Shahdaur Rock Inscription of Sivarakshita. Saka year 80
Provenance: Shahdaur (Shodaur in maps)
Two miles east of Shamdhara, Mansehra tensil, Hazara district,
Pakistan
Script: Kharoshthi
Language: Prakrit.
For
Sanskrit, Hindi & English Translation of the Inscriptions by Dr Mehta Vasishtha Dev Mohan –
(Ancient Indian Inscriptions- Volume 1.
Citation requested
Kindly Visit
https://archive.org/details/@alok1954
&
http://sasnagar.co.in/aman/ancientindia/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/FILE-VOLUME-I-1.pdf
Text
1. [ महारयस ] अ य स सं
2. शिविरक्षितस श तस
3. अ दस वन ठि तस च इ यं दंम
4. द दशहि कहप ण सहस्र हि
5. अभू यो गोतम-स्तलओ
संस्कृत छाया
महाराजस्य अयस्य सं (वत्सरे ) ८० तमे शिविरक्षितस्य क्षुतत्य आढ़यस्य वन स्थितस्य धर्म – [ दत्ति : ? ] दशभिः कार्यापण सहस्त्रै: अभूत् या गौतम-स्थालक:
English Translation
Of the maharaja Aya anno 80 (7), of Sivarakshita, the famous (and wealthy vanaprastha (i.e who has entered the third stage of life) This was the religious gift – with ten thousand Karshapanas, which is the backbone of Gautama
https://youtu.be/ocCXOZgpNEo
Footnote
1. From the facsimile in Ep- Ind., XIX
2. The only letter clearly legible in l.1, is अ in अय़स स is also more or less certain.
For the rest, I heve followed Konow’s
conjectural reading. It is interesting to note that while in this inscription, the era is called as that of Aya, while
the Shahdour Inscription of Nemijada (supra Na. 45) calls it as the Saka era.
3. Vanasthitasya inđicates that the siverakshita has formally entered vanaprastha. It doesn’t mean that the rich man, was living in the forest. The fact of vanaprastha, and his name indicate that the donor was of a brahmanic faith, which venertated the Buddha also as an incarnation.
4. Skt. स्थालक: : stands a certain bone on the back
References:
Sten Konow, Ep Ind XIX page 200-202
Footnote
Kindly note that the same rock bears another inscription on its top. It is continuation on the south face, has completely worn out.
It is evident from most of the inscriptions found in these regions, is that some greek communities had also lived in the northwest india, especially Afghanistan, consequent to the conquest & colonization undertaken by Alexander around 323 BCE, as Khroshthi was a popular script of Greeks while Brahmi was the script used by natives. This script presumably was used by alien rulers/colonisers to establish political & social connection with natives and was extensively used on religious relics.
According to Buhler Kharosthi script was related to those parts of the Indian subcontinent that were ruled by Persians. The script was initially confined to the Gandhara region. But consequently it reached other parts of Asia. The Kharosthi script is an ancient script , which was used to write Gandhari Prakrit and Sanskrit in ancient Gandhara (Afghanistan and Pakistan). We may call it, a sister script
of brahmi. Earliest evidences has been found from major rock edicts of Ashoka.
It was originally adapted for the local language of common people but was later adapted by foreign conquerors to connect with the local population. This script was used in various parts of the Gandhara Kingdom such as Indus, Swat, and Kabul river valleys.
