Āyaka pillar from site 1 at Nagarjunakonda — reign of Siri-Vīrapurisadatta, year 6

Editors: Anonymous editor.

Identifier: DHARMA_INSEIAD00004.

Hand description:

Language: Prakrit.

Repository: Early Andhra (tfb-eiad-epigraphy).

Version: (9fa90aa), last modified (35386f0).

Edition

⟨1⟩ sidhaṁ namo bhagavato devarājasakatasa supabudhabodhino savaṁñuno ⟨2⟩ savasatānukaṁpakasa jitarāgadosamohavipamutasa mahāgaṇivasabha⟨3⟩gaṁdhahathisa saṁmasaṁ(budh)asa dhātuvaraparigahitasa mah(ā)cetiye mahārajasa ⟨4⟩ virūpakhapatimahāsenaparigahitasa hiraṇakoṭigosatasahasahalasa⟨5⟩tasaha⟨sa⟩padāyisa savathesu °apatihatasaṁkapasa vāsiṭhiputasa °ikhākusa ⟨6⟩ siricātamūlasa sodarā bhagini raṁño māḍharīputasa sirivirapurisadatasa ⟨7⟩ pituchā mahāsenāpatisa mahātalavarasa vāsiṭhīputasa pūkīyānaṁ kaṁdasiri(sa) ⟨8⟩ bhariyā samaṇabam⟨h⟩aṇakavaṇavanijakadīnānugahavelāmikadānapaṭibhagavo⟨9⟩chiṁnadhārapad(ā)yini savasādhuvachalā mahādānapatini mahātalavari khaṁdasāgaraṁṇakamātā ⟨10⟩ cātisiri °apano °ubhayakulasa °atichita m anāgatavaṭamānakānaṁ parināmetunaṁ ⟨11⟩ °ubhayalokahitasukhāvahathanāya °atano ca nivāṇasaṁpatisaṁpādake ⟨12⟩ savalokahitasukhāvahathanāya ca °imaṁ khaṁbhaṁ patithapitaṁ ti <symbol> ⟨13⟩ raṁño sirivīrapurisadatasa sava 6⟨⟨vāpa 6⟩⟩diva 10

Apparatus

⟨4-5⟩ satasaha⟨sa⟩padāyisa ⬦ satasaha⟨sa⟩dāyisa Vogeld.

⟨7⟩ vāsiṭhīputasa ⬦ vāsidhīputasa Vogeld.

Translation

(1–3) Success! Homage to the Bhagavant, worshipped by the king(s) of the gods, who completely realized Awakening, the Omniscient One, who is compassionate with all beings, who conquered and is released from lust, hate and delusion, the bull and rut elephant among great leaders, the Perfect Buddha who is ensconced in the excellent relic [or: element (i.e., nirvāṇadhātu)]!

(3–12) At the Great Shrine, Cāntisirī — uterine sister of Great King Vāsiṭṭhīputta Siri-Cāntamūla the Ikṣvāku, favored by Mahāsena who has Virūpākṣa as his lord, giver of tens of millions of (pieces of) gold, hundreds of thousands of cows and hundreds of thousands of plows (of land), whose will is unimpeded in all matters; paternal aunt of king Māṭharīputta Siri-Vīrapurisadatta; wife of Great General, Great Talavara Vāsiṭṭhīputta Kandasiri of the Pūkīyas; giver of an unequalled and uninterrupted stream of velāmika gifts as a favor to ascetics, brahmans, beggars, mendicants and the wretched; affectionate to all good people; great donor; Great-Talavara-wife, mother of Khandasāgaraṇṇaka — having dedicated (the merit) to the past, future and present members of her family on both sides, established this pillar for the sake of bringing about well-being and happiness in both worlds and for achieving the fortune of nirvāṇa for herself and for the sake of bringing about the well-being and happiness of all people.

(13) In the 6th year of King Siri-Vīrapurisadatta, in the 6th fortnight of the rainy season, on the 10th day.

Commentary

(3) dhātuvaraparigahita1

(4) virūpakhapatimahāsenaparigahita2

(7) pūkīyānaṁ3

Bibliography

First described and edited by Vogeld. Edited again, from the EI estampage, by Sircar1942 and Sircar1965. Re-edited here from the two estampage sheets held at Leiden and after autopsy of the one fragment of the stone that we have been able to identify.

Secondary

Srinivasan1979a

Tsukamoto1996

Raghunath2001

Notes

  1. 1. On the interpretation of this epithet, see Baums2016.
  2. 2. On the interpretation of this epithet, see Mann2012; Baums2016.
  3. 3. The Pūkīyas are mentioned in the same context in other insctiptions from the same site (EIAD 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 25, 40). It seems likely that this same ethnonym (?) lies behind the word pukiraṭhe in EIAD 329, and that puṣyakandīya in EIAD 53 is a Sanskritization of it.