Copper plates from Patagandigudem (Kallacheruvu), set I — reign of Siri-Ehavalacāntamūla author of digital edition Arlo Griffiths Vincent Tournier DHARMA Paris DHARMA_INSEIAD00055

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Lettering typical of the 3rd century CE.

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 adjusted the encoding to DHARMA norms EIAD file transformed to follow the DHARMA encoding structure. Metadata extracted to be checked and updated according DHARMA workflow. Done through XSLT.
siddham· . namo bhagavatos sarvvajñāyā .

vijayakkhaṁdhāvārā dhaṁṇakaḍāto māhārājā Asamedhayāji-Akkhaya-hiraṁṇa-koḍi-ppadāyiḥ Ikkhākūṇaṁ raṁño sirī-Ehavalacāntamūlavaṁmmā Aṇavetī

Ettha pithuṁḍe sābhittāṇehi mahāvihārasa Avaraddāre cātusāle Amhehi kāritaṁ Etassa ya khaṇḍa-pulla-saṇṭhappasa cātusāle Āgaṁtuka-vatthavvāṇa pavvayitāṇaṁ vissāmaṇatthaṁ raño Ehavala-vatthamāṇa-vatthavehi pavvayitehi Avaraddāraseliyehi Aryya-yakkha-pamuhehi Aṇuṭṭhiya sāsanaṁ kāritaṁ

Akkhaya-nivviṁ kātūṇaṁ raño Appaṇo puṇṇappāyaṇāyu-bala-vaddhaṇatṭhaṁ Ayandatārakaṁ kātūṇa pithuṇḍe mahāvihārasa nagarassa Uttara-disāye mahāsetīye mahācelakasa Eṭṭhassa kūlattha-paddaggāma-patthe halaṁkkhettasa niyattāṇā battīsa 302 nidejaṁ nipoli .

pithuṇḍassa Uttara-disāye va hatthi-vārī pachima-disāye puppha-kalase halaṁkkhettasa niyattaṇa-catusaṭṭhi 604 nidejaṁ nippoli Avaraddārī cātusālassa halo bhikhu-bhogaṁ kātūṇa samya-dattaṁ

Āṇattī mahātalavara Aggasūro saṁvacharaṁ himā 4 divasaṁ 3 jeca Ettakā rājāṇo rajamattā vā talavara-mahātalavarā vā jo Etassa halaṁ-bhikkhu-bhogassa rāgeṇa kodhena vā lobheṇa moheṇa vā harati harāveti vā haraṁntaṁ vā Aṇuvattati so paṁca-mahāpātakeṇa saṁyujyatītti

bhagavatos Understand bhagavatas or bhagavate. Cf. same form in EIAD 54. sarvva- sarva- hiraṁṇa-koḍi- hiraṇakoḍi- raṁño rāñāṁ cātusāle cātusālaṁ vissāmaṇatthaṁ vissamaṇatthaṁ Ehavala- Ehala- sāsanaṁ sāsaṇa Ayandatārakaṁ Ayandatārakaṁ kūlattha-paddaggāma-patthe kulatthapaṭṭaggāmapanthe battīsa batīsa nidejaṁ nipoli ti dejaṁ ti poli puppha- puppa- Cf. puppa- in EIAD 53, l. 1. But it seems possible to read puppha- here. nidejaṁ nippoli ti dejaṁ ti ppoli raja- rājā- halaṁbhikkhubhogassa The restoration of the akṣara kkhu is imposed by halo bhikhu-bhogaṁ in l. 19. harāveti hārāveti haraṁntaṁ haraṁttaṁ paṁcamahāpātakeṇa mahāpātareṇa saṁyujyatītti ujjati ti The last akṣara might also be read ttī. We in fact expect ti.

Success! Homage to the Bhagavant, the Omniscient One!

From the victorious royal headquarters, from Dhaṇṇakaḍā Dhānyakaṭaka, the King Siri-Ehavalacāntamūlavamma of the Ikṣvākus, Great King, sacrificer of the Aśvamedha, giver of unperishing tens of millions of pieces of gold, gives the following order:

“Here in Pithuṇḍa we caused to be made by sābhittānas (?) a quadrangular compound at the western gate of the Great Monastery. For its repair of broken and shattered parts, for the repose of renunciants who will arrive and who presently reside in the quadrangular compound, the following royal order was issued, to be carried out anuṣṭheya ? by the Avaraddāraseliya renunciants residing in the plot of King Ehavala, headed by Aryayakkha Āryayakṣa:

‘Having made a permanent endowment, having made it permanent as long as moon and stars, in order to expand the king’s own merit and to increase his lifespan and power, to the Great Monastery in Pithuṇḍa 32 nivartanas of plowable land are to be given nideya and registered (?), in the northern direction of the town, at the Great Shrine of the mahācelaka Eṭṭha, on the road leading to the village Kulatthapadda. North of Pithuṇḍa, west of the elephant grove, in Pupphakalasa, sixty-four — 64 — nivartanas of plowable land are to be given and registered (?). Having made this plowable land hala the revenue of the monks of the quadrangular compound at the western gate, the gift is completed samyagdattam.’

The executor is the Great Talavara Aggasūra Agraśūra. In the year, in the 4th fortnight of winter, on the 3rd day. Who among the local kings and king’s officers, or Talavaras and Great Talavaras, out of passion, anger, greed or delusion, takes away or causes to be taken away plowable land from this monks’ revenue, or accepts one who takes away, is endowed with the five great sins.”

The word sābhittāṇehi is connected by 276 with abhitrāṇa, and interpreted as preservation worker.

In mahāsetīye, the reading tī is secure, although 279 contemplates reading khī. Since alternation of spellings c/s is not unknown in South India, we are inclined to agree with 114 that we should understand mahācetīye, a term commonly occurring in the Nagarjunakonda inscriptions.

The epithet mahācelakasa may be interpreted as either pointing to a prominent standard-bearer (PD, s.v. celaka), as 279 did, or as a religious figure, since P./BSkt. cellaka (also BSkt. cailaka) occurs in Buddhist texts, where it qualifies either novices or monks. Cf. BHSD, s.v. celaka; PD, s.v. celaka; 48. Hence, 114 translates this compound as chief mendicant. We tentatively favor the second interpretation.

The hapax legomenon nipoli is tentatively assumed to be an abbreviation for a MIA expression equivalent to Sanskrit nibandhapustake likhitavyam (cf. Arthaśāstra 2.7.1–2 nibandha-pustaka).

In hatthi-vārī, we recognize vāri, MW, s.v.: a place for tying or catching an elephant. The Sanskrit equivalent hasti-vārī is also found in EIAD 188, l. 20.

First edited by N. S. Ramachandra Murthy (); improved edition by H. Falk (). Re-edited and translated by Arlo Griffiths & Vincent Tournier, with contributions by Stefan Baums and Ingo Strauch, making use of photographs taken in Hyderabad in 2016. That first digital edition was hosted at the experimental site Early Inscriptions of Āndhradeśa and the XML source code deposited at . The code was adapted for DHARMA by Arlo Griffiths & Vincent Tournier in 2025.

A1 2064 152-15337A