North Indian Inscriptions

RAJOR INSCRIPTION OF MATHANADEVA.

the grass and pasture land, with the udraṅga, with its rows of tress, with its water, with the bhôga and mayuta¹ income, with all customary and not customary, fixed and not fixed receipts, the shares of all sorts of grain, the khala-bhikshâ,² prasthaka, skandhaka, mârgaṇaka, the fines, ten offences,³ gifts, treasures and deposits, the aputrikâdhana⁴ and nashṭbharaṭa, and together with all neighbouring fields, cultivated by the Gûrjaras,─ for the purpose of defraying the expenses of bathing (the god) three times a day, of unguents, flowers, incense, naivêdya offerings, lights and oil, of applying white-wash and red lead, of repairing what may become damaged or broken, of public shows and putting on the sacred thread, and of paying labourers, gardeners, etc.’ Lines 13-15 shew that the administration of this grant, in the first instance, was entrusted to the holy ascetic Ôṁkâraśivâchârya (a disciple of Rûpaśivâchârya, who again was a disciple of Śrîkaṇṭhâchârya), a member of the Sôpurîya line or school (of devotees) started at Âmardaka, and inmate of the Nityapramuditadêva maṭha at Râjẏapura, which was connected with the Gôpâladêvîtaḍâgapâlî maṭha at Chhâttraśiva.⁵ And the donor (in lines 13-17) exhorts his successors not to obstruct, but rather always to assist the ascetic’s disciples and disciples’ disciples in the management of the property⁶ for the benefit of the god (or his temple). Lines 18-20 quote four of the customary benedictive and imprecatory verses ; and the main part of the inscription ends, in line 21, with another verse, according to which this charter (śâsana) was composed⁷ by Dêdda, written by his son Sûraprasâda, and engraved by Hari.

......Lines 22-23 then record certain additional taxes or tolls, the proceeds of which were to be made over to the same deity (or temple) jointly with the god Vinâyaka (Gaṇêśa, whose image or shrine was) set up in the lower grounds⁸ adjoining four chapels on one side (of the temple of Lachchhukêśvara). So far as I understand this passage, these taxes were three viṁśôpakas, as customary in the market, on every sack⁹ (of agricultural produce) brought for sale to the market ;¹⁰ two palikâs¹¹ from every ghaṭaka-kûpaka of clarified butter and oil ; two viṁśôpakas

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......¹ As the inscription is written engraved very carefully, I do not think the word mayuta of the text is likely to be a wrong reading ; but its meaning is not apparent.
......² The exact meaning of this and the following terms I do not know. Khala-bhikshâ, ‘the alms of the threshing floor,’ occurs again in Ep. Ind. Vol. II. p. 179, v. 42 ; and khalaka I find as a revenue-term in Ind. Ant. Vol. XVIII. p. 114, l. 55. Mârgaṇaka occurs (in abhinava-mârggaṇaka) ibid. Vol. XVIII. p. 83. l. 20.
......³ As we find in other inscriptions sadaśâparâdhdaṇḍa and sadaṇḍadaśâparâdha used as synonymous expressions, I believe that the words of our text, too, are intended to denote ‘the flues for the ten offences,’ whatever these may be. For another explanation of daṇḍa-daśâparâdha, the correctness of which appears to me doubtful, see Journ. Bo. As Soc. Vol. XVIII. p. 253, note 1.
......⁴ This term― ‘the property of a daughter who is not a putrikâ’― and the following nashṭibharaṭa (or perhaps nashṭabharoṭa) I am again unable to explain.
......⁵ So far as I can see, the text in line 14 is not quite correct ; for the word sambandha, in my opinion, is meant, to refer, not to śrî-Râjyapurê, but to the following śrî-Nityapramuditadêva-maṭhê. The difficulty could of course easily be removed by altering sambandha to sambandhê. Gôpâlîdêvî-taḍâga-pâlî-maṭha would be ‘the maṭha on the margin of tank of Gôpâlîdêvî.’ To this religious establishment that at Râjyapura apparently was subordinate.
......⁶ Here we have the otherwise unknown word tatti, in l. 16 in the phrase tattim . . . kurvataḥ kârayatô vâ, apparently expressing the sense of the ordinary bhuñjatô bhôjayatô vâ, and in l. 17 in the compound tatti-sânâthya, ‘rendering assistance in the proper management (?).’
......⁷ This clearly is the meaning of the word kṛitavân in l. 21. The name Dêdda occurs also in one of the Khajurâhô inscriptions ; see Ep. Ind. Vol. I. p. 129. v. 47.
......⁸ The word jagatî occurs in Ind. Ant. Vol. XIV. p. 160, l. 15.― In the Archæol. Survey of India, Vol. XX. p. 125, it is stated that the date Saṁvat 1010 is clearly legible on a figure of Gaṇêśa in the large temple of Nîlakṇṭha at Pâranagar (Râjôr).
......⁹ Compare, e.g. Ep. Ind. Vol. II. p. 240, l. 56, gôṇîṁ prati viṁśôpakaṁ ; and, for viṁśôpaka, ibid. Vol. I. p. 166.
......¹⁰ I am not certain about the meaning of the word haṭṭadâna in l. 22. It may perhaps be equivalent to maṇḍapikâ or śulka-maṇḍapikâ, ‘a custom-house,’ which occurs in similar passages of other inscriptions.
......¹¹ Compare Ep. Ind. Vol. I. p. 166. As regards the following ghaṭaka-kôpaka, I can only say that ghaṭa by itself means ‘a jar, a pitcher, a measure equal to one or to 20 drôṇas.’ and kûpaka ‘a leather oil vessel.’