File:Gopika Cave plan and location of the Pali inscription of Dasaratha Maurya, Nagarjuni Barabar Caves, Bihar.jpg

English: Gopika, Vadathika and Vapiyaka are three caves in Nagarjuni Hill east of the four caves in Barabar Hill. These are dated to the 3rd century BCE. Inscriptions from Mauryan era suggest these were for the Ajivikas tradition. They became extinct and abandoned it. Later Buddhists used it and added inscriptions. In 5th to 6th century Hindus started using it and added their own inscriptions.

The inscription of the Gopika cave highlighted in this drawing (over the cave entrance) is a Pali / Brahmi script inscription of Dasaratha Maurya dating to the 3rd century BCE. The Sanskrit inscription, a different and later inscription (6th century CE), is located inside the entrance corridor, on the left wall.

This is a photograph of a personal copy of Alexander Cunningham's Archaeological Survey Report 1861-1862 (pages 44-45, Plate XIX). The publication date of this hand sketch-drawing in the 19th-century makes the work qualify for the PD-Art-100-70 guidelines. Any rights I have, I herewith donate to wikimedia under Creative Commons 4.0 license.