Boulder at Chaitanyapuri, Hyderabad

Editors: Arlo Griffiths, Vincent Tournier.

Identifier: DHARMA_INSEIAD00173.

Hand description:

Lettering typical of the 4th century CE.

Language: Middle Indo-Aryan.

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

Version: (a154659), last modified (72e3163).

Edition

⟨1⟩ purimavi(ḍā)lapāda(mūla)vāsaṁ puphagirimahā⟨2⟩vihārapatiṭhāpakasa vasudevasirīdāmasa mahā⟨3⟩vītarāgasa (madā) [1×]piṁḍapātika(dāma)dharasa ⟨4⟩ para(ṁ)parāgatasa (bamha)deva(ṭhe)virasa sisena (bhadaṁ)ta⟨5⟩saṁghadevena govidaṁrājavihārasa gaṁdhakuṭivārike(na) Ima ⟨6⟩ [2×]tasela ||(sa)ṁvāsa(va)raṁ pa(ti)ṭhāpitaṁ

Apparatus

⟨1⟩ purimavi(ḍā)lapāda(mūla)vāsaṁ ⬦ purimavi(ḍā)la pādaṁhulavāsaṁ Parabrahma Sastry 1984; purimavi(ḍā)la pāṁḍahulāvāsaṁ. — ⟨1⟩ puphagiri- ⬦ puḍhagiri Parabrahma Sastry 1984.

⟨2⟩ patiṭhāpakasa ⬦ patithāpakasa Parabrahma Sastry 1984. — ⟨2⟩ vasudevasirīdāmasa ⬦ vasudevasiridāmasa Parabrahma Sastry 1984 • It is tempting to see in both in this line and in the following a mistake for dha.

⟨3⟩ (madā)[1×]madāja Parabrahma Sastry 1984; mahā • This last reading ignores the third akṣara, which could be read as ku. — ⟨3⟩ -(dāma)dharasa Parabrahma Sastry 1984-vāmadharasa • The reading vāmadharasa is indeed possible, but it is not less difficult to make sense of. The epithet dha[ṁ]madhara (Skt. dharmadhara) would fit well within a compound having pi[ṁ]ḍapātika as first element, and we suggest to emend accordingly.

⟨4⟩ para(ṁ)parāgatasa ⬦ paraṁaparāgatasa Parabrahma Sastry 1984 • Printing error. — ⟨4⟩ (bamha)deva(ṭhe)virasa ⬦ bamradeva (the)virasa Parabrahma Sastry 1984; bahmadevathīvirasa • The reading of the first akṣara as ṭhe is tentative and this could also be read kha. The context however invites us to see in the second part of the compound a monastic title corresponding to Skt. sthavira, P. thera, Pkt. ṭhavira/ṭhera. The form ṭhevira, unattested so far, may be considered a hybrid comparable to the one leading to BHS sthera. Cf. CDIAL, s.v. sthavira.

⟨5⟩ govidaṁrājavihārasa ⬦ goviddaṁrāja - vihārasa Parabrahma Sastry 1984 • Emend goviṁdarāja-. — ⟨5⟩ gaṁdhakuṭivārike(na) Ima ⬦ gaṁdhaka civarika Parabrahma Sastry 1984; gaṁdhakuṭi vārikena ImaParabrahma Sastry 1984 ignored the last three akṣaras on the line.

⟨6⟩ [2×]tasela || Parabrahma Sastry 1984ṁ üdita sela • This part of the inscription is almost invisible. The second akṣara, though, looks like a da rather than a ta. Several printing errors make it difficult to understand what Ed. actually meant. — ⟨6⟩ saṁvāsa(va)raṁ ⬦ saṁvāsa dharaṁ Parabrahma Sastry 1984Parabrahma Sastry 1984 suggests emending gharaṁ. Ed. suggests instead reading varaṁ, which is not altogether impossible, in light of the unusual shape of the preceding .

⟨7⟩ pa(ti)_ṭhāpitaṁ • The reading of the second akṣara is unclear, but ti is possible. Still, there is enough space for an additional akṣara before ṭhā, and it is possible that an irregularity in the stone has caused the engraver to introduce a space, although he does not otherwise use spacing between words or part of words.

Translation

At the residence lying at the foot of the Eastern Vidāḷa, the reverend Saṅghadeva, keeper of the Perfume Chamber of King Govinda’s monastery, disciple of the venerable Bamhadeva—who stems from the line of Vasudevasirīdhama, he who established the great monastery at Puphagiri, who was entirely freed from passions, ... who lived [only] on begged food, and was a preserver of the Dharma—(within the?) … rock, established this excellent residence.

Bibliography

First described and edited by Parabrahma Sastry 1982 (Bharati) and Parabrahma Sastry 1984 (with alternative readings supplied by the editor of the journal, marked Ed. in the apparatus). Re-edited here from published documentation. Autopsy of the boulder was unfortunately not very helpful. First digital edition made by École française d’Extrême-Orient (Paris, France), realized in collaboration with the HiSoMA Research Centre (Lyon, France) and hosted by TGIR Huma-Num (France) as Early Inscriptions of Āndhradeśa, in 2015-2017.

Secondary

No name. 1887–. Annual report on Indian epigraphy. Madras; Calcutta; New Delhi: Government of Madras; Archaeological Survey of India. Pages 1983–84: no. B.4.

No name. N.d. Annual report of the Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabad: Department of Archaeology & Museums, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh. Pages 1982–83 (1988): 50–51.

No name. N.d. Annual report of the Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabad: Department of Archaeology & Museums, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh. Pages 1986–87 (1990): 33.

Schopen, Gregory. 1997. Bones, stones, and Buddhist monks: Collected papers on the archaeology, epigraphy, and texts of monastic Buddhism in India. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. Pages 268, 283 n. 47.

Hanumantha Rao, B. S. L., N. S. Ramachandra Murthy, B. Subrahmanyam and Īmani Śivanāgireḍḍi. 1998. Buddhist inscriptions of Andhradesa. Secunderabad: Ananda Buddha Vihara Trust. Pages 196–7.

Silk, Jonathan A. 2008. Managing monks: Administrators and administrative roles in Indian buddhist monasticism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pages 120–1.