The Vasu Doorjamb Inscription is an early 1st-century CE Sanskrit inscription in Brahmi script dedicated to the deity Vāsudeva, related to the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism.[1][2] It is also one of the several dedicatory inscriptions from Mathura bearing the name of the Indo-ScythianNorthern Satrap ruler Sodasa, which are useful as historic markers for the first half of the 1st century CE.[3]
Vasu Doorjamb Inscription
1st century CE Vasu Doorjamb Inscription, in Sanskrit
The inscription was found on a red sandstone temple doorjamb dumped in an old well in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh.[4][5] The doorjamb is about 8 feet (2.4 m) long, 1.24 feet (0.38 m) wide and 8 inches (200 mm) thick. It is intricately carved on one side while the other side is flat. On the flat side, British India era archaeologists discovered that there is a 12-line inscription, which has been named the Vasu Doorjamb Inscription. The artifact is now at the Mathura Museum and a much studied item. It mentions a 1st-century Vishnu temple, a torana (temple gateway) and a vedika (railing).[6][7]
The Vasu Doorjamb Inscription is another archaeological evidence about ancient Vaishnavism, providing another link about the continuity between ancient religious traditions and contemporary Hinduism.[8][9][6]
Date
According to Richard Salomon, the inscription is from the time of the Indo-Scythian Northern Satrap Sodasa, or early years of the 1st-century CE.[1] The name of the ruler appears with his full title (Middle Brahmi script: ()Svāmisya (Mahakṣatra)pasya Śodasa "Lord and Great Satrap Śodāsa") in the inscription.[10][11] Sonya Quintanilla concurs and estimates about 15 CE, based on a combination of style, script, paleography and numismatic evidence.[12]
The name "Sodasa" (Śodāsa) in the Vasu doorjamb inscription.
According to Quintanilla, beyond the name, the style of the doorjamb and the carving on it is similar to that found in pieces recovered from close by locations at the Mathura archaeological site such as the Jain Parshvanatha ayagapata and the Namdighosa ayagapata.[13] These too are dated to the early decades of the 1st-century CE.[14] However, Joanna Williams split-dates the Vasu Doorjamb, stating that the inscription is from early 1st-century CE but the carving may be from the 3rd-century CE because the intricate relief on Vasu doorjamb is more sophisticated, reminding one of the elegance of the early Gupta artists.[15] Quintilla, in contrast, states that the piece was likely carved and inscribed together prior to its installation in 1st-century CE because there are stylistic differences between the Vasu Doorjamb carvings and those found in the 3rd-century pieces. She states that the similarity in Jain reliefs of the 1st-century CE suggests it more likely that the Vasu piece too was prepared and installed in the 1st-century.[16]
Inscription
The discovered inscription is damaged, with parts so defaced that they cannot be read. Out of twelve lines, the first five are too damaged to be analyzed. The last seven lines have attracted scholarly studies. Since its discovery, its antiquity and significance has led scholars to interpret it as is, as well as make best guess interpolations and reconstruction followed by a revised translation.[2][4]
1st-century CE inscribed doorjamb, Vasu Mathura India. A modern image
The name "Vāsudeva" appears partially in the inscription, through its last two syllables "-devaḥ" (line 10).
The decipherable part confirms that a torana (gateway) and Vasu temple was established, and that this happened in the time of Sodasa thereby providing a basis to date the inscription.
According to Chakravarti, the first five lines are too damaged for any reliable translation. Further, no name can be deciphered from the inscription with complete certainty, including the donor name "Vasu" because it could be a compound name with -vasu. However, states Chakravarti, the inscription indicates that the donor had a name that is typically identified as "a Hindu name".[19]
With interpolation and extrapolation
Decorated side of the Vasu doorjamb in the Mathura Museum, reference GMM 13.367. The inscription is on the back.
Luders and Janert utilized the faded characters, the context and Sanskrit grammar rules to propose a reconstruction:[4][20]
Sonya Quintanilla, in 2007, translated the last seven lines as:[4]
. . . a stone torana and railing were caused to be erected by Vasu at the . . . of the great temple of lord Vasudeva. May lord Vàsudeva, being pleased, promote (the dominion or life or vigor) of SvamiMahaksatrapa Sodasa.
Ramaprasad Chanda, in 1920, translated the same lines to:[21]
By ... vasu a quadrangle enclosed by four buildings (chatuhsalam), a pillared gateway (toranam) and a square terrace in the middle of courtyard (vedikah) have been built (at the shrine at) the great place of the Bhagavat Vasudeva. May Vasudeva be pleased. May (the dominion) of the lord, the mahakshatrapa Sodasa, endure.
NP Chakravarti, in 1942, disagreed with Chanda's interpolation of -lam to chatuhsalam because that "term never occurs in inscriptions of this time". He suggested that an interpolation to Devakulam, or even better Sailam, is more likely. Chakravarti translated the same lines to:[19]
... by Vasu, a gateway of stone (?) and the railing was erected at the... of the great temple of bhagavat Vasudeva. May bhagavat Vasudeva, being pleased, promote (the dominion or the life and strength) of svamin mahakshatrapa Sodasa.
The Vasu Doorjamb Inscription was dedicated to deity Vāsudeva, who appears in art from the 2nd century BCE.
The Vasu Doorjamb Inscription is a significant early Sanskrit inscription from Mathura. The mention of Sodasa's time who, states Salomon, is "dated with reasonable certainty to the early early years of the first century AD".[1] Its mention of Vasu, temple, Vedika and a torana (gateway) is significant as it confirms that the large temple building tradition was in vogue in the Mathura region by at least the start of the common era. Further, it also attests to the popularity of Vāsudeva (Krishna) tradition in this period.[17][25] The Vasu Doorjamb inscription of Sodasa in Uttar Pradesh viewed with other epigraphical evidence such as the Besnagar Heliodorus pillar in Madhya Pradesh, the Hathibada Ghosundi Inscriptions in Rajasthan, and the Naneghat inscriptions in Maharashtra suggest that the cult of Vāsudeva-Krishna and early Vaishnavism had spread over a wide region by the 1st-century BCE to the start of common era.[25][2]
According to Quintanilla, the Vasu Doorjamb and the inscription is "one of the most important and most beautiful objects" from the time of Sodasa, likely from a "temple to Vāsudeva", another name for Vishnu.[26] The carvings on the doorjamb are three woven compositions. It has a leafy vine that runs along the length of the red sandstone jamb. Along the stem of the vine are curling leaves and blossoms, that wrap along as those found in nature, a rosette added in where the intertwining vines meet.[27][28] The wider band has lotus rhizome carved in, with subtle naturalistic variations, wherein the lotus flowers are shown in all their stages of bloom, states Quintanilla.[27]
^Singh, Upinder (2008). A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Pearson Education India. p. 437. ISBN978-81-317-1120-0.
^Joshi, Nilakanth Purushottam (1979). Iconography of Balarāma. Abhinav Publications. p. 22. ISBN978-81-7017-107-2.
^Paul, Pran Gopal; Paul, Debjani (1989). "Brahmanical Imagery in the Kuṣāṇa Art of Mathurā: Tradition and Innovations". East and West. 39 (1/4): 132–136, for the photograph p.138. ISSN 0012-8376. JSTOR 29756891.
NP Chakravarti (1942). Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XXIV. Archaeological Survey of India.
Ramaprasad Chanda (1920). Archaeology and Vaishnava Tradition in MASI, No. 5. Archaeological Survey of India. OCLC 715446015.
Heinrich Lüders; Klaus Ludwig Janert (1961), Mathurā inscriptions, Göttingen : Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, OCLC 717966622
Sonya Rhie Quintanilla (2007). History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE. BRILL Academic. ISBN978-90-04-15537-4.
Sahni, Daya Ram (1917). Annual Progress Report of the Superintendent, Hindu and Buddhist Monuments, North Circle. Government Press Punjab, Lahore. hdl:2027/uc1.c2999464.
Richard Salomon (1998). Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the other Indo-Aryan Languages. Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-535666-3.
Ramesh Chandra Sharma (1994). The Splendour of Mathurā Art and Museum. DK Printworld. ISBN978-81-246-0015-3.
Upinder Singh (2008). A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Pearson Education India. ISBN978-81-317-1120-0.
Joanna Williams (1982). The Art of Gupta India: Empire and Province. Princeton University Press. ISBN978-0-691-10126-2.
Michael Willis (2000). Buddhist Reliquaries from Ancient India. British Museum Press. ISBN978-0-7141-1492-7.
March 03, 2023
vasu, doorjamb, inscription, early, century, sanskrit, inscription, brahmi, script, dedicated, deity, vāsudeva, related, vaishnavism, tradition, hinduism, also, several, dedicatory, inscriptions, from, mathura, bearing, name, indo, scythian, northern, satrap, . The Vasu Doorjamb Inscription is an early 1st century CE Sanskrit inscription in Brahmi script dedicated to the deity Vasudeva related to the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism 1 2 It is also one of the several dedicatory inscriptions from Mathura bearing the name of the Indo Scythian Northern Satrap ruler Sodasa which are useful as historic markers for the first half of the 1st century CE 3 Vasu Doorjamb Inscription1st century CE Vasu Doorjamb Inscription in SanskritMaterialRed SandstoneWritingSanskrit Brahmi scriptCreatedCirca 15 CE reign of Sodasa PlaceMathura Uttar PradeshPresent locationGovernment Museum MathuraIdentificationGMM 13 367MathuraMathura India The inscription was found on a red sandstone temple doorjamb dumped in an old well in Mathura Uttar Pradesh 4 5 The doorjamb is about 8 feet 2 4 m long 1 24 feet 0 38 m wide and 8 inches 200 mm thick It is intricately carved on one side while the other side is flat On the flat side British India era archaeologists discovered that there is a 12 line inscription which has been named the Vasu Doorjamb Inscription The artifact is now at the Mathura Museum and a much studied item It mentions a 1st century Vishnu temple a torana temple gateway and a vedika railing 6 7 The Vasu Doorjamb Inscription is another archaeological evidence about ancient Vaishnavism providing another link about the continuity between ancient religious traditions and contemporary Hinduism 8 9 6 Date EditAccording to Richard Salomon the inscription is from the time of the Indo Scythian Northern Satrap Sodasa or early years of the 1st century CE 1 The name of the ruler appears with his full title Middle Brahmi script Svamisya Mahakṣatra pasya Sodasa Lord and Great Satrap Sodasa in the inscription 10 11 Sonya Quintanilla concurs and estimates about 15 CE based on a combination of style script paleography and numismatic evidence 12 The name Sodasa Sodasa in the Vasu doorjamb inscription According to Quintanilla beyond the name the style of the doorjamb and the carving on it is similar to that found in pieces recovered from close by locations at the Mathura archaeological site such as the Jain Parshvanatha ayagapata and the Namdighosa ayagapata 13 These too are dated to the early decades of the 1st century CE 14 However Joanna Williams split dates the Vasu Doorjamb stating that the inscription is from early 1st century CE but the carving may be from the 3rd century CE because the intricate relief on Vasu doorjamb is more sophisticated reminding one of the elegance of the early Gupta artists 15 Quintilla in contrast states that the piece was likely carved and inscribed together prior to its installation in 1st century CE because there are stylistic differences between the Vasu Doorjamb carvings and those found in the 3rd century pieces She states that the similarity in Jain reliefs of the 1st century CE suggests it more likely that the Vasu piece too was prepared and installed in the 1st century 16 Inscription EditThe discovered inscription is damaged with parts so defaced that they cannot be read Out of twelve lines the first five are too damaged to be analyzed The last seven lines have attracted scholarly studies Since its discovery its antiquity and significance has led scholars to interpret it as is as well as make best guess interpolations and reconstruction followed by a revised translation 2 4 Vasu Doorjamb inscription Translation without interpolation Transliteration Early Brahmi script Inscription Prakrit in the Middle Brahmi script lines 1 5 are un translatable 6 by Vasu the Lord 7 the great temple of va 8 the gateway 9 was established pleased 10 deva of svami 11 pa Soda sa 12 Let it him be promoted 4 17 1 va 2 sa ṣ ya 3 va s 4 p si note 1 5 ṣapu t reṇa kausi 6 vasuna bhaga va 7 vasya mahasthana 8 lam toraṇam ve 9 ṣṭhapito prito 10 devaḥ svamis 11 pasya soḍa sa 12 saṃvartayataṃ 4 18 1 𑀯 2 𑀲𑀲 𑀬 3 𑀯𑀲 4 𑀧 𑀲 5 𑀲𑀧 𑀢 𑀭 𑀦 𑀓 𑀲 6 𑀯𑀲 𑀦 𑀪𑀕 𑀯 7 𑀯𑀲 𑀬 𑀫𑀳 𑀲 𑀞 𑀦 8 𑀮 𑀢 𑀭𑀦 𑀯 9 𑀲 𑀞 𑀧 𑀢 𑀧 𑀭 𑀢 10 𑀤 𑀯 𑀲 𑀯 𑀫 𑀲 11 𑀧𑀲 𑀬 𑀰 𑀤 𑀲 12 𑀲 𑀯 𑀭𑀢𑀬𑀢 The numbered Vasu doorjamb inscription 1st century CE inscribed doorjamb Vasu Mathura India A modern image The name Vasudeva appears partially in the inscription through its last two syllables devaḥ line 10 The decipherable part confirms that a torana gateway and Vasu temple was established and that this happened in the time of Sodasa thereby providing a basis to date the inscription According to Chakravarti the first five lines are too damaged for any reliable translation Further no name can be deciphered from the inscription with complete certainty including the donor name Vasu because it could be a compound name with vasu However states Chakravarti the inscription indicates that the donor had a name that is typically identified as a Hindu name 19 With interpolation and extrapolation Edit Decorated side of the Vasu doorjamb in the Mathura Museum reference GMM 13 367 The inscription is on the back Luders and Janert utilized the faded characters the context and Sanskrit grammar rules to propose a reconstruction 4 20 1 s v amisya mahaksatrapasya Soda note 2 2 sa s ya di 3 vas e 4 p na Si v a 5 sapu t r e na kausi ki putrena 6 vasuna bhaga va to vasude 7 vasya mahasthana sai note 3 8 lam toranam ve dika ca prati 9 sthapito prito bha gavan vasu 10 devah svami sya mahaksatra 11 pasya soda sa sya 12 samvartayatam Reconstructed Inscription 1st century CE 4 Translation of reconstructed inscription Edit Sonya Quintanilla in 2007 translated the last seven lines as 4 a stone torana and railing were caused to be erected by Vasu at the of the great temple of lord Vasudeva May lord Vasudeva being pleased promote the dominion or life or vigor of Svami Mahaksatrapa Sodasa Ramaprasad Chanda in 1920 translated the same lines to 21 By vasu a quadrangle enclosed by four buildings chatuhsalam a pillared gateway toranam and a square terrace in the middle of courtyard vedikah have been built at the shrine at the great place of the Bhagavat Vasudeva May Vasudeva be pleased May the dominion of the lord the mahakshatrapa Sodasa endure NP Chakravarti in 1942 disagreed with Chanda s interpolation of lam to chatuhsalam because that term never occurs in inscriptions of this time He suggested that an interpolation to Devakulam or even better Sailam is more likely Chakravarti translated the same lines to 19 by Vasu a gateway of stone and the railing was erected at the of the great temple of bhagavat Vasudeva May bhagavat Vasudeva being pleased promote the dominion or the life and strength of svamin mahakshatrapa Sodasa Significance EditVasudeva Vasudeva with his attributes as depicted on a coin of Agathocles of Bactria 190 180 BCE 22 23 Four armed Vasudeva with mace and conch center in a Chatur vyuha sculpture 24 2nd century CE Art of Mathura Mathura Museum The Vasu Doorjamb Inscription was dedicated to deity Vasudeva who appears in art from the 2nd century BCE The Vasu Doorjamb Inscription is a significant early Sanskrit inscription from Mathura The mention of Sodasa s time who states Salomon is dated with reasonable certainty to the early early years of the first century AD 1 Its mention of Vasu temple Vedika and a torana gateway is significant as it confirms that the large temple building tradition was in vogue in the Mathura region by at least the start of the common era Further it also attests to the popularity of Vasudeva Krishna tradition in this period 17 25 The Vasu Doorjamb inscription of Sodasa in Uttar Pradesh viewed with other epigraphical evidence such as the Besnagar Heliodorus pillar in Madhya Pradesh the Hathibada Ghosundi Inscriptions in Rajasthan and the Naneghat inscriptions in Maharashtra suggest that the cult of Vasudeva Krishna and early Vaishnavism had spread over a wide region by the 1st century BCE to the start of common era 25 2 According to Quintanilla the Vasu Doorjamb and the inscription is one of the most important and most beautiful objects from the time of Sodasa likely from a temple to Vasudeva another name for Vishnu 26 The carvings on the doorjamb are three woven compositions It has a leafy vine that runs along the length of the red sandstone jamb Along the stem of the vine are curling leaves and blossoms that wrap along as those found in nature a rosette added in where the intertwining vines meet 27 28 The wider band has lotus rhizome carved in with subtle naturalistic variations wherein the lotus flowers are shown in all their stages of bloom states Quintanilla 27 See also EditHathibada Ghosundi Inscriptions Heliodorus pillar Mora Well Inscription Nana Ghat InscriptionNotes Edit Chakravarti stated in 1942 that some scholars are able to read the Brahmi script for Siva 18 This reconstruction by Luders and Janert is consistent with the 1942 proposal of Chakravarti 18 Ramaprasad Chanda suggests that the 7th line could be vasya mahasthana chatuhsa 21 References Edit a b c Richard Salomon 1998 pp 87 88 a b c Ramaprasad Chanda 1920 pp 169 173 Sonya Rhie Quintanilla 2007 pp 168 179 a b c d e f g Sonya Rhie Quintanilla 2007 pp 262 263 Sahni 1917 p 10 a b Sonya Rhie Quintanilla 2007 pp 205 206 262 263 Michael Willis 2000 p 62 Ramaprasad Chanda 1920 pp 151 173 NP Chakravarti 1942 pp 208 210 Buddhist art of Mathura Ramesh Chandra Sharma Agam 1984 Page 26 Quintanilla Sonya Rhie 2007 History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura Ca 150 BCE 100 CE BRILL p 205 ISBN 9789004155374 Sonya Rhie Quintanilla 2007 pp 170 171 Photograph of the Namdighosa ayagapata Fig 20 in Quintanilla Sonya Rhie 2000 Ayagapaṭas Characteristics Symbolism and Chronology Artibus Asiae 60 1 79 137 doi 10 2307 3249941 ISSN 0004 3648 JSTOR 3249941 Sonya Rhie Quintanilla 2007 p xxxii caption 125 Joanna Williams 1982 pp 13 14 Sonya Rhie Quintanilla 2007 pp 125 126 135 136 153 199 200 a b Ramaprasad Chanda 1920 p 170 a b c NP Chakravarti 1942 p 208 a b NP Chakravarti 1942 p 209 Heinrich Luders amp Klaus Ludwig Janert 1961 p 155 a b Ramaprasad Chanda 1920 p 171 Singh Upinder 2008 A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India From the Stone Age to the 12th Century Pearson Education India p 437 ISBN 978 81 317 1120 0 Joshi Nilakanth Purushottam 1979 Iconography of Balarama Abhinav Publications p 22 ISBN 978 81 7017 107 2 Paul Pran Gopal Paul Debjani 1989 Brahmanical Imagery in the Kuṣaṇa Art of Mathura Tradition and Innovations East and West 39 1 4 132 136 for the photograph p 138 ISSN 0012 8376 JSTOR 29756891 a b Upinder Singh 2008 p 437 Quintanilla Sonya Rhie 2007 History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura Ca 150 BCE 100 CE BRILL p 205 ISBN 978 90 04 15537 4 a b Sonya Rhie Quintanilla 2007 pp 205 206 Ramesh Chandra Sharma 1994 p 72 Bibliography Edit NP Chakravarti 1942 Epigraphia Indica Vol XXIV Archaeological Survey of India Ramaprasad Chanda 1920 Archaeology and Vaishnava Tradition in MASI No 5 Archaeological Survey of India OCLC 715446015 Heinrich Luders Klaus Ludwig Janert 1961 Mathura inscriptions Gottingen Vandenhoeck amp Ruprecht OCLC 717966622 Sonya Rhie Quintanilla 2007 History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura ca 150 BCE 100 CE BRILL Academic ISBN 978 90 04 15537 4 Sahni Daya Ram 1917 Annual Progress Report of the Superintendent Hindu and Buddhist Monuments North Circle Government Press Punjab Lahore hdl 2027 uc1 c2999464 Richard Salomon 1998 Indian Epigraphy A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit Prakrit and the other Indo Aryan Languages Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 535666 3 Ramesh Chandra Sharma 1994 The Splendour of Mathura Art and Museum DK Printworld ISBN 978 81 246 0015 3 Upinder Singh 2008 A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India From the Stone Age to the 12th Century Pearson Education India ISBN 978 81 317 1120 0 Joanna Williams 1982 The Art of Gupta India Empire and Province Princeton University Press ISBN 978 0 691 10126 2 Michael Willis 2000 Buddhist Reliquaries from Ancient India British Museum Press ISBN 978 0 7141 1492 7 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Vasu Doorjamb Inscription amp oldid 1110539771, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
