University of Ceylon Review

Vol. xx, No.1 April 1962

Some Sinhalese Inscriptions if Circa

Sixth Century
have included in this paper eight short epigraphs in the Sinhalese

I language of about the sixth century, which have a bearing on the

interpretation of a phrase of frequent occurrence in the inscriptions of
that period. The decipherment of these records has been done from photo-
graphs of estampages very kindly placed at my disposal by Dr. C. E. Goda-
kumbure, the Archaeological Commissioner, to whom I am indebted for
permission to reproduce them.

A. Pertyakadu-vihara (See plate II, 3)

The first of these records is from the site of an ancient monastery, now
called Periyakadu-vihara, near Nalava in the Ihala Visideke Koralc of the
Hiriyala Hatpattu, Kurunagala District. At this site there are Brahrni
inscriptions, in pre-Christian characters, below the drip-ledges of four caves,
the text of one of which has been published by H. Parker in his Ancient
Ceylon,1 an inscription of a king named Camini Abaya (probably Gajabahu
I, circa 112-134 A.C.), indited on the rock in characters of about the second
century A.C.2, and a rock-inscription of a king named Sirinaga (probably
the first of that name, circa 195-214 A.C.), in addition to the epigraph now
published.3 It was discovered by me when I visited the place in 1931, and
the photograph now published is of an estampage prepared at that time.

The record, which is of four lines, is in a satisfactory state of preserva-

tion, not one of its letters having become illegible. The script is similar
to that of the Ti rnbirivava rock-inscription of Kassapa 1,4 and the record
1 H. Parker, Ancient Ceylon, p. 449.
2 E. Miiller, Ancient Inscriptions in Ceylon, No.8.
3 For an account of the inscriptions at Periyakadu-vihara, see Ceylon Journal of
Sciences, Section G (CJSG), Vol. II, pp. 178, 180 and 214-5.
4 Univer8ity of Ceylon Review, Vol. XIX, p. 96 f, and plate facing p. 95.
 UNIVERSITY OF CEYLON REVIEW

may therefore belong to the last decades of the fifth or the first half of the
sixth century. The ancient name of the monastery, the equivalent of P.
Ekadvsra, is contained in this as well as in the other two rock inscriptions
at the site.> This name, it may be noted, was also borne by a monastery
founded by King Sabha (Subha, circa 59-65 A.C.)6 of which the remains
are seen at Viharegala near Mahakalllgama in the Uddiyankulam Korale
of the Anuradhapura District, as attested by inscriptions at that site as well
as at the tank called Pahala Kayinattama in its vicinity,"

The inscription ends with the, phrase ddava vaharalaya which, in a

number of variant forms, has been found in the majority of Sinhalese
inscriptions from the fifth to seventh centuries. Separated from this phrase
by the name of the monastery, our record also contains the phrase tamaha
vasa navanamoha, noticed here for the first time. It is clear from the context
that the phrase tamaha vasa navanamoha, ending with an absolutive, refers to
an action which preceded that recorded in the phrase cidava vaharalaya. What
the action referred to in the first phrase was, it is not difficult to determine, for
none of the four words contained in it presents any difficulty of interpreta-
tion. Yamaha is the genitive singular of tama, equivalent to Sanskrit dtman and
Pali dtuma or attd, meaning 'self'. Vasa is the same as Skt. vasa, and is found
in the same form in Pali and Prakrit as well as in standard Sinhalese; among
its meanings is 'subjection', JYaya is derived from Skt. TIJawith the addition
of the -ka suffix, and is found in the same form in the modern language,
meaning 'debt'. The word namaha has not been met with before, but in
its present context it is reasonable to take it as derived from an absolutive
form of the Skt. nir-vah which may mean 'to cease', 'to end' etc. The
form namaha of the present record is the prototype of nima in classical
Sinhalese. The whole phrase may therefore be rendered literally as 'having
ended the debt of his subjection', i.e. 'having settled the' debt he was sub-
jected to'. Now, this interpretation squares very well with that given
for the phrase cidavi vaharalaya, and its equivalents, i.e. 'caused the cessation
of slaveryf It is well known that, in ancient Ceylon, as it was in India,
one particular class of slave was the ina-ddsa, i.e. a person who had sub-
mitted himself to slavery on account of a debt thathe had incurred.? In
such instances, the payment of the debt, either in money or in services
rendered, would automatically result in the cessation of the slavery caused
5 CJSG., Vol. II, pp. 178 and 180.
6 Mah/ioamea, Chapter XXXV, v. 58.
7 EZ, Vol. III, pp. 162-169.
8 EZ, Vol. IV, pp. 132-3.
9 Rasavahini, Part II, Colombo, 1899, p. 18

2
 SOME SINHALESE INSCRIPTIONS

by it. The interpretation of the phrase is also supported by that of the

similar phraseology occurring in the inscriptions that follow in this paper.
This record and those which follow conclusively establish the interpretation
that we have given of the phrase cidavi vaharalaya etc, when it came up for
consideration for the first time in the course of the decipherment of an
inscription.

Text

1 l5)~tl)c.:ltl) El~25') 25')<D

2 l5)@)tl) El~ ~c.:l 25)@)w

3 C)2:i)~~66aewEltl)6 5-
4 -.:;El Elw6Cc.:l

Transcript

1 Talahayaha vasana Naga

2 tamaha vasa J:.1ayanamaha
3 Ekadora-raja-maha-vahara c[i)-1o
4 -dava vaharalaya 11

Translation

Naga12 residing at Talahayat- settled the debt that he had incurred,and

caused the cessation of[his] slavery in the royal monastery of Ekadora.I+

B. Galkatiyagama

Five inscriptions in the Sinhalese script of about the sixth century are
incised on a rock at the site of an ancient monastery at Galka~iyagama, four
I
miles south-west of Polpitigama, in the Hiriyala Hatpattu, Kurunagala
District. These records are included as No. 101 in the List of Inscriptions
10 There are faint traces of the i-stroke of ci, though medial vowels, other than the
inherent a, are rarely shown graphically,
11 After this are visible faint traces of the letter ma. It is not impossible that the
phrase ma pala sava satanata was contained in the last line of this record.
12 Pali Naga_
13 A tank named Tulahaka is mentioned in the inscription of Garnani Abaya at this
place. The last syllable, which is the locative suffix, may be read as -hi,
14 Pali Ekadvara.

t 3
 UNIVERSITY OF CEYLON REVIEW

forming Appendix F of H. C. P. Bell's Annual Report of the Archaeological

Survey for 1911":12, p. 118. They have also been noticed by the late Mr. C.
W. Nicholas who has prepared eye-copies of thcm;15 an estampage of the
records has been prepared by the Archaeological Survey. The inscriptions
have been indited close to each other, three of them on the left side of the
inscribed area, and two on the right side. That on the upper section of the
right hand side is in letters much larger than those in the others. Some of
the letters of this record have been worn away. The other four records are
in a satisfactory state of preservation. The engraver has omitted one letter
each in the records numbered II and III. Among the dated inscriptions of
this period, that which is written in characters approximating to those in
the records under discussion is the rock-inscription of Dathopatissa at
Andaragolljva!». It is very rarely that the writing shows strokes to indicate
the medial vowels, apart from the a which is inherent in every consonantal
symbol. Records No. I and III have sadeva in place of cadeva or cidevi in
other records; they thus provide us with one of the earliest examples for
the change of c to s, a phonological change which had a widespread vogue
in the language of the later period.!"

In records I, III and V, we come across the phrase tla ken a before cidavi
(or sadeva) vaharala (or veharalaya). In No. II also the phrase tla kenq occurs
in a similar position, but the letter ke has been inadvertantly omitted by the
engraver. From the context, it appears that ~a kena has the same meaning
as (laya namaha of the Periyakadu-vihara inscription dealt with above. l'{a
is obviously derived from Sanskrit !tla, without the adding of the pleonastic
suffix -ka. The word in that form occurs in the Mihintale tablets, in the
phrase lekam karii tla vii diiyak genii18 and also in the Dampiyii-atuvii-giita-
padaya.l9 Kena is to be derived from an absolutive form of the root k?i
formed by the suffix -ya instead of the grammatical -tvii,20 and with the
addition of the conjugational affix-(1a (* k?i(1ya). It would thus mean
'having diminished or decreased', or 'having made an end of'. Used with
a word meaning 'debt', it would express the idea of 'having settled' or 'paid
back'. The word that would be appropriate in such a context in the modern
15 Historical Topography of Ancient and Mediaeval. Ceylon, JRASCB, NS, Vol. VI,
p. 100.
16 VCR, Vol. XII, p. 104, plate facing p. 95.
17 See Sigiri Graffiti, Oxford University Press, 1956, Vol. I, P: lxxxiiiif.
18 EZ, Vol. I, p. 92. In Wickremasinghe's edition of this inscription, the reading is
lekam karatlaml diiyak genii which fails to recognize ~a as a separate word. As correctly,
read above, the phrase means 'having examined accounts and recovered any debts incurred.'
19 D. B. Jayatilaka's Edition, p. 172.
20 Sigiri Graffiti, op.cit. Vol. I, p. cliii.

4
 SOME SINHALESE INSCRIPTIONS

language is gevii, the absolutive of the verb geva, going back to a causative
.form of the.root k~i to which the conjugational affix -~a has not been added.
The phrase tla kena, thus, has the same meaning as tlaya namaha.

Inscriptions numbered II and IV contain the word sayamala before

vaharala. In several other unpublished inscriptions of this period also, the
word sayamala Occurs in a similar position. The compound dasi-paha; used
in place of vaharala in the Andaragoll!lva inscription.s! throws welcome
light on the meaning of the word sayamala (which also occurs in some
records as siyamala). Paha in dasi-paha has been equated with Skt. piisa
'noose' or 'bondage', with which the Sinhalese mala is synonymous. Taking
saya or siya as equivalent to Skt, svayam, the compound saya-mala would mean
'self-bondage,' that is, slavery that one has voluntarily taken upon oneself in
consequence of a debt or some other reason. This interpretation of the
compound sayama fa gains support by the occurrence, in a few records of the
period,22 of the phrase ala-mala vaharala, in which ala would stand for Skt.
anya. Compare aile davase for Skt. anyedyus. Alamala-vaharala would
thus be slavery enforced by others, as distinct from that voluntanily accepted.

I
Text23 (See plate I, 1)

1 2:S)t!)@'" 06", e.:l@)25)

2 (l)25) ~ G'2:S)25) e.:lG'<;C> G'C>t!)6-

3 -C'" @)t!) oC e5C>e5-

4 -25)25)6 C>c.:lE)c.:l

Transcript

1 Kahabaya pataya Samana

2 Gana na kena sadeva vehara-
3 -laya maha pala sava-sa-
4 .,.tanata v~yavaya
21 UGR, Vol. XIX, pp. 102 ff.
22 For example, in an unpublished inscription from Riijailgal)e. See EZ, Vol., IV,
p. 134.
23 No attempt has been made in the readings that follow to restore the vowels where
they have not been graphically indicated. .

5
 UNIVERSITY OF CEYLON REVIEW

Translation

Samana Gana>', a resident ofKahabaya,25 having settled the debt [due

from him], caused the cessation of [his] slavery. May the fruit of this action
be26 for [the good] of all beings.

II
Text (See Plate I, 2)

1 <;~C0'<;625'l ~®-
2 -25") (S)25)~ [0'z:sl*]25'l €l0'<;€l
3 ~"'®C €lm6-
4 -c ac ~€l~-
5 -:5)25)0

Transcript

1 Dapula-derana Sarna-
2 -na Gana na [ke*Jna cadeva
3 sayamala vahara-
4 -la pala sava-sa-
5 -tanata

Translation

Samana Gana of Dapula-derana, having settled the debt [due from him],
caused the cessation of [his] self-imposed slavery. The merit [of this action
is given] to all beings.

III
Text (See plate I, 3)
1 z:slm~'" aO", <;~[(S)]a
2 -'" ~ 0'z:sl25")~0'<;[€l*] Dro6[C]
3 ac ~D~:5)25)O

24 This personal name ocelli'S in the next record as well as in a number of documents
in this period.
25 The place name Kahabaya of this record is found in Nos. III and IV in the form
Kahapuya. These appear to be locative forms of a stem Kahabi or Kahapu, possibly
connected with Skt. Kiisyapa, P. Kassapa, Comparison with No. IV indicates that Kaha-
baya or Kahapuua without ptuaua which follows, is the place name, and that ptuoua takes
the place of t'asana, 'residing in' of No. IV. Possibly pataya is derived from Skt. prastlui-
yin.
26 Vayavaya is viiva in standard Sinhalese.

6
University of Ceylon Review, Vol. XX, No.1. April 1962 PI.ATE I
 SOME SINHALESE INSCRIPTIONS

Transcript
1 Kahapuya-? pataya Dasa[ga]pa-
2 -ya na kena sade[va*] vahara[la]
3 pala sava-satanata

Translation

Dasagapaya, a resident of Kahapuya, having settled the debt [due from

him], caused the cessation of his slavery. The merit [of this] is given to all
beings .:

IV
Text (See plate I, 4)
1 2:5l1D9c.:lEle.52S) ~c.:l [~ @2:5l-]
2 -25) El@~El e.5c.:l@le El1D-
3 -ec oc e.5Ele.5Zi)25)C)

Transcript
1 .. Kahapuya vasana Daya28 [na ke-]
2 -na cadeva sayamala vaha-
3 -rala pala sava-satanata

Translation

Daya, residing at Kahapuya, having settled the debt [due from him],
caused the cessation of [his] self-imposed slavery. The merit [of this] is
given to all beings.

V
Text (See plate I, 5)
1 ["']6G)@)c.:l
2 El~25) oce-
3 -25) G)25) ~ @2:5l25)
4 v[~e:l El1D]6e
5 [o]e ~[Ele.5Zi)]25)C)

27 C. W. Nicholas (JRASOB, NS, Vol. VI, p. 100) has read this name as Kihapu,
but there is no i-stroke attached to the first letter.
28 This name may have contained another letter or two after ya.

7
 UNIVERSITY OF CEYLON REVIEW

Transcript

1 [Ga]ragamaya
2 vasana Raya-
3 -na Gana na kena
4 ci[davi vahajrala
5 [palla sajvasatalnata-?

Translation

Rayana Gana, residing at [Ga]ragamaya,30 having settled the debt[due

from him], caused the cessation of [his] slavery. The fruit of this is given
to all beings.

c. Ambagasvava

Two inscriptions in the Sinhalese script of about the sixth century are
incised on a rock called Maduvegala in the village of Ambagasvava in the
Divigandahe Korale of the Hiriya]a Hatpattu, Kurunjigala District. These
inscriptions are included as No. 100 of the List of Inscriptions forming
Appendix F of H. C. P. Bell's Annual Report of the Archaeological Survey of
Ceylon for 1911-12. Estampages of them have been prepared by the
Archaeological Department in 1959, and numbered 7 and 8 in the List of
Inscriptions copied during that year.I! With the exception of two or three
letters which have been blurred somewhat, the two records are in a satis-
factory state of preservation. Some of the letters are rather cursive in
formation; the script may be ascribed to a period between Kumaradasa and
Dathopatissa.P

With regard to language, the phrase paya-vasa-navaia in record No. I

has not been found in any other document. Nayata is the dative singular
of flaya and means 'for the debt'; paya-vasa must therefore denote a particular
kind of debt. Paya means foot, and vasa has been explained in discussing
the phrase tamaha vasa flaya namaha in the Periyakadu inscription dealt with
above. The phrase paya-vasa-flaya would therefore mean 'a debt for
which one's foot is subjected'. What is intended by the expression becomes
29 There are traces of letters of a sixth line.
30 This might have stood for Girigama in Pali.
31 ASCAR for 1959, p. 52.
32 Compare EZ, Vol. IV, plate 11 facing p. 114, and UCR, Vol. XIX, plate facing
p. 94, IV.

8
 SOME SINHALESE INSCRIPTIONS

clear from the phrase at-pii-vahalat-giyiikugen in 1. 21 of the Vevalkatiya

inscription, 'from one who has gone out for slavery (by working with)
hands or with feet'.33 The Calapata-vihara rock-inscription specifies the
services, which the slaves attached to the monastery had to render to the
monks, by the phrase at-pii-mehe 'services by hands and feet'. 34 It would
thus appear that in old Ceylon when a person became a slave, it was under-
stood between him and his master what particular type of work he had to
perform, whether it was manual labour involving the use of the hands, or
going on errands, which involves the use of the feet. It is significant in
this connection that the record uses the phrase yana saya di before the state-
ment that the debt was liquidated. Yana in this phrase is Skt. yiina 'going',
saya means 'hundred' and di'having given'. The import of the phrase is
'having performed a hundred journeys', on errands and other needs of
the monastery, it is to be understood.

Another unusual phrase occurring in Inscription No. I is raya narada

pavatavaya. The last word is an absolutive form meaning 'having con-
ducted', of which the subject is vahara-Iadana (vehera-laduvan, in the later
language), the trustee of the monastery'. The context would thus indicate
that by naya-narada was meant a formal action by the trustee of the monastery
on the occasion of manumitting a slave. As such, narada may be connected
with the Sanskrit root nir-aj 'to drive out or away'. In this connection,
it is pertinent to note that the Samantapiisiidikii35 refers to the practice of
pouring butter-milk on the head of a slave when he is given his freedom.

Another interesting form is mayala (meyala) in Inscription No. II. From

the context, it is clear that mayala is the genitive singular of the demonstrative
pronoun me, in the masculine gender. As such, it may be compared with
the modern Sinhalese meyala or meyiila-ge, where the suffix -la is plural.
Originally, however, this suffix would have been honorific, as in the modern
iiraccila36; _...

33 EZ, Vol. I, po 247. Wickremasinghe's rendering of this phrase, 'from those who
went out to do menial work', is too free, and does not bring out the particular significance
of the words used.
34 EZ, Vol. IV, p. 206, 1. 13 of text, and page 210, note 2.
35 P.T.S. Edition, p. 1001, Takkarh sise t'isittaka-sadist'i'va honti, See also EZ, Vol. V,
p. 60.
36 See also Sigiri Graffiti, op.cit, p. ocxiv,

9
 UNIVERSITY OF CEYLON REVIEW

I
Text (See Plate n, 1)
1 0<;02:::i)~3L606<;.j 2:::i)e.:lOeee @)<;.jClJ66o-
2 @)wElw6c)o<;.jEle.:l~<;.jC)38 <;.j-
3 -25) e.:l<;.j
~39 6 ~3802:::i)25)39e.:l0<;€l40Elw6C
4 @)<;.j<;El
Elw6C<;25)~<;.j3825)6<; oEl:5)El<;.j

Transcript

1 Dekena-? -ereya.Kasapa Pasa Mayagara-raja-

2 maha-vaharata paya-vasa-nayata-f ya-
3 -na saya di39 e l)a38 kena39 sadeva+" vaharala
4 Mayadava vaharaladana l)aya38 -narada pavatavaya

Translation

Kasapa+' of Dekena+t -ereya having completed+ a hundred

journeys+' on account of the debt binding his feet45 to the royal monastery
of Mayagara,46 and having thus settled that debt, caused the cessation of
[his] slavery, Mayadava.t? the trustee of the monastery+s having conducted+?
the [ceremony of] debt-driving.w

37 The symbol read as de looks like gu.

38 The cross stroke at the middle, which distinguishes the cerebral tta from the dental,
is not perceptible. It is possible that the scribe wrote na instead of tta, which this word has
in other records.
39 The stroke for the medial vowel has been assumed. The symbol for da here is
different from that in other places of this record; but this form for da occurs in the 'I'irnbiri-
vava inscription of Kassapa I referred to above.
40 Sidavi.
41 Kasapa is Sanskrit K.iiSyapa, P. Kassapa. The equivalent of Pasa in Sanskrit or
Pali is not certain.
42 Skt. Daksina, P. Dakkhina, Elu Dakunu.
y
43 Di,litera:ll 'given.'· .
44 Yana saya, see discussion above.
45 Paqa-vaea-nauata i-:« This phrase has been discussed in the introduction.
46 To be read asMeyagiri=Skt. and P.Meghagiri.
47 ReadMayadeva; Skt. P.Magha·deva.
48 Vahara-ladana:- In later language, vehera-laduvan, literally, 'one who has
received the monastery'. The plural form is no doubt honorific.
49 Pavatavaya, in later language pa?;atva. It is possible that pavalltVaya is a finite
verb, being the prototype in the sixth century of the classical Sinhalese piiviitvi, which
presupposes a form *pavatavayi, and that the i in the last syllable has been changed to
a due to vowel-assimilation.
50 Naya-narada. See discussion in the Introduction.

10

b g't{,·
University of Ceylon Review. Vol. XX. No.1. April 1962 PI, ATE Ii

::i

1='"
'.
;- ;-
;-
:L

,;'t
"
'.
- -"
< ~
-.
if. -.
C
v s
'"
'-
f ~
':'1
--; e<i

N
 SOME SINHALESE INSCRIPTIONS

II
Text (See Plate II, 2)

1 8 G'~2:))~6G'6c.:leeeee
2 00 (!)c.:l<D66e5~flJ-
3 ElflJG'6(!)c.:le Elo ~ G'[2:))25)] 8-
4 -G'~El ElflJ6e

Transcript

1 Si Dekana-ereya Kasapa
2 Pasa Mayagara raja-maha-
3 vahare mayala vasa na [k]e[na] si-
4 -deva vaharala

Translation

Hail! Kasapa Pasa of Dekana-ereya, having settled the debt by which

this [personage] was subjected to the royal monastery of Mayagara, caused
the cessation of [his] slavery.>!

S. PARANAVlTANA

51 it will be noticed that Inscription No. II is identical in subject matter with No. I,
but for the omission of certain phrases contained in the first. Perhaps the more detailed
document was set up by the person who was manumitted, and the other by the trustee of
the temple. The names of places and persons are the same in both. With the text and the
translation of No. II, see notes on the corresponding readings and names of No. I.

11