The Girnar Rock-Book Inscription

This article is about the famous Girnar Inscription, and the famous Indologist James Princep. In this article we would discuss how the Girnar inscription helped James Princep in decoding Brahmi Script and establishing beyond doubt that Ashoka was not a myth but a real historical character.

Where is the Girnar Inscription?

Junagadh city is the headquarter of the Junagadh district in Gujarat. It is three hundred and twenty seven km from Ahmedabad and is about fifty-eight km from Sasan Gir. This inscription is at the base of the mount Girnar – a gigantic five-peaked mountain of volcanic origin that rises steeply to a height of 1117 m.

What to see in Girnar ?

The name Girnar is an aberration of Giri-Nagar – meaning a town on the hill. Girnar is a sacred city. It is on the pilgrimage route of both the Jains and the Hindus, since before the third century BC. The Muslim pilgrims also travel to Girnar to visit a mosque dedicated to Jamil Shah Peer.

The small city of Junagadh is rich in myths and legends, and has such an eventful past that it almost breathes history.

The devotees believe that climbing Girnar barefoot earns one a place in heaven. We stayed at Leo Resort that is near Girnar gate on the way to the Girnar Hills.

There are around ten-thousand stone steps to reach the summit. We played it safe ; with a baby of ten months, it was sensible to skip the climb. I must admit though that it was not easy for me to leave the lure of trekking the mount and enjoy the scenic and breath-taking views on the way. The icing on the cake would have been the visit to the old Jain temples of 11th and 12th century.

Why is Girnar so important for Jains?

The temple topped hills of Girnar has special meaning and significance for the Jains. Twenty second Teerthankar – Bhagvan Neminath spent his life on and around Girnar.

The Story of Bhagvan Neminath ji

Lord Neminath, or Arishtnemi, was cousin of Lord Krishna. He was on the way for his marriage, with Rajul kumari – daughter of the king of Dwarka, when he heard the piteous moans of helpless animals to be slaughtered for the food to be served during His marriage ceremony.

The frightful shrieks of wretched-innocent animals had a touching impact on the mind of young Neminath. He decided not to marry, renounced all worldly pleasures, became a Jain monk and came to Girnar to attain salvation.

After years of meditation and leading an ascetic life, he attained the highest state of enlightenment – Keval Gyan and the Moksha in the end. There is a 12th century old temple of Bhagwan Neminath on the hill.

Rajul Kumari, his fiancée, also followed his path and became a sadhvi and founded the ‘Sadhvi Sangh‘, the organization of women ascetics.

On top of the peak is the temple of Amba Mata where newlyweds arrive to take blessings of the Goddess to ensure a happy married life.

Ancient account of Junagadh

Junagadh derives its name from the fort of Uperkot, an ancient fort that stands on the eastern side of the city (literal meaning of Juna in Gujarati is old).

Legend dates the origin of Uperkot fort to the times of Lord Krishna when Yadavas fled Mathura to settle in Dwarka. However, the historians consider it a myth. They believe that it was built by Chandragupta Maurya.

Junagadh was an important city during the rule of luminous monarchs of Mauryan dynasty starting from Chandragupta Maurya in 319 BC till the death of its most famous monarch Ashoka in 232 B.C

Girnar Rock Inscriptions – One of the Most Important monument of Indian History

On the way to Girnar Hill Temple, there is a huge uneven rock with a circumference of 7 meters and a height of 10 m on which Ashoka inscribed 14 edicts. This black and time stained rock provided a crucial link to the scholars of British Raj in decoding ancient Indian history.

Today it is hard to appreciate that as late as the end of the 18th century nothing much was available with solid proofs about the Indian history prior to the Mohammedan invasions.

Girnar Inscription and the British Indology

I realized the painstaking research done by the British scholars when I read the book – “India Discovered, the recovery of lost civilization” by John Keay. This book is a tribute to the conscientious effort  of British Academicians to re-discover the glory of ancient India as the land of fantastic and exotic east.

Those men came to India as amateurs; by profession they were soldiers and administrators, but they returned home as giant Scholars. I would like to quote Mr. A.J Arberry, a British Orientalist, “someday the whole story of British Indology will be told and that will assuredly make a glorious, fascinating and inspiring narrative.”

The very first book of John Keay that I read was ‘Into India”. I was skeptical at that time, “Do I need to read a book by a foreign author to know more about my own country”? But this book written in a free-flowing and a lucid style won my heart.

I realized that my knowledge about India is quite incomplete. The complexity and the amount of research John has done increased substantially in his subsequent books – “India – a history” and “India discovered”. Both these books left me spellbound and brought forth wonderful facts/history of India.

Girnar Inscription, James Princep and decoding of Brahmi Script

Girnar inscriptions bring with it the story of James Princep – India’s most successful British scholar. Twenty years old James Princep arrived in India in 1819 as an Assay-Master of a mint.

He was well educated in Chemistry, Mechanics and useful sciences. His outstanding traits were his habit of exactness and minute attention to details.

Two important clues of ancient India were discovered at that time – the inscriptions on the pillars and the rock edicts of Orissa. These inscriptions were in Ashokan Brahmi and the scholars were clueless about the script and the kings to whom those inscriptions belong.

Princep worked painstakingly to understand them. The rock edict discovered in Orissa was worn out and it was very tedious to make any sense out of it. And then came the news of Colonel James Todd (another notable historian) stumbling across Girnar inscriptions in 1822 and this is how he described his discovery.

“ …The memorial in question, evidently of some great conqueror, is a huge hemispherical mass of dark granite, which like a wart upon the body has protruded through the crust of mother earth, without fissure or inequality, and which by the aid of ‘iron pen’, has been converted into a book. The measurement of the arc is nearly ninety feet; its surface is divided into compartments or parallelograms, within which are inscriptions in the usual character. …”

(Colonel James Todd)

This discovery helped Princep to decode the script. He was then able to illustrate the nine stages of development of each letter of the modern Devanagari.

Nowadays it is agreed among the scholars that the Devanagari script has passed through three distinct stages; first the Ashoka Brahmi; second a more ornate, chunky script (Gupta Brahmi); and third, a more curved and rounded script (Kutila) from which springs the script of Devanagari.

The Ashokan edicts on Girnar rock impart moral instructions on dharma, equality, harmony, tolerance, peace and repent the evil of war.

Other mentions on Girnar Rock Inscription

The hump-backed rock also has two later records in Sanskrit added by Rudradaman in AD 150 and by Skandgupta in AD 450.

Rudradaman’s Junagadh inscriptions are the earliest known classical Sanskrit inscriptions of any extent. It is mentioned in these inscriptions that Rudradaman had repaired the irrigation system that had since suffered severe storm damage.

It throws light on an ancient lake – Lake Sudarshan and a dam constructed over it by none else than Chandragupta Maurya – the Grandfather of Ashoka.

Rudradaman also staunchly upheld Dharma just like Ashoka with whose edicts he was so happy to share rock space. Rudradaman-I belonged to the Saka dynasty, a nomadic power from central Asia. The Saka dynasty regained control over this region under his leadership.

Skandagupta’s Sanskrit edict also talks about the repair of the same dam. Skandagupta was last of the five great Gupta Emperors (Chandragupta-I, Samudragupta, Chandragupta-II, Kumargupta and Skandagupta).

Gupta empire was set by Chandragupta-I (don’t get confuse him with Chandragupta Maurya) in AD 320. It is also known as the golden age of the Indian classical culture.

To this period belong many frescos of Ajanta, the finest of Sarnath and Mathura sculptures, and the plays and poems of Kalidas. Skandagupta was the last powerful Gupta emperor to defeat and repel “White Hun” raids. After Skandagupta’s death Gupta regime declined.

Probably, the reason why Rudradaman and Skandagupta chose the same rock edict as the one having Ashoka’s inscription is to establish a link with the Great Monarch. Though the difference between these three kings were of centuries, but probably the later kings were aware of Ashoka through oral stories.

King Ashoka getting historically established by the decoding of Girnar Inscription

In the process of decoding the script, James Princep was able to establish that the Girnar inscription and the Orissa inscription were identical, written almost in the same era and to his own surprise and delight he was also able to establish Ashoka as a genuine historical figure.

Girnar inscription – Among the oldest written first-person statements

Ashoka, an Emperor who was one of the most influential and powerful Indian monarchs and whose every word expressing the rationale of his rule had been miraculously preserved in his rock edicts. These inscriptions are remarkable, being the oldest written first-person statements in Indian history. Before Ashoka’s first rock edict, no Buddhist text or inscription had survived in its original form. However, from this point onward, there is a sudden cascade of words over the rock shelters and boulders of Northern India, from Kandahar to the Deccan, providing us with the first ruler who has a fully formed and rounded persona.

His fourteen edicts, in which he laid his principles, were engraved in Brahmi script on eighteen great rocks and thirty polished sandstone pillars throughout the empire. The edicts he ordered to be carved around his empire served as an early public address system, recording his intentions.

Ashoka’s rule

Ashoka ruled from 269 to 232 BC. His empire stretched from Orissa to Afghanistan and from Himalayas to at least as far south as Madras, only Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas remained independent in the southernmost tip.

In the first eight years of his reign Ashoka ruthlessly consolidated his power. At a point of time, he went into war with the tribal kingdom of Kalinga (Orissa and northern coastal strip of Andhra formed the kingdom of Kalinga).

Ashoka won the war but the bloodshed and the horrors of that campaign; burnt houses and scattered corpses made him pensive and repentant about the futility of wars and needless loss of human life.

That war triggered his thought process, and he abandoned terrestrial aggression to Dharma and got inclined towards Buddhism. As Saint Paul made Christianity a world religion, similarly it was Ashoka who sent mission to spread Buddhism to far-foreign land.

Revelation of Ashoka’s personality from Girnar and other inscriptions

These remarkable inscriptions reveal the uniqueness of Ashoka, the first king in history to present himself as an enlightened, humane and gentle philosopher, rather than as merely strong and powerful. Even as a simple statement of personal grief, pain and repentance, or as a confession of religious conversion, these inscriptions are startling; it is hard to think of any other victorious ruler in history who has given expression to anything like it. He is a rare ruler, even today who is strong enough to say, “I’m sorry”.

It reminds me of one of the powerful episodes of “भारत एक खोज”, a tele-serial directed by Shyam Benegal based on the book “Discovery of India” by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, that left a lasting impression on me.

Story of Ashoka and his younger brother

Ashoka’s younger brother – A carefree youth

This episode was about Ashoka’s younger brother. He was a carefree youth and used to make fun of the Buddhist monks, their grim faces and their concept that the world is full of sorrows.

Ashoka’s Younger brother was always in conflict with Ashoka about his kindness and charity towards the monks. One day he grossly misbehaved with a monk and Ashoka felt that the time has come to make him realize his mistakes. He devised a plan with his prime minister.

Ashoka’s plan to make his brother realize his mistake

One day when Ashoka was not in the court the prime minister prompted the younger brother to sit on Ashoka’s throne to get a feel of it. As soon as he sat, Ashoka entered, blamed him for a hidden desire to occupy his throne, got him arrested and ordered his execution.

Then looking at his sobbing brother he mellowed down and added that the execution will take place only after one month and in that period, his brother is entitled for his every wish to be granted and fulfilled.

It did not please his brother; he remained grim and sad for the whole month, with no desire and no interest in worldly pleasures.

Ashoka’s younger brother becoming a monk

Next month Ashoka told him the truth that it was all a drama to make him respect the grim-faced monks who have no interest in worldly pleasures as they are always aware of the ultimate end. This event dramatically changed the course of his fun-filled brother’s life. He accepted Buddhism and became a monk. Life brings forth situations that completely change a man’s destiny.

Mauryean Dynasty

Here is the list of the monarchs of Mauryan and Gupta empire and their ruling periods.

Founded by Chandragupta Maurya (he ruled from 321 to 297 BC)
|
Bindusar (ruled from 297 BC to 272 BC)
|
Ashoka (ruled from 273 BC to 232 BC)

Gupta Dynasty
Founded by Chandragupta – I (305 -325 AD)
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Samudragupta (335-380 AD)
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Vikramaditya ( 380-413 AD)
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Kumargupta (415-455 AD)
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Skandagupta (455-467 AD)

After few centuries Junagadh area and its fort were abandoned, possibly due to another disastrous flood in Sudarshan Lake.

Today Girnar boulder is housed in a small roadside building, though it protects the ancient monument but its effect is marred.

I feel the need of a short film on this hump-backed rock that projects the majesty of Junagadh’s distinguished benefactors, or a sound and light show that could educate tourists about how this rock helped in providing vital links to understand the history of ancient India; a show that could help the tourists to know more about Ashoka – the great warrior, gory battle of Kalinga, Ashoka’s change of heart, acceptance of Buddhism and how the treasured discovery of this rock-book gave insight into the golden past of our country and the philanthropic Indian tradition.

References

• India Discovered, the recovery of lost civilization – John Keay
• The incredible history of India’s Geography – Sanjeev Sanyal
• The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World – William Dalrymple

Caves of Udayagiri and Khandagiri – a guided tour with the Emperor Kharavela

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