Kanheri Cave 99 Inscription
Editor: Kelsey Martini.
Identifier: DHARMA_INSKI00083.
Hand description:
Language: Middle Indo-Aryan.
Repository: Satavahana (tfb-satavahana-epigraphy).
Version: (f8e3cba), last modified (57ec3da).
Edition
⟨1⟩ <svastikaRight> sidhaṁ therānaṁ bhaya(ṁ)tamitabh(ū)tinaṁ ⟨2⟩ leṇaṁ sāgarapaloganaṁ deyadhama<svastikaLeft>
Apparatus
Translation
Success! The cave Sāgarapalogana (“view on the ocean”): a meritorious gift for the venerable elder Mittabhūti
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 84, item 23.
[G] Gokhale, Shobhana. 1991. Kanheri inscriptions. Pune: Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute. Page 147, item 56.
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.)” Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute 9 (1/2), pp. 1–160. [URL]. Page 19.
Mukherjee1960
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<lb n="1"/><g type="svastikaRight"/> sidhaṁ therānaṁ bhaya<unclear>ṁ</unclear>tamitabh<unclear>ū</unclear>tinaṁ
<lb n="2"/>leṇaṁ sāgarapaloganaṁ deyadhama<g type="svastikaLeft"/>
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<lem>bhaya<unclear>ṁ</unclear>ta</lem>
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<p>Success! The cave Sāgarapalogana (“view on the ocean”): a meritorious gift for the venerable elder Mittabhūti</p>
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<p>Gokhale is certainly correct when she states that “It appears that <foreign>sāgarapalogana</foreign> was the name of the cave. The cave is rightly named as it commands a fine view of the Bassein creek and the sea beyond.” Named caves are found with some frequency in the early Sri Lankan inscriptions.</p>
<p>It is not entirely clear if the cave is the meritorious gift Mitabhūti or if it was made for him, but it is most likely the latter as it would be highly unusual for a monk to refer to himself in the plural (cf. III Karl 3 <foreign>therānaṃ bhaṃyaṃta-iṃdadevasa</foreign>).</p>
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Commentary
Gokhale is certainly correct when she states that “It appears that sāgarapalogana was the name of the cave. The cave is rightly named as it commands a fine view of the Bassein creek and the sea beyond.” Named caves are found with some frequency in the early Sri Lankan inscriptions.
It is not entirely clear if the cave is the meritorious gift Mitabhūti or if it was made for him, but it is most likely the latter as it would be highly unusual for a monk to refer to himself in the plural (cf. III Karl 3 therānaṃ bhaṃyaṃta-iṃdadevasa).