Indian Antiquary Vol 48

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 83

JUNE, 1919]
DEKKAN OF THE SATAVAHANA PERIOD
79
Kshatrapa, we know, is the Indian abbreviated form of the old Persian title Kshatrapâvan, corresponding to the Greek Satrap. All these things unmistakably point to the alien. origin of Ushavadata, and, in particular, to his having been a Saka, though his and his wife's names are distinctly Hindu. Now let us see what the inscriptions, above all Nâsik inscription No. 10, tell us about him. Ushavadâta is called tri-go-śata-sahasrada or the giver of three hundred thousand kine. He is further spoken of as having granted sixteen villages to the gods and Brahmaus. He is also stated to have furnished eight Brâhmans with the means of marriage at the holy place Prabhâsa, i.e. Somnâth-Pattan in Kathiawâr; in other words, he incurred the merit of accomplishing eight Brâhmaṇ marriages. And, to crown the whole, he is said to have annually fed one hundred thousand Brahmans. This reminds us, as Sir Ramkrishna Bhandarkar has aptly said, of the grand feast given, not many years ago, to Brâhmans by the father of the present Maharaja Scindia of Gwalior., These charities undoubtedly stamp Ushavadâta as a very staunch adherent of the Brahmanical religion. Yet in origin he was a Saka, and, therefore, a foreigner. There are many other instances of Sakas and Abhiras having turned either Buddhists or adopted Hindu names.2
Another feature of the period is the catholic spirit of religion. We have seen what a firm follower of Brahmanism Ushavadâta was. But he was by no means a bigot, and we find him excavating a cave for Buddhist monks at Nâsik and granting a village for the maintenance of the Bhikshus settled in the monastic establishment at Kârle. Such was also the case with the Sâtavâhana king Satakarni, his mother Gautamî, and his son Pulumâvi. We know they were Brahmanists, and yet their, charities were not confined to their faith but extended freely also to Buddhism. I have mentioned above that Gautami caused one cave to be cut near Nâsik, and presented it to the Bhadrâyanîyas. For the maintenance of the monks and repairs to the cave, Sâtakarṇi and Pulumâvi granted a piece of land and a village respectively They similarly gave a village to the Buddhist establishment at Kârle. A third noteworthy feature of the religious condition of this period is that the espousal of a different religion did not entail the loss of caste. Perhaps the most typical case is that of a Brâh man called Ayitilu, whose wife Bhâyilâ makes the benefaction of a Chaitya-griha to the Buddhist community settled in the Kudâ caves.3 That her husband Ayitilu was a Buddhist is certain, because he has actually been called an upasaka. And though he was thus a Buddhist, he had not lost his caste, because he still called himself a Brahman. The truth of the matter is that Buddhism was a revolt not so much against caste distinction as against the sacrificial system and the authority of the Vedas to dictate the path of salvation. Buddhism left its followers to perform their domes' ic ceremonies entirely according to the Vedic ritual, just as Jainism did up till twenty-five years ago.
A glimpse into the constitution of the Hindu society in the Dekkan at this period is afforded by the status or caste names not unfrequently specified of the donors mentioned in Cave inscriptions. Those of the highest rank among these were of course the Maharathis 3 Lüders' List, No. 1950.
2 Above, 1911, 15 & ff.