Book Title: Indian Antiquary Vol 42
Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications
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May, 1913]
THE INSCRIPTION OF ARA
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In order to show what I owe to my predecessor I reproduce here his reading of the text of the inscription. I consider it superfluous to go into every point in detail in which I differ from him : in most cases an inspection suffices to determine the text. Let me, however, make one observation : Banerji believes the inscription to be broken towards the left end, and that the final words of all lines except the first are missing. This assumption is wholly without foundation. Only the last line is incomplete at the end. Banerji reads:
1. Maharajasa rajatirajasa deraputrasa pa(?) thadharasa ...... 2. Vasishpaputrasa Kanishkasa samvatsaraë eka chatari(še).... 3. Sam XX, XX, 1, Chelasa masasa diva 4, 1 atra divasami Namikha....
.... na pusha puria pumana mabarathi Ratak haputa .... at manusa sabharya putrasa anugalyarthae savya .... .... rae himachala. Khipama ....
I read :Maharajasa rajatirajasa deva putrasa [ka] [sa]rasal 2. Vajheshkaputrasa Kanishkasu sainbatsarae' ekachapar[i] 3. [ae] sam 20 20 1 Jefhasa masasa di 205 4 1 [be] divasachh enami kha[n]es 4. kupe [Da] haverana' Poshapuriaputrana matarspitaraņa piya5. Namda[sa sa]6harya (sa sa] putrasa anugrahartha sarva .. [pa] na? 6. [ja] tisha hitaelo ima chala khiyamall.. 1. To the reading of this word we shall revert later on.
2. The second akshara can in my opinion be only jhe; the reading si is at all events exolu ded. As regards the reading of the third akshara, there may be different views at first sight. Asshka occurs in the name of Kanishka, Vasisbka, Havishka, and as exactly the same symbol. occurs in the Zeda inscription in the name Kanishkasa, one might feel tompted to read shka. On the other hand shpa is suggested by the fact that in the ligatare shka, in the word Kanishkasa which follows immediately after, the ka is joined to the shia in a different way. But, I think, we shall decide for shka when we take it into consideration that in the Kharoshtht script the same symbol on the same stone shows often widely different forms.
3. I have already given the correct reading of the date of the year in Jour. R. As. Soc., 1909, p. 652. The ligatare tra is not new as Banerji thinks. It occurs, not to mention uncer tain cases, in the word samvatsaraye in the Taxila inscription of Patika (Ep. Ind. 4, 54 ; Bühler: samvatsaraye), and in the Mahaban inscription (Jour. As. IX, 4, 514 ; Senart : sainvatsaraye), and in bhetsiti and matjana in the MS. Dutreuil de Rhins, as was shown ten years ago by Franke (Pāli und Sanskrit, page 96 f.)
1. The i of ri is not clear. 5. After the symbol for 20 there is a hole in the stone.
6. The n has crumbled away. The sign for e is attached below as in de in line 1, in gene. rally, and probably also in ve in line 4.
7. The da is uncertain. 8. The sa at the end of the word and the following sa are not quite distinct, but perfectly certain.
9. The akshara after sarva is totally destroyed, and the pa is uncertain. Shall we read sarvasapana ?
10. The hi is not certain. 11. After khiyama there are three or four illegible aksharas.
Translation, " (During the reign) of Maharaja, Rajatirdja, Devaputra, Kaisara Kanishka, the son of Vajheshka, in the forty-first year,-in the year 41,-on the 25th day of the month of Jeths (Jyni. sht ha), in this moment of the day, the dug well of the Dashaveras, the Poshapuria sons, for:
