where Buddhism was strong.<ref name="AD"/> At the time of Dahlquist's 1962 publication, he stated there was no proof that a sect of Vishnu-Krishna devotees existed at that time in Taxila.<ref name="AD"/> Lastly, according to Dahlquist, there is no definite evidence that Vāsudeva should necessarily refer to Vishnu-Krishna.<ref name="AD"/> As god-of-the-god, Vāsudeva can well be associated with Indra, who had a key role in Buddhism, stated Dahlquist.<ref name="AD">Allan Dahlaquist (1962), Megasthenes and Indian Religion: A Study in Motives and Types, Motilal Banarsidass Publ., p.167</ref>
Later scholars have questioned Dahlquist's analysis and assumptions.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Kuiper criticizes him for interpreting the dubious source of Megasthenes, ignoring all the "indications to the contrary", and dispute Dahlquist's treatment of the evidence.<ref>F. B. J. Kuiper (1969), A Review of Megasthenes and Indian Religion, A Study in Motives and Types by Allan Dahlquist, Indo-Iranian Journal, Vol. 11, No. 2 (1968–69), pp. 142–146, Brill Academic, pages 142–146</ref> The Greek texts that describe ancient India, have numerous references that suggest the existence of Vishnu-Krishna before the time of Heliodorus. For example, there is little doubt that Methora in ancient Greek texts is same as Mathura, Sourasenoi as Shurasenas, Herakles of India is Hari-Krishna, Kleisobora is Krishna-pura.<ref name="Bryant2007p5">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>For views of most scholars versus Dahlaquist, see e.g. Template:Cite book</ref> Similarly, early Buddhist sources provide evidence of Krishna worship, such as the Niddesa which somewhat derogatorily mentions both Vāsudeva and BaladevaTemplate:Refn The Jataka tales too include a story about Krishna.<ref name="Bryant2007p5"/> Heliodorus converted to the Krishna religion when he was serving as an envoy. The Heliodorus pillar's inscription is generally dated to the late 2nd century BCE or about 100 BCE, is attributed to Heliodorus, as recording his devotion to the Vaishnava Vāsudeva sect.<ref name="Bryant2007p5"/><ref>Ashoka and his successors, Encyclopaedia Britannica</ref>
Related evidenceEdit
During the Besnagar site excavations by archaeologists Lake and Bhandarkar, a number of additional inscriptions were found such as one in Vidisha. These also mention Vaishnava-related terms. In one of those inscriptions, is the mention of another Bhagavata installing a pillar of Garuda (vahana of Vishnu) at the "best temple of Bhagavat" after the king had ruled for twelve years.<ref name=Bhandarkar1915>DR Bhandarkar (1915), Excavations at Besnagar, Annual Report 1913-1914, Archaeological Survey of India, Government of India Press, pages 186–225 with plates; the ASI Annual Report 1914-15 pages 66–81; the ASI Western Circle Report 1915, Excavations, pages 59–71 with plates</ref>
A pillar from nearby Buddhist Sanchi, Pillar 25, is thought to be contemporary with the Heliodorus pillar, and is also dated to the 2nd century BCE.<ref name="Marshall 95">Marshall, "A Guide to Sanchi" p.95 Pillar 25. Public Domain text</ref>
- Map of Besnagar.jpg
Location of the Heliodorus pillar in relation to Besnagar, Vidisha, Sanchi and the Udayagiri Caves.
- Coin of Antialcidas.jpg
Heliodorus was the ambassador of king Antialcidas (here depicted on one of his coins).
- Sanchi pillar 25 with own capital.jpg
The contemporary pillar in nearby Sanchi.<ref name="Marshall 95" />
See alsoEdit
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
BibliographyEdit
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External linksEdit
- Heliodorus pillar at Besnagar, Maurya dynasty, Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, India, ca. 126 B.C., An image taken after 1968, University of Washington Archives
- Heliodorus pillar inscription Template:Webarchive, American Institute of Indian Studies
- Heliodorus Column, Archaeology Online
- Vedic archeology, Part 1: The Heliodorus Column