Heliodorus pillar
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The Heliodorus pillar was erected around 110 BCE in central India 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 famous 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 (Krishna or Vishnu), 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)).
