Heliodorus pillar
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The Heliodorus pillar is a stone column that was erected around 110 BCE in central India[1] in Vidisha near modern Besnagar, by Heliodorus, a Greek ambassador of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas to the court of the Sunga king Bhagabhadra. The site is located only 5 miles from the Buddhist stupa of Sanchi.
The pillar was surmounted by a sculpture of Garuda and was apparently dedicated by Heliodorus to the god Vasudeva in front of the temple of Vasudeva.
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[edit] Inscriptions
There are two inscriptions on the pillar.
The first inscription describes in Brahmi the situation of Heliodorus and his relationship to the Sunga and Indo-Greek kings.
"Devadevasa Va [sude]vasa Garudadhvajo ayam
karito i[a] Heliodorena bhaga-
vatena Diyasa putrena Takhasilakena
Yonadatena agatena maharajasa
Amtalikitasa upa[m]ta samkasam-rano
Kasiput[r]asa [Bh]agabhadrasa tratarasa
vasena [chatu]dasena rajena vadhamanasa"— Original inscription
- "This Garuda-standard of Vasudeva, the God of Gods
The first inscription of the Heliodorus pillar that was made by Heliodorus 110 BCE.
- was erected here by the devotee Heliodoros,
- the son of Dion, a man of Taxila,
- sent by the Great Greek (Yona) King
- Antialkidas, as ambassador to
- King Kasiputra Bhagabhadra, the Savior
- son of the princess from Benares, in the fourteenth year of his reign."
- (Archaeological Survey of India, Annual Report (1908-1909))
Although not perfectly clear, the inscription seems to be referring to Heliodoros as a Bhagavata (Sanskrit: “One Devoted to Bhagavan (Lord)”), meaning "a devotee". In the context of Hinduism, a Bhagavat would be a member of the earliest recorded Hindu faith devoted to Vishnu.
The second inscription on the pillar describes in more detail the spiritual content of the faith supported by Heliodorus:
"Trini amutapadani‹[su] anuthitani
nayamti svaga damo chago apramado"— Original inscription
- "Three immortal precepts (footsteps)... when practiced
- lead to heaven: self-restraint, charity, consciousness"
- (Archaeological Survey of India, Annual Report (1908-1909))
[edit] Context
The pillar was surmounted by a sculpture of the eagle Garuda and was apparently dedicated by Heliodorus to Vasudeva, called god of gods, in front of the temple of Vasudeva. He, along with Agathocles of the same period, would be the earliest converts to the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism.
Coins minted during the time period of Antialcidas depict Dios (Zeus) with lotus-tipped sceptre, in front of an elephant with a bell (symbol of Taxila), surmouted by Nike holding a wreath, crowning the elephant. The coins carry the inscription "BASILEOS NIKEPHOROU ANTIALKIDOU". These coins were also minted at the Pushkalavati mint and carry the same inscription in Kharoṣṭhī script [2]
Zeus' Eagle messenger and companion Aetos Dios,[3] was considered as Zeus himself.
"When you [Zeus] were an eagle, when you picked up the boy [Ganymedes] on the slopes of Teukrian Ida with greedy gentle claw, and brought him to heaven." - Nonnus, Dionysiaca 10. 308 ff
Aetos Dios was also considered a "messenger of God (Zeus)" and adopted by the Greek and Roman military:
"he put a golden eagle on his war standards and dedicated it as a protection for his valour" - Anacreon, Fragment 505d (from Fulgentius, Mythologies) (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric II) (Greek lyric C6th B.C.)
Professor Kunja Govinda Goswami of Calcutta University concludes that Heliodorus "was well acquainted with the texts dealing with the Bhagavata religion."[4]
Based on this evidence it has been suggested that Heliodorus is the earliest Westerner on record to convert to Vaishnavism. But some scholars, most notably A. L. Basham[5] and Thomas Hopkins, are of the opinion that Heliodorus was not the only 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 only foreigner who was converted to Vaishnava devotional practices-although he might have been the only one to erect a column, at least one that is still extant. Certainly there must have been many others."[6]
The 2nd book of Maccabees includes a description of the form of God that is strikingly similar to the depictions of Krishna and Balarama in Vaisnavism. In Vaisnavism, Krishna and Balaram are characterized as youthful, resplendently dressed and very handsome young men. This depiction matches the description of God as He appeared to Heliodorus in the temple of Jerusalem according to the record of 2nd Maccabees.
Then two other young men, remarkably strong, strikingly beautiful, and splendidly attired, appeared before him. Standing on each side of him, they flogged him unceasingly until they had given him innumerable blows. - 2 Maccabees 3:26
Vāsudeva is also a popular name for Krishna and Balarama.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L71FAhl7Yfo&feature=player_embedded
- ^ Antialcidas - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antialcidas
- ^ Aetos Dios
- ^ K. G. Goswami, A Study of Vaisnavism (Calcutta: Oriental Book Agency, i956), p. 6
- ^ A. L. Basham, The Wonder That Was India, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Taplinger Pub. Co., 1967), p. 60.
- ^ Steven J. Gelberg, ed.. Hare Krsna Hare Krsna (New York: Grove Press, Inc., 1983), p. 117
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Heliodorus Pillar, Vidishā, Madhya Pradesh, India |
- Photo of the pillar with Brahmi inscription
- Text of the inscriptions on Heliodorus pillar
- Vedic archeology
Coordinates: 23°34′25″N 77°47′03″E / 23.573596°N 77.784058°E
