North Indian Inscriptions

KHAREPATAN PLATES OF RATTARAJA.

benedictive and imprecatory verses. And the inscription then (from line 73) concludes thus :— ‘In confirmation of the above, the glorious Raṭṭarâja puts his hand to his signature,¹ acknowledging it to be his, the glorious Raṭṭarâja’s, signature. A charter becomes faultless, when it is faultless as regards the seal, faultless as regards observances,² faultless as regards possession, when it is furnished with marks, and is faultless as regards the king’s signature.— May there be bliss ! This has been written by Lôkapârya, the son of the Sâṁdhivigrahika,³ the illustrious Dêvapâla.’

......The date of this inscription contains no details for verification ; but Śaka-Saṁvat 930 expired, by the southern luni-solar system, was the Jovian year Kîlaka, and for that year the given day, the full-moon day of Jyaishṭha, would correspond to Saturday, the 22nd May, A.D. 1008.

......Of the various villages and other localities, mentioned in the latter part of the inscription, I have not been able to identify any on the maps at my disposal.⁴ I can only draw attention to two points. Kandalamûlîya apparently was a portion of the coast of Western India ; this follows both from the manner in which it is opposed to the foreign lands (dvîpântara), and from the fact that Chandrapura and Chêmûlya belonging to it. And Mattamayûra, which is mentioned in connection with the learned ascetics in whose favour the grant was made, must be the place of the same name which is spoken of in the Ranôd (or Narôd) inscription⁵ as a town of a chief Avantivarman, where a maṭha was founded by a great Śaiva ascetic, named Purandara. It clearly was situated in Central India.

TEXT.⁶

First Plate.

1 Ôṁ⁷ [11*] Ôṁ namḥ Śivâya || ⁸Hêl-ôllâlita-chaṇḍa-daṇḍa-charaṇ-âṁgushṭh- âgrabhâg-â-
2 hata-Svarggaṁg-ôdgata-śuktisaṁpuṭa-galan-muktâ-bhṛitaṁ tâṇḍavê | pâṇau vîkshya kapâ-
3 lam=âśv=atha jaṭâ-chandr-âmṛit-ôjjîvitaṁ cha yad=adbhutaṁ smitam=avatv=Îśêna tad=va-
4 ś=vi(chi)ram || [1*] Gôtraṁ⁹ bhi[t*] na bhûtô na madhupa-vasatir=nnô sadâ dharma-vakrô n=âkrântô da-
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......¹ As the text stands, the meaning must Raṭṭarâja’s name had already before been written on the character, and that Raṭṭarâja, by putting his hand to it, acknowledged the name so written to be his own signature.
......² I am not quite sure about the exact technical meaning of the terms kriyâ-śuddha and bhukti-śuddha. The ‘marks,’ referred to by the word sa-chihnaka, are perhaps the representations of the sun and moon, and other objects, found on some copper-plates.
......³ i.e. the minister for peace and war.
......⁴ According to Bal Gangadhar Sastri the first village granted (the name of which he reads Śântashmâṇḍî instead of Kûshmâṇḍî) must have been situated between the village of “Munche”, “Bapurde” and “Sowdule,” which will be found in the lower right corner of No. 40 and the lower left corner of No. 26 of the Indian Atlas, south-west of Khârêpâṭaṇ. This may possibly be right, and in favour of it I may say that, supposing it to be correct, the kshâra-nadî of the text would be the river on which Khârêpâṭaṇ is situated ; but the name of the last-mentioned village is distinctly Sachândalakapittha in the original inscription, and not Savândala.
......⁵ See Ep. Ind. Vol. I. p. 352.
......⁶ From an impression, supplied to me by Dr. Fleet.
......⁷ Expressed by a symbol.
......⁸ Metre : Śârdûlavikrîḍita. Ullâlita is used here like the more common ullâsita ; compare, e.g., hêl-ôllâsita in the Śârṅgadharapaddhati,. verse 1087. Daṇḍa-charaṇa has the sense of the ordinary charaṇa-daṇḍa.
......⁹ Metre of verses 2 and 3 : Sragdharâ. Vaṁśa is often used in similar verses in the double sense of ‘bamboo’ and ‘lineage, race, family.’ The double sense of most of the epithets in verse 2 is clear enough ; by the words n=ânta-hînaḥ in Pâda 2 I understand the author to say (with perfect truth, but here somewhat inappropriately) that the Râshṭrakûṭa vaṁśa has come to an end, while the ordinary vaṁśa, the bamboo, is ananta, i. e. endless (or innumerable).