Epigraphia Indica Vol 20

Author(s): Hirananda Shastri
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India

Page 87

72
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
[Vol. XX.
from the paper impressions preserved in the Patna Museum. In 1928 some further notes were published by him in the same journal. We have again conjointly examined the cast and the impressions and effected a few important improvements in the reading and explanation as offered below. Amongst notable contributions on the problems connected with the inscription, we refer to the articles by Dr. Sten Konow and Dr. F. W. Thomas. We have to thank our friend Prof. Anant Sadashiv Altekar for the help he has rendered to us in preparing the notes for this edition.
The Hathigumphã appears to have been a natural eavern which was later on converted into a temple or residence. The roof consists of a huge boulder, and the inscription begins on the southern face but is continued up to a place where the stone has become actually the roof of the cave. The last eight or nine lines occur on a sloping surface where it is difficult either to read or copy them. Both of us had to recline partly on our backs to read the portion from the rock. Below the inscription the walls of the natural cavern have been chiselled straight and at places are as beautifully polished as those of the Barabar caves. Near the floor there are sundry rock. cut partitions which do not appear to have been regular walls as they do not go up to the roof. In the dressed and polished portion of the side or the wall of the cave there are a number of later inscriptions (of about the 10th or the 11th century A.D.) many of which contain proper names which are not of any historical interest. They prove, however, that the cave was visited by pilgrims up to the 10th century and therefore it must have been considered some sort of a sacred shrine. It seems reasonable to expect that the great Jaina king Khåravela inscribed the record of his reign at a place which was holy in his eyes. Is it impossible that this is the place where Mahavira had preached the Jaina religion in Kalinga, because this inscription proves that the place was included in Kalinga at that time and there is a distinct reference to the preaching of Jainism in its 14tb line? The bed of the cave is full of sand in front and unless it is excavated its original form cannot be determined. Three stone pillars have lately been put up in front of the cave, to protect the inscription from the effects of the weather, under the orders of Government. The Häthigumphā stands at right angles to the Svargapuri and Mañchapuri on its left and the Sarpa cave on its right. There are several small and large excavations on the top of the boulder which forms the roof of the cave. As a whole the entire record has been very carefully inscribed. In two places only letters have been left out. In 1. 14 the letter ya in arahayate was left out and incised between II. 14 and 15, its position in 1. 14 being indicated by a käkapada. Two other letters sa and ha (?) are to be found in the interspaces immediately after ya but cannot be connected with any word in l. 14.
As regards orthography the inscription presents very few peculiarities. Ligatures are carefully avoided and the only instances where we meet with them are Kanha-ber nā- (1. 4), Banhanānam (1.9) and -vinisrito (1. 17). In the majority of cases the nasals are replaced by anusvāra excepting the places where they are used either as initials or medials. The initial forms are to be seen in - flävakehi (1. 14) and faninam (1. 15) and the medial forms in ora fio (1. 15) and in the ligature in Kanha-bem mi- (1.4). The use of the cerebral nasal is erratic and in the majority of cases the dental has boen used but the cerebral is rather rare and is to be met with in sampuna- (1.2) and guna- (1.17) only. With the exception of two cases all the sibilants are dental. These two cases are the cerebral in -desha- (1. 11) and the palatal in vinibrito
1 Vol. XIII, pp. 221 ff.
· Vol. XIV. pp. 150 ff. . Acta Orientalia, Vol. I, pp. 12 ft.
J. R. A. 8., 1922, pp. 83 f. Annual Report of the Archeological Survey of India, 1922-23, p. 130.