Editing Brahmi script (section)

===Some famous inscriptions in the Early Brahmi script===
{{see also|Early Indian epigraphy}}
The Brahmi script was the medium for some of the most famous inscriptions of ancient India, starting with the [[Edicts of Ashoka]], {{Circa|250 BCE}}.

====Birthplace of the historical Buddha====
{{main|Lumbini pillar inscription}}
In a particularly famous Edict, the Rummindei Edict in [[Lumbini]], [[Nepal]], Ashoka describes his visit in the 21st year of his reign, and designates Lumbini as the birthplace of the Buddha. He also, for the first time in historical records, uses the epithet "Sakyamuni" (Sage of the [[Shakyas]]), to describe the Buddha.<ref name="Hultzsch p164">{{cite book |last=Hultzsch |first=E. |year=1925 |url=https://archive.org/details/InscriptionsOfAsoka.NewEditionByE.Hultzsch |title=Inscriptions of Asoka |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |pages=164–165}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Rummindei pillar, inscription of Ashoka ({{Circa|248 BCE}})
|-
! Translation<br /><small>(English)</small>!!Transliteration<br /><small>(original Brahmi script)</small>!!Inscription<br /><small>([[Prakrit]] in the Brahmi script)</small>
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When King Devanampriya Priyadarsin had been anointed twenty years, he came himself and worshipped (this spot) because the [[Buddha Shakyamuni]] was born here. (He) both caused to be made a stone bearing a horse (?) and caused a stone pillar to be set up, (in order to show) that the Blessed One was born here. (He) made the village of Lummini free of taxes, and paying (only) an eighth share (of the produce).

— The [[Rummindei]] Edict, one of the [[Minor Pillar Edicts]] of Ashoka.<ref name="Hultzsch p164" />
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<poem><big>{{Script|Brah|[[Devanampriya|𑀤𑁂𑀯𑀸𑀦𑀁𑀧𑀺𑀬𑁂]]𑀦 [[Priyadasi|𑀧𑀺𑀬𑀤𑀲𑀺]]𑀦 [[Raja|𑀮𑀸𑀚𑀺]]𑀦𑀯𑀻𑀲𑀢𑀺𑀯𑀲𑀸𑀪𑀺𑀲𑀺𑀢𑁂𑀦}}</big>
<small>Devānaṃpiyena Piyadasina lājina vīsati-vasābhisitena</small>
<big>{{Script|Brah|𑀅𑀢𑀦𑀆𑀕𑀸𑀘 𑀫𑀳𑀻𑀬𑀺𑀢𑁂 𑀳𑀺𑀤[[Buddha|𑀩𑀼𑀥𑁂]]𑀚𑀸𑀢 [[Sakyamuni|𑀲𑀓𑁆𑀬𑀫𑀼𑀦𑀺]]𑀢𑀺}}</big>
<small>atana āgāca mahīyite hida Budhe jāte Sakyamuni ti</small>
<big>{{Script|Brah|𑀲𑀺𑀮𑀸𑀯𑀺𑀕𑀥𑀪𑀺𑀘𑀸𑀓𑀸𑀳𑀸𑀧𑀺𑀢 𑀲𑀺𑀮𑀸𑀣𑀪𑁂𑀘 𑀉𑀲𑀧𑀸𑀧𑀺𑀢𑁂}}</big>
<small>silā vigaḍabhī cā kālāpita silā-thabhe ca usapāpite</small>
<big>{{Script|Brah|𑀳𑀺𑀤[[Bhagavan|𑀪𑀕𑀯𑀁]]𑀚𑀸𑀢𑀢𑀺 [[Lumbini|𑀮𑀼𑀁𑀫𑀺𑀦𑀺]]𑀕𑀸𑀫𑁂 𑀉𑀩𑀮𑀺𑀓𑁂𑀓𑀝𑁂}}</big>
<small>hida Bhagavaṃ jāte ti Luṃmini-gāme ubalike kaṭe</small>
<big>{{Script|Brah|𑀅𑀞𑀪𑀸𑀕𑀺𑀬𑁂𑀘}}</big>
<small>aṭha-bhāgiye ca</small></poem>

— Adapted from transliteration by [[E. Hultzsch]]<ref name="Hultzsch p164" />
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[[File:Lumbini inscription (complete).jpg|thumb|300px|The Rummindei pillar edict in [[Lumbini]].]]
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====Heliodorus Pillar inscription====
The [[Heliodorus pillar]] is a stone column that was erected around 113 BCE in central India<ref>{{cite book|last1=Avari|first1=Burjor|title=India: The Ancient Past: A History of the Indian Subcontinent from c. 7000 BCE to CE 1200|date=2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317236733|page=167|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WTaTDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA167|language=en|access-date=2018-10-09|archive-date=2020-05-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522034016/https://books.google.com/books?id=WTaTDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA167|url-status=live}}</ref> in [[Vidisha]] near modern [[Besnagar]], by [[Heliodorus (votive erector)|Heliodorus]], an ambassador of the [[Indo-Greek]] king [[Antialcidas]] in [[Taxila]]<ref name="SW" /> to the court of the [[Shunga Empire|Shunga]] king [[Bhagabhadra]]. Historically, it is one of the earliest known inscriptions related to the [[Vaishnavism]] in India.<ref name="Bopearachchi">[[Osmund Bopearachchi]], 2016, [https://www.academia.edu/25807197/Emergence_of_Vi%E1%B9%A3%E1%B9%87u_and_%C5%9Aiva_Images_in_India_Numismatic_and_Sculptural_Evidence Emergence of Viṣṇu and Śiva Images in India: Numismatic and Sculptural Evidence] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171123154459/http://www.academia.edu/25807197/Emergence_of_Vi%E1%B9%A3%E1%B9%87u_and_%C5%9Aiva_Images_in_India_Numismatic_and_Sculptural_Evidence |date=2017-11-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Burjor Avari|title=India: The Ancient Past: A History of the Indian Subcontinent from C. 7000 BCE to CE 1200|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WTaTDAAAQBAJ|year=2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-23673-3|pages=165–167|access-date=2018-10-09|archive-date=2019-12-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229140620/https://books.google.com/books?id=WTaTDAAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Romila Thapar|title=Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-5irrXX0apQC&pg=PA216|year=2004|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-24225-8|pages=216–217|access-date=2018-10-09|archive-date=2020-07-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727132714/https://books.google.com/books?id=-5irrXX0apQC&pg=PA216|url-status=live}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Heliodorus pillar inscription ({{circa|113 BCE}})
|-
! Translation<br /><small>(English)</small>!!Transliteration<br /><small>(original Brahmi script)</small>!!Inscription<br /><small>([[Prakrit]] in the Brahmi script)</small><ref name="SW" />
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<poem>This [[Garuda]]-standard of [[Vāsudeva]], the God of Gods
was erected here by the devotee [[Heliodorus (ambassador)|Heliodoros]],
the son of Dion, a man of [[Taxila]],
sent by the Great [[Yona]] King [[Antialcidas|Antialkidas]], as ambassador
to King Kasiputra [[Bhagabhadra]], 
the Savior son of the princess from [[Varanasi]], 
in the fourteenth year of his reign.<ref>Archaeological Survey of India, Annual report 1908–1909 [https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.207532/2015.207532.Annual-Reports p.129]</ref></poem>

<poem>
Three immortal precepts (footsteps)... when practiced
lead to heaven: [[Temperance (virtue)#Hinduism|self-restraint]], charity, consciousness</poem>
| style="text-align:left" |
<poem><big>{{Script|Brah|𑀤𑁂𑀯𑀤𑁂𑀯𑀲 𑀯𑀸(𑀲𑀼𑀤𑁂)𑀯𑀲 𑀕𑀭𑀼𑀟𑀥𑁆𑀯𑀚𑁄 𑀅𑀬𑀁}}</big>
<small>Devadevasa Vā[sude]vasa Garuḍadhvaje ayaṃ</small>
<big>{{Script|Brah|𑀓𑀭𑀺𑀢𑁄 𑀇(𑀅) 𑀳𑁂𑀮𑀺𑀉𑁄𑀤𑁄𑀭𑁂𑀡 𑀪𑀸𑀕}}</big>
<small>karito i[a] Heliodoreṇa bhāga-</small>
<big>{{Script|Brah|𑀯𑀢𑁂𑀦 𑀤𑀺𑀬𑀲 𑀧𑀼𑀢𑁆𑀭𑁂𑀡 𑀢𑀔𑁆𑀔𑀲𑀺𑀮𑀸𑀓𑁂𑀦}}</big>
<small>vatena Diyasa putreṇa Takhkhasilākena</small>
<big>{{Script|Brah|𑀬𑁄𑀦𑀤𑀢𑁂𑀦 𑀅𑀕𑀢𑁂𑀦 𑀫𑀳𑀸𑀭𑀸𑀚𑀲}}</big>
<small>Yonadatena agatena mahārājasa</small>
<big>{{Script|Brah|𑀅𑀁𑀢𑀮𑀺𑀓𑀺𑀢𑀲 𑀉𑀧𑀁𑀢𑀸 𑀲𑀁𑀓𑀸𑀲𑀁𑀭𑀜𑁄}}</big>
<small>Aṃtalikitasa upa[ṃ]tā samkāsam-raño</small>
<big>{{Script|Brah|𑀓𑀸𑀲𑀻𑀧𑀼𑀢𑁆𑀭𑀲 𑀪𑀸𑀕𑀪𑀤𑁆𑀭𑀲 𑀢𑁆𑀭𑀸𑀢𑀸𑀭𑀲}}</big>
<small>Kāsīput[r]asa [Bh]āgabhadrasa trātārasa</small>
<big>{{Script|Brah|𑀯𑀲𑁂𑀦 (𑀘𑀢𑀼)𑀤𑀲𑁂𑀁𑀦 𑀭𑀸𑀚𑁂𑀦 𑀯𑀥𑀫𑀸𑀦𑀲}}</big>
<small>vasena [catu]daseṃna rājena vadhamānasa</small>

<big>{{Script|Brah|𑀢𑁆𑀭𑀺𑀦𑀺 𑀅𑀫𑀼𑀢𑁋𑀧𑀸𑀤𑀸𑀦𑀺 (𑀇𑀫𑁂) (𑀲𑀼)𑀅𑀦𑀼𑀣𑀺𑀢𑀸𑀦𑀺}}</big>
<small>Trini amuta𑁋pādāni (i me) (su)anuthitāni</small>
<big>{{Script|Brah|𑀦𑁂𑀬𑀁𑀢𑀺 𑀲𑁆𑀯(𑀕𑀁) 𑀤𑀫 𑀘𑀸𑀕 𑀅𑀧𑁆𑀭𑀫𑀸𑀤}}</big>
<small>neyamti sva(gam) dama cāga apramāda</small></poem>

— Adapted from transliterations by [[E. J. Rapson]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rapson |first1=E. J. |title=Ancient India |date=1914 |page=157 |url=https://archive.org/details/RapsonAncientIndia1914pdf/page/n183}}</ref> Sukthankar,<ref name="VSS">Sukthankar, Vishnu Sitaram, V. S. Sukthankar Memorial Edition, Vol. II: Analecta, Bombay: Karnatak Publishing House 1945 [http://gretil.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil_elib/Suk9442__Sukthankar_MemorialEd_2_Analecta_1945.pdf p.266] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024062454/http://gretil.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil_elib/Suk9442__Sukthankar_MemorialEd_2_Analecta_1945.pdf |date=2020-10-24}}</ref> [[Richard G. Salomon (professor of Asian studies)|Richard Salomon]],<ref name="RS265">{{harvnb|Salomon|1998||pp=265–267}}</ref> and Shane Wallace.<ref name="SW">[https://www.academia.edu/25638818 Greek Culture in Afghanistan and India: Old Evidence and New Discoveries] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815170004/https://www.academia.edu/25638818 |date=2021-08-15}} Shane Wallace, 2016, p.222-223</ref>
|style="text-align:center" width="10%"|
[[File:Heliodorus pillar Rapson rubbing inverted.jpg|thumb|300px|Heliodorus pillar rubbing (inverted colors). The text is in the Brahmi script of the [[Sunga Empire|Sunga period]].<ref name="RS265" /> For a [https://kevinstandagephotography.wordpress.com/2018/03/11/heliodorus-pillar-column-vidisha/ recent photograph].]]
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