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The Unknown Pilgrims
Māmkabbe-ganti, adorned with the ornaments of good qualities, caused to be set up this epitaph to her great guru.4
237
218
The last inscription is not found on either of the hills, but in the village itself. It bears not only to the fervour of Śrimati-ganti, but also to the veneration in which she was held by her disciple Māmkabbeganti. One observes that the name of the Samgha to which an ǎryikā belonged is sometimes given, also the name of the ācārya. To denote this final step of the abandonment of the body by way of ritual fasting until the Great Departure, the following words are employed: ärādhana, adoration; sanyasana, renunciation, abandonment; samādhi, deep concentration upon the atman, all of them words charged with profound meaning for the faithful of that day.
Of certain other inscriptions some are very brief and others partly effaced:
-On Cikkabetta (Candragiri) two inscriptions of the VIIth century name: Saundaryā Āryā, who attained samādhi, and Gunamati-avve.238
-An inscription of the Xth century mentions: Sayibbekantiyar;239 and an epitaph of the XIth century in a poor state of preservation mentions: Pollabe-kantiyar,240
237
Ibid., inscr. 484; p. 523; saka year 1041: 1119 of our era. The saka era was founded by Salivahana in 78 A.D.
238 Ibid., inscr. 123; p. 403; inscr. 129; p. 404.
239 Ibid., inscr. 168; p. 423.
240 Ibid., inscr. 203; p. 438.
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