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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA proposed satvānaṁ (Sanskrit sattvānām), may have been puṇyaṁ, ‘ religious merit ’, although it would imply a rather poetic arrangement of words in this section. It should, however, be noticed that the lost word in the sixth case-ending plural at the beginning of line 3 makes the arrangement of words equally poetic if pūjārtha is read with satvānaṁ sarvasha yatr=opanāna. Moreover it would make yatra in the above passage in lien 2 quite meaningless. We therefore propose to fill up the lacunae in lines 2-3 as follows : [punyaṁ satvā]naṁ sarvasha yatr=ōpanāna pūjārtha [sarva-Buddhā]na parigrahā[ya*] achariyana Mahāsaghi[kānaṁ]. In Sanskrit, the passage would be : puṇyaṁ sattvānāṁ sarveshāṁ yatr=otpannānāṁ pūjārthaṁ sarva-Buddhānāṁ parigrahāya āchāryāṇāṁ Mahāsāṅghikānām. The concluding lines of the inscription, as will be seen below, speak of the pious work of a person, which according to lines 2-3 as read by us, was intended ‘ for the acceptance of the teachers of the Mahāsāṅghika community’, which was done ‘ with a view to honouring all the Buddhas ’, and ‘ for which the merit was intended to go to all the creatures born [up till then] ’. The use of yatra with reference to a pious deed cannot be regarded as improbable in view of the use of atra in a similar context in such epigraphic passages as ya chatra puṇya taṁ Devaputrasya Shāhisya Huvishkasya (Sanskrit yat cha atra puṇyaṁ tat Devaputrasya Shāhēḥ Huvishkasya).[1]
Line 4 begins with : ºnasya pratama sagaha. The upper part of the letters is broken away. We are inclined to suggest : ºnisya pratimā sagihā. There is little doubt that nisya is the concluding part of a word like Śākyamunisya (Sanskrit Śākyamuneḥ), which may or may not have been preceded by the word bhagavato (Sanskrit bhagavataḥ). The passage thus refers to an image of the Śākyamuni (i.e. Buddha). The word sagihā seems to stand for Sanskrit sa-gṛihā. The passage [Śākyamu]nisya pratimā sa-gihā (Sanskrit Śākyamuneḥ pratimā sa-gṛihā) would mean : ‘ an image of the Śākyamuni (Buddha) together with a shrine [for it] ’. The person responsible for the setting up to the image of the Buddha therefore also constructed a griha or shrine for installing it therein. The following word mātā-pitreṇa stands for Sanskrit mātā-pitṛibhyāṁ [saha] and shows that the person responsible for the construction of the Buddha image and the shrine did the work with the help and goodwill of his parents.[2] It may also be suggested that the word intended is mātā-pitṛīṇām to be read with the following words in the sixth case-ending. The reading of the next word, which is in the sixth case-ending plural, is doubtful ; but it seems to be on a par with the word ºkuṭubikānaṁ in the next line (line 5). The doubtful word may be abhasitanaṁ (Sanskrit abhāshitānām) indicating persons who are referred to in the following words but are not specifically mentioned. It may possibly also indicate a locality where the family of the person responsible for the image and the shrine resided. Line 5, which begins and ends with traces of some damaged aksharas, reads : k[u]ṭ[u]bikānaṁ Guhasene[na] (Sanskrit kuṭumbikānāṁ Guhasenena) which was apparently followed by a word like pratiṭhāpitā (Sanskrit pratishṭhāpitā). The image of the Buhdha was therefore installed in the shrine mentioned in line 4 by Guhasena who belonged to a family of kuṭumbikas, probably agriculturist householders. TEXT[3] 1 …………. Trasya[4] Vāsudevasya Sa[ṁ] 60 [4 or 7] Varsh[ā]-māse dviti[5] 2 divasi[6] _____________________________________________
[1] Ibid., p. 146.
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