South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

skandavarmā Dhānyakaṭe vyāpṛitam=ājñāpayati asmābhiḥ idānīm=asmad-vaijakāya dharm-āyur- bala-vārdhanikāya cha. .grāmaḥ sampradattaḥ)^[1]. A consideration of some of these characteristics of the language and orthography would suggest for the inscription a date about the end of the third century.^[2]

The inscription begins with the maṇgala : Saddhaṁ, followed by a double daṇḍa. Then the Pallava king Siṁhavarman of the Bhāradvāja gotra is introduced in the passage (lines 1-2) : Bhā- radaya-sagottena. . . . . . . . . . . .[dha]reṇā Palavāṇaṁ Sīhavaṁmaṇa (Sanskrit Bhāradvāja- sagotreṇa. . . . . . . .dhareṇa Pallavānāṁ Siṁhavarmaṇā), ‘by Simhavarman who belongs to the Pallavas (i.e. the Pallava family), who is . . . . . . .dhara, [and] who belongs to the Bhāradvāja gotra’. The epithet of king Siṁhavarman ending in dhara cannot be satisfactorily restored.

The next passage in lines 2-3 runs : ap[p]aṇo vejayike. . . . . . . . . . .[la]-vardhaṁntike saṁ- nti –sathiyāṇaṁ kātūṇa (Sanskrit ātmanaḥ vaijayikāya. . . . . . .la-vārdhanikāya śānti=svastya- yanaṁ kṛitvā), ‘having performed śānti-svastyayana for his own victory and increase of . . . .’ The traces of the damaged letters before la-vadhaṁntike in line 2 appear to suggest dhaṁma-baº and probably not dhaṁm-āyu-baº as in the Mayidavolu plates. We may have here a reference to the increase of the merits and prowess of the king, for which the śānti-svastyayana was performed. The expression śānti-svastyayana means certain propiciatory rites, śānti being a rite for a averting evil and svastyayana for attaining prosperity.

The concluding part of the sentence in lines 3-4 reads : Bhagavato. . . . Jivaśivasāmisa tethi- kāna kurttakā(k-o)pahārakādi kātaṁ (Sanskrit Bhagavataḥ . . . . Jīvaśivasvāminaḥ tairthike- bhyaḥ kurttak-opahārakādi kṛitam), ‘made presents of kurttakas and other [benefactions] in favour of the tairthikas of Lord. . . .Jīvaśivasvāmin’. The word lost before the name of the god seems to be siri (Sanskrit śrī). The whole sentence in lines 1-4 thus means to say that the Pallava king Siṁhavarman of the Bhāradvāja gotra made certain presents including the present kurttakas in favour of the tairthikas of the god Jīvaśivasvāmin on the occasion of certain propiciatory rites apparently performed by the tairthikas for the victory and increase of merits, etc., of the king. The expressions tairthika and kurttaka or tairthika means ‘an adherent or head of any other are of lexical interest. The word tīrthika or tairthika means ; an adherent or head of any other than one’s own creed.’ In the present context, the word tethika=tairthika seems to be used to indicate the priests of the temple of Jīvaśivasvāmin who was probably a representation of the god Śiva. The word kurttaka is not found in Sanskrit lexicons ; but kuttaka is recognised in Pali in the sense of ‘a woolen carpet’. Our inscription seems to use kurttaka in this sense. The word does not appear to have any relation to kurtā and kurtī current in Hindī, Bengali, etc., in the sense of ‘a shirt, tunic, bodice or jacket’, as these are believed to be borrowed from Turkish during the Muslim period. Moreover, in India (especially in South India), the priests of a temple scarcely use such a garment.

The next sentence of the inscription in lines 4-5 cannot be fully read. It refers to the Bhaṭṭāraka (i.e. a male divinity) worshipped in a devakula or temple, the name of which is doubtful. The letters sa pādamūle, ‘at the feet of . . . . .’, In lines 5 suggest that the king made a gift in favour of the deity worshipped in the temple referred to.

The importance of the inscription lies in the fact that is the earliest epigraphic record of the Pallava family. There is no doubt that king Simhavarman, to whom it belongs, was an ancestor

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^[1] Cf. Select Inscriptions, p. 434. The expressions amhavejayike and dhaṁm-āyu-bala-vadhanike were formerly taken by us to be adverbs standing for Sanskrit asmad-vaijayikam and dharm-āyu-vārdhanikam.
^[2] Above, Vol. XXIX, pp. 170-71. Such characteristics are noticed in a few records of the time of Ikshvāku king Ehuvula Śāntamūla, son of Vīrapurushadatta. Cf. Select Inscriptions, p. 229.