Photo: Vidishaprakash · CC BY-SA 3.0
Inscription · c. 113 BCE

Heliodorus pillar, Besnagar

Found
Besnagar, outside Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh; noted by Alexander Cunningham in 1877, inscription read in 1909
Kept at
Still standing in place; local people worship it as Khamba Baba

A stone Garuda-dhvaja raised to Vasudeva by Heliodorus, a Greek envoy from Takshashila, at the court of King Bhagabhadra.

What it says

“This Garuda-standard of Vasudeva, the god of gods, was set up here by Heliodorus, a Bhagavata, son of Dion, of Takshashila, who came as Greek envoy from the great king Antialkidas to King Kasiputra Bhagabhadra, the saviour.” A second line names three immortal steps: self-restraint, renunciation and heedfulness (dama, tyaga, apramada).

What it proves

It proves Vasudeva-Krishna was worshipped as the supreme god in the 2nd century BCE, and that a Greek could become a Bhagavata devotee.

Evidence for