North Indian Inscriptions

RANGANATHA INSCRIPTION OF SUNDARA-PANDYA.

varman-(II.)-Satyâśraya, the favourite of fortune and of the earth, the Mahârâjâdhirâja, the Paramêśvara, the Bhaṭṭâraka, the glorious Nṛipasiṁharâja,— (was) the glorious Trailôkya-Mahâdêvî. By her there was erected a great stone temple of (the god) the holy Trailôkyêśvara-bhaṭṭâraka. On the (?) west¹ of this :—

......(L. 15.)— Thus, in the middle of these (three) shrines,— by the sculptor² Śubhadêva, who belongs to the Śâṇḍilya gôtra, (and) who is the son’s son of the sculptor Śivavardhamâna, (and) the son of the sculptor Śiva ; or, rather, by the Âchârya Jñânaśiva, who is the disciple of the disciple’s disciple at the feet of him, the venerable and worshipful Payôbhakshin, who had the appellation of Śivaśâsana, (and) who has come here from the Mṛigathaṇikâhâra vishayas on the north bank of the (river) Gaṅgâ, (and) is dwelling in the asylum of (the god) the holy Vijayêśvara-bhaṭṭâraka,— there has been set up, in (?) the gateway³ of his own particular shrine, this great stone pillar, which bears the mark of the seal of the trident.

......(L. 18.)— Here is written this (following) charter, preceded by the (above) eulogy :— By the illustrious Śaṁ . . . . - Ârya-Bhaṭṭa-Gaṅgâdhara (?),⁴ who belongs to the Kauthuma (śâkhâ) and is adorned by (a knowledge of) the Vêda that consists of three thousand (verses), there has been given to Brahmamûrtti-Ârya-Bhaṭṭa-Trivikrama,⁵ who knows the four Vêdas, half of the village named . . . . . . . . . . , on the east of the village named Arapuṇuse in the Beḷvala⁶ vishaya, which was acquired through a charter of Vijayâditya. (And) into his (Trivikrama’s) hand, by the Âchârya Jñânaśiva,— in the month Śrâvaṇa, on the new-moon tithi, at a total eclipse of the sun ; in order to increase the religious merit of (his) parents, [and for] his own welfare ; as a provision for the discourses of the Âchârya, and for the studies of those who attend to the rites of the god ; and for perfecting the worship of the god,— there have been given, at his own shrine,⁷ fields (of the measure of) thirty nivartanas, which were purchased with thirty gadyâṇakas of gold ;⁸ they should be preserved. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

____________________________________

No. 2.— RANGANATHA INSCRIPTION OF SUNDARA-PANDYA.

BY E. HULTZSCH, PH. D.

......¹ See page 5 above, note 10.
......² I adopt a suggestion made by Dr. Hultzsch, that rûpa stands for rûpakâra.
......³ See page 5 above, note 15.
......⁴ See page 5 above, note 19.
......⁵ This person seems to be the priest of the temple of Vijayêśvara.
......⁶ The correct name is Beḷvola. In the Nâgarî version the name here appears as Velvalla.
......⁷ See page 6 above, note 3.
......⁸ lit. “which were taken, through giving a price of gold, by thirty gadyâṇakas.”