Metadata

Support
Bottom fragment of a memorial pillar; h. 157 ×  w. 39.5 ×  d. 24.5 cm. One panel executed in bas-relief is preserved above the inscription. It has been described as follows: “The sculpture seems to depict a lady seated on a high stool with an attending lady standing nearby. The seated lady's feet are resting on a small pedestal and there is a small seated female figure by the side of the stool” ( Sircar & Krishnan 1960-61: 20 ).
Text
Middle Indo-Aryan, Southern Brāhmī script. 9 lines. Inscribed area: h. 52 ×  w. 38 cm.
Date
Eleventh regnal year of Siri-Rudrapuruṣadatta, i.e., approximately between 300 and 350 CE.
Origin
Erected originally at findspot.
Provenance
Discovered at Nagarjunakonda, Site 24, no later than 1956. According to IAR and ARIE , the pillar was found at Site 13; according to Sarkar, it was found in the precincts of a Buddhist monastery; Rosen 1985 mentions that the site is 24 in a more recent numbering of Sarkar’s. IAR: “ Site XIII revealed the four wings of a vihara with a pillared hall in the quadrangle, besides a stupa-chaitya, a votive stupa-shaped circular chamber with a chaya-khambha in it (pl. XXXVI)”. The plate shows the original position of pillar. Identified at Nagarjunakonda Museum (acc. no. 74) in February 2016.
Visual Documentation
Photo(s):
  • AL 2017;
  • JM 2017;
  • IAR 1955-56 (pl. XXXVI B);
  • Rosen Stone 1994, ill. 230.
    • Photo(s) of estampage(s):
  • ASI 1956-57/B.26, first published in IAR 1955-56 (pl. XXXIX A), has been reproduced also by
  • Sircar & Krishnan,
  • Sarkar 1982 (fig. 1) and
  • Raghunath.
    • RTI: JM 2017.
    Editors
    Arlo Griffiths and Vincent Tournier, with contributions by Stefan Baums and Ingo Strauch.
    Publication history
    First described and edited by Sircar & Krishnan 1960-61: 20-2 . Re-edited here from the published estampages and after autopsy of the stone.

    Edition

    (1) mahārājasa ◊ °asamedha[yā]jisa ◊ °anekahiraṁnakoḍigosa(2)tasahasahalasatasahasapadāyisa ◊ svāmisiricaṁtamūlasa (3) pasunhāya ◊ mah[ā]rājasa ◊ [svām]isirivīrapuri[sa] (datasa) (4) su[ṁ]nhāya ◊ mahārājasa ◊ [svāmi]siri°ehavalacaṁtamūlasa (5) pattīya ◊ raño ◊ vāsiṭhī□puttasa ◊ °ikhākunaṁ ◊ siriruda(6)purisadatasa mātūya ◊ mahādevīya ◊ mahākhatapadhūtuyaṁ ba[ha] (7)phalasagotāya ◊ sirivaṁmabhaṭāya ◊ saṁvacharaṁ °ekkāraṁ 10 1 (8) vāsāpakhaṁ pathamaṁ 1 divasaṁ °aṭhamaṁ 8 ◊ sag[e]gatāya chāya(9)khaṁbho : –

    (1) mahārājasa ◊ °asamedha[yā]jisa ◊ °anekahiraṁnakoḍigosa-
    (2)tasahasahalasatasahasapadāyisa ◊ svāmisiricaṁtamūlasa
    (3) pasunhāya ◊ mah[ā]rājasa ◊ [svām]isirivīrapuri[sa] (datasa)
    (4) su[ṁ]nhāya ◊ mahārājasa ◊ [svāmi]siri°ehavalacaṁtamūlasa
    (5) pattīya ◊ raño ◊ vāsiṭhī□puttasa ◊ °ikhākunaṁ ◊ siriruda-
    (6)purisadatasa mātūya ◊ mahādevīya ◊ mahākhatapadhūtuyaṁ ba[ha] -
    (7)phalasagotāya ◊ sirivaṁmabhaṭāya ◊ saṁvacharaṁ °ekkāraṁ 10 1
    (8) vāsāpakhaṁ pathamaṁ 1 divasaṁ °aṭhamaṁ 8 ◊ sag[e]gatāya chāya-
    (9)khaṁbho : – 
    <ab xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0">
					          <lb n="1"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4361">mahārājasa</w>
					          <space type="horizontal" quantity="1" unit="character"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4363">°asamedha<unclear>yā</unclear>jisa</w>
					          <space type="horizontal" quantity="1" unit="character"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4365">°anekahiraṁnakoḍigosa<lb n="2" break="no"/>tasahasahalasatasahasapadāyisa</w>
					          <space type="horizontal" quantity="1" unit="character"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4368">svāmisiricaṁtamūlasa</w>
					          <lb n="3"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4369">pasunhāya</w>
					          <space type="horizontal" quantity="1" unit="character"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4371">mah<unclear>ā</unclear>rājasa</w>
					          <space type="horizontal" quantity="1" unit="character"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4372">
                  <unclear>svām</unclear>isirivīrapuri<unclear>sa</unclear>
                  <supplied reason="lost">datasa</supplied>
               </w>
					          <lb n="4"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4373">su<unclear>ṁ</unclear>nhāya</w>
					          <space type="horizontal" quantity="1" unit="character"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4375">mahārājasa</w>
					          <space type="horizontal" quantity="1" unit="character"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4377">
                  <unclear>svāmi</unclear>siri°ehavalacaṁtamūlasa</w>
					          <lb n="5"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4378">pattīya</w>
					          <space type="horizontal" quantity="1" unit="character"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4380">raño</w>
					          <space type="horizontal" quantity="1" unit="character"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4382">vāsiṭhī<space type="defect" quantity="1" unit="character"/>puttasa</w>
					          <space type="horizontal" quantity="1" unit="character"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4384">°ikhākunaṁ</w>
					          <space type="horizontal" quantity="1" unit="character"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4385">siriruda<lb n="6" break="no"/>purisadatasa</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok4388">mātūya</w>
					          <space type="horizontal" quantity="1" unit="character"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4390">mahādevīya</w>
					          <space type="horizontal" quantity="1" unit="character"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4392">mahākhatapadhūtuyaṁ</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok4393">ba<unclear>ha</unclear>
                  <lb n="7" break="no"/>phalasagotāya</w>
					          <space type="horizontal" quantity="1" unit="character"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4396">sirivaṁmabhaṭāya</w>
					          <space type="horizontal" quantity="1" unit="character"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4398">saṁvacharaṁ</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok4399">°ekkāraṁ</w>
					          <num xml:id="tok4400" value="11">
						            <num value="10">10</num>
						            <num value="1">1</num>
					          </num>
					          <lb n="8"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4402">vāsāpakhaṁ</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok4403">pathamaṁ</w>
					          <num xml:id="tok4404" value="1">1</num>
					          <w xml:id="tok4405">divasaṁ</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok4406">°aṭhamaṁ</w>
					          <num xml:id="tok4407" value="8">8</num>
					          <space type="horizontal" quantity="1" unit="character"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4409">sag<unclear>e</unclear>gatāya</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok4410">chāya<lb n="9" break="no"/>khaṁbho</w>
					          <pc>:</pc>
					          <pc>–</pc>
				        </ab>

    Apparatus

    • (3) [svām]isirivīrapuri[sa] (datasa) [svām]isirivīrapuri[sadatasa] DCS & KGK .
    • (5) °ikhākunaṁ °ikhākūnaṁ DCS & KGK .
    • (5) siriruda- siriruḍa- DCS & KGK .
    • (6) -dhūtuyaṁ -dhūtūya DCS & KGK .
    • (8) sag[e]gatāya sagagatāya DCS & KGK .
    • (9) -khaṁbho :– -khaṁbho || DCS & KGK . Sircar and Krishnan note: “The full-stop is indicated here by a curve slanting towards the lower right and having a dot above and another dot below its beginning. This may be compared to the punctuation indicated by a horizontal stroke with a dot above and another below, as found in the copper-plate grants of the Śarabhapura kings. See [ EI ] Vol. XXXIII, p. 157, note 9; p. 158, note 1.”

    Translation

    Memorial pillar of Great Queen Siri-Vaṁmabhaṭā of the Br̥hatphalagotra, daughter of a Mahākṣatrapa — mother of King Vāsiṭṭhīputta Siri-Ruddapurisadatta of the Ikṣvākus, wife of Great King Lord (svāmin) Ehavalacaṁtamūla, daughter-in-law of Great King Lord Siri-Vīrapurisadatta, granddaughter-in-law of Great King Lord Siri-Cāntamūla, sacrificer of the Aśvamedha, giver of many ten million (pieces of) gold, of a hundred thousand cows and a hundred thousand plows (of land) — who deceased (lit. went to the heavens, svargagata) in the eleventh — 11th — year, in the first — 1st — fortnight of the rainy season, on the eighth — 8th — day.

    Commentary

    The occurrence of geminate consonants <tt> and <kk> in this inscription is very unusual for the Nagarjunakonda corpus.

    • (5) vāsiṭhīputtasa Seeing as the king is said to be the son of a lady of the Vāsiṣṭha gotra, whereas the woman in question is explicitly stated to be bahaphalasagotā, Sircar & Krishnan 1960-61: 21 states that “[i]t is thus clear that the Śaka princess Varmabhaṭā was a step-mother of the king and not his real mother”. : 377-9 approves of this argument, citing use of mātā to refer to multiple women in relation to Cāntamūla in his memorial pillar inscription (EIAD 30) as supporting evidence. On the Br̥hatphalagotra, see EIAD 172.
    • (5) °ikhākunaṁ the <°i> has a very unusual cursive shape.

    Secondary bibliography