South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

CHATESVARA TEMPLE INSCRIPTION

freely distributed ambrosia1 among the gods (even)2 after having experienced torture at their hands at the time when they churned his !

(Verse 2) From him (the ocean) was born the Moon, causing wonderment to the eyes of one and all, whom Vishṇu placed in his eye, (and) whom Śiva placed on his forehead,3 out of loving regard for his virtues.

(Verse 3) From him (the Moon) sprang kings, the glowing flames of whose amazing prowess manifesting itself on the (ever) expanding battle-fields consumed the swollen stream of rut of the enemy elephants, the union with the celestial Gaṅgā rising every moment through the ceaseless influx of whose fame caused such a (thrill of) joy to the Ocean that he started rollicking with surging waves, the which revels he keeps indulging in (to this day).4

(Verse 4) In the family of those (kings) of the spotless fame did the glory of the Narasiṁha incarnation (of the god Vishṇu)5 manifest itself in the guise of the king Chōḍagaṅga whose sword a veritable hermit on the sacred banks of the river of rut of the (enemy) elephants flying into a frenzied rage, helped the hostile princes attain the blessing of salvation.6

(Verse 5) With his mind agitated by the palpable displeasure, he (Chōḍagaṅga) grabbed, in his hand (so soft) as a fresh leaf, the chignon of the enemy Fortune even before7 he clutched his creeper-like sword, (and similarly) he first rendered the gorgeous bosoms of the ladies of his enemies bereft of their pearls (and) afterwards7 (he did so) the broad temples8 of the boisterous scent-elephants9 (of his enemies), from which rut was trickling profusely.

(Verse 6) At his indignation, the hostile chiefs, obviously frightened by his scimitar being brandished and looming large (to their horror), (and) shuddering under the volley of the multitude of his arrows, sought after the joy of complete-extinction type, as if priding themselves on eman-

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^[1] Literally, ‘ installed an alms-house of ambrosia for the gods. ’ Ambrosia (amṛita or sudhā) is one of the fourteen gems that the Ocean yielded when churned by the gods and the demons. These include the Moon and Lakshmī as well.

^[2] The implication being that he treated benevolently and generously even those who wronged him grievously.
^[3] While Śiva’s carrying a crescent on his forehead is well known, the idea of Vishṇu’s bearing the Moon in the eye goes back to the Vēdas, where he is described as ‘ having fire as his head and the sun and moon as his eyes’ (agnir=mūrdhā chakshushī chandra-sūryau). It is on account of this that one of Vishṇu’s thousands names is Ravilōchana, i.e., ‘ one who has the sun as one of the eyes ’ (see Vishṇusahasranāma, with Saṅkarāchārya’s commentary, verse 93).
^[4] In order to appreciate the poetic fancy here one must know that kīrti (fame) is conceived as a white liquid while the waters of the celestial Gaṅgā (really speaking, the Galaxy or Milky Way in the heavens) are regarded to be milky. The augmentation is thus supposed greatly to add to the gracefulness and charms of the fancied lady, hurrying to her lover, with the heaving bosom.
^[5] Naraharitanu of the original is comparable with Nārasiṁhavapuḥ of the Vishṇusahasranāma, verse 3.
^[6] A florid substitute for saying : ‘ he killed his enemies.’
^[7] The alleged reverse order of vanquishing and molestation, rhetorically speaking, indicates the agility of action and confidence of victory on the part of the person whose valour is described here.
^[8] As for the temples of elephants having pearls, they are traditionally known as one of the various sources of pearls. The tradition is recorded by Mallināha as follows : Karīndra-jīmūta-varāha-śaṅkha-matsy-āhi-śukty-udbhava-vēṇujāni muktāphalāni prathitāni lōkē tēshāṁ tu śukty-udbhavam=ēva bhūri. ‘ Pearls are known in the world as emanating from elephants, clouds, boars, conchshells, fish, snakes, oyster-shells and bamboos. Of them, however, those coming from oyster-shells are most common.’ For details, see under muktā in the Śabdakalpadruma.
^[9] A scent-elephant, gandha-sindhura, is supposed to be one of the most excellent kind of elephants. It is defined as Yasya gandhaṁ samāghrāya na tishṭhanti pratidvipāḥ sa vai gandha-gaja rma nṛipatēr=vijay-avahaḥ. ‘A scent-elephant is that having smelt whose scent the rival elephants take to flight ; such a scent-elephant brings victory to the king (who own it).’