The Mora Well inscription is an ancient

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

inscription found in the village of Mora about from

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

.Heinrich Lüders and Klaus Ludwig Janert (1961), Mathurā inscriptions, Göttingen : Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, , page 154, image on page 301 It is notable for its early mention of '' pratima'' (images), stone temple, and the Pancaviras.

Description

The Mora Well Inscription makes an early mention of pratima (murti, images), stone shrine (temple) and calls the five Vrishnis as ''bhagavatam''. It is dated to the early decades of 1st century CE during the reign of

Sodasa Sodasa ( Kharosthi: , ; Middle Brahmi script: , , also , ) was an Indo-Scythian Northern Satrap and ruler of Mathura during the later part of the 1st century BCE or the early part of 1st century CE. He was the son of Rajuvula, the Great Sat ...

, probably circa 15 CE.

Identification

The Mora Well inscription does not use specifically sectarian language, and various interpretations have been given. The Hindu Puranas, such as the medieval ''

Vayu Purana The ''Vayu Purana'' ( sa, वायुपुराण, ) is a Sanskrit text and one of the eighteen major Puranas of Hinduism. ''Vayu Purana'' is mentioned in the manuscripts of the Mahabharata and other Hindu texts, which has led scholars to p ...

'' in section 97.1-2, name Samkarsana, Vasudeva, Pradyumna, Samba and Aniruddha as "heroes of the dynasty of the Vrishni". The inscription may also signify the growth of Bhagavatism in 1st millennium BCE to Vaishnavism by the early centuries of the common era, and a process by which heroes and heroic ideas attract devotion. There is no mention of these heroes in ancient Brahmanical literature, but some scholars, such as Chandra, state that the five Vrishnis mentioned in the inscription is a reference to the

Pandava The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) refers to the five legendary brothers— Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who are the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. They are acknowledge ...

s of the ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...

''. According to Sonya Quintanilla, the Mora inscription is not sectarian and may not necessarily relate to the roots of

Vaishnavism Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

. It could be cross-sectarian – Jainism and Hinduism, or equally possibly reflect early Bhagavata movement, states Quintanilla. According to Rosenfield, the Mora well inscription refers to the five

Vrishni heroes The Vrishni heroes ( IAST: Vṛṣṇi Viras), also referred to as ''Pancha-viras'' ( IAST: Pañca vīras, "Five heroes"), are a group of five legendary, deified heroes who are found in the literature and archaeological sites of ancient India. T ...

, but their exact identity is unclear. They – including Vasudeva and Krishna – may have been ancient kings in the Mathura area, who became deified because of their heroic accomplishments. They "personified certain qualities of

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...

and thus in effect ere deified ashis avatars", states Rosenfield, and this may be "an extremely early form of Vaishnavism now called Pancaratra system" also found in Besnagar, Nanaghat and Ghasundi. Another explanation is that of Luders, who relying on Jain texts dated between 9th and 12th-century CE, states that the Vrishnis may have been the five Jain heroes led by Akrūra. The cult of the Vrishnis may have been cross-sectarian, much like the cult of the Yakshas.

Reign of Sodasa

The inscription mentions the name of the Great Satrap

Rajuvula Rajuvula (Greek ; Brahmi: , ; Kharosthi: , ; , ; , ) was an Indo-Scythian Great Satrap (''Mahākṣatrapa''), one of the "Northern Satraps" who ruled in the area of Mathura in the northern Indian Subcontinent in the years around 10 CE. The M ...

, and was apparently made by his son, the Great Satrap of

. The discovery of the Mora Well Inscription in the 19th-century led archaeologists to excavate the Mora Mound in 1911-12, near the Mora well. They found large inscribed bricks of a round brick building with the name of a female, probably the daughter of king Brihasvatimitra from Kausambi of late 2nd century BCE. In the mound were also found two male torsos, as well as a lower half of a female torso with inscribed names Kanishka and Tosha, confirming the possible link between the inscription stone and the mound.

Inscription

The discovered inscription is incomplete. The opening is hybrid Sanskrit, while the remaining three lines are standard Sanskrit. It reads:

1. mahaksatrapasa ramjuvulasa putrasa svami ... 2. bhagavatam vrsnina pamcaviranam pratima sailadevagr e... 3. ya tosayah sailam srimadgrham atulam udadha samadhara ... 4. arcadesam sailam pamca jvalata iva paramavapusa ... – Mora Well Inscription, 1st century CE

Translation

Sonya Quintanilla translates it as,

References