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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA No. 7─ SACRIFICIAL INSCRIPTION FROM SONDA (1 Plate) P. B. DESAI, DHARWAR This inscription was copied by me at Honnehaḷḷi, near Sōndā, in January 1940, in the course of an epigraphical survey of the Sirsi Taluk, North Kanara District, formerly in the Bombay State, but now in Mysore. The slab bearing the epigraph was set up near the Narasiṁha shrine inside the Svarṇavalli maṭha.[1] The record[2] is edited here for the first time with the help of impressions taken under my supervision. The slab measures 31 inches long and 28 inches broad. Its upper part is shaped into a broad curve. In the space at the top above the inscription proper are cut in relief the figures of the sun and the crescent. Above, below and to the right of these symbols are engraved the two invocations in Kannaḍa characters, Viśvēśvarō jayati and śrī-Nṛisiṁhō jayati, and another in the Nāgarī script referring to a third deity.[3] About the middle of the slab are carved in relief four figures which are eminently conspicuous. The main figure at the centre is elongated and made up of four curves. The one to its north is almost a square ; another towards the east is a semi-circle and the third one to the south is a circle. The significance of these figures will be pointed out below.
The inscription is engraved in the Kannaḍa alphabet and language. The characters are late being normal for the date of the record. Noteworthy is the form of initial ā (line 12), its length being denoted by a sign attached to it and looking like the medial ā mark. In some cases a superfluous curve is appended to the lower limb of t giving the impression that it is doubled ; cf. sarasvatī in line 3 and pratipāḷisi in line 6. The doubling of the letter ḷ in haḷḷi in line 3 and beḷḷi in line 9 is denoted by a curve affixed to its lower part. In line 8 the word śrauti is misspelt as śraūti. The epigraph commences with the date which is given as Śālivāhana-Śaka 1595, Pramādi, Māgha-śu. 4, Saturday. This date regularly corresponds to the 31st January 1674 A.D. It is stated that at this time Savāyi Rāmachandra-nāyaka, the chief of Sōde, was ruling the principality. The object of the epigraph is to commemorate the completion of a sacrifice which was caused to be performed by Sarvajña-sarasvatī, a pontiff of Hoṁnehaḷḷi, for the prosperity of the above chief. The ritual was conducted by Agnihōtrin Kēśava-bhaṭṭa of Kaḍatōke under the guidance of Śrauti Viśvapati-bhaṭṭa who was specially invited for the occasion from the holy city of Kāśī. The performance lasted for five days and was completed on Wednesday, the 8th of the bright half of the above month. The passage at the end of the inscription indicates that the stone bearing the record was set up to mark the sacred site where the sacrificial ceremony actually took place. From the duration of the sacrifice it appears to have been a Sōma-yāga.[3] An interesting part of the epigraph is the representation, on the commemorative tablet itself, of the sacrificial spot, which, as described above, consists of four figures. The central elongated figure stands for the Vēdi or the raised seat intended for the performer. The adjoining three figures to the south, east and north respectively depict the three pits wherein the three sacred fires, known as Gārhapatya, Daskhiṇa and Āhavanīya, are kept burning throughout the performance.[3] The tablet thus presents a unique instance of sacrificial memorial.[4] __________________________________________________
[1] This maṭha belongs to the pontiffs of the Havyaka or Havik community of Brāhmaṇas largely residing
in the area.
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