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No. 20--INSCRIPTIONS FROM GAYA
(2 Plates) D. C. SIRCAR AND K. H. V. SARMA, OOTACAMUND
(Received on 12.5.1958) We have elsewhere suggested that inscriptions set up at well-known tirthas by visiting pilgrims sometimes mention kings of distant lands not because the holy places in question formed parts of their dominions but merely because the pilgrims were their subjects or subordinates and that pious people including kings often sought to secure the merit of visiting tirthas of their choice by sending others to those localities at their own cost as their proxies. The four inscriptions edited in the following pages come from Gayā which is one of the most celebrated tirthas of India and they throw welcome light on the said question. The holiest shrine at Gayā is the Vishnupāda temple and all the records are found within the precincts of that temple.
Gayā is regarded as the most suitable place for the celebration of the post-funeral ceremony called Srāddha for the salvation or the spirits of dead ancestors. Gayā-érāddha (i.e. the performance of Srāddha at Gayā) can be celebrated by anybody for any deceased person at any time of the year, although the fortnight ending with the Mahālayā-Amāvasyā (i.e. the new-moon day in amānta Bhādrapada or pūrnimānta Āsvina) is regarded as the best time for it and lakhs of pilgrims from all parts of India visit the holy place on that occasion.'
1. Inscription of the time of Kakatiya Pratáparudra I The inscription is engraved on a black slab of stone fixed into the eastern wall (right side) of the shrine of Siva in front of the Vishnupāda temple. There are in all 31 lines of writing. The préservation on the whole is satisfactory, though some letters are damaged here and there. The inscribed space measures 31 inches in height and 11 inches in breadth. Beneath the writing, there are the representations of the Chakra (discus) and Sankha (conch-shell), the latter on a pedestal, and below these there is K. 1848 incised in English. The English writing apparently refers to the utilisation of the stone slab some time in 1848 A.D.; but it has nothing to do with the inscription. The Chakra and Sankha are the well-known emblems of the god Vishnu and appear to point to the Vaishnava leanings of the person who set up the record under study,
The characters are Nandi-Nāgart of the twelfth or thirteenth century. The language of the inscription is Sanskrit and it is written in verse with the exception of a passage in prose at the end. There are altogether 12 stanzas, the metre employed being Anushţubh in all cases. The author's command over the language was, however, not quite satisfactory. The orthography of the record is characterised by the use of anusvāra in the place of final m and class nasals. The
* Ser: abovo, Vol. XXXI, pp. 100-101.
. For the importance of Gayt as a holy place especially for the performance of árādilha, see the Vayu Purana, chapters 105 ff.; Kano, History of Dharmasdstra, Vol. IV, pp. 643-79. For the antiquity of Gaya, see JIA, Vol. XXXII, pp. 283 f.
This is No. 132 of 4. R. Bp., 1957-58, App. B.
The name Naudi-Nagart is usually associated with the Nagart alphabet used in the South Indian records of the Vijayanagara period (cf. Ojha, Palaeography of India, p. 68 ; Renou et Filliozat, L'Inde Classique, Tome II, p. 682). But tbe development of the Yandi. Xagari alphabet can be traced to enrlier times. We have applied this name to the characters of Inscriptions Xos. 1-2 cited in the following pages because they exhibit the Nandi-Nagart forms of some letters. Cf.s in both the records and initial i in Inscription No.2, lipe 18.
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