Metadata

Support
Āyaka pillar; h. 265 ×  w. 25 ×  d. 25 cm.
Text
Middle Indo-Aryan, Southern Brāhmī script. 15 lines. Inscribed area: h. 75 ×  w. 24 cm.
Date
Fifth regnal year of Siri-Cāntamūla, approximately between 200 and 250 CE.
Origin
Presumed to have been erected originally at or near findspot.
Provenance
Discovered in 1936 at Reṇṭāla (corresponding to contemporary Rentachintala), on the southern mound of the hillock, locally known as Stambhālabōḍu. Not identified during fieldwork from February 2016 onward. Present whereabouts unknown.
Visual Documentation
Photo(s) of estampage(s):
  • Est. ASI 1936-37: B.349 (and 1936-37: B.352)
  • Sankaranarayanan, Srinivasan & Sankaranarayanan (pl. 1)
    • Editors
    Arlo Griffiths and Vincent Tournier, with contributions by Stefan Baums and Ingo Strauch.
    Publication history
    First edited by Sankaranarayanan 1967-68a . Re-edited here from our own photos of the ASI estampage.

    Edition

    (1) sidha[m·] – namo bhaga[vato] [raṁño] [vase] /// (ṭhi) (2) (putasa) /// [siricaṁ]tam[u]lasa v(i)ja[ya] (3) [saṁ]vacharaṁ pa[cama]ṁ [5] vās(ā)ṇa(ṁ) pa[khaṁ] (4) padhama[ṁ] [1] diva[saṁ] (pa)dha[ma]ṁ [1] nakare gaṁ(5) [ji]kaṭ[e] vathavasa vanijaka⟨sa⟩ saṁ[gh] (i) (6) [la]sa bhariya⟨ya⟩ ca vaṇijakiṇiya haṁ(7)ghaya pu[t] (e)ṇa vaṇijakena cu[ladha] (ṁ) (8) (ma)siri[na] [sa]bhariyakena sadhutuke(9)na sasuṁh[ā]vivāhe[na] samitanat[u]ke[na] (10) (sa)ha ca bhatuhi °apaṇo °āyuvadha[n] (i) (11) [kaṁ] [vija]yavejayikaṁ ca game tuva ? (12) + + /// ? turamaṁḍale °upe[da]girivadha(13) (māne) (bha) /// [ga]vato budhasa saṁghasa (14) + + + (ma) ///ḍave selamay[o] [°āya] (15) ( ◊ka) ///khaṁbho karito ti –

    (1) sidha[m·] – namo bhaga[vato] [raṁño] [vase] /// (ṭhi) -
    (2) (putasa) /// [siricaṁ]tam[u]lasa v(i)ja[ya] -
    (3) [saṁ]vacharaṁ pa[cama]ṁ [5] vās(ā)ṇa(ṁ) pa[khaṁ]
    (4) padhama[ṁ] [1] diva[saṁ] (pa)dha[ma]ṁ [1] nakare gaṁ-
    (5) [ji]kaṭ[e] vathavasa vanijaka⟨sa⟩ saṁ[gh] (i) -
    (6) [la]sa bhariya⟨ya⟩ ca vaṇijakiṇiya haṁ-
    (7)ghaya pu[t] (e)ṇa vaṇijakena cu[ladha] (ṁ) -
    (8) (ma)siri[na] [sa]bhariyakena sadhutuke-
    (9)na sasuṁh[ā]vivāhe[na] samitanat[u]ke[na]
    (10) (sa)ha ca bhatuhi °apaṇo °āyuvadha[n] (i) -
    (11) [kaṁ] [vija]yavejayikaṁ ca game tuva ?
    (12) + + /// ? turamaṁḍale °upe[da]girivadha-
    (13) (māne) (bha) /// [ga]vato budhasa saṁghasa
    (14) + + + (ma) ///ḍave selamay[o] [°āya] -
    (15) ( ◊ka) ///khaṁbho karito ti – 
    <ab xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0">
					          <lb n="1"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok17">sidha<unclear>m·</unclear>
					          </w>
					          <pc>–</pc>
					          <w xml:id="tok19">namo</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok20">bhaga<unclear>vato</unclear>
					          </w>
					          <w xml:id="tok21">
						            <unclear>raṁño</unclear>
					          </w>
					          <w xml:id="tok22">
                  <unclear>vase</unclear>
                  <milestone unit="fragment" type="lost" subtype="right"/>
                  <supplied reason="lost">ṭhi</supplied>
                  <lb n="2" break="no"/>
                  <supplied reason="lost">putasa</supplied>
               </w>
					          <milestone unit="fragment" type="lost" subtype="left"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok23">
						            <unclear>siricaṁ</unclear>tam<unclear>u</unclear>lasa</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok24">v<supplied reason="lost">i</supplied>ja<unclear>ya</unclear>
                  <lb n="3" break="no"/>
                  <unclear>saṁ</unclear>vacharaṁ</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok25">pa<unclear>cama</unclear>ṁ</w>
					          <num xml:id="tok26" value="5">
						            <unclear>5</unclear>
					          </num>
					          <w xml:id="tok27">vās<supplied reason="lost">ā</supplied>ṇa<supplied reason="lost">ṁ</supplied>
					          </w>
					          <w xml:id="tok28">pa<unclear>khaṁ</unclear>
					          </w>
					          <lb n="4"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok29">padhama<unclear>ṁ</unclear>
					          </w>
					          <num xml:id="tok30" value="1">
						            <unclear>1</unclear>
					          </num>
					          <w xml:id="tok31">diva<unclear>saṁ</unclear>
					          </w>
					          <w xml:id="tok32">
						            <supplied reason="lost">pa</supplied>dha<unclear>ma</unclear>ṁ</w>
					          <num xml:id="tok33" value="1">
						            <unclear>1</unclear>
					          </num>
					          <w xml:id="tok35">nakare</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok36">gaṁ<lb n="5" break="no"/>
                  <unclear>ji</unclear>kaṭ<unclear>e</unclear>
					          </w>
					          <w xml:id="tok37">vathavasa</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok38">vanijaka<supplied reason="omitted">sa</supplied>
					          </w>
					          <w xml:id="tok39">saṁ<unclear>gh</unclear>
                  <supplied reason="lost">i</supplied>
                  <lb n="6" break="no"/>
                  <unclear>la</unclear>sa</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok40">bhariya<supplied reason="omitted">ya</supplied>
					          </w>
					          <w xml:id="tok41">ca</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok42">vaṇijakiṇiya</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok43">haṁ<lb n="7" break="no"/>ghaya</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok44">pu<unclear>t</unclear>
                  <supplied reason="lost">e</supplied>ṇa</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok45">vaṇijakena</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok46">cu<unclear>ladha</unclear>
                  <supplied reason="lost">ṁ</supplied>
                  <lb n="8" break="no"/>
                  <supplied reason="lost">ma</supplied>siri<unclear>na</unclear>
               </w>
					          <w xml:id="tok47">
						            <unclear>sa</unclear>bhariyakena</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok48">sadhutuke<lb n="9" break="no"/>na</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok49">sasuṁh<unclear>ā</unclear>vivāhe<unclear>na</unclear>
					          </w>
					          <w xml:id="tok50">samitanat<unclear>u</unclear>ke<unclear>na</unclear>
					          </w>
					          <lb n="10"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok51">
                  <supplied reason="lost">sa</supplied>ha</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok51bis">ca</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok51ter">bhatuhi</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok52">°apaṇo</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok53">°āyuvadha<unclear>n</unclear>
                  <supplied reason="lost">i</supplied>
                  <lb n="11" break="no"/>
                  <unclear>kaṁ</unclear>
               </w>
					          <w xml:id="tok54">
                  <unclear>vija</unclear>yavejayikaṁ</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok55">ca</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok56">game</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok57">tuva</w>
					          <gap reason="illegible" quantity="1" unit="character"/>
					          <lb n="12"/>
					          <gap reason="lost" quantity="2" unit="character"/>
					          <milestone unit="fragment" type="lost" subtype="left"/>
					          <gap reason="illegible" quantity="1" unit="character"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok60">turamaṁḍale</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok61">°upe<unclear>da</unclear>girivadha<lb n="13" break="no"/>
                  <supplied reason="lost">māne</supplied>
               </w>
					          <w xml:id="tok62">
                  <supplied reason="lost">bha</supplied>
                  <milestone unit="fragment" type="lost" subtype="left"/>
                  <unclear>ga</unclear>vato</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok63">budhasa</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok64">saṁghasa</w>
					          <lb n="14"/>
					          <gap reason="lost" quantity="3" unit="character"/>
               <w xml:id="tok66">
                  <supplied reason="lost">ma</supplied>
                  <milestone unit="fragment" type="lost" subtype="left"/>ḍave</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok67">selamay<unclear>o</unclear>
               </w>
					          <w xml:id="tok68">
                  <unclear>°āya</unclear>
                  <lb n="15" break="no"/>
                  <supplied reason="lost">
                     <space type="horizontal" quantity="1" unit="character"/>ka</supplied>
                  <milestone unit="fragment" type="lost" subtype="left"/>khaṁbho</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok69">karito</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok70">ti</w>
					          <pc>–</pc>
				        </ab>

    Apparatus

    • (1-2) [vase] (ṭhiputasa) vase... SS . Sankaranarayanan makes clear in his n. 7 that “the damaged letters are obviously ṭhiputasa ”.
    • (2) [siricaṁ]tam[u]lasa siricaṁtamulasa SS .
    • (2-3) v(i)ja[yasaṁ]vacharaṁ vijaya[saṁ]vachara[ṁ] SS .
    • (3) pa[cama]ṁ [5] vās(ā)ṇa(ṁ) pa[khaṁ] pacama[ṁ] 5 vās[ā]ṇa[ṁ] pakha[ṁ] SS .
    • (4) padhama[ṁ] [1] diva[saṁ] (pa)dha[ma]ṁ [1] padhamaṁ 1 divasa[ṁ] padhamaṁ [1] | SS . Sankaranarayanan reads numeral and punctuation sign, but what little remains points to a single sign 1.
    • (4-5) gaṁ[ji]kaṭ[e] ga[ṁ]jikuṭe SS . It would also be possible to read gaṁ[jā]kaṭ[e] .
    • (5-6) saṁ[gh] (i) [la]sa saṁghi[la]sa SS .
    • (7) put[e]ṇa putana SS .
    • (7-8) cula[dha] (ṁma)siri[na] cuṭi[dhāra]sirīṇa SS . Sankaranarayanan adds a note: “Read siriṇā ”. Our restitution is based on occurrences of the name Dhaṁmasiri in EIAD 105, ll. 4 and 6, and numerous occurrences of names preceded by cula- throughout the corpus.
    • (8) [sa]bhariyakena sabhariyakeṇa SS .
    • (9) sasuṁh[ā]vivāhe[na] sa[suṁ]havīvahena SS . Sankaranarayanan adds a note on <suṁ>: “This letter, originally written as ā, is corrected into su ”. We do not think that this scenario imposes itself. The previous editor also suggests correcting to -nivahena. We suggest instead, if our reading vivāhena is correct, to interpret it as corresponding to Sanskrit vivāhyena.
    • (9) samitanat[u]ke[na] samitanatuke[na] SS .
    • (10) (sa)ha ca bhatuhi [sa]pacacatuṁhi SS .
    • (10) °āyuvadha[n] (i)- °āyuvadha- SS . Sankaranarayanan suggests to restore the akṣara <ni> at the beginning of the following line.
    • (11) [vija]ya- v[i]jaya- SS .
    • (11-12) tuva ? ? ? + + ? turamaṁḍale tuva[re] ..... v[i]h[ā]rama[ṁ]ḍale SS .
    • (12-13) °upedagirivadha(māne bha) [ga]vato °upedagirivadha .... SS . Sankaranarayanan makes clear in his n. 2 that “The three letters which are lost here are obviously māne Bha ”.
    • (14) selamay[o] selāmay[o] SS .
    • (15) -khaṁbho -khabho SS .

    Translation

    (1-4) Success! Homage to the Bhagavant! Fifth — 5th — victorious year of King Vāsiṭṭhīputta Siri-Cāntamūla, first — 1st — fortnight of the rainy season, first — 1st — day.
    (5-15) The merchant Little Dhaṁmasiri — son of the merchant Saṅghila, resident of the town Gañjikūṭa, and his wife, the merchant-wife Haṅghā — together with his wife, daughter(s), daughter(s)-in-law and son(s)-in-law, friends and relatives, and together with his brothers caused to be made in the village Tuvara ... in the district of ... in the vadhamāna of Upedagiri (Skt. Upendragiri) at the pavilion ... of the community of the Bhagavant Buddha a stone Āyaka pillar, in order to increase his own lifespan and leading to victory after victory.

    Commentary

    • (2-3) vijayasaṁvacharaṁ For other occurrences of this term (Sanskrit vijayasaṁvatsara), whose meaning is disputed, see EIAD 30, l. 3 (with note); 56, l. 2; 159, l. 14; 187, l. 29; 188, l. 31.
    • (12) tuva ? ? ? + + ? turamaṁḍale The name of the maṇḍala ending in -tura is reminiscent of the village name toḍatura in EIAD 31, 32 and 33.
    • (15) Sankaranarayan rightly notes: “The broken portion of the pillar here must have been big enough to accommodate five letters. But as the usual expression is āyaka-khabha or °skaṁbha, only one letter viz. ka appears to have been lost. Thus the last line … appears to have been engraved in the middle.”

    Secondary bibliography

    • bookmark ARIE 1936-37: 62, no. B.349. At first sight it seems that 1936-37: B.352 gives either part of the right side of line 1 of the same inscription, but in reality it must represent another pillar inscription that would have overlapped with the text of EIAD 2 whose ASI estampage must have been collected on the same occasion.
    • bookmark Srinivasan & Sankaranarayanan 1979: no. 1
    • bookmark Raghunath 2001: 69 (no. 2)