South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

l. 12) ; and of final m (e.g. in ratnânâm, l. 1,and suchiram, l. 2),final t (e.g. in prakarshât, l. 3), and final n (in iv=âbhavan, l. 11, and dvijân, l. 15). Beside we have the ordinary signs of punctuation, one or two vertical lines, but they are employed irregularly.─ The language of the inscription is Sanskṛit, and the text is all in verse, the metres employed in the 37 verses being : the ordinary Ślôka, in vv. 20, 22, 27, 31, 33, 34, and 36 ; Aupachchhandasika, in vv. 9 and 26; Ârya, in vv. 1-4 and 7 ; Âryâgîti, in v. 37 ; Upajâti, in v. 6 and v. 19 (Indravajrâ) ; Rathôddhatâ, in v. 8 ; Vaṁśastha, in v. 12 ; Drutavilambita, in v. 10 ; Praharshiṇî, in v. 30 ; Vasantatilakâ, in vv. 11, 14, 28 and 35 ; Mâlinî, in vv. 13, 15 and 23-25 ; Hariṇî, in v. 13 ; Mandâkrântâ, in v. 17 ; Śârdûlavikrîḍita, in vv. 5, 29 and 32 ; Mattêbhavikrîḍita, in v. 18 ; and Sragdharâ, in v. 16. So far as I am able to judge, the author has properly observed the metrical rules, and his choice of the metres in some instances, as when he uses the metre Sragdharâ in v. 16, appears most appropriate.─ The orthography calls for few remarks. Visarga has everywhere been changed to the jihvâmûlîya before k, and to the upadhmânîya before p, and has been assimilated to a following sibilant. The final m of a word is at the end of a verse or half-verse always denoted by the special sign of the final m, except in trayâṇâṁ at the end of verse 25 ; and in the interior of a Pâda before a consonant it is either changed to anusvâra or to the nasal of the class to which the following consonant belongs (before ch, chh and j it is always changed to ñ). At the end of the first and third Pâdas of a verse the rules of saṁdhi have occasionally not been observed, and they have once or twice been neglected in other places. The letter ṅ is employed instead of anusvâra in Jayasiṅha-, l. 3; v instead of b in vîbhatsa-, l. 11, and = vvalaiḥ, l. 14 ; and j instead of y in chirañ=jâtaḥ (for chiraṁ yâtaḥ),l. 2. Before r, k is always doubled (e.g. in parâkkrama-, l. 5) ; and before y, dh is similarly treated in ârâddhya, l. 15. The Draviḍian ḷ is used in the names Kâḷidâsa, l. 18, Âḷupa, l. 9, Kêraḷa, l. 15, Chôḷa, ll. 14 and 15, Naḷa, l. 4, Mâḷava, l. 11, and Kaunâḷa, l. 13 ; and also in the words antarâḷa, l. 13, aḷi, l. 8, âvaḷî, l. 9, kâḷarâtri, l. 4 (but not in kâla, l. 16), puḷina, l. 12, and vigaḷita, l. 11. Clerical errors there are few, and they can be easily corrected.

The inscription is a poem by a certain Ravikîrti, who during the reign of the Chalukya Polekêśin Satyâśraya (i.e. the Western Chalukya Pulikêśin II.), whom he describes as his patron, founded the temple of the Jaina prophet Jinêndra on which the inscription was engraved, and who uses the occasion to furnish a eulogistic account (praśasti) of the history of the Chalukya family, and especially of the exploits of Pulikêśin II. As a translation of the poem will be given below, it is unnecessary to burden this introduction with an abstract of the contents, the more so because the historical facts related in this record have been fully discussed by Prof. Bhandarkar and Dr. Fleet ;^[1] but I may draw attention to one or two statements of our author which are made in verses of which either my text or translation differs from those of the previous edition. From the restitution of the true reading , Bhaimarathyâḥ, in verse 17, it appears that the two invaders Âppâyika and Gôvinda, of whom one was repulsed by Pulikêśin II., while the other was made an ally, had come to conquer the country north of the river Bhaimarathî, usually called Bhîmarathî, and that no horses from the northern seas are spoken of in that verse. Again, from the wording of verse 22 it would appear now that the Lâṭas, Mâḷavas and Gûrjaras were not conquered by force, but submitted to, or sought the protection of, Pulikêśin of their own accord. Of greater interest perhaps is my interpretation of verse 28. It will be seen that that verse speaks of piece of water, apparently containing some islands, which was occupied by Pulikêśin’s army, and is called the Kaunâḷa water, or the water (or lake) of Kunâḷa. The position of this piece of water is indicated by the sequence of events recorded in the poem. Pulikêśin according to verse 26 subdued the Kaliṅgas and Kôsalas ; he then according to verse 27 took the fortress of Pishṭapura, the modern Piṭhâpuram

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1 See Prof. Bhandarkar’s Early History of the Dekkan, 2nd ed, especially p. 51 ; and Dr. Fleet’s Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts, 2nd ed., especially p. 349 ff.