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No. 30-NAGARJUNIKONDA INSCRIPTION OF THE TIME OF ABHIRA
VASUSHENA, YEAR 30
(1 Plate)
D. C. SIROAR, OOTACAMUND
(Received on 13.11.1959) An inscription recently unearthed at Nāgārjunikonda has been noticed with an illustration in the Indian Archaeology 1958-59-A Revier, p. 8, Piate Va. The notice reads as follows: "On the bank of the river Krishna, in the north-eastern corner of the valley (i.e. the Nāgārjunikonda valley), long rows of pillared mandapas had previously been noticed, superimposed by medieval rubble structures. These later structures were removed to expose the plans of the underlying early Ikshvaku buildings. During this operation, a slub bearing an inscription (Pl. Va). dated in the 9th regnal year of the Abhira king Väsishthiputra Vasushona and recording the construction of a wooden image of Ashtabhujasvāmin, was discovered. The record further mentioned mahātalavara mahāgrūmika mahādandanāyaka Sivasēna of Kausika-gotra, the Yavana princes of Sanjayapuri, Saka Rudradāman of Avanti and Vishņurudraśivalānanda Sātakarņi of Vanavāsa, who appear to have had some share in the consecration of the image and benefactions made in the reign of the Abhira king."1 The statements about the oontents of the inscription are, however, based on an imperfect and inaccurate transcript of the record. Indeed it has to be admitted that the decipherment of the epigraph is considerably difficult owing to the unsatisfactory preservation of the writing especially in the lower part. Many of the letters are damaged here and there throughout the inscription. Another fact is that the engraver formed some of the letters rather carelessly and sometimes omitted an akshara here and there.
There are altogether six lines of writing which cover an area about 38 inches in length and 15 inches in height. Individual aksharas, excluding conjuncts and others like a, ā, k, , etc., and those having vowel marks attached to the top or bottom, are a little above half an inch in height.
The characters belong to the Middle Brāhmi stage of South India and resemble those in the inscriptions of the Ikshvākus found at Nāgārjunikonda and in the neighbourhood and belonging to the latter half of the third century A. D. and the early part of the fourth. But the medial i sign is not as longish as in most of the Ikshvāku epigraphs. The sign for medial i is formed by the above sign making it end generally in an inward curve almost forming a loop. But the type of medial i often found in the Nāgārjunikonda records, which is formed by a smaller stroke above the left end of the top mātrā added to the medial i sign, seems to be used in ri in line 2. Like some other inscriptions from Nāgārjunikonda and unlike most ancient Indian epigraphs, the words of our record have been usually separated from one another by a space.
The language of the inscription is an admixture of Sanskrit and Prakrit. There are a few sentences in Prakrit and the orthography of the Sanskrit sentences is also often influenced by Prakrit (cf. Sivasêba for Sanskrit Siva sepa in line 2). But the Sanskrit element is predominant and there is also a Sanskrit stanza in the classical Upajāti metre. It will not be wrong if the language of our record is described as Sanskrit influenced by Prakrit. As is well known, the Buddhist insoriptions dincovered at Nāgārjunikonda are generally written in the Prakrit language while
1 Wo have inserted diacriticul marks in the Sanskritic words quoted in the passage. • C. Būbler, Indian Palaeography (Ind. Ant., Vol. XXXIII, App.), p. 84.
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