Metadata

Support
Fragment of an Āyaka pillar; h. 61 ×  w. 26 ×  d. 24 cm.
Text
Middle Indo-Aryan language, Southern Brāhmī script. 6 lines. Inscribed area: h. 35 ×  w. 26+ cm.
Date
Date lost, but it must have been the 20th regnal year of Siri-Vīrapurisadatta, i.e., approximately between 225 and 275 CE.
Origin
Originally erected on the eastern Āyaka platform of the Stūpa near Jaggayyapeta.
Provenance
No information is available on the provenance of this fragment. It was presumably discovered along with the other known Āyaka pillars from the same site (EIAD 31, 32 and 33) during excavations organised by Burgess in February 1882. Found in the reserve collection of the Amaravati Site Museum (acc. no. 506) in January 2017.
Visual Documentation
Photo(s):
  • JM 2017
    • Editors
    Arlo Griffiths and Vincent Tournier.
    Publication history
    Unpublished. Edited here from our photographs.

    Edition

    (1) … /// ? /// … (2) … /// [k] (ā)tūnaṁ gharaniṁ ca sa/// (mudaniṁ) … (4) … /// nāt[i]m[i]tasa[ṁ]ba[ṁ]dhivagena sa/// (ha) … (5) … (mahācetiyapuvadā) ///re °ayakakhaṁbhe 5 saveni[y] (u) ///te … (6) … (savasa) ///tānaṁ hitasukhāya pati[ṭha] (pita) (ti) (||) (–)

    (1) … /// ? /// …
    (2) … /// [k] (ā)tūnaṁ gharaniṁ ca sa/// (mudaniṁ) …
    (4) … /// nāt[i]m[i]tasa[ṁ]ba[ṁ]dhivagena sa/// (ha) …
    (5) … (mahācetiyapuvadā) ///re °ayakakhaṁbhe 5 saveni[y] (u) ///te …
    (6) … (savasa) ///tānaṁ hitasukhāya pati[ṭha] (pita) (ti) (||) (–) 
    <ab xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0">					
					          <lb n="1"/>
					          <gap reason="lost" extent="unknown"/>
					          <milestone unit="fragment" type="lost" subtype="left"/>
					          <gap reason="illegible" quantity="1" unit="character"/>
					          <milestone unit="fragment" type="lost" subtype="right"/>
					          <gap reason="lost" extent="unknown"/>
					          <lb n="2"/>
					          <gap reason="lost" extent="unknown"/>
					          <milestone unit="fragment" type="lost" subtype="left"/>
					          <w xml:id="tokEIAD0090-01">
                  <unclear>k</unclear>
                  <supplied reason="lost">ā</supplied>tūnaṁ</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok2057">gharaniṁ</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok2058">ca</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok2059">sa<milestone unit="fragment" type="lost" subtype="right"/>
                  <supplied reason="lost">mudaniṁ</supplied>
               </w>
					          <gap reason="lost" extent="unknown"/>
					          <lb n="4"/>
					          <gap reason="lost" extent="unknown"/>
					          <milestone unit="fragment" type="lost" subtype="left"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok2081">nāt<unclear>i</unclear>m<unclear>i</unclear>tasa<unclear>ṁ</unclear>ba<unclear>ṁ</unclear>dhivagena</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok2082">sa<milestone unit="fragment" type="lost" subtype="right"/>
                  <supplied reason="lost">ha</supplied>
               </w>
					          <gap reason="lost" extent="unknown"/>
					          <lb n="5"/>
					          <gap reason="lost" extent="unknown"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok2087">
                  <supplied reason="lost">mahācetiyapuvadā</supplied>
                  <milestone unit="fragment" type="lost" subtype="left"/>re</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok2088">°ayakakhaṁbhe</w>
					          <num xml:id="tok2089" value="5">5</num>
					          <w xml:id="tok2090">saveni<unclear>y</unclear>
                  <supplied reason="lost">u</supplied>
                  <milestone unit="fragment" type="lost" subtype="right"/>te</w>
					          <gap reason="lost" extent="unknown"/>
					          <lb n="6"/>
					          <gap reason="lost" extent="unknown"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok2093">
                  <supplied reason="lost">savasa</supplied>
                  <milestone unit="fragment" type="lost" subtype="left"/>tānaṁ</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok2094">hitasukhāya</w>
					          <w xml:id="tok2095">pati<unclear>ṭha</unclear>
                  <supplied reason="lost">pita</supplied>
               </w>
					          <w xml:id="tok2096">
                  <supplied reason="lost">ti</supplied>
               </w>
					          <pc>
                  <supplied reason="lost">||</supplied>
               </pc>
					          <pc>
                  <supplied reason="lost">–</supplied>
               </pc>
				        </ab>

    Commentary

    Except in a brief catalog entry, this fourth Āyaka pillar from Jaggayyapeta appears to be entirely unmentioned in the literature. What remains of the text is completely parallel to EIAD 31, 32 and 33. The text being intact in those inscriptions, we refer to them for a translation.

    Secondary bibliography