THE ARCHELOGICAL TREASURES

Unraveling the truth from the earth The archaeological treasures

The archaeological treasures

One of the most difficult propositions in the history of India is to establish the historicity of Krishna and the event of Mahabharata within the available archaeological and historical resources. However, there may be a kernel of truth with regard to the historicity of Krishna as described both in religious and secular literatures. The character called Krishna happened to be the protagonist of the Mahabharata, the longest epic of the world. There has been difference of opinion amongst the scholars as far as the historicity of Krishna and the epic poem Mahabharata are concerned. Krishna is referred variously in the Rigveda, the oldest among the Vedas, as the father of Vishvaka, as a seer of Angirasa clan and as a demon subdued by Indra on the bank of river Ansumati (probably Yamuna). Nevertheless, the Rigvedic Krishna cannot be identified with Vasudeva Krishna or the Krishna of Mahabharata. Vasudeva Krishna of the Mahabharata is distinctly referred in the Chhandogya Upanishad as the son of Devaki and the disciple of Ghora Angirasa , the seer who preached his disciple the philosophy of �Chhandogya.� Having been influenced by the philosophy of �Chhandogya� Krishna in the Bhagavadgita while delivering the discourse to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra discussed about sacrifice, which can be compared to purusha or the individual.

Panini, the ancient grammarian and author of Asthadhyayi, a treatise on Sanskrit grammar (probably belonged to fifth Cent. or sixth Cent. BC) did not know Krishna but mentioned about a character called Vasudeva son of Vasudev and also mentioned about Kaurava and Arjuna which further testimonies Vasudeva Krishna, Arjuna and Kauravas were all contemporaries.

According to the popular views, Vasudev Krishna belongs to the third millenium BC or 5000 BP. Let us examine the popular date of Krishna within the available archaeological and historical resources. Interestingly, the Aihole inscription of Pulakesin II dated Saka 556 or 634-35 AD states the Mahabharata battle or the Bharata war was fought 3735 years before the engraving of the inscription. Eventually it is calculated to 3735-634=3101 BC. This has been further testified by the astronomical calculation of the commencement of the Kali Era in 3102 BC. According to the archaeological sources the antiquity or the material remains of 3102 BC unearthed from the various archaeological sites coincides with early Indus valley civilisation. The excavation of Kurukshetra, the venue of the Mahabharata battle, the excavations at Dwarka, the city on the western coast of Gujarat, the antiquity unearthed from the north western part of India i.e. Gandhara and Madra the ally of the Kauravas and also the findings of the kingdom of Matsya or Jaipur region of Rajasthan, coins of various tribes of Mahabharata such as Kuninda, Arjunayana, Audumbaras etc. and the chalcolithic antiquity of Deccan, throw eloquent light on the history and culture of the places associated with the Mahabharata. Though the antiquities pertaining of tribes mentioned in the Mahabharata, do not belong to third millennium BC yet it shows persistence of the names of tribes even in the later period.

There are differences of opinion among the scholars with regard to the date of Mahabhrata coinciding with the Indus valley civilisation. This may be emphatically mentioned here that the Indus valley civilisation was not confined to Harappa or Mohanjodaro of present Pakistan rather it was extended over a wide area. Geographically the area is extending from Baluchistan on the west to Gangatic doab in the east and from Kashmir in the north to the Deccan in the South. The archaeological evidences from the sites like Kunal, Banawali and Rakhigarhi in Haryana, Ropar in the Punjab, Kalibanga in Rajashthan, Dhaulavira, Surkotda and Lothal in Gujarat are some of the most outstanding Harappan sites. Antiquities unearthed from these sites are immensely significant for the reconstruction Indian history. Recent marine archaeological discoveries is the submerged civilisation of Cambay (Gujarat) which dates back to 5000 BC has given a new dimension to Indian history and culture. Further exploration and research in this regard may help interpreting the antiquity of the battle of Mahabharata and the character Krishna.

In the third millenium BC India was not an isolated country. It had maritime trading relation, with its contemporary civilisations like Egypt and Mesopotamia. Especially with the Sumerian, India had direct trade links as can by established by the findings of cylindrical seals of Kalibanga and other contemporary evidences. Historically speaking in the later part of the history too India had trade relation with civilisation like Greece and Rome, particularly after the invasion of Alexander in 326-327 BC. Meghasthnese, the court scholar of Chandra Gupta Maurya, states that the city called Polibrotha located in the north west of the confluence of Ganga and Erannoboas (Yamuna), was founded by Herakles ,that was 138 generation before Sandrocottas or Chandra Gupta Maurya.

If generations of Kings were tentatively assumed as twenty years then 138 generation would come to 2760 years. By adding 2760 years with the time of Chandra Gupta Maurya i.e. 320 BC the time of Harakles is calculated as 2760+320=3080 BC. This date coincides with the early Indus civilisation of the Indian sub-continent. Since Megasthanese in his book, Indika writes about the special honour given to Herakles in the cities of Methora and Klisobora. The character Herakles has been identified as Krishna . According to the Indian tradition, it is told that Krishna lived for 120 years and died 36 years after the battle of Mahabharata, which tentatively comes near the time of the establishment of the city of Polibrotha, by Herakles i.e. in 3100 BC. This calculation however needs to be confirmed by other archaeological and historical sources.

It may be mentioned here the scholars opining. P.G.W. as the period of Mahabharata does not go in accordance neither with the tradition nor with the archaeological dating. The Painted Grey ware period (1100-800 BC) succeeded by Northern Black Polished ware (700-300 BC) assigned to the Ramayana by archaeologists seems to be unrealistic and contrary to the Indian traditions. In this connection, it may be argued that if Ramayana was later than the Mahabharata then characters, events, places and episode of Mahabharata should have been mentioned in the Ramayana, which is not the case. On the contrary, the Mahabharata mentions about the characters, incidents, and places of Ramayana. Secondly, the saint Vasistha�s philosophical work Yogavasistha should have mentioned about the Bhagwadgita, the substance of the Vedic Philosophy if Ramayana happened after Mahabharata. Besides, there is clear evidence in the Bhagavadgita in the 10th chapter in which Krishna says amongst the weapon bearer Krishna represents Rama. In epic battle, Abhimanyu in the Chakraviyuha killed the character called Brihadvala, the descendent of Lord Rama on the 13th day of the battle.

In another episode of the Mahabharata during the exile of Pandavas, Bhima met with Hanumana who later on promised to help the Pandavas in the forth-coming battle of Mahabharata. Although these stories may be later interpolations, yet the core of the epic conceived by Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa cannot be mere exaggeration. Jaya, happened to be the core of Mahabharata, in which the story starts with the return of the Pandavas from the exile. It contained only 8,800 slokas, and the subsequent text Bharata contained 24,000 shlokas which further got interpolated to the present text Mahabharata containing more than 1,00,000 shlokas. In the Bhagavadgita the knowledge of yoga that Krishna revealed to Arjuna was not new as it was earlier narrated to Manu and Ikshavaku- the ancestors of Rama (Dasrathi). Besides, there are many associated and supportive arguments such as the literary sequence, the style of narration, rhyme scheme in poetry of two epics, the philosophical development etc. also do not go in accordance with the theory that Ramayana happened after Mahabharata. Nevertheless, the two benchmarks the conventional date i.e. 3rd millenium BC and the period between 1100-to 800 BC needs to be reexamined seriously without any bias and prejudice based on historical and archaeological facts.

The theologists, indologists, linguists, anthropologists, archaeologists, epigraphists, Sanskritologists, astrologists, astronomists, physicist, geologists, palaeaentologists, historians and anthropologists need to sit together on a single platform with a clear concept of mind in their respective studies on Mahabharata. They can exchange their data across the table to reconstruct a real history based on those data furnished by the above-mentioned sciences with regard to Krishna, Mahabharata and other related issues .

A steatite tablet unearthed from Mohanjodaro depicting a young boy uprooting the two trees from which are emerging two human figures is an interesting archaeological finding for fixing the date of Krishna. This image recalls the Yamalarjuna episode of Bhagavata and Harivamsa Purana. In this image, the young boy depicted is undoubtedly Krishna and two human beings emerging out of the trees are the two cursed Gandharvas, identified as Nalkubara & Manigriva, who were turned into to two Arjuna trees or Yamalarjuna got liberated by Krishna. Dr. E.J.H. Mackay did the excavation at Mohanjodaro who compares this image with the Yamalarjuna episode. Prof. V.S. Agrawal has also accepted this identification. This seems that the Indus valley people knew Krishna�s exploits and stories related to Krishna. However, this lone finding may not substantiate to corroborate with the date of Krishna contemporary to Pre-Indus or Indus times but at the same time it cannot be ignored.

Another interesting object invariably found in all Indus sites is the earthenware depicting the pipal leaves. Leaves are not only considered as a sacred tree for its environmental and medicinal value but also revered as the tree of enlightenment. It was only under the tree of pipal or aswath the Buddha, or the Tathagata a got his enlightenment. In the 10th chapter of Bhagawadgita Krishna says that amongst the trees he represents aswatha or pipal. If the legend of Krishna is predating the Mohanjodaro finding of Mackay then the pipal leaf could be the representation of Krishna in its non-anthropomorphic form.

Incidentally, the tribes of Yadava or the Yadu were the natives of northwestern frontiers or the region of Indus valley civilization. This indicates the northwestern frontier gave birth to the hero worship concept, which later on might have migrated to Gangatic doab and further penetrated to south India. The evidence with regard to hero worship in their anthropomorphic form can be seen from the stone graffiti of Chilas cave in Afghanistan, paleographically datable to second cent. BC where Krishna & Balarama are engraved on the rocks along with their names as engraved beneath the images as Vasudeva and Samkarshana respectively. Before the discovery of the graffiti of Vasudeva & Samkarshana of Chilas cave, the images were embossed on the coin of Agathocleas. It was minted in the year around 172 BC and recovered from the Oxus valley at Ai-Khanum in Afaghanistan. It happened to be the solitary image showing the disc bearer Vasudeva and the plough bearer Samkarshana (Balarama). Both the coin and the graffiti throw eloquent light on the hero worship of the northwestern region. The Heroes who were worshiped were the descendants of the Yadava i.e. Vasudeva (Krishna), Samkarshana (Balarama), Pradyumna and Samba, the sons of Krishna and Anirudha, the grandson of Krishna. The reference with regard to the Panchaveera worship is mentioned in the one of the earliest Puranas called Vayu Purana (c.2nd cent. BC- 4th cent. AD).

The Krishna cult might have been originated in the protohistoric period as has been examined and corroborated with the literature in relation to the archaeological findings. However, the present day Krishna is a metamorphosis of several cults such as Vishnu (Rigvedic), Narayana (Brahmanic period) and Jagannath (Puranic) and the hero worship cult called Panchveera (early Christian era). It embraces the Vaisanavite-Bhagawata cult as well as a mystic cult known as Pancharatra. Krishna sometimes is also associated with the entire Narayana cult, an ethnic cult. More often Narayana and Vishnu are represented in the form of Krishna. Most of the Krishna legends are fabricated with the Vaisanvite cult. Krishna is called the eighth incarnation of Vishnu. Therefore, to understand the myths and realities about Krishna a thorough examination of the hero worship, the process of deification of Krishna and the assimilation of Narayana, Vishnu and Jagannath cult with Krishna cult has to be studied to understand the genesis and growth of Krishna cult in the light of other cults.

Historically speaking Krishna more often represented as a God of the Bhagavata cult that was strongly monotheistic and the object of worship is Bhagavata or the adorable one. It taught bhakti or single-minded devotion to the supreme one for the ultimate salvation. Mahabharata, especially the Bhagavadgita elaborately enumerates the monotheistic representation of the Bhagavata Krishna cult in the Visvarupa Darshan in the 11th chapter and the subsequent chapter guides the individual for single-minded devotion both in its manifested and unmenifested forms. The origin of the Bhagavata cult dates back to the time of Panini (600 BC). The sutra 4.3.98 depicts Vasudevarjuna bhyama Vun, which treats Vasudeva as divinity and has been supported by later commentator such as Patanjali, Jayaditya and Vamana Bhattoji Dikshit explains Vasudeva as one who is all-pervasive and in whom exists all. The Buddhist literary sources of the fifth cent. BC, such as Anguttara Nikaya details about several sects such as Ajivikas, the Niganthas, the Munda shavakas, Jatilkas, the Paribhajakas the Aviruddkas, the Gotamakas, the Devadhammikas and several others but had ignored the Vasudevakas. Even in the Ashokan pilliar edicts the Bhagavatas or Vasudevakas are not mentioned. However, there is a solitary refrence to Vasudevavatika and Baldeva-vatika in a passage in the Chulla-nidesh and Maha nidesha. The important evidences with regard to the origin of Bhagavata cult are the Basenagar, Gurada pilliar inscription of Heliodoros of Taxila. A pillar surmountingGuruda erected in the honour of Vasudeva, the God of Gods by an envoy of the Greek king Amlikitas (Antialkidas) to the court of Kasiputra Bhagabhadra, of Vidisha.

The Ghosundi and Hathibara inscriptions of second cent. BC record the erection of an enclosures wall around the object of worship called Narayana Vatika where lies a fossilised stone called Shaligrama for the divinities of Samkarshana & Vasudeva in the east of village Nagari in Udaipur district of Rajasthan. The other inscription of Hathibara dates back to 7th Cent. AD, which reads as Sri Vishnu padabhyam that further, indicates the continuation of the Bhagavata cult that was prevalent in the region up until seventh cent. AD. An inscription of Ist Cent. AD from a well from Mora a village 11 kms west of Mathura records the construction of a stone temple called Devakula in the honour of Bhagavatam Panchaviranam or five heroes of Vrishini clan, which was built by a royal woman, named Tosho. The images made of stone identified as Vasudeva, Samkarshan and other 3 heroes of Vrishni suggests the assimilation of hero worship cult with the Narayana cult in Mathura region. The Vasudeva cult further expanded with the Ekamamsa cult. Eknamsa was the sister of Vasudeva and Balarama who herself was an incarnation of Vishnu�s power of illusion or Yogamaya. Kamsa who waited to kill the eigth child of Devaki dashed her against stone but she flew into the sky assuming her divine form and informed him about the birth of the eighth child, already born and brought up at Gokula. She has been identified severely as Ekanamsha in the Puranas, daughter of Nanda whom the Vrishnis used to worship. The Buddhist text Lalita vistara speaks of goddesses living in the west along with the seven other Goddesses such as Alambusa, Krishna, Draupadi etc. This further established the fact that how the hero worship coincided with the worship of Vrishni goddesses in the west. Ekanamsa interpreted as personified form of amavasya or the new moon day. In the Mahabharta she has been identified with Kuru a dark Godess identified with Amavasya and Sinhavai. She is identified as Subhadra with Balarama & Krishna in the temple of Puri. Images of Eknamsa on stone dated back to C. Ist. Cent. AD has been recovered from Brajamandal i.e. 84 kosa area including Mathura, Vrindaban region of Uttar Pradesh, Bharatpur district of Rajasthan and Faridabad district of Haryana. An image of Ekanamsha recovered from Sanghel in distt. Faridabad, Haryana is displayed in the archaeological gallery of Sri Krishna Museum.

Krishna cult has also been assimilated with folk cults such as Jagannath cult. Apart from this the cult has given birth to regional guises of Krishna such as Dakorji in Gujarat, Srinathji of the Pustimargis of Nathadvara, Balaji or Venketesvar of Tirupati, Guruvayyar of Kerala so on and to forth.

From the beginning of Christian era many stone sculpture on various exploits of Krishna carved and placed in the niches and alcoves of the facades of temple. Some of the replicas of the exploits of Krishna in the form of stone sculpture replicas are on display in the archaeological gallery of Sri Krishna Museum.