ලුම්බිණි ස්තම්භ අභිලේඛනය

ලුම්බිනී ස්තම්භලේඛය හෙවත් ලුම්බිනී ස්තම්භ අභිලේඛනය, පාදේරියා අභිලේඛනය යනුවෙන් හැඳින්වෙන්නේ 1896 දෙසැම්බරයේ දී ඇලොයිස් ඇන්ටන් ෆියුරර් විසින් නූතන නේපාලයේ ලුම්බිනියේ යෙන් සොයාගනු ලැබූ පුරාතන බ්‍රාහ්මී අක්ෂරවලින් ලියන ලද අභිලේඛනයකි. මේ හා සමාන තවත් ප්‍රකට අභිලේඛනයක් වන්නේ යි. ලුම්බිනී අභිලේඛනය අශෝකයන්ගේ අතරට වර්ගීකරණය කොට තිබුණ ද, මෙය අතීත කාල සහ සාමාන්‍ය ප්‍රථම පුරුෂ (රාජකීය අයුරින් නොවේ) ස්වභාවයෙන් රචනාකොට ඇති හෙයින්, මෙය අශෝකයන් මෙම ස්ථානය බැහැදැකීම අනුස්මරණය කරනු වස් පිහිටුවූවක් බවත්, එය රජු විසින්ම ස්ථාපිත කළ ආඥාවක් බැව් පෙනේ.

ලුම්බිනී ස්තම්භලේඛය
ස්තම්භයේ කැනීම්, සහ ස්තම්භයේ පහළ කොටසින් හමුවූ අභිලේඛනය.
මාධ්‍යය	ඔපදැමූ වැලිගල්
ප්‍රමාණය	Height: Width:
යුගය/සංස්කෘතිය	ක්‍රි.පූ. 3වන සියවස
සොයාගනු ලැබූයේ	27°28′11″N 83°16′32″E / 27.469650°N 83.275595°E / 27.469650; 83.275595ඛණ්ඩාංක: 27°28′11″N 83°16′32″E / 27.469650°N 83.275595°E / 27.469650; 83.275595
ස්ථානය	, නේපාලය.
වර්තමාන පිහිටුම	, නේපාලය.
ලුම්බිනී ස්තම්භය Show map of දකුණු ආසියාව ලුම්බිනී ස්තම්භය Show map of Nepal

Discovery of the pillar

Ancient historical records of the Buddhist monuments of the region, made by the ancient Chinese monk-pilgrim in the 7th century CE and by another ancient Chinese monk-pilgrim in the early 5th century CE, had been used in an effort to search for the place of birth of the Buddha, said to be in Lumbini, and his ancient city of . The Lumbini pillar itself, set up where the Buddha was born, was mentioned by , who said that it was surmounted by the sculpture of a horse and that it had been broken in half, but he never mentioned the presence of an inscription, which, according to Vincent A. Smith, may already have been hidden by the time he visited in the 7th century. The description by Xuanzang adds that the pillar was split in two and fallen on the ground at the time he saw it.

View of the ruins and the Lumbini pillar from the West in 1901

The pillar was supported underground by a brick base, which according to had to be of a comparatively more recent date. He suggested that the fallen pillar had been re-erected at the time of the Buddhist , in the 11th or 12th century.

The existence of the stone pillar itself was already known before the discovery: it had already been reported to by a local landowner named Duncan Ricketts, around twelve years before (circa 1884). Rubbings of the Medieval inscriptions on top of the pillar had been sent by Ricketts, but they were thought of no great consequence. Führer has also heard about the pillar in 1895, while he was investigating the nearby pillar.

Discovery of the inscription (1896)

In December 1896, Alois Anton Führer was making a follow-up survey of the nearby pillar, discovered and investigated by him the previous year, in March 1895.

Lumbini pillar ruins, cross-section of the site as of 1901.

According to some accounts, Fuhrer found the Lumbini pillar on December 1st, and then asked the help of local commander, General Khadga Samsher Rana, to excavate it. According to other accounts General Khadga Samsher Rana knew the location of the pillar and led Führer to it. Reportedly, Fuhrer was not present when the inscription was discovered, as he arrived only "a little later", but Ricketts was witness to it. Initially, only the top of the pillar was visible, with a Medieval inscription on it. The Nepalese authorities dug around the pillar, to find the ancient inscription, which therefore had remained underground, hidden from view.

The Brahmi inscription on the pillar gives evidence that Ashoka, emperor of the Maurya Empire, visited the place in 3rd-century BCE and identified it as the birth-place of the Buddha. The inscription was translated by Paranavitana:

Rummindei pillar, inscription of Ashoka

Translation (English)	Transliteration (original Brahmi script)	Inscription (Prakrit in the Brahmi script)
When King Devanampriya Priyadarsin had been anointed twenty years, he came himself and worshipped (this spot) because the was born here. (He) both caused to be made a stone bearing a horse (?) and caused a stone pillar to be set up, (in order to show) that the Blessed One was born here. (He) made the village of Lummini free of taxes, and paying (only) an eighth share (of the produce). — The Edict, one of the of Ashoka.	𑀦 𑀦 𑀦𑀯𑀻𑀲𑀢𑀺𑀯𑀲𑀸𑀪𑀺𑀲𑀺𑀢𑁂𑀦 Devānaṃpiyena Piyadasina lājina vīsati-vasābhisitena 𑀅𑀢𑀦𑀆𑀕𑀸𑀘 𑀫𑀳𑀻𑀬𑀺𑀢𑁂 𑀳𑀺𑀤𑀩𑀼𑀥𑁂𑀚𑀸𑀢 𑀢𑀺 atana āgāca mahīyite hida Budhe jāte Sakyamuni ti 𑀲𑀺𑀮𑀸𑀯𑀺𑀕𑀥𑀪𑀺𑀘𑀸𑀓𑀸𑀳𑀸𑀧𑀺𑀢 𑀲𑀺𑀮𑀸𑀣𑀪𑁂𑀘 𑀉𑀲𑀧𑀸𑀧𑀺𑀢𑁂 silā vigaḍabhī cā kālāpita silā-thabhe ca usapāpite 𑀳𑀺𑀤𑀚𑀸𑀢𑀢𑀺 𑀮𑀼𑀁𑀫𑀺𑀦𑀺𑀕𑀸𑀫𑁂 𑀉𑀩𑀮𑀺𑀓𑁂𑀓𑀝𑁂 hida Bhagavaṃ jāte ti Luṃmini-gāme ubalike kaṭe 𑀅𑀞𑀪𑀸𑀕𑀺𑀬𑁂𑀘 aṭha-bhāgiye ca — Adapted from transliteration by ,	Lumbini Rummindei pillar at time of discovery in 1896, with location of the inscription, which was hidden about 1 meter under ground level.

Aftermath

The pillar today, in the same location where it was found, with the inscription now at eye level following extensive earthworks. The top is a protection against the elements.

Alois Anton Führer own report on the discovery, entitled Monograph on Buddha Sakyamuni's birthplace, 1897

Following the discovery of the pillar, Führer relied on the accounts of ancient Chinese pilgrims to search for , which he thought had to be in . Unable to find anything significant, he started excavating some structures at Sagarwa, which he said were stupas of the , and was in the process of faking pre-Mauryan inscriptions on bricks, when he was caught in the act by .

Soon after, Alois Anton Führer was exposed as "a forger and dealer in fake antiquities", and had to resign from his position in 1898. Führer's early archaeological successes had apparently encouraged him to inflate his later discoveries to the point of creating forgeries. further revealed in 1901 the blunt truth about Führer's Nepalese discoveries, saying of Führer's description of the archaeological remains at that "every word of it is false", and characterizing several of Führer's epigraphic discoveries in the area, including the inscriptions at the alleged Shakya stupas at Sagarwa, as "impudent forgeries". However Smith never challenged the authenticity of the Lumbini pillar inscription and the Nigali Sagar inscription.

Führer had written in 1897 a monograph on his discoveries in Nigali Sagar and Lumbini, Monograph on Buddha Sakyamuni's birth-place in the Nepalese tarai which was withdrawn from circulation.

Issues of authenticity

Although generally accepted as genuine, this inscription does raise a few issues in terms of authenticity:

• The Lumbini inscription is in the third person, written by someone reporting a past visit of Devanampriya Priyadarsi, and is not written in Devanampriya Priyadarsi's own name contrary to all known edicts. So, by its own internal evidence, it may have been written at any time in history after the ruler's visit. In effect, ancient was still understood until the beginning of 4th century CE before being rediscovered in the 19th century.
• The qualifier used for the Buddha in the inscription is Sakyamuni (), which is normally a Sanskritized form of the Prakrit Sakamuni ( "Sage of the ), although the fully Sanskritized form would be Śakyamuni (𑀰𑀓𑁆𑀬𑀫𑀼𑀦𑀺, pronounced "Shakyamuni"). The problem is that the rest of the inscription is entirely in Prakrit, and Sanskrit inscriptions are not otherwise attested before the 1st century BCE-1st century CE. "Sakyamuni" first appears in the Lumbini inscription, the other known forms being "Sakiya" in the inscription, "Sakka" in the Pali literature, "Sakka" and "Śakka" in Prakrit literature, "Saka" () and "Śaka" in the epigraphic record.

• The Buddha is never mentioned in the nor in the , and only appears once in the inscription.
• The inscription was discovered by Alois Anton Führer, who is also known to have forged inscriptions on ancient stone artefacts, so there is a possibility that he is the actual author of the inscription. The engraving is in extremely good condition and seems fresh: when made a copy of the inscription in 1900, he noted that it was "almost as if freshly cut". Following re-examination fifty years later, academics commented: "The pillar bears an inscription of Asoka, very well preserved. The lines are straight and letters very tastefully written. It appears as if the inscription has been very recently incised."

On these grounds, considers the Lumbini inscription as a later work, posterior to the 1st century CE at least, and there is also a possibility that Führer himself is the actual author of the inscription.

This issue was popularized in 2008 by British writer .

The inscription, in many ways similar and located a few kilometers from Lumbini, also falls under the same kind of suspicion.

Gallery

ලුම්බිනී ස්තම්භලේඛය හා සබැඳි මාධ්‍ය විකිමාධ්‍ය කොමන්ස් හි ඇත.

• The pillar of Ashoka.
• The Ashoka inscription on the pillar today.
• Rubbing of the inscription.
• The words Bu-dhe (𑀩𑀼𑀥𑁂, the Buddha) and - ( 𑀲𑀓𑁆𑀬𑀫𑀼𑀦𑀻, "Sage of the ") in Brahmi script.
• Luṃmini Gāme (𑀮𑀼𑀁𑀫𑀺𑀦𑀺𑀕𑀸𑀫𑁂, "City of Lumbini") inscription in the Rummindei Edict of Ashoka.
• Lumbini pillar Medieval inscription of king , 13-14th century CE.
• Lumbini pillar capital.
• View of the ruins and the Lumbini pillar from the South
• Various "" inscriptions on the .

References

1. Several alternative translations have been published.

1. Smith, Vincent A. (1897). "The Birthplace of Gautama Buddha". The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland: 615–621.  25207888.
2. Beckwith, Christopher I. (2017). Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia (ඉංග්‍රීසි බසින්). Princeton University Press. p. 246. ISBN .
3. Mukherji, P. C.; Smith, Vincent Arthur (1901). A report on a tour of exploration of the antiquities in the Tarai, Nepal the region of Kapilavastu;. Calcutta, Office of the superintendent of government printing, India. p. 6.
4. Mukherji, P. C.; Smith, Vincent Arthur (1901). A report on a tour of exploration of the antiquities in the Tarai, Nepal the region of Kapilavastu;. Calcutta, Office of the superintendent of government printing, India. p. 7.
5. Smith, Vincent A. (1897). "The Birthplace of Gautama Buddha". The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland: 617.  25207888.
6. Beckwith, Christopher I. (2017). Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia (ඉංග්‍රීසි බසින්). Princeton University Press. pp. 234–235. ISBN .
7. Mukherji, P. C.; Smith, Vincent Arthur (1901). A report on a tour of exploration of the antiquities in the Tarai, Nepal the region of Kapilavastu;. Calcutta, Office of the superintendent of government printing, India. p. Plate XIII.
8. Falk, Harry. The discovery of Lumbinī (ඉංග්‍රීසි බසින්). p. 13.
9. Barth, A. (1897). "Le Journal des savans". Gallica (ඉංග්‍රීසි බසින්) (Académie des inscriptions et belles–lettres): 72.
10. Falk, Harry. The discovery of Lumbinī (ඉංග්‍රීසි බසින්). p. 13.
11. Weise, Kai (2013). The Sacred Garden of Lumbini: Perceptions of Buddha's birthplace (ඉංග්‍රීසි බසින්). UNESCO. ISBN .
12. Paranavitana, S. (Apr. - Jun., 1962). Pillar Inscription of Asoka, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 82 (2), 163-167
13. Weise, Kai (2013), , Paris: UNESCO, pp. 47–48, archived from the original on 2014-08-30,  
14. Hultzsch, E. /1925). Inscriptions of Asoka. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 164-165
15. Tsukamoto, Keisho (2006). [http://echo-lab.ddo.jp/Libraries/印度学仏教学研究/印度學佛教學研究第54巻第3号/Vol.54%20,%20No.3(2006)200塚本%20啓祥「ルンミンデーイーのアショーカ法勅再考%20-マヤ堂出土の「自然石」に関連して-」.pdf Reconsidering the Rummindei Pillar Edict of Asoka: In Connection with 'a piece of natural rock' from Mayadevi Temple]^[], Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies 54 (3), 1113-1120
16. Hultzsch, E. (1925). Inscriptions of Asoka. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 164-165
17. Hultzsch, E. (1925). Inscriptions of Asoka. New Edition by E. Hultzsch (Sanskrit බසින්). p. 164.{{}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language ()
18. British Library Online
19. "Dr. Fuhrer went from Nigliva to Rummindei where another Priyadasin lat has been discovered... and an inscription about 3 feet below surface, had been opened by the Nepalese" in Calcutta, Maha Bodhi Society (1921). The Maha-Bodhi (ඉංග්‍රීසි බසින්). p. 226.
20. Dhammika, Shravasti (2008). Middle Land, Middle Way: A Pilgrim's Guide to the Buddha's India (ඉංග්‍රීසි බසින්). Buddhist Publication Society. p. 41. ISBN .
21. "Fuhrer's attempt to associate the names of eighteen Sakyas, including Mahanaman, with the structures, on the false claim of writings in pre-Asokan characters, was fortunately foiled in time by V.A. Smith, who paid a surprise visit when the excavation was in progress. The forgery was exposed to the public." in Srivastava, K.M. (1979). "Kapilavastu and Its Precise Location". East and West. 29 (1/4): 65–66..
22. Huxley, Andrew (2010). "Dr Führer's Wanderjahre: The Early Career of a Victorian Archaeologist". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 20 (4): 489–503. doi:10.1017/S1356186310000246.  1356-1863.  40926240.
23. Mukherji, P. C.; Smith, Vincent Arthur (1901). A report on a tour of exploration of the antiquities in the Tarai, Nepal the region of Kapilavastu;. Calcutta, Office of the superintendent of government printing, India. p. 4.
24. Huxley, Andrew (2011). "Mr Houghton and Dr Führer: a scholarly vendetta and its consequences". South East Asia Research. 19 (1): 77. doi:10.5367/sear.2011.0030.  23750866.  147046097.
25. Smith, vincent A. (1914). The Early History Of India Ed. 3rd. p. 169.
26. Führer, Alois Anton (1897). Monograph on Buddha Sakyamuni's birth-place in the Nepalese tarai. Allahabad : Govt. Press, N.W.P. and Oudh.
27. Thomas, Edward Joseph (2000). The Life of Buddha as Legend and History (ඉංග්‍රීසි බසින්). Courier Corporation. p. 18. ISBN .
28. Beckwith, Christopher I. (2017). Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia (ඉංග්‍රීසි බසින්). Princeton University Press. p. 168. ISBN .
29. Beckwith, Christopher I. (2017). Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia (ඉංග්‍රීසි බසින්). Princeton University Press. p. 245–246. ISBN .
30. Beckwith, Christopher I. (2017). Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia (ඉංග්‍රීසි බසින්). Princeton University Press. p. 242. ISBN .
31. On Śakyamuni being a Sanskritization: Stephan Baums "We even have the spellings Śakimuni and Śakyamuna, though you may wish to consider the latter a Sanskritization." quoted in Bronkhorst, Johannes (2016). How the Brahmins Won: Appendix X Was there Buddhism in Gandhāra at the Time of Alexander? (ඉංග්‍රීසි බසින්). Brill. pp. 483–489, page 6 of the apendix.
32. Fleet, J. F. (1906). "The Inscription on the Piprawa Vase". The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland: 161.  25210223.
33. Thomas, Edward J. (2002). History of Buddhist Thought (ඉංග්‍රීසි බසින්). Courier Corporation. p. 155, note 1. ISBN .
34. Rhys Davids, Thomas William (1915). Encyclopaedia Of Religion And Ethics Vol.8. p. 196.
35. Beckwith, Christopher I. (2017). Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia (ඉංග්‍රීසි බසින්). Princeton University Press. p. 235 note 34. ISBN .
36. Nalinaksha, Dutta; Bajpai, Krishna D. (1956). Development of Buddhism in Uttar Pradesh (ඉංග්‍රීසි බසින්). Publication Bureau, Government of Uttar Pradesh. p. 330.
37. Allen, Charles (2008). The Buddha and Dr. Führer: an archaeological scandal. London: Haus. ISBN .
38. Thomas, Edward J. (2002). History of Buddhist Thought (ඉංග්‍රීසි බසින්). Courier Corporation. p. 155, note 1. ISBN .
39. Mukherji, P. C.; Smith, Vincent Arthur (1901). A report on a tour of exploration of the antiquities in the Tarai, Nepal the region of Kapilavastu;. Calcutta, Office of the superintendent of government printing, India. p. 34.

(රාජ්‍ය. ක්‍රි.පූ. 269–232)
අශෝක රජුගේ රාජ්‍ය වර්ෂ	ආඥා ප්‍රභේදය (සහ අභිලේඛනයේ පිහිටීම)				භූගෝලීය පිහිටීම
වර්ෂය 8	අවසානය සහ "" වැළඳ ගැනීම				ගුජරා සාරු මාරු උදේගෝලම් නිට්ටූර් සිද්දපූර් බ්‍රහ්මගිරි ජතිංගා පල්කිගුණ්ඩු රාජුල මණ්ඩගිරි සාසාරාම් රූප්නාත්' බරාබර් () () පල්කිගුණ්ඩු ගවිමාත් ජතිංගා/රාමේශ්වර රාජුලා/මණ්ඩගිරි බ්‍රහ්මගිරි උදේගෝලම් සිද්දපූර් නිට්ටුර් සාසාරාම් (ග්‍රීක සහ ) යෙරාගුඩි ධෞලි සාරනාත් සාංචි ලුම්බිනී කෝසම්බි (ග්‍රීක නගරය) පාටලීපුත්‍ර class=notpageimage| වල (ආඥා 1, 2 & 3) පිහිටීම සුළු ශිලා ආඥා ලෙස වර්ග කෙරෙන සෙසු අභිලේඛන. වල පිහිටීම. වල පිහිටීම. වල මුල් පිහිටුම. අගනගර
වර්ෂය 10		සම්බන්ධිත සිදුවීම: බුද්ධ ගයාවේ බැහැදැකීම මහාබෝධි විහාරය සහ බුද්ධ ගයාවේ ඉදිකිරීම ඉන්දියාව පුරා ධර්ම ප්‍රචාරය. සංඝයාගේ අසමගිය ඉන්දියානු භාෂාවෙන්: පිහිටුවීම්ེ
	(ග්‍රීක සහ භාෂාවලින්, )
	-භාෂා සුළු ශිලා ආඥා: ,
වර්ෂය 11 සහ පසුව	(පාංගුරාරියා, මස්කි, , බහපූර්/ශ්‍රීනිවාස්පූරි, , , ගුජරා, , රාජුලා මණ්ඩගිරි, යේරාගුඩි, උඩේගෝලම්, නිට්ටූර්, බ්‍රහ්මගිරි, සිද්දපූර්, ජතිංගා-රාමේශ්වර)
වර්ෂය 12 සහ පසුව	බරාබර් ලෙන් අභිලේඛනය
		ග්‍රීක බසින් යුත් මහා ශිලා ආඥා: () ඉන්දියානු භාෂාවලින් යුත් මහා ශිලා ආඥා: ( අක්ෂරවලින්: , (බ්‍රාහ්මී අක්ෂරවලින්: , , , , යේරාගුඩි, ) මහා ශිලා ආඥා 1-10, 14, : (ධෞලි, )
	සංඝභේද ආඥාව, බිසවගේ ආඥාව (සාරනාත් සාංචි ) ලුම්බිණි අභිලේඛනය,
වර්ෂය 26, 27 සහ පසුව
	ඉන්දියානු භාෂාවලින්: ( අමරාවතී) බසින් ව්‍යූත්පන්න ශිලා ලේඛන: සහ
Yailenko,Les maximes delphiques d'Aï Khanoum et la formation de la doctrine du dhamma d'Asoka, 1990, p. 243. Inscriptions of Asoka de D.C. Sircar p. 30 Handbuch der Orientalistik de Kurt A. Behrendt p. 39 Handbuch der Orientalistik de Kurt A. Behrendt p. 39