South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

consequence, are more or less illegible. The weight of the two plates is 4 lbs. 6¾ oz. The letters shew through faintly on the back of the first plate ; they bear the usual marks of the working of the engraver’s tool, throughout. Their size is between about 3/16″ and ¼″.─ The characters belong to the northern class of alphabets. For some of the forms of individual letters attention may perhaps be drawn to the initial â in â-chandr-, l. 51 ; to ṅ in Vêṅg-îśvarô, l. 34 ; ja, e.g. in Kṛishṇarâjaḥ, l. 3 ; jâ in jâtu, l. 8 ; ñ in kin=n=âjñ=êva, l. 21, and pañchaº, l. 54 ; ṭô in bhaṭôddhatêna, l. 11 ; ḍa in nigaḍa, l. 24 ; ḍha in upagûḍha, l. 2 ; the subscript ṇ in Kṛishṇaº, l. 3, and karṇṇâº, l. 7 ; pha in phalakê, l. 25 ; and to the final t, e.g. in bhrâjitât, l. 3. The very rare letter jh, which occurs in nirjjhara, l. 11, and probably in duvêjha, l. 47, unfortunately in either case is not very distinct.─ The language is Sanskṛit, but some proper names from the southern vernaculars occur in the formal part of the grant, in lines 44-48. In respect of orthography the following points may be mentioned. The sign for v denotes both v and b ; j is used for y in jâtê, l. 22 ; chchha for tsa in âdhichchhayâ, l. 22 ; and the vowel ṛi is seven times employed for ri, e.g. in –bhay-âśṛita, l. 3, and -śṛiyam=, l. 15. An original final n before a following consonant is generally (altogether 14 times) wrongly changed to anusvâra, e.g. in saṁ (for san), l. 7, spṛishṭavâṁ, l. 12, and tasmiṁ, l. 21. Visarga is everywhere (permissibly) omitted before following sth, sp and sph, e.g. in urasthala-, l. 1, ya spṛishṭavâṁ, l. 12, and ºbhûshitâ sphuṭam=, l. 19. The rules of saṁdhi have been frequently neglected, and occasionally an akshara has been omitted by the writer.

The inscription records a grant by the Râshṭrakûṭa king Gôvindarâja [III.], or, as he is called in lines 39-41, the Paramabhaṭṭâraka Mahârâjâdhirâja Paramêśvara and Pṛithvîvallabha, the glorious Prabhûtavarsha, the glorious Śrîvallabhanarêndradêva, who meditated on the feet of the Paramabhaṭṭâraka Mahârâjâdhirâja Paramêśvara, the glorious Dhârâvarshadêva. After the word ôṁ, and the well-known verse Sa vô=vyâd=Vêdhasâ dhâma, it has nineteen verses glorifying the kings Kṛishṇarâja [I.], his son Dhôra (Dhruva) Nirupama Kalivallabha, and his son Gôvindarâja [III.], the donor of the grant. With the exception of verses 7, 15 and 19, the first half of verse 12, and part of verse 13 of the present inscription, the same verses also occur in the Waṇî grant, edited by Dr. Fleet in Ind. Ant. Vol. XI. p. 157 ff. ; and all the nineteen verses are found─ generally in a very corrupt form, yet with one or two more correct readings ─ in the Maṇṇe grant mentioned in Ep. Carn. Vol. IV. Introduction, p. 5, of which a photograph, received from Mr. Rice, has been lent to me by Dr. Fleet. Verse 9 also occurs in the Śirûr inscription, Ind. Ant. Vol. XII. p. 218, lines 2 and 3 of the text. An examination of the language and general style of most of these verses can leave no doubt that their author or authors^[1] for their expressions and poetical devices are greatly indebted to such works as Subandhu’s Vâsavadattâ and Bâṇa’s Kâdambarî and Harshacharita ; and to shew this, I have quoted in the notes on my translation some of the parallel passages which I have collected from those literary works. Regarding the facts recorded in the verses and their historical bearing, I could not add anything of value to what other scholars already have stated ; but, concerned as I am with the proper interpretation of the text, I must submit here at least one short remark on the first words of verse 5, which I have found great difficulty in translating and may not perhaps have translated very satisfactorily. The words jyêshṭh-ôllaṅghana of that verse I have rendered, with reference to Dhôra, by ‘ the passing over of his eldest brother,’ because, in regard to the moon with which Dhôra is compared, I had to translate the same words subsequently by ‘ after having passed Jyêshṭhtâ.’ But I would not wish the reader to understand from my translation that the author must necessarily be taken to say that Dhôra immediately succeeded his father, to the exclusion of his eldest brother from the succession. The words of the original text may equally well mean that Dhôra superseded his eldest brother after the latter had succeeded their father, or that he secured the throne for himself by revolting against that brother. The verb ul-laṅgh and

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^[1] In the verses 13 and 19 of the present inscription, their author─ if my reading be correct─ has employed a construction and a form for which analogies may be found in epic poetry, but which are contrary to the rules at classical Sanskṛit ; see my notes on the text.