Vedic Culture Predates Christianity: Archeological Proof

[Guest guest]

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/christianity-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]