The Heliodorus Pillar – Standard of Cross-Cultural Friendship

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Heliodorus Pillar

Vidisha in Central India, stands at the confluence of the Bes and Betwa Rivers. Not only was this a religiously auspicious position, it also marked the meeting point of two important trade routes, the North-South route from the Gangetic Basin to the Deccan and the East-West route from the Western ports to the capital of the Shungas, Pataliputra. Hence, Vidisha was of tremendous strategic importance, a port through which the lifelines of a ‘pan-Indian’ empire of ancient India would pass.

It is no wonder, therefore, that this region hosts a number of historically important structures such as the famous Buddhist Stupa in Sanchi as well as the Gupta caves and has proved to be a rich mining-field for historians and scholars. It is here that we find another historical curiosity, smaller in size but no less significant, the Heliodorus Pillar.

The Heliodorus Pillar

The Heliodorus Pillar is a stone column erected in the late 2nd century B.C. by Heliodorus, an emissary of the Bactrian Greek King, Antialkidas, to the court of King Bhagabhadra of the Shunga Dynasty that ruled from Pataliputra (modern Patna). The Pillar is believed to be one among many that once stood in front of a Vishnu temple, which has disappeared over time.

The pinkish-brown pillar consists of three parts: a faceted shaft (hewn into octagons, sixteenths, and thirty-seconds, finally finishing round), a bell-capital and a damaged abacus, over which stood the figure of Garuda, the Eagle steed of Vishnu, which is now absent.

The octagonal part of the shaft carries two sets of inscriptions in Brahmi on it. The first one being,

The Garuda-standard of Vasudeva, the God of Gods
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)

The second set has a more philosophical bearing:

“Three immortal precepts (footsteps)… when practiced
Lead to heaven: self-restraint, charity, consciousness”
(Archaeological Survey of India, Annual Report (1908-1909)

Significance of the Pillar

An careful reading of these inscriptions led historians to a startling discovery – Heliodorus was a Hindu convert!

The first inscription pointed towards Heliodorus’ sympathies towards the orthodox cult of Vasudeva worship, one of the earliest cults in Vaishnavism. If the interpretation of this inscription is correct, Heliodorus would have been one of the earliest ‘converts’ to Hinduism; in any case, this is the first recorded instance of the ‘conversion’ of a non-Indian to Hinduism. Some authors even go as far as to propose that Heliodorus “was well acquainted with the texts dealing with the Bhagavata religion.”

The second inscription is more along expected lines, indicating the dominance of Buddhist ideas in the Subcontinent. Especially in Taxile, where Heliodorus came from, Buddhist scriptures record abundant Bactrian Greek patronship.

So Why Did Heliodorus Choose to Be Hindu?

It is interesting to note that instead of converting to Buddhist or Jain or any other heterodox sects at the time, as was the norm, he chose the orthodox brahmanical sect of Vasudeva. The reason for this may be political than spiritual.

After the fall of the great Mauryan empire, the power vacuum in Northern India was filled by the Shunga dynasty, whose dominions stretched from central to Eastern India. Pushyamitra Shunga, who began the dynasty, was a Brahmin General who usurped the Maurya throne. As such, he cut off support to the heterodox sects, breaking away from a long Maurya tradition, and began an orthodox Brahmanical revival.

Antialkidas, the Bactrian Greek king and Heliodorus’ boss, was their contemporary. He ruled over an empire that stretched from Central Asia and Eastern-Iran to the Indian states of Punjab and Gujarat. As was the lot of most large empires of the time, Antialkidas faced threats on multiple fronts: the Seleucid descendants in the West, nomadic Central Asian Tribes in the North as well as the restive Indian fringes of his empire.

To keep the latter in check, an alliance on friendly terms with the Shungas was crucial. It would thus appear that Heliodorus’ choice to adopt Hinduism may have been part of a strategy to appease their Shunga allies by flattering the orthodox religion.

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If you are visiting the Sanchi Stupa do make a stop at the Heliodorus Pillar, which is located just a few kilometres from there.

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