South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

times (in ṛishabha, l. 22, and ṛiju, ll. 34 and 81). The initial e resembles the letter pa ; compare e.g. mae, l. 4, with prapâ in th same line. The initial o ends with the same flourish as i and the first form of u (see e.g. loo, l. 6) ; it bears a little hook at the right top, which is omitted, perhaps accidentally, in two cases (chûo, l. 44, and osahî, l. 63). The initial au occurs once (in autsukyam, l. 57).

Among the consonants, jha closely resembles the initial ṛi. It occurs seven times singly and four times in combination with j (e.g.in majjhanna-saṁjhâ, l. 30). The consonant ṭha either has its usual shape, or its vertical portion is crossed by a thin curved line (e.g. in kaṁṭhîrava, l. 7). The primary form of ṇa consists of a horizontal line to which three vertical lines are attached, the middle one being slightly shorter ; but the secondary form of ṇa resembles that of la. The doubling of ṇa is marked by a horizontal cross-line in four cases (nishaṇṇa, l. 26, suṇṇaṁ, l. 52, kaṇṇâharaṇa, ll. 52 and 75) ; the primary and the secondary forms are combined in one instance (âyaṇṇehi, l. 21) ; and, if my reading is correct, the secondary form is improperly used twice in another (theṇṇa, l. 75). The last mode is generally adopted if the doubling takes place after r (e.g. in ’vatîrṇṇasya, l. 1); but the cross-line it then used in five cases (e.g. nirvarṇṇayâmi, l. 62), and the primary combined with the secondary form once (in âkarṇṇânta, l. 1). The usual form of tha is not very different from nva (see e.g. kathaṁchid, l. 1).^[1] The same form is employed four times after t (e. g. in hatthe, l. 17) ; but in the majority of cases the secondary form of tha is identical with that of chha ; compare e.g. ittha and sthânê, l. 6, with uchchhavammi, l. 16. If my readings are correct, there are three instances (thakka-thakkida, l. 5 and theṇṇa, l. 75) where even for the primary tha the same symbol is used as for the primary chha (see chhachcharaṇa, ll. 5 and 75, and lâṁchhanaṁ, l. 16). The group kkha is written in two ways : In viyakkhaṇa, l. 45, the kha is regularly attached to the k ;but in parikkhalaṁta, l. 42, the kha seems to be inserted between the two loops of the k.^[2] The group ddha looks like dva in most cases (e.g. yuddha, l. 17) ; but in two places ( = Ddhârâ-, l. 32, and muddhâo, l. 47) its dha is distinguished from va by an additional horizontal line. Similarly, ndh looks like nv in vandhuṁ, l. 14, but not in saṁvandh-ôchita, l. 32.

The virâma is employed below k (ll. 10 and 61), t (e.g. l. 9) and n (e.g. l. 20). The avagraha occurs five times─ twice after ô and three times â (ll. 1, 2, 3). If at the end of a line there was no space left for the next akshara, the engraver filled up the line by a symbol which looks either somewhat like a reversed Nâgarî ta, or like a narrow U ;^[3] in the transcript these signs are denoted by a vertical line in round brackets. Finally it has to be noted that the upper portions of a few letters of the first line are ornamented with scrolls or flowers.

The engraver has done his work with considerable care and has committed comparatively few real mistakes, part of which he has corrected himself on second thoughts. As regards orthography, it must be stated that b is nowhere distinguished from v. The dental is used instead of the palatal sibilant in Sâradâ, l. 3, Hiraṇyakasipu, l. 7, kâsmîra, l. 20, aṁsa, l. 21, and avâsêna, l. 33 f. ; the visarga instead of the lingual sibilant in chatuḥpatha, l. 3, niḥkrâmati, l. 58, and niḥkrâṁta, ll. 15, 28, 31, 39, 58, 81 and 82 ; and t instead of d in atbhauta, l. 49. The spelling of ujvala, l. 13, datvâ, ll. 13 and 21, and patra, ll. 25 and 61, is not correct, but frequent in inscription and manuscripts.

The languages of the inscription are Sanskṛit and Prâkṛit.^[4] These are 76 verses ; the remainder is in prose.
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^[1] In four cases (e.g. maṁtharaṁ, l. 54) the top-line of this form of tha is indistinct.
^[2] The kkh of pachchakkho, l. 64, seems to be a modification of the same type.
^[3] The second variety occurs only in ll. 22 and 42.
^[4] I have added a Sanskṛit translation of the Prâkṛit passages at the end of the text on p. 117 ff.