Mora Well Inscription | |
---|---|
Writing | Sanskrit [1] |
Created | circa 15 CE |
Discovered | 27°30′54″N 77°35′15″E / 27.515040°N 77.587409°E |
Place | Mathura, Uttar Pradesh |
Present location | Government Museum, Mathura ( 27°29′43″N 77°40′46″E / 27.495382°N 77.679540°E) |
Identification | GMM Q.1 |
The Mora Well inscription is an ancient Sanskrit inscription found in the village of Mora about 7 miles (11 km) from Mathura, India. [9] [10] It is notable for its early mention of pratima (images), stone temple, and the Pancaviras. [9] [11]
The Mora Well Inscription makes an early mention of pratima (murti, images), stone shrine (temple) and calls the five Vrishnis as bhagavatam. [9] [11] [12] It is dated to the early decades of 1st century CE during the reign of Sodasa, probably circa 15 CE. [9]
The Mora Well inscription does not use specifically sectarian language, and various interpretations have been given. [13]
The Hindu Puranas, such as the medieval Vayu Purana in section 97.1-2, name Samkarsana, Vasudeva, Pradyumna, Samba and Aniruddha as "heroes of the dynasty of the Vrishni". [9] [12] [13] The inscription may also signify the growth of Bhagavatism in 1st millennium BCE to Vaishnavism by the early centuries of the common era, and a process by which heroes and heroic ideas attract devotion. [9] There is no mention of these heroes in ancient Brahmanical literature, [13] but some scholars, such as Chandra, state that the five Vrishnis mentioned in the inscription is a reference to the Pandavas of the Mahabharata. [13]
According to Sonya Quintanilla, the Mora inscription is not sectarian and may not necessarily relate to the roots of Vaishnavism. It could be cross-sectarian – Jainism and Hinduism, or equally possibly reflect early Bhagavata movement, states Quintanilla. [13] According to Rosenfield, the Mora well inscription refers to the five Vrishni heroes, but their exact identity is unclear. They – including Vasudeva and Krishna – may have been ancient kings in the Mathura area, who became deified because of their heroic accomplishments. They "personified certain qualities of Vishnu and thus in effect [were deified as] his avatars", states Rosenfield, and this may be "an extremely early form of Vaishnavism now called Pancaratra system" also found in Besnagar, Nanaghat and Ghasundi. [14] Another explanation is that of Luders, who relying on Jain texts dated between 9th and 12th-century CE, states that the Vrishnis may have been the five Jain heroes led by Akrūra. [13] The cult of the Vrishnis may have been cross-sectarian, much like the cult of the Yakshas. [13] [14]
The inscription mentions the name of the Great Satrap Rajuvula, [15] and was apparently made by his son, [16] the Great Satrap of Mathura Sodasa. [17]
The discovery of the Mora Well Inscription in the 19th-century led archaeologists to excavate the Mora Mound in 1911-12, near the Mora well. [18] They found large inscribed bricks of a round brick building with the name of a female, probably the daughter of king Brihasvatimitra from Kausambi of late 2nd century BCE. In the mound were also found two male torsos, as well as a lower half of a female torso with inscribed names Kanishka and Tosha, confirming the possible link between the inscription stone and the mound. [18]
The discovered inscription is incomplete. [10] The opening is hybrid Sanskrit, while the remaining three lines are standard Sanskrit. [1] It reads: [11] [10]
1. mahakṣatrapasa rāṁjūvulasa putrasa svāmi ...
2. bhagavatāṁ vr̥ṣṇīnā[ṁ] paṁcavīrāṇāṁ pratimā[ḥ] śailadevagr̥[he] ...
3. ya[s] toṣāyāḥ śailaṁ śrimadgr̥ham atulam udadha samadhāra ...
4. ārcādeśāṁ śailām paṁca jvalata iva paramavapuṣā ...– Mora Well Inscription, 1st century CE
Sonya Quintanilla translates it as, [11]
. . . of the son of mahakṣatrapa Rāṁjūvula, svāmi . . .
the images of the holy paṁcavīras of the Vr̥ṣṇis. . .
the stone shrine... whom the magnificent matchless stone house of Toṣā was erected and maintained...
five objects of adoration made of stone, radiant, as it were with highest beauty...