Metadata

Support
Fragment of a pillar in limestone; h. 39 ×  w. 10.5 ×  d. 7.5 cm.
Text
Middle Indo-Aryan, Southern Brāhmī script. h. 29 ×  w. 10 cm .
Date
Attributable to the Ikṣvāku period on palaeographic grounds.
Origin
Phanigiri.
Provenance
Nothing is known about date and location of discovery of this stone fragment. Identified at the Telangana State Archaeological Museum in February 2016.
Visual Documentation
Photo(s):
  • photos AL 2017
    • Editors
    Stefan Baums, Arlo Griffiths, Ingo Strauch and Vincent Tournier.
    Publication history
    Previously unpublished. Edited here after autopsy of the stone.

    Edition

    (1) /// [m] .ṇabhavanasa/// (2) (ba) /// [mha]nakavaṇavaṇi/// (jaka) (3) /// [b]āhake ◊ parama ? /// (4) /// ? kārimahāvi[hā] /// (r) . (5) … .ṁ + + .i ///

    (1) /// [m] .ṇabhavanasa///
    (2) (ba) /// [mha]nakavaṇavaṇi/// (jaka)
    (3) /// [b]āhake ◊ parama ? ///
    (4) /// ? kārimahāvi[hā] /// (r) .
    (5) … .ṁ + + .i /// 
    <ab xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0">
					          <lb n="1"/>
					          <milestone unit="fragment" type="lost" subtype="left"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4956">
                  <unclear>m</unclear>
                  <gap reason="illegible" quantity="1" unit="aksarapart"/>ṇabhavanasa<milestone unit="fragment" type="lost" subtype="right"/>
               </w>
					          <lb n="2"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4958">
                  <supplied reason="lost">ba</supplied>
                  <milestone unit="fragment" type="lost" subtype="left"/>
                  <unclear>mha</unclear>nakavaṇavaṇi<milestone unit="fragment" type="lost" subtype="right"/>
                  <supplied reason="lost">jaka</supplied>
               </w>
					          <lb n="3"/>
					          <milestone unit="fragment" type="lost" subtype="left"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4961">
                  <unclear>b</unclear>āhake</w>
					          <space type="horizontal" quantity="1" unit="character"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4963">parama</w>
					          <gap reason="illegible" quantity="1" unit="character"/>
					          <milestone unit="fragment" type="lost" subtype="right"/>
					          <lb n="4"/>
					          <milestone unit="fragment" type="lost" subtype="left"/>
					          <gap reason="illegible" quantity="1" unit="character"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4968">kārimahāvi<unclear>hā</unclear>
                  <milestone unit="fragment" type="lost" subtype="right"/>
                  <supplied reason="lost">r</supplied>
                  <gap reason="lost" quantity="1" unit="aksarapart"/>
               </w>
					          <lb n="5"/>
					          <gap reason="lost" extent="unknown"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4970">
						            <gap reason="illegible" quantity="1" unit="aksarapart"/>ṁ</w>
					          <gap reason="lost" quantity="2" unit="character"/>
					          <w xml:id="tok4975">
                  <gap reason="illegible" quantity="1" unit="aksarapart"/>i</w>
					          <milestone unit="fragment" type="lost" subtype="right"/>
				        </ab>

    Apparatus

    • (1) [m] .ṇabhavanasa/// There might be what is left of an anusvāra on top of the <sa>.
    • (2) (ba) /// [mha]nakavaṇavaṇi/// (jaka) The reconstruction is conjectural, and is inspired by similar formulae in the Nagarjunakonda corpus. The first akṣara of the line is very damaged, and we are unable to recognise what remains of a <mha>. We can see three small horizontal strokes, which could rather be read as < [ja] >.
    • (3) parama ? The last akṣara might be read as < [se] > or < [te] >.
    • (4) ? kārimahāvi[hā] /// (r) . This probably refers to the name of the mahāvihāra at Phanigiri, but sadly the name is fragmentary and is not attested elsewhere in the corpus. The first akṣara had either a <ā> or a <o> vowel.

    Translation

    (...) brahmans, beggars, mendicants (...) highest, (in the) °kari Great Monastery (...)