North Indian Inscriptions

SRAVANA-BELGOLA EPITAPH OF MALLISHENA.

value is said to record that “many Jainas came from the North to the Kâñchî district in the Kaliyuga 1451, Śâlivâhana-Śaka 710,¹ in the reign of “Himasitala-Mahârâja.” It was then a forest, which they cleared and cultivated. In his time a schism arose between the Jainas and the Bauddhas. Akalaṅkadêva overcame the Bauddhas. Some of the Bauddhas were intended to be put to death in large stone oil-mills ; but, instead of that, were embarked on ship and sent to Ceylon.”² The manuscript subsequently treats of “revenue matters in the time of the Honourable Company” (!). These two accounts and verses 20 to 23 of the Mallishêṇa epitaph are clearly borrowed from the same source. I would. however, entirely ignore king Himaśîtala of Kâñchîpura for historical purposes as long as no contemporaneous epigraphical records, but only legends, are available as proofs of his existence.

......18. Pushpasêna, appears to have been a contemporary of Akalaṅka (v. 24 ), who was referred to in the preceding verses.

......19. Vimalachandra³ (v. 25). The author of the inscription quotes a verse (26) which records that this preceptor challenged the Śaivas, Pâśupatas, Bauddhas, Kâpâlikas, and Kâpilas in a letter which he affixed to the gate of the palace of a king named (or surnamed) Śatrubhayaṁkara.

......20. Indranandin (v. 27).

......21. Paravâdimalla⁴ (v. 28). The author quote a verse (29) which this preceptor is represented to have uttered in the presence of a king named Kṛishṇarâja.

......22. Âryadêva (v. 30 f.).

......23. Chandrakîrti (v. 32).

......24. Karmaprakṛiti (v. 33).

......25. Śrîpâladêva,⁵ surnamed Traividya (v. 34).

......26. Matisâgara (v. 35).

......27. Hêmasêna, surnamed Vidyâdhanaṁjaya (v. 36). A verse (37) by him is quoted, in Which he addresses an unnamed king and challenges other disputants.

......28. Dayâpâla [I.], composed the Hitarûpasiddhi (v. 38) and was the disciple of Matisâgara and fellow-student of Vâdirâja (v. 39). Matisâgara was referred to in verse 35, and Vâdirâja is described in the next verses.

......29. Vâdirâja⁶ (v. 40 f.). The author quotes three verses (42 to 44) of “the poets.” The first verse states that Vâdirâja challenged other disputants in the capital of an unnamed Châḷukya emperor. The second verse, which refers to “the court of the lord,” suggests that The disputation took place in the presence of the emperor himself.
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......¹ Śaka-Saṁvat 710 corresponds to Kaliyuga 3889,─ a small error of 2438 years. According to Mr. Rice (p. 45 of the Introduction), the Jainas have the traditional date Śaka-Saṁvat 777 for Akalaṅka’s victory over the Bauddhas. Dr. Bhandarkar quotes a verse from Jinasêna’s Âdipurâṇa, in which Akalaṅka is referred to ; Report On Skt. MSS. 1883-84, p. 423, verse 53. According to Mr. Pathak, the Âdipurâṇa, was composed between Śaka-Saṁvat 705 and 760 ; Journ. Bo. As. Soc. Vol. XVIII. P. 227.
......² Taylor’s Catalogue, Vol. III. p. 436 f.
......³ The same name occurs in the Śvêtâmbaṛa Paṭṭâvalis ; Ind. Ant. Vol. XI. p. 248. No. 35, and p. 253, No. 34.
......⁴ An undated Tamil inscription at Tirumalai near Pôlûr in the North Arcot district records a gift by a disciple of Paravâdimalla of Tirumalai, who may have been called after that Paravâdimalla who is referred to in our inscription. See South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. I. p. 105.
......⁵ Śrîpâla is mentioned in Jinasêna’s Âdipurâṇa ; Journ. Bo. As. Soc. Vol. XVIII. p. 222.
......⁶ A Jaina preceptor of this name is mentioned in Nâgavarman’s Kâvyâvalôka ; see p. xxxvii. of Mr. Kittel’s Essay on Kanarese Literature, prefixed ti his edition of Nâgavarman’s Prosody. The Êkîbhavastôtra, a short Jaina poem by one Vâdirâja, has appeared in the Kâvyamâlâ. Part vii. No. 3.