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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA,
[VOL. VIII.
TEXT OF iii. a. 1 MahArajasya Kanishkasya sam 9 he 3 di 29 2 etaye purvaye bhikshusya Pushyavuddhisys saddhyeyi. 3 hârisya bhiksbusya Balasya trepitakasya 4 Bodhisatvo chhatrayashți cha pratishthâpito 5 Barinasiye Bhagavato charkame saha mat[A]6 pitihi saha upaddhyâyâcherehi saddhyevihari7 hi antev&sikehicha saha Buddhamitraye trepitika8 ye sahå kshatrapena Vanasparena Kharapalla9 nens cha sahi cha[tn]hi parishahi sarvasatvanan 10 hitasukharttham.
REMARKS. Line 1.- It is doubtful whether the depression at the top of the ra represents an a-stroke or not. The form maharajasya, however, is quite distinot in the Bodhisattva inscription. The spelling Kanishkasya with lingual has already been noticed above.
L. 2 f.- There can be no doubt as to the reading saddhyevihari, with e in the second syllable, here and also in line 6. At first I felt inclined to read sarddhyavihari, which would yield an etymologically more intelligible form; but pre-consonantic r is expressed by a perpendicular and not by & slanting stroke. See e.g. purvaye (1.2) and sarvasatvanan (1. 9). In the Sråvasti image inscription also I should prefer to read saddhyeviharisya.
L. 3.- The third akshara of trepitakasya resembles tha, which is evidently due to the stone being worn. Compare trepifikaye (1.7 f.).
L. 4.- The vowel-stroke of the last syllable of pratishthapito is indistinct. In one of the Bodhisattva inscriptions we have clearly .to.
L. 5.- The first letter of Baránasiye is open at the top and would, therefore, represent pa. But there can be little doubt that this is due either to the disintegration of the surface or to a clerical error. The vowel-stroke also cannot be said to be absolutely certain. For the ending compare Savastiye in the Sråvasti inscription. It is doubtful whether the inscription has chankrame or chankame. I have chosen the Pråkrit form which is found in the Srävasti inscription.
L. 6.- For the reading wpaddhyaydcherehi I am indebted to Prof. Kern, who remarks that the form âchera for Skr. acharya occurs also in the Jataka (ed. by Fausböll), Vol. IV. p. 248, 1. 9, in a verse, i.e. in a dialect different from Pali.
L. 8.-Is perhaps Vanaspharena to be read? The Bodhisattva inscription has clearly Vanashparena.
L. 9.- The letter (or letters P) following the second cha is indistinct. At first I felt inclined to read sahá cha sardhi parishdhi, but finally chose the expression sah& chatuhi parishahi, which occurs also in the Mathura inscription of Dhanabhùti. Compare Cunningham, A. S. R. Vol. III. p. 36, No. 21, Plate xvi., and Senart, Journal Asiatique, série 8, Vol. XV. p. 119.
TRANSLATION In the 3rd year of Maharaja Kanishka, the 3rd (month) of winter, the 22nd day, on this date specified as) above, was (this gift) of Friar Bala, a master of the Tripitakal and
1 The Mathura inscriptions afford many variants of this expression such as etasya perorayam, atyda por vvaya and the like. See Bühler, Kp. Ind. Vol. I. p. 37 ff. and Vol. II. p. 195.
* On the term trepitaka (Skr. traipitaka), Fem, trepitiked, compare Bloch, l. c. p. 280.
