The Ghatotkacha cave inscription is a rock-cut epigraphic record incised on the left end of the back wall of the verandah in the Ghaṭotkacha cave situated in the Aurangabad district, Maharashtra. Originally consisting of twenty-two lines, the inscription has suffered significant damage. It is engraved in the box-headed Brāhmī script and composed entirely in graceful Sanskrit verse, utilising various meters such as Indravajrā, Upajāti, and Vasantatilakā.
The primary object of the inscription was to record the excavation of a Buddhist vihāra cave by Varāhadeva, the chief minister of the Vākāṭaka king Hariṣeṇa. The record famously opens with a reverent invocation to the Buddhist trinity, the Buddha (described as the sage among sages), the Dharma, and the Saṅgha. The text outlines a succession of prominent ministers who served successive Vākāṭaka kings, leading to Hastibhoja (minister to Devasena) and his son Varāhadeva.
1. munirmunīnāmaromarāṇām gururgurūṇām pravaro varāṇām | jayatyanābhogavibuddhabuddhirbuddhābhidhāno nidhiradbhutānām ||
2. dharmmastato dharmmavidā praṇītastathā gaṇaścāgryatamo gaṇānām | bhavanti yasminnihitāḥ supātre kārāpakārāstanayā hyudārāḥ ||
3. asti prakāśo diśi dakṣiṇasyām vallūranāmnām dvijasattamānām | ā bramhaṇassambhṛtapuṇyakīrttirvvaśo mahīyānmahito mahadbhiḥ ||
4. tasminnabhūdāhatalakṣaṇānām dvijanmanām prāthamakalpakānām | bhṛgvatrigarggāṅigarasām samāno dvijarṣabho yajñaḥ prakāśaḥ ||
5. tadātmajo deva ivāsa deva kṛtī gṛhastho nayavānkriyāvān | sarājakam rāṣṭramupetya yasmindharmyānakriyāpārttha iva pracakkre ||
6. somastataḥ soma ivāparobhūtsa brāhmaṇakṣatriyavamśajāsu | śrutismṛtibhyām vihitārtthakārī dvayīṣu bhāryyāsu mano dadhāra ||
7. sa kṣatriyāyām kulaśīlavatyāmutpādayāmāsa narendracihnam | sutam surūpam ravināmadheyam kṛtādhipatyam viṣaye samagre ||
8. dvijāsu cānyāsu sutānudārānsa prāpa vedeṣu samāptakāmān | vallūranāmnām diśi dakṣiṇasyāmadyāpi yeṣām vasati dvijānām ||
9. ravessuto bhūtpravarāmidhānaḥ śrīrāmanāmātha babhūva tasmāt | tasyātmaja kīrttirabhūtsukīrttirbbabhūva tasmādatha hastibhojaḥ ||
10. vākāṭake rājati devasene guṇaiṣikośo bhuvi hastibhojaḥ | adyāpi yasyābhijanapradāna - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ||
11. dhīreṣu dhīmatsu sahotthiteṣu kṛtyapramāṇeṣu guṇānviteṣu | - - - - - - - - - - - - - nṛpateryade - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ||
12. yasyāsanārddham suraṣā - - - - - - - - mātsamsadi - - - - - - -| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -||
13. atha devarājasūnurhariṣeṇo - - - - - - - hastibhoja - - - - - - - | - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -||
14. śaśikaradhavalām nirīkṣya kīrttim - - - - - - - - - - - -|- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -||
15. atha guṇaśatasambhṛtātmabhūtaḥ priyatanayo - - - - - - - -|- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ||
16. tasyātmajeṣu bahuṣu - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ||
17. phalamakhila - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -||
18. samyagvibhāvita ihāsti varāhadevaḥ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -||
| Dynasty: | Vākāṭaka |
| Ruler: | Hariṣeṇa |
| Date: | c. 475 to 500 CE |
| Place: | Ghatotkach Caves, Aurangabad, Maharashtra |
| Donor: | Varāhadeva |
| Donee: | Holy Saṅgha of Ajaṇṭā |
| Language: | Sanskrit |
| Script: | Box-headed Brāhmī |
| Nature of grant: | Religious endowment |
| Purpose: | To commemorate the excavation and donation of the cave to the Buddhist saṅgha |
| Provenance of inscription: | Ghatotkach Caves, Aurangabad, Maharashtra |
| Type of Inscription: | Stone inscription |
| Source: |
