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No. 38]
241
BANAVASI INSCRIPTION OF VINHUKADA SATAKANNI,
YEAR 12
As regards the reading vasa-satāya or visa-satāya in line 1, our impression shows clear traces of the sign for i over v, so that the letter is vi. Thus Bühler's earlier reading visa-satāya for Sanskrit visva-sattāyāh, 'of the universal sovereignty', is correct. Both Indraji and Bühler thought that the first line ended with the letter ta. But it is certianly tā in our impressions and it is also followed by another letter, the traces of which show that it can be read as ya. Thus the last word of the first line should be read as jivaputāya, 'of one whose sons are living'.
We do not think that any letters have been lost at the beginning of the second line as supposed by Indraji and Bühler. Their view that the medial sign for win yu is an accidental scratch does not seem to be correct. We propose to read this letter as yu which, in our opinion, is the first letter of the second line. The next letter can be read as va which is followed by rā, the lower part of which is very faintly preserved. The letter following rā is clearly ja. It will thus be seen that what Bühler read as sau or sao consists of three letters varāja, the whole word being yuvarāja. After ja, the letter mā was rightly suggested by Indraji and Bühler though only faint traces of the letter are seen in our impression. The next two letters which are completely damaged may be restored as tuya instead of rāya as proposed by Indraji and Buhler. The restoration suggested here suits the context very well and the whole compound can be taken as yuvarāja-mātuya,' of the mother of the heir-apparent'.
If the readings and interpretation suggested above are accepted, then it would be clear that Sivaskandanã gasri would be the name of the donatrix who was the king's daughter. She was also the mother of the yuvarāja whose name is not given in the record. It appears that the king nominated his daughter's son as Yuvarāja.
The only geographical name in the record, viz. Sajayata (Samjayanti), has been identified with Banavāsi, the findspot of the inscription, which was also known as Jayanti and Vaijayanti. The text, with the suggested readings, is given below.
TEXT
1 Sidham[][*] Baño Håriti-putasa ViphukadaChuţul-kul-ana[m]da-Sātā(ta)kampisa visa
sataya' savachharath 10 2 Hemantāna pakho 7 divasa 1 mahābhuviya mahārājabāliskā]ya jivaputā[y]
[The impressions show that the i-matra in the akshara vi, which had been originally engraved, was later rubbed off. There is little doubt that wasa-sataya stands for Sanskrit varaha-bataya and indicates that the pious act recorded in the inscription was performed for a hundred years' life of the king. Cf. varsha-sahasraya used in praying for the long life of a pious deed in some records (Select Inscriptions, p. 174, text line 16; p. 181, text line 2 ; etc.). For vareha-batāga in other records, soe below, Vol. XXXV, p. 3, text line 3.-Ed.]
[Traces on the impressions appear to suggest that the name of the Yuvaraja in two or three letters (cf. the name of Mangi-yuvarāja of the Eastern Chalukya family) is rubbed off at the beginning of the line. -Ed.)
. Cf. 811, Vol. XI, Part II, No. 141 ; above, Vol. VI, pp. 12 ff. A place called Safjayapura, which is mentioned -along with Vanavāsa in an inscription from Nagarjunikonda has been identified with Sanjayantinagarl of the Ma. habharata (II, 31,70) and with Safjan in the Thana District of Bombay Stato (above, p. 199). This is not impossible, though the identification of Sanjayanti with Banavāsi appears to be more probable. See slao The Successors of the Satavahanas, pp. 220-21.
. From impressions.
Båhler roads this letter as • Böhler: Salakarinisa. [80e above, note 1.-Ed.)
