South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

with the Gûrjaras, those who dwell in the hill-fort of Chitrakûṭa, and then the lords of Kâñchî, he became (know as) Kîrtinârâyaṇa.^[1]

(V. 6 ; l. 7). (And then there came his son) Atiśayadhavaḷa-(Amôghavarsha I.), whose feet are rubbed by the diadems of hostile kings (bowing down before him), and whose heroism is praised throughout the whole world, and who is worshipped by the lords of Vaṅga, Aṅga, Magadha, Mâḷava, and Veṅgî.

(Line 9)─ Ôm ! Hail ! Fortune ! While, to an extent ever greater and greater, the increase of the sovereignty of him, Lakshmîvallabhêndra,^[2] who is distinguished by the name of the glorious Amôghavarsha-Nṛipatuṅga,─ the Mahârâjâdhirâja and Paramêśvara and Bhaṭṭâraka who has attained the pañchamahâśabda ;^[3] he who has covered all the territories of the numerous chieftains^[4] of the hostile kings, over the whole surface of the earth which is girdled by the belt of the four oceans, with his thousands of courtesans decorated with waistbands and belts round their hips and ear-rings and armlets and necklaces, and with the darkness (caused by the multitude) of his chaurîs, and with his very brightly shining (?) three white umbrellas, and with his battle-horns and conches, and with his broad standard of the pâḷidhvaja-banner and his (other) flags ; he who is a born leader of armies ; he whose feet, resembling water-lilies, are rubbed by the lofty tiaras and diadems (bowed down before him) of Daṇḍanâyakas (in charge) of capitals and groups of places,^[5] and of chieftains and other lords of districts (?) ; he who has conquered his foes ; he who is a very staff of Death to the host of his enemies ; he who breaks down the pride of wicked people ; he who is a very unfailing Râma ; he who is a very lion to the army of his enemies ; he who subdues gods and demons ; he who causes fear to his foes ; he who captivates the minds of truthful women ;^[6] he who is the habitation of haughtiness ; he who has been born in the race of the Raṭṭas ; he who has the Garuḍa-crest ; he who is heralded in public with the sounds of the musical instrument called ṭiviḷi ; (he who has the hereditary title of) supreme lord of the town of Lattalûra,─ was continuing, like the sovereignty of the great Vishṇu, so as to endure as long as moon and sun might last :─

(L. 18)─ While the Vyaya saṁvatsara, the seven [hundred and eighty-eighth] of the centuries of years elapsed of the era of the Śaka kings, was current ; and while the

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^[1] I.e. “ a very Nârâyaṇa (Vishṇu) in fame.” A verse in the description of Gôvinda III. in the Baroda grant of A.D. 811 or 812 presents this biruda in the form of Kîrtipurusha (Ind. Ant. Vol. XII. p. 159, text line 24). I then translated it by “ the personification of fame.” But there is no real authority for that. And, on the other hand, Purusha was Vishṇu, who, again, was Nârâyaṇa ; and the composer of that verse evidently used Kîrtipurusha instead of Kîrtinârâyaṇa, simply to suit his convenience in framing his lines.─ The Sirûr version of the verse has, instead of jâtaḥ, jigati, which was then corrected into jagati,─ “ he (became known as) Kîrtinârâyaṇa on the earth.” The Chiñchli inscription of A.D. 897-98 (mentioned in note 8 on page 105 above), however, presents clearly jâtaḥ, again. And jâta, which means ordinarily ‘ born,’ seems to be used here in the meaning of ‘ happened, become, present, apparent, manifest.’
^[2] We might take this as simply an epithet, and translate it by “ the chief among the husbands of favourites of Lakshmî of Fortune.” But various analogies justify us in finding in this word a formal vallabha-appellation of Amôghavarsha I., which in its simplest form would be Lakshmîvallabha.
^[3] The present passage is one of a limited number in which this epithet is applied to paramount sovereigns. Two other instances have been given by me in Gupta Inscriptions, p. 296, note 9 ; and a few others will be adduced on some more convenient occasion.
^[4] The genitive maṇḍalikarkaḷâ seems to be governed by digantar-ella, the last member of the following compound, rather than by any of the preceding members of it.
^[5] From taḷavarga, which we have here and in Sirûr, line 10, we have Talavargin, which occurs as an official title in Vol. IV. above, p. 258, text line 14.
^[6] Kittel’s Dictionary gives badde, ‘ a truthful woman.’ and indicated that it is a feminine form of badda, ‘ firm, true,’ which is a tadbhava-corruption of the Sanskṛit baddha. The whole word badde-manôhara,─ half Kanarese, half Sanskṛit,─ is a viruddha-samâsa (more popularly known as an arisamâsa), “ an incongruous of improper compound, a compound of heterogeneous words or words dissimilar in kind,” which, according to the Śabdamaṇidarpaṇa, sûtra 174, is allowed only when sanctioned by poets of old, as for instance, especially in birudas.