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No. 7.]
KARLE CAVE-INSCRIPTIONS.
REMARK (1) AS. and CTI. khunil yol . . . The letter yo seems to have disappeared in the crack, and I think I can see after it d[4]nam; the nam, especially, is comparatively clear.
TRANSLATION
"The gift of the pun Âskdhamita.” At KudA (CTI. No. 5) we find a nun named Åshdbamita, the disciple of Padumivika. That inscription looks later than the present one. But it may be that the engravers of Karle had kept up a slightly more archaic tradition.
No. 13, Plate ii. (Ksh. 6). Chaitya cave. On the upper frieze to the right of the central door. The estampage does not throw much more light on the text than the Plate. From this it will be understood that this inscription in its actual state leaves very much room for the ingenuity of the reader, and that the earlier reproductions greatly exaggerate the actual certainty of sereral readings. To become convinced of this, one need only compare the differences between AS. and CTI. at the end of the 3rd line.
TEXT. 1 Sidham (11) Raño Khabarátasa khatapasa Nahapanasa jä[ma]tara (1) n .
kapûtena (2) Usabhad&tena ti-(3) 2 gosatasahass[de]ņa nadiya (4) Bands&ye (5) [u]vapatathakarena (6) . . .
brahmanana (7) che sola[sa]ga3 ma[d]e. Pabhise pûtatithe (8) brahmaņåņa ațbabhåyåp[r]a ..[a]auvåsa in
pita (9) satasahasam bho-(10) 4 indavits Valûrakegu lepavâsinam (11) pavajitânam châtudisasa saghasa 5 yâpanatha gåmo Ka]r[a]jiko (12) dato sa . na . . . vâsitânam (13).
REMARKS. (1) CTI. má". I cannot discover any trace of the d.-(2) The reading Diwka is no doubt certain; but the d is quite indistinct on the estampages, and the k is much worn.- (3) I believe that there is nothing but ti at the end of this line. What has been taken for ni (AS) would run into the bottom of ti. Besides, tini = friņi would be a serious and unusual mistake. - (4) AS. nadiya, which is inadmissible.-(5) CTI. reads ondsayan.-(6) I do not see any traco of the u below the s, though the reading su is certain. AS. and CTI. read Oratha', though admitting that the word corresponds to titha = tirtha. The still visible stroke would not be so straight if it were a ra. It is the remnant of a t, above wbich the i is lost.-(7) I do not see anything of decâna, though this word is warranted by the comparison with the Nâsik inscription No. 10. AS. and CTI. read brahmanana [in] with a long d, of which I do not discover any trace.-(8) AS. puñatithe; but the ta is sure.-(9) The p has at the right bottom a perpendicular line which may express the r, as in brahmana. The restoration dena seems certain ; but nothing remains of these letters. After this, CTI. reads gåvasdpi trisao. The reading of AS., which resembles mine closely, appears to me almost certain, though the initial a is much spoiled.-(10) AS. "tasdhasi[ho]'. The final bho is quite clear. Though believing that I see sahasar in the estampages, I do not venture to deny that the actual reading may be hasir.
