dharma in inscriptions 3

A blogpost by Ryosuke Furui & Arlo Griffiths

According to Amarakośa 1.4.300 (syād dharmam astriyāṁ puṇyaśreyasī sukr̥taṁ vr̥ṣaḥ), śreyas is a synonym of dharma. Epigraphic occurrences of this usage seem to be rare. (No entry śreyas is given in D.C. Sircar’s Indian Epigraphical Glossary.)

One occurrence may now be quoted from a copperplate inscription currently being prepared for publication by Ryosuke Furui and Arlo Griffiths on behalf of DHARMA task-force B, dating to the first quarter of the 7^th century, issued during the 8^th regnal year of Śaśāṅka, who was ruler of Gauḍa (a territory whose heartland corresponded to the western part of Bengal)

In this document, an example of the land-sale grants typically found in Early Medieval Bengal, a close associate of the king (antaraṅga) called Nāgabhaṭagomin addresses the members of the office of the princely advisor (kumārāmātya) and the landholders residing in a district called Petāmeḍḍakhāta that he wishes to make a pious donation of land to brahmins, i.e., a donation of the kind often called dharma. But Nāgabhaṭagomin says instead: bhavatāṁ prītyā kiñ cic chreyam anuṣṭhātum icchāmi. “By your kindness, I wish to carry out some meritorious work (śreyas).”

The inscription is full of grammatical mistakes, and this sentence shows a major howler too: chreyam anuṣṭhātum for chreyo ’nuṣṭhātum.