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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA “ The ring is oval, about ¼″ thick and 1″ to 1⅜″ in diameter. It had been cut before the time when it came into my hands. The seal is not of the customary kind. It was formed by flattening out part of the ring to a thickness of only about ⅛″ ; thus producing a six-sided surface, about ⅝″ by 1⅛″, curved like the opposite part of the ring. The emblem on it,─ which I take to be a siṁha, couchant to the left (proper right), with jaws open and tongue protruding between them,─ was done in outline, rather roughly, in that surface. The weight of the three plates is 10½ oz. ; and of the ring and seal, ⅞ oz. : total , 11⅜ oz.” Dr. Fleet assigns the inscription, on palæographical grounds, to approximately the seventh century A.D.[1] The upadhmânîya occurs thrice (ll. 5, 7 and 13). A horizontal dash is used as a mark of punctuation in four cases.[2] The language is Sanskṛit. The genealogical portion contains 2½ verses, and two other verses are quoted at the end. The remainder of the inscription is in prose. The Sandhi rules are neglected before u in ll. 15 and 16. The vowel ṛi and the syllable ri are mixed up in drishṭâ (l. 6) and tṛivarggâ (l. 8). Other irregularities are vaṅśa for vaṁśa (l. 5), punya for puṇya (l. 7), and Jayasiṅgha for Jayasiṁha (l. 18).
The inscription is of historical importance because it contains the earliest mention of Râshṭrakûṭa kings. These princes seem to have belonged to a branch distinct from that of the Mâlkhêḍ family, whose crest was the Garuḍa, while the seal of this grant bears a lion. The genealogical portion opens with the statement that “ there was a king named Mânâṅka, who was the ornament of the Râshṭrakûṭas, whose glory is adorned with a multitude of many virtues.” His son was Dêvarâja (l. 3 f.). He had three sons (v. 2),─ among them Bhavishya, whose son was Abhimanyu (l. 11). While the latter resided at Mânapuram (l. 12 f.), he granted a small village (grâmaka) named Uṇḍikavâṭikâ (l. 15). If we look for the name of the donee, we are confronted by two genitives : Dakshiṇa-Śivasya (l. 14 f.) and Jaṭâbhâra-pravrajitasya (l. 15 f.). Dr. Fleet connected the first with the following word Uṇḍikavâṭikâ and translated the second by “ (the god) who had left his home (at the place belonging to him as Dakshiṇa-Śiva) and has gone abroad to (and settled at) Jaṭâbhâra,” which he identified with a temple called ‘ Jutta Shunkur,’ i.e. Jaṭâ-Śaṁkara.[3] To this may be objected that the time-hallowed technical meaning of pravrajita is ‘ one who has left home to become a religious mendicant,’ and that this word would hardly be used with reference to an idol instead of the ordinary pratishṭhâpita. The two genitives can be explained by taking the first as the name of the donee and the second, as was done by Dr. Bhagwanlal Indraji,[4] as the name of a Pâśupata ascetic in charge of the temple, to whom the grant was made over on behalf of the temple by pouring water into his hand. Hence I would translate l. 12 ff. as follows :─ “ He who was adorning Mânapuram by residing at (it), gave, in order to increase the religious merit of (his) mother and father, the small village named Uṇḍikavâṭikâ to (the temple of) Dakshiṇa-Śiva belonging to [Pêṭha]-Paṅgaraka,[5] by pouring water (into the hands) of the ascetic Jaṭâbhâra. Towards this (grant) nobody should practice deceit.” According to l. 18 the grant was made “ in the presence of Jayasiṁha, the commander[6] (of the fort) of Harivatsakôṭṭa.” The inscription ends with two of the customary verses.
As regards the localities mentioned in this record, the ‘ Dakshiṇa-Śiva (temple) belonging to
[Pêṭha]-Paṅgaraka ’ had been identified in the Bombay Gazetteer with the Mahâdêva temple
[1] Dyn. Kan. Distr. p. 386.
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