Epigraphia Indica Vol 24

SR No.: 032578
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Hirananda Shastri
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India
Publication Year: 1937
Total Pages: 472
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 22 MB

Page 24

No. 2.)
INSCRIPTIONS ON TWO RELIC-CASKETS FROM CHARSADDA.
9
he finds also in the Kharðshthi documents from Chinese Turkestan. But this reading has not been generally accepted. The letter y in this inscription is in most cases distinguished from 6 by the curvilinear slanting stroke it shows on the left-hand side; also the head of y is more or less conical while that of 4 is rectangular. In one instance at least (pracha-Bulhana puyae) there is a slanting top bar added to the two nprights of y.
The language is a form of Präkrit as found generally in the Indian Kharðshthi inscriptions of the Kushān period. The word dala in the expression etck-eta-mite corresponds to Pāli ettaika, meaning so much' (cf. Prakrit ettia, ettiya and ettika). The same form elaka is well known from the Asokan inscriptions. In rahatana, which stands for arahatana, a is elided as a result of enphony. The verbal form sthapapema represents Sanskrit sthāpayāmah (cf. Pāli thapāpeto)." The use of nominative singular for accusative singular in thubao (thubako) is irregular (for which cf. dhramo for dhraman in Asöka's Rock-edict XII at Shahbazgarhi). Attention may be drawn to a dialectic peculiarity which the language of this inscription bears in common with that of the Kharoshthi Dhammapada as preserved in the Dutreuil de Rhins Manuscript. This is the u termination in sagharamu sanghārāmam) that has its parallels in such forms as magu for maggo, dhamu for dhammam and so on of the Dhammapada. The Dutreuil de Rhins Ms. has been referred by Senart to the second century A. D., but probably is of a somewhat later age. It may be suggested that the Charsadda casket inscription also belongs to this period. The words se yema may be taken to represent tad yad-idam, meaning 'as follows'. The three letters following yema I read as naviga(navaka, 'a Buddhist novice '). In Saravaranasi we have evidently an example of the locative singular with -asi.
The inscription records the consecration of a reliquary or casket (dona, i.e., dróna) in a place called Saravarana. Another place Avasaura is also mentioned in the locative case (Avasaürami) in connection with the donation. The former was probably the name of the particular locality where the gift was made and the latter that of the town of which it formed part. Tbe casket is stated to have been deposited by the novice Vesa, who for this pur pose also erected a stūpa and a sanghārāma.
The concluding portion of the inscription mentions a personage named Avakhajhada to whom honour (puja) is shown. He is described as chhatrava (kshatrapa), and also as grama. svami (grāma-svämin), i.e., 'the lord of villages,' serving under & maharaya (mahärāja), that is an independent ruler. The town Avabatirs must have been included within the jurisdiction of Avakhajhada. The inscription is, dated in the year 303 of an era which is not specified. Probably it should be referred to the same reckoning to which the year 318 of the Loriyan Tangai inscription must be attributed. If referred to the Mälava era of 58 B. C. the year 303 corresponds to A. D. 245, a date that agrees well with the language and palæography of the inscription.
I now place below the text and translation of the record. It should be noted, however, that my transcript of the portion following the date, which occurs on the rim of the casket, is not entirely free from doubt. But at present I am unable to offer a better reading.
1 Kharoth Inscriptions, Part III, Oxford 1929, p. 314. • Pali-English Dictionary (P. T. 8.), s. .
Senart, Journal Asiatique, 1897; also revised edition by Bards and Mitra, Prakrit Dhammapada, Calcutta University, 1921.
• Pali-English Dictionary (P. T. 8.), s. v. navaka.
Dröna is a veseel or measure of capacity; cf. dopadhatu cited in Childers, Pali-English Dictionary, from the Mahapana. The expression sattadonani dhátúnan, .e., seven dronas full of relics,' occurs in Madrassa, 31.22. Tbin in the special sense in which dona is used in the prosent inscription.
• The official title gåmasämiko is mentioned in the Milindapanho (Roy. As. Soc. reprint), p. 147, 1. 12.