South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

parts of Northern India. As to the survival of the Takshaka cult in modern times, we may only refer to his shrine near Navali or Naoli in the old Indore State (now in Madhya Bharat). Here the snake deity is worshipped under the name Takshakēśara or Tākhājī whose image represents the Nāga as standing with a sevenfold food, the coils being visible on both sides. He has two arms possibly holding a cup and a fruit in his hands. The deity is accompanied by a male and a female attendant, the former holding a serpent in his right hand.^[1] Unfortunately, in the absence of any inscription on the sculpture, it is impossible to determine whether the image was identified with Takshaka-nāga even in earlier times.

Under the circumstances, the only early image of Takshaka so discovered in India and definitely known as such, seems to be that now housed in the Lucknow Museum with the Exhibit No. G-72.^[2] The sculpture is stated to have been purchased for the Museum in 1925 from the late Professor B. C. Bhattacharya of Durgakund, Banaras. But its exact findspot is unknown.

The pedestal of this Nāga image bears as inscription in one line only, which was apparently meant to serve the purpose of a label. The characters belong to the Northern Alphabet and may be assigned to the eighth century A.D. on grounds of palaeography. The orthography of the record exhibits the influence of local pronunciation.

The inscription begins with the siddham symbol and ends with a double daṇḍa. The first of the two daṇḍas has a triangular sign attached to the left of its central part. This characteristic of the daṇḍa is also noticed elsewhere. In between the siddham symbol and the double daṇḍa there are only six aksharas which read : śrī-Takhaka-nāga, the intended reading no doubt being śrī-Takshaka-nāgaḥ ‘ the illustrious Nāga Takshaka ’. Nothing is said in the inscription regarding the person by whom and the purpose for which the image was set up. But there is little doubt that it was installed in a temple for worship.

B. Patna Museum Inscription of V.S. 1452 and Śaka 1317

The inscribed stone slab in the Patna Museum, referred to above, bears the exhibit No. 10601 and, as Mr. S. A. Shere, Curator of the Museum, kindly informs me, looks like the broken piece of a door jamb. The slab measure 4′ 9″ by 1′ by 5″, and contains four lines of inscription on one side only. It was presented to the Patna Museum in January 1943 by the Sub-Divisional Officer of Biharsharif in whose quarters it had been lying for some time uncared for. Nothing is known as regards its discovery and original findspot. But it appears that it was found at Biharsharif itself or in its neighbourhood.

The inscription was noticed by Dr. A. Banerji-Sastri in a very short note entitled “ Evolution of Māgadhī Script ”, published in JBORS, Vol. XXVIII, 1942, pp. 440-41. Unfortunately he read and interpreted only the last line of the record and that also not quite correctly. He also failed to understand the real nature of the document. Thus he says, “ The inscription is of the usual votive donation type. The last line runs─Likhitaṁ sūtrakārēṇa Kāmadēvēna karmmiṇā Śākē 1322 Nṛipa-vikramārkē Saṁ 1458 …Śaka 1322=1322+78=1400 A.D. : Saṁ 1458─58 =1400 A.D. Thus the inscription is written in the Māghadhī script, dated 1400 A.D.” There are several mistakes in Dr. Banerji-Sastri’s reading and interpretation of the last line of the inscription, quoted above. What he has read as sūtrakārēṇa, Śākē 1322 and Saṁ 1458 are actually svarṇṇakārēṇa, Śākē 1317 and Saṁ 1452 respectively. The date of the inscription is therefore not 1400 A.D. but 1395 A.D. Moreover it does not speak of any donation but records the construction of a temple for a Nāga deity. The script of the inscription is again not Māgadhī but early

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^[1] See Tod, Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, Vol. II, p. 718 ; Prog. Rep. A.S., W.C., 1919-20, p. 88, Plate XIII ; Vogel, op. cit. pp. 206 f.
^[2] An inscription (No. 48) of about the 8th century in the Nāgēśvara temple at Narnūru (Kurnool District, Andhra) in our collection of 1953-54 refers to a deity called Takshakēśvara-bhaṭāra. But the name seems to have been applied to the Śiva-liṅga worshipped in the temple in question.