South Indian Inscriptions

Contents
Index
Introduction
Contents
List of Plates
Additions and Corrections
Images
Contents
Altekar, A. S
Bhattasali, N. K
Barua, B. M And Chakravarti, Pulin Behari
Chakravarti, S. N
Chhabra, B. CH
Das Gupta
Desai, P. B
Gai, G. S
Garde, M. B
Ghoshal, R. K
Gupte, Y. R
Kedar Nath Sastri
Khare, G. H
Krishnamacharlu, C. R
Konow, Sten
Lakshminarayan Rao, N
Majumdar, R. C
Master, Alfred
Mirashi, V. V
Mirashi, V. V., And Gupte, Y. R
Narasimhaswami, H. K
Nilakanta Sastri And Venkataramayya, M
Panchamukhi, R. S
Pandeya, L. P
Raghavan, V
Ramadas, G
Sircar, Dines Chandra
Somasekhara Sarma
Subrahmanya Aiyar
Vats, Madho Sarup
Venkataramayya, M
Venkatasubba Ayyar
Vaidyanathan, K. S
Vogel, J. Ph
Index.- By M. Venkataramayya
Other South-Indian Inscriptions
Volume 1	Volume 2
Volume 3	Vol. 4 - 8
Volume 9	Volume 10
Volume 11	Volume 12
Volume 13	Volume 14
Volume 15	Volume 16
Volume 17	Volume 18
Volume 19	Volume 20
Volume 22 Part 1	Volume 22 Part 2
Volume 23	Volume 24
Volume 26	Volume 27
Tiruvarur	Darasuram
Konerirajapuram	Tanjavur
Annual Reports 1935-1944	Annual Reports 1945- 1947
Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Volume 2, Part 2	Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Volume 7, Part 3
Kalachuri-Chedi Era Part 1	Kalachuri-Chedi Era Part 2
Epigraphica Indica	Epigraphia Indica Volume 3
Epigraphia Indica Volume 4	Epigraphia Indica Volume 6
Epigraphia Indica Volume 7	Epigraphia Indica Volume 8
Epigraphia Indica Volume 27	Epigraphia Indica Volume 29
Epigraphia Indica Volume 30	Epigraphia Indica Volume 31
Epigraphia Indica Volume 32	Paramaras Volume 7, Part 2
Śilāhāras Volume 6, Part 2	Vākāṭakas Volume 5
Early Gupta Inscriptions
Archaeological Links
Archaeological-Survey of India
Pudukkottai

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

NOTE ON THE BAJAUR INSCRIPTION OF MENANDROS

and praṇasameda, where the stone is most incomplete, is exceptionally long, so that praṇasameda clearly is the first word. Majumdar states that there is just a trace of a t or r before Śakamunisa, and suggests to restore the legend as praṇasameda śarira bhagavato Śakamunisa ‘the relic endowed with life, of the Lord Śākyamuni’. And it is clear that inscription A must be restored in the same way as A 2.

In explanation of the term praṇasameda he refers us to three passages in the Mahāvaṁsa: xvii, 3, dhātusu diṭṭhesu diṭṭho hoti jino‘ if we behold the relics, we behold the Conqueror ;’ xvii, 50 ff.

Thupārāme patiṭṭhantaṁ mama dakkhiṇaakkhakaṁ karotu nabham uggantvā yamakaṁ pāṭihāriyaṁ Laṅkālaṁkārabhūtamhi Hemamālikacetiye patiṭṭhahantiyo dhātū doṇamattā mamāmalā buddhavesadharā hutvā uggantvā nabhasi ṭṭhitā patiṭṭhantu karitvāna yamakaṁ pāṭihāriyaṁ

‘ taking its place in the Thūpārāma my right eye-tooth shall rise into the air and perform the twin-miracle ; when my pure relies, filling a droṇa, take their place in the Hemamālikachaitya, which is an adornment of Laṅkā, they shall take the shape of Buddha, rise and stand in the air, perform thetwin-miracle, and take their place ;’ xvii, 43 f.

Tasmiṁ sumāgame dhātu hatthikkhandhā nabhaggatā sattatālappamāṇamhi dissanti nabhasi ṭṭhitā vimhāpayantī janataṁ yamakaṁ pāṭihāriyaṁ gaṇḍambamūle buddho va akari lomahaṁsakaṁ ‘at that gathering the relic rose up into the air from the elephant’s shoulder, being visible over an extent of seven tāla, standing in the air ; throwing people into amazement, it performed the twin-miracle, as (did) the Buddha under the Gaṇḍamba tree’.

I think that we must accept this ingenious explanation. It is quite possible to assume that the relies can work wonders and to think of designating them as living entities at the time when they are enshrined. The continuation of A, which is clearly A 1, is very short as it would have to be if the preceding line mentioned what was being established. What is left of A 1 can be definitely read as thavita which can be confidently restored as pratithavita. If the year was given before the name Menedrasa we may suppose that about eight aksharas preceded the name, and it is a likely assumption that A 1 in the inner ring, began at about the same place as l.1. Since tha stands slightly to the left of me, it is tempting to assume that eight to nine aksharas preceded so that we might think of ima śarira pratithavita.

But then we have no explanation of praṇasameda. This compound has not, so far as I know, been met with elsewhere. It can hardly mean the same thing as prāṇopeta which occurs in the formula upāsakaṁ ca māṁ dhārayādyāgreṇa yāvajjīvaṁ prāṇopetam śaraṇaṁ gataṁ abhiprasannaṁ. keep me as your worshipper from today, as long as I live and am endowed with life, as I have taken my refuge and turned my disposition towards (you) ;’ Divyāv p. 72.1 etc. It would then be possible to fill up the gap in A and A 1as praṇasameda upasanaye bhagavata Śakamunisa ‘for the worship of the Lord Śākyamuni as long as life lasts’, or praṇasamedu upasakena (-kasa) bhagavata Śakamunisa ‘by him who is a worshipper of the Lord Śākyamuni as long as life lasts’. If we had upasakena in A, this would then belong to the supposed reading of A 1, while we might think of upasakasa in A 2 : ‘ (gift) of life-long worshipper of the Lord Śākyamuni’.

It is, however, hardly possible to interpret the text in this way ; the relics were looked upon as living entities. But the importance of the inscription is not dependent on such restorations. It rests with the fact that it gives a reliable contemporaneous confirmation of the tradition that Menandraos had Buddhist sympathies.

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