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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA We know of an āchāra-vyavasthā embodied in the Lakshmeshwar Kannaḍa inscription[1] (circa 725 A.D.) of Yuvarāja Vikramāditya II of the Chālukya house of Badami ; but that record is small and damaged and is not of any help in the elucidation of the text of the āchāras quoted in the inscription under discussion. We propose to quote below the text of the seventytwo āchāras and make an attempt to explain them one by one.[2] 1. Āputrakaṁ na grāhyam. Āputraka means ‘ the property belonging to a person who died without leaving a son ’.[3] This seems to say that such property should not be confiscated by royal officials disregarding the claim of any legal heir other than the son. 2. Unmara-bhēdō na karaṇīyō rāja-purushēṇa. This is probably connected with No. 1 above. The royal officials are asked not to break open or violate the unmara, the meaning of which is unknown. It may be related to the word umbara (Pali ummāra ; Prakrit ummara ; Gujarati umbro, umro, ‘threshold’). The reference may be to the threshold or door of a house. Vishṇu (V, 116) prescribes a fine of 100 paṇas for a sa-mudra-gṛiha-bhēdaka (one who breaks open the sealed door of a house) ; but Kauṭilya speaks of 48 paṇas as the fine for the same offence (Arthaśāstra, III, 20). 3. Udbhāvaka-vyavahārō na grāhyaḥ. The word vyavahāra here may be taken in the sense of ‘a law-suit’ ; but the real meaning of udbhāvaka is uncertain. It may, however, refer to a case carelessly put before the court (cf. udbhāvana, ‘neglect’) or to one based on fabrication or false allegation. 4. Śaṅkayā grahaṇaṁ n=āsti. This is apparently related to No. 3 above. The royal officials should not go in for the apprehension of persons or for taking up a case against one or for seizing one’s thing through mere suspicious (śaṅkā) of a crime. 5. Purush-āparādhē strī na grāhyā. This means to say that the wife should not be apprehended for her husband’s guilt.
6. Kshēm-āgni-samutthānē chhalō na grāhyaḥ. The word chhala ordinarily means ‘a pretext’. But, in the Smṛiti literature, it is used in the sense of ‘careless declaration’, while bhūta means ‘a solemn statement of truth’.[4] The word occurs in Nos. 7, 9 and 31 below. Although the technical meaning seems to be preferable, the ordinary meaning of the word may be applied to all the cases, especially to No. 31. Kshēmāgni seems to mean ‘sacred fire’ such as is kindled on the occasion of marriage, etc. If we follow the technical sense of chhala, the āchāra may mean that no half-hazard allegation should be entertained against one’s neighbour for the burning of one’s house when, according to the accused, the conflagration resulted from the sacred fire kindled in his house. But, if the ordinary meaning of the word is preferred, this may refer to a case involving the burning of a neighbour’s house, in which the plea that the conflagration was due to the sacred fire kindled in the house of the accused would not be acceptable. 7. Svayaṁ hrasitē karṇṇē chhalō na grāhyaḥ. This means either that (1) there was no pretext for a man who was himself responsible for cutting a bit from a neighbour’s ear, or that (2) no careless accusation was acceptable from a man in regard to the cutting of a bit from his own ears. Cf. karṇṇa-trōṭana in No. 37 below. If hrasita may here be taken in the sense of ‘ sounded ’, the _________________________________________________
[1] Ibid., Vol. XIV, pp. 190-91.
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