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

Editors: Arlo Griffiths, Vincent Tournier.

Identifier: DHARMA_INSEIAD00007.

Hand description:

Language: Middle Indo-Aryan.

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

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

Edition

⟨1⟩ sidhaṁ namo bhagavato saṁmasaṁbu⟨dha⟩sa dhātuvaraparigahitasa mahācetīye ⟨2⟩ mahāsenāpatisa mah(ā)talavarasa vāsiṭhīputasa pūkīyānaṁ mahākaṁdasirisa ⟨3⟩ bhayā mahāsenāpatisa mahātalavarasa viṇhusirisa mātā mahātalavari Apano ⟨4⟩ Ubhayakulaṁ parināmet(u)⟨na⟩ Atano Ubhayalokahitasukhanivāṇatha⟨nā⟩ya ca Imaṁ ⟨5⟩ selakhaṁbhaṁ patiṭhapitaṁ mahārajasa sirivirapurisadatasa saṁva 6 vāpa 6 diva 10

Apparatus

⟨1⟩ mahācetīye ⬦ mahācetiye Vogel 1929–1930.

⟨2⟩ mahākaṁdasirisa • Or should we edit {mahā}kaṁdasirisa?

⟨4⟩ -nivāṇatha⟨nā⟩ya ⬦ -nivāṇathaya Vogel 1929–1930 • The restitution is imposed by unanimous evidence from parallel passages: EIAD 4, l. 11 Ubhayalokahitasukhāvahathanāya; 8, l. 5-6 -sukhanivāṇathanāya; 11, l. 8 Ubhayalokahitasukhāvahathanāya; 13, l. 7 Ubhayalokahitasukhanivāṇathanāya; 15, l. 5 Ubhayalokahitasukhāvahathanāya; 18, l. 8 Ubhayalokahitasukhanivāṇathanāya; 21, l. 2 Ubhayalokahitasukhanivāṇathanāya. — ⟨4⟩ parināmet(u)⟨na⟩ • The u is unusually round, and it is not impossible that ū was intended.

Translation

(1) Success! Homage to the Bhagavant, the Perfect Buddha who is ensconced in the excellent relic [or: element (i.e., nirvāṇadhātu)]!

(1–5) At the Great Shrine, the wife of Great General, Great Talavara Vāsiṭṭhīputta Big Kandasiri of the Pūkīyas, mother of Great General, Great Talavara Viṇhusiri, Great-Talavara-wife, having dedicated (the merit) to her own family on both sides, established this stone pillar for the sake of well-being and happiness in both worlds and nirvāṇa for herself.

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

Bibliography

First described and edited by Vogel 1929–1930, pp. 14, 20–1 (C5). Re-edited here from the Leiden estampage and after autopsy 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. 16.

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 16.

Raghunath, K. 2001. The Ikṣvākus of Vijayapuri: A study of the Nagarjunakonda inscriptions. Delhi: Eastern Book Linkers. Pages 80–1 (no. 6A).