Gopika Cave Inscription of Anantavarman

Author of digital edition: Dániel Balogh (daba).

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

Repository: SIDDHAM (siddham).

Identifier: DHARMA_INSSiddham00154.

File path: XML-Provisional/DHARMA_INSSiddham00154.xml.

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

Edition

⟨01⟩ *
⟨1⟩ Unnidrasya saroruhasya sakalām ākṣipya śobhāṁ rucā| sāvajñaṁ mahiṣāsurasya śirasi nyastaḥ kvaṇan-nūpuraḥ
⟨2⟩ devyā vaḥ sthira-bhakti-vāda-sadr̥śīṁ yuñjan phalenārthitāṁ| diśyād accha-nakhā¿ṅ?śu-jāla-jaṭilaḥ pādaḥ padaṁ saṁpadāṁ||
⟨3⟩ Āsīd iṣṭa-samr̥ddha-yajña-mahimā śrī-yajñavarmmā nr̥paḥ| prakhyāt¿ā? vimalendu-nirmmala-yaśā⟨ḥ⟩ kṣāttrasya dhāmnaḥ padaṁ|
⟨4⟩ prajñānānvaya-dāna-vikkrama-guṇair yo rājakasyāgraṇī⟨ḥ⟩| bhūtvāpi prakr̥ti-stha Eva vinayād akṣobhya-sa¿tv?odadhi⟨ḥ⟩||
⟨5⟩ tasyodīrṇa-mahārṇavopama-raṇa-vyāpāra-lavdhaṁ yaśaḥ tanvānaḥ kakudaṁ mukheṣu kakubhāṁ kī¿rt?yā jitedaṁ-yugaḥ
⟨6⟩ śrīmān vandhu-suhr̥j-jana-praṇayinām āśāḥ phalaiḥ pūraya(N) puttraḥ kalpa-taror ivāpta-mahimā{ṁ} śārdūlavarmmā nr̥paḥ||
⟨7⟩ tasyānantam ananta-kīrtti-yaśaśo nantādi-varmmākhyayā| khyātenāhita-bhakti-bhāvita-dhiyā puttreṇa pūtātmanā
⟨8⟩ Ā-sūrya-kṣiti-candra-tārakam iyaṁ puṇyāspadaṁ vāñcchatā| vinyastādbhuta-vindhya-bhūdhara-guhām āśritya kātyāyanī||
⟨9⟩ dhautā¿ṅ?ho-mala-paṅka-doṣam amalair māhānadair amvubhiḥ vyādhūtopavana-priyaṅgu-bakulair āmoditaṁ vāyubhi(ḥ)
⟨10⟩ kalpāntāvadhi-bhogyam ucca-śikhari-cchāyāvr̥tārkka-dyutiṁ| ⟦[––]⟧-grāmam analpa-bhoga-vibhavaṁ ramyaṁ bhavānyai dadau||

Bibliography

First noticed (with an eye copy [next to p279] and a translation by Charles Wilkins [pp282-283]) in Harrington 1788. Published (with transcript and translation by Kamalākānta Vidyālankār, and an eye copy [Plate 34, next to p672]) in Prinsep 1837, pp. 672–674.

Originally encoded for Siddham in the project Beyond Boundaries (Grant Agreement No. 609823) by Dániel Balogh (2019, № IN00154). 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 50.

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 1605.

Thaplyal, Kiran Kumar. 1985. Inscriptions of the Maukharīs, Later Guptas, Puṣpabhūtis and Yaśovarman of Kanauj. New Delhi: Indian Council of Historical Research. Item I.A.3.

Display Options Word Wrap Line Numbers Comments Processing Instructions

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<?xml-model href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/erc-dharma/project-documentation/master/schema/latest/DHARMA_Schema.rng" type="application/xml" schematypens="http://relaxng.org/ns/structure/1.0"?>

<?xml-model href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/erc-dharma/project-documentation/master/schema/latest/DHARMA_SQF.sch" type="application/xml" schematypens="http://purl.oclc.org/dsdl/schematron"?>

<?xml-model href="https://epidoc.stoa.org/schema/latest/tei-epidoc.rng" schematypens="http://relaxng.org/ns/structure/1.0"?>

<?xml-model href="https://epidoc.stoa.org/schema/latest/tei-epidoc.rng" schematypens="http://purl.oclc.org/dsdl/schematron"?>

<title>Gopika Cave Inscription of Anantavarman</title>

<forename>Dániel</forename>

<surname>Balogh</surname>

</persName>

</respStmt>

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

</titleStmt>

<authority><ref target="https://dharmalekha.info">DHARMA</ref></authority>

<pubPlace>Berlin</pubPlace>

<idno type="filename">DHARMA_INSSiddham00154.xml</idno>

<!--

If this file is moved into a named DHARMA corpus, retain the Siddham identifier as <altIdentifier>

-->

</publicationStmt>

<repository>DHARMAbase</repository>

<idno/>

</msIdentifier>

</msContents>

<p/>

</handDesc>

</physDesc>

</msDesc>

</sourceDesc>

</fileDesc>

<p>Encoded in TEI/EpiDoc according to the <ref target="https://hal.science/halshs-02888186">DHARMA Encoding Guide for Documentary Editions, version 2</ref></p>

</encodingDesc>

<change who="part:daba" when="2023-05-15" status="draft">Additional global changes for compatibility with DHARMA</change>

<change who="part:axja" when="2021-07-06" status="draft">Updating toward the encoding template v03</change>

<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>

</revisionDesc>

</teiHeader>

<body>

<ab><lb n="01"/><g ref="sym:unclassified" type="symbol">*</g><!--

The marginal mangala symbol is before the beginning of line 1. On Fleet's rubbing (the only reproduction of it that I have) it seems to be different from those in IN00152 and IN00153. This one is also dextrorse, but begins with a bulge around 10 o'clock, with a tapering tail in a clockwise circle ending around 7 o'clock.

--></ab><!--

Punctuation marks are short horizontal dashes curving like a comma (transcribed as single daṇḍas) at the ends of verse quarters and double verticals (transcribed as single daṇḍas) at the ends of full verses. Punctuation seems to be consistent at the ends of odd quarters unless there is a visarga (or a halanta consonant, if that is what we have in l6) at this point; the pattern may be the same at the ends of half-verses, but these fall at the right-hand edge of the inscription and seem to be damaged.

--><lg n="1" met="śārdūlavikrīḍita">

<l n="a"><lb n="1"/>Unnidrasya saroruhasya sakalām ākṣipya śobhāṁ rucā|</l>

<l n="b">sāvajñaṁ mahiṣāsurasya śirasi nyastaḥ kvaṇan-nūpuraḥ</l><!--

Fleet prints an original daṇḍa at the end of 1b. Only a dot is visible on the rubbing, which may either be part of a visarga or a punctuation mark. I follow Thaplyal in reading a visarga but no daṇḍa because I believe this fits the pattern of punctuation use in this inscription and %IN00153 (see comment on punctuation above).

-->

<l n="c"><lb n="2"/>devyā vaḥ sthira-bhakti-vāda-sadr̥śīṁ yuñjan phalenārthitāṁ|</l>

<l n="d">diśyād accha-nakhā<sic>ṅ</sic>śu-jāla-jaṭilaḥ pādaḥ padaṁ saṁpadāṁ||</l>

</lg>

<l n="a"><lb n="3"/>Āsīd iṣṭa-samr̥ddha-yajña-mahimā śrī-yajñavarmmā nr̥paḥ|</l><!--

At the end of 2a, neither a visarga nor a punctuation mark can be seen on the rubbing, but fortuitously both are clear on my partial photo of the inscription. This does not fit the pattern of omitting punctuation signs when there is a visarga.

-->

<l n="b">prakhyāt<choice><sic>ā</sic><corr>o</corr></choice> vimalendu-nirmmala-yaśā<supplied reason="omitted">ḥ</supplied> kṣāttrasya dhāmnaḥ padaṁ|</l><!--

Fleet prints the visarga of yaśāḥ in l3 as supplied and it is not visible in the rubbing, but there is a bit of space after śā so there may in fact be a shallow or damaged visarga here.

--><!--

The punctuation mark at the end of 2b, if it is one, seems to be slightly below the baseline rather than at centreline height.

-->

<l n="c"><lb n="4"/>prajñānānvaya-dāna-vikkrama-guṇair yo rājakasyāgraṇī<supplied reason="omitted">ḥ</supplied>|</l><!--

After 2c, the rubbing again shows neither visarga nor punctuation. The punctuation mark, but no visarga, is faintly visible on the photo. I follow Fleet in supplying a visarga, which seems to be in line with the practice of this time and place, instead of supplying an r before bhūtvā.

-->

<l n="d">bhūtvāpi prakr̥ti-stha Eva vinayād akṣobhya-sa<sic>tv</sic>odadhi<supplied reason="omitted">ḥ</supplied>||</l>

</lg>

<l n="a"><lb n="5"/>tasyodīrṇa-mahārṇavopama-raṇa-vyāpāra-lavdhaṁ yaśaḥ</l>

<l n="b">tanvānaḥ kakudaṁ mukheṣu kakubhāṁ kī<sic>rt</sic>yā jitedaṁ-yugaḥ</l>

<l n="c"><lb n="6"/>śrīmān vandhu-suhr̥j-jana-praṇayinām āśāḥ phalaiḥ pūraya<unclear>N</unclear></l><!--

Fleet reads pūraya| at the end of 3c, emending to pūrayan| (keeping the daṇḍa). Thaplyal reads pūrayaN|, remarking that the daṇḍa is redundant, but not noting that Fleet did not read this N. From the photo, I believe we have a very small and simplified na at centreline height, with a dot or dash below it. I take this combination to be a halanta N with a virāma sign below, not as a halanta N plus punctuation.

-->

<l n="d">puttraḥ kalpa-taror ivāpta-mahimā<surplus>ṁ</surplus> śārdūlavarmmā nr̥paḥ||</l>

</lg>

<l n="a"><lb n="7"/>tasyānantam ananta-kīrtti-yaśaśo nantādi-varmmākhyayā|</l>

<l n="b">khyātenāhita-bhakti-bhāvita-dhiyā puttreṇa pūtātmanā</l>

<l n="c"><lb n="8"/>Ā-sūrya-kṣiti-candra-tārakam iyaṁ puṇyāspadaṁ vāñcchatā|</l>

<l n="d">vinyastādbhuta-vindhya-bhūdhara-guhām āśritya kātyāyanī||</l>

</lg>

<l n="a"><lb n="9"/>dhautā<sic>ṅ</sic>ho-mala-paṅka-doṣam amalair māhānadair amvubhiḥ</l><!--

Thaplyal omits mala from l9, must be a typo.

--><!--

Both Fleet and Thaplyal print (and delete) an original daṇḍa after 5a, but there is no punctuation mark here, only a visarga.

-->

<l n="b">vyādhūtopavana-priyaṅgu-bakulair āmoditaṁ vāyubhi<unclear>ḥ</unclear></l><!--

Fleet and Thaplyal print an original daṇḍa (and no visarga) after 5b. Neither is visible in the rubbing and I have no photo of this part; a visarga (and no punctuation mark) is clear on both Prinsep's and Harrington's copies.

-->

<l n="c"><lb n="10"/>kalpāntāvadhi-bhogyam ucca-śikhari-cchāyāvr̥tārkka-dyutiṁ|</l>

<l n="d"><del><seg met="++"><gap reason="illegible" quantity="2" unit="character"/></seg></del>-grāmam analpa-bhoga-vibhavaṁ ramyaṁ bhavānyai dadau||</l><!--

As Fleet notes, the two characters at the beginning of 5d - probably the name of the village granted - seem to have been purposely deleted. On the basis of the photo, the first of these two is small without any extensions from the central box - perhaps va or ca; the second seems mainly to consist of a long vertical with a vowel mātrā, e.g. ri. Prinsep reads dāndī, and his eye copy seems to show pandī or vandī; Harrington's copy simply omits these two without any indication that there was something here. Assuming that Prinsep's ndī is correct, I could also imagine nandī.

--></lg>

</div>

<lem/>

</app>

</listApp>

</div>

</div>

</div>

<p>First noticed (with an eye copy [next to p279] and a translation by Charles Wilkins [pp282-283]) in <bibl><ptr target="bib:Harrington1788_01"/></bibl>. Published (with transcript and translation by Kamalākānta Vidyālankār, and an eye copy [Plate 34, next to p672]) in <bibl><ptr target="bib:Prinsep1837_01"/><citedRange>672-674</citedRange></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">IN00154</citedRange></bibl>). Encoding updated to DHARMA conventions by Dániel Balogh.</p>

</listBibl>

</listBibl>

</div>

</body>

</text>

</TEI>