Mathura Pedestal Inscription of the Time of Skandagupta

Author of digital edition: Dániel Balogh (daba).

Language: Sanskrit (san) [Southern Brāhmī (unspecified) (brāhmī_southern_unspecified)].

Repository: SIDDHAM (siddham).

Identifier: DHARMA_INSSiddham00109.

File path: XML-Provisional/DHARMA_INSSiddham00109.xml.

Version: 2026-09-16 10:40 (3083d2d), last modified 2026-09-16 09:24 (c200993).

Edition

⟨1⟩ saṁvvatsara-śate paṁca{s}-tri[ṁ]śottaratame 100 30 5 puṣya-māse divase vi[ṁ]ś[e] di 20 ⟨.⟩ deya-dharm[o] yaṁ vihāra-svāminy[ā] ⟨2⟩ devtāyā⟨ḥ⟩⟨.⟩ yad atra puṇyaṁ tad bhavatu mātā-pitroḥ sarvva-sa¿tv?ānāñ ca Anuttara-jñānāptaye||⟨3⟩ saubhāgyaṁ pratir¿u?patā guṇavatī kīrttis sapatna-kṣayaḥśrīman(t)o vibhavā bhavā⟨ḥ⟩ sukha-phalā nirvvāṇam aṁte śivaM⟨4⟩ A-sta(bdhā)ni bhavanti dāna-niratau cittaṁ niyojyaikadā[.]ī [––⏑] vi(c/t)āraṇa [⏑⏑] dhiyāṁ [––⏑––] [.]iyāM

Bibliography

First published in Dowson 1871, pp. 184–185 (No. 8) with a lithograph (Plate 2 No. 8, after p. 196). Dowson’s transcription reprinted with corrections in Cunningham 1873, pp. 36–37 with a new lithograph (Plate 16 No. 22). Re-edited in Fleet 1888.

Originally encoded for Siddham in the project Beyond Boundaries (Grant Agreement No. 609823) by Dániel Balogh (2019, № IN00109). Encoding updated to DHARMA conventions by Dániel Balogh.

Secondary

Fleet, John Faithfull. 1888. Inscriptions of the early Gupta kings and their successors. First edition. Vol. 3. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum. Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing. Item 63.

Bhandarkar, Devadatta Ramakrishna. 1927–1936. A list of the inscriptions of northern India in Brahmi and its derivative scripts, from about 200 A. C.: Appendix to Epigraphia Indica and record of the Archaeological Survey of India, volumes XIX to XXIII. Calcutta: Archaeological Survey of India. [URL]. Item 1275.

Goyal, Śrīrām. 1993. गुप्तकालीन अभिलेख/Guptakālīna Abhilekha (Inscriptions of the Gupta Age). Jodhpur: Kusumanjali Prakashan. Items 193-195.

Display Options Word Wrap Line Numbers Comments Processing Instructions

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<funder>European Research Council (ERC), grant agreement no 809994</funder>

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<change who="part:daba" when="2020-08-04" status="draft">Initial import: harmonising file structure with DHARMA inscription template v02. Text and comments as inherited from the Siddham archive of January 2019, unless otherwise indicated (by a name and date in the comment). Comments are offered "as is" and do not represent a thoroughly considered or researched opinion.</change>

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There is a dharmacakra symbol in the left margin adjacent to line 1. This is noted as deco, but if we include siddham symbols/characters in the margin as textparts, then maybe this too could be added to the edition.

--><lb n="1"/>saṁvvatsara-śate paṁca<surplus>s</surplus>-tri<supplied reason="lost">ṁ</supplied>śottaratame <num value="135"><g type="numeral">100</g> <g type="numeral">30</g> 5</num> puṣya-māse divase vi<supplied reason="lost">ṁ</supplied>ś<supplied reason="lost">e</supplied> di <num value="20"><g type="numeral">20</g></num> <supplied reason="subaudible">.</supplied> deya-dharm<supplied reason="lost">o</supplied> yaṁ vihāra-svāminy<supplied reason="lost">ā</supplied> <lb n="2"/>devtāyā<supplied reason="omitted">ḥ</supplied><supplied reason="subaudible">.</supplied> yad atra puṇyaṁ tad bhavatu mātā-pitroḥ sarvva-sa<sic>tv</sic>ānāñ ca Anuttara-jñānāptaye||<!--

Fleet emends devtāyā to devatāyāḥ. I am not sure; I don't think this would have been a likely spelling mistake back then. The ligature vt is quite clear, though it could be something else as far as Fleet's rubbing shows, e.g. vg, perhaps even a misshapen ṅg or cch with the bottom left part missing.

--><!--

The punctuation at the end of l2 is a double daṇḍa; the first one is hooked on the top left.

--></p>

<l n="a"><lb n="3"/>saubhāgyaṁ pratir<choice><sic>u</sic><corr>ū</corr></choice>patā guṇavatī kīrttis sapatna-kṣayaḥ</l>

<l n="b">śrīman<unclear>t</unclear>o vibhavā bhavā<supplied reason="omitted">ḥ</supplied> sukha-phalā nirvvāṇam aṁte śivaM</l><!--

The halanta M seems to be a full-sized subscript character, but the rubbing is not clear.

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<l n="c"><lb n="4"/>A-sta<unclear>bdhā</unclear>ni bhavanti dāna-niratau cittaṁ niyojyaikadā</l>

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The final halanta M is altogether indistinct in the rubbing.

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<p>First published in <bibl><ptr target="bib:Dowson1871_01"/><citedRange>184-185</citedRange></bibl> (No. 8) with a lithograph (Plate 2 No. 8, after p. 196). Dowson’s transcription reprinted with corrections in <bibl><ptr target="bib:Cunningham1873_01"/><citedRange>36-37</citedRange></bibl> with a new lithograph (Plate 16 No. 22). Re-edited in <bibl><ptr target="bib:Fleet1888_01"/></bibl>.</p>

<p>Originally encoded for Siddham in the project Beyond Boundaries (Grant Agreement No. 609823) by Dániel Balogh (<bibl rend="omitname"><ptr target="bib:Balogh2019_03"/><citedRange unit="item">IN00109</citedRange></bibl>). Encoding updated to DHARMA conventions by Dániel Balogh.</p>

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