Archaeology and Vaishnava Tradition

Language: English
Pages: 22 (B & W Illus: 3)


From the Book:
In one sense the science of archaeology may be said to owe its advancement to a desire to test the authenticity of the sacred traditions. The results of explorations in Bible lands have partially justified expectations, and archaeology has proved a useful mediator between the Holy Writ and the natural sciences. Text unearthed from the mounds of the Euphrates valley have revealed the fact that even the Biblical stories of the creation and the deluge are not the deliberate inventions of priests but are based on hoary traditions not without rational basis.

In India also archaeological researches have afforded proofs of the antiquity and authenticity of no inconsiderable number of Indian sacred traditions. The Asoka edicts on the columns of Rumindei and Nigliva and the labelled sculptures on the Bharhut rail prove the antiquity of the legends and traditions relating to Sakyamuni Buddha and his six predecessors. The Brahmi inscriptions on Jaina sculptures found at Mathura demonstrate the authenticity of many of the Jaina traditions recorded in the Kalpasutra of Bhadrabahu. As compared with these two heterodox creeds the legends and traditions of other Indian sectaries have received very little light from archaeological discoveries. Yet monuments that illustrate the history of Vaishnavism before the rise of Christianity are not wanting. I propose in this memoir to make an attempt to reconstruct the early history of Vaishnavism on the basis of these monumental records, for, in the words of Foucher, "upon this immutable foundation we can construct inferences more rigorous than upon the moving sand of texts." The earliest known Vaishnava monument is the inscribed column at Besnagar near Bhilsa in Central India (Gwalior State). In the votive inscription on this column we are told, "This Garuda column (garudadhvaje) of Vasudeva