South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

CHATESVARA TEMPLE INSCRIPTION

(Verse 17) Just think (of it) ! How extensive (after all) is the surface of the earth where his (Vishṇu’s) Fame can comfortably sit ? How spacious is the sky where she can stretch her feet ? How big is the mansion of heaven where she can enjoy herself ? How roomy are the quarters of the space where she can leap about ? And how expansive is this fragment of a universe where she can dwell ?

(Verse 18) The world having been (while) washed by the heaps of his fame, owing to the (all-enveloping) whiteness produced (thereby), Śiva grabs at Yamunā for adorning (his head), fair damsels carry blue lilies for their ear-ornaments, (and) in the heart of the jasmine groves the bees make out their mates (only) by the buzzing sound.^[1]

(Verse 19) On the shores of the sea, favourite of (the god) Purushōttama,^[2] he (Vishṇu) raised many a veritable Mēru (mountain of gold) while performing the Tulāpurusha ceremonies. (Consequently) Indra, seeing (not one but) a hundred pleasure-resorts (resembling Mēru), cast askance amorous glances on the lotus-like face of (his consort) Śachī.^[3]

(Verse 20) He (Vishṇu) dotted the roads with hundreds of lotus-pools, at convenient intervals. From that time onwards, the sea-breezes, with their fatigue and weariness of the way removed by (their resting in) the deep inner cavities of the blooming lotuses, carrying provisions for the journey─provisions consisting of the spray pregnant with the fragrant essence─gently follow the way-farers.

(Verse 21) Logic regarded him with favour ! Lore of the Vēdas kissed his ruddy lips ! Ethics had a free play in his heart ! Statecraft, too, embraced him lustily!

(Verse 22) As for the Purāṇas (the old parsons, so to say),^[4] he, himself being a repository of the wealth of clear understanding of the real meaning (of the Vēdas and the like), revived (and rejuvenated) them ; (for), owing to the great defect (and the derangement, attendant on old age, of the humours of the body, known as tri-dōsha) through the perversion of the views about the Vēdas (and the decay^[5] in the faculties of hearing and seeing), they were leading (people) on the wrong path and thereby becoming unpopular (and going astray and stumbling).

(Verse 23) This temple of Śiva has been built by him (Vishṇu), where the Sun has assumed the form of its globe^[6] of gold, the Moon has become its crystal pitcher full (or water),^[7] and the celestial Gaṅgā (is apparent in) the fluttering beauty of its banner.

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^[1] Traditionally, the waters of the Yamunā are black whereas those of the Gaṅgā are white, and it is white lilies that ladies take for making them into ear-pendants, The bees are naturally black. The confusion, such as Śiva reaching for Yamunā instead of for Gaṅgā, is wrought by the fame which has turned everything white, poetically speaking.
^[2] The allusion seems to be the beach near Puri in Orissa, where there is a famous temple of Purushōttama-Jagannātha, so closely associated with the minister Vishṇu’s patron, Anaṅgabhīma III.
^[3] Mythologically, Mount Mēru consists of gold and gems, and is the. abode of the gods. In the Amarakōśa, I, 49, we have such significant synonyms of it as Hēmādri (‘mountain of gold’), Ratnasānu (gem-peaked) and Surālaya (‘abode of the gods’). The sight of a hundred such delightful abodes must needs rouse a desire for dalliance in Indra, the lord of the gods.
^[4] The analogy with old persons is kept up in the attributes that are given in this verse to the Purāṇas. It need hardly be mentioned that the word purāṇa means ‘ old.’
^[5] The use of the word vibhrama in the sense of bhraṁśa, decay or decline, is best illustrated in the Śrīmadbhagavadgītā, II, 63 : Krōdhād bhavati saṁmōhaḥ soṁmōhāt smṛiti-vibhramaḥ | smṛiti-bhraṁśād buddhi-nāśō ouddhi-nāśāt praṇasyati |
^[6] By this is meant the spherical member of the pinnacle of a Hindu temple, from which rises the bud-shaped spire.
^[7] This obviously refers to the pitcher of water, which is kept suspended or placed on a tripod over the Śivaliṅga in the sanctum sanctorum, the pitcher having a tiny hole at the bottom to allow water constantly to drip on the liṅga below.