EPIGRAPHIA ZEYLANICA

No. 1. JĒTAVANĀRĀMA SANSKRIT INSCRIPTION

THIS

HIS inscription was discovered in 1894, when certain ruins just north of the Kuṭṭam-pokuņa (Twin-ponds') in Anuradhapura were being excavated by the Archaeological Survey. The ruins are probably those of a monastery belonging to the so-called Jētavanārāma group. Judging from the style of architecture, they may be assigned to a period anterior to the tenth century.

The granite slab which contains the inscription measures 4' 4" by 3' 3". Like most of the important lithic records of the Island, this too seems to have suffered at the hands of treasure-seekers. It is broken into three or four pieces at the bottom, and its surface at the centre is damaged by fire, in consequence of which the last three lines, as well as portions of lines 12 to 28, 35 and 37, are illegible. In other respects the inscription is well preserved. I am editing it from a beautifully clear photograph and two excellent inked impressions on paper, supplied to me by Mr. H. C. P. Bell, the Archacological Commissioner. As may be seen from the accompanying plate, the inscription consists of forty lines of boldly engraved writing, which, together with a margin of about an inch all round, covers the whole slab. Each line is 3′ 1′′ long, and each letter is nearly an inch in size. On either side of the first two lines is carved a conventional form of a lotus-flower', hitherto not found in Ceylon inscriptions.

The characters call for special remark. They belong to the Northern class of Indian alphabets, and are the first examples discovered so far south as Ceylon2. After a careful examination of all known types, I have come to

' For similar carvings on the Mathurā Buddhist railing, see Cunningham's Arch. Survey Reports, iii. Pl. X.

'In his Ancient Inscriptions in Ceylon (p. 52) Professor Edward Müller describes an inscription at Demaļamāna, which seems from his account to be written in this alphabet. Cf. also the characters on the coins of king Parakrama Bahu, and on the Abhayagiri Copper-plate (pp. 39, 40).

VOL. I.

B

the conclusion that this inscription is written in a variety of the Magadha Nagari character, which was current early in the ninth century A. D.

The learned monks of Ceylon must have been familiar with this alphabet; for, besides the present inscription, which is itself a proof of this, we find two or three others written by or at the instance of Ceylon monks. The earliest of them is the Bōdh-Gaya inscription of Mahānāman Sthavira, dated the year 269 (A.D. 588-9)1. From a glance at the facsimile plate (Corp. Inscript. Ind. iii. Pl. XLI A), one can see that its alphabet is of the same class as that here used. Several akṣaras, such as j, m, y, r, l, s, and s are, of course, older in form. In the Aphsaḍ inscription of Ādityasēna (ibid. Pl. XXVIII) and in the Sārnāth inscription of Prakaṭāditya (ibid. Pl. XLIII c), both of which are assigned to the seventh century, most of these letters are more like those of the present inscription, although distinctly older. We find, moreover, in the Aphsaḍ record (line 12) a sign for the conjunct rth, which seems to be a prototype of that given in lines 13, 26, and 33 of the Jētavanārāma inscription. According to Professor Kielhorn, a separate sign for rth, developed from the same source, is also to be found in line 13 of the Khalimpur plate of Dharmapāladēva (Ep. Ind. iv. p. 243), and in the Kōṭā Buddhist inscription of Samanta Devadatta of Vikrama samvat 847 (?) (Ind. Ant. xiv. p. 46). On the other hand, the characters of the Harșa inscription, A.D. 970 (Ep. Ind. ii. No. 8), as compared with those under consideration, are clearly more developed, and present types more or less of a later period (cf. also Ghōsrāwā inscription, Ind. Ant. xvii. p. 310, plate). The latest known inscription in this so-called Kutila Nagari alphabet, written or composed by a Ceylon Buddhist monk, is the one at Buddha-Gaya (or Bʊdh-Gayā) recording the dedication of a gandhakuți for the service of the Buddha, and assigned to the tenth or eleventh century A.D. The name of the monk is given there as Pandita Ratnaśrījñāna Bhiksu, and he may be the author of the Candragōmi-vyākaraṇapañjikā and the Śabdārthacintā.

3

Our inscription is in Sanskrit prose; and this is most probably the reason

1 Cf. Mr. Vincent A. Smith's article on this record in Ind. Ant. xxxi. pp. 192–7.

* See Dr. Fleet's remarks on the Aphsaḍ inscription (Corp. Inscript. Ind. iii. p. 201), and those of Professor Bühler on the Dewal Prasasti (Ep. Ind. i. p. 76).

Note the similarity of the akşaras and rea of this inscription to some of the types of the same letters in the present record.

✦ See Buddha-Gayā, by Rājēndralāla Mitra, pp. 194–7; Mahāhodhi, by Sir A. Cunningham, p. 66. ⚫ See my Catalogue of the Sinhalese MSS. in the British Museum, Introduction. p. xiii.

why it is written in Nagari instead of in the then cxisting Sinhalese characters, which were developed, like those of the Kadamba and the Pallava inscriptions, from the southern class of early Indian alphabets.

It is evident from the abrupt beginning of the text (kaikas-ca for ēkaikas-ca) that we have here only the second portion of the inscription. The first part must have been engraved on a separate slab; for there are no traces of writing on the back of the present stone'. As regards orthography, the letter. bis denoted by the sign for v2, which hardly differs from dh in conjuncts. The ṛ vowel is used for ri in tṛṣv-api (line 1)2, and frequently in pausā the Anusvāra instead of m. The doubling of the consonant both before and after r, which is common in Indian inscriptions, is to be found here also, e. g. tattra (lines 1 and 2), prasthārddhaṁ (line 3), and nirddkāritēna (line 18). The conjunct t is written for ț as in kuṭṭumbibhir (line 5. Cf. kuṭṭumbikā in Ep. Ind. iii. No. 44, ll. 3, 6). The rules of sandhi are not always observed. The grammar is in general correct, and the style is simple and clear. There are, however, several words either not found in dictionaries or used with peculiar significations. These are:- Pālikā, Pāli, prescribed quantity or allowance of food, see Ep. Ind. i. p. 166, iii. p. 264. Cīvarikā, prcscribed number of robes. The word cīvarikā occurs in one of the Junnar inscriptions, No. 3, line 3 (see Arch. Surv. of W. India, iv. p. 93), and in the Nasik, No. 7, line 2 (ibid. p. 102), where it is read as civarika. Bühler's translation of it is 'expense for clothes.' See also Nasik, No. 22 (ibid. p. 115); Kanheri, No. 28 (Burgess' Elura Cave Temples, p. 85). Padālāyikā, Padālā, a complaint or a matter of dispute. Vārika, probably a person who renders service or holds temple-lands by turns (Sinh. taṭṭumāru tenure ?). Kiri, a Sinhalese measure of grain. Parivahaṇa3, probably a lay warden or chief concierge of a monastic establishment.

The inscription contains regulations for the guidance of monks and laymen living within the precincts of the Vihāras or in lands belonging to them. These regulations are similar to those of the two inscriptions at Mihintale (A. I. C.

1 Search for the other slab has proved fruitless.

* For other examples, see Ep. Ind. iii. No. 17, iv. No. 11 b.

3

Compare, for example, prasthārddham in line 3 with kuṭṭumbibhir-adhiṣṭhitam vihāram in 1. 5.

• According to Clough's Sinh. Dict. it is 'the ground sufficient to sow four mānikā = 64 lās.' It is most probably equivalent to Pāli karisaṁ and Skt. khari. According to the Abhidhānappadīpikā a karisaṁ = 4 ammaņas (Sinh. amuņu), i. e. 44 (4×11) drōnas. The capacity of a khāri seems, on the other hand, to vary considerably. Monier Williams fixes it at about three bushels. For further particulars, see Colebrooke's Essays, i. pp. 533–7, and Thomas' Ancient Indian Weights, p. 26.

• Skt. pari+ √vah; cf. Sinh. pirivahanu in Mihintale tablets A, line 20 (A. I. C. No. 121).

No. 121). They give an insight into the life in, and the administration of monasteries, and show the care that was taken to regulate the conduct of monks and others connected with monastic establishments in the ninth and tenth centuries.

I have ventured to assign this inscription to the first half of the ninth century A. D. purely on palaeographic grounds. No date is given in the legible portion of the inscription, and I have as yet not been able to identify any of the villages mentioned in it, or to find any certain reference to this dhanma-hammanic (Wijāsinha's Mahāvansa, p. 25, note) in the chronicles of the Island. The Mahāvaisa, however, records that King Aggabdlhi VII, who reigned circa A. D. 781-7, issued decrees enforcing discipline among the priesthood, and 'stopped the way of those who set up false cases, by deciding them according to the law' (Ch. xlviii. 71-72).

TEXT '.

1 [ए*]कैकश्च श्रामणेर : " तृष्वपि ग्रामेषु प्रत्येकं प्रत्येकं स्थाप्यः पालिका तच प्रत्ये

2 कं द्विगुणा न चोवरिका विहारे नवकर्म्मछतोरपि तथा ॥ यच ये नियुक्तास्तचाविनाशस्तैरेव देयः ॥ 3 नियमं । पञ्चोपदंशाः प्रस्थाई दधि प्रस्थप्रमितेन घृतेन विंशतिः पालिकाः । चिभिर्भिक्षुभिर्बहसि4 कापर्णशालायां द्वाभ्यां श्रामणेराभ्यां सह निवसद्भिर्लहसिकाम् उबल गोणुम" चीवरनवकर्मणे नियु

5 क्तांच ग्रामान्सम्यगालोच्य तत्र तत्र लाभन्तेस्तैः कुटुंम्बिभिरधिष्ठितविंहारम्प्रवेश वर्षपरिसमाप्तौ तच तच 6 समस्तमायं व्ययं शेषच्च कर्मिभिर्गणकेच संघानुज्ञातिषु भिक्षुषूपदर्थ परिशुद्धपरिवारकेर्यथा सु7 खमत्र विहारे विहर्तव्यं । ये ये तत्रापरिशुद्धास्तैस्तैस्तत्तद्द्रव्यन्देयं सङ्गेनापि ' अवश्यमेव तद्वहीत8 व्यम् । एवं कुणालापर्णशालायां स्थितैरपि मिबुभिरम्बिलग्रामे हुणालायां' उलवन्नरीखष्टिग्रा

8

9 मे च तथैव । कीरापज्ञाययोरपि तथैव । सुनयामे पि तथैव भिक्षुमिः पूर्ववदेव कर्तव्यम् । तदकुर्वताम् 10 पूर्वोक्त एव दोषः । पञ्जिकास्थविरेरेव पदालायिका निरूपणीया । इह देशे ' अन्यविहारोपसम्पन्ना11 नान्तत्र ग्रासवासौ परित्यज्य तत्प्रतिबद्धविहारकर्मीकु[र्वता] मेव निवासो नान्येषां ' । इह द्वीपे पादमाच12 क्षेत्रलाभिनामपि न ग्रासो न वासः। मिध्याजीविना न व[स्तव्यं ।] (स्त्रीपोष) केण न वस्तव्यम् । अन्यच मातापि13 तृभ्याम् । लाभार्थं नेहार्थं वा ताम्बूलादिकं राजकुल (म्प्रेषयतापि ) [न व ]स्तव्यं''। अन्यविहारसाहाव्यं कुर्वता 14 पि न वस्तव्यम् । निश्रयादविमुक्तेः स्थविरेरपि (सह . ..) [निवस] चिर्न वस्तव्यम्। यन्निश्रित्य निवसद्भि

1 From two inked estampages and a photograph.

....

4 Read कुटुम्बि°.

8 Read देशेऽन्य°.

G

5 Read ●ष्ठितं विहा

Read •नाप्यव.