Āyaka pillar from site 1 at Nagarjunakonda — reign of Siri-Vīrapurisadatta, year 6

Editors: Arlo Griffiths, Vincent Tournier.

Identifier: DHARMA_INSEIAD00005.

Hand description:

Language: Middle Indo-Aryan.

Repository: Early Andhra (tfb-eiad-epigraphy).

Version: (a154659), last modified (77e39b7).

Edition

⟨1⟩ sidhaṁ namo bhagavato devarājasakatasa saṁma{saṁma}saṁbudhasa dhātuvara⟨2⟩parigahitasa mahācetiye mahārajasa virūpakhapatimahāsenaparigahitasa ⟨3⟩ Agihotāgiṭho{giṭho}mavājapeyāsamedhayājisa hiraṇakoṭigosata⟨4⟩sahasahalasatasahasapadāyisa savathesu Apatihatasaṁkapasa ⟨5⟩ vāsiṭhīputasa Ikhākusa siricātamūlasa sodaraya bhaginiya haṁma⟨6⟩siriṁṇikāya bālikā raṁño sirivirapurisadatasa bhayā mahādevi bapisiriṁṇikā ⟨7⟩ Apano mātaraṁ haṁmasiriṇikaṁ parinam⟨e⟩tuna Atane ca nivāṇasaṁpatisa⟨ṁ⟩pādake ⟨8⟩ Imaṁ selathaṁbhaṁ patiṭhapitaṁ Acari(yā)naṁ Aparamahāvinaseliyānaṁ suparigahita⟨ṁ⟩ ⟨9⟩ Imaṁ mahācetiyanavakamaṁ paṁṇagāmavathavānaṁ dīghamajhimapaṁdamātukadesa⟨kavā⟩cakānaṁ ⟨10⟩ A⟨ca⟩rayāna Ayirahaghāna Aṁtevāsikena dīghama⟨jhima⟩nigayadharena bhadaṁtānaṁdena ⟨11⟩ niṭhapita Ima navakama mahācetiya khaṁbhā ca ṭhapitā ti raṁño s⟨i⟩riviripurisadatasa ⟨12⟩ saṁva 6 vāpa 6 diva 10

Apparatus

⟨5⟩ -mūlasa • The shape of the ū is unusual, with the length marker stemming from the centre of the akṣara. — ⟨5⟩ sodaraya ⬦ sodarāya Vogel 1929–1930 • Understand sodarāya.

⟨7⟩ parinam⟨e⟩tuna Atane • In his n. 10, Vogel proposes to read parināmetūna[ṁ] Atano. While it indeed seems necessary to emend atano, the spelling parināmetuna is found in the same context in at least four other inscriptions (EIAD 12, l. 7; 14, l. 8; 18, l. 8; 19, l. 9) and so must be accepted as intentional. — ⟨7⟩ -sa⟨ṁ⟩pādake ⬦ -saṁpādake Vogel 1929–1930.

⟨8⟩ selathaṁbhaṁ • Emend selakhaṁbhaṁ? The compound is normally with -khaṁbha. — ⟨8⟩ patiṭhapitaṁ ⬦ patithapitaṁ Vogel 1929–1930.

⟨9⟩ -paṁdamātuka- • Emend -paṁcamātuka-, as in EIAD 6, l. 11.

⟨10⟩ A⟨ca⟩rayāna ⬦ Arayāna(ṁ) Vogel 1929–1930 • Vogel proposes to emend ācariyānaṁ. This is supported by EIAD 6, l. 11, but Acariyāna⟨ṁ⟩ is also a possibility that is supported internally (by l. 8 of the present inscription). — ⟨10⟩ Ayirahaghāna ⬦ Ayirahaghāna(ṁ) Vogel 1929–1930 • Understand Ayirahaṁghānaṁ, cf. 6, l. 11. — ⟨10⟩ dīghama⟨jhima⟩nigayadharena ⬦ dīghamanigayadharena Vogel 1929–1930 • The restitution was already proposed by Vogel in a note, with reference to 6, l. 12.

⟨11⟩ niṭhapita Ima navakama mahācetiya ⬦ niṭhapita(ṁ) ima(ṁ) navakama(ṁ) mahācetiya(ṁ) Vogel 1929–1930 • The parallel in 6, l. 12, shows that nithapitaṁ Imaṁ navakamaṁ mahācetiyaṁ is indeed to be understood, but we hesitate to assume involuntary omission of four anusvāras in a row. — ⟨11⟩ khaṁbhā ⬦ khambhā Vogel 1929–1930.

Translation

(1–2) Success! Homage to the Bhagavant, worshipped by the king(s) of the gods, the Perfect Buddha who is ensconced in the excellent relic [or: element (i.e., nirvāṇadhātu)]!

(2–11) At the Great Shrine, the Great Queen Bapisiriṇṇikā — child of Hammasiriṇṇikā, uterine sister of Great King Vāsiṭṭhīputta Siri-Cāntamūla the Ikṣvāku, favored by Mahāsena who has Virūpākṣa as his lord, sacrificer of the Agnihotra, the Agniṣṭoma, the Vājapeya and the Aśvamedha, giver of tens of millions of (pieces of) gold, hundreds of thousands of cows and hundreds of thousands of plows (of land), whose will is unimpeded in all matters; wife of king Siri-Vīrapurisadatta — having dedicated (the merit) to her own mother Hammasiriṇṇikā and for accomplishing the fortune of nirvāṇa for herself established this stone pillar. This construction of the Great Shrine has been firmly received by the Aparamahāvinaseliya teachers. This construction[, namely this] Great Shrine has been completed and the pillars established by the venerable Ānanda, preserver of the Long and Middle Divisions, pupil of the master, the noble Haṅgha, resident of the village Paṇṇa, the instructor and transmitter of the Long and Middle (Divisions) and the Five Matrices.

(11–12) In the 6th year of King Siri-Vīrapurisadatta, in the 6th fortnight of the rainy season, on the 10th day.

Commentary

(5) -mūlasa1

(9–10) paṁṇagāmavathavānaṁ ... Ayirahaghāna2

Bibliography

First described and edited by Vogel 1929–1930, pp. 14, 19–20 (C2). Edited again, from the EI estampage, by Sircar 1942, pp. 222–4 and Sircar 1965, pp. 231–3. Re-edited here from the Leiden estampage sheets and after autopsy of the fragments of the stone.

Secondary

Srinivasan, P. R. and S. Sankaranarayanan. 1979. Inscriptions of the Ikshvāku period. Epigraphical Series 14. Hyderabad: Govt. of Andhra Pradesh. Page no. 14.

Tsukamoto Keishō 塚本啓祥. 1996. インド仏教碑銘の研究 I, Text, Note, 和訳 Indo Bukkyō himei no kenkyū I: Text, Note, Wayaku [A comprehensive study of the Indian Buddhist inscriptions, Part I: Text, Notes and Japanese Translation]. Kyōto-shi 京都市: Heirakuji Shoten 平楽寺書店. Page no. Naga 14.

Raghunath, K. 2001. The Ikṣvākus of Vijayapuri: A study of the Nagarjunakonda inscriptions. Delhi: Eastern Book Linkers. Page 74 (no. 5).

Notes

  1. 1. the shape of the -ū is unusual, with the length marker stemming from the centre of the akṣara.
  2. 2. We interpret this sequence in the genitive plural as a pluralis majestatis, considering that the term antevāsika (fem. antevāsinī) as a rule follows the name of a single individual. Genetive plurals are similarly used in the Kanaganahalli corpus. See Nakanishi and von Hinüber 2014, pp. 42–43, p. 91. Vogel translated instead “a disciple of the Masters od the Ārya-saṅgha who are resident in Paṁṇagāma and who are preachers and preceptors of the Dīgha and Majjhima-(nikāyas), and of the five Mātṛkas.” Cf. Vogel 1929–1930, p. 20 On the basis of this interpretation, Lamotte saw in the occurrence of ayirahaṅgha and that of EIAD 6, l. 11, hints that the Aparamahāvinaseliyas represented themselves as Mahāsāṅghikas. Cf. Lamotte 1958, pp. 580, 582