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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA thivīvallabha (i.e. Vikramāditya I), when he was stationed at the village of Marrūra, in favour of Sudarśanāchārya in payment of guru-dakshiṇā on the occasion of the king’s Śiva-maṇḍala-dīkshā on the full-moon day of Vaiśākha in the fifth year of his reign. It is clear that the Chālukya king underwent Śaiva-dīkshā, i.e. initiation into the Śaiva faith, at the hands of his guru or preceptor Sudarśanāchārya who received the village as his dakshiṇā or perquisite for the performance of the initiation ceremony.[1] It is further stated that the Āchārya (i.e. the king’s preceptor Sudarśanāchārya) distributed plots of land in the gift village among the following twentyseven Brāhmaṇas : (1) Rudraśivāchārya of the Kāśyapa gōtra ;(2) Gāyatrīśiva of the Kauṇḍinya gōtra ; (3) Śivasvāmin of the Hārīta gōtra ; (4) Gōllabhaṭti of the Bhāradvāja gōtra ; (5) Paramaśiva of the same Bhāradvāja gōtra ; (6) Vāmanasvāmin of the Kauśika gōtra ; (7) Kēśavasvāmin of the same Kauśika gōtra ; (8) Kōkilasvāmin of the Maitrēya gōtra ; (9-10) Nārāyāṇa and Vāmana of the Kāśyapa gōtra ; (11) Rēvaśarman of the Sāṁkṛityāyana gōtra ; (12-15) Rudraśarman, Rēvaśarman, Ādityaśarman and Tātaśarman of the Kāśyapa gōtra ; (16-19) Bhīmaśarman, Durgaśarman, Bhōyiśarman and Bādiśarman of the Bhāradvāja gōtra ; (20) Nāgaśarman of the Kauṇḍinya gōtra ; (21) Brahmaśarman of the Bhāradvāja gōtra ; (22) Ādityaśarman of the Śāṇḍilya gōtra ; (23) Ravisvāmin of the Kāśyapa gōtra ; (24) Śravaṇasiṁhaśarman of the Kauśika gōtra ; (25) Dāmasvāmin of the Bhalandana gōtra ; (26) Dāmōdarasvāmin of the Kāśyapa gōtra ; and (27) Maduśarman of the Bhāradvāja gōtra. Of these Brāhmaṇas, Śravaṇasiṁhaśarman is stated to have received two shares or plots of land, probably implying thereby that the others received only one share each. It seems that one share of land was also allotted to Sudarśanāchārya’s wife. There is little doubt that the said Śaivite Brāhmaṇas assisted Sudarśanāchārya in the celebration of the dīkshā ceremony of Vikramāditya I. It may be noted that the king’s guru Sudarśanāchārya has been mentioned without the name of his gōtra. This was possibly due either to an oversight of the scribe or of the engraver, or because he was an ascetic who had renounced the world. The first alternative is more probable since Sudarśana’s wife seems to be mentioned in the record.
We know that the Early Chālukyas were devoted to the Seven Mothers, to the god Kārttikēya (the son of Śiva according to Hindu mythology) and to Lord Nārāyaṇa (Vishṇu) and that their emblem was the boar representing the Varāha avatāra of the god Vishṇu. Their title Śrī-pṛithivīvallabha (literally, ‘the husband of Śrī and Pṛithivī’) seems to allude to their claim to having been incarnations of Vishṇu, the husband of Śrīdēvī and Bhūdēvī. The early members of the family thus appear to have been Vaishṇavas, with leanings towards Śaivism and the cult of the Mother-goddess. It may be recalled in this connection that Maṅgalēśa (597-610 A. D.), younger brother and successor of Kīrtivarman I, is described as a Paramabhāgavata (i.e. a devout worshipper of Vishṇu, the Bhagavat) in one of his inscriptions,[2] but that he not only made grants in favour of the Vaishṇava cave-temple at Bādāmi but also supplemented an endowment of the god Makuṭēśvaranātha (Śiva) made by his father and elder brother.[3] His successor Pulakēśin II, father of Vikramāditya I, is called a Paramabhāgavata in one of his records, viz. the Lohaner plates.[4] Under these circumstances, the initiation of Vikramāditya I into the Śaiva faith is a very interesting fact. The Nausāri plates of the feudatory prince Śryāśraya Śīlāditya, dated 671 A. D., mention Vikramāditya I as a Paramamāhēśvara (i.e. a devout worshipper of Mahēśvara or Śiva) and meditating _____________________________________________________
[1]In Indian epigraphy, there are other instances of the grant of land in payment of guru-dakshiṇā on the occasion of a king’s initiation. See B. Ch. Chhabra, Antiquities of Chamba State, Part II, pp. 58, 64, 68, 76, 78 (especially p. 76 where the expression pūjā-antra-grahaṇa has been used for dīkshā). See also A.R.Ep., 1953-54, App.
B. No. 19 ; etc.
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