________________
EARLIEST JAINA INSCRIPTION FROM MAHARASHTRA
H. D. Sankalia
Early in April 1968, Shri R. L. Bhide, a Superintendent in the University of Poona, showed the author an eye copy of a short Brāhmi inscription', he had discovered together with the cave, near the village of Pāle, Poona District. He further told him that the road was unapproachable even by a jeep, and one had therefore to walk for about 16 miles from the Kamshet Railway Station. This precluded immediate inspection of the cave, owing to the summer heat. Later Shri Bhide published an account of his discoveries in the Marathi newspapers. It was now imperative to see the cave, particularly because the inscription opened with an invocation Namo Arahamtānam, which I thought was a typically Jaina invocation (properly mangalācarana). During the first visit (which was made possible by the kindness, daring and skill of Shri Surajmal Sanghavi, a Jain industrialist of Poona, and the courtesy of Shri Bhide) no estampage of the inscription was taken, as the visit was arranged at a very short notice. Only a photograph of the inscription was taken, but this left the decipherment of a few letters a little doubtful. Shri Bhide also kindly accompanied the party during the second visit, when an estampage was taken by my colleague Dr. (Mrs.) Shobhana Gokhale, and photographs were taken by Shri Nagpuro. Sri P. R. Kulkarni took the measurements of the cave, and assisted in other ways.
The cave is situated about 8 miles off the main BombayPoona Road from Kamshet. Crossing the railway lines and the
1.
The inscription is being edited in the Epigraphra Indica jointly with Dr. (Mrs.) Shobhana Gokhale who has dealt with the palaeography of the inscription. A briefer version has appeared in Dharmayuga and in a publication of the Calcutta University.
389
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
