Kanheri Cave 54 Entrance Inscription

Authors of digital edition: Kelsey Martini (kema), Vincent Tournier (vito).

Contributor: Kelsey Martini (kema).

Language: Middle Indo-Aryan (pra) [Script (other) (script_other)].

Repository: Satavahana (tfb-satavahana-epigraphy).

Identifier: DHARMA_INSKI00034.

File path: texts/DHARMA_INSKI00034.xml.

Version: 2026-08-16 19:50 (8c6fcee), last modified 2026-07-17 15:36 (581605e).

Edition

⟨1⟩ sidha(ṁ) therāṇa bhayaṁtaghos(ā)ṇa Ātevāsiniya
⟨2⟩ pavaItik(ā)A p(o)ṇakīAsaṇāA theriya leṇa
⟨3⟩ □ p(ā)ṇiyapoḍhi ca deyadhama saha bhagi-
⟨4⟩ niya saha ca □ samaṇapap(ā)Ake(h)i cātu-
⟨5⟩ dis(e) bhikhusaghe patiṭhapitā m(ā)□(tāp)[itaro]-
⟨6⟩ sa Akhayanivi ca saghasa dinā kāhāpaṇa satāni (be)
⟨7⟩ Eto ciArika solasaka paḍik(o) mās(e) ca Utuk(ā)le sava
⟨8⟩ l(o)ka(sa) hitasughatha 卍

Apparatus

⟨1⟩ Ātevāsiniya ⬦ Atevāsiṇiye B&B; Atevāsiṇiye G •

⟨3⟩ □ p(ā)ṇiyapoḍhi ⬦ [3+] pāṇiyapoḍhi B&B; [3+] pāṇiyapoḍhi G • The space is likely caused by a crack running through the stone and no text is missing.

⟨4⟩ ca □ ⬦ ca [3+] B&B; ca [3+] G • The space is the result of the same crack as the line above and no text is missing. — ⟨4⟩ samaṇapap(ā)Ake(h)i ⬦ samaṇapapaAkehi B&B; samaṇapāpaAkehi G.

⟨5⟩ patiṭhapitā ⬦ patiṭhāpitā B&B; patiṭhāpitā G. — ⟨5⟩ m(ā)□(tāp)[itaro] • Both ASWI V and Gokhale do not acknowledge the space between mā- and -tā, however it is clear on the eye-copy and photographs and is from the same crack as the above two lines.

Translation

⟨1–5⟩ Success! A cave and drinking cistern: the meritorious gift of the wandering elder Poṇakī°asaṇā, the pupil of the reverend elder Ghosa. Together with the sister and together with the samaṇas and lay followers (? samaṇapapāAkehi). Established for the universal order of monks, assigned to the mother and father.

⟨6–8⟩ And an akṣayanīvī is donated to the Saṃgha, two hundred kahāpaṇas. From this, a cloth money of sixteen and a paḍika per month in the (hot) season. For the purpose of the welfare and happiness of all beings.

Commentary

The text of the inscription is not interrupted by the spaces in lines 3-5 which indicates that the crack in the writing surface existed at the time of engraving.

⟨4⟩ samaṇapap(ā)Ake(h)i. The meaning of this compound is not entirely clear. ASWI V states “I am unable to determine the meaning of the compound samaṇapapaakehi, though the first part is clearly śramaṇa. Possibly it may be a mistake for samaṇopāsakehi”. This is certainly better than Gokhale’s interpretation “brothers who entered into monkhood (śramanaya prapādakaihi)”.

Bibliography

Primary

[B&B] Burgess, James & 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 83, item 21.

[G] Gokhale, Shobhana. 1991. Kanheri inscriptions. Pune: Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute. Page 88, item 34.

Secondary

Senart, Émile. 1905–1906. “The inscriptions in the caves at Nasik.” EI 8, pp. 59–96. [URL]. Page 83.

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 19–20, 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]. Pages 213–214.

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]. Pages 262, 305–306.

Damsteegt, Theo. 1978. Epigraphical Hybrid Sanskrit: Its rise, spread, characteristics and relationship to Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit. Orientalia Rheno-Traiectina 23. Leiden: Brill. Page 312 n. 127.

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

Hanumantha Rao, B. S. L. Hanumantha. 1987. “Were the Bhadrayaniyas Immigrants from Dhanyakataka?” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress 48, pp. 47–51. [URL]. Pages 51, fn. 19.

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 & Himanshu Prabha Ray. Archaeology and Religion in South Asia. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 193–214. Page 206.

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