Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c7.s5.t2.8

c7.s5.t2.8

Many inscriptions, especially in medieval and later times, are accompanied by engraved illustrations of various sorts. These may take the form of auspicious symbols such as Śiva’s bull Nandi, the Śiva-liṅga (e.g., CII 6, pl. XC), the conch shell (*śaṅkha*), lotus, and so on; or they may be representations of dynastic symbols, such as the Garuḍa on the copper plates of the Paramāras (CII 7.2, pl. I, IV, VI, etc.). Other illustrations refer specifically to the content of the record itself, such as the representation of the sun and moon (e.g., CII 6, pl. XC), alluding to the traditional blessing that a gift should last as long as the sun and moon; or of a donkey copulating with a woman or a pig, representing the mother of a violator of the gift according to the traditional “ass-curse” (e.g., IA 48, 1919, 47 and n. 33; EI 40, 1973–74, plate facing page 88), which is also sometimes explicitly spelled out in the text of the inscription.²²² *Satī* and other types of memorial stone inscriptions (see 4.1.4) are usually accompanied by representations, either visual or symbolic (typically in the form of a hand- or footprint), of the person memorialized.