Kanheri Cave 39 Left Wall Inscription

Editors: Kelsey Martini, Vincent Tournier.

Identifier: DHARMA_INSKI00030.

Hand description:

Language: Middle Indo-Aryan.

Repository: Satavahana (tfb-satavahana-epigraphy).

Version: 2025-08-30 17:58 (a6891e5), last modified 2025-08-28 17:41 (696917b).

Edition

Logical
Physical
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⟨1⟩ sidhaṃ ĀcariĀ(na) bhayatavirāṇaṃ bhatuno pavajitasa Āṇadasaa ⟨2⟩ leṇa deyadhamaṃ saṃghe Akhayanivi dinā Eto civarikaṁ dāta⟨3⟩(va) cha ka (d)[.](ka/na)(ṃ) sah(ā) savehi nāti(h)i

Apparatus

⟨1⟩ bhayatavirāṇaṃ ⬦ bhayatāta(rāna) B+B.

⟨3⟩ (va) _ cha ka (d)[.](ka/na)(ṃ)_ ⬦ chaka [1×]naṃ B+B; 20 kā(hāpaṇāni) G • The first akṣara is clearly cha and not 20 and Gokhale’s further restoration is impossible.

Translation by Kelsey Martini

Success! A cave, the meritorious gift of the wanderer Āṇada, brother of the venerable teacher Vira. [And] and akṣayanīvī is given in the Saṃgha. From this a cloth money is to be given, [cha] ka [ṭu]. Together with all the relatives.

Commentary

(3) _ cha ka (d)[.](ka/na)(ṃ)_ Although the exact reading and interpretation of this sequence (which is clearly demarcated from the surrounding text) is uncertain, it is clear that it is discussing the accrued funds which are to be disbursed. It is, however, unclear if it is clarifying the amount of funds or how it is that they are to be utilized. It is possible that the cha at the beginning of the phrase could stand for “six”.

Bibliography

Primary

[B+B] Burgess, James and Georg Bühler. 1883. Report on the Elura cave temples and the Brahmanical and Jaina caves in Western India: Completing the results of the fifth, sixth, and seventh seasons' operations of the Archaeological survey, 1877–78, 1878–79, 1879–80. Vol. 5. Archaeological Survey of Western India. London: Trübner & Co. Page 81, item 17.

[G] Gokhale, Shobhana. 1991. Kanheri inscriptions. Pune: Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute. Page 81, item 30.

Secondary

Stein, Otto. 1933. “Formal Elements in Indian Inscriptions.” Indian Historical Quarterly 9, pp. 215–226. Page 226 fn. 30.

Naik, A. V. 1948. “Inscriptions of the Deccan: an epigraphical survey (Circa 300 B.C.-1300 A.D.)” BDCRI 9 (1/2), pp. 1–160. [URL]. Pages 20, 22, 26.

Njammasch, Marlene. 1971. “Akhayanivi-Schenkungen an Klöster Und Tempel Im Dekhan Unter Den Sātavāhanas.” Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 24 (2), pp. 203–215. [URL]. Page 213.

Njammasch, Marlene. 1972. “Dorfverleihungen und Landschenkungen im Dekhan vom 1. bis zum 5. Jahrhundert u. Z.” Klio 54 (54), pp. 251–308. DOI: 10.1524/klio.1972.54.54.251. [URL]. Page 262.

Damsteegt, Theo. 1978. Epigraphical Hybrid Sanskrit: Its rise, spread, characteristics and relationship to Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit. Orientalia Rheno-Traiectina 23. Leiden: Brill. Pages 336, n. 120.

Ray, Himanshu Prabha. 1986. Monastery and guild: Commerce under the Sātavāhanas. Delhi: Oxford University Press. [URL]. Pages 103–104.

Ray, Himanshu Prabha. 1987. “Inscribed potsherds: A study.” Indica 24, pp. 1–14. Page 98.

Strauch, Ingo. 2021. “Money for rituals: akṣayanīvī and related inscriptions from Āndhradeśa.” In: Power, presence and space: South Asian rituals in archaeological context. Edited by Henry Albery, Jens-Uwe Hartmann and Himanshu Prabha Ray. Archaeology and Religion in South Asia. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 193–214. Page 206.

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