Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c14.s2: 4. Kalawān Copper Plate Inscription
Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c14.s2
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4. Kalawān Copper Plate Inscription
c14.s2.1
| Location | Kalawān, near Taxila, Rawalpindi Dist., NWFP, Pakistan |
| Script | Kharoṣṭhī of the middle (Kuṣāṇa) period |
| Language | Northwestern or Gāndhārī Prakrit (prose) |
| Type and format | Reliquary deposit inscription on a copper plate placed in the foundation of a *stūpa* |
| Purpose | Records the dedication of bodily relics [of the Buddha] in the *stūpa* at Chaḍaśilā by the lay follower Caṃdrabhi |
| Date | 134 of the Azes [= Vikrama] year, 23rd day of Śrāvaṇa = A.D. 77 |
| References | S. Konow, "Kalawān Copper-plate Inscription of the Year 134," JRAS 1932, 949–65; Konow, "Kalawan Copper-plate Inscription of the Year 134," EI 21, 1931–32, 251–9; J. Marshall, *Taxila*, I.327; D. C. Sircar, SI I.131–2. |
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Text
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1. saṃvatsaraye 1-100-20-10-4 ajasa śravaṇasa masasa divase treviśe 20-1-1-1 imeṇa kṣuṇeṇa caṃdrabhi uasia
2. dhraṃmasa grahavatisa dhita bhadravalasa bhaya chaḍaśilae śarira praïstaveti gahathu-
3. bami sadha bhraduṇa ṇaṃdivadhaneṇa grahavatiṇa sadha putrehi śameṇa śaïteṇa ca dhituṇa ca 4. dhramae sadha ṣṇuṣaehi rajae idrae ya sadha jivaṇaṃdiṇa śamaputr[e]ṇa ayarieṇa ya sa[rva]sti-
5. vaaṇa parigrahe raṭhanikamo puyaïta sarva[sva]tvaṇa puyae ṇivaṇasa pratīae hotu.
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FIGURE 14. Kalawān copper plate inscription. From EI 21, plate facing p. 259; copyright, Archaeological Survey of India.
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Line 1: *saṃvatśaraye*: The ligature in the third *akṣara* may also be read as *tsa* (cf. section 2.3.4); Sircar so reads. Line 4: *ṣṇuṣaehi*: The consonantal portion of the first syllable is written as *ṣ* with a diacritic line above, representing *ṣṇ* (see 2.3.8). Line 4: *ayarieṇa*: Perhaps to be corrected to *ayariaṇa* = *ācāryāṇām* (Konow, EI 21, 253); or possibly the original draft had *ayarieṇa ayariaṇa ya* . . . , and the engraver omitted the second word haplographically. Line 5: *sarva[sva]tvaṇa*: Evidently miswritten for *sarvasatvaṇa*; the third *akṣara* appears blurred in the photograph, perhaps as a result of an attempt to correct it.
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1. In the year 134 of [the era of] Aja [= Azes I], the twenty-third (23) day of the month Śrāvaṇa; at this time the lay follower Caṃdrabhi,
2. daughter of the householder Dhraṃma [= Dharma] [and] wife of Bhadravala [= Bhadrabala or Bhadrapāla], establishes at Chaḍaśila [= Chaṭaśilā?] bodily relics (*śarīra*) in the chapel-*stūpa*,
3. together with her brother Ṇaṃdivaḍhaṇa [Nandivardhana], the householder, [and] with her sons Śama and Śaïta [Sacitta?], and her daughter
4. Dhrama [Dharmā], [and] with her daughters-in-law Raja [Rājā?] and Idra [Indrā], with Jivaṇaṃdi [Jivanandin], son of Śama, and [her?] teacher;
5. for the acceptance of the Sarvāstivādins. The country and the town are [hereby] honored; [and] it is for the honor of all beings. May it lead to [their] attainment of Nirvāṇa.
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Notes
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Line 1: [the era of] Aja: This is the era of 58/57 B.C., later known as the Vikrama era; see section 5.5.1.3. Line 1: “lay follower”: *uasia* = Skt. *upāsikā*. Lines 4–5: “and [her?] teacher; for the acceptance of the Sarvāstivādins”: According to the suggestion proposed in the text note, the intended meaning may have been “. . . and with [her] teacher; for the acceptance of the Sarvāstivādin teachers.” Line 5: “The country and the town”: Following Sircar, who takes *raṭhanikamo* as a *dvandva* compound = Skt. *rāṣṭra-nigamau* (= *janapadaṃ nagaraṃ ca*). Konow, taking it as a *karmadhāraya*, translates “the country-town.”