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{{Short description|Sanskrit inscription in the Barabar Caves, Bihar, India}}
{{Infobox artifact
|image = Barabar Nagarjuni Caves, Anantavarman Inscription Sanskrit.jpg
|name = Gopika Cave Inscription
|image_caption = Gopika Shaktism-related Sanskrit inscription
|material = Cave rock
|size =
|writing = Sanskrit, Gupta script
|created =
|period = [[Maukharis of Gaya]]
|place = Nagarjuni hill, Barabar Caves
|discovered = Gaya district, Bihar
|discovered_coords = {{coord|25|00|23.2|N|85|03|52.3|E|display=inline,title}}
|location = Gopika Cave
| map =
{{Location map
| India
| float = center
| relief = yes
| label = Nagarjuni-Barabar Caves
| lat_deg = 25.00951
| lon_deg = 85.07862
}}
|id =
|registration =
}}
__NOTOC__
The '''Gopika Cave Inscription''', also called the '''Nagarjuni Hill Cave Inscription II of Anantavarman''' or formerly the '''Gya inscription''' (referring to the nearby city of [[Bodh Gaya|Gaya]]),<ref>"I have thought it necessary to send a copy of part of the Gya inscription, which has been translated, together with the modern character written beneath it, as given by Dr. Wilkins" in {{cite book |last1=Prinsep |first1=James |title=The Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Ed. by James Prinsep |date=1834 |publisher=Bapt. Miss. Press |page=111 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IV9CxKZ0Nq4C&pg=PA111}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Wilkins |first1=Charles |title=Asiatic Researches |date=1788 |publisher=London : Printed for J. Sewell [etc.] |pages=[https://archive.org/details/asiaticresearche01asia_0/page/n336 276]-281 |url=https://archive.org/details/asiaticresearche01asia_0}}</ref> is a 5th- or 6th-century CE [[Sanskrit]] inscription in Late Brahmi found in the Nagarjuni hill cave of the [[Barabar Caves]] group in Gaya district, [[Bihar]], India.{{sfn|DR Bhandarkar| BC Chhabra| GS Gai|1981|pp=226-228}}<ref name="RS202"/>

The inscription is from the [[Shaktism]] tradition of Hinduism. It is notable for its dedicatory verse to [[Durga]] and for including the symbol for [[Om]] in the Gupta era. The inscription states that king Anantavarman is dedicating a statue of the goddess Katyayani (Durga-Mahishasuramardini) to the cave. The statue was missing when the caves came to the attention of archaeologists in the late 18th century.{{sfn|DR Bhandarkar| BC Chhabra| GS Gai|1981|pp=226-228}}<ref name="Bakker2014p43"/>

==History==
The Gopika Cave, also called ''Gopi ka Kubha'', is one of three caves found in the Nagarjuni Hill cluster near the [[Barabar Caves]] in Bihar. The other two are Vapiyaka Cave and Vadathika Cave, also called ''Vapiya ka Kubha'', and ''Vadathi ka Kubha'' respectively.<ref name=cunningham43>{{cite book|author=Sir Alexander Cunningham|title=Four Reports Made During the Years, 1862-63-64-65|url=https://archive.org/details/fourreportsmade01cunngoog |year=1871|publisher=Government Central Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fourreportsmade01cunngoog/page/n141 43]–52|quote={{PD-notice}}}}</ref> These are near the [[Lomas Rishi Cave]], the earliest known cave excavated in the 3rd century BCE and gifted by Ashoka to the [[Ajivikas]] monks. The Nangarjuni Caves were excavated in 214 BCE from a granite hill by the grandson of Ashoka.<ref name=cunningham43/> They are about {{convert|16|mi}} north of [[Gaya, India|Gaya]].<ref name=cunningham43/>

According to Arthur Basham, the motifs carved in these groups of caves as well as inscriptions help establish that the Nagarjuni and Barabar Hill caves are from the 3rd century BCE.<ref name="Basham1951p153">{{cite book|author=Arthur Llewellyn Basham|title=History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas, a Vanished Indian Religion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BiGQzc5lRGYC |year=1951|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1204-8|pages=153–159}}</ref> The original inhabitants of these were the Ajivikas, a non-Buddhist Indian religion that later became extinct. They abandoned the caves at some point.<ref name="Basham1951p153"/> Then the Buddhists used these caves because there are the Bodhimula and Klesa-kantara inscriptions found here.<ref name=cunningham43/> Centuries later, a Hindu king named Anantavarman, of Maukhari dynasty, dedicated Hindu ''[[murti]]'' (images) of [[Vaishnavism]], [[Shaivism]] and [[Shaktism]] in three of these caves in the 5th or 6th century.<ref name="Bakker2014p43">{{cite book|author=Hans Bakker|title=The World of the Skandapurāṇa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6p2XCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA43 |year=2014|publisher=BRILL Academic |isbn=978-90-04-27714-4|pages=43–44 with footnotes}}</ref> To mark the consecration, he left inscriptions in Sanskrit. These inscriptions are in then prevalent Gupta script and these have survived.<ref name=cunningham43/><ref name="Basham1951p153"/><ref name="Balcerowicz2015p335">{{cite book|author=Piotr Balcerowicz|title=Early Asceticism in India: Ajivikism and Jainism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5PKPCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT335|year=2015|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-53852-3|pages=335–336}};For more on Maukhari dating, see: [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Maukhari-dynasty Maukhari dynasty], Encyclopaedia Britannica</ref> After the 14th-century, the area was occupied by Muslims, as a number of tombs are nearby.<ref name=cunningham43/>

The Gopika Cave, literally "milkmaid's cave", is the largest of the three caves in the Nagarjuni hill. It is found on the southern side of the hill, with an entrance facing south. The other two caves (the Vadathika and Vapiyaka caves) are on the northern side of the same hill.<ref name=cunningham43/> The cave is approached by a flight of steps also carved in stone. When Alexander Cunningham visited the cave in the 1860s, he wrote, "the cave was concealed partly by a tree and by an Idgah wall" built by Muslims. The cave is about {{convert|46.5|ft}} long by {{convert|19.16|ft}} broad, with semi-circular ends.<ref name=cunningham43/> It has one entrance. Over the entrance is an inscription by the grandson of [[Ashoka]], [[Dasaratha Maurya]], dedicating the cave to the [[Ajivika]] ascetics, which dates the cave to the end of the 3rd-century BCE. This smaller inscription, as translated by James Prinsep starts with "The Gopi's Cave, an abode....", which gives the cave its name.<ref name=cunningham43/>

The Gopika Cave inscription of Anantavarman, inside the entrance corridor on the left handside, was first noticed in 1785 by J. H. Harrington, then reported to scholars in the 1788 issue of ''Asiatic Researches, Volume 1''.{{sfn|DR Bhandarkar| BC Chhabra| GS Gai|1981|pp=226-228}}<ref name="Harrington">{{cite book|author=J. H. Harrington|title=Asiatick Researches, Or, Transactions of the Society Instituted in Bengal, for Inquiring Into the History and Antiquities, the Arts, Sciences, and Literature of Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6fJYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA276|year=1799|publisher=BMO Press|pages=276–279}}</ref> Harrington stated that Muslims were living near these caves. He speculated that these once were "religious temples" because he saw three defaced images in them.<ref name="Harrington"/> The inscription, in [[Gupta script|Late Brahmi]], was copied by Harrington and first deciphered in 1785 by [[Charles Wilkins]], who published an essentially correct translation.<ref name="RS202">{{cite book |last1=Salomon |first1=Richard |title=Indian Epigraphy |pages=[https://archive.org/details/RichardSalomonIndianEpigraphyAGuideToTheBookZa.org/page/n228 206]-207 |url=https://archive.org/details/RichardSalomonIndianEpigraphyAGuideToTheBookZa.org |date=1998 |language=English}}</ref> Wilkins seems to have relied essentially on the similarities with later [[Brahmic scripts]], such as the script of the [[Pala Empire|Pala period]] and early forms of [[Devanagari]].<ref name="RS202"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Wilkins |first1=Charles |title=Asiatic Researches |date=1788 |publisher=London : Printed for J. Sewell [etc.] |pages=[https://archive.org/details/asiaticresearche01asia_0/page/n338 278]-281 |url=https://archive.org/details/asiaticresearche01asia_0}}</ref> Wilkins also correctly identified the inscription to be related to Hinduism.<ref name="Harrington"/> Another translation was published by Kamalakanta Vidyalankar with James Prinsep in 1837. John Fleet published another revised translation in 1888.{{sfn|DR Bhandarkar| BC Chhabra| GS Gai|1981|pp=226-228}}

==Description==
[[File:Barabar Caves Gopika Cave Inscription of Anantavarman 5th- or 6th-century CE Sanskrit in Gupta script.jpg|thumb|The inscription (left half).]]
[[File:Barabar Caves - Cave Entrance with Dorjee (9227649922).jpg|thumb|Entrance corridor of the Gopika cave, with the Gopika Cave Inscription of Anantavarman on the polished granite wall to the right.]]
The inscription is carved on the wall inside the entrance corridor, and is about {{convert|4.92|ft}} by {{convert|2|ft}} in surface. It has ten lines in [[Gupta script]], with letters approximately {{convert|1|in}} tall. It is one of the earliest Indian inscriptions that uses full [[matras]] (horizontal bar above each letter).{{sfn|DR Bhandarkar| BC Chhabra| GS Gai|1981|pp=226-227}} The inscription is well preserved except for the name of the village gifted by the king for the maintenance of the Durga temple. The missing part is in the 10th line, which seems intentionally damaged by someone.{{sfn|DR Bhandarkar| BC Chhabra| GS Gai|1981|p=226}}

==Significance==
The inscription is a Shakti inscription. It mentions that a Katyayani (synonym of Durga) statue was consecrated in this cave, as well as the donation of a village's revenue to the maintenance and operation of the Bhavani temple (synonym of Durga).<ref name="Bakker2014p43"/><ref name="Thaplyal1985p135">{{cite book|author=Kiran Kumar Thaplyal|title=Inscriptions of the Maukharīs, Later Guptas, Puṣpabhūtis, and Yaśovarman of Kanauj|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I5svAAAAMAAJ|year=1985|publisher=Indian Council of Historical Research|pages=135–138}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|Fleet states that the inscription may be considered to belong to Shaivism or Shaktism. It is dedicated to the wife of Shiva, using two of her common names – Katyayani and Bhavani.{{sfn|DR Bhandarkar| BC Chhabra| GS Gai|1981|p=226}}}} The inscription starts with Om, just prior to the first line just like the [[Vadathika Cave Inscription]], signifying its importance in 5th-century Hindu theology.{{sfn|DR Bhandarkar| BC Chhabra| GS Gai|1981|pp=226-228}}

==See also==
*[[Lakulisa Mathura Pillar Inscription]]
*[[Vadathika Cave Inscription]]
*[[Vasu Doorjamb Inscription]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
*{{cite book| author1=DR Bhandarkar|author2= BC Chhabra|author3= GS Gai| year=1981|title= Inscriptions of the Early Gupta Kings by JF Fleet, Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Volume III, 3rd Edition | publisher= Archaeological Survey of India |oclc= 606389410}}
*{{cite book|author=Dineschandra Sircar|title=Select Inscriptions Bearing on Indian History and Civilization, Volume 1, 2nd Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S1hmAAAAMAAJ|year=1965|publisher=University of Calcutta |oclc= 785763290}}

==External links==
*[http://siddham.uk/inscription/in00154 Gopika Cave Inscription] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420102000/http://siddham.uk/inscription/in00154 |date=2021-04-20 }}, Siddham, United Kingdom

{{Hindu inscriptions and arts|state=autocollapse}}

[[Category:Indian inscriptions]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Bihar]]

Gopika Cave Inscription - Revision history

PANModesto at 11:44, 25 November 2025