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

Editors: Arlo Griffiths, Vincent Tournier.

Identifier: DHARMA_INSEIAD00010.

Hand description:

Language: Middle Indo-Aryan.

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

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

Edition

⟨1⟩ sidhaṁ namo bhagavato devarājasakatasa supabudhabodhino savaṁñuno savasatā⟨nu⟩⟨2⟩kaṁpakasa jitarāgadosamohavipamutasa mahāgaṇivasabhagaṁdhahadhisa ⟨3⟩ saṁmasaṁbudhasa dhātuvaraparigahitasa mahācetiye Ujanikā mahāra⟨ja⟩balikā ⟨4⟩ mahādevi rudradharabhaṭarikā Imaṁ selakhaṁbhaṁ Apano hitasukhanivāṇadhanāya patiṭhapitaṁ ⟨5⟩ mahātalavarihi ca pūkiyānaṁ cāṁtisiriṇikāhi Imasa mahāvihārasa mahācetīyaṁ⟨mhi⟩ ⟨6⟩ samuthapiyamāne mahātalavarīsu Ubhayitā dinārimāsakā satarisataṁ 100 70 khaṁbho ca ⟨7⟩ raṁño sirivirapurisadatasa saṁva 6 vāpa 6 diva 10

Apparatus

⟨2⟩ -hadhisa • Emend -hathisa, following Vogel 1929–1930’s note 1.

⟨3⟩ Ujanikā mahāra⟨ja⟩balikā ⬦ Ujanikā mahārabalikā Vogel 1929–1930 • Vogel 1929–1930 proposes in his notes 2 and 3 to emend Ujenikā mahārājabālikā.

⟨4⟩ -nivāṇadhanāya • Vogel 1929–1930 proposes to emend -nivāṇāthanāya. This can be supported by referring to instances of the longer expression Ubhayalokahitasukhanivāṇathanāya at EIAD 8, l. 5-6; 13, l. 7; 18, l. 8; 21, l. 2. — ⟨4⟩ rudradharabhaṭarikā ⬦ rudradharabhaṭ(ā)rikā Vogel 1929–1930. — ⟨4⟩ patiṭhapitaṁ ⬦ patiṭh(ā)pitaṁ Vogel 1929–1930.

⟨5⟩ mahācetīyaṁ⟨mhi⟩ • Vogel 1929–1930 proposes to emend mahācetiye. But the form mahācetīyamhi is known from EIAD 12, l. 2; mahācetiyamhi from 13, l. 8.

⟨6⟩ mahātalavarīsu ⬦ mahātalavarīA Vogel 1929–1930.

Translation

(1–3) Success! Homage to the Bhagavant, worshipped by the king(s) of the gods, who completely realized Awakening, the Omniscient One, who is compassionate with all beings, who conquered and is released from lust, hate and delusion, the bull and rut elephant among great leaders, the Perfect Buddha who is ensconced in the excellent relic [or: element (i.e., nirvāṇadhātu)]!

(3–6) At the Great Shrine, the Great Queen Rudradharabhaṭṭārikā — child of the Great King, from Ujjayinī — established this stone pillar for the sake of well-being, happiness and nirvāṇa for herself. And while the Great Shrine of this great monastery was being erected by the Great-Talavara-wife Cāntisiriṇṇikā of the Pūkiyas and her people, (Rudradharabhaṭṭārikā) contributed to the Great-Talavara-wife one hundred and seventy — 170 — dīnārimāṣakas and a pillar.

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

Commentary

(6) 1

Bibliography

First described and edited by Vogel 1929–1930, pp. 13, 19 (B5). Edited again, from the EI estampage, by Sircar 1942, pp. 221–2 and Sircar 1965, pp. 230–1. Re-edited here from one of the two Leiden estampages 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. 13.

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 13.

Raghunath, K. 2001. The Ikṣvākus of Vijayapuri: A study of the Nagarjunakonda inscriptions. Delhi: Eastern Book Linkers. Pages 83–4 (no. 8).

Notes

  1. 1. Vogel 1929–1930, p. 19 notes that “The meaning probably is that the Queen Rudradharabhaṭārikā, besides dedicating a pillar, contributed a sum of 170 dināri-māsakas towards the expenses incurred by Cāṁtisiri for the building of the stūpa.”