Bhagavata cult of the Indianized Greeks

Dr Uday Dokras PhD Stockholm

Kris
hna Vasudev

These were the five divinities of the Vrishni tribe, and according to TS Maxwell,
the word Bhagvata translated as "divine", bhagavat, which today means "Lord",
was then an adjective meaning "of good fortune, deserving of respect". These
hero cults had begun to merge and centre around two primary divinities:
Samkarshana and Vasudeva. Samkarshana or Balarama.
The Heliodorus pillar is a stone column that was erected around 113 BC in
central India in Vidisha near modern Besnagar, by Heliodorus, a Greek
ambassador of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas to the court of
the Shunga king Bhagabhadra. The pillar originally supported a statue
of Garuda. In the dedication, the Indo-Greek ambassador explains he is a
devotee of "Vāsudeva, the God of Gods". Historically, it is the first known
inscription related to the Bhagavata cult in India.

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Historically, the Bhagavatas worshipped Vāsudeva-Krishna. An early depiction
of Vāsudeva-Krishna on a coin of Agathocles of Bactria, 190-180 BCE

In Hinduism a bhāgavata (a vṛddhi derivative from bhagavant- 'lord'), is a
devotee, worshipper or follower of Bhagavant namely Vishnu in his personal
aspect as Lord Krishna. The form of worship is called bhakti which has the
meaning of 'adoration'.
Historically, Bhagavatism corresponds to the development of a popular theistic
movement in India, departing from the elitist sacrificial rites of Vedism,[5] and
initially focusing on the worship of the Vrishni hero Vāsudeva in the region
of Mathura. It later assimilated into the concept of Narayana[6] where Krishna
is conceived as svayam bhagavan. According to some historical scholars,
worship of Krishna emerged in the 1st century BC.
However, Vaishnava traditionalists place it in the 4th century BC.  Despite
[7]

relative silence of the earlier Vedic sources, the features of Bhagavatism and

principles of monotheism of Bhagavata school unfolding described in
the Bhagavad Gita as viewed as an example of the belief that Vāsudeva-
Krishna is not an avatar of the Vedic Vishnu, but is the Supreme.

2
 Kri
shnaism

The Heliodorus pillar, commissioned by Indo-Greek ambassador Heliodorus, is the first known inscription

related to Vaishnavism  in India. Heliodurus was one of the earliest recorded Indo-Greek converts
to  Hinduism. The Heliodorus pillar, dedicated by a Greek ambassador from the court of Indo-

3
Greek king Antialcidas circa 100 BCE, contains the first known inscription related to the Bhagavata cult
in India.

In the ninth century CE Bhagavatism was already at least a millennium old

and many disparate groups, all following the Bhagavata Purana could be
found. Various lineages of Gopala worshipers developed into identifiable
denominations. However, the unity that exists among these groups in belief
and practice has given rise to the general term Krishnaism. Today the faith has
a significant following outside of India as well. Many places associated
with Krishna such as Vrindavan attract millions of pilgrims each year who
participate in religious festivals that recreate scenes from Krishna's life on
Earth. Some believe that early Bhagavatism was enriched and transformed
with powerful and popular Krishna tradition with a strong "human" element to
it.
It is believed that Bhagavatas borrowed or shared the attribute or
title Purusa of their monotheistic deity from the philosophy of Sankhya. The
philosophy was formulated by the end of the 4th century BC and as time went
other names such as Narayana were applied to the main deity of Krishna-
Vāsudeva.
Second Early Stage: The association of the Sun-bird Garuda with the
"Devadeva" ("God of Gods") Vāsudeva in the Heliodorus pillar (113 BCE)
suggests that the Bhagavat cult of human deities had already absorbed the
Sun-god Vishnu, an ancient Vedic deity.[14] Slightly later, the Nagari
inscription also shows the incorporation of the Brahmanical
deity Narayana into the heroe-cult of Bhagavatism. 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 cult, and Vishnu would now
be more popular than Vāsudeva.
Some relate absorption by Brahmanism to be the characteristic of the second
stage of the development of the Bhagavata tradition. It is believed that at this
stage Krishna-Vāsudeva was identified with the deity of Vishnu, that according
to some belonged to the pantheon of Brahmanism.
Rulers onwards from Chandragupta II, Vikramaditya were known as parama
Bhagavatas, or Bhagavata Vaishnavas. The Bhagavata Purana entails the fully
developed tenets and philosophy of the Bhagavata cult whereis Krishna gets
fused with Vasudeva and transcends Vedic Vishnu and cosmic Hari to be
turned into the ultimate object of bhakti.
References to Vāsudeva also occur in early Sanskrit literature. Taittiriya
Aranyaka (X, i,6) identifies him with Narayana and Vishnu. Pāṇini, ca. 4th
century BCE, in his Ashtadhyayi explains the word "Vāsudevaka" as
a Bhakta (devotee) of Vāsudeva. At some stage during the Vedic period,
Vasudeva and Krishna became one deity or three distinct deities Vasudeva-

4
Krishna, Krishna-Gopala and Narayana, all become identified with Vishnu. and
by the time of composition of the redaction of Mahabharata that survives till
today.
A Gupta period research makes a "clear mention of Vasudeva as the exclusive
object of worship of a group of people", who are referred as bhagavatas.
According to an opinion of some scholars in Patanjali's time identification of
Krishna with Vasudeva is an established fact as is surmised from a passage of
the Mahabhasya – (jaghana kamsam kila vasudevah). This "supposed earliest
phase is thought to have been established from the sixth to the fifth centuries
BCE at the time of Pāṇini, who in his Astadhyayi explained the
word vasudevaka as a bhakta, devotee, of Vasudeva and its believed that
Bhagavata religion with the worship od Vasudeva Krishna were at the root of
the Vaishnavism in Indian history.
In the recent times, this often refer to a particular sect of Vaishnavas in West
India, referring to themselves as 'Bhagavata-sampradaya'. It is also a common
greeting among the followers of Ramanujacharya and other yoga sects.
Bhagavata Sampradaaya is a very old vedic tradition that respects all the
darshana shastras & siddantas. It is neutral to any particular practices like
only Vaishnava, Smarta, Shakta, Gaanapatya, Saura etc., And instructs to
practice the rituals that is in accordance with Vedas. Some of the practices of
this Sampradaaya are continuous study of Vedas, all time chanting of Gayatri,
Nitya Agni Upaasana, Atiti Satkaara, Vaishwadeva, Pancha Yagnas, Daana-
Dharma, Simpleness, humbleness, socially accepted life style, Sachitdananda
Dhyana, leaving egotism, Sarva samarpana Bhaava of one's own Sampat-
Bhakti-Punya Karma-Knowledge. This is actual Bhagavata.
Indo-Scythians (also called Indo-Sakas) were a group of nomadic Iranian
peoples of Saka and Scythian origin who migrated from Central
Asia southward into northern and western South Asia from the middle of the
2nd century BCE to the 4th century CE.Being followers of Buddha, the Hindu
influence is not present in whatever is known mostly from archeological
excavations.
Already, by the late Mauryan period, some of the cults that were later
incorporated into full-blown religions were already present in India. We have
some evidence from Buddha's nerdiest disciple, Sariputta, in the Niddesa, a
commentary upon some early Buddhist sutras. When describing the
"fragmented" religions of those who did not follow the "unitary" Buddhism, he
mentions the cults of the minor deity Vasudeva, Agni, Nagas (serpents),
Suparnas (Titanic Birds), Yakshas, Asuras, Maharajas, Chandra, Surya, Indra,
and Brahma.

Śāriputra. "the son of Śāri", born Upatiṣya, was one of the top disciples of the
Buddha. It is said that his family were followers of the Bhagavatites. Since he

5
later became the first disciple of Buddha, it is possible that this reference is
meant to be derogatory to the Bagavata cult.

He is considered the first of the Buddha's two chief male disciples, together

with Maudgalyāyana (Pali: Moggallāna). Śāriputra had a key leadership role in
the ministry of the Buddha and is considered in many Buddhist schools to
have been important in the development of the Buddhist Abhidharma. He
frequently appears in Mahayana sutras, and in some sutras, is used as a
counterpoint to represent the Hinayana school of Buddhism. Buddhist texts
describe that Śāriputra was born with the birth name Upatiṣya (Pali: Upatissa)
to a wealthy brahmin family in a village near Rājagaha in the ancient Indian
kingdom of Magadha. Texts from the Mūlasarvāstivāda tradition state he was
named after his father, while the Pali commentaries of the Theravada tradition
state he was named after his birth village. Chinese Buddhist
pilgrim Faxian refers to Śāriputra's birth village as Nāla (Nālaka) while Chinese
pilgrim Xuanzang refers to the village as Kālapināka. The village has been
variously identified as being either modern-day Sarichak, Chandiman
(Chandimau), or Nanan (considered most likely to be the correct location).

Of course, Sariputta had every reason to present Buddhism as more united

than its other competitors. But the sheer diversity on display here should make
us think, especially since we know that India at the time was a place of
shocking political and, as the Indo-Bactro-Persio-Greeks show, ethnic
diversity.Sariputta specifically mentioned a minor god, Vasudeva - a god that,
as we saw, Alexander's armies thought was Hercules, and also a name that we
now associate with one of the major gods of the Hindu pantheon, Vishnu. What
can the Indo-Greeks tell us about Indian religion at the time?

The city of Mathura has been a centre for the Bhagavata religion for thousands
of years. Bhagavatism is not the same as modern Vaishnavism, though it
worships gods that modern Vaishnavites would recognise: it is focussed on the
worship of the five hero-gods Vasudeva Krishna, Samkarshana Baladeva,
Pradyumna, Shaambha, and my namesake, Aniruddha. Each of these heroes
would at some point have had their own back-stories and significance.

These were the five divinities of the Vrishni tribe, and according to TS Maxwell,
the word translated as "divine", bhagavat, which today means "Lord", was then
an adjective meaning "of good fortune, deserving of respect".
By the first and second centuries BCE, when the Indo-Greeks would have
begun to interact with them more frequently, these hero cults had begun to
merge and centre around two primary divinities: Samkarshana and Vasudeva.
Samkarshana or Balarama was famous for his temper and liking for booze - his
cult at Mathura might have involved ritual drinking.

6
On a bit of a tangent, we also know that the city of Pataliputra, modern Patna,
at the time celebrated festivals of Kama, the God of love, and was famous for its
courtesans. Ancient Indians certainly knew how to have their fun.

The legends of Vasudeva Krishna make it clear why the Greeks thought he was
Hercules. As a baby, Hercules faced off multiple assassination attempts by the
jealous goddess Hera. As a baby, Krishna faced off multiple assassination
attempts by his jealous uncle Kamsa. Hercules and Krishna are both
associated with the club or mace, or gada, reflecting an ancient warrior
tradition before the use of swords was widespread. Both Hercules and Krishna
were prodiguously strong as babies and as young men, had active demon-
hunting and romantic careers, and died tragically. Krishna, however, evolved
into a form associated with much more importance than Hercules ever did, and
that is due to the distinctive evolutionary path that the Bhagavata cult took.

The five hero gods first became two:

"This protecting wall around the stones intended for worship is for the two
unconquered Lords of All, the divine Samkarshana and Vasudeva; it has been
caused to be erected by the king Sarvataata, who is of the Gajayana clan and
descendant on his mother's side of the Paraashara clan, a Bhagavata by
religion, who has performed the Vedic horse-sacrifice of royalty."
In early images, Samkarshana is usually larger than Vasudeva. By the 1st
century BCE, though, we can tell from the column of Heliodoros, which this
episode had started with, that Vasudeva had become the most important of the
Bhagavata hero-gods. The Bhagavatas also evolved a religious philosophy that
reflects an ongoing dialogue with Buddhism: Heliodoros claims on his pillar
that Three immortal precepts (footsteps)... when practiced lead to heaven: self-
restraint, charity, consciousness.

Heliodorus pillar

Archaeological characteristics and significance

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.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. A remaining fragment of the
Garuda capital is located at the Gujari Mahal Museum in Gwalior.

7
Was Heliodoros an actual Greek? Did he really believe in what he commissioned
on his pillar, or was he just playing a role, like any good ambassador? What
does his use of Indian languages tell us about his identity? Did he speak Greek
at home, or Prakrit? We can only speculate. But evidence certainly points to a
very linguistically diverse and pluralistic society. It's not as strange as it seems
- ancient polytheists didn't have a clear sense of "us" versus "them", so Greeks
and Indians and Sogdians and Bactrians would have seen no contradiction in
worshipping each others' gods. They were just worshipping those who were
popular, and kings gained popularity by patronising them.

All these deities would have been worshipped with images, made with
perishable materials that do not survive. The Vedic, sacrificial religion was not
as popular as all these other ones. Perhaps it was the active tradition of
making images of clay and wood that explains the beautiful stone images of
early Buddhism - which, keep in mind, was already around and extremely
popular. Artisans must have done work for newly-emerged wealthy classes who
followed an array of different religious practices. A typical Indian may have
worshipped his city's sacred yaksha, fertility deities with delightful names such
as Rishyashringa, whose cults may have been even more popular than those of
later gods. Buddhists were rather disapproving of these cults, and yakshas
appear in Buddhist stories primarily as tricksters or even demons, just as later
Christians would declare that the Greco-Roman gods were demons. Snakes,
nagas, were also worshipped, as they still are in India today. One Dadhikarna,
lord of the nagas, was worshipped in Mathura. S adly none of the stories and
legends of these once-popular figures survive, or if they do, they've been
incorporated into other legends.

But all this discussion is distracting us from the real Big Daddy of
subcontinental religions of the time: Buddhism. When he died, the Buddha is
supposed to have said that his dhamma would die out within a thousand
years, and the monastic community was obsessed with making sure that didn't
happen. Thanks to the patronage of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka, Buddhist
monasteries were able to spread across the subcontinent, creating a wide-
ranging network that was also intimately tied to newly emerging urban
communities, deeply imbuing themselves into the minds of our ancestors,
though we've forgotten them.

8
9
Temple

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. 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. 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. These

10
discoveries suggest that Besnagar was probably an important ancient temples
and pilgrimage site.

Temple of Vāsudeva

Initial excavations Elliptic plan of the Temple

Excavation of the huge Temple of Vāsudeva next to the Heliodorus pillar.  The
Temple measured 30x30 meters, and the walls were 2.4 meters thick. Pottery
remains assigns the site to the 2nd century BCE. Further excavations also
revealed the outline of a smaller elliptic temple structure, which was probably
destroyed by the end of the 3rd century BCE. The platform and the base of the
Heliodorus pillar are visible in the immediate background.

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. 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. ] 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. According to Khare, the superstructure of the
temple was likely made of wood, mud and other perishable materials.

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. According to Susan Mishra and Himanshu Ray, the
Heliodorus pillar Besnagar site (2nd century BCE) and the Nagari site (1st

11
century BCE) are perhaps the "earliest Hindu temples" that archaeologists have
discovered

Nature and evolution of Vāsudeva

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".  The
cult of Vāsudeva may have evolved from the worship of a historical figure
belonging to the Vrishni clan in the region of Mathura.  He is also known as a
member of the five "Vrishni heroes".  According to Upinder Singh "Vāsudeva-
Krishna was the Indian God bearing the closest resemblance to the Greek
God Herakles".  He was also depicted on the coinage of Agathocles of
Bactria circa 190-180 BCE, 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.  In the Heliodorus pillar, Vāsudeva-Krishna was
worshipped as the "God of Gods", the Supreme Deity.  At one point Vāsudeva-
Krishna came to be associated to the God Narayana-Vishnu.  Epigraphically,
this association is confirmed by the Hathibada Ghosundi Inscriptions of the
1st century BCE . It is thought that "by the beginning of the Christian era, the
cult of Vasudeva, Vishnu and Narayana amalgamated".As a third step,
Vāsudeva-Krishna was incorporated into the Chatur-vyūha concept of
successive emanations of the God Vishnu.  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.

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.[93] But some scholars, most notably A. L. Basham [94] 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." Professor Kunja Govinda Goswami of Calcutta University
concludes that Heliodorus "was well acquainted with the texts dealing with
the Bhagavata religion."

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.

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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.

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. The first inscription describes the private religious
dedication of Heliodorus (Translations: Richard Salomon):

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.

The second inscription on the pillar, in the same script, recites a verse from the
Hindu epic Mahabharata:

Line 1. (These?) three steps to immortality, when correctly followed,

Line 2. lead to heaven: control, generosity, and attention.

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. However, later excavations by
German archaeologists near Mathura (Sonkh) have shown that the Sunga
dynasty may have ended before the Heliodorus pillar was installed. Therefore,
it is probable that the Bhagabhadra may have been a local ruler. The virtues in
the shorter inscription has been variously translated by different scholars.
John Irwin, for example, translates it as "Restraint, Renunciation and
Rectitude".

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 Heliodorus pillar inscriptions

Transliteration
Translation Inscription
(original Brahm
(English) (Prakrit in the Brahmi script
i script)

Devadevasa
Vā[sude]vasa
Garuḍadhvaje
ayaṃ

karito i[a]
Heliodoreṇa
bhāga-

vatena Diyasa
This Garuda-standard
putreṇa
of Vāsudeva, the God of
Takhkhasilāken
Gods
a
was erected here by the
devotee Heliodoros,
Yonadatena
the son of Dion, a man
agatena
of Taxila,
mahārājasa
sent by the
Great Yona King Antialkida
Aṃtalikitasa
s, as ambassador
upa[ṃ]tā
to King
samkāsam-raño
Kasiputra Bhagabhadra,
the Savior son of the
Kāsīput[r]asa
princess from Varanasi,
[Bh]āgabhadras
in the fourteenth year of
a trātārasa
his reign.
vasena
Three immortal precepts [chatu]daseṃna
(footsteps)... when rājena
practiced vadhamānasa
lead to heaven: self- Heliodorus pillar rubbing (inverted colors).
restraint, charity,
consciousness The text is in the Brahmi script of
Trini
amuta𑁋pādāni the Sunga period. [5] For a recent
(i me)
photograph.
(su)anuthitāni

neyamti
sva(gam) dama
cāga apramāda

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Indo-Scythians in Hindu Texts

The Indo-Scythians were named "Shaka" in India, an extension on the

name Saka used by the Persians to designate Scythians. From the time of
the Mahabharata wars (3100 BC roughly, prior to Kali Yuga start ) Shakas
receive numerous mentions in texts like the Puranas, the Manusmriti, the
Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Mahabhasiya of Patanjali, the Brhat Samhita
of Vraha Mihira, the Kavyamimamsa, the Brihat-Katha-Manjari, the Katha-
Saritsagara and several other old texts. They are described as part of an
amalgam of other war-like tribes from the northwest.
There are references to the warring Mleccha hordes of  Sakas, Yavanas,
Kambojas and Pahlavas in the Bala Kanda of the Valmiki Ramayana. H. C.
Raychadhury glimpses in these verses the struggles between the Hindus and
the invading hordes of Mlechcha barbarians from the northwest. The time
frame for these struggles is the 2nd century BC onwards. Raychadhury fixes
the date of the present version of the Valmiki Ramayana around or after the
2nd century AD
Mahabharata too furnishes a veiled hint about the invasion of the mixed
hordes from the northwest. Vanaparava by Mahabharata contains verses in
the form of prophecy deploring that "......the Mlechha (barbaric) kings of
the Shakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Bahlikas, etc. shall rule the earth un-
righteously in Kali Yuga..
As with many traditional epics, the two Indian epics Ramayana and
Mahabharata, which comprise the Itihasa, have gone through multiple
interpolations and redactions since its conception, rendering it impossible to
accurately date. It is highly likely that these additions were made with
changing political factors and the introduction of new people into society.
Scythians were an Iranian tribe. However they are not Persians (of proper Iran).
Scythians were just an indo iranian tribe. Originally located between black sea
and caspian sea in caucasus, they moved to Kazakhstan, Xinjiang and Gangsu
later point of time. Pressurised by Hunnic attacks they reached Bactria around
127 BCE. Sakas (Scythians) conquered Bactria from Greeks and crossed the
Hindukush conquering Indian Gandhara, Kambhoja areas which are present
eastern Afghanistan. They even conquered Sindh, Punjab, parts of Malwa and
Gujarat. After becoming Hindus, they were defeated by Gupta empire in India.
Meanwhile another branch of Scythians known as Kushans conquered
Gandhara around 50 AD establishing the kushan empire. Last great Kushan,
Vasudeva was a Hindu . In 225 AD, original Kushan empire was conquered by
Persian Safavids who replaced it with Persian-kushans (Kushan shahs) who
were Persian vassals. KushanShah coins depict both Hindu and Zoroastrian
motifs and dieties. The Sakas and Kushans most probably Hinduised and got

15
absorbed to various sudra communities of Indian Hinduism. Kushanshahs
were finally overwhelmed by Huns around 450 BCE.

Today,since most of Sakas, Huns, Kushans etc ruled from Pakistan -

afghanistan, many of them would be muslims.Those who have this ancestry in
India would be part of sudra , OBC or even Dalit communities of Hinduism;
clans like Kambojas, Khatris, Sakaldwipi, Chitpawan Brahmans, Chandrseniya
Kayastha Prabhus , Gujar, Khokhar, Dhar surnamed Kashmiri Pandits,
Rajputs are some of major leading and educated Brahman and Kshatriya clans
of India who are of Scythian, Greek, Kushan, Iranian or of Central Asian origin.

Ivory relief depicting Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana becoming disciples of the Buddha

Saṃkarṣaṇa - Saṃkarṣaṇa, "The Plougher")later known as Balarama, was a

son of Vasudeva Anakadundubhi, king of the Vrishnis in the region
of Mathura.[8] He was a leading member of the Vrishni heroes, and may well
have been an ancient historical ruler in the region of Mathura. The cult of
Saṃkarṣaṇa with that of Vāsudeva is historically one of the earliest forms of
personal deity worship in India, attested from around the 4th century BCE.
The cult of Vāsudeva and Saṃkarṣaṇa was one of the major independent cults,
together with the cults of Narayana, Shri and Lakshmi, which later coalesced
to form Vishnuism. According to the Vaishnavite doctrine of the avatars,
Vishnu takes various forms to rescue the world, and Vāsudeva as well as
Saṃkarṣaṇa became understood as some of these forms, and some of the most
popular ones.[15] This process lasted from the 4th century BCE when Vāsudeva
and Saṃkarṣaṇa were independent deities, to the 4th century CE,
when Vishnu became much more prominent as the central deity of an

16
integrated Vaishnavite cult, with Vāsudeva and Saṃkarṣaṇa now only some of
his manifestations.
In epic and Puranic lore Saṃkarṣaṇa was also known by the names
of Rama, Baladeva, Balarama, Rauhineya or Halayudha, and is presented as
the elder brother of Vāsudeva.
Initially, Saṃkarṣaṇa seems to hold precedence over his younger
brother Vāsudeva, as he appears on the obverse on the coinage of
king Agathocles of Bactria (circa 190-180 BCE), and usually first in the naming
order as in the Ghosundi inscription. Later this order was reversed, and
Vāsudeva became the most important deity of the two.
Evolution as a deity

Saṃkarṣaṇa, Vāsudeva and the female Goddess  Ekanamsha shown in a rock

painting at Tikla, 3rd-2nd century BCE.

The cult of Vāsudeva and Saṃkarṣaṇa may have evolved from the worship
of a historical figure belonging to the Vrishni clan in the region of Mathura.
They are leading members of the five "Vrishni heroes". The Vrishnis were an
ancient Vedic Indian clan who were believed to be the descendants of Vrishni,
the ancestor of Yadu. It is believed that Vrishni was father of Satvata, a
ancestor of Yadu, the son of Yayati. He had two wives, Gandhari and Madri. He
has a son named Devamidhusha by his wife Madri. Vasudeva, the father
of Krishna was the grandson of Devamidhusha. According to the Puranas, the
Vrishnis were residents of Dvaraka. Jarasandha, father-in-law of Kamsa,
invaded Mathura with a vast army; and though Krishna destroyed his army
of demons, another asura, Kalayavan by name, surrounded Mathura with
another army of thirty million monstrous fiends. Then Krishna thought it well
to depart to Dwaraka.
It is thought that the hero deity Saṃkarṣaṇa may have evolved into a
Vaishnavite deity through a step-by-step process: 1) deification of the Vrishni
heroes, of whom Vāduseva and Saṃkarṣaṇa were the leaders 2) association
with the God Narayana-Vishnu 3) incorporation into the Vyuha concept of
successive emanations of the God. Epigraphically, the deified status of
Saṃkarṣaṇa is confirmed by his appearance on the coinage of Agathocles of

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Bactria (190-180 BCE). Later, the association of Saṃkarṣaṇa
with Narayana (Vishnu) is confirmed by the Hathibada Ghosundi
Inscriptions of the 1st century BCE. By the 2nd century CE, the
"avatara concept was in its infancy", and the depiction of the four emanations
of Vishnu (the Chatur-vyūha), consisting in the Vrishni heroes including
Vāsudeva, Saṃkarṣaṇa and minus Samba, starts to become visible in the art of
Mathura at the end of the Kushan period.
The Harivamsa describes intricate relationships between Krishna Vasudeva,
Saṃkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha that would later form
a Vaishnava concept of primary quadrupled expansion, or chatur vyuha.
The name of Samkarsana first appears in epigraphy in the Nanaghat cave
inscriptions and the Hathibada Ghosundi Inscriptions, both dated to the 1st
century BCE. In these inscriptions, Samkarsana appears before Vasudeva,
suggesting seniority and precedence.

Saṃkarṣaṇa symbolism at Besnagar (circa 100 BCE

Saṃkarṣaṇa symbol at Besnagar

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The fan-palm pillar capital, found near the Heliodorus pillar, is associated with
Samkarsana

Various sculptures and pillar capitals were found near the Heliodorus

pillar in Besnagar, and it is thought they were dedicated to Vāsudeva's
kinsmen, otherwise known as the Vrishni heroes and objects of
the Bhagavata cult. 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 cult.  Just as Garuda is associated with
Vasudeva, the fan-palm capital is generally associated with Samkarsana, and
the makara is associated with Pradyumna. The banyan-tree capital
with ashtanidhis is associated with Lakshmi.
The presence of these pillar capitals, found near the Heliodorus pillar, suggests
that the Bhagavata cult, although centered around the figures of Vāsudeva and
Samkarsana, may also have involved the worship of other Vrishni deities.
In his theriomorphic form, Saṃkarṣaṇa is associated to the lion.
Parallels with Greek mythology
Saṃkarṣaṇa has been compared to the Greek god Dionysos, son of Zeus, as
both are associated with the plough and with wine, as well as a liking for
wrestling and gourmet food. Arrian in his Indika, quoting Megasthenes, writes
of Dyonisos in India:
About Dionysos he writes: "Dionysos, however, when he came and had
conquered the people, founded cities and gave laws to these cities, and
introduced the use of wine among Indians, as he had done among the Greeks,
and taught them to sow the land, himself supplying seeds for the purpose (...)
It is also said that Dionysos first yoked oxen to the plough, and made many of
the Indians husbandmen instead of nomads, and furnished them with the
implements of agriculture; and that the Indians worship the other gods, and
Dionysos himself in particular, with cymbals and drums, because he so taught
them; and he also taught them the satiric dance, or, as the Greeks call it, the
Kordax and that he instructed the Indians to let their hair grow long in honor
of the god, and to wear the turban"

19
— Arrian, Indika, Chapter VII

Bacchanalian orgies
Early on, the cult of Smarkasana is associated with the abuse of wine, and
the Bacchanalian features of the cult of Dionysus are also found in the cult of
Saṃkarṣaṇa. The Mahabharata mentions the Bacchanalian orgies of Baladeva,
another name of Smarkasana, and he is often depicted holding a cup in an
inebriated state.
Naneghat Inscriptionms

Samkasana and Vāsudeva in the Naneghat cave inscription

The Naneghat inscription, dated to the 1st century BCE, mentions both
Samkarshana and Vāsudeva, along with the Vedic deities
of Indra, Surya, Chandra, Yama, Varuna and Kubera. This provided the link
between Vedic tradition and the Vaishnava tradition. Given it is inscribed in
stone and dated to 1st-century BCE, it also linked the religious thought in the
post-Vedic centuries in late 1st millennium BCE with those found in the
unreliable highly variant texts such as the Puranas dated to later half of the
1st millennium CE. The inscription is a reliable historical record, providing a
name and floruit to the Satavahana dynasty.
 Hathibada Ghosundi Inscriptions

Vāsudeva and Saṃkarṣaṇa are also mentioned in the 1st century

BCE Hathibada Ghosundi Inscriptions in association with Narayana:

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Pradyumna: Son of Krishna Paperback – 20 July 2015,by Usha Narayan

Saṃkarṣaṇa ((Bala)rama) and Krishna with their attributes at Chilas.

The Kharoshthi inscription nearby reads Rama [kri]ṣa. 1st century CE:

(This) enclosing wall round the stone (object) of worship, called Narayana-vatika
(Compound) for the divinities Samkarshana-Vasudeva who are unconquered and
are lords of all (has been caused to be made) by (the king) Sarvatata, a
Gajayana and son of (a lady) of the Parasaragotra, who is a devotee of
Bhagavat (Vishnu  or  Samkarshana/Vāsudeva) and has performed an
Asvamedha sacrifice.
– Ghosundi Hathibada Inscriptions, 1st-century BCE

At Chilas II archeological site dated to the first half of 1st-century CE in

northwest Pakistan, near the Afghanistan border, are engraved two males
along with many Buddhist images nearby. The larger of the two males holds a
plough and club in his two hands. The artwork also has an inscription with it
in Kharosthi script, which has been deciphered by scholars as Rama-Krsna,
and interpreted as an ancient depiction of the two brothers Saṃkarṣaṇa and
Krishna.

Saṃkarṣaṇa-Balarama with mace and plough, striding forward with billowing scarf, on the coinage
of Maues (90-80 BCE).MIDDLE Samkarsana-Balarama on a coin of Maues (90-80 BCE)[RIGHT
Samkarsana-Balarama on a coin of Maues (90-80 BCE)

Samkarshana, the Vrishni elder and the leading divinity until the rise to
precedence of Vāsudeva, is known to appear on the coinage of the Indo-
Scythian rulers Maues and Azes I during the 1st century BCE. These coins
show him holding a mace and a plough.

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Samkarsana-Balarama on a coin of Maues (90-80 BCE)RIGHT Samkarsana-

Balarama on a coin of Azes (58-12 BCE)

Saṃkarṣaṇa-Balarama in the Caturvyūha

The "Caturvyūha": Vāsudeva and other members of the Vrishni

clan. Vāsudeva (emanation of Narayana) is four-armed and is fittingly in the
center with his heavy decorated mace on the side and holding a conch, his
elder brother Saṃkarṣaṇa-Balarama to his right under a serpent hood, his
son Pradyumna to his left (lost), and his grandson Aniruddha on top. 2nd
century CE, Mathura Museum.

Some sculptures during this period suggest that the concept of the avatars was
starting to emerge, as images of "Chatur-vyuha" (the four emanations
of Narayana) are appearing. The famous "Caturvyūha" statue in Mathura
Museum is an attempt to show in one composition Vāsudeva together with the
other members of the Vrishni clan of the Pancharatra system:
Saṃkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha, with Samba missing, Vāsudeva being
the central deity from whom the others emanate. The back of the relief is
carved with the branches of a Kadamba tree, symbolically showing the
relationship being the different deities. The depiction of Vishnu was stylistically

22
derived from the type of the ornate Bodhisattvas, with rich jewelry and ornate
headdress.
Saṃkarṣaṇa appears prominently in a relief from Kondamotu, Guntur
district in Andhra Pradesh, dating to the 4th century CE, which shows
the Vrishni heroes standing in genealogical order
around Narasimha. Saṃkarṣaṇa stands to the left in the place of seniority,
holding a mace and a ploughshare topped by the depiction of a lion, followed
by Vāsudeva, with a hand in abhaya mudra and the other hand on the hip
holding a conch shell. Vāsudeva also has a crown, which distinguishes him
from the othersThen follow Pradyumna, holding a bow and an arrow, Samba,
holding a wine goblet, and Aniruddha, holding a sword and a shield. The fact
that they stand around Narasimha suggests a fusion of the Satvata cult with
the Vrishni cult.

Kondamotu Vrishni heroes relief, 4th century CE, Hyderabad State Museum. Saṃkarṣaṇa is first to the left.

Saṃkarṣaṇa appears as a lion, while Aniruddha appears as a boar in this Vaikuntha Chaturmurti statue, showing

Vishnu with his three main emanations, mid-5th century. Boston Museum. RIGHT Vaikutha Chaturmukha from
Kashmir dating back to ~7-8th century CE In the  Vishnudharmottara Purana, Vaikuntha Chaturmurti is

23
described as having eight arms and four faces, human, Narasimha  - his right head, Varaha  - his left head and
kapila  or  raudra- rear.

In Vaishnavism, Saṃkarṣaṇa is associated with the lion, which is

his theriomorphic aspect. He can be identified as Narasimha. Saṃkarṣaṇa
appears as a lion in some of the Caturvyūha statues (the Bhita statue), where
he is an assistant to Vāsudeva, and in the Vaikuntha Chaturmurti when his
lion's head protrudes from the side of Vishnu's head.
Saṃkarṣaṇa is also associated with the quality of knowledge.

Narmimha

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