Floor slabs from apsidal temple of site 1 at Nagarjunakonda — reign of Siri-Vīrapurisadatta, year 18

Editors: Anonymous editor.

Identifier: DHARMA_INSEIAD00028.

Hand description:

Language: Prakrit.

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

Version: (9fa90aa), last modified (35386f0).

Edition

⟨1⟩ si(dhaṁ) <symbol>namo bhagavato budhasa cetiyaghar⟨e⟩ mahāraja(sa) (v)i(rūpakhapat)imahāsenaparigahitasa °agihotagiṭhomavājapeyāsamedhayājisa °anekahiranakoḍigosatasahasahalasatasa⟨hasa⟩padāyisa savathesu °apatihatasaṁkapasa vāseṭhiputasa °ikhāku⟨ku⟩lasa siricātamulasa sahodāra bhagini mahātalavarasa vāseṭhiputasa pugiyāna khaṁdasirisa bhariya mahātalavari khaṁdasāgaraṁnagamatā cātisiri °apano jāmatukasa raño maṭhariputasa °ikhakunaṁ sirivirapurisadatasa °ayuvadhanike ve(ja)yike ⟨2⟩ °apano ca °ubhaya(lo)kahitasukhanivānatha(nā)ya bhagavato saṁmasa(ṁ)budhasa dhātuparigahitasa ma⟨⟨hā⟩⟩cetiyapādam(ū)le pavajitānaṁ nānādesasamanāgatānaṁ savasādhūnaṁ mahā(bhi)khusaghasa °apa(no) ca °ubhayakulasa °atichita m anāgatavaṭamanake nikapanike (ca) parinā(me)tunaṁ °aparamahāvinaselīyanaṁ parigahe savaniyuta cātusalaparigahitaṁ selamaṁṭava patiṭhapitaṁ raṁño sirivīrapurisadatasa saṁvacharaṁ °aṭhārasaṁ 108hemaṁtapakhaṁ chaṭhaṁ 6divasaṁ paṁcamaṁ 5savasatānaṁ hitaya sukhāya hotu ti

Apparatus

⟨1⟩ cetiyaghar⟨e⟩ ⬦ cetiyaghara Vogeld • By contrast with Vogel, who took cetiyaghara as a nominative singular, we follow here the suggestion of Sircar1942; Sircar1965, in interpreting it as a mistake for cetiyaghare. This is supported by the similarity of construction with the pillar inscriptions, where mahācetiye opens the main sentence after the opening invocation. — ⟨1⟩ °agihotagi- ⬦ °agihot⟨ā⟩gi- Vogeld • It is tempting to follow Vogel’s emendation, although it is not impossible to understand the form transmitted by this inscription as reflecting a MIA sandhi. — ⟨1⟩ -hiranakoḍi- ⬦ -hiranakoṭi- Vogeld • The form usually encountered is -hiraṁṇakoṭi- (e.g., EIAD 9, l. 3; EIAD 12, l. 3). — ⟨1⟩ siricātamulasa ⬦ siricātamūlasa Vogeld. — ⟨1⟩ sahodāra ⬦ sahodār⟨ā⟩ Vogeld. — ⟨1⟩ pugiyāna ⬦ pugiyāna⟨ṁ⟩ Vogeld. — ⟨1⟩ bhariya ⬦ bhariy⟨ā⟩ Vogeld. — ⟨1⟩ sāgaraṁnagamatā ⬦ sāgaraṁnagam⟨ā⟩tā Vogeld. — ⟨1⟩ jāma(tu)kasa ⬦ jām⟨ā⟩tukasa Vogeld • The tu is unusually realized, as in l. 2 dhātu. — ⟨1⟩ maṭhariputasa ⬦ m⟨ā⟩ṭhariputasa Vogeld. — ⟨1⟩ °ikhakunaṁ ⬦ °ikh⟨ā⟩kunaṁ Vogeld.

⟨2⟩ -nivānathanāya bhagavato ⬦ -(nivāṇathanāya) Vogeld • Note that Vogel and Sircar omit a whole word. — ⟨2⟩ dhātuparigahitasa • This compound occurs elsewhere as dhātuvaraparigahitasa. While it is possible that the two syllables ⟨vara⟩ to have been omitted by the engraver, similarly to his obvious omission of ⟨hasa⟩ (l. 1), this might also constitute a significant variant. — ⟨2⟩ mahā(bhi)khusaghasa ⬦ mahābhikhusa(ṁ)ghasa Vogeld. — ⟨2⟩ -vaṭamanake ⬦ -vaṭamānake Vogeld. — ⟨2⟩ -selīyanaṁ ⬦ -seliy⟨ā⟩naṁ. — ⟨2⟩ savaniyuta ⬦ savaniyuta(ṁ) Vogeld. — ⟨2⟩ cātusala- • Vogeld suggests to emend the reading into catusāla-, but the parallel formula in EIAD 24 also shows cātu-. — ⟨2⟩ selamaṁṭava ⬦ selamaṁṭava(ṁ) Vogeld. — ⟨2⟩ patiṭhapitaṁ ⬦ patiṭh⟨ā⟩pitaṁ Vogeld. — ⟨2⟩ sirivīrapurisadatasa ⬦ sirivirapurisadatasa Vogeld. — ⟨2⟩ °aṭhārasaṁ ⬦ °aṭhāra saṁ Vogeld. — ⟨2⟩ hitaya ⬦ hit⟨ā⟩ya Vogeld.

Translation

(1) Success! Homage to the Bhagavant, the Buddha!

(1–2) At the shrine hall (cetiyaghara), Cāntisirī — uterine sister of Great King Vāsiṭṭhīputta Siri-Cāntamūla of the Ikṣvāku family, favored by Mahāsena who has Virūpākṣa as his lord, sacrificer of the Agnihotra, the Agniṣṭoma, the Vājapeya and the Aśvamedha, giver of many times 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 the Great Talavara Vāsiṭṭhīputta Kandasiri of the Pūkīyas, Great-Talavara-wife, mother of Khandasāgaraṇṇaka — in order to increase the lifespan and leading to victory after victory of her son-in-law, King Māṭharīputta Siri-Vīrapurisadatta of the Ikṣvākus, and for the sake of bringing about well-being and happiness in both worlds and nirvāṇa for herself, at the base of the Great Shrine of the Bhagavant, the Perfect Buddha, who is ensconced in the excellent relic [or: element (i.e., nirvāṇadhātu)], for the great community of monks (consisting) of all good renunciants who come from various countries – having dedicated (the merit) to the past, future and present members of her family on both sides and to nikapanīka –, established in the possession of the Aparamahāvinaseliyas a stone pavillion equipped with everything and enclosed by a quadrangular compound.

(2) In the eighteenth — 18th — year of King Siri-Vīrapurisadatta, in the sixth — 6th — fortnight of winter, on the fifth — 5th — day. May it be for the well-being and happiness of all beings.

Commentary

This inscription has the particularity of writing many syllables with expected ā as a. Vogel corrects them by editing [ā], which should correspond to [ā] of our conventions but in fact indicates here an editorial addition, having the same function of [*x], when the editor supplies a missing anusvāra in pugiyāna (l. 1), or in his edition of other inscriptions (see for instance EIAD 30). Elsewhere, he uses the brackets [...] to mark damaged akṣaras that can still be read (cf. Vogeld), which corresponds to our use of these brackets. In order to clarify as much as possible this inconsistent practice, we have thus marked Vogel’s suggested editorial additions with pointy brackets ⟨ ⟩ in our apparatus. Also, since the number of missing markers of vowel lengths is substantial, we have made only a minimum of corrections to the text.

Bibliography

First described and edited by Vogeld, and then by Sircar1965. Edited again, from the EI estampage, by Sircar1942 and Sircar1965. Re-edited here from Vogel’s estampage and after autopsy of the stone slabs.

Secondary

Srinivasan1979a

Tsukamoto1996

Raghunath2001

Soundara_Rajan2006