Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c8.s1.t5: 3.1.5 Literary Middle Indo-Aryan in inscriptions

Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c8.s1.t5

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3.1.5 Literary Middle Indo-Aryan in inscriptions

The standardized literary Prakrits (mainly Māhārāṣṭrī, sometimes also Śaurasenī and Māgadhī) were occasionally employed in inscriptions of the medieval era,²⁷ either in independent Prakrit inscriptions or within Sanskrit inscriptions. The outstanding example of an independent literary Prakrit inscription is an inscription of the eleventh century a.d. at Dhār consisting of two “centuries” (actually 109 verses each) of Māhārāṣṭrī verses in praise of the tortoise *avatāra* (*avanikūrmaśatam*) (EI 8, 241–60; cf. 4.1.8). Not surprisingly, Prakrit was also sometimes used for Jaina inscriptions, most notably the Ghaṭayāla inscription (JRAS 1895, 513–21), which is composed almost entirely of Āryā verses in Māhārāṣṭrī.

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²⁷ This is of course a purely literary phenomenon, historically unrelated to the use of the MIA vernaculars in early inscriptions.

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The literary Prakrits also occur in the inscriptional dramas (see 4.1.8 and 7.2.2.2.2), where they play their usual role as the language spoken by the lesser characters; thus we find specimens of Māhārāṣṭrī and Śaurasenī in the *Pārijātamañjarī-nāṭikā* at Dhār and the *Harakeli-nāṭaka* at Ajmer, and of these dialects plus Māgadhī in the *Lalitavigraharāja-nāṭaka*, also from Ajmer. Occasionally a Prakrit verse is also included in an ordinary Sanskrit inscription, for instance, verse 12 (in Māhārāṣṭrī) of the Vārāṇasī copper plate inscription of Karṇa (SI II.340).²⁸

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²⁸ For other examples of literary Prakrit together with other languages, see section 3.6.

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3.1.5.2 Pāli

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Inscriptions in canonical Pāli²⁹ from India proper are relatively rare. Those examples which do occur are usually Buddhist inscriptions of cultic content (cf. 4.1.7), such as the two Sārnāth stone inscriptions (EI 9, 291–3) recording the “Four Noble Truths” and the “Buddhist creed.” Other Indian inscriptions in Pāli or closely related dialects include the *Pratītya-samutpāda* formulae on the Devnīmorī casket and in a Ratnagiri inscription.³⁰

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²⁹ It should be noted that in some early (and even some more recent) epigraphic publications the term “Pāli” has been inaccurately used to refer to various other MIA dialects.

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³⁰ See O. von Hinüber, “Epigraphical Varieties of Continental Pāli from Devnimori and Ratnagiri,” in *Buddhism and Its Relation to Other Religions* [for full reference see Index of Inscriptions Cited s.v. Devnīmorī], 185–200 for these and for references to other Pāli inscriptions.

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Unlike in India, Pāli inscriptions are found in large numbers in some Buddhist countries of Southeast Asia, especially Burma and Thailand, and also in smaller numbers in Sri Lanka and Cambodia (see 4.3.7.1 and 4.3.7.5–4.3.7.7).