South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

CHATESVARA TEMPLE INSCRIPTION

of decoration could be served by the sparklings of luster of the toe-nails of his lotus-line feet, what was the necessity of typing a tiara on the block of forehead of the hostile chiefs ?

(Verse 12) Now, he (Anaṅgabhīma), the toes of whose feet used to fall into a slumber (as it were) on the balcony^[1] (in the form) of the foreheads of (hostile) princes, had one Vishṇu, like a second (god) Vishṇu (himself), who served him uninterruptedly as his minister. What should we speak of his (Vishnu’s) fame which, having created hundreds of white parasols (all over the world), brought the (whole) empire of the king, the lord of Trikaliṅga, under on single parasol ?^[2]

(Verse 13) How wonderful that no sooner had they approached the foot of Vishṇu^[3] than both (kinds of) the hostile chefs, those who surrendered to him, laying down the arms in front of him in the forefront of the battle-field, and those who stood their ground with their swords upraised, itching for a trial of strength, achieved the blissful state of complete emancipation !

(Verse 14) The anchorites of the Vaikhānasa order, by their striving in the practice of yōga, do not do not so much perceive this universe to be composed of (the god) Vishṇu as indeed it appeared to the king of Tummāṇa to be consisting of (the minister) Vishṇu, who, (in his hallucination) out of fear, was him (in all) the directions, repeatedly uttering ‘ there is Vishṇu, there is Vishṇu,’ (during his flight from the battle) at the skirts of the Vindhya hills, in the forests along the Bhīmā river, (and) on the shore of the sea.^[4]

(Verse 15) How are we to describe that heroism of his (Vishṇu’s) during his fight with the Muslim king, while all alone─his arrows appearing as his ear-pendants^[5]─he shot dead (many) expert soldiers, which (display of heroism) became a grand feast to the sleepless and unwinking eyes^[6] of the gods who were the interested lookers-on in the heaven above ?

(Verse 16) While he (Vishṇu) is on the alert,^[7] no harm whatsoever (can come) to the sovereignty of the lord of Utkala ; horses in their thousands are prancing on all sides, elephants are playing about in herds, all the quarters of the space are choked with multitudes of lilies swaying on (either side of every) road, residence is in camps (also, on the mountain ridges), (and) tramping is on the foreheads of (hostile) chiefs of noble birth (also, on the peaks of the celebrated mountains).

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^[1] The term vaḍabhī or valabhī, properly speaking, means ‘topmost part of a building’ or ‘part of a sloping roof projecting from the outer wall,’ which in Hindustani is called chhajjā.
^[2] The point of poetic perplexity is the creation of hundreds of umbrellas on the one hand, and on the other the keeping of the government under only one umbrella. It may be pointed out that ‘ a single parasol ’ is symbolic of universal sovereignty. Cf. ēkātapatraṁ jagataḥ prabhutvam, in Kālidāsa’s Raghvaṁśa, II, 47.
^[3] Vishṇu’s pada refers to the god Vishṇu’s holy feet as well as to the minister Vishṇu’s proximity. The verse implies that those of the enemies who dared to oppose were killed downright, and those who surrendered were allowed to enjoy their freedom !
^[4] The pet has cleverly kept up the minister Vishṇu’s comparison with the god of that name in this verse as well. For a different interpretation of the expression bhīma-taṭinī-kuñjē, see above, p. 125.
^[5] That is, pulling the bow-string right up to the ear while shooting arrows.
^[6] The eyes of the gods are traditionally known to be ever wide open without winking. The poet evidently wishes to convey that, in watching the heroic feat of Vishṇu, the natural winklessness of their eyes proved an extra advantage to the gods, because thereby they did not miss the great sight even for so short a time as the twinkling of an eye.
^[7] ‘ On the alert ’ is a free rendering of the original kruddha which literally means ‘ angry ’ or ‘ furious ’. This is to be equated with the udyata-daṇḍa (‘one with the upraised’) of the rājanīti or statecraft. Expatiating on rājadharma, Manu says : Nityam-udyata-daṇḍaḥ syāt, etc., “ Let him be ever ready to strike ”, etc. (Manusmṛiti, VII, 102 and 103, and G. Bühler’s translation in the Sacred Books of the East, Vol. XXV, p.232). Commentators like Kullūka explain daṇḍa in this context by hasty-aśv-ādi-śiksh-ābhyāsa, ‘ military training and drilling, especially for wars with the help of elephants and horses.’ The poet of our praśasti evidently refers to such a war-preparedness on the part of Vishṇu in mentioning the sports of horses and elephants and all the rest of it in the present verse. The lilies and lotuses symbolise the peace with plenty established through his good administration, while the tramping on foreheads points to the proper subjugation of hostile elements in like manner.