South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

47 samāptaṁ ch=ēdaṁ śāsanaṁ(nam) [||*] pravarddhamāna= |^[1] vijaya=rājya-saṁvatsarē ^[2] Bha(Bhā)drapada-kra(kṛi)shṇa-tra- 48 yōdaśyādi Pushya-nakshattrēṇa [||*] likhira2ṁñ=ch=ēdaṁ śāsanaṁ rāhasik Ēsāna patrēya Śivēn=ō, 49 tkīrnañ=cha suvarṇṇakār-Ēśvara-putrēṇa Mihirakēn=ē(ṇ=ē)ti |

TRANSLATION

Ōm ! Hail ! (V. 1) There was he who became a widely renowned king in Mēkalā, the foremost amongst the rulers, it fortunate one and a disposer of Fortune, endowed with excellent virtues an well as with a personable appearance, who belonged to the family of the Pāṇḍavas of absolutely flawless fame and great majesty, and who is well known in this world always through his own glories deeds as Jayabala.

(V. 2) To him was born a son, (called) Vatsēśvara, who was like unto (his father), famous, compassionate(?), virtuous, (and) conversant with rituals, who achieved victories in battle-fields (and) made the pleasure-gardens attached to the houses of his enemies teem with wild beasts.

(V. 3) The illustrious king Vatsarāja^[4] was magnanimous, always approving of merits, partial to virtues, devoted to righteousness, serviceable to his people and distinguished for his equitable policy.

(Ll. 8─11) His son, meditating on his feet,a devout worshipper of Śiva, a great patron of the Brāhmaṇas, regarded as a highly venerable personage, a dirty and a supreme divinity,^[5] a fortunate one, was the illustrious MahārājaNāgabala, begotten on the illustrious queen Dröṇabhaṭṭārikā.

(V. 4) At the time of his (Nāgabala’s) march, the roads having been ponded down by the hoof-beats of his steeds, the earth darkens (all) the quarters, dust making every corner dry and dreary (but) his elephants, with their temples soiled by the ichor, instantly restore serenity, having moistened it (the earth) with the spray (which they habitually emit from their trunks).

(Ll. 13──15) After him, his son, meditating on his feet, a devout worshipper of Śiva,a great patron of the Brāhmaṇas, regarded as a highly venerable personage, a deity and a supreme divinity,^[5] is the illustrious Mahārāja Bharata,^[6] begotten on the illustrious queen Indrabhaṭṭārikā.

(V. 5) To her (Indrabhaṭṭārikā), endowed with compassion, worthy character, virtue, generosity and smartness, was born as Kumāra to Pārvatī, a son, Indra (by name),^[7] bright and handsome of appearance.

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^[1] This mark of punctuation is superfluous.
^[2] This anusvāra is redundant.
^[3] Implying thereby that he completely devastated the palaces of the hostile chiefs.
^[4] This Vatsarāja is obviously the same person as Vatsēśvara spoken of in the foregoing stanza, Vatsarāja appears to be the proper form of the name, whereas the use of the form Vatsēśvara is presumably owing to the exigency of the metre. Dr. N. P. Chakravarti, however, makes a very happy suggestion. According to him, the visarga after the name Vatsēśvara in l. 5 of the text is to be regarded as a mistake and should be omitted. We would thus have Vatsēśvara-pratisamō, meaning thereby that Vatsarāja was equal to the lard of Vatsas, namely the mythical king Udayana, who, as we know, also belongs to the Paṇḍava lineage. In this interpretation, the verses 2 and 3 will have to be taken as forming a yugmaka, and one of the two verbs abhavatand babhūva, will have to be considered as redundant.
^[5] The significance of these epithets has been discussed above, p. 136.
^[6] His full name Bharatabala occurs below in verse 10.
^[7] It is with a good deal of diffidence that I have taken this Indra to be a second name of Bharatabala himself, presenting that he is so called after his mother Indrabhaṭṭārikā. It is possible that here too, he is only metaphorically identified with Indra, the lord of gods, as is manifestly the case in the succeeding verse. The eighth couplet indubitably compares him to thatcelestial monarch.