South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

TRANSLATION.

Success ! (The gift) of Indrâgnidatta, son of Dhammadeva, the Yavana, a northerner from Dattâmitrî. By him, inside by true religion, this cave has been caused to be excavated in mount Tiraṇhu, and inside the cave a Chaityagṛiha and cisterns. This cave made for the sake of his father and mother has been, in order to honour all Buddhas, bestowed on the universal Saṁgha of monks, together with his son Dhammarakhita.”

It is very fortunate indeed that a vârttika on Pâṇini (IV. 7, 104) has preserved the tradition of a word auttarâha, for which the etymology from uttara seems to indicate the meaning ‘ northern.’ The derivation of the word would, otherwise, have been the more puzzling because, as far as I know, analogous formations are wanting.

Bühler (AS. p. 38) and before him Bhandarkar have already conjectured that Dattâmitrî would be an Indian adaptation of the Arachosian Demetrias, a name mentioned by Isidore of Kharax. The reading dhaṁmâtmanâ is sure. It may be an error of the engraver for ºtmano ; but I cannot find this very admissible in an inscription so carefully written. On the other hand, it would be surprising if the participle khânitaṁ had to be construed with a genitive in the place of an instrumental. I prefer to take the first words as far as Idrâgnidatasa as a complete clause, meaning ‘ a gift ’ or ‘ a cave of Indrâgnidatta . . . . .’ A new sentence would begin with dhaṁmâtmanâ, and, as has been intimated before (N. 10), this construction would imply that the donor had undertaken the work and made that grant under the impression of his recent conversion to Buddhism.

Chaityagṛiha means an oratory at the end of which a stûpa is erected as the object or the centre of cult. Compare for instance the Kuḍâ inscriptions 13 and 20.

No. 19, Plate iii. (Ksh. 4.)

In Cave No. 18, on the fifth and sixth pillars of the right-hand row.

TEXT.

1 Râyâmacha-Arahalayasa Chalisîlaṇakasa (1) duhutuya Mahâhakusi-
2 r . . ya Bhaṭapâlikâya (2) râyâmachasa Agiyataṇakasa bhaṁḍâkârika-
3 yasa bhâriyâya (3) Kapaṇaṇakamâtuya chetiyagharaṁ pavate

REMARKS.

(1) G. cha Lîsilaº, but the comparison of the li of pâlikâya in the following line seems to prove that we have to read li ; AS. ºlisâlaṇaº.─ (2) G.º rirâyabha º ; AS. ºri[yâ]yaya Bhaº, adding a note : “ the first letter may also be read râ ; the second which looks like râ is certainly mutilated.” It seems indeed impossibly to doubt that the first traces visible on the left express an r. The vowel is entirely uncertain, but what precedes necessitates the reading ri or rî. Between r and ya I can discern nothing ; at the utmost would the back of the estampage point to the vowel i before the y, the consonant remaining undetermined. However this may be, the space between the initial r and the ya seems too large to be conveniently filled up only by Bhagwanlal’s râ.─ (3) G. ºya Satâriyâº.

TRANSLATION.

“ By Bhaṭapâlikâ, [grand-daughter] of Mahâhakusiri and daughter of the royal officer Arahalya from Chalisîlaṇa, wife of the royal officer Agiyataṇaka, of the treasure office, mother of Kapaṇaṇaka, this Chaityagṛiha has been caused to be perfected on this mount Tiraṇhu.”

To judge from many analogous cases, it does not seem that Chalisîlaṇaka can be anything but an adjective pointing to the origin or residence of Arahalaya. I have no means of