Vedic Culture Predates Christianity: Archeological Proof

11-18-2004, 07:07 AM

Dear Friends,
As many of you may have heard, there is a planned conference in August of
2005 for a massive organized and well funded programto rewrite history, so as
to show that Hinduism was derived from earlyChristianity, and that the
devotional aspect of Vaishnavism actually came from Islam and Christianity. The
conference is called FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE / SEMINAR ON THE HISTORY OF
EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN INDIAPart of the aggenda includes: Stage 1: making
Hinduism illegitimate was to show that Hinduismoriginated in British colonial
times. But many items could not beexplained as they were earlier.
Stage 2: show that these came from islam - such as bhakti. Stage 3: now
to go even deeper and show how early Christianity brought even those aspects
into Vedic culture that Muslims or British did not. The institute which is
doing this is The Institute of Asian Studies. It is affiliated to the
University of Madras and to Pondicherry University for conducting research
programmes leading to Ph.D. degrees and is recognized by the University Grants
Commission of the Government of India.
There is no integrated set up to defend Vedic culture at the level
ofconferences, seminars and proceedings, where much is done by the enemies of
Hinduism. Please visit www hamsa.org first - to have full grasp of the
subject and http://www.xlweb.com/heritage/asian/...conference.htm
In response to the topics proprosed at this conference, I have written a few
articles that can be used for the defense of the antiquity and timeless nature
of the Vedic culture and its origins, and to show that much of what is positive
in Christianity is merely a less developed rendition of what has been much more
deeply and elaborated presentation of the spiritual knoweldge that was already
available in the Vedic philosophy and Sanatana-dharma. The first article is as
follows:

Hinduism Predates Christianity: The Archeological Proof
By Stephen Knapp Sometimes there are comments and even
controversies amongst thosewho are less informed regarding whether Christianity
or Hinduism camefirst. Some people point out that the devotional elements within
the Vedictradition, especially in regard to the Bhakti movements, that such
devotionmust have come from Christianity first and then appeared in the
VedicVaishnava tradition, the followers of which exhibit much love anddevotion
to Lord Krishna and Vishnu and His other incarnations. But thereis an
archeological proof that the Vaishnava tradition of devotion to LordVishnu
existed many years prior to the appearance of Christianity. Not far from
the Buddhist site of Sanchi in Central India, we take a 45-minute ride on the
very bumpy road to Vidisha or Besnagar where we findthe Heliodorus column,
locally known as the Khamb Baba pillar. This waserected by Heliodorus, the
Greek ambassador to India in 113 B.C. Hewrites on the stone pillar the time it
was erected and the fact that he hadconverted to Vaishnavism, or the worship of
Lord Vishnu.The inscriptionon the column, as published in the Journal of the
Royal Asiatic Society,says: This Garuda column of
Vasudeva (Vishnu), the god of gods, was erected here by Heliodorus, a
worshiper 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 important precepts when practiced lead to heaven: self-restraint,
charity, conscientiousness. This shows that Heliodorus
had become a worshiper of Vishnu andwas well versed in the texts and ways
pertaining to this religion. It canonly be guessed how many other Greeks became
converted to VaishnavaHinduism if such a notable ambassador did. This
conclusively shows theGreek appreciation for India and its philosophy. The
British Sanskritists, due to their superior views of themselves,were developing
the idea that much of the Vedic traditions and legends ofLord Krishna had to
have been incorporated from the Bible and the storiesof Jesus. However, this
Heliodorus column was the archeologicaldiscovery that proved to the
disappointed British that knowledge ofKrishna and the Vaishnava tradition
predated Christianity by at least 200years. The column indicated that the
Indians did not adopt legends ofChrist to put in their Puranas to be used for
the stories of Krishna as theBritish had hypothesized. It disproved the claims
of the Christians andBritish that the stories of Krishna in the Puranas were
merely modernadaptations from the stories of Jesus. Another point to
consider is that if a Greek official was so impressedwith the philosophy of
Vaishnavism that he converted to it in 200 B.C.,then it means that Vaishnavism
and the element of spiritual devotion toGod, as found in the bhakti tradition,
had to have been developed severalhundred years if not several thousand years
earlier. So this is a serioushistorical site to see. This evidence further
shows that Greece was but a part of Vedicculture and repeated what it and its
philosophers had learned from theVedic sages rather than being a source of the
higher levels of philosophyas some people think. Furthermore, this evidence
bears witness to the factthat the Christian tradition and its main element of
devotion or bhakti toGod was found in Vedic culture long before it appeared and
wasdeveloped within the confines of Christianity. In fact, much of the
deeperspiritual philosophy in Christianity is but a repeat of what had
beenpreviously established and much more deeply developed in the older
Vedictradition. [For more evidence and analysis of this see my articles,
TheVedic Teachings Found Within Christianity, Jesus Taught Bhakti-yoga,and
Bible Teaches Sankirtana, Chanting God's Holy Names.] [Available at
www.stephen-knapp.com, which includes photos of the column]