South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

No. 21.─ JAINA INSCRIPTIONS AT THE TEMPLE OF NEMINATHA

ON MOUNT ABU.

BY PROFESSOR H. LÜDERS, PH.D. ; ROSTOCK.

Inked estampages of the numerous inscriptions in the various temples on Mount Âbû were prepared by Mr. H. Cousens, Superintendent of the Archæological Survey of the Bombay Presidency, in 1902, and sent by Professor Hultzsch to Professor Kielhorn, who made them over to me for publication. The 32 inscriptions edited below are from the temple of Nêminâtha and refer to the erection and endowment of that building by Têjaḥpâla, the minister of the Chaulukya king Vîradhavala. At present this sanctuary seems to be known by the name of ‘ the temple of Vastupâla and Têjaḥpâla ;’ but as the inscriptions clearly show that appellation to be erroneous, the foundation being ascribed to Têjaḥpâla alone, I should prefer either to call it after the saint to whom it was dedicated, or to use the original name which, as again shown by the inscriptions, was Lûṇasiṁhavasahikâ or Lûṇavasahikâ.^[1]

No. I. is engraved on a black slab built into a niche in the corridor of the temple. A translation of it was published as early as 1828 by H. H. Wilson in the Asiatic Researches, Vol. XVI. p. 302 ff. The text, together with a translation, was first edited in 1883 by Professor Abaji Vishṇu Kathavate in his edition of Sômêśvaradêva’s Kîrtikaumudî, Appendix A. And a second edition, again accompanied by a translation, appeared in the Collection of Prâkṛit and Sanskṛit Inscriptions published by the Bhâvnagar Archæological Department, p. 174 ff.

The writing covers a space of about 3′ 1½″ broad by 2′ 7½″ high. It is beautifully engraved and generally in an excellent state of preservation. The size of the letters is ½″. The characters are Jaina Nâgarî. As ba is distinguished from va only by a very minute dot in the centre, which easily disappears in the impression, it is in some cases almost impossible to decide syllable ôṁ, a few connecting phrases in ll. 17, 26 and 30, and the concluding remarks in ll. 46 and 47, the whole inscription is in verse. The text was composed by Sômêśvaradêva, the well-known purôhita of the Chaulukya kings and author of the Kîrtikaumudî ; but although some be the verses undoubtedly vie in elegance with those of the larger work of the poet, it cannot be denied that the poem as a whole is disfigured by rather tedious repetitions, and sometimes by a certain want of connection between single stanzas. As regards lexicography, attention may be drawn to the architectural terms balânaka in l. 37 and khattaka in l. 40. The former apparently is identical with Marâṭhi balâṇî, which according to the Dictionary of Molesworth and Candy means ‘ a raised seat along the walls of the gôbhârâ or sabhâmaṇḍapa of a temple.’ The word khattaka I cannot trace in any dictionary accessible to me ; judging from the context, it seems to have the meaning of ‘ pedestal ’ or ‘ throne.’ Proper names frequently appear in their Prâkṛit form. Under the influence of the metre even the vulgar form Têjapâla, instead of Têjaḥpâla, is used in verse 56.

After an invocation of Sarasvatî (v. 1) and Gaṇêśa (v. 2), the inscription gives first an account of the family of Têjaḥpâla. Their native town was Aṇahilapura, the residence of the Chulukya kings (v. 3). The ancestor of the family was Chaṇḍapa (v. 4). His son was Chaṇḍaprasâda (v. 5), who again had a son named Sôma (v. 6). Sôma’s son was Aśvarâja, whose wife was Kumâradêvî (v. 7). They had eleven children (vv. 8-24)─ four sons : Lûṇiga,
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^[1] [On vasahi, ‘ a Jaina temple,’ which is to be derived from *vasathi, another form of the Sanskṛit vasati, see Prof. Pischel’s Grammatik der Prâkṛit-Sprachen, § 207. The Kannaḍa equivalent basadi or basti is a tadbhava of vasati itself :─ E. H.]