# Kanheri Cave 2 Inscription, Right Side of Back Wall

Kelsey Martini and Vincent Tournier

Authors of digital edition: Kelsey Martini, Vincent Tournier

Contributor: Kelsey Martini

Identifier: DHARMA_INSKanheri00003

Repository: Early Western Deccan (tfb-earlywesterndeccan-epigraphy)

File path: xml/DHARMA_INSKanheri00003.xml

Language: Middle Indo-Aryan [Script (unspecified)]

Commit: 2026-09-17 08:03 (159f390), last modified 2026-09-17 05:29
(3d6ac09)

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## Edition

⟨1⟩ kalīyanā suvaṇakerasa samida⟨2⟩tasa saha saṁgh(ā)ṇa pani□ka
deyadhaṁmaṁ

## Apparatus

⟨1⟩ suvaṇakerasa ⬦ suvaṇakorasa B&B; suvaṇakorasa G • Understand
suvaṇakārasa — ⟨1⟩ samida⟨2⟩tasa ⬦ sāmidatasa G.

⟨2⟩ saṁgh(ā)ṇa ⬦ saghana B&B; saghana G • Both B+B and G suggest to
emend saghena. Both the eye copy and photographs show -ghā-, while the
photographs suggest that -ṇa is correct. The reading of the last akṣara
could also be -ne. See Commentary.

## Translation

A panika: The meritorious gift of Sāmidatta, a goldsmith from Kalyan,
together with/for the Saṁgha

## Commentary

Regarding l. 2 saghaṇa, it is tempting to accept the gen. pl. saghāṇa as
indicating the beneficiaries of the gift, however this does not account
for the preceding saha, which would call for an instrumental. The
personal name Saṁgha is very common in the inscriptions of the Deccan,
as it is, for instance, in the Niya documents.

## 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 75, item 3.

[G] Gokhale, Shobhana. 1991. Kanheri inscriptions. Pune: Deccan College
Post Graduate and Research Institute. Page 47, item 3.

### Secondary

[Naik] 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, 21–23.

[Lam] 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.

[Hett] 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 114, 192.

Nagaraju1979_1

[Naga2] Nagaraju, S. 1981. Buddhist Architecture of Western India (c.
250 B.C.- c. A.D. 300). Delhi: Agam Kala Prakashan. Pages 192–193.

[Joshi] Joshi, Reena. 2020. “A Study of Hydro Resource Management at
Early Historic Site of Kanheri, Maharashtra: An Engineering
Perspective.” Internation E-Journal of Advances in Social Sciences VI
(16), pp. 340–348. Page 346.