[INDOLOGY] Om symbol in Vadathika cave inscription

[Harry Spier]

Thank you Daniel,
Very clear.
I'm looking for a graphic of an early om symbol . So you saved me from a
boo-boo  :-)
Thanks,
Harry Spier


On Wed, Jan 28, 2026 at 2:53 AM Dániel Balogh <danbalogh at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Harry,
> the clipping is not an oṁ symbol. It is the initial ā from the beginning
> of the text, āsīt sarvva-mahīkṣitām etc. The symbol Fleet renders with oṁ
> in his edition is the curl in the left margin next to line 3 (not line 1!).
> Whether that symbol actually represents the word oṁ is debatable. The
> prevailing opinion seems to be that it does not; if it is associated with
> any lexical meaning, then it's more likely siddham or siddhi. I'm not sure
> there are any strong arguments for this but seem to recall (I may be wrong)
> that (some variant of) the sign does occasionally occur next to oṁ written
> out in regular script.
> For the history of the sign, see
> Boeles, J.J. 1947. ‘The Migration of the Magic Syllable Oṃ’. In *India
> Antiqua: A Volume of Oriental Studies Presented by His Friends and Pupils
> to Jean Philippe Vogel., c.i.e. on the Occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary
> of His Doctorate*, 40–56. Leiden: E.J. Brill.
> who seems to take it for granted that it represents oṁ.
> See also:
> Roth, Gustav. 1986. ‘Mangala-Symbols in Buddhist Manuscripts and
> Inscriptions’. In *Deyadharma: Studies in Memory of Dr. D.C. Sircar*,
> edited by Gouriswar Bhattacharya, 239–49. Sri Garib Dass Oriental Series
> 33. Delhi: Sri Satguru.
> Sander, Lore. 1986. ‘Om or Siddham — Remarks on Openings of Buddhist
> Manuscripts and Inscriptions from Gilgit and Central Asia’. In *Deyadharma:
> Studies in Memory of Dr. D.C. Sircar*, edited by Gouriswar Bhattacharya,
> 239–49. Sri Garib Dass Oriental Series 33. Delhi: Sri Satguru.
> Shomakhmadov, S. 2012. ‘The Features of the Interpretation of
> Mañgala-Symbols in Buddhist Sanskrit Manuscripts from Central Asia’. *Manuscripta
> Orientalia* 18: 9–23.
> Best wishes,
> Dan
>
> On Wed, 28 Jan 2026 at 06:06, Harry Spier via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
>> Dear list members,
>> I'm not familiar with Gupta script.
>> Can someone confirm for me that the image below is the full Om symbol
>> (and only the Om symbol) from the Vadathika cave inscription.  My
>> understanding is the Om sign in that inscription is the earliest Om sign in
>> an inscription.
>>
>>
>> https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:5th_or_6th_century_Vadathika_Cave_Inscription,_Sanskrit,_Shaivism,_Anantavarman,_Gupta_script,_Ancient_Om_symbol_2.jpg
>>
>>
>> [image: image.png]
>>
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Harry Spier
>>
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>> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
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>>
>
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