North Indian Inscriptions

SRAVANA-BELGOLA EPITAPH OF MALLISHENA.

observance of) abandoning the body,¹ abandoned the body for ever at the end of the festival of (his) going to heaven !

......(V. 31.) It is reported that, if those who wanted to test (his) self-restraint, placed a straw on his ear, (even) when his attention was dormant and absent at the hour appointed for sleeping, he slowly wiped the ear with the peacock’s tail, made way for that (imaginary) insect by gently turning round, and lay down (again).

......(V. 32.) O wise men ! Worship aloud that head of a school (gaṇin), Chandrakîrti, whose fame resembled the moon in splendour, whose speech was sweet, (and) who, out of compassion towards the weak-minded disciples of this age, by means of (his) intellect alone, which was as sharp as the kuśa (grass), condensed into a minimum of doctrine² the whole meaning (of the books) which the chief disciples³ had composed with too great verbosity !

......(V. 33.) We worship the lord called Karmaprakṛiti,⁴ who had completely mastered the (Jaina) doctrine (kṛitânta), who was disposed to deeds of pure merit, (and) by obeisance to whom emancipation from the (eight) terrible kinds of deeds⁵ (is obtained).

......(V. 34.) To be worshipped is Śrîpâladêva, from whom the good (receive) the knowledge which discerns the truth, (and) who was content with the simple title Traividya (i.e. versed in the three Vêdas), though he had by his own mouth explained all sciences.

......(V. 35.) The high-minded preceptor, the holy Matisâgara (i.e. the ocean of wisdom),— from whom were produced shining pearls that were increasing in splendour, (viz.) many excellent pure virtues, which became ornaments of the heads of the rulers of the earth, (and) in whom the mass of the water of darkness (or ignorance) was drunk up by the glittering light (of knowledge, or of the submarine fire),— made the circle of the earth a pure holy place.

......(V. 36.) Alone victorious (is) that great sage Hêmasêna, bearing the pure title Vidyâdhanaṁjaya,⁶ at whose attack even (Śiva) the abode of ashes, who wears the lovely crescent of the beautifully shining moon, becomes powerless.

......(Line 99.) NOTE.— The following verse, (which contains) a vow (made) by him in the king’s court, caused the opponents, who, like children, had ascended the mountain of false pride, to become unsteady with the fear of falling to the ground through defeat :—

......(V. 37.) “Whoever, inflated (his) practice on logic (and) grammar and by (his) wisdom, competes with me in disputation before learned umpires in the presence of kings, on that
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......¹ A definition of the observance of Kâyôtsarga is given in Dr. Bhandarkar’s Report on Skt. MSS. 1883-84 p. 98, note 3.
......² Śrutabindu may be the name of a work by Chandrakîrti.— [According to Dr. Klatt’s Jaina-Onomasticon, Professor Peterson’s Report on Skt. MSS. 1883, Appendix, p. 32 f. notices two works by Chandrakîrtigaṇi, the second of which bears the title Siddhântôddhâra, ‘extracts from the canonical books,’ and may be identical with the Śrutabindu, though it appears to belong to the Śvêtâmbara literature.— E. L.]
......³ [The Gaṇâdhîśvaras are the same as the Gaṇadharas or pupils of Mahâvîra. For to these the tradition attributes the authorship of the canonical scriptures which, according to the present verse, were condensed in the Śrutabindu.— E. L.]
......⁴ The metre appears to be responsible for the irregular use of the locative nâmni instead of the instrumental nâmnâ.— [An ancient work, named Karmaprakṛiti, is already quoted by Śilânka, unless he means Prajñâpanâ, chapter xxiii. which is also entitled Karmaprakṛiti ; but the author’s name appears to be Śivaśarman. There may have been other compendiums with the same title. The following reference to the Karmaprakṛiti occurs in Jinasêna’s Harivaṁśapurâṇa, chapter lxvi. verse 30 :— .
— E. L.]— Karmaprakṛiti may have been the name of both a book and its author, just as Chitâmaṇi in verse 15.
......⁵ [The eight kinds of karman are enumerated, e.g., in Dr. Bhandarkar’s Report on Skt. MSS. 1883-84, p. 93, note, and p. 97, note.— E. L.]
......⁶ This surname is explained in the relative sentence which follows it. As Arjuna, also called Dhanaṁjaya, fought with Śiva, who was disguised as a Kirâta, Hêmasêna defeated the Śaivas in disputation through his superior knowledge (vidyâ).