The Mora Well inscription is an ancient Sanskrit inscription found in the village of Mora about 7 miles (11 km) from Mathura, India.[9][10] It is notable for its early mention of pratima (images), stone temple, and the Pancaviras.[9][11]
The Mora Well Inscription makes an early mention of pratima (murti, images), stone shrine (temple) and calls the five Vrishnis as bhagavatam.[9][11][12] It is dated to the early decades of 1st century CE during the reign of Sodasa, probably circa 15 CE.[9]
The Mora Well inscription does not use specifically sectarian language, and various interpretations have been given.[13]
The Hindu Puranas, such as the medieval Vayu Purana in section 97.1-2, name Samkarsana, Vasudeva, Pradyumna, Samba and Aniruddha as "heroes of the dynasty of the Vrishni".[9][12][13] 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.[9] There is no mention of these heroes in ancient Brahmanical literature,[13] but some scholars, such as Chandra, state that the five Vrishnis mentioned in the inscription is a reference to the Pandavas of the Mahabharata.[13]
According to Sonya Quintanilla, the Mora inscription is not sectarian and may not necessarily relate to the roots of Vaishnavism. It could be cross-sectarian – Jainism and Hinduism, or equally possibly reflect early Bhagavata movement, states Quintanilla.[13] According to Rosenfield, the Mora well inscription refers to the five Vrishni heroes, 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 and thus in effect [were deified as] his avatars", states Rosenfield, and this may be "an extremely early form of Vaishnavism now called Pancaratra system" also found in Besnagar, Nanaghat and Ghasundi.[14] 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.[13] The cult of the Vrishnis may have been cross-sectarian, much like the cult of the Yakshas.[13][14]
The inscription mentions the name of the Great Satrap Rajuvula,[15] and was apparently made by his son,[16] the Great Satrap of Mathura Sodasa.[17]
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.[18] 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.[18]
The discovered inscription is incomplete.[10] The opening is hybrid Sanskrit, while the remaining three lines are standard Sanskrit.[1] It reads:[11][10]
1. mahakṣatrapasa rāṁjūvulasa putrasa svāmi ...
2. bhagavatāṁ vr̥ṣṇīnā[ṁ] paṁcavīrāṇāṁ pratimā[ḥ] śailadevagr̥[he] ...
3. ya[s] toṣāyāḥ śailaṁ śrimadgr̥ham atulam udadha samadhāra ...
4. ārcādeśāṁ śailām paṁca jvalata iva paramavapuṣā ...– Mora Well Inscription, 1st century CE
Sonya Quintanilla translates it as,[11]
. . . of the son of mahakṣatrapa Rāṁjūvula, svāmi . . .
the images of the holy paṁcavīras of the Vr̥ṣṇis. . .
the stone shrine... whom the magnificent matchless stone house of Toṣā was erected and maintained...
five objects of adoration made of stone, radiant, as it were with highest beauty...