- Support
- Boulder; h. unavailable × w. unavailable × d. unavailable cm. Below the inscription, on the wall of a small cavity of the boulder is carved an image of Narasimha.
- Text
- Middle Indo-Aryan, Southern Brāhmī script. h. unavailable × w. unavailable cm.
- Date
- Unspecified regnal year of Govindavarman of the Viṣṇukuṇḍin dynasty. Attributable to the latter half of the 4th century C.E. on palaeographic grounds.
- Origin
- Hyderabad, Dilsukhnagar, Chaitanyapuri colony.
- Provenance
- The inscription was noticed on a rock wall at the Phanigiri Lakshmi-Narasimha Temple five years prior to the publication of Parabrahma Sastry 1984 . The precise date of discovery is unknown. Identified during fieldwork on 10 January 2017.
- Visual Documentation
-
Photo(s):
- Parabrahma Sastry 1984, pl. III.
- Editors
- Arlo Griffiths and Vincent Tournier, with contributions by Ingo Strauch.
- Publication history
- First described and edited by Parabrahma Sastry 1982 (Bharati) and Parabrahma Sastry 1984 (with alternative readings supplied by the editor of the journal, marked Ed. in the apparatus). Re-edited here from published documentation. Autopsy of the boulder was unfortunately not very helpful.
(1)
purimavi[ḍā]lapāda[mūla]vāsaṁ
puphagirimahā(2)vihārapatiṭhāpakasa
vasudevasirīdāmasa
mahā(3)vītarāgasa
[madā]
?
piṁḍapātika[dāma]dharasa
(4)
para[ṁ]parāgatasa
[bamha]deva[ṭhe]virasa
sisena
[bhadaṁ]ta(5)saṁghadevena
govidaṁrājavihārasa
gaṁdhakuṭivārike[na]
°ima
(6)
? ? tasela
||
[sa]ṁvāsa[va]raṁ
pa[ti]
◊ṭhāpitaṁ
(1) purimavi[ḍā]lapāda[mūla]vāsaṁ puphagirimahā-
(2)vihārapatiṭhāpakasa vasudevasirīdāmasa mahā-
(3)vītarāgasa [madā] ? piṁḍapātika[dāma]dharasa
(4) para[ṁ]parāgatasa [bamha]deva[ṭhe]virasa sisena [bhadaṁ]ta-
(5)saṁghadevena govidaṁrājavihārasa gaṁdhakuṭivārike[na] °ima
(6) ? ? tasela || [sa]ṁvāsa[va]raṁ pa[ti] ◊ṭhāpitaṁ
<ab xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0">
<lb n="1"/>
<w xml:id="tok5391">purimavi<unclear>ḍā</unclear>lapāda<unclear>mūla</unclear>vāsaṁ</w>
<w xml:id="tok5393">puphagirimahā<lb n="2" break="no"/>vihārapatiṭhāpakasa</w>
<w xml:id="tok5395">vasudevasirīdāmasa</w>
<w xml:id="tok5396">mahā<lb n="3" break="no"/>vītarāgasa</w>
<w xml:id="tok5398">
<unclear>madā</unclear>
</w>
<gap reason="illegible" quantity="1" unit="character"/>
<w xml:id="tok5399">piṁḍapātika<unclear>dāma</unclear>dharasa</w>
<lb n="4"/>
<w xml:id="tok5401">para<unclear>ṁ</unclear>parāgatasa</w>
<w xml:id="tok5402">
<unclear>bamha</unclear>deva<unclear>ṭhe</unclear>virasa</w>
<w xml:id="tok5403">sisena</w>
<w xml:id="tok5404">
<unclear>bhadaṁ</unclear>ta<lb n="5" break="no"/>saṁghadevena</w>
<w xml:id="tok5406">govidaṁrājavihārasa</w>
<w xml:id="tok5407">gaṁdhakuṭivārike<unclear>na</unclear>
</w>
<w xml:id="tok5408">°ima</w>
<lb n="6"/>
<w xml:id="tok5411">
<gap reason="illegible" quantity="2" unit="character"/>tasela</w>
<pc>||</pc>
<w xml:id="tok5413">
<unclear>sa</unclear>ṁvāsa<unclear>va</unclear>raṁ</w>
<w xml:id="tok5414">pa<unclear>ti</unclear>
<space type="horizontal" quantity="1" unit="character"/>ṭhāpitaṁ</w>
</ab>- (1) purimavi[ḍā]lapāda[mūla]vāsaṁ purimavi[ḍā]la pādaṁhulavāsaṁ PVPS purimavi[ḍā]la pāṁḍahulāvāsaṁ Ed.
- (1) puphagiri- Ed.. puḍhagiri PVPS .
- (2) patiṭhāpakasa patithāpakasa PVPS .
- (2) vasudevasirīdāmasa vasudevasiridāmasa PVPS . It is tempting to see in <dā> both in this line and in the following a mistake for <dha>.
- (3) [madā] ? madāja PVPS mahā Ed. This last reading ignores the third akṣara, which could be read as <ku>.
- (3) -[dāma]dharasa PVPS . -vāmadharasa Ed. The reading vāmadharasa is indeed possible, but it is not less difficult to make sense of. The epithet dha[ṁ]madhara (Skt. dharmadhara) would fit well within a compound having pi[ṁ]ḍapātika as first element, and we suggest to emend accordingly.
- (4) para[ṁ]parāgatasa paraṁaparāgatasa PVPS . Printing error.
- (4) [bamha]deva[ṭhe]virasa bamradeva [the]virasa PVPS bahmadevathīvirasa Ed. The reading of the first akṣara as <ṭhe> is tentative and this could also be read <kha>. The context however invites us to see in the second part of the compound a monastic title corresponding to Skt. sthavira, P. thera, Pkt. ṭhavira/ṭhera. The form ṭhevira, unattested so far, may be considered a hybrid comparable to the one leading to BHS sthera. Cf. CDIAL, s.v. sthavira.
- (5) govidaṁrājavihārasa goviddaṁrāja - vihārasa PVPS . Emend goviṁdarāja-.
- (5) gaṁdhakuṭivārike[na] °ima gaṁdhaka civarika PVPS gaṁdhakuṭi vārikena °ima Ed. Parabrahma Sastry 1984 ignored the last three akṣaras on the line.
- (6) ? ? tasela || PVPS . ṁ üdita sela Ed. This part of the inscription is almost invisible. The second akṣara, though, looks like a <da> rarher than a <ta>. Several printing errors make it difficult to understand what Ed. actually meant.
- (6) saṁvāsa[va]raṁ saṁvāsa dharaṁ PVPS . Parabrahma Sastry 1984 suggests emending gharaṁ. Ed. suggests instead reading varaṁ, which is not altogether impossible, in light of the unusual shape of the preceding <vā>.
- (7) pa[ti] ◊ṭhāpitaṁ The reading of the second akṣara is unclear, but <ti> is possible. Still, there is enough space for an additional akṣara before <ṭhā>, and it is possible that an irregularity in the stone has caused the engraver to introduce a space, although he does not otherwise use spacing between words or part of words.
At the residence lying at the foot of the Eastern Vidāḷa,
the reverend Saṅghadeva, keeper of the Perfume Chamber of
King Govinda's monastery, disciple of the venerable
Bamhadeva—who stems from the line of Vasudevasirīdhama, he
who established the great monastery at Puphagiri, who was
entirely freed from passions, ... who lived [only] on begged
food, and was a preserver of the Dharma—(within the?) …
rock, established this excellent residence.
- bookmark ARIE 1983-84: no. B.4
- bookmark 1982-83 (1988): 50-51
- bookmark 1986-87 (1990): 33
- bookmark Schopen 1997: 268, 283 n. 47
- bookmark Hanumantha Rao et al. 1998: 196-7
- bookmark Silk 2008: 120-1