Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c12.s3.t1: 7.3.1 The Brahmanical/Hindu tradition
Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c12.s3.t1
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7.3.1 The Brahmanical/Hindu tradition
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7.3.1.1 The Vedic tradition
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While epigraphy obviously has little to offer for the historical study of the Vedic era itself, it nonetheless does provide useful information about the preservation and continuation of the Vedic tradition in the classical and postclassical periods. Inscriptions, especially copper plate grants with their often extensive lists of Brahmans and their Veda and *śākhā* affiliations, provide an important source for the history and especially for the geographical affiliations of the various Vedic schools; this material has been extensively utilized by, among others; Louis Renou³³ and, more recently, Michael Witzel.³⁴
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³³ *Les Écoles védiques et la formation du Veda*, Cahiers de la Société Asiatique 9 (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1947), pars. 47, 73, 117, 197–9; *Le Destin du Véda dans l'Inde*, Études Védiques et Pāṇinéennes 6; Publications de l'Institut de Civilisation Indienne 10 (Paris: Éditions E. de Boccard, 1960), 29; and "The Vedic Schools and the Epigraphy," in *Siddha-Bhāratī or the Rosary of Indology* [Siddheshwar Varma Festschrift], ed. Vishva Bandhu, Vishveshvaranand Indological Series 2 (Hoshiarpur: Vishveshvaranand Vedic Research Institute, 1950), II.214–21.
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³⁴ "Materialien zu den vedischen Schulen I. Über die Caraka-Śākhā," StII 7, 1981, 109–32 (esp. 128–31); "Regionale und überregionale Faktoren in der Entwicklung vedischer Brahmanengruppen im Mitteralter (Materialien zu den vedischen Schulen, 5)," in Hermann Kulke and Dietmar Rothermund, eds., *Regionale Tradition in Südasien*, Beiträge zur Südasienforschungen 104 (Stuttgart: F. Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden, 1985), 37–75 (esp. 40).
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Numerous historical records of the performance of Vedic sacrifices, especially the *aśvamedha* (horse sacrifice), are preserved in inscriptions from about the second century B.C. onward, for example, in the Hāthībāḍā/Ghosuṇḍī inscriptions and the Ayodhyā inscription of Dhanadeva.³⁵ Sometimes the king is said to have performed the *aśvamedha* several times, and/or to have done several other *yajñas*, as in the case of Pravarasena and the Bhāraśiva kings mentioned in the records of the Vākāṭakas (e.g., CII 5, 12, ll. 1–6). An interesting early record of the performance of multiple sacrifices together with details of the *dakṣiṇā* paid is provided by a Sātavāhana inscription from Nānāghāṭ (SI 1.192–7).
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³⁵ For a detailed compilation of inscriptional records of the *aśvamedha*, see Sircar, "Hiraṇyagarbha and Aśvamedha," *Studies in the Religious Life*, 164–82.
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A second class of records of this type comprises those which directly commemorate the performance of Vedic sacrifices with inscriptions on the bricks of the sacrificial altar itself, for instance, the Jagatpur inscriptions from the fourth *aśvamedha* of King Śīlavarman (*caturthasyāśvamedhasya caityo yaṃ śīlavarmaṇaḥ*; cf. 4.2.3.2); or on stone *yūpas* which reproduce the wooden ones actually used in the sacrifice (4.2.1.2).
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7.3.1.2 The Vaiṣṇava tradition
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Several inscriptions provide important information on the history of the various Vaiṣṇava sects, especially for the earlier period of their development.³⁶ An outstanding example is the Hēliodōros pillar at Besnagar (Appendix, no. 2), which not only provides evidence for the Bhāgav
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³⁶ This material has been extensively compiled and utilized by Suvira Jaiswal in *The Origin and Development of Vaiṣṇavism: Vaiṣṇavism from 200 BC to AD 500*, 2d ed. (New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1981); see esp. 27–9.
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7.3.1.4 Śākta and other traditions
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In similar ways, inscriptional records provide firm geographical and chronological anchors for the historical study of the Śākta and other of the less orthodox streams within the Brahmanical/ cific texts for the special study and attention of Buddhist monks and lay followers. Although there are serious problems in identifying these texts with those in the extant canon (HBI 256–9; bibliography, 258 n. 74) and in evaluating their significance in connection with the establishment of a fixed canon, the Bairāṭ inscription nonetheless provides an important clue for the canonical texts. Our knowledge and understanding of the beliefs and practices of the relic cult, for example, have recently been vastly enhanced by the discovery of new inscriptions and the reanalysis of older ones bearing on this important aspect of popular Buddhism.⁴⁶
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⁴⁶ E.g., Schopen, "On the Buddha and His Bones: The Conception of a Relic in the Inscriptions of Nāgārjunakoṇḍa," *JAOS* 108, 1988, 527–37; see also Schopen, "Burial '*ad Sanctos*' and the Physical Presence of the Buddha in Early Indian Buddhism: A Study in the Archaeology of Religions," *Religion* 17, 1987, 193–225 (esp. 204–5).