South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

PARBATIYA PLATES OF VANAMALAVARMADEVA

The inscription begins with a symbol for siddham and the word svasti and two verses of adoration, the first in honour of the Lōhitya-sindhu, i.e., the river Brahmaputra, and the second in honour of the god Pinākin, i.e., Śiva. Verse 3 introduces Naraka, the son of Ādivarāha (i.e., Vishṇu) and the goddess Earth, and the next verse says how Kṛshṇa killed Naraka bu allowed to go unpunished the latter’s two sons, Bhagadatta and Vajradatta. Verses 5-6 describe how, when Bhagadatta obtained the lordship over Prāgjyōtisha, his brother Vajradatta went to the forest where he propitiated Īśvara (probably the god Śiva) by his penance and obtained through the god’s favour the lordship over Uparipattana as well as the future lordship of Prāgjyōtisha for his descendants. Verse 7 introduces a later king of Prāgjyōtisha belonging to Vajradatta’s lineage, whose name is given as Sālambha. The following two verses appear to say that, when Sālambha joined in heaven the past kings of the country beginning with Sālastambha and ending with Harsha (i.e., Harshavarman), his brother Arathi became king. Verse 10 describes Arathi’s queen Jīvadēvī. Verses 11-12 describe king Harjara (i.e., Harjaravarman) who was the son of Arathi and Jīvadēvī, while verses 13-15 say how Harjaravarman’s queen Maṅgalā was an incarnation o f the goddess Lakshmī on the earth. Verses 16-23 give a description of king Vanamāla (i.e., Vanamālavarman) who was the son of Harjaravarman and Maṅgalā. Verse 24 says how king Vanamālavarman rebuilt a fallen temple of the go Hētuka-Śūlin (i.e., Śiva) into a magnificent building. Lines 47-48 mention Paramēśvara Paramabhaṭṭāraka Mahārājādhirāja Vanamālavarmadēva who was a devout worshipper of Mahēśvara (i.e., Śiva), meditated on (or was favoured by) the feet of his parents and issued the charter from Haḍapēśvara. Lines 33-46 give a lengthy description of the city of Haḍapēśvara in prose.

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This passage suffers from the omission of a number of words at the end, although they can be restored form the Tezpur plates of the same king, referred to above. The description suggests that the city was situated on the bank of the Lōhitya-bhaṭṭāraka (i.e., the river-god Brahmaputra). The river is said to have passed by the Kāmakūṭa hill, on the top of which were installed the god Kāmēśvara and the goddess Mahāgaurī. The following passage in prose and verse in lines 48-58 records the grant which is followed by two imprecatory verses in lines 58-59. The king made a gift of the village called Hapōsagrāma which was attached to the maṇḍala or district of Svalpa-Maṅgōka situated in Uttara-kūla and was bounded by Akshidāhikā in the east, the tank of Chaṇḍikā (possibly the goddess of this name)^[1] in the south-east, Dīrghāṅga in the south, a banyan tree in the south-west, a bush of bamboos or reeds in the west, a śalmalī tree in the north-west, a big ālī (possibly an embankment) in the north and the tank of Dhavala in the north-east. The gift village is said to have been made a-chāṭa-bhaṭa-pravēśa (i.e., not to be entered by regular or irregular troops, or, more probably, by policemen and peons) and mukt-ōparikara (i.e., not endowed with the right to enjoy taxes from temporary tenants). There is no specific mention that the village was made a rent-free gift. The donee was a Brāhmaṇa named Chūḍamaṇi who was the son of Jējjaṭa and was the eldest of four brothers, the other three being Dēṭōbhā, Garga and Śambhu. It is said that the brothers were all living jointly without separation, because they feared in that the loss of dharma. Apparently the grant was made in favour of the head of the family but was meant to be enjoyed by all the four brothers and their descendants. The grant is said to have been made with a view to increasing the merit and fame of the king’s parents with the request that it might be approved by all.

As regards the absence of any clear indication in the charter whether Hapōsagrāma was made a rent-free gift, it may be pointed out that the śāsanas of ancient Indian rulers were of

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^[1] Various forms of the mother-goddess are associated with Assam and especially with the Sākta Pīṭha at
Kāmākhyā near Gauhati. Cf. The Śākta Pīṭhas (JRASB, L, Vol. XIV, 1948, No. 1), pp. 11-16, 47-48, and notes.