South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

(V. 21.) It was the lord Nâdiṇḍla-Appa who obtained from the glorious king Kṛishṇa and the minister Timma (the right to use) a palanquin, two chaurîs^[1] and a parasol, and the posts of superintendent of Vinikoṇḍa, Gutti, and the city on the golden mountain (Mêru),^[2] of commander-in-chief of a large army consisting of rutting elephants, horses and infantry, and of sole governor of that kingdom.

(V. 22.) (The man) whose fame─ a swelling smooth cloud of pulverized camphor, anointing, covering and spreading on, the beautiful rounded breasts of Śachî^[3] which resemble^[4] the two frontal globes of the elephant of the slayer of Jambha^[5]─ derides the moon in the month Kârttika by asserting that it has not its equals in whiteness,^[6]─ that man is this excellent lord Nâdiṇḍla-Appa whose brilliant fame (therefore) is to be praised by all men.

(V. 23.) (The man) whose arm, when it brandishes a sword on the battle-field on the surface of the earth which he has made (appear) like the Pâtâla world^[7] by the clouds of dust whirled up from the ground crushed by the hard hoofs of millions of his war-horses, looks like the formidable licking lord of the serpents who supports the earth,─ that man is this lord Nâdiṇḍla-Appa whose arm (therefore) is the support on which the weight of the earth rests.

(V. 24.) How can we praise Gôpa and Nâdiṇḍla-Gôpa as being alike to each other ? (For) the former has (only) one saṁtâna, while the latter seven of them.^[8]

(V. 25.) Some, (although they were) taught the rules of donation by the creator, are dull (or cold), such as the ocean and the moon, and some are exceedingly stupid, because they belong to the class of cattle, stone or wood ; (but) the honourable Gôpa, teaching them the rules of donation, carries in his hand the ocean, in his heart the tree of desires and the cow of wishes, in his face the moon, and in his eye the stone of desires.

(V. 26.) Having their bodies licked by the lords of the serpents decorating the sandal-wood pillars in the large apartments on the top of the houses in the towns of the numerous kings hostile to him,^[9] becoming totally insensible and faltering, (but) having instantly lost their poison through (the presence of) Vainatêya,^[10] the horses of the sun are suddenly walking along the sky ; ─brilliant is he, this Nâdiṇḍla-Gôpa who is praised by the sun.^[11]

(V. 27.) The glorious lord Sâḷva-Timma, the minister of the glorious Kṛishṇa, the first among kings, gave to his younger son-in-law, the glorious Gôpa, the best among governors and

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^[1] [Compare above, Vol. IV. No. 4, verse 3.─ E. H.]
^[2] [The city on the mythical mountain Mêru is Amarâvatî, the residence of god Indra. Here this poetical term is applied to Amarâvatî in the Kistna district.─ E. H.]
^[3] The wife of Indra.
^[4] Literally, ‘ having for companions.’
^[5] I.e. Indra.
^[6] If my translation is correct, we should rather expect nija-śvêtim-âdvaita-vâdaiḥ instead of nijaiḥ śvêtim-âdvaita-vâdaiḥ, which, however, is supported also by the Koṇḍavîḍu inscription (compare p. 112, note 3).
^[7] Pâtâla is the abode of the serpents.
^[8] As to the seven saṁtânas compare the note on v. 15. In the case of Gôpa, i.e. Kṛishṇa, saṁtâna seems to refer to the one celestial tree which Kṛishṇa, on the advice of his wife Satyabhâmâ, carried off from Indra’s heaven, though the name of this tree is generally given as Pârijâta. But the names of the five celestial trees are sometimes mixed up ; compare e.g. v. 16 of the Vânapalli plates of Anna-Vêma, above, Vol. III. p. 62, where the Pârijâta tree takes the place of the Kalpa tree, or v. 3 of the Biṭragunṭa grant of Saṁgama II., ibid. p. 25, where Kalpa is used for the celestial trees in general ; see also the note of Mr. H. Krishna Sastri on this passage. There is hardly any allusion to Saṁtâna-Gôpâla, one of the names of Kṛishṇa, when worshipped as giver of progeny.
^[9] Snakes are supposed to be fond of sandal-wood. The towns of Gôpa’s enemies were deserted by their inhabitants and therefore abounded in snakes. The houses were so high that their tops touched the sun.
^[10] I.e. Garuḍa. This bird must have been the device on Gôpa’s banner (compare v. 33 below) which had been planted on the top of the palaces of his conquered enemies.
^[11] The sun is grateful to Gôpa whose banner saved his horses.