Vidisha
Vidisa – Meghaduta says that Vidisa modern Bhilsa the
capital of Dasarna was situated on Vetravati, the modern Betwa river. A city
mentioned in Raghuvamsa – Rama gave to the two sons of Satrughna, Satrughatin
and Subahu, the cities of Madhura and Vidisa. In the Malavikagnimitra Agnimitra
is shown as enjoying himself on the banks of the Vidisa river and later on
Pushyamitra refers to his son Agnimitra as Vidisastha (i.e. Vaidisa would mean
a city on the Vidisa).
In the fourth volume of the History of Dharmasastra MM
P.V. Kane has given a long list of Tirthas significant from the Hindu
Dharmasastra point of view. That is from a volume which has details on
Prayascitta, Tirthayatra etc., The BORI has brought out the ‘List of Tirthas’
as a separate volume for the benefit of students of Dharmashastra, history and
geography of Bharata. Vidisha, 54 km from
the state capital of Bhopal and about 10 km from the UNESCO world heritage site
of Sanchi, continues to be an important Tirtha for the local population. Little
did I know that Vidisha is a Tirtha when I visited it for the first time, two
decades ago.
The little town seemed unimpressive, and from the bus
stop the only temple we were guided to was the Bijamandala. Not even the mighty
Bijamandala looked impressive as it was just a patch of a broken temple with a
flight of stairs, the cells of which were locked up and some broken vigrahas
and pillars of the temple or whatever hidden in them. The only person we
noticed around would tell us how there was an attempt to convert it into a
mosque and then like a Bhojashala in Dhar or a Rudramahalaya at Siddhpur it
remained a monument under dispute. From there one took an auto rickshaw to
reach Udayagiri before sunset. Approached from the path surrounded by
farmlands, oblivious of the river that was running on the other side one stood
there stunned by the darshan of the Varaha. Even then it didn’t sink that Vidisha,
Udayagiri are sacred spaces. Mahabalipuram had become a picnic spot, Hampi a
large ruin frequented by foreigners and historians were just marvellous ruins.
That is how the metropolitan sensibilities have shaped us?
“There is no village in India, however mean, that has
not a rich sthala purana, or legendary history, of its own. Some god or
god-like hero has passed by the village … the Mahatma himself, on one of his
many pilgrimages through the country, might have slept in this hut, the low
one, by the village gate. In this way the past mingles with the present, and
the gods mingle with men to make the repertory of your grandmother always
bright,” wrote Raja Rao in ‘Kanthapura’. I thought of it later, when I read
about Emperor Ashoka’s visit to Vidisha on his way to Ujjain. His marriage to
the daughter of a Shreshti there and later the visit of his son and daughter before
they went on to Sri Lanka as ambassadors of Buddhism. That I was walking on the
land once traversed by the mighty emperors from the Mauryas, Satavahanas,
Sakas, Guptas, Rashtrakutas, Parmaras, Pratiharas … Bhoja had left a giant imprint
on this region. What Vidisha was, and the whole of what Bhoja had created were
so distinguished, that from the time of Iltumish to Aurangazeb the constant
stream of marauders attacked the area, leaving almost everything in a state of
ruin, leaving just a few ruins for posterity. Not even recent history has
created a memory of Vidisha as a pilgrimage place, as one of the most
important, historic, religious places in the country though the local
population continued to revere the Tirtha. That our former foreign affairs
minister contested, won elections from there, it was her constituency, even
that doesn’t create memory of Vidisha on the rest of the population. Why and
how did Vidisha fall off the map like this, the question kept haunting me as I
got to know more, read more about it.
Months after my first trip to Vidisha, appa was
reading The Hindu I think, a Sunday edition. He called me out, and asked “did
you read this?” It was a large write up, and it was about the Heliodorous
Pillar. Appa was more than surprised by what he read, in that delight of
finding a Pillar that talked about Vasudeva, a Garudadhwaja built by a Greek
ambassador, he asked me, “did you see that?” I was disappointed. Having gone
all the way from Madras to Madhya Pradesh I had missed the most important. I
hardly knew any history then beyond what one had read in school text books. Had
no idea of epigraphy, manuscripts, history of Hindu temples, temple
architecture and all that. Though it registered in my mind that Heliodorous has
left behind the history of what perhaps is the earliest available epigraphic record
of a Vishnu temple, a Hindu temple. Is
it important, that there is a pillar which records the construction of a
Garudadhwaja, by someone who called himself a Bhagavata in honour of Vasudeva (Krishna)
when there are any number of Garudadhwajas across the country, large Krishna
temples like a Mannargudi that has elaborate 18-day utsavas one may ask. But as
a Vaishnava the fact is dear, and for history, history of Hindu temples,
history of vigraha aradhana it is important. With the dating of Srimad
Bhagavatam pushed to a very late period, 10-13th century CE, with contestations
on the origin of Krishna worship, Heliodorous Pillar is an important record.
What is this Heliodorous Pillar and why is it
important? It is said that the first director of Archaeological Survey of India
Alexander Cunningham, when he discovered the stupas of Sanchi and Satdhara in
the later part of 19th century, he found it difficult to accept the
prevalence of the “cult” of Vasudeva in the regions. During his visits to
Vidisha he found the pillar, revered locally as khambaba smeared with
vermillion hiding the inscription. He noticed the spot of Vishnu Charan in
between the Bes and Betwa rivers.
Cunningham noticed it first in 1877, and the
Heliodorous Pillar inscription was noted by John Marshall in 1908-09, later
translated by Dr. Theo Bloch, J.F. Fleet, and Lionel Barnet. “Heliodorous, the
Greek ambassador of Taxila, visited this placed in the 2nd century
BC and embraced Vaishnavism in the temple of God Vasudeva; he installed here a
huge Garudadhvaja in front of the sacred shrine.”
It is very interesting, the connection Dr Meenakshi
Jain points out in her book Vasudeva Krishna and Mathura – the knowledge of
Mahabharata, worship of Krishna and Taxila quoting historian H.C. Raychaudhuri.
Before I quote what Raychaudhuri said, a few details.
Vidhisha, Besnagar was at the junction of the two
major ancient trade routes, the Dakshinapatha and the Uttarapatha. Heliodorous
came as an ambassador to the court of Kasiputra Bhagabhadra. The inscription
reveals the details, it is dated to the first half of 2nd century
BCE, can be found in the Epigraphica Indica, Vol. X. No. 669:63.
• This
Garuda column of Vasudeva (Vishnu), the god of gods, was erected here by
Heliodorus, a worshipper of Vishnu, the son of Dion and an inhabitant of Taxila
who came as Greek ambassador from the Great King Antialkidas to King Kasiputra
Bhagabhadra, the Savior, then reigning prosperously in the fourteenth year of
his kingship
• Three
immortal precepts (footsteps) ... when practiced lead to heaven-self restraint,
charity, conscientiousness
The inscription which begins with “Devadevasa Vasudevasa Garudadhvaje
ayam” ends with what is mentioned as the second part – “Trini amuta padani
(iya) su anutitani, Neyanti svagam dama chaga apramada”. That is the three important
percepts of self-restraint, charity, conscientiousness, a verse similar to the
one in Stri Parva of Mahabharata.
This is the connection Raychaudhuri pointed out – the similarity between
the Striparva terms dama, tyaga and apramada. “It seemed to indicate that
Heliodorous had actually heard and utilized the teachings of the Great Epic.
Interestingly, the Mahabharata itself explicitly stated that it was first
recited at Takshasila by Vaisampayana (one of the five disciples of Vyasa).” A significant point in understanding,
knowledge of the epic and the reverence to Krishna Vasudeva.
The Adi Parva of Mahabharata says:
“The eternal and unchanging blessed Lord
(Bhagavan), vAsudeva (Krishna) is glorified
here (in the Mahabharata). He is true, he is right, he is pure and holy. He is the eternal Brahman, supreme and immovable, the everlasting Light, of whose
divine exploits, the wise tell the tales. From Him begins the existent that is
not yet, and the non-existent that becomes. Continuity, pravritti, birth,
death, rebirth (are from Him).”
“Vishnu, whose fame is great, who is worshiped by all the worlds,
the Unmanifest, Akshara, Brahman, and Cause, to favor all the worlds became manifest in Devaki by
Vasudeva –God without
beginning or end, the Lord, Maker of the universe, who is without attributes as
well as the imperishable Soul (Atman), and Nature, the ultimate Source, the
Man, the Maker of all things, the Yoker of Being, the stable Intransient, the
Unending, Unmoving God, the Swan, the Lord Nārāyana, whom they call the unaging, sempiternal Place, supreme and
everlasting. He is the ubiquitous Purusha, Maker (kartA), and Grandfather of
all creatures; and so in order to further the growth of Dharma, he was born amidst the
Andhaka-Vršnis (as Krishna).”
Without
getting into details over the issues of identifying Vasudeva as Krishna, and on
issues of Bhagavad Gita being an interpolation or not, would only want to say
it is a text that is an authority, and He identifies himself as Vasudeva
Krishna.
It is
interesting to make the connection to the ancient Sangam literature that talks
of the Garudadhwaja and also the four Vyuhas. The Paripatal says “செவ்வாய் உவணத்து உயர் கொடியோயே” the one
with a tall flag of Garuda with red beak. The four Vyuhas described beautifully
with the colour of their eyes and their complexion:
செங்கண் காரி! கருங்கண் வெள்ளை!
பொன்கண் பச்சை! பைங்கண் மாஅல்!
“The inscription across river Bes changed the
understanding as it signified presence and extent of fame of Vasudeva cult. The
pillar, a Garuda dhvaja (flag with symbolic emblem of the god), was a gift from
Greek governor Antialkidas (180 CE) sent across through his envoy Heliodorous.
The pillar is one of the eight dhvajas of Vrishni Virs, which were installed in
front of an apsidal temple on the mound.” There were among the dhvajas Garuda
dhvaja which is still standing there though the icon of Garuda isn’t there, a
tal dhvaja and a makar dhvaja. - Yogendra
Sharma
How significant when we consider the Vyuhas inherent
to Pancaratra form of worship prevalent in the south, finds its connection at
Vidisha, the oldest of the temple finds we have. That a Paripadal talks about
it, and around the same time there indeed was a temple that was constructed for
Vasudeva at Vidisha.
I was moved when I read this description by Raychaudhuri:
“Vaishnavism must be regarded as one of the most important religions of India.
It was the religion of Heliodoros, of the Gupta Emperors, of Ramanuja, of
Kavira, of Chaitanya and of Tukarama …” An early symbol of that stands at
Vidisha. Why is it that it is not a tirtha?
Forget being a tirtha, it is not even respected
properly as a heritage site. We reached at 8 am on the monsoon day, thinking
that monuments are open by at least that time. But when we reached there, it
was locked. It was very much possible to jump over the fence and have a look,
but not for those who aren’t adventurous. All around the rusty compound, dwellings
have come up, god knows when they did … in 2000 years much can happen, so one
can’t complain. But to think of the way it is kept, and to think that the
believers in the sorcerous effect of the Dhwaja there even now once a year get
around to celebrate, that can harm the structure. While I am as faithful, and a
worshipper as any other Hindu, find it irresponsible to even touch the pillar,
leave alone doing anything it. Are we dying we go back to the time when it was
found smeared with vermillion, keeping epigraphists away from it for long, as
the quote of turmeric or vermillion hid the inscription? The road is narrow,
though it is paved in cement, unclean. Is that an introduction to a monument of
such importance we want to give? If we presume many are willing to travel to see
the evidence that stands there, for one of the earliest Hindu temples we can
find in the country.
When I saw the Prem Mandir at Brindavan from a
distance, the thronging crowds, I also thought as to why it never occurred to
anyone to construct adjacent to or somewhere nearby a temple that would be a
reflection of the lost Vasudeva mandir.
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