Pillar from Guṇṭupalli ― reign of Nandivarman II, year 4 or 44

Editors: Anonymous editor.

Identifier: DHARMA_INSEIAD00164.

Hand description:

Language: Sanskrit.

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

Version: (9fa90aa), last modified (5c8ec9e).

Edition

⟨1⟩ svasti śrīvijayaveṅgīpurāt· śalaṅkakulāmalākāśaśaśāṅkasya bhagavattām(m)ra(bha)ktyā kr̥tadharmmanava [3+] ⟨2⟩ viṣṇugr̥hacāturvvaidyaśālādya(ne)kavidha(pu)ṇyakarmmaparipūtayaśaśśarīrasya nānāprakā(ra)[viṣaya]⟨3⟩rasavijayasya mahārājasadr̥śadhanavisarggasya bhūpatisattamas(ya) [śrīhasti]⟨4⟩varmmadharmmamahārājasya prapautraḥ dayānukampāparāyaṇasyānekaśatasahasrahi[raṇyagobhū]⟨5⟩(jī)vatarupradānārjjitadharmmasya prajānāndīkarasya śrīnandivarmmamahārājasya (pautraḥ) [°īṣanmā]⟨6⟩tropakārāpakārakr̥tapratīkārasya pratāpopanatasāmantasya prabhūtaprak(ā)[madhanapra]⟨7⟩dasya dviṭpakṣacaṇḍadaṇḍasya mahārājācaṇḍavarmmaṇaḥ putro bhagavaccitra[rathasvāmipādā]⟨8⟩nuddhyāto bappabhaṭṭārakapādabhaktaḫ paramabhāgavataś śālaṅkāyanavaṁśaprabhavo [mahārājaśrī]⟨9⟩vijayanandivarmmā (veṅgī)viṣayamutuḍabhū(ta)ṭṭā(ṇḍa)kagrāmeyakān (samā)jñāpaya[ti] [<symbol>][°asti] [cāyaṁ] [grāmaḥ] ⟨10⟩ (°a)s(ma)tkulagotrābhīvr̥ddhaye (dhātu) [5×](sya) (daśabalasukr̥tabalinas) (tyāga) ⟨Fragment right⟩ ⟨11⟩ ⟨Fragment left⟩bhagavato buddhasya śiṣyāṇāṁ sa(dmano) bhara(ṇārthaṁ) ṣaṣṭe(ndri)yodbhūtānubhūta ⟨Fragment right⟩ ⟨12⟩ ⟨Fragment left⟩varṣṣiṇo kṣullakānandasthaviravasupī(ṭhācāryyāya?) nā(ta)viṣaye °ā ⟨Fragment right⟩ ⟨13⟩ ⟨Fragment left⟩(nā?)garājena °ātmanaḥ puṇyapratāpasatyayaśo[bhivr̥ddhaye] […]vihārani[vāsināṁ] ⟨Fragment right⟩ ⟨14⟩ ⟨Fragment left⟩siddhārthakānāṁ vima […]ritaḥ […]to […]vāsi(ne) ⟨Fragment right⟩ ⟨15⟩ ⟨Fragment left⟩sthānavarāya sarvvabhūtaśaraṇāya […]variṣṭhāyo ⟨Fragment right⟩ ⟨16⟩ ⟨Fragment left⟩(ya)tivarāya °ācandrārkkatārakapr̥thi[vīsamakālaṁ] […] ⟨17⟩ ⟨Fragment left⟩(saddhāmasya) vihāra(sya) […]dāyapradeyaṁ ⟨Fragment right⟩ ⟨18⟩ ⟨Fragment left⟩dadhyatakra […]sāmantabhaṭṭavara(bhūparihāraṁ) [vandyamā]⟨19⟩[nasphu](ra)daṅghri(bhyaḥ) buddhaśiṣyebhyaḥ sa[mpradattaḥ] ⟨20⟩ [paṭṭi]kā dat(t)ā (saṁ) [1×]°iti <symbol>

I. Anuṣṭubh

bahubhir vvasudhā bhu(ktā)

a

(bahu)bhiś cānu[pālitā]

b

[yasya] [yasya] [yadā] [bhūmiś]

c

[tasya] [ta]⟨21⟩[sya] tadā phalam· (<symbol>)

d
II. Anuṣṭubh

ṣaṣṭivarṣṣasahasrā(ṇi)

a

(svargge) (ti)[ṣṭhati] [bhūmidaḥ]

b

[°ākṣeptā] [cānumantā] [ca]

c

⟨22⟩ [tāny] [eva] narake vaset· <symbol>

d
III. Anuṣṭubh

bhūmidānāt paran dānan

a

na bhūtan na bhavi[ṣyati]

b

[tasyaiva] [haraṇāt] [pāpan]

c

[na] [bhūtan] [na] ⟨23⟩ [bha]viṣyati <symbol>

d
IV. Anuṣṭubh

yathā candramaso vr̥ddhir

a

ahany ahani (jāyate)

b

(tathā) bhūmikr̥taṁ pu[ṇyam]

c

[sasye] [sasye] [vivarddhate] [<symbol>]

d

Apparatus

⟨1⟩ -tām(m)rā- Sankaranarayanand • Sankaranarayanan notes: “The reading could be -tāmbra as well. Another probable, but doubtful reading, as stated above, is Bhagavat-(Śa)m(bhu)bhaktyā” (Sankaranarayanand).

⟨2⟩ -cāturvvaidya- ⬦ cāturvvidyā Sarma1988; cāturvaidya- Sankaranarayanand. — ⟨2⟩ [-viṣaya-] • Restitution proposed by Sankaranarayanand in note.

⟨3⟩ [śrī-hasti-] • Restitution proposed by Sankaranarayanand in note.

⟨4⟩ -hi[raṇya-go-bhū-] • Restitution proposed by Sankaranarayanand in note.

⟨5⟩ prajānāndīkarasya ⬦ prajānā(ṁ) hitakarasya Sankaranarayanand. — ⟨5⟩ [īṣān-mā] • Restitution proposed by Sankaranarayanand in note.

⟨5-6⟩ -[mā]tropakārāpakārakr̥tapratīkārasya ⬦ -[mā]trā-opakār-āpakāra-pratīkārasya or [-mā]tr-opakār-āpakāra-āpkaras-pratīkārasya Sankaranarayanand • This seems to be the underluying reading behind what we find, marred by printing errors, on pp. 88 and 94; -[mā]tr-opakār-āpakāra-kṛta-pratīkārasya (Sankaranarayanan2009a).

⟨6-7⟩ -prak(ā)[ma-dhana-pra]dasya • Restitution proposed by Sankaranarayanand in note.

⟨7⟩ dviṭpakṣa- ⬦ dvitpakṣa- Sankaranarayanand • Corrected in Sankaranarayanan2009a.

⟨7-8⟩ -citra[rathasvāmipādā]nuddhyāto • Restitution proposed by Sankaranarayanand in note.

⟨8⟩ [-mahārāja-śrī-] • Restitution proposed by Sankaranarayanand in note.

⟨9⟩ (veṅgī)viṣaya- ⬦ vaca(ḍa)viṣaya- Sankaranarayanand • He believes that what he reads vaca(ḍa) is the name of a village (itself eponymous of a district). Our restitution of the first two akṣaras, ignored by Sankaranarayanan, is conjectural. Other possibilities would be nātaviṣaya- or nāgaviṣaya- (cf. l. 12) — ⟨9⟩ -mutuḍabhū(ta)ṭṭā(ṇḍa)kagrāmeyakān Sankaranarayanand • We are unable to read the first eight akṣara read by Sankaranarayanan, but the text is certainly unacceptable as it stands. One might expect something like -mutuḍasahitān, a toponym and then grāmeyakān. — ⟨9⟩ [-ti | °asti cāyaṁ grāmaḥ] • Restitution proposed by Sankaranarayanand in note (with typing error sati for asti, corrected in Sankaranarayanan2009a)

⟨10⟩ (dhātu)[5×](sya)(daśabalasukr̥tabalinas) ⬦ (dhātuvara)…(daśabala¬sukr̥ta-balinas) Sankaranarayanand • Sankaranarayanan does not evaluate the length of the lacuna after (dhātuvara) but notes: “These mutilated expressions in this line remind us of dhātu-vara-parigṛihītasya ([reference to EIAD 8], line 3); and daśa-bala-balinaḥ puṇya-jñāna-sambhāra-bhārasya ([reference to EIAD 174]). These are the epithets of the Buddha and of the Buddha-sangha as the case may be” (Sankaranarayanand). Even giving substantial benefit of the doubt, we have difficulty believing that the text really contained the akṣaras dhātuvara, but it is certainly impossible, for lack of space, to presume here anything like the compound dhātuvaraparigr̥hītasya.

⟨12⟩ varṣṣiṇo kṣullakānanda- • Sankaranarayanan notes: “Or varshshiṇ=ākshullak-” (Sankaranarayanand). Later, he notes: “Or ‘varṣine’kṣullakā” (Sankaranarayanan2009a). — ⟨12⟩ nā(ta)viṣaye ⬦ na(ta)viṣaye Sankaranarayanand • Changed to nā(ta)viṣaye in Sankaranarayanan2009a.

⟨13⟩ yaśo[bhivr̥ddhaye] • Restitution proposed by Sankaranarayanand in note.

⟨14⟩ siddhārthakānāṁ Sankaranarayanand • There appears to be a stroke connected to the repha, and it is not impossible to imagine that it made a whole loop representing the vowel i.

⟨16⟩ -pr̥thi[vīsamakālaṁ] • Restitution proposed by Sankaranarayanand in note.

⟨17⟩ vihāra(sya) ⬦ vihāra .. Sankaranarayanand.

⟨18⟩ -dadhy • Sankaranarayanan refers in his note to the privilege a-harita-paṁnāsaka-puppa-phala-duddha-dadhi-ghaṭa-ggahaṁ mentioned in the Kānukollu plates of Nandivarman I (EIAD 161), lines 20-2.

⟨18-19⟩ [vandyamāna-sphu](ra)d- • Restitution proposed by Sankaranarayanand in note.

⟨19⟩ sa[mpradattaḥ] • Restitution proposed by Sankaranarayanand in note; sa[mpradattam] would be equally possible.

⟨20⟩ [paṭṭi]kā Sankaranarayanand — ⟨20⟩ (saṁ)[1×] °iti ⬦ (saṁ) 4 °iti Sankaranarayanand • Sankaranarayanan notes: “we have here only a symbol denoting 4 that can be compared with numerals denoting 4 in other epigraphs. The reading here can also be, as stated above, dattā 40 4. The reading of the next expression iti is purely conjectural” (Sankaranarayanand).

Translation

(1-9) Hail! From the illustrious and victorious city of Veṅgī, the great-grandson of the illustrious Hastivarman, great king according to dharma, who was the moon in the pure sky of the lineage of Śalaṅka, whose body of fame was purified by many kinds of meritorious acts such as his acts of dharma, his (founding) of new temples for … Viṣṇu and of cāturvaidyaśālās (made) out of devotion for the Lord Tāmra, who in many ways obtained victory over his tastes for sensual objects (nānāprakāraviṣayarasa¬vijayasya), who released riches like the great king (i.e. Kubera?), and who is the most excellent/learned among kings (bhūpatisattama); the grandson of the illustrious great king Nandivarman, who was entirely devoted to sympathy and compassion, who earned merit (dharma) through numerous gifts of thousands of hundreds (of pieces of) [gold, cows, land] and living trees, and who caused the joy of his subjects; the son of the great king Acaṇḍavarman, who responded to even [the slightest] service or offense (°īṣanmātropakārāpakārapratīkārasya), due to whose splendor the neighboring kings prostrated, who gave in abundance riches of desired objects (prabhūtaprakāmadhana-pradasya), whose punishment was terrible to the multitude of (or: those siding with) his enemies; the [illustrious] and victorious [great king] Nandivarman, who is favored by [the feet] of the Lord Citrarathasvāmin, devoted to the feet of his lord father, supreme devotee of the Lord (i.e. Viṣṇu), and born in the lineage of the Śālaṅkāyanas, orders the villagers of … along with their headmen of the Veṅgī (?) district: (9-20) ‘There is this village; in order to increase our lineage and gotra … to maintain the dwelling of the disciples of the Bhagavant Buddha, …, who possesses the benefit of the ten powers (daśabalasukr̥tabalin), … liberality (tyāga) … what is produced and perceived by the mind (ṣaṣṭe[ndri]yodbhūtānubhūta) … showering (varṣiṇo) … to the great (akṣullaka), felicitous, and venerable master Vasupīṭha in the district Nāta (or Nāga?) … by [Nā?]garāja … in order to increase his merit, splendor, faithfulness and fame … in favor of (the community of monks of the school) of the Siddhārthakas [residing] in the monastery … which is the best place of …, which is a refuge for all beings, … the most excellent … and consists of the best among ascetics, [for as long as] the moon, sun, stars and earth … to be given as present (dāyapradeyaṁ) to the monastery, the excellent dwelling-place (saddhāmasya) … sour milk (dadhy atakra …) … the exemption (applicable) on land of the best among bhaṭṭas in the neighborhood (sāmantabhaṭṭavarabhūparihāraṁ) … presented to the disciples of the Buddha, whose [glittering feet are honored]. [A charter] was given (in the) year … .’ (20-23) I. By many land has been ruled (bhukta); and by many it has been protected. Whoever holds land at a given moment, to him does the fruit then belong. II. The giver of land remains sixty thousand years in heaven; the one who confiscates [land] as well as the one who approves [the confiscation] will reside as many [years] in hell. III. There is not and will not be any higher gift than the gift of land. There is not and will not be any worse sin than the theft of the same. IV. As much as the moon victoriously grows from day to day, the land-made merit prospers from crop to crop.

Commentary

1

(1) tām(m)rā-2

(3) mahārājasadr̥śadhanavisarggasya3

(3) bhūpatisattamas(ya)4

(7) dviṭpakṣacaṇḍadaṇḍasya5

(11) ṣaṣṭe(ndri)yodbhūtānubhūta6

(12) kṣullakānandasthaviravasupī(ṭhācāryyāya?)7

(14) siddhārthakānāṁ8

Bibliography

First described and very tentatively edited by Sarma1988. Improved edition by Sankaranarayanand, published in fact in 1992 and revised as Sankaranarayanan2009a. The text is re-examined here from the available visual documentation, which is very poor. The apparently good estampage used by Sankaranarayanan is not available to us. We thus rely heavily on his edition and can suggest improvements only in few passages. Many conjectural restorations by Sankaranarayanan are pertinent and are recorded in our apparatus.

Secondary

No name. 1887–. Annual report on Indian epigraphy. Madras; Calcutta; New Delhi: Government of Madras; Archaeological Survey of India. Pages 1977–78: no. B.44.

No name. N.d. Indian Archaeology: a review. New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India. Pages 1977–78: 60–1.

Sarma1978

Krishnan1989a

Tsukamoto1996

Hanumantha_Rao1998

Sarma2002

Notes

  1. 1. This kind of grant is typically found engraved on copper plates. As Sankaranarayanan argues, it seems likely that we have on this pillar a copy of a copper-plate grant, maybe commissioned, as he suggests, by the monks of the endowed monastery. The text starts with a four-tiered genealogy of the Śālaṅkāyana kings from the donor Nandivarman to his great grandfather Hastivarman. The king orders villagers concerning a gift to a Buddhist community or even to the Buddha (the last part of the text are heavily lacunose).
  2. 2. Sankaranarayanand has a long discussion about who this god Tāmra is and concludes that he is Rudra-Śiva in the form of the rising sun.
  3. 3. On the identification of mahārāja as Kubera, see Sankaranarayanand.
  4. 4. On sattama with the meaning of “learned,” see Sankaranarayanand.
  5. 5. As pointed out by Sankaranarayanand we have here a pravacana of the name of the king Acaṇḍavarman, taken in the sense of “‘one who has no violent person excelling him’, i.e., the most violent person”.
  6. 6. On ṣaṣṭendriya as manas, see Sankaranarayanand.
  7. 7. Sankaranarayanan notes : “A Buddhabhikṣu is also introduced and praised (line 12 ff. much damaged). His names was perhaps Vasupīṭhācārya and had the title(?) akṣullakānanda-sthavira” ‘an elderly monk of the congregation full of bliss of high order’” (Sankaranarayanan2009a).
  8. 8. The context suggests that we have here a Sanskrit form of the name of the school known as Siddhatthaka to the Kathāvatthu-aṭṭakathā, attributed to Buddhaghosa, as one of the Andhaka schools. This would represent the only safe epigraphic evidence of this school known so far. Cf. Tournier, in preparation.