South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

cause one-hundred-thousand Brâhmaṇas to be fed the (whole) year round, who has given eight wives to Brâhmaṇas at the religious tîrtha of Prabhâsa, who at Bharukachha, Daśapura, Govardhana and Śorpâraga has given the shelter of quadrangular rest-houses, who has made wells, tanks and gardens, who has out of charity established free ferries by boats on the Ibâ, Pârâdâ, Damaṇa, Tâpî, Karabenâ and Dâhanukâ, and erected on both banks of these rivers shelters for meeting and such for gratuitous distribution of water, who has given thirty-two-thousand stems of cocoanut trees at the village Nânaṁgola to the congregation of Charakas at Pîṁḍîtakâvaḍa, Govardhana, Suvarṇamukha and the Râmatîrtha in Śorpâraga,─ inspired by (true) religion, in the Triraśmi hills at Govardhana, has caused this cave to be made and these cisterns. And by order of the lord I went to release the chief of the Uttamabhadras, who had been besieged for the rainy season by the Mâlayas, and those Mâlâyas fled at the mere roar (of my approaching) as it were, and were all made prisoners of the Uttamabhadra warriors. Thence I went to the Pokshara tanks, and there I bathed and gave three-thousand cows and a village. A field has also been given by him, bought at the hands of the Brâhmaṇa Aśvibhûti, son of Vârâhî, for the price of four-thousand ─ 4,000 ─ kâhâpaṇas, which (field) belonged to his father, on the boundary of the town towards the north-western side. From it food will be procured for all monks, without distinction, dwelling in my cave.”

The beginning of the inscription till ashṭabhâryâpradena is, except one or two insignificant discrepancies, but the reproduction in Sanskṛit orthography of the beginning of No. 13 at Kârlê. It will suffice to refer to this fact.

Daśapura is the only one among the four towns mentioned here which remains unidentified. I see no means of choosing between the Daśapura in Rajputana (Bühler), that in Malwa (Bhagwanlal), or others which might be added, as Mandasôr, etc. In No. 26 we see that some Śakas dwelt in that place ; this is at least a hint that it ought to be searched for towards the north.

As for the river names, Bühler’s and Bhagwanlal’s views agree together. Dr. Bhandarkar proposed to restore ºpaṇyaº and to separate ºvâ-apaṇyataraº. Such a correction would be rash ; but the general meaning would come to the same. Puṇyatara must be compared with puṇyatîrtha which we have met before. As it characterises the Prabhâsatîrtha as a religious place, puṇya qualifies the ferries by boats established on those rivers as religious, charitable or meritorious ones, i.e. as gratuitous. The phraseology which so constantly associates sabhâ and prâpa (compare Mahâbhârata, Ânuśâsanikaparvan, vv. 1635, 1671 and 6685 ; Śântiparvan, v. 1492, etc.) proves, contrary to Dr. Hoernle’s ingenious, but too artificial conjecture, that the two words have to be taken as a dvandva.

Pîṁḍîtakâvaḍa and Suvarṇamukha are, as far as I know, unidentified. In Nânaṁgola it is at least tempting to see with Bhagwanlal Nârgol near Sanjan. The communities of Charakas to whom the gift has been made seem to be identical with these Charakas who are named in a stereotyped formula of Buddhist (e.g. Mahâvastu, III. 412 : anyatîrthikacharakaparivrâjakâ) and Jaina texts, namely a certain special category of Brâhmaṇical ascetics. To take charaka for ‘ Brâhmaṇical students ’ would leave the gift too undermined, and if the Charaka-śâkhâ of the Yajurvêda were meant, the expression would have been made more definite.

The real stumbling-block here is the compound dvâtrîśataº. All interpreters understand by it a gift of ‘ a thousand (coins) representing the value of thirty-two cocoanut trees.’ Bhagwanlal alone has translated ‘ who has bestowed as a gift thirty-two-thousand cocoanut trees.’ This text cannot be considered independently from another, perfectly parallel one in N. 12, where we read : gâme Chikhalapadre datâni nâligerâna mulasahasrâni aṭha 8000. The same difference exists there between Bühler’s and Bhagwanlal’s translations. First of all it must be owned that the gift of a capital amounting to the value of thirty-two cocoanut trees, to be distributed among at least four religious fraternities, would be, especially from so mighty and liberal a donor, extremely