No. 35. Kanheri Buddhist cave inscription. Mixed dialect
| The inscription is on the left-hand side-wall outside the verandah of Cave No.50. It is interesting to note that the board for writing the inscription is made smooth. The upper portion of the inscription is deeply cut. After line 7, there is a svastika. There are three faint lines thereafter. It measures 1.50 m x 1.6 m. Letters 8 cm. x 4.4 cm. Characters: The characters show the admixture of Brāhmč of 3rd Century A.D. (Southern variety) and the earlier forms. Language: The inscription has recorded the most remarkable mixture of Sanskrit and Prakrit forms. Language: Prakrit. Orthography: The inscription has recorded the duplication of letters in the words 'Āryyaghoøasya ', 'Bhādrājaíijāíam', 'deyyadharmma', 'puttāía', 'ōōhitāíam', 'sarvvasatvāíam '. (ShG) |
| 1847 Bird, Hist. Res. Plate XLVII, 25; 1861 West, JBBRAS VI, p. 9, No. 37, and Plate; 1883 Buôhler, ASWI V, p. 85, No. 27; Luders list 1018; ShG No 33; |
| Lu: - Fragment. Dedication of a cave (låía) and a water-cistern (pāíiyya-pîähč) . . . . as the property of the Bhādrajaíijjas (Bhadrāyaíčyas), for the merit of the donor's mother Naėdinikā (Nandinikā). One cell (îvaraka) is the gift of the donor's wife, the housewife (ghariíč) Dāmi[lā]. The merit is assigned to the donor's sons Je . . . , his nephew Āryyaghîøa, his daughter Saėghadåvanikā, and other relatives. |
TEXT.
1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . leíaė pāíiyya[poähi cha] . . .
2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ía Bhādrajaíijjāíaė pratigrahe [|] etta
póíaė
3. . . . . . . . . . mātua cha Naėdiíikā bhājāya ghariíiya Dāmi-
4. [lāya] . . . . . . ya ekka ovarako deyyadhaėrmma etto cha puíabhāgo puttānaė je-
5. . . . . . . . sya bhātuputrasya cha Āryyaghoøasya dhutua cha Saėghadevanikāya
6. . . . . . íatukāíaė nātiíaė panatukāíaė panatiíaė ųuíhāíaė savvaseva
cha kulasya
7. [a]titāíaė ōōhitāíaė aíagatāíaė cha sārvvasatvāíaė cha
hitasukhārtthāya bhavatu tti [||]
L 8 Kāhāpaíāni datāni 1600 Kallivanaė Kakalakarardha visito ōhapanaė vāähi
patike sataė 100 mātta ekachaė dati
L 9 Vāähapaíiko mhādiam sulabhati visiya nigamā natti āsandi khatavvā etta leíe
vasattāíaė beno bhikhunā
____________________________________
L. 3. Thus from ASWI, ShG read Naėdininikāyal and in notes: the reading would be
'Nandinikāya'.
L. 4. ASWI read puttāna
L. 5. Buôhler has not read . . sya.
L. 6. ASWI - read íātiíaė; Buôhler has not read cha.
L. 7. ASWI - read: aíāgatāíaė;
ShG - Buôhler has not noted (he note, that he is unable to make out the whole of
postscript - DNL) the last three (two - DNL) lines. The letters of the last three lines
are small, thin and bleak in appearance. However, the following meaning could be
reconciled. It narrates a perpetual endowment of 1600 kārøāpaías. The reading of lines
8 and 9 could be made out with the help of photograph and the eye-copy of West. The
donation of 1600 kārøāpaías was made by stone-masons from Kallivana, near Nasik. Line
9 states that the rich trader Sulabhati among them repaired the washed away road and his
relatives excavated the benches for the two Bhikøus tho were living in that cave.