गुप्त अभिलेख संग्रह (जे. एफ. फ्लीट - गुप्त सम्राटों एवं परवर्ती नरेशों के ऐतिहासिक पाषाण व ताम्रलेख)

THE GUPTA INSCRIPTIONS; No. 73, PLATE XLII A. 279
of twenty years; and, after that, he would have to wait at least ten or twelve years, before
he could be invested with the title of Sthavira or Thêra. A further point to be noted, is,
that Mahânâman's visit to Bôdh-Gayâ probably occurred before the time when Dhâtusêna
became king of Ceylon,—during the flight of the uncle and nephew to avoid the persecu-
tion of the usurper Pâṇḍu; according to Mr. Turnour's deductions, this was between A.D.
434 and 439.
TEXT.¹
1 Ôm Dêya-dharmmô-yaṁ Śâkya-bhikshôḥ Âmradvîpa-vâsi-sthavira-
Mahânâmasya² [II*] Yad-atra puṇyaṁ tad-bhavatu sarvva-
sat[t*]vânâm-anuttara-jñân-âvâptayê=stu³ [II*]
TRANSLATION.
Ôm! This (is) the appropriate religious gift of the Śâkya Bhikshu, the Sthavira
Mahânâman, a resident of Âmradvîpa. Whatever religious merit (there is) in this
(act), let it be for the acquisition of supreme knowledge by all sentient beings!

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No. 73; PLATE XLII A.
SANCHI STONE PILLAR INSCRIPTION.
THIS inscription was discovered by General Cunningham, and was first brought to notice
by him in 1854, in his Bhilsa Topes, p. 199, where he published his reading of it, accom-
panied by a lithograph (id. Plate xxi. No. 199).
This is another inscription from Sâñchi,⁴ in the Dîwângañj Sub-Division of the
Bhôpâl State in Central India. It is on the north side of part of a small monolith round
pillar, broken, that stands a few yards to the north-east of the eastern gateway of the
great Stûpa.
The writing covers a space of about 10" broad by 2¼" high. Except for the first
three letters, which are very much damaged, it is in a state of fairly good preservation,
as far as it goes. But it is only a fragment; the concluding part of it being broken away
and lost.—The average size of the letters is about ⅝". The characters belong to
the southern class of alphabets.—The language is Sanskrit; and the inscription is in
prose.—In respect of orthography, we have to notice the doubling of t, in conjunction
with a following r, in puttra.
The inscription does not refer itself to the reign of any king, and is not dated. But,
on palæographical grounds, it may be allotted roughly to the fifth century A.D. It is
evidently the remnant of a Buddhist inscription; and its object seems to have been to
record the gift of the pillar, on which it is inscribed, by a Vihârasvâmin,⁵ the son of

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¹ From Mr. J. D. M. Beglar's ink-impression; so also the lithograph.
² Read mahânâmnaḥ.
³ This stu (astu) is redundant, as we have already had bhavatu. The same redundant astu occurs
also in line 2 of the Bôdh-Gayâ image inscription, No. 76 below, page 282.
⁴ See page 29 above, and note 2.
⁵ Vihârasvâmin, lit. 'master of a vihâra,' is a technical religious title of office, applied to certain
functionaries who came next in rank below the Mahâvihârasvâmin; see page 272 above, note 3.