Major Rock Edict

Girnar

Major Rock Edict XIII (Girnar)

(A) . . . . . . . . . the Kaliṅgas . . . . . . . . . (B) . . . . . . . . . one hundred thousand in number were those who were slain there, (and) many times as many those who died. (C) After that, now that (the country of) the Kaliṅgas has been taken, a zealous study of morality .…

Location
Major Lieutenant-Colonel James Tod, first visited Girnār in December 1822, at that time the inscription seems to have been intact. It probably had laid buried in dense forest and might never have come to light had not a local notable made a causeway through the jungle for the ben…, Gujarat, India
Date
c. 260–250 BCE
Script
Brahmi
Language
Prakrit
Type
Major Rock Edict
Coordinates
21.5167° N, 70.4667° E

Overview

Girnar Discovery Story Major Lieutenant-Colonel James Tod, first visited Girnār in December 1822, at that time the inscription seems to have been intact. It probably had laid buried in dense forest and might never have come to light had not a local notable made a causeway through the jungle for the benefit of pilgrims to the hill, which is one of the most sacred places venerated by the Jains. He described it as a huge hemispherical mass of dark granite, which, like a wart upon the body, has protruded through the crust of mother earth, without fissure or inequality, and which, by the aid of the ‘iron pen,’ has been converted into a book. Tod was a famous Rajasthan annalist and army antiquarian of the East India Company. His reaction to Girnār was written before the Brahmi script had been deciphered. His account is arresting for the recognition that the edict is both monument and inscription, an ancient rock transformed to a monument by the writing on it. The measurement of its arc is nearly ninety feet; its surface is divided into compartments or parallelograms, within which are inscriptions in the usual antique character. The way in which the Girnār edicts were inscribed on a sin…

Girnar site view
Girnar

Location

The Inscription

Original Text

1 (A) . . . . . . . . . . . . ño Kaliṁgā [v . j .] . . . . . . . . . . . . [v . ḍh]e [sa]ta-sahasra-mātraṁ tatrā hataṁ bahu-tāvatakaṁ mata (C) tatā pachā adh[u]nā  ladhesu Kaliṁgesu tī[v]o dhaṁmavāyo.
2 . . . . . . . . . [sa]yo Devānaṁpriyasa [v . j .] . . . . . . . . . . . . [va]dho va maraṇaṁ va apavāho va janasa ta bāḍhaṁ vedana-mata ca g[u]r[u]-mata ca Devā[naṁpi] . . [sa].
3 . . . . . . . . . bāmhaṇā va samaṇā va añe . . . . . . . . . . . . [s]ā mātr[i] pitari susuṁsā guru-susuṁsā mita-saṁstata-sahāya-ñātike[su] dāsa-[bha] . . . . . ..
4 . . . . . . . . . abhiratānaṁ va vinikhamaṇa (H) yesaṁ vā [p .] . . . . . . . . . . . . [h]āya-ñātikā vyasanaṁ  prāpuṇati tata so pi tesa [u]paghāto hāti (I) paṭībhā[g]o cesā s[ava] . . . . . ..
5 . . . . . . . . . sti ime nikāyā añatra Yone[su] . . . . . . . . . . . . [mh]i yatra nāsti mānusānaṁ ekataramhi pāsaṁḍamhi na nāma prasā[d]o (K) y[ā]vata[k]o j[ano ta]d[ā].
6 . . . . . . . . . sra-bhāgo va garu-mat[o] Devānaṁ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . na ya saka chhamitave (M) yā ca pi aṭaviyo D[e]vānaṁpiya[sa] pijite pāti
7 . . . . . . . . . cate te[sa]ṁ Devānaṁpiyasa . . . . . . . . . . . . sava-bhūtānāṁ achatiṁ ca sayamaṁ ca samacairaṁ c[a] māḍava ca
8 . . . . . . . . . . [la]dh[o] . . . . naṁpriyasa idha [sa]vesu [c .] . . . . . . . . . . . . [Yo]na-rāja paraṁ ca tena catpāro rājāno Turamāyo ca [A]ṁt[ek]ina ca Magā ca.
9 . . . . . . . . . . idha rāja-vi[sa]yamhi [Y]o[na]-Kaṁbo . . . . . . . . . . . . ṁdhra-Pāriṁdesu savata Devānaṁpiyasa dhaṁmānus[a]sṭiṃ anuv[a]tare (S) yata pi dūti
10 . . . . . . . . . . . [na]ṁ dhamānusasṭiṃ ca dhamaṁ anuvidhiyare . . . . . . . . . . . . [v]ijayo savathā puna vijayo pīti-raso sā (U) ladhā sā pītī hoti dhaṁma-vijayamhi.
11 . . . . . . . . . . . ṁ[p]riyo (X) etā[ya athā]ya ayaṁ dhaṁma-[l] . . . . . . . . . . . . [va]ṁ vijayaṃ mā vijetavyaṁ maṁñā sarasake eva vijaye chāti ca.
12 . . . . . . . . . . . kik[o] c[a pā]r[alo]ki[ko] . . . . . . . . . . . ilokikā ca pāralokikā ca

Translation

(A) . . . . . . . . . the Kaliṅgas . . . . . . . . .
(B) . . . . . . . . . one hundred thousand in number were those who were slain there, (and) many times as many those who died.
(C) After that, now that (the country of) the Kaliṅgas has been taken, a zealous study of morality . . . . . . . . .
(D) . . . . . [the repentance] of Devānaṁpriya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(E) . . . . . . . . . slaughter, death, and deportation of people, this is considered very painful and deplorable by Dēvānāṁpriya.
(G) . . . . . . . . . Brāhmaṇas or Śramaṇas, [or] other . . . . . . . . . obedience to mother (and) to father, obedience to elders . . . . . . . . . to friends, acquaintances, companions, and relatives, [to] slaves . . . . . . . . . or deportation of (their) beloved ones.
(H) . . . . . . . . . [companions] and relatives are then incurring misfortune, this (misfortune) as well becomes an injury to those (persons).
(I) This is shared [by] all . . . . . . . . .
(J) . . . . . . . . . these classes . . . . . . . . . except among the Yonas . . . . . . . . . where men are not indeed attached to some sect.
(K) As many people as at that time . . . . . . . . . part is considered deplorable by Devānaṁ[priya].
(L) . . . . . . . . . what can be forgiven.
(M) And even the forests which are (included) in the dominions of Devānaṁpriya . . . . . . . . .
(N) They are [told] . . . . . . . . . of Devānaṁpriya . . . . . . . . .
(O) . . . . . . . . . towards all beings abstention from hurting, self-control, impartiality, and kindness.
(Q) . . . . . . . . . has been won by [Devā]naṁpriya here and among all . . . . . . . . . the Yōna king, and beyond him four kings, (viz.) Turamāya, Antekīna, Magā . . . . . . . . .
(R) . . . . . . . . . here in the king's territory, [among] the Yonas and Kambo[jas] . . . . . . . . . among the [A]ndhras and Pārindas, - everywhere (people) are conforming to Devānaṁpriya's instruction in morality.
(S) Even where the envoys . . . . . . . . . and the instruction in morality, are conforming to morality . . . . . . . . .
(T) . . . . . . . . . this conquest,—a conquest (won) in every respect (and) repeatedly,—causes the feeling of satisfaction.
(U) This satisfaction has been obtained (by me) at the conquest by morality.
(W) . . . . . . . . . [Devāna]ṁpriya.
(X) For the following purpose this [rescript] on morality . . . . . . . . . should not think that a [fresh] conquest ought to be made, (that), if a conquest does please them, mercy . . . . . . . . .
(Y) . . . . . . . . . in the other world.
(AA) . . . . . . . . . both in this world and in the other world.