Metadata

Support
Āyaka pillar; h. 398 ×  w. 42 ×  d. 33 cm.
Text
Middle Indo-Aryan, Southern Brāhmī script. 6 lines. Inscribed area: h. 32 ×  w. 46 cm.
Date
Datable on the basis of correspondence with completely preserved texts from the same site to the sixth regnal year of Siri-Vīrapurisadatta, i.e., approximately between 225 and 275 CE.
Origin
Erected originally at findspot.
Provenance
Discovered between March 1926 and October 1927 Nagarjunakonda, Site 1, on the South side of the Mahācaitya. Identified at Nagarjunakonda Museum (acc. no. 284) in February 2016.
Visual Documentation
Photo(s):
  • AL 2017
    • Photo(s) of estampage(s):
  • Leiden N8.
  • An ASI estampage is reproduced by Vogel and Raghunath.
    • Editors
    Arlo Griffiths and Vincent Tournier, with contributions by Stefan Baums and Ingo Strauch.
    Publication history
    First described and edited by Vogel 1929–30a: 13, 17–8 (B1) . Re-edited here from published documentation and after autopsy of the stone.

    Edition

    (1) sidhaṁ – mahārajasa (virūpakhapatimahā)senaparigahitasa °agiho(2)t[a]githomavāja(peyāsamedhayājisa) hiranakoḍigosata(3)sahasahala(satasahasapadāyisa) savathesu °apati(4)hatasa[ṁ]kapasa v[ā]se(ṭhīputasa) (°ikhākusa) (siri)catamūlasa bhagini(5)ya mahātalava(rasa) (vāsiṭhīputasa) (kaṁda) [si]risa bha[riyā]ya ma(6)hatalavariya ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? maharajasa

    (1) sidhaṁ – mahārajasa (virūpakhapatimahā)senaparigahitasa °agiho-
    (2)t[a]githomavāja(peyāsamedhayājisa) hiranakoḍigosata-
    (3)sahasahala(satasahasapadāyisa) savathesu °apati-
    (4)hatasa[ṁ]kapasa v[ā]se(ṭhīputasa) (°ikhākusa) (siri)catamūlasa bhagini-
    (5)ya mahātalava(rasa) (vāsiṭhīputasa) (kaṁda) [si]risa bha[riyā]ya ma-
    (6)hatalavariya ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? maharajasa 
    <ab xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0">
					          <lb n="1"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok3378">sidhaṁ</w>
					          <pc>–</pc>
					          <w xml:id="tok3379">mahārajasa</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok3380">
                  <supplied reason="lost">virūpakhapatimahā</supplied>senaparigahitasa</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok3381">°agiho<lb n="2" break="no"/>t<unclear>a</unclear>githomavāja<supplied reason="lost">peyāsamedhayājisa</supplied>
               </w>
					          <w xml:id="tok3382">hiranakoḍigosata<lb n="3" break="no"/>sahasahala<supplied reason="lost">satasahasapadāyisa</supplied>
               </w>
					          <w xml:id="tok3383">savathesu</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok3384">°apati<lb n="4" break="no"/>hatasa<unclear>ṁ</unclear>kapasa</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok3385">v<unclear>ā</unclear>se<supplied reason="lost">ṭhīputasa</supplied>
               </w>
					          <w xml:id="tok3386">
						            <supplied reason="lost">°ikhākusa</supplied>
					          </w>
					          <w xml:id="tok3387">
                  <supplied reason="lost">siri</supplied>catamūlasa</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok3388">bhagini<lb n="5" break="no"/>ya</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok3389">mahātalava<supplied reason="lost">rasa</supplied>
               </w>
					          <w xml:id="tok3390">
                  <supplied reason="lost">vāsiṭhīputasa</supplied>
               </w>
					          <w xml:id="tok3391">
                  <supplied reason="lost">kaṁda</supplied>
                  <unclear>si</unclear>risa</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok3392">bha<unclear>riyā</unclear>ya</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok3393">ma<lb n="6" break="no"/>hatalavariya</w>
					          <gap reason="illegible" quantity="9" unit="character"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok3394">maharajasa</w>
				        </ab>

    Apparatus

    • (1) mahārajasa mahārājasa JPhV .
    • (1) (virūpakhapatimahā)sena- … sena- JPhV . Here, and in the following lines, the text is restored on the basis of EIAD 13, which opens in a similar way.
    • (1–2) °agihot[a]githoma- °agihotāgiṭhoma- JPhV .
    • (2) -vāja(peyāsamedhayājisa) -vāja … JPhV .
    • (2) hiranakoṭigosata hiranakoḍigosata JPhV .
    • (3) hala(satasahasapadāyisa) hala … JPhV .
    • (4) hatasakapasa hatasa[ṁ]kapasa JPhV .
    • (4) v[ā]se(ṭhīputasa °ikhākusa siri)catamūlasa v[ā]se … cātamūlasa JPhV .
    • (5) mahātalava(rasa vāsiṭhīputasa kaṁda) [si]risa mahātalava(rasa) … [si]risa JPhV . Our restoration assumes that the epithet pūkīyānaṁ, frequently occurring after vāsiṭhīputasa, was here omitted, as it is in EIAD 18, l. 6.
    • (6) hatalavariya hātalavariya JPhV . The occurrence of maharajasa at the end of the line diverges from the usual formula, and as a result we cannot propose a secure reconstruction.
    • (6) maharajasa mah⟨ā⟩r⟨ā⟩jasa JPhV .

    Translation

    Success! (...), sister of Great King Vāsi(ṭhīputa) (Siri-)Cāntamūla the Ikṣvāku, favored by favored by (Mahā)sena (who has Virūpākṣa as his lord, sacrificer) of the Agnihotra, the Agniṣṭoma, the Vāja(peya and the Aśvamedha, giver of) tens of millions of (pieces of) gold, (hundreds of) thousands of cows and hundreds of thousands of plows (of land), whose will is unimpeded in all matters, wife of Great Talavara (Vāsiṭṭhīputta Kanda)siri, Great-Talavara-wife ... of Great King.

    Secondary bibliography