North Indian Inscriptions

KOLHAPUR INSCRIPTION OF VIJAYADITYA.

district of Âjiragekholla, for the eightfold worship¹ of Pârśvanâthadêva at a shrine which had been established at the said village by a certain Vâsudêva, a dependent (? haḍapavaḷa) of the Sâmanta Kâmadêva and disciple of Mâghanandísiddhântadêva, the head of the Pustaka gachchha of the Dêśîya gaṇa of the Mûla saṁgha and priest of the Jaina temple of the holy Rûpanârâyaṇa at Kshullakapura, and for the purposes of keeping the shrine in proper repair and of providing food for the ascetics of the shrine,― having washed the feet of Mâṇikyanandipaṇḍita (apparently the superintendent of the shrine) who was another disciple of Mâghanandisiddântadêva, and exempting the grant from all taxes and molestations. Lines 27-28 contain the usual appeal to future rulers to respect this donation as if were one of their own. And the inscription ends with the verse² (in Old-Kanarese) :―

......‘The lord Jina, himself the abode of the sentiment of quietism, (is) his god ; the austere Mâghanandin, the saiddhântika, the yôgin, himself the adobe of the virtue of unweariedness, (is or was) his preceptor ; the lord Kâmadêva, the Sâmanta, (is) his ruler (or master) ;― this (is) the excellence,― this (is) the religious merit,― this (is) the advancement of Vâsudêva !’

......As regards the date of this grant, the year Dundubhi is Śaka-Saṁvat 1065 as a current. (not, as stated erroneously in the text, as an expired) year ; and for Śaka-Saṁvat 1065 current the given day corresponds to Monday, the 1st February, A.D. 1143, when there was a total lunar eclipse 17 h. 23 m. after mean sunrise, which of course was visible in India.

......Of the localities mentioned, Vaḷavâḍa, the place of residence of Vijayâdityadêva, had been suggested by Sir W. Elliot to be probably the modern Wâḷwa, about sixteen miles to the south of Kôlhâpur ; but Dr. Fleet now suggests that it may be in reality the village of Wâḷwa (Vâḷavêṁ) on the Kṛishṇâ, about twenty-four miles north by east from Kôlhâpur, which gave the name to the Wâḷwa tâlukâ of the Sâtârâ district. The village of Hâvina-Hêrilage and the place Âjirage, which gave the name to the district in which the village was situated, I am unable to identify.³ Lastly, Kshullakapura clearly is another name of the town of Kôlhâpur (or Kollâpura) itself, where, as we know from an inscription at Têrdâḷ and from another inscription at Śravaṇa-Beḷgoḷa, there was a temple of the holy Rûpanârâyaṇa, the priest of which Was the same Mâghanandisiddhântadêva who is mentioned in this inscription as well as in the next.⁴

TEXT.⁵

1 ⁶Śrîmat=parama-gaṁbhîra-syâdvâd-âmôgha-lâṁchhanaṁ [ |*] jîyâ[t=*] traiḷôkyanâthasya śâsanaṁ Jina-śâsanaṁ || @ || @
2 Svasti śrîr=jjayaś=ch=âbhyudayaś=cha || ⁶Jayaty=amaḷa-nânârttha-pratipatti-pradarśakaṁ [ |*] arhata-
3 h=Purudêvasya śâsanaṁ môha-śâsanaṁ || Svasti [ |*] Śrî-Śiḷâhâra-mahâkshatriy-ânvayê vitra-
4 st-âśêsha-ripu-pratatir=Jjatigô nâma narêṁdrô=bhût | tasya sûnavô Goṁkalô Gûvalaḥ
5 Kîrttirâjaś=Chandrâdityaś=ch=êti chatvâraḥ | tatra Goṁkala-bhûtaḷapatêr=Mmârasiṁhô nâma nandanaḥ | tasya tanujâḥ⁷ Gûvalô
6 Gaṁgadêvaḥ Ballâḷadêvaḥ Bhôjadêvaḥ Gaṇḍarâdityadê[va]ś=ch=êti paṁcha | têshu dhârmmika-Dharmmajasya vairi-kâ-
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......¹ See Ind. Ant. Vol. XIV. p. 24, note 27.
......² I owe the translation of this verse to Dr. Fleet.
......³ Major Graham has suggested that the village may probably be the ‘Heirleh’ of the maps, about eight miles north-east of the city of Kôlhâpur. I myself have felt inclined to identify Âjirage with Ajurikâ (the modern Ajare), where Sômadêva wrote his Śabdârṇavachandrikâ ; see Ind. Ant. Vol. X. pp. 75-76.
......⁴ See Ind. Ant. Vol. XIV. p. 18, l. 48 ; and Mr. Rice’s Inscriptions at Śravaṇa-Beḷgoḷa, pp. 9-10 (No. 40), where we find the Sâmanta Kâmadêva of the present inscription mentioned as a lay-disciple of Mâghanandin.
......⁵ From an impression, supplied to me by Dr. Fleet.
......⁶ Metre : Ślôka (Anushṭubh).
......⁷ Here and in other places below, the rules of saṁdhi have not been observed.