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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA No. 14─ BRAHMI INSCRIPTION FROM SALIHUNDAM (1 Plate) A. S. GADRE, BARODA Śālihuṇḍam is a famous Buddhist site in the Srikakulam District of the Andhra State, about 12 miles by road from Srikakulam, the District headquarters. It is on the banks of the Vaṁśadharā which joins the Bay of Bengal some five miles further down. The hills of this place have yielded many Buddhist structures and antiquities which have been briefly described in this journal.[1] Earlier excavations at the place have been fully described in the Annual Report of the Archaeological Survey of India for the year 1919-20.[2] When I visited the place in October 1953, I came across an inscribed casing slab of stone. The slab bearing the inscription formed part of the top frieze of stones on the exterior surface of the Mahāchaitya. That it is a fragmentary record can be recognized from the fact that traces of letters preceding and following this inscription, can be seen on the inscribed stone itself.[3]
The inscription reads :─ Dhaṁma(mā) Raño Asokasirino[4] This fragmentary record refers to the religious edicts (dhaṁmā) of the illustrious Aśoka. According to the Āryamañjuśrīmūlakalpa,[5] Dharmāśoka, i.e. the Maurya emperor Aśoka, set up stone pillars (śilā-yashṭi) at Chaityas as human memorials. Aśoka himself is said to have visited the sites. Very probably the Mahāchaitya at Śālihuṇḍam is a creation of the Mauryan times. It would therefore be no wonder if a reference is made to Aśoka’s religious records in this inscription incised at a later date by devotees.[6] An inscribed pot, discovered at this place, has been assigned by Sri T. N. Ramachandran on paleographic grounds to the first century A. D. at the latest. This obviously is the date of the pot and not of the structure which must have preceded it. As our stone forms part of the Mahāchaitya, it is apparently of an earlier date. Some scholars are inclined to read the first two words in the inscription as Dhaṁmaraño (Sanskrit Dharmarājasya) and take it to be the epithet of Aśoka.[7] In support of this reading attention is drawn to certain inscriptions referring to kings as Dharmarāja,. Dharmamahārāja, etc. I differ on this point. According to Buddhist literature the epithet Dharmarāja was applied ___________________________________________________
[1] Above, Vol. XXVIII, pp. 133 ff.
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