Ajanta Cave No. 10

[Roland Steiner]

On 28 Jun 99, at 11:02, Jan Filipsky wrote:

> I wonder if anybody familiar with Ajanta could furnish particulars
> about the donor of Ajanta Cave 10, who wrote: "may whatever merit
> is in this, be for the release from miseries of all sentient
> creatures". How is it in original, what is the name and/or
> designation of the "dAtA"? 

N.P. Chakravarti, ``Appendix. A Note on the Painted 
Inscriptions in Caves VI-XVII", p. 91 (in: G. Yazdani: Ajanta. 
Pt. III. Repr. Delhi 1983):
``[Cave X] 2. On the left wall opposite the space between the 
fifth and sixth columns. Fragmentary; three lines [...].
1 [Aa]chaaryya - - - - - Sachivasya
2 d[eyadha]rmm[o] yad=atra pu.nya.m tad=bhavatu sa[rvva*-] 
[sa]-
3 tvaanaa[.m] du - - - - -
`(This is) is the meritorious gift of the teacher - - - - - Sachiva. 
Whatever merit is in the this let that be for (removing the 
misery) of all sentient beings.´
This inscription has suffered most since the time of Burgess [see 
``Archaeological Survey of Western India", Vol. IV, ``Reports 
on the Buddhist Cave-Temples and their Inscriptions", p. 137, 
no. 7 and pl. LXI, issued in 1883 as supplementary to the volume 
on ``The Cave-Temples of India"]. [...] In line 3 nothing is legible 
now after du, but Burgess´s plate clearly shows du.hkhamochaa -
 which is apparently a misreading for du.hkha-mocha[naaya*]."

All the best,
Roland Steiner