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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA III.─ INSCRIPTIONS OF THE THIRD YEAR OF KANISHKA. These inscriptions are incised on a colossal standing Bôdhisattva statue, and on an octagonal stone shaft which once carried an umbrella placed over the image. That the two objects belong together is evident from their epigraphs, both of which record the donation of a Bôdhisattva and of an umbrella with a shaft (chhatra-yashṭi) on the same sate and by the same donors. The inscriptions are dated in the third year of Mahârâja Kanishka (spelled Mahâraja Kaṇishka), the third month of winter, the twenty-second day, and thus are the earliest records in which the name of the great Kushaṇa ruler occurs.[1] They supply, however, no absolute proof that at that time Kanishka’s rule extended as far as Benares, as there is no evidence that the donors were inhabitants of Kâśî. On the contrary, it will be seen in the sequel that the latter came more probably from Mathurâ and erected the image on the occasion of a pilgrimage to the sacred sites of Buddhism. What adds considerably to the interest of these inscriptions is the fact that the chief donor, Friar Bala, a master of the Tripiṭaka and fellow of Friar Pushyavuddhi, must be identical with the donor of the Śrâvastî image in the Calcutta Museum, to which Dr. Bloch devoted an excellent article in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.[2] If the identity of the names alone (that of the monk Pushyavnddhi is partly missing in the Śrâvastî inscription) were not considered sufficient proof, the striking similarity of the two images in style and workmanship and of their inscriptions in language and script cannot leave any doubt as to the correctness of my conclusion. It is not a little curious that we meet the name of Friar Bala for the third time on an inscribed Bôdhisattva image from Mathurâ,[3] preserved in the Lucknow Museum, as the spiritual preceptor of the nun Buddhamitrâ whose name is also found among the donor of the Sârnâth image. The Mathurâ image is dated in the reign of Mahârâja Huvishka in the year 33, which makes it exactly thirty years posterior to the Sârnâth one.
Two names found in the Sârnâth inscriptions, to which a considerable amount of interest attaches, are Kharapallâna and Vanaspara (or Vanashpara). On the umbrella shaft they are mentioned among the persons who took part in the donation, Vanaspara being mentioned first and baring the title of Kshatrapa. But on the image it is distinctly stated that Kharapallâna, here called Mahâkshatrapa, erected the Bôdhisattva together with the Kshatrapa Vanashpara. As, however, Friar Bala’s name is connected with the image in a manner which would indicate him as the donor,[4] it is not altogether patent what part the two satraps took in the donation.
The question has been raised how mendicants, who have to beg for their food and are not
allowed worldly possessions,[5] could make donations which would necessarily involve a considerable expenditure. Perhaps the Sârnâth inscriptions afford an explanation. We may suppose
that the two satraps supplied the necessary funds, but that the work was carried out under
the supervision of Friar Bala, who thus was fully justified in calling the gift his own. Such
guidance on the part of one well versed in the holy scriptures would be needed, to make sure
that the works were completely orthodox. We need not go far afield to find parallels, or quote the
case of Fra Angelico, who adorned San Marco at Florence with his famous frescoes. On the very
[1] The earliest inscription of Kanishka’s reign hitherto found is that of his fifth year ; Ep. Ind. I. p. 381,
No. 1.
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