North Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE CHANDELLAS OF JEJAKABHUKTI

AHĀR STATUE INSCRIPTION OF THE TIME OF PARAMARDIDĒVA

No. 133 ; PLATE CXX

AHĀR STATUE INSCRIPTION OF THE TIME OF PARAMARDIDĒVA

[Vikrama ] Year 1237

THIS inscription, which is edited here for the first time, is incised on the pedestal of a colossal image of the sixteenth Jaina Tīrthaṅkara Śāntinātha, at Ahār, which is a sacred place of the Jaina community and lies about 25 kms. from Ṭīkamgaḍh, the chief town of a district and tehsīl in the Vindhya region of Madhya Pradesh. The record came to my notice in my exploration circulation, in which I found a transcript of the record, somewhat incorrect, though illustrated. The lithograph, besides being indistinct, is of an extremely small size and thus altogether helpless. In view of the importance of the inscription, I requested the Chief Epigraphist to kindly prepare and provide a good impression thereof, and he was kind to depute his assistant for the work. The inscription is edited here on the basis of this excellent impression, for which my thanks are due to the Chief Epigraphist.

The record consists of 9 lines of writing, interrupted by the deer symbol, which is clear in the impression and which divides the lines into two sections which may be marked A and B, for the sake of convenience. The length of the writing on the left-hand side is 30∙5 cms. and that on the right-hand side is 33 cms. The first three lines on either side are about 6 cms. shorter than the others, since a portion of them is occupied by the lāñchhana. The general height of the writing is 20∙5 cms., and the average height of the letters is about 1∙5 cms. The writing is well preserved, except in the last two lines which are obliterated in the impression.

The characters are Nāgarī of the 12th century A.C. The initial i, which occurs twice in l. 2 and once in l. 4, is formed of two circles placed below the third, and are joined with each other by a curve ; and the intial ē occasionally resembles the consonant p, e.g., in ēka-, l. 5. Of the consonants, ch can hardly be distinguished from v, e.g., in chaitya-, l. 3 ; the horn of dh is prominent, as in vyadhita-, l. 1 ; the slightly differing two forms of bh can be seen in bhuvana- and bhūta-, both in l. 6 ; and finally, the subscript r is marked by a serif at the lowest extremity of a letter to which it is attached.

The language is Sanskrit ; and excepting a short sentence paying obeisance in the beginning and the date l. 6, the record is metrically
composed. There are seven stanzas, all of which are numbered. The only orthographical peculiarities that call for notice are that (i) the
consonant following r is reduplicated, e.g., in nirmmimē, l. 4 ; (ii) that the dental and the palatal sibilants are occasionally not correctly
put, e.g., in srīmān and -āśīt, both in l. 1 ; (iii) that the pṛishṭhamātrā occurs only sparingly ; and that (iv) the sign of anusvāra is generally
also to be found at the end of a stitch, except in a few cases as in-kīrttanam, l. 8. The signs of mātrās and anusvāra in the topmost line are
elegantly engraved.

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¹ This verse occurs in the preceding and some other grants also.