No. 2. Shelawardi cave inscription.
C. C. Das Gupta - EI XXVIII, No. 14.
There is a well-known series of Buddhist caves at Шelаrwади, a place twenty miles
north-west of Poona.[This series of Buddhist caves was first noticed by the late Dr. John
Wilson in 1860, JBBRAS., Vol. III, part II, page 54, where he observes : "A little
below the summit of that hill fronting the south-west, we found an excavation with four
small cells, containing a yоni, and at present sacred to Щiva, which appeared to us,
from a bench going round the excavation in front of them, to have been originally
Buddhistical. On examining the hill more particularly, we came upon a considerable Vihаr
below them, running E.N.E. and containing about a dozen of cells. Here we found a Buddhist
inscription of five lines, which we copied, and which we still preserve. It is very
possible that some Chaitya may be in the neighbourhood". It was also noticed by G. H.
Johns (Ind. Ant., Vol. V, pp. 252 f.), Fergusson and Burgess (The Cave Temples of India,
pp. 246 f.), Burgess and Indraji (Inscriptions from the Cave Temples of Western India, pp.
38 f.), Burgess (Report on the Buddhist Cave Temples and Their Inscriptions, pp. 25, 92,
Pl. XLVIII., No. 19), Luders (A list of Brаhmи Inscriptions, No. 1121).] There are at
present altogether seven caves in this group. On the outer face of the Cave No. 1 there is
an eariy Brаhmи inscription which has been known for a long time.[Luders, A list of Brаhmи
Inscriptions, No. 1121] That inscription informs us that one Siagutaнikа, wife of the
ploughman and householder Usabhaнaka with her son, the householder Нaмda, residing at
Dhенukаkaдa, made the gift of this cave. When I had gone to see these caves in January
1940, I discovered another inscription on the door-lintel of the proper left cell in the
back side of the cave No. 2. Except one or two letters, the whole inscription was
concealed under a thick coat of mud plaster. The mud plaster having been removed, the
present record, a hitherto unknown inscription, was brought to light.
The inscription measures 4' X 1' 1" and consists of five lines of writing. The last
line, consisting of only three letters, is just below the end of the fourth line. The
script is of the variety adopted in the undated inscrpitions of Kuда, Nos. 1-6, 11, 20,
and may be ascribed to about the 2nd century A.D.
TEXT
1 Sidha || therанaм bhayata-Sihанa ateаsiнiya
2 pаvaСфti[k]аya Ghapa[rа]ya bаlikаaф Saghаya Budha(dhа)-
3 a cha chetiya-gharo deya-dhama mаta-pita udisa saha [cha] sa-
4 vehi bhikhа(khu)-kulehi sahа cha аchari[ye]hi bhata-vireyehi sa-
5 mаpito
_____________________________
L. 1. (For bhayata) It seema that one wrong letter was engraved after y which was effaced
and the letter was then chiselled in the next space.
L. 2. (For pаvaСфti[k]аya) [The reading of this syllable is definitely rа.-Ed.]
L. 3. (For the first a) It may at first appear that Saghаya Budhaa cha may mean "to
the Buddha and the saмgha"; but there is one difficulty for which this
interpretation cannot be accepted. There is no dative in Prаkрta and the sense of dative
is conveyed by possessive in this language. The reading should, therefore, have been
saghasa Budhasa cha if it had meant "to the Buddha and the saмgha". Notes from
additions to this f.note [The inscription actually records the gift of a Chaitya-gрha by
Pavaиtirа, daughter of Ghaparа, in favour of the Saкgha and the Buddha. There are
numerous cases of the use of the dative in the Prakrit inscription. The sentence
bhata-virayehi samаpito means to say that the Chaitya-gрha was constructed by workers (vиrakas)
devoted (bhakta) to the donatrix,']
L. 4. The meaning of the word bhata-vireyehi is not clear.