Is Vaishnavism an offshoot of christianity?

Around the turn of 20 th century a number of indologists [Weber, Macinol and others ]had noted "points of similarity "between the Vaisnava philosophy of unalloyed devotion and Christian doctrine.
They argued that Vaisnavism [worship of Vishnu and Krishna] must have been an offshoot of Christianity,and cited the similarity between stories about Krishna and about Christ to further support their claim.But discovery of the inscription on the Heliodorous column laid their speculation to rest Here was conclusive archaeological proof that Vaisnava tradition antedated Christianity by  at least two hundred thousand years .

A Greek by name Heliodorous was envoy of Greek ruler of Bactria  Antialkidas to Kasiputra Bhagabhadra who was the ruler of Central India in 113 BC .Greeks were ruling North western India ever since Alexander conquered it in 325BC.By the time of Antialkidas the area under Greek rule included what is today Afghanistan, Pakistan and Punjab.

A stone pillar erected by Heliodorous in Besanagar in Central India was first  discovered in archaeological survey conducted by Cunnigham in 1877.Cunningham concluded from its shape that this pillar  belonged to Gupta age --300AD-550AD.The inscriptions on this pillar went unnoticed because the pillar had a thick coating of red paste.It had been the custom of pilgrims  who had worshipped there to smear the column with vermilion .Thirty two years later ,however when the inscriptions was brought to light it became clear that the monument was several centuries older.
In January 1901 A Mr Lake discerned what he thought was some lettering on the lower part f the column and removal of some of the vermilion paste proved him right.Dr J.H.Marshall who was accompanied by MR Lake ,described the discovery in the journal of the Royal Asiatic Society in 19o9.Cunningham, Marshall explained had been mistaken about the age of the column and "could little have dreamt of the value of the record which he just missed discovering"."A glance at the few letters exposed was all that was needed to show that he column was many centuries earlier than the Gupta era .This was indeed a surprise to me but a far greater one was in store , when the opening lines of the inscription came to be read "

A reproduction of the transliteration and translation of the ancient Brahmi text,on the inscription is given below in the manner in which it appeared in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.

1.Devadevasu Va[sude]vasa Garudadhvajoayam .
2.Karitoia Helidorenabhaga
3.Vatena Diyasaputrena Takhasilakena
4.Yona datenaagaten namaharajasa
5.Amtalikitasaupa [m]ta samkasam-rano
6.Kasiput[r]asa [Bh]agabhadrasatratarasa
7.Vasena [chatu] dasenarajenavadhamna sa.

meaning--This Garuda -column of Vasudeva [Visnu] the god of gods, as erected here by Heliodorous , a worshipper of Visnu , the son of Dion and an inhabitant of Taxila who came as Greek ambassador from the Great King Antialkidas to King Kastiputra Bhagabhadra , the Savior, then reigning prosperously in the fourteenth year of his kingship.

1.Trini  amutapadani -[su ] anuthitani
2.nayamtisvagadamochcha goapramado

meaning--Three immortal precepts  [footsteps]when practised lead to heaven -self restraint , charity conscientiousness.

From the inscription it seems clear that Heliodorous as so influenced by Vedic principles that he could be considered to be a Vaisnava , a follower or worshipper of Visnu.

Professor Kunja Govinda Goswami of Calcutta university  in his book 'A study of Vaisnavism '-1956 concludes that Heliodorous was well acquainted with texts dealing with  Bhagvat [vaisnava] religion

From the above translation of the column at Besanagar it would appear that  Heliodorous is the earliest  westerner on record to adopt Vedic principles. But some scholars most notably A.L.Basham in his book'Wonder that was India ' and Thomas Hopkins are of the opinion that Heliodorous was not the only Greek to adopt such principles .To quote Hopkins , chairman of the dept of religious studies at Franklin and Marshall college as published by Steven J Gelberg in the book  HareKrsnaHare Krsna [1986] has said
" Heliodorous was not the only foreigner who converted to Vaisnava devotional practises -although he might have been the only one who erected a column ,at least one  that is still extant.Certainly  there must have been many others ."

The column also struck down another popular notion .For centuries it was a common belief among scholars that India's orthodox tradition did not accept converts .An Islamic historian ,Abu Raihan Alberuni , who visited India in   1017 AD tried to explain in his book Indica  why the Indian orthodoxy donot admit foreigners .Alberuni suggested that the practise developed only after Moslem incursion after 674AD .
Antagonism between Moslems and Hindus seems to be the main reason behind non conversion practise.
For many centuries prior to Moslem presence ,however there had been no bar to conversion into the orthodox fold as attested by Heliodorous column.

      From the above archaeological evidence and from research and deductions of  several notable historians  it can be safely concluded  that Vaisnavism is not an off shoot of Christianity ..

Books referred to--
1.The Origin and Development of Vaisnavism by Suvari jaiswal--page--116
2.A cultural history of India --by A.L.Basham--pg--431
3.Journal of Royal Asiatic Society --pg--1053--54
4.A study of Vaisnavism by Kunja Govinda Goswami pg--6.
5.The wonder that was India  by A.L.Basham -pg --60
Hare Krsna Hare krsna  by Steven J.Gelberg --pg 117
6.Alberuni's India by Ahmad H.Dani --pg 37
7 From Internet --Jack Hebner and Steven Rosen

Courtesy --Sri Nrisimha Priya

Note--This 2200yeras old  pillar is standing though without the Garuda mount.It is 5-8kms from  Sanchi in MP which is 40-50kms from from Bhopal .[Sanchi is famous for its Buddhist Stupa]
An Vishnu temple must have existed at front of this sthamba .It is still the practise to erect Dwaja stambhams at front of temples.Since this is garuda dwajasthamba it was definetly erected at front of a Vasudeva temple as Garuda is the vehicle or mount of Vishnu.
Vasudeva is another name of Krishna.Krishn a is avatar of Vishnu.       Several years back an excavation was carried in the sea bed of Beyt Dwaraka in the Arabian sea in which archeologists unearthed building structures ,cooking utensils,pots and other items of human use .They were carbon dated and were found to belong to5000 BC.  Beyt Dwaraka is the place from where Krishna ruled his territory .Beyt Dwaraka was his capital city which as per purana was swallowed by the seas towards the end of Krishnas reign.Sevaral archeologists are of the firm view that these ruins dating back to 5000bc,ie  lying onthis seabed for more than 8000years was the capital city of Krishna.

The excavated objects,and geologists explanations were shown on Discovery channel.Footage ofundersea divers exploring the ruins was also shown.This discovery at Beyt Dwarka is clear proof and evidence that Krishna who is worshipped as avatar of Vishnu lived 5000years before Christ wa s bornthe excavations at Beyt Dwaraka establish without any doubt that in general Vaishnavism thrived many centuries before Christianity and in particular That SriKrishna lived thousands of years before Christ was born.The claim thatVaishnavism is offshoot of Christianity has no historical basis.However it is highly likely that Christianity is  a off shoot of Vaishnasvism since Krishna who lived 5000years before Christ is  being worshipped as Black .Christ .by some Christians in here.