Damodarpur Charter 1 (GE 163) of Budhagupta

Editors: Dániel Balogh, Amandine Wattelier-Bricout.

Identifier: DHARMA_INSBengalCharters00032.

Language: Sanskrit.

Repository: Bengal Copper Plates (tfb-bengalcharters-epigraphy).

Version: (3b1ee6e), last modified (32b4399).

Edition

⟨Page 1r⟩ ⟨1⟩ [saṁ] [100] [60] (3) Āṣāḍha di 10 3 parama-daivata-parama-bhaṭṭ(ā)raka-mahārājādhirāja-śrī-budhagupte (pr̥thi)vī-patau tat-pāda-(pa)rigr̥hīte puṇḍra(va)⟨2⟩[rddhana]-bhuktāv uparika-mahārāja-brahmadatte saṁvyavaharati⟨.⟩

svast(i)⟨.⟩ palāśavr̥ndakāt sa-viśvāsaṁ mahattarādy-aṣṭakulādhi(ka)⟨3⟩[ra]ṇa(ṁ) grāmika-kuṭumvinaś ca caṇḍagrāmake brāhmaṇādyānna-kṣudra-prakr̥ti-kuṭumvinaḥ kuśalam uktvānudarśayanti (yathā)⟨.⟩

⟨4⟩ (vi)jñāpayat¿ī?⟨i⟩ no grāmika-nābhako ’ham icche mātā-pitros svapuṇyāpyāyanāya ka¿d?⟨t⟩icid brāhmaṇāryyān prativāsayituṁ ⟨.⟩ ⟨5⟩ [tad a]rhatha grāmānukrama-vikraya-maryyādayā matto hiraṇyam upasaṁgr̥hya samudaya-bāhyāprada-khila-kṣetr(ā)[ṇāṁ] ⟨6⟩ (pra)sādaṁ karttum¿a?⟨i⟩ti⟨.⟩ yataḥ pustapāla-patradāsenāvadhāritaṁ yuktam anena vijñāpitam asty ayaṁ vikraya⟨7⟩-(ma)ryyādā-prasaṅgas tad dīyatām asya parama-bhaṭṭāraka-mahārāja-pā(dena) puṇyopacayāyeti⟨.⟩ punar asyaiva ⟨8⟩ [patradā]sasyāvadhāraṇayāvadhr̥tya nābhaka-hastād dīnāra⟨⟨-dvaya⟩⟩m upasaṁgr̥hya sthāyapāla-kapila-śrībhadrābhyām ¿āyakr̥(tya)?⟨āyīkr̥tya⟩ ca samudaya-⟨Page 1v⟩ ⟨9⟩ [bāhyāprada-khi](la)-kṣetrasya kulya-vāpam ekam asya vāyigrāmakottara-pārśvasyaiva ca satya-marryā(dā)y¿aḥ?⟨ā⟩ dakṣiṇa-paścima-pūrvveṇa ⟨10⟩ (mahatta)rādy-adhikaraṇa-kuṭumvibhiḥ pratyavekṣyāṣṭaka-navaka-{navaka} -nalābhyām apaviñcchya ca catussīmolliṅgya ⟨ca⟩ nāgadevasya ⟨11⟩ [dattaṁ tad-u]ttara-kālaṁ saṁvyavahāribhir ddharmmam avekṣya pratipālanīyam⟨.⟩ uktañ ca maharṣṣibhiḥ⟨.⟩

I. Anuṣṭubh

sva-dattām para-dattāṁ vā

a

yo hareta vasundharāṁ

b

⟨12⟩ [sa viṣṭhā]yāṁ kr̥mir bhūtvā

c

pitr̥bhis saha pacyate

d
II. Anuṣṭubh

bahubhir vvasudhā dattā

a

rājabhis sagarādibhiḥ

b

yasya yasya yadā bhūmis

c

tasya tasya ⟨13⟩ [tadā] phalaṁ

d
III. Anuṣṭubh

ṣaṣṭiṁ varṣṣa-sahasrāṇi

a

svargge modati bhūmidaḥ

b

Ākṣeptā cānumantā ca

c

tāny eva narake vased

d

iti

Apparatus

⟨1⟩ [saṁ] [100] [60] (3) ⬦ (saṁ) (100) (60) 3 RB P DB; [saṁ 100](60) 3 DCS B G • On the photos I have at my disposal, saṁ 100 60 is lost. It is possible that there is a 3 number where the plate begins but I cannot confirm it. As the previous editors of the plate should have it in a better state of preservation, I keep their reading. — ⟨1⟩ -bhaṭṭ(ā)ra° ⬦ bhaṭṭā(ra) RB P B DB; -bhaṭṭ(āra)° DCS G. — ⟨1⟩ °da-(pa)rigr̥hī° ⬦ da-(pari)gr̥hī° RB P DCS B G DB.

⟨2⟩ [rddhana]- ⬦ (rddhana)- RB P DCS B G DB • On the photos I have at my disposal, all of this is lost, but I keep the reading of the previous editions . — ⟨2⟩ saṁvyavaharati⟨.⟩ P DCS B G ⬦ saṁvyavaharati RB DB. — ⟨2⟩ svast(i)⟨.⟩ P DCS G DB ⬦ svast(i) RB B. — ⟨2⟩ sa-viśvāsaṁ RB DCS B G DB ⬦ sa-viśvāsa- P • On the photos I have at my disposal, it is not clear if it is an engraved point or a corrosion spot. Moreover the position of this point or spot is not really above the sa. I compared how the ṁ is engraved on this plate and I observed that its position and its shape are not regular. — ⟨2⟩ kulādhi(ka) ⬦ kulādhi(ka) RB P DCS B G DB • On the photos I have at my disposal, the ka is totally erased.

⟨3⟩ [ra]ṇa(ṁ) grāmika ⬦ (ra)ṇa(ṁ) grāmika B DB; (ra)ṇagrāmika RB P; (ra)¿ṇa?⟨ṇaṁ⟩grāmika DCS G. — ⟨3⟩ caṇḍagrāmake RB P DCS G ⬦ caṇḍagrāmaka- B DB. — ⟨3⟩ brāhmaṇādyānna-kṣudra- ⬦ brāhmaṇādhyānna-kṣudra- RB P DCS; brāhmaṇādhyakṣa-kṣudra- B G DB. — ⟨3⟩ °darśayanti (yathā) DB ⬦ °darśayanti [3×] RB; °darśayanti (yathaiva) P; °darśayanti (yathaivaṁ?) DCS G; °darśayanti [yathā] B.

⟨4⟩ (vi)jñāpayat¿ī?⟨i⟩ no P DCS B DB ⬦ (vi)jñāpayatī¿no?⟨ti⟩ RB; (vi)jñāpayatī no G. — ⟨4⟩ icche RB P DCS G DB • Basak 1919-1920 Sircar 1965 suggest reading icchaye or icchāmi in a note. Pandey 1962-01-01 only suggests the first correction, while Bhandarkar et al. 1981 suggests iccheyaṁ. — ⟨4⟩ ka¿d?⟨t⟩ici° RB DCS B G DB ⬦ kadici° P. — ⟨4⟩ prativāsayituṁ ⟨.⟩ DB ⬦ prativāsayituṁ RB P DCS B G.

⟨5⟩ [tad a]rhatha ⬦ (tad a)rhatha RB P DCS G DB; tad arhatha B • On the photos I have at my disposal, tad ais totally lost. — ⟨5⟩ -khila-kṣetr(ā)[ṇāṁ] ⬦ -khila-(-kṣetrasya) B DB; -khila-kṣetrāṇā(ṁ) RB DCS G; -(khila-kṣetrāṇāṁ) P.

⟨6⟩ karttum¿a?⟨i⟩ti⟨.⟩ ⬦ karttum iti⟨.⟩ DB; karttu¿ma?⟨mi⟩ti RB; karttumati⟨.⟩ P DCS G; karttum [i]ti⟨.⟩ B • Pandey 1962-01-01 suggests reading kartum iti in a note.

⟨7⟩ -(ma)ryyādā- ⬦ -maryyādā- RB P DCS B G RB. — ⟨7⟩ -pā(dena) ⬦ -pā(de)na RB DCS G; -pā(de) na P; -pā(dānāṁ) B DB. — ⟨7⟩ °yeti⟨.⟩ punar P DCS B G DB ⬦ °yeti punar RB.

⟨8⟩ [patradā]sasyāvadhā° ⬦ (patradā)sasyāvadhā° RB P DCS B G DB • On the photos I have at my disposal, the beginning of the line is lost and I can only read syāvadhā°. — ⟨8⟩ dīnāra⟨⟨-dvaya⟩⟩m u° RB B ⬦ dīnāra⟨⟨-(dvaya)⟩⟩m u° P DCS DB; dīnāra-(dvaya)m u° G; dīnāra⟨⟨-(dvaya)⟩⟩m u° DB. — ⟨8⟩ sthāyapāla-ka° ⬦ sthā¿ya?⟨ṇa⟩pāla-ka° RB; sthāyapāla-ka° P DCS; sthā¿ya?⟨na⟩pāla-ka° G; sthāṇavila-ka° B DB • Pandey 1962-01-01 suggests reading in a note sthāmapāla. Sircar 1965 adds in note : “possibly sthānapāla watchman, policeman”. — ⟨8⟩ °bhyām ¿āyakr̥(tya)?⟨āyīkr̥tya⟩ DB ⬦ °bhyāyāyakr̥(tya) RB DCS P; °bhyā¿yāya?⟨mayī⟩kr̥(tya) G; °bhyām āy[ī]kr̥tya B • Sircar 1965 already suggested reading °bhyāmayīkr̥tya in note.

⟨9⟩ [bāhyāprada-khi](la)- ⬦ (bāhyāprada)-(khi)la- P DB; […](khi)la- RB; [bāhyāprada]-(khi)la- DCS G; [bāhyāprada-khi]la- B. — ⟨9⟩ marryā(dā)y¿aḥ?⟨ā⟩ ⬦ -maryyādāyā RB P DCS B G DB • Sircar 1965 suggests reading -maryyādayā.

⟨10⟩ (mahattarā)dy-a ⬦ maha(tta)rādy-a RB P DCS B G DB • On the photos I have at my disposal, mahattarā is not lost but totally illegible. — ⟨10⟩ -kuṭumvibhiḥ RB P DB ⬦ -kuṭu¿mvi?⟨mbi⟩bhiḥ DCS B G • Pandey 1962-01-01 suggests reading kuṭumbibhiḥ in note. — ⟨10⟩ -navaka-{navaka} RB B ⬦ -navaka-navaka- P DCS G; -navaka-(navaka) DB • Sircar 1965 suggests reading āṣṭaka-navaka-nalā° in note. — ⟨10⟩ apaviñcchya RB B G ⬦ apaviñchya P DCS DB. — ⟨10⟩ catussīmolliṅgya ⟨ca⟩ ⬦ catuṣṭimo(lli)ṅgya ca RB; catussīmolliṅgya ca P; catuṣṭimolliṅgya ca G; ca (kr̥ṣiṁ nocchin)¿(dh)?⟨d⟩(ya) ca B DB • Pandey 1962-01-01 and Sircar 1965 suggest reading sīmā ulliṅgya in note. Sircar 1965 adds a translation of this expression “making clear by marks”. — ⟨10⟩ nāgadevasya RB P DCS ⬦ nābha[kāya] B G; nābha(kāya) DB • Sircar 1965, p. 334 suggests reading nagādevāya in note 3. The name of the recipient of the gift is spelt twice Nābhaka in lines 4 and 8. Here it is spelt Nāgadeva. One could assume a scribal error between ga and bha.

⟨11⟩ [dattaṁ tad-u]ttara- ⬦ (dattaṁ tad-u)ttara- RB; (dattaṁ)⟨.⟩(tad-u)ttara- P DCS; [deyam etad-u]ttara- B; (datta)¿(ṁ)?⟨M⟩⟨.⟩ (tad-u)ttara- G; (deyam etad-u)ttara- DB. — ⟨11⟩ °nīyam⟨.⟩ uktañ DB ⬦ °nīyamuktañ RB P DCS B G • Pandey 1962-01-01 and Sircar 1965 suggest reading °nīyaM⟨.⟩ uktañ in note. — ⟨11⟩ maharṣṣibhiḥ⟨.⟩ RB DCS G ⬦ maharṣṣibhiḥ(||) P DB; maha¿rṣṣ?⟨rṣ⟩ibhiḥ⟨.⟩ B • On the photos I have at my disposal, I don’t see any daṇḍa trace. But we can supply it because of the respect of sandhi rule. — ⟨11⟩ hareta RB DCS B G DB ⬦ hareT P. — ⟨11⟩ vasundharāṁ DB ⬦ vasundharā¿ṁ?⟨m⟩⟨.⟩ RB B; vasundharāṁ || P; vasundharā¿ṁ?⟨m⟩ || DCS G.

⟨12⟩ [sa viṣṭhā]yāṁ B ⬦ (sa viṣṭhā)yāṁ RB DCS G DB; sa (viṣṭhā)yāṁ P • On the photos I have at my disposal, sa viṣṭhā is lost and the line begins by yāṁ.

⟨13⟩ [tadā] phalaṁ ⬦ (tadā) phala¿ṁ?⟨M⟩⟨.⟩ RB; tadā phalaṁ⟨.⟩ P; tadā phala¿ṁ?⟨M⟩⟨.⟩ DCS G; [tadā] phala¿ṁ?⟨M⟩⟨.⟩ B; (tadā) phalaṁ DB. — ⟨13⟩ vased iti B DB ⬦ vased iti || P DCS G; vase¿diti?⟨T⟨.⟩iti⟩|| RB • Sircar 1965 and Bhandarkar et al. 1981 suggest reading vaseT || iti || in note.

Draft of translation

(1–2) [In the year 163],1 on the thirteenth day [of the month] Āṣāḍha, during (the reign of)2 His Majesty (śrī) Budhagupta, Great King and Emperor (mahārājādhirāja), Supreme Majesty and Supreme Lord (parama-daivata-parama-bhaṭṭāraka), the Lord of the Earth, when the Mahārāja Brahmadatta, governor designated by His Majesty (tat-pāda-parigr̥hīta) was managing affairs in Puṇḍravardhana province, it has been said (iti, line 13):

(2–3) Hail! From the Palāśa grove (Palāśavṛndaka), the council composed by the eight communities (kula) beginning with the notables (mahattara) and the village landholders (grāmika-kuṭumbin-) greet with confidence (sa-viśvāsaṁ)3 [and] inform the landholders whose nature is modest and those who get food, beginning with the brahmins4 in the small village Caṇḍa (caṇḍagrāmake) as follows:

(4–6) The villager Nābhaka petitions us : for the sake of the increase of my own merit and that of both my mother and my father, I wish to cause to dwell several noble Brahmins. Thus, be so kind as to make the favour of waste lands that are without revenue charges after receiving gold from me according to the custom of sale followed in the villages.

(6–7) Since it has been ascertained through the investigation made by the record-keeper Patradāsa that it is appropriate, he informs this custom of sale applies. Thus it ought to be given for the sake of his merit by the supreme lord favored by the Great King (ie. Brahmadatta) (parama-bhaṭṭāraka-mahārāja-pādena).

(7–11) After having again considered the certification given by the aforementioned (asyaiva) Patradāsa, after having collected from the hands of Nābhaka two dīnāras and after it has been received in cash (āyīkṛtya) by the two appointed guardians (sthāyapāla) Kapila and Śrībhadra, and after the landholders and the council beginning with the notables have looked for one kulya-vāpa of waste land that is without revenue charges on the south, west and east of the boundary of Satya and also near to the north of Vāyigrāma, after [this land] was separating by the measurement of eight per nine reeds and has been limited by four marks, it is given to Nāgadeva (ie. Nābhaka)5 and it shall be protected by those who will manage [this province] in the future after considering the merit [of protection]

(11–13) It has been said by the great sages :

I
The one who would steal land given by himself or another becomes a worm in excrement and is cooked with his ancestors.6
II
Land has been given by several kings beginning with Sagara. Whoever holds land at a given time, to him does the fruit belong.7
III
The giver of land delights sixty thousand years in heaven; the one who challenges (a donation) as well as the one who approves (of the challenge) will reside as many [years] in hell.8

Commentary

Bibliography

First noticed and edited in Basak 1919-1920.Re-edited by Pandey 1962-01-01, Sircar 1965, Bhandarkar et al. 1981, Agrawala 1983, Goyal 1993 and Balogh et al. 2019. Discussed in Basak 1925 and Pandey 1962-01-01, pp. 104–105. Translated by Basak 1919-1920, pp. 136–7 and Bhandarkar et al. 1981, pp. 337–9. The text is re-edited here by Amandine Wattelier-Bricout based on the photos of the plate furnished by Arlo Griffiths and using a digital edition created by Dániel Balogh for the Siddham project as starting point. Since some readings differ from the previous editions, they are reported in the apparatus.

Primary

[RB] Basak, Radhagovinda. 1919-1920. “The five Damodarpur copper-plate inscriptions of the Gupta period.” EI 15, pp. 113–145. Pages 134–7.

[P] Pandey, Raj Bali. 1962-01-01. The Chowkhamba Sanskrit Studies 23: Historical and Literary Inscriptions. No place: Zenodo. [URL]. Pages 104–5.

[DCS] Sircar, Dines Chandra. 1965. Select inscriptions bearing on Indian history and civilization. Volume I: from the sixth century B.C. to the sixth century A.D. 2nd edition revised and enlarged. Calcutta: University of Calcutta. Pages 332–4, entry 34.

[B] Bhandarkar, Devadatta Ramakrishna, Bahadur Chand Chhabra and Govind Swamirao Gai. 1981. Inscriptions of the early Gupta kings. Corpus inscriptionum indicarum 3, revised edition. New Delhi: Archaeological survey of India. Pages 335–9, entry 38.

[A] Agrawala, Prithvi Kumar. 1983. Imperial Gupta Epigraphs (गुप्ताधिराजलेखमण्डल). Ancient Indian Epigraphical Sources (प्रत्नाभिलेखसंहिता) X.1. Varanasi: Books Asia. Entry 52.

[G] Goyal, Śrīrām. 1993. गुप्तकालीन अभिलेख/Guptakālīna Abhilekha (Inscriptions of the Gupta Age). Jodhpur: Kusumanjali Prakashan. Pages 284–7.

[DB] Balogh, Dániel, Csaba Kiss and Eszter Somogyi. 2019. “Siddham Epigraphic Archive - Texts in EpiDoc [Data set].” Zenodo. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.2574901. [URL]. Item IN00044.

Secondary

Basak, Radhagovinda. 1925. “Land-Sale Documents of Ancient Bengal.” In: Sir Asutosh Mookerjee Silver Jubilee Volumes, Vol. III. Orientalia — Part 2. Edited by Unknown. Calcutta: Calcutta University, pp. 475–496. Pages 475–96.

Bhandarkar, Devadatta Ramakrishna. 1927-1936. A list of the inscriptions of northern India in Brahmi and its derivative scripts, from about 200 A. C.: Appendix to Epigraphia Indica and record of the Archaeological Survey of India, volumes XIX to XXIII. Calcutta: Archaeological Survey of India. [URL]. Page 175, entry 1286.

Notes

  1. 1. It is impossible for me to confirm the numbers, but one must believe Basak 1919-1920 who certainly have at his disposal a plate in a better state of preservation. He says in his introduction (Basak 1919-1920, p. 135) : “Numerical symbols for 10 and 3 are visible in the recording of the month (Āṣāḍha) in lne 1. The date in years is unfortunately lost; but the numerical figure 3 after what seems like the symbol for 60 is also visible before the word Āṣāḍha in line 1.”
  2. 2. I translated the locative absolute by the expression “during the reign of” in order to obtain a nominal sentence complying with the sanskrit syntax. I consider that the final iti in line 13 includes what begins by svasti to the end.
  3. 3. Bhandarkar et al. 1981 translates sa-viśvāsaṁ by “in conjunction with Viśvāsa”. He argues in note 7 that Viśvāsa could originally denoted the village accountant. The expression sa-viśvāsaṁ can be found in Monier-Williams and Leumann 1872, p. 1191 “with confidence”.
  4. 4. Here I translate my own reading : brāhmaṇādyānna-kṣudra-prakr̥ti-kuṭumvinaḥ. The reading brāhmaṇādhyānna-kṣudra-prakr̥ti-kuṭumvinaḥ suggested by Basak 1919-1920, Pandey 1962-01-01 and Sircar 1965 must be corrected by brāhmaṇāḍhyānna-kṣudra-prakr̥ti-kuṭumvinaḥ and its translation will be “the landholders whose nature is modest and those who get food along with the Brahmins”.
  5. 5. The name of the recipient of the gift is spelt Nābhaka in lines 4 and 8 and here Nāgadeva.
  6. 6. This verse corresponds to the verse numbered 132 among the Stanzas on Bhūmidāna listed by Sircar (see Sircar 1965, appendix II, pp. 170–200).
  7. 7. This verse corresponds to the verse numbered 23 among the Stanzas on Bhūmidāna listed by Sircar (see Sircar 1965, appendix II, pp. 170–200).
  8. 8. This verse corresponds to the verse numbered 123 among the Stanzas on Bhūmidāna listed by Sircar (see Sircar 1965, appendix II, pp. 170–200).