- Support
- Stone stela, shattered and recomposed; h. 89 × w. 50 × d. 14 cm. The reconstruction of NM 788 seems to have involved too much horizontal cement between the fragments showing lines 3 and 5–6, so that the right-side fragments for these lines must be imagined to have been situated a few centimeters further to the left.
- Text
- Sanskrit language, Southern Brāhmī script script. h. 54 × w. 44.5 cm .
- Date
- Eleventh regnal year of Ehavalaśrī (i.e., Siri-Ehavalacāntamūla), approximately between 250 and 300 CE.
- Origin
- Nagarjunakonda.
- Provenance
- Found at Site-99 in the 1956-57 season, and first noticed by Chhabra during his epigraphical tour in July 1957. Identified at Nagarjunakonda Museum (acc. no. 788) in February 2016.
- Visual Documentation
-
Photo(s):
- photos AL 2017
- photos JM 2017
Photo(s) of estampage(s):- IAR 1956-57: pl. LIX
- Chhabra; Raghunath.
- Editors
- Arlo Griffiths and Vincent Tournier, with contributions by Stefan Baums and Ingo Strauch.
- Publication history
- Chhabra 1959-60a: 147 reported that this inscription “is found in six or seven versions, all broken fragments, not a single version having been found in its entirety. It took me some hours to dovetail the fragments till the discovered and kept in the site museum at Nāgārjunakoṇḍa. Many of the fragments are still missing. I was, however, able to restore the complete text by deciphering the extant parts on the various fragments. The facsimile on Plate A shows the greater part of one of the versions, while those on Plate B represent parts of two more versions”. The three versions whose images were published by Chhabra correspond to the three stelae we documented. See also EIAD 50-2 and 50-3. Only a synthetic edition was published by Chhabra 1959-60a . This version is edited here for the first time from published documentation and after autopsy of the stone.
(1)
siddham·
–
IAnuṣṭubh
a
varṣa
[°ekā]daśe
rāj[ñaḫ]
b
[p]rabhor
ehavalaśriyaḥ
c
(2)
śuklapakṣasya
mā(gha)
[sya]
d
p(u)
[ṇ]
(ya)
(°e)
[k]
(ādaśe)
(han)
[i]
–
IISragdharā
a
(3)
deve
yasyātibha[k]ti(r)
(hutavahatanaye)
caṇḍa[śak]
(t)
[au]
kumāre
b
(4)
pautras
senāpater
yyas
sa[mara]
(vi)
[ja]
(yinaẖ)
(kkhyātakīrtter)
(aṇikkeḥ)
c
(5)
[prāsā]daṅ
gā[ṇḍ]iputtras
sa
tal[a]
(varavaraẖ)
(kārttike)yapprasādāt·
d
(6)
(°e)
[l]i(śr)
[ī]
(ś)
(śrīvi)
[ś]ālaṁ
śubha[ma]
(tir)
(akarot)
(sarvvadevā)
[dh]ivāsam·
–
(1) siddham· – varṣa [°ekā]daśe rāj[ñaḫ] [p]rabhor ehavalaśriyaḥ
(2) śuklapakṣasya mā(gha) [sya] p(u) [ṇ] (ya) (°e) [k] (ādaśe) (han) [i] –
(3) deve yasyātibha[k]ti(r) (hutavahatanaye) caṇḍa[śak] (t) [au] kumāre
(4) pautras senāpater yyas sa[mara] (vi) [ja] (yinaẖ) (kkhyātakīrtter) (aṇikkeḥ)
(5) [prāsā]daṅ gā[ṇḍ]iputtras sa tal[a] (varavaraẖ) (kārttike)yapprasādāt·
(6) (°e) [l]i(śr) [ī] (ś) (śrīvi) [ś]ālaṁ śubha[ma] (tir) (akarot) (sarvvadevā) [dh]ivāsam· –
<ab xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0">
<lb n="1"/>
<w xml:id="tok2727">siddham·</w>
<pc>–</pc>
</ab><lg xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0" xml:id="seq975" met="Anuṣṭubh" n="I">
<l xml:id="seq3069" n="a">
<w xml:id="tok6871">varṣa</w>
<w xml:id="tok2729">
<unclear>°ekā</unclear>daśe</w>
<w xml:id="tok2730">rāj<unclear>ñaḫ</unclear>
</w>
</l>
<l xml:id="seq3070" n="b">
<w xml:id="tok2731">
<unclear>p</unclear>rabhor</w>
<w xml:id="tok2732">ehavalaśriyaḥ</w>
</l>
<l xml:id="seq3071" n="c">
<lb n="2"/>
<w xml:id="tok2733">śuklapakṣasya</w>
<w xml:id="tok2734">mā<supplied reason="lost">gha</supplied>
<unclear>sya</unclear>
</w>
</l>
<l xml:id="seq3072" n="d">
<w xml:id="tok2735">p<supplied reason="lost">u</supplied>
<unclear>ṇ</unclear>
<supplied reason="lost">ya</supplied>
</w>
<w xml:id="tok2736">
<supplied reason="lost">°e</supplied>
<unclear>k</unclear>
<supplied reason="lost">ādaśe</supplied>
</w>
<w xml:id="tok2737">
<supplied reason="lost">han</supplied>
<unclear>i</unclear>
</w>
<pc>–</pc>
</l>
</lg><lg xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0" xml:id="seq981" met="Sragdharā" n="II">
<l xml:id="seq3073" n="a">
<lb n="3"/>
<w xml:id="tok2739">deve</w>
<w xml:id="tok2740">yasyātibha<unclear>k</unclear>ti<supplied reason="lost">r</supplied>
</w>
<w xml:id="tok2741">
<supplied reason="lost">hutavahatanaye</supplied>
</w>
<w xml:id="tok2742">caṇḍa<unclear>śak</unclear>
<supplied reason="lost">t</supplied>
<unclear>au</unclear>
</w>
<w xml:id="tok2743">kumāre</w>
</l>
<l xml:id="seq3074" n="b">
<lb n="4"/>
<w xml:id="tok2744">pautras</w>
<w xml:id="tok2745">senāpater</w>
<w xml:id="tok2746">yyas</w>
<w xml:id="tok2747">sa<unclear>mara</unclear>
<supplied reason="lost">vi</supplied>
<unclear>ja</unclear>
<supplied reason="lost">yinaẖ</supplied>
</w>
<w xml:id="tok2748">
<supplied reason="lost">kkhyātakīrtter</supplied>
</w>
<w xml:id="tok2749">
<supplied reason="lost">aṇikkeḥ</supplied>
</w>
</l>
<l xml:id="seq3075" n="c">
<lb n="5"/>
<w xml:id="tok2750">
<unclear>prāsā</unclear>daṅ</w>
<w xml:id="tok2751">gā<unclear>ṇḍ</unclear>iputtras</w>
<w xml:id="tok2752">sa</w>
<w xml:id="tok2753">tal<unclear>a</unclear>
<supplied reason="lost">varavaraẖ</supplied>
</w>
<w xml:id="tok2754">
<supplied reason="lost">kārttike</supplied>yapprasādāt·</w>
</l>
<l xml:id="seq3076" n="d">
<lb n="6"/>
<w xml:id="tok2755">
<supplied reason="lost">°e</supplied>
<unclear>l</unclear>i<supplied reason="lost">śr</supplied>
<unclear>ī</unclear>
<supplied reason="lost">ś</supplied>
</w>
<w xml:id="tok2756">
<supplied reason="lost">śrīvi</supplied>
<unclear>ś</unclear>ālaṁ</w>
<w xml:id="tok2757">śubha<unclear>ma</unclear>
<supplied reason="lost">tir</supplied>
</w>
<w xml:id="tok2758">
<supplied reason="lost">akarot</supplied>
</w>
<w xml:id="tok2759">
<supplied reason="lost">sarvvadevā</supplied>
<unclear>dh</unclear>ivāsam·</w>
<pc>–</pc>
</l>
</lg>- (5) -sādāt· Chhabra notes that sandhi has not been observed at the end of pāda c, but this seems normal rather than noteworthy.
Success!
I.
In the eleventh year of the king, the lord Ehavalaśrī, on the auspicious eleventh day of the bright fortnight of (month) Māgha,
II.
the excellent Talavara Eliśrī, of bright intellect, whose intense devotion (is directed) towards the god Kumāra, the son of Fire, of fierce strength, grandson of the general Aṇikki who was victorious in battles and whose fame is widely known, son of Gāṇḍi, by the grace of Kārttikeya made (this) temple, abounding in good fortune, the abode of Sarvadeva (i.e. Śiva).
- bookmark IAR 1956-57: 36
- bookmark ARIE 1957-58: 3, no. B.5
- bookmark Srinivasan & Sankaranarayanan 1979: no. 41
- bookmark ARIE 1995-96: no. B.10
- bookmark Raghunath 2001: 142-3 (no. 33)