Kanheri Cave 65 Verandah Inscription

Editors: Kelsey Martini, Vincent Tournier.

Identifier: DHARMA_INSKI00038.

Hand description:

Language: Middle Indo-Aryan.

Repository: Satavahana (tfb-satavahana-epigraphy).

Version: 2025-06-19 17:16 (d068857), last modified 2025-06-17 11:04 (ba31aa7).

Edition

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⟨1⟩ sidha Upāsakasa dh(e)ṇukākaḍayasa kulapiyasa ⟨2⟩ (dha)maṇakasa dhatuya pavaItikāya s(āpāya) th(e)⟨3⟩r(ā)ṇa bhadatabodhikāṇa poṇakāna Ātevasiṇi[ya] ⟨4⟩ leṇa deyadhama pāṇiyapoḍhi ca sahā bhagiṇiya ⟨5⟩ ratinikāya saha ca saveṇa nātisabadhi(va)[ge]⟨6⟩ṇa c(ā)t(u)dise bhikhusaghe Aṭha(su) puris(esu)[1×]⟨7⟩esu patiṭhāpita mātapitaro Udisa sāval(o)gasa ca ⟨8⟩ hitasughatha bhikhusaghasa Akhayanivi ca diṇā (E)t(o) ca (bhi)kh(u)⟨9⟩saṁghaṇa civarika dātava s(o)lasaka Utukāle ca (pa)[ṭike]

Apparatus

⟨1⟩ dh(e)ṇukākaḍayasa ⬦ dheṇukākaṭiyasa B+B; dheṇukākaṭiyasa G.

⟨3⟩ bhadatabodhikāṇa _ poṇakāṇa ⬦ bhadatabodhikāṇa B+B; bhadatabodhikāṇa poṇakāṇo G • B+B completely glosses over the clearly visible poṇakāṇa

⟨6⟩ Aṭha(su) puris(esu) ⬦ Aṭhasu puris(esu) B+B; Atha Apariselesu G • Comparison with the following line makes it clear that at least one and probably two more akṣaras were originally engraved after puri[s](esu), thus making Gokhale’s reading all the more unlikely. The frequent occurrence of the term sapurisa (Skt. satpuruṣa in early epigraphic records, and the possibility that sa has been dropped after su in the engraving process through pseudo-haplography, make it tempting to restore ⟨sa⟩puri[s](esu).

⟨7⟩ sāva l(o)gasa ca ⬦ sava(satāna) B+B; sava(satāna) G.

⟨9⟩ saṃghaṇa ⬦ saṃghena B+B; saṃghena G • There is no distinct mātra on either the eye-copy or photograph, or RTI. — ⟨9⟩ ca (pa)[ṭike] ⬦ ca [3+] B+B; ca [3+] G.

Translation

(1–8) Success! A cave and drinking cistern: the meritorious gift of the renunciant Sāpā — daughter of Dhammaṇṇaka of Dheṇukākaḍa who is dear to his family — pupil of the reverend elder Bodhika [and?] Poṇaka (Skt. Pūrṇaka?), together with her sister Ratiṇṇikā and together with the entire group of her relatives and connections. Established for the universal order of monks, for eight … individuals (?), on behalf of her mother and father, and for the purpose of the happiness and welfare of the whole world.

(8–9) And an akṣayanīvī is given to the order of monks. And from this a cloth money of sixteen is to be given to the order of monks and a paṭika in the (hot) season.

Commentary

B+B and G do not indicate the spacing between words. The upper left corner of the inscription is now peeled off, resulting in a loss of akṣaras in the first two lines. However, it was intact when West made his eye-copy and the reading is secure.

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 85, item 28.

[G] Gokhale, Shobhana. 1991. Kanheri inscriptions. Pune: Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute. Page 91, item 38.

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.

Dikshit, Moreshwar G. 1942. “A new Buddhist sect in Kanheri.” IHQ 18, pp. 60–63. Pages 60–63.

Naik, A. V. 1948. “Inscriptions of the Deccan: an epigraphical survey (Circa 300 B.C.-1300 A.D.)” Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute 9 (1/2), pp. 1–160. [URL]. Pages 4, 19, 21, 23, 26.

Kosambi, K. K. 1955. “Dhenukākaṭa.” JASBo 30 (2), pp. 50–71. [URL]. Page 57.

Lamotte, Etienne. 1958. Histoire du bouddhisme indien: des origines à l'ère Śaka. Bibliothèque du Muséon 43. Louvain: Université catholique de Louvain, Institut Orientaliste. Page 568.

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.

Hettiarachchy, Jayadevanandasara. 1973. “Buddhism in the Northern Deccan under the Śātavāhana Rulers (c. 30 B.C. - 225 A.D.)” Doctoral Thesis, University of London. London. Pages 135, 256.

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]. Page 51 fn. 19.

Shimada, Akira. 2018. “Royal and Non-Royal Patronage in the Early Deccan.” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 41, pp. 473–507. Page 491.

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.

Pandit, Suraj A. 2023/6. “Understanding Sacred Landscape Associated with Kanheri and its Reflections in Archaeological Material at the Site.” International Journal of Buddhist Thought and Culture 33 (1), pp. 93–123. DOI: 10.16893/IJBTC.2023.06.33.1.93. [URL]. Page 99.

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