South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

(V. 3.) May that Kêśava (Vishṇu) protect you, on whose person horripilation was caused by the waves, which sprang up in the milky ocean agitated by the revolution of the Mandara mountain, and which were reddened by the dense washings of quantities of red chalk of the best of the elephants,^[1] emerging (from the ocean),─ (washings) which were mixed with the saffron of the numerous (marks of) female crocodiles on the full breasts of Srî !

(V. 4) May these ten hundred hoods of the lord of snakes dwelling on the head of Śaṁbhu (Śiva) destroy your sin,─ (hoods) which with the light of their jewels shine all round the forest of the mass of matted hair, and which bear the beauty of the circular basins of the wish-giving creepers (consisting of) the lustrous rays coming from the root, (viz.) the moon sprinkled by the celestial river (Gaṅgâ) flowing on high !

(V. 5.) From the Moon, (who is) the royal swan of the lotus-plants of the lake (viz.) the sky, filled up with a crowd of lotuses (which are) the group of stars ; (who is) the while parasol of the great king Cupid wielding the sovereignty of the three worlds ; (who is) the milky ocean of beauty ; (who is) the silvery mountain (Kailâsa) of lustre ; (who is) the ear-ornament of the damsels (viz.) the quarters ; (and who is) the dwelling-mansion of the goddess of wealth of the three worlds, there arose this race.

(V. 6.) From that (race) sprang up the family of the Yadus, (which was) the paternal residence of wealth, the abode of magnanimity, the pleasure-house of lawful conduct, great prosperity and gravity, (and) which acquired fame by the protection of distressed beings, just as the ocean (is the family-house of the goddess of wealth, the abode of grandeur, the play-ground of steadiness, vast magnitude and profundity, and is renowned for sheltering all creatures that come to it).

(V. 7.) Then there arose, in the spotless family of the Yadus, Dantidurgarâja, to whom the hosts of (his) enemies bowed down, who was versed in arts, (and) who filled the directions by (his) extensive and great fame, just as the moon (rises) in the clear sky, to whom other orbs bow down, who is possessed of digits, (and) who fills the quarters by (his) extensive and profuse rays.

(V. 8.) After him the prosperous (and) glorious Kṛishṇarâja, the paternal uncle of that king,─ having ascended the pre-eminent (and) glorious lion-throne of the brave, as the rising sun (ascends) the peak of the Mêru (mountain) ; having destroyed the vast race of the Chalukyas, (as the sun destroys) utter darkness ; (and) having placed his foot on the heads of kings, (as the sun casts) his rays on the tops of mountains,─ pervaded the whole universe by (his) extensive powers, (as the sun fills) the whole world with (his) overspreading rays.

(V. 9.) From him was born Gôvindarâja, whose panegyric is seen, as it were, (engraved) on the surface of the stone (viz.) the disc of the moon in the form of the mark which is dark by the burning of (his) enemies.

(V. 10.) His younger brother, possessed of burning luster^[2] (and) bearing the other appellation of Nirupama, became king, whose intellect was adequate for the protection of the world, who uprooted the continuous line of the family of (his) enemies, (and) by means of whose seal even the sea became renowned as samudra (sealed).^[3]

(V. II.) After him flourished Jagattuṅga, whose princely enemies, deprived of the extent of all their territory, (became) like the breasts of women destitute of youth,─(breast) which are shorn of all their plump circumference.
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^[1] This refers to Airâvata, the elephant of Indra, who was produced by the churning of the milky ocean. ^[2] I am inclined to hold with Dr. Fleet that Iddhatêjas is not a mere attribute of Dhruva-Nirupama, but is intended to represent one of his birudas (Ind. Ant. Vol. XII. p.252 ; above, Vol. VI. p. 172 f.). But I am by no means certain of it, as other Râshṭrakûṭa records do not mention it.
^[3] See Ind. Ant. Vol. XII. p. 252, note 30.