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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA a small piece of land that belonged to the god but had been enclosed within the northern compound wall of the maṭhikā. The word śrōtaka is not found in Sanskrit lexicons but was apparently a kind of rent, since the periodical nature of its payment is indicated by the stipulation that the amount was to be paid on each occasion of dīp-ōtsava-bhaṅga, i.e. the end of the festival of lights, obviously in the maṭhikā of the goddess.[1] The Dīp-ōtsava seems to be no other than the dīpāvalī, a festival with illuminations held on the new moon of Āśvina or Kārttika in honour of the goddess Pārvatī. The dramma was a coin of copper or silver.[2] The inscription seems to specify the payment in coins minted by a trader named śrēshṭhin Gaṁbhuvaka. It appears that this tradesman of Sayāna enjoyed a license for minting coins on behalf of the ruling authority.[3] It is further stated that, now that the vyavasthā was offered (cf. adhunā), if any devotee of the god (i.e. Bhillamāladēva), whether he is a Brāhmaṇa or a merchant, commits suicide or creates any other trouble with a view to increasing the amount of the śrōtaka or to the removal of the wall of the maṭhikā enclosing the piece of land belonging to Bhillamāladēva, he should be looked upon as a dog or a donkey or a Chāṇḍāla even if he is dead. If a merchant was involved in such a case, his whole property should have to be confiscated by the government. On the other hand, in case the śrōtaka was not duly paid to the vārikas of the god Bhillamāladēva, if any one out of the persons belonging to the Mahā-parshad attached to the maṭhikā, who kept the door of the maṭhikā open to the public, or of outsiders who conducted worship of the goddess, committed suicide, he would also share a similar fate even if he was dead. It is state that this vyavasthā, based on the sthiti or decree, was a permanent one and had to be observed by both the parties of the dispute, viz. The devotees of the god Bhillamāladēva and those of the goddess worshipped in the maṭhikā. To the above is added the statement that anybody who would appropriate the piece of land in his attempt to avoid the payment of the śrōtaka should be endowed with all the greater and minor sins.
It is clear from the words of the inscription that a small piece of land belonging to the temple of the god Bhillamāladēva, which seems to have been situated in the vicinity of the maṭhikā of the goddess, was lying within the compound wall of the latter and was in wrongful possession of the devotees of the goddess. It is also clear that, while the devotees of the god were trying to recover the land by all means including the offer of hunger-strike, the other party attached to the goddess was trying to obstruct the release of the plot equally obstinately in the same way. The decision to ease this state of tension by fixing an amount of annual rent for the piece of land, payable by the party in the possession of it, was therefore a good one. The respectful mention of the goddess in the present record exhibits a spirit of compromise which is commendable. The above section of the record is followed in lines 46-47 by a sentence meaning to say that the giver of the decision, viz. the god Bhillamāladēva along with his vārikas, expressed his desire in the words of the document as written by the scribe. The following sentence saying that the god favoured the document with his assent is a well known formula with which the royal donors put their signature to a charter originally written on a perishable material and later incised on copper plates. This section is in the style of the charters issued by the contemporary rulers of the area in question.[4] The charter ends with a stanza (verse 20) followed by a short benedictory passage. The verse mentions the person who was responsible for writing the document with the consent of both the _____________________________________________
[1] For śrōtaka, see above, p. 36. For the meaning of bhaṅga, see Apte, Pract. Sans.-Eng. Dict., s. v.
nidrā-bhaṅga, yātrā-bhaṅga.
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