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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA whereas Bijjala was a protagonist of the orthodox Brahmanical creeds,[1] Basavēśvara was a reformist directing his attacks against the rigidity of Brahmanical dogmas and practices and preaching his new cult of liberality and equality amongst the devotees of Śiva.[2] A volume of epigraphical and other evidence is now available to prove that Bijjala, like all members of the Kalachuri house, was a staunch follower of Śaivism and had no particular interest as such in Jainism. Thus the theory of Jaina leanings of Bijjala stands thoroughly exploded.[3] When Fleet wrote in this journal more than half a century ago, he expressed his doubt[4] in regard to the historicity of Basavēśvara on account of the paucity of sources then available to him. Subsequently the discovery and publication of a substantial number of literary works and epigraphs which constitute quite reliable and contemporaneous documents, have established him as a historic figure beyond all doubt.[5] Of paramount importance in this context is the evidence of the Arjunavāḍa inscription published in this journal.[6] We are in possession of more epigraphical evidence now to show that besides Rāmayya and Basavēśvara, there flourished in this century other sponsors of the Śaiva movement, whose aggressive activities must have contributed to its success. We may illustrate these observations from the contents of two inscriptions. An inscription at Aṇṇigēri[7] in the Dharwar District, referring itself to the reign of the Western Chālukya king Vīra-Sōmēśvara IV and dated in 1184 A.C., introduces a feudatory chief of the Sagara family named Vīra-Goggidēva. An ardent upholder of the Śaiva faith, he is described as ‘a fire to the Jaina scriptures’ and ‘a death to the adherents of the Jaina Law.’ The record further characterises him as ‘an eagle to the snakes which are the Jainas’ and ‘a hunter of the wild beasts in the form of followers of the Jina.’ Another epigraph from Tāḷikōṭi[8] in the Bijāpur District, referring itself to the same reign and bearing a date in the same year, furnishes the following facts about another feudatory, Mahāmaṇḍaḷēśvara Viruparasa. This Viruparasa propitiated god Hara by his multifold devotion and was busily engaged with the advocates of the rival faiths. He launched a regular crusade as it were against the adherents of other sects. A conflagration to the forest of Jaina creed and adept in demolishing the Buddhist Canon, he pulverized the Jaina temples and raised the thrones of Śivaliṅgas. Thus did he vindicate his solemn oath and hold aloft the banner of Śiva in the three worlds. By virtue of such achievements he was endowed with the encomium of innumerable Śaiva devotees, both of the past and present generations. Lastly we may note here the significant circumstance that both Vīra-Goggidēva and Viruparasa of the above two epigraphs lived in a period slightly later than that of Basavēśvara and that their spheres of activities too were confined to the northern parts of Karnāṭaka. This might have been responsible for the confusion of later writers attributing to Basavēśvara active hostility against the Jaina creed.
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[1] I have discussed this topic and illustrated it with extracted from Harihara’s above-named work in my lectures
on the Kalachuris of Karnāṭaka, delivered at the Kannaḍa Research Institute, Dharwar, in 1951. They are now
published ; see Kannaḍa Sāhitya Parishat Patrike, Vol. XXXVI, pp. 102 ff. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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