Epigraphia Indica Vol 31

SR No.: 032585
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Hirananda Shastri
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India
Publication Year: 1955
Total Pages: 506
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 30 MB

Page 243

179 EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
(VOL. XXXI (Parvata). We have noticed before that an inscription belonging to year 87 of the reign of Pothasiri records a donation by one Pusa. Considering the fact that be also hailed from Parvata, it will not be unreasonable to suppose that he is identical with Pushya, the father of Phalga, of the inscriptions under consideration. We know that, in the year 88, Pothasiri was still ruling, while in the year 90 we find his son Bhattadeva already installed as king. So the ruler in Phalgu's time should have been either Bhattadeve or his successor. Now in the first of the two caves mentioned above there is a fragmentary insoription (No. XV). Its writing exhibits larger characters and it starts from the south wall and is continued on the wall to the left oontaining the inscription of Phalgu. The beginning of this record seems to have been lcst; but we can still read [Valsithiputaxa siri-Chitasenasa. From the way this name is recorded it appears to be that of a ruler and probably the date was continued in the next line which, along with the expression Mahardjasa at the beginning of the first line, is now missing. Since this oave was, according to the inscription found in it, excavated by Phalgu, it can bear only the name of the contemporary ruler. If our surmise is correct, thon wa may be almost certain that this Chitusena (Chitrasena) was the successor of Bhattadeva in the line of king Bhimasena.
In the caves to the south-east of Gopalpur, I found three short records (No. XX, A-C). The walls bearing the records are not properly dressed, and the surface is too rough to ensure satisfactory decipherment of the records. All of them, however, bear one and the same text and seem to record that they were dwellings (ketana) dedicated by two persons named Bhoja and Bhojapili. There is a date at the beginning of two of these records which seems to read Sava 80 Gi-pa 1 diva 5, i.e. the 5th day of the first fortnight of Grishma in the year 80. In the third record, the numeral after the day seems to be 6 instead of 6, other particulars of the date being the same. If my reading of the date is correct, the epigraphs would belong to the time of Pothasiri or his father Bhimasena.
Now the problem that faces us is to find out whether these caves were religious or secular donations and if religious what was the religion of the donors and those who oooupied them. That they were all religious donations, there can be no doubt. Expressions like dhamatha (Skt. dhar martham), 'for dharma', punya vardhatu, 'let merit increase', dhamo vadhatu, 'let dharma increase', would clearly point to that. But the insoriptions are silent about what this religion was, and there is not even the slightest indication about that in any one of them. To make the position more diffioult no images of any kind could be discovered in any of the caves or their surroundings and for & decision we are left to depend entirely on indirect evidence of the three principal religions of the time, viz. Buddhism, Jainism and Brāhmanism, the first, I think, oan safely be ruled out. If the caves were Buddhistio donations one would expect to find some evidence in the records themselves and at least one or two of the caves should have been of the Chaitys type. That they may be Jaina also seems doubtful. None of the donors is called a frävaka or upasaka, nor is there any mention of a teacher or Arhat as one would expect even in early Jaina inscriptions. In one of the caves in the Ganesh Pabär are still visible two bas-reliefs. In one of these are found figures of several animals crowded together and on the adjoining wall is a short inscription which reads mugava-selo, i.e. mrigaya-baila or 'the hill used as a hunting ground'. Apparently this was the label meant for the animal scene carved on the adjacent wall and it is hard to imagine a Jaina religious establishment depicting such a scene. The other bas-relief in this cave shows a figure riding on an animal. The umbrella held over the head shows that the rider was meant to represent a king. On an adjacent pillar is found the name Jarāsandha. If this also is meant to be a label, one would expect a scene from the Mahābhārata depicted here. There are also a few figures on the outside wall of the same cave; but they are now defaced beyond recognition. The natural conclusion that can be drawn from these figures in relief is that these caves were
*[See below, p. 184, note 4.-Ed.]